PAGE FOUR
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TUESDAY, AIUGVST 25, 1064
Rise of Research Brings Complexity, Contro
vers
Physical Sciences Said To Eclipse Work
In Humanities, Social Science, Education
By PHILIP SUTIN
Research is growing even faster
than education.
The University handled approx-
imately $40 million in sponsored
research last year and this figure
is expected to reach $100 million
by 1970.
"Research expenditures at the
University have been doubling
every four years recently. If they
should continue to grow in this
way, in 1965 they would be $50
million and in 1969 they would be
$100 million," retiring Vice-Presi-
dent for Research Ralph A.\Saw-
yer said last year.
Approximately 55. per cent of
sponsored research funds goes into
engineering and the physical
sciences. Health and biological
sciences come next, followed by
the earth and social sciences.
Research Squeeze
These figures ' bring up the
question in the minds of many
faculty members of whether or not,
research in theehumanities is be-
ing slowly squeezed out. Although
much work is done in this field,
the heavy emphasis on defense
and technical research is over-
whelming the arts, and in the be-
lief of these faculty members,
converting the University into a
giant scientific factory.
However, University officials
are aware of this problem. Vice-
President for Academic Affairs
Roger W. Heyns says the Univer-
sity follows an "elevator" policy,
pumping University funds-such
as the Rackham Fund-into re-
search in less prosperous areas to
balance federal or private support
in other areas.
Prof. Renis Likert, director of
the Institute of Social Research
and chairman of the University
Senate committee on research,
said that his group also keeps
close watch on research balance.
Federal Funds
Most of the funds come from
the federal government. The de-
fense department is the largest
single contributor, with the Na-
tional Science . Foundation, the
National Institute of Health, the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the Atomic
Energy Commission also serve as
major sponsors of University re-
search activities.
In its bid to attract the new
NASA space center to Ann Arbor,
the University lost out this year
to the Boston area. The amount
of money spent by NASA at the
University is $4 million dollars.'
However, the agency has granted
the University $1.75 million for a
building to house its research.
'Top Rank'
Concerning the large federalj
allocations here, Sawyer said,
"These are large figures and they;
place the University in the very
top rank of American universities
in the amount of research which!
is being done for the federal gov-
ernment. Our defense contracts
place us probably fourth or fifth
among the universities of the na-
tion, and in research done for the
National Institute of Health,
fourth or fifth. The University is
certainly not lagging in research
or research in new areas."
The state, too, is looking to the
University and other educational
institutions in the state for a help-
ing hand through research.
Automation, Change
Automat ion, decentralization
and the change in the type of
growth industries has robbed
Michigan of much of its economic
vitality. Political leaders of both
parties have seen the need to en-
courage research to aid technolog-
ical development'of industries
within the state.ns
The n w House Committee on,
Ecornomid Growth has sought to
encourage research projects. A
$750,000 state research fund is a'
result of this committee's early
efforts.
ORA Staff
The, Office of Research Admin-
istration is the contract adminis-
tration staff of the vice-president'
for research. It administers spon-
sored research, providing program
and proposal development services
for researchers.
ORA also deals with the federal
government in obtaining contracts
and maintains bookkeeping rec-
ords. It also handles personnel and
security services for research fa-
cilities.
Lastly, it provides administra-
tive services, such as typing and
releasing reports for researchers.
The day-to-day financial affairs
of research are handled by the
Sponsored Research Business Of-
fice of the vice-president in charge
of business and finance. This of-
fice also provides special services,
among them a travel office for re-
search personnel.
Researcher's Role
The content of the research lies
with the researcher and the unit
he works for.
With constant increase in the
amount spent on research, Uni-
versity facilities also have grQwn.
The complex has attracted several
federal facilities. The Commercial
Fisheries Bureau has for a long
time maintained research facilities
at the University. It is now joined
by a Public Health Service water
pollution research center. Both
are building new facilities on
North Campus.
After World War II, the federal
government sold Willow Run Air-
port to the University for $1. Most
defense research is conducted
there and the Institute of Science
and Technology is centered there.
Capital Funds
The federal government has also
provided capital outlay funds for
research bunldings. Among those
under construction, at least par-
tially financed by the government
are the Buhl Human Genetics
Bldg. and the Research Bldg on
North Campus.
Besides the IST, the Institute
for Social Research and govern-
ment-sponsored projects, the Uni-
versity has/ a number of other re-
search centers.
The Mental Health Research
Institute is located near the Medi-
cal Center.
Mental Illness
'Occupying its own building since
1960, MHRI studies the basic fac-
tors of mental -illness, mainly by
testing the actions and reactions
of human and animal brains.
The Institute for Industrial
Health, the Institute of Public Ad-
ministration and the centers
studying linguistic and cultural
aspects of countries in the Near,
Middle and Far East, the Center
for Study of Higher Education, the
Institute for Human Adjustment,
the Legislative Research Center
and the Statistical Research Lab-
oratory all disseminate to public
officials relevant research findings
and, indirectly, strive to enhance
the University's image as a public
service institution.
Underneath the bustle and ser-
iousness of all the research that
goes on lies- the question of
whether it forces professors to ne-
glect the student. The faculty
member may be disturbed by this
problem along with the fact that
the academic community some-
times rewards good research more
than it does good instruction.
Indirect Costs
Research also poses another
problem for the University: its
indirect costs. The University has
been having a problem in keeping
down these indirect-or overhead
-costs which are often only par-
tially or not at all included in re-
search grants. Often these costs
amount to as much as 30 per cent
of the direct (salary and equip-
ment) cost of the project.
Whether research will consume
an even greater proportion of the
academic effort of students and
faculty, no one knows. But there
is little doubt of its effect upon
the past 10 or 15 years at the
University. The complex of multi-
million dollar projects now stand
as physical evidence of the post-
war campus revolution toward the
subject.
Today research has indeed taken
its place along with academic in-
struction as a prime function of
the University.
Read
Daily
Classifieds
TWO OF THE PRIME MOVERS behind the Phoenix Project hold a tapestry of the Phoenix, a myth-
ical bird whose nest was consumed by fire but who rose from its own ashes, young and revitalized.
The Project, similarily, rose from the ashes of World War II to seek peaceful uses for the atom which
destroyed. Hiroshima. At the left is Ralph A. Sawyer, director of the Project through 1959 and now
the retiring-vice-president for research; at the center is Prof. Henry Gomberg, who succeeded Sawyer
in the Phoenix post. At the right stands University President Harlan Hatcher.
Atom Serves Man at Phoenix
ISR Views
U.S. Society
It's building will be new this
fall, but the Institute for Social
Research will continue to be the
University's center for research in
the social sciences.
Including two major centers-
the Survey Research Center and
the Center for Group Dynamics--
ISR is supported by funds from
government, grants from founda-
tions and contracts which provide
funds from individuals and busi-
nesses to do specific jobs.
The Center for Group Dynamics
aims its efforts at the nature of
human groups-how they are
characterized, how they behave,
why they form and how they
change.
Subdivisions of the center deal
with children, youth and family
life and mental health in industry.
The last unit is concerned with,
among other problems, the rela-
tive mental and emotional situa-
tions of subordinates and superiors
and how interaction affects each.
SRC
ISR's Survey Research Center is
the larger of the two divisions.
Through its rigorous survey tech-
niques and timely studies it has
become one of the major sampling
organizations in the country.
Thus the center's political be-
havior division has engaged in
such projects as polling the na-
tion's voters during key election
years. SRC was the only survey
unit in the country to predict
Harry S Truman's presidential
victory in the 1948 campaign. The
center has also done extensive
work in correlating the voting be-
havior of congressmen with the
beliefs of their constituents.
A second well-known subunit of
SRC is concerned with economic
behavior. It's quarterly reports to
the government have furnished
valuable information on the fi-
nancial behavior of American
citizens.
Group Change
At the same time, SRC's com-
munication and influence unit has
delved into the question of
changes in the behavior of in-
dividuals and the groups which
they compose.
University students and changes
in their attitudes. resulting from.
college are the focal point ofthe
student development unit.
ISR as a whole is administered
separately from the teaching de-
partments of the University. But
it is closely allied with them
through mutual research interests
and the sharing of various in-
structional and professional ac-
tivities,
IST Projects
Seek Support
OfBusiness
The University's main institu-
tion for stimulating industry-
supported research is the Institute
of Science and Technology. Creat-
ed in 1959, IST spends $900,000
annually in state funds to en-
courage research and the develop-
ment of research-oriented indus-
tries.
IST's main role as an economic
stimulator is to serve as match-
maker between research facilities
and industry. One of its major
divisions helps companies with re-
search problems and finds facili-
ties to solve them.
"The University is making a
valiant effort to act as an inter-
face between the industrial and
economic community," Prof. James
T. Wilson of the geology depart-
ment, IST director, said.
IST is also the largest single re-
search unit, handling $10 million
-approximately 30 per cent-of
the University's. sponsored re-
search.
Divide Functions
The institute is informally
broken down into two functions.
While one concerns the aiding of
state industries in research, the
other area carries out the nearly
$9 million of sponsored research
a year.
The institute is divided into 14
research sections: acoustics and
seismics, analog computer, bio-
physics, computation, counter-
measures, engineering psychology,
glacial geology and polar research,
Great Lakes research, infrared
navigation and guidance, opera-
tions research, radar, sensory sub-
systems and solid state physics.
As the main conductor of spon-
sored research IST is the main
conductor defense research at the
University. The major effort cost-
ing $4 million a year is Project
Michigan. This project is studying
and divising means for long-range
detection of military targets.
IST Work
Other areas of IST's, defense
work include aerospace instru-
mentation, air defense, electronic
countermeasures and seismic de-
tections of nuclear explosions.
Must of the defense-oriented re-
search has civilian .applications.
Such projects include aircraft
navigation, aids and air traffic
control, application of technical
surveillance or remote sensing de-
vices' to the earth sciences, arms
control and disarmament meas-
ures and maser and laser research
and application.
r
!-
n _
One of the world's most signifi-l The project has attained a
cant programs to develop the broad interdisciplinary influence,
peaceful use of the atom stands as well as its international effects
on North Campus as a living from research it has done in such
memorial to University students fields as anatomy, archaeology,
killed in World War II. bacteriology, botany, chemistry,
The activities of the Michigan engineering, geology and law-not
Memorial-Phoenix Project range to mention physics.
from studying the physical inter- e
action of atoms to medical radia- Perhaps- the greatest strides
tion to the national and interna- have been made in medicine. The
tional legal problems of atomic availability of tracers, such as
energy. radioactive iodine, make possible
The project comprises seven the investigation of numerous
buildings, one of which is the $1 biological, chemical and physical
million Ford nuclear reactor, the phenomena associated with the
largest at any educational institu- human body.
tion. Control Parasites
400 Papers Other work has been done on
Several books and about 400 controlling p a r a s i t i c diseases
papers in technical journals have through irradiation, diagnosing
resulted, as has the University's tumors of the abdomen, thyroid,
graduate program in nuclear en- eye and brain by means of radio-
gineering, the largest in the; isotopic studies, maintaining a
nation.g gbone bank, in which bone and
How To Flunk Out
In Four 'U' Colleges
By LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM
For freshmen who lack academic discipline, the University
will provide plenty of its own when the first semester ends.
No matter which of the four colleges they enter-literary,
architecture, pharmacy or engineering-about 19 of every 20
students admitted this fall will witness the spring in Ann
Arbor. A lagging grade-point will have sent the other one home.
But of the 19 students who remain in good standing on
the academic roster, about three of them are benched for sub-C
performances.
Here is a rundown on the "qualifications" for academic
disciplinary action and a review of the individual college's
method for handling them.
LSA
Freshman probation is placed on any literary college fresh-
man whose grade point is below C for the first semester. The
administrative board of the college reviews his record. Once
placed on probation, however, he is expected to bring his
overall average up to 2.0 (C) within the next semester. As
a general rule, freshmen are given the year to "establish
eligibility" to continue their studies.
Later -on, other sub-C semesters will invoke "probation
continued" status for the student-or it may mean something
more serious. The administrative board may issue more strin-
gent disciplining such as "Requested to Withdraw" or "Re-
quested Not to Register." These decisions, which expel the
student, may be appealed at a hearing.
Engineering
In the engineering college, any freshman ranging from
D-plus (1.7) to C (2.0) is placed "on warning" and continues in
that classification until his overall average is jacked up to C.
Probation is imposed for an average of 1.1-1.7. From this
stage, he must achieve a 2.0 in the next semester or face an
expulsion recommendation from the Committee on Scholastic
Standing.
The student will also be required to withdraw if he slips
below 1.1 in any semester or if goes on probation three times
in his undergraduate career. Under extenuating circumstances,
the right of appeal is granted.
Architecture and Design
The architecture and design college places the freshman
"on notification" when he falls below C in his first semtser, or
in an ensuing semester. "Probation" is incurred when the total
grade-point dips below a C average. If the lag is too great, or
rei eated sub-C semesters are recorded, the student will be
asked by the assistant dean to show cause for not being expelled.
The most general rules of academic disciplining apply to
the pharmacy college. Freshmen who have compiled below a
D average will generally be required to withdraw. Starting
with the sophomore year, however, a slightly higher grade-
point is required.
When the cumulative average falls below C, a state of
"probation" is declared by the assistant dean. He, along with
the appropriate department chairman, form an appeal board.
soft tissues are stored to be used
for surgical transplantation, and
perfecting a method of sterilizing
living bone tissue.
High level gamma radiation has
been used experimentally to dis-
infect river water and sewage.
The project also serves public
and scientific interests with its
radiocarbon dating techniques.
This laboratory work fixes through
Carbon 14' disintegration dates of
various prehistoric materials and
objects. Skulls from the Himalyas,
tusk fragments from New Mexico
and agricultural tools from Mex-
ico have all been dated from the
University facilities.
Legal Scope'
Legal problems involved in the
use of the atom have their place
in the project's scope. The Atomic
Energy Research Program of the
University's Legal Research In-
stitute serves as a clearing house
for national and international
complications in law.
At present the project is con-
sidering new methods of financing
itself when the $2 million raised
by the last fund drive in 1959 runs
out.
While the project has a budget
of approximately $400,000 a year,
the University contributes slightly
less than $100,000. Among the al-
ternatives now being considered,
the project could ask the Univer-
sity to raise its share of the-costs,
seek federal support as well as
having the government support
specific grants or ask industry to
contribute more to its upkeep.
Additional money is desired to
modernize the 10 year old reactor
in order to expand and conduct
more elaborate experiments.,
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