Page 12-Wednesday, May 9, 1979-The Michigan Daily
EDC approves plans for Sheraton Hotel
By JOHN GOYER development in Ann Arbor, the EDC provide over 160 jobs to the city. An posed to evaluate projects. The
At the urging of Mayor Louis Belcher, has the power under state law to EDC member questioned, however, guidelines read, "Preference is given to
Ann Arbor's Economic Development authorize the issue of low-interest, tax- whether jobs were needed in the hotel enterprises ... which add diversity to
Corporation (EDC) yesterday gave its exempt bonds to developers that con- business, as other hotels in Ann Arbor the jobs pool in the city."
approval to preliminary plans for a six- form to EDC guidelines. Their tax already have staffing problems, the In addition to research, light
story Sheraton Hotel, to be built on exempt status means that those who member claimed. manufacturing and housing projects,
Boardwalk Drive across from Briar- buy the bonds do not have to pay taxes Springer also said his company could the EDC is supposed to attract projects
wood Mall. on the interest their money earns. not get funding from conventional sour- that provide "necessary services."
The EDC will now send the develop- The proposed hotel, for which the ces.
ment proposal to City Council, which EDC would issue $7.3 million in bonds, Belcher urged the council to support In general, opponents of the project
will consider whether to approve the failed to win a simple majority at an the project. He said the project would argued that it would not serve the
idea of funding the project through the EDC meeting two weeks ago, but broaden the tax base of the city and public interest.
EDC. developers asked if they could re- would help support the tourist and con-
THE PROJECT is in the early stages submit the project, since only six of the vention trade, which he said was the Robert Bring, a member of the EDC
of planning. Before City Council can nine members were present at that second largest business in Ann Arbor. who voted against the-approval of the
give final approval to the project, the meeting. CITY COUNCIL member Kenneth project, said he was concerned about
developer must prepare a detailed GEORGE SPRINGER, president of Latta (D-First Ward), pointed out last approving the project because, "The
project report describing the project's the G.E. Springer Co., chief developer night that the mayor's arguments for EDC is going to become an alternate
impact on the neighborhood. of the project, spoke in support of the the project seemed to contradict the source of financing, and I'm going to
Set up a year ago to encourage hotel project, saying the hotel would guidelines by which the EDC is sup- have some trouble with that."
Computers use spreads through University classes
(Continued from Page 1)
summed up their value succinctly by
saying, "They are a good way of listing
data." He said the Linguistics depar-
tment first used them in a Field
Methods course in 1969.
In addition, Statistics Department
chairman Prof. Michael Woodroofe
said computers have "been a mini-
revolution in teaching statistics" since
the department began using them in
1971, mainly for lab assignments. Our
data analysis courses wouldn't be
possible (without them)."
WOODROOFE guessed his depar-
tment receives around $5,000 per term
from the University for using its main
computer, the Michigan Terminal
System (MTS), which all departments
hook up to.
Journalism Prof. Robert Bishop
wrote a computer manual specifically
designed for his Journalism 301 class,
"Basic News Writing."
"We were the first school (in the
country) to use them (computers)," he
said. The journalism department first.
used them in 1969 after it figured that
the terminals could "do much of the
repetitive work that the teacher doesn't
have time to do," Bishop said. "(The
computers) will give them (students)
far more extensive comments (on their
stories), and point out the finer points of
grammar and spelling and so on." But
he cautioned that "it can't replace a
teacher."
BISHOP ADDED that although the
computer became overloaded and ac-
cess to it wasn't guaranteed, the ter-
minals have been worth the invest-
ment.
Commenting on student feedback
regarding the computers, Bishop said,
"Students are generally favorably in-
clined toward them, but journalists
generally don't like machines," he ad-
ded. "They (the students) were skep-
tical at first."
Journalism Department chairman
Peter Clarke indicated that one advan-
tage to journalism students learning
from computers is that students will
probably face similar machines, should
they enter the professional news
business. "They need to experience a
computer environment," he said,
referring to the newspaper trend
toward computerization.
LSA junior Marcie Van Cleave, who
took the 301 course in fundamental
news writing in the Fall 1977, said she
never even saw the terminals. Her in-
structor Linday Willcox "never got
around to it:"
ANN HOST, also an LS&A junior who
took Journalism 301 in Fall 1978, said,
"When we had it (a chance to use the
computer), it was broken." Then she
added, "I think it's a pretty good
idea ... it's good (immediate) feed-
back. I wish we had a chance to use it."
Bill Klein, a junior in the Business
Schook and a frequent user of the
University's computers, said you have
to tolerate a lot of frustration when
using them, but in the end, it's the best
way to complete the course
requirements.
Klein, a finance and labor relations
major said three of his four 1979 winter
term courses involved working on the
computer.
"I WAS ON the computer 30 hours per
week," he exclaimed. "That's way too
much." But he claims that he needed
that time to complete the course work.
He pointed out that a major problem
with using the terminals, especially last
term, was "the engineers and the
business students seemed to have
(computer) assignments at the same
time. Everything was assigned in
unison," he said. When you needed to
have a computer, you always had to
wait in line," Klein added.
Dealing with the computers, Klein
said, was like dealing with a "whole dif-
ferent set of logic patterns. I felt like an
idiot the first time I used it because it
(the computer) never understood my
logic. It was like a course in German or
French trying to talk to the computer,'
Klein said referring to the language
used to give the computer commands.
BUT KLEIN didn't hesitate to point
out the necessity of using computers,
.especially in the complex business
world that he will soon enter.
"It makes a lot of sense," he said. "It
relates to the real world. There's no
way around it.
Offering advice to novices in the per-
plexing computer field, the husky Klein
said, "They (the computers) give you a
lot of breaks. (Business instructors)
are excellent professors." He added
'that you should also plan "hours in ad-
vance" (when preparing to use the
computers).
KLEIN COMMENTED that if one
listens to the professors, operation of
the sometimes confusing and in-
timidating computers will be easier.
LSA junior Harold Bidlack echoed
Klein's strategy for getting the most out
of computer time.
"You plan out ahead of time what
questions you want to ask," he said,
referring to the method he used in his
Political Science 411 class, which
analyzes election statistics.
HE SAID the goal of his American
Political Process class was "to study
something about an election. We used
the computer to do that study. It was
essential (to the course)."
"You could do it the other way,
(without computers)," Bidlack con-
tinued, "but I'd still be doing the
problem now." Bidlack elected the
class in Fall 1978.
Like Klein, Bidlack's biggest
headache in dealing with the terminals
was "actually getting 'on-line,' or ac-.
tivating and using it."
Bidlack's advice for first-timers is to
"learn as much as you can about them
and listen to the instructor. You'll have
a much easier time later on. The class
was one of the best I've ever had," he
concluded.
Dr. Arthur Miller, who teaches the
411 class that Bidlack took, said "They
(the students) seem to enjoy doing the
computer term project." He cited in-
creasing student enrollment since the
class was first offered in the fall of 1974
as proof of students enjoyment of the
course.
Commenting on the computer's value
to Political Science students, Miller
claimed that "Students probably get a
much better feel about what's going on
in the world and how it (the computer)
can be used to manage large bodies of
data."
Miller also said he realizes that a
student's first exposure to a computer
can be "a little frightening". He said he
tries to "make them feel a little more
comfortable."
Prof. Samuel Barnes, chairman of
the Political Science Department, said
it operates "a few" terminals in Haven
(the department's headquarters), and
Winchell Halls.
He stated that each department
receives a certain amount of money for
its computer usage. The amount
allocated depends on how much they
use the terminals. According to
Woodroofe, each student is allotted a
certain amount of money, perhaps $10-
15, which they can use to operate the
computers.
Barnes said the University has
"taken the lead in graduate instruction
(involving computers)." In addition,
Barnes didn't hesitate to point out the
empirical value of using computers for
social research. They are "very much a
part of contemporary life. You need to
understand how they function in
political science research," Barnes ad-
ded.
PATTI SMITH
* will be OfCHANCE
* May 15-16
* for more information call 994-5350
r**** ** ** ***** *****
ENERGY.
We* can't afford
to waste it.