EDITORIAL ~Finally,acting like a family

Usually, this space would be reserved for the Loquitur staff to take a stand on a major issue in our school. More often than not, we are critical of what we perceive as problems in and out of Cabrini College.

Well, we are not going to do that this week. This week, we are giving credit where credit is due.

Last Thursday, our campus came together in a free and generous act. Over three hundred students, faculty members and friends of the college gave their blood in the chance that they could save a little girl's life.

When we were all choosing to join the Cabrini community, the concept of the "Cabrini family" was constantly repeated and reinforced. This may have been one of the reasons that many of us are here today.

However, at times this year, that title seemed like a misnomer.

There is a lot of mistrust on this campus. Things have been turbulent for a while now, and it sometimes seemed that many of us were nearing our boiling points.

Then we found a rallying point.

If ever there has been a school divided into social •cliques, it is Cabrini. However, on Thursday, students and faculty members from every group and background on campus united together, not because they }).adto, but because it was the right thing to do.

There is no guarantee that any one person who gave blood will be a proper donor. This is still not a happy story, and we are still far from a conclusion.

No matter what may happen, this event was not in vain. For a couple of hours, we looked past our individual differences and found something we could believe in.

No, this special day did not make every problem on campus go away, but it was a great step toward our finally acting like the family we have heard so much about.

Laura Casamento

Well kids, it's that time of the year again. Trrne for the editor in chief's farewell address.

The purpose of this annual colutnn is usually to impart the knowledge learned throughout the year to the incoming staff and the other members of the college community. I'll admit, there are a lot of things I learned this year. Most of them can usually be summarized with some sort of cliche.

For example, you can't make everyone happy all of the time. From sports team captains to academic department chairs, no one was happy with the coverage they received (or rather, the lack of it). However, I learned that there is only so much I can do, I had 16 pages to fill every week. They were filled with those stories that the staff deemed most important. If we were not notified of an event in ample time, it was not covered.

People on this campus have to remember that we are not only writers and editors, but also students (and in some cases, sports team members, SGA presidents, yearbook editors, radio staff members, student teachers, tutors, actors, and part or full time employees of outside stores, restaurants or businesses). We do what we can. We do not do what we cannot do. I learned to live by that and to not wony about pleasing everyone all of the time. It cannot happen.

I also learned a variety of other things. There were deadlines to meet ("Don't wony, I'll do it Wednesday morning"); paperwork to be done

This editorial represents the combined views of the Loquitur's student editorial board. It does not represent the opinion of any one individual writer or any member of the faculty, staff or administration.

However, the best thing I learned this year was how to do something with a little help from my friends. I used to rely on myself for a lot of things, but this newspaper was something that simply would not have happened had it not been for the teamwork, dedication and hard work put into it by several people.

I do not know what I will do now on Monday nights without many of the things I have become so used to over the past year. Although I may not miss some things, like the constant pressure and the hard work, I will definitely miss the friendship of the individual writers and editors.

Although I say I won't, I'll miss Paul's Steve Sabol and WWF impressions. I'll also miss his willingness to help anyone out, his ability to crack me up whenever I'm ticked off about something and his Philadelphia Daily News subscription. I'll miss Ron's cheery '"'Hi, boss!" and his ability to coach the Flyers through his Walkman.

I'll miss Jen's laugh when someone says something stupid, and her half hearted protests ("Hey, you guys ...") whenever someone busts on her or we get a little too out of hand. I'll also miss Mary Eileen's creativity and her quiet little backrow editorial comments on the current newsroom situation.

I'll miss Karin's early morning energy ("Is she alive?") and sarcastic comments on Monday mornings, as well as her rigid editorial style (''I don't feel like doing that right now. Let's just have a meeting Tuesday night."). I'll miss Megan's tendency to talk (sometimes a bit too much) about Beanie Babies and Eric Lindros, as well as her fanaticism about punctuation and grammar ('The quotes go AFfER the period, dammit!").

I'll miss planning (usually failed) apartment searches with Julie and

Melissa, as well as their cool, calm and collected attitudes on Monday night ("ADS! We need ads! Where's Nicole?"). I'll miss Nick's sense of humor and his laid-back style ("No front page picture? Okay, I'm going to go play squash-see you tomorrow").

I'll miss having Snook suddenly appear and disappear through some sort of secret newsroom entrance ("We've been Snookered!") and his ability to instill confidence in all of the editors ("Oh, yeah, yeah, I got those pictures, yeah, I have to pick 'em up now, yeah").

I'll even miss Joe, with his strong opinions and tendency to fire any available object-from paper clips to wadded-up tin foil to half-eaten apples-across the room at any moving target.

I'll miss Nicole, who has become one of my best friends over the past three years. Even though we hated each other when we first met, we have quickly become close friends, confidantes and partners in crime. Monday mornings will never be the same if I can't go into the newsroom and hear about all of the cool parties I missed over the weekend (again), discuss some nagging problem, or ask for her help in one of the approximately 73 classes we have been in together.

As a staff, we have had more fun than I ever expected to. I cannot begin to describe how grateful I am to these people. They made me laugh, bailed me out of some tough situations, stuck up for me, and just kept me sane. Over the past year, they have been people who I have looked forward to spending time with and working with, and I love all of them for it.

New editors, I thank all of you for your dedication to Loquitur as writers over the past year, and I wish you all the best of luck. I hope you can have as great a staff next year as we did this year. It is certainly a lot of work, but it can also be a lot of fun. Enjoy it.

The 1999-2000 editorial board of Loquitur would like to thank the out-going editors for their leadership and guidance. Laura, Nicole, Megan, Julie, Melissa, Jen, Mary Eileen, Karin, Paul, Ron, Joe, Jim, and Nick--Good luck in the future.

Also, good luck and thank you to senior staff writer Bridget Egan. We'll miss having you in the newsroom (and so will the administration, we're sure.) Thanks. --Ben, Janice, Cynthia, Kristen, Shanna, Brian, and Chris.