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My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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NEW YORK—I have just been reading the annual report compiled by the University of Louisville's International Center, which can be proud of a unique program it has created. One of its primary achievements, I would say, was that during the past several months the university sent 45 of its students to work full time on paid jobs in France and in return has employed 49 French students in Louisville and throughout Kentucky. This summer-work exchange program gives an opportunity for youngsters from other countries to get some idea of our industrial life and at the same time to get to know American families and the life of young Americans while our young people have the same opportunities.

The list of general activities of the school's International Center is quite remarkable.

Among other things it has expanded its summer-work exchange program to the states of Washington, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Connecticut and Washington, D.C.

Also, the organization sponsored the Montpellier Project, which sent 47 high-school students—juniors and seniors—to travel in Europe for 21 days and to study French in Montpellier, France, for six weeks. It sponsored the Singen-Esslingen Project, which sent 16 high-school students—juniors and seniors—to travel in Europe for 19 days and in West Germany to study German in Singen for four weeks and to live in Esslingen for two weeks.

For the fifth consecutive year the Center has sponsored the state-wide project, "The U.S. Foreign Policy As Viewed by Kentuckians." The area of study this year was Africa. The Center acted as host to 126 leaders and specialists from 27 different countries and was the information center in the field of foreign affairs for the citizens of Kentucky.

For the eleventh time the group has organized the Kentucky World Trade Conference and has provided foreign speakers on international problems for 104 groups and civic organizations in the Kentucky area.

The Center was active in other ways as well, but I think this list gives an idea of what one American university, not on the Eastern or Western seaboard, is trying to do to educate our people to the changes in the world situation.

Great Britain has taken a momentous step in considering seeking membership in the European Common Market as a means of achieving unity in Western Europe. And it was quite natural that Prime Minister Macmillan, in telling the House of Commons why Britain should join the Common Market, should also stress that they needed some concessions in doing this to protect the British farmers and their fellow members in the Commonwealth and the European Free Trade Association.

Great Britain is going through a difficult financial crisis because of the drop in its reserves of gold and convertible currencies, which are held by London as banker for the sterling area. We faced a similar drop in our gold reserves not long ago, and it is not astonishing that this serious decision of even discussing membership in the Common Market should be one taken only after very careful consideration and discussion in the British Parliament.

This is a very radical change in British policy, and even after negotiation—if concessions are made—it will still mean a community of interests with a group of nations outside the Commonwealth.

It stresses for us, I think, the tremendous importance that Britain attaches to unity in the West, an importance that France's General de Gaulle might think of a little more seriously than he seems to do in some of his latest moves. General de Gaulle's attitude toward the United Nations is one that should give both our nation and certainly the nations in the European group considerable concern.

I gather from a current newspaper story that the Central Intelligence Agency is going to return to its former role, and its function will be to collect and analyze data that comes in about the world as a whole but not take part in policy-making or in any type of action.

There are, of course, in the government a number of intelligence agencies and apparently CIA's reports and these other reports all will be evaluated by one independent new official who will be free of ties to any operational agency.

This seems a very sensible arrangement and I think may give us better information in the future and prevent our being involved in policy and action that has not been sanctioned by the proper policy-making bodies.

E. R.

(Copyright, 1961, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, August 4, 1961

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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