Arizona State University

It started out as a summer internship program in Washington, D.C., to bring Arizona State University students from biology and political science together to learn about public policy, and to stay connected to alumni and Arizona’s congressional delegation. Ten years later, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences program – Capital Scholars – has built a reputation for mentoring future leaders and providing students an opportunity to learn about policymaking up close.

During those 10 years, more than 165 ASU students have spent their summers working in or visiting places in the center of Washington, D.C., action – places like Congress, the CIA and the U.S. Department of State.

Participants have gone on to work in Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, C-SPAN, Arizona executive agencies and law firms.

“The Capital Scholars program provides students with firsthand learning experiences that breathe life into their studies,” says Linda Lederman, dean of social sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Students selected to participate in the program bring to Washington, D.C., examples of the next generation interested and engaged in the political process; and Washington, D.C., provides them with the experience to provide the bridge between the theories they study and the actual practice of politics,” says Lederman.

The program started in 1998 and was jointly administered by ASU Regents’ Professor Jane Maienschein and Ken Goldstein, previously a professor in political science. Maienschein was serving as science advisor for former Congressman Matt Salmon, which led to the program’s creation. Their goal was to get students from biology and political science to learn together about public policy.

“The program was started because we needed a presence in Washington, D.C.; for our students to learn and also to show alumni and the congressional delegation and their staff what we have to offer at ASU,” says Maienschein. “The program grew out of a two week seminar, where we took a dozen students to Washington, D.C. The program was a huge success, for the students and for showing that ASU has a policy presence.”

Today, at the start of their nine-week program, students participate in specially arranged activities their first week, including tours of Annapolis, the National Defense University and the CIA, while earning six credits toward their degree.

While visiting the CIA headquarters, students are taken through exercises like the president’s daily brief and learn what a policy analyst does.

“A few students have realized that this might be something they want to pursue in the future, when before, they wouldn’t have even thought of it as a possibility,” says Richard Herrera, director of the program and associate professor of political science.

At the National Defense University students work in policy teams to develop a plan for a fictitious national emergency. They present their plan to a panel of senior analysts and receive feedback.

“This is a really great exercise that shows students how to create policies that don’t have a lot of downsides and strengthens their presentation skills,” says Herrera. “All of these activities; and they haven’t even started their internship. These activities prepare students for their internships, but also gives them an added value to their time in Washington, D.C., which I think is very valuable to them.”

Up to 25 undergraduate and graduate students intern in public and private sectors, including the White House, offices of members of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, Brookings Institution, National Defense University, Amtrak, FEMA and Triadvocates, a public affairs firm.

Depending upon their internship placement, Capital Scholars participants may attend legislative hearings, monitor legislation, conduct policy research, lobby members of Congress or write research analysis reports.

Kasey Stevens, an ASU junior majoring in political science with a minor in sociology, says the program’s outcomes have been amazing.

“The Capital Scholars program, above all, has provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime; to intern in our nation’s capital and gain real life experience working in and around the center of our government,” says Stevens. “I think that internships are key to discovering your future goals, and the ability to intern in almost any area within the political process is a plus.

“My internship has definitely affected my career goals in that I could see myself heading a Public Action Committee or lobbying,” she says.

Chris Gast, a junior majoring in political science and communication, is learning about program management and funding for high risk research at his internship with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“I sent out more than 50 applications, but chose this one because it was the best designed internship I found. It is designed so I get an amazing experience. My internship includes field trips to transportation sites, special luncheons and a built in support system for interns,” says Gast.

Internships are not the only support system available to program participants. Capital Scholars works closely with the Capital Chapter of the ASU Alumni Association to coordinate educational and leisure activities with the students. Among the activities are an annual softball game between the students and alumni, small group dinners, and volunteering at D.C. Central Kitchen, a community kitchen that among its activities provides a culinary job training program for the homeless.

“Volunteering is a way for students to get involved with the community and not just be visitors, but also give back,” says Herrera. “Students are exposed to real world political networking through these activities. The importance of meeting people and staying in contact is a great way for students to create a mentor relationship with ASU alumni.”

Ryan Eddy was part of the first group of Capital Scholars. He graduated from ASU in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

“The program allowed me to utilize skill sets I had gained in a number of my political science classes, particularly those in international relations, when I interned at the U.S. Department of State,” says Eddy, who now is a senior policy advisor to the director of Domestic Nuclear Detection Office in the Department of Homeland Security.

“Those skill sets included writing issue papers or understanding the political and economic issues of certain regions of the world,” he says.

Students participating in the Capital Scholars program receive scholarships to offset some of the travel costs and living expenses.

“To keep costs reasonable for students, scholarships have become a very important aid in this program,” says Herrera.

The Getsinger Family Scholarship supports the Capital Scholars program by providing one of the participants with a $1,000 scholarship. Carrie Getsinger was a 2006 participant in the program.

Herrera would like to have more students participate in the program, and a more diverse group with majors like engineering, business and the arts.

In 2004, an advisory board was created to help students obtain internships and raise funds for the program.

In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the Capital Scholars program, ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is hosting a networking reception in Washington, D.C., at 6 p.m. July 24 at One Washington Circle Hotel.

Among the guests will be Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell. Also attending are Alan Artibise, executive dean of the college, and representatives from the institutions and organizations that provide students with internships.

“My internship has opened an entirely different door for me. It has challenged me to do new things and step into a whole new level of learning,” says Gast. “I guess that’s what an internship is supposed to do. I’m unsure about where this is going to take me, but I’m actively involved in student leadership on campus, and I know I can use some of the tactics I’ve learned through the program.”

More information about the Capital Scholars program at www.asu.edu/clas/polisci/undergraduate/capital-scholars.html.

Sayfe Kiaei is the new associate dean for research for the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. He will help lead efforts to reach the engineering school’s ambitious goal of achieving $100 million in research expenditures in five years.

Kiaei will be responsible for the management and investment of engineering resources, ensuring efficient research administration, building industry and government relations, assisting with faculty recruitment and research project start-ups, and with the recruitment of quality graduate students.

“The school of engineering has aggressive goals for the growth of its research portfolio,” says Executive Dean Paul Johnson. “We seek stronger engagement with research sponsors, better alignment with society’s grand challenges, an increase in consortium- and multi-investigator projects, and a greater awareness of the impact of our work.”

Johnson says Kiaei was selected “from a field of excellent candidates, in part because of his industry experience, demonstrated success as the builder and leader of one of our largest industry consortia, and his vision for pursuing new strategic initiatives and funding opportunities for the faculty.”

Kiaei says the school will play a major role in several of ASU’s leading research initiatives that are bringing together scientists and engineers from many different disciplines.

Engineering faculty will be extensively involved in research focusing on solar power and other alternative energy sources, bioengineering and biotechnologies, health care, sustainable living, nanotechnology and wireless communications systems.

“Advances in these technologies will pave the road for Arizona to move toward a new and more diversified economy, and provide a new model for the university as an integral part of society,” Kiaei says. “I’m excited to be a part of these endeavors.”

Kiaei joined Arizona State University in January 2002 as a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. His research has focused on wireless transceiver design and radio-frequency and mixed-signal integrated circuits.

In August of 2002, he founded the Connection One (www.connectionone.org, a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. It works with private industry and the federal governments to develop advances in wireless communications systems and networks, remote sensing, bio-sensor and bio-electronics technology.

The center began with ASU as the lead institution and six industry partners. Today it has 25 industry partners and six universities – ASU, the University of Arizona, Ohio State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Hawaii and the University of New Mexico.

For a decade prior to coming to ASU, Kiaei was a senior member of technical staff of the Wireless Technology Center and Broadband Operations at Motorola, where he was responsible for development of wireless transceiver integrated circuits and digital subscriber lines transceivers, global positioning systems and Bluetooth transceivers.

He was an associate professor at Oregon State University from 1987 to 1993, teaching courses and conducting research in digital communications and wireless systems. During those years, he helped establish the Industry-University Center for the Design of Analog/Digital Integrated Circuits (CDADIC) and served as a co-director of the center for 10 years.

Kiaei is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a member of IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, IEEE Solid State Circuits Society and IEEE Communication Society. He has chaired several national and international conferences in his areas of expertise and published more than 100 journal and conference papers. Kiaei holds several patents.

He earned his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Washington State University in 1987. His awards include the Carter Best Teacher Award from Oregon State University College of Engineering and the IEEE Darlington Award, for the best research paper “bridging the gap between theory and practice” published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems.

Everyone ages - ASU’s College of Human Services helps us do it better

“Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” – Samuel Ullman

There’s no lack of enthusiasm within Arizona State University’s College of Human Services for helping residents of metropolitan Phoenix make the most of the aging process. In fact, the college recently introduced new bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in aging and lifespan development.

“The aging of the baby boom generation will have a significant impact on public and private institutions of all sizes, and these new degree programs will help prepare professionals in a variety of fields to address those challenges and opportunities,” says Kathleen Waldron, interim director of the School of Aging and Lifespan Development.

But this curricular advancement is just one part of the story. Talented faculty members and students are lending their expertise to a range of initiatives across the Valley of the Sun to encourage healthy aging.

One of the college’s most visible programs is the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, funded through a $1 million endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation. The Osher Institute provides stimulating, university-quality learning experiences for adults who want to explore topics from computers to politics to poetry.

Classes are taught by a mixture of ASU faculty, both current and emeritus, and community scholars. “The community scholars bring a lifetime of knowledge to their classes. Some teach topics related to their career; for others it’s an opportunity to share their passion about a particular subject with others,” says Diane Gruber, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute director.

The Institute’s slate of classes, workshops and lectures, which already spans metropolitan Phoenix from Buckeye and Surprise to Mesa and Florence, is set for further expansion. Collaboration with the city of Tempe has established “Tempe Connections” course offerings starting this fall at the Tempe Library. The Institute also has formed partnerships with Arizona Opera and the Phoenix Art museum to offer joint programming.

An Osher Institute program enabling retirees to express their passion for community involvement is the Legacy Leadership Project. Volunteers living in Sun City Grand and Sun City Festival recently participated in an intensive two-week training session and then became public relations consultants for two nonprofit groups, the Maryvale Revitalization Corp. and Jobs for Arizona Graduates. Plans call for the Legacy Leadership Project to expand and assist more community organizations.

“We’re seeing people moving into a very different type of retirement experience these days,” Gruber says. “They may still be interested in their club time and golf time, but there’s another layer. They want meaningful engagement in the community, and they want their engagement to utilize and build on the skills they’ve developed throughout their lives.”

Even travel has evolved for retirees. They may want time at the beach, but they also want to learn about the world around them. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has formed a partnership with TraveLearn to offer tours to locations including Italy and Greece, led by knowledgeable guides.

Back at ASU’s West campus, which houses the College of Human Services, retirees and traditional-age college students are working together on research and instructional projects to benefit local communities. Communication studies professor Vincent Waldron’s community research team (CRT) has studied the educational needs and preferences of Sun City Grand residents. Team members worked with Waldron to publish an article about the process.

“The idea behind CRT is to build intergenerational connections, provide meaningful service learning opportunities, and involve talented retired people in the university’s teaching and research missions,” Vincent Waldron says.

CRT has yielded productive side effects. Two of the retirees served as educational consultants to Vincent Waldron’s Communication and Aging class. They shared their experiences through class discussions and podcasts and by helping to choose films that accurately convey aging-related themes.

Human Services students also are participating in psychology professor David Coon’s longevity study, conducted in collaboration with the Sun Health Research Institute Center for Healthy Aging. Researchers are interviewing adults from their 50s up past the age of 100, to gain a better understanding of the many factors involved in healthy aging.

“Taking part in the project has given me the opportunity to have greater face-to-face interactions with older adults in the community,” says Maureen Keaveny, who is pursuing a graduate certificate in gerontology through Human Services. “The information obtained from this project will increase our understanding of what it takes to age successfully.”

“It’s extremely beneficial to our students to have this type of collaboration among ASU’s colleges,” Kathleen Waldron says. (Coon, co-principal investigator for the longevity study, is a faculty member in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, also located on ASU’s West campus.)

Kathleen Waldron knows a thing or two about collaboration; she reaches out to the community in countless ways. Because she has developed a reputation as an expert in aging and other family issues, she is regularly contacted by community members looking for assistance with an aging relative, as well as by reporters from local and national media outlets seeking her take on developments in aging and lifespan development.

Her efforts also include leading a support group for West campus employees who meet monthly to share concerns and solutions related to issues with their own aging relatives. She coordinates the popular Conference on Aging, held most recently on ASU’s West campus in March 2008, and is collaborating with several community organizations to offer a new conference, scheduled for February 7, 2009, that will focus on intergenerational communication among family members.

“This ties in with my major interest area, family issues and how they are impacted by aging,” Kathleen Waldron says. “Care-giving concerns, family dynamics, and the ways social policies affect aging individuals and their families are just a few of the issues that will have a growing effect on society in the years to come.”

Thanks to the work of dedicated faculty, students and staff in the College of Human Services, people throughout the Valley and beyond will be better prepared to address these issues and make the most of their lives as they experience the aging process.

Information about ASU’s new degree programs in aging and lifespan development may be found at http://chs.asu.edu/ald/. For details about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, visit http://lifelonglearning.asu.edu/.

There’s no lack of enthusiasm within Arizona State University’s College of Human Services for helping residents of metropolitan Phoenix make the most of the aging process. In fact, the college recently introduced new bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in aging and lifespan development.

“The aging of the baby boom generation will have a significant impact on public and private institutions of all sizes, and these new degree programs will help prepare professionals in a variety of fields to address those challenges and opportunities,” says Kathleen Waldron, interim director of the School of Aging and Lifespan Development.

But this curricular advancement is just one part of the story. Talented faculty members and students are lending their expertise to a range of initiatives across the Valley of the Sun to encourage healthy aging.

One of the college’s most visible programs is the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, funded through a $1 million endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation. The Osher Institute provides stimulating, university-quality learning experiences for adults who want to explore topics from computers to politics to poetry.

Classes are taught by a mixture of ASU faculty, both current and emeritus, and community scholars. “The community scholars bring a lifetime of knowledge to their classes. Some teach topics related to their career; for others it’s an opportunity to share their passion about a particular subject with others,” says Diane Gruber, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute director.

The Institute’s slate of classes, workshops and lectures, which already spans metropolitan Phoenix from Buckeye and Surprise to Mesa and Florence, is set for further expansion. Collaboration with the city of Tempe has established “Tempe Connections” course offerings starting this fall at the Tempe Library. The Institute also has formed partnerships with Arizona Opera and the Phoenix Art museum to offer joint programming.

An Osher Institute program enabling retirees to express their passion for community involvement is the Legacy Leadership Project. Volunteers living in Sun City Grand and Sun City Festival recently participated in an intensive two-week training session and then became public relations consultants for two nonprofit groups, the Maryvale Revitalization Corp. and Jobs for Arizona Graduates. Plans call for the Legacy Leadership Project to expand and assist more community organizations.

“We’re seeing people moving into a very different type of retirement experience these days,” Gruber says. “They may still be interested in their club time and golf time, but there’s another layer. They want meaningful engagement in the community, and they want their engagement to utilize and build on the skills they’ve developed throughout their lives.”

Even travel has evolved for retirees. They may want time at the beach, but they also want to learn about the world around them. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has formed a partnership with TraveLearn to offer tours to locations including Italy and Greece, led by knowledgeable guides.

Back at ASU’s West campus, which houses the College of Human Services, retirees and traditional-age college students are working together on research and instructional projects to benefit local communities. Communication studies professor Vincent Waldron’s community research team (CRT) has studied the educational needs and preferences of Sun City Grand residents. Team members worked with Waldron to publish an article about the process.

“The idea behind CRT is to build intergenerational connections, provide meaningful service learning opportunities, and involve talented retired people in the university’s teaching and research missions,” Vincent Waldron says.

CRT has yielded productive side effects. Two of the retirees served as educational consultants to Vincent Waldron’s Communication and Aging class. They shared their experiences through class discussions and podcasts and by helping to choose films that accurately convey aging-related themes.

Human Services students also are participating in psychology professor David Coon’s longevity study, conducted in collaboration with the Sun Health Research Institute Center for Healthy Aging. Researchers are interviewing adults from their 50s up past the age of 100, to gain a better understanding of the many factors involved in healthy aging.

“Taking part in the project has given me the opportunity to have greater face-to-face interactions with older adults in the community,” says Maureen Keaveny, who is pursuing a graduate certificate in gerontology through Human Services. “The information obtained from this project will increase our understanding of what it takes to age successfully.”

“It’s extremely beneficial to our students to have this type of collaboration among ASU’s colleges,” Kathleen Waldron says. (Coon, co-principal investigator for the longevity study, is a faculty member in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, also located on ASU’s West campus.)

Kathleen Waldron knows a thing or two about collaboration; she reaches out to the community in countless ways. Because she has developed a reputation as an expert in aging and other family issues, she is regularly contacted by community members looking for assistance with an aging relative, as well as by reporters from local and national media outlets seeking her take on developments in aging and lifespan development.

Her efforts also include leading a support group for West campus employees who meet monthly to share concerns and solutions related to issues with their own aging relatives. She coordinates the popular Conference on Aging, held most recently on ASU’s West campus in March 2008, and is collaborating with several community organizations to offer a new conference, scheduled for February 7, 2009, that will focus on intergenerational communication among family members.

“This ties in with my major interest area, family issues and how they are impacted by aging,” Kathleen Waldron says. “Care-giving concerns, family dynamics, and the ways social policies affect aging individuals and their families are just a few of the issues that will have a growing effect on society in the years to come.”

Thanks to the work of dedicated faculty, students and staff in the College of Human Services, people throughout the Valley and beyond will be better prepared to address these issues and make the most of their lives as they experience the aging process.

Information about ASU’s new degree programs in aging and lifespan development may be found at http://chs.asu.edu/ald/. For details about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, visit http://lifelonglearning.asu.edu/.

Five Arizona high schools will get fully equipped multimedia newsrooms in time for fall classes as part of a new high school outreach program by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Stardust Foundation of Scottsdale.

The five schools are Buckeye Union High School, Coolidge High School, Douglas High School, Miami High School and Snowflake High School. The schools are the first to be chosen for the Stardust High School Journalism Program, a unique initiative to create newsrooms in high schools.

Five more Arizona high schools will join the program next year under a grant from the Scottsdale-based Stardust Foundation.

The grant targets schools with large minority populations that do not have school newspapers or viable journalism programs. Those are the schools that often don’t have the resources to publish school newspapers, said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan.

Under the program, the Cronkite School will equip newsrooms at each school with computers, scanners, video cameras, digital cameras and software necessary for publishing an online newspaper that can also be published as a print product. The Cronkite School staff will install the equipment and manage servers that host schools’ Web sites.

More than 100 students will take classes in multimedia reporting and producing this fall, learning skills such as writing, reporting, grammar, editing, page design, Web production, videography and photography as well as journalism ethics and values.

The Cronkite School will provide ongoing training and support for teachers and students in the program. The first group of teachers and advisers will participate in a converged media boot camp this summer at the new Cronkite building in downtown Phoenix, where they will get help developing journalism curricula and learn up-to-date technical skills.

High school administrators said the program will transform their schools’ journalism programs.

At Coolidge High School in Coolidge, about 45 minutes southeast of Phoenix, the school’s journalism program has been limited to a yearbook class. Under the Stardust program, Coolidge will add an introductory journalism class for sophomores and advanced classes in digital media, newspaper, yearbook and broadcast journalism, said Principal Keith Greer.

“We knew there was technology out there that we weren’t afforded because we’re a rural school,” Greer said. “This program enables us to compete at a much higher level.”

Stephen Truog, journalism adviser at Buckeye Union High School in Buckeye, Ariz., said The Hawk student newspaper had run into hard times. “We just started bringing the newspaper back at Buckeye, and this will be an exciting boost to our program,” he said in an e-mail interview. “And we’re thrilled at the opportunity to take The Hawk online.”

The Stardust program is run by Dave Cornelius, a longtime Valley educator who built the state’s premier high school broadcast education program at Arcadia High School in the Scottsdale Unified School District. He developed programs that have become models for teaching arts, audiovisual technology and communications at the secondary school level.

The Stardust Foundation is a nonprofit corporation founded by Jerry Bisgrove in 1993. Headquartered in Scottsdale, the foundation provides grants to organizations that impact the linked concepts of family and neighborhood stability.

“Stardust values the opportunity to expose more students to careers in journalism,” Bisgrove said. “The communication skills they will learn in this program will be useful to them, regardless of their chosen profession. In today’s fast-paced, information-driven world, effective communication is vital to achieving success in all facets of one’s life.”

Callahan said that getting more students involved in high school journalism programs will improve their writing and communication skills – and encourage them to graduate from high school and go on to college.

Five additional schools will be chosen for the program for the 2009-10 school year. Schools are chosen through a competitive process. Schools interested in participating in the Stardust program should contact Cornelius at david.cornelius@asu.edu or by calling (480) 338-1336.

Brooks Conrad became the 90th Sun Devil to play Major League Baseball when he started at third base for the Oakland Athletics yesterday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Conrad becomes the second former Sun Devil to make his big league debut this season, joining Jeff Larish, who debuted for the Detroit Tigers in May. Conrad was called up by the A’s on Monday afternoon and was in the starting lineup that day for the game against the Rays.

Conrad joins Larish (Detroit Tigers), Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox), Paul Lo Duca (Washington Nationals), Ian Kinsler (Texas Rangers), Willie Bloomquist (Seattle Mariners, Dennis Sarfate (Baltimore Orioles), Travis Buck (Oakland A’s) and Andre Ethier (Los Angeles Dodgers) as former Arizona State University student-athletes who have played in the Majors this season.

Conrad batted .313 from 1999 to 2001 at ASU, hitting 15 home runs and driving in 130 runs. He was an eighth round pick of the Houston Astros in the 2001 Major League Baseb

Policy-makers in Washington D.C. have been relying on ASU experts for answers and options on a number of pressing issues, ranging from space aeronautics to security and international sanctions.

“ASU’s rise in national prominence has had the positive benefit of being asked to be at the table as key issues of our time are being discussed and debated,” says Stuart Hadley, the university’s assistant vice president for policy affairs and executive director of federal relations. “ASU has seen a significant growth in the number of invitations being extended to provide expert testimony at various congressional hearings.”

According to Hadley, aside from the different ongoing communications between ASU and the state’s congressional delegation, congressional hearings are an excellent venue to showcase the university’s key areas of expertise.

Just how ASU is making an impact in Washington, D.C., is exemplified in the following hearings featuring university faculty and staff:

• On March 12, ASU’s vice president of global engagement, Anthony “Bud” Rock, testified before the House Science Committee on the issue of international science and technology collaboration.

• On April 8, associate professor Orde F. Kittre from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law testified before the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing involving Iranian sanctions.

• On April 24, associate professor of biodesign Cheryl Nickerson testified before the House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics at a hearing about the international space station.

• On April 24, associate instructional professor Patty Ferguson-Bohnee from the College of Law testified before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on the topic of “federal acknowledgment process.”

• On April 30, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering Eric Williams from the ASU School of Sustainability testified before the House Science Committee at a hearing titled “E-Waste: Can the Nation Handle Modern Refuse in the Digital Age?”

Late last year, Regents’ Professor Robert Cialdini and Adrian Sannier, vice president of ASU’s University Technology Office, also testified before the House Science Committee on issues involving social sciences’ role in the energy challenge, and the role of technology in reducing illegal file sharing.

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Institute for Quality Improvement recently announced that Arizona State University’s Campus Health Service has been awarded an honorable mention for their Asthma Review quality improvement study.

Campus Health Service staff conducted a quality improvement study that improved patient outcomes for asthma cases over a two-year period.

The study required a strong team approach with Campus Health Service physicians, nurse practitioners and nursing staff. The experience raised awareness of the disease for nursing and provider teams and ultimately resulted in patients benefiting from the caregiver’s newfound knowledge.

Patients who come to Campus Health Service for asthma may now be able to manage their condition in a more effective manner.

The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc., is a national leader in accrediting more than 3,800 organizations in a wide variety of ambulatory health-care settings. The organization’s Innovations in Quality Improvement Awards Program honors health-care providers who demonstrate excellence in quality improvement and interventions that lead to positive outcomes.

The greatest danger in a pandemic flu outbreak is that it could spread quickly and devastate a broad swath of people across the United States before there is much of a chance to react. The result could be a nation brought to its knees by a disease run rampant.

Among those most vulnerable to a pandemic flu outbreak are the 2.5 million residents of the nation’s 18,000 residential care (nursing home) facilities. Because there are few anti-virals and no vaccines available to combat such a flu epidemic, these facilities most likely will try to prevent introduction of the flu through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI), like the use of masks, social distancing, isolating symptomatic persons, etc.

But among NPI interventions, which methods or combinations of methods will work and be effective in keeping the flu outside the walls of a facility or keep the flu spread to a minimum among a population that literally will be sitting ducks in the path of the disease?  

Now, a team of researchers, including one from Arizona State University, has taken a major step in determining what will work by developing mathematical models and testing scenarios that show which NPIs are appropriate for which levels of pandemic flu. Their work is published in an early on-line edition (July 21) of the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

“Our work is the first to provide a flexible road map for prevention and protection of vulnerable populations living in residential care facilities, said Gerardo Chowell-Puente, an assistant professor in ASU’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

“We found that something previously considered implausible – the protection of a health care institution against pandemic influenza by using only non-pharmaceutical measures – may be possible and may be practical,” Chowell-Puente said. “We want this work to get those concerned with mitigating the impact of pandemic influenza in such facilities to evaluate and consider implementation of the recommendations implicit in our study.”

In “Protecting residential care facilities from pandemic influenza,” authors Miriam Nuño of UCLA and the Harvard’s School of Public Health; Tom Reichert of the Entropy Research Institute; Abba Gumel of the University of Manitoba along with Chowell-Puente, say their roadmap provides an important planned first line of defense for the pandemic flu.

“Currently, most facilities do not have a ready to implement plan in place should a pandemic take place,” the researchers said. “Our work details a set of simple interventions that seem workable and may be easily implemented by current staff members.”

Five types of NPIs were evaluated. They included: screening visitors and staff who leave and then return to the facility; isolating symptomatic residents; placing restrictions on visitors, like reducing visit times or having them use electronic communications devices or communicating from behind transparent impermeable barriers; modifying work schedules, which could include four full days on site followed by four full days off site with a period of isolation from the community for a portion of the time off site; and precautions taken by staff and visitors to reduce their risk of infection, like washing hands and using protective masks.

“Overall, we found that conventional NPIs sufficed to curtail only mild outbreaks, and that higher level of NPIs requiring greater social restrictions and higher levels of cooperation were needed to manage more severe outbreaks,” said Chowell-Puente, who evaluated the NPIs effectiveness through the use of mathematical models for the study.

“The biggest surprise in our study was identifying the critical role that staff plays in controlling the spread and preventing the introduction of disease in the facilities,” said lead author Miriam Nuño.

“Many residential facilities (like nursing homes) are chronically understaffed,” Nuño added. “Our research shows the current working demands of staff need to be improved if we hope to improve our preparedness plans.”

Some of the improvements, the researchers note, include more regular work hours and schedules for care givers, as well as other basic benefits, like paid sick days.

“Our research shows that work schedules that include multiple days on-site at the facility are the key to surviving pandemics. With that practice, employees must go into isolation for several days at home before coming back to work. But, the benefits from longer work- and off-periods incorporating isolation periods can only be had if employees can be fully engaged in the protection of their institution,” the researchers stated.  

“Facilities must eliminate disincentives. For example, employees sick themselves with the flu or forced to care for afflicted family members must be paid for time away. A single act of non-cooperation can bring down an entire facility. In return, those employees who recover become immune, become fully available for further service and no longer represent a threat for introducing the virus,” they added. 

Fish emulsion and compost tea used for fertilizer. Lawn mowers with mulching decks. Organic pest control. Three-wheeled bicycles for staff to ride across campus.

What’s next for Grounds Services?

The answer is solar-powered carts, according to Ellen Newell, the assistant director of Grounds Services. The carts are on order and should be arriving by mid-July.

What has prompted the staff to start looking at all its practices and try to make them more sustainable?

“It’s President Crow’s emphasis on sustainability, Gov. Napolitano’s executive order banning blowers and requiring that less polluting equipment be purchased and used, my own personal feelings on sustainability, feelings from a number of Grounds leadership personnel, and last but not least, often sustainable work practices are more economical,” says Newell.

One of the first practices inaugurated by Grounds Services was to switch to mowers with mulching decks, as old mowers were replaced.

Mulching decks are areas on the mowers where grass clippings are cut up several times and then dropped back on the grass.    

“We started leaving the clippings on the lawn the fall of 2004 when I came to ASU,” says Newell. “The mowers we have purchased since then have mulching decks. The advantage of leaving the clippings on the lawn is that they add organic matter back to the soil and also nutrients.

“The only time clippings would be removed is if the lawn is not mowed for some reason and gets very long. The clippings then might be unsightly and would be removed and composted. If a lawn is mowed properly, you hardly notice the clippings even with a regular deck on the lawnmower.

“We used to send all of our green waste – about 12 tons per month – to the landfill. Now all the green waste goes to Ken Singh, who owns a farm in Scottsdale and makes compost out of it. That saves the $69.95 a ton that we used to pay for hauling it to the landfill.”

The fish emulsion and organic compost teas, used for fertilizer, also come from Singh. While Singh buys the fish emulsions in Canada, he makes the compost tea at his farm, Newell says.

“The compost tea is made from the liquid that drains from the compost pile during the digesting.”

When the order came to ban blowers, Grounds Services invited a broom salesman to visit ASU with samples, and “we let the groundskeepers choose the ones they specifically wanted,” Newell adds.

Grounds Services also is looking at IPM – integrated pest management – which means that pests are not exterminated unless their numbers are high enough that they are doing damage.

“We have lined up several options for moving bee swarms rather than killing them. We are working with the trade shops at sealing small holes in buildings where rats, bats or other vermin enter,” Newell says.

“We also work with building occupants to keep their areas free from food waste or wrappers that attract pests. When we need to use chemicals, we use the least toxic to the environment.” 

The 208 NACAC Under 23 Championship track and field meet came a close Sunday in Toluca, Mexico, with the lone member of the Arizona State University program competing on the day, Ryan Whiting, winning the shot put to five the Sun Devils their fourth gold medal of the meet that began Friday morning. The medal was Whiting’s second of the meet as he also took second in the discus on Friday.

Whiting, a rising junior for the Sun Devils, led from the beginning as his toss of 18.30m in the first round was not only his shortest throw of the day, but also easily won the meet. Whiting improved on all of his legal throws from there, hitting tosses of 18.40m and 18.73m before two fouls were recorded. In the sixth and final round, Whiting hit a mark of 19.46m, easily putting him ahead of runner-up and fellow American John Hickey (17.97m).

For the weekend, the trio of Sun Devils, which also included Sarah Stevens and Matt Turner, combined to compete in five total events and taking home four gold medals. Stevens won the shot put and hammer and Turner won the long jump for the other titles on the weekend.

Combined, the Sun Devil trio’s gold medal haul was the most among any university represented on the American team, bettering the three Arkansas won with five other schools winning two. In the overall total, the Sun Devils’ five total medals was the most for the Americans with Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan and Tennessee each winning three total medals for the second-most in the meet.

2008 NACAC Under 23 Championships (Toluca, Mexico)
Sunday’s Events
Men’s Shot Put - Final
1. Ryan Whiting - 19.46m - GOLD MEDAL

Friday’s Events
Women’s Shot Put - Final
1. Sarah Stevens - 16.04m - GOLD MEDAL

Women’s Hammer Throw - Final
1. Sarah Stevens - 62.79m - GOLD MEDAL

Men’s Long Jump - Final
1. Matt Turner - 7.96m - GOLD MEDAL

Men’s Discus - Final
2. Ryan Whiting - 53.47m - SILVER MEDAL

It was what you’d expect, at least initially, from a bunch of teenagers in a courtroom: backpacks heaped onto the prosecution and defense teams’ tables, witnesses sitting with their friends instead of behind said tables, and a smattering of backwards-worn baseball caps and sunglasses.

But a mock trial performed on Wednesday, June 25, by 16 middle-school students from around the state far exceeded the expectations of their coach and teacher, Jimmy Cool, a second-year student at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Without banging a gavel, Cool brought order to the courtroom, directing that backpacks be stowed, witnesses be organized and attire be proper.

“The students did wonderfully,” Cool says. “None of them had any prior experience in trial advocacy, and few had any experience with public speaking, yet they were able to deliver well-crafted and insightful examinations and speeches.”

The gifted students are Barrett Honors Scholars, who spent three weeks in June on the campus of Arizona State University’s Barrett, The Honors College, including two days preparing and trying two imaginary cases in the College of Law’s high-tech courtroom. The students, from as far away as Lake Havasu City, took a humanities course, then chose from electives in four fields – engineering, biology, computer digital animation and the law. Those choosing law got to play the roles of attorneys and witnesses for both the prosecution and defense.

Sean Currie, a 15-year-old from Fort Mohave near the Arizona-Nevada state line, delivered a convincing, professional opening argument as the defense attorney in the case of The State v. Jordan Archer. Tailor-made for teenagers, it was a case involving manslaughter in connection with an accident and an alleged charge of driving under the influence, in which the defendant swerved her car twice to avoid hitting two possums crossing the road.

“This is a case about a curve ball,” Currie solemnly told the two jurors, also students. “Nature threw a curve ball at Jordan Archer, and she swung and missed. This was just an accident.”

Currie, who will be a sophomore this fall at River Valley High, wants to be a defense attorney when he grows up.

“One of my teachers said I’d make a good lawyer,” he says, admitting to an argumentative streak.

Katie Biegel, 14, an incoming sophomore at Mountain View High in Mesa, says she plans to seek out a mock trial club at her high because of her experience in Cool’s course, which was dubbed, “The Barrett Summer Stock Production of `Law & Order.’”

“Law is something I’ve never really explored,” says Biegel, who appeared prepared enough to start work at the Attorney General’s Office tomorrow. “I can take engineering or science classes any time, but the law isn’t something I can get just anywhere.”

In the course, “Jury Trial Advocacy: Perspectives on Legal Persuasion,” Cool taught the students the basics of public speaking, oral and written rhetoric, acting and portraying a character, how to analyze legal and factual material from both sides of a problem, the Federal Rules of Evidence, trial procedure, how to work with others in a small group setting, and storytelling.

Cool acted as the judge in the cases, and provided narration on a DVD, copies of which were given to the scholars’ parents.

Barrett Summer Scholars is a residential program hosted by the Office of the Vice President for University Student Initiatives and Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University. The law course was added this year at the suggestion of past students in the summer program, says Jo Ann Martinez, coordinator of ASU’s University Student Initiatives. 

Bryan Rolfe, whose interest in math and science was sparked at a young age, is now pursuing degrees through the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in chemical engineering and math. He credits his father as one of the greatest reasons he has a science-oriented mind.

“Although he never got his degree, my father was always interested in science,” Rolfe says. “When I was in high school, he bought me an 8-inch Newtonian Reflector with an Equatorial mount, a big telescope. Seeing galaxies and star clusters was mind-blowing.”

In high school, Rolfe enrolled in an honors chemistry course that only reinforced his love of scientific inquiry. His father had told him that advanced chemistry was horrible, so he entered his first class tentatively.

“The teacher argued that chemistry is really just the study of the interactions of atoms, and atoms make up everything, so chemistry is absolutely fundamental to everything,” he recalls. “These words won me over.”

Rolfe now works with Dr. Laura Wasylenki, a research scientist in the School of Earth and Science Exploration at ASU. Together, they conduct research in the study of isotope effects on environmental systems at the W. M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry, a mass spectrometry facility in the basement of the Physical Sciences building.

“Isotopes of any given element have the same number of protons in their nuclei but a different number of neutrons, which results in a mass difference,” he explains. “An isotope fractionation occurs when the isotopes of an element behave differently during a chemical reaction because they have slightly different atomic masses.”

Rolfe and Wasylenki are studying how isotopes of the metal molybdenum (Mo) fractionate during adsorption to manganese (Mn) oxide particles because such adsorption happens on the ocean floor and governs the Mo isotope composition of seawater and ocean sediments. Once this phenomenon is understood in the laboratory, the results will aid interpretation of isotope signatures recorded in ancient ocean sediments.
Rolfe’s specific role in the project involves varying temperature and salinity to see how they affect the isotopic fractionation. “Basically, I create test-tube experiments using a solution of dissolved Mo and Mn oxide particles that I synthesize,” he explains. “The samples are analyzed with a mass spectrometer to measure precisely the ratio of Mo isotopes relative to a known standard.”

When the research is complete, Rolfe and his mentor believe the information will help other researchers interpret the Mo isotope compositions of natural samples that tell us about oxygen levels in the deep past. Their research will also help Rolfe decide what he will be researching in graduate school.

After completing his graduate degree, Rolfe is considering pursuing a Ph.D. or doing something that he has dreamed about since third grade: becoming a fighter pilot for the United States Air Force.

Wasylenki, his mentor, says Rolfe is mostly self-taught in science, as “his ability to learn very quickly are just amazing.”

Moreover, Rolfe worked hard to get where he is today and has reaped the rewards. In high school, Rolfe admitted to being a procrastinator with less than average grades. By his junior year, he managed to take control and reprioritize his goals. While he could not salvage his GPA, he would make up for it with his work at the university. This past April, Rolfe was one of three ASU juniors to be awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s premier award for undergraduates studying science, math and engineering.

Previously, he received a NASA Space Grant and has given a presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences conference in Boston and attended the Pale Blue Dot III conference in Chicago. Last year, Rolfe obtained a German Academic Exchange Research Internship and was selected as one of 10 American Chemical Society Research Internships in Science and Engineering scholars. The internship paid more than two hundred American students to aid researchers at a German university for three months.

 “I am extremely thankful for the opportunities I’ve had at ASU,” he says.

Debra Fossum, debra.fossum@asu.edu
Office of Research and Economic Affairs

When Marilyn Prosch, an associate professor of accounting in Arizona State University’s School of Global Management and Leadership, learned two years ago that her husband, Scott, was diagnosed with ALS, the shock was huge. Also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Schlerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, this neuro-degenerative disease affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord and can turn the strongest athlete into putty – within years.

Scott can’t even grip a golf club today when three years ago, at age 45, he won tournaments in nearby Tempe. He adored scuba diving and sports, but now requires a wheelchair. Scott’s once rich, baritone voice is fading. His hands and arms are weak, making driving a thing of the past and typing at the computer nearly impossible.

The ALS Association, a national non-profit group, tracks 30,000 Americans with ALS, but Gary Wosk, the association’s media relations manager, suspects there are more. Last October the U.S. House of Representatives passed the ALS Registry Act by an overwhelming 411-3 vote. This legislation would establish the first-ever national patient registry of people with ALS, administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The act is now in the Senate and, if passed, will determine “precisely how many people have this disease,” Wosk says. “It is a big step toward finding a cure and gathering support.”

Marilyn and Scott Prosch and their six children all join with Wosk and others in hoping for a cure, but it gets tough when, for now, none exists and the disease is fatal. Socially, few people understand what ALS entails, and the media have done little to bring the insidious ailment to the forefront.

And that’s precisely why two years ago Prosch launched “Scott’s Heroes,” a fund-raising group that organizes public walks and other events to help raise capital for the ALS Association. And while Marilyn’s sharpest focus is on Scott, her efforts to bring the disease onto center stage are working.

Last year, Prosch’s walk team of 150 raised more than $30,000 for the Arizona chapter of the ALS Association, a chapter formed in 1989. The weather was wonderful, says Prosch, with many participants flying in for the event from around the country. The team wore Scott’s Heroes t-shirts and Scott’s current employer hosted a huge luncheon. Thanks to this and other fundraising activities - movie viewing, dinners and more - Scott’s Heroes, under Prosch’s leadership, raised a whopping $100,000 for the ALS Association during the past year and a half.

This year should show more productive fund-raising with an ALS Awareness Day held in mid-March already successfully on the books. The event featured a showing of the movie “Pride of the Yankees” (a biographical pic about the famous slugger whose life was cut short by the disease that would eventually be named after him) and attracted a good turnout, according to Prosch.

In spite of the successful fund-raising and huge support shown by their local community, having a family of six kids and a husband with Lou Gehrig’s Disease is tough. Prosch admits this last year has been extremely “difficult for them all.”

However the Prosch’s determination remains amazing. Recently Scott was given a feeding tube, but refused it because he wants to “taste food as long as he can,” says Marilyn. Doctors are training Scott on the Eyegaze system, an eye-controlled computer communication system produced by LC Technologies, Inc., which helps him type.

Scott and Marilyn even traveled to Europe twice this past year, and the children remain touchingly helpful, putting on their Dad’s shoes and socks and helping him scratch itches he can no longer get to. Says Prosch, “Time is ticking for Scott. But we see new developments with technologies and research and we are holding on.”

Information about the ALS Association is available at www.alsa.org.

Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE), the technology venturing arm of Arizona State University, has entered into separate global arrangements to market technologies developed by ASU’s partner universities, Dublin City University in Ireland (through its technology commercialization organization, Invent DCU Limited) and Tec de Monterrey in Mexico.

AzTE is located at SkySong in Scottsdale and is working in collaboration with Julia Rosen of ASU’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship to bolster these relationships.

AzTE will collaborate with each university in protecting and commercializing in the United States selected intellectual property developed by their researchers. Both of these collaborations are intended to leverage the extensive U.S. networks of corporate executives, investors and entrepreneurs developed by AzTE’s professional staff from decades of experience working in the private sector.

Technology transfer to US companies would reflect the global impact of research activities at Dublin City University and Tec de Monterrey and benefit the U.S. public with potential development of useful products and services.  It could also return discretionary income to the universities, including ASU through AzTE’s share of licensing income, for reinvestment in their research and educational enterprises.

This summer, AzTE will send its life sciences team, led by Jack Geltosky, senior vice president of business development, to visit Tec de Monterrey to begin reviewing technologies developed at the university’s biotechnology center.

Dublin City University has won several large research awards from the Irish government in the areas of sensors and adaptive information technologies.  It is expected that AzTE will work to commercialize technologies related to those areas.

"These sorts of transnational and multinational arrangements will begin to play a more important role in the advancement of scientific and technological development as we all become more interconnected and interdependent on a global level," says ASU President Michael Crow.

According to Augustine Cheng, managing director of AzTE, "The collaborations with Dublin City University and Tec de Monterrey are ways for all three universities to project their international reach in the technology space. In addition, our engagement with dynamic, entrepreneurial universities worldwide supports ASU’s objective of expanding the global impact of its research, discovery, entrepreneurship and scholarship."

"ASU already has a number of activities focused on student entrepreneurship, global company attraction, and investor network development that are located at SkySong,” says Julia Rosen, associate vice president of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at ASU.  “Adding technology transfer to our international collaborations increases the likelihood that global discoveries will be commercialized utilizing Arizona networks. Over time, ASU’s development of vibrant global networks will positively impact economic development in the State."

AzTE was established in 2003 as an Arizona limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the ASU Foundation.  Staffed by professionals with extensive industry and university experience in intellectual property and related business development, AzTE operates as the exclusive IP management and technology transfer organization for ASU.

SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, is currently home to 31 enterprises from 11 countries, with clusters of companies in e-learning, information communications technologies, and sustainability.  SkySong is an interactive business environment in which individual entrepreneurs, global enterprises, ASU researchers, and community members connect to bring new technologies to the marketplace and expand globally.

For more information about AzTE, visit www.azte.com. 

The Ecological Society of America has chosen Professor Stuart Fisher to receive the Eugene P. Odum Education Award for 2008. This award recognizes extraordinary individuals for “outstanding work in ecology education, teaching, outreach and mentoring activities.”

Fisher, a researcher in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, studies the relationship between ecosystem structure and function using stream ecosystems as a model. He’s published more than 100 articles, 95% of which were co-authored with his graduate students, largely based on research at Sycamore Creek, a desert stream ecosystem near Phoenix. Fisher was also one of the authors of the highly collaborative report created by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), which was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Al Gore, in 2007.

Fisher’s impact has, according to the Ecological Society, been particularly profound in teaching and mentoring. Renowned for his, as one graduate put it, “legendary” classes, Fisher’s “real-life and hands-on approaches in training future scientists” have empowered scores of undergraduate and graduate students. The Odum Award dedication cites his contributions thus: Fisher’s “attitude of lifelong learning and his dedicated, absorptive mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students has inspired and fledged some of the most eminent ecosystem ecologists in the field.”

Fisher’s intellectual progeny include luminaries in ecological and biodiversity sciences, such as National Academy of Sciences’ members Steve Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin and Peter Vitousek of Stanford University, both of whom were undergraduate honors students with Fisher at Amherst College.

Carpenter, deemed by the Institute for Scientific Information as “one of the world’s most highly cited researchers in environmental science,” notes of Fisher: “Stuart is a gifted teacher who has had an extraordinary influence on ecosystem ecology through his role as a mentor. He is unusually creative in mentoring, and therefore exceptionally good at evoking creativity in others.”

“Stuart is strongly motivated by the joy of seeing students make new discoveries and sets a great example for the rest of us who mentor students,” Carpenter adds.

Mentoring skills, by and large, in the scientific community have traditionally lacked support through any formal training programs, relying on informal, sometimes uneven and potentially inadequate apprenticeship-style practices. More recently, programs like Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) supported by the National Science Foundation and formal mentoring classes, such as those created by the National Academies and other scientific institutions and universities, have offered additional training options.

Strong mentoring, interdisciplinarity, and hands-on instruction have been signatures of a Fisher classroom since he started his teaching career in the 1970’s and features that he’s built upon and passed along as he’s expanded educational opportunities and mentoring for students in urban ecology in Arizona. Fisher and his colleagues will have received more than $5.9 million by 2010 for the development and implementation of an IGERT program in urban ecology at ASU. The focus of this program has been the establishment of cross-disciplinary collaborative training models for graduate students that foster an innovative educational culture that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries and limitations.

Arizona State’s research and publication efforts have landed the university in the sixth spot in Thomson Scientific’s U.S. University’s Top 10 for impact in ecology and environmental sciences. Rob Page, Founding Director of the School of Life Sciences, believes that the university’s success is due to “extraordinary faculty and research,” but also its signature cross-disciplinary research programs and approaches.

An environment of intellectual cross pollination and unbounded possibilities has been central to Fisher’s approach to science and teaching.

“The field of ecosystem ecology is collaborative as a rule. Because of this collective approach, I am preadapted to the role of mentor, though all of those in my group share responsibility for exchange of ideas, teaching, learning and professional development,” Fisher says. “My greatest professional joys have always involved graduate students. They are young, able, energetic, resourceful, open minded and not hemmed in by disciplinary paradigms,” Fisher states. “Mentoring isn’t for everyone, but for those who are motivated by the joys of discovery more than the joys of reaping credit for it, working with graduate students is a most rewarding path.”