1-1                          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 815
 1-2           WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is proud to
 1-3     congratulate the James E. Taylor High School Decathlon team of
 1-4     Katy, Texas, for winning second place in the United States Academic
 1-5     Decathlon national finals at California State University at
 1-6     Fullerton; and
 1-7           WHEREAS, The self-discipline and dedication of this team
 1-8     have brought well-deserved recognition to the school, the
 1-9     community, and the state; and
1-10           WHEREAS, Since the establishment of this competition in
1-11     1982, Texas and California state champion schools have dominated
1-12     the national finals; the Katy-area record for the past five years
1-13     includes a national championship in 1997, seconds in 1998 and 1999,
1-14     and a third in 1995; and
1-15           WHEREAS, The Decathlon consists of written tests in
1-16     mathematics, social science, economics, literature, fine arts,
1-17     and science, and a live competition in speech, essay writing,
1-18     and factual recall; and
1-19           WHEREAS, Under the excellent tutelage of Biology teacher
1-20     Cynthia Swetnam and English teacher Susan Shellum, the nine-member
1-21     team compiled 49,845 points for its second-place finish; only 380
1-22     points separated first and second place; and
1-23           WHEREAS, Michael Griebe, Joshua Robinson, Charles Rubio,
1-24     Jackie Sokol, Cyrus Chen, Andrew Hsieh, Nick Vitolo, Leif Powers,
 2-1     and Amit Gupta brought a tremendous sense of pride to their school;
 2-2     now, therefore, be it
 2-3           RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,
 2-4     76th Legislature, hereby commend the James E. Taylor High School
 2-5     Decathlon team on receiving second place in the national finals;
 2-6     and, be it further
 2-7           RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for each
 2-8     team member as a tribute of the Texas Senate.
 2-9                                                          Lindsay, Brown
2-10                                  ______________________________________
2-11                                          President of the Senate
2-12                                       I hereby certify that the above
2-13                                  Resolution was adopted by the Senate
2-14                                  on May 3, 1999.
2-15                                  ______________________________________
2-16                                          Secretary of the Senate
2-17                                  ______________________________________
2-18                                           Member, Texas Senate
2-19                                  ______________________________________
2-20                                           Member, Texas Senate