Mirror - Vol. 28, No. 24 - April 10, 2003

              The
April 10, 2003 - Vol. 28, Iss. 24
Mirror criticized
in FUSA letter
to administrators
BY ETHAN FRY
The FUSA Senate voted Tues-day
to send a letter to Fairfield
University President Rev. Aloysius
P. Kelley, S.J. and administrators
criticizing The Mirror, alleging the
newspaper of "unjust attacks and
poor portrayal," publishing false
information, and using "threaten-ing"
methods.
The process ~
began Sunday dur- LETTER
ing a meeting of Senate's letter
the FUSA Senate to Fr. Kelley ,
when senator Sa- Page 9
rah Courtney, '03,
spoke to the senate YEA OR NAY
regarding her con- HowFUSA
Senate voted
Page 9
cerns about The
Mirror.
"I'm a senator
for the Class of _,
2003," Courtney EDITORIAL
said. "As a sena- Mirror responds
tor I was speaking to criticism
on behalf of con- Page 18
stituents who have
given me feedback saying they
were disappointed with coverage
of clubs [by The Mirror]."
FUSA President Karen
Donoghue, '03, said that she will
not sign a bill including the letter
until The Mirror's, Editor in Chief,
Sean Hayes, '03 is given a chance
to respond to the allegations, but
that the senate can send a letter to
Kelley on their own accord.
"They need to speak to Sean
Hayes before further action is
taken," Donoghue said.
Commenting on the relation-ship
between the FUSA Executive
branch and The Mirror, Donoghue
said, "We've thought The Mirror
has been positive. We've always
had an open mind, and I've had no
complaints until the past two
SEE "MIRROR" ON P. 8
Fairfield University's Student Newspaper
Beach residents bugged by
incessant animalproblem
BY MEG MCGEE Many students at
Fairfield Univer-sity
look forward to
the day when they
can live down at the beach with
their friends and party like animals.
But what these kids don't re-alize
is that not only do the student
beach residents party like animals,
they also party with the animals.
John Huydic, assistant direc-tor
of solid waste and recycling for
the town of Fairfield, acknowl-edges
the pest problem down at the
beach and attributes it mainly to
the student population.
"There are definitely more
(animal) complaints on Reef Road
and Fairfield Beach Road than
elsewhere in town," Huydic said.
"The kids attract the rodents be-cause
they do not properly contain
their trash."
"Once the kids go," for the
summer, Huydic said, "most of
the complaints go."
While class is in session, there
is no shortage of student com-plaints.
"It's ridiculous the amount
of money we pay to live at the
beach in rodent infested houses,"
said Lantern Point resident,
Lindsey Pulito, '04. At her house,
there was a foul smell in the
kitchen so they had to call in the
Fairfield Fire Department. The
firemen discovered a sizzling rat
trapped behind the oven.
"Now our house is called the
'Ratican' instead of the 'Vatican',"
said housemate Lindsay Sampson,
'04.
Not all critters cause prob-lems.
Mike Surprenant, '04, resi-dent
of the Forgotten Path, has had
a squirrel living in his attic since
September. "I think our squirrel
has a nice home," said Surprenant.
"He doesn't give us a real prob-lem
so we leave him alone."
Other student beach residents
are not so forgiving of unwanted
rodents, like Reef Road resident
Kelly Suchowiecki, '03. "Our
house had a history of mice," said
Suchowiecki. She and her
housemates "heard noises one
night and freaked out," so they
decided to get a cat to keep the
mice away.
Fellow Reef Road resident
Kelly Murray, '04, says that she is
surprised that her house has a crit-ter
problem because they are so far
from the water. She admits that
she is unsure of what they are, but
she calls them "pedes," short for
centipedes. "They are long with a
lot of legs and a million antennae.
They creep out of our heaters."
Enticed by the beach yet?
Students should not feel alone
in their wildlife dilemma. Year-round
residents face similar prob-lems,
including Vince Biondi,
Chairman of the Fairfield Beach
Association, and resident of
Fairfield Beach Road.
"Half of the problem is inevi-table
because of the water," said
Biondi, "and half of it is because
of trash." He has spotted musk-rats,
voles, mice, and skunks out-side
his home, and even trapped
four rats this winter.
Biondi warned students to
avoid skunks. "Don't lean down
to pet any pussy cats in the dark,"
he said.
Arthur Leffert, the Director of
Health of the Fairfield Town
Health Department also feels that
the students get what they ask for,
but admits, "there are always rats
along the coastline," regardless of
whether students are living there
or not.
The pest problem for Fairfield
students is not confined exclu-sively
to those who live off cam-pus.
Townhouse and dormitory
dwellers also experience their fair
Contributed photo
I smell a rat: A Fairfield fireman, called to the scene when a burning
smell was reported, found a dead, cooked, rat behind a stove.
share of fauna.
Any pest problems on cam-pus,
especially in the townhouses,
are probably due to the students
lack of cleanliness, said Fran
Koerting, The Associate Dean of
Resident Life.
It seems as though no matter
where you choose to live while at-tending
Fairfield University, you
just can't escape the rodents. Even
Tim Harper, '03, the Co-President
of the Student Beach Resident As-sociation,
has a pest problem. He
often sees his "pet skunk" roam-ing
around at night plotting to
spray his beach house.
And if Harper could offer a bit
of advice to both present and fu-ture
beach residents? "Whatever
you do, just don't let the rodents
ruin a good time."
Tuition to rise 5.9% in 2003-2004
Tuition rises over 25% since 1999
S N A P«5 HQt Here is a look at student costs through the years:
Tuition Increases between 1999 and 2003:
■ Tuition
S7 380 Room & Board
2000-2001 1
S7.650
S8.000 mm^^mm^^ammmmmmmmmmsama&v>A
aMi-AXSA S8,560
$8,920
S25.650
2003-2004 room & board for alternative living:
Townhouses: $6,920 Apartments: $7,500
Source: Campus Currents Graphic by Joshua O'Connelirrhe Mirror
BY ZACK FINLEY
The cost for an incoming
freshman to attend Fairfield Uni-versity
next year will be the same
as the cost of a fully loaded 2003
BMW 325i sedan with leather
seats, on-board navigation system
and rain-sensing windshield wip-ers.
Fairfield continues its trend of
increasing tuition as the Board of
Trustees passed the budget for the
2004 fiscal year. Tuition will in-crease
5.9 percent.
"I really wish that the students
can see specifically where this ex-tra
money we are going to end up
paying will be going," said Brian
Wielk, '06. "Of course everything
needs to be updated all the time,
but I wish we could see specifics
and not generalizations."
This year, tuition for under-graduate
students was $1,550 less
than it will cost next year.
However, the incoming class
of 2007 will be paying more for
tuition as Fairfield will implement
a two-tiered tuition for 2004. The
incoming freshmen will pay
$26,100 as opposed to $25,650 for
continuing students.
"We could have added a little
SEE "INCREASE" ON P. 4