Mirror - Vol. 08, No. 19 - January 24, 1985

              'The Image
of
Fairfield"
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Volume 8, No. 19 Thursday, January 24, 1985 Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut 06430 Incorporated 1977
WVOF Works To 100 Watts
by Thomas P. Moore
Temporarily stalled by the FCC, WVOF, 885 FM,
Fairfield University's 10 watt radio station is con-sulting
with engineers about the increase of their
power to 100 watts. This fall the station settled
out of court with three other parties, two schools
on Long Island, Syosset and Plainview as well
as CETC (the Connecticut Educational Telecom-munications
Corporation) to settle the increase
of wattage. The plans that the four parties drew
up were then submitted to the FCC for approval.
Technicalities such as "interference" with other
radio stations has forced the station here on cam-pus
to rework their plans to increase their power.
This reworking involves reaching new agreements
with the three other parties involved. After con-sulting
with engineers, VOF has done their re-working
of the plan and is now waiting on the
cooperation of the three other stations involved.
According to the Station Manager, Shaun
O'Leary, '86, the station is ready to begin instal-lation
and procurement of the equipment need-ed
to up WVOF's power. Plans include installing
the new antenna, transmitter cables and other
needed equipment and improving the station by
redesigning the FM studio, building a Microphone
room and improving the production room are all
O'Leary's list of goals.
The possibility that the station would be able
to install the needed equipment by the beginning
of this semester was shot down when the FCC
announced that the original agreement that
WVOF reached out of court would not meet the
approval of the Federal Communications Com-mission.
Shortly before the Christmas Break be-gan,
O'Leary was notified of the problems that
the FCC had with WVOF's out of court settlement.
In other areas of the station's operations, the
Program Director, Brian Sutton, '86, has appoint-ed
three new assistant program directors. Sut-ton
will remain in charge of jazz programming
while the three sophomore assistants will divide
the rest of the duties. The new members of the
WVOF hierarchy are Mary E. Prescott, Marilyn
E. Piel and Matthew E. Denis.
Tom Sladek, a junior who has been wih the sta-tion
since his years at Fairfield Prep, comment-ed
on the job he holds of being the Music Director
of the station. He said, "I am striving for continuity
of sound," as he spoke of his duties of finding
artists that would fit well into the various slots and
styles of music that are played on the air.
The directors of publicity at 88.5, sophomores
Anne Crawford and Lynn Carroll are working on
various projects to get the Fairfield campus more
aware of its station. "We are going to have more
interset oriented things, to get more enthusiasm
for the station." A concrete way in which they are
attempting to achieve this goal is by publishing
a program guide to who and what is playing on
the air each day. Also on the planning board is
inclusion of more trivia contests similar to the one
held eaqh year for the Freshmen on the first night
of orientation.
The november appointed news director, Pia X
Salmre, A Graduate student in the Graduate
School of Corporate and Political Communica-tion
and graduate of U. Conn in Communications,
plans to incorporate more local and school news
into the daily news broadcasts that are aired each
night from 6-7 pm. and on the daily WVOF mid-day
program.
Thomas Sladek, music director, sits in the WVOF broadcast booth in Regis Hall. WVOF is cur-rently
waiting for a decision from the FCC regarding their ability to increase power to 100 watts.
[Photo by Karen Haney]
Oakroom Drinking Policy Revised
by Deirdre McPadden
As a result of the probable hike in the state of
Connecticut's legal drinking age, F.U.S.A. has
been exploring possible alternative policies for
Oakroom events.
It appears that the legal drinking age in the state
may be raised to twenty-one either during this year
or by January of 1986, and in anticipation of this
University Develops Additional Majors
Computer Science & Information Systems
by Eileen Quirk
Twenty years ago, Fairfield University did not
have a business department. The only degrees
available were those of the Liberal Arts cur-riculum.
The School of Business, established in the late
1970's, offers a variety of majors including ac-counting,
management, marketing and finance.
What used to be a 100% enrollment in the Liber-al
Arts school, is now almost a 50/50 ration among
the student body.
Two new majors were implemented this year
by the University. Computer Science and
Management Information Systems are listed in
this year's course catalogue book. Last year, a
major in Communications was developed after
several years of planning and design.
Why does it take sometimes several years for
a major to be implemented into the curriculum?
First of all, the Educational Planning Committee
and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
must approve the proposed major. This takes time.
The Educational Planning Committee's main
function is to insure bneficial academic programs
for the university and its students. This means
that the programs must be beneficial academi-cally,
financially, and in the future interest of the
University and perspective students.
When a new major is being developed, the
faculty sponsoring it must make a presentation
to both the Educational Planning Committee and
the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.
In the case of the International Studies minor,
which is seeking recognition as a possible major,
the U.C.C. approved of the proposal, but the E.P.C.
criticized a few of the aspects while praising the
principle's of the major. The major-to-be is present-ly
back on the drawing board rehearsing new ways
to pass the inspection of the E.P.C.
There is another hurdle that a proposed major
must clear before it is to be put in a course cata-logue.
The state of Connecticut has the final say
as to whether or not it is effective as a major or
not. Once the two University Committees approve
of a new major, Dr. Barone of the E.P.C. must get
the approval from the state. State approval has
been required since the end of the 1960's.
Another recent major that had to go through
the same rugged process to be approved is the
American Studies major. After this major was ap-proved
by both the E.P.C. and the U.C.C, the state
of Connecticut also had to approve it. It was only
after the state said yes that this major was put
in the curriculum.
Five years from now, Fairfield University could
be boasting of a nuclear engineering major or
even an Aero-Space engineering major. The
E.P.C. and the U.C.C. and the state of Connec-ticut
will be the ones to decide.
possible change, F.U.S.A. has been concerned
with the necessity of sponsoring both events at
which alcohol is available and those where alco-hol
is not available to the students. F.U.S.A. has
been experimenting with different possibilities by
providing beer for those of legal drinking age at
various dances and concerts, while also spon-soring
events such as "Airbands" and the upcom-ing
"Las Vegas Night" where alcohol is not served
to students. At this past weekend's dance party
featuring "Future Tense," F.U.S.A. tried something
completely new. At this event, beer and wine were
available in the Stag-Her Inn for students of le-gal
drinking age attending the Oakroom, while
free soda was provided for others inside of the
Oakroom. Although the event did not sell out,
those in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves.
Through experimentaton with varying policies
at different Oakrooms, F.U.S.A. is attempting to
show that Oakroom and other events sponsored
by the Association can still be a success even
though alcohol is not served. Hopefully the
popularity of and attendance at these events will
not be inhibited. Presently, F.U.S.A. is concerned
with offering a variety of higher quality events or
different types of programs for the students. Up-coming
events of this semester include: "Las Ve-gas
Night" on January 25; a concert or dance
party featuring "The Watch," the Metropolitan
area's number one dance band, which is sched-uled
for February 2; and the return of "Airbands"
and other favorites later in the semester. F.U.S.A.
will also be in charge of sponsoring movies next
year, and its programs are expected to get un-derway
this semester.
Jim English, who is in charge of Oakroom
events sponsored by F.U.S.A., stated, "F.U.S.A.
is looking forward to a most successful semester
because of the variety of innovative events we will
be able to offer every weekend next year to stu-dents
of all ages."
Petry Returns From Nicaragua
Professor of History Walter Petry joined two of his friends, Lila (left) and Marta (right), in mak-ing
Nacatamale which is a favorite dish in Nicaragua.
by Stephen J. Humes
After returning from Nicaragua only 8 months
earlier, Professor of History Walter J. Petry went
back to Nicaragua on a three-week mission which
began the day after finals exams were completed.
Professor Petry, backed with support and well-wishers
from all over the university community,
Conducted interviews with top-level religious and
political leaders as well as the poor and common
people. Petry's trip was a follow-up to his four
month sabbatical trip of last spring.
"I'm researching the Nicaraguan Revolution,
and the Catholic Church in the Revolution," Petry
said. Nicaragua is a predominantly Catholic coun-try
run by the FSLNfFrente Sandinista de Libera-cion
Nacional) who overthrew the fifty-year
Somoza dictatorship in 1979. Daniel Ortega was
elected president of the country last November.
While in Nicaragua, Professor Petry lived in a
Barrio with the same family that housed him last
spring. One reason for his return was to see how
the people are holding up during the current war
against the contras. (The contras are counter-revolutionaries
trying to discredit the government
andoverthrowtheFSLA/;. Petry said, "The situa-tion
has gotten worse... there are people your age
getting killed for picking coffee out in the field."
Among other organizations interested in the
tense situation in Nicaragua is the Latin Ameri-can
Studies Program. Professor Petry returned
with stacks of newspapers and textbooks for use
in classrooms and for faculty and student discus-sions.
He plans to hold a lecture for the Latin
American Studies Program in a few weeks.
Professor Petry encourages an open dialogue
on campus to try to discuss the many issues on
the Nicaraguan situation and to help educate stu-dents
with his own experiences in Latin Ameri-ca.
Petry said," I want anyone interested to come
and see me. There are so many political, religious,
and moral issues there."
Professor Petry's own commentary piece is on
page 4 in politics. See page 11 for another relat-ed
article.