Arizona State University

Douglas Kenrick and Duane Roen have been named ASU Outstanding Graduate Mentors for 2008-09.

The two ASU professors are the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh recipients of this award. The Graduate College will host a reception in their honor on September 18, inviting current and former students to participate in the celebration. 

“We had an extraordinary group of nominees for this award,” says Maria T. Allison, University Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate College. “Those nominated, and those finally selected as Outstanding Graduate Mentors, consistently demonstrated not only excellence in their scholarship and teaching, but also in their enormous commitment to the development and success of their students.  They have clearly impacted the lives of their students in significant ways.”

Duane Roen, a Professor of English, arrived at the ASU Tempe campus in 1995 and moved to the Polytechnic campus in 2004.  In addition to teaching graduate courses and serving on many college and department committees, he has served on 25 master’s and doctoral dissertation committees, conducts professional workshops nationally and for ASU’s Preparing Future Faculty, and helps students find the most satisfying career track. Nearly all of the graduate students whom he has mentored have also collaborated on written articles or book chapters with him, often as first authors. Roen and his students have also collaborated on conference presentations at regional and national conferences.

David E. Schwalm, Dean of the ASU School of Applied Arts and Sciences says that Roen “is the hardest working faculty member I have ever seen, anywhere. But no matter how busy he gets, he never loses his focus on his graduate students. It’s in his DNA.” “The greatest joys in my career have come from working with students to help them achieve their dreams,” says Roen. “Their successes are the best rewards that I could ever want.”

Douglas Kenrick’s tenure in the ASU Department of Psychology spans twenty-eight years. He has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses, presented at over 40 conventions, served on dozens of Master’s, Comprehensives, and Dissertation committees, and considers collaboration with students one of the key elements of mentoring. Of his more than 140 published papers, over 90 include graduate students as authors. He gets students fully involved in research from their arrival at ASU by encouraging them to tackle intellectually engaging topics. He also encourages each of his graduate students to develop his or her own team of undergraduate assistants. Students he has mentored frequently find jobs at prestigious universities after graduation.

“Like parenting, successful graduate mentoring requires different intellectual investments at different developmental phases,” write Kenrick. “When students finally master the basics of clear thinking, they face the most difficult steps – learning to communicate their ideas to journal editors, to grant panels, to curious undergraduates, and to journalists curious about the latest scientific findings (and each of these audiences wants them to speak in a different language).”

“Professor Kenrick is among our most popular graduate mentors, and is one of the major draws to the Social Psychology program at ASU.  His reputation alone recruits students, and then his true dedication to their success makes him a prized mentor,” says Keith Crnic, Foundation Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department.  “His students have tremendous success across many facets of their graduate careers, but none is so clear as is their success in publication and placement in outstanding jobs when they finish.”

“This year’s nominees demonstrated a very high level of dedication to the success of their students,” says Andrew Webber, Associate Vice Provost. “The impact that excellent mentoring can have on a graduate career was consistently affirmed by past and current students, who provided important input into the final selection of this years awardees.”

Read the full mentoring essay by each of the award winners, as well as statements from past winners, at the Graduate College website graduate.asu.edu/outstandingmentors.html.

While America’s presidential candidates stump for education reform, some of the nation’s most distinguished scholars are developing research-based recommendations to help our country’s next leader formulate effective education policies. 

The National Academy of Education has asked leading experts in education leadership and policy to participate in an edifying White Paper Initiative, which will provide the candidates with the best research-based evidence on select education policy issues.  Among the esteemed contributors are ASU Professor Alfredo J. Artiles and Regents Professor David C. Berliner, both with the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education. 

The NAEd appointed six panels of researchers and scholars to each produce a 20-page white paper succinctly addressing the following six policy areas:

• Teacher quality

• Standards and assessments

• Time for learning

• Math and science education

• Reading and literacy education

• Equity and excellence in American education 

“The level of experience and the knowledge that committee members bring are critical assets for crafting thoughtful analyses and recommendations on these reform issues,” said Artiles, an expert on culture and disabilities in education. “The goal is to synthesize critically and highlight the areas that need attention in education policy and reform,” he said. “It’s a unique opportunity to provide input in the shaping of the new administration’s policy in education. I’m glad the National Academy has launched this initiative.” 

The draft white papers underwent a rigorous peer review process earlier this month in Washington, D.C., where the authors of the various White papers convened to discuss the issues, review redundancies and develop policy recommendations. A second round of peer reviews with independent experts will be conducted at the end of the summer. The report will be shared with the presidential candidates and unveiled by the NAEd on Nov. 18 at an event co-hosted with the National Academy of Sciences. 

Artiles’ panel was asked to examine how policies have addressed structural inequities for learning and educational outcomes. Specifically, the group examined the research that addressed equity concerns related to outcome gaps across various racial and socioeconomic groups. Achievement levels and other educational outcome indicators were reviewed longitudinally and comparatively (in relation to other groups). The bulk of the analysis was done with research produced in the U.S., though some attention was given to international comparison studies. 

The NAEd sought Berliner’s venerated perspective on time for learning. He said his panel focused on extended learning opportunities, such as after school programs, to address the need for a higher level of student accomplishment.

“We looked at how to provide more learning opportunities for more students, particularly for those students whose achievement levels are low,” Berliner said. He added that the panel also looked at ways to reorganize school calendars, taking into consideration the fact many women are working mothers. “About 70 percent of all women with children are in the workforce. Having children out of school and unsupervised is not healthy for communities.” 

Artiles explained that the focus of his working group is timely considering current federal policies’ emphasis on standards and accountability across different student subgroups, such as English language learners, students with disabilities, low-income students, and racial minority students.  He explained that “a significant challenge for the next administration will be to strengthen a focus on equity and excellence while it provides the necessary resources to achieve policy goals. This can be done in part by emphasizing not only equity in outcomes, but also equity in opportunities and access. The purpose of the White paper initiative is to offer rigorous syntheses of research evidence to guide future education policy.” 

Berliner noted that a non-partisan project such as the White Paper Initiative never before has been undertaken by an independent education organization such as the NAEd. “What we’re trying to do is downplay ideology and play up research as a guiding force in education policy,” he said. 

Terence J.G. Tracey, professor of counseling psychology with the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, has been honored with two of the American Psychological Association’s most prestigious awards for his career contributions to the field of counseling psychology. 

Tracey received the 2008 Leona Tyler Award for Lifetime Distinguished Contribution to Counseling Psychology on Aug. 18 at the APA National Convention in Boston. Tracey also was awarded an APA presidential citation for his 27 years of seminal research and his profound influence on the field of counseling and social psychology.

“The American Psychological Association has recognized Terry Tracey for his distinguished scholarship and impactful contributions to the field of counseling psychology by presenting him with two of the association’s most prestigious awards,” said Dr. George W. Hynd, senior vice provost for education and innovation and dean of the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education.

“His tireless support and passionate commitment to the profession of counseling psychology and to the education of its future leaders is legendary at ASU and across the country. I can think of no other individual more deserving of the APA’s Presidential Citation and Tyler Award than our distinguished colleague and friend, Professor Tracey,” Hynd said.

The Leona Tyler Award, given to stimulate and reward research or professional achievement in counseling psychology, was named for the influential psychologist who theorized that individuality is based on the choices people make and how they cognitively organize their experiences. 

"Terry Tracey is an outstanding scholar who is internationally recognized for his empirical and theoretical contributions to counseling psychology including the areas of interpersonal aspects of behavior and personality, non-cognitive predictors of college success, and the development of vocational and other interests," lauded James Klein, professor and director of the Division of Psychology in Education within the Fulton College.

Tracey cultivated new theories about how human interests relate to educational and occupational choices, persistence, success and satisfaction. “Interest is a neglected area because we tend to over focus on competence,” he said. As a scholar whose career has given him carte blanche to study the issues that most interest him, Tracey’s theories propose the best choices result from an active exploration of options as people decide who and what they want to be. “For some people, it’s a daunting experience,” he said.

His research also has examined how people negotiate relationships to determine who they are and how they interact with others. He developed the cornerstone model used in counseling and psychotherapeutic practice today to determine how clients and counselors work together toward successful treatment. 

Underlying all of Tracey’s research themes is method. “I like numbers, so there’s a lot of methodological sophistication. All my research focuses on assessment,” he explained. “My goal is to provide information and better tools to counselors, psychologists and the public.” 

In the presidential citation, the APA noted how Tracey’s work helped to verify key theories in the fields of vocational interest research and interpersonal behavior. “His meticulous studies provided quantitative support for the conclusion that these mathematically complex models of subscales do, in fact, behave as underlying theories predict,” the APA noted. 

“It was very much a surprise to me,” Tracey said of the award announcement. “Everybody seemed to have known about it except me. It’s certainly a wonderful recognition of my body of research.” 

Tracey is one of the five most published authors in the history of the Journal of Counseling Psychology with more than 100 articles that have been cited more than 2,000 times.  

The New American University continues to attract global attention as a model for higher education. Seven senior-level administrators from Leiden University, the oldest university in The Netherlands, research-intensive with an international orientation, visited ASU on Aug. 19 and 20 to get a first-hand look at how the President Michael Crow’s vision has been translated into reality.

Their interests ranged from university organization and governance to sources of university funding. They focused on ASU’s strategic planning process and how the university fosters academic entrepreneurship, with special attention to the concept of social embeddedness and the role of research—both applied and more traditional—in ASU’s relationship with the greater Phoenix community.

Members of the group had individual meetings with representatives of the ASU Alumni Association, Global Institute of Sustainability, Applied Learning Technologies and the School of Global management and Leadership.  The group also met with President Crow and Vice President for Global Engagement Anthony “Bud” Rock and toured ASU facilities at SkySong.

A health awareness fair and events that celebrate the diversity of Latin poetry, theater and dance are in the spotlight as Arizona State University’s West campus celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month.

“Latin and Caribbean cultures represent the influences of many different customs,” says Lucy Berchini, chairwoman of the Hispanic Heritage Committee at ASU’s West campus. “We want to give the campus and the community at large the opportunity to experience the tremendous variety within the Latin community.”

All events, on ASU’s West campus at 4701 W. Thunderbird Road, are free and open to the public (there is a fee for visitor parking on campus). The schedule is:

For the Love of Hispanic Poetry: Thursday, Sept. 4, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m., Art Gallery, Second floor of the University Center Building. Poetry written by poets from Latin and Caribbean countries will be displayed and read in both Spanish and English. The event’s host is Leandro Soto, a faculty member in ASU’s Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Program.

Por Amor/For Love: Monday, Sept. 15, 6:00 p.m., Second Stage West Theatre in the University Center Building (preceded by a reception at 5:00 p.m. in La Sala, University Center Building). This one-act musical play written by James E. Garcia and Raul Yzaguirre focuses on the dreams of a young Hispanic man. Garcia is a former faculty member in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences; Yzaguirre is executive director of the ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights.

A Night of Hispanic Dances: Friday, Oct. 3, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m., La Sala, University Center Building. Dancers will perform a variety of Latin and Caribbean dances, including salsa, bachata and merengue, and audience members will have the opportunity to mingle with the dancers and learn new dance steps.

Health Awareness Fair: Friday, Oct. 10, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Multipurpose Field/Basketball Courts south of the Sands Classroom Building. The American Heart Association and Valley Big Brothers/Big Sisters are just two of the many community agencies that will host information tables at this event. The fair features health screenings and details about blood, bone marrow and organ donation. Co-sponsoring groups are the African American and Native American committees on the West campus.

For more information, visit www.west.asu.edu/latinoevents/ or call Lucy Berchini at (602) 543-6091.

Academic caliber of students continues to rise

Arizona State University is succeeding in its mission to increase both student access and student quality, according to enrollment data released by the university today. ASU enrollment is shattering records once again, with a projected freshman class of 9,700 students and overall numbers expected to top 66,000.

The total includes a record group of 5,600 transfer students from other colleges, 4,500 new graduate students and more top scholars than ever before. It represents an increase of 16,000 students in eight years, the equivalent of a midsize university being added to ASU.

ASU admissions staff processed more than 100,000 inquiries this year, and 47,000 new applications, eight percent more than last year.

With a new ranking of fourth best in “Up and Coming Schools” in the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report, ASU anticipates an even greater surge in applications next year.

The academic quality of the incoming class also continues to rise. A snapshot of this year’s freshmen:

• 168 are National Merit Scholars, up from 148 last year, making ASU again one of the top schools in the country for this elite cadre of high achieving students.

• Another 110 are National Hispanic and National Achievement Scholars, with National Hispanic Scholars having increased by 165 percent in the past five years.

• Average high school GPA is 3.4, the highest ever.

• Average ACT score rose a full point, to 24.0.

• Average SAT is 1091, up 14 points from last year.

• ASU President and Provost Scholars, Arizona students who perform at the very top of their high school graduating class, increased 13 percent over last year.

• 11 are Flinn Scholars, from a group of 20 top students who are awarded full funding at any Arizona university of their choice.

• More than one-third are students of color, double the number from five years ago.

• Two-thirds now live on campus, reflecting ASU’s emphasis on living and learning communities that help students succeed academically and reach their goals.   

“Quality and size can go together,” says Jim Rund, vice president for university student initiatives. “Our growth in top scholars continues to outpace the overall growth rate. ASU’s outstanding academic programs enable us to enroll top students reflecting the demographics of our state and nation.”

“A record number of students are taking advantage of the opportunities for a world-class ASU experience,” says Martha Byrd, dean of undergraduate admissions.  “The growth in each of our colleges, at all four ASU locations, reflects the caliber, talent and heritage of our state.”

Public managers who deal with water resources are becoming increasingly important as they make decisions that could affect communities for decades.

That’s why a new Certified Public Manager course in ASU’s Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program is teaching professionals how to ensure they’re ready to address the important role water plays in Arizona.

“Water is such a hot statewide issue. People keep saying water is the new gold, it’s the new oil,” says Catherine Eden, director of the program.

“The baby boomer professionals came forward and said, ‘We wish we had this when we started, but we want the new public managers to be ready.’ ”

About 30 people are taking the course that specifically focuses on teaching water experts to better apply their administrative knowledge and skills for more positive impacts on the people they serve.

“We’re helping to develop public service professionals as they move up in their career and have to deal with a larger range of issues,” says Eden.

Participants include public managers, executives and elected officials from international, federal, state, county, municipal and tribal governments.

“The emphasis is on practical education,” says Eden. “We prepare people to take on new responsibilities and to be strong, ethical professionals, so they can best represent the people they serve.”

ASU’s Ramsey program has graduated nearly 12,000 students from its executive education courses since it began 25 years ago. The Certified Public Manager course is just one of the outstanding programs it offers.

The course gives managers the ability to take some time away from their everyday work environments in order to gain a better view of where they fit in the larger scheme of public administration, she says.

“The community you represent is important, but also links you to the greater community. You can’t work in a vacuum,” says Eden, who served as director of the Arizona Department of Health Services and as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives.

Participants learn to create partnerships and improve communication with other agencies, and better understand the various pressures elected officials face during the decision-making process. They develop skills to explain to officials why certain issues should be considered a high priority.

“I was one of the voices that asked Ramsey Executive Education to help develop my management team, and to specifically prepare water managers,” says Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks. "They have the real world experience to make a difference.”

The courses are available online or in the classroom at the ASU Mercado building in Downtown Phoenix.

Ramsey Executive Education also offers capacity-building, leadership development and coaching services to public-sector organizations. This includes management training, strategic planning, program evaluation and workshops on current public administration issues and challenges.

Ramsey Executive Education is part of the School of Public Affairs in the College of Public Programs at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. The Ramsey program offices are in the ASU Mercado building at 502 East Monroe Street, Suite C110.

For information, visit http://ramseyexecutive.asu.edu or call (602) 496-1300.

Jazz artist Althea Rene will kick off a Green Jazz Series next month that is designed to raise awareness about the environment while benefitting low-income families in the Valley.

Arizona State University Online and the Herberger Theater Center will host Rene as part of its Green Jazz Series at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 4.

The first of six concerts that will run through April 2009, the Green Jazz Series combines the blue sounds of jazz with “green” concepts for sustainable living.

Proceeds from the concert series will support the Green Survival Initiative (GSI), a Phoenix-based sustainability project. Through the use of cost-effective green technologies such as compact fluorescent lights, low-flow shower heads and water heater blankets, GSI seeks to mitigate increasing energy costs for approximately 7,000 low-and-income fixed households in the Phoenix-Metropolitan area.

“Just as ASU is expanding access to its academic programs with ASU Online, we are using the Green Jazz Series to expand the benefits of green concepts to low-income households through the Green Survival Initiative, using the music of jazz as the vehicle to spread the idea and to generate support for the Green Survival Initiative,” said Mernoy E. Harrison, Jr., ASU Online and Extended Campus vice president and executive vice provost.

The initiative will help low-income families make the conversion to a sustainable lifestyle.

“The GSI recognizes that there is a cost to convert to a green lifestyle and those who need it most might not be able to make that conversion,” said George Brooks, publisher of Southwest Green Magazine and one of the concert series’ sponsors. “We believe that once these conversions are made, each household could save anywhere from $300 to $500 annually.”

An educational component will also be incorporated into the concerts, including information booths and giveaways.
Rene, a Detroit native, started her career at age 4 as a flautist. She studied classical music while attending Harvard University in Washington DC, and later gained musical inspiration from the accomplishments of Yusef Lateef and Dave Valentine.

A full-time performing artist, Rene is regarded as one of the nation’s premier solo improvisational flautists and has recorded and performed with jazz greats Al Jarreau, Nancy Wilson, Norman Brown, Boney James and George Duke. Rene will perform an assortment of urban contemporary tunes with a rhythm and blues twist and showcase songs from No Restriction, her latest CD.

Tickets cost $40 for VIP seats and $20 for general admission. Call the Herberger Theater box office at (602) 254-7399 or visit www.HerbergerTheater.org.

Arizona State University will honor more than 50 students from historically underrepresented backgrounds who have been recognized for their academic achievement and promise as future leaders by the national Gates Millennium Scholars program.

The Graduate College will host the annual reception on Wednesday, Sept. 3 to acknowledge these outstanding students for their accomplishments and encourage them to continue on a path toward graduate education.

The Gates Millennium Scholars program is a $1 billion initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote academic excellence and give students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to pursue their academic and career goals without the financial barriers that make it difficult for them to attend and succeed in college. More than 12,000 Gates Millennium Scholars have been funded nationwide since the inception of the program in 1999.

“One of the Graduate College’s major commitments is to help build the diversity of ASU’s graduate student population,” says Maria T. Allison, university vice provost and dean of the Graduate College.

“The diversity of our state and nation will continue to grow dramatically in the decades ahead. It is vital to Arizona’s future that ASU work proactively to ensure that the leadership of tomorrow will have the education critical to their success. We are very proud of our Gates scholars and believe that each will make important contributions to our communities and our country.”

Special guests at the event will include Dr. Delia Saenz, vice provost, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost; Alonzo Jones, director of the Multicultural Student Center; Dr. Mark Jacobs, dean of Barrett, the Honors College; and Michael Begaye, director of the American Indian Student Support Services.

For more information on the Gates Millennium Scholars program at ASU, visit http://graduate.asu.edu/gates/index.html.

The dust has settled, the paint is dry, the fence is down and all the floors are open. Just in time for the fall semester Arizona State University is ready to celebrate the re-opening of its renovated Memorial Union on the Tempe campus.

Members of the ASU and surrounding community are invited to a re-opening celebration Thursday, Aug. 28, at 8:30 a.m. on the new stage area of the North Plaza. Once the program ends Sparky will lead guests through guided tours. The MU also will host a trivia hunt for all visitors on the day of the celebration. All who complete a completed trivia game card within 24 hours will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

Originally built in 1954, the Memorial Union is the center of student life on the Tempe Campus. Nearly 25,000 guests pass through its doors daily.

A fire in November 2007 shut down the Memorial Union temporarily. While the lower level and first floor food court were open within 60 days, the severely damaged second floor and third floor were closed for renovation.

The Arizona Board of Regents approved $53 million to repair and renovate the MU, with an anticipated $40 million coming from insurance reimbursements and $13 million paid from bond money for upgrades planned before the fire.

The university hired the architecture firm Studio Ma, Inc. and CORE Construction to undertake a full renovation of the second floor, upgrade to current building codes and to match or exceed the high standards of quality used in the recently constructed campus buildings. The second floor houses meeting rooms and ballrooms and for many visitors, it is the “front door” experience to the ASU campus.

“For the past 50 years the Memorial Union has been central to our campus, offering a gathering place for students, faculty staff and visitors to engage,” says Kellie Lowe, MU director. “Throughout the renovation, every decision we made was based on meeting the needs of our students and the ASU community. The newly remodeled MU will be an area on campus that our students can enjoy and be proud of.”

The entire building has been brought to current fire code compliance and a comprehensive fire sprinkler system and fire detection and alarm system were installed. Three existing stairwells were redesigned and two new stairwells were constructed to add new points of entry and exit, especially during an emergency.

The design team was charged with creating a “collegiate” style that was unique to ASU, one that would evoke the qualities of the desert environment and the forward looking vision and high standards of the New American University.

The design and construction of the 95,000sf renovation was accomplished over a period of five months. The space has been transformed into a bright collection of rooms with ample public corridors and furnishings that evoke formal yet comfortable qualities.

Local and natural materials are used throughout: Arizona sandstone on the corridor walls, southwest mesquite wood on the Arizona Ballroom and corridor floors and western Douglas fir wood paneling on the ceiling. Custom carpets were designed featuring the colors of the desert southwest and even included ASU’s sunburst logo in the ballrooms.

Historically significant spaces such as the Arizona Ballroom and the Alumni Lounge were renovated to evoke their special qualities while bringing the facility up to the highest technical, audiovisual and acoustic standards. Consistent with ASU’s and Studio Ma’s commitment to sustainability, the project anticipates a LEED Silver rating.

Notable achievements include reducing energy costs for lighting by 70 percent ("EcoSysyem" lighting utilizes environmental sensors to automatically dim lighting), recycling 50 percent of the project’s construction waste, 20 percent of the materials used are recycled content, and 30 percent of all materials are either regionally extracted or manufactured.

Two related projects at the Memorial Union visitors will see that are funded separately from money approved by ABOR for renovation after the fire include a new café replacing the Maricopa Café on the second floor and redesign of the North Plaza.

Engrained café is a sustainable dining and living-learning restaurant committed to locally grown food and environmentally friendly practices. It is funded with capital dollars provided by ASU’s partner, ARAMARK, and opens to the public Aug. 28.

The MU Plaza Project is being funded by University Student Initiatives. Phase I, which included the redesign of the plaza north of the Memorial Union, was successfully completed. The phase included removing and pouring new concrete throughout the North Plaza, the addition of a performance stage and new landscaping.

Phase II, which includes the installation of lighted shade canopies and additional seating, is also on schedule and will be completed by the end of January 2009.

Students who live and learn at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus may be considered pioneers, but they won’t encounter the Wild West when it comes to safety.

Richard Wilson, ASU Police commander at the Downtown Phoenix campus, said the area offers a safe environment for students as the 2008 fall semester commences.

“There’s a higher saturation of police and private security in this area than anywhere else in the city,” Wilson said. “We spend more time fighting perception than crime in this area.”

Students will learn firsthand about the area and resources available to them on Campus Safety Day, held Sept. 4 at the University Center, 411 N. Central Ave. Hosted by The Public Safety Advisory Committee and Environmental Health and Safety, the event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes educational booths, visual aides and hand-out information.

“The administration of the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus in conjunction with the city of Phoenix is committed to creating and sustaining a community environment that is safe and productive for students, faculty and all members of the community. We believe that in order to provide a safe and productive learning environment, we must partner with our students and provide them not only with a strong police and security presence on the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus, but also provide opportunities for them to actively engage in the promotion of personal and community safety,” said Kimberly Novak, director for student and campus community development for the Downtown Phoenix campus.

A team of 23 ASU Police aides, eight officers and security personnel monitor the campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ASU Police officers also have a strong working relationship with the Phoenix Police Department and confer frequently on matters of mutual interest and concern. Three officers from the Phoenix Police Department are assigned to ASU as special liaison officers that support the campus by participating in educational programs, intentionally engaging with students in their daily routines at the campus, and by serving on campus task forces aimed at enhancing safety. These officers regularly exchange information with ASU.

The Downtown Operations Unit of Phoenix PD patrol the campus and serve as the primary policy entity. More ASU officers will be added by the end of the semester, Wilson said.

“The crime rate in this area is very low because of the amount of patrol zones and officers in the area,” said Phoenix Police Lieutenant Jeff Lazell. “In addition to our regular patrol officers, we have bike, foot and mounted patrols, parking enforcement and liaison officers that are constantly looking for suspicious activity. It’s one of the safest sections of the city.”

Members of the public and the ASU community can stay safe by taking common sense measures such as walking at night with a partner or escort, staying in lit areas and avoiding alleys.

Wilson said making the ASU Downtown campus a safe and secure place is a balancing act between police, security, merchants and students.

“There’s a balance between anxiety and complacency, which is why we host a lot of educational programs and seminars throughout the year,” Wilson said. “Crime happens in neighborhoods, shopping malls and campuses. We try to mitigate those crimes of opportunity through visibility and interaction with the community.”

Brent Alex, a journalism major who moved into Taylor Place last week, said he certainly felt comfortable in his new surroundings.

“I knew coming in that the area is safe to be around,” Alex said. “With Taylor Place security, the ASU and Phoenix Police, it’s easy for any student to see how safe DPC can be if students take their responsibilities seriously.”

In addition to ASU and Phoenix police personnel, Copper Square Ambassadors patrol the area by foot, on horseback or on bikes. Private security officers who patrol Arizona Center, Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory and the Mercado assist in monitoring the downtown Phoenix area contiguous to the campus and beyond. Campus safety escorts are also available from ASU Police aides 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Other safety and security initiatives include:

• Downtown Phoenix campus and City of Phoenix officials have worked together to develop streetscape and lighting improvements that take crime prevention into consideration.

• Emergency call boxes are located in the parking garages and surface lot at University Center and the College, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Nursing & Healthcare Innovation and Taylor Place residence hall.

• Direct-dial 911 phones are located in the lobbies of all campus buildings.

• ASU and DPS officials in conjunction with the Phoenix Police Department coordinate campus security alert distributions when appropriate.

• The DPS Crime Prevention Unit offers safety programs and events throughout the year. Women’s self defense programs will be regularly scheduled for the DPC.

• Student Affairs at ASU has developed a proactive risk-management program that is fully integrated into its operations. Student Affairs staff monitor and evaluate programs, systems, protocols and practices for potential or perceived risks and take corrective action to mitigate those risks.

• Taylor Place residence hall staff have been be trained by police officials, Environmental Health and Safety staff and Student Affairs staff in facility safety, emergency response and strategies for educating residents about personal safety.

• Taylor Place is equipped with 24-hour security, approximately 70 video surveillance cameras and an electronic access system to gain entrance to the 13-story residence hall after 7 p.m. and on weekends.

Jazz artist Althea Rene will kick off a Green Jazz Series next month that is designed to raise awareness about the environment while benefitting low-income families in the Valley.

Arizona State University Online and the Herberger Theater Center will host Rene as part of its Green Jazz Series at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 4.

The first of six concerts that will run through April 2009, the Green Jazz Series combines the blue sounds of jazz with “green” concepts for sustainable living.

Proceeds from the concert series will support the Green Survival Initiative (GSI), a Phoenix-based sustainability project. Through the use of cost-effective green technologies such as compact fluorescent lights, low-flow shower heads and water heater blankets, GSI seeks to mitigate increasing energy costs for approximately 7,000 low-and-income fixed households in the Phoenix-Metropolitan area.

“Just as ASU is expanding access to its academic programs with ASU Online, we are using the Green Jazz Series to expand the benefits of green concepts to low-income households through the Green Survival Initiative, using the music of jazz as the vehicle to spread the idea and to generate support for the Green Survival Initiative,” said Mernoy E. Harrison, Jr., ASU Online and Extended Campus vice president and executive vice provost.

The initiative will help low-income families make the conversion to a sustainable lifestyle.

“The GSI recognizes that there is a cost to convert to a green lifestyle and those who need it most might not be able to make that conversion,” said George Brooks, publisher of Southwest Green Magazine and one of the concert series’ sponsors. “We believe that once these conversions are made, each household could save anywhere from $300 to $500 annually.”

An educational component will also be incorporated into the concerts, including information booths and giveaways.
Rene, a Detroit native, started her career at age 4 as a flautist. She studied classical music while attending Harvard University in Washington DC, and later gained musical inspiration from the accomplishments of Yusef Lateef and Dave Valentine.

A full-time performing artist, Rene is regarded as one of the nation’s premier solo improvisational flautists and has recorded and performed with jazz greats Al Jarreau, Nancy Wilson, Norman Brown, Boney James and George Duke. Rene will perform an assortment of urban contemporary tunes with a rhythm and blues twist and showcase songs from No Restriction, her latest CD.

Tickets cost $40 for VIP seats and $20 for general admission. Call the Herberger Theater box office at (602) 254-7399 or visit www.HerbergerTheater.org.

A collaborative online neurovascular advanced practice nurse (APN) post-graduate fellowship program by the ASU College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation with the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s (UAB) School of Nursing and Comprehensive Stroke Center is off to a fast start. The continuing education program is intended to prepare more APNs to help improve acute stroke treatment.
Stroke is the No. 1 cause of adult disability in the United States.

The Health Resources and Services Administration funds NET SMART (Advanced Practice Nurse Education & Training in Stroke Management & Acute Reperfusion Therapies), a three-year continuing education project to prepare APNs to treat stroke victims.

The NET SMART continuing education program started in January with the first 25 APN fellows enrolled within 45 days of program announcement, says Anne Wojner-Alexandrov, the principal investigator and director of the project. The program is currently enrolling the next cohort.

NET SMART provides Internet-based continuing education, supported by an on-site, two-week clinical preceptorship and validation period at the UAB Hospital. The UAB clinical experience carrys one of the highest rates for provision of intravenous thrombolysis and intra-arterial rescue therapies, and it provides APN fellows with a high-volume, fast-paced environment and a complex neurovascular patient population typical of the U.S. “stroke belt.”

Stroke is the leading cause of permanent disability in adults and the third-leading cause of death in the United States, affecting more than 700,000 Americans each year, while another estimated 300,000 are diagnosed with transient ischemic attack (TIA), a high-risk stroke precursor in emergency situations.

“NET SMART is unique because it combines the strengths of two leading nursing programs with a medical school’s department of neurology that is one of the strongest in the nation,” says Bernadette Melnyk, dean of ASU’s College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation. “NET SMART also provides participants with on-site validation in the heart of the nation’s ‘stroke belt,’ where there are more cases of stroke and stroke deaths per year than anywhere else in the United States.”

The case for need

Establishment of stoke centers in more than 400 hospitals across the country has made it difficult to obtain expert practitioner staffing. In the United States, there are fewer than 200 fellowship-trained stroke neurologists, and just 10,461 board certified neurologists. To combat personnel shortages, several hospitals and physicians have begun to turn to APNs who can be positioned on the front line of acute stroke care, supported by neurologist phone, telemedicine or teleradiology consultation.

“We believe that NET SMART will be a valuable adjunct to learning that will recruit many advanced practice nurses into key acute stroke leadership roles,” says Ray Watts, chairman of neurology at UAB, in a letter of support for the collaborative project. “Our ongoing commitment to APNs places us in a unique position to offer this program, and it is our desire to see APN value and visibility increase significantly within the health care community and lay public as a result of our efforts.”

Target audience and applicant pool

The NET SMART acute stroke fellowship continuing education program targets clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners interested in vascular nursing, as well as masters-prepared stroke program coordinators. The program is designed to prepare participants for clinical leadership roles in the emergency evaluation and treatment of high-risk acute stroke patients. Expertise in the neurosciences is not a requirement for participation for the program.

Enrollees in NET SMART complete Internet-based learning modules, complemented by clinical learning activities and post-tests. Once the modules are completed, participants attend an 80-hour, on-site clinical preceptorship and validation session at the UAB Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Upon satisfactory completion of the program, participants receive a NET SMART acute stroke fellowship certificate from the ASU College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation.

“The feedback we’ve received on the program from our current fellows has been incredibly positive,” Alexandrov says. “Our fellows have rapidly expanded their knowledge and skills, far beyond that of most APNs providing care to acute stroke patients. It is exciting and rewarding to work with these remarkable new nursing leaders, and I am optimistic that each will make significant contributions that dramatically improve the care of our nation’s acute stroke patients in the coming years.”

For more information, call (480) 727-6262 or visit the Web site www.netsmart-stroke.com.

Breann Yoshiko Swann, an LL.M. student in the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, will give a presentation on Aug. 28 in Tokyo as part of the United Nations University/UNESCO 2008 Conference on Globalization and Languages. The conference will explore the contribution of linguistic diversity and multilingualism to development and their value for dialogue, social cohesion and peace.

Swann will speak on "Changing the Language of Industry: Setting Standards for the Protection of Indigenous Languages in the Workplace."

Swann’s presentation explores the role that language use in the workplace plays in preserving indigenous languages.

"Research suggests that, absent revitalization efforts, 155 of the approximately 175 extant Native American languages in the United States will die by the year 2060," according to Swann’s presentation abstract. "The prognosis for the remaining indigenous languages in other parts of the world is, for the most part, equally grim."

While there are some efforts to preserve indigenous language, those efforts are focused on education and domestic and social use, Swann writes. Meanwhile, industry and employers in the United States are moving to a largely monolingual workplace. Swann argues that the presence of indigenous language in the workplace may be crucial to its survival and analyzes different instruments that could be used to protect language in the employment sphere.

The conference is organized by the United Nations University, established by the United Nations, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Swann is a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of federal Indian law and labor and employment law. She currently works for the Office of the General Counsel of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, where she provides strategic advice and counsel regarding various aspects of tribal governance. Her work with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community focuses primarily on tribal labor and employment matters and the development of tribal ordinances and policies.

Building upon her practical legal experience, she has concentrated her recent scholarship on the social and political ramifications of language policies and practices in the workplace. She received her J.D. from the University of Southern California and her B.A. from Yale University. She will receive her LL.M. in Tribal Policy, Law and Government from the College of Law in May 2009. Prior to entering the field of Indian law, she was a practitioner of labor and employment law in the Los Angeles office of Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP.

Judy Nichols, judith.nichols@asu.edu
(480) 727-7895
College of Law

"We won’t ever run out of oil, just like we never ran out of whales.”

That’s the main message from an expert who has studied change in the world’s primary energy source over time. He understands why gas and oil prices are sky high and explains it’s all just part of the historic cycle needed for a major energy shift.

Gerry Keim, associate dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business MBA Program at Arizona State University, did extensive research on one important change in this vein – when people switched from using whale oil to petroleum as a fuel for artificial light, before we had readily available electricity. Parallels to the current energy situation are very clear.

“When we had to move away from whale oil in the mid-1800s, we had no idea what a substitute would be,” says Keim, “but as demand and tight supply drove prices up, people became more enterprising and found alternatives, and obviously, we never ran out of whales.”

Keim explains there’s a cycle with the primary energy source at any time. For example, in the 1800s, people in the Boston area simply watched from shore to spot whales in the ocean. Then, they would boat out to the right spot and hunt the whales. However, as demand for whale oil grew, the United States saw a huge increase from about 200 whaling ships in the 1840s to about 600 ships in the 1860s. The number of whales close to shore declined, and the price of whale oil more than tripled over those 20 years.

This price hike caused consumers to start cutting back on their whale oil use, and it caused people to start investing in finding alternative energy sources. Rewards were offered in newspapers for anyone who could come up with a way to make lamps that could burn surface petroleum oil. By 1889, people had created lamps that burn petroleum and found a way to drill underground for oil. The number of whaling ships dropped to just 70, and the price of whale oil dramatically fell from $2.55 per gallon down to 75 cents per gallon.

Keim says this is the way things will work now, as we try to find a new primary energy source, as long as prices are allowed to fluctuate. He says, “I’m very confident we’ll develop substitutes for oil and gas on the supply side, and demand will significantly fall, but the government has to resist calls for price ceilings for this to work.”

Keim says, during the oil crisis in the 1970s, people waited in long lines at gas stations because the Nixon Administration used price controls to limit the price of gas. That conflicted with the natural cycle that happens when you have energy shortages and changes.

“If we all paid the real price of using oil, then the transition to other energy sources would happen ever faster,” says Keim. “That means market prices should reflect all costs and benefits of using fossil fuel, including the environmental costs, and some could make a case that there are national security costs as well. If oil prices reflected some of these costs, then some alternative energy sources would be able to compete with petroleum today.”

Keim says in the meantime, we will never run out of oil, as long as it is a privately owned resource. That’s because the owners want to continue profiting. For example, Keim points out that you don’t see any shortage of chickens, which are privately owned, but you do see a shortage of certain types of fish and seafood due to the overfishing in international, public waters. You also never see people letting livestock overgraze their own private land, but it happens on public land.

Keim adds that people will also keep reducing the demand for oil because of the high prices. He says we’ve already seen the number of hybrid cars soar, and Americans used 4 percent fewer gallons of gas in the past six months while we’ve seen sky-high prices. People are using public transportation more often, and they’re better organizing their drives to make the fewest possible stops. These cutbacks in demand are part of the reason that prices have recently fallen.

As for a replacement primary energy source, Keim is betting on solar power, wind power and electricity. Solar and wind power are readily available in some parts of the country, and a grid system can be created to maximize their use in other areas. Electricity already has an existing infrastructure for delivery, so there would be no need to build a network of fueling stations. Domestic supplies of natural gas can also play a big role over the next decade or so.

“I’m confident we’ll have real alternatives in 10 to 15 years,” Keim says. “Smart people and lots of money will be invested as oil prices stay high and we need substitutes. We’ll start using the existing alternatives more efficiently, and we’ll discover new technologies no one’s even dreamed up yet.”