Associate Professor of Philosophy and Law @waynestate.
Detroit, MI
Joined June 2019
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Mark Satta retweeted
*Every single* cure for a disease ultimately flowed from basic exploratory research. Stopping basic research is like stopping the mountain rains and expecting rivers of cures to still flow. Examples:
1) studying saliva of Gila monster -> GLP1's
2) studying funghi -> first statins
3) mRNA biology -> gene therapy for spinal atrophy
4) studying bacterial genetics -> CRISPR gene therapies
5) studies of nuclear magnetic resonance -> MRI scans
this list can go on and on. Not only in biology but all aspects of technology.... e.g.
6) curvature of spacetime -> GPS
7) quantum mechanics -> semiconductors
8) electromagnetism -> fiber optics -> internet
...
As a taxpayer (irrespective of whether you’re a scientist) would you would be in favor of more of the @NIH budget going to fund efforts to solve specific diseases at the expense of basic exploratory research? Which diseases?
Mark Satta retweeted
Clearly Ivy Leagues are used here as examples to rile up conservatives, but rates are higher at places like Seattle Children's Hospital (95%) or Dana Farber Cancer Institute (75%) - underscoring how cutting indirect funds will directly impact pediatric and cancer care.
Last year, $9B of the $35B that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) granted for research was used for administrative overhead, what is known as “indirect costs.” Today, NIH lowered the maximum indirect cost rate research institutions can charge the government to 15%, above what many major foundations allow and much lower than the 60%+ that some institutions charge the government today. This change will save more than $4B a year effective immediately.
Mark Satta retweeted
NIH has announced a cut in the "indirect rate" to 15% across the board, in a move that appears to be retroactive to even existing grants. This is a bloodbath for research institutions throughout the country.
Brief explainer for those not in this world:
buff.ly/3EtML7D
Mark Satta retweeted
Feels like it’s been awhile since someone has said this, so I will say it again:
If you are going to report on a lawsuit, link the complaint.
Link. The. Complaint.
And with that out of the way, happy Friday 😊
Mark Satta retweeted
We are about to learn why a government should never be operated like a business.
Mark Satta retweeted
Call me a hair-splitting analytic philosopher, but these are 3 different debates:
Theism vs atheism
Religion vs non-religion
Supernaturalism vs naturalism
The ways in which people might not line up on the same side in each of them are actually very interesting.
Mark Satta retweeted
Trump likes to test run ideas he’s serious about as “jokes.” He’s being doing that for years with the idea of violating the 22nd Amendment and running for a third term.
As a result, this is totally (if tragically) predictable: cnbc.com/amp/2025/01/23/trum…
During Trump’s first term, I worried he’d someday try to get around the 22nd Amendment’s two term limit. I’m sad but unsurprised that this was not an idle worry.
Here’s something I wrote back then in response, which seems relevant now: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.…
Here’s relevant info on early moves from Trump and allies in this direction:
cnbc.com/amp/2025/01/23/trum…
nytimes.com/2024/11/13/us/po…
And here are other places where I discuss this importance of strict abidance of presidential term limits for democracy: justice-everywhere.org/democ…
justice-everywhere.org/gener…
Mark Satta retweeted
This is simply not correct. The Civil Rights Act bans discrimination on the basis of religion, which is not an immutable characteristic.
Mark Satta retweeted
To decrease the size of the university, we need a dean of university efficiency. We’ll fix everything by creating a new dean!
Mark Satta retweeted
*New Article*
philolibrary.crc.nd.edu/arti…
Often, when we think about living an ethical life, we think about which of our actions are right or wrong . Can we ever be in the moral wrong based simply on what we believe?
It would be wrong if you didn’t read on to find out…
Mark Satta retweeted
"I actually think this is sort of like a deliciously complicated case that is not a slam dunk for either side," said @mark_satta, an associate professor of law and philosophy at @waynestate. bostonglobe.com/2024/09/21/m…
Mark Satta retweeted
Two legal experts who've written about the 2022 SCOTUS flagpole-speech precedent said Nashua seems to have a stronger argument in this new dispute, but both noted the outcome remains uncertain. One said the case is "not a slam dunk for either side." bostonglobe.com/2024/09/21/m…
Mark Satta retweeted
Just a quick point about college admissions. Imagine if MIT or Princeton could no longer consider region in their admissions process. What could happen? They could easily end up with a first-year class made up of primarily students from the northeast corridor. Admission officers try to build a class that reflects a kind of diversity that would enrich and deepen the on campus experience as well as the classroom experience. Grades and test scores are NOT the only consideration. 1/