Mirror - Vol. 32, No. 03 - September 21, 2006

              WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 21,2006
Vol. 32, Iss. 3-24 pages
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The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
23 intoxicated frosh visit health center in first week
BY CHRISTINA STODDARD
Last year 23 students, including 15 freshmen, were sent
to the Health Center or hospitalized during the first two weeks
of school.
This year, it took only one week for 23 freshmen to make
the same trip.
This dangerously high number of drinking-related cases
at the beginning of the school year is consistent with what
Gary Nelson, director of the Health Center, calls the "red
zone." The red zone refers to the first four to six weeks of the
academic year when students, particularly freshmen, exhibit
an increase in dangerous drinking behavior. This is a trend
permeating campuses across the nation.
"We're obviously in the red zone now," said Nelson. "It
is a real concern for us."
Jen Duffy '10 confirmed she has observed excessive
drinking by her fellow classmates.
"It seems as if every night you ask what people are do-ing
and they're like, 'getting drunk.' It's kind of stupid, kind
of sad," said Duffy.
During the second week of school there were approxi-mately
10 more incidents of alcohol abuse reported, accord-ing
to the public log kept by Public Safety and confirmed
by Nelson. The graduation years of the students were not
available.
"September is traditionally one of the busiest months for
us," said Frank Ficko, associate director of Public Safety. "We
just hope above all that students stay safe."
"I think all of this drinking is like a freshmen buzz that
will last for like a month," said Duffy.
This trend of hazardous drinking behavior spurred the
establishment of "2241: Your Ride to Safety" in April 2005.
Approximately 15 students have utilized the service this year,
a statistic Nelson sees as a step in the right direction.
With this program in place, students can dial 2241 from
anywhere on campus to request that an intoxicated friend
be brought safely to the Health Center. There, he or she can
receive proper medical attention without the risk of future
judicial action.
"That is definitely a good idea," said Chris Schindler
' 10. "There's a lot of drinking... If someone needs help, they
shouldn't be afraid of getting in trouble to get it."
This summer Nelson attended a conference of the
American Collegiate Health Association, where he said stu-dent
drinking was the number one topic discussed. Fairfield,
Nelson said, is "ahead of the curve" in establishing its safe
ride program - a step many other schools are just beginning
to take.
The First Year Experience program, floor programs and
alcohol education classes are samples of other steps being
taken to educate first year students about the dangers associ-ated
with too much alcohol consumption.
Jeanne DiMuzio, director of counseling services, has
spoken with freshmen and is now concerned with three major
drinking behaviors: not knowing who poured a drink, mix-ing
different types of alcohol and taking shots before leaving
one's room only to consume beer later. DiMuzio is worried
that members of this new class are "drinking too much, too
fast, and under the wrong conditions."
'CULTURE WARRIOR1
Jim Scholl/The Mirror
Talking head: Bill O'Reilly opened the tenth season of the Open Vision Forum on Sunday. At
left is forum Director Dr. Philip Eliasoph. See page 2 for the complete story.
Drop your cups and run
Policies at the beach shake up senior year
BY LESLIE ALMEIDA
Have a few bad apples spoiled it
for the rest of us? In an effort to remedy
what he calls the "beach area problem,"
new Fairfield Chief of Police Dave Peck
is shaking things up at Fairfield Beach.
At the annual Beach Residents
Association meeting, Peck addressed
the permanent residents' biggest com-plaint:
student disturbances. Peck had
identified a "problem area" according to
"an unusually high rate of disturbance
occurrences as reported by area residents
and substantiated by police investiga-tions,"
and has created a plan of action
accordingly.
His plan includes a new "zero tol-erance"
policy, which was greeted with
loud applause from the residents at the
meeting when announced. According to
the new policy, "zero tolerance" means
students will be arrested rather than
receive warnings.
"The message we're sending now
is that if it is a criminal violation, you
will get arrested," said Peck.
In addition, Peck announced his
new plan to work more closely with
local liquor stores. A letter was sent to
local establishments to "remind them of
their obligation to follow the laws."
The Fairfield Detective Bureau is
also asking local liquor stores to notify
them if large amounts of alcohol are pur-chased
by students, defined in the same
letter as "more than two kegs of beer,
multiple cases of beer or several bottles
of liquor (obvious party situations)."
Peck has also introduced a new
practice that he calls "stop-by interven-tion."
According to the policy, police
will approach any house in which a
party appears to be growing before any
complaint has been made and inform the
individuals in the house of the "zero tol-erance"
policy. If the officers return, the
new policy dictates that the individuals
SEE "ZERO" ON P. 6.
U.S. Rep. Shays cancels interview about faith and politics
BY BEN DOODY
U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, a Repub-lican
locked in a heated battle for re-election
in a district that includes Fairfield, cancelled
an interview scheduled for Monday night
at Fairfield after the Connecticut Post ran a
front page story last Friday that he felt was
sensational.
Shays was to take part in a series called
"Politics Meets Faith" sponsored and or-ganized
by the Center for Faith and Public
Life, but cancelled because of the way the
Post story depicted his religious views.
The event was to be a forum at the
Quick Center that would have been open to
selected students and faculty members, but
closed to the media and the general public.
"I felt it would be inappropriate for me
to participate in a program discussing faith
and politics given the Connecticut Post ar-ticle
on Friday," Shays said in a statement.
The article, written by Peter Urban, re-ported
that Shays no longer closely practices
Christian Science, a religion that emphasizes
prayer as a means to cure illness.
Fr. Rick Ryscavage, director of the Cen-ter
for Faith and Public Life, said Shays be-came
uneasy about discussing his religious
views in public soon after attention had been
called to his change in religious views.
"He was deeply offended by the Post
article which sensationalized a very personal
issue," Ryscavage said. "He mentioned
his faith in an interview with reporters in
Washington but he felt that the Post took
his remarks and turned them into a kind
of expose that was painful for his family
to read."
Shays is in a tough battle for re-election
with former Westport First Selectwoman
Diane Farrell, a Democrat who opposes the
war in Iraq, which Shays has supported. The
race is thought by analysts to be a virtual
toss-up, so every statement made by either
candidate is highly scrutinized.
Ryscavage indicated that Shays did not
want to risk his changing religious views
becoming a campaign issue, something he
felt could happen in the aftermath of the
article.
The article,
which ran un-der
the headline,
"Shays says faith
has changed"
read in part:
"In a shocking
relevation, Rep.
Christopher
Shays, R-4, told
reporters Thurs-day
that his faith
has been shaken and he is no longer a prac
ticing Christian Scientist."
Mirror file photo
Rep. Christopher Shays
SEE "SHAYS" ON P. 6