Comm Class Teaches Students to Be 'Mindful'
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Features: On Page 3: Arts: & Entertainment On Page 5: Sports On Page 7: Theatre program seeks All-American honors Magoc wins national award donations for ‘Hurst lacrosse Read more inside & online HE EST. 1929 VTOL. 88 NO. 14 MerciadEDNESDAY EBRUARY MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY W , F 25, 2015 Student Union, Hirt flood is no certain date for when the By Nathan Turner restoration and repair is going News Editor to be finished, according to Sue Johnson, Director of A main water pipe in Her- Administraion and Executive rmann Student Union rup- Assistant to the President. tured on Feb. 21 as a result “It’s going to be an exten- of prolonged exposure to sive repair,” said Johnson. extreme cold, causing severe “We are hoping, and this is water damage to the middle at best case, that when kids and lower levels of the build- come back from spring break, ing. it will be done. That’s not a The building is currently guarantee. It could be another closed until further notice in week or so beyond that.” order to clean up the water Replacing the drywall in the and begin to restore the Union will be the most time damage. All offices based in intensive part of the resto- the Student Union have been ration because of the height moved to Egan and Warde. the water reached and the “When you walked in, there extent the water saturated the was already about an inch of wall, according to Johnson. water on the main floor,” said The computers used by the Erin Herschelman, a sopho- Student Activities Committee more Accounting major and and Mercyhurst Student Gov- the Student Activities Com- ernment to conduct business mittee Financial Secretary. were salvaged from the base- “And it was just pouring ment office. down the stairs. It looked like “Some of them were not the Titanic.” damaged. The monitors were Water collected in the base- not wet and people have taken ment of the Student Union those and moved them over and the area that houses the [to Egan],” said Johnson. Laker Inn. The water had also “The other ones are waiting damaged the ceiling of the at IT. They have to sit for a Laker, causing tiles to collapse couple of days before they onto the basement floor. see what kind of damage has Tung Vu photo The costs of damage the been done to those.” Water from the ruptured pipe on the first floor of the Sister Carolyn Herrmann Student Union flowed down the stairs and collected in water main break has caused the basement. The water which collected on the first floor also leaked through and caused the drywall tiles on the roof to collapse. are currently unknown. There (Continued on Page 2) Comm class teaches students to be ‘Mindful’ lecture was not enough to ries that we tell ourselves, and term since I just felt extremely By Amanda Moore build the class on, so he added others, impacts our happiness. relaxed and in the moment,” Staff writer material from Susan Chap- With mindfulness and medi- Marte said. man’s, Ph.D., book “Five Keys tation, we can take control of Marte said the class was Brian Sheridan, a Com- to Mindful Communication.” our responses to stress and helpful and she continues munications professor, is Sheridan worked hard to improve our relationships,” to practice what she learned teaching a class dedicated to ensure scientific evidence sup- Sheridan said. through mindfulness exercises techniques which improve ports everything he teaches. “This isn’t some hippy and meditation. sympathetic communication He draws ideas from research dippy thing. Research “My favorite part of the in stressful conditions. studies and techniques used into meditation and class was probably the weekly The Mindful Communica- at large companies, such as mindfulness training exercises he would have us do, tions class introduces students Google. shows students who do and we would have to sum- to methods which are useful “This isn’t some hippy dippy it have better test scores marize how the week went in the stressful environments thing. Research into medita- and less anxiety.” for us. I still have the book of large companies and the tion and mindfulness train- and it has been almost year university. ing shows students who do Brian Sheridan since I’ve taken the class. The Sheridan came up with the it have better test scores and daily meditations we would do idea for the class after hearing less anxiety. Major companies is something that I still do,” a talk called ‘Practical Dharma are offering courses in it to Nadine Marte, a senior New Marte said. for Stressful Times’ by psy- their employees. Also, support Media Communication major, The communications aspect chologist Tara Brach. The talk from [Meghan Waskiewicz] took the class in her junior of the class focused on train- discussed the use of certain has made this class something year, and considers mindful- ing students to think before Buddhist teachings to handle we want to make sure that ness the best way for her and they speak and discuss sensi- stress. all communication students other students to handle the tive issues with a clear head. “[Brach] talked about how take,” Sheridan said. stress of college life. “I hope students are more stress cuts us off from our Sheridan aims to use the “Whenever I am feeling aware of how they can control creativity, full intelligence classroom to show students overwhelmed, I still remem- their responses to the stresses and the capability to be more how to respond to stress in ber those exercises and once that life hands them and to be loving. I thought this is infor- ways which can improve their I complete them, I feel much more compassionate to them- mation that would be helpful relationships with others, and better. It was a class where you selves and others,” Sheridan Maggie Urso photo to young people,” Sheridan their lives in general. do a lot of self-reflection and I said. Brian Sheridan, Communications professor, directs a session of said. “I teach how to live more think that’s something college his Mindful Communications class. The class aims to improve Sheridan noted that the in the present moment and students need. I received my students’ ability to communicate clearly in stressful situations. information contained in the to understand how the sto- best grades at Mercyhurst that @TheMerciad Merciad Index Online Poll Results Are you giving up anything for Lent? News 1-2 34% Yes, it’s going to be a long 40 days and nights Features 3-4 49% No, I’m not giving anything up 9% Yes, but I do not think it will last long A&E 5 9% Giving up things for Lent is like my New Year’s resolution, I cannot keep up with either Opinion 6 Sports 7 Be sure to vote in this week’s online poll: Laker Living 8 What did you do for Spring Break? merciad.mercyhurst.edu Page 2 The Merciad February 25, 2015 News Frank Abagnale speaks to Mercyhurst students By Nathan Turner News Editor On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Mercyhurst Student Govern- ment (MSG) welcomed Frank Abagnale, former counter- feiter and consultant with fed- eral law enforcement, to speak with students. Abagnale was invited as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series. His lecture not only focused on his criminal career, but also the ability of students to come back from mistakes to have fulfilling lives. “A lot of what Mr. Abag- Salina Bowe photo nale talks about is his journey Frank Abagnale signs an autograph for student Cole Lowe. and the exciting part of it,” The opportunity to work and your own family, it starts said Megan Lawrence, Events for the government led to the to come back to haunt you. Zach Dorsch photo Coordinator for MSG. event which began to turn his And it becomes a real burden The water main on the ground floor near the north entrance of the Student Union broke due to “But he also talks about life around. in your life,” he said. prolonged exposure to the cold. The door to the room holding the pipe was left open. making decisions to turn your “I was on an undercover Abagnale’s career as a life around and use your tal- assignment, and I met my conslutant for the FBI has ing them to collapse. “An adjuster is coming to ents to better your commu- wife. I eventually asked her spanned the transition into (Continued from pg. 1) The damage from the campus [on Wednesday],” nity.” out. I started to get to know the age of cyber crime. He water also forced Meghan Jane Kelsey, Vice President The decision to bring Aba- her. I was honest with her advised the students seeking Johnson is encouraging all Waskiewicz, chair of the for Finance and Treasurer, gnale to campus was due to about who I was. I eventually to go into federal law enforce- students to use social media as Communications department, said by email. availability, as well as poten- asked her to marry me,” Aba- ment to hone their skills in a way of staying informed. All out of her office. She is cur- Due to the ongoing res- tial interest from the student gnale said. that arena. events intended to be held in rently located in Old Main toration of Christ the King body. Abagnale credits his wife as “All the big crimes of the the Student Union have been 200a. Chapel in Old Main, the “Given the fact that our the reason he made the deci- future are going to focus in on moved.