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research? How does this break down for each of the Centers and 

 for the National office? Do we currently have a good balance in 

 the use of funds between administration and research? 



Answer: The following table siimmarizes the breeikdown between 

 administration, operations, and science support for the six 

 Centers and the National Office for FY 1993. 



Note: Some administrative expenses are allocated to operations. 



'percentages for the National Office (OUR) are only for those 

 funds that do not go to the Centers. **Percentages for total OUR 

 funds (Research is for Center and National Office projects) . 



The greatest expense at the Centers is the cost of providing 

 operational support for field programs. Quality operations 

 support is absolutely necessary for assuring safety and 

 effectiveness in the operations and facilities leasing. NURP's 

 unblemished record of safety is the direct result of qualified 

 and experienced staff and adherence to established procedures. 



The percentage of administrative costs vary at the Centers. The 

 administrative costs at the University of Alaska are high on a 

 percentage basis because there is a minimum staff required to 

 operate a Center and their budget is the lowest. For a similar 

 reason, the percentage at the University of North Carolina- 

 Wilmington is low because they have the largest budget. 



10) Should all of the regions be funded equitably through the 

 Centers, with the National office funding research in critical 

 areas that exceed individual Center funding levels? That is, 

 should all regions receive equal funding regardless of Center 

 locations? 



Answer: No. All regions should not receive equal funding. 

 Regions are not of equal geographic size nor do they all have the 

 same, or in some case even similar problems. Those regions that 

 have deeper water require the use of expensive submersibles while 

 regions in shallow water can use less expensive SCUBA techniques. 

 Therefore it is not appropriate- to fund them all equally and 

 thereby reduce the flexibility of the program to respond to 

 research needs. Also activities supported by the National Office 

 are directed toward those issues that are not specific to a 

 geographic region of a Center. 



