USAC accepting new member applications

The University Staff Advisory Committee, an advisory board to the president on non-academic, staff-related issues and concerns, is accepting applications for the 2004-07 term. Members have the opportunity to serve on a variety of universitywide and special-purpose committees, task forces and groups. The average time commitment is 15-20 hours per month.

President Karen Holbrook will appoint 10 new members from classified civil service, unclassified administrative and professional, and senior administrative and professional staff who have completed a minimum of two years of university service. The deadline is Feb. 6. Interviews will be scheduled during the week of March 1.

For details about the USAC selection process, contact Connie Goodman at 292-7685 or goodman.7@osu.edu, Roxann Damron at 247-7155 or damron-2@medctr.osu.edu, or visit the Web at http://usac.osu.edu. Applications can be submitted online.

Mann symposium series continues Jan. 24

The second program of the 2003-04 Mann Distinguished Symposium Series, "Beyond the People of the Book," will be at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 24 in 122 Main Library. The faculty panel discussion "Habent Sua Fata Libelli, Unusual Tales of Jewish Books and Their Fates" will be presented by Melton Center Professors Matt Goldish, Sam Meier and Tamar Rudavsky.

A related book exhibit, courtesy of the Ohio State Jewish Studies Library, will be on display outside room 122.

For details, call 292-0967.

Ergonomics solutions workshop is Feb. 26

Experts from the Institute for Ergonomics are offering a one-day seminar, "Ergonomic Solutions for Computer and Office Work," from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 26. Participants will learn about workstation design, ergonomic issues related to the workplace and how work environments impact working habits.

Discounts are available for groups of three or more or for registrations received before Jan. 30. For details or to register, contact the Institute for Ergonomics at 292-4565 or ergonomics@osu.edu.

Diversity lecture guests set for February

Beverly Tatum, president of Spelman College and author of the book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race, and Samuel Betances, senior diversity consultant in Souder, Betances and Associates, Inc., will be the featured speakers of the President and Provost’s Diversity Lecture series in February.

Tatum will present "50 Years After Brown v. Board of Education: Where Are We Now?" at 4 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Ohio Union. Betances will present "Building Relations Between African Americans and Latinos" at 4 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Ohio Union.

The lectures are free and open to the public. For details, contact Frank Hale at 688-4255 or visit the Web at www.osu.edu/diversity/buffer2.html.

Henderson to address Veterans Lunch Series

Army National Guard Sgt. Maj. Atrel Henderson is the guest speaker at the Veterans Lunch Series to be held from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 20, in Faculty Club rooms A-D. Veterans lunches are open to all faculty, staff and student veterans.

For details or reservations, contact Bill Hospodar at 292-7047 or hospodar.3@osu.edu.

Bennett to address AFPW luncheon

Marialice Bennett, associate professor of pharmacy, will discuss "Wellness and You ­ Aging with Style" at the Feb. 4 Association of Faculty and Professional Women luncheon, to be held from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Faculty Club.

Attendees may participate in a free health risk assessment; those participating are asked to complete a health risk questionnaire prior to Feb. 4 online at www.osumhcs.com/wellness.

Guests are welcome. The reservation deadline is noon Jan. 29. Reservation and membership forms are available on the AFPW Web site at www.afpw.osu.edu.

For luncheon details, contact Jean Dodson at 292-4453. For information about the health assessment, call 292-4700.

Computer classes offered for faculty, staff

The Office of Continuing Education is offering computing short courses for faculty and staff winter and spring quarters. Courses on spread sheeting, word processing, databases, graphics and the Web are available for all levels.

For a schedule of courses, call 292-8571 or visit the Web at www.continuinged.ohio-state.edu/CED_noncreditComp.html.

Nominations sought for grad teaching award

The Graduate School is seeking nominations for the 2004 Graduate Associate Teaching Award (GATA), the highest recognition of the exceptional teaching provided by graduate students at Ohio State. Up to 10 awards will be granted. Awardees each receive $1,500 and a plaque to be presented during a visit to their classes. The nomination deadline is Jan. 30. For details, e-mail Yolanda Zepeda at zepeda.3@osu.edu or visit the Web at www.gradsch.ohio-state.edu.

Proposals sought for FIGSA conference

The 10th Annual French and Italian Graduate Student Association (FIGSA) Conference, sponsored by the Multicultural Center and the Council on Student Affairs, is calling for papers from faculty and students. Topics dealing with Francophone literature (including Islamic and other religious issues, racial minorities and linguistic minorities) and gender studies (including sex and sexuality and women’s studies) are welcome. Papers may be presented in English, French or Italian.

The conference is April 2-3, and will feature keynote speaker Françoise Lionnet. There is no conference fee. Abstracts are due by Feb. 21 and can be e-mailed to Adriana Golumbeanu at golumbeanu.2@osu.edu.

Seminar offered for novice TAs, faculty

The Office of Faculty and TA Development is offering "Facilitating Classroom Discussion," from 3:30-5 p.m. Jan. 29 in 150 Younkin Success Center. All instructors are invited to attend. Senior teaching associates will facilitate the program, which will look at how to encourage and maintain student involvement, respond to individual contributions and employ questioning strategies.

For details or to register, visit the Web at www.acs.ohio-state.edu/education/ftad/events.html.

Fisher hosts business plan competition

The Center for Entrepreneurship at the Fisher College of Business is hosting the fourth annual Deloitte business plan competition. People with ideas to start a business can form a team and compete for $100,000 in cash and services to use as start-up funds to transform an idea into a thriving business. Each team must have at least one Ohio State student, and all students, faculty and staff are eligible to participate. Teams must register by Feb. 2.

For details or to register, visit the Web at www.centerforentrepreneurship.com.

OSU-N gallery hosts LaDuke exhibit

The LeFevre Art Gallery at Ohio State Newark is presenting Children of the World, featuring the multicultural and multimedia artwork of Betty LaDuke through March 14. The artist will discuss her work at a public reception from 2-5 p.m. Jan. 25.

Located in the lobby of LeFevre Hall, the gallery is open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays.

For more information, call the gallery at (740) 366-9369.

Deadline extended for outreach proposals

The deadline has been extended to Jan. 30 for faculty and staff to submit proposals for "Impact through Engagement: Engaging Communities and Changing Lives," an upcoming Outreach Scholarship conference to be held Oct. 3-5 at Pennsylvania State University. Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit a proposal highlighting outreach activities that enhance the community through partnerships between communities and the university.

Visit the Web at www.outreachscholarship.org for details on submitting a proposal and for additional information on the conference. 

New interdisciplinary seminar series offered

Noel Cressie, professor of statistics and director of the Program in Spatial Statistics and Environmental Sciences, and Ken Jezek of the Byrd Polar Research Center, are organizing an interdisciplinary seminar series for winter quarter on remote-sensing data.

The seminars will be held from noon-1:30 p.m. Wednesdays in 212 Cockins Hall; refreshments will be available for the first half hour.

• On Jan. 28, Mark McCord, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, will present "Incorporating Space- and Air-based Imagery in Traffic-volume Estimation."

• On Feb. 4, Beata Scatho, Byrd Polar Research Center, will present "Mapping Geomorphology by Laser Altimetry in the Antarctic Dry Valleys."

R.S.V.P. to sses@stat.ohio-state.edu. For details, e-mail Noel Cressie at cressie.1@osu.edu or visit the Web at www.stat.ohio-state.edu/~sses/events_seminar.html.

Faculty needed for spring break trips

Faculty are being sought to participate in Alternative Spring Break trips being planned by the Ohio Union and Student Activities Office for March 2004. The trips are intensive, weeklong, substance-free, community service projects in cities outside of Ohio.

Faculty are needed to provide education on a topic related to the service project or the host city, either in the form of a pre-departure educational lecture, city tours during the week of service, or discussion and reflection during the project. Faculty with expertise in volunteer service or service-learning, or the issue areas to be addressed on each of the projects -- HIV/AIDS, affordable housing and Habitat for Humanity, hunger and homelessness, and the civil rights movement.

For details, contact Jennifer Bossard, program coordinator of community service and leadership, at 247-7792 or bossard.5@osu.edu.