A free screening of the award—winning documentary, FUEL, will take place 4 p.m. Sunday, June 21, on the YSU campus.

• YSU hosts free screening of acclaimed documentary, FUEL
• Peace Officer Academy graduates 500^th student
• Nursing department wins award for pilot project

YSU hosts free screening of acclaimed documentary, FUEL
Youngstown State University and the city of Youngstown will host a free public screening of the internationally–acclaimed documentary, FUEL, at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 21, in Schwebel Auditorium in Moser Hall on the YSU campus.

The film, an insightful portrait of America’s addiction to oil and a testament to the immediacy of new energy solutions, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

The film’s director, Josh Tickell, who spent 11 years and traveled to more than 25 countries to create the movie, will answer audience questions following the screening, at approximately 5:45 p.m.

The screening and Q&A session are free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the F1 parking lot on campus at the corner of Wick Avenue and University Plaza.

FUEL takes viewers on a tour of the petrochemical industry, covering everything from Rockefeller’s efforts to derail Ford’s first ethanol cars to legislation designed to benefit the petrochemical industry. Throughout the film, Tickell reveals a gamut of available solutions to “repower America,” from vertical farms that occupy skyscrapers to algae facilities that turn wastewater into fuel. Tickell and an array of environmentalists, policymakers and entertainment notables, including Sheryl Crow, Julia Roberts and Willie Nelson, shed light on America’s complicated, often ignominious energy past and illuminate a future where decentralized, sustainable living is not only possible, it’s imperative.

The film’s other awards include: Most Compelling Documentary at the Sedona Film Festival, Current Energy Environmental Award at the AFI Dallas Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Documentary at the GAIA Film Festival, Producer’s Award at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, and the Cinema for Peace Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

For more information about the film, visit www.thefuelfilm.com.

The screening coincides with the two–day “Sustainable Energy Forum” hosted by YSU and the city of Youngstown on Monday and Tuesday, June 22 and 23. The forum brings together representatives from government, industry and academe to focus on technologies related to renewable energy and energy efficiency and to discuss the role that the Cleveland–to–Youngstown–to–Pittsburgh Technology Belt can play in those emerging technologies. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D–17^th, will give the opening keynote address on Monday, June 22.

Peace Officer Academy graduates 500th students
Nineteen students graduated this spring from Youngstown State University’s Peace Officer Training Academy, bringing to 500 the number of aspiring police officers the program has trained since it began in March 2000.

Now in its 10^th year of operation, the academy has graduates working at police departments in cities such as Fayetteville, N.C. and Ocean City, Md., and with departments across the Mahoning Valley. One graduate landed a job as a special agent with the U.S. State Department and has traveled all over the world in the position.

“Job prospects seem to be pretty good, if you’re willing to move,” said Rick Mahan, academy coordinator and a former Niles police officer. “A fair share of our kids get jobs locally, too.”

Housed in the Department of Criminal Justice in Cushwa Hall, the academy is certified by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. Students who complete the 582–hour course and meet certain physical fitness standards qualify to sit for a state police officer certification examination.

Most cadets in the academy are also pursuing bachelor’s or associate’s degrees in criminal justice. For them, the course counts as 12 semester hours toward their degree. Out of 24 who joined the academy for spring semester, he said, 20 are working toward a degree.

The course is also available on a non–credit basis for people who have lost a job or are looking to jump–start a career in law enforcement. “Sometimes that’s the way to go, especially if you want to start work right away,” said Mahan, adding that police agencies sometimes hire academy graduates and then pay their college costs as a fringe benefit.

Academy classes cover a range of topics, including firearms training, self–defense, first aid and CPR, field sobriety testing, riot control, bombs and explosives, and legal issues. Many of the instructors are police chiefs for departments in the region and active police officers.

While academy students are predominantly male, Mahan said the number of women has been rising steadily, as the demand for women in law enforcement grows. Class size is limited to 30, and some have had as many as seven women; the spring class had two.

“One thing we’ve seen is that every academy class has been full at the beginning, and we do no advertising. It’s just word of mouth,” Mahan said.

Nursing department wins award for pilot project
In recognition of its work in the “Safe Patient Handling and Movement” pilot project, the Youngstown State University Department of Nursing was awarded the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Partnering Award for Worker Health and Safety.

The patient handling project, implemented in 2005, was a collaborative effort of the American Nurses Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and it was aimed at the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries experienced by nurses.

YSU professors Dorcas Fitzgerald and Pamela Schuster, former associate professor Sharon Phillips, and former graduate students Amy Weaver and Gina Severino had a hand in the national research project, drawing up a proposal, implementing the safe handling curriculum and testing students and faculty before and after implementation.

Data collection from the patient handling project is complete, and the research findings have been put to good use, Fitzgerald said. “ANA and NIOSH have now used the data to develop policies and procedures to illustrate to health care facilities how to implement safe patient handling initiatives,” she said.

Having earned the NORA award for its work, the YSU nursing department can be proud of its achievement, said Fitzgerald, who serves on the board of directors at the Ohio Nurses Association and is a member of the ANA House of Delegates.

“It’s a great feeling of accomplishment that so many students got to participate in ‘evidence–based practice’ and learn firsthand how important research is to nurses for better and safer practices in nursing care,” she said.

For more information on the NORA Partnering Award, visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/NORA.