January 7, 2000

STORY TIPS

This and every University Relations news release is available at www.osu.edu

JULIE TAYMOR EXHIBITION EXTENDED AT WEXNER CENTER--through April 16. Due to overwhelming audience demand, the Wexner Center has extended Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire through April 16. Organized by the Wexner Center for its 10th anniversary season, the exhibit has been the center's most popular ever, attracting 125,000 people during its original run, Sept. 18-Jan. 2. School tours were filled to capacity, with 13,500 students visiting. With the extended run, school groups that had requested tours after all available slots were filled can now be accommodated. Schools and organizations interested in a tour should call 292-6493. The Taymor exhibit is the first ever to be extended at the Wexner Center. CONTACT: Karen Simonian, 292-9923 or 292-0330.

LAW SCHOOL DEAN HONORED AT RECEPTION--Jan. 8. Gregory Williams, dean of The Ohio State University College of Law, will be honored at a Washington, D.C. reception tomorrow (1/8), as he steps down as president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, NW, culminates the week-long annual meeting of the AALS. During Dean William's tenure as AALS president, he has urged law schools to take seriously their role to teach leadership to future lawyers. He also played a key role in encouraging diversity in the legal academy, meeting separately throughout his term with President Bill Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno, and Secretary of Education Richard Riley to discuss diversity issues. Williams is author of Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He was Black; The Iowa Guide to Search and Seizure; and The Law and Politics of Police Discretion, and numerous articles. CONTACT: Liz Cutler Gates, College of Law, 292-0283.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTERNET2 EVALUATION CENTER FEATURES INTERACTIVE SURGERY-Jan. 11. Ohio educators, politicians, and the head of the national Internet2 project will gather in Columbus Tuesday (1/11) to announce the designation of a statewide consortium of universities and industry as the nation's Internet2 technology evaluation center. The ITEC-Ohio (Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center) will help develop, test and evaluate technologies--such as distance learning, telemedicine, videoconferencing, and digital libraries--that are being launched and refined as part of the Internet2 project. ITEC- Ohio will be led by OARnet, a division of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, and a consortium of universities that includes Ohio State and corporate partners. The 10 a.m. event will feature a demonstration of a live surgical procedure performed interactively between surgeons at the Ohio State Medical Center and surgeons in the Lobby Hearing Room at the Rhodes State Office Tower. As the procedure takes place, real-time video and audio will be transmitted from the operating room to the office tower. During the surgery, guests and reporters will see large-screen images transmitted from cameras in the operating room and from inside the patient's body. The technology will enable the surgeon at the office tower, Dr. Scott Melvin, to be a "partner" in the surgery with Dr. Steven Steinberg, who will be performing the procedure. Both surgeons will be available for interviews. Others attending the interactive session downtown include Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick G.W. Chu, Gov. Taft's science and technology adviser Glenn Brown, and Douglas Van Houweling, president and CEO of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, the Internet2 parent corporation. CONTACT: Dan Downing, OARnet, 728-8100 (ext. 228), David Crawford, Medical Center Communications, 293-3737, or Michael Brown, Ohio Board of Regents, 752-9480.

STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF DISCUSS PROPOSED DIVERSITY ACTION PLAN-Jan. 12. Students, faculty, and staff may voice their opinions on the university's draft Diversity Action Plan during a public forum on Wednesday (1/12). The public forum will take place in the Ohio Union Conference Theatre from 4-6 p.m. and will provide participants with the opportunity to discuss the plan in its entirety. The Diversity Action Plan includes several initiatives that are central to the university's mission and to the academic goals set by Ohio State. For those interested in exploring the goals outlined in the plan in more detail, a series of focus groups will be held in the Ohio Union Memorial Room, including: JAN. 18--Creating Welcoming Environments of Support, from 4-6 p.m. JAN. 20--Recruiting and Retaining Women and Minorities into Faculty, Staff and Administrative Positions, 4-6 p.m. JAN. 24--Recruiting and Retaining Minority Students, 4-6 p.m. JAN. 26--Developing Diversity Models of Excellence, 4-6 p.m. FEB. 1--Creating Databases to Describe, Monitor and Improve Campus Diversity, 4-6 p.m. FEB. 3--Determining and Maintaining a System of Accountability, 4-6 p.m. The Diversity Action Plan is available on the Web at http://www.osu.edu/diversityplan/ CONTACT: David Williams or Tina Love, Student and Urban/Community Affairs, 292-9334; or Becky Parker, Ohio Union, 292-2135.

CONCERT FUNDS JAZZ STUDIES PROGRAM-Jan 16. The 3rd annual Martin Luther King dinner and concert will be held on Sunday (1/16) at the Valley Dale Grand Historic Ballroom, 1590 Sunbury Rd. The event celebrates Dr. King's accomplishments as well as his love of jazz music. Proceeds will fund the Scantland/Smooth Jazz scholarship for an outstanding jazz musician to attend the Ohio State University Jazz Studies program. Entertainment includes the OSU Jazz Ensemble, featuring musician Jonathan Crawford, recipient of the 1999 scholarship. The event is sponsored by Scantland Broadcasting's WJZA, WJZK Smooth Jazz 103.5 & 104.3. CONTACT: Sharon Whalen, Scantland Broadcasting, 766-5200.

STUDENTS HONOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WITH DAY OF SERVICE--Jan. 17. Ohio State students will celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the second annual Martin Luther King: Serving the Legacy service program. Students will help prepare and deliver meals for the homeless and needy in thecampus area. Spaghetti dinners will be served at Hillel (46 E. 16th Ave.) and Project Open Hand (in the basement of the 16th Avenue Methodist Church). Student will then deliver meals and eat with the homeless at Friends of the Homeless and Rebecca's Place shelters. The event, from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., is sponsored by the Office of Student Activities, Hillel, Ethnic Student Services, Student, Gender, and Sexuality Student Services, Off Campus Student Services and the Hale Center CONTACT: Heather Brandon, Student Activities, 292-4995. --In addition to the spaghetti dinner at Project Open Hand, the Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services will present Out with your Clothing from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. CONTACT: Elizabeth Warren, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Services, 292-6200.

EFFORT AIMS TO BUILD LIBRARY--Jan. 17. The OSU AmeriCorps Literacy Program will honor Dr. King with a READ-A-THON in support of the Children's Hospital Reach Out and Read Program. Students will read stories to children and collect new and gently used books to build the Children's Hospital Half-Pint Library. AmeriCorps volunteers will collect books from noon-3 p.m. at Half-Price Books, 1375 W. Lane Ave.; Children's Hospital Primary Care Center; Children's Hospital East Central Close to Home, 899 E. Broad St.; Children's Hospital Whitehall Close To Home, 579 S. Yearling Rd.; and Whetstone Library, 3909 N. High St. CONTACT: Courtney Velker, College of Education, 292-9688.

SCHOOL VIOLENCE EXPERT GIVES LECTURE-Jan. 21. Author Deborah Prothrow-Stith will present the 2000 Karlsberger Lecture, Deadly Consequences: Violence as a Crisis of Public Health at 4 p.m., Jan. 21, in the Fawcett Center Auditorium, 2400 Olentangy River Rd. Prothrow-Stith, professor and director of the Division of Public Health at Harvard University, is the author of Deadly Consequences. She says the rise in violence is a public health issue, not one of law and order. Tickets are not required, but seating is limited. The College of Education and the Columbus Education Association sponsor the annual event in honor of the late Penny Chapdelaine Karlsberger, an Ohio State alumna. CONTACT: James Azzaro, College of Education, 688-4582 or azzaro.1@osu.edu.

GLENN INSTITUTE PRESENTS DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN-Jan. 26. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will deliver a free public address at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 26, at Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N. High St. Goodwin's visit is sponsored by The Ohio State University's John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy. In her Ohio State talk, Shared Memories: The Lessons of History, Kearns Goodwin will discuss her experiences in writing biographies of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and John Kennedy, as well as the process of writing her own memoir. Kearns Goodwin received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The American Home Front During World War II. There are no tickets for the presentation. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. CONTACT: The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, 292-4545.

DEPARTMENT OF DANCE GETS TOP RANKING--In a survey conducted by the well-respected dance industry magazine, Dance Teacher, the Ohio State University Department of Dance has again received top rankings. The annual survey of 100 dance department leaders in America and Canada ranked the OSU graduate program number one overall, and the undergraduate program number two overall. The department has consistently ranked as one of the top dance programs in North America. CONTACT: Karen Bell, Department of Dance, 292-7977.

The person listed as the contact for each item will have the best information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for assistance with these or other Ohio State news stories--Amy Murray, 292-8385; Melinda Sadar, 292-8298; and Karissa Shivley, 292-8295. *Compiled by Amy Murray, University Relations, (Murray- Goedde.1@osu.edu).