local TV news. With every fear-mongering tease and half-hearted stab at actual journalism, I am reminded of the SNL skit from years ago with Jerry Seinfeld where they parodied a local newscast- “There’s a killer on the lose in your neighborhood! We’ll tell you where at 11!”

athletes trying to act. The latest damning evidence is the petrified performance of Sir Charles on SNL. The Knicks aren’t clamoring to make room for Paul Rudd on their  roster, so why do we continue to give a forum to these amateurs?

the NCAA basketball tournament. Technically, they should not have done something about it. I refer to of course the “First Four” (games between the lowest four at-large qualifying teams and the lowest four automatic bids). It’s gimmicky and captured the imagination of absolutely no one last season. The changes have little to do with injecting excitement into the tourney (which, to be fair, it already contains in spades) and everything to do with maximizing revenue on the NCAA’s most valuable entity…which means these needless games are here to stay.

higher education in the United States. According to The Washington Post, there was an average tuition increase at public universities of more than 8 percent (to $8,244) for in-state students and nearly 6 percent (to $20,770) for out-of-state students, and an average hike of 4.5 percent at private colleges (to $28,500). The public colleges point a finger at state budget cuts, and all of them point to the cost of attracting top-notch faculty. Meanwhile, 30 private college presidents earned more than $1 million last year.

handicapped parking abuse. I occasionally rail against the number of spaces (seems to me that it’s increased greatly in recent years), but in the brazen abuse of the placards is mind-numbing. I’ve been staggered by the amount of times over the past year that I’ve witnessed perfectly able individuals stroll effortlessly from their cars after parking in a handicapped spaces. I can only surmise that they have obtained permits illegally, are using someone else’s, or have some other malady that may not be physical. Okay, so these people aren’t trafficking in state secrets. But the practice is rampant, and a I would wager that a review of handicapped parking permit records would uncover scores of people that simply don’t need them. In fact, I’ll donate my time to perform said review.