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Submitted by august on Sun, 2008-04-27 06:14.
 Secular Student Alliance board member Matthew LaClair is the author of an Op-Ed piece in today's edition of the LA Times. In it, he talks about the recent controversy where a nationally used American Government textbook was found to contain several mistakes and conservative bias. Matthew, with the help of the Center for Inquiry, alerted the publishers of the book (along with the media) about these problems. The full report can be found on the Center's website. Matthew urges students to not remain silent when these misstatements occur. He writes: What is most distressing is not that some public school teachers preach their religion, or that some authors put politics ahead of education. It is that it is so rare for anyone to call them on it. This text is widely used. Yet to my knowledge, no one has challenged these incorrect and misleading statements.
Submitted by august on Sat, 2008-04-19 18:47.
 From friendlyatheist.com A few weeks ago, Jennifer at Purdue University threw out the idea of having people swap their Bibles (or other religious texts) for novels: Fiction for Fiction. The event took place recently and Jennifer gave us an update: We ended up receiving a bunch of books, mainly Bibles or other Christian spiritual books. We also had people turn in a Book of Mormon, the Tanakh, and two Bhagavad Gitas. While we did get a lot of glares or confused looks from people passing by, we also got a ton of smiles. It was great to have people come up and thank us for having the event (since Purdue almost always has people passing out Bibles or preaching). A lot of theists (mostly Christian) came up to ask what we were doing. Once we explained that we were trying to promote critical thinking of what you read (and that we weren’t burning the books), many of them supported our message. On our second day we were actually set up next to a Baptist group handing out free popcorn, but they were the nicest of all.
Submitted by Lyz on Tue, 2008-04-15 07:25.
As a resident of Illinois, eMpirical Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth R.A. Liddell has been paying close attention to the recent controversy surrounding Illinois representative Monique Davis and atheist activist Rob Sherman. Here, she explains what's been happening and outlines a few things we can all learn.  | | Rob Sherman, atheist activist |
Submitted by Lyz on Tue, 2008-04-15 06:11.
The SSA is growing faster than ever! Since the beginning of March, we've gained thirteen new affiliate groups. Let's welcome our new members!
TCNJ Secular Student Alliance
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: TCNJ(AT)secularstudents(DOT)org
610 Cromwell Hall
Ewing, NJ 08628 Affiliated on 3/4/2008
University of Melbourne Secular Society (UMSS)
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Website: union.unimelb.edu.au/clubs/special-interest#sec
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: umsecsociety(AT)gmail(DOT)com
119 Wallace Rd
Christmas Hall, VIC 3775 Affiliated on 3/5/2008
Atheist Student Organization
SACRAMENTO STATE
Website: groups.yahoo.com/group/ASO_CSUS/
Group E-Mail: aso_csus(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Sacramento, CA 95814 Affiliated on 3/6/2008
Secular Student Alliance
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
Website: udel.edu/stu-org/ssa/
Group E-Mail: frank(AT)udel(DOT)edu
Secular Student Alliance
218 Trabant University Center
Newark, Delaware 19716 Affiliated on 3/7/2008
Scientific Understanding and Reason Enrichment (SURE)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: SUREucsb(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
6750 El Colegio Rd. #248
Goleta, CA 93117 Affiliated on 3/11/2008
Reason Inquiry Skepticism Empiricism (RISE)
CITRUS COLLEGE
Website: www.myspace.com/rise_citrusfreethinkers
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: citruscollege(AT)secularstudents(DOT)org
4922 N. Enid Ave.
Covina, CA 91722 Affiliated on 3/12/2008
Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics @ Stanford
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: stanford(AT)secularstudents(DOT)org
609 Escondido Rd Apt 226
Stanford, CA 94305-7021 Affiliated on 3/16/2008
Campus Atheists and Agnostics
MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY - MANKATO
Website: www.mnsu.edu/supersite/directories/rso/details.php?name=Campus+Atheists+and+Agnostics
Facebook Page
Mankato, MN 56001 Affiliated on 3/24/2008
Guelph Skeptics
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
Website: guelphskeptics.freethoughtassociation.ca
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: guelphskeptics(AT)gmail(DOT)com
36 Brentwood Dr.
Guelph, Ontario N1H5M7 Affiliated on 3/26/08
Humanist Student Association
INDIANA UNIVERSITY - BLOOMINGTON
Facebook Page
Bloomington, IN 47401 Affiliated on 4/2/2008
Secular Penn
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Group E-Mail: pennfreethought(AT)googlegroups(DOT)com
4002 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104 Affiliated on 4/2/2008
Atheist & Agnostic Alliance
University of London-Royal Holloway
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: adrianhayter(AT)gmail(DOT)com
B1B01 Wedderburn
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX Affiliated on 4/2/2008
Secular Student Organization
DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
Website: www.dsusso.org
Group E-Mail: derekhenkels(AT)gmail(DOT)com
410 SW 1st St
Madison, SD 57042 Affiliated on 4/3/2008
Submitted by Lyz on Tue, 2008-04-15 05:25.
 Charlottesville, Virginia
Dr. Thomson is a psychiatrist in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has a private practice of general psychiatry and forensic psychiatry as well as serving as a staff psychiatrist at the University of Virginia's Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy and the Counseling and Psychological Services of the University of Virginia Student Health Services. Born in Washington, D.C. he received his B.A. degree from Duke University and his M.D. from University of Virginia School of Medicine. Robert Wright's book The Moral Animal introduced him to the emerging discipline of evolutionary psychology. It is that new lens of evolutionary psychology that informs his recent work on a comprehensive psychological formulation of suicide terrorism.
Submitted by MaryEllenSikes on Mon, 2008-04-14 09:50.
Once more, high school senior Matthew LaClair, now beginning a term on the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) board of directors, has attracted the attention of national media by challenging some aspect of his public school education.
LaClair, 18, a student at Kearny High School in New Jersey, was disturbed by the way his Advanced Placement government text American Government presented such topics as global warming and the separation of church and state. He sought and received support from science and legal experts, whose criticisms are being evaluated by publisher Houghton Mifflin.
During his junior year LaClair recorded his history teacher for several days as he proselytized to the class and preached salvation through Jesus. The teacher was eventually disciplined, but LaClair was treated harshly by some community members and fellow students.
"I'm proud that Matthew is on the SSA Board of Directors," said SSA chair Hemant Mehta. "He represents the perfect example of what student activists can accomplish when they have the courage speak up."
Submitted by august on Fri, 2008-04-04 02:24.
 | Mobilizing Students for a New Enlightenment
... thanks to you
| Support the SSA Single donation    U.S. Mail donation form (.pdf) Monthly recurring donations  $50/month $20/month $10/month $5/month PayPal account required. You'll be prompted to create a new account if you don't have an existing one. WE are young people who ... Talk about ideas seriously. Live ethical & fulfilling lives without the supernatural. Think it is more important that we can live together than that we all agree. See democracy as an ideal worth living up to. Believe science and reason lead to more reliable knowledge than faith. WE are members of the ... The Secular Student Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible in the U.S. | Apr. 3, 2008  It isn’t often that a non-profit leader has the opportunity to report that his organization has grown more than 84% in a single year. But that's exactly what I have the pleasure of doing today. Since this time last year, the campus affiliate base of the Secular Student Alliance has increased 84%, from 70 active groups in 2007 to 129 groups as I write this e-mail. This phenomenal growth is great news for the SSA – it means we’re reaching previously unimagined heights in our mission to organize, unite, educate, and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human based ethics. But as chair of the board, I realize it also represents a daily challenge for our tiny staff as they struggle to meet the needs of a much larger than expected crop of freethinking young adults preparing to move into leadership roles in business, government, education, and culture. The SSA must raise $30,000 by June 1st to keep this momentum going. And we have a $4,000 head start toward our goal, thanks to the generosity of two donors. But there is another exciting development, made possible by a third generous supporter. Your gift can go twice as far, just by giving it now.
The $100 that would have covered speaker expenses for one campus group can now be leveraged for a second speaker on a second campus. The $500 that would have funded a regional activist training session for campus leaders can now be cloned in another region of the country.
The matching funds for a $1,250 donation will allow us to hire an intern for an entire summer. (You should see the amazing resumes we've been receiving.) But every gift, large or small, is very noticed, very appreciated, and very carefully spent at the SSA. If you can't support us at one of these levels, please consider an amount that's comfortable for you. Your donation will be precious to us no matter what its size.
Every bit of our work at the SSA is funded by atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other freethinkers who care about secular youth. We are an independent, democratic organization which would not exist except for the generosity and loyalty of our many friends in the freethought movement. Please click one of the donation options in the sidebar by April 11th to take advantage of the matching funds. Thousands of bright, young freethinkers are counting on your support to bring about a more rational future guided by secular values.
With thanks, Hemant Mehta, Chair Secular Student Alliance
www.secularstudents.org P.S. I almost forgot to mention the vital role played by SSA affiliate groups on college campuses. They provide a welcoming and stimulating community for students without supernatural beliefs, some of whom are open about their worldview for the first time in their lives. But there is still so much progress to be made! Please click one of the donation options in the sidebar so we can do more to bring this experience to every freethinking student.  |
Submitted by Lyz on Fri, 2008-04-04 01:00.
 Lori Lipman Brown is Director of the Secular Coalition for America, where she serves as the first Congressional lobbyist representing atheists. She is also a speaker on the SSA's Speaker's Bureau. She writes a weekly blog for The Humanist; we reprint select articles with permission.
Submitted by Lyz on Thu, 2008-04-03 23:56.
 In the last week of March, American Public Media's program Speaking of Faith featured Harvard University's Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein and humanism. The program is available online and was broadcast on public radio stations nationwide. In a recent Pew poll, 16 percent of Americans identified themselves as "unaffiliated," meaning atheist, agnostic, or - most prominently - "nothing in particular." Greg Epstein described himself that way until he discovered the tradition of humanism, and is now passionate about sharing an atheist identity driven not by a stance against religion but by positive ethical beliefs and actions.
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