Download - Mercyhurst Magazine - Spring 2003
V O L . 1 9 , N O . 1 M A R C H 2 0 0 3
Gennifer Weiss, Director of Public Relations and Publications I
\ \
u
greetings from tf)
A J * I/When I first joined the Mercyhurst College family in April 2000,1 made an attempt to
meet every single Mercyhurst academic department director for a brainstorming session about attention-grabbing programs in that arena of expertise that could form the foundation for positive media coverage on the college.]
What I learned in a few short weeks was astounding. Hidden behind the beautiful elegant campus facade were more fantastic stories than we could ever tell in the pages of
our publications. But that doesn't mean we aren't going to try! We will showcase as many as we can, and in this issue, we are taking you behind the
scenes in Zurn Hall to look into the world of science. Come with us and peek in on the biology department and its efforts to protect and understand the water resources in northwest Pennsylvania; meet one of the outstanding women on our campus, who keeps herself tucked away in the chemistry department; visit with an alumna who is among those answering the call for more skilled nurses across the country; and get to know a Mercyhur senior who showcased the challenges facing a student-athlete in a series of columns she wrote last fall for the Erie newspaper.
We hope you find as interesting as we did the intriguing world of science, a demure division of this liberal "arts" college that deserves many accolades for its work on and off campus. 5 j • j
Enjoy, and let us know what you think.
Gennifer Weiss, Editor
gweiss@mercyh u rst. edu
814.824.3315
On front cover:
When freshman forensic science major Jake Ross agreed to participate in the photo shoot for the cover of this edition of Mercyhurst Magazine, he hardly could have expected what followed. The photo of Jake, standing mesmerized by a makeshift laser light show in the physics lab of Zurn Hall, took nearly two hours of work with six people. Under the exacting direction of Erie photographer Paul Lorei, Jake and director of the Mercyhurst physics program, Dr. Candee Chambers (standing in tfie background), managed to look entranced by the light show while Paul shot photo after photo, each requiring Jake and Candee to hold perfectly still for nearly 5 seconds. Meanwhile, the public relations staff handled the lights — a lab torch held just above the floor at Jake's feet and an overhead projector with a paper towel muting its light beam — while Paul's assistant pounded chalkboard erasers together time after time to create the chalk dust needed for the "sparkling" effect in tlie laser beams. Thanks to all involved for their patience and good humor!
On back cover:
A petri dish laden with "bugs" keeps junior biology major Katie Krupa enrapt. Photo by Paid Lorei
Ta£>fe of Contents Greetings from the Editor
Candee Chambers ... doing science her way
Mercyhurst aims for parity in sciences
Biology takes learning into the real world ... the real wet world
Alumnus spotlight: Sarah Galloway '00
Maier donation provides living lab for biology
Looking to the future ... Zurn gets a facelift
Forensics flourishes in new space
Alumnus spotlight: Dawn Kaliszewski '01
Geriatric careers initiative launched at Mercyhurst North East
Longest serving trustees dedicated to vision of Mercyhurst
Slow economy heightens need for alumni connections to Career Services
Winter sports review
Distinguished alumni... it takes one to know one
Mark Your Calendar
Student spotlight: Danielle Poole
Class Notes
Across the Ocean: Debbie Duda Gale
Inside cover
2-3
4-5
6-7
8
10
11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-20
21-23
23
24-25
26-28
Inside back cover
Issue Editor Gennifer Biggs Weiss Director of Public Relations and Publications [email protected] 814.824.3315
Contributing Writers Gennifer Weiss Deborah Wallace Morton, Assistant Director of Public Relations
Photographers Paul Lorei Gennifer Weiss Travis Lindahl Roger Coda
Class Notes Editor Tammy Roche Gandolfo '76 [email protected]
The Office of Public Relations, a division of the Institutional Advancement Office, produces Mercyhurst Magazine.
Vice President of Institutional Advancement Gary L. Bukowski CFRE '73
To contact Alumni Services: 1.800.845.8568 or 814.824.2004 Fax: 814.824.2153
Send your change of address to: Mercyhurst Magazine Mercyhurst College 501 E. 38th St. Erie, PA 16546 Fax: 814.824.2473
M A R C H 2 0 0 3
"l fet the (fata do tf)
taking May he 1 was naive
or 1 was wearing Minders,
thought of 6utl never
myseff. as a woman
scientist. 1 have afways seen
myse(jas a scientist!'
— Dr. Candee Chambers
* I Dr. G I Dr. Candee Chambers, an associate pro-fessor of chemistry and physics, doesn't think of herself as a survivor and, yet, as women scientists flow out the academic pipeline, it is clear that she is among a special breed.
Chambers appears to be bucking the existing scenario in which women scientists on average represent only 20 percent of faculty in undergraduate education despite the fact that nearly half of the degrees in undergraduate science are earned by women.
Where have all the women gone? Business, industry major research centers -everywhere but academia it would appear.
The statistics tell a different story in the chemistry and biochemistry department of Mercyhurst College. It is headed by a female — Dr. Melissa Barranger-Mathys - and is evenly split between female professors Barranger-Mathys and Chambers and male professors Drs. Jack Williams and Ron Brown. Chambers has the added distinction of directing the college's physics program, honors program and its computational science minor.
As a physical chemist, computational science is Chambers' specialty. It is a relatively new area of study in the scientific community and one that she pioneered at
Mercyhurst seven years ago as a concentration in the chemistry major that has since evolved into a minor.
Essentially, computational science is a discipline in which scientists write software for research-grade computers that simulates chemical phenomena. Put simply, it's chemistry in a computer as opposed to chemistry in a test tube.
While the program is in its infancy at Mercyhurst - only two years as a minor - it is one that Chambers said Mercyhurst is as well equipped to offer at the undergraduate level as any college in the country.
"The big research schools are just starting to offer computational science as an undergraduate minor and we, at Mercyhurst, have the resources to rival them," Chambers said. "We also have the advantage of a small school in being able to work one-on-one with our students."
Mercyhurst utilizes five Silicon Graphics UNIX research-grade computers in its computational science program and will soon add another. Plus, the college boasts two physical chemists in Chambers and Ron Brown.
"Most small schools don't have one the-oretical physical chemist, let alone two like we do," she added.
She noted that if women scientists in academia are underrepresented, the disparity is even more obvious in the field of computational science.
"There just aren't the women there," she
said. The concerns voiced by many of
Chambers' female contemporaries, albeit valid and recognizable, she said, have not been impediments to her as she continues to make gains in what is largely a male stronghold.
Chambers cited a Discover 2002 magazine story in which author Peggy Orenstein notes that when it comes to science in academia, equality between the sexes is an oxymoron. Even though nearly half of under
graduate science and engineering degrees are earned by women, that number plummets to a third at the doctoral level, with just 22 percent of doctorates in physics and 12 percent in engineering awarded to women. Then, at the faculty level, women's representation shrinks to 20 percent.
Why the disparity in the science hierarchy of academia? Numerous studies have shown that a subtle, often unintentional gender bias in tandem with a tenure process that overlaps childbearing years is at the heart of the problem.
But Chambers had two children before she gained tenure at Mercyhurst. Her department head, Melissa Barranger-Mathys, is presently on maternity leave.
"Some places do stop the tenure clock while you leave to have children," Chambers said. "But Mercyhurst didn't do that to me. It was a non-issue. There was never any discussion or even suggestion by the administration of putting my career on hold due to having taken a mere six weeks off due to childbirth."
Chambers earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry and mathematics from Illinois College in 1990 and received her doctorate in chemistrv from Oklahoma State University in 1994. She did two years of postdoctoral work at the U.S. Army High Cs=m
Performance Computing Research Center, where, she said, "A secretary once told me I was the first (non-support staff) woman to last more than a month."
As she pursued her education and, later, navigated the tenure track, Chambers said she did what scientists do. "I let the data do the talking," she said. "Maybe I was naive or I was wearing blinders, but I never thought of myself as a woman scientist. I have always seen myself as a scientist.
"I remember being at a seminar at a big university once and there were 177 people in the room and the fact that I was the only woman had to be pointed out to me. That blindness may have been why I stayed on when other women left."
M E R Y H l R S T M A G A Z I N E
doi otng science Traditionally, science has been a male
bastion and Chambers acknowledged that women in science may be viewed as lacking a certain chutzpah more commonly associated with men.
"I once had a graduate school professor tell me that he gave me a "B+" on a science presentation instead of an "A" because my voice wasn't deep enough," she said.
"There is a culture of science ...," she continued. "Qualities valued in scientists are qualities more stereotypically male and that may deter some women. For example, at group meetings, where scientists share research, men are more willing stereotypically to be aggressive and talk over people to get their points made. Women often won't."
Chambers doesn't let that dissuade her. "I once had a mentor who said to me,
'You're in there with a bunch of guys. Push back!'"
But, the tide is turning and, ironically, Chambers believes it is her male colleagues who are driving the change to open the doors to women in science and make it easier for them to enter the academic career track.
"Many of the new, young male scientists are participating more in family life and they are eroding the notion that you can't be both a scientist and play an important role in raising your family," she said. "With men doing both, that makes it more acceptable for women to do the same."
Chambers sees herself as a role model for other young women interested in pursuing science in academia. She also sees Mercyhurst, particularly her department, as a facilitator toward that end.
^ B "If you are in high school and a female interested in science and you want to go to school where there are women role models, Mercyhurst can provide that for you," she said. "We can make you a scientist. We can lead you to grad school. We can show you that you can do it all."
By Deborah Morton
Photos by Paul Lord
Mercy durst aimsjorparity in sciences What propelled Dr. Candee Chambers forward in the scientific hierarchy of academia
is passion for the work. She is a driven, gifted scientist who is excited about her work at
Mercyhurst College. But women in the scientific community of colleges and universities across the nation
remain vastly underrepresented for a plethora of reasons, among them gender bias, a tenure system that overlaps childbearing years, and a combative style that is rewarded in scientific research but tends to put off many women.
Admittedly, Chambers is more the exception than the norm and, as such, she is a role model for students like Mercyhurst junior biology major Kathryn Krupa of Buffalo, N.Y., who is interested in advancing her environmental science concentration in graduate school and pursuing a career in academia.
"I know it's a tough field for women, but I'll take the challenges head-on," she said.
"I'm not going to let anybody tell me I can't do what I want to do." Inasmuch as Krupa is taught by a predominantly male faculty in the sciences at
Mercyhurst, whom she admires and respects, she said she has witnessed no bias toward women here.
"I think you see it happening more in the bigger research institutions but, even then, I think things are changing," Krupa said. "In the past, women weren't encouraged to go into the sciences. Now, they may not be getting as much encouragement as they could be, but at least they aren't being discouraged."
The administration at Mercyhurst College recognizes what is largely a national phe
nomenon and is taking steps to address it, according to Dr. Andrew Roth, vice president for
academic affairs. / /
a
'Although we have not reached parity, we are committed to and are making serious progress in increasing the number of women faculty in the sciences," Roth said.
He noted that the college has made inroads on several fronts: the sportsmedicine department has two women faculty, one of whom is the director; in biology this year, the college hired a female assistant professor and another woman as a research assistant; the math department is headed by a woman and has several other female members; archaeology/anthropology has two female faculty members and another female research assistant; and chemistry has two female faculty members.
"When compared to peer or similar institutions, Mercyhurst aspires to be and is quickly becoming a leader in the diversity of its faculty," Roth said. "At Mercyhurst, we are committed to increasing diversity across all groups.1
Attracting quality professors into the science division is part of the reasoning behind plans to overhaul Zum Hall and its laboratories over the next few years. Dr. James Adovasio, chairman of the natural sciences division and director of the Mercyhurst archaeology department, said that competing to the finite number of women faculty available in the hard sciences will be easier when modem labs are completed.
"We first have to find them, then to entice them to Mercyhurst, we must meet their needs with labs that allow for continued research," explained Adovasio, who added that once the facilities are top-notch, he expects the college to attract additional women faculty.
"They can do the same science here as they can at Berkeley," said Adovasio. "But we can offer them something different, and that is key. We have a quiet campus, less bureaucracy, outstanding students, a good strong city in which to live, and lots of people want that."
By Deborah Morton
M H 2 0 0 3
"Biofoav takes k1 (̂ | ^ ^ ^r
into
/
earning wor
1/When Nevin Welte arrived at Mercyhurst College three years ago, nothing going on inside the classrooms piqued his interest.
Not until he ventured outside the con
fines of the campus did he find his calling. "I really enjoyed the field work for the
biology classes I took, and Dr. Campbell (director of the biology program at Mercyhurst) and I share a mutual excitement about being outside and working in nature, and so now, here I am/' said Nevin, a promising student in the Mercyhurst biology department.
Perhaps not the typical path to a rendezvous with a career, but it seems to be working for Nevin.
Since coming to Mercyhurst, Nevin has worked with Campbell on a variety of research projects, and over the past few summers, he snorkeled more than 120 miles as part of an internship with the United States Geological Society survey team evaluating a portion of the Delaware River and its neighboring waterways. Nevin has also worked at Presque Isle State Park as part of efforts to remove invasive plant species that threaten the unique flora of the peninsula. And now, he is preparing to launch the newest effort of the biology department's research efforts in support of Growing Greener initiatives in northwest Pennsylvania.
To understand what Nevin does means understanding bugs.
When talking about bugs, Mercyhurst biology students don't mean what you probably think — they mean benthic macroinvert-ibrates, the tiny organisms in the region's
freshwater streams and lakes that are remarkable indicators of the health of a watershed.
"We call 'em bugs for short," explains Dr. Michael Campbell, associate professor of biology and director of the biology department.
"<We want students to
(earn the active science that
is behind restoring
([amazedecosystems. °^e
have to continue th e
rocess m ltd headngj)
repairs that reestablish a
heafthy ecosystem!'
— Dr. Mike Campbell
"These bugs are very sensitive, and that is why they are so helpful."
The goal of tracking and studying all the
bugs in the region's waterways is fairly simple. "The overall purpose is to provide a
basis for a plan to reduce 'non-point source' pollution," he said. What that means is that the bugs let biologists track the point at which pollution, sometimes otherwise untraceable, is entering the watershed.
"It is the pollution everyone contributes
to," said Campbell. "The runoff from fields,
yards, sidewalks, sediment, development —
all of that." All the watersheds researched by the
biologists and their students flow into Lake Erie, and therefore, greatly impact the entire region.
Mercyhurst just finished its work on the Presque Isle Bay watershed, a multiyear project that tracked drainage into the bay. That project was part of a Growing Greener grant, and Mercyhurst shared $60,000 in funding with Perm State Erie and Gannon University.
The grant that Mercyhurst is preparing to begin in April totals $93,000, of which about $20,000 is tied to Mercyhurst student research. Those funds will put students into the campus' new "living lab" along Elk Creek, a portion of land donated by Mary Jo and Ed Maier last fall. (See story, page 8)
For students such as Nevin, doing research at the Maier property means monitoring the health of Elk Creek and tracking pollutants they find. The information will eventually lead to protection from the impact of neighboring development.
Research by the Mercyhurst biology department, which can go hand in hand with work by the archaeology department when discoveries warrant a cooperative effort, did not start with the Growing Greener grants of the past few years.
Instead, explains Campbell, the efforts to combine student research needs with real-world requests for assistance began in the 1980s when efforts to control invasive plants began on Presque Isle and Mercyhurst volunteered to help.
"It started with a pilot program, and
M Y H U R S M / I N
rea fwet wor now, we work to control a dozen species/' said Campbell. Those efforts have blossomed into research projects to control plants, study the impact the control efforts have on other plants and animals, and develop a process for reintroducing native plants. In addition, students from around the state work as summer interns on the peninsula, providing the manpower needed to monitor the large area.
"These are all real-world problems we can help with," said Campbell, who offers student research, but also often writes grants needed to turn a problem into a project.
Other efforts include work with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy at Lake Pleasant, just down the road from Mercyhurst College. There students not only work to control and study invasive plants, they also monitor the water in the lake.
Also growing out of earlier efforts is a program scheduled to start this fall, a cooperative effort with the college and the Erie County Conservation District. Dr. Marlene Cross, assistant professor of biology, is expecting funding for a native plant propagation project that will focus student research on reviving native plant populations in areas cleansed of invasive non-native plants.
Those efforts will include work at the Jean B. and J. Douglas James Ecological and Wildlife Preserve (35 acres donated by Doug James in 1992 on the west side of Erie) and at the Maier property.
Incorporating community benefits into the curriculum of the biology department is not something that has evolved by happenstance. Instead, the college revamped its environmental science concentration within the biology department to develop an ecosystem conservation program that clearly outlines the needs of the community that research should support.
"We want students to learn the active science that is behind restoring damaged ecosystems," explained Campbell. "We have to continue the healing process with repairs that reestablish a healthy ecosystem."
Those efforts include working closely with Erie County
Dr. Mike Campbell helps sophomore Erik Weber sort "bugs" in a Zurn Hall lab.
Conservation District — so closely the college is negotiating for lab space in the basement of the newly completely district headquarters just a few miles away from campus at the intersection of Pine Avenue and Interstate 90.
The environmentally minded students of the biology department are only one segment of a widely integrated curriculum that also serves the needs of pre-med students, and those interested in biological research, such as genetics, microbiology, cell biology, and the neurosciences.
In fact, efforts are under way to build a new niche in the biology department, a molecular biology concentration. But that effort is on hold while the college concentrates on the renovations and refitting of Zurn Hall, the home of the sciences since 1968. (See story, page 9)
"As we position to renovate Zurn Hall, we need funds to refit and expand the existing facilities, but also to prepare for the future, for programs such as molecular biology and support for our planned foren-sics masters program," said Campbell.
Meanwhile, those in the biology department who would rather be wading through creeks and slipping and sliding on ice-covered ponds collecting samples are doing just that, spreading the spirit of community service throughout the region with the help of some little critters they affectionately call bugs.
By Gennifer Weiss
Photos by Paul Lorei
"Watershed (n) a region or area bounded peripherally by a divide and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water."
M A R C H 2 0 0 3
9&\ f
umnt
I /^xen Sarah Galloway '00 was earning her bachelor of arts degree in biology from Mercyhurst College, she wasn't one of those students who sat in class, took notes, and did well on the tests.
Nope, Sarah was one of those students
who changes the way things are done.
Both Sarah and Dr. Michael Campbell,
director of the biology department, smile
from ear to ear when they tell the story of
how watershed research became part of the
everyday workings of the Mercyhurst biolo
gy department.
"l fove the outdoors, the
e animals - a fs ff trees, th
of it. ljinady Unew:
I am meant to he a
hiofogist. J just have to
havefaith."
— Sarah Galloway
Sarah, who had followed a long road to
Mercyhurst, full of detours and hurdles, was
closing in on her bachelor's degree after near
ly 12 years of effort at three different colleges.
She was in Campbell's limnology class,
studying the physical, chemical and biologi
cal features of freshwater lakes and ponds
when she stumbled onto a poster about
watersheds. She showed up to class with the
poster, challenged Campbell to tell her more,
and the focus of the class shifted. That, they
both say, launched the department's water
shed preservation and exploration efforts.
Sarah didn't stop there. After getting her
feet wet, literally, she jumped into watershed
research full tilt.
With her enthusiasm at a high, Campbell
convinced the Erie County Conservation
District to hire Sarah as a summer intern
before her last year at Mercyhurst.
"He told me not to get my hopes up,
because they almost never take interns,"
recalls Sarah. But next thing she knew, she
was reporting for work at the conservation
district office.
As she continued her education and pre
pared for graduation in 2000, Sarah couldn't
help but remember warnings her advisers
had given her a few months before: the job
market for biologists was tight — really tight.
Rather than fretting and considering a
change to something more marketable, Sarah
made the choice to stick with science.
"I love the outdoors, the trees, the ani
mals — all of it," said Sarah. "I finally knew: I
am meant to be a biologist. I just have to have
faith."
And she did just that - kept her faith
strong while working her way through the
challenges of being an adult student with a
family. And when Sarah graduated in 2000,
faith saw her through.
It was in that year that the Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources launched the "Growing Greener"
initiative, geared toward integrating develop
ment and environmentally friendly habits
while protecting watershed areas already
incorporated in the community. Suddenly
nearly 70 new jobs for biologists were open.
One of them was at the conservation dis
trict, where, just a few months earlier, Sarah
had written and secured a $35,000 Growing
Greener grant for study of the area around
the new conservation district headquarters.
"If you can get your employer 35 grand,
that will definitely help you get hired," Sarah
says with a laugh. It is even better when you
Sarah Galloway
write a grant that includes funds for your
own dream job of watershed specialist.
Sure enough, Sarah is now the water
shed specialist at the conservation district,
and she can tell you more than you'd ever
remember about watersheds, conservation
and the biology of the Erie region. She also
assists area watershed associations, which are
sort of "neighborhood watches" for local
creeks and streams.
"I help the associations formalize their
interest in keeping safe the waterway in their
area, and then help them solve problems with
that waterway," explained Sarah, who also
works about 10 hours a week with the
Pennsylvania Lake Erie Watershed
Association (PLEWA), which is the regional
watershed association that helps handle
paperwork and the grant work for the small
er associations.
Sarah helps handle general conservation
district tasks as well. The district reviews
every construction project that exceeds one
acre, educates the public about the environ-
M R H U R S M I N
Sard §affoway 'oo
ment, trains teachers, and more. "We have to make people understand what watersheds are, why
they are important and if they don't understand that, things will never change/' said Sarah.
The 12 years it took Sarah to earn her degree have been put to good use, but that isn't surprising considering how much determination it took for her to reach her current position.
Sarah started her journey at Mercyhurst back in 1988, after she graduated from high school. She took a few classes, then a detour popped up, and she landed at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. There she met a boy, and that boy became her husband, and life took a second detour.
After having a child, Sarah found herself back at college, this time attending the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown at the urging of her in-laws, both teachers, who felt that nothing was more important that getting a good education.
But then came another fork in the road, and Sarah found her way back to Mercyhurst. It was 1997, and she had weathered one divorce, married again and was a mom for the second time.
She dove back into studies at Mercyhurst, and found that life, again, was going to throw up some hurdles.
"I had finally settled back into classes, I was attending full time at Mercyhurst, and I knew where I was going," said Sarah.
Then came the news: her youngest son had a hole in his heart,
and faced a myriad of health challenges. Yet, there she was, knee deep in college courses.
"It was terrible timing, I was so worried about him, and I had just started classes here," said Sarah. "But we decided, I was here, I was signed up and in classes and I wasn't going to pull out."
Not only did Sarah stay, she excelled. "I have always loved college," said Sarah, adding that it is the
place where great instructors have always challenged her. "College teaches you to think of things from different perspectives. It teaches you to see that life is not black and white; it is thousands of shades of gray."
Sarah's son slowly got better, and she slowly moved forward. Now she is enjoying every minute of her life post-college, espe
cially after the hard work and tenacity it took for her to earn that one important piece of paper.
And she said she uses what she learned every day — not just the
biology, but rather the ability to tackle problems. "Your college degree proves you can learn," said Sarah, adding
that in her position, that is a must. "My boss knows I can do what he asks me to do, or I will learn to do it. That is what they teach you in college, that is what is important about college."
By Gennifer Weiss
Portrait by Paul Lorei
While a student at Mercyhurst, Sarah worked with her classmates to study the Mill Creek watershed. Here they are shown working by the Erie Zoo.
M A R C H 2 0 0 3
Maiers donationprovides 1
For Mercyhurst biologist Dr. Michael
Campbell, the recent gift of 17 acres of land in
Girard Township, through which Elk Creek
flows, is the equivalent of a biological gold
mine.
The prime parcel, donated to the college
last fall by Mary Jo Babowicz Maier '52 and
her husband Ed, provides the opportunity to
research ways of preserving the unique flora
and fauna of the Lake Erie region and gives
students an ideal setting for practicing the
theories they have learned in the classrooms,
said Campbell, who heads the Mercyhurst
biology department.
"With this new site, there is the potential
to develop even further the research we are
already doing on Lake Erie watershed
restoration," said Campbell.
Work has already commenced on the
Maier property, with students measuring the
presence and activity of benthic macroinvert-
ibrates - better known as bugs - a reliable
indicator of pollution and a living marker
that helps scientists track where pollutants
originate.
Campbell sees continuing potential for
the property as a place for undergraduate
research in stream ecology and ecosystem
restoration and for field trips by students in a
number of biology courses, such as limnolo
gy, ecology and evolutionary biology, plant
Mercyhurst College biology majors work in the waters of Elk Creek, a portion of the land donated to Mercyhurst College by Mary Jo and Ed Maier for use as a ''living lab."
science, botany and field ecology. Ultimately,
the area could serve as the site of an environ
mental research center for the ecosystem con-
servation program, and members of the
archaeology department expect to become
involved as well since that entire region is
rich with archaeological sites.
"I have heard repeatedly from Dr.
Campbell that this property has potential,"
Mary Jo Maier said after the donation was
announced last fall as part of the "Preserving
the Legacy" campaign. "He seems excited, so
I got more excited. It's contagious."
The donation of the Maier property
couldn't have come at a better time.
Campbell explains that not only will a grant-
funded watershed project kick off at the
Maier land this fall, but a habitat restoration
project will also take advantage of the land.
"It is not like we'll hold onto this land
and take field trips here once a year," said
Campbell. "We'll use it for a variety of
research projects that will all benefit a much
broader community than just the college
community. This truly benefits the public and
that is why we're excited about it."
The Maiers have always known the
value this land offers biologists. A biology
major when she graduated from Mercyhurst
in 1952, Mary Jo often spoke with her hus
band about turning the land over to the col
lege to become a living, breathing laboratory.
"I always thought of that property as a
prime laboratory for botanical study and zoo
logical study," Mary Jo said. "My husband
and I talked about it quite a lot and we
thought, why not let it be productive and be
helpful."
By William Welch and Gennifer Weiss
Contributed photos
8 M R H U R S T M / I N
Looking to thefuture...
Zum Had acts The bottom line is simple — if
Mercyhurst College wants to attract outstanding science students, the college must continue to push toward the cutting edge.
''When we are out recruiting top faculty and top students, we have to be able to offer them the top facilities they need to continue to succeed," said Dr. James Adovasio, chairman of the natural sciences division and director of the Mercyhurst archaeology department. "And that investment will return to Mercyhurst tenfold."
It can be dizzying to listen to him talk about what is necessary for Mercyhurst to compete for the best and brightest science students — microscopes, specialized computer equipment and software, a freeze dryer system, a new parylene conformal coating system — equipment for use throughout the science division that ranges in cost from $35,000 to $212,000. Add to those figures the cost for cellular biology and organic residue analysis systems and that number nears a million dollars.
The first steps toward breathing new life into the Zum Hall of Arts and Sciences began five years ago with the construction of a new lab at the rear of Zum. Recently, the college continued that trend by purchasing a dozen specialty computers for the chemistry department and adding new microscopes throughout the sciences. The next move forward -refitting the Zum labs — has been delineated into smaller steps so that one lab at a time will get a complete facelift and state-of-the-art equipment it needs, meaning the bills would come in at a more manageable level.
"If we tackle each of these labs with the same idea behind the $60,000 forensic anthropology lab we just completed, making them attractive, modem, well-designed, that will average out to about $100,000 each," said Adovasio, who added he expects those costs to be spread out over several years.
Part of that effort will be looking at each
area of the sciences and redesigning the lab
space to serve faculty and students across the division.
Eyeing the starfish in her grasp, senior biochemistry/forensic science major Kelly Horstman completes her dissection assignment. Eric Strasser works in the background.
"We are approaching this as a division, bringing to the table what we need piece by piece to improve the entire division - a faculty person, a new piece of equipment, a renovated lab," said Adovasio. "This is about integrated renovations and systematically planning faculty expansion to benefit all the departments within the division."
Those efforts began in 2002-2003 when the college's board of trustees agreed to budget more than $250,000 over the next three years for an infusion of modem equipment.
Plans are also under way, as part of the "Preserving the Legacy" campaign, to raise funds for the other improvements Zum requires: new windows, roof repairs, a modem heating /air conditioning system, new flooring.
Since Zum opened its doors in the late 1960s, it has been home to Mercyhurst's natural sciences division, and if you walk through the hallways today, you see nearly the same building that the community toured during its dedication celebration in 1969.
"These labs have not been thoroughly retrofitted — except archaeology when we moved in here — since the building opened," confirmed Adovasio. "What renovations to these labs means is an infinitely more effi
cient use of faculty and facilities, and the immeasurable enhancement of our research
capabilities." New equipment and modem labs will
energize efforts by the hard sciences to attain the kind of national respect archaeology has realized — a success fueled in part by its access to state-of-the-art equipment.
"We have what are widely considered in our field the best archaeology and anthropology labs of a college our size, and some of our capabilities are the best anywhere in the world," said Adovasio. "There is no reason the same quality cannot be achieved in other areas of this division."
Imminent renovation plans include conversion of a biology lab into a dedicated DNA analysis facility and construction of a new geoarchaeology lab, which would generate the needed space and equipment for Mercyhurst to move ahead with a molecular biology or DNA program within the biology department.
Mercyhurst is in the process of trying to hire a DNA specialist in biology, but a refitted molecular biology lab is essential to getting that new faculty member. Once onboard, the DNA/molecular biology specialist will play a key role in forensic anthropology, archaeology, biology and the college's pre-med program. The DNA lab is another example of what can happen if the science division looks across departmental lines as it plans for the future.
As the Mercyhurst "Preserving the Legacy" capital campaign moves forward into its third year, striving to meet its goal of $20 million, the college hopes alumni will consider how important the science portion of "arts and sciences" is to students who must be competitive in the real world.
By Gennifer Weiss
Photo by Paul Lorei
M H 2 0 0 3
Why is glue-fuming useful in forensic investigations?
A. It isolates DNA
B. It adheres to fiber evidence C. It helps reveal latent prints
The program is unique in that it mandates undergraduates take a core of courses spanning all the sciences before selecting one of four specialized concentrations: forensic anthropology, forensic chemistry and toxicology, criminalistics, and forensic wildlife investigation.
ourwes in new space If you guessed "c," you would be right, according to an online
training game spawned by the popularity of television series C.S.I. (Crime Scene Investigation).
For some viewers, games are enough to satisfy their whodunit curiosity, but for many young people, dramas like C.S.I, and its sister show CS.I.-Miami have triggered an unprecedented interest in forensic science and an unparalleled demand for educational programs that will prepare them for careers in the field.
At Mercyhurst, the message is being heard loud and clear, and the result is the debut of a new multi- and interdisciplinary program in Applied Forensic Sciences for academic year 2002-2003. At the helm of the new program, which presents state-of-the-art techniques in forensic science and crime scene recovery in the classroom and provides hands-on opportunities in the laboratory and the field, is Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat.
In its first year, the program is home to 35 students, mostly freshmen, and they are there as a result of little or no inaugural fanfare.
"We are seeing an explosion of applicants and once we go out and actively recruit, I can't imagine the numbers," Dirkmaat said. "There aren't too many colleges that offer a program of study in
' forensic science and we are here creating the best... By the time we're done, we'll be sending students off to the best graduate programs in the coun-
try."
Debbie Pofi, a senior forensic science and anthropology major, measures a tibia, or human shin bone, with a caliper while classmate Megan Lindberg, a post-baccalaureate student in forensic anthropology, examines a bear skull in the new forensics lab that is the first of the Zurn Hall labs to be renovated and refitted with modern equipment
a There arent too many
colleaes that offe era
program of study in
orensic science and we
are here creating
the best..."
Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat
Key to the pursuit of these areas is a new 616-square-foot lab for forensic study that opened in September 2002. Construction of the $60,000 lab by Crowther Construction of Oil City represents part of the overall initiative by the Mercyhurst College administration to upgrade the
college's forensic capabilities and reinforces the college's commitment to the sciences at large, said Dr. James M. Adovasio, director of the natural sciences and mathematics division.
For Dirkmaat, who heretofore taught his human skeletal biology series and zoo archaeology classes out of a cramped lab stacked with heavy-duty cardboard boxes containing artifact collections, the new lab means organization.
One wall in the climate- and humidity-controlled lab in the basement of Zum Hall is occupied by floor-to-ceiling drawers — 80 in all. The drawers' contents run the gamut: skeletal remains of bum victims, prehistoric archaeological samples, archaeological teaching specimens, animal remains from the Meadowcroft Rockshelter site, * and one of the better teaching collections of fossil human casts in western Pennsylvania.
As the Applied Forensic Sciences program moves forward, Dirkmaat said plans are to add a new faculty member — renowned forensic anthropologist Steve Symes — in the fall of 2003, and to offer graduate programs in forensic anthropology and in archaeology
The new program and new lab, Adovasio added, are just the beginning. Future plans call for renovating facilities on the first floor of Zum for processing of case-related materials and purchasing new, high-tech equipment.
By Deborah Morton
Photo by Paul Lorei
10 M E R C Y H U R S M A z i N i:
9k t
umm Spotfiak "Dawn Kafiszewstii '01
Armed with her husband's blessing and
a Nike-esque challenge to her sons — "If I
can do it, you can do it" — 40-year-old Dawn
Kaliszewski of Harborcreek headed back to
school.
For years, Dawn had contemplated
returning to the classroom, but it never
seemed like the right time.
, "Of course," she reflected," is there ever
a right time?"
The impetus for her came in 1999. Her
sons, Tom and Nick, were struggling academ
ically in college so, she decided, "Let's give
'em a little competition!"
That strategy was all she needed to
resign from her job of eight years as office
manager at a local physician's office and
enroll in the nursing program at Mercyhurst
North East.
MNE's two-year program was ideal for
Dawn because she did not want to be out of
the work force for too long. The North East
site, too, had a certain allure.
"I grew up out there and used to play
there as a child," she said.
Once inside the institution, it was some
thing of a deja vu.
"ljust fovecftde cfoseness o
e college community s
were xxu ik iyour own
smafffamify it was easy to
get to inowj)eoj)(e and the
instructors were afwcys there
to kefyyou"
— Dawn Kaliszewski
Dawn Kaliszewski VI
"I just loved the closeness of the college
community — they were like your own small
family," she said. "It was easy to get to know
people and the instructors were always there
to help you."
In retrospect, returning to school was
one of the better decisions Dawn had ever
made, emerging from the experience a three-
for-three winner. She graduated in 2001 with
an associate degree in nursing from MNE
and an overall GPA of 3.76. Her son, Tom,
graduated from Clarion University a week
before her and is currently teaching in Erie.
Nick, meanwhile, is a junior accounting
major at the University of Kentucky. At last
check, he had a solid 3.2 GPA.
"It worked!" Dawn said of her plan.
"There was no more, 'But, Mom, you don't
understand!' I did understand. I was living it,
too."
The only one not in the academic huddle
was Dawn's husband, Tom, a welder and
high school coach. Still, he had everything
under control at home.
Years earlier, when he was furloughed
from his job, Dawn took a nine-month med
ical assistant course and joined the work
force, effectively switching roles with him.
To make his transition to the rigors of
housekeeping smoother and to avert blun
ders like putting liquid soap in the dishwash
er — yes, she admits, Tom did do that once -
Dawn composed a manual of homemaker's
dos and don'ts. Ever since then, Tom has
been more than up to the task of tending the
home fires, she said.
In fact, Tom's support is why Dawn
decided to take her education a step further.
She recently became a full-time student at
Edinboro University, where she is carrying 16
credits this semester toward a bachelor of sci
ence degree in nursing. She also works 36
hours a week as a registered nurse in the
intensive care unit of Hamot Medical Center,
a position she has held since graduation.
"Getting my bachelor's degree increases
my options," Dawn said. "I love the clinical
side of nursing, but I'd also like to teach, and
getting this degree will enable me to do
both."
The fact that Dawn is juggling a full-time
job and full load at college doesn't come as a
surprise to Susan Vitron, MSN, RN, director
of the associate degree in nursing program at
Mercyhurst North East.
"Dawn was in our first graduating class
in 2001 and she was a standout student from
day one, setting the mark for other people to
meet," Vitron said.
She was instrumental in organizing the
student nurses association on campus and
served as its first president.
When Dawn married Tom 25 years ago
and lived the life of a stay-at-home mom for
10 years, she never imagined she'd be on the
fast track that she is today. Like so many oth
ers, she agonized over what were essentially
life-altering decisions but, she is gratified she
followed the path she did.
By Deborah Morton
Photo by Paul Lorei
M A R C H 2 0 0 3 11
Geriatric careers initiative aunc
"Mercyhurst is working
not onfy to keep care at
a satisfactory fevefbut
to increase it £>yy facing
nphasi th empnasts on we
geriatricpatient who a as nee dstdat are
markediy cfifferentfrom
youngerJpatients"
— Denise Robison
Across the country, long-term care
providers report labor vacancies and high
turnover rates, particularly among the para-
professional ranks, and forecast a crisis that is
likely to worsen over time as baby boomers
approach old age and the demand for sende
es increases.
Mercyhurst North East, already a leader
in responding to compelling community
issues, established its school of health careers
in response to the critical shortage of nurses
and allied health professionals, a mission it
continues to advance. Now, as the age wave
spills across the country, the occupational and
career college is rallying to address what it
calls "the geriatric imperative" by offering
new and innovative programs and expand
ing its existing health careers curriculum to
meet the needs of the geriatric patient.
The umbrella under which MNE's new
initiative will be provided is the Hirtzel
Institute on Aging and Geriatric Health,
funded by an unprecedented $1 million grant
from The Orris C. Hirtzel and Beatrice
Dewey Hirtzel Memorial Foundation in late
2002. The institute will target the needs of the
elderly in a six-county region of northwest
Pennsylvania. ^
The most pressing concern at present is
the dearth of qualified workers in the geri
atric health care field, according to Denise
Illig Robison, former deputy secretary of the
Pennsylvania Department of Aging under the
Ridge administration and director of Mercyhurst
North East's innovative new geriatric care
assistant program, which pioneered its first
two classes in 2002 with 18 students.
"An obvious concern stemming from the
employment crisis in geriatric health care is
the potential for a reduction in quality of
patient care," said Robison, who recently was
appointed to the Pennsylvania Council on
Aging. "Mercyhurst is working not only to
keep care at a satisfactory level but to
increase it by placing emphasis on the geri
atric patient who has needs that are markedly
different from younger patients."
The geriatric care assistant program that
Robison directs will graduate certified nurses'
aides with a concentration in geriatrics. It is
the first tangible product being offered
through the newly organized and still evolv
ing Hirtzel Institute.
The institute, meanwhile, will be housed
in a new health and safety building to be con
structed on the MNE campus with a funding
triumvirate representing the state, which in
November 2002 provided a $2 million capital
budget grant for the project; the federal gov
ernment, which awarded $600,000 in March;
and the private sector, including $500,000
from an anonymous donor, which brought to
$4.1 million the amount currently committed
to the project. The building is expected to be
constructed and operational by summer 2004.
MNE Executive Dean Dr. Gary Brown
said Mercyhurst accepts the challenge not
only to educate professionals to serve the eld
erly but to go a step beyond. The college
envisions the Hirtzel Institute participating
directly in public dialogue, decision-making
and networking with existing agencies to
coordinate a regional plan of initiatives.
As it develops, Brown said, the institute
will identify, coordinate and evaluate the
services needed by the 65+ population, which
numbers 95,000 residents, or 16 percent of the
600,000 people residing within the institute's
six-county service area of Erie, Warren,
Crawford, Forest, Venango and Mercer.
?
i
12 M R H U S T M Z I N
Mercy f)urst North Cast Regarding MNE's health careers curriculum, he noted coursework
will be integrated with "a knowledge of and sensitivity to the care requirements of the geriatric patient" to provide a more skilled worker for the employer and more job advancement opportunities and compensation for the worker.
The geriatric care assistant program represents the midpoint of a career ladder within the college's new geriatric careers initiative, Brown said. The first step is certification as a nursing assistant, a 104-hour training program; the next is certification as a geriatric care assistant, a nine-month program; and, finally, the college is preparing to offer a two-year associate degree as a geriatric services specialist.
The geriatric care assistant program is one of a kind, Robison said, and will create a whole new prototype in geriatric health care personnel. In recognizing the need for and the innovation of such a program, Robison said, the state last year provided a $157,000 Critical Jobs in Pennsylvania grant to provide scholarships for students enrolling in the innovative program.
Likewise, Brown said the proposed geriatric sendees specialist associate degree program, which is still in the planning stage, represents another groundbreaking effort to meet the needs of an aging population.
"There is no such degree at the present time and we will be creating a landmark initiative in offering this particular area of study," said Brown.
As Mercyhurst forges ahead into new frontiers, it is working with area health care providers to modify current training and to create new occupations to meet the demands of effectively caring for the elderly.
Long-term care providers and agencies working with the elderly in the Erie area have voiced their positive response to MNE's plans.
"My fellow administrators in town agree that we have a difficult time getting and maintaining high-quality nurses' aides," said Melanie Titzel '80, vice president of Parkside Senior Living in Erie, in recognizing Mercyhursf s efforts to address the problem. "The shortage is in both qualified people who have the necessary skills and knowledge as well as in people who want to stay on the job long term."
Besides frontline workers, like nurses' assistants, shortages continue to exist among the ranks of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses.
MNE continues to do all it can to educate RNs and LPNs and
physical therapy assistants, Robison noted, but now it is going a step further by adopting what it hopes will be a solution to the chronic problem of retention of frontline workers with the establishment of its geriatric careers initiative, which is aimed at increasing employees' knowledge, responsibilities and compensation.
Titzel commended Mercyhurst for its forward-thinking. "I think we owe it to our seniors in this country that they be cared for by trained individuals who care for them with dignity, respect and professionalism," she said.
Meanwhile, Brown said, as Mercyhurst addresses "the geriatric imperative," it will continue to pursue new and customized initiatives at the local level and collaborate with existing agencies to address the issues where they occur - in the communities where the elderly live.
By Deborah Morton
Photos by Roger Coda
M A R C H 2 0 0 3 13
Longest serving trustees Inspired by their mutual pride in
Mercyhurst College, four trustees of long
standing tenure who collectively have given
in excess of 100 years to its governance, con
tinue to set the tone as the college proceeds
into its 77th year.
Chairman Attorney William C. Sennett
along with senior trustees Charles A. Dailey
Jane Theuerkauf and James A. Zum epito
mize the expression that "good enough never is."
Granted, Mercyhurst has positioned
itself as one of the top 20 liberal arts colleges
in the North, is blessed with a dynamic
leader in president Dr. William P. Garvey, and
is home to an enlightened and forward-think
ing board of trustees, administrators and
staff, a stellar faculty, a beautiful campus with
excellent facilities, dedicated alumni, and tal
ented students. Still, there is much to be done.
William C. Sennett
"I think one of the biggest challenges
facing Mercyhurst is to take the next step aca
demically/' said Sennett, a practicing attorney
and former president of
the Erie law firm of Knox,
McLaughlin, Gornall and
Sennett and a former
Pennsylvania attorney
general. "Our posture
has to be one of adaptation
and change so that we are no longer just one
of the best local or regional institutions but
one of the best nationally."
A trustee for 32 years, Sennett remains
committed to Mercyhurst because it is a well-
spring of vitality. "Something is always hap
pening," he said. "It's an exciting place."
As one of the first lay individuals
appointed to the board in the mid 1960s,
retired automobile dealer Chuck Dailey of
Erie has had his imprint on many of the
changes at Mercyhurst over the past four
decades.
Dailey can remember the early years of
ti(We must continue to
anointflood trustees and
seen flood'(eadership.
% smaff;
private coffefle (iie
Mercyhurst needs a
dynamic (eader. you have
tok aye aflenera c — Charles Dailey,
Mercyhurst trustee
financial hardship when Mercyhurst's very
existence was teetering on demise. What
turned the tide, he said, was then-president
Sister Carolyn Herrmann's willingness to
change and to appoint lay people to the
board and trust their expertise.
She looked to Dailey for his business
acumen and for his community-mindedness.
He wasn't a bad tennis coach, either, having
the distinction of co-coaching the Mercyhurst
team that won nationals in the early 1970s.
"We had an unbelievable schedule," he
recalled. "There was MIT, Cornell,
Northwestern... We introduced Mercyhurst
to the East Coast with a tennis team."
Then, there was Sennett who, as state attorney general, was instrumental in helping Sister Carolyn obtain a grant for construction of Zurn Hall.
Charles A. Dailey
Little wonder when he finished his term of
office in 1970, Sister Carolyn came knocking
on his door, knowing full well that he was a
man she could trust to make good things
happen at Mercyhurst.
The trustees agreed that it is leadership,
like that of the late Sister Carolyn and for the
past 22 years that of Dr. Garvey, that has
made all the difference. Not surprisingly,
they believe one of Mercyhurst's more formi
dable challenges will be to one day find a
successor to Dr. Garvey.
"We must continue to appoint good
trustees and seek good leadership," Dailey
said. "A small, private college like
Mercyhurst needs a dynamic leader. You
have to have a general."
While Sister Carolyn is remembered as a
master of survival, it is a description that
aptly fits trustee Jane Theuerkauf, who has
given 30 years to Mercyhurst College. Nearly
40 years ago, she opened
a real estate office in Erie
and aggressively compet
ed in what was then a
I largely male bastion. She
. • retired in 1990 after a suc-Jane Theuerkauf cessful career, during
which she was named National Realtor of the
Year and distinguished herself as the first
woman president of the Pennsylvania
Association of Realtors.
"I look at every challenge as an opportu
nity to show how creative you can be," said
Theuerkauf, who now operates a wholesale
jewelry business.
It is her insight and creativity that have
gone a long way toward making the
Mercyhurst of today a giant of its former self.
"Mercyhurst College is head-and-shoul-
ders above what we started with," Theuerkauf
said. "We have great leadership. We have
financial matters in order. We have improved
i
14 M R C H U R S T M Z I N
^ * 1
dedicatedt
^d
o visi and built new buildings. Plus, we have significantly raised our ad
sion standards and are getting a higher caliber of student/'
One of the key factors necessary to sustain Mercyhurst's status
and growth, Theuerkauf said, is increasing its general endowment, a
$10 million goal of the college's "Preserving the Legacy" $20 million
capital campaign.
"When I started at Mercyhurst, there was no endowment," she
said. "Since then, we have grown the endowment to about $13 million,
and are continuing to improve."
Trustee Jim Zum, who served as senior vice president of Zurn
Industries Inc. at its former Erie headquarters before moving to Dallas,
Texas, with the company several years ago, has witnessed the evolu
tion of Mercyhurst's governing structure over the past 25 years as a
trustee and, before that, as an observer in the years his father, the late
Everett Zum, served as a trustee. Mercyhurst's Zum Hall was named
after their family.
"I've seen the board develop from a talented, well-motivated
group to one that has achieved an increasingly savvy grasp on the sys
tems necessary for evaluating and reaching decisions on the overall
governance of the institution," Zum said. "We have individuals of
recent and longstanding tenure who have set the tone and continue to
rise to the occasion."
Zurn, who joined Mercyhurst's board in the mid '70s and served
as its chairman, is a man who believes in keeping pace with the times
but not as a trade-off for adherence to tradition and
ideals. Thus, for all its advances, Zum said he is
proud that Mercyhurst has remained true to its lib
eral arts tradition as a community of learning dedi
cated to the lifelong development of the whole per
son. Its mission, inspired by the founding Sisters of
James A. Zurn Mercy, is as solid a foundation as ever there was to
carry Mercyhurst into the future.
"I think the Sisters of Mercy began with well thought-out ideals
that have practical applications in today's world," he said. "The Sisters
have always been global in thinking. There are Mercy hospitals and
Mercy schools all over the world. They recognize, as we do, that in
today's world nothing can or should be provincial."
Meanwhile, as the college structures its physical plant to satisfy a
growing enrollment, it is also devoted to meeting the diversified needs
of today's students, a population that is constantly evolving.
"Look at the courses we offered in the 1960s and then look at
what we are offering today," said Dailey. "It's a changing world and
we have to adapt to educate the students of today for tomorrow."
Outside of creating a smorgasbord of curriculum offerings and
furnishing a highly respected faculty to implement them, the 'Hurst is
providing "smart classrooms" equipped with the latest in technology.
Sennett noted that Mercyhurst's capital campaign is giving enor
mous impetus to ongoing school initiatives in new construction and
renovation, technology, and endowment as well as solidifying its com
mitment to the next generation of Mercyhurst students.
And, while the board is committed to maintaining a challenging
liberal arts curriculum, it has proven that it will not hesitate to investi
gate new and creative ways of being responsive to the needs of today's
students.
There are those students, Theuerkauf noted, who are interested in
certificate and associate degree programs. To accommodate them, she
said Mercyhurst established the North East campus 12 years ago, a
courageous undertaking that has proven enormously successful. Being
receptive to people's needs and finding new ways to meet them is
inherent in President Garvey's approach to leadership, Theuerkauf
acknowledged.
"He's always finding new things to intrigue people, particularly
students," she said. "When you think about it, he has to satisfy so
many groups: students, administrators, faculty ... but he has the talent,
insight and ability to get things accomplished that others can't."
Not surprisingly, those working in tandem with Garvey are top-
notch purveyors of creativity, leadership, and governance.
Consider the way Mercyhurst has become stitched into the fabric
of the Erie community, Dailey noted.
"I remember years ago chairing the fund to build Mercyhurst's
library," he said. "I would go out and knock on doors and ask for
money and people would say, 'What's Mercyhurst?"
Dailey credited the college's leadership, particularly its public rela
tions efforts, in heightening Mercyhurst's profile in the Erie community
and fostering a relationship of mutual benefit.
Sennett concurred. "I think we have made a pledge to the Erie
community that we are going to be here in an even more predominant
educational role in the future."
And, as Mercyhurst manages the transition from its first 75 years
to its next, these four trustees are looking forward to the challenges
ahead. Thaf s the genius of this particular board, Dailey said. They
roll up their sleeves and they get to work. Whether it's in the front lines
or behind the scenes, they get the job done.
By Deborah Morton
Photos from Mercyhurst archives
M R C H 2 0 0 3 15
economy ens need for alumni connections to
Career Services en
As the nation's economy continues its
slump, job anxiety among students preparing
to graduate is understandably growing more
intense. But for Mercyhurst students prepar
ing to enter the job market, help is just a few
steps away on the second floor of Old Main.
There the Career Services staff works to
showcase the skills of students, while also
building relationships with alumni who can
provide an open door for graduates in work
places around the country.
But don't be misled, Career Services con
nections flow both ways.
"We want to let alumni know we are
here for them, just like we are here for our
current students," explained Hvezda, who
added that alumni often don't realize they
can ask for help with resumes and other job
search tools after graduation. "Once you are a
Mercyhurst student, you are always a
Mercyhurst student, and we offer the same
services to our graduates as we do to the kids
still in school and just now looking for their
first job."
Hvezda said he works constantly to find
alumni at businesses on the local, national
and international level, and then tries to use
their knowledge to help current students.
"If alumni want to get involved with the
college, they can help us by setting up intern
programs with us, recruiting on campus, par
ticipating in the job fair — there are many
ways they can get involved and help the stu
dents who are doing what they once did —
looking for an internship or job."
Even just agreeing to bring materials to
the college's annual Career and Job Fair is
important, said Hvezda, who added that the
advice of an alumnus is often as useful to an
undergraduate as a job offer.
"We call it a career and job fair for a rea
son, and opening it up to all ages of students
allows them to meet with our alumni and ask
them questions about what their advice is
and what they did while students here," said
Hvezda. "To get answers about a double
major, or a particular internship or a special
class they took ... that can be invaluable to
our students."
That is why, said Hvezda, it is important
to reach even those alumni who may feel
their hands are tied because they are not in a
position that controls hiring.
"Even if you aren't in charge of hiring, if
you can put us in touch with the person who
does recruiting, or if you write a letter of rec
ommendation, even just open the door to us
so we can perhaps make a presentation to
your company, all of that is important," said
Hvezda.
same services to our
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— Robert Hvezda,
director of Career Services
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The Career Services office facilitates
internships and cooperative education oppor
tunities that are required by nearly every
major on campus, and works to build the ini
tial contact with a student in their sophomore
or junior year into a solid relationship. Once a
student is in contact with Career Services, the
office can work with him or her on a resume,
type it, and then run copies of it. Students can
also open a credentials file, which contains
evidence of internships, letters of recommen
dation from faculty, employers and adminis
trators, and evidence of certifications or tests
required for some majors, such as education.
Once that information is on file with the
office, applying for a job or internship is as
simple as contacting the office and asking for
a packet to be sent out to a prospective
employer.
While the Career Services staff works
with students, they are also helping a record
number of displaced workers who have land
ed back at college for retraining. So when
alumni can assist Career Services with job
opportunity information, they may be assist
ing fellow alumni who are back at
Mercyhurst College for a midlife career
change.
"When we talk to our graduate students
and to our adult students, we stress that we
can help them rejoin the work force just as we
can traditional students," said Hvezda.
"Those students are invited to participate in
all our opportunities, just like the kids are."
16 M E R C Y H U R S T M A G A Z I N E
Above: April Worst '02 began preparing for her post-graduation job search at the spring 2002 Mercyhurst College Career and Job Fair. At right: Career Services secretary Cynthia Waidley assists sophomore Sara Greenlee (standing) with her resume.
While the economy hasn't seemed to impact internship placements so far, Hvezda said that he expects this spring to be a bit more challenging than in the past few years.
"We haven't seen our placement numbers go down, but it is getting tougher out there," he said. So far, the Career Services office is on track for internship placements, running about 275 in the 2002-2003 academic year. The office set a record two years ago when 305 students were placed in internships and cooperative education positions in one year.
"We feel that our internships and cooperative education efforts greatly benefit our students when the economy is in a
•\\ Need a Job at Graduation? Graduating $«fUor% *tw aMmfcng Job F«A in R K O O J NumMrt.
Arc you going to? . . ,
slump," said Hvezda. "With the added depth of an internship, our students are more marketable and very competitive when they leave Mercyhurst, and that makes our job easier when they are looking for jobs."
A growing national reputation, and the good example set by alumni already in the work force makes getting positions for Mercyhurst graduates a less daunting task, even when the economy has slowed hiring.
"When these companies do decide to hire someone, they are being particularly selective, and when they come here, they see our students' credentials files and know they are getting qualified, competitive students ready to work, and that makes our job easier."
*\ ^ . I t
Fair - .
»
Gennifer Weiss
Photos by Gennifer Weiss and Rich Forsgren/Erie Times News. Reprinted with permission of Times Publishing Co., Erie, Pa. Copyright 2002
M R I! 2 0 0 3 17
Winter Sports Review. Mercyhurst College rookie netminder
Andy Franck of Lakewood, Ohio, was named winner of the Ice Hockey Collegiate Commissioners' Association Commissioners' Choice Awards for January. The awards honor the top rookie and top player of the month in Division I men's college hockey.
Franck, the 6-foot-tall, 195-pound fresh
man goaltender, was chosen as the Commis
sioners7 Choice Rookie-of-the-Month. He - ^
posted a perfect 7-0-0 record and a 1.57 goals
against average between the pipes during the
month of January as Mercyhurst climbed into
second place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference standings by the month's end. He
allowed two or fewer goals in six of the seven
games and stopped 170 out of 181 shots he
faced.
Andy Franck
Franck's most notable performance in
January came in a two-game showdown at
first-place Quinnipiac on Jan. 17 -18. He
stopped Quinnipiac's 21-game home winning
streak with a 5-1 win of the first game that
featured 30 saves by Franck.
# 1 ranked Harvard and #9 ranked Mercyhurst women's ice hockey teams squared off for the first time on Sunday, Feb. 2. Photo by Rob Engelhardt I Reprinted with permission of Times Publishing Co., Erie, Pa. Copyright 2003
The next night he cleared away 36 of 37
shots to complete the weekend sweep in a 2-1
Laker win, clinching the season series for
Mercyhurst over Quinnipiac as the two teams
battled for first place down the stretch. Franck
began his remarkable month by preserving a
3-1 win over University of Connecticut on
Jan. 4 with 31 saves.
Franck earned several honors in January,
including becoming the first player in the
short history of the MAAC to earn MAAC
Player of the Week flan. 27), MAAC Rookie
of the Week (Jan. 6) and MAAC Goalie of the
Week (Jan. 20) in the same month.
The IHCCA, with a mandate to address
common issues and concerns at a national
level, is comprised of the six commissioners
of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey confer
ences; the Central Collegiate Hockey Asso
ciation (CCHA), College Hockey America
(CHA), the Eastern Collegiate Athletic
Conference (ECAC), Hockey East Association
(HEA), the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference (MAAC) and the Western
Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
Women's Hockty The biggest crowd ever to fill the
Mercyhurst Ice Center for a women's hockey
game showed up when #9 Mercyhurst
College Lady Laker hockey team lined up
against #1 Harvard on Feb. 2.
More than 1,123 fans cheered on the
Lakers during a great game as the Harvard
team, which included Olympians Jennifer
Botterill, Julie Chu, and Angela Ruggiero,
battled Mercyhurst for what eventually was a
5-2 loss for the Lakers. During the game,
Mercyhurst senior Tiffany Ribble stopped 38
of 43 Harvard shots to help keep the Lakers
in the game.
18 M R C H U M I N
m
Photo by Rob Engelhardt i Reprinted with permission of Times Publishing Co., Erie, Pa. Copyright 21103 ^m^
The win was the 14th straight for the Crimson and improved their overall record to 17-1-0 while the Lady Lakers had a 10-game winning streak severed. The contest was the first-ever between the teams.
Harvard hadn't lost since Minnesota edged the Crimson 4-3 in Minnesota on Nov. 17. The Lady Lakers hadn't tasted defeat since Nov. 23 when Princeton scored in overtime for a 3-2 win at the Ice Center.
tyasebaff
King makes the transition this year to shortstop, after three years as the Lakers' starting second baseman while Strohm will continue a record-setting career at Mercyhurst. He is a three-time AU-GLIAC selection and the Mercyhurst record-holder for strikeouts in one season and career.
Rounding out the senior class will be closer Mark Thompson, and key middle relief pitcher Matt Spence. Chris Meyer will also be an important piece in the Laker rotation after missing last year's season due to surgery.
Defensively, third baseman Brad Pickering will solidify the left side of the infield, Frank Rodriguez will lead a strong group of catchers, and Dan Capretta will compete for a starting DH spot this year.
Offensively, the outfield will be the key to this year's lineup success. Junior Paddy Relihan hopes to improve on some impressive numbers from last season, playing in either right or left field. Sophomore Devin Kowalski hopes to build on his outstanding performance in 2002, which earned him a starting spot in the Laker outfield.
Freshman Matt Echan, a transfer from Kent State, will also be a key factor in the outfield. Echan was named one of the Top 100 players in Ohio in 2001, then was red shirted in 2002. Junior Dan Coffee, the 38th round pick of the Boston Red Sox out of high school, could provide the big pop the Lakers need in the lineup with his tremendous power and strong arm. He will start in both right field and at first base.
Working with Strohm in the starting rotation will be junior lefthander, Chris Lang; junior right-hander, Paul Baumert; and junior lefthander, JD Roewer, who is recovering from surgery. Junior left-hander Jim Sacramento should also start again in 2003, and there is a strong chance two freshmen, right-handed pitchers Nick Candy and Sean McWilliams, could see some time in the rotation. Freshman right-handed pitcher Mike Cahoon has also been impressive. Cahoon and McWilliams were All-New York State Selections in 2002.
Mens Lacrosse
A very strong senior class, including co-captains Matt King and Steve Strohm, will lead the 2003 Laker baseball team.
The 2003 team expects the upcoming season to provide both a number of challenges and a great deal of success. At stake is an opportunity for the Lakers to earn the program's first-ever Final Four berth and the opportunity to play for a national championship. To achieve that, the team must tackle a schedule featuring six of the top 13 teams in Division II plus traditional rivals, all vying for the chance to play in the Final Four.
Lacrosse hopes to build on last season's 8-6 record and fourth consecutive Top 10 final ranking in the national Division II poll, and will take a big step toward doing that by welcoming back 27 upper-classman players from last season and adding 11 fresh faces to the roster. The Lakers return seven starters and 15 players who saw considerable field time during last year's season.
The Lakers attack brings back three sophomores from last year:
M R il 2 0 0 3 19
(Women's Lacrosse
Men '$ Lacrosse
Ian Komorek, Jerod Felice, and Joe Poole. Leading the group is Komorek, who blossomed at the end of last season and finished the year with 23 goals and six assists. A great complement to Komorek is Felice, who began the 2002 season as the fourth attack man, but proved his worth as the season progressed and ended the schedule as a starting attack man netting four goals and adding 19 assists. Poole will round out the attack group. Poole played on the first line of midfield last season and finished a strong freshman campaign scoring nine goals and four assists. The attack unit will be bolstered by freshmen Andrew Schuster, Blake Tandoi and Scott Janssen.
Also returning this year is a group of talented midfielders who will serve as the backbone of the team's playoff hopes. Leading the group is senior All-American candidate Jim Detwiler, who finished the 2002 season with 16 goals and seven assists. Detwiler has been one of the most underrated midfielders in Division II over the past two years. His competitive attitude and athletic ability have earned him a captain's role for the 2003 team. Returning along with Detwiler is junior Eric Gattie, senior Dom Aratari, also a 2003 captain, and Dan James.
In addition, a number of freshmen could contribute a great deal this season, including Jonathan Kane, who is the most imposing of all Laker midfielders. Joining Kane will be Jim Mullaley and Ted Winslow.
Defensively, the Lakers return everyone from a young defense that allowed less than 10 goals per game last season. This year's defense is led by senior captain Matt Beach, who will be counted to guard the other team's top attack man. Joining Beach are junior Justin Hapeman and three sophomores: Brendan Doran, Adam Marino, and Josh Mihoc.
The defense will be anchored by three returning goaltenders. The duo of junior Mike Rispoli and senior Kevin Tidgewell will fight for the starting spot. Jim McCann will serve as backup.
With the return of an experienced defense and explosive offensive players, the Lady Lakers expect to again be a power in Division II women's lacrosse. Mercyhurst returns all of its defenders from the 2002 season, a group that allowed only 111 goals last year.
With All-American Danielle Poole and senior goalkeeper Diana Rapacki, the Lakers expect to continue their habit of shutting down the opposition attack. There will also be several new faces on defense this year, including freshman Lauren Belle.
Women's Lacrosse
The offense lost standouts Laurie Sienkiewicz and Vanessa Turner, but there is no shortage of offensive weapons in 2003. Returning junior starter Shannon Griffith will be joined by two experienced sophomores: Dara Liberati and Kristin Jankowski. Adding to the offensive mix will be freshman Kelsey French. With her strong passing skills, she looks to add an explosive touch to the attack.
Depth is the name of the game for the Lakers at midfield. Two-time All-American Amy Plumley, who is a potent weapon at both offense and defense, is complemented by her fellow senior midfielders, Jenny Meyers, Kate Stoddard, and Mariel Zummo. This experienced midfield is bolstered by a sophomore class that gained playing time throughout the 2002 season, and by freshman left-hander Karyn Craft. Opposing teams will find it difficult to find a way around this midfield unit.
Contributed by the coaching and sports information staff at Mercyhurst College
Photos by Paul Lorei
20 M R C H R M I N
rDistinauished alumni now one
a If you have ever flipped through the
pages of this magazine, pausing to read the various alumni spotlights within, and thought: "My friend — my sister — my teammate ... would be a great spotlight!" — your time has come.
Each year Mercyhurst College presents awards to honor those alumni who not only went above and beyond while enrolled at the college, but also continued their dedication to service and excellence throughout their lifetime. The Mercyhurst Alumni Association honors both Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni while the athletic department inducts exceptional athlete-alum
ni into its Hall of Fame, but both need your help.
So often, awards seem to go to those alumni who have served the college well over their lifetime; alumni whose names everyone knows. But Mercyhurst would like to reconnect with those alumni who prefer to remain incognito, and for that, we need the support of our graduates across the country.
Is your best friend a former volleyball player who now coaches kids at the local Y? What about that great guy you played football with who is godfather to your son, a doctor and heavily involved in his community? The only way Mercyhurst knows about these
hidden gems is through the input of their
classmates and fellow alumni. So take a minute, look over the criteria
for Distinguished Alumnus, Outstanding Young Alumnus and the Hall of Fame, and see if you can help us locate graduates to give them the recognition they deserve.
Mercyhurst Coffeye Sports Jiattojjamt
To recognize the accomplishments and achievements of former athletes, Mercyhurst established a Hall of Fame in 1996. Since then, the Hall of Fame inductees list has
M A R C H 2 0 0 3 21
grown to include 22 graduates representing 14 sports. "It is very important to recognize our athletic past and identify
and pay tribute to the student-athletes who were instrumental in the development of our athletic programs through their outstanding athletic achievements and contributions/' said Pete Russo, athletic director at Mercyhurst. He added, "It is essential that we create an athletic history and tradition by recording and recognizing the best student-athletes from the past."
Each year, the Hall of Fame committee evaluates nominations and strives to maintain the high standards of the honor roll.
With 25 sports on campus, and nearly 700 student-athletes on campus, Russo said there is little chance of running out of candidates, but nominating and selecting quality candidates can be an uphill battle.
"We don't want to dilute the 'outstanding' component of the Hall of Fame, so we don't want to settle for anything less than the best," said Russo. "We want to continue to honor only those who go above and beyond, not only here, but also after Mercyhurst."
Russo explained that the Hall of Fame serves not only as a tribute to those who helped build the athletic legacy of the college, but also as an inspiration to those currently involved in sports.
"The existence of the Hall of Fame should serve as an incentive for every student-athlete who aspires to be inducted for his or her exceptional athletic contribution," said Russo. "Years from now our inductees can return to Mercyhurst, visit the lobby in the MAC and show their family and children their Hall of Fame plaque on the wall and feel a great sense of pride and belonging as part of the Mercyhurst family."
Eligibility for the award is fairly simple: The athlete must have graduated from Mercyhurst after attending at least two years at Mercyhurst; graduates are eligible for nomination five years after they graduate; an athlete must have contributed significantly to the image of Mercyhurst athletes in an extremely positive fashion in order to be considered; there is a special category for athletes who helped pioneer sports at Mercyhurst during the earliest years of the college.
A few other exceptions are noted in the eligibility rules: A person who was not an athlete or not a graduate of Mercyhurst can be nominated if over a significant period of time that person has contributed greatly to Mercyhurst athletics in an extremely positive fashion; and a whole team can be nominated after five years.
To nominate a graduate, mail your suggestions to John Leisering, sports information officer, Mercyhurst College, 501 E. 38th St., Erie, PA 16546, e-mail [email protected] or submit an online nomination form found at:
httyilIwwwmercyhuntedulAlumm
Nominations are taken in late fall, with the committee making its decision early in the new year, and then notifying the recipients. Hall of Fame inductions are conducted during the annual sports banquet held as part of graduation.
9ost winners ojtk (Distinguished
flhmni ftward(since 1968) ft M/»
Catherine Durkin, Esq. '36 Mary Ciaiola Simson '37 * Alice Reeder Lockhart '34 Barbara A. Chambers, Ed.D. '60 * Mary Catherine Sherwood Lieb '42 Judith Pitney, Ph.D. '67 Coletta Crawford Ginnard '49 Elizabeth Taylor Kleindinst '37 Martha Jane Matjasko-Chiu, M.D. '64 Sister Mary Charles Weschler, RSM '40 Helen Ann Fabian Mullen, Ed.D. '47 Sandra Mangone Zobrest 70 * Sister Carolyn Herrmann, RSM '38 Margaret E. Hirsch Whyte '56 * Sister M. Eustace Taylor, RSM'29 * Sister M. Eymard Poydock, RSM '43 Rita A. Walter Weiss '57 Sister Joan Chittister, OSB '62 James E. Sabol 70 Patricia J. Liebel '53 Linda M. Colvin Rhodes 70 Honorable Joyce A. Savocchio '65 Gary L. Bukowski, CFRE 73 Joan Kostolansky Evans '60 Katherine Hebert Sloan, Ph.D. '64 Sister M. Damien Mlechick, RSM '56 Marilyn Garden Seach '52 Margaret Anne Mooney Emling '37 Barbara A. Stone Perry, Ph.D. '57 Conine Halperin-Egan '80 Cathryn F. Bern '77 Florene Cherry Joyce '53 Charles R. Hayes 74 Susan McCartney Horowitz '59 Albert P. Messina 71
Sister Mar)' Matthew Baltus, RSM '45 Michael E. Heller, CPA 79 Sister M. Loretta McHale, RSM '34 Mary E. Patalon Schaaf '68 Sister Maura Smith, RSM '48 Rev. Walter Green '80 Therese Toflilnski Walter, PhD. '63 Edward W. Inscho 76 Margaret J. McMahon '37 Claudia Evans Garvey '42 Bruce E. Swanson '86 Sister Christine Vladimiroff, OSB '65 * H. Patricia Curran '52 William Chiodo 7 3 *Dr. Susan Hall '61 Marlene DiTullio Mosco '68 Sister JoAnne Courneen '64 Brent Scarpo '84
Jeanne Ledoux Linek '48 Sally CarlowKohler'51
* deceased
Past recipients of the Outstanding Young
Alumni Award (since 1993)
William Greenleaf '93
Mary Kay Vona, Ed.D. '83
Joseph E. McGraw, Esq. '85
Gregory J. Lindner '85
Diane Erzen Dominick '89
Daniel Langan '91
'Distinguished'fl(umni Award Each year at Homecoming, Mercyhurst presents its highest alum
ni honor — the Distinguished Alumni Award. Since the awards program was launched in 1968,56 graduates have been inducted into this prestigious group.
To be eligible for this honor, an alumnus must have graduated from Mercyhurst at least 15 years ago. Awards are given in three categories: outstanding achievement in a chosen profession, outstanding service to community and outstanding service to Mercyhurst since graduation. Also presented at Homecoming is the Young Alumnus award, to recipients who must have graduated no more than 15 years ago. This award recognizes recent college graduates who have made a mark for themselves early on in their professional careers.
According to Patricia J. Liebel '53, director of alumni services, the
22 M R C Y H U R S T M A G A Z I N
awards were created in 1968 to honor the accomplishments of alumni
as they continued their lives post-Mercyhurst That, in and of itself, makes it sometimes difficult to pick recipi
ents. "We don't know what everyone else knows about our alumni/'
said Liebel. "We try and keep in touch with as many as we can, but we really need our graduates to let us know about achievements of their peers/'
Nominations for these awards should be sent to the Alumni Services Office before June 15. Include your nominee's name, current address, class year, award category and the reason(s) why you feel he or she should be considered as a candidate for an alumni award.
, To send nominations, mail your choice to Pat Liebel, Alumni Services, Mercyhurst College, 501 E. 38th St., Erie, PA 16546, e-mail [email protected] or complete the online nomination form found at:
http://zimw.mercyhurst.edu/AlumniandParents/APJ.3jilum
The alumni board reviews nominations, and potential recipients will be notified during the summer. Because of the prestige of these awards, recipients must be present to receive them.
By Gennifer Weiss
Photos from the Mercyhurst archives
ttdofi
Joanne M. Connelly Raymundo '91 Paul Young 78 Gary P. Bowles '92 Dario Cipriani '74 ScottA.Gorring'89 Teresa Szumigala Callaghan '95 Julie A. Kemling '90 Timothy Ruth '86 Dr. Ravinder Sabherwal '82 Veronica M. Sansom '92 * Dorothy Cronauer '34
Helen Louise Patterson Crosby '40
Kay Hebert Sloan, Ph.D. '64 John E. Green '85 Allan Belovarac, Ph.D. 73 David A. Armstrong, Esq. '86 Scott Burfoot '92 John Reilly Costello '83 Mary Margaret Adams Kaliszak '86 Tricia A. Mahoney '83 Lisa Maxson Beery '90 Craig A. Zonna, Esq. '86
* deceased
:ame
women's soccer basketball hockey men's golf football women's basketball softball football men's tennis women's soccer field hockey, women's basketball, women's tennis field hockey, women's basketball, women's tennis women's golf men's basketball rowing football men's hockey baseball swimming women's basketball women's basketball football
Mark yi our
KLAT FORUtt
£7
For those of you who would like to reconnect with area
alumni over the summer while also supporting a great cause -
write down Saturday and p y^W^pS^SSBS y* \
Sunday, July 19-20, the dates j ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ s i for the 10th Annual American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event at McDowell High School's Gus Anderson Field in Erie.
The event - a 24-hour walk — helps fund research toward finding a cure for cancer. During the event, teams of people gather at the high school track and take turns walking or running laps. Each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times during the 24-hour event.
Last year was the third year Mercyhurst alumni participated in the walk, which in 2002 drew 168 teams and an estimated 3,500 participants, volunteers and spectators.
In 2003, Mercyhurst alumni will again walk as a team, and hopes are high we'll draw a big crowd of alumni who can show their support for cancer research by raising money and walking in the relay. Last year the team of 12 alumni and friends completed the 24-hour event and raised nearly $1,000.
Please join us for this wonderful opportunity to reconnect with your former classmates, show your support for cancer patients and survivors, and help raise money for the American Cancer Society.
For more information about joining the Mercyhurst Relay for Life Team, or to make a donation to the Mercyhurst team, contact Gennifer Weiss, [email protected] or 814.824.3315 or Gary Peterson, [email protected] or 814.824.3320.
Don't forget about
mmmmm Sept. 19-21,2003
wlmHMWmmtJ Oct. 10-12,2003
M A R C H 2 0 0 3 23
Mercyhurst Senior Spotlight..
"If you happen to be
a senior athlete this year,
remember the important
and special things that
make your team unique
and be sure to pass them
on to those underclass
men. Remember the con
tributions you have
made and be proud of
them; it's one of the only
ways to look back and
never forget." - Danielle Poole '03
Athlete's Journal
Erie Times-News
10-31-02
ri When Mercyhurst College senior
Danielle Poole wrote those words last
October, she poured them straight from the
heart. After almost four years at the 'Hurst,
playing field hockey and lacrosse and serv
ing as captain of both teams, her college ath
letic career was nearing its end.
Once liberated, the feelings that she held
so personally triggered a ripple effect among
other senior athletes on campus. Still,
Danielle never knew how universal her senti
ments were until a senior football player
approached her one day and said, 'Thanks
for writing that article. It meant a lot. We put
it up in our locker room for motivation."
Danielle said that was the most mean
ingful compliment she received in writing
her weekly column, "Athlete's Journal," for
the Erie Times-News last fall.
"It touched me more than anything that
my peers were reading and that they cared
about what I was writing," she said.
Danielle, 22, of Wooster, Ohio, is a biolo
gy major with a pre-med concentration. She
will graduate this spring and has applied to
optometry school, but she is in no rush to
leave Mercyhurst.
"To tell you the truth, I can't see myself
anywhere else," she said. "I love it here. The
people make this school. I can't believe how
well I've clicked with everyone. I still have
friends who graduated two years ago that I
keep in touch with."
As a team player who juggled three
sports in high school and two in college,
Danielle can't imagine going solo, although
she said she'd like to take up golf and tennis
some day and train for her ultimate goal of
being in the Ironman competition.
"My best friendships have been made
on the playing field," she said, acknowledg
ing that she needed those friends last fall
when, after three years of starting as a defen
sive back on Mercyhurst's field hockey team,
she lost her spot to a freshman.
"I was pretty stressed out - trying to get
into optometry school, losing my spot on the
team and not playing as much - it was a
rough time," she said. "But I never had so
much support from a team as that one."
Rather than mope, Danielle kept her
chin up, stayed on task with her training and
subbed in whatever spot she was called upon
to fill, eventually settling into midfield.
"I hope I taught the girls a lesson," she
said. "I hope they saw that you can still
achieve things if you keep trying, just maybe
in a different way."
Danielle hopes to have her last hurrah at
Uercvhurst this spring by taking her lacrosse
team to the Division II national champi
onship.
"We have eight seniors on the team and
we are all very close and each one of us
wants to win the national championship,"
said Danielle, who made first-team Ail-
American in lacrosse last season. "Last year,
we were fifth in the nation, going 11 and 3,
and we are even stronger this year. I think if
we keep everybody on track and the seniors
go out there as true leaders, we can do it."
Danielle is the first to admit that she
came to Mercyhurst in the fall of 1999 for
sports; academics were secondary. But once
inside The Gates, she found herself motivated
to achieve in every facet of her life.
"I never worked as hard as I did here,"
she said, winning academic All-American
honors in both field hockey and lacrosse. She
also is a charter member of Mercyhurst's
Rotaract club and currently is organizing a
5K Run/Walk to raise money for Rotary
International's mission of eliminating polio
worldwide.
In the beginning, Danielle said she
lacked direction and didn't know what field
24 M R H U R S M A G A Z I N E
/o-'Banieffe 9oofe '03
<?/• *<Z
of study to pursue. "I only knew I liked people and I wanted to do something health
related/' she said. After taking her core classes, she was drawn to the sciences -
biology particularly - and decided to concentrate in pre-med.
As an athlete, she considered going into podiatry. "I could do feet/'.she said. 'That's a good field for an athlete."
As a woman, she considered dermatology. "I could do skin. I could help make women beautiful."
As a wanna-be wife and mother, she considered radiology. "I thought that might work for me because I want to have a family and I don't want to be on call all the time."
In the end, after shadowing doctors with different specialties during summer vacations, she opted for optometry.
"I didn't like the time limitations other doctors seemed to have with their patients/' she said. "In optometry, it seemed as though there was more time to sit down and talk to the patient, and that's something that is important to me."
So, with a plan for the future and only a few more months left at college, Danielle is savoring every last moment on the Hill and collecting the memories that she knows will last a lifetime. She's also come to realize that even though its physical presence may soon be gone from her life, the Mercyhurst spirit is something she will carry with her always. J
e as
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By Deborah Morton Photo by fanet Campbell I Reprinted with permission of Times Publishing Co., Erie, Pa. Copyright 2002
s s s s s ^ Part
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cfass Notes... Tfie Seventies
Barbara Luttrell Lewis 73, Hillsboro, W.Va., is in her 30th year teaching kindergarten at Hillsboro School. She received national board certification in May 2000.
John Havrilla '74, Lancaster, Pa., is president and CEO of Havrilla Corrigan Advertising in Lancaster.
James Lieb 74, Erie, has been promoted to the post of finance director and assistant treasurer at Mercyhurst College.
Bonnie James Shaker '82, Niles, Ohio, has published a book: "Coloring Locals: Racial Formation in Kate Chopin's Youth's Companion Stories." The book is available through the University of Iowa Press.
David Hewett '87, Erie, has been named controller at Mercyhurst College.
ifie Nineties
The tighti tes Ana Hernandez Brandt '82, Cleveland, Ohio, is a cardiac unit secretary at the Cleveland Clinic following several years as a stay-at-home mom. She was one of three foreign students at Mercyhurst in the '80s.
Carl Mielke III '91, Spartanburg, S.C., received a doctorate of chiropractic from Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic.
Shelly VanAlstine O'Hara '91, Saint Marys, Pa., is active in the victim service field as coordinator for Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Elk County, and has her own at-home business doing sewing and alterations.
Cfass of 1960 mtni-reunton
During the summer of 2002, several members of the Mercyhurst College class of 1960 gathered at the home of Agnes Siracusa Bays in Lockport, N.Y. Spending some time together were (front row, left to right): Adele Ontko, Joan Bye Dengler, Joan Kostolansky Evans, Barbara Chambers, Agnes Siracusa Bays and (back row, left to right) Mary Anne Koss Flynn, Connie Revelas Curtis and Sally Koss Rowse '68, sister of Mary Anne Koss.
Stephanie Buka '92, Pittsburgh, Pa., received a professional certificate in forensic science and law from the Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in February 2003.
Brian Dloniak '95, Greensboro, N.C., is an account executive for NewSouth Communications.
Charles Andres '97, Washington, D.C., is a project coordinator for the John E Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
James Strouse '97, Bethlehem, Pa., is a supervisor for Easter Seals of New Jersey.
John Haltigan '99, Romulus, N.Y, earned his master of arts degree in forensic psychology from Castleton State College in Castleton, Vt. He is a clinical therapist for adolescent sexual offenders and other antisocial children.
Tf)t Miffc ennium Marissa Ortman '00, Anthony, N.M., has accepted a one-year, full-time volunteer placement through Mercy Volunteer Corps, a branch of AmeriCorps, working with Mexican women and children for justice.
Thomas Palmer '00, Hamburg, N.Y, is a finance manager at the McGuire Group in Buffalo, N.Y
4
Kelly Boyle '01, Pittsburgh, Pa., is a tax accountant with Thomas Pandolfo & Associates Ltd.
Scott Farison '01, Marion, Ohio, is attending the Graduate School of Business at Robert Morris University where he is also a graduate assistant football coach.
Heather Weber Palmer '01, Hamburg, N.Y, is a marketing assistant at Buffalo Jewelry in Amherst, N.Y
26 M E R C Y H U M Z I N
flfumni Spink... <WeM. ina $
John Munch '91 married Cynthia Winans Dec. 27,2002, at St. Peter Cathedral, Erie.
Melissa Thill '91 married William Jones Nov. 21, 2002, in a private ceremony in Conway, N.H.
Matthew Benacci '96 married Allison Marsden '97 July 13,2002, at St. Luke Catholic Church, Erie.
Marc Nelson '96 married Constance Cage Oct. 12,2002, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Erie.
Carol Brainard '97 married Anthony Letkiewicz Oct. 4,2002, at Christ the King Chapel, Mercyhurst College, Erie.
Anthony Woodrome '97 married Heidi Schnaekel '99 Jan. 4,2003, at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church, Erie.
Kristen Kelso '98 married James Goodban II Sept. 21, 2002, at First Presbyterian Church, North East, Pa.
Todd Matlak '99 married Heather Lawson July 27,2002, at St. James Catholic Church, Erie.
Shane Lemons '00 married Catherine Bowers June 22,2002, at Christ the King Chapel, Mercyhurst College, Erie.
Scott Messenger '00 married Lisa Inter Sept. 27,2002, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Erie.
Thomas Palmer '00 married Heather Weber '01 Sept. 14,2002, at Christ the King Chapel, Mercyhurst College, Erie.
Amy Doane '01 married Kyle Neubauer April 27,2002, in Frederick, Md.
Summer Oler '01 married Steven Bearance July 27,2002, at Christ the King Chapel, Mercyhurst College, Erie.
Anthony Cruz '02 married Laurie Kurutz Sept. 21,2002, at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Erie.
Samantha Roth '92r '95
Samantha 1{otf) '92,'% Samantha Roth's life has taken her
down two different roads but, finally, she's reached an intersection.
Roth's new position as executive director of Pb X Inc., a Pittsburgh nonprofit organization that helps families maintain healthy, environmentally safe homes, lets her combine the skills she garnered from pursuing two degrees at Mercyhurst College. In 1992, she graduated with a degree in business and marketing, and in 1995, she earned her bachelor's in social work.
"I was always asked how my degrees related to one another," said Roth. "Even some of my professors viewed them as polar opposites."
But now Roth says her seemingly opposite paths have merged. Her goal is to utilize her background in business and social work to create a national model for addressing environmental hazards from a community-based perspective.
"Our mission is to create and maintain environmentally safe homes by assuring that southwestern Pennsylvania has the knowledge and resources to protect its residents from in-home environmental toxins," she explained.
Roth intends to broaden the scope of Pb X beyond its initial focus of preventing lead poisoning by adding new programs that address hazards like pesticides and environmental toxins affecting indoor air quality including contributors to asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism.
Previously Roth was employed by the Erie County Office of Children and Youth, served as consultant to the director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, and worked for Heinz Endowments.
Although the organization for which she now works is smaller than the large funding institutions and government agencies she had worked for previously, her mission is not.
In assuming her new post, Roth said, "I thought it was a pivotal time in my career when I could aptly take a step into the community and bring the knowledge and strengths I had obtained working for government and funding organizations to help grow an organization that matches my value system."
Meanwhile, she said she is grateful to her father, Mercyhurst vice president for academic affairs Dr. Andrew Roth, who understood the intersection between business and social work all along and always supported her efforts to get there.
By Deborah Morton
Contributed photo
M R C H 2 0 0 3 27
Jeffrey Deveney '02 married Christine Spinks June 22, 2002, at St. Peter Cathedral, Erie.
Randy Stankey, technical director of the Maty D'Angelo Performing Arts Center, married Melanie Kuebel Jan. 4,2003.
<Birtf). !5 Debra Rieger Cooper '90 and husband Jeffrey had a son, Joshua Thomas, April 29, 2002.
Frederick Galovich '91 and wife Charlene (Kuhn) '93 had three sons: Adam Benjamin, Aug. 31,1998, Zachary Frederick, Oct. 27, 2000, and Gavin Michael, Sept. 19, 2002.
Shelly VanAlstine O'Hara '91 and husband Douglas had a son, Kenneth James, Oct. 3, 2000.
Paul Sullivan '93 and wife Robyn had a daughter, Anna Elizabeth, April 25, 2002.
Erin Kalgren Waersch '93 and husband Steve had a son, Jacob Neal, Nov. 9, 2001.
Matthew Nasman '93 and wife Colleen (Geary) '94 had two daughters: Catherine Mary, Aug. 27, 2000, and Meghan Elizabeth, July 9, 2002.
Kelly Kinglsand Rankin '94 had a daughter, Sydney Grace, Sept. 10, 2002.
Ronald Fleming Jr. '95 and wife Dawn (Wade) '97 had a son, Nathan Alec, Nov. 14, 2002.
Michael Kisiel '97 and wife Shannon had a daughter, Nola Angeline, Nov. 25,2002.
Bradley Miller '00 and wife Autumn (McClurg) '00 had a son, Darren Robert, Sept. 3, 2002.
Dr. Melissa Barranger-Mathys, director of chemistry, biochemistry and physics department, and husband Jeffrey had a son, Erick Alexander, Dec. 18,2002.
Dr. Melissa Gibson, assistant professor of communication, and husband Michael had a daughter, Abigail Lynn, Jan. 23, 2003.
Gary Hepler, Erie campus Sodexho chef, and his wife Rosalee, had a son, George Joseph, Dec. 27, 2002.
Dr. Terry Pettijohn, assistant professor of psychology and his wife Shelley had a daughter, Ana Grace, Dec. 17,2002.
Condole ences Alumni Helen Waldinger Rossi '32 Margaret McCarthy Bitting '42 Mary Claire Jones '49 Patricia Urban Wethman '60 Sister Mary Patrick Slavin, RSM '68
Eileen Greka Bishop 71 Robert Brown '80 Stanley Kendzior '82 Terri Loranty Almeter '86 James Dixon '94
Husband of Margaret Mooney Emling '37 (Charles N. Emling) Margaret Young Dunn '54 (William Dunn) Barbara DeSantis Bates '59 (Thomas F. Bates) Barbara Luttrell Lewis 73 (Clyde Lewis)
Mother of Wendy Lampart '98 (Pam Lampart)
Father of Steve Lyons, assistant professor of music education (Gene Lyons)
Grandfather of Bonnie Hall, registrar at Mercyhurst North East (Max Schlosser) Becky Van Riper, health services receptionist (Max Schlosser)
Brother of Kathleen Bates Dilley '64 (Thomas F. Bates)
Sister of Matthew Grimaldi, assistant director of athletics (Catherine Ann Grimaldi)
Student Kimberly Ann Spinks, sophomore
Its News to Us! i
Help us fill the Class Notes pages. Share your news of a new baby or marriage, promotion, transfer, new job, award or honor, works published or new degrees. We also welcome professional photographs and 35mm one-subject close-up snapshots. Photographs will be returned if requested. Information is used as space permits.
Mail your news to Mercyhurst Magazine, Alumni Office, Mercyhurst College, 501 E. 38th St., Erie, PA 16546; fax (814) 824-2153 or e-mail <[email protected]>. Mercyhurst invites letters to the editor.
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28 M E R C Y H U R S T M A G A Z I N E
Desperately seeking island adventures, I have lived to tell the tale of time spent in the hands of a British Mr, who wasn't even my husband.
Hmmm ... or as the English say Phworrr!
At this writing I am two weeks past my visit to the hospital for
keyhole surgery where I was quite nicely seen to by two Misters. AUTHOR'S SIDE NOTE: I'll be first to agree that it is quite off put
ting not to be able to address your surgeon as Doctor (it didn't feel right to simply call him Mister and I never could have called him Bob) but that is how they do it here. You just have to soldier on and accept it, same as when you finally accept that they call doctors' offices surgeries and that they don't put periods after abbreviations for Mr and Mrs or Dr... Bloody annoying, I know.
Here is the backdrop. Following decades of sports-related abuse, I took up tennis and was immediately referred to an orthopedic surgeon.
I showed up for my first appointment with clipboard and questions. I thought he seemed OK, at first, so following a brief examination, I was prepped for surgery ... Ha! Just pulling your leg.
I was perfunctorily deemed operable, scheduled for an MRI and offered three upcoming dates for surgery. The American in me reared up with a mighty WHOA and a HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE, PARDNER and I commenced firing off all the normal questions -requests for referrals from former patients, career track record, med school grades, etc.
My Mister went from shocked to bemused. He told me that he had never been asked questions like this before (read: interrogated) and that he had performed five or six hundred of these operations. Without further ado he said he would see if he could rustle up a living patient for me to talk to but I had better mosey on down to the imaging department and confirm the appointment in the next 24 hours if I wanted that MRI. Then he turned on his heel and vanished in a white-coated flurry.
I was horrified. All of those Self magazine instructions committed to memory over the past two decades on how to select and interview health care practitioners were going to be of zero benefit on this island.
The MRI was cavernous, spooky and the choice of music was appalling. I was kicking myself for having forgotten to grab something from the car.
Actually, their music was probably better than suffering through my girls' current favorite, Avril Lavigne, screaming at me ad nauseum about things being complicated. She has no idea.
As I was slid out of the MRI tube I asked the technician if she had seen anything suspicious. She laughed, refused to speculate and told me I would have to wait to talk to my Mr. This conspiracy was more far-reaching than I originally had thought!
News that the MRI was conclusive was offered with an affect suggesting I was making much ado about nothing before I found myself being offered those dates - again. I panicked, he didn't. I told him I needed to talk to my lawyer, errrr ... husband and he said fine, but he needed an answer or those dates might get snapped up. I knew then what the problem was - either this surgery was extremely popular or he was hiding something.
I surged into patient advocacy overdrive, that quintessential^ American, hyper, picky, type A consumer. I fretted, I found my own former patients, talked to nurses, doctors, insurers, God. The walls of silence closed in. The British medical profession has a pre-Burrell palace level of secrecy. I finally confessed my fears to my dear husband, the Brit. He was supportive to a point. He lined up the children, showed me the calendar, circled Christmas and told me to stop stalling.
I was a head case. I entered at 10:30 a.m., was weighed, measured and questioned before being seen by my Mr who calmly reviewed the procedure before drawing a big arrow on my leg pointing to the dodgy knee. While certainly effective, I did find this a tad unsettling. Momentarily, I was drugged by an equally excellent Mr anesthesist who was so gorgeous I remember thinking that he could knock me out anytime.
I spent the post-op recovery sleeping. Six days later I got the all clear. I hadn't even cracked one of the books I had hoarded in hopes of a lengthy rehab. Mister was quite pleased with me and I saw that a bit of this glory reflected back on to him. He asked me what I thought of British surgeons now. I gushed earnestly in my best American about how pleased I was that it all went so well. He smiled when I pulled out my clipboard and asked what he thought of American patients. He said he was delighted to have made a convert out of me and choosing his words carefully left me with this ... "So, I guess you can die another day."
Touche, Mister.
Reprinted with permission of "American in Britain ft
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