Smoking Ban Implementation Committee meeting
Minutes for Feb. 25, 3-4 p.m.
Present: Doug Mell, Ted Harris, Britta Horeck for Joel Helms, Dennis Shaw, John
Achter, Neal Peterson, Phil Lyons, Joan Thomas, Jim Uhlir, Mike Smith, Janice
Lawrence-Ramaeker, Don Steffen
Absent: Phil Rizzo
Minutes recorded by Hannah Flom.
D. Mell brought meeting to order at 3 p.m. Committee members present introduced
themselves.
D. Mell suggested that at each meeting one of the issues related to the ban would
be discussed in depth.
D. Mell shared results from visit he and P. Lyons made to Winona State University
in Minnesota, Feb. 24. The university has a tobacco-free campus.
They shared the following facts about WSU:
--The ban is tied into their mission and values statement.
--They have a community liaison person.
--Their administration, esp. the president, is passionate about the ban.
--They rely on self-compliance and have had some instances of
noncompliance.
--The university has a similar layout to Stout; both are surrounded by the
town.
--WSU revealed that there has been no increase in smokers interested in
cessation programs since the ban.
--Not a lot of marketing preceded the implementation of the ban. They
posted on Web site.
--Printed cards saying that WSU is tobacco free, individuals can have them to
hand out.
D. Mell and D. Shaw commented on the importance of how to frame the message
to be sensitive to all.
B. Horeck asked if the ban could be tied in with Stout’s Smart and Healthy
Campaign. The materials will need to be changed and updated.
T. Harris asked what other UW 4 year schools have such a ban. D. Mell answered,
“None completely.”
P. Lyons mentioned that smoking on campus is not against the law according to WI
state statute.
D. Mell brought up other issues:
--Need to communicate with community and campus in positive way.
--What will signage look like and who will pay?
--Importance of defining policy. Tobacco free not smoke free. In the
policy approved by CWS there is a definition of tobacco.
J. Achter brought up how to link danger of chewing tobacco with cigarettes.
J. Lawrence-Ramaeker mentioned that the committee needs to be certain of exact
language of ban: smoke-free or tobacco-free.
D. Mell brought up topic of logo for campaign. P. Lyons and N. Peterson said they
would inquire as to available designers in their areas.
D. Mell shared Univ. of Kentucky’s tobacco-free policy on campus. Their Web site is:
http://www.uky.edu/TobaccoFree/. Committee members are encouraged to review
it, esp. their FAQ page to get ideas for our implementation.
D. Mell shared Web site that D. Steffen has made. It is not public yet but will go
public soon. He asked for feedback.
J. Lawrence-Ramaeker requested that Student Health Services be added as a link.
D. Steffen will do.
Committee agreed that announcing ban soon is important.
D. Shaw suggested putting ban rationale on page.
N. Peterson suggested adding link to survey results.
Web site existence will be announced in daily e-mail soon.
Group discussed success of smoking cessation programs on campus. Very few
individuals have sought them out. Focus will be to promote interest in them.
Group agreed that it is important for the university to reach out to help tobacco
users quit, not just to ban products.
T. Harris mentioned the importance of having direct consequences to
noncompliance. He described the approach of Red Cedar Medical Center for
example.
Two campus forums will be held in March. These will not be in order to debate ban
but to raise and discuss related issues.