McDonough Museum of Art

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on the cover This photograph highlights the oculus, a round skylight overlooking the spiral staircase in the John J. McDonough Museum of Art on the YSU campus.

Designed by Gwathmey Siegel, an internationally acclaimed architectural firm, in partnership with Youngstown architect Paul J. Ricciuti, the museum marks its 20th anniversary this year. Read more in our cover story, page 8.

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YSU President

Executive Director of Marketing & Communications

Director of University Communications

Magazine Editor

Layout Design Artist

Photographers

Graduate Assistant

Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications

Sports Contributor

Chief Development Officer

YSU Board of Trustees

Chair

Vice Chair

Secretary

Student Trustees

Cynthia E. Anderson, ’73 Mark W. Van Tilburg

Ron Cole

Cynthia Vinarsky Renée Cannon, ’90 Bruce Palmer Carl Leet Andrea Armeni, ’10 Jean Engle, ’86

Trevor Parks Paul McFadden, ’84

Scott R. Schulick Sudershan K. Garg Millicent Counts Delores Crawford Larry DeJane John R. Jakubek Harry Meshel Leonard Schiavone Carole S. Weimer Franklin S. Bennett Jr. Lyndsie Hall Ryan Meditz

Youngstown State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association.

Youngstown State University – A Magazine for Alumni and Friends (ISSN 2152-3754), Issue 7 online edition, Winter 2011, is published quarterly by the YSU Office of Marketing and Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Periodicals Postage Paid at Youngstown, Ohio.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Youngstown State University, Office of Marketing and Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Direct letters to the editor, comments or questions to the address above, call 330-941-3519 or e-mail universitymagazine@ysu.edu.

Youngstown State University is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or identity as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era, in respect to students and/or to applicants for employment, and to organizations providing contractual services to YSU. 8-001

in this

issue

Around Campus – The latest campus news and photos.

Student Success Stories – A new, regular feature highlighting YSU student achievements.

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COVER STORY: The McDonough Museum of Art Celebrates 20 Years – A look at the past, present and future of YSU’s center for contemporary art.

Faculty Photo Feature – Introducing Professor Victor Wan-Tatah, director of YSU’s Africana Studies Program.

Alumni Spotlight – Profiles of two exceptional YSU alumni: Christian Brienik and Suzanne Barbati.

DEPARTMENTS 2 President’s Message 14 Alumni News 18 Class Notes Check out YSU Magazine's online edition at

www.ysumagazine.org

Editor's Note: The winter edition of YSU Magazine includes our 2010 Annual report, which recognizes YSU alumni and friends who support the university through their generous contributions. The annual report is not included in this online edition of the magazine, in consideration of the privacy of YSU's donors.

To obtain a print copy of the winter magazine, including the annual report, contact YSU's Office of Marketing and Communications at 330-941-3519, or send an e-mail with your name and mailing address to universitymagazine@ysu.edu.

Art Appreciation Visitors examine exhibits at the fall Graduation BFA Show in a gallery at the McDonough Museum of Art, YSU’s center for contemporary art. Scheduled biannually at the museum and open to the public, the shows provide a venue for graduating seniors in the Department of Art to exhibit the best of their work.

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President’s Message

Planning is important; People are imperative

Cynthia E. Anderson President

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“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.”

Thus said Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame catcher with the New York Yankees and one of the 20th century’s most beloved folk philosophers.

I’m not sure exactly what Yogi was referring to in this famous quote, but is it possible he was talking about the importance of strategic planning? Well, that’s not likely, yet the quote speaks directly to why having a plan and following that plan is vital to the success of any organization.

In December 2010, the YSU Board of Trustees approved YSU 2020: The Strategic Plan of Youngstown State University, 2011-2020. This plan, developed over the course of six months under the leadership of a 52-member committee of students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and community members, is designed to lead YSU through the next decade. (You can read the document online at http://web.ysu.edu/2020strategicplan.)

The plan will guide us in everything we do and help us align the university’s priorities, investments and initiatives in the second decade of the 21st century.

While this kind of planning is important at any time in the history of an institution, it is simply requisite today given the economic conditions of the state and nation and the growing financial challenges facing public higher education. And those challenges are great. The state of Ohio is projecting an $8 billion shortfall in the next two-year state budget. For YSU, that means a minimum $7 million reduction in state subsidies next fiscal year, on top of the $3 million cut for the current fiscal year.

As I’ve said before, this is a new day and age for higher education; we must develop innovative and strategic ways of doing business. That’s what this strategic plan is all about – it provides a map that will allow us to maneuver through today’s economic storm while not losing our momentum and ability to ensure the success of our students and the well-being of our community into the future.

It takes more than a plan, however, to succeed; it takes people – people like those listed in this edition of YSU Magazine. In this issue, we recognize more than 5,000 individuals – as well as dozens of businesses and foundations – who contributed nearly $4 million to Youngstown State University during the 2010 fiscal year. Last year, donations to our Annual Fund alone increased nearly 25 percent. In the midst of an economic recession, that’s simply amazing. As a graduate of this wonderful institution, it is so gratifying to know that there are thousands of people across the state, the nation and the world who are so committed to YSU and our students. It is through people like you that this university – your university – will continue to thrive. Thank you for your continued support.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

Sincerely,

Cynthia E. Anderson President

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Board of Trustees Approves YSU’s 2020 Strategic Plan

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Chancellor Lauds YSU Research Efforts

The YSU Board of Trustees has approved a new YSU 2020 Strategic Plan that charts the university’s direction over the next decade.

“This document reflects the input of hundreds of individuals on campus and in the community and will be used to guide us through the next decade and help us align the university’s priorities, investments and initiatives over that period,” YSU President Cynthia E. Anderson said.

The 46-page plan was developed over the past six months after Anderson became president on July 1 and focuses on four critical “cornerstones”: • Student Success.

• Institutional Accountability and Sustainability.

• Transition to the Urban Research University Mission.

• Regional Engagement.

The process was led by a 52-member Strategic Planning Steering Committee, chaired by Ikram Khawaja, provost and vice president for academic affairs, and Gene Grilli, vice president for financial affairs.

“YSU 2020 offers a framework to address challenges and opportunities,” said Scott Schulick, chair of the Board of Trustees. “It offers direction for making YSU a dynamic and positive force for education, renewal and hope in the region and beyond.”

The text of the plan is available online at http://web.ysu. edu/2020strategicplan.

Eric D. Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, praised YSU’s efforts to help build a highly educated work force and to create jobs of the future when he spoke at fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 12. About 750 students received diplomas, and Fingerhut received an honorary degree.

“There is no more exciting place to be in higher education today than the state of Ohio,” he said. “And within the state of Ohio there is no more exciting place to be than here in Youngstown.”

Fingerhut said he was proud to sign off last summer on YSU’s new Ph.D. program in materials science and engineering and to join former Gov. Ted Strickland Eric Fingerhut in designating YSU a Center of Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering. Those advancements will build on the steelmaking history “that is in the very DNA of this valley” he said, “and turn it into academic and research success that the world can learn from.”

Salvador Bolan, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education, was the student speaker at fall commencement.

Visit www.ysumagazine.org Bolan is working as an intervention specialist for video on the Fall Commencement 2010. at American Spirit Academy in East Liverpool.

Hazel Street Extension Opens Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and YSU President Cynthia E. Anderson were among those participating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early December for the new, $1.2 million Hazel Street extension. The city built the two-block section of roadway along the west side of YSU’s new Williamson College of Business Administration as a way to better link downtown to the university.

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Around Campus

Centennial Circle Opens with 500 Commemorative Bricks The life-size bronze statue of the late Howard W. Jones, YSU’s first president, is now the centerpiece for Centennial Circle, a new campus landmark that features 500 commemorative bricks. Alumni and other university supporters, some from as far away as Florida, joined students, faculty and staff in dedicating the circle in late November.

Located at the entrance to the campus core, the Circle features bricks engraved with personalized messages that commemorate the accomplishments and memorable moments of alumni, faculty, staff and friends.

“Every day, thousands of people walk by this statue and these bricks on the way to class or lunch or wherever they may be going,” President Cynthia E. Anderson said. “My hope is that every once in a while, they will stop and understand that YSU would not be the wonderful university it is today if not for President Jones and the people whose names are on these bricks.”

Anderson, who became YSU’s seventh president this summer, was joined at the ceremony by Marilyn Chuey, President Jones’ daughter, and dozens of other university constituents who made donations to place bricks in the Circle.

In all, 500 donors contributed to the brick campaign, raising nearly $90,000 for the YSU Campus Beautification Initiative. The initiative seeks to establish an endowment to help sustain YSU’s 2,000 trees and park-like campus for future generations. In addition to the bricks, the Beautification Initiative includes memorial trees and benches planted and placed throughout the campus.

Visit www.ysumagazine.org for For more information, visit www.ysu.edu/treesbenches or call 330-941-3119. video on Centennial Circle.

Farnell Memorial Scholarship Established at YSU The late William H. Farnell of Poland, who attended YSU and worked as a drill press operator and at the Poland Township road department, has established a scholarship fund at the YSU Foundation.

The William H. Farnell Memorial Scholarship will award up to eight $1,000 scholarships annually to YSU students who are graduates of Poland Seminary High School, Struthers High School or another Mahoning Valley high school. Applicants must demonstrate academic excellence and financial need.

Scholarship recipients will be selected by the YSU Foundation, in conjunction with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

A 1969 graduate of Poland High School, Farnell died Dec. 24, 2009, at the age of 58.

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

New Antenna Boosts WYSU’s Broadcast Signal WYSU-FM 88.5 has a new transmitting antenna which is expected to increase the station’s broadcast signal and to provide stronger coverage to its listening audience. A four-man crew assembled the 1,600-pound antenna, which is attached to the south tower at the WKBN complex on South Avenue, Boardman. It replaces an antenna that was installed in 1990.

WYSU went off the air from Nov. 1 through 9 to accommodate installation of the antenna, a longer break than expected, said Gary Sexton, station director.

“Going off the air was an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of providing better service in the future,” he said.

Around Campus

New “App” Includes Virtual Tour of YSU Campus A new, free “app” now available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch provides a virtual walking tour of the YSU campus and instant access to YSU videos, photographs, university news and activities.

The walking tour, which is also available on the YSU homepage at www. ysu.edu and via Facebook, allows visitors to experience YSU’s 140-acre campus through photos, videos and 360-degree panoramic views of buildings and other campus areas. The app can be downloaded for free on iTunes by searching for “iTour YSU.” Mark Van Tilburg, executive director of the Office of Marketing and Communications, said work is under way to make the “app” available for other mobile devices and smart phones, including the Droid. “The new iPhone app and virtual tour are just two of the rapidly evolving ‘new media’ and social media tools we are deploying in association with our website and our overall Internet presence,” he said.

The app and the virtual tour were developed in partnership with YourCampus360, a leading virtual campus tour provider.

Former

ODOT Official Leads Transportation Research

YSU: Partner for Warren Innovation Center YSU is a key partner in the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center, a new energy innovation center and business accelerator making plans to open at the Kresge Building, 125 W. Market St. in downtown Warren.

The Center is a public-private partnership between state, federal and regional stakeholders, and YSU has been a key partner since the project’s inception, securing $2.2 million from the Department of Energy and $500,000 from the State of Ohio Capital Fund to support the development of the Innovation Center.

“YSU is pleased to be a partner in the development of the TechBelt Energy Innovation Center,” said President Cynthia E. Anderson. “We are looking forward to working with the center to create opportunities for our students and faculty to become engaged in the entrepreneurial work of creating new energy technologies for the 21st century, and bringing high quality jobs to the Mahoning Valley.”

Joann Iudiciani Esenwein of Lowellville, formerly the capital-planning manager at the Ohio Department of Transportation and a YSU alumna, is the new director of YSU’s Center for Transportation and Materials Engineering.

The Center, formed in 2006 in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering Joann Iudiciani and Mathematics, is one of Esenwein only 22 such U.S. Department of Transportation-funded research centers in the nation.

“We are excited to be able to bring an individual of Joann’s caliber to YSU,” said Martin Abraham, STEM dean. “Her background and skills will allow us to become more engaged in transportation research that has a direct impact on the Mahoning Valley.”

Esenwein has 30 years of experience with the Ohio Department of Transportation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from YSU in 1980, and a master’s degree in business administration from YSU in 2003.

Skeggs Lecture Series Presents Food, Inc., Fast Food Nation Author

Tuba player Dustin Roberts, a student in YSU’s Dana School of Music, performs as part of a brass quintet in a Music at Noon Brass Chamber Music concert at the Butler Institute of American Art. The late-November event, directed by Professor William Slocum, was part of a series of weekly concerts Dana students performed throughout fall semester at the Butler.

Eric Schlosser, author of the books Food, Inc. and Fast Food Nation, is this year’s Skeggs Lecture Series speaker. His presentation is set for 7:30 p.m.

March 2 at the DeYor Performing Arts Center in Youngstown. The lecture is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Contact Jackie LeViseur at 330-941-2136 or at jmleviseur@ysu.edu for more information.

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s s e c c Su STUDENT

Highlighting the achievements of exceptional YSU students

S T O R I E S Biology Major Wins Prestigious Scholarship

Senior Hillary Howard, a double major in biology and medical laboratory technology, has been awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. YSU was one of only four public universities in Ohio, and the only public university in northern Ohio, to have students earn Goldwater Scholar recognition.

Howard is also a member of the Clarence P. Gould Society, awarded to students on the basis of high academic achievement and on their breadth of coursework, and she completed an internship as part of the Ohio Science and Engineering Alliance. After graduating from YSU, Howard hopes to obtain an M.D./Ph.D. in Pathology/Microbiology and conduct research in biomedical science focusing on infectious diseases at the industrial level. She is currently doing clinical work at the Cleveland Clinic.

Studying Skeletons in San Salvador Molly E. Toth of Struthers, a senior anthropology major, studied human remains in the Bahamas in December through a grant she was recently awarded.

The $800 grant from the Gerace Research Centre on San Salvador Island allowed her to conduct a detailed study of human skeletal remains located on the site of the research center. In addition to making estimations of age, sex and ancestry by performing metric and nonmetric analysis, she implemented a short-term conservation program to ensure proper care and storage for the remains.

Toth first travelled to the GRC a year ago as part of a YSU archaeology class. The grant allowed her to return to continue her research under the supervision of Tom Delvaux, a YSU anthropology faculty member.

YSU Moot Court Teams Compete in National Tourney Two teams of YSU students qualified to compete in the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s National Tournament this year in New Orleans.

The teams – Travis Watson and Kevin Hulick, both of Austintown, and James Toliver of Youngstown and Mark Cornman of Austintown – qualified for the nationals by finishing in the top four of the ACMA Midwest Regional Tournament in November. This was the second consecutive year that Watson and Hulick qualified for the national competition.

The competition requires students to read, analyze, understand and argue constitutional law issues and answer questions as if they were appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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From the left, Kevin Hulick, James Toliver, Travis Watson and Mark Cornman.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

Finding Bridges Out of Poverty Four officers of the Bridges Out of Poverty Student Union (BOPSU) at YSU made two presentations at the national BOPSU conference in Indianapolis in the fall. Presenting were, from left, Brady Bates of Newton Falls, Rebecca Banks of Youngstown, Terrell Wesley of Cleveland and Malcom Horton of Youngstown.

Founded in the spring of 2010, BOPSU is comprised of students who are using their own experiences in under-resourced backgrounds to empower others in the YSU and Youngstown communities to succeed in college and beyond.

10 Place

STUDENTS WIN STATE NETWORKING CONTEST

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YSU seniors Nate Miller (right) and Steve Mesik placed Nationally first in the state of Ohio in the Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders 2010 Skills Competition for the United States and Canada.

Miller of East Palestine and Mesik of Austintown, both majoring in computer information systems at YSU, then placed 10th out of 45 competing teams from across both countries in the finals of the competition conducted in December.

Virginia Phillips, professor emeritus, is the students’ computer networking instructor.

Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders gives students an opportunity to showcase their information technology/networking skills and to gain visibility among talent recruiters in the growing networking field.

REPORTING ON

Respiratory RESEARCH

Two YSU seniors majoring in respiratory care joined professionals, physicians and Ph.D.s from around the world presenting research at the 56th annual American Association for Respiratory Care International Respiratory Congress in Las Vegas.

Dana Strollo (left) of Campbell and Lauren Furnkase of Austintown presented on their research, titled “Effect of Signal Loss on Respiratory Rate Recording with a Clinical Oxygen Dose Recorder,” which explained their analysis of patient oxygen needs during pulmonary rehabilitation.

Geography Major Awarded Study-Abroad Scholarship Christena Weatherspoon of Struthers, a geography major with a minor in American government, received the exclusive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad.

Weatherspoon used the scholarship to study at Christ College in Bangalore, India.

Gilman is a competitive scholarship program that offers awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the congressionally funded scholarship program is administered by the Institute of International Education. Since the inception of the scholarship in 2001, nearly 19,000 applications have been received and fewer than 5,000 scholarships have been awarded.

http://web.ysu.edu/studentsuccessstories

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BY CYNTHIA VINARSKY

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Step inside YSU’s John J. McDonough Museum of Art and prepare to be impressed.

From the street, the modern art museum looks unpretentious and understated, a counterpoint to its imposing, neoclassical neighbor, the Butler Institute of American Art, directly across the street on Wick Avenue.

But inside, YSU’s center for contemporary art reveals itself. The building is constructed on a sharply sloped site, so visitors entering from the street start out on the top floor. From there, they can tour the three-story, 20,000-square-foot modern art center, with its four art galleries, a spiral stairway and an auditorium that seats 50. Everywhere, strategically placed windows and skylights create an abundance of natural light.

The full three-story height of the museum is visible on the approach to the rear entry, also adorned by an outdoor sculpture court, and outside the skylights become sculptural elements in the design.

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

TWO DECADES OF CELEBRATING CONTEMPORARY ART

PHOTO BY SARAH STROUSS, 1991.

YSU’s McDonough Museum, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, was designed in 1991 by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, an internationally acclaimed architectural firm, in partnership with Youngstown architects Ricciuti, Buchanan and Balog.

New York-based Gwathmey Siegel still proudly displays a photo page and description of the McDonough on its website (http://www.gwathmey-siegel.com), alongside other projects, such as the Harvard University library and the Guggenheim Museum addition in New York, both also completed the year the McDonough opened.

Just as the McDonough’s complex design requires more than a drive-by to be appreciated, museum director Leslie A. Brothers believes that the university’s center for contemporary art has untapped potential to serve the university and the community. As the McDonough celebrates two decades, she and her staff are working to expand its role at YSU and in the Mahoning Valley.

“In the McDonough, we have an amazing example of modernist architecture,” said Brothers, “and we want it to be a public access point for YSU, not only for what is happening in the world of contemporary art, but also to showcase research and cross-disciplinary collaborations that are going on all over the campus.”

Unlike many museums, the McDonough doesn’t have its own art collection. Instead, it features an ever-changing array of exhibits by professional artists, as well as students, alumni and faculty from YSU’s Department of Art. The center also serves as a venue for lectures, performances and programs in collaboration with other departments on the YSU campus.

Never Static, Never the Same “The McDonough is never static, it’s never the same,” said Bryan DePoy, dean of YSU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts. “Shows are going up and down all the time. It’s a true hub of creativity, and the McDonough staff is always forward-thinking, always looking for new ways to engage the community.”

This year, Brothers and her two full-time staff members, Angela DeLucia and Robyn Maas, have added some special events and activities to mark the McDonough’s 20th anniversary, events that aim to strengthen the museum’s role as a nexus for campus and community partnerships.

For example, a Department of Art alumni invitational exhibit that the McDonough is hosting for the first time

this year as part of its 20-year celebration will bring alumni artists from across the country to the YSU campus. Titled “REUNION,” the exhibit runs Feb. 18 through March 18 and is free and open to the public during museum hours. Faculty and faculty emeriti were asked to nominate art graduates who are active in their art or design fields, Brothers said, and 62 YSU alumni have accepted the invitation to exhibit their work.

“We have artists and designers coming from all over the country, including New York and California, New Mexico and Arizona,” she said. “These are people who are actively involved and working in their fields. They are truly our success stories.”

The alumni exhibition will also be a featured attraction at the 15th annual Mad About the Arts fundraiser on Feb. 25, an event that benefits the McDonough and SMARTS – Students Motivated by the Arts.

It typically attracts a capacity crowd to the university’s contemporary art center every year.

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The McDonough is never static, it’s never the same ...

It’s a true hub of creativity.

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World-Renowned Architects

Bryan DePoy Dean, College of Fine and Performing Arts

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A view of YSU’s McDonough Museum of Art from outside its back entry, with a large sculpture in the foreground.

Designed by Gwathmey Siegel, an internationally known architectural firm, the museum includes several galleries, an outdoor sculpture court and a lecture hall that seats 50.

User Friendly and Accessible

Stephanie Smith

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

“We’re always asking the question: What is the changing role of a university art museum?”

Brothers said, describing ways that she and her staff collaborate to make the museum more user friendly and accessible. To illustrate, she described how the staff relocated its offices from behind closed doors to an “open office” in a glass-walled space on the third floor, in easy sight of the front door. “We are available to anyone who walks into the museum, and isn’t that the way it should be?” she said.

The McDonough is a tremendous advantage to YSU art students and faculty, said Stephanie Smith, an associate professor of art history and chair of the Department of Art. “It’s incredibly unusual for a college of our size to have a facility like the McDonough. It’s more typical to have a hallway, or maybe a single room,” she said. “What we have here is off the charts.”

Art and design students get several opportunities to exhibit their work at the McDonough during their college careers, Smith said. Juried shows open to all art and design majors are scheduled annually, and the museum is reserved biannually, in the spring and fall, to exhibit the work of graduating seniors earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

YSU art and design students gain valuable experience through the process of planning exhibits, and then working with the museum staff to set up and take down their exhibits, Smith explained.

She said the contemporary art center is also an effective recruiting tool that helps the department attract outstanding art and design students and faculty.

A Commentary by

Leslie Brothers

Why ART

Before McDonough – Limited Exhibit Space

Susan Russo remembers how the art department struggled with its limited exhibition space before the McDonough opened. Russo served as chair of the department from 1991, the year the museum opened, until she retired from the position in 2007.

Before the McDonough, she said, art and design students had a one-room gallery in Kilcawley Center and another small gallery in Bliss Hall. The department couldn’t offer “capstone” exhibit experiences for seniors and therefore could not qualify for an important accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

YSU has maintained NASAD accreditation since 1994 – the credential was a goal that Russo began pursuing when the museum opened. Now, Russo performs accreditation visits and offers training for the NASAD at art colleges all over the country, so she’s had plenty of opportunity to compare YSU to other schools.

“I would say that the McDonough puts us in the top 5 percent nationally in terms of size of the facility, staff and design,” she said. “We take it for granted now that we have this amazing space, but it was truly a wonderful gift.”

Susan Russo

Philanthropist’s Gift Russo recalls the excitement on campus following the announcement that Dr. John J. McDonough, a well-known Youngstown physician and art collector, planned to sell a painting and donate the proceeds to YSU to help fund construction of a university art museum. The painting, “Gloucester Harbor” by Childe Hassam, was sold at auction for just over $1 million; another $1.5 million came from the state of Ohio’s capital budget, to cover the total $2.5 million construction cost for the project.

Youngstown architect Paul J. Ricciuti is credited with recruiting the prestigious Gwathmey Siegel architectural firm to design the museum. “I knew John (McDonough) wanted a special building, so I contacted Charles Gwathmey, the founding partner,

Matters

I have been thinking about what it is that I really want to say about building an audience for contemporary art, relevance, and how art matters or doesn’t, in society.

Robert Irwin, an artist and writer, said “the purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known.” When I read this, I am reminded that what we provide as a public institution exhibiting works of art by contemporary artists engaged in this moment, our shared time, is an opportunity for the audience to search for new meaning from what is already meaningful to them – wars, their changing city, personal loss and challenges related to our economic recession. So my intention in choosing to exhibit works like those of Suzanne Slavick and Vito Acconci, for example, is not to present something known but to suggest new avenues for thinking and feeling.

Socially committed, community-engaged artists add depth to our culture and re-enchant the viewer – coming back to the reason why art was ever important in the first place. Human beings are artistic animals no less than political ones – what then is our nature as social beings and our nature as artistic beings – between politics and culture?

The relationship of consumption to expression, how art serves democracy, is dependent on one’s understanding of democracy, what is valued within democracy. Our value is not difficult to define, it is how we are valued or not, in our time, that we address here, in a venue committed to making accessible to the public contemporary ideas expressed through art, performance, voice and music.

Consider the artist as citizen, making meaning. Essential to all aspects of research, communication and technology, and completely attached to that which is urban, is the aesthetic dimension of human intelligence, need and purpose.

My hope is to place the McDonough as the locus for a campus and community-wide open forum, a meeting place for ongoing collaborative efforts and the exploration of as yet unknown possibilities for shared investigations to further articulate the public value of aesthetic experience for knowing the complex and often ambiguous world we live in.

Leslie Brothers is director of the McDonough Museum of Art. She has worked in museums for more than 25 years. Early in her career, she worked for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and a major New York gallery, Lucien Goldschmidt Inc. For the past 20 years, 10 at YSU, she has continued to challenge, adapt and evolve the unique role of the university art museum.

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Youngstown architect Paul J. Riccuiti, left, worked with the New York-based architectural firm Gwathmey Siegel, to design the McDonough Museum.

Below, A spiral staircase is one of the building’s striking modernist architectural features.

and asked if he would like to be involved,” said Ricciuti, who is now semi-retired after 48 years as an architect.

It turned out that Gwathmey had a connection to the Mahoning Valley, Ricciuti recalled – his father, the famous painter Robert Gwathmey, had some of his works on display in the permanent collection at the Butler Institute of American Art. “That was one of the reasons he liked coming to Youngstown,” Ricciuti said.

The YSU Board of Trustees had several site options to choose from, but they selected a location next door to Bliss Hall and directly across the street from the Butler. The university already owned the land; an old motel on the site that had been converted into offices was razed to make room for the new museum.

Challenging Site The sharp angle at which the property slopes away from Wick Avenue created a challenge, said Ricciuti, as the architects worked to meet a detailed list of requirements from the Department of Art. The building was to include a two-story installation gallery with a concrete floor to accommodate very large exhibits along with smaller galleries and a lecture

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hall, an outdoor sculpture court, and all walls were to be suitable for hanging art, even the hallways.

Gwathmey Siegel is known for adapting every design to its unique setting and turning the problem-solving process into art. Robert Siegel explained the thinking behind the McDonough design in this written statement, provided recently to the museum staff: “In the case of the McDonough Museum … the surrounding buildings were large scale elements and the space between was limited in size. It provoked the idea of fragmentation, creating a building that appeared to be sculptural objects in a garden setting rather than a small building set

in between larger buildings. It utilized the principal of counterpoint.”

Ricciuti said modernist design of the building, which opened on Oct. 26, 1991, makes good use of the element of surprise. “You bring people in through a simple entrance and the building just explodes in front of you,” he said.

“You get inside and say, ‘Boy oh boy, I didn’t realize what was here.’ ”

Catalytic Effect Looking to the future, DePoy, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts, said he believes the McDonough Museum and the college can have a vital part in the growth and advancement of YSU and the economic development of the Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania region.

The YSU Board of Trustees has adopted YSU 2020, a new 10-year Strategic Plan for the university, and regional engagement is one of the plan’s four cornerstones. Indeed, DePoy said the McDonough, as one of YSU’s primary public access points, will be vital in fulfilling that goal. “As a home for promoting arts and culture, the McDonough definitely plays an important role in engaging the community and bringing people to campus,” the dean said.

And through the museum’s continuing efforts to build excitement and appreciation for modern art, intellectual discussion, research and aesthetic experiences, he said, the McDonough and the college are producing tangible, quality-of-life benefits to YSU and the community.

Find a city that is booming, and you’ll almost always find a thriving arts and culture scene to match, DePoy said.

“A vibrant arts and culture scene has a catalytic effect, and it is crucial to urban development and economic renewal.

I can’t emphasize that point more strongly.”

This line-up of photos from inside the McDonough shows, from left: A visitor examining a student’s photographic exhibit; the 50-seat auditorium; an exhibit of student paintings; three visitors checking out an interactive exhibit at the fall Graduation BFA show; and two visitors inspecting a photo exhibit.

Events to Celebrate McDonough Anniversary YSU’s John J. McDonough Museum of Art kicks off its 20-year celebration with two special events in February: REUNION, the first YSU Department of Art Invitational, featuring the work of 62 YSU art and design graduates from all over the United States, and the 15th annual Mad About the Arts, which benefits the McDonough Museum and SMARTS – Students Motivated by the Arts. Both events will be at the McDonough, 525 Wick Avenue, Youngstown.

Here are the details:

REUNION: 20th Anniversary Alumni Invitational

WHEN: Feb. 18 through March 18.

WHAT TO EXPECT: YSU Department of Art graduates who are actively involved in their chosen art and design specialties were recommended by faculty and faculty emeriti to be included in the exhibition. Sixty-two alumni artists from across the United States were invited and all accepted. The artists’ graduation dates range from the 1960s through 2009.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC during museum hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

15th Annual Mad About the Arts

WHEN: 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Wine, appetizers, dancing, music provided by 2nd Avenue Band; REUNION: 20th Anniversary Alumni Invitational, featuring art and design created by YSU art department alumni in various media, will be on display throughout the galleries.

FOR RESERVATIONS: Call 330-941-2787.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about either event, contact the museum staff at 330-941-1400 or visit http://mcdonoughmuseum.ysu.edu.

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Alumni News Alumni From Nine States Named to Half-Century Club Eighteen members of the Class of 1960, including all four class officers, celebrated their 50-year reunion at the annual Half Century Club luncheon in October. Alumni came from nine states to attend the event, which was part of YSU’s Homecoming weekend festivities.

Half Century Club honorees were, from left, front row: Mary Kulusich, Marion Calpin, Sandy Borrow, Ron Stowe, Ed Stizza, Ron Vanatsky, Mary Lou Cardwell and Mary Lou Musitano; second row, Roy Setterberg, Matthew Kulusich, Paul Stepuk, James Aller, James Sharshan, Dr. James Quilty, George Libertin, Pat Bakich, Dr. Edwin Kaiser, John E. Beard, Dr. Richard Crepage (Alumni Society Board president), YSU President Cynthia E. Anderson and Shelly LaBerto (Alumni Society Board president-elect).

YSU ALUMNI:

1 , 2 0 0

Business College Honors Four Outstanding Alumni Four alumni of the Williamson College of Business Administration were honored for their accomplishments at the 15th annual WCBA Alumni Banquet, held in October during Homecoming Weekend. WCBA Dean Betty Jo Licata, front row left, and YSU President Cynthia E. Anderson pose with the honorees, from left: John Angelilli, ’84 BSBA, ’99 MBA, chief financial and operating officer for the Youngstown-based John Zidian Group, Outstanding MBA Alumnus; Michael McBride, ’75 BSBA, executive director for Goodwill Industries, Outstanding Service Award; Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, ’94 BSBA, Outstanding Business Alumnus; and Ryan Smith, ’00 BSBA, manager of learning and performance development at the Cleveland Clinic, Outstanding Recent Alumnus.

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

YSU alumni in Austin, Texas, gathered recently to begin talking about a YSU alumni event in the Lone Star State. There are about 1,200 alumni living throughout the state, with concentrations in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. If you’re interested in helping to plan or would like to attend a future YSU alumni event in Texas, contact Mollie Hartup, 330-941-3086 or mahartup@ysu.edu.

M A R K YO U R CA L E N DA R Youngstown Day in Sarasota The annual reunion luncheon for YSU alumni and friends from the Youngstown area is set for Sunday, March 13, at the Hyatt in Sarasota, Fla. Reservations are required by March 1; space is limited to the first 500 guests. Contact Erin DeBernardo, 330-941-2068 or ebdebernardo@ysu.edu.

Cleveland After-work Socials Cleveland area alumni are invited to two events this spring — one on each side of town. Join us for an appetizer buffet on the East Side Thursday, March 31, at Willoughby Brewing Co.; and on the West Side on Thursday, April 7, at Fathead’s Brewery. Contact Mollie Hartup, 330-941-3086 or mahartup@ysu.edu.

STEM College Reception Graduates and friends of the STEM College will gather for a reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 10, at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, 151 West Wood Street, Youngstown. The event follows the STEM Showcase of student works, 2 to 5 p.m. in Moser Hall.

Reservations required for the reception. Contact Heather Belgin, 330-941-1591 or habelgin@ysu.edu.

Victor Wan-Tatah

Professor and Director, Africana Studies

It’s a long way from the city of Kumbo in Cameroon in West Africa to Youngstown – nearly 6,100 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, in fact.

It’s a journey that Victor Wan-Tatah – head of YSU’s Africana Studies program – knows well.

Wan-Tatah, whose father traded kola nuts in local markets while his mother tended to a home of six children (where Victor was the oldest), was born and raised in Kumbo. It was the 1960s, and the young Victor was fascinated by the life and teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., listening to speeches and news reports on the radio.

“I had great admiration for people who were very intelligent, and who might have studied at great institutions of higher learning, like Harvard with its ivy-covered walls, and Oxford,” he said.

After graduating from Nyasoso Theological College in the South-West Province of Cameroon, he worked in the Presbyterian Communication Department for three years as an assistant radio pastor before leaving for the United States in 1977 to study at Harvard University. There he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in theology. In 1987, he joined the faculty of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at YSU; he was named director of Africana Studies in 2000.

In nearly 25 years in Youngstown, Wan-Tatah has evolved into a visible, plain-spoken and respected leader – both on and off campus – and an award-winning author and teacher across academe, whose scholarly articles address topics ranging from the “warrior cult” in West African cultures to Latin American liberation theology.

Wan-Tatah is currently working on a book that explores issues regarding the faith of Barack Obama that arose during the presidential campaign and what he calls the “ongoing demonization” of black liberation theology by pundits such as conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck.

As head of the Africana Studies program, Wan-Tatah has introduced the annual “Jabali” African Cultural Celebration and has beefed up programming for the African American History Month every February. This year’s event, for instance, includes a lecture on blacks in the military and a film about the colonial rule of Congo. (For the schedule, visit http://www.as.ysu. edu/~afrst/.)

“It is important that we continue to teach, study and advocate for the intellectual and cultural history of African Americans,” he said. “African Americans – and those who are not African American – need to understand and appreciate from where they come and to recall and reclaim their part in history.”

Profile by Ron Cole

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Alumni

SpotlighT CELEBRATING ACCOMPLISHED GRADUATES

Taking Flights for Life Christian Brienik ’89, ’92

W

hen Metro Health Life Flight in Cleveland offered Christian Brienik a position as a flight nurse specialist five years ago, he thought he had reached the pinnacle of his career.

Flight nursing is a highly specialized and competitive field that requires quick thinking, exceptional clinical skills and a daunting list of specialty certifications, explained Brienik, a registered nurse and YSU alumnus.

“It was a goal that I never really thought I’d achieve,” said Brienik. “We work with the sickest patients, and we offer the highest level of care. We bring the intensive care unit to the patient’s bedside.”

In October, Brienik reached yet another career milestone.

He was part of a two-man team representing Metro Life Flight that took first place in a national critical care skills competition, going up against the top 10 flight nurse teams in North America. “You could call it a Super Bowl for nurses,” he said.

Performing before hundreds of their peers, he and flight nurse teammate Nate Hodgson demonstrated their clinical skills using life-like robotic mannequins. “These patient simulators can talk, cry, moan, bleed and breathe, and they can deteriorate if you follow the wrong path of care,” he said. The competition is sponsored annually by METI, a leading manufacturer of medical simulation and educational software, as part of the national Air Medical Transport Conference.

Brienik grew up in Austintown and started his emergency medicine career as an ambulance paramedic after earning an associate degree in emergency medical technology at YSU. He went on to complete a bachelor’s in applied science and allied health at YSU, then moved to Florida and earned an associate degree in nursing from St. Petersburg College.

He returned to the Mahoning Valley in 2003 and worked several years as a registered nurse in the cardiac catheterization lab at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. That experience has been invaluable in his work as a flight nurse, he said, because cardiac issues are a factor for many Metro Life Flight patients.

Brienik is based at the Portage County Airport in Ravenna. About 70 percent of his helicopter flights are transporting critically ill or injured patients to and from hospitals in a 250-mile radius around Cleveland, including Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties; the remaining 30 percent of his time is spent on accident and emergency scene rescues. “There’s an old cliché that describes my days pretty well,” he said. “You sit around 90 percent of the time, and the other 10 percent is sheer panic.”

The single father of an 11-year-old daughter, Brooke, Brienik said that parenthood sometimes affects his perspective when his team responds to an accident or other emergency, especially when it involves a child.

He spends much of his free time on additional training and coursework to advance his clinical skills, and he’s had opportunities to act as a guest lecturer for classes in YSU’s Emergency Medical Technology program.

Looking ahead, Brienik and his partner on the Metro Life Flight team are getting ready to compete again in May, this time pitting their clinical skills against flight nurses from around the world at an international competition in England.

Long term, Brienik’s goal is to continue as a Metro Life Flight nurse for the rest of his working life. “Let me put it this way,” he quipped. “I’ll be flying in a helicopter until they have to put a wheelchair sticker on the side of it.”

Christian Brienik

16

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

Teaching Children ‘How to Think, Not What to Think’ Suzanne Barbati ’95

Suzanne Barbati

F

or decades, McCrory’s five-and-dime store attracted families to downtown Youngtown for lunch-counter treats and thrifty shopping. Now, its former retail space is being renovated into a different kind of attraction for families – a children’s science and technology center – and YSU alumna Suzanne Barbati is in charge of the transformation.

Barbati is executive director of OH WOW! The Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology, set to open May 12 in its new home at 11 W. Federal St. The space had been vacant since McCrory’s shuttered its store there 18 years ago. “It’s the perfect space,” said Barbati, describing the high ceilings and 16,000 square feet of exhibit space on two floors.

The center was in the midst of a major transition when she signed on as its top administrator in March 2009.

Formerly known as the Children’s Museum of the Valley, its governing board renamed the facility in 2008 to reflect a stronger emphasis on science and technology and was looking to move it from its East Boardman Street location to a larger space.

In December 2009, the East Boardman Street center was closed as work began at the new location, a site two times bigger than the first. YSU’s College of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics is a collaborating partner; corporate supporters include Fireline Inc. and its owners Roger and Gloria Jones, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, WFMJ-TV and P&S Equities.

The capital campaign chaired by YSU alumnus Bruce Sherman has raised more than $1.5 million in local gifts from individuals, corporations and foundations that support the mission of OH WOW!, and Barbati said the museum is on track for its spring opening. In December, she accepted delivery of a 10-foot hurricane simulator and a 64-foot water exhibition that will be among the 25 interactive “Wow Zone” attractions.

Profiles by Cynthia Vinarsky

“We’ll have a magnet wall, a 15-foot-tall laser guitar, a 15-foot Lego table. Everything is designed to encourage kids to experiment,” Barbati said. “We want to teach kids how to think, not what to think.”

Planners expect the center to attract 25,000 to 30,000 people a year to downtown, including student groups from public and private schools all over the five-county region, as well as private parties, professional development sessions for teachers and corporate events.

Barbati believes her diverse career path has prepared her well for the challenge of developing and directing the OH WOW! Center. She was a non-traditional student and a mother of two school-aged children when she completed her bachelor’s degree at YSU in 1995. Her major was conflict studies education, an individualized curriculum combining criminal justice, education and psychology courses.

In the years that followed, she served as a consultant for the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution, working with school districts across Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, and helped to establish Mahoning Valley Dispute Resolution Services. She managed and implemented a Youngstown City Schools grant for the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic, served as a grant writer for Mahoning County and then started her own home-based grant writing business.

Barbati lives in Boardman with her husband Bill Florig, also a YSU alumnus. She loves hiking the trails at Mill Creek Park, which is within walking distance of her home, and vacationing at the family’s cottage on Lake Erie.

The couple’s son, Anthony Florig, started his college career at YSU but graduated from Ohio State University. Their daughter, Kate Komlanc, a 2008 YSU alumna employed as a school psychologist in Mahoning County, was the most recent of four generations of women to graduate from YSU. Barbati’s grandmother, Lucile Wolcott Baldwin, graduated from Youngstown College in the 1950s, and her mother, Barbara Barbati Christoff, earned a degree in 1968.

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70s

class

Al Condeluci of Pittsburgh, ’71 AB in psychology, was awarded the prestigious Freida Shapira Medal, an award presented annually to the top human service leader in southwestern Pennsylvania. Condeluci Al Condeluci is chief executive officer of UCP/CLASS, a Pittsburgh-area nonprofit that provides services to men, women and children with all types of disabilities. He earned his master’s degree in social work and his Ph.D. in higher education, both from the University of Pittsburgh, where he is also a part-time faculty member in the schools of Social Work and Health and Rehabilitation Science.

Al Hazari of Knoxville, Tenn., ’72 MS in chemistry, was featured in a Webinar, titled “Sparking Discovery – Chemists in the Community,” presented last October by the American Chemical Society to mark National Chemistry Week. Hazari is director of undergraduate chemistry labs and is a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he earned his doctorate in science education. He also has an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the American University in Cairo.

Steve Bartolin Jr. of Colorado Springs, Col., ’75 BSBA, was honored by Hotels magazine in November as its Independent Hotelier of the World for 2010. Bartolin, the president and chief executive officer of The Broadmoor, a luxury resort in Colorado Springs, was awarded the title based on a vote by the magazine’s 60,000 readers in 150 countries.

James R. Sakar of Omaha, Neb., ’75 MM, was elected to the Nebraska Music Educators Hall of Fame. Saker is a professor and director of bands at the University of Nebraska at

notes

Omaha, where he has also served as chair of the Department of Music and founded the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. He earned an undergraduate degree at Bowling Green State University, his master’s at YSU and a doctorate at the University of Iowa.

Michele Trucksis of Wayland, Mass., ’75 MA in medical technology, has been named director of clinical pharmacology by Merck Laboratories in Boston. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry and molecular biology from Kent State University and an M.D. from Case Western Reserve College of Medicine.

Trucksis completed an internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital and an infectious disease fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Lisa Farrall of Melbourne Beach, Fla., ’76 AB, was recently presented the National Contract Management Association’s Fellow Award, the organization’s thirdhighest honor. A contracts manager with Harris Corp., an international communications and information technology company, Farrall earned Lisa Farrall a Certified Federal Contracts Manager certification from the NCMA last year. She earned an MBA from the University of Central Florida.

Richard Schiraldi of Canfield, ’76 AB, has been named the independent, non-executive chairman of the boards of United Community Financial Corp. and Home Savings and Loan. Schiraldi is a Richard Schiraldi certified public accountant and has been a partner at Cohen

& Company CPAs in Youngstown since 1990. After completing his undergraduate degree at YSU, he earned a law degree from the University of Akron. The Williamson College of Business Administration recognized him with its Outstanding Service Award in 2009.

Marybeth Shaffer D.M.D. of Canfield, ’78 AAS in dental hygiene, has been appointed to the Ohio State Dental Board. She has a private practice in Leetonia, Ohio, and is a limited service instructor at YSU. She is a member of the American Dental Association, the Ohio Dental Association, where she has chaired the Council on Dental Licensure and Education, and is currently vice president of Corydon Palmer Marybeth Shaffer Dental Society.

She was elected to fellowship in the Pierre Fauchard Academy.

Maria Cougras Pappas of Poland, ’79 BS and ’82 MS, both in education, has been named superintendent of the Cranberry Area School District in Pennsylvania. She was selected after a national search conducted by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Formerly principal of Paul C. Bunn Elementary School in Youngstown, Pappas also served as a teacher in the Girard City Schools and as a supervisor of gifted/talented programs in the Youngstown City Schools. At one time she was named Ohio’s Gifted Educator of the Year by the Ohio Association for Gifted Maria Cougras Pappas Children.

Jaworski Book Analyzes Great Game Films

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Ron Jaworski, an ESPN sports analyst and former NFL standout whose football career began as a YSU Penguin, has authored a book, The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays. In the book, published by Ballantine/ESPN Books, Jaworski analyzes game film from seven of what he considers the most momentous football contests played over the past 50 years.

Jaworski, who now bears the nickname “Jaws,” started at YSU in the early 1970s and had an impressive career as a Penguin quarterback until he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 1973. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs before retiring in 1990, ending his 17-year career as an NFL quarterback. He joined ESPN that same year and has covered the NFL as a reporter, host, studio analyst and game analyst. This year, he served as the network’s color commentator for Monday Night Football. In 1986, Jaworski was inducted in the YSU Sports Hall of Fame.

Class Notes

80s Greg Collett of Hilton Head Island, S.C., ’83 BE in mechanical engineering, has been named vice president of initial phase operations for Gulfstream Aerospace and will be overseeing production of the company’s large-cabin aircraft, along with other manufacturing operations. Collett has held a succession of manufacturing management positions for the company.

Perry Pogany of Indianapolis, Ind., ’84 BSBA in accounting and ’87 MBA, has been named a vice president of account management for national accounts by WellPoint, Inc., the nation’s largest health benefits company. Pogany has more than 25 years of industry experience and previously served for 12 years as vice president for the company’s auto and interplan national accounts.

90s Bruce A. Fournier of Cape May, N.J., ’90 AB in history, has been promoted to deputy director of the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, located at the Cape May Airport. Fournier will continue in his role as museum educator, a position he assumed in 2009. He has 23 years of retail experience.

Joe Humphries of Poland, Ohio, ’91 BS in psychology and ’94 MEd in community counseling, has opened a private counseling practice, Preferred Care Counseling, LLC in Poland. He is an independently licensed counselor and a licensed social worker in the state of Ohio and a nationally certified counselor with 16 years of experience serving individuals in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties.

Nicole H. Naples-Ferraro of Joe Humphries Cortland, ’91 BSBA, has been named a principal by Packer Thomas, a regional certified public accounting and business consulting firm. A certified public accountant with 18 years experience in the accounting profession, Ferraro serves as co-director of accounting and auditing at Packer Thomas, and she sits on the board of the Visiting Nurses Association.

Nicole Naples-Ferraro

Thomas Evan Green of Akron, ’93 BSE, was appointed to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association Board of Directors. An attorney and shareholder at Kastner Westman & Wilkins LLC, a labor and employment law firm in Akron, Green earned his law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

Melanie Parker

Thomas Green Melanie M. Parker of Naperville, Ill., ’93 BA in professional writing and editing, was recently named principal content developer at Motorola Solutions, Inc. in Schaumburg, Ill., where she leads the company’s Global Customer Documentation team.

Parker’s 18-year technical writing career has included creating a website for “Bewitched,” a popular 1960s and 70s television series, serving as a technical editor on related book, TV and movie projects, and contributing to Blogdorf Goodman, a Youngstown-based beauty blog. She also designs jewelry under the brandname The Fifth Choir.

Dave Yeropoli of Akron, ’94 BSBA, has been appointed account manager at the Akron office of Dayton Freight Lines. Yeropoli has more than 15 years experience in transportation industry sales and operations.

Darren Adkins of Centreville, Va., ’96 BA in German, is chair of the World Languages Department at Centreville High School in Clifton, Va., a model high school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. After completing his undergraduate degree at YSU, Adkins earned an MEd in curriculum and instruction of modern language from

Marilyn Burns, ’74 BS, ’79 MSEd, ’80 MSEd, with her surviving son, Jay, at a book-signing event.

Alumna’s Book Shares Son’s Addiction Battle YSU alumna Marilyn Burns has experienced the pain of losing a child – her son Chris was just 23 and addicted to opiates when he died in 2007 of a drug-related heart attack. Now Burns, a licensed clinical counselor with a private counseling practice in Boardman, has written a book about her son’s life and his struggle with addiction.

Entitled Lost No More …A Mother’s Spiritual Journey Through Her Son’s Addiction, the book relates how Chris Burns, a 2002 Boardman High School graduate, became addicted to OxyContin, heroin and other drugs after an auto accident left him suffering chronic pain. The text includes some of his original artwork, voicemails, text messages and other writings.

“He wanted to work as an addiction counselor and join my practice. That was our plan. He didn’t want to be an addict,” she said. “Going through all the memories was painful, but I feel like writing this book is a way to let my son do what he wanted to do, to help people who are going through what he experienced.”

She’s also hoping the account will help others who are searching for meaning or validation after losing a loved one.

Burns is a three-time YSU grad – she earned a BS in education in 1974, a MSEd in 1979 and a second MSEd in guidance and counseling in 1980. She later founded and directed the Treat Yourself Center for Holistic Health in Canfield from 1996 through 2008. Her book is available at Amazon.com and on her website, www.lostnomore.us.

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Class Notes

Cleveland State University. He has more than a decade of experience teaching in Ohio and Virginia and is licensed to teach both German and Spanish.

Brian C. Commons of Vienna, ’96 BSBA, was promoted to principal by Packer Thomas, a certified public accounting and business consulting firm.

A certified public accountant, he has 15 years of experience in the accounting profession.

Commons is a member and finance committee chair for Hospice of the Valley, a Brian Commons member of the Poland Rotary, treasurer of the Poland Rotary Chili Open, board president for the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, and sits on the fund allocation committee of the United Way of Mahoning Valley.

Karen M. DeLucia Stacey of Austintown, ’97 BA in telecommunication studies, has been appointed to the Board of Trustees for Northside Medical Center in Youngstown.

She is executive director of Leadership Mahoning Valley, an umbrella program of the Regional Chamber in Youngstown.

Tyler Clark of Youngstown, ‘98 AB in music history and literature, was one of several Youngstown entrepreneurs featured in an article titled “One 2 Watch” in the Nov./ Dec. issue of Inside Business magazine, a Cleveland business publication. He operates Tyler Clark Consulting, a web development and digital marketing firm, and serves as “chief imagination officer” for Tyler Clark the Youngstown Business Incubator. He sits on the boards of the Mahoning County Historical Society, the Turning Point Foundation and WYSU.

Dana Walters of Columbiana,’99 BS in mathematics, ‘01 MS mathematics and applied statistics, has been named manager of benefits for Humility of Mary Health Partners. Prior to her appointment, Walters worked as a human resources analyst at HMHP.

Dana Walters

00s Geoffrey Mears of Canton, ’00 in telecommunications studies, has joined radio station WDPN in Alliance, Ohio, as afternoon news anchor and reporter. Previously, Mears spent four years as afternoon news anchor at WHBC in Canton.

Bruce Warrender of Greenville, N.C., ’03 BS in respiratory care, has taken a position as a clinical coordinator of the Polysomnography program at Pitt Community College in Greenville.

Bruce Warrender

Kenneth E. Voss of Audubon, Pa., ’04 EdD in educational leadership, is director of nonpublic school services for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit serving a suburban Philadelphia region. He previously served as a high school principal, assistant schools superintendent and schools superintendent in both public and nonpublic schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Bill Mehalco of Manhattan, N.Y., ’05 BSAS in hospitality management, has been promoted to assistant general manager at the Hotel Indigo New York City – Chelsea.

Mehalco opened the hotel as front office

www.ysu.edu

manager in October, 2009, and will assist in opening a second Hotel Indigo in Midtown sometime this year.

Ashley M. Basile of Cleveland, ’07 BSBA, ’08 MBA, accepted a two-year fellowship at the Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaboration of philanthropic organizations and individuals in Northeast Ohio, Ashley Basile and was promoted in August to Finance and Operations Associate.

Previously, Basile worked for the Ohio Small Business Development Center in Youngstown as a research assistant while pursuing her MBA. Stefanie N. Platton of Poland, ’07 BSB in accounting, has been promoted to senior accountant at Packer Thomas, certified public accountants and business consultants. She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and is working toward an MBA at YSU. Gina N. Sciortino of Austintown, ’07 BSB in accounting, has been promoted to senior accountant at Packer Thomas, certified public accountants and business consultants. Sciortino is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization and is pursuing an MBA at YSU. Nicole M. Ramson of Poland, ’09 BSB in accounting, has been promoted to a senior accountant by Packer Thomas, certified public accountants and business consultants.

She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and the Mahoning Valley 20/30 Club, sits on the planning committee for the 40 Under 40 Awards, and is a volunteer for Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley.

Got Good News?

E-mail class notes to: universitymagazine@ysu.edu or mail to: YSU Magazine, Marketing and Communications, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Alumni Uses Coloring Books to Educate Children in Kosovo Thousands of children in the European Republic of Kosovo are using coloring books to learn how the law and the court system are meant to work in a democracy, and the educational effort began with YSU alumnus Bob Zastany, ’74 BS and ’78 MS, both in criminal justice administration.

Zastany, who is employed as executive director of the Robert Zastany administrative office of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Lake County, Ill., spent his summer vacations in 2008 and 2009 serving as a volunteer in Kosovo, working with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He suggested that officials there try using coloring books modeled after those used in Lake County, and the idea took off. More than 6,500 books were designed, produced and distributed to Kosovo pupils over the past year.

In recognition of his successful career in court administration and his volunteer efforts in Kosovo, Zastany was inducted into the Warren E. Burger Society by the National Center for State Courts, and was awarded the NCSC Institute of Court Management Fellow Star Award.

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What Makes Youngstown State Great? (besides its alumni, that is)

• Advanced research and creative collaboration • State-of-the-art facilities • Beautiful, vibrant campus environment • Wide range of internships and co-ops • Support programs for traditional and adult students and veterans • Professors who know and care about their students • Rigorous academic programs recognized by employers worldwide

S TAT E

UNIVERSITY

Office of University Development One University Plaza Youngstown, Ohio 44555-0001

Fine Arts Class, 1933

Youngstown College students who enrolled in Instructor Ceylon E. Hollingsworth’s fine arts classes often had the opportunity to paint and sketch live models. Pictured in this 1933 photo of a life drawing class are, from left, standing: Rose Rosapepe, Charles Haas, Hollingsworth and Francis Stansbury; seated, Myrtle Gue, Helen Hall, Jean Campbell; and model Eleanor Kelty Sokovitz.

Hollingsworth is credited with founding the Art Department at Youngstown College in 1927 and was a nationally recognized artist and published fiction writer when he died in 1949 at age 80. On campus, his life drawing classes were held on the upper floors of the Main Building, now known as Jones Hall.

(To browse additional historical photographs in the University Archives at Maag Library, visit http://digital.maag.ysu.edu.)