March 4, 2014

Viewfinder: Play Preview: Rumors

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The university shuttle service is taking a sharp turn. The university will drop its con-tract with North-east Transport, Inc., which pro-vides service from upper campus to the John J. Passan Hall, and instead do it in-house with campus safety officers behind the wheel. The switch, will take place before fall 2014, is the result of belt-tightening, said Robert Zavada, Associate Direc-tor of Campus Safety. Northeast Transport has held the contract since 2010. “At one time, we even had from North East Trans-port two con-tracted shuttles running certain hours, and of course, we have to look at the num-bers a little bit and say, ‘Well, how can we make this a little economi-cally feasible for the university to do this?,’” he said. Zavada said the process of mov-ing from an outsourced service to in-house transportation has been slow. The university had been easing the transition with supplemental shuttle service driven by campus safety officers. The university was able to obtain a vehicle very similar to the shuttle used by the contracted service, and ridership will not be affected. “The only difference that anyone will see will be that we will not have that 22 passenger shuttle. We’ve kind of found out that our numbers did not necessitate us

keeping that big of a vehicle on the road. Only on very, very rare oc-casion would we have to max that shuttle out. In fact, it never gets up to that amount of riders. It is usu-ally only has half that amount of riders. So keeping a 20 passenger vehicle on the road, it just didn’t make any economic sense to do that anymore,” said Zavada. Zavada said the new university transportation system enables the campus safety department to directly manage the shuttle drivers and service. “When you’re dealing with an outside company, you’re also dealing with any of the issues that might go along with that. You’re not directly the manager of the people that operate that, so you would have to communicate

through different layers of manag-ers to speak to them, and to com-municate plans, timing and how we wanted them to operate. So with the drivers not being Misericordia employees, it was a challenge at times,” he said. The new system will also enable more complete safety patrols, Zavada said. “I’d like to get more officers around during the day. So it’s an added benefit. In the world of business, a lot of people are cross training different duties, so they may be a student transport driver but they’re also a campus safety officer with the ability to respond in an emergency situation. They are in constant motion, and there is al-ways somebody down at the lower campus, a campus safety officer,

even if they’re behind the wheel of a student transport vehicle, will be down on lower campus during most parts of the day,” he said. Campus safety officer Myron Galaida believes the plan will run smoothly. “Since it’s going to work out of the safety office, you’re going to have more – let’s put it this way – ‘eyes’ for the safety office roaming the campus, and it’s going to be better for the students, overall for the students,” said Galaida The new system will be in place in fall 2014 and will include a 10-passenger student transport vehicle with wheelchair accommo-dations as well as a supplementary eight passenger van on the same schedule. smitha10@misericordia.edu

By Alexandria Smith, Web Master

Hello, hola, bonjour, ciao! Librarians at the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library want students to know that it offers Mango, a database for languages. It is free and available with an app, which is compatible with iPhones and Android devices. The database is user-friendly, according to Hilary Westgate, Information Literacy Librarian. Students can create an account on a computer and once they download the app, log-in. Westgate said the database was promoted Feb. 12 during the “Love Your Library” event, which was part of the Library Marketing Committee’s effort to highlight a database but also provide a fun event for students. It included a photo booth, drawings, raffles and three demonstrations about the Mango language database. Andrea Fondots, student worker at the library and junior psychol-ogy major, compared Mango to programs such as Duolingo. “It walks you through differ-ent sentences to teach you the language, and then it builds off of what you have already learned.” Users are able to learn different languages at the same time, and the database records the lessons that users complete, she said. Mango offers visual images, written words, pronunciation, and it provides words in context, said President Thomas Botzman, who attended the demonstration. The database includes full length movies in different languages, which Fondots said is the coolest part. Movies occasionally pause and explain the dialogue and the action of the scenes. Fondots said this is important to understand how dialogue is used, and it “shows you the slang, their sense of humor - stuff you just do not get” from a classroom lecture. Botzman said learning a lan-guage is “not just figuring out how the words fit together, but how one actually uses the language.” Westgate said the database al-lows users to listen to a single part as many times as they need, and it allows users to record their voices. The database also includes cultural notes that explain “the proper way to speak to a stranger versus a familiar person.” Mango offers 61 languages for English speaking people and 17 courses for English language learners. Westgate said she has helped English as a Second Language stu-dents with research, and she said it would be nice to be able to speak with them in the language that they are most comfortable. Mango requires a self-motivated person, Westgate said. Mango is also interactive. Fon-dots said that, “you have to talk back to it” and a person may not be able to do it in a quiet place, like the Library.

Fondots said that it takes time, “but learning anything takes up time.” Botzman said he would have used software like Mango when he was living abroad “to tune up” so he could enjoy the experience even more. Botzman retained his foreign language skills he gained in high school and during his experiences living in Europe and teaching in Mexico. He learned to speak some French and Luxemburgish as well as some Spanish - without lessons. Fondots said she would use Mango as a refresher to improve her French skills. Fondots spoke French in high school and par-ticipated in a foreign exchange program that sent her to France. College life has faded her French language skills, she said. Botzman said he has “a strong hunch” that most students would like to improve skills they ob-tained through previous classes. A benefit to the Mango database, according to Westgate, is how it will affect studying abroad. “If students learn the language before they go abroad,” Westgate said, “that would be a huge help.” Fondots said that the lack of foreign language classes could limit students to English speaking countries, but this database could expand language abilities enough to make them confident to visit non-English speaking countries. Fondots also said that if students take advantage of the database and take the time to learn, the university might expand service trip sites. Botzman said he would love to see every student have the op-portunity to go abroad, intern or go on a service trip. Study abroad enables students to apply classroom learning in a real world situation, Botzman said. That could include “volunteering at Noxen Food Bank or working with children in a school or going to another country.” This database has been around for a few years, but usage was very low, Westgate said. Normally the next step would be to get rid of it, but this database became very important with the new language course offerings on campus. Westgate hopes the database will complement those classes, and Botzman believes the acquisition of new languages helps students to broaden their horizons - in more ways than one. “I believe for us to be a truly ef-fective university, we have to edu-cate the whole person,” Botzman said. “That means learning about the sciences and math so we can think about critical thinking skills, learning about writing to express ourselves, learning communica-tion, learning about our field of inquiry whether it be nursing or business.” battistn@misericordia.edu

New Shuttle Service Coming

By Ellen Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief

Roundabout Long Time Coming Editor’s note: This story is the last of a three part series investigating a new traffic pattern in place of the five-way intersection in downtown Dallas. Some students at Misericordia may be just hearing about the roundabout project now, but in reality the project has been a long time coming, according to PennDOT and Dallas Borough officials. In 2005, PennDOT conducted a Back Mountain Area Transporta-tion Study and the roundabout was one of five alternate plans of travel for the heart of Dallas, replacing the current five-way intersection. According to Steve Giampaolo of McMahon Associates, the project team developed five alternatives for the intersection, including a conventional intersection and multiple roundabout configura-tions. Since 2005, there have been numerous public and community meetings about the project, some even held on campus. The alterna-tive routes of travel were first displayed at the public meetings. From there, a Community Advisory Committee, public of-ficials and the public came to an agreement on a single lane circular roundabout or a single lane oval roundabout, according to Giam-paolo. “Both options were presented at a second public meeting. A feasibil-ity study was prepared and after careful review, PennDOT selected the oval roundabout with a single

circulating travel lane,” he said. Timothy J. Carroll, Mayor of Dal-las Borough, worked with the other officials on this project design. He reached out and spoke significantly with Sam Scirva, mayor of Roches-ter, Pa., whose town has a similar roundabout design. “I talked to a mayor that was out by Pittsburgh about a roundabout that they had done. He said, ‘Tim, I’m going to tell you, everyone was against it. All the businesses were against it.’ He said, ‘I’m going to tell you today that everyone loves it.’ He said, ‘Everyone just turned around 100 percent and loves it.’” Carroll and Borough Council members have been receiving backlash about the roundabout project from community members and business owners. Many, Carroll said, compare the planned con-struction to roundabouts they’ve seen or travelled through in New Jersey. “People compare them to Jersey and it’s not the same type. Every-one who jumps me says, ‘They’re taking them out of Jersey.’ It’s not the same thing though,” he said. While the Borough is receiving complaints and questions about the construction process, they want the community to know this is a PennDOT and state project, the Borough is just supporting and hosting them as they construct the new traffic pattern. “The roundabout is controlled by the state and is being done as a state project. We did agree to sup-

port it because it complies with our master plan and our comprehen-sive plan, but it is not our project. I would not want anyone to have the idea that we made the decision. It’s actually a PennDOT project,” Tracy Carr, Borough Manager said. “It’s just located in our municipality.” Carr said the Borough is putting its faith into the traffic engineers who say this is the best scenario for the town. Officials understand the commu-nity’s concern with the construc-tion process but say it will only benefit the town and travelers in the end. “The roundabout is going to give us more of a center of town. It’s go-ing to pull the whole town together rather than having one highway cutting Dallas Borough downtown in half,” Carr said. Giampaolo agrees with the Bor-ough, especially in looking at the university and how much easier students will find traveling to and from campus. “The project will have a positive impact on the university and com-munity as the intersection design will improve traffic flow, particu-larly during the peak periods and create a more pedestrian-friendly environment,” he said. Brent Berger of the Quad 3 Group, a local engineering firm, agrees the university will benefit. “I hope it helps empty out foot-ball games because that is really ugly,” he said. Kevin Atkins, PennDOT Liason

Engineer, wants the people of the Back Mountain to give it a chance before they decide it’s a bad idea. “The roundabout is free flow, which will eliminate cars for sitting and idling to reduce exhaust emis-sions for cars and trucks sitting at the lights,” he said. “It has been es-tablished that it makes pedestrian movements safer by creating island areas that shorten the amount of lanes they have to cross.” With the roundabout eliminat-ing all traffic lights at the five-way intersection, officials say the flow will be “non-stop.” “Traffic lights are the worst traffic jam,” Berger said. “Stop signs are second. So these roundabouts have been put in a lot of places and they say they can move almost three times, I think is what they said, the cars that they can move compared to the traffic light system.” Berger had an opportunity to travel through the Rochester roundabout and said, “it’s awe-some.” He claims this roundabout is similar to the one Dallas residents will be used to traveling through come 2017 when the project will reach completion. “Very similar,” he said of the style of roadway. “It’s five roads but not quite as big. The shape is a little different but there was nothing in the circle in the times I went through it. I mean I had lunch on one side and came back through and nothing was around. It didn’t really matter the time of the day.”

LEARN LANGUAGES ON THE GO

By Nicole Battista, Reporter

Continued on page 5

Sophomores Ryan Dorosh and Tim Burek board the shuttle outside of Banks Student Life Center.LEAH SANTUCCI/THE HIGHLANDER

Sophomore Courtney Garloff checks out the Mango Languages site in The Highlander office in the Banks Student Life Center.

MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

March 4, 2014highlandernews.net2

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STAFFThe Highlander is a free, biweekly publication produced in conjunction with MU Communi-cations Department. Any full-time student is

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INTEGRITYThe Highlander works to produce up-to-date, clear, accurate reporting. If any information is inaccurate or not covered thor-

oughly, corrections and information will appear in this area. Opinions and views expressed in The Highlander in no way reflect those of Misericordia University or the Sisters of Mercy. The Highlander Staff welcomes students, faculty and reader response.

The Highlander reserves the right to edit submissions for grammatical errors and length. All submissions must be signed. Letters to the Editor and/or materials for publication may be submitted by any reader. Items can be sent via e-mail.

Ellen Hoffman - Editor-in-ChiefCourtney Garloff - Print EditorArthur Dowell - Web EditorMary Bove - Multimedia Editor

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Alexandria Smith - Web Master

Melissa Sgroi - AdvisorMisericordia University

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Nicole BattistaRob Evans

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highland@misericordia.edu

Women’s history month marks a time for reflection on how far women have come - and how much farther they still need to go to achieve full equality. History professor Dr. Allan Austin said changing cultural attitudes is the key to a society in which women receive equal treatment and opportunity. He said legislation such as the Equal Rights Amendment, which to this day has not passed the legislature, is important, but people need to become more open-minded about changing women’s roles. “People still write about the glass ceiling, and they still talk about the challenges that come along with being a professional woman in the workplace,” said Austin. “The idea that we’ve fixed it is probably patting ourselves on the back a little too hard.” Dr. Ryan Weber, assistant profes-sor of fine arts, said there is always a question of whether or not women in the workplace are able to raise children. Businesses gener-ally do not offer new mothers a lot of maternity leave as businesses in many other countries do, and many women fail to take advan-tage of the time they do have because they fear their absence can have negative effects on their jobs, status or positions. “The CEO of Yahoo said one of the easiest things we can do to al-low women to climb the corporate ladder is allow them to have time off,” said Weber. “That’s something that we don’t allow.” Weber said paternity leave for new fathers would also move gen-der equality forward, but society must accept it. Weber said the fact that there is not an Equal Rights Amend-ment is symptomatic of a country that is deeply uncomfortable with change. “It goes to show that we have a comfort zone,” said Weber. “I think part of what we have to do is acknowledge that.” Weber said people are well accus-tomed to male leadership. “Some people like to have a white male in power,” said Weber. “You can give them evidence as to how white men have screwed things up in the past, and it doesn’t matter.” Weber said discriminatory at-titudes - held by both men and women - are often subtle and well hidden. For example, he said men often play guitars or drums, but many women do not, and that is a minor example of deeply embed-ded stereotypes about women’s roles. “Even if we’re accepting of women taking on these taboos, it usually doesn’t change our opin-ion,” Weber said. The media, which often reinforce or even create attitudes, continue to spread discriminatory messages although they are often difficult to spot because of culturally ingrained attitudes that often go unquestioned - or even unnoticed. Dr. Amanda Caleb, assistant pro-fessor of English, said seemingly innocent or polite gestures can demonstrate inequality. President Barack Obama pulled out a chair for Hillary Clinton during a tele-vised debate. In essence, he subtly but noticeably grabbed a position of power by offering a gesture of chivalry to his equal female com-petitor, and he did it on the basis of her gender, which is historically perceived as the weaker sex. Weber said women have many freedoms, from the right to run for elected office to seemingly

minor things such as the right to wear clothing of their choice, but, at least in the case of their sarto-rial choices, women often come under attack for their sensuality. “The question always is, is this a source of empowerment, or is it something much more sinister?” said Weber. “I think when we see these modern controversies, we don’t know how to internalize this as a society.” Austin said celebrities like Miley Cyrus use negative strategies such as nudity or outrageous behavior to gain empowerment, and there is a struggle to find balance. “For the past hundred years, we’re got this same kind of dif-ficult dynamic,” said Austin. “How can women assert themselves in ways that are empowering?” Austin said film may be one of those ways. He said Disney movies have disempowered women in the past with a fixation on weak, needy princesses and the like, but movies like “Frozen” show women do not have to be dependent upon men: They can buy their own slip-pers if they happen to lose one. Weber said women who hold pro-fessional positions are becoming more common, but not common enough. Few women own record labels or serve in leadership posi-tions at major companies. He said even the idea of a female surgeon is rare, even though his friend is one. “It’s great that we have a chair-person who is female, and that we have a provost who is female,” said Weber. “I come from a university in Connecticut where the presi-dent is female.” Weber would like to think that people are hired for their qualifica-tions and not their gender. Austin agrees that the profes-sional world has opened up to women. He said women are able to study at universities and pursue their interests, which would have been a shocking thought not very long ago. Weber feels educational institu-tions can be helpful in solving the problem of gender inequality. He said courses can provide students with the critical thinking skills they need. “To find solutions, we need more complex arguments,” said Weber. Weber said people need to un-derstand that human difference is not a problem or threat. Caleb feels a the creation of a women’s studies program would be a good idea. She said the Uni-versity itself is a source of a lot of women’s history, particularly be-cause it was a women’s institution founded to educate the daughters of coal miners. The program could show some of the historical values the university holds dear. The barriers that continue to limit women may be the same as those that prevented passage of the ERA decades ago. Caleb said that at that time, labor unions were a reason the Amendment was not passed because working-class women worried they would lose benefits. Austin said some women thought they would lose workplace protections, and some opponents of the Amendment thought it would erase the difference be-tween genders or even destroy the family. Some women who did not necessarily see themselves as op-pressed might have felt an attack on the security and identity they found from being housewives. talackat@misericordia.edu

By Taryn Talacka, Reporter

Professors Take First Step Toward Media Domination

Melanie QuintanillaLeah SantucciMatt ScanlonTaryn Talacka

John Young

Students research a number of things when they choose a semester’s worth of classes, what each class is about – how many tests and papers are involved and the course sched-ule, but they may make selections based upon a more personal criterion: who is teaching it. Rate My Profes-sor is a once popular website students use to check out professor ratings and reviews before they sign up for classes, but the data may not be accurate or even up-to-date. Dan Kimbrough, assistant com-munications professor, said his hands-on approach to teaching future media profession-als changes every year, so a review from a few years ago may not ac-curately reflect the class. “Video I has never been taught the exact same. If you read a review of how I did a course three years ago, it’s probably changed three times since then. We work in media, so my techniques have to change as new things come out, as technology changes,” he said. Kimbrough said reviews may be helpful for students researching general classes, but they won’t al-

ways apply to higher level courses. “Reading about how I did it last semester is almost of no use to you whatsoever. Maybe in a Survey of History of the World

101 (course), may be, but at a certain point you can’t do that above 100-200 level courses,” said Kimbrough. Another problem with sites such as Rate My Professor is that many reviews speak about how easy a professor is, but that isn’t beneficial to students who want to learn, said Bryan Dewey, pro rata professor of English. “I have checked reviews of col-leagues and all of them have said,

‘Told great stories in class, gave an A just for showing up,” he said. Kimbrough said while his teach-ing style may be tough, it is always in students’ best interest.

“My notion of evaluation is always, ‘Can the students do what they are supposed to do?’ as far as being able to shoot video and how we’ve trained them. Whether or not they like me is somewhat irrelevant,” said Kimbrough. While students may want to check out Rate My Professor be-fore they sign up, maybe to gauge workloads or other details, profes-sors say the information isn’t of much value. It is also difficult to

accurately judge a class based on few short sentences posted by someone motivated enough by love or dislike to take the time to write a post.

“Am I easy? I hope I’m not easy. If I’m easy, then I’m not challeng-ing you mentally and you’re wasting your money. I don’t think the questions hit on what we re-ally do, but I think it’s hard in any evaluative process to really come up with an assess-ment that is that pinpointed but can be used across the broad spectrum,” said Kimbrough. Sophomore Ra-chel Barnhart said students ranting about professors on the site are just an-gry because of a bad grade they received,

but it is the student’s responsibil-ity to do the work. “Some reviews say that a teacher is difficult, but then I’ve taken that class and received a good grade. It all depends on if the students want to do the work as-signed to them,” said Barnhart. There’s also the problem of stu-dents using Rate My Professor as more of a ranting space than any-thing else. Typical comments slam professors for the amount of hard

By Matt Scanlon, Reporter

WOMEN’S RIGHTS:NOT A LONG

ENOUGH WAY, BABY “The Mash-Up,” a pop culture show hosted by professors Dr. Allan Austin and Dr. Patrick Ham-ilton, is Cougar Radio’s newest program. Inspired by the television show “Glee” for its use of mash-up songs, the professors discuss dif-ferent types of pop culture such as television, film, comics and sports for 30 minutes every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. “It’s also called the ‘Mash Up’ because you never know where the show is actually going to go,” Austin said. The idea of the show originated last fall, when Austin, of history, and Hamilton, of English, were interviewed about pop culture for “Cougar Cast” on MCN87. The seg-ment was planned to be about five minutes, but the interview lasted almost an hour. “At that point, we knew that this could be its own show.” Austin and Hamilton are big fans of TV, comics and other forms of pop culture. The two often find themselves having conversations wrapped around pop culture topics both in and out of the classroom. Hamilton’s students have de-scribed him as an “indiscriminate consumer.” “I’m so immersed in popular culture that it just comes natural for me to talk about,” he said. The first episode of “The Mash Up” aired in January and the duo has only been able to broadcast two more shows since due to winter weather, but every day they plan segment ideas. “We try to sketch out broad ideas,” Hamilton said. “We get three segments of eight minutes and we try to come up with what each segment will be about.” Austin and Hamilton say they try hard to not over-plan. “The whole idea is spontane-ity and making the conversation

feel real as opposed to something scripted,” Austin said. The two hosts try to let the con-versations flow naturally. Austin’s son, Bobby, 14, and daughter, Hope, 11, write questions for them before a show, and neither Austin nor Hamilton know what the they are until the show begins. “It’s a great way to open the show,” Hamilton said. “It is com-pletely unscripted and it’s often the best part of the show.” The hosts try to incorporate their topics with current events at the time of the broadcast. While they share common interests, Austin and Hamilton disagree and debate. During the third broadcast, Hamilton men-

tioned that he and Austin grew up in the 1980’s and they talked about songs that defined them. Hamilton mentioned “Take On Me” by Aha. Hamilton loves song while, Aus-tin said it is cheesy in the worst ways. “If we agreed on everything, then the show wouldn’t work,” Austin said. While they love to talk about pop culture as entertainment, they also find talking about it use-ful in terms of teaching a class. “Students tend not to realize that the popular culture they consume is sending them ideas and ideologies about race, ethnic-ity and gender,” Hamilton said.

“We think of the detective stories as entertainment, mystery stories are just read for fun. Hopefully, the students realize that even though it’s a popular form of fic-tion that doesn’t mean there isn’t meaning and content and things to think about.” Even though “The Mash Up” is new, Austin and Hamilton see a lot of potential in their show. They have joked in the past about becoming hosts of a three-hour radio show on SIRIUS XM. “Our dreams of media domina-tion are a bit over blown,” said Hamilton. Only three episodes in, they are learning the tricks of radio broadcasting. “Radio’s a weird thing because you’re talking to an audience that you never see, which makes it different from teaching,” said Aus-tin. “When I’m in the front of a classroom, I have a sense whether it’s working or not because I can see human reactions to what I’m doing.” The hosts are also experiment-ing with material, and by the end of the semester, they expect to know what parts of the show work and what parts don’t. “This first term is going to be figuring things out and getting comfortable with it,“ Hamilton said. “The show will basically stay the same but will grow and evolve.” The possibilities for Austin and Hamilton are endless, and the two of them are in it for the fun. “During the first week we would spend the bulk of our day just coming up with ideas for seg-ments,” said Hamilton. “We could easily let this thing take over our lives if we didn’t have students to teach.” “The Mash Up” airs on Wednes-days at 2:00 p.m. on cougarradio.net. scanlonm@misericordia.edu

CORRECTIONSIn an article in the Feb. 4 issue titled “Painting Poses

Problems,” our staff reported David Randazza, mainte-nance painter, did not ever receive help in his painting projects around the campus. Randazza said he does

receive help depending on the project.

Allan Austin and Patrick Hamilton conduct their weekly radio show on Cougar Radio in the Banks Student Life Center.

MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

Professor Rating Site Losing

Above, screen shot of the Misericordia page on the Rate My Professors website.

By Brittany Hayes, Reporter

Continued on page 3

March 4, 2014highlandernews.net 3Arts & Entertainment

Blue Jeans For True GenesSince 2006, a National H.O.P.E. organiza-tion has collected denim as a way to help people (men and women both) feel com-fortable about their jeans/genes - that is,

both their denim and their body type. The campus H.O.P.E group wants to promote a positive body image and help you feel good

about your shape and size. It is for this reason they are bringing this campaign to

Misericordia University.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Donate any jeans that no longer fit or feel

comfortable anymore. Don’t let the size on the band dictate how you feel about your-self! SO.....Bring your jeans to the Banks Lobby between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. after Spring Break (specific days will be an-

nounced soon). If you cannot bring them during that time period, you can drop them off with Carol Llewellyn, the office man-ager of the CAPS Center anytime during

the day. Collected jeans will be donated to a local

homeless shelter.Thank you from the H.O.P.E. group!

Women’s Relationship Violence GroupThis group is for any student who has

ever been, or is currently in a relationship, in which they experience abuse - verbal, physical, etc. and who want to figure out

their emotions in a supportive environment with others who have experienced similar

relationships.

Please contact Dr. Cindy at (570) 674-6366 or cmarch@misericordia.edu. if you are interested or if you have any questions.

CAPSCORNER

STUDENT ON THE STREETWe asked students in Banks Student Life Center to describe the first thing they are going to do when warm weather finally arrives. If you have a ques-tion you would like us to ask, email the newspaper editorial staff at Highland@misericordia.edu.

“Buy a big fan and stay cold,” said undeclared first year Ryan Gisinger.

“Hike with my friends at Frances Slocum State Park,” said junior psychology major Koryn Henry.

“Head down to the MU Chal-lenge Course and do some zip-lining,” said junior business admin. major Kaleigh Reynolds.

“Play football outside and enjoy the warmth,” said first year pre physical therapy major Gino Cannon.

“Break out my floral attire,” said senior professional studies major Donna Castelblanco.

“I’m going to miss the snow,” said first year occupational therapy major Ryan Horne.

App Craze Creates AddictionBy Courtney Garloff, Print Editor

Whether it’s Angry Bird or Flappy Bird, students are flocking to game apps, but they may not always be the innocent source of harmless fun they appear to be. The latest game to attract users is Flappy Bird, which requires players to tap the screen to move the bird between pipes without hitting them. “I love playing games on my phone because they help to fill up time, like the time between classes,” said sophomore nursing major Laura Russo. With new applications released every day there is a large range of games from which students may choose to fill - or waste - their time. “People are all buying into that distraction,” said Jim Roberts, Director of Marketing Communi-cations. And there is a lot to experience. “The supply seems endless so there are always new, perhaps bet-ter, apps to try out. We are often drawn to novelty,” said psychol-ogy department chairperson Dr. Marnie Hiester. Students often flock to them because their peers have it, and they are growing more interested as they rack up new high scores. “People often want what others have and are influenced by what psychologists call social norms. For teens and emerging adults in particular, there are social pressures to fit in, to be in the in crowd,” said Hiester. “Technology is considered fun and trendy, and thus desirable. Already having lots of cool apps doesn’t necessarily diminish the desire to have more,” said Hiester. Roberts agrees that the craze is fueled by peer pressure.

“If all of your peer group is doing something, you want to investi-gate it,” said Roberts. Another reason for the attrac-tion is the cost: Many games on the Apple App Store or Google Play! are free, and some cost only $0.99. “Apps generally require little investment, and thus are fairly disposable. The potential benefit

to be gained by the app, for fun or utility, outweighs the minimal risk of losing a few bucks if you don’t use it,” said Hiester. The feeling of achieving quick success can also draw students. “Video games stimulate a sense of reward in the brain,” said Roberts. Despite the reasons behind students’ obsession, most say they simply think the games are fun.

“They are fun to play and inter-esting. Some games like Flappy Bird can even be addicting some-times,” said Russo. That addiction - or time-wasting - may be the real risk of heavy gaming activity. “I think it is possible to spend more time than you probably should playing these games, and they are an easy escape from the pressures of life,” Hiester said. “Many of these games are de-signed to provide you with instant positive feedback, so that you feel better about yourself when you play, which makes you want to play more many are also designed to allow you to play and compete with friends, so they are inher-ently social.” Students may only think of the benefits they receive from opening their favorite applications and not notice the rewards app developers receive: money “A developer can sell the game and its upgrade or give the game away for free and make people pay for more levels,” said Roberts. Students may also pay in another way, one often well concealed from users. Some games may collect players’ personal data, and that enables app companies to make even more money. “You can also use the game to gather data, and any information gathered by playing that game,” said Roberts who added that the best way to see whether apps gather data is to read each app’s terms and conditions. “This doesn’t surprise me,” Rus-son said. “When you are on your computer it tracks your history so why wouldn’t your phone do it?” garloffc@misericordia.edu

A student begins the Flappy Bird journey on their iPhone.ELLEN HOFFMAN/THE HIGHLANDER

work required to pass courses. “Usually it comes down to if you got a bad grade or it was a tough class then you get a poor review. If it was an easy class and students were happy with how easy it was then you’re going to get a good review,” said Dewey. Kimbrough agrees students use the site as a safe place to anony-mously rant about how they felt about a course. Some students and teachers alike would argue that Rate My Professor’s popularity has had a steady decrease in use. When the site first became available, students were actively posting, but now frequency of posts has declined. Some professors haven’t had any new ratings years. “I also think that it has also peaked and there are far easier ways to have discussions online about what courses to take. Before social media was big, this probably played an important role. But with Twitter and Facebook and people tweeting in class, there are easier ways for students to get this infor-mation,” said Kimbrough. Dewey has also noticed a steady decline of posts. “It does seem to be less popular and less used. I haven’t seen any statistics on it, though. Before that it was just by word of mouth or through the grapevine, but I

think, too, probably the popularity has waned. When it first started, it was a novel idea like, ‘Cool, I can rate my professor,’” said Dewey. Barnhart said she uses the site but only to praise the good profes-sors. “I have posted a rating but never a comment mostly just for the good professors because I feel that if a professor is hard, then that rumor gets circulated around campus quickly whereas if they do a really good job, that isn’t as broadcasted,” said Barnhart. There might be a more effective and easier way to find out which professors to take - the more de-tailed teacher biographies on the university website. “I think, usually, you can tell a good amount about the professor from their bio on their depart-ment websites but with adjuncts and not every professor having a bio anymore it’s not ideal. It would be nice if every professor was encouraged to do that more so you can tell just from their interests if you were interested in taking a course with them,” said Dewey. Dewey said a college-specific site could work much better than Rate My Professors, but that depends upon the amount of time and energy faculty want to put into creating pages. “I think it could more helpful if

there was a school-specific site like that. It would be nice to somehow, if there could be more encourage-ment for students to participate, because right now the only people who really comment are people who really hated it or really liked it. You’re not going to waste your time for a professor that you just thought was decent,” said Dewey. Professors also have the op-portunity to respond to student comments. Both Dewey and Kim-brough haven’t posted any sort of response, but they know of other professors who have, either on the site or by venting in their own personal web spaces. “I have friends on Facebook who have gone off on students and their ratings on Rate My Profes-sor before. They usually attack students’ grammatical errors and sentence structure, the idea that you hate me because I made you think and do things that were outside your comfort zone as far as education goes, even though that’s the purpose of education,” said Kimbrough. Likewise, Dewey has known colleagues who have posted fake reviews of their classes on Rate My Professor in an effort to look better to future students - and colleagues. “A couple colleagues would have their friends write reviews for

them so there’s no real way to really tell the legitimacy of the reviews. I could create a bot and have it write ten positive reviews for me on Rate My Professor.” One thing profs are unlikely to do, however, is check the box that rates professors’ attractiveness or “hotness.” “So students get to pick profes-sors based on how hot they are? Yeah, this is just asinine,” said Kimbrough. Dewey said that criterion might influence students’ reviews. “If you think your teacher is attractive, then you give a better review. It’s true though. It’s all about first impressions. If you’re attractive and good-looking, that student is going to give you a bet-ter review,” said Dewey. He added that students may give poor teachers good reviews solely based on attractiveness. “If you’re not that strong of a professor but you look good then a student of the opposite sex might be willing to be like, ‘Oh it’s okay,’ and I think that goes for any-thing in life. When choosing your boyfriend or girlfriend, if they look good they can get away with a little bit more. It’s the same with professors. If they have good looks or charm they can be excused,” said Dewey. hayesb@misericordia.edu

Professor Grading Site, continuedContinued from page 2

March 4, 2014highlandernews.net4 Sports

Gym Swipes Lead to Upgrades SPRING SHAPE UP NOT FOR SLEEPY HEADS

By Melanie Quintanilla, ReporterBy Nicole Battista, Reporter

Students are ready for warmer temperatures - and maybe even the beach - after Shape Up for Spring, an early morning meta-bolic workout that began in the beginning of the spring semester and lasted until spring break. “It was a twice-a-week, morning workout filled with fundamental movements that would be ap-plicable to any college student, faculty, staff member, as well as your college athletes,” said Chris Gray, Assistant Football Coach/Head Strengthening and Condi-tioning Coach. The sessions were scheduled early morning to be convenient for all students and so it “would not interfere with the students’ classes or anything else that [the students] had on their agendas for that day,” Gray said. Gray said student athletes com-prised most of the participants. “I think they saw the benefit in the fundamental movements, the structure and the discipline of waking up early and really coming to work, but we also had quite an assortment of non-student athletes who saw the benefits of getting up early and working out and getting on with their days,” Gray said. Sophomore football player Robin Custodio participated in the early morning workout. “Waking up earlier for the first couple of workouts were hard to adjust to, but after that it was pretty easy. Getting up at the same time repeatedly week after week got easier,” Custodio said. At 6:10, the session started with a dynamic warm-up, which consisted of a number of different stretches. It incorporated the glu-teus and core because “the lower body is the primary mover for the morning,” said Gray. At 6:20, participants were broken up into four groups, and each was assigned to a differ-ent circuit station. One station included fundamental movements such as an over and under hurdle drill. This drill helped worked on hip flexibility, triple extension and bending at the ankle, knees and hips, according to Gray. “Each station had a different goal in mind,” he said. Other stations included ladder drills, which focused on how fast one could move his or her feet and have the body in control when moving through the ladder. The groups changed stations every two minutes. “Between each station, we would run a lap around the gym which helped keep our heart rate going,” first-year student Haley Hall said. At about 6:35, the participants would go through the stations a second time. “We tweaked each exercise sta-tion the second time through,” said Gray. A cool down session at 6:50 was an abbreviated version of the dynamic warm-up. Custodio’s favorite part of the workouts was being with the team. “We developed a type of team camaraderie during the workouts,” he said. Hall said she participated

because she is always looking for something different to do, wheth-er it is learning a new exercise or simply getting out of the gym. “I am at the gym every day and it starts to get boring,” Hall said. The structure of the workout remained the same during each session. Gray said the movements would change slightly but only to accommodate different skill levels. Gray encouraged non-athletes to attend the workouts because “it was a benefit for all members of the campus community just from an overall health standpoint.” Despite the stamina needed to complete the exercises, Hall said she really enjoyed the experience. “I am not really into cardio, so it forced me to be and it made me feel good that I pulled it off at the end,” Hall said. Custodio enjoyed sharing the challenge with his teammates. “Most of the football team would attend the workouts because it was a great opportunity to bond as a team and get better by working out together. It was also a great opportunity to get into shape for the season.” Gray said that it is important for student athletes to stay in shape during the off-season because the window and opportunity for stu-dents to grow and become the best that they can be quickly grows shorter because most students have roughly a four-year window to play a sport. “If you truly want to be great at what you do, you will maximize each and every opportunity you have whether that be sleeping, your nutrition, your exercise, or your skill work in that given sport. I think that the athletes see that and they start to develop and ma-ture as people in general,” he said. The workouts also helped non-student athletes get in shape, learn new exercises and push themselves to new limits. “I have been familiar with the ex-ercises that we did, but one thing I learned about myself is that I can actually do it and I am better at cardio than I really thought I was,” said Hall. “Overall it brought everyone together. People that work to-gether, that go through enhanced adversity together and challenges together, grow together not only as a group but as an entire univer-sity,” Gray said. The workouts were used as a test to see if participants would at-tend and benefit, but officials are unsure whether they will continue after spring break. Gray said he would love to con-tinue running and coordinating the workout routines, but it was sometimes difficult to coordinate the sessions on his own. “So you had to make sure you had good help, and good help is something hard to find. There must be enough people to super-vise and help run it and make sure that the coach-to-student and student athlete ratios are in favor. That way we have eyes on everybody.” quintanm@misericordia.edu

University officials are encourag-ing students who go to the gym to swipe their ID cards at the front desk to keep the gym in the best shape possible. The swipe machine at the front desk keeps track of people in the gym, how many people are enter-ing, and how long they stay, said Pete Egbert, Fitness Center Coordinator. The attendance num-bers provide evidence for the need of equip-ment upgrades or additions, and if repairs are needed, they will be scheduled. Work study student Nick Hair, a first-year computer science and mathematics major, said when a person swipes his or her card, the individual’s ID number and the time of day is recorded. Many students don’t seem to be aware of the swipe machine near the entrance or they don’t know how it works or what it does. A sheet of paper on the doors reads, “You must swipe your card at the front desk,” and provides other rules and regulations. The swipe machine is necessary because it prevents unauthorized people from going in and out of the facility, Egbert said. A second swipe machine is located on the desk to the right of a water cooler. A sign near that machine reads, “You must swipe your own card.” It also provides instructions about how to swipe, and instructs users to swipe with the black bar on the back of the ID card facing away from the machine and then press the ‘CLEAR’ button. Egbert said there are heavier

flows of use during winter weather when people are hesitant to spend time outdoors and feel “cabin fever.” “It is important for us to track seasonally what we need to do in the center,” Egbert said. For those who do not know about the swipe system, the work

study student behind the desk is there to help, Egbert said. Hair said his job, as well as that of the other student workers, is to sign in people as they enter the building. A worker mans the desk from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. during the school week. The desk is empty from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. During that time, Egbert tries to reach out to students in the gym when he can, prompting them to swipe their cards. On the week-end, the desk is staffed during open hours. Tyler Ter Bush, a senior sport management major, is one of the

people who swipes his card on a regular basis. He said he visits the gym four times a week for about two hours each day, and he has noticed that the “regulars,” students who are often at the gym, are “usually the only ones who swipe.” Ter Bush began the habit of

swiping his card after workers repetitively told him to do it. He then learned why he was swiping his card, which provided more incentive for him to continue the habit. Other students should feel the incentive as well. “Ultimately, the swipe helps them,” Egbert said. “If they swipe, we can continue to upgrade and make sure that it is a first class facility.” Egbert said that when the facil-ity first opened, the gym was fully staffed with work study students, and this allowed a more accurate number on the system each day.

The work study program was cut two years ago, significantly impacting service at the gym, Egbert said. The number of student workers is half of what it used to be. If no one is there to prompt students to swipe in, Egbert said everyone is necessarily on an

honor system. “You either swipe or you don’t,” Egbert said. Ter Bush said that people simply don’t feel it’s necessary. Egbert said a lack of education may be a factor. Ter Bush suggested that the work study stu-dents “police” the swip-ing and make spread the word about its purpose. Hair said students often don’t hear his instructions or they go straight to the equip-ment when they enter the facility. “They will have their headphones in when they come, and then they

will say, ‘I do not want to swipe in because I am already lifting,’” he said. Another solution, to in-

crease the amount of swipes is to rearrange the entrance areas, but Egbert said officials may switch locker space and the desk. This arrangement would force those who enter to face the desk, and that could help ensure that they swipe in. Hair suggested that students should have to swipe their card with the machine to enter, but he acknowledged that one student could let in four others and pre-vent an accurate reading. “If and when we do that, we will better be able to train our student body to swipe in.” battistn@misericordia.edu

The dusty card swipe machine goes unused in the Fitness Center in the Anderson Sports and Health Center.

TARYN TALACKA /THE HIGHLANDER

Sibs Living the Dream Again and AgainBy Rob Evans, Reporter

While it’s common in high school for siblings to play together on sports teams, it’s much less likely in college, and that’s why two sets of Cougar siblings are unusual, indeed. Two sets of sisters share the court for women’s basketball. The Baro sisters include junior Sam and sophomore Nikki, and the Seely sisters include first-year Justine and senior Hannah. For second year head coach Allison Kern, having a family presence of this magnitude is interesting. “I coached sisters when I was in New York, but not two sets,” Kern said. “I think it’s unique. There are a lot of sisters playing on the same team at a lot of places, but I don’t necessarily know if there are two families like that out there.” Kern said the family atmosphere brings something special to the team. “It does a little bit, especially with a small team, having team chemistry, like that kind of under-standing and closeness. I think it’s been good for Juice (Justine) this year because she’s a fresh-man. It was a little bit different last year because Nikki and Sam were both new, but I think that’s helped her a lot having her older sister,” Kern said. Although Sam is a year older than Nikki, the siblings came to the basketball program in fall, 2012. At first, they had planned to go their different ways after high school, but as fate would have it, they once again find themselves on the same team - just as they did in high school. “Honestly, (Sam) didn’t want to play basketball in college,” Nikki said. “In her first year, she went to California University of Pennsyl-vania, and she didn’t play there and then she missed it so much, so I was really excited when she wanted to play at Misericordia. So we just got to live out the dream again.” For Nikki, having the opportu-nity to play at the same school as Sam meant her father could watch both of them play, which may have been difficult if they were at separate schools. “Part of the reason I chose Misericordia was because it would be easier for my parents to watch both of us play. My dad comes to every game so that’s awesome, and I feel like we just have a con-nection on the court. We’ve been

playing ever since we were eight years old. So it’s just awesome to play with her,” Nikki said. Often times, the Baros find themselves pitted against each other in practice. According to Nikki, their styles of play are different and the intensity levels can get heated, but it’s all for the

betterment of the squad. “We guard each other all the time. Sometimes they’re dogfights but other times they’re not. She’s a better outside shooter than I am, but I’m a better inside man. We played both posts in high school and we switched to guard in college so it’s kind of like a big

transition for us, so that’s kind of difficult, but we do end up matched up on each other in prac-tice all of the time,” Nikki said. Hannah, who is nearing the end of her collegiate basketball career, was happy to get a chance to play with her sister, even if it was for just one year. Much like Sam and Nikki, the Seelys originally had different post-high school plans. “It means a lot. She was going to go to Bloomsburg University and she wasn’t going to play ball, and I knew she wanted to come here but she was afraid to come here. She didn’t want to come here and just be known as my sister. So after a lot of convincing that she could come and make a name for herself, she came and I’m really glad that she’s playing, and to me it means a lot just to spend a year with her. My last year is the begin-ning of her career,” Hannah said. The passing of the torch means even more for the elder sister who never got the chance to play with Justine at an organized level due to their age difference. “We never played in high school because I’m actually five years older than (she is). I didn’t play my freshman year here, either. I took a year off. It’s fun and inter-esting to be able to play with her. I got to watch her play all through her high school career and I got to play with her this year,” she said. According to Hannah, the sister-sister chemistry on the floor probably never reached its full po-tential, but still, there is a certain connection between the two. “I think there can be (floor chemistry), and a lot of the time I know where she’s going to go (on the court) and I feel like she knows when I want the ball and when I don’t. So there is a chemis-try there, but it might have been better had we played together before,” Hannah said. Nikki attests to the chemistry she has with Sam, even if there is some constructive criticism exchanged between the two. “I think being sisters is a unique thing because we get to yell at each other and not be mad at each other. We can call each other out and for anyone else it’s kind of different because you don’t know them as well. We argue sometimes on the court, and it’s not accept-able but it happens,” Nikki said.- Kern said having sisters on the team can be

Top, senior Hannah Seeley passes the ball to first year Shannon Croasdale. Bottom, junior Sam Baro defends a King’s College opponent during the Feb. 18 game in the Anderson Sports and Health Center. The Cougars lost to the Monarchs 70-59.

MARY BOVE /THE HIGHLANDER

Students handed out free Green Mountain Coffee during lunch hours on Wednesday Feb. 26 to support fair trade coffee.

MU Exposure: Fair Trade

MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

Continued on page 6

March 4, 2014highlandernews.net 5Sports

By Josh Horton, Reporter Senior point guard Lauren Smicherko had a vision of how her final season as a Cougar basketball player was going to go. It didn’t involve her team missing the play-offs, and it certainly didn’t involve her tearing her ACL early in the season, an injury that changed the shape of the lineup and left the Cougars without their point guard, one of the most important positions on the floor. “I felt so bad for her when she went down,” senior forward Han-nah Seely said. “Injuries in general completely changed the season and when we envisioned how this season was going to go in the beginning of the year, it ended up not going like that at all.” Smicherko’s injury happened when she was doing something she has done thousands of times before - just jumping for a shot. However, this particular shot felt like no other she had ever taken in her basketball career. “It felt like I got kicked in the back of the leg,” Smicherko said. “I had no idea how serious the injury was when it first happened.” She went into the auxiliary court to try to prove to the trainers that she could make cuts and run

sprints. She passed an eye test and got approval to go back into the game. She didn’t quite make it. “I sucked it up for the most part, and when I tried to walk over to the table to check back in the

game my leg just kept giving out. I couldn’t walk without limping after that.” Because her injury occurred so early in the season, she had the option to pursue another year of eligibility. She graduates in May

but has applied to the organi-zational management graduate program and will have a chance to get back on this fall. “I have been back and forth on the idea of grad school for a while,” Smicherko said. “So, this

just pretty much made up my mind for me.” Smicherko said the toughest part about missing the majority of the 2013-2014 basketball season was watching her teammates play, knowing there was nothing she

could do to contribute. “Sometimes I felt like I let the team down even though there was obviously nothing I could do about that,” Smicherko said. “I just wanted to check myself into the game at some points, but since I couldn’t do that, I tried to cheer as loudly as possible. I wanted to give the best feedback I could to my teammates.” Senior Katie Drayton had to step up and play point guard in Smicherko’s absence, She wasn’t the most experienced point guard, but she worked hard. “We struggled with numbers a little bit this year, and we had no backup point guard,” Smicherko said. “That was tough for every-one to get used to for a while, but (Drayton) stepped up and handled the point really well, especially since it was the first time she had to play that position.” The injuries were a factor all year for the women’s team and it seemed as if they couldn’t catch a break. The lack of depth and in-juries contributed to the Cougars finishing the season 9-15. They missed post season for the second straight season. hortonj@misericordia.edu

By Arthur Dowell, Web Editor

Women’s Swimming The school record board at the pool in the Anderson Sports and Health Center is getting a make-over after the women’s swim team broke seven school records at the MAC Championships. The excitement was there early. “I think we were all excited and ready to race,” said junior Dana Hallam. “Everyone seemed to be in the right mind set. We were ready to race.” In the first day of competition, sophomore Dani Blass and seniors Megan DiPalo, Bree Grzech and Brittany Luzik set a school record and finished second in the 200 medley relay at 1:49.13. That same day, the 800 free medley team consisting of sopho-mores Blass, Kerri Ciriello, Hallam and senior Beth Karmondy came in at 8:07.37. That was good for another school record and fifth in the championships. The women did not stop, break-ing the school record in the 400

medley relay on the second day. Junior Amanda Stammherr and Luzik joined both Blass and Grzech with success early in the MAC Championships record. Individually, Blass broke her own school record while winning the in the 200 breaststroke. Team-mates Stammherr and Karmondy finished behind her in the top five in second and fourth. The girls had a premonition about their star performances. They spoke highly of their training and knew the adrenaline would carry them to new records. “I think we did what we needed to do, and we’re very proud of

what we accomplished. We knew that the practices and training were good enough for how we ended up doing, but we never realized that we would finish just 46 points behind first place,” said Hallam. A first place finish is worth 40 points to the school. Grzech went onto breaking her own schools record in the 200 backstroke, good enough to finish third in MAC competition. Karmondy broke her school re-cord in the 400 Individual Medley and finished fourth in competi-tion with a timing of 4:50.87. Likewise, Luzik beat her record in the 100 fly with a timing of 57.89, a timing good enough to get her third place. Stammherr won MAC’s in the 100 breaststroke with teammates Blass and Allison Thomas finishing second and fourth. Though not everyone walked away a record-holder, swimmers were proud of their accomplish-ments. “I am proud that I achieved best times in every race I swam,” said Hallam. “On a team level, I am amazed at how well we did overall. Being short six girls of a full ros-ter, we managed to get second.” The girls ended up finishing second place behind Widener Uni-versity with 519 total points.

Men’s Swimming The men’s swim team finished day one of the MAC Champion-ships in second place - and that’s where they stayed to the end. With 474 team points, the team left York, Pa. second out of 11 schools. Emotions were running high as the team entered the MAC Championships, said sophomore Pat O’ Dell. The team got right into it, break-ing a school record when first year Thomas Scott, sophomore Chris Gleason, junior Peter Kolokithias, and senior Matt Essington broke the record in 800 freestyle relay at 7:04.94 and finished third in the championships. That same day, the 200 medley relay team, consisting of Scott, sophomores O’ Dell and Matt Cullen, and junior Brad Thomas, finished fourth with a time of 1:37.07. “Setting our goals high allowed for our team to break school re-cords and attain personal records,” said O’ Dell. Scott had quite the weekend. On top of being part of the record-breaking 800 freestyle relay, he went on to win two MAC titles in the 200 individual medley at 1:56.49 and 200 breaststroke with the time of 2:07.82. He also finished third in the 100 breast-stroke. The team knew going in that they were up against some tough competition, with only twelve members participating in MAC’s compared to the usual sixteen, but they left feeling great about their performance. “The fact that we ended up still

in second despite the incredibly fast and competitive meet really speaks to how we trained all sea-son and performed when it came down to the nitty-gritty. We did what we had to do to come up only behind Albright [college],” said Kolokithias. Team preparation for MAC’s is much different from the work swimmers do to prepare for a typi-cal meet. Practices are run more slowly to allow the swimmers to rest a little more, and they have more time to prep for MAC’s than they do for a weekend meet.

“We start preparing for MAC’s about four weeks out. We as a team get championship suits, which are much different from our regular season suits. We also make sure we are clean shaved and taper enough during practices so we are rested going into the champion-ships,” said O’Dell. The men’s team went on to enjoy many top three performances. Gleason finished second in the 400 individual medley. O’Dell fin-ished third in the 200 backstroke. In relays, sophomores Nick Es-sington and Gleason, and juniors Kolokithias, and Thomas finished third in the 200 free. O’Dell, Scott, Thomas, and Kolokithias finished third in the 400 medley on the second day of competition. dowella@misericordia.edu

Smicherko’s Senior Season Dreams Torn by Injury

Members of the women’s basketball team line up to shake hands in their final game of the season at home against King’s College.MARY BOVE/THE HIGHLANDER

COUGARS MAKE WAVESIN CONFERENCE MEET

Beth Karmondy

Dani Blass

Pat O’Dell

Thomas Scott

Viewfinder: Dethroning the Monarchs

Clockwise from top, first year Michael Brunson dribbles the ball down court while junior Patrick Widdoss waits for a pass. The Cougars defeated the Monarchs 78-63 at home. Junior Cael Evans gets instructions from coach Trevor Woodruff during a foul shot. Fans hold up “spirit fingers” to support a player shooting a foul shot. Junior Steve Ware dribbles the ball to get past his defender in the Anderson Sports and Health Center.

MARY BOVE /THE HIGHLANDER

Berger said other states in the Northeast are turning to round-abouts. “The reason the roundabout came about was the amount of traffic coming through,” he said. “Maryland, Mass., they’re putting them in like crazy. In fact they’re supposed to be the new highway system safety.” Since the project is still a ways away, there is only minimal information available concerning detours and starting and ending

dates. Giampaolo said multiple detours for side streets will be needed throughout the project. At some point during construction, the five-way intersection will be unavailable to drivers. More information on the roundabout and detour infor-mation can be found on the project website. The project, according to Gi-ampaolo, will be advertised for construction at the end of this year with utility relocation work

on Machell Avenue and Route 415 beginning in 2015 and the bulk of the intersection under construc-tion from 2016 to 2017. Before work in the five-way inter-section area can begin, PennDOT needs to make improvements at State Route 309 and Center Hill Road, said Atkins. Officials will also install a turning lane at the in-tersection of State Route 309 and State Route 415 before the round-about construction can begin. hoffmae3@misericordia.edu

LONG TIME COMING, CONTINUEDContinued from page 1

March 4, 2014highlandernews.net6

By Nicole Battista, Reporter The theater department is hand-ing the reigns to Scott Woolnough after bidding farewell to longtime director Donald Hopkins after the “Spoon River Anthology” last semester. Woolnough, the new director of the spring play “Rumors,” has played a role in theater produc-tions for many years. He is an adjunct theater professor and the president of the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville, Pa. Woolnough is also the Alternative Learning Program coordinator in the Student Success Center. Woolnough has been involved with theater for over 33 years, previously directing “Brighton Beach Memoirs” by Neil Simon at the Grove Theater in Nuangola, Pa. as well as numerous plays in Florida and New York. Woolnough is a fan of Simon’s productions, calling Simon a “bril-liant wordsmith,” and “Rumors” is Simon’s first attempt at “knock down drag out” comedy, Wool-nough said. Set at a dinner party, the play begins with a couple who finds a man unconscious and bleeding in the bathroom. The two discover the man has been shot in the ear, and his wife is nowhere to be found. Guests start arriving to the party and rumors begin to form. Then the owners of a car that had broken down enter, as does a police officer responding to the breakdown, and everyone panics because of the bleeding man in the bathroom. The opening scene to “Rumors” was featured in “One Acts” last year and was well received by students, according to Jeff Kelly, theater manager, who said Hop-kins was a father figure to him. Kelly is responsible for building and designing sets, handling pub-licity and ticket sales and setting up the event. Lindsey Glidden, first-year pre-physician’s assistant program student, is cast as Claire in the

production. Glidden also appeared in “Spoon River Anthology.” Glidden was first involved with theater in elementary school, play-ing a munchkin in a high school production of “The Wizard of Oz.” She has performed ever since in high school plays and theater camps during the summers. Glid-den, who is also a dancer, said be-ing on stage “always enticed” her, and playing Claire is no different. “She is not afraid to say what is on her mind, but she is also not afraid to bend the truth to make herself look good,” Glidden said. To prepare, the Players had to create autobiographies of their characters, which included the lives of their characters from the day they were born as well as what their families are like, how they were raised, and how they met their spouses. Glidden said this is a “cool way to really get into the character.” Glidden is most looking forward to the crowd’s reaction. She expects it to be rousing because the cast of “Rumors” sometimes has trouble keeping a straight face reading the lines. Woolnough said “the jokes come fast and furious.” The cast and crew are in the early stages of rehearsal, and Woolnough said they have over a month to perfect the play. Each year, Players choose a play after the director provides them with possible productions, and each year the Players attempt something different, whether it is a musical every other spring or a Shakespeare play or a murder mystery in the fall. The biggest difference this year is that the show is going on without Hopkins. Woolnough said this show is “a huge thermometer” that will gauge the future of theater at the university. “If this fails completely, it’s going to say something about Don’s departure,” Woolnough said.

Woolnough welcomes the chal-lenge. “I have very big shoes to fill, but I am very excited to try to fill them,” Woolnough said. Woolnough, Kelly and Glidden say this show is one not to miss. “Rumors” will be performed on April 3, 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. in Lem-mond Theater. battistn@misericordia.edu

Woolnough Takes Center Stage for ‘Rumors’ Production

Cast Chris Gorman Meghan DiGerolamo

Ken Gorman Jacob SchweigerClaire Ganz Lindsey GliddenLenny Ganz Melvin Jay Busi

Ernie Cusack Matthew CebroskyCookie Cusack Jasmine Mae Busi

Glenn Cooper TJ SchaeferCassie Cooper Maria Weidemoyer

Officer Welch Christine ZopfOfficer Pudney Dorothy J Dreeland

CrewDirector Scott Colin Woolnough

Tech Director (set) Jeff KellyTech Director (lights & sound)

Patrick McKamyStage Manager Mikayla Gillette

Top, director Scott Woolnough instructs cast members during a rehearsal for the spring play “Rumors.” The original screenplay was written by Neil Simon.

Right, Matthew Cebrosky gets a tip from Woolnough. “Rumors” opens to the public April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Lem-mond Theater.

Left, sophomore Meghan Di-Gerolamo gets into a passion-ate argument with a cast mate during “Rumors” rehearsal in the Lemmond Theater. The show will also be performed on April 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. in the Lemmond Theater.

problematic at times, but having siblings play with one another has never been a problem. “You worry when you coach siblings or you recruit siblings because then it’s going to become a thing especially if one plays and one doesn’t, but I think (having them) has really contributed to our team chemistry and our kids really getting to know each other off the floor,” Kern said. The four players have collec-tively recorded at least 16 starts throughout the season. Off the court, Nikki and Sam are just as close as they are on it, and for one more year, they will get to

cherish the times playing with one another in the same uniform. “We’re best friends,” Nikki said. “She’s my rock. I just don’t know what I’d do without her because we go to college and college is a tough thing, and your family is not there, so just having her as a support system is great.” Hannah said she will be sup-porting her sister from the stands next year, just like she did when Justine was in high school. “I’m excited about it,” Hannah said. “Honestly, I think she’s got big things ahead of her, so I’m excited to see what she does.” evansr4@misericordia.edu

LIVING DREAMS, CONTINUEDContinued from page 4

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