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Universities abusing the public trust
According to a story in this weekend's New York Times, universities are actively helping corporations bypass Congressional earmark bans. A range of universities, including Eastern Kentucky, Penn State, and the University of Toledo, are shown to be serving as middlemen for for-profit companies that are in fact the primary beneficiaries of the public funds, in some cases at the request of a legislator!
Since nonprofits are exempted from the Congressional earmark ban, colleges and universities have apparently decided there is nothing wrong with helping companies circumvent it. According to the article, the University of Toledo "agreed to participate only if it could make a substantive academic contribution," but there is no detail on what that contribution would be, other than the promise of $70,000 for a faculty member and a researcher.
Of course, earmarks were banned for a reason: in recent years, they have come to symbolize a "pay for play" culture that paid little attention to transparency and competition, let alone proper prioritization and stewardship of taxpayer funds. Surely, institutions of higher education -- which receive special tax benefits in the expectation that they will operate in the public trust -- should think carefully before they play fast and loose with that trust. Trustees at these universities and the general counsels' offices would be well advised to review these arrangements.
Posted by Anne D. Neal on July 06, 2010 at July 6, 2010 04:20 PM
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