Pubdate: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC) Copyright: 2006 Fayetteville Observer Contact: http://www.fayettevillenc.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150 Author: Earl Vaughan Jr. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUG TESTING DRAWS SUPPORT A sampling of Cumberland County coaches, athletes and parents of athletes had few objections to a proposal to conduct random drug tests beginning next year. And all saw benefits to the plan. Among the most outspoken was Gretchen McLean, a junior who plays golf for Douglas Byrd High School. "It's a way to make sure that the students stay safe, which will hopefully keep them alive and healthier," she said. Asked if she thought the testing was an invasion of privacy, McLean said, "I don't see trying to keep you safe and healthier a violation of privacy." A proposal to randomly test athletes and students participating in competitive extracurricular activities is expected to be up for a vote by the Cumberland County Board of Education at its Dec. 12 meeting. Members of the board's Policy Committee offered no objections to the plan during a Thursday meeting. The plan would include testing for about 3,000 students in the first year and be paid for through a four-year, $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Seventy-First football coach Bob Paroli, who is in his 49th year of coaching, has long been a supporter of the random drug testing of athletes. "My feeling is that if you have one young person in a school building that is using some kind of substance, that's one too many," he said. "If we have random testing of youngsters in after-school activities, we would go a long way to helping them understand it's a type of behavior they don't need to be involved in." Paroli said he agreed with Fred McDaniel, Cumberland County's student activities director, that the purpose of the testing is not to catch students purely for the purpose of punishing them. "The intent is to create a deterrent for the use of substances which no one, especially young people, should be involved in," Paroli said. Jack Britt football coach Richard Bailey agrees with the proposal in principle but has some questions about how it would be administered. "Who's verifying it?" he said. "Are we going to have an A sample and a B sample like in the bicycle races? I need to know more about how they are going to test and what the punishments are going to be." Bailey previously coached at Andrews High School in the North Carolina mountains. "We drug tested every athlete at the beginning of the year, and it was random after that," he said. "I would rather see something like that done, but I know it would probably be too expensive." E.E. Smith volleyball and girls' basketball coach Dee Hardy said she thinks it's a good step. "Maybe it will help some young people to understand they don't need to be dabbling with drugs," she said. "Drug use shouldn't be an in issue with athletics." Wendell Williams, father of Jack Britt basketball player C.J. Williams, agreed the plan is positive at face value but worries about the civil liberties of the athletes. "I think they would have to embark on an educational tour for all the student-athletes, so they would know what type substances can trigger a positive test," he said. "They should know once they come up with a positive test, it wasn't triggered by over-the-counter drugs." Kay Gilbert, mother of Terry Sanford tennis, cross country and track athlete Taylor Gilbert, thinks athletes or anyone representing the school should be held to a higher standard. "That's what I have always taught my kid," she said. "You have a standard. If you're going to be part of something like this, you have to set an example for people. I personally don't have a problem with it, but I'm sure some people will." Jack Britt sophomore football player Mike Mathis thinks drug testing is a good idea. "They can give me a drug test tomorrow," he said. "Athletes shouldn't be doing stuff like that anyway." South View football player Ryan Everitte thinks the testing would serve as a deterrent. "I'm pretty sure they would rather play football than do what they are doing," he said. "Players would straighten up and it would be better for us." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek