I got some feedback, positive and negative, on the Justice Scalia/Affirmative Action piece. One person asked an interesting question about different admission criteria for football players, and that gave me something to think about. In Fisher v University of Texas, Fisher was not denied admission because her slot was filled by a minority student. Rather, … [Read more…]
Could tobacco addiction and the perfume industry be a legacy from the Black Death of the 14th century?
I thought I would invite some reader participation. My favorite opening paragraph to a book is from Homer Hickam, Jr.’s Rocket Boys, the source of the film October Sky: Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn’t know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were … [Read more…]
There’s this woman I know of, who has too many children. The unfortunate thing, however, is that despite the natural differences among them, she all expects them to perform and master new skills on demand: all at the same time, and at with same level of proficiency.
When discussing Lafayette growth, people assume we are an oil town. We are not; we are unique in Louisiana for our economic diversity. Oil Town? There are various ways to look at Lafayette growth. For instance, the petroleum industry is a critical component of Lafayette’s local economy and infrastructure. But there is a misconception that … [Read more…]
I remember a friend of mine who had earned his PhD at the University of California once saying that he thought Lafayette was more tolerant than Berkeley. That seemed unlikely to me, so I asked a mutual friend, another scholar who read constantly about politics and social issues, and who also traveled widely. “Certainly,” she … [Read more…]
For many years, I tried to identify the key differences between liberals and conservatives, the functional definitions, beyond the hot-button issues. I have not completely given up on that, but I have decided that the division between left and right is secondary, that there are more important considerations. To start, one of the things I … [Read more…]
In the oral arguments of Fisher vs. University of Texas, Justice Antonin Scalia raised some questions about Affirmative Action: There are those who contend that it does not benefit African Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, … [Read more…]
Syrian immigrants included my grandparents. Today we are accepted as Lebanese Christians, but 100 years ago we were not welcome, either.
The government has declared that women will be added to all military positions, including special forces. This is clearly a victory for women who have worked for such changes. Critics, people who insist they know better about such things, say that women slow down units, they aren’t as strong, they aren’t as mentally tough. I … [Read more…]