STATE BAR HOLDS HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST

PORTLAND: The deadline for the Oregon State Bar New Lawyers
Division's annual high school essay contest is April 28. The first
place winner will receive $500, with awards of $350 for second place
and $250 for third place. The contest is open to all Oregon high
school students.

This year's topic addresses a newly proposed drug testing policy at
the fictional Mud Duck School District. All students in after-school
programs could be tested and barred for participation for the full
year if positive. Students testing positive will have to deliver
speeches on the drug use to the student body to be considered
eligible for extracurricular activities the following school year.
The New Lawyers Division will provide legal research materials,
including an actual case from Oregon's Vernonia School District that
went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995. Students are asked to write
a persuasive essay arguing for or against the drug testing policy.

Information: www.osbar.org/nld/essay/essaycontest2006.html;
5200 S.W. Meadows, Lake Oswego, OR 97305; or (503) 620-0222.