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Cadet Cardinal: Weekend Training With CUA ROTC

Behind every identical uniform, every generic honorific and every accomplishment within the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is the story of an individual. Junior nursing major Shannon Gasser has shown up on her Colonel’s radar as a capable leader. Freshman Josh Choe scores in the top of his class on physical training, marksmanship and testing almost every chance he is given. George Washington University senior W. Buck Bobbin overcame a weight problem, completely altering his lifestyle after he missed junior summer training. Over the last weekend, all of these stories collided about two hours outside of Washington, D.C. at the army’s Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green, Va. “It’s a chance to show our abilities to the commanders,”... [Read more...]

Student Association Wants to Establish Judicial Rights

Students deserve a binding bill of rights which guarantees them a right to view charges brought against them in judicial sessions, an unequivocal freedom of speech and some form of counsel for judicial proceedings, according to the student life branch of the Student Association General Assembly. Andrew Platt leads a meeting of the Student Life committee of the Student Association. “Law professors here laugh at the way judicial proceedings are handled,” said sophomore Alexander Pinnix, a member of SAGA. In a meeting led by Junior Andrew Platt, SAGA members suggested rights not guaranteed to students by the University. Those missing rights, some said, could be made an issue by the student life board. Any bill passed by that board, or any other... [Read more...]

Most Gay Students Say They Feel Welcome at Catholic U.

In the shadow of the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, gay students face a campus that most say is as accepting as any other community. Catholic University’s history of accommodating minorities is spotty, including a failed attempt attempt to sustain an organization which catered to gay and bisexual students. Despite having no official club to join, Junior Robby Diesu said that gays “tend to self-ghettoize. We just run with each other.” Students Kim Clark (left), Jon Bell and Sarah Monroe talk in Gibbons Hall about their everyday experiences with gay students on campus. Clark was the founder of a Gay / Straight Alliance Organization at her high school in Connecticut. For Michele Jacobsen, a bisexual and practicing... [Read more...]

New Student Government Sets Goals

Students should be provided safe passage through the Brookland neighborhood at night and major campus events should be promoted in a way that attracts the student body, concluded the Student Association General Assembly’s Student Life committee (SAGA) at their meeting on Tuesday. Representatives from every class met in Hannan Hall to discuss their goals and purposes. Among their plans was a more complete system for evaluating resident assistants and ministers on behalf of the student body. “I don’t think they should be a police force, but if there are 50 students on a floor and 40 of them have been written up and they weren’t involved in something, that’s not right,” said Courtney Martin, Department of Public Safety and facilities... [Read more...]

Merch. Marine Sent Packing

After ten days off, the Cardinals (6-1) were anxious to get back on the field Wednesday in their highly anticipated conference opener against rival Merchant Marine Academy (6-2). Coach Travis Beauchamp, who worked as an assistant coach at Merchant Marine for three seasons, came into the game looking for his first win against his alma mater. The game lived up to the hype, and CUA came out with yet another narrow win, defeating the Mariners 3-2.   Junior forward Matt Brady scored two goals and Sophomore Kevin Duffy chipped in with a goal and an assist.  With this win, the Cards move to 1-0 in the Landmark Conference and upped their winning streak to four games.  Meanwhile, the Mariners, last year’s Landmark Conference champions, dropped... [Read more...]

Freshman Wakes From Coma After Overdosing on Adderall, Xanax

A Magner Hall freshman suffered a drug overdose on September 3 and was taken by EMS to an unknown hospital the following day. Residents who reported the overdose to their Resident Assistant said the victim spent September 3 in his room, inhaling powdered forms of the prescription drugs Adderall and Xanax. By the following night, he was sweating profusely and hallucinating. “We stood outside his room for 20 minutes and heard him snorting and knocking things over,” said sophomore economics major Kevin Nosti. Nosti and his roommate, exploratory sophomore Billy Borst, spent Wednesday checking up on the student intermittently. “He was cogent most of that day, but by Thursday he got really bad,” said Borst. When Borst and Nosti came into the... [Read more...]

College GOP Prepares to Host Steele and Santorum

Two Republican politicians slated to speak at campus events this fall have provided challenges to meeting the complexities required for choosing and vetting speakers at the University. Rick Santorum, a former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, has drawn the ire from some theologins from remarks regarding homosexuals, and Michael Steele, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, who said he does not think Row V. Wade needs to be overturned, were chosen by the College Republicans to deliver speeches on campus. “We get into very nuanced interpretations when it comes to speakers, and some of that is because of what the Bishops have said,” said Bill Jonas, director of University Center, Student Programs and Events (UCSPE). Jonas is charged with... [Read more...]

Visitation Hours Remain in Place

Freshman Nick Francesconi was violating the rules on the first night of classes and he did not even know it. On Monday night he stayed up until 2 a.m. watching The Labryinth in a friend’s room. By the time the movie was over, he had exceeded visitation by more than two hours. Students hoping to hold late night study parties in their rooms are out of luck, thanks to visitation hours which prohibit weeknight visitors from staying in a room past midnight. Any social activities involving students not in their own dorm must occur in common areas, or outside, according to the slightly revised policy in the student handbook. “In every dorm, we have some form of a common area that allows for students to study,” said Sarah Daniels, associate dean... [Read more...]

Pelosi Under Fire For Abortion Comments on Meet the Press

U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Catholic Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca), a practicing Catholic became the target of Church leaders for her comments on abortion recently. On Sunday, August 24, 2008, in an interview with “Meet the Press,” Pelosi said that until recently, Church officials were not able to decide when a fetus became “ensouled” or endowed with a human soul. Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Donald Wuerl and University President David M. O’Connell were quick to refute Pelosi’s statement. In an interview with The Washington Post, O’Connell said “We’re seeing more … very prominent individuals in the public square who are eager to identify themselves as Catholics . . . the bishops want to make sure that the people... [Read more...]

University Sophomore Narrowly Escapes Fire That Killed Father

A house fire killed the father of Sophomore Tara Juliano on Wednesday. The blaze, which began on the deck of the family’s Florham Park, New Jersey, home injured three others and destroyed the entire house. Robert Juliano, father of two, died of smoke inhalation, authorities said. The family had held a farewell party for Tara the night before the inferno. Reports indicate that citronella candles were used, though the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The fire started early in the morning, and quickly overcame the home. Three women in the house escaped by jumping out of a second floor window. They were transported to local hospitals and are being held for observation. The 52-year-old father of two was found by the living room window... [Read more...]

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