The Cluster – MercerCluster.com - Latest Comments

Re: Bear Bites: Beware Marco’s Pizza on Zebulon

Jade — Wed, 06 May 2015 16:05:29 -0000

I have eaten in Marco's Pizza three times at their Zebulon location. Each time I have experienced pizza like I have never tasted before and service that was definately above average. Opening any new business will come with a few bumps in the road, but I can say with confidence that I will continue to eat at the Marco's on Zebulon and will try to get there as often as my schedule allows.

Re: SGA flooded with housing concerns

Susan Stitt — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 07:33:29 -0000

The difference is that Mercer is choosing to accept larger and larger freshman classes - they do not have to do this. Build the new dorms and THEN accept larger classes. Telling students and their families that this was going to be a problem when they were deciding which school to choose when they were incoming freshman would also have been the right thing to do.

Re: SGA calls for revote on presidential elections

chauncey_g — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:32:37 -0000

FWIW, I'd say there's a great follow-up story here for anyone who wants to pursue it. What happened to the votes?

Re: The “Wussification” of America

Terminus — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:12:29 -0000

This piece was written by a computer program that sampled from various random news sites' comment boards and it represents a pretty huge accomplishment in the realm of computer science. The idea that a program could write a full piece that could be published? Unfathomable even 10 years ago. Sure it reads like a series of only somewhat tangentially connected statements, but think of where we could be in a couple years!

All and all I want to commend Kyle, and Richard on bringing their program to life. I'm excited for what their future has in store.

Re: Modern Day Snake Oil Salesmen

istiaquehossain75@gmail.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 11:29:29 -0000

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Re: Wear what you want, but think about covering up a little

Apple Sauce — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 15:49:56 -0000

You're a bad person and you should feel bad.

Re: Yusef Komunyakaa wins Lanier Prize

Becky — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 10:17:07 -0000

*Yusef

Re: Mercer dean leaves to become president at Hanover College

Carl V. Lewis — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 19:28:20 -0000

No offense to the guy, but I had a feeling he may not last long. I'm grateful for his service, though

Re: Five things to start your week: Tom Brady best quarterback to ever live? Man fires shots at Mercer Police, Kim’s data-saving plea, Founders’ Day, Japanese journalist beheaded

Chuck Anziulewicz — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 11:37:36 -0000

"Winter Storm Linus"? Oh, brother. Please do not indulge The Weather Channel in their pretentious practice of "naming" snow events. TWC is not the National Weather Service.

One Facebook user posted THIS criticism: "Naming winter storms is the dumbest idea ever. Why hasn't NWS or any other reputable weather reporting source joined in the naming? Oh, maybe they still feel their role is serious reporting - instead of sensationalizing, dramatizing and commercializing." It's pretty much how I have always felt.

TWC's Tom Niziol attempted to deflect the criticism: "One reason we're doing this, simply put, is we can. We cover weather on a national scale. By ascribing a name to a weather system that's gonna create those types of impacts, we can follow it right across the country."

THAT'S their answer? "We do it because we CAN"?? And the only way the personalities at TWC can keep their eye on a weather system is to give it some kind of cute name? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Re: Mercer Men’s Lacrosse Team prepares for SoCon debute

Blessed15 — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 05:04:01 -0000

It looks like all the ingredients for success are there. We will support you http://goo.gl/K7X6RE

Re: Reduce, reuse, recycle: keep our campus clean

Drew Beal — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:51:23 -0000

Conner, thanks for shining some light on all the consumer waste created on a daily basis! Mercer college is not alone -- I imagine the description you provide is typical of must U.S. college campuses. It can be staggering to think of all the issues with consumer waste.. where does one begin to push back?

You may want to look into bring a waste reduction campaign, such as Kill the Cup, to Mercer next year. The program pits universities against each other in a reusable cup contest -- designed to generate excitement around sustainability and reduce waste from disposable coffee cups. Could be a starting point for a big change on campus!

Re: Don’t be a bystander: Campus rape culture

Egalitarian — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 18:33:15 -0000

The "1 in 71 men have been raped" stat from the CDC study doesn’t tell the whole story. It defines "rape" as the attacker penetrating the victim, which excludes men who are forced to have vaginal sex, which is counted as “made to penetrate”. The very same survey says “1 in 21 men (4.8%) reported that they were made to penetrate someone else,” which is far more than 1 in 71. Also, the study says that 79.2% of male victims of “made to penetrate” reported only female perpetrators, meaning they were raped by a woman. The CDC recently updated this survey, and the new report found 1.7% of men have been raped by penetration and 6.7% have been made to penetrate, for a total of up to 8.4%, or 1 in 12.

If you look at the CDC report's stats for the previous 12 months, the numbers are actually equal; just as many number of men were “made to penetrate” during that time period as women were raped, meaning that if you properly include “made to penetrate” in the definition of rape, men were raped approximately as often as women.

Re: Don’t be a bystander: Campus rape culture

Christopher R Whalen — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:10:43 -0000

College Rape - Waiting for men to enter college is much too late in the life of a predator for significant differences to be made. Many college programs meant to increase awareness of college rape are well-intentioned and extremely important. But rapists & predators are created in dysfunctional homes. The link provides more detail.

http://bit.ly/1rPKllY

Re: Climate change: thinking of our days after tomorrow

realheadline — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 19:03:44 -0000

As a result of global warming "a new Ice Age could happen." How does one become this confused as to reality ... and do you sell it?

Re: SGA opposes youth bar ban

Ethan Trice — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 22:46:27 -0000

I don't think the ban is good, either, but it doesn't infringe upon your rights. If anything, the ban infringes on the rights of the bar owners to decide who can and cannot enter their premises.

Re: SGA opposes youth bar ban

Joseph Wozniak — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 19:02:01 -0000

Awesome. Thanks to the Cluster for the great report!

Re: Urban Development Authority names Mercer graduate Executive Director

Pam Watson — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 18:04:51 -0000

Macon Bibb Co really needs better transportation. Why not bring an Amtrak station to the area or at least increase better bus lines to make connections to Atlanta, Warner Robins, Savannah, etc. I think it would be a great idea to go along with all the other near future developments taking place, especially in the downtown area. It would be a major improvement to bring money and tourism!

Re: Those against LGBT rights similar to racists from Civil Rights-era

gwmac — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 21:21:12 -0000

Well said Kyle. Marriage equality is very much this generations civil rights issue. And just like the arguments that were used in the very famous miscegenation case of Loving v. Virginia, the opponents are recycling those same bigoted and misguided arguments. Most notably the tired slippery slope nonsense. You would think the Republican party which throws around the term "family values" would be in favor of allowing people that love each other and want to start their own family would have their support and not condemnation. Do not be afraid to call it like you see it. No reason to tiptoe around the issue. Do you remember the Republican debate where a U.S. Marine that was stationed in Afghanistan in a war zone at the time had a Skype question to the candidates on stage. He asked if any of them would try and repeal allowing gay soldiers to proudly serve openly in the military or would they try and return to making them lie about who they are. Several in the audience booed the marine. That was absolutely shameful and not one candidate on the stage said a word to condemn those booing. Had Romney condemned them and thanked the marine for his service and told him he could serve openly he would now be president. I look forward to more of your writing and feel free to contribute on my blog as well. Regards http://gwmac.com

Re: Comparing killings in Macon and Ferguson

gwmac — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 21:09:09 -0000

I agree with your assessment of the Macon and Ferguson cases but I also hope it sparks a larger debate about the entire system. What bothers me about both cases is the chance of two unarmed individuals being killed by police in most other industrialized countries under the same circumstances are almost nil. American cops are simply to quick to resort to lethal force even in cases where suspects are clearly unarmed. What happened to using batons? cracked ribs or a concussion is a lot better than losing your life.

"In 2013, British police officers fired their weapons all of three times. No one died. According to The Economist, "British citizens are around 100 times less likely to be shot by a police officer than Americans. Between 2010 and 2014, the police force of one small American city — Albuquerque in New Mexico — shot and killed 23 civilians; seven times more than the number of Brits killed by all of England and Wales’s 43 forces during the same period."

Now the proliferation of guns in the USA is certainly a mitigating factor but cannot explain cases like the person choked in NY or of Kelly Thomas in California. Those things don't tend to happen in other countries so why do they happen so frequently here? It is also time an actual database of police involved homicides was finally created as part of the Violent Crime Control Bill way back in 1994 required. And besides homicides it is also hard to understand how we reached a point where 2.4M Americans are behind bars while our crime rates have actually dropped over the years.

http://gwmac.com/americans-...

Re: New app keeps students, Macon in the know

gwmac — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:52:59 -0000

That is all well and good but if Mercer faculty really want to take a pulse of the Mercer students and hear the scuttlebutt I would suggest they download a free app called Yik Yak. I promise that you will learn far more about what the students are really thinking and doing from this app than the official one.

Re: Democrats should be worried

gwmac — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:47:40 -0000

I think you meant to title your article Republicans Should be Worried. The content of your article shows that races that were firmly red a few months ago are now close races. Two months ago it was almost a certainty the Republicans would gain control of the Senate and now that is not quite so clear.

I think the Republicans have a far greater cause for concern than Democrats. Yes, the Republicans have a chance to take the Senate this year but this will likely be their last big celebration. Demographics are not on their side. They do poorly among women, all minorities, women, and younger people who cannot understand their hostility towards marriage equality or legalization of marijuana just to give two examples.

If they win back the senate it will not be a vote for the Republican agenda so much as the unpopularity of Obama. Georgia is increasingly becoming more purple as is Texas. The Tea Party is scaring away moderates and independents with their extreme social conservatism. Also, please don't take much stock in polls this far out. Wait for the debates, possible foot in the mouth disease which is inevitable, and better polling data. FiveThirtyEight is only as good as the polls which thus far have been poor.

http://gwmac.com

Re: Mercer might keep the bubble

Michelle — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:50:41 -0000

"Off-campus living fosters awareness in and of the Macon community, developing students as active Macon members which in turn would aid in Mercer’s community service missions."
Well said. I'm sure there are many incentives for Mercer to keep students on campus, and we can argue about whether those outweigh benefits of off-campus living. Regardless, students should not have to choose between the Macon community and the Mercer community. They should be able, and encouraged, to love both.

Re: Mercer might keep the bubble

Stephen — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 01:05:18 -0000

I can say with certainty as a senior and a commuter that this would have greatly affected my decision to go to Mercer in the first place had I been required to live on-campus.

Re: Mercer might keep the bubble

Amanda — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 16:47:56 -0000

Very interesting article! I believe Mercer's biggest reason for keeping students on campus is that it is another way for them to get money... and with a new football program to pay for... The money's gotta come from somewhere. As a business, Mercer has to make money... But- you're right- as a part of a community, Mercer has to help support that community as well. Where do they draw that line?

Re: Partying For A Living: The Life of a DJ

Undertaker — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 07:39:43 -0000

laughing my butt off. your a noob. and your not a real dj. go get a real job.