97-05-09 Story Tips for Local Media STORY TIPS 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. Our Web address is www.acs.ohio-state.edu. WEXNER CENTER OFFERS NEW EXHIBIT PLUS SYMPOSIUM--May 10, 16. Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander, and Geoffrey James is a collection of 150 photographs of landscapes designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903). Olmsted is credited with shaping much of the public landscape of North America in the 19th century, including parks, estates, campuses and communities. His ideas continue to resonate today in park design, urban planning, and ecology. In conjunction with the exhibit, the Wexner Center will hold a symposium Shifting Ground: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Changing Landscape of Public Space, in the Film/Video Theatre, May 16, 2-5 p.m. CONTACT: Darnell Lautt, Wexner Center, 292-0330. SMOKIN’ BUCKEYE SET TO TEST AT COLUMBUS MOTOR SPEEDWAY--May 11. The Ohio State University electric race car will conduct a one- day test session at Columbus Motor Speedway on May 11 with driver Craig Taylor of Plano, Texas. The test will give the team an opportunity to fine-tune an oval track chassis set up for the Electric Grand Prix, to be contested at Southern National Speedway in Raleigh, N.C., on May 17. Currently, Ohio State holds the points lead over the University of Oklahoma in the ABB University Spec Series Championship. This test is open to the media. CONTACT: Chris Maupin, 688-4084, or Giorgio Rizzoni, Mechanical Engineering, 292-3331. JOHN MCKAY WILL ADDRESS LAW GRADUATES--May 11. John McKay, the new head of the Legal Services Corporation, will be the speaker as the 210 graduates of the College of Law receive their academic hoods. The ceremony, which symbolizes the passage from student to practitioner, will take place at 2 p.m. at Mershon Auditorium. McKay, who will be en route from his home in Seattle to his new job when he speaks here, will become head of a private, nonprofit agency which funds neighborhood programs nationwide, providing legal services for the poor in areas of domestic violence, housing, employment, consumer protection, divorce, child custody and child support. CONTACT: Liz Cutler Gates, College of Law, 292-0283. AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE ARTS FESTIVAL--May 13-17. Several events are scheduled for the festival, which is an effort to expand and diversify the participation of the campus and surrounding communities in African American arts and cultural traditions. Susan Taylor, editor-in-chief of Essence Magazine, will give the keynote address at 7 p.m., May 13. Other activities include a poetry slam, 7 p.m. May 14; a gospel festival, 7 p.m., May 15; an art exhibit May 11-18, a crafts bazaar May 15-17, and a picnic on the Oval from 2-6 p.m., May 18. All activities will take place at the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St. The Heritage Arts festival, May 17 from 12-7 p.m. offers music, entertainment, crafts, and dance. CONTACT: Brenda Fields, Student Events Committee, 292-2324. POLAR CENTER OFFERS LECTURE--May 15. The Byrd Polar Research Institute presents a series of seminars each Thursday at noon. Hong-Gyoo Sohn of the Byrd Center will discuss Jakobshavn Glacier West Greenland: 30 Years of Spaceborne Observations in room 240, Scott Hall, 1090 Carmack Rd. CONTACT: Lynne Everett, Byrd Polar Research Center, 292-9909. TWILIGHT OUTDOOR CONCERTS IN AMPITHEATRE--May 15, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29. On six evenings in May, the School of Music will present free outdoor concerts in the Browning Ampitheatre next to Mirror Lake on campus. These highly popular events provide an informal setting and great music that people of all ages can enjoy. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. The series kicks off with a May 15 performance by the Jazz Lab Ensemble. On May 21 the University Band will perform. On May 22, Hank Marr will lead the Jazz Combos. CONTACT: Lois Foreman Wernet, College of the Arts, 292-8835. HELP PLANT THE NEWEST OHIO STATE SWAMP--May 17. The Olentangy River Wetlands Research Park is looking for volunteers to seed the newest addition to the facility--a third wetland built last winter. The new 7-acre wetland part of the 22 acre site located just north of Ohio State on the Olentangy River, accessible from 352 Dodridge Road, just east of the intersection of Ackerman and Olentangy. Planting begins at 9:30, an optional tour of the facility begins at 8 a.m. The Olentangy River Wetland Research Park is designed to be one of the most comprehensive wetland research and education facilities in the nation at a major university. The first two wetlands at the site, constructed in 1994, are already showing visible results in cleansing the river of chemicals and sediment. CONTACT: Bill Mitsch, director, Olentangy River Wetlands Research Park, 292-9774. STUDENT RESEARCH SHOWCASED--May 20. You may one day report on a medical breakthrough that began in an Ohio State University laboratory. A new way to help the deaf to ‘feel’ speech, give doctors new tools to diagnose a difficult disease, or diffuse potential child abuse are just three of the projects under investigation by undergraduate students at Ohio State. More than 50 undergraduate students will showcase their work at the Richard J. and Martha D. Denman Undergraduate Research Recognition Day. Students will present their projects at the Undergraduate Research Forum, 3-8 p.m. in the Ohio Union West Ballroom, 1739 N. High St. $6,000 in prizes will be awarded to forum winners. CONTACT: Dave Ferguson, Office of Academic Affairs, 292-5881, or ferguson.13@osu.edu. STUDENTS DISCUSS THE IMPACT OF JACKIE ROBINSON--May 20. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s start as the first African-American to play major league baseball, the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center will present a documentary and dialogue at the center, 153 W. 12th Ave, from 7-9 p.m. The event features film clips of Robinson and discussion of how the integration of baseball changed the Negro Leagues, the athletes, and Black-owned businesses. CONTACT: Cheryl Wyatt, Hale Center, 292-0074. DRUM MAJOR TRYOUTS--May 20. Who will lead the Marching Band ‘across the field’ next year? All the contestants strut their stuff and twirl their batons at tryouts at 4 p.m. in the Woody Hayes Athletic Facility outdoor field, 2491 Olentangy River Rd. CONTACT: Lois Foreman Wernet, College of the Arts, 292-8835. SNEAK PREVIEW: SEE HOW A SMART CAR WORKS--May 20. Three automated vehicles designed by Ohio State University students will be demonstrated at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) in East Liberty, Ohio. The cars, equipped with radars, cameras and computers, will drive on a surface to which radar-reflective tape has been applied. The automated cars will accelerate and slow down to safely change lanes. This is the last chance to see the technology up close and ride in the vehicles before they travel to San Diego for the National Automated Highway Safety Systems Consortium (NAHSC) Technical Feasibility Demonstration in August. The NAHSC combines the expertise of government, industry and academia to demonstrate that an automated highway system can become a reality with existing technology. Choose either the morning (9:30-11 a.m.) or afternoon (12:30-2 p.m.) session. ALL visitors to TRC must register in advance. Media only may register May 20 by calling Teri Elliot, TRC (937-666-2011, ext. 354) or Jeff Sprague, TRC (937-666-2011, ext. 349). Others must register by May 15. CONTACT: Judy Kauffeld, College of Engineering, 688-4423. 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 Tracy Turner,688-3682. Compiled by Amy Murray, University Communications, (Murray- Goedde.1@osu.edu). [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 9 May 1997 10:47:38 -0400 (EDT)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.