This year's Homecoming features bigger, better parade

Those who want to watch the 1999 Homecoming parade are encouraged to stake out a prime spot along Neil Avenue in advance. The Capitol City Bagpipes, Ohio State cheerleaders, Shriners in their mini cars, Columbus Bluejackets mascot Stinger, and many more entries will entertain as they make the annual march through campus.

The parade will take place at 9 a.m. Oct. 30 before the football game against Iowa.

"We are very excited about this year's parade," said Tracy Stuck, director of the Office of Student Activities. "The Homecoming committee has put a lot of time and effort into planning the event, and it really shows from the number of participating student organizations, University departments, and businesses and organizations across Columbus we have lined up to take part in the parade. It seems like it gets better every year."

This year's parade will be led by three grand marshals: former Ohio State track and field star Stephanie Hightower, Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka and Roger Blackwell, marketing professor in the Fisher College of Business.

"It seems only fitting to have three grand marshals since we have named Homecoming week 1999 the 'Blast of the Century'," said Heather Brandon, student co-chair of the event.

President Kirwan and David Williams II, vice president for student and urban/community affairs, will be riding in cars in the parade, which also will feature the Homecoming king and queen, their court, and the Alpha Phi Alpha African-American king and queen.

The parade route starts at the intersection of West 17th and Neil avenues, runs east on 17th Avenue to High Street, proceeds south on High Street to 12th Avenue, turns west on 12th Avenue to Neil Avenue, and turns north on Neil, stopping on the Oval.

The parade route will be closed to through traffic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Parade spectators should plan to arrive on campus early and follow the traffic control officers' directions to available parking.

For those planning to attend the parade only, parking is available in the Ohio Union or Arps garages located on North High Street, between Woodruff and 12th avenues. These facilities will allow easy exit after the parade.

For those planning on attending both the parade and the football game, parking is available in any day-of-game parking lot. The charge for parking will be $5 without an Ohio State parking permit.

Ex-president Ford part of Fisher College dedication

The Fisher College of Business is dedicating three new buildings on the Ohio State campus on Oct. 21, while a visit and lecture by former President Gerald R. Ford Oct. 20 was scheduled to precede festivities.

The college is formally introducing Schoenbaum Hall, Mason Hall and Pfahl Hall. Schoenbaum Hall is the new home for the college's undergraduate program; Mason Hall houses the business library and computing center; and Pfahl Hall, to be completed by the end of the year, will house the college's executive education programs.

The dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony marks the conclusion of phase two of a $120 million, six-building project providing the Fisher College with a state-of-the-art professional business education complex.

During the fall of 1998, the college dedicated the first two buildings: Fisher Hall, which houses faculty and staff offices, and Gerlach Hall, home to the college's graduate programs.

The sixth building, an Executive Residence for those enrolled in the college's Executive Education Program, is currently in the design phase and is scheduled to open in 2002.

This week's dedication ceremonies honor the families for whom the three new buildings are named: Betty and the late Alex Schoenbaum, who established the Shoney's restaurant chain; Margaret and Raymond E. Mason Jr., who founded the Columbus Truck and Equipment Co.; and Floradelle and the late John K. Pfahl, who was a professor of finance and chair of the Department of Finance at the Fisher College.

Joseph A. Alutto, dean of the Fisher College, said the dedication is a way of "celebrating the lives and partnerships that helped make this tremendous project possible."

"We are celebrating the lives of individuals who have made and continue to make a mark in the world; individuals who appreciate the role that their education at The Ohio State University, and the business college in particular, has had in their own development; individuals who generously share from their successes so that others might have a chance to achieve as well," he said.

In conjunction with the dedication activities, Ford was scheduled to present the second Fisher Council on Global Trade and Technology Lecture in Mershon Auditorium. Ford spoke on "Achieving and Maintaining Global Prosperity: The Partnership between Government and Business."

Ohio State reaches license agreement with Microsoft

Ohio State has signed license agreements with Microsoft Corp. to distribute several Microsoft software packages at reduced costs to University students, faculty and staff. Ohio State joined the Inter-University Council of Ohio, an association of Ohio's 13 public universities and two freestanding medical colleges, in negotiating the agreements.

While beneficial to students, faculty and staff at Ohio State, the agreements are nonexclusive and do not prevent the University from purchasing or using other software products. Included in the Microsoft package are Microsoft Office, Macintosh and Windows versions; Microsoft Visual Studio Professional, programming development tools; and Microsoft FrontPage, a Web tool.

The software is being sold through the University Bookstores beginning this month. The cost is $99 total for the term of the three-year license.

next page...