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The Bernie Sanders Sitting Meme’s Instant Popularity, Explained by Science

Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) cozies up next to BU’s mascot on the University’s Rhett bench. Photo by Katherine Taylor/kapwing.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
The Bernie Sanders Sitting Meme's Instant Popularity, Explained by Science

A BU engineer uses artificial intelligence research to reveal the characteristics that make a meme go viral.

Don't just sit there

FACULTY EXPERT
Three Takeaways from President Biden's Rapid Movement on Climate Policy

BU international relations and environmental policy expert Henrik Selin reflects on the whirlwind of climate action issued from the Oval Office.

Here's his take

Maria Dykema Erb

ON THE CHARLES RIVER
Maria Dykema Erb Was a First-Generation Student. Now She’s Here to Help BU’s First-Gens

The inaugural director of the BU Newbury Center says, "I want to be the person I needed back then.”

See how she will do it

BU INFLUENCERS
In Case You Missed It...

Research from Julia Raifman of the BU School of Public Health shows that COVID unemployment assistance puts food on the table... BU College of Fine Arts Dean Harvey Young discusses how the Biden-Harris Administration can save the arts with The Boston Globe... Jayita Sarkar of the BU Pardee School of Global Studies argues that the U.S. needs to take domestic nuclear terrorism seriously in The Washington Post... Eileen Costello of the BU School of Medicine talks about setting up a mobile pediatric vaccination vehicle during the coronavirus outbreak in STAT... Tiffany Li of the BU School of Law writes about building robust and ethical vaccine verification systems in a new Brookings Institution report.

Congress Begins Debate on COVID Stimulus

BU IN DC

College of Engineering Dean Kenneth Lutchen met with Massachusetts Congressional offices to discuss federal support for research and engineering education as part of the American Society for Engineering Education's Public Policy Colloquium on February 3rd.

Ibram X. Kendi of the Center for Antiracist Research participated in a virtual townhall with Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) on antiracist policy-making on February 4th. He also discussed his latest book at a virtual National Museum of African American History & Culture event on February 2nd.

Pamela Templer of the College of Arts & Sciences, Evan Kuras of the URBAN Program, School of Public Health student Catherine Connolly, and College of Arts & Sciences student Jennifer Rindy addressed the National Science Foundation's Research Traineeship annual meeting on January 28th and 29th.

CONGRESS BEGINS DEBATE ON COVID STIMULUS

Both chambers of Congress approved budget resolutions along party lines this week, paving the way for legislators to consider a new COVID-19 stimulus package. Congress adopted budget reconciliation instructions which will allow Senate Democrats to pass a $1.9 trillion bill proposed by the Biden Administration with a simple majority, as opposed to the usual 60-vote majority required for most legislation. Ten Senate Republicans have proposed their own $600 billion package, but Democrats have not signaled an interest in a smaller bill. Biden's American Rescue Plan proposes COVID-19 relief funds for public colleges, but does not contain the full set of relief for private institutions or research agencies requested by research universities.

Read the Biden proposal

BUZZ BITS...

On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a confirmation hearing for U.S. Secretary of Education nominee Dr. Miguel Cardona. Responding to questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cardona expressed concern about the adverse impact of student loan debt, but did not take a position on her recommendation for student debt cancellation.
The Biden-Harris Administration announced two new higher education appointees at the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday. Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper, an advocate for education equity and president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy since 2008, will be deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Postsecondary Education. Julie Margetta Morgan will be senior adviser to the under secretary for education, the Department official who typically oversees higher education. Morgan has served as vice president of the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute and as an aide to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in both her Senate office and presidential campaign.
BU alumna JoAnn Chase (COM '85) was named director of the Environmental Protection Agency's American Indian Environmental Office on Tuesday.

EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE

Back by popular demand, the Office of Research and BU Public Relations will host Brad Phillips of Throughline for a virtual, interactive media training and messaging workshop to help researchers deliver a message that audiences will remember, act upon, and share. Come learn how to develop memorable messages that resonate with reporters and stick with audiences, boil complex topics down into meaningful takeaways, navigate challenging questions and more. The training takes place on February 17th at 3:00 p.m., and participants will have the option to follow up with one-on-one consultation.

RSVP today

Maria Dykema Erb Was a First-Generation Student. Now She’s Here to Help BU’s First-Gens

Newbury Center inaugural director: “I want to be the person I needed back then”

Maria Dykema Erb gets it. The embarrassment of wearing a food service uniform in the dining hall, serving meals to your classmates—and wishing you could hide. Seeing the Study Abroad posters on campus and counting yourself out without even asking questions, because you just know you could never afford a semester in Paris, London, or Rome. Not knowing that faculty office hours are an invitation to meet with your professor, that it’s okay to ask for help, that internships can help jump-start a career. All in all, the feeling of not belonging.

Erb knows what it’s like to be a first-generation college student because she was one herself. Now, as the inaugural director of Boston University’s Newbury Center for first-generation students, she’s here to tell you that you do belong at BU.

Born in South Korea, Erb was adopted by a Dutch couple who’d immigrated to the United States, had three children of their own, and ran a small dairy farm in northern Vermont. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1992, and 17 years later, married and with three children, earned a master’s in education at the University of Vermont while working there as assistant director of the ALANA (Asian, Latinx, African, and Native American) Student Center. One of five siblings, she is the first person in her family to have gone to college and the only one to have completed a four-year degree.

“Having been a first-gen student myself, I want to be the person I needed back then,” says Erb, who has more than 28 years of experience in diversity and inclusion work, student access, academic advising, and student life.

A support hub aimed at strengthening academic, social, and postgraduation success for first-gen students, the Newbury Center, at 755 Commonwealth Ave., between Marsh Chapel and Mugar Memorial Library, is in the heart of the Charles River Campus. Erb came to BU in December from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill Graduate School, where she was codirector of diversity and student success and won national recognition for her work with first-gen students.

BU Today spoke with Erb about her vision for the Newbury Center, the strengths that first-gen students bring to campus, and how her own experience shapes her work.

Read the Q&As with Maria Dykema Erb on BU Today.

Biden Issues Scientific Integrity Order

President Joseph Biden issued an executive order on Wednesday charging the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with coordinating and overseeing scientific integrity policies across the federal government. The order directs a review to ensure that federal scientific integrity policies prevent improper political interference and prohibit the suppression or distortion of scientific findings. The order also directs federal agencies to expand open access to federal data, in accordance with the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.

Read the executive order

BUZZ BITS...

Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Robert Casey (D-PA), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate how higher education institutions are supporting students with disabilities during the COVID pandemic. The Senators asked GAO to identify the challenges disabled students face and how colleges are helping them succeed.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) will chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, which oversees the budgets for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. Pingree is a consistent champion of the arts who is expected to advocate for robust budgets for the cultural agencies.
While receiving a COVID-19 vaccination at the National Institutes of Health campus on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris recalled her mother's service on an NIH study section. Harris thanked scientists for the gift they give the public: "To see what can be, unburdened by what has been."

EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE

The Office of Research will host its first Research on Tap of the semester on February 4th at 4:00 pm. Hosted by Professors Evan Johnson (MED) and Daniel Segrè (CAS), "Cancer and the Microbiome" will highlight the broad range of microbiome research in cancer being conducted by BU faculty. Sign up and meet future research collaborators from throughout the university.RSVP today

Biden Issues Orders on Loans, Immigration

BU IN DC

The Biden Administration recently announced the appointments of the following BU alumni:

Wendy Sherman (CAS '71) has been nominated as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of State. She previously served as the lead negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal for the Obama Administration.

Kei Koizumi (UNI '91) is chief of staff to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Koizumi worked at OSTP for the entire eight years of the Obama Administration.

Gina Lee (CGS, '08, COM '10) is director of scheduling for First Lady Jill Biden. Lee previously worked on the Biden campaign and for the Biden Foundation.

Justin Maxson (GRS '96) has been named Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Maxson led an economic justice foundation prior to joining USDA.

BIDEN ISSUES ORDERS ON LOANS, IMMIGRATION

Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States on Wednesday. Within hours of taking office, Biden issued a series of executive actions to jump-start the Administration's policy agenda:

Student loans: Extending the current suspension on federal student loan repayment until September. The pause was scheduled to expire at the end of January, after being enacted in the CARES Act and extended by the Trump Administration.
Racial equity: Revoking the previous Administration’s executive order on race and sex stereotyping, which prohibited federal agencies from supporting certain types of diversity training. The Biden order also mandates federal agencies conduct an equity assessment, instructs federal officials to gather data to measure and advance equity, and cancels the authority of the Trump Administration's 1776 Commission on American history.
Immigration: Reinvigorating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides legal status for undocumented youth, as well as rescinding the previous Administration's travel ban on immigrants from certain Muslim-majority nations.
Climate change: Conducting a review of recently enacted environmental regulations, as well as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement.

BIDEN ANNOUNCES KEY SCIENCE PERSONNEL

Last Friday, President Biden announced nominees for key science posts in his administration:

Dr. Eric Lander will serve as both Presidential Science Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Dr. Lander is founder of the Broad Institute. For the first time, the Presidential Science Advisor will also be a member of the President's Cabinet, reflecting the important role the Administration expects science to play.
Dr. Alondra Nelson will be deputy director of OSTP. Dr. Nelson is a social scientist at Princeton University who is expected to focus on how science can better serve all Americans.
Dr. Frances Arnold and Dr. Maria Zuber will serve as as co-chairs of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Dr. Arnold is a chemist and Nobel Laureate at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Zuber is the vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.

In a letter to his science team, President Biden tasked his science leaders with envisioning the ideal role of public health, identifying new solutions for climate change, developing the nation’s readiness for the “industries of the future,” ensuring that science benefits all Americans, and planning for the long-term health of America’s science enterprise.

Find out more

BUZZ BITS...

Last week, President Biden nominated Rohit Chopra to serve as the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Mr. Chopra is currently a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, and previously helped regulate the private student loan industry at CFPB in the Obama Administration.
On Thursday, President Biden appointed new personnel at the U.S. Education Department. Student loan expert Rich Williams will be the chief of staff for the Office of Postsecondary Education, and gender and sexuality legal scholar Suzanne Goldberg will serve as the acting assistant secretary for the Office of Civil Rights.
Some members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation have received new committee assignments. Freshman Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-Brookline) will serve on the banking and transportation committees, while sophomore Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-Lowell) has secured a spot on the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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