96-01-11 Story Tips for Local News Media STORY TIPS University Communication offers a listing of potential news stories on the Columbus campus. We'll update this listing every week. This and every University Communications news release is available on the Internet and World Wide Web. To access by Internet, you may reach us through either OASIS (Ohio State Information System), the Columbus Freenet or World Wide Gophers. Select News and Weather, then Ohio State University News Releases, then News Releases from University Communications. Our Web address is http://www.acs.ohio-state.edu/ Choose News Releases from The Ohio State University, then News Releases from University Communications. WETLAND BOARDWALK CONSTRUCTION--Jan. 13,14,20,21,27 and 28. Volunteers with carpentry and construction experience are needed to help construct a boardwalk at the Ohio State University Wetland Research Park, 352 Dodridge Rd. Volunteers will work 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Saturdays, or 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Owens- Corning Corp. has donated recycled plastic lumber to the School of Natural Resources for the project; the Seabees will help with construction; and several Ohio building companies will provide supervision. CONTACT: Molly Bean, Natural Resources, 292-9773. UNIVERSITY CLOSED--Jan. 15. Becaues of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Ohio State University classes and offices will be closed on Monday. SWIMMING, VOLLEYBALL AND MORE UNTIL 2 A. M.--Jan 19. Students, faculty and staff are invited to celebrate the New Year in a fun and positive manner at the Larkins Hall Late Nighter, Jan. 19, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. at Larkins Hall, 337 West 17th Ave. The Late Nighter features open swimming, racquetball, wallyball, basketball, badminton, a judo tournament, wellness advice, and more. CONTACT: Liz Davis, Recreation and Intramural Sports, 292-7671. MILLION MAN MARCH PHOTO EXHIBIT--through Jan. 26. To celebrate last October's "Million Man March" in Washington, D.C., the Office of Minority Affairs' Hale Black Cultural Center is hosting a photography exhibition titled "A View From Seven in a Million." The display includes more than 35 color and black and white photographs of the event from six Columbus-area photographers. CONTACT: Larry Williamson, Hale Center, 292-0074. THE FUTURE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION--Jan 23. Beginning with the California Civil Rights Initiative, affirmative action programs have come under attack. A national debate questions whether preferential treatment based on race, gender, and ethnicity should be abandoned in higher education, and in state and federal programs. A panel of scholars will review the legal and political issues and deliberate the future of affirmative action at 7 p.m., Jan. 23, at the Hale Black Cultural Center, 153 W. 12th Ave. Panelists will include Frank W. Hale, Jr., professor emeritus of communications; Vincene Verdun, associate professor of law; Ruth Gresham, director of Off-Campus Student Affairs; William Nelson Jr., professor of political science; Leroy Pernell, vice-provost for minority affairs; and Tyson Hankins, a senior majoring in criminology. The event is free and open to the public. CONTACT: Michelle Cushnie, Hale Center, 292-0074. CARTOONIST DONATES DRAWINGS TO CARTOON RESEARCH LIBRARY--What comic strip hero died in April 1995, causing an outcry in the media about the funnies not being funny anymore? Farley, the beloved dog of For Better or For Worse died after rescuing little April from almost drowning. Cartoonist Lynn Johnston has donated the original drawings for this series, as well as the letters she received to Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library. Library curator Lucy Caswell says Johnston is one of the few contemporary cartoonists to continue the tradition of telling serious stories in comic strips. CONTACT: Lucy Caswell, Cartoon, Graphic and Photographic Arts Research Library, 292-0538. UNIVERSITY RECYCLES (LOTS OF!) NEWSPAPERS--The University added newsprint to the list of recyclable materials collected and processed. Ohio State's Recycling Program has placed a gray 96 gallon "Newspaper Only" container in 175 campus buildings. Last year, Ohio State collected 907 tons of paper, glass, cans and wooden pallets. With an estimated 80,000 students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus each day, there is a considerable amount of newsprint available for recycling. CONTACT: Carl Burgos, recycling coordinator, 292-8873. COMPUTER GRAPHICS CREATE TREES AND BRANCHING SYSTEMS--An Ohio State professor has developed a computer program that creates realistic images of 'branching' objects like trees and blood vessels.. Midori Kitagawa DeLeon, an assistant professor in the Department of Art and the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, has developed the Branching Object Generation and Animation System (BOGAS) to create realistic models of trees, plants, blood vessels, nervous systems, underwater animals and even imaginary creatures. The system helps scientists, botanists and artists visualize realistic branching objects, permitting them to generate the objects interactively and then to see how factors like gravity and sunlight affect growth. CONTACT: Midori Kitagawa DeLeon, 292-3416. The person listed as the contact for each item will have the best information about the story. However, feel free to call on our news services staff for assistance with these or other Ohio State news stories. Amy Murray, 292-8385; Ruth Gerstner, 292-8424; and Tom Spring, 292-8309. -Compiled by Amy Murray, University Communications, (Murray- Goedde.1@osu.edu). [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Fri, 12 Jan 1996 15:01:21 -0500] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.