House Committee Approves Aid For Colleges, Arts
BU IN DC
Joshua Shifrinson of the Pardee School of Global Studies spoke about growing tensions between the U.S. and China at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s virtual 2021 China Fellowship Conference on February 4th.
Peter Fox-Penner of the Institute for Sustainable Energy participated in an energy policy webinar hosted by OurEnergyPolicy, with opening remarks from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), on February 10th.
Tiffany Li of the School of Law discussed privacy in a pandemic during the Privacy Papers for Policymakers virtual event on February 11th.
HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES AID FOR COLLEGES, ARTS
On Tuesday, the House Education and Labor Committee approved a COVID-19 relief bill that would provide nearly $40 billion in emergency aid for nonprofit colleges, with instructions that schools use half the funds for direct financial assistance to students. The bill would also direct $100 million to the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education for research on student learning loss during the pandemic, as well as $135 million each for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities to support cultural organizations. The measure will move to the full U.S. House of Representatives next week, and the U.S. Senate is expected to begin their own work on a stimulus proposal in late February. Democrats hope to have a stimulus bill signed into law by mid-March.
BUZZ BITS…
- On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee easily approved the nominations of Dr. Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh as Secretary of Labor. The full Senate is expected to approve both nominees soon.
- The Biden-Harris Administration has named Kathleen Hogan as the acting under secretary for science and energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Hogan had served as deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that Gavin Schmidt will temporarily serve in the newly created role of NASA senior climate advisor, ensuring that the agency is involved in the Biden Administration’s climate agenda. Schmidt is currently the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
Join the Office of Research for “The Innovator’s Journey: Embracing Creativity & Discomfort in the Pursuit of Impact” on February 25th at 3 pm. Faculty innovators from across BU will give lightning talks about their diverse paths from invention to market to impact. The session will touch on the challenges and opportunities of navigating the world of business as an academic researcher, the importance of setting a personal objective and assessing market need, and the concepts of creativity and innovation in the context of translational research. The talks will be followed by a moderated Q&A led by Rana K. Gupta, Director of Faculty Entrepreneurship.