Distinguished Faculty and Staff recognized at halftime ceremony
Photos by Kevin Fitzsimons Distinguished Staff Award recipients, from left, Leslie Beyer-Hermsen, assistant dean, Ohio State Marion; Randy Nemitz, communication and technology site coordinator, OARDC; Sandra Daly, graduate program coordinator, School of Public Health; and Distinguished University Professor Brian Joseph, Department of Linguistics, proudly sing Ohio's praise during the Faculty and Staff Recognition Day ceremony at halftime during the OSU-Purdue game Nov. 15.
	OSU defensive end Mike Kudla recovers a fumble for the Buckeye's lone touchdown in their 16-13 overtime win over Purdue.

Alliance to increase minority graduates in science, technology fields

By SHANNON WINGARD, Media Relations

A $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will help Ohio universities and partners work together to significantly increase the number of minority students who earn bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. The NSF initiative, the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program, is named in honor of the congressman from Cleveland and currently funds 31 alliances nationwide.

Ohio State will lead a consortium of 15 universities and four other agencies in the state to form the Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance. The alliance aims to double the number of minority undergraduate students earning bachelor's degrees in science and high-tech fields and increase the number of minority students who go on to pursue graduate degrees.

The NSF grant provides $700,000 annually for five years to support projects designed to enhance the recruitment, retention and graduation of minority students as well as to encourage participants to attend graduate school. Funds also will be used to support initiatives of the alliance, such as a statewide undergraduate research symposium and research-based internships at consortium institutions, as well as individual campus mentoring, tutoring and supplemental instruction.

President Karen Holbrook will serve as the principal investigator and chair of the alliance's governing board. Susan Huntington, dean of the Graduate School, is co-principal investigator. Holbrook said the collaboration is an example of the statewide commitment to recruit and retain minority students who are excelling academically.

"The alliance is a unique effort to enhance minority student participation in areas that are critical to the state's future,"she said. "This is an important initiative for Ohio, and I am delighted that we are helping to lead the effort."

The alliance will address key issues, beginning with the freshman experience and following through with research opportunities for juniors and seniors. It also will focus on professional development, including networking opportunities for students and workshops for faculty and staff who work with campus programs involved in the alliance.

Jean Girves, former associate director of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, an academic consortium of 12 major teaching and research universities in the Midwest, will serve as the project director. She said the alliance institutions will share effective strategies and will develop new strategies for recruiting and retaining minority students in science and high-tech fields.

"All of the institutions have programs or activities in place that support the goals of this alliance,"Girves said. "We want to put together an infrastructure that will complement and enhance these activities as well as foster cooperation across the state. Once an effective infrastructure is in place, we can broaden the collaboration to include more fields and students."

The alliance also will enhance minority students' awareness of the advantages of pursuing graduate school, said Huntington. It will allow students to become familiar with graduate programs at universities around the state to find the right or best fit, she said.

"One size does not always fit all in terms of institutions,"Huntington said. "We want to ensure that students with an interest in these fields of study are in the program most suited to them."

Huntington said the universities involved in the alliance will work together to recruit and support students. In addition to Ohio State, the institutions involved are: the universities of Akron, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo; and Bowling Green State, Case Western Reserve, Central State, Cleveland State, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, Wilberforce, Wright State and Youngstown State universities.

In addition, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Ohio Board of Regents, COSI and the Ohio College Access Network are members of the new alliance. Other organizations may join the alliance in the future.

Girves said this is a unique partnership among Ohio universities and agencies. "To my knowledge, these Ohio institutions have not worked together in this way before,"Girves said. "This is a true collaboration designed to foster the success of minority students across Ohio."

Above, the Lane Avenue bridge opened to pedestrians with much fanfare Nov. 14. Below, President Karen Holbrook speaks at the ribbon cutting ceremony, which was attended by Gov. Bob Taft, Franklin County Engineer Dean Ringle, and Franklin County Commissioner Dewey Stokes. The bridge opened to motorists Nov. 17.

Photos by Jo McCulty

Lane Avenue bridge now open

One project finishes while others commence

By RANDY GAMMAGE, onCAMPUS staff

Although several new construction projects are scheduled to begin in the next few months, the Nov. 17 opening of the new Lane Avenue bridge signals a wave of projects scheduled for completion over the same time period.

The six-lane, cable-stayed bridge over the Olentangy River offers significant relief for motorists previously limited to two lanes on the Woody Hayes Drive bridge. A Franklin County Engineer's project, the Lane Avenue bridge was completed five months ahead of schedule after nearly a year and a half of intensive construction work.

Sarah Blouch, director of transportation and parking services, said her office has fielded far more complaints about traffic this year, particularly relating to the Tuttle Park Place and Woody Hayes Drive roadways during peak hours.

She attributed the increase to the simultaneous bridge and Lane Avenue widening project work.

"Now that Lane Avenue is open at the bridge, we should see less traffic along Woody Hayes Drive as motorists now have one more option to get around,"Blouch said.

More relief is in store as the Lane Avenue widening project progresses. Road bed work from Neil Avenue east to High Street is scheduled to be completed by July 2004. Traffic will be maintained.

Meanwhile, work on the Woody Hayes bridge continues, with the completion expected by the end of 2004. One-lane traffic in each direction remains open while the bridge is built one side at a time. Traffic is scheduled to shift to the completed side Dec. 19, allowing for demolition and replacement of the existing bridge span beginning in January, Blouch said.

Pedestrian safety should benefit when a new entrance to the Polo Lot off 10th Avenue is completed by the end of November and a timed traffic signal is installed.

"I think people are becoming more aware and getting a little more used to watching for pedestrians in construction zones,"Blouch said.

Major projects scheduled to begin soon, and the predicted traffic and parking impacts, include:

• Neil Avenue and 12th Avenue improvements, scheduled for February-July 2004, will have major vehicular and pedestrian impacts. Twelfth Avenue will be reduced to one lane eastbound for unspecified periods during this time as it is widened to three lanes to accommodate the anticipated traffic impacts of the state Route 315 ramps in the future, Blouch said. A signal light will be installed at 12th and Neil.

• A Health Sciences Quadrangle, a civic improvement to beautify and create a gateway to the Medical Center, is scheduled for construction from February-July 2004. The project calls for realignment of Ninth Avenue, which will result in it being closed to through traffic between Cannon and Neil during portions of this time period.

• The Biomedical Research Tower, set to begin in February or March 2004, will significantly increase construction traffic on and off 12th at Cannon Drive, Blouch said. The Wiseman Hall parking lot will be removed permanently and temporary parking losses near Parks Hall in the South Lincoln Lot also will occur.

• The Robinson Laboratory replacement will begin in January with abatement and demolition work on the building itself. Disability parking on Magruder Avenue will be relocated and through traffic on Magruder will be prohibited, making 18th Avenue parking inaccessible until construction is complete in mid- to late-2006.

• North steam tunnel renovations underneath 19th Avenue will limit traffic on 19th from December through next April or May. The core circulator bus route operated by the Campus Area Bus Service will be unable to run down 19th and thus must shut down from December until fall 2004.

"I do believe winter and spring quarters will be the worst yet, as far as the impact construction will have on traffic and parking,"Blouch said. "However, things should settle down considerably this summer as a number of projects wrap up, including the Heart Hospital, state Route 315 ramps (to the Medical Center) and the new hospitals garage, which will add 975 desperately needed parking spaces."

Other projects to be completed in the near future include the Knowlton School of Architecture (April 2004) and Hagerty Hall (July 2004). As utility work for the South Campus Gateway project nears completion, east and west 11th and 10th avenues are now open to traffic. At the end of November, Chittenden and East Ninth will open to traffic and High Street will open to four lanes of traffic.

For regular updates on construction projects that may affect the way you travel to or around campus, visit the Time and Change Construction Awareness site on the Web at http://constructionawareness.osu.edu/ or visit www.tp.ohio-state.edu/construction/index.shtml.

Ohio State voice heard at media dinner

By Diane Bondareff President Karen Holbrook makes a point during the Higher Education/National News Media Roundtable at the New York Press Club Nov. 11. Holbrook was one of 11 university leaders invited to the annual event, which is hosted by Arizona State University in an effort to raise the media's awareness of issues facing higher education on a national level. ASU President Michael Crow facilitated the free-flowing exchange among the academic leaders and more than 30 members of the national media on a wide variety of topics, including college accessibility, the transition from high school to college and competition for students.