Weekly news from Mercyhurst College

Vol. 21, No. 13 January 12, 2004 Mercyhurst Hockey Rules! Gotkin Nets Milestone As Winningest Coach' Men's hockey coach Rick Gotkin be- something like this alone. You get here because of came the winningest coach in Mercyhurst great assistant coaches, great players, the support College history Jan. 9, 2004, a date that of the administration, the people in financial aid, will forever stick in his mind. the guys in maintenance, the fans...they're all part Gotkin achieved the milestone when of the program." the Lakers recorded a 2-1 victory over Assistant hockey coach Chris Herbolsheimer Bentley last Friday night in the Mercyhurst '98, who played for Gotkin and now coaches with Ice Center, giving him 286 career wins at him, said, "Rick is a phenomenal guy to work for the 'Hurst, surpassing the previous record and I'm sure this is exciting for him, but he's not of 285 wins held by former Mercyhurst one to draw attention to it." head baseball coach Joe Jordano. Senior and team captain Nolan Brown said A consummate competitor who knows Gotkin "is a players' coach. He likes to know what's the exhilaration that comes with winning, Gotkin is going on with the guys and he cares about them, It's a neat in his 16lh year as men's hockey coach, making his which makes him easy to play for." little accom- tenure the longest of any Mercyhurst head coach, Gotkin, whose team is playing its first year in the past or present. new Atlantic Hockey league, is credited with build- plishment, As thrilling as it is, the pinnacle is one Gotkin ing a varsity program that has brought the college but it's not accepts with a modicum of fanfare and a huge help- national recognition, while overseeing its transfor- solely mine. ing of humility. mation from Division III to Division II (1993) to "It's a neat little accomplishment, but it's not Division I (1999) status. - Gotkin solely mine," he said. "I don't think anyone does (cont on page 3) Sisti Claims 100th Career Win On Home Ice Women's hockey coach Mike Sisti recorded his Sisti views his 100lh career lh " This achieve- 100 career win Jan. 3 as the Lakers edged visiting win in four-and-a-half years Yale 3-2 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The women as "remarkable when you con- ment should have a 15-2-3 record as of Jan. 10 and a 101-40-8 sider the level of competition be shared by mark in four-plus years. we are playing against and all of our past Sisti began Mercyhurst's Division I program the prestige of the schools we from scratch in 1999, switching from associate head play." And, he noted, "This and present coach of the men's varsity hockey team to women's achievement should be shared players and head coach. Charged with the task of building a by all of our past and present staff members." Division I women's program and to make it compet- players and staff members. itive as soon as possible, Sisti has done just that. Everyone has helped achieve The Lakers finished 23- 6 in their opening season, this record in their own way." Mike Sisti 14-16-3 with an upgraded schedule in 2000-01, Sisti's teams have won three regular season -1 in 2001-02, and 25-8-1 in 2002-03 conference championships, two in the Great Lakes ainst some of the best Division I competition Women's Hockey Association (GLWHA) and last in the country. season in College Hockey America (CHA). He guid- Even with the loss of 12 graduating seniors ed Mercyhurst to GLWHA and CHA playoff champi- this season, 11 of the original talent recruited, onships the last two years and a Division I top 10 Sisti's team has gone on to sustain success. (cont. on page 3) Andy Curtze Students Seek Change POT???• • ? Heads South Through Outreach • • • • • Who's going to miss A group of Mercyhurst Andy Curtze or, more students, led by service Did You fittingly, who isn't? learning director Sister Andy is one guy who Michele Marie Schroeck, has earned high marks RSM,'88, joined 10,000 Know? from everyone on campus activists nationwide in a Back in the days of since he started at the protest rally at the Western DocuCenter two-and-a-half Hemisphere Institute for Mercyhurst's coeduca- years ago while simultane- Security Cooperation (for- tional transition, a group ously pursuing his master's merly known as the School in administration of justice. of the Americas) in Fort of young men lived in Andy Curtze Now it's time to move on. Sister Michele Benning, Ga., Nov. 21-24. what some nicknamed Since graduating last spring, Andy has patient- Protestors charge graduates of WHISC, a com- // The Penthouse," which ly waited for "just the right job," and, finally, it's bat-training school for Latin American soldiers, are here. He's off to the Fairfax County, Va., Police responsible for some of the worst human rights comprised five rooms in Department, where he will assume his post as a abuses in Latin America. WHISC advocates insist the tower of Old Main. police officer Jan. 26. Friday marks his last day that changes have been made to rectify past prob- on the Hill. lems and that the school is an indispensable tool Some of those early for training legitimate governments to defend "I realized while I was at Mercyhurst that what tower dwellers are still themselves. I really wanted to focus on was police work, and I here, but in altogether just waited until the right job came along," he said. "Being with our Mercyhurst students as they As he prepares to trade his behind-the-counter chanted and freely and peacefully expressed their different quarters. They job in the DocuCenter for the streets of Fairfax call for justice and change really struck me," Sister include Tom Billingsley, County, he does so with eagerness and thanks- Michele said. giving. Also during the recent holiday season, another Gary Bukowski and Allan "This is a great opportunity for me," he said. "It's group of Mercyhurst students learned about a dif- Belovarac. a huge police department so I'll be getting a lot of ferent way of life and shared a moving experience training and experience. But, I'll miss Mercyhurst. in working with the people of a Third World coun- Everyone has been so nice and supportive of me." try when they traveled to Honduras for the annual Among his well-wishers are co-workers Donna Campus Ministry and Mercy Institute mission out- Malzewski and Brigitte Kucharski. reach trip Nov. 20-26. " I I feel like I'm losing my son," said Malzewski. Accompanying the students were Dr. Mary //lIt' s going to be a sad day," added Kucharski. Hembrow Snyder and Cass Shimek. The group "We're proud of Andy, but we'll miss him very rendezvoused with Sister Kathleen Marie Leap, much." RSM, '62, who spent fall term on sabbatical in Honduras. (See "Happenings") Happenings on the Hill - Nygaard Series Resumes Mercyhurst Civic Institute Senior Fellow Richard L Nygaard, Mercy Institute director Sister Kathleen Marie Leap, RSM, United States Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third '62, is back at Mercyhurst following a two-month sabbatical in Circuit, will provide the third installment of his speaker's series Honduras, but she made it abundantly clear she would return at Mercyhurst on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Walker Recital Hall. "in a heartbeat." Already, she said, "I miss Nygaard will address "The Eighth Amendment: Is Anything the simplicity of life." Plus, she was inspired Cruel and Unusual?" He will highlight the history of punish- by "the faith that is so much a part of the ment, emphasizing capital punishment, the philosophy of culture there." Previously, Sister had made punishment, and contemporary prison sentences. The lecture the annual weeklong Thanksgiving mission is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Civic trip to Honduras offered by the college and, Institute and Erie County Criminal Justice Coalition. indeed, met up with this year's entourage. Dianne Rogers, director of the learning differences program, But, she opted to spend a longer period of is the lucky winner of a handmade quilt crafted by Mercyhurst time there so as to be immersed in the student Dodi Hammond. Hammond donated the quilt to the culture and daily life of the Third World college as a way of raising money for the poor during the Sister Kathleen country. "I learned from the people and, holiday season. Campus Ministry director Sister Geri hopefully, they from me," said Sister, who Rosinski, RSM, said her work-study students sold raffle lived with Sisters of Mercy and shared their ministry in San tickets for the quilt and used the proceeds to purchase gift Pedro Sula. She also worked in a very poor sector of the city, certificates from area grocery stores. (cont on page 3) Applause! Winningest Coach... • Dr. Brian Reed, assistant professor of English, (from page 1) presented a paper, "Wright Turns the Bible Left: Gotkin directed the Lakers to a third suc- Rewriting the Parable in Uncle Tom's Children," cessive regular season championship in the at the South Atlantic Modern Language Associ- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) ation Conference in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 14. Hockey League in the 2002-03 season. Mercy- Reed's presentation was part of a special session hurst then reached the NCAA Division I Tour- on African-American literature and faith. nament for the second time in three years. • Good luck to Kyle Foust '89, Act 101 academic Under Gotkin's leadership, Mercyhurst owned and career services counselor, who heads into a four-year MAAC record of 78-19-8, three 2004 as newly elected Erie County councilman regular season titles, one regular season for the 5lh District, a post once held by his father, runner-up, four MAAC playoff appearances, Paul Foust. two MAAC championships, and one MAAC Dr. Phillip Belfiore • Accounting instructor Helga Mervine recently runner-up. Gotkin was the conference's reviewed chapters one and eight of "Consumers," Coach of the Year in 2000-01 when he took director of the grad- second edition, published by McGraw-Hill. The the Lakers all the way to the regular and post- uate program in special text is used in consumer behavior courses. season titles and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As of Jan. 10, the Lakers education, received the • Dr. Karen Williams, associate professor of Span- are 9-9-1 (6-3-0 conference) on the season. ish, attended the annual conference of the Penn- (See men's hockey highlights on the Mercy- second annual Out- sylvania State Modern Language Association Nov.

M hurst Web site under Athletics) 21 -23 in Philadelphia, Pa. The meeting was held The Lakers'first Division 1 tournament standing Contributions in conjunction with the 2004 National Conven- tion of the American Council on the Teaching of bid, which teamed them with the University to the Discipline awafd of Michigan Wolverines in 2001, tops « n . Foreign Languages. Williams attended the confe- from Lehigh University, rence in two capacities: as a member of the local Gotkin's list of career memories. « organizing committee for the ACTFL convention, 'That was really cooL.there's little College of Education, and also as a member of the executive council Mercyhurst pitted against big-time Michigan... . 19 atan awards of the PSMLA. a David and Goliath story . . . I ' m sure there were lots of people who dinner in Bethlehem, • The local Gifts for Kids organization got a boost figured we'd get during the holiday season from a group of stu- Pa. Belfiore receive killed, but we dent and faculty volunteers from the Mercyhurst made a great ac- his doctorate from sportsmedicine department. The volunteers did count for our school fund raising, toy drives, and helped out in a "Santa's ...we lost, but it was Lehigh in 1991. Workshop" setting. For more information on vol- 4-3, and we made unteer opportunities with Gifts for Kids, please 'em play," Gotkin £^ rymm e-mail sportsmedicine instructor and athletic 7 said. trainer Sue Gushie '88 at [email protected]. m (cont. on page 4)

Mike Sisti (from page 1) Happenings on the Hill (from page 2) ranking throughout most of the previous two seasons. Chamelecon. "I did tutoring, cleaning, building, supporting, praying.-.anything that was needed of me," she said. "But, it was really more of a Mercy presence Sisti was named GLWHA Coach of the Year than a doing." in 2002 and CHA Coach of the Year in 2003. For his efforts he was selected as a finalist for Fifty-eight service learning tutors volunteered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Cen- both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 Division I ter and the Booker T. Washington Center during fall term, said service learning Coach of the Year award. (See women's hock- director Sister Michele Marie Schroeck, RSM, '88. Their efforts were coordinat- ey highlights on the Mercyhurst Web site under ed by Dave Pontious, Americorps VISTA tutor program coordinator, working out Athletics.) of the service learning office. Mercyhurst College Police and Safety announce that park- ing violation notices now have a new look. The old two- piece flyer has been replaced with a rigid card and self-mailer that are bright green in color. The tickets will be handled as before but with a new option: because of the attached mailer, RNING individuals can now use campus or regular mail to satisfy Weekly news from Mercyhurst College the notice. Monday Morning is an internal publication published weekly during the academic year by Mercyhurst College. Contact editor Debbie Morton at 824-2552 or e-mail mondavmorning ©mercyhurst.edu This Week at the Hurst JAN 12-18,2004 The Arts Sports at Home ENVIRONMENTAL FILM SERIES: THURS.,JAN. 15 RESTORING ALASKA: Women's Basketball vs. Northern Michigan 6 p.m 10 YEARS IN THE WAKE OF Men's Basketball vs. Northern Michigan 8 p.m EXXON VALDEZ MERCYHURST COLLEGE'S FRI., JAN. 16 MARY D'ANGELO FRI., JAN. 16,7 p.m. Men's Hockey vs. American International.. 7:30 p.m. Taylor Little Theatre SAT., JAN 17 This documentary PERFORMING HRTS RENTER AND TAYLOR LITTLE THEATflf Women's Basketball vs. Michigan Tech 1 p.m chronicles the first Men's Basketball vs. Michigan Tech 3 p.m 10 years of restoration and recovery after one of America's Wrestling vs. Shippensburg 7 p.m worst-ever oil spills devastated Alaska's Prince William Men's Hockey vs. American International.. 7:30

Sound, the current status of natural resources affected by • the spill, and the efforts being made to prevent future Ikating at the Mercyhurst Ice Center disasters. Presented by the Lake Erie Region Conservancy. Wed., Jan. 14, 8-9 p.m. l Sun., Jan. 18, 12:30-1:45 p.m. Free and open to the public •-. .T ^ • .s. <•'-: - •* i c • • - . • > r-- ' T ff-Vm D'ANGELO DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC FACULTY RECITAL SERIES Meetings & Events SUN., JAN. 18, 2:30 p.m. Walker Recital Hall MON.,JAN. 12 Education Division Meeting 12:30 p.m. Dr. Sara Langmead and the piano faculty present U303 Hirt "10-Handed Fun: A Piano Faculty Showcase." WED., JAN. 14 Free and open to the public Humanities Division Meeting 3:45 p.m. M207 The Eighth Amendment:

Milestones ... » ^ x Is Anything Cruel and Unusual? 7 p.m. Get Well Wishes to: Speaker: Judge Richard L. Nygaard, • Sister Damien MIechick, RSM, '56, switchboard manager, Senior Fellow, Mercyhurst Civic Institute who is recovering from pneumonia. Cards may be sent to Walker Recital Hall her at the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse, 444 E. Grandview FRI., JAN. 16 Blvd., Erie, PA 16504. Midterm AH Day Condolences to: Family and friends of Sister M. Bertha Michalik, RSM, who died Dec. 29, 2003, at the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse.

It's time for the annual Mercyhurst Col- lege Alumni and Parents Phonathon, now entering its 24th year. Mercyhurst volun- *a| (from page 3) Applause! teers will be placing calls Jan. 18-22, mL^^M Sally Ondrejcak, director of marriage and family studies, and Jan. 25-29, and Feb. 2-5, as they attempt to raise this year's goal a group of students attended a conference on "Detection and of 2,150 pledges and $110,000, said annual fund director Steve Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse" Dec. 5-6 at Edinboro Univer- Zinram. The collective result of individual gifts can have a tre- sity. Earlier in the year, Ondrejcak and students Erin Hardman mendous impact on the future of Mercyhurst and its students. and Jennifer Stransky presented a workshop on facilitating Iready on board as volunteers are Ambassadors, cheerleaders, the work of small groups within parish communities at the ance team, men's ice hockey, rowing, men's and women's lh 13 annual Parish Ministries Conference sponsored by the volleyball, Softball, wrestling, football, men's lacrosse, men's bas- Diocese of Erie. ketball, and men's and women's soccer. Anyone wishing to join Dr. Chris Magoc, assistant professor of history, participated forces in this important fund-raising effort is asked to call in the production of a television program produced by the Zinram at ext. 3023. As last year, the individual who secures the Erie Central Labor Council Education Committee, which cen- highest amount of pledged dollars and who exemplifies the tered on encouraging voter registration and turnout in the dedication that Eric J. Barr exhibited in the 2002 phonathon 2004 elections. Produced for Community Access Television, will receive the Eric J. Barr Memorial Fund-raising Award. the show will air this spring. Magoc also recently gave a talk Last year's phonathon garnered 2,006 pledges and $101,569. to the McDowell High School Honors Program on "Erie and Michelle Logsdon '03 received the first Barr award. the Great Depression."