Story Ideas for Media 8-7-06
News
Ohio’s top research universities have $6.2 billion annual impact, new study shows. Ohio State, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Cincinnati have released a study of the impact of the state’s three largest research universities.
The study, “The Future Starts Here: The Role of the Research Universities in Ohio’s Economy,” revealed that the universities not only are among the state’s largest employers, but also contribute significantly to the economic health of their region and Ohio and produce much of the highly skilled workforce necessary for the state’s future prosperity. In addition, their outreach activities affect the quality of life in their communities, particularly relating to P-12 education and urban revitalization. CONTACTS: Shelly Hoffman, Ohio State University (614) 247-4748; John Hachtel, Case Western Reserve University, (216) 368-4441; Greg Vehr, University of Cincinnati (513) 556-3028.
OSU Veterinary Hospital to provide care for rescued Greyhounds in need of homes -
The Ohio State Veterinary Teaching Hospital is performing spays and neuters this week for Greyhounds rescued from a Juárez, Mexico racetrack by several Greyhound Adoption organizations.
The dogs were originally shipped from racetracks in the U.S. to Mexico for continued racing purposes. After their arrival, those that were not up to the track’s racing standards have been neglected and living in deplorable conditions. They will arrive to OSU on Tuesday, (8/8) and the surgeries will take place throughout the week. Under faculty supervision, fourth year veterinary students will be performing the spays and neuters for approximately 14 dogs. According to Dr. Guillermo Couto, professor of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, the spay/neuter clinic is a “win-win” situation – more retired dogs from the racetrack obtain quality health care, and the veterinary students benefit from more experience performing the surgeries. In desperate need of homes, all of the dogs will be available for adoption after recovery.
The Veterinary Teaching Hospital is an integral part of the College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University, and is among the largest facilities of its kind in the world, with more than 35,000 large and small animals examined each year. CONTACT: Kristine McComis, Veterinary Hospital, (614) 688-3517, or mccomis.2@osu.edu. For more information about Greyhound adoption, contact Dr. Guillermo Couto or Dr. Cristina Iazbik at (614) 292-3551 or visit the OSU Greyhound Health and Wellness website at http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/1872.htm.
Research
Race affects medication adherence in Type 2 diabetes - African Americans may be less likely than whites to take their medication for Type 2 diabetes as it is prescribed, a new study suggests.
The researchers found that adherence rates were as much as 12 percent lower among black people when compared to whites.
“That’s an unacceptable difference, particularly because African Americans tend to have higher rates of diabetes and disease-related complications,” said Rajesh Balkrishnan, a study co-author and the Merrell Dow professor of pharmacy at Ohio State University.
Each of the nearly 2,700 study participants were covered by Medicaid, which provided prescription medication coverage to all enrollees. Still, more than a third of the African Americans and whites in this study failed to take their anti-diabetic medications properly.
“Adherence rates for these types of medications should be better than 90 percent, regardless of who takes them,” Balkrishnan said. “Such low rates of adherence may be related to lower socioeconomic status and to lower levels of education. CONTACT: Rajesh Balkrishnan, (614) 292-6415; Balkrishnan.1@osu.edu; SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/drugrace.htm
Heat waves kill in areas without businesses to draw out elderly - Severe heat waves kill more people in neighborhoods where there are few inviting businesses to draw older people out of their apartments, new research suggests.
A study of the 1995 heat wave in Chicago found higher-than-average mortality rates in areas where businesses were run-down, and dominated by liquor stores and bars.
While other studies had shown that elderly people in low-income neighborhoods were most at risk of dying in a heat wave, this research shows what it is about some disadvantaged areas that leave residents more vulnerable, said Christopher Browning, lead author of the study and associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University.
“The neighborhoods with the highest mortality rates were less likely to have stores or other businesses where older people felt comfortable going to, even in the worst heat,” Browning said.
“They stayed bunkered in their apartments where they were most at risk for heat-related illnesses that led to death.” CONTACT: Christopher Browning, (614) 292-2983; Browning.90@osu.edu SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/heatwave.htm
Events
Hovercraft construction part of camp for pre-8th grade girls - Aug 7-11. Teams of 8th grade students will design and build hovercrafts as part of Ohio State’s Future Engineers Summer Camp, which takes place this week at the College of Engineering. The hovercraft session is tentatively scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on Friday (8/11) in 148 Agricultural Engineering, 590 Woody Hayes Dr. The camp, which is designed to build excitement about engineering and science for middle-school age girls, emphasizes exploring and experiencing rather than watching instructors perform the activities. Linda Weavers, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, leads the workshops which introduce campers to careers in engineering by participating in fun activities that relate to math and science. In addition to the hovercraft session, campers will build and program a robot at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday in 250 Knowlton, 275 W. Woodruff Ave. CONTACT: Gina Langen, Engineering Communications, (614) 688-4423.
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
