news release  March 3, 2005
Contacts: Ron Kalb, Dir. of Public Information, ron.kalb@dri.edu, 702-862-5420, 702-498-8916 (cell)
Heather Emmons, PIO, heather.emmons@dri.edu, 775-673-7313, 702-743-3435 (cell)
All DRI News Releases available at: http://news.dri.edu/

Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers and wife donate classic car to DRI fundraiser

Reno, Nev. -- Thanks to a generous donation by Jim Rogers, UCCSN interim chancellor and Sunbelt Communications owner-chairman, and his wife Beverly, a lucky Nevadan can win a fully restored 1972 Volkswagen Beetle convertible.  With an estimated retail value of $12,000, the orange Beetle is from the Sunbelt Antique and Classic Automobiles Museum, which is owned by Jim and Beverly Rogers and is home to more than 200 vehicles.

Raffle tickets may be purchased at his year's Nevada Medal dinner, March 8, at the Reno Hilton. The winning ticket will be drawn and announced at a second dinner March 10, in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace.  People not attending the events but interested in buying raffle tickets should call or e-mail Dawn Coots at (775) 674-7555 or Dawn.Coots@dri.edu.  The winner does not need to be present at the dinner.

Raffle tickets for the Beetle are priced at $50 each.

The Desert Research Institute's Nevada Medal was established in 1988 to acknowledge outstanding achievement in science and engineering. An annual award, it includes an eight-ounce minted medallion of Nevada silver and a $20,000 lecture honorarium sponsored by SBC.

This year's medalist is University of Washington scientist Dr. Donald K. Grayson, who is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost archaeologists. He is the18th scientist so honored and the first archaeologist. Grayson's primary areas of research concern human interaction with the landscape and using archaeological data to answer biological questions.  He has conducted landmark studies involving the Great Basin, the Donner Party and the French Stone Age.  

Sponsored by SBC, the Nevada Medal is presented by the DRI Research Foundation, and is its largest annual fundraiser. Event revenues are used for research equipment and new scientific initiatives important to DRI's vital environmental research.

About DRI

A nonprofit, statewide division of the University and Community College System of Nevada, DRI pursues a full-time program of basic and applied environmental research on a local, national and international scale. More than 500 full- and part-time scientists, technicians and support staff conduct some 150 research projects at DRI annually.

DRI generates $45 million in total revenue consisting predominately of competitively won research contracts and grants. The State of Nevada provides critical funding in support of DRI's administration, operations and maintenance, through the University and Community College System of Nevada budget. While DRI's portion of the UCCSN budget is less than 1 percent, the institute leverages these funds to enhance its competitiveness.

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