Author
What is a modRNA vaccine and is it safe?
by Trish Zornio, Colorado Newsline December 16, 2020 The first COVID-19 vaccine is now authorized for emergency distribution, yet only 58% of Americans are willing to take it. It’s like racing to build Apollo 11, but Neil Armstrong refuses to get on board. Who doesn’t want to go to space? This is where the scientist […]
When can children get the COVID-19 vaccine? 5 questions parents are asking
Wesley Kufel, Binghamton University, State University of New York The first U.S. COVID-19 vaccines are expected in clinics in mid-December, and states are drawing up plans for who should get vaccinated first. But one important group is absent: children. While two vaccines are expected to be cleared soon for adult use in the U.S., testing […]
Northeast Louisiana was suffering before the pandemic and is in more dire straits now
By Jan Moller and Kristen Lewis Louisiana has had a year unlike any other. The Covid-19 virus has killed more than 6,500 Louisianians, sickened hundreds of thousands more and left people jobless and without the basic resources they need to stay afloat. But while the entire state is facing hardship, parishes in northeast Louisiana that […]
The complicated legacy of the Pilgrims is finally coming to light 400 years after they landed in Plymouth
Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences The 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ voyage to Plymouth will be celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic with a “remembrance ceremony” with state and local officials and a museum exhibit in Plymouth, England. An autonomous marine research ship named “The Mayflower” has been […]
Guest Column: LSU has good sexual misconduct policies. It needs to follow them.
Caroline Schroeder participated anonymously in a USA Today investigation into how sexual misconduct complaints are handled at LSU. While in school, Schroeder reported another student for sexual misconduct to LSU’s Title IX office. She wrote this column based on her experience with that process. After the publication of USA Today‘s article detailing LSU administrators’ […]
How you can help veterans — not just on Veterans Day, but every day
By Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Purdue University As the nation celebrates our 17 million living veterans, it is also important to know that the number of these heroes who are ending their own lives prematurely is rising. In the general population, suicide is the 10th most common cause of death, but among veterans with PTSD, it’s […]
Biden wins – experts on what it means for race relations, US foreign policy and the Supreme Court
Brian J Purnell, Bowdoin College; Morgan Marietta, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Neta C. Crawford, Boston University The American public has had its say and for the first time in a generation denied a sitting president a second term. President Donald Trump’s tenure lasted just four years, but in that time he dragged policy on […]
Count every vote: Patience is a Democratic virtue
By Micah W. Kubic November 3, 2020 In an unprecedented year, it’s only natural that we have an unprecedented election. It’s the first in most of our lifetimes to occur during a global pandemic, and one in which an unprecedented number of ballots, in Florida and nationwide, will be cast after being mailed to voters. […]
Access to abortion should not depend on where you live
By Petrice Sams-Abiodun On Tuesday, November 3, we will have the final opportunity to vote on Constitutional Amendment 1, which seeks to add anti-abortion language to the Louisiana State Constitution. This amendment is dangerous, and confusing. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Amendment 1 would make court challenges to abortion restrictions extremely difficult in Louisiana. […]
Anti ‘Defund the Police’ bill puts demagoguery over commitment to local governance
By Chris Kaiser Louisiana legislators have recently fast-tracked a bill – House Bill 38 – that would punish cities and parishes that reduce their police budgets by more than 10 percent. Nevermind that no municipality or parish in Louisiana has made any move to defund the police and that Louisianians face urgent challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic […]
Where’s Louisiana Tech’s loyalty to professors whose opinions provoke death threats?
By Andrew C. McKevitt Louisiana Tech’s motto is “Ever Loyal Be.” This month I learned those words come with an asterisk. When a politically motivated outrage mob deliberately twisted and misrepresented my words in an effort to get me fired and chill free speech on college campuses, Louisiana Tech’s leaders caved. In the process they […]
Advocates want to bulldoze highways that bulldozed Black neighborhoods
By Caitlin Dewey Stateline As protesters in cities from Richmond, Virginia, to San Francisco toppled statues last month, urban planner Amy Stelly allowed herself to hope that New Orleans might soon fell its own worst “racist monument.” For much of her life, Stelly, who is Black, has lived in the shadow of the Claiborne expressway, […]