Comments on: Regents hold first public meeting on commercialization at UT http://www.toledofreepress.com/2012/08/25/regents-hold-first-public-meeting-on-commercialization-at-ut/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=regents-hold-first-public-meeting-on-commercialization-at-ut Toledo's Largest Sunday Newspaper Sat, 18 May 2013 13:07:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc Toledo Newspaperhttp://www.toledofreepress.com/wp-content/themes/tfp/images/tfp_logo_small.gifhttp://www.toledofreepress.com15746The Toledo Free Press is a weekly newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. It was founded in 2005 by Thomas Pounds. By: JackPumpkin http://www.toledofreepress.com/2012/08/25/regents-hold-first-public-meeting-on-commercialization-at-ut/comment-page-1/#comment-499713 JackPumpkin Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:13:28 +0000 http://www.toledofreepress.com/?p=45164#comment-499713 UT is looking more and more like it's just a means of funneling taxpayer money into private hands. That's certainly what all these "commercialization" schemes look like. Just look at the case of Dr. Deng. He got substantial taxpayer money to play CEO for a while, then when it all came crashing down, the state provided a parachute for him in the cozy form of a teaching position. There's also a fundamental change in the mission of the university. Under Jacobs, UT is a follower in the community: do whatever the business sector demands. Historically the role of a university has been to lead the community: challenge predominant ways of thinking and create new knowledge, whether or not it has an obvious profit at the end. The marriage of humanities with basic and applied research that has made American universities the best in the world is really under siege when Jacobs types get power. UT is looking more and more like it’s just a means of funneling taxpayer money into private hands. That’s certainly what all these “commercialization” schemes look like. Just look at the case of Dr. Deng. He got substantial taxpayer money to play CEO for a while, then when it all came crashing down, the state provided a parachute for him in the cozy form of a teaching position.

There’s also a fundamental change in the mission of the university. Under Jacobs, UT is a follower in the community: do whatever the business sector demands. Historically the role of a university has been to lead the community: challenge predominant ways of thinking and create new knowledge, whether or not it has an obvious profit at the end. The marriage of humanities with basic and applied research that has made American universities the best in the world is really under siege when Jacobs types get power.

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