Editorial: Cheers to Luda, Boos to OCB

Cheers to Luda

Ludacris may be adding 2-0-3 to his list of favorite area codes this year.

Students said they are more than content that the famed hip hop artist and actor will be this year’s FUSA concert. FUSA’s choice reflects a campus-wide desire to take a new direction in concert choices; recent Fairfield concerts have included the likes of O.A.R., Dashboard Confessional and Guster, which can hardly be considered eclectic selections. It seems that we’re finally stepping out of our music comfort zone and taking a chance on something more unexpected and exciting.

A multi-platinum artist, Ludacris is also likely to attract a broader audience outside of the University. Fairfield students won’t have to wait with bated breath for Sacred Heart to announce its concerts – previous acts have included the Goo Goo Dolls and the Pussycat Dolls – as many of us have done in the past. The announcement has definitely spurred conversation, and this time it’s the good kind.

The best part: Students won’t have to pay Madison Square Garden prices. We can see him looking, smelling and feeling like a million bucks right in Alumni Hall.

Boos to OCB

Fairfield is one of the few universities that guarantees housing all four undergraduate years. This is usually thought of as appealing, except for when this guarantee becomes a mandate.

In the past, seniors have assumed it was their right to move off campus. However, the class of 2009 is larger than previous classes. But the fine print in the Student Handbook and an unwritten agreement with the town have left approximately 150 rising seniors denied off-campus housing.

Living off campus, particularly in the beach area, has become a right of passage for Fairfield seniors, serving as a stepping stone into the real world. However, over 100 seniors will be not be given the chance to take this step.

And it is not only the seniors who will suffer; this will result in even more underclassmen being squeezed into forced triples, which further evidences the University’s severe shortage of on-campus housing.

Now is the time that the University must stand up for its students and renegotiate this unwritten agreement to reflect the school population, which is currently rising. Perhaps allowing students to move off campus into a variety of areas other than Fairfield Beach, in order to decrease the density of the student population there, could also help alleviate this problem.