June 1985- When an NAS delegation of the Committee on International September 1985 -- With the approval of the governing Council of the January 22, 1986 Press sent a telegram to Soviet Secretary General Gorbachev that said: "Noting the 6th anniversary of the internal exile of our foreign associate, Academician Andrei Sakharov, we join with other academies in urging once again that he be allowed to return to the Lebedev Institute and to resume active research with his colleagues there." Six other national academies sent similar messages at the same time. In addition to these efforts, several NAS members who are in frequent contact with Soviet colleagues have repeatedly interceded privately on Sakharov's behalf. Moreover, in 1984, at the request of NAS President Press, two prominent Americans with long histories of diplomatic and business relations with Soviet officials also interceded on Sakharov's behalf. In December 1981, Press personally delivered an appeal from former President Jimmy Carter concerning Sakharov to Soviet Ambassador Anatoliy Dobrynin. Former President Ford sent a similar message of concern to Dobrynin, coordinated to arrive at the same time. "In addition to increased opportunities for mutually beneficial scientific cooperation, the new two-year exchange agreement with the Soviet Academy of Sciences," said Press, "offers important new channels of communication between the scientists of our two countries. Through these channels, NAS officers and members intend to continue expressing our deep concern for Dr. Sakharov's welfare and to urge that he be allowed to return to his scientific work. These and other efforts on Sakharov's behalf will continue until his rights are restored." gp: 1,8,13 16-1 Bagin Text of a telegram from NAS President Frank Press to President A.P. Aleksandrov and the officers of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. April 8, 1986 - "The members of the National Academy of Sciences have requested that the following message be sent to their colleagues in the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R.: We take this occasion of renewed scientific exchanges between our academies to ask for your individual and collective help in bringing about a substantial amelioration of the situation of Academician Andrei Sakharov, who is also our foreign associate. Common efforts on behalf of Andrei Sakharov and the rights of all scientists to pursue their work freely would improve the climate for scientific exchanges and greatly facilitate other cooperative efforts." APPENDIX 3B(2) A Brief Study of "We shall know each other or exterminate each other." -- Carlos Fuentes "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." -- H.G. Wells "The US can be characterized as the home of the brave, and the land of the monolingual." Institute for Soviet-American Relations (202) 387-3034 July 1986 - - Rose Hayden An ISAR Publication Russian Language Education in the United States This report is intended to provide a brief overview of Russian language education in the United States. The information provided includes every level of our civilian educational system, but excludes Russsian language training provided as part of United States military or defense programs. The word "Russian" is used to mean specifically the Russian language and not as an umbrella term to include other Slavic or Eastern European languages. Russian is by far the most important of more than a hundred official languages of the Soviet Union. The following facts summarize Russian language education in the United States: There are more teachers of English in the Soviet Union than there are students of Russian in the United States. At a college level Russian ranks fifth in foreign language studies after Number of college students studying Soviet languages other than Russian Total number of high school students studying Russian: 5,000. One out of five American high school students studies a foreign language (cf. five out of five Soviet high school age counterparts). Although there has been a great change in the roles of the United States and Soviet Union since World War II, with the emergence of these countries as superpowers, there has been little change in the extent of Russian language education in the United States. The Sputnik-induced increase of the sixties proved to be brief as enrollments dropped after reaching a record high point in 1968. At the height of the post-Sputnik scramble to catch up with the Russians in space technology, additional funds were earmarked for foreign language training. This increased funding led to the high point in Russian language studies, with a record 35,000 high school students enrolled in Russian language courses in 1965. In 1968 there were 40,696 college students studying Russian. By the late 1960s all that had changed. Greater relevancy was demanded in education and foreign language requirements in general suffered, with enrollments falling once again. The proportion of high school students studying a foreign language fell from 24% in 1965 to 15% in 1983. While foreign language education in the United States was not changing, the larger context was changing dramatically. More sophisticated transportation and communication systems were making the world effectively shrink. Prior to World War II, imports and exports accounted for less than 5% of the United States Gross National Product, but by 1979 they accounted for 22%. In 1983 one in six Americans owed his job to international trade and one in every three acres of United States farmland produced for export. Historically, the vast size of the United States and her rich resources permitted a degree of self-sufficiency compatible with isolationist and protectionist policies. Changes occurred internally and externally that made global interdependence a reality. Learning foreign languages had become a survival skill rather than an educational luxury, and this realization came late. As it became increasingly apparent that the United States was at a severe disadvantage, if not at risk, because of this deficit in foreign language expertise, a Presidential Committee was appointed in 1978 to study the problem. The Committee reported in 1979 that "Americans' incompetence in foreign languages" was "nothing short of scandalous." The Report had the effect of focusing attention on the declining number of students enrolling in foreign language courses and on the consequences |