Roots and Wings

Email to Senator Boxer::

My brother emailed my parents and me this...

The big news around the psych department this afternoon is that some Republican senator from Texas is trying to force NSF to cut all funding to social, behavioral, and economic sciences. (Presumably that includes the type of funding that I would be applying for in the future--and maybe my fellowship, too.) She's claiming that limiting NSF funding to physical sciences and math will be of more direct economic use. So I gave a call to Barbara Boxer's office and left my little comment. If you have a minute tomorrow, could you send in a little e-mail comment too? Apparently this is up for a vote tomorrow, and although I don't know the full story, it does sound like a big deal.

So I sent an email to Barbara Boxer...

Dear Senator Boxer,

I wanted to send you a quick email message regarding the National Science Foundation funding reevaluation. My older brother, Drew Dara-Abrams, is currently attending University of California at Santa Barbara as a graduate student in Cognitive Sciences. He had the privilege of being selected as an NSF scholar and he will be receiving money for his next 3 years as a graduate student. Obviously, as a graduate student he doesn't make a lot of money or have a lot of money and he was sooo extremely excited to hear that he had gotten the NSF funding. I think his research is JUST AS IMPORTANT as a physical sciences and math.

At the moment I am getting an Associates degree in math at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills (meaning I'm into math a whole lot) and I don't think I deserve money for research more than my brother does. I totally believe that his research will help our national economy and our global economy just as much as a physical science or math graduate student's research would.

I don't know why this should even be up for debate but hopefully you will take into consideration the students this reevaluation of the NSF funding would exclude.

Thank you,
Cassie Dara-Abrams

Hmm.. I don't know how correct all of my statements are but I think she would get the jist of my email... uhhh she? Who is going to read this?? I wonder how many emails she gets per day? per hour? I wonder if she picks and chooses or her assistant picks and chooses which she reads.. well I hope SOMEONE reads this, someone excluding a computer since I did really put a lot of effort into this and trying to make it personal and heart felt (seriously, I wouldn't joke).
: )

Okay, now I guess I'm getting in bed because I spent a couple of hours that I should have been getting ready for my French quiz tomorrow (on reflexive verbs and body parts, hmm so related!) on my computer websurfing.. if only I spent as much time sleeping as I did websurfing and using my computer! On that note, I'm going to sleep.

Oh also, I went to the last SCIL (don't ask me what that stands for at the moment... I'll get back to you) talk at Stanford. Tonight it was the founder of Wikimedia Foundation, Jimmy Wales, speaking. The talk gave me a better idea of what Wikimedia/-pedia... is and how to use it. I'm glad I went with my parents. I'll put my notes up soon.

posted by Cassie @ 11:22:00 PM