Surprise, surprise, surprise

By Kevin Fitzsimons Dev Pathak, left, director of the Center for Health Outcomes, Policy and Evaluation Studies; professor of health services, management and policy; and Merrell Dow Professor in the College of Pharmacy, is one of this year's recipients of an Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. During a surprise announcement on April 20, Pathak is congratulated by, from left, President Brit Kirwan, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health Fred Sanfilippo, Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray, and College of Pharmacy Dean John Cassady. A total of 19 faculty are receiving notice this spring that they are recipients of the teaching award, a Distinguished Scholar Award or a Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service.

Scientists assist with NASA satellites to map Earth's gravity

Two new Earth-orbiting satellites launched March 17 will bear witness to the fact that even a force as relentless as gravity can prove fickle.

Ohio State scientists helped NASA and the German Geodetic Center prepare for GRACE, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, which is mapping tiny changes in the Earth's gravity. The results could help scientists better understand global climate change.

Ocean currents, the flow of molten rock, the melting of glaciers -- all nudge the force of gravity slightly higher or lower in localized spots around the world every day, explained C.K. Shum and Christopher Jekeli, both professors of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science.

Shum and Jekeli are devising complex physical principles and techniques for understanding the new gravity measurements GRACE will obtain. For instance, the data could help explain how underground aquifers and melting glaciers affect global sea levels. GRACE is also expected to provide revolutionary measurements for monitoring the movement of groundwater, which could improve flood prediction worldwide, Shum said.

The project -- the first of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder small satellite missions -- is run by scientists at the University of Texas Center for Space Research.

The twin GRACE satellites will circle the globe in tandem, effectively drawing a picture of the Earth's gravity field once a month for five years. On-board instruments will measure very precisely any minute tugs the Earth exerts on the satellites while they're in orbit. Shum and Jekeli will use that information in their climate change research.

A new German-Russian joint venture company called Eurockot Launch Services launched the satellites from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a facility some 400 miles northeast of St. Petersburg, Russia. This mission marks the first commercial operation for Eurockot, as well as the first commercial use of a Russian ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile. The re-tooled ICBM was the only rocket large and powerful enough to launch both GRACE satellites at once.

Internet to go

With transportable satellite dish, OSU's teaching resources will be able to reach anyone, anywhere

The imagination is the limit as Ohio State researchers build a trailer-mounted Tachyon satellite dish with its own power source designed to provide Internet connectivity at any location.

The goal is clear: to expand learning opportunities for Ohioans. Yet the possible uses of such technology are endless.

Picture a faculty member and research team collecting data at a remote site. With the transportable dish, that data could be sent back to a lab, immediately analyzed and shipped back to the researchers in the field.

Or an OSU professor could teach a class from the field while, through use of the dish, students in the classroom interact with him through real-time interactive videoconferencing.

Ohio State faculty could even interact with and teach children in a small school in Appalachia.

All this is in step with the University's broad mission of narrowing the "digital divide" and transitioning the state into the new "knowledge economy," said Alan Escovitz, director for external affairs in the Office of the CIO and a member of the satellite research team.

"The goal is to extend the learning opportunities of Ohioans, whether they are in inner cities, rural and/or remote locations. We want to be able to reach anyone, anywhere, any time," Escovitz said.

Collaborating on the project are the Office of the Chief Information Officer; OARnet, the academic network provider for the state of Ohio; and the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center of Ohio (ITEC-Ohio), a consortium of Ohio universities, government agencies and corporate partners whose mission is to examine critical new applications and infrastructure.

The researchers have been allocated $65,000 to participate in the American Distance Education Consortium's (ADEC) Advanced Internet Satellite Project (AISEP), which includes a $5,000 contribution from Ohio State and OARnet.

The 1.2-meter satellite dish -- supplied by ADEC -- will be transported in a 4-by-10-foot trailer that can be pulled by a small or medium-sized car. Cable, receiver, computer and other technical support equipment will also be transported in the trailer, as well as a 2,800-watt gas generator, similar to those used in RVs, capable of powering the dish for 24 hours without refueling. The entire top of the trailer is hinged on one side and easily moves up and off to the side to provide access to the equipment inside.

The transportable satellite dish is expected to be ready for testing this summer, with the dish to be put into service by fall.

Already, curiosity is high.

"I've already been invited to take it to four national conferences to talk about and demonstrate it," said Bob Dixon, chief research engineer with the Office of the CIO and OARnet.

Dixon said he is aware of similar projects under development by two other universities, but they are much larger and more expensive ventures.

"Our interest is at the low end," Dixon said. "We decided to keep it simple and inexpensive to make it available to a wider audience."

The system is designed so that it can be reproduced, using easily obtainable parts, for around $15,000, Dixon said. Other, more elaborate systems would cost approximately $100,000 to duplicate. Plans call for design details and a step-by-step assembly procedure to be posted on the Web, accessible through the ADEC Web site.

Better yet, the technology will be easy to operate, and capable of being set up and operated by one person at any location. Initially, the dish will be operated by a member of the research staff who has been trained in its use.

It will be a prototype, used as a laboratory to study alternative designs, components, operational characteristics and operator requirements, and will be used in a wide variety of applications that will contribute to further refinement of the design.

Once built, the device will be available to Ohio State faculty initially, and to the 100 colleges and universities in Ohio served by OARnet, Escovitz said.

Besides its technology implications, the project has major outreach potential.

"The transportable dish will be a core resource for the University's distance education/outreach plan and will bridge the rich resources of our academic community through high-quality Internet service to Ohio's rural and remote areas, including 29 counties within the Appalachian region," Escovitz said.

The campus will partner with community-based organizations, alliances, school districts and other higher education institutions to create value-added research, convey specialized knowledge and provide technology services. Escovitz said partners will follow the model that created the three pilot Ohio State Learning Centers -- in Piketon, Caldwell and Columbus -- in 2000 to extend the University's technology resources beyond campus. Those centers offer videoconferencing, software packages and new computer labs with Internet access to the University's computers.

Diversity Lecture Series
By Nathan Robinson
James Sears, author and scholar, speaks with audience members April 16 after delivering "Growing up Queerly" as part of the President and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series. Among his articles, essays and books are Growing Up Gay in the South and Curriculum, Religion, and Public Education: Overcoming Heterosexism and Homophobia.

National exam scores show excellence of teacher preparation

For the second year, Ohio State students demonstrated the quality of their preparation by scoring well on a national examination for new teachers.

The pass rates have been announced as part of Title II, a federal law that requires U.S. public and private institutions that prepare teachers to report on the effectiveness of their programs.Ê

In Ohio, some 50 institutions are sending the Ohio Department of Education their students' results on Praxis II, the national test for future teachers that is similar to the bar exam for aspiring lawyers. ODE will compile the reports and send them to the federal government. Ohio's cut rates, or passing scores, are the third highest in the nation.

Almost every Ohio State student who completed his or her training in 2000-01 passed Praxis II. They were tested on their general knowledge and professional skills, plus their knowledge in a specific discipline such as mathematics or foreign language. The institutional pass rate for all OSU students across all tests taken was 94 percent, compared to the statewide pass rate of 89 percent.

"Our Praxis II scores are consistently high, which demonstrates the strength of the college's programs," said Donna Browder Evans, dean of the College of Education.

A total of 95 percent of future high school teachers passed Principles of Learning and Teaching for grades 7-12, while 97 percent passed Principles of Learning and Teaching for grades kindergarten-6th grade, and 69 percent passed the category for grades 5-9.

A total of 100 percent of Ohio State students passed three teaching specialties, called academic content areas: social studies, physical education and art education. Other content area pass rates ranged from 99 percent to 75 percent. All Ohio State students who took the exams passed special education knowledge-based core principles and special education application of core principles.Ê

The report also contains other measures of quality. For instance, Ohio State's faculty-to-student ratio in supervising student teaching is one to 4.7. Each student teacher spent 400 hours, or 40 hours per week for 10 weeks, in elementary, middle or high schools.

The State of Ohio Department of Education and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education both have accredited Ohio State's teacher education programs.

In 2000-01, the University had 814 students enrolled in pre-service teacher education programs across four colleges: Education; the Arts; Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; and Human Ecology. The colleges graduated approximately 400 students. An estimated 80 percent to 85 percent of graduates eligible for licensure or certification to teach found positions in Ohio schools.

-- By Gemma McLuckie, College of Education

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Ohio State

For more than 10 years, Ohio State has celebrated its diverse heritages by observing Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) during the month of May. Events will be kicked off this year with a food and cultural fest on May 1 and continue throughout the month with films, art exhibits and speakers. For more information, visit www.osu.edu/ethnicstudents/AsAm/apahm or e-mail Tamara Welch at welch.157@osu.edu or Natacha Foo Kune at foo-kune.1@osu.edu.

May 1

Asian Food and Cultural Fest, 4:30-9:30 p.m., Ohio Union Ballrooms. A marketplace/food area will open in the West Ballroom at 4:30 p.m., with booths hosted by Asian American and Asian organizations. Students will perform traditional and non-traditional dances and skits for a cultural entertainment and talent showcase in the East Ballroom from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and a fashion show will take place at 7:45 p.m.

May 2

The Lotus Galleries: Exposures and Bricker, 5-7:30 p.m. reception, 2nd Floor Bricker Hall. Exhibits featuring art and photography from Asian Pacific American students, faculty and community members will be on display in the Bricker Hall gallery from May 6-31 and in the Exposures Gallery, 2nd Floor Ohio Union, from April 29-May 12.

May 3

Film: Passion for Justice, 5-7 p.m., 100 Independence Hall. Admittance into the films/documentaries is free.

May 9

Keynote Speaker Helen Zia, 5:30 p.m., Hitchcock Hall. This annual event recognizes an Asian American working on an issue that inspires, educates and brings to consciousness what is happening within Asian American and Asian heritage for the Ohio State campus and greater community. Activist and author Zia is a staunch supporter of the Asian American movement and many other social justice issues, such as civil rights, feminism, and gay and lesbian issues. Her latest book, My Country Versus Me: The First-Hand Account by the Los Alamos Scientist Who Was Falsely Accused of Being a Spy, chronicled the story of Wen Ho Lee, the scientist falsely accused of spying for the Chinese government.

May 10

Film: East is East, 5 p.m., 100 Independence Hall. A traditional Pakistani father in early 1970s England finds his family spinning in decidedly nontraditional directions.

May 24

Film: The Wedding Banquet, 5 p.m., 100 Independence Hall. A gay man from China living in the United States decides to marry a Chinese woman so she can get a green card.

May 31

Film: Mississippi Masala, 5 p.m., 100 Independence Hall. An Indian family expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power moves to Mississippi, where their daughter falls in love with a black man.

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