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Journal Opinion
YSU Is City's Center of WellnessTweak the most famous utterance of a former General Motors Corp. president, Charles Wilson, and you begin to have a feel for how important Youngstown State University is to this region and its future."What's good for the country is good for General Motors," Wilson told U.S. senators in 1952, "and vice versa."In 2004, we can say with equal assurance: What's good for YSU is good for Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.The university's significance cannot be downplayed, as demonstrated April 19 when officials broke ground for the $12.1 million John S. and Doris M. Andrews Recreation and Wellness Center.The 65,000-square-foot facility will be the first student recreation center at a public university in Ohio funded entirely through private donations. Thus far, the campaign has raised $11.47 million from 530 individuals: YSU students, alumni, faculty, staff and members of the community who support the university.The John S. and Doris M. Andrews Trust seeded the effort with the first major gift of $2 million. Other major gifts followed: John and Denise DeBartolo York, $1.5 million, the Ward and Florence Simon Beecher Foundation, $1 million, Anthony and Mary Laricca, $750,000, and $500,000 from D.D. and Velma Davis.Construction of the student recreation center reflects the resolve of YSU students who, in the mid- 1990s, organized a grassroots effort to build it. It wasn't until students voted overwhelmingly infavor of the center in May 2000, which caught the notice of YSU President David Sweet, that it began take shape.Were YSU any other institution, private support for such a project might be absent. What this community's leaders realize -- rightly so -- is that the university is one of the cylinders that runs the local engine of economic development.Aside from being a competitive addition to modern campus life -- helpful in recruiting students -- the recreation center project has assumed additional significance in that its fund-raising campaign transcends long-standing boundaries. In a region rife with parochialism, support for the rec center is broad based -- young and old, black and white, male and female, suburban and urban. All know the cost, all are contributors and all understand what is at stake.A vibrant, progressive YSU is the catalyst -- some might say today the sole catalyst -- for the long-term revival and reformation of the city of Youngs-town. As such, a stronger YSU means a stronger central business district and city, which in turn translates to a better quality of life for those who live in Boardman, Canfield, Warren and Salem.True, YSU is not without its own problems and challenges. But what's good for YSU is good for Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley."