An Inside Look at 5 Earmarks

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Institution: Chicago State U.

Earmark: $2.4-million from the Department of Defense

Sponsors: Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

The project: Developing a robot, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, with the ability to find and remotely detonate improvised explosive devices.

Faculty members will investigate theoretical approaches to enhance fuel cells for the robots. Because the university lacks an engineering department, manufacturing subcontractors will build the devices. This is the second phase of a four-year Army contract; it has already received $4.5-million in earmarks for its first phase. University officials stress the importance of supporting research at a minority-serving institution.

What others think: Daniel R. Mumm, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of California at Irvine, says he doesn't know Chicago State "as a powerhouse in the field." He was among several experienced fuel-cell researchers contacted who were not familiar with past work at the Illinois university. Hongtan Liu, who directs a fuel-cell laboratory at the University of Miami, did note that a minor partner on the project, Argonne National Laboratory, has been active in fuel-cell research.

But Mr. Mumm says he has concerns about devoting significant money to Chicago State "because the people who are front and center with international reputations in either robotics or fuel-cell systems are all struggling for funding."

Results: The university has given the Army a report on the first phase of research, as well as data from a prototype fuel cell. Michael N. Mimnaugh, the administrative contact and a professor of chemistry at Chicago State, also notes that the project has exposed students to advanced research. "We're trying to find a niche here for the training of our students in high-demand areas," he says.

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Institution: Mind Research Network at the University of New Mexico

Earmark: $11.8-million from the Department of Energy

Sponsors: Rep. Heather A. Wilson, (R-N.M.) and Sens. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)

The project: Buying brain-mapping instruments and conducting research on schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Mind Research Network is an independent research center housed on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque. Some of the center's staff members are professors. It has long relied on appropriations sponsored by Senator Domenici, who had the original idea for the research center, according to its chief executive, John Rasure. The center in recent years has begun winning peer-reviewed grants and recruiting senior scientists from elsewhere who bring their grants with them. Mr. Rasure was not involved with the appropriations request, he says, although the center keeps Senator Domenici apprised of its goals and successes.

What others think: "They're doing cutting-edge brain-imaging research," says Sterling C. Johnson, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "They've got an excellent reputation."

But another scientist familiar with the center says that while it holds great promise, it has struggled through several changes in leadership and has had problems with very expensive instruments.

Results: New instruments have not been bought yet. But earlier achievements, according to Vince Clark, the scientific director, include revealing how schizophrenia changes the brain, predicting relapses among addicts, and developing a mobile brain-imaging laboratory.

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Institution: U. of South Alabama

Earmark: $30-million from the Department of Commerce

Sponsor: Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.)

The project: Constructing a new engineering-and-science center.

The university's College of Engineering has outgrown its facilities in Mobile, says the dean, John W. Steadman: "Our labs are 40 years old, and we need new classroom space." A new building is key to Mobile's high-tech growth, he adds. Northrop Grumman and other companies have new facilities in the area and need engineers. So Senator Shelby secured money this year, on top of a previous award of $10-million. "I don't think objections to earmarks are relevant here," Mr. Steadman says. "This was not to produce research, but for bricks and mortar that underlie the economic development of the Gulf Coast."

What others think: Every engineering program "would like to be able to compete for this kind of money," says Michael D. Bragg, executive associate dean for academic affairs at the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "But that isn't the environment we have, and certainly South Alabama will make good use of the money."

But James D. Savage, a political scientist at the University of Virginia who studies earmarks, disagrees: "The issue is not the benefit to South Alabama. It's the value to the nation of allocating these dollars. It's the lack of peer review and accountability."

Results: The university has picked a building site and estimates that it will need to raise an additional $10-million in private donations to complete construction.

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Institution: Mississippi State U.

Earmark: $10.8-million from the Department of Energy

Sponsors: Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.); Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)

The project: Investigating biofuels and other alternatives to petroleum.

The Sustainable Energy Research Center at the university hopes to start cross-disciplinary work on projects that include sustainable crops for biofuels and optimized production of synthetic gas.

"We're doing everything from the plant side to the fuel side," says Kirk H. Schulz, vice president for research and economic development. Established in January 2006, the center previously received an $11-million earmark, thanks to Senator Cochran, and plans to apply for one of a similar size for the 2009 fiscal year. The funds are used only to support research, says Mr. Schulz; the facilities already exist.

What others think: Robert P. Anex, associate director of the Office of Biorenewables Programs at Iowa State University, says he has yet to see "any major important work come out of there." He says the center is not on the forefront of the broader issues in biofuel sustainability and feedstock research.

Results: About one-third of the earmark will support research using bacteria and yeast to convert sludge from wastewater-treatment plants into crude oil, a process pioneered at the center. W. Todd French, an assistant research professor of chemical engineering at Mississippi State who helped develop the method, hopes that the project can soon be scaled up to production levels.

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Institution: Wichita State U., as a subcontractor of Harbinger Technologies, a Virginia-based company that specializes in homeland security

Earmark: $200,000 from the Department of Defense

Sponsors: Reps. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.); Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss., former), John W. Warner (R-Va.), James H. Webb Jr. (D-Va.)

The project: The antiterrorist "Contextual Arabic Blog and Slang Analysis Program" will develop language software to scan and interpret suspect Web sites.

At Wichita State, the project will be run by Rajiv Bagai, chairman of the computer-science department. Mr. Bagai says Harbinger contacted him to do the work.

Harbinger did not respond to requests for comment, and Mr. Bagai was unwilling to discuss the project's details "because of the sensitive nature."

Mr. Bagai has studied computer-translation programs that make words in foreign languages less ambiguous. He does not speak Arabic and was unable to hire an academic linguist. He says he will hire graduate students who know the language and that Harbinger Technologies will take on a large share of the project's language-related aspects.

What others think: Karin Ryding, a professor of Arabic at Georgetown University, finds it odd that the program was taking place at a university that does not even teach Arabic. "Arabic linguistics is a very challenging field," she says. Graduate students who speak the language may not have sufficient training in linguistic analysis.

But Elizabeth M. Bergman, executive director of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic, adds that "at least in the planning stages, the computer-programming work does not in fact require Arabic."

Results: The project has not yet begun.