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foundEgan

in photophantom

Freshman Michelle Spiegel recently caught this image of what she

believes to be a ghost in her Egan Hall dorm room using her Web cam .

Students debate

nation’s fate as it hangs

on upcoming election.

Michelle Spiegel photo

Read more on Page 2

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


With one week left until theelection, Mercyhurst College’sRepublicans and Democratsheld a debate to inform stu-dents about the candidates.

Over 70 people went to Walker Recital Hall to watchRepublicans Adam Hammer

and Tim Raley and Demo-crats Nick Johnson and SarahBelotti participate in Tuesday’sdebate, which was sponsoredby College Democrats, Young Republicans, and Pi Sigma Alpha.

Pi Sigma Alpha’s PresidentKaitlyn Faucett moderated theevent.

The questions focused on

education, energy, Iraq and theeconomy.

Each side had three minutesto respond and two minutes torebut.

Faucett began the debate with a question on the candi-dates’ plans on withdrawing from Iraq.

Sarah Belotti, a senior inpolitical science and presi-

dent of College Democrats,said it’s time to give Iraq back to the Iraqis and emphasizedObama’s original oppositionto the War in Iraq.

Tim Raley, a junior majoring in political science and com-puter systems, said Americamust not exit early like it didin Vietnam. “Now that we arethere, we need to make sure thejob is done and done well.”

Belotti rebutted and said,“We must not invest more inthe future of Iraq than theIraqis themselves.”

On the topic of educa-tion, Faucett started with theRepublicans asking, “Whatsort of problems, if any, doesyour candidate see with the No

Child Left Behind Act, and if they see problems, what are

their plans to fix them?”

Senior political sciencemajor and Young RepublicanPresident Adam Hammer sup-ported the view, “No Child LeftBehind needs to be strength-ened, not discarded” by giving examples of McCain’s specificstrategies.

On the Democrats’ side,Belotti told the audienceObama wants to make math

and science a priority, addressthe dropout crisis and raiseteacher’s salaries.

Hammer said in his rebuttal,“In terms of education, Sena-tor Obama is not the change we need. School vouchers,merit-based pay for teachersand giving money to princi-pals; those are ideas for realchange.”

In response to a questionon the rising costs of educa-tion, both sides said theircandidate’s plans to sim-plify the financial aidprocess, but whileBelotti talkedabout the specif-ics of her can-didate’s plansfor lowering the

cost of educa-tion, Hammerfocused moreon attacking the opposi-tion, criticizing Obama’s plan toeliminate Staf-ford loans.

“ S e n a t o rObama has long been a cham-pion of furthering higher education,”Belotti responded,insisting Obama’splans for Pellgrants

and college partnership pro-

grams make more sense.Of course when the topicshifted to candidates’ plansfor the economy, the debatecouldn’t go on without a refer-ence to Joe the Plumber.

After telling the Plumb-er’s story, Hammer knockedObama’s plan for income redis-tribution and raising taxes.

Nick Johnson, a senior

in social studies education,pointed to Obama and Biden’splans to reduce taxes on middleclass, keep jobs in America andinvest in retraining America’s workforce for green jobs.

After Hammer said, “Youcan’t raise taxes in a recession. That’s not just bad politics,that’s dangerous politics,” John-s o n

rebutted that Obama only

plans to raise taxes on peoplemaking more than $250,000. When the debate moved

to energy, Johnson focusedon Obama’s plans to reducegreenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent, set goals to elimi-nate America’s dependence onoil from the Middle East, andimplement a “use it or lose it”approach to existing oil fields.

Raley told the audience America needs to focus onthe short-term goals by build-ing nuclear power plants anddrilling for oil offshore and in Alaska.

Johnson rebutted, “Hestated we have enough oil forthe next 45 years, but whathappens after those years? Wecan’t guarantee we will be in a

position to get oil from othercountries.”

Raley said, “Obama’splan might help

someone some- where 100 years

from now, but we need a solu-tion now.”

Before eachside made

its closing remarks, Fau-cett askedtwo questionssubmitted by

members of the audience.In his clos-

ing remark,Hammer refer-

enced McCain’s timeas a POW, said, “His

priorities are on thecountries first and that’s

the kind of president we need

now.”

Belotti said, “We can’t expectthat if we do the same thing we’ve been doing for the lasteight years that we’ll get differ-ent results.”

All of the participants werehappy with the debate andthought both sides were pre-pared.

“It went really well,”Hammer said. “The object

of the debate wasn’t to have a winner or a loser, it was moreto get people informed aboutthe candidates, so I hope that’s what we did,” Hammer said,adding his interest in having informative debates even out-side of election season.

Junior Jennifer Jaremasaid, “I thought it wentpretty well. I think that the

Democrats could have been alittle stronger, but the Repub-licans made a lot of factualerrors.”

Other students thought thedebate should have focused onmore controversial issues likeabortion or gay marriage.

Senior James Scalise said, “Ididn’t like it. I don’t know, it

was kind of just like restating

the candidate’s positions.” A debate between both par-

ties is one of the few cam-paign methods allowed by thecollege.

Belotti said, “It’s really hard to do campaigning stuff here… We have to do it in abipartisan way so this is a way to campaign and g et the mes-sage out.”

Faucett said, “I just think that this is such an importantelection. From the polls fromfour years ago, it was the young that would have decided theelection, but the young didn’t vote. It does not matter whoyou vote for, it just mattersthat you get out and vote.”

NEWS October 29, 2008

Mercyhurst student debate on nation’s political fateBy JoEllen Marsh

Staff writer

Illustration done by Tyler Stauffer

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Secluded in a small hallway on thethird floor of Egan Hall, freshmen

roommates Michelle Spiegel and Kath-leen Finn have their room decorated with cute ghosts and small orange

gourds.Outside their door, a yellow and black

banner saying, “This House is Haunted”hangs in the spirit of Halloween.

“My parents bought me all these Hal-loween decorations, because they know

my room is haunted,” Spiegel said.Since the beginning of the year, Spie-

gel and Finn have had strange occur-

rences in their room.“Our shoes are always placed in cer-

tain positions of the room,” Spiegel said

pointing to her sneakers sitting next to

her desk and her roommate’s sandals by the closet door.

“One day we came back to our roomand all of our shoes were thrown in themiddle of the room,” Spiegel said.

Spiegel and Finn’s latest spooky en-counter happened two days ago.

“When I came back to my room; one

of the gourds was sitting on my bed,”Spiegel said.

Naturally, she thought her roommate

placed it there. “Later when Kathleenreturned to the room, I asked if she put

it on my bed. She said she had no ideahow it got there,” said Spiegel.

Later, the two were awakened in the

middle of the night. “We were lying inbed and heard our door rattling as if someone was knocking on it or trying

to get in,” Spiegel said. “I thought it wasthe wind, but the next morning I dis-covered the windows were closed.”

In the beginning of the year, Finn’shanging mirror fell off the wall andshattered on the ground despite being

Duct taped to the wall.“Things on our wall always seem to

fall off,” Spiegel said. “But, only at night,

right before we’re about to fall asleep.”She recounted a story about her

roommate’s cork board falling off the

wall even though it was strongly secured

to the wall.Spiegel has no explanation on why

her touch-sen-sitive, wobbleclock’s blue face

lights up ran-domly in themiddle of the

night, or why,after a humming sound comes

from the ceiling,her closed door

rattles.But most of

all, Speigel can’texplain the im-

ages that herlap-top cameracaptured one

day while she was absent fromher room.

“After the

shoe incident, Idecided to leave

my Web Cam on while I was doing laundry,” Spiegel said.Upon returning, Spiegel discovered her

deodorant lying on the floor.“As soon as I saw my deodorant had

fallen to the ground, I knew I had to watch the footage,” Spiegel said.

For a solid five minutes, nothing but

her bunk bed could be seen.

Several moments passed and sudden-ly a white shadow flickered on the left

hand portion of the footage. Thirty seconds later, the sound of

the deodorant crashing to the ground is

heard. But, still a skeptic, Spiegel wantedmore proof.

Before leaving for dinner one evening,

Spiegel set her Web camera to automati-cally photograph consecutive images of her room.

What she saw next brought Spiegelone step closer to believing in ghosts.

One of the photographs captured a

slender, white, human figure, standing directly in front of Spiegel’s desk.

Shadows outline what looks to be the

apparition’s rib cage though no otherdetails can be distinguished.

“The image really threw me over the

edge into believing in ghosts,” Spiegel

said.Unlike Spiegel, senior Resident As-

sistant CarrieLowery believes

in ghosts. “Itis hard not to when it happens

to you personal-ly,” Lowery said.

While living in Room 314 of Egan Hall, Low-

ery vividly re-

members seeing the same white,ghost-figure asSpiegel.

“One night,I tossed andturned for 15

minutes, trying to fall asleep. When I turned

over, I opened

my eyes and saw a white figure

standing directly next to my bed,” Lowery said.

The apparition appeared to be a

girl, though, Lowery did not look long enough to tell. “I, immediately, turnedtowards my wall and pulled the sheet

covers over my head,” Lowery said.Shortly after moving in to Egan Hall

in the beginning of this school year,

Lowery again had a supernatural experi-ence.

While putting her clothes away in

her closet, she heard a tap on her door window. “I looked out the window butdidn’t see anyone, so I continued to put

my clothes away,” Lowery said. Tap.“After I heard a second tap, I opened

my door and looked down the hallway because I knew I would be able to see a

person running in the other direction,”Lowery said.

But no one was in the hallway.

Lowery frantically searched the bath-rooms, housekeeping closet and loungefinding no one. She finally gave up and

returned to her closest. Tap, tap. Carrie… This time, the tapping noise was fol-

lowed by what Lowery believes was

someone’s voice whispering her name.“At that point, I slammed my closet

door shut and stopped unpacking,”Lowery said.Like Lowery, senior Resident Assis-

tant Ashley Pizzuto started believing inghosts after living in Egan her freshmanyear.

“My computer printer would ran-domly turn on in the middle of thenight,” Pizzuto said. “It would run back

and forth as if it were printing.” Shedistinctly remembers one evening when

the printer awoke her at 1 a.m.She asked her roommate if she could

unplug it for her. But, again, the printerturned on.

“I asked my roommate why shehadn’t unplugged it,” Pizzuto said. “Andmy roommate said, ‘I did. Look.’ She

was standing there, holding the discon-nected plug.”

Pizzuto was even more convinced

that ghosts exist when her iPod ran-

domly turned on in the middle of thenight. “The light turned on and the mu-

sic started playing; even though when I went to turn it off, the ‘hold’ button wason.”

Many are skeptical about the exis-tence of ghosts, but the girls from EganHall can tell you otherwise.

Just ask freshman Nikki Zeak, wholives alone on the first floor, how her

bath towel randomly went missing for

several weeks but suddenly reappeared,rolled up across the threshold of her

closet door.More spooky stories can be heard

about Egan Hall, but the question is; are

you brave enough to listen?(Video on Youtube can be found un-

der keyword “Mercyhurst Ghost.”)

By Liz MaierStaff writer

Freshman girls haunted by Egan ghost

Penn State Behrend professorLarry Downey, creator of softwarethat analyzes digital photographsdetect alterations, examined thephoto of the Egan Hall ghost on thecover of this issue. Downey said hewas unable to make a definitive callon whether the photo was altered.He noted, though, that the white,spirit-like shape on the right couldpossibly have been added with a

photo software tool.

The third floor of Egan Hall has beenknown for numerous ghost sightings.

Tyler Stauffer photo

Cover photo

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Mercyhurst College studentssat by the fireside and enjoyedapple cider, caramel apples andpopcorn balls while they dis-cussed important issues affect-ing their lives.

Students and administra-tors met on Wednesday, Oct.22 in the Great Room of theHerrmann Student Union to

discuss issues at the student fo-rum/fireside chat.

It has been four or five yearssince the last student forum,according to Mercyhusr Stu-dent Government (MSG) Pub-lic Relations Coordinator, Mixa Jovanovic.

The student forum is a

“unique opportunity for stu-dents to raise questions,” Jova-novic said. “It’s great for them

[administrators] to get goodfeedback.”

The main issues of the fo-rum included the food plan,changes in the library and thenew freshman residence hall.

After the issues were ad-dressed, students were able toanonymously ask questionsand raise concerns.

Executive Vice President of

Administration Tom Billingsley discussed the expiration of thefood contract with Sodexho. The 10-year contract expires in July.

“We’re looking for some-body that would be a good fitfor what Mercyhurst College wants,” Billingsley said. “It’s

on our shoulders to determine what we want.”

Students made many sugges-

tions about what they wouldlike from the new food con-tract.

Ideas included: extendedboard hours, more vegetarianmeals, less fried food, more or-ganically grown food and morediverse meals.

Darci Jones, director of theHammermill library, spokeabout library services.

She mentioned the recent de- velopments of the 24/7 study lounge, the new Web site andthe re-instituted library com-mittee.

A student suggested putting aprinter in the 24-hour lounge.

“We are moving in the di-rection of getting services in

there,” Jones responded. “It’s aprocess. This is a new system;it takes time to work out thekinks.”

Dr. Gerry Tobin, vice presi-dent of Student Life, discussedthe new freshman residencehall.

The college has not built anew residence hall since theearly 1960s, Tobin said.

Each room in the new hall

will house two freshman stu-dents, and there will be onebathroom for these two stu-dents to share. The building will house about 300 studentsoverall. This will lead to a “sig-nificant surplus of space,” To-bin said.

He shared how the new resi-dence hall will affect upper-classmen students.

The goal is to use some of McCauley Hall as space forstudent organizations.

He hopes to make Mercy Suites into graduate and admin-istrative housing; this will openup three buildings in the Briggsand Lewis apartments.

Doing this will make nearly 75 percent of housing be threepeople to one apartment, in-

stead of four, said Tobin. A student asked how it will

be decided which freshman willlive in the new residence hall.

Tobin said this has not yetbeen determined.

It might be based on thefirst-come, first-serve system,or there could be a higher price

for students to live in this build-ing, he said.

One student suggested thatif the price gap is too wide,then the school will be creat-ing a socioeconomic divide be-tween the residence halls.

Tobin responded by say-ing, “We don’t want to create aghetto.”

Students mentioned the new rule that requires Mercyhurst

students to live on campus forthree years. They suggestedthat revenue was the reason forthe institution of this rule.

Tobin said that money wasnot the reason behind this.

“Sure there is a revenue advantage,” Tobin said. “That’snot why we’re doing it.”

According to Tobin, theschool did not provide enough

housing options before andthe new residence hall changesthis.

MSG President ChristinaCoovert also spoke at the fo-rum.

She mentioned the EMTAtransportation system, the“Lettuce hear your Beef ” survey, and the DVD program inthe library.

MSG is “trying to get asmuch feedback as possible,”Coovert said.

“I thought it [student fo-rum] was informative. I’m gladthere was an opportunity forstudents to hear from adminis-trators instead of from fliers,”sophomore Sarah Heuer said.

By Kelly LuomaStaff writer

’Hurst community ‘lettuce hear their beef’ at forum

Mercyhurst College students gathered in the Herrmann Student Union Great Room for the first

student forum/fireside chat in four or five years on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Scoot Williams photo

This week Mercyhurst College’s ROTC 2009 commissioning class received their branch choices. Every cadet receivedtheir first branch choice, which is unusual for an entire commissioning class. There are a total of 16 branches, not

including special branches. The U.S. Army determines a cadet’s branch based on their overall performance.

Mercyhurst

College cadets

receive their

branches

Paul Deehan – Infantry (Active Component)Lisa Henderson – Military Intelligence (National Guard)

Joe Koennecke – Medical Services (Active Component) John McClellan – Educational Delay/Medical School (Active Component)Michael Piccini – Infantry (Active Component)Dan Piechocki – Aviation (Active Component)

••••••

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



In first grade, Marta Baranbegan learning about the trag-edies of war.

For some, this may soundsurprising. But reminders of it have surrounded Baran forher entire life – war memo-rial statues, cemeteries, the

remains of concentrationcamps.Evidence of war is every-

where when you come fromPoland.

Years have passed and Baranagain sits in a classroom.

She is no longer learning about war.

Rather, she is working withMercyhurst College students

to promote a group dedicatedto helping those affected by war and natural disasters.

The first ever U.S. Fund forthe United Nations Children’sFund Club at Mercyhurst Col-lege was started by the loneefforts of Baran in the fall of 2007.

A non-profit organization,UNICEF has aided Poland

and over 150 other countriesthroughout the world since itscreation in 1946.

“UNICEF has been help-ing Polish children since1962,” Baran said. “Sincethen, Poland has become thecountry that sends the mosthelp.”

Treasurer of UNICEF-MC, Surafel Mulugeta, has

also witnessed the efforts of UNICEF in Ethiopia.

“Every year, UNICEF would help us out with food,money, medical supplies --anything you can think of,”Mulugeta said. “Actually, atthis very moment in Ethiopia,there is a draught and famineso the UN is helping us out.”

Seeing the impact UNICEFhas on his country and many

other African nations convinced Mulugeta to joinUNICEF-MC.

Although, he wishes morepeople would feel the samepassion and join the club.

Baran’s passion for the clubis fueled by her belief in soli-darity.

“I knew from my history classes how much help soli-darity of people can bring

and how little [efforts], canmake much,” Baran said.“Therefore, I thought it

would be a great idea to bring this initiative to campus; topromote children’s rights andshow students other worldperspectives,” Baran said.

Adviser of UNICEF-MC,Charles “Chef ” Magalhaesexpressed his goals for the

new club.“My goal for the group

is to be recognized by theUNICEF Foundation – theresult of helping childrenthroughout the world,” Mag-alhaes said. The primary goalsfor UNICEF-MC are to edu-cate, advocate and fundraisefor the survival, protectionand development of children

worldwide.In February 2008, UNICEF-

MC had its first Valentine’sDay bake sale to raise money. The sale was a delicious suc-cess because the club raisedover $300.

Only 10 percent of all fundsraised are given directly tothe UNICEF-MC Club. Theremaining money is donated

to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF,a non-profit organizationaffiliated with UNICEF which works for the survival, protec-tion and development of chil-dren worldwide.

Towards the end of Octo-ber, UNICEF-MC members will be able to relive theirchildhood on Halloween nightby participating in Trick-or- Treat for UNICEF.

Baran and the otherUNICEF-MC club officersfear for this evening though. They aren’t afraid of thescary goblins or witch cos-tumes. They fear that many of their members have becomeghosts.

Public Relations Director of UNICEF-MC Denise Whee-lock said, “Our biggest weak-ness is our lack of members.”

During the first UNICEF-MCmeeting of the school year,only five members were pres-ent.

“We are looking for more volunteers, because many of our ideas cannot be accom-plished without helpful handsof the students,” Baran said.

“I know that Mercyhurststudents have great hearts

and are open-minded; there-fore, I truly believe that we alltogether will make an excellentdifference; even though thebeginnings are always hard,”Baran said.

Mulugeta encouraged stu-dents to volunteer as well.

“They [UNICEF] are theprimary helpers of the world-- Africa, Asia and all the coun-

tries being affected by draughtor famine. They are thereto help. As rational humanbeings, we should want to helpas well,” Mulugeta said.

According to the U.S. Fundfor UNICEF’s Web site, forthe first time in modern his-tory, the number of childrendying before the age of fivefell below 10 million this year.

Millions of children aresaved everyday because of the small efforts from peoplelike Baran and UNICEF-MCClub.

If you are interested in join-ing UNICEF-MC or wouldlike to find out more infor-mation about Trick-or -Treatfor UNICEF, please contactMarta Baran at [email protected].

By Liz Maier

Staff writer

By Alaina Rydzewski

Staff writer

In the Student Union, the

smell of chili was in the air. The “Autumn- Eat it to the

Bottom” Chili Cook-Off washeld in the Mercyhurst Col-lege Great Room Wednesday,Oct. 22.

Students and faculty par-ticipated in not only sampling all the chilies, but also submit-ting their own.

Betsy Frank of Human

Resources and head of thecook-off said it was “the big-gest crowd we’ve had in threeyears.”

The event raised $250 andcollected three large boxesof canned goods for the ErieCity Mission.

While the results were close,there were numerous winners,including: Debbie Wurst, Admissions – Best Chili on

the Hill, Barry Agostine,Maintenance – Best Hot andSpicy, Betsy Frank, HumanResources – Best Vegetar-ian, Aaron and Darcy Kemp,

Athletics and Student Union – Most Unique, Paul Colon-tino, Women’s Hockey – Best Traditional.

Amy Bergan, who origi-nally was going to enter a white chicken chili, ended upmaking a “Pumpkin Turkey”chili, and judging by the near-empty pot, it was well-liked.

Freshman Becky Caraballo-

said she liked every chili shetried and was “amazed at thenumber of students and fac-ulty alike who participated inthe event...it’s a great opportu-nity to get involved and raisemoney for a good cause.”

Hopefully next year’s willbe even bigger and better,although “This year’s cook-off was a great success,”Frank said.

’Hurst cooks upaward-winning chili

The Mercyhurst College community got a chance to taste test

homemade chili Wednesday Oct. 22 in the Herrmann Student

Union.

Contributed photo

’Hurst helps children with UNICEF

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Controlled SubstanceSaturday, Oct. 25 .08

3807 Briggs Avenue

Pending Investigation

Larceny/Theft (Retail)Monday, Oct. 13 .08

Bookstore

Closed

Larceny/Theft

Wednesday, Oct. 15 .08

Herrmann Student Union

Closed

Controlled SubstanceMonday, Oct. 6 .08

3830 Lewis Avenue

College Discipline

Oct. 6-25, 2008Mercyhurst

College

Friday, Oct. 31

10 p.m. Rink of TerrorIce Center

Saturday, Nov. 1

1 p.m. Laker Spirit ClubFootball Game

8 p.m. Haunted Hurst tours(start in the Union)

CBS News poll shows

students favor Obama

Mercyhurst College stu-dents as well as studentsfrom four battleground states

have let their voices be heardin showing their favoring of Sen. Barack Obama forpresident, according to a new CBS News survey releasedMonday, Oct. 27 .

Nearly 29 percent of Mer-cyhurst students participatedin Youth Vote ‘08, an onlinepoll conducted by CBS News, The Chronicle of Higher

Education and UWIRE.Mercyhurst’s participation

level ranked the school inninth out of the 49 collegesand universities randomly selected from across Penn-sylvania, Ohio, Coloradoand North Carolina, a pollspokesman said.

Mercyhurst is the only col-lege in the region that par-

ticipated in the sur vey.“In what many have called

the ‘Year of the Youth Vote,’Mercyhurst College studentshave demonstrated excite-ment over this year’s presi-dential election as well as anincreased concern over issueslike the economy,” Mercy-hurst College President Dr. Thomas J. Gamble said.

“That nearly 29 percentof our students completed

the recent CBS News survey,placing us ninth out of the49 schools participating, isevidence that Mercyhurststudents are actively engagedand, with their contempo-raries, may well be a pivotal

force in this historic elec-tion.”Results of the survey were

to be reported this week onthe CBS Evening News withKatie Couric.

The survey polled nearly 25,000 students, showing thestudents had similar views intheir different views.

Overall, the poll showed six

in 10 students favor Obamafor president.

At Mercyhurst, 61.9 per-cent marked their choiceas Obama/Biden; 34.9 per-cent, McCain/Palin; and 3.2percent indicated “someoneelse.”

According to survey resultscollege students’ top concernis the economy like adults

nationwide. At Mercyhurst, 74.9 per-

cent of respondents rankedthe economy as the issue of most importance in this elec-tion followed by the war inIraq, 48.2 percent; education,44.2 percent; energy policy,43.8 percent; health care,32.4 percent; environment,30.1 percent and immigra-

tion, 12.3 percent. Additionally, Obama rated

more highly than Sen. JohnMcCain on every candidatequality measured in the poll.

When asked if the candi-date is someone you “canrelate to” - 58.4 percent of Mercyhurst students said

yes to Obama; 28.5 percentsaid yes to McCain. Someone who “can bring about realchange” - 71.5 percent indi-cated Obama; 32 percent,McCain.

However, one exception was the poll results showedMcCain stronger than Obamaon being “an effective com-mander in chief.”

Likewise at Mercyhurst,68.9 percent of respondentsranked McCain as an “effec-tive commander in chief;”28.5 percent, Obama.

On the vice presidentialcandidates, 27.6 percent of Mercyhurst respondents saidthey “really like” Biden; while14.3 percent said “I don’tmuch like him or her.”

For Palin, 17.8 percent said“really like;” 49.2 percentsaid “I don’t much like himor her.”

All Mercyhurst full-timeundergraduate students hadthe opportunity to take theonline poll, which was sentdirectly to their campus e-mails Monday, Oct. 6.

The Cornell University

Survey Research Instituteconducted the survey.

By Casey Greene

Contributing writer

ELECTION 2008 COUNTDOWN:

7 daysAre you ready to vote?

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Jumpstarting a career inbusiness can be as easy as vis-iting your local Rent-A-CarEnterprise branch.

Recognized for its efficientmanagement training program

and its promote-from-withinbusiness model, Rent-A-CarEnterprise has hired abouttwo students from Mercy-hurst College each year andcurrently employs 13 Mercy-hurst alumni.

“Enterprise has been very impressed with the quality of Mercyhurst graduates becausethey consistently have what it

takes; the skills and the driveto run a business,” Joe Kvak said, a local recruiter for En-terprise.

Kvak specifically recruitspotential employees fromMercyhurst because he saidthey have a solid educationalbackground.

For the third consecutiveyear, Rent-A-Car Enterprise

has been named on the “Top50 Best Places to Launch aCareer” by BusinessWeek.

“Our management training program jumpstarts their ca-reers toward success,” Kvak said.

Enterprises’ training pro-gram teaches business-to-business marketing and sales,how to manage profit andloss, how to control expenses

and how to execute a compre-hensive business plan.

Director of Career ServicesBob Hvezda said, “Enterpriselooks primarily for businessstudents, however, they dolook at all majors especially students who have demon-strated leadership skills andgreat interpersonal skills.”

Hvezda said Kvak will berecruiting students for full-time positions as well as in-terns at Mercyhurst’s upcom-ing job fair.

Kvak will also be returning to campus in the spring to in-terview students in person.

Sophomore Amanda Nor-man is interested in possibly interning at Enterprise.

“I would definitely considergetting an internship at Enter-prise if I could make $10.00an hour because it would notonly be a good experience butgetting paid would be a plus,”she said.

Typically, first year employ-ees are eligible for promotion within nine to 12 months andare given the opportunity to

manage and profit off thebranch as if it were their ownbusiness, said Hvezda.

By working at Enterprise,employees can live close totheir family because they havethe capability to establishtheir own branch anywhere inthe nation.

“Interning at Enterprisecould guarantee you a job foryour future,” Norman said.

By Liz Maier

Staff writer

EnterpriseRent-A-Car hires’Hurst almuni

Students donate pounds of

food for annual collectionfor local charities

As for the 36th AnnualFood Drive, Amanda Zech-man reported that the Col-lege collected a total of 4,651 pounds of food for theSecond Harvest Food Bank of Northwestern Pennsylva-

nia.Box City collected $345

dollars for the Erie City Mis-sion.

Both included a great dealof student participation and were extremely successful in

reaching their goals. To get involved for next

year or to find out aboutupcoming fundraisers, get intouch with Amanda Zechmanof Campus Ministry or Betsy Frank of Human Resources.



8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


FEATURES October 29, 2008

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Lunch $ 5

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Broccoli & Cheddar Bites

After graduating, I did ayear of service as an Ameri-Corps VISTA starting in

July 2007.I worked for a school dis-trict in Crawford County ona Bullying Prevention Pro-gram as well as setting up aPeer-Mentoring Program withat-risk youth.

While in the AmeriCorps,I went to New Orleans for a week to help rebuild homesthat are still in need of repair

after Hurricane Katrina. This past July, I finished my

year of service and made my way to Nashville, Tenn. whereI now attend Vanderbilt Divin-ity School pursuing a masterof theological studies degree.

I hope to eventually end upin a Ph.D. program and hope-fully end up teaching religionor theology at a small liberal

arts college like MercyhurstCollege (if by chance, the’Hurst wants to hire me some-day, that would be cool).

Do I miss Mercyhurst? The answer would beyes and no. For anyone who knew me, I was a pretty big fan of Mercyhurst.

I knew a lot of people andmade a lot of lasting friend-

ships, was involved in a lotof activities, really enjoyedmy classes and was very involved with Mercyhurst’shockey teams.

I miss the atmosphere at Mer-cyhurst, and the atmosphereat Vanderbilt and in Nash- ville is much different, as onecan imagine, but I haveallowed myself to ex-

plore and experiencenew things.

I was incredibly sad theday I graduated, saying good-bye to friends I may neversee again.

I now know that moving onin life and having to deal withchange is not only inevitable,but is a really good thing.

I have grown and matured

in the last year and a half, andI can always look back and rec-ognize my growth as an adultreally started there.

By Jeff CagleContributing writer

Jeff (second from the right) and some of the other Americorps

VISTA’s in New Orleans.

Contributed photo

’Hurst alum shareshis post-graduation VISTA experiences

Interested in being an editor for

the 2009-10 Merciad?Contact Casey Greene for details at

[email protected]

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Mercyhurst students speak up about drug usage

The war on drugs was

undertaken by the United

States of America with hopes

of reducing the drug trade,

curb supply and hopefully

“diminish demand of sub-stances deemed harmful or

undesirable by the govern-

ment,” which is quoted on the

Wikipedia Web site.

“This initiative includes a

set of laws and policies that

are intended to discourage the

production, distribution and

consumption of targeted sub-

stances,” it continues to say. A campaign that should

prevent drug usage, stop

drug-related deaths and even

make it much more difficult to

buy or sell drugs sounds like a

positive effort.

The Students for Sensible

Drug Policy (SSDP) of Mer-

cyhurst College beg to differ.

The national chapter of SSDP was created in 1998 in

response to the Higher Edu-

cation Act denying loans and

grants to students with drug

convictions.

Senior Jerrod Markle made

the group active again because

of an interest in the topic.

“The chapter at Mercyhurst

was created a while ago and Ire-activated it, because I knew

some members in the past

and was interested in what the

group stood for,” he said.

This group was only reacti-

vated this school year.

The name of the group may

seem vague.

That may be because the

issues this group covers

range from financial aid

to campus code and con-

duct; from student rights to

drug education and to fight-ing against the ineffective

drug war.

One issue with the drug

war is the punishments for

offenders.

The government wants

users and sellers to go to jail

to show the seriousness of a

drug offense and to g et the

offenders drug free.Injection-drug users who

are incarcerated are less likely

to kick their habit than those

who remain in the commu-

nity, new Canadian research

shows.

The SSDP group is about

mobilizing and empowering

young people to participate in

the political process, pushing

for sensible policies to achieve

a safer and more just future

while fighting back against

counterproductive drug warpolicies, particularly those

that directly harm students

and youth.

The Mercyhurst chapter has

about 10-15 members and the

adviser is Dr. McCarthy of

religious studies.

So why do people want to

join this club?

“I joined because of per-sonal experience, to stop all

war, improve the conscious-

ness and awareness of others,

and I have a heart for social

justice issues,” said Markle.

Seamus Pendergast joined

the group because of his

feelings about American

drug efforts.

“I felt the need to join the

group because of the recogni-

tion that current drug policies

in America are ineffective and

are in need of being revised,”

he said.

The war on drugs has been

an issue for decades now.

It has been seen as a good

thing, but also something that

needs to be regulated in theUnited States.

The students at Mercyhurst

found issues with how the

regulation is being played out

and have decided to take a

stance against it.

SSDP has a page on Face-

book.com under the causes

category for those interested

to join and attempt to raise

funds for the organization.

The group also where they

post videos supporting their

cause, and has a MySpace

page so that people of all ages,

not just students, can find outabout the organization and

get involved.

For more information on

SSDP, visit their Web site

or contact Jerrod Markle

on how to get involved.

By Jordan Zangaro

Contributing writer

Students for Sensible Drug Policy group back in action at the ’Hurst

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is an organization

with chapters in hundreds of schools in the United States.

ssdp.org photo

Senior Jerrod Markle re-activcated the Students for Sensible

Drug Policy chapter at Mercyhurst College.


8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



‘Double double toil and trouble’ on All Hallows Eve

Halloween is a perfecttime to be somebody elsefor a day, and in today’s cul-ture you can find any cheaply manufactured costume to fityour desire.

Sexy, scary, gruesome andthe scantily clad are popularchoices for parties and forpeople our age.

Even though some say weare too old to go door to doorasking for candy, it’s still funto do.

But why do people handus free candy? Where did this

ritual come from? The tradition of handing out treats and dressing up incostume dates back to thou-sands of years ago that startedin ancient Celtic tradition.

The Celts believed that on

the night before All SaintsDay (Nov. 1), called All Hal-lows Eve, the spirits of thedead could roam the earth andcause chaos to humans as they wished.

This began the ritual of dressing up.

Dressing in a ghoulish anddepressing garb would dis-guise the human and thereforetrick the spirits into believing they were among the dead,therefore passing over themand finding another soulto torture.

Other popular costumesof the time were witches, wizards, ghosts, sorcerersand fairies.

The best and most ornatecostumes of today are replicasof these amazing and historicholiday fashion.

The ritual of passing outgoodies came from the ideathat pleasing these evil spir-

its would save the humansfrom havoc.

By distributing gifts andfood and drink before the spir-its their souls would be sparedfrom torture.

This lasted every year sinceand today is a tradition appro-priate for young children whodress up for fun, since intoday’s age most people don’tbelieve spirits come house tohouse anymore.

This holiday of the “nightof the dead” was a tradi-tion for the Celtic commu-nity tied into religion andcommunity.

“Days of the Dead” arealso still celebrated today as it

would be traditionally in suchcultures like the Hispanic, andcan also be traced to Europe.

One of the well known daysof the dead would be Mexico’s“dia de los muertes,” which is very similar to the Celts’ All

Hallows Eve, except they cel-ebrated their dead ancestors’spirits and have huge celebra-tions honoring them.

And since the best part of Halloween is dressing up, how fabulous it relates to a history in fashion!

Dressing the part is seriousto some people, even modelsand designers.

In the fall runway showsin New York, designer LuellaBartley showed a collec-tion of ghoulishly dark andcold-blooded outfits inspiredby classic influences fromHalloween characters.

The show was describedas fun and whimsically ador-

able. Dresses perfect for fall were shown with witches hatsand Dutch shoes, resembling something from the movieHocus Pocus.

Dress up, be safe, and have ahaunting good time on Friday.

By Amanda Antenucci

Staff writer

Witches, ghouls, wizards popular costume ideas for thousands of years

Models in New York runway

shows got in the Halloween

spirit by dressing as witches

in designer Luella Bartley’s

shows.

sxc.hu photo

Beat the cold with hot winter accessories and styles

Winter fashion canseem just as boring as the winter blues we feel seasonevery year.

Most do not prefer fall and

winter clothing, since endlesshoodies, sweats, boots andsweaters don’t look stylish butfrumpy and bulky.

This creative and funspark thankfully trickled intothe retail stores where thisyear the winter basics havean edge.

Fur used to be tacky, oldand stuffy, but with style

queens such as Rachel Zoe

rocking the full body furs, furthis year is a funky look thatsays luxury.

There are some amazing faux fur coats, vests, ear muffsand vintage looking scarvesfor reasonable prices atmany stores.

Another winter accessory

is scarves. The whole bib-fringed

scarves that created a chicpunk look this fall thickensinto a warmer and yet fash-ionable statement piece thatcan be added to any outfitfor flair.

Layering knit accessoriesalso adds a warm and styl-ish layer. Arm gloves, leg

warmers, etc., all make a

comfy look.Play with color by mixing

two or more thin winterscarves and leave thebulk out.

Tights are no longer justfor the private school girls; goto any Target and see endlessoptions for opaque tights in

every color and pattern, andthrow on some mid-heightsocks in a contrasting patternor color to set it off.

The perfect accessory tomix with your tights, socksor leg warmers are boots,and they are everywherethis season.

Flat boots to match yourleather bomber coat, stiletto

boots, even throw on with

your Victoria’s Secret PINK sweatshirt and Uggs.

Big structured handbagshave been the ‘it’ bag formany seasons in a row, andthere’s nothing more chic thanmatching a sturdy, tomboy handbag with hardware suchas studs, zippers or buck-

les to make your outfit edgy and fashion forward.

They complement a femi-nine and polished look perfectly.

Since mixing and match-ing is a youthful concept, anew trend on the rise is boy cut blazers, which is inspiredfrom the massive mensweartrend women have been

rocking.

The fitted women blazersof vintage high school yearsare in again, and they so coolly add a casual touch to any girly or fancy ensemble.

Even though it’s not Hal-loween yet, Christmas treesare already popping up inlocal stores.

Here’s a sneak peak on thebest holiday looks.

Sequins and berry colorsare a tasteful, glamor-ous and ever so versatilecombination.

Lots of colors and sparklesare going to be the look to watch out for this winter, sostart keeping an eye out forthese looks to hit the racks at

your favorite stores.

By Amanda Antenucci

Staff writer

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


September 3, 2008ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT October 29, 2008

I was admittedly anxious forthe cast of Thornton Wilder’s“Our Town” heading to theirshow at Taylor Little Theatrelast Friday, Oct. 24.

When I witnessed the firstdress rehearsal earlier that week, it was admittedly lessthan stellar.

Few of the actors seemedto have their lines prepared,many were still searching fortheir characters and all wereadjusting to the costumes.

Female lead junior RenéeKiefer admitted nerves butshowed resolve, maintaining that kinks would be ironed out

before the show opened.She and the rest of the castproved my doubts were fornaught.

Kiefer delighted as the lov-

able young Emily Webb; subtle

touches she gave the character,conveyed through blushes andbody movement, were not loston the audience.

Her command not only of the lines, but of the inflectionand authorial intent, was top-notch.

Her male counterpart, theprecocious Luka Glinsky, grew on me substantially since I hadseen the dress rehearsal.

He originally appearedto have trouble keeping hisGeorge Gibbs consistent, butby opening night he found arhythm.

His character matured as theplay’s chronology progressed;he seemed to discover himself and become the man society

demanded of him before theaudience’s eyes.Sophomore Devin Ruic

played a poised and dignifiedStage Manager, a demanding

role with a heavy load of lines

and minor character scenes. Additionally, several other

actors and actresses were ableto add luster and personality tosmaller roles.

Particular commendationgoes to sophomore Kelsey McGuire’s Professor Willard, which had been completely revamped since I had seen itlast.

Her embodiment of the nat-ural scientist had the archae-ology students with whom Iattended the show struggling to control their laughter.

Senior John Ladd’s HowieNewsome and invisible cow Bessie delighted, as well.

The rest of the townspeople were not flat, by any means.

Emily’s parents, played by junior Chris Cummings andfreshman Katie Wagner, andGeorge’s parents, played by senior Steve Holian and fresh-

man Tara Heade, all breathed

life into what could have endedup stale, stereotypical turn-of-the-century couples.

The only qualm I had was not with the actors. In a curiousdecision, the originally three-act play was instead dividedinto two unequal parts.

The audience truly fell forthe characters over the lengthy,almost show-length in itself first act, culminating in Emily and George’s wedding.

The second act, an entreaty by Wilder for individuals toappreciate their lives as they are being lived, thus appears asa 15-minute-long failed intervention tacked on at the end.

Some of this is a result of the editing, but much can be

attributed to the author.Many of the characters fromthe first act are now dead, soulsin the great beyond capable of understanding the events still

occurring on earth and even

returning to the play’s locale,Grover’s Corners, N.H.

Besides the troubling meta-physics, the dead offer nothing in terms of emotion, the bleak-est of transcendent beings.

Kiefer’s effervescent Emily Webb even succumbs to grim-ness, disheartening the audi-ence without really getting itto buy the premise.

Because the audience already understood Wilder’s belief inlife’s transparency because of the lack of set and Stage Man-ager’s intervention, the secondact seemed like overkill.

However, that single scrupleshould take nothing away fromcast, crew and Director DavidMatthews.

They put together a laudableperformance of a complex,classic American play.

I can’t wait to see what Mer-cyhurst theatre attempts next.

By Kyle KingA & E editor

Taylor Little Theatre plays host to ‘Our Town’

‘Our Town’

photosFeatured in photos, beginning in the topright corner and moving clockwise (fromleft to right in each photo): Chris Cum-mings, Katie Wagner and John Ladd;Wagner, Cummings and Luka Glinsky;

Tara Heade and Renée Kiefer; Kiefer

and Glinsky; Steve Holian and Heade.

Photos by Tyler Stauffer

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT October 29, 2008

This past weekend waspacked with excitement forthe numbers of individuals

who flock to the Performing Arts Center at MercyhurstCollege.

One of the options this weekend was the “Ballet toBroadway” performance puton by the Mercyhurst CollegeDance Department.

On Oct. 25 and 26 at 2p.m. and Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.,the department featured their well-trained dancers to a mixedaudience of community mem-bers, parents and students.

The first number, “Kon-

servatoriat,” was a piece of choreography by AugustBournonville that originally premiered in 1849.

It recreated a class that

Bournonville himself learned while studying in Paris from1824 to 1829 with the balletmaster Auguste Vestris.

As a group, the dancershad a bit of a difficult timebeing precisely together; withsuch large numbers, it wouldbe impossible to ask for suchperfection.

Overall, every dancershowed great grace and poise.

The men were especially strong, along with the twofemale soloists with the dif-ferent color ribbons.

The piece overall was atad blocked and lacked flow;sometimes it was slow andlong, but it was a very tradi-tional ballet piece.

There were beautiful pic-turesque moments with thetrio of Saturday night solo-ists, juniors Erin Alarcon and

Alyssa Alger and sophomore

Chris Taddiken.Saturday’s matinee perfor-

mance featured seniors NoraBeckenstein and Nicole Cer-illi and junior Justin Hogan, while Sunday’s matinee fea-tured Taddiken alongsidesophomore Taylor Martin andfreshman Joy Raub.

Gentle and light was a per-fect beginning to the perfor-mance.

The next portion of theconcert was incredibly cho-reographed and performed.

“Circular Thoughts” wasbased on constant thought,or narration dictating adulthuman thinking, whichrevolves around the sametopics continually: the econ-

omy, the environment, etc.Brava to the dancers who were in this number! They had such balance and control,

even though their balls some-

times had a mind of theirown, a few even rolling off the stage.

The lighting helped to setthe mood and tone of thepiece. It was a very well-con-ceived concept and moderndance—very nicely done.

One of the prettiest cos-tumes for the show were the“Over the Rainbow” cos-tumes. They were so dreamlikeand flowed with every move-ment of the six ballerinas.

The finale was built onnumerous songs from classicBroadway shows like “Rent,”“Grease,” “Guys and Dolls”and others.

Hogan and two otherjuniors, Jennifer Mihu and

Trevor Sones, did an incred-ible job in their number“Steam Heat,” from “ThePajama Game.”

They deserved their own

bow after the piece for all that work.

The “Grassland Chant”from the “Lion King” was very well done; the move-ments of the entire group were very precise.

It is hard to do semi-tribal-like dances because it calls fora group to always be right on with each other.

Finally, the strength anddexterity of the men in the“Guys and Dolls” number was truly exceptional.

Taddiken’s hard work andamazing dance skills in “Fabu-lous Feet” deserved a stand-ing ovation. He stole the show from beginning to end.

Finally, in the last piece it

was a full-out dance party withtons of energy from the cast,the culmination of a goodshow.

By Marie KarbackaStaff writer

Dance performance features ballet, show tunes

Jack’s Mannequin rebounds with ‘The Glass Passenger’

June 1, 2005, was a dark day in the life of Andrew McMa-hon (Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin).

This was the day he receiveda diagnosis of acute lympho-blastic leukemia.

Cancelling all tour dates,McMahon spent the nextseven months in treatment for

his cancer.In December 2005, he

played his first show sincethe diagnosis at a small barin southern California for aninvitation-only audience.

During his battle withcancer, McMahon’s newestmusical project, Jack’s Manne-quin, released its debut album,“Everything in Transit.”

While the album was written

and recorded well before newsof his cancer, McMahon’slyrics have an eerie sense of

connectivity to his cancer.Lines like “this mix could

burn a hole in anyone / butit was you I was thinking of”may have foreshadowed the way he coped with the stressof cancer treatment.

In an interview with “Alter-native Press Magazine” in2006, McMahon disclosed thathe would create playlists of

his favorite songs to get himthrough the long treatments.

The album sold quite well,debuting 37th on the Billboard200 chart, an impressive featconsidering a severe lack of promotion due to McMahon’sillness.

Over the next few years, Jack’s Mannequin went onnumerous tours, including

stints in Japan and Europe and

performances at three Warped Tours.

Meanwhile, McMahon

worked diligently on new material for their follow-uprecord.

Thirty-seven months afterthe release of “Everything in

Transit,” Jack’s Mannequin hasreleased their sophomore full-length album, “The Glass Pas-senger.”

The new album marks musi-cal progression on the part of

McMahon and company. The album takes its title

from a song that did not makethe album, the bluntly named“Hey Hey We’re All GonnaDie,” a reflection McMahonadmitted making after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Though he considered therest of the song lackluster, hecould not get the lyrics “Keep

your eyes on a wheel / I’m a

glass passenger.”Rather than sticking to the

clichéd formula of modern

punk rock, the band drawsinfluences from rock ‘n’ roll’sheyday of the 1960s and1970s.

McMahon divulged, in yetanother interview with “Alter-native Press,” that his maininfluences on the new recordare the Beach Boys and Fleet- wood Mac.

Differing from 2005’s

“Everything in Transit,” thenew record features more gui-tars, bass and drums, with alittle less piano in the mix.

Most songs on the albumare in the same relative style astheir debut: poppy, catchy andgenerally upbeat.

However, one song, “Sui-cide Blonde,” takes the banddown a heavier path.

The song is not heavy in a

metal or hard rock approach,but in a loud, full, pounding sense.

Songs like the first single,“The Resolution,” pepper thealbum with bouncy choruses,relaxed verses and perfect vocal harmonies.

The lyrics on the album arenot nearly as prominent as“Everything in Transit” butstill manage to seep their way into the listener’s soul.

Perfectly fitting the Jack’s

Mannequin lyrical model is theline “I’m alive but I don’t needa witness to know that I sur- vived.”

The powerful, self-fulfilling message is a common themethroughout the album, whichopens up unique meaning forevery listener.

Pick up a copy of “TheGlass Passenger” in stores and

online now.

By Greg Summy

Staff writer

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


It is impressive how muchyou can see given just twodimensions. Cummings ArtGallery proved that pointin premiering its new show,“Defining Edge: Kerr + Bush+ Stunden,” last Thursday,Oct. 23, at 7 p.m.

In addition to the plentifuloffering of food and refresh-ments, all three artists were inattendance, as were a numberof students, faculty and inter-ested members of the com-munity.

Ed Kerr, who received anMFA from the Art Instituteof Chicago, showcased paint

and wallpaper combinationsevoking something of a crossbetween black-and-white tra-ditional kitchen tile and themathematical symmetry printsof Dutch graphic artist M.C.Escher.

Lainard Bush, who receivedan MFA from the San Fran-cisco Art Institute, crafteda number of intricate tape-

and-paint works of tapestry size, whose meaning could bedefined based on the distance

from which one viewed the

work. Julie Stunden, who received

her MFA from Yale University,presented a series of “Déjà Vu” compositions, perspec-tival abstract renderings of one original scene.

An original print containing smaller versions of the entireseries belongs to a close friendof Stunden’s, Mercyhurst’sown Dr. James Snyder.

Stunden currently teachesColor Theory at CarnegieMellon University’s School of Architecture and is an adjunctin the Studio Art Departmentat the University of Pittsburgh.

She said that the seriesspurred from a community outreach project she initially

applied for in the Pittsburgharea.In working with community

members, she crafted what would have been a strip of a400-foot-by-400-foot wall touse as a mural.

The community membersinsisted she represent the localgeese population, despite thefact she could never spot the

birds. After the project was dis-

banded, and because of an

interest in crafting collages(she did not want to use toxicoil paints around her young children), she reframed andcropped the original work in

smaller, collage form, calling it “There Are No Geese in Wilkinsburg.”

“I’m a formalist,” Stundensaid, to questions of symbolicmeaning in the ‘fragmentary,yet also complete composi-tions’ displayed.

“I don’t have any grandideas beyond responding toglow and color schemes. I try

to let my work retain a senseof play.”

Sophomore art major Elise

Frey called Bush’s work herfavorite, remarking more gen-erally how she enjoyed going to the openings.

Sophomore Ana Braithwaite

also praised Bush’s work.“I’m impressed by how hepaid so much attention to thelayering and to which colors

he used,” she said. The exhibit will remain open

through Nov. 30. Until termbreak, Cummings Gallery isopen from 2 to 5 p.m., Tuesday

through Sunday, in addition to Thursday evenings from 7 to 9p.m. During break, the gallery is open by appointment only.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT October 29, 2008

Counting Crows’ new album, “SaturdayNights and Sunday Mornings,” is AdamDuritz at his best lyrically and worstinterpersonally. Most songs, including this one, are meditations on leaning tooheavily on girls whom he should let go.

Bob Dylan “Mississippi”

Jack’s Mannequin “Hammers and Strings”

DOWNLOAD

Dylan’s new volume of rare and unrealeasedtracks in his acclaimed Bootleg Series, “Vol.8: Tell Tale Signs,” kicks off with “Missis-sippi,” a wandering, meandering, somehowoddly catchy rumination on staying in Missis-sippi “a tad too long.”

Kudos to staff writer Greg Summy fortelling me about “The Glass Passenger”(see page 13). Check out “Hammers

and Strings,” a self-proclaimed lullabyby vocalist Andrew McMahon to lovedones who lean on him in times of dark-ness.

Counting Crows “You Can’t Count on Me”

By Kyle KingA & E editor

Cummings premieres two-dimensional artwork

All of Edward Kerr’s untitled

works explore the interplay of

black-and-white canvases.


Julie Stunden’s colorful ‘Déjà Vu’ series line Cummings Art Gallery and sell for $3200 each.


Sophomores Ana Braithwaite and Elise Frey observe Lainard

Bush’s ‘Gilgamesh Dive.’ The work is an acrylic on wood, and

the title references Near Eastern mythology.


8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


OPINION October 29, 2008The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the v iews of Mercyhurst College, the staff of The Merciad

or the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be e-mailed to [email protected].

Inbox:Where

readers sharetheir thoughts.

TheIt is true many phenomenaformerly explained as “the will of the gods” can now beexplained by science.

Science, however, isinherently limited, becauseit is based on the preceptthat knowledge can only beobtained through the senses. This presents an interesting conundrum in itself: using yoursenses to prove your senses are

the only way to know things. To further elucidate my

point, consider the following:Most people would agree itis not okay to kill anyone you want. This idea cannot beproven through science, yet itis widely accepted.

Another example is theexistence of thoughts. Canyou prove your thoughts existusing your senses?

No, yet you know they exist. Clearly there must besomething outside of sciencethat allows us to know things.Is it religion? Maybe.

It is evident, though, sciencecannot have all the answers and will not “have the solutionsto all problems occurring inthe world.”

Eric Schmalzried, Junior

Finding a happy medium

Seth Hallam’s most recentarticle is just as much a travesty as his first. His first articleproclaims a fetus is not alive.

I think it’s pretty obvious why this statement is wrong but toexplain, it seems as though Mr.Hallam is confusing a fetus’sdependence on the mother with non-life.

Whether a fetus is as much

a human being with the samerights as a fully developed baby

is still a point of contention.It is quite clear a fetus is infact, alive.

Mr. Hallam’s second articlestates, “The bottom line is thatabortion stops poverty.”

Okay, but consider this foran idea: exterminate everyoneliving below the poverty level and distribute whatassets they have among the

remaining population.Does that stop poverty? Yes,

but that doesn’t mean it’s theright way to go about it. This is a great example of

a logical fallacy known as the“is-ought” fallacy.

Just because something isthe case doesn’t mean it oughtto be the case.

Thus, I would suggest Mr.Hallam form a more soundargument if he expects his

opinions to be taken seriously.Eric Schmalzried, Junior

Abortion issue tauntingstudents to respond

Personally, I loved SethHallam’s articles in TheMerciad the past few weeks. They were insightful and

brought to light many of therealities right-wing tightwadsjust can’t admit.

However, I think Hallamlimited his scope when stating that unplanned pregnancy is the root of problemsin society.

I think we should go further,solving the real cause of turmoil in America: stupidity.

If a situation exists where an

abortion is needed, the parentsmust obviously be stupid.

So, I propose that we sterilizethem. That way, abortion

won’t be an issue, because nobabies will have to die. Evenbetter, because life can’t begin(because conception can’thappen), religious stalwarts won’t be upset either!

It’s a win-win for all involved,and it reaches further than justthe things Hallam mentioned. Without dim-witted imbeciles’harmful reproduction, society

will slowly evolve to become a

better, smarter place. You may ask if genes are

related to stupidity, and I would say yes. For those of

us who have experiencedthe ivory-tower educationthat is genetics, we learn thatintelligence is a polygenic trait,one caused by multiple genes.

Since genes are passed fromparent to child, two stupidpeople will logically manifest adoubly stupid offspring.

Humans have corrupted thegene pool for far too long.

Darwin’s natural selection

shows that those with thebest traits, inherited from thebest genes, will survive andpropagate the species.

Because unintelligentcitizens are afforded the lux-uries of supermarkets anddepartment stores, society is only exacerbating theproblem by allowing idiots tosurvive without possessing therequired knowledge and skillsto do so.

Under my plan, the world will be helped for the better,

eliminating abortion, crime

and stupidity all in one justand necessary motion.

Note: This is not my opinion. This is not serious.

This is meant to be sarcastic.I know how immoral andblasphemous the things Isay are, which is why I don’tbelieve them. Please don’tbe offended by this; it is notmy intention to do so. My sincerest apologies go to youif this does offend you inany way.

Devon Swanson, Junior

Tongue-in-cheek answer to Hallam

Eric. Are you a woman?

How would you know what decision a woman would make with her body?Regardless. You write thatabortion is an “ought-to”idea. This is where you fail toseparate reality and ideology.It is proven that abortiondoes stop poverty-riddenlives, regardless of how many nonsensical articles are

written otherwise.Seth Hallam, Sophomore

Science doesn’t just

apply to senses, but also toobservations. The moral concept of

not killing can be tracedto evolution where geneticsurvival was greatly increasedby groups.

Also, thoughts are known by our brains, which are complexcombinations of moleculesand not something requiring a

religious explanation. Jacob Torba, Sophomore

Torbadefends

Standingstrong

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


OPINION October 29, 2008

@mercyhurst.edu

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The Merciad is the official student-produced newspaper of MercyhurstCollege. It is published throughout the school year, with the exception offinals weeks. Our office is in Hirt, Room 120B. Our telephone number is (814)

824-2376.

The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signedand names will be included with the letters. Although we will not edit the

letters for content, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Lettersare due Mondays by noon and may not be more than 300 words. Submit

letters to box PH 485 or via e-mail at [email protected].

If you don’t want it printed . . don’t let it happen.Editors

Casey Greene

Amanda Valauri

Emily Grabowski

Heather Donovan

Brad Moehringer Sam Sellinger

Kyle King

Scoot Williams

Tyler Stauffer

Caitlin Bly

Gretchen Yori

Ashley Pastor

Bill Welch

Brian Sheridan

Positions

Editor-in-Chief

News Editor

Features Editor

Opinion Editor

Sports Editor Sports Editor

A&E

Photographer

Photographer

Advertising Manager

Copy Editor

General Assignment

Adviser

Adviser

Mercyhurst’s Ethical Reflection Committee has initiated this series toencourage reflection within the entire college community on the values by which we live. We suggest that faculty introduce appropriate essays into class discussion; we encourage students to bring these thoughts toclasses; we invite administrators and staff to explore these in department meetings. The ERC also requests

you let us know how you have used these thoughts in your life. Contact Rev. Lyta Seddig, Chair : [email protected]. “This I Believe” is now linked to the college Web site. Essays can be found at http://www.mercyhurst.edu/ne/special- events/believe_essays.

In the spring of 1967, I was working on a Department of Defense contract at CornellUniversity and playing keyboard in a rock bandon weekends.

It was a mellow ride and I was pretty much on autopilot.

Then my job-related draftdeferment evaporated. Onemorning, I received a call fromthe secretary of our local draftboard informing me that my number had been drawn and I would receive my draft noticenext month.

That would not have been

part of my plan, if I’d hadone. Enlist, I was advised, soI did. In basic training, Sgt.Biggers almost broke me(and did defeat some of my unfortunate mates).

But midway through Ipromised myself I wouldpersevere and become anexcellent soldier in the process.I did.

That promise was the firstcommitment I had ev er made.

In making it I created myself a soldier. When I saw what I

had created I made anothercommitment: first, to be thebest human being I could andthen the best soldier.

I made myself an officer andearned my commission on Oct.25, 1967. I requested duty in Vietnam and spent 11 monthsthere. I think I was a decenthuman being throughout.

I left Vietnam in August

1969, started my graduatedegree in philosophy inSeptember and chose to be anactive part of the student anti- war movement.

I do not ask who I am, asif the project of being wereone of discovery; I ask myself who I shall choose to be. Theproject is creative.

I am this teacher, thishusband and this father. I amthe author of my story andmy commitments provide thenarrative structure.

Our collective narrative isthe story of humanity. Each of us are responsible for writing it. In 5 or 6 billion years oursun will undergo the massivebloating associated with thered giant stellar phase.

Even if Earth is not vaporized, life on it will be. When there are no more of usin the universe and the human

story is complete, will it be a worthy one?

Will we have left behind anarrative of which we could,on balance, be glad for?

That, I believe, is life’s greatchallenge: to participate in

the telling of a worthwhilehuman story.

It is what gives each of usindividually and, all of uscollectively, meaning. Lastnight I watched “Stop-Loss”. That’s what I’m talking about.

Dr. Ludlow L. Brown, Professor,

Department of Philosophy, has been a member of the faculty for

34 years. He has held numerous administrative positions including division and department chair. His favorite aspect about Mercyhurst: “The gifted, dedicated, friendly faculty, staff, administration,and students.”

The articles of the past week have only recently started toget to me. Not because they’veincited me to offer my twocents, but because that ina few short days I’ll have tomake a birthday phone callthat I hate making.

A few years ago my friend’sgirlfriend became unexpectedly pregnant. She didn’t want tohave the baby but he did.

She ended the relationshipbecause she felt he shouldn’task her to do something with her body that she didn’t want to.

Kelley offered to takecare of her throughout the

pregnancy, and assume full

custody. It was a pretty terrible

situation for all involved. Afterall was said and done, through verbal arguments and courtproceedings, she ended uphaving the abortion.

It seemed surreal to meand everyone else involved.It’s easy to want to put issuesin a pile, classify them asright or wrong and throw them in a box marked liberal

or conservative.But life is more complicated

than square or round pegs andif something doesn’t fit, it’sno longer convenient to forcepieces through. In this case I’dsay that pro-choice just didn’tseem right.

He was willing to give hereverything she needed and pay for health care just as long as

he could have his child.

My official opinion on

abortion is it depends on thesituation. Since Kelley wasgoing to take care of her, thenit wouldn’t be terrible to ask her to surrender her body tothe changes of pregnancy fornine months.

I also believe, however,if her life were at risk at any point during the pregnancy that she should be able to have

the abortion to save herself.Nov. 2 is a difficult time for

Kelley. It’s a task, trying toplace my feelings when I callhim to say happy birthday forthe child he doesn’t have.

But he needs me to doit, and I need to be a friend.Never mind the fact that hisex-girlfriend thinks I’m aterrible example of a woman

for doing it.

By Rhonda Marable

Staff writer

Telling a ‘worthwhile human story’

Complicating the issue

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Halloween is finally ona weekend. College is oneof students’ last chances toembrace the clever holiday.So dress up, get out andenjoy the festivities. Carefulall you want-to-be Playboy bunnies it’s supposed to bea chilly one.

‘Ballet to Broadway’ wasa stunning success this past weekend. The performanceput on by Mercyhurst’sdance department went off without a hitch to a packedaudience.

Tension is running highfor faulty tenure time on

campus. Our favorite, ornot-so-favorite, professors

are up for review.

Freshmen are in for theirfirst run at finals, and thusbegins the two-week cram-ming session. Prepare wise-ly Dorothy, this isn’t highschool anymore.

Please e-mail any suggetions to

[email protected].

The GB&U is a compilation of

student opinions.

John McCain has swung hislast swing.

McCain fighting Barack Obama is like KimboSlice fighting the presentMohammed Ali.

Shaky and helpless.McCain looks so angry,

especially during the debates.

I guess any candidate wouldbe irritated if G.W..... Bushhad beat him in the 2000primaries and a black, come-from-behind, Illinois juniorsenator was beating them eightyears later.

He is probably angry he

hired a woman to be hisrunning mate and it turns out

she is a complete moron.Public funding doesn’t

help his platform of, “Don’ttake government handouts,however, I am going to takehandouts to campaign with.But once again don’t takegovernment handouts, andthose who take handouts arepoor welfare mothers.”

Beyond this, McCain istrying to run the bull in abearish year, when it comes toRepublican politics.

Many bipartisan projectionsshow the House will becontrolled by a 247-186democratic lead (two seatsare still unpredictable), the

Senate following suit at a59-41 Democratic lead.

Another roadblock is themisinformation from theMcCain campaign.

A perfect example is ‘Joethe Plumber,’ whom McCainbrought up more than 20 timesin the debate.

Turns out, Joe the Plumberowes back taxes and is not evena licensed plumber in the stateof Ohio. Then McCain seemsto suffer from dementia.

According to him,segregation is the “worstchapter in Americanhistory.” Probably not.Enslaving a population for300 years is much worse thansegregation. Pointless attacks

on Obama don’t seem to be working either.

ACORN has been a nationalmedia no-go. Bill Ayers, wellthat is a no-go as well.

Republicans are notoriousfor cooking up crack intheir crackpots, hopefully this year the voters won’t besmoking it.

The Ronald Reaganperformance that everyoneexpected did not come fromMcCain. The only thing wesaw was another G.W.... Bush.

Hopefully, in a few short weeks Obama will be oursoon-to-be president, andMcCain can get on with whatis left of his short, chubby cheeked life.

By Seth Hallam

Staff writer

The Republicrat duopoly has ignored the mostimportant issues facing ournation. However, third party

candidates Chuck Baldwin,Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader agree onfour key principles central tothe health of our republic.

Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly aspossible, with removal of allour soldiers from the region as well as Korea, Japan, Europeand the entire Middle East. We

must stop war propaganda,threats of a blockade andplans to attack Iran.

We must take the threat of anuclear first strike off the table.“Peace, commerce and honestfriendship with all nations,entangling alliances withnone,” Thomas Jefferson.

Privacy: We must protectthe privacy and civil liberties

of all U.S. citizens. We must

repeal the Patriot Act, theMilitary Commissions Actand FISA legislation. We mustreject the notion and practiceof torture, eliminationsof habeas corpus, secrettribunals and secret prisons. We must deny immunity for

corporations that willingly spy on the people for the benefit of the government. “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety and will lose both,”Ben Franklin.

National Debt: We believethere should be no increase inthe national debt. The burden

of debt placed on the nextgeneration is unjust and already threatening our economy andthe value of our dollar.

The Federal Reserve: Weseek an investigation of theFederal Reserve System and itscozy relationships with banking and other financial institutions.Corporations should beaggressively prosecuted for

their crimes and frauds.

By Thomas Kubica

Contributing writer

This election couldn’t comesoon enough. After Nov. 4most Americans will disappearfrom the political scene.

This allows the very motivation for the initialinvolvement—televisions—toagain maintain control overpersonal and public opinion.

Americans may realize oneday their financial institutionshave sold out to the federalgovernment. Government, with its increasing bureaucracy,successfully lulls people into

consenting with policies thathave continued to perpetuate war, poverty and fear.

All of the sudden, it iship to vote, whether it befrom ignorance or sheepishmentality. A candidate is builtup by “news” stations as issuesare manufactured while othersare dismissed.

If socialism triumphs, as

many seem to unknowingly

embrace its fundamentals,surely the nation is being pushed that much closer toglobal governance.

The same private interests will continue to be served,and people will go withoutnecessities while others bask

in luxuries. Why do so little toestablish this change so many aspire for?

Well, it seems the majority of people are content withtheir limited reality.

As long as they can casha check, drink some beersand watch their opinion getmanufacture for them, thedistraction will overpower the

reality that society is unkempt,fractured and disenchanted.

Vote, then go back to sleep America. Government willgain more power, commit actsof terror, steal from its citizensand strip away civil rights all inthe name of freedom.

Be your own savior andrealize no one needs saved;together we can make reality

better than any TV program.

By Jerrod Markle

Staff writer

McCain falling victim to Obama machine

Independent viewstaking a stand Waking up America

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



As this presidential election winds down my opinion hasstarted to evolve.

Upon examining the playersand their campaigns, I may have underestimated SarahPalin. She is a very formidablepolitician who can’t betaken lightly.

At first, I felt sorry for her,believing the McCain campaign was just using her to attractthe conservative base and thedisaffected Hillary voters.

They put her in theunenviable position to falsely attack Barack Obama’s

character. Her dirty tacticseventually turned people off but as the campaign continued,she actually relinquishedher role.

As angry crowdsresponded to her venomous message, shefed off their anger andhatred. She blossomedlike an attractive, yetpoisonous, plant thatdraws its prey close, andthen goes for the kill.

She is a “wolf in sheep’sclothing” or better yet, “a wolf in designer clothing.”

Now I don’t want to giveher too much credit, she is still woefully unprepared for officeof vice president, but what she

lacks in intelligence, she makesup for in ruthlessness.

Her folksy and simple dialectgives her the appearance of innocence, just your average

everyday hockey mom.She wants what’s best for

Joe the plumber, but lurksas someone with the guileof a vulture that circles adying animal waiting foran opportunity to pick itsbones clean.

As the McCain campaignflounders, she is beginning to distance herself. WhenMcCain pulled out of Michigan, focusing funds

where they actually have achance to win, she criticizedthe campaign and mademention that she and Todd

would not have given up. Then, in a joint interview

conducted by Brian Williamsof NBC News, Palin took over a stumbling, bumbling

McCain who appeared lost.She dominated the rest of theinterview, while McCain satthere looking bewildered.

Most recently, she hascriticized her handlers, peoplethat McCain assigned to guild

her; it has now reached thepoint where they considerher a loose canon and havecharacterized her as a “rogue vice presidential candidate.”

In all fairness, some of heractions are due to an attemptby McCain operatives to sether up as a scapegoat for theirinept performance.

She’s not having any of that. She understands sheis fighting for her politicallife, so she’s abandoning thesinking ship.

It appears she will attemptto use this national exposureas a springboard for hercareer, looking ahead to the2012 presidential race, shouldMcCain lose.

By Eric Jackson

Staff writer

The National Collegiate

Athletic Association is theforemost governing body in college athletics in theUnited States.

It sets student-athlete,coaching, sportsmanship andother guidelines for all NCAAaffiliated sports teams.

According to Laurie Priest,the chair of physical educationand athletic director of Mount

Holyoke College, part of theseguidelines deal with coachesand athletic directors having to “protect their students even when their local and nationalgovernments wouldn’t,” againsthomosexual discrimination.

Unbeknownst to Priest, thecurrent state of affairs wouldhave her addend “…as long asyou make it on the team first,”

to her comment.

It came to my attentionthrough an acquaintance thata scholarship she was offered was indirectly revoked whenthe coach found out that she

had a girlfriend. The coach had offered thescholarship and a position onthe team, but later stoppedcontacting her about signing information, only afterquestioning her about hersexual orientation.

Prior to learning she was alesbian he was adamant abouthaving her on the team. She

was given no explanation asto why her offer was taken off the table.

This wasn’t the first time I was privy to information aboutNCAA coaches revoking scholarship offers or refusing an offer to an openly gay orlesbian athlete.

In another example, aplayer already on an NCAA

sports team overheard her

coach say that he didn’t wantto recruit girls that “look likethat [lesbians],” since he didn’t want others to perceive histeam as being all lesbians.

Apparently, all lesbianslook a certain way. While, Idoubt coaches would admitto these practices, I’d hopesome of us can see past thecharade of lovely smiles andgrins that turn into rolling eyesand disgusted looks behindclosed doors.

Although no large scaleorganizations are perfect, it’s

important to keep in mind thatthe NCAA still works to keepthe interests of gay and lesbianathletes and administrators inmind.

It’s difficult enough toperform at the high levelnecessary to join a collegeteam. Hiding who you areand living your life in secretshouldn’t have to be part of

the workout.

By Rhonda Marable

Staff writer

Barack Obama is not

Muslim. But wait. Why doesit matter? There has been such an

emphasis on Barack HusseinObama and whether or not heis Muslim. A better question is,if he was a Muslim why doesthat matter?

Do we really base whetheror not someone is qualified tobe president on their religious

constituency? Or is this justanother example of the ever sopopular religious—specifically Christian—based hypocrisy?

If being Muslim is adisqualification from thepresidency, 2.35 million Americans have already been disqualified from the2012 election.

So, 2.35 million American’s

are Muslim. One and a half

billion people throughout the world are Muslim. How do we,as American’s, appear to the world when someone being Muslim is such a horrid thing?

Probably pretty bad, they dorepresent one-fourth of the world’s population.

Over the past 60 years mostof us have learned that racismis wrong, but other prejudices,such as those against religionstill seems to be acceptable.

Ever since 9/11, all Arabsare terrorists and all Muslimsare extremists. This is not

the case at all and epitomizes Americans ignorance. Peopleponder why most of the worldhas a subtle distaste for theUnited States.

Ever think that these arethe kinds of notions that rubpeople, throughout the world,the wrong way? Then again, we are Americans. Why do wecare what others around the

world think?

By Seth Hallam

Staff writer

She is a ‘wolf in sheep’sclothing” or better yet,‘a wolf in designer

clothing.’Eric Jackson”

“

Palin proving to be a viable candidate

Scolarship discriminationteetering sexual orientation

Religious preference nota mudslinging topic

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


With only one regular seasongame left for the MercyhurstCollege Women’s soccer team;their chances of a postseasonplayoff berth were increaseddramatically with two wins thispast week.

The Lakers travelled to Slip-pery Rock on Tuesday, Oct. 21to face their PSAC west oppo-nents in a bid to take over firstplace in the division.

The Lakers had a greatstart to the game. Althoughthey doubled Slippery Rock’sshots in the first half, Mercy-

hurst was unable to break thedeadlock and the teams retiredscoreless at half time.

In the second half, Mercy-hurst took advantage just fiveminutes in.

Sophomore Jamie Schroterassisted senior Sarah Powellfor the Lakers first goal to giveMercyhurst the lead.

Schroter picked up a goal of

her own when she powered along range free kick into theback of the net. This goal washer fifth tally of the season.

The Mercyhurst defense would stay strong to finishout the game on top. SeniorRebecca Heintzman talliedfour saves on the game torecord the win.

The Lakers then hosted the

Crimson Hawks of IUP at

home on Sat., Oct. 25. Thisgame marked the final homegame in the Mercyhurst careersof seniors Rebecca Heintzman,Stacey Litz, Hailee Maiorano,

Lisa Melander, Sarah Powell,Christine Rehnert and Katie Waldin.

The Lakers dominated muchof the play, but found them-selves down 1-0 early. They wasted little time in finding anequalizer as Christine Rehnartsquared the ball to ice-coolstriker Taylor Hilinski to tiethe game at one.

Mercyhurst put the contest

out of reach scoring the nextthree goals. Jamie Laturellconnected on a through ballthe second time around, tally-ing her first career goal for the

Lakers. Hilinski would scoretwo more goals in the secondhalf to clinch her first hat-trick.

“It was fantastic to sendthe seniors off with a victory. They have worked so hardover the years for the Lakers,”junior Jamie Laturell said“We are really working hardand the results are starting to

show this.”

By Stephen DugganStaff writer

Football....................................................Oct. 23, W 24-21, Edinboro

Women’s Volleyball...........................Oct. 21, L 3-0, California (Pa.)

Oct. 25, L 3-2, Gannon

Field Hockey.......................................Oct. 22, W 2-0, Slippery Rock

Oct. 25, L 4-3 OT, Shippensburg

Men’s Soccer.........................................Oct. 22, L 2-1, Slippery Rock

Oct. 25, W 3-2, Lock Haven

Women’s Soccer .................................Oct. 21, W 2-1, Slippery Rock

Oct. 25, W 4-2, Indiana (Pa.)

Men’s Water Polo.....................Oct. 25, W 7-2, Salem International

Oct. 25, W 10-5, Gannon

Oct. 26, L 12-8, Iona

Women’s Hockey.........................................Oct. 24, L 5-2, Clarkson

Oct. 25, L 4-2, Clarkson

Men’s Hockey...............................Oct. 24, L 3-1, Nebraska-Omaha

Oct. 25, L 5-2, Nebraska-Omaha

Wrestling team ranked no. 13 in preseason poll The preseason NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association

was released this week and the Mercyhurst College wrestling team

was ranked No. 13 in the country. The Lakers have four wres-

tlers ranked in the top eight of their weight class coming into this

season after finishing last year with a record of 10-14.

Hilinski, Hall named PSAC Athletes of the Week Senior cornerback Theo Hall of the football team and junior

forward Taylor Hilinski of the women’s soccer team were both

named PSAC West Athletes of the week in their respective sports

for their efforts this past week.

Theo Hall-FootballSenior Theo Hall received Athlete of the Week for his efforts in

Mercyhurst’s 24-21 upset win over no. 15 Edinboro. Hall blocked

the game-tying field goal with 23 seconds left. He had a 46 yard

interception return and a 49-yard kickoff return to set up Mercy-

hurst scores.

Taylor Hilinski This junior forward scored the first women’s soccer hat trick of

the year in the Oct. 25 win against IUP. The win sealed a PSAC

playoff birth for the Lakers and put them in first place in the

PSAC West.

Women’s soccer playoff bound

Junior Jamie Laturell controls the ball in Mercyhurst’s 4-2 win

over IUP on Oct. 25 to solidify a playoff berth for the Lakers.


SPORTSP 20 O t b 29 2008

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008


SPORTS October 29, 2008

Laker field hockey sets records in win over SRU

Junior Megan Rasmussen wins possession of the ball at the field hockey game last Saturday at

Tullio Field agianst Shippensburg. The Lakers lost the game, 3-4, in overtime.


After last week’s big winover Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the women’sfield hockey team continuedits winning streak by defeating Slippery Rock University last Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Two first half goals would

prove to be enough to defeatthe Rock 2-0.

Goal number one camein the first three minutes of the game when junior Emily Warren set up sophomore Sara Wowkowych for her secondgame-winning goal of the

season.

Thirteen minutes later, Warren provided an insurancegoal, her 14th of the season,off a pass from junior MeganRasmussen.

In their second shutoutof The Rock this season, theLakers (9-8, 4-3 PSAC West)moved one game over .500 forthe first time since the start of 2006 and helped several team

members set new records.Senior Jen Macri notched

her third career shutout withthree saves to tie with Lindsay Christopher (1997-99) for thirdfor doughnuts in a career.

For head coach Stacey Gaudette, the win marks her

46th career win at Mercyhurst

College, surpassing formerhead coach Kevin Cooke(1998-02; 45-39-1) by one forall-time wins as the Lakers’skipper.

Mercyhurst finished thegame with a 13-4 edge inshots, and held the advantagein penalty corners, 8-1.

On Saturday, Oct. 25, theLakers returned home and

suffered their second lossthis season at Tullio Field toShippensburg University 4-3in overtime.

Junior Kelsie Weber led theoffense with a goal and twoassists while Warren nettedtwo points to improve her

By Sarah PowellStaff Writer

team-leading total to 36.

With her efforts, Warrenmoved into sole possession of third place all-time for pointsscored in a career (69) and isone point shy of tying NicoleDavis’ (2001-03) record formost points in a season.

Weber put the Lakers aheadin the first 12 minutes of play and Shippensburg tied thegame less than four minutes

later.Freshman Serena Slattery

answered back off an assistfrom Loper, her second assistof the game.

Warren scored six minuteslater to put the Lakers ahead3-1.

Shippensburg scored two

minutes later to make the score

3-2 going into the secondhalf.

Shippensburg went on toscore the only tally of thesecond half, tying the gameand forceing overtime.

Senior Jennifer Colemanshared a reflection on theclosing season, “I have beenreally proud of our teamespecially with the second half

of our season.”“We could have given up

when things were not going our way, but we pulled ittogether and just workedharder. This is a great groupof girls who have worked sohard this season to accomplishour goals.”

SPORTS P 21O t b 29 2008

8/6/2019 The Merciad, Oct. 29, 2008



Fantasy sport leagues fi nd popularity at ’Hurst

As if the world of spectatorsports wasn’t competitiveenough, fantasy leagues havetaken sport enthusiasm toanother level, and the studentsat Mercyhurst College havejumped on board.

With many professional

sports currently in season,students are excited to gettheir teams together to fightfor some nice bragging

rights and engage in friendly

competition.“I really like that is additional

time that you can spend withyour friends, even if it isonline,” senior and fantasy hockey team manager Patty McMahon said.

There’s nothing better thangetting to own your favoriteplayers and cheer them to victory knowing your fantasy

team is benefiting from theirtalent, but there is also nothing as soul crushing as losing yourheroes before the season starts,

in your fantasy league draft.

For real fans, the draft canbe the most stressful part of fantasy teams, but the mostfun.

“I get so mad… it is a goodthing we did it online and notin a room,” McMahon said. “I would join a hundred leaguesjust for the draft.”

Having control over afantasy team is not only a fun

extracurricular activity, butit helps fans keep track of the season and their favoriteplayers.

As the school term gets even

busier, and the season movesalong steadily, it is easy to fallbehind on the most recentprofessional sports news andupdates.

Non-sport fans don’t alwaysunderstand the lure of fantasy sports or how they work.

But it is really quite simple. You join a league, put

together a team of superstar

athletes and sit back and letthem do their job.

The stats from actual gamesare what determine the points

and outcomes of the fantasy

games. And the fun doesn’t have to

start and end online. A lot of people have actual

prizes for the winner of theirleagues.

For those who participate, we know it is not just a hobby,it is a lifestyle.

Fantasy smack-talk is asacceptable in person as it

is online. I don’t see how itcould get any better—unlesssabotaging was possible.

By Samantha Sellinger

Sports editor

Gannon hands ’Hurst a payback Hockey still winless

The Lakers men’s hockey team lost both of its gamesthis weekend to the University of Nebraska at Omah.

Freshman forward for theMavericks, Alex Hudsonscored his first two college

goals in their 3-1 win onFriday. The Lakers’ senior goal-

tender, Matt Lundin, posted38 saves in this loss, earning himself a third star for thesecond time this season.

The sole goal for the Lakerscame from senior captainRyan Toomey on a passfrom sophomore Brandon

Coccimiglio in the first period with 3:51 remaining.

On Saturday, freshmangoalie Max Strang started thegame and made 22 saves over47:44 minutes in the 5-2 lossto the Mavericks.

Nebraska-Omaha scoredfour of their five goals11 minutes into the gameincluding a goal by the

Mavericks junior forward

Juric Agosta, older brother of Mercyhurst College’s women’shockey team captain Meghan Agosta.

Mercyhurt sophomoresSteve Bremner and Steve Cam-eron each scored goals for theLakers with Bremner’s coming at 18:24 into the first periodand Cameron’s coming at 19:02 into the second

period. The Mavericks scored anadditional goal in the secondperiod to bring their total tofive.

Sophmore Laker goalie RyanZapolski finished the game,making saves on all nine shotsthat he faced.

The Lakers went 0-for-14and Nebraska-Omaha went 1-

for-13 on the power-play forthe weekend.

The team is still looking totakes its first win this seasonand hope to see some successsoon.

The Lakers resume actionon Friday, Nov. 7, when they travel to Worchester, Mass. where the team is set to takeon the College of the Holy

Cross.

By Mark GramzaStaff writer

The Gannon University Golden Knights madethe short bus ride acrossErie to take on the Lakers’ women’s volleyball team in abig volleyball rivalry match.

Matches between Gannon

and Mercyhurst College arequite heated and this matchlived up to the hype.

The ride was worth it for theGolden Knights, as they cameout on top after a tough matchbetween two strong teams,putting an end to the Lakers’ winning streak.

The game had gone back and forth over the first four

games, with the Lakers winning the first and fourth games,and seemed to be pretty wellbalanced.

The fifth game did not startoff well for the Lakers asthey found themselves on the wrong end of an 11-5 deficit,but this w as where the truecolors of the team came out.

The Lakers mounted a

giant comeback, which was

culminated with a big kill outof the middle by sophomoreErin English to tie the game at14-14.

This type of comeback is very rare in rally scoring,because there is a point every serve. This means the Lakers went on a 9-3 run over thatspan.

The Golden Knights took

a time-out and this may havebeen what won them thegame, as they were clearly notin control of the momentumat the moment.

The Lakers took a seat and when they came back it was asif the life was sucked out of the gym, and a few points laterthe Golden Knights won 18-16due to a kill and a Mercyhurst

attacking error. The match went to five

games just as it had when theteams met earlier in the year,but this time around the Lakers weren’t as successful.

Both teams rise to theoccasion for this rivalry andthat’s what makes it so thrilling,because on paper the teams arenot that evenly matched.

Senior Jenna Matson led

Mercyhurst with 15 kills andEnglish added 12.

Senior Lauren Kubinskientered the match with 999career kills and joined Matsonas one of only five players inprogram history with 1,000 by putting down 11 kills in thecontest.

Junior Julia Butler had 49assists and 16 digs, while

libero sophomore Kendall Ashworth had a team-high 17digs. Gannon hit .200 for thematch and Lakers hit just .145,peaking with a .265 swing percentage in the set four victory that pushed the matchto a fifth.

The Lakers fell to 18-11on the season and 5-4 in thePSAC West, while the Golden

Knights improved to 11-12on the season and 2-7 in thePSAC West.

Next up for the Lakers are afew more games against areasrivals, Lake Erie College andClarion University later this week.

They hope to shake off thedisappointment of the loss toGannon and get another win.

By Gary CoadStaff writer

SPORTSPage 22 October 29 2008

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Lakers on road to State Game

In a tough match-up,the Lakers defeated rivalsEdinboro University, 24-21,thanks to some great plays by senior defensive back TheoHall.

The No. 15 Fighting Scotsare the highest ranked team the

Mercyhurst College footballteam has beaten since No.13Saginaw Valley State in 2004.

With the win, the Lakersimproved to 5-1 in conferenceplay. It looked bad for theLakers in the first half of thegame until Hall intercepteda pass off the hands of theEdinboro quarterback, TrevorHarris.

He returned it 46 yards,

setting up Mercyhurst’s first

touchdown of the night. With Mercyhurst trailing 21-

10 midway through the thirdquarter, Hall had a 49-yardkickoff return and drew a 15-yard facemask penalty to setup another Laker score, giving the Laker’s a 24-21 lead overthe Fighting Scots.

By this point in the game,Hall had already proven his

talent, but his largest feat thatallowed Mercyhurst to holdonto the win came in the finalminutes of the game.

As Edinboro was attempting a 25-yard field goal to extendthe game into overtime, Hallbroke through the line andblocked the kick, the fourthsuch block of his career.

The Lakers’ star running back, senior Richard Stokes

didn’t perform to his usual

standards, but had a solidgame nonetheless.

He completed just 31rushing yards in the firsthalf but finished with 26carries for 122 yardsand his rushing touch-down, tying Mercyhurst’ssingle season records forboth rushing touchdowns (13)and total touchdowns (14).

This Saturday, Nov. 1, Mer-cyhurst will host CaliforniaUniversity of Pennsylvaniaat Tullio Field for the gamethat will determine thePSAC West conference cham-pion.

The outcome of the coming game is a big deal, because whoever wins earns the rightto represent the West in thePSAC State Game.


Sports editor

Senior running back Richard Stokes makes a touchdown at a game earlier this season against

Slippery Rock. The Lakers beat Edinboro last Saturday 24-21.


Club hockey rocks the rink

The newly nationally rankedNo. 25 club hockey team wonits games this weekend againstNiagara University and theUniversity of Rochester.

Niagara was defeated onFriday by a score of 4-2 withgoals coming from forwardsfreshman Jeff Monnin who

had two and sophomore PatLeone.

Freshman defensemanChad Thompson scored whatproved to be the game winning goal with a dazzling end-to-endrush that brought everyone inattendance to their feet.

The Lakers outshot thePurple Eagles 43-26 withsenior goaltender AdamFalkner getting the win for theLakers.

On Saturday, freshmangoalie Daniel Baggaley startedin a 10-3 win over Rochester.

Sixteen Lakers recordedpoints as the Lakers outshot

the Jackals 59-20 with goalscoming from freshmanforwards Kevin Melnik andCody Steele (3), sophomoreforwards Kevin Sculley, SteveStepanian and David Gaines(2), and senior forwards BrianStefanski and Walt Ozanick.

This weekend was good forteam confidence as they willhave to face No.16 Robert

Morris University for twogames next weekend which willlikely determine which team will win the Eastern CollegiateLeague (ECHL) and receivean auto-bid into the nationaltournament. All fans whocome to this weekend’s gamein a Halloween costume willreceive candy at the door.

So come dressed in yourHalloween attire this Saturday at 7 p.m. to cheer on yourLakers for what will likely be the biggest game of theseason.

By Mark Gramza

Staff writer

Equestrian club trots

into winner’s circle

Few people know that Mer-cyhurst College has a competi-tive equestrian club.

They compete againstschools such as Allegheny

College, West Virginia Uni- versity and the University of Pittsburgh.

This year is a record yearfor the team, which is rankedNo. 10 in the region out of 16schools.

“Considering there are only three of us earning pointsfor the team, as opposed toschools like WVU who have

over 30, that’s pretty phenome-

nal,” junior team club memberMelissa Velchoff said.

In a show two weekendsago at Slippery Rock Univer-sity, Velchoff qualified forthe regional competition thiscoming March, in the Walk-trot class.

In a competition at WVU

this past Sunday, freshmanMegan White was the ReserveHigh Point rider of the show,and she won the second high-est number of individualpoints during the course of the show.

The team will be compete-ing in their last competitionof the year this Sunday, Nov.2, at Washington and Jefferson

University.


Sports editor

SPORTS Page 23October 29 2008

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Emerick secures another win for Lakers

The Mercyhurst Collegemen’s soccer team wrappedup their regular season homematches this past week withtheir final game on the Lakershome turf against Lock HavenUniversity.

In addition to playing Lock

Haven this past week ,theLakers traveled to Slippery Rock University on Wednesday where they unfortunately walked away with an unlucky loss.

With only one regularseason game left againstGannon University this Wednesday Oct. 29, the menthis past week worked hard to

end the season at home on ahigh note.

On Saturday, the NCAA Atlantic Region No. 2 Lakerstook on the No. 4 Bald Eaglesof Lock Haven. After anunlucky one to one tie the firsttime the Lakers played Lock Haven earlier this month, themen were looking for a big win on their home turf.

With a 26-12 shot advantageover the Bald Eagles, it wasclear Mercyhurst had theupper hand for most of thegame. With a 3-2 win overLock Haven, the Lakers weresatisfied with their last homegame victory of the year.

Although Lock Haven

was able to place the ballpast Mercyhurst freshmengoalkeeper Nick Doyle early on in the game, sophomoreBilly Colton tied the game upless than two minutes later.

Still within the first half of play, the Bald Eagles chippedthe ball over Doyle’s head to

take the 2-1 lead. The lead did

not last long as senior StephenDuggan scored his first seasonand career goal to tie the matchback up at 2-2.

With only a few minutes leftin the first half of play, senior Tyler Emerick took a free kick from the top of the 18 yardbox that went straight into

the back of the net giving the

Lakers the game winning goal.“I thought it was really incredible how well weplayed, especially after Arash[Fahandezh] got hurt. The twoguys who run and organize theentire defense did not play inthe game,” Doyle who madehis first career appearance

against Lock Haven said.

“I knew we had to winin order to stay afloat in theconference race and to beconsidered for the NCAA’s.Everyone on the team wastalking about playing for eachother. I just didn’t want to seethe seniors’ last season end onmy watch in goal.”

The win over Lock Havenended the week on a positive

note after the men came back from traveling to Slippery Rock earlier in the week where they lost 1-2 against The Rock. Although theLakers attempted to make acome back after being down2-0, there was just not enoughtime for the men to rally the win.

Sophomore Tommy Lundnever gave up on his team’sability to beat Slippery Rock,as he scored in the eighty-second minute just a few minutes before the final whistle. Although the men worked hard up until the endof the match, they were unableto get the ball in the back of the net another time to tie up

the game. As the Lakers wrap up theirseason this week against cross-town rivals Gannon University,the men are focused on ahopeful play off bid in thePSAC Tournament following the regular season play if they defeat Gannon.

By Kaite WaldinStaff writer

Freshman Eric Steinmetz battles a Lock Haven player for the ball at the men’s soccer game

last Saturday. The Lakers won 3-2.


Potsdam, N.Y. was not kindto the Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team this weekend. The Lakers were

swept in the weekend series by

the Golden Knights of Clark-son University.

Game one on Friday saw theLakers take a 2-1 lead into thethird period thanks to goalsfrom freshman Hailey Bramand sophomore Jesse Scan-zano.

The Golden Knights

exploded for four goals in thethird period and would takethe game by a final score of 5-2.

Freshman Hillary Pattendenstopped 25 shots, but took theloss.

On Saturday, Mercyhurst did

not fair any better. The Lakers

dropped the contest by a scoreof 4-2 with goals coming fromsophomores Vicki Bendus and Jesse Scanzano. This was thefirst series sweep since the2005-06 campaign.

Mercyhurst heads to Col-gate this weekend for a pair

of games against the Raiders

as they attempt to get back ontrack. The Lakers now standat 3-3 overall.

By Brad Moehringer

Sports editor

Women’s hockey slain by Golden Knights

Page 24Senior Marty Powell battles

for a header against Lock

Haven on Oct. 25.

L k S t

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Caption on page 23

Laker Sports

Heading towards

the playoffs

the merciad, oct. 29, 2008

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