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Federal Spending Plan Includes February 14, 2003 U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced that he'd secured federal funding for six projects -- a mobile health program, juvenile delinquency prevention project, science facility equipment, waste management research, water quality project and international journalist training. Congress approved the $397.4 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2003 on Thursday. In recent years, Sen. McConnell has been successful in securing millions of dollars in federal funds for research at Western and for projects to improve the environment and quality of life for residents in areas served by the University. "Kentuckians can take pride in the many important research projects conducted each year at WKU," said McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "This funding will allow researchers at the university to continue their work to develop programs to help troubled youths and their families, improve water quality and protect America's livestock and environment. "The fact that we were successful in getting this funding is a tribute to the leadership of President Gary Ransdell and the impressive team he has assembled," McConnell said. Dr. Ransdell said the University community was grateful for the confidence Sen. McConnell has placed in Western. "This funding will help us continue to provide essential services to our region while providing our students and faculty with opportunities to conduct relevant research and practical training," he said. "This kind of support is essential to our mission of becoming the best comprehensive university in Kentucky and among the best in the nation and we sincerely appreciate Sen. McConnell's leadership in making it happen." The fiscal year 2003 spending package includes: $2.2 million for waste management research as WKU works in conjunction with the Agriculture Research Service to examine ways to prevent contamination from waste products and to keep livestock production levels from dropping. $1 million for a Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Project that focuses on developing structured daytime programs for students who have been removed from school, specialized after-school programs for youth and mental health assessments to help youths and their families. $1.2 million for WKU's new Complex for Biological Sciences and Engineering. The funds will help provide WKU students and researchers with access to state-of-the-art equipment including a robotics laboratory, prototyping facility and a plant cell culture laboratory. $400,000 for the Mobile Health Unit that has provided primary care, dental and preventative health screenings to more than 6,000 patients in rural and medically underserved communities in southcentral Kentucky since November 2001. This amount is in addition to the $1.2 million McConnell has secured for the program in recent years. $450,000 for the Small Public Water System Technological Assistance Center. The center, one of eight established by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996, promotes the protection of public health by providing assistance to small public water systems in the form of training, financial, managerial and technical aid. McConnell has been successful in obtaining funding for this priority for the last several years. $1 million for International Journalism and Media Management Training Program, a multi-year collaboration between WKU and Internews Network, an international nonprofit organization that supports open media worldwide. McConnell was instrumental in securing the $2 million grant through the U.S. Agency for International Development to launch the program in 2001. The spending package also includes $4.5 million for the Bowling Green riverfront development project. For more information, contact Robert Steurer in Sen. McConnell's office, (202) 224-8288. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
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