Town of Claremont Wants to Ban Beauty Shops...Seriously!

I'm really the last person to want to go to a beauty shop. I don't even like going to the barber and usually have my friends or family cut my hair.

But I have a serious complaint with the ban that the Town of Claremont wants to impose on any new beauty shops in the downtown village. Although I've sort of been ignoring the issue in the local press, let's take a look at what The Los Angeles Times has on the story.

Under the proposed ordinance, any new hair, nail, skin care, and tanning salons and day spas in Claremont Village would be restricted to second-floor or alley locations.

Backers of the proposal said the rules are needed to prevent an over-concentration of beauty businesses in the downtown area.

Is there really some kind of massive fear of ugly people descending on the town square? If so, shouldn't we make it easier for them to get help and not tuck their shops away in dirty alleys or upstairs?

At least one hair care specialist understands the affront to liberty this ban would pose.

Nancy Lodolo, owner of The Hair After, has owned her salon for 23 years and said she feels the city wants businesses that cater to high-income customers. Her village shop serves mainly college students and seniors.

"The city is lumping all beauty services together, tanning, makeup, spas, and that doesn't feel fair," Lodolo said. "They should let the market dictate the need. I just feel if a business is going to make it, they're going to make it."

Ah yes, letting the market, not beaureaucrats decide is a beautiful thing indeed.

Mudder On Jeopardy! with UPDATE

Harvey Mudd sophomore, Andrew Chung, is going to be on this year's College Jeopardy tournament!

I wrote about the successes of former C.I. editor, Daniel Pawson on Jeopardy! at the beginning of this year.

UPDATE 03/30/2008 HMC has put up a link to Andrew Chung and the other Mudders who've done well on Jeopardy!

It looks like even if he gets eliminated early, he'll be making some serious money.

NAME	AGE	HOMETOWN	COLLEGE
Joey Beachum Andrew Chung Danny Devries Tara Franey James Grant Jonathan Hawley Than Hedman Brandon Hensley Meredith Johnson Dara Lind Gabrielle McMahan Vera Swain Katie Winter Danielle Zsenak TBA	22 20 21 21 21 19 19 19 21 20 20 21 22 20 TBA	Tupelo, MS Arleta, CA West Bloomfield, MI Lexington, KY Manhattan Beach, CA Oceanside, CA Denver, CO Huntington, WV Chanhassen, MN Cincinnati, OH Springfield, VA Charleston, SC Hershey, PA Waukesha, WI TBA	Mississippi State University Harvey Mudd College University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Michigan State University Georgetown University Harvard University University of Colorado-Boulder Cal Tech University of Minnesota Yale University Florida A&M University University of South Carolina Tufts University Marquette University University of Wisconsin-Madison

In the first week of the competition, each player will appear in one of the five episodes. The winners of each of these shows, along with the next four highest money earners, will go on to the semi-finals. In the second week, the nine semi-finalists will compete in three episodes for a place in the two-game final match. The second place contestant is guaranteed a minimum of $50,000, and third place pockets a minimum of $25,000. Semi-finalists receive $10,000, and players eliminated in the first week receive $5,000.