Mirror - Vol. 32, No. 18 - February 15, 2007

              WEEK OF FEBRUARY 15,2007
Vol. 32, Iss. 18-20 pages
FREE - Take One MTDDHD wwwfAIRFIELDMIRROR.coM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
Fraioli Will Challenge Williams for Presidency
BY ANDREW CHAPIN
With Hutch Williams '08 - one of the most popular
FUSA presidents in recent memory - up for re-election,
the role of challenger in this month's election will not be
an easy one to fill.
But casting aside doubters and launching what he
called an issue-driven campaign, Frank Fraioli '08 an-nounced
this week he will challenge Williams's re-elec-tion
bid.
"I believe students will vote for me because I will
present a clear vision of what I desire Fairfield to be,"
Fraioli said. "I intend to bridge the gap between the popu-larity
Hutch has by focusing on bringing out the issues that
I believe a majority of Fairfield is concerned about."
Fraioli has work to do in his attempt to take the
presidency from Williams, whojust last year routed Ryan
Neubauer '07, winning 72 percent of the vote in one of
the biggest landslides in FUSA history.
Senate Chair Tim Rich '08, said defeating Williams
would be difficult.
"Any candidate running against Hutch has their work
cut out for them," he said. "I think anyone who's not the
incumbent is an underdog."
Fraioli's platform includes the appointment of a sec-retary
of diversity to the FUSA Executive Board, which
is presently comprised of the executive cabinet and class
council representatives. This secretary would represent
the interests of University minority groups on the Execu-tive
Board, Fraioli said.
"The secretary would be the point person for all of
the cultural clubs on campus, and would be the liaison to
the multicultural center," he said. "The secretary would
be a part of the AHANA student council."
FRAIOLI
Among the other points of Fraio-li's
campaign is a united FUSA-IRHA
front. He said that a greater good
could come from the two organiza-tions
working together.
If elected, he said he also hopes
to create a committee separate from
the student court to make recommen-dations
to the administration regarding
broad student interests, such as town-house
basements.
Williams praised his competitor as a worthy chal-lenger
and an individual he respects.
"I've seen him outside of FUSA and he's a very mo-tivated
individual," he said. "When Frank has his mind
SEE "FRAIOLI" ON P. 5
Where to From
Here?
Blacks in College Sports Still Can Progress More
This article is the third in a series commemorating Black History Month.
Next week: Successful African-American alumni.
BY TOM CLEARY AND CHRIS SIMMONS
When Ed Cooley was introduced last April as Fairfield's 11th men's
basketball coach, he joined two exclusive fraternitiSs.
Cooley became the first black head basketball coach — and just
the third head coach in any sport — in Fairfield history, and one of 79
black head coaches in Division I men's basketball.
"I think it is a credit to Fairfield. It's a credit to them to believe
in somebody who was a natural fit. People tend to do what they know,
and the past is that there weren't many minority coaches," Cooley said.
"People and schools coming out of their comfort zones are picking the
best fit, not the best color."
At Fairfield — as is the case with schools throughout the country
— the number of black coaches remains low.
Cooley is the only black head coach in any sport at Fairfield, and
the University has only five black assistant coaches spread across its
19 varsity teams.
But Doris believes the University's hiring record compares well
to that of other universities.
"I would hold our hiring record at a level at least the equal or higher
than our peers," Doris said. "I think diversity has improved in terms
of the hiring of coaches and administrators, and that will continue to
SEE "FOR BLACKS" ON P. 6
Ptwemn^isfAkkm'AamkMm w Dbrisioa I Coftege Sports
■ BLACK
WHITE
#2,7%
20 40 60 so 100
InfoGraphic by Marl Heenan/The Mirror
Source: NCAA
Mirror File Photo
Dry times in the Nutmeg State: Spring Weekend festivities, such as Spam Jam (above, in 2005), have
been significantly altered at several universities in Connecticut.
Spring Weekend Changes Are State-Wide
BY CHRISTINA STODDARD
Fairfield students are not alone as they mourn
the fading traditions of Spring Weekend events.
Many schools throughout Connecticut are tighten-ing
their grip on the policies regarding drinking
during these annual festivities.
Quinnipiac University and UConn, for ex-ample,
both have notorious Spring Weekend cel-ebrations
reminiscent of Fairfield's own long-lost
Clam Jam.
These parties are also undergoing policy
changes similar to those occurring at Fairfield.
At Quinnipiac University in Hamden, the
school's "May Weekend" celebration traditionally
featured a refreshment tent that provided beer to
of-age students and unspoken allowance of drinking
from open containers.
"It was basically a chance to socialize and
hang out with your friends. You wouldn't really
get in trouble for having alcohol with you," said
Quinnipiac senior Sara Fiore. "It was a chance to
unwind before finals, and students often include the
alcohol in unwinding."
Quinnipiac student Jackie Byrnes' 09 said stu-dents
would even play beer pong outdoors.
In 2006, however, the school implemented ma-jor
changes to the event's drinking policy, banning
the beer tent and instructing security officers and
RAs to enforce drinking policies concerning open
containers just as they would any other weekend.
Students were initially upset by the news, but
many said the event was not as drastically different
as they had feared.
"Alcohol just had to be in these Pepsi cups that
we use for soda at school and then no one would
say anything. But you were not allowed to play beer
pong in plain sight," said Byrnes.
Seniors said that because of the change in for-mat,
they were less enthusiastic about this year's
event.
"The beer tent was a big draw for seniors liv-ing
off campus," said Fiore "It was a good way
to get them back on campus and participating in
other things that go on during the weekend, like
the concert ... now that I'm 21,1 think it would be
nice to have the same experiences seniors have had
in the past."
UConn's Spring Weekend is an infamous
SEE "OTHER SCHOOLS" ON P. 5