Annual Fundraiser Presents Musical The Gannon University Schuster Theatre/Alex Clemente Fundraiser presented The Complete History of Western Civilization (Abridged), The Musical, by Martin, Tichner, Graham, and Ryan in March.
Alex Clemente ’62 was an important influence on the development of the Erie arts community, as he was involved in creating and supporting institutions and programs such as the Erie Historical Museum, the Erie Summer Festival of the Arts, and the Erie Opera Theatre. He served as the technical director for Gannon’s Little Theatre in the 1980’s, and many of his plays were produced at Gannon’s Little Theatre, The Carriage House, and The Erie Playhouse. The proceeds from the fundraiser were added to the Alex Clemente Fund for Performing and Related Arts, a fund that helps provide opportunities for professionals in theatre and other arts to serve as “artists in residence” at Gannon University on an annual basis. The show, which ran for two nights, was a return to the comic antics of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The performances, directed by Ed Helenski, current Schuster Theatre technical director, featured wellknown local talents Paula Barrett, Shawn Clerkin, and Jim Gandolfo.
Fuel of the Future The dream of hydrogen fuel cell-powered transportation continues to inspire research throughout the country as well as here at Gannon University. A small biotech company called Infectech has recently funded Gannon’s Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering to conduct a feasibility study on the use of the non-pathogenic bacteria Clostridia as a source of hydrogen that could be used for fuel. “Our goal is to work with bacteria that produce hydrogen as waste and then to capture that hydrogen before other bacteria can use it as a food source, transforming it into methane,” explained Department Chairperson Harry R. Diz, Ph.D., one of the main researchers working on the bioreactor that
Upcoming Schuster Events Schuster Art Gallery April 9 - May 10, 2005 Kate Bender—Printmaking Erie Chamber Orchestra June 10, 2005, at 7:30 PM Tribute to the Music of John Williams St. Patrick Church, 130 East 4th Street Gannon University Schuster Theater April 21 - April 24 and April 28 - April 30 Moby Dick: The Musical! by Robert Longden and Hereward Kaye.
would make this process possible. He added, “The concern with producing hydrogen as we do now—by splitting H2O molecules—is that the process requires using more energy generated from fossil fuels than the use of hydrogen as a fuel source would conserve.” The purpose of this project is to investigate ways in which hydrogen can be captured and used for fuel safely and economically by using microorganisms as a source. Dr. Diz is currently working with Dennis Bazylinski, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology at Iowa State University, to receive consultation on the microorganisms important to the research. Dick Gammon, Ph.D., a retired professor of Gannon, is providing the cultures for the research through his business, Presque Isle Cultures.
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