Story Ideas for Media 10-16-07

News

Ohio State retains rank as nation’s largest campus. The Ohio State University is again the nation’s largest university with 52,568 undergraduate, graduate and professional students enrolled on the Columbus campus. This figure is 750 students higher than last autumn quarter, and surpasses main campus student enrollment at other large universities such as the University of Florida at Gainesville (51,876), Arizona State University at Tempe (51,481), University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (50,880) and the University of Texas at Austin (50,201).
University officials credit the increase in enrollment to several sources – record first-year student retention and increases in transfer students. Retention is projected at a record 92.4 percent for students who enrolled a year ago. CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.

Research

Online competition brings down wine prices in local stores. New research suggests a good way to significantly reduce the price many Americans pay for a bottle of wine: knock down the trade barriers between states.
Researchers found that brick-and-mortar wine stores near one Virginia town charged significantly more than online stores in 2002, when interstate shipping of alcohol directly to consumers was illegal in the state. But the price difference shrunk nearly 40 percent by 2004, after interstate shipping was legalized. Alan Wiseman, co-author of the study and assistant professor of political science at Ohio State, says “consumers are better off when local stores have to compete with online sellers.” CONTACT: Alan Wiseman, (614) 292-8196; Wiseman.69@osu.edu SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/winesale.htm

Events

OSU celebrates Homecoming 2007 – through Oct. 20. Ohio State invites alumni to come home for Homecoming 2007, October 14-20. “Let's Go Nuts” is the theme of the weeklong event, which celebrates Buckeye pride, traditions and history. Events include the Second Annual World Series of Rock, Paper, Scissors, at 6 p.m. on Thursday (10/18) on the South Oval. It's an attempt at the Guinness World Record for the world's largest Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. The annual Homecoming Parade begins at 6 p.m. on Friday (10/19) at Ohio Stadium. The public is invited to view the parade along the route that includes 17th Avenue, College Road, 12th Avenue, High Street, and Woodruff/Woody Hayes Drive. Streets will be closed to accommodate the parade. A Homecoming Tailgate and Pep Rally follow the parade at 7 p.m. at St. John Arena. CONTACT: Jen Pelletier, 247-7792. SEE: http://homecoming.osu.edu/.

Traffic Alert: Columbus Marathon is Sunday – Oct 21. The 28th running of the Columbus Marathon is scheduled for Sunday (10/21). Campus streets that will close periodically throughout the race are Neil Avenue, 12th Avenue, College Road, Woody Hayes Drive, Kenny Road, Lane Avenue, and Ackerman Road. High Street will be closed between Deshler and Dodridge. The road closures are expected to last from approximately 8:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. SEE: http://www.columbusmarathon.com/race-information/course-map.php

>The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Liz Cook,(614) 292-7276 or cook.17@osu.edu; Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748 or hoffman.511@osu.edu; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu