Housing process needs reform

Do you remember the whole complaint behind_µpperclassmen being movecf to Harcum? Well, the students do and that is why most of them found alternative housing outside of Cabrini. Students can now be found at ~partm~nt cogi___plexesanywhere between the Marqu1s and K]ngswood apartments.

Now you ask wllat happened to Harcum and all the rooms they rented? Harcum now houses one individual although the college has invested in 40 rooms.

Certainly, Cabrini did not take into account the consequences that would occur if the seniors became too annoyed with the housing process. Most students just became fed UP. with the housing system and took matters into their own hands.

The college failed to acknowledge the PQSsibility of students opting to choose other offcampus housing facilities as opposed to Cabrini's selection. Who could blame them? They were already forced to commute so why not decide to live in a house that would provide more independence from the college.

Not only did the students who decided not to move into Harcum negatively hurt the school financially but their decisions also disrupted the order of how Residence Life was handing out rooms to other Cabrini students.

Now there is an unbalance in room occupancy. Some students live in triples, doubles and even a single. Where is the fairness of an individual living in what would be considered a triple be allowed to pay what they would have had the room been a triple.

Residence Life drop~d the ball when it came to housing for students. When it comes to housing for next year, Residence Life needs to understand it is a competitive market.

All these topics relate to one thing-- the budget. Cabnni lost money on renting the rooms at Harcum. By frustrating semors to the extent that they chose housing off-campus, the college lost a good deal of money.

The housing process failed this year due to the obvious loophole being that students don't necessarily have to leave fiere. If the students don't like their choices, they will ultimately find other means of housing to suit their needs.

Besides losing financially on Harcum, Residence Life has to figure out how to distribute ex_Qensesfairly to students living on-campus.

The housing system collapsed this year. Residence Life needs to regroup and find ways to prevent this from occurring again.

A realistic number for incoming freshmen along with adequate housing must be carefully planned and organized. By doing so the college will be prepared to distribute housing fairly.

Shawn Rice Smr723@cabrini.edu

Editor-in-chief

Cabrini College's website launched an updated web design Aug. 19. The goal behind the new look is to create a site that is audience focused and part of an integrated strategy for undergraduate and graduate recruitment.

The previous design was three years old and with the advances of technology for websites it was agreed upon that it was time to create a new site. "In early 2004, we began the process of building a new Cabrini College website that focuses on the diverseCabri- ni audiences, particularly prospective and current undergraduate and graduate students,"

Lina Barbieri, director of marketing and communications, said.

Cabrini selected Imirage Inc., a digital solutions company based in Allentown, from three groups. The task assigned to Imirage Inc. was to build a strong communications and information tool for the entire Cabrini community.

Barbieri said, "We wanted to site to have easy navigation and feature a clean, simple design." While work proceeded on the navigation architecture for the site, three home page designs were presented to the President's Cabinet as well as a current student focus group for assessment.

Once the home page design was chosen, the entire site was made with the same basic look and feel. The object of this was to allow students a way to easily obtain information under obvious headings but also to be able to do so from several different areas as well.

Cabrini's website will continue to develop over time including compatibility with Banner. Training at the department level will occur so that content can be changed more efficiently.

2004-2005 Loquitur Staff

Elyssa McFadden,Conor McLaughln, Melissa Mesete, Jeffery Outerbridge,Giovanni Pena, Anthony Pepe, Amy Pia, Carli Pio, Marla Porreca, Michelle Schmidt, Jennifer Stoltzfus Web Team Shane Evans, Scott Fobes, Lori Iannella, Paul Nasella, Jenna Nash, RyanNorris

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