Kent State Magazine: Fall 2017

ON THE COVER:

Sky High Dreams: Kent State is charting a course for young women to pursue careers in aeronautics. Read more about women in aeronautics.

Photo: Melanie Nesteruk ’18

Features

Humanizing the Heroin Crisis

by Emelia Sherin, as told to Jan Senn

Fed up with hometown friends battling with—and dying from—heroin addiction, sophomore public relations major Emelia Sherin decided to interview 50 people involved in the opioid epidemic to see what she could learn. She and a classmate turned those stories and experiences into a play that connects with audiences on an emotional level and educates them on how to help during this nationwide crisis.

Taking Flight

by Erin Peterson

Kent State’s flight program is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. We profile five female alumni who have found their place in the sky, and take a look at how the College of Aeronautics and Engineering is enabling young women and girls to pursue aeronautics-related careers.

Continuing Threads

by Laura Billings Coleman

Art professor Janice Lessman-Moss has built her career—and Kent State’s Textile Arts Program—by bringing the ancient art of weaving into the 21st century. Using traditional techniques and computer technology, she’s introduced mystery and randomness to digital weaving.

A Weighty Concern

by Michael Blanding

We present a roundup of findings on childhood obesity from Kent State experts in a variety of disciplines who are researching its causes, treatment and prevention.

The Sweet Life

by Justin Glanville

The honey Brent Wesley, BBA ’04, sells is sweet, but so is the sense of community he’s fostered and the connections he’s forged by turning empty lots in Akron into apiaries—and by expanding his business with men’s personal care products.

DEPARTMENTS

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Presidential Perspectives

President Beverly Warren on finding your passion and purpose.

Flash Forward

KSU Collections

World Music Instruments: Selections from the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music Ethnomusicology Program's collection

Kent State Magazine Alumni Life Fall 2017

Alumni Life

Jon Jivan, BS '08 | Connecting Alumni Worldwide | Celebrating 50 Years of Distinguished Teaching | Class Notes | In Memory

Flashback

Building on Firsts: Looking back at Kent State's first Commencement ceremony on July 29, 1914

Giving Voice

Regis Louis Coustillac '18, of Mentor, Ohio, shares his poem, "Altar Boy at the Grand Tetons."

Take Note

“Finding purpose is an intensely personal journey,” writes President Beverly Warren in her column, and the stories in this issue reveal some of those journeys: an entrepreneur whose passion to build community led him to keep bees and grow a business, faculty members whose scientific research and artistic pursuits better society and inspire creativity, women whose love of flight propelled them to break barriers, and a student whose concern for her community caused her to address a national crisis at a local level—and prompted a positive response from people in far-flung places.

As our incoming students discuss Kent State’s Common Reading book and ponder their passions and purpose, perhaps you may be persuaded to reflect on your life’s journey so far. Although everyone’s path is different, we all discover challenges and opportunities along the way.

In case you’re wondering why you didn’t receive a summer issue of Kent State Magazine, its production schedule has changed. Instead of being published fall, spring, summer, the magazine is now published fall, winter, spring. So going forward you can expect to see it in your mailbox in September, January, and May. Please note that the deadlines for Class Notes have changed. As always, we love to hear from you, so do keep in touch—and tell us about your life of purpose!

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