the merciad, april 13, 1989

8/6/2019 The Merciad, April 13, 1989

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VOL. 62 NO. 22 MERCYHURST COLLEGE,GLENWOOD HILLS, ERIE, PA 16546 THURSDAY, APRIL 13,19891989 MSG

presidential candidates

R O B I N E N G E L

BR A D FA IR FIELD

G E R R Y F A N T A

D A V I D G O D W I N

M A T T T R I O L A

AssaultSuspectCaught

By Robi TaylorMerciad staff reporter


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PAGE 2 The M erciad APRIL 13,1989

More money for SAC,Laverty saysBy Karen SampsonMerciad staff editor

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The amou nt] of scholarshipmoney awarded to the SAC officersshould be raised a total of $6,500,according to candidate forJSACChairperson, K elly Laverty.Laverty said the scholarship forSAC Chairperson should be raisedfrom $1,500 to $4,500 a year. "Thefigure itselfwas one that I heard thatathletes receive,** Laverty said. "Ifeetihe.SAC chairperson will addjust::as much; if not more, to theschool and to the students as anathlete would. If the school feelsjustified in offering the athletes thatamount of money they should feelthat can offer that amount to theSAC chairperson.'*[I Scholarships for the officersshould also be raisedfrom$500 to$2,500 for vice president Treas-urer, secretary, and public relationsperson should be raisedfrom$500to $1,000 according to Laverty,who was involved in the SAC dur-ing the 88-89 school year, i \4'The vice chairperson shouldget more than the secretary, treas-urer and public relations personbecause of gthe fact that they domore," Laverty said. Sheadded,"in a situation like this money isgoing to .be a motivator^ If p eople &feeJ Jhat they are getting paid well-J.enough for what they are doing,then they will do a better job."Laverty, a sophomore HRIMmajor, said a lot of work goes intoplanning activities since "studentsexpect at least one activity a week,and thecurrentscholarshipamountsare not enough.i Laverty also said studentsshould elect the SAC officers dur-ing the MSG representative elec-

Since the process of officerappointment would notbe changedin time for this! year's election,Laverty said she will conduct inter-views for the positions and consultthe SAC advisers, E. William Ken-nedy and Larry Kozlowski, on thestudent appointments. "Interviewsare a way toge t to know the personmore, especially if it is a personyoudonfcTciK>v/ and find out*what

they've done and what they canoffer the organization," Laverty

said, "instead of saying a couple ofmy friends said they want to do it sothey're going to be my officers.Youneed to get more than just yourfriends because friends don't al-ways work ou t'' Laverty added theadvisers' input should b e crucial tothe decision for officer positions.Next year Laverty plans to try toimprove the efficiency of the or-ganization. One way she plans to dothis is to improve communicationswith the administration. "There aretoo many people the SAC chairper-son} has to report to, " she said.Laverty said the SAC should haveone person in the college admini-stration in charge of the approval ofall SAC events. This way the or-ganization would only have to re-port to one person and would beable to make definitive plans basedon his/her answer. \Laverty said last this year theSAC has had many problems withfinding people to drive vans toevents, since the drivermust beover21 . There is only on e person over21 on the SAC this year, accordingto Laverty. She wants to form atransportation committee, so theSAC will have a pool of studentsover the age of21 whoare willing todrive vans to events."A transportation committeewould be made up of maybe 10 to205*ftpeopUfwho would be willing to!take turns to drive to the activities,so that responsibility d oesn't fall onone perso n," Laverty said. "Theydon't have to directly be membersof the SAC, if they are, that's better,but they could just serve on thetransportation committee."She hopes to budget somemoney to be able to give the driversa small reimbursement or gift fortheir services . 4- jLaverty will bring back popularactivitiesfrom ormer years such asSimon Sez during the ActivitiesWeekends, comedians, and dances.She also hopes toplan events whichare not purely for entertainmentsuch as a CPR course.Other areas Laverty hopes toimprove are to strengthen comm u-nications and interaction betweenSAC and MSG. She said the MSGconstitution calls for a Treasurer'sand Secretary's report from theSAC given to the MSG, which

KELLY LAVERTYwould help the organizations towork better with each other. "Thisreally hasn't been done," Lavertysaid. "This is importantso that theyknow what we're doing." Sheadded this would ensure that theorganization's officers were fulfill-ing their duties. ILaverty hopes to curb studentapathy by making meetings bi-weekly rather than weekly as theynowexist Currently, each meetinglasts about 15 to 20 m inutes. Bi-weekly meetings are the minimumamount of time the SACcan meet,according to the MSG constitution.She said lowering the number ofmeetings will attract students be-cause they will not have to attend asoften.If elected chairperson, Lavertyplans to delegate responsibilities toofficers and other committee mem-bers as a way of keeping peopleinvolved in the organization. "Byinvolving all ofthe students, notjustthS? dflrofefs^ft1 ufe plahlriihg andcarrying out of the activities (thestudents) will feel like they are partof the organization," Laverty said,"instead of once in a while beinghanded a pile of posters and beingasked, 'will you please put theseup?'" I i |Shesaid this year the comm itteestarted with approximately 30people attending meetings. Now thecommittee | has about 10 peopleregularly attending.I Laverty said students shouldvote for her because she is open tonew1 ideas, is committed to Mer-cyhurst and the S AC organization,and can do the job. "It is necessaryto have goo d communication skillsboth with the students and theadministration, accepting new ideasand not just always doing what wasdone in the past ," Laverty said. "Ican do the ob. If I didn't feel I coulddo the job, then I wouldn't be run-ning." \

George runs unopposed or MSG treasurerBy Mary DuntonMerciad staff reporter

Students getting their money'sworth is the mam concern of theuncontested candidate for MSGtreasurer, Tod George.jj : &"I want the students to see adirect correlation between theirstudent government fee and theservices offeredto them/ ' Georgesaid. .$ j \George, who was on theSACboard, is a junior accounting ma-jor with experience in budgetingbecause he holds a job with Gen-eral Electric as an audit specialist

George said he plans to use hisexperience to better organize thestudent government money, andwill begin by requiring receipts forevery expenditure.SAC should have well-planned activities more often,according to George. An exampleof this would be informal dancesand interesting, educationalspeakers, he said. ,.George also would likethe stu-dent body to be more active, but hesaid they should have some incen-tive.Students shouldn't be chargedadmission for dances, according

to George, and this wou ld be fairsince a government fee has al-ready been paid. "I want thestudents to be able to say, nextyear, that they got something fortheir money," George said.Tutoring, which presently isnot provided by Mercyhurst forjuniors and seniors, George saidshould be made available forclasses not in the student's m ajor.The treasurer said he plans totake an a ctive leadership positionin government that has a purposeand a goal-to satisfy the social andacademic needs ofthe Mercyhurststudents.

Penhollow wants toeliminate SAC jobBy Karen SampsonMerciad staff editor

The Student Activities Comm it-tee should combine the positions ofsecretary and treasurer and add twotransportation directors, accordingto SAC chairperson] candidate,Andrew Penhollow.The offices of secretary andtreasurer should be combined be-cause the Mercyhurst Student Gov -ernment treasurer handles much ofthe accounting of the approximately$15,000 budget One person shouldhandle both du ties, Penhollow said.The two transportation directorswould drive to events. Because ofschool insurance regulations, theymust be 21. Penhollow said theywould split oneof the $500 scholar-ships, k ,The current SAC scholarship is"adequate," according to Penhol-low. "If more money was to begiven to student activities, I wouldrather see it going to the funds foractivities and n ot into the scholar-ships," Penhollow added. "Ifeverybody puts as m uch effort intotheir position as I plan on puttinginto mine, the school will have toconsider paying us m ore."

Penhollow said he would ap-point the officers after interviewingapplicants and ^consulting SAC"aavisSir Dait^KbTdGwxkirAccord?'ing to Penhollow, the SAC shouldbe composed of students who wantto work for the students.Partof the way he plans to workfor them is to have longer SACoffice hours and to use a suggestionbox, he said. %Next year, Penhollow said hewill try to plan events for everyone- not just those who normally at-tend SACevents. "A lot of peoplecomplain about 'there's nothingdone thatI want to do,"' Penhollowsaid. "If they would tell us whatthey want to do, maybe I could do itI can only think of so many thingsand the committee is only going tobe able to think of certain thing s."He wants to plan a trip to an NFLfootball gam e, have a Gong Show,and help promote activities likesporting events by sponsoringNoise and Banner days and invitinghigh school bands to perform.He stressed student surveys andpromotion of events asakey to theirsuccess. "Everything I do , I want itto be because I had a good responsefrom the stydents," Penhollowsaid. jAccording to Penhollow, signsshould be up well in advance ofevents, there should be news re-leases given to The Merciad and

WMCE, notices on the electricsigns, flyers in mailboxes, andword-of-mouth door-to-door pro-motion. "I want to make publicity avery important part of SAC," Pen-hollow said. "It' s the largest reasonwhy p eople aren't involved."According to Penhollow, theMSG and the SAC need more inter-action,^ which c ould benefit stu-dents. "It seemed like there was aline between MSG and SAC thisyear,'' he said. *' I want to bring theunity back. W ith that unity we cando more because there is moremoney." I | f | | $ |: Penhollow suggested the possi-bility of obtaining sponsorship orco-sponsorship (with SAC) of ac-tivities. through local com panies.

A N D Y P E N H O L L O W"This is a way to help pay for bigeven ts," he said. PenhoUow saidthat he did not think it would beeasytofindsponsors. "You just have tokeep calling until you findone," headded. iPenhollow also supports moreactivities for Homecoming Week-end and "make it a big deal" Hesuggested a parade composed ofhigh school marching bands andhonored alumni. H e would also liketo decorate the campus in green andblueribbons or the weekend."There's no reason we can'thave a big homecoming like otherschools do," Penhollow said. "Iwant the alumni to com e home forand see what we've done and beproud to come home for homecom-' He said it will benefit theng. because "alumniproud give more money." It wouldalso be another way for Mercyhurstto involve its ^neighbors in theschool activities. |"I have seen how SAC hasbeenrun the last two years. I have care-fully analyzed why certain thingshave not worked and why certainthings have. |r ' l don't think students shouldjust sit back and put up with thesame old thing year after year. Iwant to bring some excitement backtocampus. I don't want Mercyhurstto be a suitcase collece anvmore."

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APRIL 13,1989 The Merciad PAGE 3

Our opinion;Maintenance, Security responsible for studentsAfter the three burglaries andtwo assaults in the college-ownedapartments this month, a Merciadreporter went on a tour of the build-ings on April 7. f+He said that entry to five of theseven buildings was as easy asopening the front door. The doors tothe five buildings were either un-locked or left open so he just walkedin without asking anyone to let himin. There is a buzzer system in eachof the buildings. But there is usuallyonly one working at any one time,according to building residents.They added that when the buzzersdo work, it is impossible to see whois at the door because of the way thewindows are set up at the frontdoors. s iIn one of the buildings he wasinvited into an apartment by a girlwho thought that he was somebodyelse's father.After getting into the buildingshe found that at least 25 percent ofthe apartments had the doors leftpartially open. He didn't open anyof the doors, but no one answeredwhen he knocked on the door.Most of the buildings hadpeople in them when he was therebut only on e person asked himabout why he was there or who hewas; most of them just waved orsaid hello.

The residents complained thatthe locks on their apartments eithernever work orare almost impossibleto unlock. They said the residentassistant o f their building won'treport the problems, so why shouldthe students worry about itMost of the front doors to thebuildings are impossible to close.This is because the doors are verytight fitting. If they swell a little, dueto moisture, they cannot be locked.It's time that studentstake someresponsibility to protect themselvesfrom thieves and rapists. All it takesis a little effort to make sure a dooris pulled shut behind them. If diedoors are broken, take five minutesand call maintenance at 87 1-027 3.Merrill Dever, director of cam-pus security, compares living in theapartments to living in a hotel. "Ifthe locks are busted on my hotelroom door I'm going to keep har-assing the manager until theyfix tThe students should keep callingmaintenance until their locks getsfixed," he said.According to the students theproblems are not going to be fixedthis year because the complaints arefiled by seniors and the schoolwon't act on them until after thisterm is over. * 'If the problems aregoingto be ixed t will be taken careof after we've left," they said.There are other suggestions toThe M erciad

Mercyhurst College's First-Class newspaperas rated by the Associated Collegiate PressVol 62 No. 2 2 April 13,1989Christopher J. KovskiMichelle BushKaren SampsonMatthew J. ClarkKevin McHughPatty ConeglioLiz Richards

EditorEditorial Board

Sports EditorAssistant Sports Editor

Business ManagerPhoto Editor

Alexa PotterPatSteckmanSteve Rush

j -

John Kupetz

Circulation ManagerPhotographer

CartoonistFaculty Adviser

ReportersAmy Lynn AustinChris Cade-MeadeBill DarlingMary DuntonTina FieldingHolly FulmerBill Hogan

Maria KellyTheresa KlopckerSara LinehanBrian MaidenAndy PenhollowRobi TaylorAndrea Tipton

The Merciad is the student-produced newspaper of MercyhurstCollege, Box 161,501 E. 38th St , Erie, PA 16546. Phone: 825-0376. Material for piih|fcatiop must be submitted bv noon on theMonday befo|t publication. ^ ;The Merciad welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed,but the writer's name can be withheld by request

make it safer for students to live inMercyhurst owned apartments;Increase lighting in the hallwaysand outside areas of the buildings.Some o f the hallways were darkenough fora person to hideat 1 p.m.when the reporter went through theapartments.At night the areas around thebuildings around the buildings arevery poorly lit, according to resi-dents of 3810 Briggs North. Theaddition of some more lights mayhelp to stop some of the peoplewandering around the buildings,they said.They also complained that secu-rity does notpatrol around theapart-ments as often as they shou ld.' 'Wehardly ever see security. Becausewe're so far from the center ofcampus we are pretty much left onour own," they said.The school also should considera new form of security for the frontdoors of the buildings. Maybe usingthesame computer entry system thatis currently being used at automaticteller systems around Erie.With the student ID cards thateach student carries it would be noproblem to set up an entry systemthat would use the same cards. Withthe system hooked up to theschool's computer it would be easyto add or deduct a name from thebuilding's access listm Another solution would be toinstall television cameras at all po-tential problem sites. Entry ways,laundry rooms, and heavily traveledoutside areas would be the mostlogical areas. This would requireone security person whose only jobwould be to watch the monitors.At least maintenance should g etthe buzzers to work and maybehook up an intercom system to theseparate apartments. This wouldallow residents to know who is at thedoor before they go down to open i tMaybe a combination r of al lthese ideas will have to be imple-mented to protect the students whocome here to learn in safety.True, it's going to cost money tosolve this problem. But if you thinkof the cost of a liability lawsuit ifsomebody gets hurt in an assault, itreally isn't that much.With three burglaries, one as-sault, and a possible rape in the lastmonth, students are going to have torealize that it is up to them to stopcrime on campus. It is as simple aslocking your door, calling securityif somebody is wandering aroundthe apartments, and controlling whoattends parties in the buildings.It is also the responsibility of thecollege. For the rent of about $60 aweek, tenants should be able to havelocks that work and regular securitychecks of the buildings.The way things arenow they arelucky if they see a guard once in anevening. There have to be at least 3 -4 patrols a night for them to beeffective, residents said.To make Mercyhurst safe it isgoing to take the efforts of students,security, and the administration.Someone is going to have to sayenough is enough and take the extrastep to make sure that only residentscan get into the apartments.

Letter from an editor:

Our election agendaSeveral^ Mercyhurst studentsvoted in the national elections lastautumn, but a very small amountexercised this right last spring duringthe Mercyhurst Student Governmentelections. g *The decision of whom to vote forin the MSG elections can possibly bemore important to a student right nowthan who is in charge of the nationbecause the MSG officers are "here

By IKarenSampsonMerciadstaff j jeditor I and now" and are supposed to beworking for the student W 4;In our little microcosm, the MSG officers are the equivalent to the^iCongress of the United States because they control our money and acuyas a stepping stone to the administration. Theoretically, they can tell theadministration what the students want, and see it completed, because itis the students who pay the costs of the institution. J '*TheMerciad, in its commitment to try to improve student awarenessof issues connected to our microcosm, decided to treat the MSGelections a little differently this year. 8 |In the past, letters of intent were printed in the paper, allowed thecandidates to state a few points on the topic of their choice. This is notthe best format because candidates with shallow or limited ideas canconcentrate on their rhetoric in a single area and virtually ignore everyother issue. ? i \This year, however, The Merc iad staff of editors and reporters sa tdown and setan agenda. On this agenda we brought up issues we wouldlike to see addressed by candidates and decided to find out what thecandidates thought about specific issues. *We also added things to the agenda that were problems we felt werebadly handled in the pas t We asked the candidates about these items,whether they were prepared to answer or not All in all, we raked all thecandidates over the coals. |All candidates were asked the same questions based on the agenda.The questions for the candidates for SAC chairperson were slightly-^different from those for MSG candidatesdiieto he natureof thepos&on^and allowing for the differences in the organizations. rBasically, we have made every attempt to promote fairness of newscoverage to all the candidates (which is why we decided to includearticles on the write-in candidates). Our agenda included the following questions and issues. W e wantedto know what the candidate felt the duties of his/her sought officeentailed, so we asked them to give a job description of their covetedoffice.* We questioned candidates on their past experience and asked themwhy voters should vote for them. We also asked what they thought tobe the major issues of this election, and what they would do to resolvethem. IThen wegot tough. We asked how they planned to spend the budget,which is made up of each student's $60 activities fee. We asked if theMSG/SAC did enough during the 88-89 school year and how they

would have handled things differently had they been in the currentofficer's shoes. We wanted to know why MSG did not write a resolution to movethe calendar so we would have the day after Easter off and start Springterm a day earlier. We wanted to know why there were no resolutionswritten about the tuition increase, or the sale of used books. * A | |We wanted to know candidates' opinions on the idea of building a:upavilion or other primarily student sustained facility. We asked how 1such a place would be paid forand maintained. We asked if they thoughta yearly event, such as a band, would be a better idea.We asked if they supported an idea brought up at the Mar. 19 MSGmeeting by Jack Munch (Commuter) to giveclub funds only in the formof matching fund raising activities dollar- for-dollar up to a certain limit($400 was suggested).We questioned candidates formerly involved in MSG on theirattendance record, their opinion of the policy, whether the policy iseffective and how should it be changed.Candidates told reporters if they had enough time to submit lettersof intent due to the change in the constitution. They discussed whetherofficer and representative elections should be consolidated and thecurrent elect ion policy. They also discussed ways to get students to thepolls.Wealsoquestionedthecandidatesabout"thebigM*' money. Weasked if die current scholarship was enough or too much. What shouldbe the amount? Would you oppose/encourage an increase? Pot currentrepresentatives who could theoretically vote upon their own scholarshipif elected, we asked how they would vote* Would they abstain? If theywere to vote for an increase, how would they justify the need?The need for intelligent, energetic, and dedicated candidates has'..been shown. All the candidatesfit his description and it is the every daystudent's right, privilege, and responsibility to choose next year'sleaders by casting a ballot on April 25 and 26.


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PAGE 4 The Merciad APRIL 13.1989

'Building Block'involves studentsEngel says

R O B I N E N G E LBy Robi TaylorMerciad staff reporter

Involving more Mercyhurststudents in student activities is themost important issue at the college,according to MSG presidentialcandidate Robin Engel.Engel, a sophomore sportsmedicine major, said his " buildingblock" theory would be. verystrong in helping to increase studentinvolvement. His "buildingo block theory would require eachMSG rep to form a group of stu-dentsfromeach of the 20 majors toplan activities, he said."I want every [MSG] rep toform a club within their major witha core of at least 10 members,"Engle said. * * All the clubs would beopen tofreshmenand the peoplewho are undecided. This way themajors can say, lode what we haveto offer.

freshmen this summer. "I wouldlike to work with Freshman Studiesto send incoming students a letterfrom MSG saying that weare happyto have them coming to school atMercyhurst,'' Engel said.Wei will also let them knowabout weekend activities, like foot-ball gam es.. 'Maybe we could setupsome volleyball courts in the openspaces around Briggsand start somegames at the basketball courts. Thiswould make them want to stay oncampus because it would give themsomething to do,'' Engel said."."The idea of a pavilion is basi-cally a good one, but it's setting upa situation for a lot of things thatcould happen," he said. The possi-bility of drugs and violence are whatconcern Engel about the pavilion,"If a building is set up and theproper precautions are taken, then itcould be a positive," Engel said.,tEvents at the pavilion wouldhave to be controlled, he said. 'Wedon't want somebody driving theircar through there and things getting-out of hand, but if the precautionsare'thereit's going tobereal positiveand will work very well," Engelsaid. '- \The president of MSG gets$3,000 in scholarship money. "Myintentions for running are not for themoney in the first place," Engelsaid. "I'll be putting a lot of timeanda lotof work and my work is worthmoney,'so the money offered isdeserving." ,He added that the amount isrespectable but he would most ikelyvote to increase the scholarshipsaccording to the amount of work thejob entails.i Engel said that he would enforcethe MSG attendance policies whichsays that a rep can be dismissed aftermissing three meetings. "Al-though," he said, "MSG is not asimportant as an outside job, it is aiponsibility that should not be leftto substitutes."wiiii

"I will expect each rep to haveat least one event, bring in onespeaker, organize one trip, some-thing to benefit their major," Engelsaid. "This would allow some ofthe reps from majors who don'thave a core that affects MSG di-rectly to start to be formed. Onceyouhave that, it'snot going to die."The MSG would aid in the for-mation of all the Clubs needed forf 'biflffihg block" theory towork, he said. "The clubs wouldhave to raise money on their own.But the MSG would try to helpsupport them, Engel said.Communication is a major partof the problem of the lade of in-volvement, he said. "Communica-tion between MSG and the SAC iscrucial in getting events going andgetting people to show up,'' Engelsaid. He added that he would like towork with the coaches to have MSGhelp promote sporting events byhaving rallies to build spiritHe said thathe would like to seesome of the $ 100,000 MSG budgetused to fund events that would helpnot only the college but also thecity.The money would be used to fundevents/like the food drive spon-sored by the Campus Ministries thisyear, Engel said. I $ *He said that the MSG should!keep-in touch with the incoming work," Engel said.

I Engel said that the intent wasthere with the MSG this year but"they lacked the force needed togetanything done." He said that itseemed that they were always"looking toward the next week-end." v^ i $He added that as a core MSG isstable but more people have to be-come involved. "That is what'building block' is all about," hesaid.Engel has hadno student leader-ship experience. However, he saidthat voters should vote for himbecause of his ideas. "I have theambition and the character to exe-cute these ideas and *make them

MSG apathycaused problemsFairfield says 5

BRAD F AIRF IELDBy Kevin McHughMerciad staff reporter

Apathy in Mercyhurst StudentGovernment has Sled to problemswith the calendar and the formals,according to Brad Fairfield, a candi-date for MSG presidentThe apathy in MSG w as evidentin its approval of the 1988S89 calen-dar, said Fairfield, a junior HRIMmajor. When the calendar waspresented to MSG last spring notenough thought was put into it be-fore it was passed, and students hadto travel on-Easter, he said, ft^* ^*H% "People go to the meetings, gothrough the motions, and when theyare handed a document or memo-

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randum from administration theyvote on it very quickly," h e said."Lots of times they're too botheredto read it, and that's how things slipby.% Enough activities were plannedby MSG this year, but there wasn'tenough thought or communicationto make them successful, he said."The winter formal was a fiasco,"Fairfield said. "Why did they get aplace where only 400 studentscould make it in a school of 2000 ?"Fairfield,who was a cheerleaderfor the*Laker Football team lastseason, said that a lack of schoolspirit is another issue that must b eaddressed.Fairfield said it was "terriblethat so few people turned out insupport of the wom en's basketballand soccer teams both whomreached nationals this year. "A llathletic teams should have morestudent support," he said.| ' Another problem in MSG is alack of communication, accordingtoFairfield. "MSG could do a heckof a lot more to improvecommuni-cations," he said. "MSG is apa-thetic. It irritates me and shouldirritate the students who pay $60 ayear." |Fairfield said that ifheis elected,it will be up to the students to decidewhat they want MSG to do. "Ifstudents don't tell me what theywant,I can't doanything for them,''he said.Another issue that must be ad-dressed is whether a pavilion shouldbe built on campus, Fairfield said.The campus needs a place tohold parties and dances, and the

school should help pay for it be-cause it would be " a selling factorfor the schoo l," Fairfield said.j "We need somewhere wherekids can hang out," he said. Thestudent union fisn't good enoughbecause it is too much of a "trafficft

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place.One major advantage of a pavil-ion would be to give students areason to stay on campus at week-ends, Fairfield said. This would cutdown on the students who leave thecampus to drink and so would cutdown on drunk driving. If he getselected he will start working on sucha placerightaway, he said.' 'Everybody has great ideas butno one wants to follow through,take charge and get them done,Fairfield, the HRIM representativesaid. "That is something that hasirritated me ever since I have beenhere.'Tw ill go out and talk to stu-dents and will expect those with mein MSG to do the same. I'm prettygood at getting people fired up, andonce people begin to get more in-volved, there will be a snowballeffect Everyone else will start ge t-ting involved.'' * More should be done by MSG,especially in the fall and especiallyfor new students, Fairfield * said."More should bedone to get them involved withupperclassmen," he said. "MSGshould do more to make them wel-come.' 'Fairfield, who missed MSGmeetings in the winter term while heworked on his co-op in Florida, saidthe attendance policy by which anMSG member is dismissed afterthree unexcused absences shoulddefinitely be enforced in MSG."It's only fair that people get theboot if they don't do their job," hesaid.I He said the $3 ,000 scholarshipawarded to the MSG president is"plenty" and would not vote toincrease it "Hie money's great,but I can afford to go to school here,so I'm not in it to the money, hesaid. "If there was no scholarship,I would still go for i t"Fairfield said that if elected, hisjob would be to do what the studentswant "I have to listen to what thestudents want because they're pay-ing mysalary. It's my job todo whatthey want," Fairfield said.Fairfield, who was vice presi-dent of his class during his last twoyears t>fhigh school, said he wouldmake a good president because heknows a lot of people. "I've beeninvolved in football and 1 am in-volved increw. They are the biggestgroups on campus, and I get alongwith both," he says.He stressed that it is the stu-dents' responsibility to get out andvote. "It'sridiculousthat 400 outof 2,000 students voted last year,"he says. "How can students criti-cize those elected if they don't evenvote?"

Fanta wants!in student gove

G E R R Y F A N T ABy Karen SampsonMerciad staff editor

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Bridging the gap in communi-cation between students, faculty,and the Mercyhurst Student Gov-ernment is one of the main issues tobe addressed and corrected, accord-ing to MSG presidential candidate,Gerard Fanta. iFanta, a junior history major,said that more interaction betweenstudents and the MSG representa-tives o f their major will encourage amore efficient government bodythat would truly work toward thegoals of thestudent population.iWhen you are voted as arep-resentative then you should be avalid v oice," Fanta said. He added

wthat mandatory meetings with stu-dents and the representative fromthe major would help acquaint stu-dents to the role MSG plays andwhat it can do for students. He saidundecided majors would be invitedtoattend the meeting o f their choice." I want ita mandatory thing thatthe students within a major meetwith their representatives," Fantasaid. "I emphasize the whole ideaof groups and organizations beinginteracted with student govern-ment," he said. "If they want theassistance of money, we want to seemore on campus than just 'we'regoing to take afieldtrip here'. Weneed to see some mesh there." Thetotal MSG budget is approximately$110,000. %Fanta also said that students donot receive enough information ofevents on campus through signs andflyers. He said flyers should be sliunder doors and announcements ofevents should be made in heavilypopulated areas, such as the cafete-ria. "I don't think there is enoughstudent to government interac-tion,' ' Fanta said.A forum, after new officers havebeen elected should take place,according to Fanta, as a way forstudents to meet the new officersand discuss issues. "After every-one is elected there should be (aforum) so everyone gets ^intro-duced, and not justs the freshmaknow them from orientation,"Fanta said.Moreon-campus events need tobe planned and there needs to be aplace to hold functions, Fanta said;"There should be no limit to how,many people can go to a dance inschool this size," he said. I1 Because of this he supports


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APRIL 13,1989 The Merciad PAGES

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idea of building or renovating somekind of facility for student func-tions, such as dances. He said thiskind of facility shouldfbe in useevery weekend. "There has to besomething available to . all stu-dents,' ' Fan ta said.' 'There is a tre-mendous need1 for some kind of>9

4

facility." He then cited some pastactivities that were held off campus."Bussing people off campus isn'tsolving the problem," Fanta said.There has been discussion ofrenovating a Briggs Avenue garageusing student volunteer labor forthemajority of the renovation. Fantasupports the idea as one way toquickly settle the issue. "I'velooked at (the proposed site). Itcanbe renovated and it's something thatcan be converted quickly," Fantasaid. He added, "prices have to belooked into and I don't buy the factthat p eople would not go over thereand work on the thing." He alsosaid that the existing structure issound and could be added onto ifnecessary. '* # x I


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PAGE 6 The MerciadNews APRIL 13,1989M T ' M S G V P c a n d i d a t e s a d d r e s s i s s u e sBy Holly FulmerMerciad staff reporter

The three candidates for M er-cyhurst Student Government vicepresident agreed that there is aneedfor MSG to encourage studentsto get involved in campus activities,though they had different ideas onhow to accomplish this goal.Rod Power is the only officialcandidate for the office. However,Scott Graham and Ken "Breeze"Walker.are running as write in can-didates.

S C O T T G R A H A MThe vice president is respon-sible for assisting the president andpresiding at the; MSG meetingswhen the president cannot attend.Theyalso servewith theMSG presi-dent as a S tudent Senator, accordingto the M SG constitution.

sibldf ^"d firne-consurhuig post-;tion,'' according to Walker."The actual; role of MSGdoesn't g et as much attention as itshould ," Graham, theEnglish rep-resentative, said. He added thatmany people said the Student Gov -

<

ernment doesn't do enough.Power, the MSG representativefor marketing, said the position ismore than just a tide. "You needperformance to g o with it," he said."MSG needs to be.a body ofdoers." \ ;The role of v ice president deals,in part, with the SAC activities,according to Graham. He said thatthere are many activities, but a lackof student participation. He addedthat there should be activities thatinterest students such as bowling.Walker also said that more ac-tivities should be planned that inter-est students. He said there should bemore group activities similar to thatof the Spring Activities Weekend.We have to find out why there is alack of interest,'' Walker said. Headded that the costof the activities isalso a factor. |Power said that MSG's budgetis often wasted and he would like tooccasionally see more than one ac-tivity on the weekend. "If peopleweremore careful with their m oney,we could get a lot more done,"Power said. ' ;>There is currently a proposal inMSG to match a club's funds up to$400. MSG can save money bymatching these funds instead ofautomatically supplying clubs with

Power also" supports the idea."Money doesn't come easily, andMSG shouldn't be an exception tothat rule," he said. g* fWalker said money could alsobe raised by selling used books inthe bookstore. "There's no reason

4Myers* from p& iOne of the best things aboutMercy hurst, according to Myers, isthe students. "The students aregreat," he said. "The thing I'veenjoyed most here is working w iththe students."The students need more com-panionship from the faculty, Myerssaid, and he has tried to g ive themthat "I've enjoyed socializing withstudents at the Laker Inn orHerman's and talking about poetry,literature and other issues," hesaid.* Because he likes the students,Myers said he^has tied to startcertain'programs for them. Thewriters-in-the-schools program atS t Lukes was started two years ago,according to Myers, where studentsfrom Mercyhurst teach creativewriting fiction and poetry to seventhand eighth grade students.Another program Myersstarted, with the * help of JodyHramits, is the basic writing pro-

gram. Freshman students withgrades below 40 on the Test forStandard Written English (TSWE)enroll in the program, he said. ,Myers said he set up with theEnglish department the senior writ-ing proficiency. exararequired forall seniors, which was done at therequest of Mercyhurstpresident Dr.William P. Garvey. ' , i' ' JjTwo of his proposals will con-tinue to affect students after hisdeparture. As chairman of the

Academic Policies Committee,Myers said he proposed to the col-lege senate the writing-across-the-curriculum program to begin in thefall of 1989 to emphasizewriting inmost courses at the college.He also proposed a college-wide tutoring program in Old Mainthat offers tutoring in math, reading,writing, and CAI (computer assistinstruction).! ,.Completely changing the Eng-lish curriculum was alsoon M yers'sagenda when he was hired at Mer-cyhurst "I spear headed the re-vamping of the English curriculumwhen I irstcame here,'' he said.Although Myers has been busyestablishing these programs, hesaidhe wanted to accomplish m ore. "Iwould like to have accomplishedmore financial support for scholar-ships for students and academicprograms/' he said. "I also w antedto set up a literary press at Mer-cyhurst"The press, run and edited bystudents with faculty supervision,would have i published a literary]journal quarterly that would includepoetry, fiction and critical essays,according to Myers. ;Mississippi State University,Myers' new placeof residence, has12,000 students, 850 faculty and isa land-grant'institution on 2,500acres.

KEN W A L K E Rwhy a $35 book couldn't be sold for$25," Walkerlsaid. j "This (thebookstore) is an academic entityand the school shouldn' t exploit thatto get more money,'' Walker said.All the candidates agreed thatthere is a need fora pavilion or otherfacility for students* social use.Graham said he agreed with the idea"if it can be done so that it willwork." ,"ThereSis a definite need forstudents to meet in a much moreorganized" arrangement, accord-ing to Power, who referred to it as atype of Student Union. "I was allfor the underground garage," hesaid. However, he doesn'tthink thatthe garage project is now feasibledue to the estimated costs of renova-tion." |IAccording to the candidates, theadministration is.willi ng, to com-pensate"for "whatever MSG can'tafford, but none of them think thatthe idea of renovating the proposedsite to the outdoor pavilion is verypracticalThe budget is not the on ly areawhich concerns the candidates.

Power said there is too much ad-ministration involvement in M SG."I think that has weakened the lead-ership of the Student Govern-ment," he said. He would likestudents to be "more of a unit",provide more on-campus activities,such as dances, and increase coop-eration between the members of theMSG. He gave an example of howthe phonathon could have been asuccess if there had been morecooperation.In addition to being a MSGrepresentative for three years,Power w as also a marketing repre-sentative for the past two years. Heserved two years on fthe Senatesubcommittee and was thepresidentof the Foreign S tudent Associationin 1988. He was vice-president ofCircle K last year, and is now aresident assistant n oneof the apart-ments. I"I believe in hands on experi-ence," Power said. He added, "I'mhard working, and I'm not afraid toexpress my opinion. I'm the personto get something done.'' {Graham said he wants to makesure that students are well informedof MSG activities. He said theelectronic display sign s in the cafe-teria and student union h ave helped.He w ould also like to improvethe. security^ systems on. campusincluding the outer doors on theapartment build ings. Graham saidthis is one of the main issues oncampus. He also would like? toimprove relations between theMSG and The M erciad.Graham was the vice president

. Triola ' frompg.5amount, he added*"It's got to be shown that theclubs put in an honest effort, andthen you have to make sure thatwhat they are going to use the fundsfor is a reasonable activ ity," Triolasaid. |Triola favors the current policythat holds tw o separate MSG elec-tions. One election would intimi-date a lot of people because if theylose an officer's race, they can't bea rep anymore;" he said.

Although Triola isn't an MSGmember, he has attended themeetings and said he is the mostqualified candidate running. "Iplan to treat this as a job, not anelected position ," Triola said.Triola also said Jhe was wellrounded. "Bein g on the footballteam I can see an athlete's perspec-tive. Being an honor student I cansee the aspect of the student whowants to do . well, and living oncampus I know what people reallyi F a n ta'frompg.5hopes to implement programsorthegroundwork for programs such asBig Brothers/Big Sisters. "I thinkthat Mercyhurst should start a BigBrother/Little Brother, Big Sister/Little Sisters (program). Seniors orjuniors would take incoming fresh-men under their wing just to seethem get going the first couple ofweeks of school when they get uphere," Fanta said. . Fanta said he is satisfied with theamount of scholarships ($3,000 forpresident and $1,500 for officers)allotted to each of iceand would notvote to raise them. "I don't think itshould be raised," Fanta said. "It'sa perfect amount where it's at " Ifthe officers d o their jobs correctly,

according to Fanta, the money willbewell earned over the course of theyear. | \According to MSGconstitution, "A member will havebeen \ said to forfeit his/her officewhen that person misses at leastthree meetings without explana-tion." Fanta has missed six. Hestates scheduling conflicts as a par-tial reason for his absences and saidthat MSG has to decide if Sundaynight is really a good meeting tim e.He favors the idea of appointingan alternate but said that the repre-sentative should also speak; withanother coun cil member who wasatthemeeting. Fanta stated that he didtalk to other members about the

of Mercyhurst Business [ Associa-tion forone year, currently is aMSGrepresentative, and is involved withPhi Eta?Sigma, a national honorsociety. He teaches a C reative Writ-ing class at SL Luke's grade school.Graham said he cares about thestudent body and its needs, andvoters will recognize this.J * 'Mercyhurst needs to be moreofa community,'' said Walker, wh oconsiders himself to be a "man ofaction." He said students will say ,

*W hyw v \ i : i

PAGE 8 The Merciad APRIL 13; 1989

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THIRD BASE PLAYER Jen Theis lays dawn abunt in the Lakers recent game against Clarion. Theis has takenover the third base positionfor the injuredJulieKemiing. The Lakers are off o a 2-2 start. Photo: Pat SteckmanRitz designs career at Mercyhurst

J O H N R I T ZBy Chris CadeMerciad sports reporter

John Ritz, a 21 year-old senior,is this week's sports personality.John entered Mercyhurst as a

Sports Medicine major bu t decidedto make the switch to Interior De-sign. He decided on Interior Designbecause he has always been inter-ested in. architecture but he didn'twant to leave Mercyhurst to pursuean architectural degree.He is presently doing a co-op atHamot Hospital, helping them outwith the designs for their new build-ings. ^ | Mi\l After graduation, John plans ontaking some time off before lookingfor a permanent job. One of thethings John would like to do is travelto Australia for a couple of weeks.In fact, his dream job would be "ajob in Australia, working on thebeach, maybe designing beachhouses." :Although more schooling isn 't

in the immediate picture, Johnhasn't totally ruled that possibilityou t He's left open theoption ofreturning to school to get his archi-tectural degree. ^Places such as New York orChicago appeal to John as places tolook for employmentJohn attended Aquinas HighSchool in Rochester, NY. He heardof Mercyhurst through a recruiterand decided to come here after vis-iting the campus. He prefers collegeover high school because of thefreedom that college offers.He says thathe likes being onhisown rather than "shut in a class-room for six hours a day."John likes Mercyhurst becauseof the small class sizes and theMove over,mopediRazzihas arrived

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people. He especially likes the factthat the teachers seem "willing tohelp out the students at all times.However, one thing he's not sohappy about is how* "everyoneknows something as soon as ithappens/' \John is a swimmer as well as abaseball player. When asked whatsport hepreferred, hesaid that itwasimpossible tomake a choice."There's enough j of a differ-ence between the two that I reallylike them bo th," he said. "Alllcansay is that swimming gets me inshape for baseball."As far as baseball goes, John isvery happy playing for theLakers.He feels the team is a very close-knitgroup with a strong pitching staff.He also enjoy s the fact that teamtraining has been particularly in-tense this year. 1"Thanks to the coach," Johnsays, " the team will do well thisseason." John thinks the toughestteam to beat this year will be PointPark. *iBesides swimming and base-ball, John enjoys water-skiing andspending time at the local lake nearRochester.

Shortstop!Laker Softballsuffersfrom cabin fever

By Matthew J. ClarkMerciad Sports EditorThe wet and unusually coldweather has put a damper on mostpeople's spirits this spring and it hascertainly taken its tollon the women'sSoftball season to this point"Th e main [problem has been,with thebad weather, we haven'tbeenable to practice ou tside," head coachTrevor Warren says. * f fJ"Ourfirstgame was the firstopportunity the girls had to play on theirhome infield." t I . hWarren says the team performed well despite the lack of outdoorpractice. | | I # I f 1r 'Wedid fairly we ll,'' he says. ' Wewere missing some players andthat's been another problem. We haven'tbeen able to put the same teamon thefieldfromgame to game." %Injuries have affected Mercyhurst in the early going. The team lostjunior third base player Julie Kemiing for the season with a knee injury.Sophomorepitcher/shortstop DanielleLips hasbeen playing through aninjury suffered against Clarion.Lips and freshman second base player Veronica Sansom did notplayin the L akers' opener against Niagara. In thefirstgame with seniorDebbie Bonniger on the mound, the 'Hurst won despite their absence,4-1. In the second game, however, Niagara snuck by with a 1 -0 victorydespite^a strong pitching performance from sophomore!ShemeMishrell. Warren thinks the results could have been different with Lipsand Sansom in the lineup. J

"In that second game, we missed Lips and Sansom," he says.' 'Those are two strong oats we could have used. 2According to Warren, that second Niagara game epitomizes theLakers' problems thus far. f $' *Defensively, we're playing very well,'' he says. ' Our batting hasnot been fantastic. We need more production from our hitters. Rightnow, our hitting is coming from two or three players. We need moreproduction from other people."The Softball team has some inexperience, with four freshmanstarters, including Jen Theis who has filled in admirably at thirdbase forthe injured Kemiing.The inconvenience of being forced to practice indoors all the timecan be very taxing on a team's mental preparation. Warren has had todeal with that situation by making the indoor practices "more interest-ing. !"I t got to a point, with practicing indoors, to where it was sorepetitive," he says. "You're very limited to what you can do indoors.Occasionally, we'd let them play basketball or volleyball"We came up with a softbaLl/basketball game.".Warren says the game involves advancing the Softball down thebasketball court by throwing the ball from player to player. Whentheball is inside the three-point line, a player can shoot to score. $i These are the kinds of alternative activities which coaches innorthern climates must devise to combat the wet conditions of spring.There's only so much you can do inside before you start to gocrazy," he says. \Warren, whose team did not have a southern spring trip this year,knows how important a spring trip is for the players and coaching staff."It's very important that a team goes on a spring trip," he says. "Youpractice two-and-a-half months for a four-week season. You've got togo on a spring trip."

_ In addition to a spring trip next year, Warren would like to begin afall season schedule to give the players more game experience. I\ "Because w e've lacked the (outdoor) practice," he says, "we'vesuffered through some mental lapses in our games." \Despite the problems and delays, Warren is excited about the futureof the Softball program here at Mercyhurst f' We'r e planning on upgrading the schedule fornext year,'' he says.' 'We also plan on improving the equipment and school support of theteam. We want to become competitive on a D iv. n level." |Asfor implementing a fall schedule, Warren wants to do thatas earlyas next September.' That's going to take some planning,'' he says, ' because there aresome players who'll be playing soccer at that time as well.' 'Themost important thing is the spring trip,'' he adds. * It helps notonly for practice but for recruiting new players. |* "Several programs go south for spring and players look at thosekinds of things when considering colleges."We're looking to do it next year andfromnow o n."

the merciad, april 13, 1989

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