The week includes a dedication ceremony with Arizona State University President Michael Crow, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Walter Cronkite, guided tours of the building for the public, and a series of speakers and panel discussions on issues facing journalists. It will culminate in the 25th annual Walter Cronkite Award Luncheon honoring long-time PBS television journalists Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil.

The Cronkite School’s new $71 million building in the heart of downtown Phoenix opened for classes Aug. 25 following a breakneck 18-month construction project that was launched after Phoenix voters overwhelmingly approved a bond issue that included the Cronkite project. The building, which also will house one of the country’s largest PBS stations, KAET/Eight, is an ultra-modern structure of glass, steel and concrete built by Sundt Construction Inc. and designed by Steven Ehrlich Associates in partnership with HDR Architecture. It rises six stories along North Central Avenue, two blocks north of Van Buren Street.

The building and its technology are considered unmatched in journalism education. Students have access to state-of-the-art technology, including seven professional newsrooms and media incubators, seven other digital computer labs, 17 fully mediated classrooms, nearly 1,000 classroom seats and 280 digital workstations. The space is about five times the size of the school’s previous home, Stauffer Hall, on the Tempe campus.

The Cronkite Week celebration will feature nationally and locally known journalists who will lead discussions on topics ranging from journalism ethics and diversity to the press and politics and challenges facing journalists in a digital media age. Visitors will be able to view a National Press Club documentary and a PBS documentary on Walter Cronkite as well as an Associated Press photo exhibit of U.S. Presidents. They may listen to the building’s architects and artists talk about their work and attend dedication ceremonies for the Sony Television Studio and the Marguerite and Jack Clifford Gallery, which features artifacts from journalism history and items from Walter Cronkite.All events are open to the public. Tickets are required for selected events.

Following is a full schedule of events:

Cronkite Week 2008: Celebrating Our New Home, New Era & 25 Years of Excellence

Monday, Nov. 17:

A Look Back: Journalism History and Traditions 100 Years of Journalism: A National Press Club Documentary, 1:30-3:30 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Followed by a conversation with Gil Klein, former Washington correspondent and National Press Club president.

U.S. Presidents through the Photojournalist’s Lens: An Associated Press Exhibit, 4-5:15 p.m., The First Amendment Forum. Featuring J. David Ake, Washington photo editor, The Associated Press.

Reception, 5:30-6:15 p.m., The First Amendment Forum. Reception honoring the Cronkite Endowment Board, Cronkite faculty and Cronkite staff.

Cronkite School in Year 25: A Conversation with Dean Christopher Callahan on the Past, Present and Future of Our School, 6:15-7 p.m., The First Amendment Forum.

Airing of “American Masters: Walter Cronkite,” 7-8:30 p.m., Cronkite Theater. A PBS documentary on the career of our namesake.

Tuesday, Nov. 18:

Journalism Values in Today’s Changing Media LandscapeLatinos and the News: Covering a Rapidly Changing America, 9-10:15 a.m., Cronkite Theater. Richard Ruelas, reporter for The Arizona Republic, moderates a panel featuring Rick Rodriguez, Carnegie Professor of Journalism and former Sacramento Bee executive editor; Syleste Rodriguez, reporter for 12 News Up Front; and Catherine Anaya, a CBS 5 News anchor. 

Diversity: The UNITY Research Projects, 10:15-11:30 a.m., Cronkite Theater. Stephen Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism, and Assistant Dean Kristin Gilger present findings from two major research projects conducted by the Cronkite School for UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. 

Ethics: New Challenges in a Digital Age, 2-3:15 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Tim McGuire, Frank Russell Chair and former editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, moderates a panel featuring Chris Anderson, Edith Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics and former publisher of the Orange County Register; Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship and Kauffman Professor of Journalism; and Retha Hill, director of the New Media Innovation Lab and former vice president for content at BET Interactive. 

Free Press: The First Amendment in the Digital Age, 3:30-4:45 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Professor Joseph Russomanno and media attorney David Bodney of Steptoe & Johnson LLP discuss the latest challenges in First Amendment law. 

The Press and Politics in America: Dissecting Coverage of the 2008 Election, 7-8:30 p.m., The First Amendment Forum. Steve Elliott, director of the print division of Cronkite News Service and former AP Phoenix bureau chief moderates a panel featuring Susan Green, director of the broadcast division of Cronkite News Service and former managing editor of KNXV-TV; Jason Manning, director of ASU Student Media and former political editor of washingtonpost.com; Tim McGuire, Frank Russell Chair and former editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune; and Rick Rodriguez, Carnegie Professor of Journalism and former Sacramento Bee executive editor.

Wednesday, Nov. 19:

Our New Home Dedication of the Marguerite and Jack Clifford Gallery, 11:30 a.m., Marguerite and Jack Clifford Gallery.

Dedication of the Sony Television Studio, 1:30 p.m., Sony TV Studio.

Interview with the Artists, 2:15-3:30 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Dean Kwang-Wu Kim of the Herberger College of the Arts interviews artists Janet Echelman, designer of Sky Bloom, the public art for the Downtown Civic Space Park, and Paul Deeb, whose work with use of light as material is featured in the building. 

Interview with the Architects, 3:45-4:30 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Dean Wellington Reiter of the College of Design interviews building architects Steven Ehrlich and Mathew Chaney.

Thursday, Nov. 20

The Future of News Grand Opening Celebration, 9-10 a.m., The First Amendment Forum. Grand opening with ASU President Michael Crow, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Walter Cronkite.

Guided Tours of New Building, 10:15-11 a.m., Student Resource Center. Tour begins at the second floor elevator bank. 

Business Journalism in the 21st Century, 1-2:30 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Andrew Leckey, director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, moderates a panel featuring the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporting team of Donald Barlett and James Steele, plus the winners of the 2008 Barlett and Steele Award in Investigative Business Journalism. 

Digital Media and the Future of Journalism, 2:45-4 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, moderates a panel that includes Lisa Stone, co-founder of BlogHer.com, and Gary Kebbel, Journalism Program Director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Sponsored by Sue Clark-Johnson.

Tackling the Digital Media Challenges, 4-5 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Dean Christopher Callahan of the Cronkite School moderates a panel featuring Jody Brannon, News21 national coordinator and former senior editor at MSN.com; Retha Hill, director of the New Media Innovation Lab and former vice president for content at BET Interactive; and Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship.

Friday, Nov. 21:

The Cronkite Award Reception, 10:30-11:15 a.m., Arizona Biltmore Resort and SpaTickets required.

The 25th Walter Cronkite Award Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa2008 Cronkite Award recipients Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil. Tickets required.

The Future of TV Journalism in Our Democracy, 4-5:15 p.m., Cronkite Theater. Aaron Brown, Walter Cronkite Professor of Journalism and former lead anchor for CNN, hosts a conversation with 2008 Cronkite Award recipients Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil. 

Veterans can now take courses in the certificate program using funds from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs educational entitlements. The Certified Public Manager® program, or CPM, prepares professionals to make decisions that could impact communities for decades.

“This program makes it easier for veterans to continue their vital role of service to the nation by learning new skills they can use to enhance their career,” says Catherine Eden, director of the Ramsey Program. “They can make dramatic improvements in the areas of budgets, taxes, transportation, housing, education, labor and the environment, or wherever their public career takes them.”

Public managers are becoming increasingly important as experienced public administrators of the baby boomer generation are nearing retirement, and fewer younger professionals than ever before are in line and prepared to fill their shoes.

“I thought the CPM program was a great educational experience,” says retired U.S. Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Leonard Montanaro, deputy court administrator for the City of Mesa, Ariz. “It is totally focused on government and serving the public. All of the instructors are professionals in their respective fields and actually lived the experience, not just studied it. For example, when we studied politics, a former council member from Fountain Hills, Ariz., taught the class. Another example is the ethics class that was taught by a Phoenix police commander who focused on ethics for public officials and police officers. All of our scenarios were real life.

The learning experience is on the level of a master’s program when it comes to the knowledge transferred, the discussions, and presentations required to complete the program,” Montanaro says. “I was not only impressed by the program, I was very impressed with the participants in the class. The CPM program is a great educational opportunity.”

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

“The emphasis is on practical education,” says Eden, who previously served as director of the Arizona Department of Health Services and as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives. “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.

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.

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

For information, visit http://ramseyexecutive.asu.edu or call (602) 496-1303.

 Anyone who recognizes the persistent buzz of bees during spring bloom, had their picnic overrun by ants or heard the munching sounds of thousands of termites turning their floor joists to dust, knows that social insects play a dominant, if oft unrecognized, role in terrestrial ecology.  

What makes these insect collectives tick? That question has held ASU Professor Bert Hölldobler and Harvard University Professor Emeritus E. O. Wilson entranced for nearly a half a century. As the authors express it, it is the insects astounding evolutionary success based on their remarkable systems of division of labor (involving hundreds and thousands of individual organisms) that never ceases to inspire. 

“If alien scientists had landed to study the Earth’s pre-human biosphere, one of their first projects would have been to set up beehives and ant farms,” insists Hölldobler. “This is our biased guess, of course, because we have been fascinated by the social insects and in particular by the ants, during our entire scientific lives.” 

“The Superorganism” is their first major collaboration since the publication of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Ants.” In the new book Hölldobler and Wilson share their passion and a brilliant new look at social evolution and the remarkable growth of knowledge concerning the social insects during the past two decades.  

Hölldobler believes that one of the most exciting frontiers in biology is “the exploration of these insects’ remarkable behaviors, and tracking down what makes so many individuals work in synchrony, as a single, highly integrated superorganism.” Hölldobler is a key member of the Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which focuses on developing understanding of the roots of such interactions in multiple systems, from ants to humans to computer networks.   

“The Superorganism” is filled with details that will fascinate all readers, for example, how foraging workers of honeybees and ants communicate and direct nestmates to distant food sources, how workers of Diacamma species conduct dominance fights and mutilations in order to regulate reproduction within the colony, and how a queen of an Atta ant colony can live over a decade and produce as many as 150 million daughters.  

Roughly 13,000 species of ants have been described, Hölldobler says, and another estimated 17,000 still elude discovery. With hundreds of different forms, habits, lifestyles, and quirks, ants are among the most fascinating creatures on the planet, from the tiny Temnothorax species, long-lived and gregarious, whose entire colony can fit in a nut-shell, literally, to the intricate activity of nature’s underground farmers, the leafcutter ants. 

Earth’s “ultimate superorganisms,” are how Hölldobler characterizes leaf-cutters, with their sophisticated communication, elaborate caste system, air-conditioned nest architecture, and populations in the millions, rivaled only by the great colonies of the African driver ants. Hölldobler and Wilson’s portrait of driver ants is not far removed from Hollywood’s killer colonies in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”  

“Viewed from afar, a huge raiding column of a driver ant colony seems like a single living entity, a giant amoeba spreading across 70 meters of ground.” Hölldobler says. “A close look reveals a mass of several million workers; a river of aggressive huntresses, capturing and killing most of the insects in its path.” 

Superorganisms, those self-organized entities that emerge from countless interactions of hundreds, thousands or millions of individuals tightly knit by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor, find their highest expression in the insects, according to Hölldobler. And while the concept of the collective – the superorganism – is not new, and indeed has been popularized in novels, movies and television, it is gaining new impetus and understanding as scientists, such as Hölldobler and Wilson,open up for view a part of the living world previously glimpsed by only a very few. By examining ants, bees, wasps, termites and other species, biologists can now trace the evolution of superorganisms in exacting detail, all the way from their antecedents among solitary species to the origin of the most complex forms. Hölldobler and Wilson offer a rich history, set of experiences, and knowledge base that allows an early clear look at one of the major transitions of life, which proceeds from molecule through cell to organism, superorganism, and population and finally to ecosystem. 

“Social insects play a very important role in almost all land ecosystems,” says Hölldobler. “The nature of our planet without ants, bees or termites would look very different. The tremendous ecological success of these social insects, whose biomass is close to that of all humans, is certainly due to their elaborate systems of division of labor and complex social organizations. In fact, ant societies are considerably more complex than those of any other animal species. They are fantastic model systems for the study of social complexity and the evolution of social life on Earth.”  

The attendees of the national book launch will share in these scientific luminaries’ adventures and have an opportunity to interact with two renowned biologists. Hölldobler is a member of several national and international Academies, among them the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences (USA). He is also the recipient of numerous honors, among them the Pulitzer Prize, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Science Foundation, one of the highest science prizes in Europe, and the National Merit Medal of Germany. He has authored three books with Wilson.

In addition to two Pulitzer Prizes, conservationist Wilson is author of more than 25 books and the recipient of more than 100 international medals and awards, including the National Medal of Science; the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, given in fields of science not covered by the Nobel Prize; and for his conservation efforts, the Gold Medal of the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society.

“The Superorganism” book launch is one of a series of events leading up to Arizona State University’s celebration of the 200thth anniversary of his publication of “On the Origin of Species.” anniversary of Darwin’s birth date and the 150

Coined “ASU Darwinfest,” the university is sponsoring a fresh look at the intellectual and translational products that have arisen as a result of the founding of evolutionary theory and its application to science and technology. “How bold ideas can change worlds” sets the tone for a range of exceptional speakers and events, including a Darwin look-alike contest, teacher’s workshop, and panel discussions around gender, race, religion, and teaching. More information at: http://darwinfest.asu.edu 

“The Superorganism” national book launch begins at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 W. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix (www.dbg.org). The event is free and open to the public. Seats are limited and reservations are required. For reservations contact: margaret.coulombe@asu.edu; 480-727-8934.   To reserve a first edition copy of “The Superorganism” (at a 20 percent discount), published by W.W. Norton, contact Scott at the ASU Bookstore 480-965-4165. Books will be available for purchase and signing the night of the event.         

ASU’s Chain Reaction, created by Conrad J. Storad and his staff at ASU’s Office of Research Publications for young readers in elementary and middle schools, and School of Life Sciences Magazine, produced by managing editor Margaret Coulombe and designer Jacob Sahertian, were singled out for excellence in writing and design. This was School of Life Sciences Magazine’s first submission to IABC. 

“The Magazine is a highly collaborative publication, pulling from the combined efforts of our graduate students and staff,” Coulombe notes. “It’s nice to have validation from the professional community that we are doing a good job, creating a valuable tool to train our graduate students, and developing the appropriate vehicle to showcase the contributions made by our researchers, students and alumni to the global community.” 

Diane Boudreau, staff writer for ASU Research Magazine and Chain Reaction in Storad’s group, garnered special recognition from IABC. She was awarded two Silver Quills for her writing. One was for her 2007 piece “Fuels of Green,” which brought to life research by Milton Sommerfeld and Qiang Hu on algal biofuels. Her second article, “Cosmic Playground,” featured Paul Davies, director of the Beyond Institute. 

Boudreau modestly notes, “Well honestly, Paul Davies is so interesting, who wouldn’t win an award writing about him?” Since 1987, Storad and his group at Research Publications have won more than 150 Silver Quills for writing, editing, illustration, photography, publication design, and web site design. 

ASU picked up a win in a new category this year as well: for excellence in audio and visual communications. School of Life Sciences’ Charles Kazilek, creator of the children’s educational science Web site “Ask a Biologist,” received a Silver Quill Award for his innovative podcast series. Twice monthly listeners are taken on an audio journey, from the Tibetan Plateau to a scorpion’s lair to deep within the structure of a feather, experiencing along the way the excitement that scientists feel for their work, their lifestyles, and their hobbies. 

Each of ASU’s submissions was graded on effectiveness of communication in print, design, web, or audio; creative and innovative approach in communicating with the target audience, as well as review of a documented measurement of objectives. The metrics for ASU’s award-winning communications are notable. Kazilek’s Web site tallies up more than 420,000 student, 140,000 teacher, and 140,000 adult visits per year. Combined with School of Life Sciences Magazine, Research Magazine and Chain Reaction, these award winning publications contribute to a substantial educational footprint. 

The audience for ASU Research Magazine’s print version includes more than 50,000 readers spread across all 50 states and 49 countries. Issues of Chain Reaction are distributed to more than 175,000 students and teachers at thousands of schools in Arizona and across North America. 

Storad says, “This magazine is unique. No other university in the United States has anything like it, at all. It’s a beautiful tool for putting stories of science and learning directly into the hands of young readers and their teachers.”

 The IABC Silver Quill judges seemed to agree. One wrote, “It’s a perfect publication for the target audience. I want a subscription for my own kids.” Another added, “More universities should take ASU’s lead and reach out to younger readers with science information that is fun to read and fun to look at. Chain Reaction is very cool.”

Whether you agree with Darwin’s conclusions and insights, the concept of bold ideas resonates well with Arizona State University and the students and faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. On Nov. 4, Wilson will kick off ASU’s Darwinfest, a series of events and speakers that will tap into what Darwin set in motion when he stepped outside of the box 150 years ago to publish “On the Origin of Species.” Wilson will speak about “Darwin and the Future of Science” at 7 p.m. at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Wilson terms Darwin a “revolutionary” who challenged the social and cultural fabric of his time. But the Darwinian legacy is as much reviled as revered, and this concerns Wilson, as it gets closer to this grand old man of evolutionary fame’s 200th birthday. The debate about evolution in the public realm, unlike in scientific circles, is far from over. 

As Wilson writes: “The revolution in astronomy begun by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 proved that Earth is not the center of the universe, nor even the center of the solar system. The revolution begun by Darwin was even more humbling: it showed that humanity is not the center of creation, and not its purpose either. But in freeing our minds from our imagined demigod bondage, even at the price of humility, Darwin turned our attention to the astounding power of the natural creative process and the magnificence of its products.” 

Darwin’s four best known works are: “Voyage of the Beagle” (1845), “On the Origin of Species” (1859), “The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex” (1871), and “Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals” (1872). Before thinking it’s all dusty old concepts, the bold ideas that Darwin laid bare before an astonished public has deeply influenced philosophy and laid ground work for modern medical discoveries and research in psychology. There is not a single field in biology that is not affected by Darwinian evolutionary theory. Darwinian concepts have even been adopted in economics, technology and engineering.

So why should people with daily concerns peel themselves away from the television set to attend Wilson’s lecture, especially on what will likely prove the most exciting nights in recent political history? Because, like Darwin, Wilson has wrought fundamental change in the world, and he has a message of hope – regardless of what side of the political spectrum one falls on – that each of us can be instrumental in preserving our planet or “The Creation,” as Wilson terms Earth, without irony.  

Wilson has spent considerable time building bridges between those that look askance at Darwin and those who embrace his perspective, and invites people of all faiths to remember that this home we have, this “cradle of life,” deserves to be treasured, respected and preserved.

Wilson will speak about Darwin’s life, his publications (about which Wilson has himself written, “From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin’s four great books”) and our shared future on Earth. And while more than half of the American public struggle with Darwin’s theories about evolution and natural selection and embrace the notion of intelligent design, Darwin’s theories – like those of Copernicus or Galileo before him – set the stage for new understanding of what make us human, and unite us.   

Wilson is the recipient of innumerable honors, including the National Medal of Science, the gold medal of the World Wildlife Fund, and the Crafoord Prize, the Swedish equivalent to the Noble Peace Prize for ecology. He sits on the boards of the Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the American Museum of Natural History. Two of his more than twenty-five  books have received Pulitzer Prizes, “On Human Nature” (1978) and “The Ants” (1990) – authored with ASU’s School of Life Sciences Professor Bert Hölldobler. Hölldobler and Wilson will unveil their latest collaborative venture, “The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies” at Darwinfest’s companion event, a national book launch and book signing held at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden on Nov. 5. For more information: http://darwin.asu.edu.  

Included on the schedule of events are live performances throughout the day by Nigerian talking drummer “Agalu,” led by Akeem Ayanniyi; master djembi drummer Amadou Kienou from the country of Burkina Faso; Arizona Drum and Dance, with master dancer Mabiba Baegne from the Congo; and Kawambe-Omawale Drum and Dance Theatre, including performances of drumming, dancing, storytelling and singing.  A full schedule is provided below.

Among the activities scheduled are an African marketplace, fashion show, African arts and crafts, masks and home décor, paintings and sculptures, and African children’s games.

The mission of AFASA, a 501c3 founded in 1992, is to bring people in Arizona together to promote African awareness through educational and cultural activities.  The organization works to be an educational resource to the surrounding community and to serve as a new contact for African immigrants to Arizona.

Other festival sponsors include the City of Phoenix, Arizona Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and myspace.com/africanfestival.

The West campus is located at 4701 West Thunderbird Road in Phoenix.  African Festival ’08 is free to the public.

Call (623) 247-4869 or (623) 215-2507 for more information.

Schedule of Events — Saturday, October 18

10 – 10:15 a.m.   Opening Ceremonies

10:30 a.m.           AGALU – Akeem Ayanniyi

12:30 p.m.          Amadou Kienou/Mabiba Baegne/AZ Drum and Dance

1:15 p.m.            Motherland Soul Reggae Band

2:00 p.m.            African Fashion Show

2:30 p.m.            Amadou Kienou/Mabiba Baegne/AZ Drum and Dance

3:30 p.m.            Motherland Soul Reggae Band

4:15 p.m.            AGALU – Akeem Ayanniyi

4:45 p.m.            Kawambe Omowale Drum and Dance Theatre

5:30 p.m.            Motherland Soul Reggae Band

The Economic Club of Phoenix (ECP) was founded by a group of prominent business executives called the Dean’s Council of 100, in conjunction with the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The group is now the preeminent Arizona forum for the exchange of ideas about business and the economy. Its monthly luncheons and other activities offer Valley business leaders and others opportunities to network and engage.

This year’s speaker lineup (subject to change) is:

Wednesday, Oct. 22 – Roger J. Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association

Wednesday, Nov. 19 – Sidney Taurel, chairman of the board of Eli Lilly and Compan

Thursday, Jan. 15 – Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Supreme Court justice

Thursday, Feb. 26 – Gary Loveman; chairman, CEO and president of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.

Thursday, March 26 – Michael Ahearn, CEO of First Solar Inc. and Dean’s Council of 100 Executive of the Year

April (Date TBA) – Details coming soon

Wednesday, May 20 – Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon

All of the events run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The first two luncheons will be held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. Guests are welcome for a $100 luncheon fee. The Executive of the Year luncheon cost is $150. Funds in excess of the cost of the lunch are used to support student scholarships and faculty research at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

For more information or to reserve seats, contact Amber Hadvab at (480) 965-1709 or Amber.Hadvab@asu.edu. For sponsorship opportunities or to register groups of 9 or more, contact Rhett Wilson at (480) 965-2333 or Rhett.Wilson@asu.edu.

Cavitt, a senior working toward a degree in construction management from Arizona State University’s Del E. Webb School of Construction, islooking to enter one of the most traditionally male-dominated industries.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” she says. In fact, she considers it an advantage.

Construction industry leaders realize the value of hiring people “who are strong and willing to take on challenges,’’ she says, and simply by virtue of pursuing a career in what is certain to remain a predominantly male domain, females demonstrate those qualities.

Now Cavitt and other women in the construction school, a part of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, can give themselves another advantage: Learning from pioneering women who have already risen to leadership positions in the business.

The school recently established its Advancing Women in Construction program, a key part of which is a mentorship project. More than 70 women – and several men – in the construction industry in the greater Phoenix area have signed on to mentor female students and provide them an inside look at life in the industry.

The program will not only benefit students but help rejuvenate an industry in need of a new wave of young professionals, says Carol Warner, president and chief operating officer for Johnson Carlier, a third-generation, Arizona-based construction contracting company.

“As an industry, we are concerned about the future of our profession,” says Warner, who has worked in construction for close to 25 years. “There is a shortage of professional builders and people in skilled trades. We need more fervent workforce development.”

Women are uniquely skilled in communication, organization and team-building – areas that are becoming increasingly critical to the industry, she says.

“People who can combine those skills with technical knowledge gained at ASU’s school of construction are going to be pursued by construction companies throughout the country,” Warner says. “My peers in the industry are anxious to support, train and commit to bringing more women into their workforce.”

The industry “continues to need qualified people, and one of the more underutilized talents pools is women,” says Rozlyn Lipsey, president of Phoenix-based Jokake Construction company.

Companies are supporting the school’s new mentorship program as an investment in ensuring themselves quality employees and leaders for the future, Lipsey says.

That commitment is demonstrated by more than 30 construction and construction-related companies, as well as industry groups, that have donated to the school’s Advancing Women in Construction scholarship program. The goal is to eventually provide women who enter the school with $1,000 scholarships for each of their first two academic years, provided they meet certain eligibility requirements.

It’s part of a plan to increase female enrollment from less than 15 percent of total enrollment to 30 percent – or about 200 female students –  within five years.

Cavitt says her favorite things about the school’s construction management program are the opportunities to learn beyond the classroom, such as internships and building-project competitions between construction students at other universities.

She expects the mentoring program to add significantly to the value of her college education. “I’m excited to learn about the real-world business of construction from women who have been successful at it for many years,” she says.

Cavitt has been paired with mentors Crystal Slawson, president of Phoenix Pipelines, and Natalie Palmer, the company’s project coordinator.

Slawson has been in the business for more than two decades “and I’m still passionate about it,” she says. “Whenever you’re passionate about something, you want to share the experience. I hope to open students’ eyes to the possibilities and opportunities available to them.” 

The mentorship program can be invaluable especially for preparing women for a demanding work environment, Slawson says. “Some of the best advice I ever received was from my mother, who encouraged me to continue to ‘be a lady’ in man’s world,” she recalls. “I think it’s good for female students to see examples of someone outside of the stereotype of what people would expect a woman in construction to be like.”

Besides career coaching and advice, students will have opportunities to shadow mentors on the job, network with business owners, executives and skilled trade workers, and begin scouting for internship and job possibilities.

The program is tailored to meet students’ changing needs as they progress through college.

Freshman-year mentoring is geared to helping students acclimate to college and its demands, and to building relationships with mentors.

Sophomore year is devoted to exposing students to industry groups and job options. Internship searches and career development planning starts in the junior year. Job-hunting will be a focus of senior year.

 “Our goal is 100 percent job placement,” Lipsey says.

Mentors can give students the chance to experience the differences of working with a large company compared to a small company, or working for a construction trade contractor compared to general construction contractor, she explains.

“Each company is different, and exposing students to different kinds of company cultures will give them a better idea of the career directions that best fit them,” Lipsey says.

“I think they are going to see that this is an increasingly diverse and sophisticated industry of people who thrive on creativity and challenges and contribute a lot to the community,” she says. “Plus it’s a business in which people can be well paid and rewarded.” 

The prestigious award, given annually for outstanding contributions to the solution of fundamental problems in planetary geology, commemorates geologist Grove Karl Gilbert (1843–1918), one of the first scientists to study the geology of the American West.

This year’s award, bestowed at the GSA’s annual meeting in Houston this week, recognizes Christensen’s work in the field of remote sensing of minerals on Mars using instruments that operate in the infrared part of the spectrum.

"The award is especially meaningful to me because I have long admired Gilbert and have been intrigued by many of the same scientific questions that he pursued throughout his career," says Christensen, who in addition to being a professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is also director of ASU’s Mars Space Flight Facility.

Mars explorer

In 2000 Christensen’s Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), launched on NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor, discovered a large deposit of the iron mineral hematite on Mars. Four years later, NASA sent Opportunity, one of its two Mars Exploration Rovers, to the site in Meridiani Planum found by TES. Upon landing, the rover confirmed the hematite discovery and explored sediments repeatedly soaked by shallow pools of water.

In addition, both rovers carry identical miniature versions of TES, which are used to scout for new rocks and minerals for the rovers to examine. Recently, the Mini-TES on the Spirit rover (which is exploring the Columbia Hills in Gusev Crater) pointed the way to a discovery of silica minerals. These appear to be relics of an ancient hot spring like those in Yellowstone National Park.

Christiansen is also the designer and principal investigator for the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a multi-band infrared camera working on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. Among this instrument’s discoveries are beds of chloride minerals in the ancient Martian highlands. These may be salt deposits laid down during a time when Mars was wetter and warmer than today, and they may offer clues about the existence of a Martian biosphere, either at present or in the past.

Says ASU professor Ronald Greeley, "I believe it’s unprecedented in planetary science for a principal investigator to be operating four instruments concurrently: TES on Mars Orbiter, Mini-TES on Spirit and Opportunity, and THEMIS on Mars Odyssey."

Reading the scenery

Studying landscapes began early for Christensen. "I grew up in the West, having been born in Utah and lived in Kansas and California," he explains. "Each summer my family would drive across the West to visit our scattered relatives, and during those long drives I spent many hours looking out the window of our car at the mountains and landforms. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was becoming a geologist."

As with Gilbert decades before, Christensen was fascinated by western scenery and wondered at its formation and history. "My family liked to explore out-of-the-way places, and we probably traveled many of the same routes that Gilbert did, seeing landscapes that have not changed much since his time."

While Gilbert’s career involved terrestrial geology almost entirely, he had links to what is now called planetary science. A hundred years ago, Gilbert was about the only geologist in the world arguing that craters on the moon were caused by the impacts of meteorites. The overwhelming consensus of geologists of his time and long afterward held that lunar craters were volcanic in origin, an idea that didn’t finally disappear until the mid-1960s.

"When I was 12 my parents gave me a telescope and, again like Gilbert, I spent countless hours looking at the moon," Christensen says. "The only features I could see with my small telescope were the craters, and in reading the few books about the geology of the moon I quickly learned of his early hypothesis for crater formation and his role in shaping our understanding of the moon’s history."

As a graduate student in the late 1970s, Christensen’s interests ranged far beyond the moon: He worked on NASA’s Viking project, which sent two orbiters and two non-roving landers to Mars. Christensen earned a doctorate in geology from University of California, Los Angeles, and came to ASU in 1981.

Impact in Arizona

Arizona had drawn Gilbert as well, nearly a century before. Besides lunar craters, Gilbert also studied northern Arizona’s Meteor Crater, then known as Coon Butte, making the first geological survey of it in 1891. Because Meteor Crater is surrounded by millions of fragmentary nickel-iron meteorites, Gilbert had a strong hunch it might be a terrestrial counterpart of the moon craters he saw by telescope.

Ironically, however, Gilbert’s survey led him to conclude, mistakenly, that Meteor Crater was not the result of an impact.

Despite weeks of fieldwork, Gilbert could find no large remnant of the impacting body, which he thought should have survived the impact. Thus he decided reluctantly that Meteor Crater was an explosion hole blown open when volcanic heat turned groundwater to steam. It wasn’t until the 1920s, after Gilbert had died, that scientists realized the shock of impact would vaporize most the impacting object.

"While Gilbert’s volcanic interpretation was wrong," notes Christensen, "he did what every scientist should do. He threw away a favorite theory when the data didn’t back it up."

Looking into the future of planetary geology, Christensen is excited. "In my lifetime our perception of Mars has changed from a point of light in the night sky to a complex planet we are coming to know as well as our own."

He adds, "The past 30 years have been a remarkable period in planetary exploration, and I consider myself to be very fortunate to have participated in this modern age discovery.

"The images we have of Mars now rival the views I had out the window of our family car."

Using digital filmmaking to examine the connection between the humanities and sustainability is the challenge presented by a student documentary film contest sponsored by Arizona State University’s Institute for Humanities Research and the Film and Media Studies program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“The contest is an opportunity for ASU students in any field of study and on any campus to examine critical approaches to the humanities and sustainability, and to offer their ideas and perspectives to the community through documentary filmmaking,” says Daniel Bernardi, associate professor and director of the Film and Media Studies program.

The contest is open to all ASU undergraduate and graduate students, individuals or teams. Submissions are due by Dec. 9. Information about how to submit films may be found at film.asu.edu/studentcontest2. An e-board is also on the Web for students to connect with others who are interested in forming teams and can be found at tcls-boards.asu.edu/eboard30.

Professor Sally Kitch, director of the Institute for Humanities Research, says some specific concerns the film entries might consider include not just what threatens the environment, but how human beings have created those threats; not just what has happened to the climate or to ecosystems, but what we need to rethink about human beings’ relationship to nature; and not just who can survive the extremes of global warming, but who cannot.

The documentaries must be three to seven minutes in length from beginning to end of credits. When submitted, the documentary should be formatted for posting to YouTube.com and streaming on the ASU Web site. Films will be judged on quality, appropriateness to guidelines, and relevance to the theme.

Five winners will be announced Feb. 12, with the top three awarded $500 to $1,500 and two honorable mentions $250. The student works will be screened and the awards presented that day. The film competition screening will wrap up a three-day film festival related to the theme of humanities and sustainability. Several exemplary humanities-focused documentary films on sustainability will be shown starting on Feb. 5, with the screening of “Sizzle,” a global warming documentary that combines science and comedy, for the first time in Arizona. Screenings of exemplary films will continue on Feb. 10 and 11. Discussions led by ASU scholars will conclude each evening. All events are open to the public.

Ashley Lange, ashley.lange@asu.edu
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences