THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper
Week of January 29, 2015
Vol. 40, Iss. 13
Fairfield Mirror @FairfieldMirror fairfieldmirror FairfieldMirror.com
Fitness, kindness, Jiu Jitstu and LoL utilize Activities Fair By Robert Joyce News Editor Among Fairfield’s many seasoned and established clubs and organizations present at the Activities Fair, Random Acts of Kindness Club, the FU Fitness Club, Fairfield Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club and The League Club were four new clubs looking to advertise and recruit members. According to Janice Herbert ‘15, chair of the Council of Student Organizations (COSO), the spring activities fair “definitely allows for new student leaders to become more familiar with the student community and to put their face out there.” Additionally, Herbert stated, “It is a valuable time for recruiting students to join new clubs, especially if they were not around for the first semester. Not only it is vital for new clubs to get the word out about their mission, but it is also important for the new club officers to interact with other club leaders and the student community as a whole.” For COSO to plan the activities fair, they “talked to various student leaders and campus departments about reaching out to students
who aren’t as involved,” stated Herbert. “We booked the space, accepted reservations and organized the table layout over the course of the winter break.” The Random Acts of Kindness Club is looking to be a “catalyst
[The spring activities fair] definitely allows for new student leaders to become more familiar with the student community and put their face out there. -Janice Herbert ‘15 Chair of the Council of Student Organizations for kindness,” said Austin Begin ‘15 and Nicole Gallucci ‘15, the club’s co-presidents.
According to Begin, they are planning “small, little events to entice kindness.” Acts include mailing thoughtful letters to friends’ campus mailboxes and a faculty appreciation day. Begin and Gallucci, along with Mariana Mangini ‘18, vice president, said they were “absolutely excited about the activities fair,” as an opportunity to advertise their new club and recruit members. The three were also enthusiastic about the amount of people who signed-up. The FU Fitness club is “excited to help people get ripped and achieve the physique they want,” according to Wade Fan ‘18, club officer. According to the club’s mission statement, “The purpose of this organization is to promote fitness amongst the student body that will benefit them physically, socially, and mentally. We aim to inspire, educate, and encourage all members.” The club also focuses on how working to achieve fitness goals can translate to achievement in non-fitness related goals. READ
SPRING ON PAGE 2
ASML grants $40K to launch Fairfield Engineers Without Borders By Jessica Delahunt Contributing Writer Fairfield’s School of Engineering has been awarded a $40,000 grant from Dutch technical company ASML to establish a campus chapter of Engineers Without Borders. The grant, to be provided in yearly increments of $8,000 over a period of five years, will be put toward travel fees for students journeying to and from their international project sites, according to Dr. Bruce Berdanier, dean of the School of Engineering. “What ASML’s money has done is allowed us to set up the basic chapter,” Berdanier said. “We know at least four students can travel each year.” EWB is a nonprofit organization that partners with struggling communities in 47 developing countries around the world. After assessing the needs of a community, EWB volunteers design and implement infrastructures needed to improve the quality of life of individuals within the community. According to Berdanier, who plans to act as the organization’s faculty advisor, Fairfield has been unofficially affiliated with the organization for the past two years, partnering with students in South Dakota State University’s EWB chapter to develop a water treatment facility for a university in rural Bolivia. “Now we’ll have our own formal organization, and we’ll keep working on these projects for right now,” said Berdanier of the Bolivia project. “To complete all the water treatment work there, it’s probably going to take us a couple more years,” he added. Unlike other international service trips that are popular on campus, EWB projects cannot be completed in a single trip. “If you get involved with water development projects in developing countries, you find that a lot of people are doing work, but if you go back in a couple of years you find
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Contributed by Bruce Berdanier
Dean of the School of Engineering Bruce Berdanier poses with children in Bolivia, where Fairfield has previously worked alongside South Dakota State University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter to develop a water treatment facility. that about 60 percent of them aren’t working,” Berdanier explained. To ensure the long-term success of projects, EWB requires that chapters make a minimum five-year commitment to a community, according to Berdanier. Within this period, volunteers make several trips to their project sites, including an initial visit to a community to assess its specific needs, a second trip to implement their designs, and a third trip to ensure that the systems are still operating successfully. Design and construction is only one aspect of the work that EWB does in developing
communities. “Every time that we travel we prepare an education program for the students in Bolivia so we do something to teach them about treating water or about health issues,” Berdanier said. Berdanier was quick to assure that Fairfield’s EWB chapter would be open to all students, with or without engineering backgrounds. “We obviously have to be able to do engineering designs but just because you’re not an engineer doesn’t mean that you can’t travel with us and help build things,” he said. Non-engineers could also take part in the chapter by helping with marketing and fund-
raising for future projects, according to Berdanier. Yet according to Berdanier, the sum provided by ASML is only a fraction of what the School of Engineering will need to keep the chapter operational. “To do this whole thing that we want to do at the level that we want to do it, we really need somewhere between $80,000-$100,000 over the next five years,” said Berdanier. “We will keep working on trying to get additional funds for more students to participate,” he added.
Inside Our Issue: News: Non-student arrested for vodka bottle assault (Page 4)
Vine: Independant play project brings ‘The Shape of Things’ to life (Page 8)
Opinion: Social media dictates what is relevant (Page 5)
Sports: Weak defense in second half leads Stags to loss (Page 16)