Library And Campus Police Benefit From Federal Appropriations Obtained By Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham


The Federal Appropriations Bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives February 13, 2003, contained $475,000 for two projects at California State University San Marcos.

The Kellogg Library, nearing completion, will receive $275,000 for equipment related to technology. In addition, University Police will receive $200,000 as part of the costs of a communications upgrade.

Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, carried the requests for Cal State San Marcos in the bill, which also contained funding for a number of other projects benefiting the San Diego region.

"Congressman Cunningham is a strong advocate for access to higher education and also for public safety," said Carol Bonomo, director of legislative affairs for the university. "With funding for these two projects, he is closer to meeting those goals for the 50th Congressional District, where the campus is located."

For the Kellogg Library, federal funding will be used to support library technology, such as the library catalog, computers within the library that are connected to the campus network, furnishings in library instructional classrooms, and equipment in the multimedia library listening rooms.

"This appropriation is fantastic for us," said dean of library and information services Marion Reid, "because we are grappling with some very hard choices. Until now, we had to consider eliminating important equipment. Now we can include more of the technical equipment we had hoped to have. This will really enhance library services," she explained.

For the University Police, funding will allow improvements to the dispatch work center and new equipment for communications between the work center and personnel in the field. The upgrade allows the department to be a partner in a regional communications system for emergency response.

"The new equipment allows me to have more confidence in our ability to meet campus and community needs in case of an emergency," said University Police Chief Tom Schultheis. "With the federal assistance, we can upgrade now, rather than piecing the equipment together over several years."

With Congressman Cunningham's support, Cal State San Marcos received $300,000 in federal funding for the Barahona Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents in 2002. The National Latino Research Center received $550,000 federal funding in 2001, also with Cunningham's help.

Contact: Rick Moore, Director of Communications,(760) 750-4011