U.S. Senators Ron Wyden D-Ore. and Gordon Smith R-Ore. announced Tuesday that the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) will receive more than $11 million in the 2007 Defense spending bill if it is approved by the Senate.
ONAMI has been the subject of controversy on campus because of its use of Department of Defense funding, which some say provides an immoral link between the University and the U.S. military.
“It’s a great win,” Ron Adams, dean of engineering at Oregon State University who also sits on ONAMI’s board of directors said of the new money. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Adams said nanotechnology can provide untold benefits to everyday people.
“As often happens,” he said, “military application can lead to consumer and private applications.”
He cited the Internet as an example of something originally developed by the military that now offers widespread public benefits.
Geoff Stuckart, a spokesman for Senator Wyden, said the money represents “a seed that’s going to produce huge benefits down the road for Oregon’s economy, the University system and the private sector.”
He said the senators crossed party lines to support this bill because they “always put Oregon first,” and “want to make sure our soldiers have the best equipment possible.”
The funding going to ONAMI will help protect American troops and civilians alike, he said. He cited one of ONAMI’s projects, a lightweight, portable air-conditioning unit that can be attached to a suit making it easy for a person to withstand scorching temperatures. Hurricane aid workers and firefighters could benefit from the air-conditioner, Stuckart said, as well as soldiers fighting in the Middle-East.
R.C. Hammond, a spokesman for Senator Smith, said defense represents only a part of nanoscience’s applications, and that the Department of Defense bill was merely a vehicle to get the money through the Senate to ONAMI.
The University is currently constructing a $16 million underground laboratory on campus specifically designed for ONAMI’s use, the Emerald has reported. The facility, which will house $100 million worth of equipment, will bring ONAMI scientists, representatives of scientific industries and students together.
ONAMI’s financial successes on campus have met with both concern and challenge. Department of Defense funded ONAMI enjoys the support of many powerful public and business figures, its Board of Directors includes high-ranking officers from several large business entities including Hewlett-Packard Company and Intel Corporation, but it has also been the subject of public protest on campus.
Emeritus biology professor Frank Stahl and Students for a Democratic Society have vocally opposed the project. In two University Senate meetings in March faculty, students and community members debated the merits of Department of Defense funding to ONAMI and other campus-related projects, but neither side left the debates as a clear victor.
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