YSU News Briefs is distributed weekly to regional news media and YSU faculty and staff. Highlights of this week's News Briefs:

• Keller named 2008 Ohio Social Worker of the Year
• YSU Holocaust center sponsors Schindler exhibit
• SMARTS presents 'The Square Root of 5'
• Season tickets on sale for 2008 Penguins football
• YSU SBDC sponsors workshops for entrepreneurs

Calendar
Tuesday, Sept. 2. YSU Board of Trustees meets in the Presidential Suites of Kilcawley Center on the following schedule: 8 a.m., Investment Subcommittee; 9 a.m., External Relations Committee; 10 a.m., Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 4 p.m. YSU hosts Gov. Ted Strickland’s “Conversation on Education” forum in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. The forums are by invitation only. The forums are being held throughout Ohio and focus on the six principles for education reform that the governor laid out in his State of the State address in February.

Thursday, Sept. 4. YSU Board of Trustees meets in the Presidential Suites of Kilcawley Center on the following schedule: 8 a.m., board members will take a campus tour; 9 a.m., Audit Subcommittee; 10 a.m., Internal Affairs Committee; 11 a.m., Finance and Facilities Committee.

Thursday, Sept. 4, 3 p.m. News conference in the Gallery in Kilcawley Center to announce the new "Grow Home" campaign, a partnership of YSU, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan.

Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 4 to 7. University Theater kicks off the 2008–09 season with “Dearly Departed,” a comedy performed in Spotlight Arena Theater in Bliss Hall. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday. Call 330–941–3105.

Sunday, Sept. 7, 2 p.m. “Famine and Mass Violence: An International Conference,” sponsored by the YSU Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies, kicks off on the YSU campus. The conference continues through Tuesday. Sept. 9. For a detailed schedule, visit http://judaic.ysu.edu/calendar.html.

Video
YSU’s fall semester got off to a roaring start last week with a slew of Welcome Week events, including the annual Foam Party. What’s a foam party? Take a look at http://www.ysu.edu/video/foamparty.shtml. 

Keller named 2008 Ohio Social Worker of the Year

Dr. Shirley M. Keller, LISW–S, associate professor of social work at Youngstown State University, has been named 2008 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers–Ohio Chapter. 

The award is given annually to an individual in the social work field who exemplifies the best of the profession’s values and achievements through specific accomplishments. 

Having already received congratulatory letters from the Ohio Senate and the House of Representatives, Keller will be presented a plaque for her award at the NASW State Conference in November. In April 2009, Keller will be placed among the nominees for the national award.

Having witnessed more than 20 years worth of banquets honoring other Social Workers of the Year, Keller is not taking her turn for granted. “Any social worker could deserve this award,” she said, “but to have been selected by my peers is something very special.”

If her involvement in the Ohio Chapter of NASW is any indication, Keller is passionate about the social work profession. A member of NASW for over 30 years, Keller has served as chair of the 2006 Annual Conference Committee, chair of the 2008 Awards task force and co–chair of the Membership and Public Relations Committee. Additionally, she is a member of the Ohio Chapter’s Ethics Committee.

“I love empowering people,” she said. “In social work, I can find creative solutions to people’s problems, and I’m never bored with my job.”

Not only is Keller a leader at the state level, she is an active member of YSU’s social work department. Faculty adviser to the Student Social Work Association, Keller serves on the university’s Assessment Council and is a former board member of Community Solutions. Keller also played a major role in the recent accreditation of YSU’s Master of Social Work program, of which every member of the first three graduating classes became members of NASW.

Having had a hand in making the master’s program available at YSU, Keller said that perfecting the social work program and awarding degrees to deserving students are among the items remaining on her to–do list.

“I plan to further refine the program here and essentially make sure that we’re following guidelines,” she said. “Then, we can mentor our students to help empower their clientele, and we can begin to develop leaders.”

YSU Holocaust center sponsors Schindler exhibit
The Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies at Youngstown State University will sponsor an exhibition about Oskar Schindler, the German–Catholic industrialist and rescuer of Jews during the Holocaust who was the subject of the film Schindler''s List.

The exhibit, organized and circulated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will be Sept. 10 to Oct. 22 at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for students and free for YSU students.

Several free activities are planned in connection with the exhibit.

• Schindler’s List will be shown 7 p.m. Sept. 9 in the Ohio Room of Kilcawley Center and 4 p.m. Sept. 10 in The Gallery in Kilcawley Center.
• At noon, Sept. 18, a lecture by Cantor Moshe Taube, a “Schindler Jew,” will be held in McKay Auditorium in Beeghly Hall.
• A teacher education workshop on the Schindler exhibition is scheduled for Sept. 20. To register, e–mail Judaic@ysu.edu.
• At noon, Oct. 6, Helene Sinnreich, director of the YSU Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies, presents the lecture “Beyond Schindler: The Other Jews of the Krakow Ghetto,” in The Gallery in Kilcawley Center.
• At 7 p.m., Oct. 16, Thomas Leary, co–director of the Center for Applied History at YSU, lectures on the topic “Slaves for the Wehrmacht: Forced Labor During the Holocaust,” at 7 p.m. in The Gallery in Kilcawley Center.

For more information, contact Sinnreich at 330–941–1603 or visit http://judaic.ysu.edu.

SMARTS presents ‘The Square Root of 5’
Youngstown State University’s SMARTS program will host Briar Rantilla’s exhibit titled “The Square Root of 5” from Sept. 6 to Oct. 31.

The opening reception is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6 at the SMARTS Center, 258 Federal Plaza West in downtown Youngstown. Street and lot parking is available. The SMARTS Center is not handicapped accessible.

Rantilla received a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from Kent State University in 2005 and has been a longtime multi–media and visual arts teacher at SMARTS. He is also a substitute teacher for Trumbull county schools.

The Square Root of Five is a new painting series by Rantilla. The five–painting motif explores the five Platonic Solids found in Metatron’s Cube, combined with spiraling patterns generated by the Golden Ratio. The series takes its name from one of the solutions for the Golden Ratio: Golden Ratio = 1 + the Square Root of Five, divided by 2.

The painting exhibit will focus on five wood panels cut into golden rectangle proportions (36 x 58.25 inches). Transparent layers of tinted alkyd resin mark off key sections of the surface. Beneath the oily glaze, the underlying geometry can be seen penciled into the wood grain. Some shapes are carried forward in new layers of paint, while others sink away.

The SMARTS Center Gallery will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from Sept. 9 to Oct. 31 and by special appointment. The opening reception is free and open to the public.

SMARTS – Students Motivated by the Arts is an arts education program at YSU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts and Beeghly College of Education. SMARTS seeks to motivate students to succeed in all areas of life by teaching them the discipline and focus that creating art requires. SMARTS classes are free and open to the public by application. ﾠ

For more information about the exhibit or to learn more about SMARTS, call 330–941–ARTS or visit the SMARTS website at www.fpa.ysu.edu/smarts.

Season tickets on sale for 2008 Penguins football 

Season tickets are available for only $72 as the Youngstown State University Penguins prepare to kick–off its six–game home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 13^th against Central State.

The Penguins will host three nationally–ranked teams at Stambaugh Stadium this fall. The schedule is highlighted by two fireworks shows, two Family Fun Days and Homecoming 2008 on Oct. 25.

YSU faculty and staff receive a free season ticket with each one purchased. YSU students receive free game tickets with a valid ID.

The home schedule: 4 p.m. Sept. 13 vs. Central State; 6 p.m. Sept. 20 vs. North Dakota State; 6 p.m. Sept. 27 vs. Liberty; 4 p.m. Oct. 18 vs. Southern Illinois; 4 p.m. Oct. 25 vs. Northern Iowa; and 1 p.m. Nov. 8 vs. Indiana State.

For more information, contact the Athletic Ticket Office at 330–941–1YSU or visit www.YSUsports.com.

YSU SBDC sponsors workshops for entrepreneurs
The Ohio Small Business Development Center at Youngstown State University is sponsoring a series of workshops in September for entrepreneurs in existing and start–up businesses.

The workshops will be at the YSU Metro College at Southwood Commons in Boardman. The schedule:

• Tuesday, Sept. 9, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., “Developing a Business Plan for Entrepreneurs.”
• Tuesday, Sept. 16, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., “Financial Management for Entrepreneurs.”
•  Tuesday, Sept. 23, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., “Human Resources and the Law for Entrepreneurs.”
•  Tuesday, Sept. 30, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., “Marketing and Selling Skills for Entrepreneurs.” 

The cost is $25 for each workshop or $80 for all four. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 330–941–2140 or e–mailing rsulik@ysu.edu. Payment should be made in advance by check or money order and mailed to Ohio Small Business Development Center at YSU, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555. Registration for each workshop begins at 8 a.m.