Story Ideas for Media 1-23-06

News

OSU, Battelle and Educational Council unveil Metro High School – An unprecedented partnership of Battelle, The Ohio State University and the Educational Council has unveiled a new public high school, set to open this fall, that will emphasize math, science and technology and will open with as many as 100 ninth-graders. Metro will teach students in grades 9 to 12 with a focus on math, science and technology to prepare them for success in college. It will be located at 1929 Kenny Road, in the research park adjacent to Ohio State’s campus. The school is unique in that 11th and 12th graders will participate in hands-on, self-directed learning outside the classroom with teachers and mentors from the community.
The school will phase-in enrollment over the next four years with a maximum capacity of 400 students. The number of students attending Metro from each of Franklin County’s 16 schools districts will be determined on a formula based on district size and student interest. CONTACT: Kathleen Murphy or Stephanie Tresso, (614) 221-2885 x16, or x15 for Metro; Mark Berry, (614) 424-5544, for Battelle; or Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748, for Ohio State.

Research

Pay cuts lead to worker insomnia, but supervisor training helps – When workers take a pay cut, money is not the only thing that is lost – they may also lose sleep, according to new Ohio State University research. A study at four hospitals found that nurses who took an unexpected pay cut reported higher levels of insomnia than their colleagues whose pay did not change.
But insomnia symptoms dropped sharply for nurses whose supervisors were trained to offer emotional support and full information to those suffering the salary cut.
“There’s both bad news and good news in these results,” said Jerald Greenberg, author of the study and professor of management and human resources at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business. The bad news is that sources of stress in the workplace – such as a pay cut – can have a negative physiological effect on workers. Insomnia has been linked to workplace accidents and lowered productivity. But the good news is that management can help minimize these problems both easily and inexpensively. CONTACT: Jerald Greenberg, (614) 292-9829;