Mirror - Vol. 20, No. 08 - November 09, 1995

              The
FairfieldMIRR®R Volume 20, Number 8 Thursday, November 9, 1995 The Image of Fairfield
Faculty interact with Russian counterparts
Kristen Sullivan
Staff Writer
Four Fairfield faculty
members visited Russia a
month ago to initiate programs
in business, economics and the
humanities and to expand
international relations. Arts
and Sciences Dean Orin
Grossman, School ofBusiness
Dean Russell Boisjoly,
Associate Professor of History
David McFadden and Adjunct
Business Lecturer Anna Tavis
ventured to Russia to visit
Russian universities and to
interact with Russian
professors and students.
Dean Grossman said,
"As a result of this program,
Fairfield will expand its
international presence because
we will both be sending
students to Russia and bringing
students from Russia here to
study."
Currently, Fairfield
hosts 70 students, from
international countries. This,
semester, nine students from
Russia are studying at
Fairfield, and the spring
semester an additional four
students will begin
matriculation' here. Dean
Grossman commented that "the
students speak wonderful
English. They are very much
looking forward to coming
here."
While in Russia, the
Fairfield representatives came
to an agreement with the U.S.
Russia Investment Fund, which
ensures a two-week pilot
internship to be conducted for
Russian bankers by Fairfield
University staff members. The
program began on October 23
and ended on November 3.
Incorporated into the
program is one week at Chase
Manhattan Bank in Bridgeport,
and an additional week at
Lafayette American Bank in
Hamden. Every three months,
Russian bankers will attend two
week training sessions.
In the summer of 1993,
the Russian Bankers Forum,
under the direction of 1963
graduate E. Gerald Corrigan,
was held to establish this
program. Corrigan, the former
president ofthe Federal Reserve
Bank, brought Russian bankers
to Fairfield to study
American banking. The
bankers attended
information sessions prior
to their internships. These
sessions were taught by'
Professor of Finance
Thomas Conine, Associate
Professor of Economics
Philip Lane, and Assistant
Professor of Accounting
Milo Peck.
RGU, the Russian
State University for the
Humanities, will be sending
students to Fairfield starting
in the fall of 1996. Fairfield
and RGU are working to
improve relations, so the
universities will be sending
and receiving students to
study history, fine arts,
American studies and
comparative literature.
Alexander Herzen
University, located in St.
Petersburg has invited
Fairfield University
professors to study Russian
culture, and to teach
American studies,
American literature and fine
arts. Next semester, Herzen
University will send one
student to Fairfield as a PepsiCo
scholar.
Beginning in the spring
semester, Irinna Margolina, a
Russian filmmaker will team-teach
a course on Russian culture and
film with Dr. Tavis. During the
week ofMarch 24, Russian culture
will be explored through the
presentation of Margolina's films,
a concert by Dean Grossman, and
a lecture.
Funding the trip to Russia
was the PepsiCo Foundation
through their PepsiCo Russian
Studies grant, which gave
$566,000 to institute student
exchange programs with Russia.
A Visiting Russian Faculty
Program was also established to
promote the teaching and learning,
of Russian culture into the
curriculum.
Dean Grossman is very
excited about this program since,
"Russia is poised to become a
major economic player and
because- it is a major mission of
Fairfield University to become
more international." Through the
implementation of this program,
both Fairfield students and Russian
students will benefit from the
business and cultural
opportunities.
Tree planted as memorial to Holocaust
Kristen Finello
Staff Writer
Members of the
University community and
local residents assembled
Thursday, November 2 for the
dedication of a Holocaust
memorial tree that was placed
near the entrance of the Pedro
Arrupe Campus Ministry
Center at the Egan Chapel.
The tree dedication was
sponsored by the Town of
Fairfield Holocaust
Commemoration Committee.
For thirteen years the
committee has been active in
remembering the Holocaust
and the 6 million Jews killed
by the Nazis during the 1930s
and 40s. In the last four years,
the committee has sponsored
memorial tree dedications at
various locations in the
community including
Independence Hall, the Calvin
United Church of Christ, St.
Emery' s Cathol ic Church, and
most recently on campus at
the Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius
Loyola. The Rev. David
Jordan-Haas, a committee
member and Protestant
chaplain at the University, said
"There is a need to be more
open and willing to confront
the past and celebrate the
future with our Jewish brothers
and sisters."
Several members of
the University community
spoke at Thursday's
commemorative service
including Rev. Aloysius P.
Kelley, S.J., University
president, who called the
memorial tree "a permanent
sign of hope for the humanity
we all share."
Other speakers from
the University were Dr. Ellen
Umansky, Carl and Dorothy
Bennett Professor of Judaic
Studies; Rev. Paul Carrier,
S.J., University Chaplain; and
Rabbi James Prosnit of
Congregation B'nai Israel in
Bridgeport and a lecturer in
the Religious Studies
photo by Kevon Wolfthal
Fr. Kelley leads the tree dedication service. The tree is a gift of the town
of Fairfield Holocaust Committee and Fr. Kelley called it"a permanent
sign of hope for the humanity we all share."
Department. In addition,
two University students,
Sally Piervincenti '96 and
Tally Schinik '97,
participated in the tree
dedication ceremony.
The Town of
Fairfield Holocaust
Commemoration
Committee is chaired by
the Rev. Francis Lewis, S.J., a
professor ofeducation at Fairfield
University, and made up of local
residents, spiritual leaders, and
'members of the university
community. The Honorary chairs
of the committee are First
Selectman Paul Audley,,
Selectman Jill Kelly and
Selectman Stanton H. Lesser.
Explore El
Salvador
Christine Hamel
News Editor
Peter O'Driscoll,
former director of Jesuit
Refugee Services in El
Salvador, spoke on November
7,1995. O'Driscoll presented
a slide lecture anddiscussion
on: "Another Side of El
Salvador: Refugees and the
Costs of War." The lecture
was sponsored by the honors
program and the program in
Latin American and Carribean
Studies.
O'Driscoll, a
Harvard graduate, spent seven
years in El Salvador and was
one of the two lay members of
the Jesuit Refugee Services
in El Salvador. He is currently
doing graduate work at
Columbia University.
At 17, O'Driscoll
had visited his uncle who was
a Jesuit priest in Guiana, and
he felt overwhelmed there. He
shared with the audience
that he was relieved when he
left. He confronted this
experience in Guiana with his
interest in liberation theology
He had no clue what he was
getting into when he boarded
the plane for El Salvador.
A small gathering of
professors and students
listened as O'Driscoll began.
His primary focus for the
lecture was the impact of the
Civil War on the people in El
Salvador. His slides showed
the real people that were
affected and of the hardships
that they endured. He spoke
of the brutual expereince that
the war infl icted on these
people.
O'Driscoll lectured
on the history of El Salvador
. and all the problems that were
caused by the Civil War. The
Civil War ended in 1992 with
the signing of the Peace
Accords. He spoke about the
experiences and situations
that had happened to him
while he was in El Salvador.
He discussed the
political and economic
problems that plague El
Salvador. In addition,
O'Driscoll discussed the
repopulation problems that
plagued post - Civil War El
Salvador.
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