The University of Toledo will close areas of campus, including Centennial Mall and University Hall, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. today in compliance with FAA regulations during a major construction project.

A helicopter will be delivering four tons of structural steel to reinforce the iconic tower at University Hall.

A Pokémon Go event from 6 to 8 p.m. organized by NextGen Climate Ohio will be moved away from Centennial Mall to a southern part of campus for the safety of the crowd. The group plans to update the alternate location today on its Facebook page.

W.R. Meyers, Co., of Napoleon, Ohio, will use the helicopter crane to lift the steel beams from the sidewalk area in front of University Hall facing Bancroft Street above the building and then into the tower with the help of crews stationed inside.

The work will begin about 5 p.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m., with the best photo opportunity around 6 p.m. Members of the media and the public interested in watching are advised to do so from the field across campus located between Goddard and Drummond roads.

“The helicopter crane helps deliver materials to hard to reach places, making these types of projects faster and safer,” said Jason Toth, associate vice president for facilities and construction. “This structural steel framework being installed inside our iconic bell tower will support the structural concrete to ensure it will greet students for years to come.”

University Hall, which will be vacated prior to the delivery of the steel, was the first building constructed on the UT Main Campus in 1931 when it was built in 11 months by 400 men. The building was designed by the architectural firm Mills, Rhines, Bellman and Nordhoff in the collegiate gothic style that has been replicated in buildings across campus.

The tower reaches 205 feet tall and features four clock faces, each 11-feet in diameter, and the chimes that mark the half-hours and hours of the day.

The University worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to be sure that all the peregrine falcons that reside in the tower are able to fly and will be able to leave the area during the commotion.

There’s another option for items like coffee grounds, fruit peels, grass clippings and dryer lint besides the landfill.

The community is invited to learn the basics of home composting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 16 at The University of Toledo Stranahan Arboretum, 4131 Tantara Road.

Children and adults are welcome to participate in the free educational event titled “Composting Cups.”

Participants will learn how to start a compost pile and create a starter kit to take home.

“Plants need nutritious food, just like people do,” said Pam Struffolino, event coordinator at the arboretum and research operations manager in the Department of Environmental Sciences. “Composting is an example of decomposition, the final stages of the food web. Decomposers, like worms, break down food scraps and grass clippings into new soil and return the nutrients locked inside back into the soil for plants to use. It’s a process that reduces the need to buy commercial fertilizers and creates a more sustainable environment.”

With the help of a helicopter, four tons of structural steel will be installed inside the tower of University Hall on Friday, July 15 to reinforce the 85-year-old structure.

W.R. Meyers, Co., of Napoleon, Ohio, will use the helicopter crane to lift the steel beams from the sidewalk area in front of University Hall facing Bancroft Street above the building and then into the tower with the help of crews stationed inside.

The work will begin about 5 p.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m., with the best photo opportunity around 6 p.m. Members of the media and the public interested in watching are advised to do so from the field across campus located between Goddard and Drummond roads.

“The helicopter crane helps deliver materials to hard to reach places, making these types of projects faster and safer,” said Jason Toth, associate vice president for facilities and construction. “This structural steel framework being installed inside our iconic bell tower will support the structural concrete to ensure it will greet students for years to come.”

University Hall, which will be vacated prior to the delivery of the steel, was the first building constructed on the UT Main Campus in 1931 when it was built in 11 months by 400 men. The building was designed by the architectural firm Mills, Rhines, Bellman and Nordhoff in the collegiate gothic style that has been replicated in buildings across campus.

The tower reaches 205 feet tall and features four clock faces, each 11-feet in diameter, and the chimes that mark the half-hours and hours of the day.

The University worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to be sure that all the peregrine falcons that reside in the tower are able to fly and will be able to leave the area during the commotion.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (July 15, 2016)

An Army ROTC Rocket Battalion alumnus and former military science professor at The University of Toledo will be promoted to the rank of colonel by the U.S. Army in a ceremony at his alma mater this weekend.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Beasley works at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff as director of current operations for the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency. The Joint Staff assists the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council.

“I chose to come back to UT for the ceremony because this is my home,” Beasley said. “My career started here in 1994, and I was promoted to lieutenant colonel here in 2007. It only seems fitting to have this promotion here.”

Beasley’s promotion ceremony will be 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 16 in the Student Union Room 2584 on Main Campus.

Photo of Lt. Col. Jonathan Beasley in 2009 when he was commander of the U.S. Army ROTC Rocket Battalion.

The Lambertville-native graduated from the UT Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and geography. He returned to UT from 2009 to 2012 as military commander of the U.S. Army ROTC Rocket Battalion and professor of military science. He earned a master’s degree this year from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at Fort McNair. Beasley graduated from Bedford High School in 1989.

Beasley’s tours of duty include Kosovo in 1999, Iraq in 2006 and Afghanistan in 2004 and 2008.

Beasley lives in Virginia with his wife Robin and their four children. This will mark his third promotion ceremony at UT.

“It is a privilege to be able to witness Lt. Col. Jonathan Beasley be promoted to colonel here at UT where he first earned his commission 22 years ago,” said Master Sgt. Johnnie Fields, UT senior military instructor. “We are honored to celebrate his achievement. It gives great credence to his leadership abilities and potential, as well as to everything that the UT ROTC program represents as a way to instill discipline and leadership skills. Our focus is education and commitment to serving our country.”

The highest ranking alumnus of the UT ROTC program is retired Major General David W. Foley from the commissioning class of 1970. More than 2,000 lieutenants have been commissioned through the program since 1947.

An international expert on emergency preparedness for mass casualty events will speak at The University of Toledo at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 in Collier Building Room 1000A on Health Science Campus.

Dr. Arie Eisenman, head of internal medicine at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Israel, and co-chair of Partnership2Gether Medical Task Force, will discuss how countries and medical institutions have organized effective responses to large scale trauma events.

Eisenman will explain the best practices, procedures and checklists the Galilee Medical Center uses to triage and care for patients. The government hospital is located six miles from the Lebanese border and has provided medical care for more than 1,000 Syrian casualties over the last three years.

The lecture is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Driscoll Alumni Center, Board Room

5:30 p.m. Board of Trustees Special Meeting

The Trustees will discuss and approve Medical Staff Bylaws.

 Monday, July 18, 2016

Driscoll Alumni Center, Schmakel Room

10:30 a.m. Clinical Affairs Committee Meeting

 Thursday, July 28, 2016

Radisson Hotel, 3100 Restaurant

8:00 a.m. Board of Trustees Social Breakfast

Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-2410 or via email at meghan.cunningham@utoledo.edu.

Explore downtown Toledo this summer with free, guided lunchtime tours.

The 32^nd annual Toledo walking tour season runs from Thursday, July 14, through Thursday, Aug. 25. Tours will be held every Thursday from noon to 1 p.m.

“The purpose of the downtown tours is to provide Toledo area residents with a fun, yet informative opportunity to learn about some of the wonderful buildings and architecture that we have in downtown Toledo,” said Dr. Neil Reid, UT professor of geography and director of the Jack Ford Urban Affairs Center.

Tours, which include a guidebook, will take place rain or shine and are sponsored by the UT Urban Affairs Center and the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.

“The tour guides are all trained volunteers who really enjoy sharing their knowledge and passion about our wonderful downtown,” Reid said.

The tour schedule is:

• July 14 — Hensville. Check out new places to watch games. Meet at the corner of St. Clair and Washington streets.
• July 21 — The Oliver House. Discover the oldest commercial building in use in the city. Meet in the parking lot at 27 Broadway St.
• July 28 — “The Low Down on UpTown.” See how the lower part of UpTown has evolved. The tour will center around Madison to Jefferson avenues and 10th to 13th streets. Meet at the corner of Madison Avenue and 10th Street, SSOE corner.
• Aug. 4 — Immaculate Conception Church. Meet at 434 Western Ave. Park on the street.
• Aug. 11 — Toledo-Lucas County Public Library Tour. See the city skyline from the Civic Center Plaza. Meet at the corner of Michigan Street and Madison Avenue. Free parking available in the library garage.
• Aug. 18 — Bush Street Historic District. Tour the Italianate colony with a touch of Spain. Meet in front of 712 Bush St. Park on the street.
• Aug. 25 — Fifth Third Building. Come see the view from Toledo’s tallest skyscraper. Meet in the lobby of One Seagate on Summit Street. Photo ID needed to get to the upper floors.

For more information, call the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library Local History and Genealogy Department at 419.259.5233.

Water quality researchers at The University of Toledo Lake Erie Center who make daily E. coli forecasts for the public beach at Maumee Bay State Park are helping the U.S. Geological Survey develop a model to estimate the level of harmful algal blooms in Ohio waters.

Sampling is underway for the USGS-led project at seven water treatment plant intakes and four recreational sites throughout the state, including the public beach at Maumee Bay State Park.

USGS scientists and water treatment plant managers will join the UT team as they take samples at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 13 at the beach.

“We are helping the USGS build a database in order to be able to make real-time predictions for toxins, like microcystin, in Lake Erie and inland lakes in northeast and southwest Ohio using environmental factors such as turbidity, pH, phycocyanin and water level change, instead of waiting for test results,” Pam Struffolino, UT Lake Erie Center research operations manager, said. “The goal is to use the standard toxin-measuring methods to verify the model – similar to how we developed our swimming safety nowcasts for bacteria levels.”

“Site-specific models are needed to estimate the serious public health concern from toxin concentrations at a water intake or beach,” said Donna Francy, a USGS hydrologist and water-quality specialist. “Models help estimate toxin concentrations so that swimmers and boaters can be warned and water treatment plants can take measures to avoid or appropriately treat the raw water.”

Scientists are scheduled to collect data at the sites several times a week through algal bloom season this year. This marks the third year of collecting samples for the project.

For more information about the project, go to oh.water.usgs.gov/micro_projects_hab_predictions.htm.

A former vice president for Owens Illinois has been appointed to The University of Toledo Board of Trustees.

Alfred A. Baker, who retired in March 2006 from Owens Illinois where he had served as vice president of human resources since 1992, was named by Ohio Gov. John Kasich to a term beginning July 8 and ending July 1, 2025. 

Baker previously served as a member of the Medical University of Ohio Board of Trustees. He joined the board in 1995 to complete an unfinished term and was reappointed to a full term in 1998. At the end of his term in 2007, Baker was the first trustee to complete his service after the 2006 merger of MUO and The University of Toledo.

Baker is a UT graduate who was a member of the 1969-1971 undefeated football teams with a record of 35-0. He was elected to the UT Hall of Fame in 1998.

Also joining the UT Board of Trustees as a student trustee is Lucas Zastrow, who received his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from UT in May and is continuing his education in the doctorate of physical therapy program. He will serve a term beginning July 8 and ending July 1, 2018.

A graduate of Sylvania Southview High School, Zastrow has been active in a number of student organizations including the Mortar Board National Honors Society, Sigma Phi Epsilon Ohio Iota Chapter, Presidential Ambassadors and The Bridge, which makes lunches for the needy in the Toledo area.

A University of Toledo microbiologist will receive nearly $2 million in federal research funds to study Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease and develop new therapies for treating patients affected by the condition.

The National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Dr. Mark Wooten, UT professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology $1,948,415 over five years to identify the mechanisms that allow B. burgdorferi to evade immune clearance in skin and other host tissues.

“Traditionally it has been difficult to study this bacterium since it can only survive within animals and not in artificial cultures,” Wooten said. “Our group has been able to develop advanced microscopy models that allow us to directly observe the bacteria

Dr. Mark Wooten

within the skin of living mice over extended periods of time without harming the animal. We will use these methods to continuously monitor how the infection develops, which we believe will identify the key mechanisms that allow the bacteria to evade the host’s immune response.”

Wooten said data gathered from the study could be used to provide new targets for Lyme-disease therapies.

“This is further national recognition for the important research being done at The University of Toledo,” Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur said. “Lyme disease affects 300,000 Americans each year, a number far greater than previously thought and 40 percent of whom end up with long-term, serious health concerns. There are no current tests available to definitively prove if the Lyme organism is eradicated or that the patient is cured. Research such as this will help us to know more about Lyme disease.”

Media Coverage
13 ABC (June 11, 2016)