11/10/97
The following Ohio University professors are available for insightful interviews on topics in the news. Please contact Dwight Woodward at 614/593-1886 or Todd Anderson at 614/593-1885 to arrange an interview.

STUDY: BUSINESS INCUBATION HAS SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC IMPACT: The largest study of business incubation ever conducted shows that these support programs for entrepreneurial firms have impressive, measurable impacts on the companies they serve. The study, completed in October, was conducted by Ohio University, the University of Michigan and the Southern Technology Council under a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. It examined the impact of business incubators, which house fledgling companies and provide on-site management, and of business planning, management and financial services. A relatively new concept in economic development circles, business incubation has grown markedly -- from 12 programs in 1980 to nearly 600 in North America today. The study should convince communities that if they don't already have a business incubation program, they'll want to start thinking about one, according to Sally Hayhow, a spokeswoman for the National Business Incubation Association at Ohio University.

HILLARY CLINTON SERENADED WITH WORLD PREMIER OF NEW BIRTHDAY SONG: Tired of that same old "Happy Birthday to you," birthday song? Jim Murray, an adjunct professor of telecommunications at Ohio University, got so tired of the traditional birthday song he wrote a brand new one, "Your Trip Around the Sun." Murray's song made its world premier at a party for first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington Nov. 5, where the Ohio University String Quartet and The Local Girls, an Athens trio, serenaded Clinton. Murray can talk about the song and what inspired him to write it, and whether he thinks it may one day replace its predecessor as the song of choice at birthday parties. He can provide a recording of the song.

NEW STUDY -- VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS LEAD TO HARSHER SENTENCES: As Terry Nichols faces murder charges related to the Oklahoma City bombing incident, a new study indicates the emotional testimony made by relatives and friends of those who died in the bombing contributed to a death sentence for Timothy McVeigh. Researchers reviewed victim impact statements after McVeigh's trial and the degree of harm experienced by the victims' relatives and compared the real harm with the emotional demeanor of the witnesses. The results showed that the jurors were swayed by the content of the testimony concerning the harm experienced by the victims and not the emotional demeanor of the witnesses, according to Jack Arbuthnot, an Ohio University professor of psychology and co-author of the study.