The addition of STEM / CLASS to Youngstown State University by Youngstown State University

Ce nt en ni al

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YSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100th. See pages 30-37.

Success Is Our Your

Story

On the

Cover An historic academic reorganization has taken place at Youngstown State University, with the creation of two new colleges – the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS). On the cover, Brittny Humphrey, a senior chemistry major, illustrates a STEM student at work, while Joseph Miles, a senior Spanish major, is intent on learning just the right sentence for his next trip abroad. This reorganization creates exceptional opportunities for students while they’re in college and when they graduate. See page 26 for the complete story.

Introducing the

Bachelor of General Studies A flexible way to complete your bachelor’s degree that allows you to use already-completed course work.

“The Bachelor of General Studies means a lot to me. It has allowed me to fulfill a dream I set for myself years ago — to finish my college degree. I always encouraged my daughters to get more education, and now I plan to go on for a graduate degree and begin a second career in social work after I retire from GM.” Don Terrell, BGS, ’06

YSU President

David C. Sweet

Special Assistant to the President for University Advancement

George McCloud

Magazine Editor

Wendy Wolfgang, ’90, ’94

News Manager

Ron Cole

Graphic Artists

Renée Cannon, ’90 Kathy Leeper, ’85, ’99

Assistant Director

Jean Engle, ’86

Sports Contributor

Trevor Parks

Photographers

James Evans Carl Leet

Contributing Writers Karen Schubert, ’05, ‘07 Emery Boyle-Scott, ’08

Chief Development Officer

Paul McFadden, ’84

Director of Alumni Relations

Shannon Tirone, ’94

YSU Board of Trustees

For more information about the General Studies program or to request an evaluation, please contact Molly Burdette, mmburdette@ysu.edu, 330-941-2311, www.ysu.edu/genstudies.

Chairman John L. Pogue Vice Chairman Larry DeJane Donald Cagigas Millicent Counts Sudershan K. Garg Harry Meshel Dianne Bitonte-Miladore Scott R. Schulick H.S. Wang Secretary Franklin S. Bennett Jr. Student Trustee Erianne Raib YSU Magazine is published twice a year by the Office of Marketing and Communications at Youngstown State University. Any comments or questions should be directed to Marketing and Communications, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555. Call 330-941-3519 or e-mail universitymagazine@ysu.edu for more information.

www.ysu.edu

Youngstown State University is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or identity as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era, in respect to students and/or to applicants for employment, and to organizations providing contractual services to YSU. 8-001

this

Message from the President – President David C. Sweet discusses the legacy the late Provost Robert K. Herbert spearheaded with the creation of two new colleges at YSU – the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS).

Debating Discrimination – The University of Kansas Press publishes YSU Political Science Professor Paul Sracic’s book, “San Antonio v. Rodriguez and the Pursuit of Equal Education: The Debate over Discrimination and School Funding.” The book, which is the only one ever written about this landmark case and has won widespread praise, explores the 1968 class-action suit filed on behalf of Mexican-American school children in San Antonio, Texas.

Hip Musician – Associate Professor of Jazz Studies David Morgan is commissioned by the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra to compose music for jazz great Joe Lovano. The piece, “The Surprise of Being,” is just one of many pieces Morgan has composed for Lovano.

Around Campus – A comprehensive look at university news, events and programs, including a tribute to the late Robert K. Herbert, YSU provost.

Achieving the Extraordinary – For the third straight year, YSU students receive prestigious Goldwater and Phi Kappa Phi scholarships. YSU is the only public institution in Ohio with that distinction.

New Colleges, New Opportunities – YSU undergoes a major academic transformation. The new College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics is the first of its kind in Ohio and one of the few in the United States. The new College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is the cornerstone of the university, offering nine academic majors and general education requirements.

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issue

30 Centennial Celebration – Explore the university’s last 100 years through a timeline, memories from graduates, the archives collection and Centennial events.

Sports – The Penguins take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the season opener in September.

These women work off the pressures of their academic courses in a 1954 physical education field hockey class. See page 30 for more historic photos and events in a timeline celebrating YSU’s 100th anniversary.

This issue of the YSU Magazine was printed with soy-based inks on Productolith paper, which contains 10% post-consumer recycled fiber, sourced from pulp which is elemental chlorine free (ECF) or totally chlorine free (TCF). Soy-based inks are low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are made from a renewable resource, and are more easily stripped from paper during the de-inking and recycling process.

President’s Message

L etters

Academic Transformation

Sincerely,

the

Editor

Benefiting YSU in Years to Come

In the early 1990s, Youngstown State University disbanded the College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) and created the College of Health and Human Services. The new college brought together those academic departments and programs such as nursing, the medical technologies, social work, and criminal justice in recognition of the growing importance of these professions to the region and society as a whole. The wisdom of this organizational change has been borne out by the tremendous growth of the college, now named the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services in honor of the contributions of Dr. Dominic A. and Helen M. Bitonte. The college now has the largest enrollment of any academic college at YSU with more than 3,600 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Through the initiative and leadership of the faculty and staff, the college has brought to YSU important new programs such as the master’s of social work and bachelor’s in forensic sciDavid C. Sweet, President ence. The college has led YSU in the delivery of courses and programs through distance learning technology and in the development of collaborative programs with other institutions such as Lorain County Community College. YSU is now on the verge of its second major academic transformation in 20 years. Beginning this academic year, two new colleges will be created out of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology. The College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will include 10 academic departments – biological sciences, chemistry, computer science and information systems, geological and environmental sciences, mathematics and statistics, physics and astronomy, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and industrial engineering, the School of Technology, and civil, environmental and chemical engineering. The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) will consist of nine academic departments – economics, English, foreign languages and literatures, geography, history, philosophy and religious studies, political science, psychology, and sociology and anthropology. STEM will be the first of its kind in Ohio and one of the few in the United States. Its creation has garnered positive notice at the state level. By consolidating these departments under the STEM umbrella, YSU will be better positioned to effectively meet the national and regional need for more graduates in these fields of study; take better advantage of opportunities for external funding; and create innovative new programs that blend the sciences with engineering and technology. A long-range goal is to construct a much-needed building for the new college. CLASS will be able to focus not only on the further development of its academic majors, but its critical role as the primary provider of general education courses to all first- and second-year students. General education is the foundation upon which future academic and professional success is based through the development of writing, speaking and thinking skills and understanding of global, societal and human issues. This academic transformation was led by the late Dr. Robert K. Herbert, YSU provost and vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Herbert died tragically in a drowning accident while vacationing with family in Costa Rica in July. A tribute to Bob appears on page nine of this magazine. The YSU family and the Youngstown area will miss Bob’s leadership, vision, integrity, and commitment to academic excellence. The new STEM and CLASS colleges are featured in this edition of the YSU magazine, including cover photos of Brittny Humphrey, a chemistry major, and Joseph Miles, who is studying Spanish at YSU. They represent the faces of the new colleges. The magazine also introduces the two outstanding academic professionals who have been named founding deans of the new colleges: STEM Dean Martin Abraham, former dean of the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Toledo; and CLASS Dean Shearle Furnish, former head of the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages at West Texas A&M University. I join all YSU alumni and especially graduates of the departments in the new colleges in looking forward to this exciting transformation that will benefit Youngstown State in the years to come.

DEAR EDITOR: I wanted to tell you how very much I enjoy the Youngstown State University Magazine. I don’t live in Ohio any longer, and it’s nice to read articles about home. I used to work with the late Hildegard Schnuttgen in Maag Library and still have lots of contacts there. Also, my cousin is Coreena Casey, President David C. Sweet’s executive administrator. It’s nice to feel in touch, and the magazine is the vehicle that allows me to feel connected. Thank you again for such a nice magazine.

DEAR EDITOR: My name is Brian Kluchar, and I am a 1991 YSU graduate. Currently I am living and thriving in San Diego with my wife and three sons. I love to catch up with my alma mater, and the Winter 2007 issue was one of the best yet. An especially interesting article to me was one about YSU’s composting program. I work as a project engineer for CP Manufacturing, and we manufacture recycling equipment. Keep up the good work!

Carla Wilson Buss, ’79 Watkinsville, Ga. Wilson Buss is originally from Fowler, Ohio.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Carla Wilson Buss is now curriculum materials and education librarian at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. DEAR EDITOR: I can’t tell you how offended I was by the cover of your Winter 2007 Youngstown State University Magazine, with Mr. Tony Lariccia offering his Twinkies®. As a graduate of YSU and a gay man, I was truly outraged! The cover brought to mind when Supervisor Harvey Milk was brutally and senselessly gunned down in San Francisco by Dan White, who later used the now famous, “Twinkie® defense.” Bob Casanta, ’74 New York EDITOR’S NOTE: We appreciate Mr. Casanta’s letter. We certainly did not intend for the cover to offend anyone. Using the Twinkies® on the cover was the idea of the magazine editors, not Mr. Lariccia. Mr. Lariccia’s generosity stems, in part, from his father, who taught him as a child to share with others, even if that means offering half of his pastry to a friend.

Brian Kluchar,’91 San Diego

DEAR EDITOR: Thank you for a great article on the Cushwa/Commercial Shearing fellowship program in the Winter 2007 issue of Youngstown State University. Charlie, my brother who passed away and a former member of YSU’s Board of Trustees, would have been so pleased with the progress of the fellowship. This is exactly what we had in mind when we established the program. We spent almost 25 years trying to find a way for YSU to impact the future of the Valley, without notable success. Then we transferred the funding to the fellowship, and, hurray, success. Our thanks go especially to Deans Hirtzel and Bolla, with significant assistance from Reid Schmutz, president of the YSU Foundation. My thanks to you all. It is nice to win one.

William Cushwa Granger, Ind.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We would like to thank Mr. Cushwa for taking the time to write us this letter. It’s nice to know that the university is using funds in a way that meets donor approval and helps students. We would also like to note that Dr. Robert Bolla is former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Cynthia Hirtzel, executive director of the YSU Center for Transportation and Materials Science, is also a former dean of the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology.

Write To Us Submit letters to wawolfgang@ysu.edu, fax, 330-941-1704, or mail, Wendy Wolfgang, One University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555. Each letter must include a name and a telephone number for verification purposes. Submissions are subject to editing. YSU Magazine will not print or post on the web site letters that libel others or threaten harm. The editor reserves the right to reject letters that do not follow policy.

Youngstown State University

Summer 2007

Debating Discrimination: Are American Public Schools Funded Properly?

Dr. Paul Sracic poses at the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Youngstown. His book, “San Antonio v. Rodriguez and the Pursuit of Equal Education,” has received many accolades, including a nomination from the American Bar Association for the best work of legal scholarship.

Youngstown State University

o the average reader, the title of Paul Sracic’s new book – “San Antonio v. Rodriguez and the Pursuit of Equal Education: The Debate over Discrimination and School Funding” – may seem a little daunting. But the “average reader” is exactly who Sracic intended to reach because that’s who the school-funding issue continues to impact today. Sracic, a professor of political science at YSU, said more than 30 school-funding cases are currently being debated in state courts across the country, including Ohio. The 176-page book, published by University Press of Kansas, explores the 1968 class-action suit filed on behalf of Mexican-American school children in San Antonio, Texas, claiming inequality of education funding. Sracic’s book, which has been nominated for the American Bar Association’s Scribes Award for “best work of legal scholarship published during the previous year,” is the only one that has ever been written about the landmark case, which essentially argued that quality education, not basic schooling, was a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. In addition, the book was nominated for the C. Herman Pritchett Award, an annual award for the best book on law and courts written by a political scientist; the Ralph J. Bunche Award, an annual award for the best scholarly work in political science; the American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award; and the American Political Science Association’s Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section Best Book Award. The book has won widespread praise and has been adopted for classroom use by several universities, including the University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Berkeley, St. Louis University and the University of Oklahoma. Mark Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas System and a participant in the Rodriguez case, reviewed the book, and said it is the best work he has ever read on the case. “Sracic has done his homework, and it shows on every page.” Some of Sracic’s “homework” consisted of interviewing Arthur Gochman, the lawyer who argued the case before the Supreme Court, and Demetrio Rodriguez, the parent whose name headlined the original suit, among others. When the case was first filed in 1968, Rodriguez was hot on the heels of the ground-breaking 1954 federal case, Brown v. the Board of Education-Topeka, where the Supreme Court interpreted the 14th Amendment to prohibit racial segregation in public schools and other facilities. In the Rodriguez case, a Texas district court agreed with the parents who filed the case, deciding that inequality of education funding existed in the Lone Star State, and this inequality violated the 14th Amendment. But, when the case went before the Supreme Court, the district court’s decision was overruled, 5-4, with the Supreme Court declaring that education is not a fundamental right under the Constitution. Justice Lewis Powell, who had sat on the Virginia Board of Education and written part of the state’s Constitution, argued that if funding had to be equalized, it would more than likely be equalized down.

Justice Thurgood Marshall, who had been the NAACP’s chief counsel for the plaintiffs in Brown, disagreed. He argued that the Texas funding scheme violated the 14th Amendment, which requires states to provide equal protection under the law to all persons within their jurisdictions. “Essentially, the Supreme Court told the states it was constitutional to fund schools as they had been funded – that the Constitution does not demand equal funding for education,” said Sracic, who earned a Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University. “The case established parameters of the equal protection clause – what will be seen and what will not be seen as a violation of the clause. Those who want to challenge existing school funding schemes know that they have to rely on their own state constitutions, since the Supreme Court has already denied relief under the federal Constitution.” Sracic, who lives in Boardman, Ohio, noted that the book emerged from his classroom lectures on how courts interpret the 14th Amendment. “It always surprises students that there’s no federal right to an education,” he said. Sracic’s book is part of the University Press of Kansas series, “Landmark Law Cases and American School Funding in Ohio Society.” ApOhio might be able to lay claim to proximately one of the oldest school-funding cases, 1,300 copies of beginning in 1921. the 2,500 total 1923 Miller v. Korns printed have al1979 Cincinnati v. Walter ready been sold. 1994 DeRolph v. State of Ohio The book, 1997 DeRolph I which costs 2000 DeRolph II $29.95 for cloth 2001 DeRolph III and $15.95 for 2003 DeRolph IV paper, is available at the YSU Note: In this case, a majority of the Ohio Bookstore, all Supreme Court announced that it had major bookstore changed its “collective mind,” regardchains, and ing the plan in DeRolph III. The Court online at www. reaffirmed its holding in DeRolph I and kansaspress. DeRolph II. DeRolph IV ended more ku.edu. than five years of litigation without any resolution. In May 2003, the Ohio Supreme Court granted the state’s request to end any further litigation in the DeRolph matter. Source: “San Antonio v. Rodriquez and the Pursuit of Equal Education” by Paul A. Sracic, pages 135-140.

For a review of Sracic’s book visit http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/reviews/2007/04/san-antonio-v-rodriguezand-pursuit-of.html.

SUMMER 2007 Summer 2007

trust in your team

Alissa Goist (left) and Marielena DeFelice demonstrate two of the many objectives – teambuilding and trust – that can be achieved by participating in the high ropes course.

YSU Installs High Ropes Course at Rec Center

Imagine you are walking across a swaying fourinch wide balance beam, attached to steel bars in the ceiling by a black rope. All that’s stopping you from falling almost 20 feet to the ground is a nylon full-body harness strapped around your legs, waist and chest. Close to you are 10 to 15 of your friends, some walking through swinging tires and others climbing through a cargo net. You feel your heart racing as you take another step, knowing that if you falter, Alissa Goist, a rec center student at least one of those friends staff member, walks through tires would be there to help you in YSU’s new high ropes course at regain your balance. the rec center. Are you having a bad dream? No. You are on Sky Trail, a high ropes obstacle course at YSU’s Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, the only retractable course of its kind in Northeast Ohio. “For some students, there will be an element of fear,” said Jack Rigney, director of campus recreation/intramural sports. “The course is nearly 20 feet off the ground. I’d recommend not looking down until you feel comfortable, if heights make you queasy.” But, there is much more to the high ropes course than overcoming fear. The Sky Trail, installed last winter in the ceiling high above the basketball and volleyball courts in the rec center, aims to further enhance adventure-based learning opportunities for YSU students, which encourage teambuilding, trust and shared leadership. “We are not going to require students to participate in the course,” said Mike Bowman, administrative assistant II in campus recreation/intramural sports. “Our credo has become ‘challenge by choice, with encouragement.’” The $82,000 Sky Trail, installed by Ropes Course Inc., consists of six steel retractable cages bolted to the trusses of the ceiling of the rec center, with seven interchangeable obstacle course activities installed between each platform. A collaborative effort by six departments under the Division of Student Affairs allowed for the course to be funded and the installation and certification for instructors, Rigney said. In addition to balance beams, swinging tires and a cargo net, the course features wooden planks, tightrope wires and a

Youngstown State University

section of wall grips on a flat platform. More elements can be added at a later date, Rigney noted. When the programming is complete this fall, the staff will be prepared to offer high ropes courses to fraternities and sororities, student government, athletics, emerging leader groups, student peer assistants, the ROTC, students in residence halls, and student employees in general. In addition, faculty and staff from campus departments and offices will be able to sign up for the course. Joy Polkabla Byers, assistant director of programs and special events at the rec center, said major goals of the program include developing student leadership and preparing students to be engaged in their communities and for future employment. “The programs will also be designed to help develop integrity and learn conflict resolution, stress management and critical thinking skills,” added Matt Morrone, rec center assistant director. Each program will be a minimum of at least two hours. Five members From left - Students Keith Hernstrom, of the professional Michael McGiffin, Renee Gilson, Alissa rec center staff Goist, and Travus Dusz break in the – Rigney, Morrone, “taco” cargo net. Polkabla Byers, Bowman, and Brandy Fagnano, coordinator of fitness and wellness programs – have received one-year certification as ropes course facilitators. Jackie Clifton, a full-time staff member in housing, also received certification. Three rec center student staff members have also been trained and certified, as well as a graduate assistant in YSU’s Office of Student Activities. While many colleges and universities across the nation have ropes courses, YSU’s is unique in that participants only have to “hook in” once to the tracking system that encompasses the entire challenge course, rather than hooking in and out before moving to another activity. “This also makes the course safer – there is less of a chance of hooking back in again incorrectly,” said Rigney. For more information on the ropes course and other rec center programs, visit http://www.ysu.edu/reccenter/ or call 330-941-3488.

Summer 2007

Hip Musicians at YSU? You Bet There Are.

For Joe Lovano, Grammy Award-winning jazz saxophonist, life can be summed up in one sentence – “people who are hip are hip.” And to Lovano, David Morgan, a YSU associate professor of jazz studies since 2001, is definitely “hip.” Morgan was recently commissioned by the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra to compose a 50-minute suite featuring Lovano, as well as arrange several of Lovano’s original compositions. Since the late 1990s, Morgan, who earned a doctorate of musical arts from the University of Texas in 1996, has been playing with and writing for the Jazz Unit, a subset of the CJO, as well as with the main orchestra. The piece for Lovano, titled “The Surprise of Being,” premiered in November 2005 at the Cleveland Bop Stop and was performed next in July 2006 at Birdland, a famous jazz club in New York. A CD, titled “The Surprise of Being: Live at Birdland,” a live recording of the four gigs at the club has been released and is available at cdbaby.com. “I’ve had the opportunity to play with many people in the music business,” said Morgan, a Cleveland native. “But Lovano is really special – he is the Zen master of improvisation. It was a huge honor for him to want to take the piece to the Birdland.” Morgan’s honors don’t start and stop with Lovano. In 2003, he won an Award of Achievement from Northern Ohio Live magazine for transcribing the music of Frank Zappa, which was performed at the TriC Jazz Fest in 2002. “Three Vignettes for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra,” another one of Morgan’s pieces, was recorded by Beethoven Festival Orchestra of Krakow, Poland, this year and released internationally. Most recently, Morgan was commissioned to write a piece for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, which was premiered at the Yale Festival of Ideas in June 2007.

David Morgan Associate Professor of Jazz Studies

Youngstown State University

In MeMorIaM

Robert K. Herbert YSU mourned the death this summer of Dr. Robert K. Herbert, YSU provost and vice president for academic affairs, who drowned in July while vacationing with family in Costa Rica. “Strong advocacy for academic standards, integrity, effective leadership, and commitment to student Robert K. Herbert success were hallmarks of his tenure at YSU,” said YSU President David C. Sweet. Herbert was married to Dr. Barbara Nykiel-Herbert, a faculty member in YSU’s English Department. They have two sons, Ian and Sebastian, and a daughter, Veronica. Bob’s love for and pride in his family were evident to all who knew him. Herbert became YSU’s provost in July 2005. His legacy to YSU includes the development of a comprehensive Academic Strategic Plan, the continued develop-

Around C

YSU Campus and Beyond Harry Meshel of Youngstown, former Ohio State Senator and former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, has been appointed to a nine-year term on the YSU Board of Trustees by Gov. Ted Strickland. Meshel, a 1949 graduate of Youngstown College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, replaces William Bresnahan, whose term expired in May. “Harry Meshel has served as one of YSU’s finest ambassadors for more than a half century,” YSU President David C. Sweet said. “We look forward to Mr. Meshel’s continued work on behalf of the university.” Meshel, who also taught at YSU, said he is honored to be appointed. “I have a long love and a great deal of affection for YSU over many, many years, as a student, a teacher and a supporter,” he said. “The university is an important asset for Youngstown and the entire region, and I look forward to serving it now in this new role as trustee.” A Youngstown native, Meshel was Student Council president while at YSU. In 1950, he earned a master’s degree in urban land economics from Columbia University.

ment of the Youngstown Early College, and the creation of two new colleges: the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS). The new colleges are the focus of the cover story of this edition of the YSU Magazine. Before coming to YSU, Dr. Herbert served as dean of liberal arts at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and chairperson of the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York in Binghamton. He had taught at institutions throughout the world, and his extensive scholarly work on linguistics and South African languages achieved national and international recognition. A native of Long Island, N.Y., Herbert received a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Queens College (City University of New York), a master’s degree and Ph.D. in linguistics from Ohio State University, and a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Michigan. He will be missed by friends and colleagues not only at YSU, but throughout the world.

In 1970, Meshel was elected to the Ohio Senate from the 33rd district, serving until 1993. From 1993 to 1995, he was the chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. Meshel is a member of the YSU President’s Council and has endowed five scholarships as well as an endowed award in Greek language at the YSU Foundation. In 1977, he received an honorary doctor of humane letters from YSU and spoke at Harry Meshel summer commencement. In 1986, due to his efforts to secure funds for construction of YSU’s new technology center, the university named the building Meshel Hall. Meshel also was instrumental in the establishment of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown and the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. A delegation from YSU, led by President David C. Sweet, visited China and Taiwan from May 21 to June 6 to develop new and stronger academic ties and opportunities with universities in the region. Wen Fang Yen, the president of Lunghwa University, who was part of the delegation that visited YSU in April, formally invited Sweet to visit his university. Sweet also received a formal invitation from Lin Zhengfan, president of Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, China, who visited YSU in January 2006. Summer 2007

Around Campus

YSU President David C. Sweet and Lin Zhengfan, president of Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, China, take a moment to pose with colorful dragons during Sweet’s visit to China and Taiwan this spring.

homas J.

avalier

YSU’s Distinguished Citizen

Thomas J. Cavalier, chair, president & CEO of Butler Wick Corp. and its subsidiary, Butler, Wick & Co., Inc., since 1985, has been selected for YSU’s Distinguished Citizen Award. “The Distinguished Citizen Award has become a cherished tradition throughout its 27-year existence,” said Shannon Tirone, director of the Office of Alumni Relations. Cavalier, a 1976 YSU graduate with a bachelor of science degree in education, was chosen for YSU’s highest mark of distinction for his exceptional service to the greater community, for outstanding professional achievement and personal commitment for helping to enhance the interdependence between the economic and educational institutions of society. He began his career at Butler Wick in 1975. Since he became president, Butler Wick has formed Butler Wick Trust Co., Butler Wick Investment Management Group, Butler Wick Capital Markets Group and Butler Wick Insurance Group. Butler Wick Corp., through its two subsidiaries, has 200 employees in 19 offices throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition to his position at Butler Wick Corp., he also serves on the board of Butler Wick Trust Co., a Butler Wick Corp. subsidiary, and on the board of United Community Financial Corp., a bank holding company.

The delegation from YSU included Sweet’s wife, Pat; George McCloud, special assistant to the president for university advancement, who has fostered many of the university’s current Far East exchange programs; and Florence Wang, who has spearheaded YSU’s relationships with universities in Taiwan and China. Travel expenses were financed through private funding. This was Sweet’s first trip abroad in his seven-year presidency. The stops included Beijing Technology and Business University in Beijing, and Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou and Lunghwa University in Taipei, Taiwan. While in Taiwan, the delegation also visited an elementary and high school, met with the Taipei Chamber of Commerce and hosted a dinner for YSU alumni. In 2005, YSU and Lunghwa University signed a contract of cooperation to exchange students and faculty members. Four Lunghwa students were enrolled in undergraduate courses at YSU last spring.

Youngstown State University

He’s the current chair of the board of the YSU Foundation and a member of the University Housing Corp. In 2005, the YSU Board of Trustees nominated Cavalier as the YSU community member to the board of Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM), and he currently serves as vice chair of that board and chairman of the finance, fiscal policy and investment committee. He serves on the board of the Butler Institute of American Art and is a past president of that board. He also serves on the board of the Tri-County Regional Board of MakeA-Wish Foundation. Cavalier is a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Regional Firms and a member of the SIFMA Group A CEO Roundtable. Cavalier and his Thomas J. Cavalier wife, Christina, reside in Canfield and have five children and one grandchild.

Studying Abroad in India

From left – Norma Watson, President David C. Sweet and Frank Watson. The Watsons were selected as 2007 Friends of the University.

Frank and Norma Watson are the recipients of YSU’s 2007 Friends of the University award. The award was started in 1997 to recognize alumni, friends and donors who have had a significant impact on YSU. The Watsons have supported YSU for more than 30 years. The All Sports Complex campaign, the Watson Sports Media Center, the Scholarship Loge program and the YSU Foundation are just a few of the projects that have benefited from their contributions. Watson, who has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from YSU, spent most of his career with Youngstown Welding and Engineering Co. He served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. Upon his retirement from Youngstown Welding and Engineering, he was city manager of Canfield from 1989 to 1991. He served on the YSU Board of Trustees from 1978 to 1987 and is an original member of the YSU Foundation Board and continues to serve in that capacity today. He received an honorary doctor of science degree from YSU in August 2003, the same year he was selected as the Distinguished Citizen by the YSU Office of Alumni Relations. Mrs. Watson has devoted her life to her family and community, serving as a volunteer for many area organizations, including the Federated Women’s Club and the Fellows Riverside Gardens. The touring exhibit of “Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and their Families” visited YSU in June. The exhibit came to the university with the help of YSUnity (YSU’s Gay-Straight Alliance), and the offices of Equal Opportunity and Diversity and Student Diversity Programs. The Youngstown Area PFLAG (Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter, and the Pride Center of Greater Youngstown, in partnership with the Equality Ohio Education Fund, also helped bring the exhibit to YSU.

The Williamson College of Business Administration offered a 10-day study tour to London, England, Dublin, Ireland, and Bombay, India, in January. Five faculty members and 22 students spent their semester break participating in the study tours. This is the second year YSU students have traveled abroad to visit businesses. Last year, WCBA students and faculty went to Italy, Hungary, Brazil, Czech Republic and Turkey. “A critical component of our students’ business education is the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills beyond the classroom,” WCBA Dean Betty Jo Licata said. During the trip to India, three faculty members and 11 YSU students toured Infosys, the leading software company in Bangalore, India; the World Trade Center at Bombay; the Bombay Stock Exchange; the Securities and Exchange of India; the National Stock Exchange; and the Small Industries Development Bank of India. The trip was part of the WCBA’s Emerging Market Initiative Grant, supported by the U.S. Department of Education. In London, two faculty members accompanied 11 YSU students to the Microsoft EMIA Headquarters in Ireland, and the BP Corporate Headquarters and IPC Systems, Inc., also in London. IPC Systems Inc. is part of the Mountbatten Internship Programme, which provides a range of practical training opportunities during a one-year work assignment in or near London with a British-based sponsor company.

From left – Scott Domes, Victoria Lerman, Courtney Means, Rosanna Zarzycki-Miller, Lindsay Berger, Dr. Stanley Guzell, Joel Evans, Dr. Ram Kasuganti, Michael Perry and Timothy Moyers stand outside the Taj Palace Hotel in Bombay during a study tour to India, sponsored by the Williamson College of Business Administration.

Summer 2007

Around Campus

Around Campus The project was funded by donations from people and organizations who signed the book and by the work of more than 50 volunteers. The book was also sent to 22 Virginia Tech students who were injured but survived the shooting and are recovering. YSU Student Government also helped organize the signing campaign, which lasted for four days on campus.

From left – Brian Wells and Jonelle Beatrice, Center for Student Progress, and Christi Campf, president of YSUnity.

The touring photo-text display was created by the awardwinning Family Diversity Projects of Amherst, Mass. “Ohio is not a welcoming place for LGBT people and their families,” said Christi Campf, president of YSUnity. “We hope these photos will help cut through all the political arguments right to the heart of the issue by showing the love, caring and connection that are so basic to all families.” Photographs by Gigi Kaeser depict a variety of LGBT people and their families of all races in familiar family settings. The photos are accompanied by text edited by Peggy Gillespie from in-depth interviews she conducted with each family member. To show support to fellow students at Virginia Tech and their families, sympathy books containing the signatures of more than 1,100 YSU students and employees have been sent to the families of the 33 victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. The book was the idea of YSU graduate student John Paul DeSimone of Poland. In addition, the families also received a small penguin doll from the YSU bookstore.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership is offering more than 15 paid internships at nonprofit organizations with support from the Raymond John Wean Foundation. For more information, call Jane Reid, campus director for Center for Nonprofit Leadership and professor of marketing, at 330-941-1870. About 100 education faculty and graduate students from five universities across Ohio attended the fourth annual Educational Resource Exchange at YSU in March. Graduate students from Central State University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, the University of Akron and YSU presented research on topics including special education, school funding, accountability, poverty and education, counseling and the use of technology in education. Gunapala Edirisooriya, YSU professor of Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership and chair of this year’s ERE, said the purpose of the event was to give graduate students an opportunity to present their research and to develop research connections and cooperation among the universities. Dr. James E. McLean, university professor and dean of the College of Education at the University of Alabama, presented the keynote address.

Two original operas created by students in YSU’s SMARTS program were performed in May at the Ford Family Recital Hall in downtown Youngstown. The two short operas, “The Princess Fiesta: Revenge of the Muffin Man” and “Mysterious Hawkeye: Child Defender,” were created by 30 firstthrough 12th-grade students from the Youngstown region. SMARTS students participated in the class for three months handling all aspects of the opera, including documenting the project with photography by fifth-grader Eilish Deuley, whose images were shown during the opera. Becky Keck, SMARTS director, credited the teachers – Lynn Anderson, Amanda Beagle, Diana Farrell, Corinne Morini, Craig Raymaley and Angela Speece – for their leadership in helping the students create quality operas. SMARTS – Students Motivated by the Arts – is Anna Boyd, YSU freshman, with YSU President David C. Sweet in an arts education partnership among YSU’s College the background, during a prayer vigil for the victims of the killings at of Fine & Performing Arts, the Beeghly College of Virginia Tech University.

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Education, the Youngstown City Schools, and the many vital arts organizations in the community.

Youngstown area SMARTS students perform in the original opera, “The Princess Fiesta: Revenge of the Muffin Man” at the Ford Family Recital Hall.

The St. Anthony’s Society of Struthers has donated $33,588.45 to YSU. The Society, founded in the late 1920s as an Italian immigrant social club, donated the money from its John J. Spano-Frank Quattro Scholarship Fund, which was established in the early 1980s as a way to help Struthers High School students seek a college education. “We are honored to receive this very special donation, and we look forward to continuing the Society’s proud tradition of helping students attend YSU,” said Paul McFadden, YSU chief development officer. For more information, contact Nick Visingardi at 330536-8537.

Faculty and Staff Philip Hirsch of Girard and Philip A. Snyder of Boardman, two retired, long-time YSU administrators, received YSU’s Heritage Award at the 26th Annual Awards Dinner in May. The Heritage Award is among the highest honors bestowed by YSU. Hirsch came to YSU in 1973 as the first director of Kilcawley Center. An ambassador for YSU, he brought prominence to the university through his extensive participation in the Association of College Unions-International. Hirsch was chief negotiator for the university for several non-faculty union contracts. YSU achieved success in negotiated collective bargaining agreePhilip Hirsch ments with YSU-ACE, YSU-APAS and YSU-FOP due to Hirsch’s efforts.

Prior to his retirement, he was also asked to serve in an interim capacity as special assistant to the president for development and community affairs. Snyder served the university for more than a quarter century, joining the professional/administrative staff in 1966 as director of university relations. A native of Savannah, Ga., Snyder graduated from YSU in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations. During his 26-year tenure at YSU, he wrote a history of the university, organized the records and data of hundreds of former and present faculty and staff, and planned and coordinated all groundbreakings and dedications of university buildings until his retirement in 1992. Philip A. Snyder Administrative Distinguished Service Awards, retiree and service awards were also presented at the dinner. For a full list of the award recipients, visit http://www.cc.ysu.edu/hr/. Eugene P. Grilli is YSU’s new vice president of finance and administration. Prior to joining YSU, Grilli was associate vice president for administration and finance at California University of Pennsylvania. He served at CUP since 1972. As YSU’s chief financial officer, Grilli provides leadership to finance, Eugene P. Grilli facilities and support services, which includes supervision of more than 150 full-time employees. “I am confident that Mr. Grilli’s extensive experience in higher education will be a strong asset to our university,” YSU President David C. Sweet said. More than 20 candidates from across the country applied for the cabinet-level position. Grilli was part of several Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education committees, including the committee that developed the first formula to allocate legislated funds to the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania state system. The American Physical Therapy Association selected Nancy Landgraff, associate professor and chair of YSU’s Physical Therapy Department, as the recipient of the Dorothy Briggs Memorial Award for Scientific Inquiry. The award, named after the late Dorothy Briggs, an educator and an active investigator at the University of Wisconsin, was presented to Landgraff for an article she published in 2006 in the professional journal, Physical Therapy. Nancy Landgraff

Summer 2007

Around Campus

Yulanda L. McCarty-Harris is the new director of the YSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. McCarty-Harris previously served as procurement administrator for Lucas County Jobs and Family Services in Toledo. She graduated from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas in 1998 and moved to Toledo two years Yulanda L. later. After a stint with a private law firm, McCarty-Harris she worked as a prosecutor and a labor and employment attorney for the city of Toledo, among other positions with the city. Norma Stefanik of Youngstown, urban designer in YSU’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies, received the Mahoning Valley Historical Society Directors’ Award of Achievement at the Society’s annual meeting in June. Stefanik came to YSU in 1995 as a staff architect in the facilities department and began working in the Center for

ACULTY

Urban and Regional Studies in 1997. She developed the Sacred Landmarks Program, which included a survey of all the religious institutions in a threecounty area and a web site with photos of each church, synagogue or temple. She also served as restoration architect for two houses for the North Side Citizens’ Coalition in Youngstown, as well as project manager for the Cort- Norma Stefanik land Comprehensive Plan, in which she advocated that the city designate a National Register Historic District for their many well-preserved houses along their main streets. Stefanik was also recipient of a Getty grant that produced a five-speaker series composed of nationally known figures in New Urbanism, neighborhood revitalization, and commercial redevelopment. She also facilitated the Historic American Buildings Survey documentation of the Olive Arms home of the MVHS and encouraged the adaptive reuse of the Peck and Sacherman houses on the YSU campus. She was also architectural

ONORS

At YSU’s annual Honors Convocation in April, the following faculty members were recognized as 2006-07 Distinguished Professors:

For Excellence in Teaching

Rangamohan V. Eunni, Management; Timothy Francisco, English; Jean T. Hassell, Human Ecology; Debbie Juruaz, Health Professions; G. Jay Kerns, Mathematics and Statistics; and Zara Shah Rowlands, Human Ecology.

For Excellence in Scholarship

For Excellence in University Service

Annette M. Burden, Mathematics and Statistics; Gung-Hwa (Andy) Chang, Mathematics and Statistics; William D. Jenkins Jr., History; Stephanie Smith, Art; and William G. Vendemia, Management.

Watson Merit Awards

The Watson Merit Award is given to outstanding department chairpersons for administrative performance. This year’s recipients were Joseph J. Mistovich, Health Professions, and Susan C. Russo, Art.

Salvatore Attardo, English; James J. Carroll, Physics and Astronomy; Kelli A. Connell, Art; Stephen E. Rodabaugh, Mathematics and Statistics; and Mark F. Toncar, Marketing.

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Rick Shale, professor of English, and co-author Carol Potter, were recently honored in Cleveland by the Ohio Parks & Recreation Association with an Award of Excellence for their book, “Historic Mill Creek Park.” The book received a superior rating, the highest award in the category for print publications. Shale and Potter Rick Shale received the award at the OPRA 2007 convention. David Stout, the John S. & Doris M. Andrews Chair of Accounting in the Williamson College of Business Administration, received two prestigious national and state awards. He was named the recipient of the 2007 R. Lee Brummet Award from the Institute of Management of Accountants (IMA) and the 2007 Outstanding Ohio Ac- David Stout counting Educator Award sponsored by The Ohio Society of CPAs and the American Accounting Association – Ohio Region. Brenda Crouse, an academic advisor in the Rayen School of Engineering and Technology, has received an outstanding advisor award from Sigma Alpha Lambda National, a national leadership and honors organization. Crouse is the first chapter advisor. In May, the students who founded the Brenda Crouse organization on campus graduated. More information is available at http://sigmaalphalambda.org.

Student Success

For Excellence in Public Service

William R. Buckler, Geography; Iole Checcone, Foreign Languages and Literatures; Patrick R. Durrell, Physics and Astronomy; Cary Horvath, Communication and Theater; Victoria E. Kress, Counseling and Special Education; Anne M. McMahon, Management; Sharon P. Shipton, Nursing; and Victor Wan-Tatah, Philosophy and Religious Studies.

consultant for the nomination of four Wick Avenue churches to the National Register of Historic Places and formed a nonprofit group to work on the Welsh Congregational Church that was damaged by a fire.

From left – Bege Bowers, associate provost, Victor Wan TaTah, professor, Philosophy and Religious Studies, and Tim Francisco, assistant professor, English, donned academic regalia for Honors Convocation in Stambaugh Auditorium.

Alaina-Marie Hershman, a student in her final year of YSU’s physical therapy program, received the $5,000 Mary McMillian Scholarship, the most prestigious student award given by the American Physical Therapy Association. The national award, which is presented to a student for academic excellence, leadership and participation in the profession, is named after the late Mary Alaina-Marie McMillan, a dedicated pioneer of physiHershman

In Memoriam

Robert D. Fitzer Robert D. Fitzer, instructor of clarinet at the Dana School of Music, died May 16 of cancer. Fitzer had a distinguished 25-year career as a clarinetist and music educator. After making his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 19, he played for two years with the Chicago Symphony OrchesRobert D. Fitzer tra, with whom he recorded the Grammy-award winning Four Symphonies by Johannes Brahms. He played on various motion picture soundtracks in Hollywood and played in many long-run Broadway shows. Fitzer also performed on stage with jazz great Dizzie Gillespie, rock bands Yes, Styx and many other top entertainers. He was also a member of Cleveland’s Lakewood Band and served as soloist in 2004 with the YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble. He was a private school band director for four years, and spent several years serving as a first-call substitute teacher in all 31 Youngtown city schools. Aside from his work as a musician and teacher, Fitzer was extremely active in Youngstown-area community and civic affairs and is credited with saving several historic Youngstown buildings from the wrecking ball. In support of Fitzer, the Dana School of Music Clarinet Studio raised more than $3,000 for the American Cancer Society in this year’s Youngstown Relay for Life, in an effort called “Bob-ing for a Cure.”

cal therapy, the founding president of APTA and an esteemed teacher. Hershman received a bachelor’s degree in biology from YSU in 2004. The YSU student chapter of the International Institute for Electronics and Electrical Engineers won first prize in the IEEE Region 2 Student Activity Conference at the University of Cincinnati. The YSU team placed first in the “Brown Bag Design Competition.” The team consisted of Aaron Schott of Harmony, Pa., Edward Sutphin of Cranberry Twp., Pa., Kevin Carney of Poland, Ohio, and Carl Rossler of McDonald, Ohio.

Summer 2007

Around Campus

Around Campus ing certain number of components, supplied in a brown bag, in a predetermined time frame.

From left – Engineering students John French, Matthew Mosko, Matt Corsale and James Shuster with a circuit they created in a class for display at the annual engineering showcase in Moser Hall.

The Brown Bag Design Competition requires each team to design and assemble a circuit to solve a given problem us-

Two YSU political science students, Emery Boyle-Scott and Stephen Foley, recently traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to participate in the World Model United Nations conference sponStephen Foley and Emery Boyle-Scott, sored by Harvard political science majors, in Geneva, University. Switzerland, at the World Model United The conNations conference. ference brings together students from colleges and universities across the globe to debate issues that confront the current international political system. Foley and Boyle-Scott are active members of the YSU Model United Nations club and participated in the club’s Washington D.C. trip to Howard University’s and Converse College’s Model NATO conference in February. They also

Putting On A Good Show and More YSU Penguin Productions, created last fall, is a new McGiffin, for instance, worked on promoting the LudacYSU student group whose goal is to stage events to better ris concert, which included distributing flyers and banners. serve YSU students and the community. The group’s first For more information, visit the Penguin Productions web event – a concert in April by Grammy Award-winning persite at www.ysu.edu/penguin_pro. former Ludacris – drew more than 3,000 people (including a fare share of YSU students) to the Chevrolet Centre in downtown Youngstown. For Mike McGiffin, Penguin Productions is more than a way to have a good time. “Someday, I want to work in the music industry and supply and promote concerts,” said McGiffin, a YSU finance and accounting major. “So, this is great experience.” Penguin Productions, which is run by a board consisting of 12 students and 12 advisors, hopes to sponsor its next event this fall, tied to YSU’s homecoming and the celebration of the university’s centennial, said Joy Polkabla Byers, assistant director of programs and special events From left – student Wilson Okello; Jack Rigney, director, Campus Recreation in Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports. and Intramural Sports; Melanie Koontz, SCOPE coordinator; student Amanda But the group is about much more than put- Polles; Shannon Reesh, coordinator, Center for Student Progress; student Carrie Anderson; and Joy Polkabla Byers, assistant director of programs and special ting on a good show. Students learn marketing techniques, advertising and public relations, net- events, Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports. Penguins Productions, which sponsored its first concert in April, is run by a board of 12 students and working, budgeting and business management. 12 advisors.

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Last spring, University Theater presented “Theophilus North” by Matthew Burnett, based on the novel by Thornton Wilder, in the Spotlight Arena Theater in Bliss Hall. “North” is one of nine YSU student, faculty and staff performances produced by University Theater in 2007. Pictured above from left are Tony Scarsella, Roxanne Hauldren and Andrew Kim, who starred in the play. Several more productions are coming up in 2008. For tickets, call 330-941-3105 or visit www.fpa.ysu.edu/theater and click on University Theater Season.

volunteered for YSU’s Middle School Model UN day in March. The trip was financed in part by Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, YSU professor of philosophy and religious studies, through a donation to the Global Education Program. A team of YSU engineering students finished first in the construction speed category at the National Student Steel Bridge Building competition at California State University, Northridge. The YSU team competed against 43 teams from universities across the nation. The steel bridge is an 18’4” long by 36” wide by 29.5” high bridge designed, fabricated and constructed by students. In the competition, students race to build the bridge, which is then load-tested with 2,500 pounds. Each bridge is judged on aesthetics, construction speed, lightness and deflection. The YSU team constructed the bridge in 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The speed of other teams ranged from 2 minutes and 45 seconds to 18 minutes and 28 seconds. YSU’s team qualified for the national contest by placing first in the steel bridge competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers 2007 Ohio Valley Regional Conference at Ohio State University. Members of the YSU steel bridge team are Kevin Lynch of Shelby, Ohio, Mike Lyda of North Lima, Bill Pitoscia of Hubbard, Bryan Kopachy of Youngstown, Mike Grumley of Girard, Nick Sanford of Conneaut, and Mike Meder of Freedom, Pa.

The Jambar, YSU’s student newspaper, won a first place award in the 2007 American Scholastic Press Association competition for college newspapers. The Jambar was one of five universities to earn the ASPA award. In awarding the prize, the judges singled out The Jambar’s content and its “general plan” as its top strengths. In addition, Jambar editor Maysoon Abdelrasul won both first and second place awards in the national contest of the Society for Collegiate Journalists. Two other Jambar staff members, Ashley Tate Maysoon and Jeremy Lydic, Abdelrasul won honorable mention awards.The SCJ contest is the only collegiate journalism contest that is judged entirely by professional journalists. Nine YSU students were inducted into SCJ in a ceremony this past fall.

YSU’s chapter of the American Marketing Association received an award for “Outstanding Collegiate Chapter for 2006-2007” at the AMA’s Annual Collegiate Conference in New Orleans. The award is presented to chapters that exemplify overall excellence in membership, community service, fundraising and professional development activities. Peter Reday, an assistant professor of marketing, is the faculty advisor. Several students also attended the conference. More than 83 schools from across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico attended the AMA conference. YSU and the Dana School of Music has released a new CD by the YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, “Tipping Points.” Stephen L. Gage is the conductor. It is the fifth in a series of recently released CDs beginning in 1999. The SWE is Dana’s top of three concert bands, and it consists of 55 woodwind, brass, and percussion undergraduate and graduate students from the music school. The ensemble has performed at regional, state and national conventions throughout its history, including a performance at the 2005 New York Wind Band Festival in New York’s Carnegie Hall. The group’s fourth CD, “Spin Cycle,” was Downbeat Magazine’s 2004-05 University Symphonic Recording of the Year. “Tipping Points” includes solo performances by five Dana faculty members: Kathryn Thomas Umble, flute; the

Summer 2007

Around Campus late Robert Fitzer, clarinet; Misook Yun, soprano; Caroline Oltmanns, piano, and David Morgan, string bass. The SWE CD projects are supported by the Dana School of Music, University Development, the Youngstown Symphony Society and Friends of YSU Bands. All of the CDs are available for purchase at the university by contacting slgage@ysu.edu or 330-941-1832.

Programs and Initiatives WYSU-FM has gone HD. The public radio station, operated by YSU, recently began broadcasting in high definition, a new technology that broadcasts crystal clear, CD-quality sound. WYSU-FM is among

Announcer Mike Cervone, right, and broadcast engineer Ron Krauss in the studio at YSU’s public radio station, WYSUFM, in Cushwa Hall, which recently began broadcasting in high definition.

only a handful of radio stations in the Mahoning Valley that have made the switch to HD. “We’re constantly looking for ways to maintain excellent service to a very supportive audience,” said Ron Krauss, WYSU chief engineer. “By pursuing state-of-the-art technology like HD, it is one more opportunity to further enhance those services.” David Luscher, program director, said HD is already taking a strong hold in the television broadcasting market, and it is only a matter of time before HD radio follows suit. Luscher said that WYSU listeners will need an HD radio to receive the new, higher-quality signal. These radios are now available at most major electronic retailers. Listeners without an HD radio will continue to receive the regular analog signal. WYSU’s switch from analog to HD started in 2003 and cost about $190,000, culminating with the move to a new HD transmitter in December 2006. Gary Sexton, station director, said WYSU was able to secure significant local funding from the Raymond J. Wean Foundation, as well as a $75,000

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Around Campus Corporation for Public Broadcasting Digital Grant. An additional $38,000 came from the 2005 Power Run Campaign, in which individuals made pledges for Sexton’s 50-mile race in Michigan. HD radio broadcasting is hailed by many in the industry as the most significant advancement in radio broadcasting since the introduction of FM stereo more than 50 years ago. The technology offers dramatically higher quality audio, far more programming choices and new wireless data services. In addition, HD radio includes MetaData, which means that information such as song titles, artists, program information and even weather conditions will be displayed automatically on the radio screen. There are currently more than 1,100 HD radio stations in the nation, including nearly 60 in Ohio. The number of stations nationally is expected to grow to more than 3,000 in the next few years. The YSU Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics officially opened in April with a conference attended by nearly 100 faculty, students and alumni. CURMath was created in part to the due to the generosity of Doug Faires, a 1963 graduate of YSU who joined the mathematics faculty in 1969 before retiring last year. Faires provided about $40,000 in upfront money in proceeds from textbooks he has authored. He also is donating his entire extended teaching salary over the next three to five years Doug Faires to endow the new center. That amounts to about $100,000. Many of his former students have also donated to the center. CURMath is designed to assist members of the YSU Department of Mathematics and Statistics to promote the professional development and research activities of undergraduate students interested in mathematics. Typical activities of the Center will include support of the Pi Mu Epsilon Student Chapter and the Mathematical Association of America Student Chapter, student participation at MAA/PME regional and national meetings, problem-solving seminars and participation in mathematics competitions. YSU’s Center for Student Progress received the Educational Policy Institute’s 2007 Outstanding Student Retention Program Award. The award was presented at Retention 2007, an international conference on student retention in San Antonio, Texas. Jonelle Beatrice, CSP director, and Pat Shively, CSP associate director, accepted the award, which is presented annually to an institution that exhibits excellence in the development and implementation of a student retention program. “This award is the result of the diligent efforts of the CSP staff on behalf of students,” said Jonelle Beatrice, as-

sociate executive director of student life and director of CSP. Open admission, urban institutions such as YSU typically retain first-year students at a rate of about 64 to 67 percent, Beatrice said. YSU’s rate for 2005-06 was 68 percent. That means that 68 percent of first-year students enrolled in fall semester 2005 returned in fall semester 2006. Students who use the services of the CSP – including peer mentoring and tutoring – were retained at a rate of 74 percent. On the other hand, students who did not use the CSP were retained at a 20 percent rate. YSU’s retention rates are generally higher than those at other public universities in Ohio as reported by the Ohio Board of Regents. For more information, visit the CSP website at http://cc.ysu.edu/csp/.

The staff of the Center for Student Progress. Seated – Jonelle Beatrice, Pat Shively. Second row – Nakisha Ingram, Gina McGranahan, Jain Savage, Linda Frattaroli, Shannon Reesh, Noreen Yazvac, and Chris Khumprakob, Back row – Becky Varian, Robin Sakonyi, Debbie Campana, Tysa Egleton, Michael Beverly, Kellie Mills Dobozi, Brian Wells, and Angela Kearns.

Conducting Cutting-Edge Biotechnology Research The National Science Foundation has awarded $475,000 to YSU’s chemistry department to purchase a new nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a piece of equipment that will help faculty and students conduct cutting-edge research in biotechnology and nanotechnology. “The NSF is again recognizing us as a national leader,” said Allen Hunter, chemistry professor and principal investigator on the grant. “This is an important tool needed for research.” NMR spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists to identify unknown substances and to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules. “Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research,” the NSF said in awarding the grant that Ashley Malich, a chemistry graduate student, works on the spectrometer in Ward was written by a team from YSU, led by Beecher Hall. The NSF awarded funds to YSU for a new spectrometer, which assists in chemistry Professor Peter Norris, and its identification of unknown substances. partner institutions. This will be YSU’s second NMR hold enormous promise of revolutionizing the healthcare spectrometer. The university’s current piece of equipment and manufacturing industries throughout our nation, and the is approaching 15 years old, and the new one will include Mahoning Valley is well-positioned to lead the development better electronics and allow for more advanced and sophistiof this cutting-edge technology.” cated experiments and easier student use, said Daryl Mincey, Mincey said the equipment will be open for use by chemistry department chair. The university will keep and chemists from universities across the Midwest, including continue to use the magnet from the old spectrometer, he Muskingum College in Ohio, Harold Washington College in said. Chicago and Delta College in Michigan. “Competition for the funding was fierce, so the univerThe award comes on the heels of a $1 million federal sity deserves high praise for this achievement,” U.S. Rep. earmark that Ryan landed for YSU late last year for the Tim Ryan said about the grant. “Research in these areas CyberEnabled Industrial Innovation Center, led by Hunter.

Summer 2007

Around Campus YSU journalism and telecommunications students traveled to Sago, W.Va., last spring to report stories about the community one year after 12 men died in one of the nation’s worst mining accidents. The 14 students covered a variety of stories, ranging from profiles about victims’ families to examinations of communications and rescue devices in mines. Tim Francisco and Alyssa Lenhoff, journalism faculty members who led the trip, said they chose Sago for YSU’s first reporting field project because of the many unanswered questions surrounding the disaster and because people of the town have become comfortable talking with reporters. Francisco and Lenhoff, who both worked as newspaper reporters and editors before joining the YSU faculty, said getting real-world reporting experience is a critical part of a quality journalistic education. YSU’s Center for Working-Class Studies helped fund the trip.

Campus Visitors Futurist Alvin Toffler, the author of “Future Shock,” whose writings have influenced leaders around the world, spoke in March at Stambaugh Auditorium as part of YSU’s Paul J. and Marguerite K. Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise. Toffler and his wife and co-author, Heidi, have written such classics as “The Third Wave,” “Powershift” and “War and Anti-War.” Their newest book, “Revolutionary Wealth,” attacks key features of conventional economics as it paints the emerging global “wealth system” of the decades ahead.

Around Campus America Rolling” program. Jackson also held leadership positions, spanning more than 20 years, in a variety of sales and marketing assignments at Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Co. and Coors Brewing Co.

Steven Levitt, author of the best-seller “Freakonomics,” visited campus in March. The economist is known for using simple questions to reach startling conclusions.

University summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in economics in 1989. He is the author of hundreds of articles that have been published in both academic and non-academic journals. Terry Green and Nori-zso Tolson of “22 product,” a world-renowned motion graphics and interactive company, lectured at the McDonough Museum of Art in April. The work of “22 product” appears as title design, broadcast identity, motion graphics for commercials and prototyping for web sites. Green and Tolson have worked with corporations such as Nike, NEC, Adobe Systems, IBM, Levi Strauss & Company, MTV, America Online, Yahoo!, Apple Computers, Sony and HewlettPackard. The free lecture was sponsored by the art department.

Mike Jackson, former vice president of marketing and advertising at GM North America, Steven Levpresented “Riding the New Media Wave . . . the Alvin Toffler, author of “Future Shock,” spoke at itt, the author of Thrill of a Lifetime” as part of the Williamson YSU in March. His wife, Heidi, who is co-author of his books, joined him on campus. “Freakonomics,” Symposium Series, an executive-on-campus spoke at YSU in program designed to bring international speakers March at Stambaugh Auditorium as part of YSU’s Paul J. to campus to network with students. Jackson visited YSU in and Marguerite K. Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise. March. “Freakonomics” has been on the New York Times Bestseller Jackson, a Youngstown native, became GM North list for over a year. America vice president of marketing and advertising in March Levitt is the Alvin Baum Professor of Economics and 2006. Jackson was the regional general manager of GM’s director of the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory at the Western Region, where he led the sales, marketing and distriUniversity of Chicago where he has been on the faculty since bution efforts for the region’s 16 member states. He joined GM 1998. in February 2000 as executive director of sales and marketing He earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts support. Among other honors, he received the distinguished Institute of Technology in 1994 and graduated from Harvard Chairman’s Honors in 2002 for being a leader in the “Keep

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Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland visMike Jackson, former vice president ited YSU in June to of marketing and advertising at GM North America, spoke at YSU as part celebrate passage of of the Williamson Symposium Series. the two-year state budget, which calls for significant increases in higher education funding. “We want to make sure we reinvest in higher education,” Strickland told a crowd of about 50 students and employees in the Board of Trustees’ meeting room in Tod Hall. “(YSU President) Dr. (David C.) Sweet has done a remarkable job with this institution,” he added. The state budget includes a two-year tuition freeze for undergraduate Ohio students, increases in state funding for higher education and increases in scholarship funding. Later in the day, the YSU Board of Trustees approved the two-year tuition freeze. As part of the budget bill, YSU will receive $2.9 million in additional state funds in fiscal year 2008 and $4.1 million in fiscal year 2009. YSU’s tuition will remain the lowest among the public, comprehensive universities in the state. Sweet hailed the governor’s efforts. “After several years of flat funding for higher education, it is encouraging to Gov. Ted Strickland, left, receives a see state lawmakers penguin from President David C. Sweet and the governor ap- during a campus visit. prove a budget that recognizes the important role that higher education must play in the economic revitalization of Ohio,” Sweet said. Dr. Najma Najam, vice chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University in Pakistan, visited YSU in February to explore establishing academic linkages and exchanges between the two universities.

Fatima Jinnah, in Rawalpindi, was founded in 1998 as the first public university in Pakistan exclusively for women. Najam, who received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in neurosciences from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, was the founding vice chancellor of the university and oversees all university operations. Fatima Jinnah and YSU signed an agreement in 2005 setting the groundwork for student Najma Najam, vice chanceland faculty exchanges and joint lor of Fatima Jinnah Women research projects. Najam’s visit University in Pakistan, came to was aimed at further exploring the university to establish acawhat specific projects to pursue demic linkages and exchanges between the two universities. under that agreement. Ikram Khawaja, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has served as a visiting professor at the Pakistani university.

Penguin Envy? A family of Red Shoulder hawks have made YSU their home – for at least part of the year. The hawks selected a tree outside the 6th floor of Maag Library as the place to nest for the last two years. This year, those who work in the library reported seeing the parents begin to “refurbish” the nest in March. Two chicks hatched this year – last year, there was just one. Red-shouldered hawks are large, broad-winged hawks with relatively long tails and heavy bodies, meaning that females are larger than males. The tail of the both immature and mature red-shouldered hawks is dark brown with white bands. At the end of June, both “fledged” (left the nest), but were still coming back “home” to feed on small mammals or birds and insects brought to them by both their parents. Visit http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Buteo_lineatus.html for more information.

Summer 2007

Around Campus

From The

City of Angels To The

Below – Shauna Hartline received a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems on a Saturday and the next week started a new job in Virginia.

F&PA Visitors Board Connects College with Arts Community

From left – John L. Pogue, Board of Trustees chair, Joseph Vergara Martinez, honorary degree recipient, Bege K. Bowers, associate provost, and David C. Sweet, YSU president.

New Degree and Certificate Highlight Spring Commencement Spring commencement in May was highlighted by two firsts at both the undergraduate ceremony in Beeghly Center and graduate ceremony in Stambaugh Auditorium. The first graduates of the new master’s degree in American Studies program received their diplomas, while the first two Nathan and Frances Monus Entrepreneurship Center Certificates in Enterprise Resource Planning were awarded. Jamie Bartholomew, Krista Wagner, and Jason Sotlar earned the first master’s degrees in

Youngstown State University

American Studies, which started in fall semester 2005. Tim Moyers and William Leek were presented with the first Certificates in Entrepreneurship. Joseph Vergara Martinez, a physicist who helped found the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, spoke at both ceremonies and received an honorary doctor of science degree at the morning event. The group Martinez helped found received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2004. Stephanie Marie Mateja, a bachelor of science degree in education graduate, spoke at the undergraduate ceremony. Carrie L. Brumit, who received a master’s degree in education, spoke at the graduate event. In all, more than 1,100 students received degrees. Visit http://www.ysu.edu/grads/commencement.shtml for more information.

Big Apple

From left – Atty. Paul Dutton, Assistant to the Dean and Outreach Coordinator Silvia Jimenez-Hyre and Dean Joseph Edwards lead the F&PA Board of Visitors. They are posing in front of one of the gates depicting Youngstown’s roots in the steel industry. The gates, created by Greg Moring, a YSU art professor, are part of the addition to Bliss Hall, located in the back of the building.

With members from Los Angeles to New York and almost everywhere between, YSU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts depends on its Board of Visitors to provide current information to the college and its students about the art world. The 18-member board has met twice a year for the last four years and is chaired by Atty. Paul Dutton, a former member of the YSU Board of Trustees and Ohio Board of Regents. Dutton, whose law degree is from Case Western Reserve, has a long history with YSU that started in 1965. “I really enjoy that the BOV has different orientations toward the arts,” said Dutton, who earned a BA in 1969 from YSU. “Some are artists and performers, while others have an appreciation for the arts. Dean Joseph Edwards and former Dean George McCloud were wise in their selections.” For Dutton, of the law firm Harrington, Hoppe and Mitchell, it’s important that F&PA graduates find employment in the “real” world. “Without question, the board has helped us provide students what they need to know to compete in the professional art world,” said Edwards. The group is the result of an initiative of YSU President David C. Sweet, who, in 2004, requested that each dean in YSU’s six colleges establish an external board to serve as advisors on community issues, service and strategic planning. This group has taken that mission to heart. It was at one of the board’s meetings where the discussion began for the college’s Dana School of Music to become an All-Steinway school. Soon after, nearly 70 Steinway pianos were purchased. Now, the school shares the Steinway designation with about 60 other music schools in the world. In addition, the board donated and identified other donors to support the performance of the YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall in 2005. Many of the board members attended the performance and the reception at Steinway Hall. Another BOV-initiated project resulted in a recording studio and a degree in music recording and production thanks to member Bob DiPiero, Nashville musical composer and producer, and former member Bill Bodine, also in the music business. Members are Silvia Jimenez-Hyre, F&PA; Judge Theresa Dellick; Bob DiPiero, musical composer and producer; Atty. Paul Dutton, Harrington, Hoppe and Mitchell; Presley Gillespie, KeyBank, vice president of community development lending; Atty. Michael Morley; Patricia Fleck Kavic, Youngstown Opera Guild; Gina Marinelli, WYTV news anchor; Suzanne Teaberry, art graduate; Stephanie Shaw, Embarq Corp., business marketing manager; C. Gilbert James Jr., Forge Industries, owner; Dr Y.T. Chiu; Elba Navarro, retired teacher; Dr. John L. Dunne, Ohio Sports and Spine Institute; Kelly Stevens, HOT-FM 101; Helen Stambaugh, community leader; Patricia Syak, general manager, Youngstown Symphony Society; and James Weidman, jazz pianist/recording artist.

Summer 2007

Achieving the

Extraordinary Three’s A Charm for Goldwater and Phi Kappa Phi Scholarships

For three consecutive years, Youngstown State University students have been selected for prestigious Goldwater and Phi Kappa Phi scholarships. This distinction has not been achieved by any other public higher education institution in northeast Ohio.

Matt Ward

When Matt Ward came to YSU in 2004 from Central Square High School in Brewerton, N.Y., he was a music major. In fact, he played the euphonium in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble during its performance at Carnegie Hall in 2005. However, the junior University Scholar with a 4.0 grade point average, soon discovered his true passion was for mathematics. That translated not only into a new major, but being named a 2007-08 Goldwater Scholar, one of the nation’s most prominent awards for undergraduate sophomore and junior math, science and engineering students. YSU is the only public higher education institution in northeast Ohio to receive a Goldwater over the past three years. “The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious award of its kind,” said Ron Shaklee, director of the university scholars and honors program. “Matt’s recognition speaks to the quality of the instruction he has received at YSU.” Ward is one of only 317 Goldwater Scholars nationwide for 2007-08 to receive the $7,500 scholarship. Since 2005, YSU has had two Goldwater Scholarship recipients. Last year, Ward received an honorable mention. Ward said that’s what gave him the confidence to reapply. But he really didn’t need that nod to have faith in his abilities – the physics minor had a perfect score on the AP Calculus test. His twin brother, Jeff, who attends Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., was also awarded a Goldwater scholarship this year for math. He and his brother also gave talks at the 2006 summer Mathfest, and both presented posters on their National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in January 2007. Matt won an outstanding award for his poster and Jeff won the same for his talk. In addition, Matt’s article, “An Initial Inquiry into LCLoops,” has been accepted for publication in the American Journal for Undergraduate Research. “Matt is one of the best students I have known in 40 years of teaching,” said Douglas Faires, a professor emeritus of mathematics. Ward’s parents, Randall and Lorraine, reside in Brewerton.

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Louise Popio

The only person in Louise Popio’s life surprised to find out that she had been selected to receive a $5,000 Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship was Louise herself. Popio of Canfield was selected as one of only four students at an Ohio university to receive the fellowship. “It is amazing what Louise has accomplished in her four years at YSU,” said Ron Shaklee, director of the university scholars and honors program. “She has combined her intellectual pursuits with an abundance of on-campus activities and leadership positions and embodies the overall qualities one hopes to find in a college student.” This is the third consecutive year that a YSU student has received this honor. Popio, a senior in the University Scholar program with a 4.0 grade point average, graduated in May. A computer information systems major, Popio starts her doctorate program and graduate assistantship at Pennsylvania State University in August. “I was honored when I found out about the scholarship,” said Popio, who served a two-year term as a student member of the YSU Board of Trustees. “I am really going to miss YSU, but I am looking forward to the future.” One of only 60 students nationwide to receive the award, Popio was selected by the YSU Local Chapter 143 Phi Kappa Phi executive board to receive the award. The other Ohio institutions that had Phi Kappa Phi scholarship recipients were Bowling Green, Ohio University and Ohio State University. Popio said that Karen Duda, the recently deceased chairperson of computer sciences and information services, had a profound influence on her and served as her mentor. In addition to her coursework, Popio worked on research projects with Duda, was a peer tutor in YSU’s Center for Student Progress, a student employee in the CSIS department and worked with members of the mathematics faculty developing workshops for elementary and secondary school math teachers. “Louise is a remarkably gifted and dedicated student,” said Tom Bodnovich, current CSIS chair. “Her positive effect on the department will remain long after she has left us.” Popio is a 2003 Canfield High School graduate. Her parents, Loren and Kathleen Popio, have a younger son, Danny.

About the

Goldwater Scholarship The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater, who served 30 years in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of the program is to provide a source of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields. More information can be found at http://www.act. org/goldwater/. About

Phi Kappa Phi Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline honor society. The Society has chapters on nearly 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. More information can be found at http://www.phikappaphi.org/.

Louise Popio, Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship and Matt Ward, Goldwater Scholarship

Summer 2007

New Colleges, New Opportunities Introducing YSU’s new College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS).

CLASS: The Cornerstone of the University S- Ryan Paul, graduate student, mechanical engineering T- Sara Schaefer, senior, physics E- Mark Barlow, graduate student, electrical engineering M- Srinivasa Manam, graduate student, math

STEM: Sparking Synergy The new College of Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics includes 10 academic departments: • biological sciences • chemistry • computer science and information systems, • geological and environmental sciences • mathematics and statistics • physics and astronomy • civil, environmental and chemical engineering • electrical and computer engineering • mechanical and industrial engineering • The School of Technology The Rayen School of Engineering and Technology was established as a unit of the new STEM college.

Under most circumstances, the paths and Ohio, merges YSU’s engineering and techacademic endeavors of YSU faculty members nology programs with the sciences to form Hazel Marie, Gary Walker and Jay Kerns a single academic entity that YSU leaders would likely not cross. believe will spark a synergy among faculty Marie, an assistant professor of mechani- and students and position the university as a cal and industrial engineering, hunkers down leader in the increasingly important fields of in an office on the second floor of Moser Hall. science, technology, engineering and math. Walker, professor of biological sciences, Jalal Jalali, professor and chair of does most of his teaching and research on the electrical and computer engineering, said fourth floor of Ward Beecher Hall. the traditional academic model – in which And Kerns plies his trade as an assistant engineers and biologists, chemists, physicists professor of mathematics and statistics in and other scientists work in separate worlds Cushwa Hall. – is out-dated. Despite their diverse locations and the “If we want to compete in a global seemingly wide divide in their chosen areas economy, we have to be able to go beyond of academic expertise, the trio is teaming up those boundaries,” Jalali said. “We cannot to apply for a grant from the National Science continue to function in the way we have while Foundation to research the mechanics of huthe world around us changes.” man tissues. YSU’s transition to a new STEM college As a biologist, Walker’s role is to prepare comes at a time of increasing calls across the the tissues. As an engineer, nation and state for high Marie will examine the tenschools and universities “If we want to sile strength of the tissues. to beef up their produccompete in a global And, as a statistician, Kerns tion of graduates in STEM will measure the outcomes of economy, we have to be disciplines. able to go beyond those the research. Nationally, the number “The biologist working boundaries. We cannot of jobs in STEM fields is with the engineer working continue to function in growing at five times the with the mathematician,” the way we have while rate of other occupations, Walker said. “It’s really the according to the Council the world around wave of the future.” on Competitiveness, yet us changes.” In an effort to ride the the number of Americans leading edge of that wave, receiving college degrees -Jalal Jalali, Professor YSU has created the new in STEM fields is on the College of Science, Technoldecline. Ohio currently ogy, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM. ranks 36th in the nation in the percentage of The new college, the first of its kind in undergraduate students earning degrees in continued on page 28

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By most accounts, YSU’s new master’s “Change is always hard, but change also degree offering in American Studies has been is a great opportunity for us to use our imagia success. nations. We will no longer be defined by the The program rewarded its first three old arts and sciences model. We need to ask diplomas in May. Fifteen students are enrolled. how we can re-make ourselves.” And those students are involved in a variety YSU is not the first university to form of community outreach projects helping local a separate college for liberal arts and social museums, schools and other institutions in a sciences. Cleveland State University has a variety of innovative CLASS college, as do the ways. University of Houston, “Change is always “One of the great Georgia Southern University hard, but change also is things about our program and Savannah State Univera great opportunity to is that it connects the sity in Georgia. use our imaginations... academy to the commu“By grouping disciWe will no longer be nity,” said Stephanie Tinplines that have common defined by the old arts gley, professor of English interests, it’s a bit easier and sciences model.” and director of the Amerto find consensus and to ican Studies program. find common goals,” said -Gary Salvner, Professor “But, because we are a Bruce Waller, YSU chair of small program in a large college on campus, we philosophy and religious studies. “We’re more exist under the radar of most people.” likely to be more familiar with each other’s Tingley and others hope that the formawork.” tion of the new YSU College of Liberal Arts Jane Kestner, CLASS associate dean, said and Social Sciences changes that. the old College of Arts and Sciences was huge, Under the previous structure, liberal arts with 15 departments and 230 full-time faculty. and social science disciplines such as history, “When you have so many people, it’s somepolitical science, sociology, philosophy and times hard to get things done,” she said. The English were lumped together in the College new CLASS college has nine departments and of Arts and Sciences with science disciplines 117 full-time faculty. such as biology, chemistry and physics. The “The streamlining of the operations may new structure splits the liberal arts and social have a positive effect,” Waller said. sciences into their own separate college. The college’s smaller size will not, how“I think this will help us focus our ever, diminish its importance on campus. The energies, promote the continued importance college remains home to many of the univerof the liberal arts and draw more attention to sity’s general education requirements, courses some of our successful smaller programs like required of all students to earn a degree in any American Studies,” said Gary Salvner, discipline. English department chair. “Liberal arts are the cornerstone of the continued on page 29

The new College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences includes nine academic departments: • economics • English • foreign languages and literatures • geography • history • philosophy and religious studies • political science • psychology • sociology and anthropology

C – Colette Mace, senior, psychology L – Carrington Moore, junior, political science A – Adrienne Sabo, senior, journalism S – Emery Boyle-Scott, junior, political science S – Chad Miller, senior, philosophy and psychology

Summer 2007

From the Desk of

Martin Abraham Martin Abraham, the founding dean of YSU’s new STEM college, comes to YSU after three years as dean of the College of Graduate Studies at the University Toledo. A chemical engineer whose research involves hydrogen fuel cell catalysts, Abraham has a strong record of scholarly publications and research, including more than 60 refereed publications and nearly 150 technical presentations. He shares his thoughts on the new STEM college. Youngstown State University has taken the innovative step of merging science and engineering to form a single college with the ability to take a concept from basic fundamentals through application. Engineering disciplines apply scientific principles for the design of products and services, thereby providing natural connections for the programs that will now be housed within our new STEM college. Such an alignment is consistent with the way that research and development is conducted in industry and leading academic organizations, and places YSU in a unique position to capitalize on trends in science and engineering education. We should be able to use our position in support of state goals to increase enrollment in STEM disciplines, and to support economic development in the Youngstown area. We will look to opportunities to take advantage of the inherent synergies of this novel structure, in education, research and economic development. Our unique structure will benefit our faculty in the development of collabora- Martin Abraham, STEM dean tion that support their teaching and research missions. In teaching, we will look for innovative ways to integrate science and engineering principles that enhances student learning. It will be easier for our faculty to form research partnerships across disciplines now housed within the STEM college, providing them with an advantage in competing for state and federal funding. And community entrepreneurs and business leaders will be able to approach faculty teams from multiple departments within the college who will be able to work across academic disciplines to address their needs at multiple levels, and from varying directions. With the state’s emphasis on STEM education, and with the deep national need for more technically trained individuals, we are now poised to become a regional and national model for engineering and science education. I strongly believe that this new organizational structure provides the best opportunity for students and faculty to excel, benefiting the university, the community, the state and our national agenda.

Youngstown State University

STEM Continued from page 26

CLASS Continued from page 27

STEM fields, according to the Ohio Research Experiences to Enhance Learning. The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, recently released a report that calls for doubling the number of STEM college graduates by 2015. To meet this goal, Ohio colleges and universities must graduate 16,660 science and engineering students in 2015, up from 8,330 graduates today. Ohio’s recently approved two-year budget includes $100 million in college scholarships specifically targeted to students studying in STEM fields. “The merger of science and engineering through the new STEM college creates opportunities at YSU that other universities will not be able to duplicate,” said Martin Abraham, former dean of the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Toledo and the founding dean of YSU’s STEM college. Tom Oder, YSU assistant professor of physics, said he believes the new STEM college will help faculty as they apply for research grants. For instance, Oder and other physics faculty have teamed up with faculty in electrical engineering, biology and chemistry to apply for a $370,000 equipment grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant would help purchase instrumentation for nano-science and chemical analysis. Oder said NSF – a strong supporter of STEM collaborations – is likely to view the application more favorably because of YSU’s STEM initiative. “When the NSF and other agencies fund projects, they want to see that there is already in place a network of collaboration and support,” he said. That collaboration was apparent in the spring in a class taught by Oder – Condense Matter Physics. The class included students from every one of the STEM disciplines. Ryan Paul, a graduate student studying mechanical engineering and a member of the class, said the new STEM college will make such collaborations more common. “My best experiences in graduate school have been working with other students and faculty who are not in engineering – understanding their perspective, seeing them at work,” said Paul, who hopes to seek a Ph.D. in materials science after grad school. “Even though we have our own areas of focus and specialization, there is a lot of common ground.”

university,” Waller said. “Literature, psychology, religious studies, sociology– these are the heart and soul of an education that goes beyond career education. It’s an education that makes life fuller, that makes life rich and worth living.” While there is a growing emphasis on disciplines in the applied sciences and engineering, Kestner said the liberal arts and social sciences are experiencing a resurgence of their own and will continue to have a strong presence on university campuses. In fact, according to Fortune magazine, as many as 40 percent of chief executive officers majored in liberal arts in college. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that future chief executives may require a broader liberal arts education that provides a foundation to better operate in an increasingly complicated, global and fast-moving business arena. Individuals with educations in liberal arts and social sciences are more likely to be team players, analytical thinkers and good communicators with creative solutions to complex problems. “What employers need are employees who are able to change and can learn new skills, and those are the hallmarks of an education in the liberal arts and social sciences,” Kestner said. “They’ve learned a lot about people. They’ve learned a lot about culture and civilizations and how to adapt to the changing world around them.”

From the Desk of

Shearle Furnish Shearle Furnish, the founding dean of YSU’s new CLASS college, comes to YSU after six years as the head of the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages at West Texas A&M University near Amarillo. A scholar of medieval literature who earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kentucky in 1984, Furnish has authored many journal articles, book reviews and conference papers and made dozens of presentations at academic conferences throughout the nation. He shares his thoughts on the mission of the new CLASS college. I am eager to take up the position of Founding Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, immerse myself in learning the institutional culture of YSU and knowing the faculty, and involve myself in the greater community. As we address the identity and mission of the new college, I find my thoughts sorting into four questions: What is CLASS to its students? What is CLASS to its faculty? What is CLASS to the university? What is CLASS to the region? In its large commitment to general education and early advising, CLASS is in a position to affect first-year success and retention of students. CLASS is likely to be a first home for entering students who do not immediately declare a major. It seems logical and profitable for CLASS to embrace this role as first home, to impart the identity of CLASS student to undeclared majors, to make sure they have an academic home in which to feel welcome and bonded. That way, they may be more likely to declare a major, more likely to declare a major in a CLASS discipline, to persist, thrive, graduate, and be placed in a career or program of graduate study that pleases and fulfills them. Smaller than the College of Arts and Sciences, CLASS may also feel to that degree less an institution and more a home to its faculty. At any rate, I will try to encourage the growth of such a feeling. In CLASS, we are bonded by centuries-long common traditions of liberal and general education, and by the mission to cultivate citizenship. In other words, we are bonded by the common mission to do the work of democracy. Bound by long common traditions, we should be capable of fellowfeeling, brotherhood – even-though the idea may seem trite or saccharine, identity as a family. The university and region will appreciate CLASS if we fulfill these potentials. We have much to do already in educating majors and graduate candidates in our several disciplines. Successful in these and in the broader missions I have discussed, we will be relied upon to improve the preparation and skills of majors in other colleges, to give the broadest and most basic parts of preparation to new employees and professionals for the region, and to contribute problem-solving skills, wisdom, and prosperity to society.

Shearle Furnish, CLASS dean

Summer 2007

Our first years

From a class of nine men in a commercial law course at the YMCA in downtown Youngstown to hundreds of classes filled with students as diverse as the community it’s located in, the 100-year history of Youngstown State University has been extraordinary. With more than 85,000 alumni in a variety of professions and places around the world, the university’s next 100 years promise to be as remarkable as the first. This timeline highlights notable events that brought YSU from nine students, one building and one degree to 13,000 students, 50 buildings and more than 30 associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. 1925 John C. Wick Mansion at the corner of Wick and Lincoln avenues is purchased as a classroom facility. 1921 The Youngstown Association School is renamed the Youngstown Institute of Technology. The first liberal arts courses are offered for teacher preparation.

1908 The YMCA in downtown Youngstown offers its first college-level course in commercial law, with an evening class of nine men. 1916 The Youngstown Association School is incorporated. Both college and high school-level courses are still held at the YMCA.

1927 A day school is authorized by the YMCA Board of Trustees to offer liberal arts courses. Red and gold are selected as school colors.

The athletic program begins with the creation of the school’s basketball team.

The institution’s first yearbook is published, Technician 1928.

The School of Finance and Commerce is established. 1924 Youngstown Institute of Technology is authorized by the State of Ohio to grant commercial (business) degrees.

1930 A music program begins. 1931 The Board of Trustees designates the college division of the YMCA as Youngstown College. Youngstown College’s Main Building, now Jones Hall, is completed. The Jambar student newspaper begins publication.

Youngstown State University

1935 Howard W. Jones is appointed the first president of Youngstown College.

1937 The Board of Governors officially incorporates Youngstown College.

1928 The Henry Wick Mansion on 416 Wick Avenue is leased for additional classroom space and later renamed East Hall.

1920 The Law School of the Youngstown Association School offers bachelor of law degrees for the first time.

Youngstown College receives accreditation from the Ohio Department of Education to teach education courses.

1936 The college’s official seal is adopted.

1922 The Youngstown Institute of Technology awards its first college degrees in law. The Bonnell Mansion on Wick Avenue is leased to house the collegiate division of the Youngstown Association School, the Youngstown Institute of Technology. This is the first movement to Wick Avenue and out of the downtown area.

1933 The YoCo basketball team are called Penguins for the first time.

1938 Youngstown College’s football team and marching band take to the field for the first time. 1941 Buechner Hall, a privately owned dormitory, opens its doors to female students. The Dana Musical Institute merges with Youngstown College. YoCo’s football coach, Dwight “Dike” Beede, invents the penalty flag. Pete,YoCo’s first live penguin mascot, drowns at Crandall Park. He is later succeeded by four other penguins, the last dying in 1972. 1942 Youngstown College begins offering accelerated degree programs as the United States enters the Second World War.

1944 Youngstown College becomes independent of the YMCA to receive accreditation from the North Central Association. 1945 Youngstown College’s colors are changed to red and white. 1946 The Rayen School of Engineering is founded with classes held in the leased Rayen Hall. Post-war attendance begins to skyrocket due to benefits offered to veterans through the GI Bill. 1949 Youngstown Sheet and Tube presents a 10-ton boulder to the class of 1949. After paying $500 to have the rock moved, it is presented to the college as a gift and placed in front of Jones Hall, where it remains. 1950 The George W. Pollock house is donated to YoCo.

1959 A new science building opens, now part of Ward Beecher Science Hall. 1960 The School of Education is founded. 1964 A multi-million dollar campus expansion plan is made public. 1966 Kilcawley Student Center opens. President Jones retires after 35 years of service. Dr. Albert L. Pugsley is named president. The Youngstown Education Foundation, now the YSU Foundation, is founded. Howard W. Jones is named first president. 1967 Youngstown University becomes Youngstown State University, a public institution of higher education. The Kilcawley Rock receives its first coat of paint.

1951 The Ford Homestead on Wick Avenue is donated to YoCo by Judge John W. Ford and his sister, Josephine Ford Agler. 1953 The new Youngstown College Library opens, which is now Tod Hall. 1955 Youngstown College is renamed the Youngstown University. 1958 The Youngstown University celebrates 50 years of higher education in the Mahoning Valley.

Summer 2007

A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising F

A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promi

1968 The Engineering Sciences Building, now Moser Hall, is dedicated.

1974 The College of Fine & Performing Arts is founded.

President Coffelt goes on medical leave. Vice President Neil D. Humphrey takes over as acting president.

The Graduate School and the Technical and Community College are founded.

The Academic Senate is founded.

1969 WYSU-FM begins broadcasting over 88.5 FM.

1976 The William F. Maag Jr. Library is dedicated.

The Myron Israel Arms home is renamed Alumni House, becoming the headquarters of the YSU Alumni Association. 1984 President Coffelt retires. The YSU Board of Trustees appoints Humphrey as president.

1977 Bliss Hall opens as home to the College of Fine and Performing Arts.

YSU’s Board of Trustees files an application with the Federal Communications Commission to establish an educational television station. This would later become public television station WNEO/ WEAO, Channels 45 & 49. 1970 Williamson Hall is completed. East Hall is demolished to make way for a new library. Beeghly Physical Education Center opens. 1972 A parking garage opens on the corner of Lincoln and Fifth avenues.

1978 A new building to house the Technical and Community College, later renamed Cushwa Hall, opens. The College of Arts and Sciences moves to its new building, DeBartolo Hall. 1982 Dominic “Dom” Rosselli, YSU’s head basketball coach, retires after 43 years. Stambaugh Stadium is dedicated.

The Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) is founded through a consortium among YSU, Kent State and the University of Akron.

Youngstown State University

1983 The institution commemorates its 75th anniversary.

YSU launches its first-ever Capital Campaign, with a goal of $22 million. The campaign raises $23.6 million and wraps up two years ahead of schedule. Jim Tressel is named NCAA Division 1-AA “Football Coach of the Year.”

1996 The Veterans Memorial Plaza is dedicated.

1989 The YSU faculty goes on strike, which is settled after one day.

1998 Beeghly Hall opens as the new home to the Beeghly College of Education.

1990 YSU purchases the Wick and Weller homes for student housing.

1992 President Humphrey retires. Dr. Leslie H. Cochran is chosen to succeed him.

2003 The University Courtyard Apartments open in Smoky Hollow. The Bliss Hall addition is completed, featuring a new foundry and gates depicting Youngstown’s steel past. 2004 The Penguin Parade, a fundraising effort involving the adoption and painting of penguin statues, is launched.

2006 The Williamson Family donates $5 million to YSU, the largest gift ever to the university. Shortly after, the Lariccia family donates $4 million, launching the public phase of the $43 million Centennial Capital Campaign. The centerpiece of the campaign is a $30 million building for the Williamson College of Business Administration.

Youngstown Early College, a partnership between YSU and the Youngstown City School District, opens on the YSU campus with 68 ninth-graders. It’s the only high school of its kind on a college campus in Ohio. 2005 The faculty and classified staff go on strike.

1986 Meshel Hall opens as a hightechnology learning center. It’s named in recognition of Ohio State Senator Harry Meshel.

1991 The Penguins win their first NCAA Division 1-AA football championship title. Additional titles will be won in 1993, 1994 and 1997.

1973 President Pugsley retires and is succeeded by Dr. John J. Coffelt.

1995 YSU awards its first doctoral degrees in educational leadership.

Campus 2000, an ambitious plan to renew and revitalize YSU, is unveiled.

Lyden House opens as a residence hall for students.

YSU faculty unionize under the Ohio Education Association.

1994 For the first time, YSU students selfregister by computer for classes via the SOLAR system.

The Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center opens, constructed almost entirely by private donations.

2007 The College of Arts and Sciences and the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology are reorganized into the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) and The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

YSU’s women’s basketball team is selected to particpate in the NCAA Tournament, the first YSU team to participate in the event. The team upsets Memphis, 91-80, in the first round. 2000 President Cochran retires. Dr. David C. Sweet is named president. YSU’s quarter system is replaced by an academic calendar based on semesters. 2002 YSU becomes involved with the Youngstown 2010 initiative, a development plan to rebuild and revitalize the city.

Sources: YSU Archives and Special Collections, Professor of History William Jenkins and “Steel Valley University: The Origin of Youngstown State” by Alvin W. Skardon.

Summer 2007

in 12 Minutes �ears 100

A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promi

Preserving the Past Archivist, Staff Create YSU Historical Collection

Artists’ rendering of new archives area in Maag Library.

When S. Victor Fleischer came to YSU seven years ago, no formal archive collection existed at the university. Items were scattered across campus in storage rooms or file cabinets, including minutes from meetings, news releases, photographs, scrapbooks and publications that were not being preserved or made accessible. Essentially, those days are gone thanks to Fleischer and his staff members, Brian Brennan, Mary Ann Johnson, Emily Lockhart and Lisa Giarofali, who are working to digitize the voluminous collection of historical records that now reside in archives. Fleischer, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in American history, in addition to a master’s in library and information science from Kent State University, was hired to establish the archives and as the first director and curator of the Rose Melnick Medical Museum on Wick Avenue. After establishing the medical museum, he focused his attention toward the archives in preparation for the university’s centennial. “There has been a 75 percent growth in historical items since we started collecting materials five years ago,” he said. “The intent of the archives is to serve as a historical resource for both the campus and off-campus communities,” said Fleischer, adding that a goal is to get

Youngstown State University

more students interested in university history and using the archives. In addition to the physical archives, the staff created a digital archives that is a searchable database of university history that currenlty includes thousands of historical photographs, newspaper clippings and yearbooks. It’s available at http://digital.maag.ysu.edu. In fact, the Archives and Special Collections area, located on the fifth floor of Maag Library, has been undergoing major renovations that are expected to be complete this summer. A grand opening is being planned for November. The newly renovated 4,000 square-feet of space will include expanded storage and work areas, an exhibit gallery and a space to host receptions and public events. Exhibits planned include traditional displays, including one on past and present YSU traditions, and electronic displays incorporating PowerPoint presentations on flat panel televisions. Prominent alums, from former Cleveland Browns owner Carmen Policy and actor Ed O’Neill to astronaut Ron Parise and sports figure Ron Jaworski will also be featured on the television displays. For more information on the archives, call 330-9413487 or visit http://www.maag.ysu.edu/archives.

By Emery Boyle-Scott

Four students have Students in the class read Alvin Skardon’s book, compiled 100 years of “Steel Valley University” and Frederick Blue’s book, YSU history into one“Mahoning Memories,” to learn about the history of the minute TV spots that will be university and help them along with the project. used to celebrate the university’s centennial. The students developed the scripts, story, text and The public service announcements were researched images, while Prodigal worked on arranging the sound and written by three graduate and one undergraduate and visuals. Most of the work went on outside of the student in the spring semester 2007 Topics in Applied His- class, where there was a lot of compiling of ideas tory class taught by YSU history professor Bill Jenkins. and photographs. “The students seem to be pretty enthusiastic about it; Students say that trimming 100 years of history into a they seem to enjoy the combining of history with actudozen, 180-word segments is difficult. ally producing a public service announcement,” Jenkins “We don’t get a chance to go into a lot of detail,” said, who is retiring from YSU after more than 40 years said Mike Shepherd, a graduate student studying history of service. “It’s a very different thing for students to do. and former ticket manager at Stambaugh Stadium “InterIn this instance, they’re having to be more creative than esting little minute facts are so hard to incorporate into usual. They’ve got to do things like make a judgment of general history.” how well something fits in 60 seconds.” “It is so hard to find what you want to say in 180 The 12 video spots were produced by Prodigal Media words,” said Greg Weimer. “As a history major, I’m not to provide a quick glance at YSU’s history from its beginreally trained in brevity. With this project, I am not only nings at the YMCA in 1908 to today. The spots will be being trained to keep it short, but I’m also learning how used as PSAs as YSU marks its 100th birthday in 2008. to think visually.” The year-long celebration begins at YSU’s homecoming in October. “I’ve learned some things about the university that I didn’t know before, but I’ve also learned how to take history and apply it to public service announcements. I hadn’t done this before,” said Jenkins. All of the 12 the announcements are complete. “One is about the beginnings of YSU at the YMCA and how the Y is about an educational grab-bag for the area. The Y offered courses in a wide variety of areas for people who needed education but weren’t college educated at the time. It’s not about the founding, but when YSU began,” Jenkins said. In October, the PSAs History professor Bill Jenkins, center, works on the Centennial PSA project with graduate students, Mike Shepherd, left, and Greg Weimer in Maag Library’s Special Collections room. will be released.

Summer 2007

�emo�ies

A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promising Future A Proud Past A Promi

Dr. Ronald E. Domen, ’72, BA

One of my fondest memories at YSU was of Dr. Elmer Foldvary, a chemistry professor, who taught me three quarters of organic chemistry. During our first laboratory session, he said, “Class, Youngstown is the most dangerous place between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Pay attention to your experiments.” It wasn’t long after that pronouncement that a student succeeded in creating an explosion in the laboratory. Dr. Foldvary was very approachable and took an erstwhile student under his wing and encouraged me to do the best I could. Eventually I earned an “A” in the third class of his that I was enrolled in, and he wrote me an excellent letter of recommendation for medical school. I attended YSU between 1968 and 1971, before I headed off to Mexico to go to medical school. I will be forever indebted to YSU for providing me with an opportunity to succeed. Thank you. (Dr. Domen of Hummelstown, Pa., is a professor of pathology, medicine, and humanities and associate dean for graduate medical education at Penn State University College of Medicine.)

Jennifer Suhovecky Gallo ’99, BSAS, ’04, BSE, ’05, MPH My favorite memories at YSU all stem from one defining semester when I took Dr. Kathy Akpom’s human sexuality course. I had yet to determine what major I was going to pursue. But after having such an amazing professor – who truly cared about her students – I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to

strive to be like Dr. Akpom. After that class, I declared community health as my major and then went on to obtain an MPH as well, all because I had an educator who made students eager to learn because of her enthusiasm and passion. The fact that my future husband, Justin Gallo, ’00, was also in that class was an added bonus. Thank you, Dr. Akpom, and Youngstown State for providing me with the education I needed to follow my dreams.

(Gallo, who resides in North Ridgeville, Ohio, is a health educator and outreach coordinator for Family Planning Services of Lorain County.) The staff of the YSU Magazine want to hear more memories about your university for the special centennial issue to be published in Winter 2008. Don’t miss your opportunity to share your memories in the Centennial issue of the YSU Magazine. Forward memories to universitymagazine@ysu.edu, call 330-941-3519 or fax 330-941-1704.

Youngstown State University

Graduates Share Memories of Youngstown State Years Tom Fabek, ’50, BA

A special memory of mine has to do with an instructor, Pauline Botty. Ms. Botty taught statistics for non-engineering students. She challenged us to use more than 10 percent of our brain power. I also have fond memories of Dr. Dykema, who examined why we all speak differently. Mary B. Smith, who worked at the university for decades, became a dear friend. I also remember having classes in the main building (now Jones Hall). I enlisted in the Navy on July 1, 1944, while I was in the 11th grade, before I graduated from South High School. I was a minesweeper in the Pacific. While I was in school, I worked steady nights at the telephone company, then worked for Ohio Bell for 40 years. Most of my career was in Cleveland as the plant supervisor. Because everybody treated us so well at the college, I established three scholarships. I also have donated dozens of books to Maag Library. I feel very fortunate to have five great kids that I raised on my own and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

C e l e b r at i n g

100 Years

Banners, special music, parades, reunions and parties are among the many special events planned to celebrate YSU’s 100th birthday. The Centennial Celebration clock starts ticking – literally – at halftime of the annual homecoming football game on Saturday, Oct. 20, in Stambaugh Stadium. At that time, a large digital clock will officially start the Centennial Celebration and will count down to homecoming on Oct. 28, 2008, the official end of the year-long celebration.

Centennial Celebration Kickoff/ Homecoming, Oct. 20, 2007 • • • • • • •

Homecoming Parade, 2 p.m., Fifth Avenue, Alumni Terrace Dinner, 2:30 p.m., Stambaugh Stadium Special pre- and post-game tailgate parties. YSU vs. Illinois State, 4 p.m., Stambaugh Stadium Original Centennial music composition, halftime. Centennial Celebration clock countdown, halftime. 50th reunion, 11 a.m., Oct. 21, Stambaugh Stadium.

Alumni will receive more information soon about other Homecoming 2007 events. For more information, contact Alumni Relations at 330-941-3497 or www.ysu.edu/alumni.

Dr. F. John Naples, ’33, BA

I have many memories of my time at Youngstown College. After graduating from Rayen High School in 1929, I enrolled at Youngstown College. The Great Depression was a factor – my only expenses would be tuition and lab fees. It also helped that, as a freshman, I won a $50 prize from a national chemistry contest. Tuition was $75 a semester. Classes mainly were held in one of two mansions on Wick Ave., with chemistry laboratories in the basement of the business college. I started advanced chemistry courses in my sophomore year, when I met Dr. Eugene D. Scudder. He decided to convert the kitchen into a lab. In 1933, I accepted a scholarship to the University of Vermont, earned a master of science degree in physical chemistry in one year and a doctorate in organic chemistry by 1936. In 1937, I was appointed head of the Chemistry Department at Springfield Junior College in Illinois. Three years later, President Howard Jones offered me a full-time position as associate chemistry professor. In another three years, the draft board intervened, and I accepted a position as a research chemist at Goodyear in Akron and stayed until 1977, when I reached the mandatory retirement age.

Centennial Banners

To help recognize YSU’s 100-year presence in Youngstown, a 45 feet wide by 80 feet long banner will adorn the front of Stambaugh Stadium on the YSU campus. It is one of three banner projects underway to celebrate the university’s Centennial. Similar, smaller banners, at right, will be hung throughout the campus core and around the campus perimeter. In addition, These 100 Years ‘Art’ Over, a project that includes 50 banners with original artist designs, will debut at the Summer Festival of the Arts in July 2008.

Centennial Music

Several months ago, YSU put out the word for composers to create an original fanfare to commemorate the university’s centennial. Nearly 20 musicians entered the contest, and the composition will debut at halftime of homecoming on Oct. 20.

Summer 2007

Development

A lasting imprint

Tressels and Watsons Donate $1 Million to Centennial Campaign In 15 successful years as the head coach of YSU’s football team, Jim Tressel left a lasting imprint on the Mahoning Valley. In July, that imprint grew even larger as YSU announced that Jim and, his wife, Ellen, and her parents, Frank and Norma Watson, donated a combined $1 million to YSU’s Centennial Capital Campaign. “We are appreciative to the Watsons and Tressels for their continued generosity and support of Youngstown State University and its students,” YSU President David C. Sweet said. The gift will be used to help fund a new $3 million indoor practice facility for YSU’s Intercollegiate Athletics, particularly the baseball and football squads, women’s soccer and softball teams, and the men and women’s track programs. The indoor facility will also serve as a university and community resource, providing a large, climate-protected venue for events and a training facility for local youth organizations and high schools. In recognition of the gift, the facility will be called the WATTS Center (Watson And Tressel Training Site). YSU has yet to identify a location for the facility. “YSU will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Tressel, who left YSU in 2001 to take the helm of the Ohio State Buckeyes. “We believe in paying forward, and it is our pleasure to be able to give back to a university that has meant so much to us and to help a project that will serve students for years to come.”

From left – Jim and Ellen Tressel and her parents, Norma and Frank Watson, together donated $1 million for an indoor practice facility, which will be called the WATTS Center (the Watson And Tressel Training Site) in recognition of the gift.

Dialin’& Smilin’ Phon-A-Thon Continues to Grow

YSU In First Place For ‘Common Sense Investment’ First Place Bank Community Foundation has donated Don Cagigas, a 1963 YSU graduate and a member of the $500,000 to YSU’s Centennial Capital Campaign to help YSU Board of Trustees, is a member of the First Place Bank construct a new building for YSU’s business college. It is Board of Directors, as are Ronald Volpe, YSU professor of the largest corporate gift to the Centennial Capital Campaign accounting and finance, and YSU graduates Tom Humphries thus far. and Robert Wagmiller. Dave Jenkins, executive director of “First Place Bank’s long-standing, generous support the First Place Bank Community Foundation, is a 1973 YSU of YSU reflects the bank’s commitment to the university, graduate. In addition, 81 First Place employees are alumni or Youngstown and the entire Mahoning Valley,” said David C. are currently attending YSU. Sweet, YSU president. “First Place is committed to investing in YSU, the renaissance of the city of Youngstown and the people of the Mahoning Valley,” said Steven R. Lewis, chief executive officer of First Place Bank. “This is our home, where we live and work, and we are committed to sustaining and improving the quality of life for everyone here in the Valley.” Over the past nine years, First Place has contributed over $200,000 to YSU, including the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, the Northeast Ohio Robotics Competition, the Mahoning River Education Project, the Rich Center for Autism, student scholarships, the YSU Sponsorship Program, Homework Left front–Tony Lariccia, Capital Campaign chair; Betty Jo Licata, WCBA dean; Express and Run with the Penguins. Steven R. Lewis, chief executive officer, First Place; David C. Sweet, YSU president; and Don Cagigas, First Place Board of Directors; and YSU grads who have a connection with the bank.

National City: Supporting YSU’s Special Vibrancy National City Bank has donated $300,000 to the Centennial Capital Campaign. It is National City’s largest gift ever to a public university in Ohio. “National City has been a generous supporter of YSU for many years, and this gift is further proof of the bank’s commitment to the future of this university, its students and the entire Mahoning Valley,” said President David C. Sweet.

U P D A TE YSU’s Centennial Capital Campaign continues to march forward to its overall goal of $43 million. Of this amount, $19 million is targeted to build endowments, $21 million for capital improvements, and $3 million to elevate annual giving. At the time of this publication, the campaign stands at $31,968,963 or 74.3 percent of its goal. YSU salutes the alumni, corporate friends, foundations and individuals whose generosity has propelled this success. For information, contact the Office of University Development at 330-941-3119 or visit http://www.ysu.edu/givetoysu/.

Youngstown State University

Jacquelyn Daniel, annual giving coordinator, and Vince Gliatta, a senior safety on the football team, celebrate his first pledge of the night with the “daisy game.” Each time players received a pledge, it became a competition among them to wear the daisy crown. The student callers raised $88,000 for the YSU 2007 Annual Phon-AThon. Sponors were Alltel, Nike, Wedgewood Pizza and Union Square Sparkle Market. Funds go to programs and scholarships.

From left – Betty Jo Licata, WCBA dean; Garry Mrozek, president, National City Bank, Northeast; YSU President David C. Sweet; and Ted Schmidt, National City senior vice president of corporate banking.

The gift will go toward the construction of a new $30 million building for YSU’s business college. “Our bank has been serving individuals and families in this region for more than a century and a half,” said Garry Mrozek, president of National City Bank, Northeast, who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from YSU. “Taking care of our communities and their outstanding institutions is a responsibility that we take quite seriously,” National City has a long tradition of support for YSU, including $25,000 to help fund the work of the YSU Operations Improvement Task Force and $100,000 for the construction of the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The bank also provides numerous annual gifts, including an endowed scholarship for business students. National City is a key sponsor of the Williamson College of Business Administration’s Annual Alumni Banquet, and hires business interns and business graduates for full-time positions. Mrozek is a member of YSU’s Business Advisory Council and the President’s Council. Ted Schmidt, senior vice president of corporate banking, is a member of the college’s Nonprofit Leadership Community Advisory Council and the Finance Advisory Committee.

Summer 2007

�c�olars�i�s

Foundation

Keeping Grads in Their Fields

Two scholarships that were established at least 25 years ago at YSU, The Lions Club of Youngstown Scholarship for special education majors and the Doris Burdman Scholarship for social work majors, have helped graduates pursue careers in these fields. Departmental selection committees have chosen hundreds of students, who have received more than $100,000 throughout the years for the awards. These graduates, profiled below, received the YSU Foundation scholarships and have achieved success in their respective fields. Call the Foundation at 330-941-3211 or visit www.ysu.edu/ysufoundation.

The Lions Club of Youngstown Special Education Scholarship The Lions Club of Youngstown Special Education Scholarship was established in 1987 by the Lions Club of Youngstown and provides a one-year award to a junior or senior student majoring in special education. Recipients are selected by Beeghly College of Education faculty and staff. For information on how to apply, contact 330-941-3211 or visit http://www.ysu.edu/finaid/. Francine Dimitriou of Beechwood, Ohio, BSE, ’00, said that she is often asked by staff and colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism about her educational background. “I am always proud to state that I am a graduate of YSU.” She has been the coordinator of education services at the center for six years. A recipient of the Lions Club scholarship, Dimitriou said she is Francine Dimitriou thankful for the support because it allowed her to concentrate on studies and worry less about finances. To Loraine Pavalko Stanfar of Canfield, BSE, ’89, it was an honor to be awarded the Lions Club scholarship. “I was further honored when I was asked to say a few words about the scholarship at their annual luncheon. That really made an impression on me as a student,” said Stanfar, a teacher at Canfield Middle School. She also said she is glad Loraine Pavalko Stanfar she majored in special education. “Eventhough I began my career with traditional students, my special education background helped to prepare for today’s inclusion of special needs students.”

The Doris Burdman Scholarship The Doris Burdman Scholarship was created in 1983 to honor Burdman, a social worker, for her work with mentally, physically and emotionally handicapped persons. Recipients are selected by social work faculty and staff. For information on how to apply, contact 330941-3211 or visit http://www.ysu.edu/finaid/. For Melissa Carney of Rodgers, Ohio, BSW, ’99, it’s all about making a positive difference in people’s lives. She credits her receipt of the Doris Burdman Scholarship as part of the reason she is able to continue her education today as a candidate for a master’s degree Melissa Carney in social work at YSU. “A professor told me that I was academically worthy, which gave me the confidence to apply. Thanks to the scholarship, I did not incur debt as an undergrad.” She then moved into a position with Children’s Services of Columbiana County. Currently, Carney works for AmeriCorps, where she tutors East Palestine Elementary School students. She also held a one-year graduate assistantship in the social work department and has about two years left before she finishes her degree. Catherine Zapka of Warren, BSW, ’00, decided to go to YSU after her children finished their degrees. A social worker at Catholic Charities in Trumbull County with the COACH (Case Management Outreach Advocacy of Our Community’s Homeless) program, Zapka received the Doris Burdman Catherine Zapka Scholarship. “I am determined to make a difference in the lives of the homeless,” said Zapka, who has been with Catholic Charities for four years.

NEWS Vindy Athletes Honored at Annual Banquet A record crowd attended YSU’s 20th annual ScholarAthlete dinner to celebrate Quin Humphrey and Bethany Anderson’s naming as Vindicator YSU Male and Female Athlete of the Year in May. In addition to senior basketball player Humphrey and junior track and field thrower Anderson, recipients of endowed athletic scholarships and a record group of 162 student-athletes who have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 or higher were also recognized. The women’s tennis team, with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.60, and the baseball team, with a GPA of 3.10 were also honored. Alfreeda Goff, associate commissioner of the Horizon League, presented the “Raise Your Sights” team awards for classroom performance. Humphrey of Ellenwood, Ga., becomes the second men’s basketball player to earn the award. A two-time AllHorizon League selection, he scored 1,707 points, grabbed 674 rebounds and had 253 assists during his four-year career. Overall, he ranks eighth in scoring in school history. With six 30-plus point performances, he finished his career as the school-record holder in minutes played and games played. Anderson of Jamestown, N.Y. is the fourth track and field Vindicator athlete, but the first non-runner to take female honors. Anderson is a 10-time Horizon League Champion, a four-event school-record holder, a two-event Horizon League record holder, a two-time HL Field Performer of the Meet and a two-time HL Field Newcomer of the Meet. The YSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee presented leadership awards to track and fielder Emily Wollet and football player Jeremiah Wright.

NCAA Certification YSU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has earned full certification from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. “We are proud that this review shows that YSU’s intercollegiate athletics meets the highest standards as outlined by the NCAA,” said YSU President David C. Sweet, adding that the purpose of this program is to help ensure integrity in YSU’s athletics operations. The certification includes a review of governance and commitment to rules, academic integrity, and equity and student-athlete well-being. The certified designation means that YSU athletics operates in substantial conformity with the operating principles adopted by the NCAA Division I membership. Subcommittee chairs of the peer-review committee included Jane Kestner, Tom Maraffa and Ron Chordas. All Division I universities and colleges are required to undergo NCAA certification every 10 years. YSU successfully completed its first certification self-study in 1998.

A New Radio Home All YSU athletic contests and events have a new flagship radio station. YSU sporting events will remain on Clear Channel Radio Youngstown, but move to 5,000-watt WKBN 570 AM from 1390 AM WNIO and 106.1 FM WBBG. YSU also extended its contract with Clear Channel through June 30, 2011, maintaining a current four-year deal. All YSU football, men’s basketball games, select women’s basketball games, special events and the “Penguin Playbook Coaches Show,” featuring Jon Heacock, Jerry Slocum and Tisha Hill, will air on 570 WKBN. “YSU is grateful to have the chance to be on one of the Valley’s most recognized stations,” said Rick Love, associate director of athletics. Bob Hannon will return for his 17th season of doing play-by-play for Penguins football, as will “The Coach,” Dick Hartzell. YSU Assistant Director of Athletics Robb Schmidt continues as the voice of Penguins men’s basketball for the sixth year. Clear Channel Sports Director Jim Campbell returns for his third year to handle the women’s basketball play-by-play. Clear Channel Radio Youngstown became the home of YSU athletics in fall 2002.

Male and Female Athletes of the Year, Quin Humphrey and Bethany Anderson, with Vindicator sports editor, Rob Todor.

Youngstown State University

Summer 2007

Sports News

Penguins

vs.

Buckeyes

Penguins Take On Buckeyes for Next Two Season Openers Two years ago, it was a visit to Heinz Field to clash with the Pitt Panthers. Last year, it was a trip to Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for a game with Joe Paterno’s Penn State Nittany Lions. And, to top it off, YSU’s football squad this year visits “The Horseshoe” at Ohio State University – the center of college football in Ohio. “The opportunity to play a tradition-rich program like Ohio State in consecutive years benefits the entire Valley,” said Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo. The Penguins open this season on Sept. 1, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Kickoff is slated for noon and will be aired on the Big Ten Network. The two teams open against each other again in 2008. That game is set for Aug. 30. The two teams are coming off successful yet bittersweet seasons. The Penguins posted an 11-3 record and won the Gateway Conference championship, but fell one game short of reaching the NCAA Division Football Championship Subdivision championship game. The Buckeyes posted an undefeated season and won the Big Ten championship before losing to Florida in the national championship contest. The match-up pits Jim Tressel, former YSU head coach

and current Buckeye coach, against his old team. During 15 years at the helm of the Penguins program from 1986 to 2000, Tressel amassed a record of 135-57, including four national titles. Since YSU moved to the Division FCS ranks in 1981, this will be the 41st time that the Penguins have played a Division Football Bowl Subdivision foe. YSU’s record in those games is 19-20-1.

25 Years at the Ice Castle September is the month that the YSU Athletic Department begins the official celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium. Originally dedicated in September 1982, the upcoming 2007 season marks the 25th anniversary, but the 26th year of play at the Ice Castle. Youngstown State’s all-time record at Stambaugh Stadium is 125-41-1. The 25-year attendance total is 2,149,390, which covers 167 regular-season and playoff games. “We are very proud to center our 2007 football marketing efforts around the 25th anniversary of our great stadium,” said Ron Strollo, executive director of athletics, adding that as a former player, he knows that the home field really provides an advantage. “And the tremendous atmosphere that Penguin tailgaters and fans bring to this campus every Saturday in the fall doesn’t hurt.” YSU has partnered with Medical Mutual of Ohio, a long-time sponsor

Tom Zetts: From 10 to 1, a winner all around Smart. Leader. Competitive. Gritty. Tom Zetts is all of them. But, above all else, he’s a winner. A product of Boardman High School, Zetts is a fifth-year senior at YSU and, for the fourth consecutive season, the quarterback of the Penguins football squad. Number 24 is one of the key returning players to a team that is seeking its third straight Gateway Conference championship. All that, and he’s a top student as well.

Photo of Ohio Stadium, “The Horseshoe,” where the Penguins will take on the Buckeyes at the season opener on Sept. 1. Next year, the teams will open against each other again on Aug. 30. The match-up pits Jim Tressel, former YSU head coach and current Buckeye coach, against his old team. For more information, call 330-941-1YSU.

As he heads into his final season, here are Zetts’ “Tom” 10 Memorable Accomplishments: 1 0. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

Penguin Football 2007 Sat., Sept. 1 Ohio State, Noon Sat., Sept. 8 South Dakota State,* 6 p.m. Sat., Sept. 15 Stony Brook,* 4 p.m. Sat., Sept. 22 Lock Haven,* 4 p.m. Sat., Sept. 29 Missouri State,* 6 p.m. Sat., Oct. 6 Southern Illinois, 3 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 13 Southern Utah,* 4:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 20 Illinois State, * 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 27 Northern Iowa, 5:05 p.m. Sat., Nov. 3 Indiana State, Noon Sat., Nov. 10 Western Illinois, * 1 p.m.

of YSU Athletics, on many activities throughout the coming fall home campaign. The 25th-year activities began in March when the Athletic Department asked fans to vote for the 25 greatest YSU players in Stambaugh Stadium history and for the five greatest games ever played there. The voting lasted all summer and the results will be released prior to the season opener. YSU will also bring back members from the 1982 football team, the first to ever play at Stambaugh, along with players from the four NCAA National Championship squads. Then, the university will invite the 25 greatest fan-voted players to a home game this fall, and the group will be honored at halftime. Also, a special commemorative poster will be distributed to fans at that game. In addition, YSU will offer a Stambaugh Stadium replica figurine, which will be given away when the Penguins play host to Southern Utah on Oct. 13. The Penguins are coming off an 11-3 season in which they captured the Gateway Conference Championship and advanced to the national semifinals. Last year at Stambaugh Stadium, Youngstown State was an impressive 7-1 after posting a 6-0 mark in 2005.

Two-time member of the Football Championship Subdivision Academic All-Star Team Two-time Academic All-Gateway Conference selection Ranks first in YSU history in passing percentage (58.9 percent) Has thrown for more than 200 yards in a game on 11 occasions Ranks second in school history with 44 touchdown passes Tied the school record with four touchdown passes at Liberty (2005) Threw for a career-high 314 yards in playoff win over James Madison Ran for a career-best 334 yards and four touchdowns in 2006 Ranks third in school history with 481 completions and 817 attempts Guided the Penguins to 19 wins the past two seasons, including 11 in 2006

*Stambaugh Stadium Tom Zetts

Youngstown State University

Summer 2007

Faculty

BOOKSHELF

Student Workbook for College Physics: A Strategic Approach, Volumes 1 and 2. By Jim Andrews, Professor, Physics and Astronomy. AddisonWesley, 2007, 2006 pp., $118.50. “Accompanies College Physics: A Strategic Approach Volume 2.” Coauthored by Randall Knight, Brian Jones, and Stuart Field. These workbooks help students before attempting end-of-chapter problems and provide short problems and exercises that focus on developing particular skills. Geology of National Parks, 6th Edition. By Ann G. Harris, Professor Emeritus, Geology. Kendall/ Hunt, 2004. 882 pp. $115.54. The book covers the geology of all 58 national parks in the United States. Each chapter is divided into geologic setting, geologic features and geologic history. Sold in many of the national parks, it is also used as a textbook at universities and colleges throughout the U.S. and Canada. It is designed so that the general public can understand it, yet found useful by geologists. The first edition came out in 1975, with a 7th edition in the works. It also includes a CD-ROM with photos of all the national parks. The two co-authors, Sherwood D. Tuttle and Esther Tuttle, are deceased. Creating Competent Communication. By Cary Horvath, Professor, Communication. Kendall/Hunt, 2005. $61.95. Contents range from an introduction to communication to critical thinking and verbal and nonverbal communication. This user-friendly textbook can help students become comfortable communicators. Co-authored by L. Hugenberg, S. Wallace and D.Yoder.

Youngstown State University

Counseling Students Who Have Been Sexually Assaulted and Counseling Students Who SelfInjure. By Victoria Kress, Professor, Counseling and Special Education. R. and J. Lippincot. American Counseling

Association, 2006. $55.95. Articles appeared in Special Populations in College Counseling, pp. 129-141. First article co-authored by R. Williams and R. Hoffman; second article coauthored by H. Trepal, A. Petuch and S. Hancock. Challenges and Solutions in the Delivery of Clinical Cybersupervision, The Underlying Dimensionality of the Survey of Cultural Attitudes and Behaviors. Leaders and Legacies: Contributions to the Profession of Counseling. By Kenneth Miller, Professor, Counseling and Special Education. First article appeared in Online Instructional Modeling: Theories and Practice. Edited by S. Ferris and R. Zheng. Idea Group, Inc., 2007. Coauthored by S. M. Miller. Second article appeared in Facet theory: Design, Analysis, and Applications. Edited by W. Bilsky and D. Elizur. FTA, 2005. Co-authored by S. M. Miller and A. Cohen. Third article appeared in Philadelphia, Pa: BrunnerRoutledge/Taylor & Francis, pp. 259-264. Eds. Bruce Shertzer, D. L. Bubenzer, C. Osborn, and J. D. West. Calculus with Applications and Calculus with Applications, Brief Version, 8th editions. By Nathan Ritchey, Chair, Mathematics and Statistics. AddisonWesley, 2005. $128.00. Brief version is $121.33. Both provide application-oriented introduction to calculus for students majoring in business, management, economics, or social sciences. The text provides an application-oriented introduction to calculus for students majoring in business, management, economics, or the life or social sciences and poised to become the market leader. MyMathLab, a complete online course, will be available with both texts and available with the 8th edition of Finite Mathematics and the Finite Mathematics and Calculus. For the first time, a comprehensive series of lectures on video will be available. Co-authored by Margaret Lial and Raymond Greenwell.

Finite Mathematics, 8th edition. By Nathan Ritchey, Chair, Mathematics and Statistics. Addison Wesley. 2005. $128.00. The text provides a solid, applicationoriented introduction to the topics that have become known as finite mathematics for students majoring in business, management, economics, or social sciences. Widely known for incorporating interesting, relevant, and realistic applications, this text offers many real applications citing current data sources. Co-authored by Margaret Lial and Raymond Greenwell. Finite Mathematics and Calculus with Applications, 7th edition. By Nathan Ritchey, Chair, Mathematics and Statistics. Addison-Wesley. 2005. $140.00. Provides an applicationoriented introduction to finite mathematics and calculus for students majoring in business, management, economics, or social sciences. Widely known for incorporating interesting, relevant, and realistic applications, this text offers many real applications citing current data sources. There are a wide variety of opportunities for use of technology, allowing for increased visualization and a better understanding of difficult concepts. Co-authored by Margaret Lial and Raymond Greenwell. Cost Management: A Strategic Emphasis. By David Stout, Professor and Endowed Chair, Accounting. McGraw-Hill/ Irwin, 2008. $123.25. The overall goal of Cost Management is to provide cost accountants with the tools to provide relevant data to facilitate managerial planning, control and decision making. The text uses a strategic emphasis to make connections between concepts and procedures clear to students. Supplements include a case/readings manual; PowerPoint slides for each chapter, a test bank, student study guide, ABC software and both Wordand Excel-based solutions manuals. Co-Authored by Edward Blocher,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gary Cokins, SAS/Worldwide Strategy and Kung Chen,University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Lester Left Town. By YSU Jazz Ensemble 1. Directed by Dr. Kent Engelhardt, six of the YSU Jazz Ensemble’s best pieces are featured on the CD, which was released in 2006. The CD is dedicated to Tony Leonardi, a deceased jazz professor who is credited as the “father” of YSU’s jazz program. Instructor’s Manual. By Margaret Gittis, Professor, Psychology. Atomic Dog Publishing. 2007. The manual accompanies “Hand in Hand: Research Design and Statistics in Behavioral Science” by Sandra Webster. The Power of Reinforcement. By Stephen Ray Flora, Professor, Psychology. State University of New York Press. 2004. $22.95. Flora describes that reinforcement is a powerful tool for improving the human condition despite often being dismissed as regarding people as less than human and as “overly simplistic.” This book addresses and defends the use of reinforcement principles against a wide variety of attacks. Countering the criticisms, and misrepresentations of reinforcement, the author shows that building reinforcement theory on basic laboratory science is a strength, not a weakness, and allows unlimited applications to human situations as it promotes well-being and productivity. General Psychology. By William Rick Fry, Steve Ellyson, Jeffrey Coldren, Peter Beckett and Jane Kestner, Professors, Psychology. Kendal/Hunt 2005 $79.95. The text provides an introduction to psychology, covering its history, methodology and major content areas. Each chapter incorporates activities related to the material covered.

You Decide! Series. Ed. Bruce N. Waller, Professor and Chair, Philosophy and Religious Studies. Each published by Pearson Longman. Current Debates in Introductory Philosophy, 2007, 332. This anthology addresses seminal and contemporary in topics in introductory philosophy. Current Debates in Contemporary Moral Problems, 2006, 301. This anthology addresses relevant and controversial moral issues of our time. Some topics covered include free speech, animal rights and military draft. Current Debates In Ethics, 2006, 327. This anthology addresses timeless and universal issues in ethical theory that still resonate with students today. Some topics covered are consequentialism and friendship and moral responsibility. Iqbal. By Mustansir Mir, Professor, Philosophy and Religious Studies. Oxford University Press, 2006, 147. This accessible and informative book discusses the life Muhammad Iqbal, a distinguished poet, philosopher and statesman of South Asia who lived from 1877 to 1938. His ideas played a vital role in the movement to establish Pakistan, where he is revered as the country’s spiritual founder. The Great White North? Exploring Whiteness, Privilege and Identity in Education. By Paul R. Carr, Assistant Professor, Education. 2007. SENSE Publishers. $115.89. This book, which includes over 20 leading scholars, explores the problematic and contested issue of non-white people speaking about whiteness, and of white people writing and working against racism. Topics include a range of provocative educational issues. With a large majority of white teachers working in increasingly diverse classrooms, this book shines light on the implications of addressing issues of racial identity and difference in schools, universities and communities. An additional editor and contributor was Darren E. Lund of the University of Calgary.

Summer 2007

Accomplished alumni

A Vice President and a

Philanthropist Karen DelSignore, ’90

Karen DelSignore was not pressured to go to college by her parents after she graduated from Hubbard High School in the mid-1980s. Regardless, DelSignore, a first-generation college graduate, had no doubt she was going to continue her education at YSU. “My education helped me do well in my career,” said DelSignore, who graduated magna cum laude in 1990 with a bachelor of arts degree in organizational communication and a business minor. DelSignore of Poland was hired by Alltel right out of college as the company’s first telemarketer. Now the vice president of business solutions, she is one of only six vice presidents of business solutions in the company. Alltel employs 15,000 people nationwide, including 1,300 in Ohio and many of them YSU graduates. DelSignore supervises 130 people, with 11 directly reporting to her. Throughout her career, Alltel has had five owners. “Though Alltel has experienced five name changes since I’ve been here, I was able to persevere and grow,” she said. “To me, that’s a major accomplishment, which I attribute to the work ethic I developed while I was at the university.” While at YSU, she worked part-time at a grocery store. In addition, she served as the vice president of the Golden Key Honor Society and was part of Phi Eta Sigma, an academic organization. DelSignore said she especially appreciated the personal relationships she developed with several of her professors. In her major, she said that Daniel O’Neill, professor in the Department of Communications, and the late James P. LaLumia, a professor of communication studies, stood out. “Though they had different teaching styles – Dr. O’Neill was laid back, but very effective, and Dr. LaLumia was more structured in his approach – both always made time for me out of the classroom,” she said. Because DelSignore said YSU gave her so much, she believes it’s important to give back. A long-time donor to YSU’s Annual Fund campaign, she conceived of the idea for Phon-A-Thon workers to use Alltel mobile phones to make their calls. “The university goes beyond educating students and does a lot of good in the community.”

Youngstown State University

A Launch Pad to A

Carl Alexoff, ’50

Alumni News

She’s The

Better Life

Though Carl Alexoff, a 1950 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, retired from a successful career in 1989, his services are still sought by several different companies to serve as a consultant on a variety of projects. From 1960 to 1970, Alexoff of Haddenfield, N.J., was a project manager for occupied and unoccupied space exploration systems and equipment supplied by RCA to NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Cal-Tech in RCA’s Aerospace Project Management Office in Camden, N.J. In the 10 years he was at NASA, he worked on the Project Ranger, an unoccupied lunar probe that mapped possible moon landing sites for the Apollo program, and the Apollo Extra Vehicular Communication System. “I have always felt my degree was my launch pad to a better life. Coming to Youngstown College represents the best investment I have ever made, and the return has been incalculable,” said Alexoff, who returned to YSU in 2006 for a visit. Alexoff was also instrumental in designing scratch off lottery tickets in the early 1980s and starting the Pennsylvania Lottery and other state lotteries – including Ohio’s in 1974 – throughout the 1970s. This was while he worked at System Operations Inc., a gaming subsidiary of Mathematica, a policy research and management consulting firm in Princeton, N.J. Alexoff merged Mathematica with Webcraft, an in-line forms printer in North Brunswick, N.J., and founded Webcraft Games Inc., becoming its president. The company printed the scratch-offs with a process that was an industry first and remains the industry standard. While he was at the firm, the New Jersey State Lottery Planning Commission selected Mathematica to conduct studies regarding the lottery, which led to the establishment of the first legal state public lottery in the United States in 1970. The Campbell native became president of SOI, which was the principle consultant in the ’70s to state governments wanting to legalize state lotteries. He credits his achievements to YoCo, where, in 1946, his was the first class to enroll for the full engineering course load. Alexoff also said he deeply respected Louis A. Deez, the dean of engineering from 1942 to 1950.

Real Deal

The Doctor with A

Heart

Iris Crespo, ’83

Christine Zirafi, ’80

Iris Crespo has lived in Youngstown since she was eight-years old. Though her Puerto Rican parents had minimal education, it was their dream that she, her two brothers and four sisters would all graduate from college. In Crespo’s case, the dream came true – she graduated from YSU with a bachelor of science degree in education with an emphasis on special education in 1983 and has been a teacher in the Youngstown City School District for nearly 24 years. Crespo said she is proud of her alma mater and its reputation. “Sometimes people don’t appreciate what they have in their own backyard,” she said. “I felt blessed to have gone to YSU.” While she was in school, the YSU Foundation helped cover some of her educational costs, and she also worked at a local creamery. In addition, she worked in YSU’s minority student office where she stayed until she graduated. Crespo said Professor Ivania del Pozo especially inspired her. del Pozo, who is still in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, was the advisor of the Spanish Club when Crespo was a student. “She was very involved in the Hispanic community. It was nice to see a Latino woman achieving that level of success.” Jobless after graduation, Crespo went to Hawaii to help with her brother’s new family. But a week before the new school year, she was hired as a special education teacher at St. Patrick’s School on Youngstown’s South Side. “Because of YSU, I was able to get a job and stay in Youngstown. It’s once you get into the field, you find out the real deal,” she said. After a few years at St. Patrick’s, she returned to YSU to graduate in 1989 with a master’s in special education. Crespo then worked at Martin Luther King Oak Huntington School for 19 years until it closed, and then moved on to Harding elementary, where she works now. She still lives with her parents and is very connected to her family. “If I didn’t go to YSU, I don’t know what I’d be doing,” she said. “I know I wouldn’t have been a teacher. The university helped me become more professional and proficient in my field and provided me with a good foundation.”

Dr. Christine Zirafi’s life has been distinguished by a lot of “firsts.” A first-generation college graduate, Zirafi received a bachelor of science degree in 1980 from YSU. A few years later, she graduated with the second class of the Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine, and became a doctor. Zirafi, now an interventional cardiologist, was the first to establish high-risk cardiac catheterization laboratories and an open heart program at Parma Community Hospital. Another major first was using a high-speed multi-detector ct scan that allows doctors to examine the heart without a catheterization. Zirafi of Rocky River, Ohio, said she’s been working with it for about a year and a half. Her Cleveland practice was the first one with the machine. Zirafi’s “thirds” aren’t so bad either – she was the third female heart surgeon in the world to perform a cardiology procedure in 1992 at Cleveland’s Southwest General Hospital. “Cardiology is still very much a male-dominated field,” said the Girard native. Zirafi said she attributes these accomplishments, and many others, directly to YSU. “I received such a good education and was so well prepared. While I was at YSU, I was able to work part time as a phlebotomist, which gave me practical exposure.” Zirafi said she also appreciated being taught by professors at YSU instead of teaching assistants. Janet DelBene, a professor emeritus of chemistry, was especially inspiring to her. “Dr. DelBene was very supportive. All the professors I had at YSU were always available to help.” However, though she wanted to be a doctor since she was four-years old, Zirafi didn’t start out at YSU as a medical student. She had four years of a five-year chemical engineering degree completed when she got accepted into NEOUCOM. Because it was important to her to have her degree from YSU, she wrote a letter to then Arts and Sciences Dean Bernard J. Yozwiak and explained her situation. He waived a foreign language requirement, enabling her to graduate from YSU. Then, she accepted a seven-year residency and fellowship at the University of Texas. Currently, she is the medical director of the largest cardiology practice in Cleveland.

Summer 2007

Alumni News

On the Job to

From the YSU Hill to A

Jimmy Hughes, ’80

Sue Stricklin, ’84

Make a Difference To Youngstown Police Chief Jimmy Hughes, the best part of the job is being in a position to make a difference. “Every day I go into work, it’s my goal to make Youngstown a better place to live and make sure my officers work in a positive atmosphere,” said Hughes. When Hughes was appointed by Youngstown Major Jay Williams two years ago, the mayor wanted a candidate with a master’s degree and a wealth of experience. That opened the door for the chief, who earned a master’s degree in police administration from YSU in 1999, and has been on the job for 31 years. Hughes also has a bachelor’s in police management and an associate degree in applied science from YSU and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Hughes of Youngstown said that his education at YSU has served him well. “I earned each degree while I was working. I often took on a second job to pay tuition.” The degrees, he said, coincided with the kind of work he was doing while he moved through the ranks of patrol officer, sergeant, detective, lieutenant, captain and chief. “I was gaining the skills I needed at just the right time.” Hughes said he would advise today’s criminal justice majors to look at a variety of areas in law enforcement. “It’s a broad field, so don’t narrow your scope,” he said. Some career choices the chief mentioned include probation/parole officer, federal agent, investigator in a unit outside of law enforcement, administrator/supervisor, crime scene technician, evidence analyzer or educator. He also suggested minors such as computer science, Spanish, psychology and sociology. “These kinds of areas give police science students additional skills and insights. My education at YSU opened my eyes to those possibilities.” Hughes said he has respect for the faculty in the criminal justice program at YSU and has often turned to them for support. “The professors have a history in law enforcement,” he said. “We work together on real-life incidents.” Although he said his free time is limited since he became chief, he is involved with the Shriners and the Prince Hall Masons. He also said he spends time on his boat on Mosquito Lake.

Youngstown State University

View From the Top Sue Eckenrode Stricklin said that one of her fondest YSU memories is of meeting friends on “the hill” outside of Kilcawley after classes. “In fact,” said the 1984 graduate with a bachelor of science degree in business administration, “I must have been a frequent visitor to the hill — a cover of a YSU publication in 1981-82 has a photo of students relaxing on the hill, and I’m right in the middle of them.” These days, she is the vice president of marketing at Home Savings and Loan in Youngstown. While at YSU, Stricklin studied marketing, management and accounting. “Once I graduated, I knew I wanted to stay in the Youngstown area so I began to look for a solid company and a position that would allow me to put my education to good use,” she said. On a neighbor’s tip, she applied at the bank. That tip led her to a long-term career that allowed her to stay in the area. But her vice presidency wasn’t handed to her – she became a mortgage loan officer and then worked throughout the branch network in a variety of jobs, including assistant branch manager, branch manager and assistant vice president. “Even though I did not hold marketing positions during that time, my marketing education played an important role in providing me with the skills necessary to effectively ask for business and close the deal, as well as techniques for providing exceptional customer service,” she said. In addition, Stricklin said she remembered learning at YSU the importance of seeking business rather than waiting for it, so she and a co-worker developed a Realtor® program in which they met regularly with local real estate companies in an effort to build business relationships and develop a referral base. Her current responsibilities include overseeing the advertising, public relations and market research for the company. Because she believes that community involvement is important, Stricklin of Boardman serves on marketing committees at her church, as well as on boards of several local non-profit organizations.

Class 50s

notes

Angelo Pezzuolo of New Castle, Pa., ’55, BSE, is retiring after spending 52 years in the field of education. The last 15 years, he’s been executive director of Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, the agency that provides educational services to public schools in Mercer, Lawrence and Butler counties in Western Pennsylvania. While at Youngstown College, he was a member of the football team and was inducted into the YSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.

Anita DeVivo of New Castle, Pa., ’58, BA, has had the book, “New Castle and MahoningTown,” published through Arcadia Publishing. The 128-page book is part of the Postcard History Series and is available online at www.arcadiapublishing.com.

for a week to better understand what his 2,400 employees face daily.

George Muter of Indian River, Mich.,’70, BSBA, helped fundraising efforts for the Special Olympics by jumping in Burt Lake in Northern Michigan. The temperature was below zero, with a wind chill of -14. After the plunge, the former member of the swim team put on his YSU penguin sweatshirt sent to him by his nephew Ross Montgomery, who is a current student. Ken Perich of Chantilly, Va., ’72, BSBA, ’81, MBA, who works for Rolls-Royce, was a presenter at the Western Regional of the National Aviation Heritage Invitational. He stood alongside aviation heroes, such as Neil Armstrong.

Robert Budinsky of Poland,’74, BA, has been the court administrator at Joseph Plecnik of Long Beach, Calif., the Seventh District Court of Appeals ’69, BE, has been awarded the in Youngstown since 1987, where he third Dr. Frank A. Cassis oversees Award by the Western operaChapter of the American tion of the Composites Manufacturers court, Association. Among his many including accomplishments include the managanalysis and design of the ing cases, world’s first and largest free setting standing composite stacks, the budgets and Dr. Frank A. Cassis Award for supervisExceptional Achievement in ing 15 staff the Corrosion and Composites members. Industry was first awarded to Previously, its namesake, Dr. Frank A. he served Cassis in 2003. The next award as a staff will be given in 2009. attorney. He earned a 70s law degree Robert Budinsky, ’74 from the Joe Brimmeier of Ross TownUniversity of Akron School of Law in ship, Pa., ’70, BSE,’71, MSED, has 1978. He met his wife, Diane DiPiebeen the CEO of the Pennsylvania ro,’75, BSE, on campus. She has been Turnpike Commission since 2003. He a teacher for the Girard City Schools and his assistant initiated the first profor 30 years. Their son, Robert, is a gram in the country by a transportation third-year medical student at the Uniagency that helps find missing children versity of Toledo College of Medicine. by teaming up with the National

60s

Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Now, missing children’s photos are displayed in the 21 service plazas along the turnpike. Prior to his appointment, he worked in a toll booth

Bill Young of Green Springs, Ohio,’74, BSE, was recognized as Teacher of the Year for 2007 for the Northwest Ohio Region by the Ohio School Board

Association. He is a social studies teacher at McPherson Middle School in Clyde, Ohio. John Gildard of Hovland, Minn., ’75, BA, has been retired for several years and recently moved to a new home in Minnesota that he built. On his property, he sees moose, black bear, deer, eagles and gray timber wolves. Jonathan Herrmann of Cincinnati,’75, BSE, has been named director of the National Homeland Security Research Center in Cincinnati. Robert Allan Horvath of Broussard, La.,’75, BE, has recently had his first novel, “The Clone,” published by Millenial Mind Publishing. He has been a petroleum engineer for Schlumberger Ltd. for 30 years.

Robert Allan Horvath,’75

James Saker of Omaha, Neb.,’75, MM, is a professor of music and director of bands at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He has been chair of the music department since 2001. In 2005, his marching band was selected as the Nebraska representative in the Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. Paul S. Denton of Columbus,’76, BS, became the Ohio State University chief of police in 2006. He spent 28 years with the Columbus police, most recently as commander assigned to the Technical Services Bureau of the Columbus Division of Police. He has a master of business administration from Xavier University, a master of science and criminal justice from Tiffin University, and a certificate of training from the FBI National Academy at the University of Virginia. He also holds a

Summer 2007

Class Notes Certified Law Enforcement Executive designation. Patrick Berarducci of Boardman,’77, BSAS, has been named the chief of the Boardman Township Police Department. Berarducci is a native of Youngstown’s South Side and worked for four years as a city police officer before joining the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Berarducci graduated from Wilson High School. Henry Guzman of Columbus,’77, BS, has been appointed to serve as the director for the Ohio Department of Public Safety by Gov. Ted Strickland. In this cabinet-level position, Guzman advises the governor and staff on issues relating to the eight divisions within the ODPS, including Homeland Security. Previously, he was director of the City of Columbus Department of Public Service and served as acting mayor. Mary Saathoff of Lubbock, Texas, ’78, BM, co-owner of George Robinson Violins, was named executive director of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, after serving in an interim position. Carla Wilson Buss of Watkinsville, Ga., ‘79, BA, has been promoted to curriculum materials and education librarian at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. She joined the faculty at UGA in 1997 as a reference librarian in the main library. Originally from Fowler, Ohio, Buss earned a master of library science in 1997 from Kent State University.

80s

Joseph A. Castrodale of Westlake, Ohio, ’80, BA, recently was named an Ohio Super Lawyer for 2007. The annual statewide list was published in the January 2007 issue of Cincinnati Magazine, Joseph A. Northern Ohio Live Castrodale, ’80 magazine and in Ohio Super Lawyers magazine. Only 5 percent of Ohio lawyers are selected as Super Lawyers by their peers for outstanding professional achievements. Castrodale is with Ulmer and Berne LLP, a major Ohio-based law firm. He represents large corporate clients in business and commercial disputes

Youngstown State University

Class Notes and litigates cases in federal and state courts. He received a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1983. Peyman Givi of Pittsburgh, Pa.,’80, has been selected as Engineer of the Year by the Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is being recognized for his many contributions, including over 165 publications and nearly 170 presentations. Givi has also served as editor or editorial board member for five different journals. The William Kepler Whiteford Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Givi was honored by YSU with the Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished alumnus award. Dan Pecchia of Canfield, ’84, BA,’89, MA, established Pecchia Communications in 2005 after 13 years at two public relations firms. He was most recently Dan Pecchia, ’84 vice president and and ’89 part owner of Innis Maggiore Group. More information is available at the firm’s web site, www.pecchiacomm.com. David Capretta of Rustburg, Va.,’87, AAS, has been named IT department manager of Wiley & Wilson, a company that provides professional consulting services. His duties include company responsibility for all IT functions. In addition to his YSU degree, Capretta received a bachelor of science in industrial technology from Kent State University. Ed Leonard of Columbus,’87, BSBA, has been appointed to serve the remainder of Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray’s unexpired term as Franklin County’s treasurer. Since March 2003, he has served as special counsel to the county treasurer’s office. Leonard plans to run in the November 2008 election for a full four-year term. He received a law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1990. Ted Schmidt of Canfield,’87, BSBA, has been named head of corporate banking at National City Bank for a five-county region encompassing Youngstown and

the Ohio Valley. Schmidt joined the bank in 1988 and has served in various executive capacities including vice president of corporate banking and senior vice president and regional manager of corporate banking.

Ted Schmidt, ’87

Michele K. Yoder of Youngstown,’88, BSE, has joined The Webb Law Firm in Pittsburgh as a patent agent. In her position, she drafts and prosecutes patent applications, Michele K. Yoder, prepares foreign ’88 amendments and shares expertise in the area of international applications. She is also certified as a registered patent agent. Gregory D. Ellis of Newton Falls,’89, BA, has recently been named continuous improvement engineer at PTC Alliance in Alliance. His new duties include divisional lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and educational responsibilities for six manufacturing plants in five Midwestern states. Prior to the new position, he spent seven years at RMI Titanium in Niles in both production and technical roles. He received a master’s degree from the University of Akron and has his Six Sigma Black Belt and project management certification.

90s

Michael Archibald of Houston, Texas,’91, BSE, is currently president and CEO of Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery in Houston. After graduating magna cum laude and finishing top in his class, he joined General Electric’s Manufacturing Management Technical Leadership Program, then assumed manufacturing operations leadership with GE in their plastics and transportation divisions. Once he joined Siemens in 1999, he received consistent promotions until he became president in 2005.

Jason Van Hoose of Youngstown,’93, BFA, has recently won Best of Show in the Area Artist’s Show for his painting “Shale and Storm” at the Butler Institute of American Art. Van Hoose’s work has been shown in galleries in Cleveland, New York City and local venues, with many of his large oil paintings in corporate and private collections from Los Angeles to New York. His work can be viewed at Tiptopgallery.com.

Art work of Jason Van Hoose, ’93

Kat Ricker of Dallas, Or.,’93, BA, has had a book of poetry and short stories, titled “Something Familiar,” recently published by Trillium Press. The book Kat Ricker, ’93 includes illustrations by Kate Ramunno-Finney of Youngstown, ’86, BFA, a recipient of the Margaret Evans Award from the Butler Institute of American Art, where she now serves as docent. Top Amazon reviewer Rebecca Johnson says “this is one of the top 10 books you should read in your lifetime.” Visit mightykat.net for more information. Michele McCaughtry of Lowellville,’94, BSE, has recently published a teacher resource book through Scholastic, a top publisher of educational materials. Titled Michele “Independent McCaughtry, ’94 Reading Management Kit: Literary Elements,” the book is geared towards students in grades 4-8. She is a reading teacher at South Range Middle School.

Michael Beverly of Youngstown,’95, BA,’02, MA, has served as the coordinator of Multicultural Student Services in the YSU Center for Student Progress since Michael Beverly, ’02 2003. He currently coordinates YSU’s Summer Bridge Program. In 2005-06, he was presented with YSU’s Edna K. McDonald Cultural Awareness Award. His many activities at YSU include serving as a History Day judge on the annual student awards committee and on the Div-ersity Banquet Committee. Prior, he was at Eagle Heights Academy for four years. Chris Barzak of Youngstown,’98, BA,’03, MA, had his first novel, “One for Sorrow,” published in August. The book, which he categorizes as a ghost story/coming of Chris Barzak, ’98 age novel set in Youngstown, was published by Bantam Books. The 31 year-old Johnstown Township, Ohio, native is an adjunct faculty member in YSU’s English department. He is currently working on his second novel, “The Love We Share without Knowing.” It is set in Japan, where he spent two years teaching English. More information about Barzak and his work can be found at christopherbarzak@ wordpress.com.

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Derrick Marsh of Norwalk, Ohio,’00, BE, has recently received the designation of registered professional engineer. Marsh has worked at KS Associates’ Land DevelopDerrick Marsh, ’00 ment Group, a civil engineering and land surveying firm, headquartered in Elyria, Ohio, since 2000.

Alan Miner of Cleveland,’01, BSBA, recently graduated from The James J. Nance School of Business Administration at Cleveland State University, earning a master’s in business administration with a concentration in operations management and business statistics. He has also recently accepted a new position as an operations manager with the Danaher Corporation at its new Fluke Biomedical, Radiation Management Services Division in Solon, Ohio. Melinda M. Hicks of Morgantown, W.Va.,’03, MA, has been named an assistant professor at West Virginia University, where she is also a doctoral degree candidate. Hicks specializes in economic and gender history in her major field of Colonial American history. She is co-editor of the book, “Defining Security in an Insecure World: Historical Perspectives on Radicalism, Terrorism, and State Responses,” published by West Virginia University Press. Megan A. Kerrigan of Hubbard,’03, BS, recently graduated with a master of education degree in curriculum and instruction from Gannon University. She is Megan A. Kerrigan, ’03 currently teaching first grade in the Slippery Rock Area School District in Slippery Rock, Pa. She is also working on her master’s in library and information science at Kent State University. Carmella Williams of Hubbard,’05, BSBA, became the coordinator in YSU’s Office of Associate Degree and Tech Prep Programs in 2005, assisting Carmella Williams, ’05 in marketing and facilitating the transition of and academic progress for secondary and post-secondary College Tech Prep students. She earned a certificate in American Humanics from YSU in 2007 and is a candidate for a master’s degree in public administration, a consortium program between YSU and Cleveland State University.

Summer 2007

Alumni News

lumni •

Red & White Game Penguin football fans gained a sneak preview of the 2007 team during the Red & White Game in April. Alumni and friends enjoyed an indoor tailgate party in Stambaugh Stadium prior to kick-off. With full stomachs following a hearty picnic, Penguin faithful cheered for both sides in anticipation of the upcoming season. Coach Jon Heacock presented this contest for the 7th year, as the culmination of the team’s spring drills.

22nd Alumni Society Golf Outing At least 90 YSU alumni and friends participated in the 22nd Annual Alumni Society Golf Outing in May at the Tippecanoe Country Club in Canfield. The outing featured a buffet luncheon, evening social hour and prizes awarded throughout the day. “Whether golfers were dusting off their clubs for the first time this season or ready for competition, those who participated said what they most enjoyed was From left to right – John Africa, ’62; Keith Evans, ‘65, the camaraderie the outing provided,” said Shannon Nick Pupino; Rich Crepage, ’78, ’78, ’99; Larry Richards, ’70; Tirone, director of the Office of Alumni Relations. Shannon Tirone, ‘94, Alumni Relations director;

Awardees Selected for Legacy Scholarships YSU has a rich tradition of family attendance and graduation. “The legacy of a child following in the footsteps of a parent/guardian toward attaining a degree from the same alma mater is indeed a cherished tradition,” said Shannon Tirone, Alumni Relations director. The YSU Office of Alumni Relations is committed to fostering relationships between graduates and YSU and is proud to offer four $1,000 Legacy Scholarships to children of current Alumni Society members. Legacy Scholarships for the 200708 academic year have been awarded to Dana Rae Vlock, Michael Gans, Jessica Balent and Heather Drennen.

Heather Belgin, Alumni Relations coordinator; and Bruce Sherman, ’70, Alumni Society Board president.

Penguins at Appalachian State

Columbus Alumni Welcome President Sweet

Dallas Alumni

Scrappers vs. Doubledays

Alumni Tailgate Party

Alumni from the Da llas area at a reception on Ma rch 28.

Youngstown State University

The annual YSU Alumni Night was June 25 this year at Eastwood Field. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers faced the Auburn Doubledays, and YSU alumni were there to cheer on the Scrappers. Alumni and friends enjoyed box-seat tickets and a picnic of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, chips and soft drinks. Watch your mailbox for Bruce Sherman ‘70, Alumni YSU/OSU tailgate party Society Board president, threw information. More details out the first pitch during Alumni about the tailgate, sponsored by Night with the Scrappers. Alumni Relations, will be available soon by calling 330-941-3497.

els e F : It

So Good

g The Office of Alumni Relations would like to bring campus organizations tinback together to celebrate the special bonds

La Hacienda Ranch restaurant was the place to be for Dallas-area Penguins in March. Approximately 50 alumni and friends visited with each other to catch up on the latest news at the university. “A small group of alumni in the Dallas area has been socializing for a number of years,” said Heather Belgin, Alumni Relations coordinator. “This event allowed more grads to connect and begin to plan for future times to socialize.”

Streetscape 2007 Photo above: Over 40 YSU alumni, family members and friends joined more than 300 other volunteers for Streetscape 2007 in downtown Youngstown on June 2. Youngstown Cityscape organizes this beautification project to plant flowers, mulch and remove debris in downtown areas. “Communityminded alumni have lent their green thumbs to this worthy endeavor for the past three years,” said Heather Belgin, Alumni Relations coordinator. “After a day of hard work and fun, alumni can drive through downtown and take pride in their effort.”

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President David C. Sweet talks with Nydia and Henry Guzman, ’77, during the Columbus Alumni Reception in May.

In May, over 100 alumni and friends connected at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café for an evening that included reminiscing and learning about campus developments from President David C. Sweet. Sweet highlighted successes in enrollment, diversity and partnerships, while also addressing challenges the university faces because of the way higher education is funded. He invited everyone back to campus to attend Centennial Celebration events in 2008. “The enthusiastic group participated in a question and answer session with the president, showing that Penguin spirit is alive and well in Columbus,” said Shannon Tirone, Alumni Relations director.

Penguin faithful traveled to Boone, N.C. for the NCAA FCS playoff game against Appalachian State in December. Although the Penguins fell 49-24 against the Mountaineers, YSU fans, including Richard Bremer,’74, enthusiastically displayed their support and pride throughout the entire game.

developed through participation in extracurricular activities during the Centennial Celebration in 2008. Alumni members of various groups, such as cheerleaders, Jambar staff, University Scholars, fraternities and sororities, etc., are needed to help plan these reunions. If you would like to reunite with members of your organization and are interested in volunteering, contact Alumni Relations at 330-941-3497 or alumni@ysu.edu.

Summer 2007

Get what you need to work

smarter.

choose who you call for free — any ten numbers, any network anywhere in America

YSU

Bookstore Located between Kilcawley Center and the Andrews Recreation and Wellness Center

With advanced smart devices, business applications and a high-speed data network, we help customers work smarter. It’s time to get what you need from your wireless company. Come and get it.

Shop the YSU Bookstore on the web at

alltelbusiness.com 1-877-BUS-WRLS My Circle: Available to new and existing customers on business accounts with pooled rate plans $39.99/mo & higher or other rate plans $59.99/mo & higher. Additional Information: All product & service marks referenced are the names, trade names, trademarks & logos of their respective owners. ©2007 Alltel. All rights reserved.

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5/21/07 3:44:17 PM

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Take advantage of Free Business Checking with more free transactions than any other bank in town! • No monthly service fee or minimum balance requirement

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Plus ... Online Cash Management Services & Unsecured Business Line of Credit Bob Swauger

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Summer 2007

Time For A Change? Graduate Programs for Career Mobility

It’s Time for Teachers to Tailgate Who ? What ? Where ? When ? Why ?

Master’s Degrees

Beeghly College of Education Alumni.

American Studies Biology Business Administration Chemistry Computing and Information Systems Counseling Creative Writing Criminal Justice Economics Educational Administration English Engineering

Centennial Celebration tailgate party. The tailgate lot next to McDonald’s on Fifth Ave. Noon, Saturday, Oct. 20 before the Homecoming game. To celebrate university’s centennial with fellow graduates.

Graduate Certificates Environmental Studies Financial Economics Health & Human Services History Mathematics Music Nursing Physical Therapy Public Health Special Education Social Work Teacher Education

Call 330-941-3215 for details.

Williamson College of Business Administration

Preparing Leaders for business, nonprofit organizations, government, and society 2007 Recipient of the Governor’s Excellence in Exporting Award For heightening awareness of exporting as a vital component of the State’s economy.

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Youngstown State University

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership

Leah Nakley, a senior chemical engineering student, and Ryan Paul, a mechanical engineering master’s candidate and Cushwa Fellow, analyze fracture features using YSU’s scanning electron microscope.

Refreshments will be provided.

l Flexible MBA Program l Extensive Internship Program l Certificates in Entrepreneurship, Nonprofit Leadership, and Enterprise Resource Planning l International Study Tours l Consulting, research, and training services for regional business

Applied History Autism Spectrum and Related Disabilities Bioethics Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) new!! Environmental Studies Health Care Management Literature for Children and Young Adults Professional Writing and Editing Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Teaching of Writing Working-Class Studies

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www.ysu.edu/gradschool

1947

Peace Caravan

The year is 1947. Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Truman Doctrine is implemented, gangster Bugsy Siegel is murdered and “A Streetcar Named Desire” opens on Broadway starring a young actor named Marlon Brando. And at Youngstown College, a Peace Caravan of the American Friends Service Committee visits the campus. In this photo, members of the Peace Caravan answer questions from Dr. Clarence Gould’s class in constitutional history on the steps of Jones Hall. Gould was head of the history department. Members of the caravan are Helen Vanderkoii of Denton, Texas, and Howard James of Topeka, Kan., left foreground, with Dr. Gould, center, and Everett Mattlin of Columbus and Corrinne Booth of Columbia, Mo. The photo graces the cover of a new book by Donna DeBlasio and Martha Pallante, members of the YSU history faculty. The name of the book is “Youngstown State University: From YoCo to YSU,” and it celebrates YSU’s centennial in 2008. To browse additional historical photographs in the University Archives, visit http://digital.maag.ysu.edu.

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