RESEARCH WORK IN PACIFIC

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25706, 19 January 1949, Page 4

RESEARCH WORK IN PACIFIC

Study Fellowship In_U.S. NEED FOR “BRIGHT YOUNG MEN” (P.A.) AUCKLAND, January 18. While New Zealand had plenty of dollars to spend on education and scientific work, brilliant young men were unable to get sufficient of this currency to undertake the full course of study overseas necessary to develop their talents to the full, said Professor H. E. Gregory, of Honolulu, when he arrived at Auckland for the seventh Pacific Science Congress. Dr. Gregory, who is a United States representative on the Pacific Science Council, said that as a result of the settlement of lease-lend accounts, New Zealand owed 3,500,000 dollars which need not be paid back but. must be spent on science and education. There was an urgent need for bright young men in many fields in the Pacific, but although fellowships for a number of New Zealanders were being approved in the United States they were not allowed from the Dominion sufficient dollars to live on. He hinted that steps might be devised to get round some of this .difficulty and added that it might well be discussed at the Science Congress. Somewhat similar difficulties existed in the case of Australia. “Bright young men are hard to get, too,” added Professor Gregory. “Before, our difficulty was to get the money to .educate those offering. Now we have the money although the wheels may need greasing, but we cannot find the men. “The Pacific is still largely in the exploration stage and we could do with 100 more scientists working there. There used to be explorers here. Has the desire for adventure, for the urge to go out somewhere on a job for its own sake, gone from this part of the world for good?”