ASU wins 2012 Climate Leadership Award

May 3, 2012

Arizona State University is one of two doctoral-granting academic institutions to receive a Climate Leadership Award from Second Nature and the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Nearly 700 colleges and universities agreed to promote sustainability through teaching and action, thus forming the ACUPCC. Second Nature is the lead supporting organization of the ACUPCC.

This is the third year that Climate Leadership Awards were handed out, and ASU is one of 10 institutions to receive a 2012 award. Winners will be recognized during an award ceremony at the ACUPCC Climate Leadership Summit in Washington, DC June 21-22. Download Full Image

Climate Leadership Awards are bestowed to ACUPCC signatory schools that demonstrate unparalleled campus innovation and climate leadership that helps transition society to a clean, just and sustainable future. Second Nature’s board selected ASU from 20 competition finalists.

“These institutions have all shown tremendous creativity and an unrelenting commitment to integrate sustainable practices into their campuses and society as a whole,” said Dr. Anthony D. Cortese, president of Second Nature.

ASU was recognized last month in the ACUPCC’s Celebrating Sustainability Series in large part for solar-generation capacity. With more than 55 solar photovoltaic installations generating 15.3 megawatts across four campuses, approximately 30 percent of the university's current peak daytime power needs are being met.

"As the number of our solar installations flourish, we continue to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to promoting sustainability in our university operations,” said Ray Jensen, associate vice president of university business services and university sustainability operations officer at ASU. "Being named a climate leader by the ACUPCC is a great achievement and reflects our commitment to implement clean-energy across our four campuses.”

Grounding ASU’s sustainability operations are four fundamental pillars: carbon neutrality, zero waste, active engagement and principled practice. Actions ASU is taking to support its sustainability objectives include:

• The elimination of 90% of campus solid waste from the landfill by 2015. ASU has an ongoing relationship with Waste Management, Inc. and is co-creating a Roadmap to Zero Solid Waste.

• Alternative transportation choices include free intercampus shuttles, car-sharing options available by Zipcar®, and discounted-rate public transit passes on Phoenix on Valley Metro buses and the METRO light rail.

• Green-building practices are in effect across all four ASU campuses. The university is home to Arizona’s first LEED Platinum-certified building, and has 36 LEED Silver or better certified buildings.

Learn more about what ASU is doing to be sustainable at: http://sustainability.asu.edu/practice/what-asu-is-doing/index.php

More information about the 2012 Climate Leadership Award winners can be found at: www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org.

Media contacts:

Wendy Craft, wendy.craft@asu.edu
Arizona State University
480-965-6695

Andrew Graham, agraham@thesalakgroup.com
The Salak Group
646-385-0189

Former ASU journalism professor Ben Silver dies

Ben Silver (left) and Marianne Barrett in 2007

Ben Silver, an award-winning correspondent for CBS News who later taught broadcast journalism at Arizona State University for nearly 20 years, died May 2.

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Former ASU journalism professor Ben Silver dies

May 3, 2012

Ben Silver, an award-winning correspondent for CBS News who later taught broadcast journalism at Arizona State University for nearly 20 years, died May 2 from complications of Parkinson’s disease at his home in St. Louis Park, Minn. He was 85.

Silver began teaching in what was then ASU’s Department of Mass Communication and later became the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He retired in 1990 after 18 years of teaching. After his retirement, Silver and his wife, Linda, funded a scholarship for Cronkite students. Ben Silver (left) and Marianne Barrett in 2007 Download Full Image

“Ben was an amazingly popular professor,” said Christopher Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “Some of our best and brightest alumni today are remembering a person they called their favorite professor and most influential mentor. He had an inspirational impact on many young journalists through his teaching and continued that positive effect on today’s students through his scholarship.”

Journalism professor John Craft, who taught alongside Silver, called him a “great guy and a huge part of the early days of the Department of Mass Communication, teaching everything there was to teach about broadcast reporting.”

Bill Miller, former chairman of the Cronkite School Endowment Board of Trustees and founder of MagicDust TV, added, “Hundreds of former students have lost a teacher who truly shaped their lives. The world has lost a very good man.”

Prior to coming to ASU, Silver was a national correspondent for CBS News, covering some of the major stories of the 1960s, including race riots, school integration and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s accident at Chappaquiddick.

As a CBS News reporter, Silver worked with distinguished journalists such as Dan Rather, Mike Wallace and, of course, Cronkite, who was anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News. He brought those relationships with him to the Cronkite School.

“Ben could get on the phone and ask people from CBS News to come out and visit with us,” Craft said. “That brought a tremendous amount of credibility.”

Before joining CBS, Silver worked at WCKT-TV in Miami from 1957 to 1966, reporting from the Soviet Union and throughout Latin America. He won a Peabody Award in 1960 for his coverage of Latin America. He also covered Fidel Castro’s takeover of Cuba, the Cuban missile crisis and the early days of the space program.

A New York native, Silver dropped out of high school at age 17 to join the Army in honor of his oldest brother, Morris, who died in the Battle of Normandy. Upon his return, he earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and later a master’s in journalism from the University of Iowa. He began his broadcasting career in Sioux City, Iowa, at KTIV-TV.

He is survived by his wife, six children and 11 grandchildren. Services will be held May 6 at Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapel in Minneapolis.