Mirror - Vol. 29, No. 12 - November 20, 2003

              The
November 20, 2003 - Vol. 29, i airfield University's Student Newspap
University downplays use of undercover officers
BY STEVEN ANDREWS
& KEITH WHAMOND VP claims recent Mirror story was "fabrication"
Vice President for Student Services
William Schimpf defended the use of un-dercover
security officers this week, while
also saying that many of the facts in last
week's Mirror story were untrue.
"We do use undercover officers," said
Schimpf. "However, last week's article [on
undercover officers] was a fabrication."
"[Director of Security] Todd Pelazza
contacted John Puchowicz, who was men-tioned
in the article, and he denied ever be-ing
confronted by an undercover officer,"
said Schimpf.
"In addition, no security officer has ever
solicited any student for marijuana," said
Schimpf. "To do so would be completely
illegal."
Kyle Yasigian, the author of last week's
Mirror article, defended his story.
"To the best of my knowledge, it all
took place," said Yasigian. "I just reported
on things as it happened."
Despite Yasigian's vehemence, one
person who was quoted in his article de-nied
the story was factual when contacted
by The Mirror.
"I never stated the quote attributed
to me," said Tim Page '05. "The quote is
untrue. The only time Kyle approached in
reference to the article was when it was go-ing
to be printed in The Mirror."
Yasigian had credited Page as saying
undercover security officers had solicited
him for marijuana.
When asked about Page's denial ofbeing
quoted, Yasigian said he was "confused."
"That's what was said to me," said
Yasigian.
Ethan L. Fry, the Editor in Chief of The
Mirror, said the story had been submitted to
the newspaper by an outside reporter from
a news writing class taught by the Mirror
advisor, Dr. James Simon.
SEE "STUDENT" ON P. 6
PREPARING FOR THE BIG GAME
Mirror file photo
Huddle up: The men's basketball team strategizes before a game last year at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The team will open
their season Friday at Harvard. For a preview of this year's coverage, see "Fairfield Hoops" on page 20.
Related story: The men's team helps out inner-city youth. For more, see "Men's basketball" on page 18.
Students, faculty
weigh in on
president search
BY TAPvA TOULOUMIS
Maybe a more visible pres-ence.
Or keep the Jesuit tradition
alive and well while still wearing
a collar. What about a lay person,
like Georgetown?
The search for a successor to
Fr. Aloysius P. Kelley, president of
Fairfield University, is underway,
and there is no shortage of voices
among student, faculty and ad-ministration
on what qualities the
perfect candidate would possess.
Some students hope for a
more visible person who can be
regularly spotted on campus.
"I'd like someone who makes
you feel comfortable and welcome,
most definitely a people-person,
someone who is outgoing, but who
also knows how to get money for
the school," said Mariel Kauffman
'06. "I hope the next president
makes more on campus appear-ances
than Father Kelley did."
SEE "DIFFERENT" ON P. 4
Presidential scholars lose preferential registration status
BY ASHLEIGH EGAN
The long line of groups that
get special treatment at course
registration time will be reduced
by one group starting next fall.
For the incoming class
of 2008, there is a package of
changes in the approximately
160 academic scholarships to be
awarded.
The Presidential Scholars will
no longer receive the preferential
registration privilege, and the
monetary amounts of each schol-arship
have been raised.
According to the university
website, other changes include:
• Deans' Scholarships have
been increased from $7,000 to
$10,000 (they did not have pre-ferred
registration)
• Presidential Scholarships
have been increased from $10,000
to $12,000 (along with the regis-tration
being removed from the
scholarship)
• University Fellows Schol-arships
have been increased from
$12,500 to $15,000 (plus contin-ued
preferential registration, a
personal computer and a research
stipend).
The decision to change the
scholarships was made by a
group of people including the
director of financial aid, direc-tor
of admissions, vice president
of enrollment management and
the enrollment management
committee, according to Alex
Scott, director of undergraduate
admissions.
SEE "SCHOLARS" ON P. 4
SCHOLARSHIP BUMP
Fairfield's merit-based scholarships are getting a financial boost beginning
with the class of 2008. Below are the current scholarship amounts, as well
as the new amounts given out beginning next year.
Deans' Scholarship
Cun $7,000
510,000
Presidential Scholarship
Current $10,000
$12,000
University Fellows Scholarship
Current
5,000
ha Mirror