Claudine Gay named FAS dean
THE HARVARD GAZETTE
Claudine Gay will become the next Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Harvard President Larry Bacow announced today.
A member of the Harvard faculty since 2006 and the FAS dean of social science since 2015, Gay is the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African American Studies and is the founding chair of Harvard’s Inequality in America Initiative. She will assume her new duties on Aug. 15, succeeding Michael D. Smith, who will step down after 11 years in the post.
“Claudine Gay is an eminent political scientist, an admired teacher and mentor, and an experienced leader with a talent for collaboration and a passion for academic excellence,” Bacow said in announcing the appointment. “She is a scholar of uncommon creativity and rigor, with a strong working knowledge of the opportunities and challenges facing the FAS. She radiates a concern for others, and for how what we do here can help improve lives far beyond our walls. I am confident she will lead the FAS with the vitality and the values that characterize universities at their best.”
“It is hard to imagine a more exciting opportunity than to learn from and lead the faculty, staff, and students of the FAS,” Gay said. “I am reminded daily that ours is an extraordinary community — diverse, ambitious, and deeply committed to teaching and research excellence. We are all drawn here, each in our own way, by a passion for learning, a search for deeper understandings, and a will to serve the common good. I look forward to working together to advance our shared mission, one never more important than it is now.”
Gay’s research and teaching focus on American political behavior, public opinion, and minority politics, with a particular interest in understanding the political choices of ordinary people and how those choices are shaped by their social, political, and economic environments. Her scholarship has addressed such issues as the relationship of citizens’ trust in government to the racial identity of their elected representatives, the ways neighborhood conditions influence racial and political attitudes, the roots of competition and cooperation between minority groups, and the consequences of housing-mobility programs for political participation among the poor.
Haiti wants to increase tariffs, but DR is requesting some dialogue
The Haitian government is trying, by all means, to increase its revenue and to mitigate the economic situation of the country. After having failed with the increase of gas price which resulted in riots between the period of July 6 till July 8 of this year, authorities are now trying to increase tariffs on Dominican products by 40 percent.
This attempt caused reactions from Dominicans, particularly the ministry of Foreign Affairs which alerted the World Trade Organization on this matter. On its part, the Dominican private sector reacted with Pedro Brach, the president of the National Council of Companies and the group SID COMPRENDRE, commenting in the Dominican media.
Recognizing the right of Haitian authorities to make sovereign decisions, Brache declared that they should first prioritize a dialogue with the Dominican Republic to be able to measure the impact of these tariffs on the population of Haiti. According to him this 40 % price hike would be a "burden" for the Haitian people who buy nearly a billion dollars of products from the Dominican Republic.
The head of management for the SID group, Ligia Bonetti, went in the same direction by trying to persuade Haiti to have a dialogue through which citizens can have access to basic staple commodities, in order for that their consumption to be more affordable. He continued by asserting that the disproportionate increase in tariffs would only lead to a price increase on the products which arrive in Haiti.
"I believe that the dialogue is what should prevail at the moment. The Haitian private sector and the Dominicans have to continue to have a dialogue as they have done in the past, and the authorities undoubtedly have to exercise their border commitments," he declared to the newspaper Hoy Digital.
The increase of tariffs, according to him, would only impoverish the Haitian population a little more. At present, Dominican authorities have begun negotiations with the WTO (WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION) to force the Haitian government to reconsider its decision.
TPS: Haitians ask for help from two American senators
Some Haitian activists in Miami organized a press conference on Tuesday July 24th to ask U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson to find a sustainable solution for the situation of thousands of their fellow countrymen threatened with deportation because of the end of their Temporary Protection Status (TPS).
Marleine Bastien, director of the organization FANM, a network which defends families, announced that she will do everything to make Congress aware of this situation during 363 days remaining.
The community and immigration groups said that they plan at least four visits to Congress in Washington, where at least four bills have been presented to find a solution regarding the TPS.
They also assured that they will organize demonstrations and campaigns to mobilize American voters regarding the question. "We have to mobilize and act," declared Jack Lieberman, board member of FANM, underlining that "the elections have consequences."
Several Haitian children were noticed during this press conferences carrying signs requesting that the government "not separate families", "Find a long-lasting and permanent solution" and have a "Global Immigration Reform."
One of these children Cristina Montieux, age 11, expressed her fear of seeing the splitting of her parting family within one year knowing that the TPS will come to an end in July, 2019. " I am here so that the Americans wake up," declared the child, who explained that she "thinks of death" by seeing images of the violence which takes place in Haiti.
The FANM organization denounced the policies of Donald Trump which according to El Dia, are "against people of colors." United with other organizations, FANM let it be known that the only possible outcome is to find a sustainable solution and not renew the TPS.
The decision of Donald Trump to end the TPS threatens at least 58,000 Haitians at present. Nicaraguans, Hondurans and Salvadorans are also concerned by the application of these measures which, for them will come to an end respectively, on January 5th, 2019, on January 5th, 2020 and September 9th, 2019.
Haiti Missionary Sentenced to 23 Years for Child Sex Abuse
By The Associated Press
- July 24, 2018
BALTIMORE — A Mennonite missionary from Virginia who lived in Haiti for more than a decade has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for child sexual abuse in the impoverished Caribbean nation, officials said.
James Arbaugh, 40, of the small Virginia town of Stuarts Draft is the latest American missionary to receive a hefty sentence for taking advantage of Haiti's extensive poverty and anemic rule of law to sexually abuse vulnerable youngsters.
Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of traveling in foreign commerce from the U.S. to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child. He was sentenced Monday.
Brian Benczkowski, who leads the Justice Department's criminal division, described Arbaugh as a "wolf in sheep's clothing."
State Senator Daphne Campbell and the Miami-Dade Delegation Call on Governor Rick Scott to Suspend SunPass Toll Collections
Demand Investigation of Disastrous Roll out
(MIAMI, FL)- Today, State Senator Daphne Campbell, District 38, and her colleagues of the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation, hosted a press conference to demand that Governor Rick Scott suspend all SunPass toll collections and appoint a select independent auditing committee to investigate the Florida Department of Transportation's mishandling of the SunPass electronic tolling system upgrade.
In November 2015, the Florida Department of Transportation entered into an agreement with the Centralized Customer Service System Conduent. The upgraded system was designed to streamline toll transactions and have a functional and reliable system for the constituents of Florida. Unfortunately, the hope of having a successful upgraded system has left SunPass customers angry and disappointed as they are encountering issues that are costing them more money.
The issue that the constituents of Florida are experiencing are the effectiveness of the SunPass website and mobile application; multiple charges being applied to their account through the payment processing system; problems with the application at airports and a host of other issues that are leaving the constituents unsatisfied.
At the press conference, Senator Campbell stated "This is shameful, shameful, shameful! Our constituents are being charged double, they are seeing higher bills, this is not what they were expecting and it isn't fair." She also echoed Senator Annette Taddeo, District 40, who stated she received her new SunPass card two weeks ago and has not been able to reach customer service or access the website for assistance.
Senator Campbell made a direct comment to Governor Scott, "How can you have a contract with your own people, your own private friends, and they don't do their job." "How is that possible?" "Governor Scott, wake up and do the right thing because this is unfair."
At the end of the press conference, Senator Campbell and her colleagues had a meeting with the Florida Department of Transportation to discuss the issue further. The goal is to have Governor Scott remedy this issue now. The constituents of Florida have suffered enough and they do not deserve this treatment.
Worse than gulfweeds, Dominican Republic is invaded by plastic waste
The Dominican Republic, the tourist Mecca is known for its idyllic beaches. But the presence of these polluted waves will not only damage its reputation but it will also create a grave danger for the marine wildlife. They are also murderous for the numerous birds which sink into the toxic garbage.
The big quantity of toxic components, includes heavy metals in all this waste, and threatens the health of all species, including human beings, declared the ecologist Luis Carvajal.