Mirror - Vol. 36, No. 12 - December 01, 2010

              FREE I Takeo THE QCMIRROR The Independent Student Newspaper
of Fairfield University
Week of Dec. 1,2010 | Vol 36, iss 12
-fairfieidmirroi'.com ■
The Reflection of Fairfield
Pope OKs Condoms, Fairfield Stays Stagnant
FREE CONDOMS*
•GAY MALE PROSTITUTES
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Dan Leitao/lhe Mirror
BY ANNIE ROONEY
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
In his recently released interview that emphasized the
church's role to open the doors to God, Pope Benedict XVI
commented on how condom use is acceptable amongst
male homosexual prostitution in the endeavor to prevent
infection.
However, neither homosexual nor heterosexual
students will not find condoms at Fairfield University.
The bookstore, the-health center and dorms are refused
to distribute this safe contraception as it conflicts with the
Christian and Jesuit ideals held by the University.
"The bookstore is run by a company called E-Follet
which is separate from the University," said Laura Mat-thews
' 11 who was a former employee at the campus store.
. So while the bookstore sells academic and its fair share of
convenience items through the non-religious organization,
condoms are still prohibited from the shelves.
Director of the Health Center, Judith Weindling said it
is not the health center's responsibility
to provide this protection to its patients.
"This is a place for health care," she said,
"[the health center] is not in the busi-ness
for giving out condoms." Weindling
maintains that the center is available for
students with any questions or concerns
about sexual activity and infections. "We
take care of the whole student," she says.
At larger public universities, many
Resident Assistants will provide their
residents with "take one" buckets of
condoms in the dormitory's communal
INSIDE:
CHECK OUTTHE
MIRROR EDITORIAL
ON CONDOMS ON
CAMPUS P. 9
bathrooms as a popular and appreci-ated
way to promote safe sex. While
Fairfield's Office of Residence Life
was too busy to provide a comment,
previous Resident Assistant attempts
to promote safe sex this way were
reprimanded and discouraged.
Professor Renee White of the
Sociology Department has done extensive research in the
area of HIV and AIDS believes the Pope's comment "targets
homosexuality since this enables the Church to retain its
formal doctrine regarding no use of any artificial means to
prevent procreative sex from resulting in a pregnancy," she
said.
According to White, recognizing condom use as a moral
act is a step in the right direction. "Sexual activity can and
should include a sense of shared responsibility for the activi-ties
in which partners will engage," she said.
"College campuses are places where people engage in
high levels of sexual experimentation with multiple part-
CONDOMS I PAGE 6
146 Fairfietd University Students Surveyed In The BCC
W»nt Condoms On Campus 96% i%
Want Condoms Sold In Book Store 89% ft%
Our Sexually Active 75% 25%
6* Believe Condom Usage l» Immoral 94%
Dan Leitao/lhe Mirror
A Survey of 145 Students in the BCC in which 88 Females and 57 Males particpated.
IHaveAn"I.D.E.A.":
NewTeacher
Evaluation Forms
BY NILES MUZYK
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For the past six or seven years Fairfield
University has been evaluating the teacher
evaluation form that students have been fill-ing
out at the end of each semester.
Usually administered on the last day of
class, these anonymous forms ask several
broad multiple-choice questions. There has
also been a follow up yellow-form, which
allows for open-ended comments.
This semester, Fairfield has decided
to implement the new teacher evaluation
forms that it has spent all of these years
developing.
The new, improved form is called, "In-dividual
Development and Educational As-sessment,"
or simply, I.D.E.A. Students may
have already previewed the form already
as it was featured at the CORE unmasked
event at the end of October.
Students may also recognize some fea-tures
of the new form because for the past
few semesters, faculty and students have
been involved in pilots of this form which
asks questions in a number of areas that
had previously been unaddressed.
The creators are hoping that the new
form that consists of approximately 48
multiple-choice questions that will take
about 20 minutes to complete, will offer a
much stronger analysis of various elements
Pfr of the course.
Dr. Angela Kim Harkins of the Religious
Studies Department is also chairing the
Faculty Development and Evaluation Com-mittee,
a group that has been involved with
the implementation of the I.D.E.A. form.
Dr. Harkins hopes that students will
"take the time to think and answer hon-estly"
because these forms are extremely
important to professors.
"Professors care a great deal about
teaching at Fairfield and are constantly
seeking ways to improve teaching," she
said. The I.D.E.A. form offers faculty great
deal of data about student learning and also
offers special resources on how faculty can
make improvements to their teaching, like
the "I.D.E.A. Papers;" targeted tutorials that
suggest strategies and methods for faculty
EVALUATIONS | PAGE 3
Dan Leitao/lhe Mirror
BackTo The Drawing Board
BY DAN LEITAO
MANAGING EDITOR
"Every word is up for grabs," Consti-tutional
Chair Charlie Knights '12 told the
committee as it had its first preliminary
meeting for the upcoming Constitutional
Convention. The 3,066 word Constitution
controls every aspect of FUSA. It details
the overall structure of the government as
well as the functions of each branch on a
daily basis.
"I started the Convention because I
think there are some changes that need to
be made within our student government,
changes that are deep-rooted and have
been covered up by amendments for years."
Alyssa Amarain Senator for the class of 2012
explained to The Mirror.
Charlie Knights followed up saying, "I
believe that this convention was brought
about in response to a certain level of 'dis-connect'
felt in regards to FUSA as an orga-nization,
both by those students serving and
those served by the student association."
Knights has high hopes that the hard
work of the Committee, "By parsing out
what is and has been working, as well as
finding solutions to those aspects that have
not, my ultimate goal is to come out of the
convention having ratified a revamped
Fairfield University Student Association; one
that promotes itself and carries itself as a
more transparent, open and clearly defined
organization, not only by the students, but
for the students."
The meetings will be in Town Hall fash-ion
and students are encouraged to come
to observe and give input. The committee
members want to keep a low-key open at-mosphere
in which students can come and
voice their opinions and what they want to
see changed in FUSA.
The Constitutional Convention, which
usually occurs every four years, was called
early after Matt Morrissey '13 and Alyssa
Amarain '12 proposed the resolution earlier
this semester. "We had a good group of
senators that wanted to see change and I
think there are a lot of issues that we need to
handle now rather than later," said Morris-sey.
The first meeting will be held December
8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
INDEX
Opinion • Page 9
Features • Page 11
Arts & Entertainment • Page 13
Sports • Page 24
MEN'S BASKETBALL
P. 24