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

• Schiavone named to YSU Board of Trustees
• Urban university symposium celebrates Sweet's tenure
• Ecological Restoration is topic of lecture
• Vatican astronomer talks about 'God Under the Dome'
• Coach Wolford featured at Chamber event
• YSU Board of Trustees announces meetings
• Annual Etiquette Luncheon set for Friday
• Young Investigator Award deadline is March 1

Calendar
Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 23 and 24. Robert Fishbone, president of On The Wall Productions, visits YSU as the Thomas Entrepreneur in Residence. For details on his presentations, see last weekÕs YSU News Briefs at http://cfweb.cc.ysu.edu/marketcomm/view.cfm?articleID=2258.

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 12:15 p.m. YSU's Dana School of Music presents a free Music at Noon concert in the Butler Institute of American Art

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m. The Black History Student Essay Contest Finals and Community Poetry Competition takes place in the Gallery in Kilcawley Center. The contest is part of YSUÕs African American History Month celebration.

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m. YSU Symphonic Band and Concert Band perform at Stambaugh Auditorium.

Thursday, Feb. 25. The YSU Board of Trustees meets in the Presidential Suites of Kilcawley Center on the following schedule: 2 p.m. Investment Subcommittee; 2:30 p.m. Audit Subcommittee; 3:30 p.m. External Relations Committee; 4 p.m. Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

Thursday, Feb. 25. Basketball doubleheader against Wright State at Beeghly Center as the women play at 5:15 p.m. and the men play at 7:35 p.m. The teams play another doubleheader at Beeghly on Saturday, Feb. 27, against Detroit with the men starting at 2:05 p.m., followed by the women at 4:35 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 26, 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The American Marketing Association hosts its Seventh Annual Professional Networking and Etiquette Luncheon in the Ohio Room of Kilcawley Center. For more information, see News Brief below.

Friday, Feb. 26, 6 to 9 p.m. The Black Academic Challenge trivia contest aimed at challenging students' knowledge of Black history will be held in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. The event is part of YSU's African American History Month celebration. 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 26, 27 and 28. University Theater presents Shakespeare's romantic comedy "As You Like It" in Ford Theater. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m. while Sunday matinee performances are at 3 p.m. All seats are general admission.

Friday, Feb. 26, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. In recognition of the 10–year tenure of President David C. Sweet, YSU hosts a symposium that will explore how YSU and other urban universities can maximize the impact on their metropolitan areas. For details, see News Brief below.

Friday, Feb. 26, noon. The YSU Employee Wellness Program sponsors a seminar on Time Management as part of its ongoing Worksite Seminar Series presented by Impact Solutions. An examination of underlying factors affecting individuals' abilities to manage time will be discussed. All full–time and permanent part–time employees are invited. To register, contact Wellness Coordinator Carrie Clyde at 330–941–3360, or crclyde@ysu.edu. 

Saturday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. The movie Contradictions of the Heart by Walter Allen Bennett Jr. will be screened in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. The highly acclaimed film presents the subtle and least–understood aspects of loving relationships in the African American community. The movie is part of YSU's African American History Month celebration. 

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 Youngstown State University Board of Trustees.

Schiavone, who took the oath of office last week, is a partner and treasurer of Friedman & Rummell Co., a 90–year–old law firm based on East Federal Street in downtown Youngstown. 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 Corporation, a non–profit entity created to construct a civic center/arena for the city of Youngstown.

The new YSU trustee is completing his third, three–year term on the board of directors for Humility of Mary Health Partners, a tenure which included three years as board president.  He served two six–year stints as a member and was chair of the Hospice of the Valley Board of Trustees and was a member of the Youngstown City Board of Health from 1991 through 2003.

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.

Urban university symposium celebrates Sweet's tenure

In recognition of the 10–year tenure of President David C. Sweet, Youngstown State University will host a symposium on Friday, Feb. 26, that will explore how YSU and other urban universities can maximize the impact on their metropolitan areas.

The event, which features local, regional and national experts, is 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus.

Sweet, former dean of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, became president of YSU in 2000. He retires June 30.

The symposium opens with presentations by Sweet and Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, who will talk about university engagement in the Mahoning Valley and YSU's involvement in the Youngstown 2010 plan. That will be followed by Steven A. Minter, executive in residence at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at CSU and past president and chief executive of the Cleveland Foundation, and David C. Perry, director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They will discuss university roles in diversity, philanthropy, economic development and community planning. 

The symposium concludes with a presentation by Eugenie L. Birch, the Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education at the University of Pennsylvania, who will share her perspectives on the multiple roles of urban universities. She is co–director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and chair of the department of city and regional planning in the School of Design. She is acknowledged as the leading expert on downtown housing in American cities.

Ecological Restoration is topic of lecture

Kimberly Gray, a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer, will give a presentation at Youngstown State University on "Ecological Restoration: the Importance of Details in the Big Picture" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4 in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. The presentation is free and open to the public. 

The event is hosted by the YSU chapter of Sigma Xi and YSU.

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, is the international honor society of scientists and engineers that recognizes scientific achievement. Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturers present talks to Sigma Xi members, students and the public. The talks are supported by Sigma Xi members, the American Meteorological Society, the National Academy of Engineering and the Society for Risk Analysis.

Gray is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. She earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She was a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award recipient for the years 1991 through 1996. Her other distinctions include: President and member of the board of directors for the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors, member of the National Research Council Water Science and Technology Board, member of the Committee on the U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Research, member of the board of directors for the Chicagoland Redevelopment Initiative, and organizer and speaker for The Green City: A Field Study in Chicago, Northwestern University Summer Institute.

Gray studies the structure and function of photoactive materials for applications in renewable energy, water recycling and air quality control. She also researches the role of algal biofilms in the accumulation of contaminants in stream sediments and in the loss of nitrogen from the soil and water in wetlands. Her studies examine the ways in which a detailed understanding of algal biofilms and food webs may improve our ability to predict bioaccumulation of materials in aquatic systems and ultimately their effect on human health. Application of this research is important in efforts to restore critical ecosystems like the Great Lakes and for environmental protection and restoration of wetlands.

For more information, contact pedalbec@ysu.edu, jkrontirislitowitz@ysu.edu, or dlfagan@ysu.edu.

Vatican astronomer talks about 'God Under the Dome'
Brother Guy Consolmagno, known as the "Brother Astronomer" at the Vatican in Rome, will visit Youngstown State University's Ward Beecher Planetarium at 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. Although most First Friday groups across the nation meet on Fridays, the Greater Youngstown area group meets on the first Thursday. His topic will be, "Religion and Science: What's the Connection?"

Consolmagno, a native of Detroit, earned undergraduate and masters degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph. D. in planetary science from the University of Arizona, after which he was a researcher at Harvard and MIT. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps (Kenya) and taught university physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989.

He has been at the Vatican Observatory since 1993. His research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies, observing Kuiper Belt comets with the Vatican's 1.8 meter telescope in Arizona, and curating the Vatican meteorite collection. He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and a number of books, including Turn Left at Orion (with Dan Davis), Worlds Apart: A Textbook in Planetary Sciences (with Martha Schaefer), and Brother Astronomer.

Consolmagno has served on the governing board of the Meteoritical Society; is the past president of the International Astronomical Union, Commission 16 (Planets and Satellites) and secretary of Division III (Planetary Systems Sciences); and currently serves as chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. This year he holds the Loyola Chair for visiting Jesuit scholars at Fordham University.

For more information about the First Friday Club luncheon, visit www.firstfridayclubofgreateryoungstown.org, or call 330–533–1023. For more details on the presentation at YSU, call the Department of Physics & Astronomy at 330–941–3616,

Coach Wolford featured at Chamber event

Eric Wolford, Youngstown State University's new head football coach, will be the center of attention at the Youngstown Warren Regional ChamberÕs Business After Hours Mixer 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at Kelly Pavlik's 13^th Round Sports Pub & Grille, 162 S. Bridge St., in Struthers.

Wolford, a Brookfield native and graduate of Ursuline High School, was recently named to head YSU's football program. Other guests of honor will be P.J. Fecko and Dan Reardon, head coaches of the 2009 State Football Champions Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline high schools, respectively. World Middleweight Boxing Champion Kelly Pavlik will be joining the festivities as well.

The event is open to the public. Cost is $20 for Chamber members and $30 for non–members. Reservations are required. Contact Jennifer Mascardine at 330–744–2131 Ext. 12, or email Jennifer@regionalchamber.com. 

YSU Board of Trustees announces meetings
The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees has scheduled the following meetings: 

• Thursday, Feb. 25. Presidential Suites of Kilcawley Center, 2 p.m. Investment Subcommittee, 2:30 p.m. Audit Subcommittee, 3:30 p.m. External Relations Committee, 4 p.m. Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

• Tuesday, March 2. Beeghly Hall, McKay Auditorium, 2 p.m. Internal Affairs, 3 p.m. Finance and Facilities, 4 p.m. Trusteeship Committee.

•  Friday, March 12, Tod Hall, Board Meeting Room, 3 p.m. Board Meeting.

Annual Etiquette Luncheon set for Friday
The American Marketing Association hosts its Seventh Annual Professional Networking and Etiquette Luncheon 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, in the Ohio Room of Kilcawley Center on the Youngstown State University campus.

Networking begins at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at noon.

Students, dressed in business attire, will have the opportunity to utilize networking and etiquette skills offered at training sessions earlier in the week. Thirty–five business professionals will share career advice with students.  

Representatives from accounting firms, services, financial institutions, banks, nonprofit organizations, manufacturing companies, communications/media, transportation, economic development, marketing/public relations, staffing and research organizations and technological firms will attend the event.    

For more information, please contact the Williamson College of Business Administration at 330–941–3064.

Young Investigator Award deadline is March 1

The Youngstown State University Chapter of Sigma Xi announces the first Young Investigator Award.

The award was established to recognize outstanding investigators in the early stages of their career who made meritorious contributions to the scientific areas of the physical sciences and engineering, including mathematics, and the life and social sciences.

Any present or past member of Sigma Xi, or others eligible for membership in Sigma Xi, and who is within 10 years of his or her highest earned degree at the time of nomination, may be nominated for the award. The award includes a certificate of recognition, a $250 honorarium, and a refund of one year of Sigma Xi dues. The recipient of the award will be recognized at the annual Sigma Xi Banquet on April 14.

The nomination requires the submission of a current curriculum vita including a 300– to 500–word statement on the excellence of the research, the significant contributions of the nominee to his or her field of research, the independent nature of the research and the promise of continued productivity in the field. Two letters of nomination from Sigma Xi members (not including the nominee) must be submitted. Nomination materials should be sent by March 1 to: YSU Chapter of Sigma Xi c/o Dr. Paul E. Dalbec, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH 44555.

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