By Jo McCulty Graduate student Jay Ashmore coaches his dog, Ches, to work with Julia, a former patient.

Pooch helps canine phobes conquer fear

Lying at his trainer's feet, the docile golden retriever certainly doesn't conjure up the image of a vicious dog looking to chomp on the next unsuspecting leg.

But simply seeing the resting dog, named Ches, could drive someone with a fear of dogs into a fit of panic.

Ches is part of a new program offered by Ohio State's Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic, intended to help adults and children who fear dogs get over their phobia.

"A person who wants to get over his dog phobia eventually needs to be exposed to a real dog," said Brad Schmidt, an associate professor of psychology at Ohio State and director of the clinic.

People with dog phobias typically develop their fear because they either saw somebody get bitten by a dog or were bitten themselves, Schmidt said. A smaller portion of dog phobics developed their fears just because they know that dogs sometimes do bite.

Ches lives with Jay Ashmore, a graduate student in psychology. Ashmore and Ches work with patients to help them overcome their fears.

When Ches is"on command," he's at work, following Ashmore's instructions to lie, stay, sit, walk, run, or even wag his tail -- whatever is necessary to help the patient become accustomed to the pooch. But Ches also gets the chance to be a real dog.

When Jay utters"release," Ches turns into a normal, spunky 2-year-old golden retriever, playfully checking out a visitor in Schmidt's office, pushing his nose into her hands.

Schmidt and Ashmore call Ches an"exposure stimulus" -- a patient is exposed to his fear through Ches, who, at Ashmore's command, interacts with the patient to help him overcome his phobia.

Treatment sessions generally last about two months, or eight to 10 sessions, Schmidt said.

Dog phobia is called a"specific phobia" -- specific phobias are the most common anxiety conditions. And anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder, Schmidt said.

"Roughly 8 percent of men and 14 percent of women suffer from specific phobias," Schmidt said."A phobia can be very debilitating. A person may not be able to leave her house. Often, adults learn to cope with their fears, but still suffer. But phobias are very treatable conditions."

To contact the Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic, or for more information on the dog phobia program, call 292-2345 or visit the clinic's Web site at http://anxiety.psy.ohio-state.edu.

OSU leaders outline actions to address state budget shortfall

Ohio State is feeling the pain of the pinched state budget even before the next fiscal year begins in July. But University leaders say they will continue a concerted effort to convince the Legislature to bolster higher education funding -- and they are urging the community to join the continuing efforts to advance OSU's academic excellence, so vital to the long-term economic and social well-being of the people of Ohio.

One percent cuts to state agency budgets recently announced by Gov. Bob Taft are forcing the University to shave $3.2 million from the state share of instruction this fiscal year -- an amount equivalent to the cost of 735 full-tuition scholarships or 24,000 seats in closed courses, or to the combined salaries of 90 academic advisers.

President Brit Kirwan spent the early part of April informing the Board of Trustees, University Senate and the entire community that tough times are likely to lie ahead for Ohio State and other public institutions in Ohio, and that the ramifications on long-term economic development in Ohio are profound.

President Brit Kirwan continues a concerted effort to convince the Legislature to bolster higher education funding.

"The cut in current state appropriations comes very late in the fiscal year, giving us little leeway in responding to the governor's request," Kirwan said."Thus, we have decided to use the University's'rainy day' fund to cushion this short-term financial cut of more than $4 million. While we may have to re-coup some of these funds from units next year, this at least buys us some time for planning purposes. It is critical that we deal with any short-term and long-term cuts strategically and responsibly."

Because new reports show that the weakening economy could lead to a substantial shortfall in state tax revenues, Kirwan considers the most recently projected 1.2 percent increase in instructional support for Ohio State in fiscal year 2002, which is significantly less than officials had hoped for, to be in jeopardy. Early projections for the upcoming biennium had placed the increase at an even more disappointing figure of less than 1 percent for the second year, Kirwan said. That, too, may disappear.

University administrators, business and education community members, and alumni have been speaking on behalf of funding for Ohio State and all of higher education as the General Assembly continues its budget deliberations this spring. Ohio State's efforts to generate public and legislative support have resulted in a number of opinion pieces in major state daily newspapers that implore the Legislature to improve higher education funding.

"We are working very hard to attain the best budget possible under the circumstances," Kirwan said.

Effects on OSU

However, the reality is that the University already is bracing for funding difficulties. Kirwan noted several actions the administration is taking to begin preparing for next year's likely budget problems and to maximize the effective use of all of the resources available to address faculty and staff compensation and other strategic needs:

• Postpone any new commitments to Academic Enrichment funding for next year;

• Suspend indexing for new library acquisitions;

• Delay implementation of a transition to selective admissions for non-fall quarter first-year and transfer students;

• Plan for no increase in operating budgets for supplies and equipment;

• Implement a selective freeze on hiring for all noninstructional personnel except those whose jobs involve health and safety or people on sponsored grants. This freeze will not apply to currently authorized searches; and

• Limit strategic hires of senior, national academy-caliber faculty to those cases already in progress.

The budget crunch also is expected to place severe limits on faculty/staff salary increases next year.

"The provost and I understand the urgency of addressing our salary deficiencies," Kirwan told the members of the University Senate."But because there are so many unknowns," he said,"it is impossible at this point to make any commitment on salary increases for next year. We will do everything we can to make whatever adjustments are possible. But even with the actions I have announced, I would be misleading you if I left you with the impression that anything other than very modest increases are the best we can hope for at this point."

Ohio at risk

In his address to the University Senate, Kirwan said the state of Ohio stands to pay a heavy price if it continues to underfund higher education.

"Ohio has a problem, and higher education is a large part of the solution," he said."It is no exaggeration to say that this budget dilemma, if it plays out as now projected, will touch everyone in Ohio. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to work very diligently to make sure that our legislators see clearly the choice before them.

"Either we can adequately fund higher education and create a total education system that will be our No. 1 tool for building a brighter future for Ohio, or we can keep underfunding higher education at the risk of losing many outstanding high school graduates and world-class faculty to universities in other states. If that happens, Ohio's prospects for success in the Information Age will be dimmed."

He added, however, that Ohio does not appear ready to make such a commitment, at least in the short run, because of K-12 funding commitments and Medicaid payment shortages combined with a flagging economy that is curbing revenues.

Ohio ranks 40th in state funding for higher education; Kirwan noted that that ranking compares to the state's national ranking of 21st in K-12 spending per pupil. And Ohio faces an increasing price tag to address the mandate to solve the K-12 school funding issue. The estimated $600 million increase over Taft's budget proposal to address the DeRolph case combined with a $700 million drop in state revenue estimates means the rest of the state budget will have to absorb a reduction of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion for the biennium, Kirwan said.

"This is a staggering number. Indeed, such a reduction would require, on average, an 11 percent reduction from all state agencies other than K-12," he said."Cuts of this magnitude would have a devastating impact on essential state services."

Academic excellence

Officials have been informing constituency groups that in times of crisis, prioritization is key. That applies to the Academic Plan, they say.

"Focus and prioritization are always important," Kirwan said."At times like this, they are absolutely essential. My view is that this drop in our fiscal fortunes makes the plan more -- not less -- important."

Kirwan told trustees that competitive compensation for faculty and staff is a top priority in the Academic Plan, but that the University is at risk of falling even further behind benchmark universities in compensation with the discouraging budget situation. But Kirwan also pledged to board members that the University would use whatever resources are available as effectively as possible toward the goal of becoming one of the nation's top public universities.

"We may have to move slower than we had hoped. We may have to focus most of our funds on a few priority initiatives," he said."But we must not let what is surely a temporary setback divert us from our aspirations."

Citing the University community's hard work and collective will, Kirwan spoke to the progress that Ohio State continues to make as an institution despite inadequate state support. He noted the appointments of three new department chairs in anthropology, African-American and African studies, and medical informatics. Kirwan also cited Ohio State's excellent showing in the recent U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate programs.

Eventually, Kirwan said, Ohio State can expect substantial increases in state support once the DeRolph case is resolved and the economy turns back up. In the meantime, though, he said faculty, staff and administrators"must make the best use of the resources available to us and continue to advance the University as best we can.

"You cannot help but be discouraged, just as I am, over the latest budget news," he said."But we must not let this news defeat us."