Marshall Scholars and the Information Revolution:

Six years after the 1947 Marshall Plan that supported the recovery of Western Europe after World War II, the British government financed the Marshall Scholarship Program in gratitude to the people of the United States. The scholarships cover tuition, books, travel and living expenses for about 40 American students for two years' study in the United Kingdom.

Marshall Scholarships are generous and highly competitive, U-M Regent Philip H. Power of Ann Arbor notes, "yet they are relatively unknown, especially when compared with the deservedly famous Rhodes scholarships."

To bring more recognition to the program, Power and several British and American colleagues have organized the Marshall Symposium to be held on campus May 29-31. The symposium, "The Information Revolution: The View From Midstream," will bring together leading American and British practitioners and preeminent scholars, many of whom are former Marshall Scholars, to consider the impact and explore the implications of the information revolution.

"I believe it will be a most remarkable gathering for high-powered people, each of whose careers is hugely affected by the information revolution, to come together, understand what goes on and have an effect on how this revolution proceeds," Power said.

The entrepreneurs, journalists, publishers, public policy makers and scholars at the symposium will discuss such issues as First Amendment rights and intellectual property, law and public policy, media and popular culture, economic activity and entrepreneurship, the impact on traditional universities and new forms of educational institutions.

Power said the symposium will also highlight "the special position of the University of Michigan at the confluence of the information revolution."

"We have a newly named School of Information," he noted, "which is leading the nation in training people to use the information revolution."

"We have a School of Law which is specially competent in issues called up by the Web-intellectual property rights, libel and the entire range of First Amendment issues. In fact, our president, Lee Bollinger, who is a leading authority on the First Amendment and on constitutional issues raised by the new information technology, will chair the panel on law and public policy."

"We have a Business School which is moving ever rapidly in the area of entrepreneurial training. And last, the University has, still, a distinguished journalistic tradition that has opportunity for expression in the Internet and the World Wide Web."

Power also stands personally at the confluence of the major streams of the information revolution. In addition to being a U-M Regent, he is a newspaper publisher and a 1961-62 Marshall scholar.

The symposium is open to the public. Registration is $150. For more information visit the symposium Web site at www.si.umich.edu/Marshall/. E-mail: Marshall.Symposium@umich.edu. Mail inquiries to Katharine B. Soper, Assistant Associate Provost, University of Michigan, 3052 Fleming Administration Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340.