Around Campus
STUDENT SUCCESS YSU’s yo* Magazine Wins National Collegiate Press Recognition
The yo*, a special magazine published by YSU’s student newspaper, was awarded the Best in Show prize by the Associated Collegiate Press. The magazine placed first in the feature/ special audience college magazine category. The award-winning spring 2008 issue featured work by Cristina Cala, Chelsea Pflugh, Britta Snowberger, Richard Boccia, Brian Cetina, Sarah Sole, Ashley Tate, Cheryl Thompson, Emmalee Torisk and Tony Lucente. Sarah Sole, editor of The Jambar, and Richard Boccia, managing editor of The Jambar, are this year’s editors. Alyssa Lenhoff, director of journalism, said she and other journalism faculty are trying to find permanent funding for printing of the yo*. Previous issues have been published with funds provided by the YSU Student Government Association.
Cristina Cala, second from left, former editor of yo* magazine, shows off the trophy the student publication received from the Associated Collegiate Press. Other staffers pictured are, clockwise from left, Sarah Sole, Richard Louis Boccia, Brian Cetina, Emmalee Torisk and Chelsea Pflugh.
Math Students Present Research at National Conference in D.C.
Three YSU mathematics students presented their research results at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America in January in Washington, D.C. John W. Hoffman of Poland, W. Ryan Livingston of Hubbard and Jared M. Ruiz of Girard called their presentation “A Note of Covering Systems of Congruences: Variations on a 2002 AIME Problem.” It was the latest in a string of accomplishments for the mathematics trio. Last summer, the three were selected to participate in an eight-week research experience for undergraduate students operated by the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics at YSU. Funded by the J. Douglas &
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Youngstown State University
Around Campus Barbara Faires Endowment Fund, the team worked under the direction of Jacek Fabrykowski, YSU professor of mathematics and statistics; Ruiz received summer support from the University of Akron’s McNair Scholar Program. Ruiz, Livingston and Hoffman also attended the Annual Summer Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America and Pi Mu Epsilon in Madison, Wisc., in late July and made presentations.
Sophomore Awarded Scholarship for Semester Study in Thailand
Brian Haughey, a sophomore political science major from Austintown, has been awarded a $5,000 FreemanAsia Scholarship to help fund his study abroad this semester at Rangsit University in Bangkok, Thailand. A son of Deborah and Michael Gaia and David Haughey, Brian left for Thailand on New Year’s Eve and will return home in April. The second-oldest Brian Haughey of four brothers, Haughey has a 3.9 grade point average at YSU. “He’s a go-getter. When he sets his mind on something, he gets it done,” Michael Gaia said. Haughey is among the last to receive a scholarship from the Freeman-Asia Scholarship program, which has supported more than 4,000 American undergraduates studying abroad in East Asia or Southeast Asia since it was founded in 2001. The Institute of International Education, which co-funded the scholarships with the Freeman Foundation, has suspended the program.
Nursing Students Participate in ‘Drive-Thru’ Flu Shot Clinic
YSU nursing students got some hands-on experience in how immunizations might be administered in the case of a community disaster when they participated in a Drive-Thru Flu Shot Clinic sponsored by the Mahoning County Board of Health. Sue Rendano, nursing instructor, said the setting gave students a chance to observe, participate and evaluate the role that nurses play in community disasters or emergencies in which mass numbers of citizens must be immunized. Rendano said the clinic focused on the “social isolation” of the clients – the clients remained in their cars, answering a few questions regarding the flu vaccine before the shots were administered. “Overall, the response from the public was positive as well as most appreciative,” she said. The clinic was approved by the Ohio Department of Health as a full scale infrastructure exercise. The Mahoning County Emergency Management Team had a command post on site; state health officials observed the clinic and performed a post-clinic evaluation.
NASA Picks YSU Planetarium for Galaxy Image Display YSU’s Ward Beecher Planetarium has been named a permanent exhibition site for two photographic prints of Messier 101, a spiral galaxy, digitally captured by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Great Observatories. The NASA images – one 6 by 3 feet, the other 3 by 3 feet – will be displayed near the planetarium entrance at Ward Beecher Hall and unveiled in mid-February to kick off a series of events on the YSU campus celebrating the International Year of Astronomy.
“This year-long celebration is an exciting opportunity for everyone to observe and appreciate the universe, and we are thrilled to be taking part,” said Patrick Durrell, assistant professor, Physics and Astronomy, and planetarium director. YSU is one of about 100 U.S.-based science centers, museums, planetariums, nature centers and educational venues chosen to exhibit the images captured by NASA’s three Great Observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
The following events, all scheduled at the planetarium, will also be part of YSU’s International Year of Astronomy observance: March 20 and 21, 8 p.m. - Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian, part 1, presentation by Durrell. March 25, 8 p.m. - Albert Einstein: Physicist, Philosopher, Humanitarian, part 2, presentation by Don Howard, philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame, jointly sponsored by the Planetarium and the YSU Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies. April 2, 1 to 2:30 p.m. - Space Observations: Past, Present & Future, a live Webcast discussing Galileo and the importance of space observations throughout history.
April 4, noon to 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight Global Star Party, offers the public opportunities for daytime and nighttime telescope viewing with assistance from YSU faculty, staff, students and members of the Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society. Planetarium shows also featured at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Sept. 25 and 26, 8 p.m. - “The Star Seeker,” a live stage presentation about Galileo’s life, written and directed by YSU student David Munnell, produced jointly by the YSU Department of Theater and Dance and the planetarium.
April 3 - 100 Hours of Astronomy, includes planetarium shows at 7 and 8:30 p.m. and telescope observation opportunities for the public on the YSU campus starting at 8 p.m.
Two students take in the view overhead at YSU's Ward Beecher Planetarium.
Winter 2009
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