Climate Change
‘Hoops for Africa’
Women’s Soccer
Opinion
Vine
Sports
UN report alerts us of the growing concern climate change poses.
Basketball documentary comes to Fairfield.
Team falls to Monmouth 4-1.
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THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper
Week of October 17, 2018
@FairfieldMirror
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Vol. 44 Iss. 7
Where There’s Smoke, There’s a Juul? By Claire Monahan News Editor
Patrick Getz/ The Mirror
Joe Jonas performs with band DNCE as the featured artist for this year’s fall concert.
Red Sea Gladness By Julia Monteleone Assistant News Editor
Alumni Hall was showered in red spotlights and cheers as Men’s and Women’s Basketball celebrated a pep rally in a halffull gym on Friday, Oct. 12. Red Sea Madness brought a large crowd, not large enough however to fill the gym. Before the arrival of Joe Jonas and his band DNCE, Stags dressed in red participated in dance competitions and relay races. The crowd went wild when their peers got up in front of the whole gym to participate in a dance competition that included the song “Cotton Eye Joe.” Two
participants even Irish-danced to pop songs played by the D.J. The Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams also faced off in a threepoint competition which was won by the women’s team. The Fairfield University’s Cheer and Dance team performed in tandem. Sadly, the cheerleading squad fell woefully short when it came to stunts, dropping each other and struggling to keep their routine going. The dance team’s performance on the other hand, went off without a hitch. “It’s always so exciting and fun to perform in front of a big crowd because we feed off of the energy of the crowd and it gets us
all really pumped up,” explained Casey Chua ‘21, a member of the dance team. ”It’s a little nerve-wracking before we start our routines but once the music goes on and we see everyone, we forget about everything else and just dance!” Following the pep rally, students were asked to step out of the gym to enjoy the food trucks while members of the Fairfield University Student Association transitioned the gym to be ready for the concert. Super Duper Weenie, Colony Grill and Garden Catering all parked their trucks
Patrick Getz/ The Mirror
Read Fall on Page 2
The invention of the electronic cigarette was originally seen as a helpful tool to help long term smokers avoid the more harmful components of cigarette smoke. However, e-cigarettes are being increasingly used by children as young as middle school with products like Juuls, a small USB shaped device. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that, of current e-cig users ages 18-24, 40 percent had not previously smoked cigarettes. While it is recognized that using e-cigs, or vaping, is less harmful than smoking cigarettes, it is still not safe. In the liquid of e-cigs, sometimes called vape juice, there could be volatile organic compounds, ultrafine particles or carcinogens. Most vape juice contains nicotine, which is detrimental to a young adult’s developing brain. Nicotine can damage sections of the brain that modulate impulse control, learning and attention. Juul pods specifically have the same amount of nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes. On Sept. 28, the Food and Drug Administration carried out a surprise inspection of Juul headquarters. After the unexpected visit, the FDA left with over a thousand documents associated with Juul’s sales and marketing operations. This was seen as another example of the FDA’s crackdown on vape manufacturers after it declared that levels of teenage vaping have grown to, “an epidemic proportion.” Some lawmakers have even proposed banning e-cigs. On Oct. 10, the Chief Executive of Hong
Kong, Carrie Lam, announced in a speech that her government was drafting legislation to ban the shipment, production, purchase, distribution and marketing of vapes in the interest of public health. Because of the relative novelty of vaping among young adults, there has not been research into the long term health implications of e-cig usage. On Oct. 2, students received an email prompting them to fill out a survey that would contribute to vaping research. Assistant professor of Nursing Susan Bartos, Ph.D., is conducting a study about vaping experiences and perceptions among college students. The aims of the study are to understand the prevalence of vaping at Fairfield, the setting in which students vape and the general awareness of and feelings toward vaping. The survey disseminated to Fairfield students has already been taken by students at Sacred Heart University. According to Bartos, the data provided by the survey would be incredibly valuable to researchers as vaping becomes more widespread. “As Fairfield University continues to move in the direction of a 100 percent tobacco-free environment, understanding vaping behaviors will allow for better educational and support interventions for those in need,” Bartos wrote in an email to The Mirror. Students interested in completing the survey should do so before data collection closes on Oct. 19.
Patrick Getz/ The Mirror
The evening started with a pep rally featuring dance off and dunking contests (left) students sing along to DNCE’s popular songs such as ‘Toothbrush’ and ‘Kissing Strangers.’