By Lauren Laing Rocket Assistant News Editor President Robert Smith’s contract will likely be ex- tended after the SRU Council of Trustees voted unanimously last Friday to submit a letter of recommendation to the Penn- sylvania State System of Higher Education. The letter must go through PASSHE Chancellor John Ca- vanaugh and then to the Board of Governors before the ex- tension to Smith’s contract can be finalized. The length of the extension can then be decided. Cavanaugh is expected to make his recommendation to the Board of Governors at its April meeting. Smith’s current salary is $211,622, and according to Kenn Marshall, PASSHE Media Relations Manager, there is no By Jessica Moore Rocket News Editor Over a month after the Haiti earthquake, SRU has collectively raised $1,500 that will be combined with the funds raised at the other Pennsylvania State System of Education insti- tutions and sent to Haiti. Individuals, groups and organizations have hosted fundraising events on cam- pus since January. This week, the SRU AmeriCorps Program hosted a Haiti Relief din- ner. Susan Serge, a student who was part of the dinner committee, said there was a band, and a PowerPoint presentations with Haiti Relief facts and newscasts during the dinner. “We accepted a $5 dona- tion or whatever [people] were willing to offer,” she said. Serge said that Dr. Rich- ard Wukich, an SRU art professor who’s been fea- tured on CNN for his work with ceramic water filters, was also entertainment at the dinner. “He did a demo of the water filters,” she said. “He spoke to [people] for quite a while.” Serge said that the amount of funds raised at the dinner was unknown, but all proceeds will go to- ward Haiti relief efforts. Another fundrais- ing event this week was BINGO for Haiti. The event was held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the ROCK- Catholic Center. Admission was $5 and it was open to both the university and local com- munity. Constance Foley, Vice President for Student Life, said that about 50 people attended the event. The event was co-spon- sored by ROCKCatholic and St. Peter Parish. The Blue Key Honor Society also raised funds this week in the University Union lobby by collecting items and monetary dona- tions. Also this week, the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity sold silicon blue and red wrist- bands reading “Support Haiti” for $1. All money raised was do- February 19, 2010 www.theonlinerocket.com Volume 92, Number 17 e e Rocket Rocket SPORTS SPORTS B-1 FOCUS FOCUS D-1 D-1 Men's basketball: Playoff hopes still alive Art internship: Creating with the disabled Slippery Rock University Student Newspaper Est. 1934 Smith's contract may be extended SRU groups, organizations raise $1,500 in Haiti relief efforts JESSICA GORDON/THE ROCKET Students from an organizational behavior course served at the Haiti Relief Dinner from 5-7 p.m. Monday in the Multi-Purpose Room of the University Union for course credit. Attendants were served either vegetable soup or potato soup with bread donated by Giant Eagle. SEE TRUSTEES PAGE A-2 SRU to cut back on printing costs By Josh Rizzo Rocket Editor-in-Chief With an approximately $5 million dollar deficit this school year and an impend- ing $9 million deficit loom- ing next year for SRU, the ad- ministration is searching for places where it can cut back. One area is with printers. With 400 faculty members on campus, roughly 90 per- cent with printers in their of- fices, according to an estimate from an IT staff member, the university will no longer re- place ink cartridges for them. According to an e-mail sent to faculty union members by APSCUF, Simeon Ananou, associate provost of Informa- tion Administrative Technol- ogy Service, said that the plan to network academic depart- ments to a central department unit will be in place by next month. SRU’s Provost Bill Williams said that he isn’t sure how much money it will save the university, but that the policy will help. “We don’t want to prevent faculty from printing what they have to,” he said. “We want them to not print what they don’t have to. There is a need to reduce wasteful print- ing.” After the decision to move to a centralized system was announced, numerous fac- ulty members expressed their outrage at an Association of Pennsylvania State Col- lege and University Faculties meeting, according to the e- mail. Dr. Jace Condravy, president of SRU’s ASPCUF chapter and chair of the English depart- Nearly half of surveyed students admit to cheating By Josh Rizzo Rocket Editor-in-Chief and Jessica Moore Rocket News Editor According to a survey conducted this week by The Rocket , almost half of SRU students surveyed have cheated on tests or assignments while at the university. Out of 200 students, 107 said that they’ve never cheated while 93 admitted they have. Students from various majors were surveyed, and six out of the seven public relations majors (86 per- cent), 14 out of the 26 un- declared majors (51 per- cent), 14 of the 27 business majors (51 percent), five out of the nine criminol- ogy majors (48 percent) and 21 out of the 56 edu- cation majors (38 percent) admitted to cheating. Among the most popular methods of cheating that students listed were look- ing at their peers’ papers, studying old exams, doing an assignment with a part- ner, texting, and using cheat sheets. Looking off other stu- dents’ papers was the most popular method of cheat- ing (29 students) followed by using old tests (13) and texting (nine). Students who admitted to cheating cited various motives for it. Most reasons included getting a better grade. Out of the 93 students who admitted to cheating, 25 said that they’d do it SEE FACULTY PAGE A-2 SEE FUNDRAISING PAGE A-3 LAUREN LAING/THE ROCKET The SRU Council of Trustees voted to submit a letter of recommendation to PASSHE and the Board of Governors to extend President Robert Smith's contract. SEE 93 PAGE A-3
Transcript
By Lauren LaingRocket Assistant News Editor
President Robert Smith’s contract will likely be ex-tended after the SRU Council of Trustees voted unanimously last Friday to submit a letter of recommendation to the Penn-sylvania State System of Higher Education.
The letter must go through PASSHE Chancellor John Ca-vanaugh and then to the Board of Governors before the ex-tension to Smith’s contract can be finalized. The length of the extension can then be decided.
Cavanaugh is expected to make his recommendation to the Board of Governors at its April meeting.
Smith’s current salary is $211,622, and according to Kenn Marshall, PASSHE Media Relations Manager, there is no
By Jessica MooreRocket News Editor
Over a month after the Haiti earthquake, SRU has collectively raised $1,500 that will be combined with the funds raised at the other Pennsylvania State System of Education insti-tutions and sent to Haiti.
Individuals, groups and organizations have hosted fundraising events on cam-pus since January.
This week, the SRU Amer iC or ps Program hosted a Haiti Relief din-ner.
Susan Serge, a student who was part of the dinner committee, said there was a band, and a PowerPoint presentations with Haiti Relief facts and newscasts
during the dinner.“We accepted a $5 dona-
tion or whatever [people] were willing to offer,” she said.
Serge said that Dr. Rich-ard Wukich, an SRU art professor who’s been fea-tured on CNN for his work with ceramic water filters, was also entertainment at the dinner.
“He did a demo of the water filters,” she said.
“He spoke to [people] for quite a while.”
Serge said that the amount of funds raised at the dinner was unknown, but all proceeds will go to-ward Haiti relief efforts.
A n o t h e r f u n d r a i s -ing event this week was BINGO for Haiti.
The event was held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the ROCK-
Catholic Center. Admission was $5 and
it was open to both the university and local com-munity.
Constance Foley, Vice President for Student Life, said that about 50 people attended the event.
The event was co-spon-sored by ROCKCatholic and St. Peter Parish.
The Blue Key Honor Society also raised funds this week in the University Union lobby by collecting items and monetary dona-tions.
Also this week, the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity sold silicon blue and red wrist-bands reading “Support Haiti” for $1.
All money raised was do-
February 19, 2010www.theonlinerocket.com Volume 92, Number 17
Th e Th eRocketRocketSPORTSSPORTS
B-1FOCUSFOCUS
D-1D-1Men's basketball:
Playoff hopes still alive
Art internship:Creating with the disabled
Slippery Rock University Student Newspaper Est. 1934
Smith's contract may be extended
SRU groups, organizations raise $1,500 in Haiti relief efforts
JESSICA GORDON/THE ROCKETStudents from an organizational behavior course served at the Haiti Relief Dinner from 5-7 p.m. Monday in the Multi-Purpose Room of the University Union for course credit. Attendants were served either vegetable soup or potato soup with bread donated by Giant Eagle.
SEE TRUSTEES PAGE A-2
SRU to cut back on printing costsBy Josh RizzoRocket Editor-in-Chief
With an approximately $5 million dollar deficit this school year and an impend-ing $9 million deficit loom-ing next year for SRU, the ad-ministration is searching for places where it can cut back.
One area is with printers.With 400 faculty members
on campus, roughly 90 per-cent with printers in their of-fices, according to an estimate from an IT staff member, the university will no longer re-place ink cartridges for them.
According to an e-mail sent to faculty union members by APSCUF, Simeon Ananou,
associate provost of Informa-tion Administrative Technol-ogy Service, said that the plan to network academic depart-ments to a central department unit will be in place by next month.
SRU’s Provost Bill Williams said that he isn’t sure how much money it will save the university, but that the policy
will help.“We don’t want to prevent
faculty from printing what they have to,” he said. “We want them to not print what they don’t have to. There is a need to reduce wasteful print-ing.”
After the decision to move to a centralized system was announced, numerous fac-
ulty members expressed their outrage at an Association of Pennsylvania State Col-lege and University Faculties meeting, according to the e-mail.
Dr. Jace Condravy, president of SRU’s ASPCUF chapter and chair of the English depart-
Nearly half of surveyed students admit to cheatingBy Josh Rizzo
Rocket Editor-in-Chiefand
Jessica MooreRocket News Editor
According to a survey conducted this week by The Rocket, almost half of SRU students surveyed have cheated on tests or assignments while at the university.
Out of 200 students, 107 said that they’ve never cheated while 93 admitted they have.
Students from various
majors were surveyed, and six out of the seven public relations majors (86 per-cent), 14 out of the 26 un-declared majors (51 per-cent), 14 of the 27 business majors (51 percent), five out of the nine criminol-ogy majors (48 percent) and 21 out of the 56 edu-cation majors (38 percent) admitted to cheating.
Among the most popular methods of cheating that students listed were look-ing at their peers’ papers, studying old exams, doing an assignment with a part-
ner, texting, and using cheat sheets.
Looking off other stu-dents’ papers was the most popular method of cheat-ing (29 students) followed by using old tests (13) and texting (nine).
Students who admitted to cheating cited various motives for it.
Most reasons included getting a better grade.
Out of the 93 students who admitted to cheating, 25 said that they’d do it
SEE FACULTY PAGE A-2
SEE FUNDRAISING PAGE A-3
LAUREN LAING/THE ROCKETThe SRU Council of Trustees voted to submit a letter of recommendation to PASSHE and the Board of Governors to extend President Robert Smith's contract.
SEE 93 PAGE A-3
Checker players needed The American Checker Federation is looking for SRU checker players. Membership in the ACF is $25 per year. The Pennsylvania State Checker Tournament is usually held in June of every year at a motel in Grove City. Anyone who might be interested in starting a checker club at SRU should contact Neil Wenberg at (724)368-3108 or [email protected]. More infor-mation on the ACF can be found at www.usacheckers.com.
Contestants neededThe communication department is putting on a game show during common hour March 23 in Eisenberg Classroom Building room 111. All questions will be communication-related. Teams must have five mem-bers who are all communication majors and a professor from the communication department serving as a team leader. All teams must have a name. Email the above information to Dr. Foster at [email protected] by 5 p.m. March 5.
Green bike initiativeThe Slippery Rock Green Bike Initiative is making it easier for SRU students to get around campus. In-stead of worrying about traffic or the hassle of parking, rent a green bike. The Green Bike Initiative is loaning free bikes for the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semes-ters. Bikes can be rented for a semester-long period by contacting [email protected] or by stopping by the RPM room in the ARC during common hour on Tues-days.
Race for GraceInterested in running or walking for a good cause? Run in the third annual Race for Grace March 20 at Norwin High School. If interested, email Alaire Chybrzynski at [email protected]. To donate, go to www.active.com/donate/RaceForGrace2010/alairec.
Student teaching pre-registrationStudents planning on student teaching during spring 2011 should pre-register for student teaching by April 1, 2010. See your advisor for more information. Stu-dents must take all Praxis exams prior to student teaching. Students planning to teach during the sum-mer or fall 2010 semester should already be pre-regis-tered.
Study abroadInformational meetings for students interested in study-ing abroad will be held from 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Wednesdays in room 213 of Carruth Rizza Hall. Attendance is mandatory for any student wishing to study abroad. Please contact Caitlin at [email protected] with any questions.
Teacher education deadlineAll eligible education majors with 48 or more credits, who have not completed an Application to Teacher Certification Programs, are required to do so before the April 1 deadline. Students who submit complete ap-plications to MEB 105 will be permitted to register for summer/fall 2010 coded program courses. Students wishing to get into “block” classes should submit their completed application 2-3 weeks in advance of the deadline. Application forms are available from depart-ment offices and advisors.
NewsA-2 February 19, 2010
ROCKNOTES
Publicize your group's event with a Rock Note.To submit a Rock Note to be considered for publication, please send your announcement
by 6 p.m. Wednesday to:News Editor Jessica Moore
220 Eisenberg Classroom BuildingSlippery Rock, PA 16057
Awarded First Place for Overall Excellence by the Society for Collegiate Journalists, 2007.
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WeatherFriday Sunday
High: 31; Low: 17 High: :28: Low: 14
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Mostly cloudy
Forecast from National Weather ServiceSaturday
High: 32; Low:18
Fox's offers $1,000 reward for statueBy Lauren Laing
Rocket Assistant News Editor
A statue on top of Fox’s Pizza Den was stolen early Satur-day morning, causing around $1,000 in damages to its roof.
The owner of Fox’s Pizza, Mike Baptiste, said that he be-lieved it was stolen between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Baptiste said that an em-
ployee noticed it was missing Saturday morning and that only tire marks were left be-hind.
He said that the statue of a fox was about 5 feet tall and weighed between 400 and 500 pounds.
Baptiste said that the fox cost about $1,000 and there was an additional $1,000 in damages to the roof.
He said he believes a local
pizza shop was behind the criminal act, but chose not to identify which one.
Baptiste said that the day before the fox was stolen, a local pizza shop had allegedly called the Township Building and the Department of Agri-culture, claiming that Baptiste had been selling pizzas out of his car.
The next day, the fox was stolen.
“I’m not accusing any pizza shops,” he said. “But it’s such a coincidence.”
The case is under investiga-tion by the state police, and the District Attorney has also been notified.
Baptiste is offering $1,000 cash to anyone who has any in-formation on the case. He said that the information must lead to someone getting prosecuted in order to get the money.
SGA revises constitutionBy Lauren Laing
Rocket Assistant News Editor
The Student Government Association debated the Co-operative Activities board's approval of giving $3,750 to the men's volleyball club to go to an invitational tourna-ment at its meeting Thurs-day.
Co-Op had approved the motion at its Feb. 11 meeting.
Vice President of Financial Affairs Adam Hambrick said that Co-Op doesn’t normally fund for invitational tour-naments. But he said that just because it’s not typical, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Speaker of the Senate Dave Thorne is on the men’s club volleyball team. He said the money would go towards travel costs—the tournament is in Kentucky—and for the $950 registration fee.
Thorne said that around 18 players would be going and they’d take a bus that holds a maximum of 21 people. Some senators didn’t under-stand why a bus was neces-sary.
Thorne said that riding the bus together is part of the whole team experience, and not everyone on the team has a car to drive there.
Business Manager Cathy George said that Co-Op nor-mally funds regional tourna-ments, and if the teams win and move on further, then
Co-Op steps back in to help with transportation.
“Our club sport program has grown so much and our teams are doing so well,” George said.
Commuter Senator Jessica Hickey said she felt that be-cause SRU’s club sports are growing and gaining recog-nition, then the men’s vol-leyball team should get the opportunity to go a tourna-ment it was invited to.
After much discussion, the Senate decided in a 22-5 vote to approve only the $950 for the registration fee.
Other actions made at Co-Op’s Feb. 11 meeting in-clude granting $8,720 to the women’s rugby team to go to a national tournament in Orlando and $2,550 to the SRU cycling club to bring “Velveeta,” an 80's cover band, to SRU.
Co-Op also approved $2,369 to the equestrian team for its four remaining shows after prices went up per class and an increase in riders.
Also approved was $214 to the therapeutic recreation club to bring in a motiva-tional speaker.
SGA also approved changes to its constitution, and Par-liamentarian Jessica Cosme explained them.
She said that if there’s a va-cancy on the executive board and it needs filled halfway through the year, then the
new person must go through diversity training.
The revised constitution also lists all the SGA mem-bers’ responsibilities. Cosme said that the changes were mostly a “clean-up.”
Building B Senator Adam Kennerdell discussed the motion to require the SGA logo or an SGA disclaimer to be included on all public advertisements for student-funded activities.
Sam Goodge, vice presi-dent of Student Affairs, said that the logo must be on the front side of all advertise-ments and must visibly stand out.
Goodge said that for 8-by-12 advertisements, the SGA logo must be 1-by-4, and the same proportion for all other dimensions.
Goodge proposed that this policy become effective immediately and said that anyone who fails to comply would jeopardize his or her funding for future events.
Kennerdell said he felt that it shouldn’t be effective until next semester.
“To change it now would be really sharp and sudden,” he said.
The Senate voted to table the issue until the next meet-ing.
Casey Reiland was sworn in as a commuter senator, and Matt Henderson was voted in as a Building D senator.
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETCasey Reiland (left) is sworn in as a commuter senator by SGA President Nick Barcio (right) at Thursday's SGA meeting.
Trustees approve $120.7 million for campus renovation projects
guarantee on Smith’s salary if his contract is extended.
“At this point, all manager positions are in the midst of a salary freeze,” he said.
He said that the freeze ap-plies to all members of the sys-tem that aren’t in a union.
The salaries were frozen for the 2009-2010 school year, and the board will have to decide
if it is going to unfreeze the salaries.
“They may make the deci-sion in April, or they may wait until July,” he said.
The Council of Trustees has 12 members, including one full-time undergraduate stu-dent, Jessica Cosme, a senior political science major.
Cosme said that the coun-cil spent several weeks per-forming the required formal
evaluation of Smith’s job per-formance.
“Basically, we kind of take an entire look at what he does,” she said.
Cosme said that the trust-ees conducted interviews with students, outside organiza-tions, academic deans and community officials. She said that it was a 2-day process, which consisted of 12 hours the first day, and five the next.
She said that outside help was hired to assist in the pro-cess.
“President Smith has done an outstanding job in every aspect of the university thus far,” Cosme said.
She said that Smith greatly supports students and that those who claim they haven’t seen him around campus must not be on campus often.
“He’s very visible on cam-
pus,” Cosme said.She added that Smith’s work
outside of the university is an-other one of his best qualities, and that he’s prominent in But-ler and Pittsburgh.
Cosme said that people trust Smith because of the connec-tions he’s built.
“It really adds to what we can do as students,” she said. “We see the pay-off there.”
Cosme said that Smith must
be formally evaluated every three years. Smith was hired at SRU in 2004.
The trustees also approved a capital budget authorization request for $120.7 million for projects, including reno-vations to McKay Education Building, the Student Success Center and Bailey Library.
The Council of Trustees will have its next meeting April 15-16.
Continued from Page A-1
Faculty ink cartridges no longer replaced
ment, said that the problem was an issue of poor commu-nication between faculty and administration.
“The problem was that the change was announced so sud-denly,” she said. “An e-mail was sent out that said a change was going to be made. Faculty was concerned that their needs weren’t going to be met.”
Condravy said that after a question-and-answer session with Williams, the union had a better understanding of the situation. She said she feels that the savings would be a benefit to the university. Ink cartridges cost about $40 and faculty go through two or three a school year, Condravy said.
“The faculty care about the university and are willing to participate in cost-saving activities,” she said. “It’s also tough to tell where the budget will end up because we are working with speculative bud-get numbers right now.
A lot of cuts will depend on enrollment, how much the leg-islator gives us and the tuition increase.”
One concern expressed by faculty was confidential documents being sent to one printer, like tests, that may be picked up by students, accord-ing to one faculty member. SRU President Robert Smith said that he doesn’t believe that argument holds up.
“I think there is more of a concern when you have stu-dents working on the inside,” Smith said. “That statement challenges the integrity of the operation, not the proficiency of it.”
Williams also said there are no similar plans for a central-ized printing system for ad-ministrators.
“It’s different with adminis-trators because you only have one or two people in an office, compared with six to thirty members of a department,” he said. “It’s not a bad idea though.”
Continued from Page A-1
Court Cases
Feb. 16—Robert Earnest Drake, 27, Chicora, was seen for forgery, identity theft, theft by unlawful taking and receiving sto-len property.
Feb. 16—Jaron Leon Macurdy, 23, Harrison City, was seen for DUI. He was released on his on recognizance.
Feb. 16—Todd Allyn Reynolds, 21, Union City, was seen for DUI. He was released on his own re-cognizance.
Feb. 16—Thomas J. Besser, 19, Pittsburgh, was seen for possession of a small amount of mari-juana and five counts of use/possession of drug paraphernalia. He was re-leased on his own recog-nizance.
Feb. 16—Jonathan J. Xie, 19, Berea, Ohio, was seen for possession of a small amount of marijuana and two counts of use/posses-sion of drug parapherna-lia. He was released on his on recognizance.
Feb. 16—Benjamin G.
Geir, 20, Allison Park, was seen for possession of a small amount of mari-juana and three counts of use/possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on his on recog-nizance.
Feb. 16—Richard Ron-ald Krafczynski Jr., 47, Portersville, was seen for DUI. He was released on his on recognizance.
Feb. 16—David M. Rice, 50, Portersville, was seen for bad checks. He was released on his on recog-nizance.
Borough
Feb. 11—Damarcus Rashad Cleckley, Robert Doiley and Drew Ray-mond Demaiolo were cited for disorderly house.
Campus
Feb. 10—Report of a vandalized restroom at the University Union. The case is under investiga-tion.
Feb. 11—Report of the theft of an iPod at Bailey
Library. The case is under investigation.
Feb. 13—Report of the unauthorized use of a credit card at North Hall. The case is under investi-gation.
Feb. 14—Report that a vehicle was broken into. The case is under investi-gation.
Feb. 14—Caleb Dodd, 19, and Melissa Natcher, 19, were cited for un-derage consumption of alcohol after an officer observed intoxicated per-sons at Building F.
Feb. 15—An SRU vehi-cle struck a parked vehicle while plowing.
Feb. 15—Report of harassment. The case is under investigation.
Feb. 15—Report of ha-rassing phone calls. The case is under investiga-tion.
Feb. 16—A vehicle slid through a stop sign and struck another vehicle on East Central Loop.
NewsFebruary 19, 2010 A-3
Police Blotter
Compiled by Lauren Laing
LIZ GLAZIER/THE ROCKETLocal Slippery Rock residents joined students and staff of SRU Tuesday night to raise money for the Haiti relief efforts during the Bingo for Haiti event, held in the Newman Center.
Fundraising planned through Aprilnated to the relief efforts.
Several SRU groups and organi-zations already have plans to host fundraising events through April.
SRU’s Math Club will be hosting “Pi-ing the Professor,” a raffle in which two or three students will be selected to “Pi” a professor.
The students will be selected from a raffle March 3.
The University Program Board will be accepting donations dur-ing its various events during March and April, and also during its end-of-the-year event April 27.
Also at the end of April, the AmeriCorps E-Team will be host-ing “Crossing Borders,” a sustain-ability festival that will start on Earth Day.
It will consist of live music, film screenings, panel discussions and workshops, and all proceeds will go to the Haiti Relief Effort.
Continued from Page A-1
again.“It’s worth the risk of getting
caught,” said a freshman health and physical education major.
The risks of cheating are outlined in SRU’s student code of conduct.
“Students charged with academic dishonesty will deal with either the director of judicial programs or the course instructor or both,” the code reads.
“If the instructor handles the matter, the instructor is to inform the departmental chairperson of the problem and its resolution.”
Students could face judicial ac-tion, which could lead to suspen-sion or dismissal from the univer-sity.
But the consequences of getting caught aren’t enough to prevent repeat offenders. Another student who was surveyed, a freshman spe-cial education and elementary edu-
cation major, said that he or she would do it again because it “isn’t hurting anyone.”
Most of the students surveyed said that they did have fear of being caught cheating.
“I feel guilty,” said a freshman elementary education and special education major.
“Or I could even be kicked off campus.”
But only five claimed that they were ever caught, most of which were caught in high school, not at SRU.
“At my other school, I got a zero on a 100-point assignment,” said a sophomore communication major. “It cost me.”
Another student, a sophomore health and safety major, said that when he or she was caught in high school, the consequence was a Sat-urday detention, but the student hasn’t been caught at SRU.
Continued from Page A-1
93 students admit to cheating, 88 have never been caught
OPINION A-4Th e Rocket
The Rocket is published by the students of Slippery Rock University every Friday during the academic semester with the exception of holidays, exam periods and vacations. Total weekly circulation is 3,000. No material appearing in The Rocket may be reprinted without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief.
The first copy of The Rocket is provided free of charge. Additional copies may be purchased for 50 cents each.
The Rocket receives approximately five percent of its funding from the SGA General Service fee paid each semester by students. All other income is provided through the sale of advertising.
Advertising inquiries may be made by calling (724) 738-2643 or by e-mailing [email protected].
If we make a substantial error, we want to correct it. If you believe an error has been made, call The Rocket newsroom at (724) 738-4438. If a correction is warranted it will be printed in the opinion section.
Volume 92, Number 17
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Time for new leadershipThe Rocket welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their publication. The Rocket retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes the property of The Rocket and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published.Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Please limit letters to a maximum of 400 words. Submit all material by noon Wednesday to: The Rocket, 220 ECB, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057. Or send it via e-mail to: [email protected].
The Rocket strives to present a diverse range of opinions that are both fair and accurate in its editorials and columns appearing on the Opinion pages. “Our View” is the opinion of the Spring 2010 Editorial Board and is written by Rocket editorial board members. It reflects the majority opinion of The Rocket Editorial Board.
“Our View” does not necessarily reflect the views of Slippery Rock University, its employees or its student body. Columns and cartoons are drafted by various individuals and only reflect the opinions of the columnists.
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Our View
SRU needs to keep priorities straightIn the next few years,
SRU is going to be treated to a new union, performing arts center and a new Web site.
The Council of Trustees voted last Friday to approve $120.7 million to re nov ate Mc Kay Education Building, the Student Success Center and Bailey Library.
We’re excited at what’s going on, but based on other projects, it doesn’t appear that they’ll finish in a timely fashion.
The university still has a number of large projects that need to be finished.
I n O c t o b e r, S RU announced that the new Web site would be finalized for the spring semester.
S i m e o n A n a n o u , a s s o c i a t e p r o v o s t of In for mat ion and Administrative Services, was quoted in The Rocket’sOct. 9, 2009 edition that the Web site was being built to improve every
service SRU provides, in a way that doesn’t require extensive Web knowledge to understand.
He also said the plans included creating a site that stays consistent in all of the messages it disseminates, and that makes information easier to find.
It will be a refreshing change when the project is done.
But it’s almost halfway t h rou g h t he s pr i ng semester and still no new Web site.
What is the reason for the hold up?
If the time line was unrealistic, why did the university publish that it would be done?
Our frustrations with the site project have also been compounded by people’s refusal to talk about the project’s status.
Over the past two weeks, The Rocket has been working on a story to find the current status
of the Web site. And our efforts have produced no information.
The first week, we were rebuffed because no one would talk until after they had a meeting, the second week only one person directly involved with working on the Web Site was willing to return our calls.
Thes e phone ca l l s y ie lded no va luable information.
The information about the topic needs to be c om mu n i c ate d m ore effectively.
Like with the new e-mail system for example.
It’s been upgraded for months, as students were switched over to the new system, but there’s still a message that says, “SRU IATS is in the process of transitioning to a new e-mail system.”
Well, is the project done or not?
It’s imposs ible for people to tell if something
is done if a disclaimer is left on the page for months.
But the new Web site is just the tip of the iceberg for things not being finished.
C o n s t r u c t i o n i s underway on building a wheelchair ramp at the front of Eisenberg Classroom Building and fixing the road next to Boozel Dining Hall.
B ot h proj e c t s are valuable additions to a campus that can be tough for disabled students to navigate.
But why would you undertake that project during Winter Break?
Now half of the foyer in ECB is roped off and interrupts the flow of students heading into the front of the building.
The interruption isn’t that big of a deal, but it reflects a pattern of poorly executed projects.
It seems as though people sat around and
came up with a list of valuable projects and it’s taking forever to get them done.
Not all of this is SRU’s fault, as sometimes the funds don’t b ecome available right away.
All we can ask is not to promote a project being done if it’s not a realistic deadline.
It’s OK, we understand that big projects take time.
That’s why they call them “projects” and not “quick fixes.”
So we sit around and wait for the new University Union, Vincent Science Hall, McKay and Bailey Library to be renovated, the front of ECB to fixed, the road next to Boozel to be paved and the Web site to be finished.
And by the time all of these projects are done, we’ll be able to show our kids what a wonderful place Sl ipper y Rock University is.
Don’t care, I’m graduating
Opinion A-5February 19, 2010
It took a few days for it to finally register in my head, but after making my way through campus numerous times through snow drifts and slush, I slowly realized that the northeast was getting hammered with snow in February.
It makes me remember arguments with friends on the political “left” over the years about something that they refer to as “global warming.”
I f y o u k n e w m e personally, you’ll notice that I never say those two words together without smi l ing or laughing , because I don’t believe there’s such thing as global warming. It’s more like climate change.
Pi t t s bu rg h re c e ive d about two feet of snow last Saturday, almost double what we saw here in Slippery Rock.
Throughout all of this, one prominent figure on environmental issues was oddly absent.
F l i p p i n g t h r o u g h the news networks, I couldn’t find former U.S. Vice President Al Gore anywhere.
Where was he while the snow was piling up?
T h e s a m e m a n whose home consumed 221,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2006, compared to the national average of 10,656 kilowatt-hours, was nowhere to be found.
When Gore is on Saturday Night Live playing Willie Wo n k a’s a c c o u nt a nt , complaining about graham cracker toilets, he’s very entertaining.
W h e n h e’s P h o t o Shopping pictures of the Earth that show multiple
hurricanes spinning in the opposite direction than they normally do, and has the state of Florida three times smaller than it really is—like he did in his book “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis”—he’s extremely entertaining.
It’s always struck me that some politicians have used global warming arguments to win elections, not save the Earth.
I believe that because the affect man has on the environment is nothing compared to what the Earth does to itself.
V o l c a n o e s p u t around 130-230 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.
Man only contributes around 30 tons a year.
The eruption of Mount St. Helens released more toxins into the air than we did during the entire Industrial Revolution.
Also, don’t forget that almost every being on this planet is carbon based.
A little carbon dioxide isn’t as bad as the “experts” try to tell us.
The Earth has been around for about 4.5 billion years.
Toward the beginning of time, there were a lot more active volcanoes then there are today.
I f t h i s w o n d e r f u l environment we live in was developed with all those active volcanoes going
about it as they please, how is it that we are destroying it?
Maybe Gore is planning on running for office again in the future?
Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e Environmental Protection Agency, the eight warmest years on record are all after 2001.
They also tell us that t h e av e r a g e s u r f a c e temperature has warmed one degree Fahrenheit since 1970.
Well, we’re coming out of an ice age.
Isn’t it only natural that it gets warmer?
Bill Kostkas is a junior journalism major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.
Winter weather in Pittsburgh sheds doubt on global warming theory
The Voice of ReasonBill Kostkas
In this day and age, Web browsers are an essential aspect of the majority of people’s day.
There are many different Web browsers to choose from and sometimes it can be difficult deciding which to use.
Currently, there are four main browsers to choose from: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Windows Internet Explorer.
Each browser has features unique to it and knowing which ones are important is a key factor in choosing your Web browser.
The most used browser is currently Internet Explorer (IE), which comes preinstalled on every computer that runs Windows.
While Internet Explorer is the most used, it’s widely considered one of the poorer browsers in terms of performance.
Only in its most recent rendition, version 8, has IE started to support current open Web standards and still is limited in its extensions available—because there aren’t any.
The second most used Web browser is Mozilla Firefox. It’s become popular in the past few years partly due to IE’s poor performance and due to the fact that Firefox supports all of the latest open Web standards.
In addition, Firefox supports a great number of third-party extensions and themes which let users customize their Web browsing experiences.
They’re able to change the look and feel of the browser with ease through Firefox’s own Web site. The third-party add-ons allow users to add different applications for things such as Twitter, picture viewing and other Web development tools.
The next two browsers in terms of usage, Google Chrome and Apple Safari, are somewhat similar.
They’re both run on the WebKit layout engine, which was originally developed by Apple for use in Safari.
Chrome, the number
three browser in terms of usage, is a relatively new browser, developed by Google partially to break its dependence on other browsers, such as IE.
Thanks to WebKit, as well as other programs, Chrome is the second-fastest browser available and has become increasingly popular in the past year.
For Windows users, Chrome is possibly the best Web browser available. And even though it’s still in beta for Mac, Chrome is one of the best choices for Mac users as well.
It supports custom extensions similar to Firefox, as well as custom themes created by both Google and individual artists.
Chrome has ful ly embraced all of the open Web standards and will only continue to get better and better.
Fourth in terms of usage but first in terms of speed is Safari.
Safari is the default browser for new Apple computers, and Mobile Safari is the only browser available for iPhones and iPod Touches.
Running on WebKit as well, Safari just barely beats Chrome in browser speed tests. Safari is one of the best browsers available for Mac users, while it’s a small step below Chrome on Windows.
I’ve personally used all four of these browsers and have found Safari and Chrome to be the best depending on your operating system.
Firefox is right behind those two on both Macs and PCs.
Coming in last in every test for my tastes is Internet Explorer.
It has poor loading times for Web pages, was built on a poor layout engine and slowed Internet progress in the days before Firefox, Safari and Chrome.
Sadly, there are still some programs that will only run in IE, so it will be around for years to come. While there are other Web browsers to choose from aside from these four, Safari, Chrome and Firefox are the top three in my book, in that order, and will provide any user with a great browsing experience.
Zack Tanner is a junior emerging technology and multimedia studies major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.
Technology CornerZack Tanner
Donations to Haiti guilt based
Choosing a web browser, what’s right for you?
COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS
Haitians raise their hands in prayer during the first day of a three-day mourning period on Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. Some gathered at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to pray and fast, while others stayed in their communities.
It’s been roughly a month since the horrific earthquake that rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, and while much has been done for the struggling country, the help is too late and appears to be done out of selfishness rather than humanity.
The media coverage of the earthquake and its aftermath has ushered in a newfound love for Haiti, its people and its history.
G o v e r n m e n t s a r e sending millions of dollars, doctors are being flown in and some agencies are eager to adopt a few Haitian children here and there.
But, I pose this question to the conscience of the
average American: How many of us actually cared about Haiti or its people?
B e i n g o f A f r i c a n -Amer ican/West-Indian descent, I’ve had knowledge of Haiti and its people since I can remember.
Being that it’s a country whose people are mostly of African heritage, most African-Americans have had some kind of prior knowledge of the country before this tragedy.
But Haiti needed the world’s help before the events of Jan. 12.
I believe the influx of f inances and attention to Haiti is justified, but the motivation for the help in my eyes has its roots in selfishness and American guilt, primarily in Caucasians.
I believe this because I see the subconscious relationship between the Haitian earthquake and the disaster of Hurricane Kat r i n a t h at s t r u c k the Gulf Coast region in the fall of 2005. The similarities I’ve noticed
are startling and hard to ignore—poor people of African descent in a natural disaster while their respective governments are either slow to respond or aren’t in a position to help themselves.
It seems as if we (the United States) are making up for Hurricane Katrina by going above and beyond for Haiti.
I pose this question as well: Why are we pledging $100 million to Haiti while the lower ninth ward of New Orleans is still in disarray?
People are still suffering in New Orleans, without the any attention from the national media.
In the aftermath of the e ar t hquake , adopt ion agencies have swarmed on Haiti, adopting many children.
What the media fails to tell you is that many of the children being adopted are not orphans.
Many children have a guardian to care for them, but, in the culture of Haiti,
it’s normal for the parents or guardians to give their children away to a person or people who can give their child a “better life.”
The American public doesn’t realize that some of these children are and will be traded like commodities in the illegal human trafficking market, while most of this will go undocumented due to the rush of adoption that’s taken place in the past month.
It just amazes me how so much “good” can be done but for the wrong reasons.
Hopefully this tragedy will further educate our country into caring about the people, understanding their culture and not taking advantage of their disadvantages before we help them. It’s in these times that help should be genuine and everlasting rather than a trend.
Corey Carrington is a senior professional studies major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.
Unthought of ThoughtsCorey Carrington
Sports ExtraB-2 February 19, 2010
By Tim HaysRocket Contributor
SRU baseball is the early favorite in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Western division this season, aft er being picked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll.
One of the biggest assets to SRU’s favorable outlook this season is experience, as the Rock will be returning five everyday starters from its lineup last season when it fi nished 36-15. Four-year starters and preseason All-Americans, Billy Messer and Jake Oswalt, will look to anchor the middle of the Rock’s batting order after the departure of last year’s PSAC Player of the Year, Matt Adams.
“I feel some extra pressure coming into this season,” Oswalt said, “but that pressure is only going to increase my motivation coming into the year. Th e pressure is not as high as the expectations as I have for myself.”
Head coach Jeff Messer said that this is the fi rst time the team’s had fi ve returning players who each hit over .300 in the previous season, and he’s excited about the possibilities.
“We have fi ve guys coming back,” he said. “They’ve matured and hopefully will be better. And with the guys we brought in, we have a lot going for us.”
The returning players aren’t the only experienced fi elders that’ll be in the Rock’s opening day lineup. SRU also recruited junior outfielder Matt Howard and Gold-Glove junior first baseman Nick Caito from Frederick Community College (Md.), both of whom are expected to start immediately.
Messer said that Howard is the fastest guy on the team—if not the fastest in the conference—and will take over the vacancy in centerfi eld left by Rich Michalek. Caito will be fi lling the defensive
hole left by Adams, and though he is not as powerful at the plate, he’s more adept in the fi eld, another area that Messer thinks the team will be better at this season.
Another notable recruit is freshman Jamison Walck who’ll be taking over for four-year starter, Billy Herman, at third base this season. Messer said that Walck, whose father played professional baseball in the Red Sox system in the 1980s, is baseball-mature and was defi nitely good enough to go to a Division I school.
Walck said he came to SRU for the chance to play immediately and wanted to make a splash as early as possible.
“It’s important for me because I just wanted to come in to school and have a chance to play and help out the team anyway that I could, no matter what I was doing,” Walck said. “I wanted to have a chance to play as a freshman and try to help our team win.”
Other key returning players to SRU are catcher Derek DiRuscia, shortstop Adam Jury and outfi elder Matt Kosik, all sophomores. DiRuscia was second on the team in RBIs with 46 last season and will be behind the plate defensively for most of this season. Jury was tied for second on the team with a .395 batting average last season and will assume everyday duties at shortstop this season. Kosik was third on the team with six home runs last season despite having about half as many at-bats as the everyday starters, and will likely be this season’s starting right fi elder.
One problem area for the Rock last season was the depth of its starting pitching, which was plagued by injury all season. Team captain senior pitcher Don Pugliese and junior pitcher Zach Jeney were both supposed to shine last season but pitched a combined fi ve innings over
the course of the season due to injury.
“Don pitched basically one batter down south and that was it,” Messer said. “He’s back—he’s back 100 percent. Zach Jeney—who has never pitched here really—he is healthy and ready to go. I know we said this last year, but this could be one of the best pitching staff s we have ever had.”
Ace pitcher from last season
and preseason All-American, senior pitcher Vince Lloyd, will be back to anchor the Rock’s starting staff . Lloyd was 8-1 last season with a 3.19 ERA over nine starts, and he struck out 58 batters in 53.2 innings of work. Starter junior pitcher George Hebert will also return to the SRU rotation, as well as Winthrop University transfer, junior pitcher Mike Ritson, who also encountered some injury
troubles last season.Th e Rock is scheduled to
open its season this weekend in Chillicothe, Ohio, where it will play Tiffi n University. Messer said that the fi eld in Chillicothe is 100 percent turf, so it’s able to be plowed and can soak up some of the melting snow quickly. But he’s still unsure whether there’ll be enough time to clear the fi eld with the snow continuing to come.
Baseball ranked No. 1 in PSAC-West in preseason
ARCHIVED PHOTO/THE ROCKETSenior starter Sean Holliday makes his way through the Bluefi eld State College lineup last season. Holliday was tied for fi rst on the team in winning percentage last year (1.000).
ARCHIVED PHOTO/THE ROCKETSenior Laura Handy continues a volley during a match last year. Handy will look to continue being a dominant force for the Rock this season.
By Courtney NickleRocket Contributor
SRU tennis hopes to add to its win column during the spring half of its season aft er some new additions and pairings. Aft er just beginning the spring section of its season, the team is holding a record of 3-2. Head coach Matt Meredith sees a lot of potential.
“We are very talented, one of the most talented teams we’ve ever had here,” he said. “We have a good chance to do very well because we have a good core of athletes.”
SRU played matches against West Liberty State College (W.Va.), East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and Grove City College in the fall portion of its season. Its only loss in the fall was to Bloomsburg, with a fi nal score of 4-5.
Meredith said the Rock has come a long way since then.
“I wish we could have that match back,” he said. “We’ve improved a lot since then.”
According to Meredith, the fall portion of the season is a chance for the freshmen and transfer students to get used to playing at SRU. The spring portion of the season was delayed due to the snow storms, and its fi rst scheduled match against Robert Morris University was postponed. Th e Green and White opened its season last Saturday aft ernoon with a 9-0 loss to Carnegie Mellon University, the No. 6 Division I team in the country.
Despite the final score, the team believes that it performed exceptionally well.
“Overall everyone played a lot better than anyone expected,” said junior Chelsea Gibson. “Each match was very close and everyone played to their fullest potential. We all managed to stay very positive throughout the whole match, which is tough to do when we know the level of skill that CMU holds.”
Last season, SRU fi nished third in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
It’s hoping to improve that this season. Meredith said the Rock was plagued with injuries last year.
“We were one step behind where we should have been,” he said. “Injuries made a big diff erence and changed the lineup. Th is season, we have a nice mix of veterans and new players. It’s nice to have that and the good leadership that comes with it. Without injuries, we should do very well.”
Tr ans fe r s tu d e nt , sophomore Dunja Drmac, sees a lot of potential in the Rock as well.
“I think the team is doing great,” she said. “Th is is my fi rst season here and from what I have seen, we can beat a lot stronger teams if we believe enough in ourselves.”
One of the challenges for SRU at this point is that because of the winter weather, it has to practice in Morrow Field House instead of on outside tennis courts. In the field house, singles seem to be played a lot faster because of the speed the ball gets. Meredith said that on a
real court, it’s not that way. Another challenge for the
Rock is its doubles. There have been some new doubles pairings since transfer student, sophomore Sarah Lynch, joined the team. Meredith believes that once these new pairings work out the kinks, they’ll become even tougher. SRU’s overall goal this season is to make it to the NCAA national championships. Th e fi rst step in achieving that is to fi nish in the top six of the 12 teams in the PSAC, which would put SRU in the playoff s at the end of April. Th en, SRU would play at Bloomsburg for the PSAC championship.
Regionals are currently set for May 6 or 7, and the Rock looks to be hosting one of the matches.
Drmac said SRU could very well make it to the championships.
“I don’t think that our plan about reaching the NCAA is just a dream and a wish,” she said. “I think it is very reasonable and realistic to expect that from a team like this.”
Second half of season could end with conference playoffs
.........Rock pitcher Vince Lloyd will attempt to lead Rock to division title in 2010..........
PSAC track champion succeeds in both athletics, academics
By Courtney NickleRocket Contributor
SRU is almost 5,000 miles away from Split, Croatia.
Rock tennis player, sophomore Dunja Drmac, was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina and raised in Split.
Her first step in coming to SRU was attending a fi rst language gymnasium, which is the European equivalent of a high school, with a few diff erences.
“I had 17 or 18 subjects per semester,” Drmac said. “The emphasis was a little bit more on languages like English, Croatian, Italian and Latin.”
Drmac decided that she wanted to finish her high school career in the United States, following in her brother’s footsteps.
“My brother was an exchange student in Oklahoma his senior year of high school,” Drmac said. “And since he has always been my role model, I looked up to him and wanted to do the same.”
She attended Long Island City High School (N.Y.) and stayed with her cousins. Drmac also chose to come to the United States was because she could play tennis and balance schoolwork at the same time.
“I was impressed by how the American school system balances education and sports,” she said. “In Croatia, once you go to college you barely have time to play sports, not to mention if you want to compete.”
Th at played a huge role in her decision because Drmac has been playing tennis since she was eight years old and genuinely loves the sport.
“I always liked tennis and I was the one pushing my parents to get me into that,” she said.
In 2008—Drmac’s senior year of high school in Long Island—she won tennis MVP and also accomplished a gold honor roll.
Following graduation, she knew she wanted to stay in the United States, so Drmac chose to attend Limestone College (S.C.) and majored in biology. .
“I didn’t have any experience with the American educational system and I had very little time to prepare and search for colleges,” she said. “I got a good off er in South Carolina. New York City was crazy. Living
there for a year was pretty exhausting for a student, so I wanted a more peaceful area. Th at is also one of the reasons why I chose South Carolina.”
During her freshman year at Limestone College, Drmac landed a work-study job assisting her biology professor with a botany research project, studying certain types of plants and where they occur in the United States.
“We were basically going around collecting the undefi ned plants and maybe trying to fi gure out a new species,” she said. “[Th e professor] saw on my transcripts that I took Latin in high school and I was really good at it, and that was very useful for the plant’s description from English to Latin.”
Aft er her freshman year at Limestone College, Drmac decided she wanted a change.
“I had a feeling that the science program was not that strong and I was ready for a bigger challenge, so my biology teacher helped me to pick my new school,” she said.
SRU tennis coach, Matt Meredith, couldn’t be happier that Drmac chose Th e Rock.
“[Dunja] is an awesome student, very good IQ which translates to a high tennis IQ. She understands how to win points and win matches,” he said.
Meredith believes that with some more practice, Drmac will be an even tougher player.
“As she develops her net game she will be a force to reckon with in the PSAC,” Meredith said.
Drmac transferred to SRU and is majoring in biology with an emphasis on medicine. She is aiming to become a plastic surgeon or work in the fi eld of bioengineering and genetics. As for after graduation, her plans are still up in the air.
“I want to go to graduate school here and maybe do some semesters abroad for medicine in Austria or Hungary or Slovakia or Italy,” she said. “But for work, I’m still not sure—wherever I get the opportunity. Although, my parents would love if I could settle down somewhere in Europe so I can at least be on the same continent, but you never know where life will take you.”
Rock softball expected to rebound
Sports ExtraFebruary 19, 2010 B-3
ARCHIVED PHOTO/THE ROCKETA Rock softball player evades a tag at home against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania last season. SRU swept the Fighting Scots in the home double header.
Tennis player enjoys U.S. athletic system
By Tim DurrRocket Contributor
The SRU softball team expects a rebound after being two outs away from taking a one-game lead in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoff s in 2009.
After posting a 21-23 record last season, the Rock plans to return to its winning ways in 2010. In order to get through the season, junior pitcher Lindsey Grace believes the team’s depth will help out.
“The depth we have in each position on the fi eld with help us get through the season,” she said.
In order to win, the team will have to be successful in fielding, batting and pitching. Senior catcher and fi rst baseman Jessica Kortz said head coach Vashion Johnson has tested the team to work hard and improve in all aspects of the game.
“Coach has challenged us to beat the prior year stats in fi elding, batting and pitching,” she said.
As SRU gets ready to head into the season against some tough PSAC opponents, it will fi rst have to travel south to play non-conference games in Florida and North Carolina. Th e Rock starts its season in Charlotte, N.C., with a double header on March 5 against Johnson C. Smith University.
After leaving North Carolina, the Rock will head to Kissimmee, Fla., to play in 10 games over fi ve days against Ashland University ( O h i o ) , Wi l m i ng ton University (Del.) and others.
Aft er playing a tournament in Salem, Va., SRU will play its fi rst home game on March 23 against Wheeling Jesuit University (W.Va.). Three days later, the Rock will play its first conference game against Gannon University.
Kortz looks at all the teams
in the PSAC as being rivals, but thinks that California University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University of Pennsylvania will be two big opponents for SRU this season.
“Our biggest competition is probably Cal U,” Kortz said. “Every team in the PSAC is a rival and we look forward to playing IUP because of our rivalry.”
The Rock will play its conference season through April and will end the regular season with a PSAC double header at California.
As the team looks toward the upcoming season, some of the experienced players have a winning mindset.
“When I look at the expectations for this year, there is one word that comes to mind: win,” Kortz said.
Th is year’s team is younger than previous years, but its four seniors are looking to win the PSAC and have a successful final season.
Outfielder Kendra Kutz, second basemen Whitney Warmus and fi rst basemen Sheree Hor vath wil l accompany Kortz in trying to make those goals happen.
“We have a very strong and dedicated senior class and we have been together since freshman year,” Kortz said. “We want to go out on top, and we are happy that we have a great team to help us accomplish this goal.”
The Rock pitching staff consists of many talented and diff erent players who all bring a unique style to each game.
It will be led by juniors Shauna Walker and Lindsey Grace while freshman Amy Erickson will also be adding her own style to the rotation.
Th e fi elding and batting for the Rock will give it balance with the pitching staff , and the overall depth should give SRU soft ball an opportunity to be successful in the 2010 season.
By Stephanie ClarkRocket Contributor
Some of the best athletes in the country may have what it takes on the field, but not in the classroom. Others may excel in school, but not in their athletics. Junior sprinter Tiffany Tedesco has the talent to do both.
Having both a good work ethic and strong morals led to Tedesco having an All-American year in 2009.
“Last year was more successful than I could ever have asked for,” she said. “I had a 4.0 [QPA] both semesters, was PSAC champion and broke the indoor school record in the 200 [-meter] dash, won the Ms. SRU figure competition and became All-American in the 4x400
[-meter] relay. This year I have to work harder than ever to be just as successful.”
Coming from Plum, a town outside of Pittsburgh, and graduating from Plum High School, Tedesco chose SRU to be her home for the next couple of years.
While residing here, Te d e s c o i s s tu dy i ng emerging technology in the field of communication.
Always having a love for running, she was influenced by the success of the track and field program at SRU and decided she wanted to become a part of it after attending many track camps here in high school.
But over the years, running wasn’t the only thing that Tedesco was involved in.
“ I p a r t i c ip at e d i n gymnastics from when I was three years old until my freshman year of high school,” she said. “I then started diving and track and field.”
Tedesco said she did other things just to keep in shape for track.
“I participated in cross-country in high school only to train for spring track,” she said. “I was always happy running in the back of the pack and cheering my teammates on.”
Maybe distance may not be her perfection, but head coach John Papa feels she’s strong in other aspects.
“Tiffany has had a great deal of success because she is a great competitor,” he said. “She likes to win and she is willing to do what it takes to improve. When
she practices and races, she is not afraid to push herself to get out of her comfort zone. She is one of the most courageous student-athletes on our team and at any track meet that we attend.”
While Papa oversees mainly distance runners, Tedesco has captured his attent ion in her contributions to the team.
“ Ti f fany ’s s t ronges t attribute that she brings to the team is that she has a great attitude,” he said. “This attitude spreads to others on the team. She has a positive outlook when things are going well and when things do not go as planned.”
Part icipating in the events ranging from the 55-meter to the 400-meter dash, Tedesco has had her
share of adversities over the years.
“ W h e n I s t a r t e d participating in track for the first time, I was a pole vaulter,” she said. “In my sophomore year in high school, I found out that I have a health condition that limits the mobility of my arms, leaving me unable to participate in any sport other than running. I am fortunate and thankful that I have the ability to be part of a sport that I enjoy and that I am successful in.”
Having overcome one impediment already, this didn’t stop her.
Tedesco is always striving to increase and better her abilities.
“My goal that I set for myself is to do better than I have in the past,” she said.
“As long as I am trying my hardest and giving training my 100 percent, then I cannot ask for much more.”
Eve n t h ou g h s h e’s had so much drive and determination, Tedesco still faces roadblocks.
“Sometimes it can be really hard to motivate myself to train or lift,” she said. “My teammates are my closest friends, so we are constantly pushing each other to stay positive and work through whatever needs to be done.”
Papa realizes that he’ll have a hole to fill when Tedesco graduates.
“We are going to miss her consistent outstanding performances as a runner,” he said. “We are going to miss her positive leadership and we will miss her smile that she wore every day.”
.......Rock sprinter Tiff any Tedesco captured the 2009 Ms. SRU body building title...
By Bill KostkasRocket Assistant Sports Editor
The Rock track team will have more than one hole to fi ll in the 2010 season aft er losing four of its top cometitors.
One item on a things-to-do list for the SRU men’s track team for the outdoor season will be replacing distance runner Jeff Weiss.
Last season, Weiss led the men to a fi ft h place fi nish at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship meet and was the only member of the men’s team to qualify for a spot in the national championship meet, where he ran in the 5,000-meter and the 10,000-meter races.
Th roughout his career at the Green and White, Weiss was named as an All-American seven times, three times for the 10,000-meter in outdoor track.
Head coach John Papa knows that it will be a challenge for the rest of the men to replace Weiss.
“Losing him is huge, you don’t just fi ll in that kind of hole,” Papa said. “It will take two or three guys to replace him.”
Some of the runners that might fi t the bill will be seniors Phil Rector and Pat Reagan, and juniors Terrece Draper, Jason Leonard and Jason Jamieson.
Rector has earned a victory in the mile run and three other top fi ve fi nishes so far in the 2010 indoor season.
Rector feels that the men will be able to successfully fi ll the spot left by Weiss.
“Losing Jeff will be tough, he helped us out a lot while he was here with scoring points at the conference meet and being a team leader,” Rector said. “We're just going to have to work hard in other areas to try and get those
points back.”Reagan will return to the team aft er
not competing in outdoor in 2009, bringing national championship experience aft er fi nishing in 12th place in the 10,000-meter run in 2008. His best finish during the indoor season of 2010 was in the 5,000-meter where his fi nished fi ft h.
Papa said he was excited to have Reagan running for the team again, and that he’d have more time to concentrate on winning.
Draper has emerged as a triple jump standout in the 2010 indoor season aft er amassing three victories in a month’s span. An up-and-coming jumper that will look to have a good outdoor year coming off a successful indoor season will be sophomore Bill Nguyen.
But Nguyen wishes to improve on a few personal goals in the outdoor season.
“I want to improve my personal best,” he said, “[like] making 23 feet in the long jump and hopefully [getting] back into the triple jump.”
Leonard comes into the outdoor season having previously fi nished in 17th in the 8,000-meter race at the cross-country PSAC championships in 2008.
Jamieson notched two top five fi nishes in this year’s indoor season, with a fifth place finish in the 200-meter dash and a fourth place fi nish in the 800-meter run.
Th e SRU women’s team will look to go aft er its fi ft h straight PSAC championship this season.
Aft er sending eight athletes to the national championships, it will return five who participated. Distance runners Laura Mucho, Lacey Cochran and Jaime Wright were all lost to graduation.
Much of the core that led the Rock’s eff ort last year will once again play a
role in what direction the team goes.Juniors Tiff any Tedesco, Allison
Smith and Amanda Seigworth, three runners who anchored the 4x400-meter relay team, one of the team’s strengths, will take on the same roles as last year.
Tedesco will look to continue her dominance in the 200-meter and 60-meter dashes. She led the relay team to a seventh place fi nish at the national championships.
Smith will continue to be a standout not only in the relay, but also
in hurdles. She earned a spot in the national meet for both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Seigworth joined her in the 400-meter.
Also returning will be senior Jen Harpp and junior Whitney Hendershot.
Harpp’s appearance in the national meet was her third of her collegiate career. Last year, she fi nished in 11th place in the 10,000-meter run.
Harpp has dealt with injuries throughout the indoor season, but Papa is hoping she can be ready for
the outdoor season.“We’re hoping she will be healthy
for the PSAC championship meet in indoor,” he said. “We’re also going to be intent on her being healthy for outdoor.”
Hendershot was the Rock’s only fi eld athlete to make it to the national meet. She went on to fi nish in 11th place.
Th e fi rst meet for the Green and White will be the Coastal Carolina Invite in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on March 13.
By Nicolas LewisRocket Contributor
The 2009 SRU lacrosse team made its way dutifully uphill all season, but were repeatedly foiled so close to its end goal.
In a sport where teams score 15 to 20 goals a game,
the Rock (5-12 overall, 2-8 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference—West Division) lost fi ve of its 12 games by fi ve goals or less, including two losses against rival Indiana University of Pennsylvania by six goals.
S om e t i m e s i t w a s overmatched, like when
it faced eventual national runner-up Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and was down by 10 goals at halft ime.
More often, though, it hung around and did its best, only to watch things fall apart down the stretch.
A perfect example was the
Rock’s home game against a Gannon University squad that finished the season ranked 10th nationally.
SRU held its own against the Golden Knights, a team that fi nished 2009 with four 50-goal scorers. With 27:19 left in the game, a goal from then freshman midfi elder Casey Quinn found the Rock trailing Gannon by the smallest of margins, 12-11. Th en the wheels came off , and the game ended in a 22-12 win for Gannon.
Sophomore attacker Alexis Slutsky explained that there simply weren’t enough bodies to get the job done.
“Last year we didn’t have any second string,” she said. “So we played well the fi rst half when we were fresh, and then in the second half we were just drained and it came apart. We just didn't have many subs.”
Th e Rock had a mere fi ve players see time beyond the starting 12, and one of those fi ve—junior defender O l iv i a L amp e n fe l d —missed the second half of the season with a knee injury. Sophomore attacker Amy Halls agreed that there weren’t enough substitutes.
“We didn’t have any depth,” she said. “We would leave the midfi eld, but it was to go play attack, which isn’t a break.”
He ad coach Emi ly Hopkins said her players’ worries over that depth aff ected their ability to play a normal game.
“I think last year,
especially in the midfi eld, they were hesitant to ask for a sub even when they were winded, because they knew the bench just wasn’t as talented,” she said. “Th ey put a lot more pressure on themselves than they really needed.”
Th at should change this season. Hopkins pointed out that the starting lineup still isn’t set because of the variety of combinations she has available.
The Green and White returns nearly all of its starters from last season, including Halls who set a new freshman scoring record with 57 goals.
Even Halls was a bit surprised by it.
“No, I wasn’t [expecting it],” she said. “I just kind of took what was given to me. I'm hoping it's something to build on.”
Both Halls and Hopkins agreed that it will be interesting to see how opponents handle scouting the Rock this season.
Hopkins said that teams are likely to guard Halls with their best defender—given her success last season—but would regret such a decision.
“If they focus their attention on Amy, they’ll be missing out elsewhere,” Hopkins said. “Amy should be fi ne with goals and also have a lot more assists this season, since she sees the fi eld so well and will be able to pass to a lot more players around her who can ball-handle and are a threat to
score.”SRU returns six double-
digit goal scorers from last season, which puts it right in the mix, given the transition that other PSAC West teams have gone through. Gannon, Lock Haven, Indiana University of Pennsy lvania and Mercyhurst College all lost their leading scorers from last season.
For some teams like Lock Haven and Gannon, that each still has three 40-plus goal scorers coming back, that might not be huge.
But the Rock could gain some ground on a team like Mercyhurst, which lost half of its off ense from a year ago, or a team like Gannon that starts this season with a new head coach.
Th at being said, there is still work to be done.
“Offensively, we really like to be a run-and-gun, fast break team,” Hopkins said. “And when it’s not there, we slow the off ense down but we always look for that first option, and when it isn’t there things break down. Th at’s probably a product of our youth and inexperience playing together, so hopefully we’ll fi x that area.”
The Rock is highly optimistic that there will be a lot of improvement in the standings. Some of the team members said SRU expects to win its fi rst fi ve games, and double-digit wins are not out of the question.
Halls summed it up when she said, “I just want to win.”
Sports ExtraB-4 February 19, 2010
Lacrosse returns core of starters, anticipates more wins
ARCHIVED PHOTO/THE ROCKETSophomore attacker Amy Halls evades Indiana University of Pennsylvania defenders last year. Halls led the Rock in goals last season (57).
Men look to replace top runner, women hope to defend championship
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETSophomore Joe Spears and freshman Ethan Geisler run in the 55-meter hurdles at last Friday's SRU Open in Morrow Field House. Geisler would place fi rst, while Spears fi nished in fourth.
.........Rock women's track team fi nished in fourth place nationally last season..........
By Bill KostkasRocket Assistant Sports Editor
Some things never change, such as former SRU basketball player Troy Mild’s outlook on life and sports.
After being honored at midcourt during halftime at SRU’s basketball game against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania last Saturday, Mild expressed how something he loves has changed over the years.
“Everyone thinks they’re going to get a trophy,” he said. “Today every kid gets to make the team. Th ere’s no failure. Back in the day, you had a 12-year-old all-star team. Now you have an 8- and 9-year-old all-star team. ”
Mild explained what he believes to be a problem with sports today.
“Parents pay for kids to play instead of having them head down to the ball fi eld or basketball court to play games,”
he said. “You learn a lot more from having to make the team and not having the spot given to you. You’ve got to find
something you’re good in.”When Mild wore the Green
and White from 1981-1984, the numbers he posted show that
he shared the same philosophy back then as he does today.
When he graduated, he left the Rock as its all-time leading scorer with 1,857 points. Now he’s SRU’s second all-time leader in points behind Myron Brown. Mild also sits in eighth place in school history in rebounds (792), and his accomplishments earned him a spot in SRU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.
He came out of West Middlesex High School in
West Middlesex, Pa., where he led his team to the District 10 Championship during the 1980 season. Mild was happy to deliver a championship to Middlesex fans as a senior.
“What was nice was that you could see that the town was starving for a championship,” he said.
No West Middlesex team has won a basketball championship since Mild’s team made it to the pinnacle.
Also that season, Mild was
named the Mercer County League’s Most Valuable Player aft er setting the school’s single-season record with 716 points.
One of his teammates on that team, Chris Powell, said that Mild was one of the main reason’s they were able to do what they did.
“We all had a great work ethic,” Powell said. “Troy was above and beyond everyone else. Th at’s what set him apart.
SPORTS C-1Th e Rocket
By Carly ThomasRocket Sports Editor
A four-game losing streak put SRU men’s basketball in a hole, but the Rock climbed out with two comeback wins against Edinboro Univers ity of Pennsy lvania and Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Head coach Kevin Reynolds said the Rock has no more room for error the rest of the season if it is going to make the Pennsylvania State Athletic Confernce playoffs.
“Our margin of error is at zero,” Reynolds said. “We have no more wiggle room.”
SRU traveled to Lock Haven Wednesday night when junior guard Jabril Bailey scored at the last second to record the 60-59 victory.
The Bald Eagles went on a 7-0 run to start the game and held a seven-point lead four additional times during the first half.
Lock Haven took its largest lead of the game at the 8:25 mark in the half, 21-11. The Rock pulled within one point with two minutes left in the half after two free throws by junior forward Jade Burka, but Lock Haven took a three point, 29-26, advantage into halftime.
Reynolds said SRU has been hurting itself by not playing well
in the first half.
“We’ve played well for five minutes at the beginning of the game since January 30,” Reynolds said. “We’ve been coming out cold and have struggled with that all year.”
SRU tightened the score to within one for the first time in the second half at the 15:52 mark.
The Rock almost caught up again with 14 minutes left and then again with a minute and a half left.
Lock Haven held a nine-point lead three different times in the second half.
SRU went on a 10-2 run with four minutes left and took its first lead of the game with 33 seconds left after a senior guard Cecil Brown layup. The Bald Eagles regained the lead with 26 seconds left before Bailey scored with 18 seconds left for the final score.
Junior forward Maron Brown led the Rock in scoring with 11 points while Bailey added 10. Senior guards Maurice Douglas and Michael Evans Jr. each contributed nine points.
The Bald Eagles had four players score in double digits in the game. Senior forward Christian Warren and sophomore forward Eric Brennan each scored 16 points for Lock Haven. Junior guard Sharif Bolton had 12 points in the game and freshman guard Dalexis Pena chipped in 10.
The Rock shot 34 percent (21-for-62) from the field and 22 percent
By Courtney NickleRocket Contributor
Aft er going 3-2 in the fi rst half of its season, SRU tennis expected to start the second half with some momentum.
Instead, the Rock lost its first match of the season’s spring half, 9-0, to No. 6 Carnegie Mellon University Saturday. Despite the fi nal score, all the matches were extremely close. Sophomore Dunja Drmac said there weren’t as many hard feelings about the loss because CMU is one of the best teams it will play.
“CMU is a really good team, the best one we will play all season,” Drmac said. “Every match of ours, singles and doubles, were very close. We could have won each of those but that’s where they proved to be better.”
The Rock lost the three doubles matches by seven points and also dropped the singles matches. Prior to the match against CMU, SRU was scheduled to play Robert Morris University, but that match was canceled due to
a snowstorm. Head coach Matt Meredith believes that if it hadn’t been postponed, the result of the Carnegie Mellon match would’ve turned out diff erently.
“If we had the RMU match in, it would’ve helped,” he said. “CMU is a solid team. Our ladies were right there and we’re only going to get better.”
Junior Chelsea Gibson believes that the Rock played well considering how nervous it could’ve been.
“Whenever we play a team that is very strong, our nerves seem to take complete control and it makes it extremely diffi cult to stay calm during the match and play our best game,” Gibson said. “I think everyone did really well with maintaining focus and playing our best.”
One of the difficulties in the match with CMU was the doubles play. Th e doubles teams have recently been switched around due to new transfer teammate,
SEE MILD, PAGE C-3
Tennis falls to CMU in fi rst spring game
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETJunior forward Jabril Bailey protects the ball while going arpund a Edinboro University of Pennsylvania defender last Saturday. Bailey scored the winning basket Wednesday against Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.
By Tim DurrRocket Contributor
The Rock continued to struggle in its past two games, losing to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania at home Saturday and Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania Wednesday at Lock Haven.
Aft er its loss to Edinboro, SRU faced Lock Haven, who had yet to win its fi rst Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-West game.
Lock Haven scored the first points against SRU and stayed ahead early in the fi rst half, leading 8-4 with 15:24 remaining. The Rock slowly battled back and tied the game at 10 with 10:25 left in the fi rst when junior guard Grace Palucis hit a jumper.
Palucis then gave SRU its fi rst lead of the game when she was sent to the foul line and made both free throws to put SRU up by two with just under 10 minutes left in the half.
SRU extended its lead to four points before Lock Haven went on a 10-0 scoring run to take a six point, 22-16, lead with 3:21 to play in the fi rst half.
The Bald Eagles’s lead stretched to nine points before
SRU scored fi ve straight points
in the fi nal 1:11 to bring the lead down to four, 27-23, at the half.
Th e second half started with SRU scoring the fi rst four points and tying the game at 29. It kept the score close, pulling within one point several times until Lock Haven put together a 14-2 run to take a 52-39 lead with 5:16 to play in the game.
SRU started a comeback run to pull within six points, 54-48, with 1:31 left in the game. Th e Rock didn’t score another basket for the remainder of the game and lost, 60-48.
Senior guard Chere’ Marshall led the Rock with nine points and fi ve rebounds. Freshman guard Emilee Vitez added fi ve rebounds of her own while freshman guard Bethany Caudill added eight points. Palucis and senior guards Nikki Presto and Julie Molloy all added six points on Wednesday night and Presto, along with freshman guard Alex Beatty, led the team with two assists each.
SRU came off the three-game road trip and prepared to face Edinboro, who headed into the game with a 14-8 record.
Edinboro started the game on an 8-1 run in the fi rst four minutes and continued to hold
Late comeback keeps Rock in playoff contention
SEE NEW, PAGE C-3 SEE ROCK, PAGE C-3
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETSenior guard Chere’ Marshall adjusts a diffi cult shot against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Saturday.
February 19, 2010
Former SRU standout refl ects on playing days
Bald Eagles, Fighting Scots dominate Rock SEE SRU, PAGE C-3
COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION
SportsC-2 February 19, 2010
By Bill KostkasRocket Assistant Sports Editor
For 27 years, Bill Price’s school record time of 1:54.07 in the men’s 800-meter race stood untouched.
At least not until the Akron Invite (Ohio) last Friday, when freshman Kevin Jewel broke it in one heat and senior Phil Rector broke it in another, all in a span of three hours.
Jewel’s time of 1:54.02 beat Price’s record by .05 seconds. He went on to finish in fourth place in the blue division’s finals (1:53.42).
Rector’s time of 1:52.18 in the final was good enough for fifth place in the gold division—invitation only—and shattered the record Jewel owned for only a few hours. Rector enjoyed the experience of breaking the record, but was still happy for his teammate.
“I was really excited to see Kevin break the record and I was really happy for him,” Rector said. “It was great to break the record later because that's something I’ve been shooting for the last few years.”
Head coach John Papa isn’t used to seeing events transpire as they did.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. “School records are hard to come by. Stuff like that doesn’t happen too often.”
He went on to explain the type of athlete he might have in Jewel.
“If he’s anything like Phil, who got better every year, he might get that record back down the road,” Papa said.
Because the team was split between two meets, some also competed at the SRU Open at
Morrow Field House Friday. Senior Rachel Weber also set
a new school record by claiming victory in the weight throw (50 feet 2 inches), breaking Erica Timmons’s mark of 50 feet 1 inch in 1999. She also won the shot put with a throw of 41 feet 2 inches.
For her efforts, Weber was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week. She’s the second Rock athlete to earn the honor for the indoor season. Senior pole vaulter Jen Hansen
also received it after the first meet of the season.
Papa was glad to see Weber break a record she’d been trying to earn for a few years.
“She’s been chipping away and finally got it,” he said.
The Green and White took other numerous victories in the home meet.
Senior Brady Wert and freshman Ethan Geisler each tied for first in the 55-meter hurdles (8.16).
Sophomore Bill Nguyen took
wins in both the 55-meter dash (6.69 seconds) and the long jump (22 feet 1 inch).
Junior Terrece Draper was right behind Nguyen in the long jump, placing in second (20 feet 8 inches).
Junior sprinter Tiffany Tedesco was victorious in the 55-meter dash, posting a time of 7.29 seconds. She went on to finish second in the 400-meter dash (1:00.47) behind junior Kaela Snyder, who won the event (1:00.41).
Senior Jim Schneider won the pole vault with a vault of 14 feet 12 inches.
Junior Whitney Hendershot returned from injury to compete for the first time this season. She ended up taking home a win in the long jump (17 feet 5 inches).
Papa said he was excited to have one of the best high jumpers in the country back in the lineup.
The Green and White’s next meet will be in Kent, Ohio, for the Kent State Golden Flash Gala tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Two decade-old record falls twice in three hours
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETSophomore pole vaulter Jacquelyn Kerr attempts a vault at the SRU Open last Friday. Kerr’s vault of 10 feet six inches earned her third place in the fi nals.
its lead as the Rock tried to battle back. Th e closest SRU could get in the fi rst half was a 10-7 defi cit with 14:24 left in the half.
As SRU tried to keep the game close, the Fighting Scots consistently made shots and was able to open its lead to 18 points, the biggest lead of the game at the time.
Throughout the remainder of the fi rst half, SRU could pull no closer than 14 before falling behind by 21 with 1:40 left in the
half. Caudill hit a 3-pointer that was assisted by Molloy with 23 seconds left to bring the defi cit to 18, 42-24, which would stay the score going into the half.
As the second half got underway, SRU made the fi rst two shots to tighten the lead to 14, 42-28. But SRU couldn’t continue the comeback as Edinboro was able to pull the lead back to 18 with 14:55 left in the game.
Head coach Laurel Heilman prepared the team to come out
in the second half and fi ght back, but it wasn’t able to complete the comeback.
“It takes a mentality to battle back in a game,” she said. “We came out in the strong in the second half but could not sustain.”
SRU couldn’t bring the lead any closer than 21 points in the fi nal six minutes and watched Edinboro go on an 8-2 run in the fi nal three minutes to win by 27 points, 79-52.
Th e Rock fi nished the game 42 percent (20-for-48) from the fl oor and 25 percent (2-for-8) from beyond the arc.
Edinboro out-rebounded SRU, 36-25. Th e Rock has had trouble with rebounding all season, and freshman center Tynesha Lee felt that the team is starting to show progress with its rebounding.
“We are starting to rebound more aggressively,” she said. “We have our positioning better and are bringing it all together.”
Molloy and Caudill both put together solid performances for the Rock on Saturday with 12 points each. Presto and Marshall contributed seven and six points.
Caudill, who had some recent struggles during the team’s three-game road trip, brought a diff erent mindset to Saturday’s game and it showed.
“I brought out a diff erent mentality for this game,” she said. “What I was doing wasn’t working and I had to change it up.”
Th e Rock, now 5-19 overall and 2-9 in the PSAC-West, has three remaining games on its schedule. It will play Clarion University of Pennsylvania this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Morrow Field House and then welcome California University of Pennsylvania next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
(5-for-23) from 3-point range. The Bald Eagles shot 43 percent (25-for-59) and 19 percent (3-for-16) from behind the arc. Reynolds thinks SRU can shoot better than it has been all season.
“We have the ability to shoot better,” Reynolds said. “It (shooting) has probably been our biggest disappointment this year.”
Before the Lock Haven game, SRU played host to Edinboro Saturday afternoon and pulled out a 78-77 win in the last few minutes of the game.
The Fighting Scots owned a 14-point lead with 11:30 left in the first half, but the Rock tightened the score to within one, 38-37, going into the half.
SRU tied the game twice in the second half before finally taking its first lead of the game, 66-65, with 6:57 left.
There were four more ties in the last five and a half minutes, but the Rock held on to the lead for the win.
Four Rock players scored in double digits against Edinboro. Bailey scored a team-high 23 points for SRU, Evans put up 15 points and Brown scored 14. Senior guard Cecil Brown also added 13 points.
Reynolds said Bailey
has played well, but has the potential to do better.
“He has the ability to do more,” Reynolds said. “He had a good week, but we need him to have a better week this week.”
Edinboro also had four players score more than 10 points in the game. Junior guard Byron Knight scored a game-high 2 6 p o i n t s w h i l e sophomore for ward Cory Somerville scored 14. Junior guard Danny Walsh put up 12 for the Fighting Scots and senior forward Justin Moore chipped in 11.
The Green and White shot 39 percent (26-for-66) from the field and 27 percent (7-for-26) from long range. Edinboro made 49 percent (28-for-57) of its field goals and 53 percent (10-for-19) of its 3-point attempts.
SRU will play host to Clarion University o f P e n n s y l v a n i a tomorrow at 3 p.m. and California University o f P e n n s y l v a n i a Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Reynolds said the Rock needs to win the rest of its games.
“Our backs are up against the wall, and we need to win out to make the conference playof fs ,” Reynolds said.
SRU earns second consecutive comeback victoryContinued from Page B-1
SportsFebruary 19, 2010 C-3
Continued from Page B-1
New pairs to improve
We had talent, but we were a close-knit group. Th at’s what put us over the top.”
Mild is currently in his tenth year at West Middlesex as an assistant coach under his brother, who is the head coach.Mild’s son, Troy Mild Jr., played basketball under his dad and his uncle at West Middlesex. .
“It was tough, but fun,” Troy Mild Jr. said. “I had to keep my mouth shut on many occasions. It made me better. He was always hard on me.”
Even at the age of 48, Troy Sr. still believes the game he loves can teach people about the right things.
“It teaches you a lot about life,” he said. “You can’t always win, so it also teaches you how to come back from a loss and friendship.”
Continued from Page B-1
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETSenior guard Nikki Presto and Fighting Scots senior guard Casey Heller sport pink arm and hair bands during the Rock’s Pink Zone game.
Rock extends losing streak to three
RITA BOAMAH/THE ROCKETJunior forward Maron Brown gets off a hook shot from the post last Saturday against Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Brown chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds Wednesday night against Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.
Mild turns to HS coaching
sophomore Sarah Lynch. “Lynch and [Laura Handy] will
be a good team when they get the kinks worked out,” Meredith said.
Drmac also saw a few fl aws in the doubles play against CMU.
“We could have won our doubles if we didn’t make some major mistakes at deciding points,” she said.
Th e Rock will host two games next week against Robert Morris University on February 24 at 8 p.m. and West Virginia State University on February 27.
Continued from Page B-1
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Dogs have been said to be man’s best friend for hundreds of years, from being loyal hunting partners to simply being a member of the family. Today, man’s best friend is an even closer companion, serving as an aid to the dis-abled. Canines selected for service to the impaired go through months of extensive train-ing, learning various and uncommon commands meant to maximize their po-tential as seeing-eye dogs, as well as service dogs for the disabled. According to the Shore Ser-vice Dogs Web site, service dogs were first incorporated in American society after World War I when Dorothy Eustis witnessed blind Ger-man veterans being guided by German shepherd dogs while living in Switzerland. In turn, she wrote an article in the Saturday Evening Post offering one blind Ameri-can the chance to work on an experiment with training guide dogs in her kennel. Morris Frank, a 19-year-old suffering from blind-ness, was selected by Eustis to travel to Switzerland for training with a female Ger-man shepherd guide dog named Buddy.
Upon completion of train-ing, Frank and Buddy re-turned to the United States as the first service dog team in the nation’s history. Knowing that this service would prove beneficial to others with similar condi-tions, Frank and Buddy trav-eled to raise support for the program, gathering enough
funds to eventually create the Seeing Eye organization in 1929. Since the organization’s birth, new techniques were developed through the fol-lowing decades, eventually bringing about the devel-opment of other Assistance Dog programs in the 1970s, according to the Web site. In the 21st century, service dogs prove to be just as use-ful to people in need as they did decades ago. Patty Hladio, director of the Financial Aid Office, is among the thousands of Americans who are paired
up with a service dog. Hla-dio’s service dog, Josie, is a golden retriever/yellow Lab-rador. “Josie spent the first year of her life in foster care in Georgia, where she learned basic obedience and social-ization skills,” Hladio said. “In the second year of her life, she spent her time with the Paws with a Cause head-quarters in Michigan, where they trained her skills that would be used to assist me personally.” While Hladio cannot perform many tasks on a scooter, Josie is by her side
wherever she goes. Josie learned beneficial commands, such as picking up dropped objects, placing her master’s leg(s) back onto the chair, calling elevators and even paying and collect-ing change from a cashier. “When I first got Josie, she knew a lot more than what I imagined,” Hladio said. “Just a month ago, I discovered that when my fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, she woke me up, made sure I got out of bed and into my scooter and escorted me
FOCUS D-1Th e Rocket
February 19, 2010
Program gives art students a chance to spread talent
SEE TRAINED, PAGE D-4
By Andy TreeseRocket Assistant Focus Editor
For dieticians and doc-tors, the winter season can be a nightmare. With this time of year comes bad weather, bear-ing down storms of snow-fall that make traveling from one point to another more difficult. And with the colder temperatures, fewer people are motivated to maintain healthy diet and exercise regimen. According to WebMD, the average American will gain between 1-2 pounds over the holiday season
from indulging in un-healthy comfort foods and not keeping themselves in shape. For those who do not manage to lose these pounds, the weight accu-mulates over time, poten-tially causing obesity later in life. Dr. Marcy Leeds, of the health and safety depart-ment, said that he under-stands the effects that win-ter can potentially have on college students and fac-ulty alike. “During this time of year, there are several factors
SEE STUDENTS, PAGE D-4
FRANCINE MAITLAND/THE ROCKETRocket is a black Labrador and pit bull mix who belongs to creative writing graduate Francine Maitland, 24. Rocket, while on-duty, sits with Maitland’s mother, Georgiann Maitland, when Francine visited Georgiann in the hospital.
By Kacie PetersonRocket Focus Editor
Art comes in all forms: paint, paper, crayons, glue, markers, glitter, clay, puff balls, feathers and egg car-tons. For students with special needs at Neshannock High School, art comes in the form of two SRU students. Senior Meghan Kennedy, 22, a fine arts major with a teaching certification, and
junior Brittany Fairch-ild, 21, an art education major with special educa-tion minor, bring art to special needs students two days a week through an art department internship at Neshannock High School. Both students work at the high school on Mon-days and Wednesdays with Michele Lagnese, the art teacher there. They work with a variety of disabili-ties, including Autism, cerebral palsy and mental
retardation, according to Lagnese. She said the art program is exciting because through the arts, the students come alive. The special needs students are sensory ori-ented, she said, and the morning starts off slow. But by the end of the class, the students are more en-ergetic. Kennedy said that Monday she had the students make Mardi Gras masks from templates, tissue paper and
glue. On Wednesday, the students took egg cartons, googly eyes, markers and foam shapes to make Chi-nese dragons in honor of Chinese New Year. Next week, she said the students will dip marbles in paint trays to roll around on paper. The internship was set up by an associate professor of art, June Edwards, and art department chair Tom Como in 2008. The two students went
to the high school and met with the superintendent in order to set up the pro-gram, Edwards said. “We started with student [interns] that were hand-picked,” she said. “We picked students who like working with special needs [children] and are in art education. We would like the possibility of having more students [in the pro-gram].” The students are picked through a discussion
among the faculty, Ed-wards said. Fairchild said she heard about the internship from Edwards. “I had her for design, and Meghan and I both went to a Pennsylvania Arts Education conference and [Edwards] asked us if we wanted to do [the intern-ship],” Fairchild said. Not just any student can
Weight gain increases during winter months
Help from service dogs proves beneficial
SEE ART, PAGE D-4
KACIE PETERSON/THE ROCKET(From left) Chelsea colors an egg carton with help from senior fi ne arts major with a teaching certifi cation student Meghan Kennedy, 22, Wednesday.
KACIE PETERSON/THE ROCKET(From left) Junior art education major and special education minor Brittany Fairchild, 21, leads Michele Lagnese and student Mikayla in decorating dragons in honor of the Chinese New Year Wednesday at Neshannock High School.
GRAPHIC BY CHELSEY ROVESTI
I can’t write this fast enough—I’ve watched a film I can give a positive review! Now comes the part where you want to smack me—it was “Valentine’s Day.” I may never live this down, but I found the film posi-tively delightful. And here’s why: I had absolutely no expectations for it. So when I found myself cracking up at the antics and one-liners of every A-list star in the business, I was ecstatic. Garry Marshall (“The Princess Diaries,” “Run-away Bride”) has a capacity for directing this kind of syrupy romantic-comedy that’s always a box office gem. What’s his secret? He focuses purely on entertain-ment. I don’t even remem-ber what the movie was about, but I do remember having a stupid smile on my face the whole time. The fact that there was barely a spare seat in the theater I went to Friday night sug-gests everyone else felt the same way. Traditionally, I’d give a synopsis and list some of the stars in the film. “Valentine’s Day” doesn’t jive with this format. The film has a huge cast of at least 20 A-list stars—Julia Roberts (“Pretty Woman,” “Ocean’s Eleven”), Jessica Alba (“Fantastic Four,” “Good Luck Chuck”) and Jessica Biel (“Blade: Trin-ity”, “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”) probably being some of the most recognizable. Likewise, at least 10 different plots are intricately woven together to create the final product. I can at least say it’s about making and breaking re-lationships around that famed day in the title. Here’s the kicker: the film has received terrible re-views. Roger Ebert ripped the film a new one, giving it two thumbs down (although I have a hard time granting credibility to someone who named “Juno” the fourth best film of the last decade).
The main criticism is the film relies on its all-star cast and the plot then becomes a shallow exploration of love. But isn’t that all Valentine’s Day is? I thought the film tapped into America’s weird obsession with this holiday quite aptly. I think I’m getting into the groove of this experiment I spoke of last week. I’m tak-ing conscious steps toward seeing a film just to enjoy it. Everyone in the packed theater just wanted to be entertained, and the film most certainly delivered. It’s positively ridiculous and completely unbeliev-able, but I went in expecting that. I honestly didn’t ex-pect a greater understand-ing of human emotion from something staring Ashton Kutcher (“The Butterfly Ef-fect,” “That 70s Show”). It was glitzy, ham-fisted and shallow. But just like my cat, I’m immediately drawn to shiny objects. And sometimes I like to suspend my disbelief. It’s fun to oc-casionally buy into things like unrequited love, uni-corns and libertarianism. Now for my existential crisis: I so wanted to rate the film as four stars, but I couldn’t conscientiously do this. I gave it three instead, like just about every other film I’ve reviewed. I’m now so paranoid that someone is going question my rating criteria that I feel I must ex-plain my rating process. Let us then, Dear Reader, enter
a philosophical treatise of Michael Chiappini, Esquire. A five-star rating connotes a superior and artistically sound film. An example would be “Atonement,” or as I refer to it, “The Greatest Film of All Time.”
A four-star rating would be given to a film that’s good enough to buy on DVD and watch many times over. “Mean Girls” is a sound four-star film.
A three-star film is bear-able to watch, but would ordinarily not be viewed more than once. “Valen-tine’s Day” seems to be the epitome of a good three.
A two-star rating is un-bearable to endure and should only be watched with caution. Anything staring Jonah Hill (“Su-perbad”, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”) is a sure two. A one-star rating is the worst movie ever filmed. “The Fast and the Furious” and its subsequent sequels are exemplary examples. Now that we’ve that squared away, I hope some method will appear in my seemingly haphazard rat-ings. Now comes the exciting part: “Valentine’s Day” is my first genuine “To see.”
FocusD-2 February 19, 2010
Backpacks fi x textbook overload
We’re a few weeks into the semester, so workloads are be-ginning to get more intense. This usually translates into students lugging around more books, art supplies, laptops and more stuff in general. I’ve seen a lot of people car-rying multiple bags or one ri-diculously enormous bag of stuff across campus. I have some long days, and basically have to pack like I’m surviving in the wilderness for a week. A wilderness filled with head-ache-inducing fluorescent
lights and a massive amount of lists. My back and shoulders can be really sore by the end of these days because of all the stuff I have to carry. I’m positive that I’m not the only student who could use a mas-sage when I finally get home, and that’s what made me start thinking about backpacks. I know what you’re think-ing: “Man, this girl sounds awesome! She sits around thinking about backpacks!” But there you have it. It’s what I do. For pretty much every style dilemma I encounter, the first place I go to for answers is Urban Outfitters.
The women’s section has a few good options, but the men’s accessories division has many more, especially if you like utilitarian style and neu-tral or militaristic colors. Some of my favorite bags from Urban Outfitters are the Deux Lux Tassel Bucket Bag, the Urban Outfitters Classic Canvas Backpack and the Deena and Ozzy Quilted Bucket Bag. These can be found in the women’s acces-sories. Over on the men’s side is the Canvas Rucksack, which looks like it would hold just about everything you own. The O’Hanlon Mills Canvas Backpack has a nice and sim-ple design. I’m also a big fan of the Medic Messenger. It’s relatively small and the design is so simple that it would re-ally dissolve into your outfit. For some, this would translate into “boring,” but regardless of your style, it’s just a nice bag. Another excellent source for backpacks is Zappos.com, the virtual warehouse that carries shoes, bags, clothing and a
ton of other products. Dakine makes several stylish options, but two of my favorites are Network, which can be chosen in brown tweed or gray her-ringbone, and Mission, which also comes in herringbone. Another unusual backpack I discovered on Zappos is Hur-ley’s One and Only in cham-bray, which I’d imagine is a relatively durable material for a backpack. For a long time, I’ve been drawn to leather backpacks. I think they’re awesome. They look great, especially in a warm orange-brown color, and they’d hold up well with all the extra weight added by the books. This is an especially impor-tant benefit. No one wants their straps to snap off in the middle of the day. That’d be extremely embarrassing and irresponsible on the back-pack’s part. So don’t put your bag in awkward situations. Buy one that will be able to be subjected to your personal amount of everyday wear and tear. Whether you choose a leather, chambray or more traditional cloth backpack, al-ways remember to choose one that fits your personal style. I tend to gravitate towards more understated and simple de-signs for backpacks, but if you fall in love with a super bright vinyl bag covered with some crazy pattern, go for it! Wear it with pride. Just make sure you won’t require back surgery after wearing it.
Couture Head
KARIZUZACK
Kari Zuzack is a senior communication major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.
MCT CAMPUSUrban Outfi tters is home of backpack styles for men and women. Sturdy materials for backpacks include leather and chambray.
Love comedy is pure entertainmentFilm pick of the week:
“Valentine's Day”
3 Stars
"To See or Not To See?"
MICHAELCHIAPPINI
Michael Chiappini is a junior English literature and environmental studies major, fi lm and media studies minor and a regular contributor to Th e Rocket.
Chinese New YearCelebrationDesgin by Zack Tanner
A young girl (Left) looks at one of the many Chinese themed displays during Saturday’s Chinese New Year celebration at the Slippery Rock Township Municipal Building.
Photo by Samantha sherwinStudents (Above) from the Pittsburgh School for Martial Arts demonstrated their skills on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Slippery Rock Township building in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Photo by Zack Tannerdancers (Left) perform a traditional dance during the Chinese New Year celebration at the Slippery Rock Township municipal Building.
Photo by Zack TannerA row of Chinese bulbs adorns a set of windows during Saturday’s Chinese New Year Celebration.
Photo by Samantha sherwinChildren were invited up front by Dr. Wenhao Liu, Slippery Rock University professor of physical education, to learn different hand motions related to martial arts at the Chinese New Year celebration on Saturday at the Slippery Rock Township building.
Photo by Zack Tanner
Focus D-3February 19, 2010
Photo by Lauren Laing
to the kitchen door, where she then opened and closed the door for me.” Another among the thou-sands paired with service dogs is SRU creative writing graduate Francine Maitland. Maitland, 24, has owned her black Labrador/pit bull, Rocket, trained service dog
for two years. “I was first paired up with Rocket when she was 10 weeks old,” Maitland said. “During her first year, she learned basic commands and how to focus her undi-vided attention on me. As time went on, she went on to learn more advanced com-mands that prove to be quite helpful.”
Although approximately 20,000 service dog teams exist in the United States, not everyone who is dis-abled has a canine partner. Junior emerging tech and multimedia studies major Charles Daley is among the group of people who don’t have a service dog to aid them. Daley, 20, was born with a condition causing his
vision to gradually deterio-rate. “Currently, there is not a name for my birth defect, because nobody has ever seen anything like it,” he said. “As it stands, no one knows if I will just suddenly lose vision at any given time or not.” Daley said he wishes to eventually acquire a service
dog of his own. “Dogs are a very depend-able species and for the most part, very loyal,” he said. “I would like to have a dog around eventually, so that way, whenever anything happens, they can help me out.” A service dog’s capabilities in fulfilling advance com-mands show just how much
dedication they have. “Whenever I’m away from home, Rocket will have her designated vest on, which signifies that she is on duty,” Maitland said. “Once we’re home and her vest is off, she is free to relax and have playtime, but I know that whether she is technically on duty or not, Rocket will always be there for me.”
that cause weight gain,” she said. “When it’s cold, people tend to stay in-side where it’s warm more of ten—which in turn causes increased tired-ness and boredom—and eat comfort foods that are higher in fat to make them-selves feel good.” Because spring is ap-proaching, some feel the motivation to get back in shape in order to acquire a summer “beach body.” Others, like freshman exer-cise science major Demetri Dupal and freshman physi-cal education major Kyle Maines, both 18, don’t feel pressure to get in shape in time for the spring and summer. “The way I see it, when it comes to maintaining my shape, the winter is a season like every other season,” Dupal said. “I be-lieve it’s crucial to keep in shape all year round. How-ever, with the snow on the ground, it becomes more difficult to go for a run outdoors, so I take advan-tage of the facilities offered
on campus.” Maines said he keeps a similar schedule. “Since I play tennis in the spring, summer and fall, the winter time is mainly for me to get stronger and build up my cardiovascu-lar endurance,” he said. “I usually do a lot of sit-ups, push-ups, and running, as well as going to the gym, to make myself more fit for playing tennis.” Students like Dupal and Maines make several trips per week to the Aebersold Recreation Center on cam-pus, which offers various ways to make the best of working out, from a large weight room to an indoor swimming pool and rock climbing wall. Not limiting her exercise regimen to the indoors, Leeds chooses to take ad-vantage of the snow for her workout. “I personally recommend taking up a winter sport to keep in shape, such as cross-country skiing,” Leeds said. “Most people tend to refrain from work-ing out in the snow because of the cold temperatures, but if you find a friend or
two to work out with you, then you can keep each other motivated in main-taining your regimen, and have fun in the process.” Although the ARC hosts numerous students work-ing out in the warmth, not all students keep their gym visits consistent. “A lot of people go to the gym to exercise because they don’t have the equip-ment or the motivation to work out in their own rooms,” Maines said. “With the cold weather and all of the snow on the ground, however, some students will end up turning around and going back inside, re-sorting to watching TV and snacking instead.” Dupal, however, believes that the problem with each winter season lies in the beginning. “Early on in the winter, I believe people tend to eat a lot more and exercise less, because of the holi-days of Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Dupal said. “Come January and Feb-ruary, however, I believe that more people gain their motivation back and get in the gym a lot more often.”
be picked. “They have to be per-fect for the internship,” Edwards said. “I have ap-proached several people. I’m really waiting for the day when I have more than two students who are inter-ested.” Kennedy heard positive feedback from previous interns before she became involved in the program. “I talked to a lot of previ-ous girls,” she said. “They were giving me advice. June Edwards was also helpful in letting us know what the kids would be like.” Edwards said that it’s beneficial for art students to get involved in the pro-gram in order to have more to offer potential employ-ers. “For getting a job, any student who’s graduating, having a degree is good, but the experience is what sets you apart from everyone else,” Edwards said. Lagnese said that train-ing in special education is needed in order to include everyone in the classroom. “I think it’s important in all fields to be aware of the special needs population,” she said. “They come across as handicapped, but they just need adaptations. The
arts heighten the senses of the kids and they get ex-cited.” Including special needs children in the classroom with nondisabled students is something that is becom-ing more practiced. “With inclusion, there are going to be kids with spe-cial needs in my classroom,” Fairchild said. “I know not to be overwhelmed.” Fairchild said she got in-volved with the program because of her minor. “For me, I have a special education minor,” she said. “I’ve been learning about it and here I get experience before my student teach-ing. I kind of know what do to.” But Fairchild doesn’t think her experience with the program will carry on to her career goals. “I want to get my master’s and get into higher art,” she said. “I’m into painting, de-sign and ceramics.” Kennedy plans to apply what she’s learned in the program to life beyond her college education. “After I graduate, I’ll do my student teaching,” she said. “I’m really going to try to find a teaching job—at any level—to include what I’ve learned from this ex-perience. I’ve been given awareness.”
The interns create their own projects by finding ideas on the Internet and lesson plans from Edwards, and then present the proj-ects to the class The experience of work-ing in the classroom is something the interns haven’t done prior to the internship. “I really haven’t had the opportunity,” Fairchild said. “I’ve never really had hands-on experience. I was kind of nervous. After a couple of weeks, you get into it and you get more comfortable. It’s not as weird.” For future interns, Fairch-ild and Kennedy have a few words of wisdom. “You have to be open-minded,” Fairchild said. “You want to be in control, but it can’t be 100 percent structured. Our first proj-ect was big and elaborate, but you’re not going to be able to do that. You need to think on your feet.” Kennedy passes on simi-lar advice. “The best advice would be to talk to people who have done it before,” she said. “See what works with the kids and projects. You might have to cut every-thing. I would tell them to play music because it keeps the kids alert.”
FocusD-4 February 19, 2010
Continued from Page D-1
Art interns get real-world experienceContinued from Page D-1
KACIE PETERSON/THE ROCKET(From left) Senior fi ne arts major Meghan Kennedy, 22, creates art projects for students like Jarrod with art education major and special education minor Brittany Fairchild, 21.
Students fi ght winter weight gain
Trained dogs' assistance not available for everyone in needContinued from Page D-1
