Around Campus
Governor Names John R. Jakubek to YSU Board of Trustees
John R. Jakubek of Canfield, Ohio, an anesthesiologist and YSU graduate, was appointed to the YSU Board of Trustees in June by Gov. Ted Strickland. Jakubek will complete the unexpired term of Dianne Bitonte Miladore, which runs through June 2014. Miladore stepped down after being appointed to the board of trustees at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Pharmacy. Jakubek earned a bachelor of science John Jakubek degree from YSU in 1979 and is a 1982 graduate of Ohio State University College of Medicine. He serves on the staff of Bel-Park Anesthesia Associates Inc. and St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center, where he is also a member of the Clinical Medical Executive Committee. He is a didactic and clinical instructor at the St. Elizabeth Health Center School for Nurse Anesthetists and medical director of the Surgery Center of Canfield. He also is a clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.
New Veterans Affairs Office Welcomes, Assists Returning Vets
YSU has opened a new Office of Veterans Affairs as part of its effort to better serve members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The office, led by YSU graduate and Vietnam War veteran Jim Olive, will help veterans with the transition from military life to college life, including assistance with admissions, financial aid, registration, academic advising and tutoring. Located on the third floor of Tod Hall, the Office of Veterans Affairs was developed in response to the federal government’s new GI Bill for post-Sept. 11, 2001, Jim Olive, left, coordinator of YSU's veterans. The bill, which new Office of Veterans Affairs, and took effect Vernon Haynes, chair of the YSU this month, Veterans Advisory Council. will fund the full cost of tuition at YSU for veterans who are eligible for full benefits. With the bill, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expects the total number of veterans enrolled in college to increase by 20 percent over the next two years. As an additional step, YSU has agreed to waive the university’s $30 application fee and $75 orientation fee for all veterans. Veterans also will receive priority registration for classes. For more information, contact Olive at the Office of Veterans Affairs, 330-941-2503 or veterans@ysu. edu or visit www.ysu.edu/veterans/. “The new GI Bill is a tremendous opportunity for veterans who have served since 9/11 to seek their college degrees,” said Vernon Haynes, YSU professor, chair of psychology and chair of a new nine-member Veterans Advisory Council, which advises the university on veteran issues.
Honorary Degree for Professor Emeritus Janet DelBene, second from right, YSU professor emeritus in Chemistry and an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, received an honorary degree at commencement ceremonies May 16. Presenting the award are, from left, Scott Schulick, chairman of the Board of Trustees, YSU President David C. Sweet, and at right, Provost Ikram Khawaja. A YSU alumna, DelBene retired from teaching in 1999 but has continued to pursue her research interests on hydrogen bonds. More than 1,000 students received diplomas at the spring event. DelBene spoke at the ceremony for graduate students; Constantine William Curris, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, was featured speaker for the undergraduate ceremony and also received an honorary degree.
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Youngstown State University
Twelve Named to Serve on Magazine Advisory Committee
The YSU Magazine Advisory Committee, a newly-created 12-member panel made up of YSU alumni, faculty and staff, will be contributing ideas and insights as the university’s alumni magazine transitions from a biannual to a quarterly publication. Meeting at least twice a year, the panel will critique previous issues of YSU Magazine and will discuss story, photo and design ideas for
future editions. The committee’s goal is to help the magazine achieve journalistic excellence while inspiring YSU awareness and pride in the alumni readership. Advisory committee members are: Chet Cooper Jr., professor, Biological Sciences; Darla Funk, professor and special assistant for college initiatives, Dana School of Music; Mollie McGovern Hartup, assignment editor, WFMJ TV-21, Youngstown, and YSU alumna; Cryshanna Jackson, assistant professor, Political Science; Jacci Daniel Johnson, YSU annual giving coordinator; Bonnie Young Laing, assistant professor, Social Work; Trevor Parks, YSU sports information director; Jake Protivnak, assistant professor, Counseling and Special Education; Peter Reday, assistant professor, Marketing; Bruce Sherman, immediate past president, YSU Alumni Society, and president, Sherman Creative Promotions, Youngstown; Pat Shively, associate director, YSU Center for Student Progress; Shannon Tirone, executive director, Alumni and Events Management.
Second Emmy Nomination for Homework Express
Homework Express, an interactive call-in television show that is broadcast live five days a week from the YSU campus, has been nominated for an Emmy Award, the show’s second nomination in four years. The nomination was announced by the Lower Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which represents more than 40 television stations in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. The awards will be presented Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cleveland. Homework Express is nominated in the category “Teen Program/Special.” Students, mostly in grades 6 through 8, call into the show and get assistance with homework questions from on-air teachers. Fred Owens, professor of communications, is project director; Jim Stipetich is executive producer. The program is a production of the YSU College of Fine and Performing Arts and the YSU Beeghly College of Education, with support from the Youngstown city, Warren city and Austintown local schools. Homework Express can be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 23, Armstrong Cable channel 20 and MyYTV, and is streamed on the Internet.
Peace Officer Training Academy Graduates 500th Student
Nineteen students graduated this spring from YSU’s Peace Officer Training Academy, bringing to 500 the number of aspiring police officers the program has trained since it began in March 2000. Now in its 10th year of operation, the academy has graduates working at police departments in cities such as Fayetteville, N.C., and Ocean City, Md., and with departments across the Mahoning Valley. One graduate landed a
Around Campus
Seeds of Hope Two students use a tilling machine to create a garden that would be used to feed and motivate homeless people at the Help Hotline Community Center in Youngstown. The service project involved 12 students enrolled in a communications foundations course taught by assistant professor Adam Earnheardt last spring. The students solicited local businesses for donations of necessary materials and then planted the garden behind the center.
job as a special agent with the U.S. State Department and has traveled all over the world in the position. “Job prospects seem to be pretty good, if you’re willing to move,” said Rick Mahan, academy coordinator and a former Niles police officer. “A fair share of our kids get jobs locally, too.” Housed in the Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science in Cushwa Hall, the academy is certified by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. Students who complete the 582-hour course and meet certain physical fitness standards qualify to sit for a state police officer certification examination. Most cadets in the academy are pursuing bachelor’s or associate’s degrees in criminal justice. The course is also available on a non-credit basis for people who have lost a job or are looking to jump-start a career in law enforcement.
Political Science Professor Named Fulbright Scholar
Paul Sracic, professor and chair, Political Science, has been named a Fulbright Scholar and will lecture at the University of Tokyo and at Sophia University in Tokyo during the 20092010 academic year. Sracic, who also directs the Paul Sracic Rigelhaupt Pre-Law Center at YSU, joins an impressive list of individuals who have participated in the Fulbright Japan-United States program. That list includes five Nobel Prize Laureates, two Pulitzer Prize winners, five members of U.S. presidential cabinets, a dozen Supreme Court Justices and 17 members of Parliament.
Summer 2009
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