Author: Christine Rousselle

Recent events on college campuses around the country show that “political correctness” culture has gone far too far, and administrators are doing a disservice to their students by reinforcing the idea that colleges should be a place with no disagreements or conflicting opinions. Last month, Bowdoin College came under scrutiny when it was revealed that the school would be punishing students who attended a “tequila” themed birthday party in February. The offense? Not underage drinking or drinking in a dorm room, but some of the students committed the “crime” of wearing a tiny sombrero in some of the pictures, which…

By now, you’ve likely heard of the lawsuit regarding the disqualified signatures on petitions in support of a referendum to legalize marijuana for recreational use in the state. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap disqualified over 17,000 signatures due to inconsistencies with the signature of one of the notaries on the petitions—a “handwriting technicality” as it has been called. According to Dunlap, the signature is not a match with the one on file, and thus the petitions are disqualified. Conversely, marijuana legalization opponents are calling for an investigation into the signature-collecting process, noting that it’s very strange for nearly half of…

On Saturday, the country was stunned when reports began to surface saying that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had passed away at the age of 79. Well, at least part of the country was stunned. Another, uncomfortably large, percentage of the country decided that his death was cause for celebration and rejoicing. This kind of rhetoric is not acceptable and should be swiftly condemned if there is to be any hope for any kind of political compromise in the future. When Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2011, many on the left were quick to condemn people for celebrating the…

I love Maine. I was born there. I spent 18 years of my life there. My entire family lives there. Trading in my Maine driver’s license for the Virginia version was emotionally painful. I miss (nearly) everything about Maine—the food, the people, even the smell of the marsh in my hometown. That being said, I just don’t see myself moving back there any time soon. I moved to Alexandria, VA on June 1, 2013—11 days after I graduated from college. The culture shock was immediate. For the first time in my life I was living in a major metro area. There…

I was disappointed to learn that the Maine Legislature had once again voted down requiring the presentation of a photo ID in order to vote. Opponents of voter ID legislation claim that it’s unnecessary as Maine’s ballots are already secure and there is no voter fraud. I say that this is a fallacy, as there are no measures currently in place to protect the sanctity of the ballot. You cannot claim there is no voter fraud when there are no ways to detect voter fraud. While I’m no longer a registered voter in Maine, I was until 2013. While I…

Gov. Paul LePage’s call for restrictions on towns setting their own specific minimum wages doesn’t go far enough. The minimum wage should be abolished. Hear me out. The first minimum wage in the United States came about in 1938, and was 25 cents/hour. Adjusted for inflation, that would equal a little over four dollars an hour in today’s world. Today, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and states are free to set minimum wages as they wish. Maine’s minimum wage, for instance, is a quarter higher than the federal minimum. People making at or below minimum wage represent…

Before I begin, let’s go over a few basics. “Food stamps” are a thing of the past, and the program is now referred to as “SNAP.” SNAP stands for “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” “Supplemental” is defined as “added to something else to make it complete;” “nutrition” is defined as “the process of eating the right kind of food so you can grow properly and be healthy;” “assistance” means “help or support;” and “program” means “a plan of things that are done in order to achieve a specific result.” Thus, assuming that words have meanings, one can infer that SNAP is…

No two children are alike—so why must we insist upon educating them like they are? Common Core isn’t necessarily a bad idea in theory, but like most federal government attempts to inject themselves into education policy, it was implemented terribly. There’s nothing wrong with demanding that students nationwide are held to a high standard and that students from one state are no better educated than another. There is, however, a problem with injecting students into the one-size-fits-all educational environment that Common Core creates. As we saw with the disastrous rollout of No Child Left Behind (another “good idea” in theory),…

As someone who has left the state and become a Mainer-in-exile, it can be tough to keep in touch with the happenings of the homeland. Imagine my surprise when I discover that despite the multitude of problems that plague the state, the Legislature is actually taking the time to debate whether or not the Labrador Retriever should be designated as the official state dog. Not only is this a bizarre and wasteful use of the legislatures’ time, it’s pointless to designate something as an official symbol of the state that lacks a solid connection to the history or culture of…

The measles do not seem like a fun time. Neither does diphtheria, polio, whooping cough, the mumps, or chickenpox. Thankfully, I can’t speak from personal experience with these diseases, as I was vaccinated from them as an infant or as a young child. Thousands of Maine children, however, may not be as lucky as I was: their parents chose not to vaccinate them, and now some of these diseases are experiencing a comeback. In December, somebody with the measles visited Disneyland. Measles, being an incredibly contagious disease that infects about 90 percent of the non-immunized who come into contact with…