This news about outside ideological interference in hiring at Florida
State University's Economics Department is extremely disturbing. I urge
all of you to protest (as I have done) to the dean (email:
[log in to unmask]) and the chair (email: [log in to unmask]).
Allen Scott
> This post on the NY Times Economics blog has some other references on
> the same sort of stuff:
> http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/economics-for-sale/
>
>
> On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 2:51 PM, Nick Blomley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/billionaires-role-in-h
>> ring-decisions-at-florida-state-university-raises/1168680
>> Koch Brothers Buy Economics Department at Florida State University
>>
>> Billionaire's role in hiring decisions at Florida State
>> University raises questions
>>
>> By Kris Hundley, Times staff writer
>>
>> St. Petersburg Times
>>
>> May 10, 2011
>>
>>
>>
>> A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in
>> business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere
>> in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university.
>>
>> A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G.
>> Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State
>> University's economics department. In return, his
>> representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a
>> new program promoting "political economy and free
>> enterprise."
>>
>> Traditionally, university donors have little official input
>> into choosing the person who fills a chair they've funded.
>> The power of university faculty and officials to choose
>> professors without outside interference is considered a
>> hallmark of academic freedom.
>>
>> Under the agreement with the Charles G. Koch Charitable
>> Foundation, however, faculty only retain the illusion of
>> control. The contract specifies that an advisory committee
>> appointed by Koch decides which candidates should be
>> considered. The foundation can also withdraw its funding if
>> it's not happy with the faculty's choice or if the hires
>> don't meet "objectives" set by Koch during annual
>> evaluations.
>>
>> David W. Rasmussen, dean of the College of Social Sciences,
>> defended the deal, initiated by an FSU graduate working for
>> Koch. During the first round of hiring in 2009, Koch rejected
>> nearly 60 percent of the faculty's suggestions but ultimately
>> agreed on two candidates. Although the deal was signed in
>> 2008 with little public controversy, the issue revived last
>> week when two FSU professors - one retired, one active -
>> criticized the contract in the Tallahassee Democrat as an
>> affront to academic freedom.
>>
>> Rasmussen said hiring the two new assistant professors allows
>> him to offer eight additional courses a year. "I'm sure some
>> faculty will say this is not exactly consistent with their
>> view of academic freedom,'' he said. "But it seems to me it
>> would have been irresponsible not to do it."
>>
>> The Koch foundation, based in Arlington, Va., did not return
>> a call seeking comment.
>>
>> Most universities, including the University of Florida, have
>> policies that strictly limit donors' influence over the use
>> of their gifts. Yale University once returned $20 million
>> when the donor demanded veto power over appointments, saying
>> such control was "unheard of."
>>
>> Jennifer Washburn, who has reviewed dozens of contracts
>> between universities and donors, called the Koch agreement
>> with FSU "truly shocking."
>>
>> Said Washburn, author of University Inc., a book on
>> industry's ties to academia: "This is an egregious example of
>> a public university being willing to sell itself for next to
>> nothing."
>>
>> The foundation partnering with FSU is one of several non-
>> profits funded by Charles Koch (pronounced "coke''), 75, and
>> his brother David, 71. The aim: To advance their belief,
>> through think tanks, political organizations and academia,
>> that government taxes and regulations impinge on
>> prosperity.
>>
>> The Koch philosophy is similar to that of Rick Scott, who, in
>> one of his first acts as Florida's governor, froze all new
>> state regulations on businesses, and has pushed for tax
>> cuts.
>>
>> The Koch brothers own the second biggest private U.S.
>> corporation, maker of such popular products as Brawny paper
>> towels, Dixie cups and Stainmaster carpet. Koch Industries,
>> which had $100 billion in sales last year, also owns
>> thousands of miles of oil pipelines, refineries and Georgia-
>> Pacific lumber. The Koch brothers are each worth $22
>> billion.
>>
>> Charles, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries in Wichita,
>> Kan., cofounded the Cato Institute, a policymaking group, in
>> 1977. His brother serves on the board. David, who lives in
>> Manhattan and is Koch Industries' executive vice president,
>> in 2004 started the Americans for Prosperity Foundation which
>> has worked closely with the tea party movement.
>>
>> The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, to which he has
>> given as much as $80 million a year, has focused on
>> "advancing social progress and well-being" through grants to
>> about 150 universities. But in the past, most colleges,
>> including Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers,
>> received just a few thousand dollars.
>>
>> The big exception has been George Mason University, a public
>> university in Virginia which has received more than $30
>> million from Koch over the past 20 years. At George Mason,
>> Koch's foundation has underwritten the Mercatus Center, whose
>> faculty study "how institutions affect the freedom to
>> prosper."
>>
>> When President George W. Bush identified 23 regulations he
>> wanted to eliminate, 14 had been initially suggested by
>> Mercatus scholars. In a New Yorker profile of the Koch
>> brothers in August, Rob Stein, a Democratic strategist,
>> called Mercatus "ground zero for deregulation policy in
>> Washington."
>>
>> Now, rather than taking over entire academic departments,
>> Koch is funding faculty who promote his agenda at
>> universities where there are a variety of economic views. In
>> addition to FSU, Koch has made similar arrangements at two
>> other state schools, Clemson University in South Carolina and
>> West Virginia University.
>>
>> Bruce Benson, chairman of FSU's economics department, said
>> that of his staff of 30, six, including himself, would fall
>> into Koch's free-market camp.
>>
>> "The Kochs find, as I do, that a lot of regulation is
>> actually detrimental and they're convinced markets work
>> relatively well when left alone," he said.
>>
>> Benson said his department had extensive discussion, but no
>> vote, on the Koch agreement when it was signed in 2008.
>>
>> He said the Koch grant has improved his department and
>> guaranteed a diversity of opinion that's beneficial to
>> students.
>>
>> "Students will ultimately choose," he said. "If you believe
>> strongly in something, you believe it can win the debate."
>>
>> Benson makes annual reports to Koch about the faculty's
>> publications, speeches and classes, which have included the
>> economics of corruption. He said FSU has promised to retain
>> the professors in tenure-track positions hired under the Koch
>> grant if the foundation ever feels they aren't complying with
>> its objectives and withdraws support.
>>
>> "So far, they're fine with what's going on," Benson said.
>> "But I agree with what they believe, whether they give us
>> money or not."
>>
>> As originally drafted, the agreement called for the Koch
>> foundation and FSU to raise up to $6.6 million for six
>> faculty positions. That plan has been scaled back in the face
>> of the recession, but FSU's dean dismissed suggestions that
>> he signed the deal with Koch because of financial strain.
>>
>> "This would have been an opportunity to improve our economics
>> department under any circumstances," Rasmussen said.
>>
>> In addition to funding two slots, Koch has also donated
>> nearly $500,000 for graduate fellowships. So far only BB&T,
>> the bank holding company, has joined the effort, with its
>> foundation pledging $1.5 million over 10 years. The money is
>> being used to hire an instructor who is not eligible for
>> tenure; BB&T had no control over the hire, Rasmussen said.
>>
>> A separate grant from BB&T funds a course on ethics and
>> economics in which Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is required
>> reading. The novel, which depicts society's collapse in the
>> wake of government encroachment on free enterprise, was
>> recently made into a movie marketed to tea party members.
>>
>> "If somebody says, 'We're willing to help support your
>> students and faculty by giving you money, but we'd like you
>> to read this book,' that doesn't strike me as a big sin,"
>> said Rasmussen of the BB&T arrangement, which the bank has
>> with about 60 schools. "What is a big sin is saying that
>> certain ideas cannot be discussed."
>>
>> Nor does he fear that the agreements with Koch and BB&T will
>> prompt future donors to demand control over hiring or
>> curriculum.
>>
>> Said Rasmussen, "I have no objections to people who want to
>> help us fund excellence at our university. I'm happy to do
>> it."
>>
>> Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this report.
>> Kris Hundley can be reached at [log in to unmask] or (727)
>> 892-2996.
>>
>> On the web
>>
>> To see the agreement between FSU and the Koch foundation, go
>> to www.links.tampabay.com
>>
>>
>>
>> __._,_.___
>>
>>
>> ................................................................................
>> Nicholas Blomley
>> Professor
>> Department of Geography
>> Simon Fraser University
>> Burnaby
>> BC V5A 1S6
>> Canada
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 778 782 3713
>> www.sfu.ca/~blomley
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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