[Note: This is a re-formatted manuscript that was originally published in On the Horizon, 1992, 1(5), 3-4. It is posted here with permission from Jossey Bass Publishers.]

This is our final issue in Volume One. Subscription responses have been great. We already have several hundred domestic and international subscribers. From all accounts, On the Horizon is being well received.

For Volume Two, we are pleased to announce that the STEEP sections will be headed by well-recognized experts in their respective areas. Jan Gruell, who will head the SOCIAL section, is a political scientist at the University of Akron's Institute for Future Studies and Research; she is also program director of the Ohio Policy Issues Network and editor of Ohio Foresight. Wally Albers, recently retired head of Operating Sciences (scanning, market research, decision and risk analysis) for General Motors Research Laboratories and now principal of a consulting firm specializing in management science and decision making, forecasting, and scanning, will be responsible for the TECHNOLOGICAL area. Stell Kefalas, professor of management at the University of Georgia and a specialist in international business and information systems, will be responsible for the ECONOMIC area. David Orr, department of environmental studies at Oberlin, and the author of several books on the environment, is responsible for the ENVIRONMENTAL area. The POLITICAL sector will be written by Graham Molitor, president of Public Forecasting, Inc., and vice-president of the World Future Society. Graham served as director of research for both of Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller's campaigns for the Republican nomination and is author of over 200 articles and monographs on political forecasting. I will introduce the other members of the 1993-94 editorial board in my column in the October issue of Volume Two.

Nancy Blom, a research associate in the North Dakota University System, writes, "It is truly the only newsletter out of the scores of them that cross my desk that I read cover to cover. Why? Because the format is refreshing and USEFUL. You not only state what is going on in higher education, but you give us the impact and implications. You make me recognize 'the bigger picture.' Keep up the great work!" Many thanks for those kind words, Nancy.

In another letter to the editor, Theodore Micceri, University of South Florida, commented on an article in our preview issue concerning the Boren bill. We had said that the bill, which supports undergraduate study abroad and graduate training of language and area studies specialists, will be a step toward equipping students with the cultural and linguistic expertise to compete effectively in the new international environment. Ted agrees that multicultural expertise provides benefits, but contends that linguistic expertise is not required of English speakers because English is "the closest thing to an 'international language' throughout the world...particularly...among nations that are involved heavily in international trade." Ted says that a variety of agencies in foreign countries offer English language training programs due to the need to communicate with first world businesses. Finally, he argues that the process of sensitizing young Americans to the world's cultural diversity can be fulfilled by those Americans who take positions throughout the world teaching English. Since these young men and women are employed by foreign governments, private businesses, and schools, they can "attain cultural and frequently linguistic expertise at the expense of the foreign government or business rather than the American taxpayer." Ted concludes, "This shows the value of dispersed, privatized, and cost-free solutions to problems rather than the types of central, public, and costly solutions that have so reduced our competitive edge over the past 60 years."

We thank Ted and Nancy for writing in, and we would like to invite all our readers to do likewise--perhaps in response to Ted's letter (abbreviated above)--or to any of the articles printed in On the Horizon.

On another note: Jonathan Fife, Editor, ASHE/ERIC Higher Education Report Series, wants to ascertain the feasibility of commissioning biannual reports focusing on an environmental scan of higher education. These reports would include all of the information items in our data base (with their implications for colleges and universities) collected in our continuous scanning process. Please complete the form inserted in this copy indicating your sentiment about the desirability of the scan becoming a part of the ASHE/ERIC series and send it to Jon.

The October issue of On the Horizon is in process already. So renew your subscriptions now. And please consider this: a site license entitles you to both a personal copy and an easily reproducible-for-distribution copy that identifies your organization and site license number.

Until October...JLM