DRUG-TESTING FOR COLLEGE ATHLETES.   Term Paper ID:16446 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Argues for testing. Trust, statistics, public views, role models, reliability, legality, discrimination, embarrassment, right to privacy, rights of society.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Argues for testing. Trust, statistics, public views, role models, reliability, legality, discrimination, embarrassment, right to privacy, rights of society. Paper Introduction: DRUG TESTING AND COLLEGE ATHLETES "The polls show us that in most people's minds, it is the number one problem in the country" (Smith 18). In this statement made in an interview with Newsweek magazine, President Ronald Reagan is justifying his administration's war on drugs. This war is partially in response to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicating an upward trend in certain kinds of drug use among high school, college students and young adults (Bachman and O'Malley 15). For example, the use of cocaine by college students is up to 17 percent while the number of students using cocaine in more dangerous forms (smoking rather than snorting) has doubled since 1983 (Smith 10). Further, those reporting daily use have also doubled. More importantly, the number of college students Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Thisprogram is beneficial to both the athlete's health and reputation whilealso providing the youth with appropriate role models. Organizationofficials feel helpless for they are dealing with athletes that developedtheir dependencies in college. Further,for some of the students, these privileges are accompanied by a completefour-year scholarship. Further, some statistics show that college athletes do notuse drugs any more than other college students (Selby and Weinstein 1 ).Therefore, the athletes not only feel that the tests are unfair, butunjustified as well. The focus of the arguments against collegiate drug testing is thattests are a violation of one's constitutional right to privacy. Simone Levant and Jennifer Hill, Plaintiffs, v. Any attempt to testfor drug use has been seen as an infringement of civil liberties and aninvasion of privacy. Why should drugs beseen differently than a hammer? As drug use becomes more and more visible in professional athletics,it is clear that something has to be done on the college level. Moreover, during the past two decades, thisdrug plague has spread downward from the adult population to collegestudents, to high school and junior high school, and even to the elementaryschool level. Thestudents' first argument is that the existing methods of testing are notreliable. 1988: 1.Lis, John. Likewise, poppy seeds, which contain traces of morphine, andsome herbal teas containing traces of cocaine can be mistaken for illegaldrugs (Groves 155). With so much attention given to the rights of the athletes, therights of society on a whole need some consideration. Then the athletes would not be subjected to testingwhile the message would get across to the public. This war is partially in response tostatistics compiled by the U.S. Works CitedAdier, Gerry, and Bob Cohen. Indeed, detecting the use of dangerous drugs cando just as much for the safety of the athlete as detecting an irregularheartbeat. In this statement made in an interviewwith Newsweek magazine, President Ronald Reagan is justifying hisadministration's war on drugs. For example, Len Bias, the greatestbasketball player ever to play in the highly touted Atlantic CoastConference and former number one draft choice of the Boston Celtics, diedof a cocaine overdose in 1986 (Adier and Cohen 16). As a result, drug testing of college athletes is anappropriate approach to halting the proliferation of collegiate drug use. As a result, athleteswould no longer fear being victimized by inaccurate results withoutsubjecting the schools to extreme expenses. Despite these methods of beating the drug testing system, there arealternatives to the current test taking conditions that would be lessembarrassing for athletes. Maybe college athletes should give up a little of this privacy sothat they avoid the Len Bias form of privacy. "Maryland Fails a Drug Test." Newsweek 4 Aug.1986: 16-7.Ayers, Dean L. As a result, use of drugs in collegiate years is rising. The drug epidemic appears to be infiltratingdeeper into society. In order to insure the safety of the athletes,these exams force athletes to meet special health requirements (Ayers 117). The possibility of inaccurate test results putathletes in danger of being wrongly disqualified from competition. Society is tired ofbeing battered by the violent, irrational and belligerent behavior of thoseon drugs. Bosworth thinks the "dictatorship" and its testing restricthis right to privacy. The athletes believe that it is a violation oftheir rights as students to be treated differently from the rest of thestudent body. Despite these complaints of inaccurate tests, there are testsavailable which can be used that would insure nearly infallible testing.For example, more thorough tests like the GCMS (Gaschromatography MassSpectrometry) and the HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) can beused in place of the current cheaper and less reliable tests. Consequently, athletesare against testing as long as the NCAA fails to insure accurate results. Further, those reportingdaily use have also doubled. National Trends in Drug Use and RelatedFactors Among American High School Students, College Students, and YoungAdults, 1975-1986. DRUG TESTING AND COLLEGE ATHLETES "The polls show us that in most people's minds, it is the number oneproblem in the country" (Smith 18). On the other hand, maybe the NCAA can use the athletes toscare kids away from drug use. 1987: 75.Smith, Richard M. However, many universities rejecttesting for they fear that accurate test results are too expensive toobtain. As aresult, Taylor outsmarted the test administrator but continued todeteriorate from his undetected cocaine addiction. Like taking one's bloodpressure, drug tests are used to protect athletes from hurting themselves,to find health problems before they cause serious damage. In response to this goal, many athletes andcoaches feel that testing in some sports is unnecessary for no drug can beclassified as "performance-enhancing." For instance, in an article printed in the Stanford Daily, Stanfordbasketball coach Mike Montgomery said that "drugs can't help basketballplayers." Montgomery believes that the use of drugs cannot affect theperformance of his team and therefore could not result in damaging theintegrity of the competition. 1986: 18.----------------------- 14 The possibility of using someone else's urine would be removedwhile still avoiding the watchful eye of the NCAA "piss monitors" (Lis 15,19). Youngsters want to run thefootball like Brad Muster, or shoot a basketball like Todd Lichti. Consequently, programs that have a direct effect on thebehavior of uses, like mandatory drug testing of athletes, have to beimplemented. National Collegiate Athletic Association, Defendant, 6 Feb. In fact,Mercury Morris, former running back of the Miami Dolphins who was jailedfor drug use, wishes there was a testing program that could have saved himbefore his problem got out of control (Mazda). 1986:21-5.Newman, Bruce. These programs have to start somewhere so why not try toclean up one of the most visible parts of society. Department of Health and HumanServices, 1987.Groves, David. As Len Bias, Brian Bosworth, DannyMcLain and many others fail to meet this responsibility, something has tobe done to stop the chain of abuse. For instance, somefeel it is inappropriate that "our athletic heroes, once thought to be themen dreams were made of, have been reduced to standing before the NCAA'scadre of toilet monitors" (Newman 1 ). For example, one alternative is to first haveeach athlete slip into a hospital gown or his undergarments. Roger P. In attacking the drug epidemic, the administration has to determinein which areas the reform would have the greatest overall effect. "Reagan: Drugs Are 'No. It appears that some are abusing their rights in a manner thatnot only affects themselves but the rest of society as well. Weinstein. Consequently, drug abuse of basketballplayers should not be a concern of the NCAA. Granted,athletes are not the only college students who abuse drugs. He states that "a conflicting set ofvariables precludes urinary drug tests from being proof of illegal druguse, but rather can only serve as a caution sign." In addition, Maickelpoints out that legitimate drugs and some natural food components can causepositive test results. Indeed, this method of testing isrude and humiliating for the athlete. To help drug users beforedependencies are formed, provisions need to be developed and sacrificesmade to help those like Mercury Morris now before they find themselves injail. "Random Urinalysis: Violating the Athlete's IndividualRights?" Harvard Law Journal 1 (1987): 93-95, 116-24, 13 -4 .Bachman, Jerald, and Pat O'Malley. Maickel, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology atPurdue University, testified that urinary drug testing can give falseresults 15 to 2 percent of the time. Consequently, those needing help for drug use will not be able toescape the treatment they so desperately need. Rockville, MD: U.S. Then, theathlete would be led into a private bathroom where the sample could becollected. 1986: 5.Selcraig, Bruce. However, while protecting theintegrity of competition is a concern, it is not the main focus of thetesting program. As a result, there might befewer people running around hitting themselves with hammers. On the contrary, the more these tests are used, the more they willbe mass-produced, and the cheaper they will become to use. They feel that what one does on his own timeis of no concern to the universities and therefore the NCAA should not careif the athletes use drugs. 1987:l .Reporter's Transcript of Proceedings on February 26, 1987. Not only are they granted theopportunity to enjoy their sport and receive quality coaching, but theyalso have free access to the university-funded facilities (weight rooms,training facilities) and equipment (T-shirts, shoes, sweatsuits). Indeed, the proliferation of drug use has to be stopped.For example, in Nebraska the problem has become so severe that even highschool athletes have to be tested. 1' Problem." Newsweek 11 Aug. The athletes, and notthe cafeteria hashers, are on the television week after week, swarmed bythe media and depicted as heroes. Health of Stanford VarsityAthletes. For example, Contac, Sudafed, certain diet pills,decongestants, and heart and asthma medications can register asamphetamines. Nebraskan officials are hoping to "getto the weeds before the crop of kids is destroyed" (Horwitz 16). Cowell Student Health Center and the Department of Athletics,Aug. On the contrary, according to the executive director,the NCAA is more concerned with protecting individuals from the dangeroususe of chemical altering drugs (Selcraig 75). For example,the use of cocaine by college students is up to 17 percent while the numberof students using cocaine in more dangerous forms (smoking rather thansnorting) has doubled since 1983 (Smith 1 ). "The NCAA Goes After Drugs." Sports Illustrated 7 Jan. Further arguments are directed at the embarrassing nature of testingitself (Reporter's 3). He hid the foreign samplewhile providing the appropriate urine collecting sound effects. Indeed, Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No toDrugs" campaign is not enough to stop the increasing drub abuse in thecollege ranks. 1987:15, 19.Mazda Sports Look, host Roy Firestone with Mercury Morris, ESPN, Los Angeles, 1986.Neff, Craig. Consequently, these students become role models andheroes for youngsters nationwide. Department of Health and Human Services,indicating an upward trend in certain kinds of drug use among high school,college students and young adults (Bachman and O'Malley 15). Furtherstatistics from the Department of Health & Human Services indicate that the"plateau" age for drug use is 22, an age when many are in college. Whether they like it or not, collegeathletes are the ones younger children emulate. Further, allpositive results could be retested to protect innocent athletes fromwrongful disqualification and stigmas. "NCAA Testing Violates Rights." Stanford Daily 1 Dec. It would seem understandable that along with theseprivileges, voluntarily accepted by the athletes, the university coulddemand a urine sample a few times a year. Yet scores of athletesconsent to annual physicals and thus readily give up this information.Indeed, they do so because they know it is in their best health interests.Is this not the same goal of drug testing? The NCAA's desire to impose mandatory drug testing on collegeathletes has met violent opposition from campuses nationwide. Athletes resent being handed a jar which they mustfill with urine in the presence of a NCAA official. Inaddition, these test results, targets for media attention, can causeinaccurate and unfair stigmas if they are false. Superior Court of the State of California, City and County of Santa Clara. However, those opposed to testing argue that the main idea behind theprogram is not the health of the athletes but rather the protection of theintegrity of the competition. Officials can just stand back, letting afew more athletes like Danny McLain ruin their lives and careers with drugaddiction and a few more like Len Bias end their lives as a direct resultof their drug use. If someone washitting himself with a hammer and the NCAA tried to stop him from hurtinghimself, would this be an invasion of privacy as well? In fact, tests for steroid use are not designed to keepplayers from making that extra free throw, but rather to save athletes fromthe resulting hypertension, cancer, sterility, liver trouble and kidneydisorders (Neff 22). "The Box Faces the Music." Sports Illustrated 24 Dec. Also, self-destructiondue to cocaine use caused the end of a promising career for Danny McLain,former point guard of the National Champion Villanova basketball team.Further, 21 percent of college football players, including All-AmericanBrian Bosworth, the most visible player of the 1986 season, were bannedfrom bowl games for their use of steroids (Neff 22). This requirement would further protect a participant'shealth and natural abilities. Inaddition, surveys show that the transition one makes from high school tocollege is accompanied by an increase in drug use (Bachman and O'Malley15). One can conceivably state that one's right to privacy shouldcover one's heartbeat and blood pressure as well. In fact,Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma University accused the "dictatorship" attitudeof the NCAA in "banishing him to Russia" after being disqualified forsteroid use. Morespecifically, one cannot help but notice the extent that the drug epidemichas infiltrated college athletics. More specifically, athletes argue that their rightto privacy covers their body and bodily fluids, along with their personallife off the playing field. Although Stanford University's Athletic Director Andy Geiger saysthat he prefers to trust the students in hopes to "avoid playing cops androbbers," it appears that some outside force, like mandatory drug testing,is needed to curb the athlete's use of drugs. As theproblems of drug use and related crimes increase, more direct anti-drugprograms have to be developed. The athletes already have to pass physical exams before they areallowed to participate. However, it is only in response tothe intricate test-foiling strategies developed by those the system istrying to help. As the heart rates and blood pressures are measured, why not check theplayer's urine as well. Consequently, asfewer youngsters discover their favorite ball player is using drugs, theless likely it will be that drug use will continue to infiltrate highschools and grammar schools. However, little value is given to the rights of therest of society "to get a little rest from the crime generated by theabusers' insatiable demand for drugs" (Horwitz 16). They argue that if the NCAA is going to test at all,they should not isolate the athletes but should test the entire studentbody. Many of these students are abusingwhat could be a great opportunity to help keep teenagers from making thewrong choices. These highlypublicized incidents have led to the discovery of extensive drug use amongcollege athletes. As previously mentioned, collegeathletes are a very visible part of society because of the public displayof their abilities. Another reason athletes should not expect to be treated like otherstudents is their public exposure. "Drug Tests in the Workplace: Are They Reliable?" McCalls May 1987: 155.Horwitz, Howard. Keeping these role models drug free is imperativeto slowing current trends. On the contrary,these athletes have been granted by the school a unique privilege toparticipate in collegiate athletics. If not producing admirablerole models, these tests would simply protect the athlete's health, keepingheroes like Len Bias out of the grave and on the basketball court. Yet, despite the athletes' protests, they should not expect to betreated in the same way as the general student body. However, how much of an invasion of privacy isa drug test? One way of doing so is the instigation ofmandatory drug testing of all college athletes. "What's So Bad about Drug Testing Athletes?" Human Events21 June 1986: 16.Leoesma, Bruce. However, "dueto the public display of their athletic abilities, and their status as rolemodels for younger individuals, the public demands that athletes conform tohigher standards of personal conduct" (Ayers 95). The NCAA's arguments for drug testing point out that the testing ofathletes is a logical place to start a collegiate campaign against druguse. Thus, President Reagan's statements reflecting hisconcern for the drug plague appear to be in accordance with thesestatistics. Another aspect of the drug testing program that the athletes areprotesting is that they feel they are being unfairly singled out of thecollegiate population. For example, Lawrence Taylor, a professional footballplayer, replaced his contaminated urine with a clean sample by concealing asyringeful of the clean sample in his trousers. As aresult, it is a bad influence for youngsters to see their stars drop deadfrom cocaine overdose. "Another NCAA Fumble." Sports Illustrated 7 Dec. Despite these discouraging trends,the finding which deserves the most concern shows that those who have triedthese drugs during their high school years have increased steadily to anastonishing 8 percent. However, with testing,drug abuse can be detected and treated in a confidential manner beforeaddiction or drug-induced death becomes front-page news (Neff 22). Therefore, a urine test should be a standard part of therequired physical. "New Phase Begins Today in NCAA Drug Test Trial." Stanford Daily 9 Feb. ThePhoenix Sun drug caper, Michael Ray Richardson, and John Lucas are a fewvictims of the latest drug busts in professional sports. Moreover, one has to wonder how much LenBias treasured his right to privacy, for all it got him was the mostultimate form of privacy: being surrounded by nothing but dirt in hisgrave. At Stanford alone this"trust" is very much abused as a recent self-reporting survey (which tendsto underestimate drug use) of varsity athletes indicated that 21 percentuse pot and 13 percent use cocaine (Selby and Weinstein 5). With all that the school isproviding for these athletes, it seems that it has the right to test them.Moreover, as NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers said, "if you don't agreewith the tests, you don't have to play college sports" (Ayers 118). Dr. RonaldDougherty of the Chemical Abuse Recovery Unit of Syracuse, New York isconfident that if test-producing companies devoted increased time andresearch into perfecting the more accurate tests, they would soon be justas inexpensive as the current tests (Groves 155). As a result, a national program has to be developed to givefirepower to this war on drugs: programs that would make drugs difficultto use while getting the people themselves turned off to drug use. As Digger Phelps, headcoach of the Notre Dame basketball team commented, "when drugs are out ofcontrol in society, somebody has to be a role model" (Selcraig 75). 1987.Selby, Rosemary, and Harvey M. More importantly, the number of collegestudents indicating that they had begun using coke and were consequentlyunable to stop has doubled since 1983. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.