At times, I am truly surprised by the power and reach of corporate America into our public discourse. Last year, SUNY-Buffalo professor Steve Kurtz was indicted by the FBI for bioterrorism (his case is still pending). What was his sin? Kurtz was part of a group (Critical Arts Ensemble) that created art projects that critiqued genetic modifications of basic foods, such as corn. In other words, he critiqued Monsanto.
Here's some background on Kurtz's story and the relationship to Monsanto:
Kurtz and Monsanto
Flash forward to this week.
A Cal-Berkeley professor apparently had his tenure case slammed by pressure from Monsanto.
Chapela and Monsanto
The fact that Monsanto could wield such power is coming as a shock to the academic community. It shows how much is at stake in the vanguard research of agribusiness. There are very powerful interests here, and some of the background on how corporations monitor both critics and academics can get quite spooky. Here's some shady stuff about how a newsgroup or academic community can be infilitrated by those seeking to discredit it.
Chapela denied tenure
Is this the country we thought we were living in? One in which the corporate ties with our government enable corporations to make the decisions that govern us? That police us? Mind you, the email list I got this from contained information showing that Monsanto pressured the university.