FREE | Take oneWeek of February 15, 2012 | Vol. 37, Iss 7

The Reflection of Fairfield

The Independent Student Newspaper of Fairfield University

The Mirrorfairfieldmirror.com

Fairfield Faculty Challenges Administration

The recent announcement of the potential expansion for UConn Stamford may pose some legitimate competition to the Dolan School of Business when it comes to prospective business school students, especially in the New York and Stamford area. Is the administration worried?

“Fairfield is always interested in changes in educational options in our area,” said Judith Dubai, the Vice President for Enrollment Management. Dubai adds, “We also know that a Fairfield educa-

tion is unique and more individu-ally focused than what might be the typical UConn experience.”

The proposed UConn expansion was disclosed by Jud Suviskas, the director of under-graduate and graduate programs for the UConn School of Busi-ness, at a Stamford meeting of the Fairfield County Public Relations Association. This “expansion” in the making, with no set start date, will likely effect prospective graduate school students rather than potential undergraduates looking at Fairfield.

Contributed Photo

UCONN Stamford’s current main building, site of the proposed development

Eight Fairfield faculty mem-bers raised concern for the current fiscal situation and downward trend in oversight at Fairfield Uni-versity in a highly contested Jan. 27 memo cosigned by at least 50 other faculty members.

The memo was “designed to start a conversation,” not spark controversy or expand beyond the campus, explained Dr. Phil Lane, co-writer of the memo and a professor with 30 years’ experience at Fairfield. However, despite inten-tions, controversy has definitely been ignited across campus, creat-ing a debate between the faculty and the administration.

The Mirror was able to obtain a copy of the memo from a source uninvolved with the creation of the document.

“We believe that the current fi-nancial crisis was both foreseeable and avoidable,” the memo notes. Although “the signers of this memo are deeply committed to Fairfield University,” they are still “deeply concerned about recent trends.”

The document outlines a few key indicators that have caused such concern among its faculty authors, most notably the student acceptance process, the education budget, and the increasing num-bers and salaries of administrators.

Changing Acceptance Rates Leave Room for Concern

The memo explains that “it is very desirable to have a low admit rate and a high yield,” meaning it is best to accept fewer students, but have the majority of those accepted students decide to study at Fairfield instead of other schools they were accepted into. However, the memo explains, “both of these rates have consistently been trending in the wrong direction.” In fact, “in 2002, our yield rate was nearly 25 percent – one of the best rates Fairfield has had in the last 20 years. But that has declined steadily, and last year’s yield rate of 15.31 percent is the worst in 40 years,” the memo noted.

However, this year marks “the highest number of applications ever in Fairfield’s history,” accord-ing to President Jeffrey von Arx, S.J. in a campus-wide email sent out on Monday. This optimism seems to be bright spot in an otherwise challenging past few years of admissions. Different years provide different interest levels in certain universities across the country and different numbers of applications to each institution. “In 2000, prospec-tive college students, on average applied to about five universities. Today they apply to 10,” a recent Connecticut Post article sum-marized Senior Vice President for

Academic Affairs Paul J. Fitzgerald as saying.

Administrative Positions In-crease as Other Jobs Are Cut

The memo also

included information about ad-ministration positions and salaries. In the wake of last se-mester’s layoffs, many students and faculty mem-bers expressed frustration that no employment reductions had been made for the growing administra-tion staff. The memo highlighted this concern, noting that while oth-er staffers were being laid off as the result of a six million dollar budget gap, there was actually a “net

gain of two to three additional vice president positions.” The memo notes that the administrative side of the institution has consistently been the “fastest growing segment of our community,” explaining that “administration positions have increased by nearly 25 [percent] in the last six years, while faculty posi-

tions have increased by 10 [percent] and all other posi-

tions have decreased.”In addition to this increase

in staff size for the administration, the memo notes that the “salary for senior administrators has grown at a substantially higher rate than that of the rest of the campus commu-nity.” Illustrated through a chart in

By Mikaela Tierney

ediTor-in-chief

By John TessiTore

assisTanT sporTs ediTor

Rival on the Horizon

Despite Rumors, Beach Living Granted To All Who Applied

Lantern Point. Powderpuff. The Grape. High Tide. Oktober-fest. The Nauts.

For years, these iconic landmarks and events have per-suaded Fairfield seniors to apply to be “released” as off-campus residents. Until last week, juniors feared the end of an era.

Thanks to the work of Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Thomas Pellegrino, and the Of-

fice of Residence Life, Fairfield is not getting rid of beach housing. Instead, they are accommodating everyone.

After months of listening to propaganda for new upperclass-men housing on campus, junior students were shocked to find out that Fairfield had pulled through and granted off-campus permis-sion to everyone who applied.

According to a University wide email sent by Pellegrino, this was the smallest release in Fairfield history, but this time, the choice was made by the students rather than the University.

“A major selling point at Fair-field U is the beach and there’s no denying that,” said Joe Del Prete ‘13, an argument that most pro-spective students consider when applying to Fairfield.

However, the fear of limited off-campus boarder spots was the only pitfall. Until this year.

Students like junior Eliza-beth Cortez feared the worst, say-ing, ”Whether they were rumors or facts, hearing that Fairfield might be getting strict and not going to be letting a lot of juniors off really bummed people out.”

After much doubt that they would be released, Del Prete, Cortez and their peers were

overjoyed at the University’s deci-sion, stressing the importance of upperclassmen independence and the right to choose housing by senior year.

Similarly, junior Daniella Scopino and her roommate Sa-mantha MacPhail were “pleas-antly surprised that everyone was released.” Additionally, they were also shocked that such a small amount of students applied to live off-campus.

Pellegrino attributed the low number of applicants to housing surveys conducted this past fall which indicated stronger prefer-ence to live in new on-campus housing.

Like other Fairfield stu-dents, beach living is something that Scopino has been looking forward to since she arrived at Fairfield. “Beach life sets Fairfield apart from other similar level schools,” she said.

For rising juniors, living at the beach is not just about living within walking distance of The Seagrape Bar or having the ability to lay on the beach in their back-yard (though who can argue that these are nice perks).

Although there is a great deal

Senior Year Will Be A Blast!By Mary kaTe MccorMick

sTaff WriTer

Beach | page 3 UCONN| page 3

Memo| page 6

Contributed Photo

Beach living is in the future for many juniors.

Illustration by Tebben Lopez/The Mirror

The faculty and administration have been indirectly duking it out over the budget.

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 2News

2012 FUSA ELECTION COVERAGE

... And Then There Was OneThe Stag Bus is late again.

My friends didn’t get let off to the beach. The concerts never have good artists.

If FUSA has the power to affect change on so many things that impact the daily lives of Fair-field students, the FUSA election seems like it would be the most popular event of the year. But according to the applications sent in last Friday though, that is not the case.

This year there is only one candidate running for FUSA president, the incumbent Rob Vogel ‘13, and one for vice presi-dent, Mark Evans ‘13. As a result, the primary debate scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 15 has been cancelled. In its place, however, candidates have the opportunity to give a one-minute platform statement at a later date to be announced.

“I applied expecting to have some competition, and the competitiveness inside me was looking forward to doing every-thing I could to prove myself as the best candidate,” said Evans. “It’s surprising for sure.”

According to Matt Dinnan, Associate Dean of University Activities, sometimes four or five candidates run for president, while other times there is only one candidate for the position.

In regards to Senate, five rep-resentatives will be elected per class. Currently, there are eight candidates for the Class of 2015, seven candidates for the Class of 2014 and three candidates for the Class of 2013. Because the Class of 2013 is two candidates short of what is needed, write-in candi-dates will most likely be elected.

Karen Donoghue, Dean of Students and FUSA President of 2002-2003 explained the dedica-tion and role of FUSA members. “Both now and when I was FUSA president, the candidates have been dedicated to making the institution a better place. They have pride in the institution and want to work with administration to create a good experience for all students,” said Donoghue.

According to FUSA members and faculty advisors, FUSA is a big time commitment and due to the demanding schedule in addition to class work, students may have avoided participating in FUSA.

“It appears that many people do not have the time to balance the important role of FUSA presi-dent and their academic, job, and extra-curricular experiences,” said Donoghue. “Therefore, the position is only attractive to a certain amount of student leaders who know they can handle all of the responsibility.”

Dan Bruno ’13, current FUSA Vice President reminds the student body of the importance of voting in the election and the influence that student participa-tion can create. “I want to tell the student body to vote! It’s so im-portant and it will change FUSA and what happens on campus by the more people who voice their opinions and vote,” said Bruno.

The FUSA election is still scheduled for Feb. 28 in the Barone Campus Center where students will vote for president, vice president and their class senators.

“I think the student body should take this process as an opportunity to get to know the faces of who will be major parts of FUSA in the future,” said Evans when discussing the election process. “We are an association for the students.”

By danica ceBallos

associaTe neW ediTor

R emember those little red cups you found in your dorm room at the beginning of this year? They gave them to you. Remember that concert in October? They planned that. But who are “they”?

“F.U.S.A.’s goal is to remain an association that is accessible and transparent to all students and consistent with Jesuit values,” says the Fairfield University Student Association’s website; however, most students don’t even know what the acronym FUSA stands for.

By answering frequently asked questions, FUSA members ex-plain why students should care about this organization, what this organization can do for Fairfield, and the important election that is quickly approaching.

Martin O’Sullivan/The Mirror

Rob Vogel ‘13 is the incumbent FUSA president and only candidate for next year.

Martin O’Sullivan/The Mirror

Mark Evans ‘13 is the only candidate for FUSA Vice President in this year’s election.

FUSA For Dummies By danica ceBallos

associaTe neW ediTor

FUSA’s obligations include:

• Serve as the representative body and official voice/opinion of the student body

• Program events and activities in tune with student wants and needs

• Manage/support student clubs and organizations

What are FUSA’s main obligations?

There are between 70 and 75 people involved.

How many people are involved in FUSA?

What are the positions of FUSA?

President, Vice President, Secretary of Marketing with three branches,

Chair of COSO with three branches, Chair of Senate with two branches and Chair of Programming with 10

branches

What can students do to voice their opinions to FUSA?

· Talk to a FUSA member· Attend FUSA Senate meetings biweekly

· Contact FUSA through their website· Email relevant FUSA members directly

from their email on the website· Post on the FUSA Facebook page

· Tweet @FUSA47

What are the biggest changes on campus that FUSA has helped achieve in the past few years?

· Changing the number of Residential Colleges from five to three

· Build-a-House moving to the beach· Implementing a larger Stag bus

· Creating traditions at Fairfield, including:

Thursday bowling, Fairfield Fridays, Sophomore Halfway There Cruise and

PrezBall

Are there faculty and staff involved?FUSA is advised by members of the Office of University Activities.

What is the revised election schedule?

Due to the unforeseen shortage of candidates, there have been some revisions to the election schedule. As there is no elimi-

nation of candidates needed to guarantee only two runners in the final election, primary elec-

tions have been cancelled.

The rest of the election schedule is as follows:

TBA - Platform speeches for current candidates

2/28 - Lower Level BCC7:30 p.m. - FUSA elections

2/28 - The Levee9 - 11 p.m. - Announcement

and Post-party

As always, be sure to say up to date on FUSA elections by fol-

lowing @MirrorFairfield and @FUSA47

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 3News

Fr. Doody Steps Down From Role As Director of Campus Ministry

From the jolly laugh of one Jesuit to the listening skills of an-other, the transition in directors of Campus Ministry taking place at the end of the school year pro-vides an opportunity for Campus Ministry to continue its outreach work to the student body.

As mentioned previously in The Mirror, Rev. George Col-lins, S.J. will be the new Director of Campus Ministry when Rev. Michael Doody, S.J. steps down at the end of the school year.

“Campus Ministry is in good shape. I’d like to focus on diversity of Campus Ministry and being more involved campus wide… not that it hasn’t been already, but I want all students to feel that way,” said Collins when discussing his future position.

According to Doody, when he became director of Campus Ministry, he had an “awkward arrival” due to a predecessor that left unwillingly. However, Doody had experience as a director be-fore and eventually eased into it.

One of his biggest projects was to fix the “unattractive physi-cal plant,” explained Doody. With gray walls and dirty carpet, Doody realized that making Campus Ministry more attractive to students had to be done both figuratively and physically.

Doody described Campus Ministry as originally “gloomy and uninviting.” The first six months of his job as director were spent cleaning up and

painting the building. Soon after the renovations,

Doody explained that Campus Ministry changed. “I am delight-ed with what has happened in the last six years,” said Doody.

Doody admitted that being director was difficult at times. “I don’t want to do budgets. I don’t want to plead my case. I don’t want to ask for money, and I don’t want to hire and fire people. I’ve done that,” he said. “I’d like to work with students and not have to deal with every-thing else.”

During his sabbatical, Doo-dy will work in Brixton, London and travel to Florence and Rome where he will participate in his yearly retreat. He will then go to Duke University for a month to attend a weight loss clinic.

For the remainder of his sabbatical, during the months of October, November and Decem-ber, Doody will live four blocks away from Central Park in the city. He hopes to attend all of the movies and shows that he can, while working on his fitness with his personal trainer.

Many students are excited for Collins to take over; however, they said that Doody leaving his position is a sad loss.

“Fr. Doody is a great guy. Over the years he has brought a lot to the University community,” said Brian Cleary ’14. “If you are a resident of Gonzaga Hall, you should take the time to meet him because he will help you grow as a person.”

“I do admire his dedication

to the Kairos community. I hope he stays involved,” said Emily Skudrzyk ’14.

When discussing the transi-tion of directors, both Doody and Collins referred to the changed as a “great opportunity.”

“Fr. Collins is here and ready for it,” said Doody. “He is the nat-ural successor with high energy. He’ll make this place fly.”

Collins explained that his goal is to reach out to students of all faiths and help them on their spiritual journeys. By visiting other campuses to study their programs, Collins hopes to build on the foundation that Doody has set. Within the next few weeks, Collins will move into his office at Campus Ministry.

A newcomer to Fairfield, Col-lins spent the last four years study-ing in California. He was ordained in June 2010, and originally being from Boston, he was excited to be back on the east coast.

“I became a Jesuit because, even though people said I had a great life, I had everything external standard wise, but I felt like something was missing,” said Collins. He explained that he wanted to work with a group of people dedicated to mission work and thus, joined the Jesuit order.

By addressing his purpose as director of Campus Min-istry, Collins hopes to guide students and inspire them to think beyond their four years at Fairfield. “Education at Fairfield would be incomplete without considering what’s next. Stu-

dents should desire to make a big difference,” said Collins.

Collins encourages stu-dents to discuss ideas for future

Campus Ministry activities with him in order to help students on their paths of spiritual develop-ment.

By danica ceBallos

associaTe neW ediTor

Danica Ceballos/The Mirror

Fr. Michael Doody outside of Campus Ministry with a statue of St. Ignatius Loyola

of negative press in recent years, living at the beach is not all about the craziness of Clam Jam or dis-turbing residential neighbors.

Living off campus gives students the freedom and independence to work together, choose roommates and live in an environment that is closer to post-graduate reality, according to many students.

“It’s really awesome that they released all of us so we can all live together on the beach again, forming a sense of senior community,” said Jules Carfora ’13.

Pellegrino cited his under-standing that it is “important that we have a wide ‘menu’ of housing options to meet all interests and needs, and [that it] is something that sets us apart from and above our competi-tors.”

Like Fairfield students, he recognizes the need for options that add freedom and promote independence.

Pellegrino continued to state that he is “proud of that and appreciative of the efforts that Fusa and IRHA put in to helping inform our approach.”

And the juniors could not be happier with the administra-

tion. Del Prete echoed the senti-

ments of just over 300 juniors, stating: “This is a step in the right direction, not just for hous-ing, but for Fairfield University as a whole ... I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are truly grateful for the opportunity to live and grow off-campus.”

Similarly, Grayson Phillips ’13 seemed to have answered the administration’s prayers, stating: “The administration

will be with happy with their decision because the students are happy ... I also think seniors next year will be more willing to cooperate with the school on future issues next year.”

But Kevin Bachman ‘13 said it the best: “For once, everyone on both sides can be happy with an administrative decision.”

According to MacPhail, “the only stress left is finding the perfect house!”

“The Stamford market has the most relevance for our gradu-ate business programs, where we draw Masters of Business Administration, Master of Sci-ence Accounting and Master of Science Finance students,” said Dr. Donald Gibson the Dean of the Dolan School of Business. He continued by stating, “the proposed expansion means that we need to continue our efforts to distinguish Fairfield University’s Dolan School of Business from competitors such as UConn, by emphasizing our strengths in ethics, leadership, accounting and finance.”

Some speculate that in order to take full advantage of UConn Stamford the creation of a dormi-tory campus is necessary. The obvious benefit is that students in the New York metro area that would not typically have inter-est in attending school over 70 miles away in rural Storrs would consider going to school in the much more convenient Stamford. Additionally, the vibrant nightlife in Stamford and New York can be used as a major tool in recruiting.

The expansion could also be used as a tool for getting intern-ships in the greater Stamford area. This, in turn, leads to greater job opportunities, something that Fairfield markets particularly well.

“We should maintain and maybe increase our ties in the Stamford and NYC area,” said Dr. Mousumi Bhattacharya, an As-sociate Professor of Management. Dr. Bhattacharya proclaims, “We place a number of students in companies in this region and that should continue.”

Area business leaders con-sider Fairfield University to be a relatively strong local school, with one of the best reputations in Connecticut. These leaders do not necessarily consider Fairfield as having particularly strong ties to Stamford, and the New York City region. However, this is most like-ly not a reason one would chose a school like UConn Stamford over a school with Fairfield’s prestige.

“Here at Fairfield, we take pride in the accessibility of the faculty to students”, said long time accounting professor Paul Caster. He adds, “I think it is important to develop the whole person and I also believe we have a strong emphasis on ethi-cal behavior. Our recruiting will continue to emphasize the value of a Jesuit education. UConn Stamford will not be able to offer that.”

There are 59 Fortune 500 companies in New York City, Fairfield and Westchester coun-ties. This leaves the question: Is Fairfield doing enough to keep up with its competition?

2013 Released to Beach

Tom McKiver/The Mirror

Rising juniors who applied for beach living look forward to newfound independence.

Stamford To ExpandconTinued froM page 1

conTinued froM page 1

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 4News

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ClassifiedsGo to www.fairfieldmirror.com to place your ad for as low as $10!

Tuesday, 2/7

12:36 a.m.A non-student was caught urinating in the elevator in

Dolan Hall. A criminal trespass warning was issued and maintenance was notified to disinfect the area. .

11:58 a.m. The New York Police Department requested the as-sistance of DPS in the investigation of a counter-

feit driver’s license. A student was identified and referred to the

Dean of Student’s office.

3:47 p.m.A townhouse resident reported tires on his

vehicle slashed.*

Thursday, 2/94:08 p.m.

A faculty member reported the theft of per-sonal items from a Canisius Hall photocopy

room. The incident is still under investigation.

8:19 p.mA non-student reported a vehicle hit-and-run

near The Levee. Fairfield Police was called to investigate.

Friday, 2/104:20 p.m.

An Area Coordinator at 70 McCormick Road reported an odor of marijuana. Students responsible for the odor were

identified and referred to the Dean of Student’s office.

9:14 p.m.A Resident Assistant in Campion Hall reported an odor

of marijuana. Fairfield Police was called and one student was charged with an infraction.

Saturday, 2/118:36 a.m.

The guest of a student was reported missing. A DPS

search found the guest in the bed of another campus resident who was unaware

that the missing person was in her room.

11:26 p.m. Fairfield Police arrested one

student charged with posses-sion of narcotics. Other stu-

dents involved were located in a number of residence halls.

Sunday, 2/121:10 a.m.

An RA in Regis Hall reported broken glass in the second floor men’s bathroom.

10:35 a.m. An exit sign was broken in Jogues Hall.

1:14 p.m. Both side mirrors were broken from the car of a non-stu-

dent parked outside Regis Hall..

*If you have any information about this incident or others, please report it to the Department of Public Safety

Campus Crime Beat Mirror Picks of the Week!

Wednesday February 15 The Inkwell will be handing out Valentine’s Day issues for free.11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the table near the BCC info desk.

“How to Braid Your Hair Like a Greek Goddess” with Dr. Katherine Schwab. 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the downtown University bookstore.

Friday February 17 - Bob and Dave Musical Duo. 7 - 8 p.m. at the downtown University bookstore.

Sunday February 19 - “Performing for Change.”8 - 11 p.m. in the Gonzaga auditorium.

Mikaela Tierney, Editor in Chief Gabriella Tutino, Executive Editor

Charlotte Adinolfi, Managing Editor

EditorsMartin O’Sullivan, NewsElizabeth Koubek, OpinionEric Bernsen, SportsJohn Tessitore, SportsThomas McKiver, PhotographyDanica Ceballos, Associate NewsAmber Nowak, Chief Copy Editor

The Vine Loan Le, DirectorKelsey Guerin, Editor

OnlineJoey D’Alessio, EditorAlex Gonzalez, Media Editor

CartoonistsVin FerrerGregg Pizzi

AdviserDr. Thomas Xie

Contact InformationMail Fairfield University 1073 North Benson Road, Box AA, Fairfield, CT 06824 Email info@fairfieldmirror.com

The MirrorIncorporated 1977

The Mirror strives to report accurately in all its stories. If you encounter any errors, please contact

Editor in Chief Mikaela Tierney

Affiliated with:ASSOCIATEDCOLLEGIATE PRESS

Business DepartmentE-Mail: advertising@fairfieldmirror.comMikaela Tierney, CFOGabriella Tutino, CFO

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION

3 BEDROOM FURNISHED

BEACH HOUSE FOR RENT

2012-2013 School Year

Great House withFantastic Parking

703 Fairfield Beach Road

Interested? Call 203-254-8419

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 5News

Mental Health Trends Indicate Anxiety Among StudentsDepression. Anxiety. Eat-

ing disorders. Substance abuse. These are only a few of the many mental health disorders that affect hundreds of thousands of college students on a day-to-day basis.

When it comes to mental health on the Fairfield University campus, the doctors at Counsel-ing and Psychological Services say that they’re doing their best to help students deal with these pressing issues.

Now more than ever, college students need help in dealing with mental issues while on campus. Dr. Charles Morgan, Dr. Susan Birge, and Dr. Elise Har-rison voiced these sentiments last Wednesday at a conference discussing mental health trends on college campuses.

“Mental illness generally manifests between the ages of 18-24,” said Morgan “And these days, about 15-20 percent of students who enroll in college are already on psychotropic medications.”

The American College Health National Assessment reported that in 2011, 86.3 percent of col-lege students felt overwhelmed in some way, and that over 50 percent were experiencing anxiety. Furthermore, one third of students felt so depressed that they couldn’t function normally. This only worsens when mixed

with drugs and alcohol. While Dr. Morgan reported

that he thinks Fairfield Universi-ty’s student population is slightly below the national median for mental illness and substance abuse, the Jeanne Clery Campus Crime report states that in 2010, there were a combined total of 1,383 disciplinary referrals for drug and alcohol violations at Fairfield University. These fig-ures are only contributing to the increasing number of students who are in need of mental health help.

Birge commented on how important it is to have a licensed team of professionals working with students. “Years and years ago, there wasn’t counseling,” she said. “There were Jesuits.” She added that currently, it’s “as if the flood gates have opened,” as more and more people are seeking help.

“We had a 32 percent in-crease from last year here at Fair-field in the number of students being referred to psychiatrists off campus,” says Birge.

The counseling staff-to-stu-dent ratio at Fairfield University is about one to every 1,000-1,500 students, said Birge. She re-ported that the Counseling and Psychological Services boast 22 percent utilization rate among students.

While many students had good things to say about person-nel at Counseling and Psycho-

logical services, others com-mented on ways in which they could improve.

“They should make them-selves more known to students”, said Giovanna Giampa ’13, who explained that the counsel-ing and psychological services reached out to her and others after the loss of close friend, the

late Julia Sill.“I didn’t even know that

they were readily available,” she continued. “As a freshman and sophomore here at Fairfield I thought of the health center [where counseling and psycho-logical services is located] as being far away, and never went. Students need to know that walk

up there may be inconvenient, but it will make all the differ-ence.”

Birge urges shy and am-bivalent students to seek help, even if it seems minor. “Going to counseling doesn’t mean you’re crazy and psycho,” she said. “It means you want to improve the quality of your life.”

By georgia loBB

conTriBuTing WriTer

Photo Illustration by Nick DiFazio/The Mirror

Studies have found a direct correlation between stress levels and substance abuse, which can also be classified as a mental disorder.

Do You Want a Job or Internship? Register on Experience…

Full-time professional employment, summer internships and local pre-professional part-time opportunities are listed. • Visit www.fairfield.edu/cpc and select the Experience link • Complete your registration entering your Fairfield email address as the username and the last digits of your ID as the password • Search for positions and apply. You must apply to each position individually

Questions??? Give us a call 203.254.4081 or Email:cpc@fairfield.edu Employer Application Deadlines: General Electric Company GMS Operations Intern 02/15/2012 Planetree Research Intern 02/15/2012 Deloitte Summer Leadership Conferences 02/16/2012 Deloitte & Touche LLP Audit Summer Internship and Mentor Program 02/16/2012 Target Stores Executive Intern (Summer 2012) 02/16/2012 Target Stores Executive Team Leader - Assets Protection 02/16/2012 Target Stores Executive Team Leader 02/16/2012 Johnson Associates Financial Analyst 02/17/2012 People’s United Bank Commercial Banking Associate 02/21/2012 Ernst & Young LLP Emerging Leaders Program 02/22/2012 Developing World Markets Risk & Credit Management Intern 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP NESA Assurance Summer Intern 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP NESA Tax Summer Intern 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP Intern, Technology Advisor Program 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP Tax - Transfer Pricing Intern 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP NESA Assurance Staff 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP NESA Tax Staff 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP FSO Tax Staff 02/22/2012 Ernst & Young LLP Tax - Transfer Pricing Staff 02/22/2012

Be sure to visit Experience frequently for the latest position announcements.Visit http://fairfield.experience.comPrograms:Speed Networking: An alumni networking program for students seeking to build networking skills and Fairfield Alumni connections!Thursday, February 16 6:00p.m.-8:00p.m. Kelley Center Presentation Rm

Leveraging Social Media in your Internship and Job Search Wednesday, February 22 5:00 p.m.-6:00p.m. Kelley Center Presentation Rm

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 6News

the document, the President of the University once received $187,000 in the 2001-2002 fiscal year. By the 2009-2010 fiscal year, he was receiv-ing $300,000 (although this income is donated annually to the Jesuits by Fr. Von Arx). Similar trends can be seen

from other vice presidential positions as well, while faculty salaries only increased by 32.6 percent between 2001 and 2010.

A Financial Focus on Education

One of the most highly contest-ed sections of the memo lies in the authors’ concern for “the administra-tion’s decisions to devote an inordi-nately high proportion of resources to priorities other than education.” While many schools allocate close to 50 percent of their funding directly to education, Fairfield spends only 37.9 percent of its funding on education, according to the memo.

“All institutions required to file this and related information (most institutions are required) must do so using the same form, the same categories, and the same instructions for what goes into each category,” Dr. Richard DeWitt explained. “The data in the memo came directly and unaltered from what each institution reported to the government.” This should mean that comparisons between universities are more easily drawn due to the direct similarities in data requirements.

But despite the similari-ties in forms and numbers, these comparisons between universi-ties aren’t as simple as they seem, Fitzgerald noted. Different schools must offer different services depending on the breakdown of their student populations, the

different academic schools they have, and other less comparable components. “A university with a high percentage of commuter students spends a significantly higher percentage of their budget on instruction because they don’t offer as many services to students, including things like residence halls and evening activities,” Fitzgerald explained. “A university that doesn’t have a research active faculty similarly spends a higher percentage on instruction. The things to look for at Fairfield are the faculty to student ratio,” which is 12 students to one faculty mem-ber, “and the high quality of both our faculty (measured in effective teaching and publishing in pres-tigious venues) and our student body (measured in graduation rates, placement into competitive graduate schools or annual aver-age starting salaries).”

Starting A Conversation

The idea to begin tracking data for a potential memo was actually sparked years ago by a number of faculty members. Since then, they have been following enrollment trends and attempting to raise con-cern for negative patterns that have been emerging. The recent budget gap problem “certainly added an air of urgency to the issues,” said DeW-itt, but it was not the initial catalyst for the memo as “the general con-cern is not really new.”

“As noted in the memo, the authors of the memo are deeply committed to Fairfield University. One of our goals is to encourage the administration to begin working with other segments of the univer-sity in a way that is genuinely trans-parent and cooperative.” The main point of the memo was to start a conversation, but this goal seems to have become lost in efforts to ques-tion the memo’s legitimacy.

All information included in the memo is publically available data, found online from the University website, the Department of Education, or the American Society of Professors, or can be found in the University fact book. The original draft of the memo included

data from private sources, but was later removed before the final draft was distributed in order to ensure availability of access to data for all readers.

“As a private, not for profit institution, and as an institution that receives certain types of federal assistance, Fairfield is required to provide the government with a variety of publically-available information, for example, annual

IRS tax forms,” DeWitt explained. “The authors of the memo made the choice to work exclusively with data supplied by the administration (with the one exception being data on faculty salaries), with most of it coming from data supplied to the government.”

The writers of the memo have also noted that they were not responsible for the leak of the memo to the Connecticut Post, which spawned coverage from the newspaper and has attracted an unwanted spotlight to Fairfield and its handling of the situation. As a result of this, and as a culmination of a number of factors of conten-tion between the administration and the faculty, an executive ses-sion was called at a recent meeting of the Academic Council.

During an executive session, no notes are taken and no student representatives are allowed to be present. This leads to a secre-tive environment, about which no outside parties – students, other faculty members, or staff members – are officially informed. While this reaction to the memo is troubling for some faculty members, others remain optimistic about more open cooperation in the future. “I hope as we move forward that we do so with genuine openness and transparency and not, for example, with calls for the Academic Council to go into executive session,” said DeWitt. “That

is the very opposite of openness and transparency, and I trust we have seen the last of that kind of secrecy.”

Questioning Legitimacy

The authors, in theory, cannot be accused of manipulating data, as “it’s taken straight from the categories the administration uses, and uses exactly the numbers sup-plied by the administration for each category,” explained DeWitt.

Yet this is exactly what has been happening; while the authors of the memo assure all readers that the data was publically avail-able and accurate, administrators contend that the data was inac-curate and incorrectly compiled to illustrate trends that do not actually exist.

In a recent article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, the challenges of comparing data between universities are high-lighted. The article suggests that “when you wade into those finan-cial reports, you should under-stand that the numbers are invari-ably correct. What you need to be skeptical about are the words and labels attached to the numbers.” The author of the article rein-forces that individuals research-ing their University should not “rely on the institution’s official financial reports. Transparency is not to be found there.”

The debate between the faculty members in support of the memo and administrators is unlikely to end successfully any-time soon. While further discus-sion of the memo among faculty members has been planned for an upcoming General Faculty Meet-ing, and although Fitzgerald has offered to meet with the writers of the memo, these outlets do not necessarily mean that progressive discussion will be achieved.

“If the administration wants to dismiss the memo and the figures in it, they will have to do so with real figures and detailed respons-es, not with empty generalities,” said Professor Ruffini. “The figures in the memo are publicly available

from reputable sources, including the University’s own website. The memo as a whole highlights real problems, and the administration undercuts its own credibility by failing to address them head on.”

Making Progress

The key to solving the debate between faculty and administrators lies in open discussion, rather than closed-door meetings or private discussions about the other group. “The Fairfield community needs to work together in a cooperative, in-clusive, and transparent way to be-gin reversing the trends document-ed in the memo,” DeWitt noted. “I would like to see all segments of the university, including students, staff, faculty, and administrators, en-gaged in an open and honest look at where we are, how we got here, and how we might best get Fairfield moving in a better direction.”

Fr. Von Arx agrees that dialogue from various individu-als across campus can help to solve some of the problems facing the University, as he noted in his recent campus-wide email. “I encourage you to participate actively in this collective process to develop and support strategies

that move the University forward,” he wrote. “While we may disagree on specific choices and actions that we have taken and that we need to take for Fairfield’s future, it is critical that we are engaged in a constructive and responsible discussion that is focused on systemic solutions.”

Faculty Memo Challenges University AdministrationconTinued froM page 1

“I trust we have seen the last kind of this secrecy.”

-Dr. Richard DeWitt

“If the administra-tion wants to dismiss the memo... they will have to do so with real figures, not with empty generalities.”

-Prof. Giovanni Ruffini

“We believe that the current financial cri-sis was both foresee-able and avoidable.”

- Faculty Memo

Photo Illustration by Mikaela Tierney/The Mirror

A memo written by University faculty members discusses grievances about the administration’s handling of the financial crisis.

Faculty Votes on Retirement FundBy Mikaela Tierney

ediTor-in-chief

In the most recent General Faculty meeting on Feb. 3, faculty members convened to discuss a number of proposals, most notably to vote on the retirement fund giveback for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

The remaining budget gap, the amount that has not already been closed from other actions implemented across campus, has the potential of being solved through a reduction in faculty retirement funding. This could be orchestrated through a faculty vote on a proposal to change faculty retirement givebacks, although the drafts have been consistently changed or rescinded by admin-istrators, drawing out the process and leading faculty to question its credibility.

In the end, “the proposal was

defeated 142 against, 30 for, and 3 abstaining,” noted Professor Giovanni Ruffini.

“The faculty had been asked to give back a percentage of the University’s contribution to their retirement accounts for this year,” Senior Vice President for Aca-demic Affairs Paul J. Fitzgerald explained. “Since they chose not to do so, we will have to find the same amount of money else-where in our budget.”

But faculty members stand by their decision. Many “faculty [members] don’t have a very high level of confidence in the administration’s fiscal compe-tence, and are upset that the administration does not seem to be forthcoming over what is really causing these problems, given that admission shortfalls can’t really be more than half of the shortfall anyway,” Ruffini noted.

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 7OpinionOpinion

fairfieldmirror.com Editor: Elizabeth Koubek opinion@fairfieldmirror.com

OpiniOn | 7editorial

What do you think about California courts appeal to overturn Proposiition 8? Tell us your thoughts.Have an opinion about something? Send us your thoughts at opinion@fairfieldmirror.com

Send your thoughts to opinion@fairfieldmirror.com.

Online

“No State shall make or en-force any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Unless you’re gay.This was the case in California

until last Tuesday, when a federal appeals court overturned Proposi-tion 8. Prop 8, originally enacted in 2008, barred homosexual couples from getting legally married.

And unfortunately, this is still the case in a majority of states.

Many in opposition to the overturning of Prop 8 and possible subsequent federal legality cite that it would destroy “the sanctity of marriage.”

Let’s look at this argument for a second. “Sanctity” looks all too familiar to the word “sacred,” and that’s because they share the same root. Sacer is Latin for holy, divine, consecrated... all words which carry religious connotation. In fact, sanctity is prominently defined by Merriam-Webster as

“the quality or state of being holy or sacred.”

So when you want to say that gay marriage would destroy the holy nature of a legal union, it completely ignores the separation of church and state. It goes both ways – the state can’t infringe on the right of a church, and a church can’t influence political policies.

Any religious institution has the right not to recognize gay mar-riage. Although I may be ideo-logically against this opposition, I would still defend the right of any religion to do so. As I said, the state can’t tell the church what to do.

And examples of this already exist. For one, the church techni-cally doesn’t recognize divorce and any marriage occuring after the legal dissolution of the pri-mary union. But should divorce be illegal? Of course not. Why would you force people who don’t love each to other to be united in a legal bond?

Conversely, why would you forcibly keep people who do love each other out of this legal bond? The illegality of gay mar-riage denies homosexual couples the equal protection provided by the Constitution.

Civil unions are the same, you say? Sounds awfully similar to “separate but equal.” It’s 2012... aren’t we past this by now?

Another popular argument is that legalizing gay marriage threatens the future of society, as gay couples can’t biologically have children of their own.

This, of course, is assuming that once gay marriage is legal-ized, all the straight couples in the world will magically come out the closet and we’ll all go extinct. Hmm...

In addition to all of this, consider all the children in need of adoption.

Consider Janice Langbehn, who was barred from visiting her dying partner in a Miami hospital in 2007.

Consider not being able to get down on one knee and profess your lifelong commitment to the person you truly love.

Write to your local elected of-ficials. Join LGBTQ activist groups on your campus. Start your own peaceful protest.

You don’t have to be gay to fight for the idea that our enti-recountry, not just California, should allow people who love each other to be legally married.

Proposition 8 vs. Church and StateBy Martin O'Sullivan

newS editOr

• Three-day weekend for President's Day!

•All Juniors who applied for off-campus housing were released.

• Four-day week of classes next week .

•The next iPad, version 3, is said to debut on March 7.

•Winter is halfway over and so far we have not had any bad snow storms.

•Whitney Houston died.

• Monday classes on Tuesday of next week.

•Teachers are already scheduling midterms for the semester.

•Gas in Conneticut went up $0.05.

•Parking in Fairfield train station before 9 a.m. costs $30.00 .

The Mirror welcomes the opinions and contributions of its readers:Letters to the editor must be timely and submitted by email at info@fairfieldmirror.com or Box AA.All letters to the editor that are appropriate will be published either in print or online.The Mirror reserves the right to edit letters and articles for content, length and grammatical error. Letters should be free of obscenities and personal attacks, and should contain correct and factual information not exceeding 500 words.

In a recent campus email, President Jeffrey von Arx, S.J. highlighted a number of differ-ent areas in which Fairfield has been reassessing their focus and explained the progress that has been made over the past few months.

“While we may disagree on specific choices and actions that we have taken and that we need to take for Fairfield’s future, it is critical that we are engaged in a constructive and responsible discussion that is focused on systemic solutions.” Okay, so maybe we haven’t exactly been supportive up to this point, but we’re more than willing to talk about our feelings; in fact, that’s what we’ve been doing in this column for many of our past is-sues this year.

But we shouldn’t be the only ones speaking up about the situation Fairfield is currently facing. Even in his email, Fr. Von Arx said, “I encourage you to par-ticipate actively in this collective process to develop and support strategies that move the Univer-sity forward.”

All well and good, but how? Although many top administra-tors have kindly made them-selves readily available to a num-ber of campus groups and their leaders, like The Mirror, FUSA and IRHA, does this availability extend to students less involved in the campus community?

What about a student not very involved in prominent campus groups? What about a regular student who is simply concerned about where his or her money is going?

It is clear that remedying the financial problem at hand (and the other problems tied to it) requires involvement and input from a variety of sources. While not as educated or experienced as a number of faculty and ad-ministration members, students may provide the missing key to this solution.

With so much of their money and their future riding on the reputation of Fairfield, stu-dents should all understand the stake they have in the University’s success. As an added bonus, our perceived naiveté might actually be useful to provide outside per-spectives for potential solutions.

Because we’re not members of the faculty or the administra-tion, and thus can hold conversa-tions with both groups without bias, we might need to become the mediators. At the rate the faculty and administrators are going now, it looks like students will be the last options to step in to handle the dialogue soon – before University community members can no longer interact successfully or cordially at all.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

Vincent Ferrer/The Mirror

Mikaela Tierney |Editor-in-Chief

Gabriella Tutino |Executive Editor Charlotte Adinolfi| Managing Editor

Notable aNd Quotable:“For once everyone on both sides can be happy with an administrative decision."

- Kevin Bachman "Despite Rumors Beach Living Granted to All

Who Apply " pg. 3

California court overturned law banning homosexual marriage

Student Solutions

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 8Opinion

Does Fairfield Fit Diversity?The Illinois Board of Higher Edu-

cation generally agrees that in a col-lege environment, having students of mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds is important. The IBHE considers college diversity “advantageous not only for the individuals within the col-lege, but for the businesses employ-ing them after college and society in general.”

In other words, having a percent-age of racial minorities in the student population will make a college or uni-versity more desirable in the eyes of an applicant. More applicants means more money for schools. The applica-tion fee for Fairfield University is $60. The Office of Admissions at Fairfield University estimates that about 8,500 students applied for the academic year of 2010-2011. Although only 65% of those applicants were accepted, the University collected just around $510,000 in application fees alone.

Has “diversity” become a learn-ing implement? Listed alongside

technological advances on campus, majors offered, and lists of available clubs and sports, the face of “diversity” in the form of a multicultural student body has become a category that nur-turing parents heed when deciding on the best school to give their son or daughter that edge in the job market.

Diversity is one of the measures college ranking systems such as U.S. News and World Report uses to give status to schools. Those at the top, like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, tend to have higher percentages of these mi-nority populations than schools who rank a little lower on the scale such as Villanova, Quinnipiac and Fairfield University.

While institutions of higher education may be partaking in a perky song and dance routine about what their school can offer just to attract the attention of applicants, should they be condemned for doing so? Competi-tion is stiff in an era in which more students than ever before are attend-ing college, and demanding more to prepare for a job market that is even more competitive. A focus on making

money in these harsh economic times may just be an effort to survive.

Consider the mission of Mahamaya Girls’ College, a second-ary school in Sri Lanka that seeks to educate girls of underprivileged families: “It is our social responsibility to reduce inequalities that constrain the potential in our society and give these students the opportunity for a better education.”

Now compare that to the IBHE’s motivation to increase diversity in Universities, which states, “As com-panies become ‘globalized,’ they will require diverse yet cohesive work-forces. To have a cohesive workforce, employees need to have developed the communications and behavioral skills that make it easier and more comfortable to interact with people who are ‘different’ from themselves.”

The difference between these two statements is clear. Where one seeks to give minority students an opportunity to receive the same level of education more privileged students have access to, the other seeks to wheel in “diverse” students in order

to gain a competitive edge in their applicant’s consideration. It would appear that Universities are now selling their “diversity factor” as of-fering the typical pool of applicants a well-rounded experience by incorporating “diverse” students into the mix.

While it is true that learning to work with people different from one-self is vital, an issue arises when focus veers from the needs of students on campuses in the scramble to attract attention. The emphasis on diversity as a standard for many colleges is a way of keeping up with the trend.

“Each person is diverse,” says Alicia Bissonnette ‘12. “You shouldn’t downplay the signifi-cance of diversity outside of race. Some people are really into theatre and some are more athletic.”

Diversity takes many different forms. Focusing on race and ethnic-ity, which can be measured more easily, shows that these schools do not take diversity in its real sense as seriously as “diversity” in the profit-able sense.

By aMBer nOwak

Head COpy editOr

February 8, 2012To the students of Fairfield

University,

As the Inter-Residential Housing Association, we take pride in creating positive com-munities for all residents to feel at home in their residence halls. We, as an organization, felt it was extremely important to address the act of racism within our fellow residents’ home. The recent event in Claver Hall proves that racism, although it does not necessarily manifest itself in violence, exists at Fairfield University.

As Dean Donoghue and Fa-ther von Arx have expressed, there is no tolerance for discrimination at Fairfield and IRHA would like to speak out against this blatant intolerance. Apathy or dismissal of this event is unacceptable.

We, as Fairfield students, need to address the issue of preju-dice head on. While some of you may feel that this issue does not affect you or your life, we would like to ask you to rethink your reasoning. Derogatory statements affect everyone; words and sym-bols are just as powerful as actions and can convey hurtful messages in a space where all are welcome and should feel safe. We cannot be bystanders in this context.

IRHA continues to create in-clusive groups of all residents and encourages the rest of the Fairfield University student body to not become indifferent to such an act, but become proactive in creating viable solutions to this ongoing injustice.

Thank you,The Inter-Residential Housing

Association Executive Board

Letter to the Editor

It is likely that the GOP has done itself irreparable harm in preparation for November, despite Romney’s claim that the competi-tion actually strengthens it. Santo-rum’s criticism of the conservatism of Romney’s record has a significant chance of weakening his base, much of which views Romney as the only electable candidate.

Gingrich’s success in South Carolina, the state that “chooses presidents”, has apparently not boosted the momentum he would need in order to capture enough delegates. Santorum’s consis-tency as a social conservative who supports “some spending” may help voters see him as a viable candidate, but his strong stance on social issues have thrown him under the bus, especially if Obama appeases conservatives in any way.

His administration has taken a step back on this issue allowing religious organizations to opt out of providing contraceptives. But as Romney pointed out in a New Hampshire debate in January,

any discussion on banning con-traception is “silly.” The heart of the matter is freedom of religion, (i.e. allowing religious groups to follow through on their respective principles), but when one discovers that 98% of sexually active Catholic women use contraception, one finds that the “culture war” that Gingrich and Santorum are fighting will eventually be forsaken.

Such a fight will not appeal to the liberal voters needed to elect a new president, which is why Romney need not worry. His reputation as a

“flip-flopper” goes both ways: even though some conservatives accuse him of compromising in regard to abortion and health care, liberal voters are likely to see this as a sign that he would make sound deci-sions were he to find himself in the oval office.

Meanwhile, Ron Paul, who in a recent national poll finds himself in second place behind Romney, does not need to fight between the other candidates on

the conservatism of his voting record. The other candidates, likewise, do not bother attacking him. Paul’s consistency over the 30 years in congress liberates him from scrutiny concerning his loyalties and views. Even Gingrich applauds Paul on his views regarding the Fed-eral Reserve and monetary policy. But when it comes to Paul’s other favorite topic, foreign policy, many

conservatives’ minds are filled with im-

ages of mushroom clouds. Not only does he plan to im-

mediately bring all troops back from war, he

also

wants troops home

from every-where in the

world. Would this save the US money? Cer-

tainly. Would it make us safer? Most Republicans do not believe so.

It does not matter that Paul would have a chance against Obama. He has no chance to win the nomination. Romney enjoys saying how he wants to make the military “so big, no one would think to attack us.” As with most ambitious statements, it receives plenty of applause. But it will not lighten the burden on the taxpayer. Obama’s original promises about the troops were never brought about (although he did bring the troops back in time for election year, against the advice of some who called the decision a “disaster”, and for many Iraqi victims, it has been).

We may witness a struggle between Obama and Romney focused on “Keynesian econom-

ics” vs. “capitalism”. Regardless of who wins, we can expect continued foreign adventure,

and a dwindling middle class. Whether Israel gets attacked will be an enormous deciding factor.

The late Christopher Hitchens once said to an audience about Ira-nian President Ahmedinejad: “Have you ever wondered what would happen if a madman got a hold of a nuclear bomb? Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to find out.”

By JOHn driSCOll

COntriButing writer

Race to the Finish Could Result in an Interesting Outcome

Vincent Ferrer/The Mirror

Vincent Ferrer/The Mirror

The Vine

{The Vine}

In our hectic daily lives as col-lege students, we often glide through the day from class to

meeting to class without paying much attention to the environ-ment we race around in.

Sure, you’ll notice posters and advertisements tacked up to walls

in the stairwells, but the features of our surroundings that seem to always be there tend to fade into the background until they are no longer noticed.

Most of the time it isn’t until that miserable day spent stuck in some corner of the library that you actually become aware of a picture or sculpture that had for so long been a part of the backdrop of the

campus. In a desperate scramble to focus on anything but that omi-nous blinking cursor, your eyes land on a framed painting hang-ing on the opposite wall. Has that always been there? What’s it sup-posed to be anyway? Is it real? Why is it there?

There are a vast number of works like these spread out across campus. Last year, Art History and

Marketing major Megan Kimmons ’11 started off a research project to gather information and catalogue these pieces. “Some of the most surprising works were the African works in the BCC, the works on the first floor of DMH and in the stair-well of DMH,” Kimmons said.

The project was implemented by Carrie Weber, Collections Man-ager of the Bellarmine Museum of

Art, in an effort to document the abundance of art objects that are in the University’s hands. Some of the works that have been docu-mented thus far have been found in the library, Bannow, Canisius, DMH, Gonzaga Auditorium, and various locations in the BCC.

Director of the Bellarmine

By Amber NowakChief Copy Editor

Unexpected

Masterpieces

CAMPUS ART| page 10

Next time you're waiting for your papers to print, look to the right. Or look up

while you're sitting in the Mezzanine. You might see something you like.

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 10The Vine

Museum of Art, Dr. Jill Deupi said that the Fairfield University Campus Art Collection (FUCAC) has been a subject of interest for constant development. “The museum was quietly working behind the scenes in sup-port of this important resource on cam-pus. Thus, we spear-headed a comprehen-sive inventory of art on campus nearly two years ago,” she said.

A number of African sculptures had been situated in the lobby of the Quick Center, as well as one in the Student Di-versity Office in the Lower Level BCC. When asked what they thought of a sig-nificant work of art being placed in such a public location, students who were sitting in the Diversity Office expressed different views.

“I feel like it should be in an area where it can be better recognized,” said Brianna Stewart ’15.

Aldrin McDonald ’15 said, “I like that it’s here. It raises awareness that there are other cultures.”

A large collection of abstract paint-ings by Wang Ming adorn the Bannow and Canisius halls. In 2001 Ming and his wife donated a number of the artist’s works to Fairfield University after Ming exhibited a collection in fall of 2000, “Universal Di-mensions/Scrolls and Screens.” Included in the donation were two 35-foot long scrolls of acrylic on Japanese mulberry pa-per mounted on linen. These scrolls can be seen in the center of Bannow Hall and reach almost the full length of the central wall that spans four floors.

A native of Beijing, China, Ming is a cal-ligrapher who worked in western abstrac-tions. He was 80 at the time he made this donation. Paintings of his that were also a part of the Mings’ donation can be found on the main floor of the library outside the Curriculum Room, near the main circula-tion desk outside the copy room, on the main floor by the computers, and behind the front desk. Some of hs paintings are also located in the Canisius stairwell and in Canisius 8. A University press release from July 2001 states, “Ming has emerged as an

artist whose style is his own– an assimila-tion of two cultures in a unique blend of east and west.”

The mural located in Gonzaga Audi-torium was commissioned by the Jesuits of Fairfield University in 1959. The 8 x 25 foot detailed narrative mural was designed and painted by Connecticut artist Bernard Riley, and records the life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. The son of the prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1568, Gonzaga is now known as the patron saint of youth. After researching Gonzaga’s life, Riley depicted scenes from his life from “a child of high birth” to “a young man tending those dying from an epidemic which he himself suc-cumbed to.”

Another of Riley’s works was lent to the University by his son, and is located on the left wall of the Staff Lounge above the Mezzanine by Jazzman’s cafe. The sketch depicts The Battle of Anghiari, a battle be-tween Milan and the Republic of Florence that occurred in 1440. This scene was de-picted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505 and is a “lost” painting. Only copies of the original work exist today, including one by Rubens, which makes the subject of Riley’s sketch a particular point of interest. It is one of the most energetic compositions on campus, and perhaps the most overlooked.

Research on these works, and oth-ers, is still underway. After Kimmons graduated in May 2011, fellow Art His-tory student Sara Hoegan took on the project. “I think that the collection is greatly unnoticed,” she said. “There are a lot of local artists who donate works that help to enhance certain environ-ments [on campus]”

Deupi maintains that the University is taking steps in a process to maintain these objects. “We prioritized those objects that needed conservation most urgently and began the task of sending select pieces out for the appropriate professional care. Fur-ther, we are currently in the process of de-veloping new protocols to facilitate the care and movement of art on campus.”

If Times are Tough and You Need Someone ELSE to Talk to…

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Amber Nowak/The Mirror

Page 1: Some artwork can be found in Bannow and the Commuter Lounge.Top: A sketch by local artist Bernard Riley hangs in the Mezzanine. Right: Works by Wang Ming can be found in the library near the computer space.

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 11The Vine

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Lent and Easter TraditionsThe Sacred Meets Secular and Pagan

Lent approaches. Many familiar traditions will appear,

from ashes of its first Wednesday to “Spy Wednesday” in Holy Week. (The “spy” be-ing Judas, who in that day’s Gospel plots the betrayal of Jesus.) But many Lenten customs are purely secular, even pagan. As in much of our culture and religious tradition, the sacred-secular intermingling abounds.

We begin to appreciate this holy sea-son by examining its name, surprisingly a totally secular word, from the Anglo-Saxon lencten, also lengten, in later Middle English lenten or lente. Simply put, Lent signified spring’s arrival, the “lengthening of days” with noticeably increasing daylight. The Church thus used “Lent” for the peniten-tial season preceding the fullness of spring, Easter, the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox on March 20-21, the start of spring.

The sacred name of Easter is even more secular – totally pagan, actually – in origin. Cosmology and religion merge again, but here via Norse theology. Easter, and “east,” derive from Eostre (also, Eastre), Germanic goddess of dawn and spring. A pre-Chris-tian festival around March 20 honored Eas-tre, heralding spring’s return.

Familiar animal symbols evolved. Christ the Paschal Lamb fulfills the Passover lamb of the Book of Exodus (ch. 11-12), when the blood of the lamb on the Hebrews’ door posts alerted the death angel to “pass over” them in the final plague, the death of the Egyptian first-born. As Pharaoh released the Chosen People, Christ liberates us from enslavement of sin into new freedom and life with Easter,

our Pasch: Jesus ate the pesach, or Passover meal, at the Last Supper, commemorating the exodus from Egypt.

Bunnies do not share this rich Biblical reference, but the rabbit, curiously, sum-mons up the grander symbol, the egg – gen-erator of new life, in Greco-Roman mytholo-gy. Medieval Christians placed colored eggs in a symbolic tomb of Christ, celebrating re-birth, as in Chinese culture where dyed eggs link new life to the colors of nature reborn in spring. For Christians, red eggs signified drops of Christ’s blood. Blessed with holy water, for St. Augustine (4th century) the life-giving eggs meant hope for eternal life.

Medieval analogies abound: yolk as Christ’s body wrapped in white linen; cracked eggs as tomb broken open at Easter dawn, and egg rolling symbolizing rolling away the tomb’s rock; cooked eggs in pockets at Mass, cracked when the priest proclaimed “Christ is risen”; Trinity signified by yolk, white, and shell; and in one legend, the Virgin Mary amusing the boy Jesus by coloring eggs, later given to Pilate to represent tears in pleading for her son’s life.

The Easter bunny? Breeding rabbits, synonymous with fertility, found German-American immigrants hiding eggs in bas-kets – rabbits’ nests – found by children told they were left by the fertile bunny of life. (Egg-shaped colored jelly beans share this one.) And it all comes back to the eternal life promised at the start of Lent and revealed in the Resurrection. In our Lenten-Easter heritage, sacred meets secular, as in all of God’s, redeemed, di-vinized, sacramentalized creation.

By Leo Manglaviti, S.JJesuit Community

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 13The Vine

The new original series “I Just Want My Pants Back” from MTV follows the life of Jason

Strider and his friends. Jason (Peter Vack) is a

20-something guy living in Brook-lyn. He works as a secretary at a casting agency, hates his job and is also really bad at love, with numer-ous love-related mishaps.

The show chronicles Jason's attempts to find a girl named Jane who he met at a local bar. He’s try-ing to find Jane because he wants his pants back--the ones she took after their one night stand.

Contemplating his obsession with finding the girl and his pants, and while thinking about other everyday life issues, he heads into a bodega run by Bobby (Sunkrish Bala), who always has sound ad-vice for him.

This is where we meet Tina (Kim Shaw), Jason’s best friend. Tina works at a fashion design firm, and she is Jason’s sexual compass even though she is more of a train wreck herself than her best friend is. Along with their friends Eric and Stacy, who are not only together but are also in graduate school, the group figure out life in some very crazy ways. However, they also tend to get themselves into more prob-lems than they really need.

I have mixed feelings about this show because of its dry comic execution.

Although some characters have great one-liners, a few good sets of dialogue aren’t very engag-ing, and so the comedy borders on the line of lackluster. It felt similar to the first season of “The Office,” where I felt it was funny but part of me still wanted to turn it off.

However, I did like the throw-back structure to "Sex and the City."

Jason seems to be a nuanced ver-sion of Carrie Bradshaw, while Tina is Jason’s Samantha Jones based on her sexual antics. Stacy, who comes off a bit innocent, would be Char-lotte. Stacy's boyfriend Eric, who is studying an unspecific something within the medical field, embodies a Miranda quality.

The only character that feels significantly developed in terms of comedy is Bobby, but as the series continues, hopefully this will be fixed.

Now for any guys reading this article, don’t allow this structure to fool you. This show is geared to-ward guys as well. It’s interesting to see how much the friends get in-volved in one another’s lives; they are more than ready to give one another crap for anything they do, even if it was done under the advice of another member of the group.

After watching the first three episodes, I feel that the show and its comedy are still finding its foot-ing, becoming a comedy that we as college students in particular can relate to because all of the charac-ters are young post grads.

Some of the show’s funniest

moments include Jason’s attempts to find Jane. In the second episode he places an ad online, which re-sults in him not finding Jane, but instead finding an equally unsta-ble bartender with whom he went home.

In the third episode, Jason lands a job interview after some good networking. The interview is for a job that he’s always wanted to do: promote cool and interesting bands for labels.

Unfortunately, the interview is ruined when Jason abruptly stops it to chase after Jane, who he sees in the hallway. Although we don’t know the real outcome of the inter-view, we can assume Jason blew his chances.

If the show can turn up the heat with the funny and the characters in the next few weeks, it has a real chance to usher in a long-overdue breath of fresh air to MTV’s original series programming.

If you haven’t seen the show yet, check it out and sound off in the comments section of The Mir-ror at www.fairfieldmirror.com. “I Just Want My Pants Back” airs Thursdays at 11 p.m. on MTV.

“Bring It All Back” by S Club 7

Written by the British teen pop group, this song embodies the 1990s bubblegum pop sound. As a runner, the encouraging lyrics combined with the upbeat sound and catchy beat are rejuvenating. Its lyrics “Don’t stop, never give up, hold your head high and reach the top/Let the world see what you have got/Bring it all back to you” are perfect for anyone in need of a confidence booster or the motiva-tion to work out. Listening to this song while running outside is the equivalent to bathing in a pool of euphoria.

“I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness

The British glam rock band released this single in 2003. Its ini-tial draw is in the soaring falsetto sung by lead singer, Justin Hawk-ins, but the rhyming, passionate and repetitive lyrics and booming base are also appealing: “I believe in a thing called love/Just listen to the rhythm of my heart/There’s a chance we could make it now/I believe in a thing called love.”

The group exhibits a unique style consisting of heavy metal, pop and rock and roll. The listen-er of the song has the privilege of hearing an immense amount of talent encompassed within every aspect of the performance while sustaining the sense of love and passion expressed by the artists of the Darkness.

“Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Bublé

Michael Steven Bublé, born

on September 9th, 1975, is a three-time Grammy Award winner. This single, a mixture of jazz and pop, is about everyone’s dream of find-ing his or her true love. Listening to the rhythmic, soothing, harping lyrics undoubtedly brings about feelings of optimism: “I tried so very hard not to lose it/I came up with a million excuses/I thought, I thought of every possibility/And I know someday that it’ll all turn out/You’ll make me work, so we can work to work it out.”

The song conveys the univer-sal idea, “The right person is out there somewhere, we just haven’t met them yet,” and is expressed in a pure and simple fashion. It also communicates the message of finding love while eliminating de-grading or promiscuous language.

“I’ll Be There” by The Jackson 5

Long before Michael Jackson (Aug. 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) be-came the King of Pop, he was part of the family group the Jackson 5. As one of the Jackson 5’s first four singles that peaked at the tip of the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1969, the song sheds light on Michael’s youthful, pure, soulful voice. Lis-tening to Michael alternate the

lead vocals with his brother Jer-maine also typifies on the concept of family that the Jackson 5 illus-trates.

This song illuminates the shock value of Michael’s talent. It is rare that a boy so young could contain such raw talent or express

such mature emotions. The sim-ple lyrics and memorable chorus also contribute to its appeal: “You and I must make a pact/We must bring salvation back/Where there is love, I’ll be there.” It’s hard not to want young Michael there when he chants these lyrics.

Music

By Emily KertContributing Writer

By Annemarie VeiraStaff Writer

Carnival is one of the biggest celebrations in Brazil, with 4.9 million people attend-

ing last year’s incarnation of the annual festival, and on Thursday Feb. 16, Fairfield University will be having its own carnival.

The tradition of Carnival, or in Portuguese Carnaval, was brought from European settlers to Brazil. Professor Quaglia elaborated on the history of Carnival: “It’s the four days before Mardi Gras, Fat Tues-day… This started in the medieval times, to compensate the forty days that came after where you cannot eat, you must fast, you can only eat fish some days.”

The celebration of Carnival began segregated between the classes, then with the passage of time the celebration became more integrated. Now Carnival brings a sense of national pride, represent-ing everyone’s contribution to Bra-zilian culture.

Carnival as we know it, with the parades and the pageantry started in the 1950’s. “They cre-ated schools of samba… they show sometimes 3,000-4,000 people, they have to parade in 75 minutes,

they have to show their costumes, their floaters, and the harmony of a whole group moving in the same direction," Quaglia said. "And they make this as a way to win a prize. “

This coming Thursday, we’ll be having our own Carnival in the lower level of the BCC. “We’re go-ing to have a carnival here on the 16th, from 8:30-10:30 p.m.

"We’re going to have Brazilian food, someone should be bring-ing some drinks, guarana,” Quaglia said. “We’re going to do a party, everybody is going to follow some-body dancing on a stage, people don’t have to know how to dance, they can just come in.”

Some of the different cuisine you can expect at the festivities are coxinha, embadinha, brigadeiro, and guarana. Coxinha is similar to a chicken nugget, shredded chick-en and spices, covered in batter and deep fried, while embadinha is more similar to emapanadas, but with a slightly flakier crust. Then on the sweeter side, brigadeiro is small chocolate bonbon, and guarana a soft drink made from an extract from the plant of the same name.

All in all, the event is one that shouldn’t be missed, the conflu-ence of Brazilian culture and Fair-field U style partying.

By Richard O'ConnorStaff Writer

iPick, YouListen

MTV Show Still Needs Work

Contributed Photo

Main character Jack has to navigate through his life as a post-grad and also find a girl that still has his pants after a one-night stand.

Contributed Photo

Though Carnaval at Fairfield won't be as colorful as the one in Brazil, it's food will surely still be just as good.

Fairfield's own "Carnaval de Brasil"

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 14The Vine Page 14The Vine

Nine men walked onto the Quick Center stage last Friday night wear-

ing jeans and casual t-shirts that wouldn’t make them stick out of a crowd. But as the stage lighting changed to a deep red, they came alive to become the musical per-formers known as The Rebirth Brass Band.

The Frazier brothers formed the jazz band in 1983 and be-gan playing on the streets of the French Quarter in the city of New Orleans. The combination of traditional brass instruments and modern music created their signature brand of brass funk that eventually grew to become a worldwide phenomenon.

Known as a New Orleans in-stitution, their band became es-pecially popular within the post-Katrina world. The Rebirth Brass Band is a representation of their musically rich hometown, which had overcome tragedy and de-struction. Their brass band has become dearly loved not only in New Orleans, but also around the world.

Coming from a hometown in New Orleans to play at the Quick

Center in Fairfield, Conn., shows their diversity in touring loca-tions.

The Rebirth Brass Band members formed two lines in front of the audience. The first line had two trombone players, three trumpet players and one saxophone player. A bass drum player, snare drum player and tuba player made up the back line, showing the variety within the group. The combinations of instruments created the distinct, funky sound that made them fa-mous.

Their natural joking manner and strong charisma rubbed off on the audience once the band was introduced. The relaxed at-titudes clashed with their amaz-ing talents, creating a distinct and dynamic aura that filled the Quick Center.

The incredibly vigorous stage presence and the obvious bonds with one another created a strong sense of unification. It was almost as if they bounced energy off one another, shar-ing the spotlight to praise one another for their extraordinary talent.

The band members in the front would often stop playing their instruments and move out

of the way for a breakdown with the drums, changing their forma-tion to acknowledge one anoth-er’s talent, which was truly an act of teamwork.

Not only did the band es-tablish a sense of strong con-nection with one another, but they also formed a bond with spectators.

Looking out at the audience often, they would acknowledge

those dancing around the edges of the auditorium. During their last song, the band even put out an open invitation to anyone who wanted to come onstage and dance–and people took advan-tage of the opportunity.

At the end of the perfor-mance, many people left the theater still dancing and singing. “It was a lot of fun, a lot of excite-ment and a lot of energy,” said

Valentina Stefanidis '12. “The guys in the jazz band were enter-taining and extremely talented."

The Rebirth Brass Band won the 2012 Grammy Award in the Best Regional Roots Music Al-bum category this past Sunday.

Showing no signs of slowing down, the group that helped kick off brass band revival almost 30 years ago continues on to a great future.

“The Rebirth Brass Band” Living Up to the Name By Nicoletta Richardson

Contributing Writer

Photo by John Margaretten

A sampling of the great variety of prepared foods at Mrs. Greens.

The group — vocalist and lead guitarist Evan D'Abrosca '13, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Zakk Rogg-Meltzer '10, bassist Joey D'Alessio '12 and drummer Pete Sweeney '11 — may seem like your average group of guys, just jam-ming together to pass the time. But they're actually pretty talented and have already made a name for themselves.

Chasing Carmen has been to-gether for two years (with the ex-ception of Pete, who joined about six months ago), and in that time they have released an EP "The Red Door Diaries" and a full-length al-bum "Angels and Devils."

They've played famous ven-ues like Toad's Place in New Ha-ven and The Webster Theater in Hartford, they have opened for big name bands like Hinder and Sav-ing Abel, and bassist D'Alessio is one of Warwick Basses' youngest clients ever. Pretty damn cool.

The Mirror: Who writes your mu-sic?

Chasing Carmen: Zakk writes the lyrics, though Pete will join in on the next album. All four of us col-laboratively write the music, with heavy musical contributions from Joey and Evan.

TM: Do you see yourself continu-ing with Chasing Carmen after col-lege?CC: Absolutely. We are continu-ing to grow as a band and are pro-

gressing in ways we couldn't have imagined at the onset…We are in the process of setting up an East Coast tour this summer and are hoping to play a large summer fes-tival as well…and [we] have just signed a management deal with Monolith Management out of Salt Lake City, Utah. We won't stop anytime soon.

TM: Who are your artist influenc-es?

CC: I like to say our musical style can be described in one phrase: From grunge to funk, to prog to punk. This takes each of our indi-

vidual favorite musical styles, and with that we have created a new sound innovation that is uniquely our own. If I had to say bands that we are similar to, I would say Stone Temple Pilots, Audioslave and The Foo Fighters. Rock music just best describes the emotions we feel as a band.

TM: Favorite show you've played?

CC: Opening up for Puddle of Mudd and Rev Theory at The Web-ster Theater. Great crowd (hun-dreds of people), and they were really digging our music. We had them all singing along by the end

of the first chorus. We even had a fill-in drummer, Tom Saporito, for that show, and we were just flaw-less musically and really felt ener-gized by the crowd. It was a hell of an experience and one that I will never forget.

TM: What do you have to say about your fans?

CC: We love our fans or, as we have dubbed them, our "Chasers." We have a great local following when we play shows in Connecticut, New York, or Rhode Island, and our online fans are really quite amazing as well. We get messages every day from all over the world…We greatly appreciate the support and would like to thank every sin-gle one of our fans.

TM: Music is so important to you because...

CC: It is the only thing that allows us to express ourselves in as vul-nerable and powerful a way as it does. Music isn't just a combina-tion of four different instruments playing different sounds; it is a co-hesive, living, breathing entity that is created from four people from different musical backgrounds and different life experiences…Also, chicks dig rock stars, and we find our music to be incredibly badass.

Chasing Carmen will perform at the Levee on Thursday Feb. 16 at 10 p.m.

It's 2 p.m. on a Saturday, and rock music

can be heard echoing through the south

end of Alumni Hall. The source of the

music is the Fairfield student band Chasing

Carmen practicing for their upcoming gig at

the Levee this Thursday.

Contributed by Chasing CarmenMembers Pete Sweeney, Evan D'Abrosca, Zakk Rogg-Meltzer and Joey D'Alessio in Chasing Carmen.

Student Band Brings Alternative Rock to Campus

By Gabriella TutinoExecutive Editor

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 15The Vine

With great power comes great responsibility: a quote everyone has

heard, especially if you are a fan of "Spider-Man." Well, dear ol' Uncle Ben should’ve told young Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) this proverb instead of his neph-ew Peter Parker.

"Chronicle" is a home video movie just like "Cloverfield," al-ready giving this movie a great start and a cool way to experi-ence the film.

A senior in high school, An-drew is abused by his alcoholic father who stays home and col-lects insurance while Andrew's mother is bedridden and close to dying. Shy and constantly bul-lied at school, he finds a friend in his cousin Matt (Alex Russell).

Andrew videotapes each day, showing just how much

pain he goes through at home and at school. He falls so in love with the idea of taping every moment of every day that he actually takes the camera to a party. This is the first party that he has attended, and he only goes because Matt drags him there in an attempt to get him to go out and be social.

This party changes his life--not because he has a great time, but rather because he encounters a supernatural diamond that makes him, his cousin and the most popu-lar kid at school, Stephen (Michael B. Jordan), superhuman beings.

The boys' lives become some-thing seen only in sci-fi movies, and they gain supernatural pow-ers that allow them to move objects and fly, as well as possess superhu-man strength.

However, with all these strengths, young and innocent An-drew, who has never had any con-trol over anything in his life besides his camera, becomes corrupt and

slowly mutates into the person he hates the most: his father.

This is anything but a superhe-ro movie, and it takes a great spin on the idea of superpowers. With three teenagers showing just how much fun it is to be young and pow-erful, it also relays just how quickly a great thing can become corrupt. For example, Andrew cared about his mother, yet once he gains too much control over his power, he becomes a different person.

If you are not a fan of super-powers, superheroes or anything that allows your imagination to take control, this movie is definitely not for you.

This movie gives a great view of what it would be like to finally have a superpower, and the great camera angles, which make it seem as though you are Andrew, make it even more believable and allow the audience to submerge themselves into the characters.

Leo’s wedding vows to Paige were simple: “I vow to fierce-ly love you, in all your forms,

now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once in a life-time love. I vow to love you. And no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find a way back to each other.”

However, the couple has to face a challenge that they could never imagine. There would come

a day when that moment--or any of their moments--would no longer exist for Paige.

“The Vow,” which opened Feb. 10 and has currently made 41.7 million dollars, was inspired by the true events written in "The Vow: The Kim and Krickitt Carpen-ter Story." In this book, Kim Car-penter chronicles the struggles he and his wife Krickitt faced after she lost complete memory of him and their marriage due to brain dam-age from a car accident. In the film “The Vow,” Leo (Channing Tatum),

a musician and owner of a record-ing studio, marries Paige (Rachel McAdams), an artist, after meeting outside of the Chicago DMV.

The movie captures the ro-mance as it unfolds with the events of their love, from the first date through the aftermath of the acci-dent.

Although the movie is about love, it’s also about something much deeper, expressed in Leo’s voiceover at the beginning of the film: “Life's all about moments of impact, and how they change our

lives forever. What if one day you could no longer remember any of them?”

For Leo, he’s faced with a harsh reality after Paige awakens from her coma without her memories. What to do? Give up?

When Paige reawakens, she immediately depends on her par-ents, who she had not seen or spo-ken to since her relationship began with Leo. Unbeknownst to Paige, Leo is the reason for their discon-nect, so her family attempts to re-write their history with her, foster-

ing her into the life she had prior to meeting Leo.

Leo, determined, doesn’t give up on Paige although she is distant thanks to her family.

You have to look at this situ-ation as a chance to fall in love all over again. Going out on a first date all over again, they begin to rebuild their relationship and open the door to a second chance.

With that said that you should be warned, if you plan on seeing this film in order to be swept up in epic moments of Paige, realizing everything, there isn’t much build up in this film. Honestly, it comes off a little flat.

The film is slow, confusing with introductions of characters and the explanations of their secrets. Paige does come to her own realizations over time.

These realizations aren’t what we as movie goers would want out of the entire plot, but we do come out with a form of satisfaction.

This film isn’t just about the satisfaction of finding your one true love. It’s about the hope. When you find that person who can figure you out, and love you in the simplest of ways -which we see in the realism of Paige and Leo’s love - you know that no matter what everything will eventually be okay.

"The Vow" demonstrates and provides that comfort to its audi-ence, showing that love and a vow to love can be powerful.

I recommend this film for anyone that wants to be inspired by love in the most simplest of its forms. The performances of Mc-Adams and Tatum will make you laugh, cry and give hope for “real” love.

By Annemarie VeiraStaff Writer

"The Vow" is slow but satisfyingly sweet

Movie Reviews

Contributed Photo

Not your typical love story: What seems like a happy-ever

-after turns into a tragedy after Paige, played by Rachel McAd-ams, loses her memory. Chan-ning Tatum plays her husband Leo, who is faced with the task

of making her fall in love with him all over again.

Despite George Lucas’s best efforts to suck the life out of the Star Wars

saga through re-releases with mi-nor “improvements,” "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D" is surprisingly a joy to watch.

Set thirty years before "Epi-sode IV- A New Hope," "The Phan-tom Menace" tells the origin story of Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), the virgin-birthed messiah proph-esied to bring balance to the force.

Aside from pint-sized hero-ics, "The Phantom Menace" also introduces the droid armies of the Trade Federation and the nefari-ous Darth Sidious.

The journey begins with ne-gations between the Trade Fed-eration and Jedi knights Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). Be-fore the opening credits have fil-tered off, the screen of diplomacy deteriorates in a squall of blaster fire. Hokey religions prevail and the Jedi escape to Naboo, where they must then rescue the hostage Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) and restore peace to the galaxy.

If this so far sounds suspi-ciously like the plot of "Episode IV - A New Hope," then you’ve been paying attention to your pop cul-ture.

"The Phantom Menace" is not so much the exercise in myth

building that the previous films were, but rather an excuse to re-introduce a younger generation to the fantasy epic. By redoing the films in 3D, yet another set of kids is indoctrinated into the fold.

Star Wars and the 3D fad were bound to collide one day, but who knew the result could be so spec-tacular. Watching a ship jump to hyper speed in 3D will make you feel like the little kid who first rooted for Luke, Han, Chewie and Leia in the original trilogy.

The depth of field offered by 3D makes all ship based scenes seem tangible. Pod racing in particular is given new vibrancy through this technique. Through-out these scenes, you truly feel as if you’re in the cockpit with Anakin Skywalker. Every hairpin turn and magnificent blowout comes at you with the force of a rampaging Wookie.

Even more mundane en-counters like Jar Jar Binks’s return to the underwater Gungan city have renewed grandeur with 3D imaging. It feels as if you can get up and walk through the translu-cent bubble domes that comprise the city.

While the 3D treats are mouth watering, this re-release has none of the bonus content that previ-ous Star Wars releases have had. The lack of new content will both-er diehard fans looking for a new experience from the galaxy far, far away, while new fans will swoon at the ways of the force.

By John BykowskyContributing Writer

AbsoluteSuperpowers CorruptAbsolutely

By Jeannine NoceraContributing Writer

Contributed Photo

A couple of teenagers have some harmless fun with their newly found superpowers, but one of them soon turns to the dark side, when he becomes addicted to the idea of power.

3D Works Well in "Star Wars"

The Mirror | Week of February 8, 2012

fairfieldmirror.com

Coffee Break | 16 Editor Gabriella Tutino» info@fairfieldmirror.com

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Send your thoughts to info@fairfieldmirror.com.

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Growing up on Long Island is the definition of a suburban lifestyle. A lot of the houses look the same. People dress the same, have the same types of cars and do the same things that others do on the weekends. We have memberships to privately owned gyms and walk our Yorkshire Terriers around the cul-de-sac we reside on. Even through-out high school, I was not exposed often to people who looked different from me. With a graduating class of a little under 550 stu-dents, I could basically count on my hands how many of those students were part of a minority group.

Because of all this, many people that I know from home think that it is OK to make “light” racist jokes. And even through the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the television shows we love, we can see that even if it is not blatant, there are still many people that think it is acceptable to treat a minority, or someone different from them-selves, with less dignity than they would give to someone more similar to them.

Why do we think that this is an OK prac-tice? Personally, I think it is rooted from our surroundings. It just makes sense– people who are exposed to little variety are ignorant of the diverse kinds of people there are in the world.

Take a look around Fairfield. If you look at the numbers, yes, we have people of minorities, but the majority of the enrolled

students are Caucasian. Some maybe were exposed to more diverse people, maybe some that were never exposed to someone of color. But the problem is that some people think it is OK to take their ignorant ways to college with them, and use racial slurs and jokes on campus.

The shameful acts of racism have taken place over in Claver Hall just in the past week. Many people have heard that someone carved racist remarks into the sign for the resident hall. We have had floor meetings and seminars about it all over campus, all asking the same question– how do we stop students from doing things like this, so the affected students do not get hurt?

And I don’t have an answer for that. What I do know that society truly shapes us. Obviously not everyone can be exposed to absolutely every culture there is in the world. But some throw around racial terms and jokes not knowing that they can truly hurt someone, and make them ashamed of their background.

Americans claimed to have taken big steps in to making all citizens equal. Al-though we have come some way, there is still more progress to be made. Essentially, we’re all the same, so why are we trying to find ways to make some kinds of people better or worse than others?

- Sent from my BlackBerry

Words of violence once meant to lash out and hurt fellow humans now carry no weight. This is the situation our generation faces today. We have become desensitized to words of hate and violence that generations before us have been oppressed by and fought against because of the inequality that they represent. In a sense we have lost our way, yet gained something else. Today’s media has changed us as a society. The Chappelle Show, South Park, Family Guy, as well as our internet and music industry, have changed the meanings of words and ideals that once haunted past generations. I see this as a path to change, by expanding the views of the public past the point that they are comfortable with, you are able to gener-ate change and growth in a society. Words have changed much during the growth of a language. When playing golf with my grandfather, who tends to have his own gruff sense of humor, he tends to throw out insults about my putting like “Why don’t you lift your skirt up Nancy?” This was probably the height of hateful insults during his youth, and probably caused many bouts of fisticuffs at the local soda fountain. Today however, no one would really be bothered being called an insolent whelp or a trollop. At the same time, our generation is viewed differently by other generations. We are Generation Y, also known as the Millennials, a unique group with affluence with technol-

ogy and possess a lower level of religious beliefs than any previous generation. Unlike our parents before us, we have (largely) felt no need to rebel against our parents, and as a group, are consider above the wars of culture that our parents and grandparents struggled through. I am not saying that racism does not exist nor is it condoned. Nor am I saying that people were not offended by what was done in Claver; I am saying the meaning of words that once were symbols of hate and intoler-ance are losing their punch. While what happened in Claver this past week is terrible, the act reflecting the ideals of a sad and pathetic way of thought that is slowly dying out with each passing generation. No school mandatory meeting or theatrical displays will change something that has been allowed to fester and take root after decades. It is up to us to change what we see is unjust. This column is a call to arms of my generation, to educate and live these ideals of equality. For only then will our children, and our chil-dren’s children will be able to live in a world that is free and just. My dream is that one day, when I’m old and grumpy; to be able to call my grandson names that today carry with them a huge weight. Hopefully, by the time that little brat is around, these words will be weightless. - Sent from my iPhone

Feeling the Weight of Words

Want to draw cartoons for The Mirror? Email info@fairfieldmirror.com

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 17Sports

Sports 3x5

John TessiTore

AssisTAnT sporTs ediTor

ivey speighT

ConTribuTing WriTer

eriC bernsen

sporTs ediTor

Who had the most car trouble over this past weekend?

Most legendary Grammy performance from last Sunday?

Defending MAAC Champions Saint Peter's coming to town for Senior Night. Revenge game?

Randy Moss wants to come out of retirement. Would you want your favorite team to pick him up?

Ordway coming through, beating John T in Monday's epic race. When's round 2?

Nick got his bumper hit by a reckless surp, but I heard Ivey left some lasting skid marks at the singles appreciation party...LITE.

Didn't catch the whole thing, but Deadmau5 with the Foo Fighters was elite. Seemed like a great time/place to Sssspeight into darkness.

Oh I'm sure the Stags have all the motivation they need for a Peacock beat-down. All of the seniors go off, Fairfield keeps the win streak intact.

I know the barked Brady would love Moss back, and I would love nothing more than to rock the red old school Randy jersey again. Sssspark up.

Ordway showed the world he's got the legs of Usain Bolt and an Aaron Rodgers arm. Hopefully Johnny Juice has more Cowboy swag next time.

Well I stayed in over the weekend. Somehow was able to get two girls in my bed, but I slept with Pat :( LITE???

I want a recount. Adele can't hold T Swift's pock-etbook. Taylor should have won half of those awards- she won the award to my heart <3

St. Peters most BARKED school in town. Gary Martin scores 40 and makes ESPN top 10 with a 360˚ windmill. HUHU YAYYY

Having Moss and Fitz on the same team is pretty tempting. I just don't want his 'lifestyle' to turn Larry into a hippie. They could party at the TH after YAYYY

Ordway the next Olympiad. He's going to have his own sneaker line, called the ORD. Telling girls to 'just do it.'

HUHU I heard Ivey got caught in bumper to bumper traffic on his way back from Speighting into darkness. But Lopresti got pwnd by a reckless NICCKKKKKK.

NICKKKKKKKKKKKI Minaj looking as possesed as Ivey at "100 Days Till Graduation."

HUHU EVERYBODY DO THE PEACOCK SHUFFLE! Ivey still hasn't got back on the mic after walking out of last years semi-final broadcast, Stags win it for the small man.

HUHUHUH Randy Moss teamed up with poison Ivey, best barked plant connection in the world.

SMH. I have no comments, I took the highway, he took the Ordway and beat me by a receding hairline. However, I embarrased MAAC defensive player of the year in a punting contest! SSSSSSSSSPWND.

Your 2011-2012 3x5 Columnists: Eric Bernsen, Ivey Speight

and John Tessitore.

Because they like to talk... Sports.

This Week in SportsThe week that was in Fairfield Athletics

By The Numbers

Quote of the Week“I was having fun out there and was loving what I was doing,

and I still do. But I didn’t want to just be a player, I wanted to be the best comedic basketball player of all time and I am. It was a gift, I was born to play this game."

–said former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon at Monday's Open VISIONS forum held at the Quick center.

5 2 3The Men's

Basketball team is on a five-game

winning streak after beating

Loyola 68-51 this past Sunday.

Both the Women's and

Men's ten-nis teams were

ranked second in the MAAC

preseason poll.

The Men's Lacrosse team was predicted to place third in the ECAC

Preseason Coaches' Poll

Sports Shorts What To Watch ForWednesday- Men's Basketball vs. St. Peter's, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday- Men's and Women's Swimming at MAAC Championships.

Friday- Women's Basketball at Niagara, 7 p.m.

Saturday- Men's Lacrosse vs. Stony Brook, 3 p.m. Women's Lacrosse vs. Monmouth, 12 p.m.

Sunday- Women's Basketball at Canisius, 2 p.m.

Monday- No games.

Tuesday- No games.

Make sure to check out our new Sports Blog with online-only coverage at sports.fairfieldmirror.com, as well as featured Sports videos.

New Sports Blog

Men's Tennis– A sweep of the doubles matches gave the Stags the momentum to beat Villanova 5-2 last Saturday. Important singles victories came at the hands of Ian Tesmond and Joe Michalisin. The Stags are back in action February 25th at Lafayette.

Women's Tennis– Both doubles teams defeated their opponents in a 4-3 win against Hofstra on Fri-day. The team of Sharissa Ryan and Monica Yajima defeated their opponents 8-2 and the team of Caro-lina Koladzyn and Emma Samson defeated their counterparts 8-4.

Men's Lacrosse– The Stags had two players named to the ECAC Lacrosse Preseason Team. Brent Adams and Drew Palmer were given the nod entering their senior season. Fairfield opens the year against Stony Brook on the 18th.

Women’s Lacrosse– Chloe Mangan, Melanie Raso and Amanda Best were named to the All-MAAC Preseason Team. The Stags were also predicted to place 2nd in the MAAC this season. They open the season with a home game against Monmouth on the 18th.

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012Sports Page 18

The Legend of Meadowlark LemonFormer Harlem Globetrotter Inspires Fairfield Audience

by eriC bernsen

sporTs ediTor

Whether as an athlete or entertainer, musician or minister, this former Harlem Globetrotter is known worldwide as the “Clown Prince” of basketball and for good reason.

Meadowlark Lemon was the featured speaker at Mon-day’s Open VISIONS forum and throughout his talk, it was hard not to find a smiling face in the audience.

For over 20 years, Lemon toured the world with the Harlem Globetrotters while he thrilled fans with his special basketball talents, using a comedic style that was able to cross both language and racial barriers during tumul-tuous times.

By the end of his time as a Globetrotter, Lemon (who is now 79 years old) played in over 16,000 consecutive games and deservedly earned entry into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Although Lemon has been able to meet the likes of President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, he has never forgotten his early influences that motivated him throughout his illustrious career.

“I think sports is one of the common denominators in life. When I saw my favorite players when I was young, they not only were fun to watch, but they made the ball talk. That’s when I knew what I wanted to with my life. I got my vision without television,” said

Lemon.Lemon has proved to be an

inspiration to people of all ages, whether it’s by bringing 15-year-old kids on stage to pass along life lessons or reminiscing with Fair-field professors about the golden era of athletics.

"Lemon is in an elite group of international athletes. Whether he is with a United States Presi-dent or a royal head of state, he is the same person. He’s one of the greatest ambassadors the United States has ever had and is truly a legend,” said Professor Eliasoph, the Open VISIONS moderator.

Fairfield athletics was well represented at the event with Coach Sydney Johnson of the Men’s Basketball team having the opportunity to converse with Lemon in a roundtable discus-sion. Both the Men and Women’s Basketball teams were present at the talk, laughing hysterically at Lemon’s natural antics while also taking in his words of wisdom.

“Athletes shouldn’t worry about the money, if you work hard enough the money will come. It’s important to get a good education, there are plenty of people who go to school but don’t have character. Be the best person you can pos-sibly be,” said Lemon.

Taryn Johnson, senior for-ward of the Women’s Basketball team, was chosen to introduce Meadowlark Lemon and she could not have been more honored to do so.

“I have a great deal of admira-

tion for his devotion and passion for people around the world. He’s played in so many countries and in over 16,000 games. He’s the heart and soul of the Harlem Globetrotters,” said Taryn John-son.

Lemon’s commitment and passion has certainly not less-ened with age. From creating two musical albums to becoming an ordained minister, it is clear that Lemon is a man of many talents. But regardless of how busy he is, Lemon still wakes up at 6 a.m. every day to train, while still working on his basketball game.

“I was having fun out there and was loving what I was doing, and I still do. But I didn’t want to just be a player, I wanted to be the best comedic basketball player of all time and I am. It was a gift, I was born to play this game,” said Lemon.

Lemon was also promoting his new book, “Trust Your Next SHOT: A Guide to a Life of Joy,” at the event, a memoir as well as a self-help guide. The “Clown Prince” also hinted that there might be a movie in the works based on his life.

After hearing Lemon’s uplifting words, it is evident that Lemon was born to do more than play basketball.

“We need to laugh and have fun again," said Lemon. "People come up to me on the street and say that we brought joy to them. That’s what we need more of today."

Tebben Lopez/The Mirror

Former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon during Monday night's Open VISIONS round table discussion with Professor Philip Eliasoph, Dr. Yohuru Williams, and Men's Basketball coach Sydney Johnson.

Tebben Lopez/The Mirror

Lemon shaking the hand of an audience member who received an autographed ball.

The Mirror | Week of February 15, 2012 Page 19Sports

Stags Hit A Speed BumpWomen's Basketball Loses Two Straight After Seven-Game Winning Streak

by ivey speighT

ConTribuTing WriTer

No journey comes without a few bumps in the road. And that’s exactly what the Fairfield University women’s basketball team experienced this past weekend. The squad saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end, while picking up back-to-back losses for only the second time this season.

“I think it could be a wakeup call,” fifth-year head coach Joe Frager said. “One of the things we

did today [Tuesday] at practice is we stayed in the locker room. I talked to them for about 30 minutes and we went over some cold hard figures…8 of our 11 wins were that close. The margin was that close.”

The Stags averaged 17.5 turn-overs over the weekend, a number that is uncharacteristic to a team that knows how tough the com-petition can be. “[We got back] to the idea that we don’t have a margin for error, and they all nod-ded and they all understood that,”

Frager said. Coming into the weekend the

Stags had the opportunity to move into first in the league if they had beaten Marist on the road. How-ever, the Stags dropped a six- point decision against the Red Foxes who are looking for their ninth straight regular season championship. But at this point of the year, Frager knows every opponent is important.

“The reality is even if you [win the regular season championship] and get beat in the tournament

you’re not going to the NCAA tournament… what we tried to do is say ‘Hey guys, they’re all important regardless of what the record is.”

With the season taking one of its final turns, the Stag’s schedule doesn’t get any easier. They do find themselves all but guaran-teed a number two seed in the conference tournament but will have to clinch that spot away from home. The squad will rack up the gas miles, playing three of their final four games on the road, a

tough way to end the season for any team.

“The girls have no choice but to do that,” Frager said. “It is a tough trip, it is tough that we got stuck with five of six on the road but if we look at it the right way we can use it to toughen us up.”

Fairfield has hit this speed bump once before. Last year’s team lost four straight regular season games to conclude the season before dropping to Siena in the MAAC Quarterfinals. That past result emphasizes the fact that this team wants to finish on a high note.

“It's this way in athletics. We live in a ‘what have you done for me lately’ society,” Frager said. “The girls have had a great season so far. No one can take that away. But the irony is if we end the season, and we struggle at the end, that’s what everybody is going to focus on.”

But as noted before, this is a much more tested squad filled with senior leadership. Frager notes how important those experienced players are to help lead the Stags through any tough times.

“That’s what you need at this time of year. When you've got seniors coming down to the end of their career who want it as bad as these guys, the only thing you hope for is that they don’t press too much,” Frager said.

With their road trip con-tinuing Coach Frager’s message is simple: “There’s no need to change anything. We just have to get back to playing to our standards and to the level we were playing at.”

Tom McKiver/The Mirror

Freshman Felicia DaCruz drives the ball against an opposing defender. The team has lost two games in a row after a seven-game winning streak.

sporTs | 20 Sports Editor: Eric Bernsen » sports@fairfieldmirror.com

OnlineNew and improved sports blog.Online only coverage.

fairfieldmirror.com Week of February 15, 2012

Men's Basketball Flying High During Winning Streak

by eriC bernsen

sporTs ediTor

With March on the hori-zon, the Men’s Basketball team is coming together in a timely fashion as they are riding a five-game winning streak after beating Loyola 68-51 this past Sunday.

Four starters scored in double figures against the Greyhounds, but it was the de-fense of the Stags that led to the important road victory. Fairfield held Loyola to 28 percent shooting while accumulating an impressive 10 steals in the process.

Coach Sydney Johnson praised his team’s efforts and acknowledged that all of his players are putting in the hard work on the defensive side of the ball.

“We have a lot of very good defensive players; Colin Nickerson and Jamel Fields are names that come to mind. But even though Rakim Sanders and Derek Needham are known for their offense, they’ve also been outstanding defensively all season,” said Johnson.

“The way we practice allows us to have the right intensity and focus during these games," said senior forward

Rakim Sanders. "Home or away, nothing changes, we just have to keep doing things the same."

The Stags were able to earn the win without their starting point guard, Desmond Wade, who was out with a pulled left hamstring that occurred last Thursday night against the Man-hattan Jaspers. Nevertheless, the depth the Stags have at the guard position was showcased without Wade’s presence in Sunday’s contest.

“It was wise to keep [Wade] out of the game, we know Des-mond is in this for the long haul. Our guards embraced the role of giving us a lift without Wade in the game," said Johnson. "We’ve been doing it as a collective unit over the past 7/8 games and we just have to stay with that mindset."

One statistic that popped out from Sunday’s game was that Fairfield was an efficient 7 from 8 from behind the three-point line. Over the course of this season, it’s been extremely rare to see the Stags have less than double-digit attempts from beyond the arc.

“We definitely want to shoot the ball and shoot it well. We had an outstanding percentage against Loyola, but we have to continue to mix and match our shooting with driving to the lane and post

match-ups. It just happened to be one of those days,” said Johnson.

The Stags will have their last home game of the regular season when they square off against Saint Peter’s this Wednesday. The last time Fairfield hosted the Pea-cocks, the Stags were heartbroken in what was a devastating MAAC Championship game.

Although Sydney Johnson was not Fairfield’s coach last year, he re-alizes the implications of this game, especially with this year's graduat-ing class being honored before the contest for Senior Night.

“Saint Peter’s are the defending MAAC champions and they still have that magic in them. They are well-coached and they really took it to us here last time, so we have to go out there with a certain level of con-fidence,” said Johnson.

Confidence will be crucial going forward as the regular season concludes with the Stags playing four consecutive road games, which includes a match-up against the first place Iona Gaels.

“These guys are commit-ted to playing hard for each other. Whether home or away, it shouldn’t change and that’s my hope and expectation," said Johnson. "We have to do our best no matter where we are."

Yuri Sendzimir/The Mirror

Above: Senior center Ryan Olander takes the ball to the rim against an opposing defender. Bottom Left: Senior forward Rakim Sanders has been instrumental during the Stags' recent five game winning streak.