Current and incoming students at Ferris deserve to have the right to a private life that is not intruded on by our university.
With mandated drug testing, the university would be doing just that. Last week, an article in the Torch was published concerning mandated drug tests. Don’t worry; you don’t have to start chugging gallons of water to flush your system. There won’t be any drug testing.
Last week’s costly and preposterous idea of required drug testing for admission to Ferris will only discourage students interested in joining our university. And not only will it discourage students, but will also completely abolish their civil rights. Every student should not suddenly be lumped into a group of suspected criminals, especially without any prior evidence.
Yes, we’re preparing for the workforce and sometimes we’ll have to pee in cups to become employed, but we come to college to learn from our experiences so we know how to prepare for our future careers. Not everything we learn is taught in a classroom.
What a person does in his free time is solely up to that person. There is no reason Ferris should keep people, who may want to better themselves through education, from paying for that justice simply because of their choices. Doing so would be discrimination.
Drug testing individual students who apply to this university will cost the university more time and money than it will save them. Even if this were applied, current and future students would know they need to take a drug test and those who are worried would prepare accordingly. Repeated drug testing would just cost the university more money and be a big waste of time.
If the university puts the cost of the drug test on the student and you’re a student who knows you are not in violation of the test then why would you willingly pay for, let’s say, a $50 drug test every semester?
I wouldn’t. If I had to shell out more money on top of my tuition each semester for a worthless drug test, I would transfer to another school that did not waste my money or my time.
If Ferris did have the audacity to waste students’ time by testing for drugs, then they should also test for one of the most commonly used drugs on campus: alcohol.
Alcohol causes more deaths on college campuses than several common illicit drugs, according to a study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Task Force on college drinking.
Alcohol has also been proven to be more lethal than many illegal drugs, according to Robert Gable, in his 2006 essay “The Toxicity of Recreational Drugs.”
Surely this campus has witnessed celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day and Ferris Fest, where public inebriation is rampant. Drinking alcohol is just as unproductive as any other recreational drug. Spending a weekend binge boozin’ is as big a waste of time for the students and professors as any other substance in question.
There should be no discrimination based solely on drugs simply because they are not legal. If a recreational substance is going to be judged, then all of them should be and that should be done fairly.
No matter the substance abused, balance the choice to take that with your future. Whichever one is more important to you is your decision. Any substance can tarnish your future in some way if you allow it to.
We came to college for one thing: a degree that will lead to a career. Don’t let distractions change your main focus. n
If your “private life” involves illegal passtimes, I think a college has every right to know. It’s not discrimination – it’s keeping tabs on criminal activity. It’s no different than a police officer having a speed gun aimed at every car that passes. Not everyone speeds, but when someone rushes by at 100+mph, the police officer knows exactly what he or she is facing and is able to act, possibly preventing serious injury to the speeder and other drivers on the road. Drug testing every incoming student is no different. Yes, alcohol causes more deaths and problems than perhaps all illegal substances combined, but if we can eliminate the small percentage of issues brought about by those that are illegal, it is still a difference being made – just like the officer realizes that he or she can’t pull over every person going 10mph over the speed limit, at least he or she can take the most dangerous drivers off the road.
Yes, let’s ignore the problems that are directly in front of our face and instead spend all of our time and money on a small percentage of people, whose only crime is use. It’s ridiculous that the author of the original article wrote that college admission should be based on drug tests, meanwhile in a previous article states that students shouldn’t get MIPs for walking around town drunk.And again, this doesn’t address the issue of the cost or the fact that a person will prepare for the test.This holier-than-thou attitude, “we’re doing it to protect you” is complete nonsense.”If your ‘private life’ involves illegal passtimes [sic], I think a college has every right to know”. I am willing to bet money you have downloaded music illegally. I’m also willing to bet money you have exceeded the speed limit. Should Ferris monitor your computer and deny your admittance for downloading a song off a sketchy website? Should Ferris install black boxes in your car and deny admittance because you speed?Interestingly enough, a typical piracy lawsuit will cost more and more negatively affect a college student’s life than a simple possession charge. Speeding puts more people at risk than personal drug use. Obviously this selective enforcement policy isn’t for the student’s own well-being.There is one thing that should matter: class performance. If a student uses illegal drugs and has a 4.0, who is to say they can’t go here because they tested positive? Again, what does that prove? If a student is failing because they are going to class high, kick them out of school. If a person is on drugs in public or on the job, arrest or fire them. But for the simple act of use, denial of admittance to school is more harmful than something like marijuana use itself.
To the author of this article: It’s completely apparent that you stole every single point of this article from my comment on the previous article. When do I get my cut, and when can I take over your job?
I have a “holier-than-thou” attitude? Thank you for correcting my spelling mistake. How dare I let an extra letter slip into the word pastime. I’m sure I’ll never live it down. And thinking all the authors points were made simply because you posted a comment on the previous article? Get over yourself. Some people actually do share your opinions and views. I happen to not be one of them, but Mr. Shelton apparently is. Have some respect.
Edit: author’s points. I wouldn’t want you to take a red pen to my comment again.
Lol this is from the comment, word for word. ” If you decide to test for illegal drugs, you might as well test for the
most common drugs on college campuses: alcohol and tobacco. ”
Go back and look and tell me that doesn’t sound strangely similar to exactly what this article said. The points were in the exact same order. It wasn’t just that sentence. But yes, I’ll have some respect for someone who plagiarized my comment and got paid for it. All in all, I don’t think that a person’s right to privacy should be overridden because of a few bad apples, so I’ll leave you with this.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came%E2%80%A6
You make bold claims – that is fun.
I agree with much of your content, but differ in your delivery. Particularly when you decide this is somehow personal. It’s an issue for society. And giving up these rights is a slippery slope that must be resisted.
As for claiming plagiarism, another bold claim. You are also not the first to think these thoughts – did you then plagiarize? Ease up there…. Take a breath. And share your opinions without getting so personal.
Lol. No I did not plagiarize, because I didn’t copy and paste and add fluff to something someone else said. It wasn’t just that he had the same opinion as me. Read it if you don’t believe me. I know exactly what happened, because I did the exact same thing in highschool. I wouldn’t have even cared if there was some kind of mention of the comment on the last article.
And herein lies one of our problems in society: Far too many believe the definition of plagiarism begins and ends with cutting and pasting the words of others. That is far from the complete definition of plagiarism and what you did – despite your narrow views of plagiarism as shared by many others – is also a form of plagiarism. In fact, it could be the most prevalent, and arguably the most damaging, form. Think for yourself – and then make bold claims.
Lol what? I wrote all of that off the top of my head. That’s not thinking for myself? In a previous comment you claim that the person who wrote the paper didn’t plagiarize, but you say that I did? Because I have a common opinion?
Here, plagiarism.org will spell it out for you:
“The Poor Disguise”
Although the writer has retained the essential content of the source, he or she has altered the paper’s appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.
http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_types_of_plagiarism.html