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Syracuse University hydrology professor Donald Siegel examines a sample of Marcellus Shale at an outcropping of this rock on Rt. 174 in Marcellus. A leading journal has just run a lengthy correction on an article Siegel authored in which he did not disclose his ties to the drilling industry.
(David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com)
To the Editor:
Entering college three years ago, I regarded my university as a beacon of knowledge, an institution that would never knowingly betray its student's trust. I was sold, hook, line and sinker on the virtuous ideals colleges and universities worldwide strive to promote: integrity, safety and trust. Going into my senior year at Syracuse University, things are different.
Two months ago, a team of Syracuse University professors, led by Donald Siegel, the chairman of the earth sciences department, published a study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal claiming that fracking does not contaminate nearby drinking water. The authors used baseline data from Chesapeake Energy to compile over 11,000 water samples in Pennsylvania. Their conclusions contradict a 2010 study published by Duke scientists who found correlation between fracking and increased methane levels in groundwater.
Siegel and his team were transparent about working for Chesapeake Energy, an oil and natural gas company, but failed to disclose the fact that they were directly paid for their work. Siegel claimed that he and his team had "no competing financial interest." Maybe this is just me, but I find it hard to believe that Chesapeake Energy would work with a team of earth scientists if they thought helping them would further tarnish an industry already under heavy fire for its proven links to pollution and earthquakes.
I know that large corporations have immense political clout, but never thought that their influence might seep into the very classrooms that myself, and thousands of others sit in everyday.
SU is standing by its professor. "Professor Siegel is in compliance with our internal procedures regarding disclosures of conflict of interest," wrote Gina Lee-Glauser, SU's vice president for research. It appears that the university's policy absolves professors of the need to disclose who is paying for their research, deeming vague terms like "under contract" to be sufficient and acceptable proof of "no competing financial interest."
I will never take a class from Professor Siegel, and am saddened to support an institution with such cloudy transparency.
This is not an isolated incident, nor is it the only way colleges and universities auction off their power to influence. All over the country, colleges and universities are being funded by deep-pocketed corporations and organizations to promote certain ways of thinking.
Dennis Schittker, the Florida State University spokesman, said, "Donor gifts, regardless of their size, have always been accepted with the clear understanding that the gift will not compromise academic integrity or infringe on the academic freedom of our faculty," in 2012 when the school was the beneficiary of just under $300,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation.
In theory, this sounds all right. In practice, it's not always the case. In 2011, the Charles Koch Foundation gave $1.5 million to Florida State University's economic department. This in itself is not out of the ordinary. Colleges and Universities receive donations from countless organizations worldwide. However, this donation came with strings attached. The donation was contingent on the university signing a contract which required for a Koch-appointed board of advisers to actually select professors and conduct annual evaluations of the department.
Now, most donations are not like this - but some are. And it's near impossible to know.
When I walk into a classroom, three years removed from my blind acceptance, I can't help but think, "Is this professor merely an appointee of some billionaire? Am I being taught knowledge to enrich my life, or somebodyelse's?"
Until recently, I didn't think about my curriculum as being for sale to the highest bidder. However, it's clear that colleges and universities are not immune to the allure of big money.
Whether its natural gas companies paying professors to conduct studies, which just so happen to turn out in favor of fracking, or professors being hired by billionaire oil tycoons, there is a growing schism between the virtuous ideals higher education advertises and the sour reality of the actual product. Something doesn't smell right, and it's not the dining hall food.
Azor Cole
Seattle, Washington