Monthly Archives February 4, 2004

Ashton Kutcher in a drama? I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing. Adam Sandler attempted it in 2002. Will Ferrell will pursue it later this year. So why are we still shocked when comedic actors make the big genre leap to serious films that contain meaningful themes and story lines? Kutcher, best known for his stupid yet hilarious characters, leaps with ease in the recently released drama, "The Butterfly Effect".

When "Seinfeld" left the NBC airwaves, I think we all felt a void in that part of our soul that delights in examining the debilitating ennui that societal life sometimes puts on each and every one of us. Lucky for us, "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David began the HBO comedy series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and now that ennui is back and better than ever, minus the ubiquitous Superman references, of course.

Remember how excited you were when you landed your first job? Whether it meant scooping ice cream, waiting tables or hawking retail, everyone can identify. Even so, people go to college to escape from these name-tag jobs. The big question after graduation, especially if you're in the liberal arts, is what can you do with your degree? What can't you do is more like it.

Over winter break I had surgery on my foot which left me on crutches for a month, including some time when I came back to Fairfield. Having never been on crutches before, I had no idea what a hassle they would be at home and I had no idea what problems I would encounter upon coming back to school.

To The Editor: I would like to address Dr. William Abbott's reasons behind his proposal to combat grade inflation ("Grades rise"). Drawing from the article, it appeared that Dr. Abbott based his proposal on information gathered from surveys. I would be interested in seeing these surveys, what questions were asked and what percentage of the Fairfield population was interviewed.

To The Editor: In rejecting my proposal to combat grade inflation at Fairfield, Dr. Alan Katz stated that "as long as the standards remain high," we need not be concerned about grade inflation. Yet exit surveys of Fairfield seniors show that 68 percent of the class of 2001 (77 percent of the men), spent ten hours or fewer studying outside of class.

Elections for the Fairfield University Student Association are once again just around the corner, and it appears the cast of candidates for all offices this year is a diverse mix of interesting people. As a campus media organization, The Mirror strives to be a watchdog for students to let them know how FUSA is performing.

The Fairfield University Student Association kicked off the spring election season on Tuesday night as potential candidates gathered for a mandatory meeting in the campus center. More than 40 students from the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes registered their campaigns for senate, class council, Vice President of Programming, VP of Senate, and FUSA President with the Student Activities office.

When Caitlin Winters '05 sat down at a local Internet café in Florence, Italy last semester to register for classes, she often ran into a big problem-StagWeb didn't work. Winters is not alone. Students studying abroad in Europe cannot access their e-mail accounts during the middle of the day due to the time difference and the three hours StagWeb shuts down for repairs each night.

The most important thing to a college student, after partying, has to be sleep. So, imagine your phone wakes you up at 9 a.m. After picking it up, thinking a phone call this early must be something important, you are greeted by the voice of yet another telemarketer offering you yet another credit card.