Story Ideas for Media 3-5-07

News

Federal higher education task force includes Ohio State expert. Tally Hart, senior adviser for economic access at Ohio State, has been selected to lead a U.S. Department of Education task force on financial aid. The group is one of five task forces set up by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Last fall, Spellings announced she would hold a summit with higher education leaders to discuss ways to carry out the recommendations of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education. Hart will attend the summit, which will be held March 22 in Washington.

Research

Unique tomato tops in disease-fighting antioxidants. Deep red tomatoes get their rich color from lycopene, a disease-fighting antioxidant. A new study, however, suggests that a special variety of orange-colored tomatoes provide a different form of lycopene, one that our bodies may more readily use. Researchers found that eating spaghetti covered in sauce made from these orange tomatoes, called Tangerine tomatoes, caused a noticeable boost in this form of lycopene in participants' blood.
“While red tomatoes contain far more lycopene than orange tomatoes, most of it is in a form that the body doesn't absorb well,” said Steven Schwartz, the study’s lead author and a professor of food science and technology at Ohio State University. CONTACT: Steven Schwartz, (614) 292-2934; Schwartz.177@osu.edu. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/goodtom.htm

Events

College students work hard on spring break. Ohio State students are using their spring breaks (3/15-25) to help others and to learn about different cultures. Africa is the destination for three groups who will learn about Senegal, Ethiopia and Egypt. A group of engineering students will travel to rural Honduras to use their engineering skills to make improvements to a home for children with HIV/AIDS. Another group will travel to Costa Rica to study agriculture. In addition, hundreds of Ohio State students will participate in official “Alternative Spring Break” activities in service projects that include helping to replant the Everglades, working with teenage girls in Atlanta, preparing and serving meals to people with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other illnesses in Washington D.C., rebuilding a camp for children with HIV/AIDS in Minnesota, building wheelchair ramps for people with Cerebral Palsy in Nashville, and improving the grounds at a sanctuary for abused elephants in Tennessee. Students participating in these programs are from many Ohio cities. To arrange interviews with students from your area, CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.

National Cancer Institute director to visit OSU James – March 7. Dr. John E. Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a 1964 Ohio State University College of Medicine graduate, will be the keynote speaker for a medical alumni lecture at 4 p.m. on March 7. Niederhuber returns to Ohio State to discuss the evolution of cancer treatment – past, present and future. The lecture, which is open to the public, will be held on the fifth floor of the Prior Health Sciences Library on the medical center campus. Niederhuber became director of the NCI in September. He served as the director of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1997 until 2002. Niederhuber will be available for interviews one hour before his speech. To reserve an interview time with him, call (614) 293-3737. CONTACT: Eileen Scahill, Medical Center Communications, (614) 293-3737, or Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu

Extension Center offers two lectures – March 8 and 10. The Ohio State University Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center offers two public lectures this week. On Thursday (3/8) at 6 p.m., Rudolph Alexander, Jr., professor of social work at Ohio State, will present “Modern Racism Against African Americans.” Alexander will discuss current myths regarding crime, welfare, quotas, affirmative action, and employment discrimination. Additional topics will include the racism involved in the Jessica Lynch story and the movie “Boys Don't Cry.”
On Saturday (3/10) at 5 p.m., Los Angeles-based journalist Randall Sullivan will discuss the unsolved murders of two well-known rap stars ten years ago. Sullivan is author of “LAbyrinth: An Investigation into the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records’ Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal.” Both lectures are free and open to the public at 905 Mt. Vernon Ave. CONTACT: (614)-292-3922 or http://aaascec.osu.edu/

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