Friday, Nov. 5, 2004
NEWS | 3
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Young Republicans relocated for rally
RENDELL, page 1 Rendell. On Friday, Oct. 29, Cabrini became a stop on the presidential campaign trail as Rendell, along with additional John Kerry devotees, gathered to encourage students to vote for the democratic ticket. Greeted with applause, Paul Scoles, the democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, took the stage, criticizing President Bush’s priorities and rationale. As Scoles speech concluded, the attentive silence was soon replaced with music as audience members awaited the arrival of Rendell. Meanwhile, the small group of College Republicans were having exchanges of their own. Due to concerns from President Iadarola, as well as members from the campaign, Charles Schaffner, the director of Public Safety, approached the students and instructed them to relocate themselves and their propaganda “because the governor’s coming and we don’t want to stick this right in his face.” Reluctant to fulfill Schaffner’s request, Andrew Mindnich, a junior English major, challenged the order; needless to say, a dispute ensued. “No, but the thing is that it’s only fair. It’s freedom of speech, we have every right to be
here, just as much as they do,” Mindich said. “Do you want to argue with the president?” Schaffner said. Rendell has been traveling throughout the state of Pennsylvania not only to draw support for Kerry and Edwards, but also for other such as Scoles and Joe Hoeffel, the democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. “The message is really twofold, he’s talking about why John Kerry and John Edwards and the democratic ticket are good for America, but he’s also really traveling around, especially to college campuses, to encourage young people to vote as Election Day approaches,” Steve Feldman, the regional press secretary for Pennsylvania Victory ’04, said. Feldman emphasized the importance of Pennsylvania, justifying the numerous political appearances throughout the state in the week leading up to the election. “Whoever wins Pennsylvania will probably win the white house,” Feldman said. Iadarola, along with faculty members and campaigners, continued to anticipate Rendell’s arrival at the doors of Grace Hall; the Kerry-Edwards banner mounted above them remained as negotiations continued. “Can we move it down the street a little, I mean, you have
the Kerry-Edwards sign there,” Mindnich said. “Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you go over there underneath that tree along side the road,” Schaffner said. Mindnich and College Republican comrade Lance Farrell, a freshman political science major, weren’t pleased with the reactions they had received. “I think that if we get to keep our Bush sign in front of their Kerry sign then we don’t have a problem. I just think it’s a matter of being fair,” Mindnich said. While the College Republicans don’t consider the decision just, Iadarola explains that although the event may seem one sided, it was originally an offer of equal opportunity. “I think what people don’t know is that an invitation was extended by the president to both President Bush and Sen. Kerry. I received a letter from President Bush declining the invitation. I admire their enthusiasm and I commend them for organizing themselves as young Republicans. We would do for them just as we have done for the young Democrats,” Iadarola said. Rebecca Fegeley, the area coordinator of Residence Life, intervened and explained that the College Republicans may not stand outside the entrance of Grace Hall for the safety of Ren-
LAUREN REILLY/NEWS EDITOR
Student Democrat Association president Ryan Cox watches Gov. Rendell speak.
dell, ultimately bringing the feud to an end. “It’s a security reason because this is where the governor and his people will be walking by,” Fegeley said. The students reconvened along the commons. Escorted by Iadarola, Rendell is greeted by Scoles, singer/songwriter Carole King and actress Melissa Fitzgerald. Speaking briefly of Kerry’s views on the cost of education, tax cuts and healthcare, Rendell also emphasized that many of Bush’s plans had good intentions, they just lacked the appropriate action and legislation. John Holloway, a senior English and communication major, was pleased with Rendell’s visit. “I thought it was great. He didn’t disrespect the other party at all, he showed compassion for Bush’s plans and he just told us how we can go about Bush’s plans better and do Bush’s plans better than he’s doing them. He’s not saying Bush is a bad person
or a bad man, he’s just saying that Bush had good ideas, he just didn’t know how to get them to work and that John Kerry does.” Rendell’s presence evoked a sort of nostalgia from Iadarola. “From my perspective I was excited, it was reminiscent to the days of JFK. I worked for his campaign, although I was not old enough to vote for him. I could remember he looked down at me, and I was jumping all over the place because I was on television and everything, and he said, ‘You look great.’ That experience is always something I will remember and I’m hoping the student’s today will have caught some of that excitement, and more importantly, exercise their privilege to vote. Whether they vote for either candidate is their personal decision, but I like what Rendell said, ‘It’s the power of the vote’ and we can exercise that privilege. A lot of people died for us to have it and we can’t take it for granted,” Iadarola said.
CAP board puzzled by Election brings out students lack of turn-out ANDREW MATYSIK STAFF WRITER AJM722@CABRINI.EDU
The Campus Activities and Programming Board remains puzzled as to why Cabrini student participation at their events is not up to their standards. The lingering dilemma for the CAP board is that students commonly complain to them about how there is a lack of activities to do on campus. However, when the CAP board decides to increase the number of events, few people show up. There are seven to 10 events held per semester by the CAP board. Each event costs in the price range of around $2,000. The money is allocated to the CAP board by the Board of Trustees at Cabrini. Amy Hecht, the assistant director of student activities, oversees CAP board productivity. She has noticed the low student participation and the constant fleeing home on the weekends by students. Hecht stated that they were debating over how to spend the money for student activity. “It’s either we spend more money on fewer events, or we
continue to spend less money and have a greater number of events,” Hecht said. Hecht stated that this is something that the students must decide. Justin Walsh, a junior history major, feels that the events would be better if more money was spent for fewer occasions. Walsh said that more money for fewer events would contribute to higher student awareness for events. The president of the CAP board, Michael Sofia, believes the board holds many high quality events. In response to the low student attendance, Sofia feels that students do not attend the activities because they are not interested in the acts. However, the CAP board plans their events according to student evaluations. “It is our understanding that the events we are bringing to campus are what the students want,” Sofia said. The question of why students don’t attend events still goes unanswered. Jackie Tomasco, a junior criminal justice major, voiced her opinion about the matter. “With more money spent, people would stay at the events longer because it wouldn’t look cheap and thrown together. I hope they do this because I love to dance,”
Tomasco said. So far this year there was a record 400 people at the “Welcome Back” dance. This record number does not mean the dance was worthwhile, according to freshman Brian Clark. “I went to the dance and there couldn’t have been more that 30 people in there,” Clark said. This caused immediate disapproval by Clark and resulted in a 10-minute stay. A short stay was a common theme for the night of the welcome back dance. A common complaint among questioned Cabrini students was that there is no alcohol served at the events. This however, is not the purpose of the CAP board “The CAP board purpose is to provide the Cabrini student with an alternative to drinking,” Hecht said. As a result of this policy, it is safe to say thirsty Cabrini students will not see alcohol served at CAP board activities. Putting alcohol aside, the conclusion reached by gathering student opinion overwhelmingly resulted in a recommendation for more money spent on fewer events.
ELECTION, page 1 dent activities put together an election campaign to make the students aware of what's happening,” Bozzone said. Over 200 students turned out to join in the “Celebrate America Philly Style.” 100 cheessteaks from Pat's were ordered and were gone within 10 minutes. Students also enjoyed ice cream and pretzels. Bozzone was very happy with the large turn-out, but urged for students to come to more events held on campus. “We had no idea as to how many people were going to come here. We only ordered food for 100 people. Cabrini students need to be more consistent about coming out to events,” Bozzone said. 50 pizzas were then ordered to accommodate the large amount of students that showed up. The food was certainly what got the student's attention. Graphic design major Kristen Traina came to get her first taste of a Pat's cheesesteak. Cabrini alum Jim Peterson enjoyed the free food, but mainly came to watch the results on the wide
screen television. Psychology major Jenna Kane had more on her mind than food. “I'm here because this election is very important to me because the issues affect myself, my parents and grandparents,” Kane said. For many Cabrini students this is the first major election that they have participated in. “This is the first time I've actually sat and watched the coverage and I'm interested to see how it works,” Kane said. The scene wasn't very different at the Radnor Hotel where supporters for the democratic candidate showed up to watch the results. Dave Cannan, Seventh Ward Commissioner of Radnor Township, wasn't happy with the overall election results, but was pleased with the numbers coming out of Radnor. “In the precincts in Radnor Township, it's estimated that 70-80 percent of the registered voters came out to the polls today. The Democrats in Radnor are very excited because Radnor went for Kerry by 1,100 votes. The ELECTION, page 4