Ohio State's news, experts and events give you more on the news

News

Trustees honor Holbrook as university president during ceremony – May 29. -- Ohio State’s Board of Trustees will formally install Karen A. Holbrook as the 13th president of the university during an investiture ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Thursday (5/29) in Mershon Auditorium. The investiture is an opportunity for various constituencies to formally welcome Holbrook to Ohio State and provides an opportunity for Holbrook to share her priorities with the entire university community. The platform party will include members of the university’s Board of Trustees; President’s Cabinet; deans; student, alumni, faculty and staff representatives; and some local and state government leaders. Following remarks by members of the Board of Trustees and the reading of a poem by Ohio State Poet Laureate David Citino, Holbrook will be sworn in as president and presented with the medallion of office. She then will deliver her address, and there will be other greetings and comments before the event concludes with the singing of Carmen Ohio. For more information, see http://www.osu.edu/investiture/ Contact: Elizabeth Conlisk, University Relations, (614) 292-3040.

National homeland security consortium website established by Ohio State -- The Ohio State University is leading a consortium of more than 50 major universities and a host of smaller institutions to create a clearinghouse to collect, store and disseminate information that will help reporters and government officials find experts and research on threats to the nation’s security. The National Academic Consortium for Homeland Security is the brainchild of Dr. Todd Stewart, retired Air Force major general and executive director of Ohio State’s Program for International and Homeland Security. “The ultimate goal of the consortium is to help improve the security of the country and its worldwide interests,” Stewart explained, “while at the same time protecting and preserving our national values, freedoms, civil liberties and worldwide interests.” Stewart wanted to produce a quick way for people to access the knowledge base housed in the minds of the country’s university scholars and scientists. His website (http://www.osu.edu/homelandsecurity/NACHS) provides users with a quick and effective doorway to mountains of information about ongoing programs. Users can run searches based on four specific categories - focus area, program type, university and/or state. The 24 focus areas include: bioterrorism, border security, domestic counter-terrorism, intelligence and warning, and weapons of mass destruction. For more information, see http://www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/stewart.htm Contact: Todd Stewart, Program for International and Homeland Security, (614) 688-3420.

Experts

Ohio State experts say mad cow disease in Canada is not risk to United States -- Ohio State veterinarians and food-animal health experts said the discovery of mad cow disease in Canada does not pose a serious risk to U.S. cattle, but warn that the public’s perception of the disease could have an important impact on the national beef industry and the consumption of animal products. A case of mad cow disease - known scientifically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and first diagnosed in 1986 in Great Britain - was confirmed in Canada’s beef-producing province of Alberta last week. This is the first case of BSE reported in North America in the last decade. In 1993, a cow that had been imported from Britain came down with BSE in Canada, but there was no further spread of the disease. “We have a high degree of confidence that we do not have BSE in the United States and that it is not likely that the disease will become a significant problem,” said William Shulaw, an Ohio State Extension beef/sheep veterinarian. “The U.S. ban on feeding on imports of cattle, sheep, and their products from countries that have had the disease, and our surveillance efforts to detect the disease in U.S. cattle. give us that confidence.” Contact: Mauricio Espinoza, Ohio State Extension, (330) 202-3550; William Shulaw, Ohio State Extension, (614) 292-7570; or Mo Saif, Ohio State Extension, (330) 263-3743.

Research

Husbands, wives don’t agree on their financial status, Ohio State study finds -- One reason married couples argue about money may be because they don’t even agree on how much of it they have, new research suggests. The typical husband says the couple earns 5 percent more income and has 10 percent more total wealth than the wife reports, according to a nationwide study. Meanwhile, the typical wife says the family’s debts are about $500 more than reported by her husband. And both husbands and wives report that their spouses earn less than their spouses say they do. The study couldn’t tell which spouses were more accurate in reporting family finances, said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a researcher at Ohio State’s Center for Human Resource Research. But the differences in perception are very real. “There’s quite a gap between husbands’ and wives’ reports of their financial status,” Zagorsky said. “These differences may have significant impacts on everything from a couple’s relationship to national reports of economic statistics.” Contact: Jay Zagorsky, Center for Human Resource Research, (617) 713-4447 or (614) 442-7332; or Jeff Grabmeier, University Relations, (614) 292-8457.

Service

Community Extension Center reaches out to Mount Vernon Avenue area -- A fixture of the near east area in Columbus for more than 30 years, Ohio State’s Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center is expanding on its mission to serve as a conduit between the university and the community. In addition to popular computer literacy classes, the center will soon offer two programs for area youth: a week-long residential summer camp for high school students and a new 4-H program. Center director Georgina Dodge says both projects further the center’s goals to focus on education. “Education is the linchpin of our business,” Dodge said. “We’re very interested in helping young people get a foothold on the educational stepladder and then helping them move up, preferably into higher education. And at the same time, we’re very interested in providing enrichment for adults.” Fore more information, see http://www.osu.edu/news_db/lvl2_news_story.php?id=472 Contact: Amy Murray, University Relations, (614) 292-8385.

Events

Taft to announce Third Frontier Project award at OSU Medical Center – May 28. -- Governor Bob Taft will be at OSU Medical Center at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday (5/28) at the Failor Plaza in front of Rhodes Hall, 450 W. 10th Ave. to make a Third Frontier Project award announcement. Ohio State President Karen Holbrook will also attend the presentation. The Third Frontier Project is the state’s largest commitment to expanding Ohio’s high-technology research capabilities and promoting start-up companies to high-paying jobs for future generations of Ohioans. In the event of rain, the event will be held on the fifth floor of the adjoining Prior Health Sciences Library, 376 W. 10th Ave. Media parking will be available in the driveway leading to The James Cancer Hospital. Contact: David Crawford, University Medical Center Communications, (614) 293-3737.

Ohio State Engineering honors students hold robot competition – May 29. -- Robots created by first-year design engineering will go head-to-head at at 3:30 p.m. Thursday (5/29) in French Field House. The robots must find their way around a specially built course, 12 feet wide by 12 feet long, that simulates a living space for disabled patients. The robots must perform a variety of tasks, including retrieve medicine containers from a cabinet in a mock kitchen, from inside the mailbox outside the house, and from the attending physician of a neighboring patient. In addition, the robots must activate switches that control the television set in the bedroom or the lights in the kitchen. Robots will have a time limit to complete all tasks. The competition required each of the 50 four-student teams to design, build and program a robot using creativity and engineering principles learned in the classroom. The robots, limited in size to nine inches square, are constructed of materials that include sheet metal, PVC sheet and piping, and Erector sets. Contact: Gina Langen, College of Engineering, (614) 688-4423.

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees to meet – May 30. -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees and its committees will meet Friday (5/30) at the Longaberger Alumni House, 2200 Olentangy River Road. Committee meetings, where most of the discussion takes place, begin at 9:15 a.m. and the main session at 10:30 a.m. For information on the agenda, see http://www.osu.edu/news_db/lvl2_news_story.php?id=477 Contact: Elizabeth Conlisk, University Relations, (614) 292-3040.

The person listed as Contact will have the best information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story – Elizabeth Conlisk, (614) 292-3040; Liz Cook, (614) 292-7276; Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385, and Shannon Wingard, (614) 247-6821.