268 SE'A GRANT COLLEGE'S 



Great Lakes Commission, 

 Ann Arbor, Mich., April 12, 1966. 

 Hon. Claiborne Pell, 

 Old Senate Office Building, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dear Senator Pell : The Great Lakes Commission has authorized me to 

 express the commission's endorsement of Senate bill S. 2439, which would 

 authorize the creation of sea grant colleges, with the provisions that the bill 

 should be amended or include provisions to limit the number of institutions 

 participating to those that have a bona fide interest in the marine environment 

 geographically and historically ; that nonduplication of effort in research and 

 training be stressed; and that section 2(d)(5) be emphasized: the regional 

 "centers of excellence." 



The Great Lakes Commission is convinced of the great importance of the need 

 for study and development of the marine environment, and believes that much 

 of the future wealth and resources of the globe will accrue from these marine 

 areas. 



It is our pleasure to furnish our comments and statement of position. We hope 

 jou may see fit to consider them favorably. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Leonard J. Goodsell, 



Executive Director. 



Institute of Science and Technology, 



The University of Michigan, 



Ann Ai-hor, Mich., April 26, 1966. 

 Hon. Claiborne Pell, 

 Com/mittee on Labor and Public Welfare, 

 U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Senator Pell: Thank you for your invitation to comment on the bill 

 S. 2439, National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1965. You are to be 

 commended for foresight in developing plans for effective utilization of the 

 world's marine resources. 



There has been a longstanding need for a feasible plan for man's complete 

 utilization of the ocean's tremendous resources. Such a plan should encompass 

 the harvesting and management of all usable products, the understanding of the 

 ocean's characteristics, processes, and phenomena and their potential application 

 to man's welfare, and the ultimate occupancy of the ocean as a place for man 

 to live and enjoy. The plan must necessarily be imaginative, daring, long 

 ranged, and designed to obtain and apply scientific knowledge and technology to 

 all aspects of the marine environment. The concept of the sea grant college 

 could well be the basis for such a plan. 



The sea grant college concept should parallel in practice the land-grant college 

 concept only in principle, not in detail. Sea grant colleges should be established 

 first in educational institutions with established records of accomplishment in 

 the marine sciences and have the potential for a strong program in ocean engi- 

 neering. A sea grant college should have a program involving the totality of 

 the sea, encompassing education and training, research, and resources exploita- 

 tion. It should involve the natural and social sciences, the arts, law, planning, 

 and engineering. As the program progresses, institutions may be established 

 to meet special needs, but the educational Institution should always remain the 

 core of the program. 



The role of the Great Lakes in the development and promotion of the sea 

 grant college concept is an important one : 



1. These mesoscale water bodies, possessing both oceanic and lacustrine char- 

 acteristics, are uniquely suited as models or laboratory-sized oceans for the 

 study of a great variety of scientific and engineering problems of interest to 

 marine scientists. Evident examples are studies of air-water interaction phe- 

 nomena and developmental aspects of the "man in sea" project. 



2. Absence of salinity, of heavy biological fouling, and of wood-boring orga- 

 nisms makes the Great Lakes excellent test sites in which the operating principles 

 of new instrumentation can be tested without the necessity for expensive pro- 

 tection against corrosion, electrolysis, fouling, or borers. 



3. Within the Great Lakes basin is a unique complex of institutions of higher 

 education, possessing a large reservoir of scientists and engineers, and the capa- 



