Case Dismissed: Rutgers Player Drops Lawsuit

Quick, name the starting five on last year's Rutgers women's basketball team.

Remember, "Nappy headed hos" doesn't count.

The subject of shock jock radio host Don Imus's politically incorrect blast last spring, the Scarlet Knights were dragged into the national spotlight for reasons other than their dribbling and shooting abilities.

And until yesterday -- when she dropped her slander and defamation lawsuit against Imus --Rutgers junior Kia Vaughn believed the incident had damaged her reputation irreparably.

I beg to differ.

Don't get me wrong, Imus's remarks were completely and totally unacceptable. Racial profiling and name-calling has no place in our society today. Furthermore, I'm sure the words were shocking and hurtful to the recipients.

But in the long run, wouldn't an event of this nature be the best thing to happen to a person like Vaughn? I have no idea how good she is at basketball, nor what her WNBA prospects might be. Basketball star or not, she did nothing stupid or illegal to earn this publicity, so any name recognition derived from the incident would probably conjure up feelings of sympathy, right?

Imus has apologized, and regardless of whether it was right for him to reclaim his job, it's time to move on.

Someday, Vaughn herself will be applying for a job. The potential employer may scan the resume, look at Vaughn, and ask, "Hey, weren't you on the basketball team when Imus made those idiotic comments?" Vaughn's ability to answer "yes" might be just the thing that separates her from the pack.

Of course, it's altogether possible that Vaughn has thought through this herself and come to her senses. Or maybe, as her lawyer said in a statement Tuesday, she just wants to focus on school and basketball. Either way, dropping the lawsuit was the right decision.