Seven months have passed since the Gingerbread Man, 130 Hiester St., went smoke-free on Monday nights, but most bars are still hesitant to follow suit.

Owners are afraid of losing patrons who smoke, but if every bar decided to adopt the idea every night, would competition be an issue? Bar-goers would have to either continue as usual or just not go out at all -- and with State College's "drinking town" mentality, that will not happen, no matter what bar owners say.

There is no real reason why bars can't ban smoking. There are health benefits: non-smokers could avoid second-hand smoke and regular smokers would most likely cut back to avoid going outside, especially in the winter. Patrons wouldn't complain about leaving bars every night reeking of stale cigarettes, and they might even stick around longer at night. And while some smokers might drink less if they're not smoking, they could also spend less money on cigarettes, meaning there's more alcohol money.

The bottom line is, there's no surefire way to tell what effect the change would have on business, but owners shouldn't rule smoke-free bars out until the idea is tested seriously on a weekend night.