CSE Undergrad News

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Sun, Feb 5, 2017 at 2:54 PM
Subject: [cs-ugrads] Fwd: Federal ruling and universities; and ACLU filings
To: Researchers <researchers@cs.washington.edu>, Staff <cs-staff@cs.washington.edu>, “cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu” <cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu>

FYI

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: JoAnn Taricani — Olympia <olympia@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sun, Feb 5, 2017 at 2:15 PM
Subject: Federal ruling and universities; and ACLU filings
To:

———- Forwarded message ———-

Greetings,

Normally, I would be writing about the many moving pieces of
legislation at the state level, and I will do that within the next
day.

However, there is considerable attention in Olympia on the quickly
changing landscape regarding the executive order affecting travel and
immigration.  More filings will occur in the next 24 hours, followed
by a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, in all
likelihood followed by an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This message has two topics:  [1] a request from the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington; and [2] events of the past 48
hours in the federal case, especially as they relate to the UW.

[1] ACLU of Washington (State):  In case the travel ban is reinstated,
ACLU-WA is filing on behalf of holders of F-1, M-1, and J-1 student
and visitor visas; the ACLU-WA legal team also would like to hear from
faculty members on H-1B visas.  Please email me for the contact
information of the legal director of ACLU of Washington if anyone
holding an H-1B visa would like to contact her.

[2] The federal executive order and Washington temporary restraining
order (which is nation-wide):  State legislators and Governor Inslee
are well aware of the impact of this executive order on the students,
faculty, and staff of the state’s universities.  This executive order,
plus the protection of DACA students, lead conversations in Olympia.
(In 2014, both parties introduced and strongly supported legislation
that provide DACA students with access to state financial aid,
legislation that passed with overwhelming majorities in both political
parties.)

While I will not provide an overview of the federal case and ruling
(many links below do this better), I do want to point out that the
impact of the executive order on the UW and WSU was one of the
elements that provided standing for the state to file for the
temporary restraining order that was issued on Friday by federal Judge
Robart.  (See below for an excerpt about the University of Washington
in the AG’s original motion and the supplemental pleading regarding
standing.)  As I am sure you are hearing (and linked below), the Court
of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is currently hearing an appeal to Judge
Robart’s ruling from the Department of Justice, with additional
filings due on a very rapid timeline in the next 24 hours. The 9th
Circuit could issue its ruling any time after 3:00 PM PT on Monday,
either upholding the temporary restraining order or reinstating the
travel ban.  Whatever the decision of the 9th Circuit, it is expected
that this case will be appealed further to the U.S. Supreme Court in
an expedited process.

All documents issued by the Washington Attorney General:
http://www.atg.wa.gov/executive-order-lawsuit

Original motion for a temporary restraining order (from the Attorney
General of Washington):
http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/TRO%20as%20Filed.pdf

[excerpt:] “The Executive Order is also causing irreparable harm to
Washington’s college students and universities. At the University of
Washington, more than ninety-five students are immigrants from Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen.  The number at
Washington State University is over 135.  Because of the Executive
Order, these students are missing out on research and educational
opportunities, travel to visit their families, study abroad, and other
irreplaceable activities that cannot be compensated through money
damages.  The universities also risk losing current and future
students, a harm that cannot be remedied with monetary damages.”

Supplemental Pleading Regarding Standing (Filed 2/1/17)
http://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploadedfiles/Another/News/Press_Releases/Supplemental%20Pleading%20Regarding%20Standing_0.pdf

[excerpt:] “Washington also operates several world-class public
universities that are suffering adverse impacts from the Order.
Several hundred faculty, staff, and students at state higher education
institutions are here on visas from the listed countries, while others
are long-term permanent residents from the affected countries. The
order has stranded a member of the WSU faculty overseas, and will
prevent a member of the UW faculty from serving as the keynote speaker
at a conference overseas. Both universities have expended significant
resources to sponsor scholars from the affected countries to perform
research and teaching, and the Order will prevent several of those
individuals from coming to the universities or staying there. Students
and faculty from the listed countries will be prevented from
participating in planned travel outside the country to conduct
research and attend conferences. These harms to faculty, staff, and
students damage the universities’ missions and reduce their
attractiveness to international students.”

Articles on the federal ruling on Friday, February 3:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/04/us/trump-travel-ban-washington-seattle-ferguson.html?mwrsm=Facebook

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-trumps-immigration-order-nationwide/2017/02/03/9b734e1c-ea54-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.144c1263623d

Notice of appeal by the Department of Justice, Saturday, February 4:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/04/us/politics/visa-ban-trump-judge-james-robart.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-appeals-to-restore-travel-ban-says-earlier-ruling-was-second-guessing-the-president/2017/02/05/6fcdbb5a-eb4c-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html?utm_term=.4654a764b447

Appeals court declines to immediately stay the TRO, Sunday, February 5:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-appeals-to-restore-travel-ban-says-earlier-ruling-was-second-guessing-the-president/2017/02/05/6fcdbb5a-eb4c-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpfiling-430am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.aba4d3f25073

_______________________________________________

This is a reminder that applications are currently being accepted for engineering study abroad programs for 2017. The first round of application deadlines is next Wednesday, February 1. Please share the information in the attached PDF with your students as you see fit.

These programs cover a variety of engineering topics and disciplines to meet your students’ academic interests. This list includes UW faculty-led programs as well as coursework and research programs hosted by affiliated universities abroad.

If students want to apply or learn more, they can visit the College of Engineering Study Abroad webpage  at www.engr.uw.edu/current/study-abroad. They can also request an engineering study abroad advising appointment with me.

Best,

Mike

MIKE ENGH
Program Operations Specialist, Academic Affairs
College of Engineering, University of Washington

368 Loew Hall  Box 352180
Seattle, WA, USA 98195-2180
206.685.3714
enghmw@uw.edu  /  www.engr.washington.edu

This fwd is a little late, but Ed’s support for this ongoing protest is meaningful. Enjoy your rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, CSE  students.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2017, 5:51pm
Subject: [cs-ugrads] SeaTac protest
To:  <researchers@cs.washington.edu>, <cs-staff@cs.washington.edu>, <cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu>
There have been large peaceful demonstrations today at Dulles, JFK, and other major US international airports.

There is one at Seatac this evening – 5:00-10:00 at Arrivals – in which a number of CSE community members will be participating:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1152820661482173/

Whether you attend or not, please show your support.

CSE students, faculty, and staff,

It was only nine days ago, that I wrote to you announcing CSE’s Inclusiveness Statement.

As you likely know, yesterday President Trump released an order suspending for 90 days issuance of new visas and re-entry privileges to nationals from 7 countries.  To the extent this is a ‘political’ matter, I need to refrain from commenting, but as this directly affects some of you, indirectly affects more of you who may fear being directly affected by changes in the future, and concerns all of us for making our commitment to inclusiveness more difficult, I do think it’s important to make some non-political comments.

This change in immigration policy frightens, disturbs, and threatens many of us, particularly those directly affected.  Speaking personally, it doesn’t directly affect me, but it absolutely does frighten and disturb me.

We all need to be supportive of our colleagues right now.  We need to reaffirm our commitment to a collaborative community where everyone is welcome, appreciated, and treated as a first-class member — nobody in CSE is less welcome due to their religion or nationality, period.  I would love to insist that “CSE hasn’t changed, and we’re the same strong community we were a week ago or a year ago,” but I also cannot pretend that changes coming from “the other Washington” can or should be ignored.

While unfortunately I don’t have much substantive information to share — I primarily read the same news articles many of you do and have not received any information from the UW administration today — I do want to encourage anyone who wants help navigating these disturbing changes logistically or emotionally to reach out to me, your undergraduate advisors, International Student Services, etc.  Even in times of uncertainty, do not suffer silently.

I also want to let you know that the computing research community is not remaining silent.  Yesterday, this statement was posted by the Computing Research Association, which encourages that it be shared widely.  I am proud that Ed Lazowska and I happen to sit on the CRA committee that approved/edited this statement with speed and resolve — the option not to say anything was quickly dismissed as the wrong approach. Similarly, the ACM’s statement on open conferences is relevant.

Please do let me know if you have additional suggestions on what CSE and I can do.

Best,

Dan (as Acting Chair, CSE)