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Mercyhurst university
Est. 1929 Vol. 89 No. 14
Water main break disrupts campus
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Board of Trustees reaches out to students By Catherine Rainey News editor
Casey Bleuel photo
Repair crews work to repair the water main break that occured on campus this week. Read the full story on Page 2.
Mercyhurst Athletic Band marches into new territory By Lauren Murphy Staff writer
Starting fall of 2016, the Mercyhurst pep band, which currently plays at athletic events from the stands and sidelines, will take the field marching. Over the last two years, the band has been working toward the goal of turning into a marching band. They have gone to parades and band exhibitions, specifically ones at Clarion and DuBois. The goal was always to have the band marching by the fall of 2016. Robert Reid, director of athletic bands, said that he was very excited to have a Mercyhurst Marching Band. “Nothing about the band is changing, except that we will be marching. The marching band is more of an augmentation of the game day atmosphere,” Reid said. The marching band will continue to support the teams
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Margaret Urso photo
The Mercyhurst University Athletic Band performs at a women’s hockey game. The band will be marching at football games in the fall of 2016.
and alumni. They will still be playing during volleyball, basketball and hockey games. Nothing about the music is changing. There is only the added challenge for the band members to march and play as a unit. “We have moved the band up to the next level. We are moving forward, but we will
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still provide the primest game atmosphere,” Reid said. “Our band also serves as a wonderful medium for major and non-major musicians to continue playing their instrument in a fun and productive setting,” junior Music Therapy major Kevin Timko said. Now that the band is marching, there is the matter
of creating uniforms. According to Reid, a uniform design was submitted to the administration for approval. Reid hopes to know sometime in April of the administration’s decision. (Continued on Page 2)
The Mercyhurst Board of Trustees is taking student interaction and feedback to a new level. On Thursday evening, Feb. 18, board members, student life committee members, program directors from different campus departments and students attended an invitation-only social event in the Mercy Heritage Room designed to increase communication between all parties. “When you ask most people about what a board of trustees does, they have no clue,” said Caleb Ohmer, president of Mercyhurst Student Government. “So this was an event to get students to meet Board of Trustee members and figure out their role in the institution as a whole, and at the same time to give the Board of Trustee members a closer perspective.” The social was organized by Ohmer, who said he was asked by Lev Kubiak, chair of the Student Life Committee on the Board of Trustees, to plan the event. Ohmer was assisted by Sarah Allen, director for Campus Involvement Center. Tables were set up and students and trustees were able to rotate around the room to ask one another questions. In order to represent as many types of student interests as possible, several students were chosen from an array of grade levels, departments and activities. Among them were Residence Life, Campus Ministry, MSG, Student Activities Council, athletics, ambassadors, the AIM program, international students and North East students. Out of more than 30 students who were invited, approximately 28 attended. Several students who attended had positive things to say about the event. “I liked the intentionality of the trustees and their desire to learn about student concerns from more of a one-on-one basis,” junior Chemistry major Rich Cammisa said. Cammisa
is an active student leader in Campus Ministry. Senior Intelligence Studies major and international student Dhedra Danudoro said he had had a great time talking with board members, whom he described as a diverse bunch themselves. “It was interesting. I never went to those sorts of events before,” said Danudoro. “It was also a bit relieving knowing that the board members are there to listen to any issues the student thinks are relevant. This ranges from housing, the athletic center and some of the programs out there Mercyhurst has.”
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When you ask most people what a board of trustees does, they have no clue.
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- Caleb Ohmer
This is Kubiak’s first year as chair of the Student Life Committee on the Board of Trustees. “According to the Student Life Board of Trustee Charter, they should be meeting with students once a year and it’s just to get them a better perspective on [students],” Ohmer said. Last year the Board did not hold a student event because of the presidential search committee, according to Ohmer, but the trustees want to meet with students annually. Ohmer said trustees felt that the event gave them good insight into students, what their needs are on campus and what the highlights of Mercyhurst were. In coming years, the Board would like to improve the event by inviting students from all Mercyhurst campuses, including Mercyhurst University at the Booker T. Washington Center and Mercyhurst Corry.
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