Story Ideas for Media 9/10/12

News

Badly burned horse making progress at Ohio State’s Veterinary Medical Center, faces long road to recovery. A six year-old American Paint horse named Northstar was deliberately set on fire the weekend of Aug. 25 in Crawford County, Pa., sustaining burns to approximately 40 percent of his body. Due to the severity of Northstar’s injuries, he was transported to The Ohio State University’s Galbreath Equine Center on Sept.5 to be treated by specialists and will need intensive wound management.

“A burn victim with injuries this severe will need a minimum of four weeks of critical care healing before infection is under control and graft surgery can be considered, but I am impressed with how he is progressing,“ said Dr. Samuel Hurcombe, assistant professor of equine emergency and critical care at the Galbreath Equine Center. “Northstar is bright, alert and interactive with people and his pain is manageable, but he has a long way to go to recovery.”

It is thought that Northstar, who is described as friendly and personable, was attacked when his attention was diverted. Police are actively seeking leads in this case, but have not identified any suspects. Northstar’s owners have had him since he was a newborn foal and describe themselves as appalled and deeply saddened by this criminal act.

Northstar’s medical bills for the first month of his care are expected to top $10,000 and future expenses are unknown. Friends of the family have set up a website, Caldwell.151@osu.edu. SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/visceralfat.htm

Events

Ohio State EcoCAR team begins second year of competition, receives car to rebuild – Sept. 12. The Ohio State University EcoCAR 2 team will hold a ceremony on Wednesday marking the second year of the EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future, a student engineering competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors. The competition challenges 15 universities across North America to redesign a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu to be more efficient and use less gas while maintaining performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

The ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 12, in the Student Motorsports garage at the Center for Automotive Research, located at 930 Kinnear Road. Parking is available in lots in the back and to the east of the center.

Following remarks by representatives of several university departments, team leaders will begin the disassembly of the vehicle. The team will begin rebuilding the car this fall and will have a working vehicle by May of 2013.

The team begins the disassembly and building process of their 2013 Chevrolet Malibu after finishing in 2nd place in the first year of the competition, which was held this past May in Los Angeles, California. CONTACT: Sarah Jadwin, (614) 205-2882, Jadwin.8@osu.edu.

Media Registration Open for EcoSummit 2012 – through Sept. 24. Ohio State hosts international environmental conference – Sept. 30-Oct. 5. More than 1,500 delegates from 75 countries will visit Columbus and Ohio State for EcoSummit 2012 Sept. 30-Oct. 5. The weeklong EcoSummit brings together the world's most respected minds in ecological science to discuss restoring the planet's ecosystems. It is the first time the EcoSummit has been held in North America. In addition to the academic conference, delegates will participate in mid-conference field trips to central-Ohio ecological sites.

To obtain credentials, please email your first and last name, news organization, country, email address and if you will attend EcoSummit in part or in whole to ecosummit2012@osu.edu. In addition to this basic information, please provide a copy of your media credentials. CONTACT: Amanda Wurst (614) 224- 8114, SEE: ecosummit.org.

Ohio State Writers “Coming Home” for Festival – Sept. 14-16. The Department of English is “bringing home” seven Ohio State writers with new books for the Creative Writing Book Fair and Festival, September 14 -16. Christopher Coake (You Came Back); Michael Kardos (The Three-Day Affair); Joe Oestreich (Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll); Catherine Pierce (The Girls of Peculiar); Letitia Trent (One Perfect Bird); Claire Vaye Watkins (Battleborn); and Betsy Wheeler (Loud Dreaming in a Quiet Room) will read from their works.

Watkins’ exceptional debut collection of short stories set in small-town Nevada, Battleborn, is garnering accolades from across the globe, including this New York Times tribute: If debut collections are meant to announce the arrival of talented new writers, “Battleborn” is a full-throated bugle call. Watkins wrote the book while attending Ohio State as a presidential fellow. All events are free. For a complete schedule of readings and book signings, https://artsandsciences.osu.edu/news/creative-writing-bookfair-and-festival-september. CONTACT: Kelli Fickle at fickle.7@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; Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu; or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu