Photos by Jo McCulty Vinay Nadig receives his diploma from Susan Huntington, dean of the Graduate School, as Associate Dean Elliot Slotnick and Tim Watson, Graduate School program associate, look on. Nadig received his master's in electrical engineering, and was followed by master's candidates Brian Nartker, center, environmental science; and Vijay Neelakantan, left, mechanical engineering.

Parker discusses ‘greatest gift of education'

More than 1,500 graduate at winter quarter commencement

By Shannon Wingard, Media Relations

"The greatest gift an education gives is perspective," said Professor of History Geoffrey Parker during his winter quarter commencement address to more than 1,500 Ohio State graduates March 21 in St. John Arena.

Parker found that statement about education in the autobiography titled Convicted in the Womb, by Carl Upchurch, an invited guest at the ceremony. Upchurch, who founded and directs the Columbus-based Council for Urban Peace and Justice, believes education is the key to a better life. He has dedicated his life to showing people "convicted in the womb" that "education can provide the structure, as well as the perspective, to keep them out of prison."

An expert on European and military history, Parker holds a joint appointment in the Department of History and at the Mershon Center, Ohio State's center for interdisciplinary study of international security and public policy.

Holding a copy of Carl Upchurch's autobiography Convicted in the Womb, from which he based his speech, Geoffrey Parker urged graduates to give back to the community.

Before joining the Ohio State faculty in 1997, Parker taught at Yale University, the University of Illinois, the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

As a worldwide lecturer and recipient of many honors, Parker was named a Fellow of the British Academy -- the highest honor open to scholars in the Humanities in Great Britain -- in 1984, and in 1992, the King of Spain made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic in recognition of his work on Spanish history.

Parker reminded people to take the responsibility as college graduates seriously.

"In our bicentennial world of restricted opportunities and rewards, our system will inevitably operate to the benefit of the strongest and the best-organized groups of citizens; and you, with the professional expertise that we have tried to give you here, will be among the most powerful of these groups," Parker said. "Many hard decisions will face you in the years ahead. The admirable commitment to excellence and the breathtaking skills that have brought you here today will help you; but please remember that the foundation of lasting power and privilege has always been responsibility and morality."

He cited the Eden Project in Cornwall, England, that examines what the world would look like if it had a population of 100 people. Based on existing ratios, which were documented in the project, Parker said 80 people would live in sub-standard housing, 70 would be unable to read, 50 would suffer from malnutrition and one person would have a high school education.

"If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and your own bed to sleep in, then you are richer than 75 percent of the world's population. And if you have a high school diploma, you're in the top 1 percent," Parker said.

Parker said the best way to narrow the degree of inequity among people in the world is by helping those who are less fortunate. While other species throughout the world eat roughly the same amount of food, "among members and groups of the human species today, we find differences in daily consumption of 100 to 1. As a historian, I know that such extreme and visible inequities cannot last, or cannot last in peace."

Parker said giving back to the community is the best way to make a difference. "Invest an irrationally large amount of effort to help others, even though, it apparently offers no benefit to you, because eventually, cumulatively, it will reduce inequity and so enhance our collective chances of survival."

As the graduates begin the next phase of their lives, Parker encouraged them to remember the example set by Upchurch and others like him.

"Many hard decisions will face you in the years ahead," Parker said. "Therefore, as you make those hard decisions, please look beyond your own personal welfare, and beyond the advantage of your own professional and social group, to the well-being of the whole world in which we all must live."

A native of Nottingham, England, Parker earned his B.A. degree from Cambridge University in 1965, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Cambridge in 1968. He received a Litt.D. degree from Cambridge in 1981 and an honorary Litt.D. from the University of Brussels in 1990 for his publications in European history. Parker has published widely on the social, political and military history of Europe. In all, he has written, edited or co-edited 31 books and 80 articles. In 1987 he was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. receives an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from President Karen Holbrook.

Commencement Awards

Five individuals were honored with commencement awards for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university.

Honorary doctorates were presented to:

• Eva Klein, professor of tumor biology at the Karolinska Institute's Microbiology and Tumor Biology Center in Sweden, a Doctor of Science;

• Elizabeth McKeever Ross, a 1940 graduate of Ohio State who has played a vital role in the cultural and philanthropic life of central Ohio, a Doctor of Humane Letters; and

• Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., one of America's most influential scholars and Pulitzer Prize winner, a Doctor of Humane Letters.

Distinguished Service Awards were presented to:

• Jane Fawcett-Hoover, vice president of national government relations for The Procter & Gamble Company and daughter of Novice G. Fawcett, who served as president of Ohio State from 1956-72; and

• Charles W. Lifer, professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural Education.

Tickets available for April 16 installation of Holbrook

Ohio State's Board of Trustees will formally install Karen Holbrook as the 13th president of the university during an investiture ceremony at 3 p.m. April 16 in Mershon Auditorium.

Invitations were mailed last week to some 1,700 guests, representing Ohio State faculty, students, staff and advisory boards, as well as public officials and the presidents of other Ohio and Big Ten universities. Faculty, staff and students who wish to attend may pick up free tickets at several Columbus campus locations and at the regional campuses. (See listing below.)

The investiture is an opportunity for various constituencies to formally welcome Holbrook to Ohio State. The platform party is expected to include all members of the university's Board of Trustees; President's Cabinet; deans; student, alumni, faculty and staff representatives; and public officials.

"An academic investiture signals the beginning of a new era in the university's life," said James F. Patterson, chairman of the Board of Trustees. "For Ohio State it is a recognition of the foundation of our mission as a great public institution and an opportunity for President Holbrook to share her vision for the future of Ohio State as one of the nation's pre-eminent universities."

Following remarks by Patterson and the reading of a poem by Ohio State Poet Laureate David Citino, Holbrook will be sworn in as president and presented with the medallion of office. She then will deliver her speech, to be followed by other greetings and comments before the event concludes at approximately 4 p.m. with the singing of Carmen Ohio.

In respect for the difficult budget times, the president and the Investiture Committee have chosen to mark the occasion in a modest way with minimal fanfare; however, a host of related events in April and May will mark this important milestone both in Holbrook's career and in the university's 133-year history.

"One of the committee's biggest challenges was planning a celebratory yet fiscally responsible event," said Bunny Clark, Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Investiture Committee. "President Holbrook deserves a welcome befitting the president of a great university like Ohio State, and I believe faculty, staff and students are looking forward to being a part of this momentous occasion."

Complete information about the ceremony and related events is available at www.osu.edu/investiture.

Pick up free tickets at the following locations:

• Board of Trustees Office, 210 Bricker Hall

• Deans' Offices, including regional campuses

• Drake Performance and Event Center, 1002 Drake Union

• Hale Center, front desk

• Kuhn Honors House

• Ohio Union, reception area, 237 Ohio Union

• University Hospitals Administration Office, S103 Rhodes Hall

• Wexner Center Ticket Office

Regional campuses integral

Holbrook tells board at meeting in Mansfield

By Joni Bentz Seal, onCAMPUS staff

In a theme apropos of the location, President Karen Holbrook acknowledged the integral role the regional campuses play in pursuit of the Academic Plan as she addressed the Board of Trustees at its April 4 meeting at the Mansfield campus.

Holbrook first paid tribute to the 16 years of service Ohio State Mansfield Dean and Director John Riedl, who is retiring June 30, has contributed to the campus and community.

"In various roles during his 36 years with Ohio State, Dean Riedl has forged close ties among the regional and Columbus campuses, pursued academic quality in a student-friendly environment, and helped build the Mansfield campus into a valuable resource for the community," she said.

She announced his successor, Evelyn Freeman, director of the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education.

The integral role of the regionals

Holbrook then focused on an issue that has become of vital concern to land grant research universities: the tension between access and excellence.

Citing the appropriateness of the meeting's locale, Holbrook stressed that the regional campuses play an important part in resolving that tension.

"As the 1999 Kellogg Commission report stresses, ‘access to, through and from' the university is what matters; therefore, the real challenge is not access alone but access to success," Holbrook said. "Our regional campuses offer students access to the excellence of an Ohio State education in a supportive setting that helps them succeed."

Holbrook noted that the demands for access are intensifying in Ohio and across the nation for a number of reasons, including a projected increase in the number of high school graduates and college applicants in the next few years and the shifting student profile to a more diverse and older student body; the fact that a college degree is requisite in today's knowledge economy; and that the uncertain economy and tight job market are driving more students to college. And, with improved quality, modest tuition and the desire for many students to study closer to home, public universities are becoming more attractive than ever, she said.

This is where the regional campuses become critical to the success of the Academic Plan, Holbrook said. The six core strategies of the plan are designed to achieve the goal of excellence and earn Ohio State a world-class reputation, and the regional campuses are playing a role in a number of them.

Preserving accessibility

Although public research universities no longer offer the universal access they once did, Holbrook said several alternative avenues connect students to higher education and specifically, to public research universities.

"Our regional campuses play a critical role in helping us to preserve access, which is persuasively documented in the report of the Presidential Commission on Regional Campuses," she said. "That report sets the stage for the continued development of the strengths of our regional campuses."

Barriers to access

In addition to the challenges of competitive admissions, Holbrook said public universities must address other barriers to access.

One barrier is admissibility.

"We might like to believe that individual institutions set the standards for admissibility, but the Michigan cases have shown us that some factors are beyond our control," Holbrook said. She suggested admissibility also is affected by citizenship, because international students are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain visas to allow them to study in the United States.

A second barrier to access is inadequate college preparation in high school. Holbrook believes universities share some responsibility for this barrier because they prepare the teachers who prepare the students -- an issue that is being addressed in the university's P-12 Project and University Teacher Education Council, as well as through several outreach programs to promote college preparatory curricula in high schools, especially those serving children of low-income families.

A third barrier is affordability. Holbrook said that in Ohio, state appropriations for higher education have been cut by more than $303 million over the last three years -- a decrease of $1,000 per student. Unfortunately, Holbrook said, these lost funds are being recovered at public universities through tuition increases, which averaged 9.1 percent this past year.

"When we increased tuition at Ohio State last year, the first item we funded from the tuition increase was $3 million in financial aid to cover every cent of the increase above the standard 6 percent increase," Holbrook said. "We made a commitment that no academically eligible student should be turned away for financial reasons, but this is increasingly challenging, as federal and state governments cut back on support for student financial aid."

Holbrook said that while the regional campuses help ease these barriers, so do the university's articulation agreements with community colleges, which offer a similarly accessible and affordable stepping stone.

"The connections between Columbus and the regional campuses and our relationships with community colleges provide opportunity for students who are successful in those venues to obtain access to the benefits of a research university and the many academic programs offered on the Columbus campus," Holbrook said. "While we work to fulfill the goal of academic excellence articulated in the Academic Plan, we must continue to ensure that access is linked to higher education and to excellence, for the citizens of Ohio."

Airport auction benefits operation feed

The Ohio State Airport is sponsoring an online silent auction to benefit the university's Operation Feed campaign. Ohio State faculty and staff are invited to participate in the auction by submitting bids April 29 and 30, from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., by accessing www.osuairport.org.  Dottie Gordon, Operation Feed auction coordinator, stands before many of the donated items available.   Courtesy of OSU Airport

Operation Feed 2003 begins April 14

By Susan Wittstock, onCAMPUS staff

Aline Davis may not have been thrilled 10 years ago when she was first assigned the task of coordinating the Operation Feed campaign for her department, but she rolled up her sleeves and set to work anyway. "It's just that whatever you give me to do, I'll just go all out," Davis said. "We have all kinds of fund-raisers over here. Whatever we think will work."

For Davis, going all out means making candy-filled construction paper Easter baskets to sell to faculty, staff and students at the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design and the Ohio Supercomputer Center, and organizing a chili cook-off, a taco lunch, a bake sale and, some years, even a raffle or two. Her efforts helped her unit collect more than $200 and 145 pounds of food for Operation Feed 2002, and she's anticipating another busy stretch of weeks fund-raising for Operation Feed 2003.

This year's drive, which benefits the Mid-Ohio FoodBank, takes place on the Columbus campus April 14-May 9. Through financial and food donations, Operation Feed supports 228 food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters in six central Ohio counties. The Office of Human Resources coordinates the effort at Ohio State.

Food items most needed this year are: beef or chicken stew, canned fruit, canned pasta meals, canned vegetables, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and canned tuna or other canned meats. Financial donations also are welcome. Donations are measured in meals: Every pound of food provides one meal and every dollar provides two meals.

A Krispy Kreme doughnut sale to benefit the drive will be held on April 30 in select units and offices across campus.

Last year, faculty, staff and students donated a record-breaking $22,013 and 11,920 pounds of food, the equivalent of 54,820 meals.

"Ohio State has been a leader in the community in support of Operation Feed. Every year, we see a fabulous increase in the amount of food and dollars donated," said Ned Cullom, program manager for human resources and campus coordinator of Operation Feed.

Donators can be sure all donations will be used to provide meals to needy individuals in central Ohio, Cullom said. "Every dollar collected goes to purchase food -- none goes to salaries, supplies or administrative costs," he said, because of support provided by the City of Columbus and Franklin County Commissioners.

Davis usually gets help from co-workers to put together the Easter baskets, using donated materials. Each basket is folded from a 12 inch by 18 inch piece of construction paper, and filled with green grass, candies and a plastic egg filled with jelly beans. It is then wrapped in a clear plastic bag and tied with a bright ribbon. Davis fills the shelves near her receptionist desk with the baskets for the week before Easter, sells them for $2 each, and donates all money collected to Operation Feed.

Food is Davis' favorite enticement, whether raising funds for the Campus Campaign, the Community Charitable Drive or Operation Feed: "The thing is, people are going to eat. They will pay the money to eat," she said.

For more information about Operation Feed, contact your college/office Operation Feed coordinator or call Cullom at 292-4341.