Ethics Go Up in Smoke at VCU

The New York Times has reported that Virginia Commonwealth University signed a contract that allowed Philip Morris, the tobacco company, to prevent professors from speaking out about research that put them in a bad light. In other words, Philip Morris paid the University to conduct some research studies, but only wanted to release the results from the studies that positioned them in a favorable light (while hiding the other studies). This news is scary because it shows that the integrity of univerities can be bought by corporations, and that many universities don't care if the public gets hurt in the process.