EDUCATION 555 



scionable state of our cities today and to the despoliation of much 

 of our national heritage. Evidently a brushing childhood acquain- 

 tance with nature was not enough. If so, it is because there was no 

 followup through high school and college, in professional training 

 and in graduate work. A mere childhood affection for nature is 

 nonsense without the more important followthrough at all stages 

 of education. 



More than that, the preservation of nature outside of cities is an 

 indifferent solution to the problems of the 190 million people who 

 will live out their lives within the cities. Appreciating the deep con- 

 cern of the conferees and the panel members, I nevertheless find 

 them expressing their biases regarding what has been done and what 

 they can do well, rather than their recognition of the need for things 

 that should be done and which we do not know how to do. 



The rural bias of your report is clear, at least to me. A quick 

 scanning of the report reveals that the word "urban" appears twice 

 in a thousand words. In a report replete with references to rural 

 areas and rural phenomena, the word "city" does not appear at all. 

 "Urban planning" appears at the end. Agriculture, Interior, and 

 Health, Education, and Welfare and other Agencies are mentioned 

 several times, but there is no reference at all to the Housing and 

 Home Finance Agency or to the Department of Housing and Urban 

 Development which appears to be about ready for congressional 

 action. There are repeated references to the educational programs 

 of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and other 

 agencies, but there is no reference to the program of grants to the 

 States for research and training in urban development authorized by 

 title VIII of the Housing Act of 1964. I am sure that any systematic 

 content analysis of the document would merely reinforce my hunch 

 that it was focused almost entirely upon our historical concern with 

 rural areas rather than the real problem which I construe to be 

 urban areas. 



Specifically, I think the Housing and Home Finance Agency or 

 the prospective Department of Housing and Urban Development 

 should be mentioned along with other agencies. There should be a 

 specific reference to urban problems, city planning commissions, 

 municipal government, and the like. Reference should be made to 

 similar urban agencies and urban neighborhood groups, and there 

 should be a reference to title VIII of the Housing Act of 1964. This 



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