Mirror - Vol. 30, No. 10 - November 11, 2004

              The
\i ivember 1 1, 200 4 -Vol. 1 , : s. 10
Fairfield Internet: well-wired or poor performer:?
BY JAMES NGUYEN
Despite many complaints about
the network from students, Fairfield
was recently ranked 18 nationwide in
the Princeton Review's "Top 25 Most
Connected Campuses" second annual
listing.
The criteria spans more than just
the network sophistication; it also
Princeton Review calls Fairfield connected; students find a disconnect
includes the ratio between accessible
public computers and the number of
students on campus, the ease of obtain-ing
digital camcorders and cameras for
student use and the comprehensiveness
of the computer science curriculum.
However, many students claim that
Fairfield's connection is often chaotic,
disrupting their productivity.
"When the Internet is somehow
slow or interrupted, my life is totally
gone because I have so much stuff on
there," said Ashley Ferranti '07. "I use it
as a communication tool to schedule my
day via instant messaging or emailing
and instead of reading the actual newspa-per,
I will actually read the news online
and check my stock quotes there."
Many students on campus, like Fer-ranti,
expect the Internet to be working
at 100 percent. However, students often
find that the Internet never meets their
SEE "INTERNET" ON P. 9
EDITORIAL
Fairfield
could
manage
technology
better
Page 18
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Chris Donato/The Mirror
Jump to it: Brad Feleccia '05 makes a jump shot during practice at the Walsh Athletic Center. The men's team
begins their season Thursday against Mississippi State (currently ranked 14th in the country). For more, see "Des-tined
to Dance" on p. 24. To meet the men's team, see our facebook on p. 20 and 21.
Cohabitation rules cloudy; many left confused over the rules
BY Liz BAE
Having a member of the opposite sex
sleep in your room is forbidden at Fairfield
University, but there is no specific definition
or punishment fordoing so, and students have
heard some wildly contrasting stories on how
the rules are enforced.
Ajunior living in the townhouses remem-bers
being told that "The guy has to have one
foot on the floor at all times and someone in
the room has to be awake all night."
Dan Akeson '07 heard a somewhat simi-lar
version.
"The rule is so stupid," he said. "We were
told as freshmen they were okay as long as
you weren't caught sleeping. The door can be
closed and locked as long as they don't hear
you sleeping."
"I've heard you can get in trouble for hav-ing
boom-boom in the room, but honestly, who
would knock?" said Ana Cardenas '06.
In terms of technicalities, many resident
assistants and students said they share an equal-ly
hazy understanding of what precisely the
rule is and how it is enforced or punished.
A senior living at the beach remembers
his RA saying that they "couldn't be in the
same bed together. We could sleep in there,
but as long as it was in a different bed."
Unlike drug and alcohol violations, there
is no clearly outlined policy in the student
handbook for offenders.
Kimberly Nickolenko, assistant dean
of students and director of judicial affairs,
cited page 57 of the student handbook under
guest policy, which states: "Behavior that is
intrusive to the privacy of the roommate or
roommates is forbidden."
"In addition, sharing a room with a mem-ber
of the opposite sex is prohibited, and no
student can either request or agree to such an
agreement," the handbook says.
SEE "LINE" ON P. 6
Basements
open, but for
how long?
"Make or break year"
' for townhouses
BY MEREDITH CLINTON
Last year, residence life threat
ened to padlock the basement
doors in the townhouses. This, of
course, sent everyone into a frenzy,
and even if they weren't sure why,
people were upset that their rights
were being taken away.
This year there are no pad-locks,
but it's still a possibility.
"This is a make or break
year," said Fran Koerting, associ-ate
dean and director of residence
life, "You need to prove it's not too
great a temptation [to misuse the
basements]."
The controversy started last
year because there were too
many illegal parties being held
in the basements, and they were
also being used illegally as living
space.
"The basements are not zoned
for living space, and the concern
with illegal parties is that it's a
fire hazard because there is only
one means of regress," said Ko-erting.
Laura Cantrell, associate di-rector
of residence life, said,
"Students are concerned about the
action but not the reason."
Before any permanent action
was taken, though, residence life
wanted to get the opinions of
students on how to fix the prob-lems.
They held open invitation
focus groups, from which many
good suggestions came, said
Koerting.
"That's where the idea to
legalize Beirut came from," she
said, "and the students said they
wanted a chance to prove they
could handle the situation."
SEE "REDUCTION" ON P. 4