Resting on a hill overlooking the north side of Cincinnati, Clifton offers a wide range of experiences from a college atmosphere with the city's largest school, the University of Cincinnati, to an international center for cutting-edge medicine featuring University, Children's and Good Samaritan hospitals. Clifton's history has been preserved in historical buildings and homes — from modest to millionaire. Trendy shops and restaurants can be found on Ludlow Avenue in the Gaslight District, along with the Esquire Theatre, yoga studios, Clifton Market and a newly renovated branch of the Cincinnati Public Library. Even though Clifton is tightly compacted with large buildings and interesting architecture, green space does exist at Burnet Woods.
The Ohio Innocence Project has attracted national attention to UC's College of Law for it's long list of successful exonerations of wrongfully convicted individuals. This week OIP and it's director, Professor Mark Godsey, will once again be in the limelight as host of the first globally focused Innocence Network Conference that also includes a moving display of artwork created behind bars by exonerees.
Jim Knippenberg knew how to capture his audiences' imagination.Many knew him for his pithy "Psst" columns in the Cincinnati Enquirer, his party-friendly demeanor and his warm embrace of all things wacky and wild in Cincinnati. Many others, though, students in his classes at the University of Cincinnati, knew him as a generous, thoughtful teacher, a gentle, funny guide into the world of feature writing. They looked forward to seeing him each week, and mourned his loss in 2009 at age 68.Knippenberg's resume is a classic Cincinnati history. He graduated from Elder High School and got two degrees from UC, an undergraduate one in English Literature and a Master's in Education. He started working at the Enquirer as a copy boy- yes, it was the 1960s- and came on staff full-time the same year he earned his Master's, 1971. He wrote stories about news, music, entertainment and more. His range was wide and inclusive. He was just as comfortable interviewing Yoko Ono as highlighting countless fundraisers throughout the region, always sure to point out a stunning dress or unexpected guest.Now, supporters and friends who want his memory to live on at UC have started the Jim Knippenberg UC Scholarship Fund as a way to support his alma mater. At a kickoff party Monday, April 4, at The Celestial Restaurant in Mt. Adams, hosts Nick and Nina Clooney will help launch the effort. Once the fund reaches $50,000, it can be used to award an annual $2,500 scholarship for a UC student. Do Good: • Go to the party. Tickets are available for the scholarship fund kick-off party Monday, April 4. • Take a timeless coaster tour. Refresh your memory of Knippenberg's writing when you read this great round-up from 2003. • Support the fund. Can't make it to the party? You can still make a tax-deductible gift. By Elissa Yancey Photo courtesy Cincinnati Enquirer
University of Cincinnati hopes to improve treatment strategies for brain cancer and has launched the first comprehensive brain metastasis-specific translational research program in the country to better understand how cancer spreads in the brain.Read the full story here.
While Americans continue to talk about the unhealthy side effects of conventional food systems, hundreds of people in Cincinnati are working to create a homegrown alternative in their communities.Some of them are farmers and ecological food advocates who bring healthy, sustainably produced food to consumers. Others hope to bring fresh food to people in urban areas who don't have access to it at all, regardless of how it was grown. Though they often share common goals, many of these entities and individuals are too busy to even know the other exists.In a continued effort to bring the different cogs of Cincinnati's food network together, the Food Congress is hosting its third annual conference this Saturday. There, dozens of Cincinnati food advocates, farmers, processors and distributors will gather to talk about the economic costs and benefits of building a regional food economy here, and serving the under served in the process. "The food congress provides the opportunity for different organizations to capitalize on one another's efforts," the event's organizer Clare Norwood said. "It is networking but it's also info sharing, because most organizations are often too busy to focus on what everyone else is doing."Norwood said she hopes the conference will be able to provide food policy recommendations for City Council that are backed by evidence of the social and economic benefits that different food initiatives could bring to neighborhoods.This year's conference will explore the costs and benefits of urban agriculture, the potential for a local value-added food processing industry, and opportunities to expand the region's composting industry as well. It will also present major endeavors recently launched to bring healthy food to people in Cincinnati's low-income corridors who have little or no access to it. National food justice expert Mari Gallagher will present a food balance study, commissioned by the Hamilton County Health Department and the Nutrition Council, that compares levels of food access in Cincinnati's different neighborhoods. Tiffany McDowell, a programs director from the Center for Closing the Health Gap, will talk about a partnership her organization has undertaken with the National Food Trust aimed at solving food access problems in Cincinnati's urban neighborhoods.Representatives from Marvin's Organic Gardens and the US EPA will participate on a panel about composting. The owners of Green B.E.A.N Delivery and Sustain Brands will discuss food distribution models and value-added food processing. And farmers from Carriage House Farms, Wooden Shoe Gardens and Permaganic will talk about supporting local food producers.The conference is $10 to attend, which helps to pay for lunch provided by Picnic and Pantry. It will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Community Design Center at the Niehoff Urban Studio in Corryville, an arm of UC's DAAP program.Find more information here.Writer: Henry Sweets
A team of developers, city officials and UC administrators have big things in mind for Uptown. This week in Soapbox, key members of this visionary group speak to the motivations, aspirations and potential payoffs for the mega-development they are spearheading.
Michael J. Sharp sat at the back of the college classroom, contemplating sticking a pencil through his eye. He knew his students were smart, but their speeches in this introductory public speaking course were, well, boring.On and on they droned, and the more he listened, the more Sharp wondered: "What would happen if students in college public speaking courses started making speeches that actually mattered?"That's when Sharp, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and the director of the new Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement, decided to make his class a new kind of educational experience. Instead of having students read theory and make speeches about their lives, he would have them read theory and listen to representatives from local non-profits talk about their work in the community. He would assign student groups to create presentations about the non-profits, to design an event to raise awareness and maybe even funds. And he would have them execute them all as part of their class."The idea is to have students use what they are learning to enact change in their world," says Sharp, who is also a doctoral student in the college's College of Education Criminal Justice and Human Services. "The response has been tremendous."All across the region, Sharp has built a reputation as an expert facilitator, teacher and listener. He recruits representatives from non-profits to pair them not only with his own classes, but with hundreds of other classes across the university. He has overseen the growth of Service Learning at UC by hundreds of percentage points."I see Service Learning as a triangle in which the three sides represent the community, the faculty and the students," he says. "Service Learning connects the three, with all parties teaching and learning through the process."Full disclosure: As a Journalism professor at the University of Cincinnati, I teach a range of Service Learning courses and serve on the Service Learning Advisory Council. Do Good:• Watch the video. Learn more about Service Learning by hearing what its practitioners have to say.• Make a connection. Find resources and great stories.• Facebook it. See if your non-profit might benefit from the expertise of UC's faculty and students. By Elissa Yancey
Teams of University of Cincinnati undergraduates will be unveiling more than a dozen new, viable medical devices they designed at the second annual "Do It or mDIEp Day!" event today.This event - part showcase, part competition - is presented by the Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program (MDIEP) at UC's biomedical engineering department. Students have worked in teams, some with the help of other universities, to create innovative solutions to a wide variety of real-life medical challenges.The showcase is a culmination of work started in the fall, and the devices will be unveiled before industry professionals from across the country, said course director Mary Beth Privitera."They learn through experimentation and create a fully functional prototype," Privitera said.Among the devices is one that stimulates blinking in comatose patients (whose eyes often dry out from a lack of movement), one that improves rotator cuff surgery, one that captures tissue in the chest cavity and another that can rapidly detect stroke in patients during an emergency.In total, students will show 8 devices, including some that were created to solve problems at the request of industry partners including AtriCure, Inc. and Procter & Gamble. Those designs generated are the property of those organizations, Privitera said.Each team of students worked with a technical advisor, and participating students come from a variety of backgrounds including design, business and biomedical engineering. During the showcase, they'll have five to seven minutes to explain the design, then breakout into groups where people can ask deeper questions."It's kind of an investor's pitch to the audience. They lay out what the problem is, what the solution is, why their device is better, why someone would want to buy it," Privitera said.Once all the devices are described by the teams, each member of the audience will vote for the ones they like best with $1 million in"BearCash Dollars" they can invest. The device that gets the most BearCash wins the contest.But the real prize comes later. Where appropriate students have filed provisional patents through UC's tech transfer office, and will be listed as an inventor on any device that is patented and/or becomes a reality.The device technology can be licensed or used to start new companies. Last year, four provisional patents were filed with Intellectual Property developed by students and are actively being licensed by the University.In previous years, students have licensed this intellectual property and have started their own businesses.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Medical Device Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program Director Mary Beth PriviteraYou can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites
When Larry Bennett isn't busy chairing UC's Fire Science and Emergency Management program, he has discovered another kind of "rescue" work that helps fire victims in a very personal way.Twice a month, Bennett takes his Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Bruce, to Shriners Burn Hospital for Children in Clifton, where patients and staff alike find joy in the gentle and loving companionship of a pet. "Some children are in wheelchairs, some are confined to beds that are rolled out of their rooms and some are walking," Bennett says. "They get to pet and hug the dogs. The children often share stories about their own pets."As a volunteer for Therapy Pets of Greater Cincinnati, Bennett takes his work with young patients to heart. He has even developed stickers with Bruce's smiling face that he leaves behind for patients and nurses who gladly keep a piece of their special visit close to their hearts.Founded in 2004, Therapy Pets of Greater Cincinnati trains volunteers and screens pets to visit acute, rehabilitation and palliative healthcare facilities, group homes and schools throughout the region. More than 200 volunteers regularly take their dogs, cats and birds to share unconditional love with those who need it most. Therapy pets visit people and patients of all ages as part of informal Animal-Assisted Activities or work toward specific goals with Animal-Assisted Therapy. Some dogs are specially trained to be part of the Reading Education and Assistance with Dogs (READ) program in schools and libraries. At Shriners and nursing facilities, in hospitals and schools, a friendly pet walking the halls can lighten even the darkest moments. But therapy with pets is about more than feeling good in the moment. Scientific researchincludes both anecdotal evidence and full-scale studies that show pet therapy works. For example, it can lengthen children's attention spans, increase their physical activities and even improve their communication skills. For Bennett and other therapy pet owners, though, the therapeutic benefits flow both ways. Do Good:• Be part of the team. Find out how you and your pet can become approved pet therapy teams.• Get inspired. Brighten your day by reading testimonials from pet therapy teams. • Check with the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to find out about the next Pages and Paws program.By Elissa Yancey
Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Xavier 76th and the University of Cincinnati 87th in its annual ranking of the best undergraduate business schools of 2011. Bloomberg looks at student satisfaction, post graduation outcomes, and academic quality.Read the full story here.
Michael DiTullo, a member of frog design - a global innovation firm - toured the University of Cincinnati's DAAP and interacted with students through conversation and critiques. Having worked with DAAP grads in the past, DiTullo's impression was validated as he was impressed by the hardworking students and professors.Read the full story here.
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