Ohio University Today, Fall/Winter 1997

Four-time Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis speaks about his life as an HIV-positive gay athlete during a visit to the Athens campus in late September. Other speakers who visited campus this fall included women's activist Gloria Steinem and former 1960s protester and current California Sen. Tom Hayden.
Photo: Rick Fatica

The new 740 area was expected to fully take effect in Athens and Southeastern Ohio Dec. 6. The new area code also is expected to impact all five of Ohio University’s regional campuses. The existing 614 area code and the new 740 area code both can be used until June 6, which is when the old area code expires in the region.
Ohio University will use a $922,358 grant from the Ohio Board of Regents to develop technology to enhance and change the learning environment and integrate technology into the curriculum. Part of a new state technology grant program for public colleges and universities, the award will help OU enhance its technology network and create a Center for Innovation in Technology for Learning. The center, expected to open later this academic year, is designed to support faculty -based technology for the classroom.
Guatemala has designated Ohio University Libraries as its North American depository for materials published in that country. The accord signed Sept. 24 between President Robert Glidden and Guatemala Minister of Culture and Sports Augusto Vela Mena includes all government publications, available archival materials, and other media such as videocassettes and CD-ROMs. Alden Library also is the U.S. government depository for Malaysia, Botswana and Swaziland. < p>
Ohio University Dean of Libraries Hwa-Wei Lee was among 30 representatives from academic and research institutions to meet with People’s Republic of China President Jiang Zemin in New York City Oct. 31 during the president’s controversial visit to the United States.
President Robert Glidden gave verbal approval in late October of a committee recommendation to add lacrosse as a third new women’s sport in accordance with the university’s plan to achieve gender equity in athletics. The tea m is expected to begin play in the spring of 1999. A new women’s golf team began play last year, and the new women’s soccer team ended its first season of play this fall with a 10-6-2 record and a berth in the MAC Tournament. A fourth women’s sport may have to be added to achieve equity in scholarship and participation levels, Athletic Director Tom Boeh said.
About 900 people attended the dedication Oct. 4 of the $7 million Ney Student Activities Center on Ohio University’s Eastern Campus in St. Clairsville. The 70,000-square-foot facility includes a 3,500-seat arena, a student union, a bookstore and a fitness facility. A community wellness and fitness program is expected to open to the public in the fall of 1998. The building is named for U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-St. Clairsville.
The Bobcat women’s cross country team placed four runners in the top nine and won its fifth Mid-American Conference championship in seven years on Nov. 1 in Toledo. Ohio beat two-time defending champion Bowling G reen and race favorite Ball State with the leadership of seniors Julie Kline and Kristen Diehm, who finished second and seventh, respectively.
The university has hired the consultants Ira Fink and Associates of Berkeley, Calif., to assess current and future housing needs for the Athens campus. The firm is expected to prepare an action plan for the Board of Trustees to consider in April. This fall, the university was nearing completion of $4 million in renovations to residence hall facilities th at began in late May.
Professor of Biological Sciences Robert Hikida became the 35th recipient of Ohio University’s Distinguished Professor Award during the annual Honors Convocation in late September. Hikida is best known for his studies of the development, maintenance and regeneration of muscles. An OU faculty member since 1969, he has received more than $800,000 in federal grants for research and equipment.
Tuition at Ohio University is fifth-highest among main campuses in the st ate for the fourth consecutive year, according to an annual report from the Board of Regents. Miami again tops the state’s 13 four-year universities in tuition costs at $5,512 a year for full-time students. Next are Kent State ($4,460), Bowling Green ($4,422), the University of Cincinnati ($4,359), Ohio University ($4,275) and Toledo ($3,952). Ohio University’s tuition rose 5 percent this year. The legislature has capped increases at universities at 6 percent a year.
Brandon “Tad” Grover, BSGAR ’50, a retired executive with Bank One of Athens, was elected chairman of the OU Board of Trustees for the 1997-98 academic year. Grover is a trustee of the Ohio University Foundation and a former member of the university’s National Alumni Board. Gordon Brunner, an executive with Procter & Gamble of Cincinnati, was elected vice chair. In other major appointments on the Athens campus recently: Richard “Dick” Siemer, former chief of staff for administrative services at Duke University, is the new vice preside nt for finance and treasurer; Carol Blum is interim vice president for research and graduate studies; and Tom Daniels, MA ’73, PHD ’79, is the new associate provost for space and planning and also interim associate provost for information and instructional technology.