Close enough but not too far: Assessing the effects of university-industry research relationships and the rise of academic capitalism

Analysts assessing the impact of university-industry research relations (UIRRs) and increasing proprietary behavior on the part of universities often focus on single-indicators or adopt promotional or critical stances. However, assessing impacts of shifts toward a more proprietary university is inherently complex because of potential countervailing or mediating factors within working relationships. From interviews with 84 biological scientists at nine universities we find scientists view UIRRS and university intellectual property (IP) policies in complex and often conflicting ways. For example, university scientists believe UIRRs are valuable for increasing contact with scientists, but are problematic because working with industry can restrict communication among scientists. Also scientists believe university IP policies should shield their work from opportunistic behavior and at the same time be designed to attract industry partners. In addition scientists believe universities use their IP policies primarily as revenue raising vehicles and secondarily to address public good issues such as technology transfer.     

Industry's Contributions and Needs in Graduate Education

The General Electric Company provides, within its Advanced Technical Programs for Engineers and Scientists, a logical sequence of courses for the development of these men. Within this framework of courses is the Honors Program for Graduate Study, which enables the motivated engineer or scientist to complete requirements for the Master's degree. The opportunity is also present to continue his further educational development through the Advanced Engineering Program, the Creative Engineering Program, or a Tuition Refund Program.     

The News Session in Infants and Primary School Classrooms

This paper presents an analysis of the social organisation of news sessions in infants and primary classrooms. We argue that these events are essentially occasions for the initiation of pupils into aspects of school knowledge and culture, although they are ostensibly spaces in the school day where children may introduce their own topics and interests. We show, through a detailed conversational analysis of varieties of morning news events, how these activities are stage‐managed, what the nature of the children's contributions are, and how these are organised to legitimise school knowledge and to define pupil‐teacher relationships, especially the teacher as primary receiver and announcer of news. The transformation of children into pupils is seen to occur in news sessions as much as in any other classroom activity. The distinctive feature of news sessions in the first years of schooling is that these are early instruction in how the private/personal realm can be fitted to the contours of the public/official curriculum, how everyday life interests are subordinated to and appropriated by the culture of the school.     

The computer and the print media

The computer offers extensive advantages over even the most advanced printing and information distribution technologies. Most important, it brings into the public compendium quantities of information too vast to be embodied in print. The computer has increased the power of societies, just as the printing press did. It also has the capacity to change our basic conception of reality and alter the power of the word. Because of its capacity to alter society, basic issues of access and privacy must be resolved as a new information infrastructure is created, comparable to that existing for print. Dan Lacy has been Assistant Archivist of the United States, Deputy Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress, head of the USIA overseas library and publishing program, managing director of the American Book Publishers Council, and senior vice president of McGraw-Hill, Inc.