The present senior scholar program is too ambitious. Recruiting and servicing 200 scholars a year represents an almost impossible task. Many of the scholars should be selected and their programs planned to permit group exploration of special subjects or problem areas. For example, the Center might bring together a group of scholars to explore problems of rapidly developing higher education in Asia and the United States. Scholars from Asia should be encouraged to spend a substantial portion of their time on the mainland; and scholars from the mainland should be given the opportunity to schedule a substantial portion of their time in Asia. NAME 21. A more appropriate name, such as Asian-American Center or Pacific International Center, should be considered. The formal name of the Center is too long; its logical reduction to "East-West Center" is too dichotomous or devisive in implication. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES 22. The Center should soon sponsor and publicize widely a series of international conferences with distinguished international participants. Two such conferences-the Pacific Science Conference and the Philosophers Conference of 1962-have already been planned. To other conference topics which might be especially suitable are: The Pacific Ocean, including its oceanography, geography, marine biology, botany and agriculture of its islands, etc. A Pacific festival of the arts, featuring nonverbal arts such as painting, sculpture, decorative art and design, music, dance, and other art forms whose communication would not be blocked by language barriers. Other possible topics include education, public health and nutrition, anthropology, race relations, geophysics, and Asian studies. Conferences should be designed to dramatize the long-range interests and goals of the Center, and should be an important part of the long-range program of the Center. EXPRESSION OF DIVERGENT OPINIONS 23. The rights of students and senior scholars to express divergent political views and to espouse divergent ideologies should be rigorously protected. The Center should anticipate the public relations problems which will undoubtedly arise as visitors from other countries express views unpalatable to the public and the Government. It is important that the visitors' rights to speak be scrupulously guarded, both to demonstrate the American concept of free speech and to illustrate the American commitment to the free and unhampered investigation of ideas. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT AND APPROPRIATIONS 24. The Federal Government should commit itself to indefinite, long-term basic support of the Center. The Center is a significant new program and needs a commitment for Federal support beyond the few years now planned. Once the Center reaches a significant level of programing, it will be impossible to finance on the basis of private grants and donations. 25. Appropriations for the Center should be made for terms of 3 years rather than annually. Annual appropriations hamper effective operations. For instance, the Center is now awaiting this year's appropriations to make staff and scholarship commitments for September, though the time is already past when such commitments are normally made. 26. The Center's current 3-year appropriation should be reduced from $30 to $25 million. If a 3-year appropriation is not possible, then the 1-year appropriation should be $8.5 million, or $1.5 million less than the nearly $10 million now requested. Under existing budget proposals, the magnitude of the program is too great for effective and orderly development within the next 3 years. The recommended reductions should be achieved by a decrease in the number of student scholarships and senior scholar grants, with commensurate reduction in buildings and facilities. The committee wishes to restate that the Center as an educational program needs to be closely associated with an educational institution. And it is its belief that the approach suggested by this report will make it possible for the Center to derive strength from the university and for the university to gain in its broad educational growth. The Committee of Consultants: GLEN L. TAGGART, Secretary. HERMAN B. WELLS. SUMMARY LIST OF MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The Center is soundly conceived and should be vigorously developed as an important national resource and a contribution to international understanding. 2. The Center should continue to be affiliated with the University of Hawaii. 3. A new position, that of chancellor, should be established for administration of the Center. 4. Selection of the chancellor should proceed as carefully and rapidly as possible. 5. The regents should appoint an advisory council of qualified persons from Asia and the United States to advise the chancellor in direction of the Center. 6. The Center should administer directly the Institute for Advanced Projects, the International Training Agency, and the Translation Bureau. 7. The formal education of students and the provision of student services should be the direct responsibility of the University of Hawaii and other universities, through contractual arrangements with the Center. The International College should be disbanded. 8. The Center should be accorded much greater flexibility in fiscal and personnel matters than is now possible under university policies. 9. The Center should focus its programs on those subject areas where the State and the university offer present or potential strengths and advantages. 10. The Center should assist in the development of a university program that will attract highly qualified graduate students and senior scholars to Hawaii. 11. The Center should strengthen its programs wherever possible by maintaining close working relations with associated institutions in Hawaii. 12. To meet Asian needs, great emphasis should be placed upon the functions of the International Training Agency. 13. The Translation Bureau should concentrate on translations not otherwise available that will facilitate other aspects of the Center's program. 14. The Center should clarify its programs before proceeding further with plans for publications. 15. Award of student scholarships should be the responsibility of the Center. 16. Greater emphasis should be placed upon the training of graduate students. 17. The ratio of American students to Asian students should be increased from the contemplated one-fourth to one-third of the total number of students. 18. Asian students should be integrated into the general university student community. 19. The annual number of senior scholars should be reduced to approximately 50 from Asia and 25 from the United States. 20. A more appropriate name, such as Asian-American Center, should be considered. 21. The Center should soon sponsor and publicize widely a series of international conferences with distinguished international participants. 22. The rights of students and senior scholars to express divergent political views and to espouse divergent ideologies should be rigorously protected. 23. The Federal Government should commit itself to indefinite, long-term support of the Center. 24. Appropriations for the Center should be made for terms of 3 years rather than annually. 25. The Center's current 3-year appropriation should be reduced from $30 million to $25 million. If a 3-year appropriation is not possible, then the 1-year appropriation should be $8.5 million, or $1.5 million less than the $10 million now requested. FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, CENTER FOR CULTURAL AND TECHNICAL INTERCHANGE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST, AT CLOSE OF FISCAL YEAR 1961 (Prepared by East-West Center for Department of State) SUMMARY Eight months have elapsed since funds were made available to the University of Hawaii under a grant from the Federal Government to establish the East-West Center. During this period, a wide variety of activities has been undertaken in implementing the three major phases of the Center's objective to facilitate cultural and technical interchange: (1) The student scholarship and studies program, (2) the senior scholar and advanced research program, and (3) the in-service technical training program. Ín overall policy formulation and programing, the most significant development has been the reorganization of the Center based on recommendations of an eminent consultive team which surveyed the Center in May and June. Generally, the reorganization gives the Center greater autonomy in the areas of budgeting, programing, personnel management, and the establishment of cooperative relationships. Earlier, a national consultive meeting was held in the spring and a study completed for the expansion of technical training operations by the Center. Also, a five-man team visited Asia late in 1960, and two Center representatives have left on a Center mission to south and southeast Asia to resolve problems in the field. Plans are underway to hold an Asian consultive meeting in the future. Almost 3,000 inquiries and over 1,000 applications for scholarships have been received. Of the first 100 Center scholarship grantees, 98 are now studying on the University of Hawaii campus or are on study tours on the mainland. Excellent cooperation was received from American Embassies, binational boards, and agencies in Asia in screening and assisting the movement of these students to Hawaii by February. Awarding of grants for the next group of scholars to be brought in September is almost completed, and travel arrangements are now being made. In support of the Center scholarship program, special language training and area studies have either been started or those already in existence have been augmented. The university has added instructional positions to accommodate the increase in enrollment due to Center grantees. Similarly, the staffs of student services have been supplemented under Center aegis to provide counseling, housing, food, and health services for Center students. Much of the work of the Institute of Advanced Projects has been designed to establish policies and procedures for facilitating the coming to Hawaii of advanced scholars. Two senior scholars have already completed their periods of residence on a project surveying Asian economic research, two others are working in the area of Ryukyuan studies, another is engaged in research in meteorology, a Japanese scholar is doing similar research on tsunami, and an Indonesian scholar is serving a period of residence in Indonesian studies. A number of conferences are planned in conjunction with the Pacific Science Congress this late summer. Several scholars have been awarded grants starting in September and screening of prospective scholars and projects is being conducted. The International Training Agency continues to carry on training activities sponsored by the International Cooperation Administration. Two pilot projects have been proposed for fiscal year 1962 under Center financial sponsorship and execution plans for these have been completed. The pilot projects mark the beginning of an expanded training program by the Center outside of ICA support. In support of the major programs of the Center, considerable public information and public relations activities have been carried out. Similarly, translation services are provided to Center scholars and grantees as well as to the Center administration. The initial phase of the Center capital improvements program is well underway. Construction of an access road and prelimiary engineering and site preparation have been started. Plans and specifications for buildings have been completed, competitive bids received, and contracts have been awarded. Completion of construction of this phase is projected for August 1962. Staffing has proven to be a difficult problem. However, a chancellor has been named and will assume his office on January 1, 1962. Meanwhile, interim appointees serve in all key posts, and currently 55 persons are employed full or part-time from Center funds. Among these, 17 are permanent professional appointees in areas where it has been possible to proceed, and almost all of the civil service positions budgeted have been filled permanently. An evaluation of Center programs has been completed, both from the points of view of the scholarship grantees and the Center administration. The evaluation is appended to this report as attachment V. FIRST ANNUAL REPORT, CENTER FOR CULTURAL AND TECHNICAL INTERCHANGE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST Objectives and principles INCEPTION "Of all of the natural resources upon which the world depends for its survival and its sustenance, none is so important as its people. Of all of the means for making possible the fullest and wisest realization of the potentialities of this basic resource, none offers such promise as the free interchange of information and ideas which will encourage mutual understanding between peoples. Wherever men can face one another as peers and exchange their considered views on the vital issues of their lives, the constructive potentialities for cooperative peace increase dramatically. Whenever people can share knowledge and information basic to these issues, they establish sound foundations upon which such interchanges can occur most fruitfully and at the same time provide the means for effective thought and action." It is to accomplish these ends that the Congress has provided for the establishment of the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange. |