Freshman. blues plague physical, spiritual and emotional well-being by Beth Conahan news editor
Freshmen health suffers after the first year at college. Physical health, mental health and spiritual health are all affected in the months between August and May when students are subjected to their first year away from home or set in a different academic and social scene. The Higher Education Research Institute .at the University of California at Los Angeles administers the survey. It surveyed 3,680 freshmen at 50 institutions in the fall of 2000 and surveyed them again the following year. The results were disquieting. Freshmen students face a first year of deteriorating health in their physical, emotional and spiritual lives. There is a significant drop in response to the survey question of emotional health. Approximately 52 percent of freshmen surveyed
before the school year felt their emotional health was "above average." The following year, the students' responses dropped to approximately 45 percent. Cabrini, though not one of the 50 schools surveyed, experiences a similar decline in emotfonal heath during the first year. Suzanne Mallaghan-Rasco, clinical psychologist and counselor, recognizes that students' first time on their own creates a perfect setting for new stresses. "It's normal to feel a little anxiety;' Rasco said. Though Cabrini does not offer "long-term support," a student's emotional health will not be ignored should they need it. Students who require long-term counseling will be referred to an outside source since the counselors would be inadequate when you take into consideration school breaks. However, Rasco· said that most students do not require longterm counseling and six to eight visits is usually sufficient. photo by Justine Di Filippo
Accessibility: where there's a wheel,there's a way
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ph<Jtoby Justine Di Filippo
file photo
Woodcrest is unaccessible for junior April Caldwell to enter. A new stoop was put in front of Woodcrest over the summer.
Last year April Caldwell att,;mpts to visit her friend Amanda Snow in Woodcrest.
by Justine Di Filippo
ramps to make them more accessible. Sidewalks were built all over campus making it easier to get around, and a path was painted onto the street between Xavier and House one to make a safe path between each building. The 2000-2001 school year brought a lot of changes to the school. A new wing was added to Founders Hall, a new dorm had been constructed and at the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year Woodcrest received new steps.
photo editor
Students· that are wheelchair bound have found a few changes on this campus in the past year. There are still many problems on this campus that are a daily obstacle for disabled students in wheelchairs. The major change was the new path that went from Woodcrest to Xavier, and ran to the new dorm and to house one. Today it is now
a sidewalk that is safer then the previous painted streets. As a request by the students many power-operated doors were placed in several of the campus buildings. New automatic door open~rs were placed in the radio station and Xavier. . The last time campus went through major changes was in 1993, when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) called for changes a year before. The Mansion and House one received
The new dorm has many accessible features, ramps and elevators, big bathrooms, water fountains that can be reached by a wheelchair bound person and room to get around in. Tina Shelley lives in the new dorm and said, "This is the most accessible building on campus. I can get around a lot easier in this dorm then I could in Xavier." see ACCESSIBILITY on page 3