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Est. 1929 Vol. 89 No. 2

Mercyhurst university

Wednesday, septeMber 16, 2015

Mercyhurst professor part of significant discovery

By Adrian Monty Staff writer

A Mercyhurst Anthropology professor was part of a monumental scientific discovery of a new species of hominins, or early humans, that was announced worldwide last week.

Heather Garvin, Ph.D., was part of a scientific team that examined ancient bones of what has been named Homo naledi. Her role was to conduct the month-long analysis of the hominin fossils found in South Africa, which led to the addition of the newest species of our human ancestral tree, Homo naledi, to be defined.

Over 1,500 specimens were uncovered in the excavation at the Rising Star Cave System, located near the “Cradle of Mankind,” a region of South Africa where many other hominid species were discovered. Generally, new species are defined using only a few specimens, even isolated jaw bones, but Homo naledi was different.

“The amount of material covered from this small area is extremely rare,” said Garvin.

“The remains from at least 15 individuals representing both adult and juveniles were found.”

Instead of keeping the discovery to himself and analyzing the fossils on his own, Lee Berger, Ph.D., paleoanthropologist of the University of Witwatersrand, who was first told about the remains, organized a team of early career scientists and senior experts in the field to work together to describe and analyze the find.

“They decided they wanted to use this new, revolutionary technique,” said Garvin. “It’s a different mindset and hopefully it’s a pattern that contin-

ues in the field.”

While in the think tank, Garvin was on the cranial team, identifying, analyzing and describing the fragmented bones of the cranial region of the hominoid bones. Garvin used her own techniques and methods to figure out the brain size of this new species.

“I was also responsible for the 3D scanning of all the cranial specimens,” said Garvin.

“It was actually my 3D virtual reconstructions that National Geographic artist, John Gurche, used to create his reconstruction.”

Garvin was also the leader of the body team. The body team’s purpose was to use their skeletal knowledge to estimate how tall Homo naledi would have been.

“Our role was to look at some of the limb bones and estimate how big Homo naledi was,” Garvin said.

To the team’s surprise, their analysis determined a height much taller than expected.

Through analysis of the body size and cranium size, Garvin’s team discovered that Homo naledi had a larger body, but smaller brain. “[Scientists in the field] used to think that body and brain size increased together,” Garvin said.

The combination of traits in this new species is one of the most important qualities of the new find.

“The combination of primitive and more modern, human-like characteristics in this new species is unlike any other known human ancestors and may change the way we think about human evolution,” Garvin said.

Both the muscle marking on the shoulders and curved fingers indicate tree-climbing habits within the spe-

Photo by Sarah Paschal

Heather Garvin, Ph.D., presents the National Geographic cover featuring ancient bones, Homo naledi.

cies. However, the leg bones and feet indicate that Naledi walked on two feet. Once all traits were analyzed, the team began to wonder how these human remains ended up in this cave.

“The only explanation left was that they were deposited there intentionally by other members of their group,” Garvin said. This activity is seen as rare for a species with such a small brain size.

Garvin still has many unanswered questions about Homo naledi.

“If Homo naledi was depositing their dead deep in the

cave, it suggests that such a behavior was completed with a relatively small brain,” said Garvin. “That they could have these human-like activities without a human-like brain.”

This suggests that scientists may have placed too much emphasis on the size of the brain in the past in terms of human evolution.

“They are going to continue exploring,” said Garvin.

“Every fossil that we find just gives us another clue, another piece to the puzzle to help describe what our evolutionary past is.”

Photo by Sarah Paschal

The 3D scans of Homo nadeli’s cranial bones, worked on by Garvin, were used in National Geographic’s reconstruction.

Hospitality Management program earns reaccreditation

By Melanie Todd Staff writer

Mercyhurst’s Statler Department of Hospitality Management earned a seven-year accreditation term from the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration this year.

“This is our third seven-year term, which is the longest pos-

Merciad Index News Features A&E Opinion Sports Laker Living

1-2 3-4 5 6 7 8

sible term given and makes us one of the longest accredited departments on campus,” Dr. Daryl Georger, chair of the Statler Department of Hospitality and Management, said.

“We are one of the oldest hospitality management departments in the country,” said Georger. “There is a high regard for our program.”

The only other hospitality program funded by the Stat-

ler Foundation is the Cornell University Statler Hotel School.

“Their [ACPHA] goal is to provide public assurance that programs in hospitality administration are of global quality,” Georger said.

ACPHA evaluates the programs and awards accreditation for either one, three or seven years at a time.

“It was almost flawless.

I am just so proud of the commitment of Mercyhurst administration, the faculty and the students,” Georger said when describing Mercyhurst’s reaccreditation experience.

“The reaccreditation is evidence of our commitment to global quality in hospitality management and the commitment of Mercyhurst administration to the Statler Hospitality and Management

Department, including facilities, financial support, academic support, quality faculty, library resources and other areas,” Georger said.

“It constantly gives me pride to see all of the students becoming successful,” Georger said.

On an average day, Georger talks to about 50 alumni.

“We have one of the best-networked alumni

groups,” he said.

Alumni often host interns or post helpful articles and tips on the Mercyhurst Hospitality Management website.

“My amount of pride grows each year,” said Georger. “We have alumni that are managers and vice presidents.”

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Page 2

News

Hospitality reaccredited (continued from page 1)

Mercyhurst’s impressive hospitality alumni has become a draw for prospective students.

“There’s a lot of networking, that’s kind of why I chose Mercyhurst. There are connections all over the world,” said Madelyn Atendido, a junior Hospitality Management major. Last summer, Atendido interned at the Westin Resort in Hilton Head, SC. “Hospitality is one of the largest industries in the world and is expected to increase 25 percent in the next five years,” said Georger. “They need managers.”

“In high school I got my cosmetology license and I came here so that I could expand on that and work in luxury hotels and spas,” said sophomore Hospitality Management major Jordan Tidwell. A Hospitality Management degree will help make her a competitive candidate in the field, especially

By Erin McGarrity Staff writer

Senior Hospitality Management majors Katy Sieb and Aaron Crecraft develop their culinary skills.

with a cosmetology license under her belt as well.

“The teachers tell us how to deal with certain situations and manage the departments to make the most money,” Atendido said. It is important for a hospitality manager to understand the inner work-

Photo by Tung Vu

ings of every department in order to maximize profit.

“Revenue management is the newest focus of the hospitality industry. With the borders opening in Cuba and Iran, they need competitive intelligence,” Georger said.

There may be an overlap of

intelligence studies courses and hospitality management courses in the near future.

“Mercyhurst has found a niche and we need to continue to nurture it,” Georger said.

the faculty representative of Mercyhurst on the ATHENA board, emailed her while she was in Ireland to ask permission to nominate her.

“I’m proud to put her up as a representative of Mercyhurst University,” Waskiewicz said.

Francis and Waskiewicz have never met. As a member of the ATHENA board, Waskiewicz does her research to find the perfect Mercyhurst candidate. She looks for students who are immersed in campus and community life.

At the end of her search Waskiewicz said she debated between Francis and two other students. After seeing what Francis’ involvement on and off campus, Waskiewicz decided to nominate her.

On campus, Francis was on the rowing team, captain of the cross country team, president of the Student Alumni Association and a student tutor. She worked closely with Kristan Wheaton, associate professor of Intelligence Studies, as a project manager on his Quickstarter Initiative at Mercyhurst. Off campus, she volunteered at the JFK Center, the Second Harvest

Food Bank and the Multicultural Resource Center.

“She’s the whole package,” said Waskiewicz. “She also represents the core values of Mercyhurst, which is what we want in a nominee because they are representing our school.”

Francis was a double major in Intelligence Studies and Public Health.

“It made sense to combine the two. I want to use an Intel skill set to solve public health issues,” Francis said.

After the four nominees are submitted, a subcommittee of the ATHENA board will have a closed session on Sept. 16, to cast their votes for a winner. These votes are sent to ATHENA Erie Chair, Linda Stevenson, who counts the ballots to determine the winner.

The winner of the ATHENA Award will be announced on Sept. 17.

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Recent grad Francis nominated for women’s leadership award

By Lauren Murphy Staff writer

Emily Francis, a recent graduate of Mercyhurst’s class of 2015, was nominated for the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award for the ATHENA Erie chapter.

ATHENA Erie is a local chapter of ATHENA International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the leadership of women, as well as inspiring women to reach their full professional potential.

There are four universities that participate in the ATHENA Erie chapter: Edinboro University, Gannon University, Mercyhurst University, and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. Along with Francis, the three other nominees are Megan Kunst from Edinboro, Brianna Woods from Gannon and Chelsea Chase from Behrend.

The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award is an extension of the ATHENA Leadership Award. Its goal is to recognize students who have the potential to be future

Breckenridge addresses Vienna summit

Photo by Mercyhurst University

leaders.

“I’m flattered and very surprised,” said Francis about her nomination.

The winners of this award have shown themselves to be emerging leaders who provide valuable service to the community and serve as a role model for young women, according to the official ATHENA guidelines.

“I’m happy to be a part of a process of inspiring women.

I’m hoping my nomination leads to more opportunities for other women in Erie by raising awareness,” Francis said.

Francis said that Meghan Waskiewicz, communication department chair and

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James Breckenridge, Ph.D., dean of the Tom Ridge School of Intelligence Studies and Information Science, joined world leaders and gave a keynote address at the Insider Threat Summit last week in Vienna, Austria.

This year’s Insider Threat Summit addressed the growing concern surrounding the spread of nuclear weapons. Representatives from 35 countries came together to promote the peaceful usage of nuclear technology and discuss the problem’s effects in different sectors.

The summit invited Breckenridge to give one of the conference’s few keynote speeches. He spoke about “Preparing the Next Generation Security Expert,” focusing on how the intelligence community can use their knowledge to reduce the major insider threats posed by nuclear weapons.

“Most people there knew nothing about intelligence, so I just tried to impart to them what I impart to my students - intelligence can be found in every profession and discipline. I think they found that very interesting,” Breckenridge said.

The summit also consisted of various panel discussions and workshops, each centered around a different field and its capabilities of dealing with nuclear threats. The majority of the representatives came from fields relating to nuclear engineering, nuclear physics and security of nuclear facilities.

According to Breckenridge, this collaboration with professionals from all angles of this issue proved fruitful. In fact, they noticed one distinct commonality.

“All organizations have disgruntled employees; so, depending on the degree to which you build a positive participatory culture, you can mitigate some of that. It’s all about creating a positive work environment to try to avoid incident,” Breckenridge explained.

On a global scale, Breckenridge outlined the benefits

provided by this summit to professionals in all sectors.

“It allows us to think more comprehensively about threats to our infrastructure a pretty important infrastructure, mind you,” he said.

The Mercyhurst community also benefitted from the summit. Many world leaders, who previously knew nothing about intelligence, have offered to come speak to Mercyhurst students about how to pinpoint insider threats. The experience also made the school’s brand much more well-known, according to Breckenridge.

“On a much smaller scale, we’re talking about a very influential group of people that now knows a lot about Mercyhurst. We can definitely use their expertise. The experience was very fruitful for our program, because you’re getting new perspectives and a cultural exchange. I think that’s very valuable,” Breckenridge said.

From Oct. 12-14, Breckenridge will continue influencing young intelligence professionals at James Madison University, where academic leaders have invited him to perform an external review of their school’s Intelligence and Information Science program.

Breckenridge will sit down with the executive leadership of the university and interview various faculty members and students. James Madison University has already conducted an internal review of the program, so his assessment will serve as a helpful supplement.

When asked if he has noticed any increase in the prevalence of intelligence departments in undergraduate universities, especially in light of the field’s growing importance, Breckenridge offered some insight.

“The only thing I’ve noticed is an increase in departments, like political science or government, with small Intelligence Studies aspects or concentrations built in. I still have yet to see anything that compares to Mercyhurst,” said Breckenridge.

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Hammermill Library updates website, plans renovations

By Catherine Rainey News editor

Accessing Mercyhurst’s Hammermill Library website just got easier for students, faculty and administrators.

Thanks to recent updates by members of library staff, the site has gone mobile-friendly.

Matthew Shallenberger, academic library computer

support specialist, Aaron Williams, IT web programmer and Rebecca Crago, former systems and teaching librarian, revamped the website’s image to match existing university web pages, as well as reorganize content to create a more user-friendly experience.

“A lot of [the content] is the same in a new format,” said Shallenberger. “We simplified it into easy drop-down menus,

where before it was just boxes all over the place with links.

It’s pretty easy to navigate.”

“Before when you accessed on our old page it would just show the original page on your little, small phone and with the new one is scaled everything down to the format you’re using, say iPad or iPhone or Android, which is pretty awesome,” Shallenberger said.

The library catalog is now

Photo by Trang Nguyen

Matt Shallenberger displays Hammermill Library’s new website.

called Books and Media, and the HurstSearch, Mercyhurst’s comprehensive database search, was renamed to Find Everything.

“It makes more sense to say that. But then there’s always ways to limit that, you don’t always have to find everything,” said Darci Jones, director of university libraries and distance learning.

Andrea Nye, a senior Business Management major, has mixed feelings about the site.

“Aesthetically it looks nice, but as far as use, it took me off guard when I first saw it and will take a while to get used to,” Nye said.

Brett Swan, a junior Political Science and History double major, said it seems efficient and easy to navigate and will help with the extensive research he does for classes.

“I would encourage students to actually go on the new site and play around with it,” said Shallenberger. “There’s a lot of valuable information.”

This year, the library added an institutional subscription to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a resource for faculty, administrators and students.

“We had a lot of subscriptions to it on campus and it seemed it was more financially reasonable or financially sound to have access through the database,” Jones said.

Library staff replaced the ebrary Academic Complete with Ebsco’s eBook Academic Collection, which contains over 140,000 titles and allows users to download a full book to personal devices or book readers, such as Kindle, for two weeks.

The website and databases are not the only changes being made in the library this year.

According to Jones, the university is seriously considering updating and making more collaborative study spaces, including a way to reserve them from a computer or personal device and adding more

outlets and modern furniture.

A self-checkout station near the circulation desk is also in the works, Jones said. She also wants to work more closely with the Writing Center, a student service also located in the library.

“We would like to maybe bring them together and collaborate with them so that it’s more open, like over in that whole area you walk in and there’s service people to help you,” Jones said.

Jones attributes all of the upcoming changes to the president.

“President Victor is really the driving force behind this,” said Jones. “We who work in the building understand what we need to do to help the students. But he will be able to make it happen which, for me, is a huge homerun.”

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Features

Forensic team examines 1918 remains

By Brittany Smyth Staff writer

Applied Forensic Sciences.

I’ve been here since ‘91 so we’ve created basically the best forensic anthropology program in the country,” Dirkmaat said.

The recovery team traveled to Schuylkill County, near Philadelphia, to collect the fragmented remains. Second year graduate student and duty manager, Jacob Griffin, contributed to analyzing data

Mercyhurst’s Applied Forensic Anthropology Program recently recovered fragmented human remains of Spanish Influenza victims at Schuylkill County, Pa. The Schuylkill County coroner contacted Board Certified Forensic Anthropologist and Director of Applied ForenWe have a reputation sic Sciences at Mercyhurst, throughout PennsylDennis Dirkmaat, Ph.D., to take a look at remains found vania, New York, and in a cutback bank, where construction workers were build- Ohio, as the best forensic anthropology team ing a new road.

An archaeologist associated in North America. with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation - Dennis Dirkmaat, Ph.D. (PennDOT), did background research on the area where the fragmented bones were found and writing the report. and determined that it was Graduate student Kelsey likely a mass cemetery from Carpenter contributed, along the 1918 Spanish Influenza with other grads in the recovpandemic. ery team, by taking inventory Mercyhurst’s Forensic of the remains. She helped Recovery Team, composed organize them and write a mostly of graduate students, clear and thorough report on went into the field where the the findings. remains were discovered. The “It roughly takes a week to team then determined that the edit it because it goes through remains are forensically signif- the department, the graduate icant. students and professors look “It’s an opportunity to get it over,” Carpenter said. them experienced,” Dirkmaat At Mercyhurst, even undersaid. graduates have the ability to go Mercyhurst’s Forensics on excursions. Senior Danielle department has the reputation Watson traveled with the team as being one of the best, with to help with the extraction. years of recognition in the “This is the first case I’ve field. been on that wasn’t just a “We have a reputation search,” Watson said. throughout Pennsylvania, Griffin, Carpenter and New York and Ohio, as the Watson all thank the probest forensic anthropology gram for their experience at team in North America. Any Schuylkill thus far. coroner that comes across “It’s the only program in the remains in an outdoor setting country. It’s world-renowned. will give us a call about it,”said So many people apply here,” Dirkmaat.

Griffin said.

“Mercyhurst is well known “It’s a fantastic opportunity. through our department of It’s hands on. You can apply

“

”

what we learn in the classrooms to real life cases,” Carpenter said.

“You stand on the shoulders of those before you,” Watson said.

Dirkmaat explains there is more to just looking at the bones when it comes to forensic cases.

“Forensic Anthropology is known as, you look at bones from forensic cases and you’re able to tell the age, sex, stature and all that, but with my training, it’s important to recover the remains and understand what happened to the body,” Dirkmaat said.

With the Schuylkill County case, many bone fragments were recovered. The recovery team was able to recover the middle portion of a femur, the proximal and shaft of a tibia and the right bone of a fibula. The fibula is the most complete bone they recovered.

Griffin and Carpenter believe these bones all belong to the same person.

There was also a mandible, or lower jaw bone, recovered.

However, Griffin and Carpenter believe this bone is from a different human because it was found 5 meters away from the other collected remains.

Unfortunately, only one tooth has been found so far in the excavation of the loose material.

All bones discovered are from adults.

Not only were bones recovered, but there were also traces of splinters of wood and rusted nails, indicating that the people may have been buried in coffins. Because there were only small traces of these, that can also determine how long they have been in the ground.

The Mercyhurst recovery team plans on heading back to Schuylkill County as soon

Nhi Tran photo

Dirkmaat instructs students on the Phenice method of sex determination.

as they get permission from the county. There is a discussion going on with Schuylkill County, PennDOT and the community on what the next steps should be.

“It has generated a lot of interest, so I would imagine people aren’t going to say, ‘well no just bury it.’ The money isn’t much. If you put in a 10 foot section of road and it costs millions of dollars, and here we’re talking peanuts. If the community wants to learn something from this short term excavation, it would be worthwhile,” Dirkmaat said.

The recovery team is waiting on what the next steps will be in this process.

Brittany Smyth photo

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Program helps students assimilate

By Emani Burton Staff writer

Mercyhurst’s International Admissions department restructured its English language course to better accommodate the International Foundations Program (IFP) which allows accepted international students to further their knowledge in the English language, all while pursuing a Mercyhurst degree.

The IFP and the related Intensive English Program (IEP) have seen a rise in applicants since the introduction of the programs last fall.

Both IEP and IFP help prepare international students for the challenges of life at Mercyhurst. While often mistaken for the English as a Second Language programs. the IEP and IFP instruct participants in more than language skills.

Admittance into the Intensive English Program requires some English language proficiency, measured by the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Applicants must have the minimum TOEFL and IELTS scores to be considered for admittance into the program. Students are enrolled in classes covering the English language and university culture classes over a period of eight weeks.

Students must complete 24 hours of classroom instruction before progressing in and completing each level of English proficiency. There are five proficiency levels in the program. The IEP program’s

Emani Burton photo

Sabah Abo Aafesh (left) and Amjad Alshahwan (right) study to become proficient in the English language.

new eight week time frame is the result of program reconstruction at the end of last year.

“We wanted students to be able to pass through the program more quickly, if they have the desire to do so,” said Janelle Newman, academic director of the Center for English Language Learning.

Newman was instrumental in the designing of the program and handles curriculum design as a part of her current role.

“When students finish level 5 (Advanced), they should be able to handle a full course load of academic classes at Mercyhurst,” said Newman.

The IEP program has the accreditation of Middle States Commission of Higher Education. It is an officially recognized “language bridge” program. Students who finish

the IEP receive a certificate completion, and graduates may choose to apply to the International Foundations Program to further their education here at Mercyhurst.

The IFP program, similar to the IEP, requires applicants to demonstrate a degree of English language proficiency.

TOEFL and IELTS scores are taken into consideration, along with student transcripts.

Acceptance into IFP offers students conditional admission to Mercyhurst.

The IFP is scheduled into semesters. Students must take general education courses in addition to two English language courses. This semester, students will be taking a special course called Digital Literacy, which will cover social media, computer and technology language. All classes in the IFP are credit earning classes.

“It’s a nice opportunity, where students will get a well-rounded English language experience,” said Newman. She feels the program perfectly aligns with the Mercyhurst mission to be compassionately hospitable.

The program’s appeal extends further than international students abroad.

“Statistics are still unclear,” said Program Manager for Specialized International Programs Monica Clem, “but we have a lot of interest within the Erie community.”

Erie’s immigrant and refugee population have risen by 0.4 percent since 2010 and continue to rise.

“We felt that this program answered a need in the community” said Clem. “Our admissions has really doubled since last year.”

Clem handles the administration and admissions of both programs. The IEP and IFP are multifaceted programs and are the products of extensive department collaboration.

“This is such a group effort. It wouldn’t be successful without the world languages department, Dr. Alice Edwards and the English department, the faculty, VP of Enrollment Joe Howard and of course the students,” said Newman.

Newman and Clem encourage Mercyhurst students to converse with their international peers and believe that doing so will engage student with new and exciting cultures.

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A comparative specimen of a femur (right) is placed next to the actual femur recovered (left).

LAKER MOMENT

By Sami Rapp

Sami Rapp photo

The Intro to Archaeology class traveled to Ripley, N.Y., for their weekly lab class. In this class, students learned proper archaeological excavation techniques.

Seen here, several students excavate the top layer of dirt and screen the dirt, looking for Iroquoian artifacts.

Page 4

Features

September 16, 2015

The Merciad

Badminton club causing a ‘racquet’

By Sara McCausland Contributing writer

After being inactive for several years, the badminton club is making a comeback.

The first badminton club was disbanded after the original creator graduated. Graduate student Victoria Kreysar revived the club before graduation. She was able to graduate a year early and decided to get the club going again before she left.

The club was officially reestablished in the fall of 2014.

After the reformation of the club following the involvement fair last fall, senior Katie McCafferty and Kreysar began a “word of mouth movement” within the History and Archeology departments to gain support for the club. The club quickly gained popularity and recruited about 30 new members.

According to Intelligence major and current club president Katie McCafferty, Kreysar considered recreating

the club two years ago when she was an undergraduate student.

“I started because Tory was one of my good friends and it sounded like a fun club,” McCafferty said.

With the help of Archeology major and vice president of the club, sophomore Alex Albano and club adviser, Associate Professor of History John Olszowka, Ph.D., Kreysar was able to bring the club back to life. As one of her first actions, Kreysar set up a committee that allowed responsibility to be evenly dispersed and expanded the number of positions. After Kreysar’s departure in May, she left the presidency and responsibility to McCafferty.

“I was the vice-president and so it made sense that, since I already knew how the club worked, I would become president to run the club,” McCafferty said.

Graphic design major and club secretary Ashley Favata claims that most members were very inexperienced at

Victoria Kreysar photo

After having a significant number of students sign up, the badminton club is seeking to raise funds to accommodate their needs.

first, but they kept going, because of the fun they all had.

“When we all joined the club, none of us really knew the actual rules of badminton, we just had all our friends there and we started goofing around and it turned into a club,” said Favata.

This year, the club made it to the club fair and after selling t-shirts with the printing “show us your shuttlecock and we’ll make a racquet,” the group increased in popularity.

That day, they received over 130 signatures from students interested in joining the club.

This year, the group plans

to organize a teacher versus student badminton tournament, participate in Relay for Life and become involved in the Psychology Club badminton tournament.

“Our main focus is to fundraise a lot, because we need more equipment. We had such a huge outpouring this year of

people this year and we want to make sure that we accommodate them all,” McCafferty said.

McCafferty would like to invite anyone who is looking to have some fun to join the club.

“It’s pretty much just an hour-long session of casually playing badmin’, while cracking a lot of jokes and being a little obnoxious,” said McCafferty.

“The club is open to anyone, you don’t have to have any background, you don’t have to be good. You just have to show up and play and meet new and have some fun.”

McCafferty encourages students to “come see what makes us GOOD at BADminton!”

To join the club, no prior experience is needed. For more information, email McCafferty at kat.maccafferty@gmail.com or follow the facebook page. @TheMerciad

Math department opens door to two new faculty

By Phuong Minh Staff writer

Stephanie Blanda and Angela Berardinelli, Ph.D., are the newest addition to Mercyhurst’s Math department.

Blanda is a Ph.D. student with a minor in computational science at Pennsylvania State University. She obtained a B.S. from Lebanon Valley College, where she double majored in mathematics and computer science.

After having experienced both a close-knit undergraduate college and a huge community in graduate school, Nhi Tran photo Blanda is confident she Angela Berardinelli, Ph.D., hopes to bring her energy to the classroom and engage students with belongs to a small community. flexible teaching methods.

After she visited Mercyhurst Teaching for the first three “As an undergraduate stu- methods to grasp difficult for the first time, the friendly, weeks of semester, both dent, my professors helped topics. welcoming community made Berardinelli and Blanda find me learn that math was some“It is definitely rewarding to her want to stay. their passions in every class thing you had to work at to see in real time students come “This is really unique,” and student. Their biggest succeed, that it didn’t matter from confusion to underBlanda said. goal in short term is to finish that I sometimes struggled to standing, and from underBerardinelli also shares the semester successfully by understand an abstract con- standing to mastering the Blanda’s feelings. Prior to helping their students benefit cept,”said Blanda. subject,”said Berardinelli.

Mercyhurst, Berardinelli from their college experiences Inspired by that experience, She also encourages stutaught and finished her Ph.D. as best they can. her teaching tactic is “not tell- dents to succeed in their acain Mathematics from the UniBlanda and Berardi- ing the student what to do but demic careers and to explore versity of North Texas, with nelli have another thing in helping them to get there by other passions, because for a strong background in com- common: they both became their own.” her, college is an exciting time puter science. Her research interested in math, because Berardinelli, on the other that allows for self-explorainterests lie broadly in the of the teachers in their under- hand, brings all of her energy tion and satisfaction in areas areas of algebra, geometry graduate programs that helped to the classroom and tries to other than professional studand combinatorics. them find their passions. engage students with flexible ies.

Nhi Tran photo

Stephanie Blanda finds comfort in working at a close-knit community like Mercyhurst.

“The process of discovering yourself is to savor, not rush. So if you need time, take your time, figure it out,” said Berardinelli.

With great energy and teaching philosophy, both Blanda and Berardinelli expect to bring their passion and dedication to every class and be guiding lights to their students.

Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Berardinelli is an ever-faithful fan of the teams in Black and Gold.

She loves hockey and is plan-

ning to attend an upcoming Mercyhurst hockey game in the near future.

Blanda is originally from Lebanon, Pa. Besides her love for math and programing, Blanda is also interested in board games and playing music. During her undergraduate years, she played in a band.

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Renowned cartoonist shares Muppet success

By Jose Nufio Features editor

Award-winning cartoonist Guy Gilchrist reflecting on the new Muppet TV show, Jim Henson and how the muppets have maintained their enduring popularity.

At the age of 24, Gilchrist was chosen, alongside his brother Brad, by Muppet creator Jim Henson to draw a Muppet comic strip. Gilchrist went on to publish from 1981 to 1986 in over 660 newspapers worldwide. Since 1995, he has written and drawn the syndicated classic, Nancy, which is published in 400 newspapers worldwide and read by over 67 million people.

Although Gilchrist has written more than 40 children’s books, become a traveling motivational speaker, worked in various tv shows and opened his own international publishing company and cartoonist academy, his work on

the muppets is still what most fans know him for.

“As I travel the country and do all of my motivational speaking, the muppets are still a huge part of my life,” Gilchrist said.

“They were what got me started and they never really left. I can’t go anywhere and no matter what project I am working on today, and for the last 20 years I’ve been doing Nancy, there are still people who tell me, ‘Hey will you draw me Kermit, will you draw me Miss Piggy.’ People have grown up on it.”

Gilchrist believes that if it was not for the mentoring given to him by Henson and the comic, his career would not have had the success it has today. Gilchrist remembers Henson as his “creative father” who not only taught him about art, but also about the business. He taught him that keeping the characters popular was based on being discreet with their presenta-

tion.

“Jim wanted to make sure that he never got sick of the characters, that we only put so much out there of the characters, per year, so that you would enjoy the characters.

The characters were a part of your life and they would never go away,” said Gilchrist.

“That pretty much guaranteed the longevity of the characters. Millions of people can’t wait to see this show. Had the muppets been in everything, in every licensed product and had been in your face for the last 30 years, the excitement wouldn’t be there, but they haven’t been.”

Gilchrist recalls Henson taking personal interest on the comic. They spent a lot of time talking about the script, how to write it and how to parody other comics. It was this personal involvement by Henson that made the muppet comic strip what it is today “Jim loved the comic and he made sure that he was a

big part of it with me, and it was something really, really special. We are still talking about it all these years later, it became something special to the world,” Gilchrist said.

“Jim was really careful on projects he worked on. He wouldn’t take on too much and everything had to be quality that excited him.”

The new Muppet TV show is expected to air on Tuesday, Sept. 22, in ABC. The show will be a Modern Family, Park and Recs type “mockumentary” centering around the backstage of the fictional late night show, “Up Late with Miss Piggy,” starring Miss Piggy. The show will delve into the personal lives of muppets characters as never before seen. Gilchrist believes that the people involved are well-prepared to make this a successful show.

“They are all new people that have been trained by people who were close to Jim. The writing is just tremen-

dous “Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist points out that, because of how the Muppets function, even in changing times, they will continue to remain relevant. It is due to their ability to mock society that the muppets have no problem in keeping up with modern times.

“The muppets have always parodied whatever is going on in society. All the muppets have their own twitter accounts and instagrams by the way. This show is going to parody that right now, the reality shows, the documentaries and mockumentaries,” Gilchrist said.

“Whenever the muppets do anything, it’s a special event.

Every movie Jim has worked on has been special event. It’s a dysfunctional family and they all love each other.

As for future, Gilchrist does not plan on slowing down.

He plans to continue traveling and drawing. He attributes his success to God and believes

his life has truly been a blessing.

“I’ve worked on the Muppets, to the Ninja Turtles, Looney Tunes, Tiny Tunes and of course Nancy for all this years. I started up with nothing. I had no formal education in art. Everything that has happened to me, has been incredible and a blessing. So I like to go around and talk about the gifts that God gives us and how we can best use them to brighten the lives of other people and you don’t have to be famous to do it,” Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist hopes to come to Erie one day and share his story as a speaker to the Mercyhurst community.

For contact and to know more about Gilchrist, visit nancyandsluggo.com.

@TheMerciad

September 16, 2015

Page 5

The Merciad

Arts &

Entertainment

Kubinek to perform in PAC

Moviegoers love ‘Dope’

By Rachel Sobina

Cinema Club advisor

Staff writer

The comedic performer Tomas Kubinek will be in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Sept.

19, at 7:30 p.m. for an evening of amazement and hilarity.

Tomas Kubinek started his career at the young age of five, becoming increasingly fascinated with the theater, but more importantly, clowns and acrobatics.

At the age of nine, Kubinek began his theatre reputation by performing in vaudeville shows. When he was 13, Kubinek had his own agent

and was performing in places such as coffee shops and other small businesses.

In his late teens, Kubinek joined the circus and his acting career exploded. Since then, he has performed in over 30 countries worldwide.

Tomas’ show’s unique style has been a hit on Broadway, and has received outstanding reviews from London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Kubinek has been featured on Czech National television, as well as appearing with other circus companies and acrobatic crews around the world.

Tomas has appeared with the Circus Flora in the U.S., and has recently helped direct

artcenter.com photo

The “Master of the Impossible” will be in the PAC on Saturday.

and co-direct other shows.

Tickets are $12 at the door.

By Kris Gossett, Ph.D.

The movie “Dope,” written and directed by Rick Famuyira, is a welcome addition to the young-adult movie catalog. It is misleading, though, to call this a movie that is just for young adults. While the movie does focus on teenagers, it is for a broad audience.

The movie focuses on Malcolm, played by Shameik Moore, a teenager who lives in a neighborhood run by gang members and drug dealers.

Malcolm is trying to behave so he can go to college.

When Malcolm is asked by a drug dealer to deliver a mes-

sage to a girl down the block and Malcolm sees how beautiful and charming she is, he starts making bad decisions that lead him into the world he tried hard to stay out of.

There are some clunky scenes in the movie and some of the social commentary comes off a bit heavy-handed.

The last few scenes seemed tacked on and unnecessary to the final product but these are just minor issues with the film.

The style and pacing of the movie is fantastic and the plot has more levels to it than your typical teenager movie.

If you’re looking for a refreshing change of pace, I’d highly recommend checking out “Dope.”

Ernst’s new exhibit, ‘Land, Sea and Sky,’ on display at EAM

By Naomi Greenstein Staff writer

This month, the Erie Art Museum will be presenting a new exhibit by Karen Ernst entitled “Land, Sea, and Sky: Details from Nature.”

Ernst’s pieces draw on inspirations from geological, marine and botanical forms.

She uses both traditional and contemporary woodworking

and finishing techniques in many of her exhibit’s pieces.

The local Edinboro artist prefers to use locally-sourced hardwoods to keep pace with her respect for nature.

She then uses the natural materials in the wood in tandem with other art materials, like paints textures, to create the right look for her unique pieces.

During her process of creating the work, Ernst con-

nects the elements and then shapes and sculpts them until they become a piece that is satisfying and intriguing.

Throughout her career, Ernst’s work has been exhibited at The Hoyt Center for the Arts, Seton Hill University, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, and Fifth Floor Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. The exhibit, sponsored by Dovetail Gallery, will be on view from Aug. 28 to Jan. 8.

The celebratory opening will be held Sept. 25 from 7-10 p.m.

For more information about Karen Ernst and her work, visit her website at www.karenernstdesign.com.

For more information about the Erie Art Museum gallery night, please visit their website at www.erieartmuseum.org/ events/gallerynight.

Salina Bowe photo

Ernst’s new exhibit draws inspiration from the natural world.

Online

Advertisement

Full list of events can be found on the PAC website

View upcoming performances: www.miac.mercyhurst.edu

www.merciad.mercyhurst.edu/ arts_entertainment

Page 6

September 16, 2015

The Merciad

Opinion

The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercyhurst University, the staff of The Merciad Relay for Life successful or the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be emailed to opinionmerciad@mercyhurst.edu.

Mercyhurst should bring back Catholic traditions

By Mathew Jury Contributing writer

The only complaint I have ever had about Mercyhurst is its weak Catholic identity.

Mercyhurst has such a rich Catholic history, so I often wonder why this is not utilized to its fullest potential.

Before I give my criticisms, I must praise what our school does right. Students have regular access to Mass, along with worship opportunities for multiple religions. We also have various Fellowship Nights, retreats, prayer services and Campus Ministry activities to invigorate our faith. I am confident, along with Campus Ministry Director Greg Baker, that with our new president we will experience a renewal of our Catho-

lic emphasis.

However, there is a lot that needs to be improved on campus in order to foster our heritage. First of all, Mercyhurst needs to be much more careful about what it engages in. Mercyhurst has decided to honor the Benedictine Nun, Sister Joan Chittister, who has a history of dissenting with the Church over women’s ordinations and has exhibited a nuanced position on abortion. In addition, the school has allowed its students to organize a proLGBT club, even though the Magisterium of the Catholic Church considers homosexual behavior as “gravely disordered.”

Another way Mercyhurst can engage our identity is by engaging different “flavors” of Catholicism. Every Sunday Mass on campus is nearly the same: terrible Oregon Catho-

lic Press music on piano, guitar and drums, no altar servers and, of course, the Communion rush where most people simply run up and swipe the host from the priest.

Since the advent of Summorum Pontificum, the Tridentine Mass has flourished all over the world. Research has shown that these Latin Masses attract many more young people than the modern Novus Ordo Mass.

There is nothing wrong with the current Mass, but some have manipulated it to consist of sappy music and morally relativistic homilies in order to “appeal to the young ones.” Young adults do not want cheap guitar Masses— they want the classic “bells and smells,” beautiful classic hymns on organ, reverence for the Eucharist and homilies that teach concrete truth!

Mercyhurst would greatly ben-

The Good...

efit from introducing weekly Latin Masses. It would also greatly benefit us to engage the Eastern rite, as there is a Byzantine church right next to the new Gamble Civic Center.

In a short interview I conducted with Baker, he pointed out a very profound idea: perhaps it should be more up to the students to engage our faith. Is it that Mercyhurst is not doing enough for our identity, or is it us not doing enough? Both he and I agree that it is a little bit of both.

Mercyhurst can (and should) engage our heritage by adhering to orthodox standards and offering more for our students, but in the end, it is up to us to keep up our Catholic identity.

@TheMerciad

Contributing writer

Meeting with your Resident Assistant (RA) in a “getto-know-you” fashion can be somewhat of a hassle. In the long run, however, it can create a better environment throughout the year.

All RAs across Mercyhurst’s campus are required to meet with their residents in some way. RAs in the freshman living areas have to do programs such as “movie night” or “DIY nights,” in an attempt to get the freshmen out of their rooms and their shells. The sophomore areas are similar, with RAs helping with programs, but they take it a step further. As of last year, the sophomore area RAs have to add “intentional interactions” to their bag of “Residence Life tricks.” I met with Sabrina Sosa, a second year RA for sophomore area housing, to discuss the nature of these interactions.

I began by asking if the

junior and senior housing required the same effort as the underclassmen interactions.

Sosa, a senior, said the upperclassmen RAs are not required to do traditional programs with residents, but their meetings are referred to instead as “reflective engagement.” Sosa said that the engagements are individual, not by apartment, and are supposed to be more reflective and in depth than the sophomore ones.

Intentional interactions are a great way for RAs to get to know their residents in a relaxed setting, but having them as a requirement can make students feel as if the RA does not genuinely want to know their residents.

When I asked Sosa if she would do these interactions if they were not mandatory for her job, she did not hesitate in her response of “yes.”

“If the first time you meet someone is when you write them up, it is hard to form a relationship after that,” Sosa said.

It is better to build a relationship with your RA early, as it can make the situation

less awkward when they have to bang on your door at 3 a.m. when you are blasting music.

It is also nice to know that your RA wants to meet you, and is not necessarily speaking with you because they have to.

There have been whispers of the types of questions that are recommended for the RAs to ask during the interactions, such as discussions about religious views or subjects that some might be otherwise deemed “touchy.”

Sosa put those to bed by showing me the questions currently provided for the engagements. They range from the origin of roommate situations to what kind of programs residents would like to see this year and spring break plans.

“The questions are meant as suggestions, it’s based on how much you want to share with me,” said Sosa. “If we sit and talk about food the whole time, great, if you want to talk about school, that’s fine too.”

She said that this will be up to the RA’s individual style.

My concern with these “intentional interactions” is

that, in the sophomore area, they are meant to be with all roommates and the RA. I know in my apartment none of us have the same schedules. With work, classes and clubs, it would be hard to find a time where all of us could sit down and meet with Sosa.

“This was definitely the hardest part of getting these done last year, because I had a full schedule and people would not get back to me,” Sosa said of this concern. “I know you are busy, and it’s okay if the meetings are ten minutes.”

All in all, it is a good idea to have some way to meet the RA, whether you are a freshman, senior or anything in between. It really is a good feeling to know that your RA feels that these meeting are a relaxed fun way to meet all their residents. The idea of meeting an RA early on likewise fights the high school stereotype that the principal only knows the bad kids’ names.

@TheMerciad

Letter to the Editor: Bells should stay

By Jennifer Hartwell Contributing writer

Online

First of all, I would like to admit that I really enjoy the bells. At my home in Syracuse, NY, we have a similar type of bell in my house. It is a clock that rings a bell every hour and half hour all hours of the night. Hearing the carillon bells at school, which is 3 1/2 hours away from home, brings a sense of familiarity to my ears. Hearing those bells go off during the day reminds me of being home, which helps with the process of being away from home since I am a freshman and everything is new to me. I have never had

a problem sleeping at night due to the ringing, and it is no doubt a very loud clock.

Secondly, the bells are not the most annoying noise on campus. In fact, the bells are quite soothing compared to the lawn mowing, weed whacking, beats bumping, horn honking, loud screams I hear throughout the day and night. In fact, at the moment I am writing this, the loud noise of the lawn mowing next to my dorm room is annoying.

It is very irritating when at 1 a.m. on a Friday night I’m trying to enjoy my sleep and there are cars driving through the parking lot listening to extremely loud music on their speakers. If I can hear

the music you are listening to in your car from my dorm room, your music is too loud.

Or during the day when I am trying to study and car alarms go off for no reason at all, or when people honk their car horns because they are beeping at their friends as they go by. There also happens to be ice hockey events going on even at 11:30 p.m. and there are people who stand outside the arena and talk very loudly, which makes it hard to sleep at night.

Third, I often hear the complaint that the bells disrupt a professor’s lecture. If the professor has a problem with the volume of the bell, they can close their windows or simply

Read more at

merciad.mercyhurst.edu/opinion

The quality and diversity of the Mercyhurst Institute of Arts and Culture’s upcoming shows (featured in the Erie Reader this month) demonstrates the institute’s growing importance and proficiency in uplifting and providing an outlet for the arts in not only Mercyhurst, but throughout the city of Erie as well.

Anthropology Professor Heather Garvin, Ph.D., assisted in the discovery of the Homo naledi, a new species of human ancestor. Found in a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, the Homo naledi is thought to have ritualistically deposited bodies of its dead in a remote cave chamber. Who knows?

Maybe this ritual will inspire campus activities for the upcoming Hurst Day.

The Bad...

Talking with RAs can improve living environment on campus

By Cheyanne Crum

President Michael Victor officially announced the “new Mercyhurst tradition” of Hurst Day, a surprise day of canceled classes, scavenger hunts and steak dinners to take place sometime at the beginning of October.

ignore the bells and continue to lecture. I have a class in Zurn Hall at 2:15 p.m., and at 3 p.m. the bells go off. My professor seems to have no problem with the bells, and continues to teach without an issue.

Fourth, the reason for the loudness of the bells is so that everyone can hear them no matter where they are on campus. I think the “frequency” in the lawn mowers should be “reduced.” However, they never will be, and neither will those bells, because the bells will stay.

An unexpected change occurred in the I.T. department this past week as the passwords for student emails and the Mercyhurst network suddenly synchronized, causing some confusion in the middle of a busy week.

The Weird...

A Mercyhurst 2013 alumni’s “go fund me” event, entitled “Balling Overseas with Team Usa!!!” is posted around campus and asks for donations to help him play football overseas with the USA Eagles Football Club. He has currently raised $465 in donations out of his requested $3,500.

The Merciad Editors Sami Rapp Karah Hollis Catherine Rainey Jose Nufio Carly Contraguerro Megan Pacileo Ryan Kushner Mary Barnes Margaret Urso Victoria Kreysar Bill Welch

Positions @mercyhurst.edu Editor-in-Chief editormerciad Managing Editor managingmerciad News Editor newsmerciad Features Editor featuremerciad Sports Editor sportsmerciad A&E Editor entertainmentmerciad Opinion Editor opinionmerciad Copy Editor copymerciad Photo Editor photomerciad Ad Manager admerciad wwelch Adviser

The Merciad is the official student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst University. It is published throughout the school year, with the exception of finals weeks. Our office is in Hirt, Room 120B. Our telephone number is (814) 824-2376.

The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and names will be included with the letters. Although we will not edit the letters for content, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Letters are due Mondays by noon and may not be more than 300 words. Submit letters to box PH 485 or via email at opinionmerciad@mercyhurst.edu.

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Write for The Merciad, email editormerciad@mercyhurst.edu

September 16, 2015

Page 7

The Merciad

Sports Victory bell makes a comeback

By Haleigh Giebel Staff writer

The Victory Bell, a staple of Mercyhurst tradition, is back.

In the past, it was rung after victories by the Mercyhurst athletic teams to commemorate Sister Damien Mlechick.

“Sister Damien was the biggest sports fan at Mercyhurst,” said President Michael T. Victor. “Whenever Mercyhurst won, she would ring a cowbell for each sport.”

Sister Damien’s favorite sport was men’s hockey and she never missed a game.

When Sister Damien passed away in 2004, the seniors gave the bell as their class gift in remembrance of her.

“The point was that every time Mercyhurst won a home game, the team would come down and ring the bell, to let

Sister Damien know we won,” said Victor. “It’s part of the spirit of Mercyhurst, all about who we are.”

The first person to ring the bell this year was Head Football Coach Marty Schaetzle, accompanied by senior football players Donny Holl, Brendan Boylan and T.J. Latimer after their winning home opener game.

“It’s renewing a tradition, so it was definitely cool to be a part of,” Boylan said.

Not only is it about remembering Sister Damien.

It is also about bringing back school spirit.

“It was an old tradition that brought everyone together and the more we do it and ring the bell, the more people that are going to hear it and raise the school spirit and hopefully get more people to come to the games,” Holl said.

The football team rang it first, but all teams are encouraged to join and ring the bell at their accomplishments and home wins.

“For all the teams and groups on campus to continue to do it is important,” said Coach Schaetzle. “We can move forward and bring back old traditions at the same time.”

Mercyhurst is making multiple changes in order to restore old traditions and bring back Laker spirit.

“That’s why the bell is so important,” said Victor. “It’s all about getting Mercyhurst back to the way it was.”

Jade Gelsimino photo

@TheMerciad

The Victory Bell located in Garvey Park was a senior gift from the class of 2004. It was given in memory of Sister Damien Mlechick who would ring her cowbell during sporting events.

Football’s exhilarating 37-35 victory

By Liz Montemorano Staff writer

Casey Bleuel photo

Reshirt senior Donny Holl (80) and redshirt senior Brendan Boylan (13) celebrate with senior Dylan Bongiorni (83) after his touchdown.

The Mercyhurst football team defeated the West Chester Rams in an exhilarating game on Saturday, Sept. 12.

This gave the Lakers a strong 2-0 start to the season.

The Lakers started off the scoring for the game with a touchdown by redshirt senior Brandon Brown-Dukes. This was his second touchdown of the season. Junior kicker, Dylan Kondis’ extra point kick was good, giving the Lakers a 7-0 win to begin the first quarter.

The Rams pulled ahead by scoring two touchdowns, creating a 14-7 lead over the Lakers. But, before the end of the first quarter, senior Dylan

Bongiorni ran the ball and flew into a Laker first down.

A pass from redshirt senior quarterback Brendan Boylan to Bongiorni tied the game, 14-14, by the end of the first quarter.

West Chester came back to score two more touchdowns to gain a 28-14 lead. Although the Lakers were able to gain yards in their next possession, they had to go for a field goal making the score 28-17.

On the next Lakers possession, a touchdown by senior F.J. Williams started closing the gap, making it a 28-24 game. The Rams came back and scored, holding onto the lead with a score of 35-24.

With a minute left in the second quarter, Williams scored another Hurst touchdown while playing through

the pouring rain. The score was 35-31 West Chester at the end of the first half.

The beginning of the second half was a battle with the ball for both teams as none could get it into the end zone.

Mistakes were being made due to the heavy rain. West Chester brought themselves to first and goal, but the Mercyhurst defense kept them out, even after four plays. The score remained 35-31 at the end of the third quarter.

The beginning of the fourth quarter started out fast. Junior Dorian Stevens intercepted a Rams ball but after the Lakers making a few first downs, Boylan threw an interception and Rams gained possession again.

The Lakers sacked West Chester’s quarterback, Pat

Moriarty, and the Lakers got the ball inside the 15-yard line. Boylan ran the ball into the end zone, scoring another touchdown. This play earned Boylan the PSAC Western Division Offensive Player of the week.

“West Chester played great defense covering up the routes, and the line protected well. This allowed a hole on the right side to open up. I tried to get to first down to keep the game going,” said Boylan.

The Lakers went for a twopoint conversion, but the Rams intercepted the pass and ran to their end zone for what would have been a safety.

A flag on the play nullified the return. The Lakers were up 37-35 with less than a minute left in the game.

In the last minute it was West Chester’s ball, and they had three time-outs left.

Redshirt junior Tarique Ellis prevented a complete pass, giving the Rams the only option of kicking a field goal to win the game by one point.

In an exhilarating final play, the Ram’s kick was wide to the right, keeping the final score 37-35 Mercyhurst.

The Lakers travel to the University of Bloomsburg on Saturday Sept. 19, for their next game. Kick off is at 2 p.m. To view live tweets of the game, follow @MercyhurstFB on Twitter.

@TheMerciad

Men’s soccer wins double overtime battle

By Marco Cicchino Staff writer

The Mercyhurst men’s soccer team picked up their first win of the season against West Chester University in an intense double overtime game. This gave first year Head Coach Nenad Vidakovich his first win as a Laker.

During the first half of the game the Lakers and Rams went back and forth with scoring goals. Redshirt sophomore, Michael Lennox started the scoring at 18:15 with a

shot into the top right of the goal. The goal was assisted by grad student Thom Derks, his first of the season. The Rams came back at 28:52 to tie the score 1-1.

Redshirt senior Thomas Davis gave the Lakers the lead again at 36:59 but the Rams rallied back at 44:23 to tie the game again 2-2.

Neither team scored in the second half or in the first overtime.

The Lakers were finally able to take advantage in the second extra-time session.

The action started when

Derks grabbed control from the left side and fired from the box. The shot was saved by Rams goalkeeper Matt Palmer, but he muffed the ball, allowing Korb to fire home the rebound. He sent the ball into the upper-right of the net securing the Mercyhurst win.

“Coach Nenad kept telling us all during practice just to follow everything through,” said Korb about his play.

“The ball came to me, and I just tapped it in. It was a good team effort today.”

Laker goaltender, junior Nicholas Smith saved five out

Women’s soccer loses 2-1

By Diego Himede Staff writer

Mercyhurst women’s soccer faced No.5 ranked West Chester on Friday, Sept. 11, but fell during an intense game.

During most of the first half, West Chester dominated the game with its passing.

Using the wings to gain depth, they scored the first goal at the 18th minute.

As the clock was ticking, the Rams started to feel more comfortable on the field. The solid defense of Mercyhurst was not enough to keep them from scoring the second goal six minutes later.

However, Mercyhurst did not throw the game away, and the girls brought their game up. By the end of the first half it was an entire different game.

Just before halftime, senior

forward Kristina Roberti scored letting everyone know the game had not ended yet.

This was Roberti’s first goal of the season closing the gap in score to one.

The girls returned motivated to the second half, exhibiting their game and making West Chester play defensively.

Unfortunately, the 45 minutes of the second half weren’t enough for Mercyhurst to tie the game.

Roberti made a lot of sacrifices running up and down the field, which led her to score her goal. “To improve we have to come out and play the 90 minutes, get the ball moving a little quicker, and get the ball on the wings,” said Roberti.

Despite the loss, the Mercyhurst defense looked very solid.

“If you watched the whole game, the second half it was them reacting to us, whereas

the first half we reacted to them,” said Head Coach Keith Cammidge “We’re going to play more consistently, even if you played well, in the end you are always going to be judged by how many games you have won, and how many games you have lost.”

The Lakers played again on Saturday against Bloomsburg defeating them 2-1 in overtime.

The first goal of the game came from senior forward Lauren Testa in the second half.

The overtime goal was made by Roberti giving the Lakers their first win of the season.

Mercyhurst will travel to Clarion for the next game on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. @TheMerciad

of seven shots on goal during the game.

Following Friday’s win, the Lakers fell to No. 18 ranked Bloomsburg in a close 2-1 game. Junior Michael Dirienzo made his first goal of the season this game. His shot was blocked by Bloomsburg goalkeeper but came right back to him where he beat the goalkeeper on the right side on his next attempt.

The Lakers will be on the road for their next two games.

Casey Bleuel photo

@TheMerciad

Junior Joseph Korb (17) scored the Lakers winning goal in double overtime giving the Lakers a 3-2 win over West Chester.

Cross country running strong to begin season

By Carly Contraguerro Sports editor

The men’s and women’s cross country teams have started off their season strong finishing close to the top in their first two invitationals.

The women’s team finished second out of seven at the Fredonia State Invitational and second out of four at the Mansfield University Invitational. The men’s team finished second out of seven as well at Fredonia and third out of four at Mansfield.

“Our last meet at Mansfield went very well. There were great running conditions and the entire team was excited to get going,” said senior Amanda Moore.

“All of the teams were fairly equally matched, so it was an

extremely competitive race, which had many different teams pushing each other up until the very end.”

There were runners on both the men’s and women’s teams that ran their personal best times at this invitational.

“We have a lot of new talent coming onto the team. This has given us a new dynamic to the team where we push each other, but still compete against each other,” Moore said.

There are four new freshmen on the women’s team and two freshmen on the men’s team.

The teams have been preparing for their races this season since mid-August, when they started training camp. During the season they run at five different places. These practice courses test various areas of running, including endurance

and speed training.

“Coach Mike Fraley has a lot of faith in this team going far and knows our talents, so he has increased the training schedule from past years because he wants us to reach our full potentials,” Moore said.

The Lakers next race will be the University of Notre Dame Invitational at South Bend, IN. This race will have 15 to 30 teams competing.

“As long as we keep pushing, that should be an even better race because this next course is very fast-paced,” Moore said.

@TheMerciad

The Merciad

Page 8

Laker

September 16, 2015

Living

Historically Tory: History in the Making

By Victoria Kreysar Ad manager

“Disenchanted” is a severely-overlooked word in the English language, and one that I think fits every human’s status, from millennials to baby boomer. We all grow up thinking something big and grand is in store for us.

Don’t get me wrong--something fantastic is possible, but realistically, what we think we want and what we get are two different things. Not to mention if we get what we want, we usually come to find out it’s not what we need.

How do you make God laugh? Make a plan.

I majored in history, minored in arcaeology, took five years of Latin, and know how to scuba dive. It is a weird mesh of knowledge stored in my brain, and unfortunately, the real world does not care about all that. I like to think “Past Tory’s” end goal was to make employment difficult for myself.

I graduated from Mercyhurst in three years because overachieving seemed like a good adjective for myself at the time. I had a five-year plan for my future, and suddenly I was graduated, unemployed and

sailing a tall ship.

My advice to all the seniors right now? Don’t bother making a plan for the big picture, just take a moment and enjoy the place you’re at. The wolrd will be waiting for you when you decide what to do.

Currently, I’m enrolled in the Master’s program for Education here at Mercyhurst.

Like I always say, when in doubt, keep learning. Like a true Ravenclaw, I was thrilled to stay in school, but I now face the hardest question of anyone’s life: How do you keep going when you’re disenchanted with the world?

What do you do when you’re

on track for something but it turns out to be completely different than what you thought it would be?

Maybe disenchantment is what happens when you grow

“

Being disenchanted is like a bad curse we all fall under now and again.

”

Victoria Kreysar

up. Maybe it’s a rite of passage into the world of the adults where car payments, electric

bills, grocery lists and responsibilities are lying in wait. It is inescapable. It is reality, and sometimes, it is downright awful.

Being disenchanted is like a bad curse we all fall under now and again. It is going to happen, there is no doubt about that. But as a whole, we’ve all got to stop with this “the grass is always greener” idea.

I look around and think how things could be better, but you know what? They could be a lot worse too. One of my professors once told me, “you’re where you’re at now because it is where you’re supposed to

be for the tie being.”

It is not forever; nothing is forever. Not the bad, but also not the good. The good things and the bad things all run through your life in a cyclical rotation, and we’re all just along for the ride. So, don’t bother trying to figure things out. Given enough time, we all find something else to become enchanted with again.

Top 10

Best on Campus 1. Rhonda (has great advice) 2. Wellness Thursdays at Egan 3. Free laundry machines 4. The Laker Inn 5. The Bookstore 6. Free parking 7. 10 minute walk to class 8. Sporting events 9. The bells (sometimes) 10. It isn’t snowing ... yet

Way back When...

The Merciad presents articles from yesteryear in their original form, including headlines. This week, our blast from the past is from Sept. 28, 1956.

Journalism Classes Slated For Newspaper Enthusiasts October will be Mercyhurst Press Month, for a four-day course in journalism will be conducted on October 2, 4, 9, 11 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Slated to teach the fundamentals of journalism is Mr. George Hackenberg who has been active in newspaper work since his high school days at Academy. When he enrolled as an English major at the Erie Center, University of Pittsburgh, he was editor of their student publication, THE CLIFF DWELLER. After graduation, he was director of student activities at the Erie Center, and was next on the teaching staff of the Johnstown Center of the University of Pittsburgh.

During World War II Mr.

Hackenberg was Public Information Officer with the Twelfth Naval District.

After the war he returned to the University of Pittsburgh to obtain his Master’s degree in 1948. Mr. Hackenberg then became a teaching fellow at Western Reserve where he was a candidate for a doctor’s degree.

In 1950, when he returned to the University of Pittsburgh, he was Director of Student Publications.

Since his return to Erie, he has been associated with the AKD Printing Company in the advertising field.

Open to all interested students, this course will be required of all prospective MERCIAD writers as well as the present staff, excluding the seniors members.

Growing . . .

By leaps and bounds is an apt description of Mercyhurst’s growth in the past four years. From a total of 188 students in 1953, her enrollment has risen to 307 in 1956.

This year marks the largest freshman class in her history, 109, with 52 day students and 57 residents represented.

The frosh have come from six states including Massachusetts and North Carolina.

Game Zone

@tory_krey