Compiled by Joseph Hughes

Here's a sampling of recent Ohio University mentions in the media:

Thanks to a NASA grant, Ohio University geographer James Lein will soon study satellite data in hopes of identifying geographic areas that could be subject to terrorist threats. Lein's project, reported the Columbus Dispatch, will use such landmarks as chemical and power plants, utilities and public buildings, and is aimed at buttressing homeland security.

"It could signal to policy makers where they might be vulnerable and where they should take appropriate actions," Lein said. "There's probably a flurry of activity related to people using computers to try and learn more about terrorism and where it might occur, but we're blazing new ground here."

See the Columbus Dispatch for full article.

Ohio University's Willem Roosenburg, associate professor of biological sciences, was featured on CNN over Labor Day Weekend in a story about a major ecological restoration project on Poplar Island in Maryland. Roosenburg studies terrapins, and he and his graduate student will be examining the creature on the island. The CNN piece included a sound bite from Roosenburg about the terrapins, as well as some footage of him at work. Also featured in a May article on the same topic in the Baltimore Sun, Roosenburg proudly wore an Ohio University shirt during the interview.

In a continuing series profiling Ohio's counties, the Columbus Dispatch recently profiled Athens County - and its relationship with Ohio University. President Robert Glidden was quick to tell reporter Frank Hinchey that Ohio's students, while famous for their fun-loving nature, are a positive influence on the community.

He also told the Dispatch that the University's "town-gown" tension is overblown and goes back over 150 years. "President (William) McGuffey was very unpopular because he fenced off the college green and wouldn't allow the residents to graze their livestock there," he said.

See the Columbus Dispatch for full article.

Despite a tough loss to the University of Connecticut, Ohio football player Chad Brinker is worthy of praise. Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant penned a doting column after the Husky win, citing Brinker -- who is returning from the removal of an arachnoid cyst -- for his toughness and refuse-to-quit attitude.

"I tell you what I saw in that kid today," said UConn coach Randy Edsall. "I saw the heart and soul of a football team. He's a football player in my book." Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain Dealer also took note of Brinker's comeback, which is chronicled in the Fall edition of Ohio Today.

See the Cleveland Plain Dealer for full article.

When the Ohio women's soccer team played George Washington recently, it was truly a family affair. USA Today took note of the first-ever matchup between identical twins, Ohio's Rachel Sanders and her sister, George Washington's Kimberly Sanders. The Bobcats, who also boast another set of twins - Lindsey and Lisa Vondrell - defeated the Colonials 5-2.

"Soccer was one of our main things for college," Rachel Sanders told USA Today, "and we were looking at schools all over the country. But we decided we wanted to grow up on our own."

See the USA Today for full article.

Some Hollywood pundits are calling Ohio alumna Piper Perabo "the next Julia Roberts." But Perabo, whose latest film "Slap Her ... She's French" has her playing a "solicitous" French foreign exchange student in Texas, hopes the comparison extends past her bright features.

"Hopefully, it means they like my movies and not just that I have a big mouth - like, I literally have a big mouth," she told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Not that she's nothing more than a big mouth. She's a great actress and obviously well liked."

See the San Francisco Chronicle for full article.

Joseph Hughes is a graduate student writer with University Communications and Marketing.