MU not Refusing Tobacco Money

Source from:  themaneater.com By Michelle Hagopian Feb. 12, 2008  02/13/2008

Universities across the nation are changing their policies regarding the acceptance of money from tobacco firms, but MU has not yet adopted the trend. Most recently, officials at the business school at the University of Texas at Austin decided to refuse money from tobacco corporations. UT McCombs School of Business spokesman Rob Meyer said the parent company of tobacco maker Philip Morris USA, a reliable donor to student organizations at the university, wanted a larger role in sponsorship and interaction with students. Then came the decision to shun any more donations from the industry, which the school felt was tainted money. "It's rare for us to not accept money from tobacco firms because we're a business school," Meyer said. "Generally, the schools who turn away tobacco money are public health schools or schools of medicine." MU currently has no policy that refuses money from tobacco companies, University Development spokeswoman Beth Hammock said. "We've received donations from Altria Group, which is the parent company of Philip Morris," Hammock said. Philip Morris USA is the largest tobacco company in the country, with about half of the U.S. cigarette market, according to the Altria Group Web site. Hammock said money from Altria Group has supported scholarships and programs in the School of Law and Trulaske College of Business at MU. "The money goes to a variety of different programs on campus but the law and business programs receive the most funding," Hammock said. She said Altria Group has contributed to MU for years. In a letter from McCombs School of Business, Dean George Gau said the decision to refuse money was made for ethical reasons. The fact that the school was accepting money from a company whose product results in damaging health problems for consumers led school leaders to ban tobacco donations, he said. "The argument for rejecting funding is that the tobacco industry has a 50-plus-year history of a corrupting influence on medical research," said Michael Thun, chief of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society. Meyer said most universities receive money from tobacco firms, and the money usually goes to help student activities. "Tobacco money supports student groups, research centers and career fairs, among other things," Meyer said. While future funding from tobacco companies is banned at UT, Gau said any activities these companies sponsored for the 2007-2008 academic year will proceed to use their funding. "This decision was made based on the ethical principle so our main concern wasn't whether we would lose money or not," Meyer said. "It is possible for us to get funding elsewhere." Traci Harr, former president of MU student organization Peers Against Secondhand Smoke, said tobacco money is a conflict of interest. "It's conflicting to claim to provide a healthy environment that prepares students for success while accepting funding from an industry that promotes an addictive and harmful product," Harr said in an e-mail. PASS works to educate students, advocate for smoke-free policies and provide a healthier environment at MU, Harr said. "The current policy that we are working with the Campus and Community Alliances for Smoke-Free Environments would recommend that the university not accept funding from the tobacco industry," Harr said. Meyer said the medical school at Emory University and the public health schools at Harvard University, The Johns Hopkins University, The Ohio State University, Louisiana State University and the Universities of Arizona, Iowa and North Carolina at Chapel Hill have also banned money from tobacco companies. Enditem