the merciad, april 22, 2009

8/6/2019 The Merciad, April 22, 2009

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-merciad-april-22-2009 1/16

and you could!

Vol.82, No.21/4.22.09/FreeMerciad

Read more on

Want to dance withthe Bad Boys of Dance

Submit your video online

Dance Off

big

bad

and win $500, too?

Page 8



NEWS April 22, 2009

Students walk for Hanson brothers’ AIDS cause

The members of the band

Hanson are no longer just known

for their long hair and their song

“Mmm Bop.” Now, the Hanson

brothers have formed an orga-

nization fighting poverty, HIV

and AIDS in Africa called Take

The Walk.

On Saturday, Apr. 18, Mercy-hurst College students walked a

mile around campus as part of

Take The Walk.

For each student who walked,

the organization donated one

dollar to help the impoverished

people of Africa. Participants

chose their dollar to go toward

access to medical care, medical

treatment, shoes, clean water or

education. The appeal of Take The Walk

is that people are able to donate,

but they do not have to pay with

their own money in order tosupport the cause, co-president

of Art Therapy Club sopho-

more Casey Harvilla said. Har-

villa organized the event.

Some of the students chose

not to wear shoes while they

walked the mile.

Harvilla explained this was

because the walk is designed

to help the AIDS epidemic in

Africa. The purpose is to walk a mile in the shoes of an Afri-

can who is suffering from dis-

ease, but many people in Africa

do not own shoes. Therefore,

participants are able to have a

better understanding if they

walk barefoot.

“I was really glad about how

everything went,” Harvilla said.

About 35 students partici-

pated in the walk.“I think it was good that we

raised 35 dollars by just walk-

ing a mile,” freshman Elizabeth

Bailey said. “I hope people real-ize that simple things can have a

big impact.”

After the walk, students used

art supplies to decorate a pair of

TOMS canvas shoes.

TOMS is an organization

that donates a pair of shoes to

a needy child for every pair of

shoes that is purchased from

them.

The walk and shoe decorating was Art Therapy Club’s first big

event of the year, according to

Harvilla.

About 25 students are

involved in Art Therapy Club.

The club hopes to hold more

activities in the future including

a craft show and a T-shirt sale.

For more information about

Take The Walk and TOMS,

and to find out how you canhelp, visit takethewalk.net and

TOMSshoes.com.

By Kelly Luoma

Staff writer

Dr. Robert Bullard spoke at Mercyhurst College on Monday,

Apr. 20. His discussion was the first event of this year’s

Earth Week.

Scoot Williams photo

Earth Day is Wednesday, Apr. 22, and to com-

memorate, Mercyhurst College is holding a week-

long celebration in its honor.

To begin the celebration, the ’Hurst hosted Dr.

Robert Bullard on Monday, Apr. 20.

Bullard is founder of the Environmental Justice

Movement and is currently a professor of sociol-

ogy at Clark Atlanta College.

He has written 14 books, some of which are

“Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environ-

mental Quality,” “Unequal Protection: Environ-

mental Justice and Communities of Color” and

“Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices

from the Grassroots.”

The topics of his books include environmental

racism, urban land use, housing, suburban sprawl,

transportation and smart growth.

In addition to a lecture Monday night in the

Taylor Little Theatre, there was a roundtable dis-

cussion in the Mercy Heritage Room earlier in the

afternoon.

Panelists included Bullard, Communication

Department Chair Dr. Anne Zaphiris, Assistant

Professor of Intelligence Studies Dr. Stephen

Marrin and Student President of the Green Team

Margaux Valenti. After opening remarks from Dr. Jim Snyder,

assistant professor of philosophy, Bullard gave a

presentation that the other panelists responded to.

Popular discussion topics were the water in

cities, the proposed tire plant for Erie and envi-

ronmental justice.

Environmental justice is a “global movement,”

Bullard said.

Environmental injustice is very broad and can

range from placing landfills in poor communities

to providing low income communities with dirty

water.

Closing the discussion, Bullard said, “I think

it’s important to realize and recognize that stu-

dents have a lot of power. … Young people can

make a difference when they want to.”

The event was sponsored by Mercyhurst’s

Evelyn Lincoln Institute for Ethics and Society,

the Mercyhurst College Green Team and “Beyond

the Dream: The Legacy and Challenge of Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.”

By Alaina RydzewskiStaff writer

Bullard’s discussion begins Earth Week celebration

The Art Therapy Club at Mercyhurst College led a mile walk

on Saturday, Apr. 18, to help fight poverty, HIV and AIDS inAfrica.

Tyler Stauffer photo



NEWS April 22, 2009

The Seventh Annual Mercyhurst College Liter-

ary Festival brought poet, activist and professor,

Sonia Sanchez, on Thursday, Apr. 16.

Born Wilsonia Benita Driver, Sanchez has been

associated with the Black Arts Movement and has

written over 16 books of poetry, plays and chil-dren’s books, including “Homecoming,” “Love

Poems,” “Autumn Blues,” “Under A Soprano Sky”

and “Shake Loose My Skin.”

She has taught at eight universities, lectured at

over 500 colleges and was the first to create and

teach a course based on Black Women and Litera-

ture in the U.S.

Some awards she has won include the P.E.N.

Writing Award, the National Education Associa-

tion Award, the Lucretia Mott Award and the Gov-

ernor’s Award for Excellence.She is known for her innovative joining of musi-

cal formats and traditional poetic formats l ike haiku

and tanka, and she tends to use incorrect spelling to

get her point across.

She is currently poet-in-residence at Temple

University, but has read her poetry in countries like

Cuba, Nicaragua, China and Canada, and on conti-

nents like Europe, Australia and Africa.

On Thursday, Sanchez held a writing workshop

and, she gave a speech in the Taylor Little Theatre

entitled, “Reflections on the Legacy of Martin

Luther King Jr.”

She opened her talk by naming people who have

made a difference in this world, such as Albert Ein-

stein, Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and

Gandhi.

Her speech encompassed the issues of racism,

militarism, abuse, peace and equal rights for allpeople.

She read some of her poetry, including this line:

“Gonna remember Martin Luther King, Gonna

work to make his dream come true.”

When asked what inspired her poetry, Sanchez

said “Everything … as long as you have eyes and

ears, can hear, see, taste and touch, you can write.”

Sophomore Liz Geist said she thought Sanchez’s

speech was really powerful.

Sanchez is “a great story teller, great poet and

fabulous reader,” Dr. Brian Reed of the Englishdepartment said. “She brought a political voice to

the college that we don’t always get presented.”

Her advice for aspiring writers is, “You must

read everything you can possibly read, open up

your senses to the world and discover and redis-

cover yourself. Open yourself to the world.”

The Literary Festival will continue Thursday,

Apr. 23, with Dr. Samuel Hazo.

By Alaina Rydzewski

Staff writer

Poet, activist Sonia Sanchez

reflects on legacy of MLK Jr.

’Hurst defeats Harvard, Princetonin RecycleMania competition

Mercyhurst College finished

12th in the national RecycleMania

competition.

By recycling 51.99 percent of

the college’s waste, Mercyhurst

beat 194 other schools in the

grand champion category.

“I was pleasantly surprised by

our performance. The dedica-

tion of the college community

as a whole, made the difference,”

Kenneth Stepherson, director of

the physical plant, said.

Mercyhurst took 19th in the

per capita classic competition by

averaging 31.58 pounds of cu-

mulative recyclables per person.

Overall, Mercyhurst recycled

164,989 pounds of waste. This

earned the college 84th place out

of almost 300 schools in the go-

rilla competition.

Mercyhurst will take part inmore categories in RecycleMania

2010.

“We will still be in the core

competition, but will branch into

targeted materials. We will build

on our success, as we have been

for over a decade,” Stepherson

said.

The winners of RecycleMa-

nia 2009 include California State

University, San Marcos in the

grand champion category and

McNeese State University in the

per capita classic.

Several colleges Mercy-

hurst beat include Tufts

University, Georgetown

University, Ithaca College

and Allegheny College.“We beat out some top schools

and that is something to be proud

of. Tufts University is one of the

greenest schools often cited as

an example of a school to emu-

late in sustainable practices, and

we were ahead of them,” Green

Team President Margaux Valenti

said. “It isn’t often little Mercy-

hurst gets to say we did better

than Harvard and Princeton.”

By JoEllen MarshManaging editor

The woman who organized

Mercyhurst College’s first

Earth Day and helped found

the Green Team, Sister Maura

Smith, was presented with

the Mercyhurst Sustainability

Award Monday, Apr. 20.

Mercyhurst College President

Dr. Tom Gamble presented theaward.

“Mercyhurst is now emerging

as one of the top regional insti-

tutions with regard to sustain-ability. Sister Maura Smith is ...

the individual most responsible

for this ongoing commitment

and the success and honor it

has brought to Mercyhurst,”

Gamble said.

The Sister Maura Smith

Peace Garden will be planted

this summer near the orchard.

“Sister Maura is indeed ‘the

heart and soul’ of environmen-tal sustainability at Mercyhurst

College,“ Dr. Chris Magoc

said.

From Staff Reports

Mercyhurst College President Dr. Tom Gamble presented the

Sustainability Award to Sister Maura Smith.


Gamble presents awardfor sustainability

Rent $1200 per monthplus utilities

Partially furnished All appliances, including washer, dryer,dishwasher, newer furance and central air

Call Jon Connole:

Days: 814-899-7602 ext. 314

Evening: 814-866-5102

Cell: 814-881-2087

Three-bedroom, 1,500 squarefoot house for rent

Lease begins June 15

LESS THAN HALF A MILE FROM CAMPUS



NEWS April 22, 2009

What has been abolished

by 130 countries, is currently

served by 226 people in Pennsyl-

vania, was reinstated in the U.S.

in 1976 and is practiced more

often in China, the U.S., Iran

and Pakistan than in any other

countries?

The answer is the death pen-alty, which is one of the most

discussed topics in the U.S.

Sister Helen Prejean, a sister

of St. Joseph of Medaille, is an

advocate for the abolition of the

death penalty.

Last week Mercyhurst Col-

lege hosted events centered on

Prejean and her beliefs.

The events included a dinner

and discussion and an afternoontea session. After these events,

Prejean gave a lecture inspired

by her book and movie, “Dead

Man Walking.”

The book is based on her

experiences with death row

inmates.

On Tuesday, Apr. 14, a dinner

and discussion hosted by Greg

Baker of Campus Ministry was

held.Students watched “Dead Man

Walking” and listened to discus-

sions from different points of

view of the death penalty.

Three speakers took the po-

dium throughout the movie:

a lawyer who talked about the

legal aspect, a professor from

Mercyhurst who talked about

the humanity aspect and a nun

who works at a women’s prison

who talked about giving inmates

dignity.

Approximately 65 people,

including students, professors

and Erie citizens attended the

event to get an overview of

the movie in preparation for

Prejean’s speech the follow-

ing day.

On Wednesday, Apr. 15,

Prejean joined a group of stu-

dents in the faculty dining roomto answer any personal questions

they had about her life, work and

experience.

Dr. Thomas Forsthoefel, chair

of the religious studies depart-

ment, brought Prejean to the

college, because “She’s an im-

portant model of someone who

has allowed the gospel values to

shape her vision and identity and

is a good example of a thought-ful, prayerful way of being in the

world and therefore inspiring.”

After the tea that night, Prejean

gave a lecture in Walker Recital

Hall about her experiences.

Every seat in the hall was

filled and there was standing

room only.

Freshman Megan McKelvey

said she gained “an insight with

what some people do in theirlife to make a huge difference

for society.”

Prejean has been a spiritual ad-

visor and witness to six convicts,

and she helps them maintain

their dignity, because without it

they are defenseless.

Prejean said that being on

death row is “not only physi-

cal torture, but also mental and

emotional torture. … it’s just

another mother who has to

bury her child, another funeral,

another grave.”

She asked the comprehensive

question about the death penalty

that everyone strives to answer:

Does the death penalty truly have

a capacity for redemption and

healing, or does it just further

traumatize the victim and his or

her family?

Prejean has led an active life.She created charities such as

Survive, an organization de-

voted to providing counseling to

families and victims of violence,

served as the chairperson for the

National Coalition to Abolish the

Death Penalty from 1993-1995,

and won several awards, such

as the World Methodist Peace

Award, Peace Prize of the City

of Ypres and Pax Christi USAPope Paul VI Teacher of Peace

Award.

She has written two books,

“Dead Man Walking” and “The

Death of Innocents.”

Freshman Kelly Craig said

she believes Sister Prejean has

“found her true calling. … The

dedication that she has to help-

ing others despite the debate and

criticism from many inside andoutside of the Church is quite

remarkable.”

Prejean continues her work to

have the death penalty abolished,

and is currently writing her third

book, “River of Fire: My Spiri-

tual Journey to Death Row.”

To read more about Prejean and

her inspiring efforts, visit prejean.

org or americancatholic.org.

By Alaina Rydzewski

Staff writer

Author of ‘Dead Man Walking’ discusses death penalty debate

Sister Helen Prejean came to Mercyhurst College to speak

about her book and movie, “Dead Man Walking.”

Tyler Stauffer photo

Mercyhurst IT DepartmentResident Technician postition available

Payment of $2000

Fall 2009

Applications available on lakernet

Theft from vehicle

Saturday, April 4

Disorderly conduct

Friday, April 3

Lewis Avenue

Closed

April 3 - 11 2009

Mercyhurst College

Parking Lot 15

Closed

Mercy SuitesErie Police detectives are investigating.

No other information has been released.

Audrey Hirt Center

Continued investigation

Baldwin HallContinued investigation

Egan Cafeteria

Continued investigation

Burglary

Saturday, April 11

BurglaryFriday, April 10

Theft

Wednesday, April 8

Forcible Sexual Assault

Sunday, April 5



FEATURES April 22, 2009

Dr. JeremyBrown, President Oneof the14 universitiesin Pennsylvania’sStateSystemof Higher Education

School of GraduateStudies

Great things happen here!

1-888-845-2890www.edinboro.edu

Co n g r a t u l a t i o n s ! G r a d u a t e s

Planning on continuing your education? We can help!

HIGHQUALITYEDUCATIONALPROGRAMMING AND CONVENIENTCLASSESNATIONALLY ACCREDITED • NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED

...Plus, TeacherCertification in20areas.

• Master of Science

BiologyEducational Specialist

in School Psychology• Master of Social Work

Master ofArts•

Communication StudiesCounseling

Space is still available: OnlinePrograms

• Master of Education

Art EducationEarly ChildhoodEducational LeadershipEducational PsychologyMiddle & Secondary InstructionReadingSpecial Education

There are a series of Web

sites we view daily.

For some it might be espn.com

while others prefer cnn.com,

and who can resist checking for

updates on Facebook.

Now there is another site

to check daily and it’s calledfmylife.com.

The Web site is like an online

confessional for people to

explain a bad situation and read

others’ bad experiences.

FMyLife introduces itself as

“a space where you can let it all

out and unwind by sharing the

little things that screw with your

day.”

Some entries make you

thankful you aren’t the one

writing it.

For example, “Today, I woke

up with really dry, chapped lips.

Still in bed, without my glasses

on, I sleepily reached down into

my purse for some ChapStick

and applied it. Upon awakening

later I realized I had mistaken a

mini Sharpie permanent marker

for chapstick. I have a job

interview today. FML.”Other entries are just outright

funny: “Today, I went to a

cosmetic dentist and got a chip

in my tooth filled in that I’d had

since I was 7. I went out later and

my friend jokingly hit my head

against the table a few times to

make fun of me showing off

my teeth. He slipped. I fell. I

now have 2 chipped teeth and a

broken nose. FML.”

While there are others that

we can all relate to: “Today, I

bought a brand new flat screen

TV. When I brought it home it

didn’t work. Furious, I walked

into Best Buy and yelled at a

guy in a tucked in blue polo and

khakis. I asked him why it didn’t

work and he said he didn’t know.

I kept screaming. He didn’t have

a nametag. He didn’t work there.

FML.” These are just two of the

millions of often embarrassing

and hilarious situations that are

constantly being posted on the

site.

“I think it’s good in two ways.

First it gives people an outlet

to blow off some steam for

something bad that happened in

their day, and second as you read

them you see that you aren’t the

only one with problems going

on,” senior Matt Wallenhorst

said.

“I go to the Web site almost

everyday. It’s like my new

addiction. I think it is so funny,”

junior Kelsey Gordon said.

Many other Mercyhurst

College students visit the site

to lift their spirits on a bad day

or just to take a break from

studying.“I visit the Web site every

couple of days, just to catch up

and see what’s being written. But

my friend Margaret is religious

about it and checks it probably

three times a day,” sophomore

Laura McCarty said.

“I think it’s so popular,

because it is fun to relate to

other people’s bad experiences

and it also gives you a good

laugh,” she added.

There are some students who

don’t like this site.

“I’ve heard of the Web site

before because of facebook but

never really viewed it. At first,

I thought it was real funny, the

whole “fml” saying, then it got

over-used and annoying. […]

most of them are probably

made up. I don’t think it’s so

hilarious anymore,” sophomoreKristen Ribelli said.

But like Facebook, FMyLife

is becoming another site you

cannot keep away from.

Love it or hate it, the impulse

to check updates is too great to

ignore.

So while you’re surfing the

Web check out fmylife.com or

go to facebook and add FMyLife

as a fan page or application.

By Andrea ConlonContributing writer

FML – Brightening our day through others’ misfortune




Lunch $ 5

11:30 a.m. -8 p.m.

Lunch $ 5

Broccoli & Cheddar Bites

6” Sub $4 Combo $5

Make any sub a wrap for

no extra charge!

Wrap Combo- Veggie $5

Other Wraps $4

M

T

W

TH

F

Southwest Burger

Breakfast Sandwich

Sizzle Salad

Taco Salad

Goulash

Laker Burger

M

T

W

TH

F

Chicken Parm w/ Pasta

Philly Wrap

Gen Tso’s Chix or Tofu

Pierogies

Buffalo Popcorn Chicken

Chicken Bacon Swiss

S Potato Bowl

Lunch $ 5

Mercyhurst College’s retail

management class, taughtby Jill Slomski, is getting real world experience this spring

term. The class has been assigned

to make a new business plan

for All Season’s Marketplace,an indoor flea market locatedbehind the Millcreek Mall.

The Marketplace hasstruggled with getting their name out in the Erie

community and has asked theretail class for help.

The store is owned by Dan

and Clara Strong and has beenopen for about a year.

The business operatesFridays and Saturdays 10 a.m.

– 8 p.m. and Sundays from 10a.m. – 5 p.m. The indoor flea market

includes a grocery store, food

court, art, jewelry, collectibleitems, sports memorabilia,gifts and hospital scrubs.

Slomski’s retail class is incharge of making the storeknown in hopes of boosting

its sales.

The class is in charge of advertising, public relations,

designing a new Web site,outside signage, looking atcompetitors and trying to find

a new accountant. They are in charge of making

a new contract for vendors,

making new brochures andhiring a manager and intern.

Senior Katie Waldin said

she enjoys the idea of helping All Season’s Marketplace and

the fact that this gives her theexperience of working in areal-life setting.

“The All Season’s Market

Place is a great location witha great idea; it is just a littlerough around the edges when

it comes to getting everything organized,” Waldin said.

“With our class’ help I think

that we really can make the All

Season’s Market a successfuland well known business in the

Erie community,” she added. Juniors Connie Morrison

and Mary Vuono said they also

like the project.“I think the idea of an indoor

flea market is interesting, but it

is going to take a lot of work on both their part and our’sto get the business off the

ground and to be successful,”Morrison said.

Vuono said he likes working

for All Season’s Market.

“It gives us experiencefor the real world with

troubles that businesses are

going through with the bad

economy,” he said.

By Jenna GoldenContributing writer

Spring term experience with All Season’s Market

All Season’s Market is located behind the Millcreek Mall and

includes a grocery store, food court and sports memorabilia.

Jenna Golden photo




When buying from chain stores, only 4

cents of every dollar gets reinvested into

our community.

When buying from local businesses

instead, 40 cents of that same dollar gets

invested back into the community.

Local Motion is a local organization

trying to get Erie citizens to shop in local

businesses instead of chain stores in

order to keep the money in Erie, Pa.

Though non-partisan, this grassroots

organization came out of the Erie For

Obama Group which identified three

major local needs: small business support

(the most pressing issue), health care and

investment in youth.

Local Motion is trying to address the

first issue by networking small businesses

together in order to create awareness andexpand business.

Bob Merski, member of Local Motion,

said the group wants to help businesses

“owned and operated by people who

live and have invested in the Erie area

and that, at the same time, do not have

advertising or marketing backup.”

At one of their meetings, members

voted on the name “Local Motion” and

the tag-line: “Get into your neighbor’s

business!”

For their logo, Local Motion has

turned to Mercyhurst College for help.

Merski, a Mercyhurst alumnus,

contacted graphic design professor Jodi

Staniunas-Hopper for assistance.

Students in her Intro. to Graphic

Design class have the task of creating a

logo for Local Motion and the chance to

work on a real life project that will greatly

impact the Erie community.

“I enjoyed working on a projectfor an organization whose purpose I

supported,” senior Grigoriy Grigoryan

said.

Sophomore Stacey Allen said she has

enjoyed this challenge as well.

“I feel like it’s a good opportunity. It’s

fun, but a lot more work than I thought

it was going to be,” she said.

Other big cities around the country

are also trying to increase small, local

business support.Ithaca, N.Y., for example, started

printing local currency to promote

shopping in town.

People and businesses can buy this

currency or receive it in exchange for

community service, and then spend it at

locally owned business.

Local Motion is aware of these

initiatives and has thought of ways of

integrating them into Erie.

“One idea being discussed is a ‘local

restaurant week’ like they have in bigger

cities, with a flat price for a three or four

course meal at any participating fine

dining restaurant,” Merski said.Since the group started, the Local

Motion team has met once a month

at Matthew’s Trattoria, but due to its

closure the group is looking for a new

place to meet.

This restaurant was one of the original

businesses to sign on to the project but

closed at the end of April due to an

increase in rent that Cindy Sarback, the

owner, was not able to afford based on

the current customer rate.Merski said Sarback “never understood

why people will wait 45 minutes to eat at

a chain restaurant on Peach Street when

they can have a fresh meal with little to

no wait at a local restaurant.”

The Local Motion core team includes

union organizer Lisa Stark, Erie Public

School teacher and community organizer

Bob Merski, Cindy Sarback, marketing

professional David VanAmburg, and

Michael Mahler and Cathi Zelanzy from

the Erie County Democratic Party.

Merski said he believes Local Motion

has a lot of potential for development in

the future.

Having stickers on window displays of locally owned businesses so customers

can identify them more easily is another

idea.

If you want to be part of this movement

and support Erie’s local businesses head

over to one of the businesses listed

below and look out for others that will

be joining soon.

– Erie Book Store (137 East 13th St.)

– Nickel Plate Mills (1932 Parade St.)

– Chameleon Clothing Co. (2608 W 8th St.)

– Manus’ Sunoco (26 E 12th St.)

– Kraus’ Department Store (810 Parade

St.)

– Latino’s Restaurant (1313 Parade St.)

– East Erie Turners Club (829 Parade

St.)

– Whole Foods Co-Op (1341 W 26th St.

# 100)

– Russo Pediatrics (3910 Caughey Rd #

170)

By Javi CubillosFeatures editor

Local Motion drums up business in Erie

Kraus’ is a local department store joining Local Motion. The store has been

around for more than 100 years.


Latino’s Restaurant serves authentic Mexican food and it’s owned by the

Reyes, a family that emigrated from Mexico to Erie.




Mercyhurst College will be presenting

a multimedia performance created using

original composition, video footage

and a narration of Leo Tolstoy’s “How

Much Land Does a Man Need?”

The project leader, mandolin virtuoso

Jamie Masefield, will perform at Mer-

cyhurst on Earth Day, Wednesday, Apr.

22, with three fellow musicians. They

call themselves The Jazz Mandolin Proj-

ect.

Since their debut performances in

Vermont coffee houses in 1993, the

Jazz Mandolin Project has released six

critically acclaimed albums and has been

invited to play at famous musical festi-

vals such as Bonnaroo.

Masefield has opened a new chapter

to the Jazz Mandolin Project by weaving

different media.

He spent months on the road trav-

eling through America on tour. While

going from gig to gig,

He captured a wide variety of Ameri-

can landscapes on film.

Elena Pankratov, a professor of Rus-

sian Literature, will be reading Tolstoy’s

“How Much Land Does a Man Need?”

Her voice will be woven into the per-

formance with the music produced by

the Jazz Mandolin Project while the dis-

play of Jamie’s footage rolls.

Masefield said that his goal was “not

be too overbearing with the music,

but to really allow the narrator tell the

story, and to support the narration of

the story with music that really fit the

moment.”

Phish’s Mike Gordon described

the multimedia performance as being

“brought on an adventure in a way that

you couldn’t with just one of the ele-

ments.”

Other audience members after view-

ing the show described it as an “amaz-

ing experience” and “an ideal beginning

for a new chapter to The Jazz Mandolin

Project.”

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. at

the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts

Center.

Tickets are available at the PAC box

office. Mercyhurst students with ID can

obtain tickets for $10.

April is National Poetry Month.

Usually in high school this

means students dig out their

dusty editions of Frost, Dickin-

son and Whitman.

Erie County decided to go

down a road less traveled.

On Apr. 6, the County of

Erie unveiled the Erie County

Poet Laureate Initiative.

The Poet Laureate Initiative isa means by which the commu-

nity will be exposed to excep-

tional poetry and can appreciate

the art form within the commu-

nity.

A partnering of the academic

community in the area and local

government, the Poet Laureate

Committee has been working on

the project for nearly a year with

members of County Council.

Representatives on the Poet

Laureate Committee include

faculty from all local higher edu-

cation institutions, a representa-

tive of the Erie School District,a contributor to the City of Erie

poetry program and other local

government and media spokes-

people. Mercyhurst College’s

representative on the committee

is Greg Brown, lecturer in Eng-

lish and director of the college’s

Writing Center.

The committee will select

a Poet Laureate Jury of five

people, who will review appli-cations for the post of Erie

County Poet Laureate.

Three of the jury members

will come from the committee,

and two other jurors will come

from the community at large.

According to the committee’s

press release, requirements for

the post of Poet Laureate include

residence within the county;

having work published in liter-

ary journals, books, anthologies

or other media; contribution to

the region’s poetry community;

comfort with public presenta-

tion and interaction; and a goalto contribute to the history of

poetry in Erie County and to

foster the appreciation of verse

across the community.

The Poet Laureate will serve

a one-year term from Sept. 1 to

Aug. 31, renewable up to twice.

The Laureate will receive a

$3,000 honorarium and a $7,000

approved budget for a commu-

nity poetry outreach project, anitemized budget of which must

be provided in the application

process.

For those seeking further

information with regard to the

project, please see eriecounty-

gov.org. Applications are due

June 1.

“This is a tremendous oppor-

tunity for the community,”

Brown said. “There are Poet

Laureates in some countries,

and even in major cities like

New York and San Francisco.

For Erie County to be able to

create a position like this, with

an honorarium and $7,000 dedi-

cated to a community poetry

outreach project, shows how

important poetry is to this

community.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT April 22, 2009

HOUSES FOR RENT

Johnson & JohnsonProperties

Starting June 1, 2009

814-860-8817

Jazz Mandolin Project headlines Earth WeekBy Jeremy MandoContributing Writer

Erie County announces Poet Laureate InitiativeBy Kyle King

A & E editor

The Jazz Mandolin Project will perform at the ’Hurst on Wednesday,

Apr. 22.

pac.mercyhurst.edu



ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT April 22, 2009

Dance department features student work

The Mercyhurst Dance

Department will present two

original contemporary pieces

choreographed by senior dance

majors at the Mary D’Angelo

Performing Arts Center on

Sunday, April 26, at 7 p.m.

Caitlin Roberts and Justin

Hogan are enrolled in a special-

ized course designed to give

dance majors gifted in the cho-

reographic process the opportu-

nity to create a 30-minute piece

based on a completely origi-

nal idea while choosing music,

auditioning dancers, coordinat-

ing specific lighting designs and

publicizing their works to be

presented in a one-night perfor-

mance.

Roberts’ piece, titled “Psyche-

delica,” is about a surreal world

with a psychedelic flavor drawing

in young men entranced by tan-

talizing images of strong beauti-

ful women.

“Whenever I choreograph I

have to be inspired by the music,

and Hendrix always seems to

make me want to dance,” Rob-

erts said. “My initial intent and

hope is that the audience will

also be inspired by the music.”

Hogan has created a piece

titled “Stomping Ground,” with

music from several different art-

ists, including songs by Rufus

Wainwright and Béla Fleck and

the Flecktones.

Hogan has brought in profes-

sional dancer Dillon Anthony

from Dayton Ballet, who will be

performing as a guest artist.

“My piece deals with daily life

and the interactions between

people,” Hogan said. “I was espe-

cially interested in the behind-

the-scenes aspect of how people

communicate.”

The department is well-known

for fearlessly exploring eclectic

dance styles and producing a vari-

ety of different performances.

Tickets for both “Psychedel-

ica” and “Stomping Ground”

will be available Sunday after-

noon for general seating.

It is a free performance and

children are welcome.

By Kyle King

A & E editor

Graduate School at Mercyhurst College

POST BACCALAUREATE CERTIFICATIONS:

Become More.

Information Session

Great Room – Herrmann Student Union

Come learn more about the graduate programs oered

at Mercyhurst. The graduate admissions team will

be available to answer your questions, assist with

applications and provide nancial aid information.

Department seniors to showcase own choreography

Mercyhurst dancers show-

case their own choreography.

Contributed photo



OPINION April 22, 2009The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the v iews of Mercyhurst College, the staff of The Merciad

or the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be e-mailed to [email protected].

Wherereaders

share theirthoughts.

It is really simple to be treated

like an adult. One must first act

like an adult.

The college stepping in [to

reprimand those damaging

McAuley Hall] is appropri-

ate. Mercyhurst College will

always be a business first. By

not allowing visitors to spe-

cific areas, they are protect-

ing their property. Maybe

the college should expel

these students. That would

be a much more appropriate

punishment for a real adult.

Jaramie Parrish, ’10

@mercyhurst.edu

editormerciad

mgeditormerciad

newsmerciad

featuremerciad

opinionmerciad

sportsmerciad sportsmerciad

entertainmentmerciad

photomerciad

photomerciad

admerciad

copymerciad

apasto22

wwelch

bsheridan

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

letters for content, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Lettersare due Mondays. by noon and may not be more than 300 words. Submit

letters to box PH 485 or via e-mail at [email protected].

If you don’t want it printed . . . don’t let it happen.Editors

Casey Greene

JoEllen Marsh

Amanda Valauri

Javi Cubillos

Heather Donovan

Brad Moehringer Sam Sellinger

Kyle King

Scoot Williams

Tyler Stauffer

Caitlin Bly

Gretchen Yori

Ashley Pastor

Bill Welch

Brian Sheridan

Positions

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

News Editor

Features Editor

Opinion Editor

Sports Editor Sports Editor

A&E

Photographer

Photographer

Advertising Manager

Copy Editor

General Assignment

Adviser

Adviser

Stepping in was the only

thing the college did right in this

situation. The problem is the

action they took. No matter the

punishment, the fair thing was

to only punish the students who

violated the rules. The problems

happened after visitation hours,

so your theory is flawed. The

school’s concern should be

its students.

By Kelly Luoma

Staff writer

We’ve all heard the story of

Robin Hood, the noble thief, who steals from the rich and

gives to the poor.

As children, this story is pre-

sented as a moral ideal. There

is a fatal flaw that could go a

long way toward shattering the

Robin Hood complex. The

biggest issue in “Robin Hood”

is never addressed. How the rich

acquired their wealth in the days

of Robin Hood was through

force, fraud and divine right. So

the origin of the wealth being

stolen by Robin Hood and redis-

tributed to the poor was moral.

The problem is there is no

distinction made in today’s soci-ety between the origin of wealth

in Feudal Europe and the origin

of wealth in modern day. For

the first time in history, men

now create wealth with ability,

intelligence and perseverance.

Businessmen don’t vio-

late anyone’s rights in order

to become wealthy and all

of society benefit from

their achievements.

But children are never taught

this distinction and grow up

thinking wealth is a static entity

that has always existed. Also,

that modern day Robin Hoods

are moral in their actions of “redistributing” wealth.

We need to stand up and

clearly denounce the Robin

Hood complex. It does not

apply to a country of self-made

men that earned their wealth by

right, not force.

We need to avoid our country

having leaders who consider it a

moral imperative to “redistrib-

ute” wealth.

By Thomas Kubica

Contributing writer

Have you ever had overdue

library materials? If so, you

know the hassle of paying the

20 cents per day, per item fine.

As a music student, I have to

listen to classical music, most

of which I get from the library

music collection.

I’ve never been great at turn-

ing materials in on time, but I

didn’t expect the time to go by

as quickly as it did.

All of a sudden I was faced

with an e-mail saying all 5 of the

CDs I had borrowed were each

5 days late.

Why did the library wait until

the materials were overdue to

notify me?

At public libraries, an auto-

mated system notifies you 5

days in advance, allowing you to

get the materials in.

In college where it’s required

to use the library, I don’t feel

such a high fine is fair.

By Alexandra Stacey

Contributing writer

Whoever is flipping the

benches over on campus is an

idiot. Is it that much fun?

When you are walking back

from the bar are you that muchof a macho man, you think it’s

cool to flip the benches over?

Heads up, it’s not. When you

wake up in the morning, is it

gratifying to walk around and

see what a beast you are?

Wow, you can push a bench

over. You are so strong; I am

just dying to hang out with you.

Not.

The same person flipping benches is probably complain-

ing when tuition goes up and

ResLife makes new rules. If you

weren’t doing stupid things, new

rules and tuition increments

wouldn’t be necessary to fix your

moment of manliness mess.

It’s like a knock, knock joke.

It’s cute when you’re 5, but

when you’re 25 it isn’t funny.

It wasn’t funny, it’s not funny and it’s not going to be funny.

By SethHallamStaff writer

Reader demands more

of students, Luoma

Luoma reiterates stance

Library fi nes add tofi nancial frustration

Unnecessary vandalism

Shattering a fairy tale



September 3, 2008OPINION April 22, 2009

Earth Week is upon usand the Green Team hasa slew of events planned.More importantly the week falls in the heat of a nasty fight between Erie residentsand ERE, a “renewable”energy plant planning topollute the area for yearsto come by burning tires. There’s no better time tofight for a greener Erie.

I realize not everyone

washes their jeans aftereach use. But the salt rem-nants on the cuffs of yourfavorite blues have got togo. One wash per seasonis not to much to ask. Onthat notoe, I understand theurge to coax summer intoexistence, but it’s not quiteshort shorts and flips-flop

season yet ladies.

An intoxicated Erie PoliceDepartment Patrolman, James Cousins II, was vid-eotaped at a Girard barmaking fun of a homicide victim and his mother. Thedepartment became involved after the clip leakedto YouTube. Real classy,Erie.

Please e-mail any suggestions to

[email protected].

The GB&U is a compilation of

student opinions.

Want to know how to save

money, breathe easier, increaseyour lifespan?

Think life would be better if

the air smelled like roses and the water tasted sweet and clean?

You can have all this and

more, just by helping the envi-ronment. Those benefits are real, but

it doesn’t always seem that easy.Most of us like to say “peopleshould do this” and “the gov-

ernment should do that,” but we don’t take responsibility for our own actions. What are

you doing toreduce pollu-

tion?Do you

calculate how much harm

you are doing to the envi-ronment? I don’t understand

why so many people take the word of strangers in Washing-ton, yet write their own neigh-

bors off as tree-huggers.

In 2006, the Center for Dis-ease Control recommended that

millions of girls spend $375each to receive a vaccination toprevent cervical cancer, which

causes almost 4,000 deaths ayear. Air pollution kills 700,000people each year and asthma

sends more children to the hos-pital than any other illness, but Idon’t know many doctors who

prescribe their patients wind-mills and solar panels.

There are scary facts out there

about environmental healthhazards. Have you heard themfrom your doctor? Did you see

them on TV? Has anyone askedyou to buy products with thesole purpose of cleaning up the

environment?Our culture is so fear-based

and dependent on TV, insur-

ance companies, corporations

and the government to tell us where our money is needed.

The wind and the sun don’t

have ad managers; the earth can’tfile a lawsuit. It’s up to us to bestewards of the earth. If we do

not step up to this responsibil-ity, there will be (and are) seri-ous consequences.

These problems will haveeffects in Africa where we canignore it, but it’s also here in

our faces (i.e. the tire-burning plant).

I like to think that everyone

wants children to grown up withclean air and drinking water, butafter listening to Robert Bull-

ard’s speech, I can’t let myself believe thatanymore .

Someone wants ourchildren to

live next torefineriesand plants

that burn nerve gas; someone wants schoolchildren in New Orleans to play on arsenic-con-

taminated playgrounds; some-one wants poor black kids to

suffer more than poor whitekids. We are damning hundredsof thousands of our children inthis generation.

For those of us in college, ourkids will have a higher risk thanour little siblings. Think of your

reaction if someone walked upto you and said, “I’m going tokill your child at a young age. It’s

cheaper that way.”

This is what’s happening,but it’s said in scientific terms.

I don’t know how many years27 tons of volatile organic com-pounds will take off my life, or

what percentage of 230 tons of particulate matter will end upon my sister’s playground, but I

don’t want to be forced to findout. We have brilliant “greenthinkers” at Mercyhurst Col-

lege. Let’s listen to them.

By JoEllen MarshStaff writer

Happy Earth Week?I see the Earth as sacred and

interconnected with various life,including the omnipotent mari-juana plant. But I won’t rant

about the healing powers of ganja.

Even more dangerous than

our ignorance about the sha-manistic plant of pot, is the lan-guage we use to reference the

Earth.By defining Earth as our

Mother, we have recreated the

mistake used by the patriarchsin defining God as our Father. These definitions are inher-

ently bias and limiting to thediscussion of what God andEarth may mean in relation to

humans.Sure the Earth has maternal

qualities, but those are not her

only attributes. God as Fatherfails to highlight compassionatesides of God. We only see Him

dishing out rewards and pun-ishments with his omnipotentjudgment stealing our free will.

It is a shame we have createda male/female dichotomy forEarth and God, seemingly sepa-

rating the two based on the falseassumption that Earth and Godshare our human experience.

I think this planet at higherpowers are done a disservice when feeble minds attempt defi-

nitions.I suppose the same people

believing this assumption

become afraid of both sincethey curse the one and forsakethe other through ignorant

actions.How could God and Earth beboth Father and Mother with no

recognized marriage, loved chil-dren or shared home.

By JerrodMarkleStaff writer

The United Mexican States are

falling victim to the same finan-cial crisis being felt worldwideand they’re combating powerful

drug cartels simultaneously.Besides the obvious difficulty

in waging a shooting war against

a country’s own citizens, Mexicofeels there is another part of the

conflict: guns from the U.S.Some tallies say 90 percent of

the weapons seized in Mexicoare American. This is untrue.

The guns being cataloguedare indeed American, and thepeople asserting the 90 percent

aren’t lying, they are merely being disingenuous. Delegate EleanorNorton, went on CSPAN last

week touting this number and

claiming it is the lax gun control

policies of the U.S., allowing thecartels to wage a war against the

Mexican government.She forgot to mention, out

of all the guns seized in Mexico,only the ones with American

markings are sent back to theU.S. to be traced and 90 percentof those weapons turn out to

be American. According to datacollected by John Lott Jr., these American guns represent only

17 percent of all the guns seized

in the Mexican drug war.Delegate Norton is not a bad

woman, trying to deprive Amer-icans of their Second Amend-ment rights, she’s just following

the pack mentality of media andpolitics. I have no doubt she,as a Democrat representative,

has nothing, but the best inten-tions for her constituents andthe U.S., but the road to Hell is

paved with good intentions.

By Devin Ruic

Contributing writer

I’m going to kill your

child at a young age.It’s cheaper that way.

JoEllen Marsh”“

Stepping up againstthose stomping down

Seeking to unitelanguage dichotomy

Faux statistic threatensSecond Amendment



Baseball.................................Apr. 10, W 3-2, W 6-0 Slippery Rock

Apr. 11, W 9-6, L 13-9 Slippery Rock

Apr. 17, W 10-2, W 8-5 Clarion


Softball................................................Apr. 9, L 4-1, L 5-4 Gannon

Apr. 10, L 5-2, L 5-2 California (PA.)Apr. 11, L 0-3, L 4-7 West Chester


Apr. 14, W 10-2, W 10-2 Lake Erie

Apr. 16, W 1-0, W 6-3 Gannon

Apr. 17, L 4-2, L 9-5 Edinboro

Apr. 18, L 4-3, W 2-1 Slippery Rock

Men’s Lacrosse.............................................Apr. 11, L 8-7 Molloy

Apr. 18, L 10-5 C.W. Post

Women’s Lacrosse...........................Apr. 11, W 20-10 Millersville

Apr. 14, W 22-7 Indiana (PA.)

Apr. 16, L 18-16 Lock HavenApr. 19, W 17-13 East Stroudsburg

The Laker rowing teams

had an exciting past couple of weeks.

Over Easter weekend in New

Jersey, both the men and women

came out on top.

The men first took gold with

the lightweight four, sailing

ahead of George Mason by 26

seconds.

After a two-hour intermission,

the same line-up competed in

the heavyweight event and won with 5.5 seconds over Loyola.

Then, after just missing the

cut to the grand final Saturday,

the freshman four found

themselves victorious in the

petit final by 9.3 seconds over

Carnegie Mellon.

In the women’s events, the

varsity eight cinched first place

in addition to the four’s third

place finish.

Off the start, the eight looked

strong, but couldn’t shake

Dowling who built up a one-

third boat lead.

They sat behind Dowling

until halfway through the race when the Lady Lakers made

their move.

By 1500 meters, they were

bow ball to bow ball and inching

ahead until they finally jumped

to a six-second lead to nab the

gold.

This race bumped the

Lakers up in the polls to tie for

first in NCAA with Western

Washington University. This past week proved the

women deserve their No. 1

rank when co-captain Michele

Handzel led the varsity eight to

their second straight win of the

season in Oakridge, Tenn.

The four continued to

improve as well when they

finished third in their event for

the 15 spot overall out of 27

tough crews.

By Anne SobolStaff writer

Crew rows for gold

After two heartbreaking

losses against Gannon Univer-

sity two weeks ago, the Mercy-

hurst College softball team fired

back on Thursday, Apr. 16, and

swept the critical Pennsylvania

State Athletic Conference West

doubleheader.

Mercyhurst has not

shut out Gannon Uni- versity since April 2005.

In the big win over the Golden

Knights, sophomore Michelle

Schmitz broke the single-season

RBI record with her 42 RBI of

the year, and freshman Kristi

Janoske registered her 10th

win on the season, marking

the second year in a row for a

Mercyhurst freshman pitcher to

record 10 wins.

After their big win against

Gannon, the Lakers dropped

two games to Edinboro Univer-sity of Pennsylvania 4-2 and 9-

5, on Apr. 17.

On Saturday, Apr. 18, the

softball seniors played their last

game at Mercyhurst College.

After a 4-3 loss against Slip-

pery Rock University of PA

in game one, senior Danielle

Zubek made her last big state-

ment at Mercyhurst and came

through with a two-out game- winning hits in the second game

to prevail 2-1 in eight innings

and earn the split.

“It was probably one of the

greatest feelings in the world to

be in the batters box with two

outs and the winning run on

second with all of my team-

mates cheering me on,” Zubek

said.

“We had a great pitch-

ing performance by Amanda

Norman that game and when

coach called on me to get thejob down I couldn’t have been

more excited and ready for the

chance,” Zubek said.

“I couldn’t have asked for a

better way to end my last home

game for Mercyhurst,” Zubek

said.

With the win against the

Rock, Mercyhurst has assured

its third straight season with 20

or more wins.Lakers’ record stands at 20-

23, including a 6-10 mark in

PSAC West play.

Mercyhurst is the first team

to finish divisional games, and

will wait until early next week to

see if they will play in the PSAC

postseason.

The Lakers regular season

concludes on Apr. 22 at Notre

Dame College of Ohio.

By Sarah PowellStaff writer

Zubek clutch in final home game

Steven Gorgos photo

Senior Danielle Zubek delivered a game-winning double in the Lakers 2-1 win against

Slippery Rock University in the Lakers final home game, on Saturday, April 18.



The end of the 2008-09 men’s

hockey season meant a new

beginning for four Mercyhurst

College players, but for three of

them, the beginning found its

end quickly. Four men’s hockey

players signed to professional

contracts with the East Coast

Hockey League (ECHL) on

March 31.

Since then, three have

returned to Mercyhurst for vari-

ous reasons. Seniors Kirk Med-

ernach, Bobby Phillips and Matt

Pierce were not able to play for

their teams as they make their

playoff runs.

The curtain fell March 21 on

the Lakers’ 2008-09 season in

a 2-0 loss to Air Force in the Atlantic Hockey Association

tournament.

The five seniors compiled a

record of 68-67-17 during their

careers at Mercyhurst boasting,

two seasons with 20-plus wins.

The 2009 team also reached

the AHA championship game

the past two years only to come

up short against Air Force both

times.“This class was a group of

hard-working and dedicated

individuals and will make ter-

rific pros at the next level,”

Coach Rick Gotkin said. “It’s a

shame they couldn’t pull out a

championship game win against

Air Force.”

Senior Matt Lundin signed an

amateur tryout agreement with

the Alaska Aces of the EastCoast Hockey League. He has

started one game and made five

appearances and allowed five

goals over the last two weeks.

Lundin transferred from the

University of Maine and played

two seasons for the Lakers,

compiling a 17-21-5 record

with a .908 save percentage. As

the team’s most valuable player

in the 2007-08 season, he set

the all-time single season save

record 946 saves.

“Matt brought us a great pres-

ence from when he transferredto us from Maine and really car-

ried us deep into the conference

playoffs,” said Gotkin.

“My only regret was that we

could only have Matt for two

years. It was also disappointing

to see his struggles after surgery

and to lose his starting job to

Ryan who really stepped up in

his stead and led us to a great

conference playoff run but Ithink Matt will make a great pro

at the next level.”

Medernach signed a contract

with the Cincinnati Cyclones.

The Cyclones play in the ECHL

and are based out of Cincinnati.

Originally from Cudworth, Sas-

katchewan, he was a key part of

the Lakers’ defensive line for the

better part of four years. Med-

ernach four goals and 28 pointsin his career for the Lakers and

was a captain for the Lakers this

past year.

“I never thought I would play

at this level. I thought I would

play pro straight out of juniors.

I am glad that I did get the

opportunity to play at college,”

Medernach said.

“Kirk played regularly for

four years for us and provided

a very effective stay-at-home

defenseman for us on top of his

great leadership as a captain,”

Gotkin said.Medernach was on schedule

to play for the Cyclones for the

end of the year, but he could

not obtain a U.S. work visa in

time to get some playing time

this year.

“What happened was our

season ended March 21 and I

was signed by the Cyclones on

March 31. The problem was

that in order for me to play, theECHL deadline for work visas

is April 1, the visa application

did not make it in time,” Med-

ernach said.

“I was sent back to finish col-

lege and I will be back to play

for the Cyclones next year.”

Pierce will be reunited with

Medernach as he also signed

with Cincinnati. He will also

have to wait until next season toplay at the next level due to his

desire to finish college.

“I have four classes currently

and I just feel it would be unfair

to the team. I would be leaving

all the time and that wouldn’t

help my team during their play-

off run,” Pierce said.

Pierce was one of Mercy-

hurst’s most potent offensive

weapons. He finished his career

with 54 goals, 47 assists and 101

career points.

“Matt had a great college

career and did many great thingshere,” Gotkin said.

“He was invaluable as a leader

for team this year and the past

few years and I am sure he willgo on to do great things.”

Bobby Phillips signed with

the Elmira Jackals who play

in the ECHL. Phillips scored

four goals and added 22 assists

through his 125 career games.

“Bobby is a great stay-at-

home-defenseman. He was nor-

mally matched up against the

opposing team’s best scorer and

he almost never disappointed,”

Gotkin said.

Bobby will have to wait to

play until next season as he is

finishing up his college degree.

“Mercyhurst was a great time

and I am excited for my future

as a result of the experiences I

gathered here,” Phillips said

For these Mercyhurst seniors

the dreams of playing profes-sional hockey will have to wait

SPORTS April 22, 2009

End of season means career change

The senior class of the Mercyhurst College hockey team will have to wait one more year to real-

ize their dreams of playing hockey professionally.

Contributed photo

By Nick Glasier

Staff writer



SPORTS April 22, 2009

Don’t be a bandwagon fan, Pittsburghers

This column is purely to

end some arguments before

they happen with respect to

the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and

specifically my Pittsburgh

Penguins.

I would first like to apologize

to NHL fans everywhere.

We did not make Sidney

Crosby the league posterboy.

It is not the Penguins,’ nor

their fans’, fault that he is

shoved down your throats by

the media.

I will not refute the talk of his

complaining, because he does

do that, but the NHL is a very

superstar-oriented league, and

every star gets special treatment

(yes, even Daniel Briere), and

Wayne Gretzky was worse than

Crosby in this.

Now can we please shut up

about him?

I am sick and tired of

people complaining about his

complaining.

That’s hypocrisy.

Get a grip people.

Second, many people have a

problem with Penguins fans.

A great many of them are

not Penguins fans, but merely

bandwagoners.

If a person claiming to be a

Penguins fan cannot tell you 3

people from the X Generation

(I’ll even include X Force),

or have no idea what you are

talking about, they are not Pens

fans.

They are bandwagoners, and

they make us all look bad.

Let me clear some things up.

If you cannot name anybody

from the X Generation, you are

a bandwagoner.

If Ramzi Abid, Dick

Tarnstrom, Konstantin Koltsov,

Sebastian Caron, and Alexei

Morozov mean nothing to you,

you are a bandwagoner, or a

sorely uninformed fan.

If you cannot name when the

Penguins won the Stanley Cup,

you are a bandwagoner.

If you didn’t follow the team

for year’s because they weren’t

very good, no matter how big

of a fan you were as a kid, you

ARE a bandwagoner!

But there is hope if you are

new to the Penguins fandom:

do not claim to be a super

fan, listen to facts and stories,

never claim that this team is

our best team (see: 1992-93),

never think that Crosby is better

than Lemieux, and never, ever,

consider yourself a bigger fan

than those who cheered through

the horrible losing seasons.

It happens with all teams.

My freshman year, I

learned to hate the Buffalo

Sabres because of their fans,

when in fact, it was only a

bandwagon which has since

dissipated.

So do not hate all Pens fans,

look a little deeper and better

direct your hatred; everyone will

be a lot happier.

By John

Baranowski

Sports columnist

Baranowski defi nes what makes a true hockey fan

Page 20Sophomore Nick Gillung

delivers a pitch against

Clarion University of Penn-

sylvania on Apr. 17.



Laker Sports

Postseason

boundBaseball clinches PSAC playoff berth


Caption on page 15

the merciad, april 22, 2009

Documents