October 12, 1999

Here are descriptions of the radio stories available on the Ohio State University Info Line, October 15 through October 22, 1999. Stories are changed at noon. All feeds include one wraparound report of approximately 1:00 and at least one other actuality plus background material. If you have questions, want additional information, or need a re-feed of a missed story, call Amy Murray at 614-292-8385.

Friday 10/15-Monday 10/18 - Parents of teen-agers, don't despair. Ohio State University research finds that parents continue to influence their adolescents’ behavior, even as friends and schools loom larger in teens’ eyes. Sociology Professor Sung Joon Jang studied more than 1,700 teens for five years. He found that, as expected, the effect of friends and school grew during early adolescence, peaked in mid-adolescence, and then began to slowly decline. He also found that the influence of parents did not diminish, but remained steady through the teen years.

Monday 10/18-Wednesday 10/20 - A new study suggests that U.S. Senate confirmation of federal judges has slowed to an unprecedented pace, contributing to a shortage of judges in federal courts. Elliot Slotnick, a professor of political science at Ohio State University, says the hostile political environment between President Bill Clinton, who nominates judges, and the Republican-controlled Senate, which confirms them, is the major reason for the delay. Slotnick found that the 1992 Democrat-controlled Senate took an average of 92 days to hold hearings on Republican President George Bush’s nominations for district judges. But last year the Republican Senate took an average of 160 days to hold hearings on Clinton’s nominees.

Wednesday 10/20-Friday 10/22 - Washington, D.C., is the most Internet-accessible city in the United States, according to a new study at Ohio State University. Geography Professor Morton O’Kelly measured accessibility by the number of Internet connections to and from each city through 31 major commercial-Internet backbones. Chicago, Dallas, New York and Atlanta round out the list for top five. O’Kelly says high-ranking cities may have some advantages over other cities in the global marketplace.

Many news outlets are getting our news releases electronically. Would you like to receive your weekly Info Line rundown via e-mail? It’s faster than the postal service and offers less chance for bad addresses, lost or damaged mail. We can e-mail this and other news releases directly to your computer. E-mail Amy at murray-goedde.1@osu.edu or call 614-292-8385 to make arrangements.

www.osu.edu is Ohio State’s Internet address. News releases (including this rundown sheet) from University Communications and many other offices are posted on the website. The site is also a great source for answers to frequently asked questions about OSU.