Milking the laboratories for dollars; the 'overhead' mess. (universities assessing exorbitant overhead fees to research funds)

Pity the universities: cash cows aren't what they used to be. Alumni largesse is drying up in the recession. Parents are in revolt over rocketing tuition rises. The NCAA is pulling the plug on lucrative sports-TV contracts to punish schools for rules violations. Despite such setbacks, chief financial officers know there is still one sure way to close a budget gap: piggyback on the research scientists who get millions of dollars in government grants.