THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929 ARTS& ~LAKER ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS SigurRos: Offering the enigma Grading inconsistencies frusterate students nationwide Women's basketball and beauty of Iceland PAGE 2 defeats Gannon 80-74 PAGE 8 PAGE 12 efcyhurst College 501 E.?38th St. Erie Pa. 16546 FEBRUARY 20,2003 [Broken w a t e r pipe forces I clean-up at Hirt Center Percentage of M e n and Women in Dorms Special to The Merciad The quick and thorough work Men of the Mercyhurst College Women maintenance and housekeeping staff allowed classes to meet as usual in the Audrey Hirt Aca- During the month of rem demic Center despite a water ruary, Erie has had 19.4 pipe break that flooded all three Inches of snow. Due to the floors of the building early on snow storm, there have Thursday, Feb. 13. been five deaths in Pa. this After a water pipe in the south Percentage of M e n and Women in Townhouses season. wall of the tower of the build- Krt ing broke a little after 5 a.m., Sports Scores the entire Hirt Center was tem- porarily closed by Mercyhurst officials for safety reasons and W. Basketball 80-63 cleaning, k Men (win), 93-57 (loss) Nearly 2 Vz inches of water Women covered the third floor of the Jody Meflo/Mertiad photc tapher building after a water pipe that Damages in the Hlrt Center include many M. Basketball 92-68 is part of the sprinkler system ceiling tiles, l i k e the ones In The Merciad office. (loss) froze and cracked, triggering an staircases to the lowest level of supply had been an important automatic fire alarm in the build- the building. J factor in limiting damages to the W. Hockey 6-3 (win) ing at 5:01 a.m. that brought The impact of that flooding building, he added. Mercyhurst security to the Hirt seemed to have been limited to By 8 a.m., classes were in ses- Center, t •! wet carpets and floors."This sion in the Hirt Academic Cen- Percentage of M e n and Women fa Apartments ML Hockey3-2 After responding to Ihe fire "' could have been much worse," ter and the general contractor (loss), alarm, the Erie Fire Department, said Stepherson, who has only for the building, Building Sys- 1-0 (win) Mercyhurst physical plant direc- tems Inc., was evaluating the tor Kenneth Stepherson and situation along with Stepherson. college security checked the • *This [impact Damage assessments will be Gas price&itising building for any hidden dangers. released at a later date. The Firefighters then helped pump of the flood] three-story, all-brick Hirt Aca- Men water from the center before demic Center was designed by WomenJBI leaving campus about 7 a.m. could have Weber Murphy Fox architects and turning the clean-up effort and houses 16 classrooms, 20 over to Mercyhurst housekeep- been much faculty offices and several labs. ing and maintenance. Those ef- The education and psychology forts went smoothly and 8 a.m worse. 95 departments are on the top floor classes went on as scheduled. | of Hirt, with the Gabreski Hon- According to Stepherson, -Ken Stepherson ors Suite and the entrance to the damages will be evaluated after Walker Recital Hall on the main Changes to affect students cleanup is complete, however floor. The college's communi- dents who would like a grade early indications are that a hand- been plant manager at Mercy- cation department, a graphic arts By Kelly Rose Duttine report mailed to them after ev- ful of computers might have hurst College since the begin- laboratory, the studios for Hurst News editor ery term must complete the re- been impacted, and several ar- ning of February. TV and offices for the Merciad quest which will be included Current-$1,702 and senior annual are situated on Several changes will soon be with their winter term grades. onday-$1,693 eas of the third floor will need He explained that the water L new ceiling tiles. flowing through the sprinkler the ground floor of the mplemented on Mercyhurst's As always, students can re- ]nuary-$1.5f& 1 ampus that will affect all stu- Cleanup stretched throughout system to maintain pressure had center.The Hirt Academic Cen- quests paper transcript from year ago- $1,159 ents. Changes to accessing the building since the Hirt Aca- automatically activated the fire ter, which cost $7.5 million to the Registrar's office. Inancial aid information, no- demic Center is an open stair- alarm. With several thousand build, was officially dedicated on The registrar's office hopes tfication of grades and the way building and water flowed gallons of water being pumped Sunday^ Oct. 27, 2002, after to cut down on time, money lumber of credits needed to easily off the third floor balco- through the building, finding the construction started in early and resources by using WebAd- raduate will all affect Mercy- ny and down through the main break and turning off the water summer 2001. visor more effectively and not urst students in the near fu- mailing grades to homes. ALE PHOTO There are 1,822 Mercyhurst ure.l Since many students view their commuters whose daily Billing and financial aid in- grades immediately, there is not commute could be costing New award honors iBarr formation can now be access- a need for additional grades sent more with rising fuel costs. ed through your web advisor to the home. ccount. You must have a user As each instructor submits D and a password to access their grades electronically or by Guess Who? his information. All informa- paper, the grades are available Answers ion will be available for the to students as soon as they are burrent academic year. The processed^The registrar's of- Jan. 23,2003 - Dr. "Bud" account will present a sum- fice will cut down onStime, Brown nary of your financial infor- money and resources by hav- mation. Students are remind- ing grades available only online. Jan. 30,2003 - Dr. Mary ed that liming is not instanta- Another change for students Hembrow Snyder neous with web advisor and concerns the number of cred- it may take some time for its needed to graduate. Students Feb. 6,2003-Mr fyrone items on the account sum ma- that began their Mercyhurst ca- Moore les to change. If students reer in 2000,2001, or 2002 are ave any questions, they can required to complete a mini- Feb. 13,2003-Mr. Barry jpntact the Student Financial mum of 122 credits in order to McAndrew [Services at ext. 2288. ?r graduate. Previouslythe min- pus photo imum was 123 credits. The Gary Bukowski 7 3 , Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Steve Zlnram, Another change for students blso involves web advisor. administration changed the |' Index Director of the Annual Fund present Michelle Logsdon, senior with the 2003 trades, which were previous- number because it is no longer News m 1 Eric J. Barr Memorial Fundraising Award f H mailed to homes, will now mandatory to take a one credit National News 2 calling alumni and parents to "J was pretty much there all ply be available on WebAd- computer course, as it had been News i 3 By Kelly Rose Duttine plead with them to donate mon- the time," said Logsdon. The isor. | for previous classes. ey] to Mercyhurst College and phonathon is a lot of fun though, Features 4 News editor 7 ii Since the 2002 spring term, If students can not meet this the 2003 Phonathon. Single and I love helping out the col- indents have been able to view requirement, then they can Features 5 Senior Michelle Logsdon re- handedly, Logsdon raised heir grades online and then purchases any two "zero" cred- Opinion ,...? 6 lege and the Ambassadors' Club. cently put her persuasive skills $9,755 from 91 pledges. Although Logsdon did not pass ere also mailed a copy of it courses, such as FYI, a set- Opinion 7 to the test. Her hours of hard The new award for fundrais- up Barr's total pledges, she is heir grades from the Regis* ence lab or a computer course. A&Ei ft work have paid off, however, ing efforts is in the memory of commended on an excellent rar's office. This change does not affect as she is the first ever recipient Eric Barr, a Mercyhurst junior Grades will still fee mailed any seniors, or those who en- A&E 9 commitment to Mercyhurst. of the Eric J. Barr Memorial who passed away in a tragic car The Eric Barr award will be after the 2003 winter term, tered the college in or before Sports.. 10 Fundraising Award. £ accident last year. Barr secured given annually to the student kit after this term the office 1999. Anyone with questions Sports 11 The dedicated ambassador the highest amount of pledges who secures the highest num- will only mail grades to those should contact Dr. Brecken- Sports 12 spent morning, noon and night in the 2002 Phonathon. ber of p l e d g e s in the phonathon. ttudents who request it_ Stu- ridee at ext.. 3035. _ u _J PAGE 2 THE MERCIAD FEBRUARY 20,2003 NEWS INTERNATIONAL To contact: [email protected] U.S. officials saying little about plans for post-war Iraq By William E. Gibson Professor wants to Knight Ridder Newspapers ban porn from campus computers All sorts of cynical theories have been raised about the real By Ryan Huff motives behind President Knight Ridder Newspapers Bush's relentless pursuit of a war against Iraq.