Story Ideas for Media 6/21/10

Cross-section of a walleye ear bone, or otolith, showing growth rings. Image courtesy of Ohio State University.

News

Ohio State leads $20 million project to improve children’s reading. Ohio State University will lead a new national initiative to help millions of American children who struggle with learning to read.
The university’s College of Education and Human Ecology will direct the five-year, $20 million project funded by the federal Institute of Education Sciences. The aim is to find the best ways to improve reading skills in children from prekindergarten to grade three.
The project, part of a larger effort called the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative, will involve 14 top researchers at five universities in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The researchers will develop intervention programs within five years that can be immediately implemented in schools around the country, said Laura Justice, leader of the project and professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State.
The award is one of the five largest federal grants ever received by Ohio State. CONTACT: Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457, Grabmeier.1@osu.edu

Research

Ohio State study: Youth clubs strengthen kids’ self image to keep them out of trouble. When children belong to a youth club, they gain a stronger sense of who they are as a person, an Ohio State University study has revealed.
The study suggests that even small improvements in self concept go a long way toward keeping children out of trouble.
“The more kids participate in these clubs, the better self concept they have,” said Dawn Anderson-Butcher, an associate professor of social work at Ohio State. “And then that self concept makes children less vulnerable to engaging in problem behaviors.”
Even children who don’t attend a club every day still benefit, she added.
“We’re finding that daily attendance isn’t as important as whether the kids feel attached to the organization and have a good relationship with a staff member. Those two things predict the best outcomes and the least amount of vulnerability.” CONTACT: Pam Frost Gorder, (614) 292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/yclubs.htm

Events

Ohio State turns to soy-based printer toners – June 22. Printers at Ohio State are going on a soy-based diet, thanks to a new program that replaces petroleum-based toner with one that is soy-based. President E. Gordon Gee will help kick off Ohio State’s new “Soy Toner Alliance,” in which laser printers on campus will begin using a new soy-based toner originally developed in collaboration between the Ohio Soybean Council and Battelle.
The toner will be introduced at the Soy Toner Alliance at 9 a.m. tomorrow (6/22) at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Dr.
The toner, produced by Mitsubishi and available in AgriTone replacement cartridges produced by West Point Products, is 35 percent or more bio-based. The development of the toner was funded by the Ohio Soybean Council. CONTACT: Martha Filipic, (614) 292-9833 or filipic.3@cfaes.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