96-01-19 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. 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. GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL AWARENESS WEEK--Jan. 20-27. Wilson Cruz, star of the TV series "My So-Called Life, and Marga Gomez, stand-up comedian, are two speakers scheduled for the 1996 Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Awareness Week at Ohio State. The week includes programs on being an ally, homophobia in female sports, and the status of the bisexual community. The week is sponsored by the Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Services and B-GALA (Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Alliance.). CONTACT: Marc Conte, Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Services, 292-6200.. HUMANITIES HOOPLA--Jan. 21. The College of Humanities hosts the first of four events featuring a faculty presentation and meal before selected men's and women's basketball games. Lindsay Jones, associate professor of comparative studies, will discuss "Spoils of Victory, Costs of Defeat: Ancient Maya Ballgames as Recreation, Ritual or the Resolution of Conflict?" The presentation examines the pre-Columbian ballgame as a spectator sport, as a demonstration of individual athletic prowess, preparation for war, as ritual, or forum for resolving disputes. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn on the Lane, 328 W. Lane Ave., and precedes the women's game versus Michigan. CONTACT: Shari Lorbach, College of Humanities, 292-1882. THE FUTURE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION--Jan 23. Beginning with the California Civil Rights Initiative, affirmative action programs have recently 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. FUTURECAR CONTEST SITE VISIT--Jan. 24. Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors will visit Ohio State's Center for Automotive Research to inspect progress on the Chevy Lumina that engineering students are trying to transform into a "FutureCar." Ohio State is competing with 11 other schools to build a car that gets 80 mpg as part of the FutureCar Challenge. The student teams are challenged to build vehicles that parallel the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles' (PNGV) goals. Chrysler, Ford GM and the U.S. government are working together on technologies that would make possible a vehicle offering up to three times the fuel efficiency of today's mid-sized cars, while maintaining the price, performance and utility currently available. Students will present their car beginning at 10 a.m. at the Center for Automotive Research, 930 Kinnear Rd. CONTACT: Giorgio Rizzoni, Center for Automotive Research, 292- 3331, or Judy Kauffeld, College of Engineering, 688-4423. 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. WETLAND BOARDWALK CONSTRUCTION--Jan.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. BOOK DEPOSITORY OPEN HOUSE--Jan. 30. Ohio State's new book depository, 2700 Kenny Rd., will hold an open house and tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The depository, which is designed to hold up to 2 million books, was completed last summer and currently holds about 300,000 volumes. The depository climate is cold and dark-- perfect for preserving books. It features dense book shelving, which accommodates about 20 times more books per square foot than conventional shelving. Shelves are 30 feet tall and 170 feet long. Books are retrieved by a library staff member riding a 'cherry picker' forklift that has a platform that reaches 30 feet high and moves along the shelves. The depository will also house the University Archives, which have 1 million photo images of Ohio State. CONTACT: William Studer, director of libraries, 292-6151. 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;:Tom Spring, 292-8309, and Tracy Turner, 688-3682. -Compiled by Amy Murray, University Communications, (Murray- Goedde.1@osu.edu). [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Fri, 19 Jan 1996 16:34:27 -0500] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.