the merciad, april 20, 2005

8/6/2019 The Merciad, April 20, 2005

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On Saturday, April 23, the Mercy-hurst Rotaract Club will sponsor thethird annual PolioPlus 5K run on thecampus of Mercyhurst College.

Rotary International’s commitmentholds this annual event to fight thepolio virus that still ravages many areas of the world.

Emily Roach, race coordinator,states that it is a “common misconcep-tion that polio has been eradicated.”Developed nations such as the UnitedStates experience very few outbreaksof the polio virus.

However, Roach said that under

developed nations such as those in Africa still require aid to eradicatethe virus. Where it takes U.S. patients only

three booster immunizations to estab-lish immunity to the virus, it can takeup to 10 immunizations for a pe rsonto attain full immunity in Africa.

“Thus far, Rotary’s efforts andthose of its partners around the worldhave achieved a 99 percent reduc-tion in the number of polio cases

worldwide. The goal is to eradicatepolio this year, which is also the cen-tennial year for Rotary,” said Roach.

To accomplish this goal, the Rota-ract Club has organized volunteersand raised money.

Roach said, “The purpose of ourrace is to raise money and then donateto Rotary for their cause.”

The race began in 2003 by alumnusDanielle Poole. Since then, the racehas grown as more runners joined toraise money for the cause.

About 40 runners signed up for therace already. This week, Roach wouldlike to see 20 more runners sign up.

Not only will the race benefit thefight against the poliovirus, it willraise awareness among the studentpopulation.

“This race benefits the studentsbecause it raises awareness aboutother countries and their plight as wellas provides students with an easy way to do something for the greater goodof humanity,” said Roach.

The last of the three authors gracing the Mercyhurst campus during the Lit-erary Festival is Martin Espada.

Epada will be presenting “Alabanza:In Praise of Poetry” in the Taylor Little

Theatre, on Thursday, April 28, at 7:30p.m. Espada is regarded as one of theleading poets of Puerto Rican heritagein the United States.

The Brooklyn native’s poems havebeen published in The New York TimesReview, Harper’s, The Nation and TheBest American Poetry.

A few of his many honors include

h a v i n g abook namedan A mer i -can Library

AssociationN o t a b l eBook of theyear, the Pat-erson Literary

Achievement,an AmericanBook Award,a P E N /Revson Fellowship and two NEA fel-lowships.

In an interview with Espada, StevenRatiner, from the Face and Place of

Poetry said, “Martin Espada is an

imposing presence, a grizzly bear of a man with dark eyes that devour thepage. His poems are, by turns, ferocious,tender, ardently political or touchingly biographical.”

Epada’s poems have the ability tocatch the reader off guard, and whilehe may be talking about a subject thatseems relatively normal, he makes itextraordinary.

It is said that his writing arises fromhis Puerto Rican heritage and his work experiences ranging from bouncer totenant lawyer.

His versatility will be seen a week from Thursday when he reads at theMercyhurst.

Here is a small sample of his outstand-

ing work in an excerpt from the poem Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits,“No one can speak my name, I host thefiesta of the bathroom, stirring the toiletlike a punchbowl.”

“The Spanish music of my name islost when the guests complain abouttoilet paper.”

He offers his readers a new and/or different look at something thatsomeone might otherwise overlook asunimportant.

As the last of three outstanding authors the English department encour-ages everyone to come to Espada’s read-ing and experience, “the Pablo Nerudaof the North American authors.”

With the hustle and bustle that spring time brings, Mercyhurst College is host-ing an entire week of events that will bededicated to making students aware of Earth Day and its purpose.

It was almost 30 years ago when Mer-cyhurst students and faculty first beganto recognize this sometimes overlookedholiday.

Sister Maura Smith has been accred-ited with introducing the concept inher environmental studies classes nearly three decades ago.

Most recently, the SPAN club, Stu-

dents for the Protection and Appre-ciation of Nature, organized a campus-

wide cleanup of the mouth of Mill Creek nearly four years ago to coincide withEarth Day.

Since then, the festivities celebrating Earth Day have blossomed.

Dr. Chris Magoc, one of the faculty planners for this year’s Earth Week,

is really impressed with the studentsinvolvement and willingness to help withthis year’s events.

“Dr. Brown, Cathy Pedler (our campusSustainability Coordinator), Jo Ellen andI first met in September, so it’s a year-long planning process,” says Magoc.

i n s i d e

t h i s

i s s u eNews

Cardinals choose conservative

German as next pope.

Page 2

’Hurst plans memorial for

Matthew Milgate. Find out the

details and how you can help.

Page 3

Opinion It’s Earth week at the ’Hurst. Find

out what students and faculty have to

say in this enviroment themed issue.

Page 6 & 7

Arts & Entertainment Britney Spears and Kevin Federline

are expecting their first child. Can

she still retain her title as pop prin-

cess?

Page 8

Index

News....................................2

News....................................3

Features...............................4

Features...............................5

Opinion.................................6

Opinion.................................7

A&E.......................................8

A&E.......................................9

Sports.................................10

Sports.................................11

Sports.................................12

MERCIADVol. 78 No. 19 Mercyhurst College 501 E. 38th St. Erie, Pa. 16546 April 20, 2005

T h eTHE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929

FeaturesWeight training can benefit every-

one. Find out how you can get in

shape by weight lifting.

Page 4

SportsMen’s lacrosse downs Bryant 12-6.

1

K a t i e M c A d a m s / P h o t o e d i t o r

By Chelsea BootheContributing writer

By Jaime MyersContributing writer

By Brent Vlcek Contributing writer

By Jennifer CicconeContributing writer

Please see Earth on Page 3

Students participated in Earth Week last year by cleaning up the Millcreek watershed and planting trees on campus. File Photos

Please see PolioPlus on Page 3

Alumni day brings many back to ’HurstStudents receive career tips in the classroom from alumni who work in their field

Move over professors because thealumni are coming in. This week, gradu-ates of Mercyhurst College are visiting the classroom to share their “real world”experiences with students.

On Thursday and Friday Alumni onCampus Days will take place for thesecond year in a row. Because of thesuccess of last year’s event, Pat Liebel,head of the alumni office, decided tomake this an annual event.

Students, faculty and alumni allenjoyed it last year, so here we areagain.

“The students asked that it be con-tinued as they thought it was a positiveexperience,” said Liebel. “Of course, wehope this year will be even better.”

It already seems like it is better. Thealumni event last year was only one day

with only seven alumni. This year, thealumni coming back almost tripled. Sothe event was spread out over two days.Eighteen alumni will make their way back to campus this week to inspirestudents with the stories and journeys ittakes to become a professional. Alumnifrom Erie and places from Pittsburgh toChicago will attend. They will speak in different classes

throughout Thursday and Friday.Students can hear alumni speak about

business, communication, criminal jus-tice, education, history, hotel restaurantand institutional management, intelli-gence studies and sports medicine.

Students also have the chance to fillout a survey on how they like or dislikethe speaker and the event. If students

want other topics covered or have sug-gestions for future alumni events, thesethings can be taken into considerationfor next year.

Alumni from Erie:

Rebecca Martin ’82 - vice presidentand marketing, Erie Regional Chamber& Growth Partnership; Al Messina ’71 - executive director,

Boys and Girls Club of Erie, Inc;R. J. Zonna ’87 - vice president, United

Way of Erie County; Joyce Savocchio ’65 - former Erie

mayor; JoAnn Barnes ’79 - senior human

resources director, Rentway, Inc;Mary Ellen Dahlkemper ’73 - chief

administrative officer, Stairways, Inc;Kevin Julius ’86 - McDowell High

School teacher and author of “The Abolitionist Decade-1829-38”;

Brad Fairfield ’90 - developer, KoehlerBrewery Square;

Steve Seymour ’85 - director of humanresources, Country Fair, Inc; Tom Parilla ’88 - financial adviser;Michael Malpiedi ’81 - vice president

of sales, NextMedia Radio; William Dopierala, Esq. ’72 - deputy

attorney general, Commonwealth of Pa.Outside Erie:

Pierre Priestly ’81 (Chicago) - vicepresident and division manager, Invest-ment Property Exchange Services;

Gary Calabrese ’79 (Hudson, Ohio)- director, sports medicine, ClevelandClinic;

Scott Donnelly ’88 (Pittsburgh)-managing partner, Smallman StreetDeli;

Scott Koskoski ’00 (Pittsburgh)- associate director of annual giving,

Washington & Jefferson College;Dan Langan ’91 (Harrisburg) - presi-

dent, Langan Public Affairs Inc;Russ Franklin ’75 (Pittsburgh) - vice

president, Citizens Bank.

’Hurst students celebrate Earth Week PolioPlus5k run this weekend

Martin Espada wraps-up Literary Festival

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Schiff

Martin Espada



For some college students,

test anxiety is as predictable asthe spring flowers blooming oncampus. Not that these students

would notice the flowers, oranything else, as they get ready for finals.

When University of Akronstudent Raj Nandi takes an exam,it becomes an all-encompassing experience.

“I’m antsy,” said Nandi, 31,a University of Akron graduatestudent in business administra-tion. “My wife stays away fromme. She just stays out of my

way. And I have a little troublesleeping.”

No matter that Nandi com-pleted a rigorous engineering

undergraduate major, and hassuccessfully taken test after testand has done well; he still getsnervous.

It’s a problem that affectsmany students. As finals near, it’sthe busy season for those whoprovide counseling or academicsupport for college students whohave trouble dealing with thestress of exams.

Common symptoms of testanxiety include: trouble sleeping or waking up in the night, wor-rying, having a rapid heartbeat,sweaty palms, or feelings of nau-sea, say experts and area students.Perhaps the most distressing symptom is completely blanking

out during the test.“Test anxiety comes up, more

so than you would ever imag-ine,” said William Hale, Ph.D.,assistant director of the Univer-sity Counseling Services at Case

Western Reserve University.Test anxiety occurs in various

degrees. Not all anxiety is bad,because it can motivate a stu-dent to hunker down and study,experts said.

“A bit of that sharpens yourattention and makes you morealert,” said Ronnie Love, a read-ing and writing specialist at KentState University’s Academic Sup-port Center. Love, who works

with students of all skill levels,said many students who sufferfrom test anxiety feel that way because they simply haven’t putin the hours they need to master

the material.“It’s justified anxiety,” she

said.For those who feel anxious

because they aren’t prepared,the answer is obvious: Preparebetter.

However, Hale said the stu-dents he treats for test anxiety have almost always put in thestudy time, obviously know theirstuff and still have problems.

Many students who attendCase Western were at the top,or near top, of their high schoolclasses, Hale explained. They canbecome very anxious and thrownoff by a new environment.

“When they come here, they

are thrown in with students whoare also the cream of the cropand they may no longer be topdog,” Hale said. “The curve getscompletely reconfigured and in-credibly stressful for them.”

Hale said he often works withstudents who know the mate-rial thoroughly even tutor theirfriends and still draw a blank

when it comes time to take thetest. Feelings of anxiety easily cancause a student to be unable toaccess the information that he orshe knows, he said.

It is also very common foradult learners generally definedas age 25 or older to have testanxiety, because they feel a lot of

additional pressure, said Debo-rah Gwin, director of the AdultResource Center at the University of Akron, which provides servic-es to students who are juggling many roles in their lives.

“What brings our adult learnersback to school is what I call thefour D’s death, disability, down-sizing or divorce,” said Gwin,

who added that about one-thirdof the university’s students areconsidered adult learners.

“If you’ve got three kidsat home and you’ve lost yourspouse or your income, you haveto do well,” she said. “Also, youhave less time to prepare.”

When reassurance and honing study skills aren’t enough, stu-dents often benefit from getting some help from a university’scounseling services, Love and

Gwin said.Hale, a psychologist, said stu-

dents who have test anxiety usu-ally come for counseling eitherbecause they are self-referred, orbecause of a professor’s sugges-tion. Hale said when treating astudent, he first does a thoroughevaluation, to see whether theanxiety affects other aspects of a student’s life or is limited to thetesting situation.

Students who have simpletest anxiety often benefit fromtwo strategies understanding the thought processes that aremaking them anxious, and learn-ing some concrete relaxationexercises.

Gaining an understanding of the thinking that contributes totest anxiety is critical, Hale said,because it gets to the root of theproblem. Usually, a student feelsanxious because he or she be-lieves they “must” get an “A” ona test, or it will set up a string of misfortunes. Hale said a student’strain of thought generally runssomething like the following:

“`I have to make sure I doperfectly on these tests. If I don’tmake an A on the test, I won’t do

well in the course. If I don’t do well in the course, my GPA goesdown. If my GPA goes down, I

won’t get a good job. If I don’tget a good job, I won’t be able

to pay off my student loans. I’llnever be happy. And...”

Hale said he helps this kindof student learn to replace theseanxiety-producing thoughts withmore realistic, less catastrophicthinking.

“I bring it back to the here andnow,” he said. “This is one test. Ilook at where the perfectionismcomes from,” Hale said.

In addition to changing au-tomatic, negative thoughts, astudent will benefit from learn-ing some simple relaxation ex-ercises, Hale said. Hale favorsprogressive muscle relaxation, aprocess in which a person first

tenses, then relaxes part of thebody, and a few minutes of breathing focus.

Simple test anxiety is treatable without use of medication,Hale added, and the prognosis

is bright.Just like many of the students

who have the problem.

PAGE 2 THE MERCIAD April 20, 2005

To contact: [email protected] NEWS

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VATICAN CITY, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a doctrinalconservative who emerged as apivotal figure in the days follow-ing Pope John Paul’s death, waselected pope Tuesday.

The German prelate, whoturned 78 Saturday, will be theRoman Catholics’ 264th succes-sor to St. Peter. He will be knownas Pope Benedict XVI.

Although the announcement was greeted with delirious cheersby the multitudes gathered in St.Peter’s Square, the choice is cer-tain to be a controversial one.

“Dear brothers and sisters,after the great pope John PaulII, the cardinals have elected mea simple, humble worker in the

vineyard of the Lord,” he toldthe faithful from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

“The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insuf-ficient means consoles me, andabove all I entrust myself to yourprayers,” said Ratzinger, who ap-peared smiling and serene.

As head of the Congrega-tion for the Doctrine of theFaith, Ratzinger served as Pope

John Paul’s theological enforcer.Many who know him person-ally describe him as shy andreserved, but his strict enforce-ment of John Paul’s conservative

views and his harsh silencing of several prominent theologians

established his reputation as asomewhat divisive figure.

As successor to the immensely popular John Paul, whose 26-yearpapacy combined bold politicalstrokes, an epic global pilgrim-age and a death that provokedmourning worldwide, he faces adaunting task.

But the election of Ratzinger

came surprisingly quickly.When smoke began to curl

from the Sistine Chapel’s chim-ney a few minutes before 6 p.m.Rome time, confusion reigned.Some in the crowd thought it

was white; others were sure it wasblack. Italian television declaredit white and so did the Vaticanswitchboard, but Vatican Radiosaid black.

The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica were supposed to clarify the mat-ter. But at precisely 6 p.m., thebells began tolling the hour,adding to the confusion. Finally,

when the bells started to toll ata few minutes after the hour, it

was clear that a new pope hadbeen elected.

An air horn sounded. Flags waved and songs in differentlanguages were lifted toward thebalcony where the new pope

would appear.From all over Rome, people

flocked to the square. Via dellaConciliazione, the broad avenuethat leads to St. Peter’s, becamea fast flowing river of humanity,some strolling, some sprinting toward the square to see the an-nouncement.

Monsignor Thomas Fucinaro,originally from Lincoln, Neb.,but a longtime Vatican staff member, was waiting with fellow priests along one of the woodenbarricades.

“The fact that this was such abrief conclave is a clear sign of the unity of the cardinals,” hesaid. “We are all ecstatic.”

After two inconclusive bal-lots Tuesday morning, and oneMonday evening, Ratzinger waselected in the conclave’s Tuesday afternoon session on what wouldhave been either the fourth orfifth ballot.

A total of 77 votes, the sup-port of two-thirds of the 115cardinal electors, were needed.

In the minutes after it becameclear that there was a new pope,the faithful in St. Peter’s Square,and millions watching on televi-sion around the world, still didnot know the identity of thenew pope. All eyes turned to thebalcony of St. Peter’s and thecurtained door that would opento reveal the cardinals’ choice.

Cardinal Jorge Arturo MedinaEstevez, the senior cardinal dea-con, appeared first, and at 6:42pm he told the world “habemuspapam, we have a pope.”

He introduced Ratzinger asBenedict XVI.

The initial reaction of thecrowd was mixed. Some seemedconfused, but others beganchanting, “Benedict! Benedict!”

Ratzinger, the first Germanpope since the 11th century, hasnot yet explained his choice of name, but the last Pope Benedict,

who reigned from 1914 until1922, worked to bring peace dur-ing World War I.

The election marks the conclu-sion of the most widely watchedchange in leadership in the his-tory of the 1.1 billion-memberRoman Catholic Church, a dra-matic three-week period thatbegan with the April 2 death of

John Paul II.To the surprise of even church

leaders, millions of pilgrimsstreamed into Rome to pay theirrespects to the late pope, some

waiting in line 10 or even 20hours to spend a few minutespraying before his body.

A quarter of a million mourn-ers pressed into St. Peter’s Squarefor John Paul II’s funeral, whilean estimated 2 to 3 million morefound other spots in and aroundRome to watch on television, anexperience they shared with hun-dreds of millions more aroundthe world.

The funeral, on a chilled and

windy day, underscored the tow-ering presence John Paul II hadin the church, in life and in death.

A ritual designed for pomp anddignity gave way to cheers andchants as the crowd showed itsenthusiasm for the pope, someeven calling for his immediatesainthood.

Those images were not lost onthe cardinals, who had to maketheir way through the crowds of mourners all that week.

Insiders said that many of thecardinals were truly amazed by the outpouring. In the week thatfollowed, as they agreed not tospeak publicly about the choicethey faced, many of the 115 elec-tors focused on the response to

John Paul II’s death, and tried tofigure out how to harness thatenthusiasm as the church movedforward.

In the venerable tradition of papal conclaves, the week leading up to the voting was filled withspeculation about campaignsand counter-campaigns, whichcardinals were surging and which

were fading.But this conclave was unlike

previous gatherings of cardinalsin many ways. It was the largest,

with 115 electors, and the mostinternational, with 52 nationsrepresented.

And while all but two of themen had been made cardinalsby Pope John Paul II, sharing a certain understanding of thechurch and its teachings, they brought into the Sistine Chapela wide array of concerns andpoints of view.

As the cardinals remainedmum, attention turned to thepriorities of the church in differ-

ent parts of the world: issues of economic justice and a crippling priest shortage in Latin America;a drift away from Christian rootsin Europe; the priest sex abusescandal and technological tanglesin North America; a vibrant faithmixing a clashing with otherfaiths in Africa and Asia.

Then on Monday, the cardi-nals made their last public ap-pearance, a solemn processionin scarlet from the Vatican’s

Apostolic Palace into the SistineChapel, all shown on live televi-sion for the first time.

Then, as the double oak doorsswung shut, the focus shifted yetagain. This time, all the digital,high-resolution, instantaneoustechnology of the world mediaturned to a simple stovepipepoking through the roof of thechapel.

After taking the name Pope Benedict XVI, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger greets thecrowd in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, Italy.

KRT Photo

By Tom Hundley and SteveKloehn

Cardinals choose conservative German as next pope

Exam anxiety blooming, but it doesn’t have to be debilitatingBy Katherine SpitzKnight Ridder Newspapers



NewsApril 20, 2005 THE MERCIAD PAGE 3

To contact: [email protected]

Be�er than the BeachTanning Boutique

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Convenient to Mercyhurst

(Corner of 27th and Parade inside Reel Entertainment

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Both walkers and runners are welcome; registration starts at8:30 a.m. and the event officially beginning at 9:30 a.m. Entrancefees are $15 for Mercyhurststudents, $20 for pre-registeredrunners/walkers and $25 the day of the race.

To register, send your check,payable to Mercyhurst Col-lege Rotaract Club, to Emi-ly Roach, R1524, MercyhurstCollege, 501 E. 38th St., Erie,PA 16546. Or you can e-mail

[email protected]. Emily Roach, race coordinator, can bereached at 824-3956.

You must include the follow-ing information: name, address,

T-shirt size, phone number, e-mail address, age group (Under30 Men, Over 30 Men, Under 30

Women, Under 30 Women) andrace style (run, walk).

Following the race, partici-pants can enter a Chinese rafflefor a chance to win a prize of their choice. Refreshments willalso be available at the end of the race.

Considering the amount of planning and effort put into this

year’s celebration, the outcomeshould be fantastic.

When asked why it is impor-tant for students to get involved

with Earth Day Magoc said,“Our week-long celebration of Earth Day is an opportunity forus to deepen our understanding of environmental issues and toreaffirm our commitment to

work every day of the year for asustainable future for ourselves,our region and our children.”

Magoc feels that the events will help students realize theenvironment’s imporance.

“We have planned a dynamicseries of events that celebrate theinterdisciplinary nature of envi-

ronmental issues, reminding usof how these issues touch every realm of intellectual endeavor onthis campus,” said Magoc.

“We hope that these events canhelp shatter the myth that ‘theenvironment’ is an issue best leftto scientific or corporate experts,or to “environmentalists.” To befully informed, engaged citizensdemands that we learn aboutissues that affect us all, includ-ing the quality of our air and

water, the threats posed by global warming, the links betweennatural resources, globalization,and foreign policy, and the pro-tection of wilderness that reflectthe values and heritage of all

Americans.”According to Magoc,“Thereare two myths regarding EarthDay, and they are linked: Thatthese problems were solvedlong ago, and that whateverconcerns raised these days arebeing pushed by a minority of raving tree-huggers who havenothing else to do, or who areout to destroy the American way of life.”

To help dispel these miscon-ceptions a variety of events andseminars have been scheduledthroughout this week:

Wednesday, April 20, at 4p.m., Audrey Hirt AcademicCenter 214. The Economicsof Sustainability – compelling presentation on the economicsof sustainability by internationalbusiness professor Dr. GustavoBarboza, and visiting professorof sustainable systems, Dr. Juer-gen Ertel.

Thursday, April 21, 4:45-6:30 p.m., Zurn Hall 114.

A roundtable discussion withBill McKibben on his book,“Enough: Staying Human in

an Engineered Age.” 8:15-10p.m., Taylor Little TheatreBill McKibben lectureFriday, April 22 “Ear th Day,”

9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse, 444 E. Grandview Blvd.Fair Trade Fair – Sale of crafts, jewelry, other products.Proceeds promote sustainability and social and economic justicein developing nations. Also, the public is welcome to

join the Mercyhurst community in the fifth annual Mill Creek Cleanup on Saturday, April 23,from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants

will gather at the mouth of thecreek, which can be accessedoff the Bayfront Highway by taking the Ore Dock Road northat Sunburst Electronics for aquarter mile.

For those of unable to attend

these weeks’ events but still want to participate in making the world a better place, you canalways consider the option of living in the “Green” Building.Dr. Magoc was adamant aboutclearing up the rumors that there

was no televisions or computersallowed, but that simply is nottrue.

“We will be encouraging con-servation (turning things off

when not in use, for example).Students who live here will havea number of advantages, includ-ing a newly refurbished “green”lounge (with a “cyberbar”) de-signed by students and faculty inInterior Design and the provision

of environmentally responsibleproducts such as paper productsand cleaning supplies. They willalso be provided with a member-ship to the Whole Foods Co-op,

where healthier foods are avail-able,” said Magoc.

“This is unprecedented, achance for students to make his-tory, to model environmentally responsible ways to live, to pointthe way for all of us toward thefuture.”

Whether it be attending aseminar, signing up to live in the“Green” Building, or just taking some time out of your day andconsider how you could make the

world a better place you will be

helping convey the true messageof Earth Day.No good deed goes unpun-

ished and by cleaning up our actstoday, the future of our beautifulEarth looks promising. When asked what is one thing

that that students should know about Earth Day, Magoc replied“It’s every day.”

PolioPlus walk/race

Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

’Hurst celebrates Earth Week

Parade Street residents andMercyhurst College have had arocky relationship this academicyear, from students disturbing the peace, to the month-long battle over the fate of the empty lot adjacent to the new Paradeentrance. The year is almost over, but

residents on Parade street arecomplaining again. This timethey are focusing on the parkedcars on the city street infront of their homes, causing Mercyhurstto crackdown on freshman park-ing.

Many residents have also ex-pressed anger towards the college

for the creation of a park on thatlot, some going as far as to say it’s part of Mercyhurst’s “plan”to eventually own all of ParadeStreet in City Council meetingsin late 2004.

In previous articles, formerPresident William Garvey dis-missed these claims as “ridicu-lous”, emphasizing that Mercy-hurst treats its neighbors withconsideration, and that the col-lege supplies immediate residents

with presidential passes whichallow free admission to campusevents such as concerts or danceshows.

One of the major complaintsfrom Parade Street residents

was students parking on thestreet. This has led to parking difficulties for residents, as wellas damage to the boulevard, asimproperly parked cars forcesnow plows over onto it.

Mercyhurst has taken actionon this end recently, sending individual e-mails out to stu-dents who have been parking on Parade with unregistered cars.Unregistered automobiles are a

violation of the Student ConductCode, and these students aretherefore potentially subject todisciplinary action.

Police and Safety scanned thelicense plates on Parade Streetto find out which were studentowned. The e-mail instructed thestudents to attend a meeting in

the first floor Egan lounge thispast Sunday.

Students iwere then informedthat their cars must be registeredthrough the school or they willface disciplinary action. This ac-tion on the part of the college isemblematic of efforts through-out this academic year to livecomfortably with its neighbors.

After several City Councilmeetings in late 2004, one of

which where Director of Resi-dence Life Laura Zirkle borethe brunt of Erie residents’complaints, Councilman Jim

Thompson volunteered his service as an intermediary betweenthe city and the college.

Since then, measures have beentaken to rein in Mercyhurst’s

off-campus students, which haveincreased dramatically in recentyears to well over 100 students.

Disagreements between resi-dents and the college have onceagain returned to parking, whichhas only gotten worse in the pastfew years. As the student popula-tion grew to its current ideal sizeof more than 3,000 students,the amount of cars on campusincreased as well.

Freshmen, unless employedin the area or hailing from statesfarther than Pennsylvania, Ohioor New York, are generally not permitted to have cars oncampus until spring term. Many of these students have circum-

vented this by parking on areastreets, generally Parade.

The effort on Parade to track down students sidestepping thelack of parking on campus is asmall step in dealing with theongoing problem of finding aparking spot, which affects theupperclassmen as well as thefreshmen.

Any students with unregis-tered vehicles must register their

vehicle with Police and Safety orface disciplinary action.

Parking issues, again?

Mercyhurst neighbors on Parade Street are irked because of student cars parked on

their street.

Katie McAdams/Photo editor

By Jason EndressContributing writer

’Hurst plans memorial for Matthew Milgate

Robert Bly inspires students

The international poet, transla-tor and author, Robert Bly gavean entertaining and wonderfulreading of his work on Tuesday,

April 12, and the following day offered a workshop for the cre-ative writing students.

Those able to attend his read-ing met a man who they couldinstantly feel comfortable with,almost as though they had knownhim for years. He delivered eachpoem as though he were talking one-on-one with each memberof the audience.

Lakyn Bianco, a sophomoreEnglish major, feels the reading

was worthwhile to attend.“I really enjoyed Robert Bly’s

reading. He is very wise, genuineand funny. I could sit and listento him tell stories all night,” saidBianco.

Bly was well received by theentire audience of over 100people, and their enjoymentcould be felt during the stand-ing ovation. Some were drawnto him because of his powerful

voice that changed inflection,tone, speed and pitch throughouteach poem; others because of hishonest humor about his own life

and work.

Dr. Gerry Tobin, a profes-sor and counselor on campus,said the reading was, “Inspir-ing, thoughtful, provoking andheartfelt.”

Bly began the evening by read-ing some of the work he hadtranslated from other parts of the world.

Bly said, “It’s translated intoEnglish, and then I translate itinto American.”

His style of reading was quiteunique. He would read hisfavorite lines more than once,interrupt to explain a particularphrase or custom of the culturehe was reading from and some-times stop during a poem totell a story about his life or theauthor’s life.

Bly later reflected that, “whenI’m translating I’m stealing goodsugar.” He uses different themes,forms and ideas from the poemshe translates.

His own poetry is inspiring in-and-of itself, and this couldbe seen by the way he had theaudience mesmerized with eachline.

The following day during the workshop he had a somewhatsmaller group, but they wereequally captivated by his every

word.

He led the group in an exerciseby looking at an object whether apine cone or card board box andreflecting on the object. ThenBly had each person reflect ona fairy tale.

Finally, he told his students tothink about what each person

wanted from their future. Atthe end each member of the

workshop had written a prosepoem.

Jessica DeMaison, a senior atMercyhurst, reflected at the end,“It was an amazing experience.I didn’t think I could look into

myself by looking at a fairy taleor pine cone and then find me.”

Whether at his reading or inhis workshop, those who had theopportunity to experience Rob-ert Bly got a rare and wonderfulopportunity. He gives each per-son he comes in contact with a

wonderful memory. The one criticism of the whole

evening was that it was difficultto hear him if you were sitting atthe top, and the people who werecomplaining were upset becausethey wanted so badly to catchevery single word.

By Chelsea Boothe

Contributing writer

Students, faculty and admin-istration of the Mercyhurstcommunity continue to mournthe loss of sophomore Matthew Milgate who died March 17, inan accident on 38th Street.

In remembrance of Milg ate,students and friends teamed up

with youth ministry to arrangea memorial service for this Sun-day, April 24.

According to sophomore Sara

Turcotte, who is arranging theevent, Matthew’s parents andfamily will attend, along withseveral of his friends.

“We will be showing a slide-show behind an acoustic accom-paniment by two of Matt’s closefriends,” said Turcotte.

“Many of Matt’s friends willbe talking and telling storiesabout him, and his family willbe presented with an album andsuch of Matt’s times at Mercy-hurst,” she said.

One close friend and pastroommate of Milgate’s, sopho-

more Chris Bodley, says he truly misses his friend and plans toattend the memorial service.

“Matty was a great kid, thekind of guy that always had asmile on his face. He’d helpyou if he could, and offer helpto you, even if he couldn’t,” saidBodley.

“I am going to remember himthe way he was in high school:

As the fun-loving guy, who wasalways ready to help and flasha smile.”

Bodley feels the service is a“great idea” and will give every-

one a chance to “make peace”and “say goodbye.”

Turcotte said that studentslike Bodley will also have theopportunity to write thoughtsand memories of Milgate to hisfamily at the service.

“The event is a good way toget people together to sharestories about him and celebratehis life,” said Bodley.

The service will be held from2 to 4 p.m. in the Walker RecitalHall, with a reception in thefoyer following the service.

By Josh WilwohlLayout Assistant

Robert Bly

Photo courtesy of Dr. Schiff



FEATURESTo contact: [email protected]

PAGE 4 April 20, 2005THE MERCIAD

Weight training can benefit everyone

Some people weight train ev-eryday and see no results. Oth-ers are afraid to even attemptthe dreaded machines at thegym, but with a proper weighttraining workout anyone canhave the body they have alwaysdreamed of. According to a recent study

by the University of Maryland, weightlifting benefits everyone.

For instance, the resting meta-bolic rates are increased by seven percent after six monthsof weight training. That means that you can burn

more calories while resting becu-ase your body has lean mass,

which burns more calories than

fat mass. Weightlifting-pro.com alsocredits weight training to an in-crease in strength and muscularendurance, an increase in flexibil-ity, less chance of injury, confi-dence and overall well being. With a good weightlifting pro-

gram a person will soon start tonotice less fat and more muscle. The Mercyhurst Recreation

Center is working to providestudents with the opportunity to learn proper weight training techniques and improve theirhealth. The sessions are offered by

other Mercyhurst students whohave found a passion and trueunderstanding for the impor-tance of weight training.

Nola Hessom, a junior at Mer-cyhurst, is one of the student in-

structors who has over four yearsof weight training experience.

“I started lifting a little overfour and a half years ago, in the

beginning of my junior year of high school. I first star ted lifting because I wanted to improvemy strength and stamina for thesports I played,” said Hessom.

“When I started seeing resultsabout a month into my program,I kept at it because it made mefeel better mentally and physi-cally.”

Hessom now shares her loveof weightlifting with other Mer-cyhurst students through her

weightlifting lessons. The lessons last between 30

to 45 minutes and are offeredMonday and Wednesday from10 a.m. through noon, or by ap-pointment.

Appointments can be made atthe Recreation Center. When asked about the lessons,

Hessom said she directs thetraining towards the results eachindividual wants.

“The basic things I would goover would be the form andspeed at which particular exer-cises should be performed, as

well as the number of reps forthe results the person would

want. I would also explain how to break up muscle groups fordifferent lifting days and show

various lifts for those musclegroups,” said Hessom.

“One lesson would be madeto hit a particular musclegroup. Like the first lesson

would cover techniques, rep-etitions and sets for a variety of exercis es for chest muscles

including bench press, dumb-bell press, dumbbell flys, cablecrossovers, etc.”

“I would have people under-stand techniques for a variety of exercises but wouldn’t have be-ginners do all kinds of exercises

for each muscle group right off the bat.”

Hessom’s weight training les-sons are great for students ready to hit the gym and learn, but forstudents who do not want tojump into a lesson there are basic

tips to follow.In an article found on askmen.

com, Dr. William J. Kraemer,professor in kinesiology and

physiology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, says thatthere are many simple rulesto weight training that shouldbe followed to achieve healthbenefits. The first rule is that when lift-

ing, a person should vary their work-outs.

It is recommended to “al-ternate among light workouts,moderate workouts and heavy

workouts. Sometimes womenuse very light weights becauseof the fear of getting too mus-cular. In reality, most womendon’t have the hormones to getthe type of muscle that men candevelop, but they will just lose fat

just under the skin and have moredefinition of their muscles,” saidKraemer.

“You just can’t go in and liftheavy weights everyday, either,because the body gets used toit and you won’t progress. Onekey way to vary your workoutsis to include power exercises,

which have a speed or timecomponent.”

Kraemer’s other rules to weightlifting include learning theprinciples of strength training and including resistance training

when trying to lose weight.Learning about weight training

and following a training programhas been proven to give the body healthy effects.

Senior Intelligence Studies ma-jor Dave Shutler is living proof of the results.

Shutler went from weighing 160 pounds in his freshmanyear to his current weight of 215pounds.

That was not until after helearned how to train properly.“I started lifting in seventh

grade in junior high football, butdidn’t know anything about lift-ing or diet at the time. I probably noticed a big difference in my body around sophomore/junioryear in college. I began to get ed-ucated on lifting and the properdiet plan,” said Shutler.

He keeps his weight by training five days per week.

“To gain both mass andstrength, one must lift heavy,

with around a four to six repeti-tion range. I usually lift for 45minutes to an hour, sometimeseven shorter. I keep my workouts

intense and focused. Currently,I lift one body part a day with atwo-day rest after, so five dayslifting and two days of rest,”said Shutler. With his current weight train-

ing program, Shutler says thatalong with building mass, he feelshealthier.

“I feel much better after I liftand much healthier overall. Ithink that whenever someonegets a good sweat in from exer-cising and lifting, they feel betterabout themselves and not solazy,” said Shutler.

Many students along with Shut-ler have also seen results from

weight training.It has been proven that weight

training benefits one’s health,especially aiding in weight loss.

By Jonelle DavisNews editor

Katie McAdams/ Photo editor

Senior Dave Shutler is living proof that weight training can

benefit one’s health and happiness.

Give blood because it is worth the shot

The National Broadcasting Society is a student organiza-tion that prepares students forcareers in the electronic mediafield. The organization is currently

active on about 100 campusesin the United States. This year, Mercyhurst joined

other affiliate groups fromacross the nation and started aNational Broadcasting Society chapter of their own.

Mr. Dennis Lebec, a profes-sor in the communicationsdepartment, started the presentchapter and is the acting clubadvisor.

Mercyhurst’s National Broad-casting Society chapter currently has eight student members andis expected to expand to about15 by the end of the year.

Each year, the National Broad-casting Society holds regionaland national conferences for

their members. This year, the national confer-

ence was held in Los Angeles.

Two Mercyhurst students, se-nior Teresa Gardner and junior

Andrea Gilkinson, attended. The national conference was

held March 8-12 and the day’s

events included workshops,seminars, panel discussionsand great networking oppor-tunities.

“Some highlights of the convention were getting to meetlots of people in the industry.Marc Summers gave the keynoteaddress; Omarosa Stallworth

was a speaker, as well as JohnMiller, creator of “Jackass” and“Road Rules,” said Gardner.

“Also, the Career Focus ses-

sion was very beneficial. We gotto rotate around the room and

were able to speak with profes-sionals in every field.”

“It was a great opportunity to

meet people and hear how they got their start in the business,although the only commonthread was that there is no com-

mon thread.”It was not, however, just work

and no play for the girls. They were able to take in such

sights as the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater, the Walk of Fame, the famous Hol-lywood sign and more. The two even scored tickets

for a taping of Jeopardy, hadaudience seats on Jay Leno and

were given the opportunity toshake his hand.

“I asked Jay for his autographand he came right over andpulled out his blue Sharpie andsigned my autograph book!”said Gardner. The conference came to an

end on the fourth day in a ban-quet ceremony.

Here students are rewardedand awarded for their hard

work. To his complete surprise, the

“Advisor of the Year” award went to Mercyhurst’s chapteradvisor, Mr. Lebec.

“I really wasn’t expecting that,” he said. All together this trip will no

doubt be one for the girls toremember.

“It was pretty freaking awe-some!” Gardner exclaimed.

Not only did they have a greattime, but they came out of theconference with experience.

Gardner said she returned

home with “lots of good ad- vice, some great contacts andmemories.”

According to materials provided by the American RedCross, only small fractions of thepeople who are able to donate

blood actually do. Of course, we’d all expect to receive it, if needed, but we don’t always wantto give.

Numerous reasons will stop aperson from donating blood.

First, a person needs to be atleast 17 years of age, healthy andnot have given any blood in thepast eight weeks. Also, needle contact from tat-

toos or piercings can be an issuefor being eligible.

“I was turned away from do-nating blood because I had justgotten a tattoo and a piercing done recently,” said senior Derek Gabriel.

The Red Cross states thatmost donors should wait about12 months after getting a tat-too because of the concern forhepatitis. The same waiting period is

applied for a piercing, unlessyou can prove that the needle

was sterile and used just once.If this is the case, there is no

waiting time. Then again, a potential donor

may sometimes understand theneed for blood, but has already had a bad experience or does notfeel comfortable with the entireprocess.

“There are people in desperateneed of the donated blood, andthrough blood donation you arehelping to save a person’s life,”said junior Kathryn Reeners.

“I have given blood before and will most likely not do it againbecause I passed out.” Junior Angie Pascoe has also

had a bad experience when do-nating blood.

“I’ve tried to donate bloodbefore at my high school butI just sat there for 45 minutes

with the needle sticking out of my arm.”

“The nurse said my vein was

too small so the blood wasn’tcoming out fast enough. It hurtand I was pretty bruised thenext day.”

Do not let these horror storiesstop you from donating. The vastmajority of people feel perfectly fine after donating blood; a very few will feel faint or dizzy, havean upset stomach or will bruise.

Other students have founddonating to be a great way to giveand even though Pascoe’s experi-ence was dramatic, she won’t let itstop her from helping others.

“It’s such a good cause so I willdefinitely try to donate again,”she said.

“I have donated blood sev-eral times since I turned 17. My mother has donated blood over50 times in her life, and I guessshe passed the desire to helpothers down to me,” said juniorMatt Beck.

“As a person with a rare blood

type, it is important that I donate.It is a necessary civic duty to helpothers and it’s unfortunate thatmore people do not donate,”he said. The bottom line is that the

majority of people are scared ortoo nervous to donate becauseof the needles or stories they’veheard. There’s nothing to be scared of,

as donating blood will prove tobe a rewarding experience and itcan give you the opportunity toreally help someone in need.

For more information on blooddonation or where you can g ive,

visit www.givelife.org.

Students travel to Los Angeles for conferenceBy Missy MulvihillContributing writer

Photos courtesy of Teresa Gardner

Senior Teresa Gardner (left) and junior Andrea Gilkinson (right) had the opportunity to attend the National Broad-

casting Socity conference earlier this term.

By Missy MulvihillContributing writer

Needles and horror stories should not hold you back from giving life



FEATURESTo contact: [email protected]

April 20, 2005 PAGE 5THE MERCIAD

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Spending an extra year at the ’Hurst

Note: This article does notreflect the views or opinions of Mercyhurst College.

I cried at graduation as thespeeches were delivered.

It was an amazing feeling; anunexplainable feeling as I walkedacross the stage, shook PresidentGarvey’s hand and received my diploma. As I sat and stared at the

Warner Theatre Stage as the restof my classmates received theirdiplomas, I started to think of

what my life would be after leav-ing Mercyhurst College.

I had spent four years insidethe gates and now I had gottenthe ticket out.

It was hard to believe that fouryears had passed and that my time at Mercyhurst was over. As I sat through the com-

mencement ceremony I thoughtof all the people I had met, theopportunities I had gotten andthe amount of growing that Ihad done in such a short amountof time.

I thought of all the late nightstudy sessions, all the researchpapers written and all the money spent on books.

I thought of all the smiles that

greeted me as I walked to class, allthe notes taken and all the snow that had fallen. All of the memories of Mer-

cyhurst College were welling upinside of me and I was ready toburst with love and admiration

for the college on the hill.I guess I was lucky; I got to

come back for another year.I decided to pursue my second-

ary English education-teaching certificate.

I interviewed and received agraduate assistant position withthe residence life and studentconduct office and was ready toreport for duty the end of July. The year was tough at first. I

walked around on campus, gotfood from the Laker Inn and satin classes and really did not know anyone. The people I had beenclose to were far away working in

offices, in schools, in other placesaround the world. And it hit me that I was lone-

ly. A few of my friends had stayed

at Mercyhurst for their graduatedegree, but they were working

during the day and had classat night, so it was difficult tosee them and spend time withthem.

So I decided to branch out, andI met some really great peoplein class. The adult students that I at-

tended class with were great funand we became very close.

I was navigating through theyear, enjoying being back at Mer-cyhurst and learning a lot abouteducation and myself.

My job responsibilities keptme busy, and looking back onthe past year I can definitely say

that I have grown as a student,a woman and an independentthinker.

I have opinions and facts toback them up, and I feel moreconfident and ready to approachthe real world.

So I guess you could say thatfour years at Mercyhurst wasn’tenough for me. I had not achievedall the glory that I wanted so thatis the reason that I came back.

It was beyond my control. Ob- viously the man upstairs playeda big part in this past year and I

wouldn’t have it any other way.My last year at Mercyhurst has

been a growing experience andthere are so many people thathave played an important rolein my life, and they know whothey are and I have to take thisopportunity to thank them. As I prepare to take finals

and pack up all my Mercyhurstmemories, I look back on thepast five years and smile. I havelearned much more from thesurroundings and people than Icould have ever learned from any class textbook. The college on the hill will

always be a part of my life andI plan to return and pay homageas often as I can.

Mercyhurst isn’t just a college,it’s a world set apart from theordinary and I am glad that I

Students solving energy problems

Eat more than charred hot dogs outdoors

However you spend your sum-mer, I bet it doesn’t involveresearching the possibility of utilizing hydrogen as an alterna-tive energy source.

Unless, that is, you were oneof the three students chosen topresent their innovative ideas atthe American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposi-tion. The convention was held

March 13-17 in San Diego, Calif.,and served as a marketplace of ideas for over 15,000 guests. Attendees included chemists,

professors, graduate studentsand undergraduate students.

“An abstract has to be sent into the ACS, and then they choose who is accepted,” said the tripadvisor Dr. Ron Brown. Three students, Sara Houston,

Nicole Vaccariello and Jonathan Vadnal were all rewarded withthe opportunity to present their

work before 900 other under-graduate students and an array of other participants and guests.

“It was nerve-racking at firstjust because the amount of members in the American Chem-ical Society was intimidating,”said junior Sara Houston.

“We were also nervous aboutthe questions they might ask usbecuase we actually might not

know the answers, or just soundsilly. I had also lost my voicethe day before so I was worried

about that as well. But as soon as we started, that all faded away.” The students exhibited their

research through posters andpresentations.

“We presented our research with many other undergradu-ate students from around thecountry,” said junior Nicole

Vaccariello.“People were able to walk

freely from poster to poster,reading and asking questionsas they pleased. We basically presented our research to otherundergraduate students, somegraduate students and professorsfrom different universities.” Vaccariello, a biochemistry

major and mathematics minor,explained the premise and stimu-lus behind the project.

“Hydrogen is being looked atas an alternative energy sourcefor the future. The research en-tailed doing molecular mechanicscalculations on full models of carbon nanotubes as a functionof tube geometry and hydrogencoverage.”

“This involved doing energy minimizations calculations onthe computer using specific sci-ence software. I looked to see

what percentage as well as whatpattern of hydrogen coverage

was the most stable on the car-bon nanotubes.”

“One day [this research] mighthelp with creating fuel cells thatcontain carbon nanotubes,” saidHouston.

Obviously, this level of experi-mentation requires quite sometime for theorizing and gathering of data.

Both Vaccariello and Hous-ton have been working on thisproject for about a year. Now asenior, Jonathan Vadnal started

work on his topic junior year.“All three of us worked on

computational chemistry. We

didn’t do actual experiments ina lab, we did calculations on acomputer,” said Houston. While no prizes are received

for the undergraduate portion of the convention, the experience

was not without rewards.“The experience at San Diego

was amazing! I had never been toa big convention before, so it wasexciting to see how they are runand meet all the different people

who are as excited about theirresearch just as I am about mine.It was also a good experience in

public speaking and presenting research,” said Vaccariello. The experience helped polish

the participants for future pre-sentations. At the Penn State Behrend

Sigma Xi Conference on Sat-urday, April 16, Houston and

Vaccariello both won runner-upawards for the chemistry section.

The prize included $50 each.“This is the type of thing

we want to continue to work with and involve students inthe chemistry department to

give them experiences outsideof the classroom that promotegrowth,” said Dr. Brown.

“The biggest reward I got wasto see the students and the cul-mination of all their work at the

ACS conference.” The trip also allowed for some

well deserved relaxation andfun.

“Sara and I made sure to gosightseeing around San Diego

while we were there. I had neverbeen to the West Coast so it wasall very exciting for me,” says

Vaccariello.“While we did end up get-

ting lost most of the time, Saraand I did get to go to one of the beaches one day where we

watched a surfing contest.”“There was lots of shopping

in unique little stores, and we allhad great meals with Dr. Brown.Our hotel was down the streetfrom little Italy, so we got somegreat Italian food there,” saidHouston.

“There was a lot of walk-ing around the city and parksand just taking in the sunshine

while thinking of all the snow in Erie!”

Interested in learning more? The student’s research topics willbe presented again at the Mer-cyhurst Research Symposiumon May 1.

Keep your eyes open for flyersaround campus of more specifictimes.

By Melissa BrandtContributing writer

Katie McAdams/ Photo editor

Jonathan Vadnal, Sara Houston and Nicole Vaccariello took their research to California

last month to present it to fellow scientists.

One student shares her fifth year experience as a graduate assistant

By Courtney NicholasContributing writer

It was beyond my control.

Obviously the man upstairs played

a big part in this past year and I

wouldn’t have it any other way.

“

”- Courtney Nicholas

I had to borrow some Drain-o the other day to unclog ourkitchen sink. I had poured thelast of my cabbage soup downit, and a few chunks of potatogot stuck in the drain. The lastopaque orange-brown liquidbubbling down the PVC abyss

was my final transition into thespring. All winter I have been fol-

lowing my primitive instinct tohibernate.

Something inside of me tellsme I need heavy soups withsoggy sourdough bread andlarge bowls of pasta with thick tomato sauce to keep that layerof fatty insulation on my body.

During the snowy months thediet doesn’t really seem that badto me. However, after the snow from that last storm melted,

something inside of me decidedI was ready to come out of my hole and sniff around the fridgefor some lighter foods. And what good is eating a

fun new meal if you don’t havesomeone to share it with?

I smell a barbeque.Fortunatly, for those of you

with the same idea, a new pavil-lion was built last year equipped

with grills, so just bring yourfood and tongs, and you’re set.

Not so fast though! Why wouldyou and your roommates feel likeeating burnt Oscar Mayers whenthey could have made them thesame way on the George Fore-man all winter? Try a few of these outside din-

ing techniques and that cutie inthe short shorts will be heading your way when she smells what’scooking.� Always heat up the grill be-

fore you are going to cook. Thelast person may have left some

food on it, and heating it up willburn off much of the food. Usea grill brush to clean before put-ting down your steaks.� Measure your burgers at

about 4 oz., or about the size of your palm. Cook until the insideis not red anymore. Raw groundbeef can carry bacteria fromproduction, and the last thing you want is to give all of yourfriends food poisoning.� If you want to be health

conscious, make a huge salad be-forehand, and leave the toppingson the side in separate bowls. Try having chopped carrots, celery,olives, tomato, mushrooms andpeppers, sunflower seeds, raisins,grapes, chopped strawberries,and croutons. Italian dressing is ahealthier choice than Ranch.� Grill chicken breasts with

whatever spices you have in yourcupboard. Make sure the juiceruns clear before you eat it. Splitthe breasts in half for a serving,

and put them on a large bed of lettuce with the vegetables.� If you don’t want to spend

the money on ground beef, buy a package of hot dogs. This isless tasty and healthy, but it canfeed many more people. Buy

veggie dogs if you are not a fanof hot dogs - you won’t taste thedifference. Put out condimentslike chopped onions, mustard,ketcup, pickles, chili beans andshredded cheese.� For vegetarians, or those

who don’t want to spend somuch time cooking beef, I rec-ommend Morningstar FarmsGrillers. You will only need togrill them for about five minutesfrom the freezer on a hot grill.� Instead of potato chips, try

cutting a potato lengthwise intostrips. Toss the strips in olive oil,garlic and some cajun seasoning.Place them on tin foil and foldthe foil in from the edges andcrimp in the middle. Grill for

about 45 minutes to an hour.� If you love onions, take a

whole sweet onion (the smaller,yellowish ones) and cut the endoff that doesn’t have the stem.Put it on tin foil (stem side down)and fold the foil up around it.Pour about a third of a cup of red wine vinegar, a tablespoon ortwo of brown sugar and a littlebit of garlic salt on top. Close thefoil over it and grill it for aboutan hour. When you unwrap it, it

will be soft and ready to eat.�

If you want dessert, but want something light and ener-gizing before a game of volley-ball, I would recommend making smoothies.� Have everyone bring a

piece of fruit with them. Buy some yogurt or soy milk. Makesure they’re vanilla and notplain. If you are making every smoothie separate, use 6 oz.yogurt cups of a complementary flavor to your fruit.

Using a blender or a smoothiemachine, combine about a cup of ice to a half cup of yogurt/soy milk and one medium sized pieceof fruit. Blend until smooth.� Some of my favorite com-

binations are banana with twotablespoons of peanut butter,(add whole peanuts for an extrakick), strawberries with a table-spoon of nutella (or you can usetwo tablespoons of sweetenedpowder chocolate), key limeyogurt with a lime and crumbled

pie crust from a ready-made piecrust, or a cup of blueberries with two Oreos in vanilla yogurt.Smoothies can be made back atyour apartment and frozen untilready to be consumed.

Hopefully, this primer hasmade any grill novice feel secureenough to light up the coals. Your friends are sure to be

impressed when you reveal tasty vegetables and fruits instead of cole slaw and charred hot dogs.

By Jen HelbigFeatures editor



OPINION



‘

Do you make full use of therecycling bins on campus?

No, I just don’t think about it.

‘

Nicole Rondini, freshman, International Business

Campus Question

The environmental awareness of the MercyhurstCollege Community has grown substantially overthe past three years. The networking between themany faculty, administrators and students that areinvolved in the team and those of other depart-ments has led to the planning of many great eventsthis year for Earth Week.

Our goal this year is to show how environmentalissues affect every academic discipline. For thisreason, there are events planned that offer a variety of perspectives of the environment.

Such events include the environmental politicsroundtable, the poster display by students of dif-ferent disciplines, the economics of sustainability presentation and the panel discussion with BillMcKibben. The students, faculty and administrators involved

have worked very hard in putting this Earth Week together. I, on behalf of the Mercyhurst Green

Team, would like to extend our greatest thoughtsof gratitude and appreciation on a job well done.

We are all looking forward to this week and encour-age students to attend any event possible for theduration of the week. The project for next year that the Green Team is

excited to observe is the Green Apartments. Thisproject is the result of the collaboration betweenthe Green Team and Residence Life. This is justone example of a successful partnership the Green

Team has formed over the years. The idea derived from The University of South

Carolina, which officially opened their first “green”dorm, called West Quad. It is a 72,000-square-footcomplex that includes three four-story buildingsthat houses 500 undergraduates. The complex uses45 percent less energy and 20 percent less waterthan traditional facilities of the same kind.

Our Green Apartment project is a way for theGreen Team to install the initiative in students to try to be more environmentally conscious and to offerthose students who want to live environmentally sound an opportunity to do so. Just passing and implementing laws cannot

secure the future condition of the environment. The mindset of the American society and cultureneed to change. We were given this beautiful and bountiful earth

to enjoy, and it is our responsibility to nurture and

preserve the land, water and air for future genera-tions. The Green Dorm is an attempt to change the

perspective that students at Mercyhurst have aboutthe environment. Oil is not the only environmentalconcern. While driving more fuel-efficient cars,carpooling and using other means of transportationcan save the Earth from further ruin; simple actsof conserving energy, by limiting the use of elec-tricity and water to short run uses and not having multiple energy sources being used simultaneously and recycling can produce long r un benefits. We have all heard facts and statistics about en-

vironmental issues, but they seem to be going inone ear and out the other. While people complainabout the air pollution, the condition of LakeErie, and the high gas prices, they do not seem tobe vocalizing their opinions to their governmentofficials or actually doing things themselves to easethe effects of the problems. The lack of awareness or activity to live environ-

mentally safe cannot be placed only on the students,but the college is presenting many opportunities tobe more educated.

Earth Week is offering great events to learn moreabout the environment from many perspectives.

The Millcreek Cleanup is a great opportunity tophysically clean up the Earth, and the Green Apart-ments is a great way to start to live environmentally friendly. While Mercyhurst College has evolved into an

environmentally conscious college, it is the role of the students to help evolve the college further by practicing good environmentally safe habits. Just as most of us take at least 30 minutes a day

to take care of our bodies by exercising, it is justas important and easy to take care of the Earth inthat amount of time. This can be accomplished through turning off

the lights in your rooms when you leave, not hav-ing the television and radio going when nobody is

watching or listening and not running the water when you brush your teeth or do dishes.

Like the University of South Carolina, Mercy-hurst can also be a role model for other collegesacross the nation, but that will take help and co-operation from the students.

For the sake of each others’ health and the fu-ture life style of our nation and others around the

world, the Green Team urges all of the studentsat Mercyhurst to start being more environmentally aware, even if it is through small steps. Every littlebit helps!

By JoEllen TaylorContributing writer

Katie McAdams/photo editor

The new Green Apartments offer willing students an environmentally friendly way of

living.

Silencing the rumors: The truth about the Green Apartments

Limited showers?! Limited appliances?! Nocomputer or television?! This is the buzz aroundcampus regarding the “Green Living” apartmentsavailable at Mercyhurst next year. Well, according to the Green Team, these are all rumors, so let meset the record straight. The “Green Living” apartments are a wonderful

and unique opportunity for students to practicemore environmentally conscious living. The apart-

ments come with some environmentally healthy perksas well. Stu-dents will be

provided witha Whole FoodsCo-op mem-bership, recycled paper and other g reen products.

Also, there is an environmentally designed loungein the basement for all residents to share.

Living in these apartments will also providestudents with unique opportunities unavailableto others.

For example, transportation will be providedto and from the Co-op, as well as environmentalevents and outings around Erie. Trips include the

Allegheny National Forest, Presque Isle and LakeErie Bluffs State Park.

Residents will also take place in programming with a focus on environmental issues on and off campus.

So just how will students practice green living?

Residents of the green apart ments will focusmostly on the conservation of energy and water,recycling and composting. Recycling receptacles

will be provided for you, and your gas and electricconsumption will be monitored. Another idea being tossed around is creating

a garden where vegetables can be grown. This would save a pretty penny at the grocery store, as vegetables are rather expensive.

Despite what some are saying, computers,televisions and other appliances are allowing inthe complex. Their use is just to be limited, noteliminated. You will be allowed to shower, but will be asked

to be quick and efficient. No more standing there with the water running over you for 10 minutes for

no apparent reason. As for the television, try just to watch your fa-

vorite shows and make sure it is turned off whenyou are not in the room. The same goes for your computer, don’t leave it

on all night while you sleep. Also, when you are notusing a room, make sure the lights are turned off. All of these adjustments to your way of life are

minor. You aren’t being asked to become Amishhere! Just be aware of your surroundings and ac-tions. Living an environmentally friendly lifestyle

will require some changes. But the benefits tothe environment and the chance to set a superiorexample for others to follow outweigh the nega-tives.

So, if you care about the environment and wantto start practicing what you preach, sign up and givethe “Green Living” apartments a chance.

The environmental

mentality of Mercyhurst

The United States was once home to vast tractsof wilderness. Today, the National Park System isnecessary to protect the last areas of our country that have not been exploited by business or popu-lation growth.

In Alaska, the Arctic National Wildlife Refugeprotects beautiful scenery and a diverse range of plant and animal life. This same area has beenlooked at by oil companies wishing to destroy theecological balance by drilling. The damage which

would be done by the massive machinery neededto extract oil, as well as the injury caused solely by the influx of the people required to drill, wouldbe grave. Animal species could be severely endangered, or

even wiped out. In addition, the country stands

to lose its last great, untouched wilderness. Ourchildren and all future generations could gain im-mensely from this refuge as a travel destination orsimply as an educational tool. The Refuge is home to countless species of birds,

fish, marine animals and mammals. This may bethe most diverse location, not only in the UnitedStates, but in the world. This makes our responsi-bility to protect the Refuge all the more important.It is an absolute fact that drilling will result indamage to these animal species. The ecosystem isextremely fragile, and the destruction caused by oilcompanies is likely to be great. The unavoidable

web of roads which will criss-cross the Refuge will prove to be extremely problematic, as this willdisrupt many animals’ migratory patterns. The other danger of allowing drilling is the risk

of an oil spill. The effects of the Exxon Valdezdisaster are still being felt 16 years later. There is

no telling how many animals would be killed if alarge scale spill took place. This is a constant con-cern as there is no way of safeguarding completely against this. Another consideration is that this area is inhab-

ited. A tribal people, the Gwich’in Nation, havelived here for generations. This is their traditionalhome, and their way of life will be forever altered

with the introduction of oil drills. The reasons,then, for keeping the Arctic Refuge pure are notonly animal rights but native rights as well. Thanks to an anti-environment attitude from the

Bush administration and Congress, this Refuge islikely to soon be opened up for exploitation anddestruction. The argument for allowing the drilling is that this country desperately needs to reduce itsdependence on foreign oil. While that is obviously true, this is not the way to accomplish that goal. There are many other ways to combat the energy

problem. One is to explore other alternatives forproducing energy, such as wind or solar power. These methods would undoubtedly save money,reduce our dependence on hostile nations in theMiddle East and are renewable. Other optionsinclude producing more fuel efficient cars.

However, these options continue to be ignored. Advocates of drilling act as if the Alaskan Refugeholds the answer to the problem. In reality, itdoes not even come close to doing so. By mostestimates, the oil extracted from this area will notbe usable for 10 years, will not reduce the price

we pay at the pump and will not end foreign de-pendence. This leaves the question, why destroy such a

great wildlife preserve for results that are distantand marginal?

By Dina BastianiniContributing writer

Oil and the Arctic: Is it all worth it?

AllisonMoore

Yes, we need to conserve and

cut down on pollution and be

more environmentally friendly. ‘

Kathy Chiudzin, Mercyhurst employee

‘

‘

No, but I recycle in my

apartment. ‘

Alecia Guerra, junior, Business

Yes, because they are located

across campus and we are

encouraged to do so. ‘

Becky Bliss, sophomore, Elementary/Special-ed

‘

‘

No, because I don’t pay

attention to them. ‘

Chris Manchester, junior, Public Relations

Yes, I am on the recycling team and the

Mercyhurst green team.

‘

Eric Blum, sophomore, Business

‘



I’m sure we have all seen a movie or televisionprogram in the past that had a crazy character or

two that many of us disregarded as an unimport-ant, somewhat pitiful attribute to the atmosphereof the film.

Frequently in a film that takes place in a large met-ropolitan city such as New York, we may see thesecharacters as enthusiastic religious zealots toting around signsthat read, “TheEnd is Near,”o r “Repen t :Doomsday is

Approaching”or some othermessage fore-casting the endof the earth.

Usually when I see these characters, I simply shrug and realize that they have the right to espousetheir own religious beliefs, but that my opinions

may differ and I don’t have to agree with thesebiblical revelations.However, it is frightening to realize that these

apocalyptic world views are not limited to fictional-ized street harbingers, but that they are espousedby many political leaders throughout the UnitedStates. These congressmen and other political officials

are people who are entrusted with the job of writing and implementing political policy. Now itseems that these political actions may be directly influenced and shaped by their religious beliefs.

It would be extremely naïve of me to believe thatreligious affiliation does not impact a legislator’spolitical agenda, as we have seen recently thepolitical battles over same-sex marriage, stem cellresearch, abortion and euthanasia. Conversely, itis extremely alarming that certain fundamentalist

groups that believe in biblical doctrine, such as theEnd Time and Jesus’ Second Coming, have many

members residing in the Capitol. Not only are theissues I mentioned above infused and infected withreligious ideology, but now it seems that one of themost crucial aspects of society has been hard hitby religious evangelists: the environment.

Christian evangelists are an extremely diversegroup. Not every church believes in the SecondComing, and not all members are right-wing anti-environmentalists. There are also many divergentEnd of Time theologies and sects as well. The two most politically influential are the dis-

pensationalists and the reconstructionists.Dispensationalists espouse a “literal” interpreta-

tion of the Bible that offers a detailed chronology of the impending end of the world. The socialand environmental crises of our times are consid-ered portents of the “Rapture,” when born-againChristians, living and dead, will be taken up intoheaven. Events such as the 9/11 attacks, legalizing

same-sex marriages and the tsunami devastationthis year are all considered examples of the im-pending Rapture. A slightly altered and even more dangerous End

of Time doctrine is held by the reconstructionists. They believe that Christ will only make his SecondComing when the world has prepared a place forHim, and that the first step in readying His arrivalis to Christianize America. It seems lately that oursecular democracy is slowly transforming itself intoa theocracy where each political issue has been leftopen for religious consideration and intervention.Unfortunately, this is something that resembles theChristianized America in which many of our lead-ers are members of End of Time religious sects.

Now you may be wondering how these religious views play a part in influencing environmentaldecision making.

Well, considering that the end is drawing near, why should we try and preserve the earth or our

ecological system? Why should we worry aboutenacting pesky, bothersome environmental regula-tions when those who believe in the Rapture willbe saved and taken up into heaven?

Many End-Timers believe that until the SecondComing, the Lord will provide. Does this meanthe Lord will provide an unlimited amount of oilor other natural resources? Well then, if that’s thecase, I’m all for the environmental deconstructionthat has occurred under the Bush administrationand the Republican-controlled Congress. Thank God we have people such as Senate Envi-

ronment and Public Works Committee Chair JamesInhofe (R-Okla.) who stated that global warming

was “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” in a comment made in a July 2003 Senate floor speech. I’m reassured that mak-ing the small attempt at recycling my pop bottle isa waste of time, since the end of the world is near

and until that time the Lord will magically convertall our landfills into plentiful natural resources. Along with Inhofe, many numerous other Con-

gressional leaders are self-declared members of many End Time factions, most notably our HouseMajority Leader and ethical friend, Tom Delay, amember of the Christian Zionists (a faction will-ing to force the Apocalypse upon the rest of the

world). The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters

(LCV) has published a National EnvironmentalScorecard every Congress since 1970, the yearit was founded by leaders of the environmentalmovement following the first Earth Day. The LCV represents the political voice for over nine millionmembers of environmental and conservationorganizations. The Scorecard provides objective,factual information about the environmental voting

records of all members of the final 108th Congressand scores votes on the most important issues of

the year, including environmental health and safety protections, resource conservation and spending for environmental programs.

It is interesting to note that both James Inhofeand Tom Delay have an amazing score of zeropercent! Amazing! On the other hand, it shouldbe mentioned that these two influential congress-men scored high on other voting records. Inhofescored 100 percent and Delay 92 percent on theChristian Coalition 2004 Scorecard, which recordsthe voting records of members of Congress whosupported the Christian Coalition’s position onimportant issues of the year. The Christian Coalition is a grassroots organiza-

tion that considers members such as Delay andInhofe as political shining stars. Wait a second….

while looking at both the CC’s and the LCV’sscorecards, I seem to notice a pattern. Most mem-bers who scored extremely low on the LCV chart,

scored extremely high on the CC card, and vice versa. It appears that many members, who supportright-wing religious policies, do not support crucialenvironmental legislation.

I never thought the day would come in whichleading Congressmen could double as the fiction-alized Doomsday characters that we have seen infilm and television.

Is it not startling to realize that religious ideol-ogy has continued to affect the political system?Should religious doctrine be allowed to influenceenvironmental policy? Does this notion not soundpreposterous and frightening? If we continue toignore this pressing problem, then a Doomsday, in

which the separation of Church and State has beencompletely eradicated, is in fact upon us.

OPINION

April 20, 2005 THE MERCIAD PAGE 7


MERCIADKelly Rose Duttine Editor-in-Chief [email protected]

Jonelle Davis News Editor [email protected]

Jen Helbig Features Editor [email protected]

Allison Moore Opinion Editor [email protected]

Ryan Palm Sports Editor [email protected]

Meghan Sullivan A&E Editor entertainmentmerciad@mercyhurst .edu

Katie McAdams Photo Editor [email protected] Melissa Jack Production Editor [email protected]

Kristen Piquette Advertising Manager [email protected]

Sarah Dowden Copy Editor [email protected]

Emily Crofoot Graduate Assistant [email protected]

The Merciad is the student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst College. It is

published throughout the school year, with the exception of midterms week

and finals week. Our office is in the Hirt Center, room L114. Our telephone

number is 824-2376.

The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and

names will be included with the letters. Although we will not edit the letters

for content, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Letters are due the

Thursday before publication and may not be longer than 300 words. Submit

letters to box PH 485.

The

Religion can be linked to environmental policy

The disposal of garbage is much like politicsin that it’s a dirty business. I wish the amount of media attention that has been focused on TomDeLay the past couple of weeks about campaignfunding would be focused on the more detrimentalissue. That is the current status of recycling inthe United States.

In fact, did you know that Americans consume30 percent of the world’s resources, yet we com-

prise only 5 percent of the world’s population? While I do love my country, awareness needs tobe brought to the public’s attention concerning the amount of waste that Americans produce.Instead of recycling garbage and composting biodegradable products, the majority of Americanconsumers simply throw goods in the garbage,thus overfilling this country’s garbage dumps and

waste facilities. Garbage dumps have notoriously had toxic runoff into local streams and water waysthat eventually contaminates the water. A report by the BBC stated that women who

live within three kilometers of a waste site aremore likely to deliver children with chromosomalbirth defects such as Downs Syndrome. I findthis somewhat ironic, seeing as how these are thekinds of diseases that researchers are discovering

ways to prevent. The damage to the environment far outweighs

the effects that defective landfills have on hu-mans. When moisture from the garbage gathers, it

creates two deadly toxins, which are greenhousegases, thus furthering the problem of the green-house effect.

It is true that the cost of recycling is higher thanit is to produce a new product. However, whenyou factor in the cost of disposing wasted materi-als, as well as the long-term effects that garbagedumps have on the environment and humans, themonetary costs are balanced.

Each individual must take it upon themselves todo several things. One, recycle the typical itemsof paper, aluminum, glass etc. At Mercyhurst,bins are provided all over campus where you candeposit such items.

Second, city councils and local governmentshave a tendency to cut the funding for recycling programs claiming that it consumes too muchof their local budget. When you go home forthe summer, or even now, be aware of what ishappening to your local recycling/garbage pick up and disposal. Third suggestion, if you remember the phrase

“reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.” Taking stepsto actually follow this mantra will make you lesslikely to produce as much garbage. And lastly,

when shopping, try and buy products that haveless packaging, as this contributes significantly tothe amount of trash that g oes into the dumps.

The truth of the matter is that recycling reducespollution, saves money, creates jobs and, mostimportantly, keeps garbage out of someone else’sbackyard. In return, it preserves the environmentand saves us all a little extra room.

Global warming – it’s one of those environmental issues thateveryone’s heard something about, but no one really knowsany details. “Doesn’t it involve

warmer temperatures?” you may

think to yourself, “then whatgives with the snow in April?” The dire warnings of environ-

mentalists about “the evil of fos-sil fuels” and “the perils of global

warming” just make you think of Chicken Little. So you may be wondering if global warming is a real problem, or just an ideathe environmentalists made up tohave something to discuss overorganic green tea and fair tradechocolate. While it’s probably not neces-

sary that we give up most of our worldly possessions and live ina communal yurt, global warm-ing is a serious problem that

we should be doing something

about.So, what is it anyway? Well,global warming is one elementof global climate change that istied to greenhouse gas levels inour atmosphere. Greenhousegases help keep our atmosphere

warm even when the sun isn’tshining. Too little, and you geta frozen wasteland, like Mars.

Too much, and the atmosphereholds too much heat, like Venus

where there’s liquid metal on thesurface. Just right, and you getEarth with conditions perfectfor life. The problem is, greenhouse

gas levels are rising in our atmo-sphere. No one disputes this

fact anymore. What causes thearguments are decisions about what these rising greenhouse gaslevels are going to do and what

we should do about it. As greenhouse gases increase,

they absorb more heat, raising our global temperatures. Thishas already begun to occur.

That’s not such a bad thing, right? This means less bone-chilling days in winter, less snow, more

warm summer days. Or does it? Weather and our global climatearen’t that simple. Among other things, warmer

temperatures make it less likely Lake Erie will freeze over in the

winter, and that could lead to

more lake effect snow. Warmertemperatures will also melt iceand snow worldwide, and lead toan increase in ocean levels. Again, this is something that

has already been observed.Rising ocean levels probably

won’t affect us here in Erie, Pa.(although I would advise anyonethinking of buying ocean frontproperty to hold off for a while,or buy a little farther inland – it’llbe ocean front soon enough!)

However, whole nations couldend up underwater in the PacificOcean. Heck, most of Floridabelow Miami is likely to end upunderwater, and then where will

people go to retire?Global climate change is alsolikely to include changes in stormfrequency and intensity, someareas are more likely to flood

while others are more likely toexperience drought and we’llsee changes in where plants andanimals can live. It’s more thanjust warmer summers, and it’shappening and likely to get worseas greenhouse gas levels continueto rise.

So what can we do about it? Sitaround and wail “We’re doomed!”(bringing back Chicken Little fora moment). Talk about “the needfor further scientific research toconfirm the detrimental impacts

of rising greenhouse gas levelson our global economy” (chan-neling the nearest oil company president). Or get our butts ingear and address the problembefore it gets bigger and evenharder to deal with.

Personally, I vote for optionthree, but I need a little help toget the ball rolling. The biggest thing we can all

do is decrease our productionof greenhouse gases, which wemainly produce from fossil fuelconsumption.

Decrease your energy con-sumption in your house (which

will save you money anyway),

choose energy efficient vehicles(shall we talk about those evilSUVs?), and encourage poli-ticians and policy makers toaddress the causes of global

warming. While your personal choices

are important, it’s even moreimportant to make changes atthe highest level of our govern-ment. These changes won’t oc-cur unless the public pressuresthe politicians to make global

warming a priority.So, what are you all waiting

for? Let’s get out there and makesome changes.

So what’s the deal withglobal warming anyway?

By Natalie Waddell-RutterInstructor, EnvironmentalProblem Solving

By Ellen KoenigContributing writer

KRT

These glaciers show the effects global warming can haveon the melting of ice, resulting in higher water levels.

KRT

Recycling is an easy way to help the

environment.

CorrieThearle

Do your partand recycle



ENTERTAINMENT A RTS &



APRIL 20. Wynton Mar-

salis. Allen Theatre, Cleve-land.

APRIL 21. Alison Kraussand Union Station featur-ing Jerry Douglas. Palace

Theatre, Cleveland.

APRIL 22, 23. Magic. Da-

vid Coppefield. State The-atre, Cleveland.

APRIL 22. Sting, PhantomPlanet. CSU ConvocationCenter, Cleveland.

APRIL 22. Roger Mc-Guinn. Rockwell Hall,Buffalo State University,

Buffalo. On sale at (716)878-3005.

APRIL 22. Comedy. BillEngvall. Warner Theatre,Erie. $29.75. On sale at

Tullio Arena box office, Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 452-4857 or 456-7070, online at www.ticket-master.com.

APRIL 23. Tequila Sun-rise: Tribute to the Eagles.House of Blues, Cleve-land.

APRIL 23. Eddie fromOhio. Beachland Ballroom,

Cleveland.

APRIL 24. Less Than Jake, Allister, Hidden in Plain View. House of Blues,Cleveland.

APRIL 24. Audioslave, Johnny Polonsky. AgoraBallroom, Cleveland.

APRIL 25. Undertones.Beach land Bal l room,Cleveland.

APRIL 26. Lenny Kravitz.Music Hall, Cleveland. Onsale date TBA.

APRIL 27. Natalie Mac-Master. Center for the Arts,University of Buffalo, Buf-falo.

APRIL 27. Tiger Army,Unseen. Agora Ballroom,Cleveland.

APRIL 28. Rasputina.Beach land Bal l room,Cleveland.

APRIL 29. A Night withthe Stars of Rock andRoll: Lou Christie, Charlie

Thomas’ Drifters, Jay Siegeland the Tokens, Shirley Al-son Reeves, Emil Stucchio

and the Classics. Warner Theater, Erie. $35, $30. Onsale at Tullio Arena box of-fice, Ticketmaster outlets,by phone at 452-4857 or456-7070, online at www.ticketmaster.com.

APRIL 29. Chris Botti.Rockwell Hall, BuffaloState University, Buffalo.On sale at (716) 878-3005.

APRIL 29. Edwin McCain.House of Blues, Cleve-land.

APRIL 30. Badfish, Even-flow. House of Blues,

Cleveland.

APRIL 30. Dark Star Or-chestra. Odeon, Cleve-land.

MAY 1. Musical. “MammaMia.” E.J. Thomas Hall,

Akron, Ohio.

MAY 6. Green Day, My Chemical Romance. CSUConvocation Center, Cleve-land.

Information provided by Go- Gerie.com

tHeBuZz ‘Moolaade’ plays at PAC today

Moolaade, an unusual name fora film, can be formally translatedas protection. The film takes place in a Mus-

lim-dominated culture in Senegal where traditions and customs arelived by stringently, where young girls are forced to undergo a “pu-rification” process where they arecircumcised.

No man will marry an unpuri-fied woman so both the elderly men and women enforce thisupon their village. If a girl doesnot undergo the surgery, whichnormally ends in disease or evendeath, they are shunned by the

rest of their tribe. This film focuses on how six

young girls attempt to escape the wretched, degrading process.

They seek refuge with Colle,a woman who detests the pro-cess and is outspoken when itconcerns modernization, in the

village that refuses to allow herdaughter to suffer the horribleprocedure since she has already lost two daughters from incidentsinvolving the cutting.

Colle declares a moolaadeover the girls, which invokes a

spirit of sanctuary and providesa safe zone for the girls. Anyone

who attempts to break it, will becursed.

Colle, along with a group of women from her village, standout and speak for moderniza-tion and a break from tradition.

These women are influenced by their only outside connection,the radio.

Collectively, they use what isheard over the radio to protestand provide legitimate reasonsfor wanting to abandon such

abominable actions.It gets to a point where the

authority figures claim that theradios are disturbing and causing insurrection in their once peace-ful environment.

In order to restore harmony once again, the authority figurestake away all connections tooutside opinions, including theradios that have become a must-have in each household for the

women.

This just further enrages the women and leads to a bloody showdown between moderniza-tion and tradition.

Colle, for her actions againstthe mutilation, endures a harshpenalty from her husband, whodid not support either side sinceit was so personal. A subplot of this film is the

arranged marriage that is sup-posed to take place betweenColle’s daughter and the future

ruler of their tribe who will bereturning from Paris soon. But,

this man, though intelligent anda rich businessman, refuses tomarry a woman who is impureand demands that she go through

with the process. Another character who is piv-

otal to the women and informsthem of the outside world isMercenaire. He is ultimately onthe side of the women and is atrue womanizer. He attemptsto make the rest of the villageunderstand that what is going onis wrong and is not in accordance

with the outside world. This film does not solely focus

on the mutilation and degrada-tion of females; it provides aninsight to African cultures and

traditions. The director, 81-year-old, Ous-

mane Sembene, is known as the“father of African cinema” andhas excellently portrayed to usthe realities of life in African vil-lages even in this day and age. This picture really strives to

provide an understanding of thestruggles of the outside worldsince, in the United States, wehold such provincial points of

view surrounding circumstancesthat occur in the rest of the

world.

“Moolaade” plays today at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Photo courtesy of the Performing Arts Center

By Christina Ferranti

Contributing writer

Another terrorizing Amityville adventure

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Its box office debut suggeststhat audiences will never haveenough of the famous tale of a demonically possessed house.It is true. The remake of the classic hor-

ror flick “The Amityville Hor-ror” continues to terrorize moviegoers. The movie raked in about$23 million in three days across

North America. The classic film, first releasedin 1979 was partly inspired by a book by Jay Anson, whichclaimed to tell the true story of the Lutz family. The story goes that on Nov. 14,

1974, police received a frenziedphone call that led them to thehouse and its previous owners,the DeFeos. When police arrived on scene

they had made a grisly discovery.Police had found six bodies.

The bodies turned out to bethe corpses of the entire DeFeofamily. As the story goes on, it be-

comes apparent that the family had all been murdered with a .35caliber as they lay, sleeping calmly

in their beds.Ronald DeFeo confessed to

the methodic murdering hisparents and four siblings. DeFeothen told police that it was the“voices” that told him to do it.One year after the murders, on

Dec. 18, 1975, George and Kathy Lutz, had found the house of their dreams.

Thinking it was going to betheir dream home, the Lutzespacked up and moved into thehouse with their three children.Not knowing to the history of the house, the Lutz family hadthought their find was too goodto be true, unaware that it was.

It was then only 28 days beforethe Lutz family was driven away from their home. Terrorized by

demonic forces, ghastly ghostsand things that go bump in thenight, the Lutz family packed upand fled. Their l ives were forever

changed and would never bethe same.

To this day, “The AmityvilleHorror” remains one of themost horrifying haunted housestories ever told, basically be-cause it actually happened. The remake of this horror

film classic has been broughtto us from the producers of another recently remade hor-ror film, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” The film stars Ryan Reynolds as

George Lutz. Reynolds, 28, hasappeared on the big screen nu-

merous times and has appearedin the cult-classic “Van Wilder,”as well as in films such as “Blade:

Trinity” and “Harold & KumarGo to White Castle.’

Reynolds also gained his star-dom by appearing in the hit TV

show “Two guys, a girl, and apizza place,” which was laterrenamed “Two guys and a gir l.”

This film also stars MelissaGeorge, 28, who is famous forher role on the hit TV show “Alias,” and has appeared in mov-ies such as “Down with Love,”and “Mulholland Dr.” The film was directed by

Andrew Douglas and is play-ing in theaters nationwide.

Whether you’re in the mood totake a break from endless study-

ing or change your underpants,it might be interesting to catchthis flick.

Surely, one could never get sick of hearing the tale of a demoni-cally- possessed house.

By Michelle ElliaContributing writer

Remake of ‘The Amityville Horror’ continues to thrill audiences

Stop the press, it is official. Brit-

ney Spears, 23, is pregnant. Thepop star officially announced onher Website last Tuesday that sheand dancer-hubby, Kevin Feder-line, 27, are expecting their firstchild together. The posted message reads,

“The time has finally come toshare our wonderful news that

we are expecting our first childtogether.” The news came after rumors

and paparazzi photos began tosurface on her possible preg-nancy. The signs of weight gain and

disappearance of her smok-ing and drinking habits firsttipped off the media thatthe pop star was expecting.

Spears mentioned numeroustimes her wishes on becoming ayoung mom.

Luckily, she’s already had somepractice. Federline has two chil-dren from his previous relation-ship with actress Shar Jackson. Hisdaughter Kori is two years old andson Kaleb is eight months old.Britney Spears first got her start

with the famed Mickey MouseClub, similar to many of herpop contemporaries, althoughit was the rocket success of herdebut album “…Baby One More

Time” that launched her to pop-icon status.

Since the debut of her first

album, Spears has shocked au-diences around the world by morphing from her bubble gum,teen-dream image, to a sexy and sometimes controversialsuperstar.

Spears continues to drop thejaws of audiences and has sincereleased five CDs that includehits such as “Oops I Did It

Again,” “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman,” and “Me Against The Music.”

Spears also made her mov-ie debut in “Crossroads,”

which was released in 2002. After coming off of her highprofile relationship with formermouseketeer, Justine Timberlake,Spears had been seen in the com-pany of Hollywood bad-boysFred Durst and Colin Farrell.

However, true love blossomed when Spears and Federline metlast year when he was a backupdancer on her tour. Spears wed

Federline just eight monthsafter ending a 55-hour Las

Vegas marriage to her child-hood friend, Jason Alexander.Her marriage to Federline has

since provided endless fodderfor tabloids As for her music career, Spears

much-delayed fifth album wasplanned for a summer releasein the U.S. There’s no word on

whether her pregnancy will delay its release even further.

It has also been announcedthat Spears and Federline willalso take their stab at the reality

TV craze. The pair announced they

would document their courtshipon an upcoming reality show for UPN that will premiere onMay 17.

Britany Spears pregnant at age 23.

Knight Ridder Newpaper

Tabloid favorite officially announces her pregnancy



ENTERTAINMENT A RTS &

April 20, 2005 THE MERCIAD PAGE 9


Our pop culture religion of today and the Kabbalah

In the past several years of ourlives we may have noticed thatreligion and the state of religionhas major effects on our pop-culture.

For instance, after the tragicevents that occurred six yearsago on April 20 at ColumbineHigh School in Colorado, there

was a major reintroduction of Christianity among the youth of the United States. This came in the form of T-

shirts, more “in-school-prayer-battles,” rallies, prayers, andbible studies at the flag poles,and especially a major increasein the Christian Rock and Pop

recording industries.Even more recently, through

the distribution of propaganda(in the form of degrading t-shirts, posters, stickers and adreadful ditty by John Ashcroft),the fundamentalist right-wing of Christianity was able to bring itself into pop-culture promoting the “Aries” side of our own Lordenough to convince a majority of this nation to re-elect PresidentBush—who seems to be promot-ing the love of God and Christquite well throughout his reignof terror (the author roles hiseyes in disgust and sarcasm!).

But, I digress…what I really want to speak with you about

is a new spiritual phenomenonassociated with Madonna—thisis Kabbalah.

If you have seen Madonna within the past two years on any entertainment gossip shows oron late night television you know that she has been an advocateof Kabbalah. But what is Kab-

balah?

Kabbalah is a supplementalbelief system of esoteric mysticthoughts that hinge around Ju-daic theology and philosophy.

Many followers of Kabbalahinsist that it has been known by mankind since Adam; however,since the primary writings of Kabbalah are in Aramaic (a rath-er short-lived Semitic languagefrom around 200 B.C.E. untilcirca 100 C.E.) we can assumethat Kabbalah started during

the time that ancient Israel wasoccupied by Greek and Romanforces. As stated earlier, I said that

Kabbalah was esoteric; this

means that it was restricted andonly known by very few indi-

viduals.Part of this is because the writ-

ing of the Zohar, the primary text for Kabbalah, is so com-plex in theology that one wasonly to study it after they hadalready mastered the teachings

of the Torah and Talmud. Well,needless to say, people of thenand today don’t always live long

enough to conquer that massiveheap of wisdom! The teachings of the Zohar

were later carried from Israel to16th century Spain. It was theretaught to very few pupils, butinfluenced Sephardim (south

western European Jews) greatly in their art, writings and archi-tecture.

In this time period it was called“The Secret” and Nostra Damushad even claimed to use Kab-balah in his predictions.

“The Secret” was virtually lostfor centuries. It wasn’t untilthe Hassidic rabbis of Polandthat Kabbalah and Zohar wererediscovered. After World War

II it was these students of “TheSecret” that took it to Israel withthem.

It was in Israel that Rabbi P.S.Berg opened The KabbalahCenter and began translating the Zohar (23 volumes!) intoEnglish and began his massevangelization process of bring-ing Kabbalah to the world. Itis Berg’s two sons, Michael and

Yehuda, who are now carrying on his legacy and have openedup numerous Kabbalah Centersinternationally.

It is Michael Berg who is Ma-donna’s personal teacher andrabbi in Kabbalah.

Numerous people are criti-

cizing Madonna saying, “How could she represent any kind of religion?” Well, it is not my place to

criticize Madonna at all for herspirituality. In fact, I take many of the teachings of Kabbalah toheart myself in my own Jewisheducation.

Kabbalah is a different way toenvision God. It amplifies theliving out of Jewish morals and

social ethics by relating all of them to the person who is trying to live them out.

It also gives new light to theold Creation story and cosmol-ogy, but it never contradicts theteachings of the Torah (Jewishscripture).

Kabbalistic teachings allow many Jews to feel a closer re-lationship to their Creator andgreater success in this life.

It is because of these insightsthat Kabbalah and its Rabbisposses that I study it and try to incorporate it into by Jewishlife.

This is why I tend to condemnhow pop-culture has bastardizedKabbalah. This is not Madona’sfault, nor is it the Berg’s. It is the

fault of the media and merchan-dizing firms in the United Statesand around the world.

They see Madonna wearing a protective red string and thesell them to the public for up to$26 dollars a four inch string! I’llgive you a red string and teachyou about the significance of itfor free! And yet the people wearing

them are ignorant as to why they wear them, what the pointof the string is and the history behind it. This is what I believe is mock-

ing Kabbalah and Jewish thoughtin general. It would be equitableto me, a non-Catholic, partaking in your Holy Communion—it’sjust not respectful.

However, I do not think that

Kabbalah should only be re-stricted to elderly Jews. Wisdomis meant for all, whether it’s

Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity,or Islam.

So if you are interested in themystic ways of Kabbalah, readup on it (Michael and YehudaBerg have an excellent website

www.Kabbalah.com and numer-ous books).

Study Kabbalah from real Jew-ish Rabbis and scholars fromthe perspective it is meant to bestudied.

But spare yourself the extracash and the iniquity of bastard-izing the beliefs of myself andnumerous other Jewish worship-

ers world wide. The Kabbalah is very interest-

ing and a great way to live yourlife and connect with God, justdo it respectfully and not be-cause your “living in a material

world.”

By Matthew RendulicContributing writer

Madonna causes gossip as she advocates the Kabbalah.

Photo courtesy of the Kabbalah Center

-Matthew Rendulic

Choir performs at Jewish temple

On Sunday two Catholic-affili-ated musical groups performeda concert at the Temple AnsheHesed. The Mercyhurst Concert Choir

and Gannon University FluteChoir took a step away fromtheir normal repertoire and per-formed a Hebrew concert of themusic of Renaissance composerSalamone Rossi.

Salamone Rossi was a leading Jewish composer of the late Ital-ian Renaissance.

Rossi’s published works rang-ing from the years 1589-1628 arethe only direct documentation onhis life and work.

His place in the Renaissancemusic culture was unique inthe fact that he was the earliestoutstanding Jewish composer toever work in the European artmusic tradition.

Preceding the concert was alecture on the life and music of Rossi by Dr. Dennis Vidmar,director of adult education at

Temple Anshe Hesed. Vidmar,

very animate about the successof this concert, worked in col-laboration with choral conduc-tor Rebecca Ryan to arrange theprogram.

The concert began with mem-bers of the Gannon University Flute Choir, directed by Holly Stackhouse-Sydow, performing instrumental works by Rossi.Following the flute choirs lively and pleasant performance, theCarpe Diem choir sang the secu-lar works of Rossi. These songs were in Italian and

were more typical of the Renais-

sance time period. The Concert Choir then per-

formed five of Rossi’s sacred

works.One work included soloistsmezzo-soprano Joanna Brehautand soprano Amy Krebs. A large helping hand in the

success of this culture-crossing concert was Jewish compositionmajor M. Joseph Rendulic. Hehelped with pronunciation of the Hebrew and arranged many of the works performed. The atypical full sound of

the large Concert Choir wouldnot have been heard at time thepieces were written, since tradi-tionally there may have been aslittle as one person on a part.

Besides the obvious time pe-riod differences of the group,

the choir still moved many of the Jewish and nor Jewish listenersthat filled the synagogue. The vibrant sound of the

choir and antiphonal uses of separate quartettes brought the

Jewish community to their feetin applause at the closing of theconcert.

By Meghan Sullivan Arts & Entertainment editor

Faculty Collage Recital in Walker

If you attended the Faculty Collage Recital in Walker RecitalHall this previous Thursday thenyou witnessed a fine showing of musical talent.

Each member of the musicalfaculty that performed at thisconcert was able to display theirartistic ability. The recital was a wonderful

opportunity to see our teach-ers’ ability since they work sohard helping others to perfecttheir art. The program started out with

Scott Meier, who teaches saxo-

phone, music technology and

Jazz Ensemble, singing on hisalto saxophone playing Pierre

Max Dubois’ “Concert for AltoSaxophone.”

Meier was accompanied by the ivory stylings of Ann Bom-melje.

Meier was followed by pianoinstructor, Nathan Hess. Hessperformed three movementsfrom Sergi Rachmaninoff ’s “TenPreludes, Op. 23.”

Hess is currently in his fourthyear on the piano faculty at theState University of New York at Fredonia but is a first-yearmember of the piano faculty atMercyhurst.

Following Hess was classical

guitar instructor, Erik Mann.

Mann performed Giovanni Zam-boni’s “Sonata IX.”Next on the program was

clarinet instructor, Geoffrey Wands. Wands bounced along as he played a lively rendition of Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s “Sonate furKlarinette solo, Op. 110.” The real musical treat of the

night was the performance by Faith Lifshen and Janet Bischoff.

These duo-piantists played Haim Alexander’s “Six Israeli Danc-es.” This lively yet thought provok-

ing performance was done inloving memory of Lifshen’s son,Moshe Lifshen.

Display of music faculty’s talent in recital By Meghan Sullivan

Arts & Entertainment editor

Students give Hebrew Concert at Temple

Choir director Rebecca RyanFile Photo

Christianity was able to

bring itself intopop-culture

promoting the‘Aries’ sideof our own

Lord enoughto convince a

majority of thisnation to re-

elect President

Bush

“



SPORTS



L AKER

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Slumping offense hurting softball

The Mercyhurst softball teamand others in the GLIAC playedmultiple games over the week-end, and the result appears tobe a late season conference race

worth paying attention to. With just the home stretch of

the season remaining, almostevery member of the conferencestill has at least an outside shot of being regular season conferencechamps.

Northwood, picked to finishtenth in the preseason coachespoll, is currently tied with Ash-land University for the top spot

with an 8-4 GLIAC record, butif the two teams look in their rear

view mirrors, they will see they have much more to worry aboutthan just each other.

Behind the leaders sits a trium- virate of teams just one game off the pace. Those three teams, Ferris State,

Saginaw Valley State and Grand Valley State all have identical 7-5GLIAC marks.

Following them is a pair of teams with 8-6 records, Hillsdaleand Wayne State.

The race right now is so closethat even Mercyhurst, currently in 10th place, has only threemore losses than the conferenceleaders.

“Competitive would be a great word for the season,” said soph-omore pitcher/dh Jen Feret.

“This year any team can takethe conference and every teamis beatable.”

Outside of the race for confer-ence champion is a race that thisyear may be just as important.

Only the top eight teams inthe GLIAC will qualify for theconference tournament, and asof right now Mercyhurst sits justtwo games back of rival GannonUniversity for that eighth and fi-nal spot despite winning three of the four games played betweenthe two teams this season.

“We should be one of those

eight teams, no doubt in my mind,” said Feret. The Lakers will have to turn

things around quickly if they re-ally want to be in the conferencetournament. They have lost seven of their

last eight games and five of theirlast six conference games.

“We have an outstanding lineupand our defense is amazing, butright now we are just in a slump,”said Feret. “We are starting over

with the basics and working up.” This past weekend the Lakers

dropped three of four confer-ence games.

On Saturday Grand Valley

State dropped the Lakers twiceby scores of 8-0 and 2-1.Sunday the Lakers managed to

split a doubleheader with FerrisState, losing the first game 8-2and then snapping a seven gamelosing streak with a 6-1 win.

Mercyhurst was back in action

on Tuesday, April 19, when they played host to Slippery Rock. The Lakers came out strong

in the opener, as they won 4-1.Feret was again leading the of-fense, as she smacked a two-runhome run in the win. The nightcap proved to be

quite the opposite. The Rock was the powerful offense thistime around. The Lakers fell by a score of

10-2, victimized by making costly errors in the field. The team made five errors,

which led to six unearned runs

being charged to the pitcher.Sophomore Katie Clark took

the decision in both games, as shethrew the majority of the inningson the weekend.

She is now 3-11, but has fallen victim to the lack of offensiveproduction as of late.

The next action for Mercyhurst will be this Friday when the Lak-ers travel to Northwood for adoubleheader and then travel toSaginaw Valley State the next day for another doubleheader.

“We have nothing to lose at thispoint,” said Feret.

Sophomore pitcher Katie Clark took the decision in both games against Slippery Rock.Katie McAdams/Photo editor

By Matt Jackson

Contributing writer

Lakers have dropped four of last six contests at home

Rowers successful at thetwo-day Knecht Cup

Men’s tennis finishes third at GLIACTournament and heads to nationals

The Mercyhurst men’s tennisteam put on a solid showing atthe GLIAC Team Champion-ships on April 15 and 16 inMidland, Mich.

Mercyhurst won two out of three matches to finish in thirdplace behind Northwood andFerris State, both nationally ranked. The Lakers beat Wayne State in

their first match 5-3.Mercyhurst got singles victories

from freshman Mariano Fava,sophomore Lee Michael Marnik and junior Lucas Krasowskito take a 3-2 lead after singlescompetition. The Lakers then won two out

of three doubles matches to takethe victory.

Fava and senior Albert Veverka

picked up one victory with theteam of Marnik and senior JohnNichols picking up the otherdoubles point.

Head coach Ray Yost rested hisbig guns in the second matchesagainst Northwood.

Playing in 75 degree heat, theLakers were out-matched by na-tionally ranked Northwood who

won easily by a score of 5-0. The Lakers then rebounded

with an impressive 5-4 victory over Grand Valley State to takethe third place finish.

Mercyhurst took four singlesmatches and one doubles matchto seal the victory.

Singles victories went to Fava,Nichols, Marnik and Krasows-ki.

Fava and Veverka picked up theLakers lone doubles point, but it

was enough for the v ictory. Yost was extremely pleased

with his team’s performance.

“Finishing third behind teamslike Northwood and Ferris Stateis just as good as finishing first.

Those teams are so far ahead of everyone else. The boys playedgreat tennis and we stayed healthy

which is always nice,” Yost said.Mariano Fava and John Nich-

ols were both named to the AllGLIAC First Team.

Lee Michael Marnik was namedto the All GLIAC Second team.Coach Yost was also namedGLIAC Coach of the Year forthe first time in his tenure atMercyhurst. The Lakers will be the fourth

seed heading into nationals onMay 5 and 6, and are very confi-dent that they can get out of thefirst round for the first time inteam history. The Lakers are currently 13-8

overall and 4-3 in GLIAC play.

By Chris Van Horn

Contributing writer

This weekend brought theMercyhurst rowing teams a wel-come dose of success, after theirprevious sub-par outing earlierthis month. This weekend, April 16-17, at

Villanova’s annual Knecht Cup,the Lakers brought home threefirst place finishes, as well as athird and a sixth.

Both the men’s and women’s varsity eight, along with the men’s varsity four, ended up first this weekend.

The men’s lightweight eightteam took third, and the women’s

varsity four took sixth in a toughrace on Sunday. Although the men’s lightweight

boat fell to Boston College, the women conquered Dowling indramatic fashion.

During the women’s varsity

eight race, Dowling and Mercy-hurst pulled ahead of the rest of

the pack. After a period of back-and-forth suspense, the Lakers passedthe finish line just over two sec-onds ahead of their rivals.

It was enough, this time, how-ever. But what changed in the pe-riod between two weeks ago andthis weekend’s competition?

“The main difference wasthat we’ve been on the waterfor about a week,” captain JillNatale said. The six days that Mercyhurst

spent practicing on water (asopposed to on machines in thegym) gave them enough of anedge to dominate this weekend’sKnecht Cup. The men’s team also enjoyed

victory this weekend, as someboats left all competition farbehind.

On their way to a first-placefinish, the men’s varsity four team

passed Vassar and Catholic, andthe men’s varsity eight beat John

Hopkins and Mary Washington. This weekend the men travel toIndianapolis, Ind. to compete inthe Indianapolis Invitational. The women, originally sched-

uled to also make the trip, willbe staying home due to their raceon Sunday. This Sunday’s race will be the

only home competition for theLaker rowers this season, andalso should shape up to be quitea match. The women will face Dowling

College once again, this timefor the title of Eastern RegionalChamps. This is an important step for

the team as Natale explained:“We got the first ever NCAA titlefor this school last year, and we’relooking to win it again.”

If Mercyhurst does get anotherNCAA bid, it will make three ina row.

By Brady Hunter

Contributing writer



SPORTS

April 20, 2005 THE MERCIAD


L AKER

Men’s lacrosse downs Bryant

The men’s lacrosse team wasable to keep their record spotlessthis weekend when they took on No. 10 Bryant University in Rochester, N.Y. on Saturday, April 16.

The game, which was playedat a neutral high school site withmany Lakers’ fans and parents,ended in a 12-6 decision andincreased the Lakers record to10-0 for the season.

Mercyhurst scored just twominutes into the game, and be-

fore five minutes of playtime hadpassed, the Lakers were leading with a score 3-0.

The Bulldogs answered back quickly, tying the score 3-3 beforethe end of the first quarter. The Lakers scored two more

times at the beginning of the sec-ond period, but Bryant quickly responded again with two moregoals.

Mercyhurst edged one morepast Bryant to narrowly lead 6-5at the end of the first half.

During the third quarter, Mer-cyhurst picked up the pace andscored five unanswered goalsto lead 11-5 at the end of thequarter.

This quickly led to the Lakers’control of the remainder of thegame.

Mercyhurst had one final goalin the fourth quarter, and theBulldogs added another goalto their total to make the finalscore 12-6.

Senior Mike McLellan had fourgoals and two assists in the con-test, and senior Andrew Sandshad three goals and one assist.

Five other Lakers had one goaleach, including Jason Lappies, Joe Poole, Troy Ledbetter, AdamMulherin and Bryon Lindner. Jim Mullaley tallied three assists

and Lappies also had one assist. The Lakers out shot the Bull-

dogs 43-21 and won 18 out of 21possible face-offs.

The Lakers remain at the No.3 spot in the national ranking forDivision II.

Bryant remains ranked No. 10,but their record dropped to 3-5for the season. Junior goaltender Mike Bring-

ley made six saves in the contest, which was played in his home-town.

“It was a lot of fun coming back and playing in my home-town in front of my friends andfamily. It was a good time,” saidBringley.

Bringley was awarded with theMercyhurst Male Athlete of the Week for his performance inthis game and throughout the

season.Bringley has only allowed 10

goals in the past two games.

“It not just that I’ve been play-ing pretty good, but it is really ourdefense who has been playing great. I haven’t even seen thatmany shots. It is really the guyson defense that have been mak-

ing my job really easy,” he said.Mercyhurst plays their final

home game of the regular season

today (Wednesday) at 4 p.m. at Tullio Field.

The Lakers host the BellarmineUniversity Knights, a team whois trying to build a DI programfor next year, which means that

they must play DII schools fortheir first season, according toan article on the Bellarmine

University’s website.Bellarmine is located in Louis-

ville, Kentucky.Currently, Bellarmine has a

record of 11-1 for the season,but Bringley feels the Lakers are

up for the challenge.“We are ready, but it should be

a good game. They are a first

year team with a lot of Canadianplayers with a great offense, soit should be a challenge for ourdefense,” said Bringley.

Mercyhurst will then travel toplay No.8 ranked Molloy College

on Saturday, April 23, in Rock- ville Center, N.Y. at 1 p.m.

By Kelly Rose Duttine

Editor-in-Chief

Sophomore Adam Mulherin was one of seven Lakers to score against Bryant on April 16.Katie McAdams/Photo editor

Men’s volleyball set for MIVA playoffs on April 23

The regular season may nothave gone as well as the Mercy-hurst men’s volleyball team may have expected, but this Saturday the team will have an opportunity to do something that they have

yet to accomplish.Mercyhurst joined the MIVA

conference in 1997 and has yetto win a MIVA playoff game orhave a player named to the All- Tournament Team.

Looking at results from theregular season it appears thistournament may finish the same way as the first eight years, witha first round loss. The Lakers will enter the tour-

nament as a six seed, whichmatches them up against thethree seed and a familiar foe.

Ball State, a team that not only swept the Lakers in the regularseason, winning both matches,but also swept both matches 3-

0, will be No. three seed and willbe hoping the third time isn’t the

charm for the underdog Lakers.Despite the two losses the Lak-

ers already suffered to their tour-nament opponent and the fact

that the school has never won apostseason game in the sport is

not keeping the spirits and hopesof the players down.

“If we all go into the match with positive attitudes we defi-

nitely have a chance,” said seniorDave Schmidl. “I know a lot of

the players, especially the seniors, want to lay it all out on the courtSaturday.” The big reason for the losses

against Ball State in the regularseason for the Lakers was thelarge difference in errors com-mitted by the two teams.

Schmidl believe that if he andhis teammates can turn this

around the final result couldchange.

“We match up well againstthem so as long as we don’t beatourselves, we will beat them,”said Schmidl.

Schmidl is just one of fourseniors that will be closing outtheir collegiate careers in the nearfuture, whether it is in the firstround or beyond. The three others are Austin

Siewert, Pat Nichols and TomRoberts. These four seniors have not

only suffered through three firstround losses in the postseasonbut have seen their team winonly one game of those three

matches. A win this weekend would

probably mean just a little moreto these seniors who definitely paid their dues.

“A win would mean we havereached our goals and overcameadversity that we’ve faced for thepast four years together.” The Lakers played two non-

conference matches this past weekend in a tune-up for the

postseason. The first match for the Lak-

ers was a disappointing one asPrinceton defeated Coach RyanPatton’s Lakers 3-1.

Princeton was a very beatableteam for the Mercyhurst squadand may have shown the consis-tency the team lacks. The Lakers got the confidence

builder they were looking for inthe second game of the weekendin the form of a 3-1 victory overNew Jersey Tech.

Schmidl and Siewart both ledthe team in kills in both con-tests. All that remains now is the

chance for this year’s Lakers to

make the college’s athletic his-tory books.

By Matt Jackson

Contributing writer

The blocking of the Lakers proved to be decisive against New Jersey Tech.File Photo

Water polo wins three straight to improve to 10-7

Women’s water polo completeda successful week beginning with a triumph over GroveCity and ending with another victory against Washington and Jefferson.

The two wins have helped theLakers climb above .500 in theCollege Water Polo Association(CWPA). The Grove City and Washington

and Jefferson wins give theLakers at a three game winning streak when added on to their9-8 victory over Slippery Rock on April 9. The Lakers currently stand

at 10-7 overall and 4-3 in theCWPA.

Grove City traveled to theLaker’s hometown on Wednesday, April 13th.

After three periods the gameremained in either team’s graspas the Lakers only led 4-3.

However, Mercyhurst pulledthrough with a strong offensiveforce scoring three more goalsin the fourth. The offense was led by junior

Cassie Rand with three goals andfreshman Christine Somera withtwo goals and one assist.

Freshman goaltender GinaMieras kept the Laker defense intact with 15 saves.

More recently, the Lakers took on Washington and Jefferson on April 16.

Mercyhurst defeated thePresidents 7-3 to push themover the .500 mark.

Somera, who is nationally-ranked 39th in total goals, hadfour goals and two assists inthe win.

Freshman Carrie Willisonadded three goals to the 7-3 winagainst the Presidents. Willison, Cassie Rand, and

Tessa DiLoreto each contributedone assist.

DiLoreto has earned the honorof Mercyhurst’s female athlete of

the week. She is currently second on the

team in goals with 29 and thirdin points with 36.

“I feel being the better con-ditioned team helped us againstGrove City. In addition, we arejust playing very good team water

polo right now,” remarked coachCurtis Robinette, “Our goal rightnow is to finish the season, butI think everyone on the team,

including myself, are excited tosee how far we can go over thenext few seasons.” The Lakers are anxiously

awaiting the Western DivisionChampionships on April 22 inGrove City, Pa. The time that the Lakers

will compete remains to beannounced.

“The tournament format hasnot always been kind to us thisseason because of our smallteam, but we are just going totake one game at a time and seehow we finish,” Robinette said. The Lakers are in similar shape

to last year, as last season they finished with a 12-10 record. They stand at 10-7 this season,

feeding off the three-game win-ning streak which they have beenon since April 9. The team stands to lose two

seniors following the season, andfeatures seven sophomores andjuniors which will be able to carry on the continuted improvementof the team.

Team remains No. 3 in polls with perfect 10-0 record

By Michelle DeLong

Contributing writer

Tessa DiLoreto is second on the team with 30 goals on the season.File Photo



SPORTS



L AKER

Baseball takes two of three from IUP

The men’s baseball team con-cluded a disappointing week on April 17 by being swept in adoubleheader by Saginaw Valley State.

It was the Lakers’ secondstraight day of double-header ac-tion with Saginaw Valley State. The Lakers managed a split

with Saginaw Valley on April16.

Mercyhurst also split a doubleheader with Gannon on April13. The Lakers are now 13-18-1

overall and 4-10 in GLIAC play.In the double header with Gan-

non, the Lakers fell in game one

by a score of 6-2.Mercyhurst bounced back strong in game two by pounding out 17 hits and scoring 16 runsin a 16-3 demolition of Gannonat Gannon Baseball Field.

Senior Tim Stacey went 5-7 onthe day to raise his team leading batting average to .437. April 16 was the first of two

doubleheaders against Saginaw Valley State, who sits third inthe GLIAC. The Lakers won game one in a

marathon that lasted 14 inningsand four and a half hours. The Lakers loaded the bases

in the bottom of the 14th beforesophomore Tim Echan hit thegame-winning single into center

field to score freshman DavidLough from third base. Junior Mike Cahoon picked up

his second victory of the year forthe Lakers, pitching two inningsin relief. The second game was a let

down for the Lakers as they fellbehind 4-0 before falling 7-1. The Lakers couldn’t pull it all

together on the second day of doubleheader action with Sagi-naw Valley either. The Lakers dropped both

games by close scores.In game one the Lakers actu-

ally led by scores of 4-1 and 7-6before a two-run sixth inning by Saginaw Valley gave them the

lead for good. Tim Stacey went 4-4 with threeRBI in the game, increasing histeam leading RBI total to 24.

Game two of the doubleheader featured a pitchers duel.Freshman Eric Drobotij pitcheda four-hitter for the Lakers.

Unfortunately, the team couldnot generate any offense andfell by a score of 2-0, wasting Drobotij’s complete game, eightstrikeout performance. The Lakers were back in action

on Tuesady, April 19, as they hosted IUP for a pair.

Prior to starting that double-

header, the teams finished up agame they had started earlier inthe season, with the Lakers com-ing out on top 11-1.

Mercyhurst would sweep thedouble-header, taking the opener7-1 and squeezing out a win ingame two by a score of 3-2.

In the first of the pair, sopho-more Adam Stewart threw acomplete game, giving up justone run on only three hits. Jonathan Alsheimer went 3-3

in the opener, and close behind was Devin Kowalski and Stacey with two hits each.

In the nightcap, sophomoreKris Klang got the start and wentfive innings only allowing tworuns, one of which was earned. James Ludwig came in and

closed the game, which neededone extra inning to decide the winner.

Ludwig did not allow a runin his three innings of work,surrendering just three hits andimproved his record to 3-1. The Lakers’ next home con-

tests are April 23 and 24 fordouble headers both days againstHillsdale.

Junior Joe Mariano had a pair of hits in the 11-1 win over IUP on April 19.Katie McAdams/Photo editor

Women’s lacrosse falls to No. 10 Limestone 8-5

On Sunday, April 17, the wom-en’s lacrosse team played hostto the No. 10 ranked Saints of Limestone College from Gaff-ney, S.C.

Limestone came into the game with a record of 8-4, while theLakers entered the game with aneven 5-5 record.

Mercyhurst jumped out to aquick 2-0 lead just three minutesinto the game and seemed tobe well on their way to an up-set and even more, a chance tojump back into a top 10 nationalranking.

However, the early deficit wasnot enough to keep the Saintsquiet for long as they scored thefinal five goals of the half, taking a 5-2 lead into the intermission.

Mercyhurst narrowed the mar-gin to 6-5 with 11 minutes to play on junior attack Kelsey French’ssecond goal of the game, but that was the closest the Lakers couldget before the Saints scored thefinal two goals of the game to

ride home with an 8-5 victory.French led the Lakers with two

goals and one assist for threepoints on the day, while seniorattack Dara Liberati continuedher strong year with a goal andan assist of her own.

Seniors Carrie Kramer and Andrea Bement capped off thescoring for the Lakers with onegoal apiece. The Lakers used two goalten-

ders for the first time this seasonas freshman Nicole Rapacki and

senior Jess Bunker combined forseven saves on the game.

Liberati was very enthuasitic when asked to comment aboutthe game.

“We got off to a really greatstart scoring the first two goalsof the game and for the mostpart really kept up with them,”she said.

She also added, “We were really determined to win this game toprove to Division II that we area talented team. When we wereone goal behind them with aboutthree minutes left and they endedup scoring two more goals, wesimply could not answer thatkind of deficit with the amountof time we had left.” When asked to compare this

performance against Limestoneto the Lakers’ past performancesagainst the Saints, Liberati said,“This years was much more

successful than last year’s andas a team we are proud of that. We just wish we could have wonthis game.”

Liberati had some inspirational,and hopefully prophetic, wordsfor her teammates when askedto comment on the outlook forthe rest of this season.

“We all know that we can winthe rest of our games, and that iscertainly our goal. We all have apositive outlook on what the restof the season will look like. It isjust a matter of discovering why we’ve lost these close games inthe past, and how we can changeit,” she said.

Hopefully, the Lakers can makesome of those small changesbefore Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Bloomsburg,Pa. for a 4 p.m. face-off withthe Huskies of Bloomsburg University.

By Jimmy McCannContributing writer

Junior attack Kelsey French scored two goals against Limestone. Katie McAdams/Photo editor

Men’s golf finishes eighthat Great Lakes Regional

The Mercyhurst men’s and women’s golf teams participatedin the Penn State Behrend Invi-tational on April 14 at Peek n’Peak. The men’s team placed third

out of a total of seven teams. They finished shooting a col-

lective 309, 19 shots back of firstplace Gannon who completedthe day with 290.

One of Coach Dave Hewett’sgoals for his teams is to not allow anything negative from the pastaffect the here and now.

“Good golfers only remembergood shots and forget all of thebad ones. That puts them in thebest position to excel in the pres-ent. That's what we need to focuson,” Hewett said. The men’s team made the deci-

sion to use their “B” team in thePenn State Behrend Invitational,in order to allow their “A” teamto practice and prepare for theupcoming regional in Edinburgh,Ind.

Steve Barr led the Lakers indi- vidually with a score of 75.

Sophomore Kevin Binsell fol-lowed behind him with a finish-

The women’s team completedthe event with equal success fin-ishing second out of four teams with a collective score of 345.

Gannon took first place with ascore of 337. With respect to the Behrend

Invitational, Coach Hewitt said,“we are making progress on the women's side, and that's encour-aging.” The top individual scores for

the Lakers were Amy Natalieshooting a round of 80 andHilary McCall with a final scoreof 85. Amy Natalie earned medalist

honors for her performance inthe event.

The NCAA Regionals for themen featured 18 teams, and theLakers managed to place in thetop half for the team competi-tion. The Lakers shot a two-day total

of 597 to finish tied for eighthplace with Bellarmine University and Lewis University.

Freshman Kyle Waddell led theLakers with scores of 70 and 74for a 144 total, good enough for13th place tie.

Senior Adam Layden finish tiedfor 17th with rounds of 75 and 71,a total of 146.

Sophomore Craig Bishop fin-

back rounds of 74 for a totalof 148. When asked his opinion on

what he feels his teams need todo in order to be successful in theregionals and GLIAC champion-ships, Coach Hewitt responds with confidence.

He said, “Success is such a rela-tive term. My definition wouldinclude two areas, preparationand enjoyment. First, they needto prepare their minds and bodiesfor each and every shot, putting them in a position to succeed.It's a difficult task to achieve 100percent, 85-90 percent would begreat. Second, they need to enjoy the process, accept and own the

challenge. In doing so, they willtake something positive away from the event, regardless of their scores.” The women’s team finished

third of 16 teams at the West-minster Invitational, but oneLaker in particular earned a moreprestigious honor.

McCall finished as the tourna-ment medalist, as her 81 beateveryone in the field. Also finishing in the top-10 for

the Lakers were Sara Jaecks withan 89 good for a tie for seventh,and Natalie who finished tied for10th with a 91.

By Michelle DeLong

Contributing writer

By Chris Van Horn

Contributing writer

the merciad, april 20, 2005

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