Mirror - Vol. 10, No. 22 - January 29, 1987

              The
FairfieldMIRRORv Volume 10, No. 22 Our Tenth Year Thursday, January 29, 1987 The Image of Fairfield
Townhouse Negotiations Begin as Construction, Lottery Proceed
By Connie McKenna
News Editor
The opportunity for negotiation
concerning last November's newly
established townhouse social policy has
presented itself, but according to Director
of Student Residences Richard Rossi,
student input so far on the issue has been
zero.
Fairfield University Townhouse
Association (FUTA) President Tim
Martin originally contacted Rossi to
discuss which areas of the new policy
might be negotiated. Martin then placed
an open letter in the Mirror, asking for
responses and reactions, suggestions and
possibilities from townhouse residents.
According to Rossi, neither he nor
Martin received a single response.
One area which Rossi said could be
discussed involves the minimum number
of students in attendance at a townhouse
event, which determines whether or not
the party must be pre-registered.
Presently this number stands at sixteen.
Rossi added, "the maximum number of
people in attendance cannot be
negotiated, since we're held to that figure
by fire and safety laws."
Another negotiable area involves the
FIRST SUMMER CAMPUS IN
FLORENCE OFFERED
Fairfield University will affiliate
with the Lorenzo de Medici Institute of
Arts and Languages in Florence, Italy,
and sponsor a month-long arts and
humanities program exploring the city's
art, history and culture June 27-July 31,
1987.
Fairfield's "Summer Campus in
Florence" is geared for learners \and
travelers, college students, teachers and
artists at all levels, with classes
conducted in the same studios used by
Donatello and Michelangelo at San
Lorenzo.
Based on the "Florentine Workshop"
tradition, classes will balance cultural
ideas with technical skills. Students can
choose from a wide variety of courses in
studio arts, art history, opera history and
Italian language from novice to advanced,
while earning up to nine academic
credits.
Dr. Philip Eliasoph, chairman of
the fine arts department at Fairfield
Continued on page 2
Working in the Studio Art Workshop.
Difficulties at Registrar's
Office Increase
By Connie McKenna
NPWX Editor
Despite loud complaints from stu-dents
this semester concerning long
lines and filled classes at the Registrar's
Office, University Registrar Robert
Russo asserts that the late registration
process and drop/add week went as
smoothly as could be expected. "The first
two days of drop/add week were a bit
hectic, but after that the lines and crowds
really thinned out quickly," commented
Russo.
Russo reported that 542 classes were
offered this semester, which is an average
number, and that space remains in 27%
of the classes. "All undergraduate
students have the opportunity to change
their schedules before Winter Break
begins," said Russo, "and after that it's
the students' own responsibility if he or
she has to face long lines and delays."
Another source of frustration for
students this semester has been the
drop/add charge of ten dollars which has
been levied on every student who has
added or dropped a class. In the past, five
dollars was charged for each class change.
This year, the fee was changed to a flat
rate, which remained the same no matter
how many or how few classes were
changed. The fee increase was approved
by the Board of Trustees and is meant to
act as a deterrent to late class registration.
Russo estimates that 500 students
made schedule changes during drop/add
week, and two or three hundred more
made changes in the final week of last
semester. He concluded, "students should
keep in mind that we now have the
largest ever undergraduate enrollment, so
more students are choosing classes. The
best way to avoid becoming frustrated is
to change schedules at the end of the
semester, rather than during drop/add
week."
time in advance that a party must be
registered, presently no later than .the
Thursday preceeding the event. Rossi
commented] "townhouse residents
apparently don't object to the registration
process itself, and the number of advance
days required could be discussed."
Rossi sees the new social policy as
yielding satisfactory results so far. He
stated, "we haven't seen many
registrations, but we haven't had many
problems, either. Whether or not its
because of the policy is hard to tell at
this point." The status of the opportunity
for negotiation remains unsure.
While policy negotiations remain at
a standstill, construction continues on
the additional townhouse units, which are
expected to be finished by the start of
school next September. Although
building was slightly hampered by the
recent snowstorms, Rossi stated that he
hasn't received any information to change
his expectations of an additional 4-5
units available for next semester.
New townhouse residents have been
chosen by the traditional lottery system,
which was held Tuesday night. Of the
428 available beds, 325 were given to
seniors, allotting them a 93% chance of
getting a townhouse.
Most of the newly constructed
townhouses will be given later to juniors
on the waiting list. Each new unit will
house six juniors.
800 students applied for a
townhouse this year, compared to last
year's figure of 728. As in previous
years, 70% of the new townhouse
residents are seniors, 30% are juniors.
Orientation Application
Process Begins
By Melissa Campanelli
Managing Editor
Plans for Orientation '87 are
underway. The annual welcome to the
incoming Freshman class began its first
stage of planning on January 22, 1986 in
Canisius 14, where a meeting was held
for anyone interested in becoming a co-chair
for the event.
This year, 15 students applied, and,
according to Jeanne Osborne, Director of
the program, picking the final two
students who will eventually be chosen
is a very grueling, difficult process.
First of all , it is essential for the
students to have an "absolute love for
Fairfield. They have to have this, in
order for them to want to give it back to
another class. They also must have a
genuine volunteer attitude." They also
must be reliable, responsible, confident
and flexible.
Jeanne finds out about the students
in a variety of ways. First, she talks to
them personally, hoping to catch a
glimmer of the aforementioned spirit she
is looking for. Then she reads the two
recomendations each candidate has given
to a fellow student as well as a non-student.
While each recommendation is
of supreme importance, the former one is
vital. "A peer evaluation is an objective,
straight-forward way of finding out how
the student relates to his/her friends and ,
floormates," Jeanne said.
It is also important for the co-chair
to be an organized leader. To find this
out, Jeanne puts the students in two
different interview situations; a serious
one and a light-hearted one. These
interviews will be taking place February
2nd and 3rd. In the less serious inter-view,
two groups will be formed where
candidates will be able to interact and
converse casually. After this, serious
individual interviews will take place with
Mr. Henry Krell, Dean of Students, and
last year's co-chairs, Jackie Mead and
Charlie Bergen. Both approaches are
important in order to have a complete
overview of each student.
Aside from all of this, the student
chosen must maintain a 3.0 grade point
average, and be a member of the class
of 1989.
Once chosen, the two co-chairs will
have a variety of jobs and
responsibilities. They must work closely
with the Director in developing and
overseeing the entire Orientation
program. They also must select the sub-chairs,
and once these students are
selected, they, with the help of Jeanne,
must design an interview process to see
where each sub-chair would do best.
Some would do well in technical
programming, such as the Activities
fair, while others would do better in a
more social atmosphere, such as the
dance or the ice-cream social. They also
must, among other things, greet each
Freshman and his/her family on arrival
day, coordinate the Freshmen Welcome
and speech, and coordinate the selection
process for committee workers.
Aside from the two co-chairs; 33
sub-chairs, 70 orientation assistants and
150 committee workers will be chosen
by the end of the selection process. All
are working together as volunteers.
According to Jeanne, Freshman
Orientation is ," a gift of volunteerism,
unifying not only the Freshman Class, but
the Junior class as well."
Special
FUSA
Presidential
Candidate
Profiles
Pages 6-7