vol. 8, issue 5
DESCRIPTION
The Sentry Vol. 8, Issue 5TRANSCRIPT
COVERGourmet with a microwaveOn-the-go recipes to make in a dorm room, pg. 10
Passion leads Lewis to pursue dreamsLewis impacts RMU on and off the court, pg. 15
Results of bi-annual NSSE released
T h e Sentry
RMU students work off-campus more than most, pg. 3
News
Sports
Lifestyles
Table of Contents
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18
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Moves around campus
An unexpected story
Softballer gone Bballer
The
Sen
try
Staf
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Carrie MoniotStudent Media Advisor
Andrea ZanaglioEditor-in-Chief
Brooke SmithCopy Editor
Rachel CalhounArt Director
Alyssa BishopPrint Ad Manager
Marissa HomerOnline Ad Manager
Brianna FergusonMultimedia Editor
Valerie HoganSports Layout Editor
Tayler WentzLifestyles Layout [email protected]
Robert Morris UniversityPatrick Henry Room 100
6001 University Blvd.Moon Township, PA 15108
ISSN #1934-8878February 2013
Issue 5Moon Township, PA 15108
Letter from the EditorBack in BusinessAfter a brief hiatus, The Sentry is back this month with the latest scope on all things RMU!
For better or for worse, our print issues have been reduced this semester. With RMU Sentry Media further shifting its focus to the web, the print issues have been reduced to just three with our last issue dedicated solely to commencement.
For day-to-day coverage, www.rmusentrymedia.com is your source for constant news. Be sure to also like our Facebook Page (RMU Sentry Media) and follow us on Twitter (@RMUSentryMedia) for breaking news updates as well as contests and giveaways!
Stay connected and in-the-know with RMU Sentry Media, which includes The Sentry, RMU TV and RMU Radio, and come join our staff!
Reporters, photographers, videographers, designers and marketers are always wel-come!
Read on and learn what we found out to report to you!
Best,Andrea ZanaglioEditor-in-Chiefwww.rmusentrymedia.com
The Sentry is a student-written, student managed newspaper serving Robert Morris University and Moon Township. It is published monthly except during semester breaks, holidays and prior to final exams. Editorial Policy: Editorials are based on the opinions of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentry staff as a whole, RMU students, faculty or administration. Corrections/Clarifications: Readers should report any story or photo errors to The Sentry. All legitimate errors will be corrected in print in the following edition. Letters Policy: The Sentry welcomes letters to the editor but does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Anonymous submissions will not be published.
Leah FleischelNews Editor
New
sResults of bi-annual NSSE releasedRMU students work off-campus more than mostBy LEAH FLEISCHELNEWS EDITOREvery other year, Robert Morris University partic-ipates in the National Survey of Student Engage-ment (NSSE). This survey, given to freshmen and seniors, is centrally focused around a student’s assessment of his/her academic experience. The NSSE asks a variety of questions about class prep-aration, difficulty of classes, interaction with fac-ulty and learning beyond the classroom. From these questions, the survey is broken into categories, which have standards to compare the hundreds of schools that participate. The catego-ries include level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, enriching educational experiences, student and faculty interaction and supportive campus environment. Some of the schools that RMU is compared with include Monmouth University, Grove City Col-lege, Sacred Heart University and Saint Vincent College. According to Dr. David Majka, director of institu-tional research and associate professor of learning resources, Robert Morris chooses to invest time and resources into this survey for good manage-ment and accreditation purposes. The survey re-veals where progress has been made and where improvements are still needed, as well providing continuous feedback in the categories that are scored. “We consistently found that if we invest in some-thing, students notice it,” said Majka. Majka is largely responsible for interpreting the data from the NSSE and sharing the results and what they suggest at RMU. All feedback is valuable, but the 2012 survey
revealed a few outstanding pieces of informa-tion. RMU scored in the top 10 percent of all 577 schools that participate in the NSSE in the sup-portive campus environment category. Majka explained that RMU’s placement in that category was because the university noticed a need for more support on campus. As a result, RMU has invested a significant amount of money into sup-port activities including Student Life, the Center for Student Success, tutoring efforts, psychiatrists and Residence Life Staff professionalism. Another outstanding fact that the survey revealed was that RMU students work more hours off-cam-pus than any other school. This was the largest difference between RMU and other participants in the survey, and while it sounds extremely impres-sive, it is an obstacle from a campus engagement point of view. Since students spend so much time working, they do not have as much time to participate in campus activities, explained Majka. That work does not go unnoticed, however. RMU’s fundraising efforts are being elevated to find other scholarships to make it easier financially to attend the university, Majka stated during his presentation of the NSSE results last month. However, another notable trend in the results was the improvement in four of the five catego-ries between 2007 and 2010, but the scores then slightly fell in 2012. One of the lower categories was enriching edu-cational speeches, but Majka explained that is because RMU does not place much emphasis on foreign language, learning communities and self-
Though RMU students have been working less off-campus over the years, they still work off-campus more than any other university. Courtesy of RMU’s Institutional Research Department
RMU scored the best in the category for Supportive Campus Environment, which analyzings the quality of relationships on campus and the student’s perception of supportiveness
Courtesy of RMU’s Institutional Research Department
designed majors. These results have been shared multiple times with different departments around the univer-sity, at town hall meetings and more. Majka said that none of this information would be available without students volunteering their time to take these surveys. “We’re extremely grateful for the terrific student participation in this. The response rate was over 30 percent - the highest we’ve had in the history - and was better than all comparison schools,” said Majka. “Student opinions are important. We ap-preciate the feedback and try to improve things based on what we hear.”
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T h e Sentry
NewsFebruary 2013 February 2013Issue 5, Page 4 Issue 5, Page 5
News
The safe, secure and often windy grounds of the RMU campus hold a calming sense to them that is, in part, created by the rel-atively sparse lighting along its winding paths. One of the most difficult parts of such a walk for Yorktown and Bradock Hall resi-dents is trying to dig a cell phone out from under layers of clothing for light to read the shuttle schedule. While the path running past the campus
Shining light on RMU shuttles: Waiting area left in dark By PAUL WINTRUBAASST. NEWS EDITOR
shuttle stop is well lit, the actual area where stu-dents wait for their ride home often sits in dark-ness. “I do agree that there should be lights when we wait for the shuttle because they will make me feel safer when I am waiting for it at night,” said Katie Pruss, a resident of Yorktown Hall. RMU facilities management department has been working on the lighting around campus with a fo-cus on the new walkway leading to the Wheatley Center in order to ensure there is adequate light for students in the evening. In the wake of such an issue, it is no surprise that a dark shuttle stop slipped under the university’s radar.
“That’s a new one. That’s the first I’m hear-ing that,” said Dean John Michalenko, when addressed with the safety issue. “I’ll bring this to the attention of our safety people.” Michalenko went on to say that the uni-versity will be having an outside company on-campus to evaluate the lighting on the Wheatley Center walkway. Whent that comp-nay arrives on campus, and the shuttle light-ing issue would be brought to the university’s attention. Until lighting changes can be made, students should be sure to exercise caution while wait-ing for their rides at night, especially in low visibility conditions.
Little know scholarship open to studentsBy LEAH FLEISCHELNEWS EDITOR
In January, it was announced at the town hall meeting at the Sewall Center that admissions will be budgeting down their enrollment numbers in semesters to come, leaving students to wonder, “Why the change?” Though housing and dining issues would seem to be logical reasons, officials in the admissions office have a different cause. “The university is looking to become more selec-tive in the students that attend. We want to bring in a higher quality of academic students to bring more prestige to the university,” said RMU’s Di-rector of Admissions, Nathan Turner. Turner said the process of admitting students is like a funnel -- there needs to be a lot of initial ap-plicants, and then it “funnels down” to the num-ber of students who are admitted and actually en-rolled. Turner stated that admissions officials are look-ing to accept approximately 800 students in the fall semester, bringing the number down from past years.
Police BlotterFeb. 2 - Feb. 4, 2013
2/02 - Accident - A student called and reported sliding on the ice and snow in the Colonial Way lot hitting another unoccupied vehicle. Pictures were taken of the damage and both parties information was added to the report for insurance purposes. (Closed)
2/03 - Assist Another Agency - This department assisted Moon Township Police Department with an accident on Grant Drive that involved a university owned vehicle. Both parties’ information was exchanged and a report was written for insurance purposes. (Closed)
2/03 - Departmental Information - A student reported falling down in the snow and ice covered steps coming from the Colonial Way parking lot. The student reported no injuries at this time, but requested the steps be cleaned and salted before anyone else falls. Maintenance was notified. (Closed)
2/03 - Property Damage - A door was broken at the Island Sports Center. A report was taken, and this department is looking into the matter. (Open)
2/04 - Departmental Information - This department was advised of a vehicle broken-down on the roadway on Colonial Way. The vehicle was towed by Garzony’s Towing. (Closed)
2/04 - Medical Emergency - A patron at the Island Sports Center sustained a head injury while playing hockey. The patron was transported to Ohio Valley Hospital for treatment. (Closed)
2/04 - Medical Emergency - A student reported falling on the stairs between Hamilton and Adams Halls. He/she complained of pain to the right knee and back of the head. The student’s friend took her to the hospital for further treatment. (Closed)
***For the complete Police Blotter, visit www.rmusentrymedia.com***
Admission numbers headed downBy BRI FERGUSONMULTIMEDIA EDITIOR
From heritage to unique physical characteristics to memberships of organizations, scholarships are of-fered for nearly everything, yet so many go unnoticed by students. One of the scholarships available at Robert Morris University that is fairly unknown is the 20 Year Club scholarship. The 20 Year Club is a Robert Mor-ris University organization that is comprised of employees who have worked at RMU for 20 or more years. For over ten years, the organiza-tion has rewarded a $1,500 scholar-ship annually to a student who has completed at least 60 credits and who will be attending RMU the next year. Dr. Nell Hartley has been work-ing to spread the word and promote the opportunity of the 20 Year Club scholarship. “Fifteen hundred dollars exchange for a dynamite resume and thought-ful 500 word essay is a good return on investment for students in need of extra funds for education expens-es. Applicants have already done the hardest part, that of maintain-
ing good grades and being engaged in campus and/or community life. Sharing personal opinions in an essay is a wonderful way to voice an opinion while in search of award money,” said Hartley. Applicants must also have earned a minimum 3.0 QPA and plan to attend RMU during the fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters. Those applying must complete a short application and write a 500-700 word essay on one of three prompts given with the applica-tion. The applications and essays are blind reviewed by the scholar-ship committee. Senior Ellen Lichius, an econom-ics major, has been the recipient of the scholarship the past two consecutive years. “The 20 Year Club scholarship has enabled me to continue pay-ing for tuition. It has also provided me with a network of RMU profes-sors, staff members, and employ-ees, as the winner gets to attend the annual 20 Year Club dinner. At this dinner, I was recognized for writing the winning essay, ” said Lichius.
NewsFebruary 2013 February 2013Issue 5, Page 6 Issue 5, Page 7
News
This spring semester brings a plethora of changes: a new year, new classes and also new homes for five of the departments on campus. All of the departmental moves throughout the university are in direct relation to RMU President Gregory Dell’Omo’s own plan to create a home for each of RMU’s schools of study. According to Dean John Michalenko, the com-pletion of the Wheatley Center last semester made the planned departmental moves, which vacated the upper offices in the Nicholson Center and al-lowed the School of Education and Social Sciences to move into new offices, possible. Aside from the education and computer informa-tion system department moves, the following are planned to take place as well:- The Student Engagement Transcript (SET) Of-fice, as well as Institutional Research, will move
into the now vacant education and social science offices near Academic Affairs. - Online/off-campus education will be moving-in with Academic Affairs. - Alumni/Institutional Advancement is vacating the Alumni House and moving to Lafayette, which is next to Massey Hall.- The Alumni House will then be transformed into the Student Wellness Center. Here, the nurse as well as psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who are currently housed in Student Life, will find them-selves a new, more spacious home.- With the nurse’s office vacant and the Student Wellness Center established, the Student Engage-ment Office will move to the old nurse’s office.- Finally, the Center for Student Success will take over the current Office for Student Engagement, allowing them to have more space.
Spring shuffle for locations on campus: Multiple moves plannedBy PAUL WINTRUBAASST. NEWS EDITOR
With online and off-campus education along with Institutional Research and the SET office settling into their new offices, the next shuffle on the list is the movement of Alumni Relations and Insti-tutional Advancement Personnel into their new offices in Lafayette. This move is expected to take place before the end of February. After the Alumni House is vacated, it is expected to remain unoccupied for a period of time while renovations are made on the space to accommo-date the new Student Wellness Center, the new home for Student Health Services. “I think this will make students feel more wel-come and more willing to seek out help,” said Mi-chalenko. The new Wellness Center is expected to be com-pleted in the summer in addition to the remaining moves.
Breaking Awkward: NSCS hopes to add pen pal component to March2College DayBy ANDREA ZANAGLIOEDITOR-IN-CHIEFRMU’s Chapter of the National Society of Colle-giate Scholars (NSCS) is hoping to add a pen pal component to its annual March2College day event this year. According to the RMU’s NSCS advisor of four years, Kishma DeCastro-Sallis, the national office of NSCS established March2College Day in 1996. The purpose of the program is to host junior high school students at each chapter’s school for a tour of the campus with the hopes of inspiring the stu-dents to pursue higher education. In the past few years, RMU has hosted students from the Cornell School District in Coraopolis, ac-cording to DeCastro-Sallis. This year, RMU’s NSCS Vice President of Plan-ning to Achieve Collegiate Excellence (PACE), Al-lison Peters, proposed to add a pen pal component from her own experience with having a pen pal and as a way to connect with the students prior to their visit to campus in order to get over the initial awkward phase. “I went [to March2College Day] last year...there were only a couple of RMU students that showed up. Maybe like five or so, but still it seemed like
the majority of the time was spent getting over the awkward stage,” said Peters. “So, I do pen pals with kids in Korea. So, [the idea] kind of came with that.” Peters said that usually 20 Cornell students in seventh or eighth grade visit campus as part of March2College Day, so NSCS is looking for at least 20 RMU students to write to back and forth with the Cornell students. After NSCS’s first meeting this semester, Peters, a junior math education major, said herself and 20 other RMU students have already expressed an in-terest in participating, but most of them have the same major. “We have about 20 people interested now, but a lot of them look like nursing majors. There’s only one media arts, so I want to get a wider range,” said Peters. For some RMU NSCS members, Macrh2College Day is just an extension of their work at an after-school program in the community of Forest Green Commons, where 10 to 20 NSCS members men-tor students in second grade through high school weekly.
When asked what expectations she has for the pen pal initiative this year, DeCastro-Sallis said, “It is too soon to comment on what to expect from the expectations for the pen pal aspect of March-2College Day, mainly since all the details have not been laid out.” According to Peters, the process has been de-layed for the time being, pending approval from the guidance counselor at Cornell. However, Peters welcomes any RMU students, whether they are in NSCS or not, in helping with the pen pal project to contact her via the Nation-al Society of Collegiate Scholars at Robert Mor-ris University Facebook page. Peters said all that would be required of those participating is a back-ground check, two to three letters to a student and, if possible, attendance at March2College Day. Peters said this year’s March2College Day is scheduled for Friday, March 22 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. “NSCS is an honors organization that recognizes and elevates high achievers” of which RMU be-came a recognized chapter in January 1999, ac-cording to the official national NSCS website.
Safety of left turn onto campus causes concern; Petition proposedBy KYLE GORCEY, CONTRIBUTORand LEAH FLEISCHEL, NEWS EDITORWhen turning on to RMU’s campus from Coraop-olis, there is no left turn green arrow to enter the campus. With a plethora of vehicles traveling on University Boulevard each day, an accident could potentially happen at any time. RMU students and staff are particularly aware of this hazard and the dangers that go along with it. “I know that’s a difficult intersection. I come that way to work,” stated Jeanne Crease, Moon Town-ship manager. According to the Moon Township Police Depart-ment, within the past two years, a total of three reportable traffic incidents occurred at RMU’s entrance. Two of these accidents were reportable, meaning that one of the occupants of the vehicle was taken to the hospital or that the vehicle had to be towed from the scene. Although University Boulevard is in Moon Town-ship, the Pennsylvania Department of Transporta-tion (PennDOT) is responsible for maintaining the road. Moon Township is responsible for the traffic lights and RMU shares part of the responsibility at the intersection. There have been recent improvements to the in-tersection. Thanks to Philadelphia’s red light cam-
eras and the funds raised by that endeavor, grants are available to cities and municipalities across the state to improve red lights. Moon Township ap-plied for one of these grants and plans to improve the crosswalk in front of the school. “We have discussed for years trying to get the intersection changed to have a turning lane into campus. It is still being explored, but my under-standing is that it is very expensive,” said Chief Randy Mink, head of public safety at RMU. “Even though it is a state road, either party, [Moon Township or Robert Morris], could design and construct the improvements. However, they would need to obtain a highway occupancy permit from us to do so,” said James B. Struzzi, press of-ficer for PennDOT district 11. Essentially one of these two, Moon or Robert Morris University, has to be the one to initiate the idea of a turning arrow. Not only does the initiate have to be the one who calls for the change, they also have to be able to back it up financially. “The problem is that it comes down to funding. There’s a lot of intersections that need various things done to them...it’s hard to accommodate that,” said Assistant Moon Township Manager
Adam McGurk.. McGurk also emphasized that the funding for the project can also come from Robert Morris Univer-sity. RMU Management Professor Nell Hartley said she is currently working with campus officials and students to form a petition for a left turn signal to be installed and should be available for students and staff to sign on-campus some time in March.
Wheatley
NewsFebruary 2013 Issue 5, Page 8
Leah MooseLifestyles Editor
Everyone has dreamed of traveling somewhere far away and delve into that culture. How about coming across a stranger who you later discover is part of your family? Many have a desire to learn more about where we came from and who we are as individuals. “La Mia Strada,” or “My Road,” is a documentary that de-scribes the unusual and unexpected journey RMU Professor and Academic Media Center Director, Michael DiLauro, took to discover the ancestry of his family. DiLauro began his unusual quest five years ago on a trip to Italy where he was shooting a different documentary for another school. While researching the different towns in Italy, he was introduced to the phenomena of “la transuman-za”—the migration of sheepherders and their flock. Every summer and winter for many years, the sheep-herders would take millions of sheep along a 300-mile journey to escape the harsh climate. Many of the paths still exist today and during his time in Italy, DiLauro went along some of the paths and visited places the sheepherders would have passed hundreds of years ago. While studying this history, he came across a sur-prising discovery: one of the paths that the sheep-herders used led directly to his grandparents’ home. What originally started out as an interesting part of history suddenly became much more personal and later became the focus of his documentary. DiLauro made several trips to Italy to research his documentary and during that time he interviewed dozens of people in both Italy and the United States. While in Italy, he discovered that a majority of the residents had relatives who lived in the U.S. When he started asking them questions about their perceptions of Italian-Americans, he found most Italians believed Italian-Americans to be consumed
with the belief that bigger is better. Italian-Ameri-cans also had some misconceptions of their own and many believed Italy is exactly the same as it was a hundred years ago without evolving at all. This rift in the two cultures was one of the key problems DiLauro identified with and it soon became apparent to him how important it is that varying cultures fix these rifts. According to DiLauro, the most important thing in repairing the culture rift is through storytelling.
When DiLauro’s documentary was completed, he made a special trip back to Italy where it all began to do a special screening. He had no idea what to expect, and he had no idea what the response of the Italians would be to his documentary. After the film’s screening, a group of Italians stood up and pointed a finger to their chests. DiLauro asked one of his friends at the screening what it meant, and his friend explained that pointing to the chest was a sign that he had pierced their hearts. This reaction was all that mattered to DiLauro. He was able to tell his story and inspire others to do the same. In life, we each have a road to take, but sometimes when we take the road less traveled, we find our greatest moments of discovery.
‘La Mia Strada:’ Life’s unexpected journeyBy ELIZABETH WITOWICHASSISTANT LIFESTYLES EDITOR
PHOTOS BY Michael DiLauro
Copyright ©2012 PuzzleJunction.com
The Sentry 11/5/12 Sudoku PuzzleJunction.com
Solution
To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
98 3 4 55 3 2 6
3 1 21 4 5
3 9 21 9 6 78 26 8
7 2 6 1 4 9 5 3 88 3 4 5 2 6 7 9 15 9 1 8 7 3 4 2 69 5 8 4 3 1 2 6 71 4 2 7 6 8 9 5 36 7 3 9 5 2 8 1 42 1 9 6 8 7 3 4 53 8 5 2 1 4 6 7 94 6 7 3 9 5 1 8 2
Copyright ©2013 PuzzleJunction.com
The Sentry 2/6/13 Sudoku PuzzleJunction.com
Solution
To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
85 8 7 3 92 3 5 8
3 1 47 4 9
14
6 56 2 1 9
3 7 1 9 5 8 6 4 25 8 4 2 6 1 7 3 92 9 6 4 7 3 5 8 19 2 8 7 3 5 1 6 46 3 7 1 2 4 9 5 81 4 5 8 9 6 3 2 77 5 9 3 8 2 4 1 68 1 3 6 4 7 2 9 54 6 2 5 1 9 8 7 3
Answers to last issue’s puzzle
“The most important thing is that we keep
the stories that ground us in our ethnic identity,”
DiLauro said.
RMU flu-prepared despite no reported casesBy TIFFANY BRANDONSTAFF WRITERIt is that time of year again at Robert Morris Uni-versity for cold, snowy and dreadful weather. It is also the time of year for the common cold or flu to strike. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2013 flu epidemic has been the worst seasonal flu outbreak in 10 years. In a CDC Geographic Influenza Report this month, 47 states reported widespread geographic influenza activity, along with eight influenza-associated pe-diatric deaths. According to RMU’s Office of Health Services website, colds and the flu are the number one rea-son students visit the Office of Health Services on campus. John Michalenko, vice president of student life and dean of students, noted in a campus-wide email that there currently have been no reported cases of the flu virus among RMU students. Nev-ertheless, influenza activity is still at a heightened
elevation in the United States. If students are ill and concerned that the may have the flu, they are strongly encouraged to visit the Health Servies Center on campus in Nicholson or schedule an appointment with their primary physician. In previous years, Robert Morris designed a pro-cedure that students should follow if they are diag-nosed with the flu. “If students live within 50 miles of the university, they are asked to call someone from home to take them home, email their professors and let them know that they came down with the flu, and they should not return to the university unless they have been fever free for at least five days,” said Rose Bruich, the director of health services and full-time nurse at RMU. Students who have not yet received a vaccina-tion to protect themselves from the flu can receive the vaccine locally in a variety of locations. Some
of the locations currently carrying the vaccine in-clude Giant Eagle, Walgreen’s Take Care Clinic, Heritage Valley and MedExpress. All of these lo-cations accept walk-in appointments and accept most insurance cards. On campus, students are constantly interacting with people each day. Bruich said it is very im-portant for the students of RMU to take measures to protect themselves from the flu and to remain healthy. Bruich recommends that students never diag-nose themselves or use WebMD.com to confirm their illnesses. Students are encouraged to visit an experienced health care provider to diagnose and treat their illness properly. For more information about the flu or a complete list of local medical clinics carrying the flu vaccine, visit RMU’s Health Services website. Also, for a more in-depth video with Bruich about the flu, visit www.rmusentrymedia.com.
So, what is the flu?“The flu is a contagious respiratory illness that is caused by multiple vi-ruses. Every year, the flu virus is made up of different viruses. So each year, a new vaccine needs to be devel-oped,” said Rose Bruich, the director of health services and full-time nurse at RMU. Therefore, it is very important for students to be vaccinated every year because vaccines used in previous years will not protect students against the flu virus this year.
What causes a widespread flu outbreak? “A widespread flu outbreak is caused by individuals who are not vaccinat-ed, and who are burning the candles at both ends, meaning that they are not sleeping enough, not eating prop-erly, not washing their hands and not covering their coughs or sneezes cor-rectly,” said Bruich. The proper way for students to pro-tect themselves and others from de-
veloping the flu, if tissues are not available, is to sneeze or cough into the crooks of their arms, ac-cording to Bruich.
How is the flu transmitted from one person to another? “The flu can remain in the air and settle on inani-mate objects. The debris is in a moist form, and if you touch it and touch your mucus membranes like your eyes, nose or lips, you can become ill,” said Bruich. To prevent the spreading of these viruses it is es-sential for students to wash their hands thorough-ly. According to the U.S. CDC, “Hand washing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection.” Who is most at risk of developing the flu?“Anybody who does not get enough rest, who have preexisting illnesses such as asthma, cardiac is-sues, diabetes, GI issues, or who are on immuno-suppressant drugs, are the types of people who are most susceptible to the flu,” said Bruich.
Therefore, it is very important for any students with pre-existing ill-nesses to be aware that they are more susceptible to the flu, take careful precautions to protect themselves and to seek treatment immediately if they start to experience flu-like symp-toms.
What is the difference between the flu and the common cold? If you get sick with flu symptoms, in most cases, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care. Examples of flu-like symptoms may include the following: fever, cough, sore throat, aches, abdominal pain, fatigue, runny nose, diarrhea and vomiting. Unlike the common cold, influenza is much more severe and can be deadly. According to the RMU Health Ser-vices website, the common cold is caused by any one of 200 viruses. Cold symptoms can include a runny nose, red eyes, sneezing, sore throat and dry cough.
Have no clue about the flu?
Lifestyles
In 1945, an unforgettable invention was acci-dentally cooked up. After finding a melted chocolate bar in his pocket, Percy Spencer and the Raytheon company introduced the art of
microwave cooking. Popcorn was soon the perfect specimen for the new appliance, but nowadays, frozen meals from Lean Cuisine or Stouffer’s are the stars on top of many overused, crusty plates.
This invention, discovered due to a gooey Mr. Goodbar, has been more than just an appliance to many busy families. The microwave has been known as the backbone of a college student’s meal prepara-tion- the guarantee of a speedy and economical meal is irreplaceable. But common microwave meals are far from home-cooked, and let alone five-star.
Are college students stuck with quick but average food? We think not.
Creating mouth-watering food is not reserved for those with a full kitchen, raw talent or time on their hands. Gourmet food is possible with a microwave, and we have found some of the best on-the-go and student-friendly recipes to date.
By LEAH MOOSE, LIFESTYLES EDITORand ELIZABETH WITOWICH, ASST. LIFESTYLES EDITOR
*All of the ingredients were found at Romo’s and prepared only with a microwave, when needed. Check out RMUSentryMedia.com under our Life-styles section for the full recipes.
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, few desserts could be more
tempting than a plate of strawberries topped with chocolate and cookie crumbles. Choco-late-covered strawberries are the perfect treat for a date night or a even girl’s night. There are only three ingredients needed: strawber-ries, a Hershey’s chocolate bar and Oreo crumbs.
This pink, sparkling drink is a delicious alternative to a cocktail. It is a perfect
way to celebrate in style and all it requires is Sierra Mist, cranberry juice and strawberries to garnish the drink.
If you want the delicious taste of homemade cheesecake but are limited due to the dorm
lifestyle, emergency peanut butter cheesecake is the way to cheat the system and have just that. Combine cream cheese, peanut butter and Oreos into a convenient mug or bowl.
Snickers’ Cheerios are the perfect snack for your sweet-tooth- especially when you are
in the mood for something sugary but you don’t want to go the store-bought route. All you need is peanut butter, honey and a Snickers bar.
These homemade bars are the perfect breakfast fix to grab
before heading to class. Mix a single serving of granola cereal, a honey packet and a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter to taste.
PHOTOS BY Paul Wintruba
PHOTOS BY Paul Wintruba
Design The Sentry’s Next LogoThe Sentry is calling on all RMU students to submit logo
designs for its Logo Contest!
The only requirments for the logo are that it says The Sentry and uses the colors black, red, white, and/or blue.
The winner will have his/her logo appear on the front cover of every issue of The Sentry and receive a Visa gift card
To enter a submission, send your JPEG file to [email protected].
The new deadline to submit is Monday, March 18!
DEADLINE EXTENDED!
APPOINTMENTS
February 2013Issue 5, Page 15
Sports
Nick BuzzelliSports Editor
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concentration in finance. “For me, there was no stopping. I just had to keep going until I couldn’t play anymore or until I reached my goal.” Although he’s not a leader on the court, Toole said Lewis’s importance to the program is without equal. “He’s an invaluable piece to our program. From his knowledge of what we’re trying to accomplish, and the passion he brings to the game, to his ability to be a great teammate, I think he approaches the game the right way,” said Toole. “He provides a great example to the rest of the guys on the team.” Despite receiving limited playing time, the native of Shelton, Connecticut made it his top priority to help the squad anyway he can. “We can’t have an efficient practice without Treadwell. He works harder than anyone else,” said Karvel Anderson, Lewis’s teammate. “Even though he doesn’t play a lot, he brings as much to the table as everyone else does and his importance to the team to me personally is on the level of Velton.” Lewis, who has appeared in 18 career contests over the course of his tenure at RMU, rarely gets an opportunity to take the court during the game, but when he does, the Charles L. Sewall Center echoes with fans chanting his name.
BEYOND BASkETBALL Aside from being on the RMU basketball team, Lewis is a former member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council and leads bible study for Chi Alpha. “Treadwell’s participation at Chi Alpha the past three years is just what any organization on campus might hope for,” said Pastor Wayne Jackson, Chi Alpha’s director. “His enthusiasm, commitment and leadership is a wonderful example to incoming students on the importance of friendship, faith and finding time to make the college experience a ‘well-rounded’ one.” Although the three-time NEC Winter Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll member is unsure of what lies ahead, one thing he’s certain of is making a difference in the lives’ of others. “I don’t really have concrete plans of what I’m going to be doing. I’ve had a couple interviews for finance positions and I’ve also thought about the possibility of going to graduate school,” he said. “I’ve started to write a few books concerning faith, but I really want to volunteer and help with some ministry opportunities and churches in the future.” Toole believes that Lewis will be successful i n w h a t e v e r e n d e a v o r s h e p u r s u e s . “The respect level he’s earned in the four years here from his teammates is something that’s been incredible and I think it’s just a tribute to him as a person,” he said. “A lot of
the things that Treadwell brings to the table everyday leads me to believe that he’s going to be an extremely successful person in whatever he chooses to do with the remainder of his life.” Despite the fact that he contemplated transferring to another program in order to receive an increased amount of playing time, Lewis said he decided to remain at RMU because of the tight-knit bond he has with his teammates. “What kept me here were the friends that I have on the team that I’m close with, and the opportunities that I’ve had here. I like the people here, I like the courses that I’m studying, and overall it’s been very enjoyable,” he added. “It’s something I wouldn’t trade to play a few more minutes somewhere else by any stretch of the imagination. I have a lot of pride in being here at Robert Morris and I’ve really enjoyed it over the past four years.”
Everyone has dreams and goals that they want to accomplish in life, yet most of the time they just get pushed to the back burner, never to be reconsidered again. But for Treadwell Lewis, the desire to make his dreams a reality have enabled him to pursue his passions and have helped him make the most out of life. “Whatever you have a passion for, whatever you dream about, you just have to really pursue that with everything you have. Don’t let fear hold you back,” said Lewis, a shooting guard on the RMU men’s basketball team. “You’re going to have some failures, but you just have to keep going.” Lewis, who is nearing the end of his collegiate career, believes that passion is the driving force behind everything that is accomplished in life, and without devotion toward the game of basketball, he may have never had the opportunity to take the court as a Robert Morris Colonial.
ROAD TO RMU Upon graduating from Christian Heritage High School in Trumbull, Connecticut, Lewis initially planned to attend Boston University as a walk-on, but changed his mind after BU head coach Dennis Wolff was let go. Because his heart was set on playing NCAA Division I basketball, Lewis forwent scholarship offers from Division II and Division III programs and attended prep school at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts for a year with the hope that other opportunities would present themselves. It was there that Lewis was coached by Chris Sparks, who formerly served as an assistant at Penn under Glen Miller, where RMU head coach Andy Toole played his college basketball. Sparks eventually talked Toole, an assistant coach at the time, into watching Lewis play, and as a result, he was offered a tryout with the Colonials. “It [a spot on the team] wasn’t guaranteed, that’s for sure. [Former RMU coach] Mike Rice basically told me that any day I could be gone, so if I had a bad day, I didn’t know if I would be back. It was nerve racking at times,” said Lewis. “It’s been a long road, but it’s definitely worked out.”
‘INVALUABLE PIECE’ Because he doesn’t receive an athletic scholarship from the university, the three-time member of the Northeast Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll said he spent three to five hours per day training over the summer months in hopes of improving his game. “What drove me to keep training was my dream to play basketball,” said Lewis, who is a business administration major with a
Passion leads Lewis to pursue dreams
The power of pinkBy HALEY SAWYER STAFF WRITER
By NICK BUZZELI SPORTS EDITOR
Men’s basketball senior guard Treadwell Lewis has had a major impact on RMU both on and off the court. PHOTO BY Matt Polaski
PHOTOS BY Jake Hartzfeld
Feb. 1 and 2 marked not just an important in-conference series for the Robert Morris University women’s hockey team, but also the chance to make an impact in the breast cancer awareness world. The team took part in the College Hockey America (CHA)-wide “Skate for the Cure” campaign, which focuses on raising money for breast cancer awareness. On Feb. 2, the pink festivities occurred even before the first period began. In honor of the event, two young girls under the age of ten from a Pittsburgh youth hockey team were given the amazing opportunity of spending time with the Colonials. The little girls were invited into the dressing room to listen in on head coach Paul Colontino’s pre-game speech and to talk and interact with the players. “We asked them if they wanted to play college hockey and both of them were like, ‘Yes! We’d love to play college hockey!” said freshman defenseman Leah Carlson of the girls’ enthusiasm. In addition hanging out with the team, the two girls had the opportunity to skate across the ice with Kelsey Thomas and Cobina Delaney, who were both in the starting lineup for that night. “It was really cute. They got to come out on the ice and get announced, kind of like they were on our team,” recalled Carlson. “They got to wear breast cancer jerseys, which was also really neat.” Senior defenseman and assistant captain Jamie Joslin believes in the importance of encouraging youth hockey, especially with little girls.
“It was definitely fun to see how many little fans we have and we try to do everything we can to keep encouraging them with hockey,” stated Joslin. “When you’re a young kid and see that kind of stuff, it’s really exciting,” echoed senior forward, Kelsey Thomas. “So it was good to get them involved.” Another special pre-game event was the ceremonial puck drop, with featured a breast cancer survivor. “Normally when you have an honorary game like that, you acknowledge someone who has gone through that and you reach out to people who have struggled for what you’re raising money for,” said Thomas. “It was good to recognize a survivor and it’s emotional. It probably was an honor to her and it was an honor to us to have her there. I think it helps when you actually see someone who’s gone through all that. It helps bring awareness to it.” As a part of their fundraising effort, the team raffled off two autographed hockey sticks, a jersey signed by the entire 2012-2013 team, and a goalie glove signed by Olympic silver medalist and RMU women’s hockey assistant coach, Brianne McLaughlin. In addition to the raffles, the team will soon have t-shirts to sell and are currently selling cupcakes. The Colonials have a history of creative t-shirts, and this year’s featured phrase is no exception. The design features a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon along with the phrase, “For the Girls” and “#kernals”. “A lot of sports teams here, especially on social media, they’ll say ‘For the Boys’ or ‘For the Girls’, as in for your team,” explained Thomas. “So for breast cancer, we chose that slogan because it applies to our team and the issue at hand.” As for the “#kernals” part, “We like to call ourselves that, and the men’s hockey team, too, all use the kernals. It’s just another word for Colonials,” said Joslin of the Twitter-esque hash-tag. The cupcakes the girls are selling may be small, but they pack a powerful fundraising punch. “So far we’ve sold around 140 cupcakes at a men’s basketball game a few weeks ago. Last night we sold
another 100 cupcakes at the men’s ice hockey game and have raised between $200-$300 so far just off of that,” said Joslin of the cupcake-selling efforts. “A lot of people are very generous when they buy cupcakes. Sometimes they’ll just donate money instead of even taking a cupcake, which is cool,” Carlson claimed. “And they’re actually really good cupcakes, by the way.” Not all of the cupcakes were as good as Carlson claimed they were, due to a mishap in the baking process. “A couple of us were baking them and someone accidentally turned the oven way up and we were on our last batch and we kind of smelled something funny,” recounted Joslin. “Luckily, we caught them just in time, but they were pretty burnt, so we had to throw that batch out.” Comical as the story may seem, the anecdote is yet another testament of the team’s intense bond. The girls are working as a team not just to play the sport they love but to accomplish something bigger than themselves. “We get to do it together, raise awareness for breast cancer as a team, which I’ve never really been a part of before,” said Carlson. “I’ve been a part of a team before, but not as a team to raise money for something, and that we want to make a difference in other people’s lives,” “A lot of people come to the games, so when you have games like that, everyone in the stands, everyone who’s involved with it, automatically knows what you’re raising money for,” agreed Thomas, “And you automatically have 25 people on your side from your team to do this with you.” In today’s society, attention can often be drawn to the negative fiascos student athletes are involved in. The Colonials set an example of the positive feats a team can accomplish. “It’s important just to get that athlete to community relationship,” said Joslin. “There’s a lot of support throughout our community with coming to our games and supporting us, so it’s a chance to kind of give back and touch the people that have been affected by this cause. As a team, everyone I talk to has a great feeling knowing that we’re helping someone through doing this.”
SportsFebruary 2013 February 2013Issue 5, Page 16 Issue 5, Page 17
Sports
By BROOKE SMITHCOPY EDITOR Each year, NCAA men’s hockey teams have the chance to nominate up to three players for the Hobey Baker Award—the award given to the best player in college hockey. For the 2012-2013 season, the nominees for the Colonials are seniors Adam Brace, Zach Hervato, and Eric Levine. When it came time to nominate players, head coach Derek Schooley knew those were the three players he wanted to represent his squad. “When the nominations were in, those were the guys that deserved to be nominated,” said Schooley. “Do they have the best numbers in the league now? No, but they’re quality players, and they’re guys that deserve it.” With Brace being a transfer student-athlete from Canisius, his 78 points (36G, 42A) in three short years as a Colonial have been quite impressive. “Adam Brace is our most dynamic player,” said Schooley. “He produces very well offensively, he has outstanding speed and has become a very good penalty killer for us, and he’s a guy that is dangerous every time he is on the ice.” Just 26 games through his senior campaign, Hervato has already set career highs in points with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points. “Zach Hervato had an excellent start to his year, he was playing hard,” said Schooley. “He
competes really hard, and he has really taken his game to a new level in his senior year, and he has had his best year as a senior.” Last but not least is Levine. In his first full year as the Colonials starting goaltender, he has gone 13-8-2 with 2.55 goals against average and a 0.933 save percentage. “Eric Levine has been outstanding in net. He’s big, he makes the saves, he works after practice extremely hard,” Schooley said. “He finds ways to win even when he doesn’t have his ‘A game’. He has the ability to steal a game, and he also just finds ways to win hockey games.” The nomination for the award came as a surprise to Levine. “To be honest I was a little surprised. It’s not something that you think about when the year is going on,” said Levine. “You just try to stay in the moment and play one game at a time, and I was doing that, so you don’t really at the whole season as a whole, because the season is still going on.” Levine also noted that it is an honor to be nominated for an award that current NHL players have won in previous years. “When you look back at some of the previous winners and see what kind of careers they
“I wouldn’t be there if guys didn’t score, and they wouldn’t be there if guys weren’t helping them, so it’s a testament t o w h a t o u r t e a m has done as a whole.
went on to have, it’s pretty surreal, and I’m just grateful to be on the ballot this year,” said Levine. “The standard for a college hockey goalie has to be Ryan Miller; you look at the astonishing numbers he put up not only in 2001 when he won it, but in his career at Michigan State, it’s simply magical. So to be nominated for an award that he once won, it’s humbling.” Hervato was also surprised by the nomination. “I was actually quite surprised because I wasn’t informed until a few days after nominations were announced when [former women’s hockey player] Brianna Delaney told me,” said Hervato. “I couldn’t believe it. I had to go online and check for myself. I was really excited and obviously proud that I’m there with two other players.” Although their nominations came as a surprised, all three are very honored to be nominated for one of the top college hockey awards. “When I found out, I was pretty excited,” said Levine “I was obviously very honored and very happy. It’s a pretty cool thing to be nominated.” “You just look back at the history of the players who have been nominated, and players that have won the Hobey Baker award and it’s just
an honor to be put in that category with those types of players and people like that,” said Hervato. “It’s something that is in the back of your mind, but you can’t be worried about it, and we try not to talk about it. The team comes first.” Brace agreed with his teammates adding, “You know it’s good, they’ve both had great careers, so it’s just nice for them to get some recognition at the end of their careers,” he said. “It was just nice to be recognized along with a couple of great teammates.” While the award goes to an individual player, all three realize that they wouldn’t be in this position if it were not for the work of their teammates. “It’s not just the two guys that we’re nominated with—which they are completely deserving of the nomination. I think they would agree that the reason we are nominated is because we have such good teammates,” said Levine. “I wouldn’t be there if guys didn’t score, and they wouldn’t be there if guys weren’t helping them, so it’s a testament to what our team has done as a whole.” There is still time to vote for all three players to be named finalists for the 2013 Hobey Baker Award. If you would like to vote, please visit, www.hobeybakeraward.com
ADAM BRACE #28ZACH HERvATO #14
GP G A PTS +/-Adam Brace 123 42 59 101 +10Zach Hervato 118 23 30 53 -4
GP W L T GAA SV%Eric Levine 60 24 18 9 2.72 0.926
PHOTOS by Bill Paterson and Amy Shubilla
ERIC LEVINE #30
- Eric Levine
“It was just nice to be recognized along with a couple of great teammates.
- Adam Brace
Three Colonials nominated for Hobey Baker Award
Player Stats”
”
SportsFebruary 2013 February 2013Issue 5, Page 18 Issue 5, Page 19
Sports
Softball senior Grafton steps away from field and onto the court Men’s lacrosse faces new rules heading into 2013 season
Softball team poised to go “one step beyond”
become better overall; however, there are some downsides to the invitationals, such as the difficulty of being on the road and the long bus rides. Despite these minor downsides, Coach Coleman said that, “nothing brings a team together like being on the road together.” This year, the team will be participating in the Hampton Inn Invitational, the 49ers invitational, the Marshall Invitational, the City of Clearwater Invitational, and the Rebel Spring Games. Each tournament will usually consist of around four to five games for the Colonials, who will look to gain valuable experience before beginning their Northeastern Conference play. “Before, you could get away with mistakes or missing a pitch here or there, but you can’t make a mistake here because it will show,” freshman Haileigh Stocks said about the transition from high school to college softball. The Colonials have three highly experienced seniors on the team that will lead the way and help the freshmen learn how to handle things in both the invitationals and the regular season.
Over their four years playing for the team, Britta Grafton, Maritza Jimenez and Jessica Tanigawa have learned a lot from their experiences and are ready to share their knowledge to their teammates. “It’s always gratifying to see players go from freshmen year to senior year and to see them grow up and become much more mature, more worldly, and much more seasoned,” said Coleman, who also serves as RMU’s athletic director. In addition to the seniors, the team will also have another great individual to look up to for advice and experience and that is Jaci Timko, who is a former outfielder for the Colonials. Coleman said that Timko is an absolute positive influence for the team because she was such a great player and knows the game extremely well, and that the squad’s upperclassmen who have played with her have a great deal of respect for the 2012 RMU graduate. The RMU softball program has a positive outlook on this season and is ready to take the next step toward qualifying for the NCAA tournament this season. The men’s lacrosse team knows they will adjust well to the new rules put in place by the NCAA. PHOTO BY Brock Switzer
Softball player Britta Grafton has added depth to a depleted women’s basketball bench. PHOTO BY Paul Wintruba
By BROOKE SMITHCOPY EDITOR
By CHRIS MUELLERASST. SPORTS EDITOR
By ANTHONY DESIMONESTAFF WRITERThe Robert Morris University women’s softball team is gearing up for the 2013 season with the mentality of going “one step beyond.” This mindset stems from the past two years where the Colonials have won the Northeast Conference regular season title, but have stumbled in the post-season tournament. “Our goal is to go one step further by winning the post-season conference Championship and go to the NCAA tournament,” said head coach Craig Coleman. “Anything less than that will be a disappointment.” Going this extra step will require the team to get through five invitational tournaments this year however, this should not be a problem because RMU always tries to start out the year with as many invitationals as possible to help them get prepared for the regular season. Although the squad receives invitations for 30 tournaments each year, they choose which ones they want to participate in by looking at the competition. Coleman believes that playing in these invitationals greatly helps the team and his players
The RMU women’s basketball team has suffered a series of un-fortunate events over the course of the 2012-13 season. Thus far, the team has amounted an un-expected and dismal 4-15 record after suffering serious injuries to a few key players, and with their roster uncommonly short to begin with 10 players, that was the last thing the Colonials could afford. Only dressing eight players on a game-by-game basis would serve more harm than help to the team as fatigue would slowly become an issue the longer the season went on. Due to NCAA in-season regulations, the program’s only option to improve their roster was to look within the university. “We had some major injuries early on in the year when Jas-mine [Tate] and Jolie [Olingende] went down, so we just didn’t have a lot of numbers,” said assistant coach Charlie Buscaglia. “It’s not like the pros where you can sign 10-day contracts, so you need to work with what you can have.” That’s when the name Britta Grafton came up in conversation.
Grafton, a senior business education major, has been a key contributor to the RMU softball team over the last three years and has lettered every sea-son in her career. Being a utility player, she has played every position for the Colonial’s be-sides pitcher and catcher, but she is not known for her basketball ability, Grafton was introduced to the basket-ball staff by softball coach and Athletic Director, Craig Coleman. “Our athletic director, Craig Coleman, turned us on to Britta and said she was a great, hard-working kid,” said Bus-caglia. “She’s a positive attitude that does everything we ask of her. She’s struggled at some levels due to being thrown into a Division I basketball pro-gram, but with her attitude she’s ready to go whenever we need to her to play.” After an open practice, Grafton of-ficially joined the team during finals week of the first semester, a full month after the Colonials’ season began. “I was rusty at first,” admitted Graf-ton. “The physicality and speed of the game has been a challenge since I haven’t played in so long.” A little rust should be expected. Grafton’s last year of competitive bas-ketball was in high school, where she earned four varsity letters at James-town High [PA] and was named her
region’s player of the year as a senior. Even with the lack of playing ex-perience and preparation, Grafton has positively impacted the team in practice on a daily basis, with both her teammates and coaches noticing. “Britta’s been with us for six weeks and has helped a lot in practice,” said junior forward and leading scorer Artemis Spanou. “We are short on players and she’s done a great job so far. You never know, she may need to come in for a few minutes and help us. I’m sure she’s ready for that.” Mainly used as a practice play-er, Grafton could potentially see a little bit of playing time with the recent developments of a knee in-jury to freshman guard Lou Mataly. “Lou [Mataly] twisted her knee pret-ty bad and she’s been hampered,” said Buscaglia. “It’s day-to-day right now. But especially if she can’t go, we’re obviously going to have to open the bench up and give Britta some min-utes.” In addition to playing two sports, Grafton is a participating member of RMU’s Student Athlete Advisory Com-mittee. Along with her involvement in SAAC, she was also recently recog-nized as an All-America Scholar Ath-lete by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association for her work in the class-
room. Grafton has enjoyed the experi-ence to this point, and agreed that it’s only going to help her prepara-tions for softball. “I definitely think it will help,” said Grafton. “The practices are completely different than soft-ball, and I’m in a lot better shape. Just doing something consistent-ly can help transfer over.”
In sports, a new season means new teammates and new things to adjust to, but this year, the Robert Morris University NCAA men’s lacrosse team must also adjust to multiple rule changes made by the NCAA. One of the most significant changes will be the 30 second shot-clock. According to the 2013 NCAA men’s lacrosse rulebook, here is how the shot-clock will be used:
• At the end of the 20-second timer, a 10-second hand count is administered by the official closest to the ball. This official has responsibility for the count until a shot is taken or the time expires.
Senior attack, Jake Hayes believes that this new rule will actually benefit the Colonials. “We’ve always had a fast placed type system anyways and we base a lot of our game off of transitions,” said Hayes. “So I think as long as we keep practicing and working on the quick restarts, it will just go into our systems which will actually benefit us in the end.” Another significant change will be faceoff procedures. The new rule states that:
• “After two pre-whistle violations in one half by a team, the third and subsequent violations result in a 30-second technical penalty. This applies to both pre- and post-whistle violations that directly relate to the faceoff. On the third and subsequent violations, the in-home is the player that must serve the penalty. Additionally, the requirement of the faceoff player to leave the field has been eliminated. violations by the wing players before the faceoff will count toward the three per half. Only the faceoff players may be
to the sideline because you can pick up the ball and create transition or get back in the hole.” “It’s going to create some more quick whistles, that will open up opportunities for transition and that certainly suits our style of play,” said McMinn. “I think that’s what’s going to have the largest impact for us in particular.” One final significant change to the rules will be the fact that there will no longer be a grace period for goaltenders to return to their crease before play is restarted. “With the goalies specifically, as far as chasing out the shots for possessions is not something we’re going to do as actively with the rule changes,” said McMinn. “You can get put in those situations where you’re compromised because your goalie is not able to get back to the cage, so we’re not going to be nearly as aggressive with those types of situations.” “I think now you wont see goalies chasing the ball as frequently as they used to,” said Hayes. “They’ll probably be more conservative in the cage.” According to McMinn, most changes have been made to quicken the pace of the game. “For us it suits our style of play. We play extremely aggressive, and we’re looking to constantly push the pace of the game, so these new rule changes just accommodate that even more,” said McMinn. “We’re excited because it works into our style of play, as far as these changes go for teams throughout the country, I think we’re definitely a team that will benefit from it.” For more on the rule changes, including an informational video by the NCAA and a link to the rulebook, check out www.rmusentrymedia.com
penalized for a post-whistle faceoff violation.” Head coach Andrew McMinn does not see this new rule being an issue for his squad. “The new faceoff rule is that if you have three violations within a half then it will result in a penalty. Previously, it was just that it was the other teams’ ball and the faceoff guy had to run off the field,” McMinn said. “With the new rules, there’s going to be more uneven situations with man-up and man-down, and that could certainly present some different scenarios not only for us but who we are up against.” Something that will be noticeably absent from the game is the use of horns. According to the new rules, “substitution may take place without the necessity of waiting for suspension of play by an official.” Players may enter the field of play from the substitution area under the following conditions:
• The player must be properly equipped.• He may not enter the substitution area
until his substitution is imminent.• The player leaving the field of play must
exit via the substitution area.• The substitute must wait until such player
is off the field of play, and the substitute may not delay his entry onto the field.
• Substitution may take place while play is suspended.
• The substitute must always yield his position in the substitution area to any player exiting the field.
“Without horns, you won’t be able to get the specific personnel that you want on the field if the ball goes out on the sideline,” said Hayes on the elimination of horns. “Now it’s a race to get
