EDITORIAL: Reluctant AcceptanceThe world needs to read this about Dow Chemical

Underfunded UC Berkeley has to accept Dow Chemical Company’s donation, despite the company’s history.

Friday, November 2, 2007

The Dow Chemical Company Foundation recently announced a donation of $2 million to promote sustainability research at UC Berkeley, while pledging to ultimately give $10 million over the next five years to the program. The money would go directly to graduate students who wish to develop an environmentally-friendly device or process.

There have been many comparisons between this donation and the controversial BP deal. However, it’s not quite the same: The $2 million from Dow Chemical Company is solely a donation, whereas BP will be housed in a brand new facility with its own staff on campus. Intellectual property rights and the level of involvement from the company would be as much of an issue as it stands in the joint BP arrangement.

However, the Dow Chemical Company donation doesn’t come without its own controversies either. Dow Chemical Company is the infamous institution behind Agent Orange, napalm and the dangerous pesticide Dursban. They’re also the owners behind Union Carbide’s 1984 chemical spill in Bhopal, India, which killed at least 2,500 individuals and still remains responsible for current health problems such as birth defects and cancer.

The grim fact is that an underfunded UC Berkeley needs the $2 million and can’t be selective about its donors. The Dow Chemical Company donation highlights many concerns that were brought up during the discussion of tobacco research funding: Should the university accept money from a questionably unethical source? The donation will be contributing to a most relevant cause worth supporting. However, UC Berkeley must ensure that the company will be totally independent from any research process conducted on this campus.

One more thing: If the company has at least $2 million lying around, maybe it can also spare some for the residents of Bhopal, India.