Ryan McGarry, a member of the student group Penn State Students for Tobacco Awareness, said the group is promoting smoke-free bars with orange buttons that say, "I support smoke-free bars."

"This was a direct product and strategy by Penn State Students for Tobacco," McGarry said. "We think a lot of students support this idea."

Linda LaSalle, community health educator with University Health Services (UHS), said UHS recently conducted a survey of 21 bars in the State College area and found that two bars, in addition to The Gingerbread Man, indicated they were interested in considering smoke-free options.

"The majority of Penn State students 21 and over are not smokers," she said. "And many want to go to the bars in a smoke-free environment, and we know that from surveys."

Penn State Pulse Survey did a smoking survey in October 2004, which found that 21 percent of students would go out to the bars more if there was a smoke-free option in State College bars.

Fifty-eight percent said that such an option would make no difference on whether they would go out more.

"A smoke-free bar wouldn't necessarily make me go out more," Brandon Walker (senior-aerospace engineering) said. "You go to a bar expecting smoke, and you deal with it."

LaSalle said the bottom line is that this option, for almost 80 percent of students, would either make no difference or would generate more business for the bars.

She added that there are health benefits to avoiding second-hand smoke, and trying smoke-free options would not hurt bars.

"The statistics show that it's unlikely that the economic input at bars will be negatively affected," LaSalle said.

Gloria Sciarappa, vice president of operations at the Big Burrito Restaurant Group, which includes Mad Mex, 240 S. Pugh St., said the company has experimented with smoke-free restaurants and bars.

"It's something we believe in," she said. "Unfortunately, what we've found is that in college atmospheres it really hurts business."

The Gingerbread Man, though, has not suffered so far, and Shulman said the business plans to continue the smoke-free environment on Mondays.

"We have plans to continue it at least until the end of the semester to get a better feel for it," Shulman said.