Colleges receive money to purchase telescopes Williston State College was awarded a grant of $6,127 toward the purchase of a 10” telescope and accessories and Dickinson State University was awarded a grant of $6,780 to purchase a 12” telescope and accessories. The grants herald the launch of the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium’s (NDSGC’s) “North Dakota Dark Skies” initiative, whose goal is to establish a network of telescopes at NDSGC affiliate colleges around the state. The network will form the infrastructure for a state-wide education and public service program in Astronomy. Space Grant, headquartered at UND, provides funds for the affiliate college to purchase a portable telescope with accessories. The telescope is then used for activities involving the campus community, K-12 education, the general public, and regional tourism. NDSGC’s hope is to provide telescopes to one or two affiliates each year, until all the interested affiliates have them, and to eventually make the network of telescopes internet-controllable. For further information please contact Virginia Makepeace at 701-777-4161 or virginia@space.edu.