Room fines adding up

the best parts, with the wind in your hair and the cooled-off-sand inyour toes, but one thing you must watch out for are the crabs. One major difference that I have noticed between the beaches of New Jersey and North Carolina is the critters. Herds of the white, big-eyed crabs come out especially at night and are not afraid to walk straight across your feet. I don’t mind eating them at the Sunset Grille and Bar, but having crabs crawl anywhere near me is another story. Lizards and large bugs you thought you’d see only on the Discovery Channel thrive down there, along with a number of very sizeable, clear, squishy jelly fish I have not seen before.

Be prepared for a random, yet short, thunderstorm every once in a while; however, the view of the rainbow afterwards make it well worth the few minutes of a torrential down-pour. Whether it’s the food, the sunsets, the waves, or the sand that you favor the most, North Carolina is a peaceful and pleasant place to go when fulfilling the need for a vacation. Like Al Jolson said, “Nothing could be finer than to be in Caroliner.”

CHRISTINE BLOM SPORTSEDITOR CBB722@CABRINI EDU

Every year Cabrini College issues room fines to resident students. These fines are due based on the damage they have done to the campus, in particular,their place of residence.

Over the winter break, my roommates and I were issued afine to be paid by the time we returned in January.On the bill, it was not stated what it was for or why it was being issued during winter break instead of at the end of the year,like it had been in the past.

We later found out that the damage fine was for a stain on our carpet. The money we would be forced to pay would go towards replacing that part of the carpet at the end of the year. This stain, approximately one foot in diameter, was the result of one clumsy roommate knocking over another’s art project. She never tended to the damage and therefore all four roommates were deemed equally responsible for this $140 mess.

At the end of the 20042005school year, the week before finals, there were posters hung all throughout House 2 explaining what the damage fines would be per person, assuming that no more damages appeared. It was posted that the cost per person would be $34 and some odd change due to all the false fire alarms, excessive trash and holes in the wall.

When the bill finally arrived home at the end of May, it was stated that along with the damages for our room, the fine that each individual person would have to pay had increased to a whopping $46.39.

This “common area damage fee” had increased around 30 percent over the course of about two weeks when students were actually living on campus.

Approximately an additional $850 in damage was done within what is supposed to be the quietest week of the semester when only the most intense studying is done. So why did it end up costing us so much more in the end?

Holes in the walls, writing on doors, bug and rodent problems were all issues that occurred within the last two weeks of school. Is this stuff you want to pay for, especially over your summer vacation? Me either. But, between the common area damage fee and my individual room fee, my roommates and I all ended up paying $130 per person. Talk about putting a damper on my beach time.

ANDREW MATYSIK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AJM722@CABRINI EDU

I thought summer time was supposed to be a relaxing period of stress-free activity. This typical assumption, however, did not turn-out to be the true in my case.

For a brief period, I worked for a moving company based out of Philadelphia. We performed multiple jobs moving people’s furniture from old home to new home on a daily basis. Some people moved within 10 minutes of their old house while others moved 10 hours to their new residences.

One morning, I received a call from my boss asking me if I wanted to go on a trip. Right away, I knew this type of phone call meant it was a serious move. I agreed to it before he even told me the location of the assignment because I really needed the money.

From South Carolina back up to Pennsylvania was the task at hand. I was fine with the whole deal at first, but then I was told there was a funny twist to the mission. Once we loaded the customer’s furniture into the truck, I was to follow the truck back to Pennsylvania driving one of the customer’s cars. There was no one else to do so and the customer was paying big bucks for the unique request to be handled.

Although it wasn’t that big of a deal, I still had a hint of anxiety due to the fact that I was driving a stranger’s car. I honestly was just hoping that it was a nice car for me to drive.

When we arrived in South Carolina, my co-workers and I were exhausted from the long journey. It was necessary, however, that we started the backbreaking work.

The two days we were moving the furniture felt like absolute torture. I was accustomed to working long hours for this company, but the hot South Carolina weather was really starting to wear me down. Every piece of furniture felt heavier than the next. So much for my relaxing summer! We finally managed to load all the furniture and were ready to head back to Pennsylvania.

Right before our departure, the customer opened up his garage and handed me the keys to a beautiful new Nissan Maxima. All of the sudden, the trip I despised took a turn for the better. I tried to hold back from smiling at the new car, but I could not resist. The customer told me to be careful, so I gave a reassuring nod in response.

Once everything was packed up, we hit the open road. At first, I drove conservatively behind the truck all the way through North Carolina. Once we approached Virginia, I got somewhat anxious. I wanted to see what the car could do! Going against my boss’s wishes, I went ahead of the moving truck. The driver of the truck and I both knew how to get back to Pennsylvania, so I did not hesitate.

Headed North on I-95 and going just as fast, I was really enjoying the ride. I made multiple phone calls to friends telling them about how hooked-up the car was. Things were going smoothly until all the sudden; my cell phone call was rudely interrupted by the Virginia State Police.

I was pulled over for going 87 miles per hour in a 65 zone. I didn’t think that 87 was too bad, do you? I tried talking my way out of it but the officer wouldn’t budge. The whole “college student paying their way through school” excuse didn’t gain me any ground either. I really thought the ride was going to be a nice ending to a terrible two days. I didn’t get in trouble for being pulled over, but I am still waiting to see how much my fine will be.