The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 23, 1993 - 3

Scientific research funding rises
. but specifics hinder 'U' programs


By AMY SHORE
FOR THE DAILY
In a time when many domestic
programs face massive reductions in
federal funding, scientific research
funds appear to be rising. However,
new trends in the field are causing
University researchers to question the
* future of their programs.
The Clinton administration left re-
search funds, such as those for the
National Science Foundation (NSF)
and the National Institute of Health
(NIH), out of budget cuts made this
year for deficit reduction.
Although funds appear to be roll-
ing in, some researchers aren't happy.
Dr. Alan Steiss, director of the
University's Division of Research
Development and Administration, said
he feels new research funds will not
aid many current projects.
Steiss explained that the federal
government is now shifting its ap-

proval and funding to applied, short-
term technology research, and is pull-
ing funds from more general programs.
T ie Congressional Quarterly re-
ported this summer that funding for
NIH, the major government research
facility for the nation, was recently
revitalized with funds of $10.3 billion
for 1993. This was nearly 6 percent
higher than previous years and more
than even President Clinton proposed.
Further testimony to the
government's "commitment" to re-
search was found recently when the
NSF - the major provider of the
University's research funds - was
awarded $50 million beyond its nor-
mal allocation as part of President
Clinton's Competitiveness Bill and
was promised money in a bill that has
passed the House, and is expected to
receive Senate approval this week.
The problem with the discrimina-
tion between different types of re-

search arose last April, as Congres-
sional Quarterly reported, when NSF
funds were decreased for general re-
search grants including math, life sci-
ences, and engineering research. Yet,
funds were increased by more than
$160 million for "strategic" research
in manufacturing, the environment,
and biotechnology.
Thus it appears that the NSF has
received more funds while funding is
only abundant for specifically ap-
proved areas.
Arepresentative of the University's
Office for the Associate Dean of Re-
search also maintained thatNIH fund-
ing increases won't necessarily mean
more research, because of the in-
creased costs of projects and increased
duration of experiments.
Steiss said researchers are con-
cerned about Congress' stress on im-
mediate payoff and transferable tech-
nology. He added that this may cause

a fallout in necessary basic research.
"If the current direction is followed,
we will see a shift of attractive projects
funded by the NSF," Steiss predicted.
"This will have to cause people to
change what they research."
Some researchers predict that the
country could suffer in the long run
because of this research trend. Since
researchers are now limited to short-
term results, basic long-term research
is being neglected.
Steiss explained that in recent
years, while other nations have been
focusing on product development, the
United States has been changing to
research for immediate results and
stressing applied technology.
"America will fall behind in the
long term (with the stress on immedi-
ately beneficial research)," he claimed.
"If this is the case, it is the American
economy that will suffer in the long
term."

Flint campus to hook up to MIR LYN

PETER MATTHEWS/Daily
The University removed the bushes in front of the Graduate Library.
'U' removes library
hedges, citing safety
concerns, plant life

-By GREG HOEY
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
The University's Flint Campus li-
brary is targeting a hook up to the
MIRLYN on-line catalog system
sometime next term, said University
library officials from both campuses.
Bill Gosling, the assistant director
for technical services and library sys-
tems at the Gtaduate Library, said of
the system, "It will provide a single
source for multiple catalog access
within the University of Michigan
family of libraries, and it helps con-
tain University cost by using one set
of software to provide two catalogs."
Gosling said the process will ben-
efit students, faculty, and staff at both
campuses because, "The sharing of a
common system will facilitate access

to both collec-
tions fromboth 'The intent he
campuses." maximize the
R o b e r t University's r
Houbeck, li-
brary director
atFlint, said, "I Asst. Dir.
expect there
will be requests
from students and faculty in Ann Ar-
bor for resources here."
Houbeck said he believes that 15
percent of Flint's journals cannot be
found in Ann Arbor.
An extensive physical therapy col-
lection is one of the major resources
Houbeck said that only the Flint cam-
pus has to offer.
The libraries already have existing
interlibrary loan agreements, and

are is to
esources...'
- Bill Gosling

Gosling said that
the process will
just be a continua-
tion of those
agreements.
"We are a lot
smaller than Ann

.,

Grad Library

m

Arbor because our
collection is
mainly an undergraduate collection.
Libraries must pool their resources
and start cooperative buying,"
Houbeck said. .
Although the Flint library will be
hooking on to the MIRLYN system,
the two campuses will be listed under
two different catalogs - MCAT be-
ing the existing Ann Arbor catalog
and FLNT being the new catalog list-
ing.

Gosling said the decision is largely
a financial one.
"The intent here is to maximize the
University's resources and expand the
access to the benefit of both library
communities," he said.
He also added, "What Flint gains
here is the ability to use the same
software that we are without having
the expense of duplicating that soft-
ware.
Administrators from both libraries
said that there will be some overlap in
the resources each library carries.
"It is part of an overall process to
improve library patron access to in-
formation resources, be they within
the University of Michigan library
system or among institutions more
broadly," said Gosling.

House panel urged to raise state tobacco tax

By DAVID RHEINGOLD
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Safety concerns and faltering
plant life prompted the University
to remove some hedges on the Diag.
University workers in mid-Au-
gust hauled away the two large
hedges and some additional shrubs
that flanked the steps of the Gradu-
ate Library.
Now, hundreds of yellow flow-
ers greet passers-by instead.
University officials said library
users and staff feared that possible
assailants could lurk in the hedges.
"There were particular concerns
for the safety of students and staff,"
said Gayle Ackley, manager ofbusi-
ness and finance and facilities coor-
dinator for the University library
system. "We have a lot of staff who
work very late at night."
In addition, plant life in the area
was deteriorating because there was
too much competition for nutrients,
said Doug Fasing, manager of
grounds and waste management.
"We called it a movie-lot type
landscape. You could see the green
from the front, but behind it was all
hollowed out and beyond any orna-
mental value," Fasing said.
"We wanted to take away that
opportunity - hiding points, am-
bush points," said Sgt. David Betts,
crime prevention supervisor for the
University's Department of Public
Safety.
Betts said DPS received reports
of people hiding behind the bushes,
often using the space as a home.
From Jan. 1 until the end of

LANSING (AP)-Forcing smok-
ers to shell out 50 cents more for each
pack of cigarettes would prompt some
to quit and bring in more money for
the state, anti-smoking activists said
yesterday.
They added that a sharp increase in
the state's 25-cent per pack tax would
put cigarettes out of the price range of
many teenagers. They also urged the
House Taxation Committee to put a
tax on cigars, smokeless tobacco, and
other tobacco products. There's no
state tax on those now.
But tobacco industry supporters
predicted such a tax increase would
lead to Michigan smokers heading to
neighboring states to buy their ciga-
rettes and actually cut the state's rev-
enue.
Lawmakers last voted to raise the
state's cigarette tax in 1987, pushing
it up 4 cents a pack, to 25 cents.
Bike pirates continue
to prey on students
Decent fall weather continued to
be a boon to bike thieves this week, as
students all over campus reported bi-
cycles and bike parts stolen.
Bike heists were reported by stu-
dents at South Quad, East Quad, the
Law Quad and the Central Campus
Recreation Building.
Handlebars and other parts were
also stolen from a bike parked outside
Hutchins Hall.
One cycle was reportedly worth
more than $400, while another was
valued at more than $200.

Vernice Davis Anthony, the direc-
tor of the state Department of Public
Health, said smoking-related illnesses
kill about 50,000 people in Michigan
each year. That's the single largest
cause of death in the state, she said.
About 28 percent of the state's
adults smoke, a rate behind only Ken-
tucky and Tennessee, she said, adding
that a 50-cent per pack increase would
help reduce that.
David Sweanor, senior legal coun-
sel forCanada's Non-Smokers' Rights
Association, said American cigarette
taxes lag far behind Canada's.
In Canada, the average retail price
of cigarettes is $4.35, with $3.02, or
69 percent, of it taxes. In Michigan,
state and federal taxes make up 56
cents, or 30 percent, of the average
retail price of $1.89 for a pack of
cigarettes.
Surveys show about 80 percent of

smokers want to quit so boosting
Michigan's tax will "raise hundreds
of millions of dollars, save thousands
and thousands of lives, and people
will love you for it," he told the House.
Based on the Canadian experience
of higher taxes during the 1980s,
Michigan could expect to see a 4 per-
cent drop in cigarette consumption
for every 10 percent tax increase, he
said.
However, University of.Georgia
economics professor Dwight Lee said
any hopes of cutting down on-adult
smoking and raising lots of money for
the state with a tax increase were just
wrong.
Lee, testifying for the Tobacco In-
stitute, said the cigarette tax now brings
in about $250 million a year for Michi-
gan, but any big increase wouldn't
lead to a big jump in that figure.
That's because smokers will head

to neighboring states to stock up on
smokes, especially if they can save $5
on a 10-pack carton, he said. Lee also
predicted that any big price jump
would make the state a prime target
for smugglers.
A cigarette tax increase has been
listed as a likely candidate to help the
Legislature pay for running the state's
schools.
Lawmakers voted last summer to
end the use of property taxes for
schools and now must come up with
$6.3 billion to replace that money.
House Taxation Chairman Lynn
Jondahl said he didn't find the idea of
such a tax increase to be offensive, but
added that it's far too early to tell what
sort of funding plan Gov. John Engler
will outline on Oct. 5.
Once that is on the table, then the
fight over which taxes and how to
spend the money will begin, he said.

August, DPS has had 350 com-
plaints on the entire Diag area, Lt.
Vern Baisden said. These included
assaults, thefts and reports from
people feeling uncomfortable,
Baisden added.
Betts said most crime on the
Diag occurs in open areas, but he
said campus bushes have concealed
attackers before.
In fall 1991, for instance, a
woman was dragged into the bushes
near Hill Auditorium and raped.
Those bushes have since been
trimmed, Betts said.
Debi Cain, director of the
University's Sexual Assault Preven-
tion and Awareness Center, praised
the removal of the library bushes.
"I'm pleased that the shrubs were
removed from the library. I defi-
nitely think it's a good security
measure," she said in a written state-
ment.
The whole project cost about
$5,000, Fasing said.
Ackley said the Graduate Li-
brary has installed campus phones
on every floor and mirrors in some
of the stacks. And Betts said tfit
University is surveying campus,
looking for other areas to trim foli-
age.
But the most important precau.
tion, Betts said, is a cohesive came
pus community.
"We need to have a sense of
watching out for each other and
taking care of each other, and that
means if you see something suspi-
cious going on, give us a call," he
said.

licitation on University property and


None of the bikes was registered
with police.
DPS will be registering student
bicycles on the Diag Friday from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. for $2.50.
Thieves grab
entertainment system
at Northwood IV
An apartment at the Northwood
IV housing complex was broken into
Monday, resulting in more than $1,500
in stolen property.
According to University Depart-

Police
Beat
ment of Public Safety (DPS) reports,
a television, VCR, stereo, CD player
and more than 50 CDs were taken
from the apartment.
The thieves allegedly entered the
apartment by forcing their way
throught the screen door.
Police said there were no witnesses
to the burglary nor are there any sus-

pects.
Police weed out
marijuana users
DPS was also involved in multiple
incidents involving marijuana this
week. Tuesday, police received a call
from a Resident Adviser at Markley
who told officers he had confiscated
the illegal drug from a room on his
hall.
An investigation into the incident
is continuing.
There were also marijuana inci-
dents at South and East Quads over

the weekend. According to DPS re-
ports, no arrests were made in either
case, although a warrant authoriza-
tion is pending in the South Quad
incident.
Artful dodger booted
from Northwood
In an unrelated incident at the
Northwood IV complex Sunday, po-
lice stopped a subject attempting to
sell artwork in the 1800 block of
McIntyre Road.
The man was advised of the
University's ordinance prohibiting so-

licitation on University propertyan d
escorted from the area.
Yost's dignity
assaulted
A caller to DPS reported two
men showing their lack of respect,
for venerable Yost Ice Arena late
Monday night.
The two college-age men were
allegedly drinking, smoking and uri-
nating in the arena.
Officers escorted the two mein
from the building but did not arrest
them.
- by Will McCahill
Daily Staff Reporter


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Student groups
Q Acting Group, Rudolf Steiner
Institute, 1923 Geddes Ave.,
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Q Baha'i Student Associaton,
meeting, Frieze Building, 4068,
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Q Campus Crusade for Christ,
weekly meeting, Dental Build-
ing, Kellogg Aud., 7-9 p.m.
Q Global Nomads, mass meeting,
sponsored by U of M Interna-
tional Center, room 9C, 5-6:30

Stockwell,Blue Lounge, 6p.m.
Q Rotaract Club, meeting, MLB,
room 2002, 8 p.m.
Q Rowing Team, novice practice,
boat house down Main St., 3
p.m.
Q Sailing Club, weekly meeting,
West Engineering Building,
room 311, 7:45 p.m.
Q Saint Mary Student Parish,
Interfaith hospitality Network
Training, graduate discussion
group, altar server training, 331
Thnmmcnn 7 n rm

Government Foreign Affairs,
sponsored by Career Planing
and Placement, Angell Hall,
Aud. B, 6-7:30 p.m.
Q Japan in Japanese-American
Drama and Literary History,
speaker: Stephen Sumida, U of
M Center for Japanese Studies,
lecture senes, Lane Hall Com-
mons Room, 12 p.m.
Q Turkish Delight, speaker: Henry
Wright, lunch and lecture se-
ries, Museum of Natural His-
torv, room 2009. 12 n.m.

1lcann t hl©j ev
Homecoming 1993
Do You Diet Severely to
Control Your Weight?
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