MU Summer Edition '14

SUMMER EDITION 2014

Viewfinder: Cougars in Color

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highlandernews.net

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Women With Children House Gets Renovated...P2 Cougar Sports Wrap-Up...P8

Look for photos from the first on campus Color Run held during Spring Fest Weekend.

Campus Updates Wi-fi Accessibility

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Plans are in place for more Wi-fi access points around campus for the start of the 2014 fall semester.

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Botzman’sSummerFarewell

Highlander Staff Reports Senior nursing students recently captured first place in the 11th an-nual Geoffrey Allen Walp Memo-rial Student Nurse Challenge Bowl at East Stroudsburg University. The annual competition features students buzzing in to answer questions that appear on the state nursing board examination. Nine schools of nursing competed for the annual $500 prize and trophy. Nursing students Ashley Allen, Tamara Bradley, Katie Carboni, Jordan Papp, Brittany Stine and Kayla Zechman formed the win-ning team. Nursing faculty Marion Villano, R.N., M.S.N., Assistant Profes-sor; Vanessa Mayorowski, M.S.N., C.R.N.P., Assistant Professor; Audrey Cunfer, R.N., M.S.N., clini-cal simulation lab coordinator, and Mary Hoover, R.N., M.S.N., ad-junct faculty attended the event. The event tested students’ knowledge in multiple areas of nursing practice. Its purpose is to help nursing students prepare for the National Council Licensure Ex-amination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), which is a manda-tory test that will grant licensure

for professional practice. NCLEX-RN is a standardized, multiple-

choice exam for registered nurses developed and controlled by the

National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The exam is related to

the job functions most commonly required of entry-level RNs. The exam tested current medical knowledge, nursing competencies and determines eligibility to earn an RN license and begin working as a registered nurse. “I felt really accomplished be-cause they asked us NCLEX-style questions,” Bradley said. “So since we won I feel as if we are very well prepared for the boards.” Bradley, along with the other nursing students on the team, plan to take their boards the sum-mer after their May graduation so that they are able to start the full time jobs they’ve already acquired. The challenge serves as a social, educational and competitive endeavor among nursing students from Bloomsburg University, Misericordia University, East Stroudsburg University, Luzerne County Community College, Penn State Worthington/Scranton, Marywood University of Scranton and Wilkes University. It is also a recruitment tool and job fair for health care providers seeking nurses. [email protected]

Nurses Claim Walp Memorial Student Nurse Challenge

Senior nursing students Kayla Zechman, Jordan Papp, Tamara Bradley, Vanessa Mayorowski, As-sistant Professor of nursing, and Brittany Stine, Katie Carboni, Marion Villano, Assistant Professor of nursing, and Ashley Allen pose with their check after getting first place in the 11th annual Geoffrey Allen Walp Memorial Student Nurse Challenge at East Stroudsburg University.

MU MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Spring Weekend 2014 was rocked by the self proclaimed “pop awesome, rock awesome, alternative awesome” band, We the Kings. Opening acts included Dustin Drevitch and the Electric Gentle-men, a singer/songwriter/guitar-ist from Wilkes-Barre Pa., and A Fire With Friends, a rock and roll band from Scranton, Pa. Travis Clark, lead singer and guitarist, described his band as fun. That is exactly how the at-mosphere of the Anderson Sports and Health Center was Friday night. Fans cheered as a recording came on, sounding like an old record. “When the world falls into pieces, you will be the one voice of reason, when I cannot face all my demons, you are the one I believe in.” On the words “believe in,” the band walked onto the stage. They began singing the first track on their fourth album, Somewhere Somehow, “Queen of Hearts.” The band continued on to play 15 other songs from all four albums, We the Kings, Smile Kid, Sunshine State of Mind and Somewhere Somehow, including, “We’ll Be a Dream” and “Skyway Avenue.” Clark instructed the crowd to perform two new dance moves, the “sorority squat” and “the inflatable arm man” during the song, “I Feel Alive.” The crowd bent down just before the chorus came in, and when Clark sang, “I Feel Alive,” the crowd jumped into the air and waved their arms around. Band members encouraged the audience to “put your hands up” throughout the night. The band included a cover song in their set “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. Clark said that the song was the reason that the band was started. “I was at a show with Blink 182, Green Day and Jimmy Eat World. Jimmy Eat World was performing ‘The Middle” and all the girls in the crowd had that melting look on their faces. I went home and called my friends saying, ‘I want to start a band because I want a girl friend really bad. We have to start a band.’ We the Kings was started the next day.”

When asked why We the Kings have so many love songs, Clark said he was a hopeless romantic and that he writes what he knows. “I am in love. “ Fans sang and screamed and jumped around all night long. The band closed with the popular hit, “Check Yes Juliet.” Coley O’Toole, who plays keyboard and rhythm guitar as well as does backup vocals for We the Kings said that Somewhere, Somehow has more maturity than previous albums. Clark, lead singer and guitarist of We the Kings said that Some-where Somehow “felt like it was perfect for the moment that we are living right now.” The album includes influences of hip hop, rock, and pop. The band created the album, Somewhere Somehow, through an Indiegogo campaign, similar to Kickstarter. The album was com-pletely funded by donations. The goal of the campaign was to raise $35,000 in 30 days. Clark said that the goal was reached in just one day. The band raised $150,000 for the new album. The band has many plans for touring this summer. After Mi-sericordia, We the Kings traveled to New York. They will then travel overseas to Great Britain, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines be-fore returning to the States to play the summer-long cross country festival, the Vans Warped Tour.

“We have a new album out so we just tour and tour and tour until no one wants to hear the new songs anymore,” Clark said. After that, the process starts again in working on brand new songs. Clark said that the hardest part of being in a band is “maintaining endurance without losing sanity.” He used the Vans Warped Tour as an example, saying that the tour goes on for 28 shows/days with one rest day followed by 21 shows with three rest days afterwards. “Your body wears, your voice goes, your muscles cramp, and you get dehydrated,” Clark said, explaining the physical exhaustion of tour. O’Toole said that the exhaustion does not hit until they have a few days off to unwind. “I go into hibernation for three days,” Clark said. While it is important to catch up on rest, the band does constantly work on new material. Clark said that if he could col-laborate with any artist, dead or alive, he would like to work with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, George Harrison of the Beatles, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Bob Marley and Megan Fox. The band loves pizza and Mexi-can food. O’Toole said that finding a good Mexican restaurant on tour is essential. Both Clark and O’Toole shared the best piece of advice they have received and would like to pass

on to their fans. The advice came from their fathers. O’Toole said to not let anyone try to hurt you. “People will bully you in other ways. It is not necessarily bullying you because they can or they want to, but people try to control you when they see a weakness and you can’t let that happen in life.” Clark said that his father told him to follow his own idea of success. His father said that success could mean money and cars, fame and popularity. “’If that is what you think you deserve, go for it. But if you have any of my blood, you will be just so happy with seeing the world and being with people you love.”

The other stuff came, you know, the fame came, being known enough to be able to do this, but what really made me feel success-ful was that I was happy.” Clark said that happiness is a positive and powerful tool. “No matter what happens in the world, if you are happy as you are right now, there is nothing that can bring you down.” Check out We the Kings on Warped Tour this summer at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton on Wednesday, July 9. Special thanks to We the Kings, A Fire With Friends and Dustin Drevitch and the Electric Gentle-men for performing at the very first concert at MU. [email protected]

WTK Leave Skyway Avenue for Lake Street

Top, the crowd gets pumped up with the help of Travis from We The Kings during the second half of the show. Above, Danny Duncan, of We The Kings, plays the drums for the crowd in the Anderson Sports and Health Center.

By Nicole Battista, Reporter

MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

We have reached the end of the 2013–2014 academic year. It seems so recent that many of you moved our new students into the residence halls and we started the year with glorious weather and the search for gridiron victory. It’s been an exciting year high-lighted by many of your accom-plishments and events on campus. You’ve won awards for outstand-ing academic performance, played in NCAA athletic tournaments, to-tally brought a new president back to earth by asking me to sing with Beyond Harmony (at least they can sing), raised funds for a num-ber of our neighbors and friends in need, jumped higher than any other Division III woman in the country, and taught me about how to play Madden football and about how to cook with candy corn (more humiliation for me). We endured the coldest winter in recent memory and then have waited for the rain to stop so we can play softball or baseball right as we get ready for final exams. We enjoyed poetry readings and interesting plays, enjoyed some edgy performances at the student talent contest and rocked Ander-son Hall with We The Kings. And, somehow, throughout it all, you learned about so many things. I’ve enjoyed seeing many of you study in the library about subjects so advanced that no casual observer could ever hope to understand what it is. It’s been a pleasure to share a cup of coffee and hear about the range of sub-jects and topics you are learning about in classes. We’ve shared poster sessions, documentaries, art exhibits and so many displays of your academic successes. It’s been amazing to hear of your travels to Noxen and Exeter and Wilkes-Barre to work with elementary school students, learn of your adventures in Jamaica and Guyana in service to others and read reports about internships and clinical experiences. When Vanessa, Gabriela and I arrived on campus last July, we knew we would meet some very interesting people and get the chance to make new friends. However, we didn’t know how completely welcomed we would be into the community by the alumni, faculty, staff and stu-dents. We can’t thank each of you enough for making our first year such a good one. To our returning students, we wish each of you a very happy, healthy and relaxing summer. And to the Class of 2014, which self-reports itself to be the best looking class ever, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors. We hope that you will carry the charisms of Mercy, Justice, Service and Hospitality with you always. We look forward to your return to campus as proud Misericordia alumni and want you to know that you will always be welcome here. Go Cougars!

Regards,Tom Botzman

Summer 2014highlandernews.net2 News

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STAFFThe Highlander is a free, biweekly publication produced in conjunction with MU Communications Department. Any full-time student is encouraged to join the staff. We are a member of the American Scholastic Press Associa-

tion, Associated Collegiate Press and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

INTEGRITYThe Highlander works to produce up-to-date, clear, accurate reporting. If any information is inaccurate or not covered thor-

oughly, corrections and information will appear in this area. Opinions and views expressed in The Highlander in no way reflect those of Misericordia University or the Sisters of Mercy. The Highlander Staff welcomes students, faculty and reader response.

The Highlander reserves the right to edit submissions for grammatical errors and length. All submissions must be signed. Letters to the Editor and/or materials for publication may be submitted by any reader. Items can be sent via e-mail.

Ellen Hoffman - Editor-in-ChiefCourtney Garloff - Print EditorArthur Dowell - Web EditorMary Bove - Multimedia Editor

Melissa Sgroi - Advisor

Alexa Cholewa - Business Manager

Alexandria Smith - Web Master

Misericordia University301 Lake Street

Dallas, PA [email protected]

570-674-6400570-674-6737 [email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSNicole BattistaRob EvansDonya ForstColleen GarrisonAlexandra GoetzMatt GreenMatthew Gromala Brittany Hayes

MU MarketingMelanie QuintanillaCasey SaylorChuck StoryTaryn TalackaNick VitaleAlisha Wein

Tori Dziedziak - Content Manager

Gabriella Lengyel - Social Media Manager

Women with Children House Renovations UnderwayBy Colleen Garrison, Reporter Final phase renovation plans for the Rasmussen House, a residence for Women with Children Program participants, are underway. Facilities Department staffers have assessed the kitchen and din-ing area of the Lake Street house and found that the space is not adequate for the families who live there. One non-weight bearing wall can be removed, which will extend the dining space into an adjacent room that is used for storage. Adding two tables to the area will double the occupancy. “We are trying to house six fami-lies in a community environment at the same time. It’s very hard with one kitchen and a dining space that was probably functional and designed for ten people,” said Katherine Pohlidol, Director of the Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children Program. Pohlidol said an updated dining area will enable everyone in the program to meet in one place. There is no private place on cam-pus where all of the participants and their children can meet at the same time. Felicia Glover, first-year com-munication student and Women with Children Program partici-pant, is looking forward to using a new dining area and being able to sit and share meals with other families and her two sons. “All the children are able to sit at the dining room tables, but the adults have to stand.” Glover often eats in the living room apart from her children. Pohlidol is searching for ways to reduce remodeling costs. She is looking for a contractor who could do some of the work pro-bono by supplying either time or supplies.

“Historically we have had people come in and do things like that.” In the past, clubs such as the Ju-nior League donated time and services at no cost. “Every year they find a community pro-gram or non-profit that they can attach to, and that pro-gram becomes their benefactor for that year. They chose the Women with Children Pro-gram this year,” said Pohlidol. Pohlidol said that it takes much communica-tion between several departments to plan a project of this size. She has consulted with Paul Murphy, Director of Facilities and Campus Safety, Laurie Finnegan, Grounds Manager, and Paul Beecham, Facilities Operations Manager to decide the next steps. “Facilities here at Misericordia has been totally outstanding,” said Pohlidol. No one knows how much the new dining room project will cost. “I don’t know what is going to be completely involved so that will be next,” said Pohlidol. The cost depends on many variables such as labor, time and supplies, she said. The tentative date for comple-

tion of the dining room is the end of summer, said Pohlidol. “Some of the families will leave in the summer and it will be less intru-sive then.” Pohlidol realized that Rasmus-sen needed updating when she as-sumed the position of Director in September 2013. ”Going through the homes, one of the first things I noticed was we had some spaces that we weren’t utilizing in a way that I thought made sense.” Previous renovations included the installation of a sprinkler system and the remodeling of one storage space into an office and another storage area into a study. Pohlidol said the study is much-needed because mothers in the program did not have a place to work other than their bedrooms.

“It’s going to afford moms the opportunity to be able to find a quiet space especially in the eve-nings when more of the children are sleeping.” The study provides an atmo-sphere similar to a library. “College students will say ‘I am going to the library for a few hours and I’ll be back.’ Our moms don’t really have that luxury.” Glover has been using the study room and she said the privacy helps her to get work done. “I really like it.” She said the paint, decorations and lighting make the space homey. “It is our home and we need that more intimate feeling.” Pohlidol intends to use the study as a private place to hold meet-ings. “As a director it will be really

helpful. If I need to close the door and sit down with people, I will have that opportunity.” Pohlidol said families in the program provided input on the design. “I did ask opinions from the moms in terms of what paint colors they wanted for the rooms, and I asked for their input on what they would need if they had a study.” Based on that information, Pohlidol decided to secure desks that were in

storage. She also donated a few pictures. Renovating the study cost ap-proximately $200 because crews used repurposed items and volun-teers donated their time. “The funding was done either through myself or our budget, which is very modest, because basically we did all the work, and the Junior League provided the paint supplies so the only cost was the paint.” Pohlidol said it is important that cost be minimized. The remaining office space will be used by a new hire, a program coordinator. “The coordinator will be based inside the program, out of the Rasmussen House.” The new staffer will provide

faster responses to issues or concerns. Pohlidol said that once the din-ing area renovations are com-pleted, “we will be at full utility in terms of all the spaces within that house.” The Rasmussen House, formerly Rosary Hall, was once a convent for the Sisters of Mercy. At times it was used for student housing or offices. It became the first Women with Children Program residence in fall 2000 when the program was founded by Sister Jean Mes-saros, current Vice President for Mission Integration. Messaros said the program has been very successful. “We have had eighteen graduates from the program. All are employed.” She believes educated moth-ers become role models for their children and there is a “circle” of learning that starts with the mother and ends with the child. “Our first graduate, Judy Strish has a daughter who completed two years at Bloomsburg [Univer-sity] and joined the Air Force. We have two other graduates whose children are college-aged and they are looking into colleges.” At maximum capacity, the Women with Children Program can accommodate ten students and up to 20 children. The program provides housing to par-ticipants along with educational scholarships and various support services. The Pauly House, located on Lower Campus, is also a Women with Children Program residence. No renovations are expected for that home in the near future. [email protected]

The Rasmussen House is being renovated before the start of the 2014 academic school year.MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

Health Care Club Conquers CampusBy Brittany Hayes, Reporter

Students from the business and physical therapy departments have come together to form the Health Care Management Associa-tion [HCMA]. Ryan Hackett, president of the Business Professional Association, said the idea to form the group was first raised by last year’s presi-dent and Hackett then gave the proposal a second look at the end of the fall semester. “The idea was tossed around but never was established. When I was appointed president, I revisited the idea towards the end of 2013. I initiated the creation of the association and now here we are,” said Hackett. The association is monitored by business department faculty, including Dr. Allen Minor and Dr. Ronald Petrilla. Hackett said creating the as-sociation was a four step process, which included finding faculty, publicizing the association and finding qualified students who wanted to take part. “The first step was to get advi-sors. Dr. Petrillo and Dr. Minor volunteered to be a part of this Association. The second step was to get HCMA publicized. I men-tioned it in the first BPA meeting of the spring semester and many students signed up. I also asked the advisors to mention it in their Healthcare Management classes. The third step was to appoint a president.” After many qualified candi-dates applied, Richard Clark was selected to be MU’s first HCMA president. The final and ongoing step will be to continue spread-ing the word about HCMA, said Hackett. “Health Care Management As-sociation is a rising association

under the umbrella of the BPA. Our mission is to establish new contacts and network with com-panies in the health care industry. Our goal is to educate students

about the business side of health-care,” said Hackett. Clark said the association is a way to tie the two departments together and get students actively involved in different career paths. “Basically we just plan to get all of the [physical therapy] majors and health care management majors together and talk to them about health care management. We are going to visit hospitals. We will have health care management administrators come talk to us, fundraisers – just to widen health care management so everyone knows about it,” said Clark. Clark said the association will be a good way to integrate the two majors and prepare students for situations they will encounter when they enter the professional world. “We want to bring all the HCM majors and PT majors together and teach them about the real

world, real life situations. We will bring in professionals to teach about the real world,” said Clark. “We have five officers and in the actual club, I would say around 20

people are in it, but more are at-tending the meetings each month so it’s growing,” said Clark. Hackett said the reason he felt so strongly about creating the association was there are many other options for students in the business department, and health care management should be included because it is becoming a more popular major/minor. “Misericordia has an accounting association, sport management association, so why not a health-care management association? It is important to have this associa-tion because MU is known for its healthcare majors. This associa-tion was created in order to make the field of healthcare manage-ment better known,” he said. Upcoming events include a trip to Washington D.C. to visit a health care facility so students can be socialized in the professional environment.

“We are actually planning on maybe going to Washington D.C. because Dr. Minor said something about a health care facility that we could visit in the future. I think that’s going to be really interesting for all of us,” said Clark. HCMA also has seminars planned, which will include professionals to speak to students about their jobs and professional responsibilities. “[There will be] fundraisers, trips, speakers, etc. A lot of this stuff will be occurring during the 2014 fall semester,” said Hackett. Hackett said the association is important to him because he is a health care management minor. “I am an IT major, [with a] minor in Health Care Informatics. My minor will aid me in working in a health care facility. Working in the health care field will be one of my goals with my minor,” said Hackett. Clark said it is easy for students to join. They simply need to attend one of the monthly meetings and sign up via the sign-in sheet posted in every meeting. “I would say contact me or Ryan Hackett. When you attend the meeting, we have a sign-in list. So put your name and email down so you’ll be in the organization as-sociation. Meetings are held once a month in the McGowan room in the library,” said Clark. Hackett also advised students to keep an eye out for meeting times next fall. Officers said anyone interested in health care, business, health care management or health care informatics are welcome to participate as are any other majors who have a love for health care. [email protected]

Above, members of HCMA pose for a picture in Insalaco hall.MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

Highlander Staff Reports Seven students and four faculty members recently presented their research findings through oral and poster presentations at the Penn-sylvania Academy of Sciences 90th Annual Meeting at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa. Angela L. Asirvatham, Ph.D., Associate Professor of biology, and student Joshua Krall, West Pittston, Pa., presented their research, “Circadian Rhythms in College Students,’’ via a poster presentation. The research team of Barbara McCraith, Ph.D., Associate Pro-fessor of biology, and students Nicholas Hendry, Cedar Grove, N.J.; Timothy Kennedy, Dallas, Pa., and Michael Pheasant, East Stroudsburg, Pa., made three presentations. They presented their findings in the studies, “Comparison of Two Species: Leaf Litter Breakdown in Trout Brook, Luzerne County, Pa.,’’ “Benthic Macroinvertebrate Diversity in Different Detrital Environments,’’ and “Macroinvertebrate Function-

al Feeding Group Distribution and Diversity in Leaf Packs of Varying Species.’’ The research presentation, “Iden-tification of Larval Chironomids from Trout Brook,” Luzerne Coun-ty, Pa., was presented by Larry Corpus, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of biology, and McCraith. Evelyn Neunteufel, Ph.D., As-sistant Professor of biology, and student Amanda Lazzeri, Shaver-town, Pa., presented their research findings from the study, “Caching Behavior of the Eastern Gray Squirrel in Northeastern Pennsyl-vania.’’ Neunteufel also teamed up with student Jessica Web-ber, Kingston, Pa., for the study, “Flight Initiation Distance in East-ern Gray Squirrels Based on Dif-ferent Characteristics of Human Predator’s Eyes,’’ and with student Shelby Giblin, Honesdale, Pa., for the research, “Does Heterospecific Size Affect the Feeding Behaviors of Black-Capped Chickadees.’’ [email protected]

STUDENTS, FACULTY PRESENT RESEARCH

COURTESY OF MU MARKETING DEPARTMENT

[email protected]

Above, members of the research teams pose for a picture.

Summer 2014highlandernews.net 3

Many Young Volunteers Needed at Area Fire Halls Misericordia students may not have fraternities or sororities to join on campus but Northmore-land Volunteer Fire Department has something very similar for students interested in volunteer work. A building with an eight-person bunkroom, a kitchen, a lounge with a 55-inch flat screen television, PlayStation, Xbox and couches is similar to what stu-dents would find in a frat house. But, these frat brothers don’t party 24/7–they hang out while waiting to go out on call as part of the volunteer fire department. Chuck Story, fire chief of the Northmoreland Volunteer Fire Department, said the fire hall is “a frat house off campus, really–without the alcohol.” One reason the Northmoreland department, and other depart-ments throughout the area, are looking for support from younger volunteers is they have flexible schedules. “The community benefits because they have more people responding to emergencies,” Story said. “Plus, students in college usually have flexible schedules. They aren’t committed to a 9 to 5 job. So, it helps staff the station.” Story said the station is flexible about the time students can offer and the older volunteers provide the training and the equipment. The department is looking for volunteers from the area or from out of town. “We thought what a great oppor-tunity it would be for students to continue their skills,” Story said. “A lot of people may have skills or belong to fire departments in their hometown and can’t continue those skills when they go to col-lege.” MU students Matt Stephenson and Corey Dulsky are a part of the Northmoreland Department and encourage other students to become involved.

Stephenson, a junior nursing major, has been a part of the department for seven years and got involved because it’s some-thing his family members did. He said it’s something that was “in his blood.” Stephenson also serves as one of the six line officers, and said it’s nice that younger members are allowed to serve as leaders. “That’s one thing with us is that there are a group of younger people so they won’t get flushed out. We allow our younger people to get involved right away. They don’t have to sit back in the shad-ows,” Stephenson said. The department’s leadership line consists of three members under the age of 22, according to Stephenson. He said there are times where the older members are washing the trucks and the younger members are fully in charge. “They let us do things and be a part of the department where some other places leave it all on the older people,” he said. “Like, ‘you go wash the truck.’ That’s not the case. We all get along. I may be in charge one day and Chuck [Story] could be washing the truck. The younger guys are as important as the older guys.” One of the hard parts, Stephen-son said, about the department running solely on volunteers, is being dependent on others. “We have on our books 70 peo-ple, but probably only 25 of them are regular and active volunteers. It doesn’t guarantee that they’re going to show up though. Some of them are 75 years old and they still go out on calls,” he said. Stephenson and Dulsky agree that the number of younger members is slowly increasing be-cause of the efforts of the current members. “We’re slowly increasing our numbers because our group of guys slowly bring back another

guy one at a time,” said Dulsky who has been with the depart-ment for two years. Both MU volunteers said it’s a rewarding experience that many would enjoy if they made time. “It’s a lot of fun, especially with your buddies,” Dulsky said. “You don’t even think of it as help-ing. You just forget about it and do it automatically. There’s no, ‘Oh I have to be at the fire hall,’ it’s just automatic. When you’re there when there’s a call it’s just a sense.” Stephenson and Dulsky said the frat house atmosphere allows the volunteers to create camaraderie among all members of the depart-ment. “Usually there is someone there every night either playing video games or doing homework and then you’re there if there’s a call,” Stephenson said. “The older folks love it because we take care of it. In the summer, we’ll have a fire pit out back. It’s honestly like a col-lege apartment with more people.” While both Stephenson and Dul-sky are majoring in the medical field, nursing and medical imaging respectively, they said it doesn’t matter what someone’s interests are, as long as they are willing to help. But, both men say the work they’ve done in the department lead them to want to work in a medical field. “It kind of led me to the medical field,” Dulsky said, “just because of that rewarding feeling when you help others.” Stephenson said the work he’s done in Northmoreland has helped with his clinical place-ments as a nursing major. “For me, since I’m already in my clinicals, I’ve had a step up on some of the other students,” he said. “I’ve helped teach vital signs and a lot of the other students will ask me questions, not necessar-ily when it comes to what’s on

the test, but what we’re doing in clinical. Sometimes I can answer, sometimes I can’t.” Story said the department would really like to help students put their skills to use, similar to how Stephenson used skills in clinical work. “What it does is enhance every one of those skills to what their degree is going to be,” he said. Story said the volunteers, espe-cially younger volunteers, grow more mature by working in high-pressure situations. “It’s a maturity thing that they gain the experience of handling life and death situations at a young age,” he said. There is an application process for any interested student, which includes a background check. Then they can become a probationary member and start training with the other members and respond to calls. Interested applicants can contact Story at 570-760-2411. [email protected]

By Ellen Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief

CRS Offers Students Service Opportunities The Catholic Relief Services Ministry, a new development of Campus Ministry, is making di-saster relief projects from around the world accessible for student participation. Ambassadors say they are look-ing for committed, creative and caring members who want to make a difference in the world. Students can get involved with the ministry by attending weekly meetings, researching and orga-nizing informational tables, and battling their own ignorance of social justice issues around the world. “People on this campus, includ-ing myself, often have a hard time seeing things outside of their own communities and lives. They need to know what goes on around the world and the needs that others have,” said CRS Ambassador Maria Weidemoyer. The ministry focuses on bringing the disaster relief efforts and so-cial justice issues of CRS to life on campus. Efforts include educating students on social justice issues, advocating for solidarity with the global poor and integrating Fair Trade products into campus life. The campus-wide ministry is a student-oriented section of an international relief network called Catholic Relief Services. According to the official Catholic Relief Services website, crs-fairtrade.org, “Fair Trade is a trad-ing partnership based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that seeks greater equity [fairness] in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading condi-tions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the Global South.” Weidemoyer said the Fair Trade program is her leading interest in CRS. “I’ve seen very low levels of poverty and what it can do to people,” she said. “The fact that [Fair Trade] can bring people out of that is amazing.” Weidemoyer experienced some of this poverty during the winter 2013 service trip to Jamaica. Her group repaired a rundown, three-room building that served as housing for 20 residents, which she describes as living in “a very low state of poverty,” with live wires exposed, no running water and bugs in the dilapidated build-ing.

Weidemoyer said money equals opportunity, and she supports Fair Trade because it gives a fair wage to its workers so “they can provide [food and shelter] for their family… all with the wage they get.” CRS Fair Trade ensures that all producers and workers are, among other things, paid a fair wage according to their locale, offered opportunities for advancement, provided with equal employment opportunities, and provided with safe and healthy working condi-tions. “It comforts me to know that there is some organization out there that cares about this. That gives me hope,” Weidemoyer said. As an international organiza-tion, 93% of the donations CRS received in 2012 went directly to-ward international programs such as, but not limited to, emergency response, food and hunger, human trafficking and water and sanita-tion. Headquartered in Baltimore, CRS provides assistance to people in need in 91 countries, according to the official website. The CRS Ministry also focuses on fighting the campus’s igno-rance of social justice issues. “We’re not going to get much money from people,” said CRS Ambassador Gina Palmiter. “But we can inspire [them].” To date, the ministry has hosted a number of informational tables in the lobby of Banks Student Life Center, ranging in topic from Fair Trade products and Human Traf-ficking to the up-and-coming table on the Syrian refugee situation. Weidemoyer describes her role in the ministry as “overwhelming and important,” but worthwhile “because people really need to know this.” The ministry began in October 2013 when Campus Ministry asked first-year nursing major Gina Palmiter, junior occupational therapy major Weidemoyer and first-year social work major Casey Saylor to attend a CRS Ambas-sadorship training seminar at Marywood University. The train-ing, which was targeted at the students of area colleges, included education on the core values of CRS, information on ongoing proj-ects and ideas for the ambassadors to carry back and integrate onto their campuses. Palmiter said she felt inspired by the training. “[I was] very humbled and

reminded of how blessed I am. The smallest thing I could do was to try to get involved on campus,” she said. “It was really something I could see myself doing for the bet-terment of something else.” But with only the three Ambas-sadors at its head, the ministry is slow to gain a following. As these problems persist, Palmiter says the hope, vision and goal of CRS keeps her going, along with the help of her teammates. “If it weren’t for Casey [Saylor] doing all she has done, we would be nowhere [in the ministry].” She said. “She really got us going.” Ambassadors envision a time when everyone on campus is familiar with the CRS Ministry and service and educational proj-ects happen weekly, improving

awareness and changing things on campus that make an impact for the better. Upcoming plans include inte-grating Fair Trade coffee into the dining hall and educating the cam-pus population on the situation in Syria. Previous projects included a Lenten Lunch series that ex-plained the culture and stories of countries where people have been touched by the international CRS organization. Students interested in the CRS Ministry should contact Casey Saylor ([email protected]) or Gina Palmiter ([email protected]) or talk to Chris Somers in the Campus Ministry office. [email protected]

By Caesy Saylor, Reporter

Members of the Catholic Relief Services program approached students to sign a petition to stop the use of non-Fair Trade coffee in the Metz dining hall. The coffee used in the Cougar’s Den is Fair Trade certified and CRS petitioned to have the same coffee served in the cafeteria.


Two clubs are too new to attract members and they are struggling to survive. The Residents’ Hall Associa-tion (RHA) and the Photo Club are having difficulty finding new members. Currently the Photo Club has 12 members and the RHA club has six. The Photo Club has been estab-lished within the past two years and it is run by Mary Bove, junior communications major. However, according to Bove, the Photo Club may no longer exist at the begin-ning of the 2014 fall semester due to the lack of members. “I am graduating in December,” said Bove. “I am disbanding the club, because I do not have enough members or people willing to take it over for me.” Bove feels that the reason people have not been joining her club is because they either do not know about it or they do not have enough time to commit. “If you do not like photography then the Photo Club is just not for you,” said Bove. “You have to be a spe-cific kind of person to want to join it. You can’t just like the arts.” According to Bove, the Photo Club has done a lot since she started it. “So far, we have taken photos two years in a row at the Christmas dinner and we have also had a photo booth this year,” said Bove. “We also do small contests within the club, and I also had a photographer come in and talk at one of our meetings.” Ideally, Bove would have liked to have had more members through-out the two years that the club has been in existence. “It would be nice to have a 25 member club, have more activi-ties and have more meetings, but that isn’t the reality of it for us,” said Bove. “I think if the club was already started years ago, it would be much easier to manage.” The RHA is also struggling to find new members. “I feel like even though we do a good service for people, people do not know about us, because it is not like we are Resident As-sistants,” said Courtney Garloff, sophomore communications ma-jor and member of the RHA club. According to Garloff, the RHA club is really behind the scenes and the residents and the com-muters are unaware that it exists. “They could say that ‘I am having a problem with my roommate’ and

we could try to help them or they do not really want to go complain to their RD or they have been try-ing to get maintenance requests or something,” said Garloff. “So, if you feel like you are not get-ting anywhere or you do not feel comfortable saying something to someone in a position of author-ity you can just come to us and we will put it in the right avenue to try to get it taken care of for you.” Garloff said that the club was established about five years ago, which is not a lot of time for a club to make itself well known on a col-lege campus. The members are try-ing to establish themselves among the students who live on campus. The RHA club is also trying to inform students about their duties and objectives as a club along with trying to find more members. The RHA does this by having a program that involves giving out informative freshly baked goods to students. “We’re doing a program where we are going to be making S’mores in Banks using microwaves,” said Garloff. “We did it last year and it seemed to work a lot. When we give them their S’more there will be an informational piece of paper underneath the plate to just get them to read about us and put our name out there.” At one point the RHA club had over 20 members, but now there are only six members remaining. “I miss having more members when we have to do tables and we do not have enough people to work them,” said Garloff. The Photo Club has more mem-bers than the RHA club, but Bove has a difficult time getting all of them to meet at the same time. “Our club size varies,” said Bove. “Sometimes 10 people come to the meeting. Sometimes five people come to the meeting. The main reason is because people just do not have time.” Despite the issues these clubs are experiencing with finding new members, other clubs are not experiencing recruitment issues. “It doesn’t seem to be an issue I am aware of,” said Catherine Becker, Student Government President. “It is not something clubs have brought forward to us or asked for our help. Some clubs are small, yes, but some choose to be that way.” [email protected]

CLUBS SEARCH FOR EXTRA SUPPORT, MEMBERSBy Nick Vitale, Reporter

COURTESY OF CHUCK STORYTop, volunteers of the Northmoreland Volunteer Fire Department hang out in the newly renovated kitchen area. Middle, Corey Dulsky and Matt Stephenson pose for a photo in the new eight-person bunk area. Bottom, Dulsky and Stephenson stand in their gear next to the fire truck in the fire hall.

News


LIBRARY EXPANDSTECH OFFERINGS

By Alexandra Goetz, Reporter

Techies can get their fill of gad-gets at the library. The library now has 30 new iPads, a tripod and a new scanner that students are free to borrow. The library recently added char-gers for the iPads, too, as well as other devices to its inventory. “Now students, some of their laptops don’t have DVD players so we added the portable DVD players for them. It progresses as technology progresses. The library progresses and we have to stay on top,” said Access Services Manager Colleen Newhart. The library staff decided to make the purchases because they want to keep up with students’ needs. “We want to see what students are using and that is what we want to have,” Newhart explained. Newhart believes that these pur-chases can help students academi-cally. “Our iPads are available now for instructors to use for their classes. All the professors have to do is reserve them ahead of time,” said Newhart. Some professors have already begun checking out the iPads to use in class. Freshman occupation-al therapy major Beth Pfisterer said if her professor were to use the iPads in class, students might enjoy class more. “It would make classes more interactive and more hands-on. Going off of what I just said about the iPads making classes more hands-on, the iPads could show you how do something rather than having a PowerPoint show you how.” An iPad could be worth even more than that. According to the iPad checkout policy, the replace-ment fee is $700 and that doesn’t include the charger, case, and screen protectors. Students can use the new tripod with the iPads. For example, stu-dents can use them for a presenta-tion, to take pictures, or to video tape something. All this new technology can also be used for non-academic purposes. “You can come in and take an iPad out for a week and just play with it to see if you like it,” Ne-whart said. Newhart thinks students will respond positively to the new selection of technology. “Students are becoming more and more accustomed to using it to the point where they expect it,” said Newhart. “They expect us to have it, and we want to fulfill those expectations because we want to have everything they need so that they can get the best education they can.” She said she is enjoying the gadgets, too. “I think these changes are great! In fact, I just got my new iPhone because I figured I have to learn it too because I am not familiar with all of this new stuff, but being here with the students and seeing them come in with everything new we have to know how things work so that we can answer the questions,” Newhart said.

“I don’t find it difficult; it’s just different. It’s like getting a new car. You’re use to your car and then you get a new car and ev-erything is on the other side. You have to get used to it. I like it. It’s just something new.” Pfisterer also believes that stu-dents will even use the devices as a temporary replacement for their own or borrow them for a test drive. “I think the laptops would be good for students in case of an emergency. For example, if theirs is broken so badly that IT couldn’t fix it or if they left their laptop at home, they could easily just go borrow one. I think the iPads are good for students to be able to see if they are interested in it. Someone could be thinking about buying one and before they do make that purchase, they’ll probably want to see if they like it and if they find it easy to work. The iPads are also good for students to see how education can be changed with them or even how careers can be changed with the iPads.” Freshman occupation therapy major Caitlin Chappell said she didn’t know iPads are available at the library, but she was pleased to learn they are. “I usually just go to the library to print papers out or to study,” Chappell said. She said it’s good to know that the library is always trying to get the latest technology for students to use even though she doesn’t need to borrow a lap-top or an iPad at the moment. In addition to the new pur-chases, the library also has 40 laptops, which were provided by the Information Technology Department. Twenty are available to check out, while the other 20 can be borrowed, but they have to be used in the library. “Right now we have IBM laptops and HP laptops and the big thing with being able to take out laptops is if a student’s laptop isn’t work-ing properly, they can come in and take one of ours out for a week. We always have laptops available in the library that students can use,” Newhart said. The replace-ment fee on laptops is $600. The library also has a DVD collection that can be accessed on-line, which makes trying to find a DVD much simpler. As new DVDs come out, library staffers put them into the catalog so people can search under DVD collections. Students can search by format or genre. The library is also open to suggestions for new movies as well. Still, Newhart said nothing takes the place of genuine human com-munication. “I will say though, all the tech-nology does not take the place of human interaction, and it is very important, even though you can text, to talk to people because you cannot get the same emotions with a smiley face, and sometimes it’s easier to get your message across just by talking to someone,” Newhart said. [email protected]

Wi-fi Plans Make Campus a HotspotBy Matthew Gromala, Reporter Campus officials say they plan to add Wi-fi access points across campus. Existing access points can only handle so many devices before they become overloaded, and they are getting overloaded, said Kelly Philips, network technician. Under this new plan, the number of access points will increase on a yearly basis, thereby easing access to the internet. Officials said a precise number of points is unde-termined, but they will increase each year based upon need. The new points will have the two-fold effect of speeding up connection time and creating Web accessible spots. The Technology Department is adding the Wi-fi points because the number of devices used by stu-dents and faculty can slow down internet speed, and even prevent access at times. This causes prob-lems that students assume are “dead spots” when they are not, said Phillips. “Some of the areas that will be targeted first when the new access points are deployed are Passan Hall and areas within Mercy Hall that have several classrooms in one area. As for residential areas, the townhouses are first on the list for additional access points.” said Phillips Students have to do their part, too, by limiting the number of devices they use. “Each individual student can have, especially in their dorm room, up to seven devices,” said Phillips. Currently, each building on up-

per and lower campus has Wi-fi points, but these have proven to not be enough. The plan will include both residence halls and houses. Phil-lips said IT staffers will target classrooms as well, because those are heavily used spots with many people on the internet with at

least one device. IT staffers say they are receiv-ing fewer connection complaints as they have in years past. “I do know in the fall there were more, but we did a lot of integration changes over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, and since then we haven’t had really anything

brought to my attention,” said Phillips. There are not really any “dead spots” on campus. Phillips said Wi-fi is not available in many areas outside of campus buildings but “nowhere inside,” he said. So while some students and fac-ulty may experience slow speed, or may not always be able to get on the internet, the problem is too many people on too many devices trying to access the internet at the same time. “So every access point can only handle so many devices and give you a good signal. So if they’re overloaded, say I walk in and I have two iPhones, a laptop and an iPad. I’m four devices to one person, and there are thirty of me in a room.” said Phillips. The reaction from students is favorable. “I think the Wi-fi works pretty well. But if they want to add more, be my guest,” said first year accounting major Alex Reyes. First year Quentin Smith agreed. “I haven’t ever really had any problems with it, but more points can only be better, right?” Now and in the foreseeable future, connecting to the Web should not be too much of a prob-lem, Phillips said. “While we will continue to increase the number of wireless devices we can support on campus I am confident that our current wireless network is more than sufficient to handle the current students and their devices.” [email protected]

First year Melanie Quintanilla successfully signs into the Cougar-Student Wi-fi account in the Banks Student Life Center.


By Brittany Hayes, Reporter

Barbara Leggat, Director for the Center for Adult and Continuing Education and office of summer studies, said accelerated summer courses offer students study time they may not have during the traditional academic year. “The advantage for students is that they are typically only taking one class instead of four or five at one time. So that gives students the opportunity to really concen-trate on that one class. It may be a class that they are nervous about so they could dedicate all their time and effort to it,” said Leggat. Leggat said students also have the option of retaking courses during the summer to raise their GPAs. MU offers a variety of courses including on-campus, online, and weekend courses, and there are plenty of resources to help students, she said. “The other difference is that the office has a presence on campus all summer long so we are a resource for students taking classes wheth-er they are taking it on campus or online. We want students to take advantage of taking online classes over the summer. We have plenty of resources online to ensure that students are successful in this

format,” said Leggat. Students can access a variety of quizzes under the Student Re-sources tab on eMU to determine if they are prepared to take online or accelerated courses. “One of the exercises is to identify their learning style. It’s a questionnaire, and by completing it they can identify their strengths and their weaknesses and how they could adjust their learning style to be successful in the online format. We also have ‘Are You Ready for Online Learning?’We have the help desk which is available on campus as well to assist students with issues,” said Leggat. Leggat added that students of-ten perform even better than they expect in online classes because this generation of students is extremely tech savvy. “They know how to learn in that environment. They’ve been doing it a lot longer than many of our adults. They are very tech-savvy. They can be very successful if they are motivated in this format,” said Leggat. Paul Nardone, Faculty Services and Assessment Coordinator, said students must be prepared for online classes to be much more de-

manding than typical courses. “They are condensed. It’s a short-er period of time, but they have all of the same course objectives and all of the same learning outcomes that they would get in a tradi-tional 15 week course. Students do need to approach them with a little bit of self-direction and self-discipline. It is a little different in that course,” said Nardone. Leggat urges students to be aware that courses are split up into modules so students must keep up with the work or they will easily fall behind. She said some online instruc-tors record their lectures so the student has the option of listening multiple times. “There are also a lot of course options for students. When you are sitting in a class, listening to a lecture, you can’t hit the rewind, but in some professors’ online course formats you can. Some are structured beautifully. You have the rewind button and you’re done with three credits in six weeks and it’s portable,” said Leggat. Nardone said a bonus to online summer studies is students can still participate in summer activi-ties. “That’s a nice part of it. You can

be taking classes, and you have to put the time in, but no one says you have to be in a classroom when it’s 90 degrees out. You can be in a nice air-conditioned kitchen drinking a lemonade.” Tutoring is also available for students who struggle. The Stu-dent Success Center is open for business, and Smart Thinking is available online via Blackboard. “A new service which is available where students can have a one-on-one session with the Writing Center using Adobe Connect. So it’s a Web conferencing tool. A lot of your courses, if you’re tak-ing them online, require a great amount of writing so that’s a great service that’s available to them,” said Leggat. Students also have the option of taking summer courses elsewhere, such as a community college close to home. Leggat said students must take transfer agreements into consid-eration and understand the grade a student receives from another school will not transfer and there-fore will not help to improve his or her GPA. “They have to get the course ap-proved before taking one off cam-pus. They have to make sure they

are eligible to take that course at a community college because if they are of junior or senior status it will not transfer. The grade they receive will not affect their GPA. If they get a D and they take the class here, it will count. If they take a class elsewhere and get a D, it will not count,” said Leggat. Students who take courses at other schools must also remember to send the transcripts to ensure the credits transfer. Students must also be aware that if they take online courses at another university, the platform that university uses may be very different from Blackboard and may confuse them. “Students taking a class here are familiar with the system. If you are taking a class elsewhere, it’s a new portal, new classroom man-agement tools, things that they know here that might be a bit of a curve there,” said Nardone.Nardone added that summer courses at MU are taught by uni-versity faculty so students know the quality of the education that they are receiving. Leggat also explained that stu-dents who take multiple summer courses can stay on campus for a reduced rate or in some cases, for

free. “They can stay on campus and can get a reduced rate if they take less than six credits, and they get free housing if they take six or more credits. These credits can be in any format – we offer online, we offer on-campus, and there are weekend classes as well.” There are also a variety of employment options for students living on campus during the sum-mer months. [email protected]

Number of courses offered during the summer by

department:

1. Accounting – 7 courses2. Biology – 23 courses,

which include Masters’ courses3. Business – 21 courses

4. Chemistry – 13 courses, which include Masters’ courses5. Communications – 2 courses

6. English – 4 courses7. Fine Arts – 5 courses8. History – 2 courses

9. Nursing – 16 courses, which include Masters’ courses

10. Philosophy – 2 courses11. Religion – 4 courses

Summer Courses: Fast Track Ahead for Students

MU Exposure: Cougars Free Fall for Spring Fest

Sophomore Elena Uribe takes a leap off of the small platform at the Stunt Jump event that kicked off Spring Fest.MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

Summer 2014highlandernews.net 5News

MU Leads Research Discussion

By Alisha Wein, Reporter

The McAuley Scholars House on Lake Street is open to upperclass-men in the fall. The McAuley program will have 28 spots available. This year there were only 12 spots reserved for first year students. This change comes only a year after the McAuley House was opened to service-oriented first year students as a trial run, Resi-dence Life officials say. The original vision for the program was to provide an op-portunity for first year students to get better acclimated to their new community, said Kristen Samuels, Community Outreach Coordina-tor. Officials were looking to create an environment and atmosphere where service-minded students looking for leadership opportuni-ties and wanting to expand their resumes could be together. First year students who are resi-dents say the program gave them opportunities that they may not have been given if they had lived in other housing on campus. “We got to work side-by-side with like-minded people and were able to do what we enjoy, service and helping others. Students were able to focus on areas of their choice such as volunteering at Blue Chip Farms, Girl Scouts at Solomon Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre, and tutoring kids,” said Tarissa Treaster, first year nursing major. The residents agree that upper-classmen should be a part of their little community as well. The house is not meant for only freshmen who need someone to help them adjust to college. Officials decided to open the house to upperclassmen because they want to expand the program for the 2014-2015 school year. “We believe that this is a model that a lot of people have an inter-

est in. A lot of our students are service-oriented, and that is what our University is about,” she said. Applicants must be recipients of the McAuley Scholarship to receive consideration to live in the house. Officials from Residence Life then look at the scholarship application to review each appli-cant’s score. Officials then ask applicants a series of questions, including why they are involved in service and what their goals are in serving campus to find out why they want to be a part of the housing experi-ence. The McAuley Scholars House program also focuses on leader-ship skill-building, organizers say. “It’s really an opportunity for these students to get more hands on, more attention, more special-ized training that our general population doesn’t necessarily have. Because they have identi-fied themselves as being service leaders, we can really focus a lot of our energy, resources, and time on those students when we have lead-ership conferences,” said Samuels. She said more experienced stu-dents will help everyone to meet the program’s goals. “It is important for us to have upperclassmen involved as well because there is a lot of adjust-ment going on for our first year students,” said Samuels. “I think with the introduction or addition of upperclassman, they know a lot of the ins and outs, the intricacies already, so it doesn’t have to be another meeting, it doesn’t have to be another conference or ses-sion, or whatever it may be. It can just be a general conversation that they have with one another, all of those little details that people can really help each other out along the way instead of trying to figure out everything from the very start,” said Samuels.

According to officials, application numbers are low, possibly because students are not aware of the opportunities that the house has to offer. Rachel Holochuck, a first year occupational therapy major, said upperclassmen can provide a lot of insight underclassmen need. “As a student in the White House it would have been helpful to know where to go for certain things, like to get a table, but we did have a great upperclassman Resident Assistant who was very helpful to us,” said Holochuck The first year students relied heavily on Sammuels who is very helpful, but because the house is supposed to be student-run, it would have been beneficial to have an upperclassman to turn to for advice in the program, said Holochuck. Residents say that the next task is to get people interested. “Living in the McAuley Scholars House is a great opportunity to get connected with the com-munity and meet people outside of campus. It can broaden one’s horizons, allowing them to see that there is so much need in the community that we are living in and find out what we can do to help,” said Holochuck. Students agree that being able to stay service-oriented while focusing on their college studies is remarkable, and they are grateful for the opportunity. Students are required to do 30 service hours per semester as well as one service project as a house each semester, said Samuels. Students should know that being a part of the McAuley Scholars-house is not only an honor, but also a privilege, organizers said. For more information contact Kristen Samuels or A.J Nudo. [email protected]

Highlander Staff Reports As part of an ongoing collabora-tive research project between The Commonwealth Medical College and Misericordia University, Dr. Jun Ling, Assistant Professor of biochemistry at The Common-wealth Medical College, presented a lecture regarding his research that may lead to a cure for cancer. Ling presented the talk, “Regulation of mRNA trans-lation by PAK-2 kinase and its regulatory role in cancer development.” He described the general properties of the PAK-2 gene and discussed the analysis of the dual function of PAK-2 in cancer development. He also shared experimen-tal results on regulation of mRNA translation by PAK-2 with the audience comprised of more than 90 Misericordia students and faculty. Ling is working with the University on two separate research projects. senior Amelia Poplawski is using her computational chemistry expertise to work alongside Ling and his team to study the molecular mechanisms of the protein enzyme PAK-2 as a possible cause for breast cancer. “We are studying the biochemistry of the protein enzyme PAK-2, found in breast tissue, and the relativity of it to the occurrence of breast cancer,” Poplawski explained “There has already been a large amount of research done on the similar PAK-1 enzyme, but PAK-2 is proving to be more complicated. We are hoping to do enough research to publish in the near future.” A team of fellow students, led by Misericordia biology professor Frank DiPino, Jr., Ph.D., is also working with Ling and TCMC researchers to solve their own piece of the genetic puzzle. They hope to alter the PAK-2 gene so it can be used to develop anti-tumor

agents. The pre-med students working with Ling include Donna Castel-blanco, Edison, N.J., Rachel Bohn, Mountain Top, Pa., and Sara Sabatino, Nuangola, Pa. The three will present, along with DiPino, at the American Medical Student As-sociation Annual Meeting in New

Orleans, La., on March 6-9. They will present on their research be-ing conducted with Ling on PAK-2. In the project, the researchers are using molecular biology meth-odologies to prepare, character-ize and alter the PAK-2 gene to explore potential to use it as a therapeutic target in the develop-ment of anti-tumor agents. In the second phase of their research, they will use in vitro mutagenesis to introduce specific mutations in the DNA of the PAK 2 protein. Mutated versions of the gene may then be used in mam-malian cells to study impact on normal and cancer cells.

“Every scientist knows the importance of mentoring op-portunities like the ones that our students are experiencing through this collaboration,” DiPino says. “Their work today will likely lead to life-long research partnerships adding even greater value to the work they are doing in the labora-

tory.” . Ling serves as director of the Office of Research Compliance at TCMC. He holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sci-ences, a master’s degree in plant physiology and biochemistry from the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from AaHui Normal University. [email protected]

MCAULEY SCHOLARS HOUSE OPEN TO ALL

P Dr. Jun Ling, Dr. Frank DiPino, Jr., Sara Sabatino, Donna Castel-blanco, Rachel Bohn, and Jessica Moss presented a lecture for students at Misericordia University about the collaborative research involving cancer.


Viewfinder: Relay For Life Puts the Odds Forever Against Cancer

Clockwise from top, sophomores Nick Stanovick and Quinn Follinger welcome all the participants to the Hunger Games themed event.Participants get ready for the closing events of relay in the Anderson Sports and Health Center.Survivors take the first lap around the track to kick off the event. Hope lanterns line the floor of the gymnasium in honor of those affected by cancer.

TAYRN TALACKA/THE HIGHLANDER


STUDENT ON THE STREET

“I need to play guitar,” said first year physical therapy major John Bankus.

“I need to go to the beach,” said junior biology major Zach Murphy.

Members of The Highlander staff asked students in the Banks Student Life Center what summertime essential they can’t live without. Enjoy summer break, Cougars, and if you have a question you would like us to ask, email us at [email protected].

“Bonfires back at home with friends,” said first year chemis-try secondary education major Thomas Scott.

“Hang out with friends and family in the forest or woods and have camp fires,” said first year occupational therapy major Brenden Walker.

“I need to eat large amounts of ice cream,” said first year oc-cupational therapy major Maura Chiumento.

“Having night swims with family and friends,” said senior oc-cupational therapy major Alyssa Leonard.

“Having a little time to sit outside and relax,” said senior speech language pathology ma-jor Megan Kenney.

“I need to be outside every day,” said junior physical therapy major Jeff Dittmer.

“Nice weather–80 degrees every day,” said sophomore business major Irwin Maldonado.

“Working to get more money,” said senior history major Tyler Hutchinson.

Sunday

Highlander Staff Reports The Department of Speech-Language Pathology is offering beginners and established regional performers and professional speakers of all ages an opportu-nity to learn or refine their skill set in the performing arts at the inaugural Summer Performing Arts Training Academy from July 28 to Aug. 9 on campus. “Come join us for a total theater immersion full of excitement, state-of-the-art vocal, dance, drama and music training, as well as the magic of theater,’’ said Cari Tellis, Ph.D., C.C.C.-S.L.P., an asso-ciate professor of speech-language pathology and the founder of the academy. “This performing arts academy is the only one of its kind in the region. Our goal is to meet participants at their age level and experience level to provide train-ing in the performing arts within a fun, friendly and encouraging atmosphere. We believe that exposing individuals to the beauty of the stage builds confidence and creativity.’’ The workshops are held Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the performances are Friday, Aug. 8 at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 9 at 2 p.m. Participants have an opportunity to work and learn from instruc-tors who are highly trained in voice, dance, public presentation, and musicianship. They receive vocal training from Misericordia University faculty, intensive dance instruction, acting and drama coaching, as well as rhythm and music appreciation. All materials for the workshops are included in the registration fee, including music, scripts, theater materials, portfolio, a professional headshot, and two tickets each to the acad-emy’s concluding performances on Aug. 8-9 in Lemmond Theater in Walsh Hall on campus. Tellis is a voice specialist with certification as a master teacher and course instructor in the Estill Voice International Training Sys-tem. Voice participants will learn aspects of this voice training sys-tem, which is used by professional singers and actors from Broadway to the Metropolitan Opera House to Nashville to London’s West End and Covent Garden. A trained vocalist and voice scientist, Tellis will directly coach

participants in singing, speak-ing, voice production and acting. She specializes in voice, laryn-geal physiology, laryngeal muscle anatomy and biochemistry, as well as voice and speech science. A licensed and certified speech-language pathologist with more than 15 years of experience work-ing with professional speakers and singers, she approaches voice

training from a physiology and scientific perspective by merging her approach with the artistry of speaking and singing. Tellis trains per-formers to be advocates for their voice and vocal health, especially at an early age to make sure healthy singing and speaking habits are formed. The academy includes a talented team of professional performance

coaches, including Lauren Timek, a professional dance instructor and captain of the New York Jets’ cheerleading squad; Jennifer Hunter, M.A., a classically trained pianist and a music educator; Luke Steinhauer, a student in the Music Theater Department at the University of Michigan and a certified master teacher candidate in Estill Voice Training; and Or-

lando R. Barone, M.A., an executive leadership coach at the University of Pennsylvania. Timek has appeared on Broadway in “The Nutcracker” and “Cinderella,” and was chosen to dance with the Jets Flight Crew Exclusive Show team at the 2014 Super Bowl. She

will share her more than 18 years of well-rounded ex-perience by training participants in the mechanics of dance, includ-ing ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical,

modern, character, hip hop, and music theater. Hunter has more than a decade of teaching experience with numerous band and choral ensembles at primary, secondary and university levels. She is responsible for instruction in music appreciation and theory, as well as rhythm and movement. Barone is an executive leadership and performance coach for MBA students in The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He has more than 25 years of experience as a direc-tor, coach, trainer, consultant, author, and presenter specializing in interpersonal effectiveness. He also starred in and directed plays and musical performances at the high school and collegiate levels. He will focus training in public speaking, personal presentation style, and acting. Steinhauer is the recipient of the National Young Arts Foundation Award in Spoken and Musical Theater. He is a professional actor, having performed for Pittsburgh Musical Theatre and Pittsburgh Celebrat-ing Musical Theater, while also pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He will explain how to integrate the mechanics of voice, dance and drama into the artistry of performance. The camp’s agenda includes group and individualized coaching in voice, dance, acting, rhythm, musicianship, theater, improvisa-tion, and public speaking skills. Camp counselors are available throughout the day and will have activities scheduled, such as face painting and other games. An early bird registration rate of $475 is available for people who register by June 1. The rate is $499 after June 1. Family dis-counts also are available for fami-lies that enroll multiple children. For general inquiries or to regis-ter for the inaugural Summer Per-forming Arts Training Academy at Misericordia University, please log on to www.misericordia.edu/con-ferences or call Michelle Donato at (570) 674-8255. [email protected]

SLP Professor Puts on Performance Camp

Orlando Barone Jennifer Hunter

Cari Tellis Luke Steinhauer

Lauren Timek

MU Exposure: Tribute to William Shakespeare

Barbara Soyka, alumni and member of the Back Mountain Bloomers, talks about the Shakespeare Garden. This event was part of a series of events on April 23 that celebrated William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday.


Viewfinder: We The Kings Take Over Anderson

Clockwise from top left, Coley O’Toole of We The Kings jams to Skyway Avenue during their set in Anderson Sports and Health Center.

Sophomores Tori Dziedziak and Rachel Bossler have Travis, the lead singer of We The Kings, snap a few pictures on Bossler’s camera. Travis took 52 photos.

Travis, We The Kings’ lead singer, serenades the crowd with lyrics from “Just Keep Breathing.”


Summer 2014highlandernews.net 7Summer Events

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Summer CalendarSaturday

SaturdaySunday

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Jewelry Design Class

Youth Clay Basics

Adult Clay Basics 1

BM Basketball Camp for Girls

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Baseball Camp

Cougar Soccer Success CampBiology CampBusiness CampChemistry-Biochem-istry CampCOM CampLiterature CampNursing CampO.T. CampSLP Camp

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Cougar Soccer Success CampBiology CampJewelry Design ClassYouth Clay BasicsAdult Clay Basics 1Business CampChem./Bio. CampCOM CampLiterature CampNursing CampO.T. CampSLP Camp

Cougar Soccer Success CampBiology CampBusiness CampCOM CampLiterature CampNursing CampO.T. CampSLP Camp

Cougar Soccer Success Camp

Cougar Soccer Success Camp

Baseball Camp Youth Clay BasicsAdult Clay Basics 1

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Field Hockey Camp



Field Hockey Camp


Field Hockey Camp


Field Hockey Camp


Diversity Camp


Diversity Camp


Diversity Camp


Diversity Camp



Youth Clay Basics

Adult Clay Basics 1

Youth Clay Basics

Adult Clay Basics 1

Performing Arts Camp

Performing Arts Camp Performing Arts Camp Performing Arts Camp

Diversity Camp Diversity Camp

Biology CampBusiness CampChemistry-Biochem-istry CampCOM CampLiterature CampNursing CampO.T. CampSLP Camp

Summer 2014highlandernews.net Sports8

Cougar Sports 2013-2014 Seasons in ReviewHighlander Staff Reports

FOOTBALL The football team earned its first win in program history beating FDU-Florham 63-40 in the team’s final game of the season. The Cougars went 1-9 overall. The team led all of MAC in rushing yards with 2,782 and 29 rushing touchdowns. Soph-omore quarterback Jeff Puck-ett finished the season leading the MAC in all rushing and 20 in the entire nation. Puckett and offensive line-man, sophomore John Ameen, were named on the All-MAC team.

MEN’S SOCCER

The soccer team posted another solid campaign under head coach Chuck Edkins, who entered his 23rd season at the helm. The team went 13-5-2 overall and posted a 5-2 record in the confer-ence advancing to the NCAA tournament but were defeated by Montclair State University on penalty kicks in the first round. Sophomore goalkeeper Bar-ry Fitzgerald was named first team Mid-Atlantic All Region and captured the Freedom Conference Defensive Player of the Year award. Junior forward Nick vonE-gypt was named second team All Region and received first team honors in the Freedom Conference.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The women’s soccer team followed up their historic 2012 campaign with another successful season. The squad finished 19-3-2 overall while going through conference play unblemished with a 7-0 mark. The team knocked off King’s College 3-1 in the Freedom Conference Championship game for their second straight conference title. The team entered the NCAA champion-ships riding a nine game win streak and extended it to 10 with an opening round win over Drew University and advanced on penalty kicks over Trinity. The squad saw their season end to Middlebury, 5-1. Ju-nior midfielder Erin Roberts earned Defensive Player of the Year Award in the Freedom Con-ference and was joined by Nicolette Ruffler, Kylen Smith, Megan Lannigan, Megan Ma-honey and Maureen Ciccosanti on the first team honors.

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team fin-ished the season going 12-18 overall and 3-4 in confer-ence play. The team lost 3-0 in the Freedom Conference Semi-Championship game to Eastern University. Junior Kellyn Swanson and sophomore Meghan Stack were named All-Freedom team. Swanson led the Cougars in blocks with 46 and was second on team with 275 digs. Stack finished the season with team high 258 kills and second with 37 service aces.

FIELD HOCKEY

The field hockey team fin-ished the season with an 8-13 record. They did have a win-ning record in the MAC going 4-3 in conference play. They played three schools ranked nationally in the top 25, their closest coming against Frank-lin & Marshall, a team going into the game fifth in the na-tion losing 2-1. The team lost a heart breaker in the MAC champi-onships to Wilkes University falling 2-1.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

The men’s cross country team turned in another suc-cessful year, which headlined stellar seasons from sopho-more Mikael Hause and first year Shadrack Kiprop. Hause ran the 7th fastest time in school history to lead the team to an 11th-place finish at the Gettysburg Invita-tional earlier in the year and ran the sixth fastest time in school history later in the season. In addition to his on-the-field success, Hause was named to the inaugural All MAC Academic team. Kiprop finished the Lock Haven Invitational with the 3rd best time in school history for a first year.

WOMEN’S CROSS

COUNTRY

The women’s cross country team ended their season at the NCAA Mideast Regional where they finished 25th out of 52 teams. Sophomore Bianca Bolton stood out as one of the pre-mier runners on the team, who had three top-30 finishes and finished 13th at the 2013 MAC Cross Country Cham-pionships. She also earned second team All-MAC honors. First year Bethany Killmon also ran well, finishing the Lock Haven Invitational 6k course with a time of 23:20, the 6th best time in school history.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The men’s basketball team finished 16-11 on the season with a record of 9-5 against MAC competition. The men’s team lost in overtime to DeSales Univer-sity 64-73 in the MAC title game. Junior Joe Bussaca scored team high 25 points in the tough loss. Senior Matt Greene only had three points in his final game with the Cougars. Steve Ware finished with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cougars in their last game of the season. Greene had scored his 1,000 career point this season and was selected for second-team honors in the All-Freedom team along with teammate junior Steve Ware who was named to the first-team. Greene is Misericordia’s all-time leader with 379 assists and is second in career three-pointers (260). Ware finished fifth in the Freedom Confer-ence in rebounding, steals and blocks.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The women’s basketball team finished their season with an overall 9-15 record. They finished the season on the road against Manhat-tanville College with a 69-62 victory. Despite the overtime victory, the Cougars failed to make the playoffs after failing to meet a 500 record during their season. Senior Hannah Seely scored her 1,000 point in the game against King’s College and led the team in scoring averaging 14.6 points per game. Seely was also named to both the All-Freedom and MAC All Academic teams.

MEN’S SWIMMING

The men’s swim-ming team finished 5-1 at home on the season going 6-5 overall. The team placed second at MAC Championships. First year Thomas Scott brought home two MAC titles: 2:07.82 in the 200m breaststroke and 1:56.49 in the 200IM. Senior Matt Essington, junior Pete Kolokithias, sophomore Chris Gleason, and Scott broke the school record in the 800 freestyle relay finishing at 7:04.94.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

The women’s swimming team had an overall record of 7-6 while posting an impres-sive 6-2 record at home. The squad finished 2nd at the MAC championships with strong performances from senior Amanda Stammherr and sophomore Dani Blass. Stammherr won the 100 breaststroke and Blass broke her own school record on her way to winning the 200 breaststroke. Senior Beth Karmondy also set a school record in the 400 IM along with being awarded the MAC Scholar-Athlete Award, which is presented to an outstanding senior student-athlete who excels athletically and academically.

BASEBALL The baseball team entered this season looking for their 4th straight conference title and another birth in the NCAA tournament. After a mediocre start to the season, the team has righted the ship and currently sits a top the Freedom Conference with a 13-4 record. Sophomore pitcher Ryan Dorosh has separated himself as one of the best pitchers in the conference with an unblemished 7-0 record and a 2.01 ERA. Kyle Lindsay and Mike Comerford have started every game this season and lead the team in hits with 43 and 38, respectively. At time of press the Cou-gars were facing off at home against Wesley College.

SOFTBALL The softball team finished their regular season with a 21-13 record and a 10-6 conference record. The team, at time of press, was moving on to compete in the Freedom Conference playoffs. During the season, first year Bailee Schies was named the Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Week. Schies was 3-0 with three shutouts during the week. She struck out 13 in 18 innings of work to help the Cougars win six straight games. The pitching staff earned six consecutive shut out wins during the 2014 season.

MEN’S LACROSSE

The men’s lacrosse team finished the 2014 season with a 7-8 record and 3-3 record in conference play. Misericordia ended its sea-son on a winning streak, even though it wasn’t enough to make it to the playoffs. They beat Manhattanville College on the road in a 19-6 victory. The Cougars finished in a three-way tie for third place in the Freedom Conference with King’s College and FDU-

Florham. Patrick Johnson

was named Free-dom Conference goalie of the week for two con-

secutive weeks during the

season.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

At time of press, the women’s lacrosse team was preparing for their Freedom Conference playoff game against Wilkes University. Their season standings sat at 7-8 overall and 4-2 in confer-ence play.

The team finished off their regular

season with a 22-11 win over

Manhattanville Col-lege, at home.

Earlier in the season senior Kate Pagnotta earned the 100 goal milestone.

MEN’S GOLF The men’s golf

team had a strong outing at the Free-dom Conference Championships in Hershey, PA.

Headlined by senior Nick Kenna

who shot an 85 which was good for 10th place

on opening day. Other opening day no-

tables included Josh Green who shot an 88 for 17th place while Adam DePorter and

Leo Moran shot 89s, which which was good for 19th place. Kenna,

Green, Moran and DePorter consistently shot well throughout the season.

WOMEN’S GOLF The women’s golf team was headed by sophomore Darian Reimer who was a key cog to the team throughout the year. Reimer shot a 102 to lead the team to a 15th place finish at the Eastern University Invita-tional in April. Junior Alexe Rice led the women’s golf team to a first place finish at the Misericor-dia Invitational earlier that month by shooting a 93 (3rd place) while getting help from Senior Lauren Clemson who shot a 94 (4th place).

MEN’S TENNIS The men’s tennis team post-ed a 4-13 mark but there were many bright spots throughout the season. The squad swept Immaculata University back in March 9-0 and followed that performance up by defeating Lycoming College, 8-1, to stretch their winning streak to two games. During the fall semester, the squad earned two first round victories from sophomore Christian Pugliese and junior Robert Knipper.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The women’s tennis team was able to break over 500 for the season with a 10-8 record. The team rode a 5 game win streak which lasted over two weeks until a 1-8 loss to Moravian College. First year Kiana Gough secured the team’s birth in the postseason with a 3 set win at 6th singles which gave the squad a 5-4 win against Arcadia

University.

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Junior Angel Guzman set a new school record tossing the discus 41.76 in distance. The 4x400 relay team consisting of junior Jarrett Higley and sophomores Carl Daubert, Mikael Hause and Andrew Nelson quali-fied for ECAC’s finish-ing with the time of 3:23.60. Hause was named MAC track and field athlete of the week in early April when he took home wins in both the 800m and 1500m events. Hause is ranked eighth in the region at 1500m while Nelson is ranked fourth in the region and 27th in the nation at 400m.

WOMEN’S TRACK

& FIELD

The women’s track and field turn turned in one of their best seasons in recent memory by ranking 4th in the Mideast Region and receiving national acclaim according to the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coach’s Association. Senior Ashlee Ward solidi-fied her legacy as one of the school’s all-time greatest track and field stars by rank-ing 1st in the nation and tied for 1st in the country in the high jump at 1.72m. Sophomore Hilari Norris was 1st in the region and 14th in the nation in the 100 m hurdles (14.6). Sophomore Amy Viti was 2nd in the re-gion and 10th in the nation in 400m (56.92). Sophomore Sarah Wigg made a new school record in the hammer and weight throws. Sophomore Chelsea Hall set a school record and ECAC-qualifying throw.

CHEERLEADING

The cheerleading squad turned in another year of ex-cellence by placing 3rd at the UCA National Champion-ships, giving the team their 3rd straight top 5 finish and their highest finish to date. The squad also placed 2nd at the CANAM College Championships in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In addition to their on-mat suc-cess, the team raised more than $1000 for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital during its Sixth Annual ‘Cougars for a Cure’ campaign. With $1,139 raised in 2014, the squad has donated more than $10,000 to St. Jude’s. The squad also excelled in the classroom, having 21 cheerleaders maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher during the fall semester.

9Summer 2014highlandernews.net News

FITNESS FOREVERY BODY

By Matt Green, Reporter Editor’s Note: Matt Green is a se-nior sport management major and a personal trainer at Leverage Fitness in Forty-Fort, Pa. This is part four of a four-part health and fitness series special for The Highlander. You’ve been eating right and working out for quite a while now. In the beginning you started seeing and feeling results. The waistline got slimmer and you felt more energized, but now those results aren’t as frequent any-more. So what happened? Well, it could be the buzzword, “plateau,” which I’m strongly against. If you want to simply maintain, rather than continuously improve, hit-ting a plateau is fine, I suppose. You won’t get worse, you won’t improve, you’ll just stay stagnant. But what if stagnation is out of your control? The number one reason people gain weight or stop seeing improvements can stress. Stress, believe it or not, can be beneficial. When I feel stressed, I lose motivation in every way, not only motivation to work out, but motivation to eat right (gasp). I’ve learned that some people can handle stress better than others. Some people are very cool and collected, while others become so tightly strung that they’re almost bursting into tears. The main reason stress can be so detrimen-tal to our bodies both mentally and physically is the chemical called cortisol. When we feel a threat (stress), our body produces a higher amount of cortisol, which raises blood glucose and adrena-line levels in our body and also causes our body to hold onto fat. Once the threat has been eliminat-ed, our levels go back to normal, but what if that stress never really goes away? We just keep thinking about it over and over again, thus making our body feel threatened and never really going back to normal. I’m talking about stress here because of two reasons: One, it’s always around us and we have no control of it. However we can control how we handle that stress, and two, finals. No doubt that you will be stressed like you’ve never been before. Stress is inevitable and we are surrounded by it. During finals you’re probably not sleeping that well and consuming energy drinks or coffee to help power your multiple-hour study sessions and late night cramming. You won’t have time to work out because you’re not sleeping

enough to have the energy – plus you need to devote your time to studying. Convenience and com-fort foods are at your disposal and you would do anything just to feel a little sense of relief, and so you eat that cookie, that slice of pizza, those cheese fries, and once finals are over, you realize you went overboard. The lethal combina-tion of stress, bad foods and lack of sleep is a recipe for disaster. So how do we prevent this from happening? Be Prepared: I’m shedding light on this because it’s going to hap-pen. We all know it. Understand and tell yourself that finals will be a living hell for you. These aren’t your first finals. You’ve done this before and you’ve made it out alive. Time Management: Time man-agement in college is vital. With-out proper time management, you will be bombarded with homework assignments and papers that made you procrastinate until the night before it’s due. Instead of two marathon study sessions, try breaking up the time into smaller, manageable study segments. I’ve told you in previous articles that you don’t need to be in the gym for an hour to get an effective workout. If you go in there ready to rock and roll, you can be in and out of the gym within thirty minutes. As much as I hate strictly elliptical/treadmill workouts, you can kill two birds with one stone by studying while on the tread-mill, although I personally would fall flat on my face. Stay Positive: Negativity will get you nowhere. This applies to not only the gym and to fitness, but also life in general. Try your best studying and eating healthy/working out. You’re probably not going to get a 100% on the test and you’re probably not going to have a six-pack after the first week of working out. It’s all about prog-ress and positivity. Do the best of your capabilities, acknowledge that you tried and be happy! In conclusion, I want to thank both The Highlander and you, the reader, for showing an interest in this four-part series. I hope that you not only found these articles interesting but informative as well. I absolutely love sharing my passion and knowledge for health and fitness. Stay healthy and have a great summer, Cougars! [email protected]

Early Cougars Get the TreadmillsBy Rob Evans, Reporter The early birds who like to get to the gym first thing in the morning are in luck. Changes to the Anderson Center hours have the gym doors open-ing at 6:15 a.m. on weekdays, 45 minutes earlier. The change to the gym sched-ule was put into motion by the school’s Wellness Committee, according to Campus Safety Field Supervisor John Jorda. Jorda said president Botzman played a key part in organizing a health movement, which eventually led to the altered gym schedule. “What happened was when Dr. Botzman took over as President, he charged the staff council with getting a wellness program for the faculty and the staff,” Jorda said. “He’s very into the whole wellness idea. We started to discuss it at staff council and then it came to our attention that the health center and human resources were also in the process of working on a wellness program. So, we basically joined forces together and the University now has its first well-ness committee that’s designed for faculty and staff.” Faculty and staff prefer to work out at the crack of dawn.

“During our organization of the committee, we tried to figure out what we wanted to do and when we wanted to do it so they put out a campus-wide survey asking people what they were interested in, as far as the wellness program itself and what time of day worked out better for them. And one of the larger responses we received on the time frame was in the early morning before work.” According to Jorda, the earlier gym hours will allow faculty and staff to have enough time to get ready for their work day. “The business day starts at 8:30 a.m. and a lot of employees do come in a little earlier than that to get their day started. So by the time you do an hour of the program and get showered up afterwards, you’re getting close to 8:30 a.m. So, the Wellness Com-mittee approached Dave Martin and Chuck Edkins and asked if we could get it open earlier, but prior to that, we did know that some of the students were interested in getting up there earlier, which also gave us a little added ammunition to go forward.” Student interest in earlier gym hours dates back to the spring se-

mester of 2013, when the Student Government Association sent out a mass survey. SGA President Catie Becker, who led the survey effort, said she is not sure how much influence it had on the change. “I can’t say that it was directly influenced, but I know that Mr. Martin did listen to us,” Becker said. “ I sent him a letter and a copy of our survey with the results and comments. We talked with Darcy [Brodmerkel] about it and Darcy talked to whomever about it. The problem was that people will swipe in at the door, but not always swipe in at the desk. So the numbers are skewed, and we don’t always know how many people are there at certain times of the day. So I think when they saw that more people were coming earlier, they probably decided ‘Oh, this might be a good decision.’” According to Becker, some of the students’ requests were not pos-sible to fulfill, but the earlier start to the Anderson Center should benefit many students. “Some wanted a separate gym where students could go and not athletes. Some wanted for the gym to be open 24/7. With our

school, that’s just not a possibil-ity. So, the majority of our results, the requests were that weekdays should be open until 11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday open a little earlier, and Sunday to stay the same. I know personally, my friends go at 7 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. before classes, so I think the whole 6:15 time change will benefit a lot of students who like to get up early and go work out.” An obstacle to earlier gym hours was the inability for a safety of-ficer to be on guard before 7 a.m. “Since we adjusted our shifts at 6 a.m., there is a safety officer there, and I think that’s one of the con-siderations athletics made note of, and that probably influenced their decision to open it up earlier.” Becker said any further requests by students to change gym hours will have to be addressed by the next SGA president because Becker is graduating in May. “We haven’t had any problems so far. I know that there are students up there when the doors open up who are ready to exercise, and a couple of employees have men-tioned that it has been more of a convenience for them.” [email protected]

Viewfinder: Cougars Run for the Lucy Fund

The runners of the Cougars in Color 5K take off at the starting line in the Science Building parking lot April 26.

Top, juniors Theresa Klaus and Kelsey Hart stroll through the green color station outside of Alumnae Hall. Above, senior Erin Gracey closes her eyes and mouth to avoid the color powder while running through a color station.

Top, first year Thomas Scott triumphs after the first lap of the course while senior Marisa Ferenchick throws color on him.

Middle, senior Danya Richter and sophomore Rachel Bossler hide behind bushes in front of the Science Building to surprise runners with color as they ran by.

Bottom, senior Hilary Hoover enjoys the color blasts outside of Alumnae Hall during the Cougars in Color 5K April 26.


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