My dad came home once with a small radio for my sister, forgetting she had been gifted one for her birthday. So, he offered it to me, even though I was six years younger, even though my mom was dubious I was old enough. I remember being cozy in bed that night and feeling unbelievably lucky to have this wonderful thing. It was battery powered and could receive on shortwave the best two stations: Radio Lourenço Marques (from Mozambique) and Voice of America (VOA). Radio Lourenço Marques played the latest hits, banned on South African radio, and was the coolest station around. Sunday night was the thrilling top 40 from the UK that went on for hours. VOA was the link from Apartheid South Africa to the democratic center of the world. The announcer saying ‘This is the Voice of America’ was comforting back then – it was always masculine, no women announcers apparently. VOA broadcast the NASA missions – space travel was my passion, and I had a scrapbook for every Apollo mission, including autographed photos of the astronauts that NASA kindly mailed all the way to Johannesburg. I listened to the thrilling Apollo 11 moon landing, in the middle of the night for me. When the oxygen tank on Apollo 13 exploded and it was unclear whether the astronauts would make it home, I listened to VOA updates every hour, sneaking my radio into school, hiding it in the pocket of my regulation blazer and snaking the earphone cord under my regulation pinafore so I could surreptitiously follow the mission.
I listened to my radio so much that after a while, the batteries started to run down. I was worried that my parents would be annoyed and so kept listening even as the volume got softer and softer. Eventually I plucked up the courage to tell my dad, who with no fuss went to a drawer and got me a pack of new batteries. Whew.
There was no TV in South Africa yet, and after supper we listened to the radio. There was the ‘Surf Show Pick a Box’ (that might contain a washing machine or a booby prize of Surf detergent) and my favorite serial ‘Mark Saxon and Sergei’- superheroes who were constantly saving the planet from treacherous alien forces. There were News, concerts and plays. And there was VOA, connecting us to what we viewed as the greatest country on earth.
Amidst the continuing bewildering swirl of government actions in DC and elsewhere, there is a sad attempt to dismantle VOA, met by a lawsuit that I hope will succeed. We are very concerned to see researchers on valid visas detained. For events out of our control we can watch and be informed. You can give input by contacting your political representatives, work within your professional societies, and be in touch with program officers or unit heads at funding agencies who are keeping things running. Proposal review panels are operating, and we are thrilled to receive regular notifications of funding awards. Congratulations everyone, congratulations Aron Stubbins (MES, CCB) who was today notified of an NSF Award!
Please follow the Northeastern University FAQs that are regularly updated, and note these sentences from the FAQs:
Northeastern’s Global Safety Operations Center has established a dedicated phone line, supported 24/7, for immediate questions about immigration enforcement. Anyone approached on campus by an immigration official should call 617-373-1234.
Contact your department chair, an Associate Dean or myself if you would like a conversation. Please take care of yourself. We need to walk one step at a time, listening, dealing, deciding, calmly and kindly. Even if our iconic radio station is closed, we have important work to do in the College of Science at Northeastern University. Thank you for your contributions.
