Mirror - Vol. 10, No. 21 - January 22, 1987

              ^MIRRORv Volume 10, No. 21 Our Tenth Year Thursday, January 22, 1987 The Image of Fairfield
Poussaint Discusses Interracial Relations
Dr. Alvin Poussaint
[Photo by Andrea Whitehouse]
United Way
Tops Goal
Fairfield University and the Prep
surpassed their goal for contributions
from the campus community to the 1986
United Way campaign. The University's
original goal was $18,200, which was
adjusted mid-way through the campaign
to a more realistic target of $17,000,
according to Michael Maccarone,
University controller and chairperson of
the campus campaign.
Maccarone commented, "Through
the generous efforts of our contributors,
we were able to give credence to this
year's theme, 'Building a Caring
Community.'" He was assisted by
Phyllis Fitzpatrick, director of
management information and co-chairperson
of the campus campaign. She
will serve as chairperson of the United
Way campaign on campus this coming
year.
Almost half of the campus
categories involved exceeded their goals,
bringing the total to $17,373.
by Melissa Campanelli
"We must learn, listen, and understand
what America is all about." These were
the opening words of Dr. Alvin
Poussaint, Harvard psychiatry professor
and author, who came to speak on behalf
of Martin Luther King Day on Thursday,
January 15th, in the Oak Room. His
topic "Interracial Relations" was based onJ
the fact that the only way America can
survive, is if we take time to learn about
each others cultures and accept them
equally.
Poussaint spoke of the problem of
poverty that is rampant in the black
community. Today, there is more
poverty than there was 20 years ago,
when Dr. King died. In fact, in 198(n
one third of the black population lived
below the poverty line. This means a
family of 4 was earning less than
$ 11,000 a year. Poussaint accounts this
to the fact that there are simply no high
paying jobs available to the mostly
uneducated black community. Hence,
they are forced to work at service jobs
offering only minimum wage pay. This,
of course, leads to a troubled family life.
as well as the abolishment of the nuclear
family , leaving .only "drugs,
hopelessness, and abandonment as the
result," Poussaint claimed .
Education and community work are
two essential elements vital to the black
people, along with all other races. We
must teach young adults, in gerneral, to
care about each other, instead of only
being concerned about themselves in this
goal-oriented "Me" society. .
Poussaint also felt that in order for
blacks and whites to live together
peacefully, the economy has to be
restructured. In the government's cut
backs on federal programs such as food
stamps, they are giving the black race no
economic support. Poussaint claimed he
was not surprised at all about such
incidents as the recent Howard Beach
case. Blacks are made to feel inferior,
and whites simply want segregation.
They want a predominantly white society
with only a few minorities under them.
Like the descent of the Native
American Indian, black racism is the
product of white western assumptions,
which becomes stereotyped and put into
people's heads at birth. Blackness was
thought of and always will be considered
an impurity or taint, in comparison with
white's purity. There is always a
suspision surrounding blacks, so they arc
always forced to prove themselves.
One way in which Dr. Poussaint is
able to teach people about the black's
plight in modern society is through his
work on "The Cosby Show". As
creative consultant, he reviews scripts for
Mr. Cosby, making sure there are no
demeaning remarks, about anyone or any
race, which are commonplace on many
other sitcoms today. He also screens
scripts, making sure they are
psychologically realistic as well as
educational. Finally, he helps some of
the white writers to incorporate certain
black cultural aspects and family
traditions into the show, hoping to
broaden the horizons of the show's
audience.
All in all. Dr. Poussaint feels that it
is vital for children to be raised caring
about each other, and he claims, "This is
the spirit of Martin Luther King, and we
must make it our goal to obtain this
spirit in 1987."
New Director of Student Activities Hired
By Connie McKenna
News Editor
Fran Gencarelli, a Rhode Island
native and graduate of Temple
University, has been hired as the new
Assistant Director of University
Activities. The position was previously
held by Kim Hale.
Gencarelli received her undergradu-ate
degree from Fairleigh Dickinson
University, and her Master's degree in
education from Temple in 1983.
Previously she worked at Queen's
College as Assistant Director of
Programming.
As part of her duties, Gencarelli will
be working with FUSA to help organize
planning and programming. "I'm really
looking forward to helping develop an
innovative and creative activities
program. We'll expecially be
concentrating on creating different, but
not costly, activities."
Gencarelli will also aid other clubs
and organizations with programming, as
well as assisting the graduatue assistants
and organizing the leadership weekend
slated for April 3rd and 4th. "My most
immediate goal is to become familiar
with the student population and its wants
and needs. This is the best way that I
can help develop truly worthwhile
programming."
Fran Gencarelli
By Andrea Whitehouse
Updated Student
Directory Arrives
Open House was not the booming success as it was in September.
[Photo by Joe Draper]
by Connie McKenna
The traditional student directory
underwent a facelift this year; the
project was undertaken by FUSA and
was developed by a computer program
created by FUSA's director of
information systems. Rob McMahon.
In the past, the directory was
produced by the Cardinal Key
Society,which simply printed the student
information stored on the University's
mainframe computer. This year,
however, University lawyers advised that
this method is a breech of a recent
privacy act. When Cardinal Key members
decided that they weren't equipped to
handle the more demanding task, FUSA
President Mike Miller undertook the
responsibility.
The process began with the
distribution of student information sheets
which required a signature as permission
to release the infonnation.
McMahon then created a computer
program which allowed him to input the
student information onto a database. For
three straight days, McMahon and other
FUSA members input names into the
program. McMahon then edited the
output, and sent the material to the
printer.
FUSA financed the project, which
cost $3100. The Mirror originally
offered FUSA the use of its typesetting
equipment, but due to technical
problems, the printer was not accessible.
INSIDE
THIS WEEK
News 1, 2
Editorials 3
Features 5
Playhouse. 6, 7
Arts & Entertainment .. 9, 10
Sports 11, 12