Compiled by Joseph Hughes

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

"Ohio University forward lives for mom and basketball." The headline in Jet magazine's April 14 profile of Bobcat forward Delvar Barrett says it all. The article praises Barrett, who must juggle being a student-athlete with caring for his legally blind, diabetic mother, Vivian. Would Delvar have it any other way? "All the stuff she did for me when I was growing up?" he said. "That's why I always said I was going to take care of her no matter what."

Barrett's coach, Tim O'Shea, said that despite all of the hardships he's faced, Delvar is a source of inspiration to the Bobcat family. "He's fun to be around," O'Shea told Jet. "He's a guy who comes to practice every day with a positive attitude. He doesn't dwell on what he doesn't have."

In another recent story, guest columnist Elmon W. Prier from the Cincinnati Enquirer compares Barrett to Antwone Fisher.

--> See the Cincinnati Enquirer

It wasn't that long ago that the only "perks" coming with a student's first year at college was a shared phone in the dormitory hallway. Schools like Ohio University and others, said Elizabeth Bernstein of the Wall Street Journal, are helping to take the "good" out of the good old days by offering students amenities previously unheard of. In a recent article, Bernstein detailed a typical Ohio University dorm room, which she dubbed a "land of gadgets."

She praised the University for stocking each room with a computer, printer and MicroFridge. "This is what students expect," she quoted an official as saying. "Another nicety: personalized birthday cakes, delivered for $18 apiece," Bernstein wrote. Such perks echo a growing national trend of offering such incentives as free phones, high-speed Internet service and event tickets to help lure students in an increasingly challenging admissions landscape.

Former star Ohio University running back Tim Curtis is feeling fit enough to complete one more season, according to the Dayton Daily News. However, the man who was at one time the Bobcats' all-time rushing leader isn't talking about the gridiron -- he's talking about his career as a merchant marine in Alaska.

Curtis, after working as an account sales manager at Dr. Pepper, took advantage of the opportunity to work on a trawler in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. There, he and his new teammates net tons of cod, mackerel and perch. "It's a completely different ballgame," Curtis told reporter Dave Lamb. "We drop the nets with hydraulics. Working on the deck is a close experience to football. There's a lot of repetition. When things happen, it's all reaction time. You need to do things in a timely manner."

--> See the Dayton Daily News

To the Washington Post's Jay Matthews, Ohio University is among a group of colleges and universities deserving of bigger reputations. After surveying high school counselors and teachers nationwide, Matthews assembled 100 praiseworthy institutions in his April 1 column. Mentioning the University's forthcoming bicentennial, Matthews cites Ohio's propensity for being grouped with other colleges on "best buy" listings. Mary Juraska, a counselor with Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Ill., told Matthews that the University is "definitely a gem." Ohio University's strong academic standing also makes it attractive to out-of-state students, Matthews wrote.

--> See the Washington Post

Joseph Hughes is a writer with University Communications and Marketing.