5/18/98
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.

OHIO UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SAYS POSTAL RATE HIKE NOT NECESSARY: The recent plan by the U.S. Postal Service to increase first-class postage a penny, despite making a profit of more than $1 billion last year, is just another example of an unnecessary rate hike by a monopoly. That's according to Ohio University Economics Professor Douglas Adie, author of "Monopoly Mail, Privatizing the U.S. Postal Service," in which he criticizes the Postal Service for inefficiency and excessive wages "which make postal workers among the highest paid semi-skilled workforces in the world." Adie argues the Postal Service has been reluctant to implement modern equipment that is more efficient than overpaid Postal workers.

MAY IS FAMILY SUPPORT MONTH: May is the month to pay close attention to supporting parents and children during a divorce or otherwise. Ohio University Psychology Professor Don Gordon has a new interactive CD-ROM, "Parenting Adolescents Wisely," that helps parents develop parenting skills. By using the program, parenting skills that would normally take hours of expensive therapy can be developed. A co-director with Psychology Professor Jack Arbuthnot of Ohio University's Center for Divorce Education, Gordon and Arbuthnot produced the video "Children in the Middle," which details problems children and parents face during a divorce. The video is being used in divorce cases by more than 700 courts and agencies in all 50 states and eight foreign countries.

THIRTY YEARS LATER, 1968 STILL A PIVOTAL YEAR: Many students on college campuses today only have vague notions of the '60s, but for Chester Pach, director of Ohio University's Contemporary History Institute, the 60s era clearly started in 1968. Pach recently oversaw a conference that focused on 1968 and the era, attracting national figures such as Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist Clarence Page and former Vietnam War correspondent Garrick Utley. "1968 was pivotal in many ways, a particularly critical year in turning public opinion against the Vietnam War," says Pach. "It was the final blow to the Johnson presidency. It was a year when many groups expressed their discontent to racism, sexism and governmental controls. It was a time of challenging authority, a time of giving voice to groups who had been excluded from power."