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Congressional pork fatter than ever

In FY2008, more Congressional pork-barrel project money flowed into US academic institutions that ever before, according to an linkurl:analysis;https://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 Con

Written byBob Grant
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In FY2008, more Congressional pork-barrel project money flowed into US academic institutions that ever before, according to an linkurl:analysis;https://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;https://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, $33.4 million Texas A&M University at College Station and System Office, $31.3 million University of Hawaii-Manoa, $30.7 million Not surprisingly, the home states of the legislators who earmarked the most money for academia in FY08 corresponded closely with the schools that received pork. The top five Senatorial earmarkers were: Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), $161.6 million Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), $85.8 million Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), $81.2 million Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), $74.0 million Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), $73.1 million According to __The Chronicle's__ report, Senators Hillary Clinton and linkurl:Barack Obama;https://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54362/ also earmarked money for academic institutions in FY08 ? Clinton earmarked $70.1 million while Obama earmarked $19.2 million. Senator John McCain has never earmarked any funds and is a vocal supporter of banishing pork-barrel spending altogether.
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Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

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