DOGE cuts to science will impact Ohio, students
The "Hands Off" protest April 5, 2025 at the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus. (Photo by David DeWitt, Ohio Capital Journal.)
Earlier this month, over a thousand of the brightest young minds on our planet converged on Columbus, Ohio, for the International Science Fair.
It was a special moment for me because I competed at the event as a high school senior, and that experience played a role in launching my physics career. To give back in some way, I volunteered to be a judge.
Competitions like these are about the students. It prepares them to find their place in the vast and astoundingly successful landscape of American science, which is the envy of the world.
It's no coincidence that the international competition, which could be held anywhere on the planet, is held year after year in the United States.
It's also not a coincidence that it was held in Ohio. The organizers of the fair understood that Ohio is a scientific powerhouse, home to many thousands of scientists and engineers who meet the strict criteria to be judges.
For similar reasons, when I competed, the location was in silicon valley.
If you are one of the many scientists and engineers in Ohio, then you are probably aware that in mid-April DOGE arrived at science funding agencies like the National Science Foundation. You are also aware that it isn't just the DEI, education, or climate-related grants now getting the axe.
Science agencies face up to 55% cuts across the board, reductions of tens of billions of dollars. But even before Congress can vote on these cuts, DOGE is already in the process of laying off staff at the National Science Foundation, just like they did at USAID and the US Department of Education.
These staff have masters or Ph.Ds in the fields of the grant programs being cut, precisely who you would want to oversee the investment of taxpayer dollars in scientific research.
All of this was on my mind as I interviewed students about their projects. I met students who had discovered new exoplanets using NASA data and artificial intelligence algorithms.
I talked to students who took over their parents' garage to test theories about light, fluids, or sound. As I interviewed these students, I wondered if they would get the same chances that I did to succeed.
When I was in college, I twice received National Science Foundation support to do summer astronomy research. Now, in summer 2025, the number of spots for federally funded undergrad research programs have been drastically reduced.
After college, I was fortunate to become a Ph.D. student at Ohio State. This year, anticipating the loss of federal dollars, Ohio State reduced their graduate admissions and some universities have even rescinded offers. If I were a student now, my career could easily be derailed by these roadblocks.
As a society, we have an obligation to give our kids the same opportunities to succeed that earlier generations had. Our students and postdocs should be on the ground floor of scientific discoveries with data from world-class instruments.
Instead, it seems, they will be on the ground floor of nothing, and unable to build the professional relationships that grow into a cutting-edge career.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
When is Flag Day 2025? Is it a federal holiday? What to know
As the country prepares to salute the Army's 250th year with President Donald Trump's grand military parade in downtown Washington, D.C. on June 14, the day will also celebrate America's symbol of freedom: the American flag. A flag resolution was adopted 248 years ago, on June 14, 1777, according to the Smithsonian, that said, "Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." However, it would be more than 100 years after the Continental Congress approved the flag, that Flag Day would be observed. The event was first observed in the late 1800s by schoolteachers around the U.S., according to the National Constitution Center, and in May 1916, President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14 Flag Day. Since then, the U.S. has honored the adoption of the stars and stripes in a number of ways, including carrying the flag in parades, displaying it outside homes and holding other patriotic events. Before 1916, a number of states and cities had started to observe the day. Flag Day, meanwhile, was declared a national holiday in 1949 by congressional legislation signed into law by President Harry Truman, who in a proclamation directed the U.S. flag to be displayed on all government buildings on that day. Here's what to know about Flag Day and its evolution over the years. Army's 250th birthday parade: How to celebrate Army's 250th year – and (unofficially) Trump's birthday parade Flag Day is on Saturday, June 14, 2025. The June 14 date for Flag Day remains the same, no matter which day of the week it falls. Though it's observed nationally, Flag Day is not a federal holiday. However, the president traditionally proclaims its observance every year. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, recognizes it as a state holiday. June 2025 holiday schedule: Summer solstice, Pride Month, Father's Day, Juneteenth, more The American flag, characterized by 50 stars and 13 stripes, will celebrate its 65th birthday on July 4. After Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959, on July 4, 1960, the flag's new design was officially adopted. Contributing: Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY / Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Flag Day 2025 date: When is it? Is it a federal holiday?
New York Post
36 minutes ago
- New York Post
Three cheers for the US-China trade war ceasefire
Yay! High-level US-China talks in London this week reached a trade-war ceasefire, offering some stability for nervous markets. Days of talks, following on President Donald Trump's call with China's Xi Jinping last Thursday, settled on a framework that leaves a 55% US tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% Chinese levy on American imports. Plus, Beijing will ease restrictions on rare-earth exports while Washington will back off on its developing ban on Chinese students attending American universities. Plenty of issues remain: China's key role in world fentanyl production, for one thing; its long history of intellectual-property theft, currency manipulation and so on. Not to mention the outright espionage that so many of those students are dragged into. And of course in the longer term the United States needs to be less dependent on China for rare earths, pharmaceutical precursors and many other critical needs. The two sides are supposed to reach a comprehensive deal by Aug. 10, but at least the summer should be calm. The chaos of on-again, off-again tariffs had led to turbulence in US markets and had mom-and-pop shops bracing for 'the end'; now they can plan at least a couple of months ahead, with solid reason to hope the worst is over. US businesses can adapt to 55% tariffs on Chinese goods, as long as they've got some certainty that the rate will remain stable. Kudos to Treasury and Commerce Secretaries Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, the top US negotiators in London, for mastering 'the art of the framework'; let's hope Trump and Xi can close a final deal.
Boston Globe
44 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump hails limited trade agreement with China after talks in London
Advertisement Less than two weeks after accusing China of violating a trade-war truce, Trump on Wednesday had nothing but praise for the Chinese leader. 'President Xi and I are going to work closely together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both countries!!!' the president wrote in a second Truth Social post. Under the renewed truce, the United States will impose a 55 percent tariff on Chinese goods, and China will hit American products with a 10 percent import tax, the president said. Those are both higher rates than before Trump took office, but lower than the triple-digit tariff levels that each nation imposed this spring. US and Chinese negotiators agreed late Tuesday to try again to implement the trade-war truce that collapsed amid recriminations on both sides just weeks after it was reached during an earlier round of talks in Geneva. Advertisement Speaking near midnight in London, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced what he called a 'handshake' deal to put into effect the terms of the May 12 US-China agreement that called for both nations to lower their tariffs and take additional steps to facilitate trade. 'We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents,' Lutnick told reporters, referring to a June 5 telephone conversation between Trump and Xi. 'I think it's really beneficial to the United States of America. It's very beneficial to the Chinese and the China economy.' Negotiators released no text of either the London framework or the earlier Geneva accord to de-escalate the US-China trade war. But Lutnick said both nations would remove new trade barriers they had erected as the truce broke down. That means China is expected to permit an increased flow of critical materials known as 'rare earths' for auto and defense production. As those shipments increase, the United States will lift measures that it imposed recently 'in a balanced way,' Lutnick said. 'We do absolutely expect that the topic of rare-earth minerals and magnets, with respect to the United States of America, will be resolved in this framework implementation,' Lutnick said. He did not specify which US measures would be lifted in response. But his department has implemented a number of restrictions on exports to China of aerospace technology and advanced semiconductor equipment, which Chinese officials urgently want removed. Lutnick described the diplomatic breakthrough as the first step toward expanding US-China trade, which topped $580 billion last year. The United States buys more than three times as much from China as Chinese customers buy from Americans, a trade deficit that the president has inveighed against for years as a measure of industrial decline. Advertisement 'We have an existing, significant trade deficit, and President Trump's fundamental goal is to reduce the trade deficit and increase trade. So this was the first step of the framework by which we will then approach and discuss growing trade . But first we had to sort of get the negativity out," Lutnick said. Briefing reporters outside Lancaster House, the 19th-century mansion in London's West End that hosted two days of talks, Lutnick credited the involvement of both presidents with producing quick results. 'You have to get things done if you're working for President Trump. I'm sure they felt they had to get it done because they were working for President Xi,' he said. The US delegation also included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Bessent left the talks a few hours early to return to Washington in time to appear before Congress on Wednesday. The Chinese team was led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, a close associate of Xi. In China, Li Chenggang, China's vice commerce minister, said the talks were 'professional, rational, in-depth and candid,' according to Chinese state media, and Beijing hopes the discussions will 'be conducive to increasing trust between China and the United States.' Yao Yang, an economist at Peking University, said the fact that Beijing and Washington engaged in negotiations amid bitter trade tensions is positive. 'The Chinese government's stance has always been, if you want to fight, we are going to take it. But the purpose of fighting is not just for the sake of fighting, it is to prepare for negotiation or to bring the other side to the negotiation table,' he said. Advertisement Yet even as the latest attempt to put US-China relations on a sound footing moved forward, Greer nodded to the long list of issues that divide the two sides. The Trump administration has complained about Chinese policies that fuel what it sees as excess production of manufactured goods, which depress global prices and hurt American factory workers. 'There are some things that the Chinese and US economies, they just don't fit together very well. Other things, maybe they do. And there'll be a time for broader conversations on that,' he said. The 90-day pause on triple-digit tariffs that amounted to a de facto US-China trade embargo expires Aug. 12. In response to a question about prospects for an extension, Greer said that would be up to the president. Further talks are expected, though no date has been agreed to yet. The Trump administration notched a legal win Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled that many of the tariffs the president imposed on China can remain while the government appeals a lower-court ruling that found they were illegal. The Court of International Trade, a little-known specialized court in New York, ruled last month that Trump exceeded his authority by invoking emergency powers to impose tariffs on imports from China and other nations. The Trump administration quickly appealed and the appeals court temporarily paused the lower court's decision. On Tuesday, it said that pause could stay in place while the appeal was decided. Advertisement 'The court also concludes that these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance,' the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Tuesday. The appeals court said it would expedite the issue and hear arguments July 31.
