Tobacco Scholarship Funds Attacked - But Not by Smokers

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 05/19/2011

Durham University has been criticised for accepting £125,000 from a tobacco firm to help fund scholarships for women from Afghanistan, according to a BBC Online story. The British American Tobacco donation was one of 2,700 which raised about £630,000 last year for a program of postgraduate scholarships. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) described the donation as a "cynical attempt" to tap into a new market. The university said the cash was only accepted after "careful consideration". And BAT was quoted as saying it approached corporate social investment as an end in itself, rather than as a way of promoting itself and its local companies. There was no word from the smokers who presumably provided the money, though, in the past, they have proved themselves to be exceedingly generous. Enditem