Tobacco dollars in academia draws fire

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The funding of research projects by major tobacco companies at leading universities in the United States raises concern over objectivity, a report said.

The funding of major projects by tobacco dollars caused pitched battles between faculty members, who point to other controversial sources of funding, and university officials who view the funding as "tainted," The New York Times said Monday.

Supporters of banning tobacco dollars from universities point to the tobacco companies' alleged misuse of scientific data regarding the health risks of smoking.

Faculty members and researchers, however, said banning such financial resources infringes on their academic freedom.

"We take funding from corporations, from the Department of Defense, from many, many sources, but ultimately the responsibility for the science belongs to the faculty member who did the science," Robert C. Dynes, president of the University of California system, told the Times.