Author Tanya Benedicto

By Tanya Benedicto "The New York Times, the Daily News...The New York Times, The Mirror too," sung John Gallagher '06 as he slightly altered Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind". The opening performance set the theme of the Fairfield University Glee Club's final performance of the year: "The Glee Club Takes Manhattan".

A young kid is magically transformed into an adult and must grapple with the tough decisions that coincide with adulthood, most notably the trials of love. Sound familiar? The lawyers representing the Tom Hanks' film "Big" would certainly agree. Even so, "13 Going on 30" still had potential because unlike Josh in "Big", Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) does not just grow up overnight.

To most white students of Fairfield University, participation in UMOJA, the African-American Association on campus, is not under their list of extracurricular activities. Then there is Burim Gjidija '05. He is the first white student ever to be elected president of UMOJA, Fairfield University's black student organization.

by Tanya Benedicto According to crime statistics from 2002, there were zero reports of hate crimes on campus that year. However, three such incidents were reported in 2003.

by Ashleigh Egan "It's almost like 9/11 followed me here," said Isabel Depina '05 about the March 11 bombings in Madrid, Spain. Depina is currently studying in Seville, Spain, only a few hundred miles from the attacks.

An independent economist presented a report to professors Wednesday night evaluating Fairfield's financial well-being. The 34 page report by Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum was obtained by The Mirror prior to the presentation, which occurred after press time. In it, Fichtenbaum notes "the financial condition of Fairfield University has deteriorated slightly over the period 1999-2003," but still concludes "Although the financial condition of the University has declined moderately ... Fairfield University is in good financial condition.

A license plate from Minnesota. An old rocking horse. A Bart Simpson action figure. A wooden hanger. Separate, these items are just old trash. Together, combined with one-ton's worth of other colorful throwaways, they form a larger-than-life 2,000 pound dinosaur known as the "Trash-o-saurus," just one of many exhibits at the Children's Garbage Museum and Education Center in Stratford.