Mirror - Vol. 27, No. 14 - January 24, 2002

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Fairfield
January 24,2002
EVERYTHING ENTERTAINMENT
The best and worst of everything past,
present, and future
Pages 13-15
MIRROR University
Volume 27, Number 14
FAIRFIELD'S ENRON TIES
BY SUSAN KEANE
Fairfield University is again mak-ing
national news,butthis time ifsbeen
tied to one ofthe most scandalous news
stories in headlines today.
Joseph F. Berardino, a Fairfield Uni-versity
graduate and currentmemberof
the university'sboardoftrustees, is chief
executive for ArthurAndersen, one of
the largest accounting firms in the coun-try
and also the same firm that audited
the financial statements forEnron.
Berardino graduatedfromFairfield
in 1972 as an accounting major. Upon
graduating from the university,
Berardino went on to a job at Arthur
Andersen,where heworkedhiswayup
the ranks, eventuallybecomingheadof
the firm.
Enron,one ofAndersen's largestcli-ents,
is the energy giant that allegedly
overstated profits by hundreds ofmil-lions
ofdollars and is currentlythe larg-estbankruptcy
scandalin the nation.
According to an article inUSATo-day,
Berardino was subpoenaedbythe
U.S. Senate to testify on the alleged
documentshredding concerningEnron
records.
Berardino also went before Con-gress
in December acknowledging the
fact thatAndersen didmake mistakes in
some of its
accounting
practices.
Due to
the generos-ity
the uni-versity
has
received
from Arthur
Andersen, a
multimedia —-
classroom in
the business schoolwasrecentlynamed
after the firm. Also, the university re-cently
began theArthurAndersen Fel-lowsprogramthatrecognizes
facultyfor
theirachievements.
Berardino, according to Fairfield
Now, recently donated over $500,000 to
the university and commented to the
magazine abouthis Fairfield University
.M
RELATED COLUMN:
Fairfield, Enron, and the
Jesuit tradition
Page 8
experience.
"I graduated from Fairfield a
wealthy man, because I had an educa-tion
paid forbymyparents," he said.
"Imaynot have had a lot ofnickels
inmypocket, andmyjalopymayhave
needed a few repairs, but I had some-thing
far
- more valu-able.
Jesuit
education
taughtmeto
think
broadly, to
aim for in-tegrity,
and
to make
--;' "••; ~~~ ;~ thinking of
otherspartof
mylifestyle."
Bernadinobecameamemberofthe
board oftrustees in Octoberof1999 and
hasbeenactively involved in university
activities such as alumnifundraisers.
In a recent article in TheNewYork
Times, Fairfield University President
Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. described
Berardino as a careful plannerwhowill
face the scandalhead on.
"He'll go at it very carefully,"Fa-ther
Kelley told the Ti'mes."He'll go
about it very, very thoroughly, and he
won't be afraid to act."
TheTimes articles also described
Berardino as amanwhohas facedmany
challenges in his careersuch as challeng-ing
chairman of the Securities and Ex-change
CommissionArthurLevitt, con-cerning
the limitations on accounting
firms toworkas consultantswherethere
is a possible conflict ofinterest
Many students were surprised at
Fairfield's connection to the news and
understand Berardino to be an asset to
the university.
"Although I don'tknowmuchabout
Enron,IdothinkthatBerardinohas done
a lot for the university in terms of
fundraising/'saidTodd Fratar, '03.
Shane Fennessey, '03, agreed."A
fewfriends ofminewhohave graduated
have gotten jobs atAndersen in the last
few years and I know that Berardino
likes to hire university graduates."
Glass ceiling? Male heads outnumber women despite
55% female undegrad enrollment
BY SUSAN KEANE
NewCampus Center. Newlibrary
addition. Newscience labs.
It is hard to miss themanychanges
that are taking place all over Fairfield
University. But there is one thing on
campus that hasn't changed with the
times; the overwhelming dominance of
males in decision-makingroles oncam-pus.
From
the FUSA
presidentto
the univer-sity
presi-dent,
to all
five of the
university
vice-presi-dents,
the
top people
who have
the mostin-fluence
on
the direction
of Fairfield
University
are all male.
Eleven of
the top 12
administra-tors
are
men
Ifyou go downfurther into the ad-ministrative
ranks andinclude the assis-tant
vice presidents plus the deans, 16
ofthe 23 top administrators are men.
Yetthe handful ofwomenwhohold
high-ranking positions do not feel that
hiring decisions are genderrelated
AssistantVice President of Student
Resources SusanBirge said/This is not
a genderissue. The decision makers at
this university are here because they are
qualified and intelligent, not because
they are male orfemale."
Dr.MaryFrances Malone, the lone
female associate vice president, agreed
"The onlyvice president's position open
(recently) was that of academic vice
president in 1999. The University hired
Korn Ferry,an international search firm
to conduct the search/'she said "They,
workingwith the search committee, pre-sented
thebestperson"OrinGrossman,
formerly dean ofthe College ofArts and
Sciences, got the job.
Butmanyothercolleges anduniver-sities
have managedto hirewomeninto
higher administrative positions. Numer-ous
schools, including the University of
Pennsylvania, Duke, Brown andIthaca
all have women presidents. Until re-cently,
Jesuit schools had to have a Je-suit
president, but a recent hire at
Georgetownbrokethat tradition.
Many Fairfield students said that
theywere unaware of the male domi-nance
at the top administrative levels.
Studentshadmixedviewsontheimpor-tance
ofthe male imbalance in top jobs.
"I don't really care that it is mostly
men. Aslongas theyareworkingtotheir
fullest potential,itshouldn'tmattertheir
gender/'said Krissy Fitzpatrick '03.
Chris Calamera, '02 believes that
morewomenin the top ranks ofthe ad-ministration
are important " I feel that
gender diversity in the administration
would open up new doors to creative
thinkingthattheschoolhasnotseenyet"
Others agreed with Calamera.
"Men make decisions differently then
women, and a women's input into ma-jor
decisions is extremely important"
said Erin Curtin '03.
SEE "BOYS" ON P. 3