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

• ‘Give an Hour’ offers mental health services to troops
• Business college honors outstanding senior leadership
• Faculty/staff honors, publications, presentations

‘Give an Hour’ offers mental health services to troops

In response to mental health issues that many American troops experience after returning from service overseas, the Community Counseling Clinic at Youngstown State University is participating in the “Give an Hour” program, which provides an opportunity for area licensed mental health professionals to donate an hour of their time each week to provide free counseling services for returning war veterans.

YSU’s “Give an Hour,” in coordination with the national program of the same name, is just getting off the ground, said Victoria Kress, associate professor of counseling and CCC director, but it has already enlisted the help of five local, licensed mental health professionals. As part of the program, service men and women may schedule free, individual counseling sessions with participating counselors in the CCC’s Beeghly College of Education location.

“We’d like to do all we can to help support our troops who are coming out of wartime environments and who are struggling with related mental health issues,” Kress said. “ ‘Give an Hour’ will provide free counseling services for these men and women.”

A recent report from RAND said that more than 18 percent of troops returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of post–traumatic stress disorder or major depression. Nearly 19 percent of war veterans said that they have experienced a possible traumatic brain injury as a result of service, RAND reported.

In addition to the “Give an Hour” program, the CCC offers counseling services, consultations and counseling referral services at no cost to YSU students, and for a small fee — usually $1 — to community residents.

For more information, or to schedule a visit with a CCC counselor, call 330–941–3056 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Evening appointments are available.

Business college honors Outstanding Senior Leadership

The Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University presented the “Outstanding Senior Leadership” awards at a graduation brunch on Dec. 14. The awards recognize students in each major for outstanding academic performance, leadership contributions and commitment to professional development:

• Accounting Senior Leadership Award: Christopher Nadaud of Austintown, Nicole Mraz of Canfield, and Erin Laughlin of Austintown.

 

 

 

 

• Marketing Senior Leadership Award: Nicole Caravella of West Pittsburgh, Pa., and Joseph Foos of Girard.
  

    Melissa Mistovich

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Management Senior Leadership Award: Melissa Mistovich
  

    Linda Jean Balogh, WCBA award
  of Lake Milton and Linda Jean Balogh of Struthers.

 

 

 

 

• Finance Senior Leadership Award: Jordan Winters of Boardman. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faculty/staff honors, presentations, publications
Ian J. Renne, assistant professor, Biological Sciences, presented two papers at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Milwaukee. The first was titled “An empirical–based model for predicting scale–dependent shifts in grassland invisibility,” and his poster presentation was titled “Eavesdropping in plants: A test of the biochemical recognition hypothesis.” YSU student authors of the poster presentation were Gregory W. Shook Jr., a graduate student and the lead author, with undergraduates Brandon T. Sinn, David M. Sedlacko and Jessica R. Dull. 

Thomas P. Diggins, associate professor, Biological Sciences, and co–author Erin K. Pfeil, a graduate student, presented a paper titled “A conceptual model of forest succession and diversity in eastern riparian zones” at the Ecological Society of America meeting in Milwaukee.

John Murphy, professor, Theater and Dance, provided design, art direction and construction services for “The Contract,” an HD movie short–film project. The movie was filmed in the Youngstown area last summer.

Rangamohan V. Eunni, assistant professor, Management, co–edited a special issue of the International Journal of Emerging Markets, and that issue has been recognized as one of three highly commended special issues published by Emerald Group Publishing in 2007. The issue was titled “Small to Medium Enterprises in Emerging Markets.”

Paul R. Carr, assistant professor, Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership, co–edited a book titled Doing Democracy: Striving for Political Literacy and Social Justice, published by Peter Lang. The book includes some 20 chapters by leading scholars from six countries, with a foreword by James A. Banks, one of the leading scholars in multicultural education. 

Paul Rohrbaugh, instructor, Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership, devised a postcard game called Showtime Hanoi, his third in a series, which was published by Against the Odds: A Journal of History and Simulation. The game was used as a tournament competition by attendees of the 2008 Consimworld Expo Gaming Convention in Tempe, Ariz. In addition, Rohrbaugh presented on educational gaming resources and considerations at the GAMA Origins Convention in Columbus, and he had an article titled “A Designer''s Challenge: The Design and History of Pocket Battle Games,” published in Against the Odds: A Journal of History and Simulation.

Annette M. Burden, assistant professor, Mathematics, and interim director, Distance Education, has earned certification in Systems Planning and Management and in Instructional Design and Facilitation. Burden was also elected president of the International Society of Technology in Education special interest group for technology coordinators, and she was appointed one of six faculty members from U.S. colleges and universities to represent academia on the Maple Academic Advisory Board.

Will Greenway, professor, English, had his poem titled “The Wheezy Pump” published in the spring–summer edition of The Comstock Review. His poems “Underground” and “Eurydice” were published in the fall–winter issue of Ekphrasis and the anthology After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life–Shattering Events, respectively.

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