Top Headlines

Microscopic ‘astronauts’ advance germ study

jcasper — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:59:26 -0600

When space shuttle Endeavor blasted off March 11, some tiny “astronauts” piggybacked onboard an experimental payload from ASU’s Biodesign Institute.

The experiment, called “Microbial Drug Resistance Virulence” was part of the STS-123 space shuttle Endeavor mission. It advanced the research studies of Cheryl Nickerson, project leader and scientist in the institute’s Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology. Nickerson has been at the forefront on studying the risks of germs associated with spaceflight to the health and well-being of shuttle crews.

“Wherever people go, germs will follow,” says Nickerson, who also is an associate professor at ASU’s School of Life Sciences.

Last fall, she completed a multi-institutional study that showed for the first time that microbes could be affected by spaceflight, making them more infectious pathogens. The results were from a payload flown aboard the space shuttle Atlantis in 2006.

Spaceflight not only altered bacterial gene expression but also increased the ability of these organisms to cause disease, or virulence, and did so in novel ways. Compared to identical bacteria that remained on earth, the space-traveling salmonella – a leading cause of food-borne illness – had changed expression of 167 genes. In addition, bacteria that were flown in space were almost three times as likely to cause disease when compared with control bacteria grown on the ground.

The latest shuttle flight offered Nickerson’s research team – which includes James Wilson, Laura Quick, Richard Davis, Emily Richter, Aurelie Crabbe and Shameema Sarker – an extraordinarily rare opportunity to fly a repeat experiment of their NASA payload to confirm their earlier results.

In the new experimental wrinkle, the team tested a hypothesis that could lead to decreasing or preventing the risk for infectious diseases to astronauts. The experiment focused on determining if the modulation of different ion (mineral) concentrations could be used as a novel way to counteract or block the spaceflight-associated increase in the disease-causing potential that was seen in salmonella.

In addition, the project supported three other independent investigators to determine the effect of spaceflight on the gene expression and virulence potential of other model microorganisms, including:

• Dave Niesel, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Streptococcus pneumoniae.

• Mike McGinnis, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

• Barry Pyle, Montana State University, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

These microorganisms were chosen because they are well-studied organisms that have been, or have the potential to be, isolated from the space shuttle, Mir space station, International Space Station, or its crew, or have been shown to exhibit altered virulence in response to spaceflight. These organisms are all important human pathogens that cause a significant amount of human morbidity and mortality on Earth.

“We now have a wide variety of supportive evidence that the unique, low-fluid shear culture environment the bacteria encounter in space is relevant to what pathogens encounter in our body, including during salmonella infection in the gut, and there may be a common regulatory theme governing the microbial responses,” Nickerson says. “But to prove that, we need to fly these common bugs together with the same hardware on the same flight so that everyone is tested under the same conditions.”

The investigators believe that information gained from these studies will prove beneficial in assessing microbiological risks and options for reducing those risks during crew missions. When taken together, these studies ultimately will provide significant insights into the molecular basis of microbial virulence. Once specific molecular targets are identified, there is the potential for vaccine development and other novel strategies for prevention and treatment of disease caused by these microbes both on the ground and during spaceflight.

“We are learning new things about how salmonella is causing disease,” Nickerson says. “There is compelling evidence that the unique environment of space flight provides important insight into a variety of fundamental human health issues with tremendous potential for the commercial development of novel enabling technologies to enhance human health here on Earth.”

The research studies are supported by several grants from NASA.

Berman appointed as College of Law dean

lccampb — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:11:23 -0600

A scholar with a vision for the future of legal education and an administrator who can move with speed and agility, Paul Schiff Berman has been appointed dean of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. Currently the Jesse Root Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, Berman will assume his new duties prior to the start of the academic year.

"In Paul Berman, ASU has found a scholar and leader who reflects the core characteristics of the New American University," said ASU President Michael M. Crow. "Paul is a bold thinker and will push the boundaries of what a law school can be. He will move swiftly and adroitly to elevate an already great law school into the top echelon of American legal education not by chasing the handful of law schools that represent the old 'gold standard" but rather by defining what 21st century legal education ought to be."

Berman, whose scholarly writing focuses on how globalization affects the intersection of cyberspace law, international law, civil procedure and the cultural analysis of law, is a 1988 graduate of Princeton University and received his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1995. He served as a law clerk first to Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court.

"Paul Berman is incredibly creative and visionary," said University Provost and Executive Vice President Elizabeth D. Capaldi "From first meeting he impressed us all with his energy and ideas for building excellence in the law school, including greater interdisciplinary connections and new academic programs that will increase access, excellence and impact. He has terrific support from the faculty of the law school, and from the other deans. I am very excited we have attracted him here."

Berman begins his Deanship with an ambitious agenda built on the idea that the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law is poised for transformative growth in both the quality and scope of its student body, its faculty, its programs, and its physical plant.

"Ultimately," said Berman, "I envision a truly multidisciplinary legal center, where future lawyers develop essential skills for both transnational and local legal practice, where leading scholars from around the world come to engage in high-level discourse on law's role in society, where policy-makers can address the pressing social issues of our time, where corporate leaders can find the latest information on the legal regulation of cutting-edge scientific and technological innovation, and where even those who do not intend to be lawyers can spend at least a year exploring law's crucial role in a multicultural democracy embedded within an increasingly interconnected world."

Berman will succeed the college's current dean, Patricia D. White, who is stepping down after nearly a decade of leadership of the college to return to teaching. She will be a visiting professor at Georgetown University for one year before returning to the College of Law to teach tax law.

At Connecticut, Berman has taught Cyberspace Law, Conflict of Laws, Civil Procedure and Copyright Law, as well as an interdisciplinary seminar called Law, Culture, and Community and a course on Federal Courts and the Appellate Process.

He was visiting professor and visiting research scholar (2006-07) in the Princeton University Program in Law and Public Affairs and is the author of a half dozen scholarly books and more than a dozen scholarly journal articles. He has given more than 75 invited lectures and conference presentations and is frequently cited as a legal expert by the news media.

Berman was awarded a University of Connecticut Provost's Research Fellowship (Spring 2004) and was named one of "Connecticut's New Leaders of the Law" by the Connecticut Law Tribune (Fall 2004). He is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, the American Society of International Law and the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities.

His activities outside the field of law include being founder and artistic director of the Spin Theater; the chief administrative officer for another theater company, The Wooster Group; and administrative director of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater at Saint Mark’s Church. All three theater companies are not-for-profit and located in New York City.

Regents’ Professor Candelaria accepts SMU post

isanche1 — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:06:32 -0600

ASU is saying goodbye to Regents’ Professor Cordelia Candelaria, who is leaving to assume the position of dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Candelaria has been a member of the ASU community for more than 15 years. She is a Regents’ Professor in the Department of English and the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, a department she helped establish and chaired from 2000 to 2005.

She also serves as associate dean of the Office of Strategic Initiatives in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ASU.

“I’m excited by this new challenge, and also at the prospect of returning to a smaller institution like those I attended: the University of Notre Dame and Fort Lewis College,” Candelaria says. “I hope to take the best approaches and innovations from our work in public universities and combine them with the finest practices of respected private institutions. The potential is powerful.”

As founding associate dean for the office of strategic initiatives at ASU, Candelaria focused on enhancing excellence in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences by achieving measurable outcomes of diversity in faculty hiring, and by advancing interdisciplinary academic programs.

Previously, as vice provost for academic affairs at the Downtown Phoenix campus, she assisted with the preparations needed to open the full-service campus in the city’s urban center. She appointed talented directors to head the Downtown Phoenix campus’ integrated information commons, a facility offering library services, electronic and digital resources, and access to global information systems to all ASU students and other downtown patrons.

“It has been inspirational to watch Dr. Cordelia Candelaria work as a researcher, mentor, administrator and poet,” says Manuel de Jesus Hernandez, a professor of Spanish and Chicano literature at ASU. “Dr. Candelaria is deeply committed to her work, and I have seen multiple examples of her success as a professor by observing the work of the students she has mentored.”

Regents’ Professor Alberto Rios agrees, saying that Candelaria “made things make sense, and she could contextualize and embrace the range of thought on all issues.”

Candelaria, who initiated her career in higher education in the 1970s, lights up every time she talks about her students and their achievements.

“As a teacher, I encourage students to have a strong, focused commitment to achieve their goals,” she says. “At the same time, I emphasize that it’s equally important to have a noble purpose larger than oneself and then to apply that purpose to making a positive difference in the world.”

She also expresses a deep appreciation for her colleagues and the impact they had in her life.

“I’ll miss my ASU familia greatly, and I wish the university and Arizona continued success,” she says.

High school robotics team aided by ASU engineering

jkullman — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:45:25 -0600

Carl Hayden High School’s Falcon Robotics team celebrated its recent victory in an international robotics competition at a May 7 event hosted by Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.

In April, the Phoenix high school team bested 350 other high school robotics teams from 26 countries in taking the first-place prize in the competition in Atlanta.

Many of the Falcon team’s 42 members came to the celebration at ASU for a demonstration of computer-game development, an exchange of ideas with ASU robotics experts, a congratulatory presentation by school of engineering Dean Deirdre Meldrum and Executive Dean Paul Johnson, a dinner and a tour of the engineering school’s robotics facilities.

The engineering school has played a role in the education of the Falcon team through its outreach efforts to spark interest in science, engineering and technology among K-12 students.

With support of a U.S. Department of Education grant, faculty members Wei-Tek Tsai, Gary Bitter, Yinong Chen, James Collofello and Yann-Hang Lee have been developing high school computing curriculum since 2006. Robotics programming has been used to teach computing concepts, Chen explains.

With funding from a Science Foundation Arizona grant, Chen taught a robotics-based computing class to a group of Arizona high school teachers in 2007. Two of the teachers, Steu Mann and Eira Rodriguez, were from Carl Hayden High School.

That led Chen to meet Carl Hayden High School teacher Faridodon Lajvardi and Allan Cameron, the founders of the Falcon Robotics team. They are now working together, using the attraction of robotics to interest students in all aspects of engineering.

They are also working with Intel Corporation to provide scholarships for two of the Falcon Robotics team’s programmers to attend the engineering school’s Summer Robotics Camp in June and July.

The camp experience “will prepare [the students] to improve the programming of their robots for future competitions,” Chen says.

“We are celebrating not just our success in robot building,” Cameron says. “We are celebrating how our students have been inspired and how they are inspiring others about the fun of engineering.”

Falcon team members have been giving demonstrations of their robotics work to schoolchildren and community groups.

“We are influencing the culture of our neighborhoods, the state and the country,” Cameron says. “Our robotics team has become a model for those who want to positively affect their world.”

Winning the international robotics competition was “a thrilling accomplishment,” he says, “but broadening our culture’s appreciation of science, technology, engineering and math is the goal we are really striving for, and the celebration of our victory by ASU’s engineering school is a great encouragement to us.”

The involvement of ASU’s engineering school faculty “has raised the expectations, ambitions and academic achievement levels of students,” he says. “We feel like ASU is our university, and we look forward to more collaboration. I think there are quite a few future ASU Sun Devils at Carl Hayden High School who will be studying in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.”

Four faculty members slated as Regents’ Professors

brit18 — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:20:32 -0600

ASU President Michael Crow and the university’s executive vice president and provost, Elizabeth D. Capaldi, have announced four new ASU Regents’ Professors for 2008. The selection was ratified April 25 by the Arizona Board of Regents.

This year’s honorees are:

• Stuart Lindsay, Edward and Nadine Carson Presidential Chair in Physics, and professor of chemistry.

• James Ohlson, W. P. Carey Chair of Accountancy.

• Otto Sankey, professor of physics.

• Elly van Gelderen, professor of English.

The title “Regents’ Professor” is the highest faculty honor awarded at ASU. It is conferred on ASU faculty members who have made pioneering contributions in their areas of expertise, who have achieved a sustained level of distinction, and who enjoy national and international recognition for these accomplishments.

“In making this award to these four outstanding researchers, it reminds us of the remarkable research that is conducted daily throughout this university,” Capaldi says. “The individuals chosen this year are at the top of their professions in the sciences, the humanities and business, indicative of the breadth of accomplishments occurring at ASU. We are proud to recognize the achievements of such distinguished scholars.”

A brief description of the honorees’ accomplishments includes:

• Lindsay, a professor in physics and chemistry, leads the Center for Single Molecule Biophysics in the Biodesign Institute. He is an international leader in the area of experimental physics and chemistry. He has made key contributions to the understanding of electron transfer in single molecules and to the science of nanotechnology.

• Ohlson, the W. P. Carey Chair of Accountancy, is internationally recognized for his analytical and empirical work on valuation, earnings changes and earnings capitalization. His research is central to the progress of modern accounting research and practice, and it has fundamentally changed how academics, analysts and auditors use accounting data in security valuation.

• Sankey is a professor of physics, and his research contributions relate to the development of theoretical physics approaches that calculate the electronic states of complex materials and molecular systems. His techniques have been highly influential in theoretical materials physics research around the world. They are applied by researchers to provide insight into the relation of atomic structure, electronic states and materials properties.

• Van Gelderen, a professor of English, is a leading scholar in the history of English syntax. She is internationally recognized as a leader in the branch of theoretical linguistics that seeks to explain language change. Her original work in linguistics has been groundbreaking, combining imagination and careful data analysis.

ASU offers support to China earthquake survivors

gcampbel — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:21:45 -0600

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following is a message from ASU President Michael Crow to the ASU Community.

To the ASU Community:

Arizona State University, as the sister institution of Sichuan University, is committed to helping its friends and colleagues in the aftermath of the severe earthquake that occurred in Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to all those affected by this tragic event, especially those who have lost loved ones and livelihoods. The scale and scope of the damage are still being assessed, and the Chinese government, and local and international NGOs, are working intensely to advance relief efforts in this area.

Many organizations are focused on providing for the emergency needs of those impacted by the disaster, specifically food, water, shelter, health care, and rescue. ASU is engaged actively in this urgent support, and anticipates the significant, longer-term future needs of the region. Some of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake are desperately poor and many families have been left without the means to support themselves.

Many Sichuan University students have experienced dramatic personal losses and their futures, as well as those of their families, are uncertain. In support of these members of our extended Sun Devil family in Chengdu and Sichuan Province, we have established a fund to aid these students and their families during this difficult time, and we are working with Sichuan University and our counterparts in the City of Chengdu and in Sichuan Province to ensure that our assistance will be directed where it is most needed.

I write in the hope that our university community will come together, as it has in the past, and contribute to the Sisters of Sichuan Fund for Disaster Relief. We will report regularly on the funds raised and the families aided by your generosity.

Checks can be made payable to the ASU Foundation, Sisters of Sichuan Fund and mailed to the ASU Foundation, PO Box 2260, Tempe, Arizona, 85280-2260.

Thank you in advance for your kindness and your willingness to help during this critical time of need.

Sincerely,

Michael Crow

Tirosh-Samuelson to become director of Jewish Studies

chughes3 — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:48:00 -0600

When asked why a public university should teach Jewish Studies, the incoming director of ASU’s program doesn’t hesitate with her response.

“There is no way to understand the story of humanity, let along the story of the West, without telling the story of the Jews and the story of Judaism. The story of the Jewish people is nearly as old as human written records. Judaism developed side by side with the Christian interpretation of the Judaic heritage, and there is no way to understand Western, Christian culture without its Judaic foundation,” says Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, who will assume the position of director of Jewish Studies at ASU on Aug. 16.

Tirosh-Samuelson, who has been at ASU since 1999, is a professor and associate chair in the history department. In the director’s position, she will hold the Irving and Miriam Lowe Professorship in Modern Jewish Studies and will remain an active member of the history department.

“One the attractive aspects of the director of Jewish Studies position is the convergence between ASU’s growth trajectory and the interests and needs of the Jewish community in metropolitan Phoenix,” Tirosh-Samuelson says.

In sharing her vision with members of the faculty and the community, Tirosh-Samuelson says that Jewish Studies at ASU will focus on research, teaching and community outreach.

“At ASU, Jewish Studies will offer a new and creative model to integrate a Jewish perspective into all relevant disciplines and academic units, including history, religious studies, political science, justice studies, international languages and cultures, media and film studies, and law,” she says.

Tirosh-Samuelson would like to see develop new subjects, discourses and emphases within the program, specifically in the areas of Judaism and science, Judaism and environmentalism, Jewish history as global history, Judaism and liberalism, and Judaism and the arts.

As part of the community outreach, Jewish Studies will organize monthly seminars on campus, as well as art exhibits, either on campus or in synagogues.

Tirosh-Samuelson was born in Kibbutz Afikim, Israel, and served three years in the Israeli army. She has a doctorate in Jewish philosophy and mysticism from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the Stony Brook University. This past November, the university recognized her with a Distinguished Alumni Award.

Tirosh-Samuelson’s research focuses on medieval and early-modern Jewish intellectual history with an emphasis on the interplay between philosophy and mysticism.

Among her published works, Tirosh-Samuelson is the author of “Between Worlds – The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon,” which was awarded the best work in Jewish history published in 1991 by the Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and “Happiness in Premodern Judaism: Virtue, Knowledge, and Well Being” (2003). She also is the editor for “Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed Word” (2002), “Women and Gender in Jewish Philosophy” (2004), and “The Legacy of Hans Jonas: Judaism and the Phenomenon of Life” (2008).

She is the recipient of a $500,000 grant for the Templeton Research Lectures on the Constructive Engagement of Science and Religion – a three-year project titled “Facing the Challenges of Transhumanism: Religion, Science, and Technology.”

“Transhumanism is inherently interdisciplinary, as is the nature of Jewish Studies,” Tirosh-Samuelson says. “To understand Judaism, the Jews, Jewish civilization, one is called to do interdisciplinary work.

“My interest in transhumanism is part of a larger and deeper commitment to the dialogue of science and religion, which is rooted in the conviction that, historically and conceptually, science and religion are not antagonistic but intertwining cultural forces,” she says.

“In her new role as director of Jewish Studies Dr. Hava Tirosh-Samuelson brings with her both a national vision for the program and first-hand experience from some of the leading programs in Jewish Studies in the country: Emory University, Columbia University, and Indiana University,” says Deborah Losse, dean of humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Her stature in the field is such that her work to advance the program will attract the attention of major scholars in Jewish Studies both in the United State and abroad.”

Tirosh-Samuelson steps into the directorship, a position vacated in 2005 with the departure of Jack Kugelmass. Since that time, Joel Gereboff, chair of ASU’s Department of Religious Studies, has been serving as interim director.

“With the appointment of Professor Hava Tirosh-Samuelson as the director of the Jewish Studies program we will be able to move forward on our goal of raising the international profile of the program, which will be of great benefit for many individuals on campus, the community and many areas of inquiry in general,” Gereboff says. “She brings with her a stellar international reputation as a scholar and an already very strong record of leadership and ability to work with and motivate others."

Decision Theater tests pandemic flu plans

lccampb — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:34:36 -0600

Twelve sets of eyes darted across the dark room, waiting for one of the seven floor-to-ceiling video screens to light up. Seconds later, the center screen illuminated, revealing a newscast on the latest developments of the avian flu.

Except the news broadcast wasn’t real. It was part of a tabletop exercise full of hypothetical situations intended to test ASU’s response plan in the event of an epidemic spread of disease.

In this case, the lifelike scenarios addressed the latest strand of the avian flu virus – H5N1 – to which humans are not immune, and there is no known antiviral medicine to cure it. At the close of the exercise, ASU’s implementation had prevented the theoretical deaths of 70 students.

The world’s top medical experts agree that the globe is on the brink of the next pandemic. The World Health Organization is encouraging all government municipalities to build a plan in response to the inevitable. ASU answered the call and starting writing a plan in 2006.

Two years later, the committee created what is known to be the only tabletop exercise of its kind in the nation, says Allan Markus, ASU’s director of campus health services and co-chair of the pandemic flu committee. The exercise, which took place April 10 in ASU’s Decision Theater, involved the university’s pandemic flu planning committee and several senior administrators, including ASU President Michael Crow and the university’s executive vice president and provost, Elizabeth D. Capaldi.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time in the nation that any university has used the power of ASU’s Decision Theater computer mathematical modeling capabilities to test a pandemic response plan,” Markus says.

Mary Tyszkiewicz, a senior analyst at the Homeland Security Institute, a think tank that supports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, seconded Markus’ observation. She believes this is the only exercise of its kind conducted by any government organization.

Tyszkiewicz traveled from Washington, D.C. to observe the event and report back to Homeland Security.

While most test exercises involve decision-makers seated around a conference table who are verbally given likely scenarios to discuss, this exercise was highly technical, involving artificial newscasts, electronic maps, charts, graphs and up-to-the-minute data compilation. Often the data was inadequate – but that was part of the design, since decision-makers often have to manage situations with little to no data available at the time.

“The frustration of waiting for data and then receiving incomplete data is all part of the ‘fog of war’ in exercises like this,” Tyszkiewicz says.
The exercise setting was the Decision Theater, a $6.9 million facility that is part of the Global Institute of Sustainability at the Tempe campus. Policymakers, community planners and business leaders use the Decision Theater’s visualization, simulation and collaborative decision-making tools to aid in solving issues. It is the only nonmilitary facility of its kind in the country.

“We wanted to see how key personnel would absorb large amounts of information, connect the dots and make tough decisions given certain constraints,” says Tim Lant, director of the Decision Theater who created the mathematical model for the exercise. “A situation like a pandemic flu requires several constituencies to collaborate well and communicate fast. There were many lessons learned during the exercise.”

Nearly 30 ASU personnel participated in one of three groups: executive policy group, emergency operations center and incident command.

These same groups would convene during an emergency, and this exercise allowed the groups to practice communications with each other.

The exercise also was an opportunity to learn and make adjustments to the university’s response plan to ensure the best decisions are made during a real situation.

An observation group also joined the exercise to evaluate the three groups in handling the multiple scenarios. The exercise’s scenario instructors were Charles Schable, former director of the Center for Disease Control’s bioterrorism emergency planning group, and Peter Kelly from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

“The participation of faculty, staff and administration, from the president of ASU to those in charge of delivering medical care, enabled us to really test our plan,” Markus says. “It also showed that, with proper preparation and a knowledgeable, collaborative group, a university can successfully respond and react to save lives during a pandemic.”

The ASU pandemic flu planning committee is co-chaired by Markus and Leon Igras, director of Environmental Health & Safety.

For more information on prevention, preparedness and response to pandemic flu, visit the Web site www.asu.edu/emergency.

Roots of nursing education stretches back over 5 decades

jnewberg — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:01:40 -0600

A new era in education began at ASU when the College of Nursing was founded half a century ago. In that time, the college has had five deans, each of whom made unique contributions to what the college is today.

Loretta Bardewyck, who passed away last year, served as the founding dean of the nursing program in 1957, a year before ASU itself became a university. She worked with a budget of about $22,000 that first year. Her salary was $9,000 while a beginning instructor made about $4,000 per year.

Retired faculty member Ellamae Branstetter was there from the beginning and remembers Bardewyck fondly.

“We didn’t have a lot of students, but we had enough to keep us busy,” Branstetter says.

Although the college was small at that time, Branstetter enjoyed the friendly atmosphere. Much of that feeling of cohesiveness was due to Bardewyck’s leadership.

“Students had confidence in Loretta,” Branstetter says. “People liked her.”

Students were eager to learn nursing skills, and they traveled to places such as Good Samaritan Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital for clinical experience.

The nursing program grew through the years, and a master’s degree program that Branstetter developed came to fruition during her tenure. Native Americans also gained access to health care after Branstetter worked to secure a grant in 1977 that established an academic nursing center in Scottsdale – the first of its kind at a university in the country. There now are five nursing centers in the Valley.

Clinical associate professor Barbara Fargotstein started at ASU as a nursing student who graduated in 1969, and she worked with all five deans. As a student, Fargotstein remembers Bardewyck as instrumental in establishing the nursing program as a separate school from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

After Bardewyck, Juanita Murphy joined the college as dean from 1971 to 1983. She focused on scholarship and research.

“She really set the stage for faculty to get their doctorates, conduct more research and gain additional funding,” Fargotstein says.

Janelle Kruger, dean from 1984 to 1992, promoted diversity by bringing minority students into nursing. The American Indian Students United in Nursing program began at ASU in 1990. Today, the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation has 29.6 percent minority enrollment, a testimony of Krueger’s foresight.

Krueger was adept at reaching out to many different community advocates and partners.

“She was very effective at building partnerships,” says Mary Killeen, who started at ASU as a nursing student in 1975 and eventually went on to become a faculty member and associate dean for academic affairs.

Barbara Durand expanded the bachelor’s degree program and was able to bring the doctorate of nursing degree program to fruition during her years as dean from 1992 to 2004. The college also made U.S. News and World Report rankings during Durand’s tenure for the first time, with a ranking of No. 40 out of 365 master’s degree programs in the country. Rankings in later years would improve to the mid-30s.

Durand also worked to take nurses to the next level through a registered nurse to bachelor’s degree in nursing program, and she also strengthened the nurse practitioner programs.

Technological needs also were addressed with the addition of more computers and simulated patients – “manikins” with heart sounds, blood pressure, circulation and many other body vital signs. Simulation gives students the chance to prepare and receive the most benefit from clinical experiences, says Jean Stengel, retired director of student services, who managed the simulation center as one of her many duties.

Student experiences are among the most treasured remembrances of years past at the nursing college. Participating in the learning process and celebrating “Aha!” moments with students when a concept or practice finally makes sense – and watching as critical thinking skills blossom – are just a few memories that Fargotstein finds inspiring.

Now that the college is located at the Downtown Phoenix campus, it continues to grow and change under the leadership of its current dean, Bernadette Melnyk. Enrollment is double what it was five years ago with more than 1,840 students.

Melnyk has expanded nursing educational programs, increased research grants and developed new centers of excellence that focus on research areas such as evidenced-based practice, improving health outcomes for children, teens and families, conducting clinical trials to bring new health care products to market, and increasing geriatric nursing faculty. She also championed changing the name of the college to the College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation to reflect its emphasis on innovation and interdisciplinary health care.

Melnyk joined two of the other nursing deans and community leaders to celebrate the college’s 50th anniversary gala April 25 at the Arizona Biltmore.

ASU cites economics in reducing number of varsity sports

gcampbel — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:07:10 -0600

In response to economic realities experienced over a long period of time, Arizona State University announced May 13 the discontinuation of three varsity sports programs, effective immediately. The sport programs affected are men's swimming, men's tennis and wrestling. ASU President Michael Crow and Vice President for University Athletics Lisa Love made the announcement. With the budget cuts the University is facing, Intercollegiate Athletics cannot expect the University to make up the difference.

This move reduces the total number of varsity teams sponsored by ASU to 20 from 22. Currently, men’s swimming and men’s diving, compete as part of a combined team and this move will not affect the diving portion of the the team.

ASU will continue to fund football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, women's tennis, women's swimming and diving, men's diving, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics and women's water polo.

"Our primary concern for the immediate future is the student-athletes and coaches that are affected," says Love.

The student-athletes in the discontinued sports who decide to transfer to another institution will be provided with full assistance from ASU regarding the transfer process. The student-athletes who chose to remain at ASU will receive the full benefits of their scholarship awards through their senior year.

"With a dedicated effort to a successful 20-sport varsity program in mind," says Love, "these three sports were selected with the following criteria: financial impact, potential competitive success, conference/regional support and gender equity. Our revenue trajectory has been positive, however, our ongoing financial challenges have been well documented by the media. The decision to discontinue sport programs is a last resort, yet necessary."

"These moves are extremely painful," says Love. "We have arrived at the realization that funding a 20 sport program is a better fit for our financial profile and will serve to secure and strengthen our future. It is our responsibility to operate a fiscally prudent varsity athletics program. The costs of doing business are escalating daily and the costs of maintaining excellence even more so."

At 20 varsity sports, ASU is in line with other major institutions around the country. In the Pacific-10 Conference, schools that compare favorably with ASU are UCLA and Washington 23 sports each, USC 21, Arizona 20, Oregon and Oregon State 18 each and Washington State 17. On a national scale, Florida, Georgia and Auburn sponsor 21 varsity sports, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and LSU 20 apiece, and Florida State 19.

"The profile of our operations budget and donation base does not lend itself to the sponsorship of 22 athletic teams," says Love. "While our revenue streams are achieving a positive trajectory they are simply not keeping pace with the current size and scope of the department.

"The decision to discontinue sports has been the most distressing and painful choice this administration has had to make. It is counter-intuitive to our administrative thinking. This decision impacts many people, both on and off our campus. The entire University, the Board of Regents, Sun Devil alumni and other universities will share in the loss of these sports and student-athletes and the contributions they have made to our University and to their sport.

"The action is in no way meant to diminish the dedication, effort or ability of these student-athletes, coaches and alumni. They have contributed greatly to Arizona State University athletics and to the vitality and history of the University," Love says.

As many as 70 student athletes will be affected by the elimination of these sports. Six full-time coaching positions will be eliminated. Head coaches will remain on contract through November, 2008.

The establishment of a 20-team varsity sport program will allow the department to realize a reduction in expenses that will total approximately of $1 million annually.

This is the second time in ASU's athletic history that programs have been eliminated. In 1993 ASU eliminated men's gymnastics, an NCAA-sponsored sport, and two club sports sponsored by ICA -- men's and women's and mixed archery and men's and women's and mixed badminton. Two sports have been added in recent program history, including women's varsity soccer in 1996 and women's water polo in 2002.