THE MERCIAD
VOLJ70 NO. IX MERCYHURST COLLEGE,. GLENWOOD HILLS, ERIE, PA. 16S46 January
Winter Formal Heats! U p Cold Friday Night By Zoe Cohen
Merciad Writer
This past Friday, 487 college
students, most of them from
Mercyhurst, attended this year's
Winter Formal. The evening
started out st around *7:30 as
students started arriving at Union
Station, 14th and State.
For some, this is a rare occasion
to relax and socialize with their
friends in a more, well,, formal
•sphere. tFor $15, students
11 lit
attending the dance received trans-
portation and a buffet dinner con-
sisting of salad, vegetables, red
potatoes, stuffed shells, and as-
sorted cake and cookies. If the
dessert seems a little familiar to
you, that's because they were
donated by our own cafeteria staff
All of the organization is due to
two students, Emily Page and
Jenny Vetter, who worked to-
gether to make the night possible.
Greg Bakker (above) sneaks one for the road it the Formal
seniors Kelly Green (1.) and Bryan Henley dance the night away
New Core CurriculumiProposed
By Michael J. Op perm an
Merciad Writer
In a review issued over three
years ago, Middle States Ac-
creditation, the organization
that accredits Mercyhurst Col-
lege, advised a re-evaluation of
the college's core curriculum.
Since that time, there has been
a continued examination of the
core that has resulted in a "work-
ing document" This text will
soon be sent to a steering com-
mittee for presents don to Dr.
Garvey, the faculty and the stu-
dents.
Part It College Colloquy 2 Progra 4 credits This new core curriculum is
1. Freshman Program 2 credits
composed of three parts: The
til IK* 2eredlt^
30 credits
College Colloquy, Common
Common Core 10 Course*
American History 3 credits Core and Distribution Core.
Arts Appreciation ]. 3 credits This new core changes the re-
College Writing IA H 6 credits quirements for graduation fin lilt
* Mathematics 3 credits Mercyhurst Coll ege.
Natural Sdeuce 3 credits The Colloquy, new to
Philosophical Inquiry 3 credits Mercyhurst, is divided Into the
^Rdlgoua Person A Tradition 3 credits
Freshman Program and the
' European History 3 credits
Experience Learning Project
»%V
Each consists of two credits
Distribution Cora 9 Courses 27credlto
6 credits (for a total of four) needed for
Behavior*l/Sodai Sciences
Ethics i 3 credits graduation. Neither the Fresh-
Humanities 6 credits man Program nor the Experi-
Mathematics/Natural Sciences ^3 credits ence T .earning Project cost the
Religious Studies 3 credits student According to Bob
6 credits Cisek, member of the Colloquy
World Cultures/World Politics
According to Vetter die evening Most of the people that attended
went well except for one incident had a good time and few of them
involving an inebriated student had complaints. Brad Parks, a
who was forced to leave early. freshman and one of the people
Vetter commented that, "things involved in organizing the dance
went smoothly, other than a few said, "As a member of the Formal
individuals dancing on tables, committee, I thought it was very
which was taken care o£ Overall well arranged, and everyone
I think the night went very seemed to have a great time."
smoothly.*' However, some of die under-
Cass Shimek, director of the classmen argued against the easy
Student Union, who helped with availability of alcohol to die stu-
thefinancingof die dance, said dents. One student, Tabith a Dyke,
that there were relatively few remarked that, "I had a great time,
problems brought up at Monday except for getting beer spilled
night's Student Government down my back." Several students
meeting. also had beer being spilled on or
One problem, limited dance near diem. Many people were
space, is already being discussed concerned with the immaturity
for the Spring Formal, since it that some students at the dance
will be held at the same place. displayed.
What:is intended for the next For the most part, though,
dance is to rent more dance floor people seemed to have enjoyed
and to possibly take some of the themselves and will probably go
tables out ofthe way after dinner. to the next dance as well.
Task Force created by Aca- i Common Core. There is an oppor-
demic Vice President Dr. Jo- t tunity to pick up the second litera-
seph Gower, the Colloquy will ture course in the 'Distribution/Core
"set the academic tone," deal The relationship between the Com-
with die "nuts and bolts" of mon Core and the Distribution Core
college life (e.g. registration, f has been an area of discussion. The
scheduling, etc.) and address Distribution Core offers a flexibil-
issues ofconcern to the freshers. ity in the choice of courses th atw as
According to The Core Cur- Unknown in the Liberal Studies
riculum Summary (i.e. the Core.
"working document"), the Ex- For example, two courses are
perience Learning Program required by the Behavioral/Social
may be "satisfied in part or en- Sciences slot This can be filled by
tirely" through study abroad, ^ a coursefromany ofthe folio
certified attendance at cam- cultura 1 anthropology, economics,
pus events, or service learning human development, political sci-
courses or other certified vol- • ence, psychology, or sociology.
unteer service." The details of The test of the Distribution Core
the two progra functions in a similar manner. A
available. variety of courses from several
There are several changes departments will complete the re-
from the Liberal Studies Core quirement for most of the Distri- I
in use now. In the Common Core, bution Core.
two writing courses are required of This portion of the core also in- f
everyfresher.Baste Writing and cludes sn additional Religious
English Composition are replaced Studies requirement (faff a total of
by College Writing I and II with two). This contributes to a total of
the goal of "moving the weak ID 19 courses (61 credits) and 2
proficiency" and the "strong to colloquys needed for graduation
excellence," according to Dr. He idi (computer literacy must also be
Hosey, member of the Writing Task proven, a feature of the current
Force. core).The total graduation require-
Hie additional writing course ment is 126 credits.
•Lilt its in the place of a required
second literature course in jthe , Set "Core,"p.3-
 PAGE 2
M o o r e to Implement N e w System for Maintenance
By Todd Zielinski
Merciad Writer
Starting next week, long wait-
ing periods for the resolution of
most maintenance problems will
bei thing of the past During the
first week of February, Director
of Residence Lift Tyrone Moore
will introduce s new system that
should put an end to most of the
problems that resident students
often experience on campus.
According to Moore, the new
system, which will be imple-
mented on Monda y, Feb. 3, calls
for a mandatory 48 hour response
time to any resident problems. In
cooperation with Service Master
and the maintenance department,
a special team will be set up with
three to four people to solely
handle the problems of students.
The team will be headed by Hous-
ing Maintenance Director Terry
Camp who will report direct!y to
Moore. ' . J
Moore explained that the new-
system will entail a comprehen-
sive database located in the Resi-
dent Life department where all
maintenance problems will be
reported. This will ensure that the
right measures are taken to re-
solve all of the problems to their
completion.
Moore also sa id that this new
philosophy will insist on atten-
tion to detail and student satisfac-
tion. T h e office will follow up
on the completeness and satisfac-
tion level of students for all out-
standing work orders. We fully
expect tneie to be a few occa-
sional problems. But the Office
of Residence Life is committed to
quickly resolving these issues as
they arise," he said.
By Melissa Lang
Contributing Writer
OB Monday, Jan. 27, the
Mercy hurst Student Government
held its weekly meeting in the
Union*
SAC Chairperson Brian
Marshall announced thatthe band
Brownie Mary has been b iked• _ • : • .
for the Big Band concert in April.
Drug and Alcohol Committee
member Brian Ash was happy to
report that a spotlight w u installed
beside theflagpolefor continuous
illumination oftheflag.Mr. Tom
THE MERCIAI) January 30.1997
GjaWp^
Problems
According to a memo sent out the situation and respond in a
from Moore, dated Jan. 24, re-
manner commensurate with the
garding housing maintenance re-
quests, there will be several pro-
*HI
ergency. ^
cedural changes for resident life With these changes^
and maintenance personnel to lieves that his office will "have a
-
more direct access, m terms of
correct problems as they apse.
completeness in trying to get
Residents who observe prob-
things done in a moretimelyman-
lems are to report them to their
ner.** Moore also emphasized the
FLA. who will submit a work re-
importance of residents inform-
quest to the Office of Residence
ing his office about the quality of
Life. An envelope for work re-
the work rendered. In return,
quests will be placed outside the
Moore stressed the fact that most
door when the ofGce is closed,
« \ of the past problems were caused
Moore said. Every morning, the when there was a lack of commu-
Resident Life Staff will input the
nication between the office and
request into a data base and the students regarding]follow-up
housing maintenance department
measures and the anticipated
will assign the work request to a completion date. Moore said that
technician for immediate correc-
with the cooperation of both the
tion. students and the different depart-
fc Moore said that he expects that,
ments, they can make great stride!
under most circumstances, all new in the right d irection. Tyrone Moore. Photo Credit: Aaron Connell
work requests will be completed
within a 48 hour timeframedur-
ing the Monday through Friday
work week. Work requests that
require ordering parts and/or out-
side contractors may take longer
than two days,and students will
be advised of an anticipated
completion date. The OfGce of
Residence Life will then call
residents at the time that the job
was to have been completed to Pickup at Your Door
confirm the quality of services Drop Off At Your
rendered. ^1 Door
According to the memo, emer-
gencies'such as fires, flooding,
electrical hazards or unsecured
locks may be reported to RAs or
may receive emergency assistance
by calling 824-2334 during nor-
mal business hours. During non-
business hours, you may contact XK **t€k.
the 1LA. on duty, call 824-2304
(Security Department) or 824-
2439 (Baldwin Front Desk). The
maintenance team will evaluate ev«*v
BiUingsley will be looking into
purchasing a bigger flag due to
Pool FREE Warm Shuttle
. M i l Iplaints about the flag size. To and from *
••Bar
II
MSO Advisor Cass Shimek re- IScCauly 10:00 pm
minded all itps that there will be Baldwin ! pm
an RA mixer on Sunday, Feb. 1, in FOOSRALL WO
m SHOW NO ICC
\ jwrcootr*
the Great Room of the Union from
7-8 pjn. The mixer will give stu-
dents information about becom-
fioif For
2:00
inganRA. ;| Or Just £o • • : •
President Stacey Fitzpatrkk will
be meeting with Mr. BiUingsley Hang Out!
and other administrators to dis-
cuss problems with snow •ill I
nance }SOP WITHnw&rrio
maintenance and building aj WHERE ARE HW GOING TO 8E Non^UcohoKe
$&Cover
* * *•
aibitity. Fitzpatrkk will report at WEDNESDAY
next week's meeting.
 PAGE 3 THE MERCIAD January 30,1997

Campus News
Early Morning Townhouse Fire Campus Ministry
Plans Myrtle Beach
'Core," cont'd from p. 1
According to Dr. Joseph Gower,
By John Murphy Since an ovenfireback in No- luson, they had been checked TiTpforSpringBreak academic dean, the Colloquy and
Editor in chief vember of 1996, the residents had itteries and these appeared Writing Task Forces are expected
been left without a fire extin- working, but the problem By Chris Wloch to reveal theirfindingswithin the
On Monday morning Jan. 27, guisher. Although the students, hat the detectors were lust News Editor '• next two weeks. The third task
around 5:30 a.m., senior Niles and the ir RA, reported the inci- very old. force, die Procedural, is currently
Magnuson woke up coughing in i dent to security, the fire extin- However, despite all the prob- Over spring break during the at work on the logistics of imple-
smoke-filled loom in townhouse guisher was not replaced until the lems with Monday's incident; first week of March, 15 students
w
mentation. The results of die three
eight Magnuson said his eyes Friday before thefire,almost two there was a bright side according will be traveling to Myrtle Beach, committees will then be sent via
woe burningfromthe smoke as months later. to senior resident Jason Van Tas- S.C. to help build and « H l l the Steering Committee to the con-
he tried unsuccessfully In locate nThc immediate cause of sel. "I would have to say that houses as a part of Habitat for stituencies. Gower aaid he hopes
the fire. Monday's fire was clogged-up maintenance and housing re- Humanity. According to Campus that it can be implementedforthe
Realizing his roommates were filters in the house's furnace hi sponded to the situation very Minister Michelle Garvey,thebus incoming freshers, but said that,
in obvious da nger, Magnuson pro- the basement The fire depart- quickly. By late Monday after- will leave on Saturday morning, "if it is not ready, we will not
ceeded to evacuate everyone ment guys said the uncleaned fil- noon everything was pretty much March 1, and return Sunday rush." * I
while his roommate, sophomore ters were a fire hazard," Magnuson cleared up," he said. -. evening, March 9. Over the course of the follow-
Walter Szpack, called the Erie said. They said the fire could Magnuson was relieved the in- The trip costs $185 per person, ing weeks, the "working docu-
Fire Department Senior RA Katie have been prevented if the filters cident was over. "I'm glad I woke spending money not included. Of ment" will continue to be exam-
Burke was notified,and gradually had been cleaned." up when I did. The smoke might the cost, $150 is given to the orga- ined as the task forces complete
the situation was brought under Furthermore, despite Monda y 'a have caused some serious dam- nization to provide for building their reports.
control. However, the Incident did fire which resulted in a lot of age. Hopefully the other supplies. The remaining $35 will
highlight a couple of serious is- smoke throughout the apartment, townhouses don't have clogged be used for insurance and the three ce Skating Hours for the
sues related to the safety of the neither of the two smoke detec- up furnaces. I'd hate for anything meals a day in Myrtle Beach. All
student residence. tors went off. According to like this to happen to them," he meals while in travel will be the erovhuist Community
said. student's responsibility, Garvey
said. A $35 deposit is due in to Mbnr7i30-8:45pjn.
The Honors Program is still accepting al 1 Academic ! HELP WANTED | Campus Ministry by Friday, Feb.
[Wed 8- 9:15 pjn.Jj
Earn $480 weekly assembling 31. - n a
Cdtix^onproposalsandwindosountilmicl-February. circuit boards/electronic compo- In order to raise money for the
Proposal forms are located on the bulletin board across nents-ft home; Experience unne- trip, students are selling Pulakos Fri: 6:15-7:45 pso.
from Preston 221 Please contact Dr. Brown at 2356 orcessary, will train. Immediate
candy bars for $1 each. Every
dollar raised above $185 will be
Sat 3:45-5:15 pjn.
openings in your area. Call now.
Michelle Mizia at 2896 with any questions. 1-520-680-7891 ext C200 > i placed in the general fund for the Sun: 12:45-l:45p.m.
trip, Garvey said.* T

New* Computer System

PUTTING w> 5
to be Installed in Offices
By Dun Hilflker
THE PIECES Ia
a

Senior Writer
TOGETHER
In the name of progress and better service to the Mercy hurst
student community, the coDege has decided to implement a new
INTERCOLLEGIATE
administrative computer software system that will make it much CONFERENCE; DAY
easier on the student when registering for classes and paying bills.
This new computer system is called Dtutel, and will serve to
bring the offices of Student Accounts, Admissions, the Registrar,
1997 Q

•2
and eventually Financial Aid into closer communication with one •5
another to better serve students' needs. Our Lady of the Lake Newman Center, Edinboro 5 3
CI
••A few years ago we had to make a decision as to whether we were Saturday, February 15,1997 A.
going to update the old system, or go with a new one. A feasibility s
o <3
study was conducted and on the basis of that we decided to go with
tbeDatatel package," said Registrar Bonnie Hall. The decision was
made after the lea lizatio n that the college was growing too large for Come and join students from campuses across the Diocese of Erie for the
intercollegiate Conference Day. We'll begin the day with prayer
the old system to meet the school's needs. <3
and the opportunity to get to know some of the other people there. The Keynote
1ft g
When students registerfortheir classes, they will be able to get a Speaker will inform and entertain us and then we will haw the chance to E a
copy of their biD, their class schedulc,and eventually their financial 5
- discuss the ideas he presents. After a lunch filled with almost too many
aid information aD in one form. It iM like one-stop shopping," choices and some song, we'll take part in workshops designed by and for 51
eft e

Assistant Academic Dean Pat Whalen said. r ^ 12 01

college students. Bishop Trautman will join us and the Our lady of the Lake z ft* o>
Not all of the offices using this program will be on it st once. Each Community for Sunday Liturgy* t
O
Q
o © o>
X
office will enter the system at a different point during the year, < a.
adding their respective information to the program. The cost for the day, the lunch, and a really great tshirt is $5.00. Make sure as O a «
O o a
"We sre ss ready as we can be to service the student body st this that you contact your Campus Minister soon and register. We need to know X =i
point, but if there are problems with thisat registration, welopc that who is coming by February 10. SEE YOU THERE! z
<
u
the students wffl understand. We don't foresee any problems, but
to* never know what unexpected snags might contend Hall said.
•..•••' ,VA .atfjf . v . , o . M ; M * t ; t f . t : v
 PAGE 4 THE MERCIAD January 30.1997

[f^jlftjS Entertainment
The Turner Diatribe
By James Hain
MerciadA&E Editor
Far be it from me to cast asper-
sions, but I'm fairly certain that
media mogul Ted Turner is the
Devil. Hear me out Sure, maybe
he doesn't have a pointy little tail
(at least, not that we know of),
and he doesn't carry a pitchfork
in public or dwell ill a flaming
river of blood, but I think there's
still ample evidence to support
my theory.
Let's forget that he's married
to Jane Fonda, although that in
itsel f may be grounds for suspi-
cion. Let's forget about his cru-
sade to desecrate dozens 1 III,' 1
dozens of classic black-and-white
films by vandalizing them with
gaudy, phony-looking computer
coloring. And I won't even men-
tion the contest he's pro-
vok ed with equally scummy 20th
Century Fox CEO Rupert
Murdoch. No, Ted Turner quali-
fies for d emonhood, at least in the
Constitutional sense, by his
single-handed efforts to snuff out
the First Amendment He'a got a
reputationforsitting down in front
of the American people on his
little cable station and telling diem
which films they should or should
not see. Now he's making sure
they don't see them by suppress*
to ing some of thefewquality films
to get made in 1990s Hollywood
OK, so this may not exactly
) make Turner Satan incarnate. But
at the very least, he should be
assured a nice little furnace in-
between Hitler and Hussein,
where he should be forced to
watch his own stupid network!
over and over until his eyes roll
back into his head. Imagine be-
ing forced to watch Larry King
kvetch about his suspenders for
all eternity. Yikes.
Or, How Ted Turner Is frying to Control
What You See and Hear.
Lately, there have been some
disturbing stories circulating
about Mr. Turner. Lastyear, when
he sold his multi-gazillion dollar
communications empire to Time
Warner, he secured himself a
place on the board of directors.
Here, the holier-than-thou Turner
decided that it was time for Cap-
tain Teddy to kamikaze his bad
taste zeppelin straight into the
USS Constitution.
The Tedmeister first tried to
kill Anjelica Huston's film Bas-
tard Out ofCarolina, a dark, bril-
liant drama about child abuse that
Turner himself had commis-
sionedforhis TNT network. The
subject matter and scenes of vio-
lence were so shocking that
Turner shelved thefinishedfilm.
Finally, after a huge fight, he
allowed Huston to take the film
to Showtime, which aired it last
fall. Gee whiz. Ted. a film about
child abuse...shocking? What did
you expect, The Music Man!
Then, Turner killed a project
on Anita Hill, the better to win
the favor of Coca-Cola lovin'
Supreme Court Justice Clarence
I s that a gavel in your pocket?"
Thomas, whose vote was crucial
on a telecommunications bill be-
fore die court But Turner's most
egregious sin came afewmonths
after selling his company to lime
Warner.
Aa one of die top figureheads
at Time Warner, Turner has the
power to halt films from being
shown in the U.S. Hisfirstvictim
was David Cronenberg's Crash,
a disturbing film about some very
weird people who derive sexual
excitement from car accidents.
The film was one of the most
critically acclaimed pictures of
1996 andwon the Grand JmyPrize
at the Cannes Film Festival, but
thanks to Turner, you may never
aee it He stopped thefilm'ssched-
uled October '96 stateside release
because he deemed Crash "too
disturbing." Thefilmwa
rated NC-17, which means that
Turner felt it necessary to protect
adults from seeing die film. I
know I'll sleep better tonight
knowing that SamtTed is out there
keeping me safe from things that
might disturb me.
Embarrassed by public back-
lash against his move, Turner has
announced that Crash will alleg-
edly see U.S. release this March
(it's already had successful runs
in Canada and Europe). We'll
see. For now, though, I'm watch-
ing Turner very closely for any
clear signs of demonness. You
know, like a forked tongue or
something. Just in case it turns
out that TBS really stands forTed
Be Satan." i t

Super Bowl]Ads Score Big With Viewers

By Carrie Tappe
Merciad Contributing Writer
Once a year, people gather ev-
erywhere to watch one of the big-
gest events ofthe year... the Super
Bowl. Some watch for the plain
old-fashioned reason of being a
die-hard fan of one team or the
; the half-time show or maybe
BEST HOTELS & •Hi
Pepsi and Budweiser seem to
have stolen the show aa the favor-
ite commercials. A random sur-
vey was conducted on campus
afterthe Super Bowl. Over halfof
the students asked said the Pepsi
commercial with the bears danc-
a w
ing to P-E~P-S-I, their rendi-
tion of "YMCA," was their favor-
ite. The Budweiser commercial
mous that the two least favorite
commercials were for Surge and
me Dirt Devil. Cindy Crawford
had a profitable evening aa
spokesperson for both Pepsi and
Chrysler.?
Trends change almost daily
with commcrcials. Animals seem
to be the hottest spokespersons.
Last year it was Bud's talking
•; Pepsi also introduced a new
• slogan. What once waa the
"Choice of a New Generation"
has become "Generation Next"
Coke on the other hand has taken
a "Mountain Dew" approach at
I introducing the newest soft drink,
Surge. What exactly is Surge? Its
awfully expensive, high tech, fast
moving commercials neglected to

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evenforthe commercials.
Air-time is quite expensive* A
commercial costs $40,000 per
second. Hie average thirty sec-
ond commercial costs $1.2 mil-
lion. These rather large figures
don't even include the costs of
production or for some compa-
nies, the salary of the spokesper-
son. Those figures are only per
secondforevery time an sd runs.
featuring the chicken crossing the
road came in second, following
dose behind the Budweiser ad
with the copy machine. Other fa-
vorites included Pepsi's talking
cow ad and Budweiser's cave
man. Pepsi and Budweiser
weren't the only advertisers.
Nike, Oscar Meyer, Chrysler
and Surge also bought into the j
promotion. It was pretty unani-
frogs. This year, Bud's chicken
and Pepsi's bears and cows stole
the show. Also, promotion has
moved from bashing the <M 11
peri torstoa more positive image
selling. Pepsi and Coke have
battled it out in every commer-
cial. This year, instead of
downplaying Coke, Pepsi focused
more on their own positive im-
public opinion.
tell us what exactly the soft drink
was.
With the way advertising has
gone, commercials are no longer
the time to get up and refill the
snack bowl. At least during the
Super Bowl, commercials have
made a d e Gni te impact on toda y 'a
consumer, gaining for the most
part, some seriously favorable

One of tin biggest problems
Ciced by college students on week-
ends is often not where to go, but
how to get there. Since many
students do not drive! they must
depend on others for rides, which
is often unreliable.
Sam Paparelli, owner of Felix's,
has a solution. Felix's is provid-
ing shuttle service to and from
Mercyhurst on Wednesday and
Friday nights.
Paparelli anvs that his bi
concerns were not only mat stu-
dents lacked transportation, but
that many were driving while
drunk. The shuttle is a solution to
both problems, allowing students
who misjudge their tolerance to
get home safely.
Felix's has always had • policy
of arrangingrideshome for those
who have had too much to drink.
The shuttle is a convenient way to
circumvent the problem alto-
gether, and, according to
Paparelli, It has already been em
braced by many Gannon studeni
rind out how hundreds of student representatives are
already earning FREE TRIPS and LOTS OF CASH
with America^ #1 Spring Break company! Sell only 15
trips and travelfree!Cancun, Bahamas, Jamaica or Florida!
Campus Manager Positions also available. Call Now!
Take a Break Student lYavel (800) 95-BREAK
 PAGE 5
]pfflM§
Crisis Over:Gavin Still Single
Heather Cvitko vie
Merciad Contributing Writer
I have decided that it is my civic
duty to bring the rumor mill to a
grinding halt I'd like to say, to
set the record straight; that Gavin
Rossdale, lead singer of Bush, is
not,and I repeat not, dating Gwen
Stefani, the lead singer of No
Doubt Yes ladies, thartrigh^Yoi
can breathe again. That beautiful
creature is still single. How do I
know this, you ask? Am I a close
personalfriendof the band? Well
of course not, I could be. I have
beenon the Bush Websiteajillion
times, downloaded every picture
of Gavin I could and been in chat
rooms. Myfriendscut out ar-
ticl es and pictures for me like it's
ind out how hundreds of student
presentatives are already earning
REE TRIPS and LOTS OF CASH
with America's #1 Spring Break
ompany! Sell only 15 trips and travel
ree!
ncun, Bahamas, Mazatlan, Jamaica
f Florida!
AMPUS MANAGER POSITIONS
O AVAILABLE. Gall Now! Take
Break Student Travel (800) 95- ®
A M E R I C A N . CLASSI C
OQME BACK UTILE SHEBA
^-TFEBRUARY
SATURDAY. FEBRUARY « • • « • * * * * * * ^ 2 1
«fteadhoutc TMatre Production
V^^^r
theirjob* Even a sliver ofGavin's
face in a picture is given to me. I
know the band like the back ofmy
band. Now, I'll admit I believed
that dreadful rumor when I first
heard it I cried and asked why,
just like die million other female
fans. But then I read an article in
die January issue of Details. In it,
Gavin announced that he and
Gwen were justfriends,they just
hung out And I believe him. I
want to, need to, believe him. I can
handle friends. Friends mean he's
still looking, that bleach blond,
uh girl I (sorry guys) is not his
dream girl. Brad Pitt threw in the
towel, but Gavin Rossdale is still
going strong. And I'm slowly
making my way to England.
SERIES
6-7847
Warm Ofopo«
NO SNOW
NOtCS
"JUST
COOL
Dance
Retro
THE MERCIAD
Entertainment
Film Fact: Actors who have
won consecutive Academy
Awards: Luise Rai ner (1936
and 1937), Spencer Tracy
(1937 and 1938), Katharine
Hepburn (1967 and 1968),
Jason Robards Jr. (1976 and
1977) andTom Hanks (1993
and 1994). J
Crash: The Dave Matthews Band
By Patrick Geiger
Guest Columnist
On Wednesday, Jan, 22, Dave
Matthews and his good friend,
Tim Reynolds, arrived to a Warner
Theater filled to overflowing.
Matthews and Reynolds opened
their acoustic show with "Re-
cently." Aa one college student
yelled, "it rocked." !*
Without die test of his band.
•!>nii>i3rvf M'ii»ii>Tfe
Plokup I
*«t Your Door
at Your Door
Bone
°'lnk 28ox
January 30,1997
Matthews played most of the people to "sit back, relax, and
music from his last three albums. w
enjoy the music. They listened.
Predictably, the crowd went crazy The ambiance of the show was
when they played "Satellite" from strikingly spare. There was only a
the second album, Under the Table black curtain behind the two and
and Dreaming. candles on stage. It created an
atmosphere foe the audience to
C^Toward the middle of the
appreciate the music
show, prompted by the inability
After seeing him live three
to hear Reynolds playing,
other times, I can safely say that
Matthews, in his characteristically
this was a concert that allowed
mellow way, asked everyone to
sit down. Matthews wanted me to understand his music more.
Every
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4 Fdv*
4dfl.>a47^^
starting
Brlgga 10:0041:00
3608.3830.3908.3926,3038,40104118
12:00 pm
Franoaa/Warda,Duvall,MoCauly ] _ _ _ _ _
F„ MMffHHjjj,, 1!10
rlgga, FranceeA/Vnrde,
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SHUTTLE WW St WT WITH STUPCNT I.V
 PAGE 6 THE MERCIAD January 30,1997

^wwl
On The Ditch! Dear Editor, f
to
ignorance of s portion of our stu-
Editorour "family members don't19

By John Murphy dent body. Our sentiment is that know about or respect whether or
Editor in chief We are writing in response to thebecause of the small African not Martin Luther King Day is
Jan 23 opinion question: American population, there was acknowledged. Another of the
The spring term schedule will not be the last of its sortforjust die seniors "Mercyhurst did nothing to cel- more of a need for s omething to be replies pops into our minds. The
this registration, it may he the last of its kind for all Mercyhurst students. ebrate Martin Luther King Day. •done. Mercyhurst is not a very student tells of how her parents
For about three years now, there has been a movement afoot on mis campus How do you feel about that?" We diverse* community, and there joked with her about being off
to have the current core curriculumrevised.After a lot of work, and no were deeply distressed and ap- MUST be something to change from work, while she had to go to
mean amount of internal politicking and bickering, the proposed new palled by the responses given by die una wa reness portrayed in these school. To this we respond, 19

curriculum is in thefinalstages ofbeing passed. If it continues on its present several of the students. One stu- responses. We also fed that there We're so glad that MLK day is
course, the new core could be in place as early as next fall. dent nonchalantly responded/!! should have been more of an Afri- jus t an excuse for some to get out
Now, in case any of you morons out there are shrugging your shoulders was a very smart decision by can American response to mis 99
of work. To dear it up, yes, we
and muttering "so what's mat got to do with me," let me tell you what it hasMercyhurst college not to recog- question. We realize that?these are being sarcastic! We weren't
to do with you* A few examples, the new core might mean every Mercyhurst nize Martin Luther King Day, be- opinion polls are usually a repre- as upset that we didn't get out of
student would berequiredto take a mfaimym of two writing courses, in cause in this era of political cor- sentation oftileschool, yet we feel school, but more important, that
other words, two English Comps. It might require every Mercyhurst rectness, you don't want to go mat an exception should be made nothing was done to commemo-
student to perform 50 service hours every term, it mightrequirethem to offending anybody and the smart- in this case. We fed that only two rate this SPECIAL day.
attend at least 25 cultural events over three years. Basically, it is going to est thing to do is nothing at all." African American replies to this As we now head into February
mean major changes in the career of every student on this campusfromnow Another responded, 1 think the question is a little ridiculous, and —the shortest month of the year
on. school doesn 't emphasize as much the answers would have been dif- — it makes us wonder if the
Now it is not that these proposed changes are all bad, indeed, many of about Martin Luther King day be- ferent if at least one half of those Mercyhurst "family" will even
them appear to be on the positive side. Furthermore, those responsible for cause most of the people in the polled were from the African acknowledge, appreciate and/or
working hard to formulate these changes might even be praised, somebody school aren't black. I guess there's American student body—since it respect Black History Month!
should probably do this, but it's not for me. What is for me is to say that I not that many that care.19 was MLK da v.
am not very h appy a bout die fact that I am only becoming aware of this core We think that these responses Sincerely,.
reform movement when it is in its final stages, when it is three years old. are diereasonwhy there Some claim that Mercyhurst is
Now I would never go so far as to say I am a n informed student, but since have been something to honor this one, big, happy "family," but the Angela Harris and Heather
I am in charge of throwing this paper together each week, I make some day. The ignorance ofsome of the J impression we received by read- Ma lone
effort to know what is going on around here. So naturally, when I learn I responses directly reflects on the ing the responses was that many of
know nothing about a particular issue, I can only assume that little effort
was made to educate me about it
And sin ce I believe this to be the case with this current issue, I would likeCornfields, Dylan, Chase Winter Blues
to pay those responsible for this insult a similar compliment, by dropping By Michael J. opperman children to teach patience. When removal from a-comfort zone.
on them my immediate observations about some items in this new core. Merciad Columnist the summer does come, it arrives Even a bad situation is s situation
As stated above, the new core could mean two required writing courses with the abrupt and absolute man- mat you know. |
for every student This in itself might not be • bad thing, but when it is Knocking on the door to Febru- ner of filling off a cliff. The heat These sensations are, generally,
introduced at die potential sacrifice of a literature course, then I'm not so ary, we're all dealing with our and humidity then makes winter heightened in the thick, calm body
sure. There are students here competent enough to succeed with one writing version of the winter doldrums. seem to be a myth used to frighten of the Erie winter. Silence pos-
class. These are students who would benefit more from a challenging Seasonal Affective Disorders, children. Here, spring itches and sesses die distant buzz of a near
literature class. and/or New Year'sresolutionre- scratches at the surface until the drum bursting roar that has al-
On close examination, it appears the new core would enable students to grets. It was a long December and mud and slush drives one crazy. ready deafened us. Feeling bur-
fulfill their core requirements without ever completing a science lab, a it has been a longer January. In Although Iowa isnotas faraway ied and suffocated in the snow
pyschology class, or a political science class. Now since I am a moron when this midterm mud pit, most of us as Ireland, or as dose as Canada, that accumulates only to lose its
it comes to science, I might not care about ever taking psychology, or in are neitherfocusednor energized. displacement can make one feel shape, turn to water and come ss
particular, a lab class. But*then again, I would be denying that that Pulling out an old Dylan album "other." Even comingfromBuf- rain, and then freeze solid, we
contributed a great deal to the liberal arts education I have thus received toremindmyselfofthe summer's falo or Qevela nd or, for tha t mat- lose our confidence and become
here. As a history major, I will admit my bias toward political science. But heat, I recognized the need to ter, downtown Erie can cause dull and apathetic
here again, I don * t think it is an unreasonable bia s to believe that no studentanchor myself In the familiar. moments ofdiscomfort This cam- When I hear the roar turn to a
should get through college without an exposure to the workings of political Over a yesr ago,; I came to pus is not, as supportive and de- buzz and the snow hit the window
systems, or an introduction to international tissues. Surely the current Mercy hurst CollegefromIowa ID pendable as it may be, our home. like rocks, I listen to Dylan and
attacks on democracy in this country warrant a better grounding in politics complete my degree. Twelve We- are here for a few yeara remember the places I have been
than ever. However, this is a whole other Issue. hours'from home, there's little (some a few more, some a few and think of the places I will go.
I will finish this amateur critique with a briefreferenceto the proposed that allows me the comfort of the less) and we all seek techniques Slowly die wind that tears at the
colloquy section of the new core. There is no doubt that students here need known. to deal with the winter, being away walls turns into voices and I am
to gain a greater appreciation of cultural events such as concerts and The winters are different It's from home, and leaving. Forced home again. Iowa, Ireland,
theatrical productions. However, I am not sure if the answer in creating this colder in Iowa, but there is less at various times and in varying Canada, Geveland, ad infinitum.
awareness lies in requiring students to visit the D'Angelo Performing Arts snow. I grew up near the Minne- degrees out of our comfort zones, It helps. Anything that helps to
Center to simply satisfy credit demands ."I don'tenjoy things I am forced sota border. Some time around we take baby steps and monster keep Insanity at bay is valuable.
to attend, although I will admit itworked a couple of times when my mother February, one starts to believe leaps as we grow. Just coming Maybe. I should just take up ice
made me go to concerts. Then again, I was 10 years old. | that summer is a myth told to and remaining at Mercyhurst is a fishing 4
lam sure my criticisms will be treated as irresponsible by those involved
in designing this new core, but surely they will agree, ft is no more ***SPRING B R E AK 1997!***
irresponsible than making little effort to inform the students prior to this America's #1 Spring Break company! Sell 15 trips
late stage. Even as this core is about to be ratified, one would hope there travel free! Cancun, Bahamas, or Florida! Last m
is some attempt to present it to the students, and educate us all on the discounts tip to $100 off per person!! Call Now!
benefits of this new system. This will no doubt mean that this writer will
TAKE-A-BREAK (800) 95-BREAK!
not have any reservations about its implementation.
 PAGE 7
KsanipilS QllCStiOIlI
Anthony DePinto, Sophomore
Sports Med.
"Dancing Bean Pepsi commer-
cial.'* i bird wast chasing the Cadillac
Stacey Fitzpatrick, Senior,
Hotel Restaurant Management
* The Pepsi commercial with the
bears was first and Miss Piggy
99
was a close second.
Reggie Leads Good Pack
By Dan Hilfiker
Senior Writer
There is a great void in my life.
This happens at the end of Janu-
ary every year. That's right, the
big game is all ovcx, the fat lady
has finally sung and the National
Football League has suspended
play for the nextfewmonths. I
must say that I was really satis-
fied with the outcome of this sea-
son because, as a Green Bay
Packer Backer, my team finally
won the big game. It also was a
relatively competitive encounter
which saw the breaking of many
Super Bowl records.
At the end of the big game, I
remember seeing Reggie White,
the Pro Bowl defensive end of the
m •
Green Bay Packers, organizing a
group of pi ay ersfromboth teams
to get down on one knee a nd thank
God for the great season and game
that both teams had Just finished.
I found this quite refreshing in
this era of immense greed and
showboating displayed by many
• H
Quincy Jones, Freshman, .
Elementary.
"I like the commercial where the
around trying to poop on it The
Nissan." i M
I
&
i
I
Tim Conway, Sophomore?
Computer Systems.
u u
Budweiser's chicken cross
road.99
professional athletes.^
In contrast to many of my feel-
ings, I saw on a television pro-
gram Tuesday night, Politically
Incorrect, host Bill Ma her saying
that religion has no place in ath-
letics and that the prayer group
was inappropriate,, behavior for
the time and place. He went on to
say that he does not feel that God
is all about competition and win-
ning. I agree on that point, but to
say that there is no placeforreli-
gion and prayer in professional
athletics is ridiculous.
Many people find God in all
areas of life, not merely in church
and on Sunday, but at home,
school, or even on a football field,
professional football is a rather
violent and dangerous sport, one
in which the threat of injury is
ever present fornall its partici-
pants. To take two minutes out of
celebration at the end of the game
and pray for your good health and
success, seems quite appropriate
THE MERCIAI)
H n
Wnat
was your favorite Super Bowl commercial?
Amitavo Roy, Freshman *
Music.
"My favorite commercial was the
Nissan commercial where the pi-
geons were chasing the Nissan."
* « &
^ ^ f c
y Jefferson, Senior
s Organization.
ted the little Penny Super
Classics because it was all
about Tyra.
to me. I would much rather watch
Reggie White and others thank
their God for their good fortune
than see Deion Sanders high step-
ping twenty yards down the side*
lines into the end zone for a touch-
down, or Michael Irvin putting on
a dancing exhibition in the
endzone after scoring one of bis
many touchdowns.
In this day and age, I think that
it is more important than ever for
professional athletes to present a
good image and become positive
role models for society. Reggie
White is one ofthese positive role
models. In a time when very few
professional athletesfeelthe need
to take responsibility for their
actions, Reggie White shows that
you can become a dominating ath-
lete, a good person, and also a
positive role model for society,
and this is all shown on the play-
ingfield,whether he is sacking a
quarterback, or holding a group
prayer session.
January 30.1997
WWW!
s
Sharon Pritchard, Senior Shayla Carroll, Sophomore
Biology. Early Child Hood Ed.
u
I liked the Budweiser commer- "I like the commercial with the
cial where they were putting the bears that dance in it*9
cans and bottles and stu ff through
me copy machine and then they
put a keg through or something
99
like mat.. *> \ ¥
^
Aaron Stankiewiz, Junior Katie Magee, Senior
Psychology. Art Education.
The one where the baby sees
"I liked the Pepsi (or maybe
Nissan) commercial with the little supermodel drinking Pepsi i
99 he was a Peosi drinkerforlift
birds. * &
The Office of Residence Life cordially invites you to attend
a Social Mixer and short program presenting...
" Residence Life Opportunities, Expectations, and Benefits
as a Resident Assistant
When: Sunday, February 2,1997
Where: Herrmann Union Great Room
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 pan.
Agenda*
nformal Social............................... ..Residence Life Staff
fesentation -
Mr. Tyrone B. Moore...................Director of ResidenceLife
election Process -
wrence Kozlowski...........................Selection Coordinator
pplications will be available following the presentations
AA
AAA
Please RSVP by Thursday, Jan 30,1997
Applications will be accepted Monday, Feb 3,1997 * I
hrough Friday, Feb 7,1997 in the office of Residence Life
213 Main). If you have any questions, please call extension
 KJTJ

PAGE 8 THE MERCIAD January 30,1997

BMH6
J*r

$P

Melody to Set team. John has hisfingeron re-

By ttrad Rybczynski
Features Editor
The soccer program at
Mercyhurst is witnessing a chang-
ing of the guard. Rich Hartis has
resigned as head coach of men's
and women's soccer, and John
ody, the former men's assis-
coach, has taken the reigns.
1990 graduate of
Mercyhurst graduating with a
B A. in Hotel Restaurant and In-
stitutional Management and a
minor in Business.,
?In 1994,Melody returned home
to Mercyhurst to assume the posi-
tions of assistant men's soccer
coach and manager of the Laker
Inn. As assistant men's coach,
Melody has been a part of the
legacy left behind by Hartis. f
Pete Russo, director of athlet-
[ ics, sees Melody as having "big
shoes to fill" in taking over for
Hartis. Russo is confident that
Melody is up to the task citing his
'Very good soccer background."
Russo expla ined his decision to
institute Melody as the head coach
by saying "John deserved an op-
portunity to prove himself, He was
a product of the program and as
captain, he was the leader of the
cm iting and a good rapport with
both teams."
When asked about his appoint-
ment Melody stated," I feel ca-
pable of stepping in. Pete Russo
has given me a vote ofconfidence
and I think I am the players' num-
ber one choice." i'
Junior soccer team member
Shawn Kroener s,iid of Melody's
appointment "I see only good
tilings coming of it I definitely
think he has the capabilities to do
a good job and I'm looking for-
ward to it"
Russo is confident of Melody's
abilities and pleased that the posi-
tion could be filled internally.
Russo said, "His knowledge of
both programs leads to stability
and continuity."
In looking to the future Melody
sees success. When questioned
about the women's team he said,
* Hie girls had a slow start last
year, they started one and four,
but they ended up with a winning
record. They've sutured an aw-,
fid lot, hopefully they can take
that maturity to the next season.
And with a few quality additions
they may surprise some people."
His confidence in the women's
as
program is raised by Yvonne
Coach
Parker's role as full time assistant
women's coach. Melody said of
Parker, "Yvonne has been assis-
tant on the women's side for two
years and that adds a little extra
stability to the program. She
knows how the system works,
and that can only help us in the
long run."
Melody has high hopes for fu-
ture success in the'men's pro-
grams as well. Melody said, "The
men are going to be strong again,
we graduate four starters, some of
those starters are extremely hard
to replace, but at the same time
there is a good crop of players
coming back in the key positions.*'
In summation of his appoint-
ment and his outlook on the fu-
ture, Melody said, I ' v e done my
understudy for the last three years.
I've done a lot of work with both
programs and I am confident mat
we are going to be as successful,
if not more successful, over the
next two or three years. It (coach-
ing)^ is something I've always
wanted to do. I didn't think I'd be
a head coach so quickly, but obvi-
ously, I've got to use mis oppor- John Melody
tunity and make it work and be
successful at Mercyhurst"

The Merciad
Kubiak' s Challenge VOL. 70 NO. 13
Merciad Editors
JANUARY 30,1997
By John Murphy a fascinating course. I would like Editor-in-Chief A&EEditor
John Murphy James Hain
Editor in chief this to be a co-operative effort Sports Editor
Scott Vance Jason Giffen Advertising
where student and professor can Chris Wloch News Editor Copy Editor
Mkhelle MLda
Want to be challenged? Want to work together to maximize the Features Editor Aaron Connell Graphics
Brad Rybczynski
be involved in a course that will benefits ofthe das*," said Kubiak. Senior Writer Jerry Trambley Advisor
demand academic rigour? Want "Students already have an im- DanHllfiker
to take a class that will allow you, age of what the middle ages are Merciad Staff
the student, to take charge of your like, but some may have an inter- Jamz Porzio Jessica Russell Michael J Oppennan Maureen McMahon
education? Want to embark on an est in doing projects on specific Stephen Nolan Carrie Tappe w
Joe Wong
experience thatwill be both intel- issues such as Medieval Knights, Bill Melville ™j Emilio Colaiacovo
Mindi McDowell
lectually rewarding and fun?This Gothic Art, or even witchcraft," todd Zielinski Jody Washington
Mary Pike
is the rallying cry of hard nosed* be said. Amanda Smith Steve Torriero
Kara Clark
history professor, Dick Kubiak, "I believe involving students in Nicole Esposito Heather Cvitkovie
Zoe Cohen
as he* invites students interested developing the outline helps to
in taking his "Medieval Times" deepen the course and increase its The Merciad is the student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst College, Box 161,
course this Springy to submit topic value to them.** 501E. 38th St. Eric, Pa« 16546. Phone 824-2376.* * * '*# •
ideas for incorporation into the This approach doesn't mean
9
class schedule. the students interests will domi-
In a meeting scheduled Feb. 4, nate the course, but that their in-
The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor.
at noon in the President's board put will give them an opportunity
room (secon dfloorofthe library), to shape what they learn, rather
Kubiak invited prospective stu- than having me spoonfeed it to
dents to come and discusal them," he said.
sible areas of interest they would Commenting on the broader is-
The Merdad's editorial opinion is determined by the Editorial Boardwith the Editor-in-Chief
like to see covered in the class. "I sues behind this a pproa ch, Kubiak
holdingfinalresponsibility. The opinions expressed in The Merciad are not necessarily those of
want to give the students an op-
portunity in helping me construct Cont on Pg. 10 The Merciad. its staff or Mercyhurst College.
.
 PAGE 9 THE MERCIAD January 30,1997

BBBSS^p!
By Brad Rybczynsld
Features Editor

Mercyhurst is unique in many ways. One of the most unusual

differences at our college is how we break up the academic year. Instead
ofusing a semester system, we are on a term system. The difference being
that we have three 10 week terms instead of two 15-week terms.
You are saying "Yeah, so what?" Well, there are some very real and
fundamental problems with this system that seem to be ignored. 1**1
Take for example our recent Christmas vacation. It is about the same
one you got in high school-two and a half to three weeks. Those on the
semester systemtypicallyget four,fiveand even six weeks ofvacation.
m •

In this time many students go back to work and make money for books,
gifts or booze. Whatever they buy really does not matter, what matters %*1
Jam
is mat they have the opportunity to work and make money.
Those on the semester system also have more time to visit with family
and friends. They are not restrained by the obligation to shop for
Christmas gifts in Ja nuary, nor are they trying to get work done because
they are in the middle of a term.
We at Mercyhurst start our Winter term at the beginning of December
and continue for three weeks until we go home for "break." It is not
really a break. Professors and students alike have work to do. Whether
it is research or reading, some work needs to be done.
Not only are we constrained by time, work load and familial obliga-
tions, but upon returning we have to practically relearn what we did in
Ripley Adds New Dimension
thosefirstthree weeks of the term. After we remember most of it, we are By John Murphy he said. One of those colleagues, ample, Ripley will be offering
then bit by mid-term exams. Editor in chief Dr. Michael Federici, felt the Po- Global Environmental Politics.
Another disadvantage of die term system is the length of time to litical '• Science»department and He describes his classes as the
complete course work, especially term papers. In order to fully research Scanning this year'a term sched- Mercyhurst were lucky to gel types in which the students are
atopic and gather aU of the needed information, six or seven weeks is just ules, observant students may have someone of Dr. Ripley's quality. encouraged to participate. "It's
not enough time. noticed the greater variety of in- "Out of a pool of over 100 appli- hard to be a spectator in my class-
Regular class work is also difficult to complete. If you take a history ternationallyflavoredcourses of- cants, he stood head and shoul- room. I aim for a lot ofdiscussion
course and have anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 pages of reading, if not fered under the Political Science ders above the rest Apart from and participation* Frankly, stu-
more, 10 weeks of time severely limits how well the material can be section. The addition of these his experience, his character and dents here are pay ing for the privi-
digested. courses is due to the addition of personality were what really im- lege of being in a small school;
One must also consider our "spring break." It comes along at the end Dr. Brian Ripley, a professor here pressed us. At times during the 1 they should take advantage of
of February and continues into early March. It is not spring, it is still at Mercyhurst interview, I felt like he was inter- * this," he said. "Ultimately, I want
winter. If you want to travel you have to be concerned with snow delays 4 Ripley brings a wealth of expe- viewing us," said Federici. "He to help make Political Science the
and even the possibility of a blizzard. rience and knowledge to his de- really adds a new dimension to best department on campus," he
The time of our spring break does not coincide with that of other our department Our environmen- Isaid.
partment He received his under*
colleges. Going home often becomes quite boring after a few days graduate degree in his native Min- tal studies program will be Outside of his teaching duties,
withoutfriendsfromother colleges being home. nesota , from Macelester College, i partiodarilyejmaiiQedtyhis pres- Ripley enjoys spending time with
Graduation and summer recess are also an issue. At Mercyhurst we get a school that Ripley proudly notes ence," he sa id. his wife and two young children.
out of school a week or two later than almost everyone else. This is alma mater to the recently Federici described Ripley aa a * He praises Erie as an attractive
ha mpers gr ad u ates in theirjob search. It is plain to see that everyone else named United Nations Secretary serious scholar, but not over seri- a
area for family activities. In tune
gets a head start General, Kaffe Annan. ous, and as someone who is very with his environmental interests,
In monetary terms, It seems that having one less registration period The Minnesotan then came east- open and sincere. "I think at a Ripley is also a keen gardener.
would lighten the financial burden of the college. Printing an extra ward,and after earning his Ph.D. small liberal arts college this will * And ifFather Steve is looking for
1
schedule of classes along with all ofthe other paper work gets expensive. at Ohio State University, he spent be utilized9more than at a big i a new addition to his choir, then
It would also help students by not requiring another day of long lines at six years teaching at the Univer- university, be said, he should conUct. Ripley who
the registrar's office. '' - sity of Pittsburgh. Immediately Ripley himself felt that,his enjoys singing.
Billing students would also be easier in that it would be less time before arriving at Mercyhurst, he teaching abilities were being too However, despite his wide in-
iming and cheaper to bill only twice a year rather than three times. spent a year as a visiting profes- narrowly confined at the bigger terests, Ripley says his time is at
• lit
The added savings could bechanneled into worthwhile projecta such aa sor at Madison University. universities, "I wanted a chance a premium as he adapts to
A dedicated teacher, Ripley to teach beyond a narrow area. Mercy hurst's hectic trimester sys-
campus- wide automation,
lamnotawingthatthetcmiystcmdoesii^^ Only cited his desire to teach at a col- The big schools tendtogive you tem "I like it so far. The pace here
uking threeor four courses insteadoffiveorsix makca concentrating on lege where education was of pri- Just a couple of different courses, is fast," be said. "It doesn't leave
mary importance as is the major and often this does not allow a pro- much time,for contemplation,''
subjects easier. The point is that a semester system has more favorable
attraction of Mercyhurst "I love fessor to teach in his/her specific * he added with a grin. In what may
qualities than the term system does. areas of interest," he said. Ripley 's
plete papers teaching. I wanted to move to a come aa a welcome compliment
A semestct system would offer students more time tc ¥•111 specialty areas are in international
collegewhere teaching was num- to .Mercyhurst students, Ripley
and projecta, breaks would be moreMkely to coincide with those
ber one, and where students were and environmentalfieldsof poll- thinks they work harder than stu-
collies and the college would save money. tics, and one of his goals Is to
number one," be said. dents at bigger schools. "We have
"When I came here for an inter- expand the mnge of internation- a distinct advantage here over stu-
view, I was very impressed by my ally related courses his depart- dents a t othe r institutions. There is
colleagues and the students I met," ment offers. This spring for ex- more rigor here," he said.
 PAGE 10 THE MERCIAD January 30,1997

S A C
i S M P
N E W S l South African Intern
By Mindi McDowell By Chris Wloch
Merciad Writer News Editor

This week the Stud eat Activities Committee has packed some popular From now until the end of the
events into the schedule* These events include some favorites back for school year, Nthabe Mohanoe, a
another round and other events that were speciflcally requested. graduate studentfromEdinboro,
To start the week, Coffeehouse is bringing back the music of Jamie will bei working .out of Bob
Notarthomas. Referred to as a "one mailrockband," Notarthomas will Mun son's office in Eg an 15 as
once again help to feed the atmosphere of the • 111! with his blend of part of the academic support ser-
different styles of musky including foil;rock,Celtic, blues, and jazz. vices at Mercyhurst Mohanoe,
Hie music will begin about 9 pjn., so head to the Union, grab some who has received two degrees in
education and psychology, is pres- fc»l£ Jf
coffee and experience it for yourself. *-
ently completing her internship
•

•'With The Alpha Experience, the weekend'scommittee is providing

another outlet through which students can enter another reality, virtual here as part ofthe degree require-
reality. Students who enter The Alpha Experience will be surprised by ments for a master's in counsel-
the development of technology. The event will be housed in the Union ing in student personnel services.
Elaine Ruggiero, an Act 101
from noon to 6 pan. Friday.
counselor who works with
On Saturday, be prepared to roll in the aisles to the comedy of Kevin
Mohanoe, said "she's a welcome
Hughes. A consistent performer at the 'Hurst, Hughes comments on life, Nthabe Mohanoe Photo: Aaron Connell
addition to our office to work
love and the opposite sex, and the crowd roars at the true-to-life
with the freshers in monitoring languages in school: English, mat teachers are more authoritar-
descriptions. His performance will be in the Taylor Little Theatre at 8
their progress. With her here, we Afrikaans and their home lan- ia n and the discipline is stricter.
pan. Saturday night can be more pro-active in track- guage. Although it was a lot of Additionally, "there were no
Tuesday is an important day for sports fans, as the tournament' ing students." work at the time, Mohanoe said counseling facilities at the schools
committee sponsors transportation to some rival games. Tuesd ay night,
the hockey team faces Fredonia on their home court, and SAC wants to During her first three weeks in mat it has paid off in the long run attended," she said. Every prob-
help provide Mercyhurst fans at the popular game. Anyone who is the office, Mohanoe attended de- because it provided South Afri- lem that arose among students
interested in going to the game should sign up at the Union desk. SAC partment meetings and did paper- can Blacks with exposure to two was resolved by one person at
will providefreetickets and transportation for the Grst 45 people to sign work to. familiarize herself with languages in addition to their the head of the residence halls.
up and the bus will leave from Baldwin at 5:45 Tuesday night the goals and objectives of the home language. "What seemed a Consequently, Mohanoe said
Another Gannon game is coming up on Saturday, February 8. To college's academic support of- curse at the time has turned into that she prefers the way that many
support the men's basketball team, SAC is offering free tickets to the fice. Additionally, Mohanoe has an advantage," she said. of the residence halls are run in
first 50 people who sign up, and the night of the game, shuttles will start been assigned 31 counselees Of South Africa's roughly 45 the States, especially the RA and
at 5:45 p.m. and run every 15 minutes until 8 p.m. Anyone is welcome whom she began meeting with on million people, 70% of the popu- assistant director positions. At
to take advantage of the shuttles. Sign-ups will begin Monday at the Monday, Jan. 27. lation is black and 30% arewhites, Edinboro, Mohanoe has retained
Union desk. OriginallyfromBloemfontein, Indians and multi-racial people her position as the assistant coor-
The movie on Feb. 5 is a popular one with so-called Generation Xers in thefreestate province of South who were referred to as dinator of the all-female residence
and did not get a lot of recognition at the box office. The movie, "Empire Africa, Mohanoe came to the U.S. "coloured.'' "Before the libera- hall. "It has been a worthwhile
9 a year and a halfago to further her
Records, centers around a group of interesting young adults and their tion, each of the four groups had experience and I would definitely
interaction within one day at the Empire Records education. Mohanoe said mat she its own department ofeducation,'' like to seen s hnQa r system imp!
storcThere will be a raffle for movie posters after the hopes to gain experiences which Mohanoe said. Since most of the men ted in South Africa,''she said.
movie,which begins at 9 p.m. she can take back home in order money was given to the white ^ As part of her internship,
Any questions can be directedtoSAC members at the office, x2463, to help bring change to her coun- schools, black institutions often Mohanoe will also be working
or at SAC meetings on Sunday night at 7 pjn. in the Government try as it begins taking the Gist suffered. Although there were pri- with Lesha Johnson-Powell, di-
Chambers. 4 gradual steps toward racia 1 equal- vate schools that were racially rector of the Office of Multi-cul-
ity. "Hopefully, when I return to diverse, only a few weU-offblack tural and Minority Affaire.
South Africa, I can work with families could afford to send their Mohanoe said that she plans to be
Kubiak ContfromPg. 8 black students and help them re-1 children there.* involved with many of the activi-
take charge of their education, socialize into the new dispense* Mohanoe also said that Institu-
•aid that at the moment there is a ties during Black History Month
grab it, don't wait foe it to come tion," she said. .
kind of barrier between the Stu- tions of higher education hi her is February and that she hopes
to you," he said.
dents and the professors. Each According to Mohanoe, home country differfromAmeri- Mercyhurst studen ts will take part
Overall, Kubiak believes that
group is on the opposite side of changes in South African society, can colleges and universities in hi all of the scheduled events as
as part of Mercyhurst's goal of
the podium. "Those lines need to especially hi the area of educa- several ways, one reason being well -
moving forward as a high quality
be crossed. An approach like this tion, had been taking place for
academic institution, faculty
several decades before the end of
might revitalize education, make
it fun, both for the student and the
should take students on an part*
apartheid in 1994. During the mid- Feature's Fast Fact:
ners in formulating courses.
professor," he said. Kubiak said 70s, < the Sooth African govern-
"Maybe every department could
that too many students believe offer a course that adopt* this
ment attempted to provide instruc- In Australia there are ten times
education is something fed to them 19 tion to black students only in Af- as many sheep as there are
approach once a year, he said. rikaans so that they would have
by professors, "Students should
limited exposure to the English
people.
language. However, after a 1976
student revolt which protested this
Panama City!!! Boardwalk Beach Resort $129 7/ jj decision, subjects in the blsck
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schools were taught in English,
Beat Bars!!! Group Discounts!!! u Blsck students were still re-
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 *

PAGE 11 THEMERCIAD January 30,1997

*8&
Snorts <*2

Dreams? Not For The i

By Shawn Kroener -A
Merciad Sports Writer
The Mercyhurst men's basket-
ball team traveled to Saginaw
Valley State last Saturday, hop-
ing to get back on track and make
a late run to end the season.
Saginaw Valley was also in a must
win situation to stay above 500 in half.
11-7 overall and 6 4 in GLIAC
In thefirsthal £ both teams came
out ready to play. Maybe too
ready, four turnovers land four
fouls in thefirstfiveminutes of
the game. The Lakers gained an
early 7-4 lead, but it was all down-
hill from that j point Saginaw
Valley gained control of the first
W down to two points. Saginaw
look back. The Cardinals opened en would cut die lead to two 25 points and eight rebounds. Will
an even larger lead before halt - points then Saginaw would go up Stinson added 13 points and five
Saginaw Valley 34, Mercyhurst by 11 points. The Lakers finally rebounds in the loss. Ike Tab
22 at the end of thefirsthalt " tied the ball game with two min- Freshman" Demond Stewart con-
Both teams shot poorly in the utes and 31 seconds left in the tributed once again with 13 points
first halftime.The Lakers were
%» * arT • #
game, but Saginaw Valley was and two rebounds, although he
led by Maurice'Profit's nine 'Itoo tough downi the stretch, was *in foul trouble almost the
points andfourrebounds. In the V Saginaw Valley ended the game entire second half The Lakers
second half, the Lakers', came out on a 7-3 run to gain- the victory have two tough home games this
on fire, cutting Saginaw's lead J over the Lakers. Thefinalscore week. • Thursday they will battle
was i. Saginaw 5 Valley 70 with Lake Superior and Saturday
Mercyhurst 66. The Lakers fell
» • -- -

GLIACplay. Mercyhurst entered The turning point was when stayed solid throughout r - against Northwood. The Lakers
th e University Center with an <#** Flinnoia Hall dunked. After that, the second half by not letting the just short once again. Both teams wiH then travel to Hillsdale on
overall and 2-7 in GLIAC play. the Cardinals went on a 11-0 run Lakers regain the lead. The sec- shot much better in the second Feb3. » M
Saginaw Valley State had a solid to go up 15 -7, and they didn't ond halfwas about runs. The Lak- half. Profit led the Lakers with
l:**.-, I

Women Team Follows In Men's Footsteps

By Kara Clark & Maureen
McMahon
Merciad Sports Writers
Mercyhurst women's basket-
ball had an upsetting loss to
Saginaw Valley State University
this past weekend. The Lakers
have now dropped their GLIAC
record to 4-5 and 12-5 overall.
"It was a game we could have
won, butwcletitslip away. Itwas
a tough loss,* said Coach Webb.
The opening jump went to
Saginaw Valley and from then
on, they dominated the game.
Saginaw had some strong drives
in the, opening half as they out-
scored the Lakers 11-2, with the
only one successful Mercyhurst
alirtt frnm 1 r»ri Morth. The entire
first halt Sa gin
\ t
i
game as they increased their lead
to 26-12. The Hurst fought back
with excellent offense by Morth
who shot ten points. The Lakers
had a comeback, only behind 36-
32 at the end ofhe first halfof the
game. k off of all six. The game ended
' In the second half, both teams
went out fighting for the lead. In
the first five minutes, there was
back and forth scoring, and the
Lakers strong offense consisted
of seven points by Lonna Dunlap
and eight points by Morth. For
die first time in the game, the
Hurst had tied with Saginaw at
47-47. The next five minutes
Saginaw consistently stayed up
by three on the Lakers. With
under ten minutes of play left in
the second half, Saginaw Valley
began to pull away from the Hurst
A couple of Lev offensive nlavs
i • «
****** >i*»
by Morth, who shot for six points,
and Connie Ralston, who shot for
five points, closed the gap to 68-
65 in favor of Saginaw. With
under two minutes to play, the
Laker defense gave up six fouls,
letting Saginaw score nine points
with a win by Saginaw Valley,
84-72.
The leading scorer of the game
was Morth with 17 points, and the
highgrebounder was' Allison
Marsden with six. The Lady Lak-
ers have two home games this
week. Thursday they host Lake
Superior at 6 p.m. and Saturday
against Northwood at 1 p.m.
"Lake Superior is a good bas-
ketball team. They have really
good'rebounders, and if we do
well on the boards, we can win,"
said Coach Webb about the up-'
coming game this Thursday. Sarah Marando looks for a player to pass

r
Yes, Do Have Sports Teams at the Hurst! • -'Q»diaVm

By Scott Vance ?. 1
» :

because there is no excitement at down to the glass (that ia almost ' I have anothefNiuesuon, and team, I am looked upon as If 1
rf_ J *

Merciad Sports Editor *
I have noticed all year the lack
of interest that Mercyhust stu-
dents have shown in supporting
> - m to. Here at Mercy bust there is no
tbeir sports teams* 4
I have attended most of Ike Lak-
ers home games this season, not
becausclamthesports editor,but
because I wanted to. I also feel
that it ii the least I carildo as a
student of Mercyhurst to show
my support to these teams that
train, day la and day out to ^ ^
•111
pete at their highest level.)
So why is It that we aren't sup-
porting our teams? Maybe it is
the games. When
matches at home, almost the
whole school would turn out to
support the team. We even got
classes off to practice our Cheers
which everyone knew the words
sense of excitement about any of
the sports on campus, people don't
care or even know if the basket-
ball, football, or even crew team
(yea, we do have a caw team)
won.
I was at a hockey game two
years ago, and we won a really
dose game in overtime, BvetjF-
one was going nuts, and I. went
impossible to break) and started
pounding on it I was then grabbed
from behind by one Of the secu-
rity guards and told to stop my
inappropriate behavior. Jit is be*
cause ofthis and other things that
this college has no real spirit Why
are people who go to the games
all dressed up and with their faces
painted looked down upon.' It is
1
these people that we should all
look up to and not frown upon.
These are the people that show us
a glimpse' of what our college
spirit should be all abouf, and they
are referred'to as '"geeks" and.
"nerda.* f
* *
that is where is this great college
mascot that we spent our money
to improve our college spirit
When this idea waa originally in-
troduced, it sounded like a great
idea, and k was one of the many
things that we need to dotogain
the support of the rest of the stu-
dents. Instead of being present at
all of the home games, it is prob-
ably just left in the corner to die
off just"like our spirit here at
Mercyhurst
I am not saying that I am the
craziest fool in the world when I
go to games, but wheal shout or,
show any sort of passionformy
have four legs. * •
:
'The reason I am writing this is
because I am angry at the amount
Of support that Our sports teams
are getting.* We as students of
Mercyhurst needtodo something
to get everyone excited about
going to sporting events and hot
1
just to go to see that "cute girl * or
9
"cute guy* that goes to all of the
games. So at least go to one ofthe
games and support your teams,
and who knows, you may even
enjoy it! a>. fc '. ';
 PAGE 12 THE MERCIAN January 30,1997

Lakers Can Opposition
By Scott Vance
Merciad Sports Editor
The Lakers nemesis Canisius is
no more. The Lakers were de-
feated three times last year by
Canisius to prevent mem from
going to the National Champion-
ships.
However, this year the tide has
turned. The Hurst lias beaten
Canisius convincingly twice this
year, once being last weekend.
The Lakers went into this game
full of confidence having won
eight out of their last nine games,
for an overall record of 13-6-2.
The team's current winning
streak cannot be put down to one
thing and as Head Coach Rick
Gotkin said, "Theteam is settling
in.} We're playing very well as a
team. We' ve seen signs ofthat on
» i
and off earlier in the year, but this
second hal £, we have really settled
in nicely as a team."
The Lakers went into the
Canisius game needing a win to
keep them in contention to make
the nationalfinal.The Lakers are
currently ranked third in the na-
tion behind Alabama University
and Bemidji. Therefore the Lak-
ers hopetiiat their current form
continues and that Bemidji loses
a few games.
The team got the start they
needed against Canisius, as top
scorer John Evangel ista put the
puck into the net after a goal mouth
scramble to give the Lakers a 1-0
lead, which they were able to hold
going into the changing rooms
after thefirstperiod.
The Lakers doubled their lead
five minutes into the second pe-
Spprts
riod, courtesy of Scott Ludeviks.
Sophomore Tony Borgford hit a
shot on the net which the Canisius
goal tender was only able to parry
and Ludeviks was on hand to shoot
the puck into the open net
j It was during the second period
mat the Hurst took a firm hold of
the game and showed the rest of
the nation that they are title con-
tenders. Mike Mass is grabbed
his sixth goal ofthe season with a
powerful slap-shot that beat the
goal tender all ends up.
It was Ludeviks who added the
Lakers' fourth goal and it was a
perfect example of the way things
are going for the team at the mo-
ment "Squiggy (Evangel ista) was
behind the net and he passed it out
to me in front o f th e net I put it off
the goalie's pad, off the player's
shin, off the goalie's back, and
in Easy Win
9
nothing but net,' said Ludeviks.
The Lakers added two more
goals in the third period thanks to
a slapshot by Mass is and an excel
lent one-timer by Charlie Blasko
who has now scored in his last
two games. The Lakers won the
game by a score of 6-1.
The Lakers had two players
ejectedfromthe game in the third
period for roughing. "Canisius
got frustrated losing 6-1 and they
lost their composure. Kevin
Rawlick and Tony Borgford
played very very well and they
kind of got pulled into a fracas,
and the referee threw th em out of
the game along with two Canisius
players," said Gotkin.
This means mat Rawlick and
Borgford will miss the next game
through suspension.
However. Gotkin has been re-
ally impressed with the high stan-
dard that his players are currently
playing at, saying, "we played
very very well. We played a
complete game. Everyone in the
lineup played fantastic and that's
the second game in a row that
they did that^ ¥m
The Hurst should also look to
its goaltender Chris
Herbolsheimer for its recent ex-
cellent form. Herbolsheimer has
a current overall record of 12-2-0.
The Lakers travel to Niagara
mis weekend in what should be a
very close encounter because the
teams are 1-1-1 a gainst each other
this year. However, Niagara has
yet to lose at home this*year.
"We're excited. Niagara has a
great team. This is a grudge match
and I'm sure that they are fired up

* ^
K„

The Lakers on the attack during last weekends game. The Hurst won 6-1 away to Canisius. Tony Borgford defends the Laker goal

V - b a l l (2-2 R e c o r d in First M e r e y h u r s t I n v i t a t i o n a l
By Scott Vance I
Merciad Sports Editor
The men's volleyball team com*
pete d in the first Mercyhurst Invi-
tational last weekend and came
out of it with mixed success.
The Hurst had a very slow start
in their first game against Tri-
Sta te University as they were de*
feated in a closely fought encoun-
ter. The Lakers lost the first set
but w o e able to tie matters up by
winning the second set thanks to
some One play. The third set
went to Tri-Su te, but once again,
the Lakers were able to tie mat*
ters at 2-2 going into the final act.
However, the Hurst waa unable to
win the deciding set and they lost
the game 3-2. "We didn't play to
our potential,'' said sophomore
Andrew Ma haven.
Later on that evening, the Lak-
ers faced St Francis in what turned
out to be a very one-sided affair.
Hie Hurst easily defeated a weak
opposition in three straight sets.
"We played together as a team
and put forth a good effort," said
Adam Tocash about the game.
The following day the team con-
tinued their One form by defeat-
ing Wisconsin-Milwaukee in
three seta. However, the Lakers
lost their fourth and final game to
Juniata College in four sets. "We
played hard and it was unfortu-
nate that we couldn'^ till iplcte
the v T said player David
Wilson The volleyball team full of concentration during a grueling practice session