The Trump administration has set its eyes on cutting research funding; the effects have been felt nationally and on campus
By Alina Ta SENIOR STAFF WRITER
More grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities continue to be terminated or not approved, but San José State and its faculty members are attempting to find other sources of funding.
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency that financially supports projects and research within the humanities throughout the United States, according to its website.
On April 2, Virginia Wright, the director of development for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and the College of Education at San José State, and her colleagues received a letter from the
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National Endowment for the Humanities stating that their grant had been terminated.
“It’s disheartening to say the least,” Wright said.
Wright and her colleagues run the Digital Humanities Center at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.
The center is a public lounge space for studying, socializing and community collaboration, according to its report. The space is also used as an exhibition area to showcase art and digital projects.
“It’s a center that gives students and faculty on campus, and the community digital tools to do projects that they wouldn’t normally have been able to do,” Wright said.
The Digital Humanities Center was supposed to be funded through public fundraisers and through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, but the grant was terminated on April 2, according to a letter sent to its staff.
Wright said their challenge grant was approved between 2019 and 2020, but was terminated by the National Endowment for the Humanities because their center no longer fits the agency’s priorities.
A challenge grant is when successful applicants fundraise and receive financial awards matching the cash contributions they raised through nonfederal third parties, according to a webpage from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“(The National Endowment for the Humanities) has reasonable cause to terminate your grant in light of the fact that the NEH is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s (Donald J. Trump) agenda,” the letter stated. “The President’s February 19, 2025 executive order mandates that the (the National Endowment for the Humanities) eliminate all non-statutorily required activities and functions.”
On Feb. 19, Trump’s administration announced that it would reduce the size of the federal government and “end ineffective government
programs that empower government without achieving measurable results,” according to a fact sheet from the White House.
“We’ve met all our obligations. There was no reason to cancel it (the grant),” Wright said.
Marc d’Alarcao, the interim vice president for research and innovation at SJSU, confirmed as of Monday that around 20 grants, or around $3 million in federal funds within the university, have been terminated by multiple federal agencies.
“I don’t know the magnitude yet of what we’re facing, but I think that it (the damage) could be very long lasting,” d’Alarcao said.
Around 1,435 grants or $427,666,781 have been terminated by the National Endowment for the Humanities, according to data from the Associations for Computers and the Humanities.
Roberto González, an anthropology professor, received two emails on Tuesday from the federal agency confirming that both of his grants were not approved.
“Any time you get turned down, it’s disappointing and frustrating – especially after you dedicate many hours to prepare a strong proposal,” González said in an email sent to the Spartan Daily.
“But at the same time, I wasn’t too surprised. After all, the current administration has made it very clear that many areas of research don’t align with its political agenda, and therefore aren’t worthy of funding.”
González applied for the Dangers and Opportunities of Technology: Perspectives from the Humanities program during the Fall 2024 semester.
According to the second
email he received from the National Endowment for the Humanities, only one out of the 179 proposals for the grant was approved for funding.
“We are also very sorry to tell you that, as part of this shift in funding priorities, all of the programs from the Office of Digital Humanities, including future rounds of the Dangers and Opportunities of Technology program, have been cancelled,” the email stated.
On April 24, the National Endowment for the Humanities announced that the agency had taken several steps to improve its efficiency in its internal operations, including eliminating multiple offices, according to its webpage.
The federal agency has also been taking steps to ensure that all future awards are “merit-based (and) awarded to projects that do not promote extreme ideologies based upon race or gender,” according to the same source.
“I’ve been in higher ed (education) for more than 30 years now, and what’s happened over the past three months is unlike anything I've ever seen in my career,” González said in the email. “And I think it's likely to get worse – at least in the short term.”
D’Alarcao said the university is taking multiple steps to compensate for the loss in funding.
He said this includes trying to raise public awareness, using university funds to bridge any gaps created by the grant cancellations and trying to find additional funding sources.
On Tuesday, the Digital Humanities Center published a press release asking for community members to send in donations after losing its funding from
the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“We’re still determining the exact amount that we’re able to put aside for this,” d’Alarcao said. “We’re basically trying to take a little bit of money for existing programs and squirrel it away for the possibility of it (additional bridge funding).”
He said the university will not be able to fully compensate for all the funds lost and it will be up to individual researchers to find additional sources of funding for their projects.
Wright said the staff at the center spent five years fundraising $375,000 by reaching out to 97 donors.
She said the staff was supposed to receive another $375,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities before their challenge grant was terminated.
Christina Mune, the associate dean of innovation and resource management at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and is a co-project director for the Digital Humanities Center, confirmed that the staff was only able to spend $70,000 of the grant on furniture before its termination.
“We were working on that final technology and installation and purchase, which was a big purchase,” Mune said. “Before we were able to spend the rest of the funds, the grant was canceled, and all unspent funds were taken back by (the National Endowment for the Humanities).”
Mune said the staff and additional staff at the SJSU Research Foundation applied for an appeal on May 1.
The SJSU Research Foundation supports faculty, staff and students in pursuing research, according to its webpage. This includes helping researchers plan projects, find funding sources, submit grant proposals and more.
In February, SJSU was recognized as a research institution for the first time and received a R2 research activity designation from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation, according to a Feb. 13 press release from SJSU.
“We’re appealing (the National Endowment for the Humanities) termination to see if we can get it reinstated or find out at least more information about why it was terminated,” Mune said.
In the meantime, Wright said she is reaching out to all 97 donors to confirm if they are still interested in funding the Digital Humanities Center and if they are open to donating more money.
“If they wanted to ask for the money back, we would give it back,” Wright said. “I’m sure that they’re not going to want it back, but we have to – in our due diligence – let them know that what we promised we can’t fulfill because of the changes.”
González said he is going to look for alternative funding sources during the Fall 2025 semester.
He said he will probably not depend on federal agencies and focus on private foundations.
“I’m also focused on strengthening my professional ties with colleagues who are based in Canada, Australia, Belgium, Norway, the UK and the Netherlands,” González said. “There is significant interest in my work in other countries, and I think in times like these it’s important for American researchers to have global networks.”
ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY
The Digital Humanities Center is located on the first floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San José State.
Students grapple with AI presence
By Israel Archie SENIOR STAFF WRITER
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve and insert its way into everyday life, San José State’s campus community has much to say concerning its implementation.
The university has made efforts to incorporate AI as a part of the college learning experience, even including a master’s program in AI, according to an SJSU webpage.
While Dyon Capote, a graduate student in teaching, uses AI for educational purposes, he also utilizes it as a form of entertainment.
“AI helps me with autocorrect, spell checking and makes some leisurely activities such as gaming more enjoyable,” Capote said.
AI has passed the benchmark of human ability in various tasks, including reading comprehension, language understanding and image recognition, according to a Nov. 6, 2023, article from TIME. The rate at which AI surpasses humans in these tasks is increasing, according to the same source.
“While AI has helped make robots or tech that serve humanity more efficiently, it shouldn’t be a way of life,” Capote said.
“Too much reliance on technology can be bad.”
A study found that 52% of Americans polled nationwide are more concerned than excited about AI, according to a Nov. 21, 2023, article from Pew Research Center.
Sept. 3, 2024 article from the university.
Wendy Lee, an associate professor for the computer science department, specializes in AI and machine learning, according to an SJSU webpage. She compared AI to a knife in regards to being useful, but equally dangerous if misused.
“Just like any tool, especially powerful ones like knives, can make things really easy, like chopping onions, but at the same time can also be dangerous if it’s not used appropriately,” Lee said.
“I see AI exactly the same; a very powerful tool. If used appropriately, we can do things we cannot do before.”
Artificial intelligence is already being used in the healthcare industry as some algorithms have been engineered to focus research on cancer screening and identification, having a 94% accuracy when determining the prognosis of certain cancers, according to a June 22, 2020, article from Forbes magazine.
Comparing that to human accuracy, only 20% of prognoses were accurate across 365 different prognoses for hospice care patients according to a webpage from the National Library of Medicine.
On a personal level, Lee has found AI to be useful in her research and has valued its implementation in the STEM field.
SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson released a video in March using her AI avatar as a way to communicate with students, leaving many students disappointed, according to a March 27 article from the Spartan Daily.
researchers found that some AI language models continue to perpetuate racial stereotypes with some even dating back to the pre-civil rights era, according to a
“I definitely have benefited a lot from AI, especially in my research,”
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“I feel like as an EMT, I don’t think AI is a direct threat to my job security right now because for future, I (still) want e so me on e in t he ca l fi el d an d I fe el hose things are not to be replaced by ,” Ganzorig said. “I hink people would n AI doctor for vesso
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a statement regarding on campus, noting its sire to work with companies such as IBM a nd Ad ob e an d he lp studen ts use AI
honest, according to an The university recently introduced its first ever AI librarian, Sharesly Rodriguez, who pilots the integration and development of AI technology in a library according to a Feb. 11 article from SJSU News
webpage from completely ban it,” Howell
“I like that, because for students who are willing to give it a shot, I think it would be very beneficial to them,” Howell said. Otherwise, there would be plenty of students who will continue to use the AI as they see fit, but I think it’s good that SJSU is trying (and) doing what
access to ChatGPT Edu, which c an b wi th h SJ an d tech n ac co rd article Ce nter “I l ik students to give it would be to the Ot herwis be o conti th ink g (a nd th ey can .”
INFOGRAPHIC BY ISRAEL ARCHIE | SPARTAN DAILY
INFOGRAPHIC
Fiber is fuel, not frivolous food
Fiber is an incredibly important nutrient with a long list of benefits, and yet, for some reason not enough people are consuming it.
The average American eats 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day, according to a Feb. 27, 2019, Harvard Health blog post written by registered dietitian Katherine D. McManus. This is a noticeable amount below the recommended dietary fiber intake for Americans. Males should aim to eat around 38 grams per day, while females should aim for around 25 grams per day, according to the same source.
Fiber can be found in plant foods, like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains, such as bread or rice, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
So, what is fiber and what does it do? You’ve probably heard before that it helps with constipation and digestion and that is
By Jackson Lindstrom COLLUMNIST
one function, but it turns out that fiber is more than just a digestive aid. Fiber is a nutrient found in plants that your body can’t absorb or digest, according to a Mayo Clinic article.
That may sound bad, but it’s good that your body can’t digest fiber
reactions in the brain that lead to the reduction of hunger and the induction of satiety, according to a review from the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.
This is good because it means you don’t have to eat as much. If you don’t have to eat as much, then you don’t have to buy as much food, which can save money.
It isn’t just useful for digestion, research has consistently shown fiber to have a myriad of benefits.
The proverb
association between higher fiber intake and lower rates of colorectal cancer, stroke incidence, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease, along with a 15-30% decrease in all-cause mortality, according to the same source.
If you are trying to lose weight, it’s also a great idea to eat foods with fiber because the less hungry you are, the less likely you are to eat food, which can aid in weight loss.
We all know that we
‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ might be slightly off from dietary recommendations of fruit consumption, but it gets the point across that you should eat more produce to see better health outcomes.
because it softens and increases the size and weight of your stools, making it easier to pass, according to the same source.
Fiber also stimulates certain responses in the digestive tract that trigger
Fiber consumption has also been found in clinical trials to lower cholesterol and systolic blood pressure, according to a meta-analysis from the Lancet journal.
Observational studies have also shown an
should be eating fruits and vegetables, but healthcare professionals don’t always have time to explain exactly why. There are a multitude of reasons why you should be eating fruits and vegetables, such as
their vitamin and mineral content, for example, but high fiber content is a very compelling reason.
Along with fiber, most Americans don’t eat enough fruit. Around 80% of Americans eat less than the recommended amount of fruit per day, which is about a cup of fruit per 1000 calories consumed, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
The same thing can be said about vegetables. The average American eats only 1.4 cups of vegetables per day, while the recommended amount is 2.5 cups for an average diet (which is about 2000 calories), according to the same source.
The proverb “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” might be slightly off from dietary recommendations of fruit consumption, but it gets the point across that you should eat more produce to see better health outcomes.
Without consuming fruits and vegetables, you’re missing out on a lot of potential benefits from fiber that can possibly increase longevity.
Fiber can indeed be obtained from grains, which Americans typically
consume enough of, but this usually comes from more refined grains over whole grains, according to MyPlate.gov.
One of the main differences between refined grains and whole grains is that refined grains have the fiber, along with some of their vitamins and minerals, according to the same source.
A couple of simple ways to eat whole grains over refined grains are to get whole wheat bread instead of white bread or to get brown rice instead of white rice.
As for fruit and vegetables, even if it means just adding one or two potatoes to your diet or an extra apple or banana every day, it is likely you should eat more fruits and vegetables than you do.
Whether it’s from fruit, vegetables, or whole grains, it is certain that an increase in the daily fiber intake of Americans is a step in the right direction towards a healthier American lifestyle and eating.
The GMO conversation evolves
I want to say that you make a strong case for the advantages of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in your piece titled “GMOs are misunderstood in the garden” (April 24, 2025), highlighting how they can improve food security and fight climate change. As he correctly notes, GMOs have the potential to boost crop yields, lower the need for pesticides, and increase resistance to environmental stressors.
Even if there is broad scientific agreement regarding the safety and usefulness of GMOs, it is
crucial to take into account the concerns expressed by groups such as The Non-GMO Project. These worries are frequently motivated by a desire for openness, ethical issues, and biodiversity preservation rather than a rejection of science.
For example, monocultures have resulted from the dominance of some GMO crops, which can lower genetic diversity and make a crop more susceptible to pests and diseases. Furthermore, there are moral concerns regarding farmers’ rights and seed access when big businesses patent genetically
modified seeds.
GMO foods are useful in certain cases. GMO food has been proven to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals and pesticides that are used on crops. The harm with GMO food is that there can be antibiotic resistance growth in individuals who consume these foods. This is a major health concern because antibiotic resistance can affect the medication process for those diagnosed with serious diseases such as gonorrhea and tuberculosis.
It would be more fruitful to have open discussions that consider the socioeconomic effects of GMOs as well as their scientific advantages,
rather than completely discounting these worries. We may strive toward creative and equitable agriculture methods by encouraging inclusive conversations.
I urge readers to think about the complex issues surrounding genetically modified organisms and to back laws that advance openness, moral behavior, and
agricultural sustainability.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JACKSON LINDSTROM | SPARTAN DAILY
