Lookingbeyondthelabelto what'sontheinside

We thought he seemed nice. My sister Laura started dating a boy who was handsome, athletic, smart, and not unbeknownst to Laura, cruelly insensitive. As he mocked people in wheelchairs and JENNA MANCINI labeled the handicapped "pathetic retards," Laura shrank and cringed with every insult. Why?

Because our baby sister is severely handicapped. At 14 years of age, Nina cannot walk or talk, and functions at the age of 10-month-old. Laura's experiences brought up a number of emotions within me, but most of all, it made me think that the world isn't always a very nice place.

This is not the first time Nina has experienced prejudice. Early on, my sisters and I discovered the thoughtlessness some people demonstrate towards those with handicaps. There was the time when a doctor refused to xray Nina's broken leg because "kids like her don't move that much anyway," and then there was the week when Nina became dehydrated because her teacher thought the spouted cups she drank from were not age-appropriate. Perhaps more common, however, are the parents who quickly grab their children away from Nina, just as their kids are about to ask what's wrong with her. They hush their children not to ask such questions with the best intent, but are actually only adding to their ignorance about handicaps.

Here at Cabrini, students hurl the word "retard" at each other to imply what an idiot the other is. In drunken stupors, the phrase, "I'm so retarded," can be heard flying from the lips of party-goers to imitate their altered states of mind. On occasion, imitations of Down's Syndrome speech can be heard as well.

Are you guilty of this insensitivity? Because if you are, I ask you to think about this. Do you know how your words sting me? Do you see me wincing in grief when I hear your hurtful language? Do you notice my shrunken body and downcast eyes when I retreat from your cruelty? Can you feel the pain that I do when a beloved family member is ridiculed? Maybe you don't mean to hurt me, but you do. Maybe you think it's funny to call your friend a retard or to talk with affected speech, but it's not.

It's actions like these that stab at my heart and make it hard for me to forgive people like Laura's ex-boyfriend. However, Nina has already forgiven him because the only

LETTER To THE EDITOR

Dear Administration:

Dorothy Parker was right: no good deed goes unpunished. After resisting the urge to call in and cancel my classes last stormy Thursday, I left my house right after 6:30 a.m. to feed the animals on my farm, rush back into the house to change, and be in my car by 8. I was a bit later than usual because I waited to hear (please, please ) Cabrini's snow number. When it wasn't announced at 6:30, I gritted my teeth, turned the horses out into the storm, tackled the Chester County back roads, got to school after a scary trip-and nobody was there. So much for trying to do the right thing.

On Friday, I was smarter-I thought. The 6:30 radio announcement said school would start two hours late. So, because the ice was getting truly terrible, about 10: 15 a.m. I called Faculty Support, the Registrar's Office and finally the official 902-8100 switchboard number. I got only machines and supposed the school had been Bill: 1 closed. Just in case, however, I told the registrar's machine I would not be in for my 12:30 class. Now, on Tuesday, I learn that the school was open and that students were looking for me. There was no "class cancelled" announcement. What's a teacher to do?

Administration, please stick to your policy and announce the school status by 6:30 a.m. Surely I'm not the only person who needs to know by then!

And, not so incidentally, what does "two hours late" mean? That 9:35 classes start at 10: 15? That the first two classes of the day are cancelled? (I vote for the latter.)

Please clarify the policy-and stick to it. I'm going to think twice about going to extraordinary lengths the next time the weather makes the roads dangerous.

Sincerely,

Marice Bezdek, Ph.D. English/communications