The following article is re-published with permission from the Rutgers Focus

Rutgers thanks Congress for RUNet 2000 funding

N.J. delegates helped university get $2.5 million in federal appropriations

by Harvey Trabb
Photos by Al Sundstrom

Published in the Rutgers Focus of December 4, 1998


Rutgers said "thank you" last week to U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Torricelli and U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone and Rodney Frelinghuysen, four key members of New Jersey's congressional delegation who helped secure $2.5 million in federal funding for RUNet 2000. The project will provide Rutgers with a comprehensive, advanced infrastructure for data, video and voice communications.

Sen. Torricelli (foreground) and Sen. Lautenberg try out the virtual-reality glove developed at Rutgers, as (from right) Rep. Frank Pallone, Associate Professor Grigore Burdea and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen look on. RUNet 2000 will allow clinical testing of this technology to treat nerve and muscle disorder.


"This appropriation is a classic example of the New Jersey delegation working on behalf of the state and Rutgers," said President Francis L. Lawrence at a Nov. 24 news conference at the Center for Computer Aids for Industrial Productivity (CAIP) to announce the grant.

"The appropriation would not have been possible without the work of the entire 15-member delegation," he said, speaking to an audience of deans, faculty members and students, as well as media representatives. "We are particularly grateful for the efforts of four of the members who are here today and for the fact that they have all pledged to work for additional funding for the project in the future."

Among those participating in the news conference announcing federal funding for Rutgers' comprehensive electronic network were (from right) Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Sen. Robert Torricelli and President Francis L. Lawrence.


Lautenberg described the federal appropriation as "the kind of investment we need to make in our state if we want to keep our universities and their students competitive in the 21st century. We've got to have systems like RUNet 2000."

He added that he was glad to work with his col-leagues in Congress to support the funding measure. "We had a joint effort across party lines in the Congress to make this happen, and we intend to continue working together," he said.

Torricelli said RUNet 2000 not only keeps Rutgers on the cutting edge of technology but will connect high-school classrooms around the state to the vast resources Rutgers has to offer.

"The fact that the Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate came together with this whole university community is a recognition that we all, in our own way, understand the potential" of RUNet 2000, he said. "The doors of this university are being flung wide open with the use of this extraordinary technology."

Frelinghuysen said he views the grant as representing "a down payment on what I think will be a future investment of the federal government to be combined with state assets" for RUNet 2000. "I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to Rutgers. I'm so proud of what you do, and I will try to do anything I can to help you."

The event included several poster presentations and a laboratory demonstration of Rutgers projects in teaching, research and service activities that will benefit from RUNet 2000 in various ways. Rep. Pallone had particular praise for the fact that some of the projects involve the participation of New Jersey high-school students.

"Seeing these demonstrations and talking with the students and teachers who are using this wonderful technology both on campus and in our high schools shows that RUNet 2000 is going to be useful not only here at the university but also for the state and nation," Pallone said.

Sens. Lautenberg and Torricelli participated in a demonstration of a CAIP research project that uses virtual-reality technology and the Internet to help diagnose and treat nerve and muscle disorders in the hand. RUNet 2000 will allow the research to enter the clinical-testing phase by providing the high-speed connections necessary for data transmission among Rutgers, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Stanford University, which are collaborating on the project.

The event was an unprecedented indication of the high level of federal interest in Rutgers and support for RUNet 2000 and the university's overall strategic-planning efforts, said Leslie W. Koepplin, Rutgers' director of federal government relations. "I have never known any university that could draw both of its U.S. senators and two congressmen to this type of event," he said.