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'U' officials
look forward
to teaching
despite work
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily News Editor
Despite the larger offices and
greater prestige of administrative posi-
tions, many deans and executive vice
presidents said they desire not to lose
touch with students and classroom
experience.
University Vice President for
Research Fawazz Ulaby is returning to
the classroom this fall to teach a Ph.D.-
level electrical engineering class in
conjunction with his administrative
duties because he said he "can't stand
not teaching anymore."
"I have seen many administrators,
including deans and department chairs,
who get so swamped with administrative
duties, they don't teach for years and
years. And in the process, they lose
touch with what is actually happening in
the life of academic units that they man-
age' Ulaby said.
"After a while, you start feeling like
you're losing touch with students (and
miss) the high that you get at the end of
a good lecture"
University General Counsel Marvin
Krislov teaches two classes a year -
an upper level political science class in
the fall and a law school seminar on in-
house counsel in the winter.
"It's probably the period I look for-
ward to most in the week," he said.
Krislov said he has found time to
fulfill his teaching duties and meet
with students. Though he does not hold
regular office hours because of a vary-
ing schedule, he encourages students
to make appointments to discuss ques-
tions or concerns.
But one new administrator moving
into the Fleming Administration Build-.
ing does not have plans to be grading
exams or writing lecture notes this fall.
Despite two professorships in the
chemistry and biochemistry depart-
ments, President-elect Mary Sue Cole-
man, who will take over the helm of
the University this week, said she
doubts she will be able to teach a class.
Being in administrative positions for
the past 15 years, Coleman said she has
had little time to keep up with the cancer
research she did at the University of
Kentucky for almost 20 years.
"I don't think I'll be (teaching a
class). My research moves extreme-
ly rapidly," Coleman said. "The job
of being president is pretty time-
consuming."
But Coleman said she would like to
keep good rapport with students,
whether through guest lectures in
classrooms or in fireside chats, like
those she held monthly at Iowa.
"If I can't do it through a formal
teaching situation, then I try to do it
through other ways," Coleman said.
Ulaby said he understands Coleman's
dilemma. "Teaching a regular class in
her case is next to impossible consider-
ing the combination of, A) her field and,
B) that she will be coming into a new
job and institution," Ulaby said.
i e micnigan uanly - monday, muy 29, 2002 -
Hansen, Brater seek Dems
nomiatin fr state Senate
.d
By Unda Cho.
Forethe Daly
Democratic voters in the Ann Arbor area have a tough
decision to make in the Aug. 6 primary: Which of two
like-minded area residents would better serve the new
18th District state Senate seat.
Both candidates, Liz Brater of Ann Arbor and John
Hansen of Dexter, have connections to the University and
have served in the state House of Representatives.
Brater, a former University lecturer and Ann Arbor
mayor and city councilwoman, was a House member
from 1994 to 2000, when she was term-limited. Hansen, a
University graduate and former superintendent of the
Dexter Consolidated Schools, has been a state legislator
since 1998 and currently represents the 52nd House Dis-
trict, which includes North Campus and northern Ann
Arbor.
The 18th Senate District comprises the northern and
eastern portions of Washtenaw County. Incumbent Sen.
Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) is term-limited.
"I was working hard on a number of very important
issues in the state House, including environment, educa-
tion, health care, mental health and consumer protection;'
Brater said. "I feel a responsibility to return to Lansing to
continue the work I was doing."
She named education, health care and the environment
as three of the most important issues, also adding the
economy and workers' rights as high priorities. She said
she believes "quality education for all Michigan's chil-
dren" can be achieved through smaller class sizes, ade-
quate funding and ongoing teacher training.
With regard to higher education, Brater said she sup-
ports affirmative action and believes easier access into
universities must be achieved.
"I think we need to do more to make higher education
more affordable (by) trying to keep tuition down by main-
taining and increasing the state level of support," she said.
Brater also said she feels strongly about health care,
especially mental health.
"There is a great number of Michigan citizens that are
uninsured. They need to have health care," she said.
"Governor (John) Engler has dismantled our mental
health system in Michigan. A lot of people are ending up
in jails or homeless shelters, so we need to make sure we
restore our health system." Brater said that money should
be transferred from corrections back to the mental health
system.
Environmentally, Brater is concerned about water qual-
ity in the Great Lakes as well as reducing air and water
pollution.
Hansen also said the environment is a top issue for
him. With regard to land use in western Washtenaw
County, Hansen said suburban sprawl is a growing prob-
lem, and farmland is disappearing as a result. His plat-
form calls for a compromise between land preservation
and a need for housing that should be made through
regional and cooperative planning efforts.
Hansen said he is running for the Senate because
"if you have some experience, you want to carry for-
ward," he said, comparing his situation to that of a
college student who has already completed three
years of school.
Hansen said it is difficult to say that a candidate stands
for any one particular issue because there are so many at
stake. But as a former school superintendent, education is
a priority for him. His platform includes support of early
learning programs such as Head Start, smaller class size
and renovation of buildings.
Hansen also promotes more money for higher educa-
tion, especially after the 7.9 percent tuition increase at the
University this year. Although he said "you can't spend
the money you don't have," he added that it is possible to
"spend it differently." For example, he said, if prison
spending is reduced, other areas, such as higher educa-
tion, could receive more funding.
Hansen, like Brater, is also a big supporter of the Uni-
versity's affirmative action policies and is "one of a few
pro-choice males" in the legislature.
He said that as a Democrat, he is part of a minority
party in the Legislature, making it difficult for him to par-
ticipate in policymaking. Instead, he said, his role is often
preventing actions the Republican Party might otherwise
have no problems in carrying out.
"We're there to make sure that the arguments are all
made," he said.
Unopposed in the primary are Dexter Republican Gor-
don Darr and Green Party member Elliott Smith.
OMENN
Continued from Page 1
want to understand what the genes
do. To understand what the genes do,
you have to understand the proteins,"
he said. "I am confident that this
decade will be the protein decade,
just like last decade was the decade
for genes."
Though he said he has no plans to
return to administrative duties, he said
there are some things he will miss
about his position, such as the role it
had on the rest of the University's med-
ical community.
"I really greatly enjoyed the leader-
ship role for the health system as part
of the university leadership, in the
community and nationally. We gained
a lot of attention around the country
by our concept of the health system
and our performance," Omenn said.
"The University of Michigan, as you
know, ranks very high among hospi-
tals, medical schools and M-Care. It's
very unusual to have all three compo-
nents, and even more so to have them
all healthy."
Omenn's position is only one of
many vacant spots in the University's
administration. Among those positions
are a dean for the College of Litera-
ture, Science, and the Arts, a director
for the LSI, and a University provost.
[ yGraduateMoving to ChicIao