Around Campus
Around Campus ing certain number of components, supplied in a brown bag, in a predetermined time frame.
From left – Engineering students John French, Matthew Mosko, Matt Corsale and James Shuster with a circuit they created in a class for display at the annual engineering showcase in Moser Hall.
The Brown Bag Design Competition requires each team to design and assemble a circuit to solve a given problem us-
Two YSU political science students, Emery Boyle-Scott and Stephen Foley, recently traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to participate in the World Model United Nations conference sponStephen Foley and Emery Boyle-Scott, sored by Harvard political science majors, in Geneva, University. Switzerland, at the World Model United The conNations conference. ference brings together students from colleges and universities across the globe to debate issues that confront the current international political system. Foley and Boyle-Scott are active members of the YSU Model United Nations club and participated in the club’s Washington D.C. trip to Howard University’s and Converse College’s Model NATO conference in February. They also
Putting On A Good Show and More YSU Penguin Productions, created last fall, is a new McGiffin, for instance, worked on promoting the LudacYSU student group whose goal is to stage events to better ris concert, which included distributing flyers and banners. serve YSU students and the community. The group’s first For more information, visit the Penguin Productions web event – a concert in April by Grammy Award-winning persite at www.ysu.edu/penguin_pro. former Ludacris – drew more than 3,000 people (including a fare share of YSU students) to the Chevrolet Centre in downtown Youngstown. For Mike McGiffin, Penguin Productions is more than a way to have a good time. “Someday, I want to work in the music industry and supply and promote concerts,” said McGiffin, a YSU finance and accounting major. “So, this is great experience.” Penguin Productions, which is run by a board consisting of 12 students and 12 advisors, hopes to sponsor its next event this fall, tied to YSU’s homecoming and the celebration of the university’s centennial, said Joy Polkabla Byers, assistant director of programs and special events From left – student Wilson Okello; Jack Rigney, director, Campus Recreation in Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports. and Intramural Sports; Melanie Koontz, SCOPE coordinator; student Amanda But the group is about much more than put- Polles; Shannon Reesh, coordinator, Center for Student Progress; student Carrie Anderson; and Joy Polkabla Byers, assistant director of programs and special ting on a good show. Students learn marketing techniques, advertising and public relations, net- events, Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports. Penguins Productions, which sponsored its first concert in April, is run by a board of 12 students and working, budgeting and business management. 12 advisors.
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Youngstown State University
Last spring, University Theater presented “Theophilus North” by Matthew Burnett, based on the novel by Thornton Wilder, in the Spotlight Arena Theater in Bliss Hall. “North” is one of nine YSU student, faculty and staff performances produced by University Theater in 2007. Pictured above from left are Tony Scarsella, Roxanne Hauldren and Andrew Kim, who starred in the play. Several more productions are coming up in 2008. For tickets, call 330-941-3105 or visit www.fpa.ysu.edu/theater and click on University Theater Season.
volunteered for YSU’s Middle School Model UN day in March. The trip was financed in part by Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, YSU professor of philosophy and religious studies, through a donation to the Global Education Program. A team of YSU engineering students finished first in the construction speed category at the National Student Steel Bridge Building competition at California State University, Northridge. The YSU team competed against 43 teams from universities across the nation. The steel bridge is an 18’4” long by 36” wide by 29.5” high bridge designed, fabricated and constructed by students. In the competition, students race to build the bridge, which is then load-tested with 2,500 pounds. Each bridge is judged on aesthetics, construction speed, lightness and deflection. The YSU team constructed the bridge in 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The speed of other teams ranged from 2 minutes and 45 seconds to 18 minutes and 28 seconds. YSU’s team qualified for the national contest by placing first in the steel bridge competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers 2007 Ohio Valley Regional Conference at Ohio State University. Members of the YSU steel bridge team are Kevin Lynch of Shelby, Ohio, Mike Lyda of North Lima, Bill Pitoscia of Hubbard, Bryan Kopachy of Youngstown, Mike Grumley of Girard, Nick Sanford of Conneaut, and Mike Meder of Freedom, Pa.
The Jambar, YSU’s student newspaper, won a first place award in the 2007 American Scholastic Press Association competition for college newspapers. The Jambar was one of five universities to earn the ASPA award. In awarding the prize, the judges singled out The Jambar’s content and its “general plan” as its top strengths. In addition, Jambar editor Maysoon Abdelrasul won both first and second place awards in the national contest of the Society for Collegiate Journalists. Two other Jambar staff members, Ashley Tate Maysoon and Jeremy Lydic, Abdelrasul won honorable mention awards.The SCJ contest is the only collegiate journalism contest that is judged entirely by professional journalists. Nine YSU students were inducted into SCJ in a ceremony this past fall.
YSU’s chapter of the American Marketing Association received an award for “Outstanding Collegiate Chapter for 2006-2007” at the AMA’s Annual Collegiate Conference in New Orleans. The award is presented to chapters that exemplify overall excellence in membership, community service, fundraising and professional development activities. Peter Reday, an assistant professor of marketing, is the faculty advisor. Several students also attended the conference. More than 83 schools from across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico attended the AMA conference. YSU and the Dana School of Music has released a new CD by the YSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, “Tipping Points.” Stephen L. Gage is the conductor. It is the fifth in a series of recently released CDs beginning in 1999. The SWE is Dana’s top of three concert bands, and it consists of 55 woodwind, brass, and percussion undergraduate and graduate students from the music school. The ensemble has performed at regional, state and national conventions throughout its history, including a performance at the 2005 New York Wind Band Festival in New York’s Carnegie Hall. The group’s fourth CD, “Spin Cycle,” was Downbeat Magazine’s 2004-05 University Symphonic Recording of the Year. “Tipping Points” includes solo performances by five Dana faculty members: Kathryn Thomas Umble, flute; the
Summer 2007
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