The GwynmercianVolume 61, No. 1 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

Contents:

Travel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg.2 Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg.3 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg.4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg.5 Cultural Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 6 Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 8

Inside this Issue:

Study Abroad...... . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 2 On a College Budget . . . . . . . . . Pg. 4 CD Review. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . Pg. 6 IT Editorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg. 7 Sports Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pg 8

GMC’s Common Hour guest speaker on September 16th was District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. Addressing students, faculty, and staff in the Julia Ball auditorium, Ferman’s topic of speech was the U.S. Constitution. As a District Attorney, her job is to establish justice to pro-tect the community. In order to establish justice, she asks that the community give their full participation in cooperating with law enforce-ment. She makes sure justice is served by using the amendments of the Constitution to protect the rights of citizens or to prove them guilty. She said that “ we don’t only have rights but we have responsibilities also.” The Montgomery County District is very strict on law enforcement for the safety of others. District Attorney Ferman said that she will do whatever it takes to uncover and solve a crime. When a crime is committed, her office employees search for information such as doing

a background check to see if they can find a motive. Many criminals know not to cross the boundaries into Montgomery County, due to the district’s resources and technology used to find them. During Ferman’s speech, the audience could tell how motivated and serious she was about her job. If citizens actively participate in their community, as Ferman urged, it would be much easier to locate the people who commit crimes and, therefore, the area would become much safer for its citizens. Luckily, Montgomery County law enforcers, like Ferman, have established this by making sure they keep an eye out for any wrong doing. It was also encouraging to hear that even if someone commits a small crime, they will still have to suffer some type of consequence. Remember: with your help, your community can be a safer place!

Constitution Day Program Cracks Down on Criminals By Ashlynn Lawless

GMC Celebrates Nursing’s 50th Anniversary By Rosaleen Gilmore ‘09

The School of Nursing celebrated its 50th Anniversary during the weekend of Oc-tober 16th - 18th. Gwynedd Mercy College was the first college in Pennsylvania, and the first Catholic-affiliated school in the United States, to offer an associates degree in nursing. In 1959, Gwynedd Mercy College opened its doors to its first class in the school of nursing, which consisted of 11 students. As of 2009, the

nursing program at Gwynedd Mercy College has graduated 6,000 nursing students, who are now caring for their patients in the more than hundred health care facilities that are associated with GMC. In order to honor this achievement, the School of Nursing put together a weekend of celebrations and activities to commemorate fifty years of excellence in nursing education. On Friday October 16th, the School of Nursing sponsored a nursing symposium dur-ing the day, followed by a cocktail reception that evening. The Nursing symposium featured Joanne Disch who talked about “What Will It Take to Make Health Care Safe?” and Zane Robinson who discussed “Patient Safety and Nursing Practice Breakdowns”. The all-day symposium, which was open to nursing stu-dents for a nominal fee, offered students who participated 5.0 CEU credits for their time and attention. The cocktail reception was held in the Rotelle Lounge during the evening. All alumni and friends of the college were invited to this reception. The Black Tie Gala Dinner was held during the evening on Saturday October 17th

in the Anniversary Tent. The Gala offered a cocktail hour, two different choices for dinner, an open bar, and dancing. There was a fee for attending the Gala. On Sunday October 18th, there was a mass celebrated by Cardinal Rigali in the Grif-fin Complex at 8:30. All nursing students were encouraged to attend the mass held by Cardi-nal Rigali. The Voices of Gwynedd provided the music during the mass. During the mass Dr. Owens presented cardinal Rigali with the Beacon of Mercy Award (please see “Cardinal Justin Regali Recieves the Beacon of Mercy Award” on pages 1 and 7). A continental breakfast was served in the Anniversary Tent after the mass, and an Open House and Campus Tours for prospective nursing students was held throughout the day. Students said that the mass was a very uplifting and spiritual event. The main pref-ace of the mass was to celebrate the mission of nurses to care for the ill and serve others with compassion. Congratulations again to the School of Nursing for celebrating 50 years of excellence in the field of nursing!

Cardinal Justin Rigali Receives the Beacon of Mercy AwardBy Rosaleen Gilmore ‘09 The Beacon of Mercy Award was pre-sented to Cardinal Justin Rigali on Sunday, Oc-tober 18th by the President of GMC, Dr. Kath-leen Owens. Cardinal Rigali was presented the award during the mass celebrating the 50th An-niversary of Nursing Education at GMC. The Beacon of Mercy Award is presented to “honor a person of prominence whose commitment to integrity and compassion, dedication to service, and leadership in the transformation of society radiates gospel values and inspires others to share in the mission of Mercy.” Most students know of Cardinal Rigali as the Archbishop of Philadelphia; however, not

many students know of the incredible achieve-ments that Cardinal Rigali has attained through-out his lifetime. Born in Los Angeles in 1935, he went through Catholic grammar schools, high schools, and seminary schools, and was ordained as a priest by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre in the April of 1961. Cardinal Rigali went to Rome to study Canon Law at the gradu-ate level. He graduated with a doctorate in June 1964 from the Pontifical Gregorian University. On July 11, 1967, at the age of only 32 years, Cardinal Rigali was named a Papal

Continued on Page 7

TravelPage 2 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

Spending the Summer Abroad: A Student Goes Greek for GMC!By Tina Kane ’10

This past summer, I studied abroad in Greece for three weeks through Arcadia Uni-versity. I was interested in Greece because of its geographic beauty and interesting history. I had a great time and would definitely do it again. This is an opportunity that not a lot of people get. Studying abroad is a lot different than go-ing on vacation. Not only is it less expensive than a vacation, but it is a completely differ-ent experience. I did things that a vacationer wouldn’t necessarily know about. For instance, my classmates and I went on hikes, ate new foods at different restaurants, visited many mu-seums, and explored the shops, just about every day. We also got to travel to different cities and sleep in hotels every few days. This was one of my favorite parts of my trip. Besides this, I met people from all over the country and the staff was very educated and helped me to adjust and get the most out of my experience abroad. Even though I had help adjusting, I still found some things rather strange. First off, some of the locals did not realize I was Ameri-can and began talking to me in Greek. I didn’t realize I’d fit in so well! Another thing I found funny was that they have Pizza Hut in Greece.

However, it was a lot different from a typical American Pizza Hut. In Greece, the tables are covered in white linens and customers order wine with their pizza! It was very upscale and unusual to me. Besides that, I found the showers and toilets very challenging to get used to. The showerhead was located near the bottom of the shower. To use it, I had to take the showerhead out of its holder to shower myself (instead of having the shower head just spray water from above). The toilets had flushers hang-ing from the ceilings and I was not allowed to throw toilet paper into the toilet! Due to the poor plumb-ing, toilet paper had to be thrown into the trashcan. During my last week in Greece, I proved that everything can’t be perfect. Along with about fifteen classmates, I went to the hospital for

what was initially labeled swine flu. We were all very sick. In fact, I was never so sick in my life. Once we got to the hospital, we were greeted by camera crews and hospital work-ers wearing face masks. A man with a hazmat suit walked onto our bus asking us what are symptoms were. I was never so scared. Luck-ily, after blood work, IVs, and hours of waiting, we found out it was the stomach flu, not swine flu. We needed rest and hydration. Now I can look back on it and tell the story as if it was an adventure, but at the time I definitely wouldn’t have labeled it that. All in all, my entire trip was a journey of learning. Yes, I learned through the lectures, but I think I learned more about myself and others through my experiences in Greece. I am very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to study abroad. My advice to other students is to definitely take advantage of this great program. And it is not limited to Greece—Arcadia hosts trips abroad to over fourteen countries!

Senior Tina Kane standing on beautiful scenery in Greece.

To find out more information on studying abroad, contact Linda

Plummer at plummer.l@gmc.edu.

Come See the Wonders of Italy! Visit a beautiful country and get GMC course credits! This summer, join GMC in part of its own study abroad program in Italy.

• What: This study abroad offers students the choice of 2 out of 3 exciting courses: Italian Language and Culture (3 credits), Philosophy in Italy (3 credits), Phi-losophy of Italian Cinema (3 cred-its). Classes will be held Monday through Thursday, while weekends

will be open for students to explore Italy’s many wonders, including Venice, Verona, the Alps, Tuscany, Rome, and Florence.

• Where: Brescia, Italy. Bres-cia is a mid-sized city located in Lombardy, northern Italy, between Milan and Venice. It offers an au-thentic, non-tourist, Italian experi-ence.

• When: May 20-June 21, 2010.

A program fee includes round-trip airfare, tuition, medi-cal transportation, housing, and many other benefits.

For more information, please contact Elisa Clewis, Pro-gram Coordinator, Italy. Clewis.e@gmc.edu or 215-646-7300, ext. 145. Office hours: Connelly Faculty Center 102, Tuesday and Thursday mornings or by ap-pointment.

Health Beat Page 3 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

Do you enjoy writing?

If so, why not write for the student newspaper?Individuals interested in writing for the student newspaper should contact

Dr. Lisbeth Chapin at Chapin.L@gmc.edu

GMC Rallies to the Cause! October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a month dedicated to all those affected by breast cancer and one that focuses on fundraising to find a cure. Gwynedd-Mercy College recognizes this special month in numerous ways. For example, during Oc-tober, Gwynedd’s service-based group, Sigma Phi Sigma, sold breast cancer ribbons and had a raffle basket in order to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. They raised over a hundred dollars and ended their service week with a special mass. In addition to Sigma Phi Sigma’s con-tributions, Gwynedd Mercy College’s sports teams took initiative. Several sports hosted a breast cancer awareness game. Prior to these games, athletes got donations from friends and family members and honored/memorialized those affected by breast cancer with pink signs. The money raised there also goes to the Susan G. Komen foundation. However, these are only a few examples of the many ways Gwynedd-

Mercy celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness month. Most likely, by the end of the month students will have raised thousands to donate, which is an accomplishment to be very proud of.

By Tina Kane ’10

FYI: • October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

• According to the Ameri-can Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are ex-pected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year.

• An estimated 40,170 wom-en are expected to die from the disease in 2009 alone.

• Today, there are about 2.5

Some Facts About Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer AwarenessBy Willow Wilson ’09

million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.

• Breast cancer doesn’t only affect women: about 1% of all cases of breast cancer is made up of male breast cancer. While this seems such a small percent-age compared with the number of women who will be diag-nosed, this 1% still translates into an estimated 1,910 new cases of invasive breast can-cer expected to be diagnosed in men in the United States in 2009.

• Men who are between 60 and 70 years of age are much more likely to be diagnosed with the cancer, so it is ex-tremely important for older men to get regular checkups, as well as for women 35 years of age and older, although cases of breast cancer for women younger than 35 have occurred.

All information provided by the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NB-

CAM) organization, celebrating 25 years of Awareness, Education, and Empow-erment. The www.NBCAM.org website offers year-round resources for breast cancer patients, survivors, caregivers,

and the general public.

Be sure to read about Gwynedd-Mercy College’s Alcohol Aware-

ness Week in next month’s issue of the

Gwynmercian!

FeaturesPage 4 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

Enjoying college life and living on a budget are two difficult activities to balance successfully. Many college students discover so many unnecessary temptations on which to spend their money. Even though college students should treat themselves to buying fun things and tasty food once in a while, they also need to realize how to budget their money. If students succeed in this challenge, they will benefit from it during college and long after. Here are several easy ways to spend less money during college years:

• Watch how many times you eat out! It’s all right to spend money at restaurants or fast food places once in a while, but a college student should really be watching how much they spend on eating out per month or even per week. For example, if you have a goal to purchase something expensive by the end of the school year, like a new TV, you should calculate how much money you spend eating out, and how much of that money going towards food could be helping you buy that new TV.

• Look for sales on items you want! If you buy groceries to put in your refrigerator at school, or if you need to buy extra cloth-ing, regularly look for sales at stores near your school. Saving money over time on necessities, like food and clothing, will gradually give you an extra financial advantage.

• Find a job on campus or near school! Since money trees don’t grow at college, a col-lege student typically earns the money he or she receives by working a job on campus or near school. There are numerous job opportunities

How to Live on a College BudgetBy Beth Harrison ’12

A Week in the Life of a Nursing MajorBy Akeeka Davis

Life as a nursing student is definitely filled with a mixture of anxiety, anticipation, and acceptance, coupled with the drive to per-form well on your tests and clinical. As ironic as it sounds after listing all these challenges, I absolutely enjoy being a nursing student and I feel so lucky to be here studying at Gwynedd Mercy College. Monday through Friday I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and prepare myself for morning lec-tures. I have been reading five to ten chapters every night in an effort to prepare for upcoming lectures and assignments. This pace is rigor-ous, but it is necessary (and everyone keeps telling me that this will not last forever!). I guess when you are dealing with the care of the human body there are simply no exceptions to the rule. In nursing, we have a lot of assign-ments, papers, clinical check-offs, and tests to complete, so there is never a dull moment. I am always thinking about studying when I have free time; this way I feel more confident during testing cycles and clinical. From the beginning, I was anticipating my first day of clinical, and it was everything I could have ever imagined. My clinical instruc-tor is very bright, smart, and determined to help us succeed in nursing school: she even offers to help us with other nursing subjects beyond what she is expected to teach in clinical. To me, that speaks volumes about who she is as a caring and considerate instructor. The clinical experi-ence is very rewarding, because you are apply-ing what you learned in lecture directly to the hospital floor, which aids in the correct care of your patients. What a rewarding feeling that is! At the end of our clinical day we go into confer-ence and discuss what we learned. During this discussion I felt a sense of belonging, I felt em-

powered, and most I of all I wanted to read and study more about the skills I learned in clinical because by doing this, it would only re-enforce the theory of the topic we covered prior to clini-cal, providing me with a sense of confidence in my knowledge and skills. There is a feeling of anxiety before each test taken and each skill checked off in clini-cal; however, I must say that as long you study and prepare yourself for what lies ahead, it will usually work out in your favor. I study at least 20 hours a week just on nursing, not including going to the ARC as well as attending an extra nursing class called SUCCESS; this class helps us prepare for the NCLEX exam at the end of our second year. To me, nursing is the best ca-reer anyone could ever choose. It is a reward-ing profession that provides care for patients, giving nurses a sense of autonomy. My advice to anyone interested in nursing is to be ready for lots of hard work, accept the challenge, embrace change, be committed, and, most of all, serve from the heart. If individuals can ac-cept this kind of ideology, then they may have a promising start in the academic life of a nursing student.

at colleges that give you financial assistance if you just take the time to look for one.

• Walk or ride a bike instead of driving around campus! Many times you will see college students driv-ing in their cars to class. Instead, try walking or riding a bike to class. Not only will you be helping the environment, but your health will benefit by getting a lot of exercise. You’ll also be saving gasoline every time you resist the urge to drive, which will help save money you don’t need to spend frequently at the gas sta-tion.

Support GMC’s choir: the internationally-

renowned Voices of Gwynedd!

• Next month, be sure to catch the VOG’s Christmas concert, Carol Nights: A Joy-ous Christmas. Admission is free, and the VOG are per-forming on December 4 and 5! • Plan a trip to Longwood Gardens and combine beau-tiful scenery with beautiful music! The VOG will have their annual performance at Longwood Gardens, Christ-mas Blooms at Longwood Gardens, on December 11, with concerts at 7 and 8 p.m.

Arts and EntertainmentPage 5 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

The Ambler Theather: A Classic ExperienceBy Sarah Osborn From the moment you enter the doors and walk down the ornamental carpeted cor-ridor of the Ambler Theater, the dark walls and ambient lighting create a classic ambiance. The quaint atmosphere and burnished wood accents feel as though you’re in the 1920’s. The cinema has three theaters, one of which has stadium seating, a stage, chandelier styled curtains, and balconies! The experience gives you the enjoy-ment of the movies and the feeling of being at an opera. Most of the films that are shown are modern, independent, art, and foreign films, but occasionally a mainstream one sneaks in. Some of the films shown here have included ones by local writers and directors, Sundance and Toronto film festival winners (or losers; they don’t judge), and Woody Allen movies. The the-ater is open 7 days a week to public and general admission is $8.75. There is also a membership option, which for students is a tax-deductible

annual fee of $35. With the membership the admission is only $4.75 and you receive 3-day-advanced ticket sales and advanced mailing of upcoming releases and events! Not only are the ticket prices low, but also the concessions are inexpensive as well, ranging from one to five dollars. They carry everything from popcorn and soda to imported European and Asian candy. The theater also hosts parties, events and film discussion groups. So whether you’re taking someone on a date, live on campus and are bored on a Friday night, or have time between classes, make a trip to the Ambler Theater! Oh, and don’t forget to check out the town of Ambler itself! I’d suggest grab-bing a cup of coffee or a gelato at Café Madia, right across the street from the theater, and tak-ing a stroll through the town!

For more information, log onto www.ambler-theater.org.

Within Temptation’s “Black Symphony” Enchants

Within Temptation, a band from the Netherlands, has a unique sound that can be described as bombastic symphonic metal or gothic rock. The former would probably be the most appropriate term for a band of this nature, as the band’s sound fuses both orchestrical and rock sounds. Bands of this genre are very popular in regions all across Europe, and there are numerous other bands similar to Within Temptation. However, Within Temptation separates themselves from these bands by being open to changing their style with every subse-quent release. As a result of this, the band has remained in existence for nearly ten years and their popularity does not seem to be waning any time soon. For those unknowledgeable of this genre of music, these bands typically draw inspiration from mythology and fantasy stories. The themes of these stories are the basic template for many of this band’s songs. On a surface level, the listener could easily interpret each of their songs as a summary of these myths. The care-

ful listener, though, knows the mythos of the songs is symbolic of the basic human feelings of betrayal, despair, bravery, and love. Also, Within Temptation’s music contains Gregorian chanting and a Celtic sound that perfectly suits the band’s fantastical themes. Combining all these elements into a fine sound requires tact since such an ambitious sound could easily fall apart. Within Temptation’s music, luckily, has never experienced any of these problems, which has thus lent to their popularity within Europe. After nearly eight years of relying upon prerecorded orchestral tracks, the band finally decided to have a concert, entitled “Black Sym-phony,” that featured a full orchestra. (Many other bands have featured live orchestras, including Metallica.) Within Temptation takes full advantage of the accompanying orchestra by rewriting some of their tunes. This helps bolster the symphonic sound, which can barely be detected within many of their recordings. Within Temptation greatly shows their appre-ciation for the orchestra by having an exclusive orchestra feature. This feature makes up the overture of the actual concert and effectively draws the viewer into the concert immediately. Much like the band’s actual tunes, the orchestral overture offers us a preview of the band’s ethe-real sound and leaves the audience impatiently waiting to hear the remaining tracks. While the instrumentals for Within Temptation have always helped in setting this

band apart from others, Sharon den Adel, the vocalist, greatly improves the band with her mezzo soprano voice. With each song, Sharon deftly sings each lyric of every song and can easily be heard amidst the boisterous sounds of the instruments. Sharon succeeds, where oth-ers fail, by having the ability to sing each song with equal skill. Most vocalists find their vocals becoming greatly strained near the middle of a given performance. After three viewings of this concert, I still am completely in awe of Sharon’s vocal endurance, since most of the songs require far more skill than the songs of other bands. Songs such as “The Promise” demand the vocalist to remain within a high register for a major por-tion of the song. Though Sharon encounters slight difficulty towards the middle of this diffi-cult song, she never falters entirely. It surprises me that someone with Sharon’s talent has not gained more exposure. One of my biggest complaints with this concert DVD was the erratic camera angles throughout. At various points, it became diffi-cult to see the full scope of this enormous con-cert. I would have loved being able to see more shots of the chorus or the orchestra. Moreover, I wished to view more of the images which were shown on a screen, located behind the chorus. These images brought more meaning to each specific song that was played and greatly enhanced the performance overall. In all, this concert easily supersedes other concert albums because of the high qual-ity of Within Temptation’s performance. Very few bands of this sort are able to match the quality of their recordings. Within Temptation exceeds the high quality of their recordings and, for that reason, really puts other acts to shame. Anyone who has a slight interest in rock music or classical music should definitely check out this masterful live performance. Other bands that may interest WT fans are Kamelot, After Forever, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, and Epica.

By Justin Boyer

Cultural EventsPage 6 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

The Gwynmercian Staff

Gwynedd Valley, PA 19437Volume 61, No. 1 November 2009

Editor-in-Chief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Willow WilsonAssistant Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rosaleen GilmoreWriters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justin Boyer, Akeeka Davis, Beth Harrison, Dana Hill, Tina Kane, Ashlynn Lawless, Sarah Osborn, and Dan Schultz Faculty Advisor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Lisbeth ChapinThe opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily the same as those of the college or the student body. Comments, questions, and letters to the editors are wel-come. Letters should be signed by the writer; may be witheld. Address letters to Dr. Chapin, 119 Connelly Faculty Center, or email Chapin.L@gmc.edu.

New Theatre Group Started on Campus By Rosaleen Gilmore In May 2008, LLFA Prof. Jules Tasca retired from a long career as both a teacher at Gwynedd Mercy College and the director of the Valley Players, the drama club started by Tasca almost 30 years ago. In the fall of 2008, GMC made an attempt to keep the drama club going on campus by hiring Jessica Dalcanton, a local actress and director, to put on a play using students enrolled in the Play Production class. Another attempt was made by a student group, the Griffin Wings, to put together a student-run theatre club, resulting in their prodution of “Aladdin” in the spring of 2008. Despite all attempts by GMC and its students to keep a drama club going on campus, there is no work-ing theatre group on campus, to date. How-ever, Brianna Virginio means to change that. Brianna Virginio, with help from her friend and associate, Ashley Schieber, are plan-ning to put together their own drama club at GMC. With the help of Marissa Turchi, these two students hope to create a running theatre club on campus. The plan is to have the club up and running by no later than next fall. Depending on how many people want to join the club, they may or may not be able to put on a production of an entire play. Howev-er, no matter how many people join, they will still be hosting theatre games and improvisa-tion groups to any students who are interested.

They also hope to put on a talent show and or at least a mini-theatre production. Virginio, who was involved in theatre in high school, was rather depressed when she got to GMC and realized that our theatre program had disappeared. In order to rectify this prob-lem, she and Schieber decided to put together their student-run drama club. Virginio consid-ers the most important attribute of her club to be the fact that anyone with any kind of interest in drama or music can join. She will not hold auditions to join the club, and welcomes anyone

with a theatre or musical background to join. She is also looking for stage crew and othere people to help behind the scenes, with lighting and sound. With enough student support, Virginio hopes to make this club a permanent addition to the activities of Gwynedd Mercy College, as well as in the local community. Unlike previous attempts to create a drama program at GMC, she plans to perform both on and off campus. This could help bring in outside help and expertise. No matter how much effort Virginio and Schieber put into this drama club, they need the participation of GMC students. They are holding an informational meeting soon for any student who is interested in joining, or partici-pating in any way. Anyone interested in the club can contact Marissa Turchi or Brianna Virginio to get more information about the club, as well as about the time, date and location of the informa-tion meeting, which have not been determined yet: virginio.b@gmc.edu; turchi.m@gmc.edu. With enough help and support from the student body, this club could reawaken the theatre program that has been dwindling at Gwynedd Mercy College. As they say in theatre, break a leg!

GMC Hosts Annual Mercy Week!

Some snapshots from the Mercy Tea...

...including tasty snacks...

...and colorful displays!

EditorialsPage 7 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

IT Changes: A Student’s Perspective on the Pros and ConsBy Tina Kane ’10 Beginning this year, GMC’s IT Dept. introduced two new “improvements.” First, in an effort to go green, students were required to abide by the new rules of print management. Print management allows students to print only 250 pages per semester, colored pages count-ing as 5 pages per 1 colored print out. What’s funny about this process is that even if students use the new option of double sided printing and thus only use one page of paper, two credits are deducted. So what is the real point of print management? Students who are trying to be environ-mentally conscious by double sided printing are being penalized by getting the same amount of credits deducted from their account had they printed out two pages. I realize that students are given a ‘free’ twenty-five dollar credit, but that is simply not enough—and printing should be included in the tuition students pay to attend Gwynedd-Mercy College. Most students don’t have extra money to buy printing credit to print out their papers or nursing notes or PowerPoint slides needed for class. One nursing student told me that she

found herself printing about fifty pages per week in Nursing PowerPoint slides needed for class. That means that she’d run out of credit within the first five weeks of school. However, it is important for students to be print conscious. For example, printing out personal photos from Facebook or printing out unlimited pages of a PowerPoint only to forget it in the printer is wasteful and unnecessary. But there are other ways to stop wasting ink and paper. For example, when printing out in the li-brary, each time a student prints a document an extra paper prints out with the person’s name on it. This extra sheet is a waste of ink and paper. Nixing this process would definitely save hun-dreds of pages each day. Besides this, perhaps IT could install an alert on computers so after a student prints something and later goes to log out, an alert pops up reminding them to get their printed materials. This would stop students from forgetting their printed materials and hav-ing to reprint them later. Besides the new printing rules, GMC students also were introduced to Gmail in place of their old e-mail server. IT promised

this change would be beneficial to students. However, there were many problems, at first. Students lost many e-mails in the process. Although some emails migrated, some did not, and students were left without important e-mails and documents saved on their account. Currently, teachers are still running on the old server but are supposedly being switched over to Gmail around the holidays. Teachers are already very busy with students and classes and cannot afford to deal with the hassle of looking for lost e-mails mid-semes-ter; what if my professor loses my email, from Gmail to their format? I think that both teachers and students should have been asked their opinion on GMail and print management before they were en-forced. But since they were not, students and staff are limited on what they can do now. Besides petitioning against print man-agement and utilizing new ways of “going green,” students should encourage the transition to GMail be halted until the end of the school year to limit disruptions. In any case, there are still improvements to be made with both Gmail and the printing policies this year.

Tell us what you think! Write for next month’s issue and let us know how you feel about relevant issues on campus.

Chamberlain to Pope Paul VI. Cardinal Rigali also served as the Director of English-language Department of the Secretariat of State in Rome. In 1980, Cardinal Rigali was made a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness, and was made a Bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1985. In 2003, Cardi-nal Rigali was named Archbishop of Philadel-

Cardinal Rigali, continued

Continued from Page 1

phia two weeks later, was named to the College of Cardinals by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Throughout his life, Cardinal Rigali has always possessed a deep spirituality and belief that human life is sacred. He understands that, as a public representative of the Church, he has a responsibility to express his views and fight to bring about justice in this world. Cardinal Rigali has always demonstrated the values of spirituality, human dignity, education, and, of course, mercy. Gwynedd-Mercy College is proud to have awarded Cardinal Justin Rigali, a prestigious public figure of the Catholic Church, with the Beacon of Mercy Award. Anyone interested in further information about Cardinal Justin Rigali’s Life and Work can visit the website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at: http://archdiocese-phl.org/ri-gali/indexrigali.htm

Be Sure to Check Your Cabinets!

SGA is collecting non-perishable canned goods for charity this November. Col-lection dates run from No-vember 9th to November 20. There will be donation carts in every classroom building, as well as in St. Brigid and Alexandria.

For more information, contact Tom Friel at ext. 565 or Friel.T@gmc.

edu.

SportsPage 8 Gwynedd-Mercy College November 2009

A Rebound for the Men’s Soccer TeamBy Dan Schultz

freshmen Nick Stangler and Rich Karuschkat all netting their first career goals. The men will finish the season with three of their final four games on the road, in-cluding a home matchup with last year’s CSAC champs Cabrini. Early into conference play the Griffins sat in second place behind Neumann with an October 27 matchup that tied the two teams, 1-1, and the same happened against Cen-tenary. But after a loss against Juniata, the Grif-fins went on to win 2-1 against Marywood. So make sure to get out and support your team as they stride to make history!

Go Griffins!

After a dismal 2008 season, the Griffins look to rebound during 2009 with the addition of eight new players to go along side the twelve returning players. The men opened up the 2009 campaign with a home win over Delaware Valley College, under the lights, which saw a crowd of over six hundred people. The first half of the sea-son saw the team match last season’s win total with key wins over Albright and FDU Madison. Goalie Mike Leonard has already reached a career high in shutouts, with three through the first half of the season, while Tom Petroski and Matt Meier both are tied for the team lead in goals, with three each. Other highlights of the season include Sophomore Chris Playford and

Women’s Field Hockey UpdateBy Tina Kane ’10 The Gwynedd-Mercy field hockey team is making huge strides this season. After cel-ebrating Coach Lane’s 100th victory and beat-ing Eastern University in overtime, the Griffins are on a winning streak. After their 2-0 victory against conference opponent, Neumann Col-lege, Gwynedd-Mercy had its seventh straight win, leaving our overall record 10-3 and own-ing an undefeated CSAC record 6-0. Needless to say, the girls’ extreme dedication and hard work are paying off. This year we welcomed six new fresh-men and a total of nine new players overall to the team. Each one of them has played a vital part in the overall team success. Return-ing sophomores include Dottie O’Neil, Casey Dellostretto, Kayla Farrow, and Christine Hammitt—each of whom make up our starting line-up. This year’s team captains are seniors Ol-ivia Wilson and Ashley McGinty, two of three seniors on the team.

Although the team is young and have only two subs, they are playing well in the conference. In fact, many players are nationally ranked. O’Neil is currently 12th and Dellostret-to is 19th in goals per game, with 1.25 and 1.17 respectively. Both players have been recognized as the CSAC Player of the Week; Dellostretto received this honor last week and O’Neil held the honors the previous two weeks. Midfielder Kayla Farrow is tied for 5th place in assists per game with 9. First year goalkeeper Kate Eschbach is in 6th place for the top save percentage in the nation. Sophomore Ali Gurko is making big contributions in her first season on the team as well. She currently is tied for 4th place with 7 defensive saves. The team is looking forward to the play offs and working towards playing in the Cham-pionship game for the first time in 10 years.

Do you want to tell others about your major?

If so, why not do it through the student newspaper?

Individuals interested in writing for the school newspaper should contact Dr. Lis-beth Chapin at Chapin.L@gmc.edu. (All

majors welcomed)

COMING UPIn the Next Issue...

Holiday Highlights

VOG Spaghetti Dinner

A “Journey” with Music

Alcohol Awareness Week