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By ROBERT NOLIN AND JOHN MAINES Sun Sentinel (MCT) FORT LAUD- ERDALE, Fla. — Tipsy mice and sexed-up cactus bugs have been enlisted to help in America's eco- nomic recovery. But will they do much to boost employment? The critters are the stars of two seemingly flaky projects among sev- eral at Florida universities being funded by hundreds of thousands of federal stimulus dollars. The pro- jects, whose usefulness is keenly debated by Ameri- ca's politicians, are also a subject of dispute among academics: Are they sci- entifically worthy? Is the stimulus cash wisely spent? No, says Nova South- eastern University eco- nomics professor Albert Williams. "There is no guarantee that these quirky projects will in fact create jobs," he said. "They can create one or two little jobs." Yes, counters fellow academic Charles Zelden, an NSU history professor. Money plowed into research is just as stimu- lating to the economy as money spent on, say, repaving roads, Zelden said. "Dollar for dollar, it's the same thing: You give money to people who will spend it in the economy," he said. The rodent study at Florida Atlantic Universi- ty in Boca Raton used $15,551 in stimulus funds to pay for two summer researchers to help gauge how alcohol affects a mouse's motor functions. The cactus bug project at the University of Flori- da is more ambitious, spending $325,394 in stimulus money to deter- mine how environment affects the mating deci- sions of females. Accord- ing to the project propos- al, it should also answer the question, "Whether males with large weapons are more or less attractive to females." That project has led to one new hire: a research technician. In macro terms, the stimulus plan is said by the Obama administration to have staved off a seri- ous depression. Since funding from the stimulus spigot began flowing in February 2009, the nation's unemployment rate has gone from 10 per- cent to 9.7 percent. That still means 14.8 million Americans are jobless, however. Other examples of how some of the $787 billion stimulus windfall has been spent on scientific research in Florida: • $934,498 to UF for high-tech equipment to study the DNA of lice to "explore patterns of human evolution, human migration across the globe and human demog- raphy." • $59,845 to Florida International University for graduate students to analyze an explosion of lawsuits in 17th century Peru and Mexico. • $80,000 to Embry- Riddle Aeronautical Uni- versity in Daytona Beach so students could conduct an experiment worthy of Luke Skywalker: using a Laser Interferometer G r a v i t a t i o n a l - Wa v e Observatory "with the goal of detecting tiny per- turbations in the geometry of space-time." These are but a tiny fraction of the 6,452 stim- ulus projects in Florida, which total more than $12.7 billion. The bulk of the federal tax money has been going to infrastruc- ture work; other funds are channeled to programs involving energy efficien- cy, help for the homeless, police protection or schools. Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit and nonpartisan group, says the funds ide- ally should go toward job creation. "We would probably want to focus taxpayer dollars on those things that we know pro- vide the greatest return on our investment," said Robert Weissert, TaxWatch's general coun- sel. Some of the research projects being bankrolled "may seem a little silly," said Doug Emery, chair- man of the finance depart- ment at the University of Miami. Yet, "the fact that the government would make some investment in this type of research is probably a good thing," he said. That is because funda- mental research can yield unexpected results, Emery said. The cactus bug study, for example, could uncover a hormone in the insect that may aid medicine. "One kind of research is just basic research," Emery said. "You do things that aren't neces- sarily commercially viable, but are going to have commercial possi- bilities down the road." Williams, the NSU economics professor, dis- agreed that all stimulus money being spent will help jump-start the econo- my. Public investment has a bigger bang if plowed into large infrastructure projects like highways, railroads or water sys- tems, which is where more than 60 percent of the stimulus funds are going, he said. The research projects approved for funding were vetted through a "political process," Williams said, in which politicians in Washington doled out tax dollars based upon requests from universities. "This is a countrywide phenome- non. They have all kinds of weird stuff in the dif- ferent states going on," he said. Though the economics professor said some of the stimulus money could be better spent, he still appreciates the value of unconventional research. "The average Joe on the street doesn't understand the benefits of those unique research projects," he said. "These scientific endeavors could be useful for the advancement of our country later on." 8A – Daily News – Monday, February 22, 2010 PAID ADVERTISEMENT For information on participation in Kids & Families call (530) 527-2151 P.A.W.S. P.A.W.S. (Partners for Animal Welfare & Safety) A Volunteer Program Dedicated to the Prevention of Litters, Not the Destruction of Unwanted animals. HOW CAN YOU HELP? CALL US! 528-8018 Please leave your number we WILL call you back P.O. 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