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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWS ORGANIZATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | WWW.NEWSRECORD.ORG

THE NEWS RECORD SWEET

132 YEARS IN PRINT VOL. CXXXI ISSUE XXXVI

THURSDAY | MARCH 1 | 2012

PEACE LOVE

Cats pounce all over Marquette in 72-61 rubber-match

ISRAEL Students could see harassment training REVENGE

sports | 6

spotlight | 3

ANTHONY OROZCO | NEWS EDITOR

In effort to avoid anything that would resemble the career-tarnishing incident that threw Joe Paterno into public scrutiny, faculty and staff at the University of Cincinnati have been told to take a mandatory online harassmenttraining course. And soon, UC students might find the training as part of their homework as well. “The Office of Equal Opportunity has had the responsibility to ensure training and information regarding harassment,” said Teresa Murphy, interim director of UC’s Human Resources and Serviced Center, which presides over OEO. “We have actually done it on a smaller scale, for departments or units that needed the training … This is just a more formalized way to address the issue for all faculty staff and students.” Faculty and staff received an email earlier this month explaining they must complete the training by mid-March. In a memo from Provost Santa Ono issued to all deans Feb. 8, Ono asked faculty to complete the

Innovation to shorten hospital visit times

harassment training by March 15. In the memo, Ono alludes to harassment cases that have recently received national attention. “Recent news stories from Penn State and elsewhere demonstrate that many university employees do not fully understand their obligations to report instances of criminal or other improper conduct they witness or hear about,” the memo states. “Many employees don’t understand what constitutes … workplace harassment. The consequences of such misunderstanding are grave — for employees, for students and the institution.” Though Paterno’s scandal at BUTLER Penn State served as an example in the memo, Murphy said the training was not directly influenced by the ordeal. “The development of it would have occurred regardless of whether or not there were other incidents [of harassment] throughout the country,” Murphy said.

The development of the online harassment training initiative had been in the works since late 2010, said Sharon Butler, senior associate vice president of human resources, who worked closely with former director of human resources, George Wharton, on the initiative. “We took most of 2011 to choose a vendor, get the training together, get it implemented and get the communications together,” Butler said. UC has faced its own cases of harassment since the inception of the across-the-board online training program in late 2010. George Bishop, a political science teacher, was found guilty of stalking a student in February 2011. Former UC executive assistant Sandra Smith filed a harassment lawsuit listing UC President Greg Williams and former Executive Vice President Fred Reynolds as defendants. Smith alleged that Reynolds sexually harassed her and she was wrongfully terminated afterward. The case concluded when Williams and Reynolds were SEE TRAINING | 2

Med school funding goes down

PARTNERSHIP COULD LEAD TO TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION Innovations at UC to be spread via new agreement

LANCE LAMBERT | SENIOR REPORTER

KARA DRISCOLL | SENIOR REPORTER

The University of Cincinnati Division of Cardiology is at the forefront of innovative medicine, conducting an advanced clinical trial aimed to aid patients suffering from acute decompensated heart failure. Spearheaded by Dr. Myron C. Gerson, a professor in the medicine and radiology divisions of cardiology, the objective of the clinical trial is to compare the negative and positive effects of ultrafiltration treatment with standard intravenous diuretic therapy on heart function and blood flow. “We would like to better understand why it is possible to remove large volumes of fluid rapidly from patients with severe heart failure,” Gerson said. The typical standard of care to treat congestive heart failure is with a class of medicines called diuretics, which removes extra fluid through urination. Ultrafiltration treatment, very similar to a dialysis treatment, aims to remove excess fluid through an IV, Gerson said. Because the type of treatment removes the excess fluid rather rapidly, the patient’s duration at a hospital is shortened. Fluid retention is common in patients ailing from heart failure because of the high production of specific hormones, Gerson said.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY GIN A. ANDO

BETHANY CIANCOLO | STAFF REPORTER The University of Cincinnati is jump-starting its marketing initiative to streamline innovative technology developed on campus. A new technology-commercialization accelerator was formed on Friday through a partnership between UC and Midwest EB5 Regional Center, a sector that encourages investment and works to stimulate economic activity. “It’s going to be a hub for commercialization activity at UC,” said Dorothy Air, associate vice president for entrepreneurial affairs and technology commercialization. “It’s going to focus on identifying commercially viable technology, assessing those technologies for whether they might be appropriate for a startup company, and then developing a commercialization strategy and facilitating the early work that needs to be done to advance the potential of that technology.”

SEE INNOVATION | 2 IN BRIEF

Big Boi, Kendrick Lamar to headline Spring Concert when where

Saturday, May 5 Sigma Sigma Commons

During the Rex Lee event Wednesday, Feb. 29, the Programs and Activities Council revealed the performers for the annual Spring Concert. Big Boi, member of hip-hop duo OutKast, and rapper Kendrick Lamar will perform during the free concert May 5 on Sigma Sigma Commons. In past years, the concert has touted headliners including T-Pain, Ludacris and N.E.R.D.

Spotlight Opinion Classifieds Sports

KARA DRISCOLL | SENIOR EDITOR

FORECAST

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ON THE MARKET Ono signs a partnership between the University of Cincinnati and Midwest EB5 Regional Center to get technology to market.

SEE COM | 2

Board of Trustees names new member

INSIDE

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COURTESY OF UC.EDU

Air, UC Provost Santa Ono and Terry Chan, president of Midwest EB5, signed a memorandum of understanding in which they decided on a funding structure and agreed to work together to make the accelerator operational. Midwest EB5 committed $500,000 to the project and the university committed $250,000, which will come from the Southern Ohio Creates Companies Pre-Seed Fund, a project that invests in technology companies dedicated to developing new ideas. Air said the goal of the accelerator is to conduct early stage development of the technology and advance its potential in order to garner the interest of outside funders. “The startup companies have the potential to create jobs. I think the activity level and the visibility of the accelerator is going to jumpstart the economic development of Short Vine,” Air said. “We have some pretty exciting innovation that goes on inside the university. The technologies that get developed are really very early stage, and some of them have huge potential. They’re still ideas and need some additional development in order to spin them out of the university.” Air and Chan, both members of CincyTech, agreed to the development of a partnership when Air’s idea seemed to mesh with the project Chan was working on. “Sometimes there’s no clear path on how to get [ideas] from white paper to a product that is useful,” Chan said. “We want to get some of the industry experts to the table so they can help us.” Air said the program is expanding its resources and network opportunities — which will be valuable to the university. “This is something that we have been thinking about for some time,” Air said. “The partnership with EB5 has created a pathway for this to happen. Some of these are game-changing technologies that have the potential to impact lives.”

Loss of state dollars and general funds cuts caused by the Great Recession of the recent years has prompted the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (CoM) to tighten ship and seek new sources of funding. CoM will reduce expenses by 3 percent for the 2013 fiscal year after facing future deficits and the loss of funding. The college will attempt to submit to more grants after seeing its 2011 — and soon to be 2012 — grant submissions falling beyond those submitted in 2008. “Our submission numbers are on the down side, what we really need to do is focus on grants,” said Lori Mackey, senior associate dean for operations and finance at CoM, as she spoke on the financial picture of the school in front of a large crowd Feb. 28 at medical college. “If you don’t submit for grants, you don’t get grants,” Mackey said. General funds and state appropriations for CoM 2013 fiscal year will be $37.9 million — down $7.9 million from the 2009 fiscal year. “Next year should be the last year of decrease,” Mackey said. “ The economy MACKEY is improving, we should be on the upside next year.” The college is also coping with a significant loss of endowment — going from $39.2 million in 2009 to $25 million in 2013. Currently 69 percent of CoM’s funding is coming from the National Institutes of Health — a federal funding source. “[CoM is] extremely reliant on federal funding,” Mackey said. “Shift in the coming years and look at funding that is not always federal.” The closing of the Department of Public Health and consolidation into other department along with cuts to CoM’s dean’s office helped the school weather the economic downturn, Mackey said. “Expense control, not fun to

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The University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees has gained a new member — former attorney, local arts advocate and leader, Geraldine “Ginger”Warner. Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced the appointment of Warner on Feb. 21. “I am extremely excited to see Ms. Warner transition into her new role,” said undergraduate student trustee Nick Hertlein. “The board is looking forward to welcoming her as she begins serving with them.” Warner will serve a nine-year term along with nine other trustees, including Cincinnati Enquirer publisher Margaret Buchanan and regional president and CEO of USI Insurance, Thomas D. Cassady.

Check out a slideshow from UC’s victory over Marquette

While Warner is not an alumna of UC, she is both a UC donor and a founder of the Harmony Fund at the College-Conservatory of Music. Along with being the recipient of the 2009 Ohio Alliance for Arts Education Award and The Cincinnati Enquirer 2001 Woman of the Year Award, Warner’s extensive list of qualifications include her advocacy for arts education and positions held on several art boards in the Cincinnati area. Additionally, Kasich appointed Warner the chairwoman of the Ohio Arts Council this past September. “Ms. Warner has a stellar reputation throughout the City of Cincinnati,” SEE TRUSTEE | 2

Plus an online exclusive about Cincinnati’s first black mayor.

NEWSRECORDNEWS@GMAIL.COM | 513.556.5908

FILE ART

JOINING THE CLUB Gov. John Kasich has appointed Geraldine “Ginger” Warner to serve as a member on the University of Cincinnati’s Board of Trustees. And sports recaps of the week

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