FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1982
Cabrini College, Radnor, PA 19087
VOL. XXVIII NO. 7
-Internal -change next on agenda _ ? BY ANN BELSKY
As the Cabrini campus undergoes external changes with the completion of the George D . Widener Campus Center, internal modifications are also being considered. These internal changes are a result of a special survey conducted at Cabrini under the direction of Dr. Douglas Heath, a professor at Haverford College. Heath is a special consultant to colleges in the area of student development, discovering the "model of maturity ." At the Council of Independent Colleges' summertime seminar, Heath was a speaker. Cabrini faculty attended the seminar and were impressed with Heath's con-
cepts, so invited him to the college to share his survey and benefit this school. His survey consists of two identical lists of descriptive words; one set to describe the students and another to describe the school. Words included aggressive, creative, critical, impersonal, sincere , religious, optimistic, and caring . Those taking the test, which included faculty, students, staff, and administration, were asked to circle the words which described Cabrini College as a whole and check words which they wished were a part of Cabrini. The survey was administered to approximately 40 persons on Monday, Jan . 18. The per~ons were
representative of the population at Cabrini. A faculty workshop on Wednesday of that week featured Heath, who discussed the results in the light of the picture of the school painted for him by the surveys. The purpose of the survey is to discover what the students feel Cabrini College is and what they want it to be. It can also be used to ascertain whether the faculty and staff are in touch with the students' needs and feelings. The latter was found to be true in many cases. The faculty's top three choices for the view of Cabrini were: caring, friendly, and helpful. The students viewed Cabrini as friendly,
accepting, and caring. The typical Cabrini student is friendly, caring, and goodnatured, say the faculty and staff, while the students see themselves as friendly, cheerful, and fun. Friendliness at Cabrini is certainly transcendent. One student who took the survey thought the idea was good, but found the test "tedious" and the words "repetitious." Sister Eileen Currie, dean of students, says one positive result of the survey was to get the faculty and staff to think and act together . Heath recognized the difficulties of a liberal arts college trying to give a broad view of many subjects while maintaining a college's high
standards for developing a students' interdependence and autonomy . Dr. Jerome Zurek , department chariperson of English and communications , said the survey had "exceedingly important ramifications" for the administration who must decide on the validity of the advertising campaigns aimed at drawing new students towar d Cabrini. Toose instrumental in administering and organizing the survey were Sister Regina Peterson, coordinator of social work; Sister Eileen ; Anthony Tomasco ; and Joseph J. Romano, vice-president for academic affairs.
Copus Ce_nter: A modern miracle BY JIM LAWLOR Suddenly it was quiet . The last hammer had driven the last nail and the last piece of machinery had lumbered its way off campus. The Widener Center had stopped being a place for employees of Near Contracting to do their work and started being a place for the members of the Cabrini Community to do theirs .
What many may not realize is that last week's opening of the center represents somewhat of a modern architectural miracle. In the words of Development Vice President John J . Heiberger, "The center was completed on time, on budget, and according to plan ." •
nique called fast tracking used by the architect and contractor. This made it possible for work to begin on certain elements while others were still being designed, according to Heiberger. A third reason cited by the vice president is the cooperation and time given by the campus people involved in planning the center . He said that a new building usually leads to competition for space which can become time consuming and thus slow production. That was not the case here. The needs of the students were kept in mind at all times and space divided equitably, according to Heiberger .
All this led to the completion of building within two weeks of Probably the most striking of the the target date, and Heiberger has these three attributes is the time no fear that the job was done too factor. Heiberger said the building hastily. took just over a year-and-a-half to go from an idea to a reality and he "I am very pleased with the cites several reasons. quality," he said, "We used quality materials and the One major reason is the grant craftsmanship was very good." from the Widener Foundation. Heiberger speculates that ground As far as bemg on budget , would not be broken at this point if Heiberger explained that early funds had to be raised through a estimates were that the building variety of sources. The Widener would cost $1.5million. After some grant allowed work to begin im- changes in plans the estimate mediately, eliminating what could jumped to $1.6 and a contract was have been years of fund raising . Also the gift allowed the college to shmed . continue its on-going fund raising Heiberger is also pleased with activities to pay for various other expenses which would have other- the look of the final product. "I wise been trimmed and most of the would not make any major incoming money earmarked for changes," he said , "I might paint a wall a different color here or add some sort of building fund. a few feet to a room there, but overall I'm very pleased." With funding worries swept away by one stroke of the Dixon From here the attention paid the pen, the road was clear for work to center shifts from the planning and begin on the center. building to the moving in and use. A press tour will be given in midAnother factor in the rapid com- March ,. The dedication will be on pletion of the building was a tech- March 14.
FRANK CHEESEMAN, Bob Connolly, Sul Allyn and Jeff Fronzi play pinball in game room of the Widener Campus Center which opened on Friday , February 5th. (Photo by Mark Magner)
SS, time running out fast BY CAROLWAHL Social Security cuts are turning some seniors into freshmen. High school seniors who are receiving social security have until May 1 to be entered into a college or university to keep their government aid until they turn 22.
Stmerits who do not enter institutions of higher learning before May 1 will have their social security benefits cut off when they turn 18-years-old. Problems are arising because many affected students are not aware of the changes. According to the Jan. 22, 1982,issue the New York Times, the Social Security administrat ion has not yet notified beneficiaries of the changes in the program. A spokesperson for Social Security said that pamphlets will be sent out and that all those students affected by the changes will receive the
pamphlets by spring. The problem with this is that, in order for students to beat the deadline , they will have to enter college in January ¡ because that is when most schools start the spring semester . Although Cabrini students will not be affected by the deadline many of their brothers and sisters will. Delores Monzo, junior , has a sister that will be affected by the new cut-off age . 9\e said that she did not know what her sister, Lisa, now a junior at Cardinal O'Hara High School, will do about her future. Delores commented, "Without social security I wouldn't be able to go to school." The family depends on the money and does not know what they will do without it. "She'll have to work a year then go to college," Monzo said.
"Hopefully she ' ll have an employer who will help her ." Lisa learned about the changes in social security from other students in her high school. "It stinks ," she said. Donna Degnan, junior , knows of a close friend who is enteri ng college early to beat the deadline . Mathias Carlson, a senior ~onor student at St. Rose High School in Belmar, N.J. is entering Brookdale Community College with an academic load of twelve credits . Both of his parents are dead and the only way he could go to college would be with the help of Social Security . The Social Security changes will also affect students who are presently attending colleges and tmiversities . The new plan is to phase out educational benefits over a three year period. According to Arlene McEvilla , Continued on Pa$e 3
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