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CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

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Re: CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

#4
""Mr. Hamm absolutely did not ask to be on the search committee or to have anyone from Continental put onto the committee, nor did he ask that anyone from the Oklahoma Geological Survey be dismissed," [Vice President of Public Affairs of University of Oklahoma Catherine Bishop] wrote.

Email, just paragraphs earlier in the article, from Hamm, verbatim: "I would be very interested and willing to sit on your search committee."

But I guess it's not asking if there's no question mark?

Re: CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

#6
One of the biggest problems with politics is that politicians need to raise a lot of money to get (re)elected. That money comes with strings attached, which makes it difficult for our politicians to make good decisions.

I had never considered that the same problem exists in academia, but apparently it does. Hamm has donated tens of millions to the University of Oklahoma, and it's pretty obvious he's trying to use his money to influence the direction of the University. I'm surprised it isn't working.

Re: CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

#7
post #4

""Mr. Hamm absolutely did not ask to be on the search committee or to have anyone from Continental put onto the committee, nor did he ask that anyone from the Oklahoma Geological Survey be dismissed," [Vice President of Public Affairs of University of Oklahoma Catherine Bishop] wrote. Email, just paragraphs earlier in the article, from Hamm, verbatim : "I would be very interested and willing to sit on your search com…

He was merely stating how nice it would be for the department to have an industry voice involved in the search. Of course it can be hard to find high-quality people in industry who are willing to volunteer their time to the university in order to sit on some boring committee. So we was merely making a charitable offer to take on the burden. ;-)

Re: CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

#8

One of the biggest problems with politics is that politicians need to raise a lot of money to get (re)elected. That money comes with strings attached, which makes it difficult for our politicians to make good decisions. I had never considered that the same problem exists in academia, but apparently it does. Hamm has donated tens of millions to the University of Oklahoma, and it's pretty obvious he's trying to use his…

>I'm surprised it isn't working.

Remember this next time someone suggests getting rid of tenure or cutting federal research funding. Especially for areas of research that are politically or economically hot (climate/environment, privacy, etc.)

Re: CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

#9
post #4

""Mr. Hamm absolutely did not ask to be on the search committee or to have anyone from Continental put onto the committee, nor did he ask that anyone from the Oklahoma Geological Survey be dismissed," [Vice President of Public Affairs of University of Oklahoma Catherine Bishop] wrote. Email, just paragraphs earlier in the article, from Hamm, verbatim : "I would be very interested and willing to sit on your search com…

If you get caught doing something like this, you might as well just blatantly lie. You won't make it worse, and at least some people will believe your lie. Why not try it? (Aside from morals, but it seems we can hardly rely on that.)

Re: CEO Wanted University Scientists Dismissed Over Link Between Fracking and Quakes

#10
post #8

One of the biggest problems with politics is that politicians need to raise a lot of money to get (re)elected. That money comes with strings attached, which makes it difficult for our politicians to make good decisions. I had never considered that the same problem exists in academia, but apparently it does. Hamm has donated tens of millions to the University of Oklahoma, and it's pretty obvious he's trying to use his…

>I'm surprised it isn't working. Remember this next time someone suggests getting rid of tenure or cutting federal research funding. Especially for areas of research that are politically or economically hot (climate/environment, privacy, etc.)

Yep. This is the answer to "why do we need tenure".
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