Some readers may recall coverage on this blog of the most recent Regents meeting (May) in which an entity at UCLA to be known as Newco was created to license university-developed technology. One small newspaper - the East Bay Express - has now given the new entity some (negative) attention and points out that there was little coverage of the issue in the news media.
In a unanimous vote last month, the Regents of the University of
California created a corporate entity that, if spread to all UC campuses
as some regents envision, promises to further privatize scientific
research produced by taxpayer-funded laboratories. The entity, named
Newco for the time being, also would block a substantial amount of UC
research from being accessible to the public, and could reap big profits
for corporations and investors that have ties to the well-connected
businesspeople who will manage it. Despite the sweeping changes the program portends for UC, the
regents' vote received virtually no press coverage. UC plans to first
implement Newco at UCLA and its medical centers, but some regents, along
with influential business leaders across the state, want similar
entities installed at Berkeley, Davis, Santa Cruz, and other campuses.
UC Regents Chairwoman Sherry Lansing called Newco at UCLA a "pilot
program" for the entire UC system...
UC administrators also say they have established sufficient
safeguards for Newco and that UCLA's chancellor and the regents will
have oversight over the entity.
But if last month's regents meeting in Sacramento is any indication,
UC oversight of Newco may be less than robust. Several regents, in fact,
objected to creating an oversight committee that would keep tabs on the
new entity... Many of the UC Regents are also close friends of investors who want
greater access to university inventions under more favorable terms, and
who want the university to subsidize early-stage business expenses and
take financial risks by investing in technology startups... The most vocal advocate for Newco at UCLA has been James Economou, the
campus vice chancellor of research and a doctor at UCLA Medical Center
who holds a faculty appointment in UCLA's Department of Molecular and
Medical Pharmacology. In several presentations to the regents, Economou
has stressed that a Newco-type entity would patent greater numbers of
faculty inventions and create more financial deals with the private
sector, and that the university would benefit from the revenues and
wealth this generates...
Full article at http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/public-research-for-private-gain/Content?oid=3619535&showFullText=true
Our earlier blog coverage is at http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-name-seems-to-be-taken.html
1 comment:
The exact same nonsense is contained in the Senate (passed) version of the 2013 Farm Bill. It basically takes $200m of taxpayer dollars and creates a private foundation for agricultural research. No one in the press has noticed this either.
http://blog.k1v1n.com/2013/05/2013-farm-bills-threat-to-open-access.html
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