Mirror - Vol. 20, No. 09 - November 16, 1995

              The
FairfieldMRR©R Volume 20, Number 9 Thursday, November 16, 1995 The Image of Fairfield
Rabin's assassination reflected upon
Christine Hamel
News Editor
A week ago last Sat-urday,
the world lost a great
leader. Yitzhak Rabin, Prime
Minister of Israel, was assas-sinated
minutes after singing
Shir ha-Shalom, the Song of
Peace. While stepping into
his limousine, Rabin was shot
by Yigal Amir, a Jewish
militant. One bullet ruptured
his spleen and the other sev-ered
major arteries in his chest
and shattered his spinal cord.
"The last song he
sang was the Song of Peace.
He put this song in his pocket,
and the bullet went through
this song," Shimon Peres,
acting Prime Minister of Is-rael,
said. Peres also said
that with the crowd of
100,000 supporters gathered
for Rabin's rally, it was one
of the few times he had seen
a smile on Rabin's face.
"The world has lost
one of its greatest men, a
warrior for his nation's free-dom
p w a martyr for his
nation's peace," President Bill
Clinton said.
Rabin's assassination
is the first political assassina-tion
in Israel's short history.
His assassination left Jews in
shock of the fact that a Jew
killed another Jew. It would
have been understandable for
Israelis if Rabin was assassi-nated
by an Arab.
In response to the
worldwide mourning,
Fairfield University had flags
on campus at half-mast. In
addition, Fairfield University
held a memorial service for
Rabin. Approximately 50
members of the Fairfield Uni-versity
community including
administration, faculty and
students attended the service
which took place in the Com-munity
Room in the Egan
Chapel.
The service was led
by Rev. David Jordan-Haas
and was planned by the Rev.
Joseph Schad, S.J., and Dr.
Ellen Umansky, the Carl and
Dorothy Bennett Professor of
Judaic Studies. The service
had long periods of reflection
for those to reflect on the events
that brought them there.
Rabin's private home on Rabbi
Ashi street in Tel Aviv and his
official residence in Jerusalem.
"The last song he sang was the
Song of Peace. He put this song in
his pocket, and the bullet went
through this song."
Shimon Peres, Acting
Prime Minister of Israel
"For Jews throughout
the world, Rabin's assassination
by another Jew is devastating.
For all people who want to bring
about peace in the world, this is a
sober reminder," Umarisky said.
When the news came
out that Rabin had died, thou-sands
went to the Western Wall
in Jerusalem. Rabin had helped
capture that wall as the Israeli
army's chief of staff in the Six
Day War of 1967. Scores of
mourners brought candles to both
Amir, Rabin's assassin,
was a third year law student at the
religious Bar Ilan University. He
was one of eight children raised
in an Orthodox family in
Herzliyva, a town north of Tel
Aviv. Amir was aquiet individual
except when it came to the sub-ject
of peace between Israelis and
the Arabs. Amir became involved
with members of a right-wing
group called Eyal, also known as
the Fighting Jews.
Rabin's coffin laid in
front of the Knesset building for
24 hours. This is a rare honor in
Israel where religious tenets call
for immediate burial. While
waiting on line, the Israelis
poured out their confused and
troubled emotions to one an-other
on Sunday in a rite of
homage.
Sometime after mid-night,
Israeli Cabinet members
met for an emergency session
where they draped an empty
chair in black cloth to honor
Rabin. They met to plan the
state funeral and to set up a tran-sitional
government. By Israeli
. law, the Cabinet automatically
becomes the caretaker of the
State. After the two day na-tional
mourning period, Presi-dent
Ezer Weizman called to-gether
party leaders and asked
for a new government to be
formed by Peres, the man who
will fulfill Rabin's request for
peace.
■ "All of us need to take
responsibility for what we do so
peace and understanding can
come about," Umansky said.
BANNER recalculates students' G.P.A.s
Kristen Finello
Staff Writer
Many students in the
midst of filling out employment
and graduate school
applications this semester have
had an unpleasant surprise.
Some of those who requested a
transcript to accompany their
applications noticed that
suddenly theirG.P.A. is slightly
lower than if was before. The
change in G.P.A. that these
students noticed has resulted
from the implementation of the
new BANNER computer
system.
Prior to BANNER, a
student's G.P.A. wascalculated
to the third decimal place. For
example, a student's G.P.A.
could be 3.475, which could be
rounded to 3.48. However,
under the BANNER system the
G.P.A. is calculated to only the
second decimal place. In this
case, the student's G.P.A.would
be 3.47. While this difference
may not seem dramatic, many
students are upset.
The University's
switch to BANNER affected
one student who found that his
G.P.A. has been lowered by
.03. Now in addition to having
a lower G.P.A., the student also
has to explain the discrepancy
between the G.P.A. that he
reported on a job application
and the one that will be reported
when his prospective employer
receives his transcript.
Obviously, this student is
unhappy with the affect that
the implementation of the
BANNER system has had on
his G.P.A. "Why did I lose
credit because of a change in
the system? I still have the
same letter grades and quality
points, but now my G.P.A. is
lower," he said.
In an effort to remedy
the situation, the student
contacted the University
f.jgistrar who agreed to write a
note to accompany the
transcript explaining the
discrepancy between the G.P.A.
reported on the student's job
application and the one reported
on his transcript. The
student,however, would prefer
to see a solution in which his
semester G.P.A.s from
freshman and sophomore years,
calculated under the old system,
are combined with the semester
G.P.A.s he will earn this year
and next under the new system.
"I wouldn't mind the change
[in the way G.P.A. is
calculated], but it shouldn't take
away from what I already had,"
he said.
Michelle Bernal '96 is
concerned about the way the
change in G.P.A. will affect her
and other students who are
applying to graduate school
programs. "Many schools have
a cut-off point and if your
G.P.A. falls below that point
you aren't even considered. If
you had a 3.499 before you
could round to a 3.50, but under
the new system your G.P.A. is
a 3.49. Grad schools that take
only students with a 3.50 or better
won't even look at you," she
said. Bernal is also concerned
With how the newly calculated
G.P.A.s will affect students'
eligibility for graduation honors
such as magna cum laude.
Fairfield University
Registrar Robert Russo contends
that the change in students'
G.P.A.s-are not significant.
According to Russo, under the
BANNER 'system students'
G.P.A.s are changed by only 1/
100 of a point.
"The difference is so minute
that I really don't think it will
affect anyone adversely," said
Russo.
He also explained that
as a student earns more and more
credits the impact of the change
in calculation is lessened. Russo
emphasized that while the
individual semesterG.P.A. may
be affected the overall G.P.A.
will not be.
In response to students'
concern about the effect of the
newly, calculated G.P.A.s on
their eligibility for cum laude,
magna cum laude or summa
cum laude status, Russo said
that students need not worry.
He said that members of the
Classes of 1996 and 1997 who
are on the borderline of
receiving those honors will be
evaluated since they began
their academic careers under
the old system. "For
example," said Russo "anyone
on the edge between 3.49 and
3.5 will be checked to see if
they are eligible for cum laude
status.
Russo also stated that
the BANNER system is used
at the University of Scranton
andponzaga College and is
being implemented at Yale
University.
Students who are
concerned about the change in
their G.P.A. or have questions
can stop by the Registrar's
office to discuss their
transcript.
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