Story Ideas for Media 9/22/08

News

Scarlet, Gray & Green Program Tops 100-ton Mark in Ohio Stadium. Nearly 16 tons of recyclable materials were collected in and around Ohio Stadium during the Sept. 6 football home game vs. Ohio. The campus sustainability campaign has totaled almost 150 tons in the span of just 10 home games the last two seasons.
On Sept. 6, the program gathered 13.6 tons of recyclable material inside Ohio Stadium, pushing the total past the 100-ton mark inside the Horseshoe. The same day, almost 2.75 tons of recyclables were collected outside the stadium. The total for the Youngstown State game (Aug. 30) reached more than 13 tons, giving the program a collective amount of almost 30 tons through the pair of games this season.
The program exceeded expectations in its inaugural year in 2007 by amassing 119 tons, including 81 tons inside Ohio Stadium. CONTACT: Pat Kindig (614) 216-0540.

Experts

Politics and elections – Ohio State election experts are online. Ohio State University offers journalists the expertise of faculty and staff from one of the nation's leading public research universities. Experts are available to comment on topics including Ohio and national politics, presidential politics, Barack Obama, the youth vote, campaign and election law, communication and voter perception and others. A complete directory is online.

Events

Welcome Week offers events for new and returning Ohio State students – through Sept. 26. Ohio State welcomes its best freshman class for the 14th consecutive year, as well as returning students with a week's worth of activities through Sept. 26. See them all at http://welcomeweek.osu.edu/ and http://www.fye.osu.edu/. In addition to dozens of cookouts, volleyball games, ice cream socials, Welcome Week 2008 includes:

Monday (9/22):

•Drums and Dough, 8 – 11 p.m. at the Lincoln Tower Park Turf Fields. Drums and Dough is an intercultural journey through music and breads. It features breads from different cultures (for example, Spring Rolls, Fried Bread and Churros) and drumming performances across cultures (for example, Samba (Brazilian), Taiko (Japanese), Native American, Tabla (Indian) and Ewe (West African), Rock-n-Roll (American). The event culminates with a Community Drumming Circle for the crowd to join. SEE: http://mcc.osu.edu/events/2008/9/22/mcc-presents-drums-and-dough/

Tuesday (9/23):

•Community Commitment, 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Some 1,500 new and returning Ohio State University students will be fanning out to dozens of sites across Columbus to perform community service projects as part of the university's Community Commitment event. It is one of the largest single-day community service projects on a college campus in the nation. This year, students are being tapped to be "access ambassadors" as they carry out their service projects. They will be ready to talk to younger students they encounter at their service sites about what it's like to go to college. SEE: http://ohiounion.osu.edu/studentorgs/events_community.asp

•Buckeye Kick-off – 4:30 – 5:30 p.m., Ohio Stadium South Stands – students are invited to join the first meeting of Block O and practice the first card stunt of the season. SEE: http://blocko.org/

•Picnic with the Buckeyes – Students are invited to join a picnic and listen to the Columbus Jazz Orchestra beginning at 6 p.m. on the South Oval. http://www.fye.osu.edu/picnic.html

Wednesday (9/24)
•Autumn quarter classes begin – An army of "Campus Locators" will be at strategic places around campus in brightly colored tents on the first two days of classes to helps students navigate the campus in a timely fashion. There will be four central booths located at Neil Avenue & 17th, Mirror Lake Hollow, Woodruff Avenue, and College Road.

Friday (9/26)
•Giant yard sale to help students furnish their campus homes - 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Jesse Owens South Rec center. Dump & Run is a giant yard sale sponsored by Students for Recycling, which aims to divert waste from going to the landfill through reuse. Items collected during move out last spring quarter will be sold back to the university community. Items for sale include furniture, clothes, books, electronics, housewares, and more. http://www.dumpandrunosu.com

Journalist Thomas L. Friedman to lecture, receive prize – Sept. 24. Thomas L. Friedman, three-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author will deliver a lecture at 4 p.m. on Wednesday (9/24) at Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N High St. Unfortunately, no tickets remain for the lecture. Friedman will receive the 2008 Fisher Prize, which commemorates the 100th birthday of Max M. Fisher, namesake for Ohio State's Fisher College of Business. Friedman is author of the international bestseller, "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century," and most recently, "Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America." Previous recipients of the Fisher Prize include former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George H. Bush and former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev. SEE: http://fisher.osu.edu/about/fisher-prize/

Swampfest celebrates wetland award – Sept. 25. Ohio State President Gordon Gee will help commemorate the recent international recognition of the university's Olentangy River Wetland Research Park at SwampFest, from 5 to 10 p.m. The tiny wetland at the northern edge of campus has been declared a "Wetland of International Importance." It is only the 24th such wetland in the world to receive the designation – it is the only one in Ohio, and one of just a handful in the Midwest.
President Gee will visit the event from 5:30 to 6 p.m. to receive the international designation. In addition to music throughout the evening, events include "Picnic at the Swamp," 5 to 7 p.m., an outdoor lecture from 7 to 8 p.m., on "Wetlands of the World" by Royal C. Gardner, professor of law at Stetson University in Florida. The park is located at 352 W. Dodridge Street. SEE: http://swamp.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, Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748, Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110, or