Issue: 29 February 1916

One of the longest-running campus debates in the early years of the Iowa State Daily (by 1914 the Iowa State Student) was about smoking on campus. The newspaper was adamantly anti-smoking and occasionally had editorials shaming smokers and requesting people put out their cigarettes.

It was a losing battle. Many businesses near campus – Cameron & Company, Frank’s Place, M. Graves Cigar Store, Roman’s Store, Briley’s Store, and Fonteneli Confectionery in Champlin’s Store – specialized in tobacco products. Some even had smoking rooms. Student cigar/smoking clubs even popped up on occasion.