The YSU chapter of the American Marketing Association recently donated $500 to Homework Express, the YSU—produced television show broadcast throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania. The donation is from marketing consulting fees that students in AMA receive. From left are Homework Express staff John Janacone, Mike Moliterno, Kevin Davis, Lea Nesbitt, Frank Bosale and Tony Marr, along with Joe Edwards, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts, Jocelyn Predina, AMA's vice president of finance, Peter Reday, AMA advisor, and Emily Spurr, AMA marketing consultant. The photo is taken in the Homework Express studios in Bliss Hall.

Calendar
Monday, Dec. 8, 3 to 8 p.m. On the first day of final exams week, YSU’s Department of Campus Recreation and Student Programming presents Exam Jam in the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Programs include cardio line dancing, high ropes course, massage therapy, the Stress–Free Zone, photos with Pete the Penguin, handwriting analysis and more. Participants can win 10 personal training sessions or a digital picture frame. For more details, visit www.ysu.edu/reccenter/.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2 p.m.  A news conference to announce a new partnership between YSU’s Beeghly College of Education and the Liberty Local Schools will be held in Room 2324 in Beeghly Hall on the YSU campus.

Friday, Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m. YSU hosts the annual Jabali celebration in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. See News Brief below.

Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12 and 13. Programs continue at the Ward Beecher Planetarium. Of Space and Time will be presented 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Wilbear’s Adventure will be presented at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Free. For more information, visit http://www.cc.ysu.edu/physics–astro/sked2008.html. 

Sunday, Dec. 14, 2 p.m. YSU fall commencement in Beeghly Center.

Fall commencement is Sunday in Beeghly Center

  Nicole Caravella

Caravella is graduating from the Williamson College of Business Administration with a double major in advertising and public relations and marketing management.

YSU alumnus John Allen Scott, president and chief operating officer of Parsons Corp., will receive an honorary doctor of science degree at commencement. Scott, who lives in Arcadia, Calif., earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from YSU in 1971 and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University in 1973.

During her time at YSU, Caravella has been a member of Alpha Delta Sigma, the American Marketing Association, Beta Gamma Sigma, Golden Key International Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. She has also been on the Dean’s List every semester of her college career and is in the YSU Honors College. 

Last spring, Caravella traveled to Lexington, Ky., with her classmates to present an advertising campaign for AOL at the District 5, National Student Advertising Competition, where the team was awarded fourth place. She has also participated in the Advertising Women of New York Career Conference for two years. Caravella has interned with McConnell Marketing, the Lawrence County Government Center and most recently as a public relations intern at Pipitone Group, where she has worked with clients such as PPG Industrial Coatings and AIG American General.

Caravella hopes to earn a public relations position with an advertising agency in the Pittsburgh area. She also teaches dance in her free time and is a former Lady Steelhound. She is the daughter of Ken and Pam Caravella of West Pittsburg, Pa.

YSU hosts Jabali celebration on Friday, Dec. 12
Youngstown State University will host the 9^th annual Jabali celebration for recognition of African culture and thanksgiving for president–elect Barack Obama at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12 in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. 

Tom Conley, executive director and chief executive of the Warren/Youngstown Urban League, will be the keynote speaker. He will discuss the Urban League and the restoration of hope in the Mahoning Valley.

Entertainment will be provided by the Kent State University African Ensemble and members of the YSU African Student Union. Dinner is $25 for adults and $10 for students. A table of eight is $175. 

For more information, contact the YSU Africana Studies Program at 330–941–3097.

New master’s degree in art education draws students

  Janie Morris

Morris, an art teacher at Liberty High School, is among eight students enrolled in the new master’s program, which won the approval of the Ohio Board of Regents this summer and was started at YSU this fall semester.

“I have really been enjoying the art classes, and they’re great for my students,” she said. “I am a better informed and inspired educator.”

With a unique focus on studio practice, the program is designed for art educators who want to build upon their artistic and pedagogical capabilities through in–depth study in studio and art education theory.

Samuel Adu–Poku, program director and assistant professor of art, said he has pushed for the degree program’s establishment since 2004.

Adu–Poku said that a significant need exists for the program in the Mahoning Valley. “In the first 10 years of employment, art teachers in Ohio need to have 30 credits or a master’s [degree],” he said. “Now, they can hone their skills and keep their jobs, and they don’t have to go all the way to Kent State University to satisfy the state requirements.”

  Samuel Adu–Poku

“The future looks bright [for the program] because there are a whole lot of teachers around, and the special state requirements will compel them to want to go for their master’s degrees,” he said. “Things are going well so far, and people are very interested.”

Adu–Poku, who earned master’s and doctorate degrees from universities in Canada, said that his personal education experiences influenced him to endorse YSU’s new MA program. “My master’s degree increased my level of proficiency as a scholar and an art educator,” he said. “It imbued in me a passion for excellence and research.”

Adu–Poku also feels that teaching at the graduate level will give him an added sense of accomplishment. “I love to teach at all levels, but I will feel inadequate should I spend all my career teaching at the undergraduate level,” he said. “I find my niche at the graduate level where advanced research and teaching is the norm, and where my students can be deeply engaged in art education discourse.”

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