What a Week: May 15th-21st
US Native tribes and Ireland’s 170-year-old connection is renewed in the pandemic
“When members of the Choctaw Nation heard about the struggles of the Irish in the Great Famine in 1847, the tribe gathered up about… $5,000 in today’s dollars to send overseas for ‘the relief of the starving poor of Ireland.’” Since the Navajo Nation is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and accounts for more cases per capita than any US state, “[t]hat 170-year-old act is being remembered, and, in some ways, returned, during the coronavirus pandemic [by Ireland].”
Biden asks Amy Klobuchar to undergo vetting as possible running mate
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has been asked by the Joe Biden camp to undergo the formal vetting process “to be considered as his vice presidential running mate.” While multiple Democrat women remain on his veep shortlist, Biden commented on Klobuchar in an interview on Thursday, describing her as “first rate.”
UC makes landmark decision to drop ACT and SAT requirement for admission
“In a decision that could reshape the nation’s college admissions process, University of California regents unanimously voted Thursday to suspend SAT and ACT testing requirements through 2024 and eliminate them for California students by 2025.”
UC Regents Approve Principles to Guide Campus Decisions About Fall Term
According to UC President Janet Napolitano, “every [UC] campus will be open and… most of, if not all of, our campuses will operate in some kind of hybrid mode.” Every UC campus is expected to meet the systemwide threshold criteria before they “can consider how to best approach their comprehensive plans for fall.”
Trump Administration approves arms sales to Taiwan amid China tensions
Amidst the global pandemic, the Trump administration announced a potential sale of arms to Taiwan; “a move that is bound to anger Beijing amid increasing tensions.”