The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, June 9, 1981,-Page 3 Research climate studied Report questions faculty on research environment By JOHN ADAM Daily research reporter Complaints ranging from limited travel funds to tiresome committee and classroom commitments were revealed in a report assessing faculty responses to a survey studying the University's research environment. The purpose of the report is td develop a series of actions to be taken toward strengthening the research climate of the University which was said to be deteriorating in a 1979 report. As Committee Chairman Lester Rutledge said, "this report will have a long lasting impact." THE COMMITTEE sent out questionnaires to faculty members, believing it was the best method to get the most accurate sampling of the University's diverse research en- vironment. 2,086 faculty members responded, according to the report, with nearly 75 percent of the regular full-time professorial faculty members participating. More than 25 percent of the respon- dents in departments such as Engineering, Business Administration, and Dentistry believe they were required to spend too much time in classroom instruction. Once the professor is free from duties such as committee work, classroom in- struction, and counseling, the primary deterrents to an ideal research en- vironment are limited travel funds and the indirect costs involved in research, the report indicates. JAMES LESCH, director of the University's Division of Research Development and Administration, agreed that there should be more money provided for faculty member travel costs. The faculty members "are our best salesmen" for securing fun- ding for their own proposals, Lesch said. The faculty travel account-which is over-run every year-was increased by 50 percent last year, but Lesch said.that the travel account should be "three times as much." Indirect costs are the largest disin- centive to research, particularly spon- sored research, due to faculty misin- formation about the nature of indirect costs, the report indicated. INDIRECT COST money totaled about $27 million last,year, Lesch said, and about two-thirds of the money goes into the University's General Fund, which pays for such things as See 'U' REPORT, Page 11 PROF. LESTER RUTLEDGE, chairman of the committee which issued a 20-page report (inset) on the research environment at the University said the report should serve to strengthen the University's research climate which was reportedly on the decline. In held open dinan Su such whis stree tract TH. noise one the A Ar PROPOSES SE T DECIBEL LEVELS, ENERGY PLAN Council discusses noise, energy By LOU FINTOR definitive noise levels by decibel emission According to the proposed ordinance, certain ac- City government reporter (measuring sound emission by intensity through a tivities are specifically prohibited if they produce a special session of the Ann Arbor City Council decibel meter) and setting noise standards for "clearly audible sound on or beyond the property line yesterday at the Michigan Theatre, members vehicles. of the property on which they are conducted." ed the question of a new city noise control or- One citizen, Glenn Mensching, a member of the HIGHLIGHTS OF the proposed ordinance include nce to citizens ina public hearing. Libertarian Party's State Central Committee, took prohibiting: ch an ordinance would seek to control noises issue with the proposed noise ordinance, declaring to @ operating power tools or equipment between 10 as late-night stereos, "yelling, shouting, council, "These regulations appear to be designed to p.m. and 7 a.m. weekdays, and between 9 p.m. and 8 tling, loud talking, or singing on the public harass certain groups of people." He raised serious a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. tAs," and devices used for "killing, trapping, at- questions regarding how the new ordinance will be * operating "any device for killing, trapping, at- ing, or repelling insects." enforced. tracting, or: repelling insects or other pests" between IE PROPOSAL encompasses repealing existing ACCORDING TO Mensching, the potential for 104p.m. and 8a.m. control ordinances and solidifying them into abuse of the proposed law far outweighs its benefits. " the operation or playing of any radio, television, comprehensive chapter to be incorporated into "In a university town, there are people running up phonograph, or musical instrument between 12 a.m. nn Arbor City Code. and down the street all the time. It could be stereos in and 8 a.m. dit fn eiares dorms bars parties, just in terms of who com- " operating or using any device to amplify "spoken ccW nCCUVLg oU bpURo I I I I iy 41U 1y, office, the two major changes involve setting Billwould block transit of nuclea"..r waste through state 1V 11 , " , l/ 4 v , J v . vv . . plains," said Mensching. By GEOFF CAMPBELL Daily staff writer Highly toxic nuclear waste may soon travel through Ann Arbor and other major Michigan population centers unless a bill that would outlaw out- of-state nuclear waste transport through Michigan is passed in the state legislature. The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Bennet (D- Rockford Township), was drafted in response to the announcement of proposed shipments of spent nuclear fuel from the Chalk River research facility in Ontario, Canada. Under present proposals, these shipments would pass through Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, and other Michigan population cen- ters on their way to a plant in South Carolina. Nuclear Assurances Corp., of Atlanta, has already received federal permits to transport the waste from Canada, entering the United States either through New York or Michigan. But, because New York already has a law forbidding the transport of such waste through the state, the company would have to See NOISE, Page 9 enter the United States through Michigan. ACCORDING TO Rick Levick of the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan, the proposed shipmen- ts are considered to be of bomb-grade material. In the event of waste leakage, "state and local officials would be unable to handle the situation" because of equipment and training deficiencies, Levick said. Les Welsh of Greenpeace, an anti-nuclear group, said that no formal evacuation plans exist should an accident involving nuclear waste occur in transit. Welsh added that all hazardous wastes are included in the Hazardous Materials 390 state program, which calls for a general evacuation in emergency situations. However, the evacuation program "has only been tested on paper," Welsh said, and Congressman William Roth (R-Delaware) has labelled the program "inadequate." "The feds don't say anything about who assumes responsibility if there is an accident," Bennet said. "I say ban the damn thing (nuclear waste); tell them to See BILL, Page 6