Tuesday I traveled 250 miles south, returning to my hometown of Petal, Miss., to cast my ballot in the 2016 Mississippi presidential primary. Public records will indicate that I voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton; however, I feel compelled to publicly reckon with the lingering ambivalence that has accompanied that decision. Why Clinton? Hillary Clinton has a complicated,...
A little over two weeks ago I sent out my absentee ballot so that I could vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders. While I understand the droves of people supporting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the answer, for me, has always been Bernie. For the first time since I’ve been politically aware, I have a candidate I feel comfortable supporting morally. While President Obama...
Last week, two Ole Miss students traveled to the state capital to advocate for the implementation of a more effective sex education to be taught in middle and high school. This program, called “personal responsibility education,” operates to reduce teen pregnancies and to curb sexually transmitted diseases. If the Mississippi legislature passes this bill, this is great...
For many students, the 2016 election cycle is the first time you have had the opportunity to vote for the president of the United States. In the upcoming election, choosing a candidate will be no easy task. But, no matter what reasoning you employ to justify your decision, you really have two options: vote or don’t vote. No matter what you choose, be sure you understand...
I’ve been a writer since childhood, but only in the past few years have I discovered that my truest love is poetry. I adore line breaks, rhythm and intricate word play, but poetry, as a genre, can be a hard medium to share. People like stories. If you have friends who read, convincing someone to read a story requires persuasion, but nothing more than a well-placed please. ...
In Alabama, convicted pedophiles may have to give up more than their freedom to be released from prison — castration may soon be part of the exit exam. Alabama House Bill 365 would require people convicted of sexually assaulting children under the age of 12 to be surgically castrated before leaving prison. State Representative Steve Hurts has proposed this bill—or...
Creationism belongs in a classroom the same way discussions of unicorns do: it’s sort of a cool idea, if it’s true I hope magic was involved, but, ultimately, it has no merit for study in a valid scientific way. In a personal worldview, creationism and evolution can coexist peacefully. While the idea of creationism is little more than a fairytale to me, someone’s...
Science and religion have been at odds since before science was formally science. Since the 1920s, fundamentalist Christians have brought lawsuits against promoting the idea of evolution. Today, evolution is taught across the country, but there are still vestiges of creationism taught in the South. There are even Christian scientists that use the scientific method to defend...
On slow days, the House of Representatives names post offices. These are typically boring days, and each name is unanimously voted “yes.” On Tuesday, March 1, nine Republican representatives voted against naming a post office after Maya Angelou. Angelou, who died in May 2014, was a renowned poet and civil rights activist, and her voice has had an immeasurable influence...
