Great Lakes'
protection vital,
expert warns
MACKINAC ISLAND (UPI)- The
diversion of Great Lakes water is no
longer a far-fetched futuristic idea and
the only hope surrounding states have
of protecting their water rights may be
the creation of an interstate compact, a
legal expert said yesterday.
Wayne State University law
professor Robert Abrams told the
Great Lakes Water Resources Con-
ference an interstate compact
agreement by water bordering states
and Canadian Provinces is the only
available means of thwarting diversion
attempts by dry western states.
"Basically it should say that water
will be kept at home for use at home
and any decision otherwise should be
made collectively," Abrams said.
FOUR GREAT Lakes governors-
host William Milliken, Lee Dreyfuss of
Wisconsin, Robert Orr of Indiana and
Albert Quie of Minnesota-and Ontario
Premier William Davis, will discuss the
future of lakes protection during a con-
ference session today.
Representatives of Govs. James
Thompson of Illinois; James Rhodes of
Ohio; Richard Thornburgh of Pen-
nsylvania and Hugh Carey of New
York, as well as agents of Quebec
Premier Rene Levesque, also will join
in the two-day meeting. The conference
is being held on the picturesque resort
island located on the straits linking
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
In his presentation, Abrams said to
approve a compact each state
Legislature must endorse its language
to enhance the agreement's power and
Congressional approval is needed.
HE SUGGESTED the existing Great
Lakes Commission, an organization of
Former
'Wolverine
receiver
r
Jim Smith
arrai gned
By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE
'Former Michigan wide receiver Jim
Smith, currently a member of the Pit-
tsburgh Steelers, was arraigned in
Washtenaw County District Court Wed-
nesday on charges of carrying a con-
cealed weapon and felonious assault.
The charges stem from an incident on
May 26 at Smith's Pittsfield Township
home, according to a Pittsfield Town-
ship Police spokesperson. Smith
allegedly threatened three men with a
weapon after a brief verbal argument.
The 6-2, 205-pound Smith, who works
in the Washtenaw County sheriff's of-
eight bordering states should be expan-
ded and awarded managerial powers
over any compact.
Other experts warned diversion of
water could have negative economic
and ecological effects on the Great
Lakes region.
"Not only does the water move, so
does the economic opportunity,"
Abrams said.
JONATHAN Bulkley, a civil
engineering professor at the University
of Michigan, said basic calculations
show a hypothetical proposal to divert
water from Lake Superior to the
Missouri River could cost at least
$20.77 billion to construct.
Bulkley's figures were based on
diverting 10,000 cubic feet per second of
water some 615 miles to the Missouri
River as a means of replacing river
water South Dakota recently sold to
Wyoming.
He said as well as the high construc-
tion cests of aquaducts and pumping
stations, a $10 billion system of new
power plants would be needed to
operate the diversion system.
Despite high costs, others at the con-
ference said money will not prevent sun
belt states from seeking Great Lakes
water. Texas officials have indicated
they intend to spend $30 billion by the
year 2000 to bring water to Texas'
growing population.
No formal requests to transport
Great Lakes water long distances have
been made but experts believe such
projects will be suggested within the
decade as southwest populations grow
and occasional drought conditions oc-
cur.
Daily photo by MARK GINDIN
Point blimp
The Goodyear blimp had to rise above the Renaissance Center to provide a
bird's-eye view of last week's Detroit Grand Prix activities.
Schools fail test for
future, consultant says
By SCOTT STUCKAL
The present system of advancing
professors for work outside the
classroom rather than for their
teaching ability is a misguided ap-
proach toward educating people for a
future high technology society, said a
business consultant who specializes in
the needs of the future Wednesday
night.
Felix Kaufmann, president of Science
for Business, a local business con-
sulting firm, said universities place too
much emphasis on "little, unimportant
papers" their faculties produce and not
enough time on the students they are
preparing to meet society's future
needs.
"One of the problems in the incentive
system (at universities) is that
teaching is not at all considered,"
Kaufmann told an audience of 200
gathered at the Ann Arbor Sheraton for
the sixth in a series of lectures on high
technology sponsored by Eastern
Michigan University's College of
Technology and the Michigan
Technology Council.
KAUFMANN did not single out
higher education as the only institution
guilty of improperly preparing the
nation's youth for dealing with the
future. He said there need to be im-
provements at all levels of education,
including elementary and secondary.
America's educational system must
improve because workers will need bet-
ter skills as high technology in-
novations and third world labor
displace America's unskilled labor
pool, Kaufmann said.
Schools at all levels must undergo
changes to properly educate the coun-
try's future workers, Kaufmann said.
"We will need a workforce more
literate, numbered (mathematically
talented), and much more
sophisticated. The unskilled will be vir-
tually unemployable." He added that
society can not look to the present
educational system setup to supply the
skills we will need tomorrow.
ALTHOUGH Kaufmann stressed that
his criticism of American education
was not a condemnation of teachers
themselves, he said "the productivity
of the education industry is absolutely
abysmal."
One solution for America's education
problems is the use of computerized
video display units to give students in-
dividual attention and allow them to
learn at their own rates, he explained.
"The children take to (the use of per-
sonal computers) with phenomenal
speed," Kaufmann said. The
wunderkinder who will be taught on
personal computers will have close to
two years of an educational headstart
on college when they leave high school,
he said.
Smith
- charged with assault
fice during the off-season, was released
on $1,000 bond and ordered to appear
for trial on June 29. If convicted, Smith
could facea maximum sentence of nine
years in prison and $4,500 in fines.
At Michigan, Smith played from 1973-
76 and earned All-American honors his
senior year. He is in third place on the
Michigan career reception list with 73
catches for 1,687 yards and 14 touch-
downs. His best year as a Steeler was
1980, when he caught 37 passes for 711
yards and nine touchdowns.
t'