Photos by Kevin Fitzsimons Master gardener Edie Smith weeds a row of plants at the Waterman Farm trial vegetable garden. "PAR" on the sign refers to "plant a row," food destined for a food pantry.

Master gardeners sow seeds of opportunity for OSU Extension

A network of 3,000 plant ambassadors is helping the Ohio State Extension sow horticultural seeds of opportunity throughout Ohio.

Members of the Master Gardener program fill a variety of roles, such as developing and presenting proactive educational programs that address such critical issues as environmentally responsible gardening practices, water quality protection, yard waste management and composting; working with at-risk teens, seniors and children on garden projects; beautifying the community; and developing community or demonstration gardens.

The OSU Extension County Offices provide intensive training in horticulture to interested gardeners who then volunteer their time assisting with educational programs and activities for Ohio residents.

One such volunteer is Floyd Shepherd, 60, who has spent a lifetime gardening. After learning what he could from general interest publications and experimenting in his own garden, he developed an appetite for a more structured learning and the research-based training on which the Master Gardener program is based.

He became a certified master gardener in 1993.

Master gardener Karin Wilson waters plants at the Waterman Farm vegetable garden.

"Really, it's like an opening to the horticultural world," Shepherd said. "Master gardeners become what I call the plant ambassadors. They stand as a conduit for accurate information about gardening from OSU Extension."

One of his first projects involved helping teen-agers at a central Ohio group home start their first garden. He said it was a very interesting experience, and an effective way of shaping and channeling the teens' anti-social behavior.

"The garden becomes a behavior metaphor," Shepherd said. "The kids learned to treat the garden as a special place and, in turn, they learned to treat each other in a more socially acceptable manner."

More recently, as a master gardener he has developed a series of seminars that he delivers to garden clubs and other events. His favorite seminar, titled "The Personal Meaning of Gardens," explores the many needs that can be fulfilled through a garden. Some turn to gardening as therapy, some want to keep in touch with their heritage and others approach it as a form of expression, where the land becomes a giant canvas or work of art, Shepherd said.

Regardless of what draws them to gardening, the master gardener program is a way for volunteers to interact with others with similar interests, Shepherd said.

Karin Wilson weeds a row of plants at the Waterman Farm vegetable garden.

There are 3,000 active master gardeners statewide in the 62 Ohio counties involved. To become a master gardener, volunteers undergo a recruitment and selection process, pay a fee, and then complete 50 hours of training conducted by OSU Extension over a period of eight to 10 weeks, said Marianne Riofrio, state master gardener coordinator.

Training includes an intensive section on diagnosing plant problems to prepare master gardeners to field questions from the public. Franklin County master gardeners help answer telephone inquiries and requests for information on the Garden Information Line during the growing season. Gardeners in central Ohio can call 462-6750 from 9 a.m. until noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

"It's a lot of detective work, especially when it's over the phone," Riofrio said. "Your average gardener might not know what kind of plant they have."

Master gardener Ed Popper, 72, admits he gets stumped occasionally when answering the hotline -- mostly when it comes to questions about houseplants. When challenged, he simply refers to one of the many reference books available at the Extension office or asks another volunteer.

A 1958 graduate of Ohio State, Popper retired 10 years ago, only to return to Ohio State to study horticulture. He became familiar with the master gardener program while volunteering at Chadwick Arboretum, and became certified in 1996. The training required to become a master gardener helped launch a second career for Popper -- Best Nurseries, a wholesale tree nursery headquartered in Columbus and located halfway between Zanesville and Dresden.

"Was there a connection to the master gardener program? Absolutely," Popper said. "When you go through the program you learn about soil, fertilizer, botany and a whole host of horticulture topics."

Mona Darwin, left, and Karin Wilson discuss the day's duties in the garden at Waterman Farm.

Closer to home, Franklin County master gardeners also tend the Waterman Farm trial vegetable plots at the corner of Kenny Road and Lane Avenue, typically from about 9 to 10:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Under the guidance of Jane Martin, Franklin County Extension agent, each year master gardeners select new vegetable varieties to try out and then share their recommendations with the public at the end of the growing season.

Annette Swanberg, 54, a master gardener since 1995 and co-leader of the trial plot, said it has been a valuable learning experience.

"I've certainly discovered new varieties of vegetables to grow in my own garden that I would not have known about otherwise, and I've learned different techniques of growing," Swanberg said.

She also enjoys interacting with the public during the annual Waterman Farm Field Days, to be held this year from 4-8 p.m. Aug. 8.

The Master Gardener program is also involved in a landscape and children's gardening project with eight different Habitat for Humanity homes in Franklin County, Riofrio said.

The program originated in Seattle in 1972, and has existed in Ohio since the late 1970s. Its initial start and growth was in the more urban counties of Ohio, but has grown to include urban, suburban and rural counties.

"I think the Master Gardener program is something that is giving OSU Extension more visibility in the urban counties," Riofrio said. "A lot of non-traditional people are being introduced to the extension program, and in turn they become big supporters."

Shepherd said he is encouraged that despite tight budget times Ohio State continues to support the Master Gardener program.

"It's a good way for the University to disseminate research information to the public and, without it, there is something of a disconnect between the public and the land grant university," Shepherd said.

He said he strongly recommends the Master Gardener program to anyone that wants to learn more about plants, and wants to be connected to a group of people that have similar interests in plants. For details on the program, contact Marianne Riofrio at 292-8326 or riofrio.1@osu.edu, or visit the Web at http://mastergardener.osu.edu/ or http://webgarden.osu.edu/.

Notables

Tashjian receives award

Lee C. Tashjian Jr., vice president for University Relations, was recently named a Distinguished Communicator by the International Association of Business Communicators/Columbus. Each year, IABC/Columbus honors one professional from the central Ohio community as its Distinguished Communicator -- a person who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of professional communication in Columbus.

IABC is a not-for-profit international network of professionals committed to improving the effectiveness of organizations through strategic interactive and integrated business communication management.

Tashjian came to Ohio State in July 1999 with more than 30 years of experience in corporate marketing and communications with some of the most prominent companies in the world. President Brit Kirwan recruited Tashjian from Atlantic Richfield Co., where he was vice president for communications and public affairs.

As Ohio State's chief executive for public relations, communications and marketing, Tashjian is responsible for developing, implementing and coordinating the University's marketing and communications strategies. He manages a central staff of more than 40 people and partners with communications offices across campus.

Business competition

A team of three Ohio State students received first place and $80,000 in cash and services for their business plan at the Fisher College/Deloitte & Touche Business Plan Competition finals on June 1. They formed the company J3 MedTech to develop and market a hand-held ultrasound scanner that provides a low-cost, noninvasive screening method to aid in diagnosing melanoma. It will allow greater accuracy than a visual evaluation and reduce the need for costly biopsies that require lab work and up to a week's wait for results.

Jason Sakamoto and Jun Liu are biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidates and James Hamilton is an MD/MBA student.

Trustees accept funds, approve appointments

A $2 million gift from the estate of Carl M. and Grace C. Baldwin of Columbus will establish an endowed chair in ophthalmology at Ohio State's College of Medicine and Public Health. The annual income from the gift will provide salary support for a physician specializing in the eye, causes of blindness, restoration of sight and the treatment of patients threatened by blindness. The gift was accepted June 7 by the University's Board of Trustees along with 22 new named endowed funds, for a total of $3.5 million in private gifts given to the University in April. Trustees also accepted $20.4 million in research grants and contracts awarded to the University during April.

Named endowed funds are:

• The William H. and Laceryjette V. Casto Professorship in Interprofessional Education Fund, $304,530

• The E. W. Hatton Fund for Pediatric Pharmacy Research, $250,000

• The Dr. Herbert L. Fenburr Fund for Human Cancer Genetics Research, $232,477

• The Evelyn Moreida Krislov Scholarship Fund, $103,049

• The Fowler Physics Research Endowment Fund, $70,000

• The Kenneth B. Cummins Endowment Fund, $63,597

• The Lewis I. Day Advancement Fund, $58,846

• The Family and Consumer Sciences Education Program Fund, $51,272

• The Dr. Carleton W. Schwiesow Endowed Scholarship Fund, $47,085

• The Raymond W. Doskotch Graduate Fellowship Fund in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, $45,000

• The Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Award Fund, $29,795

• The Mollman Family Cancer Research Endowed Fund, $29,300

• Belmont County Alumni Scholarship Endowed Fund, $27,168

• The Robert Godfrey Arend Football Scholarship Fund, $26,489

• The Charles and Betty Dougherty Scholarship Fund, $25,591

• The Bruce W. Erickson Distinguished Scholar Fund, $25,000

• The Kelm Family Engineering Scholarship Fund, $25,000

• The William and Phyllis Kraner Athletic Scholarship Fund, $25,000

• The Sheffer Corporation Dean's Innovation Fund, $25,000

• Frederick A. Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, $25,000

• The Donald E. Yingst Agricultural Vice President's Fund, $25,000

• The Irene Bandy-Hedden Scholarship Fund, $15,805

University grading system amended

Trustees approved an amendment to the Rules of the University Faculty to include a new mark -- "EN" -- for nonattendance at a course. The mark will indicate that the student was properly registered for the course, but failed to complete it because of nonattendance. It does not differentiate between a student who never attended or who stopped attending during the academic term. Point-hour ratio will be 0.0 credit points.

Construction projects approved

The board approved the following construction-related matters:

• Employment of architectural/engineering firms and a construction manager for an addition to Wiseman Hall that will connect to the new Biomedical Research Tower and provide additional space for the University Laboratory Animal Resources Department. The total estimated project cost is approximately $15.7 million, with funding provided by future capital appropriations, a National Institutes of Health grant and future University bonds proceeds with debt service paid by the Laboratory Animal Resources Department.

• Employment of architectural/engineering firms for renovation of space in the basement of Prior Health Sciences Library to accommodate a Clinical Skills Laboratory for the College of Medicine and Public Health. The total estimated project cost is $1 million, with funding provided by the College of Medicine and Public Health.

• Employment of architectural/engineering firms and request for construction bids for renovation of the Meiling Hall lobby to create additional offices for the College of Medicine and Public Health. The total estimated project cost is $750,000, with funding provided by the College of Medicine and Public Health.

• Employment of up to six architectural/engineering firms to provide design services on various small projects to be accomplished through the Job Order Contract Program and other procurement methods. The selected firms will represent a variety of disciplines and expertise for all types of projects. Projects over $200,000 must have board approval prior to construction.

SciTech funding approved

Trustees authorized the University to loan the Science and Technology Campus Corp. an additional amount, not to exceed $14 million, for the next phase of development of the SciTech campus, which will include a new facility near the existing ElectroSciences Laboratory. The board heard a full presentation on the proposal at its May meeting.

Personnel appointments

The board approved the following appointments of chairpersons:

• Ardine K. Nelson, interim chair, Art, July 1 through June 30, 2003

• Michael K. Bruce, interim chair, Dance, July 1 through June 30, 2003

• Wayne E. Carlson, Industrial, Interior and Visual Communication, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• Gary Bos, Orthopaedics, Sept. 1 through June 30, 2006

Reappointment of chairpersons:

• Douglas A. Rund, Emergency Medicine, July 1 through Dec. 31, 2002

• Caroline C. Whitacre, Molecular Virolgy, Immunology and Medical Genetics, July 1 through Dec. 31, 2002

• William S. Pease, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, July 1 through Dec. 31, 2002

• Michael S. Beattie, interim chair, Neuroscience, July 1 through June 30, 2003

• Paul A. Weber, Ophthalmology, July 1 through June 30, 2003

• Radu V. Saveanu, interim chair, Psychiatry, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• David L. Denlinger, Entomology, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• Ralph E. J. Boerner, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• Kenneth Lee, Food Science and Technology, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• Lee F. Johnson, Molecular Genetics, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• Richard T. Sayre, Plant Biology, July 1 through June 30, 2006

• Robert E. Burnkrant, Marketing and Logistics, Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2006

Language journal returns to Ohio State roots

Language, the journal of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), has returned to its roots at Ohio State under the editorship of Brian D. Joseph, professor of linguistics and Kenneth E. Naylor Professor of South Slavic Linguistics.

"Language has returned home -- it is among the most major of journals now being edited at Ohio State, with over 6,000 subscribers, and is the premier journal in the field of linguistics. Moreover, it has an interesting OSU connection," said Joseph, who holds appointments in the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures.

Joseph explains that the journal began in 1925 when the Linguistic Society was founded. Two of the founding members of the society and the first editor of the journal were faculty members at Ohio State. Leonard Bloomfield, then an assistant professor in the German Department, drafted and circulated, on Nov. 15, 1924, to other academics around the country a call for the creation of a learned society devoted to, quite straightforwardly, "the science of language."

George Melville Bolling, then a professor in the Classics Department at OSU, joined in the call and became the first editor of Language when the society was formed and the journal was started the following year.

Bolling served as editor for 15 years, until 1939. Joseph is the sixth editor the journal has had since its inception. The first issue under his editorship came out in May. He is serving a seven-year term.

Now in its 78th year, Language prints four issues per year, with approximately 225 pages per issue. It publishes scholarly works on linguistics, of a mostly technical nature, covering: linguistic theory; the description of interesting and unusual phenomena in languages of the world; topics in the historical development of individual languages; issues in language acquisition; experimental results on language perception and language processing; and investigations in the area of computational linguistics.

Occasionally, there are reports on endangered languages, discussions of pedagogical issues in the teaching of linguistics and other items with more general appeal, including a wide range of reviews of books dealing with language and linguistics in the broadest sense, and periodic surveys of "hot" issues in the field of linguistics.

While all of Language's authors are prominent in their own right in the field at large, several over the years have achieved name recognition even among nonlinguists, including, in recent years, Noam Chomsky, Joseph Greenberg, John McWhorter, Steven Pinker and Deborah Tannen, as well as, from earlier days, Alfred L. Kroeber, Edward Sapir, Benjamin Lee Whorf and Bloomfield.

Operations for the journal are supported mainly by the LSA, but Ohio State's contributions are crucial -- they include office space in Mount Hall and a graduate research assistant to help with all aspects of production.