This letter is in response to the letter titled "Examine PSU contracts with defense department" (April 23).

For starters, the author appears to make the assumption that academic research funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) goes toward building weapons or other instruments of war. Although this may account for a small percentage of DoD-funded academic activities, most of that money goes towards funding "pure science" based research.

Military agencies, such as the Office of Naval Research, fund research ranging from analyzing the chemical composition of dissolved organic matter in the oceans to measuring the properties of single molecules on metal surfaces. This research may have some far removed application for defense-related activities, but the primary goal is to increase our basic understanding of nature.

Additionally, the National Science Foundation, one of the largest non-military sources of government research money, was founded after the societal benefits of World War II's scientific research, including penicillin and atomic energy, were realized.

As for DoD-funded activities that are directly related to the development of weapons, I wouldn't be so quick to bash this research either.

Weapons research has resulted in a wide variety of technologies that have greatly improved the average American's quality of life in addition to protecting the homeland. For example, the Internet, global positioning systems and the beginnings of the space program were all a direct result of weapons-related, DoD-funded research.

The writer's views concerning research funded by the DoD are both ignorant and naive. DoD-funded research played a central role in many of the great scientific discoveries of the 20th century and thus it is unfortunate that individuals like this writer are so quick to criticize something which they benefit from on a daily basis.