News Archive

(11/24/04)

CCE Promotes Healthy Hand Washing

Ninety-five percent of Americans say they wash their hands after using a public toilet. Sounds pretty good, until you hear bathroom observers report that up to 38% of people actually do not wash. A poster campaign by the Center for Chemistry Education (CCE, Miami University Middletown) challenges viewers to review their hand washing habits. Designed to get the attention of a teen and young adult audience, the poster features a bold image of an open toilet and the words “Do you wash your hands after using a public toilet? Chances are you’re sharing it with those who don’t.” Due to the limited supply of flu vaccine this year, the message that hand washing is “the single most effective way to prevent the transmission of disease” (as cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is more important than ever. The CCE poster campaign complements National Hand Washing Awareness Week (December 5-11, 2004), which was established by Cincinnati physicians and is aimed primarily at a grade school audience using the cartoon mascot "Henry the Hand."

The CCE hand washing posters are part of a Science Education Partnership Award, a Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Grant. The grant promotes environmental health education, especially in informal educational settings. Activities promoting hand washing and other healthy lifestyle choices have been designed and presented to Girl Scout groups, 4-H groups, science museums, libraries, and other groups. The hand washing posters and related activity "Wash this Way" were also featured in presentations by Cincinnati area chemists during National Chemistry Week, October 17-24,2004 as part of the theme, The Chemistry of Health and Wellness. The "Wash this Way" activity, in which glitter simulates germs, was also reproduced in The Cincinnati Enquirer during National Chemistry Week as part of their Newspapers in Education partnership.

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(11/23/04)

Cowan Speaks to Microbiologists

Kelly Cowan, Associate Executive Director for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Microbiology, was keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Allegheny Branch of the American Society for Microbiology held earlier this month in Huntingdon, Pa. Her lecture, "State of the Union(s): Advances in the Study of Microbial Attachment to Host Tissues," combined an overview of adhesion research with specific research from her laboratory. The lecture was underwritten by the Waksman Foundation for Microbiology Lectures.

She is the co-holder of two patents on antiadhesive approaches to fighting microbial infection. She recently worked with AK Steel in the development of their new anti-microbial steel.

She joined Miami Middletown in 1993 and won a Celebration of Teaching Award from the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities in 2002. She is the author of "The Microbe Files: Cases in Microbiology for the Undergraduate" and is working on a non-majors microbiology textbook.

The American Society for Microbiology is one of the nation's largest life science organizations, with more than 40,000 members.

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(11/23/04)

ThunderHawk Men Dominate ORCC in Basketball

Miami Middletown's men's basketball team, the ThunderHawks, was formed in 1967, just one year after the campus opened. Since then, it has established a winning tradition that shows no sign of letting up.

Since 1967, the team has won 612 games and lost 320. As part of the Ohio Regional Campus Conference (O.R.C.C.), the ThunderHawks have won the men's basketball Championship during twelve of the past 31 years, including the last four years.

Outstanding ThunderHawks coaches have included Lynn Darbyshire (1967-1976), Ron Smith (1981-1988), Jim Sliger (1988-1998), Eric Thomas (2000-2003) and Brian Bales (2003-present). Bales' 2003-04 ThunderHawks team entered the MUM record books for the single most winning season and best overall record with its 29-3 season last year.

"We had a very special group of players last year," said Bales. "They had a strong commitment to working hard and to each other. The winning tradition is also a great motivator. You don't want to be the team that breaks the chain."

The ThunderHawks like to set home court records, too. The last game that they lost at home was on Feb. 11, 2002. The last O.R.C.C. home loss was Feb. 9, 2000.

Over the years, many players have used their ThunderHawk experience to propel them into careers at four-year institutions. ThunderHawk standout Paul McMillan, for example, recently completed his senior year at Loyola Chicago and received Horizon League First Team honors.

With the help of the Men's Basketball program, Miami University Middletown has earned the All-Sports Award of the Ohio Regional Campus Conference for 11 consecutive years.

This award is based on the overall excellence of the athletic programs and is determined by each team's finish in final conference standings. Miami Middletown also fields teams in baseball, women's softball and basketball, golf, tennis and volleyball.

Other campuses in the Ohio Regional Campus Conference are Ohio State University's Newark campus, Ohio University's Chillicothe, Lancaster, Eastern and Zanesville campuses, University of Akron - Wayne, the University of Cincinnati's Clermont campus and Miami University's Hamilton campus.

"Our players get the opportunity to receive a quality education while playing basketball at a very competitive level," said MUM Athletic Director and former Basketball Coach Jim Sliger. "It's a program that succeeds on many levels."

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(11/03/04)

Brown-Wright Honored for Role in Movie

Flonzie Brown-Wright, Student Affairs Scholar in Residence at Miami Middletown, was recently honored in Washington, D.C. for her role in the film Standing on My Sister's Shoulders. Brown-Wright, along with other women who were active in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and '60s, attended a screening of the documentary presented by the Black Student Fund at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Brown-Wright was the first African-American woman elected to public office since reconstruction in Madison County, Mississippi. The film shares many firsthand accounts of Mississippi women, both black and white, who risked their lives during the Civil Rights movement.

Brown-Wright says that, thanks to her parents, she grew up in a protected environment and knew nothing about civil rights. It was the assassination of NAACP worker Medgar Evers in 1963 that changed her.

"One of the hardest things to deal with was the hypocrisy," she said. "These people were your friends and neighbors until you wanted to vote."

The film has won awards presented by the African-American Women in Cinema Film Festival, the Pensacola Film and Video Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival and the Pan African Film Festival.

The film may be checked out from Miami Middletown's Gardner-Harvey Library.

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(11/03/04)

Holiday Bazaar Set for Nov. 12, 13

Get a head start on the holidays at Miami Middletown's Third Annual Holiday Bazaar, Nov. 12 and 13, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. in Johnston Hall.

The Bazaar, which will benefit the "Feed the Hungry" project at Middletown's Dream Center, will feature crafts created by Miami Middletown faculty, staff and students, as well as baked goods, candy, hot cider and the traditional "MUM Yum" tree.

Area crafters are invited to participate in this year's event. Call (513) 727-3200 for more information on securing a table.

"The Holiday Bazaar just gets better every year," said event organizer and MUM employee Wanita Hatton. "We've been able to raise enough money to fix the Dream Center's elevator and to help them get supplies at a critical time of the year."

This event is sponsored by Miami Middletown's C.I.V.I.C. (Campus Involved Volunteers in the Community) organization.

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