Story Ideas for Media 2/17/09
News
Ohio State, Columbus State team to promote STEM careers for students with disabilities. The Ohio State University, in partnership with Columbus State Community College, is leading a five-year program to recruit Ohio students with disabilities to enter the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. Ohio’s STEM Ability Alliance is made possible by a $3 million National Science Foundation grant, with the goals of recruiting, retaining and graduating students with disabilities in STEM degree programs at Ohio State and Columbus State in Columbus and Wright State and Sinclair Community College in Dayton. Dr. Margo Izzo, associate director at Ohio State’s Nisonger Center, will coordinate the program at Ohio State.
The Ability Alliance will officially launch the program on at 5 p.m. on Monday (2/23) at the Blackwell Inn, 2110 Tuttle Park Place. President E. Gordon Gee, Columbus State President Valeriana Moeller and Mark Leddy, NSF program director of the Research in Disabilities Education program, are scheduled to speak at the event.
Americans with disabilities are one-tenth as likely to have STEM careers as their able-bodied peers and 50% less likely to pursue college. The initiative will create networks between universities, public schools, industries and government to increase the number and quality of students with disabilities pursuing STEM degrees and careers. CONTACT: Gina Langen.
Research
Ohio State study: New map suggests little water inside moon. The most detailed map of the Moon ever created has revealed never-before-seen craters at the lunar poles.
The map is also revealing secrets about the Moon’s interior -- and hinting about Mars’s interior as well.
C.K. Shum, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, is part of the international research team that published the map in the February 13 issue of the journal Science.
“The surface can tell us a lot about what’s happening inside the Moon, but until now mapping has been very limited,” Shum said. “For instance, with this new high-resolution map, we can confirm that there is very little water on the Moon today, even deep in the interior. And we can use that information to think about water on other planets, including Mars.” CONTACT: C.K. Shum, (614) 292-7118; kshum@osu.edu . SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/moonmap.htm
Events
Eighth-graders from across Ohio flock to Ohio State on Wednesday – Feb. 18. Nearly 350 top science students in eighth grade from schools across Ohio are visiting Ohio State a “Breakfast of Science Champions” program.
The event brings 8th graders to campus to explore hands-on science/math/engineering activities. The program, which offers hands-on science, math and engineering activities, is becoming more popular each year. It started with a couple of dozen Columbus students visiting a few sites at the Columbus campus. The program on Wednesday also brings students from Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Ravenna schools and for activities at Columbus and the OARDC campus in Wooster. In Columbus, students will visit a geology museum, greenhouse & insectary, Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State Airport, Neuroscience education and other sites. CONTACT: Amy Murray (614) 292-8385.
Experts to share ideas for improving U.S.-Muslim relations – Feb. 20. The recent wave of violence in Gaza has brought U.S. relations with the Muslim world to the forefront of American foreign policy and community dialogue. Two experts will visit Ohio State to share their prescription for how the United States can better engage with Muslim nations and communities.
Thomas Dine and Dalia Mogahed will discuss “Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World,” at 3:30 p.m. on Friday (2/20) at Saxbe Auditorium, Moritz College of Law, 55 W. 12th Ave. Mogahed is executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, a non-partisan research center that provides data-driven analysis on the views of Muslim populations around the world. Dine is senior political advisor of the Israel Policy Forum and director of the Search for Common Ground’s Syria Project, which works to strengthen relations and build consensus between Syria and the United States. CONTACT: Melanie Mann, (614) 688-5944.
Ohio State to host poverty summit – Feb. 20. Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher and the ambassador of Bangladesh, along with international business executives, students, scholars and poverty practitioners, will gather Friday (2/20) at the Fisher College of Business for the Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit. The daylong event, inspired and organized by business students, will bring together poverty experts and individuals interested in the topic. Lt. Gov. Fisher, who is leading the state's efforts to retain, attract, and create jobs and grow Ohio's economy through his position as director of the Ohio Department of Development, will deliver the keynote address. The Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, M. Humayun Kabir, also will give a keynote presentation. CONTACT: Patricia Allen, (614) 292-8937.
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; Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.
