Brian Shaver
DemocraticQ1 Q1 (Scientific Expertise and Governance): Scientific and technical expertise can inform decisions related to healthcare, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and emerging technologies. What role, if any, should scientific evidence and expert input play in your policymaking process, and how would you communicate scientific uncertainty or evolving evidence to the public?
As a high school classroom teacher of social sciences and a PhD student in leadership studies – facts and being well informed are the basis to successful academic pursuits, knowledge acquisition and decision making. As a congressperson, it is my duty to the people of this nation to make informed decisions – to do this, I must rely on expert testimony, scientific fact and evidence and rely on the people that have made their career in the fields the politicians are trying to alter. Our nation has gone too far without the consultation of experts and denying fact to make sound decisions. Our elected officials MUST be accountable to the people they represent – which includes making informed decisions.
Q2 Q2 (Artificial Intelligence): Rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and large-scale data centers are increasing demand for energy and water infrastructure. Over 100 local Ohio communities have active moratoriums on data centers. What policies, if any, would you support to balance technological growth and economic opportunities with infrastructure reliability and environmental sustainability?
Several points: 1. Decisions to have data centers must be locally made, not forced upon local citizenry by national and state policies citing national security and economic development. 2. Data centers are not a sustainable source of economic development - while they bring great construction jobs – they do not bring many permanent jobs - thus do not warrant the type of stimulus granted by state government. 3. We must rely on facts and experts to understand the environmental impact and make sure we are doing what is important for our civilization and planet. 4. Our elected officials must make decision for the people not decisions based on the financial interests that are lining their respective pockets and campaigns (follow the money – especially with my opponent).
Q3 Q3 (Science Funding): Government research funding supports universities, medical centers, and technology development across Ohio and the nation. What role, if any, should the government play in supporting scientific research and innovation, and what outcomes would you prioritize when evaluating those investments?
It is the job of the federal government to fully fund programs that are in our nation’s interest. Science, Innovation and education should be fully funded by the federal government. We should NOT have divested our imploded our funding at the national level because of the Xenophobia of our leaders. If our government made the choice for science, technology and intellectual pursuits in the same vigor that they see the need for data centers to compete with China under the guise of national security and bombing Iran to stop a future threat of nuclear weapons that may never materialize. Our government MUST prioritize science for our future as a country a civilization and for humanity.
Q4 Q4 (Jobs & Workforce): Ohio has the ninth largest international student population in the U.S., the majority of which study in STEM fields.The federal government is pursuing large-scale changes to student visa approval, including increased visa denials, revoking existing visas, restricting travel from certain countries, and decreasing student visa durations. How, if at all, should Ohio respond to federal visa changes affecting international STEM students and researchers, and the resulting projected changes in the scientific workforce supply?
My wife, Elizabeth, works as a compliance officer in the international office at the largest public state university in my congressional district – this topic is a daily topic discussed in my household. We cannot allow a government to push a Xenophobic agenda. We must have a legislative branch that functions and legislates for the will of the people and the benefit of the country. The cross-cultural aspects of our academic institutions are enriched and enhanced by global diversity. The unilateral and unconstitutional executive orders that allow the status of legal aliens to be revoked for a simple traffic offence does not make the USA a desirable place for international students. It is the government’s responsibility to allow for the protection of ALL people in this country and to ensure the Constitution and all of its amendments are upheld.