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Introduction 



Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, my name is Rodney 

 Foil. I am the Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry, and 

 Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University. In addition, 

 I serve as current Chairman of the Council of Administrative Heads 

 of Agriculture within the National Association of State 

 Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. On behalf of my colleagues, 

 I want to thank the Subcommittee for their interest in the 

 important issues facing agricultural science and education in the 

 United States and the world. 



Background 



My role today is to pull together some of the more cross-cutting 

 issues covered today. In doing so, I will focus more on the 

 philosophical and longer term issues, in an attempt to summarize 

 and highlight certain areas. As you continue your deliberations on 

 this and related topics, we hope that you will find our statements 

 to be helpful and thought provoking. Each of us, as well as our 

 associates in every state in the union, will be most happy to 

 return any time that you feel our participation can be of benefit. 



Summary Statements 



The testimony presented today contains a wealth of information 

 regarding our current system for setting priorities, conducting 

 programs, and relating our activities to the broader educational 

 community, the federal government, and, most importantly, the users 

 of the research and technology that is being developed. In 

 summary, I would like to stress five characteristics of our system 

 which are important to your deliberations, and should form part of 

 the basis for the important policy development process with which 

 you will be involved. 



1 . The land-grant system is broad and deep. From previous 

 testimony, and from your own personal experience, you should 

 be aware of the breadth and depth of the land-grant university 

 system, both in function and in disciplinary capacity. Our 

 activities range from pioneering efforts in the most 

 fundamental of sciences to hands-on assistance to millions of 

 U.S. citizens with their lives and livelihood. From our first 

 and most fundamental mission, that of educating tomorrow's 

 professional leaders, to teaching basic parenting skills to 

 teen-aged mothers, our faculty members each day address issues 

 critical to the future of our nation. While our roots, and 

 our major eir^jhasis is on agriculture and family life, and our 

 primary linkage to the federal government is through the U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture, the increasing complexity of 

 today's society has resulted in activities and programs that 

 support and amplify virtually all aspects of human activity 

 and collaborate with numerous departments of government. 



