The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, May 18, 1982-Page 3
MICHIGAN TO LEAD THE PACK
Official outlines hi-tec
By CHRIS SALATA
Michigan will be on "the leading edge" of the new
wave of technological advancement, the director of
the state'a Office of Economic Development said
Saturday.
Addressing a select group of about 150 business
people and financial investors at the University's
Track and Tennis building, Albert Bogdan keynoted
the first annual Michigan Investment Fair Saturday
night by outlining the strategy his office devised to
keep Michigan competitive and productive in the
rapidly expanding field of high technology.
The strategy includes:
" Making the state more attractive for high
technology research and development;
" Changing the state's business and investment
r climate;
* Utilizing existing and building new research
facilities; and
* Maintaining and improving all levels of state sup-
ported education.
Bogdan said Michigan has already taken steps to
attrack new high technology research and develop-
ment. The state has allocated funds for research and
development, with special grants being established
for small businesses. This plan parallels a similar
program set up by the federal government where 3
percent of all research and development funds are set
aside for small businesses.
Bogdan spoke to a group of financial investors and
small businessmen to promote the "Say Yes to
Michigan" campaign. The campaign emphasizes the
state's commitment to attracting more venture
capital and bettering its business climate. He also
h strategy
told the group of theneed for cooperation between
them and the Small Business Division of the
Michigan Department of Commerce.
ANOTHER POSITIVE step was the creation of
Governor William Milliken's High Technology Task
Force, which has centralized the state's efforts to
develop a statewide high technology industry. One of
the task force's main responsibilites is to work in
concert with city government's and universities to in-
troduce new firms to the local area. According to
Bogdan, the proposed research park near North
Campus, which is bringing together state gover-
nment, city officials, University administrators, and
private developers, is a "glowing example" of how
the task force can work.
The state also has a laison in Washington D.C. to
Iacocca: Chrysler's
survival is
NEW YORK (UPI) - Chrysler Corp.
Chairman Lee Iacocca asserted
yesterday the issue of his car com-
pany's survival "is now behind us," and
a mere "wiggle in the economy" would
make Chrysler profitable again.
"In spite of an economic depression
far more severe than the most
pessimistic forecasters had guessed,
Chrysler Corp. is now back in sound
financial shape," he said.
"THE ISSUE of survival is now
behind us. We're running our
operations essentially at breakeven,
which means it wouldn't take much of a
wiggle in the economy to put us very
solidly in the black."
In a lucnheon speech to the Sales
Executives Club of New York, the
Detroit auto executive launched a
critical attack against federal gover-
nment policies for creating the dismal
state of the economy and high unem-
ployment in Michigan and elsewhere.
assured
"It's because the people in
Washington, where there is no unem-
ployment to speak of, are trying to
break inflation on the backs of people
who build cars and houses," he
charged.
"The plain fact is that the American
businessman and the American con-
sumer are being whipsawed not just on
monetary policy, but on budget policy,
- on tax policy, on trade policy, on energy
policy and on regulations," Iacocca
said.
Iacocca said if the administration
gave in to $15 billion in defense cuts, the
Democrats conceded to $15 billion in
social program cuts, and a surtax were
imposed on imported oil and a 15-cent-a-
gallon excise tax at the gas pump, the
budget deficit could be reduced $60
billion.
That, he said, would send interest
rates plummeting and provide affor-
dable credit for the purchase of cars
and houses.
Asner blames Reagan,
Heston for axing show
NEW YORK (AP)- Actor Ed Asner
said yesterday he suspects the White
House and his own opponents in the
Screen Actors Guild may have worked
for the cancellation of his television
series, "Lou Grant."
Asner, national president of SAG, told
a meeting of its New York local that "a
small group (in the guild) led by
(President) Reagan's stooge, Charlton
Heston," used lies to win a vote that
defeated the merger of the SAG and the
Screen Extras Guild.
He also accused Heston of "lying"
when he told the Los Angeles Herald
Examiner that Asner had brought up.
the issue of El Salvador at union board
meetings.
THERE WAS no immediate com-
ment from the White House about
Asner's statements. Heston also could
not immediately be reached for com-
ment.
Asner was criticized by conservative
groups earlier this year for starting a
fund drive for medical supplies to be
distributed by leftist rebels in El
Salvador. He later admitted he made
"a slight goof" for not making it clear
that he was not acting on behalf of the
guild.
James Rosenfield, executive vice
president of the CBS network, called
the charge about White House pressure
"preposterous."
HE SAID CBS has had to face
political pressure in the past for its
programs, such as "Playing for Time,"
but not in the case of "Lou Grant."
"When we start to hear from the
White House on such matters, it'll be a
cold day in hell," Rosenfield said.
Asner, however, insisted that
"Heston and his all-star hit squad have
attacked me."
ASNER LATER told -reporters that
although he suspected his unionism and
political activities were linked to the
cancellation of "Lou Grant," "whether
it can be proven or not beats me."
"I suppose it did sound bitter," he
said of his remarks about Reagan and
Heston. But he said his feelings were
motivated by "constant, unrelieved at-
tacks on the board and me" by Heston
and his allies in the guild.
The attacks, Asner said, date back to
the board's decision last year not to
issue its annual award, as planned, to
Reagan, citing the president's "anti-
labor" stance in last summer's illegal
strike by air traffic controllers.
. adOTy ho oy DEBRAHMLEWIS
Radiation
When it's five o'clock and the temperature is 85 degrees, Williams Street and
everything on it begins to glow under an unrelenting sun.
Mem~orial service hl
for P rof Brick mant
More than 100 people attended a
memorial service yesterday for
psychology Prof. Philip Brickman, a
suicide victim who died last Thursday.
"There is a lot of importance to Phil's
life, not his death," Linda Perloff, one
of Brickman's former students said to
the gathering of the late professor's
friends, family, students and
colleagues. "We should think about his
life," she said.
Robert Zajonc, a psychology
professor and researcher at the In-
stitute for Social Research's Center for
Group Dynamics, which Brickman
headed, summed up the feelings of
many of Brickman's colleagues by
saying "only a part of Phil died, a lot of
him is stillwith us."
A small reception for Brickman's
close friends and family was held after
the Rackham Hall memorial service.