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

Students work with faculty on summer research project
Tracey Malich wants to be a pharmacist.

“I like looking at medicines and finding out what’s in them,” said Malich of Youngstown, who graduated from the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center in Canfield this spring and will attend Youngstown State University in the fall.

“I think it’s interesting learning about how all of the different chemicals work together.”

Malich is one of four students participating in the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED Summer Research Internship Program at YSU. The eight–week program, which runs through Aug. 7, allows economically disadvantaged students to experience what it’s like to be a chemist, working side–by–side with scientist–mentors on research projects in industrial, academic and federal laboratories.

Malich and Nikki Luther, also a graduate of MCCTC who will attend YSU in the fall, are working this summer with Sherri Lovelace–Cameron, YSU associate professor of chemistry, whose research focuses on ferrocenyl organometallic polymers. The students work with Lovelace–Cameron, applying some of the skills they learned in high school chemistry courses.

“Research is a career that most high school students do not think of,” Lovelace–Cameron said. “This program exposes these students to what it is like, in the real world, to work in a lab setting and to see how what they learned in high school chemistry translates into research.”

Also participating in the program this summer are Jennifer Vance, a senior at MCCTC, and Courtney Kelson, a graduate of Campbell Memorial High School. They were nominated for the program by their high school chemistry teachers. Other participating YSU faculty mentors are Diana Fagan, associate professor of biological science, and Peter Norris, professor of chemistry and chair of the YSU Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.

It is the seventh year that the YSU chemistry department has hosted the program. The American Chemical Society provides a $2,800 fellowship to each of the students, with local matching funds from the YSU Foundation.

Comp sci majors conduct research project at Berkeley

Three YSU computer science students are working shoulder–to–shoulder with doctoral–level researchers at the University of California at Berkeley as part of a two–month, expense–paid summer research experience.

Adam Magana, Benjamin Christen and Michael Walker won three of the 12 undergraduate student spots available under Berkeley’s Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology, also known as TRUST, a summer research program.

“The program only accepts 12 students from all over the country, and YSU got a quarter of the openings; I’m proud of that,” said Graciela Perera, assistant professor of Computer Science and Information Systems.

“I’m excited for my students, not only because of the research experience, but also because of the life experience they’ll gain by living in a culturally diverse community like Berkeley.”

She estimates the grant–funded research experience is valued at between $4,000 and $6,000 per student and includes travel costs, food, lodging and a stipend.

While computer science students at YSU do get research experience, Perera said, the TRUST program allows Magana, Christen and Walker to interact with doctoral–level computer science students at Berkeley. She hopes the experience will encourage them to consider pursuing doctorate degrees and university faculty careers.

The YSU students are working together as a team, with a Berkeley faculty member mentor, and will be provided free classes to prepare for the Graduate Records Exam, a prerequisite for entering graduate school in a computer field. Magana, Walker and Christen all said they plan to pursue graduate degrees.

Participation in the TRUST research program, which runs June 8 through July 31, will be the second trip to California this year for Magana, a sophomore from Austintown, and Christen, a junior from Hubbard. They accompanied Perera and made a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic–Serving Institutions, also known as CAHSI, in January at the headquarters of Google Corp., an event sponsor.

CAHSI provided funding for Perera and the two students to attend the meeting and to experience one–on–one interaction with some “extraordinary role models and speakers,” she said.

At that meeting, Perera said, she met Kristen Gates, executive director of education for the TRUST program at Berkeley, and learned about the undergraduate research opportunities it offers each summer.

She invited Christen and Magana to apply, along with Walker, a junior from Boardman. All three students have been assisting Perera on technical research projects, particularly in the field of computer network security.

Info sessions on MBA program set for July 20 and 23
The Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University will host MBA (Master of Business Administration) Information Sessions on:

•  Monday, July 20, 6 to 7 p.m., in Cafaro Suite in Williamson Hall.

• Thursday, July 23, 6 to 7 p.m., in Cafaro Suite, Williamson Hall.

The Flexible MBA program allows students to pursue the degree either part–time or full–time. Classes are offered one night per week and on Saturdays. Some MBA courses are offered in 8–week blocks. Students may start in any term.

The MBA program is accredited by AACSB International, which represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. Only 25 percent of business schools in the United States have earned this accreditation.

To make a reservation or to obtain application information, contact Monique Bradford at 330–941–3069 or email mrbradford@ysu.edu.

YSU faculty/staff honors, presentations, publications
Xiangjia J. Min, assistant professor, Biological Sciences, co–authored a paper, titled “Uncorrected Nucleotide Bias in MtDNA can Mimic the Effects of Positive Darwinian Selection,” which was published in Molecular Biology and Evolution. 

Lee Slivinske, professor, and Johanna Slivinske, part–time instructor, Social Work, published "Technology in Long–Term Care: A Pilot Study" in The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge & Society.

Michael Theall, associate professor, Teacher Education, was elected to a three– year term as president of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). Theall and colleagues presented “The Roles and Skills of Faculty in U.S. and U.K. Higher Education Institutions: What Faculty Need to Succeed” at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, and at POD, they presented additional research titled “Implications and Applications of Data from Research on Faculty Work, Roles and Skills.” Theall also gave an invited presentation, “Faculty Learning Communities as Leadership Vehicles for Exploring the Meta–Profession of the Professoriate and Revitalizing Collegial Campus Dialogue,” at the annual National Lilly Conference on College Teaching.

Alina Lazar, associate professor, Computer Science and Information Systems, and Bradley Shellito, associate professor, Geography, published a chapter entitled “Classification in GIS Using Support Vector Machines” in the Handbook of Research on Geoinformatics. 

Paul R. Carr, assistant professor, Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership, had an article entitled “Antiracist Education” published in the SAGE Encyclopedia of Cultural and Social Foundations of Education and an article entitled “The Equity Waltz in Canada: The connection between the formal and informal realities of racism” published in the Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education. 

Gary Salvner, professor and chair, English, presented a session entitled “Young Adult Verse Novels” at the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention in San Antonio.