Mirror - Vol. 19, No. 17 - March 09, 1995

              The
FairfieldMIRROR Volume 19, No. 17 Thursday, March 9, 1995 Only One More Day Until Spring Break!
Three students awarded Fulbright scholarships
Shelagh Scollin
Staff Writer
Three seniors, Jill
Peters, Pia Hartman, and Steven
Corvi have been awarded
Fulbright grants for international
research next year. They were
chosen from sixteen seniors
from Fairfield University who
applied. Worldwide, there were
approximately 4,600 applicants
for 700 available grants.
Jill Peters, an English
major from Orchard Park, New
York, will be studying language
and literature in the Solomon
Islands, in the South Pacific. She
took part in the Semester at Sea
program during spring semester
of 1994, an experience which she
said made an impact on her
decision to apply for the
Fulbright.
While on the Semester
at Sea, Peters visited ten different
countries, including Venezuela,
South Africa, India, Japan, and
China. During her travels, she
"was active in a service project
called SOS, which offered aid to
people in the needy countries
[she] visited."
Another factor which
Peters said helped foster her
longtime interest in travel and
learning about other cultures was
her family's involvement. Her
father is in international business,
and her brother has done
international environmental
research. In fact, her brother
visited the Solomon Islands (the
country where Peters will be doing
her research) while on a trip to
Antarctica several years ago, and
his stories sparked her interest in
the Western Pacific.
By studying the folklore,
history, and sociology of the
Solomon Islands, Peters hopes to
broaden her understanding of
world literature, which she
eventually hopes to teach in a
cross-cultural context.
Pia Hartman, an
economics major from Cranford,
New Jersey, will be studying
economic development in Malta,
which is located in the
Mediterranean region between
Europe and North Africa.
Like Peters, Hartman's
family has been a significant
factor in her interest in the
international arena. While
maintaining a strong link to their
Italian and German heritages, her
parents have between them done
professional work in Saudi Arabia,
doctoral work in Italy, and
volunteered for the Peace Corps
in Malawi. Hartman herself
studied in London the spring
semester ofherjunior year. During
that time, she also had an internship
at Greenpeace, where she
researched international
environmental trading programs.
The Fulbright grant will
enable Hartman to witness the
international economic
development that is emerging in
Malta, particularly as that nation
is vying for admission into the
European Union. She will work
at an internship at the Malta
Financial Services Center, as
well as take classes in
Contemporary Mediterranean
Studies at the University of
Malta.
Steven Corvi, from
Massapequa Park, New York,
who has a dual major in English
and economics, will study
economics in Italy. In particular,
he will examine the Italian
automobile industry as a model
to learn about how the European
Union's policies affect the
economy of Italy.
Corvi spent last year
studying in Florence, Italy, with
a Gonzaga University program,
where he was elected president
of the student body. Previously,
he played on the Fairfield
University baseball team for two
years before being forced to quit
because of a shoulder injury.
(Continued on page 4)
Students will have a blast talking
live to astronauts in space
Christine Hamel
Assistant News Editor
On Saturday, March
11, from 6:02 p.m. to 6:17 p.m.,
a panel of students from Fairfield
University and Fairfield High
School will speak with members
of the crew of the Space Shuttle
Endeavour while they are in
space. They will be speaking
with two of the seven astronaut
crew members, Dr. John M.
Grunsfield and Dr. Ronald
Parise.
The shuttle will be in
space for approximately 16 days
to observe the planets, stars, and
galaxies. A series ofexperiments
will take place once in flight.
They will study faint objects such
as quasars and supernova
remnants to further the
understanding ofstar formations.
The student panel will
be located in the Oak Room of
the Campus Center and will speak
to the astronauts via a phone line
to the NASA Johnson Space
Center in Florida where their
questions will be transmitted. The
crew's responses will be down
linked by the University satellite
dish and then, seen live on a large
video screen in the Oak Room.
The students who will
represent Fairfield University on
the panel are: Ellen Banasik '97,
Christopher Brennan '96,
Anthony Chatelain '96, Virginia
Didomizio ' 96, Maureen Fortier
'96, Gregory Hussey '96, John
Iosifidis '97, Kit Newton '97,
Tracy Newton '98, and .
Christopher Taylor '95. From
Fairfield High School is Senior
MeeraShah. The second student
will be named at a later date.
The event at Fairfield
University will feature a video of
the blastoff, an explanation of
the mission by the experts, and a
chance for local students to r\j/>SA
question the panel besides from
the interview. Tom Appleby, news
director for Channel 12 News
which will televise the program
live^ will be narrator for part of the
program.
This opportunity for the
linkup was brought about when
Roger Previs, principal of the
Stratfield School, and Catherine
O'Keefe, PTA vice president,
contacted NASA to arrange for an
interactive program and were
advised to go through a university.
Dr. Ibrahim Hefzallah,
director of the Media Center at
Fairfield organized the technical
aspects for the Space-to-Earth
conversation.
"Fairfield Univesity is
committed to educational
excellence and to meet its
obligations to the wider
community," Hefzallah stated.
"This in-flight interview
targets our commitment to
academic excellence and to the
community," Hefzallah added.
" Over the summer, I
watched the program of the
twenty -fifth anniversary ofman
landing on the moon and I
became quite interested in space
flight. This is an incredible
opportunity to expand my
interest," Didomzio said.
At a later date Lt.
Comdr. Wendy Lawrence, a
member of the Endeavour crew
who will not be part of the
conversation, will visit the town
of Fairfield. In 1992, Lawrence
joined NASA for space shuttle
training. Lawrence is a graduate
of the U.S. Naval Academy and
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
The event will be open
to all by ticket. Doors will open
at 4:00 p.m. and close at 5:00
p.m. For free tickets contact the
Barone Campus Center's. Main
Office between 9:00 a.m. and
4:30 p.m.
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