This week's temperatures dipped low enough to freeze spilled beer, but that didn't stop some students from smoking cigarettes.

Outside an East Halls dormitory, Mike Kovalcik stood on a heating vent and puffed on a Marlboro Mild.

"I've never had anyone complain [about my smoking] at State College," said Kovalcik (freshman-information sciences and technology), who smokes about four packs a week. "But I try not to smoke where I'm not supposed to."

He's one of about 50 million American smokers affected by an increasing number of bans on smoking in public places.

In Harrisburg, state representatives are considering a ban on smoking in public places and are getting lost in a hazy cloud of a public health debate. They're probably not considering that a smoke-free ambiance might not be best for every business or that businesses might take care of their own air quality.

Take Pittsburgh, for example, where cigarette smokers are banned from lighting up in bowling alleys. Maureen Martin (senior-psychology and crime, law, and justice) said the majority of people in her hometown league smoke cigarettes, and everyone gets annoyed waiting for bowlers to return from outside.

"It makes things go a lot slower," Martin said. "Even the non-smokers would rather have people smoke inside, rather than standing around waiting for them to come back and take their turn."

Without a state government restriction, the Pittsburgh bowling alley could give leagues the option of smoking but designate public sessions or other nights of the week as smoke free. That way, cigarette-loving bowling leagues would be happy, and the public would have days when they could visit the alley and breathe clean air.

I don't smoke, and at The All-American Rathskeller, the smoke from the tip of Ben Lambert's cigarette made my eyes water.

"I don't mind going outside to smoke, if it's the restaurant's or bar's rules," said Lambert, a State College resident. "But there are happy mediaums that satisfy both smokers and non-smokers."

Originally, Lambert lived in Chicago, where the city has specific building codes for establishments that allow smokers. Because of the codes, most places have to invest in ventilation systems to circulate the air and keep the room from getting too hazy, he said.

"Businesses should have the ability to make decisions about their business and cater to that market," Lambert said. "[Not smoking in public] shouldn't be mandated by law."

On campus, Penn State has a reasonable policy regarding tobacco. Policy AD32 Smoking Policy and Guideline (when translated into plain English) states that smokers can have a cigarette on campus, as long as smoke doesn't come through a building's windows. The guideline accommodates smokers and protects the learning environment. It's more flexible than the policies at most Big Ten schools, where students are required to stand 25 or 30 feet away from a building, according to Penn State student group Project Smokeless.

But many students aren't so lucky; at least 105 U.S. college and university campuses have banned smoking, inside and out, according to Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.

Even on Capitol Hill, representatives are fuming about rules that eliminated selling tobacco in Capitol buildings. Already, they've been prohibited from enjoying tobacco in the Capitol's hallways, entrances and the ornate Speaker's Lobby, reported the Washington Post.

But Congressional members can still puff cigars and cigarettes in their offices, even though most of Washington, D.C. lost their right to smoke indoors a year ago when the city banned smoking in public places, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

It makes me wonder if, one day, I'll stand at the Washington Monument, look down the National Mall and see the only place in the country that allows indoor smoking.

But more than likely, I'll just see another place where people have to stand outside.