Self-promotion alert: I have an article up on AlterNet right now on the question of who funds agricultural research at land-grant institutions -- those schools like Cornell and the University of Missouri created by Congress to serve as public learning centers on the mechanical and agricultural arts.

The goal of the piece was to tie together government budget cuts and what agricultural research and development at public schools looks like in a post-Bayh-Dole Act (which pushed colleges to patent their research) and post-Chakrabarty decision (which okayed the patenting of living organisms) America. It's a messy and wide-ranging topic, but I tried to simplify it down to the really important themes and facts. Success or failure? Check it out and then you tell me. (Photo courtesy of Pikaluk.)