Connect with us

Business

MIT and Yale are among more than 50 universities the Trump administration is investigating amid anti-DEI campaign

Published

on



More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students.

The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America’s schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.

“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “We will not yield on this commitment.”

Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges’ partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world.

Department officials said that the group limits eligibility based on race and that colleges that partner with it are “engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs.”

The group of 45 colleges facing scrutiny over ties to the PhD Project include major public universities such as Arizona State, Ohio State and Rutgers, along with prestigious private schools like Yale, Cornell, Duke and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A message sent to the PhD Project was not immediately returned.

Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding “impermissible race-based scholarships,” the department said, and another is accused of running a program that segregates students on the basis of race.

Those seven are: Grand Valley State University, Ithaca College, the New England College of Optometry, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota, the University of South Florida and the University of Tulsa School of Medicine.

The department did not say which of the seven was being investigated for allegations of segregation.

The Feb. 14 memo from Trump’s Republican administration was a sweeping expansion of a 2023 Supreme Court decision that barred colleges from using race as a factor in admissions.

That decision focused on admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, but the Education Department said it will interpret the decision to forbid race-based policies in any aspect of education, both in K-12 schools and higher education.

In the memo, Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, had said schools’ and colleges’ diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have been “smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming and discipline.”

The memo is being challenged in federal lawsuits from the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions. The suits say the memo is too vague and violates the free speech rights of educators.More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

U.S. crypto czar’s $200 million portfolio held Bitcoin, Coinbase, and Robinhood

Published

on



David Sacks and his investment firm Craft Ventures have divested more than $200 million in crypto holdings since President Donald Trump named Sacks as the White House’s AI and crypto czar, according to a Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, according to the memo. Sacks also held stock in the online brokerage Robinhood and the crypto exchange Coinbase. And he was a limited partner in the marquee crypto venture capital funds Multicoin Capital and Blockchain Capital, along with 90 other VCs.

While Sacks has divested most of his crypto holdings, he and Craft Ventures still hold equity in a suite of companies. His shares of the crypto custody firm BitGo and the Bitcoin protocol developer Lightning Labs are worth about 2.5% and 1.1% of his total assets, respectively, according to the memo. The government, however, has agreed to waive any conflicts of interest regarding Sacks and Craft Ventures’ ongoing stakes in crypto companies.

“I sold all my cryptocurrency (including BTC, ETH, and SOL) prior to the start of the administration,” Sacks said in a post on X earlier in March. 

He and his firm Craft Ventures did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dated March 5, the memo on Sacks’ interests in the crypto industry follows social media rumblings that the AI and crypto czar risked mixing his own business with the government’s crypto dealings. After Trump posted in early March that certain cryptocurrencies, including Solana, would be included in a national crypto reserve, critics said that Sacks was boosting his own portfolio.

And more naysayers came out against Sacks once Trump officially authorized the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a digital assets stockpile later that week. “This is a direct transfer of wealth from the U.S. treasury to David Sacks and other crypto barons,” said Ryan Grim, who runs a popular account on X and a politics newsletter. 

Sacks countered that he had divested much of his cryptocurrency holdings, and crypto executives came to his defense. “He is doing tremendous work and will not be sharing in any of the economic upside to avoid even the slightest appearance of a conflict,” Cameron Winklevoss, cofounder of the crypto exchange Gemini, posted on X.

Trump named Sacks as his AI and crypto czar in December. The then incoming president said Sacks, who is a former executive at PayPal, would guide policy on the regulation of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Elon Musk’s Tesla reportedly halts Cybertruck deliveries as owners complain of metal sides falling off

Published

on



  • The glue holding the pickup truck’s stainless steel exterior in place is failing for many Tesla customers, causing its sides to protrude. It’s the latest of numerous instances of build quality issues with the Cybertruck, a once-promising vehicle now beset by problems.

In the the latest sign the Tesla Cybertruck risks becoming Elon Musk’s first full-blown flop, sales of the pickup have been halted amid growing cases of metal panelling falling off. 

On Thursday, EV enthusiast site Electrek reported Tesla delivery agents as saying all outbound vehicles have been stopped amid concerns that the glue holding the exterior stainless steel panelling in place is failing. 

The issue isn’t new but it has remained unaddressed. Owners living in cold weather conditions in particular have been warning about it for weeks, posting images of sharp-edged metal trim protruding from their vehicles and flapping in the wind while driving. Some have even taken to reporting the problem to the federal traffic safety authority NHTSA, Road & Track reported last month.

But an image circulated recently showing the entire front bumper dangling loosely from the body may have tipped the scale.

Tesla did not respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.

The Cybertruck has been dogged with issues ever since it came out, with multiple recalls to fix not just software but actual build problems, including an accelerator pedal that caused accidents when it stuck in place or plastic trim around the bed flying off

But the first truly vivid display of the questionable quality came from Cody Detwiler, a YouTuber who goes by the name WhistlinDiesel. He first gave Tesla owners a glimpse of just how easy it was to damage the vehicle after putting the Cybertruck through the paces in a durability test that went viral. 

‘I know more about manufacturing than anyone currently alive’

Early adopters who have been buying Teslas over the past decade knows this risk comes with the territory when an all-new model first rolls out, especially one with such unique engineering. 

Fortune interviewed one of these customers last year, who remained loyal to the brand and a fan of the truck throughout his otherwise hellish experience with the vehicle. 

But concerns continue to grow. Just this week Tesla was criticized for ditching durable steel in favor of lighter aluminum for the truck’s casted frame. This subjects it to stress over time, raising the possibility of catastrophic failure when towing loads within specification. 

This risks the truck not living up to the standards of the demanding Musk, who has called his factories the “hottest Tesla product” and elevated manufacturing to a brand differentiator.

“At this point I think I know more about manufacturing than anyone currently alive on earth,” the Tesla CEO told a TED Talk three years ago, when the truck was being engineered.

Demand ‘so far off the hook, you can’t even see the hook’

According to Cox Automotive, sales failed to top 39,000 last year despite having installed capacity to build over 125,000. Now Tesla’s offering low financing rates of 2% to move metal and buffing off the badges on Foundation Series vehicles that failed to find a buyer at launch.

While it is still outselling any other EV pickup truck, the Cybertruck can be considered a flop already given its lofty expectations. Shortly before the truck launched, Musk said demand was “so far off the hook you can’t even see the hook” and reservations were taken for almost 2 million trucks.

Despite its numerous problems, the Cybertruck could receive a sales boost in the coming weeks and months. For one, the $80,000 all-wheel drive version is expected to qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it expires.

President Trump is also coming to Tesla’s aid, publicly encouraging Americans to buy Musk’s cars and trucks as a show of support for his administration.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

One-day tickets to Universal’s Epic Universe are now on sale: Here’s what it will cost to get into Florida’s newest big theme park

Published

on



  • One-day tickets for Universal’s Epic Universe have gone on sale. A one-day ticket will cost $139, but you won’t be able to use it until a week-and-a-half after the park opens. Epic Universe is set to open on May 22.

Universal Orlando is just over two months away from welcoming guests to its Epic Universe, a major expansion that is taking the central Florida theme park wars to a new level. And fans who want to visit finally have the chance to buy a ticket.

Universal has opened up one-day ticket sales for Epic Universe. Until now, the only way to get an admission was buying a three-, four- or five-day pass, where all but one day had to be spent in other Universal theme parks, or to be an annual passholder.

A one-day adult ticket will run you $139, while children will pay $135 for a single-day pass. (Florida residents do not currently get a discount.) A two-day ticket is also available for $126.50 for adults ($121.50 for kids), but one of the two days must be spent in a park other than Epic Universe.

The park, which was originally scheduled to open in 2023, will open on May 22, but people who buy a one-day pass won’t be able to use it until June 1 or later.

Epic Universe is a $6 billion expansion by Universal meant to lure away more visitors from Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Disney, in response, has announced a major upgrade to its Orlando parks, part of a 10-year, $60 billion investment in parks and experiences.

Epic Universe will feature five different lands. Celestial Park will serve as the entry into Universal Epic Universe, with dining, shopping and three attractions, a carousel, a dual-launch coaster and interactive dancing fountains. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic will present elements from both the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises, and offer what is likely the most anticipated ride, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, which features the return of Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge.

Super Nintendo World will be a larger interactive Nintendo-themed world than the one in California, with a Donkey Kong-themed coaster where the car appears to jump over a gap. How to Train Your Dragon’s Isle of Berk will let you ‘ride’ a dragon and explore the Viking village at the heart of the story.

Finally, Dark Universe embraces Universal’s monster-movie history, with reimagined classic creatures, including Frankenstein, the Wolfman and Dracula.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.