Robinson is Diversity Series lecturer

The President and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series continues at 9 a.m. Jan. 22 in the Ohio Union Ballrooms with a presentation by Randall N. Robinson titled"The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks." Robinson has served as executive director and president of the TransAfrica and TransAfrica Forum organizations since their inception, and was instrumental in influencing change in U.S. foreign policy toward South Africa and bringing an end to apartheid. He is the author of The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks, a much-discussed social and political text on reparation.

For details, call Frank Hale at 688-4255 or Trina Phillips at 688-4240, or visit the Web at www.osu.edu/diversity/.

OIT testing new e-mail system until spring

The Office of Information Technology plans to use winter quarter for conducting final tests, working out remaining policy issues, and completing user documentation and communications on new hardware and software for the new campus e-mail system that was installed during the holiday break. OIT expects to move campus users to the new system during spring break.

To make optimum use of the new system, campus users should become familiar with its capabilities, as well as applicable policies, which are outlined below.

• Users can continue to access or"POP" e-mail using client programs such as Eudora Pro and Outlook. They can also leave e-mail on the server as before or download it to their own computer.

• Quotas for storing e-mail on the server will be implemented. Initial quotas will be set at 30 megabytes for full-time faculty and staff and 15 megabytes for everyone else, and will be evaluated over the next several quarters to balance system needs with those of campus users.

• E-mail programs provide tools for managing mail on the server. For assistance in using them, please refer to the help documents available on the OIT Help Desk Web site at www.oit.ohio-state.edu/tsc/ (search on mail management) or contact the OIT Technology Support Center at 8help@osu.edu or 688-HELP.

• New ways of sending and receiving e-mail, such as Web-based mail, are scheduled to be added to the system before the end of the academic year. An informational Web page (www.oit.ohio-state.edu/infopages/email.html) contains more details on the new e-mail system and will be kept updated with the latest changes.

OHR unveils news release Web site

A schedule of winter and spring quarter retirement forums is now available online on the Office of Human Resources' news release Web site. The forums are available to help new employees learn about their retirement plan choices.

For details, visit the Web at http://hr.osu.edu/ohrnews/retforum12-28-01.htm.

WOSU-AM Open Line features Kirwan Jan. 17

President Brit Kirwan is scheduled as a featured guest on WOSU-AM's Open Line with Fred Andrle on Jan. 17. The program runs daily from noon to 2 p.m.

For more information, visit the Web at www.wosu.org.

AFPW luncheon to honor OSU women

The Association of Faculty and Professional Women (AFPW) will celebrate"OSU Women of Distinction" at its monthly luncheon program on Jan. 15. The luncheon is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Faculty Club Grand Lounge.

Featured speakers will be recipients of OSU Awards of Distinction from 2000-01, including: Sally Rudmann, Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service; Neeli Bendapudi, Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching; Cheryl Holloway, University Distinguished Staff Award; and Leila Rupp, Distinguished Scholar Award.

Participants must register by 5 p.m. Jan. 10. Registration forms, along with AFPW membership forms, are available on the Web at http://afpw.osu.edu.

OSU-WID, Women's Studies present Wilson

Ara Wilson, assistant professor of Transnational Feminist Cultural Studies in the Department of Women's Studies at Ohio State, will deliver"Intimate Economies: Capitalism, Sex, and Gender in Bangkok" at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 15 in 120 Mershon Center. The lecture is presented by OSU-Women In Development and the Department of Women's Studies. A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m.

Wilson has conducted fieldwork in Thailand for many years; has participated in international feminist projects, including attending the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing; and was a Rockefeller Fellow at the Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers University in 1999-2000.

For details, contact 292-6447 or rakowski.1@osu.edu.

Hudgins to present Inaugural Lecture

Andrew Hudgins, professor of English, will present"Poetry in Motion: From Narrative to Lyric" in the College of Humanities' third Inaugural Lecture of the year, to be held at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Faculty Club.

Hudgins will read poems from all of his books of poetry, beginning with his first book of poems Saints and Strangers (1985) and ending with a manuscript titled Ecstatic in the Poison, which he is just finishing. He will discuss the thought processes that led him from being a narrative poet to a lyric poet and then to a poet who attempts to combine the two.

For details or to RSVP, call 292-1882.

Continuing Ed offers computer training

The Office of Continuing Education offers a Staff and Faculty Computing Short Course series, featuring one-day courses in Microsoft Office products, Internet/Web content, graphics and presentation software, and Quicken. Staff, faculty and departments pay a reduced rate of $99 for these classes. Group training also is available for departments and work groups on campus. Classes continue throughout the quarter.

For details, call 292-8571 or visit the Web at www.osu.edu/osutoday/0111/cedcomputer.html.

TELR seeking grant proposals

Technology Enhanced Learning and Research is calling for proposals and sponsoring a workshop in conjunction with the 2002 Courseware Development Grant program. TELR has received $175,000 in funding and will be making awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for projects focused on building reusable learning modules.

The goal of this year's grant program is to stimulate the development and use of small learning modules -- with a completion time of one week or less when structured as part of a 10-week course -- that can be used and reused in a variety of different courses. Modules must be digital, compact (can be used in a single setting) and reusable.

TELR is sponsoring a Jan. 22 awareness event,"Learning Modules and the 2002 Courseware Development Grant," from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in 120 Baker Systems.

For details, send e-mail to acker.1@osu.edu.

University District lunch session is Jan. 17

Bobby Moser, vice president for University Outreach and Engagement, is the guest speaker for a University District Lunch Bunch brown bag session from noon to 1:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Campus Partners conference room, 1824 N. High St. Parking is available in the Ohio Union parking garage.

Moser will discuss what the Office of University Outreach and Engagement is doing to help coordinate the many Ohio State activities in the University District.

Participants should bring their own lunch, but drinks and dessert will be provided. For details or to RSVP, contact Barbara Millisor at 688-3041 or millisor.1@osu.edu.

OHR offers free financial workshop

The Office of Human Resources is continuing its free financial planning series with a one-hour Earned Income Tax Credit workshop, beginning at noon Jan. 15 in 14 University Hall. For those who qualify, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) reduces the amount of federal tax owed and can result in a refund check.

For details or to register, contact 247-7961 or service@hr.osu.edu, or visit the Web at http://hr.osu.edu/finseries.htm.

New business mileage rate goes into effect

Effective Jan. 1, the IRS has increased reimbursed business mileage from $0.345 to $0.365 per mile. Only mileage accrued after this date is eligible for the new rate; personal vehicle travel before Jan. 1 should be calculated at the old rate.

For details, visit the Web at www.busops.ohio-state.edu/travel/.

Farrell to join stem cell panel discussion

Daniel Farrell, professor of philosophy, will take part in a panel discussion on"Understanding Stem Cell Research" at noon Jan. 16 at the Athletic Club of Columbus, 136 E. Broad St. The panel will present the science of stem cells and related ethical and moral arguments.

Preregistration and prepayment are required by noon Jan. 15. To register, call 545-3220. The cost is $15 for Columbus Metropolitan Club members, $20 for guests and $23 for the public. For details, call 464-3220.

Cancer Center presents Scientific Meeting

"Genomics and Cancer Biology" is the theme for the Comprehensive Cancer Center's Fourth Annual Scientific Meeting, to be held Jan. 11 at the Embassy Suites in Dublin. The all-day event is designed to give participants the opportunity to share research efforts, advance new ideas for program projects and foster an environment of collaboration.

Fred Sanfilippo, senior vice president for health sciences and dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health, will kick off the event by sharing his vision of OSU's past, present and future. Guest speaker Kenneth Pienta, director of urologic oncology at the University of Michigan, will discuss utilizing genomics to study prostate cancer metastasis.

To register, call Jody Urbanski at 293-3304.

Statistics presents winter quarter seminar

An Environmental Data Seminar, organized by the Program in Spatial Statistics and Environmental Sciences, will meet every Wednesday through winter quarter from noon to 1:30 p.m. in 212 Cockins Hall. OSU scientists and engineers from many disciplines will present and discuss their environmental data sets and the problems that motivated their collection.

Scheduled speakers include: Jan. 16, Rattan Lal, School of Natural Resources,"Is Soil Carbon Sequestration a Viable Option to Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect"; and Jan. 23, Mark Berliner, Department of Statistics,"Physical-Statistical Modeling of Environmental Data."

RSVP to sses@stat.ohio-state.edu. For details, contact Noel Cressie at cressie.1@osu.edu.

Fisher College hosts business seminars

The Fisher College of Business is hosting the"Entrepreneurship Spectacular," a day of free seminars designed to help individuals who want to turn a business idea into reality, on Jan. 12 in Schoenbaum Hall. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and sessions run concurrently from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

The event is designed specifically for participants in the 2002 Fisher College/Andersen Business Plan Competition, which offers $100,000 in cash and services. However, others with new business ideas are welcome. The seminars are open to the public at no charge as a service of the proposed Center for Entrepreneurship at Fisher College and the Business Builders Club.

For additional information, visit the Web at http://fisher.osu.edu/bplan/.

Reception kicks off Ohio 4-H centennial

About 150 adults and youth will gather at Ohio State Jan. 15 to celebrate Ohio's 4-H centennial and learn about the history and future of the program. After the celebration, a bus tour will take participants to sites in Clark, Champaign and Miami counties that commemorate A.B. Graham, founder of the youth development program in Ohio.

Festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Agricultural Administration Building main auditorium.

For more information, contact David Farrell at 292-6942 or farrell.55@osu.edu.

Math lecture features Teach for America

Carrie Ellis of Teach for America, a national organization of outstanding recent college graduates in all major areas of study who commit to teach in public schools in low-income areas, will be the first speaker in the Math Colloquium Series 2002 at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in 724 Math Tower.

Ellis earned her master's degree in communication management at the University of Southern California and taught middle school in South Central Los Angeles. She now is mid-Atlantic recruitment director for Teach for America.

A reception begins at 3:30 p.m. Faculty interested in learning more about the program are welcome to meet Ellis. For details, call 292-2254 or visit www.math.ohio-state.edu.