LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 22, 1996-3A
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Regents reassess intellectual property bylaws
:1
Commencement
tickets available
A limited number of tickets for the
* versity's Spring Commencement on
May 4 will be available for non-gradu-
ating students, faculty, staff and the
general public.
The tickets will be distributed from 9
a.m.-5 p.m. May 2-3 at the Michigan
Union Ticket Office, located on the
lower level of the Union. Each indi-
vidual may purchase up to two tickets
for the ceremony.
Greek system
members raise money
for Washtenaw Literacy
1Members of the Greek system have
been. eating Domino's Pizza all year
long to raise money for Washtenaw Lit-
gracy, the county's literacy agency. This
year, more than $1,500 is scheduled to
be donated by the pizza company.
omino's Pizza donates 50 cents of
ry large pizza ordered by a member
of the Greek system to the charity or
organization the Greek system desig-
nates. More than 3,140 pizza orders
qualified for the program.
The three fraternities that topped the
list-of pizza orders were Phi Sigma
Kappa, Fiji and Beta Theta Pi. Delta
zeta, Alpha Epsilon Phi and Alpha Phi
were the top three sororities.
The "Piece of Pie" program is in its
nd year at the University.
Hunger Coalition
sponsors campus food
drive for needy
Instead of throwing away unopened
cans, of food and letting valuable re-
sources go to waste, students now have
an easy way to unload unwanted canned
ds during this year's move-out and
i~elp the needy at the same time.
The Hunger Coal ition and Food Gath-
erers are sponsoring a food recovery
programthis yearto benefit Ann Arbor's
needy families{ Students who have sur-
plus nonperishable canned goods are.
urged to donate them to the campus food
drive. From April 29-May 3 and May 6-
10, canned goods may be dropped off
from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the First Baptist
Church of Ann Arbor, 512 E. Huron
,or the First United Methodist
Church of Ann Arbor, 120 S. State St.
For information on disposing of
refuse, reusables and recyclables, call
764-3442, or the City of Ann Arbor's
24-hour information line at 99-GREEN.
Regents approve sale
of 'U' property
The University Board of Regents ap-
'ved the sale of two pieces of Univer-
sity property Friday, formersitesofShady
Trails Camp and Camp Filbert Roth.
Shady Trails Camp, located on 26
acres of land in Omena, Mich., along
Grand Traverse Bay, provided a sum-
mer program for children with speech
and language impairments. The land
was originally purchased in 1949 from
the camp's founder, John Clancy, with
the understanding that the camp would
operated to provide services to those
h communicative disorders.
4n accordance with the wishes of
carie Clancy Hagerman, Clancy's
aughter, funds from the sale of the
bpd will be used to establish an endow-
ment fund in her parents' names. The
John and Grace Clancy Endowment
Fund will benefit the University's Com-
municative Disorders Clinic.
Camp Filbert Roth, the University's
*estry and Natural Resources sum-
ier field camp, was closed in 1988 and
its activities were transferred to the
University's Biological Station. The
property consists of 214 acres located
in the southwestern section of the Up-
per Penninsula.
Proceeds from the sale of the land
will go to the School of Natural Re-
sources and Environment, which has
maintained the land.
- From staff and wire reports
By Jeff Eldridge
Daily Staff Reporter
The relationship between University research
and corporate America was reassessed at Friday's
meeting of the University Board of Regents.
The regents voted to change Regents' Bylaw
3.10, which covers the distribution of research
profits when the rights of a discovery are sold to
a private corporation.
The bylaw changes will give a greater amount of
money to the inventors, with the intention of pro-
viding a stronger incentive for research initiatives.
Under the new policy, one-third of profits will
go to the inventor, one-third will go to schools and
colleges, and one-third will go to the inventor's
research and the associated department's units
and sub-units.
"We have a fairly generous distribution plan,"
said Assistant Vice President for Research Marvin
Parnes. "There are few that provide more to the
inventor."
Parnes said the changes are
designed to foster the movement
of academic research to the cor- We h
porate realm, a process known
as technology transfer. f
Vice President for Research
Homer Neal said the changes distibu
in Bylaw 3.10 stem from an
examination to see if there is-
"anything in (the University's) Assistan
policies or practice that might
inhibit (its) faculty from en-
gaging in technology transfer."
A panel is slated to review the policy changes in
1998. A year later, a report will be made to the
regents about the effects of the changes in the
intellectual properties bylaws.
Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit) cautioned that
ave a
onerous
Pion plans"
- Marvin Parnes
nt vice president
for research
the changes in policy should
not diminish the
University's extensive
projects in less-profitable
social science research.
"Those are not the type of
areas where you can have
tech transfer," Varner said.
Regent Shirley McFee (R-
Battle Creek) said the
changes will achieve the
plan's intended goals.
"I really consider what
Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) also
strongly backed the revisions.
"The substance of this policy I think repre-
sents a significant improvement on what we've
done in the past," Power said.
Issues surrounding research endeavors arose
later in the meeting when Neal delivered the
annual report on University research projects.
"The research university has a future that is
presently uncertain," Neal said. He said larges
scale research programs could be jeopardized
by federal funding cuts.
"Research expenditures continue to grow, but
our concern is what's going to happen in the next
few years," Neal said, noting that increased federal
lobbying efforts may help improve funding issues:
"It does raise the question of what we should be
doing to try to influence what will happen."
we're looking at here is a step to encourage re-
search, encourage commercialization," McFee said.
A2 ma~rs Earth
Day with festival
By Jeff Cox
For the Daily
Animals, alternative-fuel vehicles
and water filtration were the highlights
of Ann Arbor's annual Earth Day Fes-
tival, held yesterday at the Leslie Sci-
ence Center.
More than 300 children and adults
came to the festival, now in its fourth
year.
"Every year we have done it, it has
grown in numbers," said Rebecca
Kanner, an environmental educator at
the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor.
The festival also included exhibits on
solid waste, energy. air, water, trees
and wildlife.
"We are here as a celebration of Earth
Day. We are trying to educate the pub-
lic (about the environment)," said Nancy
Stone, an employee of the Ann Arbor
Solid Waste Department, who ran the
solid waste exhibit. "I think there is a
greater understanding that the environ-
ment needs to be helped."
Many adults flocked to the alterna-
tive-fuel vehicles exhibit, which dis-
played prototypes of cars that ran on
batteries and natural gas.
"The future is going to show a mix-
ture of different vehicles," said Rose
Lucas, a representative of Detroit
Edison, who displayed one of the
company's electric cars.
The Personal Community Vehicle,
built by the Trans2 Corporation, also
got a lot of attention. Members of the
public drove the PCV, which looks like
across between a golfcart and a Porsche.
All the exhibits geared their displays
toward children. "I'm here to educate
and hopefully plant a few seeds," said
Ted Hejka, an employee of the Ann
Arbor Water Plant, who was working a
the water exhibit. Models of water fi1-
tration systems were set up so children
could see how clean drinking water ik
made.
Some exhibits were more serious in
nature. At the energy exhibit, there were
aerial pictures of Ann Arbor taken iin
1983 and 1993, so that people could sep
how much Ann Arbor has grown in 10
years.
"(City growth) is definitely a poten-
tial threat to the quality of life here iii
Ann Arbor," said Robert Black, cd-
chair of the Ann Arbor Energy Corn-
mission. "What we are trying to do here
is get people to understand that every-
thing they do has an impact on the
environment."
The festival also had scheduled
events, such as an endangered-species
presentation by the Species Survival
Center, where children had the chance
to see several endangered species, iii-
cluding a two-toed sloth and a40-poun*
python.
While the presentation emphasized
the fact that these animals' habitats are
being destroyed at a rapid rate, the chil-
dren couldn't help but give most of
their attention to the animals, not the
speaker.
"My favorite animal was the snake. I
liked its spots," said 6-year-old Sarah
Bentley of Ann Arbor.
NOPPORN KICHANANTHA/Daily
Steve Marsh from Ann Arbor's Species Survival Center holds up an endangered American alligator to a crowd that had
gathered for the Earth Day Festival at Leslie Science Center yesterday.
Environmentalists warn of cutbacks,
DETROIT (AP) - With budget cuts and debates linger-
ing over how much protecting the environment should cost,
its defenders in Michigan and across the nation anticipate a
somber Earth Day.
Despite a new environmental book prepared by the U.N.
Environment Program to mark the 26th annual Earth Day.
conservationist express skepticism over what future ef-
forts will be made.
"The mood is somber this year," Alison Horton, director
of the Sierra Club's Michigan chapter told The Detroit
News for a story yesterday. "We don't seem to be in as
much of a celebratory mode."
In Michigan, one move that is dimming the hopes of
environmentalists, is the transfer of power from the Depart-
ment of Natural Resources to the Department Environmen-
tal Quality, which regulates dumping, hazardous waste and
development of wetlands.
State officials maintain the move was a matter of effi-
ciency, but environmentalists argue the transfer of duties
was an attempt to relax regulations.
Legislators also passed a measure that its opponents dub
a polluter's "secrecy law."
Environmentalist say they now must figure out solutions
to tougher problems - such as increasing use of energy and
the pollution caused by burning coal, oil and gasoline -
while striking a balance with economic concerns.
Carol Browner, chief of the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, said just last week that there does not have to
be a choice made between protection and economic growth.
"We can have both." she said.
Students
build steel
bridge
By Jeff Cox
For the Daily
The University's already highly lauded
College of Engineering got a boost in
prestige April 12 when the Civil Engi-
neering Steel Bridge team won the North
Central Regional Steel Bridge competi-
tion held at Michigan Technological
University in Houghton, Mich.
"This is the second year in a row that
we have won regionals," said Rick
Hutter, an Engineering senior and cap-
tain of the team.
"Last year was the first year that we
have ever won," said Bill Sharp, an
Engineering senior who captained the
team in the 1995 competition.
Four other schools participated in the
regional competition'this year in addi-
tion to the University. The contest is
held at one of the five each year. The
University hosted the competition last
year, and Michigan State will hold it
next year.
The team, formed five years ago, pres-
ently consists of four members who are
Interested in writing
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NOPPORN KICHANANTHA/Daily
Engineering seniors Brian Keeler (left) and Rick Hutter (right) and Hutter's wife
Marcia (middle) are part of a group of civil engineering students that designed
and built this award-winning steel bridge, which weighs only 100 pounds.
all Engineering students. "At first it went
slow, but once we got some help with the
computer program (used to design the
bridge) we rolled right through it," Hutter
said. "All the guys had a lot of fun with
it." The team had little outside help -
only with the welding of the bridge and
with the design software. "We design,
fabricate and construct the bridge solely
as students," Hutter said.
Last week's victory at Michigan Tech
is their ticket to the national competition,
which is scheduled for May 24-25 at the
Correction
State Rep. Mary Schroer (R-Ann Arbor) said, "This should not deter the quest for diversity." This was incorrectly reported
in Friday's Daily.
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
State University of New York in Buffalo.
"The first two teams in the regional
competition go to nationals," Sharp said
This means that, as the second place
team, Michigan State will be competing
against the University's team in Buffalo.
There are 12 regions in the nation
that participate, Sharp said. Last year
about 32 or 33 teams attended.
"We are expecting 30-40 bridges (at
the competition)," Hutter said.
Each bridge is judged based on crite-
ria including construction speed, light-
ness and aesthetic appearance.
"The bridge must span 18 feet and be
3 1/2 feet wide," Hutter said. The Uni-
versity team's bridge is 19 feet long,
but weighs only 96 pounds.
"The bridge has to support 2,500
pounds," Hutter said.
If the bridge is able to support the
weight, its deflection, the final factor in
the competition, is calculated. "Deflec-
tion is the amount the bridge sags below
its initial height," Hutter said.
INTERNET I
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wi l Tbe -sday April23.
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Display sales 764-0554.
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Thank you for a "-term!
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THE CANDRU
is a tiny parasitic fish that swims into one's urinary
tract and extends its spines into the walls of the urethra,
causing excruciating pain. Once there, .
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GROUP MEETINGS
-J Archery Club, meeting, 930-
0189, Sports Coliseum, 8:30-
10:30 p.m.
rJ Burning Bush Campus Ministry,
EVENTS
~J "Bible Study," sponsored by
Laymen's Evangelical Fellow-
ship International, Angell Hall,
Room G-144, 7 p.m.
Commons, 763-INFO,
info@umich.edu, UM* Eventson
GOpherBLUE, and http://
www.umich.edu/'-info on the
World Wide Web
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