Story Ideas for Media 4-24-06
News
Fisher students invest millions ? In 1990, Ohio State took a leap of faith. The university gave a group of Fisher College of Business students a $2 million chunk of its endowment to invest, independent of professional financial advice. Turns out, Ohio State had gone with a savvy group of investors. In the past decade and a half, the students\' decisions ? buy, sell, and hold ? have increased the stock by 10 times. The students now manage a $20 million fund, often besting the S&P 500, a benchmark measure of stock market performance. The Student Investment Management class is open to undergrads and grad students. Students must take some business classes before signing up for Student Investment Management, but they don\'t need stock market experience. By the end of the quarter, students have learned how to research stocks and industries, how to write reports analyzing their findings, and how to gracefully present those findings to a group. ?It\'s not an elite course,? said Professor Andrew Karolyi, who directs the program. ?In the Ohio State tradition, we have made it broadly accessible.? SEE: http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/fin/courses/sim/
Research
Federal law should require ID of stores that sold recalled food, study suggests. A newly proposed rule to make meat and poultry recalls more effective is a step in the right direction, says an Ohio State University economist. However, Neal Hooker believes even more could be done to protect consumers from food-borne illness from tainted meat. Hooker, an assistant professor of agricultural, environmental and developmental economics, revealed in a 2004 study that only about one-half of recalled meat and poultry is recovered. To increase those numbers, Hooker suggests in a recently published follow-up paper that the government should publicize the names and locations of grocery stores where the recalled meat has been sold. That?s exactly what the Food Safety and Inspection Service is suggesting with a proposed new rule, announced March 6. Comments about the proposal are being accepted through May 8. CONTACT: Neal Hooker, (614) 292-3549; Hooker.27@osu.edu, SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/foodrecl.htm
Events
Thousands of sixth-grade students to visit Ohio State ? April 26. More than 3,500 sixth-graders from Columbus Public Schools will visit Ohio State University on Wednesday (4/26) as part of a program to show young students the opportunities for and advantages of higher education. The Ohio State University has joined Columbus Public Schools (CPS) for ?CPS Day,? which begins at 10 a.m. in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, 2450 Fred Taylor Drive. Guests will include Archie Griffin, President and CEO of the Ohio State Alumni Association, Dr. Gene Harris, Superintendent of Columbus Public Schools and Thad Matta, Ohio State Men?s Basketball Head Coach. Student athletes and Columbus Public School graduates Ron Lewis (Men?s Basketball), Star Allen (Women?s Basketball), Stefan Thomas (Men?s Track) and Ayrizanna Favours (Women?s Track) will also make guest appearances. As part of the event, students will also attend a college fair in Bill Davis Stadium, and end the day watching the Ohio State vs. Cleveland State baseball game at noon. CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.
American Indian Studies program offers lecture on mounds ? April 26. 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. Helen Hornbeck Tanner, of The Newberry Library, will present ?Ohio Indian Country ? The Intense Struggle of Ohio Indians to Retain Their Treaty-Guaranteed Land with the Sympathetic Support of Many Other Indian People? at 7 p.m. in 210 Main Library, 1858 Neil Ave. The final lecture in this four-part series is May 10. CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385.
Ohio State to mark 28th annual Heritage Festival ? April 30-May 6. The 28th annual African American Heritage Festival kicks off on Friday (4/30) at Ohio State. The theme for this year?s festival, which offers cultural events for the entire university community to celebrate the many aspects of Black culture, is ?Ufanisi: Striving for Higher Heights,? which takes its name from the Swahili term for prosperity. The official kickoff will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday (4/30) on the west lawn of the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St., with food, games, and entertainment with a vendor fair. President Karen Holbrook will deliver the welcome address at the Town Hall meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday (5/1) at Hitchcock Hall, 2070 Neil Ave. Carl Mack, national executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers and CEO of the largest student-managed organization in the world is the keynote speaker. He will be joined in a panel discussion on economic and business prosperity by Gregory Washington, Ohio State associate dean for research in the College of Engineering; Keith Key, managing partner of Omni Management Group; and Leon McDougle, assistant dean of the Office for Diversity and Cultural Affairs at the Ohio State College of Medicine and Public Health. CONTACT: Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276.
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
