Governor Says Higher Ed Bond Issue Should be Top Priority
Gov. Brad Henry says the Higher Education Bond Issue should be the Legislature’s top priority. The $500 million bond issue would be paid with proceeds from the Oklahoma Lottery. University and college presidents who joined Henry for a press conference Thursday say record enrollments, outdated and overcrowded classrooms and laboratories and the need to improve research facilities to boost the state's ability to compete globally are good reasons to support the first statewide higher education bond issue since 1992. Henry said the bond proposal will have an economic impact of almost $740 million and create about 4,000 construction jobs statewide. You can find more at http://www.governor.state.ok.us/.

KOSU Expanding into Northeastern Oklahoma
KOSU Radio has announced an expansion of service into northeastern Oklahoma, with a second broadcast facility. KOSN 107.5, (formerly KGND) a 100,000-watt commercial station, will be converted to a noncommercial public radio station and begin broadcasting KOSU programming on or about Feb. 1. Due to expansion and other plans, KOSU’s signal will soon be heard from northeast of Joplin, Missouri to Lawton. For the time being, the new station will be owned by Public Radio Capital (PRC), a non-profit entity established to assist non-commercial station expansion, and will be financed by tax-exempt bonds. Once the bonds are paid, ownership will transfer to KOSU/OSU. Established in 2001, the mission of PRC of Denver is to broaden the reach of public radio to millions of listeners in America.

Public Forums Scheduled for Institutional Diversity Candidates
Campus forums have been scheduled for three finalists who want to become OSU’s Vice President for Institutional Diversity. The OSU community is strongly encouraged to participate and provide input on the candidates. Forums are as follows:

• Dr. Thomas Colonnese, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 18, Student Union Theater
• Dr. Mitchell Rice, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20, Student Union Theater
• Dr. Cornell Thomas, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 24, 102 Advanced Technology Research Center

You can find titles, resumes, more background and input sheets at http://osu.okstate.edu/acadaffr/AdministrativeOpenings-VPID.htm

Vet Med Scientists Featured on KFOR Story about Homeland Security Research
Michael Lorenz, dean of veterinary medicine, and Professor Bill Barrow were featured in a KFOR (Ch. 4) story last night about OSU’s $40-million NIH research grant to develop, validate and use in vitro screening assays to screen new compounds to combat known and emerging bacterial pathogens. Barrow holds the Sitlington Endowed Chair in the veterinary pathobiology department and is principal investigator for the project. He says the research will develop screening procedures so the government can begin to validate drugs and vaccines for placement in stockpiles. You can read more at http://www2.okstate.edu/pio/barrow2.html

Sons Pay Tribute to Father With $50K in Gifts for Scholarship
Two brothers who wanted to honor their late father have given OSU gifts totaling $50,000 to endow a President’s Distinguished Scholarship for an animal science major. The OSU Foundation announced the gifts Thursday. The President's Distinguished Scholarship (PDS), one of OSU’s most prestigious, is a four-year $2,200 per year scholarship that pays for tuition, room, board and books. Ronnie and Bruce Bankston gave the gifts to honor their dad, Bobby G. Bankston, who rose from a meager farming background in Holdenville, Okla. to become president of VME, Inc. The senior Bankston was a 1953 dairy production graduate and a member of the award-winning Dairy Cattle Judging Team. His sons credit the success their father earned in life to the education he received at OSU.

Buses Stop Jan. 17 for MLK Holiday
All transit services and routes for “The Bus” will be canceled on Monday, Jan. 17, for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. The Bus will resume normal operations on Tuesday, Jan. 18.  For more information, visit http:// www.transit.okstate.edu or call 744-2832. The Tulsa and OKC shuttles also will not run on Jan. 17.

OSU Faces on Candid Campus Monday
OSU-Tulsa President Gary Trennepohl, OSU/A&M Regent’s Chair Jay Helm and Dr. Stephen McKeever, OSU vice president for research and technology transfer, will be featured in a segment of  “Candid Campus” on OETA (Channel 11) on Monday, Jan. 17th at 10 p.m. “Candid Campus” is a 20-show series produced by the Higher Education Alumni Council of Oklahoma (HEACO), a statewide organization of supporters of the state’s colleges and universities. The goal of the series is to provide the public with a heightened awareness of higher education and inform Oklahoma citizens about what’s happening on college campuses all over the state.