97-05-16 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. 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, 3-6 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. HELP PLANT THE BUCKEYE SWAMP--May 17. The Olentangy River Wetlands Research Park is looking for volunteers to plant and seed the newest addition to the facility--a third wetland built last winter. The new 7-acre wetland is 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 a.m., an optional tour of the facility begins at 8 a.m. Volunteers should prepare to stand in water up to one foot deep. The Olentangy River Wetlands 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. AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE ARTS FESTIVAL--through May 18. The five-day long event at the Ohio Union culminates this weekend with a crafts bazaar, May 15-17, the Heritage Arts festival, May 17 from 12-7 p.m., and a picnic on the Oval, May 18 from 2-6 p.m. The festival is an effort to expand and diversify the participation of the campus and surrounding communities in African American arts and cultural traditions. CONTACT: Brenda Fields, Student Events Committee, 292-2324. 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 radar, 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. TOWN HALL MEETING WILL ADDRESS STUDENT FINANCIAL CONCERNS--May 21. Students may put their questions about financial aid, state funding, budget cuts and the state tuition cap to a panel of administrators and student leaders in a town meeting at 8:30 p.m. in the North Dining Room of Morrill Tower, 1900 Cannon Drive. Sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and the Office of Student Affairs, the forum is designed to help students understand what is happening in financial aid at the state and national level. William Shkurti, vice president for finance, and Colleen O’Brien, director of state relations, will discuss the tuition cap and how it affects Ohio State. Richard Stoddard, director of federal relations, and Tally Hart, director of financial aid, will address the federal financial aid process in relation to students at Ohio State. Question and answer periods follow the presentations. CONTACT: Michael Duga, USG, 292-2101, or David Williams, Student Affairs, 292-9334. MEDICAL CENTER OFFERS HEALTH FOR LIFE PROGRAMS--May 20-27. University Medical Center physicians and clinicians provide health education to the community through Health for Life programs and classes. To celebrate Older American Month in May, programs are offered at the SeniorLife Health Fair at the Franklin Park Conservatory, 1777 E. Broad St., May 20, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. In observance of Sports Fitness Month, the Olentangy Owls (a local walking club), plans a walk beginning at the Dairy Queen at Ackerman and Olentangy River Roads, May 21, 5:30 p.m., which passes through campus sports facilities and Medical Center. Other programs includediscussions of looking and feeling good, the Women’s Health Initative, nutrition and the mind, and positive disciplining strategies. CONTACT: Sandi Latimer, Medical Center Communications, 293-3737. TWILIGHT OUTDOOR CONCERTS IN AMPITHEATRE--May 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. This week features a May 21 performance by the University Band and a May 22 session with the Jazz Combos led by Hank Marr. CONTACT: Lois Foreman Wernet, College of the Arts, 292-8835. POLAR CENTER OFFERS LECTURE--May 22. Scientists at the Byrd Polar Research Center present a lecture each Thursday at noon. Richard Cullather will discuss Estimation of Accumulation Changes over Polar Ice Sheets from Atmospheric Numerical Analyses in room 240, Scott Hall, 1090 Carmack Rd. CONTACT: Lynn Everett, Byrd Polar Research Center, 292-9909 NOTED MATHEMATICIAN TO PRESENT LECTURE--May 22. Mathematician Karl Rubin, one of Ohio State’s first University Distinguished Lecturers, will discuss his work present at 4 p.m. Thursday (5/22) in the Film and Video Theater, Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. Rubin’s lecture will also be broadcast on the Internet. An expert in the field of number theory, Rubin is highly praised for his teaching. He has explained the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem to Secretary of Defense William Perry. And when the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in California offered public lectures, the entire 1,000-seat auditorium was sold out for Rubin’s talk. CONTACT: Molly Davis, Academic Affairs, 292-5881, or Karl Rubin, Mathematics, 292-8678. SCHOLARS DISCUSS STATUS OF BLACK STUDIES--May 22-24. It has been 30 years since the academic discipline of Black Studies emerged from the civil rights and Black Power struggles of the 1960s. “Black Studies:” (Re)Defining a Discipline is the title of a national symposium organized by the Ohio State University Department of Black Studies (which began in 1970) at the Ramada University Hotel, 3110 Olentangy River Road. Scholars from Ohio State and around the nation will discuss some of the crucial and controversial issues confronting Black Studies within the framework of today’s political and socio-economic realities. CONTACT: Paulette Pierce, Department of Black Studies, 292-3700. SCIENCE-LOVING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INVITED TO BECOME RESEARCHERS--May 24. In an effort to help more minority students pursue careers in science, the Office of Minority Affairs is offering the Minority Research Initiative. Columbus-area minority high school students with good grades in science and other courses are invited in spend the eight-week summer program working closely in a research laboratory under the direction of biomedical or behavioral researchers. An informational meeting will be held from 1-3 p.m. at the OSU Black Studies Extension Center, 905 Mt. Vernon Ave. CONTACT: Roland Bittles or Robert Spivey, Office of Minority Affairs, 292-2344. 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, 16 May 1997 11:27:44 -0400 (EDT)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.