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.

The Secular Student Alliance is a founding member of the Secular Coalition for America, the national lobby for atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and other nontheistic Americans.

During the appropriations process for fiscal year 2008, Congress passed over 140 earmarks totaling almost $30 million in public funding for overtly religious activities. Americans' tax dollars are already supporting

• training programs for evangelical lay ministers
• homeless shelters that seek to convert clients to Christianity
• colleges whose students must believe in biblical inerrancy

... and the list continues. On April 2nd the Secular Coalition for America delivered letters to all 107 Congress members on its database of constitutionally suspect earmarks, and the Coalition's findings have been provided to those member organizations that engage in litigation (the American Humanist Association and the Freedom From Religion Foundation).

 

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37 Cities to Feature Movie Theater Event Focusing on Need for Church-State Separation in 2008 Elections

The Secular Student Alliance is proud to promote the First Freedom First program: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Separation of Church and State…But Were Afraid to Ask” March 26.

Actors, musicians and comedians will join church-state community members across the country on Wednesday evening, March 26, 2008 to put church-state separation on the national agenda during the 2008 election season.

Peter Coyote, celebrated Hollywood actor and filmmaker, will emcee the program, which will include such special guests as The Bacon Brothers (featuring actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael), actors Michael J. Fox; Jack Klugman; James Whitmore; Wendie Malick; Dan Lauria; and Catherine Dent; comedian and Air America host Marc Maron; singer/songwriter Catie Curtis and satirist Roy Zimmerman.

From front to back: Ryan Iacovacci, Peter Baker, Benjamin Brown and Kenan Arodak debated funding for the Atheist Student Alliance at Tuesday's SG Senate Meeting. ORACLE PHOTO/MIKE WILSON

This story originally appeared in the Oracle (the campus newspaper of the University of South Florida) on 3/19/08, and is used by permission.
Article by Candace Kaw, Staff Writer for the Oracle.

The Secular Student Alliance is seeking applicants for its Southern California Campus Organizing Internship (COI). This internship pays $10/hr. and all expenses are covered. This internship will require approximately 10 hours a week. The internship will start in late March or early April and last through early June of 2008 with an option to extend the internship or restart it in the fall. We are willing to be somewhat flexible in terms of time and stipend to meet academic requirements.

While approximately half of the work for this position can be done from any location of the Campus Organizing Intern's choosing, the other half will involve working directly on campuses in Southern California. Again, all travel costs will be covered. The position offers a highly flexible schedule.

The Campus Organizing Intern will help organize and support students who do not see theism as the source of morality--this includes atheists, agnostics, humanists, brights, rationalists and other non-theists. Duties will include working in person and remotely with student groups on campuses in Southern California to improve their operations, provide them with resources and network them with each other and the broader secular movement. SSA senior staff will provide training, direction, and assistance with all of these tasks. The COI will also work to start groups on campuses without groups via flyering, tabling and networking. The position will involve some traveling, public speaking, record keeping, lots of phone and email communication, and some possible resource development.

On June 6-8, 2008 the SSA will be holding its 8th annual conference as part of the E Pluribus Unum: Reclaiming Humanist Values conference being put on by the American Humanist Association and the International Humanist and Ethical Union. The conference will be held in Washington, DC at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel.

Student participation is key to the success of this conference.

Thanks to generous donations from the Roxbury Foundation, the American Humaniast Association, and other donors, we have established a grant fund to help offset the travel costs incurred by students who attend the conference. We are making $10,000 available in $100 and $200 travel grants.  Grants awarded on a rolling basis and will go fast. Apply for your 2008 travel grant today!

UCLA's Greg Graffin to Be Honored for Lifetime Achievement in Atheism, Punk Rock, and Science

"Cultural Humanism" Awardee is Seminal Punk Singer, Earned Ivy-League PhD in Evolution

CAMBRIDGE, MA­ — Harvard University's prominent community of atheists and agnostics is poised to honor a rock star and scientist whom they argue is an ideal role model for the nation's millions of non-religious youth.

The Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard has gained considerable national attention in the past year for its unique approach to building a culture and community for the non-religious, and this April 26 it will give its highest honor, the "Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism," to a unique figure: Dr. Greg Graffin, frontman of the influential punk rock band Bad Religion. Graffin, whose "day job" since 1980 has been recording and extensive worldwide touring with a band boasting such hits as "How Could Hell be Any Worse" and "American Jesus," earned his PhD in Zoology at Cornell and is a member of the UCLA's Faculty in Biology, teaching Life Sciences courses covering Darwin and natural selection. Graffin will give an acoustic performance after accepting the award.

"I always put education high on my list of priorities because I thought, Wouldn't it be neat if you can have a singer of your favorite band who also has something more to offer than looking cool -­ which I don't -­ or dressing cool -­ which I don't;" Graffin said. "Those are the things that I try to inspire young people to do, whether it is in the lecture hall or on stage on the Warped Tour."

But Bad Religion, considered among the most influential modern punk bands, has been known for inspiring young people towards a particular set of ideas: those of atheism and Humanism. Graffin's lyrics make plain his passionate disbelief in God. Yet the Harvard Humanists cite his faith in the ability of music and science to improve the world as making the singer unique.

We're sorry, but the travel grant deadline has passed and there are no more travel grants available at this time.
Even though you will have to pay your own way, we still think you will have a spectacular time at our 2008 conference and we invite you to join us there.

Hello Secular Student Alliance eMpirical Subscribers,

Catholics for Choice is a pro-choice, pro-contraception, pro-sexual rights and pro-separation of church and state nonprofit based in Washington, DC. We at the Secular Student Alliance know that very few readers of the eMpirical are Catholic, and we know that not all readers are pro-choice. We hope you're all pro-contraception, pro-sexual rights and pro-separation of church and state. We also hope that many of you will be interested in getting a free copy of Conscience magazine (www.catholicsforchoice.org/conscience/).