OHIO UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES GIVE SUPPORT TO UNIVERSITY POSITION ON DYSART WOODS

12/12/97

ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University will be filing a "petition for unsuitability" in February in an attempt to stop longwall coal mining in a watershed area surrounding Dysart Woods -- a 455-acre land laboratory, including 50 acres of old growth virgin forest in Belmont County -- Ohio University trustees were told at their meeting here Friday.

While no formal action was taken by the board, individual trustees on the board's Budget, Finance and Physical Plant Committee voiced unopposed support for the administration's opposition to anticipated mining permit requests from the Ohio Valley Coal Co. The company owns mineral rights under and around the woods, which are part of the 1 percent of uncleared native hardwoods that remain of Ohio's forest from colonial days. Ohio University has owned Dysart Woods since 1966.

The petition of unsuitability will be filed with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over mining applications.

Graduate student Chad Kister, a member of the Campus Greens student environmental group, asked the board to oppose not only the anticipated request to mine under the woods, but also a pending permit that is near the woods and which will encroach on a corner of the land's watershed area. The university was informed by its own scientific consultant, however, that mining in this "permit 7" area should not have an adverse impact on the woods.

"The committee uniformly understands and believes that Dysart Woods is an important area that needs to be preserved and protected," said trustee Victor Goodman. "The question is how to go about it, and that matter is under consideration."

Gary North, vice president for administration, said the university's position "is that any mining activity beyond the area identified in permit 7 could have an adverse impact on the woods and should not be permitted to occur."

The permit applications are for longwall mining, which is a form of mining in which machines take out entire sections of a seam of coal. This permits the mine roof and surfaced area to subside, or sink down. Subsidence can cause both geologic and hydrologic disturbances which may deplete the ground water supply and can cause damage to vegetation and wildlife habitats.

In other action, the board:

• Accepted a report by Provost Sharon S. Brehm outlining the university's efforts to attract and retain minority students for a more diverse campus. The main campus' freshman class included 116 African-American students, down from 121 the year before. Total enrollment of African-American undergraduate, graduate and medical college students in Athens stands at 673, down 3.6 percent from in fall 1996. The trend in attracting Hispanic students is more encouraging, with 45 in this year's freshman class compared to 29 in 1996. Brehm said the new Advisory Council on Minority Recruitment and Retention, along with the offices of Financial Aid and Admissions, are considering several additional initiatives to increase minority enrollment. Possibilities include more outreach programs, campus visits that link prospective students with the College of Business and other academic areas, and more access grants for underrepresented students.
  
  
• Heard a presentation detailing the successes of the university's Career Services program. The office made 72,000 resume referrals in 1996-97, up from about 30,000 the year before. Vice President for Student Affairs Joel Rudy attributed the increase to new computer software that allows the resumes to be transmitted to potential employers electronically. Rudy also said Career Services can take at least partial credit for the fact that 70 percent to 75 percent of Ohio University seniors have lined up jobs by the time they graduate.