STORY TIPS

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

HIGHLIGHTS: UNITED BLACK WORLD MONTH-Jan. 30-Feb. 29.

MEDICAL ERRORS EXPERT SPEAKS AT MEDICAL CENTER--Feb. 3.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETS--Feb. 4.

ASPIRING MINORITY JOURNALISTS LEARN ON CAMPUS--Jan. 29-Mar. 25. Twenty minority high-school students will attend classes here each Saturday as Ohio State partners with the Columbus Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) for the fifth annual High School Journalism Workshop. The eight-week workshop is held at the School of Journalism, 242 W. 18th Avenue, from 9 a.m.-noon and offers students an intensive introduction to all aspects of journalism. Participants will design and produce a newspaper over the course of the workshop.

CONTACT: Felicia Jones Ross, School of Journalism, 292-3798.

OHIO STATE CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF UNITED BLACK WORLD MONTH--Jan 30-Feb. 29. Thirty years ago, Ohio State students initiated the campus' first Black History Week. Twenty years later, the week long celebration evolved into United Black World Month. United Black World Month 2000, Our 30th Year: The Spirit of a People will NEVER Die provides the campus and Columbus community with program to better understand African Americans and African-American culture. Highlights include:

Jan. 30--KICK OFF CELEBRATION, 5 p.m. in the Ohio Union Conference Theatre, 1739 N. High St. Participants kick off United Black World Month with gospel music, dance, and Columbus and Ohio State talent.

Feb. 2--"THE AFFAIRS OF RACE IN AMERICA: A CONVERSATION IN BLACK AND WHITE," 6 p.m. in the Ohio Union East Grand Ballroom. Shay Banks-Young and Julia Jefferson Westerinen, descendants of Thomas Jefferson and one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, will talk about race relations in the United States.

Feb. 10--"AN EVENING WITH EDWARD JAMES OLMOS," 6:30 p.m. in Rhodes Auditorium, 450 West 10th Avenue. Join the discussion of the "Americanos Project," a literary and photographic assortment of Latino life in the United States. Hosted by actor, activist and journalist Edward James Olmos.

CONTACT: Janice Hoffman, Ethnic Student Services, 688-4988.

EXPERT ON MEDICAL ERRORS SPEAKS AT MEDICAL CENTER--Feb. 3. Perhaps one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., medical errors are a major challenge to improving health care. Dr. John Eisenberg, an expert in the field, will speak to physicians and health care administrators at noon on Thursday (2/3) in the Rhodes Hall Auditorium. Eisenberg, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, chairs a task force that will issue a report to President Clinton on Feb. 4 with recommendations to prevent future errors and enhance patient safety. Reporters are welcome to attend and speak with Eisenberg after his speech. He will not discuss details of his report to the president.

CONTACT: David Crawford, Medical Center Communications, 293-3737.

UKRAINE PHYSICIANS TOUR MEDICAL CENTER--Feb. 3. Several physicians from the Ukraine will spend Thursday (2/3) with doctors and other health care professionals at The Ohio State University Medical Center gathering information to improve medical care in their home country. They will tour the center and speak with medical experts from approximately 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reporters are welcome to visit with the group at any time, but the noon hour is the best time for extended interviews. Doctors in the former Soviet republic are battling a tuberculosis epidemic, with a doubling of cases since 1990.

CONTACT: Jill Boatman, Medical Center Communications, 293-3737.

FILMMAKER VISITS WEXNER CENTER FOR RETROSPECTIVE--Feb. 3-19. Independent film director Richard Linklater--creator of Slacker (1991) and Dazed and Confused (1993)--will visit the Wexner Center for the Arts for a full retrospective of his films. Linklater opens the series with two evenings of discussions and films. He'll participate in an onstage conversation with Wexner Center associate curator Dave Filipi on Thursday (2/3), and will introduce Before Sunrise on Friday (2/4). Others will be shown through Feb. 19. All films will be screened at 7 p.m. in the Wexner Center Film/Video Theater.

CONTACT: Karen Simonian, Wexner Center, 292-9923.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETS--Feb. 4. The Ohio State University Board of Trustees and its committees will meet at the College of Law, Drinko Hall, 55 W. 12th Avenue, on Friday, (2/4). Committee meetings, where most of the discussion takes place, begin at 9 a.m. The full board meets at 10:30 a.m. in the Auditorium, room 150.

CONTACT: Elizabeth Conlisk, University Relations, 292-3040.

MEDICAL CENTER OFFERS GENETICS PRIMER--Feb. 7. If the terms genetic code and gene therapy seem foreign to you, the Ohio State University Medical Center will show you how genetic research is changing lives. Dr. Paula Gregory, a genetics specialist at University Medical Center and former researcher with the National Institutes of Health, explains how genes play a role in everything from heart disease to mental health, on Monday, Feb. 7, 7-9 p.m. in the Rhodes Hall Auditorium, 450 W. 1Oth Avenue. Participants will get a handout that will enable them to trace their own family health history. The workshop part of the opening of later this year of the OSU Heart & Lung Institute, which will be one of the few facilities in the country constructed and designed solely for research on diseases and disorders of the heart and lungs.

CONTACT: David Crawford, Medical Center Communications, 293-3737.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW IS SUBJECT OF CONFERENCE--Feb. 10-12. As information moves across computers, who owns it? The Ohio State University College of Law hosts a conference on the growing field of intellectual property law Feb. 10-12. The Interdisciplinary Conference on the Impact of Technological Change on the Creation, Dissemination, and Protection of Intellectual Property examines the effects of law and digital communication technology on the creation, dissemination, and protection of intellectual property. Speakers from around the nation will address issues such as copyright law, protection of intellectual property, protection of research and databases, and implications of technology on the creation and dissemination of musical and art works. The conference is organized by Sheldon Halpern, a professor of law at Ohio State and expert in intellectual property law. The schedule is available at conference website, http://www.osu.edu/units/law

CONTACT: Sheldon Halpern, College of Law, 292-7480 or shalpern@pop.service.ohio-state.edu.

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--Elizabeth Conlisk, 292-3040; Amy Murray, 292-8385; Lesley Deaderick, 292-0569; Melinda Sadar, 292-8298; and Karissa Shivley, 292-8295.

*Compiled by Amy Murray, University Relations, (Murray-Goedde.1@osu.edu).