YSU multimedia instructor Mark Roberts led a projecct to publish this photo book to benefit childhood cancer research. Read about it in this week's News Briefs.

• Math major wins Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence
• Women Entrepreneurs: Increase Your Possibilities 
• Instructor’s photo book aids cancer research

Calendar
Tuesday, May 19 through Tuesday, May 26. “Holodomor: Genocide by Famine, A Photographic Exhibit” will be on display in the lobby of DeBartolo Hall through Tuesday, May 26. The exhibit is currently on tour around the United States and elsewhere and comes to YSU at the request of George Kulchytsky, retired YSU professor of History and a scholar of Ukrainian history and affairs. It is sponsored by the United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio and hosted with the cooperation of the YSU Department of History. The exhibit is designed to raise awareness of the famine – known in Ukrainian as the Holodomor (“death by starvation”) – that hit the Ukraine during 1932–33. Various accounts place the number of victims anywhere between 3 and 10 million.

Tuesday, May 19, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. “Women Entrepreneurs: Increase Your Possibilities in Today’s World” is presented in the DeBartolo Stadium Club at YSU. See News Brief below.

Tuesday, May 19 through Saturday, May 23. YSU plays in the Horizon League Baseball Championship tournament at Pipe Yard Stadium in Lorain, Ohio. For detailed schedule of games, visit http://www.ysusports.com/.

Friday and Saturday, May 22 and 23, 8 p.m. Ward Beecher Planetarium at YSU presents “Two Small Pieces of Glass.” Also, at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 23, the planetarium presents “Secret of the Cardboard Rocket.” Free. Visit http://www.cc.ysu.edu/physics–astro/planet.htm. 

  Tyler Drombosky

It marks the fifth consecutive year that a nominee from YSU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi has received either a National Fellowship or an Award of Excellence.

A 2005 graduate of Boardman High School, Drombosky is the son of Ken and Cheryl Drombosky. In summer 2007, he participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Colorado School of Mines. In May 2008, he received the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. That summer, Drombosky worked as an intern in the National Security Agency’s Directors Summer Program. He is currently studying in Hungary in the Budapest Semester in Mathematics program.

Women Entrepreneurs: Increase Your Possibilities
Women entrepreneurs are invited to a dinner and panel discussion on Tuesday, May 19, entitled “Women Entrepreneurs: Increase Your Possibilities in Today’s World.” 

The event showcases local entrepreneurs, including: Lisa Dickson – CSP, RESA, LGLS, IDS Affiliate, president of Decorating in a Day Corporation and Stage It 2 Sell It; Patsy Kouvas, vice chair, AVI Foodsystems, Inc.; and Vicki Esoldo Javens, SLP/CCC, president, Atlas Rehab & Wellness, founder of Premier Therapy. 

The dinner program will be 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the DeBartolo Stadium Club at Stambaugh Stadium on the Youngstown State University. 

The event is sponsored by the YSU Williamson College of Business Administration, the Emerging Markets Initiative, the Partners for Workplace Diversity, and the Youngstown Business & Professional Women. 

Registration fee is $10. To register, call the Office of the Dean, Williamson College of Business Administration, at 330–941–3064. Payment can be mailed to the Williamson College of Business Administration, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555.

Instructor’s photo book aids cancer research
Photography and childhood cancer research have little in common, but a recently published book project led by Youngstown State University multimedia instructor Mark Roberts has brought the two together.

The book, titled Pentax–Discuss Mail List (PDML) Photo Annual, is comprised of photographs submitted by 59 photographers across the globe, with all of the profits from the book’s sales going to the world’s largest childhood cancer research organization, the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. NCCF works to identify cancer causes and to pioneer new treatments and cures.

Roberts’ interest in childhood cancer research is linked with his partner, Lisa Teot, a pediatric pathologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a member of the Children’s Oncology Group, which is supported by the NCCF.

The idea for the photo book originated last year on the Pentax e–mail list, which includes photographers who use Pentax equipment. This year, Roberts committed himself to seeing the project through, employing his talents as well as those of other photographers on the list.

“I was familiar with the good work [NCCF does], and knowing that the whole effort is going to benefit a good cause makes all the participants more willing to do their best for it,” said Roberts, a full–time instructor at YSU since 2006 who has published photos in national magazines such as Runner’s World.

“I was astonished at the general quality of the photos we received. I don’t think we’d have had such a tremendous response if we’d just been doing a book for its own sake.”

In December 2008, members of the PDML from 15 countries, including Norway, Serbia and Hungary, began submitting their top photographs via Roberts’ Web site. Photos depicted a wide variety of subjects, ranging from serene landscapes to fast–paced fashion shows. Roberts edited and assembled the book electronically, and his knowledge of Photoshop allowed him to avoid printing a large number of proofs. As of Feb. 17, the 120–page book was complete and available for purchase online for $32.95.

Although this was the first PDML Photo Annual, Roberts plans to have a hand in future photo compilation books by the mailing list’s photographers. With his newly gained knowledge and experience in book construction, Roberts, who earned a master’s degree in multimedia from Duquesne University, is already looking forward to further publications.

“After getting the first one done, I think we’ve learned enough to make the production of future editions go even more smoothly,” he said.

The PDML Photo Annual is available at www.blurb.com. It has earned a “Staff Pick” label and has been featured on the self–publishing Web site’s “Best Sellers” section. Additionally, Blurb has requested permission to use the PDML Photo Annual as a sample to show prospective clients.

“That’s a pretty good testament to how impressed they are at least,” Roberts said.

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