MondayMorning ^newsletter In This Issue March 9, 2009 Vol. 26, No. 22 'Hurst To Host Frozen Four 'Hurst heads to hockey playoffs, YOUniversity TV Video Tour to host Frozen Four in 2011 Welch Promoted Mercyhurst's women's hockey team has set its sights on a berth in the NCAA's Frozen Four this year - and is already RecycleMania Update looking ahead to 2011 when Erie and Mercyhurst will host the Fashion Students In NYC prestigious competition. The Lakers, ranked third in the nation at the end of the regular Happenings on the Hill season, won their 7th straight College Hockey America title Saturday, beating Wayne State in the conference final. They Applause learned Sunday that they'll be making their fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I post-season tournament. This Week at the Hurst Seeded third, they'll host St. Lawrence in a first-round playoff game on Saturday, March 14, at 3 p.m. The winner of that Welcome back! game heads to Boston March 20 and 22 to compete in the Monday Morning resumes Frozen Four, with the national title on the line. publication today with the start of spring term. Send news items or story ideas to editor Sue Corbran or call her at 824-2090. Happy Birthday! March 10 Michael Goodwin Football Enver Rahmanovic Maintenance Kathleen Bukowski Education Stephen Ousley Anthropology/Archaeology Women's hockey coach Mike Sisti is interviewed by John Last of WICU TV Channel 12 at a press conference announcing that Mercyhurst will host the NCAA Women's March 11 Frozen Four in 2011. James Breckenridge Business/Intelligence Studies Kathy Richardson The selection of Mercyhurst to host in 2011 marks the first Alumni/Development time the Women's Frozen Four will take place in Thomas Thompson Pennsylvania. It's also the first time that Mercyhurst will host Computer Center an NCAA Division I championship tournament and the first March 12 time that a team from College Hockey America will serve as Verna Ehret host. Religious Studies "Hosting a national event of this magnitude has positive and John Patterson significant city-wide and regional implications," said President One Card Office Dr. Thomas J. Gamble. "We are partnering with the Erie March 14 County Convention Center and VisitErie and many others to John Rush make this a premiere event for Mercyhurst College, the City of Rowing Erie, Erie County and the entire region." Amy Weaver-Kaulis The NCAA Women's Frozen Four consists of two semifinal Fashion Merchandising games and a championship contest to determine a Division I March 15 Ice Hockey champion. The 2011 games, tentatively scheduled Todd Landis for March 18 and 20, will be played at Tullio Arena. Maintenance "The Tullio Arena is thrilled to host the NCAA Division I Women's Frozen Four," said Casey Wells, executive director | Join Our Mailing List! of the Erie County Convention Center Authority. "Northwestern Pennsylvania will provide a great setting for this prestigious event and the Erie County Convention Center Authority looks forward to working with Mercyhurst College in exceeding the expectations of the teams, tournament officials and the fans." "On behalf of Mercyhurst College, I want to express how excited we are to host the 2011 Women's Frozen Four," said Aaron Kemp, interim director of athletics. "We are delighted to be a part of such a prestigious event that will feature some of the finest women hockey players in the world. As the first College Hockey America institution to receive this honor, it is a demonstration that the CHA is thriving and continuing to identify itself as one of the elite leagues in women's college hockey. The Women's Frozen Four is a remarkable opportunity for the Erie community and I am confident that this event will showcase our love for the game. We look forward to putting on a first class show in 2011." The 2008 championship game drew the second-largest crowd in tournament history, and Erie officials expect attendance to provide an economic boost to the community that could be in the millions. "VisitErie would like to thank Mercyhurst College and the Tullio Arena for all their efforts in securing this major sporting event," said Joe Holody, director of convention sales for VisitErie/Erie Area Sports Commission. "We estimate that this event will draw 2,000 visitors to Erie with an economic impact of $2 million. The Erie Area Sports Commission, a committee of VisitErie, is ready to assist the Local Organizing Committee with promotional efforts in welcoming our guests to Erie in 2011." Erie will play host to the 2011 Women's Frozen Four Alumni Game and the Patty Kazmaier Award Banquet during the tournament. The Patty Kazmaier Award is given to the top collegiate women's ice hockey player in the United States. Mercyhurst junior Meghan Agosta was a top-three finalist each of the last two seasons and is a nominee this season. The Frozen Four was created in 2000-2001 when the NCAA recognized women's hockey as a championship sport. Only three teams have won the championship; Minnesota and Wisconsin have won two titles each while Minnesota-Duluth has claimed four, including the 2007-08 championship. In other hockey news: Men's team to battle Army Wth a third-place finish in the Atlantic Hockey Association, Mercy h u r s t ' s men's hockey team earned the right to host a conference quarterfinal series March 13-15. The Lakers will play #6 Army at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Friday and Saturday (and Sunday, if needed). Game times will be announced. The winner of the weekend series moves on to the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the AHA semifinals on Friday, March 20. The playoff champion will be crowned on Saturday, March 21, and will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA national championships. Mercyhurst made it to the AHA title game last season, losing to Air Force 5-4 in double overtime. Air Force is seeded first in this year's tournament. CHA honors 'Hurst coach, athletes Mercyhurst was well represented at the 2009 College Hockey America Championship banquet Thursday evening, as the Lakers claimed all four major postseason awards and placed nine student-athletes on the All-CHA squads. Junior captain Meghan Agosta earned her third straight CHA Player of the Year honor while freshman Bailey Bram was named CHA Rookie of the Year. Senior assistant captain Valerie Chouinard picked up the title of student-athlete of the year, an honor voted upon by the CHA athletic directors. Head Coach Michael Sisti was named coach of the year after leading the Lakers to a perfect 16-0-0 record in conference Play- Sophomore Ashley Cockell joined Agosta on the all- conference first team, while sophomores Jesse Scanzano and Cassea Schols and freshman Hillary Pattenden accompanied Chouinard on the second team. Freshman Jess Jones earned a spot with Bram and Pattenden on the rookie squad. Mercyhurst video tour debuts on YOUniversityTV After months of script writing, video shoots, and production revisions, YOUniversityTV, an online College Video Resource Community (CVRC), has uploaded the Mercyhurst College campus tour to its Web site. The edgy, staccato video - which YOUniversity TV producers said got high marks from a high school focus group - officially debuted the week of Feb. 23. To view it, click here. A YOUniversityTV production crew was on campus last summer to shoot the video and do interviews with faculty, administrators and students. YOUniversityTV's primary mission is to promote higher education, assisting college-bound students and their parents with the college- selection and enrollment processes by providing an all-access pass to the campuses of hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide. Launched in 2008 in Boynton Beach, Fla., YOUniversityTV's Web site features campus tours of 200 schools, with a plan to upload a total of 500 videos eventually. Bill Welch named director of CIRAT Bill Welch has been named director of the Mercyhurst College Center for Information Research Analysis Training (CIRAT), a nonprofit organization capitalizing on the expertise and technical capability of the college's intelligence studies students, faculty and staff to produce intelligence products for diverse clients. Formerly deputy director of CIRAT, Welch assumes the position previously held by Robert J. Heibel, who continues as executive director of the Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies. Welch earned a master's degree in applied intelligence in 2006 and is an instructor of intelligence studies at Mercyhurst. He is also a former instructor of journalism and writing at Mercyhurst, and former adviser for the Merciad. Prior to joining Mercyhurst in 2002, Welch spent 29 years at the Times Publishing Company, nine of them as reporter and 20 as city editor. He is president of the Flagship Niagara League, a volunteer organization that provides volunteer, administrative and financial support to the Erie Maritime Museum and the US Brig Niagara. Mercyhurst continues strong showing in RecycleMania Halfway through the RecycleMania competition, Mercyhurst remains in the Top 10 nationwide in the Grand Champion category, which ranks schools on their cumulative recycling rates during the contest. Mercyhurst's 52.77 percent recycling rate is good for ninth place nationally and first place among colleges in Pennsylvania. Mercyhurst is also tops in Pennsylvania in the Per Capita Classic, which measures the amount of bottles, cans, paper and cardboard recycled per capita .During the first four weeks of RecycleMania, the college recycled 15.72 pounds per capita and stands in 15th place in the national rankings. The competition continues through March 28, after which the national champions will be announced. You can view all the results at the RecycleMania Web site.