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The Student News Site of Louisiana State University

Reveille

The Student News Site of Louisiana State University

Reveille

The Student News Site of Louisiana State University

Reveille

columnists

Law enforcement officers look over the scene of an officer involved shooting in Torrance, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. The shooting is believed to related to the manhunt for fired Los Angeles police officer, Christopher Dorner. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Opinion: Dorner’s allegation shouldn’t be so easily dismissed

By David Scheuermann February 19, 2013

Cops hold a revered position in our society. Like the military, police officers are often regarded as heroes for simply wearing the uniform and doing their jobs. There’s a reason for that. In...

Opinion: The TOPS dilemma: redefining the ‘best and brightest’

By Ben Wallace February 18, 2013

TOPS is too expensive for the state, and the program needs an overhaul. Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, plans to introduce a bill (for the fourth time, he says) this spring that would require students...

Law Enforcement personnel block Hwy 38 during the hunt for accused killer and ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner in Yacaipa, Caif., Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. Dorner is believed to be barricaded in a cabin Tuesday after a furious gunbattle with police in the snow-covered mountains of Southern California, authorities said, the culmination of an intensive manhunt that left a region an edge for nearly a week. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Opinion: What Dorner can teach America about gun control

By Chris Grillot February 18, 2013

A week ago, hundreds of gunshots rang out in the hills of Big Bear Lake, Calif. Two men were left dead. One was killed by an assailant; the other took his own life. CBS reporter Carter Evans was...

FILE - In this Friday, July 27, 2012 file photo, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks in Hot Springs, Ark. Jindal is calling on the Republican Party to, quote, “recalibrate the compass of conservatism.” The Republican governor will deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

Opinion: Stats decieve, Republicans will make a comeback

By Landon Mills February 17, 2013

Democrats who hold seats in traditionally red states are already sweating the 2014 election season, and Louisiana is no exception. Not coincidentally, the most recent “push poll” declared...

Opinion: House bill designed to balance budget highlights more poilitcal posturing

By Jay Meyers February 17, 2013

Political posturing reached a state of frenzy Feb. 6 when the GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill requiring President Obama to submit a budget that balances the government’s books. ...

This cartoon depicts the country’s first president, George Washington. President’s day celebrates his birthday and honors all past presidents.

Opinion: George Washington was a divinely assisted badass

By John Parker Ford February 17, 2013

Today is Presidents Day, the day we celebrate George Washington’s birthday — and apparently all other past presidents. But screw all the other presidents, for they’ve got nothing on...

Authorities continue their investigation at the site in Midland City, Ala., on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 where a five year old boy was held hostage in an underground bunker before being rescued Monday. Authorities shot and killed Jimmy Dykes after a week long standoff. The boy who was freed from an underground bunker is acting like a typical 5-year-old by all accounts, playing with toys and running around, but psychology experts and a woman who suffered through a similar ordeal warn there could be long-term emotional scars. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Opinion: Dykes kidnapping incident proved merit of snitching

By Aaron Friedman February 14, 2013

After Jimmy Lee Dykes murdered beloved bus driver Charles Poland Jr. and brought 5-year-old Ethan Gilman down into his Alabama bunker, I was reminded of Schrodinger’s cat. Erwin Schrodinger devised...

Opinion: U.S. should follow Canada’s lead on pennies

By Gordon Brillon February 14, 2013

When I was young, my mom taught me a rhyme: “Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck.” So anytime I saw a penny on the ground, I’d grab it, slip it into...

File - In this Feb 6, 2013 file photo, from left, Joshua Kusterer, 12, Nach Mitschke, 6, and Wyatt Mitschke, 4, salute as they recite the pledge of allegiance during the “Save Our Scouts” Prayer Vigil and Rally in front of the Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters in Dallas, Texas. In terms of passion and drama, it promises to be a campaign that rivals any big election. For the next 14 weeks, the Boy Scouts of America will be the focus of prayers, petitions and pressure tactics aimed at swaying a planned vote by 1,400 Scout leaders on whether to ease the policy banning gays from membership. (AP Photo/Richard Rodriguez, File)

Opinion: Boy Scouts bicurious towards admission of gays

By Parker Cramer February 14, 2013

Word on the street is the Boy Scouts might allow gays soon?  I’ll believe that when an ex-Nazi pope retires.  The Boy Scouts of America, perhaps one of this nation’s most treasured...

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in St. Peter's Basilica on the occasion of the celebration of Ash Wednesday mass at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a solemn period of 40 days of prayer and self-denial leading up to Easter. Pope Benedict XVI told thousands of faithful Wednesday that he was resigning for "the good of the church", an extraordinary scene of a pope explaining himself to his flock that unfolded in his first appearance since dropping the bombshell announcement. (AP Photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Pool)

Opinion: Pope’s resignation creates opportunities for the Catholic Church

By Nicholas Pierce February 13, 2013

The Pope, infallible mouth piece of God and leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide, put in his two weeks notice on Monday. Benedict XVI has declared his intent to vacate the Throne of Saint...

Opinion: Obama administration’s justification for killing citizens is weak

By David Scheuermann February 13, 2013

The Obama administration has a funny definition of due process. Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder defended the administration’s right to kill American citizens who are allegedly terrorists,...

The "death bed" in the death chamber is separated by bars, foreground, from the witness viewing room at the Walls Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville, Texas, in this Jan. 25, 1995 file photo. Texas was the venue for the nation's most recent execution. Murderer Michael Richard died by lethal injection there on Sept. 25. Since then, executions in Texas and other states have been put on hold pending a Supreme Court decision _ expected no sooner than June _ on whether the standard lethal injection procedure can cause pain severe enough to violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, file)

Opinion: The death penalty is appropriate in some cases

By John Parker Ford February 13, 2013

Christopher Sepulvado woke up this morning, and he will go back to sleep tonight. Sepulvado, a 69-year-old Louisiana man, was originally scheduled to be executed Ash Wednesday, but has been granted a...