費正清中心系列講座

 

Fairbank Center Upcoming Events | Fall 2021 View this email in your browser   UPCOMING EVENTS NOVEMBER 8 - 21, 2021     SPECIAL EVENTS     2021 CHARLES NEUHAUSER MEMORIAL LECTURE Competition, Coexistence and the Future of US-China Relations Monday, November 15, 2021 | 4:00 - 5:30 PM EST Via Zoom Speaker: Evan S. Medeiros, Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies and the Cling Family Senior Fellow in US-China Relations, Georgetown University Dr. Medeiros’ background is a unique blend of regional expertise and government experience. He served for six years on the staff of the National Security Council as director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia and then as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia. In the latter role, Dr. Medeiros was President Barack Obama’s top advisor on the Asia-Pacific and was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific across areas of diplomacy, defense policy, economic policy, and intelligence. Prior to joining the White House, Medeiros worked for seven years as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. From 2007 to 2008, he also served as policy advisor to Secretary Hank Paulson Jr., working on the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue at the U.S. Department of Treasury. Presented via Zoom Webinar Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_caT_vQMcRyWfla_27AwxKg     TAIWAN STUDIES WORKSHOP Cross-Strait Relations One Year After Biden's Election Monday, November 15, 2021 | 8:00 - 9:30 PM EST Via Zoom and from the Legislative Yuan, Taipei  Panelists: Steven Goldstein, Sophia Smith Professor of Government at Smith College Emeritus and director of the Taiwan Studies Workshop, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University Alastair Iain Johnston, Laine professor of China in World Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard University Sara Newland, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Smith College Szue-chin Philip Hsu, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, National Taiwan University Yi-Feng Tao, Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, National Taiwan University Johnny Chi-chen Chiang, Congressman, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and chairperson of Kuomingtan (March 2020 – October 2021) Mark Chih-Wei Ho, Congressman, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and member of the Central Standing Committee, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Moderator: George Yin, National Service Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Political Science, National Taiwan University and Adjunct Research Fellow, Center for China Studies, National Taiwan University One year after Biden’s election, cross strait and US-China relations seem more unstable than during the Trump administration. If the status quo is desirable, what can the U.S. and Taiwan do to maintain the status quo? This hybrid webinar brings together US and Taiwan scholars, in addition to Taiwanese policymakers, to explore the drivers of increasing tensions in the cross-strait area, and to examine the credibility of proposed solutions. Presented via Zoom Webinar and from the Legislative Yuan in Tapei Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2RgCTSP7RLS04cd00ao9mw     SEMINAR SERIES   CRITICAL ISSUES CONFRONTING CHINA SERIES Pinyin and Paper Fans: China-Funded Education Programs in U.S. Schools Wednesday, November 10, 2021 | 12:30 - 2:00 PM EST Via Zoom Speaker: Naima Green-Riley, Ph.D. Candidate and Raymond Vernon Fellow, Department of Government, Harvard University; Former Consular Officer, US. Consulate General, Guangzhou, China Presented via Zoom Webinar Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eLCvJ6-0Rr2lNz68lP6IhQ   MODERN CHINESE HUMANITIES SEMINAR The Shifting Limits of Reform: Literature and Censorship in China since 1979 Friday, November 12, 2021 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM EST Via Zoom Speaker: Michel Hockx, Professor of Chinese Literature, University of Notre Dame On July 30, 1979, Deng Xiaoping addressed the fourth national conference of Chinese writers and artists. Towards the end of his speech he stated, to collective sighs of relief, that “the Party’s leadership of literature and the arts does not mean issuing orders, nor requiring writers and artists to make themselves subservient to […] political tasks.” In doing so, he redefined the relationship between CCP ideologues and creative producers, which had become increasingly politicized during the first thirty years of Communist rule. He also set the template for later “important speeches” on art and literature by Party leaders, which have been a core component of Chinese cultural policy ever since. Looking at leaders’ speeches as a genre of cultural production, I show how each leader after Deng tried to confirm the post-1979 consensus that promised more freedom to cultural producers, while at the same time indicating where the limits to that freedom might lie. The talk will engage with these speeches against three discrete backgrounds: the ongoing dismantlement of what was once the “socialist literary system,” the claims made about Chinese censorship and “self-censorship” in American and European public opinion, and the theoretical debates about structural censorship in the field of New Censorship Studies. Presented via Zoom Webinar Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0g9r82GHRkWZB9IOPyT9Wg   CHINA HUMANITIES SEMINAR Publisher at Work: Yu Xiangdou's Images and Visualizing Intellectual Labor Monday, November 15, 2021 | 8:00 - 9:30 PM EST Via Zoom Speaker: Suyoung Son, Associate Professor, Cornell University How could intangible, tacit intellectual labor be legible, acknowledged, and compensated? The relationship between authorship and authorial property was hotly debated in late imperial China when a flurry of fakes, forgeries, and counterfeits abounded in the commercial book market. My talk will use examples from Yu Xiangdou (ca. 1560-1637), one of the most successful commercial publishers in Jianyang, to discuss how he claimed the hitherto invisible and therefore uncredited intellectual endeavor of making the books. Away from the prevailing conception that the images inserted in his printed books are portraits of Yu Xiangdou himself, I will approach his images in terms of the highly conventionalized image-signs and argue that his images serve as a liminal link between incorporeal authorship and material proprietorship. Presented via Zoom Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpcOyuqTItH9XHfGGHtpzj0f6bGEsaGjG0   CRITICAL ISSUES CONFRONTING CHINA SERIES Early Childhood Development in Rural China: The Biggest (or Smallest?) Challenge That China Faces That No One Knows About Wednesday, November 17, 2021 | 12:30 - 2:00 PM EST Via Zoom Speaker: Scott Rozelle, Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of the Center on China's Economy and Institutions, Stanford University Presented via Zoom Webinar Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e8FiHfV1QPuSdM6ZqZicWw     EVENTS OF INTEREST   CHIANG CHING-KUO FOUNDATION Taiwan Studies: New Questions and Challenges Friday, November 12, 2021 | 7:30 - 9:30 PM EST Via Zoom Speakers: Kevin Luo 羅巍, Tsinghua University Chih-Wei Chung 鍾秩維, Fu Jen Catholic University Su-Yon Lee 李時雍, National Taiwan University Jaewoong Jeon 全在雄, Harvard University Lawrence Yang 楊子樵, Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Cheng-Heng Lu 盧正恆, Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Organizer: David Der-wei Wang 王德威, Harvard University A bilingual workshop sponsored by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and Hou Family Foundation Presented via Zoom Register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sQ5ZItvGTXWJIg2wVNapuA   HARVARD-YENCHING INSTITUTE Re-Articulations: Foreign Literature Studies in Taiwan Thursday, November 18, 2021 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM EST Via Zoom Speaker: Chih-ming Wang, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica; HYI Visiting Scholar, 2021-22 Chair/discussant: David Wang, Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University This talk revisits the institutional and intellectual history of foreign literature studies in Taiwan through the lenses of colonial modernity and traveling theory. It contends that the discipline of foreign literature studies is fundamentally a project of re-articulation—not only to introduce the Western canon in local contexts, but moreover to resignify it in the global/local nexus for social political transformations. It is particularly wedded to the formation of the Taiwan-China division born out of the civil war and Cold War contexts in 1949. To explain the political meanings of its discipline formations, I will focus on two examples: CT Hsia’s literary modernism as a form of anti-Romanticism in the Cold War era and the translation of subjectivity as zhutixing in the post-martial law Taiwan. Whereas Hsia in the 1950s intended literary criticism to be a means for political rectification in modern China, the translingual birth of zhutixing in the 1990s literalized the power of theory in the making of postcolonial Taiwan. Presented via Zoom Register at https://harvard.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEucOCpqTwiEtX3ewPRvf8kfFeqWZvmZKl7 More information: https://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/rearticulations-foreign-literature-studies-in-taiwan/     For more information about online China-related events happening globally, please visit The International Chinese Studies Virtual Events Clearing House       FAIRBANK CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES  费正清中国研究中心 Harvard University | 1730 Cambridge Street | Cambridge, MA 02138 fairbankcenter@fas.harvard.edu | +1 (617) 495-4046   Unsubscribe from this list

麻州已有6人宣佈參選下任州長 查理貝克呢?還沒決定

             (Boston Orange編譯) 現在距離2022年11月8日即將舉行的麻州州長大選，剛好一年。已經公開表態要參選州長職位的民主、共和2黨黨員，加起來至少6個人，但是麻州現任州長查理貝克 (Charlie Baker) 到底會不會尋求第三度連任，暫時還是沒答案。

             7日早上，當查理貝克上WCVB電視台的「記錄在案 (On The Record) 」節目時，主持人Ed Harding 和五沅媚 (Janet Wu) 逼問他未來如何打算。

             查理貝克卻還是說，「哦，就像我以前說過的，我專心做我有的工作，我的時間一直花在那上面」。查理貝克也說，如果他再參選，儘管他和麻州共和黨領導層的關係有裂痕，他還是會以共和黨身份參選。

             他說，在麻州，他是”威廉威爾德(Bill Weld)共和黨”，他一直都是，而且在過去這40年來的好時光中，披著這樣的外衣，他也一直都覺得很舒服。他形容作為州長是他曾有的最大榮耀，最大機會，最辛苦，但在許多方面來說也是他曾有過的最好工作。

             在這節目的泛談中，查理貝克還說，關於麻州收到，來自美國援救計劃法 (American Rescue Plan Act) 的50億元如何分配一事，他預期麻州議會將交給他一項法案。

             他說，「那是數額很大的一筆錢」。他說他很感謝議會的工作，但指出他的辦公室5月時就提出了該如何用這筆錢的其中一半的計畫。「坦白說，其中有些東西我希望我們已經開始在那方面花錢………項就業培訓，奠立技能，認證，因為由於新冠病毒大流行的結果，有很多人的工作可能消失了，而我們希望幫他們找到下一份工作。

             談到波士頓候任市長吳弭所提出，那些需要州政府同意的那些計畫，例如在波士頓重新實施租金控制，廢除MBTA車費等，他的立場如何時，查理貝克重申兩項他都反對。

             查理貝克說他不會抹煞關於麻州房價高漲，可能有些方法因應的看法。關於控制價格，他最大的顧慮是價格控制通常意味著短缺，而他想要直接深入他認為房屋上的最大問題，那就是沒有足夠的房屋。

             查理貝克還說，他不相信MBTA免費作法應該由州政府來資助。他說，有人得從某些人那兒擠出一大筆錢，「我確實認為波士頓市願意付錢來讓波士頓居民有免費的地鐵系統(T)。我猜這當然值得討論」。

             根據「選票百科 (Ballotpedia) 」，已經表態要參選下屆麻州州長的人，共和黨有曾任麻州眾議員的Geoff Diehl，民主黨有現任麻州參議員陳翟蘇妮 (Sonia Chang Diaz )，曾任麻州參議員的Benjamin Downing，哈佛大學政治學教授Danielle Allen，為警察及消防員籌款的Scott Donohue，以及已宣佈要參選，但似乎還沒人知道他是誰的Orlando Silva。

AG Maura Healey and Unite Local 26 endorse Lydia Edwards

Attorney General Maura Healey and Unite Local 26 endorse Lydia Edwards 

Over 100 volunteers rally and hit the streets for Lydia for Senate 

EAST BOSTON – Today Attorney General Maura Healey endorsed Lydia Edwards for Senate with a canvass kick-off at Lopresti Park in East Boston. The campaign was joined by Unite Local 26, which also formally endorsed Edwards today. Members and over 100 volunteers rallied their support and then hit the doors to ask voters across the district to cast their ballots for Lydia Edwards for Senate on December 14, 2021.

“Lydia always shows up for the people she serves, but most importantly, Lydia knows that good change comes from public policy rooted in humanity. It's not enough to protect workers' wages; she protects their dignity,” said Attorney General Healey. “No one will fight harder for this District than Lydia Edwards. This election matters and we’ll do everything we can to make sure she wins on December 14.”

“Attorney General Healey is a champion for working people and beyond, and I am so grateful for her support and excitement about this campaign,” said Edwards. “This energy is the perfect way to hit the ground for the final sprint to Election Day, and as I see the strong voices and leaders who have joined us today, I am overwhelmed by your faith in me. I am inspired everyday by the strength and character and grit of the people who live here and you are the reason why I am fired up to go to Beacon Hill as your next senator!”

Standing with Edwards and Attorney General Healey were dozens of members from UNITE HERE Local 26, representing workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “For our members to recover from the pandemic, we need to elect Lydia Edwards to State Senate,” said UNITE HERE Local 26 President Carlos Aramayo. “We have six weeks to change the lives of generations in Massachusetts with the courage and commitment of Lydia Edwards. When we endorse, we put in the work and we will be getting out the vote – for our moms, our kids, and our future.”

Edwards was also joined by City Council colleagues Kenzie Bok and Ed Flynn, as well as State Representative Nika Elugardo. A number of organizations joined the rally and hit the streets in Winthrop, Revere, Boston and Cambridge, including: OPEIU Local 453; the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters; UFCW Local 1445; Iron Workers Local 7; Teamsters Local 25; IBEW Local 103; SEIU 509; Massachusetts Nurses Association; the Brazilian Workers Center; and the Chinese Progressive Association.

UNITE HERE Local 26 represents workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Its members work in Boston and Providence’s best hotels, restaurants, and university dining halls in addition to the Boston Convention Centers, Fenway Park and Logan International Airport. Local 26 members clean hotel rooms, greet guests, and prepare and serve food for hundreds of thousands of travelers to Boston and the northeast.

Prior to entering the City Council, Councilor Edwards worked extensively in the legal field serving as a judicial law clerk with the Massachusetts Superior Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Edwards worked as a public interest attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services focusing on labor issues such as fighting for access to unemployment insurance, back wages, fair treatment for domestic workers and combating human trafficking. She served as the statewide campaign coordinator for the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers, which advocated for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. In 2015, she was named Bostonian of the Year by the Boston Globe. 

Lydia Edwards is a candidate for State Senate representing the First Suffolk and Middlesex District, following the departure of Senator Joseph A. Boncore. For a full and up-to-date list of endorsements, visit: LydiaEdwards.org/endorsements.

第十一屆亞美節11月20日晚在Quincy龍鳳舉行

 

麻省理工學院中國創新創業論壇2021年會今明兩日舉行

MIT-CHIEF Annual Conference will be held on November 6-7, centering on the theme “Connected & Sustainable".

About this event

The Conference will engage dozens of leading scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and thousands of participants in a discourse that offers insights and generates ideas for the Future of Humanity.

For the direction of the conference venue: the Wong Auditorium (E51-115) is located at Tang Center, 2 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02142. The MIT-CHIEF staff will direct you when you arrived at the two main entrances of the building. In addition, due to the health policy of MIT, all the attendees are REQUIRED to register the Tim Tickets at https://tim-tickets.atlas-apps.mit.edu/Z1Z8Wic8gt74mMoP7 for our conference.

For the virtual webinar attendees, to attend the webinar via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I5HV5rY6T3iMzpXi0_q_AQ Or visit our Youtube channel to enjoy the live streams at https://www.youtube.com/user/mitchiefconference/featured

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

2021 has brought new social, economic and political realities, and showed us a more connected global community that we realized and a more sustainable future that we are aspiring for. Dedicated to a constructive dialogue on the challenges, trends, and issues affecting technology innovation and commercialization, we are planning to hold the MIT-CHIEF Annual Conference from Nov. 6th to 7th, centering on the theme “Connected & Sustainable".

The Conference will engage dozens of leading scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and thousands of participants in a discourse that offers insights and generates ideas for the Future of Humanity. This year’s conference consists of 5 topics: “Carbon neutrality”, “Medical Technology”, “Fintech” (online), “Supply Chain” and “Future-Tech Companies”. The variety and depth of the conference will enable you to perceive, understand and improve the ever changing world we live in, as well as get you exposed to rich innovation and entrepreneurship resources. Come and join this exciting event with us!

 

Mayor-elect Wu talks about COVID-19 after the city presented briefing (Video)

 

波士頓代市長Kim Janey匯報新冠疫情現狀 (視頻)

 

甘泓儒在美首次個展 「回憶的本質」11月6日開幕

甘泓儒畫作。

             (Boston Orange) 來自台灣，去年才從麻省設計學院取得繪畫碩士學位，已有經紀人代理的藝術家甘泓儒，將於11月6日至30日，在麻州牛頓市「附近藝廊 (Nearby Gallery) 」舉辦他的在美首次個展，「回憶的本質（The Nature of Remembrance）」。

              這展覽由波士頓 AREA gallery 策展人，同時在塔芙茨大學(Tufts)SMFA任教的 David Guerra 和 Nearby Gallery 共同策劃，展出甘泓儒的早期版畫創作，以及表現手法更為成熟的5件近期大型畫作。觀展者將可從一幅幅畫作，看到甘泓儒在人生不同階段對記憶本質的探索。

              這些畫，有他在台灣第一個房間的壁紙，他祖母的外衣布料，他家那些以花朵圖案裝飾的物品，過去這3年來他住在美國東北部的紐約、波士頓期間，經歷的季節變化。

              透過畫作，甘泓儒藉著筆觸，顏色，圖案，不但把他曾經歷過的不同時間，遠近地方，呈現在人們眼前，更讓人感受到在那中間有過的既重複，又改變，或與人共有，或獨自琢磨，已成記憶，想要重溫，卻無由複製的情緒與環境空間，是那麼地讓人既喜又悲，甚至忍不住想起唐代杜甫「春望」中的詩句，「感時花濺淚，恨別鳥驚心」。

              1993年在台灣台南出生，2015年從台灣藝術大學書畫系畢業的甘泓儒，還年輕的很，但他在麻州設計學院修讀繪畫藝術碩士期間，把中國書法和水墨畫的技法融入西方抽象彩繪畫作，已走出他自己的風格，畢業以來曾為在美國尚凱利畫廊公開展覽的台灣著名藝術家吳季璁做助手，也曾應邀參加在台灣 AIT 官邸藝廊、美國哈佛大學 史密斯中心 (Smith center) ，波士頓 Abigail Ogilvy gallery 和 AREA gallery 的聯展。

              目前他已遷居紐約，在大都會闖天下，這次應邀回到他留學進修的波士頓，舉辦他在美國的首次個展，為他的藝術人生踏出更堅實的第一步。

              「回憶的本質（The Nature of Remembrance）」甘泓儒個展將於11月6日晚上6到9點，在展出現場，麻州牛頓市的「附近藝廊 (Nearby Gallery) 」，舉行開幕式。他本人將出席和觀展者互動。

              「附近藝廊 (Nearby Gallery) 」地址為101 Union St, Newton Centre, MA 02459，畫展將從11月6日展至30日。查詢詳情可上網，https://www.area.gallery。

MAYOR JANEY CELEBRATES INSTALLATION OF NEW PUBLIC ARTWORK IN JAMAICA PLAIN

MAYOR JANEY CELEBRATES INSTALLATION OF NEW PUBLIC ARTWORK IN JAMAICA PLAIN

 

BOSTON - Friday, November 5, 2021 - Mayor Kim Janey and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Boston Art Commission, the Boston Public Library, and Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) yesterday celebrated a new piece of public art that has been installed at the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library and BCYF Curtis Hall. The City of Boston commissioned Matthew Hinçman to create Wythe & Web, and it was funded by the City’s Percent for Art program. “This new addition to the Jamaica Plain Branch and BCYF Curtis Hall is a great way to honor the strong community ties that are present in this neighborhood,” said Mayor Janey. “I can’t wait to see people interact with the artwork, and use it as a way to engage in more conversations with each other.” The public art project complemented the renovation of the Jamaica Plain Branch, which included a 700-square foot addition facing South Street that serves as a community reading lounge, a terrace along Sedgwick Street where residents can read and mingle, a refreshed collection of 30,000 books, an elevator for full ADA accessibility, parking for over 20 bikes, and new exterior landscaping. The total budget for the public art project was $205,000. The artwork is located on the lawn in front of the library and BCYF Curtis Hall facing South Street. It is a sculptural intervention that consists of a series of low brick walls that zig-zag across the lawn. Some of the walls are capped with brightly colored glazed bricks, and others are capped with slabs of granite. In addition to the walls, there are five bronze chairs that take their form from the vinyl webbed folding chairs found in millions of backyards and lawns.  The City of Boston highlighted several themes identified by the community for Hinçman to consider throughout his process, including the diversity and intergenerational character of the neighborhood, a community of artists and creators, a desire for artwork that is functional or interactive in some way, and the need to retain a sense of neighborhood identity. Matthew Hinçman is a sculptor and educator living in Jamaica Plain, and is a professor of sculpture at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt). He is also chair of the Fine Arts 3D Program at MassArt. He currently serves on the board of the Boston-based nonprofit Now+There. He's best known for "Jamaica Pond Bench, 2006," and "STILL, 2014," both located in Jamaica Plain. “I hope that it might be a bit of a destination,” said Matthew Hinçman. “I could never imagine the bench that I made at Jamaica Pond being all that comfortable, and yet, people will sit in it with their legs dangling over it and actually say ‘let’s meet at the bench’. I don’t think the lawn here, prior to the installation, held that kind of charm for folks, and I’m hopeful it might now. I hope this might be something to go check out, and a space to be in a way that it really wasn’t before.”  “Investing in local artists and bringing new public art to Boston are two goals that we are prioritizing as we work to make Boston a more culturally vibrant city,” said Kara Elliott-Ortega, Chief of Arts and Culture. “We were thrilled to support an artist with such a strong connection to the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, and appreciate all of his hard work in making this project happen.” The FY22-26 Capital Plan allocates $15 million to the Percent for Art program. Another long-term artwork by artist Joe Wardwell in collaboration with poet Nakia Hill and youth from 826 Boston’s Youth Literary Advisory Board will be completely installed at the Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library later this month. In addition to long-term public art projects, the City also allocated over $1 million to murals and other short-term public art projects and activations this year through the Transformative Public Art Program. You can learn more about public art projects underway at boston.gov/public-art.

麻州總檢察官辦公室提供打擊仇恨資訊

 

吳弭籌備接任 談"美沙酮英里" 公佈"所有人上車"網站 鼓勵人加入她的新政府

吳弭分享她聽取"美沙酮英里"的工作報告概要。(周菊子攝)

               (Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓綜合報導) 波士頓候任市長吳弭 (Michelle Wu) 4日開始交接工作，聽取的第一個簡報是” 美沙酮英里 (Mass and Cass)” ，談及新政府團隊，強調不著急，找對人比較重要。4日傍晚，吳弭公佈列有英西中三種語言的官方交接網站，AllAboardBoston.com，鼓勵有意加入新政府者遞交履歷表。

              2021年11月2日，吳弭以60%多的得票率，當選波士頓市下任市長，成為波士頓市經由民選產生的首名女性，亞裔，華裔市長。

              11月3日，吳弭出席了她的最後一次市議員會議，和波士頓代市長Kim Janey進一步晤談交接。4日開始聽取第一個市府團隊簡報。在11月16日她宣誓就任前，這樣的簡報估計得有20多場。

10月4日一早，"美沙酮英里"上還有不少露宿帳篷。(周菊子攝)

            吳弭知道冬天就要來了，”美沙酮英里”那兒在人行道上櫛比鱗次的露營帳篷，既不溫暖，也不衛生，她接任後的首要之務之一，會是指派一名內閣首長來監管那一帶的吸毒氾濫情況。她指出，波士頓代市長Kim Janey發出清理”美沙酮英里”的行政命令才進入第三天，已經知道波士頓市面對低門檻接收流浪漢床位(住處)不足的窘境，她也向市府團隊仔細詢問了流民們的實際狀況，市府可應用的資源有哪些，是不是得和州政府及其他市鎮來一起解決這問題等等。

              她說，波士頓公共衛生局每週都做統計，以了解該一地帶有多少人住在帳篷裡，相信下週會收到更新數據。

              當一名記者指出，有流民在”美沙酮英里”的治療站排隊等候注射美沙酮時被逮捕。吳弭直言這樣的事不應該發生。

波士頓市政府大樓5樓，市議員辦公室在左邊這頭，市長辦公室
在右邊那頭。(周菊子攝)

             吳弭也不忘讚揚市府團隊的此案工作人員，花了很多時間來確保流民受到尊重對待，各人的物品得到安全、妥善處理。

             波士頓環球報在4日晚發文稱吳弭接受該報訪問半小時，提及市長有進出市府的專用電梯。 3日波士頓代市長Kim Janey帶吳弭參觀市長辦公室現狀時，讓吳弭想起當年萬寧路 (Tom Menino) 市長在位時，曾邀她一同搭乘，也讓她重新意識到，從當年實習到當選市議員，前後不下10年，其實她應該可以說自己熟悉波士頓市政府大樓的每一個角落。

             談及波士頓公立學校時，吳弭直言學校教育將是她上任後的一大重點工作，點出波士頓市在2019年聘來現任波士頓公校總監Brenda Cassellius之前，7年內換了5名公校總監。她認為波士頓公校系統需要穩定性，她會要波士頓公校現任總監留任。

             波士頓公校系統共有120所學校，最高峰時期曾同時有5名華裔校長，包括當年的查理士城高中校長馮國樑，昆士中學校長黃伯勳，昆士小學校長李素影，楷德小學校長何少華，亞當斯小學校長Grace 楊，其後逐次遞減，新舊更替。如今在位，較為人知的華裔校長是昆士中學張可仁。其中黃伯勳和張可仁還都曾進入波士頓公校擔任副總監。吳弭市長就任後，波士頓公校系統華裔校長人數是否可能增加，讓人期待。

             吳弭還希望改善波士頓市府目前發包市府採購合約，只有1%左右發給少數族裔，女性的現象。她表示將修改流程，在性別，族裔等領域力求公平。

             通常新政府首長出爐後，都會組織交接團隊，為新政府挑選人才出謀策劃，八方張羅。吳弭當選波士頓市長前後，許多記者都問過，她的交接團隊會有哪些人，但除了10月底時吳弭團隊透露過，現任教育信託 (The Education Trust)的麻州合作夥伴及參與助理主任Mariel Novas博士將主導交接事宜，其他細節就一概不答。

             吳弭在發表勝選感言時曾強調，她要把波士頓市政府帶到波士頓市的每一個角落去，她也希望市政府能反映波士頓市的人口結構，一樣的那麼多元化。4日傍晚，吳弭以”吳委員會(The Wu Committee)”的名義，公佈徵招人才的官方網站，AllAboardBoston.com，以英西中3種語言，呼籲願意和她一起經營波士頓市的人投遞履歷表，圈選自己是對公共衛生，公安，交通，環保，計畫及發展，食物正義，住宅，小企業，人力發展，教育等那些方面有興趣。她希望最後能組成一個適才適任，兼顧多元性的團隊，來實現她對選民的承諾。

斥資1400萬元 哥倫布大道上啟用中央行駛巴士專線

哥倫布大道 (Columbus Avenue)中央行駛巴士線剪綵。(周菊子攝)

                     (Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓報導) 波士頓市第一條設在道路中央，地面漆成紅色的巴士專線，10月30日在哥倫布大道 (Columbus Avenue)上啟用，11月4日剪綵，估計這位於Walnut大道和Jackson 廣場車站之間，不到1英里長的專線，可為22， 29，44號巴士線乘客節省4到7分鐘時間。

             麻州交通廳廳長Jamey Tesler，波士頓代市長Kim Janey，MBTA總經理Steve Poftak，宜居街道聯盟 (LivableStreets Alliance) 行政主任Stacy Thompson等人都出席了剪綵儀式。

             這被稱為「中央行駛巴士線 (center-running bus lanes)」，在新英格蘭地區還是第一個的巴士專線工程，從2020年8月開始動工，經麻州交通廳(MassDOT)，麻州灣區交通局(MBTA)，波士頓市政府合作完成，總共建了8個新的上車平台，把原本有四線車道的道路，改成中央路段挪供巴士專用，一般車輛行駛靠路邊的兩旁道路。在法蘭克林公園(Franklin Park)和傑克遜廣場車站(Jackson Square Station)之間的這將近1英里長的道路，經調整後兩旁路邊停車位減少52個，留下116個。

波士頓代市長Kim Janey(中)和MBTA總經理 Steve Poftak(右)等人剪綵後，搭乘巴士體驗
一下。(周菊子攝)

             各車站平台也都新設大塊數位螢幕面板，為乘客同時提供語音及視線上的巴士實時資訊，加裝罩棚，給乘客更多保護。

             有關當局表示，選擇22， 29，44號這3條巴士線行駛的路段，來率先實施「中央行駛巴士線 (center-running bus lanes)」做法，是因為自從2020年3月麻州因為新冠病毒疫情宣佈進入公共健康緊急時期後，這3條巴士線的搭乘量，遠比其他巴士線要高，而且在麥特潘(Mattapan)、多徹斯特(Dorchester)、洛士百利 (Roxbury)、以及牙買加平原(Jamaica Plain)等地區連接橘線、紅線地鐵的這幾條巴士線，服務區域是MBTA系統中低收入及少數族裔人口數最高的地區，巴士經常誤點。

             採用新的「中央行駛巴士線」，將可消除巴士在行駛途中和一般停靠路邊車輛，或雙排平行停洎車輛爭用道路的衝突，巴士行駛速度可更穩定，乘客上下車也更安全。

哥倫布大道上的中央行駛巴士專線。(周菊子攝)

             波士頓市長Kim Janey表示，每天都有8000多人靠22，29，44這3條巴士線來銜接地鐵，即使在新冠病毒疫情期間，還是有很多人搭乘。她很興奮，這在新英格蘭地區還是第一個的「中央行駛巴士線 (center-running bus lanes)」設計，在搭車安全，效率等等方面，都可以改善人們的搭車體驗。

             麻州MBTA總經理Steve Poftak指出，哥倫布大道上的這巴士線是未來巴士系統的雛形，乘客們可以預期更穩定的服務，更容易搭乘，更安全，更方便的相關設施。該機構將和波士頓市合作，繼續推出類似項目，造福乘客。

             宜居街道聯盟 (LivableStreets Alliance) 行政主任Stacy Thompson說，22號線巴士的乘客中，每10人就有9人是有色人種，和其他白人巴士乘客相比，他們的通勤時間長得不成比例，能給回他們的每一分鐘，都很有價值。希望將來有更多這樣的改善。

             哥倫布大道的這巴士專線項目是MBTA和波士頓市政府合作的結果，估計共耗資1400萬元，其中MBTA出資1300萬元，波士頓市府出資100萬元。

             波士頓區域都會計劃組織(Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization)最近通過撥款支持擴大中央行駛巴士線計畫，已從哥倫布大道到傑克遜廣場的這條巴士專線可展延到Ruggles車站，以及哥倫布大道和天滿街(Tremont)沿路的乘客都可受益。MBTA也正在和其他幾個市鎮政府談類似合作。

             MBTA也將繼續和麻州交通廳，波士頓市政府，以及其他市鎮合作，以建立高品質的巴士優先基礎架構，讓MBTA的服務地區，包括多徹斯特和大西洋大道(Atlantic Ave.)之間的夏日街(Summer)，北端(North End)的北華盛頓街(North Washington St.)，Lynn市內的北廣場(North Common)，南廣場街及市場街， Tobin 橋和雀喜市(Chelsea)的百老匯(Bradway)等。

             這計畫是MBTA快速回應巴士線項目(Rapid Response Bus Lane Program)的關鍵元素。

麻州5-11歲兒童11月5日起可注射輝瑞新冠疫苗

麻州州長查理貝克到波士頓兒童醫院宣佈5-11歲兒童5日起可注射
新冠病毒疫苗。(視頻截圖)

                    (Boston Orange編譯) 從11月5日起，麻州將在500多個地點，為5到11歲的兒童注射輝瑞(Pfizer)新冠疫苗。麻州州長查理貝克(Charlie Baker)今(4)日早上特地到波士頓兒童醫院，和該院院長Kevin B. Churchwell聯袂宣佈此事，同時強調疫苗安全、有效，每人都可免費注射。

             聯邦疾病防治中心(CDC)在週二(2)日晚批准了輝瑞產製，適用於5到11歲兒童的新冠疫苗。和成人疫苗一樣，也是相隔20天，注射兩劑。

               波士頓兒童醫院的醫師建議家長們和醫師商量，盡早給自己的小孩注射疫苗。他們認為雖然研究顯示兒童傳染病毒後，一般病症較輕，但並不是兒童就不會感染病毒，而且兒童一旦感染病毒，還可能把病毒傳染給家人。事實上，根據美國兒童醫師協會的統計數據，在新冠病毒大流行期間，全美有1.9% ，約8300的 5-11歲兒童住院，172死亡了。

波士頓兒童醫院院長Kevin B. Churchwell。

             全美5-11歲的兒童，估計有2800萬人，麻州約有51萬5000人。

             麻州州長查理貝克表示，麻州有2000所中小學每週都做病毒檢測，全州12到17歲的青少年，有80%都已注射疫苗。所有的數據都顯示，麻州的疫苗注射率高，因而病毒染患率，住院率及死亡率都比其他州低。

             今年8月時，佛羅里達州一度有9000名17歲以下青少年檢測陽性，但麻州卻只有250。查理貝克認為那就是疫苗注射率夠高的結果。

麻州對所有中小學的規定是，只要全校師生及教職人員有80%已注射了疫苗，1月15日以後就可自行決定校內是否需要戴口罩。

想要給小孩注射疫苗的家長，可上州政府的疫苗查找網站(Vaxfinder)預約疫苗注射，或是直接和他們自己的小兒科醫生聯絡。有需要的人還可以撥打211熱線電話。www.mass.gov/covidvaccinekids這網站也可查詢相關資料。