Mirror - Vol. 20, No. 13 - February 15, 1996

              The
FairfieldMIRROR Volume 20, Number 13 Thursday, February 15, 1996 The Image of Fairfield
Multiculturalism in higher education
conference scheduled next month
Christine Hamel
News Editor
Faculty, students,
and administrators from 50
colleges and universities
across the country are planning
to attend a major conference
starting Friday, March 1, at
Fairfield University to seek
ways to cope with the rise of
intolerance on campuses.
"The Meaning of
Multiculturalism and
Diversity for Catholic Higher
Education" is the title for the
conference which will feature
two major guest speakers: the
Rev. Gregory Chisholm, S.J.,
of the University of Detroit
Mercy, and the Rev. Michael
Himes of Boston College.
Chisholm will speak at 8 p.m.
on March 1. Himes will speak
at 1:30 p.m. on March 2.
Chisholm is assistant
professor of mechanical
engineering at the University
of Detroit Mercy. Completing
his doctorate in engineering at
MIT, he pursued his
theological studies at Weston
School of Theology. In addition,
Chisholm is a trustee of Fairfield
University and is deeply
concerned about
multiculturalism. Chisholm has
written several articles such as
"No Melting Pot for Justice
Thomas" and "Boyz in the Hood"
which pertains to one of his many
interests, African American
history.
Himes, currently
associate professor of theology
at Boston College, has written
several books. "Fullness ofFaith:
The Public Significance of
Theology" which Himes co-authored
with his brother was
awarded with the Catholic Press
Association Book Award in
1994. Himes is a prolific writer
and noted speaker who has
addressed such topics as
"Racism: A Theological
Perspective," "Public Theology
in America," "A Theological
Foundation for an
Environmental Ethic," and
"Pluralism in the Church."
In addition, the
conference will present 40
academic papers as well as
speakers from 13 colleges who
will describe their efforts to make
changes on their campuses and
in the curriculum in order to
address the issues of diversity.
"This conference seeks
to identify strategies for
promoting personal and
institutional understanding. To
help us do so in a broad and
effective way, we invite you and
your students to submit
proposals for possible
presentation. The conference
will include these scholarly
papers, as well as workshops,
round table discussions, and
excellent guest speakers," the
Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J.,
University President, said.
"There has been an
alarming rise in acts of
intolerance on campuses across
the nation. Catholic institutions
have a particular imperative to
challenge this intolerance, since
we believe in the God-given
dignity of each person," Dr.
Gwen Vendley, dean of students
andchairofthe conference, said.
As a special feature,
the conference will present a
workshop for students only
entitled "Visualize and
Vocalize: A Leadership
Conference for Students of
Color," with panelists from the
University of San Francisco.
The conference will
open Friday evening, March 1,
and offer the papers starting on
Saturday morning on March 2.
Panels will present research
papers and discuss a variety of
topics labeled as diversity,
Catholicism and social justice,
theories of diversity; practical
strategies—students and
diversity; diversity concerns in
Catholic thought; and Catholic
sexuality.
Certain colleges such
as Trinity ofWashington D.C.,
Villanova, Siena, St. Louis
University, St. Anselem's,
Newman, and the University
ofSan Diego will be discussing
their approaches to diversity.
Formore information
concerning registration,
faculty from other colleges and
the public may contact Dean
Vendley or Dr. Mary Frances
Malone, associate academic
vice president. The conference
is sponsored by the
University's Office of the
Academic Vice President.
Collins opens " Cities in Crisis" four-part series
.JoAnn Gometz
AssistantNews Editor
"Cities In Crisis," a
four part lecture series
sponsored by the politics
department, opened Monday
night with columnist and
former politician Bill Collins.
Collins, who spent
four terms as Norwalk' s mayor
in the 70s and 80s and served
two terms in the Connecticut
Congress, compared the city
and suburban life in lower
Connecticut. He emphasized
economic and demographic
issues in the 90 minute
presentation,
The evening began
with a comparison of the
property tax rates on the
$200,000 house in several local
communities, ranging from
3.21% in Bridgeport to 0.83%
in Greenwich. Fairfield fell in
the mode at 1.35%.
Continuing, Collins
compared the tax rate on a $ 10,000
car in Lyme, 0.74%, with that of
the same car in Waterbury, 5.01 %.
He then pointed out that the
audience should be able to see
why the city-dwellers were up in
arms about the disparity.
Hartford's new six
month moratorium on social
service, which has discontinued
the running of shelters, soup
kitchens, halfway houses, and the
like, served as a springboard for
ihcmeat of Collins' talk. 62% of
the social service for the 29 towns
in the region are located within
the city of Hartford.
The decrease in taxable
property in Hartford pointed out
the ways in which cities have been
getting the bad bargains from both
corporations and the state. Private
corporations have moved much of
their taxable property to buildings
in the suburbs, where the taxes are
lower, while the tax exempt state
has purchased several buildings
in the city.
"What is the cause of
this tremendous disparity
between cities and towns?"
Collins asked the audience of
about thirty students, professors,
and community members.
The answer, according
to Collins, is the "Home Rule"
Law, which allows local
communities to have total
control over their zoning laws.
"Formostofus, zoning
is a little arcane," Collins said,
"We understand that the guy
next door can't raise pigs in the
backyard."
Only one zone, which
allows for apartment buildings,
really matters, according to
Collins. In the suburbs or towns,
that zone is small or even non-existent,
which in the cities it is
rather large. The more
apartments lead to more people
with lower incomes, leading to
a concentration in the cities. This
shrinking or abolition of
apartment zones is a result of
Connecticut being the "Home
Rule State."
Collins pointed out that
Connecticut is one of two states
that does not have counties,
which allow for a more even split
of tax revenue. Also, there is
no way to annex new
developments, because every
part of the state is incorporated
into towns.
He used a thematic atlas
of Connecticut to illustrate the
latter point, in one ofthe lecture's
several humorous moments. The
audience saw the maps ofvarious
types ofsnake bite concentrations
and rainfall before the one that
showed town incorporation.
Collins said that, "Cities
are stuck between laws for doing
as they like within their borders,
and having no extra land to
annex."
He gave several of his
opinions about how the state
could help end the disparity,
including increasing general
assistance funds to cities,
implementing state aidedmagnet
schools with six hours of day
care provided at minimal cost to
parents, or instituting state
property tax in lieu of local tax.
According to Collins,
Connecticut is far behind the rest
of the nation in training skilled
workers, a point illustrated by a
program he found in South
Carolina nearly 20 years ago.
This type of training could
decrease the tension between
private interest and public
funding.
Collins concluded by
saying that "boot strappers" were
needed to pull the straps up,
meaning that local initiative was
the cornerstone for any true
change. He added that the rest of
the speakers were going to tell
the audience how to get out of
the mess that he had just
described.
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