The Merciad, November 7, 2012

Does haunted by my homework

count? 26%

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

15%

No, I don’t believe in

ghosts. 22%

Yes, it was terrifying.

37%Total votes: 27

ONLINE POLL RESULTS

Wind EnsembleinspiresPage 5

Lakers defeat

VulcansPage 7

Laker of the Month:

Jacob GriffinPage 4

READ THE STORY ON PAGE 5

PHOTOS BY MERCYHURST STUDENTS

What the Duck?!

The Merciad

NEWSPage 2 November 7, 2012

Monday, Oct. 26Larceny

Post O� ceReferred for discipline

Thursday, Nov. 1Liquor law violation

East Main DriveReferred for discipline

Saturday, Nov. 3De� ant trespass, resisting arrest,

disorderly conduct, public intoxicationLewis Avenue

Criminal charges � led

MercyhurstUniversity

Police & Safety Police Log

Saturday, Nov. 3Public intoxication

Baldwin HallState citation � led

Saturday, Nov. 3Larceny

Tullio Football FieldLetter of trespass sent

Sunday, Nov. 4De� ant trespass

Lot #22Criminal charges � led

Chemistry demonstrations help community learn

Chemistry faculty members and students from Mercyhurst University and other area schools were stationed at the Millcreek Mall to interest shop-pers of all ages with demonstrations and interactive experiments all about nanotechnology on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Mercyhurst University faculty members and students led hands-on chemistry demonstrations tailored for elementary and middle school students. The program’s theme, “Do More with Less,” focused on nano-technology: what it is and what it can do for our society.

Other participating schools included Penn State Behrend, Allegheny Col-lege, Edinboro University, Gannon University, the University of Pitts-burgh at Titusville and Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.

Some of the stationed activities offered were mole tattoos to repre-sent the unit of measurement used in chemistry to express amounts of a chemical substance, with the value of 6.022x1023, as well as learning about how temporary tattoos stick to skin, smelling scent-fi lled latex balloons to guess what scents are inside, learning about magnets and how their poles make a difference in their magnetic abilities.

“I believe the mall is a poor loca-tion to demonstrate chemistry. I

don’t think people going to the mall really want to learn chemistry as they shop,” said junior biology major Heather Christensen. “The commu-nity should be aware of ways that science can improve their way of living.”

One of the students who partici-pated was 8-year-old Melanie.

“Science is my favorite thing about going to school,” she said. “When I grow up I want to be a science teacher. They should have science days more.”

This event, which has been going on in Erie for over 20 years, helps

the community to stay current with emerging technologies. By discussing medicine, cars, computers, and sports, and even sun screen, the students were able to understand more about nanotechnology in their everyday lives.

This year’s program was sponsored by the John Nesbit Rees and Sarah Henne Rees Charitable Foundation and the Erie chapter of the American Chemical Society and marked the 25th anniversary of National Chemistry Week.

By Jaslyne HalterStaff writer

Mercyhurst students Rachel Simeone, Kaleigh Hubert and Garret Verwer participated in the chemistry event at the Millcreek Mall.

Contributed photo

Campus Ministry, students promote “Peace Talks”

“Religion is a topic not typically discussed in today’s society,” said junior Jen Detchon. “I think that causes a lot of misunderstanding and confl ict.”

It was this idea that inspired Detchon and several other students, with support from Campus Ministry, to start “Peace Talks,” a regular event at which members of the Mercyhurst community can share their individual spiritual and/or religious lives.

Detchon said she hopes these talks “will show the similarities that most faiths share, such as love and good moral values.”

These meetings are meant to be a place where students, faculty and staff can fi nd common ground in regard to religion and not feel as though they have to debate or defend themselves.

The goal of these gatherings is to facilitate discussion and open dialogue about various religions. Through discussion, students can expect to increase their awareness of other religions by talking with those who practice different spiritual or reli-gious beliefs.

The fi rst of these events took place

Sunday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. and fea-tured Arabic instructor and Fulbright Scholar Habib Ben Messaoud, who discussed the basics of Islam and being a Muslim in America.

Messaoud gave an overview of the Islamic faith and also discussed similarities between Islam and Chris-tianity; Islam and its tolerance of other religions and gender equality in Islam.

He made note of several examples of similarities between the Bible and the Qur’an, and how “the two books call for the same thing.” He also cited evidence in the Qur’an stating Islamic tolerance for other religions and the equality of men and women.

Messaoud talked about his fi rst experience with meeting and working with Americans in his native coun-try of Tunisia. After getting to know Americans, he said he was surprised how many things they had in common and “how many values they shared, such as a love of freedom and a respect for human rights.”

This fi rst gathering of “Peace Talks” succeeded in facilitating dis-cussion on the similarities between Islam and other religions, specifi cally Christianity and Judaism. Many in attendance were able to increase their

understanding of Islam by having their questions answered by Mess-aoud.

“Peace Talks” are expected to be held the fi rst Sunday of each month. So far, the next meeting is not limited to any specifi c topic. Any member of the student body, faculty or staff interested in sharing their personal spiritual/religious views at a future gathering is encouraged to contact Jen Detchon at [email protected].

By Stefani BaughmanStaff writer

Page 3 November 7, 2012 NEWS

Laker of the Month

Mercyhurst Student Government (MSG) and the Merciad ask students, faculty and staff to nominate an outstanding student

who deserves recognition.

MSG members and the Merciad staff are exempt from being nominated.

Send nominations to [email protected] with a brief summary of why that person

deserves the award.

News BriefsWoodward event rescheduled

Bob Woodward has been rescheduled to speak at Mercyhurst Uni-versity on Wednesday, April 10, 2013.

Those with tickets are asked to hold onto them for the event in April.

If you cannot make it to the event on the new day, contact the Performing Arts Center Box Offi ce at (814) 824-3000 so more people have the opportunity to attend the event.

Social Work Club collects shoesSocial Work Club is working with Coalition Pathways Inc./Lead

and Seed Program to help raise awareness about alcohol abuse, drug abuse and drunk driving through the “Within the Sole” project.

From Wednesday, Nov. 7, to Monday, Dec. 17, Social Work club will be collecting shoes to represent the deaths in Erie County that occur due to drug overdose. The shoes will be displayed for a period of time in a lobby on campus.

Donation boxes can be found around campus. All shoe donations will be donated to agencies in Erie.

Mushroom art display stolen The artistic display of nine mushrooms was recently stolen from

outside of Zurn Hall near the art department entrance. The educational display was designed for the Green Roof of the

building. Police and Safety have been notifi ed and are investigating the theft.

The display was created by senior Felicia Sandino for a project she completed in Professor of Art Tom Hubert’s class.

If anyone has any information about the stolen mushrooms, please inform Police and Safety right away. Sandino worked very hard on the project and urges the safe return of the mushrooms.

Intelligence studies recognizedby U.S. State Department

The Mercyhurst Institute for Intel-ligence Studies will be recognized by the U.S. State Department’s Offi ce of Antiterrorism Assistance for its con-tinued research and expanding role in fi ghting international terrorism.

Not only a teaching tool for stu-dents and faculty alike, the programs developed through its partnership with the U.S. State Department have pro-vided many opportunities for students as well as assisting in curbing interna-tional terrorism.

The Institute for Intelligence Stud-ies began its work in international ter-rorism in 2007, when it signed its fi rst contract with the U.S. State Depart-ment. The contract allowed faculty and students studying intelligence to develop a law enforcement training program in portions of Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Courses developed for the Offi ce of Antiterrorism Assistance include Identifying and developing Investi-gation Information (IDII), Investiga-tive Information Management (IIM), Combating Domestic and Transna-tional Terrorism (CDTT) and Integrat-ing Counter-Terrorism Stategies at the National Level (ICTSNL).

According to the State Department, the institute was recognized “based upon their expertise in the fi eld of law enforcement intelligence; being well known for providing very high-quality individuals in various intelligence pro-grams; and past performance of devel-oping curricula for other government

and non-government agencies, including the FBI, DHS, Northrop Grumman and Booz Allen Hamilton.”

The State Department also said, “In addition to their excellent qualifi -cations, it was determined that a tre-mendous cost savings would be gained by using Mercyhurst College for these projects as opposed to other vendors. Mercyhurst provided excellent Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and Instruc-tional System Designers (ISDs). The management team at Mercyhurst was

easy to work with and was always avail-able to discuss and resolve any issues. They assisted with the coordination and logistics of all the pilot presenta-tions which was a great benefi t to the U.S. Embassies.”

The award presentation was origi-nally scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30, but due to the weather Hurricane Sandy brought to the East Coast, it will be rescheduled for a later date. This date is yet to be determined by administra-tion.

By Danielle VaccaroStaff writer

Department Chair David Grabelski, left, and IIS Executive Director James Breckenridge, Ph.D., were two of the faculty members rec-ognized by the State Department. Assistant Professor Daniel Kuehl, Ph.D., not pictured, was also recognized.

Kyle Briggs photo

September 3, 2008 FEATURESPage 4 November 7, 2012

The very fi rst Laker of the Month is none other than junior Jacob Griffi n, a forensic anthropology major from Danville, Iowa.

Griffi n broke an 8K school record with the men’s cross country team and earned All-Conference honors during the past month of October.

He also won the Robert Wesleyan Invitational. Griffi n is the school’s fi rst male All-Conference PSAC winner and organized this year’s Homecoming 5K.

In addition to his athletic achieve-ments, Griffi n is also an exceptional student by maintaining a consistently high GPA in all of his classes.

Griffi n is very involved on campus. He is the vice-president of both the Ambassador Club and the Student Alumni Association. Grif-fi n directly oversees the Ambassa-dor Pledge process and brought in a record number of 100 Ambassador Pledges this year alone. The Ambas-sador Club is currently the largest RSCO on campus.

“I am extremely thankful for being nominated for Laker of the Month,” said Griffi n. “I believe that being recognized by faculty and staff for hard work is better than any grade or award.”

When asked about what Griffi n thinks about the new Laker of the Month award he said, “I fi nd it really great and exciting that Mercyhurst students are being recognized for all of their hard work and dedication.

“College is about more than just going to class and getting an educa-tion. It’s important to get involved and give back to your school. Some of the best memories are those you make being involved with clubs and organizations.”

Griffi n is known to be an absolute pleasure to work with and is liked by his peers, professors, teammates and his colleagues.

Congratulations Jacob and keep up the good work.

By Daniel TarrStaff writer

Griffi n was nominated as Laker of the Month.

Contributed photo

Clubs bring fun to winter

When the winter storms come to Erie, students fi nd ways to have fun in the snow.

Ski Club and the Snowboard Crew, also known as McScrew. Ski Club goes to Peak N’ Peak on Tuesday nights and McScrew goes to Holiday Valley on Friday nights.

You may think that skiers and snowboarders are rivals because you watched “Johnny Tsunami” too much as a child; but that is not the case.

McScrew President Phil Theriault said, “All students are welcome…it depends on what night is best for you.”

There are snowboarders on ski club and skiers on McScrew. Besides the different sports represented by each club, there is another difference. Teach-ers and faculty run Ski Club; while McScrew is primarily student run.

“Ironically, I am not a winter sports

buff. I’ve been skiing once and it didn’t work out very well. Each club is required to have an administrator as their adviser and the club has a great group of stu-dents that make it easy to work with,” McScrew adviser Christian Beyer said.

Still, don’t let the involvement of teachers in the club scare you away.

Ski Club adviser Raymond Buyce, said “I skied with the club when I fi rst arrived at Mercyhurst and ended up taking over the adviser role. I’ve skied since I was a little kid and am still obsessed with the sport. Both of my daughters skied with the club when they attended Mercyhurst. People we’ve skied with over the years have included high school students that later became students here.”

Avid skiers and snowboarders run both clubs. Theriault started snow-boarding at age two, because his father worked at Peak N’ Peak.

“It was a family thing,” Theriault said.

Theriault doesn’t favorite the Peak though, he enjoys going to Holiday Valley for the club.

“It’s much bigger,” said Theriault. “It’s nice to go to different mountains.”

Theriault isn’t the only winter sports buff on campus; Ski Club President Barbara Burriss began skiing when she was young as well.

“I had little plastic skis when I was two or three,” said Burriss. “I like just being able to get out in the snow.”

Burriss likes going to Peak N’ Peak because it has something for everyone.

“You can stick to easy slopes or try harder ones,” Burriss said.

Both clubs take time out from skiing and snowboarding and go tubing once a year. You could even join the club and tube the whole time if you wanted to.

Many students take advantage of these clubs during the winter season.

Junior Collin George said, “Snow-boarding club is a good way to meet new people who are interested in the same hobby as you.”

Ski Club and McScrew go weekly to the slopes, starting after Christmas break. Both clubs have transportation, so stu-dents don’t need to drive themselves.

By Caitlin MacBrideContributing writer

Club members enjoy the lift before tearing up the slopes.

Contributed photo

Jacob Griffi n wins fi rst Laker of the Month

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Page 5November 7, 2012On

line Full list of events can be found on the PAC website

View upcoming performances:www.pac.mercyhurst.edu

www.merciad.mercyhurst.edu/arts_entertainment

Wind Ensemble concert inspires with patriotism

Last Saturday the Mercyhurst Wind Ensemble had their fi rst concert of this academic year and the group cer-tainly stayed true to the theme of free-dom.

Conducted by Mercyhurst Profes-sor Dr. Scott Meier the pieces per-formed were patriotic and the group seemed to capture a sense of pride and nationalism with every beat.

“I was struck by the number of ways in which we refer to freedom. Would we need to so thoroughly defi ne our freedoms if we had never experienced their loss?

In response to this question, the assumption follows that there are an enormous number of people who have or are experiencing the loss of

freedom in one sense of another,” Meier said.

The program started off with “Fanfare for Freedom” by Graham Lloyd and “Out of the Darkness, Into the Light” by Philip Sparke, a classic American composer. Both of these pieces seemed as if they came straight out of an action movie.

They featured strong, melodic lines with syncopated accents and left the listener with a sense of pride and eagerness to hear more.

Right in the middle of the concert was a composition called “A New Birth of Freedom,” which was written by Randol A. Bass.

This piece was used as background music for an inspirational reading of the Gettysburg Address.

The speech was given by the D’An-gelo Department of Music’s own Admissions Coordinator and Admin-istrative Assistant Krista Lamb.

The speech had such charisma and passion that it left some audience members in awe, some with more American pride than ever before and some with tears streaming down their faces.

Lamb captured the American spirit with her words with such a formidable ensemble playing the patriotic music in the background.

The later half of the concert con-sisted of two equally patriotic pieces. The fi rst being “A Movement for Rosa,” by Mark Camphouse, a pow-erful selection which features rhythms reminiscent of chants and slogans of the civil rights movement.

The last piece that was presented is probably one of the most recognizable American themes, John Philip Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell March.” The entire concert was one worth praise and rec-ognition. The arts are certainly alive and well at Mercyhurst.

By Mathew AndersonA&E editor

Mercyhurst Department of Music Professor Dr. Scott Meier stands at the podium in front of the Wind Ensemble. Meier eagerly describes the next piece the orchestra will perform.

Selina Bowe photo

Giant duck has students quacking up

There has been a giant diversion from fi nals studying for some students on our campus. This diversion comes in the form of a rather large, colorful toy duck. The artistic statement is one that certainly has not been seen on Mercyhurst’s campus before this time.

There have been many creative reac-tions to the duck including professor of Political Science Dr. Brian Ripley.

“The duck is a playful work of post-modern art that also reminds stu-dents how big their ‘bill’ will be,” said Ripley.

Then there are student opinions such as senior Devon Meddock who played up Mercyhurst’s known image for look-ing quite a bit like J.K. Rowling’s Hog-warts in the Harry Potter series. “It’s professor McGonagall,” Meddock said.

The duck is an eye-popping piece of art out of many in collaboration with

the Friends of Mercyhurst art installa-tion. The giant duck could fi rst be seen at the awards pre-party at Erie Insur-ance for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Arts Awards held recently in Erie.

Since that time, the bright yellow, pink and orange piece of art can be viewed freely on the front lawn of our campus. The artists of the duck are David Seitzinger and Gary Cacchione who are both also showcasing works inside of Old Main as well.

Seitzinger made the mobile over-head piece hanging just out of reach from most students; Cacchione can be recognized for his shelf-looking piece just outside of the president’s offi ce.

“They [the artists] love the fact that the students are talking about, taking pictures of, and climbing on the piece,” said Carolin Lynn, adjunct instructor at Mercyhurst.

If anything is defi nite, it would be that this piece of art should certainly feel at home with all the rain we have been getting.

By Mathew AndersonA&E editor

Senior Caitlin Handerhan bonds with the giant duck art on the front lawn of the campus.

Danielle Vaccaro photo

September 3, 2008 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTPage 6 November 7, 2012

‘Eerie Halloween’ a spooky treat for all

On Halloween, Mercyhurst Opera and the Erie Art Museum collaborated to create one spectacular event— Eerie Halloween.

The event featured a Halloween party with plenty of treats for guests including cookies, candies and a cash bar. The event started promptly at 7 p.m. with tours of the exhibits running every 10 minutes.

Guests met and laughed with friends while viewing optically enter-taining artwork featured in the main fl oor gallery.

Richard Anuszkiewicz’s stunning art work was the centerpiece of the tours, featuring multiple rooms of art that made onlookers squint, tilt their heads and move from right to left and back again.

Other exhibits included stamp art and absolutely stunning paintings of landscapes and different environments. The museum had such a collection that there didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to fully appreciate every work in its entirety. The artwork ranges from sculptures and modern art to traditional oil on canvas paintings and everything in between.

The main event of the night, a one-act opera by Gian Carlo Menotti, “The Medium,” was the perfect piece to be performed on a rainy Halloween night. Starring the talented, versatile students of the D’Angelo School of Music, the

performance left some in tears and others speechless.

The Medium is the creepy tale of a drunken, spiritual medium that begins to be haunted by her own ghosts. The medium, Mercyhurst alumna Lynn Dula, ends up tragically murdering Toby (senior Adam Ferrari), and destroying everything from young love to the fragile psyche of parents who have lost their children.

The story begins with Monica (senior Devon Meddock) reading her favorite book to Toby. Because Toby is a mute, he can only listen with admira-tion to Monica’s words. The two lovers begin to act out the plot of the book, complete with silly costumes, when Madame ‘Baba’ Flora enters.

Baba scolds the two and threatens that she’ll whip Toby if he ever touches her things again. The three begin to get the house ready for the séance that is to be held that night

When the guests arrive, Baba puts herself into a fake trance as Monica dresses up so she appears to be an apparition. When Mrs. Nolan (junior Kathleen Reveille) sees and hears her deceased daughter, it is actually Monica cleverly disguised as the 16-year-old girl.

Suddenly Baba feels a cold, ghostly hand grab her throat and push her backward. She panics and orders the guests out of her house. Convinced it was Toby who did the deed, Baba begins to whip the boy and kicks him out of the house.

With Toby gone, Monica fl ees to her room and Baba only enters into a

deeper madness. She hears voices and spins wildly around, fearing there is a spirit behind her.

While in a drunken sleep, Toby sneaks back into the house to get Monica to safety. On the young cou-ple’s way out of the house, Baba sud-denly awakens and reaches for her gun. She spins wildly and fi res the gun, taunting the ghost. One of the shots hits Toby’s chest and the boy dies in Monica’s arms. The opera ends with Monica and Toby laying in a puddle of blood with Baba leaning over them, menacingly repeating “Was it you?”

Guests were encouraged to come in costume and prizes were awarded to two lucky winners.

Although there were a plethora of witty, spooky and kooky costumes, both winners seemed to take extra care in getting dressed up in their best that night.

The winner of a year-long mem-bership to the Erie Art Museum was a Mercyhurst’s senior, Kirstan Orgel, for her stunning witch costume.

Mercyhurst’s prize consisted of two tickets to any performance in the Per-forming Arts Center for this academic year.

This prize was awarded to a gentle-man dressed in an extremely realistic tudor- Shakespearian costume com-plete with a feathered hat that seemed to be made of traditional materials.

The night as a whole was an abso-lute success. I hope this becomes a tra-ditional event every Halloween in the Erie Community— it certainly has the potential.

By Mathew AndersonA&E editor

Mercyhurst alumna Lynn Dula, portrayed the haunting character of Madame ‘Baba’ Flora in “The Medium” on Halloween. The students of Mercyhurst represented the university with fl ying colors.

Steve Perkins photo

The carpenters of folkThe Avett Brothers are just one

of those bands that everything about them fi ts perfectly together in their own unique way.

The two brothers in the band Scott (banjo) and Seth (guitar) have this old time brotherly relationship that seems to have been plucked from the 1930’s rural US. It is through that bond that they can just about tell what the other is thinking without saying a word.

I feel like that relationship is a key factor to their wonderful folk music.

Born in North Carolina, both of the brothers were in separate bands during their young adulthood, but on occasion worked on an acoustic side project called The Back Porch Project. When their bands started to deteri-orate, they focused more on the side project and even picked up Bob Craw-

ford, an upright bass player, complet-ing the band that today is known as The Avett Brothers.

The newest album from this trio, “The Carpenter” continues to show the simple bliss this band can create.

This album is full of the acoustic folk that we have grown to love from them, but it also has a few more elec-tric tracks in it as well.

The fi rst track off the album does a wonderful job to hook you into the rest of the album. This track, “The Once and Future Carpenter” has just an old strong feel to it.

The song is built around the chorus that ends with, “If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die.”

The next track “Live and Die” has more of a folk pop feel to it with a clucking banjo and an electric slide guitar in the background.

This song is light hearted and happy which heavily contrasts to the next song, “Winter in my Heart.” This is

one of my favorite songs on the album. The sound is cold and haunting with the use of the cello and violin com-bined with acoustic guitar and piano.

This song speaks about being cold hearted but not understanding why you cannot love anyone or feel com-passion for them.

The last track that really stood out to me was, “Through my Prayers.”

This track starts out with banjo and cello in a somber tone that can only be achieved by the blending of these two instruments.

This song speaks of an experience that everyone faces in his or her life; the death of someone close to them and their inability to tell that person how you feel before they leave this earth. This album was rather satisfying in a homey kind of way.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes folk or wants a good album for the upcoming winter; something to listen to as you watch the snow fall.

By Zach DorschPhoto editor

OPINION Page 7November 7, 2012The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercyhurst University, the staff of The Merciad or

the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be emailed to [email protected].

EditorsAlicia CagleStacy SkiavoKayla Kelly Caitlin HanderhanJoe ChiodoMat AndersonChelsea SchermerhornSamantha LinkZach DorschEthan JohnsLaura FiegelistBill Welch

PositionsEditor-in-ChiefNews Editor

Features EditorOpinion EditorSports EditorA&E Editor

Copy EditorGraphics

Photo EditorWeb Editor

Ad ManagerAdviser

@mercyhurst.edueditormerciadnewsmerciad

featuremerciadopinionmerciadsportsmerciad

entertainmentmerciadcopymerciad

photomerciadphotomerciad

ejohns89admerciad

wwelch

The Merciad is the official student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst University. It is published throughout the school year, with the exception of finals weeks. Our office is in Hirt, Room 120B. Our telephone number is

(814) 824-2376.

The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and names will be included with the letters. Although we will not edit the letters for content, we reserve the right to trim letters to fit. Letters are due Mondays by noon and may not be more than 300 words. Submit letters to box PH 485 or via email at [email protected].

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

Finals are again rapidly approaching. As the end of the term stress begins to take over students’ lives, at least there is a reading day to look for-ward to on Friday, Nov. 9.

Take a collective sigh of relief -- the 2012 Presi-dential elections are over, and students will gain a reprieve from endless polit-ical ads, campaign com-mericals, tweets, facebook posts and opinion articles about the Obama-Romney match-up.

Confusion abounds regard-ing the mailroom as stu-dents have indicated they are unhappy with their service. In response to last week’s opinion article on the subject, students have come forward sharing their negative experiences in dealing with the mailroom. There is a problem of per-ception at the very least.

Election’s end signals healing

Well another presidential election has come and gone. At long last the endless months of media speculation and pundits waging war on the televi-sion and in the papers are over. The outcome has been decided.

No matter whether or not your pre-ferred candidate emerged victorious here are some things to keep in per-spective.

As someone who disagrees with nearly everyone on nearly everything, I know how easy it can be to become embroiled in heated political discus-sions. Still, at the end of the day it’s important to remember that these

arguments are not worth ruining a friendship over. Sometimes it is better to agree to disagree and carry on with your lives than to let partisan politics interrupt a relationship.

There is a reason that polls routinely fi nd that nationally government and politicians are mistrusted by a large majority of the population.

Every few years the politicians wake us up from our normal daily lives and promise us they know how to take us all to “Candy Mountain” and that it is a “land of sweets and joy and joyness.”

But inevitably when they get elected rather than “a land of sweets and joy and joyness” we fi nd the average people have been taken to the exact same place and duped again for the benefi t of some interest or another.

While this may be a rather pessi-mistic simplifi cation of the political process, there are still encouraging things to be found. Despite the on-go-ing machinations of the political class, the average people still manage to go on. We are able to go on because of the brotherhood that binds Americans together in times of trouble.

The perfect example of this is the relief effort now underway in the wake of hurricane Sandy. Barely even a few days went by until donations came fl ooding in from many different ave-nues.

While sometimes it may seem that the nation is divided and full of par-tisanship, the disaster relief efforts demonstrate that Americans are more than capable of coming together as the

politicians squabble and bicker to use the catastrophe to further their own ends.

In the days ahead, rather than let-ting the fallout of this election drive us apart and fi ll us with animosity and anger, let us remember that politicians will come and go, but the indomitable American spirit shall remain.

President Grover Cleveland once said, “The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune.”

If we ensure that these words said over a hundred years ago remain true today, there is no need to fear the end of the world just because of who the president is.

By Zack YostStaff writer

Merciad retracts columnThe Merciad published a personal opinion column

in last week’s edition highly critical of the mailroom operation. The opinion stated in that column does not refl ect the opinion of The Merciad nor of Mercyhurst University. The Merciad apologizes for the column and the critical wording of the headline.

Sports November 7, 2012Page 8

Lakers crush Vulcans in 40-7 victoryAfter having their six-game win

streak ended by IUP back on Oct. 20, the Lakers rebounded with a win over Edinboro the following week.

Going into their game this past Sat-urday, Nov. 3, against nationally ranked No.22 California University of Penn-sylvania’s Vulcans, the Lakers were given the chance to revitalize their win streak.

Competing against a nationally ranked, tough opponent such as the Vulcans, the Lakers would need to put on the performance of the season to stand a chance. And they did.

The Lakers defeated the Vulcans, 40-7. The win is the largest margin of victory against a nationally ranked team in Mercyhurst history, and improved the Laker’s record to 8-2 overall.

Sophomore quarterback Alec Swartz knows exactly what led to the Lakers victory.

“We played really well in all aspects of the game, offense, defense and special teams. We made plays all game and came together as a team to put together a great game and win,” Swartz said.

Through a strong performance on every side of the ball, the Lakers fought as effi ciently as they have prac-ticed all season.

“Putting together a complete game is something we have been striving to do this year, and I believe the win against Cal U is our closest game to

that yet. Our offense made big plays when the opportunity was there. The defense was tough all game, not letting Cal U do anything offensively, and our

special teams was very good as well,” Swartz said.

Additionally, Brown-Dukes has 1,221 rushing yards, and is only a mere 93-yards away from breaking the Mer-cyhurst’s all-time freshman rushing record. The win against the Vulcans now puts the Lakers back at the begin-ning of a win streak, something they have shown to only expand upon this season.

“Team morale is very good after the win against California. Even though Gannon didn’t beat IUP, which pre-vents us from playing for the PSAC Championship, the team is feeling good about the win. Cal U is a very good team and is know to be the team to beat, so everyone is pretty excited about it,” Swartz said.

With the win against the Vulcans, the Lakers have tied Western Division records with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, both with records of 6-1 in the conference. This tie results in both Mercyhurst University and IUP earning equal recognition to the PSAC Western Division title.

The Lakers will be closing the regu-lar season on Saturday, Nov. 10 against East Stroudsburg’s Warriors at noon on Tullio Field.

By Joe ChiodoSports editor

Mercyhurst ranked 87th in Division II College level sports are very intense

and aggressive. Last month, the Colle-giate Power Ranking from the NCSA reported that Mercyhurst Univer-sity ranked 87th among Division II schools.

The calculation is determined by averaging the Learfi eld Sports Direc-tor’s Cup ranking, the NCAA student athlete graduation rate of each school and the U.S. News & World Report ranking.

The Learfi eld Sports Directors’ Cup rating examines the strength of NCAA athletic departments, the U.S. News & World Report rating of schools’ aca-demic excellence and the graduation rates are provided by the NCAA.

Senior defense specialist/libero (DS/L) volleyball player Katie Powell is excited for Mercyhurst to be recog-nized despite its smaller size.

“I think the ranking is awesome, especially for a school that is so small. Our Division II sports teams all have

great coaches and dedicated athletes from all over the U.S. as well as inter-nationally,” Powell said.

Senior setter Kiera Rebert enjoys being a member of the volleyball team and credits the success to her strong teammates, coaches and fans.

“Being a part of the Mercyhurst volleyball team is an exciting team to be a part of right now. We are on an 11-game win streak and ranked sev-enth in the WCAA Regional rankings. We also have awesome coaches and fans standing behind us, cheering us on,” Rebert said.

The overall record for the team is 25-8.

Many teams have contributed to the ranking: for example, the success of the men’s soccer season, which won their fi rst PSAC Championship, Satur-day, Nov. 3.

“We are doing well because of the commitment to success, which runs from our athletic director and the people who support him in the admin-istration down to the players who are sacrifi cing every day to succeed. In between there you have committed

coaches, medical staff, work studies and many other people who are giving time and resources to see us succeed,” said men’s soccer Head Coach Dale White. “Athletics is a part of Mercy-hurst’s DNA. It is important to be successful at everything you commit yourself to in life, although success needs to be clearly defi ned.”

The team is ranked No. 17 and won the championship game 1-0 against Slippery Rock University. The lone goal came from sophomore defense-men Ryan Lund. Senior Alex Manea was then named MVP of the PSAC Championship tournament for his hat-trick scored in the previous game against Millersville to qualify them for the game championship match.

White credits some of the success to the strong senior players on the team.

“We have strong leadership from the seniors which is helpful. It is hard to pinpoint individuals, there are many players playing well on any given day and any of the players are capable of helping. In the Conference Final we had a defender score the winning

goal,” White said.The team’s record is 14-5-1.Men’s water polo has also seen

great success this season with a record of 21-6 and will travel to Princeton for the team’s fi rst time at the CWPA Eastern Championship in two weeks.

Senior center James Owen credits the team’s great season to the closeness of him and his teammates and their teamwork as well as their new graduate assistant coach, Preston Lujan.

“We only graduated one person last year so our team has been able to train together for longer which allows us to get used to each other’s playing styles and that helps with anticipation during games. We also brought on two major key players, Garret Schoeman and Isaac Ogloblin,” said Owen.

“Our new grad Assistant Coach Preston Lujan, has also made a huge impact on the way we train and pre-pare for games.”

Still Owen fi nds the one true secret to the team’s success is their drive to win.

“Nobody expects us to go far

because we are a D2 underdog play-ing the best D1 water polo teams on the east coast. It only drives us to play harder and have the will to win.” Owen said.

Laker football has also had a great season with its sixth game win streak and its solid record of 8-2 to add to the school wide success.

“Athletics at Mercyhurst have defi -nitely raised its competitive edge since I was a freshman. Football won its fi rst PSAC championship, men’s lacrosse won a national title and soccer won the PSAC championship this year. It’s a great feeling being a part of the era of Mercyhurst athletics that has created a new level of expectations,” said senior offensive lineman Tymothy Takacs. “We want Mercyhurst to be at a level of competition where excellence is more than a goal, but rather an expec-tation.”

The success of Mercyhurst athlet-ics has reached across many of the Division II teams and if it continues, should lead to an even better ranking next year.

By Stacy SkiavoEditor-in-cheif

Alec Swartz (5) takes snaps in practice alongside senior tight end Ryan Bartizal (88)Lindsay Beers photo