The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 5, 1985 -Page A2 5
'U' creates tech center
By KATIE WILCOX
The University is heading full force
into the era of high technology, and
the creation of the Center for Machine
Intelligence is one of the main thrusts
of this movement.
CMI is a research-oriented center
geared toward creating artificial in-
telligence from integrating existing
technologies such as computers,
communications systems, and
already-developed mechanical
systems.
"OUR GOAL is to design technology
that will integrate all these things,"
said Prof. Lynn Conway, co-director
of the center, and associate dean of
engineering. "(The center) will
create things that combine and co-
mingle previously separated
technologies," he said.
General Motors' Electronic Data
Systems Corporation (EDS) is co-
sponsoring CMI with the University,
and the present staff is comprised
completely of University and EDS
employees.
Conway describes CMI's research
as "more animate, more active," and
"a new generic technology in which
people design things."
THE RESEARCH will have an im-
pact on transportation, com-
munications, and defense industries,
Conway said. It will also affect areas
of industrial production, which will
create new jobs and business oppor-
tunities, he said.
Two initial projects at CMI are
programs to change office com-
munications. One is the development
of a nearly paperless office system,
and the other is a change from
autonomous office-to-office com-
munication to one interwoven net-
work.
Current corporate systems are bur-
dened with paper costs and the time
people spend on paper work, said
Ashby Woolf, co-director of the cen-
ter. "We want to go with a paperless
kind of system," he said. He added
that the GM Saturn project is one
plant focusing on a paperless office.
IN OFFICE communications, GM
has always promoted competition
among the autonomous plants and
divisions to keep increasing the
technology of all its computer
systems. As a result, each division's
computer system is unlike any at
other divisions, and information is
therefore limited within each division.
CMI is working on changing office
communications to one vast network,
greatly increasing the availability of
information among all GM divisions.
Another application of CMI's
research will be in bio-medical
engineering and its work with ar-
tificial limbs and automated
prothesises, Conway said.
THE CENTER, located near North
Campus, is presently 3,500 square
feet. "That's not a whole lot of space,
but it's a start," Woolf said.
The amout of funding from the
University and from EDS is un-
disclosed, but Woolf did say that "we
are adequately funded both from the
point of view of money and resour-
ces."
Including its resources toward CMI,
EDS contributes about 10,000 jobs to
the state and more than $200,000 in
payroll. EDS is also in the process of
building one of the largest private
communications networks in the
world.
CMI'S location is a great boost to
the area's standing in advanced
technology, Conway said. "This
region will be the center for Michigan
technology. People will think of here
as the new area for modern
technology," he said.
CMI also "brings an exciting new
research opportunity" to the Univer-
sity, Conway added.,
"It will be quite stimulating on both
sides."
Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
A father and his son enjoy paddle boating, one of the Huron River's many recreational opportunities.
Pollut ed river plagues city
By KATIE WILCOX
Despite the high level of pollution in
the Huron River, it still supplies 75
percent of Ann Arbor's water.
Until 1936, when the first sewage
treatment plant was built, all waste
water went directly into the river,
where it settled in the Gallup Pond
area and was treated through natural
processes, said Bill Stapp, a Univer-
sity professor of research planning
and conservation.
"THE RIVER HAS the biological
capacity to receive a certain amount
of material. Through the normal
processes of purification it could clear
away the waste. The river can no
longer do this," Stapp said, so waste
water workers are attempting to
re-route the polluted water.
There are two avenues for waste
water: sanitary waste, which goes
through sanitary lines to the Dixboro
Road treatment plant; and storm
waste, which goes directly into the
river.
Sanitary waste is collected from
homes and businesses, and storm
waste drains from the streets.
When people fertilize their lawns
and use pesticides and herbacides,
contaminants seep through the
ground and enter the sewers, Stapp
said. And gas and oil that leak from
cars ultimately wind up in the river,
he said.
This type o'f pollution is called
"nonpoint" pollution because it does
not come from any one point.
DAVE PLUEDDEMAN of the
Washtenaw County Health Depar-
tment heads a team that checks each
commercial establishment and home
in rural areas for connection to storm
sewers that go to the river rather than
to treatment plants.
"It's a very difficult, laborious,
very time-consuming process,"
Plueddemann said.
One inspection team discovered.
some areas that were not linked to
any waste water treatment plants.
"We know about 70 businesses in the
Allen Creek (downtown) drainage
area that never got connected to
sanitary lines in the treatment plant.
"DYE TESTS have shown that the.
toilets, etc., were draining into the
river. They are in the process of being
changed over. In a few years they will
be changed over," Stapp said.
But the water that does go through
the sanitary lines to the treatment
plants is completely purified and is
good quality water when it finally
arrives in homes, he said, and it
meets all state requirements.
Ann Arbor uses a three-part treat-
ment program while many other
cities don't go beyond primary and
secondary levels of treatment, accor-
ding to Stapp.
Because treatment plants do an ef-
fective job of cleaning sanitary waste
water, the pollution problem is from
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'U' appoints new V.P. for research
Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
The pollution in the Huron River has troubled Ann Arbor residents far
years.
the storm sewers that drain into the
river, Stapp said.
THE greatest problem with
pollution in the river is that it can
spread diseases such as typhoid and
hepatitis.
The presence of fecal-chloroform
(human and animal waste) can in-
dicate the presence of harmful
pathogens which are more difficult to
measure, Stapp said.
"If conditions are right for fecal-
chloroform, then conditions are right
for viruses and parasites," he said.
"This includes typhoid, hepatitis, and
dysentary."
The quality of the Huron River for
recreational purposes is a major con-
cern. The fisher, the canoeist, the
windsurfer, and the illegal-but-not-
uncommon swimmer are concerned
about the cleanliness of the river.
Because the river is contaminated
by sewage and chemicals, full contact
sports such as swimming are illegal
and the legality of windsurfing is con-
troversial. "Those who are caught
(swimming) are ticketed and go to
court," a Huron-Clinton Metro
authorities spokesman said.
SO FAR, HOWEVER, the Huron
River hasn't caused any major health
problems.
The Environmental Protection
agency is responsible for setting
levels for legal amounts of pollutants
in the waters. The E.P.A. pollutant
limit for full contact sports is usually
well above the level in the Huron
River. But after storms, the number
of pollutants jumps substantially,
making the water unsafe, Stapp said.
"Windsurfing is one of the central
controversies. It falls into a grey area
as to where it is classified," said Dale
Griner, a biology teacher at Huron
High School whose class has worked
on a program to test the water with
the University's Department of
Natural Resources.
PROF. JOHN GANNON from the
School of Public Health is preparing a
report for the Ann Arbor City Council
to determine the policy the city should
take next summer concerning
recreation on the river. It is uncertain
when the report will be finished.
Stapp thinks the city is dealing with
the issue responsibly. "I think the way
the city is going about it now is an ex-
cellent way - for example, hiring ex-
perts and testing for presentation to
2ity council. It is a rational way of ap-
proaching the problem," he said.
THE CITY IS considering closing
the beach after storms, Stapp said.
The city is also considering alter-
native approaches in dealing with the
pollution. Using small holding ponds
to treat waste, connecting some storm
sewers to the waste water treatment
plant, and holding the water until the
storms subside are three ways being
considered.
"It's a question of costs, of
economics," Stapp said of the alter-
natives.
But Plueddemann said that reten-
tion ponds will only eliminate some of
the pollutants, it will not rid the water
of chemical contaminants.
(Continued-from Page 1)
reduce the amount of money available
for research grants, an institution
must adapt to the times and build
resources and alliances to be com-
petitive for the funds.
BUILDING THESE resources will
be her primary goal, Wilson said.
Wilson will also have to confront one
of the most controversial issues at the
University - military research on
campus.
Wilson said the University has a
role in society to address national
issues and problems. "National
security, welfare of the people, and
the nation's economic health are all
on the national agenda. To label and
reject military research just because
it has to do with the military is a very
narrow view," she said.
But Wilson also said that when
research, military or non-military, in-
fringes on rights - such as the
freedom to publish - there would
have to be "a very compelling
reason" to do the research.
THE UNIVERSITY'S research
guidelines prohibit classified resear-
ch when a researcher would not be
able to publish his results.
Alfred Sussman, the University's
former vice president for research,
refused in July to approve a project
proposed by political science Prof.
Raymond Tanter. Tanter's research
on arms control agreements would
have required using classified
material, and his results would also
have been classified.
Ingrid Kock, MSA's military
researcher, said that she hasn't
spoken to Wilson, but that she hopes
Wilson will take into account the fact
'that some are opposed to all types of
military research on campus.
THE SELECTION OF Wilson cap-
ped an eight-month search for the new
vice president.
"The problem with the vice
president for research at the Univer-
sity of Michigan is that you have to
have a lot of breadth," Monto said,
explaining that in making their selec-
tion, the committee had to find
someone with experience and
knowledge in both the natural and
social sciences.
"I think she's going to be an ex-
cellent addition to our already-strong
group of executive officers," Monto
said.
WILSON WAS scheduled to replace
Sussman in late August. Sussman,
who served as interim vice president
for research and graduate studies
since 1983, retired from the office to
resume teaching biology at the
University.
Wilson's appointment created some
controversy at the May regents'
meeting. The board approved her ap-
pointment 7-1, but Regent Deane
Baker (R-Ann Arbor) voted against
the move because the University is
hiring Wilson's husband as an
assistant sociology professor in order
to persuade her to take the job.
Baker said he opposes the practice
because the University would be
hiring Wilson for the price of two.
Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit)
countered Baker's argument, saying
that it was a "sign of the times."
Eric Mattson filed a report for
this story.
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