WARNING: BANS MAY BE STUPIDER THAN THEY APPEAR

Matt Helm's article discusses the legitimacy of the law banning items such as dice, air fresheners, rosaries, etc. from hanging from the rear-view mirror. Due to its lack of enforcement, many question whether or not it is necessary.

Ron Jelinek comments: "I call it a 'gotcha' law. It's an excuse to pull someone over."

I feel that this quote is the most effective as it bluntly states the truth. The ban itself is poorly enforced and entirely vague. Unwritten connotations excuse some items while strictly prohibiting others. This leaves drivers to the mercy of whatever officers are patrolling the roads that particular day. For these reasons, I disagree with the ban.

While fuzzy dice do run the risk of obscuring blips here and there, issues such as drowsy driving, drunk driving, or distracted driving (driving while texting, calling, surfing the internet, brushing your teeth etc.) render drivers completely blind to their surroundings. Instead of focusing on little complications and details, I feel that we should place greater effort in minimizing these bad habits rather than diversifying the topic to include the most trivial of problems. I also think that while these laws attempt to better the driving of our state, nation, etc. there are other more effective/influential factors (such as our overall driving education program) that should be revised in order to assure safer driving.

LEBRON JAMES IS BLACK. WHO KNEW?

Mitch Albom chastised the sports world in his article It's not race, LeBron James, but it might be you for pulling the race card. He criticized Soledad O'Brien's decision to ask LeBron James if he felt his race contributed to his declining popularity. LeBron, of course, answered affirmatively. Albom then asks, if race is so important, why is race only brought up while decline? Albom reiterates how illogical such behavior is, and challenges readers to stop themselves from engaging in whatever racial profiling they might encounter.

I agree with Albom. Race should not affect one's opinion of another, especially when it comes to ability or popularity. I would also agree that LeBron's decline is properly linked to egotism, which, also may be the root of LeBron's decision to blame his downfall on something he can't control. I also think his point that LeBron was not the only one to blame. Why did O'Brien have to ask the question in the first place?

Albom states "Ego knows no color." toward the middle of his essay. I feel this is his strongest point, as it is a powerful, thought provoking statement. It strongly supports the main idea that race is not the root of LeBron's issue by bluntly stating that very point.