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Senator asks SU about funding

Tom Coburn, R-Okla., seeks lists of federal grants given to university, other colleges.

By Peter Lyman

Syracuse Post Standard

August 11, 2006

A freshman U.S. senator who is building a reputation as an anti-pork crusader has asked Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor for an accounting of the federal money SU has received over the past six years.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., wrote to more than 100 university presidents, requesting a list of all federal "earmarks" received by the schools since 2000; a summary of objectives achieved with that money; and whether the colleges use lobbyists to help them obtain federal grants.

Earmarks are federal grants requested by individual members of Congress.

In Upstate New York, the presidents of Cornell University, the University of Rochester and the State University at Buffalo also were sent letters. Coburn asked for a response by Sept. 1.

SU has received the Coburn request and is "in the process of reviewing the letter and determining how to proceed," said spokesman Kevin Morrow. "We have to wait and see what happens."

The university has consulted a lawyer, he said. He declined to speculate on what Coburn's motives might be in sending the letter.
"It's been a popular topic of discussion among research universities" in recent days, Morrow said, adding that he didn't know of any school that has responded one way or the other.

Former U.S. Attorney Dan French, now in private law practice in Syracuse, is a registered lobbyist and does work for SU on Capitol Hill. He declined to comment.

SU has received more than $30 million in federal earmarks over the past six years. The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems has received three grants totaling $22.6 million during that interval, and the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Global Affairs Institute has received $10 million.

"I work hard to shepherd taxpayer dollars to achieve the best possible outcomes. As a practicing physician, I also know the value of good scientific research - and what that research can mean to a sick or hurting individual," wrote Coburn, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on federal financial management.

"I also know that many institutions such as yours play a significant role in the process of fostering the ideas, supporting the individuals and conducting the research that often translates into life-changing innovations and discoveries. It is because of your role in this process that I am reaching out to you for some helpful feedback."

Coburn spokesman John Hart said universities need not be concerned about a hidden agenda behind the letter. "We're not trying to persecute universities," he said.

"Most university earmarks go to thoroughly worthy projects," Hart said. "But earmarks are undermining the peer-review process and enriching lobbyists. . . Dollars should be allocated on the basis of merit."

Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga, secured the Center of Excellence grants for SU. He has talked to the SU governmental affairs office about the Coburn letter, according to his spokesman, Dan Gage.

"The congressman is very proud of the federal research money that comes to Syracuse University," Gage said. "It has a major impact on the local economy and the university. . . The spinoff potential for a lot of these things is enormous."

Coburn "obviously has concerns about the earmark process," Gage said. "All the information the senator is looking for is available through the Congressional Research Service."

Sen. Charles Schumer, who led the effort to secure the money for the Moynihan Institute, also defended the process.

"Syracuse University is a great institution that also helps brings jobs to Central New York, and it deserves federal support," he said.

Officials at Cornell are aware that the letter has been sent, but they have not received it, said Simeon Moss, director of the press relations office.

"When we do (receive it), we'll take a look at it and make a determination" as to how to respond, Moss said.

Moss could not say how much money Cornell has received through congressional earmarks in the past six years.