Brother Guy Consolmagno, known as the "Brother Astronomer" at the Vatican in Rome, visits YSU's Ward Beecher Planetarium 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4. His topic will be "God Under the Dome." Consolmagno will also speak 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 4, at the monthly luncheon of the First Friday Club of Greater Youngstown at Antone's Banquet Centre on Market Street in Boardman.

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

• Grant allows students to experience philanthropy
• New CityScape award honors President and Mrs. Sweet
• Minority and Female Business Conference set for March 11
• Concert features seven world premieres
• YSU Moot Court team ranks high in national contest
• Percussionists, pianists featured in Dana concert
• March Music at Noon dates set
• New Amici Trio performs

Calendar
Monday, March 1, 8 p.m. Dana at DeYor presents Faculty and Guest Artist Recital California Piano/Percussion Ensemble in the Ford Family 

Recital Hall at the Eleanor Beecher Flad Pavilion, DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. See News Brief below.

Tuesday, March 2. YSU Board of Trustees meeting in McKay Auditorium in Beeghly Hall, 2 p.m. Internal Affairs, 3 p.m. Finance and Facilities, 4 p.m. Trusteeship Committee, 4:30 p.m. Executive Committee.

Wednesday, March 3, 12:15 p.m. The Dana School of Music's Faculty Brass Quintet performs at free Music at Noon concert in the Butler Institute of American Art.

Thursday, March 4, 3:30 p.m. Kimberly Gray, a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer, gives a presentation on "Ecological Restoration: The Importance of Details in the Big Picture" in the Schwebel Auditorium, Moser Hall, on the YSU campus.

Wednesday, March 3, 8 p.m. New Music concert in Bliss Recital Hall. See News Brief below. 

Thursday, March 4, 5:30 p.m. Matthew Carter, considered to be one of the world's most important type designers, will speak at the Beecher Center for Art and Technology. Phillip Chan, YSU professor of art, will present a pre–lecture on Carter and his work at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday March 2, in Room 467 of Bliss Hall at YSU. That lecture is also open to the public.

Thursday, March 4, 8 p.m. The New Amici Trio performs in Bliss Recital Hall. See News Brief below.

Thursday, March 4, 7 p.m. Brother Guy Consolmagno, known as the "Brother Astronomer" at the Vatican in Rome, visits YSU's Ward Beecher Planetarium. His topic will be "God Under the Dome." Consolmagno will also speak 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 4, at the monthly luncheon of the First Friday Club of Greater Youngstown at Antone's Banquet Centre on Market Street in Boardman.

Grant allows students to experience philanthropy
The Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Youngstown State University, housed in the Williamson College of Business Administration, has received a $15,500 grant from the Ohio Campus Compact to participate in the "Pay It Forward: Strengthening Communities through Student–Led Philanthropy Initiative."

The grant helps students learn how to be engaged citizens and to understand the important role philanthropy plays in the health of local communities. The initiative will address critical economic needs in the Mahoning Valley through student–led grant making and volunteerism.

As part of the initiative, the Williamson College of Business Administration is adding a philanthropy component to three courses this semester – Basic Public Relations, Nonprofit Leadership, and Nonprofit Community Service. Students in each of the classes will have $4,500 to award to regional nonprofit organizations for a combined total of $13,500. Grants will be distributed in the amounts of $1,500 to $4,500. All students enrolled in the courses will also perform 15 hours of community service.

The students decided to focus funding decisions on programs/projects that fit into one of seven categories: Addiction, Domestic Violence, Education, Employment, Hunger, Marketing/PR, and Youth Development. Grant applications have been sent to regional nonprofit organizations. Applications are due by March 19. All nonprofit organizations receiving grant funding will be invited to participate in an awards ceremony on campus the week of May 3. Grant awards will be limited to nonprofit organizations in Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana counties.

The program is made possible through the efforts of the Ohio Campus Compact, in partnership with Kentucky Campus Compact and Michigan Campus Compact. Funding for "Pay It Forward" is made possible through the Corporation for National and Community Service (Learn and Serve America Higher Education) and Ohio Campus Compact.

Laura McCaskey, director of the YSU Center for Nonprofit Leadership, said the project continues to engage business majors and nonprofit leadership students in professional development opportunities with the nonprofit community and fulfills the mission of the WCBA to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for productive and fulfilling careers as leaders in business, government, nonprofit organizations, and society.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership offers a certificate and a minor in Nonprofit Management and Leadership, which can be combined with any major on campus.

For more information on the Pay it Forward grant funding or the Center for Nonprofit Leadership, contact McCaskey at 330–941–1870 or LJMcCaskey@ysu.edu.

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.

"CityScape is very proud to establish the ongoing David and Pat Sweet Grass Roots Award, and we couldn't think of two people more deserving to be the first recipients than David and Pat Sweet," said Pete Asimakopoulos, CityScape president.

"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, and they've made a significant difference in the appearance of the city."

Dr. 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.

The Sweets had also been active with Streetscape, Cityscape's predecessor organization, since their arrival at YSU in the summer of 2000, and encouraged faculty, staff, student and alumni participation in efforts to improve the appearance of downtown. Sweet will retire from the YSU presidency June 30.

Minority and Female Business Conference set for March 11
The third annual Minority and Female Business Conference will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 11, in Kilcawley Center on the campus of Youngstown State University.

The day begins in the Chestnut Room with informational sessions 8 a.m. to noon, including topics such as Small Business Boot Camp: Developing a Business Plan; Financial Statements, Tax and How it Impacts Your Business and Loan Applications; and Ohio MBE/EDGE Certification.

A luncheon at noon in the Ohio Room features Melinda Carter, deputy director and state Equal Employment Opportunity coordinator for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. Carter is responsible for ensuring equity, fairness and diversity in employment and procurement opportunities in Ohio state government. She is the former executive director of the Equal Business Opportunity Commission in Columbus.

The event closes with a Business Matchmaking session in the Chestnut Room from 1 to 5 p.m. The session includes face–to–face meetings with representatives from a variety of public and private organizations that seek out women– and minority–owned businesses with which to do business. Among the companies at the session will be Humility of Mary Health Partners, Home Savings Bank, Dominion East Ohio, and Cuyahoga Community College.

The event is coordinated by the Regional Chamber in collaboration with YSU's Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, the Ohio Department of Development, and with the financial support of The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Youngstown State University, Staples Advantage, APEX Environmental Services, LLC and PNC Bank.

A continental breakfast will be available at 7 a.m. Registration is required and can be made through the Regional Chamber online at www.regionalchamber.com under the ÒEvent CalendarÓ link. Registration deadline is March 5. Late registrations will be permitted depending on space. Advance appointments for the Business Matchmaking session are required and should be made with Dorothy Boggio, director of Business Services, Regional Chamber, at 330–744–2131, Ext. 25, or Dorothy@regionalchamber.com.

Concert features seven world premieres
The world premieres of seven compositions will be featured at the Annual New Music Society Winter Pops Concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 3 in Bliss Recital Hall on the campus of Youngstown State University.

Two of the new works are by YSU Dana School of Music faculty member Robert Rollin. The works were commissioned by Dana alumni Corinne Morini and Micah Howard, a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony string bass section for more than years.

Local composer Richard Zacharias, a member of the New Music Guild Inc., will hear his Sonata for Oboe and Piano performed by Dana alumnus Nathan Welch, accompanied by Masters candidate Timothy Webb, piano.

Senior composition major Daniel Brandt will have a premiere of his Three Nocturnes for piano performed by junior Stephen Klein. Brandt will have two other pieces on the program: Prelude for Guitar played by Margaret Jones, and Synapses with Joseph Finkel, alto saxophone and Patrick Fulton, bass clarinet. Brandt won a national composition contest last year for a tuba and piano work.

Samantha Hogan, a freshman composition major, will hear the premiere of Reign of Thunder played by Shanyse Strickland, flute and Cory Davis, piano. Sophomore Sarah KramerÕs trio Vita, Amore, Music will be performed by graduates Mariana Szalaj, violin, and Maria Fesz, cello, with Stephen Kline at the piano.

Rounding off the concert will be a performance of Augustin Barrios' solo guitar piece, Una limosno por el amor de Dios, by senior Ben Dague.

The concert is free and open to the public.

YSU Moot Court team ranks high in national contest
Youngstown State University's Moot Court team of Kevin Hulick and Travis Watson ranked second in the nation in the respondent brief–writing competition at the recent American Collegiate Moot Court Association competition.

Students from across the nation wrote legal briefs for either respondent or petitioner relative to two issues involving the 4th and 8th Amendments. The briefs were written according to the requirements that lawyers must follow when submitting briefs to the Supreme Court. The top five briefs in the nation were recognized in each category. Watson and Hulick were second in the nation with their brief submitted on behalf of respondent.

Hulick and Watson reached the national competition at Florida International University's College of Law in Miami after competing in the Midwest Regional. At nationals, YSU won the first round and then was eliminated by a team from Patrick Henry College that eventually won the national title for the second consecutive year.

Also at the competition, Watson was recognized as the 15th best orator out of 128 participants.

Among the colleges and universities competing at the national level were Patrick Henry College, Holy Cross, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Baylor, Louisville, Texas Wesleyan, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee, Fitchburg State, Wooster, Denison, Univ. of North Texas, Arkansas State, Howard Payne, Cal State at Long Beach, College of New Jersey, Benedictine College, Texas Christian, Univ. of Tampa, Drake, Cal State–Fullerton, Florida Atlantic, Univ. of Texas–Dallas, Univ. of Dallas, Stephen F. Austin, Univ. of Albany, and Mount St. Mary''s.

The YSU team received support and assistance from the 7th District Court of Appeals Justices Gene Donofrio, Mary DeGenaro and Cheryl Waite, Disciplinary Counsel Jonathan Coughlin, Assistant Disciplinary Counsel Heather Hissom and Philip King, Attorneys Megan Graff and Robert Budinsky, Alysia D'Amico, Austintown Fitch debate coach, and fellow team member Lauren Mylott.   

The YSU team participated through the universityÕs Rigelhaupt Pre–Law Center in the Political Science Department. The moot court program was started by Paul Sracic, chair of political science. 

The team's advisor is Atty. Ron Slipski, a senior partner with the local firm of Green Haines Sgambati, and part–time YSU instructor in history and political science. He is the 2006 recipient of the Ohio State Bar Association's Eugene Weir Award in Ethics and Professionalism, a recipient of the Mahoning County Bar Association's Lawyer of the Year and Distinguished Service Awards, the Mahoning County Bar Foundation president and, Bar Counsel and past–president and trustee of the Mahoning County Bar Association.

The 7th District Ohio Court of Appeals recently recognized the YSU Moot Court Teams' accomplishments by presenting the team with a resolution approved by the court.

Percussionists, pianists featured in Dana concert
Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music will present a concert featuring three guest artists and one faculty member 8 p.m. Monday, March 1, in the Ford Family Recital Hall at the Eleanor Beecher Flad Pavilion, DeYor Performing Arts Center, in downtown Youngstown.

Guest artists Yuri Inoo and Andrea Moore, percussion; and Susan Svrcek and Dana faculty member Caroline Oltmanns, piano, will headline the event. The program will include BartokÕs Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion as well as an original piece by composer James Wilding, Mayan Rites, Fantasy for Two Pianos and Percussion.

A native of Kanagawa, Japan, Yuri Inoo is a musician and educator in the Los Angeles area.  She is the Principal Percussionist with the Redlands Symphony in Redlands, California, and an active freelancer with other regional orchestras and chamber ensembles in Southern California. 

Andrea Moore has performed with Da Camera of Houston, the Houston Symphony, and Houston Grand Opera, at Music Academy of the West and the National Repertory Orchestra and with new music ensembles Musiqa and Ensemble Green.

Oltmanns, a professor of piano at YSU, has performed as a soloist in Europe, South Africa, and North America. Performances in the United States have included Steinway Hall and Weill Hall in New York City, Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago, Redlands Bown and Leo Bing Theater in Los Angeles. Regular recital tours to Germany, France and Switzerland have included venues such as Stadttheater FŸrth and Festival International de Piano Franz Liszt. 

Svrcek has served on the piano faculties of Scripps College, Claremont Graduate University, and California State University Fullerton. Svrcek has recorded for CRI, Cambria, and ORFEO. She holds two degrees from CalArts, a master''s degree from Yale University, and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.

The concert is general admission: $5 for adults and $4 for senior citizens and students. Children under 12 and anyone with a YSU ID are free. Tickets are available at the door or by calling the Youngstown Symphony at 330–744–0264.

March Music at Noon dates set
Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music, in collaboration with the Butler Institute of American Art, presents free Music at Noon concerts Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m. in the Butler.

The concerts are open to the public and parking is free at the Butler.

Performances for the month of March are:

• March 3, Faculty Artist Recital, Dana Faculty Brass Quintet.
• March 17, Jazz Combos.
• March 24, Dana Wind Quintet.
• March 31, Clarinet Studio Recital.

For more information, call the Dana School of Music at 330–941–3636. For a complete calendar of events, visit www.fpa.ysu.edu.

New Amici Trio performs

The New Amici Trio will perform a concert 8 p.m. Thursday, March 4 in the Bliss Recital Hall located on Youngstown State University's campus.

The concert is free and open to the public. Parking is available for a nominal charge in the M1 Wick Avenue Deck.

The trio, consisting of cellist Michael Gelfand, violinist Hristo Popov and pianist Per Enflo, has been in existence since 1980.

The concert will feature a number of selections from Beethoven and Schubert.

Gelfand has been professor of Music at YSU's Dana School of Music since 1975. As a cellist, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He was the director of Orchestra, Opera and Musical Theater Productions at the Dana School of Music from 1980 to 1990. Popov is a prizewinner at the Kozian International Violin Competition, Silver Medalist at the California Young Artist Competition, winner of the Grand Prize at the International Institute of Music (Germany, USA), first place at the American String Teachers'' Association Chamber Music Competition. He was Artist of the Month at the Obama for Arts and Entertainment Organization in April 2009. Currently, he teaches at YSU and Western Reserve Academy in Ohio. Enflo was born in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition to piano, he has studied conducting and composition. He has performed frequently in recitals and as a concerto soloist in United States and Europe.

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