Ohio State hosts ACE conference

By Kevin Fitzsimons President Karen Holbrook gives opening remarks at the American Council on Education/Office of Women in Higher Education network conference Nov. 21 at the Fawcett Center. Panelists Sister Francis Thrailkill, College of Mount St. Joseph, center, and Christa Adams, Owens Community College, joined three other university and community college leaders to discuss their career paths.

Reducing stress improves quality of life for cancer patients, Andersen tells community

By JEFF GRABMEIER, Research Communications

Few things in life can create more stress and anxiety than a diagnosis of cancer. Women who have been told they have breast cancer describe the time after they were diagnosed "as the most stressful days of my life."

With everything else that is going on in their lives, does it really matter that cancer patients feel incredible amounts of stress?

	Distinguished University Lecture
By Al Zanyk Distinguished University Lecturer Barbara Andersen addresses the university community Nov. 20.

The answer is a resounding yes, says Barbara Andersen, professor of psychology and obstetrics and gynecology. In her University Distinguished Lecture Nov. 20 at the Wexner Center, Andersen described the groundbreaking work she and her colleagues have done in the Stress and Immunity Breast Cancer Project.

The results of the project so far have revealed that the stress that cancer patients feel just after diagnosis can predict their future quality of life and the strength of their immune function. The good news is that Andersen's team has also developed a behavioral intervention program that can help control stress and actually help patients live better -- and perhaps longer -- lives.

"Cancer is common, all too common. It is estimated that one in three people will eventually be diagnosed with cancer," Andersen said. "It is no wonder with data such as these, individuals would want and hope that psychological and behavioral factors -- aspects of ourselves, something under our control -- could play a role in fighting disease."

The project so far has involved 227 women who were diagnosed and surgically treated for breast cancer. The participants in the study were approached within days of learning that additional treatment, such as chemotherapy, would be needed.

"Most of these individuals are immersed in a world about which they know very little -- feeling muddled, bewildered, unable to concentrate and forgetful," Andersen said. "But then, maybe one wants to be forgetful. Because when you listen and walk away, one realizes what is coming is cancer treatment."

As expected, the researchers found that this stress was harmful to the women's health. Results showed that those with the highest level of cancer-specific stress also showed lower immune responses. This may leave the women vulnerable to a variety of illnesses and possibly even the cancer itself.

The researchers developed a program designed to fight the stress. Some of the women were enrolled in a four-month intervention program in which they joined a group of eight to 12 breast cancer patients. The groups were led by Deanna Golden-Kreutz, a psychology research associate.

Andersen said a variety of interventions were used with these groups to help them reduce stress and adopt healthy habits. The groups met once a week. In some of the sessions, women simply talked about what they were going through and offered support to one another. They were also taught strategies like progressive muscle relaxation that would help them cope actively with their stress.

They were given assertiveness training so they could better deal with the health care system and feel more comfortable asking for help from their family and those around them.

One of the most popular topics was diet. Patients learned how to reduce fat from their diet, to increase their consumption of fruits and fiber, and how to make healthier food choices.

In addition, the women were given help to begin an exercise program, quit smoking and comply with their medication regimens. The intensive phase of the intervention ended after four months, but a maintenance phase of monthly meetings continued for another eight months. The gains women made did not diminish during the main-tenance phase.

After the one-year study was completed, the participants were glad to see their progress but sad to see the groups end. But in some ways, the groups never really did end, Andersen said. Many of the members stay in touch.

"The women are back at work, they are back at home," she said. "In fact, one of the women just had a baby. And they're having fun. Not that they couldn't have had fun before, but now they have the energy to have fun."

The researchers will continue to follow these women to see if the beneficial impact continues, and if the women who participate have longer disease-free periods and longer survival rates. As of now, the researchers have funding to follow the women for 10 years, she said.

The University Distinguished Lectureship recognizes outstanding faculty at Ohio State, giving recipients the chance to discuss their work with the community and a $5,000 award to support an academic program or project of the lecturer's choice. Andersen is using her award in support of the Graduate Program in Clinical and Health Psychology.

OSU hosts national riot prevention conference

Task force launches long-term campaign after short-term success

By JONI BENTZ SEAL, onCAMPUS staff

Three days shy of the anniversary of the OSU-Michigan game riots, President Karen Holbrook opened a two-day conference at Ohio State to address the escalating frequency of celebratory rioting in campus neighborhoods around the nation. More than 160 administrative, law enforcement and civic group representatives from 16 states and 35 university communities attended the National Conference Addressing Issues Related to Celebratory Riots Nov. 20-21 to share ideas and formulate strategies to prevent destructive disturbances. The conference was co-sponsored by Ohio State and the University of Minnesota with the U.S. Department of Justice.

"This conference is about changing behavior and changing culture," Holbrook said in her opening remarks. "It's about taking small steps to stem the tide of abusive and destructive fan behavior at our institutions and across the nation, and sharing best practices used by universities across the country to make progress on a nationwide issue to uphold an environment of civility and respect for the game and our athletes."

Myles Brand, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, was the keynote speaker at the dinner session Nov. 20. Holbrook said his attendance at the conference is an indication of the NCAA's support in returning to the "proud traditions" of college athletics through acceptable rituals and respectful fan behavior.

David Andrews, dean of the College of Human Ecology and chair of Ohio State's Task Force on Preventing Celebratory Riots -- convened by Holbrook and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman last year after the Michigan riot -- said the conference provided an opportunity to share information among institutions that have experienced such disturbances and are trying to prevent them.

"We also had teams from schools that haven't had these occurrences who were approaching it from more of a prevention standpoint, trying to learn and stay ahead of the problem," he said. "Because of the task force's work, Ohio State was able to contribute to the effective measures shared at the conference, and emerged as a leader in this national dilemma."

Andrews said that while the task force focused on a number of areas -- including celebration management, young adult behavior, and community, communication and culture -- in nearly every case the group studied, alcohol emerged as the main culprit.

"It was clear we needed to be more consistent in enforcing underage drinking and open container laws, especially but not exclusively related to game days," Andrews said, adding that it was difficult for the university to expect one standard of behavior in the neighborhoods east of High Street late in the evening, and a completely different standard several hours earlier on Lane Avenue on game days.

"That double standard didn't go unnoticed by students," he said. "We needed to be more consistent in the way we approached enforcement of open containers -- which was a challenge with our alumni -- but it was well worth the effort when you looked at the atmosphere around the stadium that later translated into a more positive attitude and behavior in the neighborhoods."

Completing the regular football season incident-free is an indication that the task force's short-term action plan is working, according to Bill Hall, vice president for student affairs.

"We had fewer arrests and citations as the season progressed, there was a great reduction in the amount of trash left behind on the streets and parking lots, and we received fewer complaints about vulgar or threatening behavior toward visitors," Hall said. "Many people have commented favorably about the improved atmosphere along Lane Avenue, and most students seem to appreciate the fairness of enforcing the law equally."

Hall said the university's efforts to improve communication appear to have been effective because students now act with more awareness of the laws and the penalties for breaking them and seem less inclined to take risks.

"There also has been very positive response to the increase in activities made possible by the Student Activity Fee, and I expect that to continue to grow as the programming becomes more established and students become more accustomed to looking for those activities."

Long-term campaign

Now in the form of a nine-member implementation team, the work of the task force is not finished. Andrews said a long-term campaign is underway to instill pride and promote a safe, positive and responsible environment in the future.

"We're identifying the top three to four recommendations for the long-term campaign and will be developing issue teams, composed of an equal mix of students and faculty/administrators from areas best suited to address and implement those issues," Andrews said.

The campaign is about changing the culture, not just related to athletic events, but promoting responsible behavior regardless of occasion, he added.

"It is a long-term process to change culture, and we will continue to work toward implementing the recommendations of the task force," Andrews said. "We're trying to encourage a culture of responsibility among students, and student engagement and ownership is the key."

Kroger executive will deliver commencement address

Ceremony begins new tradition of Sunday commencements

By AMY MURRAY, Media Relations

M. Marnette Perry, senior vice president of The Kroger Co., will be the speaker for autumn quarter commencement exercises at 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at St. John Arena. Approximately 1,700 degrees will be awarded during the ceremony -- the first Sunday commencement at Ohio State since 1943. Commencement ceremonies had been held on Friday mornings for the past 60 years.

The move to Sunday commencements was approved earlier this year as a way to make it more convenient for families to attend the ceremony. Campus visitors should also find it easier to park since they won't have to compete for spaces with normal weekday university traffic.

M. Marnette Perry

Ohio State joins nearly every public institution in Ohio and nearly every Big Ten school, in moving to Sunday commencement. Only Miami University, the University of Cincinnati and Shawnee State continue to hold commencement on Friday. Most Big Ten universities hold several ceremonies over the course of one or two weekends. Ohio State's practice of holding a single, campuswide ceremony for graduates of all colleges is a rarity.

Perry joined Kroger in 1972 as a part-time cashier in Portsmouth, while attending Ohio University. During her 31-year career with the company, she has held numerous roles of increasing responsibility and achieved many "firsts." In 1997, she was promoted to president of Kroger's Michigan division, becoming the first woman in the company's history to lead a retail division. Three years later, she was named president of Kroger's Columbus division. 

In March 2003, she was named group vice president for perishable products and moved to company headquarters in Cincinnati. She was promoted to senior vice president in July, with responsibility for seven of Kroger's 17 retail divisions. Kroger is one of the nation's largest retail grocery chains, with more than 2,500 stores in 32 states.

Perry is a member of the Ohio University Board of Trustees and a former member of the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees. She also has served as a member of the Ohio State University Medical Center Planning Group, and on the boards of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA), Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Columbus Downtown Development Corp., the United Way of Columbus, and the Foundation Board of Children's Hospital.

Among her numerous professional awards, Perry received the Grant Thornton Executive Woman of the Year award in 2000 in Detroit. She also has been named YWCA Career Woman of Achievement in both Cincinnati and Detroit.