President George Bush cited both national security needs and global competitiveness when he announced the new National Security Language Initiative in early January. The United States is woefully behind every other nation when it comes to learning other languages, and the lack of interest in this topic is a running joke in Europe and other countries. For our citizens, this is no joke. Our lack of language dexterity has become an impediment to our ability to work more effectively across borders, and to protect our own borders.

This plan is designed to encourage students to begin studying "critical need" foreign languages, including Arabic, Farsi, and Chinese as early as kindergarten. Students introduced to foreign languages in middle school or high school find it much more difficult to learn correct pronunciation and vocabulary. The president's initiative also includes funding for advanced language speakers, study-abroad programs, and teacher development. The new proposal has yet to be debated in Congress, but thanks to popular demand, the College Board will offer the first Advanced Placement Course in Chinese.

Manhasset students, all American students, are competing on a global level for college openings, and eventually for jobs. In our Manhasset School District we should be inspired by this new presidential initiative and find a way to introduce all our students to languages at the earliest possible grade. This is not a "nice to have," it's a strategic imperative. We need to find a way to reverse the trend to eliminate foreign language in the elementary levels. It is clearly in the best interest of students to learn one or more foreign language.

Our annual school budget has many pressing needs. In recognition of this the Tower Foundation is working to raise $200,000 this year to fund an updated language lab. What better time as a community to work, to not only meet this goal, but to double, or triple, the budget in an attempt to provide foreign language to every grade level in our school system. The Tower Foundation will, I'm sure, be delighted to receive your donation. You may mail your contribution to The Tower Foundation P.O. Box 421 Manhasset, NY 11030 or email for further information to info@towerfoundation.com.

I've written our elected officials and requested their support for this initiative and for information how Manhasset can apply for funding from this new bill, won't you please do the same?

Jayne Evans Brescia