Former President Gerald R. Ford, Lansing Mayor David Hollister and 32 other Michigan leaders have joined forces in attempting to bring the Radioactive Isotope Accelerator, or RIA, to MSU.

The RIA Advisory Committee convened for the first time Monday to talk about possible ways of spreading the news to influential politicians, which will hopefully result in MSU receiving the accelerator and about $900 million in government funds.

But MSU will have to fend off its competition - the Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago.

“I’d say we have a 40-50 percent chance,” said Hollister, one of the group’s co-chairpersons. “It’s going to be an uphill fight, but we have the most sophisticated technology and scientists of any college.”

Hollister said communication between Michigan and national politicians is crucial to luring the accelerator to MSU. Another crucial component is the amount of money each state will donate to the project.

The accelerator can answer several questions about the origin of elements, the limits of nuclear existence and properties of nuclei with extreme ratios of neutrons to protons.

Gov. John Engler pledged $2 million for the accelerator in the state’s 2002-03 budget.

Chairpersons and steering group members were contacted by MSU President M. Peter McPherson several months ago.

“There will be letters to be written and phone calls to be made,” McPherson said. “That list - we have the president of U-M, labor leaders