Speak Up for Science petition
Washington University leadership are encouraging students, faculty and staff to share concerns about the imminent sequester with their legislators.
February 21, 2013
Citing the potential harm to education, health care, scientific research and innovation, and the economy, Washington University leaders including Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, say they are deeply troubled by the potential impact of wide-ranging, across-the-board federal spending cuts that could take effect beginning March 1, 2013.
Wrighton and Shapiro encourage Washington University’s faculty, students, staff and others to examine what is at risk in the case of a “sequester” and share their concerns with legislators.
To that end, they are encouraging people to consider signing an online petition, launched by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), urging the White House and Congress to achieve a bipartisan budget compromise that avoids sequestration and “moves the country on to sound fiscal footing without sacrificing our nation’s crucial investments in science and technology.”
The deadline for responses is Tuesday evening, February 26. The AAAS will submit the petition Wednesday, Feb. 27.
Read more about administrators’ concerns regarding a sequester in the WUSTL Record.