Mirror - Vol. 11, No. 04 - April 23, 1987

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May Day preview 5 INSIDE
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Men's Lacrosse undefeated 12
TheMIRRORv
Fairfield
Volume 11, No. 4 Our Second Decade Thursday, April 23,1987 The Image of Fairfield
'We will resign'
Ritchie announces goals
By Melissa Campanelli
Editor-in-Chief
On Monday, April 23, Chris
Ritchie, President of FUSA and the
FUSA Organization have announced their
budget and goals for the 1987 and 1988
school year. For the 1st time this year,
FUSA has drawn up a complete list of
goals which will be evaluated again in
November. Chris Ritchie has declared
that if the goals are not accomplished,
and the legislature finds the organization
lacking, he and the cabinet will resign
from office. According to Ritchie, "As I
stated in the campaign, we are
committeed to performance, not
promises."
The budget has also been devised
differently. In previous years, committees
were never told how much money was
allotted to them for the events they chose
to plan. Now, however, every
committee knows exactly how much
money they will have, what their money
will be used for, and how much profit
(approximately) they will make from
each event, before the event actually
takes place. The committee heads wil
also be held directly responsible for their
funds. Thus, in November, if they are
not taking care of their division properly,
they will have to resign.
John Chiaia, drafter of the budget,
proclaimed, "Because the budget is so
thoroughly explicit, the students will get
the most out of their money than ever
before." Chiaia was commissioned by
Ritchie to take each budget (which was
completed and submitted to him by each
committee) and prepare a final budget
with the $98,000 FUSA has.
Many FUSA events were cut due to
the new controlled budget, including all
Oak Rooms and week-night films, both
of which were not very well attended in
the past. This year, as well, FUSA is
charging three dollars a ticket for May
Day. Last year, however, was the first
year tickets were free. By charging a
price, FUSA wil be returning to the
normal procedure for May Day, while
providing a better service for all students,
and, keeping within budgeted
parameters.
Also, during the Leadership
Weekend which took place the weekend
of April 4 -5, FUSA members came up
with various ideas for next year's agenda.
Among each divison, lists of goals and
responsibilities were drawn in the best
interest of the student body. For
example, some ideas such as: sponsoring
a week to honor Fairfield's faculty,
exploring the drinking issue with the
possibility of lowering the drinking age
to 18 on campus, and a heartbeat
program teaching students cardio-pulmonary
resuscitation, have become
goals. These activities give members
responsibility and a "purpose", however,
a reduction of cabinet members
contributes to Ritchie's goal of more
order and authority within his
administration.
According to Ritchie, the agenda for
next year is, "The most comprehensive
and detailed agenda FUSA has ever set."
Any student interested in viewing
the budget and propsed plans on his own
may do so by picking up a copy at the
FUSA office or the information desk,
both located in the campus center. Also,
the budget and agenda will be discussed
thoroughly at the FUSA Legislature
meeting tonight, April 23, at 7:30pm
All are encouraged to attend.
Schmertz discusses arts
By Chris Michailoff
Assist. News Editor
Herbert Schmertz, Director
and Vice President of Mobil
Corporation, spoke in the Oak
Room on Wednesday, April
15th, in the third part of the
lecture series sponsored by the
Humanities Institute. Mr.
Schmertz addressed the audience
about the relationship between,
"Big Business and the Arts."
Schmertz has been labeled
the "Medici of public
television," a patron of the arts,
and Mobil Oil's Maverick.
Among his list of
accomplishments, he is
currently a member of the U.S.
Advisory Commission on
Public Diplomacy, on the Board
of Trustees of the Media
Institute, and the Vice
Chairman of the Metropolitan
Museum. In addition, Schmertz
has served on the President's
commission on Broadcasting,
and has written several books
and articles. As the man
responsible for Mobil's image,
he presents to the public the
company's policies; which
Mobil does by sponsoring art
shows and public television
programs like Masterpiece
Theatre.
"The need to make art is
one of the primary drives to be
human," claimed Schmertz at
the opening of his speech. He
went on to argue that, "We
would not have such richness
and diversity in art if we did not
have patrons and patronage;
although we would always have
artists." Business acts as a
patron to the arts, giving them
financial backing, and providing
sponsorship for art to be
exposed to the public.
"Institutions like ours have
an obligation to be involved,"
says Schmertz. Then, "cultural
excellence generally suggests
corporate excellence. These are
image enhancers." Schmertz, as
Vice President, is in charge of
public affairs. He oversees $8
million a year in grants to
public television, which is
spent on programs ranging from
Sesame Street to Masterpiece
Theatre.
- Schmertz pointed out that
throughout history, patronage
has always played a major role
in the development of art. He
gave the example of Lorenzo de
Medici acting as a patron to
Michelangelo. "Medici, who
was a businessman, provided
Michelangelo with the
necessary funds and support to
develop his talents into the
great artist he was."
"The modern executive
officers of the companies are
under increased pressures in the
business community."
Schmertz said that, "it is more
difficult for companies to
patronize arts," and he offered a
solution to the problem. He
compared the executive of a
company to "Medici in the
modem world." They are both
oriented to success.
"Executives can use patronage
as a way to associate superior
programs to a company, which
stresses high quality." This
will allow another outlet for the
Herbert Schmertz (photo by
Michelle Clifford)
company to promote its image
to the market.
As for the reason Mobil
spends money on public
television, Schmertz says that,
"as a successful entity in
society, we have obligations to
insure, among other things, the
arts." He also stressed,
"Cultural excellence suggests
corporate excellence, company
management will be seen as a
corporate statesman, and
company employees will be
imbued with pride."
Sponsorship of cultural events
allows the company to entertain
customers in style.
In fact, Mobil's
underwriting of public
television has been successful
as advertising. "Patronage is
designed to identify a company
with a worthy cause esteemed
by its target audience."
Schmertz concluded by saying,
"the arts were around long
before business. What business
does is to provide backing and a
means for art to be exposed" in
the modem world.
Dorm damage persists
By Chris Michailoff
Assistant News Editor
Students and parents not only have to face an
increase in tuition, but many also have to pay for
damage in residence halls. Richard Rossi, Director of
Student Residences, said, "it concerns me that families
must pay for damage that is sometimes done
maliciously." This year's dorm damage has not been
totalled yet, the only figures that are available are for
September through November, which total $3877.34.
The amount thus far of $3877.34 is lower than last
year's $8300.85. Robert Boccardi, the University Bursar,
who is in charge of billing adds that, "Given these
figures, it is not statistically significant to draw any
conclusions about dorm damage based on the first few
months of the year." Rossi admits that this is no
indication of how much dorm damage will total for the
year. "The real proof is in the spring; the figures can be
misleading since most of the damage will be found in
the last month."
"Traditionally", stated Rossi, "dorm damage is
much higher in the quad than in Kostka or Claver." As
a reason for this, Rossi claims that the residents of
Kostka and Claver do not tolerate damage to their floors.
He feels an overriding reason for dorm damage is
"drunkeness on weekends", although dorm damage is .
also caused by accidents, "when a student unwillfully
breaks something, but doesn't step forward to take
responsibility for it"
Rossi expressed concern for the high costs and the
financial strains some families endure. Last year's dorm
damage total was $84,866 just for dorms. The
townhouse damage was $21,735 which is an increase of
65% since the 84-85 academic year. "Townhouses have
more expensive items, which when are broken cost more
to be fixed."
Rossi explained that the way dorm damage is
figured is by the R.A., who reports it. "The R.A.
determines if an item is indeed dorm damage, and if it is,
See Dorm damage, p. 2