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DAngelo Department of Music presents
Read the story on Page 5
Mozarts comic opera
Cosi fan Tutte
Vol. 84, No. 19/03/23/11, FREE
TH
E
More inside & online
Women andLeadership TaskForce presents
Mercyhurstestablishes
buy-up policy
Ambassadorslead Frozen Fourhospitality effortat Tullio Arena
Equestrian Clubkeeps riding
despite limitedmembership
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NEWSPage 2 March 23, 2011
Career Fair provides 80internship, job opportunities
Mercyhurst College students seeking jobs and intern-ships will have the opportunity to distribute resumes
and meet with representatives from approximately 80companies at the annual Career Fair.
This years Career Fair will take place Thursday from1 to 4 p.m. in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
The fair, which typically takes place during fall term,was moved to the spring term for the first time this yearin order to coincide with companies hiring cycles.
The fair gives many seniors a chance to find post-graduation jobs and provides a great opportunity forsophomores and juniors to get internships, ExecutiveDirector of Experiential Learning Kyle Foust, Ph.D.,said.
Some of the top companies that will be present at the
fair include Lord Corporation, Erie Insurance Group,UPMC, Barber National Institute, Citadel Broadcasting
and Waddell and Reed Financial Advisors.The complete list of these many companies may be
found online on the My Mercyhurst Portal.Students get a chance to meet several employers,
and its a great time to talk to professionals because net-working is so important, Foust said.
About 600 students attend the Career Fair each year,
and Foust encourages more to participate.Its an important event for anyone on a job search,
and students should be received well by the employers,he said.
Students are advised to bring approximately 20resumes to the fair to give to the various companies.Students should check the company listings online togive themselves a better idea of how many copies they
will need, Foust said.The Career Development Office on campus can help
students compose resumes and print several copies forthe event.
Dolores Griswold, administrative assistant and
Career Fair coordinator at the Career DevelopmentCenter, led the events organization.
By Stacy Skiavo
Staff writer
News Briefs
Students can enter essay submissions for the fifth annual P.
Barry McAndrew Essay on Literature Contest. The student
with the best critical essay on a work of fiction, poetry or
drama will win a $250 prize. Essays should be six to 10 pages,
double spaced and formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Entries will be judged on the originality of ideas, the clarity
of claims and the eloquence of argument. Students need to
submit their entries electronically to Dr. Marnie Sullivan by 5p.m. on Friday, March 25.
Essay competition in need of submissions
College establishes property acquisition policy
The Board of Trustees approvedthe creation of a formal, writtenpolicy from a long-standing, yetunwritten policy of acquiring pri-
vate properties to expand Mercy-hurst Colleges boundaries.
According to the minutes fromthe Jan. 27 Board of Trustees meet-ing, the new policy permits the col-
lege to use $150,000 of the annualoperating margin to acquire privatehomes primarily bordering theboundaries of the Erie or NorthEast campuses or as otherwisedetermined by the college adminis-tration to be strategic acquisitions.
Mercyhurst Vice President forFinance and Treasurer Jane Kelseyexplained the reason for the newboard policy.
Although such acquisitions hadbeen our practice, we had never put
it in writing as a board policy, andwe ought to put on paper what isour practice, she said.
Mercyhurst began acquiring pri-vate homes in 1992.
The purpose of acquiring thesehomes is to give the college flex-ibility to expand its boundaries in
the future, Kelsey said. To acquire these properties
and houses, Mercyhurst College isgoing through due diligence andusing college resources appropri-ately, she said.
Even so, Kelsey said the amount
of money Mercyhurst College hasspent to acquire these homes ishard to say.
She estimated the college spentan average of $90,000 to $100,000per home.
To date, Mercyhurst has pur-
chased 13 houses. Two of thosepurchases occurred when the cityof Erie installed the traffic lightin front of the gates. The collegebought these properties out ofamoral obligation, Kelsey said.
The college plans to soon add
another property to this total.The house the college wants to
purchase is located at 3831 ParadeBlvd. It is listed at $114,900.
The home appraisal came inat $104,000 and by our policy,thats what we offered, and theyaccepted, Kelsey said.
Once the homes are purchased,Kelsey said, they are used as rentalproperties, largely rented by eitherfaculty or administrators.
She said Mercyhurst does notplan to create new buildings onthese properties.
If we would want to use thehouses for purposes other thanresidential we would have to geta zoning variance from the city,
which might be very hard to do,Kelsey said.
Even though Mercyhurst doesnot currently plan to build on thesesites, these plans could change inthe future.
Kelsey used the apartmentbuildings on Briggs and Lewis,
which the college acquired in thelate 1980s, as an example of planschanging.
The sisters of Mercy back inthe 1960s probably did not envisiongoing farther east and acquiringthose buildings and using them asstudent housing, she said.
By Mike GallagherStaff writer
Career Development Center offers scholarship
Students interested in working with children and youthcan apply for the AmeriCorps Scholarship. Winners of the
scholarship must complete 300 hours of service. Thescholarship is good for $1,200 for the 2011-2012 academic year.Applications for the scholarship will be available on April 1. For
more information, email Colin Hurley at churley@mercyhurst.
edu or Kaitlin Schafer at [email protected].
The yellow arrows indicate the nine properties Mercyhurst owns on Parade Boulevard west of
campus. The college owns 13 total properties off campus. The Mercyhurst Campus is the larg-
est single property in the city of Erie.
Google Maps/ Merciad photo illustration
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Page 3March 23, 2011 NEWS
Employment rate,
salaries increasefor class of 2010
A recent 2010 graduate surveyshows the employment rate andstarting salaries for Mercyhurst Col-
lege graduates increased between2009 and 2010.
According to a March 14 Mercy-hurst press release announcing thesurvey results from the collegesCareer Development Center, 95percent of Mercyhurst Collegegraduates from the Class of 2010are currently employed or continu-ing their education, compared to 87percent from the Class of 2009.
According to Executive Direc-tor of Experiential Learning Kyle
Foust, Ph.D., 1,117 were surveyed,and 33 percent responded.
To perform the survey, we orig-inally sent out emails, Foust said.
However, due to the migrationto the Lakers.edu (email system), it
was not as fruitful as we had hopedit would have been, so we ended up
using phone calls and online sur-veys, he said.
Prior to this, emails were usu-ally an effective way to conduct thesurvey.
Fifty percent of studentsresponded to the survey last year,compared to 33 percent whoresponded this year.
The job placement rate for thisyear was 95 percent compared to 87last year, Foust said.
The figures show more peopleare employed in full-time jobsrelated to their major, and the start-ing salaries for the class of 2010are higher than the class of 2009,Foust said.
When asked if the job market isreally that much better, Foust saidthat the figures from our graduatesurveys show it is, but I think thereis still a lot of concern out thereabout the job market.
Even so, there is hope for the jobmarket.
Were starting to see thatemployers are becoming more com-fortable hiring people, he said.
By Mike Gallagher
Staff writer
Overview of the survey data
from the 2010 Graduate Survey In general, Mercyhurst graduates feel satisfied thattheir Mercyhurst education prepares them for their cur-
rent position, whether they are employed or continuing
their education.
Of those graduates who are employed, 59 percent
are placed in full-time jobs related to their major; an
increase of seven percent over last year.
Eight percent of the 2008 graduates who are
employed felt Mercyhurst did not prepare them for their
current job, a drop of 4 points from the class of 2009.
Twenty percent of those graduates who completed
an internship while at Mercyhurst currently work for the
company who hosted their internship.
Seventy-nine percent of all graduates are either very
satisfied or satisfied with their post-graduation status;
an increase of 16 percent from 2009.
Those who did an internship received double the
number of job offers than those who did not complete an
internship.
Faculty has gender disparities
The Women and Leadership Task Force found that there is aperception of gender inequality atthe college, along with concretedisparities, Alice Edwards, Ph.D.and chair of the task force, said.
President Thomas Gamble,Ph.D., along with nine membersof the Mercyhurst College com-munity, created the task force in
March 2010, to focus on womenand leadership in the faculty andadministration.
In the key findings, the taskforce stated that there is a definiteinequality in the number of maleand female deans, representationin upper administration, full andtenured professors, and number ofsabbaticals granted.
These were found by a surveyof male and female professors, 91of whom completed more than 75
percent of the questions.The task force results were pre-
sented Tuesday.Although we did not find any
intentional examples of discrimina-tion, what we did find is that thereis a perception of gender inequality,meaning that men generally havemore opportunities, Edwards said.
Some of the bigger issues creat-ing this perception are that femalesmake up only 16 of 54 tenured pro-fessors and three of 17 full profes-sors.
The task force is now looking into
these figures, and Edwards believesthat given the trends in higher edu-cation with women attaining morebachelors degrees than men, Mer-cyhurst has to pay attention to thisso that this aspect of diversity isrepresented at the college.
This is important because Mer-cyhurst is a college founded by
women for women, with 59 percentof students being female.
If we can pay attention towomen, Edwards said. Maybe we
can pay attention to other under-represented groups on campus.
According to the Executive Sum-mary the task force provided, rec-ommendations include: increasedrepresentation of women among theupper administration, more hiringand retention of female faculty andadministrators, identification andrecruitment of female candidatesfor membership on the Board of
Trustees, including an obligation toseek out talented women, creationof a mentoring program for womenat the associate professor rank, and
most importantly, continuation ofthe task force for at least anotheryear.
Professor Alice Edwards, Ph.D.;Assistant Professors Jodi Staniunas-Hopper and Melissa Surawski, Ph.D.;
Associate Professors Candee Cham-bers, Ph.D., and Roger Griffiths,Ph.D.; Administrators Darci Jones,Michele Wheaton, Merry Shultz,
J.D., and Judi Smith, Ph.D.; and Trustee Mary Ellen Dahlkempermake up the task force.
By Alaina Rydzewski
Features editor
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FEATURES March 23, 2011Page 4
During the Frozen Four, Mercyhursts Student Ambassa-
dors represented themselves the way their green jackets por-
tray them; the role of student representat ives for the college.
From Friday nights puck drop until Sundays on-ice cham-
pionship celebration, ambassadors served as ushers, worked
the media hospitality room and greeted and assisted fans.
Ambassadors who volunteered their time spent three to
eight hours working at Tullio Arena this weekend. These
hours were deducted from their 33 required service hours thatmust be completed each term.
For many ambassadors, the Frozen Four was a great expe-
rience to show many schools that Mercyhurst knows how to
represent itself, even without its players competing on the
ice.
Working the Frozen Four tournament was great fun, says
ambassador Amber Kissman. It was awesome to be able help
out with such a huge event coming to Erie. It felt like we were
working together putting Mercyhurst on the map.
Since it was the first time Mercyhurst and Erie hosted this
event, it was important to create good impressions.I had a lot of people from other colleges ask me about
Mercyhurst and (its) Ambassadors. They were all impressed
by the fact that the school was so well represented at the
games, says ambassador Jacob Griffin.
Besides representation, other ambassadors like Maria Jose
Cesar enjoyed their volunteer time.
It was really cool to see hockey from another perspective
besides being in the audience, and to be able to be a part of
this event, Cesar says.
By Priscilla ChavezContributing writer
The University of Wisconsin captured its fourth womens hockey national
championship in six years Sunday afternoon at Eries Tullio Arena. The Badgers
beat Boston University, 4-1. Mercyhurst had been selected to serve as host school
for this years Frozen Four, staging the three-day event in Erie for the first time ever,
with 3,956 fans in attendance. The Lakers lost March 12 in the NCAA quarterfinals
to Boston University, failing to earn a chance to play at Tullio.
Ethan Magoc photo
Slur raises religious awareness
As the Mercyhurst College com-
munity launches Mercy Week 2011,
a great opportunity presents itself:
an invitation to remember and
actively participate in the schools
living Mercy tradition. The theme is powerful: We are
reflectively aware. It is a core value
meant to be all-inclusive, we should
be aware not only of ourselves but
also of the needs and feelings of
others.
Unfortunately, this is not always
the case. As seen throughout the
world, ignorance and inconsider-
ation are often major factors in peo-
ples actions. Erie is no exception.
Recently, a Mercyhurst student,Ian Tasman, was with some friends
ordering food at a local Wal-Mart.
An employee gave him a large
portion of food and was told by
a co-worker that the portion was
too large. The employee asked
in response if he should serve a
Jewish portion instead.
Being someone who is of the
Jewish faith and has dealt with
anti-Semitism before, I didnt find
that remark funny, Tasman says.To make the situation worse, the
two employees laughed at the com-
ments even though I was visually
distraught.
In response, Tasman called the
store manager, who seemed ticked
off at being called. Tasman was
offered a $20 Wal-Mart gift card for
his troubles.
The fact that they were trying to
buy me off was just as upsetting as
the incident, he says. I would like
to find a logical reason for someone
to say something like that, but all
I can think is that they are unedu-
cated and ignorant to peoples
beliefs, feelings, and tragic histories
surrounding religious intolerance.
I think about it each day and
its something horrible that no one
should have to have experienced.
Many people have become com-
placent and immovable in their views, especially regarding matters
of religion. Tasmans experience is
undeniably visible on a global scale,
and such unawareness presents a
daunting but necessary challenge.
The core value and theme of
Mercy Week, that we are reflectively
aware, seeks to revitalize our under-
standing and commitment to accept
this challenge. For it is only through
our work and dedication that any
such value may be realized.
By Kathleen VogtleStaff writer
Ambassadors lead Frozen Four hospitality effort
Auction to benefi tGrace House
Grace House is a shelter in the
Erie community that provides a safe
environment that offers community
and supportive services for womenveterans. Their goal is to help tran-
sition veterans to be self-sufficient
and stable within the community.
Six senior communication majors
are working to raise awareness and
provide funding for Grace House
by continuing an art auction that
was started last year by Mercyhurst
then-senior Jordan Zangaro.
Artists can participate as indi-
viduals or on a team of up to five
people, and will have six weeks totransform elegant dresses bought
for $10 into works of art. Artists
can shop for dresses furnished by
Grace House from March 21 to 25
between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the
lower level of the Audrey Hirt Aca-
demic Center. Completed art may
be returned to Hirt between noon
and 3 p.m. May 2 to 6.
Artists will donate their item to
be auctioned off at the Women
in Transition: Silent Art Auction
Monday, May 9, from 6 to 8 p.m.
at Mercyhurst Colleges Cummings
Art Gallery. All proceeds from the
auction will go to Grace House.
Entrants are responsible for all
finances needed to create their art-
work. The artwork must be named
and artists identified. For details
about the event, contact Jackie Hartz
or Jen Mieczkowski by email.
By Kristen Ribelli
Contributing writer
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Page 5March 23, 2011
Cosi fan Tutte leaves many laughing
Andrea Baker, Kathleen Reveille and Liz Zurasky perform a scene in Cosi fan Tutte.
Tyler Stauffer photo
The music departments produc-tion of the famous Mozart operaCosi fan Tutte this weekend atthe Mary DAngelo Performing
Arts Center successfully showcasedthe prodigious talents of the singersstudying at Mercyhurst.
While tackling one of the morechallenging operas in classical rep-
ertoire, the singers pulled off thisperformance with professionalism,beautiful vocalizations and a healthysplash of humor.
The sets for the opera were stun-ning, and the costuming was beau-tiful and effectively captured thecharacter of the time period.
I absolutely loved the show,said junior Kat ie Wagner.
The costumes and the sets weregorgeous, and everyone did a won-derful job. I was very impressed.
The opera also featured an excel-lent performance by the Mercy-hurst student orchestra conductedby Scott Tomlison, Ph.D.
The singing by the performerswas beautifully executed with clear,pure tones that made for a wonder-ful listening experience.
Although at times it was diffi-
cult to hear what words they weresaying, the synopsis in the pro-gram, along with the acting andcontextual clues, made the storyeasy to follow.
Much of the humor in the operacame from the antics of Ferrandoand Guglielmo, the two officers
who disguise themselves as Alba-nians in order to test their lovers
faithfulness. While masquerading, the two
singers slapstick behavior kept theenergy light and the audience enter-tained.
The scene in which the disguised
officers pretend to poison them-selves because the ladies spurn theiradvances was particularly amusing.
The maid Despina, who aids inthe trickery, likewise had severalfunny moments and musical one-liners.
Along with Don Alfonso, hersneaky deeds and masquerading asboth a doctor and a judge movedmuch of the action of the story.
The rendition of Cosi fanTutte that the Mercyhurst singersproduced was especially accessibleto the audience because it was sungin English rather than the more tra-ditional Italian.
This was the first opera I hadever seen, and so I was scaredthat I wouldnt really understandit, but I actually really enjoyed theperformance, said junior NikkiZeak.
The production was also triplecast, so each performance wasslightly different and thereforeafforded the audience a new experi-ence within the same construct.
It was interesting to see howeach cast brought something dif-ferent to the table, as each sing-ers interpretation was different,said senior Christine Wilbur, who
worked on the technical crew forthe shows.
By Sarah MastrocolaStaff writer
Project Abolition deals with horrors of human traffi cking
This past weekend Project Abo-lition, an event to teach audiencesabout the relatively unknown prob-lem of human trafficking, tookplace in the Taylor Little Theatre.
This event was collaborative in
nature with many groups teach-ing the audience through artisticexpression and true-life stories.
The most powerful moments were provided by Theresa Flores,who spoke about her heartbreakingstory as a human trafficking victim.
She was forced into the sex tradefor two years, all the while having tohide it from everyone because if shedidnt, they would kill her family.
She says the only thing that gother through this unbearable time
was her faith in God.
Flores wrote a book telling herfull story and has founded theGracehaven House in Ohio, atherapeutic home for girls under 18
who have been victimized by sexualexploitation.
Senior Lindsey Smith originallystarted Project Abolition afterlearning about human traffickingabout two years ago.
This weekends performance was intended to raise awareness.Because of the expressive nature ofperformance, those involved wereable to provide an image of what itis like to be trafficked.
Local dance school Erie DanceConservatory performed Grace,a piece full of metaphors of thecold felt by trafficked victimsand the grace that comes to savethem.
Smiths own choreography, CryFreedom, displayed the trappedand tortured lives victims are forced
to live.Girls names are replaced with
numbers, they dont get to sleepmore than three or four hours anight and never keep the moneythey earn.
In Faces of Trafficking, SoMarDance Works collaborated withlocal composer Erik Meyer andmusicians Lynn Johnson, AnnaMeyer, Marika Koch and GloriaRhodes-Evans.
The piece was a poignant por-trayal of the tragic stories of vic-tims of sex trafficking.
It shocked audience membersby bringing to the stage the hiddenreal-life situations of helpless girls
who are coerced into becomingprostitutes and raped on a dailybasis.
Project Abolition taught a lotabout the problems of human traf-ficking, as the dancers spoke aboutthe lives of victims.
The traffickers regularly drug the victims so girls become addictedto drugs and alcohol to numb thepain. If they tell anyone, they knowthe traffickers will kill their familymembers.
Sisters Barbara Daugherty andLaura Wingert are part of the Col-laborative Initiative to End Human
Trafficking, whose mission is toeducate and advocate for the pre-
vention and abolition of humantrafficking.
They made clear that humantrafficking is not just the sex trade,but also sweatshop labor, nannies,maids and custodial services.
It is basically the illegal buyingand selling of people for labor ofany kind.
They stressed the importanceof spreading awareness about theproblem and the necessary supportfor legislation to end human traf-ficking.
The tragedy of it all was broughtto life in the events dances and
was supported by the poetry read-ings of Thomas Forsthoefel, Ph.D.,professor and chair of religiousstudies at Mercyhurst. Hes also the2010-2011 Poet Laureate of ErieCounty.
His poem I Leave told of thestruggles of gay religious figuresand the standards of the churchthat they must combat.
Another poem he read calledTsunami, to commemorate therecent disasters in Japan, advertedto the cause and effect of naturaldisasters and persuaded listeners toacquire mindfulness on the issue.
Junior Kristen Marincic alsorecited her poem, The Ghost
Within.It revealed the inner struggles
of human traffic victims and howthe ghost of child rape stays with aperson forever.
By Emma Rishel
Staff writer
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The Merciad is the official student-produced newspaper of MercyhurstCollege. It is published throughout the school year, with the exception of
finals weeks. Our office is in Hirt, Room 120B. Our telephone number is(814) 824-2376.
The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signedand names will be included with the letters. Although we will not edit the
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letters to box PH 485 or via e-mail at [email protected].
If you dont want it printed . . . dont let it happen.
Editors
Ethan Magoc
Kelly Luoma
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Victoria GricksSpencer Hunt
Alex Stacey
Kaitlin Badger
Tyler Stauffer
Ethan Johns
Daniela Carcamo
Bill Welch
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The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the v iews of Mercyhurst College, the staff of The Merciador the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be e-mailed to [email protected].
Helping the mentally ill
Here is an issue that frustrates
the you-know-what out of me. On
this campus, I guarantee that there
are students suffering from a mental
illness.
Whether its bipolar disorder ordepression, they shouldnt have to
suffer. When many of these stu-
dents cry out for help, their friends
and family members assume the
worst and stop interacting with
them. But this loss of companion-
ship can be devastating to someone
with a mental health issue.
Many people are simply afraid to
be around someone with a mental
illness. They believe the lies that all
people who have a mental illness
are weak or will become violent.
Although there are documented
cases of the connection between
violence and mental illness, the
vast majority of people who are
mentally ill are actually more likely
to become victims of violence and
bullying. When they reach out for
help, they are pushed down by a
society that says suck it up!
Let me tell you something:
Mental illness is as serious a prob-
lem as cancer. It can kill someone
just like a tumor, and it requires
treatment as well as the support of
family and friends. We wouldnt tell
a cancer patient to solve the issue
on his own, would we? Then why
do we tell people with a disorder
that they arent worth saving? In
case you didnt know, mental illness
is a real biological condition that
affects about 78 million Americans.
With support structures and
treatment, people with a mental ill-
ness can become functioning mem-
bers of society. And you can do
something to help impact the lives
of these people. Volunteer at a hos-
pital or a mental health clinic; be an
advocate for treatment of mental
illness; campaign for compassionate
treatment of the mentally ill.
We at Mercyhurst are a kind-
hearted group of people. We are
socially merciful. I am certain that
someone who is mentally ill just
wants a friend. They want to get
better, but they are afraid to seek
treatment for fear of being judged
and ostracized from society.
We can help build a better world
for them. It starts with you.
By Mike Lado
Staff writer
Obamas health careplan mimics Nixons
On March 23, 2010, President
Barack Obama signed into law
what was arguably the most historic
piece of legislation passed by the
111th Congress: the Patient Protec-
tion and Affordable Care Act. As
liberals rejoiced and conservatives
grimaced, the Affordable Care Act
became law.
Commonly known as health care
reform, this landmark law broughtthe tyrannical reign of insurance
companies to an end. Despite irra-
tional opposition from the right, the
final passage of the bill provides fair
and affordable options for the esti-
mated 46 million Americans living
without health care coverage.
With the national fervor surround-
ing health care reform simmering
down, it seems timely to take a look
at the actual content of the bill in a
comparative context with previousattempts at reform, most notably
under Republican administrations.
As early as the Jan. 30, 1974, State
of the Union address, President Rich-
ard Nixon was touting the benefits of
not only reforms to the health care
system, but also the need for a uni-
versal health care plan to enable every
American to gain access to care.
The Nixon Era proposals
for health care reform were not
defeated due to public unrest oraversion to the proposed content.
During this period in the battle
for reform, the bill became a victim
of circumstance. By 1974, Watergate
had come to dominate the national
discourse and Nixons health care lost
traction; the 1970s became another
failure in the annals of reform.
The bill Obama signed in the
spring of 2009 forbids insurance
companies from placing an annual
or lifetime limit on a policy, bansdropped coverage of an ill patient,
and eliminates discrimination
against children with pre-existing
conditions, along with many other
provisions which echo Nixons call
for coverage of all.
Clearly, upon comparatively
examining these two attempts at
health care reform, the levels of
hypocrisy within the conservative
platform become evident.
The health care plan proposedunder President Nixons Admin-
istration is very similar to the plan
which President Obama proposed
almost 40 years later, and the same
Republican party which once came
close to historically implementing
reform has become the party of
no in a futile effort to block it.
By Caitlin Handerhan
Staff writer
Assisting during a crisis
Thomas Snippert urges Americans
to send money to Japan.
Dreams are possible
Mary Nolte discusses reaching
her dream. in Ireland.
More Online...
For the past seven years, I havebeen employed as a receptionist atBaldwin Hall. One of the joys ofthis ministry is the opportunity to
visit with the girls as they comeand go at Baldwin. They are the joyof my life. Many of these girls arebasketball or hockey players and
cheerleaders and their schedule hasbecome my schedule and I makeevery effort to be present at theirgames to show my support.
I would like to take the opportu-nity to acknowledge the cheerleader
coach, Pat Zimmer, for the superbjob she is doing with the girls and topublicly thank the cheerleaders fortheir faithfulness in performanceat the games. I feel they do not getenough credit for all the good theydothey are often unsung heroesand deserve to be praised.
My fervent hope is that thesewomen might soon be joined by atleast one brave male cheerleader.
Wouldnt that be wonderful?
- Sister Mary Paul Carioty
Letter to the editor:Praise for cheerleaders
If you would like to write a letter to the editor, submit it to
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Sports Page 7March 23, 2011
Equestrian Club keeps riding despite only two members
When you get thrown off the
horse, you must get back on.
In the case of Haley Mascellino
and Caitlin Birmingham, the lone
members of this years Mercyhurst
Equestrian Club, they never had a
horse, a stable or a place to ride.
All they have is the desire to com-
pete and a school that will support
them.Haley Mascellino and Caitlin
Birmingham grew up in suburban
Pittsburgh. The two girls had the
passion for riding horses but never
had the resources.
I have always wanted to be on
an [equestrian] team, but grow-
ing up in Pittsburgh, I never got a
chance to learn the ropes, let alone
ride a horse, said Mascellino, a
junior biology major. Also, I want
to be a veterinarian and this is agood way for me to study the ail-
ments and treatment of large ani-
mals like horses.
Birmingham, a freshman, comes
from a similar background.
I am in the same boat as Haley,
she said, I grew up close to her
in Pittsburgh, and I never got the
chance to ride or compete. Now
that Im here at Mercyhurst, I can
do that.
Mary Ann Owoc, Ph.D., of the
archaeology and anthropology
department, founded the Mercy-
hurst Equestrian Club in 2004. The
clubs activities include taking les-
sons, trail rides, fund raising, field
trips, volunteer activities and inter-collegiate competition.
The Intercollegiate Horse Show
Association (IHSA) is the group
that hosts all riding events.
Any college student should be
able to ride and compete regardless
of financial status or riding level,
the IHSA wrote in its mission state-
ment, making it a perfect fit for
Mascellino and Birmingham.
The IHSA sponsors many stables
throughout the tri-state area includ-ing Brenric Stables in Edinboro,
where Mascellino and Birming-
ham take lessons and train every
Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Brenric Stables is also the home
of Halli Bidwell, who serves as
instructor for Mascellino and Bir-
mingham. She also accompanies the
two women to every competition.
She has been very helpful,
Mascellino said. She makes sure
we are ready for each competitionand (she) has a high reputation with
the IHSA.
The organization picks the venue
for each competition and provides
horses at random for each rider to
make things fair among the com-
peting men and women.Whether you place or not
depends on your ability to make
the horse cooperate with you, Bir-
mingham says. Some horses have
a lot of attitude and can give you a
hard time.
Some horses are ex-race horses
and ex-Olympic Equestrian horses
which are highly skilled and easier
to work with. It all depends on the
skill of the rider.
Mascellino and Birmingham com-pete in English saddle competitions,
a formal set of events in contrast
to the more hectic and fast-paced
Western saddle competitions.
The pairs last competition was
a weekend event in Reedsville. Bir-
mingham took fourth place both
days, earning six points, and Mas-
cellino took sixth place on Saturday
and fifth place on Sunday, earning
three points.
Mascellino and Birminghaminvite all Mercyhurst students who
are interested in competing or
simply being around horses to ven-
ture out and take a lesson.
By Matt Cirell
Staff writer
Get paid $10 per story to cover thecampus sports you love.
Proficient writing skills and reliability required.
For information, visit staff meetings Mondays
at 8:15 p.m. or email [email protected].
Haley Mascellino, left, and Caitlin Birmingham, right, are the
lone members of the Mercyhurst Equestrian Club.
Contributed photo
Caitlin Birmingham, above, rides in an English saddle
competition. The club is looking for new members. The club
takes lessons at Brenric Stables and competes in local horse
competitions.
Contributed photo
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