Mirror - Vol. 32, No. 15 - January 25, 2007

              WEEK OF JANUARY 25,2007
Vol. 32, Iss. 15-24 pages
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WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
School Planning Sweeping Housing Changes
BY STEPHANIE LAUTO
Sweeping housing changes for students and
Jesuits living on campus will be made over the next
two years, Vice President for Student Affairs Mark
Reed announced last week.
Since current campus housing struggles to sup-port
the volume of undergraduates enrolled at the
University, plans are in the works to create garden-level
apartments in the townhouse complex, renovate
St. Ignatius Hall as a new living area for juniors
and seniors, and build a Fairfield Jesuit Community
Center near Bellarmine Hall, Reed said.
"The scope of these projects allows for the
timely and efficient increase in housing for students
on campus," Reed said, citing that 30 to 40 percent
of the freshman class is currently living in converted
triples. "[Having] a quality living experience on
campus is tough to do. I think we do as good a job
as can be done, but it's still tough to do when you
have a percentage of your freshman class living in
converted triples. It's also tough to do with upper-classmen
who want to have options and not live in
traditional halls."
According to Vice President for Finance and
Treasurer Bill Lucas, the total cost for all three
projects, in addition to renovations of Dolan Hall
and upper level townhouses, will be approximately
$40 to $50 million.
For the townhouse complex, garden apartments
will be created beneath the existing houses, a plan
that requires lowering the ground. For blocks one
SEE "HOUSING" ON P. 2
INSIDE:
STUDENTS
REACT, P. 2.
EDITORIAL:
HOUSING
PLAN IS
A GOOD
START, P. 8.
MAJOR
CHANGES IN
PARKING,
P. 15
Proposed Housing Chang<
*61 new garden apartments built
in place of townhouse basements
*34 two-person suites built in St.1
Ignatius Hall for upperclassmen
4.TVT ^^ w^m *, ' ,*r *New Jesuit residence built
Carmine Hal
MAKING EVERY MINUTE COUNT
Alan Pangilinan/The Mirror
Stags survive: Fairfield center Anthony Johnson '10 defends lona's Devon
Clarke Tuesday night at Harbor Yard. The Stags won 70-67 in overtime.
For game story and expanded coverage, go to WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM.
Seniors Have Choice Between
Competing Venues for 100 Nights
BY MEGHAN TOUMEY
Last year, the University's cancellation of
the annual 200 Nights celebration left seniors
without any countdown-to-graduation bash
until Ashlee Fox '06 stepped in and organized
100 Nights. This year, the debate on campus
centers around the fact that seniors will have
two events to chose from instead of one.
Two separate events are planned for the
senior class by the senior class, ©ne -- which
will take place Feb. 9 at an undisclosed loca-tion
~ is planned by seniors Darrin Lusk and
Emily Dittrich.
The other was originally planned by the
Student Beach Resident Association (SBRA),
but has now been taken over by "three reliable
beach residents who have a lot of experience
planning class events," according to an e-mail
sent to senior beach residents from the
students now planning the event.
Duane Melzer, coordinator of off-campus
students, said that it is his understanding that
prior to working at Fairfield, student beach
residents planned class-oriented events with-out
help from the administration.
"Students are adults and they can easily
plan events off campus," Melzer said.
Over the summer, Dittrich spoke to Fox
about her experience planning the event.
This inspired Dittrich to plan an event for
her class.
A Facebook event was created in Sep-tember
to let people know that plans were in
the works and to get feedback from students,
said Dittrich.
According to a statement from the orga-nization,
SBRA had no intention of competing
with the event hosted by Lusk and Dittrich.
While both parties have been tight-lipped
about the controversy surrounding the plan-ning
of both events, Dittrich and Jen Miller
'07, Secretary of SBRA, both confirmed they
spoke in the early stages of the event planned
by Dittrich and Lusk.
Miller said that purpose of her conversa-tions
with Dittrich was to inquire on behalf
of the students SBRA represents about the
event planned by Ditrich and Lusk. Accord-ing
to Miller and the official statement from
SBRA, the organization was approached by
students about the credibility of the planners
and what they viewed as a high price of $85
per person.
It was SBRA's job to find an alternative,
Miller said.
"It's not really fair to the class to split
everyone up, and that's what seems to be
happening," Dittrich said.
Miller, however, said she believes that
"whichever event students decide to go to,
they are going to have a great time."
The SBRA began planning an event for
Feb. 17 at the Rain Ultra Loundge in South
Norwalk, but the organization announced in
a statement e-mailed to The Mirror last week
it is no longer planning the event.
"The hardest part is getting approval from
the school for events that people will still want
to attend," the statement said. "After meetings
with administration and deliberation, the re-sult
was SBRA and Fairfield not hosting the
event and withdrawing completely from any
association with it."
According to Melzer, the reason for
SBRA's withdrawal from 100 Nights was
that the Rain Ultra Lounge did not having
SEE "TWO 100 NIGHTS" ON P. 7
How Much Has
Hutch Done?
BY ANDREW CHAPIN
When current FUSA President Hutchinson Williams
'08 was inaugurated last April, he set out to improve school
spirit and, more importantly, relieve school apathy.
But while a noticeable change has taken place on
campus, Williams's job has only just begun.
"With every FUSA president, they have goals they
want to accomplish," he said. "There's progress that's
been made, but now we're picking up speed. I believe
things can get better." '
Representing the students though still remains an issue
that Senate Chair Tim Rich '08 hopes will be rectified in
the coming future.
"I feel there's room for improvement," Rich said.
"Senators need to be out there talking to their constitu-ents
and engaging them on a daily basis because without
constant input we have nothing."
Steve Liguori '09, a FUSA Senator, feels that not only
does FUSA adequately represent the students, but it is the
students who have missed an opportunity to participate in
student government.
"It's more probably
that students don't take
advantage of leadership
or maybe they're not in-formed,"
he said.
Students too recog-nized
this lack of interest
amongst their peers.
Michelle DiMarzo '07
feels that FUSA represents
students "as much as they
[students] want to be repre-sented,
which isn't much."
Erica Mullaney '07 said she WILLIAMS
HUTCH" ON P. 7