Science faces threats from Trump

Photo by Peter Jensen

Do not let petty politics come before objective truth

President Donald Trump’s new administration brought the proverbial hammer down on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this past week with what former EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld  has described as a “hostile takeover.”

The EPA along with several important government departments were directed to limit communication with the public. Grants and contracts were frozen.

If there is one thing all Tech students can agree upon, it is the importance of science. Therefore, the threatening of science and research by the new administration should rightly serve to spark outcry.

Grants alone being frozen means that many students’ and professors’ research  are threatened because many of these projects are government-funded. However, the mere fact alone that Trump’s team would think to attack scientific inquiry in this method is startling.

Additionally, the hiring freeze instituted by the Trump administration serves to impede any student’s ambition to work and research for the government.

The value of science and scientific inquiry may be obvious to the average Tech student; however, the same cannot be said of all citizens. While others may prioritize spending money on different ventures, completely undermining scientific progress is a step in the wrong direction.

Currently only two scientists serve on the U.S. Congress, and they alone cannot be the voice of the scientific community. It is more important now than ever before to come together and fight to protect science.

We are a school of problem solvers, and science has provided the answers to many issues that have eluded society. We cannot afford to sit by idly and watch the new administration blatantly undervalue our search for a better understanding of the world around us.

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