Mirror - Vol. 12, No. 05 - October 08, 1987

              Features
Pickin' Scabs
H \A'*rmr TWr»K>r X *tik.7 4 Commentary
Catholicism at Fairfield 7 A&E
Twenty-five years with James Bond 9
TheMIRRORv
Fairfield
Volume 12, No.5 Our Second Decade Thursday, October 8, 1987 The Image of Fairfield
Black Scholar discusses
Physics program
By Liz Curran and
Katie Geffert
Staff Writers
On Wednesday, September 30, Dr.
Sekazi K. Mtingwa, a research scientist
at the Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory, lectured in the Oak room to
an audience of approximately 60 people.
Dr. Mtingwa was the first speaker in the
new Visiting Black Scholars Program.
Dr. Mtingwa is a graduate of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and he has received degrees in Physics
from Princeton University. After
finishing his graduate work at Princeton,
Dr. Mtingwa went on to teach at the
University of Illinois, Atlanta
University, and the University of
Rochester.
Presently, Dr. Mtingwa is working
as a research scientist at the Fermi
National Laboratory which is operated by
Universities Research Association, Inc.
(URA) in Washington, D.C. URA
operates Fermilab under a direct contract
with Department of Energy, which is the
primary source of support for the high
energy physics program. The purpose of
the research done at Fermilab is to
(explore the basic structure of the matter.
Specifically, Dr. Mtingwa's recent
activity has focused on intra-beam
scatterings in strong-focusing accelerators
;and alternative acceleration techniques.
Also, he has supervised the fabrication
of scholastic cooling systems.
Dr. Mtingwa began his talk by
reviewing the definition of hard and soft
sciences, which included what physics is,
specifically. He said "Mathematics is the
language of science," because of its
importance in the science of physics. He
continued with this overall picture of
science by comparing science to
technology and science to religion.
Next Dr. Mtingwa discussed in
detail the work that he does at Fermi lab.
At Fermi, "We are slowly turning over
old theories and creating new ones," he
said. The scientists there research and
test the old physics theories to see if they
are correct and explore and experiment to
develop new ones. The main study is the
atom and its contents: protons, neutrons,
electrons and the nucleus. Research
scientists are trying to find out if the
atom can be broken down any further.
To help with the study at Fermi lab,
Dr. Mtingwa explained that the
accelerator is used. The Tevatron is the
principal scientific instrument at Fermi
lab, which is a system of five
accelerators working in sequence to
accelerate protons.
Dr. Mtingwa mentioned that at
Fermilab many other things are done.
Besides research, Fermi lab also has
many programs to teach and instruct high
school and college physics students.
There are also programs for teachers of
physics td make them aware of new
experiments and findings in physics.
Since the leader of science,
Alexander the Great, died in 323 B.C.,
physics has been studied in great depth.
Dr. Mtingwa stated that scientists always
feel they have reached their ultimate goal.
"However, " he stated, "revolutions
continue to happen."
New Townhouses in final
stages; new policies arise
By Janine Spinnato
Staff Writer
Last December Fairfield University
began a project of building 29 new
townhouses. This task was taken on for
the purpose of increasing the students'
'Chances of receiving a townhouse upon
request. This year, any Senior group who
wished to live in a townhouse was able
to do so and the remaining units were
available to Juniors.
The date for completion of the town-houses
was set for just before school
opened. For the most part they are
finished. However, some loose ends must
be tied up including putting in screens and
spot painting. Also, cable TV service is not
available yet but the lines have been laid
and it will be available soon. The landscap-ing
was held up due to inclement weather.
Christmas break is believed to be the time
when all is to be completed.
Teresa Scott, the new assistant
director for student residence, is trying
hard to quickly respond to the little
problems existing. For example, she is
taking appropriate measures to
investigate the flooding of the
basements. Possible conclusions to this
are the windows present in the
basements, the settling of the building,
or the frequent rain. The cause will be
pinpointed and then rectified. Also,
responses are being made to the
complaints about nonworking showers.
If a pattern is found the manufacturers of
the shower heads will be notified
immediately. With regard to the sprinkler
system, there is nothing wrong with it
however, it is a loaded system. This means
that the water is right there all the time.
This accounts for the leaking.
Along with the new townhouses
came new policies and rules. One policy
deals with the manditory registration of
parties if they are going to contain more
than 24 people. This must be done 24
hours in advance. This policy forces the
students to take legal responsibility for
the party and to respect the drinking age
in their units. Also, fire codes allow only
49 people in a unit at a time. This
number will be investigated as to
whether or not it can be raised for the 6
person townhouses because of their larger
size.
See Townhouses, p. 2
INXS performs here
Harvest Weekend
By Connie McKenna
Managing Editor
INXS will be playing Fairfield's
Alumni Hall on October 23, due to their
acceptance of a $20,000 bid made by the
Fairfield University Student Association.
According to Chris Ritchie,
president of FUSA, an extra $15,000 is
expected to be spent on related concert
costs; $5,000 in production costs and
$10,000 in overhead costs such as
security. Ritchie stated that a total of
$44,000 was budgeted for the event
originally, therefore the concert falls
under budget.
FUSA originally put in a bid of
$30,000 for INXS over the summer, but
was turned down. A lower bid was later
accepted, because, according to Ritchie,
the band had a cancellation of one of its
booked dates and was scheduled to play in
the area, anyway. "We're really excited
about this concert, commented Ritchie,
"we think its the best, cheapest concert
that we could hope to book."
INXS' tour will also include area
schools such as the University of Connec-ticut
and the University of New
Hampshire.
Minority enrollment decreases
By Joanne Smith
Staff Writer
Mr. Larry Mazon, Director of
Student Support Services, is currently
working on a variety of programs to
increase minority enrollment here to
Fairfield.
Fairfield currently has one of the
lowest minority enrollments of all the
Jesuit universities in the country.
Mazon believes that a greater
cultural diversity among the student body
is essential to a well-rounded education,
since it would offer a greater variety of
backgrounds and points of view. Since
there are no federal quotas regarding the
percentage of Blacks, Asian and Pacific
Islanders, American Indians, and
Hispanics that must be admitted,
according to Mazon, "an effort should be
made by the students and administration."
Programs are being initiated to
boost the University's reputation in areas
densely populated by minorities,
especially those in the immediate
vicinity of the campus, such as
Bridgeport and Norwalk. "It would be
beneficial," stated Mazon, "not only to
the communities but also to the
University, if there was a greater mutual
exchange of resources."
Simultaneously, Fairfield plans to
broaden its reputation on a national basis
through similar awareness programs in
cities across the country.
The University already offers
significant financial aid packages as an
addition and is getting more ideas from
the Subcommittee of the Association of
Jesuit Colleges and Universities, entitled
the Conference of Minority Affairs. This
committee meets annually on a national
level and twice yearly on a regional
basis. It was this committee that
inspired the the Visiting Black Scholars
Program. Four black scholars lectured
last year, and more are scheduled for this
semester. On September 30, in the Oak
Room, Dr. Mtingwa gave the first of
this year's lectures. This program is an
attempt to compenaste for the inadequate
amount of minority professors at
Fairfield. It will aid in educating the
falsehood that intelligent people who are
minorities are an exception, rather than
the norm.
As for the reason why there are not
more minority students—Mazon feels that
there is a combination of factors. "A
University effort has to be made,
especially on recruitment strategies and
campus activities." He also sights a
smaller number of blacks who are going
to college, therefore there is a smaller
pool from which to choose. A third factor,
he stipulated, was that, "Fairfield is a rela-tively
unknown school with low visability
to attract minority students."
FUSA wil be helping Mr. Mazon
this semester by passing out
questionnaires, to get a larger variety of
opinions and ideas.