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Japanese scientists are at last actively entering the debate over the government's controversial reform. plan, which targets not only ailing government organizations but also some of Japan's best basic research institutes for conversion to agency status. This status would give them independence in management but require them to have their performance evaluated by external assessment bodies.
This publication has long advocated giving greater autonomy and responsibility to the institutions administered by Japan's Ministry of Education and Science, including universities and the institutes for joint university use. An independent management system would allow increased flexibility in funding. Furthermore, without the restrictions imposed by the civil service law, researchers would be free to carry out entrepreneurial activities, such as setting up venture businesses and carrying out joint research with private companies.
The government's reform. plan moves in this direction but, as it stands, its flaws are far more obvious than its potential benefits. Opposition to reform. of the universities has succeeded in delaying further changes until at least 2003, giving time for the fundamental reshaping required. Many fundamental steps need to be taken, such as implementation of a national external review system and of competent new administration, before universities will be ready for agency status. But other institutions would face more immediate problems if the current proposals are implemented.
The reform. plan, which is part of the government's drive to improve the country's administration across the board, has met strong opposition from the outset, with targeted institutes arguing against the government's claim that the changes are necessary to run them more efficiently. Such resistance is hardly surprising given the plan's rationalization targets and costcutting measures. The government has also made clear its intention to close down, merge or privatize institutes that fail to meet their performance-related targets. But, following compromises by the government with stronger ministries over its plan to reduce the number of civil servants by 25 percent, there is disproportionate pressure on research institutes to cut their costs.
As a result, the National Research Institutes for Joint University Use are at risk; they are all renowned for the quality of their basic research. More thought must be given to decisions concerning such high-quality institutes, whose activities are ill-suited to targets based on cost performance. The government should create a separate agency plan for institutes carrying out basic research, so that appropriate evaluation systems and performance-related targets can be introduced, with goals and support established over periods of 5—10 years, reflecting the longterm character of fundamental research.
The passage is mainly discussing the fact that______.
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This is News on the Hour, Ed Wilson reporting. The President and First Lady will visit Africa on a goodwill tour in May. They plan to visit eight African countries.
Reports from China say the Chinese want closer ties between China and the U.S. and Western Europe. A group of Chinese scientists will start its ten-nation tour next month.
Here in Miami, the mayor is still meeting with the leaders of the teachers' union to try to find a way to end the strike. City schools are still closed after two weeks.
In news about health, scientists in California report findings of a relationship between the drinking of coffee and the increase of heart disease among women. According to the report in the American Medical Journal (= magazine) , the five-year study shows this: Women who drink more than two cups of coffee a day have a greater chance of having heart disease than women who do not.
In sports the Chargers lost again last night. The BBS beat them 1 to nothing. The Wingers had better results. They beat the Rifles 7 to 3. It was their first win in their last five matches.
That's the News on the Hour. And now back to more easy listening with Jan Singer.
Who gave the News on the Hour？
Cultural conflicts, such as those that trouble American society today, may sometimes appear to be less than serious squabbles between intellectuals who have nothing better to do. It is regrettably true, of course, that intellectuals have the tendency to think of themselves and their interests in grandiose terms; control of the English department, say, looks more important than control of the world's energy supplies. Yet culture is not a peripheral matter; culture is the way in which a society understands itself. A society that no longer understands itself will be unable to act coherently on and problems facing it, including those that may superficially seem remote from cultural issues.
Every human society must achieve a measure of consensus concerning two fundamental questions; "Who are we？" and "How are we to live together？" Culture embodies the consensus as to how these questions are to be answered. This consensus will never be unanimous, but when it breaks-down in a massive way, the survival of the society is threatened. Both social philosophers and social scientists have long agreed that there can be no order in human affairs without such a consensus. Some analysts have argued that a modern society no longer needs this, that it can dispense with a common morality and can function on the basis of rational self-interest expressed in various contractual arrangements. Morality is then replaced by procedure. Such a society would resemble a gigantic traffic system. In modern urban traffic most people stop at red and go at green, not because they have deep moral convictions about this behavior, also not because they are afraid of the traffic police; rather, they do so because it is in their common interest. This very image suggests the weakness of a traffic-system notion of society: The average driver will obey the traffic laws in the normality course of events; he will break them in an emergency (say, he must get to a hospital quickly). By analogy, a "normal" society can function to some extent like a traffic system—and "normal" means a state of affairs when no grave external or internal perils exist. When such perils appear, however, the contractual regulation of the many interests is not enough; some moral claim to solidarity and sacrifice will become necessary. Otherwise the contractual procedures will break down: In an emergency everyone drives through a red light.
The word "squabbles" in Paragraph 1 probably refers to______.
When you speak, write a letter or make a telephone call, your words carry a message. People communicate with words. But do you think you can communicate without words？ A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you put up your hand in class, the teacher knows you want to say something or ask a question. You shake your head, and people know you are saying "no". You nod and people know you are saying "yea". Other things can also carry messages. For example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. A sign on the door tells you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of signs around you and that you get messages from them all the time？
People can communicate in many other ways. An artist can use his drawings to tell about beautiful mountains, about the blue sea and many other things. Books are written to tell about all the things in the world and also about people and their ideas.
Books, newspapers, TV, radio and films can all help us to communicate with others. They all help us to know what is going on in the world, and what other people are thinking about.
People can communicate ______.
There was once a man who spent all his time in his glasshouse. Flowers was his name, and flowers were his main joy in life. He grew flowers of every color under the sun. He grew these flowers in order to enter them for competition. His greatest hope in life was to grow a rose of an entirely new color that would win him the silver cup for the Rose of the Year.
Mr. Flowers' glasshouse was close to a public path, which was always used by children walking to and from school. Boys were often attracted to throw a stone or two at his glasshouse. So Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or close by his glasshouse at the beginning and end of the school day.
However, it was not convenient or possible to be on guard all the time. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to prevent harm to his glass; but nothing that he had done had been successful.
Then, just as he was giving up hope of ever winning the battle, and of growing the Rose of the Year, he had a truly wonderful idea. He put up a large notice made of good, strong wood, some metres away from the glasshouse, where it could be' clearly seen from the path. He had painted on the board the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flowers had no further trouble. The boys were much more attracted to throw stones at the notice than at the glasshouse.
Mr. Flowers' great hope is ______.
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