Donations Set Record Since Wildcat Stadium sits directly on the fault line, it could be torn apart in an earthquake, the report said. The maintenance building, stores and receiving, Swenson Gymnasium and Marriott Allied Health Building also sit near the fault. Campus electric power lines, culinary water lines and natural gas lines cross the fault. Mr. Hall said the Legislature did not provide 1993 budget money for seismic improvements. Most of the upgrades will have to come as buildings are remodeled, he said. ® Donations to Weber State set arecord during the 1991-92 academic year. Don E. Spainhower, director of development, said Weber Students Help Launch New Automotive Era University students may help to launch a new era in automotive technology, thanks to an Escort station wagon donated by Ford Motor Company. The students will convert the $10,000 compact car into a “hybrid” vehicle — operating on both electric and gas engines — for a competition sponsored by Ford, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Society of Automotive Engineers. The car that wins could become the prototype for vehicles that satisfy America’s transportation needs without destroying its environment, according to Dave Erb, assistant professor of mechanical engineering technology. About 50 students in the College of Applied Science & Technology are involved in the project that will be completed in June 1993. Mr. Erb said the experience they gain may qualify them to help design and build a new generation of lowpollution vehicles. The effort will involve University students studying mechanical, auto, manufacturing and electronic engineering technologies, auto service, sales and service and computer information. Mr. Erb said there will ENGINE EXPERTS—Students Susan Egbert (left) and Matthew Flitton begin transformations to add an electric engine to a Ford Escort vehicle. The students are majoring in manufacturing engineering technology. be new job opportunities for specialists in those fields when the auto industry adopts more environmentally sensitive technology. “This competition is focused on the transportation needs of the future,” said Helen O. should be able to travel 40 miles on electric power and 200 miles on gasoline. “Our idea is for this car to use non-polluting electric power within cities — where auto emissions are likely to do the most harm — and the back- Petrauskas, vice president for up gasoline engine for crossenvironmental and safety engicountry travel,” Mr. Erb said. neering at Ford. “Because of Of 70 plans submitted by colleges and universities in the the relative immaturity of elecUnited States and Canada, the tric car technology and the wide Weber State proposal was one range of possible designs, the of 30 selected as finalists. Auto proposals we have received industry judges praised the from Weber State and other University plan for its well-balcompetitors can contribute siganced approach to meeting connificantly to the development of test criteria for emission stanelectric cars and hybrid vehicles _ dards, cruising range and safety, in the coming years.” according to Mr. Erb. Ford invited college and university technology programs to University students started work on the project last sumsubmit designs for a hybrid mer. Ford judges will visit the vehicle with a primary engine University next year to evaluate driven by electric batteries and their progress. Final contest a low-power back-up engine judging will take place next fueled by ethanol, methanol or June in Dearborn, Mich. ® unleaded gasoline. The University responded with plans for a car that Mr. Erb said State received contributions worth $4.16 million from July 1991 through June 1992. Cash donations totaled about $2.1 million. Gifts-in-kind worth about $2.06 million also were received. The previous record for contributions during a single academic year was $2.85 million received in 1990-91. Mr. Spainhower credited large donations of computer equipment from AT&T and IBM with boosting the University’s fund-raising success. Gifts from the two corporations totalled more than $1.6 million. AT&T’s donation provided new equipment for computer science laboratories. IBM’s gift helped establish a computer-integrated manufacturing laboratory in the University’s Technology Assistance Center. More than $2.5 million in contributions was designated for academic support. Donations came from foundations, businesses, alumni, philanthropists, clubs and organizations. & Mini-Plant Showcases Automation The manufacturing engineering technology department has used a $32,045 grant from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers to buy a miniature manufacturing plant that shows students what automation can do. The plant demonstrates how computers and robot arms work: together to control a manufacturing process, said Kerry N. Tobin, assistant professor of manufacturing engineering technology. “Our students understand what automation can do, but have never done it themselves,’ Mr. Tobin said. The miniature plant is about 7 feet square and simulates a full-scale industrial plant. Students are modifying the plant to produce miniature University license plates and other miniature products. Faculty and students plan to take the portable plant to trade shows, high schools and industrial locations. & CAMPUS Principal's Descendant The College of Business & Economics has earned formal accreditation of its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The programs were evaluated by business school deans and corporate executives over the past three years. Fewer than 25 percent of some 1,200 business programs in the United States have won this recognition, according to Michael Vaughan, dean of the college. “Accreditation confirms the quality of our students, the excellence of our teaching, the scholarship of our faculty, the accomplishments of our alumni and the generous support of our friends in the business community,” Dr. Vaughan said. Accreditation also will increase the value of University degrees for alumni who compete for employment and admission to graduate schools, he said. The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business is a non-profit organization representing more than 800 organizations and corporations devoted to the improvement of higher education. AACSB is the Center Dedicates Satellite Room Elected President of Student Body The great-great-granddaughter of the first principal of Weber State said serving as the University’s student-body president is like taking a step back in time. Business Programs Receive National Accreditation only accrediting agency recognized for bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in business by the U.S. Department of Education. & CURRENTS ’ Melinda Roylance | Melinda Roylance, 20, a after spending serveral months junior from Bountiful, Utah, majoring in communication, was elected student-body president last spring. She is a descendant of Louis F. Moench, the institution’s first principal. “I’m reminded of him all the time when I pass by his statue Connections,” a publication — produced by the communication department. The experience taught her that lawmakers have great control over the future of higher education, she on campus,” Ms. Roylance said. said. “I think he’d be proud right now.” Ms. Roylance said she decided to run for president at the Utah Legislature as a staff member for “Capitol “It’s my goal to make sure Utah has a strong, unified, stu_ dent lobbying effort,” Ms. Roylance said. # nized for record-breaking fundraising efforts in 1991, exem- plary ethics in soliciting contributions, and service to the com- munity, according to Francine — Gilmore, society president. Mr. Spainhower is the third society member to receive the annual award. Mr. Spainhower’s service to the University has spanned Don E. Spainhower nearly three decades. He was sports information director Of Note: from 1963 to 1972 and director Fund Raiser of college relations from 1972 Receives Award to 1978. After leaving the University for three years, he Don E. Spainhower, director became director of developof development, has been ~ ment in 1981. Under his leadernamed the outstanding fundship, Weber State’s developraising professional of 1992 by ment department received conthe Utah Society of Fund tributions of nearly $4.16 milRaisers. lion during the 1991-92 acadeMr. Spainhower was recogmic year. i The Center for Aerospace Technology (CAST) commemorated the 10th anniversary of the University’s space program in May by dedicating a new satellite assembly room. A full-scale model of CAST’s new International AMSAT/WSU satellite was unveiled during the anniversary celebration. The 1,100pound, 23-foot-wide satellite is being designed, built and launched by an international coalition of engineers, students and university faculty. A French Ariane V rocket is scheduled to carry the satellite into orbit in 1995. The satellite room provides a central work facility for students involved in aerospace efforts. It also features displays of past, present and future projects. & Geologist Finds Rare Dinosaur Fossil The U.S. Department of the Interior announced last summer a major discovery by a Weber State geologist that provides “concrete evidence” about the development of dinosaurs. Sidney R. Ash, a faculty member since 1970, found the remains of an unborn camptosaurus while searching for plant fossils at Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal, Utah, in 1991. The remains included 30 percent of the unborn dinosaur’s skeleton. “This embryo provides concrete evidence about the development of the dinosaur,” Dr. Ash said. “We’ve always sus-