<p>Hmm… I don’t recall my DS commenting about cigarette smoke, and he is pretty sensitive to it. I do recall seeing an occasional student smoking and a cigarette butt here or there, but don’t recall it being at all to the extent being described here. And I cannot stand smoking and would have noticed if it was really prevalent when I was on campus. Then again, I am a parent, not a student, and not there all the time. JMO.</p>
<p>katie, I am a freshman living in Butler and absolutely love it! I am not an honors student at Tulane but got placed in the honors dorm and was a little worried about Butler not being social. It is! Work hard, party hard still applies. While most Butler kids don’t go out every night of the week (but some do and at Tulane/in NOLA there will always be something to do), I find that they tend to go harder on the weekends. It’s fun to celebrate the week ending, finishing work, and taking a breather before hitting the books on Monday. I love going out with my Butler friends as well as friends from other dorms, if you have any more specific questions about Butler feel free to ask!</p>
<p>I agree with jym, I have been back to campus numerous times over the past 4 years and I cannot recall seeing people hanging out smoking on campus at all. It is always a little shocking going into restaurants in many other states and even being asked “smoking or non-smoking”, you get so used to everything being non-smoking here. But I am quite sure I would have noticed people smoking in front of the LBC, Bruff, etc.</p>
<p>Given the percentage of students that smoke nationally and assuming that smoking would be less among those going to college, it is hard to imagine that smoking is that common at Tulane. CDC estimates are that 20% of high school students have tried one or more cigarettes, and that only about 1/4 of them become regular smokers. The numbers in the northeast are lower than those national figures, and given Tulane’s draw from there, you would think it wouldn’t be that common.</p>
<p>But it is good that this has been brought up and several of you are visiting soon, you will be more attuned to see it if it is happening. Should be interesting to hear your feedback.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention- I was just in NOLA this past weekend, eating my way through the city with my s and DH, and my s made a point of reminding/warning me that the places we planned to go to listen to music on Frenchman St. and in the French Quarter would have smoking, because he knows I do not like cigarette smoke. He did not comment ever, that I can recall, about a lot of smoking on campus. Not that it never occurred, but that it wasn’t a big enough concern that warranted mention. I look forward to hearing back about what others see when they visit.</p>
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You have already received a couple of answers to this, and it naturally comes up every year. In fact, if you search the Tulane thread here you will find several lengthy discussions, including how Tulane, Loyola and New Orleans responded to several armed robberies in the area last year, mostly in the fall semester 2011 IIRC. In short, they increased lighting, added police offers and patrols, created “safe zones” for traveling between campus and the most popular off campus areas where they patrol even more heavily, and took several other measures. There was no one hurt in these incidents, but the concern among students and parents was high and they responded. But any and every urban campus has this issue, and Tulane is as safe or safer than USC, Chicago, Penn, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, WUSTL, etc.</p>
<p>But it is easier to sum it all up by pointing out a couple of things rather than going over all the points again. First, a crime map of New Orleans provides a graphic picture of what jph and collegehopeful are saying. If you go to [CrimeMapping.com</a> - National Map](<a href=“http://www.crimemapping.com/map/la/neworleans]CrimeMapping.com”>http://www.crimemapping.com/map/la/neworleans) and then 1) change the map so that it only shows homicides, assaults and robberies by clicking on crime types; and 2) change the dates to show this semester (I did Sept 1 - Dec 15), you will see very clearly that the Uptown area around Tulane and Audubon Park is practically clear compared to the areas that are infested with gangs and drugs to the east of campus. You may have to hit the “zoom in” feature to see it mapped properly.</p>
<p>Second, I am a parent of a daughter at Tulane, and almost 60% of the undergrads at Tulane are women. Surely we are not all so uninformed and unintelligent that we would send our children, and especially our daughters, to a place where they were really in danger, when there are so many other choices? Just to reiterate, with common sense and prudence, one can enjoy New Orleans without undue concern.</p>
<p>They should have a little $$ symbol over the valet parking at the Roosevelt Hotel. $42/night! That is a crime, LOL :)</p>
<p>mavitale: I did not notice student smoking cigarettes at all when we visited last month. If I had seen it, I would have commented to DS as I hate cigarette smoke and DS is a fitness freak.</p>
<p>I heard a parent comment about safety as we were getting back on the streetcar to go back to our hotel after our day on campus. As others have said here, you ALWAYS have to be careful if you are in or near a city. I would caution my kids regardless of what college they picked. I do agree that, if you live in a very rural area, moving to a place like NOLA would be an adjustment, but definitely a good life lesson. The safety rules would apply everywhere.</p>
<p>I asked my s, who said that 2 years ago they widened the non-smoking area on campus. At lest 50 feet away from dorm entrances, and more areas declared non-smoking. He said that there is relatively little cigarette smoking on campus, in his opinion.</p>
<p>Maybe I should clarify a bit about the smoking. I can tell you for sure that the 50 ft away from the dorm building rule is not enforced well as I see people smoking right outside bruff/monroe/boggs. I came from a place where nobody smoked so maybe I’m a bit more sensitive to it than most people but from what I’ve noticed smoking is pretty popular among the student body. It could just be my class too as I’m around freshman most of the time.</p>
<p>[SMOKING</a> POLICY CHANGED - The Tulane Hullabaloo : Featured](<a href=“Unavailable”>Unavailable)</p>
<p>Smoking policy from 2009</p>
<p>Says the range is 25 ft from the buildings.</p>
<p>Hard to believe, based on all the experiences described here, that anyone would consider smoking “pretty popular” on campus. Tolerated, maybe, but popular? Unlikely.</p>
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<p>I don’t understand why you are trying to discredit what I am saying about smoking. I am a student here at Tulane and I am only trying to share my experiences since I have been here to help prospective students. I’m sorry you find that “hard to believe”. I have been to other schools and I find that at Tulane smoking is more popular. I apologize if I came off too strong in my original post by calling it “very popular” on campus. As I already said I come from a place where practically nobody smokes so seeing kids smoking in front of buildings was something I’m not used to.</p>
<p>The reason posters are questioning your statement is because it is contrary to what many others have experienced, and you are presenting yourself to prospective students as one who can advise about a school at which you have spent exactly 4 months. When you present an opinion that sounds like “fact”, and it is (a) contrary to what others have experienced and (b) puts a negative slant on things, it is going to get a response. Especially when others disagree. </p>
<p>My s spent 4 years there, and still lives a stone’s throw from campus with 2 grad students. (He works in a nearby town). He still attends some activities on campus. I have NEVER heard him address the smoking as anything like what you say. So, with all due respect, I would accept his experience over the one you are presenting. The descriptor “popular” about a minority habit is, imo, inaccurate and misleading. I despise cigarettes and am allergic to smoke. I’ve been on campus many times over the past 5 or 6 years (since the times he visited campus as a prospective student, through graduation) and have never noticed more than an occasional smoker or cigarette butt.</p>
<p>If you want to be helpful, it might be reasonable to say you were surprised to see some students smoking, or something like that. Fine. But to describe it as “popular”, and to continue to defend it when others with more experience than you suggest that that is an overstatement might cause some to question other opinions you share, and that would be a shame, as we realize you are trying to be helpful.</p>
<p>I asked my s again about smoking, and told him of comments describing smoking as “very popular” or walking through a “cloud of haze”. He laughed and said the cloud of haze is probably from a morning hangover :)</p>
<p>Not meaning to be harsh, jph. Its just not an accurate description of smoking on campus. I wish thee was none. Zero. But there is some.</p>
<p>jph - perhaps using the terms “very big” and “pretty popular” was unfortunate. And to be fair, you said it was not like walking through a cloud of haze. But given all the national statistics, experiences of other students, and parents that visit it seems impossible that anything close to a majority of students smoke. I wonder if you see it more at nights, especially on the weekends. That could explain the discrepancy between your observations and others.</p>
<p>Agree that the use of the descriptors “big/ popular” is unfortunate and an overstatement. Do people in NOLA (students or otherwise) smoke in bars? Yes, unfortunately. But is the campus a place where a lot of smoking occurs? Don’t think so. I won’t keep beating this into the ground. I simply hope that recent accepted students are not turned off by that statement, as it isnt a fair description of smoking on campus. 'Nuff said.</p>
<p>Yes, I realize and have already apologized for calling it very big. As I already said, I come from a place where nobody smokes so seeing people smoke on campus and in the bars was new for me. But I standby calling it pretty popular. FC you bring up a good point I probably do see most of it at night and on the weekends but I never said a majority of students smoke. Nowhere near a majority of students smoke. I’m sorry if I made it seem like otherwise.</p>
<p>Agreed that compared to Oregon, smoking at all must seem unusual. Where I live, smoking in public establishments is limited to bars. Only serveries catering to the over 21, without restaurant service, permits smoking. And only in some counties.</p>
<p>That isnt so in NOLA, and as I said earlier, I was just there this weekend and my s warned me in advance that the bars (on Frenchman St and in the French Quarter) would have smoking. Yuk. But we will agree to disagree about your perception that it is “popular”. That implies a high frequency, or commonplace. Hoodies are popular on campus. Smoking is not.</p>
<p>** And you are a freshman. Hopefully you are not frequenting bars 
I hear the Boot is cracking down on underage drinking. So is the new NOLA police chief. <a href=“http://m.thehullabaloo.com/mobile/news/article_ce333502-e0ae-11e0-8313-001a4bcf6878.html[/url]”>http://m.thehullabaloo.com/mobile/news/article_ce333502-e0ae-11e0-8313-001a4bcf6878.html</a></p>
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<p>Glad to hear I’m not the only one dismayed about the smoking comment. (that said, my son said it wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for him but that he’d just avoid the smokers).</p>
<p>What I’ve noticed from talking to friends with kids in college is that some of the artsy schools (like Bard, Hampshire, etc.) have a lot of smokers. Weird, but whatever. As others have mentioned, we are so used to being around non-smokers! (I had the same experience in Switzerland…an otherwise pristine country but prides itself in being independent from the EU, and therefore smoking is allowed in all the restaurants…yuck. I got room service instead!)</p>
<p>Anyway… I digress!! Can’t wait to visit. Hope the weather is ok by the time we get down there in mid-January. Sounds like things are a bit hairy right now!</p>
<p>What’s the dating scene like on campus? Are Tulane students more akin to “hookup culture”, or are there a lot of monogamous relationships? I figure that because its in NOLA and has a vibrant/kinda crazy social scene, people will trend to stay away from dating/relationships (though that’s how it is at many schools–it’s college after all)</p>
<p>the dating scene is practically non-existent, especially for freshman and the “hookup culture” is huge. there are a few students who both want and are able to make a relationship work, but they are few and far between.</p>