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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Here
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U. South Carolina weakens drug policy
Interesting, considering what's going on in pro baseball. My favorite quotes in bold:
Quote:
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/colleges/university_of_south_carolina/12288882.htm
USC's revised drug policy gives athletes more chances
Instead of '2 strikes' rule, players can test positive 4 times before dismissal
By JOSEPH PERSON
Staff Writer
USC’s athletics department implemented a revised drug testing policy this week that gives athletes who test positive for recreational drugs, alcohol and anabolic steroids more chances to remain on their teams.
The previous wellness program featured a “two strikes and out” penalty phase, calling for the automatic dismissal of athletes who tested positive for a banned substance a second time.
The revised program, which took effect Monday, works on a “four strikes and out” basis.
Other elements of the program — types of banned substances tested, frequency of the testing and the tolerance levels signifying a positive test — remain unchanged.
USC first-year athletics director Eric Hyman says the revised policy is fairer than the “two strikes” clause.
“I’ve dealt with this for many years, and that’s pretty restrictive,” Hyman said Tuesday. “You can’t be carte blanche, either. There needs to be some punitive action that takes place. People make mistakes. The key is to learn from them.”
In a highly publicized decision in March, USC dismissed football player Demetris Summers for an undisclosed violation of athletics department policy. Sources confirmed for The State that the sophomore tailback from Lexington had tested positive for marijuana.
Athletes suspended under the terms of the former policy are not eligible for reinstatement, Hyman said.
Under the new program, athletes will be penalized as follows:
• A warning from Hyman and regular testing for a minimum of a year for a first positive test
• A suspension for 25 percent of the team’s competition for a second positive
• A one-year suspension for a third positive. During that time, the athlete is allowed to remain on scholarship and practice with the team, but cannot travel to or dress for games.
• A dismissal for a fourth offense
Suspension and/or dismissal for any positive test is at the head coach’s discretion.
As in the former policy, USC athletes will be subject to random testing and nonrandom testing for reasonable cause during the season, offseason and summer school. Athletes who are arrested on drug- or alcohol-related charges must submit to testing shortly after their arrests.
Athletes will provide a urine sample while being supervised to ensure validity, and the samples will be tested by an independent agency, USC head athletics trainer Rod Walters said.
Walters, who has overseen the testing program since 1999, said adjustments are made to the policy each year. Several months ago, former USC athletics director Mike McGee organized a committee to look at revising the drug testing program. Walters says the revised policy is “very much in line with many schools that we’ve seen.”
Drug testing has become a hot-button topic in the Southeastern Conference. During the league’s annual spring meetings in Destin, Fla., several football coaches, including USC’s Steve Spurrier, opened a dialogue with SEC commissioner Mike Slive about the need for uniformity in drug testing policies among the SEC’s 12 schools.
“I just think we ought to be in line with other conference schools, simple as that,” Spurrier said Tuesday. “Not any easier, not any harder, just right in line with what most state universities do.”
Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said coaches want to see a “level playing field.”
“I can live with just about anything. I’d hate to see a ‘one strike, you’re out.’ I wouldn’t be for that, naturally,” Nutt said recently. “‘Three strikes, you’re out’ or the ‘fourth one, you’re out,’ that’s fine with me.”
The State asked every SEC school for its drug testing policies this summer. Of the five that responded, Florida was the only other school with a “four strikes” policy.
Georgia and Vanderbilt both dismiss athletes after a third positive test, while LSU athletes are suspended for a year after a third offense.
Slive’s office is collecting data from each SEC school to study how their policies work. But Slive said he does not envision adopting a conferencewide testing standard when the SEC’s athletics directors meet this month.
“What I anticipate doing is looking to see what each school does in detail, sharing that, and then if schools wanted to say, ‘Well, we ought to try to be in confluence with one another,’ that’d be up to the institution.”
While acknowledging the more lenient penalties, Hyman said USC tests its athletes much more than TCU, where Hyman worked before taking over for McGee on July 1. Under the revised policy, Hyman will be more involved in the process when an athlete tests positive.
“I don’t want to delegate that to somebody else. I feel I’ve got to give it my best shot, too.”
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I like how they act as though they're at some sort of disadvantage with the old policy. Its not like you've restricted your academics or anything. God forbid the other schools try and get tougher, and come to you.
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08-06-2005, 09:44 AM
