CenLamar | Est. 2006

More often than not, college student government associations are farcical and ineffective organizations disproportionately led by kids who are attracted by the allure of vapid popularity contests and who are, at the same time, both too vainglorious and too naive to ever recognize their titles and responsibilities are completely worthless. That’s a mouthful, and I know, it may sound like a major burn. Don’t get me wrong: It’s certainly not a universal rule. My dad was the president of his high school student government, and he was a radically genuine human being. And I was always impressed by the humor…

When I launched this website nine years ago, I intended to write almost exclusively about my hometown of Alexandria, Louisiana, and for the first few years, I made good on that. But the more I wrote, the more I broadened my horizons. This story may seem hyperlocal, and if you’re unfamiliar with the cast of characters, it may even seem petty. But after considerable reflection, I think it’s important to share. *** A couple of years ago, after the movie “12 Years a Slave” came out, a family friend of mine- a wealthy, older white man who owns land not…

Nearly seven years after it was signed into law and despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, David Klinghoffer, a blogger for the Discovery Institute, a con-profit organization based in Washington state, continues to insist that the Louisiana Science Education Act (the LSEA) has absolutely nothing to do with promoting the teaching of creationism and its fraternal twin, intelligent design (which he calls a “scientific theory”), in the public school science classroom. In 2007, the Discovery Institute and the Louisiana Family Forum, a religious far-right organization that promotes Christian dominionism and has spent the better part of the last ten years…