Matthew Lacombe

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 20, 2009 – Allegheny College students Matthew Lacombe and Lauren Lambert served on two teams that took top spots at the Early Leaders Case Competition—a prestigious event designed to simulate decisions faced by global business leaders—held recently at the University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business.

Lacombe, a political science and economics double major and philosophy minor from Cleveland, Ohio, and his team placed first in the competition. The fifth-place team included Lambert, an economics and communication arts double major from Worthington, Pa. The top five teams shared $15,000 in prize money.

Only 50 students were selected to participate in the competition. Upon arrival, students were divided into teams of five and received a case study about Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing company.

Teams had 24 hours to develop a proposal that identified areas of strategic expansion or innovation. They also devised models assessing potential risks and identifying likely costs and revenues. The competition culminated with teams delivering 15-minute presentations to promote their proposals.

Lauren Lambert

“Our team proposed a model that would have Zipcar gradually make a significant portion of its fleet consist of electric vehicles,” said Lacombe. “We argued that doing so would make the company more profitable by avoiding the risks involved with volatile gas prices while simultaneously furthering its eco-friendly, community-oriented mission.”

In addition to Lacombe, the first-place team included students from Barnard College, Lafayette College, the University of Rochester and the College of Wooster.

Lambert’s team included students from the University of Alabama, Houghton College, Mercyhurst College and the University of Rochester.

“The Early Leaders Case Competition proved to be an extremely valuable experience,” said Lambert. “We were able to work with a diverse team of our peers to create a presentation that showcased our business knowledge and creativity.”

Meadville is one of only 12 stops on the national tour of “American Stars in Concert.”

All four performers were “American Idol” top 10 finalists: Glocksen in season 6, Hernandez in season 7 and Grace and Sarver in season 8. Michael Orland — the pianist, arranger and associate musical director for the TV series — is the musical director for the touring company.

Tickets for the performance, which is part of the college’s 2009-2010 Centerstage arts series, are $15 per person, $12 per child under the age of 12, and $10 for Allegheny College students with ID. Tickets can be purchased online at www.allegheny.edu/events or by calling the Allegheny College Office of Events at (814) 332-3101. Seating is by general admission.

Alexis Grace

Gina Glocksen

David Hernandez

Michael Sarver

“Even in a region where so many individuals give so much of their resources to serve others, Pete and Ellie stand out,” said Marjorie S. Klein, vice president for development and alumni affairs at Allegheny College. “They represent the best in philanthropy: people who give generously not only of their financial resources but of themselves.”

Pete Scibetta joined the Allegheny board of trustees in 1987. He has chaired the Erie Community Foundation board and serves as vice president of artistic affairs for the Erie Philharmonic. He also has served on the boards of the American Cancer Society, United Way of Erie County, Erie Community Conference and St. Peter’s Cathedral. He was an advisor at the D’Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College and was instrumental in developing youth wrestling in the Erie area.

Ellie Scibetta was involved for years in their children’s activities, and she continues the tradition with her grandchildren.  She has served as president of the Women’s Council at St. Peter’s Cathedral, the board of Villa Maria Academy and the board of St. Mary’s Home.  She is secretary of the board of the Humane Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania, where she coordinates the production of the annual pet calendar.

A radiation oncologist in Erie, Pete Scibetta worked to build the Regional Cancer Center, one of the first freestanding community cancer care centers in the country. He earned a doctor of medicine degree from Case Western Reserve University, interned at Tufts University Hospital and held positions at Yale Medical School. Ellie Scibetta earned a registered nursing degree from Henry Ford Hospital and attended Case Western Reserve, where she met her husband.

“Pete and Ellie represent the values of the very best in the medical field: compassion and a tireless energy in ensuring that patients receive the best care possible,” said Klein. “Both have brought the same energy and commitment to their service to Allegheny College and so many other organizations throughout northwestern Pennsylvania.”

The concert is under the direction of Robert Rudolph, adjunct instructor of music at Allegheny. It will feature solos by pianist Ryan Mazzone, a neuroscience major and music minor, and violinist Anna Rose Welch, an English major and medieval and Renaissance studies minor.

For more information, contact the Allegheny College music department at (814) 332-3356.

The Wind Symphony is a 99-member symphonic band. Membership is open by audition to all Allegheny College students. In addition to their campus concerts, Allegheny ensembles have performed throughout the United States.

Sunday’s program will feature music for a broad range of tastes. The soloist will be clarinetist Rachel Stamateris, a senior biochemistry major and economics minor at Allegheny.

The concert will open with Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture,” followed by Holst’s “First Suite in E-flat for Military Band,” Jerry Bilik’s “American Civil War Fantasy” and Norman Dello Joio’s “Scenes from ‘The Louvre.’”

Stamateris will perform “Adagio e Tarantella” by Ernesto Cavallini. The program will continue with “Nitro” by Frank Ticheli, “His Honor March” by Henry Fillmore and “The March of the Belgian Paratroopers” by Pierre Leemans.

Stamateris, of Poland, Ohio, has played the clarinet for 11 years. She has participated in the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band for three years and was a member of the National Small College Intercollegiate Band last spring in Austin, Texas.  She plans to attend graduate school in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology.

Professor of music and director of bands at Allegheny, Hepler is a frequent guest conductor for music festivals ranging from the county through all-state levels. He is principal tuba with the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra and the Lake Erie Ballet Company. He is also a member of the Allegheny Brass Quintet and Undercurrents, a tuba/euphonium quartet composed of college and university faculty in western Pennsylvania.

Hepler is president of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmasters Association and past president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, honorary bandmasters fraternity.  He also has served as the Pennsylvania chair for the College Band Directors National Association.

For more information about the concert, contact the Allegheny College music department at (814) 332-3356.

The recital, which is free and open to the public, will feature duets, trios and solos from art song, oratorio and opera repertoire. The pieces will be sung in several languages, including Latin, Russian, French, Italian, German and English. Ward Jamison, professor of music and director of choral activities at Allegheny, will serve as accompanist. Vicki Jamison, adjunct instructor of music, will provide translations for foreign language texts.

Odioso, a math major, and Gumkowski, a biochemistry major, both sing soprano and are music minors. Gummper, a biology major and music minor, sings mezzo-soprano.

For more information about the recital, contact the Allegheny College music department at (814) 332-3356.

Dhinojwala will discuss a new class of synthetic adhesives inspired by wall-climbing lizards such as geckos, which have a unique ability to attach to different surfaces without using viscoelastic glues. The micron-size hairs on gecko feet adhere to rough surfaces and keep the feet clean to allow adhesion in dusty environments.

Dhinojwala will address the strategy of using micro-patterned vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNT) to mimic the hairs found on gecko feet. These CNT structures can be transferred to flexible plastic films to create flexible adhesive tapes. These adhesives will be useful for applications in the areas of wall-climbing robots, reversible adhesives and adhesives suitable for use in space and electronic applications.

Dhinojwala’s presentation is supported by the Jonathan Lee Rusk Memorial Physics Lecture Fund at Allegheny College. For more information about the lecture, contact the Allegheny Department of Physics at (814) 332-5365.

Director and writer Beth Watkins—a professor of communication arts and theater at Allegheny—and local artist Brian Thummler worked last fall with Allegheny students to create a play based on Greek myths, folktales and modern medical stories.

The play was devised through improvisational rehearsals in which students contributed both dialogue and ideas. Faculty in the neurosciences also were consulted in the development of the script.

Devising—or creating a theatre piece through creative collaboration—was a new process for most of the company, said Watkins. “The performance will combine movement, music, puppetry, genetics, neuroscience and storytelling in a larger examination of the human condition,” she added.

The play will feature puppetry designed by Thummler and original songs by Philadelphia composer Bob Michel. The company includes student actors Stephanie Armstrong, Jordan Metcalfe, Camilo Matos, Kaitlin Mackenzie, Sara Odioso, Dan Winston, Steve Reaugh and Drew Pirrone-Brusse.

Marianne Broome is stage manager, Allegheny adjunct instructor of music Aimee Reash is the musical director, and Allegheny theatre staff designers Michael Mehler and Sarah Russell will oversee the scenery, lighting and costumes for the production.

“Chewing Your Fingers to the Bone” contains strong language and is recommended for mature audiences only.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7.50 for non-Allegheny students, senior citizens and Allegheny employees. Although admission is free for Allegheny students with identification, they are asked to make reservations. For more information or to order tickets, contact the Playshop Theatre box office at (814) 332-3414.

Susanne Ortner-Roberts is widely acclaimed in Germany, Israel and Switzerland, both as a soloist and as a member of the German Klezmer quartet Sing Your Soul. Tom Roberts is one of the leading exponents of early jazz piano in the world. He has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City and on “The Tonight Show” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” He also arranged and performed music for “The Aviator,” a film directed by Martin Scorsese.

For more information about the Silberman Series, visit www.allegheny.edu/events or call Allegheny’s Office of Conference and Event Services at (814) 332-3101.

As the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Greenberg has worked toward gay inclusion in both the civil and the religious frames. In his lecture, he will share his radical and his pragmatic solutions to the conflict between traditional Judaism and homosexuality as a way of clarifying the role of religious thought in helping democracies address complex moral issues.

A senior teaching fellow at CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Greenberg is a popular speaker on issues of faith, sexuality and tradition. He received the Koret Book Award for Philosophy and Thought for his book “Wrestling with God & Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition.”

The Samuel Schick Lecture Series is supported by a gift from the Barry and Florence Friedberg Family Philanthropic Fund.

Greenberg will also participate in a lunch discussion on “The Environment and Social Change” on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 12:15 p.m. in Room 206 of the Henderson Campus Center. The discussion also will include Eric Pallant, professor of environmental science at Allegheny, and Jane Ellen Nickell, college chaplain. Lunch will be provided, but space is limited and registration is required by Nov. 10. To register, call (814) 332-2800 or email barmstro@allegheny.edu.

In anticipation of Greenberg’s visit, the documentary film “Trembling Before G-d,” which features personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, will be presented on Monday, Nov. 9 at 8:30 p.m. in Quigley Hall auditorium. The film includes Greenberg’s story.

Greenberg’s visit is part of Allegheny College’s Year of Social Change, a series of activities, workshops and public events aimed at inspiring the campus and community to seek a more just and equitable world.

For more information, contact the Allegheny College Office of Religious Life at (814) 332-2800 or barmstro@allegheny.edu.