by Brad Horton ’15

Over the past summer, Mr. Roth, the former Saint Ignatius Band Director, left leaving a major void in one of the school’s most prized programs.

This void was filled by Mr. Dan Hamlin. Mr. Hamlin  grew up in the Cleveland area and had many friends and family members that attended Saint Ignatius High School. He has directed many band ensembles and music programs. He was recently teaching at St. Marc’s Westpark music program and has been involved with many band camps over the years. He said it was his dream job to become a high school band director, and the opportunity Saint Ignatius offered was too great to pass up.

Mr. Hamlin stated that he had no plans for any drastic changes and most of his changes would only be noticed by band members. There are plans for an upcoming Blues Brothers and pop themed half-time show. The pop themed show will feature the songs “Some Nights,” “Rock and Roll All Night,” and “Give Me Everything Tonight.” Mr. Hamlin also had some long term goals of increasing the size of the band, starting band recruitment earlier, and increasing the size of the flag core.

Mr. Hamlin stated that the band at Saint Ignatius offers an unparalleled energy when compared to other high school bands. The students really get excited about what they are doing. Band member Nick Fink ’15 said “[Mr. Hamlin] brings a lot of youth to the band, and he is bringing a lot of new good ideas; that will bring more energy and attention to the band.” He is also like among his students. band members Matt Skoch ’14 and Cormac O’ Riordan ’14 both said Mr. Hamlin was a “cool guy.”

The band has much to look forward to with the band under the new direction of Mr. Dan Hamlin.

by Alastair Pearson

Water overflow caused extensive damages to six rooms in Loyola Hall, derailing classes Monday. The rooms affected are expected to reopen tomorrow.

The water damages occurred after a maintenance sink in the third-floor history wing was left running early Sunday afternoon, according to Plant Services Director Peter Hendler.

“It appears to be accidental,” Hendler said. “Sunday evening, one of the maintenance men realized there was a problem while making his rounds.“

Hendler said the water spread through Loyola Hall’s wood floors to six rooms, including Room 325 in the History Department, three classrooms on the south side of the theology wing, and the bookstore and the Dean of Student’s Office in the basement.

He said he had no hard estimate for the cost of the damage caused, but expected the total to be “thousands” of dollars. The school has an ongoing investigation into the cause of the overflow.

“This water issue is due to human error,” Hendler said. “”We just don’t know which humans did it yet.”

Restoration efforts took place while classes were rerouted from damaged rooms Monday, and included biocide and mildicide treatments, as well as vacuuming and dehumidification. Hendler said that the main building ventilation would be run nonstop for the immediate future.

“Our first objective is to immediately dry out the building,” he said. “The second objective is to analyze all the things that need to be done to repair those places.”

All the affected rooms suffered damages to ceiling tiles and drywall. Cabinets and inventory in the bookstore were also impacted. The rooms are expected to be usable beginning Tuesday, although repairs will take weeks.

Bookstore manager Natalie Spearry said that her inventory had been significantly damaged.

“We are laundering what we can and we’ll donate it to the West Side Catholic Center and Labre,” Spearry said. “All the cabinetry in the back of the room was damaged. It’s all going to be ripped out.”

Speary said that the bookstore would resume operations as soon as it was “safe,” noting that the store had been treated for mold and mildew and that changes to the layout could be necessary.

Other casualties of the overflow included the possible loss of the computer in Room 325, and Mr. Hess’s collection of vintage newspapers.

Hendler said that the damage to Loyola Hall was not related to past water issues in the building, which had taken place during storms and had not reoccurred since renovations made during the refurbishment of the school mall in 2011. He said the damage rated among the worst incidents of water destruction he had seen in his career.

“Since I’ve been here, this is one of the top three,” Hendler said.

Story by Dominic Gideon ’14
Photos by Jack Cotton ’14

Last Friday Saint Ignatius celebrated our annual Mass of the Holy Spirit followed by the Fall sports rally.

As tradition goes, the Freshmen all walked together from school to the downtown cathedral while upperclassmen with cars struggled to get good parking. By 9 o’clock the ornate church was packed with students except for the front section of pews which was reserved for the freshman to ceremoniously process in along with the over 30 new faculty and staff.

After The freshmen were rounded up and put into lines and the mommarazzi got enough pictures, the mass was ready to begin.

Bishop Richard Lennon opened the mass emphasizing the meaning of the liturgy: to call upon the Holy Spirit for guidance and help throughout the year.

President Fr. Murphy preached the homily in which he told the freshmen “this is the high point of your welcome [at Ignatius],” and he urged them to jump in and be an active part of the school.

Proceeding an enthusiastic rendition of the school’s trademark closing song “Sing We Now to You, O Mary,” the mass ended and the students headed over the Cuyahoga to get to Ignatius and maybe get a bite to eat on the way.

After the students got to their homerooms, they then assembled again, this time for the rall, which Jack J. Hyland, the man in charge of the rally, planned to be somewhat different than previous years.

The first change was having the coaches only announce the names of the captains to make more time for other things, one of them being tug-of-war.

After all the coaches had their turns, President Mike Zupan ’14 handed the microphone to Tom Horan ’14 who introduced the teacher vs. freshmen tug-of-war. The teachers, proudly represented by Mr. Laco, Mr. Crew, and Mr. Peter Corrigan among others were taken down by the freshmen rather quickly greatly thanks to the 6’7″ freshman Malique Burton.

Horan then introduced a new team to Ignatius: the Alpha Cats, led by senior Jack J. Hyland. Dressed in flamboyant garb, the exuberant seniors ran around pumping up the crowd. Their purpose is to make the Ignatius fan experience as rowdy and exiting as possible. Jack J, while out of breath and losing his voice, still was able to teach the students some new chants.

Although there was some criticism of the rally, the overall impression was a very positive one. Senior Zach Novak liked the more interactive rally, “I though it was fantastic. One of the best rallies I’ve seen at Ignatius.”