University of Wisconsin-Madison smokers might find their right to light up stops at another’s nose, but some at NIU said an indoor smoking ban isn’t fair.

UW-Madison Chancellor Donna Shalala announced Monday she supports a campus-wide ban on all indoor smoking. UW-Madison students, faculty and staff have until Nov. 1 to comment on the proposal. Shalala said health risks caused by secondhand smoke outweigh smokers’ rights.

At NIU, smoking is banned in all public areas, except where smoking areas are posted. Off-limits areas include lobbies, restrooms, offices for more than one person, elevators, food preparation and serving areas, conference rooms and hallways.

NIU’s general policy was set June 1, 1988, by the NIU Interior Facilities Environments Committee, but residence halls and the Holmes Student Center have different policies.

Student Center Director Judd Baker is in charge of the center’s smoking policy, but a committee will review the policy soon and bring its recommendations to the center’s governing board.

“I’m not particularly concerned about smokers’ rights,” said Miles Orth, UW-Madison Student Association president. “I’m concerned about the minority who are violently allergic to smoke.”

If smokers want to light up, they can go outside, Orth said.

But NIU smokers shouldn’t worry yet.

“The University of Wisconsin’s policies are always a little extreme,” Baker joked. “I’d be interested to see how that’s followed.”

Baker said it would be difficult to take away all designated smoking areas, but over the years, space allotted to smokers has diminished. Years ago, state buildings designated “no-smoking areas,” but that “flip-flopped” and now there are designated “smoking areas,” Baker said.

“I think smokers are entitled to their section,” said junior non-smoker Sonja Veith.

NIU senior Marylyn Barnes, who’s trying to quit smoking, said current smoking restrictions help her go without cigarettes, but she, too, objected to taking away all smoking areas.