Packaged with this issue is a reprint of a speech USC president Steven Sample recently gave to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, titled “Los Angeles: The Capital of the Pacific Rim.” In it, he makes his strongest case yet for the significance of Los Angeles’ unique combination of strengths as we enter what may well end up being called the Pacific Century.

“I believe L.A. is the capital of the Pacific Rim,” he writes, “because of a unique and powerful convergence of three remarkable strengths: first, our strength and breadth in business and commerce, especially in pioneering businesses, and in our premiere business – the global communications revolution; second, extraordinary creativity, including exceptional levels of intellectual capital; and third, unprecedented ethnic diversity and the interpenetration of cultures.”

USC embodies these strengths as well, which may be one reason that the university continues to top the nation in enrollment of international students, according to 2007-08 numbers released in November by the Institute of International Education. New York University is second, and Columbia University third. The largest group of international students at USC is from India, followed by mainland China.

Why is this? One reason, of course, is the university’s extensive recruiting efforts in Asia, along with its network of alumni clubs and international offices. Another reason, Sample says, is the cultural diversity of Los Angeles. L.A. has more people of Mexican descent than any city outside Mexico, the largest Korean population outside Seoul, the largest Filipino population outside Manila, the largest Japanese population outside Japan, and by far the largest Asian-American population in the United States. Thus, “we find that many of these students come to USC specifically to build a network of Asian friends ... and these friends will become the core of their pan-Asian network for the rest of their lives, not to mention the lifelong network of American friends that they also make on campus.”

Want to learn more? Check out USC’s new Globalization Web site at www.usc.edu/globalization.

– Susan Heitman