Koch Brothers Fueling Far Right Academic Centers Across the US

FSU had accepted a $1.5 million grant from a foundation controlled by petrochemical billionaire Charles Koch on the condition that Koch’s operatives would have a free hand in selecting professors and approving publications. The simmering controversy sheds light on the vast influence of the Koch political machine, which spans from the top conservative think tanks, Republican politicians, a small army of contracted lobbyists, and Tea Party front groups in ... Full Story »

Posted by Julian Friedland
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Posted by: Posted by Julian Friedland - May 13, 2011 - 5:53 AM PDT
Content Type: Article
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Edited by: Jon Mitchell - May 13, 2011 - 9:19 AM PDT

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Julian Friedland
4.2
by Julian Friedland - May. 13, 2011

Good piece of investigation on how a right wing petroleum magnate is funding ideological research of dubious quality in business schools.

See Full Review » (17 answers)
Bob Herrschaft
4.1
by Bob Herrschaft - May. 13, 2011

...here we have some good examples of negative philanthropy, which, to make matters worse, is probably tax deductible. The fact that special interest propaganda has metastasized into public institutions of higher learning may not be new, but it certainly raises serious questions about the integrity of those institutions and the quality of education provided.

...unfortunately the sticky strings that are tied to these grants tend to be used to bind and gag genuine educators.

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Mike Carlson
4.0
by Mike Carlson - May. 15, 2011

Business schools were bought & paid for in the 1980's. The only difference now is that it's more obvious. Grants, funded chairs, & student driven evaluations have driven standards out of "higher education.

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Roland F. Hirsch
1.0
by Roland F. Hirsch - May. 14, 2011

This blog post has no journalistic content. It is a press release for an advocacy group. The irony is that Think Progress, which prepared the press release, is heavily funded by George Soros! The author of the piece did not do much research, or he would have found out that most major donors today require specific guidelines as universities have consistently failed to honor the intentions of donors. He did not bother to check on the donations made by the Koch family, or he would have found out that the listed donations are a tiny fraction of their donations to universities. Typical of the hate routinely spewed out from this organization, so only 7 on the Krugman scale.

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