Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1960 [PAGE 1286]

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i960]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

1283

Porter, and Kistler is recommended for this purpose. It is estimated that the cost of filing the petition will be a minimum of $250, and could be as high as $2,500 for professional services, plus the cost of transcripts and other out-of-pocket expenses. The final cost will depend upon whether hearings are held and the length of the hearings. The Department of Astronomy can pay the first $250 from its departmental indirect costs. I recommend the adoption of the following resolution and the assignment of $2,500, or as much thereof as may be necessary, from general Indirect Costs funds accumulated from research contracts for legal services required. Resolution of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois WHEREAS, the University has undertaken the construction of a unique Radio Astronomy Telescope near Urbana, Illinois, which offers marked possibilities of providing a highly sensitive precision instrument at considerably lower cost than other instruments of comparable capabilities, and will contribute substantially to the scientific advancement of Radio Astronomy; and WHEREAS, the Radio Astronomy Telescope now under construction has been designed for effective and efficient use at 611 megacycles ± 3 megacycles, or a required radio frequency band width of 6 megacycles extending from 608 megacycles to 614 megacycles; and WHEREAS, this portion of the radio frequency spectrum is now allocated by the Federal Communications Commission to television broadcasting in the Ultra High Frequency Band and is designated by the Federal Communications Commission as U H F Television Channel No. 37; and WHEREAS, this channel is unoccupied at this time by any television stations within the United States, except for an experimental station at Camden, N.J., licensed to the Radio Corporation of America; and WHEREAS, the effective and efficient use of the Radio Telescope requires a high degree of protection from terrestrial radiations and it is, consequently, advisable to petition the Federal Communications Commission to afford such protection by reserving the radio frequency band 608-614 megacycles to radio astronomy on a nation-wide basis; Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the President of the University, through such agents or officials as he may designate, is hereby empowered and authorized to retain the law firm of Bingham, Collins, Porter, and Kistler of Washington, D.C., to represent the University in the matter of filing and prosecuting a Petition before the Federal Communications Commission requesting that Agency to amend or modify its existing Rules and Regulations so as to provide protection to the University's Radio Telescope by ruling that no license shall be issued for a television station, or any other class or type of radio station, operating or proposing to operate within the radio frequency band 608-614 megacycles. Provided, however, that the fees to be charged by the said law firm shall, in the opinion of the President, be fair and reasonable.

On motion of Mr. Hughes, the foregoing resolution was adopted by the following vote: Aye, Mr. Clement, Mr. Harewood, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Pogue, Mr. Swain, Mrs. Watkins, Mr. Williamson; no, none; absent, Mr. Herrick, Mr. Stratton, Mr. Wilkins.

PURCHASE OF ELECTRIC POWER (14) Because of the freeze of state capital appropriations for 1959-61, a turbine generator scheduled for completion in 1961 can not be available prior to 1963. It is estimated that there will be a deficiency of 780 kilowatts of power in the summer of i960, and over 2,300 kilowatts by the summer of 1962, so that it will be necessary to purchase power from the Illinois Power Company. The most economical arrangement is to purchase a 2,340 kilowatt block of power from a new substation in the vicinity of Florida Avenue and the Illinois Central Railroad. To secure the lowest rates, it is necessary to contract for a minimum period of five years. Capital costs for this service will amount to $9,200, and the annual cost of power will be $33,000 greater than if the equivalent amount of power were generated at the Abbott Power Plant. The Director of the Physical Plant and the Vice-President and Comptroller