Research and Scholarly Events to be Celebrated During OSU's Week Long Event

Thursday, February 14, 2008

(February 14, 2008  Stillwater, Okla.)—OSU Research Week, the university’s fifth annual research event dedicated to the arts, humanities and sciences, will take place Feb. 18-22, 2008, on the OSU-Stillwater campus. The event commemorates the many contributions of OSU research and scholarly activities that shape this great state.
 
Don Lucca, OSU School of Mechanical Engineering, will open this year’s event with “International Collaborative Research: an OSU-Germany Example” at 10:00 am on Monday, February 18 in the Student Union, Case Study 3.  Lucca will talk about the Transregional Collaborative Research Center on the “Replication of Complex Optics” involving Oklahoma State University, the University of Bremen and the Technical University of Aachen.  Lucca will present goals of the center, achieved successes and a few encountered challenges.
 
Also on this year’s agenda OSU is proud to welcome internationally recognized social psychologist, Robert B. Cialdini. Cialdini will give a public lecture on “The Power of Persuasion” on Wednesday, February 20 at 7:00 pm in the Student Union Little Theater.  
 
Cialdini is a widely respected expert in the fields of persuasion, social influence, compliance and negotiation.  His book, Influence: Science and Practice, which was the result of a three-year study into the reasons people comply with requests in everyday settings, has sold over one million copies while appearing in numerous editions and 24 languages.
 
Cialdini will also give the keynote address, “Recycling the Concept of Social Norms to Protect the Environment,” at the OSU Research Symposium on Wednesday, February 21 at 1:00 pm in the Student Union, Case Study 3.  “Organizing for Surprise: Choosing Your Research Topics for Impact and Import” will be the subject of another of Cialdini’s presentations on Wednesday, February 21 at 10:30 am in the Student Union, Case Study 3.
OSU is also excited to welcome Dr. Andrea G. Hunter, associate professor of human development and family studies, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Hunter will present “Loss, Survival, and Redemption: Young African American Men’s Narratives of Life without Fathers, Manhood, and Coming of Age” on Thursday, February 21 at 7:00 pm in the Student Union Little Theater.
Hunter has presented her work nationally and internationally, and has published widely in scholarly journals in the areas of family studies, developmental psychology, gender and ethnic studies, family history, and social work.  Her Research Week presentation will focus on young men’s reflections on coming of age and the meanings of father loss.  Implications for research, youth policy, and intervention will also be discussed.

Michael A. Olivas will provide the 2008 Kamm Lecture keynote address, “DREAM On: Higher Education, Immigration and National Security,” on Tuesday, February 19 at 1:15 pm in 010 Willard Hall.  Olivas will discuss the great obstacles faced by immigrant children in attending college.  He will review this complex issue in two parts: undocumented college residency before 9/11/01, including the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), and post-9/11 developments that affect students.  Olivas will also summarize the current developments at the state and federal levels, with particular attention to Oklahoma.
 
Also as part of this year’s event, Will Daniels of Natural Selection Foods/Earthbound Farm in California will discuss how his company overcame an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak in the fall of 2006 that was linked to its fresh spinach sold under the Dole brand.
 
Daniels’ presentation, which takes place on Tuesday, February 19 at 10:30 am in 201 Food and Agricultural Products Center, outlines the five R’s his company adopted in proactively facing the issue: Regret – expressing empathy to the victims;   Responsibility – trace back to the source; Restitution – taking care of immediate needs; Resolution – raising standards; Reform – defining the pathway forward.
 
An open house will also be held at the Venture I Building in the Oklahoma Technology & Research Park on Thursday, February 21 from 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm.  Venture I is at full capacity and the public is invited to come and see the exciting collaborative research efforts performed between OSU and private companies housed at the park.
 
Please see the attached schedule for a complete list of activities taking place during Research Week.  The schedule is also available for download at www.researchweek.okstate.edu . For more information, contact Kelly Green, Research Communications, at 405-744-5827 or email kelly.green@okstate.edu.