Story Ideas for Media 5/7/07

News

$1.5 Million study aims to protect pregnant women from food-borne disease. Pregnant women are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get food-borne diseases such as listeriosis and salmonellosis. And the results could be tragic: Both mother and unborn baby are at risk of serious illness, and the baby could die. Researchers at Ohio State University and Colorado State University will use a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a specialized food safety intervention program targeting pregnant women, refine it and test its effectiveness.
Lydia Medeiros, a nationally recognized food safety expert and researcher at Ohio State University, already has the basics for the educational materials. "But we need to find out if an intensive educational program is something that will help women stay healthy. In the end, we want to see a lower incidence of both diseases among pregnant women as a result of participating in our curriculum." CONTACT: Lydia Medeiros, Human Nutrition, (614) 292-2699, medeiros.1@osu.edu

Experts

Why the high gasoline prices? The price of gasoline is more than $3 per gallon, and refining problems could push it higher, just as the summer driving season begins. Matt Lewis, assistant professor of economics at Ohio State, is available to discuss gasoline price increases. CONTACT: Matt Lewis, (614) 292-0480, mlewis@econ.ohio-state.edu, or http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/mlewis/.

Events

Pulitzer Prize winning alum to give lecture – May 8. Walt Bogdanich, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist with The New York Times, will present "The Future of Investigative Reporting in an Era of Government Subpoenas, the Internet, and Budget Cuts" at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday (5/8) at the Faculty Club, 181 S. Oval Drive. Walt Bogdanich, assistant editor of The New York Times Investigative Desk, received his M.A. from Ohio State's Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Reporting in 1976. In 2005, Bogdanich was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for "Death on the Tracks," a series about the corporate cover-up of fatal accidents at railway crossings. Bogdanich won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for his articles in The Wall Street Journal on substandard medical laboratories.
His appearance is sponsored by The Ohio State University School of Communication. CONTACT: Tanya Reed, (614) 247-8292.

Learning to say "love" in German – May 9. OSU tennis stars Steven Moneke and Chris Klingemann, native speakers of German, will speak to OSU students of German at the Max Kade German House 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday (5/9). Moneke and Klingemann will talk about their lives as OSU tennis players and student-athletes. The Max Kade German House is located at 141 West 11th Avenue. Their appearance is part of the OSU Foreign Language Center program known as GOAL: Go Local, Go Global, which brings prominent local celebrities with international connections to campus to speak informally with students in their native language. The goal of GOAL is to motivate students to expand study of a foreign language and use the skills developed in class. GOAL alums include: Junichi Hirokami, Director and Conductor of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra; Rostislav Klesla, from the Columbus Blue Jackets; as three Columbus Crew players. CONTACT: Karen Sobul, Foreign Language Center, (614) 292-4361, sobul.1@osu.edu

Virtual breakfast brings Columbus Public Schools students to campus – May 9. Students from eight Columbus middle schools who've been part of the "Breakfast of Science Champions" throughout the school year, will now share their experiences via teleconference during a Virtual Conference at 9 a.m. on Wednesday (5/9). The partnership between the Columbus Public Schools Gifted and Talented program and several Ohio State University colleges culminates for the school year as students confer from three different locations: the Smith Seminar Room in the Physics Research Building, the Glenn School in Page Hall, and the Byrd Polar Research Center in Scott Hall. The "Breakfast of Science Champions" is a series of campus visits for gifted and talented middle school students in Columbus Public Schools who have formally expressed their interest in science, math and technology. Students took photographs during their visits and have created PowerPoint presentations to share via the teleconference on Wednesday morning, which is the first time they'll be able to share experiences with each other. CONTACT: Nancy Clendenen, CPS Gifted and Talented coordinator, (614) 365-6961 or nclenden@columbus.k12.oh.us">nclenden@columbus.k12.oh.us; Melissa Weber, College of Veterinary Medicine, (614) 292-3752, weber.254@osu.edu; Carol Landis, BPRC cook.17@osu.edu. SEE: http://www.kirwaninstitute.org/AAmaleproject/aamp_conference.html

Ohio State University to host 59th annual State Science Day – May 12. More than 1,000 students from 62 Ohio counties in grades 7-12 will exhibit their science research projects at the 59th annual State Science Day Saturday (5/12) at French Field House, 460 Woody Hayes Drive, and St. John Arena, 410 Woody Hayes Drive. The students compete for nearly 100 scholarships and awards valued at more than $1.5 million. The event is the academic equivalent of a state athletic championship and one of the largest of its kind in the nation. See http://statescienceday.osu.edu/ CONTACT: Lynn Elfner, Ohio Academy of Science, (614) 488-2228, or Latina A. D. Rockhold, (614) 688-3310 or rockhold.14@osu.edu

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