First came the hype surrounding the arrival of head coach Phil Bennett and the dawn of a new era in Mustang football. Now, there is the arrival of another change affecting athletics on campus – in the form of a urine sample.

With the start of fall semester, SMU Athletics began implementation of its new Drug and Alcohol Education and Testing Program. This program includes random and regular drug testing through both SMU and the NCAA voluntary institutional testing program for all student athletes.

“I’m not sure if this policy will just be a repeat of past years and nothing serious will be done or if they are really going to put this program into effect,” said senior varsity crew member Kellye Rogers. “There was a drug policy last year, but it was pretty much looked upon as a joke. It was random drug testing given to the same guys over and over, and it usually was just football players.”

Part of the revamped policy includes coaches handing each athlete a drug test consent form. The athlete must sign and return the form before he can practice or compete.

“Our coach made it clear that if we didn’t sign it we didn’t play,” Rogers said. “It was pretty much a moot point we couldn’t protest.”

According to procedures outlined in the policy, athletes will be given 24-hour notice before a random drug test. An independent laboratory will be responsible for administering the test and will notify the athletic director with the results in 72 hours.

If a test returns positive, the student will be automatically suspended. The athlete will also be referred to the SMU Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, which will determine the course of counseling best suited for the student. The student must be retested with negative results and approved by the athletic director before returning to the playing field.

“The drive of the whole program is to alert the dangers of drugs and alcohol,” said Scott Secules, senior associate athletic director. “The counseling evaluation at the center is a big part of the first [violation]. They will be able to handle what type of treatment is necessary to help the athlete.”

If more violations occur, suspension or loss of grant-in-aid may be enforced.

“It doesn’t really apply to me because my lifestyle doesn’t involve drug use,” Rogers said. “But to me it feels like a slippery slope, because where does this apply to other students like people in Student Senate or who write for the paper or who are in band? If anyone else is getting financial aid, why aren’t they held to the same standard? Why should athletes be held to higher, special standards separate from other students?”

SMU and the NCAA stress that random drug testing is done to inform, protect and deter drug and alcohol abuse among athletes and to maintain integrity of athletic competition.

The extensive list of banned drugs has made many athletes curious about the purpose of the testing. In addition to stimulants, anabolic agents and “street drugs” such as heroin and marijuana are included. Caffeine and alcohol will also cause a test to come up positive for drug use.

“It’s not specific to performance-enhancing drugs – it includes a whole lot of other things,” Rogers said. “The purpose of drug testing should be about eliminating that extra competitive edge. By including caffeine, it’s like saying when you take a test do you have an unfair advantage over other students if you had coffee that morning?”

The athletic department says the list of banned drugs is under the NCAA’s championship policy and every college athlete is subject to its requirements.

There is also a policy concerning alcohol-related behavior. If an athlete is involved in an alcohol-related incident where there are no legal implications, the student athlete will be required to meet with the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention to determine whether he has an alcohol problem. Another incident could result in suspension from play and forfeit of financial aid if another incident occurs.

“If something happens like a student athlete receiving an [Minor in Possession], we need to know about it,” Secules said. “As far as anything else alcohol-related there are a set of people [on campus] we expect to hear incidents from. The university will let us know.”

If an athlete is convicted in an alcohol-related incident in court, his case with the athletic department will be handled as if he had tested positive for drugs.

Some feel this part of the policy is too vague.

“It doesn’t make sense that if you are over legal drinking age, why you should get penalized for drinking alcohol,” Rogers said. “And I don’t understand the policy on alcohol conflicts that are unrelated to the law, because those could be based on hearsay.”

The athletic department and the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention said their goal for the program is to educate athletes about the risks of alcohol and drugs and to stop use among athletes.

“There are a lot of other conferences and institutions that set their own policies,” Secules said. “It really is something that the student athletes support.”