2008 Woodie Awards
Boyda tours Pitt State
Cortney Wimsatt
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Front Page
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Boyda toured the Kansas Technology Center and the Kansas Polymer Research Center on Thursday, Feb. 21, following the recent passing of a bill allocating $1.3 million for PSU technology programs.
President Bush signed the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which will grant both PSU programs a portion of federal money to be used for research and equipment.
Boyda last visited while the Tyler Research Center, which houses the Kansas Polymer Research Ce nter, was still under construction.
Boyda said she knew the funds would be helpful, having a background in chemistry herself.
"I haven't been in a lab for 30 years, but it is extremely helpful for even what I'm doing now," Boyda said.
Boyda toured the Kansas Technology Center and the Tyler Research Center, shaking hands with students and faculty as she went along.
"She's really engaged with the students - asking them where they're from," said Steve Scott, vice president for academic affairs.
PSU administrators say they have been working toward getting money for the technology programs for two years. Recently Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and Boyda teamed together for the final passing of the bill in Washington.
"Representative Boyda has been a good advocate," said Scott. "She sees this as an investment."
The Omnibus bill will give the second district of Kansas $387 million.
Pittsburg's funds will begin to arrive in March through the Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service.
More than $1.1 million of the grant will go to the KPRC and $263,310 will go to the technology center.
Most of the money will be used for updating materials and research projects.
"We have to submit a program to the USDA that hopefully they will approve," said Sara Riddle, director of administration for the KPRC.
The grants could be renewed annually because the funding is not an earmark but a line item on the bill.
"We are extremely pleased to be receiving these funds," said Steve Robb, director of the KPRC and the PSU Business and Technology Institute, in a press release issued in January. "It's not every day something like this happens. Our challenge is to leverage the federal money into some special projects that can benefit the state of Kansas and the country as a whole."
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