MON~DAY, MAY~ 17, 1548
THE MICHIGAN AITLY
a as ay. xea a ,. as 1 v.a.aa. v .x.11-11 L 1
I
Alum i Aid(
Expected hor
Phoenix Ilan
NO ATOM AUTOS YET-
Preseint Studies ilake Some Headway
Indicate Support
Although plans for alumni par-
ticipation in the Phoenix Projec
have not yet been settled, state-
ments from two prominent alum-
ni representatives indicate tha
country-wide support for the me-
morial will build up quickly after
the announcement.
T. Hawley Tapping, General
Secretary of the Alumni Associa.
tion, the largest group of its kin
in the country, is one of the most
energetic supporters of te p-
ject:
Eagerly Awaited
"Michigan's alumni have beer
thinking in terms of a war me-
morial ever since the end of th
war. Today's announcement b3
the War Memorial Committee has
been eagerly awaited."
"Last fall the Directors of th
Alumni Association voiced hig
approval of the work of the Com-
mittee, one member of which is a
past president of the Association
"At the next session of the
Alumni Association June 10 the
Directors will have the opportun-
ity to speak for Michigan men
and women in approval of this
magnificent prdject and to set the
stage for alumni participation.'
Michigan Alumnus
Tapping said that the Michigan
Alumnus, bimonthly alumni mag-
azine, would be boosting the pro-
ject in its next issue, May 22.
Christian F. Matthews, Mt. Cle-
mens, Mich., attorney, was thE
alumni representative on the Me-
morial Committee. He said the
Committee had spent approxi-
mately a year working with sug-
gestions for a memorial which
would be a real tribute to the
country's war dead.
"We hope that this project will
be of benefit for everybody, and
not only our own people," he said.
"I think we have finally found
a wonderful project, worthy o1
our most enthusiastic support."
The following is the text of a
resolution passed by the Alumni
Association when the Memorial
Committee was first organized:
RESOLUTION: It is resolved
that the University of Michigan
Alumni Association whole-heart-
edly support and assist the Com-
mittee appointed by the Board of
Regents to study the advisability
of adopting a War Memorial Pro-
gram and recommends that such
a Memorial incorporate the phil-
osophy that it is better to com-
memorate the memory of those
who have made the supreme sac-
rifice by attempting to develop a
project that will aid all mankind
in living in a war-free world
rather than to attempt to build a
mound of stone the purpose of
which might soon be forgotten.
Key Roles for
'U' Alumni,
Students Seen
Will Direct Project
With Experts, Faculty
The tentative organizational
set-up of Project Phoenix indi-
cates key roles for both students
and alumni in the workings and
financing of the University's War
Memorial.
A Board of Directors will be set
up to supervise the entire pro-
ject. It will be composed of rep-
resentatives of the student body,
the faculty, the administration
and the alumni plus several tech-
nical experts.
Project Chairman
Under the Board of Directors
will be the Building Chairman,
and the Project Chairman who
will be concerned with operation
of the Memorial and the Admin-
istrator, who supervise the raising
of the funds.
The Building Chairman will
have charge of planning and con-
structing the physical part of Pro-
ject Phoenix, its memorial ro-
tunda, laboratories, etc.
Actual Planning
A To the Project Chairman and
his group will fall the planning
of the actual atomic applications
research work of the Memorial.
They will select the various pro-
jects to be undertaken, subdivide
the work to individual scientists
and then supervise and coordinate
the overall progress.
The Administrator, whose name
will be announced within a few
weeks, will have charge of the
mammoth fund raising drive to
be innaugerated next fall, tenta-
tively during the Annual Home-
coming Weekend.
Plans are also being considered
to hold a series of prize contests
to draw publicity to the Phoenix
Project. Competition would be
It's too early to begii acceptini
bids for i'stalling an atomic
power plant in your automobile,
but atomic energy for peacetime
use h as already been sliowvii pr-ac-
ticable in idustry, medicine and
agriculture.
The University "Phoenix Pro-
ject can be expected to improve
peacetime applications currently
employed or being studied for use
in treating disease in homes, in-
dustries, transportation and to
produce new aids in manufactur-
ing a whole host of products. I
Most medical advances through-
out the nation are being made
through the use of radioactive ma-
terials.I
Through the Atomic Eenergy
Commission at Oak Ridge, radio-
isotopes such as radioactive cobalt
needles are distributed as an in-
expensive substitute for radium.
Atomic Tracers
Materials easily assimilated by
the human body are radioactivat-
ed and used as tracers to tell doc-
tors how the body operates nor-
mally or when it is diseased.
Some encouraging results in di-
rect treatment have also been
noted. For this purpose, the most
spectacular results have been ob-
tained by exposing diseased parts
of the body to the radiations of
radioactive isotopes.
Until now this method has been
effective,nthough not miraculous,
in treating thyroid cancer, poly-
cythemia vera (an ailment of the
marrow of the bone) leukemia
and some tumors.
Power Use Uncertain
For would-be neophyte indus-
trialists, the best advice up to now
indicates that it will be wise to
stick to conventional sources of
power such as coal, oil or natural
gas. Expert opinion believes that
a workable demonstration plant
producing atomic power will be in
operation within a decade, but
commercial plants will probably
lag several years behind.
Most scientists, however, doubt
that commercial atomic power will
be appreciably cheaper than con-
ventional power.
Still, it is considered likely that
public utility power plants produc-
- Photo- by Alex Lmanian
-Engraving Courtesy The Detroit News
RAW MATERIAL-Henry Gomberg, University of Michigan
graduate student unpacks a radio-iodine shipment sent from
government controlled atomic energy centers. Starting with this
and other isotopes as "raw materials" the Phoenix Project will
probe mbdical and scientific fields in an attempt to use the atom
for the benefit of humanity.
* * *
ing energy for homes and indus-
trial users will eventually convert,
followed by naval vessels, other
ships and locomotives.
Industrial Uses
Use of radioactive material in
production and industrial research
is already underway in some fields.
Radioactive sulphur, for exam-
ple, solved a perplexing problem
for the rayon industry. Just plain
old ordinary sulphur used in the
process of manufacture must be
removed. When a pinch of radio
sulphur is tossed in, it gives off
rays ,that can be detected by a
Geiger until all the sulphur is
removed.
Oil geologists use radioactive
tracers to seek the richer oil strata
and probe the limits of the old
fields.
Coming, but too late to help the
United States in its foreign relief
program, is more food for the
world through the atomic control
df diseases of plants and livestock
and improved use of fertilizer.
Research in fluorocarbons, nec-
essary for the manufacture of
atom bombs, has already produced
a lubricating oil that will not burn.
It may be a long time before all
of these prospects are realized, but
the Phoenix Project will speed
the way.
T'' Scientists
Again Massed
For Research
t A tom for Peace
Goal This Time
The "Phoenix Project" will
blend the University's entire sci-
entific and research facilities into
a drivecfor technical pogress for
the second time in less than ten
years.
Now it is in an effort to harness
the atom for peace, but during le
war years, the weight of Univer-
sity scientific experience went in-
to the development of weapons of
destruction. The results were out-
standing. 'U' professors and staff
members worked on projects
ranging from the atom bomb to
anti-malarial drugs.
While the atom bomb was born
under the football stadium at the
University of Chicago in 1942.
Michigan men had their share in
its development. Prof. James M.
Cork of the physics department,
Professors G. C. Brown, Clarence
A. Siebert and E. M. Baker of the
engineering school worked on
various phases of the bomb. Last
year, Dean Ralph A. Sawyer of
the graduate school served as
technical advisor of the Bikini
tests.
Atomic Center
Since 1929, the University has
been a center for atomic develop-
ment. Such noted scientists as En-
rico Fermi, J. Robert Oppenheimn-
er and Ernest O. Lawrence of cy-
clotron fame have lectured here,
trying to iron out the problems of
nuclear physics.
The University built a cychotron
in 1935 and is now constructing a]
more powerful syncytron. Using
them, Professors David M. Denni-
son and H. R. Crane of th Phy-
sics Department have been at-
tempting to break down atomic
nuclei to get cosmic rays.
The proximity fuse, developed
here by Prof. H. R. Crane and a
crew of 25 picked scientists played
a big part in the victory in Eur-
ope. More than three years of ex-
periment brought the fuse, which
is exploded by radio waves at a
pre-determined distance from its
target, into production by Janu-
ary 1943.
Working at MIT, University
professors S. A. Gouldsmit, G. E.
Uhlenbeck and Dean B. McLaugh-
lin helped perfect still-secret rad-
ar devices. Instruments to "jam"
enemy radar stations were devel-
oped by Prof. W. G. Dow of the
engineering school, at Harvard,
Radar Jammers
Prof. Dow supervised the con-
struction of three "Tubas", giant
125'ton land-based radar jammers
used to protect American planes
over Europe.
SN 7618, a white drug which
can stop an attack of malaria in
one fourth the time needed by
older methods was another Uni-
versity project. Michigan was one
of the seven experiment stations
where tests of the new drug were
made. Dr. L. T. Goggeshall, of the
public health school, headed the
project. When Dr.. Coggeshall en-
tered the navy in 1944, the anti-
malaria work was continued by
Dr. R. J. Porter.
'U' staff members also worked
on penicillin. Prof. Werner E.
Bachmann and Prof. Emeritus
Harrison M. Randall of the phys-
ics department aided in the syn-
thesis of the wonder drug.
With this vast reservoir of sci-
tific and research experience be-
hind it, the University stands
ready to launch a peacetime
atomic development program
which will dwarf its wartime pro-
gram.
French Began
Atom ,Studies
50 YearsAgo
It was on a quiet summer day
in 1945 that Ann Arbor was first
exposed to the Atomic Age, but it
was some 50 years earlier that the
Atomic Era was born.I
In 1896 Henri Becquerel discov-
ered the radioactivity of uranium.
This was the first step in the long
development of atomic energy. It
was followed two years later by the
Curies' history-making separation
of radium from pitchblende, after
almost endless time and effort.
Here is a brief history of the
development of nuclear energy:
1904-Rutherford discovers Al-
pha particle.
1905-Einstein announces equiv-
alence of mass and energy.
1912-13-Bohr states theory of
nuclear atom.
1919-Aston develops mass spec-
tograph for isotope separation.
1930-Compton measures cos-
mic ray intensities.
1932-First trjnsformation of
elithium nuclei by artificially ac-
celerated protons.
1932-35-Development of cyclo-
tron and high voltage atom
smashers.
1939-40-Discovery of artificial
radioactivity by Irene Curie and
F. Joliet.
1939-Discovery of uranium fis-
sion by Hahn and Strassman in
Germany. Extensive research car-
ried on in the United States.
1939, March-Navy departmentj
advised of possibility of fission.
1939, July-Einstein, Wigner and
Szilard take steps to inform Presi-
dent Roosevelt of the possibility
of military utilization of atomic
energy.
1940-42 - Gaseous - diffusion
method of separating uranium iso-
topes developed.
1941-Exchange of American
and British scientists in a cooper-
ation plan.
1941 - Preliminary studies of
atomic bomb begun at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin. Work con-
tinued by Oppenheimer at Uni-
versity of California.
1942-First atomic pile built at
University of Chicago.
1942 - Construction begun at
Los Alamos, N. Mex., of atomic
bomb laboratory.
1942, Fall-Design of large-scale
diffusion plant at Oak Ridge be-
gun.
1943-One thousand kw. pile
constructed at Oak Ridge for pro-
duction of plutonium.
1943-Plant at Hanford, Wash.,
for the production of plutonium
designed.
1943-Large - scale mass - spec-
Phoenix Myth
The choice of the phoenix
bird to represent the Univer-
sity's war memorial injects a
new and vital meaning into an
ancient, sacred symbol of re-
birth.
According to legends dating
as far back as 450 B.C., this
fabulous bird mysteriously flew
out of Arabia every 500 years
and regenerated itself in a fiery
ceremony.
The most popular account of
the bird appears in the Phy-
siologus, a collection of Christ-
ian allegories much read in the
middle ages:
"The bird flies to Heliopolis,
enters the temple, and is burn-
ed to ashes on the altar. Next
day the young phoenix is al-
ready feathered, and on the
third his pinions are full grown
and he flies away."
And so, out of the ashes and
destruction of a war climaxed
by the use of atomic .energy,
the University's war memorial
will arise, dedicated to the "re-
birth of beauty and life."
oect- Include
II ..manis..c Aspect
Sa'wyer IPrc4Iii.?'4 Sli idy 4)1 At14mi
I pa ci oi n iItre, (ivilizaii
The Phoenix Project will be of tremendous importance not only
in the technological but in the sociological and humanistic fields,
according to Dean Ralph A. Sawyer of the Graduate School.
Dean Sawyer. who was the civilian technical director of the
atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll and who assisted in obtaining
Atomic Energy Commission approval of the War Memorial Project
predicted that the Project would "st udy all of the phases of the
impacts of atomic ene-gy on civilization and culture."
INational Implication
"Current events bear out the fact that the implications of
atomic ene-gy are being felt in every phase of our national life," he
FRED SMITH
.his dander up
Unrestricted
Thinking Basis
For Research
Nucleus of the Phoenix Project
should be the "free,unhampered
thinking of brilliant and nimble
minds," according to Dr. Fred
Jenner Hodges.
(Dr. Hodges, nationally-known!
University radiologist, has been
doing research in radioactivity
ever since the physics department
and the Medical School began
their spadework in nuclear phys-
ics here back in 1931.)
He adds that "almost by defini-
tion, there can't be any fences
around the Phoenix Project, be-
cause their are no fences around
science or the human mind."
Once the men for the project
have been selected, they should go
ahead on their own, Dr. Hodges
says.
He adds that-by the same tok-'
en-although the Phoenix Project
will focus on atomic energy, it will
come to include in ever-widening
arcs all branches of science, and
eventually, of the social sciences
and the humanities.
"Cutting across every field of
knowledge will, in itself, be a real
memorial for the whole University,
because it will include every phase
of University life," Dr. Hodges
asserts.
Critieiism o
Country Statts
Phoen ix Ide
Smith Finds Failure
To Coordinate Efforts
This is the story of the man who
conceived the idea of a peacetime
atomic energy research center in
tribute to University war dead.
It's about Fred Smith, one-time
University student and an Ameri-
can ever Aensitive to foreign
criticism of this country's efforts.
Smith, a tall, greying, 39-year-old
New York publishing executive,,
got his dander up over a statement
by a high placed official in the
French Government.
French Charge
The French official charged
that while Americans devoted all
their energy toward creating the
atom bomb to win the war, they
had done nothing to aid humanity
through this tremendous discov-
ery.
Smith set out to prove that this
French official was wrong. But
after extensive resear-ch Smith
discovered that actuallyhno con-
certed effort had yet been made by
Americans to harness this power
for humanity.
Sporadic Efforts
True, there were scattered, spo-
radic, research efforts. But no-
where was there anything on the
scope of the Manhattan Project
which bent the full resources of
the nation to exploring the de-
structive attributes of atomic en-
ergy.
When he learned of the Univer-
sity War Memorial Committee's
search for a suitable tribute to
war dead he suggested this re-
search center.
The committee picked it up from
there, but Smith continued to play
a vital role in developing the proj-
ect to its present stage. It was
Smith who suggested the center be
titled the Phoenix Project, em-
bodying the idea of a new enlight-
enment from flame and ashes.
Noted Career
This is not the first time that
this man has dropped private in-
terests to serve the nation. His ca-
reer carries notations like "Asst.
to Secretary of the U. S. Treas-
ur, Asst. to President, Bretton
Woods International Conference,
member National Labor-Manage-
ment Conference." His private in-
terests have been varied. He has
held numerous executive positions
and is currently consultant to
Book-of-the Month Club and As-
sociate Editor the United Nations
World.
He attended the University of
Michigan in 1924-26, establish-
ing his lifelong friendship with
Dean Erich Walter. It was through
Walter that he learned of the War
Memorial Committee's search for
a suitable tribute.
continued. "The fields of econom-
ics, philosophy, political science,
medicine and law will be greatly
affected as well as those of physics
and chemistry."
"So it can be seen," Dean Saw-
yer said, "that whole new con-
cepts have arisen in every field
because of the discovery of atomic
energy-and one of the tasks of
the Phoenix Project will be to
study and evaluate them."
Dean Sawyer revealed that the
War Memorial Project would use
existing facilities on the campus
until funds are provided for a
Memorial building and equipment.
But he emphasized that the Pro-
ject's work would in no way inter-
fere with the work of any depart-
ment of the University.
All Forms of Research
"On the contrary," he said, "the
Phoenix Project plans to provide
funds to support other depart-
ments in work which is connected
with any form of atomic research."
"It is hopeO, too," he added,
"that the Project will support re-
search professorships and fellow-
ships to permit investigators to
devote full time and energy to
problems connected with peace-
time uses and implications of
atomic energy."
Largest Scope
According to Dean Sawyer, the
Phoenix Project is conceived on a
broader basis than any existing
institution for the investigation of
atomic energy.
"We all hope," Dean Sawyer
stated, "that it will not only have
profound influence on all parts of
the University but also, through
the results of its study, will exert
a widespread influence for good
throughout the entire nation."
Phoenix Plans
To Supplement
Current Study
Currently five categories of
atomic research are being carried
on under government and private
sponsorship.
The Phoenix Project will not
duplicate this work, but will carry
on where it stops.
The categories include:
1. Generation of power from
atomic fission.
2. Atomic powered aircraft.
3. Production of rare metalis
and rare earths.
4. Study of experimental work
in radiation.
5. Production and distribution
of radioactive isotopes for medical
and other scientific research.
It is where this fifth category
ends that the Phoenix Project will
begin. Utilizing already produced
isotopes as "raw materials" the
project will probe all fields of
science and medicine.
Phoenix Based
On SL Plans
For Memorial
Functional Project To
Honor U' War Dead
The newly announced Phoenix
Project springs from a Student
Legislature proposal made Dec. 18,
1946.
At a regular meeting of the stu-
dent governing body the legisla-
tors made the first campus sug-
gestion that a functional war
memorial be established as a trib-
ute to University war dead.
Joined Forces
They later joined forces with
the student - faculty - alumni War
Memorial Committee in a search
for a suitable tribute.
Dave Dutcher, president of the
present Student Legislature has
greeted the announcement of
Phoenix with promises that the
Legislature "will do everyhing
within our power to bring this
project into a functional reality."
Commends Plan
In a statement to The Daily,
Dutcher also declared that "Iever
has a more commendable plan of
action being proposed to our Uni-
versity," and pointed out that be-
sides the economic and medical
advancement in peacetime uses
of atomic energy made possible
through the project, it will indi-
cate to the world our desire for
peace.
Adding that the Phoenix Pro-
ject makes all of us aware of the
great role we can play in our own
future, Dutcher suggested* that
each student direct a letter to the
editor of his hometown newspaper
and do a real "selling job to ma-
terially put across the new plan."
UN Plans End
fn Stalemate
Follows Two-Year
Atom Bridle Debate
The establishment of the Uni-
versity's center for directing atom-
ic energy applications to peace
comes on the heels of the break-
down of negotiations to bridle the
atom's war-making potential.
Two years of debate within the
United Nations ended in impasse
last week. The Soviet Union
would not accept the essentials
of a majority plan for an inter-
nati6nal atomic devtlopment au-
thority. Seven members of the
eleven - nation Atomic Energy
Commission decided that further
talking was futile unless Russia
changes her mind.
Atomic control had been put
on the list of questions that would
wait for an answer until the East-
West split heals.
The move to end the life of the
Commission had been brewing for
weeks. The writing on the wall
was the suspension a month ago
of the commission's two major
committees - the Committee on
Control and the Working Com-
Initiative for the break came
in a three-power resolution from
the United States, France and
Britain, chief advocates of the
Baruch plan for international con-
trol and inspection of atomic en-
ergy's development. "It's appar-
ent," a spokesman for the three
nations said, "that this deadlock
cannot be broken on the commis-
sion level."
WarDead .. .
(Continued from Page 2)
Wassell, Frank L., Jr.; Westport, Conn.
Wassell, Harry B.; Westport, Conn.
Waterman, Richard T.; Albany, N.Y.
Webster, Thomas J.; North Hornell,
N.Y.
Westheihner, Ferdinand L.; Cincinnati,
Ohio.
White, William E.; Marion, N.Y.
Wienner, Robert N.; Detroit, Mich.
Wilcox, Albert P.; San Bruno, Calif.
Wilkie, John C.; Detroit Mich.
Willard, Dean D.; Bay City, Mich.
Williams, Donald F.; Fairport, N.Y.
Williams, Ralph H.; Bloomington, Ill
Williams, WodnJn .: - Richland.Mic.
Site
Und (ecidled
Although architects are already
at work on possible plans for the
War Memorial Rotunda and the
other Phoenix Project buildings,
no official decision has yet been
made about where they will be
placed on campus.
'ACTIVE SAY ON DECISIONS':
Role of Three 'U' Vets in Project Emphasized
Three student veterans - two
men and a woman - played an
active part in the selection and
development of the Phoenix Pro-
ject as members of the Univer-
sity's War Memorial Committee.
Since security restrictions im-
posed on the Committee prevented
an all campus selection of dele-
gates, Chairman Erich Walter in-
vited Virginia Smith, Arthur Rude
and Arthur Derderian to act as
representatives of the students in
the choosing of their War Mem-
orial.
Backed Center
According to Dean Walter, "The
student members were the ones
who kept constantly insisting and
reiterating the notion that Mr.
Smith's idea was the one we ought
to explore and develop if possible."
Miss Smith, a sophomore in the
literary college, is a graduate nurse
from New York City. She was se-
lected as a member of the Com-
mittee when it convened in Sep-
tember because of her three and
a half years service overseas in the
Phoenix Project - that is their
biggest single job," Rude declared.
"By our own enthusiasm we must
stir enthusiasm in others. The
project is something that will put
Michigan on the map of the world
if the students get behind it."
Arthur Derderian, third student
member of the committee is a se-
nior in the literary college and
veteran of four years in the Navy.
He first became interested in a
War Memorial as a member of the
1947 J-Hop Committee, which con-
sidered a J-Hop raffle to begin a
drive for funds.
Other students became interest-
ed in a possible War Memorial and
an official request was filed with
the Regents, according to Derder-
ian. Because of his interest in the
project Dean Walter asked him to
join the Committee the Regents
later set up.
"If the students get a spirit on
campus of what the Phoenix Pro-
ject can someday mean to man-
kind, it will be felt throughout
the entire world," he declared. The
E. VIRGINIA SMITH ARTHUR M. RUDE
... enthusiasm is vital ... biggest single job
ARTHUR R. DERDERIAN
a peaceful future
cations we didn't think it had a
chance of succeeding," he said.
Praised Smith1
was general agreement that the!
Memorial should be more than aI
nila of -rnn and hnuld h e _i-I
Established Scholarships
Rude, a law student, graduated
from the literrv schnnl in 1942