By Ebony Martin 
Collegian Staff Writer
Correction appended (see bottom)
Four Penn State students associated with student-led health advocacy group Project SmokeLess traveled to Harrisburg yesterday to lobby for the Clean Indoor Air Act, a measure that some think could potentially suck the smoke out of State College's nightlife scene.
Some State College Borough Council members expressed support for the bill, but only the state can enact an ordinance banning smoking.
The Clean Indoor Air Act states that no person could carry a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or other lighted smoking device in all public places including restaurants, bars and taverns, according to the Clean Air Council's Web site, www.cleanair.org.
According to a description of the act on the council's Web site, the act's purpose is to protect public health through regulations.
Borough Council member Ron Filipelli said the council tried to enact its own local ordinance last spring, but a ruling in Scranton made the ordinance impossible.
"We don't have the authority to pass a local ordinance," Filipelli said last night. "The state has to pass the ordinance."
Students from Project SmokeLess are working to make the act a reality.
Penn State students who participated in Project SmokeLess's campaign met with three act committee members yesterday in favor of the bill. They were met with mixed reactions regarding the implementation of additional exemptions for some bars or restaurants, said Joe Schwork (junior-information sciences and technology), a member of SmokeLess who traveled to Harrisburg.
"I support the students," State College Borough Council President Elizabeth Goreham said. "They're leading the way right now, and they should be applauded."
For council members Filipelli and Goreham, the issue is health.
"For me the most important thing is the people that work in these establishments have to work in these conditions and have no choice but to give up their job," Filipelli said.
Andy Duff, manager of Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., said the dining room is non-smoking during dining hours, but he thinks his employees are used to customers' smoking.
"But to say [the smoking is] not affecting them in any way, I can't speak for every one of them," Duff said.
The state House and Senate are working on a compromise bill, Schwork said.
If the House and Senate representatives agree upon a restrictive version of the bill, Schwork said smoking in bars and restaurants, which, in State College, mostly employ college students, would be banned.
However, if both parties agree upon smoke-free environments in such places, then smoking will be banned except for in venues that are exempt by law, Schwork said.
While there may be a downside for businesses, Schwork said students who work in smoking atmospheres deserve a better environment.
"They have to consider the non-smokers," he said. "They're actually the ones who chose to take a healthier lifestyle."
Kyle Butler, head bartender at Tony's Big Easy, 129 S. Pugh St., said smoking doesn't seem to be as popular as it was in recent years and that the regulation of smoking "doesn't seem to affect business.
The status of the bill will be updated in December, and if voted upon by both parties, the finalized bill will move forward six months after, Schwork said.
"Were just trying to find a happy medium," he said.
This article incorrectly stated the number of committee members the student advocacy group, Project Smokeless, met with to discuss the Clean Indoor Air Act. The group met with five committee members. The article also incorrectly stated when a status report would be provided. It will be available sometime this month. The graphic, "Smoke-free Campus," accompanying the article incorrectly stated the date of the student visit, which was on Jan. 30.
