Beeghly College - 50 Years, Educating Educators by Youngstown State University

Winter 2010

On the Cover Second-grade teacher Josephine Massaro gets an enthusiastic response of raised hands from students in her class at Howland Glen Primary School near Warren, Ohio. Massaro earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from YSU’s Beeghly College of Education, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. Our cover story celebrates the tremendous impact that Beeghly College graduates are having in their careers as teachers, counselors and school administrators across the country and around the world. ———————————

YSU President

David C. Sweet

Vice President for University Advancement

George McCloud

Executive Director of Marketing & Communications

Director of University Communications

Magazine Editor

Layout Design Artist

Photographers

Graduate Assistant

Melissa Sullivan

Sports Contributor

Trevor Parks

Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications

Jean Engle, ’86

Chief Development Officer

Paul McFadden, ’84

Executive Director of Alumni and Events Management

Shannon Tirone, ’94

YSU Board of Trustees Chair Vice Chair Secretary Student Trustees

Mark W. Van Tilburg

Ron Cole

Cynthia Vinarsky Renée Cannon, ’90 Bruce Palmer Carl Leet

Scott R. Schulick Sudershan K. Garg Millicent Counts Larry DeJane John R. Jakubek Harry Meshel John L. Pogue Leonard Schiavone Carole S. Weimer Franklin S. Bennett Jr. Lyndsie Hall

Youngstown State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. Youngstown State University – A Magazine for Alumni and Friends (ISSN 2152-3754), Issue 4, Spring 2010, is published quarterly by the YSU Office of Marketing and Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555. Periodicals Postage Paid at Youngstown, Ohio. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Youngstown State University, Office of Marketing and Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555. Direct letters to the editor, comments or questions to the address above, call 330-941-3519 or e-mail universitymagazine@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, gender identity and/or expression, 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

in this

issue

University Town – YSU and the city of Youngstown collaborate on a banner campaign.

New President – Introducing Cynthia E. Anderson, appointed by the YSU Board of Trustees to be the university’s seventh president, effective July 2010.

Around Campus – News and photos of the latest developments on campus.

COVER STORY – Beeghly College of Education – Changing the world, one teacher at a time.

Christopher Barzak, two-time novelist and YSU English instructor.

10 16 17

Q&A

with Gwen Clark, YSU’s resident expert on business etiquette.

Research in a Wind Tunnel – Company finds brain power in YSU Engineering Department.

Alumni Spotlight – Profiles of three exceptional YSU Alumni.

DEPARTMENTS 2 20 22 23 24 30

Signs of Spring ...

President’s Message Sports News University Development YSU Foundation Alumni News Class Notes

Check out YSU Magazine's online edition at

www.ysumagazine.org

Daffodils in bloom, green grass and an unseasonably warm, early spring day created an ideal spot for two YSU students to take a study break outside Cushwa Hall.

S p r i n g

President’s Message

Looking Back:

10 Years of Pursuing ‘Impossible Dreams’ “And the world will be better for this, That one man scorned and covered with scars, Still strove with his last ounce of courage To reach the unreachable star.”

David C. Sweet, President

– Don Quixote

I was in my sophomore year of college at the University of Rochester, sitting in an English literature class, when I was introduced to Miguel de Cervantes’ classic novel, Don Quixote. To this day, the story of Quixote’s adventures guides much of my life, and my collection of Quixote artwork – from around the world – is displayed throughout our home. His was, indeed, an impossible dream. As Pat and I conclude our ten years at Youngstown State University, and as we reflect on the many lasting friendships we have made and will take with us, I again think of Quixote. I have learned much in my more than 40 years of public service, the last 32 of which I have spent in higher education. But the one constant I have seen – time and again – is people making the seemingly impossible come true. We experience that every day at YSU. Year in and year out, thousands of people – young and not so young – come to YSU with dreams: to go to college, earn a degree, enter a profession, succeed, and become engaged and productive citizens and leaders. They dedicate themselves, sacrifice, work hard and overcome barriers. They make the impossible, possible. This spring, I preside over my 36th and final commencement exercise as president of Youngstown State University. Over the past decade, nearly 20,000 students have received diplomas from YSU. Many of them have overcome personal hurdles and now stand as shining examples to others seeking their own impossible dreams – to the inner-city child who has exceeded everyone’s expectations and is now a successful research biologist; to the college freshman who once struggled to pass her introductory composition class and has gone on to become a successful writer; to the laid-off factory worker who came to YSU to earn a degree and is now thriving in his second career as a business owner. YSU offered hope to them all; and through persistence, they now offer hope to others. It has been a privilege to serve the past decade as president of this great institution. Pat and I came to Youngstown with our own set of dreams. With the help of so many committed individuals, we have been able to make many of those dreams come true. We thank you all. We will never forget. God bless, and keep on dreaming impossible dreams.

Youngstown State University

Sincerely,

David C. Sweet President

A Great University Town

Banners Celebrate University-City Connections YSU and the city of Youngstown are collaborating on a street banner campaign that celebrates the growing and evolving connections between the city and the university. Colorful banners identifying Youngstown as “A Great University Town” and YSU as “A Great University in Town” were installed along the Market Street Bridge into downtown and up Wick Avenue to University Plaza on the YSU campus. A second phase of additional banners will be installed along Fifth Avenue this summer. The banners were designed by Renée Cannon, layout design artist in the YSU Office of Marketing and Communications. The university funded the installation hardware and banner production. Bud’s Sign Shop of Youngstown produced and installed the banners, and installation was paid for by the City of Youngstown.

spring 2010

Cynthia E. Anderson

Cynthia E. Anderson meets with reporters at a news conference in February.

Youngstown State University

Cynthia E. Anderson, vice president for Student Affairs at YSU for the past 15 years, has been named the seventh president of the university. A standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 students, faculty, staff and community members cheered and applauded after the nine-member Board of Trustees unanimously voted in favor of Anderson’s appointment on Feb. 17. A graduate of YSU who has served in a succession of faculty and administrative positions at the university for 31 years, Anderson will take office July 1, replacing David C. Sweet, who retires after 10 years at the university’s helm. Anderson will be the first woman, the first Youngstown-area native, and the first YSU graduate to serve as president in YSU’s 102-year history. “Today, Dr. Anderson becomes one of Youngstown State University’s most prominent success stories,” YSU Trustees Chair Scott R. Schulick said at the meeting in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. “She has lived the YSU dream and will go down in the history of the institution for entering as a student and ending her career as the university’s president. We, as a campus community and community at large, should be very proud of that fact.” Anderson said she is honored to be named president, and she thanked members of the Board of Trustees for the confidence they have in her abilities to lead the university into the future. “I look forward to working with my colleagues at the university to provide the kinds of services and programs that are beneficial to both students and the community,” she said. “I also look forward to continuing to strengthen the university’s ties with the business community and working together to improve economic development throughout the region.” Anderson’s selection capped a national search that began in July 2009, when the Board of Trustees announced the appointment of the 22-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee. The committee identified four finalists, who

Appointed YSU’s Seventh President underwent extensive interviews on campus before the board made its selection in February. “The Board of Trustees recognizes the search committee members’ hard work and dedication,” Schulick said. “They spent countless hours to identify the best candidates for the position. The university is grateful for their service.” A month after the appointment, Anderson announced that she was donating $100,000 to fund scholarships for YSU students in memory of her parents. With the gift, Anderson became a member of the YSU President’s Council, which is comprised of individuals, corporations and foundations that have made major donations to the university. “I was blessed with two wonderful parents who instilled in me many values,” Anderson said. “Hopefully, this scholarship fund will help to provide others with the opportunities and benefits which I have had the privilege to have.” Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in business education from YSU in 1973, a master’s in business education from Ohio State University in 1976 and an Ed.D. in education ad-

ministration (higher education) and student personnel services from the University of Akron in 1990. She joined the YSU faculty in 1979 as an instructor of business education and technology and reached the rank of professor of marketing and public relations in 2000, a post that she currently retains. She was assistant provost for academic planning from 1993 to 1995 and was named vice president for student affairs in 1995. As vice president, Anderson has been responsible for all matters pertaining to the areas of enrollment management, student services, student life and campus security. She established the new Office of Veterans Affairs and has overseen the Center for Student Progress, testing services, health enhancement and student health services, career services, housing, auxiliary services, student counseling services, academic support services, disability services, student recreation center and campus police. Read Anderson’s vita at http://www.ysu.edu/trustees/pdfs/ Anderson_CV.PDF.

Pollock House Will Be President’s Residence YSU’s new president won’t have much of a commute to campus. Cynthia E. Anderson, who becomes YSU’s seventh president on July 1, will live in the historic Pollock House at the main entrance to the university. The 117-year-old house on Wick Avenue, formerly known as the Wick Pollock Inn, will be renovated and re-opened as the president’s home. The building should be ready for occupancy by fall 2011. “As the board worked on selecting a new president, and as we discussed the future use of a restored Pollock House, it became increasingly apparent to us that this was a tremendous opportunity to adapt the renovated house as the president’s residence,” said Scott Schulick, chair of the YSU Board of Trustees. The 16-room house was built in 1893, and the Pollock family gave the house to YSU in 1950. The building housed classrooms and offices until 1986, when a private developer constructed a 64-room addition to the back of the building and opened it as the Wick Pollock Inn. The inn closed in 1998 and has been vacant since. The building will now be known as the Porter and Mary Pollock House. The 64-room addition to the building will be removed, leaving the original 16-room house, which will undergo extensive improvements. “We envision that this house will work well both as the residence of the university president and as a superb location for the many fundraising, community and other events, receptions and gatherings that are important to the function of the Office of the President,” said Hunter Morrison, YSU director of campus planning Pollock House and community partnerships.

Read more about YSU’s new president in the cover story of the summer edition.

Visit www.ysumagazine.org for video of Anderson’s presentation at the Last Lecture Series.

spring 2010

Around C

New Student Apartments to Open This Summer

The first phase of the Flats at Wick apartment complex on the North Side of campus is set to open this summer, marking yet another step in the university’s continued efforts to increase student housing on and around campus. The project is the first privately-owned apartment complex of its kind built exclusively for YSU students. Dominic Marchionda, president of U.S. Campus Suites, said the firm did market research to assess the housing needs of university and college campuses within a 100-mile radius of the company’s Youngstown base. YSU was a perfect match, he said, with enrollment increasing to more than 14,500 last fall – the highest in 16 years. The number of students living in the university's five residence halls, University Courtyard Apartments and Buechner Hall hit 1,354 in the fall semester, also an all-time high. “It’s exciting to get to work in my own backyard and bring this type of planning and development to Youngstown and YSU,” Marchionda said. The 115-bed first phase of the Flats at Wick, located across from the Cafaro House residence hall, is intended for upperclass students only. The apartments are equipped with single, double, triple and quad garden-style units along with private bathrooms for each bedroom. The building also includes two laundry rooms, two computer study areas, a fitness center, Wi-Fi access and a state-of-the-art security system. For more information on the Flats at Wick, visit www. flatsatwick.com.

Business Students Chosen for Beeghly Fellows Program

Shawn Butson of Mineral Ridge and Danielle P. Sweat of East Liverpool, seniors in YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration, have been selected as the inaugural John D. Beeghly Fellows for the 2010 spring semester. The John D. Beeghly Fellows program provides students with career-related work experience with businesses Shawn Butson and Danielle Sweat in the region. Butson and Sweat will each receive a $2,000 scholarship and will have the opportunity to work on projects with clients of the Ohio Small Business Development Center at YSU. Projects may include market research, customer satisfaction surveys, export readiness studies, business plan development, market analysis, and cost analysis. The Beeghly Fellows Program is made possible by an endowment established at the YSU Foundation by John D. Beeghly’s wife and children. Beeghly was a lifelong resident and businessman in Youngstown and son of area industrialist and philanthropist, Leon A. Beeghly. From 1967 until his death, Beeghly was vice president and director of Standard Slag Co. and Stancorp Inc., a holding company for industrial businesses. “We are extremely grateful to the John D. Beeghly family for making this generous investment in our business students,” said Betty Jo Licata, WCBA dean. “Providing our students with career–related experience contributes to the success of our regional businesses and the professional preparation of our students.”

YSU Lauded for Civic Partnerships

The Flats at Wick apartments will open this summer on the north side of the YSU campus.

Youngstown State University

YSU made the honor roll, along with schools such as Ohio State, Yale, Georgetown and Temple universities, in the recent “Saviors of Our Cities: Survey of the Best College and University Civic Partnerships.” Schools on the list have demonstrated and documented long-standing cooperative efforts with community leaders to rehabilitate the cities around them, to influence community revitalization and cultural renewal, and to encourage economic expansion of the local economy, urban development and community service. Evan Dobelle, president of Westfield State College in Westfield, Mass., is the survey author. Dobelle is a former president of the New England

Telecom Students Videotape Swim-Dive Championships Camera operator Candi Thomas of Warren was part of a four-student team of YSU telecommunications studies majors that produced live video streaming of the 2010 NCAA Div. II Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Canton, Ohio. Other students who worked on the broadcast were: John Raidel of Girard, producer/director; Kevin Davis of Warren, camera operator/graphic coordinator; and Ben Lane of Hubbard, camera operator/technician. The crew provided more than 40 hours of live television of the four-day event. “Any time our students tell the story of an event like this to the rest of the world, they are also telling the world about our Telecommunication Studies program and about YSU,” said Bill Brophy, instructor.

Board of Higher Education and internationally respected for his experience in spearheading public-private partnerships. YSU President David C. Sweet said the university has a long history of community involvement. “In our partnerships with local schools and the business community and in our athletics and performing arts events that attract thousands of people to the campus, we are committed to being a university engaged in the community, making the university and the city a better place to learn and live,” he said. In addition to YSU and OSU, other Ohio institutions on the list include Cleveland State University, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati and the University of Toledo.

Alumnus Donates $200,000 for Business College Building

Don Constantini, chief executive officer and founder of Falcon Transport and Comprehensive Logistics, has made a $200,000 gift for the construction of YSU’s new Williamson College Don Constantini of Business Administration building. Scheduled to open for the start of the fall semester this year, the WCBA building is a $34.3 million, 106,000-squarefoot, state-of-the-art facility now under construction between Rayen Avenue and Wood Street on the South Side of the YSU campus. It will be about twice the size of the business college’s current home on Lincoln Avenue. “We thank Don for this generous gift and his continued commitment to YSU, the Williamson College of Business Administration and its students,” said Betty Jo Licata, dean of the Williamson College of Business Administration. Constantini is a 1966 business administration graduate of Youngstown University. Falcon Transport and Comprehensive Logistics employ more than 2,000 employees, 650 employees locally.

A staunch supporter of YSU Penguin athletics, Constantini has maintained a loge in Stambaugh Stadium for more than 20 years. His previous leadership gifts to YSU include $150,000 to the YSU Foundation to endow an athletic scholarship and a gift of $150,000 toward the construction of the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center. In 2005, he was recognized as the “Outstanding Business Alumnus” by the WCBA. Constantini’s gift is part of the Kresge Challenge. In December 2008, the Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., committed a $1.2 million challenge grant, charging YSU to raise $2.4 million to meet the challenge. To date, more than $2.3 million has been received, leaving $87,263 yet to be raised to meet the challenge and complete the campaign.

Schiavone Named to YSU Board of Trustees

Gov. Ted Strickland has appointed Leonard D. Schiavone, a resident of Youngstown's North Side and partner in a downtown law firm, to the YSU Board of Trustees. Schiavone is a partner and treaLeonard Schiavone surer of Friedman & Rummell Co., a 90-year-old law firm based on East Federal Street. He is also a co-owner and president of Metro Land Title Agency Inc., a downtown real estate title insurance agency. In private practice as an attorney for more than 25 years, Schiavone has concentrated his law practice in the areas of real estate law, corporate law and domestic relations law. He is also a licensed title insurance agent. Active in community development, he has been a member of the North Side Citizens Coalition for Community Development for more than 20 years, serving as its board president in 1994, 1995 and from 2002 through 2004. He also chaired the former Youngstown Civic Center Development

spring 2010

Around Campus

Corporation, a non-profit entity created to construct a civic center/arena for the city of Youngstown. Schiavone has a bachelor's degree in industrial management from Purdue University and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He and his wife, Gina, are natives of Youngstown and lifetime members of the YSU Alumni Association. Gina Schiavone earned a master's degree in business administration from YSU. In a related matter, the YSU Board of Trustees approved a resolution of appreciation for John L. Pogue, whose nine-year term as a member of the board expires this spring, and for Dan J. DeMaiolo, whose two-year term as a student trustee also expires. .

Spring Enrollment Up 27% in Last Decade YSU’s enrollment continued on the upswing this spring semester, up nearly 1,000 students from last spring semester. Over the past 10 spring semesters, the number of students on campus has increased by 2,965, or 27 percent. Here is spring semester head-count enrollment since 2000:

2010......................................... 13,837 2009 . ......... 12,934

2004 . ......... 12,360

2008 . ......... 12,755 2007 . ......... 12,502

2003 . ......... 12,215 2002 . ......... 11,833

2006 . ......... 12,192 2005 . ......... 12,396

2001 . ......... 11,155 2000 . ......... 10,872

Covelli Named 2010 Penguin of the Year

YSU Hosts Bouldering Competition Dennis Walton, a sophomore civil engineering major at YSU, climbs the 53-foot-tall climbing wall at YSU’s Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Walton was one of more than three dozen climbers participating in the University Bouldering Series when the competition came to the YSU campus in January. Climbers from six universities took their shots at scaling the rock wall, one of the tallest in Ohio. The 2010 University Bouldering Series included participants from YSU, University of Pittsburgh, Kent State University, University of Akron, Slippery Rock University and West Virginia University. Competitors climb without ropes and are scored for successfully following specific hand- and foot-hold routes along the wall.

Youngstown State University

Entrepreneur Sam Covelli, the owner/operator of Covelli Enterprises, Inc., and currently the largest franchisee of Panera Bread LLC, was recognized at YSU’s annual Scholarship/ Ring Dinner in February as the 2010 Penguin of the Year. Covelli, a native of Warren, operates 155 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida with gross sales revenues topping $300 million. He also operates five O’Charley’s Restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, and last summer, Covelli Enterprises became the naming-rights sponsor of the $42 million, 7,000-seat Covelli Centre, a sports and entertainment center in downtown Youngstown. Before starting his Panera Bread and O’Charley’s enterprises, Covelli was the owner operator of 43 McDonald’s restaurants and was presented the McDonald organization’s highest honor, the Golden Arches Award, which recognizes an owner/operator who exemplifies Sam Covelli and consistently maintains the highest-rated restaurant operations and business practices. He sold all of his McDonald’s restaurants in 1997. Covelli has been named the 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year for Northeast Ohio by Ernst & Young, the YSU Alumni Association Distinguished Citizen of the Year, the Youngstown Area Restaurateur of the Year and the 2009 Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year. He was inducted into the Northeast Ohio Business Hall of Fame in 2005. Covelli earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Miami University in Florida, and he was presented an honorary doctorate by YSU.

Around Campus

New CityScape Award Honors President and Mrs. Sweet Youngstown CityScape has created a new, continuing awards program to recognize outstanding supporters of its community beautification efforts and has named the award in honor of its first recipients: YSU President David C. Sweet and YSU first lady Pat Sweet. The first David and Pat Sweet Grass Roots Award was presented to the Sweets at CityScape’s Grass Roots Gala, honoring YSU's president and first lady for a decade of working toward downtown revitalization. The event was at the D.D. Velma Davis Center in Fellows Riverside Gardens. “They are two individuals who have had a profound effect on our community, our children, and the way we approach the many challenges that our area faces,” said Pete Asimakopoulos, CityScape president, “and they’ve made a significant difference in the appearance of the city.” Sweet served as chair of the first Youngstown CityScape board of directors when the nonprofit organization was formed in 2004, helped to organize the founding board and made fundraising requests to community organizations that became the group's key investors. The Sweets have been regular participants in CityScape's annual spring planting event downtown, a signature program for beautification of Youngstown's central business district for more than a decade. Sweet will retire from the YSU presidency June 30.

Students Spend Second Semester Studying in Taiwan

YSU Sophomores Bryan Cunningham and Jeffery Othman, both 2008 graduates of Canfield High School, spent the fall semester at Lunghwa University in Taipei, Taiwan, as part of YSU's ongoing and growing exchange Bryan Cunningham program with the university. Then in February, they returned for their second full semester, this time joined by three other YSU students. “There's no better way to really learn a language or culture than to immerse yourself in it,” Cunningham said. YSU's partnership with Lunghwa dates to 2006, when the two universities signed a faculty and student Jeffery Othman exchange agreement. Since then, YSU has hosted 21 students and four professors from Lunghwa. This semester is no exception, with Lunghwa student KuanLi Lee and Computer Sciences Professor Yeong-Ming Wang on campus. In exchange, YSU has sent three English professors to Lunghwa previously (Barbara Nykiel–Herbert, Linda Strom and Steven Brown), said Annette El-Hayek, assistant director of YSU Study Abroad and International Exchange. While the study abroad program has experienced difficulties in attracting students in the past, enrollment numbers have seen a steady increase just over the past year, reports El–Hayek. “Last fall we had our largest number, with 16 students studying in Taiwan, China, Japan, Belgium, Turkey, Cyprus, England, Germany, Spain and Costa Rica,” she said. This spring, 24 students were scheduled to travel to England, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, China, India and Chile, studying, conducting research and interning.

Pat and David Sweet

One of the major factors that often deters students from international exchange opportunities is affordability. “We want students to know about this program, realize the value and just how possible it is to study abroad,” said George McCloud, vice president for University Advancement. “There are a lot of ways students can do this. Cost is certainly not a barrier.” For more information on the program, contact the Center for International Studies and Programs at www.ysu.edu/cisp, or call 330-941-2336.

Award-Winning NY Times Reporter to Speak at YSU Press Day

David Gonzalez, a New York Times reporter whose work has documented the lives and challenges of people living in some of New York’s most diverse neighborhoods, is the keynote speaker at Press Day in May at YSU. David Gonzalez Gonzalez came to the New York Times from Newsweek magazine in 1990. Most recently, he wrote the biweekly “Citywide” feature column, as well as having published a year-long look at the life of an undocumented family in New York. Gonzalez received a 2008 Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors for “House Afire,” a three-part series on the life of a struggling Pentecostal storefront church. He also was awarded Columbia University’s Mike Berger Award in May 1992, for his coverage of New York and its neighborhoods. Press Day, sponsored by the YSU journalism program with support from the English Department, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, The New York Times, The Vindicator and The Tribune Chronicle, is an annual event for area high school students interested in journalism or journalism-related disciplines. The event attracts 400 to 500 students to campus each year.

spring 2010

Beeghly College of Education:

50 Years of Changing One Teacher at a I

By Cynthia Vinarsky

t was a warm, spring afternoon, Jo Massaro’s second-grade pupils were fresh from recess, and the Howland Schools teacher decided to do a vocabulary word drill. Hands shot up around the room as she switched from spelling to science and back again. The kids never seemed to tire of the exercise. Massaro,’95 BS,’99 MS, wasn’t just preparing the class for a test or quiz, she was grooming her young charges for long-term success. “I want my students to love school because they have 10 or more years to go,” she said. “That’s my job, to help them love learning.” As YSU’s Beeghly College of Education celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, thousands of its graduates working as teachers, school administrators and guidance counselors share that same motivation: to create and nourish a love for learning. The Beeghly College enjoys a vast influence in the Mahoning Valley because of the sheer numbers of area educators who were trained on the YSU campus. Philip Ginnetti, BCOE dean, reports that 86 percent of teachers and administrators in Mahoning County and 74 percent in Trumbull County earned at least one of their degrees at the BCOE. “I don’t know if people realize how significant that is,” said Ginnetti. “There are so many other teacher preparation colleges around us, and we still seem to do the best. I’ve had superintendents tell me that they get as many as 300 applicants from a wide-range of institutions for just one teaching job. Most of the time, they choose a YSU graduate.” Beeghly College also has many graduates Philip Ginnetti living and working in all 50 states – including Alaska and Hawaii – and a few teaching abroad. And two Beeghly grads brought exceptional recognition to the university recently when they were named Teachers of the Year in their respective states. Jennifer Walker (‘94,’00), an English teacher at Youngstown’s East High School, was Ohio 2009 Teacher of the Year (See profile, page 14), and Brad Shonk (’99), a fourthro teacher Jo Massa e ad grade math and science teacher in Biloxi, Miss., was named 2010 -gr nd co se Howland ssion. ss for a story se Mississippi Teacher of the Year in April. prepares her cla

Celebrating 50 Years

Teacher training was first offered at Youngstown College in 1912, but the School of Education wasn’t organized until decades later in 1960. It was renamed several times after that and moved to Fedor Hall in 1965. In 1998, the college was renamed the Beeghly College of Education and moved into its present home, a four-story, $14 million building on a block bordered by Rayen Avenue on the south and Lincoln Avenue on the north. Visit www.ysumagazine.org The college was named in honor of the Beeghly family, for video profiles of the Mahoning Valley philanthropists who contributed $1.5 million teachers featured in this story. toward the new building construction and to fund an endowment for the college. Continued on page 13

the World, Time

Kathy Nogay ’79 MSEd, ’95 EdD Superintendent, Slippery Rock (Pa.) Area School District

‘I like that YSU’s doctoral program is focused on developing practitioners, not professors.’ Kathy Nogay never planned to be a trailblazer for women in school administration. It just turned out that way. A two-time graduate of YSU’s Beeghly College of Education, Nogay was one of the first women in the region to land an administrative post on the high school level, and then she became the first female high school principal in Mercer County, Pa. history. Nogay and one other woman were the first two graduates of YSU’s Doctor of Education program, and now she’s superintendent of the Slippery Rock Area School District, only the second female to serve in that role. “I never thought much about it,” she said of her pioneering ways. “I just did what I had to do.” A Youngstown native, Nogay planned to become a medical doctor when she majored in biology and chemistry at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. Necessity resulted in a fateful switch. Faced with a stack of college loans after completing her bachelor’s degree, she signed up for a government program that allowed teachers to work off some of their debt. “It was supposed to be temporary, but I loved teaching,” she said of her experience in the Sebring Local Schools. “I stayed for 16 years.” Nogay earned a master’s in education at YSU and started looking for a job in school administration. “There were very few women in the MS program then, and none of them were getting jobs in high schools,” she recalled. “Most board of education

members and superintendents were men, and they were very much afraid to take a chance with a female.” She got her first break at Hubbard High School, where she was named assistant principal, traditionally a disciplinarian position. “Students knew I was a no-nonsense individual,” she said. Later she was appointed principal of Hickory High School in Hermitage, Pa., the first woman in the county to hold that post. Nogay went back to YSU to earn her doctorate, and she credits the Beeghly College faculty with providing the practical knowledge she would need as a school superintendent. “I like that YSU’s doctoral program is focused on developing practitioners, not professors,” she said. “It’s for folks who are going to take the information and use it in a school district.” She completed her doctorate in 1995, was named assistant superintendent in Slippery Rock in 2000 and, in 2007 was promoted to superintendent of the 2,300-student district. Nogay is also an adjunct instructor in the Beeghly College of Education. Now living in Hermitage, Pa., with her husband, Walt, a retired teacher, Nogay thrives on the complex problems that arise in the day-to-day operation of a school district. The one thing she dislikes about her job, she said with a laugh, is getting up at 3:30 a.m. on snowy days to decide whether to close the schools. “It’s absolutely the worst because you’re never right,” she confessed. “It’s the one decision I make that really tears at my stomach.”

spring 2010

‘I didn’t choose education. I feel like it chose me.’ Wilson Okello, Student Teacher, Austintown Fitch High School

It was a Thursday afternoon, time for Wilson Okello’s history class at Austintown Fitch High School, but this was no ordinary lecture session. Okello, a YSU student teacher, turned the classroom into a makeshift courtroom, and the Vietnam War was on trial. Students took turns at the witness stand, notes in hand, taking on various roles – Viet Cong, pro-war politicians, anti-war protesters. Okello played the judge, pacing the room, pushing the young actors to defend their arguments and explain their answers. “He has an excellent rapport with the students, and they’ve embraced him,” commented Mary Ellen Leskovec, one of two veteran Fitch teachers supervising Okello as he works to fulfill his student teaching requirement. A senior in the Beeghly College of Education, he will receive his bachelor’s degree May 15. Okello grew up on Youngstown’s South Side, a son of college-educated parents. His father is a teacher, his mother, a hospital lab technician. He attended Youngstown City Schools, then enrolled at YSU as an engineering major. His grades were good, but he didn’t feel a passion for engineering. Then he took one education class, and he was hooked.

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“I would have to say that I didn’t choose education. I feel like education chose me,” he said. “I’ve seen the power of education, and I’ve seen what a lack of education can do, especially in my community. I can’t sit back and watch while students throw their futures away. I refuse to do that. I feel like I have an obligation to be an educator.” Okello has a heart for inner-city students, and YSU’s education curriculum has given him opportunities to work in both Youngstown City and Austintown classrooms. “YSU does a nice job of exposing students to the ideas and the everyday workings of being a teacher,” he said, “and I appreciate that I got to work in Austintown and in Youngstown. The dichotomy has been good.” He plans to continue his education by pursuing a graduate degree in the fall, and he’s narrowed his list of prospects to the University of Rhode Island and Howard University in Washington, D.C. Okello admits that he’s encountered some surprises in his weeks as a student teacher in Austintown. “School goes home with you, and it’s still there when you lay your head down to sleep at night,” he said. “Also, there’s quite a bit more planning than I realized, a lot more work than I ever knew, and I’ve noticed that the good teachers put the time in.”

Wilson Okello

Today, Beeghly College is comprised of three departments: Counseling and Special Education; Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership; and Teacher Education. In addition to bachelor’s degrees in several education specialty areas and master’s degree programs in teacher education, educational administration, counseling and special education, the BCOE was the first college at YSU to offer a doctoral degree, the Doctor of Education in educational leadership, available since 1990. The college is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teachers Education, better known as NCATE, and successfully concluded a rigorous accreditation renewal process in March. BCOE met all the necessary criteria and expects to receive commendations in some areas, Ginnetti said, but an official announcement that the NCATE reaccreditation is approved won’t be released until fall.

Emphasizing Experience Mary Lou DiPillo, an associate BCOE dean, said emphasis on providing students with classroom experience long before they’re ready to start student teaching is a strong

‘You can sit and plan all the lessons you want, but if the kids aren’t learning, you have to rethink them … That’s something YSU taught me.’ Jo Massaro ’95 BSEd, ’99 MSEd Second Grade Teacher, Howland Local Schools

Jo Massaro

point in the college’s teacher preparation curriculum. Ohio requires that all teaching candidates have at least 100 hours of field experience before they student teach, she said, but several YSU education degree programs require even more: early childhood candidates get 412 field hours, special education intervention specialist students Mary DiPillo get 392, and secondary education students get 152. “Our introductory class includes 25 hours of field experience, and most get to take it their freshman year,” DiPillo said. “It gives students a chance to see if education is right for them, and we always get quite a drop-off. Teaching isn’t for everybody.” Providing thousands of hours of field experiences for students, along with 16-week student teaching experiences for as many as 300 students a year, requires that the Beeghly College maintain strong partnerships with public school districts throughout the Mahoning and Shenango valleys. To maintain those partnerships, Ginnetti said, YSU must be able to assure schools that their student teachers are welltrained, highly-qualified and ready for the classroom. “No student teaching program could operate without partnerships with school districts,” he said. continued on page 15

People can always guess Jo Massaro’s profession when she’s out and about because of the license plate she chose for her car: CLASRM. Her e-mail address starts off with “childhood,” another hint that she’s an educator. Teaching is a second career for Massaro – she was 38 when she landed her first teaching job, and 15 years later she’s still glad she made the choice. A second grade teacher this year at Howland Glen Primary School near Warren, Ohio, she’s also taught kindergarten and first grade. “What I love about teaching is just the kids, being with them every day, watching them grow,” she said. “They always surprise you one way or another. You never know what’s going to come out of their mouths.” Massaro’s most memorable experience as a teacher was the year that a boy with Down syndrome joined her first grade class. “I’ve got to say that was my best year ever because we had John in the room. He brought us all together,” she related. “The kids took care of him and they took care of each other. We were all so close that year.” A native of Warren, Massaro grew up wanting to be a teacher. After high school, however, she decided instead to pursue a two-year associate degree in business as a way to save time and money. She worked 10 years in various office positions, then she and her husband had two sons and she stayed home to raise them. She lost her husband to cancer five years ago; her sons are now 25 and 23. Massaro’s desire to teach was rekindled when she worked as a volunteer teacher’s helper in her sons’ classroom, so she enrolled in the teacher education program in YSU’s Beeghly College of Education. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a K-8 certification, then went on to earn her master’s in education. Through her training at the Beeghly College and her experience in the classroom, Massaro has learned the importance of flexibility as a teacher, planning carefully and being willing to admit a mistake. “You can sit and plan all the lessons you want, but if the kids aren’t learning, you have to rethink them,” she said. “When a lesson falls flat – and it happens – you have to stop and reflect on what went well, and what could be done better. That’s something YSU taught me.”

spring 2010

‘I think teaching is the best job in the world. I’m always trying to talk my students into becoming teachers.’ Jennifer Walker ’94 BEd, ’00 MEd English Teacher, Youngstown East High School

Jennifer Walker always gets the same questions when people hear that she teaches English at East High School in Youngstown’s inner city. “They ask me if I’m afraid, if the kids bring weapons to class, if I have to walk through metal detectors to get into the building,” she said. Walker understands. She had plenty of questions, too, when she started teaching in the Youngstown City Schools a decade ago. “My passion now is letting people know that most of our students are polite, they want to go to college and they’re working hard in school,” she said. “They want to be pediatricians and lawyers and veterinarians.” She’s had the perfect platform to get her message out. Walker was named Teacher of the Year by the Ohio Department of Education in 2009, and she’s used her position as one of the state’s top educators to help banish misconceptions and stereotypes about inner-city school students and their teachers. “While I’m proud to be an Ohio Teacher of the Year, I think the greatest thing was that it’s a really positive thing for the Youngstown City Schools and our teachers who are working so hard,” she said. “Wherever I go around the state, I’m proud to say I’m from Youngstown.” Walker spent her early years in rural Mahoning County, earned her bachelor’s degree from YSU’s Beeghly College of Education in 1994 and got her first teaching job in a suburban

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school in Geneva, Ohio. She and her husband Eric (’90), a YSU engineering grad, decided to move back to the Mahoning Valley when they had their first child – now they have three. They moved to Canfield and she planned to commute to work in Geneva until a Youngstown school administrator let her know about an opening in the city schools. “I hesitated,” she recalled. “I didn’t know if I was strong enough to teach in Youngstown.” Impressed with the dedication and passion that she saw in the Youngstown teachers and administrators she met, Walker took the job. She learned quickly that her students’ experiences growing up are much different than her own. A writing exercise she calls “Six Word Memories” tells the poignant story – her students write about racism, violence in their homes and neighborhoods, abandonment and poverty. “It’s really disheartening sometimes,” she said. “I don’t think they realize how hard their lives are because that’s all they know. Just the tenacity they have, and the Jennifer Walker spirit they have, is amazing.” Walker earned her master’s in education from YSU in 2000, and she plans to start working on her doctorate in the fall. Her ultimate goal is to become a professor, educating would-be English teachers. “That’s my dream job,” she said. “I think teaching is the best job in the world. I’m always trying to talk my students into becoming teachers.”

Beeghly College faculty have years of experience as teachers, counselors or school administrators as well – an informal poll indicated that its faculty have more than 150 years of combined experience in the field, DiPillo said, so they have real-life experiences and anecdotes to support what they teach.

Faculty Research

The college has many faculty members who are immersing themselves in educational research and advancing the university’s emerging identity as an urban research university. For example, Janet Williams, a professor in Teacher Education, has been invited by the National Science Teachers Association to develop new safety guidelines for science teachers to follow nationwide. Williams, whose 33-year teaching career includes 24 years at YSU, Janet Williams will organize a team of colleagues from around the nation to design safety training modules which will be housed on the NSTA website. Science teachers all over the country will be able to access the modules, she said, to learn about recommended safety techniques, such as how to safely handle and store acids and bases in the classroom. “This will give YSU national recognition,” said Williams, who also reviews science teacher preparation programs for the NSTA and the state of Ohio. “The changes we’ll be working on will secure YSU’s prominence in the field of science education nationally, and the modules will help teachers to make their classrooms safer for all students.” Leah Gongola, an assistant professor in Special Education and Counseling who joined the YSU faculty just two years ago, also started a research project this year in cooperation with the Rich Center for Autism, a nonprofit center on the YSU campus which is affiliated with the Beeghly College. Leah Gongola Gongola’s research focused on the use of positive reinforcement instead of punishment to manage the behavior of children with autism and other severe disabilities. “I was a classroom teacher for seven years before I came to YSU, and I know how exhausted teachers can get,” she said. “My research was looking for specific positive enforcement strategies that teachers can use, and for the evidence that they work.” Gongola said she plans to do more research and hopes that her summer job as director of a camp in Aurora, Ohio, for students with special needs will provide her with more research topic ideas and contacts to help secure research grants.

Tracking Beeghly College Grads Graduates of YSU’s Beeghly College of Education are working as teachers, counselors and school administrators in all 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico and several foreign countries. Four Beeghly alumni live in Alaska; two live in Hawaii. Here’s the latest from the YSU alumni database on the 10 states that boast the largest number of Beeghly College grads: 97

Arizona

146

California

490

Florida

103

Georgia

Maryland

193

North Carolina

8,777

Ohio

853

Pennsylvania

111

Texas

129

Virginia

Looking to the Future

Ginnetti, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from YSU before earning his doctorate at the University of Akron, acknowledged that the job market for graduates who want to stay in the Mahoning Valley has been tight in recent years. He expects to see “a huge number” of teachers and counselors retiring by the middle of this decade because of changes in Ohio’s teacher pension program that are likely to encourage earlier retirements. In the meantime, Ginnetti said, students most likely to find teaching jobs in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys are those qualified to teach math, science, foreign languages or special education. “Graduates who are willing to move will certainly have no problems finding a job,” Ginnetti said. “In fact, we get calls from school superintendents in Florida and some other states that have been so happy with our graduates that they want us to help them fill other teaching positions.” Looking to the future, DiPillo said the Beeghly College is preparing for Ohio’s new Resident Educator License requirement, a four-year program for entry-level classroom teachers working toward licensure. The changes will take effect in January and will require that new teachers work with trained teacher-mentors. The college also plans to make social and emotional learning theory a part of its curriculum under a $200,000 federal grant secured by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan. Social and emotional learning, or SEL, is a method for helping children develop fundamental life skills, such as the ability to manage emotions, develop care and concern for others and establish positive relationships. “If we want to push academic performance to the next level, we need to educate the whole child,” said Ryan, an original co-sponsor of the legislation.

spring 2010

Christopher Barzak Two-Time Novelist, English Instructor

The story of Christopher Barzak’s career path to successful novelist and full-time YSU English instructor could have come from the pages of one of his own novels. The fact that the 34-year-old’s second book has been nominated for a prestigious honor bestowed by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America makes his story even more noteworthy. The former farm boy from Johnston, Ohio, admits that even he has a hard time believing his own success. “Sometimes I just sit back and think, ‘How did I get here? Is this really my life?’” As a college student, Barzak was trying to be practical when he registered for nursing classes at Kent State Trumbull and the University of Akron, but he transferred to YSU to follow his true passion: writing. “I always knew I wanted to be a writer,” Barzak recalls, “but whenever you say ‘English major’ people often question what you could possibly do with that degree.” Barzak completed his bachelor’s in English in 1998, and earned his master’s at YSU in 2003. That same year he completed his first novel, One for Sorrow, secured an agent to market the book and moved to Japan. There, he taught English, translated books, and penned his second novel, The Love We Share Without Knowing. Barzak came back to Ohio when his first book was sold to well-known publisher Bantam Books in 2006; his second novel sold to Bantam two years later. Coincidentally, around that same time, the YSU English Department was looking for a seasoned fiction writer to serve as a full-time creative writing instructor. Barzak, an adjunct faculty member at the time, was a perfect match. He began his new position in fall 2008. Currently, Barzak is working on a Master of Fine Arts degree at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, and he’s close to finishing his third novel, Wonders of the Invisible World. Later this month, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will recognize him as a Nebula Award nominee in the Best Novel category for The Love We Share Without Knowing. Looking back, Barzak attributes his success thus far to his insatiable obsession with becoming a writer. “I just followed my dream—in an absurd and cautious way.” Story by Melissa Sullivan (Editor’s Note: Barzak’s novels are available at bookstores.)

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Q&A

Offering Tips on Business Etiquette Q. Why is it important to learn proper business etiquette? A. A lot of times in business, and in life in general, it’s the little things that help make you successful. Ignorance of proper etiquette can be very expensive. You can end up losing business. You can end up losing your job. So, it’s very important. Q. What is the most common etiquette mistake that you see? A. That’s easy – the name tag. When you get a name tag at an event, it should go on your right side. If we’re shaking hands, your eyes go directly here, to my right side, so you can automatically see it. So, always – always – put your name tag on your right side. Q. If I’m at a dinner or event, what do I need to know about networking?

Gwenn Clark Coordinator, YSU Professional Practice Program

Gwenn Clark worked more than 20 years in corporate America before joining YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration a decade ago. Today, she offers up practical advice to anyone entering the business world, including proper business etiquette skills. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Loyola University Chicago and a master’s degree at YSU.

A. First, you want to make eye contact, smile and then offer your hand. You need to remember that it’s a handshake, and not a hand squeeze. You shake two or three times and then let go. Also, don’t monopolize someone’s time. You should spend an appropriate amount of time talking with a person, and then you move on. After all, that’s what networking is all about. Also, when you’re introduced to someone, the first thing you should do is say their name back to them. Not only does it help you remember their name, but there’s nothing like hearing your name coming back at you. It leaves a great impression. Q. So, you reach the table. What is at . the top of your “don’t do” list when it comes to dining? A. When you put food in your mouth, make sure it’s not a big portion because, if someone asks you a question, you want to be prepared to answer. You should have only so much in your mouth so you can, “Chew, chew, swallow,” and then talk. Also, one thing that people often find confusing, especially when you’re at a round table, is figuring out which water glass is mine, which bread plate is mine. I have this little easy-to-remember rule. The word “right” has five letters. “Left” has four letters. Anything

that has five letters goes on the right, like spoon, knife and drink. And, anything that has four letters goes on the left, such as the fork and food, like the bread plate. Now, when you sit down, the napkin obviously goes on your lap. If you drop it on the floor, leave it. Get your server’s attention very discretely and tactfully, apologize, and ask for a new one. Never pick it up off the floor. Q. Do students take your advice to heart? A. Oh yes. One of the things I try to get across to students is that a formal or business dinner or luncheon is not about the food – it’s about who you’re with, the ambience, the conversation. You are “dining.” You’re not just eating. If you’re interviewing for a position, and it’s a position in which you’ll be interacting with the firm’s clients, then they’ll probably take you to lunch as part of the interview. If that happens, you have to be at your very best because they will be watching closely to see how you might be perceived by their clients. Q. Today, with all of the technology out there, is there anything in particular that students should be aware of? A. One thing that students need to understand today is that you’re always “on.” Everyone today has a cell phone with a camera and a videotape that can go right to the Internet and Facebook or Twitter. So whatever you say or do, it’s there for everyone to see – forever. If you have any aspirations whatsoever, you need to be very careful. Q. Wow. You have an answer for just about any situation. I think I’d be pretty nervous going out to eat with you. I’d be afraid of breaking all kinds of rules. A. (Laughs) Our dean teases me that she doesn’t want to sit near me when we’re out at an event. Some people become a little selfconscious, but I don’t critique. I have been in the business field a long time, and I have had to learn by observing. My grandmother told me, “You were born with two ears and one mouth for a reason.” I’ve learned a lot by listening and observing what to do and not to do. Interview by Ron Cole

spring 2010

Junior Mark Harvey, left, prepares to test a model wind deflector inside the wind tunnel; graduate assistant Michael Yatsco, far right, studies computer data produced during the test. Visit www.ysumagazine.org for video on the wind tunnel research project.

Research in a Wind Tunnel

Company Finds ‘Brain Power’ In YSU’s Engineering Department For Northern States Metals, the answers were blowin’ in the wind. After 35 years of fabricating metal products for other companies, the Youngstown firm is creating a niche for itself in the fast-growing solar energy field with its own product, a mounting system for solar panels. Sales were healthy from the start—the first customer ordered 13,000 units – but Northern States had a practical problem to solve: How to install solar panels on rooftops so they wouldn’t blow away in the first big windstorm? Instead of hiring a corporate consulting firm, Northern States Metals recruited a team of faculty and students from YSU’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering to find a solution. “The brain power we needed was right here in town,” said Robert Voytilla, chief financial officer for Northern States Metals. “YSU faculty and students are our brain power. They’re showing us how to manage the wind rather than fighting the wind, and it’s a win-win for everybody.” Northern States awarded YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics a $77,000 research grant as part of the partnership and built a 16-foot 18

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wind tunnel for the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, with design help from engineering faculty. The grant also paid for high-tech sensors and measuring devices, computer software and a powerful wind-generating fan. Professor Ganesh Kudav and assistant professor Yogendra Panta are leading the research project, working with graduate assistant Michael Yatsco and junior engineering major Mark Harvey. And now, after more than nine months of computer simulations and wind tunnel testing, Kudav said the team is ready to recommend a final wind deflector design for the company. They believe it will work in sync with the company’s Solar FlexRack mounting system to keep rooftop panels secure in winds up to 110 mph. “This is a perfect example of what an urban research university is all about,” said Martin Abraham, dean of the STEM college. “We’ve created an alliance with Northern States Metals, and we’re going to see a lot more partnerships like this with businesses across the Valley.” Researchers began by doing computer model testing using specialized software, Panta explained, which allowed the team to examine and compare the expected performance of various

When the Northdesign options. Starting off with some basic designs, they ern States project is worked to determine their top choice, and then fine-tuned it complete, Kudav added, by making small changes. it’s likely that the wind Finally, equipped with pages of data from months of tunnel will be used to provide computer simulation, the team was able to recommend a trial testing services for other businesses. design to the company. Northern States then created a scale Companies have inquired about testing services in the past, he model one-fourth as large as an actual wind deflector would said, but the engineering department’s old wind tunnel was too be, and the YSU research team moved to the next step: small to be used for that testing the scale model inside purpose—the new one is the wind tunnel. 16 times larger. Wind tunnel testing is “We already had much more than meets the the technical know-how eye. The tunnel is equipped and expertise to do this with sensors that provide kind of testing, and now additional computer data so we have the equipment that researchers can confirm we need,” Kudav said. that the scale model performs “Our students will benefit as their computer simulations because it enriches their predicted. So far, Panta said, learning, and this new, the wind tunnel test results are larger wind tunnel will matching up and confirming allow YSU to market its the team’s computer model testing capabilities both simulations. locally and regionally. Engineering professors It could be a source of are also incorporating the income for the department wind tunnel in their classroom Discussing a new research partnership between YSU and Northern States as well.” instruction and making plans Metals are, from left, Martin Abraham, dean of YSU's STEM College, engito use it for other research. neering professor Ganesh Kudav and Robert Voytilla, chief financial officer for Northern States.

spring 2010

sports Getting a Glimpse of Penguin Softball

YSU photographer Bruce Palmer captured photos of the Penguin softball team during a game this spring at the team’s home field, McCune Park in Canfield. Shortstop Kristen Philen, top, a sophomore, warms up before heading to the batter’s box. Philen was ranked second on the team by early April with a .346 batting average. Kristina Rendle, far right, a junior second baseman, is ready to throw. Rendle transferred to YSU in 2009 and started for the Penguins in 78 straight games. Kim Klonowski, in the bottom photo, gets set to field the ball as a runner tries to slip by behind her. Klonowski, a junior first baseman, was named Second Team All-Horizon League in 2009 and now ranks on the top five on YSU’s All-Time Home Runs list. She also leads the team in doubles and runs batted in. The team’s regular season ends May 8 and 9 with two games in Green Bay, Wis., and the Horizon League Tournament is set for May 13-15.

Freshman Named to Horizon League’s All-Newcomer Team YSU women’s basketball freshman Brandi Brown of Pomona, Calif., was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team for her achievements during the 2009-10 season. Brown was the only player in the Horizon League to average a doubledouble during the regular season with 11.4 points and 10.6 rebounds. She led the league with her 14 double-doubles Brandi Brown and 10.6 rebounds per game, and she led all true freshmen in scoring. 20

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Brown finished second in the vote for Newcomer of the Year to Yar Shayok, a redshirt freshman from Detroit. Brown had even better statistics against Horizon League opponents, averaging 12.3 points and 11.3 rebounds. Both of those were tops among all newcomers, and she had 11 of her doubledoubles in 18 league contests. The 5-foot-11 post player surpassed the previous YSU freshman rebounding record by 79. Brown is one of only three players in school history to grab 300 rebounds in a season, and she became the only player in YSU history to lead her team in scoring, rebounding and steals in the same season.

YSU’s Dallas Blocker Gets National Jim Valvano Comeback Award YSU senior history major Dallas Blocker, a cancer survivor and forward on the Penguin men’s basketball team, was presented the 10th annual V Foundation Comeback Award by The V Foundation for Cancer Research, in collaboration with ESPN. The award was created in memory of Jim Valvano, the late basketball coach and ESPN commentator, whose personal battle with cancer inspired the creation of The V Foundation. Blocker, a 6-foot-9-inch native of Topeka, Kan., returned to the Penguin basketball team’s starting lineup this season, just seven months after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in February 2009. He underwent two surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy, all the while continuing his workout regimen. “It is a great honor to be named the recipient of the 10th Annual V Foundation Comeback Award,” said Blocker. “There are no winners or losers in this. All of the finalists overcame a great deal of adversity and are deserving of this recognition as well.” He played in 25 out of 30 games this season, starting in 23, and set career single-game highs in rebounding (11), assists (7), steals (5) and blocks (4). Following graduation, he would like to become a teacher and coach and to share his story with young people who have also been diagnosed with cancer. The V Award, announced on ESPN on March 30 and presented to Blocker at YSU’s Scholar-Athlete Banquet on April 27, is awarded to a male or female collegiate basketball athlete who has accomplished a personal triumph in the face of a major challenge.

Senior Dallas Blocker takes a shot against Horizon League foe University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in the Penguins’ nationallytelevised game on ESPNU in January.

Aaron Merrill, Robyn Ray Capture Horizon League Titles

Competing in their final Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships, seniors Aaron Merrill of Leetonia, Ohio, and Robyn Ray of Cleveland ended their indoor careers on a high note, with both capturing individual titles at the 2010 meet. Merrill, who redshirted last season during the indoor campaign, defended his 2008 shot put title and was victoriAaron Merrill ous in the event with a throw of 17.44 meters. Merrill also took second in the weight throw with a

Robyn Ray

distance of 17.53 meters. In his career, Merrill has won six individual conference championships, and he was named Outstanding Field Athlete at the outdoor league championships last year. Ray overtook her second-place finish in the high jump a year ago to win the event this year with a distance of 1.60 meters. It was her third consecutive year of ranking among the top five high jumpers at the conference meet.

Burrows Joins Penguins as Head Volleyball Coach

Krista Burrows

Krista Burrows has been named YSU’s head volleyball coach. The new coach comes to YSU from Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, where she was named the American Mideast Conference and Regional IX Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2008. The Walsh Cavaliers finished in the top 25 nationally three times during her tenure and advanced to the NAIA Tournament the last two seasons. Prior to her stint at Walsh, Burrows was an assistant coach at three Division I schools – Bradley University, Cleveland State University and Clemson University. As a student, she was a four-year starter at Auburn University.

spring 2010

Development

Social Work Major is First Recipient of Karen R. Murphy Beatitude House Scholarship

A teacher, guidance counselor, and administrator in the Youngstown City Schools for more than 30 years, YSU alumna Karen R. Murphy,’75, dedicated her life to education. Friends and family established the Karen R. Murphy Beatitude House Scholarship in her honor, and a selection committee has chosen Janice Stenson of Warren as the first scholarship recipient. Stenson is a junior social work major and non-traditional student at YSU with a 3.7 GPA. Murphy started her education career teaching high school English and science in the city schools, and she later served as a guidance counselor, assistant high school principal and district supervisor of proficiency support and Intensive English programs. She was known for encouraging students and colleagues alike to expand their horizons and to strive to be their best. When Murphy died of cancer in 2008, her friend and colleague, Susan L. Stevens, ’83, organized family members and friends to establish a scholarship at YSU in her memory. The scholarship would be an extension of Karen’s spirit, so the planners agreed to tie it to Beatitude House in Youngstown, a nonprofit, non-denominational program of the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown that addresses the needs of homeless women and children. Stenson, the scholarship recipient, came to the Beatitude House in August 2006, homeless, a single parent and recovering drug addict. “I had hit bottom,” she said. The program helped her get back on her feet; she’s now living independently with her daughter and working part-time jobs at Meridian Services in Youngstown and at the YSU Candy Counter in Kilcawley Center while taking classes full-time. “The scholarship is definitely very helpful to help me pay for books and supplies that I need,” said Stenson, who hopes to graduate next fall.

Social work major Janice Stenson, who works at YSU’s Candy Counter in Kilcawley Center and at Meridian Services, Youngstown, was awarded the first Karen R. Murphy Beatitude House Scholarship.

With assistance from YSU development officer Shanna Sallmen, the scholarship has raised $12,000 to permanently endow the scholarship and secure its existence for perpetuity. Stevens said committee members hope to increase their scholarship awards as the endowment grows. A scholarship will be awarded annually to a Mahoning Valley woman and YSU student who is enrolled in or has completed a Beatitude House program. To contribute to the Karen R. Murphy Beatitude House Scholarship, contact Sallmen in University Development, 330-941-2714. To make a gift online, visit www.ysu.edu/givetoysu and type “Beatitude House Scholarship” in the comment box.

Faculty and Staff Giving to Annual Fund Rises 44% Faculty and staff contributions to YSU’s 2010 Annual Fund have already surpassed last year’s dollar total by a significant 44 percent – with one quarter still remaining in the current fiscal year. And overall, the YSU Annual Fund has hit another milestone, reaching its fiscal year goal of $1.15 million by the end of the third quarter. “In an economic climate in which many colleges and universities are experiencing reduced philanthropy, Youngstown State University is celebrating growth in its Annual Fund,” said Catherine Cala, YSU’s development director. YSU employees donated more than $120,000 to the

Youngstown State University

fund in the first three quarters, compared to $83,000 in fiscal 2009. The number of staff donors supporting the fund has also increased by 44 percent, with 300 donors in 2010 compared to 209 in fiscal 2009. Cala said generous leadership contributions by YSU administrators got the faculty/staff campaign off to a good start, and University Development's new, more personal approach to the campaign was also a factor. Development officers this year treated all faculty members and staff to pie and coffee receptions as part of the campaign on campus. To make a gift to the 2010 YSU Annual Fund, visit www. ysu.edu/givetoysu or contact Catherine Cala, 330-941-2752.

Foundation Foundation

Watanakunakorn Scholarship Awarded to Pre-Med Student A YSU pre-med student from Columbiana is the first recipient of a scholarship established to honor the memory of Dr. Chatrchai Watanakunakorn, Youngstown’s first infectious disease specialist. The recipient, Anthony Casacchia, will complete his first year of classes at YSU this summer in the BS/MD program, with plans to matriculate to Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in summer, 2011, to pursue his medical degree. His $500 Dr. Chatrchai and Eleanor Watanakunakorn Scholarship, the first awarded under the Watanakunakorn endowment, has been renewed for a second year. Under the BS/MD program, Casacchia said, students earn a bachelor’s degree in their first two years at YSU, attending classes year-round without summer breaks. He’s taking 23 hours this semester and has maintained a 4.0 GPA. The scholarship endowment, which is housed at the YSU Foundation, is one of several that Eleanor Watanakunakorn established in memory of her husband when he died in 2001. “I think it’s so important to provide scholarships to medical students,” she said, “and the colleges that offer the most scholarships are going to attract the best students.” Dr. Watanakunakorn was a professor of medicine at NEOUCOM, a hospital epidemiologist and chief of infectious diseases at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. He published more than 290 medical journal articles and book chapters and delivered lectures to medical professionals around the world. The Watanakunakorns have two children, Paul, a physician with the Trumbull Mahoning Group specializing in internal medicine and a NEOUCOM graduate, and Maria Poppe, a physical therapist who lives in the Hershey, Pa. area. To be eligible for the two-year scholarship, students must be enrolled in NEOUCOM’s BS/MD program. First preference will be given to students from historically under-represented populations, as defined in the American Association of Medical Colleges, and priority will be given to students from Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Financial need will be considered.

Eleanor Watanakunakorn congratulates Anthony Casacchia, the first recipient of the Dr. Chatrchai and Eleanor Watanakunakorn Scholarship.

There’s still time to order your personalized brick! YSU is offering personalized bricks through June 30, 2010. The bricks will be placed around the bronze sculpture of Howard W. Jones, first president of our institution. The statue stands at the entrance to campus core, and the site will be named Centennial Circle. Proceeds from the brick campaign benefit the Campus Beautification Endowment to help sustain YSU’s 1,800 trees and green spaces for future generations. Call Catherine Cala at 330941-2752 for an order form or purchase online at www.ysubricks.com.

spring 2010

Alumna Honored, Was Female Pilot Pioneer More than six decades after serving her country as one of the first women to pilot U.S. military aircraft, Youngstown College alumna Marie Barrett Marsh has been posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Barrett Marsh was one of 1,074 female civilian pilots selected in 1943 to serve with the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II, better known as WASPs. About 300 surviving WASPs were invited to attend a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in their honor at the White House in early March – along with the families of many WASPS who are deceased. Barrett Marsh died in April 1997 at the age of 77. George Marsh of Howland, Ohio, one of her eight children, said he and several other members of the Marsh family attended the ceremony to accept the award. “She was proud of what she did, but she never bragged about it,” he said of his mother. “She always flew when we were growing up. We just took that for granted.” Selected from among nearly 25,000 women who applied to be WASPs, Barrett Marsh completed the requisite training and was assigned to the headquarters of the Weather Wing in Asheville, N.C., where she served as a liaison for the Pentagon and transported military personnel by air to bases around the country. The 1941 Youngstown College graduate grew up in Trumbull County and learned to fly through the Civilian Pilot Training Program while she was in college. She taught business classes at Warren Harding High School and at the Trumbull Campus of Kent State University and, on the basis of her WASP service, was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1999. Barrett Marsh also holds the distinction of being Youngstown College’s first Homecoming Queen, crowned 24

Youngstown State University

in 1938. She and her husband, John E. Marsh, another Youngstown College alumnus, were parents of eight children – five are YSU alumni – and had 12 grandchildren. The WASP program was established to allow women to fly non-combat military missions for the U.S. Air Force so that male pilots could be available for combat missions, and 38 WASPs lost their lives while in service during World War II. WASPs’ contributions went unrecognized for several decades. Then, in 1977, they were acknowledged with veteran status, and last summer President Obama signed the bill awarding them the Congressional Gold Medal.

Marie Barrett Marsh, posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for her service as one of the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft during World War II, is pictured at right in her Women Airforce Service Pilots uniform. At left, a photo of Barrett Marsh that was published in the 1939 edition of “The Neon” after she became the first woman to be crowned homecoming queen at Youngstown College

YS U A lumn i:

Jacksonville

YSU alumni love the Sunshine State! Florida boasts more Penguin alumni than any other state, excluding Ohio and Pennsylvania, with more than 3,000 YSU grads. Tampa – 571 Orlando – 559 Ft. Myers – 629

ando Orl Tampa

West Palm Beach – 279 Jacksonville - 193

Fortrs Mye

WesPtalm Beach

Calling All Tampa-Area Alumni

Mark your calendar Bitonte College of Health & Human Services Alumni Dinner – Friday, May 21, 5:30 p.m. in the Chestnut Room at Kilcawley Center. Alumni will be recognized for their dedication to creating safe and healthy communities, and those attending will become part of an alumni network. For more information, contact Tammy King, associate dean, or Carol Marsh, secretary, at 330-941-3321.

Do you live in the Tampa, Fla. area? Are you looking to reconnect with fellow YSU graduates? YSU alumni living in the Tampa, Orlando and Sarasota areas were surveyed recently, and now plans are in the works for the first YSU Tampa Alumni Chapter gathering. Planners include, from left, Jeff Young, Nick Diorio and Bob Riddell; Tim Moyers, not pictured, has also been involved in the planning. If you live in the Tampa region and would like to get involved, contact the YSU Alumni and Events Office for additional information at 330-941-3497 or stirone@ysu.edu.

YSU Alumni Night at the Scrappers – Tuesday, June 22, picnic at 5:30 p.m., game at 7 p.m., Eastwood Field in Niles. Cost is $8 per person for the picnic and box-seat ticket. Reservations are due by Thursday, June 17. Contact Heather Belgin at 330-941-1591 for more information. YSU Tent at the Canfield Fair – Wednesday, Sept.1 through Monday, Sept. 6, Canfield Fairgrounds. After picking up a lemon shake and elephant ear, be sure to stop at the YSU Tent at the Canfield Fair! Each college will provide special displays to demonstrate the academic innovations taking place at YSU. For more information or to volunteer, contact Jackie LeViseur, 330-941-2136. Homecoming – Saturday, Oct. 30, Parade prior to YSU vs. UNI game – times to be announced. It’s not too early to mark your calendar and make plans to return to campus for the annual Homecoming celebration! Youngstown Day – Plans are already under way for the popular Youngstown Day gathering in Sarasota, Fla. on March 13, 2011.

Sarasota Event Draws a Crowd

Attending the 2010 Youngstown Day in Sarasota, Fla. are, from left, George McCloud, vice president for University Advancement, Linda Sisek,’77, and her husband Jim Sisek, who is president and chief executive officer of Farmers Trust Company in Youngstown. Hosted by the YSU Office of Alumni and Events Management and sponsored by Farmers Trust Company, the early-March event drew a crowd of 473 alumni and former Youngstown-area residents. Youngstown Day has become a YSU tradition in Sarasota, welcoming YSU graduates and former area residents who have relocated to Florida from Youngstown or who reside in Florida for part of the year.

spring 2010

Alumni

SpotlighT Celebrating Accomplished Graduates

Michele Lambert stands in front of a new Chevrolet Cruze on the production line at the GM Lordstown Complex near Youngstown. Lambert, a YSU grad, is managing the launch of the Cruze, a fuel-efficient vehicle that is expected to play a crucial role in GMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comeback strategy.

Youngstown State University

Alumni Spotlight

Making Way for the Chevy Cruze Michele Lambert, ’96

Michele Lambert carries a lot of weight on her shoulders mother retired as a salaried employee from Delphi Packard, these days. a former GM subsidiary. “I have GM running through my As launch manager for General Motors Corp.’s new veins,” she said with a grin. Chevrolet Cruze, the YSU graduate is overseeing a $350 milBut Lambert was aiming for a career in nursing when lion renovation at the massive GM Lordstown Complex. Her she started at YSU in the early ’90s. She landed a summer job, with the team of 20 manufacturing leaders she manages, job at the plant at age 19 after her freshman year. “It was a lot is getting the plant ready to produce GM’s new, fuel-efficient harder than I expected,” she recalls. “We were building CavaCruze by mid-summer. liers then, 845 units in a 10-hour shift. I was exhausted.” So much is riding on the success of the Cruze – for Summer ended, she went back to nursing school at YSU, the 4,500 autoworkers employed and the following March GM offered at the Lordstown Complex; for the her full-time, permanent work. “My Youngstown region, where the plant mother cried,” she said. “She was afraid “Every person here is a major employer; and for GM, I wouldn’t finish school.” knows that we need to newly emerged from bankruptcy and Determined to get her degree, Lammake this launch the eager to earn a year-end profit for the bert worked 40-hour weeks at the plant most successful launch first time since 2004. and attended classes at YSU full-time. GM has ever had.” “No pressure,” jokes Lambert, “Thinking back, I didn’t have a college - Michele Lambert already a 15-year GM veteran at social life. I always worked. I was very age 36. practical.” She’s confident that the Cruze Before long, she was offered an sedan will be a hot seller for GM and entry-level position in management and that the Lordstown work force will decided to pursue a career at GM. She make it a quality product. changed her major to psychology, comEmployee culture at the Lordpleted her BA in 1996, and advanced stown Complex has changed a quickly through the ranks, holding a lot in recent years, she explained, succession of supervisory and planwith more emphasis on individual ning positions. In the summer of 2008, accountability and empowering emshe was named launch manager for the ployees to make decisions at all levChevy Cruze. els, not just at the top. Besides that, “Some people say my psychology workers know they’re privileged to background helps me here,” she said. “I be part of GM’s scaled-down work think education, in general, helps you to force at a plant where the company develop communication skills and learn is investing millions. “Every person to set priorities.” here knows that we need to make this Lambert and her husband, Marc, launch the most successful launch have two children, ages 7 and 9. He is GM has ever had.” an attorney for the U.S. Department of Workers have been manufacturing “non-saleable” verHealth and Human Services, and they share equally in housesions of the Cruze over the past few months, test driving and hold and parenting responsibilities. Their parents live nearby scrutinizing them top-to-bottom to work out the bugs. Before and also help to keep the busy household running smoothly. that the complex ordered Cruzes manufactured in South Ko“People ask about hobbies. My hobbies are my kids,” she rea – GM is already producing the car there, in China and in said. “My son plays football and baseball, my daughter is in Russia. “We tore those cars down and put them back together dance, Girl Scouts and soccer. My husband coaches football time and time and time again,” she said. and baseball, and I go to as many of their activities as I can. I On June 24 the complex will close for a two-week sumwouldn’t miss that.” mer changeover, reopening July 12 ready to begin manufacHer work hours have been “crazy” lately, averaging 10 to turing the 2011 Cruze exclusively. The car will be in show12 hours a day, but Lambert likes the work. “It’s something rooms by September, and by year’s end, Lordstown workers different every day,” she said, “and I don’t mind the stress will have built 70,000. that much, as long as I get my sleep.” GM has always been a big part of Lambert’s life. Her Profile by Cynthia Vinarsky father retired in 1999 after 33 years at GM Lordstown; her

spring 2010

Alumni Spotlight

Engineering Enormous Video Screens JAck Greaf, ’67, ’75 Growing up in Farrell, Pa., in the 1960s, Jack Greaf he said. “Now I have friends that I visit at their homes in didn’t give much thought to life after childhood. He certainly Japan. It’s just amazing.” never guessed that his future would be linked to Japan, Times Greaf lived on campus while a student at YSU, and he Square and the Dallas Cowboys. developed an appreciation for the culture of the university “I had no vision of what I wanted to do with my future and the city. However, his life as an engineering student did until one of my teachers told me, ‘You’re going to college,’” not lend itself to sampling the local nightlife. “As my friends said Greaf, recalling those early years. “As I was growing up, were going out at nights and socializing, I’d be sitting at my I did very well in school. I always enjoyed math, so I figured desk studying my engineering books,” he said. engineering would be the way to go for me.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering From that simple beginning, Greaf has charted a career at YSU in 1967, and a master’s degree in business adminpath to the top of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. in istration, also from YSU, in 1975. In between, he earned a Warrendale, Pa., a subsidiary of Japanese-owned Mitsubishi master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Electric Corp., one of the largest electronics manufacturers in Akron in 1970. the world. Greaf said he learned a lot about the value of hard work As MEPPI’s chairman and chief executive officer, he from his parents: his father was a laborer at National Castings had a hand in developing the world’s largest high-definition in Sharon, Pa., and his mother worked at McDowell Bank of video display screen. Unveiled last September at the new Sharon. His brother is a detective with the Liberty Township Dallas Cowboys Stadium, it is the world’s first four-sided, Police Department. center-hung, high-definition video display in a stadium. The “We were not rich,” he said. “We were of very modest massive screens weigh 600 tons and have a total viewing area means, but we had everything we ever needed when we were of 11,393 square feet. growing up.” “The biggest challenge was installing it because it had to Greaf said he and his wife, Jerilyn, try to get back to be installed 90 feet in the air,” said Greaf, who has been with YSU for at least one football game each season, and they also MEPPI since 1985. “But you don’t miss a single thing that find time to attend special events on campus involving nieces happens in a game because you can see it all on the screen.” and nephews who are YSU students. MEPPI also created the Diamond Vision video screen that hangs in Times Square; the small video display at YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium is another MEPPI product. Video screens, however, are a small segment of MEPPI’s business. The company’s main focus is on products for electric utilities, including power transformers, power circuit breakers, substation and power electronics, propulsion products to railway utilities, ozone generator products to water utilities, and uninterruptible power supplies for all industries. Greaf said he sometimes finds it hard to believe that his life’s journey led him so far from his small-town roots in western Pennsylvania. “Growing up back in the ’60s, I didn’t even know where Japan was, let alone think I’d be CEO of a subsidiary of one of its largest corporations,” Jack Greaf and his wife, Jerilyn, pose in front of the giant video screen his company developed for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Youngstown State University

Alumni Spotlight

Fighting for Civil Rights in the Workplace Philemon Rheins, ’84, ’90, ’99 Philemon Rheins has had a distinguished career as an advocate for individuals seeking to get a fair shake in the workplace. He’s served honorably in the United States military and now enforces federal affirmative action and equal employment opportunity laws. Despite those impressive credentials, what he is most proud of is his hometown. “I am from the South Side of Youngstown, and I am a product of the Youngstown City School system,” said Rheins, 45, who lives in Buffalo, N.Y., but still keeps up with news from his hometown. He gets irritated when he sees negative reports about the city school system. “I have oodles of friends with whom I went through school. We may not be on the same socioeconomic level with Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, but many of us have gone on to do some very good, productive things with our lives,” he said. “You can be what you want. It doesn’t matter where you came from.” After graduating from South High School in 1982, Rheins enlisted in the Army through the delayed-entry program. Philemon Rheins In the meantime, he attended YSU and earned an associate degree in accounting technology in 1984. He couldn’t attend the commencement ceremony, though, because it was scheduled on the day he was to report for active duty. “My parents sent me my first [college] degree in the mail,” he said. After retiring from the military as a disabled veteran in 1987, Rheins earned two more YSU degrees: a baccalaureate in American studies in 1990 and a master’s degree in history in 1999. He had developed an interest in the modern day civil rights movement and thought he would eventually like to

get into some sort of work geared toward that end. He was hired in 1996 as a research coordinator in YSU’s Affirmative Action Office, and in 1999 he became an affirmative action coordinator for Kent State University, where he was in charge of developing two affirmative action plans – one for minorities and females, and one for veterans and disabled people. In June 2002, he moved to Buffalo, where he works as a Compliance Officer for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. His job is to ensure that federal contractors comply with federal affirmative action and equal employment opportunity laws and guidelines. Rheins was awarded the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Award in April 2008 for his work in negotiating a settlement of nearly $930,000 for 311 victims of racial discrimination. He said the case involved a major oil company that had used a discriminatory hiring process at one of its facilities. For all his accomplishments in the area of equal employment opportunity, Rheins said he seriously considered a completely different career path. “I came very close to enrolling in theological seminary,” he said. “My dad didn’t really force the issue with me, but if he had pushed it, I probably would have become a clergyman.” His father, the Rev. Dr. Ernest F. E. Rheins Sr., spent more than 85 years in the ministry, preaching from age 6 until his death last year at age 92. He was pastor of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Youngstown for 36 years. “Growing up a preacher’s kid was an interesting life,” Rheins said, noting that his home was a very strict environment. “When I look back on it though, I have no regrets because with that came a level of discipline that I still utilize today, not just in my career, but my life in general.” Rheins’ mother, Johnnie, his 23-year-old daughter and two grandchildren still reside in Youngstown.

Profiles on these two pages by YSU alumnus Bob Jackson, ’90 BA English.

spring 2010

class 60s

Robert Clyde of Columbus, Ohio, ’65 AB, retired in January as founder and executive director of the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, Robert Clyde where he had served for 15 years. He will assume a parttime role as senior counsel and director of government relations for the foundation. Clyde is the former director of Northeast Ohio Legal Services and has devoted his 37-year professional career to the delivery of legal services to low-income Ohioans. The Ohio State Bar Foundation honored him with its prestigious 2009 Ritter Award in recognition of his contributions to the administration of justice. William Buzulence of Twinsburg, Ohio, ’66 BSEd, retired last December after four decades of service to the Twinsburg City School District. He served two four-year terms on the Twinsburg Board of Education and before that was employed as an art teacher in the district for 32 years. He was fine arts coordinator for the district when he retired from teaching.

70s

Joseph P. Grunenwald of Clarion, Pa., ’70 BE, has announced plans to retire June 30 as president of Clarion University, concluding a 32-year career at the institution. Grunen-

notes

wald worked as an engineer for the Ohio Department of Transportation and served with the U.S. Army Reserve for eight years before joining Clarion as an associate professor of marketing in 1978. He assumed the presidency in 2003. After earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering at YSU, he earned master’s and doctoral degrees from Kent State University. Barbara Gabriel of of Austintown, ’72 BSAS in medical technology, has been appointed laboratory manager at St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center by Humility of Mary Health Partners. Previously, Gabriel was employed as a Barbara Gabriel medical technologist at St. E’s Boardman. Arlin D. Keck of Stevens Point, Wis., ’73 BE in civil engineering, ’77 MSE, a corporate engineer at Steel King Industries, was recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for his leadership in the field of steel structural engineering. Keck has 36 years experience in the field. Tom Salpietra of Cleveland, ’73 BE in mechanical engineering, has been named president and chief operating officer of EYE Lighting International of North America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Iwasaki Electric Co. Ltd. Salpietra has an MBA from Kent State University.

Landscape paintings, portraits and original children’s book illustrations by Christopher Leeper of Canfield,’88 BFA, were featured at the Zanesville Art Center in a special exhibition from mid-February through mid-April. The artist was also featured in the March issue of Ohio Magazine, and his work was exhibited at YSU’s McDonough Museum of Art as part of its Biennial Faculty Exhibition. A professional artist, Leeper works and teaches at a studio at his home in Canfield and is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Art at YSU. He is president of the Ohio Watercolor Society.

Youngstown State University

Dr. Debra Jean Celec of Bellville, Ohio, ’78 BSAS, has joined the staff of Galion Community Hospital in north-central Ohio. Celec earned her medical degree from the Ohio University College of OsteoDr. Debra Jean Celec pathic Medicine, completed an internship at Doctors Hospital in Columbus and a one-year surgical residency at Mt. Carmel Medical Center, also in Columbus, and then completed a residency in otolaryngology at Doctors Hospital. She is board certified in otolaryngology. Robert Savage of New York, ’78 BFA, has been appointed to the board of trustees for the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Savage is president and co-founder with his wife, Nanette Lepore, ’84 BSBA, of the multi-tiered design company Nanette Lepore, NY. He is also a painter whose works are included in the collections of the Butler Institute of American Art, the Cleveland Museum Friends of the Museum Collection, the Time Equities Collection and in many private collections. He holds a master’s degree from Goddard College in Vermont. Frank DiPiero of Fort Mill, S.C., ’79 AB in history, was named secretary of Goodrich Corp., in addition to his other roles as vice president and segment counsel of Actuation and Landing Systems for the company. DiPiero has a law degree from the University of Toledo.

80s

Mark Burns of Aurora, Ohio, ’80 AAS, ’82 BSAS, is founder and president of Independent Energy Consultants, which provides Mark Burns electric and natural gas aggregation programs to more than 100 Ohio communities. The company’s service area includes Austintown, Boardman, Canfield, and Poland townships, Poland Village, Youngstown and nine other townships through a program with the Mahoning County Commissioners office. Rick Enright of Chicago, ’81 BSBA, ’91 MBA, has been promoted to president of RKA Petroleum Companies Inc., a fuel product distributor for com-

Class Notes

mercial, industrial and government customers in 24 states. Formerly vice president of supply and transportation, Enright has more than 20 years experience in the petroleum industry and joined Rick Enright RKA in 2008. He will relocate to the Romulus, Mich., area where the company is headquartered. Michele Naples of Canfield, ’83 BSAS, has been appointed laboratory manager at St. Joseph Health Center in Warren by Humility of Mary Health Partners. Previously, Naples was a charge Michele Naples technologist in the laboratory at St. Elizabeth Emergency and Diagnostic Center in Austintown. Jerry Turjanica of Cincinnatti, ’83 BSBA in accounting, ’87 MBA in finance, has been named national sales director, wholesale, for ARAG, a global legal insurance company. Prior to joining ARAG, he was director of national sales for EyeMed VisionCare LLC. Jamie R. DeVore of Girard, ’85 BSBA, has joined Specialty Strip & Oscillating Inc. in Masury, Ohio, as a sales representative, selling cold-rolled carbon and alloy strip steel in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Canada. He has more than 21 years of steel sales experience. Renee L. Jones of East Palestine, Ohio, ’87 BSN, has been named nurse manager of the telemetry unit, patient safety associates and float nurses at St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center. Previously, Renee L. Jones Jones was nurse manager of the neuro/spine and intermediate units at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. In addition to her YSU registered nursing diploma and BS from the YSU School of Nursing, she also earned a master’s degree in nursing health care administration from Kent State University. Andrew L. Turscak, Jr. of Hudson, Ohio, ’88 BA, has been named a partner in Thompson Hine LLP, a large business law firm with a national client base and about 400

lawyers. Turscak is a member of the firm’s business restructuring, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy practice group. He has a law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and is admitted to practice in the state courts of Ohio, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mary C. Devine of Hubbard, ’89 BSAS in applied science, ’07 MS in molecular biology, has been named to the Biltmore Who’s Who Executive and Professional Registry. Devine is a medical technologist and clinical lab scientist for Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren and has 20 years experience in clinical laboratory science.

90s

Mike Cochran of Girard, ’92 BS in exercise science, was named strength and conditioning coach for the University of Akron football team. He came to Akron from Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. where he held a similar position, and before that he worked in strength and conditioning at Ohio State University and at YSU under former coach Jim Tressel. Edwin J. Muccillo of Tempe, Ariz., ’94 BE in civil and environmental engineering, was elected an owner of Burgess & Niple, a utility infrastructure, transportation, environment and land development Edwin J. Muccillo design firm. He is district director of the company’s Tempe office and has led project development in the firm’s northeastern Ohio and Tempe offices during his 16-year tenure with the firm. Muccillo has a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Cleveland State University. Dr. Lisa Webb Dubos of Columbus, Ohio, ’95 BS in biology, a dentist and partner in Shaw, Ely and Associates Dental Group, has been named to the East Palestine City School District Distinguished Hall of Fame. She earned her DDS from Ohio State University. Douglas Phillips of Dalton, Ohio,’95 MSEd, is the new principal of the intermediate school in the Dalton Local School District. He was previously employed as recruiting coordinator for Bowling Green State University’s football program. Phillips has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo. Rick Ebinger of Vesuvius, Va., ’96 BSBA in accounting, joined ComSonics Inc. as materials manager for its Cemsi subsidiary, a

contract manufacturing facility that specializes in electronic components. Jeffrey Papa of Chicago, ’96 BSBA, ’01 MBA, has been promoted to manage the Chase network of 128 bank branches in eastern Ohio. He will be based in Akron. Previously, Papa was a Jeffrey Papa senior investment manager with Chase Investment Services and joined Chase predecessor Bank One in 1998. Bryan Gasser of Liberty Township, Ohio, ’97 BSAS, ’02 MS in manufacturing engineering, was promoted to engineering manager at Gasser Chair Co., a family business founded by his grandfather and two greatuncles in 1946. Gasser has been with the company for more than 20 years and has experience working in all aspects of manufacturing and engineering to produce the company’s custom commercial-grade furniture. His wife, Anna, is a YSU student pursuing a BSBA. Dr. Daniel Lewis of Charlotte, N.C., ’97 BS, has joined the OrthoCarolina Hand Center, an orthopedic medical practice focused on hand problems. Lewis earned his medical degree at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at the Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies. Brett Miller of Silver Spring, Md., ’99 BM, released his debut solo CD, “The Underside of Orange,” on the Potenza label. The CD features Brett performing eight of his original works for French horn. Miller is a hornist with the U.S. Air Force Band Brett Miller in Washington, D.C. He has a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Maryland.

00s

Donald Caster of Cincinnati, ’00 BA in sociology, has become a founding partner in the Cincinnati law firm of Caster, Dutta & Seibel, LLC. Subsequent to graduating from YSU, Caster earned a law degree from the University of Cincinnati and served as a law clerk to Judge Robert C. Chambers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He was an associate at Gerhardstein, Branch & Laufman, a civil rights firm in Cincinnati, and started his own law practice in 2006. Caster and his

spring 2010

Class Notes

Sheri Matascik of Knoxville, Tenn.,’85 BM,’87 MM, has released a commercial CD of her original music compositions entitled At the End of the Day. Produced in her own studio, the recording features Matascik on the acoustic guitar and ukulele performing a collection that celebrates classical, contemporary folk, Appalachian, jazz and Celtic styles. Her baccalaureate at YSU was in classical guitar performance, her master’s was in music theory and composition, and she earned a doctorate degree at Kent State University. Matascik is an associate professor of music at Maryville College, a small, liberal arts college situated between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Knoxville.

new partners practice primarily in the areas of criminal defense, employee and civil rights, and appellate litigation. Kevin Carpenter of Charlotte, N.C., ’00 MS in industrial engineering, has joined Nexus Lighting as director of research and development/engineering. Previously, he was engineering program manager for GE Lumination LLC, and he has more than 14 years experience in the lighting and automotive industries. In addition to his YSU degree, Carpenter has bachelor’s degrees from Morehouse College and Georgia Institute of Technology and a second master’s from Case Western Reserve University. Brian Warner of Columbus, Ohio, ’00 BSAS in computer information systems, was recently hired as a senior Internet applications developer in the Web and Interactive department at Mills James, an employee-owned creBrian Warner ative media company. Warner came from DoMedia, where he was a Web application developer. Paul M. Lucas of Cleveland, ’02 BS in education, an assistant principal in the Orange City School District, has completed his doctorate degree in educational leadership at Ashland University. He also Paul Lucas earned a master’s degree in education from Ashland in 2005. His dissertation, titled “Secondary Science Homework and Instructional Methodologies,” has been selected as one of the 10 finalists for the 2009-2010 PDK International Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award. Courtney J. Trimacco of Cleveland, ’03 BA in political science, an attorney in the Cleveland office of Reminger Attorneys at Law, was named to Ohio Rising Stars 2010 by 32

Youngstown State University

Law and Politics magazine. Trimacco earned her law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law and focuses her practice on tort and professional liability matters. Jon P. Arnold of Salem, Ohio, ’04 BSB, an independent advisor for LPL Financial and the owner of J. Arnold and Associates Inc., was named to the LPL Financial Chairman’s Council for the second consecutive year. The honor recognizes Arnold as a top sales achiever in the company. Kathryn Lima of Sharon, Pa., ’05 MBA, was presented the Margaret Cunningham Foley Memorial Teaching Award by Penn State University Shenango, an award recognizing outstanding part-time Kathryn Lima faculty. Besides teaching economics classes at Penn State, Lima is president and founder of Faro Enterprises, a marketing, public relations and fundraising consulting firm. In 2006, she was recognized as one of Pennyslvania’s Best 50 Women in Business. Her undergraduate degree in elementary education and psychology is from Southern Arkansas University. DaNine J. Fleming of Ridgeville, S.C., ’07 EdD, is an associate professor and director of Training and Intercultural Education at the Medical University of South Carolina. She came to the university in DaNine Fleming 2008 after earning her doctorate in educational leadership at YSU. She has a BS in elementary education from Claflin University in South Carolinia, a master’s in early childhood education from the University of Charleston, and an EdS in educational leadership and administration from South Carolina State University. She is

also program director for Tamika & Friends, Inc. a national human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer awareness organization. Robert Bole Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., ’08 BSBA in marketing and advertising/ public relations, recently joined Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as a financial analyst. He will be working in the bank’s global Robert Bole markets division. Previously, Bole lived in London, England, and worked in global prime finance sales for Deutsche Bank AG London. Sarah Conklin of Westlake, Ohio, ’08 BSBA in marketing and advertising/ public relations, was promoted to senior account representative for Partnership LLC, a logistics Sarah Conklin management company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores. She will be relocating to southern California to develop a new West Coast office for the company. She joined Partnership LLC last year as a sales support specialist.

GOT GOOD NEWS? Let YSU Magazine include it in the Class Notes column. When you write, please include your YSU graduation year and degree, city of residence and a contact phone number or e-mail address. E-mail class notes to universitymagazine@ ysu.edu or mail to: YSU Magazine, Marketing and Communications, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Help jane Help the planet. We can all support Jane Goodall’s efforts to preserve the world's rainforests by using recycled-fiber consumer goods and reducing our use of products made from wood. YSU Magazine is doing its part by using partially recycled paper produced from sustainably managed forests, along with eco-friendly inks. YSU alumni can help by subscribing to the online “green edition” of YSU Magazine instead of the print version. Register at www.ysumagazine.org, and we’ll e-mail you a link to our-user friendly online version every time the quarterly magazine is published. You’ll get access to online extras, such as videos and photo galleries, and you’ll feel better about the rainforests, too. Shannon Tirone, executive director of Alumni and Events Management, meets with Jane Goodall at the YSU Skeggs Lecture.

Jane Goodall, internationally known anthropologist and conservationist, gave the YSU Skeggs Lecture at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown on April 20. To learn more about Goodall's work, visit her outstanding website, http://web.janegoodall.org/cc-forests. Be sure to watch the videos!

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Welcoming Spring The “maypole” dance pictured in this 1946 photograph was part of the May Day Festival at Youngstown College, a spring tradition on campus from 1928 through 1963. The dance, an English custom which involved singing and dancing around a pole decorated with colorful streamers and ribbons, took place on a grassy area adjacent to Wick Avenue and near the home that was then used as the college president’s residence. YoCo’s May Day celebrations also included election of a May Queen, a coronation ceremony for the queen and a student procession. May Day was limited to female student participants until 1937, when men were included in the festivities for the first time. The May Day celebration ended in 1964 when YoCo student council voted to replace it with a Spring Weekend. (To view more historical photographs in the University Archives at Maag Library, visit http://digital.maag.ysu.edu.)