Dear FUN colleagues,

Because the upcoming joint meetings of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) will be held in Washington, D.C. this year, the FUN Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee is encouraging the FUN membership to take advantage of the time in D.C. to pay a visit to your Congressional Representatives in the House and Senate.  The budget for FY2012 is currently being drafted and your perspective as a constituent committed to science education and research is important to share with your representatives.  As you have seen from previous Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee postings, the budget for science education and research has been under tremendous pressure in the last few months.  For example, the American Institute of Biological Sciences recently reported that the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved legislation that would cut $120.9 million from the Research and Related Activities account of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which includes the Biological Sciences Directorate.  Overall, the FY2012 budget of the NSF would be cut by $161.8 million, which amounts to a 2.4% reduction from FY2011.

In preparation for the upcoming Society for Neuroscience Meeting in Washington, D.C., the FUN Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee has partnered with the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) to provide you with advocacy materials to guide you in your meetings with your representatives.  Our Committee is particularly grateful to Dr. Nancy Hensel, Executive Officer of CUR, for her assistance because CUR’s “Posters on the Hill” program has been especially effective in advocating on behalf of science education and research for many years.  

We have attached two sets of materials to this e-mail. The first is the “CUR Advocacy Toolkit for 2011” and the second is a summary of talking points that will be helpful when you meet with your representatives.  If at all possible, it is particularly meaningful to introduce your students to your and their Congressional Representatives and staff members.  Your students are important constituents and represent the future of the Nation.  We are encouraging you to contact your representatives in the next two weeks in order to make appointments for theweek of the SfN/FUN meeting.  The attached Toolkit provides all the information you will need to make your appointments and to learn about the federal budget process.  If you are able to meet your Representatives, would you kindly let the FUN Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee know so we can report on this effort to the FUN membership?  Please send your response to juramirez365@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for your commitment to science education and research.  Your involvement in the democratic process can make a huge difference in FUN’s efforts to promote science education and research in the life of the Nation.

Sincerely,

Julio J. Ramirez, Ph.D.

Chair, FUN Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee