UW-Platteville’s Student Senate reopened discussion Monday on proposed changes to the campus smoking policy that were made Jan. 28. The Senate will vote on whether to put the proposed smoking ban on the academic sector of campus to a referendum at their next meeting Monday, Feb. 11.In addition to voting whether to call a referendum, the Senate will also consider whether to make the referendum vote binding or nonbinding. If the vote is binding, the Senate will go along with the campus’s decision. A nonbinding referendum allows Student Senate to make a decision independent of the campus, Frank Moullet, Student Senate president, said.

“I don’t feel it’s appropriate for us to use a binding referendum on this campus,” Eric Hopfensperger, Senate business manager, said. Hopfensperger said the results should be used to learn about student opinions, and then the Senate should form its decision.

The referendum could be open to all people who attend or work at UW-P. In the October 2006 Pioneer Activity Center renovation referendum, 1,295 students voted, about 20.6 percent of those eligible to vote.

“The referendum would be open to administrative staff, support staff and classified staff,” Moullet said. He also suggested that the senate base its decision on student response only.

The two students in attendance at Monday’s meeting were invited to voice their opinions.

Tricia Mason, a chemistry major, questioned why the committee was not trying to enforce the current policy or establish designated smoking areas in the academic sector of campus. Jeffrey Schwan, chairman of the ad hoc committee, said the current policy is difficult to enforce and locating a designated area was proving difficult.

“I’ve seen that people were generally in favor of [the changes], but there was interest in having one or two areas in the academic space,” Hopfensperger said. Hopfensperger also said he is in favor of UW-P being entirely smoke-free.

“If the smoking ban goes through, I wanted to bring to view that it would affect a massive amount of people and not just those present at the meeting,” Tim Rindfleisch, a biology major, said.

On Feb. 4, the University of Iowa altered its policy to eliminate smoking on campus by July 1, 2009. The university will provide classes to help faculty, staff and students quit smoking and reimburse staff and faculty up to $300 to pay for the costs of aids to help them quit.

“I will be appointing a team to implement this policy, and the first task of that team will be to ensure that we are taking every step to help smokers quit,” Sally Mason, University of Iowa president, stated in the news release.

In discussions with Moullet and vice president Kenny Brotheridge, Chancellor David Markee said he encouraged Student Senate to go to the other UW-P governance groups with its report, findings and suggestions.

“The more broadly you get input, the easier it is to make a decision,” Markee said.

Schwan said he went to the UW-P Academic Staff Senate regarding the report, but they have not taken action. Schwan will be talking to all governance bodies on campus to answer questions they may have.

Markee would ultimately make a final decision on changes to the smoking policy after each governing body has discussed the issue. However, he has not picked a side.

“I really don’t know yet. I haven’t made up my mind yet on the best way to proceed,” Markee said. “Is there a way to accommodate a minority without affecting the majority?”

Potential changes to the smoking policy will be discussed at the next Faculty Senate meeting 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the University North Room of the PSC.