WEEK OF September 9, 2009
WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
Vol. 35, Iss. 2- 24 pages FREE - Take one
The independent student newspaper of Fairfield University
Photos by Peter Caty
In above photo, a crowd looks on as Diane Wilson speaks about her book "An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas" on Friday, Sept. 4. Senior Brittany Hill sings in the photo to the left as University President Father Jeffrey Von Arx looks on.
Students find StagWeb to Gmail transition difficult at first
by
Keri Harrison
During last spring semester, the University's Computer and Networking Services announced that a new e-mail system was going to be implemented at the start of the 2009-2010 school year. Instead of using Fairfield's StagWeb system, the University has created accounts with Gmail, Google's popular e-mail system. With the switch occurring soon before students and faculty returned to campus, it is still being determined as to how beneficial this will prove to be. Along with the new e-mail, the University has also created NetID, a new username and password system that allows access into all of the University's accounts, including the Fairfield Gmail, StagWeb and Eidos. The NetID also had to be claimed by all students in order to log into Fairfield's network. According to Steve Dailey, the assistant director of Computer and Networking Services, the Gmail switch took place on August 27. "We, as a staff, decided to take some extra time to ensure that the NetID system was ready for release," said Dailey. "We would have liked to have released this much earlier; however, a project of this size and extremity warranted the delay."
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Chad Stewart '10, a Computer and Networking Services technician, called Gmail a "smoother e-mail system." Although he acknowledged that C&NS has been backed up with work for the first week, he said it is understandable
claiming issues," he said. The technicians, who were not involved in the decisionmaking back in the spring, were brought onto campus a few days earlier to help out with the switchover and they got a "run-down of what was happening with Gmail," according to Stewart. Though he admitted that there is still some "fine tuning" that needs to be done in regards to Gmail, he said that it will be "way more beneficial" for the University, noting that "Google is automatic" as opposed to the old StagWeb e-mail. In addition, Dailey noted all of the applications associated with Fairfield Gmail, which include huge amounts of storage, new collaboration tools, as well Photo Illustration by Peter Caty as the same basis as normal Gmail, which many students use already. The Student E-mail Committee, which was put together because of the amount of students who needed to update their computers to sign into the network; he said the C&NS with the purpose of creating an improved system for the students was composed of faculty and Student Senate members, overload has not been caused by the e-mail switchover. Dailey agreed. "There were indeed some issues with along with Brian Remigio, assistant director of CNS and the students not being able to claim their NetIDs due to various reasons, but the switch to Gmail had nothing to do with these See "Students" on p. 7
31 Fairfield employees let go, students react
Melissa Mann
Fairfield University laid off a total of 31 employees over the summer in an effort to cut down the budget by $5 million, according to a Fairfield University press release. The layoffs, including only members of the Fairfield staff, happened in conjunction with a salary freeze for all employees. University President Father Jeffrey von Arx said in the press release, "We have adopted a phased approach to budget reductions, making only the most essential cost reductions in response to specific budget impacts as they arise. "...We intend to proceed in this careful way, in order to protect the quality of our programs and maintain our focus on the institutions' strategic priorities," continued von Arx. Mark Guglielmoni, the director of Human Resources, said these layoffs were part of a plan
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to give students 20 percent more financial aid this year by reducing operating expenses by 5 percent. Guglielmoni said, "We tried to handle it as nicely as possible. It is never easy, we tried to be a respectful as we could." While students are angered by these layoffs, they understand the reasoning behind them. "I think it is messed up because I know some people have been here for a long time," said senior Allie Ritacco. "But I understand because of the economic times." One terminated employee that gained special attention over the summer was Jeanne DiMuzio, who worked at Fairfield for 27 years as the director Peter Caty/The Mirror of the Health and Wellness Center. Because of her The Fairfield men's soccer team opened their season Friday night with work, she formed relationships with many of the a home game against Monmouth University. The Stags were defeated students and gained much respect from them. by Monmouth 2-1 but they were cheered on by many Fairfield students
See "DiMuzio" on p. 7
celebrating Fairfield Fridays and the opening of the season. See men's soccer coverage on p. 23 in Sports.
9/9/09 1:35:56 AM