at For so many Edinboro students, one visit was all it U took to know they had found the university perfect for them. E Visit us on campus or online, and see why more than 65,000 alumni have built the foundations of their success with an exceptional and a ordable EU education. We are the 65,000+ FIGHTING SCOTS playing 17 varsity sports alumni network Student clubs and wor ldwi de 150+ organizations 585 17TO1 campusacre student-faculty ratio For more information, visit go.edinboro.edu #GoBoro 888-846-2676 Spring Open House Saturday, April 14, 2018 | 9 am - 12 pm Frank G. Pogue Student Center Register today at www.edinboro.edu/visit CONTENTS: From The Editors The only local voice for news, arts, and culture. The best part of waking up Editors-in-Chief: February 28, 2018 Brian Graham & Adam Welsh or many of us, basic function is not on au- Managing Editor: tomatic drip — it requires a little more ef- Nick Warren Erie At Large: Habemus Mapam – 4 Ffort upfront. Tablespoons are measured Copy Editor: and rounded, filters or beakers are loaded, water Matt Swanseger Unfolding Pennsylvania’s new congressional is boiled, and behold — life is poured forth. That Contributing Editors: maps, the 2018 midterm elections and Ben Speggen first cup of coffee is our proverbial crossing over, Jim Wertz beyond whether we serve as our own medium or call upon Contributors: a barista to necromance us. It could be safely ar- Maitham Basha-Agha gued that coffee is the one reason the zombie Mary Birdsong A Sense of Placement – 6 Charles Brown apocalypse hasn’t already happened. Jonathan Burdick We need to make our marks outside our If you’re merely looking to reawaken your brain at Tracy Geibel Lisa Gensheimer comfort zones and reanimate your flesh, you could roam a few For so many Edinboro students, one visit was all it Angie Jeffery blocks in any direction and likely stumble across U Miriam Lamey a ration of this life-giving elixir. But if you’re seek- took to know they had found the university perfect for them. Tommy Link Echoes of Parkland – 8 E Aaron Mook ing something more, an experience to embrace as Dan Schank The reality of gun violence in schools and you reclaim your consciousness, you may need to Tommy Shannon Visit us on campus or online, and see why more than 65,000 alumni have built the Ryan Smith the need for change plot a more calculated course. Previously steeped Jen Sorenson in the no-frills tradition of the blue collar lifestyle, foundations of their success with an exceptional and a ordable EU education. Ti Sumner Cara Suppa Erie’s Roasted Boom – 10 coffee has emerged as an artform. After a few false Bryan Toy starts at the turn of the century, cozy coffee shops Cover Design How specialty coffee could quickly become and small roasters have been frothing up new- We are the Nick Warren Photographers: your new craft beer found support around town. Maitham Basha-Agha Resident coffee-addict (and judge in the recent Ryan Smith Erie’s Best Coffee competition) Nick Warren trac- Publisher’s Assistant: Grounds for Approval – 15 Emily Hanisek es the beverage’s evolutionary road map through FIGHTING SCOTS Something new percolating downtown at the foam, from the ancient Arabian Peninsula to + Intern: 65,000 Roman Sabella American diner to today’s specialty brew studios. playing 17 varsity sports Ember+Forge alumni network Writer Cara Suppa, who has seen a number of posh 1001 State St. Suite 1315 coffee shops come and go, sees staying power in Erie, Pa., 16501 Slam Dunk Donuts – 16 [email protected] Ember+Forge, which has perked the attention of Student clubs and Close competition for coffee’s favorite downtown Erie since opening this past December. The Erie Reader is the local voice for news, companion This is thanks in no small part to Ember+Forge wor ldwi de organizations arts, and culture, and is Erie’s only inde- proprietor Hannah Kirby, whose planning, dedica- 150+ pendent, alternative newspaper. Founded tion and foresight have already helped make her in 2010, the Reader has quickly become Metropolitan Skies – 18 the region’s award-winning source for arts new business a local destination. coverage, a strong cultural compass, and The city is teeming with avian life Others could afford to take cues from her deci- a dynamic resource for news and opinion. With a dedication to long-form journalism sive leadership, especially as we cross over into and a commitment to provoking thoughtful politics. Divides between party lines are bitterer discussion, the Reader tells the stories of 17TO1 the people and places making and shaping than a pot left on the burner for too long, and in Erie, while highlighting the events and is- trying times where direction is needed more than 585 sues influencing life in northwestern Penn- acre student-faculty ratio campus sylvania. The Erie Reader is published every ever, our policymakers need to wake up. Some other week and distributed at over 250 high argue that Pennsylvania’s congress, a sufferer of foot-traffic locations in Pennsylvania from chronic gridlock due to excessive gerrymandering, North East to Girard to Edinboro. In addi- tion to appearing in print, Erie Reader adds is beyond a shot of espresso — Jim Wertz is among new content daily at ErieReader.com as well BIRDSONG MARY those who hope that the redrawing of congressio- For more information, visit go.edinboro.edu social media sites. All rights reserved. All content © Flagship Multimedia, Inc, 1001 nal districts will be the bucket of ice water that State St., Suite 901, Erie, Pa, 16501. No part of shocks our state out of limbo. this publication may be reproduced with- out permission. The opinions of our colum- Spotlight On Erie – 21 Meanwhile, on a national level, the shock value nists and contributors are their own and These canvases are blank and that’s how of mass shootings seem to diminish, a disturbing do not always reflect that of the editorial trend noted by guest writer Morgan Williams, who board or organization. Direct sales inquiries they’ll stay #GoBoro 888-846-2676 to 814.314.9364. For editorial inquiries, email experienced the scare of an active shooter first- [email protected]. hand on the grounds of McDowell High School. Movie Reviews – 27 That’s about as close to home as it gets. Since the Black Panther and Fifty Shades Freed Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012, at least 239 more school shootings have transpired, including the recent massacre in Parkland, Florida. How much Crossword Puzzle – 28 Spring Open House stronger a stimulant do lawmakers need to recon- The latest stumper from David Levinson Wilk sider our gun policies? As Erie City Councilwoman Liz Allen writes, it takes work to become a friendlier neighborhood. Saturday, April 14, 2018 | 9 am - 12 pm Music Reviews – 29 It starts with communicating with and listening Frank G. Pogue Student Center Ezra Furman, American Pleasure Club, Rich to one another — and maybe (probably) a cup of Register today at www.edinboro.edu/visit Brian, GoGo Penguin coffee. February 28, 2018 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 NEWS & VIEWS Erie At Large: Habemus Mapam Unfolding Pennsylvania’s new congressional maps, the 2018 midterm elections and beyond Erie County, previously split into Congressional Districts 3 and 5 and overseen by representatives Mike Kelly and Glenn Thompson, will now be known as PA District 16 under Kelly’s supervision. extent possible and it should not “divide any county, city, incorpo- rated town, borough, township, or ward, ex- cept where necessary to ensure equality of population.” The intent of that clause was to rejoin counties, like Erie County, which had been divided in the creation of the 2011 electoral map. Demo- By: Jim Wertz crats were effectively draws a map “to entrench that party neutralized by separating counties or the uninitiated, Pennsylva- in power and prevent voters affiliated like Erie, which historically had been nia is a political mess. There are with the minority party from electing Republican-leaning in Congressio- Fmany problems — structural, fi- candidates of their choice,” as defined nal elections, and by distributing the nancial, and partisan — that contrib- in the petition filed by the League of Democratic base across multiple con- ute to the Commonwealth’s collective Women Voters last year. gressional districts. political loathing and serial gridlock. Some studies have called Pennsylva- The Cook Partisan Voting Index But chief among the elements of its nia the most gerrymandered state in (PVI) measures the extent to which despair was a gerrymandered elec- the country. In some parts of the state voters lean toward one party and sig- toral map that included two partisan this meant that a single county might nifies the likelihood of a candidate congressional districts infamous- have as many as four congressional from a particular party having elec- ly described as having the shape of representatives in order to carve out toral success. Republican Congress- Goofy kicking Donald Duck with the Republican strongholds. Pennsylva- men Glenn Thompson (PA-5), who connecting tissue of Goofy’s toe and nia’s congressional delegation is cur- consulted with Republicans in the the duck’s tail wide enough to be com- rently comprised of 13 Republicans General Assembly on the 2011 redis- prised of a single restaurant in King of and five Democrats even though tricting, and Mike Kelly (PA-3) enjoyed Prussia, just north of Philadelphia. Democrats have a 25 percent advan- greater than 10 percent advantages The League of Women Voters sued tage based on total registered voters over Democratic challengers.