November 9 Issue of The Merciad

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:Election Results

Arts & Entertainment On Page 4:

Sports On Page 7:

As of 12 a.m., Trump had

Mercyhurst shows

Men’s soccer

majority of

Cumberbatch in

claims PSAC

“Hamlet”

title

electoral votes

The MERCIAD

Read more inside & online

Est. 1929 Vol. 90 No. 8

Mercyhurst university

Wednesday, noveMber 9, 2016

Duval repairs continue By Melanie Todd Staff writer Saturday night of Halloween weekend came with a different kind of scare for Duval residents. “I got a call from my roommate around seven at night and she said that our apartment was flooded,” said a Duval resident. Police and Safety, Mercyhurst maintenance staff and the housing administration responded very quickly to the situation. “A student made a bad call not intentionally that caused a sprinkler to break. When in hotels they say to not touch the sprinkler system, heed that warning,” Megan McKenna, director of Residence Life and Student Conduct, said. Three apartments were significantly damaged and two others had partial damage. This forced Mercyhurst to relocate 20 students to temporary housing. “There’s a lot of construction going on. Most of our concern is the water. Everything needs to be sanitized to prevent mold growth. We’ll need to replace all the carpeting for sure,” McKenna said. Not everything will have to be replaced. Some things can be salvaged. “The furniture needs to be cleaned and sanitized but the good thing about university furniture is it’s built for things like this. We’ll replace mattresses and everything will be assessed as to whether we can keep it or not,” McKenna said. The restoration is expected

to be complete after Thanksgiving break. “The last few days have been demolition. Now we’re at the step where we have to sit and wait. The next step will be rebuilding,” McKenna said. Fortunately, Mercyhurst has housing set aside particularly for situations such as this. “Our housing is older and that comes with challenges. It’s interesting some of the things you have to think about that you didn’t have to before,” McKenna said. In situations such as this, communication is most important. “I’ve been communicating regularly with the affected students and all the students still in Duval. There’s a lot of construction going on over there and we don’t want that to be a problem for them,” McKenna said. Situations such as this test Mercyhurst’s systems, especially residence life and the maintenance staff. It also speaks volumes of the types of students that are a part of the Mercyhurst community. “Jonah Jackson, the Duval RA, was very helpful during the incident. All the students were great. Everybody was very understanding and cooperative. I’m very thankful for the students’ response. In the grand scheme of things I greatly appreciate that,” McKenna said. Currently, there is no available monetary assessment of the damage. Insurance will cover the damage to the apartments.

ABOVE: residents of affected rooms must temporarily pack up and move until repairs are complete. AT LEFT: Cleanup continues and much of the damaged furniture must be thrown away and replaced.

Contributed photos

Presque Isle celebrates Erie veterans By Melanie Todd Staff writer

Veterans and current service members will be honored this Thursday at the Second Annual Veterans Appreciation Day at Presque Isle State Park. The event will take place at the Rotary Pavilion beginning at 10 a.m. “The event began here at Presque Isle State Park last year as a way to celebrate the important contributions to the nation of our local veterans. Northwestern Pennsylvania has a long and storied

Merciad Index

history of military service to the nation and the region itself is a historic and important region to the development of the United States,” retired U.S. Army Reserves Maj. Joe Pfadt, Presque Isle Veterans Day event cofounder and president of Warriors to Washington, said. Our nation’s veterans serve this country dutifully and the community wants to show their thanks and honor them, Pfadt said. “The goal is to bring our community together to show our thanks to those who have given us so much, our veter-

ans,” Pfadt said. Many events will take place including a flag-raising ceremony, free fishing for veterans, information booths, reenactors and a letter writing activity. “The letters are going to current active duty service members that are stationed around the world defending our freedoms today. One of the things that we can do here on the home front is to continue to show our support for those that wear the uniform of the nation,” Pfadt said. There is a lot that can be done to help service members

from the home front. A small gesture from a total stranger can mean so much to a service member thinking about home, he said. “Writing a letter, sending a card or donating a personal item are all ways of showing our support that do matter to those that receive them. When you are far from home, it is the little things that say a lot. A letter of thanks from someone from ‘home’ is a real connection for the service person overseas,” Pfadt said. Sharing your thanks and respect is important, he said. “We enjoy all of our free-

doms because someone has earned them for us. That someone is a veteran. We owe veterans all those things that we take for granted, freedom to educate ourselves, freedom to chose our livelihood, freedom to have a family, freedom to enjoy our leisure time, freedom to live in peace and define ourselves as a people. Veterans have earned that for us with their sacrifices, their sacrifices of time of blood and even their lives. “Veterans Day is not something that the veterans ask for, but it is something that we do for them because some-

times the best part of being an American is the ability to say thank you to someone who allows us to be our best,” Pfadt said. Donations for troops also are being collected at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center and the Erie Maritime Museum through Nov. 23. Items will be sent to servicemen currently on deployment overseas. Items requested include instant coffee packets, drink mixes, protein bars, deodorant, toothpaste, shaving cream, Band-Aids, wet wipes and size large flip-flops.

Online Poll Results

Is it too early to play Christmas music?

News Features A&E Opinion Sports Laker Living

1-2 3 4-5 6 7 8

It’s never too early! (55%) I don’t mind hearing it occasionally. (30%) Christmas music is only for Christmas day. (10%,) I don’t listen to Christmas music. (5%)

Be sure to vote in this week’s online poll:

Are you happy with the new president? merciad.mercyhurst.edu


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