Mirror - Vol. 39, No. 23 - April 02, 2014

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THE MIRROR Student newspaper WeekofApril2,2014 Vol.39Jss.23
www.fairfieldmirror.com ]y|
@fairfieldmirror ^M
The Fairfield Mirror
Foreign conflict hits Fairfield
By Atdhe Trepca
Assistant News Editor
While the recent turmoil between
Crimea, Ukraine and Russia has affected
the global political climate, it was not
expected to also directly affect Fairfield
students.
During this spring semester, as
many as six Fairfield students registered
and planned to participate in a week-long
study abroad trip to St. Petersburg,
Russia. However, due to the rising con-flicts
and violence in Crimea, the trip was
cancelled.
Before the trip was scheduled to be-gin,
the U.S. Department of State released
a travel alert to Russia due to the possible
danger of foreigners traveling to danger-ous
regions. The travel alert was last up-dated
on March 14, urging Americans to
reconsider their travel plans in light of
the current issues in those regions.
"As director of international pro-grams,
the ultimate decision was mine,
but was made only after consulting with
Professor McFadden and the Office of the
Academic Vice President," said Christo-pher
Johnson.
I don't think we can be
too cautious when it comes
to our students' welfare. I
certainly understand the
disappointment, but it's the
university's responsibility
to ensure that we are not
potentially putting students
in harm's way.
- Christopher Johnson,
director of international
programs
Johnson worked in collaboration
with Dr. David McFadden on the details
of the program and on the task of having
to cancel the trip.
The trip was designed to provide
students the opportunity to be exposed
to the history and culture of Russia, while
also attending classes that focused on the
political and historical implications of
Russia. This was the second year in which
the trip was cancelled; last year's cancel-lation
was credited to insufficient student
interest.
Although the trip has been can-celled
twice now, this is no indication
that the possibility of future trips to St.
Petersburg would be less likely, accord-ing
to McFadden. He pointed out that the
trip has been a part of the university for
the past 20 years, offering hope that the
trip will continue for years to come.
"St. Petersburg is a beautiful city,
completely a European city, with world
class museums and historic sites, and
Fairfield will continue to go there so long
as I am director of Russian, East Europe-an,
and Central Asian studies and teach
Russian history," said McFadden.
The program was set up so that each
READ ADMINISTRATION ON PAGE 3
Timeline of
the conflict
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is impeached by
parliament; Russian government refuses to acknowledge
the authority of the new Ukrainian Prime Minister,
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Feb. 22,2014 + Unmarked pro-Russian forces begin taking control of
government buildings in Crimea
Feb. 26,2014
I
Russian President Vladimir Putin sends 40,000 troops to
Ukraine's eastern border, presumably to invade
March 13,2014 + Crimean parliament declares independence from Ukraine
and moves to join Russian Federation; the UN. later
invalidates this referendum on the basis of illegality
March 17,2014
i President Barack Obama threatens additional sanctions
against Russian officials; Russia retaliates with entry bans
on American officials such 3C Speaker of the House John
Boehner
March 20,2014
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After diplomatic talks between Washington D.C. and
Moscow, the Russian troops along Ukraine's eastern border
have begun to retreat
March 31,2014
Information reported by CNN, The New York Times
Jennifer Calhoun / The Mirror
A study abroad trip to St. Petersburg was cancled because of Russia's involvement in the Crimea conflict.
Colin Bell/The Mirror
'Take Back the Night' breaks the silence in sexual assault
By Jesse Erickson
Assistant Sports Editor
As the sunset deepened into
the sky across Fairfield on Tues-day,
April 1, a group of Fairfield
students gathered in the Barone
Campus Center where they were
handed candles and white ribbons.
Together, this group was getting
ready to take a journey across the
campus and "Take Back the Night."
As a group of about 40 stu-dents
walked through the cam-pus,
stops were made along the
way where members of the group
shared personal accounts of sexual
assault, read poetry and performed
dramatic monologues.
The group began their journey
at the BCC Info Desk. They ven-tured
to the stop sign in front of the
Levee, to the path behind the field
hockey field and then to an area
on the basketball courts. They then
traveled to the Quad, where two
students performed monologues,
then to the Stag statue and eventu-ally
finished in front of the BCC.
These spots on campus were
each chosen for different reasons,
according to Astrid Quinones '14,
a mentor of the event.
"These are spots where some
are not as well lit and some are well
lit," said Quinones. "Not one spot is
more important than the other, but
it's just taking the journey on cam-pus
and looking at it from the per-spective
that these things don't just
happen behind closed doors, these
things can happen in light, they can
happen in darkness, they can hap-pen
anywhere."
The event, which is planned
annually by the Gender, Sex and
Sexuality Commons group on cam-pus,
has been happening for sev-eral
years. This year the walk was
planned by Samantha Porter '16,
who joined the group this year and
performed her own piece during
the walk.
"To plan the event, there's a lot
of reaching out to people, thinking
ahead, trying to get support, trying
to get pieces from writers, trying to
match that up with performers who
felt comfortable reading the pieces
from the writers," said Porter.
"When someone writes something,
its very personal and sometimes
it's hard to match with a performer.
Or, sometimes someone wants to
write something and it's hard to get
it out."
The pieces were performed
to help break the silence that the
victims of sexual assault often feel
oppressed by. By sharing their sto-ries,
Quinones and Porter said they
hoped that the group would be able
to feel comfortable and safe around
one another. With each stop along
the journey, the event grew more
powerful, resulting in "snaps" in-stead
of applause. Some even shed
tears while relating to each person-al
story.
Quinones said: "I hope that
hearing these stories don't make
you fear. The importance is real-izing
that this can stop, we can be
allies, and we can value each other
as human beings."
READ GSS ON PAGE 2
NEWS:
Pblice find over 4 ounces of
marijuana
Page 4
OPINION:
ow Crimea's annexation
can actually help Ukraine
Page 5
THE VINE:
The power to
overcome
SPORTS:
en and women's lacrosse
reign supreme
'age 16