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- 6 - Dr. Pedersen said that in light of this letter the committee needed to discuss the issue and decide what course of action to recommend. He added that he expected to hire a Washington representative by this spring. Mr. Devine agreed that the idea of the award is a good one, but agreed in the circumstances that the event should be delayed until next November or next spring. Mr. Hannon said that the real issue was to ensure Mr. MacDonald and Mobil that the Board's approval of the Washington event was a serious one and that we still needed their help and that the reasons for delay were valid in the interests of the best implementation of the project. He suggested that one of the Board members talk with Mr. MacDonald and explain why A.U.C. could not get staffed in Washington and why postponing thhe first event until next year was preferable. Mr. Devine agreed with Mr. Hannon. He thought Mr. MacDonald would understand the difficulties A.U.C. faces with organizing such an event understaffed. ·Mr. Reed offered another viewpoint. He suggested borrowing someone from Aramco, such as Mr. Magdi El Aas to help organize the event in April. He felt that relying on an outside party to assist in the dinner's organization was not an embarassment. He also added that one luncheon does not take that much organization. If the event could be put on successfully with outside help this April, then maybe A.U.C. should reconsider its position on the issue. Mr. Eilts stated that Mr. EI Aas is no longer an American employee but a Saudi employee. This could make employing him difficult. Dr. Pedersen felt that it was important to have A.U.C. staff working on the event and that New York could not do it without diverting attention from fund raising. In any case it was now March and getting it done by April would be too dificult. He had always been in favor of a Washington event and especially thought the idea generated in the faculty in Cairo of focusing it on an award for effective journalism in the Middle East was an excellent one. He noted that most such events were organized a year in advance. Next April would be the most propicious time, but it could be done after the board meeting in November if the committee felt early implementation was important. Mr. Devine suggested that this matter should be brought by the committee to the Board, but that the committee should recommend a course of action