Mirror - Vol. 05, No. 12 - November 12, 1981

              "The Image
of
Fairfield"
FAIRFIELD 9 \ [MIRRORl Nonprofit Organization
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 34
Fairfield, Conn.
Volume 5, No. 12, November 12, 1981 Fairfield University, Fairfield Connecticut 06430 incorporated 1977
Hepatitis Outbreak
Inspector Urges Student Caution
by Kathy Noonan
Sanitation and personal hygiene
were emphasized as the key fac-tors
in breaking the hepatitis
chain, according to Mr. Leonard T.
O'Neill, Fairfield Town Health In-spector.
He noted that students
must be very careful during the
next few weeks, and avoid sharing
cups, towels, cigarettes, and bot-tles.
As of Tuesday, November 10,
there were 20 confirmed cases of
Type A Hepatitis, and 4 suspected
cases. The great majority of
students who have contracted the
disease reside off-campus, mainly
along Fairfield Beach Road.
Specifically, there are 16 off-campus
cases, and four on-campus
cases.
There are four known strains of
hepatitis; the type that is plaguing
Fairfield campus is Type A, the
least severe. The disease has an
incubation period of 14-40 days,
and the symptoms usually last
from three days to two weeks.
There is usually no permanent
damage from the disease other
than that your body builds up an
immunity to Type A Hepatitis. Any
students exhibiting any of the
following symptoms, namely,
nausea or vomiting, fever, fatigue,
loss of appetite, headache, chills,
vague upper abdominal pain, clay-colored
stools, dark-colored urine,
or a jaundiced appearance should
report to the infirmary, where
tests will be given to confirm the
presence of the disease.
Type A Hepatitis is, in fact, a
viral infection; there is no known
medication to cure it - it must
simply run its natural course. The
best and only prescription is
bedrest. This is why people who
have the disease should remain at
home, since rest is the only cure.
Because hepatitis is a disease of
the liver, students exhibiting any
of these symptoms are encou-raged
to avoid consumption of
alcoholic beverages.
Direct contact is the only way to
transmit Type A Hepatitis; the
medium for transmission of
human feces. Again, to reem-'
phasize, fecal/oral transmission is
the only way that Type A Hepatitis
can be spread. This clearly
demonstrates the'need for strict
personal hygiene measures.
The only way to stop the spread
of the disease is to break the
fecal/oral chain by practicing cor-rect
handwashing techniques,
which means washing hands
thoroughly with hot water and
soap for at least 30 seconds after
going to the bathroom. The
presence of feces is not always
visible; contact with feces,
however slight, can cause con-tamination
of objects which will
eventually enter the mouth.
The infirmary is providing, free
of charge, shots of gam-maglobulin.
This shot will not pre-vent
one from contracting the
disease', but rather, it will lessen
the severity of the disease if it is
contracted. Mr. Henry Krell, Dean
of Students, noted that the school
is not advocating any type of mass
innoculation, although as of
November 6, over 550 students
had been innoculated. Anyone
who has had direct contact with
the disease is urged to come in for
a shot. Krell also noted that the
possibility exists of having an
adverse reaction to the innocula-tion,
so students should think
carefully before having the shot.
Krell is working very closely
with Mr. O'Neill; the town health
inspector, and also with the Conn-"
ecticut State Board of Health. The
school is following all of their
directions and suggestions. Krell
hopes to see a break in the
number of cases reported within
the next few days. "Both the State
and Town Health Department Offi-cials
have been very helpful in our
coping with this situation. Only by
students being very careful over
the next couple of weeks will we
be able to control the situation."
O'Neill issued a special warning
to students who will be going to
beach parties. He feels that the
beach situation had helped to in-crease
the spread of the disease.
When going to a party, he urges
students to "use your own cup
and don't let other people drink
from it. Make an effort especially
in this group-type situation to
wash your hands thoroughly."
Roundtable Analyzes
Castro's Cuba
"I think everyone can be a preppy." That was Lisa Birnbach's message
to the Oak Room crowd last Tuesday night. See story page 10.
(Photo by RoseAnne LaBarre)
by Michael Cummings
A crowd of over one hundred
students, faculty, and community
members attended a roundtable
discussion on Cuba last Thursday.
The symposium was sponsored by
the Latin America-Caribbean
Studies Program (LACSP).
"Cuba Today" was based on the
experiences of a group of faculty
and one student who visited the
island nation last summer. Doc-tors
Emilio Bejel, modern
languages; James Buss, econo-mics;
Edward Dew, politics; Den-nis
Hodgson, sociology; and Pro-fessor
Walter Petry, history, are
the faculty members of LACSP.
They were joined by Maria La Gam-ba,
a 1981 graduate of Fairfield.
The discussion was moderated by
Dr. Marie Panico, the chairman fff
the LACSP program.
The focus of the discussion
centered on Cuba following the
revolution led by Fidel Castro. It -
also described the social, econo-mic,
and political aspects of
modern Cuba. Dr. Dew discussed
the revolution as a "marvelous, in-evitable,
desperate affair." Dew
further explained that the revolu-tion
had to happen considering
the abuses which a small group of
the island's elite infficted on the
greater mass. Marvelous in its
undertaking, inevitable in its out-come,
but the revolution was
desperate in that it is impossible
for Cuba to live up to the
ideological demands it set upon
itself. They do not have the
resources. He called them an
"altruistic society," one in which
there is great hope and great
pride.
As Maria La Gamba said, "the
young are geared to their
country's future. They are proud to
be Cuban." A popular misconcep-tion
is that Cuban youths are en-vious
of Americans, but La Gamba
thought this was contrary to what
she had seen. Dr. Hodgson stated
that Cubans actually consider
themselves more fortunate than
American students. They see the
average American college student
as frustrated, forced to, attend
school and get a good job. The
youth of Cuba find it a privilege to
do these things.
The youth of Havana are not
quite as enamored with their
socialist society as those who live
in the outlying provinces. There is
a greater feeling of cynicism. This
disenchantment is believed to
stem from the fact that many of
the young in Havana have relatives
or friends living in the United
States.
One of the most interesting
speakers, perhaps, was Dr. Emilio
Bejel, who fled Cuba himself in the
early 1960's after the revolution.
At that time he held the typical
opinion of the Cuban exile. He
considered the revolution "a total
failure," and he characterized the
new government, at that time com-munist,
as "evil and repressive."
But with many subsequent trips
back to Cuba, his views, have been
modified. He insists that the
United States and Cuba should im-prove
their relations, that there is
no reason why the people of both
nations should be neglected.
Dr. Bejel, along with the other
speakers, stressed the im-provements
within Cuban society.
There is virtually no unemploy-ment.
They possess medical and
educational facilities equal to the
United States. Of course these
facilities are attributable to the
strong Russian influence on the
island. Young people are gearing
up to tackle positions in a great
variety of fields, not so much to
benefit themselves, but also to aid
their Cuba as a whole.
Cuba is a nation which is still
coping with its many problems,
mainly economic. They are a peo-ple
who still must diversify their
economic interests, relying less
on tobacco and sugar and more on
industry. The Soviet Union is cur-rently.
pumping three million
dollars a day to Cuba. Most of the
money goes for new buildings,
jobs, and defense.
New Policy Allows SEC
To Promote Off Campus
by Thomas P. Moore
A proposal set forth by
F.U.S.A./S.E.C. to buy spots on
major commercial radio stations
and have concert information put
on radio station concert headlines
was accepted by the Administra-tion
on Tuesday, the 3rd.
Dean William P. Schimpf, Vice
President - Student Services, Mr.
James D. Fitzpatrick, Director of
University Activities, and Lisa
LaGuardia, Associate Director of
University Activities met with Mike
Bentivegna, President of F.U.S.A.,
George Hesse, Director of the
S.E.C., and Timothy Burke, Assis-tant
Director of S.E.C. to discuss
the revision of the 10-year old
University Advertising Policy>
The decade-old ruling by the
school was a compromise to
cancelling concerts altogether. In
1971, a conflict-ridden year bet-ween
the Administration and
students during which Vietnam
War protests and student-held
mass meetings were held often, a
concert was held on campus. It
sold out at the door, a gathering of
300 nonstudents who couldn't pur-chase
tickets became hostile and
attempted to break through the
Gymnasium doors.
Dean Schimpf told the MIRROR,
"A crowd of about 300
nonstudents wanted in, doors
were broken, and the Fairfield
Police Force was called in, ar-resting
many of the crowd." The
Dean continued, "It was determin-ed
later that the audience inside
attending the concert was only a
small percentage of Fairfield
University students and their
guests."
Mr. James F. Fitzpatrick stated,
"Mr. Schimpf and I had to stop the
kids from breaking in through the
bathroom's windows that night."
It was rumored that the band
who played at this concert was
"The Doors," but this was proven
false. In 1969 the Doors almost
(continued on page 2)
Maria LaGumba, Dr. Edward Dew, Professor Walter Petry, and Dr. Dennis
Hodgson exchange views on Cuba at the recent Roundtable discussion.
(Photo by John Roche)