Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV ranks 16th in nation in federal money received

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas ranked 16th of 771 colleges in the amount of federal money it received through Congress this year, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education report.

UNLV brought home $19.7 million during the 2003 fiscal year, bumping it up from the No. 27 spot it held last year, according to the report.

Comparatively, the University of Nevada, Reno garnered $10.4 million, placing it at No. 46, up from No. 62 last year.

"I think part of what's great about this is it builds a tradition of funding research in much younger and newer states that will ultimately be advantageous for everyone," UNLV President Carol Harter said.

Overall, the state of Nevada brought in $171 million during fiscal 2003 -- the 13th-largest share of federal appropriations per capita, according to a report by Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group.

Higher education interests captured $34.5 million of that amount.

Groups like Citizens Against Government Waste call the money "pork" because the funding is attached to appropriations bills without going through a competitive process. State and university officials disagree and say the money goes to important research.

UNLV's $19.7 million will pay for 12 projects, nine of which are funded by the Department of Energy, including projects designed to create "smart" munitions and vehicles. Other projects are designed to further nuclear energy research specific to the Yucca Mountain repository and advance knowledge on alternative energy and fuel.

"There has been some clear defined need to improve interest in that area and knowledge in that area," said Paul Ferguson, UNLV's vice president of research and graduate studies. "That need is certainly understood by the congressional delegation."

UNLV also received $7.5 million in federal appropriations for three projects that will research ways to produce hydrogen, harness it and create ways to deliver it as an alternative source to fuel.

"There's a lot of interest in hydrogen ever since the president said he was interested in hydrogen," said Bob Boehm, director of UNLV's Energy Research Center. "A lot of us were anticipating a general thrust in this direction. His speech made us say, 'Oh boy, we're really on the right track here.'th"

Much of the state's success in securing federal funding is attributed to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who sits on the Senate appropriation committee.

A spokeswoman for Reid said the appropriations are beneficial for Nevada.

"I think people define pork different," said Tessa Hafen, Reid's spokeswoman. "If someone is referring to funding that helps a small state like Nevada, then pork is a good. These are important projects to Nevada, and how better can you spend money than on education?"

Critics, however, protested the process of securing these federal funds, calling it unfair.

"It's backroom politics," said Mark Carpenter, a spokesman for Citizens Against Government Waste. "That's how these projects get into the budget. It has to do with favoritism. It just goes to show the power of certain members of the appropriations committee."

Highlighted in the group's annual "Pigbook" are $68 million in projects arranged by then-Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Reid, including: $2.5 million for a Petawatt laser at UNR, a physics project; $600,000 for an oral history of the Nevada Test Site; and $390,000 for the Halfway Wash project, an environmental study based in Nevada.

Ferguson said UNLV views theses federal appropriations as an alternate source of funding for a budding research institution that might not otherwise get the financial backing to expand research.

"I think it's been a critical help in growing our research infrastructure in a fast-growing research university," Ferguson said.

Harter suggested the funding will ultimately help the community at large.

"(This money) just has all kinds of ripple effects in terms of what it can do for the university and what it can do for the country," Harter said. "We are really doing exciting work and I think people are beginning to see that."

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