United Black World Month

By Jo McCulty Dale A. Linder, a graduate administrative assistant, takes a closer look at Nkonde #6, a warrior sculpture by Andrew F. Scott on display in the Hale Black Cultural Center.

Ohio State's United Black World Month is being observed throughout February. "Where do we go from here? Taking control of our destiny" is this year's theme.

The following list highlights just a few of the many events scheduled. For more information, call Terina Matthews, interim coordinator of African-American Student Services, at 688-4988, or go to www.osu.edu/diversity/buffer6.html on the Web.

Five lectures will be presented by the President and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series. They are:

Feb. 19, Urban Militants: The Legacy of Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael, and Others, 8:30 a.m., Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center. J. Herman Blake, director of African American Studies, Iowa State University.

Feb. 19, HIV/AIDS in African Americans: The Greatest Challenge Since Slavery, 1 p.m., Hale Cultural Center. Emily L. Moore, professor of educational leadership and policy studies, Iowa State University.

Feb. 21, The State of Black and White America -- Implications for the New Millennium, 8:30 a.m., Faculty Club Lounge. Andrew Hacker, professor of political science, Queens College, City University of New York.

Feb. 26, Real Answers to the Recruitment of Minorities in Science and Engineering, 9 a.m., Fawcett Center. John B. Slaughter, president/CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, New York City.

Feb. 26, Programs for Diversity that Work and Why, 1 p.m., Fawcett Center. John White, chancellor of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Other events include:

Through Feb. 28, The 30th Anniversary Celebration of African American and African Studies Photo Exhibition, Bricker Hall 2nd floor lobby. Photographs feature events in the 30-year history of the department.

Feb. 10, Community Service Event -- Open Shelter, 9 a.m.- noon. Participants will be painting, stocking food and performing other duties. Call 688-4988 to register.

Feb. 18, Community Service Event -- Ronald McDonald House, noon-3 p.m. Participants will assist with cleaning. Call 688-4988 to register.

Feb. 23, Can We Talk? Confronting Our Differences Together, a campus/community summit on diversity issues featuring actresses Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint of Any Day Now on the Lifetime Television Network.

Feb. 26, What Brothers Think, What Sistahs Know, 7:30 p.m., 131 Hitchcock Hall. Husband and wife Denene Millner and Nick Chiles discuss love and relationships in a provocative and humorous way.

Feb. 28, Randall Robinson, Ohio Union West Ballroom. Robinson is the author of the national best seller The Debt-What America Owes to Blacks.

OSU geophysicist explores idea of new interdisciplinary program

Visiting scientist to talk of preserving artifacts

Jeff Daniels is trying to thwart the world's most notorious art thief: the passage of time.

The Ohio State geophysicist feels that science holds one of the keys to characterizing ancient cultural sites, restoring damaged art and artifacts and preserving them for the future.

"We often look at an archaeological site, an old building, a monument or a painting and ask ourselves, 'How close is it to the original?' and 'How can we ensure that it will be properly preserved in the future?'" Daniels said.

Jeff Daniels said that an effective program in conservation science at Ohio State could include existing University programs for locating and defining cultural sites, as well as new areas of research that are needed to protect and preserve the sites and their artifacts.     By Kevin Fitzsimons

When grime obscures the face of an ancient mural, or rain erodes a historic sculpture, a society's connection to its cultural roots diminishes as well, he explained.

That's why he invited Mancheol Suh, a professor at Kongju University and chief scientist for Korea's Royal Tomb Site, to visit Ohio State. Suh will speak on the "Conservation of the Muryong Royal Tomb of Baekje Dynasty, Korea," on Feb. 15 in 100 Mendenhall Laboratory.

Daniels met Suh at a recent conference on cultural conservation science -- a growing field that marshals the far-flung analytical tools of physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, archaeology, anthropology and architecture to save cultural antiquities.

"I see these disciplines as occupying a single continuum -- each with its own contribution," Daniels said. Chemists could reason out an ancient paint formula, for instance, just as architects could deduce how a structure was built. And Daniels could use his own knowledge of ground-penetrating radar to peer beneath stationary artifacts.

With his own research group, Daniels has been exploring new ways to configure radar antennas to reveal buried objects that would be invisible to traditional ground-penetrating radar.

Daniels said that the scientific expertise is available at Ohio State to establish an effective program in conservation science. Such a program could include existing University programs for locating and defining cultural sites, as well as new areas of research that are needed to protect and preserve the sites and their artifacts.

Susan Huntington, professor of art history and dean of the Graduate School, is interested in the prospect. "Cultural artifacts are the fossil record of human civilization," she said. "Scientific study of the materials and techniques with which cultural artifacts were made can enhance our understanding of these objects, and help us find increasingly sophisticated methods of preserving them."

She feels that, through collaboration, scholars in disciplines ranging from the arts and humanities to the physical sciences and social sciences could solve both cultural and technological mysteries that surround cultural artifacts.

She and her husband John Huntington, also a professor of art history, are founders of the Huntington Photographic Archive of Buddhist and Related Art, a collection of more than 300,000 slides and photographs of art and architecture throughout Asia. Both have been involved in the conservation and scientific analysis of works of art.

Those interested in exploring the possibility of an interdisciplinary center on cultural conservation science can contact Daniels at 292-4295 or jeff@geology.ohio-state.edu.

Suicide Prevention Week at Ohio State will include faculty/staff in-service training

Suicide is the No. 2 cause of death among college students, and faculty and staff often are the first line of defense for a student contemplating suicide. Helping members of the University community recognize warning signs and know how to deal with a student in trouble is part of Ohio State Suicide Prevention Week Feb. 14 to 22.

Nationally, women attempt suicide three to four times more than men, but three to four times more men succeed. For all ages, suicide is the eighth leading cause of death, with about 31,000 suicides each year.

In-service training for faculty and staff is a key component of the week, the theme of which is "Lifting Up Our Friend: Giving Hope and Help." Training with staff from OSU's Counseling and Consultation Service will be offered from 8:30-10 a.m. Feb. 16, and in-service training for staff in the Office of Student Activities is available at 2 p.m. Feb. 14. Both sessions will be held in 150 Younkin Success Center.

At noon on Feb. 14, Howard Sudak, past president of the American Suicide Foundation, will give a grand rounds lecture presentation in room 165 of the Heart and Lung Institute.

Among the warning signs that faculty and staff should look for are student apathy about school or job interests, extreme stress, outbursts of anger, mood swings and drastic changes in behavior, withdrawal from friends and social activities, change in appearance and hygiene, increased use of alcohol or drugs, and giving away prized possessions.

The University is a partner in the week's events with the Ohio Coalition for Suicide Prevention, which includes physicians, public health advocates, faith community members, activists, and family and friends of suicide victims who are focused on increasing awareness among the public about the threat of suicide to adolescents and young adults.

Other events during the week include:

• An appearance by Julie from MTV's Real World at 5 p.m. Feb. 19 in 131 Hitchcock Hall. The 20-year-old star of the hit show will discuss how suicide has touched her life and share with students how they can learn more about detecting warning signs in their friends and loved ones.

• A screening and guided discussion of the film The Virgin Suicides at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Wexner Center for the Arts Film/Video Theater.

• A brown-bag lunch presentation on suicide co-sponsored by Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Student Services at noon Feb. 21 in Buckeye Suites C, D and E of the Ohio Union.

• A memorial service dedicated to those whose lives have been touched by suicide at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at Summit United Methodist Church, 82 E. 16th Ave.

For more information, visit Counseling and Consultation Services at www.ccs.ohio-state.edu/ or the coalition's Web site at www.ocsp.org.

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