Youngstown State University will again host the Speaker Series on Energy and the Environment this Fall Semester, starting Sept. 9 and running through Nov. 18. The lectures, free and open to the public, are 7 p.m. every Wednesday in Cushwa Hall Room B100. (The only exception is Thursday, Nov. 12, because YSU is closed on Wednesday, Nov.

Larger. Higher test scores. More diverse. Those are the buzzwords around this year’s freshman class at YSU. Preliminary numbers show a 17 percent increase in freshmen on campus this fall compared to last year, from 1,821 to 2,125. Their average ACT scores (21.15) and high school GPAs (3.14) are the highest in the university’s history. They come from 423 high school (303 last year) and 53 Ohio counties (37 last year). Nearly 350 are from out of state (up 62 percent) and nearly 500 are multicultural students (up 47 percent).

YSUpdate welcomes the following faculty who are new to YSU this year:

Kathleen Aspiranti Assistant Professor Counseling, Special Education, School Psychology

Cara A. Carramusa Instructor Physical Therapy

Carrie R. Jackson Assistant Professor Counseling, Special Education. School Psychology

James Juergensen Assistant Professor Psychology

Lisbeth K. Justice Assistant Professor Psychology

When Ed Villone started working as a security guard for Strouss department store in Boardman in 1979, he didn’t know it would be just the beginning of a successful career in criminal justice. Villone is now commander and coordinator of the YSU Police Academy in Cushwa Hall. In 1980 he joined the Struthers Police Department as a reserve police officer and civilian police dispatcher. Later, he served as a patrol officer for the Poland Township Police Department, and then returned to Struthers, where he retired as a police captain in 2006.