New Frontiers - Spring 2018 by Youngstown State University

SPRING 2018

Y O U N G S T O W N

S T A T E

U N I V E R S I T Y

newfrontiers

WOMEN & GENDER RESOURCE INITIATIVE

Celebrating Outstanding Research and Scholarship

STERNAL PRECAUTIONS IN CARDIAC REHAB

CENTER FOR APPLIED HISTORY

Study Abroad Programs YSU students and faculty enjoy a variety of experiences on study-abroad trips.

GRANT FUNDING Hits Five-Year High

year

7.5 grant 83 awards Faculty & Staff awarded

million in grants

2016 fiscal year $4.6 million the previous year

Inside this issue 2| Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center 3|

16| Fostering Resilience in Parents

the National Science Foundation to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

4 MILLION Award

from the AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY Largest grant in YSU history

university grant from ON THE COVER: Dr. Weiqing Ge and student Nic Accordino prepare to conduct research in one of YSU’s athletic facilities.

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S College of Graduate Studies

Dr. Salvatore Sanders, Dean

Office of Research

Michael Hripko, Associate Vice President of Research

Writer and Editor

Bridgid Cassin, Graduate Assistant, English

Layout & Design

Renée Cannon, Layout & Design Artist Office of Marketing & Communications

Advisors

Dr. Jay Gordon, Associate Professor, English

Angie Urmson Jeffries. Senior Coordinator, College of Graduate Studies

AWARDS FROM A VARIETY OF AGENCIES RANGING FROM

17| Examining Adversity in Youngstown

Women and Gender 18| Best Practices for Resource Center Transfer Student Success 4| Diversity of Scholarship 19| Sports-Specific Nutrition 3 Minute Thesis

up from

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT for the ARTS

$100,000

We certainly had a banner year thanks to the hard work and dedication of so many talented faculty and staff on campus,” said Mike Hripko, associate vice president for Research. “We hope to build on this momentum as we continue to raise the research profile of the university.”

SPRING 2018

Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Cente Moving Forward:

The Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center

The Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization The project is currently in its preliminary developmental Center (MVICC) project has received grant funding from phase, focusing on site planning, building layout, and the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Economic construction design alternatives. Simultaneously, and through Development Administration to help repurpose a building a variety of other funding sources, this also includes acquiring on Fifth Avenue in Youngstown into a creative new space for a number of state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing Enter Division Here education and manufacturing. 1 machines that will be used in the manufacturing training Formerly a minimum-security jail, the Fifth Avenue property space. will be renovated and expanded for advanced manufacturing A second construction phase, tentatively called the workforce development and training. “Innovation Atrium” will enable Youngstown State University, As a shared-use facility, the center will include YSU, Eastern area academic partners, and the Youngstown Business Gateway Community College, regional Career and Technical Incubator to serve the region through a broad spectrum of Centers, and area manufacturers through job training, job innovation services, involving diverse academic disciplines, creation, and product development. “The awarded federal and providing a center for creative engagement in service to funding is intended to support those individuals who have the region. The Innovation Atrium is intended to help foster been displaced through coal industry legislation,” says Rachel engagement amongst students and businesses, bringing McCartney, the Economic Development Analyst on YSU’s together people from a variety of academic disciplines to Regional Economic Development Initiative team. “This is one provide innovation solutions to real world challenges. “It will of the federal government’s programs to help reinvigorate include opportunities to pursue innovation in conjunction those communities most impacted by the loss or the decline with creative and liberal arts, health services, social services, of the coal industry. ARC and EDA invest primarily in workforce and business,” stated McCartney. development projects, providing people new skill sets in The MVICC is a collaborative project, bringing together high-demand technologies that will help them successfully academic and business partners to serve constituents in find re-employment.” fourteen counties across three different states within a one Youngstown is the ideal central location for this training hour drive of the YSU campus. The MVICC is expected to center, as it is situated within one hour’s drive of many of the increase employee skills, help attract businesses, contribute communities impacted by the coal industry legislation. toward regional innovation and product development, and enable new discoveries in advanced manufacturing technology.

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Meeting the Needs of the YSU Community with the Y O U N G S T O W N S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Women &Gender RESOURCE INITIATIVE

Everyone in the Youngstown State University community deserves to be safe and respected, and the Women and Gender Resource Center is here to help. The Center provides support, spreads awareness, and strongly advocates for students, staff, faculty, and other community members, in order to eliminate barriers to gender equity and dispel stereotypes associated with gender. The Women and Gender Resource Center sets out to accomplish these goals in a number of ways. For example, the Center provides information and networking opportunities for students pursuing careers where they may be in the gender minority. “Gender minority is a loose term, and is situationally based,” Dr. Megan List explains. “For example, in a nursing program, most nursing majors and faculty are women, and there are a lot of women leaders in that program, whereas a man might be in the minority.” Dr. List continues: “STEM or computer science majors who are women or gender nonconforming, education majors who are gender nonconforming — those in areas where the traditional role is either always masculine or always cisgender — can find their chosen careers to be daunting.” Another priority of the Women and Gender Resource Center is to promote safe and comfortable support, advocacy, and education in regards to other gender issues, such as understanding and preventing sexual harassment, discrimination, misconduct, and assault. “There is a gap in student knowledge regarding prevention,” says Dr. List. This means that the Women and Gender Resource Center is committed to reaching out and increasing awareness through visible accomplishments, and also by supporting other offices on campus invisibly. For example, while the Women and Gender Resource Center is visibly promoting awareness of gender-specific issues, it is also actively collaborating with other offices on campus in order to reach as many students,

staff, and faculty as possible, including the Title IX Office, YSU Alumni Society, YWCA, and PFLAG as community members of the Center’s initiative. “Even something as simple as utilizing language in an inclusive, supportive way can help provide support for the community,” Dr. List notes. “Language is important,” she says. “It helps provide ideas and guide people to whom they need to seek for help.” To illustrate this, Dr. List has incorporated language in the Center’s mission statement to clearly include members of the LGBT+ community as well as cisgender women on campus. “This is already a vulnerable population,” says Dr. List. “Historically, these individuals are reticent to come out, even in safe spaces, without explicit acknowledgement.” Utilizing specific and inclusive language even in the name of the Women and Gender Resource Center helps make the community aware of the Center’s goals. As the Women and Gender Resource Center establishes sustainability using capital from fundraisers and grants, it will be able to expand its goals. Student representatives on the board of the Women and Gender Resource Center will also help identify and address specific needs of the YSU student population. Funds will help the Center provide resources like prophylactics and specific training. The Center has already planned events and campaigns to occur during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, like a #metoo board and bringing “The Clothesline Project” to campus. The Center also plans to provide bystander training, Safe Zone training, LGBT advocacy training, classroom outreach, and professional development opportunities to community members. As the Center grows, it also hopes to be able to identify research needs and opportunities. In keeping with the Center’s goals to provide a safe space to encourage self-advocacy, health, and body image, Dr. List points out that strong relationships are key factors in preventing assaults and other specific issues that the Center aims to address. “Some people don’t have good models of strong relationships, even in movies or television,” she explains. “We can provide examples and build strong relationships here to help people understand what that means.”

SPRING 2018

The 2018 Diversity of Scholarship recipients with their advisors.

Diversity of Scholarship

showcases

graduate student research

n the spring semester of every academic year, the College of Graduate Studies at Youngstown State University highlights recent research accomplishments of graduate students. While any research, special project, performance or creative work is eligible, only six students are selected to present their work at the annual Diversity of Scholarship event. The Diversity of Scholarship event emphasizes the rigorous work undertaken every day by students and faculty members, while showcasing that work for the edification and enjoyment of the community. This year’s event presents the work of Alanna Bebech, Mackenzi Brozovich, Landon Brown, Meera Maxy, Sanjana Sama, Brian Boccieri, and Kirk Gazdik. Their work is featured on the following pages.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research competition developed by The University of Queensland. The competition develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of research students’ capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes in a language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

Three Minute Thesis finALISTS Left to Right: Solita Wilson, 2nd Place Winner, Sanjana Sama, People’s Choice Winner, Marissa Gorvet, 1st Place Winner, Dean Sanders.

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Solita Wilson Chemistry Faculty Advisor: Dr. Clovis Linkous Carbon Dioxide Capturing and Recycling, to Protect the World from Natural Disasters

Leanna Hartsough Professional Communication Faculty Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Curnalia Recruitment, Communication Competence, Motivation, Leadership, and Support in College Coach-Athlete Relationships

Marissa Gorvet Biological Sciences Faculty Advisor: Dr. Michael Butcher EMG Activation in the Forelimb of Three-Toed Sloths

Kyle Spainhower Biological Sciences Faculty Advisor: Dr. Michael Butcher Cheap Labor: Fiber Type Distribution and Metabolic Characteristics in Sloth Limb Muscles

Romit Thapa Civil Engineering Faculty Advisor: Dr. Richard Deschenes Jr. Effect of Multiaxial Stress in Alkali Silica Reaction

Sanjana Sama Computer Science and Information Systems Faculty Advisor: Dr. Bonita Sharif Towards the Automatic Summarization of Source Code via Empirical Studies

Diversity of Scholarship

Alanna Bebech Using Video Self-Modeling to Address Anxiety Three years ago, when Alanna Bebech started in the School Psychology graduate program at YSU, she decided that she wanted to conduct research. The problem was that she didn’t know what, exactly, she wanted to work on. Fortunately, her advisor, Dr. Kathleen Aspiranti, was prepared to help. “Dr. Aspiranti is a research force,” Bebech says. “I came to her and she handed me years’ worth of our national convention booklets, and said ‘here, read these abstracts and see what interests you. If you really want to do a project together, it has to be something that you’re interested in.’ So I sat there with these huge abstracts and titles, and went through a list of things, and from there we kind of narrowed it down together, a collaborative effort.” Ultimately, Bebech decided she wanted to learn more about how to help children with anxiety. “Kids are so riddled with anxiety,” she says. “And I’m a highly anxious person, too. So what is an intervention that can help with this?” The next challenge was to find an appropriate intervention that Bebech thought might work. Video self-modeling, an intervention that involves editing videos of problem behavior into videos that demonstrate appropriate behavior which is then shown back to its subject, has been used extensively for people with autism spectrum disorders. Even so, Bebech found that research into video self-modeling for other issues has been lacking, and decided to find out whether it could be used as a successful intervention for anxiety. Bebech faced several challenges when conducting her research, not only with finding the topic, but also with finding a participant. “The process took longer than anticipated,” she admits, although her thorough search helped establish professional contacts for both herself and the program. She also found tools for the data collection portion of her research that were both free and available on the public domain, making her procedures easier to follow for educators, school psychologists, and other students. Bebech is glad to be able to share her research, but she also looks forward to her future following graduation. “School psychologists have training in a little of everything,” she says. “They get to help students on a one-on-one basis. We get to help them, and see their growth and development.”

SPRING 2018

Diversity of Scholarship

Brian Boccieri & Kirk Gazdik Pain Perception in Veteran and Non-Veteran Students “I’ve always wanted to work with veterans,” says Brian Boccieri, a student in the Physical Therapy program at Youngstown State University. “I’ve always been interested in doing research,” says Kirk Gazdik, also a Physical Therapy student at YSU. Boccieri and Gazdik recently completed a survey regarding pain perception, and how it affects both veterans and non-veterans among the student population. The survey’s primary purpose was to investigate the effects of pain and severe pain, as well as perception of availability regarding support and services on campus to help cope with pain. Gazdik says that the project was inspired by their advisor, Dr. Ge, and a class regarding language, culture, and health. “It’s mostly culturally competence based,” he says. “Cultural competence has to do with taking in other cultures and using that competence to correctly and effectively communicate with them and treat them.” Boccieri describes student veteran populations as a particular culture, in a sense. “We got to meet quite a few veterans on campus during this course, “ he says, “and they talk about some of the difficulties they have coming from the brotherhood of active duty. Instead of constantly being around the veteran population, they’re now submerged in a student population where they make up less than five percent of the population. They may have some difficulties there with coping and trying to relate to people who did not experience the same kinds of things.” Gazdik adds, “They do tend to be older, and oftentimes the first college attendees in their families. They have different challenges than most other students on campus.” With help from Dr. Alison Kaufman from the Office of Assessment and Sergeant Rick Williams from the Veterans Resource Center, Boccieri and Gazdik sent out surveys via email that were completed by both veteran and non-veteran students at YSU. “It’s not an extremely large population of veterans on campus,” Gazdik says, outlining some of the

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challenges they faced in completing their research. “Getting the responses necessary was really important, and getting anyone to respond was helpful.” Survey questions were based on pain, specifically bodily pain and its frequency, location, and intensity. There were also questions about whether pain affected the participants’ ability to perform daily activities. Finally, the survey determined the perception of access to pain management resources on campus. Boccieri and Gazdik were surprised by some of their findings. “When we were looking at statistics, we saw that a lot of campuses don’t even have veterans resource centers,” says Boccieri. “Other campuses that have them are usually student-led, and don’t have their own dedicated space. At YSU, we have a standalone building that’s brand new and has plenty of resources inside. It was surprising, then, that there was very little perception of the resources on campus at YSU, when statistically, when you look at the entire nation, we have a very well-recognized veteran resource-based campus.” Boccieri says that their results are already being utilized for further research projects. Their findings regarding perception of pain management resources are being utilized to try and affect change. “We have some research in the department where they are planning to look more into what different interventions have better outcomes,” he says. “We asked the questions to get the information. They’re looking at actually trying to affect those answers of people not thinking there are enough resources.” Boccieri hopes that his research and clinical rotation can help him find a long-term position to enable continued work with this particular population. Similarly, Gazdik hopes that, even with starting field work soon, he still has opportunities to continue related research. “I plan to go into sports medicine and potentially do more research and teach in the future,” he says.

Q &A Diversity of Scholarship

Landon brown

Beat Out Your Own Rhythm: A Study of a Public School Step Team’s Influence on Academic Identification and Academic Motivation Among African American Males Advised by Dr. Karen Larwin, graduate student Landon Brown’s research focuses on whether a culturally relevant extracurricular activity can influence the academic motivation and identification of African American males. In his investigation, Brown examined the influence of a public school step team, using scales of measurement to determine whether differences existed between participants and non-participants. How did you first become interested in your area of research?

I’ve always been interested in ways to enhance achievement outcomes for under-performing subgroups. As research moves from discussing African American males from a deficit perspective to an excellence approach, I wanted to look at a specific culturally relevant program that could inform best practices. I was involved in stepping at the high school level and was also the step master for my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma. What methods did you use to investigate the topic? Did you encounter challenges, and if so, how did you overcome them?

I used a posttest only design with nonequivalent groups. A survey was administered to high school male students. The main challenge was working with schools in another state to motivate students to take the survey (pending parental consent). High school teenage males tend not to be interested in such activity so I had to overcome these challenges in two creative ways: (1) The survey link was available electronically and students were able to take using their cell phone once consent was granted, and (2) networking with school principals in Georgia to navigate a successful strategy such as distributing consent forms at the county level step show performance. How has being a student at YSU helped your research?

Being a student at YSU has helped me to become aware of a theoretical framework that renewed my interest in urban education. Using a critical theory lens to analyze culturally relevant programming has sparked a personal interest to implement step team programs in the Youngstown area. What do you plan to do when you complete your degree?

I am currently seeking to be an Executive Principal with National Heritage Academies. A charter company based out of Grand Rapids, MI, NHA has 10 schools in Ohio. By serving as an Executive Principal, I would work with principals to improve teaching and learning conditions for at-risk students in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown. I am currently serving as the proud principal of Stambaugh Charter Academy in Youngstown, OH.

SPRING 2018

Diversity of Scholarship

Mackenzi Brozovich

Learning How Self-Efficacy Can Help with Opioid Addiction Issues “I would like to earn a doctorate someday in the field of School Psychology,” says Mackenzi Brozovich, who has just begun the graduate program in School Psychology at YSU. “Particularly continuing this research into self-efficacy.” Self-efficacy, Brozovich explains, is essentially the belief in one’s own ability to do something, like coping skills. Brozovich first became interested in studying self-efficacy and how it can help with the effects of the opioid crisis partly because she wondered how self-efficacy can be useful outside the field of education. “It’s also very timely and local,” she says, pointing out that her research is grounded in the Youngstown area. “There are increasing reports of heroin overdoses and other opioid addiction arising here, and elsewhere.” Brozovich’s research has not been without challenges. “We’re starting off with literature reviews because there really isn’t much out there looking at opioid addictions and pediatric cases to begin with,” she says. “Let alone including these other factors with addiction.” In the course of her literature review, Brozovich is examining different frameworks, such as the tridactic theory, which looks at social, environmental, and emotional factors with addiction, and how the research and practices outlined in these frameworks can be applied to a school setting. The next step in her research will be serving teachers and school psychologists in order to measure their perceptions of addiction, maladaptive behaviors, and adolescent children. Ultimately, Brozovich hopes to extend her research into developing a framework to use within schools to address risk factors like self-efficacy in treating, intervening, and preventing addiction. “The faculty here has been so encouraging to me as a first-year grad student trying to conduct research,” Brozovich adds. “Different departments across campus and outreach into the school districts have been helpful, too.” Brozovich enjoys working in school psychology because it takes forms of development studied in clinical settings and moves the work of psychology into a real world setting. Brozovich also hopes that her research can help clarify the role of the school psychologist. “Right now there’s a disconnect between who should be dealing with mental health, addiction, and other behavioral issues,” she says. “School psychologists typically deal with special education and assessment, but our standards and ethics still encompass these other areas.”

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Diversity of Scholarship

Meera Maxy

Studying the Structural Integrity of the Lincoln Parking Deck In spite of the cold March weather, Meera Maxy wears only a sweatshirt and jeans as she wheels specialized equipment to the top floor of the Lincoln Avenue Parking Deck, located near DeBartolo Hall on YSU’s campus. She’s used to being on the deck in all kinds of weather, utilizing the SIR-400 to collect data that she needs to perform the analysis to detect the depth of steel reinforcement layers beneath the concrete. “The ground-penetrating radar, just like how the name sounds, penetrates through the depth of the layers underneath the surface. This machine collects the data through a 1600 Gigahertz antenna. This equipment also has a 2600 Gigahertz antenna, but the lesser the frequency is, the more accurate data you can collect.” Maxy began her experiments by visually examining the deck for signs of corrosion, but her equipment can find signs of corrosion even when it is not yet evident on the surface. “I had to use different techniques taught in class that actually helped me a lot with the structural analysis and the experiments,” she says. “Once the experiments were done, I collected the data and entered it into software to provide the depth at which the reinforcements are located. This part is important for my analysis and also understanding the profile of the section to move forward in assessing the causes of deterioration. The problems of corrosion have arisen in part because of the severe winter weather in the area, according to Maxy. “In a parking structure, the regular movements of vehicles during winter can carry around slushy snow, which takes all the dirt and the water and anything else from the street onto the deck.” Corrosion can be either chlorine induced or a result of carbonation. Maxy’s research indicated that corrosion in the parking deck was caused by chlorination from deicing chemicals used on roads. According to Maxy, “What happens is that the tires of cars can carry deicing chemicals, and once they are on the deck, the chemicals will collect in cracks or enter the pores found on the surfaces which would eventually reach the steel reinforcement and initiate corrosion. In simple terms, there are reactions between the concrete, the steel reinforcement, and these chemicals. The byproduct of this is rust which is nothing but corrosion.” “Corrosion is a gradual process,” says Maxy, who continues to park in the deck without reservation. “And it’s a natural process.” Structures like the parking deck have a design life between fifty and one hundred years, according to Maxy. No matter what Meera Maxy does after she graduates in May, she predicts that her research conducted at YSU will play a big role. Whether pursuing a Ph.D. in structural engineering and informatics or going into industry, she envisions applying the skills she’s learned to continue more research.

SPRING 2018

Diversity of Scholarship

Sanjana Sama

Investigating Source Code Summarization “Since my undergraduate days, I’ve been very much interested in involving in research activities in software engineering field,” says graduate student Sanjana Sama, “but I had no opportunities back then.” Committed to pursuing research, Sama prioritized this interest when seeking out schools where she could pursue her advanced degree. Communicating with YSU students led her to find Dr. Bonita Sharif, her advisor at Youngstown State University. Sama reached out to Dr. Sharif through emails and even met her in person to get to know the kinds of research projects Dr. Sharif was pursuing. “She has supported, encouraged and motivated me in every step,” says Sama. Since starting at YSU in the Fall 2016 semester, Sama has received support from the SERESL lab team as well. “We have a very healthy and helpful environment,” she says. Sama’s current research concerns using multiple sources of information in source code summarization. Most research about source code summarization utilize source code elements to create summaries, but these elements are not completely context aware. “Developers discuss code elements via various information sources, such as developer discussion forums or bug reports,” Sama says, “but not much work has been done to use these sources in summarization.” Sama’s work involves investigating the effect of these multiple sources in performing code summarization tasks. The results and findings can be helpful to researchers and practitioners interested in building context-aware code summarization tools that can help augment official documentation with the insightful information extracted from multiple sources. “Students and professional developers benefit from good source code documentation for program comprehension,” says Sama. This project is also exciting not because of the research environment at YSU, but because of its impact elsewhere as well. “I also had the opportunity to work with researchers from two universities in Canada,” Sama says. After completing her degree at YSU, Sama plans to join the IT industry to gain career experience, but she doesn’t think her education will end there. “In the future I want to definitely come back,” she says, “pursue a PhD, and continue research in this area.”

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Grad Student Spotlight: Folkwein, Emeeshat & Houston

Graduate Student Spotlight

Even after achieving their degrees, the College of Graduate Studies alumni continue to pursue educational goals, both as students and as teachers.

Heather J. Folkwein At Case Western Reserve University, Heather J. Folkwein is working towards obtaining her Ph.D. in Chemistry by studying the process of vision and how vision disorders arise. She credits her experience at Youngstown State University, where she obtained a B.A. in Pre-Pharmacy and an M.S. in Chemistry, with preparing her for the rigorous academic environment. “I was not only allowed to do research as an undergrad,” she says, “but I was provided the tools necessary to do so. YSU is one of the only universities that I am aware of that allows all students access to instrumentation and provides them with the necessary training to run them on their own. This is an experience that has helped me advance in my field.” As a graduate student, Folkwein became a teaching assistant, and calls the experience of leading undergraduate chemistry labs one of the most impactful experiences she had at YSU. “I realized in those labs that I love teaching and helping others advance in their education,” she says. “It was this experience that lead me to continue education and start my journey to becoming a professor.” In fact, Folkwein credits the YSU Chemistry faculty for much of her inspiration, from sparking her interest in chemistry to teaching her to interpret data and eventually giving her the opportunity to share her passion with undergraduates in class. “The time I spent at YSU, I became self-motivated, driven, and independent. In my current field of research I am developing my own experiments and techniques. If it wasn’t for the wonderful YSU Chemistry Department faculty and staff, I would not be where I am today.”

Janah Salama Emeeshat “I chose YSU because it’s the number one school of engineering in the area,” says Janah Salama Emeeshat. “Actually, I loved it! And I still love it, and spending time on campus. It went beyond my expectations.” Emeeshat became involved not only in academics at YSU, but in a number of extracurriculars as well. A member of the honor societies Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi, she was also elected to be a student marshal and represent the College of Graduate Studies. “The best moment was when I saw the happiness, love and pride in my parents’ and brother’s eyes during the graduation ceremony,” she continues. Emeeshat enjoyed using her time at YSU to conduct research. “When I got IRB approval for my thesis, that moment was magical,” says Emeeshat, who graduated with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 2017. “I was jumping happily in the office because it went through. The staff there is very understanding!”

“My experience was really good at YSU,” she continues. “I met new people who believed in me and supported me.” Emeeshat has chosen to continue education at Case Western Reserve University, where she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. Her heart, however, remains at YSU, especially among the people in YSU’s College of Graduate Studies who she credits with helping her succeed. “Dean Sanders has shown kindess and encouragement even after graduation,” she says, “and I would like to thank Angie Urmson-Jeffries for her help and support as well. Everyone at YSU helped me to accomplish my goals.

Jennifer Houston Jennifer Houston’s third, fourth, and fifth grade classes at Austintown Intermediate School benefit directly from her YSU education. “Chris Leeper, watercolor professor from the Art Department, visits my classroom and paints for my students,” she says, “inspiring them with his beautiful art and book illustrations.” Classroom visits are not the only way that YSU continues to have an impact on Houston’s educational career. She also returns to campus to talk with Art Education majors, and often has student teachers from YSU placed in her classroom so she can directly share her experience with them. “I chose YSU for my graduate program because I enjoyed working with these professors during my undergraduate degrees,” says Houston, citing Dr. Patricia Sarro’s Pre-Columbian Art History class specifically. “Her passion for the subject helped me develop a real appreciation for Pre-Columbian Art. She created a community in her classroom, and I made lasting friendships through this experience. From this class, I went on to do research on Pre-Columbian relief sculptures.” She also credits Dr. Stephanie Smith with arranging for her to go behind the scenes at the Cleveland Museum of Art to work on her research. “I was able to work with the museum staff to come up with new avenues of research for my project, and I went on to win an award for my presentation at YSU’s QUEST forum.” Houston frequently thinks about the way her professors imparted their love and passion for art when she creates lessons and presentations for her own students. “My time spent in the YSU Art Department has definitely shaped me as a teacher and an individual,” she says. “I am very grateful for all that YSU has done for me.”

SPRING 2018

Studying I

MUSCLE

nside his office in Ward Beecher Science Hall, Dr. Michael Butcher has a box full of bones. He holds them up to compare them to one another. “This is a cow femur,” he says, “and this is the femur of a rhinoceros.” Both bones are about the same length, but the rhinoceros femur is thicker and heavier. He goes on to explain that a change in shape is necessary to reduce bone stress in bigger animals. As a professor in Biological Sciences, Dr. Butcher is interested in functional anatomy, but his current line of research has directed him not towards skeletal structure, but rather towards that of muscles— particularly the muscle fiber architecture of sloths, the notoriously slow-moving arboreal mammals native to Central and South America. Myology, the study of muscle tissue, involves a lot of gross observations, and Dr. Butcher and his students travel abroad, where collaborations with animal sanctuaries — most notably The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica — provide access to deceased sloth cadavers whose limb muscles can be measured and analyzed. These animals have died either naturally or by some unfortunate accident, and are kept frozen until Dr. Butcher and his team arrive to perform their dissections. Dr. Butcher and his students examine each muscle on its own, describing the muscle in situ, and taking a variety of geometric measurements such as muscle mass and length, fiber length, and fiber angle. After measurement, they also place the muscles in tubes to freeze and return to the lab in Youngstown, where they can be analyzed more in depth. For example, his graduate student, Kyle Spainhower, determines the number of slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers, and performs biochemical assays on

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ARCHITECTURE of

Sloths

processed muscle tissue to characterize the aerobic and/or anaerobic metabolism of the muscles. These various methods of studying skeletal muscles will help these researchers understand both how the muscles come together, and how they function. Over the past couple of years, the laboratory of Dr. Butcher has published and prepared a number of papers and presentations on the subject of sloth muscle structure-function. “Sloths are an interesting animal model to study because they have very little muscle mass compared to many other mammals; in fact, only twenty-four percent of their body mass is made up of muscle tissue, compared to nearly forty-five percent muscle mass in humans,” says Dr. Butcher. “Numerous muscles of sloths are skinny and rope-like, and not the most obvious form to be considered strong. However, sloths are arboreal and almost exclusively spend all their time in the rainforest canopy, which means they must be lightweight. These animals may be considered agile, graceful, deliberate, and elegant -- although they are most well-known for being slow, not lazy.” Dr. Butcher points out that, in what seems like a paradox, sloths are also quite strong. “If a sloth could shake your hand, they could crush it with their immense grip strength. Their flexor muscles must counterbalance the body weight for sloths to hang suspended from tree branches for extended periods of time. They have been observed to suspend for hours during something called behavioral sleep – a condition where with eyes closed, their brain and body is only about half as active,” Dr. Butcher says. “Their muscles are not only strong, but they are fatigue resistant. The muscles of most mammals have properties for either strength or endurance, but remarkably, sloth muscles excel at both.” With the help of his dedicated graduate students, Dr. Butcher thinks that he has discovered what may be a key to this paradox. Sloths have several muscles in their forelimbs with modifications in fiber architecture and physiology.

For instance, the brachioradialis, a muscle of the forearm, is well-developed, has long, straight muscle fibers but, an unusually long lever arm. This same muscle is made up almost entirely of slow-twitch muscle fibers that are oddly powered by an anaerobic means. Thus, what sloths lack in muscle velocity, they can make up for in torque. Furthermore, it is becoming more clear how sloths sustain torque for suspensory behaviors. Dr. Butcher and another graduate student, Marissa Gorvet, are currently analyzing muscle activity recordings from live sloths to help confirm the findings from the muscle tissue analyses. “Sloths are part of the superorder Xenarthra,” says Sarah Marshall, Dr. Butcher’s third graduate student. The Xenarthra also includes anteaters and armadillos, the closest cousins to sloths. “They are hypothesized to be the oldest group from which placental mammals (like humans) evolved.” Marshall, who primarily focuses her work on armadillos, hopes that all of their research will help remedy gaps in our knowledge mammal taxonomy, and promote a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships among species – with their very different anatomy and lifestyles – that belong to Xenarthra. “Our data can be used by others, for example Biomechanical Engineers, to develop artificial muscles or limbs” says Dr. Butcher, whose work is supported by grants from the NSF, University Research Council, and the Sloth Conservation Foundation. “But I leave the medical applications to them, because I cannot do it all. My career is rewarding because I get pursue answers to questions about animal structure-function that interest me. I fill a critical need as faculty who conducts research at the basic science level. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is worth seeking, and is fundamental to learning at a fine university such as YSU.”

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Is it too much? The prevalence of heart disease has inspired Dr. Weiqing Ge, Associate Professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Youngstown State University, to investigate how to better help patients recovering from cardiac surgery. Dr. Ge, who is also Membership Chair of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management, recently received an Award of Excellence from the organization. This award recognizes his scholarly accomplishments, his endeavors involving physical therapy students, and his professional services to the organization. “Open heart surgery creates access to the heart by cutting the breastbone, also called the sternum,” says Dr. Ge. “Afterwards patients often go through cardiac rehab, and we have to be very careful with them.” Not only are these patients recovering from the underlying heart problem that precipitated surgery in the first place, but following surgery they also have to contend with their healing sternums. During rehabilitation, these patients must take “sternal precautions” believed to decrease the risk of breaking the breastbone following surgery. While these sternal precautions usually include restrictions against raising one’s arms over shoulder height, lifting weights, and driving, national surveys conducted in the US, Canada, Australia, and European countries demonstrate that there are very different practices of sternal precautions among cardiac rehabilitation facilities. Sternal precautions has been questioned to be too restrictive

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Rethinking Sternal Precautions During Cardiac Rehabilitation and cause unintended problems associated with immobility. However, there is a lack of data from biomechanical experiments to back it up. Dr. Ge, who was born in China and previously completed a fellowship at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology where he studied molecular cardiology, hopes his research will provide soft tissue biomechanical information for rethinking sternal precautions to advance cardiac rehabilitation strategies. There can be some difficult challenges to consider when conducting research into sternal precautions, because performing research on actual recovering patients could be very difficult. With DPT students’ participation, Dr. Ge’s current project is an interdisciplinary collaboration to use digital optical images and computer vision technology to trace the movement of the skin overlying the breastbone. “We will not be able to measure precisely the mechanical force of the bone structure underneath,” says Dr. Ge,” but we will be able, at the very minimum, to determine its direction and tell if it threatens to pull the breastbone apart without putting patients at risk.” “Initial research using electromagnetic sensors published in Clinical Biomechanics is promising,” says Dr. Ge, “but this is being done on a small scale with few subjects.” The professor hopes that with more time and funding, he will be able to conduct a larger study towards his long term goal of advancing cardiac rehabilitation strategies which, in turn, will improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare cost.

Monitoring Mentor Marsh: Restoring the Value of a Changing Wetland Dr. Suresh Sharma, faculty in the Civil/ Environmental Engineering department at Youngstown State University, has been conducting research in the Mentor Marsh since 2016. Collaborating with the city of Mentor and the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, Dr. Sharma’s project comprises two phases. Firstly, they are recording the streamflow in Mentor Marsh establishing two gauging stations in the upstream tributaries. The data collected by the gauging stations, along with other climate data (precipitation, temperature), soil, and land use information, can be used to understand the Marsh’s characteristics over time in terms of salinity variation by developing a watershed model for the tributaries upstream of the marsh. In the second phase, the watershed model will be coupled with the hydrodynamic model developed in the downstream portion of the marsh where marsh interacts with the Lake Erie. The mentor marsh is a tidally influenced with Lake Erie and coupling both watershed and hydrodynamic model will be essential for the researchers to understand the salinity intrusion mechanism in the marsh. Dr. Sharma and others want to understand the characteristics of the marsh and its response over the time with the increased salinity and streamflow from the upstream. Presumably, this will be beneficial both for scientific community and for the Mentor community at large. The ultimate goal of the research is to understand how the marsh is changing over time in terms of salinity and provide information to the various stakeholders responsible to mitigate the increased salinity and growth of the fire catching invasive plant species such phragmites in the region. “Mentor Marsh has a tremendous ecological and economical value, as it has potential to attract birdwatchers and increase the internal tourism,” says Dr. Sharma. “ According to Dr. Sharma, the watershed has had extremely high levels of salinity for over fifty years. This salinity is primarily due to

airborne salt from surface piles as a by-produce of nearby salt mining operations and the deposit of salt mine tailings at the upstream tributary of the Mentor Marsh. “As a result,” says Dr. Sharma, “the large number of trees began to die in Mentor Marsh, leading to the potential for fire.” Historically, the first major fire in Mentor Marsh was recorded in 1979, and there have been eleven marsh fires recorded altogether. “These ecological impacts were amplified by periodic flood and dry conditions within the marsh basins, which increased anaerobic conditions and stress for the remaining pockets of wetland vegetation,” says Dr. Sharma. The ecological changes occurring in the wetlands have become painfully apparent in the past several years. Because of the high salinity, for example, many native plants in the area died and the traditional type of plant species migrated to other salt tolerant invasive species, such as phragmites, which have been overtaking the current habitat of the marsh. Hopefully, Dr. Sharma’s research can help determine potential sites of the high and moderate level of salinity to curb the risk of the increased phragmites and potential for fire in order to keep the marsh safe for local residents and tourists to use. “Thorough investigations are needed,” Dr. Sharma continues, “in order to reestablish the marsh’s value.” Dr. Sharma’s YSU students are responsible for periodically collecting the data from the various locations; even in the winter, when data collection can be challenging, students visit the sites at least once or twice a month. Dr. Sharma visits the sites several times especially during the summer. Dr. Sharma has already established nine different gauging stations to develop the hydrodynamic model and develop a salinity hazard map across the marsh. Dr. Sharma points out that the Mentor community, especially Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District and City of Mentor, have invested a lot of time and efforts into this project. They are even helping to take the river cross section and collect the data in case YSU student are not able to reach the site. While Dr. Sharma and his students at YSU are responsible for installing and monitoring equipment, Dr. Sharma credits the Mentor community with keeping the gauging stations in the marsh safe from tampering. “When the sites are disturbed, it interrupts continuous data recording. We could potentially lose a lot of information,” says Dr. Sharma. “The Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District and City of Mentor has put up notices. They keep the stations safe.”

SPRING 2018

Fostering Resilience:

Supporting Parents of Children Diagnosed with Low Incidence Disabilities In the Beeghly College of Education, Dr. Richard VanVoorhis and Dr. Kenneth Miller are investigating how to foster resilience in parents of children diagnosed with low incidence disabilities. This includes gathering information by which individuals adapt to challenging life circumstances or adversities, and learning how or why they are able to “bounce back” and succeed in spite of these circumstances. Low incidence disabilities include autism, deaf-blindness, and intellectual disabilities that require more support and parental involvement than high incidence disabilities, which may be more included in general education or have systems in place to support their needs. Resilience, the internal resources used when facing hardship or adversities, is necessary Dr. Richard VanVoorhis for many parents of children with disabilities, because navigating support systems while also caring for one’s child can be challenging. Parents involved in this research have defined “resilience” in their own terms as the ability to move forward in spite of obstacles, to be flexible, to keep fighting, and embrace their situation. These definitions came out of a three-part workshop that Dr. VanVoorhis and Dr. Miller (as co-principal investigators) conducted in summer 2017. The summer workshop sessions were made possible from a grant through the University of Dayton Grant Writing Center, and included a group of twenty local parents with children of all ages. The commonality between these parents was that their children all have diagnosed low incidence disabilities, which require significant support. The first step in the workshop included empowerment, making sure that the parents’ own mental health needs are being supported. The second step was to determine how the parents navigate the systems available to them in order to find the resources and support their families’ needs. The third part of the project was to share the findings of the previous two parts with educators and community service providers to help them better prepare to anticipate or address the needs of these parents in the future. During the workshop, parents were able to split up into group sessions to discuss their own interpretations of resilience, and share their strategies for operationalizing their interactions with accessing community resources and educational services for their children. The primary result from the session supported the need for school psychologists, school counselors, and other educators to help parents with bureaucracy in educational and community settings. Parents commented on a number of issues they identified as difficult to navigate or manage at times. For example, some found that conversations with educators were inaccessible to them because they relied on educational jargon, while others indicated that they did not feel fully included in decision-making processes for their children. “Particularly with parents of children with low-incidence Dr. Kenneth Miller disabilities,” Dr. VanVoorhis explains, “they are working to deal with the diagnosis, and also to respond appropriately to the number of situations in their lives that change as a result. These changes range from adjusting family dynamics, to financial and educational implications, and to caring for a child who may have significant learning, sensory, and/or behavioral needs. “All parents are human,” Dr. VanVoorhis continues. “They have their own personal needs, and they need to be psychologically healthy and resilient in order to take on the important role of the advocate for their children.” This is why finding ways to promote a resilient outlook and partnering with parents to succeed is essential. By partnering with the Help Network of Northeast Ohio, an organization that helps parents of children with disabilities navigate community resources, Dr. VanVoorhis and Dr. Miller have plans to continue their research as co-principal investigators for this project. Like the parents in this study, Dr. VanVoorhis has his own definition of resilience: “To be able to adapt to adversity, and move appropriately through challenging situations while coming out on the other side a stronger person. Parents of children diagnosed with low incidence disabilities have to handle some tough things in life and not only keep surviving, but to keep thriving.”

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In DeBartolo Hall, several students spend some of their afternoons and Saturdays examining and evaluating data they’ve been collecting for a research project. Supervising them is Dr. Sharon Stringer, a developmental psychologist, who is collaborating with social psychologist Dr. Ying “Joy” Tang on a research project in order to examine how some people build character in spite of – or perhaps because of – personal experience with stigmas. In particular, Dr. Tang and Dr. Stringer want to uncover the relationship between chronic poverty, a stigma that involves shame about one’s financial situation, and the development of altruism. “Altruism born out of suffering is developed without expectation of return,” says Dr. Stringer. “There is some sort of growth out of adversity occurring here.” “Through talking about the project and the angle,” says Dr. Tang, “we were, in a way, inspired by Youngstown, what needs are here, and what populations we have accessible here. One of the major adversities that is prevalent in this area are poverty issues so we decided to anchor our project on that particular issue. From thinking about poverty, we started thinking about what aspects of character strength we wanted to focus on, and we had this idea of giving back to the community as a result or in conjunction with the experience of poverty.” The data for the pilot study comes from current Youngstown State University undergraduates who have experienced chronic poverty issues. These students respond to surveys with open-ended questions, allowing them to identify key transitions they’ve experienced, and determine what they may attribute their resilience to. The qualitative, narrative data generated by these surveys may allow Dr. Tang and Dr. Stringer to find how some people are able to reappraise bad experiences to learn and grow in a good way. “The literature on stigma has been very consistent about the negative impact,” says Dr. Stringer. “But there’s also some beginning research about positive adjustment. Even though people may experience hardship as a result of stigma, they can actually show remarkable strength and develop resilience.” Dr. Stringer and Dr. Tang’s findings may help determine longitudinally what factors help contribute to intrapersonal and interpersonal character growth in those who experience chronic poverty. They have also collaborated with Dr. Tomi Ovaska from the Economics Department, who has expertise in economic well-being. In a future study, the psychologists may use data to develop an understanding of causality with regards to personal responsibility and altruism. The two psychologists will also collect quantitative data in a mixed-methods approach to look for co-occurring adversities and whether a “shift and persist” Dr. Sharon Stringer, right, and Dr. Ying ”Joy” Tang pattern exists for the students who are able to experience character growth as a response to adversity. “Shift and persist” describes the ability to reappraise negative experiences and being able to look to the future as it promises hope for change via steps and action. Ultimately, Dr. Tang and Dr. Stringer hope that this research will lay down a basic foundational knowledge for continued investigation. The potential exists for more research to see whether the development of altruism varies among different groups, such as those of different political or religious affiliations, for example. In the meantime, these psychologists and their students will be presenting their work at the 30th Annual Association for Psychological Science Convention in San Francisco in May 2018.

EXAMINING ADVERSITY IN CULTIVATING CHARACTER IN

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Cultivating Best Practices for Transfer Student Success In her office in Jones Hall, Director of the Office of Degree Audit Kim Verdone cares for a number of plants, giving the space a warm, welcoming feel. These plants aren’t the only thing Verdone is trying to cultivate, however. Along with grant co-author Kimberlee Avery, the Associate Director for Transfer Admissions, Verdone is studying the strengths and weaknesses in how Youngstown State University serves transfer students. The grant comes from the Ohio Department of Education, originating from the Lumina Foundation. In the future, Verdone hopes to use the knowledge gained from this research to better tend to the needs of transfer students at Youngstown State. Through this grant, Verdone also hopes to contribute to the development of best practices for transfer students not just at YSU, but throughout the Northeast region of the state of Ohio. Students who transfer from two-year colleges to four-year institutions have always faced unique challenges in completing their degrees. Many of these students, for example, are adult learners -- over twenty-four years old -- who face more obstacles than traditionally-aged students. These students usually live off-campus, without the convenient access to campus resources that dorm-dwelling students may have. Adult learners may be returning to school after decades as well, driven by job-market changes. “Practices change dramatically during long educational absences,” says Verdone, a factor which may put transfer students in a difficult position. Transfer students make up about a third of Youngstown State University’s undergraduate student population. In the 2017-2018 academic year, over eight hundred transfer students enrolled at YSU. Verdone’s research may also uncover what made most of these students enroll, while others were accepted into the university and did not enroll. Verdone’s study uses face-to-face focus groups as well as email surveys to reveal trends and find out more about what factors may affect transfer student success. This grant brings together several institutions in the state of Ohio to establish goals, review status, and determine how best to serve transfer students at four-year institutions. This includes setting short term goals as well as evaluating success over the long term. Verdone’s research involves the two-year institutions that act as “feeder schools” to YSU; these schools often contribute the most student transfers, and include Eastern Gateway, Lorain, Lakeland, Cuyahoga, North Central, and Stark State community colleges, with whom Youngstown State has articulation agreements. These agreements outline specific guidelines to achieving four-year degrees for transfer students, which contribute to student success. Research also indicates that regional transfer students have greater success when it comes to recruitment, retention, and graduating with a four-year degree. “More people on campus could be trained to work with these students,” Verdone suggests. “The more we do, the better equipped students are to come into the university and achieve.” The most challenging aspect to Verdone’s research can be limited resources. “These resources need to be invested in our transfer students. Once financial aid runs out, it’s gone – decreasing time to degree completion so that students don’t exhaust financial aid options prior to graduating. Drive down costs for students to keep from wasting resources. Necessity – if you’re going to be compassionate towards your students, you have to keep in mind the cost they have to pay to be here. “Transfer students are savvy shoppers,” says Verdone. “They know what they want, and they are looking for the best bang for their buck.”

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Supporting Athletes in Training with

Sports-Specific Nutrition

Nicole Kent-Strollo fulfills many different roles on YSU’s campus. With years of experience as a women’s health nurse practitioner, Kent-Strollo not only serves as the Director of Student Outreach and Support, but she continues to work as an assistant coach to the men’s and women’s track and cross country teams, after teaching as part of the nursing faculty before obtaining her current position. Her varied professional experience has made her uniquely positioned to study the role of sports-specific nutrition in the lives of athletes in training. In July 2016, Kent-Strollo, along with Assistant Athletic Director, Emily Wollet, created the Individual Wellness Plan program, which provides an avenue for her office to be positive and proactive towards addressing issues specific to athletes, who face unique demands and challenges. The IWP is designed to promote the holistic wellness of athletes at Youngstown State University. The IWP has several categories, or “buckets,” of the sometimes-conflicting priorities that student athletes must balance in their day-to-day lives. These buckets include mental health, academics, home life, rest, recovery, and treatment plans. One of the most important buckets to Kent-Strollo’s research is that of nutrition and diet. “Being in tune with one’s body doesn’t mean that everyone knows what to do about it,” Kent-Strollo says. Her specialty area in practice was on the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders, and examining the development of the female athlete triad, a scenario which can develop in sports where “thinness” is valued. Kent-Strollo hopes that one thing her research can show is whether a diet guide for student athletes will make a difference in the development of eating disorders. “Nutrition always has an impact, but we want to see how this is demonstrated in this particular population,” according to Kent-Strollo. Kent-Strollo’s proposed research into sports-specific nutrition is currently a pilot study examining at basic questions about student athletes, the IWP, and their understanding of diet and nutrition. As an additional component of the IWP, student-athletes will receive education and, in some cases, an individualized program from a Registered Dietician who specializes in Sports Nutrition. The first question investigates whether students know what the Individual Wellness Plan (IWP) program is, and whether they see its value and utilize it. The second question is to evaluate whether education on nutrition is helpful, and whether student athletes decide to investigate more on their own, beyond what the IWP is able to provide for them. Kent-Strollo believes that education can give students a starting point when it comes to understanding their own nutritional needs, such as what to eat and when. “Student athletes at the college level are using their bodies without the proper fuel,” she says. “They can be too strict and restrict themselves. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it seems so intimidating, or embarrassing, or overwhelming to address these issues.” The use of reporting tools for athletics is one reason why Kent-Strollo is starting her investigation with student athletes. “Hopefully research with student athletes could be expanded to include a more diverse student population in the future,” she says. “We want to make sure we’re not leaving anyone out.”

SPRING 2018

Donor-Funded Research:

Collaboration and the Art of Compromise at the Center for Applied History

“W

e do virtually no work without engaging students,” says Dr. Martha Pallante, chair of YSU’s History Department until May 2017, and current assistant dean of CLASS. Dr. Pallante is describing the Center for Applied History, an institution that is uniquely positioned to pursue and acquire donor-funded research for private individuals, organizations, businesses, and other groups. At the Center, students learn to apply their acquired knowledge through hands-on experience as they work with highly-qualified professionals, while also learning what Dr. Pallante calls “the art of compromise” when it comes to working with donors or sponsors. Through this work, students can both enhance the name and prestige of the Center for Applied History, while also gaining opportunities to help them in the job market once they graduate. Students at the Center for Applied History, directed by Dr. Donna DeBlasio and instructed by Dr. Thomas Leary, are involved with a number of different kinds of projects. These projects include exhibits, preservation, and interpretive projects. Exhibits may be for museums or, as in the case with the Dominion Energy Ohio training building, on display in the lobby for new employees to learn about and understand the history of the business. Preservation can refer to projects as large as preserving the historical integrity of entire neighborhoods, or focusing on materials preservations, such as those done with the Ohio History Connection, where students work cataloguing items in the archive. Interpretive projects may take a variety of different forms. As an example, Dr. Pallante describes the collection of oral histories done for the Eastern Ohio Automobile Dealers Association in an exhibit called “Driving in Style,” where students were involved in the recording, digital processing, and transcription of at least twenty hours of tape for twelve individual profiles. Dr. Pallante says this project provided “a wealth of information about community history, impact, and the contraction of the industry.” Exhibits must provide information but also present a balance, demonstrating many sides to its content. This means that, when working with donors or sponsors, historians must start with disclaimers about these diverse perspectives. “We’re obligated to do the work they want,” says Dr. Pallante, but that doesn’t mean focusing on one viewpoint at the exclusion of others. “Our reputation is on the line,” says Dr. Pallante. “We will not be less than fair and less than ethical.” This can lead to difficult conversations with donors and sponsors, but Dr. Pallante emphasize that knowing the context surrounding their projects is key. “We need to give students a solid, ethical understanding of history and interpretation,” Dr. Pallante continues, “but they also need to know that compromise is necessary.” Dr. Pallante points out that sometimes compromise is unrealistic, and in that case students must learn when it is time to walk

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away from a project. Working with donors and sponsors can be rewarding, but also presents other unique challenges. “Often our sponsors don’t appreciate what they have,” Dr. Pallante says. “They don’t recognize the value in their artifacts, and they are ill-equipped to deal with them.” “I like the variety of work that we do, and getting the students really good hands-on experience if they go into public or applied history,” says Dr. DeBlasio. She also points out that the Center is currently working on projects for the Diocese of Youngstown and Vallourec, which has a location in Youngstown. “Donors come to you,” says Dr. Leary. “With any luck, we’re at the top of their list.” He continues: “The initiative from Vallourec is a welcome one, and has provided us with a way to continue to discharge our mission, but in a different direction. The idea that industry, especially heavy industry, represents an era that’s closed is partly true, but there are still places like Vallourec that are the next generation of manufacturing in a balanced economy. What we’re very pleased about is the ability to work with an outside client that sees this as a valuable resource to tell a particular kind of story.” Dr. Pallante, who calls herself an “adrenaline junkie,” likens being a historian with being a detective. “We solve puzzles, like ‘why did this happen?’ We get to poke around and collect evidence until we can hypothesize, and then we get to put together explanations and multiple perspectives.” Dr. Pallante emphasizes that there is no “single truth” about the past, and stresses the importance of examining an event from all possible sides. “The end product allows you to pull those possible pieces together. There’s a rush. It’s in the chase, the hunt, the search for clues and evidence.”

Various exhibits at the Museum of Labor and Industry demonstrate many ways to present balanced content for visitors.

SPRING 2018

Broadening the Student Experience with

Study Abroad Programs

For many Youngstown State University students, studying abroad is one of the most educational and exciting experiences available. There are several study abroad programs facilitated by faculty and staff at YSU that can open up various aspects of the world for understanding. Among these programs are trips to the Bahamas, China and Tibet, and Israel. Each of these trips provide varied educational experiences and course credit for the students that engage in them. Geography and Anthropology faculty have been leading study abroad trips to the Bahamas for nearly thirty years. These trips, facilitated by faculty members Tom Delvaux, Dr. Ron Shaklee, and Dr. Matt O’Mansky, allow students working on capstones, senior projects, and QUEST presentations to immerse themselves in the rich cultural and historical environment of San Salvador Island, believed to be the first site in the New World reached by Christopher Columbus. “The people that lived at our site are thought to be the very first people that Columbus discovered,” says Mr. Delvaux. San Salvador has provided not only artifacts from Columbus’ first voyage, such as coins, glass beads, and belt buckles, but also prehistoric items predating the arrival of Europeans. In fact, in 2016, YSU students found a fragment of an axe made of flint, a stone which does not naturally occur on the island. “That flint had to come from somewhere else. We’ve never sourced it, but regardless, it was a trade item and brought in,” says Delvaux. “We know it’s not from San Salvador.” The closest known source of flint is in the continental United States. The axe is thought to indicate trade happening between the people of what is now Georgia. Students also set up museum displays on the island with to display the artifacts they find, which has helped provide information about San Salvador’s history to both locals and tourists. The journey to San Salvador requires two days of travel. The first flight originates in Pittsburgh, followed by an overnight in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, with a second flight

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reaching San Salvador the next day. On the first day on the island, first-time students tour the island to get acclimated, while returning students may go directly to their sites to prep for the days of research ahead. According to Dr. O’Mansky, “A lot of research gets done on the island largely due to the Gerace Research Center.” The Center was a U.S. Naval base in the 1960s; in 1971, it began a transformation into a research center for marine biology, oceanography, geology, and archaeology. The Gerace Research Center can accommodate as many as two hundred people at a time and serves as the base of operations for YSU students on this study abroad trip. At times, more than forty students from YSU – Archaeology, Geography, and Honors program students – have been on this trip at once. While Archaeology students are at dig sites conducting research, the geography students have the opportunity to learn about the people, the place, and the environment. They get a holistic view of the vegetation and wildlife as well as firsthand experience with the island culture. “For some of these students, this is their first experience with another culture,” says Delvaux. “There are always some students who have never been on a flight before, never left the country before, never seen the ocean,” Dr. O’Mansky says. “Some don’t even have passports,” adds Dr. Shaklee. “But then, even for students that haven’t travelled much, they come back with more confidence to do individual study abroad trips.” Dr. Shaklee continues, “But the thing that makes our trip different is that everybody knows each other. This is a team-building experience.” Globe-trotting students may find educational experiences in other hemispheres, as well. For example, in the summer of 2017, Dr. Ray Beiersdorfer, Professor of Geology, led a study abroad trip to China and Tibet. This journey began in Beijing, which provided a waypoint to visit the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City and Palace Museum. From there, the group continued on to Shian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors and the originating point of the Silk Road. They traveled by train

to reach Lhasa in Tibet, visiting the city’s landmarks before moving on to reach Mount Everest National Park. Geology students on the trip had opportunities as varied as visiting jade museums to watch craftsmen at work, or reach the Mount Everest Base Camp for its unique geological record. Rocks on Mount Everest contain marine fossils, for example, evidence that the Himalayan mountain range used to be underwater. Susie Beiersdorfer, part-time faculty in the Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, utilized this trip as an opportunity to investigate the Dujiangyan Irrigation System in Sichuan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This ancient irrigation system, constructed on the Min River at the confluence of the Sichuan basin and the Tibetan plateau, was originally built in 256 B.C. and is still in use today. Dr. Beiersdorfer’s month-long study abroad trip counts towards credits in Environmental Geology or Natural Science and can be used for undergraduate or graduate level classes. The university helps keep costs down for students as much as it can by helping to cover fixed costs and provide scholarships, as well as subsidizing travel costs through fundraisers such as raffles. Dr. Beiersdorfer plans a return study abroad trip in 2019. Study abroad programs are also continuously developing into new opportunities to explore. Dr. Nancy Wagner, chair of the Nursing Department, helped facilitate a trip to Israel during spring break 2018, marking the first time YSU sent a group made up exclusively of nursing and criminal justice students on such a journey. Dr. Wagner and nursing faculty Dr. Kim Ballone and Mary Ann Cosentino, as well as Criminal Justice chair Patricia Wagner and faculty Phil Dyer, accompanied the students. This trip, helped in part by collaborations with the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, provided the opportunity for students to partake in lectures, discussions, and tours of facilities relevant to their disciplines, combined with visits to sites of historical and cultural importance.

For the nursing students, this trip was a collaboration between YSU and Western Galilee Medical Center to provide educational opportunities. The students toured and attended activities at the medical center, a facility near the Lebanese and Syrian borders that treats refugees from conflicts, giving YSU students an in-depth look at how to provide care to the wounded citizens of an enemy state. Both the staff and patient populations of the medical center represented a wide array of nationalities, languages, and cultures, including Jews, Arabs, Druze, and Christians. The Western Galilee Medical Center also includes an underground facility with over five hundred beds available to patients, which YSU students were able to see. The nursing student group also visited Hadassah hospital and were able to share experiences with students at Hadassah’s Henrietta Szold School of Nursing, Jayden Dunn, a junior who went on the trip, explained the value in the various lectures they received during their visit. “Dr. Arie Eisenmen told us that medicine is a universal language,” says Dunn. “We really saw this between the doctors, nurses, and patients in the hospital.” Another lecture came from a medical clown, whose job is to make the hospital more welcoming to children and parents, even in spite of language barriers. “We observed him interacting with a Syrian refugee boy, who only spoke Arabic.” “To see the reaction of the group to the holy sites was exciting,” says Dr. Wagner, “but seeing how they practice at Western Galilee was the pinnacle of the trip.” However, on study abroad trips, students aren’t limited to learning strictly about their discipline experience or cultural exchange. For example, after Hurricane Joaquin devastated the Bahamas in October of 2015, the YSU study abroad group was the first to return to the Gerace Research Center. Without prompting, the YSU students chose to dedicate a day to helping repair the station, taking up chores such as fencing, painting, and pouring concrete. “While our students are there, they’re learning the specifics of the different disciplines,” says Dr. O’Mansky, “but they’re also learning to be global citizens.” SPRING 2018

The Youngstown State University College of Graduate Studies provides an integrated program of advanced study leading to discipline mastery and an understanding of related subjects. Graduate students working with highly qualified graduate faculty members demonstrate mastery of their discipline and document discovery of knowledge through research and scholarly activity.

Summer 2017-Spring 2018

Marla Ann Peachock Educational Leadership

Shadrack Ampomah Environmental Science

Lindsey James Farris Mathematics

Influence of Land Use on Sediment Quality in Mill Creek Watershed

p-Complement Theorems

DISSERTATIONS

A Study of Building Administrators Attitudes and Knowledge Regarding Students with Disabilities and Least Restrictive Environment

Chris William Basich Educational Leadership

Nicholas Perry Educational Leadership

Teacher Leadership: Effects on Job Satisfaction and Teacher Retention

Landon Ahmed Brown Educational Leadership Beat Out Your Own Rhythm: A Study of a Public School Step Team’s Influence on Academic Identification and Academic Motivation Among African American Males

Matthew Paul Caputo Materials Science and Engineering 4-Dimensional Printing and Characterization of Net-Shaped Porous Parts Made from Magnetic Ni-Mn-Ga Shape Memory Alloy Powders

Jennifer Hollinger Educational Leadership Numeracy and Adults’ Learning Readiness and Commitment: Results from a Large National Random Sample of Participants

Shaikh Tofazzel Hossain Materials Science and Engineering Synthesis and Kinetic Study of CeO2 and SiO2 Supported CuO Catalysts for CO Oxidation

Vincent Clare Humes Educational Leadership The Impact of TPACK SAMR and Teacher Effectiveness on Student Academic Growth in Eighth Grade Language Art and Mathematics

Heather Elaine Keenan Educational Leadership Description of Parentsâ€™ Knowledge of the Nature and Needs of Gifted Children and Their Parenting Styles

James Anthony La Riccia Educational Leadership A Quantitative Study on the Relationship Between Kindergarten Enrollment Age and Kindergarten Students on Reading Improvement Monitoring Plans

Kurt Richard Meader Educational Leadership A Shortage of Male Elementary School Teachers: Exploring the Perceptions of Male Teachers Using Q Methodology

Tammy Lynn Mild Educational Leadership A Study of Elementary Educators’ Perceptions and Experiences Related to the Implementation Process of The Responsive Classroom Approach

NEW FRONTIERS

Teacher attitudes and beliefs about successfully integrating technology in their classroom during a 1:1 technology initiative and the factors that lead to adaptations in their instructional practices and possible influence on standardized tests

Holly Jeanne Schafer Educational Leadership Searching for Superwoman: A Statewide Analysis on the Pay of Female High School Principals

Julian Earl Underwood Educational Leadership Pennsylvania Educator Effectiveness: Building Level Pennsylvania Value-added Assessment System (PVAAS) influence on Collective Teacher-Efficacy

Nicole Lynn Balog Gerontology Older Adults and Successful Aging: The Effects of Lifelong Learning

Breanna Christine Beaver Environmental Science Analysis of Habitat Fragmentation and Ecosystem Connectivity within the Castle Parks Alberta Canada

Emile Toni Boulos Computing and Information Systems Experimental Analysis of Probabilistic Smart Terrain

Victoria Marie Boulos Chemistry The Gas-Phase Ligand Exchange of Select Metal Bis-diisopropylacetylacetonate Complexes

Mercedes Marie Ferraro Mechanical Engineering Quantitative determination of residual stress in additively manufactured Ti6Al4V

Taryn Elizabeth Hanna Environmental Science Evaluation of Watershed Land Use and Water Quality in Mill Creek Youngstown Ohio

Emily Ann Hoopes Mathematics The Use of 3D Printed Manipulatives in College Trigonometry and Their Impact on Student Achievement

Leah Marie Ifft History Youngstown Responds to Survivors of the Holocaust

Laurie Anne Bridge Criminal Justice

Sundar Babu Isukapati Electrical Engineering

The Synthesis and Support Shape Effects on the Catalytic Act

Contributing Factors of Substance Abuse: Mental Illness

Research on Gallium Oxide for optoelectronic applications

Ruth Ellen Zitnik Educational Leadership

Amanda P. Bruce Music History and Literature

Melissa Manetta James Criminal Justice

Disproportionate Disciplinary Outcomes for African American Males: How Teacher Beliefs Impact the Point of Entry into the Disciplinary System

Truth Versus Reality: The Socialist Realist Influence on Music in Cold War Poland

Justice Under Fire: A Statistical Comparison of Arson & Sexual Assault /Serology Exonerations

ThesEs

Dan Matthews Buchanan Mathematics

Seon Young Ka Chemistry

Analytic Number Theory and The Prime Number Theorem

Studies on the Reactivity of a Bis-Mesityl Imidazoyl Carbene Intermediate with Carbon Dioxide and the Stability after Carbon Dioxide Adduction

Elizabeth Theresa Zell Materials Science and Engineering

Gisica Nasim Abdallah Chemical Engineering Examining Regional Weather Effects on Single Ply Roofing Membranes

Christopher Rafael Alonso Creative Writing

Mark Allen Conway Mathematics

The Generalized Riemann Integral in R2

Ludmila Diaz-Starokozheva Biological Sciences

Oscar Kipruto Keino Chemistry Investigation of Mixed-Anion Analogs of Manganite Perovskites and Bimetallic Group II Nitride Fluorides

If Lost on the Roads and Other Stories

Effects of Foliar Microorganisms in Native and Exotic PlantSpecies in Old-Field Communities

Fiona Leah FitzGerald Kelly English

Abdullah Issa Alsairafi Mechanical Engineering

Maninder Dornala Computing and Information Systems

Waiting for Their Turn to Speak: The Use of Interruption in the Discourse of University Student Organizations

Numerical Investigation of the Manufacturing Process of Ball Bearings Focusing on Enhancing the Aesthetics of the Outer Surface by Removing the Shining Band

Hierarchical Cluster Analysis for Identifying Individual Life Course Trajectories

Charles Duah Amoyaw Chemistry Site-Specific Oxidation of Proteins by Reactive Oxygen Species: Investicating the Relationship Between Structure and Oxidative Damage

Jamielynn Elizabeth Doyle Biological Sciences Cloning and Sequencing of L1 and L2 B-lactamase Genes in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia OR02

Janah Salama Emeeshat Electrical Engineering Isolated Word Speech Recognition System for Children with Down Syndrome

Michael Chester Kelly Biological Sciences Using Phage Display to Determine Mesenchymal Stem Cell Contribution to Collagen Synthesis

Floyd Edward Kenney Biological Sciences Biosensor Production by Conjugation of HSA-Specific Peptide to Functionalized Nanotube Fiber

Sanjit Khanal Electrical Engineering

John Paul McIntyre Criminal Justice

Regina Carmella Poderzay Mathematics

Rafaela Soares Vannutelli Mechanical Engineering

Artificial Intelligence in Power System

Law Enforcement Agencies and Its Influential Relationship on Education Standards Training and Social Media Use

Principal Series Representations of GL(2) over Finite Fields

Mechanical Behavior of 3D Printed Lattice-Structured Materials

Bhishan Poudel Engineering CEEGR

Kristen Nicole Verina Criminal Justice

Causes of Corrosion in the Bottom Reinforcement of Pier CapsSupporting a Pedestrian Bridge at YSU and Possible Solutions

The Perception of Therapeutic Staff Support Interventions with Children and its Possible Impact on Future Delinquency

Alex James Puncekar Creative Writing

Anubhav Vinayak Gerontology

The Bright Garden

Role of Oxidative Stress in Diabetes Mellitus

Manush Ravi Prame Chemical Engineering

Nicole Alessa Viviano Gerontology

Fracture Properties of Thermoplastic Composites Manufactured Using Additive Manufacturing

Successful Aging in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Effects of Social Support

Amanda Arcadia Rivera Gerontology

Solita Marie Wilson Chemistry

Substance Abuse In The Dying

The Synthesis and Characterization of Bis-Mesityl Imidazole Carboxylate followed by a Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide

Daniel Kiptoo Chemistry

Synthesis of Novel N-GLYCOSIDE Analogs of D-GALACTOSE

Kasey Lynn Knopp Gerontology Welfare State Regimes and Health Inequities in Aging Populations: A Comparison of Welfare Policies and Health of Aging Populations in the U.S. and Denmark

Joseph B. Korchnak Jr. Computing and Information Systems Implementation of Probabilistic Smart Terrain in Unity

Matthew John LaLama Chemistry Intramolecular C-H Insertion Reactions of Diazo Esters as a Route for Natural Product Synthesis

Emily Susan Lundgren Creative Writing Trees Struck By Lightning Burning From The Inside Out

Kelsey Rae Lyda Mechanical Engineering

Jordan E. McNeil Creative Writing Girls in Jeweled Cages and Other Fairytales

Amanda Nicole Miller Creative Writing A Well Excavated Grave

Jacob Thomas Miller Chemical Engineering Sulfuric Acid Corrosion to Simulate Microbial Influenced Corrosion on Stainless Steel 316L

Jennifer Marie Moore Chemistry Tuning the Substrate Specificity of the Glutathione Transferase GstB from Escherichia coli via Site-directed Mutagenesis

Aaron Anthony Mrvelj Biological Sciences The Effects of Fluoridated Water on Pineal Morphology in Male Rats.

Muhindi Waichigo Stephen Biological Sciences

An Experimental Study of Moisture Content for a Feed Mill Wet Bin

Cloning and Sequencing of Mercury Resistance Genes from the Enterobacter sp. YSU and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia OR02

Pradeep Kumar Makkena Computing and Information Systerms

Anvesh Munugala Electrical Engineering

Predicting Closed Questions Tags on Stack Overflow Using Apache Spark

Steficah Kerubo Maosa Biological Sciences Using Phage Display Technology to Produce Peptides Specificfor Staphylococcus aureus Type 5 and Type 8

Martin Ngutuku Maratani Biological Sciences Using Phage Display Technology to Selecting Peptides From PhD Phage Library That Specifically Binds to S. aureus Capsular Polysaccharide Type 5

Zachary Anthony Marinelli Biological Sciences Identification of a putative metK selenite resistance gene in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia OR02

Constance Louise Massey-Hight Criminal Justice Characteristics of Domestic Violence: The Controversy Over Age

Meera Elizabeth Maxy Engineering CEEGR Determination of Structural Integrity of the Lincoln Parking Deck at YSU

Chip design using Synopsys tools and ASIC design flow methodology

Niloufar Niknam Chemistry Synthesis of Aldose Reductase Inhibitors Fenofibrate Amide Derivatives

Ahmad Y. Omishat Electrical Engineering A Real-Time Harmonic Detector Design and Development for Utility Grid

Jersfrey Omwenga Omwenga Chemistry Synthesis and Crystal Chemistry of Bimetallic Group II Nitride Fluorides

Kayla Ann Parr Biological Sciences The effect of yakA deficiency in T. marneffei infection of THP-1 and J774 macrophage cell lines

Angelo Pelini Mechanical Engineering Influence of Strain Rate Sensitivity (SRS) of Additive Manufactured Ti6Al4V on Nanoscale Wear Resistance

Caitlyn Marie Rodomsky Mechanical Engineering Surface Finish and Properties of A356-T6 Cast Parts Using Additively Manufactured Sand Molds

Patrick Kipkoech Rutto Chemistry Electrodeposition of Cadmium Telluride on Stainless Steel Substrates

Sanjana Sama Computing and Information Systems An Empirical Study Investigating Source Code Summarization using Multiple Sources of Information

Jonathan Jay Wlodarski Creative Writing Love Letters to a Future Ice Age: Stories

Lawrenzo Ngenuy Yengwia Environmental Science GIS Analysis and Recycling Habits in Mahoning County

Milica Zivak Chemistry Studying Landfill Gas Contaminants and Their Effects on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Performance

Jonathan D. Sandoval Mathematics

Elizabeth Marie Zoccole Criminal Justice

Mixed effects modeling of CAMP study data

Gang Diversion Program Implementation: A Directed Study of STG Affiliations at Ohio State Penitentiary

John William Savopoulos Biological Sciences Expression of Genes in Neurospora crassa Outside of the Quinic Acid Gene Cluster During Quinic Acid Metabolism

Sujan Tamang Computing and Information Systems Empirical Evaluation of AdaBoost Method in Detecting Transparent and Occluded Objects

Abhijit Sharma Subedi Engineering CEEGR Quantification of the Effect of Bridge Pier Encasement on Headwater Elevation Using HEC-RAS

Joseph Lee Strozier Jr. Chemistry Halogen Mediated Synthesis of Non-Interpenetrated Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Janga Bahadur Thapa Engineering CEEGR Trenchless Technology Survey Questionnaire Data Analysis for North American Municipalities

SPRING 2018

Developing a Discipline: Pioneering Research in Video Game Music Theory “For many Americans in the middle of the 20th Century,” says Dr. Steven Reale, assistant professor of music theory in the College of Creative Arts and Communication, “cartoons served as a primary point of exposure to orchestral music.” In his office, he taps out notes on an upright piano, playing several songs from the video game “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” a game which requires the player to learn and play several songs to progress. “Now, video games serve a similar role, having emerged as a point of access and exposure to various kinds of music for a lot of people.” Dr. Reale, a music theorist, has worked for years to pioneer the study of video game music as a new subdiscipline in the study of music. In fact, because of his interest in the field, Youngstown State University hosted the first North American Conference on Video Game Music in 2014. The event has occurred annually since then, hosted at other colleges and universities, but Dr. Reale has been on the programming committee every year. “This past year we had special session lightning talks,” Dr. Reale explains, “to digitally accommodate those who couldn’t be there in person.” This allowed scholars even on other continents to participate.

Part of the appeal in studying video game music is in the challenges it poses. “When I’m analyzing music,” says Dr. Reale, “what I produce is a formalized interpretation of a listening experience. What I have been trained to do, what my discipline likes to do is work from musical scores. Music theory can be though of as expert listening: an attempt to create a rich, complex description of hearing music.” “Video game music is not fixed into notation. I can transcribe it on my own, but not the whole universe of possibilities.” Video game music occupies what Dr. Reale calls a “possibility space,” where it must be flexible because it isn’t composed for a finished scenario, like music for television or film. Music composed for video games must accommodate an infinite number of possible scenarios, based on how the player interacts with the game’s world. “There’s a sense of indeterminacy,” says Dr. Reale. Video games also exist in a three-dimensional environment, which allows players to experience music geographically, which differs drastically from how music is listened to in a concert hall. The music is usually looped and repeated over time as well, which means that players learn the music well, as if by rote. “It’s an interdisciplinary space,” says Dr. Reale. “It’s a pluralistic space. There’s a lot of reasons to be excited about this.” “This research is very current,” he continues. “I’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this new subdiscipline as it occurs, and so has YSU.” Dr. Reale looks forward to the possibility of studying game design at Youngstown State, as he and others in Bliss Hall are currently developing a minor in game design. This would be an interdisciplinary collaboration between art, computer science, and business. “I’m a gamer,” says Dr. Reale, “so I’m one of these people who have an immediate connection to this music.”

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY O N E

U N I V E R S I T Y

P L A Z A

College of Graduate Studies www.ysu.edu/gradcollege 330.941.3091

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Office of Research www.ysu.edu/research 330.941.2377

Published jointly by The Office of Research and The College of Graduate Studies, New Frontiers is a biannual report highlighting a portion of the research and scholarly activities of Youngstown State University students, faculty and staff. Please contact us to discuss possible research collaborations, request further information, or learn more about opportunities in the College of Graduate Studies. New Frontiers accepts proposals for future stories. Please contact for more information.

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