Proposition 8, California’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, was declared unconstitutional Tuesday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision upheld the lower court’s decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger that the amendment violates Californians’ due process and equal protection rights.

This past week, I’ve been really involved with some local high school students, whether I was tutoring them after school or judging theater competitions on the weekend.

The Oklahoma Legislature went into session Monday. As usual, this incarnation of democracy is mostly ignored by the public, except for the predictable, frightening absurdity of some of the legislation. But the news isn’t all bad and embarrassing.

The “Personhood Act” has dangerous, absurd consequences.

College is where people go to learn. They learn about a specific subject area; they learn about the world at large; they learn about themselves.

In recent months, the prospect has loomed prevalently in our American university consciousness, and I don’t mind admitting I have found it rather exciting. As if the surging, youthful crowds and impassioned chants and cries of a burgeoning economic and social revolution weren’t enough, the cultural phenomenon has opened the door to a host of new topical jokes (my favorite involves the controversial success of the “Occupy Tibet” branch of the movement).

The current popular consensus is that smoking is a harmful habit practiced by people who neglect their own health. It seems like every day another disease is linked to smoking.

The Oklahoma legislature is back in session today, gearing up to consider 2,005 new bills and 1,822 still alive from last year.

The alarming escalation of the systematic crackdown on the Syrian people at the hands of their own government demands greater attention from the global community, especially here in America.

I recently sat down with the interim executive director of the OU chapter of Hillel, Daniel Reches, to discuss the role of Hillel in the university community.