Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
YOU SPEAK, WE LISTEN
Radnor, Pa.
CABRINI COLLEGE
Pacemaker Winner Vol L, Issue 11
www.theloquitur.com
Workers struggle in tough economy christopher r. blake news editor
crb724@cabrini.edu
Christopher R. Blake/News Editor
Cabrini Marketplace server Michelle Waters waits for the L train at 56th and Market St. in Philadelphia, Pa. Waters, a mother of seven, has increased her working hours as prices continue to rise.
Christopher R. Blake/News Editor
Michelle Waters sits on the 100 train during her morning commute. She takes the train from 69th Street to Radnor Station where she waits for the Cabrini shuttle. She works at Cabrini to support her children.
For the past six years, Michelle Waters, 32, has commuted from southwest Philadelphia to Cabrini College, where she works as a server in the Cabrini Marketplace. To get to work, Waters has to take three different means of public transportation. The cost of commuting is just one more factor hitting her hard in the pocketbook as the economy gets worse and worse. With seven children and one on the way, Waters makes the 45-minute to one-hour commute each morning and night to provide for her family. “This year more than any other I am really struggling to make ends meet,” Waters said. “The only way for me to continually provide for my family is to keep on working.” The hardships of the recent recession are hurting the working class and younger job-seekers most of all labor experts say. Recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 240,000 jobs were erased in the month of October, raising the unemployment rate to 6.5 percent. Last year, Waters worked 3334 hours per week but because of an increase in her expenses she has increased her hours from 3540 hours per week. Waters explained that she finds herself spending more money than she would have a year ago. Everything from the prices of milk, eggs and cereal have been rising, even her commute has risen in price from $18.75 a week to $22.50. “I am dishing out a lot of
money just to come here every day. My rent has stayed the same but my electric and gas bills have jumped significantly since the last year,” Waters said. Women with children who work low-income jobs are being faced with many challenges in 2008. Kristin S. Seefeldt, a sociologist at the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, has been examining 43 women with low-incomes since 2005. In her research, she has found that womens’ expenses have steadily increased, while the number of work hours have decreased. “You never know what the next day, the next week, the next month or the following year will bring,” dining hall supervisor Consuela Harper, 36, said. “We work for Sodexo, which is contracted with Cabrini. If anything goes wrong we can get the boot easily.” Harper has been working at Cabrini for the past four years. Prior to her employment with Sodexo she worked at Jefferson Hospital in the medical records room. During her youth, she had dreams of working in the health care field. Harper attended the Craft Institute to become a medical assistant, but then her first daughter came along. Currently, she raises all five of her children in Upper Darby on her one income. Although she enjoys working at Cabrini, Harper, like Waters, has really begun to feel the economy’s decline. “I pray to God that the gas prices go down, the food costs drop and a better job comes my
ECONOMY, page 3
Endowments take hit in economic recession liz garrett
news editor
egg722@cabrini.edu
Cabrini is just one of all institutions of higher education that have felt the effect of the economy’s downturn. The ongoing economic collapse has put a tight squeeze on the endowment funds of universities and colleges across the United States. Endowments are like the savings accounts and investments of colleges and non-profit institutions. Colleges seek gifts from
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this week’s edition
benefactors and alumni, put the money into the endowment fund and use the interest and profits for specific purposes such as scholarships and large institutional improvements. But when the stock market drops as dramatically as it has this year, college endowments get hit in two ways. First, no income comes in the form of interest and dividends, and second, the total value of the endowment decreases. “While Cabrini doesn’t rely on or benefit from endowments
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“Cabrini is suffering as a result of the downturn in the economy. There is undeniably a negative effect on endowments due to these losses.” -Dr. Ken Boyden
Cabrini’s Funny Fest Page 12
to the extent that some other schools do, this loss of income hurts [much like it hurts retirees, or parents trying to pay for college],” Dr. Eric Malm, assistant business professor, said. “Endowment giving, like other forms of charitable giving, rises and falls with the economy. So one would expect that this downturn will produce less new giving to endowments as well,” Malm said. Although many college endowments have been impacted, larger institutions that are tied
up with private equity, real estate and have made risky investments prove to be struggling the most. That is not to say that smaller private colleges that base their dependence on tuition revenue and large benefactors are not in danger as well because of the economic crisis, according to insidehighered.com. The reason behind the drop in endowment value is due to its reliance on the stock market. The
ENDOWMENT, page 3
Swimming Season Kicks Off Page 13