After a week of protests criticizing a complete smoking ban imposed on the 14 state-owned university campuses, students at one of those schools who support the prohibition today let their views be known.

At Clarion University, an ad-hoc group collected more than 500 petition signatures outside the Gemmell student center from individuals who said they are pleased the State System of Higher Education now forbids smoking, both indoors and outside.

The signatures were garnered on the same spot where about 50 students on Monday protested the ban, many lighting up cigarettes in defiance of the rule.

Organizers said the volume of signatures gathered in under six hours, starting at noon, indicates the depth of support for an initiative the group sees as making the campuses more conducive to learning.

"A majority of the people do not appreciate having to deal with second-hand smoke and the dangers that come with it," said Dominic Giallombardo, 22, a senior and political science major from Fenelton. "We're also hearing, more often than not, from people who either smoke and are trying to quit, or used to smoke."

The 20 or so students who collected the signatures are being supported by the Clarion University Health Science Education Center and Pennsylvania Students Working Against Tobacco (PA SWAT), said Thomas Schott, a university spokesman.

The ban covers 110,000 students and 12,000 employees at the 14 schools that also include the western Pennsylvania campuses of California, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock universities.

Its implementation last Thursday by State System Chancellor John Cavanaugh represents the system's read on the new statewide smoking law that took effect the same day, officials said. However, other public campuses in Pennsylvania, including the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University, read the law differently, and they are continuing to allow smoking outdoors away from building entrances and air intake systems.

One employee union has registered its opposition to the State System ban, and protests against it have been held on several campuses, including and California University of Pennsylvania.