CHALLENGING DRUG TESTS

To the Editor:

I was astounded by the negative reaction of residents of Lockney, Tex.,
when Larry Tannahill, the father of a 12-year-old, challenged the school
district's drug-testing policy in court (front page, April 17). Last summer
my family challenged our board, which requires urine tests for certain
academic classes.

I want to show my support for Mr. Tannahill, and wish that residents of
Lockney who support him behind the scenes would also support him in public.
We should remember this quotation from William O. Douglas, the Supreme
Court justice:

"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both
instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged.
And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the
air -- however slight -- lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."

David Earls, Tecumseh, Okla., April 19, 2000