About

Founded in 2008 by Evan Lisull, The Desert Lamp is the only free and independent student publication at the University of Arizona. It covers issues ranging from student fee allocations to international cricket, and everything in between.

The name derives from the 1960 book The Lamp in the Desert, the definitive work on the early history of the University of Arizona by Douglas D. Martin. It’s an evocative image of the University of Arizona, a bright spot of learning in the desolate Sonoran desert. In adapting this name, the site casts itself as the “bright spot of learning” when it comes to covering the UA — even if we are just a handful of kids with a possibly unhealthy interest in campus policy. We might not be a Lamp worthy of Aladdin, but at the very least we’re a Zippo lighter — and when you’re working in the dark, it’s just as good.

The site was named the winner of the America’s Future Foundation’s Blogger Contest in 2009, and was a finalist for the 2008 CollegeScholarships.org Blogging Scholarship.

The editors can be reached at desertlamp [at] gmail [dot] com.