After some contentious debate, ASUI unanimously passed a bill Wednesday to allocate funding to the Northwest Organization of Rocket Engineers (NORE) of the University of Idaho to help the group prepare for the 2018 Science Board America Cup (SBAC).
UI student and NORE co-chair Daniel Furman said NORE initially approached ASUI for support in February at a funding board meeting, where they were awarded $1,685 to create small model rockets.
Furman said NORE applied for further funding from ASUI to create a larger rocket, so they would be able to compete at the 2018 SBAC and bolster their organization by providing members with more hands-on experience.
UI student and NORE co-chair Bailey Lind-Trefts said NORE originally asked the senate for $5,000 from its allocations budget to gather as much funding as possible, but after a reassessment, they dropped their asking price to $1,635.
“We realized that we didn’t exactly need the full amount that we were asking for just yet,” Lind-Trefts said. “What we got is exactly what need to get (NORE) off the ground.”
Furman said NORE also recently applied to NASA for a grant of $25,000 to benefit and expand the organization and its projects even further.
ASUI Pro-Tempore Mattie Cupps said the senate would not have been able to provide NORE with the original $5,000 because it would have drained the entire budget and she was not comfortable with giving the entire fund to just one student organization when it’s supposed to help a variety, so she believed the new amount of $1,635 was much more reasonable.
During the meeting, Sen. Jordan Kizer moved to amend the fund by an additional $165, changing the total amount to $1,800 to give NORE some “wiggle room.”
Kizer’s amendment was met with a lengthy debate from several senators, but was eventually vetoed.
Sen. Danny Bugingo, who writes for The Argonaut, said he disagreed because he did not want to set a precedent for giving student organizations more than what was originally asked for.
“I get the (opposition) and I know we have a lot of budget hawks on the senate floor — I might even be one of them — but I just think that this is something worthwhile and important,” Kizer said. “I don’t want to see them … underestimate themselves.”
Kizer said he wishes the group success and hopes they will update ASUI on their progress as they move forward with their new project.
“It’s nice to see where our money is going and what it’s doing exactly,” Kizer said.
Lind-Trefts said he was grateful for ASUI’s support, which Furman echoed.
Furman and Lind-Trefts said the group just recently got their start in the beginning of the spring semester and that they currently have about 30 members, so they encourage students from any and all majors to consider joining NORE.
“We realize that it’s going to take a lot more than just engineers to get the ball — or in this case, the rocket — moving,” Lind-Trefts said.
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @heersinkolivia