Evening star., 1950-10-06
Educators0pen
Conferenceon
DefensePo|icy
Colleges Are Worned
Not to Be 'GIorified
Trade Schools

skilled technicianS in the Nations S
defense program, colleges and uni
versities should not be converted
into "glorified trade schools" Rob-
ert L. Clark, director of the man.
power office of the National Sc
curity Resources Board, declared
today.
Mr.. Clark spoke at the opening
meeting of a tWo-day conference
called by the American Council
on Education. OF the more than
900 delegates. 400 are college
presidents.
The objective of the conference
is to work out a policy to guide
colleges and universities in the
national emergency.
Recommendation Made.
During the morning. specific
recommendations were made to
Maj, Gen. Lewis B. Hersey,
selective service director. by six
scientific advisory committees ap-
pointed by Gen. Hersey in 1948.
Chief among these proposals was
one to defer from the draft STU
dents with high 10 who show
promise of becoming scientists.
Colleges should not divert their
attention totally to the specific
needs of industry and Govern
ment, but should continue to give
emphasis to the great traditional
role of the university-investigat-
ing and teaching in all significant
fields of human knowledge" Mr..
Clark said. This. is our only
course to assure long-range pre-
paredness for all the contingencies
which may confront U.S."
Mr.. Clark said the NSRB recog-
nizes the country's colleges as
valuable assets. If planning for
the use of the colleges in the
emergency is hasty and If educa-
tional facilities are committed to
specialized programs without a
general assessment of national
educational needs, the potential
contribution cannot be fully real
lied, he said.
Working on Overall Plans.
"One of the most important
national decisions which will affect
education has to do with the meth
ods developed for preserving a flow
of students through the colleges
and universities despite the i'm
perative demands for military
personnel" he said.
Mr.. Clark added that NSRB is
working on overall plans to bal
ance the need for highly trained
individuals with the immediate
needs of the military.
Other speakers at the morning
session included: j. Thomas
Schneider, chairman of the Per-
sonnel Policy Board of the De-
fense Department; DR.. Eric A.
Walker. executive secretary of the
Research and Development Board
of the Defense Department; DR..
Earl j. McGrath, United States
Commissioner of Education; Ray
mond Walters, president Of the
University of Cincinnati; Edmund
E. Day, president emeritus of Cor
nell University. and Gen. Hershey.
Dr. Walker said the Nation has
about 465,0 scientists and en-
glneers, which he called a dis
turbingly low" total. Of these,
175,000 are scientists and only 32,-
900 of them hold PHI. D. degrees,
he added.
so Per Cent in Industry.
DR.. Walker said industry has
so per cent of these scientists and
engineers, while the Government
and the universities are dividing
the remainder equally between
them. He said that in 1945 there
were only about half the number
Of doctorates awarded in. a nor
NAL year in the sciences
This sharp reduction was the
result of our ort-sighted de-
ferment policies of World War
H." he declared.
DR.. Walker told the educators
he felt the greatest single con-
tribution which the colleges could
make at present would be to con-
tinue to function as normally as
possible while trying to meet de-
fense demands.
DR.. Day said 1t is a long range
effort on which the country had
embarked and that long range
policies must be set up. Besides
the task of turning out specialists,
he said, the colleges are faced
with the problem of turning out
men and women who have minds
trained and equipped to meet the
exacting intellectual requirements
of a world in theological conflict. "
c:I, - % TI,,L