Alsa not detecting USB microphone on system boot

I have a USB microphone that works fine, up until I reboot my system. After that, it doesn't work at all until I unplug it and replug it. Based on my (limited) understanding of the components involved, I think that ALSA isn't detecting the mic on boot (possibly because the appropriate module hasn't been loaded during the USB scan at system boot). So, my question is,

How can I either,

1. Configure ALSA to look for USB devices when it gets initialized,
2. Manually trigger ALSA to check for USB devices in a script I can
   run at boot, or
3. Make sure snd-usb-audio is loaded before the
   initial scan for devices?

I'm running a modified RHEL4 distribution, if that matters. If there's more information you need, ask and I'll add it.

From looking at /var/log/messages, here's what I see at boot with the mic plugged in:

Mar 28 08:19:04 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3
Mar 28 08:19:04 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: New USB device found, idVendor=08bb, idProduct=2912
Mar 28 08:19:04 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
Mar 28 08:19:04 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: Product: USB audio CODEC
Mar 28 08:19:04 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: Manufacturer: Burr-Brown from TI
Mar 28 08:19:04 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

If I later unplug the mic, I get a single line in messages:

Mar 28 15:10:52 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: USB disconnect, address 3

After boot, when I plug in the mic, I get the same output as above, but with one additional line:

Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 4
Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: New USB device found, idVendor=08bb, idProduct=2912
Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: Product: USB audio CODEC
Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: Manufacturer: Burr-Brown from TI
Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usb 6-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Mar 28 15:11:12 foobar kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio