The University of Michigan philosophy lecturer who is the Unabomber's pen pal

"David F. Skrbina, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Michigan here, read the manifesto in The Washington Post on the day it was published, he saw value in the message. He was particularly impressed by its clarity of argument and its references to major scholars on the philosophy of technology. He saw a thinker who wrongly turned to violence but had an argument worthy of further consideration." [Chronicle of Higher Education] [Links added]

Skrbina is a dreamer who only wishes he could muster the cajones to act on his beliefs like his pen pal Kaczynski did. So he does what all the rest of the academic anarchists do; he writes books.

The state-socialist model: The public puts up the capital and takes the risk but if the enterprise succeeds the profits are private

The government awards grants to think-tanks, companies, foundations, and universities to undertake research. However the published results of these studies oftentimes end up behind the pay-wall of a privately held for-profit company. Some are beginning to challenge that by boycotting the principal profiteer of this style of the "public pays for but private companies profit from" model.

" 'The government pays me and other scientists to produce work,' say this piece in the Chronicle of High Education, 'and we give it away to private entities,' says Brett S. Abrahams, an assistant professor of genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 'Then they charge us to read it.' Mr. Abrahams signed the pledge on Tuesday after reading about it on Facebook."

That may all be about to change though. Some of the people doing the research are threatening to boycott Elsevier publishing company, a major player in this scheme and thereby cutting off the oxygen that this scam needs to live. Heh.

"If you're going to walk a long, lonesome highway, be sure you've chosen it for yourself."

Indeed. Doing the work for a M.A. or a Ph.D. that you don't actually "need" is not only a long lonely road but it is also a time-sucking, often frustrating, and hugely expensive undertaking as well. Myself, I dropped out of grad school after one semester. I've regretted this sometimes, but mostly not. Do I Have to Finish My Dissertation? 

The chronicle of a distinguished professor who was a lying liar

The case of Herr Doktor Professor Diederik Stapel who was unmasked as a dissembling liar who published many studies and articles based on research data that was entirely fabricated by him to prove whatever point he was trying to make.

“ 'I was not able to withstand the pressure to score points, to publish, to always have to be better,” and that he felt 'a sense of dismay and shame' but that he was 'sincerely committed to the field of social psychology, young researchers, and other colleagues.' " [Chronicle of Higher Education]

But he didn't have enough of a "sense of shame" to, you know, actually quit doing it though. Sheesh.