Mirror - Vol. 02, No. 09 - October 08, 1978

              Weekend Shuttle Schedule Cutback
Night Route Cancelled; Students Blamed
byGiGi Byron
The Campus shuttle, which
provides transportation for students
between campus, town and the
beach, will no longer run after 8:00
p.m. on Friday or Saturday nights.
Student Services made this an-nouncement
last week after a series
of incidents in which students
harassed and threatened the bus
driver.
These incidents occurred over a
three-week period and came to a
head when students formed a
blockade across Fairfield Beach
Road and insisted the driver turn
around and take them down to the
beach When Mr Stevens, the shuttle
driver, refused their request, they
threatened to "tear apart the bus,"
and actually started to tear the signal
lights off the front of the bus.
Other incidents contributing to the
cutback in shuttle service include
students jumping out from behind
parked cars to make the bus stop
short causing passengers to fall into
the aisles, continual cases of in-toxicated
people getting sick on the
shuttle, and students pounding on the
sides of the bus as it starts to make
the Holiday Inn portion"of the loop.
There has also been instances of
students opening the emergency door
and windows of the bus. When the
driver tried to close them, he was
harassed, shoved around, and pushed
into the seats.
William Schimpf, Dean of Student
Services, says "it is a case of people
getting intoxicated and not acting
responsibly." When asked who he
thinks is responsible for the trouble,
he said, "I have a suspicion that it is
the students who live in the residence
halls (as opposed to beach residents).
The last incident occurred after a
party in one of the residence halls
was closed down because it was
getting out of hand. The students
were trying to find some parties down
at the heach."
The driver at the time of the in-cident,
Mr. Stevens, agreed that it
was residence hall students who were
blocking the bus. "Besides," Dean
Schimpf added "it's mostly residence
hall students who use the shuttle to
go down to the beach after 8:00.
Most beach residents are already
down there by that time."
Dean Schimpf explained that, "the
shuttle provides the opportunity for
students to get off campus, as well as
off campus boarders to get on
campus. We can't have our drivers
being hassled, though."
The cutback is only temporary,
however, according to Student
Services. "We have no intention of
permanently cancelling the shuttle
after 8:00 on weekends. We have
submitted the problem to FUSA.
Hopefully, they will get back to us
with some sort of recommendation or
solution so we can resume the ser-vice."
Most students, upon learning of
the cutback in shuttle service, were
"very irate." Once they were in-formed
of the circumstances
surrounding the decision, they agreed
that "it was a fair move on the part of
Student Services."
It was generally felt that "Students
must learn to take responsibility for
their actions" One student com-mented,
though, that "there must be
a better way to deal with the
situation, a compromise or
something."
No one, as of yet, has been able to
offer a compromise, though. Most
students are placing their hope in
FUSA to come up with something
feasible. FUSA representative, Kevin
Lawlor, explains "We have to try to
find a solution that will be ac-ceptable
to both Student Services
and the students."
Students are also attempting to
find alternatives to the shuttle, at
least until full service is resumed.
Beach residents are utilizing car-pools,
hitchhiking and walking. More
seriously affected are the students
who live in residence halls, since they
are the primary shuttle passengers
after 8 p.m. on weekends. One on-campus
student is quoted as saying,
"I guess we're just stuck on campus
for a while, until they get this thing
worked out."
Lawlor says that right now he and
FUSA president, Vinnie O'Brien, are
working on a solution. "We haven't
come up with any specific proposal.
There was a major disciplinary
problem, though, and we hope to
form some kind of policy or proposal
to alleviate the problem." He added
that they should have something
ready to present to Student Services
this week.
Student services has temporarily shelved the weekend night shuttle to the
beach following reports of harassment of the driver and threatened destruction
of the bus. (Photo by Alex Graziano)
THE
FAIRFIELD VOL. 2, No./October 8,1978
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, FAIRFIELD, CONN. 06430 MIRRORIncorporated 1977
Holiday Inn
Emptied
Frosh Occupy
Lounges
This scene is the cause of the delay in completion of the tennis courts, already a month overdue. Now, courts are to be
ready in the spring, (photo by Alex Graziano)
Tennis Courts Double-Fault
Water Problem Delays Progress
by Robert |. Schumm
The completion of the new tennis
courts, scheduled for September 1 of
this year, have been delayed in-definitely
due to irregularities in the
water table on the site.
The site, chosen for its low wind
factor and ability to be monitored by
the Athletic Department, "is not a
virgin territory," according to Dr.
John Barone, Provost of the
University The field consists of
landfill from the construction of the
gymnasium in 1958 The fill was
composed of both dirt and organic
materials, namely dead trees, grass,
shrubs, etc. It is this organic matter to
which the delay is attributed.
According to Dr. Barone, the
courts were to be done by a sub-contractor
of the recreation complex.
The sub-contractor delayed the
clearing of the area until late in the
summer. After the field was prepared
by the sub-contractor, a drainage
problem was noticed.
A process known as 'pocketing'
was then undertaken to determine
the cause of the water. "The original
area was hit, which has good
drainage," said Dr. Barone.
Attributing the water to rainfall, a
decision was made to place a coat of
asphalt down. In doing so, it was
discovered that the site had difficulty
supporting the weight of the heavy
machinery.
It was then decided to pocket
again, however this time the organic
material was hit. "The organic layer
does not have good drainage Water
was found this time," explained
Barone.
Construction was then delayed in
order to study the original records of
the site. It was at this time that it was
realized that the organic material did
exist Also, the possibility of an
underground spring came to light. "A
spring does not mean one that is
continually flowing, rather it may be
an intermittent thing," said Barone.
"This would account for the large
volume of water found on the site
and also the difficulty of drainage."
"We were hoping to have the
courts ready by September 1, in time
for the students return. However we
have decided to make sure the courts
are constructed properly, in view of
the problems we are experiencing."
Plans now call for the construction
of drywells beneath the courts, to be
connected with the existing storm
drain system. This will delay the
courts' completion until the Spring.
"It will definitely not become a
parking field," stated Dr. Barone, "I
wish to quell that rumor im-mediately.
The tennis courts will be
built."
John Dunigan, Director of the
Physical Plant, explained, "This
problem is endemic to this area of
campus."
by Tony Tarnell
The remaining 15 freshman
students situated in the Bridgeport
Holiday Inn were moved back to
campus, yesterday, and will be
housed in the lounges in Northwest
Hall, floors 2,3,4, and Regis Halls
ground floor lounge.
In a recent interview, Mr. Donald
Hastings, Assistant Director of
Student Residences stated that
"Student Services is pleased that all
the students are back." Mr. Hastings
continued to point out that
"originally we (Student Services) had
planned to move the students out by
the beginning of the second semester,
then we set Thanksgiving as an
optimistic deadline, however
everything has run to our advantage,
thus allowing us to have this earlier
date."
Dick Cunningham, one of the
remaining 15 students in the Holiday
Inn said that "It will be like starting
all over again." He continued that
"I'm really excited about the move
because to me it will open up an
entire new dimension of being a
Fairfield University student."
When asked what this "new
dimension" incorporated, Cun-ningham
detailed that "the major
inconvenience of having to bus back
and forth between the campus and
the Holiday Inn presented us (the
Holiday Inn freshman) with a wall
which separated us from the rest of
the University population."
"Since we are now moving back to
the campus, it is as if the wall of
separation has been knocked down,
allowing us to proceed as "normal"
Fairfield students "
Mr. Hastings pointed out that, a
truck was supplied by Student
Services, and was sent over to the
Holiday Inn to move the belongings
of the 15 students to their new homes
in the lounges of Northwest Hall, and
Regis Hall.
"The biggest disadvantage of my
stay was the fact that there was so
little contact with the University at
first," said Cunningham. He con-tinued
that, "Although it was dif-ficult
to slip into the groove with the
other Freshmen, living at the Holiday
Inn actually had its advantages."
One of these advantages, as pointed
out by Cunningham, was the fact that
it was easy to get alot of studying
done due to the lack distractions
presented to the studen*
The moving of the students back to
the campus has two distinct ad-vantages.
The first is the obvious
factor that now the University
populace will be 15 students more
strong. The second advantage is
overlooked by all except the 15
transferred students. This advantage
is that the students for the most part
will not be separated. They will be
placed on separate floors, however
they will have their Holiday Inn
buddies as their roommates.
When asked if there was any
sorrow in moving back to the
campus, and waving good-bye to the
Holiday Inn which has been home to
these fresnmen tor tne last 33 days,
Cunningham said, "it is going to be
difficult to try and get by without the
conveniences of a color TV. in your
room, and Maid service e
morning."