The Merciad, March 31, 2004

8/6/2019 The Merciad, March 31, 2004

1/12

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929

^ ^ H H | E. 38th, St; Erie 'fa%6546 Man! 2The Merciad is also available atmerciad.mercyhurst.edu

NEWS:More college stu-dents are depressed,but are still seekinghelp.P A G E 3FEATURES:Habitat for Humanitytravels to Louisiana tohelp families.PAGE 4

OPINION:Graduation is on thehorizon.

PAGE 7

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT:Madame NathalieKrassovskaperformed at thePAC.P A G E 9

SPORTS:Men's lacrossemoves up instandings.P A G E 12

Upcoming Campus EventsFilm: Secret Lives: HiddenChildren and their rescuersduring WWII f | :Mary D*Angelo Performing ArtsCenterWednesday, March 31, at 2 and 8p.m.Special Event: Academic CelebrationSunday, March 28 - Wednesday,March 31See specific times and locations onMercyhurst College Website.Easter Egg Hunt and MoreStudent UnionFriday, April 1,10 p.m.Cheeseburger in ParadiseStudent UnionFriday, April 2,9 p.m.

*IndexNews*. M'-lNational News 2 |News 3Features 4Features 5Opinion "Opinion 'A&E. 8A &E\ | 9| 10k 11

Academic Celebration 2004embraces!ethical boundariesBy lonelle DavisContributing writer

Right Wrong and Grey, EthicalBoundaries for the 21* Century wasthis year's theme for Academic Cele-bration. The program kicked off onSunday, March 28, and finished onWednesday, March 31, 2004.^According to Dr. Karen Williams,Academic Celebration advisor, thisyear's program included 30 differentevents, free and open to the public.Some of the highlights included eth-ical issues with both the Vietnam andIraq conflicts, downloading musicfrom the Internet, ethics in the Cath-olic Church, gay marriage, and ethi-cal questions raised by students afterparticipating in life-changing alterna-tive Spring break trips.

Williams went on to discussed or-ganizing this event. "My studentchairs this year are Ashley Gardnerand Kristen Hudak, and they havedone an outstanding job. From lastSeptember until now, they havedonenearly all of the preparation work,from soliciting presenters to arrang-ing the complex schedule. We alsowant to thank Dr. Candee Chambersof the Mercyhurst College HonorsProgram, which sponsors the event;Dr. Garvey, for his inancialsupportthrough an Academic EnrichmentGrant, and Jodi Staniunas-Hopperand her Digital Imagery class for pro-viding the artwork for our programcover." s;S ^According to Williams, a lot ofwork went into this event and it pro-vides a great opportunity to learn.

'This is a great opportunity for theentire campus community to come

Katie McAdams/Photo editorFacultyandstaff members participate In a panel discussion called Right, Wrong and Gay. More than120 people attended the event for Academic Celebration.together, along with the greater Eriecommunity and expert guest speak-ers, to take a serious look at a par-ticularly important topic in our worldtoday. I hear students complainingthat "there is nothing to do on cam-pus," but this event proves that tobe false. This long-standing traditionwill continue in the future."When asked about her involve-

ment, Kristen Hudak stated, "The op-portunity to get involved with Aca-demic Celebration came through theHonors Program. I'm a Junior andI figured it was time to get even moreinvolved with the group. I attendedAcademic Celebration events as aFreshman and Sophomore and real-ly enjoyed the week-long event" shesaid. I

The Mercyhurst College Honorsprogram sponsored this celebration,while funding for the events camefrom the Academic EnrichmentGrant There were two student co-chairs Gardner and Hudak, along withfaculty advisor Williams who createdand produced the event

New gender studies minor in the worksBy Jessica ZajacContributing writerA new interdisciplinary minor, gen-der studies, will be available as earlyas next year for Mercyhurst stu-dents.The proposal, prepared by Dr.Mary Ann Owoc, Dr. Marilyn Li-

vosky, and Dr. Laura Lewis, met withenthusiastic support from the Fac-ulty Senate at its monthly meetinglast week.The faculty aims to have the pro-

gram in operation starting nextschool year, although not all of theclasses will be offered immediately.Students choosing to complete agender studies minor will be required

to take two specific courses in addi-tion to five clectives. *The requiredcourses will be Introduction to Gen-der Studies (a new course) and Psy-chology of Gender.Currendy, 15 courses in depart-

ments ranging from anthropology topolitical science would qualify aselectives. In addition, a number offaculty members have expressed in-terest in creating brand-new cours-es. All gender studies classes will becross-listed.The necessity of offering gender

studies can be seen in today's ever-changing world."We have to stop thinking so nar-

rowly. The world is shrinkingand it'simportant for us to be accepting and

tolerant of people who are differentthan us," Dr. Livosky says.'The gender studies minor is a stepin that direction. It can enrich ourlives, teaching us not only to getalong, but so the quality of our livesis improved as well," she adds.At present, many of the coursesthat would meet the requirements ofthe minor focus on women's issues.This reflects the history of the col-lege, which educated only women for43 years.However, in the future, classes that

deal with issues of masculinity willbe added. Theprogram has been pur-posely entitled "gender studies" toaccurately reflect the goals of theminor.

Through the gender studies pro-gram, students can enhance theirgraduate school candidacy and pro-mote cultural competency. Also, theminor can add cohesion and focusto a course of study, according toDr. livosky.This interdisciplinary minor couldbenefit students in nearly any major,especially psychology,'English, reli-gious studies, anthropology, socialwork, and marriage and family stud-ies.Students who are interested in thenew gender studies minor can con-tact the advising faculty, Dr. Owoc,Dr, Livosky, or Dr. Lewis for moreinformation.

Athletic Training Department seeks to be re-accreditedBy Jessica ZajacContributing writer

Sports,Sports,Sports,

Last week, the Mercyhurst CollegeAthletic Training Department wasvisited by the Joint Review Commit-tee on Athletic Training to renew theirnational accreditation.The sportsmedicine program hasbeen at Mercyhurst College since1985, and the Athletic Training De-partment has been an accredited cur-riculum since 1993, but about everyfive years the department has to gothrough a reaccredidation processIn 2003, the department had tosubmit a 'self study' to the Joint Re-view Committee on Athletic Train-ing.-'At that point, the committee re-views the study, and if everythinglooks like it's in place they will thencome to the school to do a direct sitevisit "We just completed our site visitlast week" says Bradley lacobson,Director of Sportsmedicine Depart-ment and Coordinator for Pre-med-icine and Pre-physical Therapy Pro-grams.

Once the committee has finished12

the site visit, they list any noncom-pliance's they feel the departmentmight have, followed by the depart-ment then making changes in thespecific program so that they will bein compliance**"We can't have an athletic trainingprogram if it's not nationally accred-ited, so it's verybig Our athletic train-ing program in our sportsmedicinedepartment would not exist if itweren't accredited. It has to be ac-credited,' says Jacobson.After the Joint Review Committeehas evaluated the program, they givetheir recommendation to the accred-iting agency, Commission on Accred-itation of Allied Health EducationPrograms.CAAHEP's committee membersare actually the ones who give theMercyhurst College Athletic Train-ing Department the accreditationthey need to keep the program upand running. Not onlydoes the ath-letic training department benefit fromthe reaccredidation they recently re-ceived, but students do as well.Please see Athletic on Page J. An athlete works with a trainer In the department, which Is currently seeking re-accredltatlon, _
http://merciad.mercyhurst.edu/http://merciad.mercyhurst.edu/


2/12

PAGE 2 MARCH SL2004

President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry will battle it out on the campaign trailfacing off on issuesfrom axes to marriage. Here, we look at where Bush and Kerrystand on some of the major issues facing the

Bash opposes abortion, but says the country is not ready to outlaw the procedure.His goal is to promote "a culture of life" that would help change public opinion. Inthe meantime, he supports new restrictions on abortion, including the recently enact-ed ban on the procedure often called "partial-birth abortion."ABORTION

J Bush favors the death penalty and authorized more than 150 executions w hen hejwas governor o f Texas. He supp orted expanding the federal death penalty to include I JJf^JJJ PENALTYterrorism-related crimes. i IBush inherited a $237 billion federal budget surplus that has turned into a recordS521 billion deficit, thanks to an econo mic recession, the aftershocks from S ept 11,the war with Iraq, the stock m arket tumble, increased government spending and taxcuts. He prom ises to cut the deficit in half within five years with a plan that reliesheavily on his belief that the improving economy will bring a big increase in taxrevenues. He also wants to impo se spending limits on Congress.

isnarBush's No Child Left Behind law seeks to improve education by imposing newstandards on schools and holding them accountable for failure. The law requiresannual testing in math and reading for grades three through eight, and at least onceduring high school Critics say that the federal government has failed to provideadequate funding to help states meet the law's goals. Bush says that federal spendiqfor education has increased by nearly 60 percent between 2000 and 2003.

1 Bush favors market-based approaches to environmental protection and has soughtto ease government regulation of business. He abandoned the Kyoto treaty on globalwarming because of concerns that it would damage the U.S. economy. His ClearSkies initiative gives power plant operators more flexibility in meeting emissionstargets that are supposed to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides andmercury by 70 percent. He favors opening 1.5 million acres of the 19 million-acreArctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration.

EDUCATION

EMVIROMENT

Bush initially resisted the idea of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriag-es, but changed his position in February. He said a court ruling in Massachusetts andgay marriages by local officials in California and New Mexico left him no choice.White Ho use aides say Bush favors an am endment that w ould ban gay marriages butlet states decide whether to allow civil unions or o ther arrangements that stop shortof traditional marriage.Bush advocates new tax credits of up to $1,000 for individuals and $3,000 forfamilies to help uninsured Americans pay for health insurance. He would also letsmall businesses band together to negotiate group rates from health-insurance com-panies. Another proposal seeks to hold dow n medical costs by limiting damage awardsin lawsuits. At Bush's urging, Congress approved legislation providing limited pre-scription-drug coverage for Medicare patients.

GAYMARRIAGE

HEALTHCARE

Bush says that protecting the nation from terrorist attacks is his top priority. Thenew H omeland Security Department, formally established on March 2, 2003, com-bined elements of other government agencies and offices, with a goal of streamlin-ing anti-terrorism efforts. Bush has tripled spending o n homeland security, to morethan $30 billion, since taking office. H e has urged C ongress to expand th e Patriot Actto give police even m ore power to deal with suspected terrorists.

HOME L A N DSECURITY

Bush has urged Congress to create a new temporary-worker program that wouldlet an estimated 8 million foreigners wh o are in the cou ntry illegally gain legal status.The program would let temporary workers stay for up to three years. Employerswould have to certify that no Americans were available for jobs filled by temporaryWorkers.Bush contends that the war in Iraq was necessary because Saddam H ussein's re-gimc was "a grave and gathering danger" to the United States, even if US . troops donot find weapons of mass destruction. He has vowed to stay in Iraq as long as ittakes to establish a stable democracy.

IMMIGRATION

IRAQ

Bush has gone further than any other U.S. president in calling for creation of anindependent Palestinian state, but he also has maintained close ties with Israeli PrimeMinister Ariel Sharon. In 2003, Bush endorsed a "roadmap for peace" a plan thatrequires Israelis and Palestinians to take a series of steps to ease tensions, but it hasbeen largely ignored. The Bush administration has protested the construction byIsraelii of a fence around Palestinian areas but has avoided a direct confrontationon the issue.

The economy has suffered a net loss of about 2 million jobs since Bush tookoffice. He has released a six-point plan to encourage more job growth. It calls formaking tax cuts permanent, implem enting a producer-friendly energy policy, ex-panding trade, restricting lawsuits against business and doctors, reducing governmentregulation and cutting health costs.

ISRAELI-M U S H N I A N

OON HJ C I j?

J OB S

Bush's plan to overhaul Social Security would let younger workers invest part oftheir Social Security taxes in the stock market or other private investments. Olderworkers would be allowed to stay in the current system, Under the current system,younger workers pay for benefits to older retirees. Under Bush's plan, workers wouldset aside money for their own retirement. Bush has not said how he would deal withhuge transition costs. Ron Hu tcheson, Knight Ridder Washington correspondent

SOCIALSECURITY

0)ooXa

Kerry o pposes legislation that would restrict a woman's access to an abortion andsays he would only appoint judges to the federal judiciary who supported the Roe v.Wade decision. Kerry voted against banning a rare abortion procedure known as"partial-birth abortion" because it did not contain an exception to p rotect the healthof the mother.Kerry, a former prosecutor, opposes the death penalty except in cases of terror-ism. He argues that 111 people convicted of murder have been released from deathrow because DNA evidence proved diem not guilty.Kerry says he plans to cut the deficit in half by the end of 2008 by repealing Bushtax cuts for Americans with incomes above $200,000 and by cutting governmentadministrative costs. He would call a "Balanced Budget Summit" directing bothpolitical parties to find cost reductions, even in their top priorities. He wants toreduce government energy costs by 20 percent by 2020, eliminate $12 billion in"fraud and abuse" in Medicare and save money by improving federal purchasing

systems-Kerry, who has a sister who teaches in Boston, voted for Bush's No Child LeftBehind law, but has criticized it, saying it's poorly financed and improperly applied. IKerry would create a National Education Trust Fund to pay the federal share ofeducation costs and increase government spending o n public-school education from$23.8 billion a year to $35 billion a year by 2008. K erry also would use a portion ofa two-year, $50 billion economic stimulus fund to help financially strapped states.Along with foreign policy, Kerry's other major legislative, interest ha? been th


3/12

M A R C H S L 2004 THEMERCIAD PAGE 3

Adam Tewell, 22, of San Francisco, California, isa student at Trinity College in Hart-ford, Connecticut. He and other students organized a mental health conference thatwill take place April 3,2004 at Trinity. r ? f % IAs student depressionrises, more seek helpBy Grace E. MenittThe Hartford Courant

HARTFORD, Conn. *Our-ing the summer between hissophomore and junior years atTrinity College, Adam Tewellwas diagnosed with bipolar dis-order, a m ental illness that usedto be called manic depression.It began gradually, switchingon and off in fits and starts.His thinking became confused.He had m ood swings and enp-pling panic attacks."At first it's really scary.be-;cause you know Somethinefs'wake up one morning and youlose perspective on the sickness.You don 't realize it's a problem.You begin to enjoy it. That's areally bad warning sign thatsomething's wrong."It got so bad that he missedthe fall semester th at year. Withthe support of medicine, ther-apy, doctors, his family and agroup of good friends, he re-turned to Trinity and is finish-ing his senior year.Twenty years ago, the storymight have had a different out-come."I'd probably be locked up ina mental institution or workingin a convenience store. Orworst of all, I could be dead,"Tewell said.Tewell, 22, is among a grow-ing number of students who,thanks to medical advances,can cope with their mental ill-nesses well enough to attendcollege."It is almost so common thatit's accepted,** he said. "It is avery low-level thing. Oh, soyou're depresse d what's new?"Colleges across the countryare reporting that increasingnumbers of students are seek-ing mental health services forillnesses or conditions rangingfrom bipolar disorder orschizophrenia to depression,anxiety, eating disorders andstress, *A survey by the AmericanCollege f lealth Association lastspring reported that an estimat-ed 38 percent of college- stu-dents reported depression se-vere enough that they had dif-ficulty functioning on at leastone to 10 occasions in the pastyear.The survey also showed that9 percent of students serious-lyconsidered suicide dunng thesame period. The results werebased on responses fromCS.The number of studen tsseeking counseling for a van-cty of psychological problemshas been rising steadily over thepast 15 to 20 years, research-ers and college counselors say.A study at Kansas State Uni-

versity from 1988 to 2003shows that the number of sui-cidal college students there tri-pled, reaching 11 percent dur-ing* the course of the study.During the same period, thenumber of students with depres-sion doubled to 41 percent in thestudy. Those suffering from an x-iety increased to 63 percent. Thesurvey tracked about 1,000 stu-dents who sought counselingeach year of the study.Mental health counselors atConnecticut college campusesgay increasing numbe/s of.troutjbfe#studen& help.'ATTrinity,cpunselors,aresee-ing nearly 20 percent of the stu-dent body at any given time, saidRandolph Lee, director of thecounseling center at Trinity Col-lcge* I I I

By the time a class graduates,about half the students have re-ceived some kind of therapy, hesaid.At the University of Connect-icut, counselors are so swampedthey have had to limit to eightthe number of therapy sessionseach student can attend eachyear*. Even so . University ofConnnecbcut officials say theyhave a waiting list of 49 studentsseeking therapy.p "Wre downsized and have nomore resources with a greaternumber of students and a great-er severity of mental healthproblems," said MichaelFCurland, health services direc-tor at UConn.Last year, UConn logged 7,000visits, including repeat trips, tothe university's mental healthclinic. The clinic recently addedweekend hours.Yale University counselors re-port a gradual increase in thenumber of students seeking ser-vices over the past five to 10years and have hired staff tokeep up with the demand.Experts said there was a spikein students seeking help afterSept." 11, 2001vDepression, sui-cide and abuse all went up afterthat date."New traumas tend to stir upold traumas/' said Sherry Ben-ton, assistant director of coun-seling services at Kansas StateUniversity. She was part of thesurvey Kansas State Universitysurvey of students seeing coun-seling)

To try to raise awareness ofthe mental health issues facingcollege students, a gtoup ofTrinity stud ents led by Tewell isorganizing a mental health con-frfPnrp nn rumpus April 3.'I*hpyhope to draw student fromthroughout New England to theconference, which will focus ona variety of mental health issues.\\. Researchers and counselorssay it's hard to tell what's caus-ing the increase, hui there aremany theories.

One reason might be an in-creased awareness of mentalhealth issues and improvedtreatment options.Another is that a better arse-nal of medicine, earlier diag-nosis and a lessening of thestigma surrounding mental ill-ness have made students morewilling to seek treatment. Manyare seeking treatment in highschool and are already on psy-chotropic drugs when they en-roll in college. Some suggeststudents arc suffering frommoj stress today, including apremium on academic perfor-mance, the breakdown #f thefamily and increased financ ialpressures.Whatever the reason, cam-pus counseling centers are be-ing stretched to the limit. At thesame time, the pinched econo-my has caused many collegesto cut spending for the centersat a time when more studentsare seeking help.Meanwhile, new businesses,many of them Internet-based,have sprouted up to help stu-dents recognize symptoms,find help and even get mentalhealth insurance.On the national level, U.S.Reps. Danny FC Davis, D-Illi-nots, and Tom Osborne, R-Neb., have introduced a bill tomake $10 million in competi-tive grants available to colleg-es to provide mental and be-havioral health services. ^Thebill was prompted by evidencethat more students are de-pressed and by studies show-ing that mental health problemscan negatively affect studentperformance and graduationrates.Occasionally the problemreaches the catastrophic levelof a campus suicide. Four NewYork University students haveplunged to their deaths so farthis year. Two of the deathshave been ruled suicides. InConnecticut, a UConn studenthanged himself in his apart-ment in October and a Wes-leyan sophomore committedsuicide in November. N ation-ally, an estimated 1,100 collegestudents a year comm it suicide,making it the second-leadingcause of death among collegestudents, second only to carcrashes.

Precocious social activitymay also be contributing to thetrend, experts say."Young children now seem tobe moving much too quicklyintQ nrfiyiMfft car rie d r\\\t hyolder kids years ago, such assex and alcohol,1! said RobertP. Gallagher, author of a na-tional survey ol counselingcenter directors. Students aredrinking heavily in high schooland entering college with exces-sive alcohol habits, he said.

To [email protected] testing po pco rnBy Sara ShipleySt Louis Post-Dispatch

The Environmental ProtectionAgency is testing microwavepopcorn to find out what chem-icals are released when a bag ofpopcorn is popped or opened.Vapors from a butter flavor-ing used in microwave popcornhave been linked to severe lungdamage in dozens of people whowork in microwave popcornplants around the country, in-cluding in Missouri and Illinois.'Federal officials have saidthere is no evidence that con-sumers face a health risk frommicrowave popcorn. Until now,no one has directly studied theissue.mEnvironmental scientist TackyRosatt, one of EPAs principalinvestigators, said she decided topursue the study after hearing apresentation on the sick popcornworkers at a medical conferencein 2002. , f"I thought this couldfit n verywell with what our lab does,which is indoor air/' said RosatL

who works in the EPA's IndoorEnvironment ManagementBranch at Research TrianglePark, N. C "We were very inter-ested in the aspect of what iscoming off of the microwavepopcorn when you pop it."The EPA study, which is expect-ed to be finished this fall, focus-es on the type and amount ofchemicals emitted from poppingmicrowave popcorn and open-ing the bag. Other studies wouldbe needed to determine anyhealth effects of those chemicalsand whether consumers arc atrisk.

The Flavor and Extract Man-ufacturers Association, a tradegroup based in VCashington, D.G,said that flavors do not pose arisk to consumers."We are confident that fla-vored microwave popcorn is safefor all of us to enjoy, and F EMAlooks forward to working coop-eratively with the EPA," GlennRoberts, executive director oFthe flavor association, said in astatementTh e EPA study comes as 30

former workers at a microwavepopcorn plant in Jasper, Mo.,took their claims to court in alawsuit that began last week.The study involves only micro-wave popcorn, one of the na-tion's most popular snack foods.It does not include other typesof popcorn, such as that sold inmovie theaters and sportingevents, or popped at home ontop of the stove.Rosati and her co-investigator,Ken Krebs, have bought about50 types of microwave popcornof different brands, batches andflavors for the study. They de-clined to reveal the b rands used.< The popcorn bags will bepopped in a microwave ovenplaced inside a sealed box builtspecially for the experimentGloves stick through the frontwall for access to the oven.Air will be tested for volatile

organic compounds and parti-cles, the researchers said. Thestudy will look at chemicals emit-ted from the contents of the bagand rom he microwaveable bagitself.

Athletic Training see ks re-accred itationContinued from Page L

"You can't become a certifiedathletic trainer without graduat-ing rom an accredited program,so we have to be an accreditedprogram to even exist, there's nocollege or university in the coun-try that has an athletic trainingcurriculum that isn't CAAHEPaccredited; it just doesn't exist"says Jacobson.Of the 102 students in Mer-cyhurst College's Spo rtsmedicineDepartment, about half arebrought in via the athletic train-ing program. Since the programwas first accredited in 1993, Ja-cobson says./'Since then ournumbers have grown; usuallywewill graduate anywhere rrom it)to 14 athletic training students ayear. There's a cap on that, wecan't graduate more than 16 ina year."Another bonus that has come

right along with the department'srcaccrcdidauon, is the HumanPerformance Lab built by theschool, which will allow all se-niors in the sportsmedicine de-partment to participate in someform of hands on researchAthletic training students havehad this opportunity since lastyear, but now hopefully all ofour seniors, pre-med, pre-phys-ical therapy, and health fitnesspromotion students will startdoing that as of next year," saysJacobson.In addition, p re-physical ther-apy students have just begun anagreement with Hamot MedicalCenter, "they're allowing ourpre-PT students to observe andshadow "their physical therapistsIn all of their seven PT settingsat the hospital," says Jacobson,"Which is really a big deal forour PT program, because nowthese students can go and be clin-ically involved during the whole

academic year. They'll be ableto see all different types of set-tings from inpatient, outpatient,knee and back clinics, cata-strophic injuries, sports medi-cine, it's a big deal for our stu-dents/'This is great news for pre-physical therapy students; this isthe first official "agreement diedepartment has had with a hos-pital allowing all of the college'spre-physical therapy students t ogo in and shadow therapists.Since 1985 this department o fMercyhurst College has beengrowing, and plans on continu-ing its expansion in the future.With new programs added al-most yearly, agreements withwell-tespected health centers,> and national accreditation beingrenewed, the Mercyhurst Col-lege Sportsmedicine Depart-ment plans to become an evengreater success.

Acad em ic Celebration look s at ethicsContinued rom Page 1.

Hudak said, "I applied lastspring to be a Co-Chair of theevent Dr. Karen Williams is theadvisor and having had her forclass many times, I was eager towork with her to produce a greatAC in 2004."Hudak went o n to discuss whyshe feels student involvement isimportant "Academic Celebra-tion is one of the most liberalarts oriented events that takesplace during the academic year.It's an opportunity for studentsand faculty to examine, challenge,

discuss, and develop ideas acrossa wide spectrum. It's also veryreflective of the tradition of dieSisters of Mercy's dedication toopen dialog and discussion/Ac-ademic Celebration is an oppor-tunity for all students to engagein an enjoyable weeklong cele-bration of ideas."Hudak also added that "Stu-dents should take advantage ofthe events because we're privi-leged enough to have thisopportunity. The events go out-side the boundaries of ordinaryclasses and are a valuable wayto deepen your knowledge. The

events this year span many dif-ferent majors and interests, sothere should be something ofinterest to everybody. Further,* ? tmany of them are oriented tobe not only engaging, but alsofun. Last year, many of theevents were exciting and fun forthose who attended. Presenters,both students and faculty, workreally hard to make their presen-tations relevant and exciting."Overall, this year's AcademicCelebration gave students and

\ 1community members an educa-tion tool to utilize.

fern?

Spring has sprung. Your winter coats and bulkysweaters are in the way now. Bring them to ParisCleaners to be cleaned and we will keep them instorage thru the summer for free, You don't haveto pay for the cleaning until next fall either.Pa ris Cleaners2 m E825-21
http://scary.be/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://scary.be/


4/12

PAGE 4 THEMERCIAD MARCH 31, 2004

To contact [email protected] a b i t a t f o r H u m a n i t y t r a v e l s t o L o u i s i a n aBy Kyla MclnchakContributing writer

Spring break is a time to lookforward to; and lot MeghanMorse, Rachel Beck, TiffanyBlack, Hope Magee, and Lau-ren Zaun, this year's spring breakwas a learning experience.On Feb.28 these girls, alongwith 19 other individuals, took atrip to Louisiana. There wereeight people to a cabin that over-looked a lake. They went ca-noeing, had camp fires, and*made s'mores. Black evenbrought a guitar and the groupsang. This sounds like a fiinatmosphere, right?That scenano simply depicts asmall portion of the trip. From8 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m., the groupspent their time building a foun-dation in Springhill, Louisiana.Their work would eventuallyturn into a house for a singleparent, Tracy, and his three chil-dren^According to Morse, Tracyand his family once lived n extdoor to the location where thenew home was being erected.Seeing a new beginning arise wasan exciting process for the fam-ily, and Tracy participated in thebuilding process.Morse, Beck, Black, Magee,and Zaun all worked togetherwith Daniel Cabanillas, their ad-visor, to coordinate the Habitatfor Humanity trip. Allfive ndi-viduals share the belief that par-ticipating in Habitat for Hu-manity provides a social envison-

Trffany Biack/Contributing photographerThe group of Mercyhurst students who traveled to Louisiana over spring break take time out for a picture. Their daysstarted at 8 a.m. and ended between 4 and 5 p.m. They learned a lot and enjoyed their experience. By the time thetrip was over, the students felt more like fam ily than peers.ment and also helps to build char-acter."To do something like this youhave to be a humanitarian. In-stead of taking a vacation inCancun we went to the middleof nowhere. You have to be car-ing and compassionate towardsothers do something like that,"said Magee.Magee is a senior and is cur-rently the president of the Hab-

itat for Humanity division atMercyhurst. Throughout hercollege career she has dedicatedher spring break to helping o th-ers. Hie people working on thehouse guide you through theentire process, so it's not hard atall/'said Black. r :Beck shared that Habitat isn'tconcerned about ability, becausepeople who are willing and ea-

ger to help others are more thancapable of construction work."Most of us aren't going intoconstruction, but it's useful be-cause of the teamwork and theway in which other people seeyour true, compassionate side,"said Magee.Magee commented that lastyear 100 students from Mercy-hurst spent their spring breakdoing construction at Miami

Beach, which was much differ-ent from the rural atmospherefound in Louisiana.Black went on the trip last yearand shared mat the smaller groupof individuals that went to Lou-isiana benefited from the ruralarea and smaller numbers ofpeople. "The people on the tripbonded more this year, and theinvolvement was better," sheshared. Zaun explained that it is

sometimes difficult to adjust tothe conditions of a new environ-ment. Budgeting money, get-ting enough rest, and navigatingthe area is sometimes challeng-ing, she said"It's a wake up call. Seeinghow different people live helpsyou to see what you're workingtowards and helps you appreci-ate what you have in life," saidZaun.Morse explained that, for thecommunity wasfilled by gener-ous, caring individuals. C hurch-es and parishes fed the studentswithout charging any fees, saidMorse. j&"They went out of their wayto make us feel welcome. Itwas a different atmosphere thanthe No rth," said Beck. |Beck, who also went bothyears, shared that on the way toLouisiana she only knew a fewof the students in the van, butby the time they arrived she feltlike they were family.Beck said that the group wassupposed to complete the foun-dation in four days, but due tothe group's efficiency they wereable to lay the foundation inthree days. The group spent thefourth day in Nashville as a re-ward for their hard work.When finished the house willbe one-story high with a frontporch,fourbedrooms, two bath-rooms, a kitchen, and a livingroom. More importantly, thework of those who participatedin the process will contribute toa family's life being changed.

W h a l e y r e f l e c t s o n e d u c a t i o n a l t r a i n i n g a t M e r c y h u r s tBy Jen HelbigContributing water

i > 1 " ' The major of music educationis self explanatory, the teachingof music. However, does thestudent's perspective on musicand/or teaching jeopardize thestudent's future in the major?Senior music education majorClaire Whaley has found whereshe stands in both music andteaching while at MercyhurstWhaley is currently studentteaching at Seneca High Schooland she just performed at hersenior recital on March 20.CT play the oboe in the musicdepartment,"Whaley said, tl amthe only one at Mercyhurst thatplays that particular instrument/'Whaley shared a personal sto-ry behind playing the oboe."When I was in elementaryschool, the teacher showed usthose hideous lashcardswith theinstruments on them," Whaleysaid. "I would have much ratherbeen in art class or English.However, I saw the picture of

the oboe, and I really wo nderedhow someone was able to playit"--*, ittttv - i f l - **U"I was always bored to tearswhen I had to watch a schoolband perform," Whaley contin-ued. "1 forgot about the picture,and in middle school I had towatch a school band play. I wascurious how the conductor wasable to get all of the students toplay at the same time. Out ofsheer curiosity, I asked my momif she could rent an instrumentfor me."Whaley said that when she triedthe oboe for the first time, shewas a natural. Many oboe stu-dents start on the saxophone orclarinet prior to playing, but shewas able to pick it up quickly.After a few years, Whaley wascalled by Mercyhurst for an au-dition, andnow, four years lat-er, she will graduate with thesame major which she entered."I will be certified to teachband, chorus, and general mu-sic to both elementary and sec-ondary students " Whaley said.

"I am student teaching rightnow at a high school and middleschool;?. Whaley said, "but IVedecided that I would like tospend my career teaching at thecollege level."Whaley has decided to not at-tend graduate school immediate-ly, but she would like to go inabout two years, and then con-tinue to earn her Ph.D.& Whaley said that the classes shetook at Mercyhurst have helpedprepare her for her future."My techniques classes helpeda lot, because it has given meinsight into all the different in-struments that diestudents play,"Whaley said. "I also felt like m yfoundations- of education classhelped because the teachertaught us exactly what a classroom was abo ut"The classes Whaley has takenhave taught her about disciplineand teaching. She said that thestudent teaching makes a big dif-ference."A lot of education coursesfocus mainly on younger stu-

dents," Whaley said. "Studentteaching allows me to focus mo reOn how to run a secondary class-room. >The student teaching hasmadeWhaley think on her feet."One of the most importantthings I have learned," Whaleysaid. "Is about the rapport I havewith the students. If I am unen-thusiastic w ith the class, the stu-dents don't respond well."Whaley said when she enteredMercyhurst, she was leaning to-wards the education aspect ofthe major. However, after stu-dent teaching, shesaid that sheis looking more towards themusic part of it."The major has been very dif-ficult However, I would rathertake 50 music classes a term thanto have to take a single mathclass."Whaley played oboe at her se-nior recital two weeks ago."I performed three pieces,"Whaley said. "Two were with apiano accompaniment, and onewas a trio with the piano and a

Katie McAdam^PhotoeditorSenior Claire Whaley couples her love of the oboe withher student teaching.friend who plays bassoon.Whaley said that the differencebetween high school and collegeis that the students in collegeactually have a desire to be inthe class."Sometimes in high school,there is an exceptional teacherthat is leading the class, but thestudents lack interest," Whaleysaid.

"I'm excited to continue learn-ing about music throughout myexperiences in the field," Wha-ley said. "It's the kind of sub-ject you can never learn enoughabout. There's always more re-search; more m usic being com-posed, and more ways to makeand study music. It'll never getold, and there-will always besomething new to study "

vtaSunday* B.Q. Port Sand-^vrkh, L. French Fry, Cookie,20 oz. Fountain DrinkMonday: ftjiu, 8. FrenchFry* Cookie, 20.01 FountainDrink

Tuesday Rueben Sand-wich a French Fry, Cookie,20. oft Fountain DrinkWednesdays Steel CitySandwich, S. French Fry,Cookie, 20 . oxF, Drink-.

wbress

Thursday: 1 ittce of p t a a .6 wings, Cookie, 30. oxFountain DrinkFriday: Fish Sandwich, LFrench Pry, Cookie, 20 . ozFountain DrinkS a t u r d a y : Laker Surge*,Curly French Fry, Cookie,a a 01 Fountain Drink 1

Collegiate bike challengetests endurance, strategy j

'arw&&Equivalency Hour*Mon. TO11. ttyo - 8FrL 11 tfo - 3:30 Turkey Bagel, Crispy Chicken Salad,Chef Salad 'i

By Erin ETNissleyKnight Ridder Newspapers

wnnection)Saturday Special 3.99 Ft bng caah or campus onry

AII5* Combo &90 aD 12" combo 4-99

ypeeiqFeatures:nltatkm-Meatbal l*BajaChMum

Penn State senior Jill Duganhad only onegoal for her firstbicycle race with the PennState Cycling Club. "1 just don't want to crash"she said. "At the last race, thedub went too; I heard that alot of people crashed."The ceramics major and run-ner started biking two years ago,when she decided triathlonssounded like a challenges shewanted to tackle. Of the threesports, biking quickly becameher favorite,"Biking requires a differentmind-set than running," Dug-an said, "I enjoy it; it's a goodworkout andit doesn't beat upon my legs like running does."And though she'd been rac-ing during triathlons, she de-cided to join the university'scycling club to get more intobike racing.Elliot Holland, a senior at

Princeton, said he loves therush of adrenaline that racingbrings. He said he thinks bik-ing offers the best of allwodds."The sport has all the hardwork of running or crew andall the strategy of teamsports," Holland said."Riding in a pack a t 30 rnph,getting sucked along, there'snothing like it*?-A recent race in Bellefonte,called a criterium, offeredplenty of chances for strate-gy, according to Columbiacoach Happy Freedman Eachclass of racers, A through Dformenand A and B for wom-en, complete the most amountof laps they can in the allot-ted time. Certain laps designat-ed by a ringing bell count forextra points for each rider'steam. #

"Some riders are sprinters.They'll bunch up until theend,and then put the power on andbreak away," Freedman said.

"Other riders rely on brutestrength; they'll stay in thefront and hope no one catch-es them."The time allotted for eachrace depends on the class. Themen's classes range in timefrom 25 to 60 minutes, thewomen s trom 25 to 45 min-utes. Before the races began,riders whizzed through thecourse, testing turns andstraight-aways, their helmetsglinting in the sunlight.Penn State's Cycling ClubPresidentJordyn Drayton saidthe club hosted a race in Belle-fonte two years ago and saidhopes to make it an annualevent.

The beauty of bike racing,Drayton said, is that it's a sportthat everyone can enjoy."We have novices, peoplewho just ride their bike toclass,** he said. ' |3"And we have three mem-bers currendy trainingfo r heOlympics.* *
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


5/12

MARCH 3L 2004 TH E MERCIAD PAGE 5FEATURES To contact:featur0merciad@mercyhu rst.eduMSG elections: candidatesMike & M eghan encourage 1,000 studentsto cast votes in upcom ing MSG elections

? platformsBy Kyla MclnchakContributing writer

On April 7 and 8 studentswill meet in the student unionto select new individuals totun Mercyhurst Student Gov -ernment

MSG makes decisions mataffect die campus on a dailybasis.Who will you vote for?Among your choices are MikeMancinelli and Meghan Mor-

se.One of their most outstand-ing characteristics is that theirprimary goal for campaigning

is not getting elected into aposition."We want them to get toknow us and our ideas, butmost of all we want to seeme m vo te / ' said Morse.

Their goal is to see a mini-mum of 1,000 students voteduring this year's MSG elec-tions.Mancinelli, who is runningfor MSG president, under-stands the varied needs o f the

Mercyhurst student body. Heshared that he was from asmall high school, and enter-ing a student body of 3,000students changed him."I discovered new ideas and

schemes of people, and this| broadened my horizons," saidMancinelli.Morse, who hopes to seeherself as the new MSG vice-president, has been involvedwith MSG for two years.Mancinelli has been a part ofMSG for 8 terms.Mancinelli and Morse agreethat Mercyhurst provides a[strong academic and social!environment, but other issuesstill hold importan ce. Suchan example is diversity.To aid getting rid of thisproblem , Mancinelli and Mor-

se plan to bring diversity lead-ers into the school.Mancinelli believes tha t thiscould increase awareness."Everything starts in smallsteps, and then future stepscan be taken," he said.

* iOther issues that Mancinel-

Matt Pesb-Con ributing photographer

Katie McAdams/Photo editorMike Manicinelli and Meghan Morse hope to see them-selves as 2004-05 MSG president and vice president Theirgoal is to have a minimum of 1,000 students to vote inyear's election.

Jason Staley and Marisa Paolini are running for MSGpresident and vice president They promise excellencebecause they are enthusiastic and have MSG experience.

li and Morse plan to address in-clude the 4-by-4calendar systemand snow removal- In addition,Morse said that she would likestudents to be able to use theircampus card at nearby places,such as Arbvs.ifDuring a recent meeting Mor-se raised a proposal for creatinga commuter's lounge. "Com-muters may feel as though th e/ renot part of the campus/' saidMorse.Working to integrate them into

the campus on a higher levelcould help to solve this problem .Morse also believes that it isimportant to observe what oth-er schools are doing to enrichtheir campuse s. She plans tokeep up to date with other insti-tutions in order to develop newways to improve Mercyhurst.Listening to the student bodyand using its ideas to enhance theIenvironment at Mercyhurst are,two goals that Mancinelli andMorse have set. Even if stu-dents don't feel comfortablesharing their ideas in the publiceye, Mancinelli wants to encour-age students to talk to him one-on-one. cTm someone who putsmyself out there for others. Iwant to listen and talk/' saidMancinelli.Both Mancinelli and Morseengage in helping others on abroader range by participating in

Habitat for Humanity. Morserecently went to Louisiana andworked together with other students in building the foundationof a house. She worked from 8a.m. to 4 or 5 pin . each day, allduring the duration of Springbreak. She is clearly involvedand willing to make sacrifices forthe benefit of others.The same is true of Mancinel-

l Last year he traveled to Flor-ida with approximately 100 oth-er students. They built off ofthe foundation that anotherschool had begun prior to theirarrival. "It's an experience thatyou take with you," said Mancinel-l * ; W hMancinelli believes that DanSchuler has set the bar high forfuture MSG presidents andhopes to maintain similar stan-dards. "I'd like to fall within theethical parameters laid down bya government like ours,".Manncinelli said.Although campaigning can besomewhat stressful, Mancinelliand Morse believe that by nomeans does it detract from thefun of the entire process. Sim-ilarly, taking upon themselves theposition of MSG president andvice-president may be challeng-ing rMancinelli and Morse can becon tac ted through-e-mail atmandm electionsfSlvalioo.com.

It's simple math:enthusiasm+experienc^By Ryan PalmContributing writer

That is the catchy slogan ofthe team of junior Jason Staleyand sophomore Marisa Paolini,candidates Tor president andvice-president for MercyhurstStudent Government for the2004-05 school year.Staley, the candidate for pres-ident, currendy serves as thevice-president on MSG, some-thing which he feels has provid -ed him with the experience apresident needs to get the yearstarted off right in the fall.Paolini currently serves onthe board for Student ActivitiesCommittee, and she believesthat the experience has given hera great understanding of whatgoes on in the office which shewould be holding-She currendy serves as anevent programmer, and was re-sponsible for the event in whichthe band Dis-Harmony playedin the Union this past weekend.

She also ran this past year'sfreshman orientation, so she be-lieves that she can certainly h an-die the undertaking of the job.The first idea in the team'splatform is the calendar issue,

one which they feel is "the sin-gle most important decision tobe made."Stalevhas served at several col-lege-council meetings, whichmake him fully aware of a com-ponents of the issue.He feels that this experiencewould certainly help with the dif-ficult task of presenting MSG'ssuggestions to the administration.The second major issue ontheir platform involves the cam-pus card expansion.Staley has put in much of thelegwork for this project, doingthe necessary research to ind hebest method possible.He claims that he is very closeto getting the job accomplished,and the pair certainly feels thatthe expansion would add greatconvenience to a student's every-day life.Some of the places which theyare looking at include Arby's,CVS, Patti's Pizza, Papa John's,and other establishments as timeprogresses.Next on the platform is an is-sue Staley and Paolini feel verystrongly about,They feel that the libraryshould be open 24 hours duringthe midterm and finals.They expressed concern about

the wa y information iscrammed into the 10-weekterms, thus placing a great im-portance on midterm examsand the finals.The team also feels that thelibrary being open longer pro-motes higher academic stan-dards, one thing which Mer-cyhurst College is certainlystriving for as it attempts toclaim national recognition.Th e final idea on the plat-form is to add a committee tothe current list of committeeswhich MSG h as, with the newone being called the "SpecialEvents Comm ittee." jStaley and Paolini feel thatthis committee would greatlyincrease the preparations andrunning of special events, suchas the tree-lighting ceremony,

Christmas on Campus, andMartin Luther King Jr. Day.By having a committee sole-ly devoted to this idea, the two

ifeel that the events would notbe just thrown together at dielast minute, but rather thecommittee would take the timeto thoroughly plan eventswhich would increase the stu-dent involvement for such fes-tivities.As vice president, Paolini willbe in charge of bringingspeakers to campus.The first speaker will talkon the importance of leavingyour community better thanthe way you found it. Thisspeaker will emphasize themission of the college andgoes nicely along with the ideasof the Sisters of Mercy.The second speaker Paoliniwishes to bring in will speakon diversity; an issue which thepair feels is an extremely im-portant issue on this campus.The first of the final twowould be a speaker on leader-ship, and how the idea of lead-ership promote s excellence in-side and outside of the class-room. The fourth possiblespeaker would be someonewho can help college studentsrelate to die pressing issues oncampus.The pair urges students tocontact them by [email protected] andmpaloi03@me cyhurst.edu.

^^^^S t u d e n t s m a k e m e m o r i e s w h i l e o v e r s e a s i n I t a l yBy Jennifer HelbigContributing writerOver spring break, a group ofMercyhurst students went on atrip to Italy.Although they took the same

general course through thecountries when they arrived,each individual was able to per-ceive a unique experience whenreflecting upon the trip.The group was led by Dr. Ran-dall Howarth, assistant profes-sor of history at Mercyhurst."On my way there and whilepreparing, it didn't' hit me that Iwas going to Italy until I arrived,"said junior Kristy Badamo.Others, like sophomore M artiFudge were not as relaxed dur-ing the preparation, but theywere able to stay calm."I am always nervous when Ifly," Fudge said. "But I did notget a chance to dwell on it withall of my finals." \Some students, like Fudge,adapted immediately once theyarrived, and many took aboutthree or four days to feel com-fortable with the new environ-ment, i"I dove in head first," Fudgesaid. "Dr. Howarth gave us a lotof freedom to explore on ourown and it was really easy to ad-just because of that.


6/12

PAGE 6 THEMERCIAD M ARCH 31,2004

OPINION To contact opinionmerciad @mercyhurst.eduT h e G o o d , th e Bad and the Ugly:What's hot andwhat'snot at MercyhurstThe Good...

With thefirstsigns of spring in the air, students have been spending less time in their apartmentsand more tunc outside, enjoying the sunshine. Sure, it many only be 55 degrees, but, in Brie, thatcan sometimes feel like a blistering heat wave. So, break out your Frisbees and shorts and losesome of that white winter color, A little sun never hurt anyone...just don't forget your suntanlotion.Academic celebration begins this week. This annual celebration of all things intellectual is alwaysa good time for everyone. It's easy to find an event that would interest yon. Find one of the greybrochures that have been placed around campus andpick something out. It's a great way to learnabout something that already interests you, something you know nothing about or something thatyou can't learn about it class. Get smart-

The Bad...Here's to students who have to have it spelled out for them. One of die staircases leading to theupper level of die parking garage has been crumbling for weeks and it has taken caution tape,cardboard boxes and, most recently, a large piece of plywood bolted to die entrance to keepstudents from using it Perhaps, instead of exerting so much effort to ensure the safety ofstudents who cleady don't care, it would be easier to laugh at diem when everything collapses. Justa thought.Senioritis is kicking in for many graduating senior here at the Hurst and even for some studentswho won't be graduating (ahem, junior class). Remember, there are still quite a few weeks left inthe term, so don't start slacking yet. Otherwise, you won't be graduating at all.

.. .the UglyHie melting snow has revealed a very ugly secret about the residents of Mercyhurst: they areunable to find a trashcan or ashtray. With the number of places on campus to put out cigarettes,

you would think that it would be easy to do. However, it has become apparent that students wouldrather litter the landscape that they complain so much about with random stubbed cigarettes, sodatdes and other garbage. College students shouldn't have to be picked up after.On M arch 31", it will be 53 days until graduation. How's that for ugly? O r maybe it's just scary. -.

Where have allthe young men gone?MadaM

Dear Madam Malarky,Wh y aren't there any de -cent guys at Merryhunt?

Signed,Ready to Join the Other Tea/ft

Casting your opin ion:A tradition ofcampus votingy

By Ashley DuBoseContributing writerWith the Pennsylvania prima-ries coming up, I decided that itwas time for me to write theobligatory politics-related col-umn. I hate overwhelmingly bi-ased media.No, that is not the theme ofthis article; I just wanted to sayit. tj i IDu e to die past partisan arti-cles in the Merciad and the re-sponses to them, I've decided totake a more neutral road. I amgoing to try to avoid any allu-sions to my personal politicalopinions. Left see how that works

out.Before I actually get to die top-ic, I have to say that even withmy personal love of politics,there are times when I can't helpbut w onder if it would be easierto just throw all the presidentialcandidates into a giant mud pitand let them battle it out, Thun-der Dome style. "Two men en-ter, one man leaves.'Man, Tina Turner rocked asAunty Entity.Of course, if that were to hap-

?>

pen, we'd need Howard Dean tostill be in the race. Wouldn't thatyokel fit perfecdy in the fightbetween Blaster and Mad Max?Hey, I just realized that I am acomplete dork.Unless there is a radical nation-al revolt in the next few months,we're just going to have to dealwith die system in place.This leads me to the real theme

for die day; Student VotingI was fortunate enough to bea freshman on campus duringthe 2000 election. (Must. Not.Say Who. I. Voted. For)I wassurprised at the amountof student involvement thatyear, even die Irish exchange stu-dents were interested, and theycouldn't vote.I remember the Egan loungebeing divided, the thrown pop-corn, the Dem ocrat/ Republicanepithets, the speculation on thebestial heritage of the candidates.Ah, memories. They bring atear to my eye.Anyway, it s pretty clear thatpolitics have been important onthis campus. I say "have been"because, unfortunately, I amstarting to fear that that impor-tance is slowly disintegrating.

Recendy, I overheard a fellowstudent actually say "Well, Bushstole the last election, so whyshould I bother voting?"So, I had to kill her. Not really,I just walked away holding mypoor head.I'm going to state the obvioushere. If you vote, then your can-didate has a slightlybetter chanceat getting elected.You have a couple of choices,so pick one and vote. I don't carewhy you choose that candidate;you may agree with his policies,you may hate the other guymore, or maybe you like oneguy's puffy hairstyle. It doesn'tmatter.Well, actually it does, but onlyto you. The point is, just get outthere and register to v ote. If youlive m Pennsylvania, just go to:http://www.dos.state.pa.us/b c e l / l i b / b c e l /

voter_registration/01_stat-icpage/voterregistrationappiitmlDownload and print out theform, and mail it in. If you livein another state, just "google" itto find out how you can register.Vote for Naderl I'm sorry; Ijust could hold it in anymore.Well, at least I tried.

Dear Ready,This is a great question andthere are several answers to itYou may or may not rememberthis, but Madam Malarky an-swered a question very muchlike this a while back. The dif-ference was that a "Ho-lessWhite Boy" wrote in to ask whythere were no decent women atMercyhurst Fortunately for thesake of creativity and new andexciting things to read about inTh e Merciad, die reasons for thesetwo phenomena are not thesame.If we can recall the issue manymoons ago with Ho-less WhiteBoy, we can remember thatthere are no decent women atMercyhurst for mostly snooty

reasons. Many of the womenhere are crazy because of socialpressures, and those who aren'tcrazy are rich snobs. This is justa quick recap for ya in case youmissed that issue. Now, we moveon to the current problem.Why aren't there any decentguys here? I'll tell you why. Mer-cyhurst costs money-Do any ofus have an extra $80,000 lyingarouqd that we can j ust pitch outalong with old issues of Read-er's Digest and bathing suits wewish we could still fit into? Ofcourse notl If we did, would webe spending it on a college edu -cation? No way! Would we bespending it on expensive videogame systems? You bet yourBush

sweet patootie we would!This brings us to the lack ofdecent men. In order to be ableto afford a college educationhere at this fine liurst of Mer-cy, we must be able to do some-thing special. "Special" in thisinstance is defined as "involvingkicking, hitting, or otherwise cre-ating a projectile from a ball orpuck." This, ladies and gents, iswhat we call a scholarship. Thosewho were bom with the God-given talent of throwing stuff,catching stuff, or hitting stuff, arealso blessed with money fromthe inancialaid fairy. Thus, thiscampus is teeming with sportspeople. Now before you all gowriting angry letters to me abouthow sports people are wonder-ful to date, let me explain my-self.

Sports guys, however hand-some, charming and debonair,can be strange at times. Theywear the same [email protected]^All subm issions are welcome
http://mercyhurst.edu/http://www.dos.state.pa.us/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.dos.state.pa.us/http://mercyhurst.edu/


7/12

MARCH 31,2004 THE MERCIAD PAGE 7

A letter to th e editor:The new definition of maturity

TKnsten" defines maturity asleaving th e message1'cyousuck" on an answering ma-chine. We all can telate onsome level, at one point wehave all taken part in the prankcall Very few of us, howev-er, would have the ignoranceto call this* mature, and thispastime of our Middle Schooldays is not what we currentlydo, sober, on a Friday; after-noon.

ftristen" felt the need, on arecent Friday, to leave a mes-sage on Michelle Stevenson'sanswering machine using vari-ou s small ovcrused^sweawords personally attackingMichelle, to which she ended"callme back." Ye she left nolast name or phone number,only the statement that herMaturity far outweighed thepreviously mentioned authorof The Merciad column Writeihai %The result of the messagewas that within a matter ofminutes and throughout thenight several persons got agood laugji.On further reflection I wasintrigued that anyone' wouldhave die audacity to call thewriter of a well delineatednewspaper article at her homenumber and leave the message"you suck" and in the samebreath insist that their maturi-ty was far more sup erior to theputhorV |1 do, however, have to givecredit to Kristen for backingup hec argument on maturity

.

She did so by stating because attof the students at Mercyhurstare at her level of maturity, wewould never read Mss Steven-son^ article. I personally find ita huge insult to be grouped aspart of such a hypocritical- juve-nile argument*. From myiownexperience, the Mercyhurst pop-ulation do es not represen|lsuchstupidity. i_Kristen is the minority tryingin he|own way to be heard in arealm of promising minds mak-

ing their way through college ontheir own merit. ;-So the fundamental questionremains, what is maturity? Ob -viously I tend to disagree withKristen's misconstrued p revious-ly discussed definition. Maturi-ty, by my own standards, is anelement of a self-reliant digni-fied individual who takes respon-sibility for their actions.

m.The level of maturity, or own-ership of oneself, cannot bereached without an understand-ing of your childhood and per-sonal past. There is nothing in-herently immature when allow-ing a rubber ducky to accompa-ny you and whoever else into abathtub after a stressful day.Keeping objects near by thatremind you of your own child-hood innocence, such as stuffedanimals, are not what define animmature person. There is noshame in clinging to a part ofour own childhood understand-ing of the world.Growing up docs no t involvewalking around with a stick upyour butt trying to prove to the

world how truly mature youare, Kristen so stated in-herramble that stuffed animals andrubber duckies were signs ofimmaturity, to her, therefore,they should not be mentionedever in a college newspaper ar-ticle.This to her was the endof Stevenson's "eareei^ bujjfrom v m a g re ^ ^ ^ f in in gmoment that ends most per-son's careers; is not the mentionof stuffed animals in Tht Met'dad. JI am resentful about the iro-ny in all of this: the contradic-tion that someone would statetheir anger at the immaturity ofan author through the mediumof an answering machine mes-sage,?you suck/*So, I challenge" Kristeh to a

rebuttal, one where she actual-ly takes enough pride inwords to leave her full name.The challengeforus al includ-ing myself, is to not contradictyourself.Have an opinion and takepride in it to the extent that youare willing to take full credit f orit Also,for your own sake, neverthink that growing up meansyou completely have to let goof your childhood. JGo crazy, be spontaneous,and laugh tilt you're rolling onthe floor (I reel this is the ma-ture response to M ss Kristen'smessage). Grab your soap boxand scream your opinionfor hewodd to hear, but unlike "K ris-ten" make a point while you'reup there.-Emily Gomes, Sophomore

: ,

To contact:[email protected] duOPINIONG r a d u a t i o n l o o m s :Figuring out the places you will go

A letter!to the editor:Looking for equalfpace f o r all majors T H i M i e w w e a p o n s o f d e c e p t i o n

'. ,1 remember graduating fromhigh school. What an experiencethat was For thefirst ime, I feltlike I had really accomplishedsomethingI remember the encourage-ment that I received from ev-eryone, even from people Ididn't know.When I bought my showercaddy at "Bed, Bath and Be-yond," die woman behind thecounter assured me that I wouldlove college and that it would bethe best years of my life.Thank you, kind stranger.When I purchased my micro-wave/refrigerator combinationfor mv dorm room, the sales-man extolled me with tales ofhis fraternity antics.I don't know why.I remember how sweet peo-ple were, telling me to meet newpeople and try new things. Ev-eryone had a little bit of adviceto give me, even if they hadnever been to college before."Read [insert book here]/*they said."Try [insert extracurricular ac-tivity here]/' they told me."Make the most of your col-lege years" they pleaded.It was like starting a whole newlife. When I left high school, Ifelt like I had been handed a gi-ant sparkling diamond and Icould do anything with it.

I remember graduating fromhigh school and getting a partyand lots of presents. Sure, it wasmostly clothes and towels, but itfelt better than Christmas or mybirthday. I was showered withattention, my academic accom-plishments were praised and mychoice of higher education was

But I Could Be Wrongm "*

JaimeRinne

lauded I felt like a Rhodes Schol-ar. It was great. I felt like recit-ing Oh y the Places You Will GobyDr. Seuss. Or maybe it was Hopon Pop, I can't remember any-more*I Now, here I am, about to grad-uate from college and I have justbeen handed, not a sparkling di-amond of possibility, but a rath-er unsettling truth. It sort ofmakes me want to throw up.J Underclassmen, I'm here to tellyou, right here and right now,that graduating from college isnot the same as graduating fromhigh school.Not in any way.Graduating rom college is no tflowers and praises and Dr.Seuss books.Now, don't think that youwon't receive praise. You prob-ably will, but it will, most likely,go something like this: "Congrat-ulations [insert your name here]II'm so proud of youl Now, whatare you going to do?M

Gee, what a good question. It'sone for which most graduatesdon't have an answer. If mostgraduates are anything like me,they don't want you to ask themanymore for fear of their headexploding

Even worse is the foflow-upcomment: "Oh, you don't knowyet? Well, that's okay, youll fig-ure it out. Have you thoughtabout [insert something youwould rather die than do here]?1'Leave me alone, kind but an-noying stranger.All graduates know that theynitt eventually figure somethingout and they will eventually getinto the graduate school/work-force of their choosingAll graduates know that theymight have to take on anotherjob, not in their chosenfield, norder to pay the bills for a time.What all graduates don't wantisfor ou to tell them tha t We'rehaving enough problems han-dling die fact that we might havespent ahtoi money on an edu-cation that we might not be ableto userightaway.

Now, that is a hard pill to swal-lowSo underclassmen, I ask youto be kind to this new crew ofgraduating seniors. We're a feel-ing a bit ragilerightnow. It's al-most as if our heads might poplike an over-inflated balloon atany momen tPlease try to keep the conver-sation to simple subjects, like kit-tens and springtime and cook-

ies. Those should be all right,unless the senior you are speak-ing to really wants to be a veter-inarian, a landscaper or a back-er Then you are on your own %* \ ;I Most valuable of all, Sound-Cover also offers the extremelyplausible sound of another callcoming in. That option alone isgoing to make them millions.

Maybe billions, as we and ou rmothers live longer.Be honest: How many timeshave you been stuck on thephone desperately trying to willyour call-waiting to click? Sound-Cover is a godsend for us can't-quite-say-what-we-think folks.

I.E., everyone whdisn't as directas Dr. Laura.Is it godsend for mankind?It's a disaster, says my friendLaura (not the doctor). "Whycan't you just say directiy, 1 don'twant to talk to youl'? Or, T. over-slept because Fm a lazy slob andI don't want to deal with my is-sues'?"Uh, maybe because I wouldn'thave any friends anymore? Orjob? And my mom would need||CPR? j I |Jim, another pal, understandsP this wimp factor perhaps alltoo well. "Even the nicest peo-ple tell lies all day long," he says."Isn't i better to say *Hey, there'sstatic' than *You know what?You're boring me and I can'tstand to talk to you.'" $Sure is. By the way was merereally someone at your door justnow?

There really isn't anythingwrong with a.bit of polite de-ception. Most people actuallyappreciate it. Is the world trulybetter off when, instead of say-ing, "Hi, hon. Can't make ithome. I'm in bed with a 22-year-old," a spouse says, "H i, hon. My

plane is delayed. Listen to thatthunder!"With SoundCover, the cellphone becomes just another in-strument of mass deception.Like the Internet, where 57-year-old housewives describe them-selves as 23-year-old blondeswith breasts the size of bongodrums, SoundCover affords usa brand-new way to fake a b rand-new wodd.This raises issues not just mor-al but practical."What if your wife accidental-ly takes your cell phone one dayand says, T)ear, I pressed a but-ton and got all these thundernoises'?" ponders my colleague

Joe. What if you press "hospitalsounds" and tell your caller,"Gotta go. Grandma's dying.Here comes the priestl" saysLaura. You'd better remembernot to press that button again:"Didn't your grandma die lastweek?" *So SoundCover would need tocome with some safeguards. Ifthey add the sound of the sub-way New Yorkers may never tellthe truth again.

What is the meaning of life?This has been a question thatphilosophers and religious offi-cials have been trying to answerfor centuries. Since I am only 22and have absolutely no philoso-phy background, I am no t qual-ified to even attempt to answerthis thought-filled, nerve-rackingquestion. I can though, offersome insight and share a life-al-tering experience I've recentlyhad. 5 ilust recendy, I saw the movie"Butterfly Effect" with AshtonKutcher. Yes, Kutcher was in-volved in my life-altering expe-rience. Scary, I know.If you didn't see this film,Kutcher plays with the idea offate, and how just a small epi-sode can affect or change yourentire life.This idea made me think aboutmy life and how just a small de-cision I made or didn't makecould have affected or changedwho I am today.

For example, what if Iwouldn't have applied to Mercy-hurst College? I almost didn't;therefore, I wouldn't be where Iam today. I wouldn't be writingthis article in the confinement ofThe Merciad office, I wouldn'thave made the amazing friendsI have, and who knows, maybe Iwouldn't be graduating in Maywith a degree in English.

This is a rather large example.Any small instances could havetotally changed my entire outcome and reason for existencein this wodd. jg|wRighr when I left the movietheater, I was speechless. I wasin a mind-boggling state. Ithought (don't mind my randomthoughts) about my life, all theway back to my grandparents era.What if my grandpa hadn'tmoved across the street from mygrandma when he came over to

the states from Italy? If he hadn'tgone to Wodd War II, he wouldhave married his high school

sweetheart and my grandma andhe would not have been mar-ried my mom would not exist,my parents would have nevermet in college, I would have nev-er been thought of, and Iwouldn't be sitting here writingthis article ightnow.Scary, wouldn't you say? I of-ten wonder what would havehappened or where I would betoday if I would have gone to adifferent college, played a differ-ent sport, made different friends,or even things as small as how asmall trip someplace could havemade a huge impact on my life.I don't know, I could just bedelusional and schizophrenic orsomething. Some may say crazy.What is the meaning of life Iask myself, especially if it is alllaid out for you or set in stoneas some may say? That is a ques-tion yet to be answered, and willprobably still be going on forcenturies to come./-limily Crofiot, A&E Editor

The MERCTADAdam DuSholeBilly ElliottKelly Rose DuttlneCourtney NicholasJaime RinnePatrick MartinoEmily CrofootKatie McAdams

Editor-in-ChiefManaging EditorNews EditorFeatures EditorOpinion EditorSports EditorA& E EditorPhoto Editor I

[email protected]@ mercyhurst.edunewsmerciad@ [email protected] uoplnlonmerciad@mercyhurst.edusport8marcladGmercyhurst.eduentertainmentmerciad@mercyhurst.ed uphotomerciad@'mercyhurst.edu

Plotr Wollnskl Assistant Managing EditorThe Merciad is the student-produced newspaper of Me rcyhurst College. It Ispublished throughout the school year, with the exception of midterms weekand finals week. Ou r office Is In the HlrtCenter, room LL1l4t Our telephonenumber Is 824-2376,The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. Al l letters must be signed andnames will be Included with the letters.Although we will not edit the letters forcontent, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Letters are due the Thursdaybefore publication and may not be longer than 300 words. Submit letters tobox PH485. T t
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://mercyhurst.edu/http://mercyhurst.edu/mailto:[email protected]://sport8marcladgmercyhurst.edu/mailto:[email protected]://%27mercyhurst.edu/http://%27mercyhurst.edu/mailto:[email protected]://sport8marcladgmercyhurst.edu/mailto:[email protected]://mercyhurst.edu/http://mercyhurst.edu/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


8/12

PAGE 8 THEMERCIAD MARCH 31, 2004

ARTS &ENTERTAINMENT o contact [email protected]. Clutch. AgoraTheater Cleveland. On salenow atTicketmaster.APRIL 4. Killingtons. HardRock Cafe, Pittsburgh. Onsale March 13 at noon atTicketmaster.APRIL 6. Russell Simmons -$ *Def Poetry Jam, BenedumCenter, Pittsburgh. On saleatwww.pgharts.orgor (412)456-6666. fAPRIL 17. TrachtenburgFamily Slideshow Players.Mr. Small's Theatre,Pittsburgh. On sale March13 at noon at Ticketmaster.APRIL 18. Graham Colton.Mr. Small's Theatre,Pittsburgh. On sale March13 at noon at Ticketmaster.APRIL 21. SomethingCorporate, Yellowcard, theFormat. Scene Pavilion,Cleveland. On sale March 12at Ticketmaster.APRIL 21 . HI .M , EighteenVisions, Kill Hannah. Mr.Small's Theatre, Pittsburgh.On sale March 13 at noon atTicketmaster.APRIL 22. H.LM., EighteenVisions, Kill Hannah. Odeon.Cleveland. On sale March 12at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.APRIL 25. Kim Wilson'sBlues Review. Hard RockCafe, Pittsburgh. On saleMarch 13 at noon atTicketmaster.APRIL 27 . Dark Lotus. Mr.Small's T heatre, Pittsburgh.On sale March 13 at noon atTicketmaster.APRIL 29. Sophie B.Hawkins. Tralf, Buffalo.APRIL 29. Sevendust, Cold,Atomship, Apartment 26.RockClub (formerly RockJungle), Pittsburgh. On saleMarch 13 at noon atTicketmaster}'APRIL 29. Superjoint Ritual,Deicide, Zeke. AgoraBallroom, Cleveland.MAY 12. Strokes. Rock Club(formerly R ock Jungle),Pittsburgh. On sale March13 at noon at Ticketmaster.MAY 15. Twista. AgoraTheatre, Cleveland. On saleMarch 12 at 10 a.m. atTicketmaster.MAY 18. DashboardConfessional, Get Up Kids,Thrice. Tower CityAmphitheater, Cleveland. Onsale March 13 at 10 a.m. atTicketmaster.JUNE 9. Zao, RememberingNever, Scarlet, TwelveTribes. Agora Ballroom,Cleveland.JUNE 28. Aerosmith, CheapTrick. Blossom MusicCenter, Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio. On sale March 12 at 10a.m. at Ticketmaster.JUNE 25. Christina Aguilera,Chingy. Post-GazettePavilion, Burgcttstown. Onsale March 13 at noon atTicketmaster.JUNE 28. Christina Aguilera,Chingy. Gund Arena,Cleveland. On sale March 13at 11 a.m. at Ticketmaster, byphone at 456-7070. SJUNE 30. DashboardConfessional, Thrice.ChevroletAmphitheater,Pittsburgh. On sale March13 at noon at Ticketmaster.

Feltsman concert successful

Photo courtesy otwww.google comVladimir Feltsman performed at the PAC on March 28. Felts-ma n is a current professor at Mannes College of Music InNew York City. J v *By Jen C amodecaContributing writer

Although Sunday, March 28,was the first beautiful spring dayErie has had in months, die turn-out for Vladimir Feltsman's pi-ano concert was not affected.Approximately 433 people at-tended this event.Relaxing music illed he Maryp'Angclo PerformingArts Cen-ter at 2:30 p.m. *The program consisted of Par-ita No^l in B-flat Major, BWV825 and Parita No. 2 in C mi-nor, BWV 826, both byJ.S. Bach.Music by Chopin was alsoheard, two Polonaises,Opus 26,Barcarolle in F-sharp Major,Op.60 and others**The best part of the perfor-mance, besides the music itself,as it was played to perfection.It appeared that Feltsman wasnot using any music.He was seemingly playing thismusic from memory-*This is no small feat, as mostof die pieces he played werequite long and intricate.Feltsman is a native of Mos-cow, born in 1952.His talent was apparent at evena very young age as he debutedwith the Moscow Philharmonicat age 11.He then went on to study atthe prestigious Moscow Tchaik-ovsky State Conservatory ofMusic where he studied withProfessor lacob Flier.Piano was not his only area ofstudy, he also studied conduct-ing *Feltsman was becoming verysuccessful and won the GrandPrix at the M atguente L ong In-ternational Piano Competition inParis, and toured throughout theSoviet Union, Europe, and Ja-pan.

However, he had higher aspi-rations, and he applied for his

It is

exit visa.After being banned from per-forming in the Soviet Union foreight years, Feltsman arrived inthe US . ^ T ; iA debut in 1987 first at theWhite House and then at Cam-egie Hall gave him the recogni-tion he deserved.said that he will be one ofthe most distinguished and rec-ognized names of 21* Centurypianism.

Feltsman currently holds th e

Distinguished Chair of Profes-sor of Piano at the State Uni-versity of'New York at NewPaltz and teaches at the MannesCollege of Music in New YorkCity. i IFor those of you who missedthis performance, you can pur-chase Feltsman's discography asit is released on Sony Classical,Music Masters, and Urtextlabels.

Looking for a place to store yourstuff for the summer?DON'T DRAG IT ALL HOME!

STORAGE UNITS STARTING AT$37.10 A MONTHSIZE AVAILABILITY IS LIMITEDCALLTODAY835-6757 0&455-6533

\

f

J* 4

Phantasm's next concert is on April 23 at Penn State Behrend. Rtephoto

Phantasm ra rising musical sensationBy Meghan SullivanContributing writer

A rising musical sensationfrom Jamestown that youshould keep a close eye on isthe rock band Phantasm.The band got together in thesummer of 2003 and only twomonths after its formation theywon the Battle of the Bands atJamestown Community Col-lege.? -iThey were most recendy seenrocking in Lackawanna, N. Y. atthe Cruise Inn on March 19.Despite the somewhat rowdyfan group that began shoutingfor another featured band thattheir friends were in, Phantasmstill graced the stage andproved themselves worthy bygiving a great performance.The band members curterftlyinclude steve Rosplock on vo-cals and guitar, Aaron White on

Bass,Jay Yachetta on d rums, andDJ Tumicus on the turntables-Pa rt of w hat makes this bandspecial is their strong bond witheach other and their pure loveof die music. Guitarist SteveRosplock comments, "We inter-act differently than anyone else."Yachetta elaborates on that fur-ther when he said "the future ofthis band rests on the minds andspines of a group of musicianswho are also best friends withone goal in mind to makegood original sounding musk foras long as possible." This com-panionship and true friendshipis an awesome combination forthe band reaching its musicaldreams.If you* like the music of Incu-bus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, andRage Against the Machine thenyou arc going to like their sound*rbdn't gferife'wrong, tfiis is nocover; band, and all of theirmusic is unique and original.

Working together, they col-laborate and come up withrocking bass lines, creativelyrics, unique chords andchanging time signatures thatmaking them stand out. Withall of them having extremelyawesome stage presence andcharisma they make for en-joyable and entertaining showThe band's next biggigis anupcoming show at Penn StateBehrend ighthere in good oldErie, Pa. on April 23. I en-courage any one who enjoysgood music, good people, andfantastic show to come andjoin the band that night. Fo rmore information about theband, or to here a few soundsamples of Phantasm, visittheir website atwww.enterthephantasm.com.Jpo be added to thfit mailing'listCcirtfp^th em a line i [email protected]

pIUHIfrTopffrlfFtas

r i

S**toOrriflr f i n m O m

****** t*wift***moIUrot-feMfcg U/* t t-TopcHnjHcraarvda I ftuaamsa

HSinglt Onto*SrewMkfcs II

III

Stoglt Onto afB*a fjfef * *

IAny2suos for$0,80"AfaafftaMs

Include* tide salad*nd gartfc bread. %Piua Sub. Pepperonl,l { M a n Combination,! Mam and Cheese,J Sataml , Meatbait,i ]j Tuna, Turkey}I2 n&tJaf catena , 14'Large o*e ftem

I tollon f am i l y own-eciLuiyii h* H u n c e s L U K a n d u z z o

\/W> Pint? A v e . b r i e , P A

O n e b l o c k li onri c a r D p u ^

$t9(PiuatHam&ftfmem f chmsespfoacfi, OfoccoH,maatbttltt< U iy a loaaetf aiMadt

iiii

12 .99

111 CIV I lQi4VV

K>nrfn|a*&99 \iiD0df**)*+.lt


9/12

M A R C H 31,2004 THEMERCIAD PAGE 9ARTS&To contact,entefeinmentmerciad@mercyh urst.eduGreenwood ENTERTAINMENTalbum ds less than satisfactory

By Jennifer HelbigContributing writerRadiohead seems to be one ofthose bands that you have eitherheard, or you have just heard ofthem. jI have met a few Radioheadfans on campus, and I'm surethat there are many more whoare around.But to r those o f youwho have not been exposed thus

tar, I will introduce a new recordby Johnny Greenw ood, called"Bodysong"If you are skeptical of anykind of creative rock, never fear.They are on Capitol records,along with othe r big nam es' likePaul M cCartney, Chingy, Jane'sAddiction, and other favoriteslike Snoop Dogg. T he variiety ofartists, however, cannot give youan idea of how g reat they are asa band, but it does demonstratehow large a group they are.So now that you are familiarwith Radiohead's actual woddlypopularity, it's time to focus onGreenwood and his project.Johnny Greenwood is credit-ed in Radiohead's most recentalbum* "Hail to the Thief," asplaying the guitar, analogue sys-tems, ondes martcnot, laptop, toppiano, and the glockenspiel.This is the point that many ofyou will stop reading, because itis a little difficult to think of agood band with a designated

glockenspiel player.However, enough people musthave enjoyed Greenwo od's con-tribution to the band, becauselast month, he released asoundtrack to a movie, "Bodys-ong" } r I Wm"Bodysong" is a documentaryof human life stitched togetherfrom round images, from the

Johnny Greenwood's album, "Bodysong," is available In stores nowlatest album, "Hall to the Thief." :* TPhoto courtesy of www google comGreenwood Is also attributed on Radiohead's

perspective o f looking back ontoday's life from 500 years inthe future. However, this is amusic review, not a review abouta long movie with a lot of pic-tures.I Being the loyal Radiohead fanthat I am, ] tracked down oneof the record stores that sold theCD along with the seven-inchlimited LP. Unless you loveJohnny Greenwood, do notbother getting it, because the vi-nyl is just like two o f the songs

on the CD, and it's not reallyworth it.The CD has 13 tracks on it,and when J first listened to it Ifelt like 1 had been sleeping. Ithought that it was the most bor-ing CD I had ever heard, and Iwould never support any ofGreenwood's independent flingsfrom the band again.I put it away for a week or so,and bitterly lamented my loss of20 dollars. J M

However, I later picked it up

one night when I wanted to fallasleep, and I fo und that I couldno t fall asleep with it on. I beganto hear the songs as orchestrat-ed pieces that were actuallythought about before they wereput on CD. I started to not mindthe lack of meter, words, andbasically predictability.The first song, "Moon Trills/*is a constant tremolo of a stringorchestra humming under syn-thesizers and bells. A piano k eepssolid chords under the song, no t

providing a beat, but providingan ebb and gende surge to therhythm.The second song, "MoonMall," has a sporadic hospitalmachine beep going on beneatha series of wavering strums onsome sort of a synthesizer,which resonates with a tickingnoise, like ingernails apping.The sounds are enough todrive a person nuts- Well, it's de -fiantly unique, but when Istopped listening to the beep, the

song seemed nicer. The entirealbum is beautiful when absorbedas a whole, not as singular tonesand beats.Suddenly the song transformsinto song three, "Trench," whichis a quick, techno sounding song,with a rolling bass, and some sortof aborigine sounding horn. Ifeel like dancing to this song.There are so many individualinstruments playing so manyparts, and there is absolutely nobeat that I can discern throughthe songThe rest of the record movesthrough this kind of distinctivecombination of instruments thatGreenwood so fabulously mesh -es together. I will not describeevery song, but I can say thatthe album is a lot like a Radio-head record in that every songhas its own flavor, and no tracksounds like the lastOne of my favorites thoughwas the irstsong that I had beenexposed to before I bought therecord, "Tehellet" It's a jazzypiece with a heavy bass, a lightsnare drum, and then a blast ofgarbling trumpets. It's relaxingand simple contemporary jazz.To give my overall opinion onthe CD, I w ouldn't really say thata Radiohead fan would be guar-anteed to like it If you enjoyed"Amnesiac" (my favorite album ),you will be more likely to enjoythe CD. Do not buy this if youare looking for rock, or some-thing with a beat. I would like tocall this mess ofnoise music, butI am sure that there arc manywho would not. I find it relax-ing, easy listening, and becausewe can never predict where Ra-diohead is going with itssounds,we may have to get used to thisstyle.

Madame'Nathalie Krassovska performsBy Jen CamedocaContributing writer

The Mercyhurst CollegeDance Department had a veryspecial guest in residency thispast week.Madame Nathalie Krassovska,former p rima ballerina with theBallet Russe de Monte Carlo, isone of the few remaining balle-rinas who worked with MichaelPokine.Madame Krassovska trainedin Paris with Madame Olga Pre-obrajenska and Bronislava Nijin-ska. She also danced in Londonand toured with major ballet com-panies of the worid.During her stay, MadameKrassovska spent long hourscoaching Katie Finger, JanetStrukely, Andrea Hashim, andShannon Riley in the traditionalromantic ballet "Pas de Quatre"or dance for four. IThis ballet is very concise anddeeply rooted in the RussianVaganova style. 4.The small idiosyncrasies thatare often lost in the typical Balanchine ballet are stressed in thispiece. wfc-Musicality, timing, and even theslight positioningof the arms andthe head are broken down intominute detail."Such an honor to work withMadame this past week, Ma-dame was an excellent coach...so fortunate to work with suchan expert... her energy and en-thusiasm was inspiration to eachof us," said Katie Finger of hertime working with MadameKrassovska on this classical bal-let., The dancers were constantlybeing told throughout the re-hearsals what they needed towork on to perform this balletperfectly; "Yo urlate l,... again,"were words they became accus-tomed to hearing as MadameKrassovska tried to pass on herexperience in these roles.Each step Madame Krassovs-ka showed, looked to the danc-ers like a small performance and

RephotoPerforming with Madame Nathalie Krassovska, from left to right, are Katie Finger, Shan-non Riley, and Andrea Hashim. "Pas de Quatre" will be performing In the PAC on May 7-8.it seemed as if she was onstagedancing in herpointc shoes, rath-er than in the studio in her san-dals.Madame Krassovska alsotaught many master techniqueclasses to the dancers. She "wasvery patient and understandingof the different levels and ca-pabilities," said senior dance ma-jor Cynthia Barthole.All of the dancers were pleasedto have me experience to workwith her and to learn from herideas.Madame Krassovska enjoyedteaching these classes as muchas the dancers enjoyed takingthem. f"I have such pleasure to workwith them (Mercyhurstdancers).. .wonderful teachershere pleasantlysurprised...pleasure to workwith you all."Madame Nathalie Krassovs-ka's residency concluded with

her presentation of "My Lifeand the Romantic Period: AnOral 1 Kstory," in the W alker Re-cital Hall on Sunday, March 28,at 4 p.m.The lecture, attended by ap-proximately 80 people, was ac-tually more of a discussion be-tween the dancers and MadameKrassovska.Christine Hay, Mercyhurst]Dance Department faculty mem-ber, said that "Madame's historywas quite rich and full" and w hileworking with her this past weekshe "felt like a student again, ab-sorbing mentally and emotional-i y " i \Madame Krassovska thenwent on to speak about her ca-reer of constantly dancing. Shespoke of her first role as a "littlerabbit, I lost an ear and cried."Then she recalled her laterroles with Pokine and Bal-anchine. Speaking of her rolein "Schcherezade," in w hich she

played the lead role, who inevi-tably dies, she stated "som etimesI [would] be dying three times aweek."| Madame Krassovska's love forthe dance and for teaching wasapparent as she was asked byShannon Riley what her inspira-tion was. Her reply was simple."I'm always inspired to teach,every method is good if you arcgood/' * \ i AThe event concluded with apreview of "Pas de Quatre"danced by Katie Finger, ShannonRiley, and Andrea Hashim toshow the audience what theyhave worked on this past weekwith Madame.After the dancing, the dancersbrought Madame Krassovska tothe stage. This appearance re-sulted in a standing ovation,which was not the first of hercareei and which will definitelynot be her last.

wi 3Golden MicAwards 004By Maureen NebelContributing writer

"And the winner is.-..theBob and Tom MorningShow," the announcer shoutswith a smile.The audience roars with ap-plause as the Second AnnualGolden Mic's Awards contin-ues.This year, Mercyhurst Col-lege and WMCE will be p ro-ducing the Third AnnualGolden Mic's Awards onMay 6.The man behind the idea,(he implementation, and di-rector of the Golden Mtc'sis Mercyhurst^Bill Shannon.The G olden A tic's Awards,an award ceremony for tele-vision and radio broadcasters,was* crea

Documents

The Merciad, March 31, 2004