Ashly Bower’s life is adding up nicely. The accounting student at BGSU is set to graduate with her master’s in the summer. Afterward, she is considering law school so she will be better able to advise small businesses, her passion.
“I can take my knowledge and help other people. There are so many opportunities to share what I know. By choosing the tax track, I can work with small businesses that have great ideas, but do not know how to run a business.”

Ashly Bower

Bower, 23, will become a fourth- generation CPA. Her mother, Janet Bower, is a CPA, following in the footsteps of father, William Frederick Schmeltz, and grandfather, William Herman Schmeltz, one of the first CPAs in Ohio. William Frederick was dean of the College of Business Administration at BGSU.
Although Bower intends to leave the area for law school, possibly heading to The Ohio State University, she eventually wants to return to Northwest Ohio.
“Ashly is one of the most motivated, articulate, intelligent and responsible students that I have ever seen,” said Ken Snead, chairman of the department of accounting and management information systems at BGSU. “She was a student of mine in my cost-accounting class. It is a very rigorous and demanding class. She finished first.”
Bower graduated from BGSU in May, earning a bachelor’s in business administration with a specialization in accounting. She started her master’s in the fall, opting to specialize in taxes because of its ever-changing and challenging nature, she said.
Bower attended UT for its pharmacy program after graduating from Bowling Green High School in 2004. But after one semester, she realized it wasn’t the right fit for her. She returned to her roots.
“She is really good at researching tax questions and will bring back what she finds, and we will review it,” said mother Janet Bower, a partner at Schmeltz/Bower CPAs. “I think Ashly and I will work together someday; she has been helping me since she was in sixth grade.”
The young Bower is a student ambassador for the Ohio Society of CPAs. She speaks with students about accounting, dispelling myths and explaining what it takes to become a CPA.  It’s not as math-intensive as most people think.
“People think we are bean counters,” Bower said. “We just don’t add up numbers; there is room for critical thinking.”
Bower is working on an article about environmental tax credits for buying energy efficient appliances and solar panels. Snead said when Bower researches, she covers all bases.
“I would not like to come up against Ashly Bower in an adversarial way,” he said, laughing. “She thinks outside of the box.”
Bower said it is more common for women to become accountants these days, although they often don’t take on leadership roles.  When her mom graduated from BGSU in 1979, she was one of a few accounting students.
“I think we have come a long way,” she said, crediting “growing up around my mom — a powerful female who was business-oriented,” as a reason for her success.
Bower said studying accounting these days is exciting because of the many economic ups and downs. She said she believes the economy is near bottom.
“I understand that there are business cycles, and although it is painful now, things will get better.”
Bower said a lot of people end up losing money without the help of an accountant. Although it will cost initially, the long-term payouts are worth it, she said.
“I would like to be able to work with people who cannot afford to hire someone to come in whether a lawyer or an accountant,” Bower said. “My mom puts an emphasis on volunteering.”

What a way to honor 40 years of tradition. What a way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a school’s last national championship.
What a slap shot in the face.
The rumor mill is swirling at BGSU, and the Falcon hockey program has been swept up in a budget tornado.
As the economy tries to revive itself, reports reveal that BGSU is facing a $10 million shortfall. To help alleviate money woes, BGSU President Carol Cartwright is rumored to have suggested eliminating the hockey program, a school staple since being established in 1969.
It should be noted that in 1994, Cartwright cut the hockey program at Kent State when she was in charge there. So this has happened under her watch before, but it should also be noted that the Golden Flashes hockey history pales in comparison to the Falcons.
“I didn’t believe it,” said former Falcon hockey player Ian Duncan.  “[We’re] talking about Bowling Green tradition. There’s no reason to do it. I’m just disappointed right now.”
Duncan was there the last time BGSU won a national championship trophy.
On March 24, 1984, competing on the hallowed ice in Lake Placid, N.Y., the same site as the “Miracle on Ice” team, the Falcons outlasted the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the longest collegiate hockey championship game in history, winning 5-4 in four overtimes.
“To have a Division I hockey program on ice is the best thing for Bowling Green State University,” Duncan said.
Now I will admit, I’m not the biggest hockey fan in the world, but I know how important the sport is to BGSU. During my freshman year, the ice arena acted like a social playground for green-faced, first-year students.
There was something about the building, the aura, the scent and sensation of the ice around you. The simple setting practically sucked you in, even though the action on the ice may have left you craving more.
The Falcons last winning season was in1997 under head coach Buddy Powers. This past season, BG could only muster 11 wins and got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.
And yet hockey and Bowling Green continue to link this part of the state to the outside world.
“There are not a whole lot of people who know what Bowling Green is,” Duncan said.  “It’s like Bowling Green, Ky., or is it BGSU?  Most of the time it’s known for its hockey. It travels the most.”
“It’s what we grew up watching,” said Bowling Green native Betsy Dewitt. “It’s what we grew up playing. I knew every player’s name. We are rich in history. We have Stanley Cup players.”
Dewitt started skating at the age of 3. She attended BGSU. She played hockey at the ice arena.  She married a hockey coach. Now their kids play hockey. Do you see the attachment of sport and citizen?
I’ll grant that, on a national stage, hockey may trail football, baseball and basketball in popularity, but in Bowling Green, hockey is what sets not only the town, but the university apart.
As much as Urban Meyer tried to pump up the Falcon football program earlier this decade, the school will never draw Notre Dame to play inside Doyt Perry Stadium.
Whereas, hockey coach Scott Paluch can convince the Irish, Michigan and The Ohio State University to travel to BGSU, recently honored Mid-American Conference men’s basketball coach of the year Louis Orr will struggle to get a team from the Big Ten to pay a visit to Anderson Arena.
“When the hockey program goes, we feel we go.  We don’t want to go,” Dewitt said.
On March 17, BGSU Athletic Director Greg Christopher released an open letter to Falcon fans saying that, instead of eliminating any sports, there will be cuts across the board to all of the college’s 18 varsity sports teams.
During the 1990s, there use to be popular T-shirts that read:
“Hockey is life, everything else is just details.”
My hope is that those details don’t suck the life, identity and tradition out of BGSU.

Ryan Fowler is the weekend sports anchor at NBC 24.  He can be reached at bgsualum03@hotmail.com.

TO THE EDITOR,

On Feb. 27, 2009, the City of Toledo imposed upon the City of Rossford a non-contract water rate of Toledo first block rate (Toledo resident rate) plus 125 percent, and increase of 140 percent over our recently expired 2008 water contract.
Toledo justifies this increase because the two sides were not able to come to a mutually agreed revenue sharing agreement revision. The revision basically meant agreeing to Toledo’s insistence on raising its already 27 percent share of Rossford income tax collected in a 1992 JEDZ agreement to 40 percent and a phase-in water rate increase of 130 percent over four years. In return, Rossford receives no additional consideration for our increasing costs associated with development in the Crossroads area.
Rossford spent millions of dollars on its own infrastructure, including water and sewer lines to the Crossroads, without Toledo supplying anything but water.
Toledo stressed in its negotiation with the city of Rossford the need to be consistent as it deals with others for water. I, however, have asked the following question during a number of meetings: Can the City of Toledo show us any current municipality/entity with a tax sharing zone the size of Rossford’s paying a 40/60 percent split on a 2.25 percent income tax rate with its residents paying Toledo’s first block rate plus a 115 percent surcharge. To date, no one in Toledo has been able to answer that question to Rossford.
Rossford has received both verbal and written communication from Toledo telling us they are going to shut off our water to the Crossroads anywhere from one to two years from now. That seems a little heavy-handed to me.
It is unfortunate while the Mayor of Toledo touts regional cooperation, Rossford, who was one of the first to partner with Toledo as far back as 1992 for revenue sharing, now suffers from it. The proposed agreement that Toledo offered places Rossford in a competitive disadvantage to its Wood County neighbors for future economic development. Rossford is willing to pay its fair share of a water increase, but just doesn’t want to be held hostage in doing so.
It appears that the citizens of Rossford will have to endure punitive water rates until Toledo will work with Rossford on a fair and logical approach to water. I don’t believe that is too much to ask.
WILLIAM VERBOSKY JR. Mayor, City of Rossford

As you look around the table of six, you rely on your intuition to help you decide the best target for your inquiry. You pick the person seated across from you who is avoiding eye contact: “Do you have a Jack?”  He looks at his cards and gives a wry reply: “Go Fish!”
It was a good guess, but your turn is over; there was no match. The game moves on; you stare at your cards, shuffle them around a bit and eagerly wait for your next turn.
Business success, much like a game of Go Fish, relies on being able to make a match between what you are holding and what the person you are talking to is holding. In your hand, you hold value. The word value has lost its real meaning over decades of being misused and misrepresented.
Value is not the best price, and it is not something you can learn from your company’s brochure. Value is something much less tangible, yet something that, when present, is obvious.
It is an understatement to say that, when customers buy, they buy because value is present. Value is not something you can say; it is not something you can memorize and recite, and it is not something that you can manufacture. If what you believe to be value requires you to talk about it, then it is not valuable at all; it will not match the cards being held in the hands of your potential customer.
The only way to make more connections with your current and future customers is to get in touch with the personal value that you embody and transmit every time you are with others.
To find your value, don’t look to others; don’t look to your corporate brochure and don’t allow your mental prattling to steer you off-course.
Sure, there is value inside work you are doing now; there is value in the products and services you represent.
However, the only way it can become an effective asset for you is by making it your own.
Reciting talking points and spewing catchphrases is tantamount to simply guessing what the other person wants to hear.
If you sell copiers, your passion may be derived from the time they save, the positive feedback you receive from customers or the copiers themselves.
No matter what aspect of selling copiers you’re passionate about, that specific aspect becomes your source of value.
If there is no passion behind it, there is no belief, and if there is no belief behind it, then there is no real value, and it is a waste of time.
Start by figuring out what value means to you. What value do you personally bring to those you have the privilege to serve? It will be different even from your co-workers who sell the same product.
Your value is as unique as you are, and you must find out what it is before you sit down at the table.
So what is your value? Your value is anything that you can give that truly provides solutions. Your value could be as simple as your approach to working with customers.
Regardless of what your value is, it all boils down to one thing: giving.
When you give of yourself, you are providing value. When you combine giving with unbridled expertise, passion or empathy, you become valuable.
It is only when you identify your specific channel of passionate giving that you will amplify your value.
It is at this time you no longer need to play a guessing game; you no longer need to manipulate. This is the moment you stop pouring your energy into chasing customers, and you begin redirecting your energy into amplifying your passion and making yourself more valuable.
Giving freely of yourself by providing value changes you from the seeker to the sought after.

Tom Richard is a Toledo-based sales trainer, gives seminars, runs sales meetings and provides coaching for salespeople. For more information, visit www.TomRichard.com, call (419) 441-1005 or e-mail him via tom@tomrichard.com.

The work of Czech artist Jaroslav Malina will open at UT’s Center for Visual Arts on March 24.
The exhibition, which features 68 original works by Malina, is touring the United States. Toledo is its second stop.

Malina

The exhibit curator, Joseph Brandesky, professor of theater at The Ohio State University at Lima, will host UT’s public reception and walking tour March 27.
The exhibition, which has upcoming stops in Lima and Columbus, as well as Alfred University in New York, includes a taped interview with Malina.
Born in Prague in 1937, Malina’s career spans more than 40 years and includes more than 450 set and costume designs for theater, film and television. He also is known for his one-man exhibitions, His non-stage work or “free work,” as he calls it, and his scenic designs are inextricably linked.
In 2000, Malina created the scenography for The Ohio State University’s production “Orpheus Descending” and has been a guest speaker on the theater department’s biannual Czech Study Tours.
“In both fields, one finds Malina expressing his abundant sense of abstraction, eroticism, contradiction and humor,” Brandesky said.
The reception will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 27 and is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.utoledo.edu.

Priorities change, every day, everywhere. It’s no different in government, where demands for dollars shift like sand on a playground.
Late last year, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner submitted a “wish list” of economic recovery projects to President Barack Obama’s administration through the United States Conference of Mayors. In February, an updated wish list, for basically the same pile of hypothetical money, was submitted to the Obama bean counters as “Toledo’s Federal Economic Stimulus Package Requests.”
It’s interesting to note the changes in the two proposals.

• A request for funds for the ACME Plant rose from $2 million to $8 million.
• A COPS hiring grant that was originally submitted for $2 million was increased to almost $35 million; a Matzinger Avenue project was cut from $1.7 million to $682,000; and a request for Cheyenne improvements was reduced from about $1.2 million to $655,000.
• Noteworthy projects were added: Swan Creek projects for a total of about $63 million and University of Toledo projects for $75 million.
• Five interesting projects were dropped: Three pipeline projects totaling $48 million; three drainage-related projects for $850,000; seven sewer-related projects for $49 million; three pump station improvements for $866,400; and projects for storage basins in Maumee and Oakdale for $53 million.

There’s no attempt to read the tea leaves here, just an interesting comparison for the sake of discussion.
But there is one project I find to be glaringly absent from both of the mayor’s extensive wish lists. For all of Carty’s public fuss and private maneuverers to save the United Way building, it is nowhere to be found on these funding lists. It is unlikely Carty changed his mind about blocking the building’s much needed and imminent demolition, yet it wasn’t important enough to include on two major wish lists for hundreds of millions of dollars. Priorities change, but this one strikes a discordant and inconsistent note.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

John Peter “J.P.” King is doing his part to help minority males have a better life.
The sophomore at Bowsher High School is president of the Student African-American Brotherhood (SAAB), which “helps people get out of trouble,” he said.

King

The group meets Tuesday mornings before school and works together to help everyone, King said. All of the Toledo area chapters meet once a month at the University of Toledo Medical Center. The organization is not geared toward only black males; it works with all minority groups, King said. There is also a separate organization for females.
Committees within SAAB help students in different ways. One works with academics, where students tutor other members who are struggling with certain subjects, King said. They also have a social committee that plans events like bowling and going to the movies.
The group hosts a community service activity once a week. Members went to the YMCA to help them wrap presents and they also have served food at the Cherry Street Mission.
SAAB began at the university level and Bowsher High School was one of the first 10 high schools in the country to start the organization, said Jesse Duckworth, SAAB faculty adviser at Bowsher.
Duckworth oversees the program with the assistance of King. He chose King as president because he is responsible.
“He’s someone I can count on. He’s always there and on time,” said Duckworth, who is an assistant principal at Bowsher.
King is an honors student who plays football, baseball and recently started running track. He learned many of his leadership skills from sports. For example, he attended a football leadership academy, which took place after morning practices in the summer. He also is involved with Cornerstone Church. He participates in its life youth ministry, which is for seventh to 12th graders, he said.
King’s favorite subject is math and he wants to go to school to become a cardiovascular surgeon, he said.
Although, he is only a sophomore, he has looked into the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan for their good premedical program.
King became interested in cardiovascular surgery because one of his mother’s friends is a cardiovascular surgeon. King did some research on cardiovascular surgery and decided that was what he wanted to pursue, he said.
King lives with his mother and credits her for his success in school and extracurricular activities, he said.
“She just always looked out for me and basically she took good care of me,” he said.

The Toledo Opera’s latest production of “Salome” was tantalizing. In Richard Strauss’ one-act opera, “Salome,” a woman named Salome falls in love with John the Baptist. After discovering that he cares more for God than her, she demands from her stepfather, King Herod, the severed head of John the Baptist. The setting placed the audience in a courtyard of King Herod’s palace.

On the upper left hand corner of a backdrop was a full moon. This moon accentuated the color changes throughout the production. It also added a sense of mystery to the plot. In front of this backdrop was a tall white stone arch. This arch was part of King Herod’s palace. The immense size of this arch made King Herod’s wealth unavoidable. From this arch, a path of stones led to a horizontal row of stones at the front of the stage. On either side of the path was the orchestra. On the far right of this horizontal row was a rectangular platform. This platform was made of glass, and was the entrance to the dungeon, where John the Baptist was imprisoned. There was a tall metal bridge in the center of the stage. This bridge was used as a lookout structure for Herod’s soldiers. It was also a place where Salome contemplated her next move. As Salome, Amy Johnson was diabolical.

Johnson’s voice illustrated the contrasting outward beauty and inward corruption of her character. When Salome announced who she was to John the Baptist, her extremely high pitch in her introduction let the audience see that she thought too highly of herself. Wherever she danced or walked, Johnson did so off the ground. When Salome demanded the head of John from her father, Johnson’s swift transition to a deeper pitch reflected Salome’s determination to see him beheaded. As she danced the “Dance of the Seven Veils,” Johnson seduced the audience.

In Salome’s “Dance of the Seven Veils,” Johnson’s sultry choreography entranced the audience. As drums began to thunder, Johnson and six dancers rushed onto the scene. Johnson danced without hesitation. In one of her moves, Johnson moved her arms up and her body downward, simultaneously. As Johnson moved her arms in circles, the dancers would do so synchronously. After a few notes from a harp, the dancers circled Salome, and made it appear as though Salome was magically manipulating them. The fact that Johnson enthralled and appalled the audience is a testament to her acting prowess.

As John the Baptist, Bradley Garvin was sensational. When John would cry out from the dungeon, Garvin’s booming voice foreshadowed his fate. When John emerged from his dungeon, Garvin’s strict blocking reflected John’s strong devotion to God. When John rebuked Salome’s mother, Garvin lashed the ground with the rope he was imprisoned with. Even though Salome would compliment him, Garvin’s booming voice made it clear that John’s heart belonged to God alone. Whenever John would talk about God, Garvin would reach outward and upward, as though God was right next to him. Garvin stayed true to John’s unshakeable devotion. As the mother of Salome, Herodias, Deanne Meek was darkly comical.

As John would sing about God’s wrath coming to Salome’s family, Herodias would loudly complain. She wore a green and brown dress with emeralds in it. As she took sips from a glass of wine, Herodias became increasingly drunk. The way Meek dizzily leaned on the dungeon door for support conveyed a woman who had too much to drink. Meek portrayed Herodias’ emotions with vivacity. When Herodias laughed and cried out “She’s her mother’s child!” after Salome demanded John’s head, the audience cracked up. When she laughed in her victory, Meek let the audience see that Herodias had serious mental issues. As King Herod, Adam Klein was also entertaining.

Dressed in a red cape and golden crown, King Herod looked like an ancient warlord. Herod was so mentally skewed, that he flirted with his own stepdaughter. He even had her dance for him. When Herod drank wine with Salome, Klein would lightly touch Salome’s hair to illustrate the strange fascination Herod had for her. When Herod would hear “wings” from an unknown source, Klein would instantly fall to the ground, as though being attacked. After Salome insisted on the severed head of John, Klein desperately fell to his knees, and let the audience see that Herod was desperate. The way Klein laid helplessly on the ground while Salome kicked him asked the audience “who has more power: King Herod or Salome?” The instrumentation was also impressive.

Whenever John would talk about God and Judgment Day, a grand fanfare would play. This fanfare sent the message that Salome’s family will one day pay the consequences for their reckless behavior. When John and Salome were playing a cat-and-mouse game of Salome complimenting John (and John rejecting her), a light melody emphasized how Salome expected to be successful at seducing John. As Salome ascended the steps to the bridge after being rejected, a bassoon solo reflected her dark desires. The quick, complex orchestration of the “Dance of the Seven Veils” helped keep the audience’s gaze fixed on Salome. Whenever Herod would talk about “wings” coming near him, pulsating violins gave the audience the mental picture of something winged flying toward him. There would occasionally be moments without instrumentation, such as when John’s head was severed. When there was no music, the suspense was heightened. These silences also enhanced the emotions felt by the audience.

As Renay Conlin, the Artistic Director of the Toledo Opera stated before the production began, the theatre is meant to provoke and inspire us. How does “Salome” provoke us? It asks us to question the nature of relationships, power, and the role ideology plays in our everyday lives. It is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of spoiling our children. How does “Salome” inspire us? It inspires us to accept when a relationship is over, or when things do not go our way, rather than seek violence (or have anyone beheaded).

UT’s Center for Sculptural Studies will unveil a new gallery during a public reception March 20.
Grey Gallery and Sculpture Garden, 535 Oakwood Ave., will feature original works by student artists from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“The idea to establish the gallery came out of these Wednesday night functions we had been having as a way to provide students with a safe place to work on their art,” said Mark Moffett, sculptural center technician.
“The whole thing has been done on a very bare bones budget, mainly through our department’s discretionary fund and a few, small private donations,” he said.
According to Moffett, the aim of gallery is to provide students with a venue for their work, in addition to giving them with practical experience.
“Eventually, we want the students to help curate future exhibitions, write press releases, to learn everything that goes into putting on a show,” he said.
The gallery’s opening exhibition will feature original works by student artists Adrienne Baker, Julia LaBay, Breeanna Schneider, Daniel Vieyra, Dawn Webb and Nicholas Ziems.
UT professors Thomas Lingeman, Karen Roderick-Lingeman and Patrick Dubreuil selected the pieces from the work produced in their foundation and sculpture  classes.
“In the future, I hope that we are able to find additional funding, such as grants, to expand the programming we are able to offer both students and patrons,” Moffett said.
The gallery itself is 150 square feet with a 12,000-square-foot green garden. Future plans include hosting Bachelor of Fine Arts shows, funded exhibitions and a visiting artist program. The gallery may also serve as a venue to evaluate student work.

The current exhibit will remain on display through April 10. Viewing hours are by appointment at (419) 530-5344. For more information, call (419) 530-8344.

Toledo-based SSOE, one of the nation’s largest architecture and engineering firms, is mourning the passing of its founding father, Alfred H. Samborn. Samborn died March 19 in Glenview, IL, at the age of 91. It is suggested that in lieu of flowers a donation is made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

The following biography was provided by SSOE:

Born in Toledo April 30, 1917, Alfred Samborn earned a civil engineering degree from The University of Toledo in 1939 and completed graduate study at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland. He started his career as a structural engineer for a Detroit firm in 1941. During WW II, he enlisted in the military service and was part of the V7 Program as an apprentice seaman, advancing to the rank of lieutenant in the Civil Engineering Corps (Seabees) of the United States Naval Reserve.

On October 12, 1947 Miriam ‘Peggy’ Mann and Alfred Samborn were married. Just one year later in 1948 Mr. Samborn founded A.H. Samborn & Associates with a vision of creating a world-class full service engineering and design firm. His 2 ½ person company grew into the 900-employee firm of SSOE, Inc. with 19 offices worldwide including corporate offices in Toledo.
Throughout his career, Mr. Samborn served in numerous professional capacities including President of the Toledo and Ohio Societies of Professional Engineers, director of the National Society of Professional Engineers, a member of the Ohio State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, and president of the National Council of Engineering Examiners. In addition, he was the driving force behind his firm’s advancement into the application of computers to engineering design and is the author of many technical papers and articles.
In 1984, Mr. Samborn stepped down as SSOE’s CEO and became a civil engineering professor at the University of Toledo, serving for over a decade. He was also involved in a number of civic organizations including the American Red Cross, the United Way, Old Newsboys Goodfellow
Association, Downtown Toledo Associates, Toledo Council for Business, Sight Center of Northwest Ohio, the UT Alumni Foundation, and Tower Club. In 2007 he was honored with the Toledoan of the Year award for Innovation for his numerous contributions to the region.
Mr. Samborn was preceded by his wife Peggy in death and leaves behind two sons Michael (Martha) and Randall (Hope), and their grandchildren Eve, Sarah, and Benjamin.

The family will receive guests at 11:30 am, the funeral at 12:00 pm at Wick Funeral Home on Reynolds Road. Graveside services will be held immediately following at Beth Shalom Cemetery, Oregon. Friends and family will be received after the services at Temple Shomer Emunim.

Wick Funeral Home
2426 North Reynolds Road
Toledo, OH

Temple Shomer Emunim
6453 Sylvania Avenue
Sylvania, OH 43560

For more information on Mr. Samborn, please visit www.ssoe.com/docs/SambornNomination.PDF.

It is suggested that those who wish to honor the memory Mr. Samborn may do so by making a contribution to: The University of Toledo
Alfred H. Samborn/SSOE, Inc. Scholarship (#300-037) or Alfred H. Samborn Distinguished Lecture Series (#300-261).