Penn State Subverts the Rules

Graham recently told BlueWhite Illustrated's Phil Grosz that

I’ve always been alarmed and disconcerted by the dishonesty that we see around intercollegiate athletics. There is cheating that goes on and there is rule-breaking that goes on. It has to stop.

Just because there is a lot of pressure on coaches to win doesn’t justify any of it. People can have the opportunity to win by operating a clean program.

We do it at Penn State.

Apparently though, that deep concern for running a clean program doesn't extend to the research side of things. The New York Times reported today about the ways in which Congresscritters have found ways to get around a ban against giving earmarks to  profit-making organizations by channeling the money through nonprofits. Guess what? Penn State is a player in one of the scams.

In Pennsylvania, General Electric is likely to get as much as 80 percent of a $2 million earmark proposed by Pennsylvania State University for research on clean-burning GE locomotives. At the suggestion of the company and the university’s lobbyist, according to a Penn State professor, the university is listed as the lead player in the collaboration instead of GE, as was done previously. GE executives made a series of political contributions to Representative Kathy Dahlkemper, Democrat of Pennsylvania, days after she submitted the earmark request.

Well, Graham what do plan on doing about this?

Technorati Tags: Penn State, Earmark Ban, GE

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Well That Explains That

As I noted the other day, the Penn State Propaganda Portal put up an oblique belated defense of the University's Electro-Optics Center against charges of corruption. Or at least I thought it was an oblique belated defense.

The story of a lobbying scandal at the Center was broke by Politico in mid March of this year. A second story on the scandal came a few days latter in the Washington Post. It wasn't until May 18^th that the Propaganda Portal got around to its defense of the Center. The Propaganda Portal didn't even mention the lobbying scandal. It simply touted the Center's job creation and impact on the economy. It turns out that this bit of propaganda wasn't in response to these earilier stories, rather it was a response to a May 17^th Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story which contained critisism of the Center as an engine of job creation.

While the Electro Optics Center performs ground-breaking work in lasers, optics and crystals for defense applications, critics said it also has become too entangled with congressional appropriations and developed close ties with lobbyists from a defunct firm that is at the center of a federal corruption probe. They complain, too, that the center has not created economic growth that will outlive its prime sponsor, Mr. Murtha.

The center -- commonly known as EOC -- began as an offshoot of Penn State's defense-oriented Applied Research Laboratory but branched out into a semiautonomous operation with a budget in the tens of millions.
Almost all of its funding has come with the support of Mr. Murtha, whose district includes portions of Armstrong County and whose post as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee allows him to target defense funds to projects in his district.

None of the interviews conducted and documents examined by the Post-Gazette suggest illegality on Mr. Murtha's part. Rather, they raise questions about whether the center, touted as an economic engine for Western Pennsylvania, is growing businesses that would remain in the district after Mr. Murtha, who is 76, disappears from the political scene.

[...]

Ray Hettche, former head of the Applied Research Lab, said his original concept when spinning off EOC more than a decade ago was a clearinghouse that would solicit proposed technical projects from the U.S. Navy and bid them out to a pre-determined pool of contractors. Mr. Hettche, now retired, said he felt himself forced out from any role with EOC after meeting resistance from private industry partners who wanted to expand from his original vision.

"They sort of corrupted the whole system," said Mr. Hettche. "People started to use it as an earmark mechanism."

He said he warned university officials about the problem but was brushed aside. Eva Pell, senior vice president for research at Penn State, who has oversight on EOC, said she was aware of Mr. Hettche's concerns about the center.

"Let me just say to you that the lab has matured a lot since Ray Hettche retired. Around the time Ray Hettche retired I'd say it was probably going through some growing pains," Ms. Pell said.

Go read the whole story. It doesn't paint a pretty picture.

By the way, neither the Collegian nor the CDT has mentioned any thing at all about this scandal.

Technorati Tags: Penn State Electro-Optics Center, propaganda, Rep. John Murtha, Penn State, earmarks, scandal, economic impact

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Old Main Give's Itself an A

In March, the Washington Post and Politico each had a story about an emerging lobbying scandal surrounding the Penn State Electro-Optic Center.  Old Main hasn't had anything to say about the scandal, but today it mounts an indirect defense of the Center in a long laudatory piece published by the Penn State Propaganda Portal (PSPP).

When Penn State opened the Electro-Optics Center (EOC) in 1999, the University's vision was to create an entity that would foster economic development in the state and to provide research and development in areas critical to the nation's defense.

Well, how's it done in achieving those goals? It should surprise no one that Old Main has declared the Center a  success.

Ten years later, the center has proven to be successful in meeting both of those goals and has helped in the development of some of the most sophisticated technology in use today.

It's easy to get A's when you get to grade yourself.

Technorati Tags: Penn State Electro-Optics Center, propaganda, Rep. John Murtha, Penn State, earmarks, scandal

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A Peak From a Leak is Stressful

The Turner Radio Network claims to have a leaked copy of the Treasury's Stress Test of US banks. If the report is accurate we are in for a world of hurt.

Technorati Tags: Stress Test, financial crisis, economy

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The Optics of This Are Not Good

Politico has more on the emerging scandal over Rep. John Murtha's use of the Penn State Electro-Optics Center to direct money to clients of PMA a lobbying firm with close ties to the Congressman.

A source with long ties to the EOC said that Karl Harris, the center’s director, spent so much time at PMA’s office that “they had a designated space in which he could set up his stuff.”

Sources both inside and outside the EOC said Harris once told them that a Washington state contractor called nLight wouldn’t receive funding through the center — despite having made a request — because it had dropped PMA as its lobbying firm.

“Of course, we [learned] that nLight had just terminated PMA’s contract and so we could not do anything,” Harris wrote in a May 2006 e-mail message. “My only concern, between you and me, is I wonder what effect their dropping their contract with PMA will have on the viability [of] two FY07 plus-up requests.” “Plus-up” is the budgetary name for an earmark.

Harris did not return calls seeking comment.

Edward Liszka, director of defense-related research at Penn State with responsibility for the EOC, defended both Harris and the center.

“The EOC really doesn’t do lobbying, so if a company that the EOC is working with has PMA as a lobbyist, the EOC wouldn’t necessarily know that,” Liszka said in an interview. Liszka said he was “pretty confident there’s no connection between Karl Harris and PMA. There would be no reason to; he doesn’t need to have one. I know he’s visited their offices in the past, but we don’t need to talk to PMA about anything we do.”

Constrast Liszka's assertion that the Center does no lobbying with this characterization of the EOC from a 2003 Pittsburgh Business Times article.

Mr. Murtha is widely credited for helping to secure federal funding to establish the East Franklin Township-based Electro-Optics Center, which is managed by the Penn State Applied Research Lab. The Electro-Optics Center acts as a clearinghouse for technical expertise, offers laboratory and research assistance to fledgling electro-optics firms and lobbies lawmakers on their behalf. The center also conducts research projects for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Navy, among others.

How could Liszka not know that lobbying was being done by the Center, since it appears to be a feature and not a bug? Liszka is also contradicted by

...internal EOC documents from recent years [that] suggest that EOC officials were informed of which lobbying firms represented which of the corporate partners seeking funding.

For instance, an internal fiscal year 2003 document outlining requests for EOC projects being pushed by Murtha noted the name and contact information for each lobbyist seeking funding on behalf of a client. The document stated that Cunningham and another then-PMA lobbyist were seeking $27 million in funding for their clients, who included a Boeing subsidiary, a Texas company called DRS Infrared and a small California defense contractor.

In the end, Murtha was able to steer to those PMA clients — through the EOC — $9.5 million of the $27 million they sought.

Other internal EOC documents show a similar interest in which lobbying firms were representing which contractors — with special attention paid to PMA clients.

Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: Penn State, Penn State Electro-Optics Center, Rep. John Murtha, lobbying, scandal

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GT Keeps Telling People That He's Brought Home the Bacon, Although He Refused to Fry it

As I have  previously noted, our Congressman Glenn "GT" Thompson didn't vote for the recent Omnibus Appropriations Act, but that hasn't stopped him from shouting from the rooftops about how he done his constituents right. Here's the latest.

U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Howard, announced today that the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will receive $238,000 in Federal funding for their newly developed Energy Institute.  The funding is included in the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act and was requested by Thompson’s predecessor, John Peterson, who was a Member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“Energy is synonymous with Western Pennsylvania and with the ongoing development of the Marcellus Shale play, the investment in Pitt Bradford’s Energy Institute will benefit the entire region,” said Congressman GT Thompson, Vice-Chair of the Congressional Rural Caucus. “Rural Pennsylvania has seen the boom and bust of energy development in the past and with this exciting and promising opportunity, the Marcellus Shale has the potential to create thousands of good paying, family sustaining jobs, and assist in the revitalization of our rural communities.”

The funding will specifically be utilized to launch an economic development component and enhance the workforce development activities of the Energy Institute.

Technorati Tags: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA5), earmarks, Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009

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Having Ones Cake and Eating it Too

On February 25, our US Congressman Glenn "GT" Thompson voted against the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. Less than a month latter, on March 11, he proudly announced that

...Centre County will receive over $2 million in federal funding through the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. The Funds were requested by Thompson’s predecessor, Rep. John Peterson, who was a Member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“Funding much needed infrastructure improvements and expanding technical education –areas that I plan to focus my attention on over these next two years – should serve as welcomed news to Centre County residents,” said Thompson a member of the House Education and Labor Committee. “And while some may criticize earmarks as wasteful spending, I would simply point to each of these four projects as an example of the positive impact congressionally directed spending has on local communities.”

Today he was brimming with pride once more when he let it be known that

...he has secured $1.73 million in federal funding through the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act for The Pennsylvania State University, College of Agricultural Sciences. The funding was requested by Thompson’s predecessor, John Peterson, who was a Member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“Agriculture is the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy and the scientists and professionals at Penn State provide much needed research and analysis that enables our farmers to remain competitive,” said Thompson, a Member of the House Agriculture Committee. “The research in the fields and labs, which is then applied through the Cooperative Extension to assist our family famers with best practices and business insight, is a valuable service that is well worth the federal investment.”

Funny stuff.

Technorati Tags: Rep Glenn Thompson (R PA-5), earmarks, hypocrisy

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Oink, Oink, Oink....

... And Pigs Fly

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