Two of Currier House's four residential towers will be designated as non-smoking areas in a compromise housing plan announced last week.

Currier House Master William A. Graham, professor of the history of religion and Islamic studies, said he believes the measure will satisfy both the house's non-smoking majority and smoking minority.

"We're simply trying to respond to both smokers and non-smokers," he said. "We have so few smokers that it makes it tricky to do so."

Last month, some Currier residents complained that smoke from their housemates' rooms travelled through the house's ventilation into their designated non-smoking rooms.

According to the new plan, Tuchman and Bingham Halls have been designated as non-smoking build- ings. Smoking will still be permitted in roomsin Daniels and Gilbert Halls, but if a non-smokeris bothered by the smoke, the wishes of thenon-smoker will prevail, Graham said.

"The rule is the same as anywhere else atHarvard--if smoke disturbs someone, then thesmoking has to stop," he said. "It's still not alicense for smoking to disturb."

Without designating non-smoking towers, theproblem of travelling smoke is inevitable, Grahamsaid.

"With this architecture, smoke can pass fromfloor to floor, along the pipes," he said. "I'veheard the same thing about every other house thathas modern [construction]."

Zachary T. Buchwald '96, president of theCurrier House Committee, said the masters'decision is a "fair compromise."

"It should appeal to the vast majority of thehouse," he said. "It's going to make most of theinvolved parties happy."

And William A. Blankenship '96, a smoker wholives in Currier House, said the compromise is"fine."

"I don't think that's a concern for mostpeople, anyway," he said.

But William C. Donahue, a resident tutor inCurrier House, said he believes the compromise "ismore than kind to the smokers."

"I think it's a way of moving toward anon-smoking house, but I'm not sure," he said."Maybe it will come to the point where smokerswill have to live in a place like a co-op oroff-campus or something."

In a recent survey of Currier residents, Grahamsaid, only five to seven students among 150respondents identified themselves as smokers, withthe "vast majority quite-averse to smoking."

But Buchwald said his estimate of the number ishigher than Graham's but he said he still believessmokers are a minority.