Sen. Warren, Talking to Journalists, ARPA-H
BU IN DC
Joyce Wong of the College of Engineering met with staff in Massachusetts Congressional offices and attended the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering annual meeting on March 26th and 27th.
Gabriel Kaptchuk of the College of Arts & Sciences cohosted a workshop on privacy enhancing technologies for the public interest at the Georgetown University Law Center on March 27th.
Graduate students Kathryn Atherton of Bioinformatics, Hannah Puttre of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, Jourdan Ewoldt of the College of Engineering, and Katharine Babcock of the School of Medicine attended the Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering workshop sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and met with Massachusetts Congressional delegation offices between March 26th and 29th.
BUZZ BITS…
- Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) urged greater oversight of colleges and universities in a letter sent to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona earlier this week. Warren asked the Department to more stringently regulate online program managers, make more data about student outcomes and the accreditation process public, and impose accountability measures on poor-performing certificate programs.
- The House Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal-making rights for student athletes in collegiate sports. Lawmakers and witnesses, including the Commissioner of the Patriot League, largely agreed on the need for Congress to implement a federal NIL standard to replace the current patchwork of state laws. However, views differed on the advisability of providing employee status for college athletes.
- The House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing on Wednesday examining how college campuses address free speech. Witnesses described a repressive atmosphere that inhibits robust debate of political viewpoints in higher education and urged Congress and school administrators to take steps to restore balance.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
On April 13th at 2:00 pm, BU Public Relations is hosting a remote, interactive workshop for researchers to learn how to play an active role in accurate science reporting. Meredith Drosback and Tori Espensen from SciLine will give advice on deciding whether to speak to a reporter, preparing for an interview, how to conduct yourself during an interview, and successful follow-up strategies to ensure factual reporting. The presenters will also set aside time for a facilitated discussion with attendees about their own experiences in working with reporters, highlighting what’s gone well, what hasn’t, and the top takeaways.
GRANTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health (ARPA-H) is hosting its first Proposer’s Day virtually on April 4th at 11:00 am. The webinar is an opportunity for prospective applicants to hear from ARPA-H program managers on the agency’s recently released Broad Agency Announcement and its four strategic focus areas of health science futures, scalable solutions, proactive health, and resilient systems. Participants must register before 5:00 pm Eastern on April 3rd.
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