a g u y a C THE
Collegian
The Voice of Cayuga Community College Students for more than 50 years
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This is the image that is on the website of Northern Illinois University’s website following the tragic shooting which took the lives of five students February 14.
Campus Shooting By Natasha King, Staff Writer
Valentine’s Day is known as a day for lovers and romance. Running for your life and dodging bullets doesn’t seem like an ideal situation for any day. But the students attending the Northern Illinois University experienced this chilling thought first hand. On February 14, 2008, 27-yearold Steven Kazmierczak entered a classroom and opened fire, immediately killing five students and injuring 16. Former graduate Kazmierczak, who had stopped taking his medications and became erratic, bought a 9 mm Glock, with two magazines and holster, from an online website linked to the Virginia Tech shootings. Seung-Hui [Cho], the Virginia Tech shooter, bought one of the guns he used to kill 32 people before turning it onto himself, from the same website. The victims included 20 year-old Daniel Parmenter of Westchester, 20 year-old Catalina Garcia of Cicero, 19 year-old Ryanne Mace of Carpentersville, and 32 year-old Julianna Gehant of Mendota. 20 year-old Gayle Dubowski, of Carol Stream, became the fifth victim when she died at the hospital, and as of Friday the 15th, three students were still listed as critical condition. Kazmierczak entered the classroom of an estimated 160 students wearing all black with three guns under his coat and a 48 Remington shotgun in a guitar case. The guns hidden under his coat included a High Point .380 caliber handgun and the Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun. Another weapon had been recovered from his apartment later that night. Investigators found 48 bullet casings and six shotgun shells; however it has not been determined exactly how many shots were fired. Within seconds of the shooting, two university police officers entered the classroom. After a few minutes there were eight uniformed officers present. An emergency alert went out to all of the faculty and students through e-mail, voice mail, and the school website. The school was temporarily closed and security was increased
back in December when multiple threats were found on the stall wall of a bathroom, although a connection has not been found between the two incidents. Earlier in the week two other schools shooting caught the attention of the media. The first took place on February eighth, in Louisiana Technical College. A woman walked into the school and shot two o f her female classmates before killing herself. Names and ages were not released immediately. The police arrived on location within four minutes. One officer said that he “could still smell the gunpowder.” These shootings are not limited to just college campuses. On February 11, a senior from Mitchel High School in Memphis shot a peer twice over a dispute that started outside of the school. The victim was in critical condition and the shooter handed over the gun to a coach and said “it’s over now.” CCC President Dan Larson said that it is an “absolute horror for that to happen.” Larson explained that our campus safety is a priority and that he anticipates quite a few plans in the near future. For starters, the New York Alert System, which a mechanism that allows the students and faculty to receive any emergency alerts right on their cell phones. “There’s no question that the college has done a good job of campus safety” Larson stated. Cayuga Community College was one of the first schools to make the move from ‘Campus Security’, to ‘Campus Safety Officers,’ which are trained, offduty police officers who can make arrests. Larson explained that for each different situation, you want a different reaction. For instance, in the case of a fire you would want the students and faculty to get out of the building as quickly as possible. However, for a shooting, the students should try and remain hidden so that they don’t become targets. “An alternative that no one wants to think of, is limited access to the campus,” Larson said. “But, not thinking about it means you aren’t prepared.”
Vol. 56 Issue 15 February 25, 2008
Season Cancelled for LAX Lady Spartans ByAndrew Brown, Staff Writer
Yes folks, the rumors are true… there will be no girl’s lacrosse season this spring. CCC Lady Spartan’s lacrosse team player, spokesperson and CCC sophomore Sherri Stanton says the team, coached by Cara Slayton, didn’t get a big enough turn-out of girls. Stanton says not enough interest and not enough recruiting led to the cancellation of this year’s season. The CCC’s Women’s lacrosse team had a winning season last year. Last season, the girls went 7-4, and made it into the regionals, held at Herkimer Community College, but lost in the first round to rival Herkimer. Not playing this season, after a winning season last year, is a bitter pill to swallow for some of CCC’s returning women lacrosse players. Would-be returning player, Andrea Musso, put it best when she said, “[This spring’s] going to be weird. It’ll be my first spring off since sixth grade; I’ve played every year since then.” Musso, who was in the top three on the team in scoring, doesn’t think this will hurt her chances of playing future college ball though. “Colleges don’t really look for, or at, junior college transfers. They look at
Last year’s Lady Spartan Lacrosse Team: sitting (left to right): Sherri Stanton, Heather McKay, Courtney Ross, Jill Donofrio, Bridgette Cool Standing (left to right): Head Coach Cara Slayton, Heidi McKay, Andrea Musso, Katelyn Bracht, Chelsea Nordahl, Meghan Sierzenga, Kayla Vivenzio, Jade Williams, Joli McGrath, Amy English, Assistant Coach Meghan MacKay
high school players more. I still plan on playing after Cayuga.” Musso is planning to go to Brockport, or a different Division 2 or Division 3 school to start back up on the “lax” field. But what about the first year players? Freshman Brooke Wingerter says “I still want to play, and hold some sort of practices so that we can be ready for next year. I think it’s discouraging to hear about such a good team that they had last year, and to be so ready for this year to follow up with another good season and, now, not be able to. But I’m ready for next year.”
Chili Cook-off Contest On Thursday, March 27th, the Criminal Justice Society of Fulton Campus is hosting a chili cook-off contest. CJ Society challenged the faculty and staff to donate a pot of chili to be judged by the student body of the college. To date, 16 faculty and staff have volunteered to make a large pot of their chili, and one is going to bake sheets of corn bread, to offer to the students. Each person who participates will have to list their ingredients and will only be known to the students by a number given to them when the ‘register’ that morning.
For a $2.00 fee each student will be given a small bowl and a spoon, along with a tabulation sheet in which each of the participants will be graded by the students. Beverages will be offered at a separate fee. Each person providing chili will be given a gift for their efforts, and the top three will be awarded special prizes. All proceeds from this will be given to the United Way, which had been the chartable organization chosen by the society as benefactor for all fund raising activities. For more information please contact John Lamphere at (315) 592-4143 X 3074
CORRECTION
Wilson is Interim Director CCC graduate Louise Wilson is the interim director of the CCC Alumni Office, replacing exiting director Nancy Ranieri. Wilson served as Ranieri’s assistant prior to her appointment. In between the numerous phone calls, she worked tirelessly to help plan and execute the many programs offered by the CCC Alumni Office. One of the programs the office participates
in is a Holiday Cookie Drop for children in the community. The next big event is the Alumni PhoneA-Thon which will be held from March 3 to 26, 2008.
PHOTO BY BEN BOLDING
Louise Wilson