Mirror - Vol. 27, No. 09 - November 08, 2001

              —— THE $30,000 QUESTION ANSWERED =—
112 to visit Fairfield; VP of Programming not punished
See "FUSA RESOLVES CONSTITUTIONALPROBLEMS" on page 3
Fairfield
November 8,2001 MIRROR University
Volume 27, Number 9
Metsopoulos, Sheridan say Fair-well
BY LISA ZACCAGNINO
Low voter turnout fostered election
upsets throughout southwestern Con-necticut,
including the town of Fairfield.
Incumbent John Metsopoulos (R)
was ousted by nearly 2,000 votes, mak-ing
Ken Flatto (D) the First Selectman
of Fairfield. Flatto, who served in the
position from 1997-99, had previously
lost to Metsopoulos just two years ago.
Metsopoulos did receive enough
votes to serve as Selectman under Flatto
if he chooses to do so. No decision was
made at press time.
Positions changed hands in the Rep-resentative
Town Meeting as well. Long-time
District 10 RTM members Kathleen
Siano and Colleen Sheridan were voted
out. Both were vocal of their opposition
to students at the beach, as well as the
high number of beach students registered
to vote, may have been contributing fac-tors
to their defeat.
"Students knew it was Colleen
Sheridan and Kathleen Siano's husband
who worked to shut down Clam Jam last
year," said senior Sue Troy. "We didn't
forget."
Student support in District 10 also
enabled a Fairfield alumnus, Dave We-ber
(D), to be elected to office.
Fairfield students had the opportu-nity
to elect two of their own in RTM
District 4. College Democrats and Col-lege
Republicans put aside party affilia-tion
in order to support both junior Neil
Carey (R) and sophomore Julia Lundy
(D). However, their combined efforts
resulted in the election of only Lundy.
Over one thousand students, both on
and off campus, were registered to vote
after an ambitious registration drive by
FUSA, IRHG, and the College Republi-cans
and Democrats.
On election day, registered voters
were reminded to vote through indi-vidual
phone calls along with a campus
wide email. FUSA members stuffed
mailboxes prior to Tuesday's election,
providing directions to polling locations
for students. Shuttle buses were also pro-vided,
and ran to and from Alumni Hall
until the close of the polls.
"We had the potential to sway the
vote," said FUSA President Joe
Piagentini, "but I feel the low student
turnout weakened our impact on the elec-tion."
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LECTION JLVESULTS
Candidate..
Flatto
Metsopolous
Votes {%)
8,813 (55%)
.7,163 (45%)
A study on library noise: students too noisy
BY JENNIFER MALCOM
Cell phones ringing. People laugh-ing.
Tour coming though. Groups con-versing.
People yelling from one end to
the other. Alarms sounding. Doors slam-ming.
What ever happened to the little old
librarians whispering "HUSH!" when
someone spoke in the library?
Even with most construction ended,
Fairfield University's library sometimes
sounds more like a train station than a
library, students complain. The aesthetic
improvements have come at a cost to
those people who need absolute silence
when they work.
"It may look nice, but it's a poor set
up. It's way too open, and sounds echo,"
said Christopher Karch '04. Carleigh
Brower '04 added, "I don't like tours
coming through or being downstairs
where there is constant noise."
Reference librarian Christina
McGowen conceded that the first level
can be a bit noisy at times, but added
"students could find quiet areas in the
carrels upstairs or in the nooks and cran-nies
in the periodicals room."
Many students feel the library
should not just have one small quiet sec-tion.
The library is a study spot—not a
social area.
"There are some areas that are quiet,
but it shouldn't be the student's respon-sibility
to hunt them down," said Jen
Barrett '04, "There should be a desig-nated
closed off quiet study room with a
strict and enforced no talking policy."
"I remember in the beginning of last
year, the third floor was definitely the
quiet study section," said Colleen Lamb
'04, "It was closed off, clearly marked,
and people definitely glared at you when
you made noise."
For those people who don't mind a
little noise, the library has definitely im-proved,
students said. "It is much more
comfortable even though the noise level
is louder than last year," said Lisa Cou-ture
'04, "I love the comfortable chairs
and the atmosphere."
Valerie Cordaseo '02 agreed, "It's
definitely better than it was. There is
more room, better atmosphere, brighter
lights, and nicer computers," she said.
Since the library closes at midnight
or earlier every night, students are left
searching for other quiet places to do
their work. They haven't had much suc-cess.
Due to lack of dorm rooms, the
school has even converted the study
lounges in Campion Hall into freshman
quads, leaving Campion's residents with
nowhere to study.
SEE "DORMS" ON p. 6