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Services of Mea& Data Central, Inc. LEVEL 1 - 8 OF 55 STORDES Copyright (c) 1990 Gannett Company Inc. GANNETT NEWS SERVICE April 30, 1990, Monday LENGTH: 861 words HEADLINE: SMOKERS:AN ENDANGERED SPECIES BYLINE: FRED WILLIAMS KEYWORD: NOSMOKE BODY: PAGE 21 When Motorola banned smoking from its electronics plant in Chandler, Ariz., in 1987, computer programmer Dave Brenton decided he would have tolgive it up. His job, that is, not his habit. " When the day drew!near, I left,'' he says. Brenton's reaction to his ex-employer's smoking policy is unusual, but his situation isn't. Since 1986, when the surgeon general cited'''passive " smoking as a cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, lighting up in public has become as socially acceptable as playing a boom box in a library. Nowhere has opposition to smoke been more apparent than,in the workplace. Smoking restrictions that only applied to factory floors before 1980 are now in place at more than half of all U.S. companies, says the Smoking Policy Institute of Seattle. Along with nonsmoking policies has come a profound shift in corporate culture. As evidence of health risks continues to pile up, the unspoken question at many companies is, ''If you're so smart, why don't you quit?'" I think smokers are increasingly ashamed of their habit, " says Charles Porter, a smoker and executive vice president of The Putnam Funds in Boston. " It says, 'I have an addiction that's bad for me, yet I do it anyway.' '' Peer pressure cleared the air at The Putnam Funds. In 1980, about 10 of the 40 people at the firm's bi-weekly financial strategy meetings would light up. Today, none does. " No one ever said'a word to me, but it became apparent that it was no;longer acceptable, " Porter says. Of course, a few smoke-filled rooms are still to be found in corporate America. But they're an endangered species. " Most people - non-smokers a re clearly in the majority - think we're crazy,'' says George Page, executive editor of the TV series '"Nature. 'Page says he still smokes In front of his nonsmoking, fitness-oriented boss, ''but sometimes you get kidded about it.'' Smokers are feeling heat because of: Health concerns: A 1989 Environmental Protectton Agency report called tobacco smoke ''a ma,or source of indoor air pollution.'' The EPA estimates that passive smoking in the workplace causes as many as 5,000 lung cancer deaths a year t2t 0 LEXIS * NEXIS IE x is`R-EX~ IS

Services of Wfead' Data Central, Inc. PAGE 22 (c) 1,990 GANNETT NEWS SERVICE, April 30, 1990 among non-smokers. Tobacco companies argue that the harmful effects haven't been proven. But to be on the safe side, most employers are adopting policies that protect non-smokers. Corporate performance: Smoking costs companies about $ 65 bi'llion a year in absenteeism and higher healthi care bills, according to the Office of Technology Assessment. A four-year study by Control Data Corp. found that pack-a-day smokers generated insurance claims 18 percent higher than non- smokers. Personal image: At some companies, smokers are fighting an image problem. More and more they're perceived as being weak-willed for continuing to smoke. As smoking, becomes more and more the habit of less-educated people - 35.7 percent of high school dropouts smoke, vs. 16.3 percent of college graduates - it becomes increasingly associated with lower skill levels. Even companies whose top managers are smokers are adopting smoking policies. Most top execs at Management Recruiters International, a Cleveland headhunting firm, are smokers. But a new Cleveland ordinance that entitles non-smokers to smoke-free offices is forcing a change. " The majority is going to rule, " says President AlaniSchonberg, who gave up cigars five years ago. When a company adopts a smoking policy, few smokers choose to quit their jobs as computer programmer Brenton did. Job-locator services say that only about I percent of their clients look for new-jobs because they couldn't live with the smoking policy at their previous offices. In fact, smokers would rather switch than fight. Enrollment in stop-smoking classes increases sixfold whenia company adopts.restricti'ons, the Smoking Policy Institute says. Policies also benefit smokers by spelling out where indulgence is allowed, thus lessening friction with co-workers who want clean lungs. ''I d'oni't think we want to go around offending people, " says WNET's Page. During the 1980s, several companies adopted a severe smoking policy: They quit hiring smokers. Northern Life Insurance Co. in Seattle pared the number of smoking employees to nine, down from,50 in 1983, with a hiring ban. ''We were always told that's a legal form of discrimination, 'President Robert Pugmire says. Such extreme policies are becoming more controversial. Last year, Oregon adopted a law protecting smokers' right to work, and 11 other states are considering similar measures. One reason: Smoking Is increasingly associated with minority groups - 35.4 percent of black men smoke, vs. 31.7 percent of white men. That leaves hiring bans aimed at smokers open to court challenges that they contribute to racial discrimination. Whether smokers' rights laws pass or not, the smoking habit is likely to remain socially unacceptable. Even Brenton, who after quitting Motorola tried to stem the tide of restrictions, didrn't have much success. His American Smokers Alliance now numbers only 2,500. Brenton, 36, works part-time as an i'ndependent cqmputer consultant. (Fred' Williams writes for USA TODAY.) SUBJECT: SMOKING W LEXIS' NEx IsOLE x IsOREKe ss