Mirror - Vol. 16, No. 19 - March 05, 1992

              The
FairfieldMRRORV Volume 16 No. 19 Thursday, March 5, 1992 The Image of Fairfield
Drug Awareness Week
Offers Alternative Programs
Jennifer Luongo
Staff Writer
National Collegiate Drug
Awareness Week kicked off on
campus last Sunday, along with
other universities across the coun-try,
and will conclude tonight.
Lead by co-team leaders for
alcohol and drug awareness in peer
counseling, Sara Conlon '93,
Meghan McGuirk '93, and Keith
Walsh '92, Fairfield planned five
days of alternative programing in
an effort to educate students.
Alcohol is the top social
problem at most colleges and uni-versities,
as approximatley 87
percent of students drink. Studies
show that in the last two weeks, 41
percent ofcollege students engaged
in heavy drinking.
The week began with a vol-leyball
tournament on Sunday and
continued Monday with an Infor-mation
Fair in the Campus Center
from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Many
different rehabilitation centers and
organizations from the Fairfield
area were represented.
At the 10:00 p.m. Mass, Fr.
Paul Carrier, S.J., University Chap-lin,
incorporated the theme of drug
awareness into his sermon. Imme-diately
following Mass was a so-cial
in the Chapel.
On Tuesday morning in the
Campus Center, representatives
from "Mothers Against Drunk
Driving" spoke about their own
personal situations.
A group of people from the
A member of "Mother's Against Drunk Driving" tells students
about the affects of drunk driving. photo: K. Guterl
Liberty House Rehabilitation
Center presented various skits
involving drug rehab on Wednes-day.
Run by Barry Halpin, the
group also attended the Alcohol
Conference held on campus Feb-ruary
22.
Also on Wednesday, sports
psychologist Alan Goldberg, spoke
on "Self Esteem: Peak Perform-ances."
Sponsored by the Office of
Substance Abuse Prevention, the
lecture was opened to students,
faculty, and staff.
This afternoon in the Cam-pus
Center Lobby, co-team lead-ers
will present a Spring Break
theme with samples of suntan lo-tion
and possibly alemonade stand.
They will be relating the
message: "For your sake, have a
safe break."
This evening from 9:00 p.m.
to midnight in the Oak Room,
FUSA will sponsor a concert by
the "Screaming Vikings" to con-clude
National Collegiate Drug
Awareness Week at Fairfield.
According to the co-chairs,
these events were plannedjust prior
to Spring Break to raise students'
awareness on drug and alcohol
related issues.
"We want to educate people
on campus in a different way," said
Conlon.
McGuirk added, "Inourplan-ning,
we tried to bring the events to
the people rather than the people to
the events."
The Fund for the Improve-ment
of Post-Secondary Educa-tion
Grant (FIPSE) assisted greatly
in carrying out the program, the
co-chairs said.
"We would have been lim-ited
without it," said Conlon. "It
helped us to have a better week."
Claire St. Louis Appointed
Mirror Editor-in-Chief
Emily Okenquist
News Editor
Junior Claire St. Louis was
appointed Editor-in-Chief of the
Mirror for 1992-93 by the Edito-rial
Board and staff at Monday
night's meeting.
An English major and soci-ology
minor from Greenbrook, NJ,
St. Louis will assume editorship
for the March 26 issue.
"The style and organization
of the paper has changed a lot
since I became involved," said St.
Louis. "Christina Hennessy has
put the writing in the hands of the
editors this year and has let them
go their own way."
As next year's editorial
board will be comprised primarily
of juniors and seniors, St. Louis
hopes to get more underclassmen
involved "so they can make an
easier transition when we leave,"
she said.
As this year's Features Edi-tor
and a staff writer for the Fea-tures
section since she was a fresh-man,
St. Louis is looking forward
to next year when she will be able
to write for different areas.
"I want to dabble in differ-ent
sections," she said. "It will be
an advantage to not limit myself to
Features next year."
"I plan to leave what
goes into the sections in the
editors' hands. I know the
editors will be very respon-sible,"
she added.
"Not only is Claire a
very good writer, but she
devotes considerable time
to the paper, her section,
and her staff," said Christina
Hennessy '92, who is cur-rently
Editor-in-Chiefofthe
Mirror. "I have no doubt
that the paper can only stand
to get better with Claire at
the top."
Since she began working on
the Mirror as a contributing writer
freshman year, St. Louis has al-ways
wanted to become Editor-in-
Chief.
"I was very fortunate to get
this position," she said. "Working
on the paper has taught me lots of
patience. I realize as Editor, it's up
to you to get the Mirror out each
week."
"With Claire as Editor-in-
Chief, the paper is in very capable
hands," said Hennessy. "Claire
brings a very dedicated attitude to
the paper and a reliablity and pro-fessionalism
that is needed to get a
paper out every week."
In addition to improving the
sections and encouraging more
writers to get involved, St. Louis
also plans to update the Mirror
office with new furniture and
possibly another computer to as-sist
in the Business Department.
"With an extra computer,
we'll be able to get our work done
faster, and we won't be bumping
into each other," she said.
Besides her work on the Mir-ror,
St. Louis is also Vice-Presi-dent
ofthe English Honor Society,
a lector in Campus Ministry, and a
participant in intramural sports.
St. Louis will be collecting
applications for next year's edito-rial
board this week and will an-nounce
her appointments after
Spring Break. The new editors will
assume their positions for the
March 26 issue.
Grant Allows
Scholars to Study
Catholic Education
Emily Okenquist
News Editor
Fairfield University has received a three-year, $478,000 grant
to establish "Collegium," a eight-day program for young faculty and
graduate students to explore their role as an academic in an institution
of Catholic higher education.
This award comes from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., an Indiana-based
private, charitable fund, created a half century ago by members
of the Lilly family.
"The program looks at the world from a Catholic point ofview,"
said Dr. Mary Frances Malone, assistant academic vice, who helped
develop the proposal. "It involves the three characteristics of Chris-tocentric,
Sacramental, and Communitarian, which shape the way we
live our lives."
In the summer of 1993,70 faculty members and graduate stu-dents
from around the country will gather in rotating form among the
campuses of St. John's University in Collegeville, MN, Loyola Ma-rymount
University in Los Angeles, CA, and Fairfield University to
reflect on the scholar's role in Catholic education.
Under the guidance of leading faculty from Catholic universi-ties
throughout the United States, the participants will focus on three
major questions important to today's education: How is intellectual
life vital to the life of the church? How can it be lived? and Where can
it be lived?
"Collegium will provide an important resource formembercol-leges
seeking ways to develop faculty as both good scholars and as
student mentors who bring to life the qualities that make Catholic
universities distinct and vital places," said the Rev. Aloysius P.
Kelley, S.J., University President.
"It is also significant for Fairfield University which this year
will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its founding," Fr. Kelley
added.
The program is open to all faculty in the early stages of then-teaching
careers and graduate students who are looking toward an
academic profession. This variety will lead to a "balance of intellec-tual
and faith life," said Malone.
"Collegium will bring together faculty and future faculty who
are interested in exploring how their faith influences their academic
work and hat it means to be a Catholic intellectual in our culture," said
Thomas Landy, S.J., who conceived of the institute and will serve as
its director. He is a visiting lecturer in politics at Fairfield and is
pursuing a master's in divinity at Weston School of Theology.
According to Landy, those involved in Collegium will gain
insights from some of the best teachers and scholars in Catholic
higher education by discussng the challenges adn opportunities
facing them in academic life.
They will also pray and reflect on their own expriences and as-pirations,
and explore ways in which they might contribute to
Catholic higher education.
Participants will be divided into small groups to discuss their
own experiences with their individual mentors and groups leaders.
They will also have access to retreat facilities.
Each day will involve prayer, discussions, liturgies, and pres-entations,
such as "The Church's Need for Intellectual Reflection"
and "Life in Catholic Colleges and Universities."
"There is a real need for this, and we were fortunate in pulling
it together," said Malone.
"We are at a junction now when many of the founders of these
Catholic institutions are retiring. We need to look at Catholic higher
education in a new way," she added.
Considerable concern has risen in recent years about how reli-gious
presence will be maintained on Catholic campuses since the
number of religious faculty has declined.
Malone said that since the Second Vatigan Council concluded,
many Catholic universities have worked to improve their resources
and have sought talented new professors from other prominent
institutions to bring vitality to the Catholic campuses.
Statistics show that in the next five to seven years, as many as
half of the religious-order faculty and their traditionally Catholic lay
colleagues hired in the postwar boom will retire.
"It is important, then, to find or educate faculty whi, in a
collegial atmosphere, can articulate the importance of the Catholic
vision and integrate it into their own experience," said Landy.
"We hope to develop a network of people in Catholic higher
education," said Malone.
"Universities are richer places when scholars and students ac-knowledge
their beliefs and critically explore the significance of
those beliefs."