Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Unequal Treatment
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is supposed to be given to "...an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national
interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other
significant public or private endeavors." Yesterday Trump gave golfer Tiger Woods the medal, supposedly because he won the Masters golf tournament. Seems like an odd choice but it's even odder in my mind because I don't think Trump even knows who Katie Bouman, PhD. is. I don't dislike Tiger Woods although I don't think he makes for much of a role model for anyone. But Katie Bouman did something truly significant by orchestrating through her work and algorithms the first ever photo of a black hole. Where is her Medal of Freedom?
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Priscilla, Pres Obama gave lots of PMoF awards to golfers and other sports figures. Nobody complained it wasn't a scientist. This is a silly complaint.
ReplyDeleteHope your quilting is going well, take care. Anne
Anne--
ReplyDeleteMy point has nothing to do with what Obama did or didn't do--get over it. He isn't President any longer and hasn't been for more than two years.
My point is that a female scientist, a physics PhD before the age of 30, made a remarkable achievement, significant to the world as well as the US, and Trump didn't even acknowledge her work let alone give her the Medal of Freedom. The values skew is startling.