Team PrISUm needs help from you. Three members of the team are still in a hospital in Topeka, Kan.., although one is expected to be released today. They need members of the ISU community to give them support.

The members of the team have gone through much this past weekend. They went to Mesa, Ariz. They failed to qualify for Sunrayce ’97 due to a flat tire that caused the suspension to bend. Otherwise, they were doing excellent in the competition. On the way back to Ames, the trailer carrying the solar car began to sway, forcing the van into the ditch. The van went through a fence and slid on its left side into a tree.

The solar car was protected by the enclosed trailer that carried it, although the car was still damaged.

Nonetheless, the team plans to carry on and repair the car so it can try again in another qualifying round in Indianapolis before Sunrayce ’97 begins on June 19.

Team PrISUm needs some help from you. Several thousand hours of work have been damaged, and Iowa State’s hopes for a successful solar car team looks grim.

In June, the team still can qualify when it goes to Indianapolis. But first, the team needs to repair the fiberglass frame on ExCYtor, the solar car. And, as Murray Blackwelder, vice president of external affairs, said, “They’re going to need some money.”

So we, the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board, are asking members of the Iowa State community to show them the money. (Yeah, the saying from Jerry Maguire is now clich‚, but what the hell, it’s Dead Week.) The Team PrISUm students didn’t get this far by giving up, and they aren’t going to give up now.

Team PrISUm needs some help from you. Anyone wishing to help the solar car team can call the ISU Foundation about pledging funds for rebuilding ExCYtor.

We wish the team members our best, and we are proud of their efforts.