In FY2008, more Congressional pork-barrel project money flowed into US academic institutions that ever before, according to an linkurl:analysis;http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i29/29a00101.htm published in this week's issue of __The Chronicle of Higher Education__. __The Chronicle's__ data showed that lawmakers directed more than two billion non-competitive dollars from more than 2,300 projects to 920 universities and colleges, an increase of 25 percent in the number of institutions receiving Congressional earmarks in 2003. The analysis also showed that about $1.6 billion of that pork-barrel money went towards scientific research at nearly 500 institutions. The rest went towards campus roads, on-campus building, and other construction projects. linkurl:Earmarking;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/12887/ is unpopular among academic researchers who fear the non-peer-reviewed awards crowd out competitive grants, substituting funding based on political goals for funding based on scientific merit. The school's receiving the most pork in FY08 were: Mississippi State University, $43 million University of Mississippi, $37.6 million University of South Alabama,...
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