It's been about six months since a downtown bar started smoke-free Mondays, and while newcomers have kept business consistent, it doesn't look likely that the trend will spread to other bars.

Joe Shulman, general manager of the Gingerbread Man, 130 Hiester St., said there have been no negative effects on business with the arrival of smoke-free Mondays.

"There has been no increase or decrease in business, just some new faces," he said.

Shulman did not have any expectations when he decided to offer a smoke-free night at the bar.

"I just wanted to maintain business," he said. "Whatever business might have been lost has been supplemented [by non-smokers]."

The G-Man is the only bar in State College that offers a smoke-free night.

George Matz, manager of Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave., said they had a smoke-free charity event Feb. 27, but it had no effect on business since patrons had to donate money to the charity in advance.

"We usually are closed on Sunday nights," Matz said. "So the smoke-free charity night didn't hurt business."

When asked if he would consider a regular smoke-free night for the Café, Matz said he thinks having a non-smoking night could hurt business.

"Smoking is part of the bar atmosphere," Matz said. "I've decided we're going to stay a smoking bar every night of the week."

Stefanie Taylor (junior-psychology) said she would not go to a smoke-free bar.

"I'm a chain smoker," Taylor said. "It would be a hassle to have to go outside [the bar] to have a cigarette."

But Pat Kiley (junior-hotel and restaurant managing) said he would still go to the bars regardless if they were smoking or not.

"I hate coming out [of the bars] and smelling like smoke," Kiley said. "But smoking doesn't really bother me because I really just go for the drinks."

Shulman said he would not mind making the Gingerbread Man a smoke-free bar all the time if Pennsylvania enforced legislation prohibiting smoking in bars like New York and California.

"I would only go smoke-free if it was statewide," Shulman said. "If only downtown [went smoke free], I wouldn't want to because customers would leave [town] and then I would lose business."

Linda LaSalle, Penn State Students for Tobacco Awareness adviser, said past polls have indicated that 95 percent of students who go to bars would like the bars to be smoke-free.

"Smoke-free bars would not reduce the number of students who go to the bars, according to our survey," she said.

LaSalle said providing the smoke-free bar option for students is a great first step in the community.

"I encourage other bar owners to follow in the steps of the G-Man," she said.