You get an email from your supervisor demanding you send them your cell number so they can text you important instructions. You get a text asking you to verify that you’re logging into your FlashLine account. But you’re not. Now you’re wondering how many times you’ve used this same password. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Kent State University is looking to keep its community safe online. Throughout the month, the Division of Information Technology is encouraging faculty, staff and students to participate in weekly virtual events to learn more about cyber threats. Each we...

Kyle Craven thought that a thrift store sweater vest and a goofy expression would liven up his high school yearbook photo. His high school principal didn't agree and made him retake the photo, but the original still existed, waiting. Six years later, in 2012, one of Craven's friends used the photo to create a meme and "Bad Luck Brian" was born. Thousands of memes and shares later, the character is known throughout the world and has created opportunities for Craven to travel destinations including Slovakia and Japan, meet other "internet celebrities" and even appear in TV commercials.  ...

As National Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, Alex Silverio and Tatiana Fernández Pérez shared pieces of their cultures at this month’s installment of Cultural Café, presented by International Student and Scholar Services at the Office of Global Education. Each semester, Kent State University students, faculty and staff are invited to help foster multicultural diversity and awareness on campus by hosting a Cultural Café. The host prepares an informational presentation about their culture and engages the crowd with trivia, facts and traditions. Presentations may include histo...

Many of us at some point in our lives have pondered that rather esoteric question of what the world must have been like at the very beginning of existence. Michael Strickland, Ph.D., professor and chair of Kent State University’s Department of Physics, actually knows. In March, Strickland received a continuation grant of $230,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy for his research into “Non-equilibrium Dynamics of the Quark Gluon Plasma.” Using this funding, Strickland and his team have developed the world’s leading approach to describe non-equilibrium evolution of highly relativistic syste...

A demonstration on the K and a vigil for the fallen marked a day of gatherings across the Kent State University Kent Campus Thursday, five days after violence erupted in Israel and Gaza. Students for Justice in Palestine gathered with members of several other student organizations calling for the liberation of the people of Palestine. About 40 people attended the event, which lasted just over an hour and included a march to the Rock. Kent State Today spoke with the group's leader about the event and the message the group was hoping others would hear about the people of Palestin...

In Noelle Bowles’ classroom, fairytales come to life through the eyes of her students.   As a third-generation college professor and the daughter of a film critic, Bowles has always been surrounded by stories and educators. Now, she lives to spread the magic of literature to learners from all walks of life as an associate professor of English at Kent State University at Trumbull.   “I've always loved stories,” Bowles said. “In going to graduate school and specializing in literature, I don't want to say it kills your love of reading, but you start to look at the literature d...