Mirror - Vol. 01, No. 06 - November 3, 1977

              Town
Selectmen
Debate
by James Endrst
I he debate between First
Selectman, John J. Sullivan, the
Democratic incumbent and his
Republican opponent, Thomas
Collimore, held in the Oak Room
last Tuesday, was dominated by
questions concerning the "urbani-zation"
of Fairfield.
The proceedings were calm and
orderly; Mr. Collimore opened
with a familiar quotation appro-priately
adjusted to his viewpoint.
"It is said that power corrupts,
well it also deludes," he began.
"Absolute pwer deludes absolute-ly.
Without a doubt, this is the
major issue of this campaign. It is
not conflicts of interest." The
candidate accused the adminstra-tion
of complacent delusion of
the people of Fairfield citing in
particular the increase of popula-tion
and its side effects. "The
Sullivan administration has com-mitted
itself to unrestrained
growth," said Collimore. "The
support of the Woodfield project
(a low income housing proposal)
does not show a commitment to
the needs of the middle class
residing in Fairfield. I don't
equate sharing problems with
solving problems." The challen-ger
suggested that old be
renovated instead of building low
income housing developments
that are not suited to the
neighborhood's problems.
' Jonn J. Sullivan, who has been
the incumbent for the past
eighteen years defended his
policies by standing on his
record. "The leadership and
direction supplied by this admin-istration
stands with the best in
the country. Our financial shape
is triple A and so is our credit
rating." Sullivan said that he had
received good public reception to
his ideas and many citizens were
working with him on various
projects.
Though neither candidate
agreed on the way to handle
certain aspects of crime, over-population
and zoning, both were
concerned with the rippling
effect of New York City's
problems. "Where they're shoot-ing
cops in New York, they're
shooting at cops in Bridgeport,"
said Sullivan. The First Selectman
predicted that the problems of
New York today will be the
problems of Fairfield in five years.
Nonprofit Organization
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 34
Fairfield, Conn.
THE
FAIRFIELD Vol. 1 No. 6 November 3, 1977
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, FAIRFIELD, CONN MIRRORIncorporated
Building A Dream
A dream slowly becomes a reality as work is begun on the new recrea-tional
complex. Here, a worker stakes out the area for surveying. The
complex is slated for completion by the Fall of 1978.
photographer: Frank Godfrey
Folk Festival
Opens Saturday
Among the Halloween Surprises was an unexpected electrical fire in Gonzoga's laundry room. The fire which
started from the soda machine was quickly extinguished by the Fairfield Vamps. The only disruption was to
"The Night of the Living Dead" which was playing in the auditorium.
Photo by Frank Godfrey.
by William Weisner
This weekend, Fairfield will
host the third annual Appalach-ian
Festival, to be held in the Oak
Room from 10:00 A.M. to 9:00
P.M. Saturday and from 10 A.M.
to 6:00 P.M. Sunday. "Experience
Appalachia" is a fundraising
event designed to provide some
form of income for the
proverty-stricken Appalachian
people.
In 1975, the year the festival
was initiated, the exhibit con-centrated
on crafts, presenting
very little of the Appalachian
culture. Last year, the festival
expanded to include the flavor of
the Appalachian culture, and this
expansion greatly enhanced the
entire program. This year looks
even more promising. The Appa-lachian
people have developed a
trust for the people sponsoring
the Festival, rather than limiting
their involvement in the Festival
to an economic interest.
This year's festival features
more crafts and working demon-strations
than the previous years,"
and also offers more cultural
displays and attractions. One
attraction is a couple from
Virginia who sing ballads about
the people of the Appalachian
country, and about their strong
heritage and beliefs. They are
excellent entertainers and have
an enchanting and mesmerizing
effect on their audience. Another
attraction is an award-winning
mountain dance group from West
Virginia, arrayed in costumes of
their ancestors from Scotland and
Ireland. They will be accom-panied
by musicians and poetry
readers, and promise to provide a
unique form of entertainment.
The Appalachians are an
isolated people and have lived in
an atmosphere of destitution and
oppresion for generations.
Though there are great quanities
of coal in the region, the people
have benefited little from these
due to sub-standard working
conditions and low wages. Their
chief problem is their inability to
provide a useful service to the
American economy, and there-fore
they are incapable of
establishing a reciprocal process
by which their needs would be
met in return for services
rendered.
For years, volunteer groups
have been going down to
Appalachia during the summer to
help build houses, care for the
sick and elderly and provide other
needed services. One person,
Rev. Bill Sangiovanni (Fairfield
'62), realized the need for
continuous help of these people
rather than the temporary
summer help being provided.
With this in mind, he created the
Appalachian House (presently
located at 1591 Post Rd.,
Fairfield) in 1974 to serve as a
market for the handicrafts of the
Appalachian people. This store
provides an opportunity for these
people to render a service in
exchange for their needs. John
Potterton (Ffld. 73) and his wife
Dolores have been managing the
store on a part-time basis for two
years now.
The store is filled with beautiful
handcrafts, especially sewn items
such as quilts, dresses and dolls
and wooden objects such as
cheeseboards, animal figures
candlesticks and bowls. The
prices are reasonable considering
that each item is made by hand
without the convenience of
modern tools or equipment. All
profits are directed into projects
such as house construction which
provides a vital service to the
Appalachian community. The
success of this store has
prompted the opening of another
Appalachian House in Larch-mont,
New York.
The
• Less students for an expanding
university? Mark Murphy
examines the problems facing Ad-missions.
Pg. 3
• "Little progress is achieved by
this organization, which at best
can be described as chaotic."
Coming down hard on Legislature
Pg.4.
• Mystery, Trauma and Roman-ce—
Regional Theatre presents
"Mousetrap", "Reunion" and
"Hobson's Choice." An update on
pages 8 & 9.
• Transfer Tribulations: the slow
process of adjusting to life at F.U.
Pg12.
• "The moves must be smooth
and gentle." Developing the art of
the Pinball Machine. Pg. 13.
• Basketball Preview —Tim
Buckley talks with Coach Barakat
about the upcoming season on Pg.
20.