Voice of the Eagles speaks to Cabrini

MELISSA STEVEN ASST.

When Merrill Reese was younger, his father used to take him to watch the Philadelphia Eagles practice every week. He would look up at the broadcasting booth and say, “Someday that’s where I want to be.”

Merrill Reese, the radio voice of the Philadelphia Eagles, came to speak to the Cabrini College Community on Tuesday, March 15 in the mansion dining room. Reese, who has been broadcasting Eagles’ games for the last 25 years, came to the College to offer some advice to English and communications majors on how to enter their field.

“I love this job, I get the same thrill today as when I first started,” Reese said to the crowd. He explained to the audience that everyone needs passion for their job to really be able to succeed at it. “You need passion, not cash because this is a business where you pay a price,” he said.

He encouraged the students to become a master in whatever field they choose to enter. If that happens to be communications then learn every area of it. He said, “Never point yourself towards one job.” In his career he said he has learned to take whatever experience he can gain.

Reese explained how he got into the broadcasting business by starting off in Pottstown announcing football games, because no one else applied for the job. “Don’t expect a lot quickly because it won’t hap- then landed a part-time job at WIP-AM, filing in for Charlie Swift, who broadcasted all of the Eagles games.

After the sudden suicide of Swift, Reese was given his position and broadcasted his first Eagles game on Dec. 11, 1977.

Nicole Caprario, sophomore English and communications major, said “I thought he was really interesting and informative to listen to.” She said that he was a great speaker to listen to because he was not boring, he kept the audience entertained.

“He also gave us really good advice about how to enter our field,” she said.

Late on Monday, March 28, a powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's west coast killing hundreds of people and demolishing villages. Panic quickly spread across the Indian Ocean that another killer tsunami like that of Dec. 26, was on the way, but studies have quashed that fear. Almost all the deaths reported after the 8.7magnitude quake were on Indonesia's Nias Island. Up to 2,000 deaths have been predicted so far based on building damage. No one is sure how many dead they will find, according to the New York Times.

pen,” he said. For the first six months at his job he worked seven days a week to prove he had what it takes to be a great announcer.

“You have to be driven, to want it more than anything else in the world,” he said was the key to success. After working in Pottstown, Reese worked at the radio station WWDB-AM and

Reese talked about his friendship with famous tennis player, Billy Jean King, who used to tell him that he had to envision winning. She said that if someone wants something so bad, all they have to do is imagine it happening and it will come true. So that is what Reese does before every Sunday football game. He memorizes every player’s number and every possible play that could happen during the game, so come game time, he is ready for anything.

Ten people were left dead after a juvenile rampaged through a high school on March 21. The teen, Jeff Wiese, shot nine people on the Red Lake Indian reservation, Minneapolis, before turning the weapon on himself. According to the FBI, Wiese was believed to have acted in alone in the deadliest school shooting since 15 died in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Co. In the fatal outburst, Wiese killed his grandfather, a tribal police officer, and his companion, at his grandfather's home. He then took his grandfather's guns to the school where he killed a security guard, a teacher and five students. It has since been discovered that Wiese often referred to himself as “The angel of death,” and had previously made postings on a Neo-Nazi website praising the work of Adolf Hitler. Ajuvenile has been arrested in Minneapolis in connection with the massacre, although no details on the youth's relationship with Wiese have yet been released, according to MSNBC.

The murderer of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford confessed to the brutal deed on Sunday, March 20. Registered sex offender, John Evander Couey, 41, confessed to the kidnapping and murder after taking a polygraph when he had been booked on a probation violation. Lunsford, a third-grader from Florida was snatched from her bedroom last month by Couey, who entered through an unlocked door. Last seen on the night of Feb. 23, her body was found over three weeks later less than 150 yards from her home. Lunsford had been sexually assaulted. Couey is imminently facing trial and is likely to face the death penalty for his crime. Local community has created a tribute to the child at the end of her street, placing flowers and stuffed animals in their hundreds, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

On Friday, March 18, the feeding tube that had been sustaining Terri Schiavo's life was removed. Schiavo, 41, has been nourished by this device since her collapse in 1990 which left her in a “persistent vegetative state”, according to her doctors. Michael Schiavo, husband to the patient, has been campaigning for the tubes removal since 1998. His petitions for removal of the tube have previously succeeded on two occasions, but to be interjected by Terri Schiavo's parents and local congress. Most recently on Feb. 25, the Supreme Court gave permission for the tube to be removed. Once again interjection has immediately begun. Schiavo's parents backed by Republican Congress have fought to reinsert the tube, however this time unsuccessfully At present the feeding tube is still disconnected and it is reported that Schiavo is nearing her final days and described by her father as weak and emaciated. Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the hospital and police have been stationed incase of heightened demonstration. Much debate has erupted on this subject and is expected to continue long after her death.