Mirror - Vol. 31, No. 07 - October 20, 2005

              WEEK OF OCTOBER 20,2005
Vol. 31, Iss. 7-24 pages
FREE-Take One MIRROR WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
Another one bites the dust: 200 Nights cancelled
BY ELIZABETH COOPER
Upon logging into Stagweb
Tuesday morning, seniors were
greeted with news many found
disappointing: Fairfield will not
be holding a 200 Nights event
this year.
"It is unfortunate that 200
Nights was cancelled, as it was an
event that many seniors enjoyed in
past years," senior Class Council
representative Lou Spadaro '06
wrote in an e-mail.
According to the Stagweb
announcement, sent by Spadaro,
Steve Tyburski, and Matt McK-enzie
of the senior class council,
"The University will not sponsor
this event due to liability issues."
Spadaro added that "we [the
class council] have heard a num-ber
of feelings expressed by our
classmates who were upset hear-ing
about the cancellation."
The news follows a letter sent
by adminstrators late this summer-to
beach students and their parents
informing them that they would
not be allowed to hold Mock Wed-ding
events later this year.
"We'd like to have some
things during the year to make our
senior year memorable other than
the Grape," said Melissa Ringer
'06 and .Kara O'Connell '06.
Many students are unfamiliar
with the history of the event, very
little of which actually involves
the University.
"Events like 200 nights never
used to be 'official' University
events," said Dean of Students
Mark Reed. "They were run and
organized by individual students,
who often assumed significant
personal risk and liability."
According to Matt Dinnan,
associate dean of students, the
University only became involved
about five years ago when a
Fairfield student signed a contract
with an outside catering company
for a 200 Nights type of event.
The student told the company that
the event was a university func-tion,
which it in fact was not.
The catering company con-tacted
Fairfield for verification and
payment, and it was at this point
that the university stepped in.
They decided to assist students by
providing buses and making sure
that there was an EMT and Public
Safety presence at the event.
Dinnan said that at the event
there was very little food, and that
SEE "FUSA" ON P. 8
Contributed photo
The aftermath: Residents took to the streets to clean up after heavy rains flooded portions of Fairfield
Beach Road. This photo, taken from the "Pawn Shop" at 2155 Fairfield Beach Road, shows some of the
debris left after high tide waters severely damaged the structure of the stilted home, leaving it "unfit for
human inhabitation."
Student beach residents left homeless
BY ELIZABETH BAE
Many students live in water-front
houses on Fairfield Beach
Road. But most don't end up
homeless less than two months
into the school year.
The residents of the stilt-supported
"Pawn Shop" house,
located at 2155 Fairfield Beach
Road, found themselves in that
exact position last Wednesday
when extremely high tide waters
severely damaged their house's
structure, deeming it "unfit for
human inhabitation."
The boys were evacuated
from the house "in an army
convoy truck to the Grape"
and returned by themselves an
hour later, according to Justin
Notoro '06.
"The town said we were
lucky it [the house] didn't fall
down while we were sleeping,"
said Thomas Smith '06.
He said that town officials
who looked at his house believed
it could collapse into the Long
Island Sound the following
night.
Another resident, Greg Gar-giulo
'06 said, "I feel at a loss.
I don't really know what to do
with myself."
"The damage was a result of
years of neglect," said Notoro.
Some of the support beams
were already bent, he said, and
all of the concrete foundations
SEE "STUDENTS" P. 6
Homecoming attendance up
Alumni flock to beach houses
BY JESSICA MITCHELL
Imagine having your house
invaded by complete strangers
planning to throw a party.
This was almost a reality
for the senior girls living in the
"Exit," their house at Fairfield
beach.
Along with approximately
500 graduates, the former "Exit"
boys returned to Fairfield to relive
their college days last weekend.
In 2004, alumni relations re-corded
250 alumni in attendance
and did not expect the influx this
year.
"There were so many gradu-ates
who came back this year in
comparison to last," said Matt
Weiner '06. "Especially down at
the beach, they were overflow-ing."
This year, there were more
alumni athletic events, which
could have contributed to the
greater number of alumni, ac-cording
to Nicholas Segretario,
assistant director of alumni rela-tions.
"The beach seemed crazy,"
said beach resident Margo Smith
'06. "I waited two hours to get into
the Grape and I know there were
lots of parties."
But the administration said
that the graduates behaved them-selves.
"Reports of misconduct of
inappropriate behavior were not
significantly different than a stan-dard
weekend," said Mark Reed,
dean of students.
With some exceptions, most
students agree.
"No one seemed to get out of
hand," said Gregg Surette '06.
But Lauren Laramore '06 felt
differently.
S he was presented wit^h a dif-ficult
situation: the previous ten-ants
of her beach house had taken
great strides to plan a "welcome
back" party.
After reading a message on
thefacebook.com announcing the
party, the current residents angrily
responded and assumed the party
had been knolled.
Friday night, current "Exit"
resident Lauren Laramore '06
said she was greeted by knock at
the door.
An unknown intoxicated
young man asked her, "Can I
come in and look at the house?"
She said no and he left.
Hours later, three others
showed up at the house. Practical-ly
"rolling in kegs" for a party the
next night, the previous tenants
assured the girls their beds would
be made in the morning and "not
to worry," Laramore said.
Luckily, the "Exit" girls were
able to persuade the anxious
alumni to find entertainment
elsewhere.
The Sea Grape gladly wel-comed
the hundreds of alumni.
Beginning at 5:30 p.m Friday
night, Grape patrons took their
SEE "SCRIMMAGES" ON P. 8
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
The dangers of caffeinated
energy drinks
PAGE 15
BUMP & GRIND
Oversized speedbumps a
damaging hassle
PAGE 3
BEVERLY HILLS TO
HARBOR YARD
Weezer comes to the Arena
PAGE 11