Turning 21: the glamour, the pain

on Lancaster Avenue that Tuesday night around 10 p.m. with six of her closest friends. “I didn’t want to get really drunk on my birthday because I had heard horror stories, and I wanted to remember my birthday,” she said.

B l a c k k h i s t o r y m o n n t h ; C o r e t t a S c o t t K i n g l e a v e s l a s t i n g i m p r e s s i o n

ASST MANAGING EDITOR AJF724@CABRINI EDU

America said goodbye to a wife, mother and prominent player in the civil rights movement. Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., succumbed to her battle with ovarian cancer and a stroke on Jan. 30, 2006.

Over 14,000 of King’s family, friends and admirers were in attendance at her funeral to pay homage to the woman who spent her life fighting for the rights of others. But as former President Bill Clinton reminded those at King’s funeral, “We have to remember that there is not just a symbol in that casket. There is a woman in there that had hopes and dreams and fears.”

At her alma mater, Antioch College, in Yellow Spring, Ohio, on the night of Feb. 15, many of the students could be seen wearing “What Would Coretta Do?” buttons in remembrance to the former music major and alum, according to whiotv.com. After King graduated from Antioch College, she attended the New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass., where she met her husband. She made Dr. King wait six months before giving him an answer to his proposal, a show of her strong convictions, Clinton said.

Just two weeks after the birth the Kings’first child, Rosa Parks was arrested on a Montgomery bus and sparked the civil rights movement. With Dr. King’s emergence in the movement came danger when their home was bombed in January 1956 and King and her eldest daughter narrowly escaped death. From then on, King knew that she would not be leading the life of a quiet minister’s wife.

But King was not just the wife of a man who changed America forever but a full partner in Dr. King’s work. She walked beside him in marches

GAIL KATHERINE ZIEGLER ASST COPY EDITOR GKZ722@CABRINI EDU

Students are packing up and moving out for spring break, but some are going a bit farther. This year, students are traveling the globe for community service, learning experiences or to play some lacrosse.

and gave hundreds of speeches.

“Coretta Scott King had an immeasurable impact on the civil rights movement. She served as the face of the movement for m any African-American women,” Darryl Mace, an instructor in history, said. Mace is currently teaching AfricanAmerican history this semester.

When her husband was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. in 1968, King could have easily given up the burden on the civil rights movement, but she didn’t.

Just four days after her husband’s death, King led a march of 50,000 people through the streets of Memphis. She later took Dr. King’s place in the Poor People’s March to Washington, according to galegroup.com. “After her husband’s death, King continued to carry the torch of freedom. She continued to believe in the dream,” Mace said.

Over the years following her husband’s death, King traveled the world receiving awards and was even given a special audience by the Pope. King worked hard to raise funds for her new mission, The King Center, and achieved her major goal of having her husband’s birthday honored as a national holiday.

Kind words and tears were in abundance at King’s Atlanta, Ga. funeral on Feb. 7, showing how many lives she affected. Even though the Dr. and Mrs. King have both passed on, their legacy will live on forever. Mace said, “We will miss Coretta Scott King, but the effects of her work in the area of racial and gender equality are visible in ever classroom, in every corporation and in every aspect of American society.”

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Agroup of students is headed south to Mexico this spring break for a study tour that includes immersion into the culture of another country. The trip is just a part of a three-credit c lass that was offered this semester at Cabrini. The students will live with a Mexican family, study the language and see the sights in Cuernavaca, which is about two hours south of Mexico City.

Nancy Recchilongo, studying to get her master’s in education, said, “I am really excited to be immersed in the Spanish language and culture with a Mexican family.”

Laura Woods, a sophomore education major, pointed out, “Opportunities like this don’t come up often.”

Another group of students will be practicing their Spanish as well, but in Ecuador, on an immersion trip with the Wolfington Center. Most of the students in this group have already been on an immersion trip last year and know the ropes of this kind of experience. There are 11 students going to Rostro de Cristo, Ecuador and among them is Curtis Iorio, a sophomore marketing major. He said, “The Wolfington Center has worked very hard to provide this trip, and we are all very thankful for their help.”

Appalachia is another destination for Cabrini students. A group is headed there to do some hard work for families and a community in need. Lisa

DeFino, a senior elementary education major, is participating in Project Appalacia and said, “I am looking forward to spending quality time with Cabrini students who I have never gotten the opportunity to know very well.” The students will be painting, cleaning and building houses, but they are willing to do anything that needs to be done. DeFino said, “I think that this small gesture of kindness will touch the lives of those we come in contact with.”

Phil Nicolo, a junior sociology and criminal justice major, is also going on the trip. This will be his third trip to West Virginia, and he said, “I guess you could say it is a tradition for me.” He added that the students would be helping the area recover from a flood that affected over 125 homes. They will be putting up drywall and rebuilding the houses. Nicolo is enthusiastic about the trip and said, “It will be more fun than winning the lottery.” Nicolo added that the team has put in a lot of hard work to get ready for the trip. Nicolo said, “Mother Cabrini would be proud.”

The men’s lacrosse team is headed to North Carolina to face the daunting task of challenging a top-ten team to a match. The opposing teams, Lynchburg and Guilford, promise to be worthy opponents, and the men plan on practicing all week to prepare.

Lynchburg was nationally ranked at No. 8 for the week of Nov. 14. Despite the hard work, Tripp Durham, a junior accounting major is looking forward to the challenge. His teammate, Joe Sperduto, a freshman exercise science major, said, “I am definitely looking forward to taking the trip with all of the guys.”

MELISSA STEVEN PERSPECTIVESEDITOR MS727@CABRINI EDU

Holding her shot glass up in the air and toasting her 21st birthday, Cristina threw back her first shot of the night, in anticipation of many more ahead.

“I was a little bit nervous because I’ve never been in a bar atmosphere, but I was also really excited because I was with my close friends,” Cristina D’Amelio, ajunior psychology major, said. She turned 21 on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005.

D’Amelio went out to a local bar