10 | PERSPECTIVES
Y O U SPEAK
Friday, Nov. 19, 2004
www.theloquitur.com
PERSPECTIVES ◄
Election registration error Drug culture ELYSSA MCFADDEN STAFF WRITER EMM722@CABRINI.EDU
It’s not a secret that some students have problems with the way Cabrini is run. The most common complaints that are heard are about food, housing and the lack of response to students given by most of the administration. The food situation has made a serious attempt to improvement. As for housing and students getting answers, they are still nonexistent. My friends and I feel as if nothing gets accomplished when approaching some of the Cabrini employees with questions. For instance, I lived in house 7 last year and we were fined a significant amount of money. The bill however, said “room fine.” We didn’t know if this was our actual room or house fine. We didn’t think it could be our room because it was in good shape by the end of the year, but
decided to double-check anyway. When approaching Residence Life we were told that the Business Office would have an answer for us. When we arrived in the Business Office they told us to go to Residence Life for they would definitely inform us as to what was going on. Getting sent around in circles and receiving no answers forced us to give up for the day, later finding out it was a house fine. I must say I hadn’t had any issues with Cabrini since then and was quite pleased to see things changing. This was until I went to vote. I went to vote and was unable to. So how is this connected to Cabrini? One day, I was sitting in my apartment when there was a knock at the door. It was two girls wondering if my roommates and I were registered to vote; if not, would we like to. So, I thought it was very convenient and decided to fill out the registration form. This was great. I could register without leaving school and I didn’t have to fill out an absentee ballot because I live close to Cabrini.
Two months later, Election Day came. Upon walking up to the desk I was informed that my name was not on the list. I was in shock. I told the woman at the desk that I had filled out the form, enabling me to vote while I was at school. She told me to go see the judge that was there to check if I was on a new list. I went over and again was denied. He told me he would call West Chester because they had all the registered voters’ names there. They informed him that I wasn’t on the list. He turned to me and said, “You can fill out a provisional ballot, but your vote probably won’t count.” That is just what I went there to do, have my vote not count. I did it anyway, in hopes that it would. After 45-minutes of dealing with this issue, I was able to reregister by filling out the same exact form that I had filled out two months prior at Cabrini. Had I of known the consequences, I wouldn’t have bothered with any part of the process.
Adoption gives hope SHARON M. KOLANKIEWICZ STAFF WRITER SMK724@CABRINI.EDU
It appears that people stereotype adoption as a parent’s last resort of giving up a child. Many people do not understand the concept of adoption to a full extent. In most reality cases, it is not “giving up” a child, but offering him or her a better life. I am an adopted child. I was born in Manila, Philippines, which is one of the most impoverished nations. My parents, who are from the Pennsylvania area, adopted me when I was six months. When I was 5years-old I became a U.S. citizen. My parents also explained to me why I was adopted. Although I was very young at the time, I understood the concept of adoption. Throughout my childhood, it was always interesting to see the reaction of my friends and other people when they saw me with my parents. As I was growing up, a common question from friends and acquaintances was, “Do you ever wonder about your birth parents and family.” Obviously it is a natural feeling for an adopted child
to wonder about his or her birth parents. In my opinion, it is the main question adopted children wonder about each day. Adoption can also be portrayed as a challenging process for both the adopting family and the child. I have been often pitied by people who have found out that I was adopted. It seems that most people assume most adopted children are sad and bitter towards their birth parents. This may be the case for some, but for others, especially myself, the truth is the complete opposite. Even though I am a different nationality from my family, the race factor does not play a role. I am just another family member who is not treated any differently. The whole race factor does not even come into play with my family. Yes, we know that I come from a different background, but I am part of the family and still a human being. For example, I have a younger sister who is my parents’ biological child. However, she does not get any special treatment. We are also extremely close and depend on each other for moral support. It really hits home for me when I see the children on the ads, which ask people to sponsor children living in poverty. I know if I was not adopted I
would be where these kids are today. Each day I am grateful and count my blessings to be where I am. It is not that I am ashamed of my past, but I know how my life would be if I was not adopted. Many people wonder why or how parents could give up their children. In most cases they are not giving up the child, but they are offering him or her a better life that they could never provide. I am very grateful to my birth parents who were selfless enough to give me a better life that they knew they would not be able to provide. I am also appreciative to my adoptive parents for giving me the life I have today. I will always wonder how my birth parents are doing, and I would like to visit my birthplace one day. However, I do not look at adoption as a burden, but rather a gift. Everyone has a different experiences. However, I hope this personal insight gives a more clear perspective on the issue of adoption and in a positive light. In addition, whether or not adoption pertains to you or friends, you should always appreciate what you do have in life. Especially, treasure your family or families for that matter.
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NINA SCIMENES SPORTS EDITOR NMS722@CABRINI.EDU
There has not been a study done on what drugs are most used at Cabrini, but it is safe to say that marijuana is not everyone’s drug of choice. Last week when the debate against Heads vs. Feds raised the issue of legalizing marijuana and drug use among American’s youth many controversial topics were mentioned. People are naive about cocaine on campus because no one wants to admit to doing it, people don’t like being associated with coke because it has a bad reputation. People who are non-users look down on those who do coke. On Cabrini’s campus smoking pot is a much more casually referred to than cocaine. During the Heads vs. Feds debate, the topic of prescription drugs came up and I learned a lot from it. Pills are becoming popular on campuses because they are easily accessible to college students. Prescription drugs can be purchased legally with a prescription and then later sold to students who do not have any need for the medicine except for use as a recreational drug. Adderall is a common medicine prescribed to patients that have ADHD. Students can get hooked on prescription drugs just as easily as illegal drugs. In many cases the misuse and abuse of Adderall can lead to the use of cocaine. Sometimes Adderall is referred to as “poor man’s coke.” This expression is based on the fact that cocaine is more expensive to purchase than Adderall. Addiction is a disease that you won’t know that you have until the first time you try a drug. If you do not want to be unfortunate enough to get addicted to a drug, don’t take that chance. Medically proven, marijuana is not the gateway drug, meaning that the body does not crave harder drugs after smoking pot. However, it could be argued that someone who is willing to smoke pot will also be willing to experiment with other drugs. If you have the personality that insists you try one drug, chances are you will try a second drug.
Whether it is curiosity, temptation or image people become addicted to drugs. I think that most people do not have a problem if someone rolls a joint, marijuana cigarette, in front of them even if they do not smoke; but the same does not always go for cutting a line of cocaine. People feel uncomfortable being in front of cocaine because it is not as casual of a drug as marijuana. Even though both drugs are illegal, our culture is raised to overlook the harmfulness of a joint to the extent of ignoring it completely as a problem. We can blame popular culture for depicting marijuana as no big deal. Movies such as “Friday,” “Half Baked,” “Cheech and Chong” and “Dazed and Confused” all have one thing in common; excessive pot smoking. It’s movies like these that label a person who smokes marijuana as a “pothead.” This stereotypical pot smoker in our culture is what makes smoking on campus so familiar. If feels normal to overhear someone at a party say that they just smoked a blunt on the way over or they are looking to buy some pot. It is not common to overhear someone engaging in conversation about how many lines they snorted in the bathroom during a party. Keeping cocaine a closet drug is mostly because the dangers are greater. The most-well-known movie that involves cocaine is the movie “Blow.” This movie follows the life of George Jung through the cocaine epidemic in America. The message in the movie most likely turns the viewer off of the use of cocaine. This is because the main character ends up doing jail time for life as a criminal. Movies that involve marijuana as their choice recreational drug have a lighter story line. The plots are not as dramatic as “Blow” and the characters not as dramatic. No one wants to be compared to a lowlife criminal. I wonder if this will continue to be the case in our society forever or will someday using cocaine be just as casual as using marijuana. Don’t forget that alcohol was once prohibited during the 1920s. Will other drugs one day be legal just like alcohol?
Happy Thanksgiving from The Loquitur Staff