A bad idea in Anaconda

By Bill Foley of The Montana Standard - 06/03/2008

Bill Foley, Tap 'Er LIght

Where’s Ben Franklin when you need him? When the school board in Anaconda voted a couple of weeks ago to start randomly testing high school athletes for drugs and alcohol, it really could have used one of the all-time great statesmen.

Apparently, Anaconda has what it considers a major drug and alcohol problem. That problem is so bad that the school board felt the need to step in.

The majority of Anacondans seem to agree with the board, judging by a the question of the week at Butterats.com, where, as of Saturday night, 64 percent of the voters answered yes to the question “Do you agree with the policy and think other school districts should do the same?”

(Bloggin’ Twenty things a guy should never do and angry voicemails. Check out Bill Foley’s new blog at mtstandard.com/

blogs.)

The new

policy even acknowledges that it is infringing on the rights of the students.

“Students who voluntarily participate in school athletic activities and/or extra-curricular activities

have reason

to expect

intrusions upon

normal rights and privileges, including privacy,” the policy reads.

One parent whose child will be among those randomly tested said his child agrees with the new

policy because drug use at Anaconda High is so widespread.

That’s what made me think of Franklin, who way back in the 1700s said something like “Those who would give up essential

liberty to purchase a little

temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

If parents went to test their teenagers for drugs, that’s their right. By doing the same, the school board is stepping way out of bounds.

It’s hard to say what the answer to the problem is in Anaconda, though the solution

to any problem is never to start treating people like they are

suddenly no longer Americans.

Students have the right to

privacy and the right to be

treated as innocent until proven guilty just like the rest of us. No school board, teacher or coach should ever intrude on those rights.

In Butte, like most places, we definitely have a problem with people driving drunk. It’s a

problem that we’ve got to work overtime to fix.

Still, randomly pulling over drivers and making them prove that they are not drunk is not the answer because it would be an unacceptable violation of privacy, and it would be, simply put,

un-American. It’s un-American whether you are 17 or 77.

An argument I’ve heard from those in favor of testing the

students is that they test college and professional athletes for drugs. So, why not test high school athletes?

The problem with that is the NCAA, the Olympics and pro sports are testing primarily to

See TAP, Page B4

Tap ...

make sure the athletes aren’t gaining a competitive edge by taking performance-enhancing drugs. They are trying to bust Barry Bonds, not Tommy Chong.

The Anaconda board is just looking to identify and punish the Chongs of the world.

Of course, Dolphins

pot-smoking running back Ricky Williams is the exception. Williams, though, was busted for marijuana use while taking a test looking primarily for steroids. That the NFL got to suspend Williams for the wacky tobaccy was just a bonus for the

over-controlling league.

The NAIA doesn’t test athletes, though some schools, such as Montana Tech, test their players.

There’s a big difference between high school athletes and athletes in college, where athletes are usually playing for a scholarship, just like there’s a difference between schools and employers drug testing.

While it is certainly commendable that the Anaconda board members are trying to fix the problem, drug testing as they suggest will only make matters worse.

Undoubtedly some students — even clean ones — will be pushed away from athletics. Then students will have more down time to be exposed to drug use.

Plus, if drug and alcohol use is as rampant in Anaconda as they say, then it is a problem that is much larger than athletics and the school board.

Solving that problem is going to take education, awareness, initiative, money and some hard work.

It shouldn’t require us to suddenly forget we live in the land of the free.

The Anaconda school board needs to rethink this decision before it causes more harm than good.

So long, Bert

Years ago, while I was still in high school, I sat through a membership meeting at the Highland View Golf Course when discussion turned to remodeling the restrooms.

The problem for former Montana Standard editor Bert Gaskill was that the restrooms were repeatedly referred to as the “bathrooms.”

This bothered Mr. Gaskill, who, like me, was really bothered when people use the wrong word. After a while, Mr. Gaskill stood up and objected.

“There’s no bath tub in there,” he said. “It’s the restroom. The can. The John.”

Mr. Gaskill, who retired when I was 10 and died last week at 85, was known to be a stickler as an editor. He was also known for chewing out reporters and editors who didn’t get the job done just right, just like he chewed out the golf club president at the meeting.

Since I’m a product of the spell-check generation, I’m not sure I could have ever worked at a newspaper under Mr. Gaskill, though I’d like to think he would have whipped me into shape.

A few times in the past five or six years, Mr. Gaskill called the sports desk to ask why we had the times wrong for some national sport. Each time he called, though, he took the time to compliment me on a story or column I wrote.

Carmen Winslow, the paper’s associate editor, was hired by Mr. Gaskill. One time after a call from Mr. Gaskill, I hung up and told her “Bert Gaskill just told me I do good work.” Carmen had only one thing to say. “Wow.”

I couldn’t have been more honored if it was Ben Franklin on the phone.