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Frannie Schneider Rick Ramos Mischelle Diaz Joanie Cahill Kelly King-Green Betsabe Rodriguez ’11 Hannah Hepfer
Ellie Francis Douglass ’12 Eileen Flynn Stacia Hernstrom MLA ’05 Joel Hoekstra Erin Peterson Shelley Seale MLA ’08 Gregory J. Scott Lisa Thiegs George E. Martin, PhD Paige Booth
OFFICERS: J. William Sharman Jr. hs ’58
VICE CHAIR
Carolyn Lewis Gallagher
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Kevin Koch ’80, MBA ’84
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Reverend Thomas O’Hara, CSC
MEMBERS: Graham “Hughes” Abell John H. Bauer ’62 Brother James Branigan, CSC Thomas L. Carter Margaret E. Crahan Brother Richard Daly, CSC, ’61 Timothy F. Gavin ’76 Ellie Ghaznavi ’89 Brother Richard B. Gilman, CSC, ’65 Monsignor Elmer Holtman Regina Lewis Edward E. Leyden ’64 Joseph A. Lucci III Sister Amata Miller, IHM
EX OFFICIO: George E. Martin Richard Kopec
John Mooney Patricia Berrier Munday Marilyn L. O’Neill ’74 Theodore R. Popp ’60 Martin Rose Steve Shadowen ’80 Jim A. Smith Ian J. Turpin Duncan Knapp Underwood ’95 F. Gary Valdez Donna Van Fleet Melba Whatley Peter Winstead Brother William Zaydak, CSC
Kay Arnold ’04, MLA ’06 Brady Faglie ’13
TRUSTEES EMERITI: Charles A. Betts Edward M. Block ’50 Guy Bodine hs ’68 Leslie Clement Isabella Cunningham
Let’s face it: When most of us encounter wasps, we either run the other way or send them to their untimely death. These creatures undoubtedly get a bad rap, but Allan Hook, professor of Biology, says they are worth watching. Here’s why.
Jessica Attie ’04
BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR
wasps
Fred D. George ’69 Gregory A. Kozmetsky ’70 Bishop Emeritus John McCarthy William Jennings Renfro
St. Edward’s University Magazine is published three times a year by the Marketing Office for alumni and friends. © 2012, St. Edward’s University. Opinions expressed in St. Edward’s University Magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the university.
Solitary wasps are different than social wasps. Solitary wasps (think mud daubers and cicada killers) are harmless. Social wasps, like paper wasps and yellow jackets, are the ones that can be problematic with their stingers. Texas has about a dozen species of paper wasps (Polistes); the Austin area has only two species of yellow jackets (Vespula). Wasps are related to bees and ants. They all come from the insect order Hymenoptera. Ants are wingless wasps, and bees are just hairy vegetarian wasps. In other words, they are all wasps — just modified, specialized and diversified over time. Wasps are skilled architects. There is great diversity in the nests solitary wasps construct. Some are in the ground, with only a small hole with a mound of soil at the nest’s entrance. Some make aerial nests of mud or plant resin. Some nest in holes in wood. Social wasps, on the other hand, build paper nests. Wasps are good for the environment. Wasps and bees are indicators of a healthy, stable and complex terrestrial community. Wasps can help control some insect pests, and they assist in the pollination of native plants. Wasps play a role in the study of evolution. Wasps have figured prominently in studies attempting to understand the evolution of sociality —specifically how sterile castes (the group of worker bees or wasps that give up their own reproduction to support the queen) have evolved. Hook began studying wasps and their complex behaviors in 1976 when he started his master’s degree in Entomology at the University of Georgia. Since that time, he’s had three species of insects named after him — two solitary wasps (Solerella hooki and Pseudopolis hooki) and one fly (Nemomydas hooki).
MOVIN’ on up If you’ve always wanted to say that you graduated from a top-20 university, this is your year. St. Edward’s University moved up from number 21 to number 17 in U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” annual ranking among Best Regional Universities in the West.
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