Mirror - Vol. 33, No. 16 - January 31, 2008

              WEEK OF JANUARY 31,2008
Vol. 33, Iss. 16-24 pages
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The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
Winningest coach in Fairfield volleyball history leaves for Rutgers
BY TOM CLEARY
Jeff "C.J." Werneke had no idea he
was walking off the Alumni Hall floor
for the final time as Fairfield's volleyball
head coach after the MAAC Champion-ship
in November. But after six seasons
at Fairfield, Werneke announced Mon-day
that he has been hired as the Rutgers
University head coach.
"It was the right time to move
on," said Werneke. "Rutgers pursued
me because they knew me from my time
as an assistant coach there and because of
all the success we had at
Fairfield."
Werneke was an as-sistant
coach at Rutgers
from 1999-2001.
The Rutgers coaching
job opened up following a
3-22 season after which
Head Coach Orlando Gon-zalez
was not retained. It
WERNEKE was the Scarlet Knights'
third-straight losing season.
"Rutgers is a place that I had great
experiences and memories, so I am look-ing
forward to returning there," said Wer-neke.
"They made me an offer I could not
refuse."
, At Fairfield, Werneke led the Stags to
a 21-13 overall record and a 17-1 MAAC
season.
Overall, Werneke has a 111-85 career
record and is the winningest coach in Stags
volleyball history. He has been named
MAAC Coach of the Year twice, in 2006
INSIDE:
SAYING GOODBYE;
SEEP.24
and 2007, and won four-straight
MAAC regular
season championships.
"C.J. continued to
build on the success of
our volleyball program,"
Athletics Director Gene
Doris said in a statement. "We are confident
that the qualities he brought to our pro-gram
will help him in bringing the Rutgers
program to the upper echelon of the Big
SEE "WERNEKE" ON P. 8
Contributed Photo
Caribbean crusade: Ignatian solidarity core traveled to Kingston, Jamaica on a service trip during winter break. In line with Jesuit
ideals of service-learning, students who participate in service trips are able to spend their break building relationships with the na-tive
people and immersing themselves in their culture. Pictured here with local children by Mt. Friendship are Mike Hebert '08, Kara
Dooley '08, Ashlee Downing '08, Kathryn Harlukowicz '08 and Amber DelPrete '08. This is one of numerous service trips that the
University offers during break. For an account of such a service trip, told through the eyes of a participant who traveled to Ecuador,
see the story on p. 15.
Testing the water:
A sneak peek at the FUSA
presidential election
BY CHRISTOPHER HALISKOE
This time last year, the student body
was set to cast its vote in the interest-ing
race for FUSA president between a
more-than-qualified candidate and a very
popular incumbent.
That democratic spirit was sucked
out of the student body when the race was
called off.
This year's
FUSA elections,
which will be held
on Feb. 28, are
shaping up to be
what some may
consider the most
competitive ever.
One student
contemplating a
campaign for the
FUSA presidency this election season is
Spencer Thibodeau' 10.
"If I decided to run, I couldn't run
FUSAby myself," said Thibodeau. "FUSA
needs student input."
His belief is based . j
on a simple theory: If j INSIDE:
more people show gen- :
uine interest in running : EDITORIAL:
and there is a greater : BANKONTHE
voter turnout, it will : ..»„„
: BALLOT
produce a more interac- :
tiveFUSA. ! SEEP.9
THIBODEAU
"I thought last year "
was a disappointment because we only had
one candidate," said Thibodeau. "That
SEE "CRAVING" ON P. 7
Ivy League aid on the rise, Fairfield remains Stag-nant
BY KATE MCGANN
In the endless crusade to afford the
ever-increasing cost of college, a new
source of relief may be on the horizon.
Top-tier colleges, such as Harvard,
Yale and Duke, have recently introduced
significant financial aid initiatives aimed at
lessening the pressure for both lower- and
middle-income families.
According to Fairfield's Director of
Financial Aid Erin Chiaro, Fairfield's com-mitment
to need-based aid is strong.
"In the past two years, Fairfield has
invested over $6 million in new money
towards financial aid," said Chiaro.
Since 2001, more than 30 schools
have expanded their financial aid poli-cies
in response to the growing burden
a college education is on the average
American family.
While many schools are diligent
about ensuring that need-based students,
usually defined as those whose families'
incomes are under $60,000, are mostly or
fully covered by either loans, grants or a
combination of the two. What is notable
about the recent financial aid overhauling
is that coverage is expanded to households
earning up to $ 180,000, or even $200,000
in the case of Harvard and Yale, respec-tively.
Here at Fairfield, however, expanded
coverage of such a broad range of incomes
isn't likely in the near future. According
to Chiaro, approximately one quarter of
students' families have incomes under
$50,000.
"We are deeply committed to making
sure they can afford to be at Fairfield,"
SEE "FINANCIAL" ON P. 8
,. I s\ j .^m%..:>" Endowments for high-priced universities
ustration by Katie McCarthy
To be well-endowed: Schools with larger endowments are better able to expand finan-cial
aid coverage for students.