Mirror - Vol. 14, No. 08 - November 02, 1989

              The
FairfieldMRRORV Volumel4, No. 8 Our Second Decade Thursday, November 2, 1989 The Image of Fairfield
Fairfield Rated Sixth in
U.S. News and World Report
Christine Doody
Staff Writer
Fairfield University was ranked
sixth in the broad category entitled
Regional Colleges and Universi-ties
of the North which included
almost 200 schools in U.S. News
andWorldReport's annual survey
of America's Best Colleges.
The colleges and universi-ties
that were ranked by U.S. News
and World Report in their book
America' s Best Colleges were first
categorized by size, the range of
programs, types ofdegrees offered,
and by region.
Then, the schools were
ranked in five academic areas for
which information was provided
largely by the universities them-selves.
These five fields included
reputation for academic excellence,
strength of the faculty, the ability
to retain and graduate students,
financial resources, and the qual-ity
of the student body as deter-mined
by the school's selectivity.
Each ofthese criterions were
figured out by looking at two or
more sub-attributes except for
reputation which was based on a
survey of college presidents and
deans.
U.S. News and World
Report explained the importance
of these five key academic areas.
A university with a well-respected
name will open the door to careers
in the working world.
In addition, the faculty of a
university must be dedicated to
class room teaching and accessible
to students. They must be highly
educated and to ensure quality
instruction a low student-teacher
ratio must be maintained.
Furthermore, it's important
for a school to be committed to the
students, for example, to see fresh-men
through graduation.
Lastly, if a university is
very selective and chooses a high
caliber of students who are genu-inely
interested in learning, the
richer the educational experience
in the classroom and on campus.
Fairfield's statistics prove
that the University realizes the
significance ofthese areas. Murray
Farber, Director of Public Rela-tions,
believes that Fairfield is
pleased with its ranking which
"reflects well on the University."
However, Farber said, the
University "still questions the
people rated ahead of us." He
noted that Fairfield could have been
ranked even higher because "we 're
not sure how accurate the ratings
really are."
Schools such as Villanova,
SUNY College at Geneseo, and
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
were rated above Fairfield.
Farber also noted that Fair-field
has received continued rec-ognition.
Two years ago in U.S.
News and World Report, Fairfield
was ranked eighth among Com-prehensive
Universities ofthe east.
These colleges included those
universities whose enrollment
exceeded 2500 and who offermore
than one degree.
Last year, Fairfield was
seventh in the country among 400
comprehensive universities.
Furthermore, since 1982
Fairfield has been acknowledged
in The Fiske Guide to Colleges
which names the top 300 schools
in the nation.
Also, Fairfield is ranked as
Highly Competitive in The Bar-ron's
Guide to the Most Prestig-ious
Colleges. 80 colleges are listed
in the Highly Competitive cate-gory,
behind the 36 included in the
highest level, Most Competitive.
Fairfield is listed among colleges
such as Boston College, Holy
Cross, Villanova, and Colby.
"Even if we question the
accuracy of the ratings, it's still an
indication of the strong support for
the University when we gain this
recognition. It's really a pat on the
back for faculty, administration,
and students," Farber said.
Students Rally Against Housing Policy
AnnMarie Puckhaber
News Editor
A large group of students
rallied together last Thursday night
in the Oak Room to protest the new
housing policy.
The meeting was organized
by IRHG (Inter-Residence Hall
Governmnet) and FUSA to update
students on the changes taking
place on campus and to answer any
questions students may have.
The purpose of the meeting
was "not to revolt, but let you know
what's going on," said Warren
DiDonato, FUSA President and
member of the Lottery Commit-tee.
However, discussion did lead
to talks of protest which were
applauded by the crowd.
DiDonato explained the
rationale behind the purchase of
the Novitiate of the Sisters of Notre
Dame. The reason being that stud-ies
have shown that the number of
available off-campus housing will
decrease in the upcoming years
due to a conversion of seasonal
housing to year-round housing and
the new zoning laws.
However, when the pur-chase
was accepted last year many
things also passed "unnoticed,"
DiDonato said. The policy in-cluded
a clause that Julie, Jogues,
and Campion halls would dine in
Julie Hall, necessitating freshman
dorms. The other after-effect of
the policy, which was not foreseen
by students, is the need to bring an
additional 180 students back on
campus.
"I don't want anyone think-ing
this was a student idea or a
FUSA idea. We don't agree or
approve of it," DiDonato said.
The lottery is being de-signed
by the student lottery com-mittee
based on the policy set forth
by the University. "They (the
administration) have a policy al-ready
set up. We're just trying to
make it as fair as possible based on
their decision," said Matt Gal-lagher,
IRHG and member of the
Lottery Committee.
DiDonato said he felt the
administration was "really going
full force into freshman residence
halls." Mixed halls are a "definite
selling point of the University," he
said.
"The face of the University
will change dramatically with
freshman dorms," said Tom Pelli-grino,
Legislature President and
member of the Lottery Commit-tee.
However, he said he doubts
whether or not this would be a
permanent change. Just because
the "freshman experience" works
at other schools does not mean it
will work at Fairfield. he said.
Options were discussed as
to what action the students may
take in response to the housing
policy changes. Denis Klein. IRHG
and member of the Lottery Com-mittee,
said he wanted to form
protests, such as boycotting classes
for a day and conducting sit-ins.
"There's strength in num-bers,"
said DiDonato. He advised
students that if they wished to
protest they need to be organized
to be effective.
Students are also in the
process of contacting alumni to get
their support. Suggestions were
given out from the floor to get both
alumni and parents to stop all
donations and pledges to the Uni-versity.
"We have to start taking
money out of the University's
pocket," said Pelligrino.
One alternative offered to
the housing problem was to con-vert
Julie Hall into upperclassman
apartments. Renovations in the
residence area of the Julie Hall
complex have not yet begun.
DiDonato said this is one "con-crete"
option that can be pursued.
Students asked about declar-ing
commuter status or moving off
campus despite what they are told
by the University.
Members of the Lottery
Committee explained that this
would not be feasible. Anyone
who moves off campus without
permission will still be charged for
-room and board on the tuition bill
' and not allowed to return next
semester if the fee is not paid.
Equality: An
Empty Idea
Emily Okenquist
Staff Writer
"Equality is a clear idea, a
simple idea, an empty idea." This
served as the basis of Douglas
Rae's lecture on the question of
equality which offered many in-terpretations
to the different sides
of this important issue.
The lecture "Equality - In
What? For Whom? Why?,"
which was sponsored by the
Humanities and Politics Depart-ments,
occurred on October 25 in
the School of Nursing Audito-rium.
Douglas Rae is Chairman
of the Department of Political
Science at Yale University and
author of the book Equalities.
Rae discussed points made
by the philosopher Alexis de
Tocqueville on ideas of equality
by quoting passages from his vari-ous
works, and called the United
States "a nation so concerned with
equality." This is an irresistible
force with a goal of producing
justice as a result of any argu-ments
or debates, Rai said.
In an Egalitarian System,
which is characterized by belief
in the equality of all people, five
points "created the basis for con-flicting
doctrines," said Rae, who
mentioned four during his lec-ture.
The subject of what and
who. the domain of how anything
would be distributed equally, the
determination of how jobs and
opportunities would be allocated,
and the value structure of equal-ity
were all discussed to prove
how "equality is an abstract no-tion."
Rae spoke on the three
ways to treat equality. A break-down
could occur, resulting in
everyone being equal and treated
equally within society. Citizens
could be divided up into groups
thereby being treated equally
within their own group, he said.
Equality could also exist
between groups in the case of that
division. All of these ideas ap-pear
to be very uncomplicated
and therefore would probably not
produce a successful solution
because, as Rae said, "simple
equality is not achievable."
Inequality between blacks
and whites was also discussed.
Rae related an episode about a
black woman in New Haven, CT,
whose white foster father raped
her when she was six years old.
"This is a case of life equality
versus inequality, " Rae said.
Problems like this constantly exist
everywhere, and therefore need
to be resolved. Other accounts of
inequality occurring in the United
States and Canada were also told.
Rae defined equal oppor-tunity
as being "deeply problem-atic"
and stated how people dif-fer,
like nature and nurture, in
theircapabilities. He also touched
upon marginal equality, in which
everything would be distributed
equally and would center on what
was held in control.
Blood Drive Surpasses Goal
Christina Hennessy
Staff Writer
Last week's Blood Drive
resulted in a donation of 291 pints
from 328 donors, surpassing the
goal of 285 pints. Fairfield's con-tribution
will benefit both area
hospitals and those from around
the state.
The Blood Drive was co-sponsored
by Red Cross and Circle
K, a Fairfield service and leader-ship
organization.
Kate Meyers, Circle K
chairperson for the October 24-25
blood drive, stressed the impor-tance
of Fairfield's donation. "The
Red Cross really counts on us to be
one of the biggest suppliers of this
area."
"Fairfield University is the
most successful university in this
area." said Arlene Carlson, the Red
Cross Senior Donor Recruitment
Representative for this area.
The blood donations from
Fairfield go to the Farmington Red
Cross office, where they are
screened and made available for
hospitals.
"All the blood in the state is
supplied by the Red Cross,"
Carlson said. "So Fairfield's con-tribution
really helps the state, in
addition to the area hospitals."
Circle K concentrated on
publicity to make the event a suc-cess.
Meyers believes the very
high registrations before the drive
were a direct result of the publicity
drive. Some RA's also worked the
drive into their programming of
this month.
Circle K asked that time as
well as blood be donated. At least
seven volunteers an hour are
needed for things to run smoothly.
Volunteers consisted of
Circle K workers, the Student
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