f riday, nov. 3, 1989
cabrini college, radnor, pa 19087
vol. xxxvi, no. 7
Suspicions followed, drugs found by Angie Corbo Suspicions of drug usage lured the resident life department into an investigation, which led to the discovery of marijuana in Woodcrest two weeks ago. Four freshman women pleaded guilty of using the drug on repeated occasions. Ten others then came forward to say that they had experimented with the drug one time only. Resident assistants (RAs) in the building became curious when they noticed the scent of incense. They also noticed that the now proven offender's door was shut during the times that the incense was being burned. The RAs suspected that the residents were smoking marijuana. Yet they were warned by Tyrone Carr, assistant director ofresident life, notto go into the room unless they were absolutely sure that the action was in progress. Sally Amatelli, RA, chose not to enter the room on one occasion that she believed the women were smoking. Instead, she opted to file an incident report, documenting her
suspicions. Shortly after this initial incident report was written, John Doyle, director of resident life, said that Carr's senses were alerted to the problem at hand. He reportedly smelled marijuana on the clothing of one of the alleged offenders as she walked past him in the cafeteria. There was no longer a doubt in Carr's mind as to the question if the resident had been around the drug. He and Doyle felt that this provided grounds to legally begin their formal investigation. Acccording to the handbook, the resident life office has authority to search a room, if the department has reason to believe that an illegal activity is taking place. At this point, Doyle and Carr felt that they had ample reason to search the two rooms that Amatelli had indicated may be involved in her incident report. Without a great deal of searching, a quarter-filled bag of marijuana was discovered. Resident life officals placed full
responsiblity upon one source. The source, a Woodcrest resident, was approached and questioned by .Doyle and Carr. Shortly following this, two students came forth saying that they were involved with the incident. At the last minute a fourth came foward and admitted her guilt to resident life administrators. Ten other women went to resident life to admit that they had smoked the drug on one occasion only. Doyle said that he believes that there were a more residents involved in the situation who have not come forward. Doyle praised the honesty of the women in this situation. Although they had committed a major offense against college regulations and the resident life program, he cushioned the sanctions against the women because they were honest and cooperative with the resident life department, they were not caught smoking the drugs and they were not involved in dealing the drugs on campus. Doyle said that the drugs were purchased off campus. This element also persuaded the department to go easier on the offenders. The full extent of the sanction would have permitted the institution to expel the women from the college and to contact the authorities . What action did Cabrini take upon the parties im·olved? ;Jbe women were a~ked t c ••-~---;pare;;;:;n:;:tc;;,~pl6a;c,ed on probatton, asked to do some positive drug programming for Woodcrest. The ten one-time offenders were asked to make five posters each to serve as publicity for the lectures. Doyle and the Woodcrest staff feel that this incident has provoked a sense of
Sign of the times .
unification within the building. Amatelli reports that the women in the dorm have had a very positive reaction to the sanction. The intent behind the programming aspect of the sanction was to be educational. The women have already admitted to their offense. Now they are making a contribution to the dorm and campus at large by providing informational programs on marijuana, crack/cocaine, barbiturates and alcohol. These programs and this sanction were intended to serve as a scare tactic for others who contemplate violating the drug policy. Although the fines were not the same for each of the four offenders, the amount has been confirmed by an involved source to be within the range of $100 and $500. This fine, in comparison with other fines for campus offenses lies within the range that the resident life office sanctions for the offenders of illegal_partiesand for possession of a keg. Resident life "feels good" about the intensity of the sanction issued to the women. Doyle said that the fullest extent of a drug sanction should be reserved for offenses with the "harder" drugs. The department also commented their fear in tampering with expulsion. "If the women were to be expelled, then their college career; v.ould come toanend".Do}le :.aid. " •o school wowdaccept a ~tudent if they were expelled on a drug charge." · 'It was just a dumb mistake that was made, only six weeks into the school year,'' resident assistants in Woodcrest said. This first incident is what will serve as the base for future offenses during this academic year, according to the resident life department.
Filling the prescription of campus medical needs by Denise Edwards
This is whatdriverssee whentheyget off the GulphMills exitof Interstate 76. (Photo by FrankEmmerich) See story on page 4
Anyone who might of been feeling a little under the weather in the past three weeks may have encountered a new friendly face in the nurses office, Olga Lien. The Director of Health Services, Susan Mason Fitzgerald has begun woking part time so a staff nurse was hired to fill in. Susan Fitzgerald is going into her fifth year working at Cabrini. The first year she was part time and filled in on the second shift. Then a year later she became the director of health services. Before Fitzgerald came here in 1985 she worked at McGee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia. She worked with spinal cord and head injury patients. Most of her patients were victims of drunk driving and
basic car accidents. The age range of her patients were 17-25. ''I like working with young adults,'' Fitzgerald said. ''They seem so much more receptive about learning and changing their lifestyles for the better." Fitzgerald loves working at Cabrini because it gives her the chance to share her knowledge about good health to so many. Over the past five years she has been fine tuning the health programs offered to the campus community. "I hope health education has expanded and improved," Fitgerald said. Fitzgerald offers several programs for the students and faculty. She's very more Nurse on 9
inside perspectives ... ... 2, 3
Getting spooked at
Tournment brings
news ................ 4, 5, 9
the Haunted House
area colleges
features ...... .. .. 6, 7, 8
(see page 8)
together
sports........ 10, 11, 12
(see page 12)