Mirror - Vol. 08, No. 25 - March 07, 1985

              'The Image
of
Fairfield"
I THE ^ ^^
FAIRFIELD W \ [MIRROR] Nonprofit Organization
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Permit No. 32
Fairfield, Conn.
Volume 8, No. 25 Thursday, March 7, 1985 Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut 06430 Incorporated 1977
O'Connor Leaves Stags
After four seasons as Head Coach of the Stags Basketball team, Terry O'Connor's contract
was not renewed by the University as announced Tuesday. [Photo by Kevin Wolfthal]
Beach Burglaries Persist
by Kathryn King
Three houses rented to students on Fairfield
Beach Rd. were broken into on Friday, February
twenty-second and Wednesday, February twenty-seventh.
Kathy Mattavi of 627 Fairfield Beach Rd., (the
"Owl"), said that her three housemates came
home at 10:20 on the twenty-second to the sound
of falling glass. They found that someone had
broken a window and had tried to unlock the back
door through the window. She said that the police
believed that they scared the burglar away when
he was about to unchain the chain lock.
At 11:40 that Friday night, Kathy Cravinho, of
595 Fairfield Beach Rd., (the "Ri Ma La"), came
home to find her house burglarized. In order to
enter, someone had broken the dining room
window.
Two hundred dollars in cash, a thirty-five mil-limeter
camera and close to three thousand dol-lars
worth of jewelry was taken. The only jewelry
left was what the girls had on and a few things
that were hidden away. Another housemate had
left the house an hour before Kathy Cravinho
came home.
On Wednesday, the twenty-seventh, there was
an attempted break-in at 629 Fairfield Beach Rd.,
(the "Surf Coot"). Lisa Walsh said that her house-mate
Barbara Hanrahan came home at twelve
o'clock in the afternoon and found the back porch
window broken. Someone had cut a pane of glass
out of the door window and tried to unlock the
door. He did not succeed in getting into the house.
The policeman that talked to the girls at the "Ri
Ma La" said that, "nobody ever sees anything,"
when a burglary takes place. Kathy Cravinho said
that, "I wouldn't think twice if I saw a guy 1 had
never seen before walking into our neighbor's
house. I'd think it was one of their boyfriends."
"People have to tell us when they see something
unusual," said the detective. Another policeman,
Officer Pascone said, "It's easy prey at the
beach."
A house at 583 Fairfield Beach Rd., not rented
to students was also burglarized at 10:30 on Fri-day,
the twenty-second.
by Thomas P. Moore
After a fourth season at Fairfield, the Stags'
head basketball coach, Terry O'Connor, will not
return next season. On Tuesday evening, March
5, the university announced that his annual con-tract
would not be renewed. According to the
press release, the asst. coaches are still with the
university.
Finishing off the '84^85 season at the 11-17 mark
overall, sitting at the bottom of the MAAC league
with a conference record of 4-10, the former as-sistant
basketball coach at Harvard from '77 to
'81 would not say what his future plans were.
O'Connor plans to hold a press conference to-day
at noon at Willowby's Restaurant.
Under his guidance the Stags amassed a
record of 45 wins and 60 losses. Over the past
four seasons the squad finished with win-loss tal-lies
of 11-18, 13-15 and 10-8.
William P. Schimpf, Vice-President of Student
' Services, said, "There was a need for a change
of leadership in order for the men's basketball pro-gram
to grow."
The team captain, Tony George, a junior who
has led the team throughout his three seasons
at Fairfield, said, "Our chemistry was coming
around. Next year we'll have three seniors and
a lot of juniors. We'll have three top players who
are now close to signing."
George agreed with the theory that with no
seniors this year, things could only get better.
"Next year would have been stronger. I feel one
more year should have been given. I think most
of the team feels that way.'
When asked if there were any other factors than
O'Connor's four straight losing seasons, George
said that he had heard that there were some "per-sonal
problems that O'Connor had with the ad-ministration."
One of the standouts on the team this season,
Jeff Gromos, the sophomore center from Joliet,
Illinois, expressed surprise at the university's de-cision
to seek a new coach. Gromos said, "It was
a total shock. It really was. I think he should have
been given one more year, because one of the
big things that he was fighting for was his inabili-ty
to recruit. It's only fair that he be given the op-portunity
to show what he could do with the people
he did recruit."
Petry Discusses 'Iron Curtain'
by Connie McKenna
Professor Walter Petry, a history professor and
avid student of Nicaraguan government, lectured
Wednesday night on the misconceptions on the
part of the United States about Nicaragua.
Petry asserted that "there are huge differences
between the governments of El Salvador and
Nicaragua." He argued that contrary to U.S.
claims, Nicaragua is a totalitarian government,
citing its first presidential election as an exam-ple
of Nicaragua's new dirve toward democracy.
Alcohol Consumption Linked To Dorm Damage
by Chris Tyler
According to Rev. John W. Keegan, Director of
Student Residences, dorm damage last semester
has decreased by some 800 dollars as compared
to the same semester of the year prior.
Fr. Keegan also stated that most of the dorms
on the Quad have had decreases but some have
experienced dramatic increases. Gonzaga and
Regis Halls have experienced decreases of some
500 and 1300 dollars respectively. Keegan stat-ed
that he felt the high rates of damage were the
result of a cultural problem. "People have got to
take responsibility for their actions," he added.
Jeanne Osborn, Director, of Orientation and
Campus Judicial Officer, added comment to the
dorm damage problem by citing alcohol as be-ing
present in all of the cases where the individu-als
were caught for their dormitory demolition.
"Of the twenty-four non-accidental cases of dorm
damage, twenty-four had the presence of Alco-hol,"
she said.
Alcohol Counselor, John Pacheco, stated that
he meets with those students who are found to
have been intoxicated to discuss their alcoholic
beverage consumption. He stated that the fact
that four students requiring a trip to the hospital
for over-consumption is enough of an indicator
that there is a problem. He did add, however,
"Raising the drinking age does not solve the
problem of alcoholism." He added that Fairfield
University's average of problem drinkers is con-sistent
with the national average of ten percent.
Pacheco added that education is, in his mind, the
best method towards resolving this crucial issue.
"Most of the students who are caught doing
dorm damage are drunk," stated Jeanne Os-borne.
She added that those students are referred
to the Alcohol counselor after being put through
the judicial process. Osborne claims that there
is a challenge put on the students to behave
responsibly. She added that over-consumption
of alcohol is a misuse of it and stated, "We don't
want a death to set a precedence."
Fr. Keegan stresses the need for long range
value education. Keegan is a resident of Loyala
Hall which has had an increase of some 250 dol-lars
over last year. "I am personally disgusted with
the damage and lack of respect for the property.
He added that until the "good" people who have
to suffer say something the problem will continue.
"An American philosopher once wrote The only
thing evil needs to succeed is for good people
to let it," he added.
An attitude problem has been cited by Osborne,
Keegan, and Pacheco for being responsible for
the damage on campus. "Once the attitudes are
changed then you'll be able to correct the situa-tion.
But I'm at a loss for a place to start or a way
to go about it," said Keegan. He added "I believe
that young people are basically good but you
wouldn't know it from the condition that the halls
are left in over the week-ends."
Osborne concluded, "There is a direct corre-lation
between the consumption of alcohol and
the damage that is done." Osborne also stated
that statiscally, members of the Sophomore class
have been caught for more dorm damage than
any other class. RecPlex Facilities Report
Petry called Nicaragua's first election "irregu-lar
but not invalid." Nicaraguans were required
to register, but not to vote, although 75% of those
registered did so. The government established
a literacy campaign before the elections, and all
political parties were given equal amounts of pub-licity
time and space in the uncensored
newspapers and on t.v. Of the people who voted,
some "spoiled" their ballot, showing their oppo-sition
to the election. Of the people whose votes
counted, 67% voted for the (FSLN) Frente San-dinista
Liberacion Nacional, the governing body,
3.8% voted to the left, and 29.2% voted to the right.
Daniel Ortega was the president elect.
The committments of the FSLN, says Petry, are
three-fold. First, they strive for non-alignment, that
is, equal dealings with Western countries, So-cialist
and Third World countries. Petry stated,
"The reason Nicaragua associates with Castro
is that he gives the country money. He recently
forgave them a 750,000 loan- an important trans-action
for such a dirt-poor country." The second
ideal of the FSLN is a mixed economy. Since the
revolution, 60% of production is in private hands,
as opposed to the percentage which was previ-ously
owned by the Somoza family before the
takeover. Lastly, the FSLN supports political
pluralism, as shown by the recent election.
Petry further illustrated that Nicaragua is non-totalitarian
by the fact that people are free to come
and go as they please, even people supporting
the opposition. Also, according to Petry, Sandinis-tas
and anit- Sandinistas live commonly; no one's
political inclinations are hidden or kept secret.
Petry's final point dealt with the Catholic
Church. He asserted that Christianity is involved
in everyday life and that in Nicaragua, the Church
identifies with the revolutionaries, "Just as Christ
was poor suffering, so are the revolution-aries."
Petry also added that, in general, the
Jesuits in Nicaragua support the revolution.
by Chris Tyler
According to Tama O'Mara, Director of the Rec-reational
Complex (Rec Plex), a heating unit is
all that is delaying the opening of the whirlpool
in the Rec Plex.
After underground leaks were discovered it was
determined that pipes would have to be dug up
and the whirlpool closed for a period of time. Ms.
O'Mara stated that at the time it was determined
that installation of a bigger whirlpool would be the
best course of action. She said, "At the time it
was decided to put in a whirlpool that would best
meet the needs of the people who use it."
Wagner Pool, of Darien Ct. is the contractor
handling the whirlpool installation. According to
Miss O'Mara they have been back several times
to check on the condition of the newly installed
whirlpool.
Other problems were noticed with the whirlpool.
Said O'Mara "There was an unexplained water
loss in the whirlpool, but that has since been cor-rected."
According to O'Mara, during the period
that the whirlpool has been shut down there have
been no further problems with the whirlpool. -
O'Mara stated that there was a delivery time
of approximately one week for the heating ele-ment
that will replace the unit that was found to
be defective. The order for the heating unit was
placed sometime last week, according to the faci-lity
director.
In addition, O'Mara stated that the wear on the
whirlpool and other sections of the Rec Plex are
normal. O'Mara also added that the building is
shut down in August so that repairs-can be effect-ed
on the structure. Said O'Mara, "We close in
August just before the students come in so that
we can give them the best possible facility. I don't
think that students would like us to shut down now,
when the building is in peak use." O'Mara also
added that she had checked with other athletic
facilities in the area and found that wear on the
Rec Plex was not inconsistent with other
buildings. Hopes for an open whirlpool persist. Work is being done to keep it open.[Photo by Karen Haney]