University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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The University and Boeing are de- veloping a long-range supersonic in- terceptor missile for the Air Force. All data on the project are classified. ratf- nits. rial t of iber an rvry , It jver Inch L ' -J tUTQ :ihe Rockets and Politics at Willow Run While the Willow Run Controversy raged on local, state, and na- tional levels, A D ' s community planning classes mapped out Bomber City for a site near the airport as a city planning project. Willow Run Airport, a political hotbed in 1956, is among the facilities utilized by the Engineering Research Institute. Laboratories at the airfield are equipped to study super- sonic missiles and jet and rocket motors. Michigan ' s rocket research teams, which have been lauded for their outstand- ing work in paving the way for the proposed earth sattelites, have been prominent in the field since 1946. Working at the airport, ERI has designed, built, and installed complex equipment in about forty rockets ranging from giant Ger- man V-IFs to slender Aerobees. This research has provided information about the upper atmosphere and rocket launch- ing techniques which is basic to the sattelite program. The University acquired the airport from the government as war su rplus property after World War II. The terminal fa- cilities are leased to the Airlines National Terminal Service Company, which represents the seven commercial lines utilizing the field. In November, 1955, the President ' s Air- port Use Panel recommended that the lines using Willow Run Transfer to Detroit-Wayne Major Airport. Subse- quently, however, six of the airlines refused to move, and the University expressed its intentions of continuing the contract with them. band 13

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A Survey Research Center display graphically outlines the proce- dure for polling the public scientifically and interpreting the results. Surrey Research- Scientific Sampler In 1946, Professor Rensis Likert brought a group of social survey experts to the University from the Department of Agriculture. This group was joined in 1947 by a number of specialists in group dynamics who came to Michigan from M.I.T. The two groups were merged into the Survey Research Center. The Center functions in three fields. It studies economic behavior and conducts surveys to discover how households utilize their income. In the human relations area, the Center is working to isolate the factors which determine the effectiveness of an organization. The third study is a probe of political attitudes to be made during the 1956 presidential race. Interviewers are trained in survey techniques before the poll starts. 12 Researchers visit subjects to pose questions which are carefully worded to avoid ambiguity, confusion. Results are coded on IBM cards and tabulated by complicated machines.

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Prominent Visitors A dynamic and humorous lecturer, Assistant Professor Arthur M. Eastman of the English Department, is basically a family man. His office walls are bedecked with the art work of his three children. I r-i - University President Hatcher welcomes U Nu, Burmese Premier, to campus. During the next three years a series of six-week lecture programs will be presented by noted Burmese authorities. William Haber, professor of economics, brings to his classes in labor and social security his vast personal experience in labor arbitra- tion and with major governmental and economic organizations. 14