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Straits Times
06-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Columbia University to lay off some 180 researchers amid Trump squeeze
US President Donald Trump targeted Columbia as part of his campaign against US universities he claims are hotbeds of anti-Semitic sentiment. PHOTO: HIROKO MASUIKE/NYTIMES NEW YORK - Columbia University said on May 6 it was laying off around 180 researchers amid a funding squeeze prompted by US President Donald Trump's move to strip the Ivy League institution of US$400 million (S$515.52 million). Mr Trump targeted Columbia as part of his campaign against elite US universities he claims are hotbeds of anti-Semitic and anti-American sentiment, stripping them of funds and targeting their foreign students in response. 'Across the research portfolio we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,' said a memo signed by Ms Claire Shipman, Columbia's acting president. 'This represents about 20 per cent of the individuals who are funded in some manner by the terminated grants.' The update did not specify which research projects would be affected. Columbia said it would seek to continue engaging with the federal government to press for the reinstatement of the funds. Along with Columbia, Mr Trump has focused his ire on Harvard, where he has already frozen US$2.2 billion in grants. Trump had demanded that Columbia accept external oversight, but the school stopped short of that with measures it announced to placate Trump in March. Mr Trump is on a fierce offensive against many major US institutions, attacking not just academia but also the news media, big law firms, the courts and other centres of American power as he issues executive orders to an unprecedented extent. His goal is to bring to heel institutions he sees as too liberal, or 'woke.' Columbia's student movement has been at the forefront of protests that have exposed deep rifts over the Gaza war. Activists call them a show of support for the Palestinian people, while Mr Trump condemns them as anti-Semitic, and says they must end. The president cut US$400 million in federal funding for Columbia – including research grants and other contracts – on the grounds that the institution had not adequately protected Jewish students from harassment. Besides cuts to Columbia's federal funds, with more threatened, immigration officers targeted a leader of the campus pro-Palestinian protests, Mr Mahmoud Khalil. Mr Khalil, a US permanent resident with Palestinian roots and a graduate student at Columbia, was arrested by officers and has been held in Louisiana as he and his supporters fight the administration's attempt to deport him on grounds he is hindering US foreign policy. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
06-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
The lowdown on cooling down after a workout
For some, ramping down can be useful. But most people can skip straight to the shower. ILLUSTRATION: JACKSON GIBBS/NYTIMES NEW YORK – The standard workout arc, whether it is a yoga class or Peloton session, is usually bookended by two easier parts – the warm-up and the cooldown. Personal trainers insist on them, physiology textbooks tout them and most video workouts include them. But for many people, just fitting in a 30-minute run or 25-minute strength session can feel impossible. Do you really need another five minutes to cool down? The answer is, not really. A cooldown is typically some form of easier movement that acts like an off-ramp from a workout, allowing the heart rate and blood pressure to slowly recover to pre-exercise levels. For most people, that means jogging slowly after a hard run or stretching after weightlifting. But it could be as simple as a few slow breathing exercises. While research has shown that as little as nine minutes of dynamic movement before exercise can reduce injury and make a workout more effective, there has been far less data supporting the cooldown, said Dr Andy Galpin, director of the Human Performance Centre at Parker University in Dallas. If you rush from your spin bike to your morning commute, you likely will not sabotage your workout gains or recovery. But you could be missing out on other benefits. What constitutes a cooldown? 'As a general rule,' said Dr Erica Spatz, a cardiologist at Yale School of Medicine, a cooled-down state is 'when the heart rate comes down below 100 beats per minute and breathing returns to normal.' But there is no specific protocol or definition of how to get there after exercise. Any activity that brings the body to a resting state could count, said Dr Monika Fleshner, a professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. A cooldown can be passive, like foam-rolling or breathing exercises in the shower. But more often, it is active, such as continuing an exercise at an easier pace or going to a lower resistance on a spin bike. If you were lifting weights, you might perform a few mobility exercises after. For the average person, a cooldown should take about five to 10 minutes, depending on the intensity of the workout, Dr Spatz said. Do cooldowns work? When it comes to performance or injury prevention, the short answer is no. But that does not mean they have no value. For decades, experts prescribed an active cooldown to help alleviate muscle soreness by allowing built-up lactic acid to dissipate. But the lactic acid theory was debunked as early as the 1980s, and people now know the chemical has nothing to do with muscle soreness, though many still buy into the concept, Dr Galpin said. A 2018 review found that active cooldowns are largely ineffective at improving same- or next-day performance and do not significantly reduce muscle soreness or damage. But that does not mean you should skip cooldowns if you enjoy them, said the review's co-author Bas Van Hooren, a sports scientist and assistant professor at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. 'Our review didn't find any downsides to doing a cooldown,' he said. Some people reported that it felt good or that they used it as a time to socialise, he added. However, exercise can trigger a stress response and activate a fight-or-flight reaction in the body, Dr Fleshner sai d. And while the body will return to a resting state on its own, a passive cooldown that focuses on slow, controlled breathing can activate a rest-and-digest response in some people, facilitating a quicker return to normal breathing levels, heart rate and blood pressure, she said. When do you need a cooldown? There are three scenarios where cooldowns are useful, if you enjoy them. First, ramping down can be helpful for especially intense exercise. If you suddenly stop after a hard workout, your blood pressure may drop while your blood vessels are still dilated, causing you to feel dizzy, even faint, Dr Spatz said. This is especially true among people aged 60 or older or those with heart disease. Second, people experiencing chronic stress may also have a more sluggish return to a resting state, Dr Fleshner said . 'A cooldown that includes controlled breathing, like yoga or meditative stretching, might help them activate their parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body,' she said. Lastly, if you exercise vigorously in the evening, especially at high intensity, a cooldown may lead to a better night's sleep, Dr Galpin said. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol naturally increase in the morning and decrease at night, and moderate to intense exercise can elevate them, causing increased heart rates. 'Exercise is essentially a form of arousal, just like watching a thriller or playing a video game,' he said. In addition to helping the body shift to a resting state, a cooldown can also be a time when you reflect on the work you have done, Dr Fleshner said. The last thing it should be is an added stress. 'Is it essential? No,' she said. 'Can it be nice? Yes.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
