42 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



It would seem to me best, for our long range interests, to utilize our 

 existing universities insofar as possible. I am a great believer in a broad- 

 based education as an antidote to an age of increasing specialization. That is 

 one of the prime reasons why I have worked during three Congresses toward 

 the establishment of a National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities- -and 

 let me say how very pleased I was when this legislation finally came to fruition 

 a few weeks ago. I believe it can strengthen the whole fabric of our society in 

 future years, in sharpening our awareness of excellence, in giving us a greater 

 ability to evaluate the past in terms of the present and future. Dr. Haworth--in 

 a statement submitted to our Senate Special Subcommittee on Arts and Humani- 

 ties, under my Chairmanship, said he was convinced that the new Foundation 

 would "ultimately bring added strength and vitality to our science and tech- 

 nology," and Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Com- 

 mission, in testimony before the subcommittee on the legislation, said that "in 

 a democracy it is essential that science and the humanities be firmly united in 

 a creative partnership." 



Thus, it would seem to me that the university with a balanced program of 

 education, with opportunities for expanding man's knowledge in diverse fields, 

 would be the ideal home for the sea-grant college concept- -in a word, it would 

 afford the opportunity to specialize in a relatively new and immensely exciting 

 scientific area, within the framework of broad-based higher education. 



A sea-grant college, as I visualize it, would have, of course, special facili- 

 ties, a special curriculum. Ideally, as in the case of the University of Rhode 

 Island, it would be located on the sea itself, so that its students could have ac- 

 cess to the kinds of technical equipment and facilities we will need increasingly 

 to develop if we are to harvest the full potentials of the seas. Such facilities 

 could include experimental stations, as adjuncts to the college, to develop new 

 techniques in underwater mining, in ship design, and in the numbers of devices 

 which will allow man to explore the ocean depths. We will also need to experi- 

 ment in methods of conservation, and in developing the crops which the seas are 

 now known to afford, and in seeking out new harvests and the means of making 

 them most beneficial. In this connection, it is estimated that man derives only 

 one per cent of his present food requirements from the salt-water environment. 

 It would be hard, indeed, to underestimate the beneficial food potential of the 

 seas- -particularly in view of the rapidly expanding population. 



I do not believe that a sea-grant college need necessarily be based on the 

 oceans themselves- -in states bordered, for example, by the Atlantic or Pacific 

 or the Gulf of Mexico- -although as I have pointed out such locations would have 

 certain advantages, and I believe these states could properly take the lead in 

 the sea- grant college program. I would envision a national effort evolving with 

 courses in oceanography offered at universities in our inland states, and of 

 course in those bordering on the Great Lakes. 



However, a national effort of this magnitude needs to begin in the right 

 manner. At the outset it would seem best to utilize the resources of institu- 

 tions which have already established a reputation of leadership in oceanography, 

 such as the University of Rhode Island, to provide them with adequate funding 

 so that they can become the nucleii around which a national effort and program 

 can evolve. In a new and pioneering field, let us recognize the pioneers and 

 provide them with the necessary facilities to lead us forward. 



As our knowledge in oceanography grows, and indeed as integral to its 

 development and beneficial uses, I can foresee great new opportunities opening 

 up for the business community in our own state of Rhode Island and throughout 

 the country. In fact, many businesses are now making plans to develop the type 

 of special equipment we will require to explore the deeps- -where the pressures 

 are intense, where the environment is hostile to the human being, where man 

 needs skillfully tooled devices made of non-corrosive materials to act as his 

 arms and fingers to extract samples from the ocean floor. 



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