8A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008
CAMPUS
Activists question intentions of government funding
KU Watch encourages increased student awareness, public discussions of Department of Defense allocations
BY JESSICA WICKS jwicks@kansan.com
Students will demonstrate on the Stauffer-Flint lawn today to increase awareness about University research funded by the Department of Defense.
In an open letter to Chancellor Robert Hemenway, KU Watch, a campus activism organization, expressed its appreciation for quality research at the University, but said it was deeply concerned the University was helping develop military technology and using KU classes to train United States Army officers in strategies used to kill in the Middle East.
KU Watch will also have a teachin at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries tonight to educate students on military research dollars at the University and how that research will benefit military
interests.
Greg Hill, Overland Park junior and KU Watch activist, said the University made bids on military funded projects to gain prestige without exposing the ethical and structural implications.
"We don't feel these projects are necessarily bad in and of themselves, just that they are symptomatic of broader trends in corporate and military influence," Hill said.
The Department of Defense awarded more than $2.4 million to the University, but actual expenditures were closer to $4 million, said Kevin Boatright, director of communications for the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.
Boatright said that number in comparison to funding from other agencies was very minimal.
According to Hill, the Department of Defense has awarded the University of Kansas more
than $500,000 to fund its participation of the Bowman Expeditions in particular. Fully funded, the Bowman Expedition would send a geography professor and graduate students to every country in the world to gather unclassified data for the Geographic Information
System database. Their first expedition is called Mexico Indigena and explores cooperatingindigenous communities in Mexico in conjunction with the University of San Luis Potosi.
cal mistakes.
Jerry Dobson, a KU geogra-
"We invaded Iraq because of geographic ignorance," Dobson said. "We have had foreign policy blunder after foreign policy blunder because we don't understand foreigners."
Hill said that while the intentions were good, those involved should consider unintended consequences that could result in h u m a n rights abuses.
"Students need to be more politically aware of what their university is doing and how that fits into the war."
phy professor in charge of this research, said the project is put in place to fight geographic ignorance, a cause of major past politi-
GREG HILL Overland Park junior
we hope that students will pressure KU to be more transparent and more proactive regarding potential human rights abuses that could potentially
"We hope
result from research conducted at KU," Hill said.
Peter Herlihy, associate director of indigenous studies and a leader of the Bowman Expedition, said that he embraced the vitality and enthusiasm that KU Watch has had, but his project was the antithesis of what they were trying to say.
"We are proud to raise the flag and say look at what the government is funding." Herlihy said. "Our project empowers indigenous people by putting intellectual property where it belongs."
"I think their project is good, but to think that it doesn't fit into a larger agenda seems kind of naive," Hill said.
Herlihy said that the grants provided by the government during World War II played a major role in how the government was able to bring peace.
"Geographical intelligence is needed for peace and prosperity just like it is needed for war and destruction," Herlihy said.
Hill said this project among many others "support military initiatives connected to an unpopular war among University students and faculty."
"Painting all Department of Defense funding with one brush is not appropriate. A lot of it doesn't have anything to do with the war," Boatright said.
Hill said the University should make Department of Defense funded projects more accessible to students and open debate.
"Students need to be more politically aware of what their university is doing and how that fits into the war," Hill said.
Edited by Sasha Roe