Project Themis originated, as Langer indicates (News and Comment, 7 Apr., p. 48), in a presidential memorandum that called upon the federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, to take more cognizance of their responsibilities toward higher educational development, with particular attention to geographical distribution of research funding throughout the country. Extensive Congressional testimony had already revealed the dissatisfactions of "have-not" institutions, particularly those in North Dakota and Oklahoma, not to be confused with Montana.The response of the DOD was notable for its spark of originality and its "considerable sensitivity to the universities' problems," in Langer's words. That response hardly fits the stereotype perpetuated by the Montana chapter of the American Association of University Professors: "Military activities have traditionally been shrouded in secrecy and half truths. The tradition of academia is just the opposite. Universities have always been the one free agent in society." Presumably this means free to propagate half-truths of their own. Since World War II "tradition" has fostered a legend, perhaps not devoid of truth, that a defense agency, the Office of Naval Research, "saved basic research" in the U.S. during the embarrassing period when Congress dragged its feet on the creation of "civilian agencies" chartered to dispense clean money. It will be sociologically interesting to observe this new racism, which postulates the existence of a subspecies homo academicus, born with a white hat and a mandate to exercise moral superiority over homo militarius and other lesser breeds. Is there, as Langer's report suggests, "an innate conflict of objectives" between the military and academic establishments? I sincerely hope not, just as I believe that no institution wears the mantle of the "one free agent" in our society. If "civilian agencies" received the $290 million (dispensed, as it happens, al-9 JUNE 1967
Misinterpretations of Project ThemisProject Themis originated, as Langer indicates (News and Comment, 7 Apr., p. 48), in a presidential memorandum that called upon the federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, to take more cognizance of their responsibilities toward higher educational development, with particular attention to geographical distribution of research funding throughout the country. Extensive Congressional testimony had already revealed the dissatisfactions of "have-not" institutions, particularly those in North Dakota and Oklahoma, not to be confused with Montana.The response of the DOD was notable for its spark of originality and its "considerable sensitivity to the universities' problems," in Langer's words. That response hardly fits the stereotype perpetuated by the Montana chapter of the American Association of University Professors: "Military activities have traditionally been shrouded in secrecy and half truths. The tradition of academia is just the opposite. Universities have always been the one free agent in society." Presumably this means...
