Mercyhurst College left with mixed emotionsH.W. Brands leaves questions unanswered

By David HaurinMONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Students of Mercyhurst College and members of the Erie community were left with a mixture of emotions Thursday night following the speech delivered by the University of Texas at Austin’s prominent history professor, H.W. Brands.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” was met with a silencing crowd as Brands stepped on stage. Anticipating a unique comparison of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s handling of the Great Depression and President Obama’s current dealings with our present recession, the audience grew anxious with disappointment as Brands speech, “Presidents in Crisis: FDR and Obama” came to a close.

Brands, author of “Traitor to His Cause: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt,” spoke at the college’s Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center (PAC) Thursday to kick off the school’s yearlong study, “Fear Itself: The Great Depression, The New Deal and Today’s Search for Economic Security.” The first of many speeches geared toward a better understanding of this current situation, Brands entertained a fairly large mixed crowd filling three-quarters of the auditorium’s lower-level seating.

Brands’ enthusiasm clearly demonstrated his love for history as he explained in detail F.D.R.’s rise to power and the radical actions he took attempting to pull America out of the Great Depression. “A leader has to ask of congress powers of those that the Commander in Chief would ask of during times of war, and F.D.R. was that guy,” stated Brands. “In times like these, one has to get mad and show who the bad guys are, and thats what he did.”

Although very interesting, thoroughly depicting the life and presidency of F.D.R., little was said of how Obama could apply these concepts to the current recession we as American’s are dealing with. As one student of Mercyhurst put it, “I came to hear about our recent situation and what President Obama could draw from, and all I got was an hour lecture of F.D.R.”

The disappointment became clear as an older gentleman in the crowd asked the question, “What are your thoughts on President Obama and the current situation?” Not much was said in response to the question leaving the gentleman unfulfilled.

“He seemed to beat around the bush when comparing the two, I don’t know if it was because he had little information on Obama or because he didn’t want to make assumptions,” stated Matthew Monter, a Junior at Mercyhurst. “Either way, little was stated on the subject and I was really let down.”

Bigger, Better and Brand-NewMammoth Forces Change of Venue

By David HaurinFRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009

Twenty-feet-long, 13-feet-high and teeth weighing in at 15 pounds; sizes of a true giant standing as the main attraction highlighting this year’s Annual Sincak Natural History Exhibit, “Ice Ages.”

The Stegodon, a distant relative to the well known woolly mammoth, was discovered in Northwest Asia where it used to roam around 3.5 million years ago. This creature is so big, that it would have raised through the roof of the Cummings Art Gallery, where the event is normally held. The enormous size forced the exhibits curator, Scott McKenzie to relocate to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.

The 10-foot tusks only add to the unbelievable size of this ancient creature. “This is my third time coming to this exhibit over the years, and I was shocked to see the size of this year’s new ‘find,’” said one Erie community member. “You just don’t really appreciate the size of something until you see up close.”

Discovered in Java, Indonesia, the Stegodon is only one of many ice age specimens on display. Assembled next to this giant elephant-like creature is the skull of a Stag Moose. This 20,000-year-old skull was found in a basement excavation in Warren County, New Jersey. Other displays include a 1,000,000-year-old Saber Cat found in Pennsylvania, as well as a Giant Shark dating back more than 5,000,000 years. This is the largest predatory fish known.

“It’s hard to believe that at one point there were creatures of this size and magnitude roaming the Earth,” said Mercyhurst Senior Adam Schlessel. “I have always been intrigued by fossils and archaeology and was blown away when I saw the cast of the Stegodon.”

This array of fossils are part of the Michael and Barbara Sincak Natural History Collection housed by Mercyhurst College. Michael, a geologist, and his wife, Barbara, have traveled the world making casts of truly rare specimens including the Woolly Rhino and this year’s Stegodon.

“It took about 14 people to assemble the display, which has been getting nothing but compliments since it opened Monday,” said one of the TREC workers. “The Stegodon cast really paints a bigger picture to this time period.”

The Stegodon, along with the many other casts and fossils from the ice age, will be on display at the TREC until Nov. 20. during the center’s normal business hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Lakers set sail for expansionAthletic Director looks to improve athletic facilities

By David HaurinFRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2009

Last year the Mercyhurst College athletic teams exceeded all expectations that were thrown on them, especially entering their first year of play in a new conference, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). As the teams traveled from school to school in the conference, the facilities kept getting better and better, making the new athletic director, Joe Kimball, wonder why those kind of facilities have not yet reached Mercyhurst College.

“As you enter our main gates, Mercyhurst is beautiful and attractive, however, if someone was to look at our facilities, they are just not up to par,” said Kimball. Traveling from school to school in the new conference has given current coaches ideas on how they can improve the facilities to better the sport they coach. “Looking at the other schools in the PSAC, we are at least 20 years behind them all,” said Kimball.

Over the summer, Kimball and the coaches at Mercyhurst College have implemented a plan to improve the very facilities that the athletes use everyday. The start of this plan came with the re-turfing of the football field.

In the grand scheme of things, the athletic department at Mercyhurst College plans to improve many athletic necessities on campus. They are looking to negotiate a deal with Mercyhurst Prep to relocate the baseball team to their field and renovate the field they currently have. Renovations would include new turf, dugouts, and fencing.

If that move is made possible, the softball team could possibly move on campus and soccer would be able to have a field all to themselves. They currently share the field with the baseball team. “We are looking to increase stadium seating as well,” said Kimball. “Every other PSAC (football) stadium seats about 2,500 more people than we do.”

Along with those, the gym and ice rink are also due for upgrades. It is going to be a slow, gradual process said Kimball. New office buildings and locker rooms are also being looked into for the coaching staffs and players.

One last upgrade is to “increase the rec center not only the for athletes, but the student body as well,” said Kimball. Kimball claims that support for athletics by the city and student body will bring about new facilities boosting the morale here on campus.

The students and athletes on campus seem to agree with this approach being taken by the athletic department. “The new dorms have given a new look to Mercyhurst College,” said Mercyhurst

student Andrew Sindoni. “If the athletic facilities were improved it would give even more appeal to the campus attracting not only more athletes, but students as well.”

That seemed to be the consensus among the student athletes as well. “The facilities we are forced to use here on campus are below average,” said Mercyhurst baseball senior, Adam Gray. “I think if we improve our facilities it would aid in the recruiting process and help improve our game as players.”

Kimball claims that it is going to be quite a few years before our facilities are up to par, but he was real adamant about pecking away until standards are met.

Pride of PennsylvaniaThe Unsung Heroes of Mercyhurst College

By David HaurinWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009

Getting up early and staying up late is nothing new to these fine students at Mercyhurst College. Many students have probably seen them walking around campus all dressed up in their camouflage uniforms. Some have probably even wondered who these students are. They are the Pride of Pennsylvania, Mercyhurst College’s own Army ROTC.

Being a part of the Mercyhurst Army ROTC Company is nothing but easy. Based out of Gannon University, the Mercyhurst Company prides itself on being tough. This is nothing new to instructor Master Sgt. McCarthy, who served in the U.S. Army Special Forces. He pushes these cadets to their limits each and every day.

A satellite of the Pride of Pennsylvania Battalion, Mercyhurst Company is nothing short of the best. They have the highest grade point average and highest physical training scores than any other school in the battalion. A typical day for these cadets may start as early as 6 a.m. This happens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They are up early ready for physical training. Physical training is ran by current members of the Junior class. Activities involved in a normal physical training session consists of running outside, an occasional spin class, lifting at the recreation center, hill sprints, circuit training, bleacher runs and a lot of core workouts.

This is just the beginning. All physical training workouts are done in preparation for the bi-annual squad competition. Cadet Staff Sgt. Matthew Monter, leader of Mercyhurst Company Squad 4, said, “these are the two biggest events of the year. We train harder and harder every week in order to be physically ready to meet the challenges that await.” These challenges are far from easy. “In the three years I have been here,” Monter went on to say, “this is the first time we have won the squad competition.”

This victory did not come easy though. A series of grueling challenges one after another stood in their way, as did three other companies; Gannon, Penn State Behrend, and Edinboro. All ten members of each squad were required to compete. The competition started off with a medicine ball run. This consisted of a one lap run around the The Hammermill Center at Gannon University. The run then transitions into an army crawl for half the length of the gym and then into a low crawl for the other half. “The object in the low crawl is to keep you head down against the ground, dragging it along so when there are bullets flying overhead you remain unscathed,” described Monter.

All this, and the competition was just getting started. After the low crawl, a three second buddy rush was performed. “The object here is to sprint half the length of the gym saying, ‘I’m up,

they see me, I’m down,’” explained Monter. “Each time you say down, you hit the deck.” It was a unique sight to see.

The buddy team carry was next followed by the five gallon water jug run. “I have never witnessed something so unique before,” said Mercyhurst Junior Thurman Schaetzle. “I have seen all kinds of sporting events in my lifetime, yet this was probably the most entertaining thing I have seen.” After the jug run, came the M-16 rifle weave. Each member of the squad grabbed his or her rifle and weaved in and out of the cones. Each squad then transitioned into another low crawl, this time with the rifle. “The sign of a good rifle low crawl would be a rug burn on either side of the cheek,” said Monter, proudly showing his off. “This is the only way to be sure that your head stays down.”

The final event is the litter run. Here four members of the squad each grab one side of the litter, or stretcher, and carry a teammate one lap around the gym. Mercyhurst Squad 2 finished first with an overall time of six minutes, 45 seconds. Mercyhurst Squad 4 come in second place posting a time of six minutes, 55 seconds, solidifying first place overall for the Mercyhurst Company.

“On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the difficulty a 12,” said Monter. “I was throwing up at the end and could even taste a little blood.” This seemed to be a consensus among other squad members as they were all exhausted fighting for air. This type of training and physical activity is what keeps them alive when facing the worst of conditions in battle.

Out of all three schools that make up the Pride of Pennsylvania Battalion, Mercyhurst Company is the largest, training 32 cadets. “Without the leadership and hard training sessions, whether it would be physical training or these simulated competitions, we are pushed to our full potential to make sure we are ready for anything,” said Monter. “To see everyone giving it their all in the squad competition makes me feel comfortable that I know I can trust each one of them to have my back in battle, as I hope they trust that I have theirs.”