Senior Point Park University photojournalism major Chelsey Engel has seen the effects of Marcellus Shale drilling first-hand.  Drilling recently began in her father’s backyard and Engel has already observed several negative consequences, such as power outages. Engel had a petition to stop Marcellus Shale drilling available for students to sign at the Earth Day Acoustic Series last Thursday night in the Lawrence Hall lobby.  The show was sponsored by the Student Alliance for Vitalizing the Earth (SAVE) and WPPJ.”We wanted to do something different this year,” said Engel, president of SAVE.  “Music really brings people together and it’s the best way to celebrate anything.  Also, it gave us a chance to showcase some of Point Park’s talent.”Several Point Park students performed acoustic sets at the show to celebrate Earth Day.Earth Day is commemorated annually on April 22.  It was founded in 1970 and launched the environmentalist movement.  Today more than one billion people celebrate Earth Day every year, making it the world’s largest civic observance.The first performer was Eric Lutz, a sophomore sport, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) major.  Lutz performed using a loop pedal.  He played each instrument individually, recording their parts to play on a loop.  Eventually all the recordings layered together created a melody that Lutz sang over.”I really hate just playing acoustically because I feel like I can’t really fully be creative. It’s all just rhythm and chords and it gets sort of boring,” Lutz said.  “When I record songs I normally have multiple guitar parts playing simultaneously, which makes it hard to play live. So I tried them with this. Personally, I felt like they didn’t go so well and had some technical difficulties, but hey, that’s experimenting.”Caitlin Magarity, a junior cinema and digital arts major, played acoustic guitar and sang a mix of covers and original songs.  Ben Greenwood, a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, accompanied her on the mandolin.Jenny Bloodworth, a sophomore radio broadcasting major, ended her set with an acoustic version of “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot that the audience sang along with.”I like to play in intimate settings like this,” Bloodworth said.  “I like not having to be mic’ed.The last performer was David Wilson, a junior SAEM major.  He arrived at the show immediately after performing at Stage AE as part of the Pittsburgh Local Showcase, sponsored by the SAEM club.  Wilson was accompanied by Mike Cunningham, a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh.In between performers, students signed the Marcellus Shale petition.”I think it’s selfish,” Magarity said.  “They’re going into the ground for something that’s putting families and their health in danger.”Engel chose to focus on the Marcellus Shale issue because it is a local matter.”Gas drilling is happening all over the area and we’re connected to it even though we’re in the city,” Engel said.  “They’re going to drill whether we like it or not, but petitioning the government is something we can do.”