Student hazing not a problem This week in sports:

NICOLETTA SABELLA STAFF WRITER NS722@CABRINI EDU

PATRICIA J.SHEEHAN STAFF WRITER PJS723@CABRINI EDU

Here at the peaceful suburb of Cabrini College, the students don’t see hazing as a big thing, mostly thanks to Cabrini’s “No Tolerance” policy against hazing and other forms of violent or harmful initiation.

Katelyn Penrose, a sophomore elementary education major plays lacrosse for Cabrini. She says that she hasn’t had to partake in team initiations in college, but she participated in an initiation when she made her JVfield hockey team her freshman year of high school.

“Ihad to wear a sandwich sign that had pictures and stuff on it, and a hand print on my butt. It said ‘Slap me,’but it was fun.”

Becca Gallagher, a junior marketing major, is captain of Cabrini’s women’s field hockey team. She says that she has also experienced sports initiations; but not here at Cabrini. Her experience was during her freshman year of high school when she played field hockey.

“The upperclassman field hockey girls made all of us freshman hockey players dress up in these ridiculous outfits on the first day of school, like two different shoes and polka dot shirts and high socks and glitter hair bands. They also did our makeup so we looked like clowns. Then during lunch, they made us go into the cafeteria and sit on a senior football player’slap and sing to them. It was the most embarrassing thing ever.Iwent home and cried,” Gallagher said.

Other athletes at Cabrini said they too didn’thave to participate in team initiations here; they just had to pay their dues as freshmen and carry equipment and water.

Kacie Green, a senior elementary education/early childhood education major, is captain of the women’s volleyball team at Cabrini and said that most athletes have no trouble following the rules.

“This year our team is very good about the “no tolerance” rule. We have a 24-hour rule for those that are 21, and everyone seems to abide by it. The team knows there will be consequences if that rule is broken,” she said.

This rule states that “…athletes over the age of 21 must abstain from alcohol consumption 24 hours prior to any athletic contest.”

Coaches at Cabrini say that hazing and insulting forms of iniation are not a problem here.

Bobbi Morgan, the women’s basketball head coach at Cabrini said, “This is my 20th year in coaching, and the zero tolerance policy exists pretty much across the board now—from grade school to high school to college. The problem with hazing, and that word encompasses a lot, is that even if something is meant in good fun, harmless fun, there is always a risk someone will take it too far.”

FrostburgState University, a division III school located in Frostburg, Md., had an incident where the team “fun” initiation went too far.

Six upperclassmen on the women’sfield hockey team at Frostburg pleaded guilty to hazing six of their freshmen teammates.

These victims were pelted with eggs, flour and ice at the team’s annual “Secret Buddy Christmas Party.” The girls were also forced to drink without stopping and were even forced to sit in their own urine and vomit.

An 18-year-old freshman on the team was forced to drink so much that she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.365. Police found her being carried on campus by her boyfriend, and she was unconscious. The legal limit for drivers in the state of Maryland is 0.08.

The six women who conducted the hazing were each fined $300, received a suspended 60day jail sentence and were also placed on a year’s probation.

Spokesman Ty DeMartino says that the women will also have game and team suspensions and will have to partake in educational sessions, according to ESPN.com

Now in order to join any kind of Greek life at Frostburg, participants must take an anti-hazing workshop.

Morgan has seen hazing firsthand when he was a high school basketball coach; this event didn’t happen on his team but it occurred on the school’s wrestling team.

“The wrestling team tied a kid up—he was a tiny freshman—in duct tape and literally rolled him up in a ball and then carried him out to the middle of the gym floor and left him there during basketball practice, and let’s just say he wasn’t wearing much. The kid was crying. He turned out to be okay, but no kid should have to go through something like that. Hewas humiliated, embarrassed, and he could have been hurt,” Morgan said.

Gallagher said that there isn’t much of initiation at Cabrini, but itis probably more of an issue at bigger schools.

“I’m sure at bigger schools and universities there is hazing going on. With sports and frats and sororities I wouldn’t put it past them to do some sort of initiation. I don’t think its really necessary for hazing. It’s actually kind of scary to think about the dangerous things that could happen if hazing got out of control,” Gallagher said.

Cabrini is a place where the students can feel safe and not have to worry about being forced to dangerous and humiliating things to be a part of a team. It is all about having fun and getting the experience, not seeing who can win a case race without making a trip to the emergency room.

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Eagles

Despite having three injuries, Donovan McNabb gathered the Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Oct. 2. McNabb suffers from a sore chest, ashin injury and a sports hernia. Yet, with his help, the Eagles managed to win 37-31 against the Chiefs.

Within the first 17 minutes of the game, the Eagles were down 17-0. Feelings of comeback were developing for the Eagles when Sheldon Brown intercepted a pass and scored a touchdown making it 17-6. All hope escaped when the Chiefs’score went from 17-6 to 246because of Dante Hall’s 96-yard kickoff return. Being a heavily-hurt quarterback, McNabb performed better than the non-injured players on the field. McNabb finally stepped up the game and threw for three touchdowns and 369 yards. Not to mention the fact that he is the first Philadelphia quarterback to throw over 300 yards, all in three consecutive games.

Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers came into their first game of the year with high expectations. After a busy off-season, the Flyers are the heavy favorite to bring home Lord Stanley’s Cup. However, after an impressive two periods, the Flyers fell to the New York Rangers by a score of 5-3. Simon Gagne, Mike Knuble and Mike Richards tallied goals for the Flyers, and Peter Forsberg looked very impressive in his debut with two assists. After being behind two goals, the Rangers smacked out four unanswered goals.

Over 19,000 Philadelphia fans were devastated by the Flyers intro-game loss. The hard hit can be softened by the fact that 81 games still remain in the season.

Andy Pettitte

Houston Astros pitcher Andy Pettitte won his 14th postseason game on Wednesday, Oct. 5 against the Atlanta Braves. The Astros are approaching to gather wins through pitching rather than hard hitting. Pettitte’s performance guaranteed him a spot in the Hall of Fame, tying John Smoltz for most career postseason wins. Pettitte struggled early in the game, but later settled down, giving up four hits in seven innings work. Much of the pressure was diminished, due to the help of his teammates who gave him a lot of run support. Pettitte also struck out six batters, bringing his career postseason total to 124.

RogerFederer

Roger Federer, Switzerland’s tennis pro, conquered the Thailand Open against Andrew Murray on Oct. 2.

Federer rocketed the scoreboard by achieving a 3-0 lead within the first nine minutes of the game. At first, Murray was ahead 4-2, but he lost the first set 6-3, growing tired from chasing the ball. The games consisted of long rallies and pushed deuces caused by Murray.The second set was won by Federer 7-5, when he approached the net.

This is the second straight year for Federer to win the Open. Murray,an 18-year-old Scotland native, was more than honored to compete against opposite Federer, who is ranked No. 1.