The Equinox Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
The student voice of Keene State College
Vol. 67, Issue #25
Thursday, aprIl 30, 2015
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U N D E R
T H E
INFLUENCE An inside look at KSC’s drinking culture
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR & JAKE COUGHLIN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Keene Police address student drinking risks MACKENZIE CLARKE
Senior reporter As the country’s college students have been involving themselves in an outbreak of a new drinking culture, studies have shown an increase in the amount of underage drinking on college campuses. Keene State College has taken precaution of this drinking epidemic by working with the Keene Police Department to help keep students safe. Officer Kyle Macie is the current College Liaison Officer (CLO) for the KPD. The CLO, “takes reports of crimes and investi-
gates accordingly and spends much time in the field on foot, bicycle or motor patrol and networking with various groups and individuals,” according to KPD website. Macie works with KSC to protect students and their property. Any calls related to the college are forwarded to Macie who then responds accordingly. “Just about every call [KPD] handles has something to do with alcohol,” Macie said. He said most calls regarding KSC were out of control off-campus parties or from a dorm with suspected underage alcohol consumption. Depending on the situation, Macie and
60%
67%
of students surveyed said they start to consume alcohol on Thursdays.
of students surveyed said they came to Keene State to pursue personal growth. *
STATISTICS WERE GATHERED FROM AN INFORMAL SURVEY DONE BY THE EQUINOX
Index >> Section A: News ...................1-3 Opinions ............4-5 Student Life ......6-10
Section B: A&E .................1-4 Sports................5-6 Special Section........7-10
other officers will take disciplinary action toward students involved with alcohol. “In this generation,” Macie said, “students believe there are no consequences for them.” He said he thinks that the “riot mentality” this country has been seeing has encouraged students to consume alcohol. “There are some college students who think ‘We can do whatever we want because we’re in college,’ and that is not the mindset to have,” Macie said. As for students who believe “there’s nothing else to do” on college campuses besides drink alcohol, Macie said “that’s nonsense.”
“There are so many activities on campus for students to participate in,” KSC student Amber Huot [no relation to President Huot] said. Huot involves herself in Zumba classes and enjoys going to the gym. “Weekend nights are the perfect gym time because everyone is out partying,” Huot said. She said she enjoys working off calories during the weekend instead of consuming more by drinking alcohol. “Often times we see highly intoxicated students being carried out of a party and those are the types of situations we’re going to take action on,” he said. Macie said
» LAW ENFORCEMENT, B9
50%
of students surveyed said they consume alcohol at least once a week.
*STATISTICS GATHERED FROM A FORMAL SURVEY CONTRIBUTED BY JOURNALISM STUDENT DYLAN MORRILL.
Top Headlines >>
A4: Changes for trans community A10: Solar Fest Concert B1: KSC Band Concert B10: Special Section on drinking culture
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Black News / A2
ThursdAy, April 30, 2015
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CAMPUS Transforming blogging from hobby into a career SAFETY MACKENZIE CLARKE
Senior reporter
report log
Week of: April 19 Monday, April 20 11:20 a.m. Zorn Dinig Commons: Staff reported disorderly individuals in the DC on 4/17/15 Tuesday, April 21 9:19 p.m. Madison Lot: Female called and said someone was walking through the lot checking vehicle doors with a grey hoodie on. Also reported to officers on scene that he may have gotten into a vehicle. Owner contacted. Owner reported nothing missing from her vehicle. Subject was seen leaving the area and removing the grey hoodie he was wearing. Wednesday, April 22 12:49 p.m. Appian Way: 88 reporting 50-60 year old man with accent in the area of the DC trying to recruit students into some kind of organization. Subject located and assisted in completing proper permits. 5:46 p.m. Appian Way: Fallen tree across Appian Way Thursday, April 23 7:06 a.m. Mason Library: DTZ reporting alarms going off, library is not open yet and they found a male upstairs they don’t know. Was one of the electricians. Friday, April 24 3:47 p.m. Sidewalks: Male student snoking marijuana outside building Saturday, April 25 12:32 a.m. Owl’s Nest 8: Statement on white board which may be considered harrassment 11:05 a.m. Rhodes Hall: Organizers of the event in Rhodes Hall called to report that a female attending the conference is getting sick and needs EMS. Keene Fire Department are on their way. Campus Safety is off at the building. 4:47 p.m. Holloway Hall: Campus Safety is off at the building taking a report of a male that was assaulted in the building by an unknown male. CORRECTION: Keene Police have the male in custody in front of the DC. DEVON ROBERTS equinox Staff
Sunday, April 26
Last week’s brief regarding Nathan DeMond contained a 9:13 p.m. Holloway Hall: number of inaccuracies to be
Resident who can not go in In addition to Nathan’s building asked if someone could mother and brother, his sister go with her to grab a couple Tina Bradley and her husband, things. as well as his other sister Kim Matheson, her two daughters and10:52 her granddaughter were p.m. Owl’s Nest 3: in attendance. Officers responding to building Nate worked as Assisfor fire alarm. food. Also tance GroundsBurnt Supervisor at KSC from and graduated found a wet1997, floor sign hanging Summa Laudehead. in 2009 fromCum sprinkler with a Bachelors of Science in Safety. Additionally, Nathan’s mother’s name is Kathleen Newlan; not Kathleen DeMond.
For some people blogging is a hobby, but for Bethany KeeleyJonker, blogging has become a lifestyle. Jonker, who is now a professor at Trinity-Christian College, began her blogging journey over 10 years ago and has had enough success to support her and her family. After traveling from Illinois, Jonker came to Keene State College to share her blogging knowledge with interested students. lege. She began what would soon be a rewarding journey with the hope of creating something witty to relieve some stress of school work. She said she used luck, curiosity, silliness and good timing to achieve the goal of a successful blog. “I was interested in creatively communicating through computers and technology,” Jonker said. She said she was intrigued by chat rooms and web pages, and discovered a love for a new way of communicating. Jonker said the internet was new to her but was drawn to “the big open space” where people can
As a curious college student, Jonker wondered what people would think of her writing. She began writing a daily blog to “build relationships through writing.” Silliness played a large role in Jonker’s blogging style, she said. After pointing out silly grammar mistakes on business signs with her family, a light bulb turned on in Jonker’s head. She decided to blog about unintentional grammatical errors. Jonker’s blog, “The ‘Blog’ of ‘Unnecessary’ Quotation Marks” has become a huge hit. She posts pictures of business signs, food labels, advertisements, etc. that have unnecessary, but unintentional, quotation marks. Her biggest concern, Jonker said, is that people “wouldn’t know the liness.” She said she is afraid of busi-
JOHN KEEFE /
EQUINOX STAFF
Two bloggers visit Morrison Hall at KSC on the April 13 to talk to students about blogging.
her blog. “I’m not interested in making people feel bad, I’m interested in making them laugh,” Jonker said. She wanted to create a way to “build relationships” with people who care about similar topics as her. After many “shares” and “likes” of the blog, Jonker’s success escalated. She began to receive thousands of daily visitors and viewers of the blog. Jonker said that spikes happen unexpectedly for the blog and some days have more visitors than others. Jonker said she receives hundreds of pictures of unnecessary quotation marks from readers of her blog. In 2007, The Associated Press shared a link to Jonker’s blog, which -
sands of people were exposed to “The ‘Blog’ of ‘Unnecessary’ Quotation Marks.” By allowing advertisements on her blog, Jonker receives a small income. As the number of ads and views increase, Jonker’s wallet grows bigger. In 2009, advance regarding her blog. She enthusiastically accepted. The greatest part of writing a lifelong dream of hers. “This was a life goal I was able She said that the earnings from her book helped her to pay for her wedding and honeymoon. Jonker was asked to write for a group blog, a blog with several writers. She still works with the group blog, www.thinkchristian.net, and
Health Centers in Keene reorganize TARA LEVY
equinox Staff Cheshire Medical Center and The Center for Health and Wellness at Keene State College are both trying out a new organizational method called team-based care. Sandie Phipps, senior director of development and communications at Cheshire Mediparticipates in team-based care. “It’s been a very successful model and given the challenges heading into the future of the shortage of primary care physicians, I see this continuing,” Phipps said. Team-based care is a growing idea that has “We’ve actually had positive feedback from patients and for many years we’ve had nurse practitioners . . . Who have had panels of patients as well as the primary care physicians, so I think as we’ve actually expanded this we’ve had very positive feedback,” Phipps said. Phipps said that the Medical Center has close to 100 team members caring for family medicine patients and it’s predicted that by the year 2020 there will be 47,000 fewer primary care physicians. “We actually were able to help exceed the national standard and improve the number of patients who have their hypertension under control and we were one of nine national organizations nationally last year to receive an award. It’s called the Million Hearts Award from the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare cervices,” Phipps said. Like Cheshire, The Center for Health and Wellness at Keene State College uses similar methods of team-based care to improve patient care and administrative stress. of the services, so in the fall we had twentypercent more people coming for service than we’ve had in the past. That made the current operating procedure evidently inadequate,” Director for Center of Health and Wellness at KSC, Christine Burke said. Susan Nelson, a nurse at KSC, said the new system was much needed because the old system was hard for both the students and the nurses. Students would not make an appoint-
“We actually were able to help exceed the national standard . . .” -SANDIE PHIPPS SENIOR DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
ment, they would just walk right in. This time or providers to help each student. has made the clinic run more smoothly in that they work is more equitable across everybody opposed to the old way it used to be,” Nelson said. Before, students could walk in and be triaged — but it was never actually a walk-in clinic. Now, there is a set block of two hours a day, alternating between morning and afternoon, making their team-based care approach for Health and Wellness, the Medical Clinic is open all day. “The problem is that most students don’t really be seen by the clinic at the Medical Center. They can only be seen by the emergency room,” Burke said. Keene State College created their form of team-based care to avoid such problems. The Center for Health and Wellness is now designed to see and treat as many patients as possible now, whereas before, the Center for Health and Wellness had limited time and doctors available. Both the clinic at Cheshire and The Center for Health and Wellness has seen improvements in patient care and administrative care. “So, you know, we’re working on it constantly. It’s always a work in progress when you start something new to see what’s working well, what isn’t working well, and its assessment, which goes along with the whole college philosophy,” Nelson said. Tara Levy can be contacted at tlevy@kscequinox.com
occasionally sends in a piece for the site. Jonker’s only complaint is not having as much freedom as an independent blog. “Sometimes the editor may ask me to revise or edit my work,” she said. Jonker said she enjoys the sovereignty of writing her own blog. She said group blogs are great to add to a portfolio. As for advice to future bloggers, Jonker encourages people to “take the opportunity to use [their] voice.” She said small blogs can introduce [bloggers] to a larger spectrum. Krystal Bunnell, a student at KSC, attended the event as extra credit for a class. “What surprised me the most was how much work is involved in a blogging website,” she said regarding Jonker’s talk. Although many students sat
in on the discussion for extra credit, Kelsey Walsh was there to learn. “I want to blog,” Walsh, a student at KSC, said, “I just always have so much to say about everything.” Walsh said she was amazed by how many emails Jonker receives every day about her blog. “I was once told that I never had a thought I didn’t share, so I might as well share my stupid thoughts for money,” Walsh said. She said she is looking forward to starting a blog in the near future. Jonker is currently teaching at Trinity-Christian Coll ege as an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts. Her book, “Book of ‘Unnecessary’ Quotation Marks” can be found on Amazon. MacKenzie Clarke can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com
Students get help with repaying college debt SAVANNA BALKUN
equinox Staff Keene State College seniors come to the realization of just how much they will be paying back in student loans as graduation quickly approaches. Dan Kelly, Financial Aid Specialist said, “This event is for loan repayment and consolidation. Kids can come and sit down, if they registered they can get a printout of their loan history and then we would provide that for them her if they didn’t register they can just sign in and we can provide that for them later.” “We’re just going to talk about defaulting on your loans, how not to default, payment methods and consolidation,” Kelly said. KSC senior, Kirsten Licht said, “I don’t know if I’m more stressed [after the presentation], but it’s not helping, it doesn’t help anything.” KSC student, Jake Allen said, “It was
Loan Servicer is — who students pay their loans to. Nichols made it a point that the customer service representatives at Loan Ser“Sometimes you can get a cranky one, so if you get a cranky customer service rep, you just say ‘Yeah? Okay,’ hang up and redial. They really have a bank of about a hundred sitting there so hopefully you won’t get a cranky one again,” Nichols said. She made it clear in that case, students can contact her to receive help dealing with the Loan Servicers because she receives school servicers instead of student services. ence between subsidized loans and unsubsidized loans. Subsidized loans are loans that the government pays interest on while students are in school and unsubsidized loans are loans where the borrower is responsible for interest, Nichols said. She also added that most of the students who attended the presentation had subsidized loans. Nichols presented a slide that showed that students pay minimally 9,000 dollars in interest overall. Nichols went through the many different payment plans that undergraduate students can pick to being repaying their loans after their grace period. A grace period is usually six months or nine months, depending on the type of payment plan you have, that allows gradu-
because it seems very skimmed surfaced, which I guess is the point, but at the same time it left me with more questions than answers.” Allen said that most of his loans are private and that he expected more coverage of those private loans opposed to so much information on just federal. The student loan presentation for students took place in the Mountain View Room in the L.P. Young Student Center on April 21 and 22. Deborah Nichols, the associate director of Financial Aid, presented to KSC stu- back their loans Nichols said. “The school reports that you graduated loans after they graduate. on a certain date and six months afterNichols opened up the presentation wards, you start repaying,” Nichols said. by explaining what NSLDS is, which she Nichols explained if you fail to pay said was the National Student Loan Data your loans it is called default. She said System. default results in delinquency. She said she advises students to go to “After six months, if you fail to make the NSLDS website and enter their per- payments, you’re a delinquent for twosonal pins to view their personal loan hundred-and-seventy days,” Nichols information because it is important to said. know your balance. Nichols added that the number one reason She also added that studentaid.gov is a for default is people failing to inform their website that has a repayment calculator for loan servicers about changed addresses. going to owe in loans. Nichols then went on to explain what a
Savanna Balkun can be contacted at sbalkun@kscequinox.com
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Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Thursday, april 30, 2015
News / a3
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Remembering Rwandan genocide 20 years later
HEATHER O’BRIEN / EQUINOX STAFF
Executive Director of HDI, Aflodis Kagaba speaks about a non-discriminatory healthcare facility. HEATHER O’BRIEN / EQUINOX STAFF
Students in “Sociology of Genocide” class present on Rwanda’s history.
Keene community contributes to Rwandan healthcare facility DEVON ROBERTS
organizations and departments that supported the event. These organizations include the Fair - Trade Club, Habitat for Humanity, Holotations relating to the 20th anniversary of caust and Genocide Awareness Club and the 1994 Rwandan Genocide with “Building Hope in Rwanda and Healthcare for All,” Equity, and Inclusion. an event addressing the need for health care The departments that took part were for the LGBT community in Rwanda. Holocaust and Genocide studies, sociology, On Monday, April 22, students, faculty anthropology, and criminology. and community members congregated in the Mabel Brown Room for a presentation a trip to Rwanda organized by Seibert last - summer where the art for the auction came from. They worked closely with Never Keene community can do. Again Rwanda, an organization founded The event included presentations from to prevent genocide from happening in students enrolled in professor Therese Seib- Rwanda again. ert’s Sociology of Genocide class. “Their commitment is to empower youth The students covered Rwanda’s geog- to build critical thinking skills in order to raphy, early, colonial, and post-colonial history, the 1994 genocide, post-genocide “So we learn about all the social and psy-
equinox Staff
In addition to the student presentations, there was Rwandan food and music, a silent auction of crafts and a speaker representing The food included samosas and fried plantains, provided by a number of campus
Christianson, KSC alumni. Christianson recently won the Susan J. Herman award for Holocaust and Genocide awareness and has been accepted to work with the Peace Corps in Rwanda. Shannon Cavanaugh, junior, will be going on the same trip this summer. Cavanaugh majors in psychology and holocaust and genocide studies, and said that her genocide class sparked her interest in Rwanda. “I never knew that students had the opportunity to go to Rwanda, and that’s somewhere where I had always wanted to go based on knowledge of the genocide,” Cavanaugh said. She said that they were going on a two-week peace-building trip with Never Again Rwanda to participate in post-genocide reconstruction. “I’m hoping to get a more personal connection with the genocide because we’re going to potentially have presenters who and learned about what you can do to step have survived, and were alive during the in and prevent those factors,” he continued. genocide. I’ll get to see what it’s really like living in Rwanda and what it was like for these people,” Cavanaugh said. and nine Rwandan participants. Among these participants was Kelly
STUDENT ASSEMBLY DEVON ROBERTS
equinox Staff This week’s student assembly was the last meeting of the semester. The agenda included elections for three open positions on next year’s Eboard, and a potential new committee was discussed. The open positions included treasurer, secretary, and Christine Nigzus, current treasurer, was nominated to serve again next semester. She ran unopposed, with a unanimous decision to reelect her. Secretary was the next election, and the nominaLaura Grahm. All three candidates have been on student assembly for the same amount of time, and had the same amount of experience. Graham was voted to the position. “I want the extra work . . . I feel like I can do more on assembly,” Graham said. were Vallaincourt and Bridgette Normadin won the election. “She’s really good at stepping up when she needs to,” Kristen Reid, member of student assembly, said. Bobby Graham, student body president, spoke during reports about the overall year they had. “Really good job this year guys. This was one hell of a year. We got thrown a couple curve balls … There’s still a lot of work to do, but we’re heading in the right direction,” Graham said. Student government is wrapping up the academic year this Thursday with the carnival to be held on campus.
organization and educated those in attenSeibert also hosted an event earlier this dance about their vision and mission. semester featuring a Rwandan Genocide survivor. that is a safe place for the LGBT commu“This was one genocide that I felt some nity, where they will not be discriminated shame over given the role of the United against. States during this genocide. A refusal to While there are no laws against homo- call it genocide, a refusal to support troops sexuality in Rwanda, there are prejudices going there . . . Our record on this genocide, and stigmas associated with it that prevent I felt ashamed about,” Seibert said. many in the community from having access Kagaba said that with the help of the to healthcare. “We want to provide ser- Keene community, he hopes the facility will vices to everyone, to all these marginalized be built by 2017. groups,” Kagaba said. “We ask all other African countries to “Maybe what we are calling homophobia take a step forward and avoid disconnectat this level could also be ignorance. That’s ing it’s own people,” Kagaba said. “It’s comwhy I think for me, this investment needs plicated, but slowly people are going to start to be done in times of creating awareness, to understand.” times of creating opportunities, times of According to Seibert, anyone can help creating services and then people progressively are going to change.” word, attending fundraisers, or making According to Allison Picone, Sociology donations. Students can also partake in one of Genocide student, Architecture students of these upcoming trips to Rwanda. mission. “The architecture department at Keene State actually made designs for the facility and they went over there during Winter break,” Picone said.
Devon can be contacted at droberts@kscequinox.com
Prescription drug dependencies rising SAMI SMITH
Contributing Writer A dependency to prescription drugs is creating a false feeling of normality among college students and other addicts. Keene State College Associate Professor in Health Sciences, Margaret Smith said the most commonly used drugs are opiates, such as Vicodin and Oxycodone, Adderall and stimulant related drugs, and anti-anxiety related drugs. Smith said, the biological reasons that contribute to drug abuse causes a brain-reward system; this means that once people start to take drugs they need to continue to take those drugs to feel normal. Once the abuser begins to take drugs to feel wards, if the abuse continues, it is considered addiction. As for the reason why people become addicted Smith said, “So, we call it a bio-psychosocial disease . . . The biological, the brain chemistry; the psychologiwhat’s happening in the environment that may contribute.” Prescription drug abuse is an ongoing battle; the population, but is consuming around 75 percent of the world’s prescription drugs (United Nations
A drug that is familiar among college campuses The college population is steadily increasing in for studying is now being used to help people with prescription drug abuse, because they are constantly the binge-eating disorder. Vyvanse, which is similar battling pressure from society and peers. In addition, there are not nearly enough treatment - centers, or beds for addicts to get the help they need. ing binge-eating. “. . . For example, in New Hampshire, I think there’s “There’s some mental illness behind the binge-eat- only one place for teenagers to go and New Hamping . . . I think that with medication-assisted treat- shire used to have tons of treatment centers, but what ment it could work . . . so the person doesn’t become happened was insurance dried up and wouldn’t pay addicted and have . . . another onset of issues,” for addiction treatment,” Smith said. Monadnock Voices for Prevention Coordinator, Polly Since teens are now contributing more to the popMorris said. Vyvanse is supposed to help to stop the ulation with dependency issues, Morris said, there disorder, so this is just another example of taking a has to be more money put into intervention and pill to feel normal again. recovery centers. However, medication-assisted treatment is a In addition, there needs to be more communicamuch safer option that would combine the usage of tion and collaboration between these agencies that medicine with counseling and behavioral therapies deal with mental health and substance abuse. to keep the patient on track and safe. When speaking on behalf of the shortage of detox When asked about which group most commonly beds and programs, Keene State College Associate abuses prescription drugs, Smith said, “I can’t tell Professor in Health Sciences, John Finneran related it you the exact group at this point, but I can tell you to playing musical chairs, so those who actually have who is growing, and that’s the eighteen to twenty-six access to treatment is a toss-up. year old group . . .” “Have you ever played musical chairs, and so, College students and young adults are at the who has access to treatment? . . . If people don’t have - health insurance, where do they go?” Finneran said. Creating a dependency to prescription drugs is a serithe increase. ous problem that needs to be accounted for. Morris said, “So, I think it’s predisposition, I Morris said, “We’re still in the denial phases for socithink it’s your family and your environment, I think ety, we just don’t want to admit there’s a problem; we it’s peer pressure and I think it’s societal pressure.” don’t want to talk about it.”
Devon Roberts can be contacted at droberts@kscequinox.com
SoundoFF Alexa Stanley Senior Sociology & Anthropology
“1 drink”
“How many drinks do you think the average KSC student drinks in one night?”
Braeden Cummings Junior Environmental Studies
“12 drinks”
Loran Madore Junior Psychology
“5 drinks”
Ryan Brown Sophomore Graphic Design
“15 drinks”
Compiled by: Tim Smith Photo Editor
Hunter Bayro Sophomore
Psychology & Substance Abuse
“‘3 drinks”
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Mission... The Equinox exists to promote the free flow of information, to protect the First Amendment, to stimulate high standards in the practice of journalism and to foster excellence amongst student journalists.
Thursday, april 30, 2015
[KSCEquinox.com]
EDITORIAL
Changes for trans community of KSC necessary In light of the recent interview between Bruce Jenner and Diane Sawyer, a discussion around trangender issues has been exploding. The Equinox would like to talk about life for trans students here at Keene State College. By raising questions about what changes can be made on this campus, we hope to ensure the safety and happiness of trans students. The Equinox would like to advocate for the rights of trangender students in the community. A common issue here at KSC is that we do not have a preferred name policy. Many people from campus group KSC Pride and other students have expressed the need and desire to put this policy in place. By providing birth names on all
students are outed to classmates and faculty. For students who do not identify with their birth name, a lot of confusion and possible discomfort is created when they are referred to by that name. It can also make the life for that particular student extremely stressful or uncomfortable. Oftentimes they do not want to have to explain themselves and their situation to others, but naturally people around them would have questions if the name on the roll call does not match the name they normally go by. Calling students by names that they do not identify with can create unnecessary challenges in their day-to-day lives. Another prominent issue many trans students have to face is wanting gender-inclusive bathroom access. Many people would like to see a simple change on the signs outside of the bathrooms. This would alleviate the tension for trans students who would feel more comfortable using a certain bathroom, but feel as though they are not welcomed in that bathroom. The Equinox believes that we as a college need to better work toward making the environment on campus as friendly and comfortable as possible for all. We believe in fundamental human rights for all and believe KSC can do more when it comes to making the necessary changes the trans community wants and needs. The college needs to take a look at the policies they have in place and consider making changes. As we all know, times have changed and it should not be unusual or taboo to recognize that there is a trans community on this campus that is demanding a change they are very much deserving of. Although it may not be blatantly obvious who is trans and who is not, this does not mean that trans students don’t go here. We would like to acknowledge their presence on campus. Although trans are not the majority at this school, this does not mean that we should not be seeking ways to create a safer environment for them. We encourage all authority members at this college to consider the trans community when making decisions. KSC needs to make strides towards certain changes that have already been made at other colleges. According to University of Massachusetts Amherst’s LGBT organization, there are more than 150 schools across the U.S. that have gender neutral bathrooms. Although this number seems high, when you put it into perspective, there are far more colleges than 150. This means there are still many colleges that have not implemented the necessary changes to help trans community feel more comfortable.
RESTROOMS
of people regardless of who they are, what they believe in and where they come from. But we believe now is the time we need to take that acceptance one step further. The Equinox wants to advocate rights for all people. We are hopeful that all students can feel safe and accepted not only here on this campus, but also wherever they may go in life. PHILIP BERGERON / GRAPHIC DESIGN EDITOR
STAFF COMMENTARY
Student says use of makeup can mask natural beauty ARLINE VOTRUBA
Equinox Staff Unfortunately for our self-esteem, we are all constantly victims of the demands of beauty advertisements. TV commercials urge us to have longer, fuller lashes and fashion magazines teach us which colors accent and which be nothing without hair and makeup to complete the look — or so they say. Sometimes I giggle when a model posing with voluptuous lips and dark long eyelashes is referred to as sporting a ‘natural look’ in these ads. While ping through the latest magazines, it is built into our culture to feel an expectation about what it means to look good. should be concerned with what makes you feel good. Do not let anybody tell you how to be beautiful. The major concern I am addressing is the overall makeup obsession. Sure, it is wonderful to be able to enhance your features when dressing up for a special occasion. I love to use mascara to elongate my lashes so that the blue of my eyes
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Tim Smith
soCial Media diReCtoR Diana Pimer
pop. I even think it can be fun to play with when there is no place to go. celebrities without make-up. A celebrity is expected to be made up at any given moment of their life. girls I meet on campus. While celebrities are associated with glamour and trends it is important A prime example of someone with a makeup obsession is one of my that we as people recognize that they too have lazy days. former roommates. My point is this: makeup, just like a scarf, a bag or a pair of shoes, is an During the semester we lived together, I never once saw my roommate accessory. We are meant to use it sparingly, to enhance our overall look. without makeup on. It makes me wonder how her skin ever had a chance Makeup should never become mandatory to leave the house. to breathe. I strongly encourage those afraid, to venture out for a day without a Underneath the dark black eye shadow, I am certain there must have stitch of makeup. It took me a long time to become comfortable enough to been pale eyelids, but honestly I never had a chance to see. She would even ditch the eyeliner and skip the mascara. go so far as to wake up early to apply makeup before going to the gym. Then she would come back and shower, immediately reapplying. It was I do put some on it is much more of a treat. I also feel like I save time on an obsession, and the obsession came from a fear. What was she afraid of? I know that at times we all want to make ourMakeup adds to the list of things we need to do to look good, and I am selves feel pretty with some makeup, but it concerns me that there are saying that you look great just the way you are. people who would not leave the house without it. In many ways this restricts your personal freedom. Feeling a need to realize that your most natural look is also when you look the most you. put makeup on before leaving the house could prevent you from participat- Forget the makeup and quit hiding the natural beauty you have. ing in last minute plans that otherwise may have turned out great. One of the most striking examples of the unnatural relationship we as a Arline Votruba can be contacted at society have formed with makeup is the surprise that comes when we see avotruba@kscequinox.com
faCulty adviseR Rodger Martin, Journalism faculty (rmartin@kscequinox.com ) Julio DelSesto, Journalism faculty (jdelsesto@keene.edu)
Ads Manager: Anna Glassman (860) 817-1442 MacKenzie Clarke, Devon Roberts, Savanna Balkun, John Keefe, Taylor Howe, Sarah Morrison, Arline Votruba, Heather O’Brien, John Keefe, Matt Bilodeau, Sarah Rooney, Rebecca Costanzo,Connor Smith, Jill Giambruno, Claire rett, Connor Smith. Copyright © 2015: All rights reserved Reproduction of The Equinox in whole or part in any form written, broadcast or electronic without written permission of The Equinox is prohibited. The Equinox is published each Thursday during the academic year by the editorial board of The Equinox, which is elected every spring by the members of the editorial board and acts as joint publisher of the paper. The Equinox serves as the voice of the students of Keene State College and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the faculty, the staff and/or the administration. One copy of The Equinox is available free each week. Anyone removing papers in bulk will be prosecuted on theft charges to the fullest extent of the law. Inserting items into printed copies of The Equinox is considered theft of services and will result in prosecution.
Editorial Policy The Equinox is a designated public forum. Student editors have full editorial control over the entire content of the paper. All articles and opinion pieces are assigned, written and edited by students without censor by administrators, faculty or staff. The Equinox is published Thursdays during the academic year with dates immediately preceding and following holidays omitted. The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication. The Equinox reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason. Advertising is not accepted until it appears in the paper. Letters to the editor must be written exclusively to The Equinox and are due by noon on the Friday prior to publishing. All letters must include name and phone number for verification. The Equinox reserves the right to edit for style and length, and refuse any letters to the editor. For clarification and additional information on any above policies call 358-2414. The Equinox business office is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
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STAFF COMMENTARY
Women voters likely to flock to Hillary Clinton TAYLOR HOWE
Equinox Staff the 2016 presidential campaign. Although she campaigned in the 2008 election and lost the Democratic primary to President Barack Obama, this campaign will likely hold more promise for Clinton. I believe that women will Clinton has already begun her tour and is making stops throughout the country. This past week, Clinton stopped in Keene and made a stop to tour Whitney Brothers and a café. Her support is already growing, especially from the female population. Just like with President Barack Obama and his popularity among black voters, my opinion is that Clinton will be able to gain women voters. However, some of these women voters will likely have tunnel vision. They will only be on the mission to reach gender equality and make history — which is undoubtedly an important mission and exactly what Clinton will likely represent in the campaign. Some women will vote for her because they support her policies. On the other hand, others will vote for her simply because she is a woman and they believe her presence in the White House will bring more success for women in America. And those left are the women who stand strongly in their beliefs and will not vote for Clinton because they simply disagree with her policies. Clinton’s gender is likely to overshadow her long list of political achievements and years of experience as well as her political policies, and this could both help her and hurt her in this campaign. Either way, one thing is sure: the women of America will most likely support Clinton because she has the potential to represent them in an area they have never been represented before — on the presidential ballot. According to ABC’s polls, 96 percent of African Americans that turned out for voting were expected to vote for Obama in 2008. With Obama as the Democratic candidate in 2008, 2 million more black voters turned out than in 2004. Blacks had the highest turnout rate among 18 to 24-year-olds. Antothe faith that President Barack Obama's presence in the White House meant more for Black people than any singular legislative action . . . There was a belief among African Americans he would have their interest at heart once elected.” This is the same belief women will have regarding Clinton when following her throughout the campaign. NBC News stated that national polls have shown that Democrats have an advantage over Republicans when it comes to women voters. I believe even more women will support Hillary simply because of her gender and what it represents to women of America, thus giving Clinton an advantage. Two female Senate candidates showed just how much gender plays a role in voter support. Last November, Iowa Republican, Joni Ernst, and Georgia Democrat, Michele Nunn, both outperformed the national average at national exit polls for the women voters by two points. Ernst won 49 percent, whereas the Republican national average is 47 percent. Nunn won 53 percent, whereas the Democratic national average is 51 percent. Looking culty gaining the votes of white women. As stated by Mark Ambinder of the online magazine The Week, the Democratic party has not won the majority of white women votes since 1996, the same year President Bill Clinton won
AP PHOTO / JIM COLE
In this Tuesday, April 21, 2015, file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to students and faculty during a campaign stop at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, N.H. The acting chief executive of the Clinton Foundation is acknowledging the global philanthropy made mistakes in how it disclosed its donors amid growing scrutiny as Hillary Rodham Clinton opens her presidential campaign, Sunday, April 26, 2015.
campaign. Clinton received more than 17 million votes during her 2008 to get more young women, black women and hispanic women voters but nomination process and it is likely that, this time, Clinton will make it to not white women. the primaries with the help of women voters. Being that Bill Clinton was able to get the majority of white women John Cassidy of the New Yorker stated, “An important part of her mesvoters and Hillary represents white women, it is an achievable goal for Hillary to reach. Ambinder goes on to state, “Being female — or being Hillary tering, is that it’s high time for America to elect a female President.” The power of making history and voting for someone who represents gender percent of white women said they’d vote for Clinton [in] a matchup with equality may be too much for the Democratic party to compete with as the named Republicans...White women are why Clinton is in such strong shape women who rally around Clinton will show up at the polls in large numnow. They will be the key to her eventual success or defeat.” If Clinton bers. gains the Democratic candidate seat, she will have already made history. Taylor Howe can be contacted at Neither majority party has ever seen a woman candidate for a presidential thowe@kscequinox.com
STAFF COMMENTARY
Importance of taking care of your body year-round HEATHER O’BRIEN
It is important to create some type of workout routine. A big part of remaining active and leading a healthy lifestyle is holding yourself accountable to a certain workout plan. If you come up with a plan, do your best to follow it. Workout plans can simply include running a few days a week, and doing stretches or using weights on other
Equinox Staff The weeks leading up to summer are exciting and dreadful in some ways because summer means bathing suit season. I’m sure I’m not the only one those hot summer days. What is it about summer that drives everyone to the gym, rather than staying healthy throughout the year? Being healthy should be a lifestyle, not just an every-now-andthen decision. We have the privilege at college to be able to go to a gym on campus whenever we want. I think it is important to use this to our advantage to start living healthy. I know I’m not looking forward to graduating and having to pay for a gym membership, so I use it to my advantage now. Many workout plans are geared toward promoting summer bodies. There are workout titles such as “Get Your Best Summer Body Ever” and “Do’s and Don’ts of Your Summer Workout.” These will certainly gain the attention of beach-goers. I think it’s awesome that people want to be in shape for summer, or maybe just to gain some muscle, but I also think it’s even better to have a continuous workout schedule throughout the entire year. If your only motive to workout is to achieve a certain body type, you may not be motivated by very good reasons. While having a nice body is a good thing, it should not be the sole purpose for working out. During the winter my friends and I never want to walk to the gym, especially when it’s freezing out. Therefore it is crucial to have self motivation. I always think of rea- Student walks into the gym to complete a workout and stay active. Yes, I want to feel good in a bathing suit, but I don’t think that it should only be about looking good. Working out should be attractive for the health of our bodies and our minds. Throughout the frightful winter, it is harder to burn calories due to less body movement. An article from bodybuilding.com, written by Jennifer Nicole Lee, mentions that the clothing worn during these cold months allows our bodies to stay hidden. “Arnold Schwarzenegger purposely would walk around in a cut
com, motivation is at its peak while helps our bodies feel energized. It states that, within one hour of exer-
TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
“Being healthy should be a lifestyle, not just an every-now-and-then decision.”
tinually remind himself to eat the right foods and always make working out a priority” Lee said. The article makes a point that I want to try for myself; making a food journal it will help keep track of eating habits. Eating should be spread out between every two to three hours. This helps control meal por“He used this technique to con- tions, especially during the winter
-HEATHER O’BRIEN KSC SOPHOMORE
because eating is a conditioned survival method. The article also advises trying on a bathing suit once a week to remind ourselves of the problem areas that we may want to work on. Doing these types of things are good reminders that we should constantly be doing small things to ensure that we’re remaining on
track. I was a three-sport athlete in high school. This meant that I didn’t have to worry about forcing myself to go to the gym because I particweek. Now that I am not a part of a sports team I know that it is important to continue working out and eating healthy.
because of proteins called immunoglobulins that help support the immune system. Shouldn’t we want our bodies to feel energized and protected all year long? I enjoy working out by attending classes at the gym. I had never been to any classes at a gym until I came to Keene. I have attended Yoga, Zumba, Butts and Guts and Cycling. They make sweating exciting and worth it. Working out for one season a year is just an excuse to be lazy. I understand that not everybody cares about looks, but exercising is more than that. It is what helps keep the body strong. I try to follow my goal of going to the gym or a workout class at least a few times a week. Instead of paying the gym a visit between the last few weeks of the semester and summer, head over there more often and you’ll hopefully experience great results. Not only will you experience physical self feeling more energized overall. You will be able to better focus on school work, you will feel relieved of stress, and you will eventually certain areas of your body. Most importantly many people them become much happier people in general. An overall mood increase is what many report after making the lifestyle change of working out. The important thing to remember is that working out is about more than looking good; it’s about feeling good too. Heather O’Brien can be contacted at hobrien@kscequinox.com
Letter to the editor I want to preface this article by saying that I have never played for the Keene State Basketball program. However, my father, Dean Prentiss, used to have the pleasure of calling KSC basketball games on the radio with playby-play man and KSC alum, Bob Lund. During that time, I spent countless hours at Spaulding Gym as well as on the road with the team. I idolized players like Chris Coates, Alphonse Michalski, Bennett Pawlusiak and too many others to list. Keep in mind, I was a 10-year-old kid who LOVED the game of basketball. Coach Colbert let me ride the bus, sit on the bench during games and be the water boy for his team. That in itself speaks to the kind of character and family atmosphere that Coach Colbert instills in his program. Fast Forward to 2011. I was a young kid who had just started my journey as a student at Keene State. Coach saw me in the gym and pulled me aside. He told me that if I needed anything at all, he was always there to lend a helping hand, and he told me not to hesitate to reach out to him. Coach Colbert did not need to go out of his way to make me feel like I had a faculty member on my side. He also didn’t need to tell me I was free to come by and watch his practices, or tell me that he would make calls on my behalf if I was serious about my aspirations to get involved in coaching. Coach Colbert isn’t just the basketball coach at Keene State. He is a leader of men. He loves this school and this community in general. You can ask any player that has ever stepped foot on the campus of Keene State, and they will tell you that winning is important, but character is paramount. Keene State will be making a big mistake by parting ways with Coach Colbert. itor and a man that I hold in the highest regard. I still frequently speak with Alphonse Michalski today and he still tells me that I am part of the “Owl Basketball Family” and I truly feel that I am, without ever playing a minute. Connor Prentiss 58 Spring St Keene, N.H
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Exploring Europe
In addition to studying in England, KSC student backpacks through six countries in Europe JACOB KNEHR
University of Derby
JACOB KNEHR / CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
“. . . When I went to sit in the car, I realized I accidentally sat in the driver’s seat, thinking
The reason I chose to study abroad in Derby, England is because I needed a change. I grew up in northern New Hampshire and I had been studying at KSC for almost three years. After 20 years living there, I was pretty sick of New Hampshire and I needed a new experience. adjust to this new area so quickly. The two weeks that Meghan and I backpacked Thankfully my wish came true. Liz had told her friends that she made while she through Europe was such an incredible experience that I came to England on January 9 to study at the Uniwas here about me, and I met them soon after arriving I can't even begin to explain it. versity of Derby for the 2015 spring semester. It was life changing to say the least. Before I arrived, I was very nervous. I have also made other friends who are studying Seeing all of the beautiful cities, each one being comFor starters, I had never been far outside of the New England area and I had never been on an airplane before, that I met all of them because they made the transition ible. not only easier, but more fun. I was able to see major landmarks and monuments During my semester here we had a two week Easter in each city, and each one was breathtaking. London, and it took an additional two hours to get from break from school, and during this time all I wanted to Although, that doesn't go without saying that there the London Heathrow Airport to my school. were bumps in the road. A representative from the university picked me up do was travel to as many places as possible. For instance, when Meghan and I were about to because people were either broke, already had traveling leave Munich and go to Vienna, there was a huge storm went to sit in the car, I realized I accidentally sat in the plans or were too nervous about traveling to so many and part of the roof collapsed in the Hauptbahnhof driver's seat, thinking it was the passenger's seat. places in such a short span of time. train station in Berlin, which caused all the trains to be I was not one of these people. canceled. shock. I was getting nervous that I would have to travel by After panicking and wondering how we were supmyself, but if push came to shove, I would have gone well. could take us there. I missed my friends and family, but I was ready to by myself. Luckily I found Meghan Jenks, who is a CommuniUnfortunately, the bus left that night at 11:00 p.m. embark on this crazy, new adventure. cations major at KSC studying abroad in York, England, and wouldn’t arrive in Vienna until 5:30 a.m. the next day. to the University of Derby before me, helped me pre- who also wanted to travel during this time. It took days of planning, but we decided to spend What was even more unfortunate was that the bus pare for what to expect while I was not only studying, two nights and two days each in Amsterdam, Munich, was pulled over by the police to check passports and but also living here. Vienna, Prague, Venice, Florence, Rome and Paris. baggage which took a total of two hours.
- JACOB KNEHR KSC STUDENT STUDYING IN ENGLAND
So, we didn’t arrive to Vienna until 7:30 a.m., which threw our plans of a bit. That was the most stressful bump in the road during my backpacking adventure with Meghan, but we made it work and even though it didn’t go entirely as planned, Overall, I am so happy and fortunate that I was able to see all of these beautiful cities in Europe. from each other, and the people were too. friends and family could have been with me to see what I saw. I only have less than a month left in England before I amazing friends before senior year. So for now, I'll be time I have left here with the amazing friends I've made. If you are thinking about studying abroad, but feel too nervous, just bite-the-bullet and do it. been life-changing and I strongly encourage you to try it. It's a once in a life time opportunity to study in a different culture. Don't pass it up.
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the DC felt very excited and honored. “It’s a great thing, we do what we do because it’s our job but we enjoy doing what we do, we don’t ask for this type of appreciation,” he said. do and seeing the students, and the students become almost family to them. Actually, when you think about it, students see us more than their professors because many of them are in here three or four times a day,” he continued. Torantore said he got really good feedback from gifts. He explained their gifts, which were hand-written letters and a crystal in hand-decorated boxes. Torantore explained that crystals, put simply, enhance ones vibrations, which in result lets them radiate ‘good vibes’ and helps in healing emotionally, physically, mentally or spiritually. Chelsea Harris, KSC senior, said she really liked the idea of having DC Appreciation Day. “I think it’s important because they’re a big deal on this campus. They feed us, they’re reliable and they’re always nice and welcoming,” she said. She added, “Thank you [DC employees] for making us food, dealing with us and always coming in regardless of what the weather is.” On DC Appreciation Day Harris said she wrote a message on the DC Love Board and said thank you to all of the employees. On the DC Love Board Torantore said people wrote foods they liked, nice things about and praising them. Student Ian Travis Mcnahon also wrote a message on the DC Love Board. “I wrote ‘I enjoy the love that’s given to us’,” he said. He said he is grateful for those who work at the DC. “The employees make us food every day so they ment,” he added.
TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
On Thursday, April 23, DC employees were acknowledged and celebrated by KSC students. At the event, students wrote what they love about the DC on the DC Love Board. There was live music and all 200 employees were given a gift.
He continued, “They always deal with us, whether we’re happy, sad or tired, and they always have a smile was to demonstrate how easy it is to show appreciation on their face.” for one another and be grateful. For DC Appreciation Day he said he was going to “I hope they saw that it’s not hard to appreciate help clean up a table with trash and dishes left on it to people and it’s fun too,” he said. He said he thinks it is
important for people to be grateful and show appreciation for not just DC workers, but for everyone.
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KSC senior Lucy Briggs agreed with Goodman. “We really want people to know that they are accepted here,” Briggs, who is the public relations representative and membership organizer of KSC Pride, stated. According to Briggs, the event started at 2 p.m. on Friday with live music from KSC students Roger Weeks and Kaylene Lemme. There, students and others in attendance could make posters, sign a banner and don colorful gear in preparation for the march down Main Street. In addition to signing banners, students in attendance were encouraged to sign petitions as well. Briggs said, “We just want to make TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR sure the administration knows how Those who marched in the KSC pride parade made signs to raise important [these issues are] to the stu- awareness about the LGBT+ community. dents and the trans community.”The or challenged.” in their own ways.” name policy, as well as the installaMilonas added, “The people in tion of gender neutral bathrooms. KSC Pride just accept me.” Milonas steps in knowing and understanding Abby Milonas, a sophomore at stressed the importance of hosting myself,” Stallcop explained. KSC and active member of KSC pride events on college campuses, as Stallcop said he believes that Pride, said that she attended because they give all students a comfortable she knew it was an environment she environment to live in. friendly world is gaining speed, it is a would be accepted in. “Not only is it important for LGBT+ groups to be more active in colleges, it “The road ahead of us is long and take place in a non-adult setting,” is vital to give LGBT+ students a safe tough, but with the support that we Milonas stated, “Being in a place like space where they can take a break have and progress we've made, I can Keene where there really isn’t a whole from the toxic environment that some see the day in which the biggest judge lot of diversity, I thought it would be of them have to live with on a day to of every person is the content of their a nice opportunity to hang out with day basis,” Milonas explained. character,” Stallcop explained. people I know are in the same boat as In the end, Stallcop concluded, it me.” is not currently a KSC Pride member all comes down to support. Milonas continued, “KSC Pride but said he plans to join the group “For those who remain on the sideactually recognizes other sexual iden- next year. Stallcop described the lines, we need your support,” Stalltities, like pansexual, non-binary and Pride Parade as a major stepping cop said, “For those who remain in asexual, as well as others that often stone in his life. the closet, we give our support.” get swept under the rug by main“By going to the parade, I found stream LGBT+ activism. For me, it support and understanding through Jill Giambruno was fun to be in a place where I knew people who are extremely similar to can be contacted at my sexuality wouldn’t be questioned myself, yet unique and independent jgiambruno@kscequinox.com
even if students are saying ‘Oh, I’ll just use one,’ it is still adding up,” she said. Asher said they were promoting the use of reusable water bottles and educating students about the dangers of plastic. According to Andrew Olson, who is also involved in the club, "The plastic bottle displays were a collection of recycled plastic bottles from around campus to show the impact of individual choices in terms of purchasing plastic bottles,” he said. He continued, “This display was to show that each contribution in the realm of plastic makes a in its entirety — from the vendors to the music, and shared why they liked attending. Cassidy Hunkins is a junior at KSC majoring in Graphic Design who attended Solar Fest. Hunkins said that she looks forward to attending Solar Fest each spring. She said that she gets excited to “spend time with a good crowd of cool, laid back people with a strong friendly vibe.” Of course, she said, good vibes in a crowd of people is always refreshing, and that might be a reason Solar Fest brings back so many attendees. Senior Jack Doherty-Dilworth, a KSC Safety major, also shared why he has attended all four years of Solar Fest since becoming a student at KSC. He agreed with Huckins and said, “The good super cool to be around.” Besides the obvious good vibes that Solar Fest created, Olson also shared why he believes Solar Fest is so important. He said that Solar Fest “demonstrates how the things we do for fun, like listening to live music, can be done in a sustainable manner, by using solar energy.” He also said “It is also a way to bring the community together both in and outside of the institution and shows how we can be responsible in what we purchase, like having fair trade vendors and all Asher also reiterated that there are many reasons Solar Fest is important. She said, “The purpose [of Solar Fest] isn’t just
Taylor Thomas can be contacted at tthomas@kscequinox.com the concert, it is the fact that it is all solar powered.” She added, “The concert also brings in a crowd so we can educate people to buy local and learn about living more sustainably.” Doherty-Dilworth said he would also agree on the importance of Solar Fest. He said that an aspect of Solar Fest he has always appreciated is that it “spreads new thinking and promotes important things people might not think about everyday.” Besides the appreciation for alternative energy, sustainability, being environmentally friendly and the energy of good people, Solar Fest attendees agreed on a popular topic among all: the weather and live music. As the long winter comes to an end, many students and the community alike said they have been itching for warm weather. Even with a slight breeze, Solar Fest seemed to be a great success, according to Asher. She said the live bands were all equally unbelievable with talent and brought forth great energy. Attendees agreed that all of the music was super enjoyable throughout the day. However, some hung around a little longer for a performance by Rubblebucket. Bands Rubblebucket and Surfer Blood headlined the festival. Asher said Rubblebucket has attended Solar Fest before, so there was great excitement for them to be returning this year. Hunkins said, “I was super pumped for Rubblebucket to return to Keene, and was excited to see their performance this year.” She continued, "But with or without Rubblebucket, Solar Fest seemed like a huge success this year.” Junior and Graphic Design major Bella Robinson shared her favorite part about Solar Fest overall. She said, "Rubblebucket, warm weather, and hanging out with really awesome people — what can get better than that?" “The turnout was absolutely amazing and a huge number came out this year,” Asher said. “The collaboration among many groups was successful and there were no problems with the crowd. Most people were really eager and excited to be there and everyone loved Rubblebucket,” Asher concluded. hart@kscequinox.com
COMMENTARY
Eating with the Equinox
How to make: Chopped salad TAYLOR THOMAS
oxygen around the body. Spinach is also a good Student Life source of vitamins K, A, B2 editor and C, as well as a good source of folic acid, mangaS a l a d nese, magnesium and iron. p r o b a b l y The vegetables, cheese, seaisn’t your favorite meal, but soned chicken and bufafter trying this delicious falo sauce also add a lot of chopped salad you might change your mind. my favorite vegetables to With summer right add, but you can change around the corner, many this salad simply by changpeople are looking to eat ing the vegetables. Another healthy and this is the per- change you can make is fect meal for that. With seasoning the chicken or spinach as the base of the changing the dressing. salad, you will get your daily intake of iron, which is important to the function of red blood cells which help in transporting
Ingredients: - spinach - 1 medium red onion - 1 medium tomato - 1 pepper - 1 cucumber - 1 avocado - 3 eggs - feta cheese - turkey bacon - 1 chicken breast - salad dressing of your choice
liking and toss. 3) Cook two pieces of turkey bacon on the stove. 4) To a large bowl, add serving size of spinach and chop until it is in bitesized pieces. 5) Chop all the vegetables into pieces the size of a quarter or smaller. 6) Add vegetables, egg, turkey bacon and seasoned chicken to spinach. sauce 7) Add a small serving of feta cheese to the salad Directions: along with a dressing of 1) Boil 3 eggs your choice 2) Cook chicken on 8) Cover the bowl the stove and when it is with a plate and shake almost done add Franks until the salad dressing is evenly distributed.
TAYLOR THOMAS / STUDENT LIFE EDITOR
This chopped salad is the perfect way to get your daily recommended serving of vegetables.
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Student center celebrates its 20th birthday TARA LEVY
Equinox Staff This past Tuesday, April 21, Keene State College’s Lloyd P. Young Student Center held its twentieth birthday party. ranged from ice cream sandwiches, ice cream sundaes, chocolate founStudents said the student center is a place on campus where they can
birthday party was to show students how amazing the student center really is. important part of student life.” tral gathering point and catalyst for student life on campus.” become a central location for student life. about their days. -
this happen again in the future.
ing, so this birthday party was a good opportunity for students to appre-
it was a tiny space.”
-
me when we opened the building, before we opened it and then ordering whole process. said.
Tara Levy can be contacted at tlevy@kscequinox.com
TARA LEVY / EQUINOX STAFF
The L.P. Young Student Center celebrated its 20th birthday on Tuesday, April 21. At the event there were cupcakes, ice cream and a chocolate fountain.
Event shows attendees that yoga can be more than relaxing CLAIRE HICKEY
Equinox Staff Keene State College’s Yoga Club welcomed students and locals to Tadasana Thursday, held on April 23, The room pulsated with neon lights and electronic music, courtesy of the hired DJ Jordan Lashley, who is also a part-time yoga instructor
which was pretty cool.” Silliman was not the only one
to challenge herself. else. dents, few of which said they were
it because it’s not something that’s
The yoga club supplied participants with yoga mats, water bottles and glow accessories, such as bracelets and hairpieces. Local yoga instructor, Ashley
said.
ticipants, who she referred to as
Yoga Club.
position on their mats while she year how much yoga can touch the was and how she came to be a yoga instructor. classes here in Keene right now at COLTON MCCRACKEN / EQUINOX STAFF
Students and members of the Keene community attended the first-ever glow in the dark Tadasana Thursday put on by the KSC Yoga Club.
- tonight.” tered yoga teacher and did my train-
for the mind and we all need bal- and its members and encourage stu-
is currently in training to become a - yoga teacher.
KSC’s yoga club and Tadasana said. Thursday was all about by statmindful of yourself and of others Thursday by the KSC Yoga Club’s Thursday came up shortly after this
the importance of the club and how meaningful the practice is for many of the students,” she stated.
typically engage in such a practice,” Yoga club member and Psychol-
Claire Hickey can be contacted at chickey@kscequinox.com
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Student Life Where in the world is the owl? Find out on A8!
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COLTON MCCRACKEN / EQUINOX STAFF
Confetti was thrown over the crowd of students enjoying Solar Fest. The solar-powered concert on Saturday, April 25 featured headliner bands Surfer Blood and Rubblebucket.
Good vibes and sunny skies at Solar Fest SOFIA HART
equinox Staff
greeted with sun rays, live
She said the event had live
She said the Residence Hall
display all the recycled water
students are recycling, there
COLTON MCCRACKEN / EQUINOX STAFF
Students enjoy Rubblebucket, one of the headliner bands at this year’s Solar Fest, which was held on Oya Hill on Saturday, April 25.
Students push for change at the Pride Parade JILL GIAMBRUNO
equinox Staff
» SOLAR FEST, A8
Students take day to thank on-campus employees working at dining commons TAYLOR THOMAS
Student Life editor On Thursday, April 23 live music
TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
» PRIDE PARADE, A8
Members of the Keene community march in the annual LGBT+ Pride Awareness Parade.
» DC APPRECIATION, A8
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Arts & Entertainment
Thursday, april 30, 2015
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[KSCEquinox.com]
KSC Concert Band expresses beauty through song
JAKE COUGHLIN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Music Education student Lauren Casey conducts the KSC Concert Band’s spring concert in the Redfern Main Theatre. The concert title was, “Mystery, Melody, and More!”
Spring concert portrayed music students, local guest performers and faculty members REBECCA COSTANZO
Equinox Staff The music guided the audience to places ranging from a breathtaking sunrise, a war-torn beach in South Korea and back again in the Keene State College Concert Band’s spring concert. The Redfern Main Theatre
Tribune). Another piece conducted by Chesebrough, “O Magnum Mysterium (1998),” is composed by Morten Lauridsen. The performance program described Lauridsen’s work as “serene” and “internationally acclaimed” and this particular piece has been arranged for symphonic wind, solo voice, piano, organ, men’s ensemble and brass ensemble. Ola Gjeilo’s “Meridian (2011)” was a penultimate piece that “included a consistent rhythmic drive,” as described by Chesebrough. Gjeilo is New York City based composer with Norwegian roots who “often draws inspiration from movies and cinematic music.” The concert concluded with the lighthearted piece called “Eine Kleine Yiddishe Ragmusik (2003),” composed by Englishman Adam Gorb. This piece was “a synthesis of Jewish traditional folk dances and ragtime music,” according to the program notes. Additionally, the concert was highlighted by assistant conductors, Kenneth Ballou and Lauren Casey, two music majors selected to lead a piece of their choosing based out of the conducting workshop classes. Kenneth Ballou conducted a moving piece about the Korean War
past Thursday evening, April 23. The title of the concert, “Mystery, Melody, and More!” describes the variety of musical pieces that were performed by the concert band: an ensemble made up of KSC music students, local guest performers and a few KSC faculty members. A variety of people attended the concert, such as music department faculty, students, family members and friends who all came out to support the hard work of the concert band. “It’s always really good to have people who aren’t a part of the department to come and enjoy it,” percussionist Devon Larrabee said. Music director James Chesebrough conducted the band through four incredible pieces. “A Basque Lullaby The piece was called “Inchon (2001)” and was com(2009)” is composed by Dan Forrest and the performance posed by Robert W. Smith as a tribute to the memory program notes describe the piece as a “superb choral writing . . . full of spine-tingling moments” (Salt Lake Army, who was a veteran of Korea and Vietnam. Ballou
wanted this piece to be played because he played it in high school and enjoyed the experience. He also pushed for the work because, “It is a challenging piece that I felt the ensemble could accomplish,” he said. The song included rousing percussion work that began on stage and was spread throughout the main theatre on spe-
She described how conducting is about connecting with the ensemble as they put their trust in her judgement. “Being a conductor requires you to be so vulnerable up there . . . it’s very hard to get in front of your peers and just convey so much,” she said. However, this vulner-
rewarding thing, I think, is the happiness that the class I am teaching — or my band — is feeling when I am standing up there . . . just seeing how much of a positive impact music has on so many people.” Casey is the recipient of the Doug Nelson Outstanding Concert Band Member Award, as voted on by her fellow concert band peers. She said she was very grateful for this honor. Next semester the student conducting will be passed on to tromsbone player, Sam Irvine, who said he is up After searching through YouTube, she found Galan- for the challenge. te’s work and discovered that the composer has roots in “Once this semester is over I am going to start listen-
work was meant to simulate the beating of helicopters, Ballou described to the Equinox. Casey began the concert, as another assistant conductor, with the piece titled “Beyond the Horizon (2009)” by Californian composer Rossano Galante. Casey spoke about wanting to select the piece because she was looking for a composition that sounded as though it could
Earth’s sunrise and the performance program describes how this is accomplished by using “majestic brass fanfares and sweeping melodic lines.” play,” Irvine said. KSC will have to wait and see what Taking the lead as conductor of this piece was nerve- his research and the hard work of concert band will wracking for Lauren Casey, especially because the piece have in store for this upcoming fall. think you are just waving your arm around — waving that stick around — but it’s so much more than that.”
Rebecca Costanzo can be contacted at rcostanzo@kscequinox.com
JAKE COUGHLIN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
(Above) Band member Hannah Benoit watches conductor intently while playing her saxophone. (Right) Music student Zach Joy performs on oboe with fellow band members.
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[KSCEquinox.com]
ThursdAy, April 30, 2015
KSC’s student-run production explores topics that relate to all Play shows the seesaw relationship of physical and emotional pain SARAH ROONEY
Equinox Staff On April 25 and 26, the Keene State College Group Theatre put on a production of “Gruesome Playground Injuries” in the Wright Theatre at the Redfern Arts Center. The mission of the KSC Group Theatre, according to William Howell, director of “Gruesome Playground Injuries” and advisor to the Group Theatre, is to “engage, inspire and challenge those interested in the performing arts.” He explained that the group serves to connect students with others who share similar interests and to support artistic development “through the exchange of ideas and development of new works.” According to Howell, the idea for this production came from Cara Gerardi and Kenon Veno, the two students featured in the show. Gerardi plays Kayleen, a troubled young woman, and Veno plays Doug, her accident prone best friend. “The process of putting together this production has been exhilarating,” Howell said. “I saw an amazing opportunity as a director,” he said. Initially, Gerardi and Veno were planning on doing a staged reading of the play, according to Gerardi. But, eventually, the production evolved. “We were so lucky with the number of students eager to get involved.” Work on this production began in February. According to Howell, they held “over twenty rehearsals and have had an additional twenty students get involved in various aspects of the production.” “This project has provided an opportunity for students to get together and collaborate, doing something that they love and are interested in,” Veno said. “It’s been so great to work with a group of talented and devoted people.” The play provoked many laughs and intense moments of silence from the audience. Each scene was prefaced with a year, and it was not chronological. Each year showed a “The play is so human,” Gerardi said. “It is about the relationship between two people.” The play focuses on pain and scars, both physical and emotional. Gerardi said that everyone can relate to the characters in this play in one way or another. “The pain and scars gathered throughout these two people’s lives is what brings them together, but also what keeps them apart,” she said. Veno agreed. “As crazy as they are,” could be found in just about anyone.” Sarah Rooney can be contacted at srooney@kscequinox.com
“The pain and scars gathered throughout these two people’s lives is what brings them together, but also what keeps them apart.” -CARA GERARDI ACTRESS PHILIP BERGERON / GRAPHIC DESIGN EDITOR
Check out The Equinox’s weekly playlist on Spotify @ KSCequinox
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[KSCEquinox.com]
STAFF COMMENTARY
Movie Matt criticizes and praises week in film MATT BILODEAU
MATT BILODEAU
Equinox Staff
Equinox Staff
Isn’t it devastating when you watch an actor or actress that has many comedic possibilities, but instead decides to squander their talent? Kevin James, in the right role, lends himself to be an endearing presence. Without that charm and likability, there’s nothing left,
Throughout the decades, we see many coming-of-age stories, but they’re usually told from the perspective of young boys. they remind us of a simpler time when the weight of responsibility hadn’t fully set in. But how often do you see a portrayal of a teenage girl — a black teenage girl nonetheless? Sixteen-year-old Marieme [Karidja Touré] lives a very limited existence. In that case, her grades are low, she has no real responsible paren-
hit rock bottom just like his producer Adam Sandler. In the meantime, he lost his wife of six days in a divorce
Blart eventually cheers up when he and his daughter [Raini Rodriguez] are invited to attend a security guard expo in Las Vegas at the Wynn resort. With this being a Mall Cop movie, of course there’s a heist going on to steal the paintings throughout the resort.
SARAH MORRISON / EQUINOX STAFF
no matter how hard that was. That being said, I can movie-going experiences that I’ve ever had. to a craps table with no knowledge of how the game is played. The dealer takes Blart’s money, telling him to place it on random numbers knowing he’ll lose and, of course, he does. That scene is the perfect analogy with Kevin James Blart. That is the one and only time I will ever relate myself to this character. Once again, James plays Blart as a creepy, awkward
It quite literally made me sick to my stomach. Overall,
last year if he chooses his movies based on if it can be marked up as a paid vacation and he was not afraid to enthusiastically say yes. After watching an hour-and-a-half paid commercial for the Wynn resort, it certainly seems true. This some of the laziest joke writing that I have ever seen. for, I wish Kevin James the best of luck, a talented man
starts back where he originally started. In the meantime, Blart managed to become sexist as well. Without nothing but the physical manifestation of the check that Kevin James took to play him again. David Henrie, Neal McDonough, Raini Rodriguez, Daniella Alonso, this is your supporting cast and, just like Blart, they simply didn’t care. After each individual scene, I imagined them asking for a raise because it must have been painful to read some of these lines. Even in the worst movies of any given year, I can
himself alongside Adam Sandler as someone who has immense talent but squanders it for money. even people who tend to gravitate towards Adam Sandler movies won’t enjoy. No one tries and by the time the actual plot kicks in it’s hard to care. I urge anybody thinking of seeing this to wait a week and
Matt Bilodeau can be contacted at mbilodeau@kscequinox.com in, I had to step outside of my theater for a moment
her sister and she has little to no friends. All of this burns up inside her, that is until the day she meets a group of older girls [Assa Sylla, Mariétou Touré, and Lindsay Karamoh] who take her under their wing. These girls are everything that Marieme isn’t which is outgoing and rebellious and piques her interest. Thanks to this group, she discovers a whole new persona that she didn’t know existed within herself. Adolescence is the time in life are. Marieme goes through the natural learning experience. To those who are asking the question, no, this isn’t a sequel or gether. Most teenagers go through phase at least once in their lives. This is a portrayal of adolescence that rips away the stereotypical mask of a rebel story as instead shows it from a distinct perspective. Marieme doesn’t immediately turn to drugs and sex, but rather gets into shouting matches with
GEORGE AMARU / EQUINOX STAFF
other girls, rents out hotel rooms for parties with friends and just has fun in general. The element of her character is
moments make up her character development and very little is romanticized. Watching these girls act cool and rebellious fascinates her because it’s something that she never thought possible. Once she gets into the habit, the consequences of her actions aren’t glossed over. Eventually, there’s a point in life where you have to face the facts and grow up. Life is a learning experience and if we all acted like we did when we were adolescents, who knows where we would end up? lessly told the story of a black teen-
blank slate and, when this group of girls enters her life, she becomes full of life even if it doesn’t lead to her making the best decisions. Karidja successfully plays someone that certain people can look at and relate to. Not all teens turn to drugs and booze, but we all have the wish to belong somewhere. ter study where Marieme goes through an arc that I’m sure some people will look at and see themselves. Honestly it’s great to see a strong yet vulnerable female char- under the hands of an incompetent acter. Freedom — isn’t that all we But luckily Céline and cast want inside? That deep desire to turned out a unique take on the have next to no worries in the coming-of-age tale. world besides you and yourself? Rating: B+ and that’s how the structure of the story plays out. Matt Bilodeau can be contacted at There’s no other story than the mbilodeau@kscequinox.com journey of Marieme. Individual
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thurSday, april 30, 2015
[KSCEquinox.com]
Decades old record broken by men’s track relay team
TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
Keene State College softball coach Carrah Fisk Hennessey discusses lineup details with umpires and the opposing head coach.
(Cont. From B6)
“I plan creative practices that are comprehensive in skill work, as well as situational play and team building. I embrace player feedback and challenge every player to earn her spot every day,” Hennessey said. Newell stated that Hennessey is very fair and encouraging. She explained that Hennessey will put the team the best chance to win that day. “She would play all freshmen if they were the best out there. She is very organized and always has a plan in the back of her head, and I love that for a coach,” Newell said. Furthermore, Bracken described her coaching style by saying, “She that when she wants you to get something done you need to get it done, but laid-back in a way where As a former assistant coach, Henessey said, “The transition from assistant coach to interim head coach and then from interim coach to head coach has been relatively seamless, and, for that, I am thankful on many levels.” She continued, “There are many more ‘behind the scenes’ responsibilities as the head coach, and what is not seen is not easily understood or appreciated.” In addition, Bracken explained
that Hennessey is a lot more vocal this year, which is necessary as a head coach. She continued, “I think this year she jumped right into the head coaching position and really ran with it.” “I'm really excited to see where the softball program goes from here. It's been at the top for a while, and I think that Carrah can keep Keene State as a contender,” Boynton said. From a discipline standpoint, Hennessey said, “We follow the guidelines outlined in the KSC Student-Athlete handbook and have more strict expectations of our team, not only when we're in season, but year round. Reputations are hard to make and fast to break.” She added that as softball players of the school that they represent the entire college and the culture of the college. Junior Sara Bracken agreed with Coach Hennessey and said, “She wants us to represent KSC softball how it should be represented. We are a close-knit team who works
we worked with the girls in hitting, added. Along with Bracken, Newell added that Hennessey has already done so much for this program. “She is on top of recruiting, as well as, everything she can do for this current team. She is always areas that in previous years we have not gone over. I think she was stated. “There have been so many changes on campus and in the Keene community since I was a student, yet one key ideal remains, as engraved on the Appian way arch: ‘Enter to learn; go forth to serve.’ I believe I am living those words,” Hennessey said. For Bracken and Newell, they year with a female head coach. “She is not only my coach but an important mentor and role model for me. I love being able to stop by
and that is how it has been since my freshman year here. We value togetherness and appreciate each
softball things, but also having her give me constructive criticism Newell said.
Coaches do a lot of activities to described Hennessey as “very approachable and respectful.” Bracken explained that while She stated that Hennessey tells the team was in Florida they had it like it is, and that these are the a team dinner and attended a KSC necessary qualities to be successful. baseball game as well. “She also set up clinics for the local softball players to come to four weekends in February where
GEORGE AMARU / EQUINOX STAFF
4X400 relay team crushed a school record JACOB BARRETT
Equinox Staff
the others have the capability to do even better than In three minutes and 23.53 seconds, four Keene tion to further practice, Stergis-Cox’ positivity and State College students took down a 39-year-old Coach Tom Pickering’s techniques is a major reason record. The team of track runners took down the as to why they have been able to achieve what they 4X400 relay record on April 18. have. The boys said Pickering has them on a steady workout regimen of cardio and strength training, along with making sure they are eating right and getoutdoor track. The meet was the Owls’ last of the ting enough sleep. regular season before they started their postseason “A lot of us are in the best shape of our lives,” Stergis-Cox said The hard work is something the four runners said they see as a necessity in order to compete at the level that they do. “We get after it. That’s their sense of accomplishment when they won the race. ways, is based on individual performance, but the However, Sanford said that he and his three team- 4X400 crew said that their event is based on a team mates were just looking to get it over with, because they had ran in other events before the relay. “We reckoned with,” Bazarnicki said. just tried to push through the race as best we could,” The four record holders set their sights on breaking the record for a second time in the Little East Nonetheless, they caught their second wind and Conference Championship meet on April 25. Howsurpassed the school record that had stayed intact for ever, they have another chance to run into the record nearly four decades. Stergis-Cox said that he and the books again at the Eastern College Athletic Conferothers will break the record again — and again. “We’ll probably break the record a couple more he and his fellow relayers expect to show the comtimes in the next few weeks,” Cox said Stergis-Cox’ petition what they can do after their performance in comments came as no surprise to his the other three teammates “We came together, and we’re a force to be reck“Of course he said that,” Sanford joked. He said oned with,” Bazarnicki said. there’s a chance that Stergis-Cox could be right. According to the runners, Injuries and fatigue have been obstacles that the four have had to surpass,
Keene State College athletic team records Baseball
Men’s Lacrosse
Softball
Women’s Lacrosse
Overall: 9-21 Home: 2-4 Away: 1-12 Conf: 2-10
Overall: 10-4 Home: 5-1 Away: 4-1 Conf: 7-0
Overall: 13-17 Home: 5-3 Away: 2-6 Conf: 8-6
Overall: 5-11 Home: 2-3 Away: 3-5 Conf: 5-1
Keene vs. Southern Maine:
Keene vs. Salem State:
Keene vs. Plymouth State:
Keene vs. Castleton:
Loss 7-2
Win 20-13
Keene vs. Southern Maine:
Keene vs. Plymouth State:
Loss 3-0
Win 21-9
Win 5-2
Loss 17-13
Loss 5-0
Win 16-14
Keene vs. Plymouth State:
Keene vs. West Conn. State:
U PCOM I NG
Baseball
Keene vs. TBA
Softball
GAMES
Keene vs. Eastern Connecticut State Friday, May 1 — 12:00 p.m. Owls Athletic Complex
Thursday April 30 — 6:00 p.m. Owls Athletic Complex
Keene vs. Plymouth State
Thursday, April 30 — 2:00 p.m.
Keene vs. TBA
Thursday April 30 — 3:30 p.m. Owls Athletic Complex
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[KSCEquinox.com]
The Equinox’s Weekly Yoga Challenge Type of Pose: Chest Opening
KSC soccer club joins Region One league
Step 1:
Step 2:
GEORGE AMARU / EQUINOX STAFF
CONNOR SMITH
Equinox Staff One year after staring up, the Keene State Club Soccer team has made it into a league where they will take on multiple schools around the region. The Keene State Club Soccer team lead by Junior
“I wanted to be apart of Keene State life, and just playing the sport that I love . . .” -NOOM THAIBANDIT SOCCER TEAM SECRETARY
One League of New England. Holden and his three other members of the executive board started the club in the spring of 2014. The process of actually getting the club started was a long, but getting it done was very satisfying. “I had to go through the whole process of; forming a constitution, recruiting players, and then getting approved by student assembly. We went through that whole process and became a recognized club. Ever since then its been going through the motions to get to where we are now,” Holden said. Holden and his executive board for the club team has been doing all they can to better the club, and to make sure that they get things done when they need to be. The Treasurer of the club, Colby Easter, said he is impressed with the work that has been done to get where they are now. “I think in the short amount of time it was really impressive that we got everyone together. We got two games this spring, which is more than a club soccer team has ever played. It’s nice to see it just progressing into a real team.” Vice President, Jake Dimeglio, said he has been playing soccer since he was threeyears-old, and is excited to get back out there after
State life, and just playing the sport that I love, and just talking with the guys about what we can do to make things better is awesome.” All four of the executive board members are involved in some kind of extra curricular activity. Whether it is working in a Biology lab to being a part of a fraternity, they all stay busy when they are not playing soccer. The team had a total of three games in the past year, but the two losses and one tie that they encountered has not slowed them down one bit. Holden said that they will have more games next year. “For the fall we will be playing six league games, and we can schedule other games whenever we want. We will also play in a regional tournament, which will be great,” Holden said. Holden also added that with the budget that the team was granted he hopes to have this club running for a long time to come. “We have a budget now. We will buy all brand new equipment, which will pretty much set the club for a long time. It’s all coming together now, and its looking great,” Holden said. Looking ahead, the team has plans for the fall besides the six games that they will play. Dimeglio just to get back into that competitive mindset. It was great to start playing again; I haven’t played since said that they have a fundraiser in the works for the club team. “We are looking to hold our own tournahigh school.”
Step 3:
Dimeglio added, “I love being on E-board. I was the captain my senior year of high school. I like the leadership position to help kids and motivate them.” Secretary, Noom Thaibandit, said he wants to boost his résumé by being on the Executive board, and his love for the game and the school is also a big part of it too. “I play because of the sport really. Having fun, making new friends and just being involved in something.” Thaibandit added, “I wanted to be apart of Keene
annual Keene State Club Soccer tournament, which will be pretty cool.” Holden said he is very happy with the response and hard work of his executive board, and he thinks they are in a good place. “This is a really good starting point for our club. It’s just a really good place to get going for soccer.” Connor Smith can be contacted at csmith@kscequinox.com
Step 4:
Stops at 7 on campus locations:
Keddy/Campus Safety Library Student Center Winchester Lot Butler Court Art Center Fiske Lot
Off campus stops:
Target Starbucks Party City Walmart Olympia Sports & more! Now stopping at Market Basket!
MONDAY - FRIDAY
City Express runs 8:00am-5:00pm Campus/Community Shuttle runs 7:30am-7:30pm
PHOTOS BY TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
Anna Glassman can be contacted at aglassman@kscequinox.com All City Express vehicles are ADA accessible and are equipped with easy to use bike racks. For more information or a complete schedule, visit cityexpress.org or call 352-8494. TTY use 711
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KSC Men’s Soccer club join New England league learn now on page B5! SportS / B6
Sports
Interested in writing for the Sports section? Email The Equinox Sports Editor Kendall Pope at kpope@kscequinox.com
[KSCEquinox.com]
thurSday, april 30, 2015
Attackman shines in first season with owls ED MESSER
Equinox Staff
Ed Messer can be contacted at emesser@kscequinox.com
PHOTO EDITOR / TIM SMITH
Hunter Arnold, a freshman on the Owls’ Men’s Lacrosse team, charges down the field at the Owls Athletic Complex against UMass Boston.
KSC head softball coach named
THE EQUINOX ATHLETE of the WEEK
PHOTO EDITOR / TIM SMITH
KSC alumnus and previous interim head coach, Carrah Fisk Hennessey was offically named head coach after five months of extensive interview processes. TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
Carrah Fisk Hennessey adjusting to new coaching title NAME: STEPHANIE LONG
JEFF LUNN
Equinox Staff
Sport: Softball Jersey number: 16
» FISK HENNESSEY, B4
Ed Messer can be contacted at emesser@kscequinox.com
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Special Section [KSCEquinox.com]
special secTion / B7
The stories behind KSC’s drinking culture
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JAKE COUGHLIN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL EFFECTS
Why do students drink so much? ALI ONDREICKA
“When that’s not available, it’s reasonable to try anything, and drinking alcohol is one of them. It turns out that it doesn’t accomplish the If a person threw up after eating Chinese goal, but since it does give a counterfeit expefood, would they keep eating the food? Chances rience of satisfaction and enjoyment, it then are, probably not. If a person threw up after a night of drinking, diminishing our capacity of enjoyment.” would they continue to drink, if not that night, With the legal drinking age being 21, people but another? These same questions were posed by Paula point during their time at college. Phillips, a psychotherapist with a local practice Combining this with the newfound desire in New Hampshire. Phillips explained that the to complete the nervous system and experience need to escape, or reach an altered state of being, happiness, and the drinking culture surroundis the driving force behind many people’s deci- ing the college environment skyrockets. sions to drink. In an article published by The New York “It’s a very reasonable thing, to drink, when Times entitled, “Social Media Publicity Turns you don’t have experience,” Allen Penrod, master Wild Parties Into Trouble That Can’t Be Ignored,” licensed alcohol and drug counselor (MLADC) said. “It looks like fun, and everybody wants to the riots that many college-aged students parhave fun.” took in. Penrod explained that as alcohol is consumed The article acknowledges social media’s abilthe capacity to do most things is diminished, and ity to, “draw young people to events — and to the counterfeit experience of pleasure rises. The document behavior that then outrages residents brain begins to associate drinking with pleasure who might not otherwise have noticed.” — a false signal with repercussions in its afterBoth Penrod and Phillips recognized how the math. With these false interpretations of happiness, today impact how, when and why alcohol is conthe number of pleasure receptors in the brain is sumed. reduced, according to Penrod. “People now have access to more powerful “When you wake up, you actually have less social tools than ever before, and that makes any capacity to experience pleasure than when you drank,” Penrod said. This downscales the capac- over what it was in the past. That’s the primary ity of pleasure. reason why there’s greater risk now than there He continued to explain that the brain recog- has been,” Penrod said. nizes drinking as the only way to return to a satHe continued, “There’s much more stress in isfactory level of equilibrium. the environment. More stress in terms of just the “One of the things you have to notice about level of stimulation that everyone is subject to — the word intoxication, the centerpiece of that word is ‘toxic.’ You’ve exposed yourself to toxic consequences of making mistakes, and it also chemistry, and the prefrontal cortex of your makes it more likely that negative behaviors will brain has enjoyed it,” Penrod explained. become obviously negative quickly.” “In essence, that part of the brain has learned With the addition of this social setting comto lie to the rest of the brain — where you do all bined with social media, it can be said that the your thinking, where your personality lives — drinking culture found in today’s society is more has discovered what it likes, at the expense of heightened than ever before. every other part of your brain,” he continued. Scenes of friends drinking are displayed People of all ages drink, and with all of these almost instantly to the world with the click of a button, and the same goes for the consequences in particular, the question is raised as to why that accompany the activity. alcohol abuse is often associated directly with It is that much easier to know when a poor college culture. “The fundamental reason is simple — people ence, bringing concrete mistakes that can follow at college ages have discovered that they are a person around for life. now in possession of a complete, or nearly com“The stakes are higher in every direction,” plete, adult nervous system. And one of the Penrod said. “The amount of stress we subject ourselves to on a daily basis is many, many times system, is that we should be enjoying ourselves greater than at any point that we can recall as a all of the time,” Penrod, MLADC explained. culture.” “So, when your life experience is not generBoth Penrod and Phillips agreed that the ating that, you ask, why? What is it I should be decision to drink and the reasoning behind it difdoing to accomplish full design of my nervous ferentiates with each individual. system?” A majority of the time, social drinking occurs Penrod explained that it is human nature to want to have a “complete” life. encounters. “Some of us continue to drink because it their brain, and that’s why life doesn’t seem to seems a reasonable response to social situations. be good enough,” Penrod continued. “We intui- We so much enjoy the ability to not feel socially tively know we’re entitled to a lot more, but we awkward — there’s a billion reasons why people don’t have a mechanism for getting there with- continue [to drink],” Penrod said. out learning how to transcend.” Phillips added that drinking as an escape Recognizing that drugs and alcohol are two involves people looking to reach that certain of the possible solutions, he noted that while heightened feeling, whether it’s intentional or these methods don’t actually work, a person not. can’t know that until they try it. She also noted that while this escape may “Most people look at the consequences of drinking, and say okay, it’s a bad idea — and that problem, the next day not only do you have the is true, but it’s not the whole story. The whole same problem or issue, but you also have physistory includes: I am looking for a way to develop the rest of my capability, and some of that capability includes the capability of enjoying myself Ali Ondreicka can be contacted at all the time,” Penrod said. aondreicka@kscequinox.com
Copy Editor
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JAKE COUGHLIN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR & TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
What alcohol does to the body DIANA PIMER
SoCial MEdia dirECtor “Alcohol has been seen as a gift of God, and it’s also something that’s been seen as a gift of the Devil,” John Finneran, PhD, said. According to Finneran, a Health Science professor at Keene State College who has his PhD in Psychology: Alcoholism Studies, alcohol is one of the oldest substances known to mankind; it has been used for food when water supplies have been undrinkable, as well as celebrations and religious ceremonies. However, its consumption comes with negative repercussions, including (but not limited to) death, injury, assault and sexual abuse. According to research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 80 percent of college students drink, and almost 50 percent report binge drinking in the past two weeks.
“Alcohol has been seen as a gift of God, and it’s also something that’s been seen as a gift of the Devil.” -JOHN FINNERAN, PHD KSC HEALTH SCIENCE PROFESSOR
other drugs, are they doing it in isolation or are they doing in a social context? Sometimes when people are in groups, the group exerts a kind of pressure . . . We get a lot of information and experiences from others. Sometimes we get really good information from them. But sometimes we can get really bad information from them too. I would imagine that a lot of students have this common fund of knowledge about using various substances, alcohol included.” Holocaust and Genocide Studies major Megan Penney
they drink it, including consequences such as alcohol being a depressant, addictive, dangerous and causing people to lack common sense as well as lower their inhibitions. She said she drinks for men in about two hours.” Despite these generally learned this kind of information from her peers during her concrete numbers, Finneran explained how there is much more science to drinking than just counting your drinks. “My minor (Psychology) gives me more info than anything “Alcohol is a liquid that has a very simple chemical formula to else. Other than that I haven’t gotten anything about it, just it. This very simple chemical formula allows it to go to many places in the body. As a matter of fact, alcohol will go to any place in the body that there’s water, it’s water-soluble. If we be the ideal solution to this lack of knowledge. Finneran count the hydrogen bonds in the human body, about ninetyexplained that many years ago, there used to be a First-Year Experience program, where students lived in groups in the water, there can also go alcohol,” Finneran said. dorms, and took classes with each other with the same proHe continued, “Assuming we’re drinking it, it usually fessors. “There’s been some talk about trying to bring that back,” brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to .08g/dL.
the alcohol to make its way to the stomach and then to the small intestines. And that’s when it starts to be absorbed by the bloodstream. Once it’s absorbed in the bloodstream, the blood in its coursings will travel up to the brain.” Finneran said that once the alcohol is in the brain, it can depress the Central Nervous System if it is not metabolized quickly enough by the body. This can put to sleep reason, judgement, metabolism, motor functioning, coordination and even our heartbeat and breathing. This happens when the extra alcohol is held in the blood stream. “It takes about an hour to metabolize about an ounce-anda-half of alcohol. But if I drink more than one drink in an hour, then the alcohol that is not metabolized is put on hold in the blood system in the blood stream. That’s where it will start to go to the brain and do its magic,” Finneran explained. KSC junior and Substance Abuse minor Nicole Demers said that students in the Health Science department may have more knowledge about this process than other students.
year transition a much more meaningful one. If you have that ritual and that container of community, then it might help students who will experiment. You’re expected to experiment when you’re a young adult and when you’re a teenager. You have to decide how you’re going to use psychoactive substances for yourself. But if it was done in a way where you could do it kind of safely, it may not have some of the negative consequences.” Demers agreed, and said that what KSC does now is good, but that students should take it more seriously. “We have that alcohol survey we have to do. People really don’t take their time and be very sincere on it. They just blow through it to get it over with. If they actually take their time and realize how much they’re drinking or how much drugs
Demers said alcohol will be a part of the college lifestyle for a long time, but she does not think drinking responsibly is a hopeless cause. “I feel like alcohol will always be something that’s here. It’s what it actually does to us. More than just getting the high, something for people to do and get together . . . students just we know how it really can control some people and then not need to be responsible and conscious of what they’re drinking and how much they’re drinking, and how many nights of dents are just not aware of all the consequences of alcohol. the week they’re actually drinking. Everyone is smart, every“I feel like our campus has a wide variety, where there one can take care of themselves.” are people who are very responsible with it, then there are Finneran had similar thoughts. He said, “Alcohol can people who go out and do abuse it. But I’m assuming that bring great joy, as many other substances can in a particular they don’t know they’re abusing it or don’t know that they Know that before you go into something, think, think, think. Finneran explained that students also may not be aware of It [alcohol] can be associated with some of the happiest times the true consequences because of how they do learn about of your life, but it can also be associated with some of the sadthis information. dest times of your life." “Students have a lot of opinions about substances, but where do those opinions or ideas come from? Don’t we learn Diana Pimer can be contacted at from our peers?” Finneran said. dpimer@kscequinox.com “When students are initiated into the use of alcohol or
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Black Special Section / B8
thurSday, april 30, 2015
[KSCEquinox.com]
Out of an informal poll of over 50 KSC students
DRINK A FEW TIMES A YEAR
DON’T DRINK AT ALL
DRINK ONCE A MONTH
DRINK ONCE A WEEK
DRINK TWICE A WEEK
STATISTICS ARE FROM AN INFORMAL SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE EQUINOX PHOTO GRAPHIC
BY PHOTO EDITOR / TIM SMITH & ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR / JAKE COUGHLIN
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: STUDENT ACCOUNT
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: STUDENT ACCOUNT
JACOB BARRETT
MARC APESOS
hometown, had their own bottles. Contributing Writer, Print Journalism “We were pretty hammered and some kids came up and started talking [expleFor this unnamed sophomore, 20, from tive] to my friend from home. I don’t even New York, his drinking culture started remember how it started, but there was early. some pushing and yelling on this guy’s “I had it [fake ID] since I was a junior in porch,” he recalled. “I was inside at this high school, it works pretty much every- point but I heard my friend shoved this kid where. We’ve been buying beer from down the steps and all of his friends just started jumping on him.” orientation, they don’t do anything,” he said. kids” punching his friend. In New Hampshire being caught “Two of my friends who were on the in prison according to criminaldefenselawyer.com. When asked if he knew this, he said, “I seriously doubt they’d take it that far for buying some ‘racks,’” he said. “The cops should bust kids who throw the shopping carts in the river instead of us who contribute to the economy.” The student said he spent 40 dollars a week on beer and vodka; roughly 600 dollars a semester on alcohol. He estimated he drinks “about ten to end, starting on Thursday. He recalled one night when his excesStreet last year. He said his drink that night was a 750 milliliter bottle of Jägermeister. His friends, who were visiting from his
DRINK MORE THAN TWICE A WEEK
thing was I lost my shirt, I think somebody ripped it straight through,” he said. He said he doesn’t remember much of but he did say everybody involved was “completely blasted.” Ironically, “I never saw those kids again, I don’t think they even go here,” he said, when asked if he’s ever run into the students he fought that night.
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism As a high school student, the unnamed KSC student said he had whiskey on his breath while answering questions in the classrooms. For this 20-year-old sophomore from New York, that was the norm. Starting from his
sitting in math class. The New York native said his early years of drinking were when he did not know how to conduct himself. He called himself an “angry drunk.” He gave an example of a violent
huge groups of guys that come visit and just go around looking to talk [expletive]
said. According to the 20-year-old, that was accepted in his group of friends. “Me and all my
“I walked out and saw two of my friends happen between Keene students. I’m sure were in the middle of the street just brawl- it has, but not often.” ing it out,” he said. Last year, he said that he and a friend “It all happened so quick . . . I ran down were arrested at the University of Ver-
because we were drinking and we were drunk all the time,” he said. Getting booze has never been a problem for him. Often, he looked for strangers to hook him up with alcohol. “Hey, ‘Mr. Guy’ in front of the liquor store,” he would say to strangers before asking for booze.
buddy . . . I remember some kid came up behind me and punched me in the back of the head, and I whipped around and started throwing shots back . . . It was a [expletive] mess.” “Tons of people were crowding around
a bottle of liquor by himself — sticking to cheap liquor and keeping his expenses low, but paying a high price in the morning. He said his drinking had led to a few embarrassing moments. Once, at a party, he climbed to top of a roof and showered fellow partiers in his urine. He learned about this the next day from his buddies. After many rough nights and hazy memories like the roof incident, he decided to cut down on his drinking. He now only drinks 10 or 11 beers on nights he goes out, but said he still puts drinking over his academics at times. While he said he still gets decent grades, he admits he could be doing better if not for his drinking. The sophomore said he has learned to better control himself and no longer gets angry or violent while drinking. However, he said he has no intention to quit drinking entirely. “Sometimes you just say [expletive] it and you go out and get drunk,” he said.
calmed down when it got busy. My buddy and two other dudes who were just yelling and pushing each other at that point.” “It probably lasted about two minutes,” he said. He estimated about 50 people observed
“pissing in public.” “We just left a party and we were looking for a place to go to the bathroom. So, we decided to go behind a dumpster when a cop car pulled up behind us with its lights “We were lucky that we didn’t have alcohol on us, but they still made us go back to the station.” “They asked if we were drinking and we told them yes, but they still put us down lawyer and everything, lucky the charges were dropped,” he said.
“It was just a stupid second of drunken
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: STUDENT ACCOUNT
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: STUDENT ACCOUNT JOE CORTESE
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism JESSE REYNOLDS
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism While all of her friends are getting hammered on the weekends, a female Keene State College senior, 22, from New Hampshire, refrains from drinking, but still goes out most nights. “I like going out, like I’m not going to not go out with my friends,” she said. “Everybody else goes out so I’m not just gonna stay home alone.” While she remains sober, she said she has witnessed people doing things that they would be horri-
“Everybody else goes out so I’m not just gonna stay home alone.” -KSC SENIOR
Even after the Pumpkin Fest riots raised questions about the drinking culture surrounding KSC stu“I don’t know if this is still true, but for a while one dents, she said she thinks the current underclassmen of my friends was banned from Cumby’s between aren’t any worse drinking-wise than her class was a certain hours at night because she would get wasted few years ago. and steal food,” she said. “I don’t really know that many freshmen and sophShe described one instance before her friend was omores, but I haven’t heard that many outrageous stobanned. “There was one night that she had just hooked we were younger,” she said. In her opinion, KSC isn’t up with this kid and she shows up at Cumby’s in all boys clothes and she's swaying trying to stand,” she United States. said. “She put food in her pants and walked out with “Pumpkin Fest was an unfortunate happening it, then she opened it in the parking lot and it went all and many of the students didn’t go to Keene, so that
in the parking lot.” Another time she was at a party and one of her friends disappeared for 20 minutes. Turns out, her friend was in the bathroom giving oral sex to some guy for a beer. Despite all the horror stories, this senior said she has witnessed most of her friends mature as they’ve progressed through their KSC careers. “Most of them, once we all turned twenty-one especially, calmed down a lot,” she said, “Maybe it’s because we usually go to the bars and we have to spend more money to drink.” She said as seniors they need to be more responsible and not drink all weekend, because they have jobs and school work.
here,” she said. other school when it comes to drinking.” She said it’s not so much the drinking culture in colleges that is the problem, but the drinking culture among high schools. “In high school, especially, kids are drinking a lot more. When I was in high school we never really drank that much and I lived in a college town. I think people are starting a lot younger now, so they come to college with this expectation to get more [expletive] up than they did in high school,” she said. “All you can really do is try to teach kids right from wrong, but sometimes you have to learn from making mistakes.”
A 20-year-old male from New York said he started drinking at 16, and still continues even during his current sophomore year in college. “Getting alcohol is simple in college for a few reasons — you know older kids to get you it, you know someone with a fake ID or you own a fake,” he said. When it comes to buying alcohol, the student said, “Money is not a problem.” The student has a wealthy family and spends a majority of his weekly income on alcohol. He said he spends between 70 and 80 dollars on alcohol every week. During the week he drinks about that span. “My parents send me one-hundred dollars a week and then they don't know my grandparents send me well,” he said. He said he blacks out twice a week using hard alcohol, including Jack Daniels Whiskey, Sailor Jerout the day and then throughout the night to black out.” Drinking 30 beer cans that are 12 oz., which is over 10 Concentration) ZONE green zone card, which is a go-to provider for alcohol risk prevention that contains perthis many beers for an 185 pound male in a time period “Severe Impairment in mental, physical & sensory functions. Mental confusion and loss of consciousness is likely. Risk of serious injury & death is increased. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION!” The other two days of the week he said he drinks on average a 12 pack each night. When asked why, he simply said the alcohol helps him sleep and relax. He has been heavily drinking for almost three years now and does not plan on stopping anytime soon. He says his life is at an all-time high, and he can’t wait until he's of age to drink legally. “There are so many more oppor-
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR
tunities when I turn 21.” Finally, he said, “I may have a problem with overuse but these are the best years of my life and I'm going to live it up. Everyone who hates on that should sit down and remember when they were young and how much fun they had.”
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Black Special Section / B9
thurSday, april 30 , 2015
[KSCEquinox.com]
SEAN CRATER / WEBMASTER
According to a informal survey done by The Equinox, 60 percent of students start drinking on Thursdays. To correlate this to the community, the local bars also offer the most deals on Thursdays.
LAW ENFORCEMENT POINT OF VIEW ( Cont. from A1)
another common interaction with students revolves around them carrying open containers on the streets. “If we can articulate that you are intoxicated because of the consumption of alcohol . . . You can be charged for that,” Macie said.
will be charged by KPD and KSC. Macie said his typical Friday night shift begins at 7 p.m. He patrols the area surrounding campus and responds to calls as needed. He said the most popular streets he patrols include Blake, Wilson, Davis and Elliot. “Most of the parties I hear about are on Blake Street,” Carli Cioppa, a student at KSC, said. Cioppa said she notices Campus Safety and KPD patrolling the street regularly during weekend nights. “I feel safer with the police around,” Cioppa said, “But I don’t know of any student that wouldn’t be upset if they got caught with alcohol.” As for the day with the most police action on campus, “Fridays and Saturdays are usually our busiest nights,” Macie said. He said Thursdays are not as bad as they used to be, despite the term “Thirsty Thursdays” being so popular. As the college drinking culture around the country has evolved, Macie said he “wants to stop scrap-
any student under the age of 21 with actual constructive possession of alcohol, internal or external, due to the New Hampshire statute of Unlawful Possession and Intoxication. Students found guilty of this violation will be charged a minimum of 300 dollars and will face a subsequent charge from KSC itself. That doesn’t mean students over the age of 21 are in the clear just yet. Walking the streets with an open alcoholic beverage, including those of Macie said he would give lectures to stulegal drinking age, is still illegal. dents on alcohol consumption but would end Students found guilty of this violation up visiting those same students in the emer-
gency room after they had been checked-in for alcohol related incidents. In regards to decreasing the amount of college students getting involved with alcohol, Macie believes more education and harsher punishments are the way to go. “You really have to set the punishment bar so high,” he said. Macie said he believes if the punishments were more severe, students will be less likely to get involved with alcohol. By drinking alcohol illegally, Macie said students are “rolling the dice with their future.” If students do choose to consume alcohol or party, Macie encourages them to “never take a drink from a stranger” and “stay away from house-hopping.” He said students get into a lot of trouble by jumping from house to house. Other advice ing their limit, knowing who they’re going to the party with and knowing not to go to unfamiliar areas. Makenzie Clarke can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TIM SMITH / PHOTO EDITOR & JAKE COUGHLIN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: DEFENSE FOR DWI
Defense lawyer point-of-view KENDALL POPE
sports editor When a person in New Hampshire faces a DWI (drinking while time there are two types of suspensions that can happen. According to New Hampshire DWI defense attorney Mark Stein either an administrative suspension or a court suspension. “An administrative suspension results in refusing a breath test or for taking a breath test that results in a breath alcohol level that’s above the legal limit,” Stevens said. In New Hampshire the legal limit for people under 21 is a 0.02 blood alcohol level. The legal limit for people 21 years and older is 0.08. If when arrested a person decides to take a breath test and blows over the legal limit and asks for a hearing at the Department of Safety, that person is potentially at risk for a court suspension. A court suspension results in a license suspension minimum of 12 months for people under 21 and nine months for people over 21. However, Stevens said that nine months can be reduced to a 90 day sentence if you participate in a program. Stevens said that when convicted of a DWI, most people don’t realize how time sensitive hearings and getting into these programs are.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: CAN WE HAVE A SAFE PLACE TO PARTY?
Campus in need of more night-friendly places ANNA GLASSMAN
Ads director
-MARK STEVENS DWI DEFENSE ATTORNEY
consequences they can not get work or educational hardships. “If they live far away from where they are going to school or working they run the risk of job and with that comes with not being able to pay the bills, pay the rent and losing their house and a lot of catastrophic consequences, so it’s [a] really, really stressful situation for someone who is charged with this,” Stevens said. He continued to say that it depends on the outcome of the case that determines what will ment. “Doctors and nurses on their application, they are asked if
boards don’t smile at those convictions. If just getting charged with, it will have that person’s name show up on Google so employees always look at that things quickly if you get con- now, and even if the person beats victed because it’s hard to get around in New Hampshire with- it,” Stevens said. out a license,” Stevens said. In New Hampshire, when a Kendall Pope can be contacted person is facing these at kpope@kscequinox.com
who have not yet reached the legal drinking age. “I think there is a need for some place on-campus for students to go and gather where they don’t have to be twenty-one in order to have a good night can be a fun weekend event, but one college student said this week- time,” Guthorn said. end routine becomes boring. “Movie nights are fun a lot of the time . . . sometimes it can get really looking to make friends and provides a perfect safe party scene. monotone, just sitting in your dorm doing homework,” Margaret Hislop “It gives a good space for people who want to go party . . . It’s also for said. those students who want to meet more people but don’t want to feel like Hislop is a sophomore at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. She said their on-campus dance club TRAX is a great place to meet people TRAX is open from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and hosts many events sponand get out of the dorm. sored by clubs, fraternities and sororities. The dance club is supervised by “[It’s like a] dance party. Usually there is enough room to move around, they have a light systems like strobe lights and colored lights and There is also free alcohol served to of-age students every hour. just disco ball things . . . People just dance the whole time and hangout,” “So everyone who is over twenty-one can leave their ID and get a Hilsop said. At the school of roughly 2,000 students, with most people living on what ever you want,” Hilsop said. The students at Susquehanna University are able to get drinks, but in a controlled fashion. “It’s not like a bar where you can get what ever you want. It doesn’t eter than Keene State. A lot of my friends go to Keene . . . I know you guys let it get too out of hand. They aren’t serving you cup after cup after cup,” are inherently louder,” Hislop said. Hislop said. KSC junior Mackenzie Kelm said alcohol would be an incentive to pus dance club would be successful. make an on-campus dance club successful. Sophomore Tatiana Fernandes said an on-campus club would facili“I think if you provided a spot that would provide alcohol and you tate a safe spot to socialize. “I think that’s a good idea. I feel like I could see more people that I could get in. I think that kind of incentive would work,” Kelm said. don’t usually see,” Fernandes said. She went on to recognize the drive to drink. Many KSC students said they feel the need to go out because their “I think unfortunately people on Friday and Saturday night just want friends do. Shahar Resmen, a junior at KSC, said though he spends most to drink so if they had a place they could safely drink I think that would of his time training for the swim team, he makes time to go out to main- work and they’d want to go,” Kelm said. tain his friendships. Guthorn also raised the question about the need to provide alcohol in Amanda Guthorn, the director of Campus Safety at Keene State Col- a dance party space. lege said she agrees that there is a need to design a space for students to “The key thing is that alcohol does not have to be served at every safely party. events. Is that the kind of business we want to get into?” Guthorn asked. Anna Glassman can be contacted at facility for students to go to,” Guthorn said. aglassman@kscequinox.com
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Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Thursday, april30 , 2015
special secTion / B10
[KSCEquinox.com]
Alcohol-fueled experiences at KSC UNDER THE INFLUENCE: DRINKING WHILE DRIVING
ALEX ENAYAT
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism
She said alcohol makes her angrier than usual, causing her to push and shove people. Other times, it makes her and her boyfriend get into verbal altercations that lead to yelling. A major problem for her is drinking and driving. “A lot of the time I have places I need to be or feel uncomfortable at parties, and I am the most capable to drive.” She said she does not believe her drinking will cause her to hurt herself behind the wheel. Mostly in the summertime, she said she likes to do “booze cruises” or has “a couple of casuals [beers]” while driving around town, usually with
This Connecticut sophomore starts drinking on Thursdays and doesn’t stop until Sunday nights. She said she spends around 40 dollars a week on alcohol. It takes around six beers or eight shots of alcohol for her to get drunk. She said blackouts occur almost every weekend, causing her to wake up shaky, with severe headaches. Her boyfriend buys her alcohol or she uses the fake ID her sister gave her. Alcohol has gotten her into trouble. “I received a three-hundred-seventy-two dollar Although she enjoys the summertime “booze ticket from walking around with an open container,” she said. She said alcohol has also caused trouble with loved ones. “My drinking interferes her school and social life. “Sometimes I get too drunk and wake up the with relationships because alcohol causes my next morning not knowing who or what I did. It The student attributed her drinking to both sucks to have to deal with the consequences of my embarrassing actions the next day,” she said.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JAKE COUGHLIN /
ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: SEXUAL ASSAULT FUELED BY ALCOHOL
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: INJURY RELATED TO ALCOHOL
SHELBY IAVA
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism spring weekend. With a hole in his hand the approximate size of his entire palm, this Keene State College sophomore ended up having his hand wrapped for three During last year's spring weekend parties the student drank three quarters of a handle of Pink Lemonade Zhenka; a handle contains 1.75 liters of alcohol. causing me to go to the hospital,” he said. The Occupational Safety major said that heavy drinking is not uncommon for him. He continued to say he spends nearly 50 dollars a week on beer and other alcohol. Other students have been known to use a fake ID, this student included. It helps him buy his beer at a local store. “I go to Wal-Mart and I use my fake ID,” he said. Within one week this student drinks approximately 60 beers, not including the other alcohols he consumes. Recently he has been on a two-week streak of straight drinking. Becoming “blackout” drunk is frequent for this student, “I’ve blacked out so many times I can’t even count that high,” he said. The Safety major said his drinking started at a young age — seventh grade. He got his alcohol by stealing it from his parents without them knowing. “I would just take the alcohol from my parents and drink it with my friends,” he said.
BEE
R
GEORGE AMARU / EQUINOX STAFF
Looking out for acts of sexual harassment CONNOR SMITH
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism The following is an account told by another KSC student, interviewed by Smith.
PHILIP BERGERON / GRAPHIC DESIGN EDITOR
UNDER THE INFLUENCE: COLLEGE BRINGS DRINKING LIFESTYLE
MIKE MIEZEJESKI
Contributing Writer, Print Journalism Before coming to Keene State College, this New Hampshire sophomore, now 20, had never had a sip of alcohol in his life. When he arrived at KSC, he quickly realized that mostly all of his fellow students were consistently drunk on the weekends and even the weekdays. He and a few friends who did not drink would hang out on the weekends when everyone else in his dorm would drink. About a month-and-a-half into the school year, he decided to try a drink. “At Keene State College it’s what basically everyone does every single weekend. There freshman year,” he said. made him rum mixed with Pepsi and they played drinking games in his neighbor’s room. Now in his second year of college, the student drinks at least two to three times per week, upwards of four times per week depending on his schedule.
He said he goes out to parties every weekend and that he only used to drink hard alcohol but now spends 20 dollars per week on a 30 rack of beer, mainly Bud Light. He said he gets his alcohol from his friends at the college, some are of-age and others use a fake ID. He tips the students who use the fakes with the change left over from the purchase. In regards to drugs, the only time this student has smoked marijuana was when he was quite drunk. “It was handed to me and my brain said sure why not,” he said. When asked how he felt, he said he does not remember anything besides getting dizzy and falling asleep. The student then explained the process most students participate in before a night of drinking. He said, “You drink in the dorms, then you go out to parties, you do that every weekend because it’s just the thing to do, it’s mostly social. Mostly on the nights that I drink I am pretty good about getting home safely, mostly I just get sick. Very sick and it gets gross.” At parties this student said he mostly people watches to see what people do when they are drunk. Sometimes he likes to play drinking games.
It was 2 a.m. Sunday night, spring 2013. I was doing homework in the Carle Hall study room when my friend called me. She said she had seen a and they were heading back to the dorm. She expressed concern that they were both really drunk and to “watch for them to come in” and “to make sure the girl didn’t do anything stupid.” Within two minutes of hanging up, I stood outside the study room and saw a male and female with their arms around each other, stumbling through the door. They went to the front desk and showed their IDs. They started walking toward me, still holding onto each other. Her eyes were like slits; her hair was sticking out to the side. Her hoodie was zipped shoulder. They walked by and I asked, “Where are you guys going?” They ignored me and kept walking, up the stairs both tripped and stumbled at one landing, laughing. I kept asking questions like “where
are you going?” They ignored me. Once we got to the top of the third landing, they headed to the side of the building where I knew her room was not located, but his room was. I tried to grab her hand, saying to the girl, “That’s probably not a good idea to go that way.” She ignored me. They kept walking down the hall. I said again, “It’s probably not a good idea to do this.” They then arrived at his dorm room door. He punched in the code for access. He opened the door, held it open for her to enter before him. I put my foot out to block his closing the door. I said the girl’s name and told her she should come back with me and I would take her to her room. shoved me with one hand to the center of my chest. I was my foot as I stumbled backwards. He slammed the door and locked it. I took out my phone and my friend was calling again to see how the girl was; she was out of breath and running toward Carle Hall out of concern for her friend. She said she was two minutes out. I went downstairs, toward the front door and saw her come in. Behind her was a couple returning from the same party. The guy was carrying the girl, who was unconscious with her head
lolling to the side. He placed her on the couch by the front desk. My friend told the front desk to call campus safety and send them to the thirdappeared into. Meanwhile, we sprinted room. We both banged on the “open the door.” The door was now jammed, wouldn’t open. We heard someone throwing up in the bathroom across from the room. We entered and saw the girl now naked, now throwing up in a bathroom stall. My friend told me, “she’s naked, I need clothes.” A bit freaked out, I immediately to cover the girl, who was muttering unintelligibly. My friend told me to check out the room. The door was still jammed. She kicked it in. We found the guy, face down in vomit on his bed. He was unconscious, wearing just his boxers. I grabbed the trash can under his bed and stuck his head in it. He threw up some more into the can. I asked him if he’d slept with girl. He said, “No.” I told him if I found out otherwise, I was going to beat the crap out of him. He kept throwing up. Right then, Keene Police showed up. They asked me if I was his friend or roommate. I said neither. Ultimately, he was transported to Cheshire Medical.
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