Loquitur
Friday, Feb. 25, 2005
The
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Radnor, Pa.
Founder’s Day focuses on social justice, immigration MELISSA STEVEN ASST. FEATURES EDITOR MS727@CABRINI.EDU Founder’s Day is celebrated yearly to honor the memory of Sister Ursula Infante and her lifelong commitment to educating the community about social justice. Founder’s Day was held with special guest speaker Jim Claffey on Thursday, Feb. 17, in the Grace Hall Atrium. This year’s theme was “Immigration and the American Dream: a Tale of Two Long Islands.” President Dr. Antoinette Iadarola started the afternoon with a speech remembering the founding president. She joked that her and Sister Infante “saw eye to eye together” because they were both the same height. She talked about Sister Infante’s passion for teaching students education of the heart. “She wanted students to live lives of dignity and purpose…a life FOUNDER’S DAY, page 3
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Vol LXVV, Issue 17
Benefits to be cut for faculty, staff LAUREN REILLY NEWS EDITOR LMR722@CABRINI.EDU Reduction in benefits for Cabrini faculty and staff, effective March 1, 2005, will leave many employees $2,748.72 poorer. During a meeting last November, Lisa Shimada, the director of Human Resources, presented the proposed change in benefits-a change that will affect a considerable portion of the college's faculty and staff. In a letter addressed to President Iadarola from the Faculty Senate on Feb. 11, 2005, Dr. Rocco Paolucci, an associate professor of IST, and Dr. Brian Metz, an assistant professor of business administration, state that although the changes had been discussed in the November meeting, employees did not receive official documentation or reasoning regarding the cutbacks. However, a release dated Nov. 14, 2001, does reveal the college's intentions to reduce the benefit plans. Iadarola stated that “The Executive Committee re-examined current allocation of funds and identical areas that exceed the parameters of the College's budget. It found the College's
LAUREN REILLY/ NEWS EDITOR
Effective March 1, 2005 Cabrini will be cutting faculty and staff salaries and benefits.
allocation of funds to employee benefits surpassed amounts that would contribute to the future financial health of the institution.” According to a professor, who requested to remain nameless, these numbers have never been released to the faculty. “You'd be more likely to get a forthcoming answer from President Bush about the real costs of the Iraq war than you would from President Iadarola about the financial issues that necessitate cutting
our benefits at the expense of every single employee and their families,” the professor said. Changes in benefits began in March 2002 with all new employees receiving the benefits plan in question, while “grandfathered” employees, or those hired before March 2002, remained under the flex benefit plan. Therefore, the benefits for the “grandfathered” employees will be amended to that of any employee hired after March
2002. The new benefits plan will allow each full-time, eligible employee $1,460 in coverage annually, potentially costing faculty member anywhere from $2,748.72 for a single employee without children to $11,132.64 for full family coverage. These figures are in reference to employees who chose the Personal Choice 5 insurance REDUCTION, page 3
New building ‘SET’ to open MARIA D’ALESSANDRO ASST. MANAGING EDITOR MAD724@CABRINI.EDU
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The construction of the SET building faced some obstacles with vandals, but will be completed this semester.
Give the SET building until the end of the semester and then Cabrini will be in business. It is believed that by midMarch, if not sooner, all will be in place and commissioned to satisfaction for the Center for Science, Education and Technology. Dr. Sheryl Fuller-Espie, an associate biology professor, said that the furniture, fixtures and equipment will be installed by early May; the science department will begin packing in midMay, and moving in early June. “It will take us most of the
summer to get everything unpacked, put away and all of the equipment aligned as needed. It’s a much bigger task than most people realize. The science faculty will have little time for anything else this summer,” she said. The Turner construction company is working through a “punchlist” that was put together by Cabrini’s architects, EYP.— Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture and Engineering P.C.,— to ensure everything was installed correctly and that Cabrini is getting what was specified in the construction documents. Fuller-Espie said, “Often, the SET BUILDING, page 5