Mirror - Vol. 10, No. 26 - February 26, 1987

              The
FairfieldMIRRORy Volume 10, No. 25 Our Tenth Year Thursday, February 26, 1987 The Image of Fairfield
Wolfe, Sills Head Humanities Spring Lecture Series
By Melissa Campanelli
Managing Editor
The Humanities Institute's second
annual spring lecture series begins on
April 2nd. This year's theme is
"Patronage, Creativity and American
Culture." The series, which will include
distinguished speakers Tom Wolfe,
Schuyler Chapin, Herbert Schmertz and
Beverly Sills, will investigate the
benefits and problems of artistic,
creative, and cultural activities taking
place in America today.
.According to Dr. Philip Eliasoph,
chairman of the Arts Department at
fairfield University and Director of the
Program, "The theme of the series
focuses on the complex interrelationships
found in the United States today between
arts, education patrons, and creators."
The series will discuss some basic issues
such as private patronage in the creative
fields, and how well cultural institutions
are supported in the United States. The
topic, Dr. Eliasoph continues, "reaches
far beyond the parochial issue of how and
why the creative arts are subsidized. It
challenges us with the question, if the so-called
inquiring "American Spirit"
underscores the need for creative
expression, then why is our national
policy so frugal in its sponsorship of the
NEA, NEH, and other agencies
contributing to our cultural life?" He
also adds, "The entire cultural budget for
the U.S. pales against the price of just
one fighter jet. Can we accept this
ratio?"
On April 2nd, Tom Wolfe, award-winning
author and social commentator,
will be addressing some of these issues.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, and
recieving his doctorate in American
Studies from Yale University, Mr. Wolfe
started out as a reporter for The
Washington Post and The New York
Herald Tribune in 1954. In 1968, two
of his books, The Pump House Gang,
and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test were
published; both outstanding social
commentaries about American life. He
later went on to have his most famous
book, The Right Stuff, published in
1979. This national best seller won the
American Book Award for non-fiction.
Schuyler Chapin, impresario and
film producer, with a distinguished list of
credits behind him, will be speaking to
the Fairfield Community on April 8th.
He became Dean of the School of the
Arts at Columbia University, where,
during his tenure, he raised over $7
million to date.' From 1972-1975, he
served as general manager of the
Metropolitan Opera, and, from 1964-
1968, he was Vice-President in charge of
programming at Lincoln Center. Here,.
Mr. Chapin helped create the New York
Film Festival, the Mostly Mozart Series,
and the Lincoln Center Summer Festival,
featuring prominent foreign performance
companies.
The series will continue on April
15th, with guest lecturer Herbert
Schmertz, director and Vice-President of
the mobil Corporation. Born in
Yonkers, NY, he recieved his LL.B
degree from Columbia University in
1955. He joined Mobil in 1966, as
manager of the corporate labor relations
department, moving up the corporate
ladder virtually every year until elected to
the board of the Mobil Corporation in
1979. Schmertz is credited with bringing
Mobil-funded "Masterpiece Theater"
programs to Public television. As
Mobil's public affairs specialist, he
oversees corporate public relations,
domestic and international government
relations, and investor relations. His
first book. Goodbye to the Low Profile,
was published last year.
The series will close on April 22nd
with Beverly Sills, a leading Soprano of
both the New York City Opera and the
Metropolitan Opera. Since 1979, Ms.
Sills has been the General Director of the
New York City Opera. Throughout her
career, she has performed repeatedly with
every major orchestra in the United
States and many orchestras abroad. Her
repertory ranges more than seven roles,
and she has been awarded both a Grammy
and an Emmy. The Grammy, for the
CHORAL COMMITTEE FORMED
By Connie McKenna
News Editor
An advisory committee has been
formed to determine whether the existing
choral groups on campus should be
unified. The committee, which is
serving "purely as an advisory group"
according to chairperson James
Fitzpatrick, is comprised of the advisors
from the Glee Club and the Women's
Chorale, two undergraduate
representatives from FUSA who were
appointed by FUSA President Mike
Miller, and and two alumni, one each
from the Glee Club and the Women's
Chorale. Faculty interests are being
represented by three faculty members: a
politics professor, an economics
professor and an english professor. The
committee will report its final
recommendations to Mr. SchimpfVice
President of Student Services, who will
make the final decision as to the fate of
the choral groups.
Fitzpatrick stated that the reason for
the evaluation is that the groups haven't
been looked at in detail since their
inception, beginning with the Men's
Glee Club in the early forties. "Changes
i as to the nature and purpose of the group
were brought about when women were
admitted in 1970," stated Fitzpatrick,
"when the Chamber Singers group was
established. Although this group is
looked upon as a club type of activity
like the Glee Club, the members get
credit for involvement. We may need to
define the roles of the groups better."
The general trend in membership
numbers has been decreasing in each of
the three choral groups each year, which
is another factor of consideration for the
committee.
Fitzpatrick emphasized that the
committee's only role is to study the
situation at hand and make
recommendations, not a final decision of
any kind."I don't think anyone could say
that his or her interests aren't being
represented", stated Fitzpatrick.
The committee's final report will be
submitted to Schimpf within the next
week.
Tom Wolfe Schuyler Chapin
Herb Schmertz
recording "Beverly Sills sings Music of
Victor Herbert," in 1977, and the
Emmy, for BBC's "Profiles in Music -
Beverly Sills," in 1976. She is also a
Presidential Apointee for the President's
Task Force on the Arts, and former
chairwoman of the National Arts
Institute.
While Dr. Eliasoph urges all
students^ to take advantage of the whole
series, he especially suggests attending
Schuyler Chapin and Herbert Schmertz's
lectures. "Both bring a unique
perspective to the topic," he claims.
The series, funded through a
challenge grant from the National
Endowment of the Humanities, is for the
enjoyment and enrichment of the students
Beverly Sills^
of Fairfield University and the Fairfield
University Community. Free tickets
will be available on a first-come,
first-serve basis at the
Information Center on the
following dates: Tom Wolfe
(April 2) - from March 16-20,
Schuyler Chapin (April 8) - from
March 16-20, Herbert Schmertz
(April 15) - from March 30 -
April 3, Beverly Sills (April
22) - from March 30 -April 3.
One ticket per student with ID only.
All events will take place at 8 p.m. in
the Oak Room.
Also, informational sessions will
take place: On Thursday, April 2nd, in
Continued on page 3
SHUTTLE FACES ELIMINATION
By Joseph Draper
Editor-in-Chief
Unless 200 or more beach residents"
sign up for the shuttle next semester it
may be eliminated. According to Mr.
William Schimpf, Vice President of
Student Activities, the beach shuttle bus
had only 112 people registered to use it
as compared to 210 students first
semester.
The school charges $50 per semester
to cover the costs associated with the
shuttle. Mr. Schimpf said it costs
approximately $17,000 in salaries to
drivers plus $3,000 for gasoline. The
university does not pass on the cost of
insurance or depreciation. Since the
shuttle also takes students into town Mr.
Schimpf designed a cost pattern to
allocate the expenses.
The full cost of labor and gasoline
are charged against beach residents for the
shuttle that runs down to the beach
between 8 am and 4 pm. He adds in half
the costs for weekend and evening runs.
"There would still be a shuttle into
town." Schimpf said, "But it would run
on a less frequent basis."
"Our breakeven point is 200
people." Schimpf added. "Below that and
we start to lose money. Someone has to
pay for it. Is it right charge the general
education budget of the university to
transport students who live at the beach?"
Schimpf felt that on-campus'
students should not have to support
something that they are not entitled to
use and that the beach residents must
finance the shuttle. He said that students
will have a chance to sign up for the
shuttle later this semester if 200 people
do not pay for it the service will be
eliminated.