Mirror - Vol. 34, No. 06 - October 09, 2008

              Fairfield junior Michael Cicirelli kicks off
his Project Halo tour Oct. 9. He will be
the keynote speaker at the Kelly Center on
Thursday. SEE P. 3.
Check out the best local bands that remain Two former players from last year's teams
unsigned by record labels. Included is have gone pro overseas. Sabra Wrice, Meka
Mike Falzone '06 and John Turrell '09, Werts are playing in England and Finland,
both of who play the guitar. SEE PG. 13. SEE P. 24.
WEEKJDFOQOBER9,2008
Vol. 34, Iss. 5-20 pages
FREE - Take one
Financial
MIRROR WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
Trie independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
burden:
Economic crisis raises
financial aid, career questions
Student loans
defaulted:
National: 5.2 percent
Fairfield: 0.6 percent
Percent ofgraduating
seniors who borrowed:
2007-2008:60 percent
Total institutional aid budget:
2004-05: $20,748,000
2007-08: $28,120,000
Average per-borrower
cumulative debt
at Fairfield:
2004-05: $24,251
2005-06: $25,081
2006-07: $28,751
2007-08: $31,984
BY JOE CARRETTA
On a rainy Friday afternoon,
a bleary-eyed trader is leaving the
floor of the New York Stock Ex-change
with a freshly lit cigarette as
another haggard looking man finds
the nearest bench to sit and bury
his head in his hands after another
dreadful day at the office.
With the country's economic
foundations crumbling like a house
with termites, students at Fairfield
are becoming uneasy about ven-turing
out into a job market that
might be slimmer than it has been
in recent memory.
"The economy is going to make
things more difficult than it was in
the past," said John Picyk '10. "I
think a lot of it will depend on how
Photo Illustration by Ali Forman
Financial aid budget:
Increased by 11 percent last
year
Assisted with over 60 percent of
students with cost of college
Average need-based loan*
for freshmen at Fairfield:
2006-07: $3,365
2007-08: $4,591
♦Excluding PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans,
and private alternative loans.
things
begin to
recover
after the
presidential
election."
The economic cri-sis
the U.S. is currently wad-ing
through has been caused
primarily by sub-prime mort-gages,
which were defaulted
because citizens were unable to
keep up with loan payments. This
surge triggered numerous housing
foreclosures and sent investment
banks that had cut up and sold these
mortgages to investors in a very
bad situation.
This situation has made com-panies
hesitant to loan money to
unqualified patrons, and has made it
_ Photo illustration by Andoni Flores
Statistics are
according to the University Fact Book and
Director of Financial Aid Erin Chiaro.
difficult for students to obtain loans
with manageable interest rates.
Director of Financial Aid Erin
•Chiaro said that as of 2006, the
national student default loan rate on
government loans was 5.2 percent,
while Fairfield students defaulted a
miniscule 0.6 percent in that same
year. She added that Fairfield has
been working diligently to help
students pay
for school
with numer-ous
financial aid
packages.
"Fairfield con-tinues
to remain deeply
committed to helping our stu-dents
with need despite the cur-rent
economic conditions and
trends," she said. "Fairfield has
increased the financial aid budget
by 11 percent over the last year and
has assisted over 60 percent of our
students with the cost of college."
For students who receive mon-ey
toward their education, or to pay
their own way to attend Fairfield,
the post-college world graduates
will step into is widely
believed to be severely
economically challenged, accord-ing
to many economic experts.
It might also put an added
strain on families whose savings
are quickly dwindling during this
inflationary period, according to
Forbes in a recent article.
"All families who experience
unusual difficulties related to the
economy are encouraged to con-tact
the Office of Financial Aid to
discuss their situation," said Judith
Dobai, associate vice president of
enrollment management.
"Fairfield has made a signifi-cant
investment in the financial aid
budget, increasing the budget by 11
percent for 2008-09."
William Lucas, vice president
SEE "STUDENTS" ON P. 3
The gap grows smaller:
Bridgeport Tuition Initiative in year one
BY TOM CLEARY
As families tighten their budgets
and are forced to spend money that
they planned on saving for college, it
is becoming increasingly more difficult
for low-income high school students to
attend college.
Fairfield's Bridgeport Tuition
Initiative, a five-month old plan that
grants free tuition to any Bridgeport
high school student whose family
makes less than $50,000 a year, has
become that much more important in
the current economic situation.
In the first year of the program, 18
students from Bridgeport, 12 freshmen
and six returning students are enrolled
at the University and are taking advan-tage
of the plan.
"I feel that this plan was a bless-ing,"
said Antquanette Chisolm '12,
who attended Bridge Academy Char-ter
School last year, was accepted
at Fairfield and chose to come after
receiving free tuition.
Chisolm, who graduated at the
top of her high school class and is the
SEE "WELL-PUBLICIZED" ON P. 5
Right 'On the Money:'
Grad hosts nationalTV show
BY JOE CARRETTA
Contributed Photo
Generation debt: Carmen Wong Ulrich
'92 has written a book, worked for maga-zines
and now hosts a show on CNBC.
In an age of economic disarray, financial uncertain-ty
and a stock market meltdown, the financial world is
turning to a former Fairfield Stag to lead it through this
financial fog into the promised land of prosperity.
Carmen Wong Ulrich, Fairfield '92, has found her
niche as the host of CNBC's "On the Money," a new,
one-hour personal finance program which provides per-sonalized
actionable information that will "give you the
ammunition you need to power through these volatile
times," according to show publicist Beth Goldman.
Ulrich graduated Fairfield with a double major in
psychology and art history, then spent time working in
SEE "UNIVERSITY" ON P. 6