Pubdate: Sat, 23 Mar 2002
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2002 Newsday Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Author: Associated Press

ACADEMY DRUG SCANDAL

Random Testing Increased for Air Force Cadets

Air Force Academy, Colo. - The U.S. Air Force Academy has stepped up drug 
testing and is putting more classroom emphasis on ethics amid the biggest 
drug scandal in the school's 47-year history.

Thirty-eight cadets out of 4,300 have been implicated in the scandal that 
began in December 2000.

In addition, six cadets have been charged or convicted of crimes such as 
larceny and sodomy, including the former president of the class of 2003, 
who is accused of stealing $9,000 from a class activity fund.

Academy officials have no simple explanation for the rash of crime, which 
has extended into this month with the arrest of a student on charges of 
raping a female cadet.

"We rely on the American people to send us their best. Every now and then 
we don't get the right people," said Col. Mark Hyatt, director of the 
Academy Center for Character Development, which concentrates on everything 
from dinner-party manners to battlefield ethics.

The drug scandal, involving mainly the use of Ecstasy and marijuana, is the 
biggest problem for the academy since 105 cadets accused of cheating 
resigned in 1965. In the past 10 years there had been only one other drug 
case at the academy, spokesman Lt. Col. Perry Nouis said, adding that 
officials believe the problem is now under control.

Because of the scandal the academy has made it clear that an admission of 
even one puff on a marijuana cigarette will result in expulsion and 
possibly imprisonment, Hyatt said.

"We have to do things right, or people die. When I come out of Baghdad, and 
I am out of the fuel, I am trusting that tanker pilot will be there," Hyatt 
said. "Because of what happened, we are not going to look the other way."

Academy officials have increased random drug tests in which cadets are 
summoned to the clinic and told to urinate into a cup, and the academy is 
considering DNA testing of hair follicles, which scientists say can detect 
some drugs up to 90 days after their use.

In addition, the academy is working ethics lessons into courses across the 
curriculum - even in chemistry class.

Of the 38 cadets implicated, eight were court-martialed, and seven of those 
went to prison. Twenty-one others have left the academy; some of those are 
being forced to repay the government for their tuition, while others must 
serve in the Air Force in the enlisted ranks. Nine others received lesser 
punishments.
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MAP posted-by: Alex