MINUTES
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS
Monday, March 14, 2005
2:00 p.m.
Capitol Extension, Room E1.016
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.18, a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Nominations
was held on Monday, March 14, 2005, in the Capitol Extension,
Room E1.016, at Austin, Texas.
*****
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Jon Lindsay
Senator Bob Deuell
Senator Gonzalo Barrientos
Senator Kevin Eltife
Senator Mike Jackson
Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr.
Senator Jane Nelson
*****
The chair called the meeting to order at 4:13 p.m. There being
a quorum present, the following business was transacted:
The following members arrived after the roll was called: Senator
Eltife and Senator Jackson.
Senator Nelson moved adoption of the minutes from the previous
hearing held on March 7, 2005; without objection, it was so
ordered.
Chairman Lindsay recognized Senator Ken Armbrister for an
introduction. Senator Armbrister introduced John Barnhill who
was appointed to the University of Texas System Board of
Regents. Armbrister gave a brief bio on Barnhill, who worked his
way through the ranks of that little creamery in Brenham, Texas,
and has since retired from Bluebell Ice Cream. Barnhill is a
University of Texas Alumni as well as a past UT Alumni
Association president and is also experienced with the
legislature; he was formerly chief of staff for ex-Governor
Price Daniels. Because of his leadership skills and dedication
to the public service, Barnhill was lauded by Armbrister as
being one of the best appointees in a long time.
Chairman Lindsay recognized Senator John Carona. Senator Carona
introduced his constituent and re-appointee to the UT Board of
Regents, Robert Rowling. Rowling is also a UT Austin graduate
and a graduate of Southern Methodist University's Law School. He
is chairman of Omni Hotels and president of TRT Holdings, Omni's
parent company. Senator Carona praised Rowling's vast experience
and proven commitment to service.
Both gentlemen made brief comments about themselves, their
families and time served on the Board, then opened themselves up
for questions.
Chairman Lindsay declared the two issues he wanted addressed:
tuition and admissions.
Rowling began saying that he had voted for the tuition increases
at UT Pam Am and UT Brownsville because enrollment numbers have
increased so rapidly around the system with UT Austin being the
exception. Per capita was down by 15% for the last two
bienniums, and, noted Rowling, even with the increase in
tuition, UT is the second cheapest tuition figure in the ten
most populous states. Rowling offered other possible solutions
such as changing the student to faculty ratio; also try to
create other flagship institutions in Texas besides UT and A &
M.
Barnhill agreed with Rowling saying he is thoroughly convinced
that enrollment is growing at such a rapid pace and appealed to
the legislature to fund as much as possible. He also said he
thinks the 10% rule allows a lot of students to get into schools
that normally could not get in but he thinks that it is wrong to
have only one set of criteria for admission.
Chairman Lindsay told the nominees he had picked up comments
from around the state's campuses and wondered if the 10 % rule
caused them to get better students. Rowling said that schools
like the University of Oklahoma and University of Georgia loved
our 10% rule because they were flooded with great students who
could not get admitted in Texas.
The chair recognized Senator Lucio who asked if they were open
to the idea of a medical school or a law school in South Texas
and along the border. Rowling replied that he thought a medical
school was needed more than a law school because we already have
enough lawyers. Lucio countered, saying we may have enough
lawyers but there are still a lot of kids who want to study law.
Lucio asked for their thoughts on finding alternative revenue
sources. Barnhill addressed the need to fill the gap concerning
the influx of Hispanic student. He also talked about research
dollars for technology filtering down and mentioned fundraising
although the schools were too young to generate much alumni
funding at this time. Lucio asked about having a student regent
and regents by region, mentioning his concern that his region
was unrepresented. Rowling said it would be hard for a student
from one of the UT campuses to know about all of them since they
were all different. Barnhill added that it would be difficult
for a student to know about the health institutions, such as M.
D. Anderson.
Chairman Lindsay recognized Vice-chairman Deuell who asked for
their thoughts about a bill that would require the regents to
have public testimony-Barnhill and Rowling both said that the
meetings were too long and that taking time for public testimony
would be the main problem.
Chairman Lindsay recognized Senator Barrientos who commended the
men on their service and thanked them for visiting his office.
Barrientos informed the committee that he had passed the top 10%
rule and had tried for ten years to get a student regent allowed
on the board but finally passed it off to a Republican who he
thought might have better luck. He quizzed the two men more
about why they thought a student could not handle the position.
Rowling said the time constraints would be hard for a fulltime
student to manage, Barrientos asked Rowling why a student could
not handle the schedule if he (Rowling) was able to do it.
Barrientos asked Barnhill about his previous comment on the
influx of Hispanics and questioned him on the ethnic breakdown
at UT Austin. Barrientos also cautioned them to really breakdown
the number of hispanics in an effort to differentiate between
native Mexican- Americans born in Texas and those from Bolivia,
Argentina and other Latin American cultures. Barrientos asked
Rowling how he planned to address under-representation. Rowling
said personally he thinks the 10% rule has done nothing to help
ethnic diversity based on the pre- Hopwood UT studies he has
read. Barrientos said he was also using a UT study that differed
from Rowling's and asked Rowling to check out the different
reports. Barrientos also asked Rowling for his sources on the 10
% rule figures. Barrientos stated he was against tuition
deregulation, saying there is no such thing as a free lunch but
that we can do something that is fair. He asked the men to help
establish a foundation in this rapidly changing culture and
society.
At 4:57 p.m. Chairman Lindsay asked for a motion; Lucio so
moved. The committee voted 7-0 to recommend Barnhill and Rowling
to the full Senate for confirmation.
At 4: 58 p. m. Chairman Lindsay announced that the committee
would vote on all the non-appearing nominees listed with the
exception of Rita Esther Baca, nominee to the Animal Health
Commission, who would be left pending. Lucio so moved and the
committee voted 7-0 to pass nominees from the following entities
to the full Senate for confirmation: Angelina and Neches River
Authority Board of Directors, Animal Health Commission, Texas
Economic Development Corporation, State Board for Educator
Certification, Lavaca-Navidad River Authority, San Jacinto River
Authority Board of Directors and State Securities Board.
Chairman Lindsay asked for a motion to vote on the pending
business. Barrientos so moved; at 5:01 p.m. the committee voted
by 7-0 to recommend Geraldine "Tincy" Miller to the full Senate
for confirmation.
At 5:02 p.m. Senator Lindsay moved that the committee stand
recessed subject to the call of the chair.; without objection,
it was so ordered.
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Senator Jon Lindsay, Chair
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Jazen Wood, Clerk