eInside Briefs

New App for Kent State Magazine

A new mobile app suited for the iPad
has been created for Kent State
Magazine. The new app is available for
free in the App Store.

Kent State University Communications and Marketing has partnered with digital publishing platforms company iMirus to develop a mobile app suited for the iPad for Kent State Magazine. The interactive, fully functional app is available for free in the App Store.

“The Kent State Magazine app brings the stories to life,” says Dan Karp, executive director of Creative Services at University Communications and Marketing. “Readers get a richer Kent State experience with the app, and build stronger relationships and connections with friends and alumni through this valuable tool.”

The new app offers exclusive content that is not available in the print issue, including feature articles, photos, videos and more.

Talking New Media blog describes the Kent State Magazine app as very easy to use and read.

“Although the app is currently available for the iPad only, we are working to create versions that are compatible with other tablets,” Karp says. “We’ll also continue to feature upcoming issues of the magazine on the app.”  

To download the Kent State Magazine app, visit www.ksumagazineapp.com or get it from the App Store.

World-Renowned Photographer Visits Kent State for First Presidential Speaker Series

Kent State University will hold its first Presidential Speaker Series on March 29 at the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall at 7 p.m. featuring world-renowned photographer Trey Ratcliff.

World-renowned photographer Trey Ratcliff,
owner of the number one travel photography
blog in the world, will speak at Kent State on
March 29 during the first Kent State Presidential
Speaker Series.

Kent State University will hold its first Presidential Speaker Series on March 29 at the University Auditorium in Cartwright Hall at 7 p.m. featuring world-renowned photographer Trey Ratcliff. Cartwright Hall is located at 650 Hilltop Drive. The event is free and open to the public.

Ratcliff will present “The Future of Digital Arts and the Internet,” kicking off the new speaker series initiated by Kent State President Lester A. Lefton. Ratcliff will discuss the current state of digital art on the Internet, timely issues that affect artists, including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and what schools and universities can do to help prepare the next generation of artists.

Ratcliff runs the number one travel photography blog in the world at www.StuckinCustoms.com, which receives more than half a million monthly page views. His photos also have accumulated more than 50 million views on social media sites Flickr and SmugMug.

Ratcliff has been described as a pioneer of High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, which involves using multiple exposures and tone-mapping the result to recreate a myriad of actual light levels captured in the scene. He had the first ever HDR photograph to hang in the Smithsonian and has been featured on a variety of television networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the BBC. His bestselling book, A World in HDR, sold out on Amazon in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

“It is indeed a privilege to host one of the world’s finest photographers,” says Lefton, who has a passion for photography. “Trey is well-known for his exploration and development of digital photography techniques, and his photographs are works of art. This event will enable the Kent State community to see the world through Trey’s creative eye, and also explore and experience the evolution of digital art.”

Ratcliff grew up blind in one eye, and this changed the way he experiences and visually maps the world. Combined with his degree in computer science and math, his experiences have helped him to develop a processing method that offers a depth of visualization ranges.

A book signing, dessert reception and meet-and-greet that is open to the public will take place from 8:15 to 8:45 p.m. in the third floor lobby outside the auditorium.

The Kent State Presidential Speaker Series seeks to bring high-profile, world-renowned experts to Kent State for serious, thought-provoking discussions and conversations. The new program will enhance the engagement of the world beyond Kent State’s campuses, which is one of the university’s strategic goals.

For more information about Kent State University’s Presidential Speaker Series, visit www.kent.edu/pss.

Kent State Receives Research Grant to Investigate Neurodegenerative Diseases

Kent State University has received a medical research grant from the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) to investigate neurodegenerative diseases.

Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences Robert Clements, Ph.D., will work together with Kent State Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Ernie Freeman, Ph.D., and Professor of Chemistry Anatoly Khitrin, Ph.D., to study the generation of novel magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques to visualize inflammatory or degenerative mechanisms and the correlation to MR data with 3-D microscopic changes.

“Essentially, the use of our newly developed techniques will enhance our ability to image ongoing neuronal disease activity and the response to treatments using conventional MR scanning systems,” Clements says. “The research will also provide fundamental knowledge about disease activity at the cellular level. I am grateful to be given the opportunity to advance our knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases with the hope of helping to better diagnose and treat the debilitating states.”

Clements’ research is designed to generate and critically analyze innovative methods that will augment current patient assessment and drug efficacy. The completed objectives will create novel protocols for existing MR scanning systems, providing researchers and clinicians the ability to visualize structures in ways that are otherwise impossible with current methods.

“The newly developed procedures will be immediately relevant and available to provide clinicians and researchers with necessary and informative ways to visualize neuronal injury known to precede brain atrophy,” he says. “In addition, these strategies can be employed to monitor disease activity and therapeutic response.”

Clements says the research will provide an enhanced understanding of how volumetric cellular changes are associated with modified MR signals, allowing for the evaluation of many facets of multiple sclerosis (MS), including modified microvascular permeability, neuronal degeneration/protection, glial health, myelin ensheathment, infiltrate activity, lesion type, and identify biomarkers of activity and progression. 

The Office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is funded through the Department of Defense, via annual congressional legislation, known as the Defense Appropriations Act. The program promotes and funds innovative research to eradicate diseases.

For more information about the CDMRP, visit http://cdmrp.army.mil/default.shtml. For more information about Kent State’s Department of Biological Sciences, visit www.kent.edu/biology.

Where Will Kent State Place in the 2012 RecycleMania Tournament?

Residents of Engleman Hall, winners of last year's
Hall vs. Hall Recyclemania competition, pose with their
Resident Hall Director Matt Musgrave in this photo.

Kent State University entered the RecycleMania Tournament with high hopes last year, but instead received a reality check. This year, Kent State is determined to recycle its way to a win.

RecycleMania is an eight-week recycling and benchmarking competition between colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. The recycling program seeks to promote waste reduction activities around campus and increase recycling. This year, the competition runs from Feb. 5 to March 31.

In 2010, Kent State’s first year, only the residence halls participated. Because of that, Kent State was not eligible for the competition division, but was only eligible for the benchmark division.

“When we did the benchmark division two years ago, our numbers were fantastic because students in the residence halls were just gang busters on recycling,” says Melanie Knowles, manager of sustainability. “Last year, we decided to do the entire campus, which made us eligible for the competition, but our numbers took a big hit.”

Knowles thinks the reason the numbers declined is because when students live in a residence hall, they can recycle everything used in daily life. Faculty and students who live off campus have a very limited type of recyclable materials because they don’t live in the building.

Portage County Recycling and Republic Service will report the weights of Kent State’s mixed, single stream recycling (all recyclables go into one bin) and trash weekly. Republic Service will report the weight of corrugated cardboard, too.

As part of the competition, each residence hall will track comingled recyclables for eight weeks, and the winning residence hall receives a $200 award to its hall council. The recyclables will be measured in pounds per person.

The recycling collections of every building on campus will be tracked and counted toward the per capita recycling number. Kent State will be ranked among 630 colleges and universities around the nation based upon  the campus total or per capita number. Last year, Kent State took 202nd place.

“We’d really just like to see an improvement over last year,” says Knowles. “It’s not only beneficial environmentally, but financially, too.”

Another element of this year’s competition is that Kent State will compete against its rival, the University of Akron. After the first week, Kent State is recycling .99 pounds per person, with a rank of 135 in the Per Capita Classic. The University of Akron is recycling .87 pounds per person, with a rank of 144.

To follow Kent State’s RecycleMania scores and to find out recycling tips, visit www.facebook.com/recyclemaniaatkentstate.