10:26:2016

Nobel Prize

Haunted Hall

Opinion

Women’s Soccer

Vine

Sports

Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize redefines the meaning of literature.

Our editors investigated the paranormal legends of Dolan Hall.

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Stags shutout Rider 1-0 on Senior Day. Senior Brenna Brown scored the winning goal.

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THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper

Week of October 26, 2016

@FairfieldMirror

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Vol. 42 Iss. 7

Nicole Funaro/The Mirror

Students, families and alumni utilized the various food trucks, such as Pierogies on Wheels, located in the traffic circle during Alumni & Family Weekend.

Alumni & Family Weekend Thrived Despite Rain Relocation

By Juliana Sansonetti Assistant News Editor Every year, students reunite with their families and recently graduated friends during the highly-anticipated Alumni & Family Weekend.

Freshman Tess Griffin enjoyed seeing her family again for the weekend.

“It was a much needed, nice little break,” she said. “It gives us a little boost until Thanksgiving when we see [our families] again.”

The planning for the weekend this year, which was headed by Assistant Director of Student Programs in the Office of Student Engagement Colleen Wilson ‘11, included events for the whole family such as a Solo Circus Show, a petting zoo and a showing of “The Secret Life of Pets,” along with events geared more toward older family members, such as the Beer Garden and a Mimosa Reception for Fairfield Legacy families.

Alumni also returned to Fairfield to participate in sporting events, such as Rugby Fest and Men’s and Women’s Alumni Swimming and Div-

ing Meet. Also, the rock band The Adults, which is made up of five Fairfield alumni, gave a performance on Oct. 22.

According to the President of the Alumni Association John Pagano MBA ‘04 MS ‘06, 15 percent of Fairfield graduates are members of a legacy family.

“Because you have such a good experience, it passes along to your children when you go to the events,” said Pagano. “You have that family atmosphere. I can tell you from this past weekend, as a student, [the children] are more apt to enjoy it and want to come here.”

Wilson spoke on the events of the weekend.

“This year’s events follow the pattern of past Alumni & Family Weekends, but with new twists,” Wilson stated. “We have moved our StagFest event to the traffic circle, which is a unique venue that we are excited to use. The Beer Garden [was] in the middle of the circle with the 14 food vendors surrounding that.”

Read Alumni on Page 

Nicole Funaro/The Mirror A band made up of alumni, “The Adults,” performed in the Lower Level of the Barone Campus Center, after the originally scheduled performance near the Stag statue was changed due to rain.

University Discusses Free Feminine Hygiene Products

By Juliana Sansonetti Assistant News Editor

On average, women spend $18,171 on feminine hygiene products in their lifetime.

The aforementioned statistic, provided by the Huffington Post, sheds light on the difficulties that many women face because of their periods each year. Fairfield University Student Association Senate, the American Association of University Women Fairfield chapter and Performing for Change are attempting to remedy that problem at Fairfield by petitioning that the University provide hygiene products to University women free of charge.

The initiative is not only happening at Fairfield. Beginning in September, free tampons and sanitary napkins could be found in all women’s, men’s and gender inclusive bathrooms in academic buildings at Brown University and in all campus bathrooms at Cornell University, accord-

ing to the Huffington Post and the Daily Mail.

Junior at Cornell Daisy Zheng said, “I’ve been asked so many times if I had a tampon or pad that someone could borrow, so I think it’s great that they will now be provided free of charge to all students who need them.”

Performing for Change Co-President Kaadiana Barnes ‘17 explained how the initiative began at Fairfield.

“One of our members in Performing for Change had a concern about free feminine hygiene products and thought that we should do something about it, so we had the idea of writing notes on pads and then posting them in bathrooms. FUSA Senate also coincidentally put out a survey about the free feminine hygiene situation around the same time, so FUSA Senate connected with the American Association of University Women and Performing for Change, and we are going to have a meeting on [Oct. 28].”

Chair of the FUSA Senate committee Di-

versity of Inclusion Domonique Jackson ‘18 explained the initiative.

“The free feminine hygiene products is an initiative that aims to provide free feminine hygiene products in bathrooms around campus as an emergency resource,” she said. “In doing so, the initiative hopes to limit any potential factors that would inhibit a student’s ability to be fully present in the learning environment or undergo their daily Stag activities.”

The Diversity of Inclusion Committee is new this year and tackles issues involving class, gender, campus climate, cultural programming, the LGBTQ community, race, interfaith relations, commuter relations, disability and more.

“The goal of this committee is to be another solid resource for student concerns, especially those coming from a non-dominant narrative,” commented Jackson.

Speaker of the Senate Cara Gibbons ‘18 is working alongside the committee to implement

the new initiative.

Gibbons spoke on the responses to the FUSA survey that was sent out earlier this year about hygiene products.

“Many students expressed that they do not always carry a feminine hygiene product on them and in the case of an emergency, they would not be prepared,” stated Gibbons. “In some instances, students would have to miss class, a meeting or alter their schedule for the day because of the unexpectancy that had occurred.”

Junior Tracy Le Beau agrees that unavailable products is a problem. “[The initiative] gives girls less things to worry about,” she said. “You never know when you are going to need something. It’s just easier.

We pay a lot of money to go to this school, so I think they should be able to help us out with that.”

Read FUSA on Page 

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THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

News

Birth Control: $11,400 New Underwear: $2,280 Tampons: $1,773 Midol: $1,229 Chocolate: $912 Panty Liners: $443 Acne Medication: $94 Heating Pads: $40

Information Provided By Huffington Post and Fairfield University

FUSA and Performing for Change Unite to Combat Female Issues Continued from page 

However, some students believe that the products should only be provided to those who cannot afford them.

“If someone can’t financially purchase these things for themselves, then they should be given to them,” said Ruben Neves ‘17, “but if you are financially stable and you can afford these things and you need them, then you should pay for them yourself.”

According to AAUW President Shaquanna Raynor ‘18, “AAUW has been trying to create different programs to support the issue. Hopefully the University will see the efforts of multiple different organizations on campus and agree with what we are fighting for.”

According to Jackson, a framework is still being worked on to

make the initiative feasible and sustainable.

“Right now, based on a price model created in committee, we are hoping to implement a trial period with free feminine hygiene products in the Barone Campus Center in the women’s bathroom closest to Einstein’s,” Jackson added. “Following the FUSA initiated poll, students reported that this is the bathroom they used most frequently. We’re hoping to run the trial for 1-2 months and, depending on the success of the trial, we will continue to push forward with long term implementation plans.”

According to Jackson, different campus partners offered to help support the project. The committee is hoping for companies to provide products to the school after learning about the initiative.

Gibbons spoke on the trial run of the initiative.

“It is important to remember that these products are to be solely for the purpose of an emergency in order for the individual to continue on with their day before returning home,” said Gibbons.

Barnes commented on the importance of the initiative. “[These products] are really expensive,” Barnes said. “It’s very important that we help these young girls deal with these situations.

It’s also important to have products accessible in the bathrooms because the machines either never work or they are empty.”

Barnes added, “There has to be some products in the bathrooms or in the Diversity Office, or in any comfortable space so [people] can grab them if they need them and it doesn’t have to be a taboo subject.”

Hoover and Avlon Spoke on Importance of Millennial Vote

By Elizabeth O’Hara Contributing Writer They were referred to in the past as CNN’s power couple. John Avlon is known for being a centrist who holds moderate political views, a CNN political analyst and Editor-in-Chief of the political news website, The Daily Beast.

Avlon was accompanied by his wife, Margaret Hoover, who is a moderate Republican and the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover, as well as a political commentator and best-selling author who writes about the future of the Republican Party and how internal reforms can better appeal to millennial voters.

At the 11th Annual Student Forum on Oct. 20, Avlon and Hoover took the stage of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts for an evening of political banter and discourse about the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election.

According to Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Fitzpatrick ‘70, over 300 students, faculty and guests filled the seats awaiting the arrival of the two esteemed speakers.

Fitzpatrick planned and coordinated the event along with Professor of Visual and Performing Arts Dr. Philip Eliasoph.

“Professor Eliasoph usually contacts me in the spring with suggested speakers. Being so close to this important election, the topic and speakers seemed perfect,” said Fitzpatrick.

Eliasoph started the evening off by welcoming the panel of special guests, which included Hoover and Avlon, as well as Jesse Erickson

‘17, Riley Barrett ‘17 and Johnny Hirschauer ‘18. Before the panel began, Student Body President Zoë Ferranti ‘17 introduced the two speakers.

“This event will allow us to join in on a national conversation,” said Ferranti in her introductory remarks.

After being welcomed to the stage along with members of the Student Forum, Hoover and Avlon both gave their own opening statements.

“None of this is normal,” said Avlon in regards to the 2016 election.

Avlon went on to discuss the ways the presidential election has contrasted with all others in the past.

“This election has tested our civic bonds in unique ways. By unique ways, I mean bad. All of this is different, but not better. The candidates’ negative ratings outweigh their positive ratings. That is unusual,” explained Avlon.

After wrapping up, Avlon introduced his other half.

“I’m sort of a different kind of Republican,” explained Hoover.

In her introduction, Hoover touched upon certain voting statistics regarding the millennial generation.

“30.5 million millennials will be eligible to vote in this election. Think about that for a minute.”

In her best-selling book, “American Individualism: How A New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party,” Hoover stressed the need to modernize the Republican party for this election in order to connect with the millennial generation.

College of Democrats member Catherine Pezzella ‘17 felt that the speakers did a great job of giving their real opinions on the election.

“Our special guests did not hold back on their views and I was glad that they were truly honest with the answers they gave to not only our student panel, but to our audience as well. I enjoyed how they brought up interesting ideas about how the Republican Party can change in order to adapt to our ever-changing society,” said Pezzella.

Throughout the evening and after the introductory segments, the speakers answered questions from student members on the panel.

When asked if women should be embarrassed to vote for Republican candidate, Donald Trump, Hoover replied with an equitable remark.

“No. Who am I to say they should be embarrassed? If you support Donald Trump, God Bless you, but you better have a reason. I do think it is important for your vote to be backed with some political reason,” Hoover said.

Hirschauer brought up the ever-growing argument of gay rights in combination with religious freedom.

Hoover, an advocate and activist for gay rights, had a strong response.

“Today’s society frames it in a way that there is no way to balance religious freedom and protecting LGBT people from discrimination.

There is a way and there are groups of citizens committed to being able to balance religious freedom and also protection for the LGBT community,” said Hoover.

When asked about how this Student Forum will inspire Fairfield students, Barrett, President of College Democrats, believed that the event will empower students to vote.

“The event helped empower students and helped them recognize

Contributed by Riley Barrett Political commentator Margaret Hoover conversed with Riley Barrett ‘17, who participated in the panel along with two other students.

their voting agency as an age group,” said Barrett.

One of the main discussion points of the night was about getting out and voting.

Whether you agree with the political adversaries of the presidential election or not, Hoover and Avlon want Fairfield students and millen-

nials across the country to remember one thing.

“We have to be better than this.

We have to think bigger than this.

We have to be our best selves,” explained Avlon.

“Participate in the process because it matters,” added Avlon. “This is the world you are going to inherit.”

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THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

News

The Mirror Reflects on this Week in Social Media

Compiled by Juliana Sansonetti Information contributed by the Department of Public Safety.

Thursday, 10/20 11:29 p.m.- At Townhouses 12 block, two individuals walking around with beer were identified and documented.

The students were referred to Student Conduct.

Friday, 10/21 11:48 a.m.- A burglary was reported in Donnarumma Hall. An individual entered a professor’s office and took an iPhone from her purse. The suspect was described as a black male wearing a black and red jacket and a backpack.

Sunday 10/23 12:43 a.m. - A student was found with vodka on McInnes Road and was referred to Student Conduct.

1:17 p.m. - A fence was damaged at Townhouses 6 block by the dumpsters. Anyone with any information is encouraged to come forward to the Department of Public Safety or a Resident Assistant.

Tuesday 10/25 1:44 p.m. - An Acura MDX front bumper and grille was struck during the day in the McAuliffe Hall parking lot. No suspect was identified.

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Alumni & Family Weekend Catered to All Ages Continued from page  StagFest included food vouchers for some of the most beloved restaurants in Fairfield, including Colony Grill, Super Duper Weenie and Taco Loco. There was also a petting zoo at StagFest, known as the Lil Stag Zone, which included a pig, goat, sheep, bunnies, chickens, ducks and a pony.

However, because of rain, StagFest had to be moved to the Lower Level Barone Campus Center.

Senior Bethany Russo commented, “I think it was pretty well organized, despite the rain. I think that moving everything into the LLBCC was a good idea to keep things dry and warm because it was pretty cold outside.”

After StagFest, there was a Solo Circus show featuring Michael Dubois at night on Oct. 22.

“The Solo Circus is a fast paced, audience interactive and technical skills variety show featuring an all original presentation of magic, juggling, circus and sideshow stunts all wrapped in a blanket of comedy,” commented Wilson.

DuBois has performed his act for over eight years and has made appearances on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” “The Jay Leno Show” and the “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Senior Anthony Iorio, who attended the

Solo Circus with his family, found the event to be entertaining.

“The performers were very skilled,” Iorio said. “I found it incredible the way they did stuff with hoops and juggling ... It was like Cirque du Soleil, but with two people.”

The show, which was sold out weeks before the event, filled the Quick Center’s 740 seats.

The annual Glee Club Concert on Oct. 23 was also filled to capacity, according to Wilson.

Associate Director of the Office of Student Engagement Jeremy Kaler, who was on the planning committee for the weekend, commented on the events, stating, “The Alumni and Family Weekend Committee began laying the groundwork for the weekend early on in the Spring 2016 semester and have been working ever since.”

“Events are a mix of traditional events that are a staple of Alumni & Family Weekend and new ones that were solicited from various departments and offices across campus,” Kaler continued.

“Alumni & Family Weekend is one of those unique opportunities that brings alumni, family, friends and current students together to celebrate the past, the present and the future of Fairfield University,” Kaler added. “There really isn’t anything else like it.”

Nicole Funaro/The Mirror Alumni and families view the groundwork for Fairfield Rising, a campaign to raise $160 million in order to improve campus facilities and expand students’ educational opportunities.

Fairfield 2.0 Will Feature New Search Bar and Interactive Icons

By Samantha Moore Contributing Writer Ready or not, come January, the familiar portal my.Fairfield.edu will be replaced by its updated version, my.

Fairfield.edu 2.0.

Until then, students, faculty and staff can orient themselves with the new portal that launched earlier this month.

According to Jason Victor, ITS4U Help Desk Manager, the upgrade aims to address previous inefficiencies such as the lack of a search bar.

“We found that with the current my.Fairfield, it is very hard to find things unless you know where they are,” Victor said.

In order to combat the difficulty, the upgraded portal features a prominent search bar, facilitating an easy search. Now, users can search for items directly, similar to using Google.

“The goal is to make finding resources for the University community easier to find,” Victor said.

For Alex Yang ‘20, a new approach to my.Fairfield may make searching less burdensome.

“Sometimes it’s hard to find something although there are many options.

I just think typing something in is easier,” Yang said.

In addition to expediting the discovery of content, my.Fairfield 2.0 will allow authorized users to publish information in a more efficient manner. Now, departments have the ability to make their own updates to the portal.

As far as the basics, my.Fairfield 2.0 will feature tiles called tasks. When clicked, these tasks will take users to resources, websites and documents.

Users can favorite tasks such as Blackboard or LaundryView by clicking on the star shown at the bottom of each task.

After this, favorited items will be shown upon each visit to the portal.

Currently, the original my.Fairfield features a launchpad containing common programs, but other information is filed under tabs.

My.Fairfield 2.0 will enable users to browse the list of available tasks categorized under the “Featured” or “Most Popular” headings. Each task pairs text and an icon to simplify user recognition of the resource that it represents.

Others, like Rachel Zanfardino ‘18, have mixed feelings about my.Fairfield 2.0.

“I feel that change can be difficult. So after being here for two years and using the old system, it’s hard to just switch over all of a sudden,” said Zanfardino. “But I do think if it’s the most progressive way for everything to be more efficient, I’m open to the change.”

Since its soft launch, content is continually being added to my.Fairfield 2.0, but the portal is currently functional.

The transition period not only allows users to familiarize themselves with the changes, but also allows departments time to migrate information to the new service.

While my.Fairfield 2.0 brings about change, resources exist to help ease the transition. Links to both a short informational video as well as instructions are available on the new my.Fairfield.edu 2.0 page.

Both portals will exist simultaneously until the current my.Fairfield.edu is turned off in January. The updated my.Fairfield 2.0 is accessible at fairfield. onecampus.com or by link on the current portal.

Victor believed that once the campus is familiar with the new portal, users will find my.Fairfield 2.0 more efficient than its current counterpart.

Photo Illustration by Jesse Erickson The old interface of my.Fairfield.edu (above left) includes a display of various clickable quick links while the new website, my.Fairfield.edu 2.0 (bottom) will include a search bar to assist with navigation within the site and clickable tiles called tasks that lead to different sites, which can be favorited after multiple visits. When clicked, these tasks lead users to resources, websites and documents.

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THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

Opinion Editor Kelsey Sullivan » opinion@fairfieldmirror.com

Getting Opinionated with The Mirror

Dylan Winning the Nobel Prize Celebrates Diversity in Literature

By Alexandra Thimble Contributing Writer Throughout the majority of the 1960s, Bob Dylan, a poetic folk-rock singer and songwriter, penned songs about the social and political unrest of the United States.

His work, as philosophical and thoughtprovoking as it was fun to sing along to, gradually expanded from his first album in 1962 to a career spanning over 50 years and a catalogue of over 500 original songs.

To top off numerous Grammy Awards and a place in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Oct. 13, becoming the first ever songwriter to receive the award.

Dylan was always honest and straightforward about the struggles facing the everyday person and the effect that his achievement had on the people who listen to his music shows that his songs do what literature is supposed to: provoke some sort of response from those who partake in it.

However, the recognition raised some eyebrows among popular publications, with The New York Times and Slate Magazine, a magazine of news, politics, technology and culture, running articles with identical headlines: “Why Bob Dylan Shouldn’t Have Gotten A Nobel Prize.”

While a songwriter winning such an award is certainly unconventional, the point of literature isn’t about what form it comes in or what boxes get checked; it’s much more about

the emotional response that it elicits from those who indulge in it.

We as a society subscribe to the rigid idea of the categories of things, but literature is all about the expression of one’s feelings or of widespread ideas.

Multiple art forms do this, but literature was always closely boxed in as adhering to traditional, published writings that have an author and solely produce ideas in this way.

That is why the recent untraditional awarding of the Nobel Prize is ruffling so many feathers — that and the fact that Dylan is seemingly refusing to acknowledge that he won the award.

Dylan doesn’t fit into the standard equation of a traditional writer, even though the poetry of Dylan’s music is renowned and unique for the way in which he portrays his ideas and the way in which people have responded to such ideas.

Why is Dylan any different from

a playwright like Harold Pinter or an achingly emotional poet like Pablo Neruda?

Why is he dissimilar from an internationally famous novelist like Ernest Hemingway or Gabriel García Márquez, or one whose writings foray out of traditional tellings and into history like Günter Grass, all of whom are former Nobel Prize in Literature winners?

Yes, he may be the first songwriter ever to win the award, but if anything, the decision was the Swedish Academy choosing to recognize the dynamic nature that the award can have.

Dylan for years reflected the frustrations of those struggling with many forms of inequality and lack of representation, which continues to resonate with countless people.

Language and literature should be fluid and allow for change; that’s how new art forms are created — by being given the freedom to change.

That’s not to say that a songwriter should win the Nobel Prize in Literature every year because then it would be a songwriting award and wouldn’t stand for greatness in literature. Rather, the

Nobel Prize in Literature should be an award to celebrate the diversity of literature.

This year, it’s Dylan for the poetry of his song lyrics that reflect ideals of American worker from the 1960s, and next year, it should be a different expression of writing, maybe focusing on, as The New York Times suggested, “a writer from the developing world, which remains woefully underrepresented among Nobel laureates” or “a writer who has built an audience primarily online, like Warsan Shire, who became the first Young Poet Laureate of London in 2014.”

The Nobel Foundation made this exact point themselves; they gave the award to Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

They’re celebrating his triumphs for having made great strides in literature within a whole other category: music.

Moreover, they recognize that literature takes different forms and that the important part of it is not what form it comes in, but how it resonates with people who consume it.

Overall, the Swedish Academy is trying to make the system more inclusive because language and literature do not have to be rigid, and literature doesn’t always equate to what’s in a book.

Dylan has written some profound poetry in the form of song lyrics for over 50 years and his brand of literature should be celebrated.

Bob Dylan performing in 1978.

Creative Commons/Wikimedia.com

Election Talk Shouldn't be a Taboo Subject in Classrooms

By Samantha Quiñones Contributing Writer Professors at Fairfield have a tendency to bring up the presidential election because it is important to our society and how we operate.

In my experience, professors are always open for discussions about politics in class, especially now that the election is so close.

Politics can be related to leaves on a tree; everyone knows about it and when election season is over, they die out.

I don’t believe that it is inappropriate to mention the election because almost everyone in our classes is old enough to vote and everyone should vote.

Even though it does bring up arguments about which candidate is “better” than the other, we do live in America, home of the right to share our opinion and we shouldn’t let disagreements dissuade us from having important conversations.

My professors have mentioned the presidential election, especially after the final debate. They wanted to hear what my classmates and I had to say and what arguments we could make about what others said. One of the things that my Women and Gender in U.S. History professor, Dr. Elizabeth Hohl does every class is ask us to “show and

tell” and somehow, the election is almost always brought up because of its timeliness, but also due to the context of the course.

For professors, I assume they see us as babies because we have minds that are easily molded with thoughts and reactions to everything that is happening in the world.

Perhaps they also see the 2016 Presidential Election as something that every student is talking about and in turn, discussing it could be extremely educational. Some professors may even go as far as to mold their lectures and lessons around the election. Personally, I love this because everyone knows what’s going on regarding the election.

At the same time, we encounter professors that don’t want to get into politics and the election because it isn’t relevant to their class or to themselves. In my intercultural communications class, Dr. Qin Zhang doesn’t mention it at all because it isn’t relevant to her course.

The professors are either going to bring it up themselves or wait for a student to bring it up to share with the class.

The 2016 Presidential Election is important because we have so many young voters getting out there and casting their vote. Most people likely know who they’re going to vote for at this point, but there are certainly some undecided voters.

Everywhere you look, there is “STAG VOTE” posters all around

campus and a big part of that is to get you to vote. In the Barone Campus Center, there is a board with good things about Clinton and good things about Trump, and what their solutions are for various issues.

“STAGS VOTE” is a great idea for people to get more educated on what the issues are and what each candidate is proposing to do to solve them. STAGS VOTE is also a great way to get everyone at Fairfield to vote on Nov. 8.

Illustration by Kelsey Sullivan

Editorial Board "What Not to Wear"

Jesse Erickson Editor-in-Chief Andrew DaRosa Executive Editor Ariana Puzzo Managing Editor

Halloween is less than a week away and most of us have already figured out what costumes we’re going to wear throughout Halloween weekend since, of course, you can’t wear a costume more than once.

Each year, costumes range from fun and creative to suggestive and “minimalistic,” but however you dress, there are certainly limits and lines that should not be crossed.

The New York Times article, “Halloween Costume Correctness on Campus: Feel Free to Be You, but Not Me” was published on Oct. 30, 2015 and highlights the controversy that continues today on college campuses about maintaining cultural sensitivity. While some view being culturally sensitive as “limiting freedom of speech,” we, as the Editorial Board, believe that there are certain lines

that should not be crossed based on a fundamental respect for others.

People will choose to wear suggestive and seductive Halloween costumes and that decision is completely to their discretion, but there must be a limit. Cultural appropriation is a sensitive and frequently discussed topic around the country — as it should be — and we often talk about what it means to people of different ethnicities and races. However, similar attention should be given to religions and not imitating the dress of members of religious communities.

We recently came across another Halloween “costume” that deserves to be viewed as repugnant and should be condemned. The costume is known as the “sexy nun” and there are various versions of the horrendous costume. Some versions

are called “Saintlike Seductress” and “Heavenly Hottie,” exhibiting utter disrespect toward women who have devoted their lives to their religion, living under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

In the same vein, the “sexy burka” costume was recently taken off of Amazon, which sexualized the traditional wear of conservative Middle Eastern women who fall under the traditional views of Islam.

The twofold, problematic nature of these costumes must be addressed.

Perhaps it can be boiled down to the over-sexualization of women in general, but it’s more layered than that.

The creation of the “sexy nun” and the “sexy burka” not only showcase a lack of understanding of what these religious community members devote their lives to doing, but also

highlight our society’s utter ignorance when it comes to knowing the limit of what is acceptable as a costume and what is a mockery of someone’s identity.

There is always a limit to how far we can go in any situation. To either blatantly disregard these limits as being “too politically correct” or a “threat” to one’s freedom of speech reveals a lack of maturity and an inability to comprehend the experiences of others and reassess how the actions that we take without thought may offend or target them.

Moreover, we must move forward by continuing to acknowledge these shameful decisions that are made not only by the people creating these costumes, but also by the people willing to buy them, and hold them accountable.

Page 6

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

Opinion

Eric Trump Reaffirms Father's Sexist Agenda "What 2016 Would Look Like if Just Men Voted"

Photo Provided by @NateSilver538

By Karina Bautista Contributing Writer Tensions are rising as election day approaches and anything a candidate or even their family does, says or thinks is scrutinized.

Eric Trump released a map on Oct. 12 depicting the idea of his father, Donald Trump winning the election if the only people to vote were men.

The map was color-coded between red, for Donald Trump, and blue, for Hillary Clinton.

The map depicted an overwhelming amount of states filled in with red, expressing that Donald Trump would

win the electoral vote for the majority of states if women abstained from voting.

While the red states took up more than 50 percent of the United States map, Clinton had a small amount of states.

The map that was released by Eric Trump reinforced the attitude that Donald Trump has toward women.

Donald Trump’s behavior toward women is a prominent issue in his campaign.

The choice for Eric Trump to release this segregating map that isolates the female population does not help his father’s case.

It was not a smart strategy to create a map in order to portray his father’s suc-

cess throughout his journey to voting day.

The only success that came from the male dominated map was continuous resistance from the female population.

According to the United States Census Bureau, as of July 2014, about 162 million women take up the United States population, while 157 million are males.

Also, 43 percent of women reported voting in the 2012 election, compared to the 40.8 percent of men who reported voting.

Women may strongly support Clinton and Donald Trump, but Eric Trump’s map reassures Clinton supporters of their decision.

The depiction on the aforementioned infographic was a poor decision on Eric Trump’s part because it is ignorant to the fact that women hold the majority of votes within an election.

It also stirs up more frustration for the female voter and enhances the thought that the Donald Trump campaign cares about the male population over the female one.

Junior Sarah McHale, a politics major, stated, “It was a desperate and misguided attempt to dissuade voters from recognizing the fact that [Donald Trump’s] chances are all but lost.

Sending out a map of what the results would be like if only men voted may give a glimmer of hope for the Trump campaign and his supporters, but in reality, the scenario is completely unrealistic, offensive and false.”

Rather than creating a map specifically catered to men, a better strategy

toward emphasizing the positives within the campaign could be a graph expressing the amount of supporters that Donald Trump gained over his campaigning months, both male and female.

By making himself seem like a “winner” in the eyes of his male supporters, it allows women to find another reason to not only go out and vote, but to go out and vote against him.

A Buzzfeed article, “Eric Trump Used An ‘If Only Men Voted’ Map To Convince Supporters His Dad Has ‘Momentum’” did a great job of compiling tweets and comments from the public.

The tweets followed a similar trend of the public not being supportive about the map.

Tweets such as, “Dream on, Eric Trump. This map is if women didn't vote, but we will. Oh yes, women will vote, but not for Trump” expressed disappointment and awareness of Donald Trump’s unrealistic hope of men being the only ones to vote.

Twitter users, along with myself, were not only disappointed by Eric Trump’s actions, but are now more confident in the United States being led by Clinton.

While Eric Trump continues to spread unrealistic thoughts, dreams and goals in hopes of bettering his father’s chances, women are preparing themselves for voting day.

It is not a surprise that Eric Trump followed his father’s trend of showing more concern for men over women, but the only benefit of the publication of this map is the fact that it can bring more female voters over to support Clinton.

Progressives Project Double Standards on Christianity

By Johnny Hirschauer Contributing Writer There’s a particular disdain that some progressives hold for Christianity as an institutional force. Christianity underpins much of Western civilization and its moral epicenter; radical progressives believe in a homogenous value of cultures and see Christianity therein as an anchor of unearned cultural superiority.

The amalgamation of resentment and ideological warfare allows progressives to conflate Christianity as a piece of the “establishment” to be torn down by this generation of progressives; they must expunge the backwards remnants of a forgotten past and the bigots standing athwart the insatiable rotary of progress must roll onward or die the slow cultural death of a troglodyte.

In a news story that only the modern media could cover in such a pathetically underwhelming manner, Hillary Clinton surrogates exchanged emails, released by WikiLeaks earlier this month, discussing their disdain for Catholicism and conservative Catholics. The transcript, showing emails from Jennifer Palmieri, head of communications for the Clinton campaign, and John Halpin, from the bastion of tolerance that is the Center for American Progress, is featured below: HALPIN: "Friggin' [conservative Rupert] Murdoch baptized his kids in Jordan where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Many of the most powerful elements of the conservative movement are all Catholic (many converts) from the [Supreme Court] and think tanks to the media and social groups. It's an amazing bastardization of the faith. They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy."

PALMIERI: “I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn't understand if they became evangelicals.”

HALPIN: “Excellent point. They can throw around 'Thomistic' thought and 'subsidiarity' and sound sophisticated because no one knows what the hell they're talking about.”

Progressives have become indefatigable apologists for the religion of Islam — in an age where Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant radicals drown homosexuals in steel cages — and have never had a problem blasting Christians for the supposed bigotry of suggesting that someone with female genitalia ought to use the

women’s bathroom. I am not suggesting that ISIS is equivalent to moderate Islam, but there is a sincere frustration when the rubric used to demean germane Christian beliefs writes off those same beliefs in even moderate forms of Islam as “cultural differences.” It is precisely this rhetoric, used in these emails, that is the underpinning of progressives’ animus toward Christianity, and specifically, Catholicism.

It is quite OK, in their own compass, for progressives to peruse the lines of generalization in deeming conservative Catholics mere patricians seeking to find a “socially acceptable, politically conservative religion” without ceding the social capital associated with “their rich friends,” and find an excuse to endorse the “severely backwards gender relations” of the Church.

However, we’re paternalistically told with a verbal pat on the head that while girls in some parts of the Islamic world can be married off as early as nine years of age, are forced to cover themselves and are often the victims of honor killings, we ought not ascribe that to anything more than a difference of culture and that we, as privileged leeches of a life of decrepit Western sociocultural laziness, could never understand. That the Catholic Church purports abortion as the taking of an innocent human life and only allows for male priests, on the other hand, are not only assaults on the equality of women, we’re told, but moreover a reflection of an institution forwarding a “backwards” agenda of demeaning females.

Many progressives are terrified of Catholicism’s “systematic thought” because it is a lineage of intellectual tradition virtually unmatched throughout history. The definitive theological musings of generations of scholastics, clergy and apologists has created the most academically voracious faith tradition in the history of the West.

The late Antonin Scalia and William F. Buckley Jr., as well as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan were Catholic, and all represent much of the past and present animating forces of the modern conservative movement. A wariness of Catholicism is a perhaps, in this view, prudent fear for elitist progressives. However, the wonderful thing is that mocking the fundamental motivations of the Catholic faith is something one can do without a reasonable concern for physical violence. Nonetheless, to test their working narrative we ought to ask whether Palmieri and Halpin would feel comfortable drawing pictures of Muhammad.

Kelsey Sullivan/The Mirror

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 errors. Letters should be free of obscenities and personal attacks and should contain correct and factual information, not exceeding 500 words.

The Vine

arts, entertainment, features Editor Colleen O'Connor vine@fairfieldmirror.com

The Fairfield Files

Photo compilation by Andrew DaRosa and Brendan Zimmerman

The Vine

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

Vine Investigates: Dolan Hall

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By Brendan Zimmerman Assistant Vine Editor

By Andrew DaRosa Executive Editor It is a customary Fairfield tradition to recount the tale of Dolan Hall and its long history of hauntings that date back to the inception of the campus. While the stories have changed over the years, the core details remain: when Dolan was still a convent for the nuns, one nun committed suicide on the fourth floor after rumors flourished that she was to bear a child. The room number was 403 and the hauntings remain to this day.

To experience the rumours for ourselves, Brendan Zimmerman, the Assistant Vine Editor, and I voyaged to the far side of campus to explore the grounds of Dolan. While I was taking photos of the exterior to run alongside this piece, I couldn’t help but notice the eerie landscape that surrounded the weathered building. Whether it was the bare trees or the dusk-tinged skies, I felt an aura of uneasiness surround me.

As we entered the building, the tension could have been cut with a knife. The first truly unsettling moment for my companion and I was when we first called the elevator. While everything seemed normal as we charted our journey to the fourth floor, I innocently attempted to grab a picture of the elevator door opening, but suddenly, my camera turned off without me ever switching the mode. I passed this off as a malfunction, but once I tried again to the take the picture, my shutter would not respond.

Petrification isn't the word I’d use to describe what we felt, but a certain notion of dread spread over us. Ascending to the fourth floor, we came out of the elevator not knowing what my lens would capture. The hallway was the first thing that we noticed, structured in a Kubrick-esque style design that was reminiscent of “The Shining” and “A Clockwork Orange.” During our shoot, Brendan pointed out room 403, the rumored room that is haunted by the spirit of the deceased nun. That wave of uneasiness returned after just subsiding and we felt as though someone or something was watching us from the corner of the hallway as we took pictures of the door.

When we felt as though we had enough photos that would substantiate our articles, we made a dart to go find individuals to interview since the suitemates in 403 were not available to be interviewed. As we just passed by the elevator, we noticed the door swing open automatically without anyone in it and a cold burst of air rush past us. We took note that the spirit certainly did not want us there, so we sprinted for the stairs and sought refuge on the third floor.

After a few rounds of student interviews, whom all confirmed the notions we previously had about the hauntings, we were convinced that we experienced something out of “The Twilight Zone.” To anyone willing to explore the hauntings of fourth floor Dolan, bring a buddy and a new pair of underwear. Also, prepare for a sleepless night.

Andrew DaRosa/The Mirror

I’d heard the stories. Friends, faculty and staff alike warned me, but I had to know the truth. Was Dolan Hall really haunted?

Growing up on influential shows like “The X Files” and “Scooby Doo” drove my imagination and raised my courage as I walked up the long road to the decrepit building. I thought, if I could even be remotely like FBI agent Fox Mulder during this investigation, then that would be awesome. Accompanied by the dark and moody sky, as well as my fellow investigator Andrew DaRosa following closely behind, we climbed up the imposing stairs to the entrance.

Upon entering, everything seemed as plain as vanilla ice cream; no ghosts here I thought with amusement. However, in the corner of my eye, I noticed the security camera monitor flickering menacingly on the wall, covered in a thick grain of distorted film.

We managed to find residents to share their thoughts on the matter. Junior Erin Monahan recounted the infamous legend surrounding Dolan Hall.

"Apparently … a nun killed herself in an apartment here,” said Monahan. “But I don’t really believe in haunted stuff at all, so it doesn’t throw me for a loop.”

We also heard beforehand that room 403 was especially haunted, so we called the elevator for the fourth floor and waited in anticipation. When the door opened, Andrew attempted to snap a photo of the interior, only to have his camera suddenly stop working. Unsettled, we hesitantly entered.

After arriving on the fourth floor, Andrew immediately noticed the Kubrick-style design of the hallway and thoughts of “The Shining” instantly flooded my mind. Would creepy twins appear suddenly? As my heart pumped erratically, I knocked on the door of 403 to ask the residents if they had experienced anything supernatural. Unfortunately, no one was there to comment.

As Andrew and I searched around the floor, the elevator suddenly opened up with no one inside. An eerily cold feeling shot through us and we left the scene faster than Scooby Doo hurtles toward a fresh Scooby Snack. After rushing down the blood red stairs back to the third floor, we sighed heavily with relief and continued to look for more students to comment.

Resident Assistant Aryam Kifle ’17 gave us her thoughts on the legend.

“I heard that a couple of years ago some girls who lived in my apartment thought they ‘felt a presence,’ so they had a Jesuit come and bless it. It’s definitely haunted,” said Kifle.

Leaving Dolan Hall with our senses on full alert and a newfound respect for paranormal investigators, we realized why the stories continue to pass down from year to year. There was certainly something supernatural that we experienced during our time in Dolan Hall and I realized that I should probably change my major to parapsychology.

'The Walking Dead' Satisfies Fans with Devestating Reveal

By Brendan Zimmerman Assistant Vine Editor The night was dark and full of unease. As I walked briskly toward my destination, my mind was racing at the possibilities that pervaded the night: who would it be? The cold breeze mixed with the dim road lights of the townhouses lent a dramatic atmosphere that felt all too relevant to my situation.

I arrived at my friends’ house with unabated expectation; anything could happen.

I walked in, took my seat on the couch and we turned on the T.V. — only to hear the grim sounds of discordant violins decaying into a world driven by survival. “The Walking Dead” had begun.

Season seven of “The Walking Dead” premiered on Oct. 23 and the season opener was teased to much anticipation over the past several months. Fans were left with a maddening cliffhanger that capped off the sixth season, as the show’s main characters were left bound and helpless to the cruelty of the newly introduced villain, Negan.

The disturbingly charismatic psychopath decided to set an example to protagonist Rick Grimes by randomly choosing one of his friends to be the unlucky victim of a grisly death. Negan’s weapon of choice? A baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire called Lucille. The premiere had to live up to the unenviable task of deftly resolving last season’s cliffhanger and answering the one question that fans waited for months to know the answer to: who died?

The episode opens with a quick recap of the characters’ situation and then the story suddenly cut ahead to show the aftermath of Negan’s massacre. Grimes, with a look of shell-shocked horror, is then taken by Negan into an RV, and the rest of the episode follows their battle for emotional dominance.

The episode focuses primarily on making an already dark and depressing world even more cruel with the introduction of Negan. In many ways, it thematically explores the fragility of the human psyche, as Negan attempts to break the show’s hero down into a helpless follower through a series of mind games.

While the theme of the episode is particularly striking, the manner in which it is explored is too overwrought. It is not until 20 minutes into the episode that viewers even get to see which character fell to Negan’s bat, which was easily resolvable to

greater impact during the ending of season six. The amount of time it has taken to reveal who died in this review, ironically enough, mirrors the agonizing wait that the showrunners of “The Walking Dead” put fans through over the course of the episode.

Halfway through the episode, Grimes recalls the terrifying scene, where Negan chooses Abraham Ford, a no nonsense ex-marine who joined Grimes’ group late in the show, to be the first victim. What follows is certainly disturbing to viewers not accustomed to the show’s gory depiction of violence. Negan swings his bat into Ford’s head and the camera looks away, leaving viewers to imagine the horrible image produced by the grisly sounds of Negan’s bat beating a human skull to a pulp.

However, in a shocking twist, Negan chooses another victim after being attacked in retaliation by Daryl Dixon. Instead of killing Dixon, Negan swings his bat into another show favorite, Glenn Rhee. In a brutal moment that recreates the traumatic scene from the comics, Rhee also meets a gory end as his pregnant wife, Maggie watches in the worst form of horror. After part of his head is caved in, Rhee senselessly mutters a string of final, broken words to his wife, effectively destroying the emotions of viewers.

By the end of the scene, there is no form of happiness left in the show and the rest of the episode becomes senseless in its quest to break Grimes down even further.

“The Walking Dead” has followed a trend lately that emphasizes gimmicks over storytelling and while the strategy may occasionally be effective in manipulating the emotions of viewers, it sacrifices its overarching theme.

The show was always about a group of survivors that not only deal with the dangers of the living dead, but also a world that thrives off of uncertainty and cruelty from the remaining humans.

Instead of continuing to develop characters, the show has focused on creating moments instead of stories. Fans will finally witness the long awaited scene following Negan’s introduction, but may feel empty afterwards as the show spends the remaining time toying with expectations and meandering in misery.

Nerdist/Creative Commons

The Vine

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

A Retrospective Interview with Dweezil Zappa

By Andrew DaRosa Executive Editor

As 2016 has proven, the “legacy artist” is a dying breed that is defined by an extraordinary sphere of influence and a high volume of record sales. Whether these musicians have attained popularity during their years of production is irrelevant as the music speaks louder than the money rolling in.

For Dweezil Zappa, son of the 60’s sonic guru Frank Zappa, the issue of legacy was his focal point for the past 10 years as he continues to tour, playing his father's music more than 20 years after his death.

“It’s always been very different than anything else that came out at that time and it continues to be ahead of its time,” said Zappa about his father’s music.

Since 2006, Zappa has played under the name of Zappa Plays Zappa, which highlights three decades of Frank Zappa’s music with a fresh face and modern twist. Zappa sought to continue the legacy of his father by branching out the music to new audiences as there was no resurgence of his father’s music except for a few records put out by the Zappa Family Trust, which was run by Gail Zappa, Frank’s wife, who died October of last year.

“People, that were [in] his original fan base continued to be interested in some of the records that were coming out, but younger people were not having the chance to discover the music in any way,” said Zappa. “Basically, [I had to] do a grassroots thing and bring the music door to door.”

Since the inception of the first tour, Zappa quickly noticed a change in crowd as younger generations were becoming accustomed to the music of his father. “Eleven years later, it’s not people in their middle to late 70’s or early 80’s that are coming to shows. We see the age range going down and down, so you see plenty of people in their 20’s,” said Zappa.

“When people do find out about the music, they get deep into it. It becomes sort of a lifelong obsession for many, many people,” added Zappa.

Playing Frank’s music though continued to be an enlightening experience for Zappa, as he first began his solo

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career at the tender age of 12. Thirty-five years later, Zappa has managed to play with guitar greats including the likes of Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai, while constantly honing his own technical proficiency.

In comparison to his dad’s playing style, Zappa commented that “there are certain aspects of [Frank’s music] that are challenging because you have to play strictly written parts and execute them, and a lot of the stuff I play wasn’t meant to be played on guitar.”

Zappa stressed the proficiency of soloing that came about with his father, proving to be one of the more difficult components when studying his music. “When it came to playing solos, my dad was 100 percent extemporaneous. He didn’t play pre-composed or preconceived ideas,” said Zappa. “So to be able to play in the way that he plays in context to the music, I had to study his style of playing and had to learn his tendencies and mannerisms in terms of his vocabulary.”

However, this year provides an unexpected change as Zappa has become embroiled in a legal battle regarding the usage of the Zappa name with siblings Ahmet and Diva, who recently took over the Zappa Family Trust. After the death of Gail, Ahmet and Diva took control of the Zappa estate and this past spring issued a cease and desist order against Zappa, which ordered him to stop playing under the moniker of Zappa Plays Zappa, while simultaneously dropping Frank’s music from his live catalogue or face paying exorbitant fees.

“One of the things that they want to do to ‘protect the name,’ is to prevent the usages by others that will confuse the public, such as me,” said Zappa. “They want to make sure that I can’t use the name Zappa in my own name.”

Zappa since has fought legally against his siblings, hoping to rile against the “asinine” attempt to monetize his father’s name and music while also allowing him to be a registered trademark under the umbrella Zappa trademark. It would allow Zappa to receive the proper royalties and monetary funds that should be entrusted to himself.

The topic of establishing a crowdfunding effort in hopes to balance the legal fees was brought up by Zappa, which essentially would include various merchandise and events focused on Frank’s fans in hopes to defend the music. “At the end of the day, it can be a victory celebration and concert,” said Zappa.

In turn, Zappa has changed the name and face of his 2016 tour, opting for the title “Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants!” The tour focuses heavily on the 50th anniversary celebration of Frank’s original record, “Freak Out!,” which will be highlighting the first half of the show. “The front half is a very fast paced, 60’s sounding part of the show and then it jumps forward to stuff from the 70’s and 80’s,” said Zappa.

Zappa will play the Warehouse in Fairfield on Oct. 28.

Photo by Jeff Dean

Heard It Through The GrapeVINE

By Alicia Phaneuf Contributing Writer

Brought to you from the decade of crimped hair and New Kids on the Block is this week’s GrapeVINE spotlight, Stephanie Gallo. Gallo works at Fairfield as an Associate Director for Career Services. After being raised predominantly in Los Altos, Calif., Gallo traveled to Villanova University where she graduated with a major in communication and a minor in women’s studies. Gallo also played field hockey during her college career and likes to refer to it as her “second major.” Positivity is one of the many strengths Gallo brings to Stag Country, particularly to Career Services.

As an Associate Director for Career Services, Gallo counsels students regarding career development, plans and executes careerrelated programming, and supports students and alumni through the job and internship search process.

“There are so many things I love about my job, but if I was going to sum it up, it is because everyday I get to work with amazing students,” Gallo said.

In addition to enjoying her work in Career Services, Gallo has a soft spot for music.

“My mother really instilled in me a love of music. I have memories of her playing various Bob Dylan songs to me and making me really listen to the lyrics,” said Gallo. “One of my favorite bands of all time is The Band, purely because I have distinct memories of listening to The Band's greatest hits when going on long family drives.”

Not only was Gallo influenced by her family, but she

also explained how her musical interests expanded as she grew older.

“In high school, I got really into Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. During that time I was also introduced to country music, which I still love today,” said Gallo. “When I got to college, my boyfriend, who was promoted to my husband, then introduced me to Phish and the Grateful Dead. All of these bands have a similar feel: funky, upbeat, complex and laid back, which I would say sums up my personality nicely.”

As an avid and dedicated music-lover, Gallo and her husband have attended more than 13 music festivals throughout the United States and below are some of her song recommendations to listen to.

“Heart of a Champion” by Nelly Nelly was so hot (in here) when I was in college and high school. I would listen to this song before every field hockey game I ever played in high school or college. It made me feel like I could take on the world.

“Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Weight” by The Band Both of these songs remind me of my parents; we would listen to them on repeat on our family drives to Tahoe, Calif.

“Not Fade Away” by The Grateful Dead Although not an original Grateful Dead song, I love their cover. It is also the song my husband and I walked into at our wedding.

“I'm Alright” by JoDee Messina This is just another song that reminds me of growing up. I am not ashamed of my love of country music.

Contributed Photo Stephanie Gallo, who works in Career Services, appreciates throwback artists, such as The Grateful Dead.

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THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

The Vine

Cooking with Colleen: Chicken Soup and Vegtables

By Colleen O'Connor Vine Editor

Being sick when you’re away from home can be the end of the world for some people. Without the comfort and care of your parents, sickness can fester and remain a problem for longer than it should.

Stress from school can also contribute to lingering illness, as lack of sleep and nutrition tend to lead to longer illnesses.

One of the best cures for any sickness is chicken soup. When made right, it can be the needed pick-me-up to get you through to the end of the day when the plague feels like it will take you down. If you’re like me, chicken soup is what you will live off of when you don’t feel well.

1. Cook carrots, celery and onions about 10 minutes in a large saucepot.

2. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces.

3. Put the vegetables in a separate bowl.

4. In the same pot, heat the chicken, parsley, bouillon, salt and six cups of water at boiling on high.

5. Reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

6. Let the chicken cool and then cut into bite-sized pieces.

Chicken Soup with Vegetables Serves 6-8

7. While chicken is cooling, add the vegetables to broth and heat to boiling.

3 medium sliced carrots 2 large celery stalks, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 3 ½ lbs. chicken, cut up 5 sprigs parsley 1 tablespoon chicken flavor instant bouillon 1 ½ teaspoon salt

8. Reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

9. Add the chicken back to the pot and heat to boiling over high heat.

10. Remove the parsley before serving.

Flickr/Creative Commons

ashionably airfield Grace O'Hara '19 Nursing Major

by Nicole Funaro The Stylish Stag

How did you put your outfit together today?

I just try to do whatever’s easy and simple, and just try to do something new every day.

Where did you get what you’re wearing?

I got my jeans from American Eagle, I got my shoes from Forever 21, my top from PacSun and I got my bralette from Aerie.

How would you generally describe your style?

I try to keep it kind of simple and classic; nothing too complicated. I try to keep it somewhat comfy and just [wear] whatever speaks to me, I guess, depending on the day or whatever mood I’m in.

What stores do you shop at? Any favorites?

I love Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 because they’re nice and cheap, especially on a college budget.

Do you have any style icons?

I love Taylor Swift. I love how she keeps it very old-fashioned, simple and classic.

Sophomore Grace O'Hara models her style after Taylor Swift.

Nicole Funaro/The Mirror

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

The Vine

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Mariza Serenades Audience with Exotic Style

By Andrew DaRosa Executive Editor The history of traditional Fado traces back to 1820s Portugal in which Portuguese musicians crafted new types of instrumentation that reflected the more intricate, somber tone of their sea shanties. Two centuries later, Fado is labeled as an ‘UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage’ and with Mariza, a Mozambique-based Fadista, at the helm of the movement, the genre only looks to increase in popularity.

Marisa dos Reis Nunes, who goes by the moniker of Mariza, seduced the ears of a packed house at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on Oct. 23. In an enthralling two-hour set, Mariza weaved the history of Portugal within the framework of a beautifully eccentric performance that included both traditional Fado tunes and works from her latest record, “Mundo,” which was released on Sept. 9.

The evening began with a solo rendition of “Fadista Louco,” setting the tone for the first set of songs that highlighted the traditionally somber outlook of Fado. Emphasizing this further was the black outfits worn by both Mariza and her band members, guitarists José Manuel Neto and Pedro Jóia, bassist Yami and drummer Vicky Marques.

Highlighting the first set was “Primavera,” a Mariza staple that emphasizes the sustain in her vocals while intricately balancing it with the frenetic picking by Neto on the traditional Portuguese guitar. Mariza managed to also exercise the solemn tone of the latest record during the first half of her show, which harkened back to the past influences that pushed Mariza to explore the world of Fado.

The second set provided a change of scenery, exuding warm color tones and images of Lisbon, while also bringing percussionist Marques to the mix. Mariza changed into a glimmering golden dress that worked well against the warm lighting and images, and kicked off a second half filled with whimsical, upbeat Fado standards. Most notably, Mariza was able to include songs that contained lyrics in Cape Verdean, Portuguese and Spanish, which is almost unheard of by most modern lyricists and singers.

The 12-song set seeped into a greatest hits montage that included the likes of “Chuva” and “Medo,” which had the audience fully immersed in the flurry of notes that whispered and swept throughout the theater. Mariza constantly made note of the active participation of the audience, even including an extended version of her arguably biggest hit, “Rosa Branca,” which allowed the audience to progressively shout the chorus along with the Fadista.

As the set came to a close, the audience erupted into a roar as the Fadista left the stage, but surely enough, Mariza and her backing band came out to answer the call for an encore. Mariza busted out a rendition of “Ó Gente da Minha Terra,” and followed with an intimate version of a traditional Fado tune, featuring her three guitarists cenPixabay/Creative Commons

Inkwell Spotlight 'Ages'

By Gabriella Minos Coffee Break Editor Down the empty path she walked — the trees kissing the top of her head, comforting her.

Slowly, their leaves were dying; dropping the discolored remnants of life onto the ground. Some went from green to a warm-yellow to an ashen brown. The vibrant red leaves melted into a shade similar to that of blood, they dripped down enveloping the grass in its pool. She walked on as the leaves swirled around her like snow, eventually dying on the ground. Day after day she walked the path. She saw the changing of years and of seasons. Winter gave life to spring, which melted into summer and summer drifted to fall and fall died for winter. She was haunted by the beauty of change, by the death and birth of each season. She could still smell the sweet decay of the leaves in spring and feel the bite of winter in the summer. It was a constant change — the changing of the seasons. Year after year, spring came before summer, summer before fall, fall before winter and winter before spring; endlessly the same while continuously new. The paradox was beautifully dizzying.

She walked that path day after day, decade after decade.

“Why do you return?” they asked one day. “Surely you must be tired of us after all these years. Deep lines now etched her once young face; she resembled the bark of the trees. Her hands trembled when she moved and her bones cracked. Her hair had turned grey, but unlike the leaves, it would never again retain its rich brown hue. She sat on a bench, made long before she, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her friends grew still and leaned in to hear.

“At first I came because you made me sad, I watched you dying slowly and thought it a tragedy. I grew jealous of how you were able to change from old to new. Then I came to sit beneath the falling of your leaves because I found a beauty in the sadness of it. After that, for a while I tried only to find happiness and rejecting the inevitability of tragedy completely. I come now because I love the way you change, yet are always the same. I love how you move with the wind, never protesting. I realized all those years I spent looking for something as sad as I while envying those that were not, I missed all the beauty that I had searched so relentlessly for. So now I come because I love to see your beauty enhanced, never marred, by the passing of time. Each year etches memories into your face. You are tragically beautiful for showing me that. I love the way your leaves flutter to the ground and lose their life, but you never complain; for you know all will be well when spring comes round — all will be as it once was. I admire your consistency, how you are always in the same place. I love your tranquility and the way you whisper to one another when you think no one is listening. Most of all, I love the way you love. No matter who sits beneath your canopy or on your roots, no matter who carves their name into your skin or plays in your leaves, you love them completely, unconditionally and unquestionably. Although I’ve searched, I have never found another love quite as beautiful as yours.”

tered around one chair in center stage.

In terms of traditional songstresses, Mariza proves time and time again the sheer efficacy that traditional Fado can provide in a world saturated with overproduced top 40 pop music.

Andrew DaRosa/The Mirror Portuguese Fadista, Mariza dazzled the audience during a rendition of "Rosa Branca."

An Interview With Dav Pilkey

By Cara Lee Contributing Writer American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey has done it again. This past summer, the author best known for his “Captain Underpants” series released his newest ‘tail,’ “Dog Man.” Published on Aug. 30, Pilkey has spent the past months touring the United States to meet his fans and he arrived at the Fairfield University Bookstore on Oct. 22 for a major event. Initially set up for only 250 people, the bookstore staff was faced with a dilemma when they were left with a seemingly endless wait list. Nevertheless, the staff handled the situation and ensured that there was space for everyone — families and college students alike.

Afterwards, guests were able to take photos with Pilkey and have him sign their copies of “Dog Man.” Given that so many eager families were waiting on the line for hours, things were looking grim. However, “Captain Underpants” and “Dog Man” saved the day, gifting red capes just like Dog Man’s to each child, assisting the Starbucks staff members in handing out delicious treats and celebrating as winners for numerous raffles were selected from the crowd.

“Dog Man” was first described in “Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers” when Tippy Tinkletrousers went hurtling into the past — only to come across protagonists George Beard and Harold Hutchins during their kindergarten days. Having just defeated a sixth grade bully using only their wits, the two are thrown into detention by their archnemesis, Mr. Krupp, and are left to bond over the creation of their first comic book, “The Adventures of Dog Man.” Since 2002, we have seen many of Beard and Hutchins’ comics come to life, but “Dog Man” was one of the most highly

anticipated and resulted in more than one Fairfield student revisiting these childhood favorites.

While an amazing creator of fictional works, Pilkey is also an avid supporter of children across the world with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia. Pilkey himself was diagnosed with both of these disorders during elementary school and uses Beard and Hutchins to help children by fighting stereotypes. The two fourth graders live normal lives filled with chores, mean teachers, awesome grandparents and the occasional evil robot, superhero or sentient toilet.

Both have ADHD. It is not announced on every page and the storyline is not focused on the struggles of their diagnoses because the characters, just like those who have these diagnoses outside of the world of fiction, are not defined by it. Their ADHD is just something that enables them to process information differently and invent solutions that might not occur to others.

The truthful representation of people with any mental diagnosis is one that is frightfully absent in most media and Pilkey both addresses that and gives children characters that they can relate to — reminding them that no matter what people may be telling them or how they feel, they are not alone.

Due to the event, I was given the opportunity to speak with Pilkey about the writing process and his upcoming projects.aor five stories that are interconnected, but the sequel is one long story [where] everything ties together. It’s a slight change in format, but has a lot of the same characters and situations. I’m confident that if you like the first one, you’ll have a great time with the second.

To read Cara's interview with Pilkey, go to fairfieldmirror.com/Pilkey

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

Coffee Break

Page 12

Coffee Break Editor: Gabriella Minos

Horoscope: Which Halloween Costume Is For You? ARIES

TAURUS

(March 21 – April 19) Criminal/Wonder Woman - Being the most confident sign, show off your non-existent muscles with the most empowering costume for women ever or be what every superhero needs, a villain.

(April 20 – May 20) Vampire/Witch - Sticking with the classic vibe due to your traditional nature, be a vampire or a witch this year. Two kinds of creature you never want to mess with.

CANCER

(July 23 – Aug. 22) Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen - This year, everyone wants to be these two and your strong willed self is the perfect fit. She’s the queen of dragons, come on. And Jon, we’ll find out soon.

(June 21 – July 22) Doctor/Nurse - We all need a McDreamy and a McSteamy in our lives (even a Karaev). All doctors need a sidekick. Let’s be honest, you probably run their lives anyway.

LEO

Feature: Katie Goodfellow Fairfield@Night: Bingo Series

GEMINI

(May 21 – June 20) Snapchat Puppy Filter - Bring to life the cutest and most loved (and most basic) snapchat filter, be a puppy. The best part is the filter fits two.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23 – Sept. 22) Harambe/Wednesday from The Addams Family - Go with a one of a kind theme this year to fit with your one of a kind self. You won’t see many others with the same costume as you.

Contributed by Katie Goodfellow

Major/Minor: Philosophy/Mathematics, Education

Fun fact: I’ve donated my hair every other year since sixth grade.

Where are you from: Franklin, Mass.

Where you’re most likely to be: Either [Office of Student Engagement] or running around because I schedule everything down to the minute.

Best coffee shop: I know it’s a chain, but I have to be loyal to my Masshole roots.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23 – Oct. 22) Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton - Bring out your sarcastic side this weekend.

This election is such a joke this year anyway. Might as well join in the fun.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 23 – Nov. 21) Penguin Onesie - Your fun loving personality makes this costume perfect for you, for boys or girls. Come on, it’s a penguin onesie. I think that speaks for itself.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21)

Dunkin’ Donuts is bae. Masshole actually was recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Einstein’s order: Large iced caramel and if it’s before my education turbo, I’ll get a plain bagel with cream cheese too.

The Joker/Harley Quinn - Being as good humored as you are, you can take the truth. You’re crazy. They’re crazy. You guys are a perfect match.

Funniest Halloween costume: I’ve seen the face masks for Clinton and Trump, and they’re honestly hilarious.

Favorite candy: Reese’s Pieces Best dance move: I’d like to think all my dance moves are great.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22 – Jan. 19) Referee/Football Player - Anyone who is a sports fan will appreciate this costume (and really, you can be any sport you want). It the best fit for you, practical and classic.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20 – Feb. 18) Batman/Catwoman - Both a little skittish, both incredibly cute. Tap into your inner nerdier side this year, be the undefeatable Batman and a fierce kitty.

PISCES

(Feb. 19 – Mar. 20) Napoleon Dynamite/Deb - Go back to the classics this year be the cute but totally awkward duo. Rock that side ponytail, work that updo… and that afro.

Favorite shoes: I wear my Toms every day.

Pet peeves: Willfully ignorant people and slow walkers.

What is your favorite event Fairfield@Night hosts? Why?

Obviously BINGO; I’m the Event Manager of the Bingo series so I have bias, but seriously, we always have great prizes and a lot of fun.

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

Creative Commons/Google

Weekly Pick-Me-Ups

Fairfield students helping to make the best of Hump Day

My favorite Halloween memory would have to be walking around the block with my best friend, Abby, for the first time by ourselves and seeing all the international students from Dean College acting bewildered by the Halloween festivities.

What is the funniest memory that you have or story that you have heard at Fairfield?

I have some pretty hilarious roommate stories I could share, but I think she’d be upset if I shared this publicly. I’ll share something from my first year that my friends used to do. On weekends, they would go into people’s townhouses and take food out of the fridge and just leave it on the porch. They wouldn’t steal it or throw it or anything, just move it around their house.

Who is your favorite family member? Why?

My nana is my favorite family member, for sure. She and I have such a close bond, and I worship her unrelentingly. I would drop anything to go and visit her right now.

I just have the utmost respect, love and reverence for her. She’s been such an influence in my life: through my educational choices, my work ethic, my love for learning and my openness of heart.

If you were a millionaire, what would you do?

I would definitely allow myself to relax a little and buy a nice vacation for my family for us all to enjoy time together in the summer when my cousin and I are back from our spring semester abroad. I would probably make a few donations to the Alzheimer’s Association and save the rest of it.

Who would be your three celebrity best friends? Why?

Sophomore Alex Levy Contributed Photo

Sophomore Michelle Hernandez Contributed Photo

I don’t really follow celebrities outside of their characters on the TV shows I watch, but my guess would be Priyanka Chopra, Ellen DeGeneres and either Emma Watson or Oprah Winfrey. I just feel like I could learn so much from their life experiences and the fact that we could bond over our core beliefs in equity, human rights and educational reform. I strongly believe they are all women to aspire to be and women every age group can view as a role model.

Who is your favorite super villain?

I know it’s super basic, but the Joker. He’s a classic.

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

Sports

SPORTS

Sports Editor: Alfredo Torres » sports@fairfieldmirror.com

In Case You

Page 13

This Week in Sports: Notable Stag Performances

Missed It: Wednesday, October 19th -Monmouth defeats Men's Soccer, 2-0 -Women's Soccer ties Monmouth, 0-0

Friday, October 21st Field Hockey defeats Sacred Heart, 7-1

Saturday, October 22nd -Women's Soccer defeats Rider, 1-0 -Volleyball defeats Iona, 3-0 -Rider defeats Men's Soccer, 1-0

Sunday, October 23rd

-Monmouth defeats Field Hockey, 2-0 -Volleyball defeats Manhattan, 3-1

Photo Contributed by the Sports Information Desk

Megan DeFeo ‘19 was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 24 after the goalie held both Monmouth and Rider scoreless this past week. In the 0-0 tie against Monmouth on Oct. 19, DeFeo posted a career-high nine saves, facing a potent Hawks offense that is currently seeded sixth in the country in goals per game at 2.56 per contest. She followed up her stellar performance when the Stags ousted Rider 1-0 on Oct. 22, which was Senior Day. DeFeo made five saves to give Fairfield their third win of the season. In six starts on the year, DeFeo owns a 0.68 goals against average and a .844 save percentage, both of which place second amongst goalies in the MAAC. DeFeo is back in net tonight when the Stags travel to take on Manhattan in their final conference game of the season before the MAAC tournament this upcoming Saturday.

Getting to Know Ben Wignall '18

By Daniel Montgomery Assistant Sports Editor

UpcomingThis Week:

On the field he is confident and fearless. An athletic soccer player gliding up and down the pitch, expertly completing passes to his teammates.The game comes easy to him, as if he was born to play under the lights of Lessing Field. However, it was not always easy for Hartlepool, England native, Ben Wignall ‘18.

“It was pretty difficult,” said Wignall when asked about the transition to life in the United States when he moved from England in 2014.

“The good thing was there were a lot of other British kids on the team, which helped me settle in.”

As a freshman, Wignall lead the Stags in goals scored with four in his rookie campaign while being named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie team. His sophomore season was even better as the striker netted five goals to go along with three assists. He credited his knack for scoring goals to the attacking mentality he developed in England.

“Everywhere I have played I have scored goals. I guess it is just instinct to me. Some people are quick, some people are strong. I am neither of them; I just score goals,” Wignall said.

In the current season, Wignall is once again leading the charge for the Stags as he has already tallied five goals at the midfield position in the team’s 5-7-2 start. Having only three games left in the regular season

before the MAAC tournament begins, No. 22 is looking for his team to round into postseason form quickly.

“This is the best team I have played on at Fairfield in terms of the football we are playing,” Wignall said. “This is the most attacking team I have played on, but we have not really had any luck yet.

We have had some tough games, but we are playing really hard and we are hoping that everything will fall into place and we can go on a run.”

It would not be surprising to see the Stags reel off numerous wins in a row as the chemistry on this team is palpable when watching a game. As such a tight knit unit, Wignall and the squad enjoy every moment that they have on the pitch playing with one another.

“The international factor is big for me. Being away from home, we really have to depend on one another,” the midfielder said. “The Americans really embrace us. During Thanksgiving, they take us into their homes, so we're not just a team; we really do depend on each other. There is no jealousy or splits between the nationalities.”

When Wignall is not excelling on the pitch, he likes to revert to one of his favorite hobbies: rapping.

“Where I am from in England, it is called MC,” he said. “I am a big Jay Z fan and I am the only one who listens to Jay Z in my town.

It takes my mind off of things and I just like to have fun with it.”

It seems as though Wignall manages to find success whether he is on or off the pitch.

Wednesday, October 26th -Women's Soccer at Manhattan, 7 p.m.

-Men's Soccer at Manhattan, 7 p.m.

Friday, October 28th -Field Hockey vs. William & Mary, 3 p.m.

Saturday, October 29th -Field Hockey vs. LIU Brooklyn, 1 p.m.

-Volleyball vs Rider, 1 p.m.

-Men's Soccer at Canisius, 7 p.m.

Sunday, October -Volleyball vs. St. Peter's, 1 p.m.

Photo Contributed by the Sports Information Desk

In this week's issue...

- World Series 2016: Chicago vs. Cleveland (Page 14) - Stags Shutout Rider 1-0 on Senior Day (Page 15)

- Q&A With Senior Captain Megan O' Sullivan (Page 15)

- Stags Dominate Sacred Heart for 7-1 Victory (Page 16)

Sports

Page 14

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

World Series 2016: Chicago vs. Cleveland

By Conor O'Brien Contributing Writer

pitcher Carlos Carrasco and outfielder Michael Brantley. The Indians dominated the American League playoffs, sweeping the heavily favored Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series and comfortably beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 in the American League Championship Series.

The Indians must credit much of their success to relief pitcher Andrew Miller, who they acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees in July. Miller has played lights out in the postseason, completely shutting down talented hitting lineups from Boston and Toronto.

For the Cubs to have success in this Series, they must get through Cleveland's starting pitchers early in games and force them to play Miller sooner rather than later. The same could be said for Cleveland’s key to success. The Cubs have an excellent rotation of starting pitchers between Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks and Jake Arrieta. However, they have also experienced frustrations in their bullpen and have had to over rely on closer Aroldis Chapman.

When this Series is over, one franchise will have its curse broken, the other will feel the burden of their curse ten times more. While Cleveland has played with tremendous heart throughout the entirety of the playoffs, the Cubs are simply the better team.

Chicago has looked like the best team in the majors all year and I believe that this is finally the year that the Cubs shake their reputation as the most abysmal franchise in all of North American professional sports. Expect the Cubs to win in six.

After six long months, the final chapter of the 2016 MLB season is set. The Chicago Cubs will face the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. The World Series will feature two franchises that were starved of success for most of their existences.

For Cleveland, this is their first World Series appearance since 1997 and they have not won a World Series since 1948. The Cubs have not seen a World Series since 1945 and the last time they won was in 1908. However, these two clubs made it to this World Series in different ways.

For the Cubs, their success so far was the result of a substantial rebuild, originating with the hire of general manager Theo Epstein after the 2011 season. It is thanks to Epstein's management that the Cubs are in the Series. Every contributor on the Cubs roster was brought in by Epstein, from talented, young infielders Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo to recently acquired closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Chicago entered the season as favorites to win the World Series, they looked the part for the majority of the regular season, leading the majors with 103 wins.

For Cleveland, their World Series appearance comes as more of a surprise. After finishing 8180 in 2015, the Indians were a trendy pick to make the playoffs this year. The Indians out-played the expectations of most people, going 94-67 despite suffering key season-ending injuries to

Cavs Look to Defend First Championship

By Daniel Montgomery Assistant Sports Editor Each new NBA season brings along a fair amount of hype.

That being said, the 2016-2017 campaign has taken the anticipation to another level. On Oct. 25, the NBA began an eightmonth journey with some of the most enticing storylines in recent years.

We would be remiss to not commence our preview with the reigning NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the funky bunch are back to defend their title and the Land in the process. It was official in last year’s Finals that Irving reached “superstar” status with his dominating performances in the latter part of the series, culminating with the epic game seven clinching shot.

Another intriguing aspect of this year’s Cavs team is how James plays now that the “Chosen One” has brought a championship back home to Ohio. Capturing a Larry O’Brien trophy in the “wine and gold” is sure to lift an enormous weight off of his shoulders and allow him to play more freely since the pressure is not solely on him.

Speaking of pressure, the boys in the Bay Area are entering the season with outrageous expectations with the July 7 addition of former league MVP Kevin Durant. Fresh off a stunning Finals collapse to the Cavs, the Golden State Warriors are looking for revenge with a revamped lineup featuring four of the

Wikipedia/Creative Commons After leading the Cavaliers to their first title in franchise history, Kyrie Irving looks to lead the Cavs back to the promised land.

best players in their respective positions in the association.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Durant come together to accomplish one goal: conquer James.

That will be the main story to watch throughout the season as we anxiously wait for a third consecutive Finals rematch with even more venom this go around.

After being Durant’s running man for the past eight years, we finally get a chance to see what Russell Westbrook is capable of when he is let loose this season. The best athlete in the NBA will be given complete control of the Thunder’s offense this year

Weekly 4x5 Because we have witty things to say ...

Your 2016-2017 4x5 Columnists:

Jesse Erickson, Alfredo Torres, Daniel Montgomery and Special Guest Athlete, Sydney Arestivo '17

Indians vs. Cubs, who you got?

NFL week seven; how's your team doing so far?

How long do you think volleyball's winning streak will reach?

NBA season started yesterday; what are you looking forward to the most?

The Walking Dead is back; how are you taking the loss?

Well, if I dress up as a bear that

Ugh, I'm just a retired sports editor

They are unstoppable and I don't see an end in sight.

Football has become so insanely intereresting now that I have turned 21. PSA: this has absolutely nothing to do with alcohol. 21 years old just means that I've aquired the taste for bee — I mean football.

You know Alfredo has such a crush on sports that even this question about a horrendous TV show sounds like it's about a sport.

Cleveland still has some magic leftover from Kyrie, so as long as they got the GOAT by their side, I can guarantee Cleveland will have their second parade of the year.

G-Men! Back to back wins for us, Odell is finally having some fun and E-Man is just E-Man.

All the way up!

Kyrie winning MVP and another ring.

Too soon, Abraham ... Glenn it's been real, you will never be forgotten.

Indians. Cleveland is the City of Champions. The Browns don't exist anymore.

BIG win for the G-Men to get off the schneid. Was not pretty as usual, but a win is a win.

Fairfield volleyball runs the table and brings the national championship trophy back to Barone.

Jeremy Lin making his return to the Big Apple. Brooklyn will never be the same.

Tbh, never seen it.

I don't actually watch baseball,

I'm actually a Cowboys fan because my dad has always been a Cowboys fan and they're doing really well, so I'm pumped!

They are going to win the MAAC championship for sure. They are awesome. Every single one of them.

Always been a Knicks fan, but recently I have really liked the Golden State. I know it's such a bandwagon thing, but I really do enjoy watching them play.

Tragic. Absolutley tragic. I am really going to miss Glenn. That was brutal.

Jesse Erickson would be pretty cute, but if I dress that knows nothing about sports.

Editor-in-Chief up as an Indian that would also be How am I supposed to know?

(Italian EIC) pretty cute, so I'm pretty torn on which costume is the cutest.

Alfredo Torres Sports Editor

Daniel Montgomery Assistant Sports Editor

as he looks to show the world that he does not need Durant to win. Expect Westbrook to put up absurd numbers every time he takes the floor and assert his vicious competitiveness on opposing guards.

Aside from the league's super teams and superstars, there are certainly a fair share of teams that should receive some attention. First off, the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to be fun to watch. Budding stars Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns could be poised to help the Wolves make a playoff push. Not to be forgotten, the Los Angeles Lakers stockpiled a huge amount of young talent in their own right with D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and now, Brandon Ingram in the fold.

As for the local franchises, the New York Knicks hope to make the most of their offseason moves with the additions of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to an already solid core of Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. Things could get interesting at the Garden if the group meshes together quickly.

In another borough, the Brooklyn Nets should just be happy if they finish above the Philadelphia 76ers and do not secure the worst record in the NBA. However, that is in no way a guarantee.

Overall, the stage is set for one of the best NBA seasons to date. Defined by a power struggle at the top, followed by much parity in the rest of league, the campaign will provide us with entertaining basketball like we have never seen before. The NBA cannot get into full swing soon enough.

Sydney Arestivo '17 but I'm going to go with the Cubs Women's Soccer because I have actually heard of them.

THE MIRROR | Week of October 26, 2016

Sports

Page 15

Stags Shutout Rider 1-0 on Senior Day

Alfredo Torres/The Mirror Seniors Pamela Coufos, Cassidy Boegel, Molly Morran, Sydney Arestivo, Brenna Brown and Anna Borea (left to right) participated in their last home game as a Stag this past Saturday against MAAC foe, Rider.

By Daniel Montgomery Assistant Sports Editor Life as a collegiate coach is not easy. For four years you build upon valuable relationships that are developed early in the recruiting process only to see your players hang up the cleats in what seems like a blink of an eye.

Seniors Molly Moran, Cassidy Boegel, Sydney Arestivo, Pamela Coufos, Brenna Brown and captain Anna Borea played their last game in the red and white on Oct. 22 at Lessing Field, besting the Rider Broncos 1-0 on Senior Day. Brown scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season and the 18th of her career while Megan DeFeo ‘19 posted her second straight shutout to push the Stags past Rider for the third win of the year.

Q & A:

With Senior Captain Megan O'Sullivan

By Conor O'Brien Contributing Writer

Head coach Jim O’Brien was impressed by the way Fairfield has played over the last couple of games.

“We have definitely been very focused defensively as of late,” O’Brien said. “We’ve had a real positive mentality to finish the season on a high note.”

The six seniors leading the way have helped the Stags look rejuvenated of late, putting together their best stretch of games this year in the latter part of the season.

Despite the early season struggles that resulted in a 3-12-2 record, Fairfield’s “never say die” attitude carried them through the hardships.

Tonight, the Stags travel to Manhattan for their final contest of the year to take on a hungry Jasper team. For O’Brien, tonight’s game is far more than just the last game of the year.

“We are focused on getting another win and hopefully an-

other shutout,” O’Brien said. “Most importantly we want to give our seniors a good sendoff.”

Now in his 12th year at the helm, O’Brien has seen countless athletes come through the program, but each year he is privileged to bid farewell to a special group of student-athletes.

“It goes by really fast. Before you know it, they are being handed diplomas,” O’Brien said. “To see them grow and develop as people at Fairfield University and to watch them accomplish so much not only on the field, but academically is great.”

Transitioning from one year to the next is never seamless.

A new crop of players comes in while the veterans are ushered out.

Nonetheless, for one more night it is this group of seniors’ time as they suit up in the red and white for the last time in their collegiate careers.

Photo Contributed by the Sports Information Desk

Q: When did you start playing volley-

Q:

What is your motivation as an ath-

ball?

lete?

A: “I started very late for someone who plays at the collegiate level. I was around 14 or 15 years old. I was initially a basketball player.

Then when basketball began to conflict with club volleyball, I decided to commit to volleyball.”

A: “I get it from my teammates. What's helpful is that everyone has the same internal goals of coming in and working hard everyday. It makes everything easier because we can all hold each other accountable. With other teams, not everyone is on the same page as to what the team goals are, but here we are all on the same page. We have a mentality of not just winning every game, but winning every practice. I think that has also helped us stay motivated throughout the season.”

Q: How did you become interested in

Fairfield?

A: “The initial draw was volleyball. I

wanted to do nursing and Fairfield was the only school that would let me do nursing and volleyball. I was determined to stick with what I wanted to do and Fairfield is a very competitive Division I program.”

Q: How does it feel to be undefeated against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season?

A: “We treat every opponent the same.

However, we set out a list of goals at the beginning of the season. One of them was to be undefeated in conference. We knew it was a lofty goal, but everyone telling us it was a lofty goal made us more motivated to make that happen.”

Q: Does the team talk at all about your (14) game win streak?

A: “I don’t think we’ve ever even talked about it. After every game we start with constructive criticism and we end with a positive.

The positive is always ‘great win,’ but there’s a lot more constructive criticism because we want to improve. The win streak is awesome, but it’s not the focus of our culture.”

Q: How do you feel about how the team has grown over your four years here?

A: “I think it has grown tremendously.

I came into a successful program as a freshman. I think that the mentality of the team is

completely different. When I was a freshman, we struggled to be on the same page of what we wanted the team goals to be. I’m so proud and happy to see how this team has grown.

In the past, people very easily got comfortable with the position that they were in. Now there’s a lot more competition, everyone fights for their role.”

Q: How does it feel to be nominated for the Senior CLASS Award?

A: “It’s a huge honor. I’m honored to represent the school. I love that the award recognizes off-the-court achievement. I’ve always prided myself on being able to do nursing and volleyball; it’s something so many people told me wouldn’t work — that I’d drop one of the two by the time I was a sophomore. That award was the most special to me because it recognizes everything I’ve done on the court, in the classroom and in the community.”

Q: What are your plans for after you graduate?

A: “I’m currently planning on moving to Boston with my friend who lives in Cape Cod. I would like to get a job in the city. I don’t know how I’m going to do it because I have no money, but that’s the goal.”

@MirrorSports Fairfield Mirror Sports Week of October 26, 2016

fairfieldmirror.com

SPORTS 16 Sports Editor: Alfredo Torres » sports@fairfieldmirror.com

Stags Dominate Sacred Heart for 7-1 Victory

Alfredo Torres/The Mirror Graduate student Hannah Pike (top) finished the game with two goals. The Stags currently stand 3-2 in MAAC play. Senior Julie de Paeuw (right) assisted on the game's first goal to Jaclyn Gallagher '18.

S

By Alfredo Torres Sports Editor

ix different Stags scored on Friday’s contest against cross-town rival Sacred Heart as Fairfield cruised past the Pioneers with a final score of 7-1.

“It was well deserved. They worked for it and they believed in themselves and they were able to execute,” said head coach Jackie Kane following the conclusion of the game.

The Stags got off on the right foot to start the game, scoring two quick goals to give them the early advantage. Less than three minutes into the start of the game, the Stags struck first when Julie de Paeuw ‘17 found fellow midfielder Jaclyn Gallagher ‘18 open for the game’s first shot on goal and the game’s first goal.

Both teams would settle down for the remaining of the half until the Stags struck again; this time coming off the stick of Ann Burgoyne ‘17 for her 10th goal of the season, giving the Stags a 2-0 lead heading into the second half.

When asked about the early lead for the Stags, Kane said, “We had to set the tempo and score early.

We didn’t want to let Sacred Heart in the game.”

The Stags picked up where they left off as they started the second half knocking down yet another goal, this time coming off an assist from Emma Clark ‘19 who found graduate student Hannah Pike for her sixth goal of the season, pushing the lead to three.

The Pioneers finally got themselves on the board when midfielder Rebecca Hauser knocked down a shot from the right circle, giving Sacred Heart their lone goal of the game with 30 minutes remaining.

Following the Pioneers’ goal, the Stags dominat-

ed the rest of the way, scoring four more goals and shutting out the road team for the rest of the game.

Clark started the scoring spree as she was found open in front of the goal by Burgoyne and knocked the shot down, pushing the lead back up to three.

Almost 10 minutes after scoring the game’s third goal, Pike struck once again, converting on her second goal of the game off a beautifully executed pass from Corrine Persichetti ‘19, giving the Stags a 5-1 lead.

“She was determined to get that ball in the net and she just kept going until she did. Her first shot in the second half was killer; it was great,” said Kane of Pike’s performance.

Less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Stags would strike for two more goals. The first coming off Maddi Habert ‘19, who was assisted by Gallagher, and the second coming off a penalty corner that resulted in Shannon Doherty’s ‘20 first career goal as a Stag, sealing the victory 7-1.

“We’re pretty elated. This is a town rivalry, so we really wanted to come out and play well,” said Pike following the victory.

The win has allowed the Stags to improve their record to 3-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. However, they failed to knock down a goal this past Sunday against Monmouth, getting shutout 2-0.

The Stags now stand at 3-2 in conference play, but look to carry the momentum to their last out of conference game hosting William & Mary from Virginia on Oct. 28 at University Field.

“We just need to take the positives of today like composed passing, real team feel behind this game into the next couple of games and hopefully we’re [going to] make it to the tournament,” said Pike of the remaining games on the schedule.

Information Compiled by Alfredo Torres