Mirror - Vol. 38, No. 21 - April 03, 2013

              THE MIRROR Student-run newspaper WeekofApril3,2013 Vol. 38, Iss. 21
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The Fairfield Mirror
LAW
SCHOOL
APP
Job market discourages
law school applicants
Despite lackluster economy, optimisim
persists among some students
Potential law students might reconsider sending their applications.
Nick Difazo/The Mirror
Fairfield downplays sexual
assault threat abroad
By Maggie MacKenzie
Contributing Writer
A recent national study - that
shows that females studying abroad in
non-English speaking countries may
be more likely to fall victim to sexual
assault - should not concern Fairfield
students, according to the Fairfield's
study abroad manager.
Frank Congin said he believes
the school's study abroad program
properly prepares students to be safe
and aware of their surroundings.
"I haven't heard of these issues
from our students. I think we do a
good job of preparing them ... It's all
in the preparation," Congin said.
Congin says the orientation for
students going abroad stresses the
importance of "traveling in groups,
reading up on the nations culture,
and using good judgment... The more
that we prepare our students ... the
less likely they are to engage in risky
behavior."
Junior Morgan Havard of Provi-dence
College, who studied abroad
last semester through Fairfield's pro-gram
in Florence, Italy, agrees with
Congin but also notes that it is up
to students to put the preparation to
use.
"I think Fairfield did a pretty
good job at preparing us for what to
expect," said Havard, "but students
still have to be aware of their sur-roundings."
According to Congin, this prep-aration
has been so effective that no
incidents from Fairfield's program
have been reported.
The survey, conducted by the
American Psychological Association,
used information from 218 women
to compile their report, in which they
found about 28 percent of these wom-
READ STUDY ON PAGE 3
By Megan DiBello
Contributing Writer
High tuition costs and a
poor job market are turning
some Fairfield students away
from attending law school. But
to others, the chance to be an
attorney makes it all worth it.
There is "always a need for
lawyers ... and the people who
do decide they want to go to
law school are so motivated,
you can't talk them out of it
anyway," said Professor Shar-lene
A. McEvoy, Fairfield's pre-law
director and professor of
business law.
These students are willing
to do whatever it takes to fulfill
their career aspirations.
"For me, yes, law school is
worth the time, hard work and
unfortunately the accumula-tion
of debt," said pre-law stu-dent
Lorena Gullotta '14.
However, Gullotta also
added: "From my experience at
Fairfield, I would say that there
are a large number of students
who, at some point, talk about
going to law school or the law
field, but ultimately decide not
to follow through."
The issue arose nationally
when USA Today reported that
changes in the field of law are
leaving some students in an
academic bind.
As employment rates for
law school graduates fall, en-rollment
at law schools across
the United States has also
dropped 15 percent in the last
two years, USA Today report-ed.
Only about two-thirds of
law school graduates in the
READ LAW ON PAGE 4
1B5yV the numbers
Enrollment at law school:
down 15 percent in the last
two years
Amount of law school
graduates in the class of
2011 who obtained jobs
that required passing the
bar exam: Two-thirds- a
9 percent decrease since
2008
Overall employment rate
for law school graduates:
86 percent, lowest since
1994
Median salary for gradu-ates:
dropped 5 percent
from class of 2010 to class
of2011
Law schools who have had
to reduce the size of their
entering class: 51 percent
Barone goes blue for autism
By Leigh Tauss
Opinion Editor
A decade ago, autism was a
dirty word. Little was known about
what caused the disorder and few
were willing to come forward and
share their stories. No one could
have imagined that two grandpar-ents
from Fairfield would be the
ones to change everything.
Bob and Suzanne Wright
founded Autism Speaks in 2005
following the birth of an autistic
grandchild. Autism Speaks is now
the world's leading autism advocacy
organization, raising money for re-search
and spreading awareness on
not only the signs and symptoms of
autism, but the unique talents of in-dividuals
affected by the disorder.
Rev. Charles Allen S.J., a per-sonal
friend of the Wrights, said,
"[They] suddenly discovered what
[their] cause in life should be."
Autism is a neural development
disorder that impairs an individual's
ability to socialize and communi-cate,
often with devastating effects
on family members.
Alexander Cucchi '15, a double
major in English and economics,
has a younger brother with autism.
"Something that was difficult to
understand as a ... kid was why my
younger brother was different or
READ AUTISM ON PAGE 3
News
Easter Monday Classes
"optional"
Tfie Vine
Student turns hoi
bakery start
Opinion Sports
page 2
it hobby into Student advocates equality spring season analysis
akery startup in ongoing marriage debate page 16
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