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VOL. 70 NO. 23 MERCYHURST COLLEGE, GLENWOOD HILLS, ERIE, PA. 16546* May 8,Inside This W eek

-Verdi President s Staff Announce Senior AwarBy Jim GormanMerciadNews Writer

Pg 2 - C hemis-try DepLreceives grant

Pg9-ToePolitics ofOverstreet

Pg 6 - Wongasks for truthabout tigarrettes

Pg 12 - Baseballseniors sayfarewell

What are you goingto do this summer?It's still not too late toconsider volunteerwork, but you mustact fast Applicationsfor Mercy Corps andother organizationsare available in Main104andEgan42.

OnWednesday,May7,thel997Senior Awards were announcedby the President's staff.Three senior awards will be pre-sented at the commence ment cer-emonies. These include th eBishop's Award for AcademicExcellence, the Mother FrancesXavier Warde Adult StudentAward and the top student awardgiven by the college, die CarpeDiem Award. Nominations forall senior awards were receivedby Dr. Joseph Gower, Vice Presi-dent of Academic Affairs fromthe full-time faculty and adminis-tration and the recipients werechosen on Friday, May 2, by Col-lege President William P. Garveyand th e 10 ^members of thePresident's Staff. -According to Mary Daly, vicepresident of external affairs, thisis the first year that the candidatesfor these awards were notified oftheir nominations before the se-lection of the winners.The Bishop's Award for Aca-demic Excellence is presented tothe graduating senior wh o ranksfirst in her or hi s class. A $100cash award is awarded by the ErieCatholic Diocese to the winner.This year'a recipient of theBishop'8 Award ia chemistrymaior Andrea R. Gcarbart

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The Carpe Diem Award is thehighest award presented b yMercyhurst College. This honoris given in recognition of ntellec-tual competency, personal integ-rity, and, especially, leadershipimpa ct It is presented to the out-standing graduating senior w h ohas had the most positive impacton the 1 ife o f the Mercyhurstmunity and who best exemplifiesthe college motto, "Seize th eDay."The co-recipients of this year'sCarpe Diem Award will receive agold medallion and a SeikoMercyhurst watch. They ar e

HRIM major Stacey Fitzpatrickand English major MindiMcDowell.The Mother Frances XavierWarde Adult Student Award ispresented to an exceptional adultstudent in recognition of superioracademic work and personal andprofessional achievement as anadult student at Mercyhurst Col-lege. The recipient o f this awardshall possess th e qualities^ ofFrances Warde, Americanfounder of the Sisters of Mercy,who was undaunted in her mis-sion to carry out in this countrythe work of Catherine McAuley"to provide an education for thepoor, the$ sick and theundereducated." The recipient o fthis award shall be an individual

Mercyhurst have be en character-ized by tenacity, perseverance andsacrifice and who has been anexample to traditional aged stu-dents that learning is a life-longprocess. This year's recipient ofthe Mother Frances Xavier WardeAdult Student Award is GloriaMorris.On Saturday evening, May 24,a dozen awards will be presentedto seniors at the GraduationAwards Dinner Dance. Theseawards include th e CarolynHerrmann Award, th e SisterEustace Taylor LeadershipAward, th e James V . Kinnane

Award in the Administration ofJustice, th e Outstanding Gradu-ate Student in Special EducationAward and the President's Asso-ciates Achievement Awards.The Carolyn Herrmann Awardis presented to the graduating se -nior who has give n unselfishly oftime, energy , talent and loyalty tothe college and has demonstrateda genuine concernfor social jus-tice issues in the Greater ErieMil lmunity in the spirit of the seventhpresident of Mercyhurst College ,Sister Carolyn Herrmann. Therecipient of this award shall be arisk taker, a role model to fellow

classmates and evidence of per-sonal commitment to the serviceof humankind. This yea r's recipi-ent o f die Carolyn Herrmann

h nbally.The Sister Eustace Taership Aw ard is presengraduating senior who plified superior leadevolvement and motivaaward is named afterpresident of MercyhursThis year's winner ofEustace Taylor Leadersis computer systeMichelle Mizia.\ Also presented at tdinner will be the PAssociates Achieveme444m wij] be presented tooutstanding seniors in eight divisions of thbusiness, educa tion, horant and institutionalment,'hum an deve lopmanities, natural scimathematics, performisocial scienc es. These apresented to students of age and each division

B opportunity to nominastudent as a co-recipieaward from its area.The recipients o f tsional awards are deterter the winners have beefor the Carpe Diem ABishop'a Award forExcellence, the SisterHerrmann Servi ce AwSister Eustace Taylor LAward and the Mothewhose studies an d years at I w a i d ^ biochemistry major Go to "Awards* p. 2

Local Authorities Return to 'HurBy Jim GormanMerciad Writer

Recently, there have beenspeculations and rumors runningrampant across campus in regardto entities like the PennsylvaniaLiquor Control Board (LCB), stu-dent arrests and thefts.

Work on Munion Plaza underway-s! * * * ! * - '

. Photo: Jeaakn Russelld * a # #

First, the Pennsylvania LiControl, Board and Erie Policehave been making appearanceson campus at regular intervals.As noted last week, the authori-ties in Erie are now on the prowland have every intention ofkeep-ing order on campus as well aapreventing the vandalizing ofproperty and violation of laws,particularly underage drinking.This past weekend, t w oMercyhurst students were arrestedby the authorities,presumably theLCB. for aa alleged violation of

the underage drinking laWhat I have gathered, onstudents had compliedother student proceedefrom the authorities afteconfronted. The chase, wa footrace, started on souand ended up at the boEast 38th Street and Brenue. According to DirSecurity Kenneth Sidun,feel that they have a dimmunity from outside ties, but this is not the caare drinking underage sayou run the risk of beinized, iAccording to junior R/jorEmilioColaiacovo,thvisit by die authoritiesrelated to the activities whplace last weekend Merhas attracted the attentioGo to " Security," p. 2

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PAGE 2 THE MERCIAD May 8,

M e r c y H e r i t a g e S t u d y G r o u p s f C o n c h i d e Y e a r | C h e m i s t r y D e p a r t m eR e c e i v e s R e s e a r c h M o ny Chris WlocnNews Editor

On Monday, May 5, the MexcyHeritage study groups concludedthis year's sessions with a Mass at4 pjn. in the Prince of PeaceChapel, followed b y a receptionin the Student Union Great Room.Throughout the year, approxi-mately 40 particpants have beenreading The Principle of Mercyby liberation theologian foilSobrino. According [ to SisterPatricia Whalen, assistant aca-demic dean, the study groupswould meet once a mouth for anhour-long discussion period toshare reflections on the readings.The Mercy Heritage Commit-

tee began two years sgo as aneffort to launch a community-widediscussion on the traditions be-hind the college. This programwi s sponsored by Dr. MichaelO'Kecffc, assistant professor ofreligious* studies; Dr. JosephGowcr,vice president ofacademicaffairs and Dr.' Barbara Behan,chairperson of the committee.'1*Since there are fewer Sisters ofMercy on the staff than in previ-ous years, the committee's ef-forts are directed toward helpingthe Mercyhurst community bemindful of its heritage. As a re-sult, Whalen said that among th ecommittee's goal* are "to create adeeper awareness of the college 's

traditions and to explore and ex-pand the Mercy heritage by un-derstanding how it relates to us atthe end of the twentieth century."Last year, the study groups readCatherine McAuley and the Tra-dition of Mercyby Mary Sullivan,RSM. The book is an excellent

* 4%depiction of the life, s.vision of the founder ofMercyhurst w hich illustrated howwe arc able to take that foundingimpulse and make it present totoday's college community,"Whalen said.Besides the study groups, theMercy Heritage Committee spon-sors the annual Maura Smith lec-ture in addition to other socialevents and liturgies such as theMass of the Holy Spirit at thebeg nning of the year and Foun-dation Day every December 12.At this point, some suggestionsfor next year's readings includethe papal encyclical "Rich inMercv." in addition to a number

der consideration, work at theMercy Center for Women, theSoldiers' and Sailors' Home andthe Neighborhood Art House.Whalen said that this concernfor the Mercy heritage is some-thing that is not limited to theSisters of Mercy. "I'm really im-pressed by the commitment thatsome of the members of the col-lege community have exhibitedin maintaining and deepening thatheritage. It's very gratifying torealize that people care about itand want to see it promoted oncampus," she said.

"I'd love to see more studentsbecome involved. We're alwayslooking for new ideas," she said.

of current articles rom he MercyAssociation in Scripture andThe-ology (M AST) journal which ispublished four times a year by theSisters of Mercy.Additionally, die committee iscurrently looking in to the possi-bility of a service project nextyear. According to Sister CarolAnn Volte, director of th e servicelearningprogram, there are threedifferent projects which are tut-

CLOTHES. CRAFTJ&MORE11111Formal wear & promdresses $40 & up .Available at Resale &gift sto re.Located 3706 PineAve.Ph. 459-6326

Danda' aJig: members of Erie's 'RhWNa Tiarna* Irish dancing organization who were just one of severalceltic groups which performed this past Sunday evening in the Union. Die event was a celebration of otiticmusk; tt)flg*r*t^iK3erefid*w^

By Alissa MinnerMerciad WriterFour Mercyhurst undergradu-ates have been offered an oppor-tunity for summer research. Ananonymous donor gave the chem-istry department the money itneeds to offerfourstudents a sum-mer research program*

Dr. Jack Williams, chair of the[vision of natural sciences andmathematics,said that the depart-ment received seven good appli-cations forthe positions this sum-mer. Although they were origi-nally given enough funds for threestudents, they went out to obtaindie funds for a fourth student, h esaid.Two students will work in thearea oftheoretical physicalchem-istry with Dr Candee Chambers,assistant p rofessor of chemistryand physics. Lisa Reilly,whowillbe a sophomore in the Call, willconduct research in pharmaceuti-

cal drug design andLaemmerhirt, who wiior next year, will worecules that are precurplosives.Sophomore Veroniand junior Jennifer Hawork in the area of biounder the supervisionlissa Barranger-Mathyprofessor of chemistrwill conduct research of I antifungal peptHamelly in enzyme meBarranger-Mathys saiDuring the summer,and Barranger-Mathyunteer their time, w histudents will receive six weeks of research."We are glad that wour students sn oppostudyhere because othare going to larger scsummer for programs.compete with the largeBarranger-Mathys sai

"Security," cont'd from p. 1side authorities and there is a pos-sibility of heir return in these lastfew weeks of school.The next issue is in regard torecent speculation about theftsfrom automobiles belonging toMercyhurst students. In die pastthere have been similar instancesof theft, but security officialsclaim they have not received anycomplaints about recent break-ins. Sidun is also unaware ofanysuch instance, but in the event ofa theft, he urges students whomay have experienced this to re-port It to security so that an inci-dent report may be filed and aninvestigation initiated. For n ow,it will be assumed that rumors oftheft on campus are strictly specu-lation. 4

As a reminder fromSidun, stu-dents a re urge! to use good judg-ment when they consume alco-hol otherwise they increase theirchances of getting caught with apossibility of fines or arrest W ewill soon see if the authoritiesattempt to get involved with fu-ture operations at Mercy hurst, buttheonly way to limit involvementby theLCB on a large sea e is touse good judgment and have somedignity and respect for schoolrules. r******w*#*

"Awards," cont'dfroXavicr Warde AdulAwards.The outstanding studthropology/archaeoCassandra Kuba and'Dufour. The co-recipie^year's business awardGreathouse and AmcThe outstanding adult business is James Politstanding student in edJennifer S Fragle. Theoutstanding student inMichael E. Fry. The coof the award in humaChris Wloch and JasoThe outstanding studeence and math is AmyThe outstanding studeand performing arts iJurczak. The recipient standing student awardscience is John O. MuTw o other awards wsented at the awards baJamea V. KinnaaeAward in the AdminisJusticeandthe S pecial EGraduate Award. Th e ing Graduate Award iEducation is Patricia MJames V. Kinnane Awapresented to Robert J Cthe outstanding [maste-candidate^ * >.* >

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May 8,1997 THE MERCIAD PA

Grand Delusions The F in a l Chap tenThe Editor ReflecBy James I IainMerciad A&E Editor (for now)

Well, it's the final edition forthis year's Merciad staff. Or, toparaphrase Tricky Dick, "Youwon't h ave Murph to kick aroundanymore.*9 Since this is my lastcolumn, IfiguredIlldo a sort ofRyb Roast-On the D itch kind ofming (and, just so you know, westill can't geta satisfactoryexpla-na tion from Murph as to what thehell "on the ditch" is supposed tomean).

Despite all the protests (I thinkI recall a faculty bigwig you allknow and love referring to us as a"yellow rag9*) we tried to do ourbes t Let's be honesty we're notreally a big-time colleg e newspa-per and our Woodward-and-Bernsteh expose*, of leak y roofsmayhave been a bit much. Butour critics never recogn ized justhow difficult it can be to do thisevery week, especially with lim-ited resources (in a scene worthyof Joseph Heller, the administra-tion somehow failed to notice our

Frank Collura will conduct Requiem at D'Angelo on May 9th and11th.

ancient Macs and malfunctioningprinters and decided what we re-ally needed was a new floor).I applaud my fellow staffers,especially Murph, who bustedmany a blood vessel over thispaper. For some reason, all oftheblame for everything that waswrong with The Merciad landedsquarely on his head, like he doesthe whole paper himself. In fact,we briefly considered changingthe name of the paper to Th eMurphyad, but decided not to,lest any yardstick wielding Sis-

ters of Mercy burst into the officeto decimate us like villains in aJackie Chan movie.As for my section, it wasn'talways the bestI thought it couldbe. Several people decried theabsence of a regular music col-umn, and I take responsibility forthat I looked for people to writeit, but pretty much gave up. Iwould like to thank my regularcontributors, Carrie Tappe, JodyWashington, Amanda Smith,Mike Opperman and HeatherCvitkovic for rising above and

beyond and giving meheadaches than VaRybczynski were subjeAnd so, I hand th

o v er to Carrie. I knowa terrific job and if shewell, you can just blameven though he won'tanymore (and a note tomajorssoever fear. Isuspect that Murph wa sing your collective chaweek's "On the Ditchnever admit it, though!

Requiem performed atDfAngelBy Jody WashingtonMerciad Writer

Conductor Frank Collura con-ducts Giuseppe Verdi's Messa daRequiem, to be performed by theD'Angelo Symphony Orchestrawith the D'Angelo Concert andCommunity Choirs on Friday,May 9 at 8 p.m. andSun. May 11at2:30 p.m. in the Mary D'AngeloPerforming Arts Center. The Sun-day afternoon concert ladedicatedto Sr. Carolyn Herrmann, pastpresident of the college andSuperior of the Sisters of Mercy,who died on Saturday, Dec 28,1996. | T"Sr. Carolyn would be verytouched by this testimony,19notedDr. Will iam P. Garvey, presidentof M ercyhurst College. "She wasa fond lover of the arts and wouldbe proud to see the community-

at-1arge coll a bo r ate withMercyhurst to commemorate herideals of an educational institu-tion that is both culturally andintellectually exciting," Garveyv lira*

a* ti ll

said. He continued, T hi sepitomizes those ideals by bring-ing together almost ISOstudents,faculty and diegreater Eriemunity in a brand new Perform-ing Arts Center;1'He explained that it is not ustthe big-name international starswhoare coming (even though theywillbe there). It is also store own*era and homemakers, students,professors and professional cho-rus and orchestra members whoare collaborating for a on ce in alife-time performance ofGiuseppe Verdi's immortal mas*terpicce Messa da Requiem, inhonor of Sr. Carolyn.:

And the people frommunity reallyhavecomThey comefromsuchErie, Albion, WaterforCranesville and Corthroughout the United Sfrom colleges and unithe tri-state area,*for opremier perform*acesand thefinaleof he 1996Performers Series at thThe Requiem, whicbeen performed in the Ethe past 16 years, will einternational guest soloiLea Young; Greek-boAlberto Mizrahi; MezzoBonita Hyman; and KaoriSato.For additional informhow to obtain ticketsfoperformance of Verdi 'a Requiem call the,Box82+300K $ .

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PAGE 4 THEMERCIAD May 8,199

BreakdownBy Carrie TappeMerciadA&E Editor

"It could happen to you.n Whatwould you do if you were travel-ing cross-country along one ofthemost remote backroads of theWest, and suddenly your car brokedown.and if you found yourselfstranded, alone, helpless?When Jeff (Kurt Russell) andbit wife, Amy (KathleenQuinian), set offfromBoston toSan Diego to leave their trouble*behind andhead somewhere new,ttheir car breaks down oa a de-serted backroad. They find them-selves stranded on a seldom-trav-eled road, milesfromany type ofhumanity. It seems that help hasarrived when an 18 wheeler semitruck Villi es into view oa the ho-

rizon.The driver, Red (J.T. Walsh),is am over-the-road trucker. Hestops-, and offers, Jeff and Amy aride to Belle's Diner, theplace along the lonely highway.With hopes of escaping the sunand calling a tow truck, Amy ishesitant but decides to go withRed while Jeffwaits with the car.Shortly after Red and Amyleave, Jeff is p laying around un-der the hood and finds a loose*wire. Hefixes he carand decidesto try to catch up with Amy atBelle's Diner. When he gets there,Am y is nowhere to be ound.Th e

wbartender and customers claimthey never saw either AmynorRed. Jeff

- .

flunu es to questionthem aid only gets cold states inreturn. Jeff baa s gnawing suspi-that they aren't telling thetruth.Jeff decides to get back on theroad and go on. He findsRed's truck, but Red denies everhaving seen Jeff or his wife. Thepolice viewAm y' s disappearancely, saying that oftenCouplesfightand Split during thecourse of a long road trip. >With nowhere to turn, Jeff setsforth la one of the moatdramaticsearches of his life. Break*****lakes Kurt Russell into the vastopen spacewhere the law doeaatteach and into the dark spaces ofdie humsa soul. It's so realisticbecause it could happen to any-

4t:i:t> n t

Breakdown is really thoughtprovoking flick. Almost anyone

can relate to the situation. It's areality check. How vulnerablewould you be ifyouwere desper-ate? y*\Aside from the actual storyline,the backgrounds and scenes ofthe west are magnificent. Breai>down also incorporates a lot ofscenes with high intensity andspecial effects. On topof that, it isa great psychological thriller.H E L P W A N T E DMen/Women earn $48 0weekly assemblingcircuit boards/elec-tronic components athome. {Experienceunnessary, will train.Immediate openings inyour local area.Call 1-520-680-7891extC200

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Backstage drama unfoldsBy Angela HarrisContributing Writer

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This past weekend, Erie BalletTheatre, a combination of LakeErie Ballet and the MercyhurstCollege Dance Department, pre-sented "Coppelia: The Girl withthe Enamel Eyes" in D'AngeloCenter for the Performing Arts.Through eight week s o f rehears-als, hundreds of dazzling cos-tumes and a majestic set, this pro-duction came to life. The 111pany was stage ready a week be-fore the performance, and aa Fri-day evening rolled around, all th edancers and theatretech staffwereready and raring to go.The performance began mag-nificently asthe lovely Swanhilda,danced by Erie Ballet Theatreprincipal dancer, Christina Maria,made her loveable imp ression on

the audience with her stage pres-ence and irresistible charm. Y et,no one was to expect whatwas tohappen as the show continued.Tragically, during the second actof the ballet, Maria was grippedwith pain in her leg, and had toexit the stage, leaving the audi-ence wondering and worrying. An

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ambulance waa called and Marialeft the theatre. 9The ballet continued on Fri-day night and all the dancers re-acted professionally by perform-ing their best, under the circum-stances. Yeteven before the showwaa over, Erie B allet Theatre Di-rector, Tauna Hunter began pon-dering on die two remainingshows and who she could get toperform' in place of Maria. Aileyes pointed to Kim Lewis, a lo-cal professional and director ofErie Bayfront Ballet Lewis im-mediately came in and beganlearning theballet, yet a full lengthballet is too much to learn in a 12-hour period.

Hunter, without a secondthought, put on her pointe shoes,put her hair in a bun and decidedto go on stage for the sake of theshow. Hunter along with Lewisshared the role of Swanhilda forthe Saturday and Sundayshows."She rose to the occasionand she impressed everyone,"Maureen Cavanaugh, a freshmandance major, "itwa s a true inspi-ration.nMany were amazed byHunter's performance,and she is

definitely a true virHeadier Malone,also adancer, said, Taun a difor her students. It is amshe would get up on stagherself, but for the sakcompany. That takes alove for what she does."Although the past wperformances of Coppeunforeseen, the Erie Baatre presented this ballemuch grace and professaa any other in thMercyhurst should be phonored to have this baresidenceage of the exquisite perfo

thatit presents. These shomized the whole notionperforming: Everythingcan happen in the theatrmatter wha t, The ShowOnT i

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May 8,1997 THEMERCIAD PAG

O n The DitchBy John MurphyEditor in chief

Although I have heard them on several occasions during my four yearshere, I never really took offense to the words, "those damn foreigners."Most of the time, and especially here at Mercy hurst, they are made in jest,and most of the time, I have taken them this way - no offense meant, nonetaken. In fact, the sense I get here is that as a white European, with a collegeeducation, I don't think these words are really meantforme and in fact, asimmigrants go , I am sort of acceptable, even to the bigots in this country.Maybe I should shut-up and be happy with this situation (and indeed, ona very selfish level this situation is somewhat comforting), but I can't seemto get over the fact that the above words must hit my fellow immigrants ofa black, brown or yellow skincolor with a little more displeasure. Theymusthit them as reminders ofthis country's deeply seated, racism andpredjudice,and they must highlight howsincerely unwelcome they are to many peoplehere. As a member of one of the 'favored* immigrant categories, I used tofeel almost guilty about the disparity of our acceptableness in this society.However, it was a fellow immigrant who taught me that it was not towarddiscriminated immigrants whom I should feel sympathy towards, but to theAmerican people themselves.I met this teacher on the subway inNew York and on the surface, we hada couple of things in common. W e both came from fanning backgrounds,were both young, living in low rent apartments in rough parts of the Bronx,both liked soccer and also hated the yuppies who got on the train as it enteredthe nice parts of uptown Manhattan. But this was about as far as it went Hewasa black immigrant rom west Africa, I was a whitekid rom Ireland, whohad the luxury of a scholarship to Mercyhurst He was working 14 hours aday as a parking lot attendant receiving $3 an hour, I got between $15-$20an hour working as a doorman on Park A venue.After he told me what he made, I got embarrassed and went red. Of courseI didn't tell him what I got, but he knew it was much more than he and st firstI thought he was looking at me with this look that said,u this is rubbish ."* But we kept talking and the conversation turned to gypsy(illegal) cabs in the Bronx. He and his riendwere doing somework fixingmem on the weekends and eventually they hoped to open an autpbodyshop. As we talked, it dawned on me that he didn't despise me for thedisparity b etween our situations. He didn't resent me, because he simplydidn't have the time to. He was too busy injust making ends meet and toofocused on succeeding in his goals to worry about societal injustices,listening to hint talk with such enthusiasm, I began to admire, how, despiteall the hurdles placed infrontof him, his spirit remained undeterred. I leftthe train that day convinced he would succeed inattaining his version of theAmerican dream. \ JI think about himevery time I hear people bitch about immigrants in thiscountry and about the perceived burden they place on this society andeconomy and I cant help wonder about the bbny involved. Here wss thisguy, gettingpractically slsviw ages , Irving in s slum, andnot exactly beingmade to feel vcrjrwelcoma In this country.And yet,hisbelief in supposedlyfundamental American ideals such as liberty and opportunity, seemedmuch greater than those patriots who would send him back to Africa.I think about how the same argumentswere made aga instIrish, Italian andPolish Immigrants wheaihey first arrived here and how they workeddoggedly to dispel the racist andunfounded myths held against them. A sthey believed then, the African, South American and Asian immigranta'strugglea represent mole aboutwhat is great about this country than manyofthe peoplebcrc already whojust take Hfor granted. The immigrantwhosails intoNew York Harbor today aces in the Statue o f Ubcrty the sameimage of hope and opportunity as many of your " ^ J " ^ * *ago TodayTkmigrantpossess^

> adversity as they did.In everv wavexcept co lor, today's argumentsaga inst immigrants minort Z t t Z * Americans ^ m e a so destructive as to kill the .ove Ti l 11

By Joe WongMerciad ColumnistThis past week a jury in Floridavoted that the RJR Nabisco 111pany, and its Salemcigarettes, were not liable for thelung cancer and subsequent deathof a life-long smoker. The jurydecided that cigarettes were not"unreasonably dangerous and de-fective and a legal cause of thedeath9 in die case. The jury agreedmat cjgarettescan cause death, butdecided that that fact has beenwidely known for decades,)andthe "too addicted to quit0 argu-ment was not a reasonable enoughcause for removal of responsibil-ity from the smoker. In effect,smoking can kill you so if yousmoke and die because of it, it'syour faultOn the surface that is a reason-able enough argument Individu-als must be aware of the implica-tions of their decisions, and somust take responsibility for anyconsequences arisingfrom hoseactions. But that reasoning as-sumes that the average adult hasthe ability and resources to deter-mine the consequences of smok-ing.

But it seems that informationabout cigarettes, especially interms of their addictive qualities,waa notmade available to the pub-lic by the tobacco industry untilrecently. The industry has deniedmat nicotine, and subsequentlycigarettes, arc addictive. In fact in1994, the CEOs ofthe seven lead-ing tobacco companies testifiedbefore Congress, under oath, thatnicotine was not addictive.Last month the Ligget Group,one ofthesmallestciga rette m anu-facturers, revealed that it hasknown for decades that nicotinewas addictive, andadmitted that itaggressively marketed cigarettesto teenagers.Tomost people, thosemay notbe terribly insightful rev-elations, but they are admissionsIby a cigarette maker that itknewfits productwould hook smokers,and might eventually kill them. Ifone cigarette company is awareof that research, then surely they

The tobacco industry must ad- mit that it waa aware o f the ef-fects of its product, and take re-sponsibility for the consequencesof deciding to conceal thatknow!-1edge. The results rom hat deci-sion would be enormous, affect*

ing m ill ions of people aworld. The inancial mare virtually inconceivvoking thousands of worth billions of dollprompting thousands mbillions more. But thecannot be expected to rall of those suits, and system should not a 1 wanswer.If necessary, Congreen act legislation limindustry's liability, in tof eliciting the truth andtion from the cigarettnies. The companies shhave to defend themsecase by case basis, rathaction suit, similar toon22 states seeking more billion for Medicaid rements.Regardless o f diedettime for the handful o fmanufacturers to admWrongdoing and acceptsequences if decisions mcadesago. Americans, esmokers, deserve to be truth and the time has cthe industry to acknowleclaim.

Helmet' s Not A Ratings GBy Dan HilfikerSenior Writer

S 3 n E P i of d And o make things woc i wiU ,*e I

Now that we have a televisionratings aystem in place, I supposethat the big question is: Is itgoing to make a difference? In thepast fe w years we have seen theincreasing liberalization of thetelevision airwaves. More andmore actors and writershavebeengiven the green light to use everhigher dosages of profanity andbare their bodies in order toshowmore reality in their shows, but isthis really necessary?Would any of die old shows thatall of us grew Up watching havebeen any better if they had beenfreer with their language and moreexplicit with their bedroomscenes? I really dou t think so.Now that there ia a ratings sys-tm in place, ia it going to reallyinform the viewers what is in thelentof the shows that they aretching? All that the ratingsvw ia whether the upcomingHI

and so on. What do all of theseratings and letters really mean? Isa 10 yearold child mature enoughto watch a TV-PG televisionpro-gram? What all la contained in aTV-PG rating aa compared to aTV-M rating? Thercjis just poomuch confusion as to what all ofthese ratings mean for them to bepractical aa a ratings measure.I think that what the televisionindustry has to do is to provide alisting of aU of the material con-tained within the nightly televi-sion dramas, such as what HomeBox Office and Showtime pro-vide for their movies. These warn-ings tell the viewer if there ia anyprofanity, nudity, or explicit vio-lence contained in the upcomingmovie. This makes it s great dealeasier* for Viewers to know ex-actly what is contained in the pro-gram so that can make a moreeducated decision about whetherto le t their children watch. Manyof these television procrams and

deal, and can have a veimpact on their behavioToomany parents use vision aa an artificial bawhen they are not In thsupervise their, chUdrenmakesftnearly impossibparents to knoW exactlychild is seeing all die timI don't think that anyratings system is going tto do anything to alleviproblem. For the timthough, I think that the tindustry has to focus mpresenting s more Informsage to their viewing authan the token changes talready have implement

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I movies influence chilliIA *.v -M. * . . . * . HI /. '.

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L a b o r V i c t o r y : D o n ' t R e a d T o o M u c h I n t o By EnlUo ColaiacovoMerciad Political Columnist

Last week, British voters, in ary convincing statement, endedI years of Conservative (Tory)lie, replacing then with theswiy invigorated Labor partyiderthe direction ofTony Blair.a whoseony , BUk,. a . pol itistyle and methods of managementare similar to President Clinton,received an overwhelming man-date ia the polls. Even though Iwas hoping for a comc-rom-be-hind Tory victory, I did not minkthe Labor party would trouncethe conservatives as the ydid. Yet,in reviewing thenew political re-alignment in Britain, one mustoverstate the significance ofthis victory. Though this electionis quite important in regard to thestatus of the European Unionquestion, I am quite certain thiselection ia nothing but a phase ina confused British electorate.Though the Conservative Partydd much for Britain. I belie ve the

scandals that arose amid the elec-tions did little to illuminate theeconomic achievements which arethe envy of most European na-tions. In sustaining an economywith 6% unemployment, \ goodgrowth and low levels of infla-tion, the Con servative Party alongwith John Major have nothing tohang their heads for. Th is justreaffirms jmy belief that votersvote not on the issues, b ut ratherour scandal and media-framedsound-bites that have little perti-nent political relevance.Blair deserves mostof die creditfor this recent victory. The oldLabor Party, synonymous withmild socia 1 istic policies, had fallenout of touch with the electoratejust as the Democratic party hadhere in the United States. Blair,mirroring the politicalspindoctoring of PresidentCI in on, moved his party fromtheleft towards the populist center.In doing so, Blair removed clausefour from die Labour party plat-form which called for national-

ization of industry and opted forgreater privatization and lessspending. Insum, he accepted thebasic principles o f Thatcherism.Also, Blair adopted a 10 pointplan, similar to the Republican'sContract with America, whichcalledfor ower spending, tax re-form and health care ameliora-tion. In essence, Blair combinedcampaign techniques (hatworkedfor both Republicans and Demo-crats in our na tion. However, Iamuncertain this recent victory tran-scends intoa radical change intheEuropean political schema.I feel the Labour party was ableto win the election because ofpublic dissatisfaction with 18years ofTory rule. After 18 years,die public becomes uncomfort-able with the same stale policiesof a particular political faction.Similarly, during the 1994 midterm elections, we witnessed theAmerican electorate stunninglyreject 40-odd years of Democraticdominance in Congress only toreplace them with a highly popu-list and rejuvenated Republican

party. In retrospect, I seriouslydoubt the Americanpeople werecompletely won over by the con-tract with America. Rather, thepublic reacted to welKplaced Re-publican sound-bites which ad-vertised the longevity of theDemocratic rule. The same holdstrue in Britain; the electorate be-came increasingly tired of theTories and replaced diem with anew party. For this reason, I be-lieve it is premature to pronounceconservatism dead in B ritain.Britain is a strongly conserva-tive nation historically, so I do notbelieve Britain's ConservativeParty will go the same way as theCanadian conservative party didafter the disastrous MulroneyAdministration. Whereas somepredict Blair to remain in powerfor some time, I remain uncer-tain. I feel the Labor party, whichstill contains a highly antagonis-tic left wing which is bent onincreasing the role of government,will be torn apart by infighting

justas the Conserva tive Party was.However, if Tonv Blair keens his

promises of health carwithout raising expendimaintaining the status qgards to the economy,prove me wrong.In dosin g, leadership ferent than politickingCI in ton and Blair are pfect p oliticia ns,. Clinproven to be a less effectoften making key deciswhim, only to reverse thThis is poor statesmanhas long-lastingforeigmestic policy ramificatjury is still out on ToHowever, Blair will havfront the same problem

Major did. Blair will haizc the continual procerning the IRA and SinGerry Adams as well asevolving matters that dthe European Union. Ifunable to articulate hisparty platform, he toowthe wayside as John MNow, I predict a turfive years of Labor rule

*J'4I

A n e s s a y o n t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f c r o s s - c u l t u r a l c o m m u n i c a t iEditors Note: The following isthe win ning entry into this year'sstudy abroadessay comp etition.jThe winner received $50 0 to-wards travel expen ses.By Randy Hilliard

Where we stand may well de-termine what we see. However,that alone i i not the single ele-ment of cross cultural education.Anyone can go to a foreign coun-try, but in itself that does notful

* * l ~ a

guarantee a aucce&sEul experi-ence. Let na say that youiStephan is taken in the middlethe night tad flownisland in the Pacific Ocean.Upon arrival, by a single propplane, Step baa ia introduced tothe Tribal chief; Atalamimach.Aulamimach doea not sees*pleased with Stephaa'swtnuion.However Stephaa is going In bethere for at least two months,which is when the next plane isdue to drop into the lagoon, so itbehooves him to make the mostO this opportunity.Like it or not Stephaa ia boundtD make some adjustments to his"new, strange, backward, primalsurroundings*. Right now be to

"standing" but not yet "seeing*9.And ifhe is "seeing," it isonly thedark corner which be calls his"self. The part of his mind that allows him to make such rashjudgments, is temporarily filledwith negative sentiment In our story, Stephaa receivedwhat he believed to be a coldreception from the tribal society.Unfamiliar customs, languageand cultural history have beenthe most distancing factors amonghuman beings since the begin-ning of time. Not because eitherparty Is inherently wrong, butcfather these people had not takenthe timeto understand each other.But he would soon find that in |this culture such s greetingshowsthe utmost respect, especially^when given by the village elder.While at borne in the warmsuburbs of Anywhere. U SA, thethought ofeating with your handsia repulsive. But in our fictionalvillage of Burio Rotoi, the onlytime utensils an used is whenyonare dining with enemies. Thesecustoms have their own historicalsignificance and in order to adaptto the culture, an understandingmust be acquired.This takes na. not to where

Stephan is standing, but morportant how he is standing easy for him to stand in a corner,his own chasm of self centered indifference. But with tacontdThe M erciadVOL. 70 NO . 23 8Merciad EditorsJohn MurphyScott VanceChris WlochBrad RybczynskiDa n Hilflker

Editor-in-ChiefSports EditorNews EditorFeatures EditorSenior Writer

James Ha InJason GifTenMichelle MiziaAaron Con nailJerry Tram bley

At&E EdiAdvertisinCopy EditoGraphicsAdvisorMerciad Staff

J a mz PorzioMichael J OppermanJoe WongHindi McDowellTodd ZielinskiAmanda Smith

Jessica RussellStephenNolanCarrie TappeJody WashingtonMary PikeSteve Torriero

Maureen McMahonEmilio ColaiacovoBUI Melville

The Merciad is the student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst Colleg e. Box 161,50 1 E. 38th S t, Erie, Pa., 1654 4 Phone 824-2376.Th e Merciad welcomes letters to the editor.

Th e Merdad's editorial opinion is determined by the Editorial Boardwith the Editcholdingfinalresponsibility. The opinions expressed in The Merciad are not neccssThe Merciad, its staff or Mercyhurst C ollege. . . . .

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May 8,1997 THE MERCIAD PAG

% Did you go to any of the events during Acade

SeniorScience Celebration,to the World of Insects. Iowing for the campus. I thoughtfindout how

can be used in technologyeverybody's everyy lives.

Lambert, Senior -DesignI went to Go A way for extraAmerican CultureI thought it was beneficial fortankingof going abroadfuture.

contd.frompg 6around, he can en*the scenery and culture, this ladetermines what he sees.Aa our story cornea to an end,Rotoithree week s. Although he baaonly a few key phrases,

tonight,Without thed of a fork and spoon. We can bemany more challengesWhether or not theyconquered successfully has noexperi-Wh at does matter though, lat Stephan is able t o appreciatedifferences rather than

Celebration? Whichlike it? Why? How did

Kris Cecchetti, FreshmanPyschology ;I went to the Women's Exhibitand I hoped to learn somethingabout my female sisters. I think itisgreat that they tried to celebratesomething about women on thiscampus.

Chris Morgan, JuniorFinanceI went to the Civil War Re-enactment because I have a fasci-nation with anevent which I be-lieve to be this country's filled.To understand the Civil War is tounderstand much ofwhat definesAmerica.

Heather Beckey, SophomoreEnglish Edu cationI was in the Sites SpecificDance, Innocence on Monday,April 28, and I thought it waa anexceptionally performed piece. Iwas disappointed that it rainedand we couldn't do it outside.Other man that we did a terrificjob.

Bill Franz, Junior *MHRIMif jI went to the Poverty aman Needa and I went mcause I had to to get extrbut it was very interestigave some good points onget rid of poverty."

Kelly Gurney, SophomoreHOHMI went to see die Liberation andthe Works of M ercyfor Ambas-sadors and itwas very interesting.

Laura Dlulus, SophomoreMarketingI wentto Ayn Rand and Objec-tivism to receive extra credit forclass and even though I neverlead thebooks, it was very inter-esting.

Melissa Lang, SophomoreBiologyI went to see the Liberation andthe Works of Mercy so that Icould get extra credit I thoughtthat it was interesting and infor-mative.

Burheem Bakr, JuniorBiologyI went to Dispelling M yIslam because I waa a spethink it went well and a people were interested.

The Merciad Wants Your CommentsHelp us improveyour campus newspaper bylresponding to our m in

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L e t t e r T o T h e E d i t o r : Watkins hurt by HRIMicomDear Editor,

I would like to comment on lastweek's edition of*On the Ditch."I am a junior here at MercyhurstCollege and my major it HUM .I, only being ajunior, cannot com-prehend your feelings about1 eav- jing Mercyhurst Yes, it will benice to close another chapter ofyour life and move onto anotherbigger and broader one. Still, howcan you look so negatively uponyour experience here. I am sureyou have your own reasons, and Iam not writing to criticize yourthoughts, memories or your be-liefs. Those arc up to you to de-cide and figure outI am writing in defense of thestaff, faculty and various depart-ments ..here at Mercyhurst Col*lege. When making my collegeselection,my top two choices wereUNLV and Mercyhurst Colleg e.Sure, Mercyhurst laclose r tohome(Buffalo), but my decision to at-tend this collegewa sbased on the.individual attention given toeachstudent and the feeling ofbelong-ing to a community. Of courseduring my time here, I have hadsome poor experiences with pro-fessors, we all have. It does notnecessarily mean mat they arcH

S bad professors or thatwe are badstudents, ft just m eans that thereWis a conflict of interest How-ever, I also have had some terrificprofessors, who continue to re-mind me Why I am here and chal-lenge me to do my best Aa forthose "green jacket* individuals,I give them a lot of credit Theydedicate a lot of their time to thisinstitution and play a major role,in showing prospective studentswhat Mercyhurat is all aboutConcerning your1 commentabout the HRIM department, Iwould not have chosen anothermajor. Your belief however, in

shared with man y other individu-als On this campus, induding thefaculty. We have been called ev-erything from "burger flippers"to "napkin folders.n This is not aconcern, what la the concern isthe idea that people criticize s IIthing w ithout experiencing it forthemselves. Many people do notregard our major as a "rear ma-jor. However, I do not know ifyou noticed, but over half therecruiters on thia campus are herefor the HRIM department A lso,

how many other m ajors on cam-pusare compared to and rankedright behind Cornell and UNLV.Our major, for at least the pastseveral years, has maintainedneatly a 100%, placement rate.TheHRIM department possesse s

a tremendous staff. Our depart-ment can be described aa one bigfamily. It was the department'sgenuine caring and commitmentto die success of their studentsthat mademe choose MercyhurstYes, individuals are in the major

because it is a blow off (I wouldbe lying if I denied it). Yet theyare tar outnumbered by the indi-viduals who take it seriously. Youwill only get out of somethingwhat you put into i t "I think that passing judgement

on something is veryyo u have J experientempted it yourself!deserves a fairchance

Mari

Final Exam Question # 2The Collect Call

r

What s the only number to use for all yourcollect calls that could instantly win youcool stuff (like hip Manet Hollywood

jackets and packs of24 free movie passes)every hour, every day? ]a)ifb)dc)d -d) 1800 CALL ATT

HELLO

ATsT

For all your col lect cal lseven local. _ . ... . . i.*i I K iH*nt anel3 or older Calls wiff be accepted and 9*4winners will be selected randomly between 4/28/97purchase necessary. Must be a legal US residt nt age i i or oiar. u n w . P ^.^n** rraittfl passes JljSJW^wtf Hollywood* jack et J i* v v XO * V r'*' ***V I I X

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T h e P o l i t i c s o f T a v i s O v e r s t r e eWriter

il

When asked about his prima ryR/science major Tavissays, "Of the schools Ifor undergraduate ad-only M ercyhurst offered

the possibility of jobs withnizations such asand the NSA (Na-Security Agency ). I wasn'tivinced thatI would get inwhenapplied."Overstreet has lived most of his

In Richmond, he

, the opportunities offered bywere too great to pass up.When asked to describeRichard Kubiak, as-history, com-is is like the phrasewater tuns deep,9 but heOverstreet*s interests in po-science be came equ al with

af-taking two political science

one withRandall dem on s, director ofassociate professor of politi-olitical sci-supple-

his RIAP degree, Overstreetto add it as a frill major.i said, I n myTavis

the best writershad in class. In particular,s oneof thebest concise writ-s IV e uughtHe never wastes a

"It's refreshing to have a stu-nt in class wh o isn't just therea grade. Tavis* greatest assethis intellectual curiosity. He's

of those students w ho justand sccepu what is be-taught" ^ ^During spring term, Overstreetworkingboth of his senior projects.

raent on the nature of his seniorproject for his RIAP degree,Overstreet did talk about his s e-nior thesis for political science.For a topic, he ch ose to analyzethe future implications, both po -litically and economically, o f theEuropean union*He also examines some of thelarge cultural differences betweenEuropean countries, the warsfought amongst them through thecenturies, and whether or not theideas of sovereignty and federal-ism will su rvive within individualcountries if a European unionshould occur. When asked whyhe chose to examine this topic,Overstreet said that the dangerexists that the current Europeansuperpowers, like Germany andGreat Britain, wou ld overwhelmthe less powerful countries insucha union, and a n issue such as thisneeds addressing.Overstreet has been deeply in-terested in politics for some timeand considers himself a conser-vative,with federalist bel iefcplay-ing a large part in his conserva-tism. He sees federalism as ameans which helps preserve thebond of society."9|'* As a Virginian, who has experi-enced the culture of th e southernUnited States firsthand,Overstreet hasbecome a believerinthe notion o f the southern states maintaining a cultural and politi-cal identity all their own. Taviscites his parents as his primaryinfluence, largely because of thestrict household they maintained,which Overstreet describee %A"FundamentalistChristian, but itincorporated Hebrew and OldTestamentbeliefs. It setstrict stan-dards." He said of his home state,I 'm very proud to have comefrom Virginia, considering its longhistory and the many noble andtalented leaders Who hailed fromVirginia,"Of his direct influences,Overstreet considers Dr Federicito be his strongest influence out-side of his family. "Studying un-der him allowed me to change thewayI thought about poll ^ ^losopby and many other things.He h ss great power aa a teacher.He sh ows genuine concern overwhether ornot students learn fromhim."In terms of indirect influences,r..,L rite* few from modern

' *

times, stating, "I think we liv e ina time of mediocre leaders andpoliticians. He considers his ma inpolitical influences to be the an-cient political philosophers, likeCicero and Marcus Aurelius, andChristian*philosophers, like*StThomas Aquinas, up through theMedieval period. One modernpolitical w riter Overstreet m en-tions is Russell Kirk, who onceco-authored a book with one ofTavis9 uncles.Although he spent last summerin Richmond, Tavis held an in-ternship with Pennsylvania Con-gressman Phil English. He trav-eled to Washington, D. C. tomeet with English when h e hadcongressional committee meet-ings, and he also prepared manyreports for En glish, including top-ics like drug trafficking fromMexico and illegal drug useamong minors in America. Ofhisinternship, Overstreet said besidesholiday and breaks, he had notbeen home in along time, so heconsiders himself fortunate tohave received an internship w hichgave him the chance to return toRichmond,butwhich also lethimwork with politics.

At M ercyhurst, Tavis has beena writer for The Merciad. f< ining on news stories and writing anoccasional opinion piece. LastJanuary, he filled an open posi-tion as residential representativein Mercyhuist Student Govern-ment Tavis is also a member ofthe Senate's Academic Planningand Assessment committee,which was responsible for look-ing at the recently approved newCore, but, aa he points out, "Wethe finalnever got to vo teproposal.*Overstreet expresses a Strongdisapproval with several asof the new Core. 1 Was dissatis-fied with the process of approv-ing it, the exclusion of a politicalsciencerequirement and th e shiftin the English requirements frontliterature to composition. I be-lieve that writing can be taughtwithin the individual disciplines."Though Tavis admits that hisgroup of riendshaechanged dras-tically in each ofhis ou ryears, hehas left a mark on several stu-dents. Says Emflio Colaiacovo, ajunior history/R IAP major, said,1 shall never forget the countlesslate night discussions* we have

Tavis Overstreet Photo: Jessica Russell

ill

had regarding pol itics or philoso-phy, nor will I be sole to forget thelessons he taught me regardingwho I am and what I aspire to dowith my life. Whether it be run-ning for Student GovernmentSec-retary or writing an article for TheMerciad, Tavis always found timeto give advice and counsel. Inretrospect, I know I have grown agreat deal having had the oppor-tunity to know Tsvis ss svatrve, as a fellow RIAP studentand most importand, sss friend."For Overstreet, the educationhe received at Mercyturst hasbeen one of the most importantparts o f his life here. "I found itmost worthwhile to get into po-litical science at Mercyhurst1"After graduation, Overstreet wi llreturn home to Richmond, whilehe awaits word rom he graduatehe spplied to, the Univer-sity of Virginia and the CatholicUniversity of America. Federici

Tavis' decision to apply to gate schools, saying, "He's acellent candidate for thOverstreet; however,* remsomewhat skeptical abouchances, since notification occptance at a college usuallrives by early May.Junior history/RIAP majoGorman, who has come to Overstreet well in the pastyean, says, Tkvis holds mviews which can be consid

l I fi n

uncommon, particularly oncampus* However, I respecopinions and the integrity hehibits in upholding those vieforesee a bright futureforTand wish him the best of taFuture Editor's NoteAny suggestions for the,issues featured senior wouldgreatlyappreciated. Pleasex2376. Anyone interestedwriting fornext year's FeatuSection should also contacttrail

expresses happiness toward y at the same number.v . , * I I I . - *

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PAGE 10 THEMERCIAD May 8,

ByBrad RybczynskiFeatures Editor

Mother's Day is right around the corner. Unfortunately I will not be ablelo see my mom lor this special day.Instead of ooking through more boring Hallmark cards and picking outonewith someone els e's words, I thought it wouldbe nice to dedicate mycolumn to my mother.Itonly seemsfitting o do this, especially after four years of collegecoupled with the fact that this is one of my last columns.Over the past four years I have seen less and less of my m other. As I gotbusier and more involved on campus, I have had less time to go home.It would appear to be within logical reasoning that this would distanceme from my mother and would be a hindrance to the growth of myrelationship with her.Luckily, this has not been the case. Ihave grown ever closer tomy mom.We saw each other less, but we talk more. The time I spend with her hasalso become more meaningful.Because I have not been able to spend as much time with my mother, Ihave come to a greater understanding of how much sh e means to m e.ssShc has been the driving force in my education. Without her guidanceand encouragement, 1 would not have made it through these four years.She was the onewho, told me I could do it when I had doubts. She hadmore faith in me than Mid. She saw my potential and made me realize i tI realized doubts in myself because of my mother. She told me I couldand I believed her. . S ****My mother has alao been there for me to listen. When I was depressed,I knew I could call. When I nud e mistakes, she was there to pick me up. p There was a time in my college career when I wanted to quit Iha d thought it over and wa s almost positive it was the right thing to do.I was going to give myself one more day to think it over and suddenlyI remembered something. I remembered my mother poring over bookswhen she Went back to college.My brother and I were almost too young to remember this, but la mymind I can recollect faint images of my mother studying after cominghomefromher Job as a clerk.She worked full-time, waaraising wo young boys and going back toschool. 1 realized wh y.It was not out of some grand quest for knowledge, although I am suremat had something to dowith i t It was to better herself so that she couldoffer my brother and me a better life. So she could offer us the opportunityto go on to college and have a better life,How could I leave school when my mother sacrificed so much to giveme an opportunity to go?Not only did she sacrifice some 16 years ago.lit did not stop there. Sh econtinues to sacrifice to this day.We do not comefrom hemost affluentbackground. My mother had toscrape to serve to send us to private high school and then to college.She did this all willingly and with a smile. She did not complain. Herboys were going to go to college. 'Coupons were dipped, theold cars were driven into the ground and myparents never went out for an evening alone.Da many cases, my patents sacrificed their happiness for me. This waaall due to my mother's determination to see me a success.As I lookback ever my four years of college and 21 yean of life, I canonly hope that my mom ia proud of me .What can I say to thank my mother? Not enough.All I can do ia tell her that without herlove, encouragement and supportI could have donenothing. . ^ If* I * ' I* " ' i 1 ' "Moan, I kaow you'll read this, so, thank you for everything. Hove youand Happy Mother's Day.

Medieval Times:Unique ExperieBy 1trad RybczynskiFeatures Editor

Roast bear, venison steaks, rab-bit stewand vegetable gruel wereall a part of a unique experi-encefor he members of theMe-dieval Times history class. Au -thentic dress, food and drinkscombined to add a, Hare to theclass gathering on May 2.Adult student Mia Spracklen,social science education major,said, "It was a great learning ex-perience because it was hands onand that really p ut the medievalage's eating style into perspec-tive."The evening began with a prayerled b y Richard K ubiak, directorof the history department, in theQueen's Chapel which adjoins theChrist the King Chapel in OldMain. The class then gathered inthe faculty dining room for itsmeal.Each student brought a dishmade romrecipes dating back tothe middle ages. To add to theambiance, the class decorated thedining room w ith tapestries andate by candle lig ht , 'The dinner was just oneof many

activities that the class has beenexposed to. To start off die term,the class went to the ClevelandMuseum o fArt to view themanyexamples of Medieval art withthe commentary of a museumguide.Another trip, to a Benedictinemonastery in the Erie area, soonfollowed. The excursion'coin-cided with the class' coverage of77*? Rule ofSL Benedict to offerdie opportunity to see the evolu-tion of Benedict's rule. Kubiakcited the irst-timeexperience ofdie trip as reason enough whenhesaid, "A greatmajority o f the stu-dents have never seen the insideof a monastic comm unity.'9The next trip waa to the oldbeliever Russian OrthodoxChurch on Front Street to viewicons, a common religious art formof die Medieval age. iLynn Washowich, junior so-cial science education major, said,T h e icons were beautiful and itwas great to see them irsthand."Kubiak said, "It gave die stu-dents a chance to experience aculture different from their own."The Medieval limes class ia

unique not only for dtrips and extracurrities the students pardie very course itselendeavor having b eethe students and prjoint effort debatingupon content beforening of the term.Students are requsixbooks, attendfiefilm s and give prespart of the course mone thing that really sapartfromothers is mno tests or quizzes. decided through evalthemselves, classmainstructor based on pand presentation.James Proper, jumajor, said, "It's a I'm learning a lo t mI'm learning from 1stead of one. There more like it "Kubiak said of theclass offers first time(on field trips) that tone for behavior foyour life and some oarejust plain fun.n

SAC Events lBy Mindi M cDowell.MerciadWriterThis weekend is Spring Activi-ties, the last big weekend of theyear. After dancing dienight awayat dieformalFriday n ight, con-aider participating in Spring Ac-tivities this Saturday. T he event,which ia a combination of variousrelay activities, will take place onthe practice football ieldsat noon.Anyone interested needa to form team of eight, four men a nd fourwomen, and sign up at the Union

desk. Thetop three teams receivecash prizes.Saturday night, atop over at theRcc center between 6 pan. and

midnight orLaser Storm. Here isan opportunity to shoot yourfriends. -

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May 8> 1997 THEMERCIAD PAGE

M e n ' s F o u r Victorious I n M a r i e t t a C r e w M e e tGilligSports Writer

The crew teams ended theirr season this weekend low -ng against Ohio State, BowlingGreen, Carlo w Co llege, Duquesnthe Universities of Charlestonandincinnati and the crew team ri-al scho ol, Marietta. Last week,Crew Coach Sean Tobin predictedthat the women would be able todefeat Marietta and place highly,ut didn't anticipate the "badreaks" th e womenwould receive.

problems. The meet was ham-pered by passing storm s, and priorto the "varsity eight race, diewomen's boat was Mown rom ts

Overall, the women came infifth out of nine schools and do-ing so having only raced in halfofdie events.The women didn't race thefreshman eight due to personnel

supports, putting a hole in it andmaking the boat unraceable.The men fared better, takingfourth overall. Th e men's pointscame rom he men 's varsity fourwh o won their race by seven sec-onds over Cincinnati. The men'svarsity fourwa s ledby coxswainMichael Opperman and seniorbowman Kevin Kosco. Morepoints camefrom he strong fin-ish by the varsity two, seniorsMike Coco and DonLeClair.Thetwo finished a . calthy secondplace behind the University ofCharleston.Tobin said "the mainboats look stroms" and in refer-

ence to the victorious varsityteams, that "they seem to be ex-celling'' at the right time of theyear.Grew will row in the 59th an-nual Dad Vail R egatta this week-end which is the national champi-onship for small colle ges. Over100 scho ols will participate inthechampionships. Tobin has "stronghopes for the varsity women" say-ing "they should be finalists if notmedalists."Tobin acknowledges "it's go*ing to be challenging" and thatthe women "could use a break"after all the bad luck during thelast race. Tobin said he has teamsthat can win and "to win this eventwould apeak very highly of ourprogram."

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The Freshmen men's eight try to make up ground on the oppoL a s t S i x G a m e s t o D e c i d e t h e F u t u r e F o r B a s e b a l l T e a m

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By Kelly GUligMerciad Sports WriterThe baseball team brought itsnumber of games left down to sixthis week, meeting North wUniversity for a four game seriesthis past weekend. Last week, theteam's loss to Oakland wasblamed on the team's inabilityto bring home the runners inscor-

tug position.During Saturday'sfirstgame, itlooked at if the Lakers' problemwas continuing until the opof thesixth when they scored fiveruns

to take a commanding 7-0 lead.The Lakers stranded 1 0 over thecourse of the game but won 9-2.In Saturday's other game, unde-feated Laker pitcher Brian Lop ezpitched a shutout complete gamevictory, improving his record to5-0 on the year.The Lakers split Sunday's twogameswith North wood. The Lak-ers could only come upwith threenils against Northwood's toughpitcher in the first game. ClayWood took the lossi l l I Iand stands at4-1. Wood only gaveup six hits, but it was enough forNorthwoodto score four runsand

Successful Season for Men's LacrosseBy: Maureen McMahonMerciad Sports Writer

The Division I McrcyhurstMen's Lacrosse team inished tsseason with a tremendous recordof nine wins and five losses.Head Coach P ete Ginnegar is%ery pleased with the results ofthis season.''This year was an extremely posi-tive and encouraging one for theHurst aa they showed the leaguewhata tough and co mpetitive teamthey are."We far surpassed our expecta-tions for this season in the Divi-sion I competition. I give most ofthe credit to the players who stucktogether on the field. We cameout with a winning record, which

is hard to attain as a first yearprogram,''said Ginnegar. *The coaching duo of G innegarand John Murphy also broughtthe Lakers to where they stood atthe end of the season. Ginnegarsaid, "we could notbe as gooda team without thehard work andeffort put in by Murphy. Hehelped us out, not only on theOdd, but off it aa well."The Hurst has definitely madean Impact in the Division I leaguemd also in the sport itself, here atMercyburst, Setting high stan-dards for next year, the Lakershave pot some positive pressureon th emselves for their future andthe team really looks forward tonext year. Their outlook for the__ j-98 season is strong andcom-petitive.

beat the Lakers 4-1.The Lakerwinon Sunday camefrom the combined efforts ofPaulTaylor whogo t the start and JeffBenedict who came in on relieftilduty. Taylor and Benedictbined for four strikeouts and only

one earned run. Laker bats over-came the earlierdefeat and shelledthe Northwood pitching for nineruns on 11 hits. Pat Cutshall hitanother homerun and leads theteam With 16,The Lakers fell in the polls de-spite going 5-1 onthe week.Theyarc now ranked 9th in the countrywith a conference record of 15-5

and an overall record of 36-6.Coach Joe Jordano sa d, "theteamshouldn't be pa ying attention todie rankings. They aren't a1 fac-tor." IThe Lakers finish their seasonmis week with two games againstGannon University on Wednes-day add a fourgame scries againstWayne State this weekend.Jordano, discussing the gamesagainst Gannon said, "we have

something to prove every timewe go on the Geld, but mere issome extra motivation againstGannon.1* ;jThe Lakers' conference record is

the only ilingpotentially hothem back from receiving aseed in the post season toment Oakland University sthe baseball team's 15-5 rewith two games left to playconference champion is dmined by winning percenwhich means the conferenstill up for grabs. Althougconference w inner doesn't gautomatic bid, the conferidere; ? !

t.lKchampion mustbet sea sonplay before anyteam. The Lakers thereforetrol theirdestiny, but aren'tanteed anything yet

End of Season Woe for SoftballBy: Todd ZfeUnsIdMerciad Sports Writer

The end for die Lady LakersSoftball team was a disappointingOne. Last week the team traveledto Green Valley to play In theyear-ending GLIACTournamentWith disappointing results, theteam then traveled to play In theconference tournament, wheresimilar results were hadThe results in the GUAC tour-nament were discouraging andfinally marked an end to the team'srapid improvementtheydisplayedover the season. The Lakersplayed Ovc different teams. GreenValley, Northwood, Ferris, LakeSuperior and Saginaw Valley.bcy.posted.iosges in all of the,

games, bu t did stay in it until thelast inning against Laker Supe-rior losing a heart breaker 6-5.Their conference tournamentresults were shocking, as theteammade an early exit losing thefirst two gam es and heading backto Erie without a victory. Fromthe tournament came HonorableMention Awards* to EmmaPas trick and H eather Lem ley.Pas trick ended the year with a3 76 batting average, 10 triples,two home runs and 24 RBIs.Lemley ended the season with a35 4 batting average, four homeruns and 17 RBIs.Accordingto Head Coach Am yWeaver, the team is already look-ing forward to next year. "Nextyear is our chance to redeem our-

I:I

selves," she pointed out, as cated by the acquisitions hiin the huge recruiting class oplayers. Weaver points out depth in the line up was a facthe team expects to doublesizeof their squad for the ujing fallseason; a recruiting caccording to W eaver, that is fwith junior college players asas two girlsfrom he North Ecampus."We need playersto ake tlosses and put them Into winWeaver explained aashe pointo thehuge amount of gamesby one or two runs.The excitement for next yeWeaver points out, will be return of the entire starting1 field. & *. . * t#*f*. , . .

i*e " - ' "

8/6/2019 The Merciad, May 8, 1997

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PAGE 12 THE MERCIAD May 8,1

B a s e b a l l S e n i o r s S a y F a r e w e l l t o M e r c y h u rBy: Scott VanceMerciad Sports Editor

This week, it was the basebal1seniors' turn to pour their heartsout to me ill mis oncc-in-a-lifc-tim c interview. The interestingthing about these nine seniors isthat only three of them (JeffBenedict, Pat Cutshall and Brian"Rocks* Lopez) have spent theirentire* four yea rs here atMercyhurstThese athletes have played amajor role in propelling the Lakerbaseball program to greaterheights. In the past two years, thisteam has won the GLIAC confer-ence, qualified for NCAAregionals and this year they wereranked as high as sixth place inthe nation, which is the h ighestthe Hurst has ever been placed.Despite the fact that many ofthese players have attended thiscollege for only two years, theystill have enough memories tolast mem I lifetime.Memories

"My best memoriea would havetobe just hanging outwitha greatbunch of guys," Cutshall said.1 loved being a part of a teamand these guys have been like family to me. My memories herewill last'me a lifetime," saidLopez."One of my fondest memork would have to he of Andy W adewhen he almost killed himselfCalling down the stairs," said B illMamourieh.Regrets

However, to g o along with thegood times here at Mercyhurst,there are the not so good ones andthese men were on hand to talkabout some of their personal re-grets, aa well as some of theirconcerns about the Mercyhurstbaseball program.The biggest regret that I have

would probably be lettingregionals slip away last year.; Ialso regret not coming here a fewyears earlier, because Ionly spenttwo years here and not four,"However, it was Mamouriehwho added a serious note to the> 12 I(Venation saying, "If I was tochange one thing then it w ouldhave to be the facilities mat wehave to practice hi and also thelack of money "that the schoolgave us."S This statement roused the restof the group to respond in a seri-ous manner. "I think that thecollege should have a field oncampus because that's the mainreason we don't have many stu-dents attending the games," saidKevin Giles.Soprano echoed Giles remarkssaying, T d also like to see a fieldon campus and I would also like alittle bit of respectfrom he ath-letic administration. There is noneed for one of the top programsin the country to practice fromKfcOOp.m. until midnightand thenhave to get up at7:30aan . to go toclass." i

MissThese athletes had differentviews on what they are going tomiss about college life here, ai Mercyhurst"I'm going to miss all the timeand effort Joel Dom bkowski putinto helping us prepare ourselvesfor the sea son and the time thathetook working with us on indi-vidua] things," said Soprano.D a s Gasparovic echoedMamouriehs remarks saying, "I'dlike to thank Joel for all the timeand effort be put in. We camehere a bit rusty and he took usunder his wing and showed us theropes."However, this time itwas Lopezwho added the comic relief to theinterview that was serious for allof one minute saying, "I defi-nitely won't miss the 'Laker

To p Left-right: Pa t Cutshall, Da n Gasparovic, Rob Mucha, Steve Soprano.Bottom: Brian Lopez, Clay "Boomer" Wood, BiUMamourieh, Kevin GUes and JeffB*i

Shaker.' I never want to see thatbus again, it's not load worthy.However, I will miss KellySceusa 'a cookies onthe bus," saidLopez.T m going to miss all of themoney that I used to take rom PatCutshall on our road trips," RobMucha said.

CoachesThe one aspect of bead coachJoe Jo rdano that the seniors agreedon would have to be his meticu-lous nature*!Th e one thing that I have to sayabout coach Jordano is that he is avery articulate man. He pays at-tention to detail immensely. He isa straight out talker and he tellsthings the way they are. He'sreally in tune with dotting the Faand crossing the T's, that's whatwins^ championships,"Mamourieh said.^ It was Clay "Boomer" Woodthis time who had to break up thesemi-intellectual conversation b ysaying, "Coach Jordano is defi-

nitely the most knowledgeablecoach I have ever had and that'sabout all I'm going to say aboutthat, except for don't tell him torelax, he doesn't like that verymuch."These seniors also had a lot ofgood things to say about assistantcoach, Joel Dombkowski."He's an excellent players'coach, he 's a great motivator asWell as afriend,he works hard,gives h is heartto the program andI'd like to see him somewheresomeday as a head coach on hisown," Soprano said.However, Cutshall had a differ*eat appreciation fo r what assis-tant coach Dombkowski bringsto the team saying, "I would liketo thank Joel b ecause he was dat-ing one of the girls at a tanningsalon and she hooked u s up withfree tanning beds."

Future

go their own separthey seekto establishin the "Real World.unlike the other seniorinterviewed over thweekly these studenrelatively undecided"My immediate future are to graduamaybefinda job somcause I'm not goinginherit the old man'smight have to go badigging oil. Anothermight look into is snarugs, those are prettyI am really desperatetureover to Europe aball over there," M am"I hope to graduatdecade as I know th

won't work out,*r"WItJtl :

In less than two weeks, these menwill be graduating fromMexcyworld and they w ill each

GUes, like "Boomebe pursuing his careeHowever, he will cstrive in the sporting whe says, "I would likWCW with my counFlare,"T h e H o c k e y m i n S k i r t s !

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