Mirror - Vol. 16, No. 20 - March 26, 1992

              The
FairfieldMRRORV Volume 16 No. 20 Thursday, March 26, 1992 The Image of Fairfield
Shannon Appoints FUSA VPs
Debra De Shong
News Editor
Steve Shannon's first act as
FUSA president was announced
last week with the appointment of
the four vice-presidents that will
be working closely with Shannon
next year.
The new appointees include
Maureen Logan as vice-president
of Student Life, Robert Maina as
the Executive Director, Neil
Robertson comes on as vice-presi-dent
of Student Life and Robert
Raimondo is pioneering the posi-tion
of vice-president of COSO.
Of the selection process
Shannon said, "There was a wide
pool of people to choose from in
the sense that there were a number
of people qualified for the job."
Logan, a junior finance
major from Longmeadow, Mass.,
hopes to work on getting a sense of
spirit that the past administration
didn't have.
To do so, Logan hopes to
utilize the committees to keep the
lines of communication open be-tween
the president, vice-presi-dents,
and cabinet members.
"I would like to advise the
cabinet members and work with
them in preparing them for their
responsibilities," says Logan. She
feels that her experience with pro-graming
will be a great asset to the
cabinet. Other goals Logan is
"—^BfT ASSOO
Kfcitf.
clockwise, from top left: Raimondo, Maina,
Robertson, Logan photo: K. Guterl
working toward is to expand the
Arts and Lectures position to ad-dress
multi-cultural issues, perhaps
in the form of a lecture series, as
well as a greater focus on non-alcoholic
programing.
As Executive Director,
Robert Maina, a junior finance
major from Floral Park, NY, hopes
to achieve greater fiscal responsi-bility
for FUSA. "I would like to
work closely with the Finance
Director so that FUSA can be run
more like a business and have a
little more control over its fi-nances,"
says Maina.
He feels that with better
organization, there will be less
fiscal waste and therefore there
will be more money for better
programing. "A lot ofthe programs
this year were good but there was
also a lot of waste. A better budget
will likewise eliminate a lot of
waste," he said.
Maina hopes also to create
a closer relationship with the the
community in the form of meet-ings
with Fairfield's First Se-lectwoman
Jacqueline Durrell and
the police commissioner. A new
project Maina and Shannon hope
to implement is the registration of
students to vote in the upcoming
national election.
Junior Neil Robertson, a
math major from Wolcott, CT.,
describes his position as being
responsible for "everything that
goes on in this school except ac-tivities."
Robertson will oversee
the cabinet positions of the four
class councils, academics, athlet-ics,
and special interests which
entails groups like AHANA,
FUBA,andFUTA. Robertson says
that he would like to see his posi-tion
become more outspoken.
"I would like to utilize The
Mirror because that is what stu-dents
read. Hopefully, we can
become the vocal representation
of the student body," he said.
Robertson has had hands on
experience with the administrators
his position works closely with
and feels that he can look forward
to a productive year.
Robert Raimondo, a junior
Philosophy majorfrom Greenwood
Lake, NY, is taking charge of a
position created by Shannon this
year in order to get the clubs more
involved in FUSA.
The position itself is in
charge of all clubs and leadership
programs. Raimondo will be hold-ing
meetings with all of the clubs
on campus every three weeks be-cause,
"clubs are a big voice on
this campus that is not heard."
In the meetings, Raimondo
hopes to help the clubs in their
fundraising and programming and
to specify exactly what FUSA ex-pects
from them and to learn what
they expect from FUSA. By acting
(continued to p. 2)
Ponticello and Gouveia to Lead
Freshmen Year Experience
Emily Okenquist
News Editor Emeritus
Juniors RoseAnn Pon-ticello
and Pete Gouveia have al-ready
begun preparing for next
year's Freshman Year Experience
program as they have been chosen
as Freshman Facilitator Co-chairs.
A chemistry major from
Rochester, NY, Ponticello brings
experience to the position after
serving as a facilitator this year.
Gouveia, an English major from
Wallingford, CT, has also been
active in the program and worked
at planning many events this year.
"The two work very well
together and have a great rapport,"
said Gwen Vendley, director of the
Freshman Year Experience pro-gram.
"Pete is very dependable
and has excellent organizational
skills, and RoseAnn brings lots of
energy and commitment."
After submitting an appli-cation,
the applicants interviewed
with seniors Mike Bonelli and
Colleen Lane, this year's co-chairs,
then met with Vendley.
Ponticello remembered
having her interview at the same
time as Gouveia and said, "In a
way, we've worked together from
the beginning because we were
interviewed as a team."
Both co-chairs credit their
memorable experiences in fresh-man
programs and their desire to
ease the new students' transition
from high school to college as
reasons for becoming facilitators.
"Freshman year, I had a
terrific group of upperclass
friends," said Ponticello. "There's
nothing like the guidance of older
students. I wanted to give some-thing
back."
"It's really hard to make
the move from home to school,"
said Gouveia. "I wanted to transfer
what I have learned to the fresh-men
so I could help them. It's a
fabulous experience."
During the first semester
when freshmen were adjusting to
college life, they met with their
facilitators biweekly in small
groups, discussing topics of stress,
time management, diversity, and
alcohol. On alternate weeks, they
attended presentations in the Quick
Center. After the Christmas break,
however, the groups ceased to meet
since freshmen no longer needed
to rely on them because they now
had their own friends.
"We had close contact with
each other," said Gouveia, "but it
was mainly a fall experience. Next
year, we want to change that."
Strengthening the program
and creating more unity between
freshmen, facilitators, and the en-tire
University community are
additional changes the co-chairs
aim to install.
"There's a lot of room for
growth," said Ponticello. "It's
exciting to go into something and
photo: K. Guterl
put up the framework." With the
program only entering its second
year, "it's not the same old tradi-tion,"
she added.
"The basic structure will
remain the same, but we will have
some changes," said Vendley. "We
want to add events that are more
social and fun."
Vendley also said that the
Quick Center programming will
be replaced by additional events in
the Oak Room, and each will be
followed by a social.
While other branches of
the program already exist, Pon-ticello
and Gouveia hope to add
chair positions to the late-night
committee, including non-alcohol
programming, the program com-mittee
which plans lectures and
events, and the interview and
newsletter committees.
"We want to get the fresh-men
more involved in making
decisions, which will motivate
them to go to the programs," said
Ponticello.
While the facilitators will
handle events during the year, they
will also assist in welcoming the
Class of 1996 during the summer
and fall orientations.
"We'll be highly involved
with orientation," said Gouveia.
"We want to make the freshmen
feel more at home and at ease."
Ninety Freshmen Facilita-tors,
chosen by Bonelli, Lane, and
Vendley, will work under the lead-ership
of Gouveia and Ponticello.
"It was a very difficult
process," said Vendley. "We had a
lot of great, active candidates."
Witness
Tells
Story of
Gulf
Victims
Jennifer Luongo
Assistant News Editor
The Lenten Speaker Se-ries,
"A Voice in the Wilderness,"
began last week with Sr. Eileen
Storey lecturing on the Gulf War
in "The Voice of War Victims."
Before the war began last
year, Sr. Eileen andother members
ofthe GulfPeace Team built an en-campment
on the Iraqi-Saudi bor-der
to act as human shields. Upon
returning to the United States after
the war's end, she felt she should
take responsibility for what she
knows is now happening in Iraq.
"I've been with the people
of Iraq and I have to take responsi-bility
for that," Sr. Eileen said.
To better explain her ex-periences,
Sr. Eileen presented
slides showing people she met
before and during the war, along
with pictures ofthe city ofBaghdad.
She began her presentation with a
picture of the Tigris River prior to
the Gulf War and explained that
what was once one of the cleanest
rivers is now infested. She also
showed a slide of Baghdad before
the bombing to give the feeling of
Iraq's capital as a "beautiful city."
The next group of slides
were taken in a pediatric hospital
in January 1991. The sanctions had
been on for eight months and doc-tors
did not have the medication
for their patients, nor the electro-lytes
to keep the children alive.
Sr. Eileen showed pic-tures
of mothers and their children
and told the story of a woman she
met, who had a daughter in the
hospital. Though their conversa-tion
were "tonal" because of the
basic language barrier, Sr. Eileen
felt the woman was open to love.
"I offered her money, but she only
wanted friendship."
Other slides showed
Baghdad and its people after the
bombing, with backstreets where
homes were destroyed. These slides
showed Iraq in what Sr. Eileen
described as a "pre-industrialized
age bombed back two centuries."
One picture was of a
young girl washing laundry at a
broken water pipe. Another was a
boy collecting firewood. Yet an-otherwas
the Euphrates River, after
the destruction. "It'snot enough to
walk the streets and talk to the
people," she said. "You have to be
in touch with Iraqi culture."
Concluding her lecture
with descriptions of Iraqi people
and their tragic situations, she said
some were able to forgive Ameri-cans,
but others could not.
She stressed that she
speaks for the people of Iraq, not
the leaders. "The leaders are not
suffering," Sr. Eileen said. "It's
the people that are suffering."