The Michigan Daily - Friday, June 15, 1984 - Page 11 Senate votes to continue MX production (Continued from Page 1) The vote, largely along party lines, came on a Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico had joined Kennedy table in Geneva, Kennedy said. "In reviewing the motion by Sen. John Tower (R-Texas) to table an and Hart in sponsoring the attempt to scuttle the MX record of this administration, we have not been amendment by Democrats Edward Kennedy of outright willing to do what ought to be done, and that is to put a Massachusetts, Gary Hart of Colorado, and others But they proposed that $1.4 billion of the $2.6 billion proposal on the table to halt the arms race, before it that would have eliminated all MX production money that 21 missiles would cost be redirected into 26 con- halts the human race." from a $291 billion defense spending plan. ventional weapons and readiness programs, with the Just two weeks ago, the Houae narrowly approved Majority Republicans remained confident they remaining $1.2 billion going to help close the federal a virtual moratorium against production of the MX, could preserve at least 21 of the 40 missiles requested deficit. deciding that 15 missiles can be built but only if by Reagan for production next fiscal year. A 19- Kennedy noted that Congress supported the MX las Congress determines next year that prospects for an missile reduction was recommended by the Senate year after winning assurances from the ad- arms control accord with the Soviet Union are dim. Armed Services Committee, headed by Tower, but ministration that it would be a "bargaining chip" in Earlier yesterday, the Republican-dominated more severe cuts also were scheduled for debate. arms control talks. The Geneva talks subsequently chamber turned aside, 55-43, an attempt by Sen. Alan Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Carl collapsed with a walkout by the Soviet Union. Dixon (D-Ill.), to trim $5.3 billion from the proposed Levin of Michigan, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas and There was no realistic proposal placed on that defense budget. State, city to recruit high technology firms (Continued from Page 1) the center for high-tech excellence." A major part of that excellence is a result of work done at the University. According to University Vice President for Research Alfred Sussman, such a distinction is inevitable. "It is probably true that Ann Arbor will be a center for high-tech industry," Sussman said. "As.I see it, it isn't as if it were a conscious decision to go in that direction. It is the natural culmination of the distinction of our University and the nature of our city." SUSSMAN SAID the cultural at- mosphere perpetuated by the Univer- sity community is attractive to young. professionals, thus to high-tech com- merce. But it is more than Ann Arbor's night life that encourages high-tech in- dustries to locate here. Foremost among the city's assets may be the University's electrical and computer engineering program, which is con- sistently ranked in the top five nationally. According to the chairman of that department, Prof. George Haddad, in- teraction between industry and academia appeals to high-tech firms. "Part of the reason we hope (high-tech firms) would move into this area is because of our existence," Haddad said. "It is a mutually beneficial sort of thing." He said that high-tech firms can tap the expertise of individual faculty members and that University resear- chers have access to equipment and other resources normally not available on a college campus. THAT MUTUALLY beneficial en- vironment will be augmented by the construction of a $30 million electrical engineering building. The state-funded structure, to be completed in 1987, will house an experimental microchip facility that, according to School of Engineering Dean James Duderstadt, will allow students and faculty to design and build special-purpose chips and bring the electrical engineering depar- tment to the forefront in high-tech elec- tronics. Duderstadt said that this building, Engineering I, would be the most advanced electronics center in the Midwest and one of the top univer- sity laboratories in the nation. At the ground-breaking ceremonies for Engineering I, Gov. James Blan- chard emphasized that this state ex- penditure was part of Michigan's effort to diversify its industries - a diver- sification that he said begins with research and development of elec- tronics technology. Blanchard likened the area to California's "Silicon Valley," a center of excellence in computer hardware development and manufacturing. HADDAD AGREED with the Silicon Valley model. "We sure are going to try very hard to make it that way," he said. "And I think we have a good chance." Others disagree with the governor's state's retirement fund. That funding was necessary for the company to begin marketing the facility, according to Wood and Co. President Rex Jenson. "Because of this line of credit, firms who arrive at the beginning of the project can be assured that the whole park will be developed as planned," Jenson said in a January press con- ference. Belcher also claims that firms like the security blanket the research parks provide. "These parks will be a success as long as there are adequate transpor- tation and utilities," he said. "If a business wants to move into town, they don't want to have to worry about sewers and electricity and so forth. So in this respect the research parks are a good idea." DUDERSTADT, on the other hand, thinks large research parks are a backward approach in the high tech race. "That is a little bit of the cart before the horse," Duderstadt said. "What they are trying to do is to provide a physical location where companies can site, but my suspicion is that it will be the success of the little companies that will catch people's attention.". Duderstadt said the hope of research parks is that they will entice a large corporation such as IBM or Hewlett- Packard into putting a research lab in Ann Arbor. ANOTHER reason the University works to fill these research parks is the state's economic situation. "We take the view that as a state university we would like to help the state's economy, and one of our missions is to do just that," Sussman said. He said University involvement in research parks in order "to foster bet- ter research and teaching" is one ap- propriate way for the University to do its share. AND IN Pollack's opinion, the state needs all the help it can get from Ann Arbor. "We have lost the edge in smokestack industry," Pollack said. "And because we have lost that edge, it is natural for Michigan to have a high-tech economic base." According to Pollack, that economic base in high-tech is inevitable. The question is what type of foundation Ann Arbor will provide for that base. Tomorrow: The controversy surrounding-one proposed high-tech research center in Ann Arbor. Duderstadt ... favors small high-tech firms prognosis. "As for whether we will become a center known for electronics, it is kind of up in the air," Ann Arbor Mayor Louis Belcher said. "I don't see us becoming another Silicon Valley by any stretch of the imagination." Belcher said that Ann Arbor's industries are far more diverse than those of Silicon Valley. He said that, unlike Ann Arbor, that area relies only on computer manufacturing as its economic base. Belcher said instead of trying to develop a Silicon Valley in Ann Arbor, the state should concentrate on refining its existing industry - an industry he believes is too large an economic asset to throw away. But the auto industry Belcher referred to is changing to prevent its own demise. And Blanchard believes that high-tech is the answer to the auto industry's woes. For companies to in- corporate high-tech systems into their existing equipment, the state's educational system must turn out graduates competent in these systems. To Blanchard, that means "a renewed commitment to education" in the state - specifically to high-tech education. Ann Arbor, though, has more to offer the high-tech firms than a top-notch University. Three industrial research parks are located in the Ann Arbor area. These parks recruit research facilities of large corporations with the hope that they will spark the local economy. Themnewest park, specifically designated a high-technology park, will be worth an estimated $250 million upon completion and covers 820 acres of land near North Campus. THE ANN ARBOR firm of Wood and Co. received a $130,000 loan from the University's Board of Regents in 1981 to get the new park project started. In January the developers received another $7.7 million load from the ENSIAN DO YOU?0 * Enjoy taking photographs? " Have experience printing pictures? " Want to earn up to $175.00 a month? The Michigan Ensian, U-M's all-campus yearbook, is hiring a darkroom technician for the 1984-85 school year. Apply at the Student Publications Bldg. or call 764-0550 for more information.