February/March 2019
THIS ISSUE
Calling History Majors
Fishing Club
No Pets at AU Gwen Bauer Managing Editor Alvernia University banned all non-service animals from campus over winter break, and students are not pleased. Kirsten Lake, a first year student, started a student petition to overturn the rule. “I believe having a pet-friendly campus creates a very welcoming environment,” Lake said. Lake also noted that St. Francis is the patron saint of ecologists, animals, and nature, so she believes having a ban on animals does not line up with our school morals. “My goal in writing the petition is to show how much of a positive impact there is when the campus is petfriendly.” Lake said.
The petition is asking to get back the dogs in Res Life because of how helpful they were to Kirsten and her friends with adjusting this past semester. They also hope that it will eventually let the other pets back on campus. Many of Alvernia’s staff bring in their pets for the students to enjoy since they are away from home. Shannon Merkey, Alvernia’s Assistant Director of Housing Operations, brought in her three dogs every Friday. Merkey has been working for 15 years at Alvernia’s Residence Life department and has been bringing her dogs in ever since. Bringing in the dogs can be important for the staff in Residence Life for many reasons. “We sometimes have to tell students that they have lost a
back a pet for those hard moments. “They certainly helped the freshmen, including me, when we started to become homesick due to being away from home for the first time,” Mackenzie Coombs, a firstyear communication student, said. Coombs lives in Veronica Hall, where she had the opportunity to see Merkey’s dogs every Friday. Coombs
also mentioned wanting to go home many weekends in the beginning, but the dogs helped her to manage her homesickness by making it “more tolerable.” Now that no non-service dogs are allowed on campus, students miss out on the calm and friendly vibes that the animals bring with them. A study done in 2015 by Mariah J. Picard of the University of Maine found
Inside Scoop on Public Safety
Photo Courtesy of Gwen Bauer
Alvernia’s Celebrates Culture
Rocco, Gwen Bauer’s puppy, that is now three years old, enjoying the warm sun on Alvernia’s Quad during the Fall of 2015.
Photo Courtesy of Kirsten Lake
what’s in
Volume 58 Issue 1
Shannon Merkey’s dog, Lola, posing for a perfect picture in Veronica Hall.
loved one, a parent, a sister, a brother, but if we can have the dogs there, it is very helpful and it makes a difference,” Merkey said. The pets being there in Residence Life for those times
is important because the animals help to comfort and calm the students. Merkey said that they have many times had to do this and they would quickly send a staff member home to bring
“that students’ positive mood increased, but only for those who directly interacted with a dog.” The study was done to see how dogs can help people of different ages, but they put a focus on how the dogs could help college students to cope with all the stress and changes. When students get to directly interact with dogs on campus it can increase their happiness and decrease any anxiety or stress. Alvernia’s professor of sociology, Donna Yarri, is an animal activist. She has helped and fostered many animals on her own, specifically cats. She has brought in her pets many times for her classes so the students and the pets could interact because she trains her cats to be therapy cats. Dr. Yarri has not always trained cats, but began about 5 or 6 years ago because of Alvernia’s involvement with the Humane Society of Berks County. Yarri believes there is a place for pets on campus, but there should be guidelines or regulations to keep the campus safe for everyone. “I think there is a right way to go about changing the policy or getting it modified, possibly changing it to have pets on weekends or Friday’s only,” Dr. Yarri said.
After all this uproar from the students and staff, one question still needs to be answered and that is why has this rule been implemented after so many years of dogs being allowed on campus. According to Dr. Jerry Greiner, Alvernia’s interim provost, the rule was implemented for several reasons, but the main one was allergies. There were also concerns about pets being a distraction to the employees and students, as well as instances of dogs barking and even a few pet mess accidents. Dr. Greiner said that the biggest issue with non-service dogs on campus is that it does not look very good when potential students are touring. The rule is that there are no pets allowed on campus, but there are exceptions. Service animals are allowed by law, but other pets can still be welcomed with permission. “Never say never,” Dr. Greiner said. “A lot of time and energy was spent on this, but I know a lot of faculty was not able to be involved enough, or even at all, on the decision. So there may be a new opening of the door.” Advocates for a more liberalized pet policy may want to advocate to our incoming president.