Jennifer Washburn passed on this NYtimes article that references her forthcoming report, Big Oil Goes to College, which is being published by the Center for American Progress
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/politics/26energy.html
Hopefully, this NYT "mention" will draw some much-needed media attention to the actual contents of my own report, which examines university-industry alliances to finance energy research on campus, and raises questions about whether the current structure of these alliances adequately protects the universities' academic mission and their ability to carry out independent, high-quality, reliable, public-good research.  This article today does not address these issues at all.  But, helpfully, Cooper and Broder in their NYT story did note that BP, in a May 24th press release, has pledged $500 million for "Independent Research into Impact of Spill on Marine Environment," with the first grants going to the University of Louisiana.  It looks like the iron is hot to look more deeply at university-industry research partnerships of this kind. - Jennifer