The Merciad, Nov. 20, 2013

Page 1

THE Merciad

EST. 1929 VOL. 87 NO. 10

MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013

’Hurst welcomes Rico Police & Safety adds bomb-sniffing K-9 to the force By Will Bickelmann Staff writer

Mercyhurst University Police and Safety recently acquired a bomb sniffing dog as a utility to the campus and the region. The Belgian Malinois, trained to detect explosives, is named Rico. When asked how Mercyhurst is funding the purchase and upkeep for Rico, Chief of Police Robert Kuhn replied, “We have been requesting the state for the funds to acquire a dog like for Rico for about a year now. Thanks to cooperation from state Sen. Sean Wiley we were able to secure $13,000 to get Rico and his accompanying police van. Erie Insurance has also made donations to pay for his general upkeep including food and veterinary costs.” In addition to being trained to sniff out explosives, Rico can also track firearms and humans. Rico is one of very few such trained dogs in the Erie region, so his presence is a valuable asset to both the university and to the city,” Kuhn said. President Tom Gamble, Ph.D., also saw the serious benefits of Rico to the University. “Mercyhurst is a repository of law enforcement training, from our Public Safety Institute to our Municipal Police Training Academy to our intelligence studies, forensics and criminal justice programs, so this is a natural for us,” Gamble said. “While the canine unit may afford a marginal increase in safety for our students, we see the dog as a community resource that further enhances the strong relationship between Mercyhurst University and the regional public safety system.” Newly trained Officer Brandon Miller will be taking Rico on patrols and on call-ins, if the occasion occurs. When asked how Rico might be used on campus Kuhn said, “Police dogs on college campuses are valuable whenever it comes time to host an event that draws a crowd. These could include sports events or even visiting speakers. We don’t anticipate any of these events being dangerous, but if requested Rico and Brandon, they can be there as a safety.” The college is willing to lend Rico to other departments around the city as he is needed. While Mercyhurst hasn’t experienced a bomb threat, the presence of Rico will make the Mercyhurst campus a significantly safer place. The University of Pittsburgh experienced a series of bomb threats and forced evacuations last year and a dog like Rico will help discourage that kind of activity on campus. Mike Murphy photo

Police & Safety Officer Brandon Miller will be accompanying Rico, our new bomb-sniffing dog, on patrols and call-ins, should the occasion present itself.

@TheMerciad

Classical couple comes to campus By Mathew Anderson Editor-in-chief

Monday, Nov. 18, Mercyhurst students had the opportunity to both attend a recital given by two world-famous singers and watch them in action during a masterclass on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Jane Bunnell and Marc Embree are notable vocalists, each in their own respect. Bunnell is a world-class opera singer with over 350 performances of 30 roles at the Metropolitan Opera. This includes the Metropolitan Opera Premieres of Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Wolf-Ferrari’s “Sly.” She has also recorded with the Met for Sony/BMG and has toured to Europe and Japan.

Merciad Index News.................................2 News..................................3 Features..............................4 A & E...............................5 Opinion............................6 Sports...............................7 Laker Living.....................8

Embree has had a respected career as a singing actor and was a lead vocalist with the New York City Opera and has enjoyed a career performing around the world. Embree has received critical acclaim for his performance of the Berlin Ludwigshafen production of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene; which has been released on DVD and has been broadcasted in Europe, Japan, Mexico and on the BRAVO Channel. Tuesday, during the regularly-scheduled Student Forum course, Bunnell and Embree listened to four of our vocalists and gave constructive criticism in a masterclass environment. The four singers, sophomores Brandon Miller and Jared Hancock, junior Alexa Zeremenko and senior Kath-

leen Reveille gave performances which rivaled those of professional classical singers. Freshman Luke Ballantyne was astounded by how much he was able to learn for the pair. “Well it was very insightful. I felt like the atmosphere created by the duo was vibrant and welcoming, putting the singer mind at ease. They seemed very passionate about there art and was able to get spectacular results in a short time period. All of the participants were grateful and I feel that is was a great success and fascinating to see professionals of their caliber taking to time out of there schedules to help out,” Ballantyne said. @mathewanderson1

Mercyhurst.edu photo

Two well known vocalists visited Mercyhurst’s campus for two days to give both a recital and a masterclass in the Walker Recital Hall.

Online Poll Results For the student radio station, what genre would you like to hear?

Read more inside & online

News: - Global gifts fair asks for donations

18% Country music

Arts & Entertainment: - Operation Christmas Child

20% Pop music

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

38% Alternative music 9% Electronic music 16% Rock music

Are you happy with your housing situation on campus?

merciad.mercyhurst.edu


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.