Presidential Blog

Friday, June 23 (Down Under, Thursday in Seattle)

Since the U.S. soccer team had already been eliminated from World Cup play and since I had been in Australia for all of 12 hours or so, it only made sense to change allegiances. Besides, how can you resist cheering for a team that calls itself the “Socceroos?” What I didn’t consider before making the mental commitment to support the Aussies was just when they were to play Croatia: 5 a.m. Sydney time.Â

Nonetheless, 4:30 a.m. was announced by chanting crowds in the streets. Since sleep was no longer an option, I decided to join them and walked in the dark down to the wharf (or Quay, as they call it). Custom Square, in front of the historic Sydney Customs House, was equipped with a huge outdoor TV screen and jammed with thousands of fans. Most stood on crates or each others’ shoulders, and many had clearly not slept, the pubs ringing the square having stayed open late. Nobody cared that it was cold and drizzling, the first week of winter.

The atmosphere would be familiar to anyone who has attended a Seahawks Super Bowl party or cheered the Huskies in the Sweet 16. And when the Socceroos scored a second goal to make the game a draw — what they needed to advance to the next round — all of Australia erupted.

By the end of the day’s meetings, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. But I certainly was glad I’d dragged myself out of bed this morning. It was great fun and again reminded me of the bonding experience that comes so easily from sports competition.

University and business relationships in a global economy

The World Cup behind me, I went off to the breakfast meeting of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities. This 10-year-old organization brings together the presidents of the 36 best-known research universities that ring the Pacific. The meeting had the feel of a UN session as members from Chile, Malaysia, China and the U.S. sat at my breakfast table.

The day’s conversations focused on the relationships between research universities and business and industry in a global economy. Leaders from Merck, Samsung and an American energy company offered their views on how their multi-national companies interact with universities and what the business world wants from us.

The talks were interesting, but largely predictable. At one point, a business leader was talking about the well-known facts surrounding the very low, and declining, number of Americans and Australians who are studying science and engineering, a well-worn subject that we all worry about. Then a president from Australia asked a wonderfully irreverent question. In so many words, he said, “Why do you care what country scientists and engineers come from as long as you can hire them?” His point was fascinating, and it caught many of us off guard.

He was begging a remarkable important if simple question. If we are moving into a truly global economy and if we want easier movement of people among corporations and nations, does it matter if one country produces most of the engineers, while another specializes in business leaders, and a third educates the most creative artists and designers? Can nations build upon their distinctive cultural characteristics and focus educational experiences on what they do best?Â

This notion of educational and cultural “specialization” makes me very uncomfortable, to say the least. My reaction is surely tinged with chauvinism — after all, I want America to produce the best in all fields and skills. But my Australian colleague’s question certainly drew out some issues in stark relief. The interests of multi-national companies are not necessarily the same as the interests of any one nation. And while all of us at this meeting take personal pride in being “international,” we have one other thing in common: We all want our home team to win.
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Tuesday, June 20

If Beijing is a bustling, modern city, then Shanghai is an explosion of urban energy. The new skyline — nicely featured in Mission Impossible III — has emerged from what was literally a pasture and farmland the last time I was here.

To stand at the famous Bund and look across the river to this completely new cityscape is both amazing and dislocating. The architecture is a fusion of the contemporary, art deco and the Jetsons.

I cannot think of another city on earth today — or in history for that matter — that is changing so fast. The transformation of Berlin after German reunification has been very impressive. Shanghai’s development is mind-blowing.

The cultural and economic metamorphosis is just as amazing as the construction. My first visit here in 1989 revealed much of the old, drab past, including no shortage of older residents in Mao jackets and loudspeakers blaring political rhetoric. Today the city is electric with color and commerce. Indeed, the place and all its citizens seem to be constantly engaged in business and hustle. Shanghai is a 21st century boomtown in every way.

Government’s investment in infrastructure is astounding

Such transitions do not occur by accident, of course. While there is much to be concerned about regarding national policy here (more on this below), the government’s investment in infrastructure is astounding. With the combination of a commitment to a more market-oriented economy and massive international private-sector investment, the power of capitalism and government action is on full display.

Perhaps nowhere is the government’s investments more evident than at Fudan University. In the 15 years since I was last on this campus, the university has become wholly unrecognizable from the one I knew.

The capital construction projects would make any university president jealous.  But I was even more pleased with the highly sophisticated approach Fudan is now taking to international student and faculty exchanges. They understand their need for transnational engagement in a way that very few others do.

A beautiful campus, new buildings galore and an open, student-oriented approach to exchanges; it was all quite amazing to see.  It takes no imagination at all to see our students strolling these grounds, learning from new Chinese colleagues. What a truly different scene from the one I visited just months after the student unrest of 1989.Â

Disparity between rich and poor: an enormous challenge

Of course, no place is a utopia. Taking in the sights of Shanghai, it is easy to forget some of the great challenges facing this nation. At no time have more people — 300 million to 400 million — been lifted out of poverty and given a chance at real affluence in such a short span of time. For this, China can be very proud. However, this fact also means that 1 billion more residents have a long way to go.

The disparity between rich and poor is an enormous challenge. As the rural poor learn more of the riches of their urban cousins, they want more too. Interestingly, in a situation very familiar to most of us, manual labor on construction sites and domestic work in hotels and homes are being done by waves of poor rural immigrants, many arriving illegally. It seems urban residents don’t want these jobs. To simply keep pace with the need for new jobs to absorb the influx to urban centers, the economy must grow 7 percent annually, which is the highest rate for any nation.

Meanwhile, the expanding needs and demands for educational opportunities, health care, protection from environmental threats, new sources of energy, freer flows of information  and infrastructure in rural as well as urban areas grow as rapidly as everything else here.

Traffic – and you thought it was bad in Seattle!

Take one example: the impact of automobiles. In 1989, there were 13 million bicycles in the city. Movement by car was slowed not by automotive traffic jams, but by bicycle jams. Today the situation is completely reversed. Traffic is difficult at best. (After a day in a taxi in Shanghai, you will never again complain about Seattle traffic.). And here’s the rub: The Chinese are adding 400,000 new cars and drivers to the roads every year. The roads and the air simply cannot handle this rate of growth. Policy-makers are faced with some difficult choices to say the least.

Everything in China today seems to be happening faster and bigger than anywhere else, opportunities and challenges included. One UW alumnus living in Shanghai — and a great fan of China — described the situation nicely by saying, “Today China is skiing ahead of an avalanche.”  As long as they ski very fast, they’ll be OK. But the one thing they can’t afford to do is to fall down.

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Sunday, June 18

Summer has certainly arrived in Beijing, with 90-degree weather and uncommonly clear blue skies – the usual brown cloud of smog leaving at least for the weekend.  Streets and sidewalk shops and restaurants are jammed with families enjoying the bit of perfect weather.

Saturday also brought with it an opportunity to talk about the UW, China and higher education issues on CCTV, the national Chinese broadcasting system.
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I was asked to participate in an English language show, called “Dialogue.”  The interviewer – China’s Diane Sawyer, I was told – was remarkably well informed about higher education issues and the University of Washington.

For the 30-minute show she grilled me on questions of tuition and affordability of a college education, expanding access for those in rural communities, and maintaining quality while supporting growing populations of students.

Once again the similarities between American and Chinese educational issues was apparent. But one striking differences leaps out to even the casual observer.  China is trying to compress generations of development and change into a handful of years. The rate and scale of change going on is simply staggering.

While we at the UW can change to holistic admissions by treating an  applicant as a unique individual, Chinese universities must deal with 9 million applicants every year!  We are concerned about integrating our two new campuses in Tacoma and Bothell with the Seattle campus, while Tsingjua University tries to coordinate over 100 satellite campuses with its Beijing campus.

The policy questions may be the same, but the scale and sense of urgency are strikingly different. One cannot help but be impressed by the fortitude and confidence that the Chinese leaders bring to these daunting tasks. And to recognize that they see themselves – rightly, I believe – in a race against time to solve social challenges before they are overwhelming.

Dinner with the Husky volleyball team

Among those learning about Chinese society and taking in the sights and sounds of this fascinating place are the Husky volleyball team and those UW supporters traveling with them.

I caught up with them Sunday night for dinner. In their first stop in China, they are 1 and 1 playing against skilled Beijing opponents. But the point of their trip is much more than athletic competition.

I was delighted to see this group of wonderful students relishing in all that China has to offer: historical sights, distinctive culture, plenty of local cuisine.

Like me, more than a few of them are ready for a great cheeseburger. And they will struggle to fit all their purchases in suitcases. But how fun to see them representing the UW to their Chinese hosts with the same energy and presence that brought them a national championship.