Catholic Colleges, Universities Soak Up Pentagon Dollars

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In 2002, an Association of American Universities report noted that nearly 350 colleges and universities were conducting research under funding by the Department of Defense, and that universities were receiving more than 60 percent of defense basic research funding.

"While we might intuitively accept the existence of a military-academic complex in America," wrote researcher Nick Turse, reviewing the association's report, "defining and understanding it has never been simple--both because of its ambiguous nature and its dual character. In actuality, the military-academic complex has two distinct arms. The first is the official, out-and-proud, but oft ignored, melding of the military and academia. Since 1802, when Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing the United States Military Academy, America has been formally melding higher education and the art of warfare. The second is the militarized civilian university--since World War II and the …