The university administration released a statement in late May saying it will take an active role in responding to a union organizing drive on campus by classified staff to ensure that accurate information is distributed so employees can make an informed choice about whether they want to be represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). AFSCME currently represents more than 600 food service, housekeeping and maintenance workers on the Athens campus, and about 25 employees on the Chillicothe and Zanesville regional campuses.

President Robert Glidden announced May 29 that Ohio University will begin a new Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) health benefits plan Jan. 1. At the same time, the university will help offset employees' new monthly contributions by offering a $25 per month/$300 annual benefits adjustment. The new benefits plan responds to a projected 30 percent increase in health care costs during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 fiscal years under the current plan structure.

Associate Professor of History Richard Harvey, among the first to be recognized as a University Professor in the early 1970s, is one of six faculty members to receive the honor for 1997-98. Earning the award for the first time are Assistant Professor of Journalism Eddith Dashiell; Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniel Dolata; Assistant Professor of Interpersonal Communication Daniel Modaff; Assistant Professor of Political Science Patricia Weitsman; and Assistant Professor of Political Science Julie White.

Nationally known historian and sociologist Norman Gevitz was to become chairman of the new Department of Social Medicine at OU's College of Osteopathic Medicine on July 1. The department, approved by the Board of Trustees last year, features a curriculum that includes osteopathic history, sociocultural health issues and health policy. Gevitz was a professor of medical history at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago.

Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Marty Schwartz has been awarded the 1997 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award. Carolyn Karmon, a graduate student in interpersonal communication, was named the Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Student, and Emma Coddington, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, was named Outstanding Master's Graduate Student. The awards are sponsored by Graduate Student Senate and voted on by students. Schwartz is a former department chair and a past winner of the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award.

President Robert Glidden was among 13 individuals who received Distinguished Alumni Awards from the University of Iowa during a ceremony May 31 on the Iowa City campus. Glidden is a three-time Iowa graduate, earning a bachelor's degree with distinction in music in 1958; a master's degree in music performance and literature in 1960; and a doctorate in music in 1966. He grew up in Grand Junction, Iowa, a town of 800 people 50 miles northwest of Des Moines.

Ohio University's first lady, Rene Glidden, was appointed to the Ohio Humanities Council in May by Gov. George Voinovich, AB '58, HON '81. Mrs. Glidden's term on the council runs through October 1999. The council awards grants to nonprofit organizations in Ohio that hold public programs. Mrs. Glidden is a member of the Athens Garden Club, the Percent for Art Committee and the Friends of the Kennedy Museum.

The Scripps School of Journalism on the Athens campus dedicated its new Sing Tao Center on June 13. The facility, located across Court Street from Scripps Hall, was named after Hong Kong newspaper publisher and philanthropist Sally Aw Sian, who attended the ribbon cutting ceremony. She donated $150,000 to buy the former Sigma Nu fraternity house in 1993. She received an honorary degree from Ohio University June 14. The center houses the Institute for International Journalism, the Glover International Resource Room and other faculty offices.

Provost Sharon Brehm announced in April that the search for a new dean in the College of Fine Arts has been concluded for this year and will resume next academic year. At the same time, Brehm said that Interim Dean James Stewart will serve his third year in that position during the 1997-98 academic year.

Herman "Butch" Hill Jr., professor of electrical engineering and computer science and former chair of Faculty Senate, will begin the 1997-98 academic year as Ohio University's new ombudsman. He replaces Professor of Geography Nancy Bain, who served six years in the position. Bain will return to full-time faculty status in the Department of Geography. Hill's service to Ohio University is wide-ranging, including eight years on Faculty Senate, three years on the Konneker Scholarship Committee, and as chair of the Presidential Task Force on Teaching and Technology. He also will serve as associate director of the Cutler Scholars Program and will teach part-time in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.