When it began in 1941 during the heat of World War II, few realized the Manhattan Project would mark the birth of a long and sometimes tumultuous relationship between the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of California. Over the next 60 years, the UC system – which originally filled a temporary role in the project – would become increasingly entrenched in nuclear weapons development and research.

The prosperous relationship did not go unnoticed. For the last several years, the burgeoning kinship between school and state has sparked idealistic outrage among faculty and students.

Last week’s hunger strike outside the UC Board of Regents meeting was merely one misguided mutiny aimed at convincing board members to abandon all government contracts for nuclear weapons, research and terminate their leadership of Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories – hot spots for this type of study. But the spectacle, hosted by a 40-person coalition of UC students and faculty from various campuses, was more a display of dense innocence than cunning persuasion.

Contrary to popular opposing opinions, the contracts actually offer myriad benefits to the university as well as to the nation. Together, the labs employ nearly 17,000 workers, from scientists and professors to janitors and groundskeepers.

The budgets are brawny too. According to a May 8 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the University of California will enjoy a hefty $1.6 billion a year from its recently renewed seven-year contract to manage the Lawrence Livermore location in Livermore, California. The Los Alamos contract – shared with Bechtel – is even more stupefying, as it rakes in a whopping $2.2 billion a year from the D.O.E.

With constant funding to these massive machines and a workforce to match, the contracts help stabilize economies in both Livermore, Calif. and New Mexico – the sights for LLNL and LANL, respectively. The Lawrence Livermore Web site even advertises that of the annual budget, “”$250 million in procurements goes to small businesses, small disadvantages businesses and women-owned businesses.””

Coupled with these economic gains, the labs gift hundreds of students and teachers each year with a plethora of educational and research opportunities. Furthermore, the unique research conducted at these facilities – particularly at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory because of its location near UC Berkeley – encourages professors to work for the university while researching for the D.O.E. The symbiotic environment has even been home to Nobel Laureates like physics professor George Smoot.

As for the critics, their qualm that nuclear research is leading the nation into a perilous war with Iran simply is not accurate. While the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man during World War II resulted in mass casualties, scholars continue to argue that our 50-year arms race with Russia prevented thousands of deaths during the Cold War. Given that knowledge, it’s a struggle to believe the university’s research endeavors could instigate a nuclear war.

With advancements in nuclear technology, a must for securing our second strike capabilities, the UC system should at least play the role of profiteer. After all, if the UC system pulls out, there is always another university to take its place – perhaps the University of Texas, which previously bid on the contract for LANL.

The fact that the D.O.E. can so easily replace the UC system with one of many other national public universities raises yet another oversight from the hunger strikers. Given that nuke production is not contingent on UC involvement, the UC Regents make an odd target for the protest. UC Regent Norman Pattiz even told the famished crowd members that they should take their plight to a more appropriate audience, encouraging protestors to lobby Congress to end the contracts.

At least for now, however, the ventures yield too many perks for the UC system to flee from its commitments.

So, as long as its intimate relationship with the D.O.E. continues to blossom, the UC system ought to safeguard its precious treasure.