Healy working from home in Cleveland

Bernadine Healy, dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health, is recovering from brain surgery and working on nearly a full-time basis from her home in Cleveland.

Brenda Hammond, Healy's administrative assistant, said Healy has been working from home since Feb. 23 and that doctors are "very optimistic that she will have a complete recovery" from surgery to treat a brain tumor. She underwent surgery Feb. 18 at the Cleveland Clinic.

Doctors had earlier said the tumor was "extremely treatable," and Hammond said physicians now believe the "long-term prognosis is good."

"She is working hard at home in Cleveland and we can't wait to have her back," Hammond said.

Hammond said it has not been determined when Healy might return to work in Columbus. Healy's husband, Floyd Loop, is a heart surgeon and chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Healy, 54, came to OSU as medical college dean in 1995 after 10 years as head of the research institute at the Cleveland Clinic and then director of the National Institutes of Health. A cardiologist, she also is a medical consultant for CBS News.

Ronald St. Pierre, vice dean in the College of Medicine and Public Health, and associate deans are working closely with Healy on the day-to-day operations of the medical college, Hammond said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her as she passes through and beyond this difficult period, and we look forward to her full recovery," Edward J. Ray, OSU executive vice president and provost, said in a statement.

Campus Campaign kicks off new year

The Campus Campaign kicked off 1999 with an event open to all faculty and staff March 1 in the Fawcett Center. The Campus Campaign organizes the collection of gifts from faculty and staff for the $1 billion Affirm Thy Friendship campaign.

The campaign occurs year-round but intensifies each spring. During this time, a peer-to-peer solicitation takes place Universitywide, with each college and administrative unit encouraged to coordinate the solicitation with an appropriate campaign. Donations can be made to any of thousands of University funds.

At the end of November, theCampus Campaign hit the $50 million milestone in donations. Since its inception in 1985, faculty and staff have made 556,409 donations to 1,184 funds.

This year's co-chairs are Dick Hill, dean emeritus of the College of Optometry, and Marquetta Peavy, assistant director for University Hospitals Human Resources. For more information, call 292-3065 or e-mail ccampaign@osu.edu.

Businessmen donate $4 million to Newark

Three philanthropists have donated $4 million to Ohio State's Newark campus and the adjacent Central Ohio Technical College for a planned technology center.

Part of a $10 million fund-raising campaign called Our Campus for Tomorrow, the contribution was made by businessmen Howard LeFevre, Gib Reese and John Warner.

Newark campus officials announced plans last month to build the Center for Emerging Technologies, a project that could greatly expand the campus' distance-learning initiatives, and will include high-tech classrooms and an 800-seat performance hall.

The Newark campus hopes to reach its $10 million goal by June.

OSU grad nominated for Academy Award

Ohio State graduate Chris Wedge has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Animated Short Film category for his computer-animated film, "Bunny."

Wedge earned a master's degree from the Department of Art Education and was a former student at the University's Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD).

Wedge is founder of Blue Sky Studios/VIFX in New York and California. He said his seven-minute film is the first computer-animated production to use radiosity, an advanced rendering technique that mimics natural light.

"Bunny" is the tale of an old rabbit who is stalked by a battered moth. The film recently won the best of show Grand Prix Award at the IMAGINA Festival in Monaco and Paris.

The Academy Awards ceremony takes place March 21 in Hollywood.

Ohio State surgeons unveil new system

Ohio State surgeons were among five groups across the country who demonstrated the potential of using real-time video and audio transmitted from an operating room during an event Feb. 24 at Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The surgeons demonstrated for Washington legislators the next generation of computer technology that will link research institutions across the country. The technology, called Abilene, operates at speeds 85,000 times faster than a typical computer modem.

The system, considered a next-generation Internet service for research and education, will enable institutions to quickly share research information and will act as an educational resource for physicians around the country, said Scott Melvin, a general surgeon in the College of Medicine and Public Health and director of OSU's Center of Excellence of Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Melvin and other surgeons performed laparoscopic surgeries on patients at Ohio State while images from the procedures were transmitted simultaneously to the event at Union Station. Laparoscopic, or minimally invasive surgery, allows surgeons to perform many procedures through small incisions in the skin.

Take a Daughter to Work Day on the Web

A new Web site is available to explain workshops being offered and registration information for the annual Take a Daughter to Work Day on April 22 on the Columbus campus. The Web site is at www.ohr.ohio-state.edu/daughter.

Faculty and staff can register to participate in the day via the Web. Workshops will be listed on the Web site beginning March 15, but registration will not begin until 8 a.m. April 7. Booklets will be sent to faculty and staff through campus mail.

President Kirwan will give welcome remarks and introduce the keynote speaker, Professor of English Andrea Lunsford, at 8:30 a.m. in the Ohio Union Conference Theatre. Lunsford is director of Ohio State's Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing.

Volunteers needed for cholesterol study

Researchers in the Department of Psychology are exploring whether proteins from soybeans can reduce cholesterol levels in adult men. The study requires that participants make two visits in a five-week period and consume a drink containing soy or milk proteins each day.

Researchers will test whether proteins alter blood pressure or cholesterol. Healthy, nonsmoking men between the ages of 40 and 55 are needed for the study. Up to $100 and two light meals will be available for participants. To participate, call Sheila West at 844-2347.

Rebroadcasts of medical education programs from OMEN-TV are now available on "Educable," a cable television station available to more than 290,000 homes in Central Ohio. OMEN-TV is an award-winning medical education series for physicians and nurses produced by University Medical Center.

The one-hour programs include faculty lectures, patient interviews, procedure demonstrations and prerecorded call-in segments. Programs are broadcast at 8 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 p.m. Sundays on cable by Insight Communications (Ch. 25), Time Warner Communications (Ch. 25) and Americast (Ch. 20).

Physicians and nurses can obtain continuing education credit after viewing each program, by calling 293-3576 to request an evaluation and post-test.

Estep takes over advertising duties at onCampus newspaper

Tracy Turner has joined the staff as a reporter

Bill Estep, editor of onCampus since August, also has been named advertising manager of the biweekly, 20,700-circulation faculty-staff newspaper.

As advertising manager, Estep replaces David Bhaerman, who joined the Office of the President as an editor on March 8. A member of the onCampus staff for three years, Bhaerman also was managing editor of the newspaper.

Estep will continue as editor and cover academic affairs, technology, and Bhaerman's former beats of fiscal and legislative affairs, and business and administration.

Estep has sold advertising since joining onCampus. He can be reached at 292-8421 or estep.47@osu.edu.

University Communications has begun a search for a new managing editor, who will serve as lead copy editor and page designer and cover beats.

Tracy Turner, a member of the University Communications staff for three years, joined onCampus in January as a reporter. She is coordinating Web page editorial transfer for onCampus and covering the beats of outreach and engagement, and the offices of Minority Affairs and Student Affairs. She can be reached at 688-3682 or wilder.44@osu.edu.

Reporter Susan Wittstock continues to cover human resources, including USAC and compensation and benefits, the regional campuses, the arts, and development. Wittstock can be reached at 292-8419 or wittstock.3@osu.edu.

Study focuses on counselors' role

Data show students from low-income families or ethnic minority backgrounds are at a disadvantage. No matter their academic performance, their school counselors and teachers often guide them to technical programs. White students showing the same achievements are more often assigned to college-preparation courses.

Research indicates the different tracking has an impact on students' chances for meeting their full potential and having successful and fulfilling careers.

The role of school counselors in urban districts, and their impact on student achievement, is the focus of a new Ohio State College of Education project funded with a $450,000 DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund grant. The three-year grant is one of six nationwide.

"We are developing a national model to change urban school counseling on multiple levels," said Fred Bemak, associate professor of physical activity and educational services. He is co-principal investigator on the project with Susan Sears, associate dean of education and associate professor of physical activity and educational services.

The changes are directed at ensuring all students, including low-income and minority students, have equal access to fulfillment and the same opportunities for a college education.

Bemak and Sears say changing university curriculum is not enough. There also must be cooperation and collaboration with public school administrators, more community agency involvement, and consistent state laws and regulations.