2008 Woodie Awards
Solar car at Univ. of Kentucky made possible by more than $1 billion in grants
By: U- WIRE
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Campus
Removing his jacket and setting down his coffee, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear lowered himself into the car's metal frame. Then a group of students from the University of Kentucky College of Engineering lowered a shell of blue solar panels over his head.
Laughing, the governor pressed the accelerator and drove down Administration Drive, flanked by the solar car team and a horde of photographers.
The ride followed a news conference led by Beshear, UK President Lee Todd and Kentucky Lottery President Arch Gleason. The Kentucky Lottery Corporation celebrated their one-billionth dollar funded for Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority scholarships and grants.
"That is billion, with a B," Beshear said.
The Kentucky Lottery Corporation has funded about $1.14 million in scholarship and grant awards since 1999, for a total of $1.16 billion, since it began to transfer revenue from the General Fund to education funding, according to a news release published by the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. From that money, more than 93,000 awards and $130 million have gone to UK.
More than 11,000 awards totaling $19.5 million were awarded to UK students in 2008.
"Kentucky voters approved the lottery on the promise that it would benefit education. So far, that promise has been fulfilled," Beshear said.
Andrea Corkran, a biology freshman, said she always dreamed of college, but she has three younger brothers and would not have been able to attend college if it were not for the Robinson Scholars Program, Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship funding and College Access Program funds, all programs funded at least in part by Kentucky Lottery Corporation.
"I have fulfilled my mother's whispered fantasies," Corkran said.
Todd said these scholarship programs have not only provided opportunities to attend college for students from low-income families, but also helped "plug the brain drain" by keeping intelligent students learning and working in the state.
"If you don't have creativity and innovation, you are not able to compete as a country," Todd said.
The solar car is one innovation, Beshear said as he climbed out of the car.
"I'm very proud that this came from the University of Kentucky," he said.
Laughing, the governor pressed the accelerator and drove down Administration Drive, flanked by the solar car team and a horde of photographers.
The ride followed a news conference led by Beshear, UK President Lee Todd and Kentucky Lottery President Arch Gleason. The Kentucky Lottery Corporation celebrated their one-billionth dollar funded for Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority scholarships and grants.
"That is billion, with a B," Beshear said.
The Kentucky Lottery Corporation has funded about $1.14 million in scholarship and grant awards since 1999, for a total of $1.16 billion, since it began to transfer revenue from the General Fund to education funding, according to a news release published by the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. From that money, more than 93,000 awards and $130 million have gone to UK.
More than 11,000 awards totaling $19.5 million were awarded to UK students in 2008.
"Kentucky voters approved the lottery on the promise that it would benefit education. So far, that promise has been fulfilled," Beshear said.
Andrea Corkran, a biology freshman, said she always dreamed of college, but she has three younger brothers and would not have been able to attend college if it were not for the Robinson Scholars Program, Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship funding and College Access Program funds, all programs funded at least in part by Kentucky Lottery Corporation.
"I have fulfilled my mother's whispered fantasies," Corkran said.
Todd said these scholarship programs have not only provided opportunities to attend college for students from low-income families, but also helped "plug the brain drain" by keeping intelligent students learning and working in the state.
"If you don't have creativity and innovation, you are not able to compete as a country," Todd said.
The solar car is one innovation, Beshear said as he climbed out of the car.
"I'm very proud that this came from the University of Kentucky," he said.
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