Phillies announce no college nights IN MY OPINION

nights out at the Phillies with friends from other colleges throughout the area. No more cool free t-shirts.

Of all of the things I have to look forward to for the spring, I’m going to have to say that college night at the ballpark was pretty high on the list.

NICHOLAS PITTS ASST SPORTS EDITOR

NDP722@CABRINI EDU

As a habitual Philly sports Web site checker, I was happy to see that the promotion schedule for the Phillies has been recently posted. I could just taste those semi-gross and yet irresistible dollar dogs as I skimmed the list looking for the first of the college night series. I got to the bottom before I realized, they were missing.

At first I was angered. I ran down the hallways knocking on every Phillies fan’s door and spread the terrible news. The Phillies did away with their college nights.

No more really cheap 500-level tickets. No more

I thought for a while about why they would discontinue such a thing. Every time I went it seemed as though they sold the upper levels out, which they don’t usually do otherwise. It was definitely a successful promotion.

Then, I remembered what a typical college night at the Phillies game is like. The last of these that I was in attendance for, I ended up losing count of the number of drunken underage college kids who got kicked out of the game.

It was just a big 500level drunken dollar dog fight. People threw hot dogs on the field and cursed at the not-so-intimidating ballpark security guards. None of the college crowd really looked like they were

Letter to the Editor

there to watch the game but rather to just get totally hammered.

It’s really a shame that it came to this. I sat there thinking to myself at the last college night that it’s a wonder they still have these things, as I counted the number of empty beer bottles dropping into the lower seating sections of the park.

It is a pretty big cliché to say that college kids don’t have a lot of money because of the rising tuition costs for school. We were not making a very good case for ourselves when were paying our 21-andolder friends to buy ball park beer for everyone.

That is, ball park beer at $5 a cup!

I on the other hand, don’t particularly enjoy shelling out $30 for a decent seat when just last year, $10 got me down on the first level with my college ID.

I suppose that in a sad way, we don’t deserve to have college nights. I mean, it’s your typical case of how college-age kids, let’s say 18-22, are a harm to society and we aren’t worthy of anything nice because we screw it up anyway.

But what about those who really wanted to go spend a night at Citizen’s Bank Park? My friends and I froze our butts off in early April supporting the Phils.

Now, I’m not really sure whether or not I’ll go to a game this season. Not because I can’t afford to go, but simply because it just won’t be the same.

Teachings from Pope provide ‘clarity and freedom’ for gay community

To the Editor:

In response to your Feb. 28 article and editorial about the gay community at Cabrini being in need of support, I wanted to offer an invitation to teachings that, in my own experience and that of my husband’s, provided support, clarity and freedom to us as sexual beings.

The teachings are within the Catholic church and especially highlighted in a body of work written by Pope John Paul II called Theology of the Body The Theology of the Body speaks to the dignity of every human being.

Cabrini is a Catholic college and I believe the campus community at large owes the entire student body information about sexuality, chastity, contraception, marriage and more from the Catholic perspective which, many times, is gravely misunderstood and miscommunicated.

The Catholic faith requires us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That is the basis of an ‘education of the heart.’

My heart aches for anyone who is suffering, unsupported, harassed or unaccepted because of their sexual behavior whether they are dealing with same-sex attraction, sexual promiscuity or questioning their gender roles. My hope is that each individual can truly feel loved by Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

Before turning to secu- lar solutions like a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning group, I believe it is incumbent upon the Cabrini Community to delve into the holistic teaching that our Catholic faith offers which protects our minds, hearts, bodies, souls and relationships.

My husband and I would be glad to sponsor a Theology of the Body speaker for

Cabrini’s campus or to make tapes and books on this topic available for anyone interested in learning more.