SAFETY TRUMPS PRIVACY

I read your article on the the Supreme Court case involving drug testing of
students involved in school extracurricular activities ("Justices likely to
endorse expanded student drug tests," March 20, page A-1). If sports as an
extracurricular activity has a requirement of drug testing, I don't see the
harm in enforcing this same policy for all extracurricular activities. Why
should sports programs be treated any differently than other
extracurricular activities?

As for the questionable invasion of Fourth Amendment rights of the students
participating in non-sports extracurricular activities, I see the drug
testing as more of a condition of participating in that activity rather
than an invasion of privacy. Drugs are a serious concern in all high
schools. Just because a person does not participate in sports does not mean
that he or she is not doing drugs. The safety of others comes before
personal privacy.

APRIL RICHARDSON

Los Banos