I have no data to support the contention, but I'll bet most New Year's resolutions concern the problem of being overweight. There's nothing wrong with such resolutions, but there are other weighty resolutions needing our attention.
The trauma Buckeye fans suffered during the NCAA violations warrants some resolutions by The Ohio State University athletic department. Athletic Director Gene Smith had his salary bumped up in June from $450,000 plus bonuses to $1 million plus bonuses. Yet he admitted the teaching of the NCAA rules was "not as explicit with our student-athletes education as we should have been." Smith said the university would "further enhance" its rules education.
Because players master their playbooks, they should be able to absorb the bare fundamentals of the course: (A) Don't give anything away or receive anything without my written permission. (B) For ease of identification, all tattoos must be confined to the forehead area. (C) Never do anything that might jeopardize the bonuses the coach and I receive for conference championships and bowl victories!
On a little more serious note, the U.S. Senate should rescind its special rule allowing amendments to be attached to bills that have absolutely no relationship to the main bill. It is the standard parliamentary practice in all legislative assemblies and organizations to require that an amendment to the motion be related to the motion. Only the Senate exempts itself from this rule.
Under the Senate's distortion of this rule, it is possible to have a bill authorizing an atomic submarine and have an amendment attached to the bill authorizing a study of the sex life of the tsetse fly or the building of a cranberry museum in New Jersey. This rule is the birthplace of earmarks. This Senate rule makes the reduction of federal spending very difficult.
President Barack Obama would profit by making a resolution to spend some time at Camp David with Sens. Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson learning what discussion is all about, how to really reach across the aisle for cooperation, changing a demanding and severe countenance to one of conciliation and humility.
There is no area where new resolutions are needed more than the television news media. Television news has degenerated into pure show business. Somewhere there must be a television news school that turns out blondes with attractive knees and the ability to talk at the pace of a chipmunk - in fact, they sound like chipmunks! Announcers must be somewhat of a comedian and willing to interrupt a person and stimulate conflict at the drop of a hat.
Worthwhile news is subverted by a sideshow of news not worth our attention. Is the repeated jailing of a drug-driven actress really news? Must we ask a man whose wife has just been brutally murdered, "How do you feel about this?" Is every murder important enough to be constantly recycled day and night?
There are very informative news programs, but they certainly are in the minority.
Finally, I think all of us should resolve to do a better job of being a citizen. We have shirked our responsibility. Let's resolve to spend more time investigating, learning the facts and being objective as we make our decisions. We haven't done this - and we are suffering from our negligence.
Give some serious thought to making some resolutions - it's never too late.
