Author Editorial Board

Fake IDs are basically synonymous with the college experience. Hailing from high schools around the country, incoming freshmen are eager to attend their first keg party and drink beer until the word "sober" becomes a distant concept in their minds. But it's not just freshmen who thrive on intoxicated Fridays nights and Saturday mornings spent piecing together the previous night.

With all the talk about spring break, warm weather and post-graduation plans on campus, it's easy for students to forget about the most important decision of spring semester 2008: voting. Within the next few months, Fairfield students will be faced with several opportunities to exercise their right to vote, both locally and nationally.

Read what the Mirror Editorial Board wants most for Christmas to benefit the campus as a whole.

A .22 caliber pistol in a dorm. That is all the information needed to realize that Saturday night's incident in Regis Hall was so much more than a weekend scuffle. It was an awakening to the entire Fairfield community. While no shots were fired and the situation was resolved by the joint efforts of Public Safety and Fairfield Police, the fight, which could have potentially escalated to a more serious degree, is a reminder that the boundaries of Fairfield's beautifully isolated campus can be penetrated, allowing the harsh realities of the real world to seep in.

Members of the Fairfield community had the rare privilege of gathering Tuesday night for a discussion led by two of the most important people in recent American history. Former covert CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson graced the crowd with their remarkable story of how politics played a role in their careers and relationship.

On behalf of the University community, we extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family and friends of sophomore Kristen Duhamel, who passed away early Saturday morning. Considered by friends a personable, selfless young woman, Kristen exemplified many qualities a Jesuit university looks for in its students.

The campus is talking, and it's talking soccer. The men's soccer team beat cross-state rival Yale University in a 1-0 victory in front of approximately 800 fans. Students adorned in red Fairfield attire stretched across the length of Lessing Field, allowing the event to hold its ground against the Saturday night drinking culture.

If life at Fairfield was all about studying and class, then I'm pretty sure nobody would go here. And that is not to denigrate the quality of professors at this school. It does, however, speak to the fact that reading a textbook and sitting in a lecture hall does not guarantee success.

Fairfield University boasts its ability to foster ethical and social responsibility among its students. Thus, the fact that the University's department of Financial Aid threw ethics to the wind in a recent loan-lending dispute is an utter contridiction to much of what the University stands for, not to mention its overall credibility.

Perhaps the warmer weather has brought more to campus than just warm temperatures. Over the past two weeks, we have noticed a great increase in the quality of events planned by campus programming. The Campus Center has been packed with undergraduates the past two Monday nights, first to listen to comedian Steve Byrne and most recently to hear the renowned group Black Violins.