Throughout the summer, Bay Area wine lovers will get a chance to experience the thrill of world-class competition while enjoying a global selection of wine in a unique event hosted by two local wine merchants.

Last Thursday, Vintage Berkeley kicked off the The 2010 World Cup of Wine at its Elmwood district branch. In this six-week competition, wines from regions around the world will compete for the championship in a single-elimination style tournament modeled loosely after the FIFA World Cup.

Each week multiple wine tastings are held where people sample various wines from the competing regions, said Jason Lefler, manager of Solano Cellars, the other merchant involved.

After sampling, participants vote for their preferred country to proceed on to the next round. The competition continues until the final match-up on July 15.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Jehan Hakimian, a participant at one of the tasting events. “Combining soccer with wine is just an ingenious idea.”

For the tournament, Vintage Berkeley and Solano Cellars chose 16 of the top wine-producing regions from around the globe and placed them in a seeding system. Lefler said regions will span from local states – California and Washington – to countries such as France, Croatia and Australia.

“Loving wine can encourage one to think about other cultures and places every time a glass is poured,” Lefler said in an e-mail. “I liked the idea of piggybacking global enthusiasm for soccer and using it as a platform to get people to re-evaluate their opinions.”

At the kick-off event Thursday, first-ranked France faced off against 16th-ranked South Africa – with a surprisingly close outcome, according to Lefler. Initial votes resulted in a tie, so the winner was determined by participants’ choices on their top wines of the night. France won.

On Saturday night, more than 60 wine aficionados packed into the Solano Cellars store in Albany to sample six varieties of reds and whites from No. 7 Portugal and No. 10 Australia.

“The World Cup of Wine competition makes it much more interesting than a typical wine tasting,” said taster Phil Hilton, as he sipped a Portuguese wine at Saturday’s tasting. “There’s an air of competition about it that gives it a new edge.”

After nearly two hours of sipping, sniffing, swirling and savoring, the participants picked Portugal to advance to the next round.

“I don’t really follow World Cup soccer, but it’s an interesting idea,” said Sarah Ovink, a participant at the event. “It’s a good way to try wines from different regions I don’t usually try.”

Wine tasting at Solano Cellars and Vintage Berkeley is a definitely a different experience from typical wine tasting events, according to Lefler.

“If it works out the way I hope, it will broaden people’s horizons and encourage them to experiment more with the unfamiliar,” he said.

UC Berkeley researchers have successfully placed imaging probes in zebrafish embryos only several hours after fertilization, which may give stem cell researchers a greater understanding about cell behavior in early development stages.

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working with Carolyn Bertozzi, a professor of chemistry, successfully placed imaging probes on zebrafish glycans, complex-carbohydrate components of cells that aid in cell communication, seven hours after fertilization – allowing scientists to see cell division and embryonic development earlier than they had ever been able to before.

Karen Dehnert, a graduate student in the chemistry department and member of the research team, said researchers reduced the prior time frame of 24 hours, allowing them to see how the glycans behave during earlier stages of cell development and division.

David Schaffer, a professor of chemical engineering and co-director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center, said it had been difficult to attach imaging probes at this early stage of development given the small size of embryos.

He said attaching the probes earlier in embryogenesis will help researchers determine how quickly cells differentiate and if there is any cell specialization that occurs during this early stage.

“It could help understand when to harvest embryonic stem cells,” he said.

According to Dehnert, researchers used the zebrafish because it is a transparent vertebrate, which makes the imaging easier to observe.

She said the research team wants to build upon their work by imaging other types of glycans and identifying the proteins the glycans are on.

Laurel Barchas, an integrative biology graduate student who works in another lab at the center, said she incorporated movies of zebrafish embryonic development into her high school outreach talks as part of an education program funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

“Instead of being told about how embryos develop or (being) shown a static diagram, (students) can actually see the cells dividing and sorting to form the primitive spinal cord and brain,” she said in an e-mail.

Posted on the European Molecular Biology Laboratory website, the movies of time-lapsed photos show a mass of bright dots forming into a shape resembling a spinal cord. Bertozzi’s research team used the same imaging techniques to monitor early development.

Barchas said glycan imaging will help scientists and the public understand embryonic development.

“Not only is this new, live, in vivo glycan labeling technique exciting for scientists in learning more about early embryogenesis, but it will also have benefits for students and the general public to more easily visualize and understand early development, thus possibly sparking an interest in stem cell research,” she said in the e-mail.

“Within the first few hours after dropping me off at Baylor, my mom called four times to check up on me,” said Milan Wright, a freshman psychology major from Katy, recalling her first night at Baylor.

Many parents feel the need to constantly check up on their children the first time they are dropped off at a university.

Often the anxiety of their children’s safety as they leave home for the first time leads parents to worry about the dangers living away from home.

However, to ease this anxiety and worry, there is an organization here at Baylor that helps parents cope.

Started in 1968, the Baylor Parents League was created to help keep parents better connected to what’s going on campus.

Since then, the Parents League has come a long way in helping both parents and students.

“We provide information and services to parents in order for them to become familiar with Baylor and to know the resources that are available to help their students be successful at Baylor,” said Judy Maggard, director of Parent Programs at Baylor.

In order to keep parents involved and aware of on campus activities, the league sends out a newsletter every few weeks titled “Perspectives”.

In the latest edition of Perspectives, articles highlighted topics from study abroad programs, to summer vacations and even BRIC, Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative.

Even though the league is primarily geared towards parents, students are not left out of their benefits, for example scholarships and emergency funds.

When asked, some students had no idea that The Parents League even existed.

A few students had heard of the organization, but weren’t sure of its purpose.

Students had various thoughts about what the Parents League is, including: a group of parents joining together to prevent students from making mistakes, a group of parents that act as mentors or a group of parents that pray over students.

The league does all of these things including other benefits students were shocked to hear about.

For example, the Student Emergency Fund is money donated from many Baylor parents that students may apply for with proper documentation to what the money is being used for and receive up to $500 in aid.

“They what? I was not aware they offered these things,” said Natalia Gutierrez, a freshman social work major from Carrollton, upon hearing about the Parent’s League Student Emergency Fund.

The fund is available to students twice during their Baylor career and helps to pay for unexpected expenses.

These include, but aren’t limited to: car repair, living expenses when a parent loses their job, medical bills not covered by insurance and even books for this semesters classes.

Exaggeration and disbelief were a few words that some students who have received help, thought when first hearing about the aid they could receive from the Parents League.

And relief was the only word used by a student after receiving help.

After hearing about the emergency fund and the Parents League Endowed Scholarship Fund, Alli Baker, a sophomore political science and psychology major from Longview, said, “I will probably go check them out.”

Currently, the scholarship is helping provide financial aid to 29 students on campus chosen by the Office of Student Financial Aid, based on merit and need.

A number of students were surprised to hear these financial opportunities existed and were wondering how they didn’t find out about these opportunities sooner.

“I’m surprised they have that money available for kids here, um, it’s very nice of them and I’ll know now to take advantage of it if I’m ever in need,” said sophomore university scholars major, Lyndsay McReynolds from Keller.

The Parents League has numerous ways of letting students know about them.

“The Parents League organization is introduced to parents of incoming freshmen and transfer students at summer orientation and at student send-off events in the summer,” Maggard said. “I also serve on a panel of administrators during fall, winter and spring premiere programs hosted by the Office of Admissions to let parents know about our office.”

According to some students that have heard of the league, the organization contacted their parents via e-mail and sometimes over phone about events happening on campus or to raise funding.

With all of the notices and invitations the league sends out, it seems it has always been accessible, just overlooked.

Even though the league may not be able to help with all problems, their goal is to help students finish out their college careers and help parents keep a peace of mind while their student does so.

Baylor had its chances to get on the scoreboard against TCU on Sunday night. It came away emptyhanded, though, as the Bears fell 9-0 in the NCAA tournament Fort Worth Regional. Despite a strong start from senior Craig Fritsch, Baylor’s 36-24 season ended with tournament elimination.

Fritsch and Horned Frogs’ hurler Steven Maxwell battled to a scoreless first four innings. TCU finally broke through in the fifth when All-Tournament MVP Taylor Featherston tripled down the right field line, scoring Jerome Pena and Brance Rivera.

“I say I definitely felt like I hit a little bit of a wall in the fifth. I started missing locations, and they took advantage of it,” Fritsch said.

The same could not be said of Baylor. Though Brooks Pinckard ignited the Baylor faithful in attendance with a leadoff triple in Baylor’s fourth inning, the team could not capitalize. Joey Hainsfurther worked a walk, but Cal Towey struck out and Raynor Campbell then hit into an inning ending double play.

“The way Craig was pitching at that point in time, it was looking like it was going to be a 3-2 type of a ballgame,” coach Steve Smith said. “You’re not going to win too many games when you’ve got first and third with nobody out and you can’t get something out of it.”

Maxwell, named one of two All-Tournament starting pitchers alongside Baylor’s Willie Kempf, held the Bears to three hits in 8.0 innings, striking out 10 batters.

Fritsch lasted 6.2 innings, surrendering four runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts. He handed the ball to Brooks Pinckard, upon whom the Bears called in its Sunday afternoon game against Arizona. Pinckard totaled 3.0 innings in addition to playing the remainder of each game in center field.

Pinckard looked to maintain his team’s slim comeback chances before trouble struck in the ninth.

With runners on first and third, pinch hitter Kyle Von Tungeln reached first when Campbell fielded Von Tungeln’s grounder but hesitated too long to throw out any runners.

Jantzen Witte followed with another groundball. Landis Ware fielded the ball and, realizing Witte would beat out his throw to first, instead held on to catch Matt Curry running between third and home. But Ware fooled catcher Gregg Glime with a pump fake to first, and when Ware threw home for a tag out, the ball soared past Glime as Curry scored.

Von Tungeln also scored on the play, and Witte reached third on the two-base throwing error.

“It’s an embarrassing moment for the guy on the field, but I’m just glad it wasn’t the game (deciding play),” Smith said.

The game was a rough way for Fritsch and the senior class to end their careers, but Fritsch did acknowledge his pride in the seniors’ deepest run in their four years.

“It’s a little bittersweet. If you look back a couple weeks ago, we were battling to get into the Big 12 tournament and battling to get in (the NCAA tournament.) I’m not happy with how we finished, but it’s rewarding,” Fritsch said.

On my first day as President of Baylor University I wrote to members of the Baylor family expressing my great enthusiasm to be joining our esteemed university, my deep respect for its illustrious tradition, my abiding commitment to our important mission and my sincere vow to help advance the goals of the University in the months and years ahead.

Only a few short hours later, I would be marshalling all that enthusiasm and working to counter a significant and historic threat to the University. Our opposition has come in the form of a possible realignment of the Big 12 conference and, with it, the separation of Baylor from its fellow Texas universities in the Big 12.

Not surprisingly, our level of activity in recent days has been very high. Ian McCaw, our athletics director, and I, along with members of my executive staff and university regents, have been working hard to represent and protect Baylor’s best interests as well as those of Central Texas. I can tell you that at this time we are guardedly optimistic about the way the process is unfolding.

Let me make our perspective clear: Baylor emphatically supports the Big 12. We are proud of our role in the conference and we want to see it prosper. In particular, we appreciate our fellow Texas institutions in the Big 12 and the special rivalries that entertain and energize our alumni. We remain hopeful that the Big 12 will remain intact and continue to be one of the nation’s foremost athletic conferences.

A strong athletic presence is not just good for Baylor. It’s good for Texas and it’s also good for Waco.

Exposure through television and other media helps promote our university, shining a light on both our athletic and academic quality, and further strengthening our national reputation. For Texas a strong quartet of athletic programs such as the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor produces income and jobs and helps with student recruitment, both by keeping students in our state and by bringing others into our rolls. And, of course, there’s the great pride that we feel as Texans when our programs dominate the athletic landscape as they did during the recent basketball season.

Here in Waco, a strong athletic program at Baylor competing in a powerhouse conference brings positive recognition to central Texas, creates and supports employment opportunities, and infuses money into the economy as we host visiting alumni and other guests who stay in area hotels and eat at restaurants nearby. A study completed by Baylor economics professor, Dr. Thomas M. Kelly, concluded that Baylor Athletics had a $155.6 million impact on the greater Waco economy during the 2008 calendar year. A similar study done more recently would document an even greater financial impact. If Baylor remains in the Big 12, or otherwise aligned with its fellow Texas institutions in the Big 12, the future economic impact on our community will be significant. On the other hand, any change that disrupts our current athletic affiliations in Texas would most certainly have negative financial consequences, to Baylor and to Central Texas.

The situation is extremely fluid right now. It is our understanding that the Pac-10 Conference may be preparing to invite six Big 12 members to join a proposed 16-team megaconference, Recent news reports have indicated that Baylor’s stock is rising and that it could be included among the teams invited to form a new conference. What we do know is this: the Lone Star state schools of the Big 12 should stick together. That’s what’s in the best interests of Baylor, of Texas and of our own community, here in Waco.

The discussion between Washington State pitching coach Gregg Swenson and Cougar pitcher James Wise was pretty simple.

As the junior was preparing to watch the second game–as he already started and threw 76 pitchers during a 9-6 win over Kansas State only hours earlier–he was asked if he wanted to start again.

It didn’t take Wise long to answer before he picked up the win during a 10-7 victory over the Razorbacks to avoid elimination at the Fayetteville Regional and force a game Monday night at 7:00 p.m. to decide which team goes to a Super Regional.

“They picked me up in the first game and took me off the hook,” Wise said. “Several guys have stepped up and answered the bell this year. I just thought it was my turn to do that and do my job.”

The Boise, Idaho, native pitched three innings, allowing just an earned earned run and two hits while striking out three batters with 53 pitches.

Wise lasted just 2.2 innings against Kansas State when he allowed six earned runs and seven hits while striking out four. But the starter stepped up during his second apperance of the day.

“Kansas State was just swinging that bat good in the first game,” Marbut said. “We knew we could get some more pitches out of him. If that can’t inspire your team, you can’t be inspired. He wanted the ball.”

The junior set the tone early for the Cougars, who were able to use the performance to get off to a 2-1 lead after three innings.

“He came in and kept us off balance and down for a couple innings,” Razorback second baseman Bo Bigham said. “That shows how much he cares about his team.”

Arkansas senior Mike Bolsinger kept the Razorbacks in the game by allowing a pair of runs after just four innings. But then the Cougars tagged the McKinney, Texas, native with five runs in the fifth inning and took a 7-1 lead.

The Razorback battled back with two runs in the fifth and three more in the next two innings, as Razorback first baseman Monk Kreder hit a home run in the seventh to cut the Cougar lead to 7-6.

But Washington State–which was aided by two errors in the eighth–scored three more runs and put the game away.

“In a couple key situations we let some things get away from us defensively,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said of the defense that made three errors in the loss. “They took advantage of that.”

The Razorback offense that played without outfielder and home run leader Brett Eibner because of an injury used three home runs without men on base. But it wasn’t enough against the Cougars, who stranded nine Arkansas runners stranded.

“We always talk about the solo shot not being able to beat you,” Kreder said. “We just couldn’t get the big hit.”

Washington State pitcher James Arnold, who threw 113 pitches during a 8-6 win over Kansas State on Friday, picked up his first save of the season by throwing four innings and striking out five.

“I just went out to compete, empty out the tank and leave everything I had on the field,” Arnold said. “The last few outings I struggled early and did so again tonight, but was able to do what I needed to do when I needed to do it.”

Arnold was tagged with three runs–which where earned with home runs by outfielder Collin Kuhn and Kreder along with a RBI hit by Bigham.

But the come-from-behind attempt was crushed when the Razorbacks made the defensive mistakes in the eighth inning.

“We came climbing back,” Van Horn said. “They went to their bullpen and got their Friday night starter. We had some home runs. But other than that, he held us down and jumped back up on us.”

Marbut joked with Wise before the game, asking his pitcher if he would throw a shutout. Wise didn’t quite do that, but the coach was proud.

“I’m proud beyond believe of him,” Martbut said. “Even if we would have lost, I would have been proud. You can’t teach attitude or effort.”

FAYETTEVILLE REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday, June 4

Game 1 – Arkansas 19, Grambling State 7

Game 2 – Washington State 8, Kansas State 6

Saturday, June 5

Game 3 – Kansas State 9, Grambling State 8

Game 4 – Arkansas 6, Washington State 4

Sunday, June 6

Game 5 – Washington State 9, Kansas State 6

Game 6 – Washington State 10, Arkansas 7

Monday, June 7

Game 7 – Arkansas vs. Washington State – 7:05 p.m.

The months of rumors surrounding the Big Ten conference lately have turned the Midwest into the Hollywood of college football. There have been all sorts of rumors, most of them no more than “Brangelina” status.

On any given day, a rumor runs rampant of Texas joining the Big Ten, which would certainly grant the conference galactic college football superiority over the SEC. On another day Missouri and Nebraska are apparently guaranteed to jump the Big 12 ship to the Big Ten. Occasionally, a “report” of Rutgers and Pittsburgh establishing the Mid-Atlantic region for the Big Ten leaks out into the mass media.

It all makes me want to venture back into reading the comments pages regarding the LeBron free agent frenzy…

But what you won’t see as a dish on the table of the Big Ten brass anytime soon is a scenario in which Notre Dame is the only team joining the Big Ten, thus making the Big Ten the Big…Doce? Uno Dos? The Great Flat Land Conference?

In any case, Ohio State Athletic Director (and Notre Dame alumnus) Gene Smith told me as much recently when I asked him about the plausibility of the Big Ten just adding the Fighting Irish to the Big Ten. However, he also admitted he’s relatively clueless as to how the expansion process will play out.

“I don’t think we’d (just add Notre Dame). We’re looking at something different,” Smith said. “I just don’t know. At the end of the day, we’re not looking to do just that.”

Smith went on to point out a numbers notion that many might not know, as well as stating an argument that many would agree with in regard to Notre Dame shunning the Big Ten.

If just Notre Dame joined, “it would be beneficial (to OSU) financially,” Smith said. “It would be beneficial with a championship-type setup for a game. Financially we’re pretty strong too, so we’ll contribute to them a little bit more than they will contribute to us because of (the Big Ten Network). And that’s what most people don’t understand.”

But Smith said it’s not about money for Notre Dame, “it’s about something else.”

What Smith means by “something else” is probably along the lines of Notre Dame’s love for its football independence. They reportedly snatch $15 million from NBC for the rights to broadcast football’s home games.

But joining the Big Ten could hold greener pastures for Notre Dame. According to reports, the Big Ten handed out $22 million to each member last year. Joining the Big Ten would net increased exposure for all of the Fighting Irish’s athletic programs.

Yet, Smith says the conference wouldn’t just add Notre Dame. And I actually believe him.

But that doesn’t mean the conference won’t eventually net the Golden Domers. The Big Ten could swell to 14 teams, netting Notre Dame along with Missouri and Pittsburgh, or Nebraska and Rutgers, or Texas and Kansas.

In any event, Big Ten conference commissioner Jim Delany has the ball in his court. How he plays his cards, especially with the Ace of Spades (Notre Dame) will be very interesting to see in the coming months and perhaps the coming years.

After visiting Columbus for a weekend with her sorority, Delta Zeta, many years ago, Debra Moddelmog promised herself she would never live there.

These days, Moddelmog is not only living in Columbus but is a professor of English at Ohio State and has fully embraced the Buckeye culture.

“I thought I would only be (in Columbus) for three to four years,” Moddelmog said. “I thought it would be easier to start at a large school.”

But after those few years, Moddelmog realized she loved the university and its large and supportive research atmosphere.

However, the professor claims she will always be a “Southern girl.”

The oldest of three children, Moddelmog was born in Wichita, Kan. Throughout her childhood, she moved frequently until her family settled in Atlanta, Ga., when she was 9.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Georgia Southern University, Moddelmog took time off to try her skills outside academia. She quickly realized, however, that she wanted to go back to school. Moddelmog then decided to pursue her master’s degree in English at Auburn University and eventually her doctorate in English at Pennsylvania State University.

While working on her master’s, Moddelmog said, “I lived in an apartment without heating and filled with cockroaches. If I was ever in the shower and the neighbor flushed the toilet, I was in trouble.”

One of the fondest memories Moddelmog has once she became a professor was of her father and mother, her biggest supporters.

“My father read everything I wrote, which was pretty surprising because some of it was pretty out there,” Moddelmog said as she adjusted her black-rimmed rectangular glasses with a sad smile. Her father passed away a year ago; the loss was still evident in her face.

After establishing herself at OSU, Moddelmog realized there was still much she could offer students. Her determination was the impetus behind the creation of the undergraduate minor and graduate interdisciplinary studies degrees in sexuality studies in 2002.

Moddelmog said she hopes the sexualities studies program will eventually draw students from all disciplines. This goal reached one of Moddelmog’s current students, Carley Kranstuber, a fourth-year in political science who declared the minor in 2009.

“I felt that understanding current issues with discrimination and sexuality would tie in well with my major once I apply to law school,” Kranstuber said.

She also said how influential Moddelmog’s teaching and support had been throughout her minor coursework.

Not only is Moddelmog widely recognized among students and faculty for her promotion of diversity, but she is also internationally known for her research on Ernest Hemingway.

“Just go to the library homepage and search her name. She is a world-famous scholar,” said professor Linda Mizejewski, a faculty member at OSU and Moddelmog’s friend of 18 years.

Moddelmog’s research has allowed her to travel all over the world.

Her travels are mainly with The Hemingway Society, a worldwide foundation established in 1965 by Ernest Hemingway’s widow, Mary Hemingway.

After several widely praised articles Moddelmog authored, she continued to attend the biannual conference, first as a member and later as a chair of the foundation.

In Moddelmog’s office, sitting among books and articles, several of them her own, are the pictures of her beloved pets.

“If I had a second career, I would be a dog trainer,” Moddelmog said as she showed pictures of her two rescued dogs, Whiley and Alvin. Mizejewski said Moddelmog walks or plays with her dogs in her free time — when she gets any.

“The other amazing thing about Debra is how committed and passionate she is. I have never met anyone who is such a committed paper grader,” Mizejewski said laughing.

Moddelmog said she spends about 30 minutes reading each student’s paper, which quickly adds up in a class of 40 students.

“I love to teach and to help people with their writing. People have done that for me, too, and I think you cannot do writing in isolation,” Moddelmog said. “I feel my whole goal in life is to become a more compassionate person.”

President E. Gordon Gee is preparing for a trip to China; he plans to bring the Ohio State nation together by building a bridge that connects a global university.

However, Gee’s two-week tour of China is not a relaxing summer trip. His “multifaceted excursion” includes connecting with OSU alumni and Ohio-based company executives, strengthening relationships with Chinese universities and promoting OSU’s international initiative through the newly opened gateway office, said William Brustein, the vice provost for global strategies and international affairs in the Office of International Affairs.

Gee will stop in four cities, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao and Beijing, in 16 days. Though the Office of International Affairs is “still in the process of ironing out details,” Gee’s schedule is already packed, Brustein said. “We want the people to see how engaged OSU is in China.”

However, after breaking the agenda down, Gee’s Chinese adventure is about globally expanding the university’s three missions: learning, research and outreach, he said.

Brustein, who will accompany Gee on the trip, has been working hard to create the Global Gateway Offices in Shanghai, New Delhi and Sao Paolo to make OSU the leading international university, he said.

Since opening in February, OSU faculty members have been designing programs through the gateway offices to improve the managerial aspects of Chinese companies that are connected to OSU. Whether the CEOs are alumni or the company is Ohio-based, these businesses will have priority to the training that will help them succeed in global markets.

The gateway strategy is at the core of the renovated outlook that OSU has in terms of the world, and it emphasizes the importance of being a global citizen, Brustein said.

In all four cities, Gee will be signing what OSU is calling “Memoranda of Agreements” with officials from major universities in China, all of which rank in the top nine universities in the country.

These agreements will establish connections with the foreign institutions, Brustein said. The exchange of OSU faculty and students with those from the Chinese schools will be much more fluid, promoting a broader understanding of material that can only be reached at a global level.

Currently, 1,200 Chinese students are enrolled at OSU, and seven study abroad programs in China are offered to students through the university. There are already two OSU students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the second-best engineering institution in the world, Brustein said.

There are 30 Memoranda of Agreements in China alone, including one with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the top research institute in China.

However, the agreements will only increase numbers, allowing students to become “globally competent” and allowing them to succeed in today’s international society, he said.

And in addition to giving his students a chance to become global citizens, Gee is being recognized for being one himself.

Gee was the only university president to be selected by the American Chamber to speak at the Distinguished Speaker Series in Shanghai. He will be discussing the importance of universities in driving 21st century business, Brustein said.

“When you’re invited to speak in the same series as people like Hillary Clinton, it is a high honor,” he said.

And Gee will be doing what he can to give back to those alumni who have continued to make the Buckeyes proud around the world.

Alumni events will be held in Beijing and Shanghai, and there will be a breakfast for company executives who are tied to the university, Brustein said.

Yet one alumnus sticks out to Brustein. Both he and Gee are very excited to meet him, he said.

Zheng Ji, a nutrition professor in Nanjing, graduated from OSU in the 1930s. Today, at 110 years old, he is still teaching, and Brustein could not be more proud to meet him in a few weeks.

Though busy, Gee’s trip to China will benefit the university at large and add value to the core principles on which it stands.

“International is not a side note,” Brustein said. “It is integrated in our missions.”

When Tom O’Hara came to Ohio State to work for The Lantern, he knew he was facing a challenge. In five years, The Lantern has gone through three advisers, all tasked with improving the quality of the paper.

The Lantern “needed sort of a harder edge, it needed to have more substantive stories,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara, Lantern adviser since fall 2008, will be leaving OSU to be a copy chief at The National in Abu Dhabi. In his two years, he has updated The Lantern’s structure and policies and has established guidelines for news stories.

“Tom brought a great deal of passion to his work with The Lantern,” said Carroll Glynn, director of the School of Communication, in an e-mail. “His dedicated service to the position is appreciated, and we wish him well.”

O’Hara’s passion for journalism rubbed off on those he worked with, especially on Collin Binkley, Lantern editor-in-chief.

“O’Hara came to The Lantern and convinced us that a student newspaper can report hard-hitting news that gets our audience thinking and challenges our leaders,” Binkley said.

O’Hara said he wanted to teach students how to write clear, concise stories and how to gather facts while searching for the truth.

“I wanted them to develop doggedness when reporting stories, particularly with adults,” he said.

Lauren Hallow, a third-year in journalism, has worked with O’Hara for several quarters. She said he has taught her how to get facts from people who might not be telling the truth.

“Working with him showed me that he is not going to take any bullshit, and we shouldn’t take any bullshit,” she said. “It’s our job to tell the truth and be honest.”

But O’Hara said advocating for student journalism has been a struggle.

“The Lantern is starving to death,” he said. He said it has not received enough financial support to continue improving.

“I tried and I failed. I don’t think that next year Ohio State will be inclined to provide the funds that The Lantern and the journalism program deserve,” O’Hara said.

However, it seems he has not failed the students he has worked with.

“Losing him is a blow to the newspaper,” Binkley said. “But he’s inspired us to continue his legacy and doggedly pursue important stories, demanding to be acknowledged as serious journalists.”