public <T extends BusinessObject> T searchForBO(String boType, SearchCriteria... criteria) throws DataException {
      // this is not the most efficient way to do this, but it is simple and works for our purposes here.
      List<T> li = searchForList(boType, criteria);
      if (li.size() > 0) {
          return (T)li.get(0);
      }else{
          return null;
      }//if
  }