Story Ideas for Media 5/23/11

News

Ohio State students provide tutoring to rural high school students via high tech. Twenty Ohio State undergrads majoring in science or engineering are providing one-on-one personal tutoring in science and math to high school students in rural communities via live video conferencing. Students are on duty weekdays in Smith Lab on the Ohio State campus--tutoring high-school students in Mt. Vernon High School (Knox County) and John Glenn High School (Muskingum County).
The tutors are academically-talented Ohio State students who are Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program recipients. They are trained as tutors and receive national tutor certification.
The program, “Effective Collaboration to Enrich STEM Programming in Rural Ohio,” is funded by the Ohio Dept. of Education and the Ohio Board of Regents. Ohio State chemistry professor Susan Olesik heads the effort.
The program benefits both the high school students and the Ohio State students. It also allows Ohio State to reach out to rural students who otherwise might not know much about going to college nor have considered science, engineering or math as a possible career. CONTACT: Amy Murray, (614) 2929-8385, murray-goedde.1@osu.edu.

Research

Not all viewers of Arab TV networks develop anti-American feelings. Despite the fears of some Americans, Arab television networks such as Al Jazeera do not promote anti-American feelings among all their viewers, according to a new study.
Research based on surveys of nearly 20,000 residents of six Arab countries suggests that while watching networks like Al Jazeera fuels anti-American feelings in some viewers, it actually reduces such sentiment in others.
The results suggest that it is too simplistic to blame the Arab media for stoking resentment and hatred of America, said Erik Nisbet, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University.
“Arab TV viewers aren’t getting a single, unified anti-American message from networks like Al Jazeera,” Nisbet said. CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/arabmedia.htm

Events

Ohio State honors university veterans – May 23. There are more than 2,200 veterans at The Ohio State University. Ohio Staters, Inc., a university service organization, will honor them from sunrise to sunset with a flag display at the Browning Amphitheater. Each flag will represent one of the 2,225 known faculty, staff and student veterans currently serving the university community. SEE: www.staters.osu.edu.

Engineering students demonstrate technology, inventions – May 26. From autonomous robots to a fuel-stingy vehicle, engineering students will showcase their designs and inventions at two events at Ohio State on Thursday (5/26). The events highlight the year’s accomplishments of first-year engineering students and also seniors preparing for commencement.
Nearly 50 projects ranging from a quarter-scale aerodynamic vehicle design to a children’s novelty toy, takes place from noon to 3 p.m. in the Archie M. Griffin East Ballroom at the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St. University President E. Gordon Gee will give remarks at 2 p.m. The event is part of the Senior Engineering Capstone Design Showcase.
Immediately after, the annual First-Year Engineering Honors Robot Competition takes place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at St. John Arena, 410 Woody Hayes Dr. In that event, student teams compete to prove the performance of their autonomous robots in completing simulated farm-related tasks. SEE: http://engineering.osu.edu/news/?p=1877. CONTACT: Joan Slattery Wall, wall.107@osu.edu or (614) 292-4064.

College of Social Work students invite lawmakers to talk about Health & Human Services issues – May 24. Formed by a group of social work students, The Student Café: Conversations for Change, is bringing together Ohio State students and lawmakers to generate meaningful conversations about health and human services. The student-run event was developed to generate creative ideas for how to better serve the most vulnerable populations in Ohio and encourage students to become actively involved in the legislative process. It takes place from 9 – 11 a.m. on Tuesday (5/24) at the Vern Riffe Center, North Conference Room, 77 S. High St. Highlights include small group discussions, idea sharing, and roundtables that represent departments in the Governor’s cabinet such as the departments of Job and Family Services, Aging, and Mental Health. Discussion topics will cover specific budget-related issues within each department. CONTACT: Frankie Jones-Harris, jones-harris.1@osu.edu, (614) 292-3540, or (614) 330-2206.

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