“Drug testing needs improvement, not clearinghouse”

                   In the article, “Drug testing needs improvement, not clearinghouse”, (pg. 346-348) the author describes the process of testing truck drivers for drug use and the upgrading this method requires. The author, Jami Jones, explains the claim of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Director of Regulatory Affairs, Rick Craig, who indicates that there are many options of resolving the issue of drug use in truck drivers, but most of these will just cause issues. Privacy, security, and oversight were several of the concerns that Craig noticed with the clearinghouse route.  
              The next possibility that was reported successful is known as “Operation Trucker Check”, which was done in Oregon by the highway patrol there. This trucker check was completed anonymously and the results were shocking, 8 percent higher than the national average. Rick Craig explains that the results were so high due to the fact that some drivers take legal drugs as medication and the test did not account for that possibility. 
             Finally, he describes the biggest problem, which is that the drug free truckers are constantly subject to these different drug tests and are never rewarded for their drug-free position. The answer he provides for this problem is that the drivers who have tested negative for drug use will be tested less often and the other drivers will be tested the same percent as before, but in a smaller group setting. In my opinion, the other two options do not flow as well as this latter one. 
              The clearinghouse plan has many flaws and needs various renovations before it could be put to use. “Operation Trucker Check” also contains some errors and that is why I honestly believe that this last solution is the best of the different plans that were presented because it will reward the drivers that are drug free as well as test the other drivers in a more condensed situation of individuals. 

Leggings are not pants!

Black, white, solid colored, and patterned, long, medium, or short. Leggings now come in almost every form imaginable. Leggings are often pretty cheap depending on the design and are available to purchase in nearly any clothing store. Women and girls of all ethnicity, ages, and sizes constantly wear leggings as part of their everyday wardrobe. But there is a problem with this modern widespread fashion. Leggings are not pants. They are more along the lines of a slightly thicker pair of tights. Girls frequently wear leggings as a substitute for pants, but they are not because they are too form-fitting.

The original purpose of leggings was to be worn under skirts to add style or while exercising, in which case both men and women would wear them. As time continues to pass, I have noticed a discouraging continual slide of this generation slowly becoming less considerate of the items we wear. Girls are just asking for people to look in the wrong places when they wear leggings as pants. Maybe that is what some girls want, but not everyone wants/needs to see what body parts leggings flaunt. Is it that hard to just wear jeans instead, or even a longer skirt?

Another useful way to wear leggings, besides with skirts, is to keep one’s legs warm in the winter by wearing them underneath jeans. I hope women and girls will eventually come to the realization that I have pointed out: Leggings are not the equivalent of pants. I am not saying we should get rid of leggings all together, because there are other ways that one can wear leggings. I am saying that females should be more aware of the immodesty that leggings offer. 

"Race and the White Coat"

A subject that most people avoid discussing is racism/bias. The act of being biased has been happening since the beginning of time and has been continually passed down through the generations.  Dr. Rahul Parikh explains how racism even affects doctors and their patients in his article, Race and the White Coat. (pg. 213-216) He shows how African American people are often treated enormously different or not at all. Frequently they have trouble obtaining health care which makes it hard for doctors to treat them. Thus, they end up in the emergency room extremely ill. Often times, the sicknesses could have been cured if they had been treated by a doctor right away. In light of these observations, various studies of doctors were completed and the results were quite surprising. One study in particular indicated that numerous doctors think of African Americas as “uncooperative” or “bad”, which in turn affects how doctors care for them. When reading this article, my eyes were opened to the fact that racism is still an issue. Often times before even meeting a person of another race; we have already categorized them into a stereotype.  We do not even give people a chance to prove themselves different from the stereotype we have put them into. I realize now that the issue of being biased and occasionally having negative thoughts about other races will never completely go away, but the way that the minority is currently cared for by doctors and health care companies is something that can and should be changed.