It’s hard to believe that a month has passed since the last AMS Notices Spotlight. But somehow, in the blink of an eye, it has and just last week the new AMS Notices came out. This month’s Notices feature some great articles about gravitational waves, a section specifically for graduate students, an article about The Global Math Project, and much more.
In addition to the great articles above, this month’s spotlighted article is entitled “The Travel Ban: Affected Mathematicians Tell Their Stories” by Alexander Diaz-Lopez, Allyn Jackson, and Stephen Kennedy. From the title, you can probably ascertain that this article has to do with President Trump’s controversial travel ban. As a quick reminder, here is a timeline of events that have occurred surrounding the travel ban:
- January 27, 2017: President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry into the United States for people from seven Middle Eastern nations.
- January 31, 2017: The editors of the AMS Grad Blog issued a statement of opposition to the ban.
- February 3, 2017: A federal judge blocked the travel ban from being implemented.
- March 6, 2017: President Donald Trump signed a new executive order which only affected six Middle Eastern Nations
- March 15, 2017: The travel ban was blocked again.
- June 26, 2017: The federal courts allowed certain aspects of the travel ban to be implemented until the case is heard in court in October
- July 19, 2017: The Supreme Court stated the refugee ban could stay in place until an appeals court can hear the case.
Throughout all this tumult and upheaval, fellow mathematicians (who can’t get to the United States for conferences or are here and are worried about leaving to go home to visit family or go to conferences) are being greatly impacted. This article tells the stories of four mathematicians—two graduate students and two postdocs—whose lives have been changed by the policies of the United States government. We encourage you to take a moment to read this article, or if not this article, take a moment to choose an article that excites you this month to read and enjoy.
Readers may also be interested in this: “Mathematicians and the Muslim Travel Ban” published in the Edgefield Advertiser, August 16, 2017 at http://www.edgefieldadvertiser.com/2017/08/mathematicians-and-the-muslim-travel-ban/. ““I think we all know the progress of math benefits enormously from bright mathematicians regardless of their race, religion, or nationality….”