‘Mad scientists’ compete Students learn what love has to do with it

TUNOMUKWATHI ASINO ASST EVENTS EDITOR

TA725@CABRINI EDU

Cabrini College will host the Science Olympiad on March 1. Thousands of high school children will battle it out to see who will go to the state championship, as well as for a chance to get a scholarship from Cabrini.

“It’s a huge, huge job, but it’s worth it,” Dr Phyllis Rumpp, an associate professor of education and the southeastern director, said.

The Science Olympiad is a national championship for high schools in Pennsylvania. “Students from schools in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties will compete in teams of top science honors. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded in two divisions: grades 6-9 and grades 9-12. In addition, a $1000 scholarship will be awarded to each member of the top 10 teams who decide to further his or her studies at Cabrini College,” according to a press release on Cabrini’s website.

Rumpp added that there will be a break between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. During this time student ambassadors will be showing high school students and the “mad scientists” around the campus.

The competition will start at 7 a.m. The locations are the Dixon Center, Science Education and Technology building and Founder’s Hall. Cabrini College students will not be taking part in the Olympiad.

One of the events that will be taking place is sling shots. Students will pull the sling shot and the ball has to go a certain distance. Rumpp seemed confident and said that the students have been practicing and know how much to pull as well as how much the machine can target.

Another event is bottle rockets. Students’ memorizing skills will also be tested. They will be tested on rocks and minerals.

According to the press release, Rumpp said that “The Science Olympiad bolsters the value of scientific discovery and experimentation, and paves the way for greater academic and extracurricular achievement in science fields.”

“Selection for participants varies at each school, but most students showing a vested interest in science are selected for the science Olympiad by their school’s coach,” according to the press release.

The winners of the Olympiad will go to the state competition in April.

ANNMARIE CHACKO ASST NEWS EDITOR AC729@CABRINI EDU

For a relationship to succeed, communication is key and support systems crucial, according to a psychologist from Cabrini’s counseling services. Relationships affect daily lives for many people, even to the point of determining their long term behaviors. With this in mind, it is important to recognize warning signals when dealing with unhealthy relationships as well as keeping a support system of friends and family around to help you deal with these issues.

On Feb. 16, in the Grace Hall boardroom, Dr Sara Maggitti held the workshop entitled “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Students and faculty alike were informed of the dangers one can encounter when in an abusive relationship or one where there is repetition of events that leads to the same arguments over and over again. All present gave scenarios in which they knew of someone in such a relationship and named examples of how they would handle it if they were in that situation.

“You are ultimately in charge of who you do or don’t let into your lives,” Maggitti said. “Anytime someone is using power to gain control in a relationship, that is a type of abuse,” she said. Maggitti introduced the topic of abusive relationships with a few statistics that left the group speechless.

Ten percent of adolescents are in abusive relationships. This percentage rises to 22 percent in college. Twenty-five to 35 percent of women in relationships will be assaulted this year. The number one cause of women going to the emergency room is some form of relationship abuse. Thirty percent of women who were murdered are killed by their spouse or boyfriend. Someone is abused every 12 seconds each day Having sexual affairs with others while in a monogamous relationship is a form of sexual abuse, and it happens every day, to thousands of couples.

Taking these statistics into account, people immediately asked how one would be able to prevent this from happening.

“Tell your partner you don’t like his/her behavior. If this doesn’t work, tell a friend, someone you trust that you’re close to, or a counselor If you’ve tried all and failed, it’s time to end the relationship,” Maggitti said. When ending a relationship, whether or not it is abusive, it is recommended to end it gently and face to face. Be clear about the reason for breaking up. Be honest and firm. Be prepared for difficult feelings about breaking up so as to not feel guilty to go back into the relationship.

“Is it too hard to believe that many people stay in these relationships?” Maggitti said, “There are some who threaten to commit suicide if the other person leaves. They threaten family members and close loved ones of the partner to intimidate them in staying in the relationship. They use ‘love’ as the reason for their behavior,” Maggitti said.

Identity theft on rise, students concerned

STACEY TURNBULL ASST COPY EDITOR STT722@CABRINI EDU

The Federal Trade Commission’s annual report for 2005 was released at the end of January, and it was reported that out of 686,683 complaints about fraud filed, 37 percent were complaints about identity theft.

Identity theft occurs when another person gets hold of a social security number, driver’s license, bank account number or other identification information that is not their own without permission. They then pose as their victims to apply for credit cards or to take out loans. They can even renew a person’s driver’s license to have their face added to someone else’s information.

“It makes me concerned that a simple mistake by a bank, the payroll department at work, online shopping and anyone that has my personal information could lead to me to lose almost everything.” Catherine Amoroso, a junior accounting major, said.

Kristine Jennings, a junior special education major, said, “It scares me that there are people out there that would want to do that. It makes me want to be extremely careful of where I leave my wallet and bag.”

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