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From: gerber@mit-amt.MIT.EDU (Andrew S. Gerber)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Urinalysis...Lie Detectors...all th
Message-ID: <190@mit-amt.MIT.EDU>
Date: Wed, 14-May-86 12:15:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-amt.190
Posted: Wed May 14 12:15:26 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 16-May-86 05:22:01 EDT
References: <402@bu-cs.UUCP> <108@gumby.UUCP> <1239@dual.UUCP> <287@gumby.UUCP> <188@mit-amt.MIT.EDU> <930@puff.UUCP>
Reply-To: gerber@media-lab.UUCP (Andrew S. Gerber)
Organization: MIT Media Lab
Lines: 61

In article <930@puff.UUCP> mading@puff.UUCP (Eric Mading) writes:
>I have one very good reason for using drug testing and refusing to hire smokers.That is money.  If I hired a drug-free (except for alcohol, prescription drugs,
>over-the-counter medication, and caffiene) work force, my insurance rates would
>go down and each employee would have a lower health insurance deduction.  This
>equals higher take-home-pay in two ways (I could and would pay a higher salary
>and there would be a lower deduction for health insurance).  Also, research has
>shown the dangers smokers inflict on non-smokers and the dangers of smoking,
>not just to human health.  Smoking is a fire hazard.  If a smoker leaves his
>cigarrete or cigar still lit in his ashtray and doesn't put it out because he
>is going to smoke it later and forgets about it, the cigarrete or cigar would
>continue to burn shorter on the live end and, as anyone who has had a science
>course can tell you, the end that goes in your mouth would get heavier and 
>fall out of the ashtray and on the carpet.  This would cause a fire.  As a
>result, fire insurance rates would be increasing.  If I didn't hire smokers,
>I could keep my fire insurance rates down.

Mr. Madding, you are still using the same warped logic that Alcohol is
an "OK" drug but pot isn't.  Alcohol abuse kills THOUSANDS, perhaps
MILLIONS more people than THC abuse does.  

With your "save on insurance" logic, here are some more good ideas
that I'm sure you'll come up with to "save" money:

* Don't hire homosexuals, they'll get AIDS and die, driving up
insurance rates and costing more money.  Oh, yes, and we'll have to
give a lie-detector test to everyone we hire to SEE if they are gay.

* Don't hire Black people, on the average they live shorter lives, and
might die in the middle of an important project.

* Don't hire women, they can get pregnant and miss work, causing high
costs to the company.

This is a free country, and we are allowed to choose what we want.
You can choose who to hire -- if you don't take government contracts,
you can hire whom you choose.  I certainly don't want to work for you,
though. The feeling of opression and stagnation that would pervade
your company would surely be its downfall.

I'm not advocating the use of ANY drugs, in general, ALL drugs are
bad, and have a detrimental effect on job performance.  But you've got
to erase the media brainwashing which says "Alcohol is a GOOD drug.
Caffine is a GOOD drug.  Nicotine is a GOOD drug.  THC is an EVIL
drug.  LSD is an EVIL drug."

If I had to hire someone, I would look at their past job performance,
their physical appearence, and try to judge their emotional stability.
What they choose to do in their free time is none of my business.  If
their leisure-time activities conflicted with their job performance, I
would certainly let they know that they were not doing well.  I
wouldn't, however, stick my nose into their business.

					andy


-- 
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|  Andrew S. Gerber    		MIT '87             Visible Language Workshop |
|  gerber@mit-amt.MIT.EDU, gerber@mit-mc.lcs.mit.edu, gerber@athena.mit.edu   |
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