The benefits of relationships between corporations and universities are examined, noting the economic benefit to both. Corporations like to see research and graduates that will increase company earnings, and this notion of benefits is often acknowledged by universities and corporations alike. However, there is much more involved. The tension between processes of institutional self-definition and market demand is great, and the public debate over the core curriculum is driven by different notions of who the people are, how they organize themselves, and why they do what they do. America has a vertically hierarchial and mechanistic view of the world, with a focus on discrete products and their profit, and academic institutions have been influenced by this metaphor. It is important to realize that just as a corporation is more than its product and profit, a university is more than the books, articles, plays, music, and people it produces. Science must be driven by more than funding sources, and university endowments must depend on more than good economic investments and profits. This self-conscious process might leave them freer to concentrate on formulating "ethics of ends" about what is true, good, just, and beautiful. Corporate support of academic research today is fraught with ethical issues. Students must be encouraged to risk clear communication, develop broad-ranging conceptual skills for making meaning of information, be creative and seek surprise in all facets of living, and employ self-conscious ways of testing a reality against others. Contains 10 references. (SM)