To Stephen Tyler Davis, the monologue of character Paul in “A Chorus Line” was pivotal.

Davis — an aspiring actor, playwright and director from Huntsville — played the character in a University of Alabama theater department production of the play last fall, and he said he wanted to convey it perfectly. In the monologue, Paul discusses the sexual abuse he endured as a child and his homosexuality.

“It was just a real part of a person,” said Davis, a UA sophomore majoring in theater. “It was a lot on my shoulders, and I wanted to communicate that.

“But with this bill, it completely squeezes the art of it.”

Davis is among those in the theater department worried about a House bill prefiled by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, for next month’s legislative session that would prohibit the use of public funds for activities that “sanction, recognize, foster or promote a lifestyle or actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws of the state.”

HB30, if it were to become law, would prohibit use of public facilities for performances of plays with gay characters, such as “A Chorus Line,” in addition to works by gay authors such as Oscar Wilde.

Books written by gay authors or books that have gay characters, as well as textbooks referencing homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle, would also be banned from state-funded schools and libraries.

Peder Melhuse, a UA associate theater professor, said he has little fear the bill will ever become law. But “if it did go through, I would certainly go out of my way to choose and vote for (productions) that went right in the face of the law,” he said.

According to HB30, public employees convicted of defying the ban would face the penalties of a Class A misdemeanor under state criminal code: a maximum $2,000 fine and at most a one-year jail sentence.

Four women representing feminist groups from Gainesville, Florida returned Saturday after getting arrested on charges of blocking the entrance to the Food and Drug Administration offices in Rockville, Md.

The women, including University of Florida Campus National Organization for Women President Kelly Mangan were among nine protesters charged with disorderly conduct by the Department of Homeland Security.

“Because the FDA blocked women’s access to the morning-after pill, we decided to block access to the FDA building,” Mangan said.

All nine arrested women are to appear in a Maryland court on an unannounced date.

If fined, Mangan said the protesters would refuse to pay.

The goal of the protest, which she said boasted more than 50 supporters, was to gain an audience with Steven Galson, acting director for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, who will make a decision on whether the morning-after pill will be available over-the-counter for women older than 16, Mangan said. Galson was not available to speak with the protesters.

Meal plans for all students living in campus residence halls could become mandatory in fall 2006, according to a first-draft report released earlier this week by Arizona State officials.

The proposed requirement could go for a vote before the Arizona Board of Regents as soon as January, said Sally Ramage, ASU associate vice president for student affairs. The meal plans cannot be implemented without the board’s approval.

If approved, the plan would coincide with the start of required on-campus housing for freshmen, and the opening of the first phase of the McAllister Academic Village residence hall complex on the south side of campus. All ASU students living in residence halls would be subject to the requirement, regardless of their class standing.

Ramage said mandatory meal plans are necessary to raise graduation and freshman retention rates, as well as provide a higher revenue stream to pay for improvements to ASU’s campus dining programs.

“The reason (a meal plan is) required is that it’s part of the room and board rate,” Ramage said. “We have to guarantee the number of people that are going to be using a given dining facility, to provide that access full range. We have to guarantee a source of revenue in order to accomplish that.”

Ramage said some of the money from the increased usage of campus dining created by the mandatory meal plans would go toward funding the construction of a new tutoring and dining facility and renovations of others.

Undergraduate Student Government President Sophie O’Keefe-Zelman said the draft proposal raises questions including whether low-income students can opt out of the plan.

“This thing is going to need a lot more attention,” O’Keefe-Zelman said.

Ramage said the plans would address the needs of low-income students, but she didn’t yet know how that would work.