Arizona State University

Scientists from ASU’s Biodesign Institute and Polytechnic campus have embarked on an ambitious, four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Disease to tackle West Nile virus.

The virus, which is spread by infected mosquitoes, can be a serious, life-altering – and even fatal – disease.

There is no current cure or drug treatment against West Nile virus, which in 2007 afflicted more than 3,500 people in the United States, resulting in 109 fatalities.

Qiang “Shawn” Chen, a researcher in the institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, and assistant professor at the Polytechnic campus’ Department of Applied Biological Sciences, will lead the interdisciplinary research project that will use tobacco plants to produce novel therapeutic agents against the virus. Participants in the project include fellow Biodesign and Polytechnic campus colleagues, and scientists from Washington University in St. Louis.

“Through the leadership of Charles Arntzen, our group has assembled some of world’s greatest research expertise in plant-based vaccines and therapeutics, and now we want to apply that knowledge to address the leading mosquito-borne health threat in the United States,” Chen says.

The plant-made pharmaceutical group at ASU has demonstrated research success on a variety of plant-based vaccines, including the first U.S. regulatory approved-plant based vaccine against a poultry infection, Newcastle’s disease.

In the West Nile project, the team’s goal is to have the plants produce antibodies against the virus in the hopes of neutralizing and destroying the virus before it can trigger its harmful effects.

“One of the challenges for this particular – or for any – central nervous system-related disease is that, after the infection, in a few days the virus will get into the central nervous system and get past the blood-brain barrier,” Chen says.

This microscopic biological filter acts as the brain’s chief defense mechanism against unwanted substances from entering the brain. But during infection, the virus manages to bypass and infect the brain while unfortunately keeping out potential therapeutics.

“The antibodies we are developing have good binding features against the virus,” Chen says. “But my approach to this question is to try to make them better, and get the therapeutic past the blood-brain barrier so that people who have been infected beyond the initial treatment window still have hope.”

The therapeutic “plantibodies” designed to target West Nile virus will be produced in an innovative tobacco system.

To make the potential therapeutics, the group is able to use young tobacco plants, infiltrate them with a protein expression system, and harvest the potential therapeutics in the leaves.

It takes as little as 10 days to harvest the material from the plants.

Chen hopes to provide proof of concept of the approach in the next one to two years and prove efficacy and safety of the technology by the end of the funding period.

“We want to take what we’ve learned during the grant period with the ultimate goal of entering clinical trials,” he says.

ASU’s supercomputing center will play a key role in one of the nation’s most ambitious scientific endeavors.

The High Performance Computing Institute (HPCI) in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering will assist in developing the “cyberinfrastructure” – the computational tools – for the iPlant Collaborative, a project aimed at answering the most challenging questions in plant biology.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced Jan. 30 that it is providing $50 million to begin the project, and potentially an additional $50 million after the project’s first five years.

HPCI will support the iPlant Collaborative lead science team at the University of Arizona (UA), as well as other project partners at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and Purdue University.

UA is the recipient of about 79 percent of the NSF funding for the project.

“Our role is to support the plant scientists in implementing their vision for the iPlant cyberinfrastructure,” says Daniel Stanzione, founding director of HPCI. “We are providing the large-scale storage, high-end computing power and expertise in applying supercomputing as part of the cyberinfrastructure.”

The magnitude and potential impact of the project are on a grand scale, Stanzione says.

“Deepening our knowledge in plant science is critically important in confronting many of our global challenges,” he says. “Food production, energy production, environmental sustainability, the development of biofuels and more effective medicines, dealing with climate change – all of these hinge on making new discoveries in plant biology.”

Through the capabilities of HPCI and the other iPlant project partners, Stanzione and his team are to help construct the computer systems and programs to gather, store, organize and analyze a vast data pool of plant biology knowledge and research findings. It also will provide the most advanced computer modeling and data-visualization ability.

The goal is to use the systems to connect plant, computer and information scientists around the world, providing them the sophisticated resources needed to communicate and collaborate quickly and effectively.

“We essentially will be building the cybertools necessary to speed up discoveries in areas that cross almost all aspects of science and engineering,” Stanzione says. “ “We will develop an interactive online environment for sharing of ideas and algorithms, making data rapidly accessible and analyzable. That is going to create some great intellectual synergy.”

The result promises to help reveal extensive new knowledge about basic cell structure and genetics, species progression, evolutionary processes and disease development, he says.

Quentin Wheeler, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ASU, and founding director of the International Institute of Species Exploration, says the project could dramatically lift technological constraints that have impeded scientific progress.

In part because of the bewildering diversity of flowering plants, scientists have become specialists and typically master a limited domain of knowledge, restricting their research to one of a few model organisms, Wheeler explains.

“This plant science cyberinfrastructure will bridge these knowledge gaps, opening the grand diversity of plants to research and vastly improving communication among scientists,” he says. “The quarter-million species of flowering plants – and thousands of yet-to-be-discovered species – have much to tell us about their evolution, genetics, physiology and development.”

The computational capacity HPCI will help enable “the diversity, quality, number and productivity of collaborative research projects to blossom,” Wheeler says, adding: “Considering the bold transdisciplinary initiative at ASU, it’s fitting that we are playing a significant role in this transformative project.”

An unusual new species of whirligig beetle from India is being named Orectochilus orbisonorum in honor of the late rock ‘n’ roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.

Arizona State University entomologist Quentin Wheeler announced the description and discovery of the beetle species Jan. 25 during a Roy Orbison Tribute Concert, part of a weekend of tribute events hosted by ASU’s Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture and the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Barbara Orbison attended the concert, as well as hundreds of fans, Orbison’s sons Wesley and Roy Kelton Orbison Jr., and songwriters and filmmakers who worked with the legendary musician.

“I have never seen an honor like that,” Barbara Orbison said in expressing her appreciation for the species naming.

To mark the occasion, an original work of art – a pigment inkjet print titled “Whirligig” – was presented to Orbison during the concert.

“It’s a token of admiration for Roy’s body of work and all you do to keep his music alive,” said Wheeler in presenting the art work to Orbison. Wheeler is director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University where he also is a professor in the School of Life Sciences and vice president and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The art, a painting with pixels on cotton water color paper, features nine images of a whirligig beetle in Andy Warhol style. It was created by Charles J. Kazilek, a senior research professional in ASU’s School of Life Sciences where he hosts a popular children’s podcast “Ask a Biologist.” Kazilek also has a degree from ASU’s Herberger College of the Arts.

In describing the work, Wheeler quipped: “The style of the print is Warhol meets Carl Linnaeus,” making a reference to the father of taxonomy and the practice and science of classification.

Wheeler co-authored the research behind the discovery of the new species Orectochilus orbisonorum with two other scientists: Kelly Miller of the University of New Mexico and Paolo Mazzoldi of Brescia, Italy.

In 2005, Wheeler and Miller made news with the discovery of 65 new species of slime-mold beetle of the genus Agathidium, with one named after Darth Vader and others named for President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

A scientific paper describing the new species of Gyrinidae, Orectochilus orbisonorum, was accepted for publication by “Zootaxa,” an international journal for animal taxonomists. According to the trio of researchers, the new species “is unique among Indian Gyrinidae and Orectochilus Lacordaire, in general, since the ventral surfaces are white as the result of clear areas of cuticle allowing internal tissues to be visible.”

Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Courtroom etiquette, proper direct examination and consequences fitting the offense are all on the agenda when students at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law mentor teens in the Maricopa County Teen Court program.

Teen Court is a diversionary program in which teens serve as prosecutors, defense attorneys, bailiffs and members of the jury to determine the proper consequence for a peer who has admitted responsibility for a violation of the law.

By listening to the offender and any witnesses that appear, the teens determine any mitigating circumstances and assign consequences that can include community service, restitution, letters of apology, peer counseling, tutoring, research papers, educational classes, skill-building classes and jury duty.

The University Lakes arm of the program began meeting at the College of Law in November, using the college’s courtroom classroom, which has a judge’s bench, jury box and tables for lawyers and defendants.

Law students volunteer through the college’s pro bono program, which provides free law-related services to promote the public good or to those who cannot afford help. Last year, the college’s law students donated 73,000 hours to the elderly, the disabled, the homeless and other programs.

Shana Einhorn, a third-year law student who plans to work in family law, recently sat across the table from Abby Richardson, 17, and Ashley Elliott, 18, both of Desert Vista High School, who served as prosecuting attorneys in an assault case. Elliott eventually hopes to take pre-law classes at ASU, while Richardson wants to be a cosmetic surgeon.

Einhorn helped the students read the police account of the incident, a fight over a boy in which one girl slapped another and dragged her by the hair across the cement.

“You should point out the difference in size,” Einhorn told them.

Then she explained the idea of hearsay, that someone told the offender that the girl was saying things about her.

She also coached them on their performance in front of the judge.

“Most people talk too fast,” Einhorn told them. “Speak much slower than you think you should. Even if the person on the stand is rude to you, always be polite. And stand up when you speak to the judge.”

Lee Roberts, a juvenile probation officer and Teen Court coordinator, sat on the bench.

The “defense attorneys,” two teenage boys, walked the offender through her background, the teasing she suffered in school, and her anger at hearing the other girl was spreading rumors about her.

Elliott and Richardson asked her about the size difference, whether there had been other fights, and whether she had apologized.
The jury of teens decided the offender should attend an anger-management workshop, and write an essay on anger.

Suzanne Sanchez, a 1991 graduate of the College of Law who is an attorney and supervisor in the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, says the Teen Court program has a great success rate.

“Ninety-eight percent of the teens who come through the program don’t have a second offense,” she says.
Sanchez says the program gives first-time offenders a taste of the court system without establishing a juvenile record.

“It’s literally a jury of their peers – other teenagers – and the consequences stop short of jail or probation,” Sanchez says. “It’s a great experience for high school students interested in law or public speaking.”

Judy Nichols, judith.nichols@asu.edu
(480) 727-7895
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Thousands of Arizona high school students drop out of school annually. Many of these children are too old to go to bed early and too young to drive, yet they abandon Arizona schools at the rate of about 28,400 each year.

Faced with the overwhelming task of finding a job in an increasingly complex and challenging society, why would a student leave high school before graduating?

A team of ASU students believes it may have some answers.

The students are Rodel Community Scholars, an elite group of highly motivated undergraduates attending ASU’s West campus and majoring in a variety of disciplines. They work alongside school administrators to identify and address key issues affecting Arizona’s education system.

The Rodel scholars, led by ASU’s Gregory Hickman, director of the Rodel Community Scholars program, recently completed a study titled “The Differential Developmental Trajectories of High School Dropouts and Graduates.” The longitudinal study tracked students from kindergarten through high school, examining behavioral characteristics of dropouts. The study will appear in the Journal of Education Research, a renowned periodical that reaches an international audience of educators concerned with cutting-edge theories and proposals.

“We’ve identified certain behaviors associated with high school dropouts,” says Rodel scholar Mitchell Bartholomew, a 24-year-old resident of Glendale and an ASU psychology major. “We also discovered that the dropout process can begin as early as kindergarten.”

This is contrary to earlier beliefs that dropping out was more of an impulsive act rather than a long-term process.

“As complicated as most circumstances are for these children, leaving school before graduation is not an instantaneous event,” says Hickman, an associate professor in the College of Teacher Education and Leadership at the West campus. “It is a gradual process of that should be tracked long before a child progresses into high school.”

Until recently, most dropout intervention programs typically targeted high school students.

“This line of thought assumes children exist in an ‘educational vacuum’ from kindergarten through eighth grade,” Hickman says.

“Consequently, educators may be overlooking important developmental trajectories exhibited by students before entering high school.”

As the former director of the Arizona Dropout Initiative, Hickman has conducted research into the factors affecting high school attendance, including the impact of compulsory attendance laws and the AIMS test.

“We discovered that, as early as kindergarten, differences exist between graduates and dropouts; namely, dropouts miss more school than graduates,” Hickman says. “Dropouts miss an average of 124 days by eighth grade. Educators should begin developing strategies to improve student attendance from as early as kindergarten.”

While certain behaviors are developed early, Hickman adds that dropout characteristics are not necessarily set in stone.

“Kids can succeed despite their early history,” he says. “You can’t just look at a few demographic variables and write these kids off. There are too many windows of opportunity for change.”

Reducing Arizona’s dropout rates requires a profound rethinking of how to keep students in school. ASU’s Rodel scholars have developed innovative programs designed to make it easier for children to get from kindergarten to high school graduation. Projects address everything from tracking struggling students to dropout intervention to increasing parental involvement to locating scholarships for high school graduates.

“The developmental trajectory study is my second psychological project researching student dropout variables,” Bartholomew says. “I am currently working on an attentional bias study that examines the physiological biases or shift of high school students toward school-related words.”

“Attentional bias” refers to hyper-attention to threatening material. This hyper-attention occurs even with verbal material that is not relevant to the primary task in which the subject is involved. A consequence of attentional bias is an increased focus on threatening material, or words, which can elevate a student’s anxiety level.

“We believe there are particular words that are considered more threatening or stress-inducing to students who drop out of school rather than students who graduate,” Bartholomew says. “Hopefully, our research will result in a valid screening device in which to identifying potential dropout students.”

Though solving the dropout crisis is no easy task, the scholars are continually developing approaches to help students stay in school and become successful.

“While we may never get the state’s dropout rate to zero, we can definitely do better,” Hickman says. “In today’s world, if you don’t have a high school diploma, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State Athletic Family is proud to announce the hiring of Jason Watson, whom they will welcome as the new Head Coach of the ASU Women’s Volleyball Program. With his hiring, Watson is slated to be the sixth coach in program history, and comes to ASU by way of Provo, Utah where he spent the last three years as the Head Coach of the highly successful BYU Women’s Volleyball team.

In his three seasons at the helm of the Cougar program, Watson compiled a 74-18 (.804) overall record while leading BYU to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. In only his first season as Head Coach, he was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 25-4 record, the program’s best record since 1998. In addition to leading BYU to the MWC regular-season title, Watson also helped lead them back to the NCAA Tournament as well, where his teams have resided and succeeded in the last few years.

In 2007, he led the Cougars to a 24-8 overall record and finish in NCAA Regional Final (Elite as well as final national ranking of 12 and at one point through the season as high a rank as ninth. No stranger to the best competition, Watson’s teams have been ranked as high as eighth on RPI, showing the character and strength of the teams he builds and that they shy away from no challenge.

Prior to his head-coaching debut, Watson had amassed 11 years as an assistant coach at four universities. After an All-American playing career at BYU, Watson coached for two years under his former coach, Carl McGown before beginning his career in women’s volleyball with extremely successful stints at Kansas State, Arkansas State and Montana State.

Pending the contingent completion of his human resources paperwork, Watson will begin his tenure immediately at Arizona State, where we are proud to call him one of our own and look forward to the future success of the Sun Devil Women’s Volleyball program which we are confident he can bring.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Following a home split with the Oregon schools last weekend, the Arizona State University wrestling team (9-4, 3-4 Pac-10) will step out of Pac-10 Conference action over the next two weekends, starting with a road dual at No. 17 Oklahoma this Friday night at 7 p.m. in Norman, Okla. The dual on Friday night, which will take place inside the Howard McCasland Field House, will be the final road dual of the season for the Sun Devils with three home competitions remaining on the schedule before the Pac-10 Championships (March 2-3, Eugene, Ore.) next month.

IN THE RANKINGS
Individually in the InterMat/NWCA/NWMA rankings (January 28), a pair of rookie Sun Devils are listed among the national Top 20 with both Anthony Robles (125) and Brent Chriswell (184) ranked No. 14 in their respective weight classes.

ROOKIE RANKINGS
While both Anthony Robles and Brent Chriswell are ranked No. 14 in the nation in their respective weight classes, both redshirt freshmen are the second-highest ranked freshmen in their classes this season. Robles is just behind No. 13 Dave Tomasette of Old Dominion while fellow rookie Tyler Clark of Iowa State is No. 17. Robles and Clark could meet next Sunday in Tempe when the Sun Devils and Cyclones meet in a dual. Chriswell is the second of three rookies in the Top 20 as well with only Boise State’s Kirk Smith (No. 9) ranked ahead of him. The two freshmen could meet at the Pac-10 Championships later this season.

RANKED BATTLES
While Oklahoma has six wrestlers ranked in the national Top 20, only one is in the same weight class as a ranked Sun Devil. At 184 pounds, ASU’s No. 14 Brent Chriswell is scheduled to compete against No. 7 Josh Weitzel.

STRONG SHOWING
Over the weekend, the Sun Devils fell to Oregon State, 27-14, at Mesa High School before rebounding for a 26-16 defeat of Oregon back inside Wells Fargo Arena. Four Sun Devils went 2-0 on the weekend, including Anthony Robles (125) with a major decision and fall; Todd Schavrien (133) with a major decision and decision; Brent Chriswell (184) with a decision and forfeit; and Jason Trulson (197) with two decisions.

YOUNG LINE-UP
Against the two Oregon schools, the Sun Devils sent eight freshmen to the mats to compete with the group posting a 7-9 record. Overall this season, 13 rookies have made their debuts and have accounted for 80 of the teams 142 victories, including 49-of-76 dual wins and 24-of-33 Pac-10 wins. The freshmen have won 14 (of 21) major decisions, five (of five) technical falls, 14 (of 24) falls and nine (of 15) forfeit victories.

ROBLES ROLLING
So far this season, Anthony Robles is 18-6 following a sweep of two bout this weekend, including a major decision Friday against Oregon State that kept him undefeated on the mats at Mesa High School, his Alma mater. Of those 18 victories, 13 have produced bonus points, including five major decisions, four technical falls and three falls, all team-highs, as well as one win by forfeit. For the year, he has earned 69 bonus points, the most on the team, with fellow rookie Todd Schavrien second on the list with 43 bonus points.

MORE RANKINGS
InterMat and the NWCA have compiled a statistics database for the season with Anthony Robles ranking among some of the best in several categories, including one nationally. Among all Division I wrestlers, Robles ranks tied for 13th nationally in tech falls with four. In the Pac-10 Conference, his four tech falls rank as the second-most while his five wins by major decision rank as the 10th-most in the league.

MILESTONES REACHED
Earlier this season, at the Reno Tournament of Champions, Patrick Pitsch (165) scored the 75th victory of his career with an 11-4 defeat of Daniel Atondo (CS Bakersfield). Jason Trulson (197) went 2-0 on the weekend with his second win, a 3-0 decision over Shaun Dee of Oregon, giving him 50 career victories.

MILESTONE WATCH
With an upset of No. 17 Oklahoma this weekend, Sun Devil Head Coach Thom Ortiz would record the 75th win on his coaching record, which stands at 74-48-1. Back on the mats, Rick Renzi (174) is four away from his 25th career victory.

IN THE SERIES… OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Arizona State, 22-14-1, and holds an 11-3-1 advantage in the series when the dual is held in Norman. The Sun Devils have last the last four duals in a row against the Sooners, including a 29-13 decision last year in Tempe, and eight in a row on the road. The last victory for ASU in the series came on January 8, 2003, in a 21-21 criteria victory in Tempe while the last road win for the Sun Devils in the series came on January 27, 1991, in a 26-12 decision in Norman.

AGAINST THE PAC-10
Since Thom Ortiz took over the program in time for the 2001-02 season, Arizona State has built a 40-7-0 record against Pac-10 foes, including an 18-6 record on the road and 22-1 in Tempe. Under Ortiz, the Sun Devils are 4-2 against Oregon State and 3-0 at home and 6-0 against Oregon with a 3-0 home record.

PAC-10 RANKINGS
The fourth round of Pac-10 Individual Rankings were released January 13 with six Sun Devils ranked among the Top 6 in their respective weight classes. Leading the way are a pair of top-ranked Sun Devils in Patrick Pitsch (165) and Jason Trulson (197) with Anthony RoblesBrent Chriswell (184) is fourth; and both Todd Schavrien (133) and Chris Drouin (141) are ranked sixth. (125) ranked third;

SCORING BIG
The Sun Devils have combined to win 142 bouts this year with 65 of those victories producing bonus points. Of the 65 bonus point victories, Arizona State has won 24 by fall, 21 by major decision, five by technical fall and added 13 forfeit victories and two injury defaults.

QUICK STICK
Of those 24 wins by pin-fall, only 13 have come outside of the first period this year. Brent Chriswell (184) has recorded the fastest fall of the year as he pinned UC Davis’ Jon Clark in just 33 seconds of his first match with the Sun Devils. At the Keystone Classic, Arizona State recorded four wins by fall, including three in the first two minutes of a bout.

NOT-SO-QUICK STICK
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kenny Lester turned in one of the latest falls of the season this year as he pinned Cal Poly’s Jim Powers at 6:58 of the heavyweight bout, or two seconds before the end of the bout. Lester was leading the match on points and was set for the win, but a late takedown gave the Sun Devil big-man a chance for the pin, which he took.

DUALS SWEEP
For the fourth time since it began hosting the Sun Devil Duals in 1999 (eight Duals), Arizona State walked away with a 3-0 record on the day as it scored wins of 22-13 over Army, 42-10 over Grand Canyon and 21-17 over No. 23 Penn. The Sun Devils previously swept the Duals in 2005, 2004 and 2001. The 2004 edition, like this year’s, included an upset of a ranked foe (defeated No. 2 Iowa State, 22-20) as well as a win over another Arizona school (24-17 over Embry-Riddle). Since the first Sun Devil Duals, ASU holds a 17-6 all-time record.

FIRST WINS
Arizona State faced a pair of foes for the first time over the weekend and walked away with victories, including wins of 22-13 over Army and 42-10 over Grand Canyon. The win over GCU, an Arizona school based in Phoenix, improved the Sun Devils’ all-time record against Copper Canyon State teams to 54-9-0.

HAPPY TO UPSET
Three upsets took place at the Sun Devil Duals, including two individual victories and one team win for Arizona State. In the first dual of the day against Army, No. 19 Anthony Robles used his quickness to build an early lead before winning his bout at 125-pounds in a 15-4 major decision over No. 16 Fernando Martinez. In the third dual of the day, No. 18 Brent Chriswell, who had not wrestled since the finals of the Keystone Classic on November 17 — a 7-3 loss to No. 17 Lior Zamir of Penn — stepped onto the mat to face Zamir again, this time ranked No. 13. In a tough battle, the Sun Devil freshman picked up a reversal to open the third period and held on for a 2-1 victory. Chriswell’s victory also helped the team knock-off the No. 23 Quakers, 21-17.

MORE ON THE UPSETS…
The win for Anthony Robles was his second upset victory of the season as he also defeated then-No. 8 Javier Maldanado of UT Chattanooga in the semifinals of the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia… Brent Chriswell’s upset of No. 13 Lior Zamir not only exacted a measure of revenge for an earlier loss this season (his only loss so far this year), but is also marked the second time Chriswell has downed the No. 13-ranked wrestler at 184 pounds after also knocking off then-No. 13 Doug Umbehauer of Rider at the Keystone Classic.

HOME DEBUTS
Six Sun Devils competed in the first home bouts of their careers with five winning their matches against Embry-Riddle (November 25). Redshirt freshmen Anthony Robles (125), Todd Schavrien (133), Chris Drouin (141), Jerrad Trulson (149) and Imanibom Etukeren (285) each won their debuts while Jalonn Wilkins (157) dropped a close decision. Wilkins is scheduled to compete in Reno this weekend at 149 pounds and could score his first collegiate win.

BROTHERS WIN
In the dual with Embry-Riddle, Jason Trulson opened the dual with a pin of Justin Masotti in 3:32 of the 197 bout before younger brother Jerrad Trulson won a 6-4 decision at 149 pounds over Trace Billet. The victories by the brothers marked the first time since the 2002-03 season that a pair of brothers competed in the same dual with each winning a bout. The last time it happened was on January 5, 2003, when Chris Smith pinned his opponent from ERAU at 5:29 of the 141 bout and was followed by brother Mike Smith winning a 7-1 decision at 157. One month earlier, on December 5, 2002, brothers Evan Larkin and Eric Larkin each won forfeits against Portland State at 141 and 149, respectively.

IN THE COMMUNITY
Over the past several weeks, the Sun Devil wrestling team has been getting out in the community more and working with local children. On November 22, the day before Thanksgiving, the Sun Devils visited the Crossroad Youth Intervention Center in Phoenix where they interacted with the children while handing out dinner and dessert. On November 27, the wrestlers headed over to the UMOM New Day Center in Phoenix where they read to numerous children from the community.

PITSCH FALLS AT ALL-STAR CLASSIC
Senior Patrick Pitsch, ranked No. 3 in the NWCA/InterMat individual rankings at 165 pounds, dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 2 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan Monday evening at the NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marine Corps in Eugene, Ore. Tannenbaum scored on an escape and takedown in the second period and then a riding point in the third for the victory in the exhibition event held on the Oregon campus. With his loss, Arizona State is now 10-13-1 all-time in the All-Star Classic. Pitsch was the 27th different Sun Devil to compete in the event.

CAMPBELL ON THE ROSTER
This year, the Sun Devils have a first on their roster as Kelsey Campbell is the first woman to join the Arizona State program. A transfer from Pacific (Ore.), Campbell comes to Tempe after competing for the Boxers during the 2005-06 season and then representing the ASU Women’s Club Team last year. During the 2006-07 season, Campbell competed in her first National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships and won the 63kg (138.5) national title as an unseeded competitor. In the event, she knocked off the No. 4, No. 1 and then No. 2 seeds on her way to her first tournament title.

TOP OF HER CLASS
Kelsey Campbell is currently ranked on a pair of national women’s lists, including No. 2 at 59kg in the Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Association rankings. She also is ranked No. 5 in TheMat.com’s U.S. Senior Women’s Rankings (May 2007).

SWEEP FOR CAMPBELL
Kelsey Campbell was invited to compete in the West-Midwest Duals at Menlo College on December 2 and walked away with a clean sweep, winning all four of her bouts. Campbell opened the day with a pin of Tina Linhasmout (West Valley CC) in 51 seconds before defeating Raissa Dickinson (Simon Frasier), 3-0, 2-1. Campbell then blanked Marina Piccolotti (Oklahoma City Univ.), the No. 2-ranked women at 63kg, in a 3-0, 5-0 decision. Campbell’s final bout of the day saw her defeat Deni Torgeson (Simon Frasier), 0-1, 2-0, 1-0.

CAMPBELL TAKE FOURTH
On January 20, Kelsey Campbell competed in the Guelph Open in Canada and wrestled in six bouts, posting a 4-2 record and finishing fourth in the international event. With the women, she improved to 12-5 on the year with her final win giving her 20 career victories.

AHOY, CAPTAIN!
Seniors Patrick Pitsch, Rick Renzi and Jason Trulson and junior Quinton Pruett have been selected as the team’s captains for the year.

RICHES WRESTLING COMPLEX
On Saturday, January 7, 2006, the Sun Devils dedicated their new training facility in a joint celebration with the gymnastic team. The Riches Wrestling Complex, the John Spini Women’s Gymnastics Training Center and the Cavanagh/Dickey Olympic Sports Plaza were dedicated and showcased as fans and over 200 supporters toured two of the premier training centers in the nation while both teams showcased their teams by holding practices. The facilities are located off Sixth Street behind the Kajikawa Football Practice Fields and beyond the outfield wall at Farrington Softball Stadium.

HOME OF THE SUN DEVILS
Wells Fargo Arena serves as the home of Arizona State’s home wrestling duals, as well as basketball (men and women), women’s gymnastics and women’s volleyball. Opened in the spring of 1974, the 14,198-seat arena has been the home venue of some of the Sun Devil greats with all 16 Pac-10 team titles and one of the two Western Athletic Conference crowns attained by ASU. Since its opening, 57 Sun Devils have captured 109 individual conference titles while 67 different athletes have earned a total of 98 All-America honors. The Sun Devils stand 167-54-2 all-time inside Wells Fargo Arena (205-88-2 all-time at home). With its 36-3 defeat of Utah Valley on Jan. 10, 2005, ASU recorded its 150th victory at WFA.

NEXT TIME OUT
On February 8, the Sun Devils take on No. 1 Iowa at 7:30 p.m. at Copper Canyon High School in Glendale before meeting No. 8 Iowa State on February 10 at 2 p.m. Prior to the ISU dual (from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.), Olympic Champion and ISU head coach Cael Sanderson, who went undefeated in college as a four-time NCAA champion for the Cyclones, will sign autographs for fans.

TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State head coach Kevin Boyd today announced the 2008 spring schedule for the ASU women’s soccer team, which will be highlighted by a weekend visit by the Mexican Women’s National Team.

On Sunday, February 17 the Sun Devils will host Mexico at 7 p.m. in Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The contest will be the final of three games during the weekend, which will also include UCLA taking on Mexico at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 15 and ASU facing UCLA on Saturday, February 16 at 7 p.m. Friday’s and Saturday’s games will also take place in Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.

This will be the second time in the last 18 months that the Mexican National Team has come to ASU. On October 1, 2006, a Sun Devil Soccer Stadium record crowd of 2,136 witnessed the Sun Devils take on the Mexican National Team in a game won by Mexico 3-0.

All session passes for the weekend are available and can be purchased by contacting the Sun Devil ticket office at 480-727-0000. Passes are $20 for adults and $10 for college students with ID, seniors 60+ and juniors 18 and under. Tickets can also be purchased on a per-game basis ($10 for adults and $5 for students, seniors and juniors.). College students must purchase their tickets in person and must have a valid ID when purchasing tickets.

One week following the Mexican National Team’s visit, the Sun Devils will be hosting another exciting weekend of soccer at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium as Arizona, Nebraska and Loyola Marymount come to Tempe for games on Sunday, February 24. The action will kickoff at 9 a.m. when the Sun Devils take on Nebraska and will be immediately followed by Arizona vs. Loyola Marymount. Later that afternoon Arizona will face Nebraska at 2 p.m. and will be immediately followed by the Sun Devils facing Loyola Marymount.

A group of seven ASU students had the opportunity to meet with coaches and a panel of American Indian business owners to learn basic principles of entrepreneurship and discuss the challenges of creating a company – especially in tribal country.

The experience was part of the “Four Directions: American Indian Student Entrepreneurship” workshop, a two-day program held by ASU’s American Indian Studies program, American Indian Policy Institute, School of Sustainability and ASU Technopolis.

The workshop is a new initiative under the Pathways to Entrepreneurship Grant (PEG) program that is supported by the Kauffman Foundation.

The PEG program awarded a grant for the Four Directions program to a team of eight ASU faculty and staff from two separate units. The team has four members from the Office of the Vice President of Research and Economic Affairs: director Terree Wasley, entrepreneurial coach Dan O’Neill, entrepreneurial services specialist Karen Katzorke and program coordinator Jennifer Coombs. The other four members are part of the American Indian Policy and Leadership Development Center, which includes director Patricia Mariella, co-executive directors Eddie F. Brown and Kevin Gover, and center coordinator Cyndee Coin.

Gover recently left the American Indian Policy and Leadership Development Center to take a post as the director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The PEG program aims to increase university involvement in entrepreneurship, education and research. Grant recipients must demonstrate successful programs that engage faculty, staff and students from across the university or the community in entrepreneurship courses, programs or research.

As part of the Four Directions workshop, American Indian students learned about the key competencies of successful entrepreneurs, issues of sustainability in business and production, management and how to pitch an idea for venture capital.

“Our intention with this workshop is to facilitate the matching of a tribe’s needs with the university’s resources,” says Karen Jarrat-Snider, a senior research analyst for the American Indian Policy Institute. “The highlight of the event was giving students the opportunity to pitch their idea for five minutes to entrepreneurs and get immediate feedback.”

The project is one of several initiatives launched by the PEG program. To date, nine faculty-staff teams have received $256,014 in seed funding to take their ideas to the next level.

Another example of how ASU has nourished creative entrepreneurs is “Designing for Resilience,” a project funded last year by the PEG program.

Designing for Resilience places greater entrepreneurial approaches to the process of designing innovative health care products by expanding offerings at InnovationSpace. In particular, the project has been looking at ways to develop concepts and services that aid in the recovery of elders in their transition from a hospital to home.

The PEG grant was awarded to the faculty team of associate professor Prasad Boradkar in the Department of Industrial Design, professor Stuart Hall in the Department of Public Affairs and professor Alex Zautra in the Department of Psychology.

The PEG program is seeking proposals from teams of ASU faculty and staff members that have ideas on how to create a new or enhanced interdisciplinary entrepreneurship education or research program.

For more information, or to download a PEG application, visit the Web site www.asu.edu/ui/entrepreneurship/programs/peg.html. The deadline to submit a proposal is March 17.

Sun Devil freshman James Harden has been named as one of the 30 top candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, the nation’s most coveted college basketball award, The Los Angeles Athletic Club’s John R. Wooden Award Committee announced today. Composed of the top 30 players who will compete for this season’s player of the year award, the midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records during the first half of the season.

Harden, the Pac-10’s youngest player (turned 18 on Aug. 26), leads the Sun Devils (14-5; 4-3 in the Pac-10) in scoring (18.8 ppg.), steals (36) and minutes per game (33.1). He is shooting .546 from the field, .765 from the free throw line and .420 from the three-point stripe. Harden is the first McDonald’s All-American to sign with ASU out of high school since 1984. He already has 10 20-point games, including five straight games from Dec. 29-Jan. 17 which is a first for an ASU freshman. He is averaging 22.1 points and 5.4 boards in seven Pac-10 games and is the only player in the league to lead his team in scoring in each Pac-10 game.

Harden is one of eleven players who has been selected to the midseason Top 30 who were not on the preseason list. This impressive group includes returning players enjoying breakout seasons (Brian Roberts of Dayton, Raymar Morgan of Michigan State, Wayne Ellington of North Carolina, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame and Sam Young of Pittsburgh), and freshmen Eric Gordon of Indiana, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Derrick Rose of Memphis and local stars Kevin Love of UCLA and USC’s O.J. Mayo, along with Harden.

The Pac-10 (seven players) has the most players chosen to the Wooden Midseason Top 30, followed by the ACC with 5, Big 12 with four, the SEC Big East, and Big 10 with three each, Conference USA with two, and the Atlantic 10, Southern and Metro Atlantic Athletic each with one.

"This was another year where a lot of players have been surprises," said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman. "Players across the nation stepped up and made a case for themselves, whether they were veteran players or freshmen. We look forward to continuing to follow these talented players as we determine the 10 candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team."

Also on the list are returning Wooden All-Americans Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina and Brandon Rush of Kansas, whose teams have been ranked in the Top 10 all season. CSTV.com continues to follow the Wooden Award, and its team of experts ranks its own top candidates each week at http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/woodenwatch/.

Players who do not make the Midseason list are still eligible for the national ballot, which will be selected in March and will consist of approximately 20 players, chosen by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board Committee, who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

More than 1,000 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from across the nation, will then cast their votes to determine both the 10-member All-American Team and Player of the Year. In late March, the 10-player Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced.

The 2008 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 11-12. The 32nd Annual Wooden Award Gala, with a reception and dinner program, will take place the evening of Friday, April 11 at the Sheraton Downtown Los Angeles. On Saturday, April 12, the Wooden Award Announcement and trophy presentation will be televised, followed by a press conference and sponsor reception.

About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), and Tim Duncan (’97) and last year’s recipients, Kevin Durant of Texas and returning player Candace Parker of Tennessee.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American players, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday of the John R. Wooden Award weekend.

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact Christin Maxwell at 213-630 5291/woodenaward@laac.net or visit www.WoodenAward.com. Media may visit the website or contact Linda Reid at 210-291-9205/lindreid@aol.com.

Midseason Top 30D.J. Augustin So. 6-0 G TexasMichael Beasley Fr. 6-10 F Kansas StateJon Brockman Jr. 6-7 F WashingtonChase Budinger So. 6-7 F ArizonaMario Chalmers Jr. 6-1 G KansasStephen Curry So. 6-1 G DavidsonChris Douglas-Roberts Jr. 6-7 G MemphisWayne Ellington So. 6-4 G North CarolinaShan Foster Sr. 6-6 G VanderbiltEric Gordon Fr. 6-4 G IndianaJamont Gordon Jr. 6-4 G/F Mississippi StateMalik Hairston Sr. 6-6 G OregonTyler Hansbrough Jr. 6-9 F North CarolinaLuke Harangody So. 6-8 F Notre DameJames Harden Fr. 6-5 G Arizona StateRoy Hibbert Sr. 7-2 C GeorgetownChris Lofton Sr. 6-2 G TennesseeKevin Love Fr. 6-10 C UCLADerrick Low Sr. 6-2 G Washington StateO.J. Mayo Fr. 6-5 G USCRaymar Morgan So. 6-7 F Michigan StateDemarcus Nelson Sr. 6-4 G DukeTyrese Rice Jr. 6-1 G Boston CollegeBrian Roberts Sr. 6-2 G DaytonDerrick Rose Fr. 6-3 G MemphisBrandon Rush Jr. 6-6 G KansasSean Singletary Sr. 6-0 G VirginiaJason Thompson Sr. 6-11 F RiderD.J. White Sr. 6-9 F IndianaSam Young Jr. 6-6 F Pittsburgh

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Addison McGrath recorded her third multiple-goal game in a row and four others added single scores to lift the No. 11 Arizona State University water polo team to a 6-4 defeat of No. 14 UC San Diego in the Sun Devils’ final game of the Michigan Invitational inside the Canham Natatorium Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The win, ASU’s third in a row, raised the Sun Devils’ record to 3-1 on the year while UCSD slipped to 0-4.

McGrath, who scored her 100th career goal in the first game of the day (12-3 win vs. Indiana) scored a pair of goals to lead the way while seniors Traci Aparicio and Katy Lawlor each scored once. Amanda Stepp and rookie Candice Phillippe also scored once each in the game.

Both teams scored twice in the opening quarter of play before the Sun Devils pulled ahead with a 2-0 performance in the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead at the break. From there, both teams each scored once in the third and fourth quarters to bring the final score to 6-4.

ASU will return to competition next Saturday with a trio of games at the Cal Baptist Invitational in Riverside, Calif. The Sun Devils open the day with an 8:30 a.m. contest against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, the third-ranked team in Division III. The Sun Devils will then take on the host Lancers at 12:30 p.m. before closing the day against Concordia (Calif.) at 2 p.m.

#11 Arizona State vs. #14 UC San Diego
at Michigan Invitational • January 27
AZSU - 2-2-1-1=6
UCSD - 2-0-1-1=4

ASU Goals - McGrath 2, Aparicio, Lawlor, Phillippe, Stepp
IND Goals - Gstettenbauer 3, Aguilar

The men’s tennis matches against Gonzaga and NAU have been postponed due to adverse weather. The matches may or may not be rescheduled.

An unusual new species of whirligig beetle from India is being named Orectochilus orbisonorum in honor of the late rock ‘n’ roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.

Arizona State University entomologist Quentin Wheeler announced the description and discovery of the beetle species Jan. 25 during a Roy Orbison Tribute Concert, part of a weekend of tribute events hosted by ASU’s Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture and the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Barbara Orbison attended the concert, as well as hundreds of fans, Orbison’s sons Wesley and Roy Kelton Orbison Jr., and songwriters and filmmakers who worked with the legendary musician.

“I have never seen an honor like that,” Barbara Orbison said in expressing her appreciation for the species naming.

To mark the occasion, an original work of art – a pigment inkjet print titled “Whirligig” – was presented to Orbison during the concert.

“It’s a token of admiration for Roy’s body of work and all you do to keep his music alive,” said Wheeler in presenting the art work to Orbison. Wheeler is director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University where he also is a professor in the School of Life Sciences and vice president and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The art, a painting with pixels on cotton water color paper, features nine images of a whirligig beetle in Andy Warhol style. It was created by Charles J. Kazilek, a senior research professional in ASU’s School of Life Sciences where he hosts a popular children’s podcast “Ask a Biologist.” Kazilek also has a degree from ASU’s Herberger College of the Arts.

In describing the work, Wheeler quipped: “The style of the print is Warhol meets Carl Linnaeus,” making a reference to the father of taxonomy and the practice and science of classification.

Wheeler co-authored the research behind the discovery of the new species Orectochilus orbisonorum with two other scientists: Kelly Miller of the University of New Mexico and Paolo Mazzoldi of Brescia, Italy.

In 2005, Wheeler and Miller made news with the discovery of 65 new species of slime-mold beetle of the genus Agathidium, with one named after Darth Vader and others named for President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

A scientific paper describing the new species of Gyrinidae, Orectochilus orbisonorum, was accepted for publication by “Zootaxa,” an international journal for animal taxonomists. According to the trio of researchers, the new species “is unique among Indian Gyrinidae and Orectochilus Lacordaire, in general, since the ventral surfaces are white as the result of clear areas of cuticle allowing internal tissues to be visible.”

Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Roy Orbison lives on in many people’s hearts, especially those who worked with him or his music. Some of those professionals, including filmmakers Zalman King and Carolyn Pfieffer, and songwriters Bill Dees and Joe Melson, will be on ASU’s Tempe campus from noon to 4 p.m., Jan. 26 to discuss Orbison’s life, his music and its cultural impact.

The Saturday afternoon symposium, which is free and open to the public, is hosted by professor Peter Lehman, director of ASU’s Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Part of “A Tribute to Roy Orbison,” the symposium will be held in ASU’s Student Services Building Amphitheater on the Tempe campus. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. More information at (480) 727-9866 or OrbisonTribute.asu.edu.

“These panel discussions will shed light on Roy Orbison’s music and persona, exploring the work and style of this mysterious man,” says Lehman, author of “Roy Orbison: The Invention of an Alternative Rock Masculinity.”

The first panel features professionals who worked with Orbison, including songwriters Dees, who collaborated with Orbison on “It’s Over,” “Oh, Pretty Woman”, “Goodnight” and “Ride Away,” and Melson, who co-wrote such hits as “Only the Lonely,” “Running Scared,” “Crying” and “Blue Bayou.”

Other panelists include:

• Howard Kramer, curatorial director at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Zalman King, film and television writer and director who was executive producer of the 1980 film “Roadie,” which features a duet of “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again” recorded by Orbison and Emmylou Harris.
• Carolyn Pfieffer, film producer of “Roadie.”
• Kim Scharnberg, arranger of “Suite on the Tunes of Roy Orbison.”
• Jeff Scheftel, videographer of “Video Tribute to Roy Orbison.”

The second panel discussion is about “Roy Orbison: His Music, Career, Fans and Legacy.” Panelists and the titles of their 15-minute presentations are:

• Clint Felker, psychologist, “Psychological Traits of Roy Orbison and His Fans: Only the Lonely?”
• Joshua Gunn, professor, University of Texas at Austin, “The Big O: A Psychoanalytic Account of Roy Orbison’s Voice.”
• Ab Roos, a Dutch fan and collector, “Roy Orbison in Europe.”
• David A. Shoenfelt, photographer, “Photographing Roy Orbison in Concert.”

After a few spinach and green onion recalls, food safety of produce coming from outside the United States is top of mind – and so is the cost of such recalls. Add in evidence that agricultural bioterrorism is a real threat, and U.S. officials could be facing a fiscal disaster.

Five Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness faculty members recently received funding of more than $262,800 from the National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD) to study the potential monetary losses that could arise in the event of an agro-terrorism attack or contamination of imported produce coming through the border between Arizona and Nogales, Mexico, one of the busiest ports at the Southwest border.

During the winter season from October to May, this port of entry carries almost half of the fresh fruit and vegetables supplied to the United States, granting access to as many as 900 produce trucks per day. With a total farm value reaching $36 billion dollars in 2007, an intentional attack could cripple the U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable industry, not to mention the potential harm to consumers.

“Food safety is an issue that will persist for years to come, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack,” says William Nganje, an ASU associate professor and principal investigator on the study. “U.S. troops found hundreds of pages of documentation devoted to agricultural terrorism in al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan. With my background and training in risk management and food safety investments, it was a logical fit for me to engage in this research.”

Nganje, Al Kagan, Jesus Bravo, Mark Edwards and Ram Acharya will collaborate with Mexican authorities and organizations such as the Nogales Port Authority, Fresh Produce Association of the Americas and CAADES, an organization of Mexican fruit and vegetable growers and processors.

“A customized food defense assessment survey will be used to collect pertinent data related to cost, risk and incentives pertaining to the produce sector, and CAADES and other Mexican associations will facilitate our implementation of this survey,” Nganje says. “Our team has two Spanish speakers, and with collaboration from CAADES we do not anticipate any challenges during the data-collection process.”

An intended outcome of the project is to provide better data with which the NCFPD can create food safety policies that help diminish incidents of contamination of food as it travels from grower to produce, importer and retailer.

“Results from the vulnerability assessment, risk-based sampling methods and alternative risk-mitigation strategies will aid efficient policy design for imported produce,” Nganje says. “Information from the study also will further employee development on risk management through training initiatives.”

Nganje and his team traveled to Nogales, Mexico, to begin pre-testing in December. Their study, titled “Vulnerability Assessment and Reduction of Economic Impact for the Fruit and Vegetable Industry: A Food Defense Assessment for Border Communities in the Southwest United States,” will continue to evaluate economic effects through May 2009.

Stephanie Patterson, stephanie.patterson@asu.edu
Public Affairs at the Polytechnic campus