星期二, 4月 03, 2018
AG HEALEY STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO EPA’S ROLLBACK OF CRITICAL FEDERAL VEHICLE EMISSIONS STANDARDS
AG HEALEY STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO EPA’S ROLLBACK OF CRITICAL FEDERAL VEHICLE EMISSIONS STANDARDS
BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey today issued the following statement in response to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s announcement that the agency will rollback critical federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light-duty trucks:
“These common sense rules have done more than any other measure to increase miles per gallon, improve air quality, reduce carbon emissions, and save drivers money on gas. Scott Pruitt has once again illegally handed EPA decision-making over to climate-deniers and fossil-fuel lobbyists, while sticking the American people with dirtier air and higher prices at the pump. Since the public can no longer depend on the EPA to protect their interests, we are working with our state partners to defend the rule.”
BACKGROUND:
Globally, the transportation sector is the fastest growing source of dangerous greenhouse gas pollution. Cars and light duty trucks make up 60 percent of the country’s transportation sector and are the main driver for U.S. dependence on oil, including foreign imports. According to the United States Energy Information Administration, the transportation sector has surpassed the electric power sector and is now the nation’s largest source of carbon dioxide emissions.
Under the federal Clean Air Act, EPA is required to establish national standards for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. In 2010, EPA adopted such standards for new passenger cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2017-2025 and beyond.
The 2022-2025 standards that are slated to be rolled back would slash carbon emissions by cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 540 million metric tons, the equivalent of removing 422 million cars from the road, as well as improve vehicles’ fuel economy – resulting in net benefits of nearly $100 billion total, including a net savings of $1,650 for each consumer over the lifetime of a new vehicle.
In January 2017, EPA determined, in its “midterm evaluation,” that the 2022-25 standards are readily achievable by the auto industry. After an extensive technical review, based in significant part on information from industry, advocates, and other interested parties, EPA found that “automakers are well positioned to meet the standards at lower costs than previous estimated.”
In March 2017, President Trump issued an executive order directing the agencies to reconsider the standards for model years 2022-2025. In June, AG Healey and 13 other attorneys general sent a letter to Pruitt threatening legal action if he moved forward with rolling back the standards.
GLOBAL GATHERING EXPLORES FUTURE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTH CARE
GLOBAL GATHERING EXPLORES FUTURE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTH CARE
BOSTON — April 3, 2018— Partners HealthCare, the nation’s largest academic research enterprise, today announced the fourth annual World Medical Innovation Forum, which will bring more than 1,500 health care and technology leaders together in Boston from April 23 to April 25, 2018 to discuss the expanding role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care.
The event will examine how cognitive computing, machine learning and big data are having a transformative impact on medicine. It is open to investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, clinicians, academic researchers, app developers, data scientists, health care policymakers and information technology leaders.
Keynote “Fireside Chats” will be delivered by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Nuance CEO Paul Ricci, Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan, IBM Senior Vice President for Cognitive Solutions and Research John Kelly, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, and surgeon, professor and author Atul Gawande. Other C-level speakers and panelists will include Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and executives from Google, Microsoft, Dell EMC, Persistent Systems, GE, Philips, Siemens Healthineers, Boston Scientific, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squib, Vertex, Pfizer, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Novartis, Amgen, Humana, Wolters Kluwer Health, Cisco, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. In all, the Forum will feature more than 140 speakers, including leaders from health care, technology and life sciences, top investors, and dozens of Harvard Medical School faculty.
The Forum is chaired by Anne Klibanski, MD, Chief Academic Officer, and Gregg Meyer, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, both of Partners HealthCare.
“In an industry driven by data and analysis, AI is a game changer,” said Meyer. “AI methodologies, such as those relating to deep neural networks modeled after the human brain, target historic health care challenges, including quality, access and cost. The Forum will help advance this evolution in health care technology.”
Over three days, the Forum will examine AI as it relates to such diverse issues as drug and medical device development, data security, health care costs, workforce development, investment opportunities, and its impact in specific medical disciplines such as radiology, pathology, ophthalmology, anesthesia, and neuropsychology.
“From R&D to care delivery to patient engagement to population health management, AI can improve care while driving innovation and economic growth,” said Klibanski. “The Forum will illuminate transformational opportunities in health care while addressing the complex societal raised by AI. As always, our goal at Partners HealthCare is finding ways to improve care for our patients.”
Features of the Forum will include a “First Look” at AI breakthroughs and solutions of the future being developed by early career Harvard researchers, and “Discovery Cafe” workshops hosted by senior Harvard faculty. Topics addressed during the Forum will include Anesthesiology, Clinician Empowerment, Clinical trials, Cost and Access, Data Engineering, Data Security, Drug Development, Drug Discovery, Electronic Health Records, Gene Sequencing, Hospital Management, Medical Devices, Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Pathology, Radiology, Reimbursement, Research, Venture Investing, and Workforce Development.
The World Medical Innovation Forum is organized by Partners HealthCare Innovation, a division of Partners HealthCare dedicated to advancing the worldwide commercial application of the unique capabilities of Partners’ Harvard faculty.
Sponsors of the Forum include GE, Nuance, Nvidia, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Siemens Healthineers, Wolters Kluwer Health, Amgen, Boston Scientific, MGH & BWH Center for Clinical Data Science, Mintz Levin, Northern Light Venture Capital, Persistent Systems, Philips, Pure Storage, and Vertex.
AG HEALEY FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING LAST-MINUTE ADDITION OF CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO THE CENSUS
AG HEALEY FILES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING LAST-MINUTE ADDITION OF CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO THE CENSUS
BOSTON – Arguing that the last-minute addition of a widely-criticized citizenship question will jeopardize the accuracy of the federal census, undercount Massachusetts residents, and reduce federal funding to the state, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey today filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to add the question.
AG Healey joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general who argue that, by adding a citizenship question, the Census Bureau will cause significant decrease in participation, resulting in a dramatic population undercount. The attorneys general contend that an undercount violates the constitutional purpose of the Census — to conduct an accurate count of all people in the nation — which threatens states’ fair representation in Congress and the Electoral College, and will deprive states of a fair share of billions of dollars in federal funding.
“Adding an untested citizenship question at this point would sabotage the accuracy of the 2020 Census and threaten federal funding for critical programs in Massachusetts,” said AG Healey. “We are suing to ensure a fair and accurate Census that counts everyone.”
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who is the official federal census liaison for the Commonwealth, shares the AG’s concerns.
“This suit is essential to protecting our political representation and the financial aid that we receive from the federal government,” said Secretary Galvin.
A population undercount would deprive states of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds that are allocated in part based on census data, including funding for education, housing, and infrastructure nationwide. Federal funding also supports essential public programs including Medicaid and SNAP benefits. This proposal would then limit funds designed to support some of the most vulnerable populations in each state, including low-income communities, the elderly, and children—regardless of citizenship.
The attorneys general also argue that the Trump Administration failed to engage in required processes for adding questions to the Census, which typically take years to complete. The attorneys general emphasize that citizenship was not included in the list of topics for the 2020 Census submitted to Congress on March 28, 2017, and that the question has not undergone any field testing.
The Census Bureau announced its decision to add the citizenship inquiry after less than four months of consideration. The question’s addition was prompted by a request from the Justice Department on December 12, 2017, which only came to public attention following news reports. The Justice Department asserted that person-by-person citizenship information was necessary to ensure proper enforcement of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The attorneys general argue that adding the citizenship question would have the opposite effect. They say that a nationwide, person-by-person citizenship inquiry will actually harm minority representation by driving down participation among both citizens and noncitizens in immigrant communities—a concern that is even more acute in today’s political climate. Four former census directors, who were appointed by Presidents from both political parties, agree that adding a citizenship question will depress response rates, and is therefore unlikely to yield the accurate citizen voting-age population data sought by the Justice Department.
To the extent that the Voting Rights Act requires a calculation of the number of eligible voters in a given jurisdiction, the Census Bureau already provides an adequate—and far less intrusive—source of citizenship information based on sampling from surveys such as the American Community Survey.
The attorneys general argue that adding an untested citizenship question to the Census is therefore unnecessary as well as damaging to accuracy because of its impact on response rates. The resultant population undercount would jeopardize the Census Bureau’s ability to determine how many people are in each state, threatening states’ fair representation in Congress and the Electoral College.
AG Healey previously led a coalition of attorneys general in sending a letter to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, urging the agency to reject the request by the U.S. Department of Justice to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census.
The lawsuit, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and joined by Massachusetts, was also joined by the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Washington D.C., as well as the cities of Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Providence, and Seattle, the city and county of San Francisco, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Ann Lynch of AG Healey’s Civil Rights Division, Assistant Attorney General Mercy Cover of AG Healey’s Consumer Protection Division, and Jonathan Miller, Chief of the Public Protection & Advocacy Bureau.
哈佛沙龍邀哈金4/8談國家與個人的矛盾
轉載
【哈佛沙龙第52期】哈金: 禁忌的话题-国家与个人的矛盾
主讲人：哈金，作家，波士顿大学写作项目主任，布兰戴斯大学英美文学博士
评议人：唐小兵，哈佛大学燕京访问学者，华东师范大学历史学系副教授
主持人：张倩烨，哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院国际发展公共管理硕士生
“中国人有独特的爱国方式，其中主要原因是不能把国家视为世俗的产物。对许多中国人来说，国家是神圣的，具有神的身份，这样个人在国家面前就只有屈服。人们忘记了国家是公民自己创造的，应当服从人民。更有甚者，汉语中没有country （国家） 和 state （国政）的区分，人们很难将二者区分，容易把政府和国家混为一体。这也正是当权者希望看到的。在文学艺术领域，艺术家对国家的态度只能是服务和歌颂。其实，公民不是国家的奴才，艺术家首先是公民，有权对国家说不。"
请访问 https://goo.gl/UvR77w 报名。欢迎转发。远程接入请注明，远程接入网址于活动前在哈佛沙龙微信群发布。
【主讲人简介】
哈金，1985来美读研，于1993年在布兰戴斯大学获取英美文学博士学位。1989年XXX事件后他决定移民，并以英文写作。至今他用英文出版了8部长篇小说，4部短篇小说集，4本诗集，一本论文集。他的下一步英文著作是《谪仙：李白传》。长篇英文小说《等待》1999年获得美国国家图书奖。他的作品已经被翻译成30多种语言。目前他是波士顿大学写作项目的主任，主要教小说创作和文学。
【评议人简介】
唐小兵，湖南人，华东师范大学历史学系副教授，史学博士，加拿大
【主持人简介】
张倩烨，哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院国际发展公共管理硕士生，曾在马来西亚从事政治咨询，在香港担任政治记者。曾受邀参加美国国务院“国际访问者领导项目”（IVLP）、日本外务省影响力人士访问项目，曾获亚洲出版业协会（SOPA）新闻奖。2009年本科毕业于北京大学国际关系学院。
羅德島大學孔子學院第6屆"漢字酷"比賽 37人參賽
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| 羅德島大學孔子學院院長何文潮和部分參賽師生合影。 |
(Boston
Orange)羅德島大學孔子學院第6屆”漢字酷”比賽，共有37人參賽。羅德島大學中文領航項目的禹安毅、肖夢喜、顧金一，依序獲得初、中、高級組的一等獎。
今年(2018)的羅德島大學孔子學院”漢字酷”比賽，於3月30日下午，在羅德島大學金斯頓校區的Edwards 禮堂舉行，由志願者教師黃麗麗、候百謙主持，羅德島大學孔子學院院長何文潮，中文領航項目老師吳瑜、徐翊玲，以及孔子學院老師周芍、蔡江坪擔任評委。
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| 認字比賽。 |
比賽分為初、中和高三個級組。初級組有很多人學漢語還不到1年，但滿腔熱情，參賽踴躍，競爭激烈。15名參賽者經過漢字變形記、繁簡字配對、漢字賓果等幾項比賽，晉級第四關”搶答”時，為爭搶答權，認讀形近字，比賽進行的尤其緊張。
角逐中，出現兩次平分情況，為使每個級別產生一等獎一名，二等獎兩名，三等獎三名，評審們還不得不決定加時比賽。來自羅德島大學中文領航項目的禹安毅、肖夢喜、顧金一等同學，最後分別獲得初級組、中級組、高級組的一等獎。
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| 比賽現場。 |
羅德島大學文理學院副院長莫洛科夫（Patricia Morokoff）當天也特地到場觀賽，讚許學生們的語言學習成績，頒發證書和獎品給得獎者。孔子學院院長何文潮教授也在總結比賽時，嘉勉學生們再接再厲，在學習中文這條路上越走越遠。(圖與文稿資料由萬潔華提供)
星期一, 4月 02, 2018
MAYOR WALSH, SUPERINTENDENT CHANG CELEBRATE EXPANSION OF FRESH FOOD PROGRAM AT BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
MAYOR WALSH, SUPERINTENDENT CHANG CELEBRATE EXPANSION OF FRESH FOOD PROGRAM AT BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Expanded program will bring kitchens producing healthy meals to 30 schools this fall
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BOSTON - Monday, April 2, 2018 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Boston Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent Tommy Chang today joined students, faculty, and staff at the Bradley Elementary School in East Boston to celebrate the launch of My Way Cafe, a program that will fund the construction of kitchens in 30 district schools and increase the number of students who can eat fresh, healthy meals cooked on-site.
My Way Cafe is an expansion of a successful pilot program that utilizes a Hub and Spoke kitchen model, which began at four schools in East Boston last spring. This program is the result of a partnership between the Shah Family Foundation and BPS Food and Nutrition Services Department, with design and construction work facilitated by the City of Boston Public Facilities Department.
"Boston is leading the way in making sure our students have access to fresh, healthy food," said Mayor Walsh. "The success of this program in East Boston serves as a model for the rest of the city. Thanks to our key partners, we're now able to bring this program to 30 schools. Choices at our schools need to work for all families and students, many of whom depend on school meals. With this program, we will continue to create happy, successful students, while listening to the needs of our communities."
The Hub and Spoke model, which will continue with My Way Cafe, utilizes schools with already-constructed in-service kitchens to prep food for nearby schools that do not have such kitchens. In addition, schools that do not have in-service kitchens are being retrofitted with hybrid-model kitchens to cook and serve food on-site for students. Hub and Spoke used East Boston High School's in-service kitchen to prep food for the Bradley Elementary, Patrick J. Kennedy Elementary, and East Boston Early Education Center; and those schools were outfitted with hybrid-model kitchens to cook and serve the food on-site.
"The rapid expansion of this effective program has been extraordinary," said Boston School Committee Chairperson Michael Loconto. "It's incredible to see public and non-profit partners work together toward a common goal of making sure our students have healthy and tasty food options."
Chef Ken Oringer, owner of Toro, Uni Boston, and other well known restaurants, helped teach food service staff how to cook new menu items, and was on hand to prepare fresh, healthy lunches for Bradley students on Monday.
The rate of students eating school-provided food in this new program has increased by between seven and 15 percent per school.
One of the hallmarks of My Way Cafe is that students have a choice in what type of meal they would like to eat -- marking a step forward from traditional school cafeteria set-ups.
"Not only are we providing better access to healthy food, but more students are eating the food because it's delicious and they have a choice," said Superintendent Chang. "The meals provided at school are often the most healthy meals students receive. It's important that we provide healthy and delicious options for our students everyday."
"The Shah Family Foundation is thrilled to support the transformation of school food in Boston," said Jill Shah, president of the Shah Family Foundation. "Moving from pre-packaged food to fresh local food, including a full salad bar everyday, will provide more nutrition for our students and more jobs for our community. The successful pilot in East Boston demonstrated significantly higher student participation rates with substantially reduced costs. We look forward to partnering with Mayor Walsh to eventually expand this project across the entire city over the next few years."
In Mayor Walsh's inaugural address in January, he announced that the pilot program would will expand to all Boston Public Schools, in partnership with the Shah Foundation. By this fall, 30 schools across the city will have new or renovated kitchens producing fresh, nutritious food. The renovated kitchens are a part of BuildBPS, Boston's $1 billion plan to upgrade schools across the district. The City's Public Facilities Department will renovate the kitchens in the following schools, which will all participate in the My Way Cafe program.
1. Samuel Adams Elementary School (East Boston)
2. Dante Alighieri Montessori School (East Boston)
3. Boston Day and Evening Academy (Roxbury)
4. Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School (Roxbury)
5. David A. Ellis Elementary School (Roxbury)
5. Ellison Parks Early Education School (Mattapan)
6. Fenway High School (Roxbury)
7. Curtis Guild Elementary School (East Boston)
8. Nathan Hale Elementary School (Roxbury)
9. Haynes Early Education Center (Roxbury)
10. Rafael Hernandez K-8 School (Roxbury)
11. Henry L. Higginson School (Roxbury)
12 Higginson Lewis K-8 School (Roxbury)
13. Samuel Mason Elementary School (Roxbury)
14. Donald McKay K-8 School (East Boston)
15. Ellis Mendell Elementary School (Roxbury)
16. Mildred Avenue K-8 School (Mattapan)
17. Madison Park Technical Vocational High School (Roxbury)
18. John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science (Roxbury)
19. Hugh R. O'Donnell Elementary School (East Boston)
20. Orchard Gardens K-8 School (Roxbury)
21. James Otis Elementary School (East Boston)
22. Charles H. Taylor Elementary School (Mattapan)
23. Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School (Roxbury)
24. Mario Umana Academy (East Boston)
25. Young Achievers Science & Math Pilot K-8 (Mattapan)
Kitchen renovations completed last summer:
1. Manassah E. Bradley Elementary School (East Boston)
2. East Boston Early Education Center (East Boston)
3. East Boston High School (East Boston)
4. Patrick J. Kennedy Elementary School (East Boston)
5. Mattapan Early Elementary School (Mattapan)
In addition to the expansion of the Hub and Spoke model and the implementation of My Way Cafe in Boston Public Schools, Mayor Walsh continues to demonstrate his commitment to providing fresh, healthy food to Boston's children by establishing new programs to increase food access across the city. Last summer, the Mayor's Office of Food Access, BPS and the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics piloted "Lunch on the Lawn," which served young people 18 or under lunch at City Hall during the summer months at no cost. Over 1,000 meals were served at this site during its first summer. The Mayor's Office of Food Access also piloted a "Books and Bites" summer meals site with the Boston Public Library, Project Bread, and the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, and served over 2,000 meals at the Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library.
In January, the City of Boston received a $150,000 grant from the United States Conference of Mayors to fund the BOSFoodLove program, a partnership between The Mayor's Office of Food Access, The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, and BPS aimed at ensuring every child receiving healthy meals to fuel their school performance and success.
Last month, the Walsh Administration sought applications for FoodCorps members to be part of the BOSFoodLove program at BPS. FoodCorps members will emphasize student and parent engagement, solicit input for the school food programs, ensure that all BPS students have access to free, healthy food that meets their dietary needs and preferences, and support their ability to perform well in school. Additionally, FoodCorp members will provide educational lessons to students around healthy food options.
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