SG REJECTS BILL THAT WOULD ALLOW DRUG TESTING

Assembly also defeats bill requesting Texas flag pledge, moment of silence

Student Government on Tuesday rejected a bill that would require SG members
to consent to drug testing.

Another bill by the same author, architecture representative Bryan Pravda,
would have added to each SG meeting the pledge to the Texas flag, a moment
of reflection and singing of "The Eyes of Texas," was defeated by a single
vote.

Pravda said following the votes that his intent was to "make a point" about
upholding the integrity of SG.

Under the drug-testing bill, the SG president could have requested a
urinalysis test for the presence of illegal drugs from members of SG. If
any member tested positive or refused to consent to the test, he or she
would lose his or her position and would not be eligible to apply for any
SG position for six months.

The requirement would have been appended to an SG code of ethical conduct,
which was used only in 1995.

In Pravda's other bill, each SG meeting would have opened with the pledge
to the Texas flag and a moment of reflection, and would have ended with
"The Eyes of Texas," the official song of the University. The bill failed
in an 11-to-12 vote.

"I just don't see the purpose," said Garyn Shuler, a pharmacy
representative, during a debate before the vote. "I think it's a waste of
time."

In their last SG meeting of the session, some argued that incoming members
should not have a format forced upon them. Others said that reciting the
pledge to the Texas flag was divisive because many members are not from Texas.

The assembly tabled votes on two bills authored by Jordan Buckley,
two-year, at-large representative, because he was not in attendance.

One bill expressed support for the repeal of the provision of the Higher
Education Act that denies federal financial aid to any student with a drug
conviction.

The other bill proposed that SG "scoff" at the assertion that the UT Board
of Regents is more accountable to students than the Texas Legislature.
State legislators will decide this session whether to hand over the task of
setting tuition rates to the governing boards of individual universities.