Mirror - Vol. 36, No. 16 - February 02, 2011

              rRriEj | Take one THE EP'MIRRORThe Independent Student Newspaper
of Fairfield University
Week of Feb. 2,2011 | Vol. 36, iss 15
• fairfieidmirror.com ■
The Reflection of Fairfield
It is unclear as to what Fairfield Univ. will do with it's new $9 million house
wMacklin Reid/'Ihe Ridgcflcld Press
Fairlield's New $9 Million Crib
45 Minute Commute too Far for Student Housing
BY ANNIE ROONEY
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Fairfield's Christmas present came
a few days late when the Lawrence fam-ily
donated their $9 million mansion to
the University.
Named a "Modern Minimalist
Masterpiece," by ResidenceHouseDe-sign.
com, this 5-acre hilltop mansion
has 50-mile views, indoor and outdoor
pools, a glass bridge to a private tower
with the master bedroom, a penthouse
office, and an observation deck.
The University has yet to release
any public statement on its future usage
of the gift. "The University is consider-ing
a variety of options for the property's
future use but no decisions have been
made," said Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs Fr. Paul Fitzgerald, S.J.
"It will not be appropriate for student
housing," he added.
The house was first a home to art
collector Alice Lawrence and second a
venue for her $19 million art collection.
Designed by renowned architect Rafael
Vinoly, and built in 1993, the unique
16,000-square-foot house has only two
bedrooms and four bathrooms.
It was mostly used to display
Lawrence's widespread modern art
collection, consisting of pieces by Leger,
Magritte, Gorky, Rothko and Lucian
Freud that sold at a 2008 auction, ac-cording
to the Ridgefield Press.
When Lawrence passed away in
2008, her children decided to donate
the mansion to Fairfield University after
agreeing with the University's mission
statement.
"The Lawrences were on campus.
I think they felt comfortable, seeing
what Fairfield has already done, that
they would find a way that Alice's legacy
would be respected and maintained,"
attorney Robert Berchem told the
Ridgefield Press as the family's spokes-man.
Dr. David Gudelunas, Associate
Professor of Communication, said the
house is part of a long tradition of Con-necticut
modernism.
"A lot of people expect to see mid-century
inspired modernism in places
like Southern California, but may be
surprised to learn that Connecticut has
some of the most brilliant examples of
modernist architecture. The Lawrence
house is a stunning example of the
power and stark beauty of minimal-ism.
I was thrilled to hear that Fairfield
University was gifted this amazing prop-erty.'
I'd be glad to move in and serve
as a care-keeper for the property, but I
doubt anyone will let me."
Fairfield University is a tax-exempt
entity as an independent organization
therefore it would not have to pay this
year's mansion taxes of $77,357, as long
as it is used for charitable or education-al
purposes.
"The University's administration is
considering future usage of the gift," Fr.
Fitzgerald said.
What's Inside
"THE VINE": A STUDY
ABROAD EXPERIENCE
LIKE No OTHER
Snowverload on P. 3
OPINION: SOCIETY'S
ADDICTION TO
HOLLYWOOD
Opinion • P. 9
The Vine* P. 11
Coffee Break. P. 19
Sports • P. 21
Tom McKiver/The Mirror
Pong in the
BCC, with
Some Ping
BY AMBER NOWAK
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
Playing ping-pong to support children in
need? Sounds like a good deal. Student program-ming,
University athletics, and concern for a
good cause came together in perfect harmony
last Thursday through a FUSA-sponsored ping-pong
tournament event to raise money for Each
One Counts Foundation.
The catered event took place in the Lower
Level Barone Campus Center and was well
attended, considering the University had shut
down that day due to snow. Students donated
$10 to compete in ping-pong competitions and
participated in free raffles. One hundred percent
of the proceeds went toward helping children in
need. No funds raised by Each One Counts are
used for administrative expenses.
Each One Counts provides funding to pe-diatric
hospices around the country to support
complimentary pain management. The orga-nization
is devoted to easing the physical and
emotional pain of chronically and terminally ill
children receiving pediatric hospice and pallia-tive
care.
The foundation, which began three years
ago, addresses these goals through the use of
alternative pain relief therapies. These include
massage, hydro, art, music, pet and yoga thera-pies
as alternatives to opiates, barbiturates, and
other pharmacological methods of pain reduc-tion.
Each One Counts is the only foundation
in the country.solely focusing on this area of
complimentary pain management therapy and
has given away close to $500,00 to 11 different
pediatric hospices across the country.
"When we're stressed out, we'll listen to
music and we calm down, or ifwe have aches
and pains we'll take a hot shower and feel better.
That's essentially hydrotherapy we are doing to
ourselves," explained Senior Vice President of
Development Brian Harrington. "But insurance
doesn't cover this complementary pain manage-ment
therapy. So we decided to focus our atten-tion
in this area."
Harrington approached Gene Doris of
the Athletics department in hope of involving
Fairfield students in a project that had already
been put into motion at Villanova and Fordham
University. According to Roy Brown, also of the
Athletics department, Harrington chose Fairfield
when looking for schools "committed to commu-nity
service and giving back." Brown sought the
attention of FUSA's student programming team in
order to "get the students involved and engaged."
Harrington expressed that raising awareness
is key because this significant issue does not re-ceive
much attention. "Nobody really likes to talk
about children that are dying. There's no great
hope, there's no great celebration around a dying
child in the sense that the child is going to get
better. So it's an issue that is not well-discussed
in society."
The event was deemed so successful that
plans for an annual appearance of Ping Pong
for a Cause are in progress. "Being a new event
we didn't know what we were getting involved
in," said Harrington. "But all the kids had fun
and it was the first step in creating more aware-ness.
I just want to express my sincere thanks to
everyone who participated and to the students
who organized it, because without them there is
no event."