Mirror - Vol. 33, No. 20 - February 28, 2008

              WEEK OF FEBRUARY 28,2008
Vol. 34, Iss. 20 - 20 pages
FREE - Take one MIRROR
Seiser does matter
Seiser celebrates his victory: Jeff Seiser '10
'10, who received 432 votes.
BY CHRISTOPHER HALISKOE
On Tuesday night, even as late as 10:45
p.m., the BCC lower level bustled with activity
as students waited in anticipation for an an-nouncement
that would determine the fate of
nearly 3,400 undergraduate students.
Two sophomores in suits, Jeff Seiser '10
and Spencer Thibodeau '10, stood still within
five feet of each other, waiting to hear who
would be named FUSA president.
Seiser edged Thibodeau 615 to 432, a
turnaround from a primary in which Thibodeau
Katie McCarthy/The Mirror
was named FUSA president Tuesday night with 615 votes, defeating Spencer Thibodeau
edged the two-term incumbent 2010 class
council president 362 votes to 236 votes. The
election brought back faith that the student body
cares, racking in 1,047 votes for president.
"I understand the potential that this job
brings with it," said Seiser. "I am aware of the
responsibility that comes with the position and
feel I am the right man for that job."
Seiser said that the difference between the
primary and the general elections was that he
got out to the students more. Seiser said Thibo-deau
may have had a whole campaign team, but
he was able to get his residents in Campion Hall
and more of his sophomore friends to come out
and vote for him this time around.
"When I campaigned, I talked about is-sues
students cared about, and from person-to-
person, the issue students cared about most
was the OCB lottery and housing," he said. "I
think the hardest part about approaching the
administration with this [issue] is they have to
treat us like adults, and sometimes they treat us
like high schoolers."
Seiser accomplished the task of winning
SEE "NEW" ON P. 2
WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
Sizing up the new
FUSA president
BY TOM CLEARY
Following the FUSA presidential
primary, Jeff Seiser '10 had to reconsider
his campaign philosophy. Seiser had the
most votes in every class, except for his
own — the class he had served with
dedication for the past two years as class
president.
Seiser did what he does best: work
hard. He did everything in his power to
make sure that the supporters he knew
he had in his class would come out and
vote for him — and they did. This time
he won all four classes, including his
own by 11 votes.
"I definitely got out more this time,"
said Seiser, who went door-to-door
campaigning during the days leading up
to the election, handing out Hershey's
chocolate bars. He added to that by get-ting
more of his friends from the sopho-more
class to the polls. Seiser was thus
able to turn around the deficit he faced
in his own class.
It is the dedication that Seiser
showed in going door-to-door and spend-ing
the entire day in the Barone Campus
Center campaigning that brought the
voters to the polls to cast their votes
for him.
Seiser said he may not have the
same personality as Hutch Williams '08,
but few do.
He stated it best himself: "I am a
leader, a hard worker and someone that
gets things done. And I feel that is what
Fairfield needs."
When Seiser came to Fairfield, he
said he could see himself eventually
seeking the FUSA presidency, but de-cided
early on that he would only seek
the position if he felt he was ready for
it. After deliberating over whether to op-
SEE "STEPPING" ON P. 5
OCB: An foff-campus nightmare'
BY KATIE BARRY
This fall, approximately 100 juniors
discovered they would not be allowed to
live off campus during their
senior year, despite the fact
that many consider living at the
beach a senior tradition. How-ever,
this spring they have one
important ally fighting for their
housing rights — the FUSA
Senate.
The class of 2009 has had
to deal with an extraordinary
amount of housing issues
throughout its years at Fairfield.
Because of a large class size,
the largest in Fairfield history, a significant
number of freshmen have lived in forced
triples as well as juniors housed in Kostka/
Claver, in addition to being relegated to
Jogues Hall — originally designated for
freshmen — two years in a row.
The Senate has often focused on the
RICH
housing dilemma on campus — including
the renovation of the Jesuit housing into a
dormitory and the failed garden apartments
plan — but FUSA has been particularly ac-tive
about the Off-Campus Boarder
(OCB) lottery, a system many have
claimed is unfair. The lottery has
bee"a fo"; INSIDE:
cusormany : _,
Senate dis- j EDITORIAL
cussions, : p«'
and FUSA:
has created a Facebook group to
streamline discussion about the
problem.
The Senate has also notified
the administration of its dissent
and posed solutions to the problem, which
includes releasing all members of the class
of 2009 who desire, releasing those who
have been separated from their original
group because of the four-person cap, and
SEE "SENATE" ON P. 6
BY KATE MCGANN
The StagCard: Essential to students
for everything from eating to entering a
building. And now, even to pass through
the gates on campus.
Public Safety implemented a new
policy beginning Feb. 15 wherein students'
StagCards must be swiped upon entrance
to campus through the main gate, an up-date
of the previous policy of checking
parking stickers in order to gain access
to campus.
Thus far, this policy has been deemed
unnecessary and a nuisance by many
students.
"If they [Public Safety] feel safer
by swiping the card then that's fine, but I
don't understand why they would need to
do that considering we have parking stick-
Students annoyed
with new safety policy
ers blatantly on the front of the cars that
prove we go to Fairfield," said Caroline
Quinn '09.
According to Frank Ficko, associate
director of Public Safety, "The purpose
of the StagCard reader used at the main
entrance is to assist us in confirming a per-son's
identity and affiliation to campus."
Ficko also said that the implementa-tion
of this policy was not in response to
any one specific incident, and because all
members of the University community
are required to carry their StagCards at all
times, presenting the card to officers at the
main gate should not be an issue.
"When we're [students] in a cab, it's
obviously different and makes sense that
we have to show our StagCards, but it
SEE "STAGCARD" ON P. 6
CAMPUS LIFE:
Mean girls — and boys —
post dirt on fellow students
p. 13
Inside
this week's edition
ENTERTAINMENT:
New Works brings the best of
the old and new
p.9