The Nobacco resolution created by a group of students and the Wellness
Center is returning to the La Crosse Student Association to be reexamined.
The original proposal was first introduced in the spring of 2013 with the
goal to make the entire campus tobacco free. Student Senate then put the
proposal to a referendum, a school wide vote of students.
The vote had a very low turnout, but the Nobacco proposal did pass.
However, the Faculty and Staff Senate voted it down.
In the fall of 2013, Jason Bertrand, the Wellness Resource Coordinator,
returned to Senate with a new proposal hoping for feedback on a few changes he
had made. The new proposal included having the sidewalks surrounding campus as
a smoking zone. A student Senator must write the improved proposal to introduce
to Senate.
One of two things could happen with the new proposal. One, Senate votes on
the resolution and either passes or fails it. The other option is Senate could
vote to put it to referendum during the spring elections.
Residence Hall Association Council Senator Molly Davies states, “I think
that Nobacco is a grand idea, but it targets people and has a lot of flaws.”
Campus staff would be required to go off campus to smoke if the proposal
does pass. With this thought in mind, Davies states, “The conflict with this is
that on public land at a public university, how can we tell someone that they
are not allowed to smoke. On the other hand, do other students not have the
right to clean air?”
Sophomore UWL student, Amber Mehr, states, “I don’t want second hand smoke
on my campus when I am just trying to go to class. We have a small enough
campus that the referendum could actually work.”
Two other UW schools have successfully made their campus tobacco free
within the last few years.
