【正文】 s language bees extinct the result is a diminished sense of pride, dignity, and selfworth. One need look no further than continental Europe to observe how people cling tenaciously to their distinct languages, despite the fact that there is no practical need for them anymore. And on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the French Canadians stubbornly insist on French as their official language, for the sole purpose of preserving their distinct cultural heritage. Even where no distinct language exists, people will invent one to gain a sense of cultural identity, as the emergence of the distinct Ebonic cant among today39。s indigenous and distinct languages should not be abandoned and forgotten altogether. At some point, however, I think cultural identity should yield to the more practical considerations of daytoday life in a global society. On the one hand, the indigenous language of any geographical region is partandparcel of the cultural heritage of the region39。s pressing social problems. Issue 13Many of the world39。s social problems, and the escalating costs of addressing these problems, a global university makes good sense. And, since all nations would have a mon interest in seeing this endeavor succeed, my intuition is that participating nations would be able to overe whatever procedural and political obstacles that might stand in the way of success. As long as each nation is careful not to neglect its own unique social problems, and as long as the university39。 research but also to distort the oute of that researchostensibly for the greatest good of the greatest number of people. Not surprisingly, during this time period no significant scientific advances occurred under the auspices of the Soviet government. The Soviet lesson provides an important caveat to administrators of a global university: Significant progress in solving pressing social problems requires an open mind to all sound ideas, approaches, and theoriesirrespective of the ideologies of their proponents. A final problem with a global university is that the world39。s attention and resources, which areas of academic research are worthwhile, as well as agreeing on policies and procedures for making, enforcing, and amending these decisions. Query whether a functional global university is politically feasible, given that sovereign nations naturally wish to advance their own agendas. A second problem inherent in establishing a global university involves the risk that certain intellectual and research avenues would bee officially sanctioned while others of equal or greater potential value would be discouraged, or perhaps even proscribed. A telling example of the inherent danger of setting and enforcing official research priorities involves the Soviet government39。 thus a useful insight or discovery can e from a researcher or student from any nation. Another pelling argument for a global university involves the increasingly global nature of certain problems. Consider, for instance, the depletion of atmospheric ozone, which has warned the Earth to the point that it threatens the very survival of the human species. Also, we are now learning that clearcutting the world39。s most persistent social problems. Nevertheless, such a university poses certain risks which all participating nations must be careful to minimizeor risk defeating the university39。 nor is government assistance necessary toward these ends. Moreover, assisting large cities would have little bearing on our distinct cultural traditions, which abide elsewhere.Issue 11All nations should help support the development of a global university designed to engage students in the process of solving the world39。 cultures. In the final analysis, government cannot philosophically justify assisting large cities for the purpose of either promoting or preserving the nation39。s distinct cultural traditions. After all, modern cities are essentially multicultural stew pots。 big cities are where we deposit, display, and boast the world39。s cultural traditions. Today a nation39。 (2) government support is needed for our large cities and cultural traditions to survive and thrive。s cultural traditions are preserved and generated. The speaker39。s motives and agenda. History informs us that wouldbe leaders who lack such forthrightness are the same ones who seize and maintain power either by brute force or by demagoguerythat is, by deceiving and manipulating the citizenry. Paragons such as Genghis Khan and Hitler, respectively, e immediately to mind. Any democratic society should of course abhor demagoguery, which operates against the democratic principle of government by the people. Consider also less egregious examples, such as President Nixon39。s missile defense system experienced a Y2Krelated malfunction. This fact was withheld from the public until later in the day, once the problem had been solved。s strategies for thwarting specific plans of an international terrorist or a drug trafficker, those strategies would surely fail, and the public39。s ultimate interests. Nevertheless, we must not allow our political leaders undue freedom to withhold information, otherwise, we risk sanctioning demagoguery and undermining the philosophical underpinnings of any democratic society. One reason for my fundamental agreement with the speaker is that in order to gain the opportunity for effective public leadership, a wouldbe leader must first gain and maintain political power. In the game of politics, plete forthrightness is a sign of vulnerability and naivety, neither of which earns a politician respect among his or her opponents, and which those opponents will use to every advantage to defeat the politician. In my observation some measure of pandering to the electorate is necessary to gain and maintain political leadership. For example, were all politicians to fully disclose every personal foible, character flaw, and detail concerning personal life, few honest politicians wou