NCSU

Rich libertarians and their strings.

A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university. A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise."

Koch and Pope don't just oppose government meddling in business. They oppose government doing almost anything. With regard to university hiring, has the Puppy Master's influence at NCSU, especially in economics, risen to the level of Koch's influence at Florida State? I don't know. Maybe someone from the university can illuminate us on the subject. The saga continues.

I know the N&O is having a hard time breaking its Puppetshow habit, but can't they find anyone more insightful than Andy Taylor as their academic apologist for Republican shenanigans? This is getting ridiculous.

For now the vast majority of anonymous donations is by conservative groups. Taylor, the political scientist, said, though, that he doesn't think that will remain the case. "A lot of the reason we are seeing a lot of it being Republican money or conservative money, is because it's a Republican year, and those guys are energized and want to give," he said.

Why didn't the reporter ask Taylor to explain his absurd claim? Why didn't he get a clarification as to what Taylor means by "those guys" who want to give? Because if he had asked the question, we'd know that "those guys" are approximately fifty rich businessmen, including owners foreign corporations, who are attempting to buy our elected government right out from under us.

The following is a blog entry written by Steven Pires, a Sierra Club member and Grad student at NCSU's Department of Forest Biomaterials Science and Engineering. This is the first post in a new series that will focus on how North Carolina can lead the way in alternative energy production.

The practice of sustainability and sustainable development becomes critically important as global populations and natural resource demands continue to rise. According to the US Census Bureau, the global population is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050. This staggering figure leaves us with no choice but to be more environmentally conscious with the use of our resources. Steadily rising natural resource demand coupled with increasing public environmental concerns has sparked major investments in the renewable energy sector.

I guess that should be past tense. Bill Clinton spoke at Reynolds Colliseum as part of their Millennium Seminar Series. It has been scheduled since October of 2008. The speech was entitled, "The Way Forward."

Would love to hear from attendees.

In our capital city, racist graffiti threatening the life of Barack Obama was painted in NCSU's free expression tunnel. In Cullowee, a dead bear wearing Obama political signs was dumped at WCU. A "prank?" Or a message?

Two pieces of juicy news about the Puppetmaster and NC State:

The Pope Foundation has apparently turned down a piece-of-crap proposal submitted by four College of Humanities and Social Sciences departments at NC State. The proposal asked for $1.88 million - a small sum for which the four departments would sell their souls and become whatever Puppetmaster Pope wanted. All the details aren't in yet, but it seems that even the Pope Foundation has some standards. According to insiders, the proposal was hastily thrown together, generally sloppy, and mostly incoherent.

Secondly, the Puppetmaster has recently given a boatload of money to a new "center" at NC State which will be designed to help right-wing donors demand and get more for their money. Long frustrated by the fact that, left to their own devices, faculty lean in the direction of critical thinking, Art Pope has decided that the best way to tilt things to the right is to buy the influence he wants the old fashioned way.

And what better place to prove the concept than at NC State, where apparently even department heads will dance to whatever tune the Puppetmaster plays.

Earlier coverage of the Puppetmaster & NC State available here.

Rumors or reality? NC State is all a-twitter either way.

Toby Parcel, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NC State, has apparently been pressuring department heads to come up with proposals to submit to the Pope Foundation. One department discussed this possibility at its February 14, 2007, faculty meeting.

Several faculty members noted that the values and agenda of the Pope Foundation are incompatible with the values and mission of a public university. In view of this conflict, department faculty decided that they did not want to seek Pope Foundation funding or have anything to do with the Foundation.

A little while ago, I observed that Ms. Jane Shaw, the emerging queen of the Art Pope Puppetshow, had worked herself into a swivet because the mean old faculty at NSCU didn't want the University to take any more of the Puppetmaster's money. Well Ms. Shaw has now taken her case to the Independent, where they've printed her full-fledged defense of the Pope Center for Higher Education.

Shaw's blow-by-blow reporting of all the good and wonderful things about her organization is endearing and admirable. But it doesn't mean squat. Because in the minutia of her defense, the misses the rotten forest for the spindly trees. As I wrote in my first review:

Ms. Shaw appears truly confused as to why professors would dare to question the motives and challenge the integrity of the organization she recently joined. In the face of such confusion, I daresay the new Puppet didn't complete the level of due diligence she should have

What's more surprising to me is that the Independent allowed this commentary by Shaw in the first place. Maybe they needed some filler.

There's a new Puppet lurking in the halls of the Art Pope Puppetshow. Her name is Jane Shaw, and her credentials place her among the upper crust of free-market fundamentalists. With a career spent extolling the virtues of private enterprise (though never actually running a business), it's surprising that she landed in the Pope Center for Higher Education instead of the John Locke Foundation itself. She's infinitely more suited than Stagemanager Hood to be running the whole shooting match for the Puppetmaster. But that's another story.

This week Ms. Shaw slips into her whiniest self over the latest dust-up between the mean old faculty at NC State and Art Pope. As you may recall, a number of NC State professors recently complained about a planned deal between the Puppetmaster and the school. Mr. Pope wanted to buy himself his own private curriculum and the faculty, understandably, has said "no thanks." Now Jane Shaw is accusing the faculty of having a political agenda! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!