HIGHLIGHTS:

WHERE AM I?  SUMMER ORIENTATION IS UNDER WAY - June 20 through August 10. The undergraduate experience has officially begun as 6,000 incoming first-year students and 2,200 transfer students participate in Ohio State's two-day orientation program.  Students will register for fall classes, explore their new campus, and learn more about academic programs, campus life, dorms and safety.  Parents are welcome to get involved in the process, too. Contact: Julee Klima, coordinator of university orientation, (614) 292-4161

WHAT'S TICKING? ACAROLOGISTS SWARM TO OHIO STATE - June 19-July 7. Acarologists mite and tick experts) from around the globe are here to immerse students in the complex world of ticks and mites at the 50th Mite & Tick Workshop. Ohio State entomology professor Glen Needham, co-director of the workshop, says "the workshop is like a mite and tick buffet - for three weeks, students and experts eat, sleep and breathe mites and ticks." Special lectures open to the public will be presented between June 27-30 at 12:30p.m. in 107 Parks Hall, 500 W. 12th Ave. Willy Burgdorfer, discoverer of the Lyme Disease organism, will present "Lyme Disease: Twenty Years After the Discovery" on Tuesday (6/27). The Lyme disease organism - Borrelia burdorferi - is named in honor of Burgdorfer. Maurice Sabelis, University of Amsterdam, is a world authority on mite behavior, ecology and biology control.  He will present three lectures: "Plant-Predator Mutualisms" (6/28), "Learning Behavior in Mites" (6/29) and "Recent Advances in the Biological Control of and by Mites" (6/30). Contact: Glen Needham, entomology, and (614) 688-3026.

HELP!  SPECIAL OLYMPICS NEEDS A HAND - June 24-25.  The Ohio Union is seeking volunteers to help with the Special Olympics Ohio Games, hosted by Ohio State.  Workers are needed to assist athletes through the meal lines from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday (6/24) and from 5:30 to 8 a.m. Sunday (6/25).  To help or for information, call (614) 292-7924.  Those who wish to help with the games may call the Operations Center at (614) 247-7878.

HOW MANY FINGERS?  FREE VISION SCREENING FOR PRESCHOOLERS - July 6.  The College of Optometry, 338 W. 10th Ave., is offering free vision screening for preschoolers Thursday, July 6, from 8:15 to 11:30 and again on Aug. 24.  Testing takes 15 to 30 minutes and includes assessment of vision clarity, eye teaming, refractive error and eye health.  Vision disorders are the leading cause of handicapping conditions in childhood, but early detection increases the likelihood of effective treatment.  To schedule an appointment, call 292-2020 and select option 5. Contact: Beth Haas, Vision in Preschoolers Study coordinator, (614) 292-3189.

YOUNG WOMEN OF SCIENCE - June 25-June 30.  Fifteen 6th and 7th grade girls from across Ohio are participating in the first annual Young Women's Summer Institute, sponsored by the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), 1224 Kinnear Rd.  The program was created in response to statistics showing that many girls lose interest in math and science when they reach middle school.  During the five-day event, the girls will focus on environmental waterway problems, participating in a field trip to Big Darby Creek (beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday (6/26), where they will analyze the water and evaluate the surrounding habitats.  A closing luncheon on Friday (6/30) at noon will feature keynote speaker Kay Howell, director of the White House National Coordination Office for Computational Science and Computer Resources.  Other speakers during the institute include Debra Haley, CIO for the United States Air Force; Gay Gordon, associate director of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse; Maria Palazzi, the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts; and Sushma Joshi of Labook.com. Contact: Kathryn Kelley, OSC external relations coordinator, (614) 292-6067.

BASKING ON THE BEACH- Each year, Lake Erie's public beaches attract millions of visitors who spend more than $20 million in local communities.  And those visitors like to find picnic tables, smooth sand and lifeguards.  Ohio State professor of agricultural economics Brent Sohngen has studied the economic impact of beach amenities and has found that poor water quality advisories take a heavy economic toll on local communities, costing an average of $100,000 per beach in lost revenue.  He also found that one additional lifeguard hour per week in worth $3,684 per beach.  Five picnic tables per beach are worth more than $29,000, and reducing sand grain size, zebra mussel shells and cobbles on the beach by 10 percent in worth more than $700,000. Contact: Brent Sohngen, agricultural, environmental and developmental economics, (614) 688-4640.

SPEAKING OF BEACHES . . . CHECK OUT THE WEATHER - Before heading for the North Coast, check the Great Lakes Forecasting System (GLFS) Web site superior.eng.ohio-state.edu/main/noframes/about.html).  Developed by researchers at Ohio State and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. GLFS predicts weather and water condition on Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes 36 hours in advance.  According to Keith Bedford, chair of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science at Ohio State, the largest recreational users of the site are the sports fishing and yachting communities - "Information about surface water temperature helps anglers find good fishing spots, and sailors want to know about wind speeds before a race." Contact: Keith Bedford, (614) 292-7338 or Dana Stone, engineering communications, (614)-292-4064.

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--Reggie Anglen, 292-8423; 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)