Senator Schumer supports science

While nearly all the political commentators are buzzing about the speeches of President Obama, former President Bill Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden, I want to call attention to one of the speakers on the undercard Wednesday, Senator Chuck Schumer. Note that I didn't write that I wanted to call attention to his speech. I've embedded it below, and it's just a standard political speech, as you can see for yourself.


Instead, I want to call attention to Senator Schumer's efforts on behalf of universities in New York to support science spending, something I think is important. First, here is the senator assuring Cornell University that they'll be able to operate their synchotron.

Cornell University: Cornell synchrotron gets support from N.Y.'s senior senator
By Anne Ju
June 19, 2012

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer visited campus June 18 with some welcome news: Cornell's world-renowned synchrotron X-ray facility will continue being funded.

The Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), one of five national hard X-ray facilities for synchrotron X-ray research, had been under threat of closure due to possible cuts from the National Science Foundation, its primary funder.

Though CHESS officials say peer reviews had consistently endorsed the facility's science and training programs, the NSF had questioned if it should continue to support a synchrotron light source, or if it should leave this task to the Department of Energy, which runs other facilities.

That's not all. The next week, Schumer appeared at SUNY Stony Brook to promote their energy research center.

SUNY Stony Brook: Senator Schumer Supports SBU-BNL Energy Hub
Posted by editor
on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 @ 10:10 am

On Monday, June 25, 2012, Senator Charles Schumer made a trip to the Stony Brook University Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at the University’s Research and Development Park to show his support for the merits of a joint application submitted dubbed the Center for Extended Lifetime Energy Storage Technologies (CELESTE) by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Stony Brook University in response to a call for entries to a competition for Department of Energy funding for a new Energy Innovation Hub.

He met with Stony Brook President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, BNL Director Samuel Aronson and scientists from SBU and BNL who collaborated on the proposal, then addressed the press and a group of interested parties from around the Stony Brook campus.

Press Release Issued by Senator Schumer’s Office

Schumer Calls for $120M Package for Funding LI Electric Battery Hub; Project Would Revolutionize Battery Market and Make LI the Research Center for Electric Car Battery Development

As I remarked in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (PPACA upheld! edition) on Daily Kos:

Last week, the news was Cornell synchrotron gets support from N.Y.'s senior senator. I guess Schumer wants to make sure he has the vote of New York scientists all locked up. :-)

I'm not a scientist in New York, but if I were, Schumer would certainly have my vote!