Merciad April 15th issue

Page 1

Arts : & Entertainment On Page 5:

Features On Page 3: : ‘Chopped’ comes to Mercyhurst

Sports On Page 7:

Sean Thomas Doughtery

Rugby rucking it at

comes for Lit Fest

Mercyhurst

Read more inside & online

The Merciad

Est. 1929 Vol. 88 No. 18

Mercyhurst university

Baseball swings to number four

Wednesday, april 15, 2015

Chittister and Shriver share PAC stage ‘In Conversation’ By Nathan Turner News editor

Salina Bowe photo

Junior Stephen Scaccia (7) takes a swing against California University of Pennsylvania on April 11. Mercyhurst won both games against CUP that weekend. For more about Mercyhurst baseball’s jump in ranking from No. 14 to No. 4, turn to the story on page 7.

Sister Joan Chittister, OSB, and Maria Shriver, former first lady of California, shared the stage of the D’Angelo Performing Arts Center as part of the Sister Joan Chittister Lecture Series. The event, entitled “In Conversation,” discussed Chittister’s and Shriver’s respective careers, and their impact on issues facing women, such as Alzheimer’s disease and wage inequality. Chittister praised Shriver for her work in aiming to improve the situation of women facing these issues. “She is an agent of social change,” said Chittister. “She’s done more than anyone to make a difference in the lives of struggling women.” Shriver’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, put together a commission to report on the status and well-being of women in America in 1960s, said Chit-

Staff writer

Next year, Mercyhurst University Geology majors Cole Nypaver and Elliott Baker, along with Nicholas Lang, Ph.D., are embarking on a three-year project, funded by NASA, to produce a geological map of part of the surface of Venus. The map will be created largely by studying radar data collected from NASA’s Magellan mission that took place in the early 1990s. The portion of Venus they are mapping is roughly the size of Australia. The quadrant they will be studying is called Mahuea Tholus, Maori for “goddess of fire.” Most geographical features have special names and Venus’ are no different. All features on the second planet from the sun are named after women. “Mahuea Tholus is also the name of a very unusual

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volcano that sits in the middle of the map area that has puzzled geologists since it was first observed,” Lang said. The funding took several months to acquire and came from a new NASA program. The Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration and Tools program aims to fund projects that make available new data for the planetary science community. “This is a long process that can take up to six months to complete, if not longer. So it requires a lot of patience,” Lang said. The project has two beneficiaries: the scientific community and Mercyhurst students. The scientific community will gain a large amount of useful data for further research from this project. “The creation of a geologic map is the first step undertaken by geologists when trying to constrain the history of a region—all geo-

logical studies begin with a geologic map,” Lang said. The map will show the history of the region, along with geographic features such as volcanoes, water features and wind patterns left on the surface. “[A geological map] shows the distribution of different rock types and structures at the surface of a planet,” said Lang. “If we understand the processes that have shaped an area, then anything else we want to know about that area falls into place.” When completed, the United States Geological Survey will publish the map and it will be accessible to the public. Students are the second beneficiaries of the project. Two undergraduate students will be picked each year for the next three years to work on the mapping. “I see our job as faculty as to create opportunities for our students and to place them into positions where

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MU Team maps Venus for NASA By Tory Kreysar

tister. The commission produced annual reports regarding the issue, but had not issued policies to change the statistics. “[Shriver] resolved to change the report numbers. She set out to affect change in the roles and lives of women, and she did,” Chittister said. Shriver said that her family was always focused externally, which helped drive her to get involved in issues affecting the world. “My mother would always ask, ‘What are you doing for the world today?’” said Shriver. “They constantly pushed me, and I learned that you have to do what moves you. Ask those questions. Follow your gut, your intuition.” The heart must precede everything one does, Chittister said. It helps to identify the defining moments of one’s life in order to find an area upon which to make an impact.

they can be successful with those opportunities and I believe that is something that will definitely happen here,” Lang said. This provides incredible hands-on, real life experience. “It’s an incredible opportunity and I’m very very excited to have this chance,” Baker said. In addition to the Mercyhurst team, Bradley Thomson, Ph.D., from Boston University will be working on the project. “All of the planets in our solar system are unique, but why are they unique?” Lang asked. Mercyhurst University faculty and students are hoping to find the answer to this and many other questions with this incredible opportunity. Salina Bowe photo

@TheMerciad

The offices of Preston Hall were darkened on Tuesday, April 14, due to an electrical fire in the basement of Old Main. The fire was caused by a short in a high voltage wire. Maintenance is estimating that it will take three days to restore power.

Online Poll Results

Did you get into all the classes you need for next term? 48% No, Mercyhurst isn’t offering the classes I need 26% No, all the class times I needed overlapped 4% Yes, everything is right with the world. 22% It does not really matter to me, I’m graduating

Be sure to vote in this week’s online poll: How do you feel about the Laker Inn reopening?

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