Story Ideas for Media - 02/18/02
February 18, 2002
Ohio State's news, experts and events give you more on the news
News
Where were you in ’62? Ohio State celebrates 40th anniversary of historic space flight
On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in the Friendship 7 space capsule. The 40th anniversary of Glenn's flight provides an opportunity to mark the heroism and public service that have characterized Glenn's entire career.
Founded in 1998, shortly before Glenn's historic second space mission, the Institute works to encourage public service among citizens. Contact: Deborah Merritt, John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, (614) 292-4545.
Experts
Olympic judging controversy is nothing new - Rusty Wilson, who earned a doctorate in sports history from Ohio State, is the local expert on the history and heritage of the Olympics, 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
Remember Nipper and the Gramophone? - Feb. 19. Sebastian Knowles, a professor of English at Ohio State, will present “Death by Gramophone” at the College of Humanities fifth Inaugural Lecture of the Year, at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday (2/19) at the Faculty Club. Knowles will discuss how writers of the day saw Thomas Edison's 1877 invention of the gramophone as a direct threat to their writing lives. Contact: Shari Lorbach, College of Humanities, (614) 292-1882.
Conference looks at life under legislative term limits - Feb. 21. Legislative term limits have created many changes in the Ohio General Assembly. These were first noted in 2000, when many state lawmakers were prohibited from seeking reelection by the Ohio Constitution's "term limits" amendment. A one-day conference, “Early Returns on Legislative Term Limits,” will examine life under legislative term limits. The conference will be held from 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Thursday (2/21) at the Ohio statehouse and Vern Riffe Center. Jo Ann Davidson, former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives will be the conference's keynote luncheon speaker. Three panels will examine the composition of term-limited state legislatures, the external relationships of such legislatures with interest groups and executive branch participants in the legislative process, and the internal dynamics of a term-limited legislature. Panelists include former and current legislators, lobbyists, journalists and university professors. The conference is sponsored by the Moritz College of Law, along with its Legislation Clinic and its Center for Law, Policy, and Social Science. Contact: Steven Huefner, professor and director of the Legislation Clinic, (614) 292-1763; or Liz Cutler Gates, Moritz College of Law, (614) 292-0283.
Father of “Green Revolution” offers view of the future - Feb. 21-22. Norman Borlaug, whose agricultural research earned him a Nobel Prize and a reputation as the father of the “Green Revolution,” will present seminars at Ohio State University in Columbus and Wooster this week. Borlaug will present “Prospects for World Agriculture in the 21st Century” at the 4 p.m. on Thursday (2/21) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road, and at 1:30 p.m. on Friday (2/22) at Fischer Auditorium on the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) campus. Borlaug, an Iowa native, developed a high yielding short-strawed, disease-resistant wheat that sparked the “Green Revolution.” The production movement, which swept the globe during the 1960s, helped lift countries such as Pakistan and India out of starvation. The wheat is still being grown in Latin America, the Near and Middle East and Africa. Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in food production and continues today to fight world hunger. Borlaug will be available to media in Columbus. Contact: Suzanne Steel, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, (614) 292-9637.
Space shuttle will carry two Ohio State graduates and flag – Feb. 28. Ohio State University will be well represented when the space shuttle Columbia begins a 12-day voyage later this month. Two Ohio State graduates are among the seven astronauts that will fly into space to install new equipment on the Hubble telescope. And one will be carrying Ohio State’s ROTC Battalion flag into space. Lt. Col. Nancy Currie, an OSU Army ROTC alumna, earned a B.A. in Biological Sciences at Ohio State in 1980. She will be taking along the OSU Army ROTC “colors,” a 3'x 5' Buckeye Battalion flag. Currie, who is making her fourth shuttle flight, has also invited four OSU Army ROTC cadets to the Kennedy Space Center to view the launch. Accompanied by Col. Jack Gumbert, OSU Army ROTC, the four students will also meet astronauts and attend the Currie family launch reception. Richard Linnehan, who earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Ohio State in 1985, is a mission specialist. Linnehan is making his third shuttle flight and operating on an exotic patient – the Hubble telescope. Contact: Col. Jack Gumbert, OSU Army ROTC, (614) 292-6075.
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.
