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
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■ 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.
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versity community.
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