Fairfield Mirror 10/8/2014

THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper

Week of October 8, 2014

Vol. 40, Iss. 6

Fairfield Mirror @FairfieldMirror fairfieldmirror FairfieldMirror.com

Security report affirms increase in student drug-related incidents

By Christina Mowry Assistant News Editor Drug usage has a more significant presence on Fairfield’s campus than some students may realize.

The release of the 2014 Jeanne Clery Report shows that the amount of arrests for drug abuse violations on campus increased to 52 in 2013, exactly 20 more than the year prior.

Disciplinary referrals for drugs also increased to 94 this year, 25 more than last year.

Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety John Ritchie explained the process of reporting incidents involving drugs in more detail.

While Fairfield’s numbers may appear a bit higher than oth-

er institutions, Ritchie said that it is because of DPS’s serious commitment to accurately reporting everything that happens.

“We’ve always been doing it all along. We try to look at the actual written letter of the law …

Let’s not skirt around it. We think it’s an injustice to try to fudge numbers and skirt around it,” said Ritchie.

“The Clery report is giving you the number of people referred for disciplinary infraction. If we go on an incident and there’s four kids passing a bowl around, that’s one incident for us. But the Dean of Students’ office will tell you that’s four referrals,” said Ritchie.

Ritchie also continued to say that some incidents didn’t actually involve people.

“We had some cases where we might say there’s drugs found,

maybe because somebody turned in some pills they found on the ground. It could be someone who legitimately had the pills prescribed and dropped them,” he said.

Although some incidents might not involve people at all, Ritchie said that other incidents have involved non-students, high school students and those who attend on-campus concerts.

When asked about the increase in drug use, Ritchie said he didn’t know the reason why.

“I can only speculate that more students are using drugs…

I think they’re just more common use,” said Ritchie.

Ritchie also mentioned that he believes people may be misled by a 2011 change in Connecticut legislation that lessened the READ

DRUG USE ON PAGE 3

Photo Illustration by Charles DeFilippo / The Mirror A student smoking marijuana, a commonly used drug on campus.

Club Profile: Archery Club

FU’s Annual Clery Report released

By Catherine Veschi Contributing Writer

In accordance with the Jeanne Clery Act, the Department of Public Safety recently released an Annual Security Report recording crime statistics for the campus and information on security policies at Fairfield.

According to Todd Pelazza, director of DPS, the results “weren’t too surprising,” as they tended to follow the same trends DPS has seen in the past.

According to the report, there was a 36.23 percent increase in disciplinary referrals for drug abuse violations in 2013 compared to 2012.

However, according to Pelazza, this shouldn’t be a cause for any alarm, since the increase can be attributed to “the proactivity of both DPS and residence life” in reporting these incidents.

DPS also reported over an 18 percent increase in the amount of disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations from 2012 to 2013.

Such an increase wasn’t shocking at all for Rachel Carlowicz ‘18.

“I feel like people are becoming progressively more radical and extreme in their alcohol consumption,” Carlowicz said.

While there was more than a 23 percent de-

Dana López / Archery Club

A student readies his bow as he aims at a target down range.

CLUB PROFILE ON PAGE 4

Dana López / Archery Club The Archery Club uses pumpkins as targets during the fall.

READ INCREASES ON PAGE 3

Inside this Issue: News: Prez Ball a sell out with significantly less transports (Page 2) Opinion: A response to the ‘Students for Life’ event (Page 5) Vine: Mountainfilm on tour (Page 7) Sports: Volleyball beats Marist 3-1 in Alumni Hall on Sunday (Page 16)

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Page 2

007 Aryanne Pereira / FUSA

Robert Joyce / The Mirror

Sarah Dubissette / The Mirror

Design by Jennifer Calhoun

News

Aryanne Pereira / FUSA

Page 3

THE MIRROR |Week of October 8, 2014

News

Prez Ball a sell out with significantly less transports

By Kaadiana Barnes Contributing Writer Robert Joyce News Editor On the evening of Friday, Oct. 5, a parade of students in dresses and suits and ties began their annual trek up the hill to Bellarmine Lawn for the annual Presidential Ball.

The lines began to get longer and longer around Bellarmine Mansion as students crowded in to take their pictures with the president before stepping into the large white tent in the middle of Bellarmine lawn.

“I had a blast at Prez Ball,” said Gabby Lopez ‘17. “The ambience was incredible and the turnout was surprising. It seems as though everyone had a ton of fun, including myself, dancing the night away. Everyone looked stunning.”

Since being co-founded by President Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J. and the

Fairfield University Student Association 11 years ago, Prez Ball has become Fairfield’s most eagerly anticipated tradition, selling out all 2500 tickets.

Walking into the tent, the temperature rose instantly as students packed together to dance to the musical stylings of DJ Nunzio, who played a variety of hits ranging from hip hop to pop to rock. Overhead, different colored lights flashed, illuminating the dance floor.

Some returning Prez Ball attendees claimed that they enjoyed themselves a lot more now that they knew what to expect. “The overall event was more of a success than last year for me at least,” stated Paolo Garcia. “I enjoyed it.”

While many students were excited for this year’s James Bond-themed Prez Ball, other students were less enthusiastic. Sophomore Josue Jorge initially planned not to attend Prez

Ball, but enjoyed himself nonetheless: “I almost did not come but here I am and it’s a blast.”

From a security standpoint, Prez Ball was much more manageable than those of prior years. According to Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety John Ritchie, only 21 students were taken to the medical triage tent this year, compared to around 100 students last year.

“Last year, our resources were stretched thin, but this year we didn’t have such an overwhelming experience,” said Ritchie.

Ritchie added that he was “impressed with the student’s lack of desire to pregame,” noting that the lack of drunks made for a “successful event for everyone.”Compared to 13 medical transports to hospitals last year, this year’s stats seem relatively tame: only two transports from outside the event and five from the event itself.

However, the decision to switch

the entrance from the front doors of Bellarmine mansion to a side entrance caused some “minor glitches,” according to Kelly Miraglia ‘15, vice chair of programming board of the FUSA. Ritchie says that at around 9:30 p.m., a large mass of students pushing their way into the event created a bottleneck of foot traffic that caused one female attendee to be knocked over.

While the female required medical attention, she was eventually was able to walk herself back to her residence, according to Ritchie.

Yet, Miraglia still considers the event a success: “We were really happy about the fewer number of transports,” she said. “We want people to have a good time, and having to go to the hospital is not a good time.”

As freshmen experienced the first Prez Ball of their Fairfield careers, seniors prepared to say goodbye to the tradition: “The Presidential Ball this year was one of the best ones I have

experienced out of the four I have been to,” said Chris Gutmann ‘15.

“Being a senior, it was personally important that this event was spectacular and memorable, and it certainly was,” Gutmann said. “My sincerest thanks go out to Father von Arx for allowing this deep and significant event to take place every year and to the FUSA staff who make it possible.”

Some students surprised by drug use at Fairfield Continued from page 1 ramifications for possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana.

“What they did is they changed it from a misdemeanor to an infraction. And a lot of people took that as decriminalizing [it] meaning it’s completely legal,” said Ritchie. “They didn’t say it’s legal. They simply changed the category of the crime.”

There are a variety of drugs that have been found on campus, but “the most prevalent [drug that is abused] is probably some type of prescription drug. What we see the most of is marijuana because … the smell leads us to it,” said Ritchie.

When asked about other drugs, Ritchie mentioned that DPS “occasionally” finds cocaine and Molly.

“It’s a matter of us stumbling upon it for whatever reason … It could be because they have marijuana, which leads us to them, and then some type of additional drugs are found in conjunction with marijuana,” said Ritchie.

Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor Lisa Arnold agreed that Molly has a presence on campus.

“I get mostly mandated students from the Dean’s Of-

fice who have been written up. Their experience with Molly isn’t usually the one that got them written up … When they come here and I start the conversation about drugs, that’s when they’ll tell me that they’ve experimented with Molly,” said Arnold.

From the 200 students she usually sees a semester, Arnold explained that at least 40 percent have at least tried Molly.

“It’s more than you think,” she said. “And it’s typically not addictive for them … Most kids are just playing with it.”

According to Arnold, Molly has been used at concerts on campus, specifically Bingo Players and Diplo/Krewella.

Ritchie and Arnold both speculate that Molly use is synonymous with electronic dance music.

DPS does not expect trouble with Molly at this year’s fall concert featuring Love & Theft.

“It’s earlier in the day and it’s a different type of music.

[Students are] not going to pop pills to trip out on electric lights and music. It’s not that type of environment,” said Ritchie.

When asked what kind of drugs are associated with country music, Ritchie stated “beer drinking and meth” but

2014 Clery Report Statistics: Criminal Offenses:

2012

2013

Sexual Offenses

4

4

Stalking

-

2

Dating Violence

-

1

Aggravated Assault

6

2

Burglary

17

13

Larceny/Theft

49

78

Drug Arrests

32

52

Liquor law violations

1072

1270

Drug Abuse

69

94

Disciplinary Referrals:

The 2014 Clery Report can be found online at: http://www.fairfield.edu/media/ fairfielduniversitywebsite/documents/student/ps_clery_crime_report.pdf

says that DPS doesn’t expect anyone at Fairfield’s concert to be high on meth.

“Meth isn’t really a college person drug. Traditionally speaking, people who turn to meth have already gone through all the other drugs and they’re seeking cheaper options for a high,” he said.

“However, we fear the day that we find that it becomes prevalent on campus,” said Ritchie.

When students were asked about the presence of drugs on campus, many students said that they did not realize drugs were prevalent on campus.

“I don’t really hear anything besides what’s written in The Mirror,” said commuter Joselyn Ordonez ‘18.

Junior Wenpu Tu agreed with this statement.

“I only heard more about drugs two years ago … That some student was arrested for doing drugs,” she said.

Other students, such as Nick Walsh ‘17, mentioned that there was a marijuana presence on campus.

“I don’t really know much about hard drugs, but I don’t think they’re here too much. Marijuana seems to be less present here than other schools,” said Walsh.

Increases in crimes reported Continued from page 1

crease in the total number of burglary incidents, student residences saw a 120 percent increase in larceny and theft.

New categories for 2014 report include stalking (2 incidents), dating violence (1 incident) and domestic violence (0 incidents).

Not a single hate crime was reported in 2013 among many categories: race, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin and disability.

The number of sexual assaults reported totaled to four, remaining constant with 2012’s amount.

Pelazza believes that this statistic should actually be considered positive.

“We’ve really created a strong emphasis on education, awareness and encouraging people to report those offenses,” Pelazza said. “The offense of sexual misconduct is the most underrated reportable offense throughout the country. For a variety of reasons, people just don’t want to report it.”

Pelazza feels as though the higher number of reported sexual assaults in both 2012 and 2013 as compared to previous years is representative of the fact that victims and bystanders of sexual assault feel more comfortable about notifying DPS or a counseling service about it, which is a major goal of the university.

Freshman Britta Gunneson was shocked to find that

this number didn’t decrease over the past year.

“I feel like there’s been a lot of education on how to stay safe in those situations and how to not be a bystander, and I’m surprised that that hasn’t made a difference,” Gunneson said.

Despite noticeable increases in several categories of criminal offenses, Pelazza still believes that Fairfield is a campus students should feel safe at.

According to Associate Director of DPS Frank Ficko, the act was established after Jeanne Clery, a student at Lehigh University, was raped and murdered in her dorm room by a fellow student in 1986.

Her parents sued the school and launched the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act in 1990 in her memory, which is designed to establish a better system of reporting criminal offenses on college campuses nationwide.

“We feel this is a very safe campus,” Pelazza said. He credits this mostly to the fact that the campus is confined.

“We lock all the gates at 11:00 p.m. and the only way to come on campus with a car is through the checkpoint.”

However, the impression that Fairfield is a safe campus becomes a challenge because “people get lulled into a false sense of security,” said Pelazza, which may cause people to let their guard down occasionally and forget to take simple safety precautions.

“Anything can happen anywhere and at any time, and that’s what we want to stress with people,” Pelazza said.

Page 4

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Crime Beat

News

Compiled by Austin Wesolowski Information contributed by the Department of Public Safety.

Wednesday, 10/1

51 McInnes Rd. renamed Meditz Hall to honor John C. Meditz ‘70

12:15 a.m. – Cash was reported stolen from room 217 of Canisius. The money was going to be used for a campus fundraiser. Anyone with information about the incident should contact DPS. 1:59 p.m. – A silver Schwinn bicycle was reported stolen from the Charles F. Dolan School of Business bicycle rack. Anyone with information about the incident should contact DPS. Thursday, 10/2 4:23 p.m. – A student reported that his backpack, containing an iPad and other personal items, was stolen. The student was able to use tracking software on his iPad to locate the device, which was discovered in a vehicle. The owner of the car was found, arrested for larceny and issued a criminal trespassing warning.

Friday, 10/3 12:47 a.m. – Ice cream, along with taquitos, were reported taken from a 14 block townhouse. The taken items were found near Fairfield College Preparatory School. DPS was unsure if the items were eaten or not. The suspect was identified and referred to student conduct.

Saturday, 10/14 10:21 p.m. – A case of Poland Spring water was reported stolen from a Campion Hall residence.

President Jeffery P. von Arx, S.J., John C. Meditz ‘70, a trustee, and Alex Cucchi ‘15, FUSA president, unveil the new sign outside of the recently renamed Meditz Hall.

Sunday, 10/5 3:17 a.m. – DPS assisted RA staff when an individual in Regis Hall was uncompliant.

The student ran from RAs while in possession of alcohol. The student was referred to student conduct.

1:50 p.m. – A dog bit a student won Grauert Field. The individual required medical treatment for minor injuries. The dog was quarantined for its actions.

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On Oct. 2, the 51 McInnes Road residence hall became Meditz Hall.

The decision to rename the dorm, which houses 200 juniors and seniors, came after John C. Meditz ‘70 donated $10 million toward the renovation of the Leslie C. Quick Jr. Recreation Complex.

The Weehawken, N.J. native has made major contributions in the past, including one which allowed the University to construct the Bellarmine Museum of Art, located at Bellarmine Hall.

Meditz is a Fairfield University Trustee.

Fairfield’s Archery Club teaches basic skills and safety to students

By Alisia LoSardo Contributing Writer With crisp fall leaves resting beneath their feet, over two dozen students anxiously await the chance to draw their bows, let their arrows sail through the brisk autumn air, cross the library green and hit their target.

At Fairfield, this sight is nothing out of the ordinary – in fact, it occurs here weekly and is the actions of the Archery Club.

The club meets every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in front of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library to practice the fundamentals of the sport. Many students use the club meetings as a fun and relaxing midday break from studying.

Currently, club officers are being certified to teach new members basic skills such as how to properly use the bow and arrow, set up equipment, obey signals and whistles and follow safety procedures.

“Once you learn the skills, you can teach someone else – and it’s really easy to learn,” said Dana Lòpez ’15, vice president of the club.

In addition to holding these weekly practice sessions, the club traditionally holds one event in the fall where members can shoot at pumpkins and one in the spring where the targets are replaced with balloons.

This year, however, the club intends to do much more.

Lòpez and the rest of the club hope to plan multiple fundraisers as well as movie events that show archery-themed films such as “The Hunger Games” and “Robin Hood.”

Additionally, Lòpez would like to see the club attend off-campus shooting ranges. “It is a definite possibility this year,” she said. “We looked into it last year and there are a lot in the area.”

Lòpez also hopes that someday in the club’s future they will be able to attend and participate in competitive archery competitions.

The club has grown significantly since it began in 2008 under the advisement of Dr. Manyul Im, a philosophy professor at Fairfield. Practicing archery in front of the library was an extension of one of his philosophy classes, meant to teach students relaxation, tranquility and focus. Eventually, students outside of the course became interested and the Archery Club slowly took form.

“My freshman year there were days when only 5 people would show up,” said Lòpez. Today, the club is comprised of approximately 25 participating members. Lòpez attributes the club’s success to how welcoming they have been to new students at recent campus activity fairs.

“Anyone who has even the slightest interest in archery should definitely show up,” said Lòpez. “Even if you want to show up for a day and try it out, you definitely should.”

Page 5

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Opinion

Opinion

Editor

A response to the "Students for Life" event

By Michael LeBoeuf and Riley Barrett Contributing Writers On the afternoon of Oct. 7, the pro-life group Students for Life organized a rally outside of the Barone Campus Center that included a miniature graveyard covered in pink crosses and several members of the organization handing out flyers and pamphlets with slanderous quotes and misinformation about the organization Planned Parenthood.

Not only was this display offensive in appearance, but also insensitive toward any woman who has had to undergo an abortion procedure. Quite frankly, it’s an affront to all women.

An abortion is a medical procedure that many women choose to undergo for reasons ranging from personal choice to health concerns.

While abortion services only account for three percent of Planned Parenthood’s services, Students for Life chose to attack the organization

Editorial Board Pro-Choice for Life Shauna Mitchell Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Calhoun Executive Editor Enxhi Myslymi Managing Editor

by saying that it tries to “profit off of abortion.” Saying a statement like this is equivalent to claiming that doctors try to profit off cancer.

As students on this campus, we should not have to take a detour to get to class to avoid getting bombarded with offensive displays and quotes promoting beliefs that we find offensive and disheartening.

How would you feel as a woman who has had to undergo an abortion procedure if you walked out of the BCC and felt guilt-tripped and reminded of that painful experience on your way back to your residence hall?

While we believe that the student group has every right to voice their opinions and uphold their beliefs, we're personally offended by the groups’ choice of display and nature of the rally that they held.

It was a blatant attempt to force their beliefs onto others and using scare tactics to try and mislead students into believing falsehoods against Planned Parenthood.

While religion has been on the decline among younger generations, the pro-life movement has gained momentum with the fundamental view that abortions should be illegal because of religious views.

Students for Life came on to our campus on Tuesday protesting Planned Parenthood because they believe Planned Parenthood tries to convince women to get abortions in order to raise their profits.

While we disagree with what Students for Life was promoting, one thing they did right was start a conversation.

As a Jesuit university, Fair-

Planned Parenthood provides several health services and is primarily known for its affordable care options, primarily in low-income areas where health care coverage is hard to come by and the uninsured rate remains high.

Most female students on this campus are fortunate to come from backgrounds where they have access to basic healthcare and comfortable health insurance that make these procedures affordable. But, a considerable percentage of women in this country do not have the same access to affordable mammograms, gynecological procedures, psychiatric services and contraception.

For many women who visit Planned Parenthood, it will be the only doctor they see all year. That’s where Planned Parenthood steps in and that’s why it has been providing these types of services since 1916.

Getting rid of abortion clinics does not get rid of abortion. It’s like trying to ban alcohol and expecting it to go away — it doesn’t, and it

field has a hush-hush attitude when it comes to sex among students.

We talk about the “hook-up” culture, and the problems that come with it, but we can't recall having a healthy discussion about sex, about contraception and frankly, about abortion with anyone other than our peers.

Without the discussion out there on sex, where are students going for their information?

Are they going into the murky depths of the online universe? Are they consulting with the sometimes unreliable, but more experienced roommate?

One place that is safe for

only makes possible situations more dangerous. Every year, 78,000 women die from unsafe abortions performed by non-licensed providers.

How can an organization that argues for “life” be against a procedure which in some cases saves a woman’s life? Organizations like Planned Parenthood provide the necessary options for women of all ages and stages of health, not just family planning.

We have many friends who have received contraception, Plan B and pregnancy tests, have been checked for cervical cancer and yes, even gotten abortions from our local Planned Parenthood clinic.

We don’t appreciate seeing pale pink “baby graves” scattered across the lawn, and our mood certainly won’t improve when our peers shove leaflets down our throat about the “Planned Parenthood” experience. If you haven’t ever been in this situation, don’t begin to assume you know what is best for society as a whole.

them to go to is an organization like Planned Parenthood, which values themselves on putting sexual education in the forefront.

Yes, this is a Jesuit university with Christian values. No, Fairfield can’t be seen promoting premarital sex. But, let’s be real, students are having sex, so let’s talk about it.

Still, it is our individual responsibility to see past things like religion and even our socioeconomic classes and instead, think for ourselves and seek out information to help create our personal opinions on hot button topics.

More than 200 years ago theorist John Stuart Mill called

Outrageous statements like “Planned Parenthood only gives abortions to raise money — they encourage it over other options and even give out poorly rated condoms” are completely false. Planned Parenthood gives abortions because women exercise their legal right and ask for them. They do not encourage it above other options or force their views on you.

While we believe that Fairfield should encourage political discourse and promote social involvement for the students on this campus, we feel that the display of controversial and misleading views have no place guilt-tripping the student body on their walk to class.

Planned Parenthood is a multifaceted organization, and abortion is a legal right that women have.

While it is a difficult, complicated and private decision that women may face in their lifetime, hopefully it will be without judgement or guilt from others.

for discussions and debates on opinions because he believed that humans have the capacity to decide for themselves what is right and wrong in our society.

If Mill realized this in the 1800s, then why are we still taking away people’s rights to make their own choices today?

We’ve called for students to become active in their communities in our last issue because we believe that we are independent thinkers.

Let us think for ourselves on what we believe about prolife or pro-choice and you’ll find tolerant, accepting and educated individuals.

Page 6

THE MIRROR |

Opinion

If you love money so much, date it

By Timothy Leach Contributing Writer Love is something that almost all of us strive for. Even people our age who are not necessarily focused on it right now know that love is something that will eventually be something they address as they get older.

While a lot of us might be used to associating love with Disney fairytales or relationships with serious chemistry, like Hazel and Augustus in “The Fault in Our Stars,” those are not the only options.

Brandon Wade is the founder of numerous dating websites centered on the concept of older, wealthy men finding attractive women for companionship. All expectations are laid out on the table; everyone participating knows the deal.

Immediate responses that come to mind would be that Wade is undermining the pure morality of love, that he is bastardizing it through prioritizing material expectations as the driving factor behind the relationship instead of genuine interest in one another.

It can also be considered borderline prostitution; Wade even admitted in a CNN article that escorts and prostitutes have attempted to use his sites inappropriately, resulting in their expulsion.

How can such a blatant, unapologetic and immoral idea culminate into this

successful corporate institution?

But the thing is, it is none of our business. What these people do for a living and what their ideal form of love is should not really concern us.

When you have people going out of their way to slander gay marriage or Westboro Baptists, they are getting uppity over other people’s lives that do not affect them whatsoever. I may not agree with Wade’s prerogative, but I cannot say it’s a wrong practice because the people on his site are openly honest about the expectations set for each other.

I also do not know what love is. Some people know and others do not, but while everyone does find out for themselves what love is, answers will differ.

The love you have for one person and the love you have for another will not necessarily be the same. You do not love your mom the same way you do for a significant other or even between different others.

Daters on Wade’s websites clearly have their own stances on love that may not align with yours. This is fine and it is fine to disagree with them, but I do not find it our place to judge them. If this is what they want, let them have it.

You never rile your friend for getting chocolate ice cream over vanilla, do you?

No one will be getting the last laugh

By Ariana Puzzo Contributing Writer As society continues to become more tolerant of people of different beliefs, and awareness of political correctness increases when discussing race, religion and sexual orientation, the question “Have insults in the name of comedy gone too far?” garners more and more attention.

Despite this question being raised frequently by the people who are defending the victims of comedians, others - oftentimes those in the comedy business disregard the question, insisting political correctness has no place in the business of comedy.

We have had our share of multigenerational comedians, spanning from the likes of racially charged comedians such as Richard Pryor to politically controversial satirists like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.

The question remains, however; where do we draw the line with comedy and when should we take a step back?

It is time to take a few steps back and consider the dangerous direction that comedy has taken. It is too often that comedians defend his or her jokes when audiences become enraged and fight back.

Although many argue that people can no longer say anything without someone being offended, I think it is time that we destroy the idea of politically incorrect insults being acceptable in the name of comedy.

If insulting and degrading someone is the prerequisite for a successful joke, then comedians are going about creating their material the wrong way, especially when the material ridicules a person or group’s race, religion or sexual orientation.

The spotlight on controversial comedy has most recently focused on “The Daily Show,” which received backlash after a perceived attack on the religion of a member of the musical group One Direction.

In the six-second media clip that has gone viral on Vine, correspondent Jessica Williams discusses a “new terrorist group being formed as you speak.”

In delivering the crux of the joke, Williams includes the boy band, One Direction amongst real terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. This most recent stunt by “The Daily Show” has taken what is not a laughing matter to begin with too far. Although the

The Mirror welcomes the opinions and contributions of its readers: Letters to the editor must be timely and submitted by email to info@fairfieldmirror.com or Box AA. All letters to the editor that are appropriate will be published either in print or online. The Mirror reserves the right to edit letters and articles for content, length and grammatical error. Letters should be free of obscenities and personal attacks and should contain correct and factual information not exceeding 500 words.

“Directioners” anger at “The Daily Show” holds merit due to the fact that Zayn Malik, one of the boy band members, is Muslim and openly supportive of his religion and culture, many argue that the backlash from the teenage “Directioners” is immature and that these girls fail to grasp the adult sense of humor of “The Daily Show.”

While this zealous

group of starstruck teens may be fueled by emotion, their outrage holds value. While a response from Comedy Central denies knowledge of Malik’s ethnicity, is it acceptable to compare a boy band to terrorist groups?

There is often a thin line between hate and humor when targeting a specific person or

g roup.

Despite my distaste at the extremes many comedians go to in order to achieve laughs, I do believe that there are instances when serious topics can be delivered as genuinely humorous jokes used to defuse an otherwise tense situation.

There have been times when the satirical nature of “The Colbert Report” has called into question tense topics, but Colbert’s tonguein-cheek delivery gives the show significant leeway.

For instance, when discussing the United States’ move to attack Syria, Colbert stated, “The United States has no choice but to attack Syria because Dictator Bashar al-Assad is killing his own people with chemical

weapons. Before, he was just killing them with bullets. But if America cared about shooting people, we’d be invading Chicago.”

Although he is taking a controversial topic and making light of it, Colbert does it in such a way that is not targeting a group of people based on race or ethnicity.

Rather, he chooses to use humor to provoke thought and shed light on an important point: Oftentimes, the decisions our country makes in regards to external threats contradict and are hypocritical of the decisions made in similar internal situations.

So the question remains, when did it become both acceptable and humorous to make light of situations such as the growing threat of terrorism?

Unlike Colbert whose satirical remarks serve to point out a flaw in society that needs to be addressed, the lighthearted discussion of an extreme form of violence that has had significant impact on our country is morally repugnant, especially given the recent horrific beheadings carried out by ISIS. Furthermore, by making light of a serious situation and comparing it to a current pop band, it appears that we are accepting terrorism as something that is a laughable matter.

This alone should prompt Comedy Central and other media outlets to reevaluate the intentions of their humor, as well as the sources from which they acquire their inspiration, before making light of such sobering topics.

The Vine

arts, entertainment, features Editor Charles DeFilippo: vine@fairfieldmirror.com

MOUNTAINFILM ON TOUR

By Charles DeFilippo Vine Editor

T

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My heart was pounding. It was the adrenaline that I truly craved. I inched my feet, one in front of the other, with eyes locked straight ahead. I could not look down. The air was cold, but I could feel the propane burning and its smell grew in strength. My peers cheered from both balloons. Suddenly their voices fled along with my grip and it felt like I had been falling forever.

I had become another victim to Mountainfilm on Tour, an initiative that brings inspiring short films to viewers all across the world.

Local Tour Host Cindy Johnston, could not have explained the initiative better when she quoted Most people expect big adventure and we give them its mission statement verbatim: just that.

“Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating, inspiring and motivating - Cindy Johnston, Mountainfilm Local Tour Host audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving, adventures worth pursuing and conversations worth sustaining.”

READ MOUNTAIN ON PAGE 8

Tue 10/21 7:OO P.M. Tickets:

$18 *Members: $15 Day of Show: $20

*Fairfield students pay member-pricing with promo code ‘stags’

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

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Page 8

Continued from page 

A cliff diver prepares to jump from a Karst in China.

The films range from four to 25 minutes in length and cover all types of genres from outdoor adventure, sustainability and pure adrenaline.

For 2014, there were 10 shorts that included skateboarding, mountain biking, highline and personality stories. These dialogues were given a proper introduction that encompassed awareness and culture.

“Most people expect big adventure,” said Johnston. “And we give them exactly that.”

However, she went on to explain that action can get boring after a while because it is the people who make up the stories.

In this view, Mountainfilms is able to “showcase different personalities” and leaves viewers with a “different outlook,” Johnston added.

Johnston brought up several accounts where viewers approached her the next day, week or month after the film.

After two girls viewed a film about an unicyclist riding on aggressive mountain bike trails, they each bought the other unicycles for Christmas, recalled Johnston.

“It made them feel like they could do anything,” Johnston added.

Mountainfilms have been inspiring people since 1979 after its birth in Telluride, Co. It was created by a group of climbers who

Mountainfilms is dedicated to educating, inspiring and motivating audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth preserving, adventures worth pursuing and conversations worth sustaining.

- Cindy Johnston, Mountainfilm Local Tour Host wanted to climb all day and watch videos of climbing at night, a simple idea that blossomed into so much more.

It speaks for itself as one of America’s longest-running film festivals. For 35 years, Mountainfilms has hosted single event and multi-day shows in schools, colleges, communities and theatres which reach an estimated 40,000 people in over 100 locations on five continents. Furthermore, the festival continues to reduce their footprint by creating “as near zero waste as possible,” according to mountainfilm.org.

In 2009, Mountainfilm on Tour began to work with the Fairfield Theatre Company and continues to bring jaw-dropping shorts to the community. Where else can you go on a weeknight to “hit the alps” or free fall from the Karsts of China?

Additionally, Mountainfilms is sponsored by the Outdoor Sports Center in Wilton, Conn. and the Long Trail Brewing Company. As you walk into FTC, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, you will be in the midst

of the action. The latest equipment will be on display by Outdoor Sports Center and beer tasting to follow.

Don’t worry, because Mountainfilms on Tour is only the beginning. There are several 35 to 45 minute films that are equally inspiring, but are much longer.

On Nov. 23, there will be a Gravity Ski film and in the spring a Gravity Mountain bike series. Johnston explained that these will consist of two longer-length films and two shorts.

All of the films are “underlined with indomitable human spirit,” said Johnston. They address how we are going save the world and simultaneously make us feel good. That is the power of these films and nobody is safe from its ability to suck you right into the eyes of the adventure-seeker himself.

Mountainfilms has granted all Fairfield University students member pricing to this event. Use the promotion code ‘stags' (all lowercase) when purchasing your ticket online or at the FTC box office.

Fairfield Professors Take the Stage in 'Life of Riley'

By Juliana Sansonetti Contributing Writer

The Academy Players have put on a performance starring faculty and staff members at Fairfield for the fourth year in a row. This year’s show, “Life of Riley,” written by Alan Ayckbourn, was performed in the Wien Black Box Theatre in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

The show’s cast included Dr. Jerelyn Johnson, associate professor of modern languages and literature, Dr. Dennis Keenan, professor of philosophy, Dr. Donald Gibson, dean of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business and professor of management, Dr. Shawn Rafalski, associate professor of mathematics, Andrea Macadam, associate professor of mathematics, Dr. AnnaMaria Aksan, assistant professor of economics and Dawn DeBiase, assistant dean of the Dolan School of Business.

The show was performed this past Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Each performance was followed by a discussion led by a faculty member about the educational value of the show.

The Academy Players bring back an old Jesuit tradition of teaching through their performances. This year’s show, “Life of Riley,” taught about the “challenge of interpersonal relationships, especially in marriage” as explained by Rafalski, who played Simeon, one of the main characters.

Rafalski added, “Each of the three couples exhibit issues and conflicts in their relationships in different ways. The play is asking the audience whether people can overcome obstacles.”

Freshman Maria Cardone believed that the play succeeded in instructing the audience. The moral of the story, according to Cardone, was to “stay faithful.”

The show is primarily about a school teacher named George Riley who is diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live. Although this titular character never actually appears in the play, the other main characters, namely Colin, Kathryn, Tamsin, Jack, Monica and Simeon, discuss him at length. Riley’s diagnosis wreaks havoc on the lives of his closest friends and calls all of their romantic relationships into question.

When asked about the student response to the play Rafalski stated, “The students that I talk to really enjoy it as an experience. A lot are surprised to find that it’s not what they were expecting, in a good way.

The expectation is that it’ll be like a movie – passive. But in a theater, with a group, it is a very active experience. You’re right there, totally absorbed.”

Rafalski seemed to hit the nail on the head. Cardone reported that the show was “Good and funny. I have Dr. Keenan for philosophy, so it was really interesting to see the professors out of class.” Promised by her professor that the show would be funny, Cardone was not disappointed.

Contributed Photo

When Rafalski was asked about the best part of his acting experience, after a reflective pause, he responded: “There are two things. The first is being a part of a community of amateur actors who are putting together a performance for the public.

The second is having the audience be a part of that performance. I’m so pleased that so many faculty, staff and members of the Fairfield community come out to see the production.”

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THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

The Vine

Audience Starts to Rumble For Andy McKee

By Charles DeFilippo Vine Editor Andy McKee, self-taught acoustic guitarist, continues to take his music to new levels through the use of altered tunings, percussive techniques, harmonics, tapping, rhythmic melodies and the style of playing over the guitar neck.

McKee became fascinated with the acoustic guitar at the age of 13, inspired by fingerstyle guitar playing. At the age of 17, he began to teach lessons and in 2001 made a name for himself after placing third at the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championships.

You may remember McKee from his hit track “Drifting," which reached more than 50 million viewers on YouTube in 2006. In addition, songs featured on his 2006 album “Art of Motion” such as “Rylynn," “For My Father” and “Into The Ocean,” all feature McKee’s creative approach on acoustic and harp guitar. Furthermore, McKee won the silver medal for fingerstyling by Acoustic Guitar Magazine in December 2008.

McKee realizes that it is much harder to make a name for yourself through YouTube today versus early 2000. “Yet, it is a good way to learn how to play guitar,” added McKee. “You have both audio and visuals.”

Currently, McKee is on tour across the United States and will be starting his east coast run at the Fairfield Theatre Company’s StageOne on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Expect to hear all of your favorites and more when McKee takes StageOne with two 45 minute sets.

When he begins to play his harp guitar, McKee said, “The audience starts rumbling and cameras are out.” It is captivating each and every time.

Songs from McKee’s most recent extended play “Mythmaker,” such as the title track, continue to push the envelope of McKee's creative genius. In addition, the extended play incorporates electric guitar and piano elements in the pursuit of new textures.

McKee has never thought of himself as a percussive guitarist, but instead is driven by rhythm. In his track “Hunter’s Moon” off of his 2010 album “Joyland,” all techniques spill over intricate rhythms and soothing melodies. McKee begins the composition by playing the chords over the top of the neck of the guitar, while providing a steady backbeat on the rear body of the guitar with his right hand. As the song progresses, McKee moves fluidly from guitar body to neck, playing the “ins” and “outs” of the instrument. Like all of McKee’s tunes, “Hunter’s Moon” is lyric-less, but follows a similar verse and chorus structure. At one point the guitar is tight and percussive, and the next mo-

ment McKee open fires on all strings, letting them resonate throughout the audience.

McKee is overall excited to be on the road touring and is looking forward to returning to both New England and Connecticut. “It is especially exciting because Connecticut is now home to one of the most renowned harp guitarist, Stephen Bennett,” added McKee. McKee will bring originals in addition to his renditions of the rock band Toto’s song “Africa” and of Tear for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”

After McKee’s YouTube success, many guitarists aspire to learn from his technique. Currently, you can purchase guitar tabs on Andy McKee’s website and there are several tutorials of McKee’s songs on YouTube.

With 10 years of teaching under his belt, McKee hopes to release

an instructional DVD in the future.

After StageOne, McKee will head off to various venues throughout New England including, Regattabar on Oct. 15 in Boston, Mass, B.B. King Blues Club on Oct. 16 in New York, N.Y., World Cafe on Oct. 17 in Philadelphia, Pa. and Bridge Street Live on Oct. 18 in Collinsville, Conn..

I'm looking forward to being on the road and coming back to New England and Connecticut.

- Andy McKee

Quick Look: Andy McKee on StageOne Tuesday, Oct. 14 Doors @ 7:00 P.M. Show @ 7:45 P.M. Tickets: Non-members: $35 Members: save $5 Contributed Photo

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THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

The Vine

Told ByDre

By Andrea Butler Fashion Columnist

When it comes to style & fashion, Dre tells all.

Hi, lovelies!

This week’s column is for the male-identifying members of our campus community, student body, and the men are no exception. However, for those gentlemen who are a little lost in the style department, or for those ladies who want to give their boyfriends a little fashion boost, here are some basic rules to being a well-dressed man.

A basic rule in the fashion world is not to wear lightwash jeans after the sun goes down. Dark denim looks better and is more appropriate for nighttime.

No matter what your body type is, if you wear clothes look good, particularly on fancier occasions. It has been said that a man in a well-

look, but there are some occasions that call for something a little less nautical. A good pair of leather shoes works for anything and are especially good for dressing up an otherwise

woman in lacy lingerie is to a man. So, run with that gentlemen.

If you got a T-shirt for free at a school-run event, don’t wear it to a party.

Nonetheless, if you feel best in baggy suits and Sperrys, or want to hit the Townhouses in light-colsome things do look better than others. However, if you’re comfortable in your skin, you’ll look good no matter what.

Have a happy week guys and gals, and enjoy this beautiful fall weather!

Love, Dre

LinkedIn Workshop Motivates Students

By Monet Monterosso Contributing Writer Click! Create! Connect!

On Wednesday, Oct. 1, a LinkedIn workshop was held in the Dolan School of Business, to stress the importance of professional social networking amongst college students. The workshop was run by Stephanie Gallo, associate director of the career planning center, and Tara Berwick, director of internships for the Dolan School of Business.

“The sooner you get comfortable with networking the better,” said Berwick. “Thinking about your career and future is scary, but if college students start making their profiles now it will be less overwhelming later.”

There are 260 million members on the LinkedIn website, 60 of which are college students, making it the largest social network on the internet. On LinkedIn there are also three millions companies represented, such as Nike, Google, and the Boston Red Sox. LinkedIn is a website about powering your career by providing the best image of yourself for others to connect and find you. The workshop was available to teach students how to sign up for a profile.

User friendly, LinkedIn lets its members know which parts of their profile still needs to be completed.

The facilitators of the oncampus workshop broke down the process of using LinkedIn into simple steps by elaborating on the “do’s” and “don’ts” of your profile

picture and appropriate ways to make connections.

“A resume is very static, but LinkedIn is very dynamic, which helps with defining your professional online presence,” said Gallo.

On Facebook, people have “friends,” but on LinkedIn people have “connections,” which is the most important part of the website.

There are two types of connections you can make, first connections and second connections. First connections are people who you connect with directly, and second connections are made via the first direction connection you made, thus indirectly.

As an active member on LinkedIn, one must endorse or write recommendations for their connections so that they can receive

connections and opportunities in return.

“The question isn’t only what you can do for me, but what can I do for you so that you can help me in return,” said Berwick.

After the workshop, students were optimistic about starting their LinkedIn profiles.

“I knew about the website but I didn’t know what it really was all about. Now I feel ready enough to take the initiative to start my LinkedIn profile,” said Kaila Nelson ‘17.

Students not only commented on how excited they were about starting their LinkedIn profile, but also about how much they learned through attending the workshop.

“The best thing I learned was how to connect with the Alumni

Contributed under

from Fairfield. It’s so easy to connect with them and I think that type of connection will be really helpful when finding a job,” Autumn Young ‘17.

Page 11

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

The Vine

'Between Bodies' Album Review

By Sean Thomas Contributing Writer

By Jana Novak WVOF Music Director

T

his past February, I had the extreme pleasure of catching The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (TWIABP) live at Toad’s Place in New Haven. The gig was truly one of the most unique performances I’ve ever seen – songs swelled and arose out of textured interludes, accompanied by the spoken word poetry of Connecticut native Chris Zizzamia. The poetry added a fresh layer of substance to familiar songs off TWIABP’s 2013 album “Whenever, If Ever. Guitarist Derrick Shanholtzer-Dvorak announced their official collaboration with Zizzamia, quickly adding that “You’re not going to like it.”

Eight months later, we can finally hear the fruits of their collaboration in the form of the new EP “Between Bodies.”

The focal point of the release is obviously Zizzamia’s poetry. Even though he writes in free verse, his musings fit comfortably between vocal melodies or on top of instrumental passages.

The sharp, atonal words are framed in several different contexts, ranging from the atmospheric, subtle ambience of “Precipice” to the straightforward, driven rock of “If And When I Die.” Zizzamia’s voice is definitely at the helm. It is more abrasive than soothing, appropriate for his overarching themes of conquering fear and death, as well as discovering humanity’s place in the universe.

Other highlights include “Space Explorations To Solve Earthly Crises” and “Thanks,” the latter acting as brief thank you for the rabid support of their fans. All of the classic TWIABP elements are present, everything from poppy synthesizers, smatterings of trumpet and cello and the gradual crescendos of post-rock.

Unfortunately, the diverse arrangements are not as fleshed out or deeply explored as they were on “Whenever, if Ever.” At certain points, it feels as if the poetry smothers the potential for a seamless, flowing record. Many fans are finding themselves agreeing with Shanholtzer-Dvorak’s previous comment “You’re not going to like it.”

Yet, “Between Bodies” should not be viewed as the be-all and end-all of TWIABP’s music. This is a band that loves to con-

Contributed Photo

stantly push the boundaries of their comfort zone. They are often labeled as an experimental group and this release is arguably their most ambitious experiment to date. Others have brushed off “Between Bodies” as being too pretentious, but hasn’t TWIABP always been an incredibly pretentious band? That’s what makes them the frontrunner in the modern “emo-revival” scene, blazing a trail that many other groups are attempting to follow. This EP provides listeners with something eclectic yet memorable, hopefully to hold them over until their next landmark release.

TWIABP is about to embark on a North American tour with The Hotelier (another phenomenal band), Rozwell Kid and Posture & The Grizzly. If you’re looking for an intense, intimate show, check out their music and see them at The Space in Hamden, Conn. on Oct. 25. I’m currently counting down the days to what will surely be another unforgettable experience with The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die.

The Kooks are a four-piece band from Brighton, England, and the band’s much anticipated fourth album titled “Listen” is a surprising change from the first three. Having been a Kooks fan for years, I thought the change of pace was very refreshing. The first three albums were all relatively similar in sound, but “Listen” is very different. This album has a more funk feel than any of the previous albums. That was apparent when the band released the first single of the album, “Down,” back in April of this year.

This newfound funk added a new dynamic to the live shows. There was a great reaction to the music at the show I saw in July, and also at all the festivals they played around the world this summer. Frontman Luke Pritchard describes the new songs as “having a groove.” A lot of the tracks off of this new album are heavy rhythmically with strong drum beats.

And, in songs like “Bad Habit,” there is a clapping section throughout the whole song.

Another new element that this album brought to the table was the use of a gospel choir in the background. Other British artists like Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran also use these angelic background vocalists in their music.

WHAT’S MORE

IMPRESSIVE THAN OUR STATS? OUR GRADUATES.

At Quinnipiac University, our students are our main focus. It’s why we offer graduate degrees in fields ranging from business to health sciences. It’s also why Quinnipiac was ranked among the top master’s-level universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report and first in the northern region in U.S. News’ Up-and-Coming Schools category.

Education Elementary Secondary Educational Leadership Teacher Leadership* Communications Interactive Media* Journalism** Sports Journalism** Public Relations Law JD – Juris Doctor JD/MBA (Joint degree in law and business) LLM in Health Law

Health Sciences Biomedical Sciences Cardiovascular Perfusion Occupational Therapy (post-professional)* Pathologists’ Assistant Physician Assistant Radiologist Assistant Social Work Nursing Adult Gerontology or Family Nurse Practitioner Care of Populations Nurse Anesthesia Nursing Leadership* Medicine MD – Doctor of Medicine Anesthesiologist Assistant

Arts & Sciences Molecular & Cell Biology Business Business Analytics* MBA*** MBA-CFA® Track (Chartered Financial Analyst) MBA/HCM (Health Care Management)*** MBA-SCM (Supply Chain Management)*** JD/MBA (Joint degree in law and business) Organizational Leadership* * Program offered only online ** Specific program tracks offered either on campus or online *** Program offered on campus and online

To find out how Quinnipiac can help you succeed in your career, call 1-800-462-1944, e-mail graduate@quinnipiac.edu or visit www.quinnipiac.edu/gradprograms.

1-800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Coffee Break

Page 12

COFFEE BREAK Editor: Meaghan Kirby

The resurgence of Yik Yak Point

There are apps for just about anything in the app store: apps for cooking, apps for scheduling and apps for finding people in your area that are interested in cuddling.

As some of these apps prove to be very useful, others are downright reckless and sometimes harmful.

One of these apps is the infamous and very popular Yik Yak. What Yik Yak is known for is encouraging you to say some pretty nasty and vile things, things you would not normally say.

After downloading Yik Yak, a student may recognize the power behind anonymity, and soon find themselves senselessly making posts that can end up hurting another student or faculty member’s feelings.

While bullying another person is blatantly bad, it is easily disregarded when

anonymity is taken into account.

No one is safe with Yik Yak as it allows for anyone to become a target, a compelling enough reason to consider this app more harmful than good.

When inventing the app, developers Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll said they intended for it to be used for the purpose of sharing important information across campuses and for sharing harmless funny stories.

However, the app on our campus has so far been misused.

From opinions on classes and teachers to comments on what the Barone food does to one’s insides, Yik Yak is often utilized as a platform to complain, complain and complain with an occasional insult thrown in the mix.

The obvious way to avoid the Yik Yak community is of course by avoiding the app altogether.

When used correctly, it can be helpful and fun, but otherwise when used inappropriately, it can become a dark and scary place.

The potential consequences can easily cause unnecessary trouble across campus.

Fight the urge and don’t use Yik Yak unless you know how to be a respectful and commonsensical user.

Editor’s note:

Point/Counterpoint wants to give students on campus a chance to voice their opinions on specific issues. The topics must be relevant to a majority of the student population and can be a current event or a long-standing issue. If you would like to be featured in the column, contact info@fairfieldmirror.com.

Ask

Everyone is talking about the newest B app, Yik Yak, which is popular across C o y Al l ntr iso college campuses as an app that allows ibu n W tin people to post anonymously. g W hite However, is Yik Yak a safe app to use? rite r Does it cause unnecessary cruelty?

I think that Yik Yak is a great way for the “yakking” students on campus to bond. about on other Students can post their thoughts about classes, talk about their excitement for weekend college campuses around the events and comment about food in the dining nation. halls.

It includes A sense of community is created when schools such students connect over mutual feelings about as Providence events or occurrences on campus because the College, Ohio app gives students the ability to comment on State University, each other’s posts.

Hofstra University When Yaks are posted, they can be and many more. voted “up” or “down.” When students relate By reading to another person’s post, they can cast an “up” different posts from other vote for the Yak. This is similar to “likes” on college students, users can Instagram or “favorites” on Twitter.

Yik Yak is a fun way to interact with those see the similarities and differences between schools. around you.

It is an interesting opportunity Since it is anonymous, it gives people to learn about the perspectives of students more confidence to post, without worrying attending other universities. Guidelines for about other people’s opinions. users are located in the app under the “Rules At Fairfield, the main topics posted on and Info” tab. These rules emphasize that Yik Yak consist of the food at the Main Dining bullying is not tolerated on Yik Yak. Hall, plans for the weekend and inside jokes When people post mean Yaks, other users about the school. have the obligation to “down” vote these Yaks.

When used appropriately, it reflects If an individual’s posts are constantly being the friendly atmosphere present at Fairfield. voted “down,” then his or her account will be Students can freely engage with one another in suspended. a single app. When used inappropriately, the app can ruin the bond between students.

Additionally, Yik Yak gives its users the Contributed under Creative Commons opportunity to “peek” at what students are

Counterpoint

Co By nt Jo rib su ut e J in or g W ge rit er

Do you love the app or hate it?

Sarah

Have a question for Sarah?

Submit to info@fairfieldmirror.com

Dear Sarah, My friend has a new girlfriend. For a while, he tried to impress her until finally she decided to give him a chance.

Our friend group told him that his girlfriend is not right for him because we feel that she is using and manipulating him. However, he doesn’t listen. I am growing concerned that she will hurt him in the end.

What should I do?

- Concerned Friend

Dear Concerned Friend, Spain

Italy Tanzania

Nicaragua France

Ireland Australia

Places to Study Abroad

Word Search

Your concern is completely justifiable. If this girl is indeed a user, your friend is definitely at risk for a major heartbreak. He is in a stage of the relationship where he either cannot or chooses not to see the side of his girlfriend which you have described. I cannot imagine how difficult it was for you to have this conversation with your friend, and I’m sorry it went left.

You and a few of your friends who share your concern should stage an intervention with him and his girlfriend.

You can civilly address your concerns to both of them at the same time and give her the chance to explain some of her actions. If she is who you think she is, she’ll squiggle trying to defend herself.

As his friend, I know that you feel responsible for protecting him against people that don’t mean him any good.

However, if this fails, you’re going to have to let him learn this lesson on his own. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

- Sarah

Sports

Page 13

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Weekly 4x5

Because they like to talk ...

Your 2014-2015 4x5 Columnists:

Patrick Kiernan, Jennifer Calhoun, Matthew Schneider and Jesse Erickson

What are you going to do with the long four day weekend?

Did you watch the 18-inning Giants-Nationals playoff game Saturday night?

Catch any Fairfield sports on campus over the weekend?

Did you go to Prez Ball? How'd you like it?

Who is your #womancrushwednesday?

An insane amount of homework and writing for papers. Yeah, thanks a lot professors. I didn't want to enjoy any of my free time anyway, it's OK.

Yes I did. I intentionally stayed in to write a six-page paper after the game ended. I never wrote the paper.

HA! No, I have writers to do that for me, like Jesse.

No, I prefer staying in my air conditioned townhouse rather than feeling the sweat of every other person on campus underneath a single tent.

Wow, this is tough. I have so many ladies that I would want to pick, but narrowing down the list is just so difficult. Umm, Blake Lively.

No, Victoria Justice. That girl's a sleeper of a smokeshow.

I'm going to break into people's homes and claim them as my own.

Jennifer Calhoun Only right way to celebrate the Executive Editor holiday.

That's not exactly how I spent my Saturday night ...

Again, not how I spent my weekend.

Prez Ball is the worst day of the year. My night in watching "Grease" was a billion times better.

Although I'm sure the dancing in "Grease" was really similar to the dancing up on Bellarmine Hill.

Charlize Theron, in my opinion, is the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.

I'm going to support Landon Donovan for his last game with Matthew Schneider the USMNT on Friday night, then Assistant going home on Saturday.

I tried watching it at the 'Grape, but that didn't turn out too well.

I went to the soccer game and saw my friend Charlie beat Lucas the Stag in a dance off. It was pretty epic.

I did, though I was disappointed that Sean Connery and Roger Moore weren't there.

It's got to be Emma Watson ... that accent though.

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO HAVE TIME TO DO THAT?

Pat made me cover a game ... so I had to ... Thanks Pat.

The drunken mob scene that occurred at 9:30 p.m. was compared to Walmart on Black Friday ...

Do people like Walmart on Black Friday?

Mila Kunis is everything.

Patrick Kiernan Sports Editor

Sports Editor

Jesse Erickson Assistant Sports Editor

Talk to my dog for a solid four days.

Stag Spotlight: Cross Country's Frank Segreto '16 and Sam Daly '17 How do you manage both cross country and school?

What is your best experience so far as part of the cross country team?

Segreto: I think what’s good is that we have morning practices so we’re done before most classes start. The toughest part is really just finding time to do homework. Usually kids will be up until one in the morning studying, and I don’t have that luxury because of morning practices.

Segreto: Definitely winning the varsity athlete talent show. We really go hard for that and winning last year was a great feeling.

We put a lot of work into getting the right steps, and because it worked out, we won.

Daly: Just managing my free time correctly so whenever I have a spare minute between classes I’m sitting down doing homework.

Any chance that I get a break from anything it’s always schoolwork first and keeping a balance.

Junior runner Frank Segreto.

What made you first interested in the sport?

Segreto: In eighth grade, my friends did cross country and I did basketball. They told me it’s not bad and to just try it so I ran cross country with them for a season. Then, in high school, I did it to meet more people and I got good at it and just kept doing it.

Daly: The only reason I got started in cross country was back in eighth grade when I didn’t make the cut for my middle school soccer team. My dad told me that I should give cross country a try. He also said I was kind of fat, so I needed to lose weight.

Daly: It would probably be the talent show we did last year. It was a really good bonding experience with the team and it was just funny to act like fools in front of the entire school. It showed the less serious side of the sport, so it was fun to just chill out and act like idiots for once.

What would you say cross country has helped you learn?

Segreto: It’s definitely helped me learn to never give up on stuff because it’s not only a physical sport, but a mental sport as well. There are times when you go through highs and lows just like in any other sport, so having that mentality to keep working hard, and eventually results will come, is key.

Daly: It definitely reinforces time management skills because if you are playing a sport, you realize that time is precious.

How exactly do the cross country meets go?

Segreto: There’s a top seven group for the varsity squad and the top five score. Depending on what place you get in the race, that’s the points you get. The team with the lowest points wins the meet so basically, you want to have as many guys as possible at the front of the race.

Daly: Typically, on a Saturday, we’ll show up to a meet at 6 a.m. and have a few hours before our race goes off. So, we’ll hang out and rest up. Then, an hour or so before the race, we’ll get our sweats on and do a light jog.

Next, it’s race time.

How is the team chemistry?

Segreto: We’ve got a lot of good people, and since it’s a small team it’s kind of hard not to be close. It’s a very tight-knit group and everybody wants to get better and do well, so it’s definitely a good atmosphere.

Daly: It’s awesome. When I was first looking at schools, this team reminded me exactly of my high school team. We’re all really close friends with each other so we all have fun and run well.

See even more answers at fairfieldmirror.com.

Inside the Sports section this week:

Sophomore runner Sam Daly.

Photos contributed by Sports Information Desk

-Freshman Megan Theiller dominating volleyball (Page 14) -Senior Camille Coffey explores wildlife in South Africa (Page 14) -Men's soccer fights to another scoreless draw (Page 15) -Field hockey wins big against Lehigh (Page 15) -Volleyball beat Marist 3-1 in Alumni Hall on Sunday (Page 16)

Sports

Page 14

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Freshman Megan Theiller dominating volleyball

By Alfredo Torres Contributing Writer Freshman Megan Theiller has brought her talents to Fairfield after four great seasons at John Jay-East Fishkill High School in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. She was born into the game of volleyball as both her parents played the sport and met through volleyball.

Theiller remembers playing volleyball in the backyard of her home with her parents, but did not begin to play organized volleyball until she was in the seventh grade, where she played for her middle school.

High school brought the best out of Theiller. She was named League Player of Year as well as an All-Selection honoree as both a junior and a senior. She was also

named the Section 1 Co-Player of the Year, named All-State in 2013 and a three-time All-County and All-League selection.

The accolades speak for themselves, but Theiller played another important role: team captain. She became captain of her team as a sophomore and continued that role into senior year.

She worked on and off the court with her teammates; she was there to help guide them through practices and games.

She had the ability to encourage her teammates, but also give them the constructive criticism they needed to improve. Becoming a captain in her sophomore year gave her a new set of responsibilities that she took head on.

She believes she benefitted from her experience as a captain

and that the experience will help her in the long run.

Theiller had received many offers to play volleyball from other schools, but ultimately decided to go to Fairfield. Education was a priority and Fairfield offered her several fields of study. It was an offer she could not deny. She isn’t just smart on the court, but also in the classroom.

Theiller was a member of the National Honor Society, the Math Honor Society and the Italian Honor Society. She continues to hit the books hard and focuses on being successful on and off the court.

Theiller has been having a productive season so far for the Stags after coming off a great win against a successful Marist team who is 14-3 this season. So far this

year, she has been recognized for her play, receiving three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week awards.

With regards to her team’s performance, Theiller said, “We are definitely on the rise.”

It’s been a rocky season so far for the Stags who have 7 wins and 9 losses. With just 12 games remaining in the season, and after a huge win against Marist, Theiller said, “That really sparked our season.”

Theiller and her fellow teammates look to win the MAAC title once again this season and set a three-peat.

They will have to prove their will, as their next four games will take place away from the friendly confines of Alumni Hall.

Contributed by Sports Information Desk

Camille Coffey '15 explores wildlife in South Africa

By Matthew Schneider Assistant Sports Editor Fairfield volleyball player Camille Coffey ’15 is an animal lover, as evidenced by her veterinary work. She worked in a shelter last spring, a small animal clinic and the Los Angeles Zoo last summer and is currently interning at a local zoo.

When the time came for her to inquire about studying abroad, the perfect opportunity seemed to present itself: a volunteer program in South Africa last summer where she would be working with various animals while gaining valuable life experience.

“I was originally researching study abroad programs and I wanted to go to Africa, but the program was extremely expensive,” Coffey said. “I also really wanted to work hands-on with the animals, but you don’t exactly get to do that in the classroom. I happened to stumble across a volunteer program right outside Johannesburg, South Africa, and I applied for it. I heard back the next day and they said, ‘You’re in,’ so

I called home and said, ‘I’m going to South Africa!’”

In Coffey’s opinion, the best part about working in South Africa was the training of the animals. She described the way that she and some other volunteers trained lion cubs in a sort of obstacle course and the thrill that came from hand-feeding such potentially deadly predators.

“We did training, which was kind of a behavioral enrichment type thing for some of the predators that were in the enclosure,” Coffey said. “We would bring them to an obstacle course, which they would have to go through, and they would get a reward.”

While in South Africa, Coffey lived on a sort of reservation sur-

rounded by high fences in order to keep the more dangerous animals out.

The fences didn’t always do their job however, as a few animals were able to gain entrance in the middle of the night on a few instances.

“We had a few donkeys and zebras get in and eat the horses’ food,

Contributed by Sports Information Desk Senior Camille Coffey (above) took time from volleyball this summer, traveling to South Africa to live on a reservation.

but the giraffes and hippos didn’t get in, which is good because the hippos will actually kill you,” Coffey said.

Coffey remembers one instance where she and other volunteers aided in the rescue of a wounded rhinoceros. The rhino, which had just been shot by poachers on a neighboring reservation, was in trouble when they found her.

In response, they built her an enclosure, got her food and dug her a mud pool.

“We got to see her go in the mud pool and we were all really excited because we spent like, the entire day covered in mud,” Coffey said.

Coffey also made a few friends while overseas, some of whom she still keeps in touch with. She met a few people from University of Connecticut and one person from the Air Force, but also met volunteers from Canada, Italy and Australia.

When asked if she would like to go back, Coffey said, “I would love to go back. I’m counting down the days to go back. I will go back at some point in my life.”

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Sports

Page 15

THE MIRROR | Week of October 8, 2014

Men's soccer fights to another scoreless draw

By Travis Day Contributing Writer Although the Sunday afternoon rain had been long gone by kickoff time, a dangerously slick Lessing Field saw Fairfield end their second straight home match in a double-overtime goalless draw against Marist College.

Once the referee whistled play underway, he was more than busy until the final whistle, calling an astounding 40 fouls between the two sides. Eight yellow cards and a red card for Marist defender Kevin Kappock were also doled out before all was said and done.

Head coach Carl Rees' side was coming off a disappointing 3-0 loss to Rider in their conference opener just four days prior. There was one statistic he was looking

to put to rest: Fairfield had not scored a goal since their 1-0 win at UMass Lowell on Sept. 23.

The Stags attempted to fuel some offensive fire early, playing ambitious long balls in the early minutes, but Marist's speed and tight defense halted them.

The Red Foxes won the foot races, dispossessing Fairfield again and again within the neutral third.

Marist's pace was just as dangerous on the offensive end, with explosive runs down the flanks and through the center of midfield.

Fairfield's back line held their own as usual, shutting down any pressure before anything threatened goalkeeper Matt Turner's ‘16 net.

The Red Foxes would get the first real chance of the evening in

the ninth minute, as a corner kick dangerously found its way into the six-yard box, forcing a desperate clearance from the Stag defense.

Midfielder Jonathan Uy ‘18 left the crossbar shaking with his shot from just inside the 18-yard box with just over 23 minutes to play in the half.

With many possessions ending for both sides purely by a loss of footing on the soaked field, the conditions caused an injury scare for Jordan Ayris ‘15.

Rushing to save a ball at the touchline by the Fairfield bench, Ayris awkwardly pivoted on his planted foot, immediately going to the ground clutching his right knee.

He would eventually get to his feet under his own power but

Contributed by Sports Information Desk Junior Matt Turner (above) shines, yet again, against conference foe Marist, allowing zero goals and garnering a few saves against the Red Foxes. Turner has now posted six clean sheets on the season to date and is enjoying his best season yet.

This week in sports: Wednesday, October 8 Men's Soccer at St. Peter's, 3 p.m.

Women's Soccer vs. St. Peter's, 7 p.m.

Friday, October 10 Field Hockey at Maine, 3 p.m.

Women's Golf at Rutgers Invitational, All Day

Saturday, October 11 Rowing at Head of the Housatonic, All Day Cross Country at New England Championships, All Day Volleyball at Rider, 1 p.m.

Men's Soccer at Monmouth, 7 p.m.

Women's Soccer vs. Monmouth, 7 p.m.

Sunday, October 12 Volleyball at St. Peter's, 1 p.m.

Field Hockey vs. Harvard, 1 p.m.

Contributed under Creative Commons

would not return.

Freshman Steven Valente would take his place for the remainder of the game.

“It's to be determined. We think he's got an MCL sprain,” Rees said of Ayris' injury. “When the swelling goes down, we'll get it evaluated and know more at a later time.”

Turner showed his savvy in goal again, confidently snagging a long free kick out of the air at the 17 minute mark.

He then stonewalled a breakaway chance from Marist forward Erik Dahl, who danced his way through the middle of the Fairfield back line, nearly getting off a clear shot.

An aggressive, fast-paced first half still saw both sides go into the locker rooms scoreless. Fairfield's lackluster offense and stout defense defined this game again, with only three shots each for both teams.

Tensions between the sides began to rise even higher after a brutal Ben Whitcomb ‘17 tackle on Marist's Kappock. Whitcomb was shown a yellow card, sending the Marist players and bench into a frenzy, who thought it deserved a sending off.

Kappock was not happy with the foul, and threw some choice words back at Whitcomb as he was temporarily subbed out.

With the game becoming more physical, Fairfield kept their cool and gained more time in the offensive third. Valente's speed on the flank added more pace and scoring chances to the Stag counterattack. Unfortunately, no goals came, even when the referee issued a second yellow, sending off Kappock.

Fairfield piled on more offensive pressure, but still struggled to seriously threaten the Red Foxes’ goal before the end of regular time.

“What do we need to score a goal? I wish I knew,” Rees said.

“At the end of the day, we're doing all the right things," he said, adding, "In front of goal, we need to be a little bit more composed, a little bit more rational and certainly more lethal with our finishing.”

Both overtime periods saw Marist drastically pull back their shorthanded midfield and defense.

Fairfield only managed two shots through both periods.

Sophomore George Newton found his way inside the box, but put his low shot straight at Marist goalkeeper Mark Rajovic, forcing his only save in overtime before the second period ended.

Although Fairfield's defense has been vital, and with Turner now posting six clean sheets of the season, the lack of scoring has already made the season a bit of an uphill battle. The Stags will be aiming to pick up their first conference win on the road in the coming week.

“I'm ready, they're ready, the crowd's ready,” said Rees. “The mindset of the group is great.

We're creating enough chances to win, and we will.”

Fairfield’s record overall now stands at 3-3-3 and 0-1-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.

They return to action on Oct. 8 at Saint Peter's at 3 p.m.

The Stags then travel to Monmouth for their next conference matchup on Oct. 11 before returning home to host Manhattan on Oct. 15. Both kickoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Field hockey wins big against Lehigh

By Jesse Erickson Assistant Sports Editor

After a tough loss in their conference opener on Friday, Oct. 3, the women’s field hockey team headed into their second conference game ready to defeat Lehigh University.

Although both teams played over the weekend already and were somewhat drained of energy, the Stags were able to prevail, and on Sunday, Oct. 5, the Stags shutout the Mountain Hawks 4-0.

Just 33 seconds into the game, the Stags set the intensity when Ann Burgoyne ‘17 put the first goal onto the board, after an assist from Emily McCauley ‘15. Minutes later, Lehigh attempted to take two more shots before Burgoyne proved her dominance in the game, scoring yet another goal for the Stags, as she forced her way through defenders from about 25 feet back. With about 20 minutes left in the first half, the Stags were ahead 2-0.

After the second goal by Burgoyne, the Mountain Hawks took five more shots that were all deflected by goalkeeper Caitlin Bennett ‘17. With four minutes left in the half, Burgoyne scored yet another goal, making it her

third goal of the game and a total of 13 goals so far this season. Only about a month into the season, Burgoyne leads the team in goals and a combined 26 points, making her a driving force in the upcoming season.

As the second half began, Emma Ball ‘18 started off in the net for the Stags. Between the defensive force of Felicitas Heinen ‘14, Valerie Buurma ‘14 and Ball, the Mountain Hawks struggled to play any offense at all, only getting two shots off in the second half.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, Fairfield had already taken four shots, while Lehigh barely had the opportunity to take one. With a three goal advantage over the Mountain Hawks, Head Coach Jackie Kane was able to give her entire team playing time to prepare them for upcoming in-conference play.

“We played everybody, so everyone made a contribution and that makes me really, really happy,” said Kane. “Everyone makes a contribution to the team and we’re able to win as a team and lose as a team, and today we were able to win entirely as a team.”

As the second half continued,

Fairfield took another two shots when Emily Leo ‘14 was able to get a rebound off of the goal and post the fourth and final goal for the Stags.

With 10 minutes remaining, Lehigh took one more shot before the Stags sent the Mountain Hawks home with another loss for the weekend. Fairfield outshot Lehigh 17-11 during both of the halves.

“We wanted to dominate this game,” added Kane.

With two goals by Burgoyne in the first game against New Hampshire, and another three goals by Burgoyne versus Lehigh, the Stags will look to the sophomore to continue to be a driving force for upcoming games.

“Scoring three goals was exciting,” added Burgoyne. “I think the first goal was the most exciting because it was like textbook. We passed well and my teammates were there.”

After their domination on Sunday, the Stags are excited to take on Maine who, Kane explained, will be one of their toughest games of the season. If they can get past Maine, the team is hopeful to return to the America East Conference Tournament yet again.

SPORTS 16

@MirrorSports Fairfield Mirror Sports Week of October 8, 2014

Sports Editor: Patrick Kiernan » sports@fairfieldmirror.com

Volleyball beats Marist 3-1 in Alumni Hall on Sunday

By Kelsey Shockey Contributing Writer On a chilly Sunday afternoon, the Stags heated things up with a vigorous volleyball game against conference rival, the Marist Red Foxes. Although the Stags lost to Siena in a tough match the day before, they rose above it and beat the Red Foxes 3-1.

The starting lineup was Megan Theiller ‘18, Carsen Mata ‘14, Camille Coffey ‘15, Megan O’Sullivan ‘17, Lindsay Weaver ‘15, Hadley Orr ‘16 and Marilyn Peizer ‘15.

“We had a really disheartening match against Siena, so that was really frustrating. But we came back today and,” Orr said jokingly, “punched them in the mouth.”

The Red Foxes started the first point of the set with a long rally. But, the Stags came right back with a forceful attack and from there, managed to get ahead in the set.

Peizer played a huge role by making six powerful attacks that ultimately led the team to their first set win 25-20. Every time she

would spike the ball, Marist had a reason to worry.

According to Peizer, “It really comes down to practice. It’s a safe place where you can be hitting extreme shots at extreme angles so that when it comes time for the game, it’s almost like second nature. Everybody remembers a good hit in volleyball, but it’s really a team effort that leads to the spike.”

Throughout the game, the Stags and Red Foxes were jumping and diving in the air for the ball.

The atmosphere and plays were so intense that there were even times when the ball would fly into the stands with players leaping out to try and keep the ball in play.

“It’s heart, fight and relentless pursuit,” said Peizer. “Even if the ball is shanked off to the side, our defenders always go after it.

It helps when you can trust your teammates and they play with a hundred percent effort.”

In the second set, the Red Foxes made a quick comeback, starting off the set with a 10-2 lead.

Marist would regain momentum

and go on to win the set 25-21.

“Energy is so important in volleyball. It’s such a momentum game that if we don’t have energy and if the momentum is on the other side of the court, they’re probably winning,” Bella Guanciale ‘17 said.

However, the Stags would regain the momentum in the next set. The players attribute Head Coach Kress for keeping them maintained and even-keeled with an effective use of timeouts.

“I think the biggest thing that really helped us in that game was when we started to drop, [Coach Kress] called a timeout, we collected ourselves and even on the court

we came in and collected ourselves and moved forward,” Orr said.

The third set had a lot of close rallies, but the Red Foxes were ahead 24-21, needing just one more point to win the set. However, the Stags swept them away after Orr led the team with a spike, winning three straight points to tie the set. Shortly after, the Stags won 26-24 to lead Marist 2-1. The Stags would also win the fourth set at the same score after a variety of breathtaking recoveries to ultimately win the match.

“Marist is one of the best teams on the schedule. For us, it was like a pride match. We wanted to protect our house and be able to

set the tone going into the MAAC Tournament, since this was the last time we would see them before then,” Peizer said.

It’s sufficient to say that the Stags and Red Foxes were neck and neck and that both teams have tremendous ability. However, today wasn’t about who strategized or executed better, but about playing with their hearts.

“Strategy isn’t always the Xs and Os of the game. Our strategy is about heart and mind because we know that we have the skills and we can figure it out ourselves. So it’s a matter of heart and just coming together as a team,” Orr said.

Contributed by Sports Information Desk The women's volleyball team (above) celebrate after winning three out of four sets during their victory over the Red Foxes. Key players Camille Coffey '15 (bottom left), Hadley Orr '16 (bottom middle) and Carsen Mata '14 (bottom right) have all been important to the team's success this season and are looking to make a run for the team's third consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.