eInside Events

Third Annual Water Research Symposium Focuses on Climate Change

Richard Alley, Ph.D., Evan Pugh Professor
in the Department of Geosciences at Penn
State University and one of the world’s top
experts on climate change, is keynote
speaker at the third annual Water Research
Symposium at Kent State University that will
take place from Oct. 14-15.

The third annual Water Research Symposium at Kent State University will be held Oct. 14-15 at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center. This year, the symposium is co-sponsored by the National Academy of Science with additional support from the Cleveland Water Alliance. The event is free and open to the public. Online registration for the event closes Oct. 7.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Water in a Changing Climate: Regional to Global Issues” and will feature keynote speaker Richard Alley, Ph.D., Evan Pugh Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Penn State University and one of the world’s top experts on climate change. He has studied ice sheets to help predict future changes in climate and sea level.

Alley has been awarded several times for his research, and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. He has been honored for his teaching at Penn State and his service with various groups, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science Public Engagement. Alley also has served on many advisory panels, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was the co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

“This year’s keynote speaker, Richard Alley, is a world-renowned expert who has testified before Congress, shared his knowledge with the public through books and television, and contributed to the scientific literature,” says Laura Leff, Ph.D., professor and chair of Kent State’s Department of Biological Sciences.

Kent State faculty members V. Kelly Turner, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Geography, and Xiaozhen (Jen) Mou, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, will both present at the symposium.

Other presenters include Emily M. Elliott, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Allison Steiner, Ph.D., University of Michigan; and Gena Wirth, SCAPE Landscape Architecture PLLC.

With more than 30 researchers working across multiple colleges and departments, Kent State has considerable strength in a broad range of the aquatic sciences and related disciplines.

For more information about this year’s Water Symposium or to register, visit www.kent.edu/water.

October Is disAbility Awareness Month

Paralympian April Holmes will give her
keynote address “Stop Limping Thru Life,
Start Running" on Oct. 7 at the Kent
Student Center at 7 p.m. as part of events
marking disAbility Awareness Month at
Kent State.

Kent State University’s Student Accessibility Services once again celebrates disAbility Awareness Month this October, emphasizing abilities over disabilities. The Kent State community is invited to participate in free events this month.

“We hope this program brings the Kent State University community together, encouraging them to step back and think about disability and accessibility,” says Shannon Cowling, deaf and hard-of-hearing services coordinator at Kent State’s Student Accessibility Services. “Student Accessibility Services is represented on each Kent State campus, and collectively provides academic accommodations to more than 2,000 students. We'd like everyone to know how to use us!”

DisAbility Awareness Month kicks off Oct. 1 with Dogs on Campus in the Kent Student Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. All students are welcome to stop by and interact with the therapy dogs and learn more about Student Accessibility Services.

The second event is the Homecoming Parade on Oct. 3. Student Accessibility Services, along with the Council for Exceptional Children, will walk in the parade, passing out candy and promoting disAbility awareness around Kent.

On Oct. 4, the office, with support from Kent State’s Intercollegiate Athletics, will host its inaugural bike ride starting at Dix Stadium. Participants are encouraged to register online in advance at www.kent.edu/sas/registration. Those without bikes may reserve one courtesy of FlashFleet services by contacting Cowling at scowlin1@kent.edu.

“Options range from a one-mile walk-and-ride to a century-mile ride, which is 100 miles,” says Cowling. “October is also National Sustainability Month, so we collaborated with Kent State’s Office of Sustainability, which was able to donate items for a raffle that will be held at the event.”

On Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m., the office invites the community to join together to paint the rock in honor of the monthlong awareness initiatives.

On Oct. 7 in the Kent Student Center at 7 p.m., Paralympian April Holmes will give her keynote address “Stop Limping Thru Life, Start Running.” Holmes was in a train accident in 2001 that resulted in the loss of her left leg below the knee. Cowling says she was chosen by the disAbility Awareness Month committee and Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement because of her inspirational story and motivational perspective.

On Oct. 14, the formal events will conclude with a student panel "Disability Disruption: A Graduate Student Panel Discussion." The event will take place in the Kent Student Center, Room 306, from 2:30-4 p.m. This session will include information about disability studies conducted by three graduate students, Stefanie Amiruzzaman, M.A., Amy Bachtel, B.S., and Caleb Berkemeier, A.B.D. Participants will learn about and engage with students' perspectives about the disability studies paradigm.

To learn more about disAbility Awareness Month at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/sas/disability-awareness-month.

To learn more about Kent State's Student Accessibility Services, visit www.kent.edu/sas.

Groundbreaking Scheduled for Kent State’s New Integrated Sciences Building on Oct. 2

Pictured is an architectural rendering depicting the north
entrance of Kent State University’s new Integrated
Sciences Building. A groundbreaking event for the new
building is planned for Oct. 2 from 2-5 p.m., and is free
and open to the public.

The groundbreaking for Kent State University’s new Integrated Sciences Building will be Oct. 2 from 2-5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Following the groundbreaking, Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences will host a showcase of science and technology demonstrations, along with refreshments, music and fun, on the Student Green. Kent State President Beverly Warren and James Blank, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Kent State, will speak at the event.

Construction is scheduled to start this fall on the $37.5 million building, which is expected to be complete by July 2017 and open for fall 2017 classes.

The building will house classrooms, instructional labs, research lab space and faculty offices for the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biological Sciences and Physics. It will be adjacent to the Student Green and Williams Hall, and will wrap around and connect to the existing Williams Hall in the Science Mall. The building will be approximately 57,000 gross square feet with an additional 13,500 square feet in an unfinished basement.

This project, approved by the Kent State Board of Trustees in December 2014, is part of a more than $90 million upgrade to multiple existing science buildings, including Cunningham, Smith and Williams halls.

“In addition to the new building, the chemistry teaching laboratories in Williams Hall will be completely remodeled,” states Michael Tubergen, Ph.D., chair of Kent State’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “We are eager to provide laboratory instruction in an environment that enhances student learning. The new Integrated Science Building will be a spectacular place for science research and instruction. Its open design will prominently display the impressive work being done in the sciences at Kent State.”

The new building is part of Kent State’s Foundations of Excellence: Building the Future initiative, which involves the construction of new buildings, facility upgrades and establishment of dynamic and new spaces. The goal of this initiative is to create the most outstanding academic experience for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the greater community enriched by the university.

For more information about Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences, visit www.kent.edu/cas.

For more information about Kent State’s Foundations of Excellence initiative, visit http://foe.kent.edu.

Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center to Host Annual Poetry Prize Reading

Author Jane Hirshfield will present at the
Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize Reading,
hosted by Kent State University’s Wick
Poetry Center, on Oct. 6 in the Kent
Student Center Kiva.

Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center will host the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize Reading, featuring poets Jane Hirshfield and Matthew Minicucci on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Kiva.

Hirshfield is the author of two books of essays and eight collections of poetry, including newly published The Beauty. Throughout her career, Hirshfield has accumulated a number of literary honors, including the Poetry Center Book Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry, and in 2012, she was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

Hirshfield selected Minicucci’s first full-length collection, Translation, for the 2014 Wick Poetry Prize. Minicucci’s work has been published in or is forthcoming in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best New Poets 2014, Blackbird and The Southern Review, among others. Minicucci currently teaches writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“I think his work is simultaneously deep and delicate,” says Emma Cherry, Kent State senior English major. “I was sort of swallowed by his language in several ways, most prominently with personal connection.”

The Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize is offered annually to a poet who has not previously published a full-length collection of poems. The winner is awarded $2,500 and publication of his or her first full-length book of poetry by the Kent State University Press.

Poet Matthew Minicucci will present at the Stan and Tom
Wick Poetry Prize Reading, hosted by Kent State University’s
Wick Poetry Center, on Oct. 6 in the Kent Student Center Kiva.

“This annual reading is always a highlight of the Wick Reading Series,” says David Hassler, director of Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center and editor of the Wick Poetry First Book Series. “It’s a unique opportunity to hear a highly acclaimed national poet read alongside a promising new voice. Now in its 21st year, the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize remains one of the most coveted first book prizes in the country.”

For more information about the Wick Poetry Prize and entry requirements, visit www.kent.edu/wick/stan-and-tom-wick-poetry-prize.

For more information about Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center, visit www.kent.edu/wick.

Bowman Cup 5K Race Celebrates 15th Anniversary

The 15th Annual Bowman Cup 5K Race, hosted by Kent
State University’s Department of Recreational Services,
will take place Saturday, Oct. 3.

Kent State University’s Department of Recreational Services will host the 15th Annual Bowman Cup 5K Race on Saturday, Oct. 3.

“We are proud to be one of the oldest, most established races at Kent State University,” says Abby Millsaps, marketing coordinator for the Department of Recreational Services.

The race, which is USA Track and Field-certified and chip-timed, will kick off Kent State’s 2015 Homecoming at 8 a.m. Runners will begin and end the race in front of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Participants are grouped based on gender, age and whether they are a student, employee, alumni or community member.

Millsaps anticipates a larger crowd of 500 to 600 runners this year.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to bring our diverse Kent State University community together for some fun and competition,” says Millsaps.

Runners also will receive a complimentary breakfast, T-shirt and chance to win various door prizes. In addition to the door prizes, more than 170 awards will be given to participants, Millsaps says.

To honor the 15th anniversary of the Bowman Cup 5K Race, a commemorative 15K Crystal Challenge also will be offered to this year’s runners. Participants must complete two additional 5K challenges a week prior to the Bowman Cup 5K Race. The supplementary 5K challenges may be completed by running, walking, biking, playing disc golf, swimming or ice skating.

The 15K challenge costs an additional $15, and all participants must show proof of having completed the additional 5K challenges listed above.

Those who complete the 15K challenge will receive an engraved crystal prism to commemorate the anniversary.

Participants are encouraged to register for the Bowman Cup 5K Race before Tuesday, Sept. 29. However, runners are permitted to register the day of the event.

For more information and to register for the Bowman Cup 5K Race, visit www.kent.edu/recservices/bowman-cup-5k-race-0.

Downtown Gallery Showcases Textile Art Miniatures

Pictured is "Germination in Green," felted wool, three
dimensional embroidery, petri dish by Suzanne Boissy.

Small-scale textile art will be the subject of an exhibition at the Kent State University School of Art Downtown Gallery, located at 141 E. Main St. in Kent. The Miniature Textile Exhibition, organized through the MFAEN (Midwest Fiber Artist Educators Network), will run Oct. 1-31 at the gallery, with an opening reception on Oct. 1 from 5-7 p.m. Both the gallery and the reception are free and open to the public.

The Miniature Textile Exhibition was coordinated by Janice Lessman-Moss, textile art professor at Kent State and co-founder of the MFAEN.

“The format of miniature textiles measuring no more than 10 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches seemed like a good way to maximize participation,” Lessman-Moss says. “The gallery is able to accommodate numerous pieces of such an intimate scale.”

In addition to Lessman-Moss, other featured artists include Kent State graduate students Asmaa Aljohani, Trey Gehring, Jasmine Kornel, Sarah McMahon, Mike Nold and Charity Thomas. Also represented are faculty from Augustana College, Berea College, Central Michigan University, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Earlham College, Eastern Michigan University, Indiana University, Michigan State University, Southern Illinois University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin.

Downtown Gallery hours are Monday-Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Sunday noon-5 p.m.

About the MFAEN

MFAEN was founded in 2011 by Lessman-Moss (Kent State University) and Rowland Ricketts (Indiana University). The group brings together professional fiber, textile and material studies educators throughout the Midwest to discuss research and pedagogy, and provides a forum for maintaining the vitality, criticality and visibility of the field.

For more information, contact Anderson Turner, director of galleries, at haturner@kent.edu or 330-672-1369.

Program Offers Environmental Education During Lunchtime

Kent State University’s Department of Recreational Services is introducing a new program called “Lunchtime Adventure Walks,” running every Wednesday from Sept. 23 to Oct. 14.

The initiative is aimed at educating faculty and staff about environmental sustainability at the university, while encouraging them to stay active during their lunch break, says Abby Millsaps, marketing coordinator for the Department of Recreational Services. However, anyone is permitted to participate in the free program.

Each week, participants will meet at the University Library on the Kent Campus at 12:15 p.m. The 30-minute walks around campus will be led by a senior zoology major at Kent State. Each walk will have a different environmental theme.

• Week Two, Sept. 30 - Sustainability
  
• Week Three, Oct. 7 - Invasive Species in Portage County
• Week Four, Oct. 14 - Wetlands
  

“It’s a great educational opportunity, as well as a great way to get out of the office and get a little exercise,” Millsaps says.

For more information about Kent State’s Department of Recreational Services and its event, visit www.kent.edu/recservices.

Country Singer-Songwriter Sara Evans in Concert at Kent State Tuscarawas

Multi-platinum selling country singer and songwriter Sara
Evans will perform live in concert at the Performing Arts
Center at Kent State University at Tuscarawas Oct. 1.

Multi-platinum selling country singer and songwriter Sara Evans will perform live in concert at the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University at Tuscarawas at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 1. The performance is co-sponsored by WTUZ Radio.

Tickets for the concert range in price from $49 to $74 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Box Office, online at www.kent.edu/tusc/pac or by calling 330-308-6400. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free parking is available for all shows.

Evans has been called “one of the most compelling vocalists of her generation.” She is enjoying a prolific recording career with the release of her critically acclaimed seventh studio album Slow Me Down, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and was named by Billboard Magazine as one of the 10 Best Country Albums of 2014. Evans, who appeared on the ABC series Nashville in 2014 where she played herself and performed her single “Put My Heart Down” with Luke Wheeler played by Will Chase, has shown no signs of slowing down as she performs across the country in support of Slow Me Down.

Evans is best known for her hits including “Suds In The Bucket, “A Real Fine Place To Start,” “Born To Fly,” “A Little Bit Stronger” and “No Place That Far.” She’s had five No. 1 songs, two No. 1 country albums, sold six million albums and has been nominated and/or won nearly 15 major music awards. Evans’ signature powerful vocals serve as a reminder of why she has had a level of success reserved for few.

Evans won the hearts of America as the first country artist to compete in ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. She also was chosen as one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.”

Always interested and involved in charitable efforts, Evans has been an active member of the American Red Cross’ National Celebrity Cabinet since 2005 and was presented with the national Crystal Cross for her work with the organization.

Register for the Fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast

Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D., vice president
for research and sponsored programs
at Kent State University, will speak on the
topic “Growing Kent State Research to
Benefit the University and the Community”
at the fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast on
Oct. 7.

Growing research at Kent State is focus of fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast

The fall 2015 Bowman Breakfast will take place at Kent State University in the Kent Student Center Ballroom on Wednesday, Oct. 7. 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 Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D., vice president for research and sponsored programs at Kent State. He will speak on the topic “Growing Kent State Research to Benefit the University and the Community.”

The cost to attend is $12 per person, payable by cash or check at the door only. Invoicing is not available for this event. Reservations can be completed online or by contacting Mary Mandalari at 330-672-8664 or mmandala@kent.edu no later than Wednesday, Sept. 30. No shows will be billed. If you find you cannot attend, please contact Mandalari to cancel your reservation by Sept. 30.

DiCorleto joined Kent State in August from the Cleveland Clinic, where he served as Sherwin-Page Chair of the Lerner Research Institute since 2002, and from Case Western Reserve University, where he served as chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine since 2003.

As a long-serving employee of Cleveland Clinic, DiCorleto had an excellent track record of securing federal funding for his own research and for institutional programs. In 2013, he was awarded more than $10 million from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop the National Center for Advanced Innovations-Cleveland Clinic, one of only three nationally funded centers designed to expedite the commercialization of laboratory innovations, bringing research from the lab bench to the bedside.

He served on numerous Cleveland Clinic committees, including chair of the Lerner Research Institute Leadership Committee, chair of the Research Strategic Council, and as a member of the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, Council of Institute Chairs, Capital Review Committee, Cleveland Clinic Innovations Commercialization Council and Industrial Advisory Board, and the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center Commercialization Advisory Board and Board of Directors.

An award-winning scholar and invited lecturer, DiCorleto has authored or co-authored more than 120 articles, papers and book chapters. His research has focused on the role of the endothelium in maintaining healthy blood vessels and in inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis.

A native of Hartford, Connecticut, DiCorleto earned his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cornell University. After receiving his doctoral degree, he served as a senior fellow of the American Heart Association of Washington and National Institutes of Health postdoctoral trainee in the University of Washington’s Department of Pathology.

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