Friday, November 21, 2008
Who knew a weather balloon could cause so much controversy?
Members of the Experimental Balloon Society, a student group that launches large weather balloons to take scientific measurements, received $2,500 from Student Senate to fund its project despite concerns that the cost of the project outweighed its potential benefit to students. The funding request passed after 45 minutes of debate Wednesday night.
Members of the Experimental Balloon Society set up a weather balloon, which is used for scientific measurements. The group received $2,500 from the Student Senate on Wednesday.
Alex Porte, Great Falls, Va., senior and Student Senate treasurer, said the Senate gave at least 25 percent of unallocated funds to engineering groups. The group’s funding request raised controversy among the Senate because $30,000 would be all that remained for other student groups for the rest of this academic year.
Brian Hardouin, Broomfield, Colo., law senator, said although the group was educational for students, engineering projects tended to be expensive. He said he was concerned Senate would not have enough money to fund student groups next
semester.
“To tell students they should commit more than the engineering student council seems excessive when a total of $30,000 remains for the next five months,” he said.
The balloon project cost about $6,000 and the Engineering Student Council and the Department of Aerospace Engineering each allocated about $2,000 for the project. The School of Engineering also allowed the group to use a building on West Campus for its balloon project.
Andy Haverkamp, Hoyt sophomore and engineering senator, said if Senate had not approved the group’s funding request, the program wouldn’t exist.
The group is working on a project in which a rocket attached to a weather balloon could potentially reach the legal limit of outer space after being launched from the balloon.
The group plans to continue launching the “Rockoon” until May, or until the rockoon reaches a height of 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles.
Daniel Zehr, president of the group, said the rocket could eventually fly higher than 62 miles, which is the legal boundary of space, after being released from the balloon. Zehr said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Colorado and Cambridge University were working on similar projects.
“We think we have a pretty good chance at beating them to the punch,” Zehr said. “At that point, the University would have an actual space program.”
Though some senators expressed concerns that the Experimental Balloon Society was made up of mostly engineering students, Zehr said the 20 active members included two physics majors, two geology majors, an education graduate student and a creative writing major.
“It really is multidisciplinary,” he said. “We’re trying to branch out from engineering.”
Senate approved the request 39-18, with one senator abstaining from voting.
— — Edited by Brieun Scott
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Comments
Controversy arose after funding for balloon experiment
I can't wait until we have a space program! this is going to be so awesome!
Maybe someday we can launch rockets to the moon...or put people/animals in space!
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