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News
Stress causes heart-damaging fats to stay in blood longer – A new study has found the first evidence that short periods of psychological stress can cause the body to take longer to clear heart-damaging fats from the bloodstream. Researchers at Ohio State University tested how quickly triglycerides – a type of fat linked to heart disease – cleared out of the bloodstream of volunteers during a stress-inducing test compared to a session in which the volunteers rested. The results showed that, in all cases, stress caused triglycerides to stay in the bloodstream longer. The findings suggest one reason why stress has been linked to heart disease, said Catherine Stoney, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University. “If a person has a high-fat snack or meal during a time of stress, that fat is going to be circulating in the blood for a longer period of time,” Stoney said. “That means it may be more likely to be deposited in the arteries where it can contribute to heart disease.” Contact: Catherine Stoney, (614) 2920588; see http://www.osu.edu/units/research/archive/cholblod.htm

Experts
Olympic scholar can discuss history and heritage of the games – Rusty Wilson, who earned a doctorate in sports history from Ohio State, is the local expert on the history of the games and especially the upcoming games in Greece. Wilson is currently writing a book profiling the nearly 150 Olympians who have attended, taught at, or worked for Ohio State. He works at OSU as an exit interview coordinator in the Office of the Treasurer. He travels to Greece annually to lecture at the International Olympic Academy, and worked as an announcer for the Olympics gymnastics competitions. Wilson says ever since the terrorist attacks at the Munich games in 1972, security has been very tight. Contact: Rusty Wilson, Exit Interview Coordinator, Student Loan Services, (614) 292-4803.

Events
OSU Hospitals East to host Internet surgery – Feb. 13. A voice-activated surgical procedure being performed Wednesday (2/13) at The Ohio State University Hospitals East will have an audience 1,000 miles away in Dallas where it will be viewed via the Internet by some of the nation’s top doctors. Reporters are invited into the operating room to observe an anterior cruciate ligament repair by surgeons using voice-activated instrumentation. The procedure also will be viewed in Dallas by participants at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery conference. The surgery will begin at 11:30 a.m. OSU Hospitals East is located at 1492 E. Broad St. To arrange to be inside the operating room during the procedure please call 293-3737. During the surgery, orthopedic surgeon Christopher Kaeding of Ohio State’s Musculoskeletal Institute will demonstrate some of the surgical advancements made possible by voice-activated instrumentation. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery conference attracts the nation’s top orthopedic surgeons who share research and learn new techniques and treatments. Contact: David Crawford, Medical Center Communications, (614) 293-3737.

Heart transplant patients gather for Valentine’s party – Feb. 14. Heart transplant recipients and several people on the waiting list for a heart transplant will be honored guests at a Valentine’s Day party on Thursday (2/14) at The Ohio State University Medical Center. The party will reunite former patients and their families with the medical staff that cared for them during their hospital stay. Reporters are welcome to attend the party and speak with patients, their families and medical staff associated with Ohio State’s heart transplant program. The party will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Rhodes Hall Auditorium lobby, 450 W. 10th Ave. Parking for marked media vehicles is available in the Medical Center’s driveway. Among the former patients attending will be Sabrina Ryder, who in 1990 at the age of 12 was the youngest person to get a transplant at Ohio State, and Adam Burkhart, 18, who received a heart transplant after a highly publicized and lengthy wait. In addition, Jack Herrmann, who received a heart transplant in 1990 after being kept alive by a Jarvik artificial heart for 35 days, will be in attendance with his family. Contact: David Crawford, Medical Center Communications, (614) 293-3737.

Law panel looks at Enron bankruptcy – Feb. 14. Cited as the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, the Enron scandal has prompted discussions on undisclosed business dealings, failed retirement funds, and the policy of deregulation. The scandal will be the focus of a panel discussion among law professors at the Moritz College of Law at noon on Thursday (2/14) in the auditorium of the Drinko Hall, 55 West 12th Avenue. The panel, which is open to the public, will be broadcast on the Internet through a link on the college’s web site at http://www.osu.edu/units/law/. Professor Alan Michaels will moderate the panel and provide insight into relevant white-collar crimes. Among the panelists: Doug Cole, who teaches business law, will review the history of the issue and address the relationship between the Enron debacle and the policy of deregulation. Allan Samansky and Donald Tobin, who teach in the area of income tax and tax policy, will look at the role of Arthur Anderson and the implications for the accounting profession. They will also discuss whether employees’ ability to invest in the stock of their employer should be limited. Morgan Shipman, who teaches business and accounting law, will discuss how the situation could go unnoticed for so long. Contact: Liz Cutler Gates, Moritz College of Law, (614) 292-0283.

The meanings of African-American collectibles – Feb. 14. Kenneth Goings, chair of the Department of African-American and African Studies, will present “Lives of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Mose, or How the Darkies Got to Harvard,” at the College of Humanities fourth Inaugural Lecture of the Year, at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday (2/14) at the Faculty Club. The presentation will examine the origins, production and consumption of black collectibles and the stereotypes they represented, as well as their meaning today. Contact: Shari Lorbach, College of Humanities, (614) 292-1882.

Reunion celebrates lives changed by insulin pumps – Feb. 17. More than 200 people, from teenagers to octogenarians, will attend a reunion of people with diabetes who have been using insulin pumps, some for as many as 30 years. The reunion is one of the largest gatherings of people who have been using the insulin pumps. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday (2/17) at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café, 1421 Olentangy River Road. People with type I diabetes do not make their own insulin and wear the pump to mimic the pancreas. The pump automatically infuses insulin via a small catheter in the skin. Reporters are welcome to attend the reunion of patients from The Ohio State University Medical Center’s outpatient insulin pump program and speak with them on how their lives have been changed by insulin pump therapy. Also, researchers from OSU Medical Center will be available to answer questions about insulin pump technology. Contact: David Crawford,

The person listed as Contact will have the best information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story – Elizabeth Conlisk, (614) 292-3040; Randy Dunham, (614) 292-8295; Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385, and Shannon Wingard, (614) 247-6821.