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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 29, 1995)
EDITORIAL Court overrules students' rights Student Athletes in Vernonia may have to take aim at a plastic cup before they can aim for a basket after the Supreme Court ruled Monday that random drug testing for student athletes does not violate the students' con stitutional rights. The decision should not have shocked anyone Not only has the Court often sided with high schools that choose to abridge students' First Amendment right to free speech, but in almost every case regarding random drug testing it has decided that the benefit to the state outweighed the rights of the individual. The Fourth Amendment ensures "the right of the peo ple to be secure in their persons ... against unreason able searches and seizures" without probable c ause. How ever. in « ast's regarding random drug testing for Federal Aviation Administration employees, train workers and Customs employees, the Court ruled against the amend ment, citing that public safety was paramount to consti tutional protection. Drug testing is not unconstitutional, nor is it illegal to require potential employees to take a drug test prior to hiring them. At issue is the random testing of student ath letes without probable cause. In addition, this case is unique because unlike the aforementioned workers whose intoxication can kill or injure many people, the state's interest in testing students lies in the discipline of minors iather duo In the protm turn of the people Teachers in Vernonia. a northern Oregon town of approximately 1,700 people, said that prior to imple menting drug testing in 19fl0. they were bombarded with unruly behavior by students. The decision to apply the drug test to athletes came from the assertion that the ath letes' drug use was the main source of the problem. Not only does this assertion stigmatize athletes, hut in Vernonia schools it would be almost impossible for athletes not to ire the focus of any number of problems. With only about 300 students enrolled in grades seven through 12. almost 70 percent are athletes, according to Vernonia Superintendent Ellis Mason. Both school officials and the Court have singled-out athletes for testing because they pose a health threat to themselves and other players if they are under the influ ence of drugs or alcohol. This argument is dubious at best. It seems far more dangerous for wood shop students to be operating a skill saw while stoned, or band students to Is? carrying a tuba while wired than for the biggest men on campus to be speeding around a field in helmets and shoulder pads. Student athletes, and members of any other extracur ricular group, should lie tested for narcotics if their behav ior is erratic or otherwise indicative of drug use. This is probable cause. But lumping a group of minors in a cat egory a broad as "athletics" and subjecting them to ran dom testing is just an easy fix to a complex problem at the expense of the students' rights. In the four years that Vernonia tested students, only two students tested positive for drugs, but Superinten dent Mason said that several students admitted their drug use rather than taking the test. To that end. Mason said the policy has proved to be preventative rather than puni tive, and discipline problems have dropped dramatical ly in that period of time. Regardless of the Court's decision, random testing is, by definition, in violation of the Constitution. The ques tion the Court keeps answering with increasing ease is to which people it does not apply. Oregon Daily PO OOl >1M» tUCf»* 0*1GO* ft >403 The Oegon Darfy fmeraM <% pubfcfthed d*4y Monday through F rtd6y Ckxtog !'•*> tchooi and Tuneday and Thunday durwtg The 5umm» t>y the Oregon [Wy Emerald PutMw^g Inc a) the lW»wvtT of Oregon t ugene, Oregon TN> Emerald operate© wdapindenhy d the Unrverarty w4h ofhoee of Su*e >00 of the £ rt> Memorial Un*>n arxl « a member d the AftftoctaMd Pr**t The C merekJ «* pv-vate property The unlawful removal o* uae of paper* n proeecuiabie' by la* Editor 4rvCh*ef; DavwJ Thom Afteociate Editor* Mar cetane t award*. Samantha Marty- Sherry FWey. Srw*' $m*sh Designer Sloven Avtxyy Photographer Melody Conroy Night Editor Marcmano f dw&dt General Manager Judy ffcacf Advertising Director Marti Wetter Production Manager Mch**A Wo*s Advertising: Ann* A/nadc- t e* Yen Bah J^.vtn Goto* Heather Johnflon, he#1* l yoo 1»<na SNmeman CleaiVhed Bacfcy Merchant. Manager Production Tare GA-ft'iey Jerarfe Busin*** Kathy Carton* Scparv»*c* Judy Connory Distribution: John tong, f were fUkoct* Newsroom 346-S511 Display Adverting 346-371} Business Off.ce 346-S512 Classified Advertising 346-4343 ...— ......- .A ---*- V..... r (LEGALIZE DRUGS ?? WOW BACK 7t> Out Hk.UAMH.V KMtDUiD StX 4M0 VtOltHU ■ OPINION Summer, youth aren’t eternal JlAM 1. BoHkHt-CuNO “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may Old time is still a flying And that same flower that smiles trxlav. Tomorrow will he dying." — Roller! Herrick unimor A time for relax ation A time for enjoy V—/ men! A lime for merri ment and mirth But more important, a time to art like the collide student you are ... like an idiot That's right, like a com plete idiot. Yes,! do realize that f am being somewhat suphomorit and per haps a tad immature, but three years of college can do that to an individual I'm also realizing that I'm only young once, and I'm going to make the most of it So frankly my dear, / could give a damn what anyone else thinks I'm going to gather up my rose buds and sniff the daisies, 'i-ausu life's short; so have fun with it. It's the only life we've got. So with that out of the way, crank up the Rouges, grab a pint of ale and mad on for a smorgassboard of summer silliness. • Throw a party a big party. Start in the middle of a street somewhere and invite the whole neighborhood. Invigt the Eugene police department, too. Tell them the gas masks are qpmpli mentary. You provide the CS ga% Use 3 percent boric acid solution to clean it up. • Call up KWVA HH 1 FM at odd hours of the morning and keep them company If you get a 1)| named Norman, tell him he's a sweetie and ask him to play Men Without Hats real nicely. • Throw a campus-wide yoooiing conies! atop Johnson Moll First prize is President Dove's everlasting appreciation lor your exquisite vocal talents and an invitation to kindly get off his roof. • Rappel down the side of the center column in the Willamette Mall atrium and set up n base camp on the ledge halfway down. • Find a bunch of freshmen during InlroDUCKtion and go snipe hunting. • Dress up the Pioneer Moth er in a toga. Then, go put the Pioneer guy m front of Fenton I lull in drag Shave off his beard • Paint 13th avenue vellow and run down it screaming lines from the Wizard of (>/ • Storm up to the Em&rald office and demand my immedi ate flogging for writing such a ridiculous column • Have a barbecue in the woods. Dig a hole, line it with rn< ks Snot river rocks mind you — they tend to explode, and shrapnel can get m the way of a really nice day) Throw some thing on the fine burn it and eat it while grunting and scratching yourself the entire time • Hanglidu off the top of PLC • Throw a campus-wide Olympics. Do such events as the tire toss, the turkey (the super market variety) punt, underwa ter basket weaving, and the 100 yard st rank • Become a campus vigilante. Seek out evil-doers who park in the red zone and who ride their bicycles on the sidewalks. Pun ish them with 20 lashes from a wet noodle. • Memorize the complete works of Bill Shakespeare. Go impress your lit. professor. • "Borrow" one of those groovy OPS vans anti somehow get it to the top of Oregon Hall without scratching it or eating the dough nuts inside Don't forget to turn on the green and yellow lights. These are only a few possibil ities. Use your imagination. Be creative and try not to trash any thing Pull off a really clever practical joke — one that you’ll be able to tell your grandkids about in the years to come. Most people only go through college once, and then it’s off to being it working stiff So make the most of it. If you want col lege to be like Animal House, then make it that way! You only get out of life what you put into it And if that means being a prissy, wine-sipping milque toast. then you're pathetic and deserve a life of blandness But it’s not too late. Drink some beer. Ai t stupid with your friends, and wake up face down on the pavement with a hangover and a grin on your face. Y’ou'll learn, and soon enough you'll actually like the taste of beer. You won't need to act like a complete twit, it'll just come naturally. Loosen up and enjoy life. You might just like it. And if people get all high and mighty, remember what the late Prank Zappa once said: "F<8$‘ 'em if they can't take a joke " Jesse I. Bohrer-Clancy is a columnist for the Emerald. ■ LETTERS A COMMENTARY POLICY 1'he Oregon Daily Emerald welcomes letters and commen taries from the public concerning topics of interest to the Uni versity community. Letters to tin* editor must be limited to no more than J m words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must !«■ verified when the letter is submitted. Commentaries should l>e between 600 and H00 words, legi ble. signed and the identification of the writer must tie verified when the commentary is submitted. I he Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style.
