18 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 6, 1996
Neal era
opens at 'U'
By Jennifer Harvey
Daily Staff Reporter
On July 1, Homer Neal took office as interim University
president. And the person he replaced, former President James
Duderstadt, said Neal is the right man for the job.
"He's very good," said Duderstadt, who served as president
fcr eight years. "University presidents aren't supposed to pick
tIhir successors, but he's the one I would have picked. He's a
on of immense integrity and courage."
Neal, 54, has a long history with the University. He served
most recently as University vice president for research. He
has also served as a physics professor and chaired the
Department of Physics.
Citing his desire to continue his research, Neal has said he
is iot interested in extending his presidency beyond the inter-
im period and will return to his research post once a new pres-
ident is chosen.
He said he has too much fun in the physics lab to give it up
just yet. "Everyone would be asking, 'Where is he? Why isn't
he fixing this problem?"' he said.
Neal received a bachelor's degree in physics with honors
from Indiana University in 1961. He later received both a mas-
ter's degree and a doctorate in physics here at the University.
He was the head physics teaching fellow here from 1962-63.
Work with the research group that recently announced the
discovery of the top quark has been a highlight of his career,
Neal said.
Neal said he thinks a number of issues will be extremely Former
important to the University community in the coming months.
"It's a big agenda made of bite-size pieces, which I hope
we can chew on," he said. I.
Neal said a number of current University initiatives will be D
in the forefront of activity, including a commitment to diver-
sity, NCAA recertification, the change to the Value Centered By Jen
Management budgeting system, education cost management Daily St
and renovation of campus buildings. Form
Health care will require a lot of attention, especially with Duders
options for restructuring the University Medical Center com- ing the
ing before the University Board of Regents at their September "I a
meeting. "We'll be dealing with an entity where tens of mil- recent
lions of dollars will be in question," he said. dent. I'
Increasing undergraduate research opportunities will be one How
focus of his administration.. year te
"We often hear students don't have a chance to have sub- more r
stantive (research) experiences with professors," he said. "We being a
want to be able to guarantee such an experience." "The
Neal estimated that implementation of a University-wide "Pim m
research program would take one year. breakin
Plans to set up new communication mechanisms for stu- "I a
dents, faculty and staff are also part of his agenda. Neal said Since
he would like to meet with "reasonably sized" advisory groups Univer
to discuss campus issues. metic,
Neal said he plans to get a lot of input from University stu- Duders
dents, faculty and staff in these focus-group discussions. ie knowi
said he hopes to begin the focus-group discussions this month. contro
"'m more convinced than ever that this is an appropriate thing "Thi
to do," Neal said. diverse
Neal said he doesn't expect to have much time for recre- in its h
ation during his tenure. But he said he enjoys canoeing, fly
fishing and boating in what little spare time he has.
Neal said he plans to enjoy at least one of the perks of being
at the helm of the University. As president, Neal gets to watch
Michigan football from his box on the 50-yard line.
"It's hard to beat football on a Saturday afternoon with
105,000 people screaming around you" he said.
- DailyStaff Reporters. Jodi Cohen and .JeffEldridge
contributed to this report.
e$
. a
r4
Art Faf
Atireof
9-
woe or all
consider
myself a survivor
of Art Fair. I'm<;
trying to start a
support group.
This was my
second summer in
Ann Arbor, but my
first summer on
campus.
Last summer I
spent my days
interning in Detroit ENN ER
and the rest of my N
time driving to and HARVEY
fro. This summer, I
rarely left campus
(yes, I know, I suck).
For the first few days of summer, I
thought I was in a ghost town. I never
passed more than three people on my
walks to campus. I never had to wait
for food at the bagel store because there
was never a line there.
There was no traffic, no daredevil
MAN/Daily pedestrians jumping in front of my car
and playfully testing my braking skills
- as I drove. There were parking spacer
University President James Duderstadt passed the ball to interim President Homer Neal on July 1.
uderstadt leads new high(
I4
nifer Harvey
f Reporter
ier University Prtesidenit James
tadt makes it clear that he is not leav-
University.
m not retiring," Duderstadt said in a
interview. "I'm not a has-been presi-
m a done-that president."
ever, Duderstadt, who ended his eight-
rm as president June 30, said he is much
elaxed these days, having returned to
professor of nuclear engineering.
pace isn't slowing down any," he said.
oving at warp speed seven. The idea of
ng to a halt is quite alien to me.
n basically a builder."
e Duderstadt took office in 1988. the
rsity has undergone vast changes: cos-
financial, structural and compositional.
tadt walked away from the presidency
ng he influenced great, and sometimes
versial, change at the University.
s University is better, stronger, more
, and more exciting than it's ever been
istory," lie said.
Duderstadt announced last fill that he would
resign and said he wanted to return to teaching
in the College of Engineering.
"I'll miss the day-to-day interaction with
some truly remarkable people, some of the
most talented people in higher education,"
Duderstadt said.
Duderstadt cited increased diversity as one
reason for the University's improvement during
his presidency. Under Duderstadt's presidency,
minority student enrollment more than doubled
to about 25 percent of the student body.
Duderstadt said campus is financially and
aesthetically much stronger now.
He said his greatest success as president was
,getting the University to look forward to the
future rather than worrying about the past."
Duderstadt said he is currently working on
two major projects. the Millenium Institute and
the Virtual University project. He said he is
working to get the projects started, recently
completing a trip to Washington, D.C., to dis-
cuss future options for both.
Gov. John Engler asked Duderstadt to head
the Virtual University project, which will offer
ed projects
online instruction in the field of automotive
engineering to anyone in Michigan.
Duderstadt said he expects the first virtual
courses to be accessible in January 1997. He
said he expects the courses will be higher-level
computer engineering and engineering busi-
ness management courses, although the scope
of courses could easily expand.
Duderstadt said he will be exploring new
ways to teach and learn. "I think the classroom
paradigm for learning is becoming obsolete.
l'd like to see if I'm right," he said. "I want to
try to do some other things than teach rocket
science or whatever I used to do."
Duderstadt said he would like to teach a
course detailing how to take advantage of the
opportunities offered by attending a major uni-
versity. "I have ideas that are sufficiently radi-
cal: they might scare the University." he said.
Duderstadt said the best thing about not
being president is the absence of "minute-by-
minute pressures."
"Now I have time to focus," he said.
--Daiy .Swtaff Reporter Katie Wang
contributed to this report.
Summer shuffling puts new,
old faces in new places
By Katie Wang
Dally Staff Reporter
Fresh faces and seasoned veterans all
passed through the administration's
revolving door this summer.
While a change of guard in the
University presidency headlined the four
months, several academic deans came
and went, in addition to a major shake
- up at the University Medical Center.
MEDICAL CENTER AND MEDICAL
SCioor
The University Medical Center,
which underwent significant staff
reductions during the summer, also
experienced major staff changes in its
executive board.
On June 26, John Forsyth, president
and chief execu-
tive officer for
the University
Health System,.
announced he
would leave the
Medical Centery
in August to
become president
and CEO of
IASD Health
Services Corp., Forsyth
based in Des
Moines, Iowa.
Later that same week, Giles Bole,
dean of the University Medical School,
announced his resignation to return to
the school's faculty.
The departure of both administrators
presented the University with an oppor-
tunity to restructure the Medical Center
- a system that had already begun to
downsize in response to the pressures
of managed-care companies.
"It has been a great privilege to serve
the University for the past 26 years,"
Forsyth said. "It has been particularly
gratifying to have been able to partici-
pate in the most dramatic transforma-
tion of any university hospital in the
country."
In a written statement, Bole said, "It
has been my desire for some time to
move on to other challenges."
Dr. A. Lorris Betz and Larry Warren
have filled the positions of interim dean
of the Medical School and the interim
executive director of the Medical
Center, respectively.
Prior to his appointment, Betz served
as the executive associate dean of the
Medical School.
Betz said he has a number of goals in
mind for this year. Those aims include
"making sure we have incentives for
physicians, working with hospitals to
reduce their costs, continue to build a
network with other health care providers
and with its insurance companies."
Machetn said a nationwide search for
a permanent dean of the Medical
School began several months ago. Betz
would not comment on whether he
would accept an offer to become the
permanent dean.
SNRE
In June, the University Board of
Regents approved the appointment of
Daniel Mazmanian as dean of the
School of Natural Resources' and
Environment.
Mazmanian came to the University
from the Claremont Graduate School in
California, where was director of the
Center for Politics and Economics.
Mazmanian, who began his tenure
Sept. 1, is filling the position vacated
by George Brewer in August 1995.
University Provost J. Bernard
Machen said, "Mazmanian has the
capacity to meet the challenges facing
natural resources
and environment
today and the
leadership quali-
ties required to
lead the School of:
N a t u r a 1 r
Resources and
Environment into
the 21st century." W
ACADEMI C
OUTREACH Warren
The University
also announced in June that Tim Quinn,
president of Northwestern Michigan
College, would join the University's
new Academic Outreach Program on
Sept. 1.;
Quinn's main focus will be helping
to create the Michigan Virtual
Automotive College - a project being
supervised by former University
President James Duderstadt.
ITD
The Information Technology
Division 'announced that Jose-Marie
Griffiths became the executive director
and information officer of LTD at the
beginning of this month.
everywhere.
Don't faint; it's true.
I soon became used to the luxury of
fast service and travel in Ann Arbor.
Now, I'm really bitter that I have to
wait for things again.
Four days of the summer were sheer
hell, the days the black cloud of the Art
Fairs descended.
Everyone says that Art Fair is sup-
posed to be cool and trendy and thh
epitome of Ann Arbor culture. That
only true if you don't have to live in it
for four days. The Art Fair was the
scud in my summer.
The crowds sucked. Thousands of
people swarmed like locusts on the
campus, asking anyone with a back-
pack for directions to the nearest place
with public restrooms. They also all
wanted to know "the quickest way to
Zingerman's." As if.
The crowds were a mix of peope
who had wandered from their trailer
parks and people who jetted in from "the
shore," wherever the shore was.
People brought their screaming,
obnoxious children to the fairs. I have
no idea why people did this. They were
annoyed with their children's lack of
culture. The kids were nearly all sob-
bing. I can think of few worse tortures
for the kids than about seven hours i ,
the hot sun looking at pottery. Mothe
would threaten to "take their kids home
if they didn't straighten up." I am sur-
prised I never heard one of the children
shriek with glee at the opportunity to
escape.
All those strollers were really con-
venient for maneuvering the crowded
streets, too.
During one of my many achingly
slow walks to campus behind people
who were obviously not in a hurry to y
anywhere, I actually heard one womi
say, "You just can't get a good dinner
crepe in the United States anymore."
I do believe that is the most preten-
tious thingI have ever heard.
OK, so my hometown, Climax,
Mich., wasn't a cultural mecca, but I
found the whole pretense of Art Fair
ridiculous.
Most of the art was bad. It looked
like dump and it was really expensi
The damn event clogged the streets, i
roads and the restaurants.
For all its "classiness," the Art Fair
could not escape its carnival-esque
nature. There were food tents and port-
a-potties and hellish sunburns all over
the place.
Regardless of their "classiness,"
most people went home with one of the
Art Fair's signature items, bugs-on-
sticks. Seriously, hundreds of peop e
bought copper sculptures of bugs a
butterflies on sticks, something really
cool for the garden.
I did a dance of joy when the tents
full of mermaid mugs and woven rugs
were packed away and I could walk to
campus at a decent pace again.
Maybe a 12-step program can help
me get over the lingering trauma.
- Jennifer Harvey can be reached via
e-mail at jenkat@umich.ed
BU1PN UAMIMN U/ aOiy
Sculptor Robert Martin stands between two of his artworks on Main Street as he
sets up his display for the Ann Arbor Art Fairs in July. He welds copper and brass
instruments into human figures, animals and fountains. Martin puts more than
40,000 miles a year on his car travelling from art show to art show.
April 26 - Medical
Center: Medical Center
announces a 3-year,
$200 milion plan to
downsize and become
May 30 - Medical Center:
University Medical Center
officials announce 541
employees will receive
June 22 - KKK rally:
Hundreds of Ann Arbor
residents and law
enforcement officers
r-'iaeh in rdowntown Ann
June 30 --Changing of the
guard: James Duderstadt
bids the University presiden-
cy farewell to return to the
faculty and Homer Neal.
chrgesagainst John Matlock,
diraptnr o.f the Office: of Aadil.
droppd at the request'o the po
July 19 --Tuition hike: The 1996-97
budget is approved by the Board of
Regents. With the exception of the
1984-85 budget, this budget has
ths? lowest anntoal innceseince
I