Story Ideas for Media 05-03-04

Ohio State's news, experts and events give you more on the news

News

Six Ohio State faculty win National Science Foundation CAREER awards -- Six researchers have earned the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which recognizes a young researcher’s dual commitment to scholarship and education. Together, the OSU faculty garnered approximately $2.6 million in CAREER funding, to be awarded over the next five years:
• Chris Brew, assistant professor of linguistics; $500,000 for “Hybrid methods for acquisition and tuning of lexical information.”
• Hesham El-Gamal, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; $400,000 for “Multi-input-multi-output fading in links, cells, and networks.”
• Diane Foster, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science; $400,000 for “Fluid-sediment interactions of complex coastal topography.”
• Srinivasan Parthasarathy, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; $500,000 for “A scalable framework for mining scientific and biomedical data.”
• Han-Wei Shen, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; $400,000 for “Effective visualization of large-scale time-varying data.”
• Fernando Teixeira, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; $400,000 for “Time-domain forward and inverse scattering techniques for ultra-wideband remote sensing.”
For more information, see http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/career04.htm Contact: Pam Frost Gorder, University Relations, (614) 292-9475.

Projects on Ohio State’s campus will have an impact on traffic this week -- Motorists and pedestrians should plan for extra time, or an alternate route around these locations:
• 12th Avenue traffic switch. Traffic will switch sides starting Monday (5/3) from the south side of 12th to the north side, between Neil Avenue and the hospitals’ loading dock. Motorists should use King Avenue as a detour.
• Lincoln and Morrill Towers East Bridge/Walkway Project. Bridges and sidewalks on east side of towers will be replaced beginning Monday (5/3).
• Knowlton and Hitchcock Halls. Pedestrian traffic between the two buildings will be affected as new trees and shrubs are planted. Pedestrians from the NW Garage should use the stairs by Hitchcock to access Fisher College and Woody Hayes Drive. The bus stop on Woody Hayes in front of Knowlton has been moved closer to Hitchcock Hall.
• 9th Avenue restricted. Reduced to one lane each direction; west entrance to 9th Avenue Garage closed; use entrance on north side.
For more information, see http://www.osu.edu/news/construction_update.php Contact: Amy Murray, University Relations, (614) 292-8385.

Experts

Legal expert can discuss increase in secret foreign intelligence warrants -- The federal government announced this week that, in 2003, for the first time in history, the number of secret foreign intelligence warrants was greater than the number of wiretaps used for law enforcement purposes. Professor Peter Swire of the Moritz College of Law can discuss this historic change. Swire served as chief counselor for privacy during the Clinton Administration. During that time, he chaired a White House Working Group on how to update wiretap and electronic surveillance laws for the Internet age. He is now completing a major article on “The System of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Law” that will be published this summer. Contact: Peter Swire, Moritz College of Law, (240) 994-4142.

Research

Strategies could make fore safer shift changes at hospitals -- As hospitals across the United States develop policies to prevent worker fatigue and ensure patient safety, a study at Ohio State has identified key strategies that might make the job easier. The strategies address the most critical time during any workday -- the shift change -- when incoming and outgoing workers have to exchange information and hand-off important duties. Shift changes have became even more important for hospitals since the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education instituted new rules in July 2003 cutting back residents’ workload to 80 hours per week and giving them one day off in seven. Systems engineers at Ohio State are examining the situation, with the idea that a safe and efficient hospital can be run on a shift basis just like other businesses, said Emily Patterson, a visiting researcher at Ohio State’s Institute for Ergonomics. For more information, see http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/safshift.htm Contact: Emily Patterson, Institute for Ergonomics, (614) 688-3938; David Woods, Institute for Ergonomics, (614) 292-1700; or Pam Frost Gorder, University Relations, (614) 292-9475

Service

Ohio State’s Mount Scholars participate in service events for legacy week – May 1–12. -- Students in a scholars program at Ohio State will take part in 12 service events in honor of Mount Legacy Week, from May 1-12. First-year Mount Scholars have worked together in teams to conceptualize, plan and implement service projects. Project teams are designated a social justice issue, and the first-year students brainstorm service project ideas that focus on their social justice issue. Among this year’s events are: a tour for children at the Statehouse on Friday (5/7); a presentation for local elementary students about water preservation; and a “Triple ‘A’” event, which offers events for young people about Academics, Athletics and Arts. For more information, see http://www.mountlegacyweek.org Contact: Shannon Wingard, University Relations, (614) 247-6821.

Events

Ohio State University celebrates May Week with events – May 1–9. -- May Week, an annual tradition at Ohio State that was recently brought back, celebrates the end of the school year, the onset of spring, and the campus community. Events include the campus-wide Operation Feed Food Drive through Friday (5/7); the 43rd annual Leadership Awards at 3 p.m. on Friday (5/7) in the Ohio Union Ballrooms, 1739 N. High St.; and the Laugh Olympics, a tradition of Ohio State’s May Week that is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday (5/9) on the South Oval. For a complete list of events, see http://www.studentaffairs.osu.edu/mayweek/ Contact: Shannon Wingard, University Relations, (614) 247-6821.

Fourth, fifth graders to explore wetlands research park, collect samples - May 4-6. -- This week, fourth and fifth grade students in the ECLIPSE (Extending Classroom Learning/Instruction: Producing Student Excellence) program from four Columbus Public Schools will visit Ohio State’s Olentangy River Wetlands Research Park, 352 W. Dodridge Street, as guests of Ohio State\'s Environmental Molecular Science Institute and the parks’ researchers. Students will visit the park from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday (5/4), Wednesday (5/5) and Thursday (5/6). At the park, students will enjoy an on-site exploration of the wetlands and collect water samples. Contact: Megan Moses, Environmental Molecular Science Institute, (614) 247-6956.

Ohio State hosts National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning – May 4. -- Ohio State’s National Conference on Diversity, Race and Learning will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday (5/4) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. The 10th annual meeting is titled “Communicating Diversity: Implementation, Impact & Outcome” and represents the university’s most comprehensive, single-day conference that focuses on issues of diversity, cultural inclusion and acceptance. The conference is sponsored by the Office of Minority Affairs. For more information, see http://oma.osu.edu/ncdrl/main.htm Contact: Colby Taylor, Office of Minority Affairs, (614) 292-0964.

Penn State researcher to present Ohio State’s Pepinsky Lecture – May 4. -- Dr. Anna M. Barrett, assistant professor of neurology at Penn State University, will deliver a lecture titled “Lost Horizons: Bias in Spatial Cognition” at 8 a.m. Tuesday (5/4) in the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute Auditorium, 473 W. 12th Ave. The lecture is free and open to the public. Barrett, a behavioral neurologist whose research interest revolves around understanding how the brain directs behavior, will deliver the lecture as the recipient of the Harold Brenner Pepinsky Early Career Award in Neurobehavioral Science. Contact: Emily Caldwell, Medical Center Communications, (614) 293-3737.

Royster to discuss essay writing for distinguished lecture – May 5. -- Jacqueline Jones Royster, interim dean of the College of Humanities and professor of English, will discuss “Utopian Desire and Radical Action in African American Women’s Essay Writing” for the University Distinguished Lecture. The event takes place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday (5/5) in the Wexner Center Film/Video Theater, 1871 N. High St. The University Distinguished Lecture Series was inaugurated in 1996 as one of the university’s highest honors for a senior faculty member. Contact: Jeff Grabmeier, University Relations, (614) 292-8457.

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees to meet – May 6, 7. -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees and its committees will meet Thursday (5/6) and Friday (5/7) at the Longaberger Alumni House, 2200 Olentangy River Road. On Thursday, Investments Committee will meet from 3:15 to 4 p.m. in room 310. On Friday, the committee meetings, where most of the discussion takes place, begin at 8:45 a.m. and the main session will begin at 10:50 a.m. For information on the agenda, see http://www.osu.edu/news/lvl2_news_story.php?id=797. Contact: Elizabeth Conlisk, University Relations, (614) 292-3040.

Holbrook is guest reader in honor of National Right to Read Week – May 7. -- President Karen Holbrook is among the guests to read to a second-grade class at Indianola Informal Alternative School, 140 E. 16th Ave. The event is a part of National Right to Read Week. The event takes place from approximately 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Friday (5/7). The book reading will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Contact: Shannon Wingard, University Relations, (614) 247-6821.

Ohio State hosts 8th annual Ohio Weather Symposium on severe weather – May 7. -- Lake-effect snow and prediction of severe weather are topics of the 8th annual Ohio Weather Symposium at Ohio State. The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday (5/7) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. The symposium features speakers from a wide range of meteorological specialties who will discuss severe-weather research, forecasting and presentation. The symposium is free and open to the public. A conference schedule is at http://geog-www.sbs.ohio-state.edu/metclub/ Contact: Kristen Mills, Ohio State Meteorology Club, mills.231@osu.edu

Ohio State University to host 56th annual State Science Day – May 8. -- More than 1,000 students in grades 7-12 from across Ohio will exhibit their science research projects at the 56th annual State Science Day on Saturday (5/8) at the French Field House, 460 Woody Hayes Drive. The students will compete for nearly 100 scholarships and awards valued at more than $730,000. The academic equivalent of a state athletic championship, this year’s event is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. A web site has been established for information and updates at http://statescienceday.osu.edu/ Contact: Lynn Elfner, Ohio Academy of Science, (614) 488-2228.

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; Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276; Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385, and Shannon Wingard, (614) 247-6821.