Mirror - Vol. 31, No. 13 - December 08, 2005

              WEEK OF DECEMBER 8,2005
Vol. 31,Iss. 13-20 pages
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The IRROR WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
New beginnings in New Orleans
After spending a semester at FU, visiting students prepare to return to home universities
BY ELIZABETH COOPER
While most students look for-ward
to going home for a break
at the end of the semester, "going
home" has much different connota-tions
for 52 visiting students and
a professor at Fairfield who were
displaced from their New Orleans
schools as the result of Hurricane
Katrina.
"I'm so excited to go back,"
said Bianca Loffredo, a senior who
will return to Loyola New Orleans
in January. "I miss my friends ter-ribly."
Many of the 52, both full-time
and part-time, students are from
the Connecticut area, although
some, such as Loffredo, who is
from Ecuador, are international or
from out of state. They come from
a number of New Orleans colleges
and universities including Tulane
and Loyola.
On Aug. 31, the Association
of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
(AJCU) issued a statement that said
"each of our [Jesuit] schools has
agreed to admit Loyola students as
visiting students for the fall semes-ter,
with the expectation that they
would return to Loyola in the spring
semester." Fairfield had the same
agreement with Tulane.
"I am very grateful that
Fairfield took me in and gave me
a place to live for this semester,"
Loffredo said.
New Orleans colleges and uni-versities
are set to open to students
in January for the spring semester.
However at some schools, such as
The University ofNew Orleans, not
all areas of campus are accessible
due to hurricane damage, according
to the school's website.
"As their visiting semester
comes to an end, it is important for
the students to determine whether
they will return to their New Orleans
colleges or seek other educational
SEE "FEW" ON P. 4
"IN HOLIDAY STYLE"
Katie McCarthy/ The Mirror
Tra ia la la la: The quartet Sin Nomine performed at the Glee Club concert "In Holiday Style" last Saturday
at the Quick Center. Picture above (left to right): John Gallagher '06, Erika Ludwig '07, Jeff Toto '07 and Liz
Krane '07. For a full story on the concert, see p. 9
FU hovers above
national retention rate
BY ELIZABETH BAE
Alcohol. Drugs. Financial
Stress. Homesickness. Athletic
teams gone. Problems fitting in.
These are all reasons students
transfer or fail out of Fairfield
University.
Nationally, 73.6 percent of
freshmen stay at the four-year col-leges
they enrolled in, according
to the Web site of the Education
Commission of the States.
Fairfield's retention and grad-uation
rate has hovered above
that figure for the past 15 years,
according to Judith Dobai, asso-ciate
academic vice president for
Enrollment Management.
A decision to transfer or drop
out of college is a multifaceted
one.
"There are well over 50 stress-ors
that contribute to a student's
decision to leave college," said
Jeanne DiMuzio, director of Well-ness
and Prevention. "Alcohol and
drugs are significant contributors
to the process."
"The range is different on
every campus, but anywhere from
10 to 24 percent of students leav-ing
college indicate their alcohol
and drug use as a major factor,"
she added.
The college lifestyle inter-feres
with students' time manage-ment,
financial stability, emotional
health and academic success, ac-cording
to DiMuzio.
Alison Sikora '06 said she
feels the same way.
"A lot of kids become over-whelmed
with balancing partying
and schoolwork," she said.
But Sikora said that she has
seen a lot of her friends from
home, not Fairfield, transfer from
their colleges.
"A lot of my friends were
either unhappy with social settings
or the academic work," she said.
"For some, the work was too hard
and for others, it was too easy."
Students may also struggle
with the distance from home and
not see Fairfield as a "good fit for
them personally," said Dobai.
"I have only seen a few stu-dents
drop out or transfer. But
usually people that do leave, I
think leave for social reasons,"
said Chris McCarthy '06.
"Generally, Fairfield's reten-tion
rates are strong in compari-son
to national rates, but there is
always room for improvement,"
said Dobai.
SEE "CLASS" ON P. 6
Jesuits, alumni, corporate leaders among five newly appointed trustees
BY ELIZABETH BAE
Most Fairfield students do
not know what a trustee is.
"It sounds like a bunch of
people sitting in a room with
chandeliers eating Brie cheese,"
said Tom Meehan '06.
Fairfield University recently
announced a group of five new
and diversely talented trustees:
two Jesuits, two alumni and a
corporate executive.
A trustee is defined as a
member of a board elected or
appointed to direct the funds
and policy of an institution.
These trustees have been chosen
by Fairfield University because
of their involvement and ties
to the school. They provide an
eclectic range of knowledge and
expertise.
Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.,
president of Loyola University
in Chicago, said his area of aca-demic
expertise is children and
family therapy. He has published
numerous books and articles
and has worked as a therapist
and a professor of marriage and
family therapy. He also speaks
about child and family issues to
elementary and secondary school
educators.
At Weston School of Theol-ogy
in Cambridge, Mass., Ga-ranzini's
roommate was Fairfield
University President Rev. Jeffrey
von Arx.
"I was the better cook, how-ever,
so it fell to me to do a lot
of the hosting of parties and din-ners.
Fr. von Arx was smarter,"
he said.
Garanzini is also a trustee of
Loyola University New Orleans
and said, "I'm very honored to be
on the Fairfield Board."
Brian Hull, a 1980 Fairfield
graduate and the senior vice
president in Global Private Client
SEE "VON ARX" ON P. 6