Story Ideas for Media 4/9/07
News
First Campus Music Hop will celebrate sounds of Ohio State and High Street. The first Campus Music Hop on Thursday through Sunday, (4/12-15), will feature a variety of live musical performances in more than a dozen locations along or near High Street in the University District. At the heart of the music hop will be The Ohio State University’s 30th Annual Jazz Festival. The music will include jazz in the university’s Weigel Auditorium; the blues, hip hop and rock’n’roll at restaurants and nightspots along High Street; opera and dance at South Campus Gateway, and both sacred and secular performances at Summit United Methodist Church. Many of the performances will be free. The goal of the Campus Music Hop is to showcase the many musical venues on and off the university campus, along High Street and in the neighborhoods of the University District. In addition to the music performances, many High Street stores and restaurants will offer sales and food specials. The Wexner Center will have three exhibitions on display. The Ohio Union Activities Board will sponsor an exhibition of student art on April 13 from noon to 5 p.m. on the Wexner Center plaza. An event listing is at www.universitydistrict.org CONTACT: Steve Sterrett, (614) 294-7300 or Sterrett.1@osu.edu about the Campus Music Hop; Victoria Ellwood, (614) 292-6299 or osuarts@osu.edu about the Jazz Festival.
Experts
April 17 is tax deadline: Fisher College of Business expert can discuss tax issues. A Fisher College of Business accounting professor is available to discuss local, state and federal tax issues. William Raabe, senior lecturer, can discuss tax preparation tips. CONTACT: William Raabe, Fisher College of Business, (614) 292-4023; or Patty Allen, Fisher College of Business, (614) 292-8937.
Research
Researchers find best way to detect airborne pathogens. Current methods used to sniff out dangerous airborne pathogens may wrongly suggest that there is no threat to health when, in reality, there may be. But researchers have found a better method for collecting and analyzing these germs that could give a more accurate assessment of their actual threat. For example, the findings may make it easier to detect airborne pathogens in low concentrations.
Timothy Buckley, the study's senior author and an associate professor of public health at Ohio State, says, “Our results suggest that commonly used sampling methods detect only a small fraction of what is actually in the air. And what they detect is often so damaged – due to the collection method – that the pathogens no longer possess the same infectious potential as they did while in the air.”
Such damage can make it nearly impossible for public health workers to determine if a pathogen is viable – that is, whether or not it has the potential to infect. CONTACT: Timothy Buckley, (614) 293-7161; tbuckley@sph.osu.edu SEE: researchnews.osu.edu/archive/airfilt.htm
Events
Policy series explores women and athletics – April 11. Sarah Fields, Assistant Professor in the School of Physical Activity, will present “Gladiators: Gender, Law, and Contact Sport in America,” at noon on Wednesday (4/11) as part of the Food for Thought Policy Forums sponsored by The John Glenn School of Public Affairs. Fields is author of the 2005 book by the same title, which examines how school age girls used the law to gain access to contact sports and the social backlash that makes girls in contact sport still a relative rarity. All forums are held in Page Hall’s Policy Forum, 1810 College Road and are free, but RSVP’s are required to apr11@jgippm.ohio-state.edu CONTACT: Patti Confar, (614) 247-8181.
Ohio State faculty, staff tour state in traveling seminar – April 12-13. One of the wonders of the ancient world and a "dandelion on steroids" that could be an alternative source of rubber are some of the highlights of Ohio State University's 2007 Roads Scholars Tour, April 12-13. Forty faculty and administrators from 14 colleges and offices as well as student leaders will embark on this traveling seminar to visit Mansfield, Wooster, Canton, Massillon, Coshocton and Newark. The annual event takes newly hired and newly tenured faculty into communities throughout Ohio for a firsthand look at Ohio State's involvement in collaborative research, economic development, and education that benefit the citizens of the state. The 2-day bus tour, which is sponsored by the Office of University Outreach and Engagement and supported OSU Extension and the Office of Continuing Education, also offers faculty a chance to get to know their colleagues from across the university. CONTACT: Karen Bruns, (614) 292-9613. SEE: osu.edu/news/newsitem1659.
Talk to Address Public Policy, Global Climate Change – April 12. The societal implications of global climate change will be the topic of a public lecture and question-and-answer session at 7 p.m. on Thursday (4/12) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. The talk follows release of a report last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned of future food and water shortages, as well as increased incidents of flooding and disease, all as a result of global warming.
Andy Keeler, an associate professor at the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, is an expert on the economic and political ramifications of policy shifts that may occur in the near future, as our understanding of global climate change improves. Keeler will speak for approximately 45 minutes; for the second half of the event, he will take questions from the audience. Scientists from the Byrd Polar Research Center will also be on hand to answer the audience's science-related questions. The event is sponsored by the Battelle Endowment for Technology and Human Affairs. CONTACT: Carol Landis at 688-8279 or landis.83@osu.edu.
Noted historian to discuss reform of United Nations – April 12. Paul Kennedy, J. Richardson Dilworth professor of history and director of international security studies at Yale University, will speak on “Reforming the United Nations: Mission Impossible?” at 4 p.m. on Thursday, (4/12) at the Wexner Center Film/Video Theater, 1871 N. High Street. Kennedy is former secretariat to the commission studying the future of the organization, the International Commission on the Long-Term Future of the United Nations. As secretary, he helped draft a report on "The United Nations in its Second Half-Century" for the organization's 50th anniversary. Internationally known for his writings and commentaries on global political, economic and strategic issues, Kennedy is author and editor of 19 books, including The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, and most recently, The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations. CONTACT: Cathy Becker, (614) 292-7529.
Ohio State hosts annual symposium on severe weather – April 13. “The Recent Increase in Atlantic Hurricanes,” “Media’s Role of Reporting Severe Weather,” and “Severe Thunderstorms and Climate Change” are topics of the 11th annual Severe Weather Symposium at Ohio State. The conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday (4/13) at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. The conference, presented by Ohio State’s Meteorology Club, features speakers from a wide range of meteorological specialties who will discuss severe-weather research, forecasting and presentation. The symposium is open to the public. A conference schedule is at geog-www.sbs.ohio-state.edu/metclub/symposium/ CONTACT: Andrew Michael, Ohio State Meteorology Club, michael.121@osu.edu.
College of Veterinary Medicine holds Open House – April 14. Students interested in learning more about careers in veterinary medicine are invited to attend the annual open house at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday (4/14). In the past, hundreds of middle and high school students who are just beginning to plan their college careers have enjoyed tours and the opportunity to speak with first and second-year students as well as representatives from Ohio State’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Students should report to the Veterinary Medicine Academic Building, 1900 Coffey Road. anytime between 9 and 12 for tours of the hospital. More details are available at vet.osu.edu. No RSVP is necessary. That same day, the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is hosting a “Pre-Vet Day.” While no RSVP is necessary, the event does require online registration at cfaes.osu.edu/visit CONTACT: Melissa Weber, (614) 292-3752 or weber.254@osu.edu.
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