Ashland lecture

planned April 5

Clinician scientist Dr. Bruce Lanphear will present a lecture titled “Victories in Public Health: Progress or Adaptation?” on Tuesday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Trustees’ Room of the Myers Convocation Center on the Ashland University campus.

The lecture is the next event in the Ashland University College of Arts and Sciences’ biennial Symposium Against Indifference. The theme for this year’s series is “Environmental Sustainability.” The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Ashland University Dwight Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Americans have an unwavering belief that biomedical technology will solve our health problems. This belief is fueled by successful technologies, like vaccines, as well as the profit motive. Paradoxically, many innovative technologies of the past, such as smoking, motor vehicles and guns are killing people today. Using common diseases like heart disease, childhood leukemia, ADHD and autism as case studies, Lanphear will set up a forum to dialogue about:

• whether our ultimate goal should be to search for the cause or the cure;

• whether people should be more strategic about the types of technologies that are embraced.

Free Green

Fair planned

Northeast Ohio’s Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair is back.

The free public festival, whose theme is “Green Is for Life!” is April 19 at Wooster’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

The Earth Week event is a celebration of ways to be sustainable, whether at home, on the farm, in the garden or in business, said co-organizer Laura Chapin, who’s a research associate at OARDC.

About 50 exhibitors and vendors will showcase their green-related products, efforts and services. Everyone’s welcome to attend.

“The exhibitors and vendors will remind people of easy, everyday ways to help the Earth,” Chapin said.

“There are small changes and big changes that we can make to protect our environment,” she said, “and we hope that the people who come to the fair will take that information home with them and pass it along to their friends.”

The fair’s previous edition, in 2014, drew about 2,000 people.

Safe Routes

conference set

Whether using feet or wheels, hundreds of attendees are converging in Columbus on April 5-7 to learn about improving connections for people and the “intersections” of health and transportation at the fifth Safe Routes to School National Conference. It is being held at the Hilton Downtown Columbus, 401 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215.

The three-day conference features dynamic keynote speakers, hands-on mobile workshops and more than 30 breakout sessions with six tracks — equity, health, partnerships, policy, safety and sustainability — to engage and educate attendees.

“We are delighted to celebrate Safe Routes’ 10th anniversary at the conference and to showcase a decade of progress making it safer for school children to walk and bicycle to school,” said Safe Routes to School National Partnership Executive Director Cass Isidro.

COTC program

accredited

Central Ohio Technical College’s (COTC) Human Services Program has been accredited by the Council for Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE). The national accreditation period runs from February, 2016 through February, 2021.

CSHSE is the only national organization accrediting human service education programs. The council is committed to assuring the quality, consistency and relevance of human service education through research-based standards and a peer-review, accreditation process. Students graduating from CSHSE accredited programs are eligible to apply for the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) Human Services-Board Certified Practitioner (HS-BCP) credential. The credential is designed for human services practitioners seeking to advance their careers by acquiring independent verification of their practical knowledge and educational background.

“This is wonderful news for our students,” said Human Services Program Director Tressa Arnold. “The CSHSE Board voted to accredit COTC’s program with no provisions, and we are extremely pleased.”

Staff report