Aroundkent magazine Vol 17 2018 by aroundKent Magazine

PORTHOUSE THEATRE Celebrating 50 Years

Re co w

www.aroundkent.net publisher/photographer Matt Keffer 330.221.1274 info@aroundkent.net

art director Susan Mackle

contributing writers Don Abbott Lizette Barton Kelly Hambly Elliott Ingersoll, Ph.D. Mark Keffer Joni Koneval Dr. Patrick O’Connor Ricardo Sepúlveda Paul S. Wang

content volume 17 2018 6 Portage Park District

Keeps On Growing

9 A Music Gem in Northeast Ohio 14 50 Years of Porthouse Theatre 20 Visual Art Showcase

28 “Net Neutrality” Is Not A Slogan 34 Akron Art Museum 2018 Exhibits

Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content of any manner is prohibited without written permission. aroundkent accepts no responsibility for solicited materials.

38 Haymaker Farmers’ Market

42 The Road Less Traveled 48 The Snarky Gardener 51 Travels with Jimmie: Life with an ADHD Brain

56 University Hospitals Cover: Photo Courtesy of Bob Christy

38 42 48

fter decades of struggling with a meager budget, the Portage Park District has been going through something of a growth spurt recently, with the addition of over 400 acres in and around Kent. For those residents of Portage County who have been around long enough to watch the Portage Park District grow, it’s been truly exciting to witness – for those that are just getting acquainted with the Portage Parks, allow us to share a short history and plans for the future.

A Humble Beginning Portage Park District was newly formed in 1991 as an independent government agency, organized the same way as other Park Districts and Metroparks in Ohio, with a mission focused on land conservation. Back then, the district’s annual operating budget was only about $15,000 and its only park was the

county-owned Towner’s Woods. Over the next couple of decades, it struggled with unstable funding, getting by on whatever the county government could spare to support its tiny dedicated staff and board while slowly growing its system of parks and trails through grants and donations. “Portage County has tremendous natural resources – clean water, beautiful forests, wetlands and wildlife habitat – it can be easy to take it for granted. But as this region continues to develop, we need to balance it with conservation to protect our vital natural heritage, while we still have the opportunity,” said Christine Craycroft, Executive Director of the district for the past 20 years. “Thankfully, the public showed its support for parks and trails voting to pass our first ever levy in 2014

that finally gives us a stable funding base – it’s made all the difference in the world for our future.”

An Optimistic Time of Growth Portage Parks now manages over 2,000 acres of parkland, including five open parks, a boat access on the Cuyahoga River, and 14 miles of hike and bike trails across the county. The most recent land acquisitions include locations in Kent, Brimfield, Franklin Township, and Streetsboro acquired with the support of state and federal grants and the partnership of other conservation organizations. An additional 215 acres spanning Kent and Brimfield protects over 50 acres of high quality sphagnum peat bog adjacent to the Tom S. Cooperrider Kent Bog State Nature

Portage Park District Keeps On Growing

FOR FUN … FOR HEALTH … FOR LIFE! volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Preserve. It also features rolling hills, old fields, mature woods, and over a half mile of Plum Creek, a tributary to the Cuyahoga River. Park staff, interns, and KSU students have already been at work with conservation research projects and planting trees to restore the floodplain. Potential uses include hiking and mountain biking trails, natural play areas, and picnicking. In Streetsboro, an additional 189 acres in two tracts were acquired within the Tinkers Creek Greenway, a complex system of high quality bogs, fens, forests and the headwaters to Tinkers Creek, the largest tributary to the Cuyahoga. The protected lands help to buffer existing state nature preserves but also have great potential for education and recreation, including accessible trails, primitive camping, fishing, and paddling on a 30 acre lake.

Public Input on Plans for New Parks Welcome The public will be invited to contribute to site planning for those and other as-yet unopened park properties over the next year. The district had already received significant public input as part of its 10-year Strategic Master Plan, adopted in 2016, which charts the course for park system development based on conservation and recreation needs. Countywide public opinion surveys and meetings were consistent with others across the country that prioritized the need for more land protection, and emphasized hiking and biking trails as the primary recreation need.

The Master Plan includes an ambitious network of proposed multipurpose trails connecting communities across the county with neighboring counties. These types of trails, such as The Portage Hike and Bike Trail that runs through Kent, are free, safe places for healthy recreation for all ages and abilities, and they are getting more popular by the year. The plan also highlighted important natural areas for wildlife habitat and water quality that could be conserved as the opportunity arises. Continued on page 8

volume 17 | 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 7

Portage Parks, a Vital Partner in our Community

Park Improvements Across the County for Enhanced Experiences In addition to land acquisition, Portage Park District is working diligently on improving its existing properties, with some of the projects for 2018 listed below: • The eight mile Headwaters Trail, connecting Garrettsville to Mantua, will be getting a fresh surface of limestone, new parking, and signage, thanks to funding from ODNR which also provided funding for the acquisition of over a mile of future trail corridor. • The 504-acre Morgan Park will see construction of three miles of new trail, and a transition of its Meadow Trail to a ¾ mile handicapped accessible trail with a butterfly garden and benches, thanks to a grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation. • Restrooms will be installed at Dix Park, Morgan Park, Shaw Woods, and Headwaters Trail.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

• Towner’s Woods structures will be repaired or replaced. • Natural areas restoration and invasive species control is an essential and ongoing effort.

Connecting People with Nature and Each Other Portage Parks is focused on bringing people to the parks through programming and events like butterfly programs, birding hikes, bioblitzes, citizen science, scout camping, Headwaters Adventure Race, Wild Hikes Challenge, and our Park Rx program. These are just a few examples of how people are engaging with the parks, with more on the way, once programming staff are added to the team. Interested in giving back? A growing volunteer program seeks individuals and groups to help in areas from trail maintenance to wetlands restoration, photography to special event assistance – another way to feel good – by doing good!

By connecting regional trails, working with schools in education and research, offering positive recreational programming and protecting historic areas and open space, Portage Park District’s impact is woven throughout our communities. The tag line For Fun, For Health, For LIFE! sums up its purpose well. Yes, parks are places for all to play and relax, to get fit, and to recharge. But they mean so much more. Not only are they places for social gatherings with family and friends, they stimulate economic development through nature tourism and park-related businesses, and by helping to keep and attract a workforce. Through land and water conservation, parks mitigate the impact of development and protect our clean air and water – the very foundation of life. Our parks are places to enjoy and cherish now, but they are also our connection to the past and an invaluable gift to future generations. To learn more, sign up for our mailing list, or get involved, visit www.portageparkdistrict.org, or call 330-297-7728.

A MUSIC GEM IN NORTHEAST OHIO Photo courtesy of Ann Yeh, KBMF cello alumna 2010 and 2014

IN 1967, a talented committee generated Ricardo SepĂşlveda

the concept of forming The Blossom Festival School, a summer music festival that would train future generations of classical musicians, artists, and musical theatre performers in Northeast Ohio. George Szell, Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra and Louis Lane,

Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra became co-founders of the program along with John A. Flower, Dean of the College of Fine and Professional Arts and Lindsey Merrill, Director of the School of Music at Kent State University. Continued on page 10

volume 17 | 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 9 This musical advisory council included some of the most celebrated and established artists including Victor Babin, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Aaron Copland, Alberto Ginastera, Josef Gingold, Howard Hanson, Robert Shaw, Joseph Szigeti, and Robert Ward. Some of the noted faculty and guest artists included Bernard Goldschmidt, Lynn Harrell, Kurt Loebel, John Mack, Robert Marcellus, Maurice Sharp, Aaron Copland, and John Browning.

In its first season in 1968, The Blossom Festival School’s goal was to provide the experience of comprehensive and intensive study and performance with distinguished musicians, and to this day, this goal remains intact. After a few name modifications, this program is now known as the Kent Blossom Music Festival (KBMF). It brings 43 students, from major conservatories and schools of music all over the world, to Kent State University for a five-week 'in residence' session to receive

lessons, masterclasses, and chamber music coaching from members of The Cleveland Orchestra and Kent State University faculty. Faculty of KBMF perform five concerts throughout the summer and students perform a minimum of nine concerts at Kent State’s Ludwig Recital Hall, the Hudson Library & Historical Society, and Laurel Lake Retirement Community. Thanks to the generosity of the Kulas Foundation and the Kulas Visiting Artist Series, KBMF is able to bring world-renowned

KBMF Students performing chamber music works in Ludwig Recital Hall

Photo courtesy of Ann Yeh, KBMF cello alumna 2010 and 2014

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

guest artists to work intensively with these gifted students. This year, KBMF will be celebrating 50 years of educating and attracting some of the finest chamber music to Northeast Ohio. To celebrate this milestone, the Emerson String Quartet will perform a special concert on Wednesday, July 18 at 7:30 pm in Ludwig Recital Hall. The Emerson String Quartet has amassed an unparalleled list of achievements over four decades with more than 30 acclaimed recordings, nine Grammys® (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, Musical America's "Ensemble of the Year", and collaborations with many of the greatest artists in music history. David Shifrin, a former alumnus of this program and renowned clarinetist, inaugurated the

Kulas Visiting Artist Series in 2013. Mr. Shifrin shares his thoughts about KBMF in an interview with ClevelandClassical.com:

American composer Aaron Copland coaching KBMF students on his own composition “As It Fell Upon a Day”

The summer I was there had to be one of the most intense and interesting times during Kent State’s history. Musically, in addition to Louis Lane working with the student orchestra, Pierre Boulez also did an enormous amount of work with the students. We played Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques and he coached Schoenberg’s Pierrot with the great Jan de Gaetani and a student group. It was a remarkable experience. … Aaron Copland also came as a guest and I remember being coached by him on the song he set for flute clarinet and soprano, As It Fell Upon a Day. Just walking into the cafeteria and seeing Aaron Copland with his tray sitting around and talking about

Former Cleveland Orchestra principal oboist John Mack teaching at KBMF

music with the students was pretty amazing. Yes, Boulez, Copland, de Gaetani and members of The Cleveland Orchestra – it was pretty inspiring. Other KBMF’s most successful alumni will return to perform and teach during the summer’s festival. 1969 alum, violinist Philip Setzer recalls: The experience I had at Kent Blossom not only prepared me well for college, it also led directly to my forming a string quartet a year later, which later became the Emerson String Quartet. … I remember walking with my parents (who were both members of The Cleveland Orchestra) after our performance Continued on page 12

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

The Emerson String Quartet will perform a special concert on Wednesday, July 18 at 7:30 pm in Kent State University’s Ludwig Recital Hall

Continued from page 11 of the Brahms C Minor Piano Quartetand remarking that I thought this is what I wanted to do with my life. And, indeed, chamber music has been my professional life. I honestly don’t think I would have taken this road if I hadn’t had such a positive experience at Kent Blossom. Jerry Grossman, 1969 alum and principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1986 will join the quartet in a performance of Schubert’s S tring Quintet in C major, Op. 163.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

As in the past, this year’s talented students will: receive extensive orchestral training; hone their chamber music and solo repertoire skills; and perform alongside The Cleveland Orchestra on Saturday, July 21 at Blossom Music Center. The Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra will perform at 7:00 pm, conducted by The Cleveland Orchestra’s Assistant Conductor Vinay Parameswaran (in his Blossom Music Festival debut). The Cleveland Orchestra’s concert will begin at 8:00 pm, featuring the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra performing

side-by-side with The Cleveland Orchestra on Berlioz’s O verture to Benvenuto Celliniand Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music. The 2018 season runs from July 1 through August 5 and also includes performances from the Miami String Quartet with pianist Spencer Myer, from the members of The Cleveland Orchestra and from noted guest artists. For more information about 2018 KBMF, please visit www.kent.edu/blossom, call 330-672-2613 or email kbm@kent.edu.

alking into the “Meet & Greet” on the first official day of Porthouse Theatre’s season is a bit of a combination of the first day of school and a family reunion. More than 125 people stream into a theatre in Kent State’s Center for Performing Arts clutching scripts, costume renderings, cups of coffee, and muffins. Old friends and Porthouse veterans laugh, hug, and reconnect while first-time company members

gaze around the room in nervous anticipation of what the next 12 weeks will bring. Shortly after 10 am, the room quiets. Welcomes are given, announcements are made, and soon Porthouse Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director Terri Kent takes center stage and asks everyone to stand. It’s time to begin the season with a Porthouse tradition. Over the course of the next several minutes, Kent asks the assembled

Joni Koneval

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Porthouse company to sit based on how many years they have been associated with the theatre. First-timers sit first, followed by those who have been with the theatre for only a handful of seasons. By the time she reaches 10 and then 15 years, a surprising number of company members remain standing. Eventually, only a few still stand—company members like Kent herself who made her

By the following summer, construction of Porthouse Theatre was well underway with a planned opening date of July 25, 1970. But when construction delays threatened the start of the season, the Blossom Festival School Theatre vowed that the show would go on.

professional acting debut at Porthouse in 1983, Executive Producer Eric van Baars who first worked at Porthouse in the early 90s, and Associate Artistic Director and Production Manager Karl Erdmann, who takes the prize year after year as the son of Porthouse co-founder Louis Erdmann. The exercise, carried out every year, demonstrates what makes Porthouse Theatre special. For many Company members, Porthouse isn’t merely a summer job—it’s a life changing experience where strangers transform into a family that stays in touch and often returns to Porthouse, time after time. Indeed, as Kent explains to the assembled Company, Porthouse Theatre is a family—from the actors on stage to the staff backstage to the patrons in the audience. And that family quality, from 1968 through today, is what allows Porthouse to thrive. Because, at 50, Porthouse and its family is better than ever.

An Agreement and a Pledge Porthouse Theatre’s story began in 1968 with an agreement between Kent State University and the Cleveland Musical Arts Association, the parent company of the Cleveland Orchestra. That year, Kent State University president Robert White and Musical Arts Association president Frank E. Joseph formally announced a partnership between the two organizations to develop educational and cultural facilities on 37 acres of university-owned land adjacent to the newly constructed summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra; Blossom Music Center. Though originally conceived to focus mainly on the School of Music, the partnership quickly expanded to include theatre and art as well, becoming Blossom Festival School programs. When the time came to plan for facilities on the university’s Blossom-adjacent land, Kent State

Cyril and Roberta Porthouse pose for a photo in front of the recently completed Porthouse Theatre.

University trustee Cyril Porthouse and his wife Roberta answered the call. In October 1969, an announcement was made at the university’s annual alumni homecoming luncheon that the Porthouse’s were making a $60,000 challenge gift to jump start the construction of a theatre at the Blossom site. This gift, as well as funding provided by Gerald and Victoria Read, allowed the university to fulfill its plans and construct the Porthouse Theatre and Read Pavilion in 1970.

The Show Must Go On, Even If It’s In A Tent The founders of Porthouse Theatre, theatre professors Louis O. Erdmann and William H. Zucchero, wasted no time in getting Kent State’s summer theatre program off the ground in the summer of 1969, months before any funding was secured to construct the building. That July, the first KSU-Blossom Center Repertory Company began performances of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire in E. Turner Stump Theatre on the campus of Kent State. To ensure that the connection to Blossom Music Center wasn’t lost, the Company also performed as strolling players on the grounds of Blossom prior to concerts.

And on the show went, in a large tent that had been assembled in the soon-to-be opened theatre’s parking lot. That summer, the 24 members of the repertory company performed Golden Boy and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in the makeshift space with the nearly complete theatre rising in the background.

During the summer of 1970, a tent in Porthouse parking lot served as the theatre’s temporary home.

Less than two years after the original challenge gifts were made and three years after the Kent/Blossom partnership was formalized, Porthouse Theatre was officially dedicated on July 7, 1971. The dedication, as Kent State president Robert White described, was a step forward in a dream. It’s a dream that grew over the decades and now, nearly 50 years later, that dream continues.

Times and Names Might Change, But Not the Mission KSU-Blossom Center Repertory Company. Blossom Festival School Theatre. The Octagon. Kent Blossom Theatre Festival. Porthouse Theatre. Over the years, the Porthouse Theatre summer program has been called many things. It has Continued on page 16

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 15 gone from producing four to five repertory productions per summer in two locations to three consecutive musicals, all on the Porthouse stage. Attendance has skyrocketed, tickets are no longer $3.00 each, the Company now boasts close to 150 members each year, and Porthouse’s physical plant has expanded by nearly 100 acres and 3 permanent structures. The faces have changed too as one generation of Porthouse staff and students made way for the next and the next. But Porthouse Theatre’s mission—to train student theatre artists from around the country in a professional environment—remains the same.

Terri Kent, right, performs in one of her first productions at Porthouse.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Porthouse grew and challenged itself, staging dance and light opera as well as theatre productions. Seasons were sometimes presented thematically, like 1973’s western motif that included screenings of classic western films or included inventive takes on established shows such as the 1979 production of Jesus Christ Superstar, designed to be set on the Great Lakes waterfront of the 1930s.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Porthouse Theatre under construction during the summer of 1970.

In 1980, Porthouse Theatre’s neighbors James and Betty Hudkins, donated their 95 acre farm, which adjoined Porthouse’s grounds, to Kent State University. The Hudkins’ generosity allowed Porthouse’s grounds to expand to more than 125 acres. While Porthouse continued to grow, an era was also coming to an end as by the mid-1980s William Zucchero and Louis Erdmann were ready to retire. Together, the dynamic duo had crafted Porthouse into a program that guided and nurtured student artists and prepared them for professional careers beyond a university setting. Several of the students under their tutelage, such as Tony Award winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) and Emmy Award winner Jeff Richmond (Mean Girls the Musical, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), went on to considerable success in theatre, film, and television. William Zucchero (left) and Louis Erdmann (right).

Throughout the 1980s, Porthouse also embraced its namesake identity, gradually forgoing the Blossom School name and branding itself comprehensively as Porthouse Theatre. This change coincided in earnest with the milestone of Porthouse Theatre’s 20th Anniversary in 1988 when the theatre earned full professional status after signing a letter of agreement with the Actors’ Equity Association.

This affiliation furthered the promise set forth at the inception of the Kent/Blossom programs, not only allowing student artists to work alongside professionals, but to be billed as professionals themselves.

The cast of Porthouse’s 2003 production of Oklahoma!. This summer, the theatre will once again present the show in celebration of the theatre’s 50th Anniversary.

Coming Full Circle While the late 1980s ended one era at Porthouse, the start of the 21st century ushered in a new one. By the mid-1990s, Terri Kent and Karl Erdmann, who had met at Kent and Porthouse and been friends for more than a decade, both found themselves back at Kent State. And when Kent was named artistic director of Porthouse in 2001, it was very much like a homecoming. Members of the generation that had learned from Porthouse’s founding fathers were now the ones guiding the ship. Under Kent’s leadership, Porthouse Theatre has blossomed. The theatre’s subscriber base has grown nearly 400% and in 2018 will likely reach a record 4,000 season ticket holders. The seasons have been streamlined and tailored to benefit both the audiences and the student artists. Porthouse now presents three musicals per summer and fully employs artists-intraining and professionals in all areas from actors, stage managers, and designers to company managers, technicians, and front of house staff. Porthouse’s educational components have expanded as well with the introduction of academy programs for high school, college, and international students. As it celebrates its 50th Anniversary Season, Porthouse Theatre truly is fulfilling both the dreams set out by Kent State and the Cleveland Orchestra’s leadership and the road that was paved by Lou Erdmann and Bill Zucchero. Porthouse isn’t merely a place to see or perform in a theatre production. Porthouse is an experience. Like its company members, Porthouse’s

patrons return year after year, often arriving more than an hour before the show begins to picnic on the grounds and enjoy Porthouse’s extensive grounds. 2018 not only marks Porthouse’s milestone anniversary but also the end of a $1 million capital campaign initiated by the Gregory Hackett Family Foundation that, over the last 4 years, has allowed Porthouse to shine even brighter. A feature wall emblazoned with the Porthouse Theatre name and its iconic logo now greets visitors as they enter Porthouse’s grounds past a newly constructed box office. Porthouse’s 50th Anniversary Season, officially opening on June 15 is a celebration of Porthouse’s past and a nod toward its future. The theatre will remount productions of 2008’s Anything Goes and 2003’s Oklahoma! and, for the first time, present the Pulitzer Prize winning Next to Normal, for which Porthouse alumna Alice Ripley won a Tony Award in 2009. Many familiar faces will be back at Porthouse this summer, both on stage and off. And, on May 29 when the 2018 Porthouse Theatre Company gathers for the first “Meet and Greet” of the season, it promises to be the beginning of an especially meaningful summer.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Visual Art

S H O W C A S E

The work created by the three artists featured here functions on more than one level – as good art generally does. There are the esthetic issues and those of skill and talent, but there are also the specific (and related) ways that the work addresses the world around us. These artists create imagery consistently based on biological/geological forms, but there is also an aspect of the precarious or unwanted involved. In each case, the work speaks through

Mark Keffer KSU Class of ‘88

the abstract language of the artistic medium and also in a way that embraces language-based ideas relevant to important issues in current society.

S U S A N

D A N K O The paintings of Susan Danko depict highly evocative realms of natural forms, by way of beautiful painterly means. There is an inventive sense of discovery displayed in the creation of her work that results in scenes combining the naturalistic and the otherworldly; she expands and heightens what we already know from direct experience. There is a genuine concern for environmental issues that serves as an impetus for this work, but not in a way that becomes didactic or that compromises artistic integrity. This seems to be an effective approach, one in which different meanings resonate and reveal themselves in a layered fashion. From toxic algae blooms to flooding due to extreme weather events to issues regarding damaged habitats, Danko’s concerns are inextricable from a sense of beauty, mystery, and hope.

Overflow acrylic on canvas, 46 x 60”, 2017

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Wood Interior acrylic on canvas, 46 x 60”, 2017, Collection of Stark State College-Akron Workforce Center

Secondary Succession acrylic on canvas, 70 x 96”, 2013

A number of three dimensional works serve as an extension of her painting; she constructs sculptural installations from materials such as cut, painted paper and cellophane, vinyl, and plastic. This work further pushes the line between figuration and abstraction as the depictions exist in a physical depth. The concerns and imagery are related to the paintings, but create a different kind of space in which to immerse the viewer. A whimsical quality in this work intelligently balances the weight and urgency of Danko’s intentions. She states: As a contemporary landscape painter, experiencing the natural environment is an integral part of my creative process. …The paintings that I create are informed by my thoughts and

responses to the new state of our contemporary natural environment. They are constructed from both memory and observation, and arise from real and imagined environmental scenarios. With them, I examine the power and fragility of nature caught in a state of flux between destruction and renewal. In creating these paintings, I hope to raise awareness, and inspire a greater respect for the environment that we all share. Susan Danko received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art. She has shown her work extensively throughout the region and nationally, including museum exhibitions at the Attleboro Art Museum, MA; Rockford Art Museum, IL; Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth; Huntington Museum of Art, WV; Museum of Contemporary Art,

Cleveland; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown; and gallery exhibitions at Cheryl Hazan Gallery, NYC; SPACES, Cleveland; Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland; Angela Meleca Gallery, Columbus; Harris Stanton Gallery, Akron; among numerous others. Her work is in many collections including the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; BF Goodrich Corporation, Charlotte, NC; Springfield Medical Center, Springfield, MO; Metro General, Cleveland; Summa Foundation, Akron; and the Ohio Arts Council. Danko is the recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and the Fine Arts Work Center/OAC collaborative residency in Provincetown, MA. She is represented by Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland. www.susandanko.com

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Visual Art M A R K

S H O W C A S E

S C H A T Z Mark Schatz is an artist who works in sculpture/ installation, drawing, monotype, photography, and public art. His work is the opposite of what might be called formulaic, in that each body of work – while part of a bigger, cohesive sensibility – retains a distinct set of esthetic and idea-based components. One of the general subjects of his work relates to the landscape and its relationship to human activity, but never is this addressed through overt or simplistic means. Meaning isn’t a singular ingredient in his hands. The qualities that first strike the viewer of these various works are creativity, originality, beauty, and skill; only afterwards do aspects of specific content and intention come to mind, and then in an open-ended manner. Of the different series Schatz has created, ‘Autonomous Landscapes’ might be the most emblematic of his efforts. In these works, he incorporates commonly expendable materials such as EPS foam (expanded polystyrene, similar to Styrofoam) and corrugated cardboard to remarkable ends. These sculptures are presented on pedestals in a standard viewing position or inverted, suspended from the ceiling. Often in this series, meticulously crafted landscapes rest upon (or beneath) large, gracefully carved masses of EPS foam. The stark white of the foam has clear connotations of icebergs/glaciers which work in brilliant contrast to the green landscape. An engaging and uneasy relationship is created between the potentially damaging man-made materials and the beauty of the natural forms depicted. Corrugated cardboard serves a similar function in this series, especially due to its pervasive and disposable nature.

Heir Apparent found cardboard and wood, 31 x 22 x 14”, 2015

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Three Sisters found cardboard and wood, 21 x 21 x 17”, 2015

Schatz inventively depicts geological striations and mountainous forms, atop which reside precarious and fragile domicile-like structures, possibly suggesting a delicate balance within current ecological realities. In an increasingly mobile and fluid landscape, the lingering meanings that are embedded in physical spaces and places become even more interesting and precious. These meanings are still cultivated, claimed, and transformed by those who seek them out.

Clefts, Rifts, and Ruptures #4 monotype, 11 x 20”

Frequently utilizing existing spaces, simple construction materials, and accumulations of castoff materials, I try to evoke something deeply familiar in surprising ways. I acknowledge and even relish the fragmentation, distortion, and reinvention of our remembered places. Mark Schatz is currently an Associate Professor and the Foundations Program Coordinator for the School of Art at Kent State University. He has also taught at San Jacinto College, Houston, TX; Glassel Studio School at the

Museum of Fine Arts Houston; and Loyola University, New Orleans. He received a BFA from the University of Michigan and an MFA from the University of Texas, Austin. His work has been shown at the Sally Otto Gallery, Mt. Union College, TX; Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum, Austin, TX; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY; and The Sculpture Center, Cleveland; among others, including several exhibitions in Kent. www.markschatz.com

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Visual Art L A U R A

S H O W C A S E

V I N N E D G E

“In these paintings from the larger CHEMICAL WARFARE series, I navigate the micro interiors of the human body and its visual and philosophical relation to macro properties of the cosmic realm,” states artist Laura Vinnedge, regarding her recent work. “The multi-layered blended imagery references ultimate internal and external environments that challenge and investigate inherent risks in the practices of genetic modification, biochemical engineering and pharmaceuticals. CHEMICAL WARFARE promotes an exploration of our collective definition of progress and the need to seek balance between seemingly altruistic benefits and the insidious and viral nature of chemical warfare on our bodies and environments.” Viewers of Vinnedge’s paintings are confronted with lush and elaborate patterns and colors that, along with the organic forms and physical textures, create deeply appealing esthetic scenarios. Learning of her thoughts and intentions regarding this work additionally opens alluring complexities and thought-provoking paths for consideration. The beautiful, almost hallucinogenic appearance of these works does not initially reveal a more troubling element at work, allowing for an experience that reveals itself in time. The dot patterns

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

(from) Lymph Nodes with White Blood Cells and Macrophanges (for Susan and Jan) #3, 36 x 36”, latex and oil paint on panel, 2015

Chemical Warfare PCBs 24 x 24”, latex, oil and enamel on panel, 2009

are simultaneously abstract elements with a striking visual impact and representations of chemical agents so prevalent in our daily lives. She states, “These paintings represent my departure from years of painting the exterior of the human figure. For inspiration, I moved instead to the body’s visually lush interiors.” But these lush interiors are being invaded by molecular forms introduced through household chemicals and materials. The malevolent agents known as dioxins, PCBs, phthalates and bisphenols, etc., are a serious concern and are subtly and inventively addressed in Vinnedge’s work for important, informative ends.

Chemical Warfare HCB 24 x 24”, latex, oil and enamel on panel with plaque, 2013

Laura Vinnedge is Associate Professor of Art and Coordinator of Painting and Drawing at the Myers School of Art, University of Akron. She earned a BS in Art Education from Western Michigan University and an MFA from the University of Notre Dame, IN. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council and many travel grants, including the Venice Fellowship from Myers School of Art to attend the Venice Biennale. Her work has been exhibited extensively on the national level, with solo shows at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL; Wittenberg

University, Springfield, OH; Glenville State College, Glenville, WV; ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL; B.K. Smith Gallery, Lake Erie College, Painesville, OH; Carnegie Arts Center, Covington, KY; and Sinclair College, Dayton, OH; among others. Numerous group shows include Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL; Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, IN; Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Evansville, IL; Crossroads Gallery/ ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, MI; Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH; SPACES, Cleveland; and Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA. www.lauravinnedge.com

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

volume 17 | 2018 â&#x20AC;¢ www.aroundkent.net

THE FIFTH IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES

“Net Neutrality” Is Not A Slogan

Paul S. Wang

Introduction In mid-May 2018, the US Senate passed (52 – 47) a Congressional Review Act aimed at overturning the December 2017 reversal of the Obama-era (2015) net neutrality rules by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chaired by Trump appointee, Ajit Pai. The Senate act is sure to ignite another round of debate on net neutrality. It is perhaps a good time for us to take a closer look at net neutrality in theory and in practice. This is the 5th article in our Computational Thinking (CT) series (Earlier articles are in Vol. 13 to 16, aroundkent.net) which aims to sharpen our digital minds and give us a powerful way of thinking through a deeper understanding of modern computing technologies. Net neutrality is both simple and complex. As an idea, net neutrality is very simple. However, finding a way to enforce it can be complicated.

Net Neutrality – the Idea The term “network neutrality” was first introduced by Tim Wu (a law professor at University of Virginia) in 2003. Today, network neutrality as an idea can be simply stated as: “There should be no discrimination of data being transmitted on public broadband networks, wired and wireless.” Net neutrality is part of a set of related principles aimed at keeping the Internet open,

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Net neutrality is part of a set of related principles aimed at keeping the Internet open, transparent, easily accessible to all, without censorship, and a level playing field.

transparent, easily accessible to all, without censorship, and a level playing field. Indeed most, if not all, concerned agree that such an Internet is best for the public interest, for innovation, and for fostering new businesses and services. Net neutrality wants to prevent broadband operators and other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from treating network data differently to give themselves a competitive edge over others, or to create difficulty for services provided by others.

Net Neutrality – Violations On freepress.net, in the article “Net Neutrality Violations: A Brief History”, Tim Karr listed a number of well-documented cases of abuse, including: • MADISON RIVER In 2005, North Carolina ISP Madison River Communications blocked the voice-over-IP (VOIP) service by Vonage. Vonage filed a complaint with the FCC who stepped in to sanction Madison River and prevent further blocking.

• COMCAST In 2005, the largest ISP in the US began secretly blocking peer-to-peer technologies. Users of services like BitTorrent and Gnutella were unable to connect to these services. Later, investigations (by AP and others) confirmed that Comcast was indeed blocking or slowing by throttling file-sharing applications without disclosing this fact to its customers. • WINDSTREAM In 2010, Windstream Communications, a DSL provider with more than a million customers at the time, copped to hijacking search queries made by users using the Google toolbar within Firefox. These queries were redirected to Windstream's own portal and search results. • AT&T From 2007 – 2009, AT&T forced Apple to block Skype and other competing VOIP phone services on the iPhone. The Google Voice app received similar treatment from carriers like AT&T when it came on the scene in 2009. And, there are many other cases worldwide.

for reliable military networking in the late 1960s. A design of flexible message routing and no possibility of central control ensures network reliability under wartime conditions. The experimental network started with four nodes: University of California Santa Barbara, Stanford Research Institute, UCLA’s Network Measurement Center, and University of Utah. Today, the physical Internet consists of (A) hardware computing devices belonging to end users and businesses as well as (B) specialized networking devices for transporting and routing data from sources to destinations. ( A) End-user LAN and Hosts A computer connected on a network becomes part of the network and is known as a host on the network. A LAN (Local Area Network) is an in-house private network. ( B) ISP networking Devices These include specialized networking equipment and high-speed data links that collectively create and support the Internet infrastructure for data transport.

As this history shows, the Internet needs protection from abuse and consumers alone won’t be enough to prevent powerful operators from misbehaving.

The Structure of the Internet The Internet evolved from the ARPANET, a US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored research project

Continued on page 30

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 29 The reliability and resilience of the Internet infrastructure result from its high degree of redundancy (multiple routes between nodes) and the fact that it neither needs nor allows central control or coordination. The preceding figure shows the tiered Internet architecture where, generally, smaller tier 2 and 3 ISPs connect to larger tier 1 networks for delivery of traffic to destinations served by other ISPs. Tier 1 networks form the main Internet backbone. A typical backbone network uses fiber optic trunk lines, many fiber optic cables bundled together, for increased speed and capacity. Bandwidth between core nodes on a backbone can reach 100 Gbs or more. Tier 1 ISPs are usually the same companies that operate large phone networks. US tier 1 ISPs include AT&T, CenturyLink, Level 3 Communications, Sprint, and Verizon. Others in the world include Bharti (India), British Telecom, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom AG, France Telecom, and Telefonica (Spain). ISPs may use wired and/or wireless means to deliver data services to customers. Comcast, Spectrum, and AT&T, for example, provide wired connections with optic fibers, coaxial cables and telephone lines. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T, for example, offer wireless connections using WiFi as well as mobile broadband technologies (3G, 4G, 5G). Satellite operators, such as HughesNet and Exede Internet, use geostationary satellites and outdoor antennae to connect customers, usually in rural areas, to the Internet.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

How the Internet Transports Data Everything on the Internet – emails, pictures, music, videos, webpages, etc. – is represented by nothing but digital data. Data on the Internet are sent and received in packets. Thus, the Internet is a packet switching network. Similar to a letter, a packet envelops a small block of data with address information so the data can be routed through intermediate nodes on the network, which is shared by all connected users. The network uses routing algorithms to efficiently forward packets to their final destinations. For computers from different vendors, under different operating systems, to communicate on a network, a detailed set of rules and conventions must be established for all parties to follow. Such rules are known as networking protocols. Guess what? The basic protocol on the Internet is IP, the Internet Protocol. Each higher-level networking service follows its own specially designed protocol on top of IP. For example, the Web uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Protocols govern such details as:

• Address format of hosts and processes (running apps) • Data format • Manner of data transmission • Sequencing and addressing of messages • Initiating and terminating connections • Establishing services • Accessing services • Data integrity, privacy, and security Thus, for a process on one host to communicate with another process on a different host, both processes must follow the same protocol. The Open System Interconnect (OSI) (See the following figure) provides a standard layered view of networking protocols and their interdependence. The corresponding layers on different hosts, and inside the network infrastructure, perform complementary tasks to enable data exchange between the communicating processes P1 and P2.

In the Internet Protocol Suite, the basic IP is a network layer protocol. The TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) are at the transport layer. The Web’s HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is at the application layer.

Net Neutrality – Stakeholders With respect to net neutrality, the main groups of stakeholders are: 1. Internet service providers 2. C ontent and user/customer service providers including Netflix, Google, Facebook, Skype, Amazon, EBay, YouTube, and all the websites. 3. I ndividual and business end users whose computers and internal networks are connected to the Internet via ISPs. 4. L ocal and Federal government agencies who want to keep the Internet fair and efficient for the public good. ll these stakeholders pretty much agree and A support the goals and principles of net neutrality. They disagree on how best to achieve them.

Net Neutrality – Principles July 10, 2014 article published by the A Association of Research Libraries “Net Neutrality Principles" states: (we) believe that the FCC should adopt enforceable policies based on the following principles to protect the openness of the Internet: And listed these principles: • Ensure Neutrality on All Public Networks • Prohibit Blocking

• Protect Against Unreasonable Discrimination • Prohibit Paid Prioritization • Prevent Degradation • Enable Reasonable Network Management • Provide Transparency • Continue Capacity-Based Pricing of Broadband Internet Access Connections • Adopt Enforceable Policies • Accommodate Public Safety And this list appears to be logical and generally accepted. The 2015 net neutrality rules placed broadband services under Title II of the Communications Act and explicitly prohibited blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.

The 2015 net neutrality rules placed broadband services under Title II of the Communications Act and explicitly prohibited blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.

Net Neutrality – the Debate

“For over a century, economists have long cautioned that treating infrastructure as a quasi-public monopoly should only be considered a last resort to overcome severe market failings,” stated an article by the Harvard Business Review.

In today’s world, the Internet is a vital public service. Its availability, affordability, healthy growth, and innovative development are important public policy concerns. However, the Internet is also a global infrastructure that is technologically complicated and economically multifaceted.

Second, the net neutrality principle against paid prioritization may seem at first to provide a level playing field that can help newcomers compete against well-established players. But the reality can be quite different – It may not help newcomers much or at all. According to phys.org:

Because the Internet is so important for everyone, it is understandable that net neutrality becomes such a hot topic. Let’s look at two sample issues in the debate.

The major edge companies – Google, Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, etc. – invest hundreds of millions of dollars in private “content delivery networks.” These are networks that they use to bypass the vast majority of the Internet to offer consumers better service. In other words, they are already paying for prioritized access – they’re just not paying the ISPs for it directly.

First, some say that because the internet is vital to the public, it should be treated as a “public utility”, a form of regulated monopoly. However, consumers enjoyed much improved services and significantly lower prices only after the “Ma Bell” monopoly ended.

Continued on page 32

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 31 Still, banning paid prioritization means smaller players can at least get “normal” Internet speed without paying extra.

and confusing. Do a Web search and you’ll see what I mean.

There are a good number of other such points in the healthy net neutrality debate, including what would be the impact of the new FCC net neutrality rules on the Internet and all its users. Some fear the worst – higher prices, less choices, and widespread discrimination of Internet traffic. Others say that’s unlikely to happen and the FCC can still take actions (under Title I) against violations, as history has shown. Others say the Internet has changed so much since 2015, we really need to rethink how best to regulate it.

In summary, despite all the debate, we must remember one fundamental fact. Namely, the Internet we love so much is the result of being a world-wide distributed system with no central control. That is its unique advantage and reason for success. Whatever we do in the public policy arena, we want to avoid setting up all-encompassing, rigid, and inflexible rules.

Different voices from many directions and interest groups seem endless, contradictory,

Summary

Perhaps the right way forward is for the Internet community – ISPs, content providers (large and small), news organizations, consumers, and government agencies at different levels – to be vigilant and to raise red flags whenever misuses occur. If history

of the Internet is any guide, remedies and interventions will be found and implemented to keep the Internet widely accessible, neutral, fair, and profitable for all. Indeed, “net neutrality” is not a slogan to divide people into for and against camps. It is an ideal we all should help to achieve. Just like Internet security (See an earlier CT article), the Internet will always only be as good as its stakeholders want to make it. I hope you find this article useful and please feel free to give your feedback to me at (pwang@cs.kent.edu). I look forward to continuing this series of articles on CT.

The book From Computing to Computational Thinking can be ordered at: computize.org

A Ph.D. and faculty member from MIT, Paul Wang became a Computer Science professor (Kent State University) in 1981, and served as a Director at the Institute for Computational Mathematics at Kent from 1986 to 2011. He retired in 2012 and is now professor emeritus at Kent State University.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Akron Art Museum FRONT International: An American City Karl and Bertl Arnstein Galleries Beatrice Knapp McDowell Grand Lobby July 14 – September 30, 2018 For the premiere edition of FRONT International, artists from the US and around the globe will offer perspectives on aspects of “The American City” at the Akron Art Museum. Works by fifteen artists and one collective— including three works newly created for the Akron Art Museum, a major video installation, sculpture, photography, and mixed media objects—will occupy spaces throughout the museum. The diverse artistic impulses represented offer a wide range of deeply interconnected ideas that mirror the city of Akron’s ebb and flow: invention, obsolescence, optimism, vision, civic organization, and the measure of time.

In Our Time (detail), Gerard Byrne, single channel film installation, rear projection including mise-en-scene elements with 8 channel audio, dimensions variable, ©Gerard Byrne; Courtesy of Lisson Gallery, Photographer: Damien Elliot

Ireland native Gerard Byrne’s video installation In Our Time transports viewers into the studio of a 1970s or 1980s commercial radio station. Chronicling the routine of a day’s broadcast, the video harks back to a pre-Spotify era when, as the artist points out, “people listened to the same things at the same time.” The studio set

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

2018 Exhibits

is meticulously constructed with vinyl records, cassette tapes, recording equipment, wood paneling and guitars adorning the scant available wall space. A twelve-hour film, In Our Time plays in sync with the actual time of day, so the deejay’s broadcast correlates to real time. The immersive installation evokes Akron’s rich musical heritage and the robust contemporary scene that gave rise to such groups as Devo, the Waitresses, Chrissy Hynde, and the Black Keys. Akron’s FRONT presentation reflects on ways that technology, communications, advertising, industry and popular culture shape socio-economic and environmental conditions. Some artists specifically address Akron’s urban landscape. Nicholas Buffon’s self-portrait drawings depict him outside a variety of queer spaces in New York, where he lives, as well as in Akron, including the Interbelt Nite Club and Square Bar. Katrín Sigurdardóttir calls attention to dormant locations around Akron and Cleveland by placing tiles made from Icelandic clay in the earth. The presentation as a whole, reveals a multifaceted portrait of Akron as an American city, reflecting on who we are as a society and as individuals. This exhibition is presented as part of FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. Its presentation at the Akron Art Museum is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Richard and Alita Rogers Family Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, the Mary and Dr. George L. Demetros Charitable Trust, The J. M. Smucker Company, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs LLC and Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Frameworks: Paintings by Dragana Crnjak, Andrea Joki and Matthew Kolodziej Judith Bear Isroff Gallery Through September 9, 2018

Hold 1, Dragana Crnjak 2018, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 84”, Courtesy of the artist

Frameworks: Paintings by Dragana Crnjak, Andrea Joki and Matthew Kolodziej presents recent paintings along with site-specific wall drawings by Crnjak and Kolodziej. The artists utilize painting to explore the complex relationships between time, memory and place, with special interest in how the influx of images and information in the digital age affect those interrelationships. Crnjak views painting as an important foil to our addiction to moving images. Her paintings incorporate distorted images of embroidery patterns from her native Serbia, which she projects onto canvas and traces in paint. She then layers crisp, geometric lines on top of the fragmented patterns, creating compositions that appear to recede and advance at the same time. Joki creates paintings that meld sensory experiences of landscapes, people and places, drawing on impressions she observes during her travels. She paints both in loose, spontaneous brushstrokes and precise, hard-edged lines, sometimes layering those differing impulses in a single composition. The resulting veiled

sites. Using a computer program, he translates the collaged images into line drawings that form the basis of his multifaceted, architectural paintings. The artist is especially interested in how the relentless volume of images that we process on a daily basis affects our way of seeing and our sense of place. The artists in Frameworks chart a combination of sensory experience, memory and data from external sources in their paintings. While each artist attempts to impose structure on elusive concepts, their constantly shifting compositions evidence a simultaneous embrace of the unknowable. Magic Mountain, Andrea Joki 2015, oil and acrylic on linen, 72 x 60 ”, Courtesy of the artist and Gebert Contemporary

prisms of splattered paint undulate and flicker. Through painting, Joki seeks to discover the limits of what a painting can communicate about the world’s interconnectedness. Kolodziej assembles photomontages from photographs of construction and demolition

Replacements, Matthew Kolodziej 2017, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 79”, Courtesy of the artist and Carl Solway Gallery

Frameworks: Paintings by Dragana Crnjak, Andrea Joki and Matthew Kolodziej is organized by the Akron Art Museum and supported by funding from the Ohio Arts Council and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Jerry Birchfield: Asleep in the Dust Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Gallery Through September 23, 2018 Jerry Birchfield’s work flows between standard definitions of art media. He uses photography, sculpture, drawing, and text in his measured, time-intensive art-making practice. The artist carefully constructs each aspect of his work in the controlled space of the darkroom or his studio, where scraps and unfinished works often reappear in new forms. Asleep in the Dust debuts a large sculpture titled Yes, They Were Made to Level. A glass platform modeled after a stage holds precisely arranged objects made from basic materials, such as wood, plaster, papier-mâché, white paint, and cardboard. Through a series of intentional gestures, Birchfield placed these

Jerry Birchfield, Untitled from series Stagger When Seeing Visions 2017, solarized selenium toned silver gelatin print, 10 x 8”, Courtesy of the artist

understated objects so they relate to each other on multiple levels, forming micro-compositions within the whole of the sculpture. This major installation complements the material nature of the photographs and wall sculptures included in the exhibition. Birchfield’s photographs, printed using layers of darkroom processes, blend abstract and pictorial elements to create electric black and white images. The artist encases some printed photographs in plaster, obscuring the images while asserting their physical presence. Asleep in the Dust highlights Birchfield’s use of photography as a starting point in a body of work that raises questions about how photographs function in art and in our aesthetic experiences. Jerry Birchfield: Asleep in the Dust is organized by the Akron Art Museum and supported by funding from the Ohio Arts Council and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

volume 17 | 2018 â&#x20AC;¢ www.aroundkent.net

Fresh off their 25th anniversary season, the Haymaker Farmers’ Kelly Hambly

Lizette Barton

Market (HFM) is back on Franklin Avenue under the Haymaker Bridge for the 2018 outdoor season. The market is open, rain or shine, from

he Haymaker Farmers’ Market prides itself on being a producers-only market. So what is a producers-only market? In the simplest terms, it is a market at which vendors are permitted to only sell products that they have themselves produced. This means you can be sure that the tomato you are buying was grown by the farmer selling it and the eggs you are buying came from hens the farmer is raising and tending. It means the breads and jams and cheeses and soaps and coffee and snacks were all produced by the vendor selling them. It also means vendors likely take great pride in what they are producing and are happy to chat about their products and their processes and answer your questions. This season, the HFM is welcoming over 40 vendors offering a wide selection of locallygrown and produced products. If you are a market regular, you will find many of your long-time favorites in addition to several new vendors with a variety of new items not offered at market before. Customers wishing to plant their own gardens with locally-raised vegetable and herb starts will find a large selection at the spring markets. If you’ve never attended Portage County’s longest-running farmers’ market, we encourage you come downtown and have a look for yourself.

9am –1pm Saturday, May 5 through Saturday, October 27, 2018.

In addition to providing a shopping venue for locally grown and produced food items, every week the market also hosts a local musical act from 10am – noon. Performances are free and open to the public and add a festive and creative feel to the hustle and bustle of the busy market. The artistic setting is enhanced by the stunning mural depicting scenes from the market and Kent painted on the abutments of the Haymaker overpass, under which part of the market sits. Many community groups and artists join the market on a rotating basis, adding to the civic and convivial atmosphere. The Campus Kitchen at Kent State University joins the market weekly to offer recipes, cooking demonstrations, and free samples of seasonal dishes made with market produce. The market welcomes credit and debit card users as well as Ohio Direction Card SNAP users. Customers wishing to swipe their cards in exchange for market tokens may visit the Continued on page 40

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

preserves, and locally-made cheeses and baked goods alive. By shopping at your farmers’ market, you have a chance to try new foods that can inspire a sense of adventure and a rhythm of the seasons in cooking. Joining the market community can spark lasting friendships and lead to new experiences. Your support for Haymaker Farmers’ Market also brings you to downtown Kent on Saturdays – and Kent is a thriving city where there is always something special going on. It’s a city filled with spots to hear live music, enjoy many festivals and events, and a wide variety of great restaurants and bars. The Haymaker Farmers’ Market is a wonderful place to be all season long and we hope you will join us.

Mary Ann Kasper and Lonnie Hawks with Socially Responsible Sweat Shop

Continued from page 39 market information table for assistance. SNAP recipients also receive a weekly Produce Perks match of up to $20 for the purchase of fresh fruits, vegetables, and food-producing garden plants. The Socially Responsible Sweatshop of Kent offers handmade shopping totes, yoga bags, zafu pillows, pet beds, and more made from upcycled and recycled fabrics to support the Produce Perks program which doubles spending power for many individuals and families in need within our community.

Musical guest Box of Squirrels receives a tip from a fan

Shopping at your local farmers’ market does a lot to support your local economy, small businesses, and Ohio’s long tradition of agriculture, which was at one time Portage County’s main industry. Your support keeps farmers farming and ensures that locally-grown produce and locally raised meat and eggs continue to be abundant and available. It keeps traditions like handmade soaps, homemade

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Haymaker Farmers’ Market

RECIPES

Haymaker Breakfast Hash Breakfast hash is a versatile dish and you can find everything you need at the market. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, simply skip the bacon and eggs and enjoy a delicious roasted veggie hash. This recipe starts from scratch but can easily be adapted in order to use leftover potatoes or meat.

Directions:

Ingredients:

• Meanwhile, toss together potatoes, beets, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl and season liberally with salt and pepper. You should have enough rendered fat in your skillet but if not, add a bit more cooking oil. Add your potato mix to the skillet. Stir to coat and spread the mixture evenly in your skillet.

• 1/2 lb bacon, roughly chopped (Ground breakfast sausage works great, too.) • 3 medium sized potatoes, diced • 3 medium sized red beets, diced (If your beets are small, use a couple more.) • 1 small-medium sized onion, diced • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped • ½ – 1 tsp red pepper flakes • Chopped fresh herbs (Cilantro or parsley work well but use what is available and what you like best.) • 4 fresh eggs • Salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat your oven to 450°F. • Cook your bacon in a large cast iron or other oven safe skillet over medium low heat until it reaches your desired doneness. Use a slotted spoon to remove to a bowl, set aside.

• Roast about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven to stir and continue roasting 20 – 30 minutes more until everything is browned and cooked through. • Remove the skillet from the oven and stir in your cooked bacon and a small handful of your chopped fresh herbs. Use a spoon to make 4 indentations in the skillet and crack an egg into each one. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and return your skillet to the oven. Cook the eggs to your desired doneness. Garnish with a touch more fresh herbs. Serve with a nice slice of crusty market bread and a hot cup of coffee.

Haymaker Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Nothing says summer in Ohio like the first strawberries of the season. Strawberries and rhubarb are a classic flavor combination for good reason and they both shine in this crisp.

Crisp Topping Ingredients:

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened (plus more for the baking dish) • 1 cup all-purpose flour • ¼ cup finely chopped toasted pecans (Walnuts or almond slivers work well, too.) • ½ cup light brown sugar • ½ cup regular oats • ¼ tsp. salt

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups hulled and quartered strawberries (About 1 ½ pints – if berries are small, halve them or leave whole.) • 2 ½ cups thick-sliced rhubarb (typically just over a half pound bunch) • ½ cup sugar • 3 TBL all-purpose flour • 2 TBL finely chopped crystallized ginger • 2 tsp vanilla extract • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar • ¼ tsp salt

Directions: • Preheat your oven to 350°F. Rub a shallow 2-quart baking dish all over with a little butter to coat evenly. • Combine all of your crisp topping ingredients into a medium sized bowl and mix together with your fingers until it is the texture of large crumbs. • In a large mixing bowl, combine all of your filling ingredients and gently stir to combine. • Pour filling into your baking dish and top evenly with crisp topping. • Bake until the topping is firm and golden – about 45 minutes. • Remove from the oven and let it cool for at least 15 minutes before diving in.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Bill White

A Hall of Fame Life

Dr. Patrick O’Connor

The Road Less Traveled is a recurring feature that describes the path creative, interesting people took to get to where they are in life. Most creative people have traveled very interesting paths to get to where they are … usually zig-zagging a lot, shifting artistic gears, retracing steps, exploring new passions, revisiting previous works,

Bill White starts each day with at least one positive thought. Bill celebrated his 90th birthday in February 2018 so that is a whole lot of positive thoughts over the years! Bill has worked for 77 of his 90 years, starting at age 13 working for 25 cents per hour. If he worked full time at that pay rate, he would have earned about 10 dollars per week or 500 dollars for the year. Bill worked as a pinsetter (aka pinboy) at a time when bowlers were called “keglers”. Most people have no idea what a pinsetter is but Bill can tell you everything you want to know about it (and just about anything else, you want to

failing a whole bunch, and generally bouncing back often. All these experiences are part of their creative profile and serve to motivate and inspire them. This feature tells that story. This issue of The Road Less Traveled explains the path of Sports Hall of Famer, Bill White.

Author note: If a reader would like to suggest someone to be considered as the subject of a future Road, e-mail the publisher at info@aroundkent.net.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

know about bowling). He started his long, extensive career in bowling by setting bowling pins manually. Before the days of automated/mechanized systems to clear away and reset pins for bowlers, teenagers like Bill worked at the back of the bowling lane. The pinboy would clear away pins that were down after the bowler rolled the first ball, roll the ball back to the bowler, and repeat after the second ball was delivered. Then, he would reset all ten pins for the next bowling frame. Often the pinsetter worked two lanes at a time. Imagine the balls rolling and pins flying constantly on both lanes. You had to be alert and

“

I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. — Robert Frost

”

respond quickly to do this very demanding physical work. And, there was very little room for error. Pinboys were paid a nickel per game per alley. On a real busy day, a pinboy could make as much as a dollar and a half! This experience would serve young Bill very well for the rest of his life. Manual pin setting was phased out in the mid 1950s when the first machines were invented to do the work. Technology replaced Bill’s pinboy job but his interest in bowling was just beginning. Over his extensive career, he has worked from pinsetter to owner of five bowling centers and everything in between.

“Grew up the Hard Way” Bill “grew up the hard way” without indoor water/plumbing and at times, no electricity. He grew up in Mt. Hope in rural Mid-East Ohio (aka Amish country). He once attended a school with one teacher who taught grades 1 – 8 in the same room. His dad died when he was eight which required him to work as a laborer to help support his family. His mother worked hard raising a family with minimal resources. Her strong work ethic and their family situation set the stage for a serious work ethic for Bill that lasts to this day. His work ethic also transferred to the playing field as Bill was an outstanding athlete with offers to play professional baseball as young as 16. Like many who have earned their share of the American Dream, Bill did it through hard work and education.

Bill relaxing at home with companions

Work Bill worked hard supporting his family at various odd jobs as a laborer, farm worker, and pinboy. This was up to age 17 when he left high school to join the Navy in WWII. He was on a troop ship in 1945 headed for Japan when the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred. The ship reversed course.

machinist, he worked part time at a bowling alley pro shop and kept an active bowling schedule of his own. He developed into a major player in bowling at local, regional, and eventually, the national levels. From 1960 to 1961, he toured on the professional bowling tour.

After the war, he worked as a machinist for about 15 years. While working full time as a

Continued on page 44

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Bye-bye, Pinboy!

“Tiger” White Sports (mainly bowling and baseball) has been a main theme for Bill his entire life. He has experienced sports from virtually all possible perspectives. He went from local sports in rural Mid-East Ohio to the top of the professional bowling world as “Tiger” White. His list of sports achievements is indeed a long one. Many people in the bowling world consider Dick Hoover to be one of the best professional bowlers of all time.

Continued from page 43

is professional H bowling experiences scaled back in the 1960s and he began managing his first bowling center. This would lead him to becoming an owner in 1969. He continued Bill White at Navy basic training in 1945 to run bowling centers, eventually owning and managing five through 2017 for a total of 48 years. Bill is very proud that he had no alcohol violations in all his years owning bowling centers. He is also proud that he never missed a payment on his business loans. He also takes great pride in the hundreds of employees who worked with him over the years. He rarely had to fire an employee as most eliminated themselves due to poor performance. Most left for other opportunities or because they retired!

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

He considers many of them to be lifelong friends. One of those employees was Ray Salitore, the original owner of Ray’s Place in Kent, who worked as a bartender for Bill in the mid 1960s.

Education Bill has been an excellent student and advocate for education since his earliest memories. His education included formal schooling, but much of it came on the job and through the school of “hard knocks”. His family moved frequently during his childhood, yet he excelled in mathematics at all 12 of the schools he attended! This is a remarkable achievement as frequent relocating often leaves students behind academically. Bill left school in 1945 with just a few credits remaining to graduate. In 2001, he received his high school diploma from Kent Roosevelt. From a one-room schoolhouse to receiving a high school diploma at age 74, education has been a constant for Bill.

Bill’s success in sports is evident in the hall of fame recognition he has received. He has been enshrined in six different sports Halls of Fame! He is in the hall of fame for: • Summit County All Sports • Portage County Bowling • Summit County Baseball • Portage County All Sports • Tri-County Bowling • Ohio State Bowling Bill also has the very rare distinction of being in two halls of fame with his son, Stan. They are both in the Summit County Baseball and

Bill and Eddye White with the Love on a Leash team

Portage County All Sports Hall of Fame. This has to be one of the very rare feats of all; a father and son in two sports halls of fame together. Stan White recently published a book about the Baltimore Ravens football team and dedicated the book to his two fathers; his dad and his Lord.

Bowling: A Sport for Life Bowling has become an extremely popular high school sport in recent years for both boys and girls with hundreds of schools in Ohio participating. Bill was on the ground floor of that popularity. He stays active supporting high school programs and tournaments. Bill and his wife Eddye started bowling scholarships 10 years ago for high school bowlers in seven local high schools. This is especially close to Bill’s heart, as he wants young people to gain the many benefits he has enjoyed from bowling. The Portage Foundation coordinates the scholarship. Bowling is a lifelong sport that can be done individually, in teams, in leagues, for competition, or just plain fun with family and friends. Startup costs are minimal compared to other sports. In addition, high school bowling tends to appeal to a student who would be unlikely to participate in the traditional competitive sports such as basketball, baseball, and others. Bowlers are usually single sport athletes whereas many student/athletes compete in multiple sports. Bowling provides numerous advantages for students who participate. For example, students who apply for the Bill and Eddye White Bowling Scholarship write an essay about how competitive bowling has helped them in their lives. In the essays, students frequently comment on the value of bowling to their maturity, self-discipline, goal setting, and academic success. Students also report

s lowly adjusting to a different lifestyle and daily schedule. His energy level remains as high as ever. His intense work ethic keeps him from looking over his shoulder or “rusting on his laurels”. He splits his time between charitable efforts, socializing with family and friends, promoting high school bowling, and consulting with bowling centers. He Bill with top professional bowlers in the early 1960s spends as much time as possible with his wife Eddye, three sons (Stan, Jesse, and Bill Jr.), 9 grandchildren, bowling helps them manage their personal and 19 great grandchildren. lives and their time. The students receiving the scholarship reflect many of the same qualities In addition to supporting high school bowling, that have made Bill successful in his life. Many he is still on call with the owners of some of of these high school bowlers even follow Bill the bowling centers he sold. “Sometimes, I’m on his Facebook page! the only one who knows where some things are.” He assists when called upon. Many of the Bowling coaches also comment that coaching employees Bill hired and developed still work bowlers is quite different from other sports. at the bowling centers. He takes great pride in Bowlers compete against themselves rather their success. than each other. They all share a love and respect for the game that connects them as Bill is also getting more active with his coma team. munity and various causes that are dear to him Changing Lanes and his wife Eddye. “The community helped me get where I am, so now it’s my turn.” In addition How do you go from near constant work for to all their support for high school bowling, about 75 years to a retired lifestyle? Bill is they are involved with the Madonio family animal programs including Paws-in-Motion, Portage County APL, Happy Trails Animal “There is always Sanctuary, Rose’s Rescue and Dog Days of something new to learn” Summer. The Dog Days of Summer event in — TONY BENNETT, AGE 90 downtown Kent features the Bill and Eddye IN HIS BOOK JUST GETTING STARTED White “Strut Your Mutt” parade. Continued on page 46

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 45 Bill also serves on the board of the Family and Community Services of Portage County. He and Eddye are also active in the Love on a Leash program. This program provides comfort dogs to hospital patients at University Hospitals Portage Medical Center. The stars of the show are their five Cavalier King Charles spaniel dogs.

since it was his 90th birthday. “No, you’re my guest”, he said. This is a good example of why people like Bill. He invites you to lunch on his birthday and picks up the tab! In the middle of our lunch and conversation, an announcement came over the loud speaker

A Hall of Fame Life Bill has earned the respect of virtually everyone he has met in his 90 years. Along with their respect, he has earned their affection. Bill is an easy man to like and as a result has made many, many friends over the years. Almost 300 of them showed up to celebrate his 90th birthday at the Kent American Legion hall! Another good example of the affection people have for Bill was evident in preparation for Bill’s Road Less Traveled. We were having lunch on his birthday at Twin Star Lanes (where else?). He invited me as his guest. I told him I should be treating him The origin of the term "kegler" actually comes from medieval Germany. A game was played as a test of religious faith and purity. A pin (the kegel) represented a heathen. Those who could knock the standing kegel over by rolling a round stone at it proved they were free of sin. Over time, those who bowled were referred to as keglers. Some people also use kegler to refer to bowling a perfect game of 300 with twelve consecutive strikes.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

“Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life”

Bill and family – circa 1962

— CONFUCIUS

informing everyone that Bill was celebrating his birthday (though I think they all knew it anyway). Everyone in the bowling alley; customers, employees, and his many friends in the Bill White Senior League stood up and sang him a robust version of happy birthday. Probably over a hundred people! Things like that happen to you when you have led a Hall of Fame life. It was an honor to be there and be part of it. Thanks for the lunch Tiger. Thanks to Terry Adolph and Al Ehlert, bowling coaches from Kent Roosevelt, for their contribution to Bill’s RLT.

the Snarky Gardener I JUST LOVE WEEDS. No, not weed, you silly hippie. Weeds, as in those unwanted pests that grow where you don’t want them, whether that’s in your garden or on your lawn. I know you’re asking yourself, “Why would anyone want weeds around? I spend every summer trying to eliminate them.” Maybe love is too strong a word. Respect might be a better term. Weeds grow in poor soil, live through drought when your domesticated plants are wilting, become resistant to our poisons, bring up inaccessible nutrients from deep underground (think of the dandelion’s long taproot), and protect otherwise barren soil. Weeds are resilient survivors, which is why they are the bane of farmers and gardeners alike.

Here’s a fact that will blow your mind. Many weeds are edible. As in free food that grows itself! Most of these no-cost beauties are best as salad greens. Now, before you go out and start eating the lawn all willy-nilly, you need to know the good from the bad. I hope that this article will give you some guidance on my favorites. Also, if you see a plant and don’t know what it is, please join a Facebook group

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Don Abbott

little non-existent hands. We obviously had to do something before garlic mustard took over the world.

like “Plant Identification and Education”. I forced myself to unjoin the group as I was spending too much time on my Facebook feed. It’s quite addicting for a gardener like me. Of all the weeds out there, my most adored is Alliaria petiolate, otherwise known as garlic mustard. I discovered this little guy while doing Internet gardening research. There was an article about an invading European plant taking over forests in Ohio and beyond. In my overactive imagination, these broccoli and kale relatives wore Viking helmets while carrying spears and shields. “Attack!” they yelled while choking the native flora with their

While out in the yard several months later, I noticed a bunch of two-foot tall plants with small white flowers. I had garlic mustard in my own yard! It was just growing there outside the wooded lot that borders my property. So it turns out, I was part of the problem. These vile aggressors were literally in my own back yard. Being the inquisitive gardener I am, I went inside and looked them up online. The two words that kept coming up were “invasive” and “edible”. What do you call a plant that’s both of those words? Delicious. The roundish leaves are salad fodder, the seeds are ground into mustard, and the roots make a wild horseradish. The following spring, I was describing my garlic mustard love during a gardening presentation. One woman stopped me mid-sentence as she finally put two-and-two together and realized we were discussing garlic mustard (cue the evil music). She thought I was actually cultivating it, and was abhorred at the idea. For the record, I’m not purposely growing it. I try to harvest as

Garlic Mustard Pesto • 3 cups garlic mustard leaves, washed, patted dry, and packed in a measuring cup • 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped • 1 cup walnuts • 1 cup olive oil • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese • 1/4 cup grated romano cheese (or more parmesan) • Salt and pepper to taste Combine garlic mustard leaves, garlic, and walnuts in food processor and chop or divide recipe in half and use a blender. With motor running, add olive oil slowly. Shut off motor. Add cheeses, salt and pepper. Process briefly to combine. http://thesnarkygardener.com/2014/04/23/ garlic-mustard-pesto-for-earth-day-2014/

much as I can carry every spring. How better to remove this stranger in a strange land than to eat as much as possible? Truth be told, because of its “invasiveness”, I will never have to grow it on purpose. Garlic mustard fills the woods and yard all by itself, whether I want it there or not. During my search for knowledge, I came across a recipe for garlic mustard pesto. Pesto is normally a basil-based dish, but other greens can be used in its place. I’m only an average cook but the number of ingredients (six) and preparation steps (five) were well within my skill set. What really brings this recipe together is the grated cheese (or nutritional yeast if you’re vegan). On crackers or served over pasta, it’s something I look forward to every spring, usually on Earth Day (April 22nd) to demonstrate nature provides if you look hard enough.

In the fall of 2016, I took a creative writing class at Kent State University, as I wanted to learn how to write short stories. What I didn’t know at the time was the first half of the course was writing poetry. Until then, I had literally never written a poem, nor did I have any desire to do so. One of the five poems I produced (somewhat against my will) was a villanelle about garlic mustard. A villanelle is a 19 line fixedform poem with the most famous being “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas. It’s “a form that frequently treats the subject of obsessions” (according to Wikipedia), and if you can’t tell by now, I’m obsessed with garlic mustard.

Matt Keffer, who does a great job every time, snapped these photos. We had to reschedule several times as winter kept interrupting spring with snow and wind. The delays did help,

Villanelle for Garlic Mustard I fell in love with an uncommon weed Garlic mustard is the way she’s known by some Though others name her an invasive breed Immigrants concealed in their coats her seed America bound via boats they’ve come. I fell in love with their uncommon weed. During spring I gather, harvest, and bleed, Loading bags until my hands are numb. And people dub her an invasive breed! In times when skies are dry and there’s great need Gardeners grow her without a green thumb I fell in love with this uncommon weed Abundance and charity are my creed This strong herb fills many stomachs with yum, Though experts term her an invasive breed Prepare pesto with her bounty, I plead! For us, many a meal she will become I fell in love with my uncommon weed Because they call her an invasive breed.

though. Because of the cold month of March, many of the weeds that would have been up already were still hibernating. I must be the only gardener in the history of gardening that asked, “Where are all the weeds?” Fortunately, we were eventually able to photograph six distinct early weeds, all in my garden. I only had one garlic mustard plant, as they tend to stick to the woods’ edge, but it was a nice specimen, nonetheless. Here are the others. Dandelions. That’s all I have to say. We all know what they are and most know they are edible. The important fact to remember is that leafy greens are better earlier in the season, whether they be lettuce, spinach, or weeds. I’ve eaten some Continued on page 50

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 49 Purple Dead Nettle is another weed that just appeared in my garden. I think it came from

dandelion greens that were quite bitter. The reason was not because dandelions are not good to eat, but once a plant puts out flowers (also known as “going to seed”), the leaves turn less edible. Another positive about dandelions is their roots can be made into a coffee substitute (albeit without caffeine – what’s the point?) and the yellow flowers can be battered and fried to make fritters. https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/ dandelion-fritters/

exploding when you touch them. Hairy bittercress is best as a spicy salad addition, much like sprouts or microgreens. Also because of its smallness, it’s hard to gather but that’s the price you pay for free stuff. Dame’s Rocket (in the Brassica family, like garlic mustard and hairy bittercress) is a domesticated plant that escaped into the wild. You see this plant by roadsides in the summer with

Violets are the weeds that taste the closest to spinach. They tend to grow both in the lawn (as they stay low enough to avoid the mower) and in the garden. Violets are perennials, so they will come back year after year, whether you want them or not. The little purple flowers make a nice splash of color to any salad. One more note: I know violets are scrumptious as that’s usually what my local groundhogs graze on before munching on other plants, including those inside my garden fence. (Don’t get me started on groundhogs.) Hairy Bittercress are those tiny little plants that pop up first before others on bare soil. They go to seed quickly and spread by

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

either white or purple flowers. It just showed up in my garden a few years back and I’ve let it stay. The young leaves taste like a wild arugula. The flowers, which smell wonderful in the evening, are also edible. I will note here that my research says to eat Dame’s Rocket sparingly as it can cause vomiting (yum!).

48 50

compost I received from a fellow gardener. Purple Dead Nettle is not my favorite weed, as it’s too “earthy” for my taste, but the flowers are technically edible.

Final Notes: The weeds shown and discussed here are ones that showed up in April this year. They will look different as the year goes on. For example, garlic mustard gets much taller and produces white flowers in May and June. In addition, there were several plants that don’t show up until later in the year, including plantain, purslane, Lamb’s Quarters, and quickweed, so we couldn’t get pictures of those. To see more edible weed pictures, please go to: http://thesnarkygardener.com/2015/05/09/ northeastern-ohio-edible-garden-weeds/ The Snarky Gardener will be signing his book, “The Snarky Gardener’s Veggie Growing Guide” (also available on Amazon), at the Barnes and Noble in Akron on July 21st between 1pm and 4pm. Come on down and ask him your hardest mid-season gardening questions.

Elliott Ingersoll, Ph.D.

Illustration by Chuck Slonaker

Travels with Jimmie: LIFE WITH AN ADHD BRAIN

he first thing you need to do before you read further is name your brain (if you haven’t already). There is a great deal of evidence that our brains are milliseconds to seconds ahead of our conscious experience of self. Really. Most of us seem to think of our “self” as residing a little behind the forehead and we think we’re “calling the shots.” Well, evidence is building that we’re Continued on page 52

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

Continued from page 51 not. Some neuroscientists argue from such evidence that since “we” (our conscious experience of ourselves) are not even “calling the shots,” therefore “we” do not even have free will. In the spirit of this new understanding of the mind/brain, I say name your brain and then when one of your choices goes wrong, you have someone to blame. For me, it’s Jimmie. Sped past that cop at the stoplight? “Thanks, Jimmie.” Just grabbed a hot plate from the microwave because you forgot they get hot in microwaves? “Thanks, Jimmie!” Forgot to check the oil in the snow blower and blew the engine? “Thanks, Jimmie!” You get the idea. If you relax into it, even the loss of free will is not a big deal – as a friend of mine says, “I can’t wait to see what I do next!” Now, the thing that makes travels with Jimmie even more interesting is he is a classic BabyBoomer ADHD model brain (tape deck optional). We still do not know where these models come from or why they cropped up so large in my generation. My first awareness of what we call ADHD was in junior high trying to read. I would try, and try, and try, and still read the same sentence or paragraph over and over. Comprehension would become aggravated and complicated by thoughts like “didn’t we just read this?” or “this looks so familiar.” I would

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

get this frustrated, sick feeling in my stomach and then often just throw the book at the wall (I have long since stopped throwing books). Jimmie and I pretty much knew by sophomore year at university what the problem was but had learned some coping skills “on the streets”, as the saying goes. One was we did much better reading things that we really enjoyed. Another was that we needed an environment where there was a lot going on and we could do different things from time to time. We also learned to fake interest in stuff we knew little about because if we could find someone who really was interested in the stuff, and pepper them with questions, their excitement could get us interested. Finally, we learned if we exercise really, really hard and exhaust ourselves, it was easier to read (even things we were not interested in). My Baby-Boomer, ADHD model brain also comes with an odd feature regarding time referred to as “chronesthesia.” Chronesthesia is a sort of mental time travel where one’s past, future, and present co-exist in one’s consciousness. Jimmie and I don’t really experience time as a line; for us it feels more like a sphere (and for you skeptics, the recently deceased physicist Stephen Hawking wrote about a quantum universe where space-time would

curve back on itself like the surface of a sphere). For Jimmie and me, moments don’t “feel like” one progressing to the next. For us it all “feels” like each moment sits right next to every other moment. The benefits of this are that when a student who I have not seen for years pops by the office, for me it is like I just saw them yesterday. I can however, get confused as to why they look so different today and are toting children with them who did not exist yesterday. By my senior year in university, I understood how Jimmie and I worked best together. All of this meant that we needed to work somewhere with flexibility, where there were lots of new things going on, where we could focus on what we liked, and where there were lots of people excited about stuff we knew nothing about. Jimmie and I (and numerous parents and mentors) agreed that life as a university professor would be best for us and safest for the world. I write “safest for the world” because the brains of many people who suffer from ADHD but lack the loving friends, mentors, and parents Jimmie and I had, find that substance abuse (alcohol, cannabis) sometimes dulls the edges of the ADHD symptoms. Some of these people and brains go on to develop problems with authority and relationships that keep them “un” or “under-employed.” Guiding people and brains with ADHD to (as Joseph Campbell

used to say) “follow their bliss” is really important. As many experts have written, people and brains suffering from ADHD can do anything; they just struggle to do it as efficiently as those people and brains who do not suffer from ADHD. Friends of mine, reviewing drafts of this, asked me if I was comfortable “outing” myself (and Jimmie). I asked them, “how much time did you spend with me before you assumed I had attention deficits?” They were all like “a couple minutes; you’re right; go ahead.” Even most of my students have picked up on the situation with me and Jimmie halfway through the first lecture. I have learned for the students’ sake, to label digressions (“that last three minutes was an editorial triggered by the Karl Marx t-shirt in the back row and will not be on the test”). I have also learned to have students put requests in emails so they have a “paper trail” of sorts. I also want to add that should you and your brain be among the afflicted, you will need the goodwill of others in your life, at times, to pick up the slack. Ask me to stop at the store on the way home, Jimmie and I show up with boxes of boots and rain gear – “Oh, you meant grocery store! And you texted a list? Oops. Thanks Jimmie!” Joining me for a night on the town? Jimmie and I have only planned to go “out.” If you want to go somewhere

specific, you’d best be clear. If you work with me and say, “We need to meet to solve a problem,” I am ready, like right now. If you want me to plan it in a calendar, I have excellent assistants for that (without whom I could not function as a university department chairperson). All of this brings me to my main theme which is kindness. As I noted, no one knows why human/brain units like Jimmie and me exist or how we came to be. All we know is we exist in a world with seven billion other souls and we have to find a way to get on together. All these reasons are reasons why, particularly for people and brains who struggle with ADHD, it is critically important to be nice to everyone – you’ll need almost all of them at some point. Having misread something or been “wrong” so often has helped Jimmie and me (well, he would say just me) cultivate humility, humor, and acceptance that have made our lives much better. Once I accepted that I could feel really certain about something and turn out totally, absolutely wrong, it was a lot easier to hold things lightly. This learning practice also taught me (almost by accident) a lot about the importance of caring and empathy. People showed Jimmie and me these precious human qualities when we were obstinately insisting on a point and Jimmie

and I learned that reflecting them back was the very least we could do. We think this in part led me to become a counselor, then a psychologist, then a faculty member. We really “know” what it feels like to totally feel “right” and then be catastrophically “wrong.” Jimmie and I hold “being right” fairly low in our priorities because a) most of the time we aren’t (or at least not in the way we thought) and b) it makes being a professor a lot easier. My job is not to teach others what to think but how to think with whatever brain model they are operating with. It turns out that where human beings and brains are concerned, you can never go wrong basting them in kindness. This much Jimmie and I have learned on this long, strange trip. “Thanks Jimmie!”

volume 17 | 2018 â&#x20AC;¢ www.aroundkent.net

New Orthopedic Center at UH Portage Medical Center BRINGS LATEST TECHNIQUES TO THE COUNTY THE NEW ORTHOPEDIC CENTER at University Hospitals Portage Medical Center is changing where and how Portage County residents can get treatment for orthopedic problems. Say “orthopedic surgery,” and most people think of an operation to replace a knee, hip or shoulder. But replacing worn out joints is only one aspect of the care and treatment now available in the new Orthopedic Center at UH Portage Medical Center. In addition to major joint replacement surgery, orthopedic surgeons Christopher Tisdel, MD, and James Walter, DO, are also well versed in treating other problems of the bones, ligaments and tendons in the lower and upper extremities. And in most cases, the treatments they offer for orthopedic problems don’t start with surgery.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

In fact, Dr. Tisdel, who specializes in treating problems in the foot, ankle, knee, and hip, considers surgery the last resort for most of his patients. Although the patient’s perspective often is that everyone who sees an orthopedic specialist goes to surgery, that’s not necessarily true, he says. “The reality is that whenever possible, I try to at least buy the patient some time with nonsurgical treatments first,” he

... in most cases, the treatments they offer for orthopedic problems don’t start with surgery.

explains. “And some patients never need surgical treatment.” Dr. Walter, a hand and upper extremity specialist in the UH Portage Orthopedic Center, applies the same approach to his patients. He treats patients with uncommon hand and arm issues such as tendon injuries or cubital tunnel as well as the more familiar ones such as carpal tunnel, trigger finger, and thumb arthritis. “I usually start with an injection, medication, or a brace to reduce pain and improve function before even considering surgery,” he says.

Surgery with Less Stress When surgery is necessary, patients often are pleasantly surprised when they learn that a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure may

The latest advances for lower extremity problems are also available at the UH Portage Orthopedic Center. Dr. Tisdel is among a handful of orthopedic surgeons in Northeast Ohio performing ankle joint replacement, one of the newest developments in treatment of ankle arthritis. He learned the procedure and became adept at it while on staff at a Detroitarea hospital prior to joining UH.

UH orthopedic surgeons Christopher Tisdel, MD (on left), and James Walter, DO, see patients at UH Portage Medical Center and UH Streetsboro Health Center, 9318 State Route 14, Streetsboro.

be an option for them. “Problems such as torn cartilage or ligaments and even early arthritis in the knee or ankle frequently may be treated minimally invasively,” Dr. Tisdel says. “There is still a recovery period before the patient can return to his or her usual activities, but it is significantly shorter than with an open procedure.” The same holds true for treating similar issues in the upper extremity, Dr. Walter notes. “Endoscopic carpal tunnel release, for example, is performed through small incisions and offers patients a quicker recovery,” he says. He performs 90 to 95 percent of his surgeries as outpatient procedures, including rotator cuff repair.

Latest Advances, Close to Home Later this year, Dr. Walter plans to introduce wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) surgery for hand and finger tendon repair procedures at UH Portage Medical Center. This approach eliminates the need for a tourniquet, which hand surgeons used to use to provide better visibility of the hand or finger structure during the operation. “With WALANT, there is no tourniquet. The patient receives local anesthesia in the area being operated and is awake during the surgery,” Dr. Walter explains. “This allows the patient to flex the fingers during the procedure so the surgeon can determine when the tendon repair is complete and successful.”

Ankle replacement is a technically complex procedure that offers good patient outcomes, Dr. Tisdel notes. “With the latest ankle prosthesis and surgical techniques, an ankle replacement in appropriately selected patients should last 20 years,” he says. The best candidates for ankle replacement are senior citizens with a long history of debilitating ankle pain and the goal of walking or performing other low-impact exercise without pain. Offering a wide range of treatment options for patients with orthopedic problems, the Orthopedic Center at UH Portage Medical Center welcomes new patients. For an appointment with Dr. Tisdel or Dr. Walter, patients may call 330-297-6030.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

UH PORTAGE MEDICAL CENTER

Deborah Ewing-Wilson, DO Deborah EwingWilson, DO cares for patients with all types of neurologic problems and diseases. She has a special interest in sleep disorders, multiple sclerosis, dementia, and headache and is board certified in neurology, clinical neurophysiology, and sleep medicine.

Family Health & Safety Days

Dr. Ewing-Wilson completed her undergraduate studies at Wellesley UH Portage Medical Center College, Wellesley, Mass., 6847 N. Chestnut St, Suite 125 and earned her medical Ravenna, Ohio 44266 degree from Midwestern UH Twinsburg Health Center 8819 Commons Blvd, Suite 200 University Chicago College Twinsburg, Ohio 44087 of Osteopathic Medicine, Downers Grove, Ill. Dr. Appointments: 330-954-7233 Ewing-Wilson served her residency in neurology at Cleveland Clinic. She joined the UH medical staff in 2016.

Celebrate wellness at our events with free health screenings and education – plus family-friendly activities, including healthy food recipes and demonstrations, kid’s crafts, bike helmet fitting and give-a-way, and much more.

“My approach to patient care is shared medical decisionmaking,” Dr. Ewing-Wilson says. “I feel it is important to recommend evidence-based treatments and management plans that also take into account the patient’s lifestyle and values. Treatments are successful only if the patient is willing and able to be compliant with them.”

PREREGISTERED HEALTH SCREENINGS:

DEBORAH EWING-WILSON, DO

In her leisure time, Dr. Ewing-Wilson enjoys swimming, walking, yoga and barre exercise, and traveling the world with her husband. They have two grown daughters.

volume 17 | 2018 • www.aroundkent.net

FREE HEALTH SCREENINGS Walk-up health screenings: • Balance and grip • Blood pressure • Cholesterol • BMI

• Blood Glucose • Bone Density • Hearing

• Carotid vascular assessment • Lower extremity vascular assessment • Skin cancer For more information or to register, call 1-800-883-3674.

Saturday, July 28 9 AM - 1 PM UH Portage Medical Center 6847 North Chestnut Street Ravenna, Ohio 44266 Saturday, August 18 9 AM - 1 PM UH Streetsboro Health Center 9318 State Route 14 Streetsboro, Ohio 44241

volume 17 | 2018 â&#x20AC;¢ www.aroundkent.net