[Tfug] commercializing technology created at Arizona universities

[Jim Secan]

The reason for this is to provide yet another bandaid to cover the glaring
fact that the legislature and what passes for leadership in this state
refuses to meet its obligations to adequately fund education in general and
the universities in particular.  They believe that the universities should
be run more like businesses, with money pouring in (or so they believe)
from private industry to keep the universities going.  This is a load of
hogwash that only provides fig-leaf cover for their desire to completely
gut the public education system.  

Even if private industry does pony up loads of cash, this will effectively
kill off the major source of keeping researchers honest - peer review.  No
company is going to want to fund a researcher to develop a new capability
only to have that researcher blab it to the world in a public journal or
meeting.  This puts research under cover, to the ultimate detriment of
science in this country.  slashdot had a good link today to a Physics Today
article on this very topic
<http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-55/iss-12/p10.html>.

Flame off.

Jim

At 10:54 AM 12/13/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Another good one!
>
>Gov.-elect Janet Napolitano said yesterday she will push the Arizona 
>Legislature to ask voters in 2004 for a constitutional change that would
lift 
>barriers to commercializing technology created at Arizona universities.
>
>http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/business/12_13_02napolitano.html
>
>The last thing we want is our government to own any type of commercial 
>enterprise
>
>-- 
>----------------------------------
>Keith Smith
>(520) 358-2138
>http://www.PC-CashRegister.com
>http://www.AKScomputers.com
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