NEW HAVEN. Conn.--The Yale faculty recently voted to oppose regulations that require recepients of federal grants to report on how they distribute their time among different activities such as research and teaching.
In condemning the regulations the faculty endorsed a statement that calls the two year old regulations meaningless and an infringement of academic freedom.
Yale math professor Serge Lang recently gave up a $30,000 National Science foundation summer grant because he refused to detail his activities on the so called "effort" forms reported the Yale Daily News Lang said the loss would affect only his standard of living, not his summer work.
Frank Firk, chairman of the physics department said the reports are worthless because at 4 on a Sunday afternoon you might spend five minutes thinking about a research problem then the next five minutes thinking about Tuesday's lecture.
Federal auditor's recently challenged almost one million dollars worth of grants at the University of California's San Francisco campus Auditors charged that among other infringements, effort reports were not filed correctly. The money may be disallowed and would have to be made up by the university.
Lang has been fighting the regulations since they were first proposed in 1966. University presidents, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Commission on Research, and the National Science Foundation itself have joined him in the protest.
Neither Bocke' mannor Lang are optimistic about Lang's efforts.
"Unless there is intervention by an individual, perhaps a congressman," Lang said. "I think the process will roll on rather uninfluenced."
Read more in News
SummerBooksSummerBooksSum