2/4/97

The following Ohio University professors are available for insightful interviews on topics in the news. Please contact Dwight Woodward at 614/593-1886 to arrange an interview.

POSTAGE STAMP HONORING FIRST BLACK GENERAL RELEASED FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH:
February is Black History Month, a fitting time to honor America's first African American general, according to Ohio University History Professor Marvin Fletcher, author of the book America's First Black General, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., 1880-1970. The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a postage stamp honoring Davis at a Jan. 28 Washington ceremony which Fletcher attended. "The stamp honors a man who made a great contribution to American life in World Ward II," Fletcher said. "He was a real example of a self-made individual." Fletcher was the focus of a recent videotaped interview for a documentary on Davis and the new 32-cent stamp that will be shown to Postal Service employees. Fletcher was selected for the videotape because he is "the greatest living authority on Davis," according to Earl Artis, a Postal Service spokesman.

ECOLOGY OF HOPE: COMMUNITIES COLLABORATE FOR SUSTAINABILITY:
That's the title of a new book by Ohio University Professor of Geography Ted Bernard and alumna Jora Young. The stories of nine U.S. communities collaborating for better resource conservation and working toward sustainable development are detailed in the book, published in December. Stories range from an island community that developed a renewable lobster fishery to a group of people on the West Coast who joined forces to try to save the king salmon from extinction. Bernard says there is a quiet, grass-roots revolution going on nationwide, bringing together government agencies and environmentalists, corporations and labor. "This ethic recognizes that natural resources such as water, air, soil, plants and animals are the basic capital upon which all life, human and otherwise, depends," says Bernard. "And that it is wise to live off the interest generated by this capital rather than deplete the basic stores."

FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL HEART MONTH -- PREVENTION KEY TO AVOIDING HEART DISEASE:
Reviewing the list of major risk factors in developing heart disease is the first step in avoiding the life-threatening health condition, according to Timothy Coss, assistant professor of internal medicine at Ohio University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Hypertension, high blood levels of cholesterol, a family history of heart disease or diabetes are all factors that can lead to a heart attack, according to Coss. Maintaining a proper weight, reducing cholesterol in the diet, exercise and quitting smoking are steps in avoiding a heart attack. But new research indicates the single most consistent way to avoid a heart attack is by taking an aspirin a day, says Coss.