Editorials

Cheers to Andrea Pelano '99 and the Freshman Year Experience program, which hosted a night at the Quick Center last week for Pelano to recount her traumatic story of being sexually assaulted at the beach while an undergraduate. Hopefully the FYE program can use events like these to help freshmen, and in fact all students, take a more serious look at their own development.

In the past few weeks, a number of people have made comments, public and private, about The Mirror's "He Said/She Said" column, most of them making complaints about the content of the "He Said" column. First, we wish to make it very clear that any columns or letters in the commentary section of this newspaper reflect only the opinion of whomever writes them, as is the case with most every newspaper.

At last Fairfield University has a student president that is willing to fight for student rights. Karen Donoghue, already noteworthy as our first female president, has once again shown her true zeal, determination and drive by calling police activity on the beach last Saturday "ridiculous," and calling on members of her administration to consult town officials and discuss the problem.

Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country, opened Fairfield's Open Visions Forum last Monday with an insightful lecture on a variety of issues ranging from her political history in Pakistan, the current problems in the middle east, the role of women in Islamic society, and the reaction of Muslims to Sept.

In and of itself, Fairfield University's decision this summer to ban smoking in the residence halls was a highly debatable decision on a very controversial issue. However, the most appalling part of the entire decision-making process is that no public debate on the issue ever took place.

Despite what administration and town officials say, Fairfield University's recent ranking by the Princeton Review as having the worst town-gown relations in the country is troubling. Yes, the rankings are based on anecdotal surveys. Yes, there are wonderful, strong bonds between the town and the university.

This past weekend Fairfield University juniors and seniors witnessed the execution of one of the most successful weekend events in history. The annual townhouse party, "Spam Jam," went off not only without any incident, but also without any large complaint by the student body.

It is understandable that economics and university improvement will dictate an increase in tuition and living fees. Yet, it is quite unfortunate that this burden will be passed onto the already stressed townhouse population. Each additional townhouse resident will be expected to pay an additional $250 for the rental of their house.

Earlier this month the longest-running program on the Ham Channel, the Fairfield Wrestling Federation, was ordered off the air by members of the university administration. Unlike a network-television cancellation in the corporate world, FWF was not removed from the air because of low ratings or a lack of high-profile advertisers. But according to FWF participants, it was pulled from the airwaves without any notice because of its violence that mimics the real-life version of the "sport."

Last year, a court issued an injunction responding to complaints by non-student residents about excessive parties at Lantern Point. The court found that these parties constituted a nuisance and interfered with the neighborhood. No reasonable person could argue against that finding. What is troubling, however, is that the injunction specifically forbids any event which attracts more than 250 "students," that is housed or "in any way allow(ed)" by either the Lantern Point Association or student tenants in common areas.