More letters to the editor: CCI members speak out across the state
We've put Bruce Rastetter on the defensive! This last week, he went on a statewide media blitz claiming that his AgriSol project was designed to benefit the people of Tanzania and that he never abused his position on the Board of Regents to secure Iowa State's backing for the project.
Of course, we know better.
And now it's time to make everyone aware of the real facts about his land grab and about his conflict of interest.
CCI members across the state are doing just that by writing to their local newspapers and speaking the truth about Rastetter's unethical actions.
Find two of the many examples below:
Regent Bruce Rastetter should no longer serve
(Published in the Daily Iowan on July 23.)
Regent Bruce Rastetter should no longer serve on our state Board of Regents. Here are the allegations that deserve close scrutiny by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. His company, AgriSol, planned a Tanzanian refugee land-grab deal that was not reported to the regents until six weeks after he joined.
He created his own $1.75 million endowed professorship to help advance this project. He falsified state financial disclosures. He has a real or perceived conflict of interest with Iowa State University. He is using Iowa State's prestige and our taxpayer dollars to promote his business interests. His company stood to make millions by bringing large-scale industrial agriculture to Africa at little or no benefit to the people there.What more is needed to conclude that this man should not be an educational leader for our great university system? Well, consider that he has no background in education, that he asked the governor to make him a regent, and he was Gov. Terry Branstad's largest contributor to 2010 campaign. We must stop corporate corruption from eroding the integrity of our university system.
-Virginia Meyer, Lone Tree
Be wary of corporate funds
(Published in the Ames Tribune on July 20.)
As an Iowa State graduate, former instructor, and 45-year resident of Ames, I am chagrined at the apparent intertwining of the interests of Regent Bruce Rastetter and Iowa State. It cheapens all Iowa State degrees and taints the reputation of all Iowa State scholars. It robs the citizens of Iowa of the benefits of their land grant institution.
The University is on a slippery slope when it accepts corporate sponsorship of research. Researchers can never fully dismiss the sources of their paychecks, as they affect selection and design of their work. The case of Bruce Rastetter co-opting Iowa State to line his own pocket and embarrass everyone is an object lesson in what can happen. Iowans must step up to fully fund their public universities. Administrators forced to carry tin cups to curry favor with corporate elites will be sorely tempted to cut crucial ethical corners. Iowa State University belongs to the citizens of Iowa, and we need to claim it and pay for it. Corporate money that destroy our institution is not a bargain.
Deborah Fink, Ames
Join hundreds of other Iowans calling on Gov. Branstad to fire Bruce Rastetter — the man unable to separate his role as an Iowa public Regent from his personal financial interest.
Join the fight
Contact us for more information
Join as an Iowa CCI member today or chip in $10 to support our organizing on this issue.
Sign up for our E-Mail Action list to get the latest updates