Mirror - Vol. 15, No. 12 - January 24, 1991

              The
FairfieldMRRORV Volume 15, No. 12 Thursday, January 24, 1991 The Image Of Fairfield
Norton, Hayes Battle For FUSA Presidency
Christina Hennessy
News Editor
In the battle for FUSA presi-dency,
both opponents, Anne Nor-ton,'
92 and Brian Hayes,'92, stress
a commitment to improving com-munication
between the different
channels of the University and the
students. The voters decide next
Tuesday.
"I want to be the eyes and
ears of the students. The informa-tion
is there for the students, but
there's often a lack of education on
the issue," said Norton, an English
major from Wrentham, Mass.
"A better system must be set
up to allow for education and
input from the students," she added.
Norton wants to set up more
polls and surveys and publish re-sults
to the student body through
newsletters and The Mirror, as well
as set up open meetings to receive
student input.
Hayes, a politics major from
Lake Forest, Illinois, wants "to
know what people think."
Hayes will attempt to accom-plish
that goal through open fo-rums
for students, a newsletter and
more surveys.
"I want to continue the trend
that started several years ago, with
FUSA opening options in program-ming,
in addition to giving the
students a stronger voice in impor-tant
issues," said Hayes.
Both candidates commit time
to various activities, with Norton
currently assistant chairperson of
the junior Class Council and Hayes
finishing out his term as FUSA
Senate president.
Hayes served as one of the
day-chairs for Orientation and is a
member of the long-range plan-ning
committee for the University,
comprised of faculty, adminstra-tion
and student representatives.
He has also served as student rep-resentative
in 1988-89 and Gov-ernment
Operations Committee
Chair from 1989-1990.
Each candidate has outlined
specific goals during their brief
campaigns.
"I want to pull together dif-ferent
groups to work together to
create a more powerful student
body in terms of having an influ-ence
over policy decisions," said
Norton.
Norton promises to bring a
fresher approach and innovation
to FUSA by working with the other
groups on campus such as IRHG
and "bringing in a lot of surprises"
to her term in an effort to make the
student body a stronger force.
"FUSA, at times, looks like
an elite group who makes deci-sions
tor the majority," said Nor-ton.
"Every student pays a fee to
FUSA when they apply, and there-fore
everybody is a member. If
elected, I would never put my
concerns before the concerns of
the student body."
Hayes is using his experi-ence
within FUSA over the past
few years to look at previous suc-cesses
and failures.
"I've been good friends with
past FUSA leaders, such as War-ren
DiDonato and Tom Pellegrino
and I've watched what they've
done," said Hayes.
"I plan to evaluate FUSA and
implement change if needed. I
think I have strong ideas and can
look to new ideas, as well," he
added.
Hayes specifically plans to
reevaluate the concept of fresh-man
housing and the Freshman
Year Experience.
"I like the idea of Freshman
Year Experience, but I don't be-lieve
in grouping them together
without giving them a choice be-tween
freshman and mixed floors,"
Hayes said.
Both candidates also want to
work at expanding FUSA and
making the association more avail-able
to students.
"I have been lucky to have
been in a position to objectively
stand as a student and also be in-volved
with the FUSA govern-ment,"
said Norton.
"I see Fairfield University
expanding and FUSA has to re-spond
to that," she said.
Hayes " wants to dispel the
myth that FUSA is a tight circle
with the same people making all
the decisions. I want to hear more
ideas from the students."
Polls open next Tuesday in
the Campus Center Lobby . Vot-ing
will run from 10a.mto7p.m..
The candidates will debate
tonight at 6 p.m. in the Campus
Center Lobby.
Assistant Chaplain Resigns
Paula Oddis Fed Up With Sexism in the Church
AnnMarie Puckhaber
Editor-In-Chief
After two and a half years,
Paula Oddis resigned her position
as assistant chaplain in December
after feeling "terrorized" when she
returned to work following the
Egan Chapel dedication ceremony
in which she was banned from the
altar because she is a woman.
Oddis said her colleagues
did not deal with the issue of sex-ism
after the dedication ceremony
as she had hoped, but instead "al-ienated"
her.
"No one, including Fr.
Kelley (University president) and
the Bishop, once wanted to talk
about the issue of sexism," Oddis
said. "They seemed to be blaming
me for spoiling a party." She de-scribed
the environment as "toxic"
and said she could no longer stay.
"I know that all I was doing
was making the Jesuits look good,"
Oddis said. "I was a token."
Oddis said that Fairfield is
is need of "internal, social restruc-turing".
"There is no woman in
power at Fairfield U. that does not
answer to a man," she said. "It's
time to change."
Oddis said she was "naive"
to think that when she took the
position she could make it "safe
for women". She said it is not safe
and added, "If I could, I would
stand at the door and warn women
away."
Campus Ministry will be
hiring another female chaplain this
summer to replace Oddis. Accord-ing
to Fr. Paul Carrier, director of
Campus Ministry, a search com-mittee
will be appointed in the
upcoming weeks to find a replace-ment.
"We're not going to rush
into anything," Carrier said.
The members of Campus
Ministry read a statement at all the
masses last weekend conveying
how they are "saddened" to see
their colleague go and that they
"will miss her presence and contri-bution
to Campus Ministry and the
wider Fairfield University com-munity".
The members of Campus
Ministry said that they regret that
female students temporarily will
not have a woman in Campus
Ministry, but encourage students
to use the services of the Health
Center and Student Services.
As for the future, Oddis
says, "I'll be everything I always
was - mother, lecturer, teacher, and
writer - just not assistant chaplain
at Fairfield University."
Paula Oddis (third from the right) along with her former colleagues. photo: Dan Wall
Campus Crackdown On
Underage Drinking
Bill Murphy
Staff Writer
After a semester of alcohol-related incidents that "placed a
few lives at risk," Dean of Students W. Laurence O'Neil, S.J. sent a
letter to townhouse residents warning the students to comply more
faithfully with the University's drinking policy, or run the risk of
losing their houses.
The Jan. 18th letter states: "Beginning with this semester,
townhouse contracts will be revoked and residents moved to the
main campus, if a given townhouse is found guilty to serving alcohol
to anyone under 21 years of age."
The University has always reserved the right to remove stu-dents
from the townhouses if they were found guilty of violating
University policy. According to Fr. O'Neil, however, he instructed
the Judicial Officer to enforce this rule only after warning students
several times.
"We don't really have to warn anyone before we start exercis-ing
our rights, but I would prefer to notify the students first. We sent
them a letter back in September, appealing to their good judgment
and warning them that something like this could happen," he said.
"And we sent every student in the school a copy of our alcohol
policies and programs to comply with the Alcohol and Substance
Abuse Act of December 1989. But we found most of those in the
trash in the Campus Center."
According to that federal statute, Fairfield University and
other colleges that receive federal funds are required to establish
programs which will prevent the use of drugs and the abuse of alcohol
by both students and employees.
Fr. O'Neil said that he decided the action was necessary in
order "to follow the government directive and to protect the students
living in the townhouses. During the first semester we had several
incidents of alcohol-related assaults and some very serious cases of
intoxication, all involving underage students."
Fr. O'Neil emphasized that he has had very few problems with
students who were legally able to drink, and that the stricter enforce-ment
is not a precursor to banning kegs at the townhouses or turning
Fairfield into a dry campus.
"As far as I know," he said, "there are no plans to do anything
like that, at least not in the foreseeable future.
"We're not a witch hunt," he added. "We're not out to get
anyone, and we're not sending extra security up there. The head
residents will go up there only when there is reason to go up. As far
as Student Services is concerned, it's business as usual."
Fr. O'Neil also stated that townhouse students accused of
(continued to p.3)