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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 18, 2000 UC RIVERSIDE RECEIVES MAJOR RESEARCH GRANT Baca's Request Provided by Energy Secretary Richardson WASHINGTON - Secretary Bill Richardson of the U.S. Department of Energy came to the Capitol Hill office of Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto) on Thursday to present a major research grant being awarded to the University of California, Riverside. Congressman Baca made the request for the funding last month in a letter to Secretary Richardson on behalf of the University's gamma ray observatory located at the Solar Two power plant in Barstow. The $200,000 Department of Energy grant for equipment will be augmented by a $1 million grant from the Keck Foundation. "I want to thank Secretary Richardson and the Department for displaying great vision in making this award and in responding swiftly to the funding request I made," Baca said. "As a member of the House Science Committee, I am pleased that the Inland Empire is taking a lead in advancing human knowledge." The facility in San Bernardino County will enhance the detection of high energy gamma rays that are emitted from celestral objects. The Solar Two project utilizes an abandoned solar power research site at Barstow. "This project is both an excellent example of a public-private partnership and an innovative re-use of an existing facility," Richardson said. "It's fitting that we will be able to learn more about the stars from a power plant that at one time used the Sun to make electricity. This is just the most recent example of how the Department of Energy funds researchers at over 100 universities and national laboratories to explore the behavior of matter and energy at their most fundamental level as well as the origin and evolution of the universe." "I once lived and went to school in Barstow, and I used to work near Yermo, so this grant holds a special meaning for me," Baca said. "Science is key to the future of our region, and I know the colleges and schools of the Inland Empire join in this important endeavor." Yermo is located approximately ten miles east of Barstow in the Mojave Desert. The University of California, Riverside, was represented by Elizabeth Baldwin, who serves as its Director of Federal Relations. Baca, the newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is the first Hispanic member elected from the Inland Empire. Congressman Baca serves on the Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, and the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. Baca is also a member of the House Agriculture Committee. |   |
