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babylonsister

(171,075 posts)
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:04 PM Feb 2012

Komen's $7.5 Million Grant To Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy

Oopsie!

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/komen-foundation-gave-75-million-grant-penn-state

Komen's $7.5 Million Grant To Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy

—By Adam Serwer with additional reporting by Kate Sheppard
| Thu Feb. 2, 2012 12:56 PM PST


Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which recently announced that it is ending grants to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening because of a controversial investigation launched by an anti-abortion Republican congressman, currently funds cancer research at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to the tune of $7.5 million. Like Planned Parenthood, Penn State is currently the subject of a federal government investigation, and like the Planned Parenthood grant, the Penn State grant appears to violate a new internal rule at Komen that bans grants to organizations that are under investigation by federal, state, or local governments. But so far, only the Planned Parenthood grants appear to have been cancelled.

An internal Komen memo written by President Elizabeth Thompson and obtained by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic states that if "an applicant or its affiliates" is under investigation "for financial or administrative improprieties by local, state or federal authorities," then "the applicant will be ineligible to receive a grant." Penn State, the Pennsylvania university that the Hershey center is affiliated with, is currently under investigation by the federal government over the sexual assault scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been indicted on multiple counts of sexual abuse of children. In 2008, the Komen foundation awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant to the Hershey center to study treatments that could reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, university officials are required to "issue a timely warning if a reported crime represents a threat to the campus community." The Department of Education announced that it was investigating Penn State over possible Clery Act violations last November, and a Penn State spokesperson told Mother Jones that the investigation is ongoing. The Komen foundation has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Komen's founder, Nancy Brinker, is a former Bush administration official who has given almost $200,000 to Republican officials over the years, and Karen Handel, Komen's top lobbyist, is a pro-life Republican who was elected secretary of state in Georgia. Komen officials have insisted that Brinker and Handel's right-leaning politics weren't a factor in the decision to cut off funding, but Goldberg reported that the new grant standards were written as a pretext for denying funds to Planned Parenthood, and that the decision was "driven" by Handel.

Brinker, appearing on MSNBC Thursday afternoon, denied the decision had anything to do with politics. "I'm troubled that it's been labeled as political. This is not a political decision," Brinker said.

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Komen's $7.5 Million Grant To Penn State Appears to Violate New Policy (Original Post) babylonsister Feb 2012 OP
Bitch please RockaFowler Feb 2012 #1
Oh no! avaistheone1 Feb 2012 #2
Oopsie is right! City Lights Feb 2012 #3
Look like hypocrites? sarge43 Feb 2012 #4
+1 nt gateley Feb 2012 #11
You're right. City Lights Feb 2012 #13
Not so much a hole, a disaster that just won't stop sarge43 Feb 2012 #23
How sad when cancer prevention and treatment are held hostage by politics. Avalux Feb 2012 #5
Precisely and a responsible organization would fire both Brinker and Handel. avaistheone1 Feb 2012 #6
SK took the hostage. Ruby the Liberal Feb 2012 #20
such hypocrites.... NotThisTime Feb 2012 #7
I think the Hershey school has a lawsuit montanacowboy Feb 2012 #8
Also this federal investigation at Penn State avaistheone1 Feb 2012 #10
Thats the school for boys, not the Medical school. Ruby the Liberal Feb 2012 #21
I feel sort of naive and taken. Turbineguy Feb 2012 #9
I think they suffered from something many large organizations gateley Feb 2012 #12
They were also keeping a ton of money for their personal benefit avaistheone1 Feb 2012 #14
See? Just like the big boys! nt gateley Feb 2012 #15
Unfortunately yes. avaistheone1 Feb 2012 #17
SMOKE, MEET GUN! Komen, Meet Pink Tsunami! rocktivity Feb 2012 #16
Yeah, but like the vatican, protecting & harboring child abusers is ok Warren DeMontague Feb 2012 #18
To be expected when you kick open Pandora's box o'politics. Ruby the Liberal Feb 2012 #19
I really hate the double standard here! ananda Feb 2012 #22

City Lights

(25,171 posts)
3. Oopsie is right!
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:07 PM
Feb 2012

They better cut off Penn State lest they look like hypocrites!



I wonder what excuse they'll come up with to justify this.

City Lights

(25,171 posts)
13. You're right.
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:25 PM
Feb 2012

I should have added "again." But they just keep digging. Soon they'll be standing in a hole that so deep they won't be able to see out of it.

Avalux

(35,015 posts)
5. How sad when cancer prevention and treatment are held hostage by politics.
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:10 PM
Feb 2012

I personally know of the good work being done at Hershey and at least a couple people who are still alive from experimental treatments that have saved their lives. I'd hate to see the funding cut off.

That said, what IS the justification for continuing the grant to PSU, but not to Planned Parenthood?

 

avaistheone1

(14,626 posts)
6. Precisely and a responsible organization would fire both Brinker and Handel.
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:12 PM
Feb 2012

They have damaged the goodwill, trust and brand of the organization.

Ruby the Liberal

(26,219 posts)
20. SK took the hostage.
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:46 PM
Feb 2012

Maybe now donations will be rediverted into organizations that actually support cancer research as opposed to diverting $75mm annually into 'administrative overhead'.

Turbineguy

(37,353 posts)
9. I feel sort of naive and taken.
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:16 PM
Feb 2012

I mean, I thought these people were out there trying to cure breast cancer.

gateley

(62,683 posts)
12. I think they suffered from something many large organizations
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:23 PM
Feb 2012

fall prey to. I'm sure initially that was their sole goal, and then they just got bigger and bigger and started tradmarking their little ribbons and sayings and races. I think ultimately their focus shifts to themselves.

 

avaistheone1

(14,626 posts)
14. They were also keeping a ton of money for their personal benefit
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:27 PM
Feb 2012

and not for the population they are supposed to serve.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
18. Yeah, but like the vatican, protecting & harboring child abusers is ok
Thu Feb 2, 2012, 06:41 PM
Feb 2012

providing consenting adults with the means to fuck for non-procreative purposes is not.

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