Monday, April 21, 2008
Milk this Cow!
Let's try to move on.
Last week, while we were struggling with ourselves, also the Dutch had their own political storm.
It came out (from de Volkskrant) that almost the 25% of the country’s 5,481 university professors are directly or indirectly paid for by outside sources. Which is not a big issue by itself: private sponsorship for Universities and research group is one of the reason why research here works better than in some Cisalpine Countries.
But of course it can lead to some conflicts of interest. Let's take as an absurd example the case of a public TV showman saying that one politician is better than another just because the first is his publisher.
You would like to know it, wouldn't you?
(This is another good reason, as Marco pointed out, to do particle physics: there in no risk that someone gives a shit of what your talking about.)
The educational minister, Ronald Plasterk, declared that the situation it's tricky. Private grants is not a problem but more clarity is needed.
Consequently Dutch universities from now on must set up a public register listing any outside jobs held by their professors.
Can you guess how all this dutch revolution began? From milk, of course!
Last year a visiting professor at Wageningen gave a widely-reported speech praising the "essential foodstuffs found in milk". It turned out the professor in question, Toon van Hooijdonk, was not only funded by the Dutch dairy lobby organisation but is a director of dairy firm Campina.
Can you see the distress? We are not even sure about milk!!!
(Well, now we are, thanks to the minister.)
"Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer."
Arnold Schwarzenegger (1975)
"Aspirin is for babies. When you are hungover you have to drink milk."
Gordon Lim (2007)
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