Pubdate: Mon, 07 May 2007 Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI) Copyright: 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Contact: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n549/a08.html Author: Willow Cole HSTA Contract SHORTSIGHTED TO AGREE TO RANDOM DRUG TESTS Chuck Little (Letters, May 1) can't be serious. No teacher is claiming the use of illegal drugs as a civil right. That's just ludicrous. What teachers are claiming is the Fourth Amendment protects them from "unreasonable searches and seizures." I'm a naturalized American citizen. I come from a country in which these rights are nonexistent, and people can be searched and arrested without cause at any time. Is this the type of political system Mr. Little would prefer we have? We in America often take these rights for granted and don't realize how precious they are and how easily they can be lost if we are not vigilant. To surrender them for a measly pay raise is a shortsighted and cynical trade-off from which there's no turning back. Just because a few bad-apple teachers were busted for drug use, it doesn't logically follow that all teachers should fall under suspicion. Willow Cole Honolulu - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake