Arizona State University finished its largest fund-raising campaign ever, raising more than one-half of a billion dollars. The Campaign for Leadership, initially launched in 1995 and announced in 1997 with a $300 million goal, was so successful through the first few years, the bar was raised to $400 million. Seven years after its launch, the campaign closed its books tallying $560,527,092 -- $160 million plus in excess of the revised goal.

The dollars are impressive, but as the ASU leadership has maintained: "Success will be measured by human impact." ASU Vision has showcased that human impact in the two previous issues using each to address one of the campaign's three goals: Great Teachers and Great Students. This issue concludes the series addressing the campaign's third goal -- Great Communities.

ASU West links with Challenger Center

A new partnership has been launched between ASU West and the Challenger Learning Center of Arizona, in association with the Smithsonian Institution. It brings multiple benefits to the Valley, including a conference that helped K-12 teachers use museums to teach state standards, internships for West students interested in careers in the museum field and expanded Valley connections to the Smithsonian Institution.

"This partnership will enhance the affiliation we have established with the Smithsonian Institution," said Sandi Hicks, Challenger Learning Center executive director.

West students have the opportunity to participate in the Smithsonian Affiliations Intern Partnership Program, where a student spends the summer at the Smithsonian and returns to the Challenger Center to work part-time during the following academic year.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for West students," said Glenn Irvin, former vice provost of academic affairs at West. "We also look forward to sharing faculty expertise to enrich educational experiences at the Challenger Center."

Emily Cutrer, Dean of ASU West's College of Arts & Sciences, serves on the Challenger Center's selection committee for traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibits. West faculty also worked with the Challenger Center staff and Smithsonian scholars at a conference last spring that expanded the ability of K-12 teachers to make use of museums to inspire their students while teaching important concepts.

In addition to the Smithsonian internship, West students are eligible for Challenger Center internships that will give them practical experience in information systems and technology, marketing and public relations, educational programming and exhibit development.

The Challenger Learning Center of Arizona, located in Peoria, is one of 43 such centers in the world.

Gift helps shape community leaders

The Doran Community Scholars Program, a classic example of how scholarships allow young people to thrive, was initiated by Wayne (a 1958 graduate) and Maureen Doran and is funded by a gift from the Doran Foundation and a grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund.

This program is a partnership between ASU and the Phoenix Union High School District, an area with the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged households in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It provides not only critical financial assistance for students to attend ASU, but also the tutoring and mentoring needed to ensure academic success. Additionally, the scholarship incorporates leadership skills and community service into its program.

"The financial need of these students is great," said Wayne Doran, vice president and chairman of Ford Motor Land Development Corporation and a graduate of Phoenix Union High School. "But equally important is how we can help students in other ways so they will become community leaders for the next generation."

Currently the program supports about 15 scholars a year.

The Doran Community Scholar Program is just one example of how young people are transforming their own lives and bringing hope and leadership back to the community.

KAET transforms to digital

When Channel 8 began broadcasting 40 years ago, it had to make do with a hand-me-down transmitter that barely covered Maricopa County. Today, KAET is the only TV station in Arizona multicasting on two digital channels. It reaches more than 75 percent of Arizona households.

With more than 1.8 million viewers each week, including 70,000 children, KAET broadcast more than 8,000 hours of programming last year, and that number has increased three-fold as the station began broadcasting simultaneously in both analog (KAET) and digital (KAET-DT). The digital transmission became fully functional in April 2001.

"Digital television changes the face of television today," said General Manager Charles Allen. "We now have an open architecture, and we are able to offer enhanced features, such as high definition television, multicasting and digitally- enhanced content."

The drive to digital technology was mandated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires television stations make the switch from analog to digital technology by 2003. KAET seized the challenge and saw an opportunity to expand its mission of providing educational and inspiring programming to the people of Arizona, using the best technology available.

The Arizona community responded to the challenge, with more than 18,000 people donating 28,000 gifts to help KAET make the initial conversion. The outpouring of support enabled the station to win a $1 million federal matching grant.

The Campaign for Leadership created the momentum for the fund-raising effort. Sixty percent of the $5 million price tag for Phase I of the digital conversion came from individuals and corporate sponsors, while the remainder was received through state and federal grants.

The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation donated $1 million toward the conversion -- the largest single gift in the station's history. The Marley Foundation has been one of the staunchest supporters of KAET and has funded a variety of local programs.

What does digital television mean to Arizona?

KAET, with the ability to broadcast high definition television, brings viewers programs with enhanced clarity and sound. It can also broadcast simultaneously on its analog station (KAET, Channel 8), and on two digital channels: KAET-DT 8.1, Channel 8 programming, and KAET-DT 8.2, which offers educational programming all day long.

In addition to doubling the station's offerings, digital technology holds many opportunities for education. Enhanced television offers the capability to transmit over-the-air video, audio, text and data directly into computers, fax machines and the television set itself. Programming can be augmented by Internet content in which the viewers can download classroom texts and notes or other supplemental materials.

To programs such as ASSET (Arizona School Services through Educational Technology), the digital technology opens new opportunities for teaching and learning. ASSET, a partnership involving KAET and more than 120 school districts, helps strengthen teaching and learning in grades K-12 through the use of instructional television, distance education and online learning. ASSET is educating 300,000 Arizona students and provides 10,000 teachers with the resources to integrate technology into the classroom.

This public TV station has always been driven by the community. Corporate sponsors, foundations and Channel 8 members provide most of the funding for the station to air and produce shows.

Rodel Scholars tackle high dropout rate

The Rodel Community Scholars Program, an innovative program in the College of Business, is working tenaciously with three Valley high schools to curb Arizona's dropout rates (26.7 percent) and capture the imaginations of talented youth from less advantaged high schools in the Valley.

Phoenix businessman Don Budinger and the Rodel Foundation established the pilot program, which is increasing civic leadership for the future, through a generous gift. The program partners small teams of ASU Business Honors students with talented, at-risk students at Camelback, Tolleson and Chandler high schools. The venture allows university students an opportunity to gain a passion for civic leadership and apply real-world business practices to solving one of the state's most pressing issues.

"The high school dropout rate is one of the most serious issues in Arizona," said Raul Cardenas, the program's director. "It will impact the quality of our workforce and long-term economic development in a multitude of ways. While it is tempting to expect the public sector somehow to solve the problem alone, it is not realistic. Nor will the trend reverse by waiting to solve all the root social and economic problems.

"We may not be able to change the start so many young people are given in life, but we can try to change the expectations they have about their own futures."

The Rodel program gives talented high school students at risk of dropping out a new opportunity to interact with what may be their own personal link to higher education. University students reinforce the idea of staying in school now and encourage them to pursue a college degree.

Cardenas said the ASU Business Honors Program students were naturals to embrace the challenge of designing a pragmatic solution to keep kids in school.

"Our students are well equipped with the critical thinking skills to work on substantive issues," he said. "But here's the twist: Rather than addressing the dropout problem as a social issue, ASU students approach it as a business opportunity. Together with their high school partners, they search out strategies that best deal with the issue at each individual campus."

First, ASU students work closely with high school teachers to identify 10th-grade students with the potential to become business majors after graduation. Then the high school sophomores are given opportunities to contribute to a strategic planning process in ways that challenge them to think seriously about their own future. They also begin working to meet the admission criteria of ASU and the College of Business Direct Admit program.

The Direct Admit program offers high school seniors opportunities to be pre-admitted into the upper division business program as long as they maintain a 3.2 GPA during their lower division years. The hope is each school will produce a unique, coherent business plan that contains the kind of strategies and tactics that can be marketed to a variety of funding partners.

While the Rodel Foundation's gift sustains the overall program, business students gain experience in taking an idea from conception to product.

ASU business students spend up to 20 hours per week establishing their business plans. Andrew Bain, 22 who works with seven students at Camelback, said the group's interaction with the sophomores has already reversed negative attitudes and restored hope.

"Most of the students had the attitude that going to college was something they would never be able to achieve financially," said Bain. "That led to their general lack of motivation for school. We have shown them there are many options open to them to make higher education a reality. Now, getting a college degree is something very real to them."

Another student working with Camelback, Ken Salazar, 21, said establishing a new program is an overwhelming proposition. Because the program is treading new ground, Honors business students have to take the initiative and lay the foundation for future students.

"It's up to us," said Salazar, "No one has the answers to the problems and there is no right way to do things. We have to do the work to discover for ourselves if our business plan will be a success or failure."

But he really will not accept failure.

"There is too much riding on this," he said. "We all feel such a real obligation and responsibility toward our students. That is something I never expected to happen."

Lori Contreras, 20, of Flagstaff, is working at Tolleson, where she and her teammates meet once a week with 16 students. She said the students she works with are goal-oriented and have high expectations for the future, despite their limited economic resources.

"It's difficult to believe there are high school students without e-mail addresses in this high-tech age," she said, "but I know some. We are teaching them how to use the Internet and e-mail because they are such an integral part of conducting business today."

Contreras hopes once the Rodel program is fully matured it will one day be implemented into all Arizona high schools.

"This is a program that has great potential to inspire all ages of students to reach out for their dreams and to pursue higher education to realize those dreams," she said. "I believe mentorships, such as those found in the Rodel program, are essential in safeguarding young people's dreams and ensuring a bright future for us all."

Preschoolers wear "space helmets" at the Challenger Learning Center in Peoria, during a visit for a program called "The Space Place." The group includes, back row, from left: Logan Pinkerton (age 4, Gilbert), Emily Pinkerton (age 5, Gilbert); Cheyanne Northrop (age 3, Chandler), Baylee Reeves (age 4, Chandler), Anastasia Pearce (age 4, Chandler) and Victoria Morin (age 5, Phoenix). Front row, from left: Tharon Hill (age 3, not sure of hometown), Tyler Hurley (age 4, Phoenix) and Joey Morin (age 3, Phoenix).

The 2001-02 Doran Scholars include (names listed alphabetically): Jerry F. Adams, Alma V. Aguirre, Brenda Barrios, Marlene N. Berry, Luisa Beristains, Juan Cardona, Maria Cardona, Frank A. Carrizoza, Sylvia Carrizoza, Mark Chambers, Claudia Chavez, Sarah Cisneroz, Guadalupe Cruz, Lateasa Dent, Maria Fernandez, Gonzalo Gonzales, Mary Lou Gonzales, Angelina Heinrichs, Nancy Hernandez, Jason Hughes, Alisha M. Jimerson, Myrna Marin, Guisela Martinez, Jose Martinez, Nathaniel Mata, Samsun Mily, Miriam Navarro, Edward A. Olaya, Jannet Ortega, Hilda Palache, Sylvia Ramirez, Jorge Ramos, Carlos J. Sandoval, Destiny Smith, Joyce Tang, Andrew Tarango, Randi Williams-Roberts.

KAET-TV/KAET-DT General Manager and ASU alumnus Charles R. Allen at the South Mountain site where KAET-DT's new digital antenna is located along with most of the Valley's radio and TV towers.