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The FairfieldMIRRORy Volume 10, No. 17 Our Tenth Year Thursday, November 20, 1986 The Image of Fairfield Administration Adopts New Get Tough Townhouse Policy by Connie McKenna News Editor In a letter dated November 13, Richard Rossi, Director of Student Residences, in-formed townhouse residents of new policy guidelines governing townhouse social ac-tivities. The primary restriction requires all so-cial activities in the units with an attendance greater than 16 people to be registered at the Office of Student Residences or at the Townhouse Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the event. The registration of parties requires submission of the names of townhouse residents who will be in attendance during the event and who will also be held responsible for any inappropriate behavior that may occur. A second development in the policy limits the number of people who may be in attendance at a townhouse event. Accord-ing to Rossi's letter, University Fire Mar-shall Gary Stevens has reviewed the space available in the townhouses and recom-mends that no more than 50 people be in-side at one time if both the main floor and basement are being used. This guideline is based on fire code restrictions. Rossi's correspondence warned that all other policies of the University will still be in effect, and he admonished that "if problems continue to occur after institution ofthese new policies, other restrictions may have to be placed on townhouse residents, such as a loss of keg priveleges or other res-trictions not yet determined." According to Rossi, the changes im-plemented are not sudden and shouldn't be unexpected, but rather are the result of ever-increasing problems with townhouse social activities which lead to violations of WOODWELL DISCUSSES ENVIRONMENT By Scott R. Davis The second of the Olin Corporation sponsored-lectures was given by Dr. George Woodwell in the Nursing Audito-rium. His talk, entitled "The environmen-tal problem. A scientific perspective," gave another approach to dealing with the en- Jal dilemmas we face today. Woodwell opened his talk by stating that "the earth is a biotic system that is running down and requires our attention." The eco-logical issues have now become very im-portant to our lives. As the population has grown in the past century, this has created a greater demand on resources. Man is bet-ter able to use resources from technology.. Woodwell stated that "the biggest ecolog-ical problem has been a change in the cli-mate from a rise in the carbon dioxide levels." This has received much attention because many forests have been cut down and fossil fuels have been burnt. This has changed the atmosphere's ability to hold heat. Woodwell stated that "the carbon di-oxide concentration could double by the early part of the 21st century." This will result in the warming of the earth from 1.5 to 4 degrees Celsius^ Woodwell stated that "these changes will not occur evenly and uniformly and could greatly affect the poles. This will result in a massive die-off of forests without a replacement of the forests and is an unacceptable biological impoverishment." Woodwell gave another example of how the environment has been affected from nuclear energy and war. He stated that "there would probably be 1 billion deaths if 10,000 to 15,000 megatons ofTNT were to be used in a nuclear war. This could result in a freezing of the earth for days or even months." Nuclear power at first was "intended to be a cheap source of power yet it has been extremely expensive, complex, and mismanaged." A final example of the problems from nuclear energy is the Chernobyl accident that has created radioactive deaths and con-taminated areas. Woodwell stressed that "this hazard is too great because of bad management and terrorism in the world." From the carbon dioxide and nuclear energy problems, Woodwell stated that there are important lessons to be learned. We must not experiment with the at-mosphere since it can be costly to correct errors. In order to deal with these problems, we must "talk about, argue and examine them and make this a part of our lives so that change can occur." Finally, Woodwell mentioned that we need to invent a new way to enforce government to obey the laws designed to protect the environment." The whole em-phasis of the talk can be summed up from the opening statement that "the world is a biotic system," and if it is allowed to oper-ate well, we will be able to have clean water and air." [Photo by Marc Belanger George Woodwell] ... CVK/ 35* vSViopptr^ TDAMS Le£+-( the University alcohol policy, extensive noise, and overcrowding within the units. Last spring, Michael Miller met with William Schimpf, Vice President of Stu-dent Services, to discuss these problems. The alternatives offered included more ex-tensive programming in the residence halls in order to make townhouse parties less at-tractive. "This", stated Rossi, "obviously didn't work out, since by late fall we still had too many townhouse situations requir-ing staff intervention." On September 25, all townhouse resi-dents received a letter from Rossi remind-ing them of their responsibilities and cautioning them to take greater control over their social activities. Commented Rossi, "I really don't think the new policy guidelines should come as a shock to anyone. To me they're the next logical step, since neither alternative programming nor warnings have curbed behavioral problems. We needed a better control factor." Rossi stated that he sees no reason to be-lieve that the modified policy will be tem-porary, noting that although the subject will be open for discussion, it will be in place on a long-term basis. Members of the FUSA Cabinet called an emergency meeting last Friday to discuss the new policy guidelines. According to the Cabinet minutes of the meeting, there was general dissent as to the acceptability of the policy, the speed with which it was devised and implemented, and the lack of student input. According to Rossi, neither speed nor student input is an issue, since "the new guidelines deal with problems reaching back as far as last spring, and have evolved only because students have not adhered to the rules already in place." Chris McNulty, Director of Academics in the FUSA Cabinet, notes that many FUSA members feel that the new policy is a violation of the existing townhouse con-tract. States McNulty ,"The policy changes represent new terms, rules and regulations being added to an existing contract. We're presently consulting an outside attorney to find whether or not this is a breach of con-tract." A strong opposition to the policy proposals, according to McNulty, lies in the fact that Rossi did not clear his new rules through the University Council."Rossi views his changes as mere guidelines, while they are actually separate rules and regu-lations, which must be approved by the University Council."McNulty plans to have the policy changes discussed at the next University Council meeting, which will oc-cur the first week in December. "We under-stand that for safety reasons a maximum number of people allowed at a townhouse event must be instituted,"comments McNulty, "but what we really want to change is the time limit on the registration process, which Rossi said could be negotiated, and a ruling on whether or not it's a breach of contract." Student reaction to the new policy has generally been negative. Tom Hulse-man,' 87, comments, "it's just another step by the administration to dictate student be-havior rather than to try to control it." Rich Berger, '88, notes, "it's another way of res-tricting the freedom that we deserve and supposedly are supposed to have." Forum Begins Oxfam Awareness By Connie McKenna News Editor The Faith and Justice coalition sponsored a forum on hunger last Tuesday, kicking off a week of activities related to Hunger Awareness Week. Included is today's Ox-fam fast. Four speakers shared their personal ex-periences on or about hunger including Dr. Paul Lakeland, Alice McCormack, Fr. Si-mon Harak, and Fr. Bill Cullen. Dr. Lakeland spoke of his experiences working with Blackfeet Indians in Mon-tana, and his amazement at their ability to share and give, even when there was little left for themselves, including food. Lakeland also asserted that the poor view the bible as an "unmixed blessing", since it clearly says that we should be charitable towards, and show respect for the poor and hungry. Alice McCormack next discussed her ex-periences in working at the Merton House, a soup kitchen in Bridgeport where, she stated, 180 to 250 underpriveleged people are served lunch each day. McCormack also cited that the number of people seek-ing food at the soup kitchen has more than tripled since 1981, a fact which she attribut-ed to President Reagan's 57 billion dollar cut in federal programs designed to help the poor. The main types of people utilizing the Merton House, according to McCormack, are those with drug and alcohol problems who may have grown up in a poor class and been unable to escape it, people with psy-chiatric problems who, due to spending cuts, were released after 20 or 30 years in an institution, and young people with mini-mum wage jobs who only have enough money to pay their rent. McCormack em-phasized that spending time with the poor was not a "bummer", and that the real challenge is allowing oneself to actually see the poor and the dispicable conditions in which they live. Fr. Simon Harak next shared his difficul-ties with fasting, relating that it took him six years before he was finally able to fast for an entire day. He suggested that thinking about the person on people being fasted for eases the difficulties. He advocated that the the more one was able to give up for some-one, the more strong and compassionate he/she would become. Questioning whether or not today's soci-ety values food, Fr. Bill concluded the fo- , rum by relating his experiences growing up v in the midst of the depression. He contrast-ed his views of food then with or seeming lack of regard for the luxury of being able to eat as much as we want, citing food fights as an example of this blatant disregard. He concluded, "many of us simply don't value our abundance of food for the precious gift that it really is." Happy Thanksgiving} See the Basketball Preview Inside! f
Object Description
Title | Mirror - Vol. 10, No. 17 - November 20, 1986 |
Date | December 20 1986 |
Description | The Mirror (sometimes called the Fairfield Mirror) is the official student newspaper of Fairfield University, and is published weekly during the academic year (September - May). It runs from 1977 - the present; current issues are available online. |
Notes | A timeline for Fairfield University student newspapers is as follows: The Tentative, Nov. 7, 1947 - Dec. 19, 1947; The Fulcrum, Jan. 9, 1948 - May 20, 1949; The Stag, Sept. 23, 1949 - May 6, 1970; The University Voice, Oct. 1, 1970 - May 11, 1977; The Fairfield Free Press & Review, Sept. 10, 1970 - Apr. 24, 1975; The Fairfield Mirror, Sept. 22, 1977 - present. |
Type of Document | Newspaper |
Original Format | Newsprint; color; ill.; 11.5 x 17 in. |
Digital Specifications | These images exist as archived TIFFs, JPEGs and one or more PDF versions for general use. Digitized by Creekside Digital through the LYRASIS group. |
Publisher | Fairfield University |
Place of Publication | Fairfield, Conn. |
Source | Fairfield University Archives and Special Collections |
Copyright Information | Fairfield University reserves all rights to this resource which is provided here for educational and/or non-commercial purposes only. |
Identifier | MIR19861120 |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
SearchData | The FairfieldMIRRORy Volume 10, No. 17 Our Tenth Year Thursday, November 20, 1986 The Image of Fairfield Administration Adopts New Get Tough Townhouse Policy by Connie McKenna News Editor In a letter dated November 13, Richard Rossi, Director of Student Residences, in-formed townhouse residents of new policy guidelines governing townhouse social ac-tivities. The primary restriction requires all so-cial activities in the units with an attendance greater than 16 people to be registered at the Office of Student Residences or at the Townhouse Office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the event. The registration of parties requires submission of the names of townhouse residents who will be in attendance during the event and who will also be held responsible for any inappropriate behavior that may occur. A second development in the policy limits the number of people who may be in attendance at a townhouse event. Accord-ing to Rossi's letter, University Fire Mar-shall Gary Stevens has reviewed the space available in the townhouses and recom-mends that no more than 50 people be in-side at one time if both the main floor and basement are being used. This guideline is based on fire code restrictions. Rossi's correspondence warned that all other policies of the University will still be in effect, and he admonished that "if problems continue to occur after institution ofthese new policies, other restrictions may have to be placed on townhouse residents, such as a loss of keg priveleges or other res-trictions not yet determined." According to Rossi, the changes im-plemented are not sudden and shouldn't be unexpected, but rather are the result of ever-increasing problems with townhouse social activities which lead to violations of WOODWELL DISCUSSES ENVIRONMENT By Scott R. Davis The second of the Olin Corporation sponsored-lectures was given by Dr. George Woodwell in the Nursing Audito-rium. His talk, entitled "The environmen-tal problem. A scientific perspective," gave another approach to dealing with the en- Jal dilemmas we face today. Woodwell opened his talk by stating that "the earth is a biotic system that is running down and requires our attention." The eco-logical issues have now become very im-portant to our lives. As the population has grown in the past century, this has created a greater demand on resources. Man is bet-ter able to use resources from technology.. Woodwell stated that "the biggest ecolog-ical problem has been a change in the cli-mate from a rise in the carbon dioxide levels." This has received much attention because many forests have been cut down and fossil fuels have been burnt. This has changed the atmosphere's ability to hold heat. Woodwell stated that "the carbon di-oxide concentration could double by the early part of the 21st century." This will result in the warming of the earth from 1.5 to 4 degrees Celsius^ Woodwell stated that "these changes will not occur evenly and uniformly and could greatly affect the poles. This will result in a massive die-off of forests without a replacement of the forests and is an unacceptable biological impoverishment." Woodwell gave another example of how the environment has been affected from nuclear energy and war. He stated that "there would probably be 1 billion deaths if 10,000 to 15,000 megatons ofTNT were to be used in a nuclear war. This could result in a freezing of the earth for days or even months." Nuclear power at first was "intended to be a cheap source of power yet it has been extremely expensive, complex, and mismanaged." A final example of the problems from nuclear energy is the Chernobyl accident that has created radioactive deaths and con-taminated areas. Woodwell stressed that "this hazard is too great because of bad management and terrorism in the world." From the carbon dioxide and nuclear energy problems, Woodwell stated that there are important lessons to be learned. We must not experiment with the at-mosphere since it can be costly to correct errors. In order to deal with these problems, we must "talk about, argue and examine them and make this a part of our lives so that change can occur." Finally, Woodwell mentioned that we need to invent a new way to enforce government to obey the laws designed to protect the environment." The whole em-phasis of the talk can be summed up from the opening statement that "the world is a biotic system," and if it is allowed to oper-ate well, we will be able to have clean water and air." [Photo by Marc Belanger George Woodwell] ... CVK/ 35* vSViopptr^ TDAMS Le£+-( the University alcohol policy, extensive noise, and overcrowding within the units. Last spring, Michael Miller met with William Schimpf, Vice President of Stu-dent Services, to discuss these problems. The alternatives offered included more ex-tensive programming in the residence halls in order to make townhouse parties less at-tractive. "This", stated Rossi, "obviously didn't work out, since by late fall we still had too many townhouse situations requir-ing staff intervention." On September 25, all townhouse resi-dents received a letter from Rossi remind-ing them of their responsibilities and cautioning them to take greater control over their social activities. Commented Rossi, "I really don't think the new policy guidelines should come as a shock to anyone. To me they're the next logical step, since neither alternative programming nor warnings have curbed behavioral problems. We needed a better control factor." Rossi stated that he sees no reason to be-lieve that the modified policy will be tem-porary, noting that although the subject will be open for discussion, it will be in place on a long-term basis. Members of the FUSA Cabinet called an emergency meeting last Friday to discuss the new policy guidelines. According to the Cabinet minutes of the meeting, there was general dissent as to the acceptability of the policy, the speed with which it was devised and implemented, and the lack of student input. According to Rossi, neither speed nor student input is an issue, since "the new guidelines deal with problems reaching back as far as last spring, and have evolved only because students have not adhered to the rules already in place." Chris McNulty, Director of Academics in the FUSA Cabinet, notes that many FUSA members feel that the new policy is a violation of the existing townhouse con-tract. States McNulty ,"The policy changes represent new terms, rules and regulations being added to an existing contract. We're presently consulting an outside attorney to find whether or not this is a breach of con-tract." A strong opposition to the policy proposals, according to McNulty, lies in the fact that Rossi did not clear his new rules through the University Council."Rossi views his changes as mere guidelines, while they are actually separate rules and regu-lations, which must be approved by the University Council."McNulty plans to have the policy changes discussed at the next University Council meeting, which will oc-cur the first week in December. "We under-stand that for safety reasons a maximum number of people allowed at a townhouse event must be instituted,"comments McNulty, "but what we really want to change is the time limit on the registration process, which Rossi said could be negotiated, and a ruling on whether or not it's a breach of contract." Student reaction to the new policy has generally been negative. Tom Hulse-man,' 87, comments, "it's just another step by the administration to dictate student be-havior rather than to try to control it." Rich Berger, '88, notes, "it's another way of res-tricting the freedom that we deserve and supposedly are supposed to have." Forum Begins Oxfam Awareness By Connie McKenna News Editor The Faith and Justice coalition sponsored a forum on hunger last Tuesday, kicking off a week of activities related to Hunger Awareness Week. Included is today's Ox-fam fast. Four speakers shared their personal ex-periences on or about hunger including Dr. Paul Lakeland, Alice McCormack, Fr. Si-mon Harak, and Fr. Bill Cullen. Dr. Lakeland spoke of his experiences working with Blackfeet Indians in Mon-tana, and his amazement at their ability to share and give, even when there was little left for themselves, including food. Lakeland also asserted that the poor view the bible as an "unmixed blessing", since it clearly says that we should be charitable towards, and show respect for the poor and hungry. Alice McCormack next discussed her ex-periences in working at the Merton House, a soup kitchen in Bridgeport where, she stated, 180 to 250 underpriveleged people are served lunch each day. McCormack also cited that the number of people seek-ing food at the soup kitchen has more than tripled since 1981, a fact which she attribut-ed to President Reagan's 57 billion dollar cut in federal programs designed to help the poor. The main types of people utilizing the Merton House, according to McCormack, are those with drug and alcohol problems who may have grown up in a poor class and been unable to escape it, people with psy-chiatric problems who, due to spending cuts, were released after 20 or 30 years in an institution, and young people with mini-mum wage jobs who only have enough money to pay their rent. McCormack em-phasized that spending time with the poor was not a "bummer", and that the real challenge is allowing oneself to actually see the poor and the dispicable conditions in which they live. Fr. Simon Harak next shared his difficul-ties with fasting, relating that it took him six years before he was finally able to fast for an entire day. He suggested that thinking about the person on people being fasted for eases the difficulties. He advocated that the the more one was able to give up for some-one, the more strong and compassionate he/she would become. Questioning whether or not today's soci-ety values food, Fr. Bill concluded the fo- , rum by relating his experiences growing up v in the midst of the depression. He contrast-ed his views of food then with or seeming lack of regard for the luxury of being able to eat as much as we want, citing food fights as an example of this blatant disregard. He concluded, "many of us simply don't value our abundance of food for the precious gift that it really is." Happy Thanksgiving} See the Basketball Preview Inside! f |