90 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



universities. And well they might when a new aircraft carrier costs over 

 $400,000,000 and a new polaris submarine over $100,000,000. As soon as pos- 

 sible, therefore, the per cent proposed by whatever legislation goes in, must be 

 increased beyond Senator Pell's ten per cent. The total federal support of the 

 marine sciences must be expanded substantially. Regardless of whether or not 

 the sea-grant university becomes a reality, the federal government will cer- 

 tainly do this. But the money will, I believe, bring greater over-allbenefits to 

 this nation and to society in general if it is expended through the proposed sea- 

 grant university with a deep and a sustained commitment to oceanography. 



Athelstan F. Spilhaus 



Well, I don't think you need to hear much more from me. I stated my case 

 in my leadoff talk this morning. I think all I can do now is concur with a few re- 

 marks that others have made since. Dean Castle said, much better than I could, 

 "let's emulate the land- grant college system but let's not repeat the mistakes 

 we made on land." This is a good generalization. One thing that came out of 

 the discussion is that the federal government and many of us are worried about 

 the organization of oceanography in the government. And I feel that the very 

 necessity of the government paying attention to what Dr. Horn emphasized, the 

 sustained support by institutional grants of these committed sea-grant colleges, 

 will force a better organization in government. I was visited recently by repre- 

 sentatives of the committee on appropriations. And while these were excellent 

 and intelligent men, I think that their questions were highly directed. It seemed 

 to me that they wanted me to criticize the past organization of oceanography in 

 government. I do not admit that the Interagency Committee on Oceanography 

 was a failure. In Robert, the ICO had a secretary that was Abel! I think ICO and 

 all the things that are being tried in government organizations are sincere and 

 good efforts and are steps toward better organization in the future. I was visited 

 here by a friend who asked me if I would help him write a paper on the misman- 

 agement of oceanography in the government. I couldn't possibly do this. This 

 would be foreign to my nature. I will say there are things we can improve, but 

 I would state them up positively. How can we improve our management of oce- 

 anography? Not by knocking those who are attempting to do it as best we collec- 

 tively know how, but by searching with them for better ways. I despair of nega- 

 tiveness. Let's stick our necks out in the great new social adventure that we 

 are proposing in the sea-grant universities and colleges, and by doing imagina- 

 tive things a better organization will evolve. 



I'm a little bit disturbed that we're worried about the smallness of the sum 

 of money we see as immediately available. I agree with Senator Pell we've got 

 to start small and let the idea grow. Let's not look at the pork barrel before we 

 even get the idea off the ground. I don't think it is important who gets the first 

 little grants that we can afford, and I don't think we should allow it to destroy 

 the birth of the idea and its infancy. 



If the idea is good at all, it's good enough for everybody, and as to those 

 states that do not border on the sea or the Great Lakes, they have an equally 

 important water problem- -a problem which, incidentally, is funded far better 

 than the proposed funding of the sea-grant colleges--that is the problem of the 

 reuse of our fresh water, of the proper management of our fresh water. If they 

 take this as their job in the water business, we can join with them and give real 

 meaning to the term "fresh-water colleges.'" There is no reason why, let us 

 say, a land-locked state like Oklahoma which has its natural inclination toward 

 oil should not participate in certain aspects of the sea-grant concept. It might, 

 for example, focus its attention on the special problems of getting oil from the 



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