Physics Message of the Week, Friday, June 5, 2020

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Dear Physics Community,

Apologies for the resend – I am still working out how to sort between Departmental and personal.

Advisories

  • Pres. Reif’s message about the vigil on Tuesday
  • Results from Student Remote Experience Survey
  • Upcoming TLL summer programming
  • Process for Requesting an Exception to Phase 1 Research Ramp Up
  • Tips for Difficult Conversations – COID-19 edition

MIT’s Response to Presidental Proclamation

The proclamation is here.  I was in contact with Dan Goldston of our Washinton Office and the following are from notes he sent.

  • Through the higher ed assns., MIT is working to try to influence State Dept. decision-making and to make sure Congress is aware of how big a threat Friday’s Trump Proclama1on represents (and how untargeted it may be). MIT has also itself reached out to several key Cong’l offices about the Proclamation.

  • MIT and the higher ed assns. are working constantly (literally) to counter proposals to unduly limit interac1ons with China and especially to counter proposals aimed at Chinese students. We have pointed out, to some effect, that there is liable evidence that Chinese students play a significant role in any ques1onable Chinese ac1vi1es, but they contribute a huge amount to the U.S., and the vast majority of them stay here. So going after students, has minimal impact on constraining China and maximum negative impact on us.

  • The industry will have more impact on this debate than universi1es, and the higher ed assns. are working with industry groups and have put out some joint statements.

  • The higher ed assns. worked with the Hill to get a letter from a number of House Republicans in support of the OPT program – the next likely victim of Administration policy, though the latest rumors indicate that the limits may be less. Draconian than originally feared.

Building Awareness about Racism

The events since the murder of George Floyd call for the building of awareness about racism.  Here are some resources:

Stay safe,

Peter