EDITORIAL

Our most underrated team

As you are reading this paper, one of Cabrini's teams is in a competition with about twenty-five others from across the country. The other teams are much bigger, and some of them are perennial competitors.

We're not talking about the men's soccer team or the women's basketball team. Instead, we're talking about the staff of Loquitur, '98-'99.

The story that was featured on page 5 may not seem to be as big a deal as a PAC championship,. but to the dozen editors of last years staff, the battle was just as difficult, and the victory was just as sweet.

If you don't think that a newspaper staff has to work through blood, sweat and tears, then just visit the newsroom on a Monday or Tuesday night. Please remember to watch out for flying objects.

The high marks received by the paper were not handed out generously. This was only the second time in the history of Loquitur that it received such honors.

This honor presents a fresh challenge to the current staff of Loquitur, who now have a decidedly higher standard to reach for.

One thing for you, the reader, to remember is that Loquitur strives to be the voice of the students, not just the voice of its journalists. Some of the highest marks received from the ACP were for the letters to the editor. So, thank you for continuing to not only support our paper, but also for helping to make our paper your paper.

The students of Cabrini have long had the label of being complacent. Well, this year has seen a good start in students using Loquitur as a medium for expressing their views.

So keep doing your role, and we will keep doing ours. As last year's staff can now testify, sometimes all your hard work does pay off.

Will the new dorm be worth it?

Sunday night as I was driving back from Scranton, I came "home" to Cabrini to find an unexpected surprise- a sign that says that I couldn't park in the WoodCvr:,thiaTaura crest parking lot. I started thinking that maybe I could park in Xavier, but instead, I found the same sign. Then I started getting mad. ''This is ridiculous", I thought and I also thought some other phrases that can't be written in the paper. I started to come to the conclusion that I was going to have to park far away from my dorm and drag my very heavy bag around the campus at 12:30 at night. Finally, I did find a parking spot by House 4. I was a combination of grateful and pissed off. I was grateful that I didn't have to park any further, such as in the parking lot for the apartments, but I was pissed off because I wanted to do what any other Woodcrest resident with a car would do-park in the Woodcrest parking lot! After all, that is where I live! So, I got out of my car, and dragged my bag from House 4 to Woodcrest.

On my way up the stairs and read the sign that said that the construction was going to last for the whole year. That only added to my anger. So, I finally got back to my dorm with my bag, hot, tired and aggravated. Now, some of you may be laughing at my misfortune thinking what crappy luck I had that night. Well, it's going to continue and not just for me. The parking lots in Woodcrest, Xavier and near House 1 are all going to be closed off due to construction for the new dorm. Can you tell how thrilled I am?

This problem is going to last all year! From what I've heard, this was going to start during the summer, but it was postponed, so it is starting now. I've heard stories where there already isn't enough for Cabrini students to park. Now the problem is only going to get worse!

I'm sorry to say, but that this just seems to be another way for Cabrini to inconvenience its students. First there are upper classmen in freshman dorms, now this. What's next? Granted, it will probably all be worth it in the long run when the dorm is finally built, but for now, I don't see it that way. I'm just seeing it that I once again am going to have to search and search for a parking spot just like I did at my old college. Of course, it was much worse then. There were only 2,500 spaces for over 20,000 students. I know it could be a lot worse, but for now, I'm focusing on what's going on here, and that is even less parking for students.

To the administration, I ask you this: do you have a plan that will solve this parking problem? I realize that there is already a lot going on on campus and that the construction is soon to be another really big thing, but is there a new solution on the way? I don't expect there to be, but I hope there is.

The only thing I can say for now is that we all have to prepare to have an even harder time with the parking. I wouldn't mind so much parking at the houses if I, a senior, still lived in one of them! Unfortunately, that is not the case for me and for others as well. We just have to try to find the silver lining behind this dark cloud. That's what I'm trying to do. I was still fuming about this whole mess, but I am calmer, for now that is. I can still blow up at any time, or until the next time I have to look for a place to park my car, whichever comes first. I guess for now, I just have to see this as a way of getting a little more exercise by walking that extra mile to get back to my dorm. It just better be worth it!

Cynthia Taura is the copy editor of Loquitur. If you see her walking back to Woodcrest from the houses, please give her a ride.

• In issue 2, we misspelled Nick Levandusky's name as "Levendusky."

• We also spelled Jenine Ikeler "Janine."

• And we spelled Frank Plum as "Plumb."

• And finally, we spelled Curt Schilling as "Schillingng."

• Oh wait, we also spelled Shannon Downs as "Shannen."

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.

Ben Lunn's adventures in time

You know, something strange happened to me a few days ago.

I had a vision of the future. Okay stop laughing now and let me explain. I may

BEN LUNN °?1Y be a jumor but I can still envision a lot of things pretty well.

Here's how it went:

It's a few years from now, and I am a very famous writer and actor, just rolling in the money. Naturally, the administration here at Cabrini is politely banging down my doors asking for a donation from one of their "devoted and successful alumni."

Eventually I agree to take a tour of the college, (I haven't been back there since I graduated) and I expect to see what I remember as some of, "my best years."

As I come in I get a good look at the fountain that they built. That is one of the "landmarks" that they are proudest about. I get shown the "old" Dixon Center and the communications department, which needs to be renovated yet again. They show me the new dorm that was built on the site of Xavier Hall which, incidentally, burned down.

Woodcrest has been renovated, but I'm not sure if it has air conditioning yet. House seven looks like a dump about ready to fall down and it's also going to be renovated. Founders Hall is finishing phase two.

Where is everything I remember? Everything is different. Okay, get a hold Ben. Very few things are as I remembered them, but that's okay. Things change, but I can always count on the great people that I met here.

"Can I talk to Dr. Zurek," I ask.

"Who?"

"Dr. Jerome Zurek, head of the communications depart- ment?"

"Oh, him. He left some years ago."

"Well, how about Dr. Primiano?"

"Gone."

"Neal Newman?"

"Gone:·

·'Steve Murray?"

"Gone. He also left. What exactly is the point of all of this?"

"I was just looking for the school that I graduated from:' "What are you talking about? This is Cabrini. Let's go look at the plans for a new fountain and sign at the entrance.''

That was when it hit me. I realized that I finally knew what the administration didn't understand. I know where most of Cabnni's problems come from. What the administration thinks is Cabrini is exactly what it is not. It seems to me that they think that Cabrini College is a new dorm, a

Guest Writers

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I'm sure most Loquitur readers have seen the TV commercial: Dad is waltzing through the local Staples, cheerfully purchasing all kinds of school supplies for his two less-than-enthusiasticchildren.

It's a humorous way of depicting the emotional highs and lows of a new school year.

Community renewal is one of the reasons why I like autumn so much. Summers are kind of boring around here usually. Just a handful of students, no Loquitur to talk about, no "Sports Source" on WYBF (I'm still waiting for my invitation), no scandal, no outrage. Summer is a nice time to re-charge the batteries, reflect on the past year, and prepare for the new one. Come late August, administrators and faculty welcome a new year with enthusiasm (and new chalk), students renew acquaintances with their classmates and a general air of optimism and positivism permeates throughout the carnpus ...usually. Wait, do professors still use chalk or have we switched over to those markers?

Let's not focus solely on school, however.This is prime time sports-watching time! Get out and support those Cavaliers! They like to play in front of large crowds; they usually do when they play on the road. For the stay-at-home sports viewer, the World Series is just around the comer (my team won't make it, either), the NFL and college football are in full swing, and the hockey season is fast approaching. Oh, I guess the NBA starts soon, too.

Fire up the grill a few more times, or catch the last batch of outdoor concerts. Put that final coat of wax on your car (you can start with mine if you want), or hop on your bicycle for an afternoon. Catch some fish in your favorite lake, or practice that turkey call. Yes, turkey call. This season promises to be a banner one in the Weaver household. Turkey season, that is. Where was I? Ah, the point of this column.

I guess you're wondering about that Staples commercial. Think about this: Are you more like the father, or the children? Do you rejoice in the new school year, or are you sullen with the prospect of pencils, books, and teachers' dirty looks?You know, I even like the song: It's the most...wonderful time of the year brand new fountain, or even a big shiny athletic center. These things are nice and they make Cabrini a little nicer to look at, but they are not Cabrini. They are not the ESSENCE of Cabrini. With all of the profound ideas of education of the heart, they forgot what makes our little school special. The nice flowers, the new sign, the waterfall/ fountain are not Cabrini. As I was saying, the essence of Cabrini is it's people. I don't care about a fountain. I care about people.

Paul Weaver is a guest writer for the Loquitur. He is the acting dean of students. It ain't really Thanksgiving until he lets out his turkey call.

The people are constantly overlooked in favor of some aesthetic bull#&*". Think about it. When you graduate are you going to c,••~ about the buildings, or are you going to care about \\ ho you knew, or the personalities that you knew? The s1..hoolneeds to understand that what makes It worthwhile to stay here are the teachers, students and the atmosphere that they create. So to anyone who is still reading, please for the sake of our school, remember that a college is not made up of buildings and fountains. A good college is made of it's pe0ple and ideals.

If everything I valued is lost ter I gradu1te in two years, this is no longer the school I graduated from. lt 1s just a collection of fancy buildings.

Ben Lunn is the editor in chief of Loquitur. He is considered the visionary of the staff. His latest vision is of a newspa- per with no misspellings.

The truth about Miss America

-by Mike Fenn

As all of us who have nothing better to do with our lives know, the annual Miss America Pageant was on September 18. Sure the Pageant is always fun to watch. However, it still remains one of the most mis-titled events in the country. Why? According to this contest, fifty beautiful women wearing evening gowns and swimsuits are supposed to represent our country. This is bull.

Are we really supposed to believe that gorgeous women represent the United States? Keep in mind that this is a country that is home to such people as Janet Reno and Fiona Apple, two women who are about as attractive as gas station attendants. To get even more specific, why do we let ourselves believe that a woman who looks so glamorous she makes Pamela Lee look like Rick Moranis represent the state of Minnesota? There are only two life forms in Minnesota: fish and retired old men who drink their dinner every night.

Before the Miss America Pageant, each state in the union holds its own little contest to determine the winner of a Miss America nomination. And, based on what the pre-bribed judges tell us, each of these women went through a long, painstaking journey to get to the Miss America stage. Well, I ask you this: How hard can it be to win the title of Miss Wyoming? There's about 15 people in Wyoming, eight of whom are tourists passing through on their way to Vegas. Anyway, each state selects a candidate and jets them off to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the safest areas of the city are limited to a restaurant in Baily's Hotel-Casino and the Trop World gift shop. Broadcast from the Convention Center, the 50 contestants engage in a pageant where they wear different outfit5 and tell the nine people watching how they would like to make America better, when, in all reality, half of them don't even know how to spell "America."

I just sat back, enjoyed and prayed that they never expand this thing into other parts of the world.

On the other hand, the Miss Kuwait Pageant would be somewhat interesting

Thursday, September 23, 1999