Q. In what way this program will benefit me now?
A.
Supporting this program – or any program at a university,
for that matter – is like planting a seed. It takes
time for this to sprout, grow into a tree and yield fruit.
Think of this as an investment that will benefit our children
and grandchildren. Think of this as a gift to our posterity.
Think of this an investment to put Telugu on the International
map.
Q. I have a 10-year old daughter. I want to teach
her Telugu. Will this program help?
A. This is a university level program
aimed at college going students. The best way to teach Telugu
to your youngsters is to talk the language at home and use
Sunday schools (like Bala Vihars) to teach them the basics.
Q. I have a university-bound son, but he will not
be going to UC Berkeley. How can he take advantage of this
program?
A. Perhaps he can take summer classes
offered at Berkeley. Perhaps he can make arrangements to spend
a semester at Berkeley. At some future time, it may be possible
to offer some of the Telugu courses through University Extension.
Many of these questions can be resolved once we know the shape
and scope of the program.
Q. Can my child get General Education credit for
the Telugu courses.
A. Yes.
Q. If we give lots of money to support your effort,
can we have a say on whom you hire as an instructor?
A.
You can always encourage a potential candidate to apply for
an advertised faculty position. However, hiring faculty is
strictly a university matter and new faculty is hired through
intense deliberations in faculty committees.
Q. Why are you doing this in California? Why at
UC Berkeley?
A. There are several reasons:
(a)
At the time of this writing, a rough estimate of California’s
Telugu population is 200,000, with major pockets as follows:
San Francisco Area, 65,000; Sacramento area is 20,000; Southern
California 65,000. UC Berkeley draws the best and brightest
from all these geographical areas.
(b) UC Berkeley ranks among a handful of
world class universities. We get world class exposure to
Telugu
(c) UC Berkeley has a strong South Asia
Studies program and is already teaching Sanskrit, Hindi,
Urdu, Tamil, Bengali and Punjabi. There are well known synergies
among Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil.
Q. How are you going to honor and recognize large
donors?
A. Large donors will be honored appropriately.
There are opportunities to name certain programs and chairs
after very large donors. People planning to donate over $100,000
are encouraged to talk to the university officers for the
types of possible recognitions and honors. All names will
be displayed on the Web site.
Q. What will happen if you fail to raise $200,000
by December 2006 or $1.0M in the next three/four years?
A.
Failure is not an option. Telugu people from time immemorial
are known for their generosity. If poor Dokka Sitamma shared
her “rice and rasam” with a man she rescued from
a river in spate, so can we. A one-time contribution of $100
each from 1/20th of the Telugu families in California is all
we need to succeed. As UC Berkeley draws students and faculty
from all over, we are reaching out worldwide with this appeal.
Q.
What will you do with the one million dollars?
A. The money will be used as a corpus
and the interest obtained will be used to support a full-time
lecturer’s salary and benefits.
Q.
Can you hire a professor, instead of a lecturer?
A. Yes, we can. To support a professor’s
salary and launch a research program we need a minimum of
$5M. Once we reach the one million goal, we will pursue loftier
goals!
Q.
Can we make on-line contributions?
A. Yes. Please go to the Telugu
Initiative Donation webpage and follow the instructions.
Your donation will be acknowledged and your name will appear
on the web site.
Q. We cannot donate a large lump sum at one time.
Will you accept monthly payments?
A.
At this time, our on-line form does not permit this. We are
working on this. We will try to create a scheme that allows
us to charge your credit card each month a specified amount.
Thanks for asking such a nice question!
