Legislative battle goes well for Vanguard

Alicia Robinson

A political squabble in Washington, D.C. resulted in a windfall for

Vanguard University, which will receive $1.3 million in federal funds

to boost science and technology programs and help build a new science

center.

The school announced Monday it would get three grants, which would

pay for design and construction drawings and equipment for a planned

$9-million science center and the refurbishing of existing science

facilities.

This is the first time funding for the university has been

earmarked in an appropriations bill, Vanguard University President

Murray Dempster said.

Orange County legislators Rep. Chris Cox, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

and Rep. Loretta Sanchez lobbied for the funding for Vanguard, but

Rohrabacher worked especially hard, Dempster said.

“Basically, Congressman Rohrabacher championed our cause, and that

made the difference,” he said.

While Rohrabacher made the official requests for funding for

Vanguard, he said the money might not have been granted so easily if

Democratic legislators had been willing to compromise on spending

bills.

Legislators usually get only a small portion of what they’ve

requested, but this year, congressional Democrats voted as a block

against all the appropriations bills, Rohrabacher said. As a

consequence, Republicans didn’t grant any of the Democrats’ funding

requests.

“We ended up having more money available in Republican districts

than we ever thought we’d have,” Rohrabacher said.

The legislators’ tiff is good news for Vanguard because the

funding will pay for construction drawings of the new Townsend

Academic Center for Science and Technology, a building that will be

filled with $2 million in modern science equipment. Vanguard is

seeking more funds to pay for the rest of the $9-million center,

which they hope to complete in three years, Dempster said.

“This is a very exciting thing for our science faculty,” Dempster

said.

Some of the federal money will cover new equipment and renovations

of the school’s existing science facility.

“Our current facility is over 40 years old, and while we’ve

attempted to maintain it, we’ve outgrown it,” Dempster said. “And the

kind of research we’re doing at the university really requires a more

state-of-the-art facility.”

Vanguard is the first university to meet new, more rigorous state

standards for training math and science teachers, it runs a pre-med

program, and officials are considering starting a nursing program, he

said.

“All those factors converged to say we need to move forward and

get our science and technology center up,” Dempster said.

Vanguard may want to make the most of this gush of funding,

because Rohrabacher said it’s likely to return to its usual trickle

next time around.

“I expect the Democrats have learned their lesson, and they’re not

going to play things this way next year,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.