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

Calendar
Monday, March 2, noon.  The YSU Center For International Studies and Programs hosts an information session on study abroad opportunities in the James Gallery of Kilcawley Center. For more information, call 330–941–2336 or e–mail cisp@ysu.edu.

Monday, March 2, 8 p.m. Dana Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Hristo Popov, features guest celloist Michael Gelfand, in Ford Family Recital Hall at DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown.

Tuesday, March 3, 8 p.m. Faculty Artist Recital features the New Amici Trio and Guests (Hristo Popov, violin; Michael Gelfand, cello; Sarkis Baltaian, piano; Calvin Lewis, violin) in Bliss Recital Hall.

Wednesday, March 4, 12:15 p.m. New Music performs a Music at Noon concert in the Butler Institute of American Art. Free.

Wednesday, March 4, 8 p.m. New Music Society concert, directed by Robert Rollin, with guest artists Thomas Osuga, piano, and Andrea Lee, cello, and guest composer Paul Mealor, in Bliss Recital Hall.

Friday, March 6, 11 a.m. Dana Convocation Series New Music Society Concert featuring Thomas Osuga, piano, and Andrea Lee, cello, and guest composer Paul Mealor, in Bliss Recital Hall,

Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7. Ward Beecher Planetarium shows “Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity” 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The planetarium also shows “The Case of the Disappearing Planet” at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Thursday, March 5, 7:05 p.m., and Saturday, March 7, 2:05 p.m. Women’s basketball squad finishes out the regular season Thursday against Butler and Saturday against Valparaiso in Beeghly Center.

Saturday, March 7. National Association of Teachers of Singing competition in Bliss Hall.

YSU Housing wins Outstanding Project Award
The Office of Housing and Residence Life at Youngstown State University has received the Great Lakes Region Outstanding Project Award from the Association of College and University Housing Officers.

It is university Housing’s fifth regional award in as many years.

The Outstanding Project Award was given for the “Love Where You Live” campaign, developed by Erin Driscoll, assistant director for Housing and Residence Life.

Driscoll said the campaign was created after Housing and Residence Life staff asked the question, “How do you get 40 freshmen housing residents to create a community with each other, keep community bathrooms clean for each other and respect each other’s needs for quiet time to sleep and study?”

The project gives students the opportunity to understand the importance of their role in the residence hall community.

“It became clear that we needed to invite and engage our students in becoming as committed to our community as our staff,” Driscoll said.

“Love Where You Live” is designed to educate students living in university Housing that they can play a major role in creating the best possible residential environment for themselves and for their fellow residents, she said.

Numerous studies have shown that a positive residential environment impacts student success, retention and degree completion. Across the nation, university housing professionals are dedicated to creating environments for students that promote positive learning outcomes and maximize student opportunities for success.

The “Love Where You Live” campaign began with promotional banners, bookmarks and posters that presented the philosophy that each member of the community — resident, cleaning crew, maintenance worker, housing staff — plays a significant role in making the residence halls “not just a place to live but a place to love,” Driscoll said.

The program has been very successful. Driscoll said that feedback from students living in university housing conveys a wide variety of reasons they love living on campus in the residence halls.

The Great Lakes region of the Association of College and University Housing Officers (GLACUHO) awarded the Outstanding Program Award because the program is so successful at YSU and because it has great potential to be applied on other campuses. GLACUHO consists of university housing professionals throughout Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

YSU has received numerous GLACUHO recognitions in recent years, including Outstanding New Professional for Harry Meyer, assistant director (2003); Outstanding Innovation Award for the “Dump & Run” recycling program (2003), Distinguished Service Award for Jack Fahey, executive director of student services (2004); Newcomer’s Professional Development Scholarship for Melissa Kirbyﾠ (2005); Outstanding New Professional for Jacqueline Clifton, housing coordinator (2007); and Outstanding Project Award for “Love Where You Live” (2008).

70 students inducted into Golden Key Honor Society
Seventy Youngstown State University students have been inducted into the Golden Key International Honor Society.

Golden Key, with chapters at more than 365 colleges and universities across the world, is the world’s largest collegiate honor society. Membership is by invitation only to the top 15 percent of college/university sophomores, juniors and seniors and top performing U.S.ﾠ graduate students. This year’s induction ceremony was Friday, Feb. 20 in Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus. 

This year’s inductees: Lauren Antonucci of Canfield, Andrea Armeni of Youngstown, Bridget Asempapa of Youngstown, George Aucreman of Warren, Tarik Awad of Canfield, Jennifer Backo of Youngstown, Amanda Balch of Campbell, Megan Bean of Cleveland, Elizabeth Boardwine of Elyria, Brian Bober of New Castle, Brenna Burke of Canfield, Kristy Caracci of Warren, Donald Cavanaugh of Struthers, Bradley Ceremuga of Hermitage, Pa., Byoung Choi of Youngstown, Linnea Cianci of Greenville, Pa., Felicia Ciotola of Canfield, Alyssa Connelly of Warren, Michael Cooper of Canfield, Joy Cutright of Youngstown, Harry Day of Vienna, Daniel De Maiolo of Youngstown, Derek De Maiolo of Youngstown, Thomas DeToro of Youngstown, Jerod Dodd of Corry, Pa., Sarah Elek of Elyria, Nancy Foster of Beaver Falls, Pa., Katherine Garret of Canfield, Colleen George of Youngstown, Lisa Goterba of Hubbard, Brett Grabman of Boardman, Mary Grimm of Steubenville, Timothy Hancher of Youngstown, Kristen Hanna of Austintown, Nicole Haralambopoulous of Youngstown, Tyler Hardgrove of Ravenna, Vickie Heller of East Palestine, Jocelyn Himes of Girard, Kyle Hoffman of Newton Falls, Alana Kady of Struthers, Jacqueline Kallay of Austintown, Safa Khaleq of Youngstown, Sepideh Khavari of Warren, Tiffany Kostan of McDonald, Irena Lanc of Youngstown, Tiffany Leszunov of Imperial, Pa., Christopher Lettera of Girard, Candace Lev of Hubbard, Melanie Lodyn of Boardman, Benjamin Mabbott of East Liverpool, William Macomber of Youngstown, Ashley Mongelluzzo of Warren, Michelle Myers of Warren, Christopher Nadaud of Youngstown, Rosalie Opritza of Boardman, Matthew Pascarella of Hubbard, Deanna Patrick of Boardman, Michael Perri of Chillicothe, Shane Roche of Youngstown, Joseph Rossi of Canfield, Elizabeth Shoff of Jerusalem, Steve Stamos of Campbell, Joseph Stavely of Orwell, Samantha Tortora of Youngstown, Nicholas Van Such of Campbell, Michael Walker of Campbell, Fred Weidenthal of Youngstown, Sara Weigel of Youngstown, Adam Wigley of Poland and Tace Zona of New Castle.

Frank J. Bosso, professor of Human Performance & Exercise Science at YSU, is the advisor for the YSU chapter of Golden Key. For more information, visit http://www.goldenkey.org/GKIHS.

Seminar for high school students focuses on transportation 
High school students will learn about transportation and careers in engineering and transportation at a free seminar titled “Transportation: Is it the route for you?” on Monday, March 9 in the Schewebel Auditorium in Moser Hall at Youngstown State University.

At the seminar sponsored by the YSU Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering Center, students will hear from professionals from the Ohio Department of Transportation, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, Trumbull County Engineers and the Ohio Contractors Association.

Over the next 10 to 15 years, the United States’ transportation infrastructure will require major repairs and replacements, creating opportunities for a variety of jobs.

For more information contact Carol M. Lamb, Coordinator of YSU Civil and Construction Engineering Technology at 330–941–4625.

Free Music at Noon concerts set for March
Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music, in collaboration with the Butler Institute of American Art, presents Music at Noon throughout the spring semester.

Performances are Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m. in the Butler Institute of American Art. The concerts are free and open to the public. Parking is free at the Butler. Here are the performance dates for March:

• March 4 — New Music with guest artists, Robert Rollin, director.
• March18 — Jazz Combos, Kent Engelhardt, director.
• March 25 — Musical Theater Recital, Nancy Wolfgang, director.

For more information, call the Dana School of Music at 330–941–3636.

YSU faculty/staff presentations, publications, awards
Paul R. Carr, assistant professor, Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership, had an article titled “Youth culture, the mass media, and democracy” published in the winter edition of Academic Exchange Quarterly. He also presented a paper titled “Multicultural education, social justice and democracy in education” at the Annual National Association of Multicultural Education Conference in New Orleans.

Denise A. Narcisse, assistant professor, Sociology and Anthropology, presented the paper “Pedagogy and Closing the Achievement Gap: Using Life History Projects to Engage, Motivate, and Teach Minority Students” at the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology annual conference in Jacksonville, Fla.

Shearle Furnish, dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, had a lyric, “The Intensity of Flowers,” reprinted in Big Land, Big Sky, Big Hair: Best of the Texas Poetry Calendar, published by Dos Gatos Press.

William Binning, professor emeritus, Political Science, served as a panelist on an Election Analysis Forum at the California University of Pennsylvania, as part of the American Democracy Project. 

Gunapala Edirisooriya, professor, Department of Educational Foundations, Research, Technology and Leadership, presented a paper, “How to Teach Statistics to Those Who Claim to Suffer from Math Phobia,” at the 38th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Exploring Teaching and Learning in Las Vegas.

Bradley Shellito, associate professor, Geography, published a paper entitled “SATELLITES: A Geospatial Technology Program for Teachers and Students” with coauthors Mikell Hedley, Kevin Czajkowski, Terri Benko, Rick Landenberger, Mandy Munro–Stasiuk and Janet Struble in The Earth Scientist.

Shane V. Smith, assistant professor, Geological & Environmental Sciences, presented “Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Fieldtrips in the Urban Jungle of Youngstown, Ohio” at the 2008 Geological Society of America annual meeting in Houston.

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