Raleigh, NC Politics

Beginning January 1, 2005 all children under the age of 8 or under 80 pounds are required by law to be in a car seat or Booster that is appropriate for their size. Our 7 year old first grader had to go back in to a booster which he did with no complaint. He will ride in a booster until September when he turns 8. My complaint is that the law does not make a whole lot of sense. The reason for the law is safety. When a child rides in a booster the seat belt crosses their chest and shoulder but not their neck. So why wasn't the law based on height? Clearly there are many 6 and 7 year olds taller than some 8 year olds. Age should not be the determining factor.... So the law also says if you are 80 pounds you do not have to use one. You could have an overweight 5 year old not required to be in a booster while your tall skinny 7 year old is. I do hope that this law saves lives, I just think it could have been more clearly thought out.

The 2005 - 2006 Wake County School Calendar does not make a lot of sense if you have anything to do with running a summer camp or program that involves the employment of College aged students. The traditional school year will begin August 25, 2005. In most cases, this is at least one week if not two weeks later than students report to their college campuses. This will be a problem for the camps and programs that rely so heavily on the college age student to work in their program.

Conversely, the last day of the school year will be on June 9,2006. Once again this is not in line with college dismissal dates. Most universities hold graduation mid May. Here you will have your student working population out of school waiting for the students to fill the programs they staff. The North Carolina legislature did not fully think this one out.

This is another test post. I'm still trying this stuff out. I'll delet it later.