TL20071004-01 "Josh Dombroskie Staff Writer After 20 minutes of debate in front of an audience of more than 40 people, the Student Government Association struck down a bill Tuesday that would have given $2,224.40 to Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) for their annual fall retreat. The bill failed by a vote of 18-4. Had the bill passed, it would have been the first time the SGA gave funding to a religious organization on campus. SGA funds Hillel and the Muslim Student A s s o c i a t i o n , but considers those groups to be cultural, not religious. A new reso-lution was also i n t r o d u c e d Tuesday to support the SGA�s possible future fund-ing of religious organizations. The senator who introduced the Cru bill, John Eubank, also wrote the funding resolu-tion, which will be voted on during next week�s meeting. The money Cru wanted would have been used for a retreat and conference for the group. According to SGA president Jenny Haley, the SGA does not fund retreats and it also does not fund an event that charges students money. Eubank said he was extremely disappointed with the SGA�s deci-sion to strike down the bill. �I think the SGA has no right not to pass it,� Eubank said. �The SGA does not have a right to not pass that because it�s not in the FAC policy [SGA funding policy] that, they don�t fund religious groups or even retreats.� Although Eubank said he is not a member of the group, he does attend Cru meetings. He went on to point out that other campus organizations get funding from the SGA and still charge for those events. �T-Unit. Morgan State. It was $5 per student to go to the game. And T-Unit was also budgeted and T-Unit bought the tickets, so T-Unit can charge to go to an event. Why can�t Cru?� Eubank said. �I mean it�s just the SGA. It�s definitely a violation of reli-gious groups� rights.� Haley said it is not that the SGA does not fund religious organizations, they have just never asked the SGA for money. � T h e y � v e heard this rumor that we don�t fund them,� she said. �We�re obviously going to have to put together a cut and dry policy for next semester that we�re going to have to abide by. But the issue�s never really come up so it hasn�t been in our policy.� Haley said she wasn�t surprised the bill failed. �It�s within the consistency of the senate. We�ve never funded retreats, nor would we allocate that much money for them,� she said. Oct. 4, 2007 www.thetowerlight.com The Towerlight Published by and for the students of Towson and Baltimore -- twice-weekly Thursday Now on TheTowerlight.com: Have your questions answered by clicking �send Dear Matty a letter�... Patrick Smith/The Towerlight Senior Colleen Carrion, a math major, takes a drag of a cigarette outside 7800 York Road, Wednesday afternoon, but she may not be able to do so in the future. Yesterday the president�s council reviewed possible options about making Towson a smoke-free campus. �We discussed all the recommendations that were put forward by the [Substance Education and Concerns] committee and we sent back some thoughts on what we liked, what we didn�t like, and what we�d like to see expanded,� Towson President Robert Caret said. �Basically we are looking at several things. First, we�re looking at regardless of which direction we go, much more aggressively enforcing whatever policy is in place. Secondly, we will probably develop a much stronger education program, like we�ve done with alcohol abuse, to get people to stop smoking. And thirdly, we�ll move towards a smoke-free campus sometime in the future.� Possible options for enforcing the policy include warnings, fines and disciplinary action. Caret said a decision about details of the policy could be complete within the month. --Sharon Leff Smoking policy under review SGA denies Cru funds Failed bill prompts review of funding for religious groups by Student Government They�ve heard this rumor that we don�t fund [religious organizations]. We�re obviously going to have to put together a cut and dry policy for next semester that we�re going to have to abide by. But the issue�s never really come up so it hasn�t been in our policy. Jenny Haley SGA president �he rel See CRU, page 8 Pat Healey continues the family tradition on the pitch Sports, page 24 "
