Time and space transformed.

A time to gather again and return to

classes—a sense of routine re-established after a short break.

A place for students to celebrate evening Mass among peers in Mercyhurst College’s Catholic tradition.

Instead, Christ the King Chapel offered neither on Sunday night for the Mercyhurst community.

But to an overflowing crowd of hundreds, the college’s

wooden chapel and its foyer at the east end of Old Main provided much more during a memorial service for deceased student Jenni-Lyn Watson.

Vol. 84, No. 9/12/1/10 Free

May she rest...

By Ethan MagocEditor-in-chief

Dancers, campus mourn passing of Jenni-Lyn Watson

Story continued on Page 2

Two athletes charged with sexual assault

Page 2

Advice:Floor mates cause

problemsPage 6

Interior Design majors use unique

technologyPage 4

Schaetzle rewarded for past

strugglesPage 8

NEWSPage 2 December 1, 2010

Mercyhurst mourns murdered dance majorContinued from page 1

Watson was murdered Nov. 19 at her home in Liverpool, N.Y., where she had returned the day before from Mercyhurst and its fall trimester.

As the refrain from “On Eagle’s Wings” came to a close midway through Sunday’s prayer vigil, dozens of students—many of whom barely knew or had never even met Watson—could be heard openly sobbing.

Like he had done four days prior during a prayer service for Watson’s safe return, the Rev. James Piszker, the college chaplain, strode across the altar and spoke helpful but pain-ful words.

“The question comes to mind, ‘Was our (Wednesday) prayer in vain? Was our hope misplaced?’” he asked of the assembled.

“I’m here to tell you that neither of those things are true,” Piszker said.

Piszker and other campus per-sonnel have already put forth a full effort to assist students grieving over the gruesome tragedy.

Her murderWatson, a 20-year-old junior

dance major, was at her home on the morning of Nov. 19.

New York authorities allege that Steven Pieper, a man she dated on and off for approximately 18 months, arrived at her house that morning and an argument ensued.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Pieper likely killed Watson, car-ried her body into his Volkswagen that he had backed into the family garage, then drove two miles north to Clay Central Park.

There, after a fi ve-day police search, Watson’s remains were

discovered Saturday morning near an amphitheater by New York police.

“Within a very short period of time (after her death, she was) dumped like garbage in Clay Cen-tral Park,” Fitzpatrick said at a Nov. 27 news conference.

Pieper, 21, was charged with second-degree murder a few hours after Watson’s body was discovered. Police suspect he acted out of jeal-ousy and anger after Watson broke off the relationship and a year-long engagement in October.

He immediately pleaded not guilty at Saturday’s arraignment and will appear in a Clay court on Friday.

An autopsy was performed on Watson’s body Sunday which con-fi rmed it a homicide, but police are waiting for tissue samples to deter-mine an exact cause of death.

Community effortsMere hours after her disappear-

ance became clear to Watson’s family and local police last weekend, word spread rapidly via Facebook to keep watch for a 20-year-old female of approximately 5 feet, 3 inches and 100 pounds.

“She was little, but she was spunky,” said friend and fellow junior dancer Amy Deer. “Her energy was amazing.”

Friends and family attempted to reciprocate that energy during the weeklong search and subsequent mourning period.

Devin Ruic, Watson’s friend and a columnist for The Merciad, began a Facebook group early on titled “MISSING: Jenni-Lyn Watson” that eventually garnered more than 27,000 members.

“It was amazing to see how much one person could be loved,” said Rachel Torgesen, another junior

dance classmate and close friend to Watson.

Many friends have already cre-ated remembrance slideshows with the wealth of photos Watson had posted to her Facebook and Myspace accounts.

Mercyhurst’s Counseling Center and Campus Ministry are each offering their services to anyone struggling with Watson’s passing.

More than 60 students who desired to be at her 11:30 a.m. funeral today in the Syracuse area left on a pair of buses from the Per-forming Arts Center parking lot at 5 a.m.

“I do not know how many might drive themselves,” said Dr. Gerard Tobin, Vice President for Student Life.

In addition to the temporary memorial to Watson in Zurn Hall’s lobby, the dance department is sell-ing green ribbons with Watson’s ini-

tials on them for a dollar each.All proceeds will be donated to

the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

And Mercyhurst President Dr. Thomas Gamble has already estab-lished the Jenni-Lyn Watson Memo-rial Dance Scholarship for future Mercyhurst dancers. Donations can be made at giving.mercyhurst.edu/jennilyn.

Tauna Hunter, dance department chair, believes Watson’s friends and classmates will fi nd the most solace with one another.

“The most important support they have is for each other,” she said.

Memories of WatsonJenni-Lyn Watson’s death comes

at the end of a tough year of trag-edies for Mercyhurst.

In February, adult student Mat-thew Weber died in his Lewis Avenue apartment the day that

winter term fi nal exams ended. Weber was a 27-year-old graphic design major.

Less than two weeks after school began in September, women’s hockey assistant coach Kristen Cameron was struck by a drunk driver while riding her bicycle in Erie.

She continues to rehabilitate a severe spinal chord injury but remains paralyzed from the chest down in a Toronto hospital.

And Matthew Lieberman, a 2010 alumnus, succumbed to Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on Oct. 6. He was 23.

Watson’s passing now carries a similarly terrible and somber pro-cess for Mercyhurst’s 70 dance majors and others who knew her.

Her roommate Heather Mills said she was the “kind of person who would always be exploding with life.

“She was always about creating a home for us, and we really became a family—calling each other ‘mom” as a nickname for each of us,” said Mills, who met Watson freshman year and began rooming with her this fall.

“It will not be easy,” Piszker said Sunday night. “It will take time. But it will ultimately provide us with the consolation that we so desperately desire.”

Hunter, who last watched Watson perform at SoMar Dance Works’ MOVERS & SHAKERS show on Nov. 13, believes peace and hope will slowly return to her department and its students.

But how?“Our department is very close,

so we have a large family to take care of,” she says, “but dance is a healing art.

“We’ll keep dancing.”

Editor’s note: During Sunday night’s prayer service at Christ the King Chapel, inter-cessions were offered for the soul of Jenni-Lyn Watson and concern for her family.

A prayer for Mercyhurst College’s football program, which is currently on an NCAA playoff run, was also offered. Some students viewed it as a non sequitur amid the vigil’s somber tone.

Vice President for Student Life Dr. Gerard Tobin offers his explanation and apolo-gies to those offended.

This is what I had intended, though I do not think it worked.Life is complex. When people are dying, others are being born. A

mom is diagnosed with a fatal illness, and a young couple is falling in love.

Dave Matthews sings, “Funny the way it seems, if you think about it,

somebody’s going hungry and someone else is eating out. Funny the way it is, not right or wrong, somebody’s heart is broken and it becomes your favorite song.”

What I had hoped we could communicate was that while we are at once mourning the tragic death of Jenni-Lyn, a whole group of our student athletes and coaches have just accomplished a feat we had never achieved in our history.

So our challenge is to acknowledge and celebrate this achievement in the midst of our great sadness.

In a short prayer, I don’t think we affectively communicated the essence of this message.

I apologize to those I offended. Please know, it was not my intent.

The Mercyhurst College community mourned the death of student Jenni-Lyn Watson at the prayer vigil on Sunday.

Ethan Magoc photo

Letter to the editor: The football intercessionVisit The Merciad online to watch a video from Jenni-

Lyn Watson’s prayer memorial held

Sunday.

Page 3December 1, 2010 NEWS

Two Mercyhurst College fresh-men hockey players have been charged with sexual assault stem-ming from a Nov. 14 incident on Briggs Avenue.

Kyle Just and Jordan Tibbett, both 20 years old, were arraigned in front of Erie 3rd Ward District Judge Tom Carney on Nov. 23 on a sexual assault felony count, according to a report by the Erie Times-News.

Criminal complaints fi led in the case allege Just and Tibbett sexu-ally assaulted a woman and forced her to perform a sex act in a Briggs apartment on Nov. 14.

They were each released on $10,000 bond on Nov. 23.

Tibbett, Mercyhurst’s freshman goaltender, is a native of India-napolis, Ind. He has played in four

games in 2010-11, registering a record of 0-3-1 for the Lakers with a 2.81 goals against average.

Just, a forward from Arnprior, Ont., leads the Lakers in assists with six this season. He made the Atlantic Hockey Association’s most recent Honor Roll for his play through Nov. 21.

The preliminary hearing is sched-uled for Friday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. at the Erie County Courthouse’s Cen-tral Court.

The college’s athletic department declined comment regarding Tib-bett and Just’s status with the var-sity hockey program, but neither played during the team’s two week-end losses.

Mercyhurst Director of Market-ing and Public Relations Meghan Corbin said the college is cooperat-ing with the City of Erie Police and “following internal student disciplin-ary protocol” but would not release further details about the incident.

By Ethan Magoc & Nick GlasierEditor-in-chief/ Sports editor

Pair of hockey players charged with sexual assault

Mercyhurst freshman goaltender Jordan Tibbett and freshman forward Kyle Just have been charged with sexual assault.

Contributed photoEthan Magoc photo

Students complete surveys for chance to win iPad

Mercyhurst College students have two chances to win an Apple iPad before Christmas break.

Student Life and the Portal Gov-ernance Board created two surveys for students to share their opinions about the Mercyhurst Portal.

One student will be chosen from each survey to win an iPad.

The surveys will be available on the Mercyhurst Portal to all under-graduate students at both Erie and North East Campuses.

“We’re trying to create more awareness about the portal,” Administrative Assistant for Stu-dent Life Nadine Bower said. “We

tried to come up with an incentive for people to check it out.”

The fi rst survey includes ques-tions about how often students use the portal and what can be done to improve it.

The survey asks questions about student use of smart phones.

According to Bower, depend-ing on student responses, the col-lege may develop an application for portal use on smart phones.

The winner of the fi rst iPad will be picked from students who take the survey between Monday, Nov. 29 and Sunday, Dec. 5.

The fi rst survey winner’s name will be announced through differ-ent campus media outlets including the Mercyhurst Portal on Monday, Dec. 6.

The point of this is to show that

the Mercyhurst Portal is universal and involves many different types of media.

The winner of the iPad from the second survey will be announced during the week of Dec.13, on the portal.

The winner must claim his or her prize within 24 hours. If the prize is not claimed after this time, another winner will be chosen.

Bower said she expects many students to participate in the survey, which will allow staff to improve the portal.

“For further development and design, the feedback will help a lot,” she said.

For a chance to win an iPad, visit my.mercyhurst.edu and click on iPad survey under the student tab.

By Chelsee CallahanStaff writer

The Lumen is accepting submissions through Monday, Dec. 13. E-mail submissions in attached Word documents to Dr. Ken Schiff at kschiff@mercyhurst.edu.

FEATURES December 1, 2010Page 4

Interior Design majors use unique technology

Mercyhurst College’s Interior Design Department has taken great measures to ensure that their students are prepared to enter the industry ready to compete and suc-ceed.

The department is utilizing state-of-the-art software to prepare their students for a thriving career. This includes a new program called Revit Architecture.

Kathy Weidenboerner is the chairperson of the department, which has about 60 students enrolled.

In order to keep up with the demands of new technology, the department updates all its soft-ware to the latest versions every year. The computers, currently Mac Pro towers, are on three-year leases and will be renewed next

summer.When it comes to computer pro-

grams that aid the interior designer, the department uses software that can “provide the student with a

‘toolbox’ of computer skills that they can use to conceptualize their designs and then have the ability to accurately communicate their designs to others,” said Weiden-

boerner.Students are expected to have a

working knowledge of all the soft-ware and computer programs in order to effectively convey creative design solutions, both in 2-D and 3-D computer drawings.

One of the newest and perhaps most exciting programs used by the department is Revit Architecture, which is the leading software pro-gram of its kind.

The program “allows all pro-fessionals on a building project (designers, architects, contractors and engineers) to coordinate their information to increase accuracy, reduce waste, reduce building costs and anticipate design problems before the construction phase,” said Weidenboerner.

Revit has also become the pri-mary program used to do 3-D modeling of building interiors and exteriors.

Design students are able to create

3-D views of their interior designs, map building materials and fi nishes and ultimately create virtual “walk-through” images and videos. The walk through” image and videos allow the student to guide a client visually through the proposed design solution.

Another program, 3ds Max, is frequently used as well. 3ds Max is a program compatible with Revit that is used to render the 3-D images with photo-realistic fi nishes. The program provides clients with accu-rate images of the proposed inte-rior design.

Interior design students are also expected to have a good work-ing knowledge of AutoCAD and AutoCAD Architecture, as well as Adobe Creative Suites CS5, Sketch Up and Artlantis.

“All of these programs are the most prevalent software technolo-gies currently in use by the design community,” says Weidenborner.

By Lynn DulaStaff writer

An example of a 3-D architectural design sample designed by senior Interior Design major Kimberly Ezzo.

Contributed photo

Robert Hoff has chaired the psy-chology department since the major was founded in 1970.

Hoff joined the Mercyhurst Col-lege community in 1969, “right after Woodstock,” he said. He was the fi rst full-time psychology instructor on campus.

Hoff was born in New York City. He completed his graduate studies at the University of Minne-sota and specialized in experimental psychology of learning and psycho-pharmacology.

Hoff has a passion for teaching.“I love to engage and challenge

students,” he said. “When the classroom conversations really get rolling, sparks start to fl y, and the conversation can go into uncharted waters.”

Mercyhurst has awarded Hoff the Teaching Excellence Award, but he does not consider the honor his greatest achievement in his career. He takes pride in watching students develop their own careers.

“Often students start at Mercy-

hurst College and they don’t know what they want to do,” he said. “In psychology especially, there are so many ways to go.”

Hoff takes interest in helping students pursue their interests and fi nd a suitable career. He looks for that spark in each student.

In the classroom, Hoff tries to incorporate discussions that pro-mote critical thinking and help stu-dents develop solid questions. Hoff considers these abilities the most crucial skills for undergraduate stu-dents.

The class discussions allow Hoff to determine the engage-ment of the students and some-times open conversations in ways that allow him to learn things from the students.

Hoff compares the process to jazz music, which he said, “is all about improvisation.”

Off of campus, Hoff pursues his interest in music, which grew from his own college experience as a radio show host. He now hosts a nightly jazz program called JazzFlight on WQLN.

To read the rest of this article, please visit www.merciad.mercyhust.edu/features

By Jennifer McCurdyStaff writer

Teacher feature: Robert Hoff

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Page 5December 1, 2010

Like many dancers, senior dance major Jessica Borowczyk started at a very young age, pointing her toes from age 3 for a local studio in her hometown of Naperville, Ill.

Her love of dance has carried her to where she is today.

After taking classes at Von Heidecke’s School of The Chi-cago Festival Ballet, as well as The

Academy of Dance Arts, ABT, The Washington School of Ballet and Boston Ballet, Borowczyk started looking for dance opportunities in college.

Certain that a ballet program was the right choice, Borowczyk was drawn to Mercyhurst’s acclaimed curriculum. Three performances with varying styles and strong aca-demics, as well as the small and lovely campus drew Borowczyk into the Mercyhurst community.

“I like that the dance department

feels like a family. Everyone is really close and supports each other.” Borowczyk said.

Aside from Mercyhursts’s tight knit community, Borowczyk has had the opportunity to perform in many different areas since arriving at the College. Borowczyk was for-tunate in being a part of the Lake Erie Ballet during her time as a Mercyhurst Dancer, giving her the chance to test out what it is like to be in a real company.

She also appeared in many per-formances put on by the Mercy-hurst dancers throughout the year and cites particular interest in the winter term show, Raw Edges, cho-reographed entirely by Mercyhurst dance students.

“I think it challenges me the most in a style other than ballet and I love to see what great choreography my peers come up with,” she said.

In addition to her successes on the stage, dance is not all that is on Borowczyk’s plate, as she is a double major in World Languages and Cultures.

She had the opportunity to study abroad in Paris this past summer.

Borowczyk also serves as presi-dent for the dance honor society Nu Delta Alpha, which has helped her to fi nd her voice and grow.

As graduation approaches and Borowczyk looks to the future, she aims to be a performer in either a ballet or contemporary company.

Teaching also interests Borowc-zyk and she hopes to attain a teach-ing certifi cate. Teaching ballet is a passion, but Borowczyk also hopes to be a high school French teacher when her performance career has ended.

Although dancing professionally can be a daunting task, Borowczyk’s Mercyhurst education and experi-

ence in dance is sure to lead her to a great future.

Jessica Borowczyk: dancing into the future

Dancers launch outreach performances

As part of an ongoing effort to bring dance to the greater Erie community, the Mercyhurst Dance Department is presenting a series of outreach benefi t per-formances.

The fi rst two performances took place in the fall term, and the out-reach will continue throughout the year.

This outreach project has been organized by junior Megan Dunphy, who is the chairperson for the Out-reach Team in the dance department.

“I thought it was wonderful that we were able to get together such a great performance in a short amount of time,” said Dunphy. “I was really proud of all the dancers and choreographers.”

Seniors Claire Hinde, Nicole Lyons and Sarah Mastrocola all set new works on the dancers to be used for outreach performance throughout this year. Juniors Kris-

ten Marincic and J.M. Rodriguez also prepared self-choreographed solos for the outreach shows.

On Nov. 10, 16 dancers per-formed at the Neighborhood Art House for more than 40 children.

Along with the group pieces and solos, senior Lindsey Smith and junior David Jakubson performed a pas de deux (dance for two) as part of a partnering demonstra-tion.

“The audience was very engaged and focused,” said Jakubson. “It seemed like they were very inter-

ested and were trying to fi gure out what the dance was about.”

To enhance the interactive nature of the performance, the dancers brought a tutu and pointe shoes to show and discuss with the chil-dren. Jakubson also did some small partnering moves with a few of the children.

On Nov. 11, in honor of Vet-erans Day, 13 dancers went to the Mercy Hilltop Center and per-formed for residents assembled for a Veterans Day luncheon. Hinde and Mastrocola honored

this holiday with their choreo-graphed pieces, which had a slight Americana fl avor and featured music by Aaron Copeland and Johnny Cash.

“The audience members at each of these shows had never seen a live dance performance before, and they all really seemed to love it,” said Dunphy.

The dance department looks forward to several more outreach performances in the future, featur-ing both new works and those pre-sented during fall outreaches.

By Sarah MastrocolaStaff writer

By Claire HindeStaff writer

Borowczyk plans to join a ballet or contemporary dance com-pany after graduation.

Rick Klein photo

September 3, 2008 OPINIONPage 6 December 1, 2010

@mercyhurst.edueditormerciadnewsmerciad

featuremerciadopinionmerciadsportsmerciad

entertainmentmerciadphotomerciadphotomerciad

ejohns89copymerciad

admerciadwwelch

bsheridan

The Merciad is the official student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst College. 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 e-mail at opinionmerciad@mercyhurst.edu.

If you don’t want it printed . . . don’t let it happen.EditorsEthan Magoc Kelly Luoma Alex StaceyVictoria GricksNick GlasierKathleen VogtleSamantha WilliamsTyler StaufferEthan JohnsChrissy MihalicMax RiveraBill WelchBrian Sheridan

PositionsEditor-in-ChiefNews Editor

Features EditorOpinion EditorSports EditorA&E EditorGraphics

Photo EditorWeb EditorCopy EditorAd Manager

AdviserAdviser

The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercyhurst College, the staff of The Merciad or the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be e-mailed to opinionmerciad@mercyhurst.edu.

Facebook group offers 2 ways for people to cope in crisis

“May God bring Jenni-Lyn Watson home to her family and friends.”

This prayer has become cus-tomary among the more than 27,000 people who are members of the Facebook group, “MISS-ING: Jenni-Lyn Watson.”

As many of us know, Watson went missing shortly after head-ing home to Liverpool, N.Y., for Thanksgiving break.

Because of the tireless work of family, friends, friends of friends and concerned citizens who never knew her directly, she was present in the minds of thousands around the country.

Hundreds of missing post-ers were posted throughout the nation, stretching from Califor-nia to the East Coast.

Dozens of media outlets were contacted to post Watson’s description.

Countless Facebook statuses and profile pictures were replaced with Watson’s description and the Onondaga sheriff ’s number.

Many of these actions resulted from Mercyhurst student Devin Ruic’s efforts. He created the above Facebook page shortly after Watson went missing.

I was a member of the group when there were only 200 people, but watched as the numbers grew from 2,000 to 5,000 to more than 25,000 members.

Many Mercyhurst students were among them.

Some members are found throughout the world, includ-ing Mercyhurst’s sister college in Dungarvan, Ireland.

This group was utilized as a discussion board to coordinate efforts to bring Watson home. Missing flyers could be down-loaded from the page. Wall posts

contained suggestions of dif-ferent media outlets to contact, including those that had already aired information about the dis-appearance.

Members constantly gave inspi-ration to one another to continue their efforts.

In today’s world, we often hear of cowards hiding behind a com-puter and cyber-bullying some-one. We rarely hear of a social networking site being used with good intentions, yet that was the case in this instance.

Junior, Michelle Tatavosian posted one of my personal favor-ite quotes by Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Rest in peace, Jenni-Lyn. You and your family are forever in our thoughts and prayers.

And may justice reach those who deserve it.

By Andrew MayherStaff writer

Floor mates cause problems

DEAR SHEL: There’s a boy on the third floor of my apart-ment building that has recently been causing problems. At the beginning of the year, he, my

roommates and I began joking back and forth through mes-sages taped to our window. We assumed that everything was in good fun and nothing bad was said between us.

Unfortunately, the boy took things too far—he opened our window while we were sleeping and stole our garden gnome statue that we keep on the windowsill. We got it back, but not until his friend came over to give it back to us. After that, we stopped leaving messages. We thought everything had died down until we found out that he was pretending to be us and writing insulting messages on his friends’ whiteboards. The situation has become very frus-trating.

Do you have any advice? — A WINDOW WARRIOR

----

DEAR WINDOW WARRIOR: Sometimes, living in a commu-nal building can be very diffi cult. There will always be people that push your buttons and rub you the wrong way.

The best thing to do is not get aggravated and to ignore anything else the boy does. It is likely that he is lonely. Perhaps he is not on good terms with his own room-mates and needed someone to talk to, and this was his way of trying to get your attention. The best thing to do is not retaliate, and maybe even try striking up

a casual conversation in the hall with him one day.

However, if things escalate and he tries to get into your apartment or take something from you again, you should report the situation to your RA. These things obviously make you uncomfortable and you don’t find them as amusing as your floor mate does.

I hope that you can put the past behind you and continue onward with no grudges.

Best of luck!

By ShelStaff writer

How to handle and overcome annoying situations Editor’s note: Have a question? Need advice? Ask Shel, The Merciad’s new advice columnist, and she will answer! Go to the opinions page on merciad.mercyhurst.edu to submit.

Look Online:Memories out-

weigh sleeping inVictoria Gricks

explains why it is important to stick to holiday traditions.

Re-examining Black FridayKathleen Vogtle

discusses why the tradition doesn’t satisfy shopping

needs.

September 3, 2008 OPINIONPage 6 December 1, 2010

@mercyhurst.edueditormerciadnewsmerciad

featuremerciadopinionmerciadsportsmerciad

entertainmentmerciadphotomerciadphotomerciad

ejohns89copymerciad

admerciadwwelch

bsheridan

The Merciad is the official student-produced newspaper of Mercyhurst College. 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 e-mail at opinionmerciad@mercyhurst.edu.

If you don’t want it printed . . . don’t let it happen.EditorsEthan Magoc Kelly Luoma Alex StaceyVictoria GricksNick GlasierKathleen VogtleSamantha WilliamsTyler StaufferEthan JohnsChrissy MihalicMax RiveraBill WelchBrian Sheridan

PositionsEditor-in-ChiefNews Editor

Features EditorOpinion EditorSports EditorA&E EditorGraphics

Photo EditorWeb EditorCopy EditorAd Manager

AdviserAdviser

The views expressed in the opinion section of The Merciad do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercyhurst College, the staff of The Merciad or the Catholic Church. Responses on any subject are always welcomed and can be e-mailed to opinionmerciad@mercyhurst.edu.

Facebook group offers 2 ways for people to cope in crisis

“May God bring Jenni-Lyn Watson home to her family and friends.”

This prayer has become cus-tomary among the more than 27,000 people who are members of the Facebook group, “MISS-ING: Jenni-Lyn Watson.”

As many of us know, Watson went missing shortly after head-ing home to Liverpool, N.Y., for Thanksgiving break.

Because of the tireless work of family, friends, friends of friends and concerned citizens who never knew her directly, she was present in the minds of thousands around the country.

Hundreds of missing post-ers were posted throughout the nation, stretching from Califor-nia to the East Coast.

Dozens of media outlets were contacted to post Watson’s description.

Countless Facebook statuses and profile pictures were replaced with Watson’s description and the Onondaga sheriff ’s number.

Many of these actions resulted from Mercyhurst student Devin Ruic’s efforts. He created the above Facebook page shortly after Watson went missing.

I was a member of the group when there were only 200 people, but watched as the numbers grew from 2,000 to 5,000 to more than 25,000 members.

Many Mercyhurst students were among them.

Some members are found throughout the world, includ-ing Mercyhurst’s sister college in Dungarvan, Ireland.

This group was utilized as a discussion board to coordinate efforts to bring Watson home. Missing flyers could be down-loaded from the page. Wall posts

contained suggestions of dif-ferent media outlets to contact, including those that had already aired information about the dis-appearance.

Members constantly gave inspi-ration to one another to continue their efforts.

In today’s world, we often hear of cowards hiding behind a com-puter and cyber-bullying some-one. We rarely hear of a social networking site being used with good intentions, yet that was the case in this instance.

Junior, Michelle Tatavosian posted one of my personal favor-ite quotes by Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Rest in peace, Jenni-Lyn. You and your family are forever in our thoughts and prayers.

And may justice reach those who deserve it.

By Andrew MayherStaff writer

Floor mates cause problems

DEAR SHEL: There’s a boy on the third floor of my apart-ment building that has recently been causing problems. At the beginning of the year, he, my

roommates and I began joking back and forth through mes-sages taped to our window. We assumed that everything was in good fun and nothing bad was said between us.

Unfortunately, the boy took things too far—he opened our window while we were sleeping and stole our garden gnome statue that we keep on the windowsill. We got it back, but not until his friend came over to give it back to us. After that, we stopped leaving messages. We thought everything had died down until we found out that he was pretending to be us and writing insulting messages on his friends’ whiteboards. The situation has become very frus-trating.

Do you have any advice? — A WINDOW WARRIOR

----

DEAR WINDOW WARRIOR: Sometimes, living in a commu-nal building can be very diffi cult. There will always be people that push your buttons and rub you the wrong way.

The best thing to do is not get aggravated and to ignore anything else the boy does. It is likely that he is lonely. Perhaps he is not on good terms with his own room-mates and needed someone to talk to, and this was his way of trying to get your attention. The best thing to do is not retaliate, and maybe even try striking up

a casual conversation in the hall with him one day.

However, if things escalate and he tries to get into your apartment or take something from you again, you should report the situation to your RA. These things obviously make you uncomfortable and you don’t find them as amusing as your floor mate does.

I hope that you can put the past behind you and continue onward with no grudges.

Best of luck!

By ShelStaff writer

How to handle and overcome annoying situations Editor’s note: Have a question? Need advice? Ask Shel, The Merciad’s new advice columnist, and she will answer! Go to the opinions page on merciad.mercyhurst.edu to submit.

Look Online:Memories out-

weigh sleeping inVictoria Gricks

explains why it is important to stick to holiday traditions.

Re-examining Black FridayKathleen Vogtle

discusses why the tradition doesn’t satisfy shopping

needs.

Page 7December 1, 2010

The Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team may be facing some of the greatest expectations ever faced by a Mercyhurst team.

With the NCAA Women’s Hockey Frozen Four hosted in Erie this year, the Lakers are expected to win, but this year they are expected to do it in front of a home crowd.

Midway through the year, the Lakers have not been set-ting the world on fi re as expected but have instead looked somewhat shaky at times.

“I guess it is good to think that we spoiled some people with how good we have played in the past and with all the accom-plishments we have amounted,” head coach Michael Sisti said. “This year, though, we are still looking to get some consistency.”

On top of the pressure to make it to their third consecutive Frozen Four, the Lakers are also grappling with the success of last year’s team.

“I think every season brings on new challenges,” said Sisti. “Last season, the challenges on the ice were easier, but off the ice the chal-lenges were there. This season has been an odd one where we will have challenges, and they will go away for awhile but then come back up.”

The women’s team has compiled a 10-2 record to this point. They are currently ranked third in USCHO’s poll.

The Lakers’ strongest win came against second-ranked Cornell Uni-versity, the team that eliminated them in the NCAA semifi nals in March.

The Lakers won 4-3 this time in a thrilling overtime that ended with a short-handed goal by assistant cap-tain Jesse Scanzano.

“The Cornell game was our game against a very good team,” said Sisti. “We were down three times but we fought back to win.”

The issue with the Lakers is their two losses that have come against sub-par opponents.

The fi rst came at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, a pro-

gram with a current record of 6-6-2.

The Lakers beat Bemidji State in game one of the series but lost 5-3 on the second day.

The most disap-pointing loss of the year came at Niagara University just three days after the Cornell victory. Niagara owns a 3-10-3 record.

The main culprit in these slip-ups has been inconsistent play.

“It has been something we have been really fi ghting,

and we have been paying the price for not playing up to those expecta-tions,” Sisti said.

For the Women’s team, senior captain Meghan Agosta, and assis-tant captains Vicki Bendus and Scanzano have been as good as advertised.

Agosta is fourth in points and fi fth in goals in the nation.

Bendus is ranked fi fth in assists and tied for ninth in points follow-ing her Patty Kazmaier-winning season in 2009-10.

These three—along with the continued stellar play of junior Bailey Bram and the emergence of junior Kelley Steadman—have the Lakers leading the nation in goals per game at 5.25.

“We have a lot of good players with a lot of different forwards who can score,” Sisti said.

The Lakers host Niagara this weekend for two more games before traveling to St. Lawrence University next weekend.

Then comes the anticipated Wis-consin showdown on Jan. 2.

By Spencer HuntStaff writer

Women’s hockey faces obstacles

Sophomore defenseman Stephanie DeSutter fi ghts for the puck.

Scoot Williams photo

Sports Page 8December 1, 2010

Schaetzle rewarded for past struggles

The journey to success for Mer-cyhurst College football’s head coach Marty Schaetzle has been one of great struggle and hard work.

Schaetzle has coached the Lakers for nine seasons and through many ups and downs.

This year, Schaetzle has taken Mercyhurst football to new heights.

The Lakers are in the NCAA playoffs for the fi rst time and are now in the third round.

They defeated Bloomsburg Uni-versity, 28-14, Saturday and earned the program’s fi rst NCAA playoff victory.

The victory has already per-formed volumes for the football program.

“It is great for the program, for all the players that have worked so hard, and for our students and fans that have really been coming out and supporting us,” Schaetzle said.

The success has been a long time coming for Schaetzle.

Since Schaetzle arrived in 2002, the program has had one other win-ning season.

“I kind of wish the success had come sooner for us. In the begin-ning, we were growing a program. We were trying to make things better and more comfortable for us while trying to prove our program,” Schaetzle said.

Coming into this season, the Lakers were predicted to fi nish seventh in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Schaetzle disagreed with the pick from the beginning.

“We felt that we could do better than what we were predicted to do,” said Schaetzle. “We didn’t pay much attention to it.”

He and the team were correct, as they have surged far past expecta-tions.

“To get to this point, we have had very hard workers on this team. We have been able to take it one game at a time and restrained from look-ing too far ahead,” Schaetzle said.

The senior leaders—Garrett Kensy, Bryan Boyce, Tim Herbener

and Gerald Anderson—have also played a huge role for the team.

“These guys are really good people with great character and have done a great job leading this team,” Schaetzle says.

One other big factor in the Lakers’ success this season has been the emergence of redshirt junior quarterback Travis Rearick.

Rearick has sparked the Lakers’ offense with 22 touchdown passes

and 1,872 passing yards.The move to make Rearick the

starter has been, perhaps, one of Scaetzle’s best moves.

“Kensy got hurt a couple weeks before our fall break. Travis really excelled on the fi eld and lead us to a couple of comeback victories and he has had the job since,” Scahetzle said.

There has also been a great deal of positive fate associated with this year’s success, according to Schaet-zle.

“A lot of teams are as good as us, but we have been able to stay healthy and we have had some breaks go our way,” Schaetzle said.

He is now one step away from taking his team to the Division II semifi nals.

Schaetzle, however, is not quite ready to start looking back on what his team has accomplished this year.

“Somewhere down the line, I don’t know when, we will look at what we have done and see that we have accomplished a lot but for now we are staying focused,” he says.

By Nick GlasierSports editor

Marty Schaetzle addresses his team in the postgame huddle after Saturday’s victory over Bloomsburg game.

Ethan Magoc photo

Manchel facing tall task with young roster

Last season, the Mercyhurst Col-lege men’s basketball team posted an 18-10 record, went 8-6 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Confer-ence and made an appearance in the PSAC Championship Tournament.

After losing 76-69 to Clarion in the PSAC Tournament quarterfi -nals, the Lakers also lost nine players from their roster; eight graduated and one transferred.

With new roster sports open, the Lakers and eighth-year head coach Gary Manchel added seven new-comers.

Three are Division I transfers, one is a junior college transfer and three are freshmen.

“We have a lot of new guys that have to adjust to our system,” Man-chel said. “We need them to be

committed to defense, grind for victories and be able to stay under control on both ends.”

The new additions to the roster will join the fi ve returnees from

last season, including senior guard Heiden Ratner who already has a PSAC Player of the Week honor under his belt this season.

“He is a kid that can really score

for us, and he is a very good defender too,” Manchel said of Ratner, who led the team last season in scoring average with nearly 16 points per game.

Sophomore Luis Leao, graduate student Olivier Dupiton, junior Bill Weaver and senior Shelton Jackson could all have breakout seasons as well, according to Manchel.

All four players have already proven they are essential elements to the Lakers’ lineup this season.

Leao leads the team in rebounds—averaging 8.3 per game.

Weaver has tallied fi ve blocks, and Jackson leads the Lakers’ pass-ing effort with 11 assists.

Dupiton has already shown prow-ess from the foul line and managed 10 rebounds in three games.

Although only three games into the 2010-11 season, the Lakers are 3-0 and have beaten all three oppo-nents by at least 10 points.

In fact, they stomped Lake Erie

College by 26 points in Saturday’s home opener.

Each new season brings new goals and expectations, but one remains the same.

“I think this season is like every season. We want to be able to com-pete at the top level of the PSAC and make it into the playoffs,” Man-chel said.

The next few games for the Lakers could be crucial predictors of this season’s tone.

“The next two games are going to be good tests. Urbana, although 1-7, has played a really tough sched-ule, and last year they beat Gannon, Edinboro and us,” said Manchel, noting that Mansfi eld, the team’s Dec. 6 opponent, is undefeated. “(Mansfi eld) will let us know where we are early in the season.”

After Thursday’s trip to Urbana, Mercyhurst will play at home Dec. 6, 11 and 12.

By Rachel O’ConnorStaff writer

The Mercyhurst College junior guard Jamal Turner makes a no-look pass in the Lakers’ 92-66 victory over Lake Erie College.

Ethan Magoc photo