A campus-wide smoking ban referendum is part of the Stout Student Association's spring election, and it’s getting mixed reviews.

"I feel like it's a pretty good freedom to have on campus. I don't smoke, but people smoke all the time walking around. As long as it's not in the buildings, I don't see a problem with it," says freshman Sam Weinberg.

"I don't like walking out of the building and walking into smoke," says Brittany Hougol, a student for the smoking referendum.

Students and faculty at UW-Stout are only allowed to smoke 25 feet away from any building, but Chancellor Dr. Charles Sorenson says, they don't always follow the rules.

"We've done things like put containers out there 25' away and hopefully drop their butts in there, but they don't," Dr. Sorenson says.

So he says a campus-wide smoking ban would keep the grounds clean and the people healthy, but it could jeopardize the cleanliness of the city of Menomonie.

"Where will they go to smoke? Out on the streets of the city," Dr. Sorenson says.

After 5 years of discussion, Stout Student Association President Mike Leubke says it's time the students choose what should be done.

"We did a little research into it and we decided that it's probably time to poll our students and see what they thought about the idea," he says.

And so far it's a tight race. Tuesday night, an unofficial poll had the smoking-ban in the lead with 53% supporting it.

"I don't really mind it, but I don't do it. So, I mean it's not a big deal to me I guess," says freshman Pat Shelton.

Dr. Sorenson says if the referendum passes and he approves it, UW-Stout will be one of the state's first schools to make the switch.

"Higher education should be leaders in a lot of things like this because this is where change can take place," he says.

Chancellor Sorenson says he probably won't make his decision on the ban until the fall, so the earliest it would take effect, if it passes, would be spring of 2010.