3/11/98
The following Ohio University professors are available for insightful interviews on topics in the news. Please contact Dwight Woodward at 740/593-1886 or Todd Anderson at 740/593-1885 to arrange an interview.

PUERTO RICO TO BECOME A STATE? Should Puerto Rico become the 51st state? A majority in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to allow the nation of 3.8 million people to vote on whether the country should retain its current commonwealth status, seek statehood or become independent. Born in Puerto Rico, Jose Delgado, an assistant professor of Spanish at Ohio University, is very familiar with the issues surrounding the statehood vote and its implications for both countries. The United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act requires that a vote be held on the three options by the end of this year. Puerto Rico's residents are American citizens subject to federal law and the draft, but they don't pay federal taxes and don't vote in federal elections. Puerto Ricans are mixed on the options. In a 1993 nonbinding vote, 48 percent of Puerto Ricans voted for commonwealth status, 46 percent for statehood and 4 percent for independence.

HUMORISTS ARE ARTISTS MONTH: March is the month to celebrate humor as art. Benny Goodman, Red Skelton and George Burns are gone, but Melvin Helitzer, a professor at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, is alive and well and cracking jokes left and right. Helitzer, a member of the New York City Friars Club, has been teaching, writing about and lecturing on humor for decades. Helitzer is the author of five books, including Comedy Writing Secrets, which has sold more than 100,000 copies, and the Associated Press Podium Humor Guide. He started the first comedy writing course on a college campus 20 years ago. The final exam is a stand-up routine.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: Why celebrate Women's History Month? Women have come a long way since the rise of feminism, but they still have a long way to go. That's the view of Ohio University Professor of History Joan Hoff, co-founder of The Journal of Women's History. While many more women are working outside the home than there were several decades ago, women still do a majority of the cooking, cleaning and child rearing, according to Hoff. She says President Clinton's policies have hurt poor women, reducing welfare and medical benefits. "Most of Clinton's policies are cosmetic," Hoff says. "Across the board he has not been helpful." Hoff is best known for her book Nixon Reconsidered.