By Clarke Canfield
The Associated Press

GORHAM, Maine - If you overlook the "no smoking" signs outside Harlan A. Philippi Hall, you can't miss the signs at the door: "This is a smoke-free building."

The University of Southern Maine in September banned smoking in its dorms, forcing smokers to walk at least 50 feet away from the buildings to light up. Next fall, they'll have to go even farther.

The school is among the growing number of colleges and universities finding new ways to restrict smoking on campus. A Harvard University study last year found that 25 percent of U.S. colleges ban smoking in dormitories and the number is rising.

The policy at Southern Maine, which has 11,000 students on campuses in Gorham and nearby Portland, will be one of the strictest in the nation. Next fall, smoking will be allowed only in designated smoking areas chosen by administrators.

Pamela Clay-Storm, a university nurse and former head of a task force that created the rules, said policy makers the past 15 years have focused on workplaces, restaurants and other places to restrict smoking.

College campuses, for the most part, were ignored until recently. But some question whether the new policies are fair or enforceable.

"Maybe the pendulum has swung too far the other way," said Michael Toch, a 23-year-old theater major who was taking a recent cigarette break outside a classroom building in subfreezing temperatures.

Next year, he will be banished to a yet-to-be-determined spot to smoke.

Twenty-three percent of Americans smoked in 2000, down from 25 percent in 1990 and 33 percent in 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's a different story on campus. According to a Harvard School of Public Health study, 29 percent of college students smoked in 1999, up from 25 percent in 1993.

Henry Wechsler, the lead researcher in the study, blamed the increase on tobacco marketing in the 1990s. "This was the Joe Camel generation arriving at college," he said.

The Harvard study was a wake-up call for many schools. Other than religious institutions, colleges and universities had few rules to restrict smoking.

Most schools now ban smoking in indoor public areas, and many have banned or restricted smoking in dormitories and stadiums. Some have outlawed tobacco sales and advertising on campus.

A handful have created designated smoking areas, a significant change from the usual no-smoking areas.