Story Ideas for Media 1/24/11

Research

Study: Faculty on Facebook will not ask students to be friends. In a recent survey of pharmacy professors, 100 percent of the respondents who had Facebook profiles said they would not send friend requests to their current students.
Just fewer than half of the responding faculty members had a Facebook profile, and of those, most said they also ignored friend requests from students – especially current students.
It was a small study, with 95 faculty members from colleges of pharmacy at four Ohio institutions participating. But it is among the first studies to examine college professors’ use of the social network, especially with respect to how they interact with students online.
Though the study was limited to pharmacy schools, senior author James McAuley, associate professor of pharmacy practice and neurology at Ohio State University, said the findings have potential to be applicable to other disciplines.
“I would imagine that if faculty members in other colleges got requests from students, the same questions might go through their minds,” he said. CONTACT: Emily Caldwell, (614) 292-8310. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/facfacebook.htm

Experts

Ohio Plays Major Role in Human Trafficking. Did you know that Ohio is a destination state for international victims of labor and sex trafficking? Or that Ohio is an origin state for domestic victims of sex and labor trafficking? A report on the prevalence of human trafficking in Ohio to Attorney General Richard Cordray was recently submitted with portions also appearing in the Journal Trends in Organized Crime. Ohio State social work professor Sharvari Karandikar-Chheda is available to discuss the research and report. Pertinent issues include Ohio’s weak response to child sex trafficking, minimal charges and prosecutions for traffickers and purchasers, and the vulnerability of Ohio’s youth. CONTACT: Frankie Jones-Harris, (614) 292-3540, or (614) 330-2206.

Events

Ohio State Social Work Students Volunteer to Count the Homeless – Jan. 25. Ted Williams put homelessness back in the news, but how many homeless people really live in Columbus? On Tuesday, January 25, from 3:30 a.m. – 7 a.m., students and graduates from Ohio State’s College of Social Work will volunteer to walk the streets and visit the shelters of Columbus to count the homeless as part of the annual HUD-required Point in Time Count, held during the last week of January. For more information or to talk with a student about why they’re participating, CONTACT: Frankie Jones-Harris, jones-harris.1@osu.edu, 614) 292-3540, or (614) 330-2206.

Lecturer describes his “Adventures among Ants” – Jan 28. Ohio State’s Museum of Biological Diversity hosts a special Biodiversity Lecture this week. Mark Moffett, (aka Dr. Bugs), the well known nature photographer and author will discuss "Adventures among ants: one man's remote explorations to chart and alien social world" at 7 p.m. on Friday (1/28) in 011 Jennings Hall, at the corner of Neil and 12th Avenues. SEE: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~jfreuden/systematics/museum/webfiles/index.htm

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