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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929

The Merciad is also available atV merciadmercyhurst.edu NEWS:New Health andSafety Building atNorth East to be builtby next fall.P A G E 3FEATURESJunior Katie Walkerproves she has whatit takes to be a TVproducer.P A G E 5

OPINION:'Write Truth'aboutthe power of hehuman willP A G E 6

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT:Check out the eventsfor this yearsNational Danceweek at Mercyhurst.P A G E 9

SPORTS:Baseball struggles toturn season around.PAGE 12

Upcoming Campus EventsFilm: The Station AgentMary D'Angelo Performing ArtsCenterWednesday, April 21, at 2 and 8pjn .Mercyhurst CoUege Rotaract Club 2ncAnnual PolioPlus Run-WalkMercyhurst CampusSaturday, April 24Literary Festival: Lumen ReceptionMercy Heritage RoomTuesday, April 27,7:30p.m.

Musical: Anything GoesMercyhurst Prep*Saturday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. andSunday, April 25, at 5 p.m.

IndexNews. ..1National News 2News... .3Features 4Features 5Opinion 6Opinion.. 7A &K^i v$A & E..., 9Sports. 10Sports 11S p o r t s . 1 2

Photo by GregWohtford, reprinted by permission of Times Publishing Co.The audience intensley listens to James Carviile, who spoke at Mercyhurst as part of the McHale Distinguished Lecture Series. Thelecture was held In the Mercyhurst Athletic Center to accommodate the large crowd, which was twice the PAC's capacity.

iRagm'Cajun' heats up 'HurstBy Michelle ElliaContributing writer

Fiery, informative, and motivatingarc only a few out of many wordsthat describe the tone i n which polit-ical analyst, James Carviile, spoke onMonday nightCarviile who is known today for co-hosting CNN's popular debate pro-gram, "Crossfire" is often known asthe "Ragm' Cajun". Carviile was alsolargely responsible for President Wil-liam Clinton's victory in 1992. Al-though many college students mayknow him from his brief debate ap-pearance in the popular film "OldSchool."Car viile's Lecture was a part of TheMcHale Lecture Series, which isnamed to honor Sister M. LorettaMcHale, a college leader, educator,historian, and leader of her religiouscommunity.The lecture, which was held in theMercyhurst Athletic Center, drew ina sold-out crowd that was made upof Mercyhurst students and facultyas well as community members.Carviile,who immediately grabbedthe attention of the audience with a

few entertaining short stories and

jokes, commented upon topics thatincluded the war in Iraq as well asthe intensity and duration of theupcoming presidential election."A bunch of Saudis living in Af-ghanistan attacked us and we invad-ed Iraq," Carviile said. "Nuttiestdamn stuff I ever heard. Like[former White House counterterror-

ism chief] Richard Clarke said, it'slike Japan attacked us and we invad-ed Mexico."Throughout the lecture, Carviilewas met with several standing ova-tions as well as overwhelming ap -plause from the audience.Carviile asked the audience a ques-tion in order to explain his predic-tion that Kerry will win the presiden-tial election this coming November."Have you heard anyone say, *Ivoted for Gore in 2000, but I'm soimpressed with Bush that Pm goingto vote for him?" asked Carviile.Although the question was rhetor-ical in nature, the audience did re-spond with a roar of laughter.When addressingwhat it is that Sen-ator John Kerry must do to defeatPresident Bush, Carviile said "Ker-rydoesn't have to announce that he

is different than Bush, he needs to

Carviile is knownfor writing fivebest sellingbooks and ap-pearing vonCNN's debateprogram "Cross-fire." He wasalso largely re-sponsible J forPresident Clin-ton's victory In1992. i

Photo by GregWohtford, reprinted by permission of Times Publishing Co.

develop a rationale of how he isdifferent."When it came time for the ques-tion and answer session following thespeech, several Mercyhurst Studentsas well as community members*A t : \ Ifvoiced their opinions and concernstowards our current political environ-ment^

When asked what the average citi-zen can do to encourage people tovote Carviile responded, "You havea local Democratic Party, send it twoor three bucks. Make a statement,wear a button. Write a letter to theeditor. More people read those let-ters to the editor then they do theeditorials themselves."Please see Carviile on Page 3.Shimek's resignation iplarbittersweetdecision'

By Jonclle DavisContributingwriterAfter 14 years of hard work anddedication, Cass Shimek, AssociateDean of Student Development andDirector of the Student Union, hasdecided to resign from her position.According to Shimek, she spent alot of time debating whether or notto stay at Mercyhurst but in the endshe decided that her family neededto be her number one focus in herlife right now.."I'm resigning because I need to bewith my family. I am the type of per-*son that is very dedicated to myworkand because of that my childrenhaven't been seeing the best of their

mom. It was a hard decision. IfMercyhurst would let faculty take sab-baticals, I probably would havestayed," she said.Shimek went on to say that herdecision to leave Mercyhurst was abittet weet decision. The part ofMercyhurst that she will miss themost is working with the students."1 love working with the students,it is what's kept me here this long. Itis neat to see people grow and devel-op. I Have had some work study stu-dents through the years who were

high risk students and I love findingways to provide them with opportu-nities," said Shimek.Along with the high-risk students,Shimek also enjoyed working withthe many student leaders at Mercy-hurst. "I also feel really blessed towork with such elite students, saidShimek.She went on to say that she lovesworking with students. "It's what'skept me here, it's so neat to see peo-ple grow and develop," Shimek said.Although she will miss workingwith the students, Shimek feels thatMercyhurst will find a great replace*

ment for her position"Mercyhurst is a good institutionwith good morals andvalues in core.I am confident that they will bringsomeonegood inwhowill have theirOwn skills and own gift," she said.Shimek also said, "Students needto be open with that, it will be a newthing and they will learn and grow.The students will be in my thoughtsand prayers. I am going to do ev-erything I can do to make sure thatthey have the best person workinghere. Someone who respects andappreciates the students," saidShimek.Through the years Shimek has

Katie McAdems/Photo editorCass Shimek has worked at Mercyhurst since October19,1990.worked to develop many programsand has played a huge role in devel-oping Student Government and theStudent Activities Committee at Mer-cyhurst.When she first started at Mercy-hurst on October 19, 1990, SAC was

only made up of four people. At thetime it was suggested that Mercyhurstaddressed bettei programming forstudents in order to minimize alco-hol consumption.Please see Shimek on Page 5.

http://merciadmercyhurst.edu/http://merciadmercyhurst.edu/

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PAGE 2 THE MERCIAD APRIL 21,2004

7b contact: newsmerciad@mercyhurst.eduNEWSA r c h a e o l o g i s t w o r k s t o s a v e M a y a ! l e g a c yBy Alexandra WitzeThe Dallas Morning News

PERU, Guatemala iDeep in the Guatemalan jungle,the battle spirits of an ancientworld are reawakening.Fourteen centuries ago, Mayakings fought for control ofWaka, a city on a crucial riverroute westward out of Mayacountry; Today the city is theepicenter of a different kind ofbattle _ to preserve some ofCentral America's last intact rainforest and its treasures.Chief among the modem war-riors is Dallas archaeologist Dav-id Freidel, a Maya specialist atSouthern Methodist University.

Working with Guatemalan col-leagues, Freidel has begun thefirst modern survey of Waka'smajestic ruined tem ples and pal-aces. ' f-The history being unearthed atWaka involves epic tales of kingsand queens, warriors and prin-cesses. But the archaeologistshave also dug up far less glam-orous discoveries, including for-est fires and land grabs.After more than a millenniumhidden in the jungle, said Freidel,one of the last great Maya sitesis in danger of being lost forev-er.Last spring, people illegallyclearing the land for cattle set

fires near Waka that turned therain orestair into a smoky hazereminiscent of Los Angelessmog. Two weeks ago^ workerscutting fire lines a few milesfrom the site were run off by agroup of armed men claimingthe land for themselves.In theory, the site of Wakaknown today as 1 Peru shouldbe immune to attack; It lies with-in Guatemala's Laguna del TigreNational Park, the largest suchpark in Central America and afocus of conservation work.The area is a focus of conser-vation work because it is hometo the end angered scarlet macaw.But wealthy cattle ranchers

\mmAbove:David Freidel at the Maya archaeological site of EIPeru In the province of Peten In nor thern G uatemala.Left:SMU graduate student Ol iv ia Navar ro Farr, right fronttakes no tes at an archaeo log ical site at El Pe r u .

have begun to divvy up Lagunadel Tigre among themselves, said_IP Roan McNab, director or theWildlife Conservation Society'soffice in Flores, Guatemala.Despite the park being officiallyoff-limits to grazing, at least10,000 cattle browse the park'swestern half.Things are better for the mo-ment in the eastern part of thepark near Waka. Still, cattlebrowse in fenced areas in the so-called buffer aKJfff betoftieii saiic-tioned rancMand and the park.*And people have moved in, too;entire communities have sprungup inside the park.In response, Dr. Freidel hasproposed an unusual collabora-tion of scientists, conservation-

ists, residents and the govern-

ment Called the K'ante'el Alli-ance, for the mythical placewhere the Maya maize god wasreborn, the group will soon askthe government to set aside230,000 acres within the nation-al park for special protection.Along with pristine rain forest,scarlet macaws and jaguars, theproposed reserve contains sev-eral key Maya sites.Before the ancient Maya civi-lization collapsed in the ninthcentury, several million peoplelived in the northern part ofGuatemala, building giant tem-ples and pyramids out of nativelimestone. Modern Maya stilllive throughout the homeland oftheir ancestors, which also in-cluded southeastern Mexico,Belize and Honduras. Many of

the workers at the Waka site areof Maya descent.The dig at Waka is in the sec-ond year of three years' workand involves 20 archaeologists,11 of them Guatemalan.Discoveries coming rom Wakashould help clarify many of themysteries that surround theMaya, said the dig's co-director,Hector Escobedo, of the Uni-versidad del Valle de Guatemalain Guatemala City."It's a big part of the puzzleof ancient Maya civilization th athas not yet been put into place,"he said.'Discovered by oil prospectorsin the 1960s, Waka has been pro-fessionally studied only onc e byHarvard archaeologist Ian Gra-ham in 1971. He mapped about

650 buildings in just less than 1square kilometer (about 250acres).Waka's importance in the an-cient world lay in its location _south of one Maya capital,Calakmul, and west of another,Tikal, as well as on a key riverroute."This made it enormouslyvaluable to anyone," Freidel said.The city has an unusually richhistory _ 22 kings in all, runningfrom A.D. 150 to A.D. 850.'That's why the site's going tobe famous," Freidel said. "Fa-mous ilingshappened here."But fame seemed far from theminds of the Waka archaeolo-gists as they toiled last week be-neath towering mahogany trees,to the concert of howler mon-

keys and the rare macawsquawk.The more portable discover-ies rom he site, rom housandsof pottery ragments o tiny jadebeads, go to the project's labora-tory in Guatemala City. Therethey will remain under the aus-pices of Guatemala's Institute ofAnthropology and History.Waka will then become a newfocus for Maya studies, saidproject co-director Escobedo.And if the proposed alliancewith conservationists succeeds",the site could become famous farbeyond the small circle of Maya

l_ I T% _ 'archaeologists. Project scientistsenvision area residents runningan ecotourism business to keepthe park intact

B u s h ' s p o l i c y w o v e n w i t h M o r e t r o o p s n e e d e d i n A f g h a n i s t a nprayer draws concernsBy William DouglasKnight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON At a re-cent news conference and in anew book by Bob Woodward,President Bush conveys a sensethat when it comes to foreignpolicy, he's on a mission fromGod."I also have this belief, strongbelief, that freedom is not thiscountry's gift to the world. Free-dom is the Almighty's gift to ev-ery man and woman in thisworld " Bush said during a newsconference last week. "And as thegreatest power on the face ofthe Earth, we have an obligationto help spread that freedom."N early four years into his pres-idency, Bush's strong Christianbeliefs are well known. Butthrough Woodward's book, andthe president's own words, Amer-icans are learning how Bush'sfaith drives his decisions, politi-cal and religion experts said."Clearly what I'm hearing... isa sense of religious calling, andnot even around the mission orgoal of the country," said RobinLovin, a Southern MethodistUniversity ethics professor andform er dean of the university'sdivinity school "But a sense ofreligious calling for the policiesof this president."

\i In "Plan of Attack" Wood-ward's book, Bush describespraying after giving the go-aheadto launch the war against Iraq.The president told W oodward hewasn't praying to "justify warbased upon God.""Nevertheless, in my case Ipray that I be as good a messen

ger of his will as possible" Bush

told Woodward.The president's revelationshave made some uneasy. Inde-pendent presidential candidateRalph Nader on Monday calledBush a "Messianic militarist" formixing religion and policy in hispublic statements and interviewsabout the U.S. role in Iraq."He's an unsuitable officehold-er," Nader said. 'Talk about sep-aration of church and state; it'snot separated at all in Bush'sbrain. We want him to make de-cisions as a secular presid ent"White House officials dis-missed Nader's claims. "Thepresident talks about the princi-ple of the separation of churchand state and how it is a bed-rock cornerstone of our democ-racy," said Trent D uffy, a WhiteHouse spokesman. "He doesbelieve that deeply. Having saidthat, he has a strong personalfaith, but he leaves that at theresidence before he enters theOval Office."* '&*The danger of injecting God

into the Iraq war, Nader said, isfurther angering a Muslim worldthat already distrusts U.S. poli-cies and motives. "Anybody witha stable approach to this wouldkeep his mouth shut," he said.Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001,Bush angered many in the Mus-lim world by calling the war onterrorism a "crusade," which theyequated to the medieval effortsby Western Christian crusadersto stem the spread of J lam.The White House said the pres-ident regretted using the term.But it resurfaced last month in aBush Cheney campaign letterthat praised the president for"leading a global crusade against

terroism.

By Malcolm GarciaKnight Ridder NewspapersL KABUL, Afghanistan Asthe U.S.-led military coalition inAfghanistan intensifies its searchfor al-Qaida chief Osama binLaden, anger toward the UnitedStates and doubts among aver-age Afghans and Pakistanis thathe was behind the 2001 terror-ist attacks on New York andWashington could undermine theeffort to hunt him down.Bin Laden and his chief lieu-tenant, Egyptian doctor Aymanal Zawahri, are thought to behiding in the mountainous bor-der region separating Afghani-stan and Pakistan, but after near-ly three years of searching, coa-lition forces have failed to find,capture or kill either man*The United States has had adifficult time creating a stablepolitical climate in Afghanistan,in part because oi growing re-sistance from al-Qaida and Tali-ban fighters, local warlords anddrug traffickers, who all opposethe weak, U.S. backed centralgovernmentIn addition, the Bush adminis-tration began diverting attention,money and soldiers from Af-ghanistan to prepare for an in*vasion of Iraq before it had de-feated al-Qaida and the Taliban,according to senior U.S. militaryofficials and a new book byWashington Post reporter BobWoodward.

About 2,000 US. Marines havebeen sent to Afghanistan in thepast month to strengthen the10,000 coalition soldiers already! in the country, but the mountinginsurgency in Iraq threatens todivert additional resources fromgrowing problems in Afghani-stan. Myers said the United

Coalition forces in IOf tw mom tn 150,000 troops In lmq,morfrom9* United Surt*s* tnt nmalndsr *om 35 p*fuwltoofn*countries.Current coalitionforcesu x L 8,?00

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States might cut its number oftroops in Afghanistan after thecountry holds presidential andparliamentary elections in Sep-tember.In a visit to Afghanistan lastFriday, the chairman of the JointChiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen.Richard B. Myers, said astepped-up campaign against ter-rorists in Afghanistan and Paki-stan would succeed in killing orcapturing bin Laden.Myers's stopover in Afghani-stan came a day after an audio-tape believed to have been re-

corded by bin Laden offered atruce to European nations if theywithdrew rom Muslim countries.The tape also threatened contin-ued violence against Israel andthe United States, and on Sun-day National Security AdviserCondoleezza Rice warned thatterrorists could strike the Unit-ed States again before Novem-ber's presidential election.A March 11 bombing attackon a commuter train in Madrid,believed to have been carried outby Islamic extremists sympathet-ic to bin Laden, killed 191 peo-ple and helped topple the gov-ernment of Spanish Prime Min-isterJose Maria Aznar, a US. ally.With few soldiers who know

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29 othtr nations i/i4JI

the mountainous countryside orthe local languages and cultures ,coalition troops are relying in parton Afghans and Pakistanis tohelp find bin Laden and otheral-Qaida leaders.' But endemic poverty and littlereconstruction aid outside ofKabul have raised questionsabout the true purpose of theAmerican-led ouster of thehard-line Taliban Islamic regime.

Many Afghans now say binLaden isn't a terrorist, and someeven suggest that he never ex-isted. Instead, they argue that hewas a ploy used by the UnitedStates to pursue world domina-tion. No individual, they say,could have successfully orga-nized the 2001 terrorist attacksin New York and Washington.

"It was not Osama bin Ladenin New York but computer gen-erated images of destruction,"said Abdul Ghani, a religiousleader In the Hajl Yaqub Mosquein Kabul. "The Afghan peoplesay if it was Osama bin Ladenwho caused this trouble, why didhe not continue attacking theUnited States on September12th, 13th and 14th? It was justan American plan to captureAfghanistan."In the teashops of downtown

Jalalabad, near the Pakistani bor-der, unemployed workers takelittle comfort in the internation-al aid that's gone into rebuildingKabul ?"There is no future here." saidTaiq Ahmad, 25. "Osama binLaden, I think, was a hero. TheU.S. says he is the enemy, butthey don't have proof. Theycan't catch him. He is for all ofIslam. The U.S. forces are in ourstreets with guns like they wantto start something. Afghan peo-ple don't like this."Similar sentiments are beingexpressed in Pakistan, said IjazShall Gilani, chairman of theGALLUP/BRB, a marketingresearch firm in Islamabad, andthe capital.Most people in Pakistan wereappalled by the Sept 11 attacksbecause innocent civilians werekilled, a violation of Islamicteachings, Gilani said. However,they turned against the UnitedStates because they consideredthe war in A fghanistan an assaultagainst Muslims."The U.S. has taken on anti-Muslim context in the eyes ofmany people," Gilani said. "Thatgenerates support for Osamabin Laden by raising questionsabout U.S. policy. H e is seen asstanding up to the U S."Others argue that dead or-Jive, bin Laden has achieved hitgoal of uniting fundamentalistfactions of the Muslim worldagainst the United States."His death or capture wouldHave a psychological boost forthe West, but little other impact,"said Manioor Akbar Kundi, apolitical science professor at theUniversity of Baluchistan inQuetta, Pakistan. "When he iskilled, nothing will change unlessUS. foreign policy changes.

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7bcontact newsmerciad@mercyhurst.eduNEWSGroundbreaking draws near;forMNE H ealth & Safety bu ildingBy Tiffany BurgessContributing writer

Melcyhurst N o r t h E a s t isbuilding a ne w building that isprojected to cost a total of $5million with financial supportcoming from trie state, federalg o v e r n m e n t , and the H i r t z e lFoundation.The new building is referred toas the Health and Safety build-ing, since it has yet to be named..Executive Vice President Dr .Gary Brown said that the name

will be decided in the near fu-ture.This building project has beenin th e works since Tom Ridgewas governor and will inallybe

coming to completion within thenext year.According to Brown, they areplanning to break ground by theen d of April and to inishcon-struction by next year of winter

2005. w V The setting is on the easternbacking of campus, where th ecurrent Softball field is located.The building will be approxi-mately 30,000 square feet. Theacademic building will consist ofa library, new teaching comput-er labs, six classrooms, and 15offices.O ne of the interesting aspects

Frte photoA computerized Image of the new Health and Saftey building w hich has yet to be named.of this construction is the nurs-ing arts labs that will be goinginto the new building. Nursingart labs are mock up emergency

rooms for students to be able totrain for what real surroundingsof a hospital are like. T his is anincredible learning tool for the

students at North East s incenursing is one of its largest ma-jors, as well as Criminal Justice.

Shimek e n d s he r long-t ime serviceContinued rom Page 1At first, Shimek developed asix-day a week program, whichincluded many different activi-ties for students. She soon foundthat having programs six days aweek was overdone and decidedto switch to doing proOTammingQR.^ekend?fr> #^ n?fee^sfound to be very successful,. * |Along with developing theseprograms, Shimek also workedon the development of freshmanorientation over five years.

"I would have to say that I amproud of the development ofFreshman Orientation. The dayof service for freshman this yearwas amazing. We ha d 27 ser-vice sites and 650 students. Itgave the students a chance tobond with faculty and see thek . , , - , - . - j community,,, she, $aid

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To contact:featuremerciad@mercyhurst.eduFEATURESC r i s i s c o m m u n i c a t i o n c l a s s g i v e s b a c k t o c o m m u n i t yBy Kyla MclnchakContributing writerNew classes offer fresh ideas

and opportunities. The crisiscommunication class, which isinstructed by Dr. Melissa Gib-son, is being offered for the firsttime at MercyhurstGibson explained that thecourse is an upper level class thatis designed to inform studentsof the crises that can arise in anorganizations Students are thentaught how to handle crises byuse of effective communication.Gibson, who also teachescourses such as business andprofessional communicationsand organizational leadership, hasadministered service-learningprojects for numerous years. Asa result she was excited to en-

gage her crisis communicationstudents in a hands-on learningproject"Sr. Michele Schroeck helpedme find a partner in the com-munity who wanted us to workon creating crisis communicationplans," said Gibson.Because of Schroeck and Gib-son's initiative, 21 students arecurrently creating a plan for the

St. Martin's Center.Gibson said that employees atthe center were given a crisis in-ventory, which helps to deter-mine what kinds of problemsare most likely to occur at aninstitution. Using this informa-tion, the students are devising aplan that encompasses four sig-nificant problems that are mostlikely to occur at St Martin's.Gibson stated that the class isdivided into teams of five.Each team focuses on one ofthe four crises and then deter-mines how to plan for and actduring the crisis."The broad and narrow as-pects are analyzed" said KellyRose Duttine, who is a juniorenrolled in the crisis communi-cation class.Gibson gave examples of nec-essary aspects t o focus on: "Stu-

dents must know who to con-tact if injured and what to sayto reporters."The cen ter, which is located on1701 Parade St in Erie, servesthe community in varied ways.Their food bank, counseling ser-vices, housing;, and daycare cen-ter are all available to membersof the community that are inneed of assistance.

Katoe McAdams/Pholo editorDr Melissa Gibson and her crisis commu nication students are participating In a hands-on experience with the St. Martin Center In Erie.

| Because St M artin's Center isgiving, it can also use a helpinghand. The work of the commu-nication students is serving as anFashion guru heads to NYCBy Kate BaumapnContributing writer

The Fashion Institute ofTechnology in New YorkCity has recently enabledone Mercyhurst student toget one step closer to reach-ing her dream.Carrie Notaro, a sopho-more fashion major, wasaccepted into the instituteon Monday, April 5, andLcouldn't t}erJEpor. expitecL -JAs a junior inWgJy schoolshe found her passion forfashion when she visitedFIT and knew right then itwas the place for her."I didn't think I wasready for New York rightout of high school so I de-cided to come to Mercy-hurst first, and then go toFIT later," Notaro said.Mercyhurst has a verystrong fashion ecology pro-gram affiliated with FITThe fashion students candecide to attend the es-teemed school in either theirjunior or senior year.Regardless of the yearthey go, a student receivesan associate degree fromFIT and a bachelor's fromMercyhuLj 1 n the students second se-mester they are required toget an internship in the city,

Notaro said that some of

the girls that have alreadygone have had internshipsat prestigious companieslike Vogue, Calvin Klein,and MTV,Notaro also explainedthat she opted to go her jun-ior year because she wasready to escape Brie for awhile and then still be ableto spend her senior yearwith her friends back atMercyhurst.After interviewing Nota-< ro, he r knowledge of fash-ion was obvious; itvs been ahobby of hers since she was

*a little giri"When I was 10, I usedto take art lessons. All Iwould ever draw or like todraw was clothes. Eversince then, I 've beensketching ideas, style andoutfits. I'm into fashion il-lustration," said No taro.At first glance, it mayseem that fashion majorshave it easier then other stu-dents, but that is the fur-thest thing from the truth,explains Notaro."The amount of work isa little idiculoussometimes.Honesdy, I hate the factthat people think it's easywhen it's definitely no t I didsome research abo ut colleg-es that offer fashion beforeI came here and it turns outMercyhurst is actually oneof the most challenging It's

a lot of hands-on, too. Wesew a lo t"Although fashion is a hugepart of Notaro*s life, shehas other things going onbut still manages to have agood time while in school.p She has a job at The Lim-ited at the Millcreek Mall."I love their clothes and itgives me some good retailexperience," she said.She has a twin sister wholives in Sarasota Fla., who'sgot the same eye for design.Notaro loves to watch"Sex and the City" in heriiree time and give herselfmanicures and enjoys work-ing out with her roommate.Even though the workload can sometimes get herdown, she couldn't see her-1self anywhere else at thispointHer favorite part of themajor is*how close all thegirls are."I love the fact that, ascheesy as it sounds, we areall sort of like one. We haveall gone through the sameclasses and amounts ofwork and studying"If only we* could all be soexcited about our majors, letalone school itself."I love how I can say I ac-tually don't mind going toclass when it comes to mymajor. It's awesome."

'alley ">tmaiSunday: B.Q. Pork md

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7b contact featuremercled@mercyhurst.eduEATURESW a l k e r i s a n u p - a n d h c o m i n g T V p r o d u c e rBy Courtney NicholasFeatures editor"Hey, didn't I see you on tele-vision the other day?"This is a question that juniorKatie Walker hears several timesa week from students at Mer-cyhurst C ollege.Walker, from Ru ssell, Pennsyl-vania is studying communica-tions with a concentration ispublic relations."Coming from a small highschool I was used to personal-ized attention. So I really want-ed a smaller college where pro -fessors know you by name andnot just by where you are sittingin the classroom," Walker said."Mercyhurst is close to homebut yet far enough away."Walker is the television station

manager for the commu nicationdepartm ent Her duties includemaking sure all the shows areready for the airwaves."My job as station manager isa six-day-a-week job. I am con-stantly thinking about what Ineed to do for the show that day

wor a show that week and it seems

like there is always something tobe done," Walker said.Walker was attracted to thecommunication department be-cause of Dr. Richard Welch andhis openness with his students.The uppcrclassmen were verywelcoming and made her feel asif she was part of the major veryearly on.With the addition of the Au-drey Hirt Academic Center oncampus, the communication de-partment was moved from thebasement of Baldwin hall to thebottom floor of the Hirt Cen-ter. The new television studioand classrooms offer studentsmore opportunity.

clWith the addition of a largerarea in which to work and pro-duce shows that Hirt has been aperfect addition to the depart*ment *We are able to let morepracticum students' work onshows. It been a great upgrade,"Walker said.Walker feels through the peo-ple, the opportunities, Dr. Welchand Dr. Melissa Gibson havehelped her learn and become awell rounded student She has

Katie McAdams/RtotoftdrtorKatie Walker plays a huge role in Hurst TV As station manager, it is her responsibility tomake sure everything Is ready for the shows dally.also had other amazing experienc-es that have taught her muchabout communication and herlife.

"I have become more famil-iar with a lot of people in mymajor and familiar with theequipment in the station. Be-

ing th e television station manag-er has helped me practice my or-ganizational and time manage-ment skills," Walker said.

When Walker is not in the sta-tion she can be found in classor participating in the Commu-nication Board and InternationalAssociation of Broadcasters(IABQ. | .: jShe also is a work study at theathletic center and is helpingwith the student produced mov-ie "Love is Blind". ; W"The best aspect of workingat the television station is beingable to help produce shows thatare going out, not only to theMercyhurst College communi-ty but the Erie community" saidWalker. f | | |

Walker is looking into her fu-ture and thinks graduate school,a job or an internship may be adirection that she will explore.Her dream job would besomething that utilizes both herproduction and public relationsskills."The communication depart-ment has offered me many op -portunities and I am glad that Ichoos it as my major. I wouldlike to work for a non-profit or-ganization or in the health carefield in the future," Walker said.

H a m a d y h e a d s t o V i r g i n i a - M a r y l a n d R e g i o n a l C o l l e g eBy Jen HelbigContributing w riter

Brady Hamady, a junior biol-ogy major with a concentrationin pre-veterinary, fromJohnstow n, Pa. will leave Mer-cyhurst this spring to attend Vir-ginia-Maryland Regional Collegeof *Veterinary Medicine inBlacksburg, Va."I have always wanted to be aveterinarian," Hamady said^Hamady's advisor, and teach-er, Dr. Larry Gauriloff, ha sknown him for three years."I have had Brady in cell biol-ogy, microbiology, genetics, andbio-chemistry," Gauriloff said."In the time that I have knownhim," Gauriloff said, "Brady hasbeen absolutely determined tobe a veterinarian."Hamady was originally attract-ed to Mercyhurst after his twinsister, Autumn, looked at thecollege for its Sports MedicineDepartment"I was also attracted to Mer-cyhurst because of the friendlyenvironment and the out-goingprofessors."S * "One of my favorite classeswas comparative anatomy wherewe got to thoroughly dissect acat and learn every body partright down to the individualblood vessels," Hamady said.Hamady has also had otherhands-on experience."A veterinary school will not

look at a prospective studentunless he has at least 600 hoursof hands-on experience," Ha-mady said.Hamady worked at a mixedanimal practice near his homeduring the summer."A student is able to apply ifhe has the prerequisite courses,"Hamady said. "It was very diffi-cult to fit all of the classes in,bu t 1 had enough of the qualifi-cations to apply."After two grueling interviews,Hamady was accepted. jGauriloff commented on Ha-mady's work ethic: "One has tobe extremely focused not only inbiology, but in all of the physicalsciences to go on to be a veteri-narian.""Brady is a person that couldlearn all of the material by him-self. He never had a doubt abouthis major, and a I had to do wastell him which courses to take,and he did it He never neededany encouragement, other thana pat on the back every now andthen," Gauriloff said.Out of 530 out-of-state appli-cants, Hamady was one of theten chosen to attend Virginia-Maryland."I am glad that Brady is goingwhere he's going," Gauriloff said."Leaving Mercyhurst early wasa difficult decision. He is leavinghis sister, and they seem veryclose."Hamady said that it will be thefirst time that he will be away

Brady Hamady willveterinary doctor.Katie McAdams/photo editorbe leaving Mercyhurst in May to follow his dream of becoming a

from his twin sister, but his undergraduate years helped toserve as a good adjustment pe-riod.Gauriloff explained the pro-gram that Hamady will be en-tering, "This is no t a *3 plus' pro-gram," Gauriloff said, "Ha-mady's situation is very rare tomove on to veterinary school a

year early. It has been ten yearssince a student has taken thiscourse."!The credits that Hamady earnsnext year at Virginia-Marylandwill count towards hs bachelors'degree.The credits from his irstyearwill also go toward the doctor-ate of veterinary medicine that

he will earn after four years. l>Hamady explained what he willdo next year, "I will be living inan apartment on a nearby cattlefarm to gain some extra experi-ence."Hamady owns horses at homeand plans t o specialize in equinemedicine.There are only 27 schools in

the country that offer a veteri-nary medicine degree, and theequine specialty is very muchneeded.Hamady said that one of hislong-term goals is to have hisown p ractice, and possibly to usehis veterinary knowledge to de-velop an animal rehabilitationprogram that incorporates trou-bled teens into the healing pro-cess.Hamady became interested inthis idea after volunteering forthe Therapeutic Riding programof Erie County.Other than just veterinary ex-tracurricular activities, Hamadyhas been involved with the con-cert choir, the ambassadorsclub, and the honors programat MercyhurstGauriloff said that this haskept Hamady busy, and healthy."I think th at Brady's involve-ment with singing is much moreimportant to his sanity than re-search projects and extra sci-ence could have b een.""I have always scheduled himaround his choir class,"Gauriloff said. "It is an impor-tant part of his day also."Gauriloff said that he thinksHamady is a worthy candidatefor this educational plan."Brady is just totally dedicat-ed to achieving this goal, and heputs in so much effort, I thinkhe will be a hard worker in allthat he does,"

B r o t h e r a n d s i s t e r l o v e c a m p u s a n d f b e i n g a r o u n d o n e a n o t h e r

Kalie McAdams/photoeditorCourtney and Brian Frledrlch enjoy having one another on campue. They hang out andeat together In the union.By Jen HelbigContributing w riter

Freshman 4 CourtneyFriedrich and her brother, se-nior Brian Friedrich arc both

students at Mercyhurst.Natives of Franklin, Pa. theyboth have chosen the schoolfor similar reasons."I found Mercyhurst becausemy cousin went here," Brian

said. "She was a sophomoreat the ime,and I was either ajunior or senior in highschool.9"I had come up a lot to seeBrian. I took my tour on a

beautiful day and I just lovedthe campus," Courtney said.Both siblings said that theschool suits their needs.Courtney is not in the samefield as her older brother,who is a sports medicine ma-jor."I am a hotel restaurant in-stitutional management ma-jor," Courtney said. UI hadbeen a criminal justice majorbefore, but I had worked forawhile in a restaurant andenjoyed it. I was a hostessand a server, and I like therestaurant environment* Th eHRIM program is very goodhere at Mercyhurst."

"I enjoy my major" Briansaid. "I have been able to gainsome experience through myrotations with athletic train-Brian explained th at he hasto do one rotation each tri-mester,c"This involves coveringpractices, games, and tapingthe athletes," Brian said.Courtney has become per-sonally involved with athletics also. She is a member ofthe girls' water polo team

"I started playing in Novem-ber because I had played soft-ball at my high school," Court-ney explained. "Nextyear, I will(rain from September untilApril. I played softball and Iswam in high school, so it is niceto be involved with athletics incollege also."The two siblings each enjoytheir own activities, but they donot mind being together either.CWedon't have too many ofthe same friends, but it was re-ally nice in th e beginning of the

year when he would call me upand have me over to meet peo-ple."Brian said that he also enjoyshis sister's company."She comes over to my placeevery once in awhile, and shealso knows my girlfriend, whogoes to Mercyhurst."Courtney commented thattheir relationship with others isdifferent than it was in highschool."In high school, people usedto always call me 'Brian',"Courtney said. "Here, I am ableto meet people he hasn't evenmet." * ?Both siblings said that their

parents appreciate theirchoice of school,"It is easier for them,"Courtney said 'Transporta-tion is simple, and it is justreassuring to be on the samecampus."Brian commented that therelationship between him andhis sister has changed overthe years."Our relationship is defi-nitely different," Brian said."She has changed since highschool."Both agreed that their rela-tionship is about the samehere at Mercyhurst as it is athome."We talk here about asmuch as we do at home,"Brian said. "But at Mercy-hurst, we talk a lot more thanwe actually see each other.9'Mercyhurst is a fittingschool for both siblings' ma-jors and extracurricular activ-ities."A Ithough we have differ-]cat interests, it's a com fort tohave someone to count on," |Courtney said.

mailto:featuremercled@mercyhurst.edumailto:featuremercled@mercyhurst.edu

8/6/2019 The Merciad, April 21, 2004

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PAGE 6 THEMERCIAD APRIL 21,2004

OPINION o contact:opinlonmercfad@mercyhurst. eduThe^Good, the Bad and the Ugly:What's hot and what's not atMercyhurstTheGood...jj iWelcome to the hom estretch. Sure got here fast, didn't it? It's time to start cracking those text-book s, dusting off those flashcards and m aking friends with the professor if you haven't been toclass in awhile (muffin baskets ate recommended)^ Don't worry. Itli be over before you know itand summer break will start Seniors, this Friday marks exactly one month until graduation! Getexcited!

It*s always good when students take advantage of unique opportunities, James Carolled lectureon Monday was well attended by both Mercyhurst students and the Erie pub lic Carville's engaginglecture style kept everyone in attendance at attention, whether they agreed with Carville s politics orn o t Here's hoping that future events will enjoy the same attendance record.

The Bad...Nice weather does sometimes bring out the worst in people, doesn't it? This past Sunday, a group

of students on Lewis Avenue decided to celebrate the warm weather by enjoying a friendly gameof Softball, followed by a friendly round of gol These friendly games, however, mostly consistedof hitting parked cars with softballs and golf balls whenever possible. Kids, if you don't behave,Mother Nature is going to take the nice weather away? Got it?

What we have here is a failure to communicate. Despite MSG's, SAC's, administration's bestefforts, many graduating seniors are still in the dark about upcoming graduation events. The simplething would be to read the graduation handbook that all seniors were provided with, but manywould still like to have things spelled out for them. Next thing you know, they'll also be asking fornaptime, followed by cookies and milk. Actually.4that's sound pretty good.

I.. and! the! UglySometimes, Mercyhurst is like a bad after-school special. A drunk driver crashed into a car onLewis Avenue early Tuesday morning. While there were no injuries, the drunken offender attempt-

ed to take off after the incident, only to be stopped by campus security There g oes the maturity ofsome students* How many ways does it have to be said: drunk driving is stupid. There's nothingfunny about that

Personal ob sess ions:A tradition of frivolous procrastination

By Ashley! Pu]Bose u - 4jContributing WriterWe all do it It becomes a com-pulsion, a need. The day just isn'tright without it If you want toknow what "it" is, you're just

going to have to ask yourself,because it is different for every-one.Yeah, it's a personal prefer-ence.We all have those tiny quirks,those little habits or stress reliev-ers that we do whenever we geta free mome nt However, this isnot our obsession. I'm talkingabout those huge things; theonesthat make you look at yourwatch, then the wall clock, andthen check th e international timestandards clock because youcan't believe that you just lostfour hours.It's these obsessions that get usthrough the week. Come on,!admit it If vou didn't have that

one,1 special habit that drives oth-ers insane, you'd'be* the most:miserable person on earth. Oryou'd lose your mind/^Yourchoice.Some people read. I don'tmean those people who grab anybook and read to pass the time.I mean those people who pickan author and read every singlephrase he/she ever wrote, andcan quote it back verbatim andcontinually, until you want tostrangle them and then go backin time and force the author'sparents to use birth controlOthers do music. Some go outand spend oodles of money onCD's, only to listen to them twice,and then spend countless hourstrying to decide exacdy where theCD's should go in their evergrowing monument to techno*rap- monster ballads.Then there are my personalfavorite, the gamers. The gamecan be anything, cards, role-play-ing, Internet Hearts, you name

it Their day is made if they canfit a game in, but the sun seemsa little darker if they go too long'without it It's worse if it is a sin-gle player game, especially on theIntern et You can probably rec-ognize these people by theirglazed eyes and constant yawn-ing, because they stayed up thenight before telling themselvesthat they'll play just one moregame before they do homework.

Whether you fit into one ofthese three categories, or a com-pletely different but no less all-consuming category, you knowwhat I'm talking abo utIt's not like this kind of obses-sion is a bad thing. Some days,like when you bom b a midterm,or forgot to write your presen-tation, it's the only thing that canmake you feel better.Of cou rse, it was probably thatsame obsession that kept youfrom doing your work in the firstplace, but we're not going tomention tha tA letter[to the editor:Think twice before votingfor Nader

Dear AshleyFm writing to voice my con-cern with the way you usedyour article in the latest issueof The Merciad to tell Mercy-hurst students to vote for Ral-ph Nader in the 2004.1 don't know what your poli-ltics are, but if you are a liberal(which I assume you are, be-cause If you were conservative

you would likely be voting ForBush) voting for Nader is thelast dting that you should wantto do .Nader cost the Democrats!the election in 2000, and he hasthe potential to do so again in2004. | : iRecent polls have shown Ker-ry leading Bush in a two-way

election, but trailing Bush bythree or four points in a three-man race.Therefore, if you are a liberalyou should want Nader to d ropout of the race, even if you arcdisillusioned with the two-partysystem.In truth, I hate the two-partysystem as well because it perpet-uates the corruption, elitism, and

corpora te whor ing tha tare common in American poli-tics.1 iowever, the reality is that thisis the system that we have towork with and it will not changeanytime soon, so the best thingto do is vote for Kerry, eventhough y our heart might tell youto vote for Nader.

Casting your vote for RalphNader in 2004 is essentially vot-ing for another four years ofa George W. Bush presidency.The people who are attract-ed to a candidate like Naderare typically people who aredis-affected with politics as usualin the U S. and they are usuallyliberal, but they need to votewith their heads and not theirhearts this year and thus votefor Kerry in the u pcoming elec-tion.Otherwise, we will face an-other four yearsof pre-emptive wars, tax cutsfor the rich, American imperi-alism, and a White House dom-inated by corporate interests.-JoeDdgpdo, senior

We w an t to know what you think! . w Please send all let ters to the ed itor to:opinionmerciad@mercyhuyst.eduAll let ter should be 500 w ords or less and must besigned *The Merciad reserves the right to edit letters for length

How to prevent theynevitable end

Dear Madam Malarky,f 'My boyfriend is graduatbginMay.Fm okay with the long distance thing,but Fm afraid that he's going to breakupwith me. What should 1 do?

Waiting and W orryingI^Dear Waiting,

The logical thing to do in thisscenario would be to communicatewith your boyfriend and tell him howyou feel, but you're a woman.They'll revoke your card if youdo something rational like dis-cuss a situation. So, here are mysuggestions for this plightFirst of all, (and probably mostimportandy) you have to findyourself a backup. This could bea dangerous situation unless youactually have a predeterminedauxiliary boyfriend lined up.Make sure he is taller than yourcurrent boyfriend, which is al-ways good for the intimidationfactor. Once youVe got an aux-iliary boyfriend lined u p, in theevent that your present boyfrienddoes break ies,you can make himfeel badly about it instantly! N owaiting around with th e risk thathe might find a hot girl beforeyou find a hot guy.

Now, we've got the "if hedoes" base covered. Now wehave to work on preventing thebreakup. There are a few thingsyou can do for that. As a wom-an, it is your job to perform ev-ery mind game tactic you canthink of. Every woman's personalfavorite mind game is the "psy-cho indecisive whack job" game.Men hate this game, but for somereason we play it anyway- A goodway to use this game to youradvantage would be to get on hisindependent side first.At random times, start talking

about how you really need spacein the relationship; that you'reglad he's going away so you cangrow as an individual in yourcareer path and do some soulsearching and wank wank wank.However, you can't do it somuch that he thinks that heought to end things to make youhappy. This is when you need tokick the opposing force into gear.When the two of you are alonetogether, you need to look deeplyinto his eyes, sigh wistfully andwhisper words of undying love.Be sure to include statementssuch as "I can't live without yoQ"and ''You're my everything" and

"My pancreas aches for you."|Another thing you can do is tryto generate positive little neuronsynapses in his brain through"remember whens " "Rememberour first date?" "Remember ourfirst kiss?" "Remember whenyou thought I slept with yourfriend?" Hmm.. . maybe that lastone's no good.In any case, reminding him ofall the wonderful times will makehim realize that he wants to keepmaking memories with you. Ei-ther that or hell start to panicbecause he doesn't remember anyof those things, and will feelobligated to stay with you tomake up for it.Of course, we can alwaysthrow in the obvious. One sure-fire way to maintain a man canbe summed up in two words.'Tut o u t " Be sure to slyly let himknow that just because you'll bein a long distance relationship,that doesn't mean you won't bewilling to visit him every nowandthen. There are some things thatjust aren' t the same via cellphone. If you really want to so-

good things that you do for him.Remind him that his buddies'girlfriends don't do all the won-derful things that you do. Plus,this can always be ammunitionfor times when he forgets to buyyou flowers for your birthday orsome other such floral occasion."All I wanted was some flowersand after I brought you beer allthose times and have gone outof my way to make you feel spe-cial in this relationship...wankwank wank."Any of the above techniquesshould be okay for maintainingyour relationship. For any guysthat are reading this, I have to

hand it to you fellas for dealingwith us. Women are crazy. We'reliars and we're manipulative andI'm just so glad I'm straight be-cause I would never want to dealwith women. Quite honestlymen, (WARNING: WOMENCANSTOP READING HERE.THE G OOD PART IS OVER.CLOSE THE NEWSPAPERAND G O CHAT WITHYOURFRIENDS.) if your girlfriendactually follows my advice, I th inkyou should (LAST CHANCEWOMEN. TURN AWAY) prob-ably break up with her. Gradua-tion might be a good time. Whowants a long distance relation-ship anyway?Party on boys and girls,Madam Malarkyf Bringing you the best advicethat you should never actuallyfollow. ~This is your last week to votefor your favorite "next MadamMalarky!" All votes must be re-ceived by this coming Sunday.We will announce next year'sMadam Malarky in next week'sissue. In the meantime, pleaselidify your relationship security,3Wcontinue to send your questi&iis'tell him you'll bring beer when to: - n d

irl

you visit-vJf it doesn't occur to him nat-urally that he should be gratefulfor such favors, you can alwayspull another trademark femalemaneuver, and demand to be ap-prec ia ted . Draw obsceneamounts of attention to the

Madam Malarky@yahoo.comor IM them to me. (MadamMalarky on your AIM buddylist) Hey, the questions don'thave to be about relationships.I'm broadening my horizons. I'mbroadening my butt too evident!as my jeans didn't fit today.

Nothing short of miraculousWrite Truth

Michelle

*ffijm\& w f

* .

StevensonThe course of human history is de-

termined,not by what happens in theskies, butby what takes place inourhearts.-Sir Arthur Kent The human race is an amaz-ing species, a race of p ossibility,of intellectual height and spiri-tual dimension far distinguishedand unmatched by any otherknown creation. This very pos-sibility enables humankind togenerate far more damageamong themselves, as it is thispossibility that allows for whatcould be considered the mostmiraculous abilities hom e to thatonly of the human heart and theuiinan will.Take, for instance, people whoive each day, helping others,despite the knowledge that, say,leukemia will end it all in a shortperiod of time. How about the88- year old great -grandm otherI just met who still runs aroundwith her great grandchildren.

Look at Holocaust survivorswith a deeper spirituality andfaith than one could imagine, orsoldiers ighting n any war for acause they believe in that much.

The courage to ight,with friendsdying next to you, and then keepon living when returning homeis nothing short of miraculous.There's always abuse abu-sive relationships, and abusedchildren. Not all of the abusersremain abusers, not all of theabused in relationships remaintoo frightened and entrapped toescape, and as statistics show, no tall of the abused children, aslikely as it may be, become abus-ers themselves.

The hum an being is capable ofalmost anything. People who'veused drugs/alcohol for 13 yearscan and do become sober, andhappy; people afraid to step outof their own front door into theworld can find themselves, oneday, among hundreds of people,walking through the mall; peo-ple can speak their mind in theworst of circumstances, what wewould call martyrs, willing to diefor what they believe.People can refuse to becomebitter after the worst of circum-stances, such as brutal divorce,the loss of a child, or even watch-ing a friend stabbed to death.People whoVe been raped canopen their heart again and fall inlove.Single mothers can raise beau-tiful children.^People who come out of jailcan start their lives over again,reinventing who they are andlearning to master the world onceagain.People can completely rehabilitate after a stroke, or a terriblecar accident. Children in burn

units can smile.People who are so disabled byillness or accident that they canonly paint with their feet canbecome master painters. Blind,deaf, and handicapped childrencan write novels and symphonies.

A child of heroin addicts cango to Harvard University sim-ply by taking incredible initiativeand scoring exceedingly high onher GE D and SAT's.Incredibly overweight peoplecannaturally lose the weight, sim-ply out of personal decision andmotivation.Not that it's always done, buthuman beings, unlike any othercreature, have the amazing, rath-er overlooked capability to takethe high road. Murderers andrapists are capable of becominghuman again; victims of the verysame people are able to forgive,the impoverished are able toovercome, the frightened able toconquer fear, the terminally illand disabled able to live.Human s may, in fact, have thecapability of intelligence creat-ing room for the permeation ofevil in what has the potential tobe a worldly existence of purehuman conviction, a convictionof the same nature as that ofthe human heart.This very conviction is seenover and over again in our ownfellow man, and proves, none-theless, that humanity is worthhoping in. |Truthfully, it's impressive to seehumanity through the eyes ofthose above, those who over-come.

mailto:opinlonmercfad@mercyhurst.edumailto:opinionmerciad@mercyhuyst.edumailto:Malarky@yahoo.commailto:Malarky@yahoo.commailto:opinionmerciad@mercyhuyst.edumailto:opinlonmercfad@mercyhurst.edu

8/6/2019 The Merciad, April 21, 2004

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APRIL 21,2004 THEMERCIAD PAGE 7

A letter to the editor:The anthropology departmentresponds

We (several Anthropologystudents) would like to respondto the letter written by the artmajors in a recent Merciad is-sue. While we do empathisewith your dilemma, we reel thatwe ought to clear up some mis-conceptions before judgmentis solidified.

First, the space that you in-dicated isn 't merely for the "64anthropology students." TheMercyhurst Archaeological In -stitute (MAI) consists of 64anthropology, 8 geology, and70 applied forensic sciencemajors.Together we learn, experi-

ment, and study in several spe-cialized laboratories on thewestern half the building. All142 students share three class-rooms As of now, every avail-

able space in the existing MAIrealm is employed for a specificneed % fThe remaining four rooms

"within [our] own area" don*tactually belong to the MAI; In-stead, those rooms are a part ofthejGifted Learning Program(Erie School District).Thanks to the blossoming fieldof Fo rensics, more space is need-ed to house the resources for theinflux of students. Moreover,due to spatial constraints in Zurn,an existing geology lab is also be-ing displaced by a shared Bio/forensics DNA lab, leaving hun-dreds of fossils and rocks with-out homes.In short, to center attention onone departm ent for the displace-ment of another is short sight-

ed. Instead, we would like to fo-

cus on a campus-wide short-age of appropriate facilities.The decision on where to putthe next geology or forensic labis not in the hands of students.This is the jurisdiction of thefaculty and administration. Per-ihaps they should be the ones tolook into a more appropriateusage of space. Obviouslypriorities must be realized. Aninstitution cannot offer a pho-tography, painting, or geologymajor w ithout providing the re-sources in which to pursue itTo maintain ou r top ranked lib-eral arts school reputation, at-tention to the practical needsof all departments must be ad-Jdressed by administration im-mediately.

-MelissaTimo, seniorArchacokjgy Major

To contact optnfonm0rciad@m9rcyhurst.eduOPINION

Iraq i s n ot V ietnam :How PresidentBush can change things

By Tracy RubinKnight Ridder NewspapersI Iraq is not Vietnam.Not yet.The historical differences areobvious, rhere's no unified Ira-qi national resistance, no SovietUnion to resupply the insurgents.I Most Iraqis don't support thegoals of insurgent leaders J bethey radical Islamists or formerBaathists.Very unlike Vietnam. And U.S.casualties are in the hundreds,no t thousands. So far.Most important, it's still possi-ble to envision a way the UnitedStates can avoid a quagmire. Butto bypass the bogs, the adminis-tration has to knoy where; it'sheading ,0* bra* * tmitwlPresident Bush says that Amer-ica will "stay the course." But hedoesn't say what course.He calls for Iraqi democracy,yet admits he doesn't know towhom the United States willhand sovereignty on June 30.He's left the shaping of that tran-sition to a U.H official, LakhdarBrahimi _ a sign of desperation.U.S. generals have called formore troops, but no one knowshow long they will be needed.It is this vagueness that fuelstalk of quagmires.The president says such talkcomforts the enemy. But whatcomforts the enemy is the ad-ministration's confusion. If thePresident wants to dampen talkof quagmires, he should addresssuch questions as these:

1. Is the United States reallyready to give real power to Ira-qis? The answer will definewhether Iraq's insurgency ex-pands into a bro ader nationalistrebellion _ as in Vietnam. ManyIraqis, especially Shiite religiousleaders, have come to distrustUS. intentions, despite Bush'sfine talk about Iraq as a modelfor the region.

They want to hold electionssooner than the Bush team willpe rmi tU.S. officials p ushed thro ugh aninterim constitution that will tiethe hands of a future electedconstitutional assembly and thatlimits majority Shiite power. LastFriday President Bush said thisdocument shows "how civilizedpeople should live." But if Iraqileaders don't have the same ideasabout civilization,can Americansimpose their ideas?1 2. Will the Bush team really letBrahimi shape the political tran-sition?U.S. officials treated Brahimi'spredecessor, Sergio Vieira deMello, shabbily (He later died ina Baghdad car bombing:) U.N.officials fear the Bush team mayuse Brahimi -as window dressing,-then undermine him.He can succeed only if theUnited States cedes him some realpower.3. Does the Bush team aim torun Iraq from behind the scenes

after June 30, and even afterpromised elections in 2005?|T The United States will retain130,000 troops and have anembassy of more than 1,000people, along with an aid budgetof billions. The embassy will re-main in Saddam's palace, thesame building that now housesthe occupation authority.Already, Iraqis are making com-parisons with the legendary US.Embassy in Saigon. Will this em-bassy (or officials in Washington)try to control Iraqi political deci-sions? If the U.S. military wantsto besiege an Iraqi town like Fal-lujah and Iraqi officials prefernegotiations, who will have thefinal say?The potential for future con-flict between US. and Iraqi offi-cials is already visible in ongoingnegotiations between Shiite lead-ers and the radical cleric Muqta-da al-Sadr.He is holed up in the holy Shi-

11

ite city of Najaf, which is sur-rounded by U.S. troops.An adviser to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani e-mailed me angrily lastFriday: "Whenever we are led tounderstand that an agreementhas been reached to defuse thesituation, a US. military com-mander announces that they aregoing to capture or kill ... Mu-qtada."4. Will the United States letsovereign Iraqi officials play amajor role in ighting errorism?So far, the Iraqi security forcestrained by the Bush administra-tion are designed only to helpAmerican forces, meaning US.soldiers must shoulder the bur-den.Will the administration let Ira-

i qis have a serious army of theirown? > . < ) -"The list could go on. But thequestion of the day is whetherthe Bush team will let Iraqis de-termine their future, or try tocontrol itThe president says he knowsIraqis aren't happy with occupa-tion. But will the United Statestry to perpetuate occupation byanother name?If so, I believe Americans willindeed drift into an Iraqi quag-mire. Terrorism has flourishedinside Iraq to a far greater ex-tent than under Saddam, leav-ing us no choice other than tofight it.But if we alienate Iraqis, a na-tionalist insurgency could flour-ish, aimed at expelling US. forc-es.In that climate, attacks onAmericans will soar. It won't beVietnam, bu t the parallels will bepainful.

This doesn't have to happen.If Iraqis believe the UnitedStates is acting in their interest,they will tolerate the U.S. pres-ence in the short run.Iraqis could still be our allies.It all depends on the course ourpresident charts.

If as television gone too far?^Il have a tiny confession tomake, which may not be muchof a confession to most of you:I am a reality television a ddict Ilove them allFear Factor,Newlyweds, Survivor. You nameit I watch it. I'm looking intwelve-step programs as youread this. It's a sickness and Iadmit to it They say that's thefirst step. I

However, it's my humble opin-ion that the Fox network has tak-en it one step too far with itslatest show. "The Swan."If you are unfamiliar with its"unique" premise, a bunch ofaverage-looking (in their ownopinion) women undergo a threemonth program which includesplastic surgery, physical training,makeovers and even counselingso that the ugly duckling mightbecome a.. .wait fork.. .swan. Atthe end, there's going to be abeauty pageant to choose thewinner.

Ivwonder what circle ofDante's hell that's supposed tobe. ^ >

Can you imagine how it wouldfeel to get accepted to the show?"Congratulations! You're uglyenough to be on television!"However, what I gathered fromthe one episode I was able tostomach, is that many of thesewomen are thrilled at the oppor-tunity to be "made beautiful".Many of them attest to histo-

ButlCouldBe Wrong

JaimeRinne

ties of low self esteem. No won-der. Apparently, no on e in thesewomen's lives thought enough ofthem to tell that they were al-ready beautifulno surgery re -quired. Many of these womenhad husbands. Probably none ofthem said, "You don't need tochange yourself. I fell in love withwho you are now, not what youwant to be."

I guess no tThis is not to say that the trans-formations are not remarkable.Many of these of women arecompletely unrecognizable;beautiful, but unrecognizable. It'salmost as if these women be-come someone else. You won-der what these women lose as aresult of this process^Individu-ality, dignity and sense of selfcome to mind.I try to remind myself that noone is forcing these women togo on this show. Many probablywillingly signed up out of some

distorted view of self-worth.Why would anyone want to dothis to herself?Then I think about the othershows that I love so much and Iwonder w ho would be willing toeat a pig uterus, have the firstyear of their marriage filmed orbe stranded on a desert islandfor over a mo nth. Differentstrokes for different folks asthey say, I suppose, but it's stillastounding to me.

As much as we complain aboutreality television, we still watchi t Why? IBecause, most of the time,reality television is better thanactual reality.I It's funnier.I It's more dramaticIt's more interesting11 makes our reality seem morepalatable, but do you ever get thefeeling that we lose sight ofwhat's really real?As much as I want to com-plain abou t it, "The Swan" isn'treal. It's a bunch of women withextreme esteem issues; theydon't represent the norm."The Newlyweds" isn't real ei-ther, as much as we would liketo believe that Jessica Simpsonis really that moronic. She pro b-ably isn't Most of that "reality"show is probably an act

So, what do we do when ourreality television isn't even real?Think about itNot really a party girl:

Not committing political orthodoxyBy Sharon AltarasKnight Ridder Newspapers -

11 i iThere's a saying that youngpeople who don't vote liberalhave no heart, but older folkswho do have no brain.So somewhere between theCowardly Lion and the Scare-crow, 1 traverse my own politi-cal brick road: a stalwart Inde-pendent at age 23.There are disadvantages to re-fusing to tow just one party line.Voting's not as easy as it couldbe if I cut the candidate playingfield in half. And sometimes,having so many choices can feelmore paralyzing than liberating.I have to really research an is-sue before I know how I'm g o-ing to vote on itYet I refrain from labelingmyself either Democrat or Re-publican because if I did, I'dhave to concede reality to theother side once in a while. AndI'm not prepared to make thatsacrifice.Each major party misses theboat on some issues.Republican dogma, for exam-ple, idealistically declares thatprograms such as affirmative

action and welfare are not nec-essary.T, The typical conservative argu-, ment about public assistance isthat government should notusurp the role of families andchurches in caring for the needy.But we live in an increasinglyfractured society, with dim inish-ing social ties. People do n't always

have an extended support com-munity to help them, and the as-sumption that they do or shouldhave one is inadequate.Affirmative action, anotherhot-button topic, gets tradition-ally vetoed by members of theGOP. Why should m inorities re-ceive extra help when the rest ofus had to make it on our own,they say.The logic for this argument,however, falls through once thehistorical creed of our countryis compared with its actual deeds,and once the seemingly autono-mous nature of our achieve-ments is held to light in a systemof networking and social favors.

Democratic policy can beflawed, too. Though most liber-als would support increasing theminimum wage for low-skilledworkers, in the long run it cando more harm than good/Em-

ployers often respond to suchlaws by hiring fewer people orby outsourcing as much of thelabor as they caiL'The ehd re-1suit can be a higher unemploy-ment rate and lower standard ofliving for everyone.Restricting international tradeis another way Democrats at-tempt to protect low-skilled

workers in the U.S., by prevent-ing those jobs from going over-seas.But by tampering with the uni-versal laws of supply and de-mand, our own industries be-come less competitive and effi-cientIn the short term, workersmay benefit from these tactics,but over time, they erode ournation's economy.Neither party gets it right allthe time. Both logic and com-passion are required for ourcountry's policies to be balanced.m i 1 1 rThat is the beauty of a two-par-ty, democratic system.

I just don't see the need tocommit myself to one side forlife, or even for a chapter of mylife. I fe . ISure, being a political cowgirlcan be tough, but it's worth it tohave my own say.

M / ^ B e IT WAS A MSTAKg TJ>LBT TH6JA TQSTlFTr TbGGTHeRf

TheMERCIADAdam DuSholeBilly Elliott 3Kelly Rose DuttineCourtney NicholasJaime RinnePatrick MartinoEmily CrofootKatie McAdams

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

edltormercl8d@mercyhur9t.eduprodmerciad@mercyhurat.e dunewamarciad@mercyhurat.edu ffeaturemerclad@mercyhursteduopinionmerciad@mercyhursted usportamerciad@mercyhurst.e duentertainmentmerciad@mercyhursted uphotomerciad@m ercyhurst. edu

Piotr Wolinski Assistant Managing EditorThe Merciad Is the student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst College. It Ispublished throughout the school year, with the exception of midterms weekand finals week. Our office Is In the Hlrt Center, room LL114. Our telephonenumber Is 824-2376. 1 !* MThe M erciad welcomes letters to the editor. Al l letters must be signed andnames will be Included with the letters.Although we will no t edit the letters forcontent, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Letters are due the Thursdaybefore publication and may not be longer than 300 words. Submit letters tobox PH 485. i

mailto:optnfonm0rciad@m9rcyhurst.edumailto:edltormercl8d@mercyhur9t.edumailto:prodmerciad@mercyhurat.edumailto:newamarciad@mercyhurat.edumailto:sportamerciad@mercyhurst.edumailto:sportamerciad@mercyhurst.edumailto:newamarciad@mercyhurat.edumailto:prodmerciad@mercyhurat.edumailto:edltormercl8d@mercyhur9t.edumailto:optnfonm0rciad@m9rcyhurst.edu

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ENTERTAINMENT b contact entertainmentmerciad@mercyhurst.edu

APRIL 22. R I . %Eighteen Visions, KillHannah. Odeon, Cleve-land. On sale March 12 at,.;10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.APRIL 25. Kim W ilson'sBlues Review. Hard RockCafe, Pittsburgh. O n saleMarch 13 at noon atTicketmastet.APRIL 27. Dark Lotus.Mr. Small's Theatre,Pittsburgh, On saleMarch 13 at noon atTicketmaster.APRIL 29. Sophie B.

ff. Hawkins. Tral Buffalo.^APRIL 29. Sevendust,Cold, Atomship, Apart-ment 26. Rock Club(formerly Rock Jungle),Pittsburgh. O n saleMarch 13 at noon atTicketmaster.pAPRH/29. SuperjointRitual, Deicide, Zeke.^ Agora Ballroom, Cleve-land,

MAY 12. Strokes. Rockj ^Club (formerly Rockj u n g l e ) , Pittsburgh. O nsale March 13 at noon atTicketmaster,MAY 15, Twista. AgoraTheatre, Cleveland. Onsale March 12 at 10 a.m.at Ticketmaster.MAY 18. DashboardConfessional, Get UpKids, Thrice. Tower CityAmphitheater, Cleveland.| Q n sale March 13 at 10

JUNE 9. Zao, Remem-bering Never, Scarlet,Twelve Tribes. AgoraBallroom, Cleveland.JUNE 28. Aerosmith,Cheap Trick. BlossomMusic Center, CuyahogaFalls, Ohio. On saleMarch 12 at 10 a,m|atTicketmaster.JUN E 25. ChristinaI Aguilera, Chingy. Pos t-Gazette Pavilion, Bur-gettstown. On sale March13 at noon at Ticketmas-ter.JUNE 28. ChristinaAguilera, Chingy. G undArena, Cleveland. On saleMarch 13 at 11 ajn. atTicketmaster, by phone at| 4 5 6 - 7 0 7 0 |JUNE 3 0 | DashboardConfessional, Thrice.Chevrolet Amphitheater,Pittsburgh. On saleMarch 13 at noon atTicketmaster.JULY 10. Sting, AnnieLennox. Post-GazettePavilion, Burgettstown.On sale March 13 at 10a.m. at Ticketmaster.JULY 11. Song, AnnieLennox. Darien LakePerforming Arts Center,Darien Center, N.Y. Onsale March 13 at 10 a.m.at Ticketmaster.JULY 27. ProjektRevolution tour withLinkin Park, Korn, SnoopDogg* Darien LakePerforming A rts Center,!Darien Center, N.Y onsale March 20 at noon atTicketmaster,AUG. 9. Proiek Revolu-tion tour with LinkinPark, Korn, Snoop Dogg.Post-Gazette Pavilion,Burgettstown. On saleMarch 12 at 5 p,m. atTicketmaster.

toBy Jen CamodecaContributing writer

Working 65 hours a week mayseem like a daunting task forsome. For Michael Fuhrman,director of the Mary D'AngeloPerforming Arts Center, this iswhat it takes to oversee and bookall the performances, movies,and other events we all take forgranted.Fuhrman is responsible for allof the events that occur in thePAC, the Sarah Cummings Ar tGallery, the Walker Recital Hall,and the Taylor Little Theatre.He said that his first objective isto "provide support for thosewho make a request to use var-

ious facilities." This involvesthose working in both the frontand back of the house.As a "presenter" in a buyers*market, Fuhrman reads aboutvarious artists, talks to col-leagues, and reviews brochuresand numerous Websites to findthe kind of entertainers that willenable him to bring in the kindof people who will portray Mer-cyhurst College in the way thatthe administrators want the col-lege to be presented. This giveshim room to choose talents"eclectic and ethnic in nature,with a wide and broad range."Fuh rman's guidelines are sim-ply: to try to accommodatechange and the needs and de-mands of the faculty as the Stan-dard becomes higher each year.A general rule of thumb is toeducate and not bring in "popculture/' It would be unheard ofto bring in a celebrity of this na-ture as this is not the kind ofmessage Fuhrman or Mercy-hurst wants to bring into thecommunity.Fuhrman himself is no strang-er to the arts. Once offered afootball scholarship to West Vir-ginia, Fuhrman turned this downto come to Mercyhurst as thefootball program here was justtaking off.As a linebacker for our foot-

File photoFuhrman has toured Europe and danced mainly In Germany. After returning to Erie, hewas the first male principal dancer with the Erie Civic Ballet. kball team, Fuhrman was 205pounds and benching approxi-mately 275. His advisor recom-mended he take a ballet class tohelp with his coordination andflexibility.At first, opposed to the idea,he only signed up for one balletclass. However, as he begandancing, he would watch the tal-ented dancers around him inawe, the "music, theway in whicha human body can exhibit phys-ical power over grace, just blewme away."

Slowly, after being offered afull tuition sc holarship to dance,based on his own talents, Fuhr-man was lured into the danceworld.Upon graduating with a B.A indance in 1985, he went on totour Europe and danced mainlyin Germany., After returning toErie, he was the first male prin-cipal dancer with the Erie CivicBallet, now known as the LakeErie Ballet. y | ^One of his fondest memories

was dancing the Nutcracker and

Robert Steele approaching himwith a costume. He was to wearthis costume for a publicity pho-tograph.Upon holding the costume andputting it on he realized on theinside, written in pen was P.Martins. This great dancer, Pe-ter Martins, now director ofNew York City Ballet, had onceworn this exact costume. It fitFuhrman like a glove.Fuhrman, upon receiving aB.A. in English in 1991 from

Mercyhurst, was approached by

Dr. William P. Garvey after per-forming the task of executivedirector for the Greater ErieBicentennial, |1994-1996.Garvey was overseeing thebuilding of our Performing ArtsCenter and had hopes that Fu-hrman would be interested inrunning the show.Fuhrman's response was, "Idon't know anything about run-ning a Performing Arts Center"Garvey replied by asking himwhat he knew about running abicentennial celebration beforehe did it The rest is history.Fuhrman enjoys his work. 'I tis an honor to be a part of his-tory, and maintain policy" atMercyhurst. Overall, Fuhrmanhas had a wonderful experience

meeting the entertainers thatcome into the PAC and the oth-er theatres.; However, one experience thathe will never forget is when theKingston Trio performed a fewyears ago Prior to going on stagethey said if we "don't get thatcheck, we're no t going onstage."Fuhrman then dealt with thisappropriately and the perfor-mance went on like clockwork.

This is a rare case and mostartists are very reasonable. Hefinds that if you treat people withrespect, keep a level head, andlearn to compromise it makesdealing with the occasional over-ly eccentric artist that much eas-ier.Fuhrman is currently marriedto his wife, Tina, a Mercyhurstalum, and has a two-year-old so n,Erich Michael They also havea child on the way. When askedif he prefers a boy or girl, hesmiled and replies that he doesnot care as long as it is healthy.As for the future, Fuhrmanwould "love t o stays at Mercy-hurst, very rewarding to be a partof something that benefits theMercyhurst community and ex-tended community." He feelsthat there is truly a spirit, life andenergy surrounding this workingenvironment, which makes itvery rewarding.

File photoCeltic-rockband plays at Forward HallBy Piotr WolinskiContributing writerThe Forward Hall in Erie is

hosting some good musiciansthese days.One of them wasJoe Bonama-ssa, whose concert review youcan read in this issue of The Mer-ciad. The other band is the Tem-pest.[gib be honest, l have neverheard the Tempest before; in factI have never even heard aboutthis band.The Tempest performance atForward Hall took place onTuesday, April 20. |The music of this fresh Celt-ic-rock group, whose newest al-bum, called "Shapeshifter," is aninteresting example of the mod-em folk-rock movementThe "Shapeshifter" album cov-

er looks more like a college gothicband group CD rather than pro-fessional musicians.But the CD itself hides toneswhich certainly surprised me.From the time I put the CDinto the player, I couldn't makemy mind if I really liked themusic or notThe band is somewhat challeng-ing to classify.On one hand^they are blend-ing high energy folk and rockwith many different branches ofworld music, bringing into thelisteners' minds the classic TheChieftains or even some JethroTuii. 5|i 3 IOn the other hand, their pre-cision, complexity and interest-ing aesthetics of progressiverock bring them to the complete-ly other edge,I could swear t even heard

parts of such punk heroes, like

"British Chumbawamba."The band consists of fivemembers.The lead vocalist, Sorbye, playsdouble-necked electric Mando-lin and Mandolas.Sue Draheim, playing the fid-dle, brings a nice, soft femalevoice into the Tempest, givingmore authenticity to the ballads.Ronan Carroll plays electric andacoustic guitars, often teasingwith along with Sorbye's Man-dolin. Adolfo Lazo on drums, andMark Skowronek on bass, playperfectly for each songThe rhythm section is wonder-ful, without getting boring or re-petitive.All this makes the "Shape-shifter" a really good CD, whichcan become a surprising musicdiscovery. If you like folk mu-sic extravaganza do not miss

this one.

Hung is hanging in the reBy Malcolm X AbramKnight Ridder Newspapers

Huh?According to Billboard mag-azine, William Hung's debut al~bum, "Inspiration," is about totop Courtney Love's big come-back on the Billboard charts.That's right, the popular"American Idol" audition re-ject is expected to make theBillboard Top 30 with salesbetween 30,000 and 40,000units, while Love's "America'sSweetheart" has had a hardtime cracking the Top 50.Wow, what a world. Hung,as you may or may not recall,was the snaggletoothed, bro-ken English-speaking/singing"American Idol" hopeful, andhis unselfconsciously exuber-ant and utterly tone-deaf ren-

*dition of Ricky Martin's "SheBangs" became a fan ravor-ite; t.No w the 21-year-old UCBerkeley engineering studenthas parlayed his 15 minutes;into numerous television ap-pearances and a record dealthat has unleashed his karaokeversions of popular songs.I have heard only snippetsof "Inspiration," but the songsinclude "I Believe 1 Can Fly,""Can You Feel the Love To -night," "Rocket Man,""YM ,CA " and 5:14 of "H o-tel California."Interjected among those un-doubtedly. unkjue versions ofdmewom classics ore short in-terludes featuring "words ofinspiration" on such topics asperseverance, passion and be-ing yourself.Hung's (presumably) brief

time in the celebrity spotlightis one thing, but how manytimes can those 40,000 peo-ple listen to him tunelesslywarble his way through oldsongs before the novelty wearso f f ? I f ^ f m i At least William Shatner's"Lucy in the|sky With Dia-monds" had a whacked-outarrangement to go with thegood Capt. Kirk's melodra-matic reading of the Beadesclassic. I could try to regale youwithpseudo-psycho-social analysisabout people pullingfor he lit-tle guy and jumping onto theHung bandwagon because ofhis seemingly pure spirit, butreally, this escapes m e.I mean, it was runny to watchatkthe time, but that wasmonths ago and I can't imag-ine listening to a full-length al-bum.

Nevertheless,1 say good forHung, but I do hope he real-izes that there are as manypeople laughing at him aswithhim.Celebrity status, no matterhow brief or infamous, hasbecome sp important, so de-sired in American culture, thatit doesn't seem to matter any-more how it is attained, THopefully, this experiencewill do Hung well and he'llmake a little bit of money thathe can put toward his studies.Already a dentist On Califor-nia, of course) has offered tofix his uncooperative teeth forfree (publicity), which couldhelp him in the dating depart-ment,But seriously 3 unit sales ap-proaching 40,000? Who arethese people? J

mailto:entertainmentmerciad@mercyhurst.edumailto:entertainmentmerciad@mercyhurst.edu

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APRIL 21,2004 THE MERC1A D PAGE 9ARTS&

To contact entertainmentmerciad@mercyhursteduiKill Bill Vol. ENTERTAINMENT> proves exciting as 'Vol.J u s t l i k e \ t h e ' F i v e P o i n t P a l m E x p l o d i n g H e a r t T e c h n i q u e 9By Piotr WolinskiContributing writer

I remember watching Kill BillVol1 with some members of oureditorial staff - we were sittingin the to p row laughing loudestin the whole movie theater.

The r id icu lous amount ofblood and m astery of slicing dis-played by Uma Thurma n, play-ing The Bride in Vol.l, was trulyabsurd.During watching Vol 2, 1 wassitting holding my seat almostenlightened. Quentin Tarantinois a freak. Bu t a genius freak.And "Kill Bill Vol. 2" combinedwith V0I.7I is on e of the bestmovies I've seen in a long, longtime.As for an action movie theplot is wonderful. Like a Taran-tino movies, it is almost impos-sible to describe it into couplesentences (try to describe to yourfriend what Pulp Fiction is about,and you will know what I am

talking abo ut).In Vol 2 Tarantino is playingwith us. You know that every-thing on the screen is there fo rsome reason.Either because Tarantinowants to use some ideas fromHong K ong kung-fu movie, clas-sical western or even horror, orbecause he is spicing it allup withsamurai sword fighting.And what can be cooler in anaction movie than a beautiful girlwith a Japanese sword?Maybe a beautiful gkl with aJapanese sword fighting othercute girls with Japanese swordsas well, but that is not the pointAlmost nothing in the movieis predictable.Surprising at every step, it alsobrings many humorous parts.For example the name of themost deadly martial techniqueever discovered by a m an iscalled "the Five Point Palm Ex-ploding Heart Technique" proof enough right there.

Vol. 2 is also more emotional-ly explicit than part one. It ex-plains the motivations for TheBride, as she performs her nev-er-ending massacre.Tarantino presents the killingas something really personal,something different than the slic-ing in VoL 1. (Budd, played byMichael Madsen, surely has rea-son to claim one million dollarsafter "killing" the Bride).In fact , every character ismore "human" in this partI have heard some opinionsthat Kill Bill is too long.Over 4 hours between thecombined volumes. Is it worthit? Yesl | v > (^And even if you are totally

against good act ion movies,Quen t in Tarantino's filmingstyle, brilliant camera play, tre-mendous movie soundtrack, andsuperb dialogs, you should seethis one your friends will betalking about "Kill BUI VoL 2"for sure.

FtephotoJessica Stanley will be performing in "Everyone's Hell/1 which is Inspired by "Dante'sInferno."

N a t i o n a l D a n c e W e e k 2 0 0 4By Jen CamodecaContributing writer

Taking a ballet class six days aweek may seem like a ridiculousnotion to many. Still, no o ne evercriticizes athletes who also spendhours perfecting their aestheticsand techniques.Perhaps this is because manyare still uncertain of w hat danc-ing is all abou t. A good way tofind out is to participate in theNational Dance Week, April 23-

May 2.The first event one can attendprecedes National Dance Weekon April 21at 8 p.m. in the W alk-er Recital Hall. This event show-cases Kristen Hartman's seniorchoreography project entitled"Everyone's Hell." j :pThe da nce, inspired by Dante's"The Inferno," is a 34-minutecontemporary piece in which thedancers journey through thestages of hell.The dancers provoke andwatch Dante (Andrea White-horse) through hell. Jessica Stan-ley Ashley Wickert, Cynthia Bar-thole, Shannon Riley, and KarenLee taunt Whitehorse through-out the entirety of the p i c c e . ^Hartman said.Hty style is notflowery or happy, but we don'thave to dance to be happy...more to vent, it is a released

This piece implies more than

the seven stages of hell. 11 is an"example of the little hells wego through... choreographing isan outlet," said Hartman.^Her original inspiration for thispiece was Dante; however, shetakes many ideas from the danc -ers in rehearsal. Often the danc-ers would start moving in a cer-tain manner or be goofingaround with the steps. Hartmanwould catch them, l ike th emovement quality, and put intothe piece.Other creative inspirationswere pictures, books, and Web-sites of professional companies.The goal was to look at a pic-ture and try to figure out howthe dancer got to a certain posi-tion and how they were to getou t of it. T his often helpedHartman when she fel I that newideas were out of reach.

"Definitely a challenge ... alot of challenges were thrown atme . >.. I wanted to try a differ-ent movement quality, it is hardto move in a way you don't usu-ally mo ve."Other pieces being performedin this event are ''Which Way" acontemporary dance by AshleyWickert, and "Crouching Tiger,Hidden Drag Queen" choreo-graphed by Mercyhurst facultymember Mark Santillano, v|National Dance Week will takeoff with a free lecture fromMercyhurst alum, Shelly Walker

of Dafmark Dance Theatre onFriday, April 23, at 6 p.m. in theDanceSpace.Throughout the remainder ofthe week, the dance departmentwill offer free classes in swingdance on Sunday, introductoryballet on Tuesday and Thursday;and Hip-Hop on Wednesday.All of the classes begin at 6 p.m.in the DanceSpace and are opento the Mercyhurst communityand the public,

The dance club will be goingout to the community to visitelementary schools. Lecturedemonstrations show the stu-dents what the dancers do eachday in class, and the disciplineand confidence that can be de-veloped through this art form.The Lake Erie Ballet will alsotake part in the week's events,

as on Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m.the Lake Erie Ballet Schools firstannual choreography showcaseat Iroquois High S hool.All members of the Mercy-hurst community and the Eriecommunity are encouraged toattend these events.& While your presence in the stu-dio may not turn you into a pr o-fessional dancer, it is bound tobe afa n experience and a greatway to try something new.

For more information, contactJolene Chase, 824-3775, or An-drea Hashim, 824-3224. tj

Photo courtesy of *w w J

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LAKERSPORTS To contact:8portsmerclad@mercyhurst.eduV o l l e y b a l l c o m e s o u t e m p t y - h a n d e dBy Kate Baumann

*Contributing WriterMercyhurst's men's volleyballsuffered 3-0 losses to two teamsover the weekend.Both on their home court, theLakers fell against No. 14 Lewis,and No. 13 IPFW f \On Friday, April 16 , Mercy-hurst met Lewis University Fly-ers in a Midwest IntercollegiateVolleyball Association ma tch-up.With scores of 20-30, 27-30,and 26-30, it was a mix of upsand downs for the team.Junior Austin Siewert led Mer-cyhurst with 10 kills. SophomoreDan Kick had 40 assists.It seems Mercyhurst struggleswith the Flyers continuously.Lewis had the first place seedlast season and bumped the Lak-ers out of the playoffs in the fir st

round, also in a 3-0 sweep."I was very proud of the ef-tort our guys put torth againstLewis, the defending NCAA DImen's volleyball champions. At notime did the guys ever stop fight-ing for he w in/' said coach CraigDavie. **On Saturday, April 17, the Lak-ers were defeated by IPFW inthree close games.With scores of 28-30, 26-30,and 30-32, the Laker's recordnow stands at 5-11.Junior Dave Schmidl led Mer-cyhurst with 16 kills.Sophomore Dan Kick had 38j *assists.Freshman Dennis Telaak re-corded eight digs.Sophomore J us in Waas record-ed a match high four service acesand Schmidl added three of his

Sophomore Dan Kick sets the ball for Junior Austin Siewert In a 3*0 loss this past weekend against Lewis. Kate McAdams/PhotoEditorown.

Austin Siewert, Dave Schmidl.& TJ Wilson showed why we arethe second best blocking team inMIVA. Setter Dan Kick made

some nice decisions in runningthe offense and freshman Den-nis Telaak also demonstrated whyhe is leading the MIVA in digsper