Mirror - Vol. 18, No. 14 - February 17, 1994

              The
FairfieldMIRR®R Volume 18, No. 14 Thursday, February 17, 1994 Four More Weeks of Winter
University remembers
Professor John Kolakowski
Caitlin Whelan
Assistant News Editor
John G. Kolakowski,
Assistant Professor of French,
died Tuesday, February 8th at
St. Raphael's Hospital of heart
failure. He was 61 years old.
Professor Kolakowski
had been a member of the
Fairfield University faculty for
32 years. Before coming to
Fairfield, he taught French
language and literature at Yale
University and Tufts University.
He was a 1954 graduate of Yale
where he also earned a graduate
degree. In addition, he spent two
years in Paris where he was a
fellow to the French government.
Professor Kolakowski
was an integral part of the
Modern Language Department
and the university, according to
Dr. Robert Webster, Chair of
Modern Languages.
Kolakowski, along with his wife,
Marie-Therese "Mimi"
Kolakowski, ran a Summer
Workshop in France for a
number of years in the late
1970s. "Quite a few Fairfield
students went," said Webster.
"They got more than just
language, but cultural trips,
theater, and saw chateaus and
cathedrals."
Professor
Kolakowski's wife taught
French in the Modern Language
Department at Fairfield for ten
years before retiring last year.
Webster,
Kolakowski's friend and
colleague, described him as "a
very good, decent human being,
a good friend, good colleague,
good teacher. He was a kind,
soft-spoken man."
,Shelagh Scollin '95, a
former student of Professor
Kolakowski, remembers, "I really
liked him a lot. He always seemed
to have a twinkle in his eye."
Professor Kolakowski
was the father of four children,
all of whom graduated from
Fairfield within the past twelve
years.
The John G.
Kolakowski Scholarship for
Language Majors was established
in his memory. All memorial
contributions were directed
toward the scholarship fund
through the Advancement Office
at Fairfield University.
Professor Kolakowski
will be remembered by many at
Fairfield. As Dr. Webster
remarked, "He was very easy to
get along with, a pleasure to work
with. He will be missed a great
deal."
r
Beach residents
battle the snow
Jen Onegiia
Staff Writer
Fairfield University
beach residents were pleasantly
surprised when they woke up
last Friday morning to find that
the university had been closed
for the day. Unfortunately, the
initial excitement overcancelled
classes did not last long.
"Classes being
canceled was a positive effect of
the storm," Neil O'Halloran, '94,
said on Tuesday. "But I just dug
my car out of a snow bank
yesterday and it still doesn't
work, so I'm stranded a lot now."
Many beach residents
also faced colder temperatures
than normal' inside as a result of
frozen pipes. Steve Mazza, '94,
is one such student. "The pipes
in our bathroom froze, then they
burst. We had to have a plumber
come to insulate them," Mazza
said. Fortunately, Mazza and
his housemates do not have to
foot the bill themselves; their
landlord is responsible.
One responsibility that
does fall to students is snow
removal. Connecticut state law
says that all public sidewalks
Beach residents look forward to paths free of snow Photo: file
must be cleared within twenty-four
hours of a storm. "We
shoveled six inches of snow, and
five hours later, we shoveled six
more," Lee Ann Prete, '94, said.
Prete is one of the few
beach residents lucky enough to
have a driveway. For many
residents at the Point, snow
removal was even more-of a
nightmare. "It stinks," Christine
Sotir, '94 said. Sotir was one of
the many students whose car was
covered by snow. Danielle
Forbes, '95, agreed: "I can't find
my car. It's under a snow bank."
Parking at the beach has
become next to impossible. Town
plows have not only blocked
students' cars, but have turned
available spaces into snow banks.
The roads are worse. Patrice
McCann, '94, said, "I love the
snow, and it was great having no
class. I just wish the roads were
plowed better." McCann's
housemate, Kim Messina, agreed.
"The storm might not nave been as
bad if this town even remotely
knew how to clear the roads," she
said.
Messina went on to
summarize most beach residents'
feelings about the storm of '94: "I
think that the class of '94's Senior
Gift should be a new plow for the
Town of Fairfield to use at the
beach."
Three seniors
receive Fulbright
scholarships
Kristin Cunningham
Staff Writer
Seniors Jennifer
Sorenson, Alycen McAuley,
and Alicia Smith were
notified last week that they
had each been recommended
to receive the Fulbright
scholarship. The students
have passed the U.S.
screening for the scholarship
and must now be reviewed
by the countries where they
plan to study.
Last March, due to
their outstanding academic
records, the students were
invited to apply for this full
scholarship to study in a
foreign country.
The students
worked on their applications
all summer.
Upon returning to
school in the fall, an advisory
board offive facyjty members
helped the students prepare
their essays and; reviewed
their applications which were
due October 1.
The Fulbright
Scholarship, a U.S.
government funded grant,
was established by
Congressman J. William
Fulbright as an opportunity
for college graduates through
PhD candidates to pursue
studies in another country.
Students are
awarded scholarships on the
basis of grades as well as the
strength of their project
proposal.
"The competition is
fierce," said Sorenson. It
helps to look for a country
that is in less of a demand."
Jennifer Sorenson,
a chemistry major of
Hungarian background from
Stratford, CT, plans to study
structural analysis at
Technical University in
Budapest, Hungary.
Her grant is co-sponsored
by the Hungarian
government.
In her research
project, Jennifer will be
studying the structure and
details of molecules using
computers and other
instruments.
"I'm nervous about
the year-long commitment,"
said Alycen McAuley, a
politics major from Littleton,
MA. "Christmas in Morocco
should be interesting."
McAuley will be
studying at the University of
Mohammed Five doing a
research project on the
socialization of women .in
Morocco, a country with both
Arabic and Western
influences.
McAuley speaks
fluent French, the
instructional language of
Morocco, and is currently
taking an Arabic class offered
at Fairfield through a joint
project with Ohio State.
In Cochabamba,
Bolivia, Alicia Smith will be
researching the infectious
disease cholera ofwhich there
has been an outbreak in South
America.
Smith, fluent in
Spanish, the language of the
country, has family in
Bolivia.
"My mother is from
Bolivia," she said, "so I
looked for that country."
Although Smith has
visited Bolivia several times,
she's looking forward to
spending a year there.
Excited is the best
word," she said. "I want to
have the best experience
possible."
By June, the three
students will receive final
notification of their
scholarships.
In the meantime,
their applications will be
forwarded to the scholarship
review boards of their
countries of intended study
for verification.
Smith said, "I'm
just hoping everything goes
smoothly."
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