Tuition rise creates questions Catholic Church expresses concern over global warming

Many students are given scholarships, grants and loans for their four year attendance but worry how to pay the rest of their tuition when it continues to rise.

“It gets harder every year, but there are a couple different strategies that we use to benefit students in need,” Mike Colahan, director of financial aid, said.

Mary Ellen Anastasio, a freshman undeclared major, said of the rise in tuition, “My brother and sister currently go to Catholic

High School and will be going to college next year. That means my parents will have three kids in college and it’s going to affect how my parents are going to pay for all it… I’m starting to wonder if I will be able to keep going here and if I should look somewhere cheaper.”

Perhaps more importantly, graduating seniors are now more concerned about how their finances will look once they begin paying off their debt.

“I do feel as though I have received a quality education, but the financial stresses I will be put under to repay the excessive loans I have to take out to go to Cabrini seem, in retrospect, to outweigh the education I get here compared to somewhere else, somewhere cheaper,” senior English and communication major Shane Evans said. ronmentally friendly lifestyle.

Cabrini continues to be highly dependent upon studentrelated revenue to fun operations. In 2006-2007 , tuition and fees compromised 74 percent of total revenues, according to the annual President’s Report. College-funded financial aid is an area of ongoing concern as federal and state grants to students and colleges have not kept pace with inflation.

Since 1993 the Untied States Catholic Conference has had an environmental justice program, which encourages all to do something locally to help protect the environment.

“When we talk about Catholic Social Teaching we’re not just talking about respecting individuals, but about respecting where we live,” Father Michael Bielecki, resident chaplain, said.

Pope Benedict XVI during Mass in late 2007, urged young Catholics to take the lead in caring for the earth and its precious resources. Inviting all to join in praying and working for a greater respect for the wonders of God’s creations.

Dr. Coleman suggested that by carpooling, using less electricity and water, recycling and voting the youth of the country has a great opportunity to help save the planet. Both Dr. David Dunbar, associate professor of biology and Dr. Melissa Terlecki, assistant professor of psychology stressed the importance of converting to an environmentally friendly car, but they feel the price may hold many college students back.

Cabrini College, a Catholic college, also recognizes the phenomenon of global warming, doing its part to help change the direction in which our society lives in. As one of the many sponsors of Crabby Creek Earth Day, which is held April 15 at Conestoga High School, the college is helping to address the need to conserve the environment in our own backyard.

Crabby Creek is a stream that runs through the region and is often affected by storms and home development. Students from Cabrini work in collecting data from the stream and studying the surrounding areas.

“If we don’t take care of the world around us, then it will not be here for us to take care of,” Bielecki, said.

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