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

• YSU student leads efforts for philosopher’s marker
• YSU celebrates Centennial with All Alumni Reunion
• YSU faculty/staff awards, publications, presentations

Calendar
Monday, June 23, 11 a.m. Arden L. Bement Jr., director of the National Science Foundation, joins U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and YSU President David C. Sweet to cut the ribbon on a new chemistry laboratory at YSU. The ribbon–cutting ceremony is on the fifth floor of Ward Beecher Hall on the YSU campus. The event is part of a day–long visit to YSU by Bement. Bement speaks 9 a.m. in Room 3022 in Ward Beecher Hall. He also will be presented research projects by YSU students and faculty starting at 9:30 a.m. on the third floor of Ward Beecher Hall.

Monday, June 23 to Saturday, June 28. More than 125 students from across Ohio participate in Ohio Business Week at YSU. Students form companies and learn business skills, concepts, and theories from local and regional business leaders and compete in activities that promote leadership and ingenuity. Most activities are in Kilcawley Center at YSU. For more information, call Christine Shelton at 330–941–3068.

Friday, June 27, 2:30 p.m. News conference to update the progress of the YSU Centennial Capital Campaign. Location is the new Howard W. Jones statue on the south side of Tod Hall on the YSU campus.

YSU student leads effort for philosopher’s marker

An Ohio Historical marker celebrating the life of renowned philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine will be dedicated this week thanks to the efforts of Youngstown State University student Chad Miller.

The marker will be placed at Oberlin College in the landscaped green of the King Building. The dedication ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, which is the centennial of Quine’s birth.

Born and raised in Akron, Quine earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and philosophy from Oberlin in 1930 before going on to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1932.

“It will be a nice celebration of philosophy and the life of a philosopher,” said Miller, who graduated from YSU in December with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and psychology and is now studying chemistry as a graduate student.

As part of his senior capstone project, Miller led the effort to get the historical marker approved by the Ohio Historical Society. “Quine is arguably the most important philosopher of the 20^th century, and philosophers don’t get many monuments,” Miller said. “Acknowledging him makes us feel very proud.”

Quine held the Edgar Pierce Chair of Philosophy at Harvard from 1956 to 2000. His writings focused on mathematical logic, set theory, the philosophy of language and the philosophy of logic. Quine died in December 2000, and his ashes rest between his parents in the Glendale Cemetery in Akron, with portions scattered in Cambridge, Mass., Harvard, Mass., and Meriden, Conn., with his wife, Marjorie.

Bruce Waller, chair of Philosophy and Religious Studies at YSU, said Quine was an extraordinary talent who shaped intellectual thought in America. “We would be hard pressed to find any [modern day] philosopher who wouldn’t put him near the top,” Waller said.

Miller submitted an application totaling 330 pages to the Ohio Historical Society based on Quine’s contributions to philosophy and logic, among other fields. Miller said the lengthy application was necessary “to prove from a historical perspective why Quine was important.” The Historical Society requires the use of primary sources and Miller had to prove not only Quine’s historical significance, but all the information featured on the marker. To do so, Miller used sources as diverse as patents and inventions based on Quine’s work, Quine’s personal papers and his honorary degrees.

At the dedication, Miller will be presenting a reflection of his contributions to the project. He will share the podium with Warren Goldfarb, a leading logician from Harvard University, State Rep. Robert F. Hagan and Quine’s family. Colleagues and philosophers from around the country will also be taking part in the ceremony.

During the ceremony, the “Quine Tones,” a musical delegation of YSU faculty, staff and students will perform “A Modern Major Quine,” a spoof derived from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.” This will be the premier of the piece that Goldfarb originally penned in 1978 as a tribute to Quine’s role as a contemporary philosopher.

Preparing for his role in the ceremony, Miller admitted that much of Quine’s work is lost on him, “though I love the way he can make his (quite complex) arguments sensible.” For Miller, “learning about Quine’s life, from his fascination with geographical boundaries to the way he spent his retirement years, has been, at times, even more rewarding than reading his philosophy.”  

YSU celebrates Centennial with All Alumni Reunion
Alumni from across the nation will converge on the Youngstown State University campus for the All Alumni Reunion on Saturday, July 12.

The reunion, held in conjunction with the YSU Summer Festival of the Arts and Forte on the Fifty, is a fun–filled day for alumni and their families to celebrate YSU’s 100^th birthday and partake in food, music, fireworks and special displays, demonstrations and performances across the campus.

The schedule for the day:

• Noon to 5 p.m. Special Events in Each College. Interact with professors, current students and fellow alumni through an array of activities and demonstrations in each of the colleges and throughout campus.ﾠ

• 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Summer Festival of the Arts. A juried art show featuring the works of local, regional and national artists, this event welcomes over 60 artists yearly. Music, dance, theatrical performances, the Festival of Nations, a children’s hands–on art tent and much more complement the art and attract a diverse crowd.

• 5 to 6:30 p.m. Alumni Dinner. A buffet will be offered and numerous prizes, including a grand prize worth over $1,000, will be given away during this reunion dinner in the Chestnut Room, Kilcawley Center.ﾠ Reservations required.

• 7 p.m. Forte on the Fifty. Stambaugh Stadium is the place to be for spectacular fireworks and musical entertainment.

For a complete event schedule and reservation form. Visit www.ysu.edu/alumni and click the All Alumni Reunion link. Or call 330–941–1591.

YSU faculty/staff awards, publications, presentations
Helene J. Sinnreich, director, Judaic and Holocaust Studies, History, gave two invited lectures in Mississippi, one at Rust College in Holly Springs on comparative genocide, and the other at the University of Mississippi on women of the Lodz Ghetto.

Denise A. Narcisse, assistant professor, Sociology and Anthropology, presented the paper “Her Long and Winding Road Into a Profession: Suggested Career Consequences and Policy Implications” at the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology Annual Conference in Ann Arbor–Ypsilanti, Mich.

John Russo, co–director, Center for Working–Class Studies, and coordinator, Labor Studies Program, was a participant in the Global Organizing Summit: Organizing, Recognition, and Union Rights, sponsored by the Council of Global Unions at the National Labor College in Washington D.C.

Daniel J. Van Dussen, assistant professor, Sociology and Anthropology, presented a paper titled “Self–Rated Health and Recovery of Lower Physical Activities of Daily Living among Older Adults with Hip Fracture” at the 60th annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in San Francisco. At the same meeting, he also presented a symposium paper, “Depressive Symptoms Among a Sample of Continuous Care Retirement Community Residents.”

Ricky S. George, associate director, Center for Human Services Development, presented at the 19th Annual Ohio Prevention and Education Conference in Columbus. His session was called “Does Your Strategy Work? A Need for an Evaluation.”

Rachael J. Pohle–Krauza, assistant professor, Food & Nutrition, Human Ecology, had the article “Novel Calcium–gelled, Alginate–pectin Beverage Reduced Energy Intake in Nondieting Overweight and Obese Women: Interactions with Dietary Restraint Status” published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Kin P. Moy, assistant professor, Electrical Engineering Technology, has received a $10,000 research grant from the Automotive Research & Technical Center, Taiwan, to develop an Electromagnetic Compatibility Test Plan and Load Simulator for automotive electronic modules.