Below are a variety of items about upcoming events and other news notes on the campus of Youngstown State University:

Calendar
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m., Shereka: The Black Heritage Festival will be held in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus. The event will include poetry readings and performances from a gospel choir, mimes and the Harambee Youth Group and step dancers. Food from various cultures will be provided. The festival is part of the YSU African American History Month and co–sponsored by the Office of Housing and Residence Life.

Thursday, Feb. 5, 5 p.m. Reception and panel discussion in the McDonough Museum of Art and Bliss Hall Gallery. The event features Pittsburgh artist and art educator Christine Bethea. Her art will be on display at the Bliss Hall Art Gallery throughout February. The event is part of YSU’s African American History Month.

Thursday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m. Sherry Lincoln, co–director of the YSU Center for Working Class Studies, and Alyssa Lenhoff, director of YSU’s journalism program, give a presentation about “Worker Portraits: Faces of Strength” at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. See News Brief below.

Friday, Feb. 6. The YSU men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams compete at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

Friday, Feb. 6, 9 a.m. to noon. YSU Career and Counseling Services presents “Job Search Strategies for the Displaced Worker” in the Ohio Room and Gallery of Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus. The event is dedicated to supporting the job searches of individuals in the region by providing training on becoming a better job seeker.

Friday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 7, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. YSU’s Ward Beecher Planetarium presents “A Briefer History of Time.” Free.

Saturday, Feb. 7, Noon to 6 p.m. The African Marketplace will be held in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. Goods made by Africans and African Americans will be for sale. The Harambee Youth Group will perform. The marketplace is part of YSU’s African American History Month.

Sunday, Feb. 8, 11 a.m. The Youngstown Diving Invite is presented at the Beeghly Natatorium.

Two campus events mark Darwin’s 200^th birthday 
Youngstown State University marks Darwin Day — the global celebration of science and reason held on or around Charles Darwin’s birthday — with two events.

• Tuesday, Feb. 10, 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Jeffrey K. McKee from Ohio State University presents a lecture entitled “Darwin''s Prescient Insights on Human Evolution” in Moser Hall Room 2000. The lecture is sponsored by the YSU Office of the Provost, College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
• Thursday, Feb. 12, 4 to 5 p.m. Evolution & Darwin Forum with Ian Renne of the YSU Department of Biological Sciences, Bruce Wallerﾠ of the YSU Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and John Grabowskiﾠ of the Champion Local Schools,ﾠ in the Jones Room in Kilcawley Center.ﾠ The forum is sponsored by the YSU Chapter of Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Society).

This year marks the 200^th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150^th anniversary of the publishing of Darwin’s “On the Origin of the Species.” Darwin was born Feb. 12, 1809.

‘Worker Portraits’ exhibited this month at library

The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County will host an exhibit in February that features stories written by Youngstown State University journalism students.  

“Worker Portraits: Faces of Strength” is sponsored by the YSU Center for Working–Class Studies and organized by Alyssa Lenhoff, director of YSU’s journalism program, and Sherry Linkon, co–director of CWCS.  

The exhibit features profiles of Mahoning Valley workers from a variety of fields, together with photographic portraits and background information on how work is changing in our community.  

The Public Library will also host three special events related to the exhibit. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Main Branch of the library on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Lenhoff and Linkon will give a presentation about the exhibit, followed by discussion.  At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11 and at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, Linkon will host storytelling sessions at the main library. During these sessions, local residents are invited to share their own work experiences. 

All of the programs and the exhibit are free and open to the public.

N.Y. prof lectures on Ten Commandments, Lincoln
Paul Finkelman, a President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School in New York, is visiting Youngstown State University to give two free lectures on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

The first lecture, “Are the Ten Commandments the Moral Foundation of American Law?” is 11 a.m. in the McKay Auditorium of Kilcawley Center. The second lecture, “The Great Emancipator as Lawyer: How Lincoln Ended Slavery” is 5 p.m. in the Jones Room of Kilcawley Center. The second lecture is in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.

Finkelman is a specialist in American legal history, race and the law and is considered to be an expert in the law of slavery, constitutional law and legal issues surrounding baseball. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles and more than 20 books. He was recently named the ninth most cited legal historian according to “Brian Leieter’s Law School Rankings.” He has just returned from Osaka University in Japan, where he was a visiting research scholar.

The lectures are sponsored by the YSU Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies, the YSU James Dale Ethics Center, the YSU History Department, the YSU Center for Applied History and the YSU History Club.

Journalists participate in election forum on Feb. 10

Reporters from the Wall Street Journal, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and National Public Radio will be featured in a forum 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in the Ohio Room of Kilcawley Center on the Youngstown State University campus.

The forum will involve discussion of whether political journalists in the 2008 presidential election adequately covered issues relevant to the working class and the people of the Mahoning Valley.

The event is free and open to the public.

Featured panelists will be Jonathan Kaufman of the Wall Street Journal, Connie Schulz of The Plain Dealer and Marilyn Geewax from NPR. The moderator is Todd Franko, editor of The Vindicator in Youngstown.

The panelists will also present a journalism seminar for students 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Room B0013 in Fedor Hall on the YSU campus.

The lecture is sponsored by the Center for Working–Class Studies, the YSU journalism program and The Vindicator. A reception prior to the forum is sponsored by The New York Times.

High school drama workshop set for Feb. 19 at Bliss
Youngstown State University’s Department of Theater and Dance presents a high school drama day Thursday, Feb. 19 in Bliss Hall’s Ford Theater in conjunction with University Theater’s performance of “The Servant of Two Masters.”

Sponsored by the YSU chapter of Alpha Psi Omega and the national theater honorary society, the event gives students the opportunity to participate in three interactive workshops: acting, stage combat and scenic or costume design.ﾠ

A full performance of “The Servant of Two Masters” will be presented in the afternoon.

The cost is $6 per person and includes the workshops, lunch and performance.

High school drama teachers, or others who advise drama or theater departments, are encouraged to register their students by e–mailing Jennifer Young at jlyoung03@ysu.edu or by calling 330–941–3810.

Dates set for mental health awareness training 
Youngstown State University, in conjunction with the Mahoning County Mental Health Board and NEOUCOM Criminal Justice Coordinating Center of Excellence, will present “Mental Health Training, Response, and Awareness on Campus, M–TRAC.”

The training for YSU faculty, staff, and administrators will be Tuesday, Feb. 17 and Wednesday, Feb. 18, in McKay Auditorium in Beeghly Hall.

The sessions identify signs and symptoms of mental illness and stress which potentially may lead to violent behaviors both inside and outside of the classroom. The sessions also include information on how to deal with such behaviors.ﾠ

The eight–hour (divided into two days, four hours per session) workshop is open to allﾠ faculty, staff, and administrators; however, registration will be limited to the first 200 individuals to register. The workshop is tailored specifically to YSU and is a repeat of the program presented during the fall semester.

The training is divided into two half–day sessions. Morning and afternoon times are available.

Participants can register online by Tuesday, Feb. 10 at http://www.cc.ysu.edu/bannertraining/mtrac.htm.ﾠ

For more information, call the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs at Ext. 3532.

International Business Workshop this week on campus
Youngstown State University’s Williamson College of Business Administration and the Emerging Markets Initiative will host the second International Business Workshop for high school students in the Greater Youngstown area on Wednesday, Feb 4.

Thirty students from Liberty High School are expected to participate in the workshop aimed at creating awareness of the growing international economic interdependence and the role of the American business within the new international economic order.

The workshop includes a computer–based business simulation, online quiz on international cuisine, role playing, case discussion and an international idea lab team project and presentation. Participants will learn about international business/management with maximum student involvement and hands–on experiences. The workshop was designed and developed by a team of faculty from the Williamson College of Business Administration.

The YSU Emerging Markets Initiative is funded by the U.S. Department of Education under the Business and International Education program. Community partners include the Ohio State Governor’s Regional Office, Northeast Ohio Trade and Economic Consortium, Mahoning County Commissioners Office, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Youngstown Area School Districts.

Area high schools interested in participating in future workshops may contact Ram Kasuganti at 330–941–3070 or rrkasuganti@ysu.edu.

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