Sunday, January 29, 2012

Winter Wonderland!

A biiig hello from the newly announced MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY!

SAC and LSC had a week packed with events. It all started on Thursday when LSC cheered on our Men's Wrestling team on against Gannon, our hometown rival. LSC had an army/camo theme in the cheering section. We had an obstacle course set up with a dirt pudding station to refuel. It was a great match to watch, and our boys won!
     
See the snowboard and snow globe?
SAC had a weekend full of winter weathered bliss! On Friday we had a classic SAC event, Winterfest. It happens every year, it's a traditional winter festival that celebrates all different winter activities. Chick-fil-A sandwiches are a signature item at most Winterfests, along with Tim Horton's hot chocolate, with tons of cookies, brownies, popcorn, and much more! At the event over 200 students showed up to grab a free t-shirt, make homemade lip balm, concoct gel creations (since we aren't allowed candles in our residence halls!), pose for a caricature, give it a go at virtual snowboarding and take a picture in a giant snow-globe! The event started at 7 p.m. in our Student Union and there was a line for activities starting around 6:30 p.m. It was so nice to see students excited for such a classic SAC tradition!
   
   
Matt and me!
On Saturday SAC hosted a Snowflake Ball. It was an occasion to dress up with friends and dance the night away! We had Erie's famous DJ Bill Page from local radio station STAR 104 supplying the beats for the dance. Our on campus dining service, Parkhurst, completed the night with mini desserts like chocolate covered strawberries, mini lemon and raspberry tarts, as well as chocolate covered cherry bites, to name a few. The Student Union was transformed, once again, into an icy looking winter wonderland... you hardly remembered you were even on campus! This was also a great opportunity for SAC to relax and dance the night away with all of our friends on campus. My boyfriend, Matt even came up to take me to the dance. He goes to school, back home in Pittsburgh, at a local university and every chance I get to see him is awesome! I know I had a fabulous time, as well as many other Lakers, and am excited to see if this is something that students would like SAC to continue to do annually.
    
¡Esta delicioso!
Now, I know I generally only post about SAC and LSC happenings, but I thought you might like to know what I do outside of studying, classes, and SAC/LSC events. Today (Sunday), I went to a delicious restaurant that is unique to Erie – El Canelo. It serves authentic Mexican cuisine that beats Taco Bell by a long shot! The service is pretty quick, and they seat you with a big basket of fresh tortilla chips and homemade salsa. I had a delicious taco salad while by boyfriend Matt over there enjoyed beef enchiladas and tacos. Another great thing about El Canelo is it's friendly to a college kid's budget. Matt and I ate until we were stuffed for about $13. It doesn't get much better than that!
  
 
    
Well, that's all I have for this week... Next weekend, we have Grocery Bingo – which every college kid loves! And "Chopped: MU Style" featuring celebrity chef Mary Sue Milliken. She's been on Top Chef, Oprah, and Iron Chef America to name a few and students will get to compete in culinary challenges with Mary Sue as a judge! Next weekend is making me hungry already... I'll be back next week to tell you all the tasty details!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Gannon, Giggles, and Greek!

This is Zach, the LSC programmer!
Hello All! SAC and LSC had a week full of events. They festivities all started with a Wednesday night double header basketball game against our big hometown rival, Gannon!

LSC had a luau themed event at both the men and women's games. Tons of Lakers showed up to the games to support classmates in their battle against the Gannon Knights. We had leis, sunglasses, and smoothies! It was nice to have a tropical feel in the middle of our Erie winter. Our smoothie names were pretty creative too, we had "Slay the Knights Strawberry" and "Make Gannon Black and Blueberry."

Unfortunately, our Lady Lakers lost 56 to 57, it was a great game though! And our boys won 62 to 61, both were intense games! 

 
Eric hugging Betty White!
On Friday night we had comedian Eric O'Shea. He was hysterical! He has over 4 million hits on his entertaining Youtube videos, one of my favorites being "TV Commercial Songs" (go ahead, click it! I added a link to his Youtube performance). He's performed at over 1,200 colleges and universities around the country and was nominated "National Comedy Performer of the Year" for 2010 and 2011.

He claims that "Thanks to a little A.D.D. and lack of segues, his show is guaranteed to get randomly wild!!! From surviving family, to surviving all 24 hours of the day – from original stories to celebrity impressions... including ELMO – Eric’s unique humor, expressions, and high-energy show is unlike anything you’ve ever heard…" Eric has even performed at the Creative Emmy Awards on E!


The Greek Week T-shirts!
Finally, on Saturday night, to wrap up the weekend SAC and LSC joined forces to put on a Greek Week themed Women's Hockey game versus Robert Morris University. This Greek themed game asked students to "pledge" ΛΣΧ to get a free t-shirt and show some Laker Love at the game. We even had a toga contest, the best dressed got a Kindle Fire... pretty cool, huh? Along with the t-shirts (see the right) we had golden laurel wreaths, foam lightning bolts, Greek candies, and of course, tons of pizza! It was a fun and festive night, however our Lady Lakers lost 2 to 3 that night. We should have had the event a day earlier, the first time they played RMU, we won – better luck next time!
  
  
Well, that's all for now...  I'll post back next week after our annual Winterfest event and a brand new tradition we're adding, Snowflake Ball!



 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Profs, Playing, and Puppies!

Happy MLK – We had the day off from classes at Mercyhurst today, so I thought I'd sit down and give you all a run down of the weekend we had at the 'Hurst!
 
  
Last Friday we had another game show type event. SAC co-sponsored the night with the Mercyhurst Honor Society with an event called, "Are You Smarter Than A Professor!" Sound familiar? The event ran just like the TV show "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader." We had teams of three to five students compete in random trivia against three of Mercyhurst's own profs: Dr. Ripley, Dr. Bourdreau, and Dr. McGurk. The answers that came out of the professors were absolutely hilarious and witty. It was an overall great event and winners received a $50 MC Bookstore gift card! There were prizes for other places as well which included $25 Fandango gift cards, and Jump the Line Passes for the end of term Food for Finals event. 

 

On Saturday we thought that everyone would be sick of being coped up in their dorms or apartments from all of this cold weather. So we decided to host a Glow-in-the-Dark Volleyball Night. Students showed up to play off in a giant volleyball match in our REC Center. The gym was transformed into a neon volleyball court, complete with black lights, strobe lights, glow sticks, and hot music! While students took a break from playing or while waiting for a new match, we also had these really cool glow tattoos. You sprayed them on and in the black lights you could see it, but then if you stepped out into the lobby where there was normal lighting, it vanished! This was a random idea we had during event planning and the event turned out well! We're interested in what other students thought of this event, or even you! Feel free to leave your comments about any of the events on here and we'll definitely use the feedback during our planning.
     
     
Isn't he precious?
Next weekend we have the HILARIOUS comedian Eric O'Shea and a "Greek Week" Themed Hockey Game vs. Robert Morris University... Stay tuned for all the details!
    
     
P.S. Check out this picture of me and this aaaadorable Akita puppy I played with at the Millcreek Mall this past Sunday on the left. I was totally ready to smuggle this dog back with me onto campus!
      
     
Well, seriously now... I have midterms to study for and more events to help plan! I'll post back here next week :)


Monday, January 9, 2012

Cupcakes and CA$H!

Hello Again! Does everyone else feel the January is flying right by? I sure do!

So last weekend at the 'Hurst the Student Activities Council put on two sweeeet events. 

Friday night we had a Roommate Game Show. If roomies knew the answer to various questions about their roommate they had a chance to win $150 cash! Some of the questions were:
  
   - What color are their eyes?
The super excited winners of Cupcake Wars!
   - What's the strangest habit your roomie had?
   - What reality show would they be on?
  
Some of them were really tough! But it was hilarious to hear what someone roommates had to share, and pretty funny when they even got answers wrong. 

On Saturday night SAC hosted a Cupcake War! If you're familiar with the tv show, it was kind of similar to that. Twelve teams competed against the clock to prove their tasty treats were supreme. Winners received a snazzy certificate and, again, a cash prize!

Next weekend SAC will have a co-sponsored event with the Honors Society, Are You Smarter Than A Professor (students are actually going to compete with Mercyhurst Profs!) and a Glow-in-the-Dark Volleyball match! 

I'll let you all know how those go next week, but until then... Stay warm!

Jenna