Oxford residents plan rally to support science
As President Donald Trump continues to cut funding and fire federal employees in an effort to reshape the federal government, people locally and nationally are calling for scientific research to continue receiving funding.
People in Oxford are joining a national rally across the country March 7 to support the funding of scientific research.
Stand Up for Science is a Washington D.C.-based organization formed just this year which aims to protect and restore federal funding of scientific research across the country. The organization also aims to “end governmental interference and censorship in science” and reinstate employees who have been terminated in the first month of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a press release.
On March 7, Stand Up for Science is holding a rally in Washington, with dozens of concurrent events across the country. Oxford’s Stand Up for Science rally, organized locally by John Bailer, will run from 1-3 p.m. in Oxford Memorial Park. The event will feature testimonials on how funding impacts research, the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in science, and censorship.
In his first month back in office, President Trump froze payment on all federal grants and loans. The order was put on hold by federal courts, but agencies including the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which spends much of its $47-billion budget on biomedical research, are still struggling to access their own funding, stalling research across the country, according to Nature. Some universities “are reducing or halting their PhD admissions because of federal-funding uncertainties,” Nature reported in late February. The Trump administration has characterized funding cuts, as well as the firing of thousands of federal employees, as part of a broader effort to rein in spending.
People interested in providing their own testimonials during the event can reach out to standup4science.oxohio@gmail.com. Stand Up for Science is also planning a national “campus and workplace walkout” at noon March 7.
