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Never a dull moment

June 15, 2011

Development staffer says his hobby sharpens skills and focus

By Julia Harris

Frank Clover is a soft-spoken, unassuming guy who spends 40-plus hours a week behind a desk in the air-conditioned offices of University Development, where voices are hushed and everyone is polite to each other.

When he’s out of the office, however, he’s not quite so “civilized.”

“I throw tomahawks — well, one tomahawk — for fun and relaxation,” said Clover, who works in the Office of Planned Giving.

Clover insists his hobby is not as unusual as it may sound. “I don’t dress up like Tecumseh and yell when I throw it,” he said. “It’s not a big ‘zen’ kind of thing. It was just something I wanted to see if I could do, a way of competing against myself and disciplining myself.”

He got the idea last summer after coming across a tomahawk in a shooting sports catalog, he said, and ordered it on impulse. He found a website with instructions on how to build a wooden target and set up a makeshift throwing range in his mother’s backyard (he lives in an apartment).

He stands about 20 feet from the target, which is a rough-hewn cross-section of a tree trunk bolted to a tripod of two-by-fours. Using a technique he found online, he holds the tomahawk lightly by the handle and aims straight at the target, timing the release so the blade revolves in an arc and embeds itself into the wood.

“I miss more often than not,” he confessed, but said his misses don’t endanger any nearby creatures such as dogs or neighbor children.

“There’s not that much force used per throw, so even when it misses the target, it just goes past it or underneath it maybe five feet. That’s why I like this instead of, say, archery, because it’s something you can do within the city limits.”

Clover, who claims he’s “not that great with my hands” and not particularly interested in outdoor sports, nonetheless finds a great deal of satisfaction in his hobby, especially as he hones his skill. “At first I was just basically trying to get the tomahawk in the general direction of the target, then trying to hit it, then trying to hit it more than once per session,” he said.

While he’s the first to acknowledge that there’s no real practical application for his pursuit, he also says it’s an important first step toward his real goal: Knife throwing.

“This is kind of a proto-hobby rather than a full-fledged hobby. Throwing a tomahawk is a lot easier to learn than throwing a knife, which I think is really cool.” He grinned. “I learned fairly quickly that throwing the tomahawk doesn’t require a whole lot of movement or action, so it fits my current fitness level. Plus it gets me outside, which is always good.”

His foray into tomahawk throwing has piqued his interest in other ancient arts, such as flint knapping (the art of making your own arrowheads and spear tips) and making his own bows. He’s also interested in finding out more about atlatls, ancient spear-throwing tools that predate the bow and arrow.

“I’m not an expert in any of this stuff — I’m just improvising here, doing it on my own — but I figure I can be good enough,” Clover said.

The leading edge

When Frank Clover first purchased his tomahawk, it was rather dull, which made it harder to throw successfully. So he went in search of someone to sharpen it up.

“I’d heard about this mobile sharpening service, a woman in town who has a van and goes around to different hardware stores and events, sharpening tools, hatchets, shovels, etc.,” Clover said.

He ended up at the Chadwick Arboretum Open House, where his tomahawk was sharpened and admired by Rebecca Lyon, owner and operator of Sharpening on Site.

Lyon, an Ohio State graduate and former researcher in plant pathology, says her new business (she took over ownership of the company in 2010 from founder Louise Radanovich), gives her the opportunity to do what she loves.

“I’ve always wanted to be my own boss, make my own schedule and be able to give people a great service. I love to fix things and restore heirloom tools and scissors,” she said.

In addition to scheduled appointments at both residential and commercial locations, Lyon gets walk-up customers and stops at public events like the Chadwick open house. And while she says Clover’s is not the only tomahawk she’s sharpened, she says it’s still somewhat unique.

“We have sharpened several tomahawks besides Frank’s, but I think the others use them camping. At least that’s what they tell me.”

Three faculty named to American Academy of Microbiology

March 16, 2011

Three Ohio State University faculty members have been elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology.

The new 2011 fellows are Michael Lairmore and Kathleen Boris-Lawrie, both professors of veterinary biosciences and members of the Viral Oncology Program of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Larry Schlesinger, professor of internal medicine and director of the Center for Microbial Interface Biology.

Lairmore, an international authority in retrovirology and pathology, has contributed fundamental knowledge of how viruses develop. With expertise in virology and pathology, he has performed pioneering studies in animal models of human retroviruses, defined novel virus-host relationships and created paradigm-shifting approaches to mechanisms of viral diseases.

Boris-Lawrie is widely recognized for her distinguished contributions to the field of molecular virology, particularly for the molecular basis of gene expression of retroviruses that infect humans and animals; she has discovered a fundamental paradigm that cells use to control the growth of viruses. She and Lairmore are funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute to study retroviruses as models of lymphocyte transformation and disease.

Schlesinger’s research focuses on innate immunity in highly transmissible bacterial infections through studies of human immune system interactions with pathogenic mycobacteria, particularly M. tuberculosis. He is also a professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and was instrumental in the creation of the new Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity at Ohio State.

The American Academy of Microbiology is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the world’s oldest and largest life science organization. The mission of the academy is to recognize scientists for outstanding contributions to microbiology and provide microbiological expertise in the service of science and the public. The academy serves as a resource to governmental agencies, industry, ASM and the larger scientific and lay communities by convening colloquia to address critical issues in microbiology.

Including this new round of fellows, Ohio State has 17 American Academy of Microbiology fellows on its faculty. Lairmore, Boris-Lawrie and Schlesinger will be recognized on May 24 at the 111th American Society of Microbiology meeting in New Orleans.

Student evaluations of instruction all move online

October 21, 2009

By Jeff McCallister

In about a month, students here can begin filling out forms to evaluate their fall-quarter instructors. For the first time, all of those forms now will be completed online.

Dick Gunther, a political science professor who has been working on the online Student Evaluation of Instruction issue for several years, made a presentation to University Senate about the system at the Oct. 15 meeting to quell any lingering concerns among faculty.

The SEI results are used for several purposes. The qualititive results — in which students rate several areas on a 1-5 scale — are factored into tenure evaluations. Those cumulative results also are available to students for use in deciding which instructor to take for a given course. Individual faculty use the qualitative results — the answers to the open-ended questions — as a means of self-evaluation to improve their teaching.

Gunther said the online version has several advantages over the paper forms formerly available (data quality, data integrity and security, lower cost, quicker availability and improved sortability of results) and have negligible difference in overall ratings students offer.

“There are a few down sides, such as a short-term decline in the response rate when other universities have moved to all-online forms, and there is a real risk of some skewed data for low-enrollment courses, but the benefits greatly outweigh the risks, especially because they are only in the short term and can be managed.”

Gunther said students’ familiarity with Carmen and the Student Information Service, which will be used to link to the SEI, make it desireable to make the switch now as opposed to a few years ago.

“There are all kinds of instruments already out there that students use to compare their professors, but none of them have the statistically reliable amount of data available with the SEI,” he said.

He pointed specifically to ratemyprofessors.com, which student members of the senate said many students use to learn about professors in advance of taking a course.

“I looked at my own ratings there, and saw that even though I have taught thousands of students, only 24 have rated my work,” he said. “And I must say that I was a little disappointed that my name did not have a little red-hot chili pepper beside it. It’s just a bunch of frivolous nonsense.”

More information is available at sei.osu.edu.

A new look at an old problem

October 21, 2009

The Department of Theatre’s fall drama — staged as part of a new Big Ten collaboration — tackles the thorny issue of race relations

By Julia Harris

Kayla Jackmon may not have been alive in the 1960s, but she knows a heck of a lot about that decade just the same — particularly about the year 1967, as experienced by one carefully integrated Detroit neighborhood.

As one of the 10 actors in the play Palmer Park, the first production of the year for the Department of Theatre, Jackmon has done enough in-depth research on this volatile period of American history to discuss it like an expert. Continue reading ‘A new look at an old problem’

Lines of sight

October 21, 2009

Interactive virtual exhibit sheds light on ancient wisdom

By Julia Harris

In New Mexico’s desolate Chaco Canyon, a sprawl of crumbling ruins raises more questions than answers about the culture that once thrived there. Questions like, why build such elaborate structures in a harsh and inhospitable climate? How were those towering masonry buildings, honeycombed with dark and tiny rooms, constructed?

In other words, what did they know and how did they know it? Continue reading ‘Lines of sight’

Tell me a story: Library ReadAlouds bring campus and community together for tall tales

March 4, 2009

By Julia Harris

Ah, the ancient ritual of the bedtime story: Children tucked in and fighting sleep, listening to tales of mystery and morality in the dim glow of lamplight.

It’s a great combination, really — a thought-provoking story, a bit of quality time with the family and a comforting way to end a day. Continue reading ‘Tell me a story: Library ReadAlouds bring campus and community together for tall tales’

Not just kids’ play: OSU Kid Corps takes on early literacy for Columbus preschoolers

March 4, 2009

By Julia Harris

Aaron Robertson knows he can’t make every preschooler in the Columbus metropolitan area fall in love with reading. But that doesn’t stop him — and about 90 Ohio State students — from trying.

For the past four years, Robertson has been spearheading a group called OSU Kid Corps, an intrepid and steadily growing band of college students who work with local preschool providers to develop early literacy skills. Continue reading ‘Not just kids’ play: OSU Kid Corps takes on early literacy for Columbus preschoolers’

Energy on demand

March 4, 2009

By Jeff McCallister

Rich Housh knew he had a good idea, one that could be lucrative for years to come as the world moves away from automobiles powered by internal combustion engines.

What he didn’t have was a way to develop it, a place to test it or a means to improve it.

It didn’t take him long to find a solution. Continue reading ‘Energy on demand’

USAC calls for greater educational benefits, career pathing

March 4, 2009

By Adam King

In the past when the University Staff Advisory Committee submitted its compensation and benefits report to the university leadership, the report ran more than 20 pages and covered every result from its survey to staff.

That left a lot of information for the president and his or her vice presidents to thumb through and put a lot of suggestions for action on the table at once. Continue reading ‘USAC calls for greater educational benefits, career pathing’