International Festival Set for January 23

An International Festival, featuring food, music, and displays, will be held in the Alber Student Center on Tuesday, Jan. 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Organizer Larry Prude said the event is planned as a celebration of ethnicity and diversity, and to give students, faculty and staff a chance to interact and experience aspects of other cultures that might not otherwise be so visibly present on the Marion Campus.

He said the planned displays will feature information about Asian, Native American, African/African American, Hispanic, Indian, Appalachian, Jewish, Middle Eastern and European cultures.

Many faculty and staff are lending their expertise to the event, Prude said. "We've had good representation from the Marion Campus community," he said.

There also will be a varied group of performers during the event. A dulcimer group will perform at noon, Vic Floyd jazz duo will perform at 12:30, and Indian dancers at 1 p.m. A Native American dance group has been contacted, but was still unconfirmed as of Friday.

"This will be a unique educational experience for the university community through sharing of music, song, dance and dialogue," Prude said.

Dr. Frank Hale, Ohio State University's Vice Provost Emeritus for Minority Affairs and Distinguished University Representative to the President, will be at the Marion Campus on Jan. 18, 2001

Dr. Frank Hale, Ohio State University's Vice Provost Emeritus for Minority Affairs and Distinguished University Representative to the President, will be at the Marion Campus on Jan. 18, 2001, to kick off a campus dialogue on the moral and economic imperatives for embracing diverse cultures and views.

OSU Marion offices will be closed from 3 to 4:30 p.m. for this event. Dr. Hale's presentation is intended to begin a series of campus programs and discussions which highlight diversity issues.

The following week, on Tuesday, January 23, the Marion Campus is sponsoring an "International Festival" which will feature ethnic/cultural foods, music, song and dance. The festival will be an enjoyable and educational experience that provides us the opportunity to interact with members of our community.

Also, on Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Ohio State Marion's Five Nights on Campus series will feature "Gospelfest" a concert by the professional Raise Mass Choir from Columbus. Tickets are available by calling 389-6786 ext. 6316.

Verizon Gifts Aid OSU Marion Programs

Three gifts, totaling $13,500 have been awarded to The Ohio State University at Marion by Verizon, to promote diversity and education in the Marion community.

Verizon provided $10,000 for Ohio State Marion's Minority Scholarship programs, $2,500 for Project INVEST, a summer program focusing on math and science skill for minority high school students, and $1,000 for the Five Nights on Campus community cultural arts programs.

In its sixth season, the Five Nights on Campus series brings at least five high quality, diverse performing arts groups to the Marion Campus each year. The events are open to the public.

Project INVEST is designed to get students excited about math and science and to nurture that excitement by letting them see those skills applied in local industrial settings. The program is a collaborative effort between Marion City Schools and Ohio State Marion, with support from local industries and businesses.

Ohio State Marion's Minority Scholarship program has awarded 211 scholarships worth more than $113,000 to minority students. It aids the campus in recruitment and retention of minority students.

"Through Verizon's generosity and commitment to diversity and education in this community, we are pleased to be able to continue to offer these worthwhile programs - Project INVEST, Five Nights on Campus, and our minority scholarships," said F. Dominic Dottavio, dean and director of Ohio State Marion. "We are deeply appreciative to have Verizon as our partner in providing Marion with these fine and worthwhile programs."

Lifelong Literacy To Begin With Birth At Marion General, Thanks To Efforts By OSU Marion And Verizon

Newborns leaving Marion General Hospital will get a head start on reading, thanks to a new literacy program sponsored by Verizon and The Ohio State University at Marion.

Beginning this month, all parents of newborns will be sent home with a "Grow with Books" packet of information on how to share reading and literacy activities with even the youngest of children. The packets will include the baby's first book, a bib, a list of books appropriate for young children, a bookmark, a brochure with literacy activities for children and parents, list a local libraries, and a flier on the importance of lifelong literacy.

The effort is one part of a literacy partnership formed last year between Ohio State Marion and Verizon. The program promotes literacy activities in families with very young children.

A $53,500 grant from Verizon to Ohio State Marion provides for a literacy packet information supplied to new families and provide Ohio State Marion researchers with funds to study the success of such efforts to encourage more reading and other activities aimed at young children.

"Verizon has a long-standing commitment to literacy," said Jack Kennedy Verizon President. "We know literacy is a key to success for individuals, communities and companies like Verizon."

Ohio State Marion Dean and Director F. Dominic Dottavio said, "Emphasizing the importance of reading to newborns is a creative and exciting extension of Governor Taft's Ohio Reads program. Ohio State deeply appreciates the support of Verizon to improving the literacy in our community."

Research has shown that the more experience a child has with books before school age, the more quickly the child grasps what the reading process is all about, therefore, more easily learning to read.

In conjunction with the grant, Ohio State Marion has started the Marion Area Literacy Roundtable - representatives from several local agencies and businesses meet regularly to discuss community literacy efforts. Among those agencies involved are Marion Rotary and its I CAN GO TO COLLEGE program, Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE), Marion Public Library, KAPOW (Kids and the Power of Work), The Marion Star's Newspapers In Education program, MAPE (Marion Area Partners in Education), Altrusa, Big Brother/Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Club of Marion County, Marion City Schools and Marion County Schools literacy programs, George H. Alber Enterprise Center, Jobs for Ohio Grads (JOG), Marion County Children Services, Marion Technical College, Marion County Extension, Ohio State Marion/Marion Technical College Library, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation, Ohio State University Extension, and TRECA, Tri-Rivers Career Development, and Verizon. The group will focus on literacy needs form birth, school age, youth, workforce to senior citizens - Literacy Throughout Life!

For more information on the literacy program contact Marion Campus Librarian Betsy Blankenship (740-389-6786 ext.6231) or Linda Todd, program coordinator of early childhood education (740-389-6786 ext.6230.)

Ohio State Marion's Aubrecht Named American Physical Society Fellow

Ohio State Marion Professor of Physics Gordon J. Aubrecht II, was recently named a Fellow of the American Physical Society, an honor extended to only about one-half of one percent of Society members.

Aubrecht, a Delaware resident, was nominated by the APS' Forum on Education for his "many contributions to physics education over the years, including his work with high school teachers in PTRA, his work with the Contemporary Physics Education Project, and his book on energy."

Aubrecht directed the Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA) program of the American Association of Physics Teachers for several years. He is currently chair of the Contemporary Education Project, which produces charts and other educational physics materials.

The APS Fellowship Program was created to recognize members who may have made advances in knowledge through original research and publication or made significant and innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. They may also have made significant contributions to the teaching of physics or service and participation in the activities of the Society.

Aubrecht is a member of numerous boards, organizations, and advisory panels. He is author or coauthor of some ten books, the most recent being The Charm of Strange Quarks. He has taught college physics for 30 years and has been at Ohio State Marion since 1975.