Mirror - Vol. 32, No. 13 - December 07, 2006

              WEEK OF DECEMBER 7,2006
Vol. 32, Iss. 13-20 pages
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of Fairfield University
Students, faculty team up for AIDS awareness
BY ANDREW CHAPIN
During AIDS awareness week at Fairfield, Elizabeth Otter
'09 recognized the opportunity as a way to educate her peers
about an important issue plaguing the global community.
"It's a chance to have people learn about what's going
on with AIDS in America and in the world," said Otter, a
member of sociology professor Renee White's AIDS in the
United States class.
Otter felt that while strides are being made, the problem
has become such a worldly issue that it can seem overwhelm-ing.
"I think we've made really big steps in assisting in the
problem," she said. "It's just gotten so out of control."
Otter is not alone in her concerns. Other class members
disseminated information on World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) as
well. Poster boards and pamphlets were prominent in the
upper level of the Barone Campus Center Friday afternoon as
members of Renee White's "AIDS in the United States" class
disseminated their information.
White was equally excited to spread the word, explaining
her theory on the direction of AIDS in the modern world.
"I think where it's going to head, the pandemic is kind of
really setting root in China and Russia," she said, also citing
Sub-Saharan Africa as another area ravaged by AIDS.
Though efforts have been made, there are still issues that
remain without remedy.
"I think there's been a lot of progress, but there have been
some bumps in the road because of politics," said White, nam-ing
national security spending and abstinence-only programs
as factors restricting advancement on the AIDS front.
White also feels that pharmaceutical companies played a
considerable role, especially in the most affected countries.
They need to "recognize the value of doing research to
come up with a vaccine," she said, "allowing countries to buy
[drugs] in bulk at a reduced rate."
With the assistance of Face AIDS, the student project that
aims to fight AIDS in Africa, Fairfield saw its greatest effort
to educate the University on AIDS come to fruition.
"This was a huge step for Fairfield University," said Jen
Miller '07, the founder of Face AIDS at Fairfield. But as
Miller acknowledged, this is only the beginning of a continu-ous
effort.
"We strive to promote diversity and social justice," she
said. "I think this is the first step in the larger picture."
She added: "We have preventative methods, it's just a
matter of getting it to the people. Recently there's been a strong
push but I think there's huge room for improvement."
Like White, Miller sees the war in Iraq as a detractor in
SEE "PRESIDENT" ON P. 6
Photo Illustration by Katie McCarthy/ The Mirror
Events from World AIDS Week: (clockwise from lower left) Bob Sideleau from Mid-Fairfield AIDS Project speaks
about being HIV positive; theater students do a read-through of Laura Marie Marciano's play "The After Effects of^
Yes" about HIV testing; FaceAIDS sold pins all week to benefit a clinic in Haiti. For more, see a staff editorial on
p. 7 in commentary and a column by Laura Marie Marciano on p. 14 in Campus Life.
Leftover meals costing
students in the end
BY DENISE LIGRECI
It's Thursday, and students are swiping their Stagcards
at Barone. A few reveal three or less meals and others
still balance eight or nine meals. These leftover meals
may seem like just numbers, but, in reality, it's a big loss
of money.
Fairfield requires all freshmen and sophomores resid-ing
on campus to purchase one of the three meal plans
offered by the campus food service provider. The most
popular meal plan is 12 board meals and $100 in dining
dollars. Other options include 14 board meals and $50 in
dining dollars for $2,085 a semester, and 19 board meals
a semester for $2,190 for a semester.
However, many students who do not frequent the caf-eteria
find the meal plan inflexible and a waste of money.
With a 17-week semester and 12 meals a week, each
meal on average costs $9.31. For students who have
just three leftover meals a week, they are losing $474 a
semester.
SEE "PRICES" ON P. 6
Low tide at the beach Year-round beach residents say disturbances,
incidents have declined since last year
BY JESS MITCHELL
Further control over student beach residents was
implemented in October with new laws and police policies
regarding underage drinking. Since then, many believe that
student behavior has improved.
According to Duane Melzer, Coordinator ofOff-Campus
Affairs, the new policy could be the reason student behavior
has improved at the beach.
However, this year's group of beach residents could
be the reason for improvement by having a better under-standing
of living in a mixed community of students and
non-students.
Although zero tolerance has been the policy in the beach
area since fall 2000, as was the "stop by," Melzer said the law
implemented on Oct. 1,2006 "pertained to the disallowing of
underage possession of alcohol on private property."
According to Melzer, the new policy could be the
reason student behavior has improved at the beach but also
this year's group of beach students could have a better un-derstanding
of living in a mixed community of students and
non-students.
"The numbers of complaints, arrests and incidents have
decreased so far this semester," he said.
Melzer has received positive feedback from the police
as well as residents.
"The one comment from a member of FBRA was that
they felt the number of disturbances were down this year,"
said Melzer. "Additionally, quite a few off-campus students
have mentioned that the new policy and zero tolerance
policy don't affect them since they don't host loud or large
parties."
Fairfield Police Captain Gary MacNamara attributes
the decrease in complaints to the new policies and increase
in enforcement activity as well as the changes in the nature
of the complaints.
"Complaints are not as extreme as they have been in
the past," he said. "Also, enforcement appears to be less
extremc.we haven't seen that nasty (student) behavior that
we've seen in the past."
Although the number of citations issued has increased,
the number of arrests and complaints have decreased. Mac-
Namara said improving the beach situation is a process that
will evolve over the years.
Regardless of the reason for decreased complaints at the
beach, the police felt the policy was necessary because they
get the "heat" from the residents, town officials and even
some students, said Melzer.
Students have mixed reactions about the policy's effects
SEE "STUDENTS" ON P. 6