Story Ideas for Media 5/20/08
News
Joint program responds to shortage of Ohio veterinarians. In response to a national shortage of veterinarians specializing in livestock, poultry and other food animals, Ohio State's Department of Animal Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine are joining to establish the Veterinary Early Commitment Program for Students Interested in Food Supply Medicine. Through the program, animal science majors apply for admission into the College of Veterinary Medicine during their second year of study. In return, the veterinary college will reserve up to 10 seats for the most qualified students among the applicants. These students will enter the College of Veterinary Medicine following completion of their bachelor's degree. SEE: http://ansci.osu.edu/students_undergrad.html
Three at Ohio State will study abroad as Fulbright-Hayes grant recipients. One faculty member and two doctoral candidates from Ohio State have been awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Hayes grant by the U.S. Department of Education.
Morgan Liu, an assistant professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, is the recipient of the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad grant, and students Michael Ewers from the Department of Geography, and Mark Soderstrom from the Department History, are the recipients of the Fulbright-Hayes Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grants.
Liu, a cultural anthropologist, plans to travel to Kyrgyzstan for three months to conduct research on the theme of "Central Asian Islam and Post-Soviet Societal Transformation." Liu will examine the beliefs of Muslims in Central Asia about how Islam solves systemic societal problems. The fieldwork involves Uzbek language interviews with religious and community leaders, and observation of mosque life.
Ewers will conduct research in the United Arab Emirates for 10 months, examining the role of highly-skilled, expatriate labor in the country's efforts to transition beyond oil-based economic development.
Soderstrom will travel to Russia for 12 months to examine the transformation of Siberia from a peripheral colony into an "organic" part of Russia.CONTACT: Maureen E. Miller, (614) 247-2462.
Research
After divorce, stable families help minimize long-term harm to children. For children of divorce, what happens after their parents split up may be just as important to their long-term well-being as the divorce itself.
A new study found that children who lived in unstable family situations after their parents divorced fared much worse as adults on a variety of measures compared to children who had stable post-divorce family situations.
"For many children with divorced parents, particularly young ones, the divorce does not mark the end of family structure changes – it marks the beginning," said Yongmin Sun, co-author of the study and associate professor of sociology at Ohio State's Mansfield campus. "A stable family situation after divorce does not erase the negative effects of a divorce, but children in this situation fare much better than do those who experience chronic instability." CONTACT: Yongmin Sun, (419) 755-4261. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/famstability.htm
Events
Event showcases latest classroom technology, new projects – May 21. Ohio State will unveil the latest emerging technologies of the classroom at the new Learning Collaboration Studio at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in room 60 of the Science & Engineering Library, 175 W. 18th Ave. The Learning Collaboration Studio is a unique space designed with radical flexibility in mind. The goal of the room is to provide a highly interactive learning space with laptops, projection screens and many other features. The studio is part of Ohio State's Digital Union, which offers students the equipment and instruction to complete multi-media projects.
Following the unveiling, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in room 370, is the Digital Union's Fourth Anniversary Showcase, which includes samplings of faculty and student and demonstrations of the latest emerging technologies. The showcase includes tours of TELRport Island in Second Life, multimedia journalism on charitable giving, collaboratively authored student wikis, the biology rock opera by Professor Susan Fisher, an HD documentary about Columbus' topiary garden. It also includes the latest technology to hear, read and display information. CONTACT: Victoria Getis, Digital Union, (614) 247-7280. SEE: http://digitalunion.osu.edu/ and http://digitalunion.osu.edu/lcstudio/
Engineering students hold robot competition – May 22. Although the weather is warming up, St. John Arena will be cooling down to host the Ohio State University College of Engineering robot competition. First-year engineering students will test robots they designed and built in a competition to simulate a mission where robots complete tasks at a research station in Antarctica.
From 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday (5/22), the students will set their robots in motion around a specially-built, 12- by 12 foot course to simulate a research station with instructions to launch a weather balloon and retrieve a sled of equipment left behind by research station workers out on the icescape. The robots, limited in size to nine inches square and constructed of sheet metal, PVC pipe and Erector sets, must also locate and extract an ice core sample. These tasks must be completed within two minutes.
The competition requires each of the 60 teams to design, build and program and autonomous robot using creativity and engineering principles. CONTACT: Amy Adducchio, (614) 292-1450.
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.
