97-09-12 Back to School News Tips OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PREPARES FOR 1997-98 ACADEMIC YEAR COLUMBUS -- As thousands of students prepare for school and say good-bye to their parents, some 48,000 of them will say hello to The Ohio State University as the 127th academic year begins Sept. 24. Although official figures will not be available for several weeks, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid anticipates a similar number of students will be enrolled at the Columbus campus to last year’s 48,352 total. Of these students, about 5,800 will be new, first-quarter freshmen. Another 6,000 students will be arriving at Ohio State’s other campuses at Lima, Mansfield, Marion and Newark, and at the Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster. The freshman class will include some 610 University Scholars, students who graduated in the top 3 percent of their high school classes. This is an increase over last year, when 516 University Scholars were enrolled. Some highlights of the new academic year follow. IN THE COLLEGES A project in the Colleges of the Arts, carries student and faculty performers and artists, designers, arts educators and scholars into residential areas adjacent to campus. The program also brings those neighborhoods onto campus for arts events and activities is under way. The Arts and Community Spirit project will enlist the on-going participation of a wide range of students, staff and faculty. The Department of Art will now offer an undergraduate concentration in art and technology, designed to provide a background for students who are interested in using computers to make art. A portfolio review is required for admission into the program. Lois Foreman Wernet, director of communications, 292- 8835. The College of Biological Sciences will send a moss experiment into outer space as part of a cooperative United States - Ukrainian scientific space project to study the effect of microgravity on plants. A Ukrainian cosmonaut will conduct the experiments in space. Schoolchildren around the country will attempt to duplicate some of the experiments. Sandi Rutkowski, director of communications, 292-4759 Freshman admission into the College of Engineering is 1,050 students for autumn quarter, up from 914 students in 1996 and 700 in 1995. The college will hold its annual activities fair Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information on engineering professional societies and fraternal organizations will be available as well as members of the engineering student project team and their designs. The college will hold its engineering career expo Oct. 16 with representatives from some 100 major companies, with 1,500 students expected to participate. An interactive videoconferencing system will be available for employers to interview candidates during the expo. Judy Kauffeld, communications director, 292-9615. Academic standards for admission into the Graduate School for autumn 1998 admission will be raised from a 2.7 grade point average to a 3.0 grade point average on all undergraduate work and a 3.3 grade point average for all graduate work. The change is part of an effort to improve the quality of graduate students by tightening the selectivity at the front end of the process. Students now may pursue a graduate minor or graduate interdisciplinary specialization in addition to their primary degree. The purpose of these options is to allow students the opportunity to gain added expertise by organizing electives into a coherent secondary field of study. Susan Huntington, vice provost and dean, 292-6031. Three new majors have been added to the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. Landscape horticulture, crop science, and turfgrass science have been added to the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. Tom Schockey, 292- 3846. Ground had been broken for a new Food Science Building, and expansion construction is under way at Chadwick Arboretum. Janet Oberliesen, 292-4678. In the College of Humanities, the Department of Greek and Latin will develop the Forbes Classical Humanities Center for Research and Instructional Development in Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations. This will make available in digital format the department’s substantial collection of slides illustrating the material culture of the ancient Mediterranean, the library slides from the Isthmia Excavation Project, and links to the Internet. William Batstone, department chair, 292-2673. The Department of African-American and African Studies will co-host the 1997 Annual Conference of the African Studies Association Nov. 12-15 at the Hyatt Hotel Ohio Center. Some 1,000 experts on Africa from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America will attend. Isaac Mowoe, acting chair, 292-2293. The Max Kade German House enters its second year of providing residency for nine undergraduate students and one graduate student director. Students speak German, attend German language lectures and view films, videos and German television. The Max Kade Foundation sponsors the house and provides travel grants to undergraduates who participate in the summer program in Dresden, Germany. Bernd Fischer, 292-6985. A grant received in the Department of Human Nutrition and Food Management in the College of Human Ecology will report the department’s work with five statewide community colleges to unify the hospital management education curriculum statewide. Students will be able to begin their hospitality management education at a community college and then transfer to Ohio State to complete their degree. Wayne Johnson, program director, 292-5506. The Department of Consumer Textile Sciences enters its second year with a USDA grant that is sending faculty into the textile and apparel industry setting to learn about innovations and incorporate them into their teaching. Faculty spent their first year enhancing knowledge and skills in design, production and distribution. Kathryn Jakes, principal investigator, 292- 8063. An Ohio campaign finance database that will enable voters, journalists, researchers and citizens to research the background of the campaign cash given to statewide office holders will be released by the Kiplinger Reporting Program in the New School that combines Journalism and Communication. The database was built by Laura Yeomans, research director of Ohio Citizen Action, funded by a major grant from the Joyce Foundation. Citizen Action and the Kiplinger Program will release an analysis of statewide giving in late September called “Follow the Money,” which examines the role of soft money and special interest giving in Ohio. The database for 1994 giving is at WWW.kip-program.org and is searchable by company, individual, zip code, candidate name and industry sector. The 1995 and 1996 campaign giving records will be posted on the site by October. Virginia is the only other state where such detailed information is available to citizens. James Neff, Kiplinger director, 292-2607. The College of Nursing will offer a Master of Science Accelerated Graduate Program designed to provide students with undergraduate degrees in other disciplines to obtain a graduate degree in nursing. After meeting prerequisites, students will complete all necessary coursework leading to a degree in three years. Students will be eligible for registered nurse licensure and declare a specialty track by the second summer. Numerous college faculty will be involved in various research projects including the development and implementation of the National Center for Tobacco Intervention; symptom management of people infected with HIV and AIDS; the study of pain management; prevention of sexually transmitted diseases; and collaboration with the Department of OB/GYN to develop a nurse- midwifery practice at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Fifteen students from the entering class will be chosen to participate in a new honors program that will offer access to more advanced levels of study, encourage development of critical and creative skills, and promote continued professional development through graduate study. The students will be placed in a mentoring relationship with a faculty member during the three-year program. Sharon Roach, administrative assistant, 292- 0596. The National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Defense funded a Stress and Immunity Breast Cancer Project to examine the psychological, immune, endocrine and health survival benefits of a psychological intervention for women with breast cancer. The five-year grant of $3.8 million from the National Institute of Mental Health augments an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materials Command to study stress and immunity in breast cancer. The study, done in the Department of Psychology by Barbara Anderson, a professor in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will have its most recent findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The findings document that stress is an important predictor of immunity and appears to regulate the immune system during the post surgery period. Additional grant funds were recently awarded to begin pilot work on the adjustment process to breast cancer recurrence. The School of Public Policy and Management will hold an address Sept. 22 by Mary Schiavo, the Enarson Professor and Executive in Residence, and former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The school is also celebrating the new affiliation with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The school anticipates many new joint initiatives. A reception will be held Sept. 23 to celebrate the new partnership. Ronald Huff, professor, 292-8696. At The Ohio State University-Mansfield campus the new $1.5 million John B. Conard Learning Center is now open for its first, full academic year. The state-of-the-art facility will feature a distance learning room for two-way video instruction from the Columbus campus and other remote locations. The Office of Student Activities will join MedCentral Health System and Community Action for Capable Youth to sponsor the anti-smoking lecture “Tobacco Wars” by Patrick J. Reynolds, the grandson of R. J. Reynolds. Rodger C. Smith, public relations, (419) 755-4215. A new master of social work degree is being offered at The Ohio State University-Newark campus. Through a cooperative agreement between the Newark campus and the College of Social Work at the Columbus campus, students will be able to complete the degree requirements through part-time attendance at both the Newark and the Columbus campuses. The first group of students will begin the program summer quarter 1998. Linda Matthews, (614) 366-9311. Student enrollment is up 25 percent for autumn quarter at The Ohio State University Agriculture Technical Institute (ATI). A new apartment village, with 16 apartment buildings and one administrative and community use building has been built, and will open to students autumn quarter. The completely furnished one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments will provide an additional 266 beds for residential and graduate students at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). This project will make programs in Wooster available for more people requiring residential facilities near ATI and OARDC. Michelle Wood, public relations, (330) 264-3911, ext. 1216. The Galbreath Equine Trauma, Intensive Care, and Research Center at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital is now open. The first patients were admitted over the summer to the new facility, a 40,000-foot addition to the existing hospital. The center includes modern research facilities, state-of-the-art surgery suites, intensive care stalls with capabilities for continuous monitoring of patients, stalls for horses used in teaching and research, and a second-floor observation area to allow clients, students and faculty to observe surgery. Richard Bednarski, director, 292-7159. FACULTY, STAFF, STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES Campus Partners, with support from the City of Columbus, has begun a High Street Urban Design Project to develop a business strategy for High Street, identify redevelopment sites and prepare design standards. This project will provide a high level of definition and analysis relating to the Campus Partners redevelopment effort in the 11th Ave. and High Street area. In preparation for the redevelopment effort, Campus Partners purchased a vacant lot on High Street where Papa Joe’s Bar and Grill and two other businesses were destroyed by fire, and the former Big Bear Bakery. The University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan: Concept Document was completed in July. Steve Sterrett, Campus Partners, 294-7300. Massage Therapy is now offered by the Department of Recreation and Intramural Sports at the Jesse Owens South Recreation Center, 175 W. 11th Avenue. Swedish massage, Neuromuscular Myofascial Therapy, and Mastectomy and Reconstruction Massage are offered, all geared toward providing relaxation, stress release and relief from muscular tension. A Unified Physical Activity night is being offered for kids with and without disabilities from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Larkins Hall various nights throughout the year. The program is free, and offers various physical activities for children ages 3-11 and 12- 18. Marci Harrington and Laura Potter, recreation and intramural sports, 292-7671. The Ohio State University Libraries offers net.TUTOR, a free World Wide Web-based instructional program that offers guided practice to help users learn to navigate the World Wide Web, use the Internet, and find information for academic and personal research. Lessons on how to use Internet search tools effectively and techniques for evaluating the quality of the sites are included. net.TUTOR can be reached at http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/. Nancy O’Hanlon, user education librarian, 688-5707. University Police has moved to new quarters at 901 Woody Hayes Drive, on the southeast corner of Woody Hayes and Kenny Road. On open house will be held Sept. 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. A dedication of a memorial near the front of the building in memory of Officer Michael Blankenship, killed in the line of duty Feb. 10, will be held at 9:30 a.m. John Kleberg, 292-7970. The University Registrar has expanded its on-line registration service to help students avoid lines and phone calls by using their personal computers to review the Master Schedule and Course Offerings, check on their course requests, wait-list status, and approved schedule, and evaluate their degree progress. Students can check these services at WWW.ureg.ohio- state.edu. Students can shorten the time it takes to graduate by taking advantage of the Credit by Examination program administered by the university registrar. With approval by the appropriate academic unit, students may earn up to 45 quarter hours of examination credit. Beth Venter, assistant to the registrar, 292-5684. The University Bookstore on Millikin Road will have special extended hours the first week of classes and will open one half- hour earlier to better serve students. The new daily hours are Monday-Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Robert Carlson, director, 292-2991. The Division of Traffic and Parking will offer free bus service -- no longer requiring a bus pass -- and provide faster, more efficient service on the Columbus campus. The division also installed clocks at three bus stops that provide arrival times of the buses. A celebration will be held at the west campus parking lots Sept. 24-25 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to welcome students who elect to park on west campus and ride the bus to and from classes. Staff will issue parking permits, answer questions and provide assistance. Helen DeSantis, business management, 292- 4135. EVENTS Fund-raising events are under way in the Department of University Development for several projects, including the World Media Center, scheduled to open in 1999 in Hagerty Hall. The center will enable teaching and learning about languages and cultures, offer multi-media classrooms, individualized language instruction, and teleconferencing and distance learning. Also, the Success Center, scheduled to open in late 1998, will encompass a number of student services areas including counseling and consultation services, athletic academic support, an academic learning center and an expanded career services department. Lisa Wente, development communications, 292-5220. The annual Farm Science Review will be held Sept. 16 to 18 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center, located 30 miles west of Columbus on U.S. 40 near London. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, visitors can see displays by some 600 agricultural exhibitors and attend some of the more than 100 educational demonstrations and presentations. The educational programs feature information on everything from cancer prevention, stress reduction and healthy eating tips to fruit trees, flowers and farm safety. Suzanne Steel, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, 292-2011. High on Pride is a cooperative project among the university, the city of Columbus, the campus area neighborhood associations and the local property owners to clean up the neighborhood east of the Columbus campus. On Nov. 1 volunteers will clean streets, sidewalks, alleys and other public spaces in the area bounded by High Street on the west, Norwich Avenue on the north, the Conrail Tracks on the east, and Ninth Avenue on the south. Volunteers are being sought from among Ohio State students, faculty and staff and neighborhood residents and property owners. They will pick up litter, remove bulk trash, sweep streets, collect recyclables and remove dead brush in two-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers are invited to enjoy food and music at a celebration to be held on the plaza in front of the Wexner Center for the Arts beginning at 9 a.m. High on Pride University Clean Up is part of Ohio State’s ongoing effort to improve the safety and livability of the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. This effort gives everyone a chance to participate in the partnership and to gain a better sense of community. To volunteer, call the High on Pride line at 688-DIRT (688-3478). Students will celebrate Homecoming week Oct. 20-25 with a recognition of “Planet Buckeye, The Spirit of Ohio State.” Homecoming festivities begin Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. with a ritual -- students, staff and faculty led by a phantom band on a march around campus with penlights to Mirror Lake to hear remarks from campus dignitaries. Other activities during the week include a Varsity O reception at the Wexner Center Oct. 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. featuring several past Ohio State lettered-varsity athletes, a parade with astronauts Nancy Currie and Ronald Sega as grand marshals, a pep rally and the Oct. 25 football game between Ohio State and Northwestern. Brenda Fields, 292-2324. The Office of Minority Affairs will host a Welcoming Celebration for the fourth group of Young Scholars Program freshmen Sept. 21 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Frank W. Hale Black Cultural Center. Several campus dignitaries will be on hand to welcome the scholars and their parents. The Young Scholars Program gives first generation college- bound Ohio minority students a college education at little or no cost to the students. The goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented minority students at the college level with particular emphasis on African American, Latino American, Native American and Appalachian students. Funding for the program comes from Ohio State, grants and other sources. In 1994, 93 Young Scholars enrolled in Ohio State, 180 in 1995, and 181 in 1996. With this fourth entering class of 190 students, there will be 374 Young Scholars at Ohio State. Students are chosen in the sixth grade based on a written essay, grades and a standardized test by a committee of educators in their hometowns: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Lorain, Toledo and Youngstown. Charles Hancock, director of the Young Scholars Program, 292-4884. Tickets are available now for the Department of Theatre’s 1997-98 season. The seven-production season opens Nov. 12 with Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, a drama about Russian life. The plays continue with Miller’s Point, a one-act play that pauses at a moment in time to relive the memory of one young woman’s high school flame, who recently passed away; The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr, a funny condensation of all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays into two hours of lunacy; Fortunes of the Moor, the “sequel to Othello,” where the son of Desdemona and Othello is involved in a custody battle between the two families; The Memorandum, a play that introduces the Ptydepe language to maximize the difference between words so that no word can be mistaken for another; The Holocaust Memorial - A Play About Hiroshima, a series of readings; and the Man Who Came To Dinner, a story about what happens when a famous man comes to a small town. After Thursday performances, the cast and director will be on hand for discussions with the audience. For ticket information, call the theater box office at 292-2295 during business hours. The Wexner Center for the Arts has announced its schedule of exhibits and programs for the coming year. Open exhibits are Alexis Smith: My Favorite Sport, a series of works that celebrate the myth and mystique of American sports; Staging Surrealism: A Succession of Collections 2, which explores the imagery and themes that characterized surrealism during its heyday in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Works by Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Eugene Atget and Andre Kertesz; and Lorna Simpson: Interior/Exterior, Full/Empty, a film/video installation on Simpson’s previous photographic works. The exhibits and the regularly scheduled Thursday walk-in tours are free, as are most lectures. There are admission charges for films and most performances, but a membership program offers significant discounts and parking privileges for those who join. Membership levels begin at $40. Special exhibition tours can be arranged for groups of eight or more by contacting the Wexner Center’s education department, which also is offering Teachers at the Center, a series of monthly workshops for teachers to offer innovative ways of introducing the art of our time into classroom curriculum. Darnell Lautt, Wexner Center, 292-0330. # Written by Tracy Turner, University Communications, (614) 688- 3682. [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 12 Sep 1997 16:08:13 -0400 (EDT)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.