Blog on Academia and Industry Answer to Janet

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To: JANET RAE-DUPREE

Dear Janet,

You recently (Sept. 6th, 2008) wrote an article in the New York Times entitled on universities and intellectual property in the US. This article was circulated among senior professors at my university, and had a bemused read.

Let's start with the basics. University academics have egos that range from large to XXXL. They (myself included, of course) want to be internationally acknowledged for their discoveries, theories, inventions and writings. They fight about who was the first one to detect this or that, and pine for decades when their work is not acknowledged appropriately. If scientists and other professors did not have such big egos, then perhaps no one would mind if an important paper came out written by "a group of modest folk singers at our department". Trust me, people fight hard and long not only about who gets on an academic paper, but the order of the authors as well. Show me an anonymous scientific article in a good journal. . Read James Watson's "The Double Helix" for a candid account of the egos involved in deciphering the holy grail of biology. It was not about money, it was about fame. Then, maybe money.

But that was in the 1950s, and to be frank, Janet, times have changed. In those halcyon days, relatively few people made a great deal of money, and perhaps wealth served as less of a criterion for success than it does today. Furthermore, for scientists, research money was once more widely available for so-called basic projects than it is currently. Nowadays, I agree with you that money plays a major role in academic decisions. But in this brave, new world, money seems to play a greater role in every other facet of our lives as well, including running for public office. Being a kind, knowledgeable and/or worthy human being doesn't cut it without a fat bank account.

So, at least in that sense, universities are a reflection of society in general. Society has changed, and with it our campuses. In the 1970s when I entered Tel Aviv University, there was abundant grass (the kind you step on as well), large open spaces, and a building every now and then (I even got a slight lightning shock in 1974 walking between classes!). Now, more and less savory people with the other kind of green have donated enough money for a myriad of concrete structures with their names eternally affixed to them. A kind of name graveyard. So we have the Peter Pan building for this and the Peter, Paul and Mary faculty for that. Most of these benevolent donors fought with the university to get their names emblazoned in as large a font as possible on the buildings. In at least one instance, the couple donating the building died, so they shut up that entrance and built a new one with somebody else's name on it. We don't have a single building, faculty or even department, named after anonymous. Everyone wants their due. By the way, few of these donors pay for the upkeep of these concrete edifices. Some of the buildings are beautiful, some are ugly. But one thing is certain – there is less grass on campus. And it's easy to get lost among the concrete, even for someone like me who has been here since 1973.

But again I digress. As goes the world, so goes academia. Universities are expensive elephants. And students balk at paying tuition that even approaches the cost of teaching them. They can make millions in their post campus careers, based on what we have taught them, and don't owe us a nickel. Perhaps we should be charging them royalties?

So where are we going to get our money? Some of it comes from government funds. This is a dwindling source everywhere. Salaries rise, the cost of equipment rises, and public research money trickles. So even the most esoteric of researchers, interested in obscure ancient tongues, or with a penchant for studying the writings of a forgotten thirteen century cleric, or perhaps a scientist studying why worms are brown, all have to compete with 'sexier' research topics. If their research is not "interesting", "timely", "poignant", etc., who will fund it? As a case in point, we have one very successful professor who has made a wild international career based on disputing religious events that did or did not take place 2,500 years ago. I personally could not care less whether King David was 4 foot 3, had a mustache, and ate plums. But apparently others think it is the hottest topic on earth. So, these days, there is a big impetus on all academics to perform research that can sell, on one level or another. Poignantly, research journals (which also need to sell subscriptions to survive) have changed completely since the 1950s, and are always on the lookout for sensational articles that will increase their readership. And we need to publish in them in order to advance in our careers, and draw university salary.

In most cases, researchers tend to do their own thing. They perform research of lesser and greater significance, going where their noses take them, publish their results more-or-less objectively (but, like any door-to-door salesman, make the best of whatever stock they have in hand). They pitch their research proposals to funding agencies. Researchers hope that they will be judged and promoted fairly (this does not always happen, since academic life is rife with politics). Some young academics depend on moral support from their former mentors (and are reluctant to forge into new areas). Some receive tenure, only to freeze or dry up. Others have a spectacular career, full of discovery and insight.

All academics are under increasing pressure to look good, to bring in significant research funds, to publish findings in worthy journals. The temptation is there to round corners, but still there are very few fraudulent academics.

Janet, the problems that you discuss must be considered in the context of our changing world. The careers of many academics these days do involve technologies that overlap with the commercial world. After all, the modern world is a highly technological one. You can get along quite well nowadays without reciting a single line of Shakespeare, but if you can't google, e-mail or text-message, you are a lost soul.

Those of us academics who work side-by-side with the multinational monsters, the pharma giants, the mammoth companies of food, energy, etc. have to be doubly careful. Yes, Janet, it is easy to fall prey to commercial interests when you are running a university lab, and need the support. You do need to be doubly careful. But can you blame universities for wanting to be part of the action. What if a researcher does develop a useful technique or drug? Should industry be allowed to plunder academia, or should it pay royalties that will help fund the obscure languages department?

Some researchers have managed very well with corporate support, maintaining a relatively high level of integrity and not letting commercial powers influence the interpretation of their studies and affect their publication. A few have succumbed, and have turned their laboratory into enterprises. Some university researchers have made important advances which promote health and wellbeing worldwide. Here, industries play a key role . Some universities have hired excellent administrative staff to select and manage the promising intellectual property, and have made big bucks. To these, I say bravo. To the many universities you cite in your article who are still losing money, I say, get your act together, and learn from the universities that have succeeded.

Today, researchers and institutions need the big bucks to survive. These sometimes come from donors and commercial institutions who may try to promote their agenda. I say, take the money, if you can maintain the essence of academic curiosity and discovery, and integrity on all levels. And for those of us involved in technological advances, I add, don't forget the basic role of the university as a center for education and understanding.

A Tooth for a Tooth!

A tooth for a tooth

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein is a famous orthodox rabbi who has made a philanthropic allegiance with famous evangelist Christian leaders, who are also orthodox in their own way (the way of the church, that is). He is founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. With their support, Rabbi Eckstein has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for worthy causes here in the holy land, and has become a celebrated figure. Have a look at this excerpt from the New York Times Magazine:

… Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein has traveled to China to liberate persecuted pastors, hiked through Ethiopia and Siberia in search of vulnerable Jews, advised prime ministers in Jerusalem and met with evangelical Republicans at the White House. His immediate plans include transporting an entire biblical lost tribe from northeastern India to the Holy Land and starting a Spanish-language ministry for the Pentecostals of Latin America. He has even talked about recording some sacred hymns with Debby Boone. And, as Eckstein himself might say, God only knows what he'll do after that…

But when I see pictures of the illustrious Rabbi Eckstein, my mind wanders back to first grade at the Hebrew School (Hillel Academy) in Ottawa, Canada, in 1957, where Yechiel and I were great friends.

Grade one was a frightening experience: one half day learning English subjects with the battleship Mrs. Martin who wandered around class, rapping our knuckles collectively for any single annoyance. The other half day was spent studying our demanding Jewish religion by the benevolent Mr. Werner Bauer (who was kind enough to let this hyperactive kid wander around his classroom all year). I still remember Mr. Bauer's description of the Garden of Eden, as a place where one might dream of fried chicken, and a plate (kosher of course) would suddenly appear. But I didn't like chicken. And I was always afraid the Lord was going to get me for some transgression or other. As an impressionable and neurotic six year-old, I once stood for hours on my bed late at night, with my hand on my head (instead of a kipa), because I couldn't help thinking about what I thought was a solemn prayer (it was actually the Israeli national anthem!).

Alas, I digress. Very often on Saturday, after synagogue, I would head over to Yechiel's house for lunch. His father, Rabbi Simon L. Eckstein, our Rabbi, who was quite stern during Sabbath services, was more lightheaded at home. He would ask me to greet the man under the table before partaking the Sabbath meal. I never saw anyone under the table, but why argue with the Rabbi? I would obediently wish the man who wasn't there "Shabbat shalom", and the Kiddush and meal would commence.

After the Sabbath dinner, the Rabbi and Rebbitzen went upstairs, leaving us juniors in control of the ground floor. Two hyperactive kids on Saturday afternoon. Yechiel and I liked to play soccer in the long hall, where he would invariably win (he was tall, athletic, and imposing, even at the age of six). But the hall was too dark to see the ball, and it was the Sabbath.

No problem. We had our own interpretation of the laws prohibiting manual labor on the Sabbath. We understood the teaching in its most literal sense. Thus, while turning on the lights with one's hands was strictly prohibited (and probably punishable by death), nothing in the Bible said anything about turning on the lights using one's teeth. So we perfected the art of balancing on a chair and turning lights off and on with our fledgling dentition.

After trouncing me soundly (actually quietly, so as not to wake the adults) in the hall, it was time to retire to the den, where we could watch the Ottawa Roughriders (they would go on to win the Grey Cup in 1960) play Canadian football. Turning on and off the tv with our teeth was a cinch. The problem was changing the channels. In those days channels were controlled by a large mechanical knob, one click at a time, and in Ottawa the only two television stations were channels 4 and 13. Changing all these channels with his teeth was an art which Yechiel perfected. I seem to recall that the Rabbi did eventually catch us red-handed (or toothed, in this case).

Over the years, we continued to worship football, alongside religion. After all, Dave Thelen, subsequently became our sports teacher, and I would later shake the hand of the greatest CFL quarterback of them all, Russ Jackson. But that's another story.

Yechiel as a pupil, was good at everything. He was handsome, charming, smart and a great voice (I understood he has five CDs of hassidic music to his credit). During the winter, we would play football during recess. On one occasion, Yechiel had caught the ball and was on his way to a decisive touchdown. I was the lone defender. I lunged at his feet has he confidently ran around me and managed to trip him up in the snow. Tackling Yechiel was such a rare and exceptional incident, that I remember this brief moment of childhood glory to this day.

After elementary school we parted ways for several decades. About ten years ago, early Sunday morning, I was watching tv (again), this time in a hotel in the US while attending a scientific meeting (dental research, as it so happened). Pat Robertson (I am always mesmerized by evangelical shows every Sunday morning in the States) said "Now I bring you live our dear friend at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein." There he was, Yechiel, tv videoconferencing with his buddy the Reverend in front of millions of American viewers.

More recently, I was playing jazz at a local reception of some 500 people honoring the orthodox volunteers ("Zaka") who identify bodies (sometimes body parts) following terrorist attacks. It was a surrealistic experience. Most of the people there were ultraorthodox, and here we were playing jazz standards (including "All of Me", which I joked, might be an appropriate anthem for what they do).

Suddenly I heard a voice from the distant past talking in anglicized Hebrew. Stupefied, I left the band and entered the gigantic adjacent hall. There, addressing the reception, was none other than Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (his organization is one of their major donors). After Yechiel's introduction, I managed to say hello briefly, and then he went back to his table, where he rejoined Shimon Peres and Bibi Netanyahu.

What can I tell you? I'm looking at this famous international figure, who raises hundreds of millions of dollars and chums it up with famous evangelists and heads of state, and all I can think of is how well his teeth are still functioning fifty years on. Shame on me!