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

• YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble releases new CD
• YSU alum to address Hispanic Heritage Celebration
• YSU faculty/staff awards, publications, presentations
  

Calendar
Tuesday, July 29. The YSU Board of Trustees meets on the following schedule: 4:30 p.m., Joint Finance and Facilities and Internal Affairs Committees, President’s Conference Room, Tod Hall; 5 p.m., Investment Subcommittee, President’s Conference Room, Tod Hall; 5:30 p.m., Special Board Meeting, Board Meeting Room, Tod Hall.                                   

Storm video
A storm that swept through the YSU campus on Tuesday, July 22, destroyed 13 trees, caused minor roof damage and created minor flooding problems in several buildings on campus. The most severe flooding was in Beeghly Center and the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center. For video of the storm at its height, go to http://www.ysu.edu/videos/.

YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble releases new CD

Youngstown State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble’s latest CD is titled “Urban Requiem” and features six compositions performed by faculty in the YSU Dana School of Music.

The CD is released by the NAXOS International Recording Label, widely regarded as the world''s leading classical music label. NAXOS has a five year exclusive recording contract with the YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, which is conducted by Stephen L. Gage, professor of music and YSU director of bands.

The CD includes compositions performed by Dana faculty members James Umble, Kent Engelhardt, Kathryn Thomas Umble and Robert Fitzer (deceased). YSU alumni Allen Cordingley and Joseph Carey are also featured as soloists on the recording.

The YSU Symphonix Wind Ensemble has released six CD recordings since 1998 and the fourth project, "Spin Cycle" was honored by Downbeat Magazine as its 2004 University Classical Recording of the Year.

NAXOS recordings are available on virtually all of the major on–line CD outlets.ﾠ For more information on “Urban Requiem,” visit http://www.naxos.com/newreleases.asp.

YSU alum to address Hispanic Heritage Celebration

Alvaro Ramirez, a Youngstown State University alumnus and assistant professor of modern languages at Saint Mary’s College of California, will give the keynote address at the area Hispanic Heritage Celebration at YSU.

The celebration, the key event for the area’s observance of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 through Oct. 15), is scheduled on Friday, Sept. 19, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in the Chestnut Room of YSU’s Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus. It is free and open to the public.

The master of ceremonies for the celebration will be Atty. Edwin Romero of Manchester, Bennett, Powers & Ullman.

The celebration theme is “The Legacy of Hispanics in the Mahoning Valley” and will showcase the history and talents of the Hispanic community in the Mahoning Valley. Participants can park free in the M–1 Parking Deck on Wick Avenue.

In addition to the keynote speaker, the celebration will include a flag ceremony, with area Hispanic college students displaying heritage flags from 22 Hispanic countries, display tables, a dance presentation featuring “Flamenco Fuerte,” recognition of student achievements in the local Hispanic community, refreshments, and dancing to the music of disc jockey Kenny Reyes Productions.

For more information on the celebration, contact Susan Moorer, YSU coordinator of diversity initiatives, at 330–941–2718.

Ramirez, who is from Michoacen, Mexico, received a bachelor’s degree from YSU in 1982, a master’s degree from the University of Southern California in 1985 and Ph.D. in Spanish Golden Age and 20^th Century Latin American Literature in 1993. He has taught at the University of Southern California, Occidental College, and California State University, Long Beach, and joined St. Mary’s in 1993. He also serves as resident director for the Saint Mary’s College Semester Program in Cuernavaca, M￩xico. He has published creative writing and articles on Don Quixote, Mexican film, and Chicano studies in several academic journals. He is currently working on a book on Mexican culture.

Other events planned for Hispanic Heritage Month include:

• Saturday, Sept. 13, 9 p.m.
  The Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana hosts its Annual Dance at OCCHA, 3660 Shirley Road. Cost is $15.00 per person. For more information, contact Gloria De Los Santos at 330–799–4038.

• Wednesday, Sept. 17, 6 to 8 p.m.
  The Hispanic Heritage Art Exhibit at The Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown. The exhibit features the works of Hispanic artists. (Co–sponsored with LUNA.)

• Thursday, Sept. 18, 4 to 6 p.m. 
  Workshop and panel discussion on “Dispelling Myths about Latinos and Latin American Heritage” on the fifth floor of the Maag Library at YSU. Dr. Mehera Gerardo will serve as the moderator.

• Friday, Sept. 19, 5:30 p.m.
  Hispanic Heritage Celebration. Dr. Alvaro Ramirez will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Ramirez is an assistant professor, Saint Mary’s College of California. Atty. Edward Romero will serve at the master of ceremonies. The theme is, “The Legacy of Hispanics in the Mahoning Valley.” Free and open to the public. (Co–sponsored with Home Savings and the YSU Office of the Provost.)

• Saturday, Sept. 20, 10 a.m.
  Hispanic Heritage group discussion on “Celebrating the Past and Embracing the Future ” at the Public Library of Youngstown/Mahoning County, 305 Wick Ave., Youngstown. For more information, contact Deborah Liptak at 330–744–8636, ext. 118, or Susan Moorer at 330–941–2718.

• Thursday, Sept. 25, 9 a.m.
  The 2008 Annual Educators and Community Helping Hispanics Onward, Inc. (ECHHO) College Fair will be held at OCCHA, 3660 Shirley Road, Youngstown.ﾠ This is a college access program geared to target Hispanic/Latino high school students from the ninth through twelfth grade levels. For more information, contact Maggie McClendon, ECHHO president, at 330–941–3243. (Co–sponsored by ﾠYSU’s Department of Undergraduate Admissions, OCCHA, and ECHHO)

• Friday, Oct. 24, 5:30 p.m.
  OCCHA Dinner at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman. Cost is $40 per person. For more information contact Mary Isa Garayua, executive director, at 330–781–1808.

YSU faculty, staff honors, presentations, publications
Mark F. Toncar, professor, Marketing, presented “Student Perceptions of and Preferences for a Short Overseas Study Tour,” at the 2008 College Teaching & Learning Conference in Orlando, Fla. He also presented “A Sick Business: Counterfeiting the World’s Health,” at the International Academy of Business and Public Administration’s 2008 Spring Conference in Dallas, Texas.

Sal Sanders, assistant professor, Health Professions, has been awarded the 2008 Robert J. Menges New Researcher Award, sponsored by the Special Interest Group for Faculty Teaching, Evaluation and Development of the American Educational Research Association. The award recognizes outstanding scholarship by a new researcher in the areas of postsecondary teaching, evaluation and development.ﾠ Sanders also co–authored an article with John J. Hirschbuhl, a professor of Education at the University of Akron, which was published in the summer 2008 edition of the Journal of Interactive Instruction Development. The article was titled “Effect of Learner Attributes, Dialogue, and Course Structure on Students’ Satisfaction and Performance in Online Allied Health Courses.” 

Helen Guohong Han, assistant professor, Management, presented “A Contingency Model of Self–Monitoring in a Racioethnically Diverse Context” at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in San Francisco.

Jane S. Reid, professor, Marketing, and campus director, Center for Nonprofit Leadership, presented “Further Analysis of the Practical Application of the SELEB Scale to Measure the Differences in Students’ Ratings” at the Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Conference in Savannah, Ga.

Birsen Karpak, professor, Management, made two presentations at the MCDM 2008 — 19^th International Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making, held at the University of Auckland, in Auckland, New Zealand. Karpak’s topics were: “Small Medium Manufacturing Enterprises in Turkey: An Analytic Network Process Framework for Prioritizing Factors Affecting the Performance,” and “Prioritizing of the Commercial Banks in Turkey: An AHP Approach.”

Linda A. Causey, assistant professor, Social Work, presented a paper at the 16^th annual National Association of African–American Studies Conference in Baton Rouge, La. Her paper was titled “Intersections of Race, Class and Gender in the Employment Experiences of African American Women in the Field of Social Work.”

Matt O’Mansky, assistant professor, Sociology and Anthropology, presented a paper, titled “Preclassic Settlement in the Lower Pasi�n River Region: A View from the Petexbatun,” at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, in Vancouver. O’Mansky also co–authored the paper “The Classic Maya Highland–Lowland Frontier: Shifting Patterns of Settlement, Exchange, and Conflict,” and chaired a session on the topic “Investigations in the Preclassic Mesoamerican Lowlands.”

Ron Volpe and Peter Woodlock, professors, Accounting and Finance, co–authored a paper titled “A Survey of Board Financial Literacy” and published in the March/April 2008 edition of Corporate Finance Review.