Mirror - Vol. 08, No. 05 - September 13, 1984

              'The Image
of
Fairfield"
FAIRFIELD W \ [MIRROR] Nonprofit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 32
Fairfield, Conn.
Volume 8, No. 5 Thursday, September 13, 1984
WVOF Wins 100 Watts
Fairfiejd University, Fairfield, Connecticut 06430 Incorporated 11977
by Chris Tyler
WVOF, the campus based radio station, Con-necticut
Education Telecommunications
(C.E.T.O), and two Long Island schools have
reached an agreement allowing WVOF, 88.5 F.M.,
to increase its power to 100 watts. This agreement
was reached in an out of court settlement approx-imately
two weeks ago.
Shawn O'Leary, WVOF station manager, said
that problems arose when competition for the air
waves began about two or three years ago. WVOF
had requested that The Federal Communications
Commissions allow WVOF increase its power to
100 watts. At that time the FCC then allowed any
and all other interested broadcasting organiza-tions
if they would like to submit simmilar re-quests.
Connecticut Education Telecommunica-tions
was interested in establishing a station in
the Southern Connecticut region. Problems be-came
more evident when two Long Island schools
which broadcast atasimilarF.M. frequency feared
that the establishment of the Connecticut Edu-cation
Telecommunications station would inter-fere
with their broadcast region.
Several documents are yet to be analyzed by
Mr. O'Leary. These documents contain minor
problems that still need to be resolved. One such
decision is the placement of the antenna for trans-mission.
Apparently WVOF made this arrange-ment
to facilitate the negotiations with the other
parties.
Mr. O'Leary stated that he hoped to be able to
install the new equipment over the semester break
and be ready for operation in the Spring term of
85. According to Mr. O'Leary approximately forty
thousand dollars is needed to purchase the
necessary equipment.
The next step for WVOF is to obtain a building
permit from the Federal Communications Com-mission
through a judge. Once the building per-mit
is received then the equipment will be
installed. With the increase in wattage WVOFwill
now be able to broadcast to the towns of West-port,
Easton, Fairfield, and Trumbull. The entire
city of Bridgeport will also be contained within
WVOF's broadcast radius.
Mr. O'Leary commented that with the increase
in power he would like to see WVOF go stereo,
but he added that there were many factors to be
considered in making this decision. The most im-portant
factor is that if WVOF does go stereo, its
actual out put would drop to 50 watts. This is be-cause
stereo operates with two channels, while
mono operates with one.
A new training program is being instituted at
WVOF. This training program is designed to teach
all aspects of radio operation. "One of my first
priorities is to establish this training program,"
Mr. O'Leary stated. He added "What we are look-ing
for is professionalism."
Mr. O'Leary went on saying that he also want-ed
to consolidate the programming and develop
programming for a variety of listeners. "What we
want to do is be able to offer something for every-one,"
O'Leary said.
A board of directors presides over the student
run radio station and has acted in an advisory ca-pacity
during the recent litigation. Fairfield Univer-sity
is picking up the expense of legal fees
incurred. A law firm based in Washington D.C. was
held on retainer by WVOF.
WVOF is a student club that receives an annu-al
budget of fourteen to fifteen thousand dollars.
This money is raised from the student activity fee
paid by Fairfield University students with their
tuition.
A public relations campaign will soon be mount-ed
to help establish a more positive attitude
towards the radio station. Articles on the station's
programming have appeared in the Bridgeport
Post, a local daily publication, and an article will
appear in this Sunday edition of the New York
Times.
The vioice of Farifield will expand and strengthen soon. [Photo by Gerry McPartland]
Orientation Succeeds Overwhelmingly
by Christine Ryan and Stephen J. Humes
"This was one of the best programs in the his-tory
of Orientation at Fairfield," declared Jeanne
Osborn, Director of Orientation and also Judicial
Officer.
"It is difficult to organize 250 volunteers and
keep them working for 72 hours," continued Os-born.
"Our motive was to make the new students
feel secure emotionally and academically through
social and academic programs, using their peers
as guides." The Orientation program acts as a
guide to the Fairfield community for the in-coming
students for the next four years. "We laid down
the foundations of students' expectations and
gave them a little dose of all facets of life," during
the three day program.
The co-chairs of Orientation, John Mancini and
Meg Geary both felt that the session went "even
better than we expected... We had three long
grueling days from Wednesday to Saturday and
yet it seemed everyone had enough energy for
Sunday (when the freshmen arrived)." Geary was
"surprised at how much they (the freshmen) were
ready to be a part of Fairfield." This year involved
the largest freshman class in the history of Fair-field
University.
Along with the influx of freshmen, a select
group of transfer students arrive each fall and
spring. "Their program is more informal, and
geared towards the individual in the Fairfield sys-tem"
stated Osborn, since transfers have already
been initiated into college life. "Marissa Picornell
and Colleen O'Connell had total control of the pro-gram,"
emphasized Osborn. "Our attitude is that
they transferred in, and they know what transfers
need and want, so they are free to program it."
Additions to the programs of the past were plac-ing
commuters temporarily on-campus for the
weekend, tissues on parents' survival kits, an-nouncements
on WVOF and an Orientation Daily
newsletter. The Sunday night entertainment was
well attended, but Osborn felt that some of the
material was objectionable. "Much of it was dis-tasteful
for a Jesuit institution and did take offense.
I was personally disappointed in the content at
times... Abrams and Andersen appeared here
last year and gave a clean, funny performance."
She stressed that the new committees will be
looking into the feasability of a dinner
theatre/caberet atmosphere next year.
The few problems encountered by the Orien-tation
staff were minor. "Everyone helped on Sun-day,"
stated Mancini, "but some people did not
show on Monday and Tuesday." There was also
a personnel problem once the townhouses
opened their doors. The movie shown was not
well attended, and funds may be redirected to
other activities in the future.
"We wanted to stress that there has to be a
balance in college life. Many freshmen are hesi-tant
to get involved. There is a definite fear ele-ment
because they don't know what they can
handle," mentioned Osborn. "We wanted the
newcomers to be well prepared on Wednesday
for academics, but we also wanted to show other
facets of Fairfield life." The festivities on Monday
and Tuesday were structured to include a fifty-fifty
split between academics and activities.
John Mancini mentioned thanking the junior
class for their help. "It set a great tone for the year
ahead, and if the juniors can keep that spirit go-ing
all year we'll have a great class." The en-thusiasm
manifested itself when the juniors were
victorious in the greased pole climb, wrestling the
title formerly won by the freshmen.
There was much praise for the co-chairs from
Jeanne Osborn. "Their gift of public speaking and
their creativeness all made a lasting impression.
They took command as peer leaders in a difficult
position, and blended new ideas with past tradi-tions.
It will be a great benefit to have them con-tinue
as consultants next year."
Plans have already begun for the Class of 1989.
Osborn will choose a new subchair for Budgets.
This position will be mainly to relieve the finan-cial
paperwork that she has had to deal with in
the past. "Every year we think it's a fool proof sys-tem,
but it's not. It's a learning experience for me
also." Osborn adds her experience to the program
year to year "and the junior class adds its youth-fulness."
Ministry Acquires New Chaplain
The housing dilemmas on and off campus continue to plague the administration and the
students and have led to interference from Fairfield town residents. (See editorial on page 3)
[Photo by Gerry McPartland]
Fairfield, Conn.—Fairfield University has
named Susan Connery, a former lobbyist for Net-work,
a Catholic social justice group, as assis-tant
chaplain in the Campus Ministry.
She brings to the appointment the hope that
she can help university students build their aware-ness
of the need for social justice with special
concern for the people is paramount among her
concern.
Connery becomes the fourth woman to fill the
post at the Jesuit university and the second who
was not a member of a religious order.
Ms. Connery will also be engaged with assist-ing
students with spiritual direction, leading
retreats and with counseling. She explained,
"Counseling can sound so long-term to students
when their need may actually be to have some-one
listen to them right now. People need affir-mation.
They need to be assured that they are
good; in who they are, in their careers and studies
or in relations with others."
In working with students, she is concerned that
they are worried primarily about their future
careers. "In the current swing, students have be-come
very conservative and worry about them-selves
instead of about the world as a much larger
picture. But I'm not always afraid of where socie-ty
is heading. I have hope. I believe people who
believe they are content have the potential within
themselves for radical change. It all takes time
and the right moment and someone to lay out al-ternatives.
"In fact, in the past year more Fairfield Univer-sity
students.have come to Campus Ministry and
devoted more hours as volunteers for Communi-ty
Alternatives, a food co-op for the poor in
Brideport, than ever before. Maybe the students
are responding to the message provided on cam-pus
by the Campus Ministry and the new Faith
and Justice Coalition."
In 1978, she received a B.S. degree in law en-forcement
and hoped for a career in investiga-tions.
Her internship her senior year with Brockton
Multi-Service Center led to a position in occupa-tional
therapy work and then to Patient Service
Coordinator for the National Multiple Sclerosis
Society of Rhode Island. She continued her edu-cation
through a two-year Diocesan Lay Ministry
program. There she reached out to lead retreats
for single adults, lay persons, families and inter-faith
groups.
Connery then enrolled for a master's degree
in pastoral ministry at Seattle University, Washing-ton,
and became a chaplain in the burn unit at
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She is
nearing completion of a thesis that would help
nurses form support groups to deal with the
stresses of burn nursing in a wholistic way, mainly
through communication.
Susan now plans to share her feelings and ex-priences
with the Fairfield campus community
and hopes to work with the faculty to sponsor pro-grams
that will build student understanding of is-sues.
"I want to take part in student's lives and
activities and to be a woman who promotes the
lay church and how to live life fully."
■ (courtesy of Public Relations)