Story Ideas for Media 4-10-06

News

Disability Awareness Month features art exhibit, beep ball. The month of April is recognized nationally as Disability Awareness Month. At Ohio State, a host of adaptive technologies are available to students with disabilities, including computers that use Scan-to-Speech, Text-to-Speech, and Web-to-Speech software, as well as products that allow you to dictate directly to the computer with your words appearing right on the screen. Events to mark the month include an art display on the second floor of Bricker Hall, 190 N. Oval Mall. Hosted by the Office of Disability Services, the event features featuring artists with disabilities or art relating to disabilities. A Beep Ball (an adapted version of baseball) game will complete the month at 3 p.m. on April 27 on the South Oval. CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.

Research

When it comes to Easter chicks, stick to peeps. Experts say live chicks could make you sick. Chicks and ducklings can make cuddly presents for kids at Easter. But these fuzzy critters could be hatching Salmonella infection, an illness that is particularly dangerous to young children. Jeff LeJeune, a foodborne pathogen expert based at Ohio State?s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at Wooster, says parents need to be aware of the risks associated with handling young poultry or fowl. To avoid bacterial infection, LeJeune recommends people keep birds away from areas where food is stored, prepared or eaten, and wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. He also recommends keeping children under five years of age from touching the birds because children under five are particularly vulnerable to Salmonella.
Outbreaks of salmonellosis associated with Easter chicks have been reported in the past few years in several states. Last year, a dozen cases of salmonellosis related to Easter chicks occurred in Oregon, Washington State and Idaho. In 1999, there were 40 cases of the disease in Missouri.
CONTACT: Jeff LeJeune, Food Animal Health Research Program, (330) 263-3739 or lejeune.3@osu.edu SEE: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/story.php?id=3586

Events

Student input sought for Neighborhood Policing Center ? April 12. Representatives of the City of Columbus, Ohio State and the architectural firm chosen to design the new Columbus Police substation in the university area will present plans and take questions, suggestions and comments from students in an open meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (4/12) in the Ohio Union main lounge, 1739 N. High Street. The Neighborhood Policing Center will house both the Precinct 4 offices of the Columbus Division of Police and some spaces used by community groups for meetings and events. Construction is being funded jointly by the City of Columbus and Ohio State. Currently, Precinct 4 operates out of a building at Arcadia and Indianola, at the far northern edge of its jurisdiction. The new building, in addition to providing better facilities, will be more centrally located within Precinct 4. Another open meeting, tailored to concerns of permanent residents, will be held later this month. CONTACT: Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110.

American Indian Studies program offers lecture on mounds ? April 12. Ohio State?s American Indian Studies program will present the second in its new lecture series ? Native Ohio: Leaders and Landscape in the Cradle of American Indian Studies. Joe Saunders, Louisiana Archaeological Survey will deliver “Oldest Mounds in America? The Middle Archaic (+5,000 years old) Mound Sites of Northeast Louisiana” from 7 - 9 p.m. in 210 Main Library, 1858 Neil Ave. Future lectures are April 26 and May 10. CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.

Historian to deliver Ohio State?s next Diversity Lecture ? April 13. John Hope Franklin, a nationally recognized historian, will deliver “The Historian: Past and Future” at 4 p.m. on Thursday (4/13) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. Franklin, a professor emeritus of history at Duke University, is the catalyst behind the John Hope Franklin Collection for African and African American Documentation at Duke, which works to acquire, preserve, and promote the use of library materials bearing on the history of Africa and people of African descent. The lecture is part of the President and Provost\'s Diversity Lecture and Cultural Arts Series. CONTACT: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276.

3,764 pinwheels on South Oval help prevent child abuse ? through April 13. As part of a campaign focused on child abuse prevention, Ohio State students have planted 3,764 pinwheels on the South Oval. Each pinwheel represents a case of child abuse or neglect reported in Franklin County in 2004. “Pinwheels for Prevention” is sponsored by Ohio State\'s Honors and Scholars Center and Prevent Child Abuse Ohio and is one of several Honors and Scholars Center activities planned for April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Pinwheels were planted over the weekend and will remain on the South Oval through Thursday (4/13). Throughout the week, students, faculty and staff may sponsor a pinwheel for a $1 donation. Proceeds benefit Prevent Child Abuse Ohio. CONTACT: Amy Deverson, Prevent Child Abuse Ohio, (614) 722-6803

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