The link below will take you to a recent article that appeared in the blog "Inside Higher Ed"
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/07/22/nelson
The article makes a salient point about academic freedom and the unrestricted exchange of research; that restricting or skewing significant research may lead to unwanted consequences. The insinuation inside the article is that private corporations are particularly susceptible to corruption and malfeasance, and advances the notion that public institutions ... i.e. state universities, or government ententes are best equipped to conduct research that may have regional, national, or global significance.
What a crock of horse hoof pudding! To think for a moment that public universities or government sponsored research is immune to corruption or special interest is either naive or beholding to a ideology that embraces government as the solution to all problems.
I see this as just one more attack on corporate America and Capitalism. There is no evidence that government entities are better equipped, more noble or even more capable of securing the best interests of the citizenry. In fact .... the empirical evidence of recent history will lead us to the conclusion that government isn't any more responsible that corporate America when it comes to protecting the economic structure and social fabric of the nation.
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