eInside Events

Registration Open for the Spring 2013 Bowman Breakfast

The spring 2013 Bowman Breakfast will take place at Kent State University in the Kent Student Center Ballroom on Tuesday, April 16. Doors open at 7 a.m., breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m., and the program will follow at 8 a.m. The featured speaker is Roger Di Paolo, editor of the Record-Courier. Di Paolo will speak on the topic “Beyond Audacity: Celebrating 21st-Century Kent.”

The cost to attend is $9 per person at the door, payable by cash or check. No invoicing is available for this event, and payment at the door is required.

Reservations can be completed online or by contacting Mary Mandalari at 330-672-8664 or mmandala@kent.edu no later than Wednesday, April 10. No shows will be billed. If you find you cannot attend, please contact Mandalari at 330-672-8664 or mmandala@kent.edu to cancel your reservation by April 10.

Di Paolo, a graduate of Kent State, has served as editor of the Record-Courier since 1991, and has been with the newspaper since 1977 when he was hired as a reporter while completing his journalism degree. He has been recognized by the United Press International and the Associated Press (AP) with awards for reporting and editorial writing, and was honored by the AP with a statewide, first-place award for editorial writing in 2005.

Di Paolo’s interest in local history led to the publication of Rooted in Kent: 101 Tales From the Tree City, a collection of his "Portage Pathways" columns for the Record-Courier published by the Kent Historical Society Press in 2009. He also has edited Yesteryears, a weekly history feature, for nearly 32 years.

He has served as a board member and officer of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce. He also was a member and past president of the Stow-Munroe Falls Library Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Kent City Schools Hall of Fame Advisory Committee.

This is Di Paolo’s third appearance as a Bowman Breakfast speaker. He spoke to the 2010 breakfast as part of the Kent Chamber's centennial celebration and also shared the 2012 Bowman Breakfast with Ron Burbick.

Kent State University is committed to making its programs and activities accessible to those individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact Amy Quillin, Student Accessibility Services, at 330-672-3391 or aquillin@kent.edu.

The Bowman Breakfast, a tradition since 1963, is sponsored by Kent State University and the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce.

Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference Features Authors Angela Johnson, Gary Schmidt and Yuyi Morales

Author Angela Johnson will keynote the 29th Annual Virginia
Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth on
April 4.

Kent State University’s 29th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth will be held on the evening of Thursday, April 4, and all day Friday, April 5, at the Kent Student Center. The conference provides a forum for discussion of multicultural themes and issues in literature for children and young adults.

“Dreams and Promises: Multicultural Literature and the Common Core” is the theme for this year’s conference, which features authors Angela Johnson and Gary Schmidt, and illustrator Yuyi Morales.

New this year, the April 4 evening program includes a pasta dinner, keynote address by Johnson, the 15th Annual Virginia Hamilton Literary Award winner and brief remarks by Schmidt and Morales, followed by a performance and book-signing. The April 5 event will feature a full complement of workshops, plus keynote addresses by Schmidt and Morales.

Kent State faculty and staff can take advantage of a reduced registration rate of $30 for Thursday only; $85 for Friday only; or $100 for both days.

Johnson has won awards for both her picture books and her novels. She won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Tell Me a Story, Mama, in 1991. She received the Coretta Scott King Award for three works: Toning the Sweep, in 1994; Heaven, in 1999; and The First Part Last, in 2004. The Other Side, The Shorter Poems was selected as a Coretta Scott King Honor Book in 1998. When I Am Old With You was also an Honor Book, in 1990, as well as an American Library Association Notable Book. Other honors include the Best Books pick by School Library Journal for Toning the Sweep and the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature for The First Part Last. Read more about Johnson at http://ajohnsonauthor.com/.

Author Gary Schmidt will speak at the 29th Annual Virginia
Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth.

Schmidt is a professor of English at Calvin College where he specializes in children’s and medieval literature. His honors and awards include The Wednesday Wars, Newbery Honor Book; In God’s Hands, a collaboration with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, runner-up for the National Jewish Book Award; Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, Newbery Honor and Printz Honor; Okay for Now, National Book Award Finalist and selection for NPR’s Backseat Book Club on All Things Considered. His most recent novel, Trouble, was published in 2008. Schmidt’s output remains as varied as his interests. He has written textbooks and picture books, biography and fantasy, folk tales and historical fiction. For more information, visit www.calvin.edu/publications/spark/2006/spring/schmidt.htm.

Illustrator Yuyi Morales will speak at the
29th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference
on Multicultural Literature for Youth.

Morales’ illustrations for Harvesting Hope, the Story of Cesar Chavez (written by Kathleen Krull) in 2003 skyrocketed her work to the top of best-books-of-the-year lists and earned her an ALSC Pura Belpré Honor, as well as a Christopher and a Jane Adams award, these last two in recognition of the causes of peace, social justice and the higher human spirit. Morales’ own book, Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book, earned The America’s Award, a Tomas Rivera Award and her first Pura Belpré Medal, an award given to a Latino illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. Morales continues creating beloved books, like the Golden Kite Medal winner Little Night, co-released in Spanish as Nochecita. Upon winning the 2008 Pura Belpré Medal for Los Gatos Black on Halloween (written by Marisa Montes), Morales became the first author/illustrator to be three times recognized by the Pura Belpré Committee and was established as one of the leading children’s book creators working today. For more information, visit her website at www.yuyimorales.com.

The Virginia Hamilton Conference is the longest-running event in the United States to focus exclusively on multicultural literature for children and young adults. Honoring author Virginia Hamilton, the conference reflects a commitment to promoting cultural awareness and affirming cultural pride while addressing the array of issues that surround the concept of culture. The conference, held in April at Kent State University, is sponsored by the School of Library and Information Science and the College of Education, Health and Human Services and through the Office of Continuing and Distance Education.

For more information and to register, visit http://virginia-hamilton.slis.kent.edu/2013-conference/.

The College of Public Health Hosts the 71st Human Services Institute

Barbara Edwards, director of the Disabled
and Elderly Health Programs Group at the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, will
keynote the Human Services Institute
conference at Kent State on March 25.

The Human Services Institute, Northeast Ohio's longest-running institute focused on health and human services, comes to Kent State University from 10 a.m. to noon on March 25 in the Kent Student Center Kiva auditorium.

The event will be keynoted by Barbara Edwards, director of the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Edwards will present on the topic, “Health Reform: Opportunities, Challenges and Uncertainties.”

Edwards is a nationally recognized expert in Medicaid policy, including managed care, cost containment, long-term care, and state and federal health care reform. She served for eight years as the Ohio State Medicaid director and was a principal with Health Management Associates, Inc. (HMA) for four years. At HMA, Edwards focused on Medicaid, national health reform and service delivery for persons with chronic and disabling conditions.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administers the Medicare, Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance programs for the federal government. The Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group houses Medicaid coverage and care coordination for the elderly and individuals with disabilities. This includes initiatives to promote community-based care options and to enhance the availability of long-term services and supports. The group manages the Medicaid prescription drug benefit and manufacturer rebates and oversees benefits issues across the Medicaid program.

Ken Slenkovich, assistant dean of Kent State’s College of Public Health, helped organize the event.

“This is the 71st anniversary for this event put on by the Center for Community Solutions (CCS) in Cleveland,” Slenkovich says. “The CCS is a major community partner of the college. It's the first time they've held this event in Kent. Since we're bringing in a speaker from the federal government that is deeply involved with the health care reform bill, we see it as a way to get some exposure for the College of Public Health and inform the university and external communities about how the bill will impact them.”

Following the keynote address, panel presentations will be made by Marcia Egbert, senior program officer for human services, The George Gund Foundation; Joan Englund, executive director, Mental Health Advocacy Coalition; Joseph Ruby, president and CEO, Area Agency on Aging; and Heather Torok, senior program officer for Healthy People, Urban Health and Well-Being, Saint Luke’s Foundation.

The event is open to faculty, students, staff and community members interested in how health reform will affect them and Northeast Ohio. Attendance is free, but registration is required.

To register for the event, visit https://m360.communitysolutions.com/ViewForm.aspx?id=43937.

For more information about the Human Services Institute, visit http://communitysolutions.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=78.

Kent State School of Theatre and Dance Presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream, April 19-28

Kent State's School of Theatre and Dance
will perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream from April 19-28.

Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance will close its 2012-2013 season with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The show will run April 19 through 28 in Kent State’s Wright-Curtis Theatre at the Music and Speech Building, 1325 Theatre Dr., in Kent.

The April 21 and 28 performances will be held at 2 p.m.; all others will be held at 8 p.m. Assistant Professor of Theatre Mark Monday will direct the production.

Mortal and fairy worlds collide in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an enchanted, light-hearted romantic tale. The play features the interwoven adventures of four young lovers, a comic group of amateur actors and the mischievous antics of woodland fairies.

“Our production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream focuses on the theme of love and all that love entails: Love is blind, magical, mysterious, painful, physical and fun,” Monday says.

Audience members will also enjoy a unique take on another traditional Shakespearian theme.

“In many of his plays, Shakespeare explores the theme of man’s dominance over women. Midsummer is one of these plays,” Monday says. “We have chosen to highlight this theme and have come to some interesting conclusions our audience may find surprising.”

Graduate theatre student Bevin Bell-Hall will play Hippolyta/Titania; graduate theatre student Nathan Wood will play Theseus/Oberon and senior theatre major John Liptak will play Puck.

Graduate theatre student Ben Williams will serve as scenic designer, graduate theatre student Cyndi Hoffman will serve as lighting designer and senior theatre major Carly Shiner will serve as sound designer.

Single tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream are free for full-time undergraduate Kent State students, $8 for non-Kent State students with valid I.D. or students under 18, $14 for Kent State faculty, staff and Alumni Association members, $12 for seniors (60+) and $16 for adults. Groups of 10 or more are $10 per person.

Kent State students can earn FLASHperks by attending the Saturday, April 20, performance.

Tickets are available at the Performing Arts Box Office (PABO), located in the lobby of the Roe Green Center in the Music and Speech Building at 1325 Theatre Dr. on the Kent Campus. The Performing Arts Box Office accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover, in addition to cash and checks. The box office hours are weekdays noon to 5 p.m., and one hour prior to each performance.

For tickets and more information, call 330-672-ARTS (2787) or visit http://theatre.kent.edu.

A Chance for Kent State Alumni to Come Together and Give Back

Kent State alumnus Robert Simon, ‘60, and his wife, Wilma,
participate in Alumni Day of Service at the Lake County
Historical Society.

Kent State University alumni across the nation will make a difference in their communities at the Kent State University Alumni Association’s Fifth Annual National Alumni Day of Service on April 20.

“It provides alumni an opportunity to connect with other alumni, the community and their alma mater,” says Lisa Mascellino, assistant director of Kent State Alumni Relations.

Volunteer sites are located in Kent at Habitat for Humanity; Ravenna at Loaves and Fishes; Akron at Haven of Rest and Akron Canton Regional Food Bank; Cleveland at Cornerstone of Hope; Stark County at Massillon Women’s Club; and Lake County at Lake County Historical Society.

In addition, Kent State Alumni Association area representatives are hosting service projects in Atlanta, at Chattahoochee Nature Center, and Houston, at Mission of Yahweh.

Not only do alumni have the opportunity to meet other alumni while giving back to their community, it also creates a sense of alumni pride.

Alumna Diana Richardson, 2010 graduate, participated in the National Day of Service last year at a church in Ravenna. She brought along her two granddaughters. Richardson says this experience made her granddaughters realize there are children less fortunate than they.

“Alumni who have volunteered at sites that work directly with the public have commented on the overwhelming connection they felt with the community and that organization,” says Mascellino.

Last year, there were 11 volunteer sites, more than 150 alumni volunteered and logged 576 hours of service.

Central Ohio Alumni Chapter President Matthew Busser, a 2002 graduate, says since the previous National Alumni Day of Service attendance at local alumni events has doubled.

“I will admit, Kent State athletics has played a major role in our success,” Busser says.

For more information about volunteer sites, times and registration, visit www.ksualumni.org/serviceday2013. The RSVP deadline is April 5.

Kent State University Downtown Gallery Presents the 12th Annual National Juried Cup Show

The 12th Annual National Juried Cup Show is on display now through April 20 at the Kent State University School of Art Downtown Gallery, 141 East Main St. in downtown Kent. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year’s exhibition was selected from 214 entries from about 32 states. This year’s juror, Kent State Professor of Art Kirk Mangus will award $1,000 in prizes. There also will be donated cups available for purchase to help support the new graduate fellowship in ceramics.

This nationally promoted annual event was originally sponsored in part by the Kent State School of Art's Ceramics Program. The internationally recognized program continues to be an integral part of the cup show.

For more information, call 330-676-1549, visit http://galleries.kent.edu, or email Lesley Sickle, Downtown Gallery coordinator at lsickle1@kent.edu.