Thing is, their coach doesn’t want them to give it a thought.

Only Woody Hayes’ powerhouse Ohio State squads of 1972-77 captured all or a piece of six straight conference titles. The Buckeyes, winners of three outright and two shared titles in the last five years, could match it this fall.

The Buckeyes are stacked with talent, with nine starters back on offense and five on defense. The schedule isn’t a killer, despite the dangerous Miami Hurricanes coming to Columbus in Week 2, along with road tests against conference rivals Iowa and Wisconsin.

Coach Jim Tressel enters his 10th year on the job. He’s wary of using a Buckeye Six-pack as motivation because he believes looking ahead can cause problems.

Griffin, president and CEO of Ohio State’s Alumni Association, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The Ohio State University in 1976 and is college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy Award winner. Before assuming the leadership of the Alumni Association in 2004, Griffin was associate athletic director and worked for 19 years in Ohio State’s athletics department. He also played professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals. A community leader who serves on many boards and supports various philanthropic causes, Griffin is a much sought-after public speaker and is highly regarded as an ambassador and advocate for Ohio State’s mission.

“I am deeply honored by this generous gift,” Griffin said. “The Ohio Union means so much to all members of the Ohio State family and has played an important role in university and community events for decades. I know that the new building will build on the Ohio Union legacy and provide future students with the kind of amazing activities and memories that I have from my student days. I am humbled to have my name associated with such a magnificent resource for the university and the Columbus community, and I am grateful to my friend who also loves Ohio State and made this possible.”

The 17,000-square-foot Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom will host many university and community events, including the 2010 OSU Football Appreciation Banquet, United Way Central Ohio’s Celebration of Excellence Awards Luncheon, and the Ohio Historical Society’s Ohio History Day. The space is able to accommodate up to 1,700 guests and features hardwood flooring, three custom-made “Block “O” chandeliers, four balconies, six projection screens, and rigging points that can bear weights up to three-quarters of a ton.

The new Ohio Union will open in spring 2010 and serve as the university’s center of student involvement, leadership, service, and tradition. The facility will also be used by staff, faculty, and community, and will offer a variety of dining options, an on-site bank, and a retail store.

The Ohio State University Alumni Association will staff a satellite office in the building, where they will initiate new programming and support for students, highlight alumni achievements through art displays, and tell the stories of student involvement through the latest in multimedia technology.

Stefanie Spielman died at the family’s home in Upper Arlington, surrounded by her family, said WBNS radio in Columbus, where Chris Spielman co-hosts a show.

“Stefanie has gone home to be with the Lord,” Chris Spielman said in a statement released by the station. “For that, we celebrate, but with broken hearts. I want to thank everyone for their support over the last 12 years. Together, with your help, hopefully we made a difference in this fight.”

Read the rest of the story here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10400104/Stefanie-Spielman,-wife-of-NFL-star,-dies-at-42

The windmills are constructed of galvanized steel, but do have to be assembled, which I hear only takes a few hours for the smaller ones and a bit longer for the larger ones.  The powder coated windmills usually take a few weeks to ship, while the standard un painted versions usually ship in a few days.  These windmills can also be retrofitted down the road to provide aeration to ponds are to pump water from wells, so they are very practical as well.

Just thought this was a cool thing felow Buckeyes might enjoy.

Over the course of the five-year grant, Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology will graduate 600 bachelor-degree teachers, focusing on those specializing in math, science and foreign languages.

The college will also create a Teaching Residents program that will place 120 graduate-level teachers with the Columbus City Schools, and match them with experienced mentors who teach in the district. This part of the program will also focus in the areas of critical need for the district, including math, science and foreign languages.

The new program is called “Project ASPIRE: Apprenticeships Supported by Partnerships for Innovation and Reform in Education.”

In addition to partnering with the Columbus schools, the grant will allow the college to work collaboratively with the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Department of Education, Battelle for Kids and Nationwide Insurance on various programs to enhance the quality of teachers in Columbus and beyond.

“We are proud, as the flagship center for education research in Ohio, to engage with these critical partners in creating a new model of teacher preparation,” said Cheryl Achterberg, dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology.

“Our experts will apply strategies they have perfected through years of research in teacher preparation. Our goal is to meet the learning needs of all children in the 21st century.”

One of the benefits of Project ASPIRE is that it aligns with Governor Strickland’s focus on education reform, said Sandra Stroot, senior associate dean in the College of Education and Human Ecology.

“We now have resources to help support and guide that agenda, and collectively improve education in Ohio,” Stroot said.

Stroot will co-lead the new program with Rebecca Kantor-Martin, professor and director of the School of Teaching and Learning.

In order to meet the goals of the program, the college is developing “multiple pathways” for students to receive a degree and a teacher’s license, Kantor-Martin said. That may include offering some classes on the weekend and online, in order to accommodate people who want to make a career change into teaching.

“We want to be more flexible in how we offer courses, to be flexible for the needs of students while improving the quality of teachers,” Kantor-Martin said.

An important key to Project ASPIRE is the partnership with Columbus schools. Together, the college and the schools identified the greatest needs of the district and the best ways to work together to meet those needs.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University to be able to offer district teachers professional development opportunities to enhance their instructional skills in math, science and foreign languages,” said Gene T. Harris, Superintendent and CEO, Columbus City Schools.

“Our students require 21st Century skills to be competitive nationally and in the global marketplace.”

Stroot said that the Teaching Residents program will allow some of the college’s best students to work with high-quality mentors in the Columbus schools.

“We are working collaboratively with the district and the teachers’ union to develop and implement the residency program, and Columbus schools have agreed to hire the teachers who successfully complete the program,” she said.

Project ASPIRE will also partner with Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences to ensure that teachers have high levels of content knowledge in the areas they will be teaching.

Other key partners will include Battelle for Kids and Nationwide Insurance. These partners will work with the college in the schools, and will also help leaders of the program understand the needs of the business community and use that knowledge to help teachers prepare their students to meet these needs.

Project ASPIRE was funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnership grants. The department recently funded 28 colleges and universities throughout the country.

Late yesterday (9/25), the Bullet set an average speed of 302.877 mph, which is pending certification by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile before it can be called an official record.

The hydrogen fuel cell powered landspeed streamliner racer and its engineering student team made the record attempts in the Salt Flats in Utah this week. On Wednesday, the Bullet reached an average 299.91 mph, far surpassing the certified record of 132.129 mph the vehicle set in 2007.

The Bullet was required to make two speed runs, one each in opposite directions and within 60 minutes, in order to be considered for the record, which is officially determined by averaging the speed of the two runs.

The students overcame several obstacles on the way to today’s highest speedometer reading, said Giorgio Rizzoni, director of Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research and adviser to the team.

“The skill level, ingenuity and resilience of this student group is unparalleled,” he said. “Just last night they had a broken gearshift. They worked overnight to take the whole thing apart, and here they are now surpassing the 300 mph mark. It’s just phenomenal.”

“This record will hold for a long time,” Rizzoni said. “I can’t see who is going to take this away from us.”

The vehicle, engineered by Ohio State students, is driven by professional racing driver Roger Schroer.

HD footage of the Buckeye Bullet at the Salt Flats this week is available here: http://new.buckeyebullet.com/press-kit
Read about the team’s week in Utah at its blog, http://blog.buckeyebullet.com/ .

Ohio State is coming to Washington, and they’re bringing a house with them. The house – designed and built by a team of 60 Ohio State students – is the university’s first solar house.

The campus community will gather for a “solar sendoff” to wish the team good luck before it departs for the national Solar Decathlon contest in Washington D.C.

The students hope to successfully represent Ohio State with their innovative and energy efficient house as it competes against solar houses from 20 universities, including two Big Ten schools.

The solar sendoff takes place at 2 p.m. on Friday (9/25) at the build site, 1960 Tuttle Park Place. The event includes a brass band, remarks by President Gee, team members, Greg Washington, interim dean of the College of Engineering; and Ann Pendleton-Jullian, director of the Knowlton School of Architecture; and three students from the Solar Decathlon team.

In order to move the house to Washington, it will be taken apart, shrink-wrapped and hauled on the three trailers it was built on. It will be reassembled in a solar village on the National Mall for the competition. During the contest, students must host two dinner parties for eight, entertain with a movie night, take hot showers and do many loads of laundry – using solar energy. The contest takes place Oct. 9-18, and the house will be open for public tours each day except Oct. 14.
WHAT: Solar sendoff – to wish Solar Decathlon team good luck before solar house departs for national competition in Washington D.C.
WHEN: 2 p.m. on Friday (9/25)
WHERE: Solar Decathlon build site, 1960 Tuttle Park Place (across from south end of Ohio Stadium)

The project is estimated to cost $20.6 million and will be completed in 2013, at which time Sullivant Hall will house both the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and The Ohio State University Department of Dance.

“The Graves Foundation has made a critical investment to enhance the learning environment for students, faculty, and visitors from around the world,” said President E. Gordon Gee. “The revitalized Sullivant Hall will be a fitting home to two university treasures – the top-ranked Department of Dance and the world-renowned Cartoon Library and Museum. Naming the latter in Billy Ireland’s honor is a fitting tribute to a remarkable Ohioan.”

The Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation is managed by Billy Ireland’s granddaughter, Sayre Graves, and is based out of Bremo Bluff, Va.

The Columbus Dispatch hired Ireland, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, shortly after his high school graduation in 1898. A self-taught cartoonist, he worked for the Dispatch until his death in 1935 and was known both for his editorial cartoons and for his Sunday feature The Passing Show.

An exhibition of Ireland’s work will be held at Ohio State in the fall 2010.

“Billy Ireland was a Columbus celebrity during his lifetime,” according to Lucy Shelton Caswell, the cartoon library and museum’s founding curator. “He enjoyed a national reputation and his work is still delightful to read. This is a fitting honor for a great cartoonist. We look forward to sharing his work with a new generation of readers.”

Established in 1977 with a founding gift of the Milton Caniff Collection, the Cartoon Library and Museum was housed in two converted classrooms in the Ohio State’s Journalism Building. Since then, Caswell has built it into a widely renowned collection that is a destination for both cartoon researchers and fans from around the world.

Thousands of donors have contributed to the collection, with gifts ranging from one item to tens of thousands. With the recent addition of the International Museum of Cartoon Art’s extensive permanent collection, the Cartoon Library and Museum now houses more than 400,000 works of original cartoon art, 35,000 books, 51,000 serial titles, 2,800 linear feet of manuscript materials, and 2.5 million comic strip clippings and newspaper pages.

Now the world’s largest collection of cartoon art and comics, the Cartoon Library and Museum is currently located in the basement of the Wexner Center for the Arts http://cartoons.osu.edu/. Its new, permanent home in Sullivant Hall will expand its space from its current 6,808 square feet to more than 40,000 gross square feet of space storage and exhibit space allowing more of the collection to be displayed and accessible to the public.

Sullivant Hall also will provide greatly enhanced facilities for Ohio State’s top-ranked dance program, including state-of-the-art dance facilities, upgraded administrative offices, and an upgrade of the existing auditorium.

The National Science Board meets five times annually with four of those meetings in Washington, D.C. and a fifth at a host institution each year. The NSB responded to an invitation from Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee.

While many of the NSB’s sessions are closed, a public meeting will be held from 8-9:30 a.m. on Thursday (9/24) at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive. That open meeting will include a discussion of NSB priorities for the next fiscal year, as well as reports from the NSB chairman and committees.

“Given that the National Science Board plays such a key role in advising U.S. science and engineering policy, we are elated that they decided on Ohio State as a venue for their meeting,” explained Caroline Whitacre, vice president for research at Ohio State.

“This is a chance for board members to learn about the exceptional research underway here while they conduct their own business.”

Along with the director of the National Science Foundation, the NSB advises and directs the NSF’s research activities. It consists of 25 members appointed by the country’s president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Kathy Sullivan, former NASA astronaut and director of the Battelle Center for Mathematics & Science Education Policy at Ohio State, is a current member of the NSB.