Thursday, November 20, 2003
YOU SPEAK. WELISTEN.
CABRINI COLLEGE'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER www.theLoquitur.com
Radnor, Pennsylvania
Vol. XLVII Issue 12
Youth absent at polls LAUREN REILLY STAFF WRITER
LMR722@CABRJNI. EDU
And the Mr. and Miss Cabrini winners are ... page 6 JENNA 1.£WANDOW5Ki/PHOTO EDITOR
Room 311, like most of the classrooms in Founders Hall, is empty on Friday afternoon. This is a trend the administration is trying to avoid.
Features Finding your niche on campus pages 8 & 9
College mandates more Friday classes KELLY FINI.AN NEWS EDITOR KAF722@CABRTNT.EDU
Perspectives Condom distribution; should they be handed to us or should we get it on our own? page 12
Sports Coach credits Division Ill athletes page 15
As the bells chimed three o'clock, a lone student roamed the second-floor corridor in Founders Hall. All the classrooms are empty. All the students are gone for the weekend. Cabrini College is one of hundreds of American schools suffering from a severe disinterest in Friday classes. "If I had to [take Friday classes] I would. If 1 was desper-ateI would," Christina Gentile, a freshman math and secondary education major, said. Gentile, like an increasing number of students, currently has more than one Friday class. The administration recently passed a mandate in response, requiring 25 percent of all undergraduate classes to be held on Fridays. "The reasons for it are threefold," Dr. Catherine O'Connell, the dean of Academic Affairs, said. Including Friday as a full academic day allows classrooms and equipment to be used more effi-
ciently, according to O'Connell. This includes parking spaces, which are increasingly scarce Monday through Thursday. According to O'Connell, the increase of Friday classes will stem the tide of students leaving on the weekends. "We think that if students do not have classes on Fridays, going home for a long weekend becomes a more attractive option, and we would like for students to have the full college experience which includes being involved in weekend campus activities," O'Connell said. "I never noticed any mass exodus on Fridays," Dr. Joseph Romano, a philosophy professor, said. "It is true that we have heard that Thursday nights are sometimes problematic," O'Connell said. She, as well as many other staff members, has expressed the need for students to treat college as a "full-time job, which means five days of work,'' O'Connell said. "Hopefully that will do something for the behavioral patterns on Thursdays," Charlie Schaffner, the director of Public Safety, said. Schaffner consistently schedules
more officers to be on duty on Thursday nights. Enrollment for classes at the end of the workweek is slightly lower than that of those Monday through Thursday, but none have had to be canceled. "Once students realize that, for the most part, avoiding Friday classes is impossible, I think the problem will resolve itself," O'Connell said. "I'm going to try my hardest not to," Megan O'Neil, a freshman English/communications major, said. "I never made an attempt to avoid taking Friday classes," senior Rich Magda, an English/communications major, said. "I regret it only because of my attendance record in those courses.''
I always give my tests on Fridays so for at least three Fridays out of the semester I have perfect attendance," Dr. James Hedtke, a history and political science professor, said. Hedtke has noticed a slight drop off in the attendance of his Friday classes, but the "cut policy" in his core courses keeps the seats filled.
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Voting is not a high priority for young adults. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau said that in the 2000 presidential election, only 42 percent of American citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 reported voting. History professor Dr. Jolyon Girard believes that the political knowledge of Cabrini's student body is "no better or worse than students everywhere else." He said that many of the issues discussed by politicians seem irrelevant to young adults and usually deters them from voting. One waythat students are able to become involved is through the history and political science club. The majority of the members are from either major, but the club is open to all studenti;. They are responsible for hosting the annual fall history forum where experts and scholars are invited to speak about various topics. Earlier this semester, the club also hosted a voter registration campaign. History and political science major Ray Croce is a member of the club and feels that students should be more involved with politics. "There are a select few who will stand up for what they believe in and voice their opinions," Croce said. Croce thinks that a student's lack of knowledge may inhibit their desires to take part in the election process. "If people don't know what's going on, how can they make informed decisions?" Croce said. History professor Dr. Jeremy Rich said that although many students may not have ~derstanding for politics in • s' tirety, students appear to e more, concerned with specific issue. "They may not know about much, but they '11express their opinion on what they do know," Rich said. Since 1972, the youth voter turnout has declined by 13 percent. Currently, of the 110.8 million eligible voters, only 9.9 million of them are between the ages of 18 and 25. The history department chair Dr, James Hedtke believes that history/political science majors are more politically active than most students on campus. INTEREST, page 5
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