Latest news with #Pre
GMA Network
23-05-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
Veejay Pre transfers from FEU to UP
Veejay Pre with UP assistant coach Tom Chua and head coach Goldwin Monteverde. (Photo: UP OASD) UAAP Season 87 men's basketball Rookie of the Year Veejay Pre is taking his talents to Diliman. The University of the Philippines announced Pre's transfer from Far Eastern University on Friday. "We know naman yung kayang gawin ni Veejay. Magiging malaking tulong siya sa atin with his all-around game," said Fighting Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde. Pre announced his departure from the Tamaraws last Tuesday in what he described as his 'hardest decision ever.' UP also maintained that it was never in the picture as rumors and reports of Pre's transfer surfaced weeks ago. "What's fortunate about all this is that hindi naman tayo nandun when reports and rumors began. We respected FEU, and kinausap lang natin si Veejay nung nakapag-decide at nakapagpaalam na siya sa FEU," said UP Office of Athletics and Sports Development Director Bo Perasol. Pre posted averages of 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in his first year in college. The reigning top rookie will need to sit out Season 88 before being eligible to play for two years. —JKC, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
21-05-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
'Hardest decision ever': Veejay Pre bids farewell to FEU
UAAP Season 87 men's basketball Rookie of the Year and Far Eastern University standout Veejay Pre has parted ways with the Tamaraws. In his social media post early Wednesday, Pre said leaving FEU "has been the hardest decision ever" as he considered his family's input as well on his growth as an athlete. "I believe that leaving and saying 'goodbye' is never easy and accepting things is the most painful part," Pre wrote in the caption of his post. "As an athlete, growth and improvement matters deeply. But there comes a time in our lives when challenges arise, pushing us to make difficult decisions. My family and I have come to a decision, and I've chosen to heed their wisdom and concerns. This made me realize how much they only want the best for me and I can't deny that taking this big step forward has been the hardest decision ever." Pre, however, did not disclose where he is going next. Confirmation of Pre's departure from FEU came weeks after rumors and reports surfaced about his possible transfer. FEU finished sixth in the elimination round of Season 87, but in high school, he led the Baby Tamaraws to a third-place finish. He last played for FEU in the UAAP 3x3 tournament. Pre then thanked those who were part of his FEU journey. "I owe FEU so much, and I will always treasure the good deeds, memories, lessons, heartbreaks, and laughter we've shared. I will be forever grateful as a 'TAMARAW' and to have experienced the colorful life that FEU and its community bring," he wrote. "Forever blessed and thankful that once in my life, I was once called a 'TAMARAW.' "Once a Tamaraw, Always a 'Tamaraw,' Meanwhile, Ateneo de Manila University's Kris Porter also parted ways with the Blue Eagles in a decision he announced on Tuesday. 'This was a really tough decision,' said Porter. 'I spent my elementary years at Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu before moving to Ateneo de Manila for high school and college. Ateneo has always been home to me, but I had to make this choice — even if I don't have concrete plans yet on where I'll go next. I believe it's a necessary step for my personal growth.' Porter said he has not yet committed to another school. —JKC, GMA Integrated News
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Cuts to the National Science Foundation endanger wealth of research
Look closely at your mobile phone or tablet. Touch-screen technology, speech recognition, digital sound recording and the Internet were all developed using funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation. No matter where you live, NSF-supported research has also made your life safer. Engineering studies have reduced earthquake damage and fatalities through better building design. Improved hurricane and tornado forecasts reflect NSF investment in environmental monitoring and computer modeling of weather. NSF-supported resilience studies reduce risks and losses from wildfires. Using NSF funding, scientists have done research that amazes, entertains and enthralls. They have drilled through mile-thick ice sheets to understand the past, visited the wreck of the Titanic and captured images of deep space. NSF investments have made America and American science great. At least 268 Nobel laureates received NSF grants during their careers. The foundation has partnered with agencies across the government since it was created, including those dealing with national security and space exploration. The Federal Reserve estimates that government-supported research from the NSF and other agencies has had a return on investment of 150% to 300% since 1950, meaning for every dollar U.S. taxpayers invested, they got back between $1.50 and $3. However, that funding is now at risk. Since January, layoffs, leadership resignations and a massive proposed reorganization have threatened the integrity and mission of the National Science Foundation. Hundreds of research grants have been terminated. The administration's proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2026 would cut NSF's funding by 55%, an unprecedented reduction that would end federal support for science research across a wide range of disciplines. At my own geology lab, I have seen NSF grants catalyze research and the work of dozens of students who have collected data that's now used to reduce risks from earthquakes, floods, landslides, erosion, sea-level rise and melting glaciers. I have also served on advisory committees and review panels for the NSF over the past 30 years and have seen the value the foundation produces for the American people. American science's greatness stemmed from war In the 1940s, with the advent of nuclear weapons, the space race and the intensification of the Cold War, American science and engineering expertise became increasingly critical for national defense. At the time, most basic and applied research was done by the military. Vannevar Bush, an electrical engineer who oversaw military research efforts during World War II, including development of the atomic bomb, had a different idea. He articulated an expansive scientific vision for the United States in Science: The Endless Frontier. The report was a blueprint for an American research juggernaut grounded in the expertise of university faculty, staff and graduate students. On May 10, 1950, after five years of debate and compromise, President Harry Truman signed legislation creating the National Science Foundation and putting Bush's vision to work. Since then, the foundation has become the leading funder of basic research in the United States. NSF's mandate, then as now, was to support basic research and spread funding for science across all 50 states. Expanding America's scientific workforce was and remains integral to American prosperity. By 1952, the foundation was awarding merit fellowships to graduate and postdoctoral scientists from every state. There were compromises. Control of NSF rested with presidential appointees, disappointing Bush. He wanted scientists in charge to avoid political interference with the foundation's research agenda. NSF funding matters to everyone, everywhere Today, American tax dollars supporting science go to every state in the union. The states with the most NSF grants awarded between 2011 and 2024 include several that voted Republican in the 2024 election -- Texas, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania -- and several that voted Democratic, including Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and Colorado. More than 1,800 public and private institutions, scattered across all 50 states, receive NSF funding. The grants pay the salaries of staff, faculty and students, boosting local employment and supporting college towns and cities. For states with major research universities, those grants add up to hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Even states with few universities each see tens of millions of dollars for research. As NSF grant recipients purchase lab supplies and services, those dollars support regional and national economies. When NSF budgets are cut and grants are terminated or never awarded, the harm trickles down and communities suffer. Initial NSF funding cuts are already rippling across the country, affecting both national and local economies in red, blue and purple states alike. An analysis of a February 2025 proposal that would cut about US$5.5 billion from National Institutes of Health grants estimated the ripple effect through college towns and supply chains would cost $6.1 billion in GDP, or total national productivity, and over 46,000 jobs. Uncertain future for American science America's scientific research and training enterprise has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades. Yet, as NSF celebrates its 75th birthday, the future of American science is in doubt. Funding is increasingly uncertain, and politics is driving decisions, as Bush feared 80 years ago. A list of grants terminated by the Trump administration, collected both from government websites and scientists themselves, shows that by early May 2025, NSF had stopped funding more than 1,400 existing grants, totaling over a billion dollars of support for research, research training and education. Most terminated grants focused on education -- the core of science, technology and engineering workforce development critical for supplying highly skilled workers to American companies. For example, NSF provided 1,000 fewer graduate student fellowships in 2025 than in the decade before -- a 50% drop in support for America's best science students. American scientists are responding to NSF's downsizing in diverse ways. Some are pushing back by challenging grant terminations. Others are preparing to leave science or academia. Some are likely to move abroad, taking offers from other nations to recruit American experts. Science organizations and six prior heads of the NSF are calling on Congress to step up and maintain funding for science research and workforce development. If these losses continue, the next generation of American scientists will be fewer in number and less well-prepared to address the needs of a population facing the threat of more extreme weather, future pandemics and the limits to growth imposed by finite natural resources and other planetary limits. Investing in science and engineering is an investment in America. Diminishing NSF and the science it supports will hurt the American economy and the lives of all Americans. Paul Bierman is a professor of natural resources and environmental science at the University of Vermont. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's firing of FEMA leader plunges disaster agency into uncertainty
The dismissal of acting Federal Emergency Management Agency head Cameron Hamilton plunges an already fraught agency into deeper uncertainty. Hamilton was fired from the agency Thursday after he said eliminating FEMA would not be in the 'best interest' of the American people — contradicting pushes to do so from President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Former agency officials criticized what they described as the loss of a steady leader at an agency already dealing with uncertainty amid the elimination push. 'It's not what FEMA needed … 20 days from hurricane season … to lose their administrator and to have more turbulence,' said Pete Gaynor, who led the agency during the first Trump administration. Others lamented the consequences of disagreeing with the president and his top political leaders. 'In emergency management, when you're trying to solve crises, you need people to be able to speak freely,' said Michael Coen, who was FEMA's chief of staff during the Obama and Biden administrations. 'If the leadership, whether it's the secretary's office or the new acting FEMA administrator, has a proposal or an idea on how to do something, the senior staff that are briefing them should be able to feel free to express their concern on why we shouldn't do that,' Coen said. 'Squashing that free flow of collaboration … could be detrimental. … It could lead to bad outcomes where maybe lives could have been saved that weren't saved because there was not that collaboration and cooperation.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Hamilton's comments to lawmakers defending FEMA's existence was the reason for his firing. 'My understanding is this individual testified saying something that was contrary to what the president believes and the goals of this administration in regards to FEMA policy,' Leavitt said. 'And so of course we want to make sure that people in every position are advancing the administration's goals.' She deferred further comment to the Department of Homeland Security. Noem earlier in the week appeared on Capitol Hill, where she faced questions from lawmakers about the administration's plans to drastically overhaul and cut down FEMA's role. The president's skinny budget proposal calls for $646 million in cuts to FEMA it argues fund 'equity' in disaster response. 'The president has indicated he wants to eliminate FEMA as it exists today, and to have states have more control over their emergency management response,' Noem told lawmakers. Hamilton's replacement is David Richardson, who was appointed in January as assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. Memos obtained by The Hill that were authored by Richardson indicate the agency is now undergoing 'mission analysis' that seeks to find 'redundancies and inefficiencies' while 'deterring mission creep.' Among the goals of this analysis are to 'develop courses of action to achieve the President's vision for FEMA.' Meanwhile, Reuters reported Richardson told staffers he would 'run right over' anyone who resisted his actions and that he would be the agency's sole decisionmaker. Spokespeople for FEMA did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment. Hamilton's firing and Richardson's moves come at what's already a tumultuous time for the agency. Beyond Noem's March assertion she would 'eliminate' the agency, reports have indicated as many as 1,800 workers have taken buyout offers. At the same time, the White House has set up a review council to assess proposals to reform the agency. Trump in late April appointed roughly a dozen members to that council, including three current or former Republican governors and the Democratic mayor of Tampa, Fla. Meanwhile, the agency has considered axing billions of dollars in grants — including those seeking to prevent terrorism or help communities respond to disasters — based on immigration policy in the recipient areas. E&E News reported last month that the agency was also halting Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants — which seek to help communities adapt ahead of disasters. And Wired reported last week that FEMA is also ceasing survivor door-knocks. Reacting to the recent changes, one former Biden-era senior official did not mince words. 'It's clear that the Trump administration is a circus and that the secretary does what she wants when she wants it, without the best interest of the American people,' the former FEMA official said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump's firing of FEMA leader plunges disaster agency into uncertainty
The dismissal of acting Federal Emergency Management Agency head Cameron Hamilton plunges an already fraught agency into deeper uncertainty. Hamilton was fired from the agency Thursday after he said eliminating FEMA would not be in the 'best interest' of the American people — contradicting pushes to do so from President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Former agency officials criticized what they described as the loss of a steady leader at an agency already dealing with uncertainty amid the elimination push. 'It's not what FEMA needed … 20 days from hurricane season … to lose their administrator and to have more turbulence,' said Pete Gaynor, who led the agency during the first Trump administration. Others lamented the consequences of disagreeing with the president and his top political leaders. 'In emergency management, when you're trying to solve crises, you need people to be able to speak freely,' said Michael Coen, who was FEMA's chief of staff during the Obama and Biden administrations. 'If the leadership, whether it's the secretary's office or the new acting FEMA administrator, has a proposal or an idea on how to do something, the senior staff that are briefing them should be able to feel free to express their concern on why we shouldn't do that,' Coen said. 'Squashing that free flow of collaboration … could be detrimental. … It could lead to bad outcomes where maybe lives could have been saved that weren't saved because there was not that collaboration and cooperation.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Hamilton's comments to lawmakers defending FEMA's existence was the reason for his firing. 'My understanding is this individual testified saying something that was contrary to what the president believes and the goals of this administration in regards to FEMA policy,' Leavitt said. 'And so of course we want to make sure that people in every position are advancing the administration's goals.' She deferred further comment to the Department of Homeland Security. Noem earlier in the week appeared on Capitol Hill, where she faced questions from lawmakers about the administration's plans to drastically overhaul and cut down FEMA's role. The president's skinny budget proposal calls for $646 million in cuts to FEMA it argues fund 'equity' in disaster response. 'The president has indicated he wants to eliminate FEMA as it exists today, and to have states have more control over their emergency management response,' Noem told lawmakers. Hamilton's replacement is David Richardson, who was appointed in January as assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. Memos obtained by The Hill that were authored by Richardson indicate the agency is now undergoing 'mission analysis' that seeks to find 'redundancies and inefficiencies' while 'deterring mission creep.' Among the goals of this analysis are to 'develop courses of action to achieve the President's vision for FEMA.' Meanwhile, Reuters reported Richardson told staffers he would 'run right over' anyone who resisted his actions and that he would be the agency's sole decisionmaker. Spokespeople for FEMA did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment. Hamilton's firing and Richardson's moves come at what's already a tumultuous time for the agency. Beyond Noem's March assertion she would 'eliminate' the agency, reports have indicated as many as 1,800 workers have taken buyout offers. At the same time, the White House has set up a review council to assess proposals to reform the agency. Trump in late April appointed roughly a dozen members to that council, including three current or former Republican governors and the Democratic mayor of Tampa, Fla. Meanwhile, the agency has considered axing billions of dollars in grants — including those seeking to prevent terrorism or help communities respond to disasters — based on immigration policy in the recipient areas. E&E News reported last month that the agency was also halting Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants — which seek to help communities adapt ahead of disasters. And Wired reported last week that FEMA is also ceasing survivor door-knocks. Reacting to the recent changes, one former Biden-era senior official did not mince words. 'It's clear that the Trump administration is a circus and that the secretary does what she wants when she wants it, without the best interest of the American people,' the former FEMA official said.
