ARTS & T H E S T U D E N T NEWSPAPER O F MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929

ENTERTAINMENT Break out the castinets: Carmen' electrifies the PAC

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Blue team edges white team 7-0

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Vol. 75 No. 20 Mercyhurst College 501 E. 38th St. Erie, Pa. 16546 May 9, 2002

S e n i o r A w a r d s r e c i p i e n t s a n n o u n c e d By Kelly Rose Duttine Contributing writer

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As the days until graduation do* crease, excitement and anticipation of the events surrounding com-mencement increase for Mercyhurst seniors, One of these events is the presentation of the coveted Senior Awards. The President's Cabinet has been selecting outstanding seniors to be honored since 1996. Department chairs and faculty members nominate students that they feel are most de-

^serving of senior awards. This year, 64 seniors were nominated to receive awards. The nominated seniors are then cleared through the business Office for outstanding bills, the registrar's office for academic stand-ing and the office of residence life and conduct for disciplinary records, j

I The President's Cabinet reviewed extensive portfolios on each nomi-nated senior on May 7, 2002. The Carpe Diem Award is given to

a graduating senior who has made the most positive impact on life at Mercyhurst College. This senior has intellectual competency, personal integrity and leadership skills. They best exemplify the college motto of "Carpe Diem," to Seize the Oppor-tunity. The Carpe Diem award is the most prestigious of the senior awards and is presented at Gradua-tion. The recipient is also the stu-

dent speaker for the commencement exercises. Congratulations to the winner of the Carpe Diem award, Billy Byrnes.

The Bishop's Award for Academic Excellence, sponsored by the Dio-cese of Erie, is presented to a gradu-ating senior who is the most outstand-ing academically. This award will also be presented at the Graduation Awards dinner on May 17,2002. The winner ofthis year's Bishop's Award for Academic Excellence is Christine Roos.

The Sister Carolyn Herrmann Ser-vice Award, given to the graduating senior who gives unselfishly of his or her time, energy, loyalty, and tal-

•- Annie S'rtter/Merciad photographer Billy Byrnes is this year's recipient of the Carpe Diem Award

Students produce film By Justin Gorsage Contributing writer

Premiering this fall will be Synaptic | Conunderum, the first creative film produced by the Hurst Production | Company. Synaptic Conunderum is senior Jer-

emy Verdi's spoof on 1940's film noir, a "kind of a black and white private eye/gangster film with a Lesley Nielsen twist to it." Verdi, who is not only the film's producer and director, is also starring as the film's main character, Nick Conunderum. Also starring in the film will be Julia Wanzco as the femme fatale, as well as Collin Welch and Phil Pirrello, who will be play-ing the "mad scientist"

"The script is a cross between the Naked Gun movies and Raymond Chandler novels...only dumber, but I mean that in a good way." Pirrello said of the movie, which will feature the Junior English major in his first villian role,

"The bad guy is always fun to play. The character is a version of Dr. Evil, kinda Dr. Evil-lite. The whole pro-

duction is going to be fun, we are all going to have run telling this story, probably more fun than a 'Highlights' magazine." * \ i

Dr. Richard Welch, head of the communications department, wrote Synaptic Conunderum. According to Welch, the film could be compared to "a comical Maltese Falcon."

Although Hurst Productions is only in its first year of operation, Dr. Welch is hoping that they will be able to put one to two films of this sort per year, depending on student inter-est. *

So far, Hurst Productions has been doing work with the dance depart-ment to produce dance videos. The writing center has also benefited from Hurst Producations by having a video produced for use in next year's FYI classes. *

Hurst Producations will be head-ing many new projects next year, with Katie Putney as the new head producer. Putney will be taking on the challenge of putting together training and promotional videos, as well as music videos for local bands, and creative spots that will be aired on Hurst TV. *

ent, is awarded to Annie DeMeo. The alumni committee sponsors this award. f

The Frank Barry Leadership Award is presented to a senior who has shown superior leadership and in-volvement with Mercyhurst Student Government. The senior must exem-plify the characteristics of Frank Barry, one of the first male presidents of Mercyhurst Student Government.) Congratulations to the co-recipients of the Frank Barry Leadership Award, Rob Kosko and Lydia Garver.

The Alumni Recognition Award is given to a graduating senior who has shown loyalty and strong ties to the alma mater. This person has been filled with the spirit of Mercyhurst. This year's recipient is Lindsay Cook.

The President's Achievement Awards are presented to an outstand-ing senior in every division of the college. These seniors much show a strong influence as future leaders in their chosen profession. These awards will be presented at the Graduation Awards dinner on May 17, 2002. Congratulations to each winner in the following divisions: Aaron Hayes for the Business Divi-sion, Jamie Thomas and Catherine Hinman for the Education Division, Janet Reisner for the Human Ecol-ogy/HRIM Division, Charon Hribar

Annie Sltter/Mereiad photographer __

This year's Senior Award winners are (L to R) back row: Lydia 1 Garverand Rob Kosko. (L to R) front flDw: Lindsay Cook, Billyh Byrnes and Annie DeMeo. '

and Justin Garrison for the Humani-ties Division, Natalie Zofko for the Creative Arts Division, Scott Quivey for the Natural Science and Math-ematics Division, and Amanda Rumba and Jay Starliper for the So-cial Science Division.

The Male Athlete of the Year has been awarded to Peter Aubry, and the Female Athlete of the Year has been

awarded to Meghan Frey. There are a number of awards for

adult and graduate students that will be presented on Thursday, May 16, 2002. The recipient of the Catherine McAuley Undergraduate Adult Award is Mary Wingrove, and Joanne Sorensen is the recipient of the Sister Eustace Taylor Graduate Student of the Year Award.

SAC board finally approved after delay New board is enthusiastic about the 2002-2003 school year

By Annie DeMeo Staff writer

The new executive board for the Stu-dent Activities Committee (SAC) of Mercyhurst Student Government (MSG) was approved at the MSG meeting Monday, May 6 at 8:30 p.m. The board was recommended by the new SAC Chair, junior Jess Montana, and approved by the body of student representatives.

In selecting the board, Montana's chief goal was "to find an energetic board that would work well to-gether." Montana chose to name six programmers, rather than assign in-dividuals to program events for Cof-feehouse or other on-campus el As former secretary of SAC, Mon-tana chose to combine the offices of secretary and treasurer into one po-sition, which she dubbed financial secretary.

Montana recommended Francesca Ravasio for this new position. "I chose to combine the offices because several people suggested that the

change be made," said Montana. The six undesignated programmers

are junior Rich Johns (last year's SAC chair), junior Kelly Behr, jun-ior Jenny Campbell, freshman Laura Hearn, juniorSarah Pulley, and jun-ior Joe Weirtel. "I thought that by not dividing the work up as it has been done in previous years, it would cre-ate a more team environment, which is important for getting people in-volved," said Montana. Also, Mon-tana designated junior John Hessler a programmer responsible for mov-ies and off-campus events.

All of the programmers are enthu-siastic about the upcoming school year. "I am so excited to be a pro-grammer next year because we have a lot of people on the board who are willing to take student suggestions,'] said Pulley, who was previously on the board. The programmers are also hoping to get more student support.

One way of boosting student in-volvement in SAC is with improved public relations. Freshmen Holly Burns and Sarah McCloskey will be

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Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer

faced with the daunting task of en-couraging student participation in SAC-sponsored events as executive board members responsible for pub-licizing events.

Students can look forward to sev-eral breaks from traditional SAC events, according to Montana. A highlight: "One of the big things we are planning for the fall is combin-ing Homecoming and Fall-Fest and creating a really awesome weekend for the students," she said.

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PAGE 2 THEMERCIAD MAY 9. 2002

CAMPUS NEWS Make Wish grants Rock-A-Thon ShoCK t h e m O n k e y S PMCAsponsers event that's^ "music" to kid By Megan Fialkovich Contributing -writer

I got to thinking last week,as I stud-ied my handy chart of human evolu-tion* from the earliest austratopith* ecines to modern Homo sapiens sa-piens. Overlapping this, I've posted pictures of fossilized velicoraptor claws. The oft-debated extinction of the theropods and their contempo-raries is the most well-known in a series of massive evolutionary downsizing. *>The geologic record indicates that 245 million years ago, in the Per-mian, and again in the Triassic, 200 m.y.a,, there were tremendous ex-tinction events which wiped out over 90% of earthly life. It was a mere 65

_ m.y.a. that the reign of the largest creatures to walk the planet was cut short along with a myriad of other species.

The June issue of Discover Maga-zine implies that the climate at the juncture of the Cretaceous/Tertiary periods had already begun to shift so drastically that the Stegosauroids and Co. were doomed long before any comet or asteroid slammed into the planet. If this whim of nature seems cruel, consider this: evolution eliminates those organisms unable to adapt to their environment, and the demise of prehistoric behemoths paved the way for mammals. •In the description of the late Carl

Sagan, the history of Earth is akin to a novel, with earlier epochs compos-ing chapters and volumes. Compa-rably, the entire record of humanity is only a short sentence on the last page. We are no more than a wink in the planet's eye, let alonethe rest of

the universe. Unfortunately, human groups are

adept at their practice of plundering natural resources, disrupting entire ecosystems, and then moving on to colonize new areas, leaving a wake of permanent damage.

It takes a uniquely ambitious and foolish race to use up millions of years of converted organic matter in just a few generations. We probe deep space, hoping to colonize it in ten years, while millions go to bed hungry each night. We can build end-less coffee shops and burger joints, but we cannot inhabit an area with-out overwhelming it.

My point is that we are driving not only our species, but many others, hard towards extinction. This if a gradual process, and the signs are as obvious as the death of the oceans and the melting of polar ice caps.

So, fellow earthlings, what's it go-ing to be? Will the overpopulated third world perish from famine, or will AIDS mutate to an airborne strain? Will it be our arsenal of nuclear weapons, whose destructive power even their inventors be-moaned? Or will an extraterrestrial body's impact trigger the spontane-ous eruption of all volcanoes on Earth, causing a permanent, acid-rain winter? I urge self-aware readers to be conscious of ecological steward-ship in order to give Earth a fighting chance. 4

The rearticulated bones of dino-saurs are no mere museum cunousity - they are a potent warning to us, the inheritors of the planet^ '* *

£ Weep not for the Hadrosaurs,, they say, but for yourselves and your chil-dren./

SPAN diving anyone? Student organization offers extreme sport to students By Annie DeMeo Staff writer

Several Mercyhurst students will par-ticipate in an extreme adventure this Saturday, May 11.

SPAN (Student for the Protection and Appreciation of Nature) is spon-soring a sky diving trip to Grove City, Pa. Fifteen students have signed up to participate and will depart from campus at 7 a.m.

"We were able to offer students, who signed up, a financial break, said Sara Lopata, a member of SPAN who organized the trip. "MSG (Mer-cyhurst Student Government) ap-proved our request for $450 of club funding.**

The money raised will help de-crease the $179 cost to sky dive.

"We are going to tandem jump,** explained Lopata, "which means you

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jump while strapped to an instructor." Lopata also offered some thrilling details, "We'll be as high as 10,000 to 13,500 feet in the air, and there is a 40-45 second free fall.'*

Lopata also indicated her personal enthusiasm for the fast-approaching trip, "I have never done this before. I'm so excited, I'm just sick," she said. "It's one of the most extreme things you can do."

Lopata explained that SPAN is about "protection" and "apprecia-tion" of nature. "SPAN is an out-doors, adventure club too, we've sponsored camping trips and white water rafting and this is just one more thing." *?T •

It is not too late to join SPAN in sky diving.

Students willing to pay the $179 fee to attend, should contact Lopata at extension 3171 to get details on at-tending.

Hair norte Unlimited

Walk-ins welcome Tuesdays Student day Gals Haircuts S 10.00 Guys Haircuts S 8.00

Tanning 10 visits for $ 35

By Josh West f Contributing writer

The Mercyhurst College chapter of the Professional Convention Man-agement Association (PMCA) re-cently sponsored a fund-raising event on behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foun-dation for children.

The foundation, which has served over 4,600 children over the last eighteen years, is a nonprofit orga-nization. The organization's mission statement is to "grant the wishes of children with life-threatening ill-nesses to enrich the human experi-ence with hope, strength, and joy."

Laura Rowles and Adam Lewis worked with the PMCA with the hopes of raising the $3,400 neces-sary to finance the wish of one child.

The money was raised through the twenty-four hour "Rock-a-Thon," which took place at 6 p.m. on Fri-day, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 at Garvey Park.

Over the weekend, several teams of Mercyhurst Students assembled and began rocking, in rocking chairs

that is. The chairs were lent to the event by the local Cracker Barrel res-taurant located on upper Peach street.

Each chair was sponsored by a dif-ferent organization with the intent of keeping them rocking until 6 p.m. on Saturday, fulfilling the twenty-four hour goal.

The corporations that sponsored chairs include Cracker Barrel Old Country StorejMedia Play, CVS, Papa John's Pizza and The Red Door. MercyhursUorganizations

Kristin Purdy/Contributing photographer SAC and MSG each sponsored a chair as well.

Overall, the Garvey Park Rock-a-Thon ended with great success. The event was so successful that it is be-ing considered as an event for next year. Those interested in referring a child

or helping out the Make-A-Wish Foundation can call 1-800-676 WISH or visit www.wish.org/ westempa. ^

'Hurst athletic hall inductees announced Two former athletes join ranks of past Hall of Famehnembers Former women's soccer player JoAnne Connelly Raymundo and former men's basketball player Paul Young will be inducted into the Mer-cyhurst College Athletic Hall of Fame when the Athletic Department holds its annual SerdoxStudent Atn-lete Recognition Luncheon Saturday, May 18, at 12 noon at the college's Egan Hall Dining Room.

Connelly Raymundo, a native of Rochester, New York, and Brighton High Schools, was one of the pio-neers of the women's soccer pro-gram, which began varsity play in 1987. Mercyhurst got its first win that season over Bethany College 4-2, tied Gannon 0-0, and upset nation-ally ranked Geneva 2-1.

The Lady Lakers finished the year with a very respectable 6-7-2 mark. Unheralded Mercyhurst made it all the way to the NCAA playoffs a year later, reaching the Final Four.

Joni's first coach and current dean of the college, Dr. Andy Roth, called her "the heart and soul of that 1988 team and the most intense player I have ever coached."

The Lakers made it in to the ECAC playoffs in 1989 and just missed the NCAAsinl990. f W }

All told, Joni's teams finished a combined 54-15-5 in her four sea-sons. The 1988 team was ranked ninth nationally and the 1990 team was seventh.

Joni ended her career with 31 goals and 19 assists for 81 points. -

She made the All-Northeast Region Team in 1988,1989, and 19901, was chosen Honorable Mention All-

„ American in 1988, ajnd made the v-MrJvV^E Tournamejt team that

fiarnVyelSr.'loni graduated with a de-gree in Hotel Restaurant Institutional Management in 1990 and is married to Mercyhurst alum Raul Raymundo

She is currently employed as a Phar-maceutical Sales Representative for Takeda while Raul is a Claims Ad-juster for Erie Insurance. The couple has three children, Erika (6), Joshua (4), and Noah (2). ^ The family resides in Cranberry

Twp, Pa. Connelly joins teammate Veronica Sansom in the Athletic Hall of Fame. Paul Young (Pittsburgh, Pa/Baldwin

High School) played basketball for Mercyhurst from 1974 to 1978 and was an integral part of a fledgling program that ultimately brought lo-cal, regional, and national attention to the college.

The Lakers went a combined 70-31 in Paul's four years and he captained the team which represented the National Association 0f Intercol-legiate Athletics (NAIA) District 18 in the 1978 national championships in Kansas City.

The team ended the season with a

26-3 record and a final national rank-ing of 10th. Paul was the consum-mate team player and was adept at every phase of the game - shooting, passing, rebounding, and defense. The late Dick Fox, Mercyhurst's first men s coach recruited Young. In a 1974-75 preseason outlook, Coach Fox called Young "the surprise at practice, smart for a freshman" and a potential "sleeper."

Young had a few nagging injuries during his career, but still finished with 797 points and is still among the top 20 scorers of all time.

Young graduated with a degree in Law Enforcement in 1978 and was the college's male Student Athlete of the Year.

Paul has been in the insurance busi-ness for the last 18 years and is cur-rently employed as an Employee Benefits Broker for Kenderson Brothers, the largest locally owned brokerage firm in Pittsburgh. He has been married for 19 years to

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the former Cheryl May (Mercyhurst '81). Paul's son, Adam, is complet-ing his freshman year at Robert Mor-ris. The family resides in Bridgebill, Pa. jj* jftf I

Young is the second men's basket-ball player to be inducted, joining all-time leading scorer Johnny Green.

Mercyhurst began an Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. It now has 22 mem-bers.

Student ID card required (814)825-6100

Laker Inn Specials f Monday - Bagle Sandwhich, 8oz. Fruit Cup 20 oz. Drink?

Tuesday- Deli Sandwhich Large Soup 20oz. Drink fWednesday - Sizzling Salad

20oz. Drink Thursday - Taco Salad I

20 oz. Drink Friday - Chicken Nuggets, Small French Fry 20 oz. Drink

Saturday - Combo Sub, Two Cookies 20 oz. Drink

The Laker Innn will close on May 15th. Thank you for your patronage

PAGE 3 THEMERCIAD MAY 9, 2002

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FEATURES Chemicals and m dark room... One student celebrates alternative lifestyles^withfilm By Stacey Abbott Merciad writer

She spends a lot of her time in a dark room. Alone. With foul-smelling chemicals. Who is the mysterious wave-maker? Well, she's not a vam-pire or light sensitive Gremlin at all. She's Mercyhurst senior Aisling McBride, and she has taken her ar-tistic talents beyond the gates of the 'Hurst. Starting on Friday, May 3, a collection of McBride*s photographs entitled "Together" will be exhibited in the front resource and announce-ment area of The Village, located at 133 West 18th St in Brie. 3 * McBride, an art therapy major, had

always maintained an interest in pho-tography, but never fully got to pur-sue the endeavor until her.senior year at the 'Hurst. This exhibit was partly

inspired by her^senior art thesis project, which was an installation piece that dealt with society's con-ceptions and conventions surround-ing gender issues. "Together" fea-tures gay and lesbian couples and examines similar issues of gender and society. The exhibit features 14 couples, including some Mercyhurst students, as Well as people from the surrounding Erie area. McBride was intimately involved in each, step of the creative process, having shot, de-veloped, printed and framed each SxlO black and white print on dis-play. When asked about the nature of her project, McBride commented that her "intent was to celebrate gay/ lesbian relationships through the medium of photography. I wanted to have as much diversity as possible in relation to age, race, background, etc." This project has certainly been

a labor of love for the artist who is very excited about the first public exhibition of her work.

Aisling grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and chose to come to the United States to eam her college degree. Upon graduation, McBride plans to remain in the states, most likely in the Cleveland area, and look into graduate studies in some aspect of studio art or art therapy.

Friday's opening turned out to be a pleasant gathering of some of the couples included in the collection, as well as friends and art fans from the community; "Together" will be on display at The Village from Friday, May 3 through Sunday, May 26th. Selected, signed prints will be avail-able for purchase. For more infor-mation, visitwww.eriegaynews.com or e-mail the artist at ash ling@hotmail com.

Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer ~

Senior, Aisling McBride grasps her creativity threw photography.

Two tickets to paradise By Stacey Abbott Merciad writer

Well, maybe it wasn't exactly para-dise, but it was close enough for over 500 Mercyhurst students who piled first into the big yellow bus and then second into Sabel la's on Friday, May 3, for SAC's Polynesian Paradise Spring Formal. Mercyhurst hosts two such events a year, which con-tinue to be a hit among'students, having sold out in record time this year (Don't get any ideas, no camp-ing out in front of the union for tick-ets next year).

For my fel low members of the class of 2002 and I, it would be the final time we would get all gussied up to attend a school-wide formal at the

Annie Sitter/ Merciad photographer

Kristin Purdy and Adam DuSchole spent their Saturday on the campus with Inflatable fun, enjoying this year's Spring Fest!

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Don't forget Cafe Diem

Spring Term Madness

'Hurst. We remembered fondly the hurried flurry of lipstick and bobby pins through the halls of Baldwin that first fall, as well as how good it felt to finally get that wrist band slapped on last year. We've enjoyed all the tumblers, stemware, T-shirts, and my personal favorite, the rainbow col-ored slinky from the spring of 2000, which serve as little reminders of the good times we've all shared at Mercyhurst formats.

For me, the last hurrah was a real swell time, indeed. The week before

the big event, I made a bee;line for Pacific Sunwear to pick up a short little Polynesian-esque number com-plete with a large hibiscus flower print and phatty 3-inch flip-flops to match. 4

My friends and Iwere certainly in good spirits by the time the bus pulled up to Sabel la's and were immediately enchanted by the very tropical decor. Each table boasted a palm tree cen-

I ter-piece surrounded by lollipops, tobfsie rolls, and other sweet "treats, as well as those cute little umbrellas that are always poking out of fancy drinks in movies. Being intelligent college students with our priorities in order, my posse headed straight to the buffet line to carbo-load in prepara-tion for a long night of tail shaking.

Soon the beats started to pump and the dance floor became a frenzied mix of dancing kings and queens, all marinated slightly in the inevitable drink spillage that we've all come to know and love (or at least try to en-dure with a polite smile). The good times stretched on till midnight, when we piled back into the bus and headed straight for the gates (sans "pearly") of Mercyworld to hang up our dancin' shoes one final time.

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Finding creative, URBAN culture means a road trip to Cleveland or Pittsburgh, right? j

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• Private celebrations far up to 30 guests )n our Aperitif Drawing Room — perfect for GRADUATION PARTI ESI *

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THE M ^ R t f ^ 3HT MAY 9.209&OE ' VAM

OPINION Stem cell research: the Catholic response

Questioning Faith Fr. Jim Piszker

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The vast majority of decisions fac-ing humanity today are in the areas of biomedical ethics and scientific technologies.

Tremendous strides are being made that will affect the future of the hu-| man race and raise significant and substantive questions about what kind of people we hope to be.

From the Catholic perspective, while the creativity and vision of these developments are applauded, the concern of the church has been focused on these developments* long-term effects on both individu-als and communities.

Naturally, the Bible does not ad-dress these kinds of issues directly. But the church has consistently ar-gued from the standpoint of the dig-nity of the human person from con-ception to natural death.

This defensive argument has been the basis of the church's complete opposition of abortion (which goes back to the first century of Christian-ity) and is the basis for concern and opposition to stem cell research when human embryos are used (and

discarded). £* h The ramifications of such research would be a direct violation of under-standing the dignity of the human person from conception to adult. Hu-man cloning would be rejected for similar reasons; that to enjoy its ben-efits, human embryos are used only to be experimented on and/or de-stroyed. • *%' Cloning also raises serious concerns

about the individualjdignity and uniqueness of the human person.

It is important to acknowledge that there are ethical forms of stem cell research (in the form of using adult stem cells and cloning them as a means to alleviate human suffering or for advancement in scientific or medical understanding without the desecration/destruction of the human person).

As is usually the case in the field of morality, we generally make our de-cisions based upon the short term benefits that we think the results of those decisions might have, rather than looking at the long-term ramifi-cations of our actions. In both of the aforementioned cases,

the church would argue from the standpoint that detrimental long-term ramifications far outweigh any short-term benefits, particularly when there are viable alternatives available.

V

THE GOOD Spring JFest entertained plenty of Mercyhurst studerits

over the weekend. With a variety of fun things for students to do, including Summo wrestling, a bucking bronco and eat FREE food, we can't wait to see what MSG comes up with next year. " 1 5 - *

Kudos to Rich Johns, Jess Montana and all those who made Spring Fest a safe and enjoyableJime this year, with this year's fest being one of the college's bests Much love, guys. \W$

• The musical performance of "Carmen" at the PAC re ceived standing ovations during its May 4 and 5 perfor-mances. \

• The Spring formal had a large turnout and to say all hadi a good time would be an understatement Kids danced, drank and ended the year on a celebratory note. «

• It's the last week of ihe2001 -2002 school year. That means there's only a few evil finals and a lot of studying separat-ing us from freedom.

mission statement... I care a lot about how we all seem to be caring less.

People make fun of you for wear-ing a paper hat and serving a dessert with "Mc** preceding it? Instead of trying to get a better, more aestheti-cally pleasing job, we punch in and get paid minimum wage to bitch, tak-ing our own lack of initiative out on all those who have sacked up, filled out and gotten in gear.

I'm not talking about only college kids or these so-called Gen X-ers. Adults, too, have'found solace in complacency1.

They watch infomercials promot-ing the latest workout craze that not only gives you abs in less than 2 weeks, but fits nicely underneath their bed. (That's what I want my monthly installments to go towards...forget how it works in con-cert with a phone cord flavored pro-tein shake — does it store easily out of sight?) I

Bitching and moaning. That's our mantra, that's- our latest thing to do on a Friday night (or in an Opinion column). But do we find the answers to all we can't categorize or easily reference?

1 don't* And the sooner we realize that there is no magic 8-Ball that we can shake and be enlightened by its pyramid of answers, the better all will be.

The last week has been nothing but two days of evil incarnate, three days of popping-Advil-like-Pez, and one day of grins and giggles. During that week, a friend turned on me and na-palmed all I know about trust and human nature. * *

I spent many hours analyzing ev-ery one else's analysis of me, trying

And Another Thing. Phil Pirrello

to see if their insight was valid enough to warrant an attempt to change my daily pattern of bowl of cereal, witty comment in class, siz-zling salad, random pop-culture ref-erence and repeat.

I know this all seems like one giant stream of consciousness...maybe it is and maybe it is. I dunno. All I do know is that I am severely pissed at how everyone thinks they know what is best for everyone else but them-selves. I don't know what it is lately, but more people seem less concerned about the greater good and more in-terested in self-servicing, individual agendas. When did we become pessimists liv-

ing behind white picket fences? When did we stop caring about hu-manity and start doing on to others as we would never want done on to us? When did we stop being? Random thought #29: Drinking cof-

fee for the first time since sixth grade. It's 2 a.m. and it tastes like college.

The end of the year brings many beginnings...summer, graduation, flings, BBQs, etc. Unfortunately, none of them mean anything to most people because they are to busy think-ing about next week rather than pay-ing attention to all the life warping past them today. 4

I, and you can agree or not, I won't lose sleep over it, but I need to start getting back to the basics about what it is about this life that makes it an. enigma. 4 We might be our own Rosetta Stones

on this one. Forget seize the day...seize everyday. Live in* the now? Why? Everyone spends so much time in the "then." *

We live in a cynical, cynical world; where pink slips are currency, Cliffs Notes are conversation starters, and compact oars are our chariots into suburbia.

Random thought #453: Why do people wear glasses to drive, but not during any other time of the day? It's Hike they get in the car and can see everything, but outside — blind as a bat. Why not get a prescription wind' shield?

This all doesn't make much sense, and in some paradoxical way, it is supposed to make sense via its non-conforming nature. As "we go into another summer, preparing for our final years in college, Tyler Durden's phrase ("You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your kha-kis.") should sting with resonance.

If not, then backflip out of indif-ference and try to find it by trying to find yourself. And don't let anyone else tell you differently about how you should go about doing so, espe-cially <hose who think they know right from wrong, law from order, and friend from enemy.

Bike rides, campfires, celebrating Christmas three months early...these are all the things we do for filler But some of us brave souls have taken it upon ourselves to corner the market on them, those events which have "take me for granted" graffitied all over them.

. To them, and their prosperity. I hope to find out why the things we always think are always the things we seldom say.

Endorsing ethnic cleansing in*the guise of politicaldebate (U-WIRE) PRINCETON, N.J. -"Why do they hate us?" So went the question after Sept. 11.1 Was think-ing about this last week, having watched open-mouthed as the Re-publican leaders from the House of Representatives, Tom Delay and Dick Armey, outdid each other in breathless attacks on the Palestinians.

First up was Delay, aligning him-self with the most extreme elements in Israeli society by arguing that Is-rael was not to be criticized for its 35-year occupation: In fact, the West Bank was really called 'Judea and Samaria,' and belonged to Israel. The Palestinians, despite hundreds of years of uninterrupted residence, were squatters on Israeli land. ^ - Acouple of days later, Dick Armey, the majority leader of the House, went-one step further on MSNBC: "I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank," he told an amazed Chris Matthews. And what about the one and a half million people who live there? "I happen to believe that the Palestinians should leave," Armey replied. b So there you go: An elected U.S. leader advocates the removal of the entire Palestinian population to make way for a greater Israel. We gave mis kind of policy a name in the 1990s -- ethnic cleansing — but we'd have to go back to Stalin or Hitler to find an example on this scale. And the consequences for saying this in front of a television audience of millions? Well, there are none -- Armey went back to the House the next day to pi-lot another pro-Israel resolution through Congress, and his remarks were ignored by the media. (With the exception of MSNBC, whose

website asked viewers to join the de-bate: "Do Palestinians have any right to the West Bank?") Let's be clear about this — a prominent politician advocates ethnic cleansing on a mas-sive scale,'and no-one thinks this is a big deal? What's worse, in the present crazy climate in Congress — where flamboyantly pro-Israel resolutions are passed almost unanimously - it seems more likely that Armey will be rebuked for leaving out Gaza (that's another 1.2 million Palestinians to load onto the trucks ..,) than for pro-posing mass expulsion.

What we're seeing right now is ex-traordinarily dangerous: the range of political expression in America — al-ready diminished by Sept. 11 — is narrowing into a tiny band in which praise and support for Israel is man-datory, and increasingly outrageous attacks on Palestinians are either embraced by U.S. leaders or quietly | allowed to stand. Given this, it's no wonder that American foreign policy has gone off the rails. The Bush ad-ministration leaks word that it intends a major attack on Iraq this winter de-spite last week's admission by federal authorities that there has never been any evidence linking Satldam Hussein to 9/11, not to mention the objections of Saddam's neighbors to a military attack.

Bush continues to trumpet Ham id Karzai and the new government in Afghanistan, and overlooks the fact that the warlords who wielded power between 1992 and 1996 (and were arguably even worse than the Taliban) have resumed their control ofthe vast areas "beyond Kabul. Colin Powell notes the Israeli ransacking or de-struction of civilian infrastructure

(schools, banks, government offices, private homes) in the West Bank and issues his fearsome ultimatum to Ariel Sharon: Withdraw or we'l 1 do nothing. And, meanwhile, the news-papers quietly report that the United States has failed to find any evidence linking the 19 suicide bombers of Sept. 11 to Anyone else — the trail is completely cold. Even the evidence against the so-called 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui, is completely circumstantial. With the acknowledgement that bin Laden and most of his top lieutenants have evaded the U.S. global dragnet, should we feel more or less secure today than we did eight months ago?

I watched the CBS "9/11" docu-mentary the other day, trying to re-mind myself what it felt like to be in New York in the days after the at-tacks. There was, briefly, a real sense that things might change - that the old mistakes and lies wouldn't sur-vive the fall ofthe World Trade Cen-ter. Instead, on the rubble of old fal-lacies, we seem to have built a series of new ones. Some of them, includ-mg Armey's remarks about the expul-sion of the Palestinians, even man-age to tower over their predecessors. ("Why do they hate us?" Perhaps because our leaders openly advocate ethnic cleansing on a Stalinist scale, without shame or fear of reproach). Even as these fallacies multiply, we should be quite clear about one thing: unless there is a genuine effort on the part of the United States to assuage the enormous injustice in and beyond the Middle East, Sept. 11 will not be the last of these attacks. Will it take another massive loss of life for Americans to realize this?

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vouldbe lazy and sleep alt day loggl |r- Pat eubert, freshman •tjjjjf

"My ujeal summer vacation would beta $*vo month cruise%"ound$he ItaUamoas^ rr~!Mike Meyers, freshman

l-J^Op&sit o^uWbeaeh in C^umbia.T i gt^Chris Totskoskoy, freshman

£*MySdeal summer|yacation sjtndd be atiywhere bmt Erie;] k— Greg Sneeringer, freshman

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^^ummer|D#fte^^!hjy me Bahamas.? -^asoifiWeiizke, freshman

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"I would sip Margaritas all day on the beach, and get paid for it!"*, —Anni DiBartoiomeom, freshman

#1 wo$d take a long trip to Europe!" | Lux, freshman

"I wouldn 't work and Hwouldtfcleep all c&y?until noou,at*d then parr&g y&h mv?friendsi' k W .* ~~ Kja tlin Kiimartin, freshman

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81 would spend my summer in Australia, exploring tfce-Outback * — Catrina Sheaffer, freshman

What is your ideal way of spending your

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"Not having to work, and being able to travel all over the world". —-Alexis Candela, freshman

"I *d 1 ike to travel around Europe all summer, especiaHn Amsterdam."

Angela Daly, junior

?*My ideal summer vacation would be spent in a cabin by the ocean on the coast of Maine. There, I would stay outside all day and enjoy the view." — Katie Kxupa, junior 4

"My ideal summer vacation would be to go with ray girlfriend to the Carribean.^! \

Jeff Halladay, junior^

!*I would spend my summer in Hawaii on the beach and surf all day." ..;-.V; •_ '% — Keri Loyer, freshman

IC I'd like to go to Disney World. Amy Patton, junior

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lTd like to go to Paris and be a tour-ist*! i I \nr Andrea Biystone, junior

"At any beach m the Caribean with my friends snorkeling." — Rachel Lloyd, freshman

**f would want to be able to relax, hang out with my friends, go to the beach and not have to work. But I'd stil 1 like to have money."

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Does the equation "Patriotism = Blind faith " add up?

Kristin Purely PhD Pirrello ?j Adam DuShole Leslie Echan Mackenzie Dexter Scott Mackar Annie Sitter Billy Elliott Megan Fialkovich Kristin Smith Megan Eble Annie DeMeo Stacey Abbott

Editor in Chief Opinion Editor Arts & Entertainment Editor Features Editor Sports Editor ( Assistant Sports Editor Photography Editor £ Technical and Production Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Advertising Manager Staff Writer Staff Writer

This Letter to the Editor is directed to Adam DuShole s April 25th article entitled "Patriotism = Blind Faith."

To the Editor of the Merciad: First, when writing about subjects

such as Narcoterrorism and foreign policy issues, if one does not have facts and have examined history, then their conclusions will be wrong and misdirected.

Yes, each individual is entitled to an opinion, but as a journalist or: an author of a piece such as this one, the writing shows irresponsibility and negligence to the readers. In addition, the, work issues a disservice to the author.

I would like to attempt to investi-gate how the author came to his opin-ion. I believe that it is very simple.

The MTV culture of today is not historically and culturally rich. When one turns away from reading news-papers and books to watch the latest pop video, then proclaims a grievance against the government, I say they have poor arguments and carry un-founded opinions.

I pose two questions to the author in response to his 'propaganda' argu-ment.

The first: who controls or oversees the majority of cocaine production in Colombia, the world's leader? 90% of coca producing areas in Co-lombia are controlled and regulated by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), and the ELN (National Liberation Army), all designated as terrorist or-ganizations. As a side note, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) is involved in coca production in Peru. \ • >\*\ And the second: what country pro-

duced, prior to this year, two-and-a-half times more Opium than the next largest producer? Afghanistan pro-duced 70% of the world's illicit opium, funding flows into Al-Qaeda, IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan), PKK (Kurdistan Work-ers' Party), and Hezbollah from ei-ther opium production or trafficking from this area. All of these groups are designated as terrorist organiza-tions.

In addition, if one would like to single out marijuana as an exemp-tion* there are foreign terrorist orga-nizations, an example Hezbollah, and even domestic terrorist organi-zations which use marijuana as a

source of funding. Two federally tried cases Jailed

members of a Michigan militia, called the North American Militia, which grew marijuana and sold it to raise funds for the purchase of weap-ons and explosive materials (US v. Graham, US v. Metcalf).

Returning to the foreign policy as-pect,- domestic politics drive foreign policy. In this country we are free to express opinions, disgust, or outrage. People who speak Out are heard; no matter if their opinions are seen as unpopular or unwanted. Those opin-ions are the ones which shape poli-tics and when one states mat there is "blind faith" in this country, then they are mistaken.

Equating the U.S., where we are composed of various groups having various background, views, and as-piration with religious extremists and their singular homogenous view and perception, is preposterous!

If someone of this culture simply imbibes a single source, like the US media and does not read history or reporting *from other parts of the world, then their view will be biased, singular and inaccurate.

Jim Rawson, senior

RESPONSE TO: LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Merciad is the student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst College. It is published throughout the year with the exception of midterm and finals weeks. Office at 314 Main. Telephone 824-2376. Fax 824-3249. E-mail <merciad@mercyhurst.edu>.

The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed, but your name can be withheld on request under certain conditions- Letters are due on the Monday before publication £ and should be no longer than 500 words. All letters should be submitted to Box 485.

Hi everyone, 1 *m Adam DuShole, the editor responsible for writing the edi-torial article entitled "Patriotism = Blind Faith?** There are a few things that I'd like to address in reference to Tim Rawson's response.!

As Rawson points out, the citizens of the United States are supposedly free to express their opinions with-out fear of retribution from any sort of authoritative body, which is ironic in light of his blatant personal attacks.

The assumptions that he makes about not only my intelligence, but also the intelligence of an entire "MTV culture" as he calls it, are glib and reductive, at best. While Rawson is clearly informed in areas of Narcoterrorism and such, he fails to realize that his distinctions of there being a "high" and "low" culture 8 clearly the result of a complete indoc-trination by the elitism of the aca-demic circle.*

But I digress, the point being that the I don't even watch MTV and if 1 did, that would make me no less in-formed or knowledgable of the world. (As a side note: the TRL ref-erence was an attempt at humor!)

Regardless, Rawson seems to have entirely missed the point of the origi-nal editorial column. My statements seem to have been taken out of con-text and somehow warped to paint a not-very-nice picture in the eyes of Mr. Rawson.

The point 1 was attempting to com-municate; with an apparently erro-neous example, was this: The U.S. government is, in fact, an extremely powerful agency, one that has throughout various points in history displayed a lack of concern for the huddled masses? For example, The Gulf War: a conflict motivated en-tirely in the defense of what? Free-dom? Liberty?

Nope, just the "right" to have cheap fuel. : ; i How about Junior Bush's rejection

of the Kyoto Protocol? Or how about the sale of U.S. arms to South America, some of which wound up in the hands of, gasp, terrorists (Wow! I do know how to read!)

At any rate, my intent was to ac-knowledge the danger of a complete faith in the United Stales government along with an awareness of, yes, the self-serving propaganda that it pro-duces.

I think that anyone who fails to ac-.knowledge the extent to which the government is invested in propa-ganda is sorely and truly misin-formed.

I doubt that even you, Mr. Rawson, would regard a critical and discern-ing analysis of the U.S. as a "prepos-terous*^ proposition. i,

Preposterous indeed!

MAY 9. 2002 TH E ME RCIAD PAGE 6

ARTS& ENTERTAINMENT

A

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May 16-19 jfc All Good Music Festival with Dark Star Orchestra, moe, Keller Williams, John Scofield, Leftover Salmon, Sam Bush* Entrain, Jah Works, Papa Grows,Funk, Bomb Squad, Plaid Iguana project, more. Sunshine Daydream,' Terra Alta, West Va. On sale at Grasshopper, www.jambasetickets.com.

May 25 Michelle Branch, Soluna, Vanessa Carlton. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, Aurora, Ohio.

June 4i >' -ijL Pete Yorn. Club Laga, Oakland, Pa. W

June 6 Natalie Merchant, Tower City Amphitheater, Cleveland. On sale May 3 at 10 a.m. at TicketMaster.

June 14? i Social Distortion. Agora Theatre, Cleveland On sale May 4 at noon at TicketMaster. *

JUNE 19 " Dime Sack. Tour with K ottonmouth Kings fi-pnk Junkees, Mix mob. Agora Theatre, Cleveland. Onsale^Ma/4 at noon] at TicketMaster; i

Jjune 20 fcr *• # I Six Feet Under, Skinless, Sworn

[Enemy. Agora Ballroom, Cleve-land.",

June 243| *' % KMFDM, Kidney Thieves. Odeon, Cleveland. On sale May 3| at TicketMaster.

June 29 Korn, Puddle of Mudd, Deadsy. Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh. On sale May 4 at 11 a.m. at TicketMaster.

Julyl | B-52's. Nautica Pavilion, Cleve-land. On sale May 4 at noon at TicketMaster.

July9. Get Up Kids, Hot Rod Circuit, Superchunk. Agora Theatre, Cleveland. On sale May 4 at noon at TicketMaster.

July 31 Jimmy Eat World. Agora The-atre, Cleveland. On sale May 11 at TicketMaster.

August IS Billy Idol. Agora Theatre, Cleve-land. On sale May 4 at noon at TicketMaster.

August 18 Guess Who. Six Flags Darien Lake, Darien Center. N. Y. ON sale Mav 4 at 10 a.m. at TicketMaster.

.

Flix Foam Get thejcastinets:j_ Carmen electrifies the PAC Ticket Stub | A nother Round By Katie Putney •«* Contributing writer

The Mercyhurst Dance Department and the Lake Erie Ballet presented a beautiful performance of "Carmen" on May 4 and 5 in the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center. The show included five separate per-formances: "Paquita," "Pepita Jiminez," "Amanecer," "FaruccaJ and "Carmen

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The performance began with "Paquita," a powerful, classical bal-let performance with music by Minkus. This.intricate piece was complimented by the costumes; the dancers were dressed in three differ-

spotlight lighting Hernandez created an intimate atmosphere. This power-ful piece was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience, earning him a standing ovation. .F • • > 7 2

"Fariicca" was a traditional piece choreographed and performed by Luis Montero, accompanied by gui-tarist Nicolas Hernandez. Montero wore ablack and gold waistcoat, and black pants. He captured the atten-tion of the audience from the begin-ning with his strong posture, and ex-cellent control of movement. Katherine Leggiero, a member of the audience, spoke afterwards of Montero's "dominating presence on stage." This performance was well received, and assured a standing ova-

•

By Phillip Pirrello Opinion editor

• ent styles ofprima-donna tutus made , tion for Montero. and Hernandez. of tulle, with eye-catching beading. The corps wore all pink tutus, the soloists wore pink tutus with bronze bodices, and the principal dancers wore pink tutus with orange bodices. The leading male dancer w.ore a white and deep pink/orange costume. This routine was made up of group and solo performances. The soloists, in particular, impressed the audience, with spontaneous outbursts of ap-plause 'almost becoming a regular occurrence. Each solo was unique, and the dancers kept the audience captivated throughout. The indi-vidual-performers * synchronization with themusic during this piece was flawless. %

"Pepita Jiminez," a lively fla-menco-style routine involving two sets of four dancers, followed "Paquita." The dancers wore tradi-tional black dresses with red ruffles around the bottom, adding a vibrant, lively touch. Their costumes mim-icked their performance; while the piece was traditional, chorographer Luis Montero created an exciting new aspect. The dancers had great presence on stage, and commanded the attention of the audience.

"Amanecer" was a solo flamenco-guitar session performed by com-poser Nicolas Hernandez. A single

The performances ended on a high note with "Carmen," choreographed by Luis Montero, to the music of Bizet. This performance was spec-tacular, with many notable-routines, and a beautiful array of costumes. Carmen and Don Jose, danced by Gina Ribera and Mark Santillano, were riveting in their roles. Some other outstanding performances in-cluded the gypsies, who maintained beautiful coordination, even during turns, in a fabulous whirlpool of color and scarves. Also, the piece where the children danced in the square with the nun was performed with vigor sa\a\

1 style. The soldiers were synchronized and danced in unusual and eye-catch-ing formations.

The bullfighter, Escamillo (danced •by Brendon LaPier) had outstanding poise and grace, and the peasant dancers provided a change in tempo with a classic folk dance.

Also worth mentioning were the "little things" that made this perfor-mance special.

Props such as the fans, and the abilities of the set designers to create sets that needed minimal changing, added greatly to the show. The performances were thoroughly

impressive; all the dancers received an enthusiastic, standing ovation.

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man kicks ray ass, yours and the guy's next to.you.

Not since Dick Tracy of Superman has a comic book's panels and heart been so truly adapted into, a flurry of CG wizardry and a well acted movie that hits more than it misses, setting this summer off with some serious

' eye' candy, a perfect way to spend 2 hours.

The Plot: Tobey Maguire, despite months of on-line fan-boy criticism, is the ultimate Peter Parker and Spi-der-Man. When bitten by a radioac-tive spider, Parker notices biological changes, you know, the usual: height-ened strength, muscles, the ability to spin webs from your wrists. Eventu-ally, those close to Parker, especially his Uncle Ben (a seasoned Cliff Robertson) notice that with Peter's new powers comes great responsibil-ity, especially when Peter's alter-ego must square off against Willem Defoe's frightfully "cheesy Green Goblin, aka Norman Osborne. Along for the ride is damsel-in-forever-dis-tress Mary Jane, played by hottie-come-lately Kirsten Dunst, and Peter's friend and Osborne's son, Harry (James DiFranco),^ **

The Good? Uber-comic "geeks and the uninitiated will be glad to see everything the trailers promised on the big screen — flashy stunts, sur-prisingly a lot of heartfelt moments (I almost wept during a pivotal scene involving Peter and Uncle Ben), and every character in the Spidey uni-verse makes their presence known,, albeit all too briefly. Maguire's stir-ring stillness is never fleeting; we are captivated by his innocent gaze and root for him when that gaze is con-cealed behind the costume's mask.

»** | \»—

IF TIME IS MONEY, HOW COME I HAVE SO MUCH OF ONE f

AND NOT THE OTHER?* *

I Defoe plays Goblin and Osborne with a unique dichotomy (think Dr. Jeykll meets Lex Luthor). »

The action scenes tend to be run, exciting and fluidic, offering some of the best looking "Matrix" moments in the wake of some really awful ones. We believe Spidey spins, leaps and glides through the NYC skyline, thanks to Sam Raimi's deliberately campy touches and Danny Elfman's traditional, operatic score.

The Bad: The special effects are what often cheat the film. At times

.- they seem too video gamely to be ; taken seriously, especially when it's clearly Magu ire's stunt double in

. some shots — they lack a sense of heightened realism and jeopardy.

y I am overjoyed with what isaw this past Friday. I haven't clapped at the end of a movie in a long time, nor

fl have I rooted for the characters and said "That is F-ing cool" so many times. If Spider-Man's action seems to hit a muted thud around the middle act, it's okay. If some interactions between Spidey and Goblin seem trite and cheesy, they're supposed to. And if you find yourself pleasantly surprised at how well Spidey allies himself to dramatic ironies and plot reversals in a way that the GreatTrae-edies may envy, see the film again — it deserves multiple viewings^

By Stacey Abbott Staff writer

Last year, I remember Saturday night meaning only one thing: Sullivan's. The story was much the same for many ofmy fellow 'Hursters who I 'd run into there nearly every weekend like clock work. It seems that the trend in Mercyhurst weekend recre-ation has been shying away from this friendly Irish Pub as of late, in favor of newer, perhaps more convenient locales. While broadening horizons and branching out to new people and places certainly isn't a bad thing, I felt that I should pay a visit to an old friend {his past weekend, before I dance on out of this town.

Sullivan's has a charming old world feel that promises a friendly, familiar atmosphere (sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name). The crowd mills about until a little after 11 when the high energy dance floor gets swarmed with lots would-be candidates from MTV's The Grind (or maybe Ameri-can Bandstand? Solid Gold?) Well, my dream in life as an 11 -year-old was to be a "fly girl" on In Living Color so for me, the dance floor at Sullivan's is a place to live out fan-tasies. For others, who just want to shmooze with the opposite sex and shake their groove things, it's equally enjoyable. The dance floor also boasts a two-tiered stage of sorts for the exhibitionist in us all, or for those who merely want to take a good look at the crowd. There may be, how-ever the token "weird guy" (or girl, I

guess) who may latch onto you or a roommate which you?ll need to spend the evening steering clear of and of course the obligatory drink spillage on your favorite new boots, or maybe even down your back.

For the non-dancers there is also a separate area with a smaller bar with lots of tables and chairs and cozy booths set up off of the main floor, which are ideal for chatting it up with an old pal, or perhaps someone you've just met. AH in all, however Sulivan's offers the best of both worlds: a sit-down chill bar as well as the bump and grind of a packed dance floor. Sullivan's Pub is located at 301 French Street.

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W o m e n ' s l a c r o s s e e n d s s e a s o n r a n k e d s i x t h a f t e r u p s e t t i n g G a n n o n The Mercyhurst Lady Lakers ended their season Wednesday, May 1, by upsetting #6 Gannon in a battle of Top 10 Division II teams. The win was the first ever for Mercyhurst in eight tries against the Lady Knights. Mercyhurst entered the contest ranked seventh. ^ Mercyhurst led 4-3 at hal ftime, then opened a 7-3 advantage eight min-utes into the second half. Gannon rallied with four straight goals to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:40 left. Mercyhurst *s Amy Plumley, a jun-ior, and Gannon's Carrie DiBasio traded goals before Mercyhurst se-nior attack Laurie Sienkiewicz put the Lady Lakers ahead to stay with 7:36 left. Senior Vanessa Turner fin-ished the scoring with only four min-utes left J

Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer

Junior Jenny Meyers splits two Gannon defenders to get a shot on Senior Laurie Sienkiewicz attempts to get around a Gannon defender goal this Wednesday.^ T g » f W and find an open teammate.

J u n i o r D i a n a R a p a c k i m a d e f i v e s a v e s f o r M e r c y h u r s t w h i c h e n d e d i t s s e a s o n a t 1 1 - 3 . J u n i o r J e n n i f e r M e y e r s a n d P l u m l e y j o i n e d T u r n e r a n d S i e n k i e w i c z w i t h t w o g o a l s a p i e c e .

M e n ' s b a s e b a l l s p l i t s w i t h E d i n b o r o a n d g o e s 3 - 1 i n C l a s s i c o v e r t h e w e e k e n d By Scott Mackar Assistant sports editor

The Mercyhurst men's baseball team split a doubleheader with Edinboro Friday, May 3, then participated in their own annual Classic Tournament, sweeping Pitt-Johnstown and split-ting two games with Southern Indi-ana May 4 and May 5.

The Lakers fell behind to Edinboro when the Scots scored two first in-ning runs in the opener. They tacked on another run, which gave them the 3-2 victory in the first game. Sopho-more Paddy Relihan had two of Mefcyhurst's five hits, while junior Brad Pickering and senior Nick Schnarrs had the runs batted in for the Lakers. Freshman John Waldhelm pitched the complete game in taking the loss.

In the second game, the Lakers jumped out early as they scored four runs in the first inning, setting the stage for a 9-6 victory. Senior Ryan Nietupski led the offensive attack with three doubles, a single and four runs batted in. J unior Dan Capretta and Schnarrs also had doubles to help sophomore starter James Sacramento pick up his fourth win of the season.

Saturday, the Lakers won a close game over Pitt-Johnstown 3-2 in eight innings in the first day of the Classic. Sophomore J D. Roewer worked seven innings for the Lakers allow-ing six hits and two earned runs. Junior Mark Thompson shut out the

Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer

Freshman Devln Kowalski connects on a pitch to deep right-centeri Senior Todd Musher strides towards homeplate delivering a pitch field. I M this weekend, I S

Mountain Cats in the eighth to pick up the victory. Schnarrs provided the fireworks for Mercyhurst in the eighth, as he singled home the game-winning run. Junior Matt King con-tributed with a first-inning homerun and freshman Dave Kowalski sing led home a run in the second.

In the second game of the day, the Lakers beat Southern Indiana 4-2. Mercyhurst and Southern Indiana were tied at two in the fourth inning when junior Frank Rodriguez doubled home. Schnarrs and King singled home Rodriguez to give Mercyhurst the victory. Sophomore Paul Baumert went 5.2 innings before reliever Th-

ompson came in and shut the door on Southern Indiana for the save.

In the first Sunday game of the Classic, Southern Indiana got revenge on the Lakers as they coasted to an 8-2 victory. They scored five runs in the fifth inning to erase a 2-0 Mercyhurst lead. Senior starter Todd Musher took the loss, going six innings, allowing ten hits, and six earned runs. Mercyhurst scored their only runs in the first inning on singles by Kowalski and King, and then a two-run base hit by Pickering.

The Lakers completed their sweep against Pitt-Johnstown Sunday, win-ning 5-4. The Lakers opened a 3-0

first inning lead before having to come back in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the victory. Nietupski and seniorTony Cruz doubled in first in-ning runs, and a third scored on a wild pitch ..Junior starter Steve Strohm entered the seventh with a 3-2 lead, but the Mountain Cats scored twice

on a single, double and a triple to take the lead. Nietupski and Relihan pro-vided the heroics, as they had the two hits driving in the winning runs.

Mercyhurst will end its season this weekend with back-to-back GLIAC doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday at Ashland. \

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PAGE 8 TH E ME RC1AD MAY 9, 2002 LAKER

SPORTS Blue defeats white in the football spring game By Scott M ackar Assistant sports editor

Saturday, May 4 the Laker football team played their annual spring game. The blue team ended up win-ning the friendly contest 7-0.

The players were divided into a white and blue team to play the game. The game was knotted at zero until early in the second half when blue, quarterback, junior Brett Weidig, connected with freshman Mario Tullis on a fifty-yard touch-down strike to give their team the 7-0 lead. That proved to be the only score the blue team needed as their defense pitched the shutout. The white offense had a couple of oppor-tunities to tie the game in the second half, but the blue defense rose to the occasion, forcing three fumbles in the game. .

The white team got inside the 20-yard line late in the second half with help from senior fullback Ross

Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer

Senior quarterback Brett Weidig attempts a pass. Weidig threw the Junior Eric Bott (88) gets undercut by Rob Keefe (24) and another only touchdown pass of the day on a 50 yard strike. 4white defender before he can turn upfieid.

Bandiera's 50-yard run up the middle. On the next play the blue de-fense forced, and recovered, the third fumble of the day to ice the victory.

The game provided fans with an inside look at the changes the Lakers

have made both offensively and de-fensively under new head coach Marty Schaetzle. Though there was not an abundant amount of scoring during the game, fans were treated to a new brand of Laker football.

Mercyhurst football fans were used to the wide open offense over the past few years, but the team has now adopted a much more run-oriented offense. The defense also has a new look, running a 4-4 defense, a change

from the 4-3 defense they ran the last few seasons.

The Lakers open up their season next fall when West Virginia Wesleyan visits Tullio Field Satur-day, September 7.

L a k e r s s p l i t l a s t t w o h o m e g a m e s w i t h a 1 6 - 7 l o s s a n d i 4 - 8 i w i n By Mackenzie Dexter Sports editor

Mercyhurst ended its home season Wednesday, May 1, with a 16-7 set-' back to visiting Rochester Institute of Technology.

The teams battled to a 4-4 stalemate after a quarter before the Tigers took a narrow 6-5 lead at halftime. The third period was all RIT, as the Ti-gers scored six unanswered tallies to open a dominating 12-5 lead after 45 minutes.

Mercyhurst got two goals apiece from sophomore Troy Ledbetter, freshman Ian Komorek, and junior Jim Detwiler and a solo goal from senior Steve Pecori. Sophomore Mike Rispoli started in goal for the Lakers, but was relieved by junior Kevin Tidgewell with 8:41 to play in the first quarter and the Tigers lead-ing 4-2. RIT outshot Mercyhurst 46-32. - v ; . * > T

Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer

Freshman Kevin Riley tries to elude an RIT defender Wednesday. The Lakers lost to RIT 16-7. i * Sc 1

Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer

Junior Jim Detwiler races past a defender looking to score. Detwiler scored two goals against RIT.

The team ended its season on a suc-cessful note Saturday, May 4, with a 14-8 win over #10-ranked LIU-Southampton. The match was played in Syracuse, N.Y. Mercyhurst closed with an «8-6 record, while

Southampton dropped to 4-5. Komorek led Mercyhurst with three goals and an assist, while Ledbetter and seniors Chad Giger and Patrick Merrill scored two goals apiece. Add-ing single tallies were Pecori, junior

Dom Aratari, and freshmen Jerod Felice, Steve England and Andrew Sands. Ledbetter ended the season with a team-leading 50 goals and 61 pointSi Komorek followed with 23 goals and 29 points. Rispoli played

1

all 60 minutes and was credited with 20 saves.

The team will be losing seniors Ja-son Weeden, Tim Garbach, Neil Fildes, Greg Judge, Giger, Merrill, and Pecori to graduation. ;'- £ r ~ Women rowers win

S o f t b a l l t e a m g o e s 2 ^ 2 | a t ? t h e G L I A C C h a m p i o n s h i p s t h r e e g o l d m e d a l s

By Scott Mackar Assistant sports editor

The Mercyhurst women's Softball team went 2-2 at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships Friday, May 3. Ashland was the host for the GLIAC Championship Tournament.

The Lady Lakers faced off against cross-town rival Gannon in the first game, losing 2-1. The Laker defense contributed to the Knight's attack in the first inning by giving up a single, a sacrifice, a passed ball and a wild pitch. Gannon extended their lead to two in the second inning, scoring on another wild pitch by the Mercyhurst pitching staff. Mercyhurst scored an unearned run in the seventh and had the tying run on before freshman

Shanna McDowell lined out to the picture to end the game. Junior Jes-sica Taylor allowed only four hits in 5.1 innings in taking the loss, while sophomore Becky Ross got the finall outs in the Gannon sixth. Leading the offensive attack for the Lady Lakers was senior Dayna Shelkey who had two of the five hits. After the loss, the Lady Lakers were

relegated to the loser's bracket, where they knocked off Lake Superior State 4-2, and Findlay 5-2 Friday after-1 noon. Mercyhurst scored twice in the second against Lake Superior on an RBI single by freshman Kim Roberts and a sacrifice fly by McDowell. Mercyhurst added a third run in the third on an RBI single by Shelkey, and tacked on the final run in the fifth with help by an error. The four runs proved to be all that sophomore

pitcher Stacy Pastva needed, as she gave up five hits and one earned run in getting the victory.

Later Friday afternoon, the Lady Lakers ended Findlay's season. Pitchers sophomore Tamara Snyder and Ross combined on a seven-hit-ter, while sophomore Molly Ryan led the Mercyhurst seven-hit attack with a pair of singles.

In the fourth round of the tourna-ment, Mercyhurst squared off against forty-game winner Grand Valley State. Mercyhurst didn't go down I without a fight, though, losing a heartbreaker at 1-0. Ross allowed only four hits and an earned run as she pitched the complete for the loss. The Lady Laker offense was held to just four hits. Grand Valley scored the game's only run in the third inning.

The Lady Lakers ended their sea-

son 20-20-2 overall. The 20 wins in the season are believed to be the most ever since Mercyhurst began softball in the mid 1970's. I 9 f j

Senior Rachae 1 Confer earned sec-ond team AU-GLIAC honors while Ross and senior Dayna Shelkey made Honorable Mention for the 2002 soft-ball season. Confer ended the season tied for the team lead in hits with 37. Ross ended the season leading the Lady Lakers in all major pitching cat-egories including wins (8), saves (6), ERA (1.39), and strikeouts (44). Shelkey started 41 games for the Lak-ers at shortstop and led the team in I runs batted in (25), slugging percent-age (.451), doubles (9), and total bases (51). She was also second on the team with a batting average of .310. i 7-

By Scott Mackar Assistant sports editor

The rowing teams competed in the 38th annual MACRA Regatta in Athens, OH this past weekend.

The men's varsity four only man-aged a third place finish, a team that went undefeated the entire season.

The women had a very successful) day in the waters. All of their boats] won gold medals. The lightweight eight defeated Marietta College and Duquese for the win. The varsity eight beat second place Grand Val-ley by 11 seconds. The freshman four defeated Wittenberg by eight seconds. I

Postseason begins this weekend in Princeton, NJ. The women's light-l weight eight and the men's varsity four will compete at the Avaya Col-legiate National Championships]