Universities, Desperate to Fight ‘Sequestration’ of Research Funds, Embrace a Corporate Ally - Paul Basken, Chronicle of Higher Ed

The presidents of the Association of American Universities, Hunter R. Rawlings, and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, M. Peter McPherson, acknowledged their desperation as they sat alongside Mr. Bush on Monday at the National Press Club. Mr. Rawlings said that, as a former professor of classics, he never anticipated the day he would be sitting beside the chairman of a major defense contractor. But he said he realized that both he and Mr. Bush, who received some $26-million in compensation in 2011, had an interest in federally sponsored scientific research, which would be cut by about $90-billion under sequestration. Even before the sequestration process begins, universities are being affected by a tighter federal budget, Mr. Rawlings said. The University of California has already seen a 20-percent drop, year over year, in the amount of federal grant money its faculty members are receiving, he said. http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/universities-desperate-to-fight-sequestration-of-research-funds-embrace-a-curious-ally/