The Equinox 12.06.18

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THE EQUINOX The student voice of Keene State College

Vol. 71, Issue #13

Thursday, December 6, 2018

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converging crime wave?

Seeming increase in on-campus crimes have some students anxious about safety VINCENT MOORE

News editor A brawl on Butler Court, a theft from a car parked in the Winchester lot, and an off-campus home getting broken into just a street away from campus are only some of the crimes that have affected students this past semester at Keene State College. Some are beginning to worry about the apparent crime wave converging on campus, but Director of Campus Safety and Compliance Jeff Maher said that this semester’s crime rates aren’t anything out of the ordinary.

“I would say that by and large Keene State is a very safe campus. Some of the studies that have been done would suggest that Keene State is in fact the safest campus in New Hampshire. That said, we

still do have crimes that occur here, like any community our size. We’re fortunate in the sense that very few of those crimes are violent or cause physical harm to somebody,” Maher said.

The Campus Safety media log reported that between the dates of Sept. 6 and Nov. 30, Campus Safety has responded to 16 instances of theft, five instances of sexual assault, and five instances of other violent crimes like simple assault and brawling.

Maher said that Campus Safety responds to crimes like theft more frequently than violent crimes, but even thefts don’t occur with any regularity.

“Several of our students choose to leave their cars unlocked, and for the most part they can do so. However, from time to time they might than that their car has been rummaged through,” Maher said.

Thefts this semester haven’t just been regulated to cars, as junior and communication and safety major Taylor Lindquist and her roommates returned from fall break to find their off-campus home burglarized.

Lindquist said she was away when she received a phone call from her roommate notifying her of the break-in. She learned that the back door had been broken down and that many of their rooms and drawers had been searched through but no large items were stolen.

“I got home the next day from Cape Cod and went through my room, and that’s when I noticed that my jewelry box was open and I had been missing a diamond necklace, but everything else in my room was still there,” Lindquist said.

» SEE CRIME A1

VINCENT MOORE / NEWS EDITOR

Top Headlines

Index Section A: News .................1-3 Opinions ...........4-5 A&E ..................6-8 Associated Collegiate Press

Section B: Student Life...1-4 CC....................5 Sports............6-8

A4: Locking up and heading out A8: Practice makes perfect B1: Relationship violence on campus B8: Rookie no more

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News / A2

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Dust triggers Mason Library smoke detector VINCENT MOORE

nEwS Editor The usual calm, quiet atmosphere of Mason Library was disrupted by the flashing lights and blaring noise of its fire alarm, On Nov. 28, around 2:20 p.m., the library’s smoke detector was triggered, forcing an evacuation of the building.

Access Service Manager Jeff Kazin said, “The smoke system picked up smoke in one of the janitor’s closets upstairs, it could have just wafted over from construction.”

Kazin said he was able to tell that the alarm was set off rather than pulled by the information from the building’s fire panel.

“It doesn’t look like it was pulled

by anybody, it was the smoke detector that went off… I can see on the fire panel, we have a final panel back there… it said smoke detected and gave me the room number,” Kazin said.

Lieutenant Bill Greenwood of the Keene Fire Department was on the scene and said the alarm was triggered by dust from the construction work being done on the library.

“They were making dust when they were doing renovations upstairs.”

Kazin said that this incident was the first time in his two years of working at the library that the alarm went off.

Vincent Moore can be contacted at vmoore@kscequinox.com

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

Keene Fire Department personnel were on the scene at the Mason Library to investigate the triggering of the alarm and then disable it.

Proposed Title IX changes sparks controversy ALEX HARVEY

Equinox Staff Even if you know little to nothing about it, you are almost certainly familiar with the phrase “Title IX,” if only from filling out college and job applications.

Title IX is part of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, prohibiting gender-based discrimination.

It reads: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal Financial Assistance.”

Now, United States Secretary of Education Betsy Devos is proposing a change to Title IX law that many feel puts the victims of sexual assault and harassment in danger.

Jeffrey Maher, the Director of Campus Safety and Compliance for Keene State College, said that there would be sweeping changes dramatically affecting all portions of Title IX Law. “There are proposed changes to the definition of what we call sexual harassment, proposed changes to the obligation of employees and staff members to report misconduct when they become aware of it, and proposed changes to the grievance procedure,” Maher said.

The proposed changes to the law focus on the “rights of the accused,” and the process of filing a grievance is seriously impacted. Maher stressed that the proper terms are not “accused” and “victim,” but “responding party” and “reporting party.” If these changes are finalized, the federal government will mandate how colleges investigate sexual assault and harassment. This includes: “How much notice is given, how much time time

is elapsed between different stages of the investigation, what might be characterized as whole discovery — what information gets shared with parties, and then for the actual hearing, it would require a live hearing and the reporting party and the responding party would both be subject to cross-examination by an advisor or an attorney of the opposing side,” said Maher.

Maher stressed that this is an issue that affects everybody on campus. These are sweeping changes that can impact every student if they are even tangentially involved in a grievance procedure.

Kelli Jo Armstrong, Title IX Coordinator at Keene State College, said that The Title IX office remains committed to serving students despite any changes to federal regulations, “We remain committed to making sure that we are in compliance with federal regulations, and making sure that our services are accessible to all of our students as well.”

Some students are confused by the changes.

“That seems weird, I’d kind of like to know why those changes are happening,” said First-year and Sustainable Product Design major John Leach. Leach suggested that this is not necessarily the most effective way to solve the problem of sexual assault on campus.

Currently, protection from sexual harassment and assault is an implied part of Title IX. Courts have ruled repeatedly in the past that harassment and assault restrict a person’s access to equal educational opportunities, thus people are protected from these things under Title IX. Devos has proposed changes to Title IX law that would severely limit the scope of what defines sexual harassment, and these changes would also let those accused of sexual misconduct cross-examine

their accuser. Critics, including groups such as Human Rights Campaign, feel that these changes will make an already difficult process even more traumatic for those who are victims of sexual harassment or assault. These rule changes have been posted online and are open to public comment for sixty days, then the United States Department of Education will decide whether or not to make them official.

CRIME cont. from A1

Other items stolen were tax return papers, jerseys, spare change, and prescription medication, according to Lindquist.

“It almost makes us think that it’s somebody we know or somebody we’ve had in the house before, because they seem to know the layout and whose room was [whose], identifying what they specifically took from our rooms,” Lindquist said.

Since the burglary, Lindquist said that her and her roommates received new house keys and now make sure that all doors and windows are locked.

Lindquist said that the street was made up of mostly college students and that as far as she knew this incident was the only one of the semester, “We’ve always felt pretty safe on our street.”

On Nov. 1, the Keene Sentinel reported that two KSC students were hospitalized after a fight with an unknown assailant on Butler Court.

“Campus Safety is aware of an assault that was reported that actually may have stemmed from an off-campus incident and then later resulted in an on-campus incident. What I can share about that is that it’s actively being investigated by the Keene Police Department and they are happy to receive any information that our students may have about that,” Maher said.

Maher said that students can share information online through an anonymous tip service on the Campus Safety webpage.

“Those incidents occur infrequently or rarely, and when they do the college and our law enforcement partners at Keene Police Department take them very seriously,” Maher said.

KSC Senior Fletcher Rice allegedly had his car stolen from the Winchester Lot but did not respond in time.

Alex Harvey can be contacted at aharvey@kscequinox. com

Vincent Moore can be contacted at vmoore@kscequinox.com LAURA ROMANIELLO / ART DIRECTOR

Faculty and staff frustrations lead to IT evaluation AUSTIN COOK

Equinox Staff Keene State Faculty and Staff are growing increasingly frustrated with the Information Technologies (IT) group’s inability to provide them with needed hardware and software. Costs and budgetary limitations are a contributing factor, but not the only problem according to Laura Seraichick, the Chief Information Officer at Keene State.

The University System of New Hampshire has hired the Strata Information Group (SIG) to study the needs, evaluate the situation and provide a recommendation.

Seraichick explained that the problem is not a new one, as costs have continually increased each year, leaving all the schools within the University of New Hampshire System (UNH, Plymouth State, Granite, Keene State) struggling to balance IT budgets with faculty requirements. Each university manages its IT Operations independently, and this adds to the costs. This is where SIG comes in. SIG is helping the university system design a new means to deliver IT services across all of the campuses and consolidate operations and costs. Ultimately, Keene’s goal is to best serve the students by containing costs and provide better services.

“All of us are short on resources. This is why faculty and staff are feeling their machines are not getting refreshed frequently enough,” Seraichick said.

Seraichick said she understands that faculty is upset, but the wait is purely budgetary, “Quite frankly, IT is struggling because of the budget cuts that occurred in the first phase. Also, a drop in enrollment has reduced incoming revenue. As we have had to balance our budget, we have had to cut funds that were set aside to perform the refresh cycles. We were on a five-year refresh cycle for faculty workstations. We had to have

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BRANDON MOULTON / EQUINOX STAFF

a year where we postponed those as we just couldn’t spend that money, and it’s going to take another year or so to get out of that.” Seraichick speculated that SIG will recommend consolidating the Keene State Data centers and servers. “Big infrastructure systems cost a lot of money to maintain.”

Seraichick said that utilizing the SAS (Software As a Service) and the cloud strategy could help reduce the

footprint of Keene’s data center. A cloud model enables the universities to share resources and manage software through subscription. This minimizes the hardware, software and administrative costs of the systems as they are all shared.

This is not just a budgetary problem, as explained by Associate Professor at Keene State College Mark Timney during the 478th College Senate Meeting.

Timney raised concern regarding IT’s policies of distributing computers to Keene faculty as identical images. He explained that different faculty members have profoundly different needs, and that IT policy needs to recognize those differences.

“Some faculty barely use their computers for anything more than email or word processing. On the other hand, for journalism, I have to edit video, sound and animation. My colleagues in graphic design and film are in a similar situation. It’s become very problematic for us to get machines powerful enough. For example, right now the last upgrade to Adobe Premiere won’t even start on my desktop in my office. That’s how hurt we are. We have to fight for those computers and pay for them out of our own budgets. In my case, I paid for my computer out of my own pocket because I can’t get it here. I hope in the future that there will be some sort of acknowledgment or arrangement made to deliver faculty computers that actually work for them in the way they need them to work for them,” Timney said.

In a written statement, Associate Professor of Graphics Design at Keene State College Randall Hoyt agreed with Timney and said, “The graphic design program needs professional graphic design software capable handling large image files, video and animation.

The graphic design profession primarily uses Apple Macintosh hardware, which is more expensive than the garden variety Windows box. The Adobe suite is the only game in town, so we spend thousands in subscription fees a year. We need this software and hardware because graphic design is a pre-professional program preparing students to enter the job market as designers. To attempt to teach our students without the tools of the trade that prepare our students to enter the work-

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News / A3

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Enforcement of the smoking ban

VINCENT MOORE / NEWS EDITOR

Keene Police Chief Steve Russo (pictured sitting at testimony table) at the Municipal Services, Facilities, and Infrastructure Committee’s Nov. 28 meeting, answering questions a member of the public had regarding the enforcement of the proposed ordinance which, if passed, will raise the age to buy and possess tobacco and nicotine products from 18 to 21 in the City of Keene.

STUDENT ASSEMBLY PUJA THAPA

Business Manager

The student assembly was called to order at 6:30 p.m. on December 4. In Discussions and Actions, President Melinda Treadwell talked about establishing a new tradition for graduation. She asked for student government’s approval to replace the tradition of hoods in graduation, that was carried on since 1984, into the tradition of accepting medallions as a presidential gift. It would be a three inch, round metallic medallion embossed with KSC symbol according to President Treadwell. Dif-

ferent colors of ribbons will represent different disciplines and different schools. President Treadwell said that the medallions would be more functional and cost effective. The student government endorsed the proposal unanimously. Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Nancy Fey-Yensan and Associate Provost, Dr. Sue Castriotta reminded the student government and asked them to remind other students to fill out the course evaluations. They talked about how important it is for faculty to know what they did well, what they didn’t and what they could improve on. They also asked the student government

Campus Safety Press Log

to fill out a two-minutes long survey giving feedbacks regarding Academic Advising. They also mentioned about the advising summit for faculty in February. Another matter they talked about was the change of present grading system into universal grading system. They clarified that the letters will be changed but not the values associated with them. The adoption date for the new grading system would be Fall of 2020. The student assembly members further gave best wishes for finals and the holidays.

Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com

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11/26 Destruction of ProPerty/vanDalism - art center 11/26 motor vehicle collision - thorne art Gallery lot 11/27 controlleD DruG act violation PonDsiDe 3 11/28 theft from a builDinG - launDromat 11/28 motor vehicle collision - elliot lot 11/29 unwanteD Person - llc 11/30 Destruction of ProPerty/vanDalism holloway hall

11/30 Destruction of ProPerty/vanDalism sPaulDinG lot

11/30 motor vehicle collision hit anD run PonDsiDe 2 lot 12/2 theft bicycles- PonDsiDe 1

NEWS EDITOR VINCENT MOORE (603) 443-3877 KSCEQUINOX.COM

12/3 Destruction of ProPerty/vanDalism maDison lot

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OPINIONS

Opinions / A4 Thursday, December 6, 2018

EDITORIAL

Locking up and heading out

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STAFF COMMENTARY

Impactful classes at Keene State KIANA WRIGHT

OpiniOns editOr

ANGELIQUE INCHIERCA / SENIOR STAFF SEBASTIEN MEHEGAN / EXECUTIVE EDITOR

We want a break, not break-ins When a student leaves for winter break, they should be excited about going home and seeing their family, but are some students scared to leave? After finals, a majority of KSC students will be leaving their doors, houses, or apartments to go home. Laundry getting stolen from dorms, walking around Keene late at night alone, and getting approached at Cumberland Farms by harmless homeless people is, to a degree, nerve racking, but it’s a total different story when it’s a student’s home getting broken into. Locking doors and keeping a light on has proven to be not enough to stop breakins or homes getting vandalized. Students feel unsafe and helpless, but the authorities can only do so much.

The police are constantly patrolling the downtown Keene area. They will be there for the students getting affected by these attacks, but if the intruder or trespasser was wearing gloves or if there isn’t any camera footage, then they are just another person at the scene. The police’s duty is not to make sure “students feel safe” but they are there to protect and make sure problems like these do not happen again.

It comes down to who promises safety? It is the town’s responsibility to ensure there is more

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light in the darker corners of Keene.

Landlords should offer security cameras or alarms to protect the renters during breaks.

When break-ins happen and things are taken, many people are their to blame, but in the end, a student needs to take responsibility.

On campus, students tend to feel more safe with automatic key cards to enter every building, and another set of passcodes to get into their room. Most of us on campuse studentsthat they felt pretty comfortable, especially with the blue lights on every corner. A problem that has been occuring in residence halls is students telling their friends their passcodes and leaving their doors unlocked. An recurring problem has also been “soft locking” automatic doors where students will hold the door until it just barely closes and leaving it resting on the door frame. This prevents the door from completely shutting so students can pass through without being bothered to take out their ID and scanning it every time. This makes for a problem with roommates who have different opinions on safety, and the likelihood of their possessions being taken. It isn’t unheard of that student’s valuables have been stolen from their unlocked rooms, but this

To contact the Equinox, e-mail smehegan@kscequinox.com

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Erin McNemar Angelique Inchierca

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Sports Editor Cailla Prisco

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Elizabeth Buckley Puja Thapa

Halie Martineau

makes it hard for Campus Safety to do anything about it. Students have expressed little concern about leaving their dorm rooms for winter break as their buildings and rooms will be checked by RA’s and locked until the start of the semester in the new year.

Locking cars, keeping valuables hidden and homes closed up, especially when leaving for a break, having some type of response in a household is important; something as simple as pepper spray. Having an open relationship with friends that live nearby or neighbors, especially ones that live in Keene, so that check-ins can be available. Putting up security cameras, or even a sticker could ward out unwanted people. Everyone has had their fair share of odd occurrences living on and off campus - and if a student hasn’t they won’t have to wait to long to experience one. If someone throws a rock through your window, if your house gets broken into or if someone snuck into your dorm room, call the police, be safe, and try to find ways that will help for prevention in the future.

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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 among student journalists.

Kiana Wright can be contacted at kwright@kscequinox.com

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Adriana Sanchez

Photo Editor

I’ve taken numerous classes since being here at Keene State College, but there are only a few that really changed my way of thinking. Since I am a Journalism major, I have a lot of room in my schedule to try out classes of different disciplines. I think it’s very important to try all kinds of classes, not only to see if any sparks an interest in what you might want to do as a career, but also it could teach you about subjects that many are blindsided about.

One class that I really had an interest in was Food, Health and Environment class taught by Robin Matathias.

I took it my sophomore year because someone recommended it to me. I went into it not knowing much about what I’m eating, where it comes from, or how it impacts the environment. But after taking the class, I realized that there is a huge connection between what we eat, how it affects our bodies, and how it affects everything around us. By taking this class, a student will learn all the cover-ups that big food companies use, the disturbing treatment of animals and even of people from around the world. It is insanely eye opening. It covers human slavery, deadly pollution-suffocated towns, and ways that big companies, that we had grown up to love, bend the laws.

I added the Introduction to Holocaust and Genocide class by Dr. James Waller to my schedule this semester just to try it out, but my mind was actually boggled when I started learning. I learned about the cover-ups that schools teach us about the Native Americans, the deadly genocides that continue to occur around the world and how to prevent something so inhuman — because the future does not promise peace. Everyone should take this class or another in this study because KSC is one of the only schools that offer it and it’s nearly impossible to gain nothing from the class.

Another class I took was my Photojournalism class. This class really impacted why I am so deeply intrigued with my major. In this class, we learned about the camera and how it can capture so much in one picture. As my final project, I went to 100 Nights and the Keene Community Kitchen and talked to the founder of the organizations about how she started them. She was actually a KSC alumna, and the building of the organizations was her senior project. I had her and several people, homeless and in need of support, write with their own hands what they’re going through and how they got to where they are now. After taking the photos of these people and putting it with their writing, the project was way more than a grade. It was emo-

tional to see real life struggles that can happen to anyone. This is something that I can show people to make them realize that homelessness and poverty, especially in the Keene area, is still substantial.

These are just a couple of the classes that really had an impact on my way of looking at the world. I recommend these classes to students of any major.

There are a ton of other classes that students say were fulfilling; Laura Romaniello, graphic design student said, “The class I’m super into is my Farming With Nature In Mind class...

I learned a lot about soil and farming methods and how many of our methods actually are unhealthy for the soil, and over time we won’t have any life sustaining soil to grow crops in, which is a huge issue.”

Ashley Arnold, Architecture major and journalism minor, said an important class for her was “3D design with Professor Nikolai. It made me realize I wanted to be an architecture major.

I like how the class was a perfect balance of creativity and mental skills that come with physics and math.”

Vincent Moore said, “War and Culture in Early America with Professor Gregory Knouff. [I] learned more about Native American nations (that are still around today) and the founding and early territorial expansion of the United States than I ever did in twelve years of public school.”

Matt Cena said he recommends Astronomy, Health & Nutrition, Foundations Of Design.

Abigail Shenk recommends Brain and Behavior with Karen Jennings.

Justine Varney said “Intro to Holocaust and gGenocide studies and Intro to Criminal Justice studies are both awesome.”

Danielle Vallee said, “Food Health and the Environment! I learned so much about where my food actually comes from.”

Jocelynn Grabowski said, “Essentials in health with Professor Prospert taught me a lot about my body and what happens to the food I put in my body. Changed my eating habits because of this class.”

Abby Kate Shepherd said the class that really impacted her was, “My independent study with Dr. Mark Long and Health & Society with Dr. Henning.”

Sammi Leigh French said she was very interested in, “Intro to HGS, The Holocaust, History of Jewish Music (Upper level ISP, everyone!), and the German classes.”

Take a class that you don’t know much about — you might be surprised what you could find out!

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Opinions / A5

Thursday, December 6, 2018

STAFF COMMENTARY

Staying warm and safe KATIE JENSEN

Equinox Staff The 2018 Farmer’s Almanac confirms that this winter will be cold, wet and rainy in the North East side of the country. Keene State College students have already encountered the adverse effects of rain when the Winchester parking lot flooded in early November. Students also have to face the dreaded flu, cold and cough wave going around campus as the months have gotten colder.

The last thing any student wants is to get sick during finals week, when we are supposed to have our noses buried in books, not tissues. Not to worry though, because here are a few tips for staying happy and healthy during these next few months.

Avoid The Winter Blues: The Canadian Mental Health Association studied the effects of weather conditions on mental wellness. The association’s archivist, John Whyte, said, “I think the main effect of cold weather is isolation. People are less likely to go out and they don’t plan activities as much.”

Indeed, the frigid temperature makes a good excuse to stay inside your room all weekend, but this eventually leads to more lazy behavior and feelings of loneliness.

This lazy behavior comes naturally during the winter months, since our bodies need time to adjust. In part, humans rely on visual cues such as lightness and darkness to tell them when to sleep and when to be active. This keeps our bodies running on an internal clock, also known as a circadian rhythm. During the winter months, our circadian rhythm is thrown off, since daylight gets briefer every day. This causes people to feel sleepy and unmotiR vated, but students TO C E DIR RT are expected to stay A / LO I EL on top of their game N MA RO RA for upcoming finals U LA week.

The best thing to do in this situation is heed Dr. Emerson’s advice.

Dr. Emerson, from The John Hopkins Sleep Medicine Program, wrote an article stating, “The bigGuidelines states, “for every 10 degrees the temperature gest mistake that people make when it comes to sleepdrops, tire pressure will lose 1 PSI.” ing in winter is ignoring their body’s natural rhythm.

Also, if you find it hard to change gears or your gears Even if you’re tempted to stay in bed or on the couch all occasionally slip, then your transmission fluid may be frozen. AAMCO reports that “Once temperatures day long, unless you are sick, it’s a good idea to get up drop below 35 degrees, the fluid begins to thicken and and move around.” So get out of the house, visit friends, doesn’t perform as well as it should.” The only remedy go to the gym, or talk a walk while it’s still light out. to this problem is to allow the vehicle to warm up, Keep yourself busy this winter and you can outrun either by leaving it on or pulling into a garage. Eventu- those winter blues.

Avoid Getting Sick: Contrary to popular belief, people don’t get sick from getting too cold or wet. Certainly there are things that can lower your immune system or make you more prone to becoming sick, such as tiredness or emotional distress, but cold weather is hardly to blame.

According to the Unity Health Organization, the reason people tend to get sick during the fall and winter months is because they are indoors more often, and in closer contact with other people. This makes it much easier to spread germs and tery starts to die. Another way to avoid this is by viruses. The best way to prevent yourself from getting purchasing a heated battery blanket, so your car can sick is to wash your hands more often and be cautious stay warm overnight. These blankets can be unplugged of who or what you come into contact with. It’s much while you are driving and reconnected once you park easier to get through finals when you are not suffering again, so it does not overheat the battery. from headaches and congestion.

Since the Farmer’s Almanac also predicted heavy precipitation, students should be prepared to drive Check On Your Car: in heavy snow and ice. If weather conditions get bad If you are a student with a car on campus, be sure enough, then snow and ice can get compacted between to start it up every week or so to avoid freezing the the tire treads, hindering its traction. Tire pressure ally, the fluid will melt and begin to distribute through battery. AAMCO Transmissions Guidelines states that should also be checked and filled to proper levels in the transmission properly. when temperature drops below 30 degrees, the car bat- order to provide ample traction. AAMCO Transmission

STAFF COMMENTARY

Katie Jensen can be contacted at kjensen@kscequinox.com

STAFF COMMENTARY

Getting through the last two

Living through screens ERIN MCNEMAR

artS & EntErtainmEnt Editor

ADRIANA DANIEL / EQUINOX STAFF

Staying afloat during the semester’s last two weeks LINDSEY GIBBONS

Equinox Staff Just like that, the end of the semester is upon us. Here at Keene State College, we have about a week left until finals begin and then we go home for a much-needed break. As usual, that means the perfect storm is forming. It appears everyone on campus is caught in a whirlwind of exams, projects, papers and other end-of-the-semester tasks.

This craziness often sends many students into a slump.

It’s a common phenomenon among college students, affecting everyone from first-years to seniors. Students find themselves lacking motivation to complete projects or study for tests, putting off doing routine assignments until the very last minute, and avoiding anything that requires even the slightest bit of concentration. The end of the semester is incredibly draining and can send even the hardest working students into slumps that are hard to break out of.

Despite wishful thinking, assignments and exams aren’t going to disappear by ignoring them. Projects still need

to be finished, assignments still need to be turned in, and tests still need to be studied for. An end of semester slump is something no one looks forward to, but there are some things that can make it easier for students to push through these final few weeks.

One of the best ways to counteract a slump is to make a schedule for yourself and stick to it. During these last few weeks, it can feel like you’re being pulled in a hundred different directions with so many assignments, exams, projects and still finding time to sleep and attend campus events.

It almost feels like all the professors came together and decided to make all their assignments due on the exact same day. Regardless, before all the craziness starts, block out specific times to get work done each night, and stick to it. Don’t allow it to all pile up for the last two weeks of school. If you know you have a project due in three weeks, start working on it now so you won’t be up all night before it’s due.

It’s also particularly important to make time for yourself during this hectic season. Many end-of-the-year activities involve socializing and being around people, which can be

draining. Although it can be easy to forget about taking care of yourself during these last few weeks, it’s important, even when your to-do-list is a mile long, to take a breather. If you need to take a break from the paper you’ve been working on for two hours, do it. Exercise, catch up with friends, read a book or watch your favorite TV show. Just make sure that whatever you choose to do during these breaks helps you recharge.

Let’s face it: The end of the semester is exhausting. There’s a thousand things to do and no time to do any of it. Getting through these final hurdles into the sweet embrace of winter break still in one piece will take some serious effort.

But it’s not impossible. With a little guidance, we can make it through this end of the semester slump and live to see the spring semester.

Lindsey Gibbons can be contacted at lgibbons@kscequinox.com

Today, people have the ability to be more connected than ever, but what does that connection mean when it is two people straining at a screen? It seems like everywhere you go nowadays, people are not interacting with those around them, but rather with their phone.

According to research done by StudyFinds in April of this year, having an addiction to your smartphone can cause serious issues such as “boosting feelings of loneliness and isolation — while worsening anxiety and depression symptoms.”

Although smartphones can increase feelings of loneliness, anxiety and depression, we continue to see a rise in the amount of time people spend looking at their screens.

According to a study by Common Sense Media from 2015, teenagers are spending more than one-third, or nine hours, of their day on their smartphones. In comparison, children ages 8 to 12 spend about six hours a day on their phones.

Additionally, people who find themselves in those age groups see this as a problem. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, “60 percent of teens — those between the ages of 13 to 17 — say that spending too much time online is a ‘major’ problem facing their age group, with about nine in ten teens dubbing it a problem. More than half of teens (54 percent) say they spend too much time on their cellphones, and 41 percent say they overdo it on social media.”

While we could all definitely work to decrease the amount of time spent on our smartphones, the usage of them is reflectant on the growth of technology and the progress in creating new innovations to make our hectic lives a little easier.

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Thursday, December 6, 2018

Putting on a show

Cal's corner

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

The Terminator CAL SYLVIA

Equinox Staff

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

The difference between instruments and vocals KIANA WRIGHT

opinionS Editor Both vocalists and musicians playing instruments at a performance or concert work together. However, they each have completely separate roles, challenges, and ways of expression.

Although Colette Rinker, a first year student studying communications, started her musical career off at the age of ten by learning the piano, then progressed to learning alto saxophone and double bass at 13 and 14, she said, “My main instrument is voice.” Rinker said preparing and practicing vocally is extremely important and fills a large part of her schedule — she spends a lot of time going to applied vocal lessons, taking part in recitals, and being part of the KSC Concert Choir. Jason Coburn, a junior music educator major, explained that playing an instrument isn’t easy either.

Coburn really got into playing the piano only a couple years after his great grandfather gave him a piano in sixth grade.

He said two days during the week, he has ten hours of classes and on top of all the classes, he practices the piano a couple hours each day.

When performing, it is obvious that playing an instrument and singing have completely different roles. So it only

makes sense to understand that they must have completely different challenges while on stage. Junior Tyler Martin, a double major in vocal performance and music composition, said, “As a vocalist, you have to work with text, so pieces in German, Latin or French, which is a challenge because we actually want to sound like we speak the language.”

Martin then said that another difficult task singers face is that playing chords on a instrument is typically all the same, but when singing, hitting different notes can be much more challenging than others. Rinker adds, “We are required to memorize our music while instrumentalists aren’t, so that adds an extra obstacle I guess in terms of preparing and giving a solid recital.”

However, instrumentalists have challenges that vocalists don’t have to deal with either. Sophomore Madison Shimko majoring in music education said, “Even though being a vocalist and an instrumentalist both involve the music making process and generally the same skill set, being an instrumentalist is arguably more difficult in the sense that if you really want to sell the music, all you have is your instrument. Vocalists, on the other hand, are able to portray the emotion of a piece through facial expressions and movement.” She then added, “Achieving a captivating performance as an instrumentalist involves giving the lines

direction by using louds and softs, and using pauses and tempo changes to create suspense and tension.” She said that even if an instrumentalist plays every note correctly and tunes their instrument right, it is hard to compete with the emotional experience a vocalist gives to the audience.

Coburn believes that either type of performer undergoes different experiences at the same level. He said, “I would say the balance of challenges for each category is about equal, it’s difficult for both.”

In the end, both instrumentalists and vocalists have their own challenges, and each person performing has their own reasons why they chose to perform on their primary instrument.

Rinker said, “I like performing vocally because it’s a way for me to express myself in a way that instruments can’t quite convey — it’s just something really cool about the human voice.” Coburn said, “Being on stage is just a feeling that you don’t get anywhere else, one of the best things is that you know. When you play music, you are making everyone feel great. Everyone enjoys music and it’s special to be the one providing that.”

Kiana Wright can be contacted at kwright@kscequinox.com

BRIEF

Creating sculptures around campus KATHRYN SPADAFORA

Equinox Staff As the leaves fell and snow drifted to the ground, Keene State College students may have noticed another change around campus recently sculptures. Placed around campus, the sculptures are the product of students taking Sculpture I. Contract Lecturer Miles Warner teaches Sculpture I, Foundations Experience and Moducal Wood Design. Warner said, “The sculptures are from our beginning sculpture courses. There are three finished projects each semester and are based additive processes in steel and wood.”

Part of the challenge of the assignment, according to Warner, was for the students to tailor their art for the specific location and environment for it be be on display. Knowing their art would be presented outside, students had to design their art for public exhibition, and the outside space in which it would be placed. “Since the work will be presented outside, it forces students to plan in a site specific manner. A lot of the pieces are designed for exactly that spot,” Warner added. “When the work goes outside, it can get dwarfed by the endless outdoors, so scale becomes a very important

problem to solve as well.”

Warner also discussed the elaborate process which went into making the sculptures: “We break down images using the principles of design and transform this visual data using abstraction to create the sculptures.”

For the students in Sculpture I, the project is an opportunity for artistic expression, and to showcase their work to their fellow Keene State students, as well as a cultivation of a semester’s work.

The process not only challenged students, but let their artistry shine, according to Warner: “We play music, make a mess, and then get to show the hard work to the campus a couple times a year. We are totally grateful for the opportunity to show the work outdoors, it’s like our own sculpture garden at times.”

Through the students in Sculpture I, art is on full display at Keene State college this fall season. Students may look around even up in the trees to admire what their fellow classmates have created.

Kathryn Spadafora can be contacted at kspadafora@kscequionx.com ANGELIQUE INCHIERCA / SENIOR STAFF

In a little less than a year, a sixth “Terminator” film, (untitled as of of the time of writing this article,) will be released, and though remaking episodes three and four would have made more sense canonically, I nevertheless have an excuse to review the first five “Terminator” films.

Here’s my review for “The Terminator:” To start, the musical score is fantastic. It’s a shame that most people are familiar only with the film’s opening theme. Even those who have seen “The Terminator” beginning to end likely only know the “da-da-da-da-dum” of the drums played in the opening titles. Make no mistake; the opening score is great, but it’s far from the only good theme in the film. The music that plays as Reese (Michael Biehn), having recently arrived in ’84 and looking for clothes, runs from the police is uneasy without being overly aggressive. In contrast, the acoustic melody that plays when Sarah (Linda Hamilton) is introduced is gentle, matching the relative normality and calmness of her pre-fighting life. One of the most striking moments comes at a nightclub, when a song playing within the story of the film fades to musical booms, and the score picks up when Sarah and Reese are on the run in an alleyway.

One of the film’s best scores has to be one that accompanies them escaping a police station. In a dream of Sarah’s that shows a robot-dominated future, the music is haunting yet beautiful.

When Reese tells Sarah more about his childhood in a motel, an emotional piano score plays. The music of the third act is indescribably great.

“The Terminator” is visually impressive as well. There are multiple distinct looks for different moods, scenes and settings. Scenes with Sarah living a normal life are bright and colorful.

Scenes with the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Reese or Sarah once she is on the run from the Terminator are dark visually and lack the vibrance of the latter. Scenes set in 2029 are the darkest visually and a sad blue.

Though, some of the special effects are dated; lightning is clearly computer generated, some shots in the last duel are stop motion and some shots in the opening scene may be CG as well; one can overlook them when judging them against the standards of their time.

The cinematography isn’t anything great, but it’s competent enough.

“The Terminator” makes three killings shown not on screen, but implied through shots of the Terminator firing his gun, and the silence of his victims. A shot with Sarah as the subject turns into a shot with Reese as the subject. When Reese further explains his background to Sarah, close-ups let the audience see the emotion in both of their faces. Shots near the end of the film aren’t especially well composed, but are emotionally heavy due to their context in the story.

As for the best scenes in the film, the opening scene, despite having some fake looking (by today’s standards) visuals does do a good job setting up a grim atmosphere. The opening credits have an awe-inducing graphic design.

Both the Terminator and Reese have great introductions; the Terminator appearing in the year with bold posture, unflinching and always ready to fight, and Reese as a man who has

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Thursday, December 6, 2018

For one night only

Music madness

LAURA ROMANIELLO / ART DIRECTOR

Review: Chodus CORALINE SEKSINSKY

WKNH Music Director

SOREN FRANTZ / EQUINOX STAFF

On Saturday, December 1, the Keene State College Music Department presented its Opera Workshop. The Opera Workshop class performs at the end of each semester.

Spending the night at the opera ANGELIQUE INCHIERCA

seNior staff On Saturday, Dec. 1, Keene State College’s Opera Workshop transported attendees back in time with classical tunes and acting monologues.

In an hour and a half, there were 12 performances without an intermission.

Director Dr. Matthew Leese said the students picked their own musical pieces and he matched a script written

by Shakespeare to it. “Once we work on their solos, I pick scenes that would be flattering for each person and then we put that together for the second half of the semester.”

Leese said he chooses Shakespeare monologues to match with the emotion or direct scene of the solo for each student. He said his reasoning for specifically choosing Shakespeare works is because both opera and Shakespeare share a “heightened style of language.”

“Since [Shakespeare’s language] is not one we speak in anymore and neither is opera, for me it’s a nice half-way point for both the singers and the audience members to hear the Shakespeare and then it transitions into the classi-

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cal music,” Leese said.

KSC first-year student Sam Ducharme said she recognised that the monologues were Shakespeare, and thought it was a unique addition into the show.

She said, “I thought it was interesting that they took so many pieces from Shakespeare… since I knew most of them.”

Ducharme added that she came to the show to support friends in the performances, “I think they did a phenomenal job,” she said. “It went as well as it possibly could.”

Leese said he is extremely proud of his students because of the limited time they are able to meet. “We only have two 50-minute class periods a week. Compared to a mainstage show that [has] three to four hour long rehearsals at night, we get a very little amount of time. So I’m really thrilled with what they did tonight.”

KSC fifth year student and performer Justin Posnanski also said he was happy with how the night’s performances went. “It’s a very difficult and rigorous process,” he said.

“We do some intensive work on how to sing operatically and how to act our monologue.”

Posnanski said the class was very fun and he

hopes the class grows in size as well as the interest of opera across campus. “Opera is accessible to everyone,” he said.

“Everyone thinks opera is just fat ladies on a stage but it’s not… If you can sing and if you can act, you can do opera.”

Another goal that Leese has is to expand the amount of operas performed annually and the use of their new supertitles. Since most of the solos were performed in different languages, English subtitles were displayed above the stage for audience members, called supertitles. Leese said the supertitles are new this year and he said he received a lot of positive feedback from audience members.

Next year, students will be performing their scenes at public schools, thanks to the partnership with Keene’s Colonial Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera. “I’m really excited because kids tend to be more excited and open to new things,” Leese said.

Angelique Inchierca can be contacted at ainchierca@kscequinox.com

Loren Howard, first-year film student here at Keene State, has been making music as the band Chodus for a while now. Howard is joined live by Jake Ford on bass and Jason Benghazi on drums. A quick glance through their Bandcamp page will reveal ten releases of records with bold album art. Some are classified as demos, while some are classified as proper releases. Some of them are quick affairs, others a little longer.

They are punk in their brevity and their attack. No classic rock lay-back here. I have listened mainly to the record which we are concerned with today. Their last release “happs b” was released on Nov. 17. Howard wrote everything on it, and played the sparse instrumentation himself. All of the record is electric guitar and drums, save for an acoustic track the caps off the album beautifully.

On “happs b” Howard went in alone.

The sonics of the record work with the down-home d.i.y rock that Chodus is amazing at producing. “happs b” is a great entry point to the Chodus discography. On this release, Howard writes rabid, careening, and tender songs which all clock in under five minutes, and most live in pop song territory or under. The opening track is the longest on the record at 4 minutes and 20 seconds. “Head Lice are Scared” starts with clattering sounds and eases it’s way into a loosely jammed version of what becomes the song’s main musical elements. This intro goes on for about a minute before launching into the meat of the song and sets the tone for the whole record. It both sets up expectations which will be rewarded and betrayed: That you are in for a loose record, a record which lacks a cohesion or a hook. This is both true and not true. There are a lot of rough edges here, mind you, whether it be a weakness in the kick drum, a harshness in the snare or a dip in a level, or just the guttural and desperate nature that claws out from Howard’s screams and into your brains. But there is also massive payoff. The meandering intro turns into amazing riffs and the riffs turn into amazing hooks, not dissimilar to how the slacker rock deities of Pavement would feel their way into a song.

The riffs are infectious. They play so well with the drumming and the singing, and Howard’s lyrics are crisp, yet odd. Pointed in their intention, yet obscure. And, oh boy, are those images familiar yet surreal. It might be a bias on my part, but that is how I truly enjoy my lyrics. The last track, the acoustic “Planetarium,” displays this in full force, opening with “you cut some holes in a box.” The intro riff melts to rabid folkpunk chordal bashing to again reform to a more solid melodic structure, and the pattern changes up for our final leg.

Howard leaves it all on the table. The downstrokes keep coming and and getting heavier. And then, wham! We find ourselves listening to what sounds like someone crying out in reverse.

Listen to this record. The riffs are classic, but they aren’t Richards or Harrison, or even Muddy. They are classic in their structure — it’s notes played in a way that sounds cool with chords played in a way that sound ripping and big and emotive. Classic, man! But the context is one which comes from a commitment to rawness and weirdness. The production is simple, but there are neat little tricks tucked throughout the quick run time, like the way Howard plays with the stereo spread of the guitars and the vocals. This adds a real depth to the album and adds a layer of intrigue that helps keep the album’s infectiousness. If this kind of brashness isn’t for you, then the record might not be for you. However, if that idea thrills you or you just don’t care, there are some truly sick tracks to behold here.

Coraline Seksinsky can be contacted at wknhmusic@gmail.com

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ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

A&E / A8

Thursday, December 6, 2018

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Practice makes perfect Behind the scenes of music workshop ERIN MCNEMAR

Arts & EntErtAinmEnt Editor As the semester begins to wind down, music majors are looking towards their final recitals. While the audience members’ appreciation of the recital might only go as far as the event itself, students have been working all semester long to perfect these performances.

One method is through Music Workshop.

Throughout the semester, every Wednesday from two to four p.m. music students have been performing in mini-recitals called the Music Workshop Student Recital Series. Music Workshop is a no-credit class requirement for music majors. Students perform one time during the semester for about 10 to 15 minutes. Students are also asked to speak about their pieces to the audience, which was a new aspect added by Assistant Professor Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova this semester. “I think it has been really helpful because students in the twenty-first century have to be able to not only play their instrument, but to be able to talk about music. They have to be able to pull the audience in and educate the audience,” Wright-Ivanova said.

Music workshop features a wide array of instruments and singers, as explained by Wright-Ivanova. “It’s everything from flute to tuba to piano to singers, and all of them have to opportunity to work with a staff pianist. It gets them practice for the real world,” Wright-Ivanova continued. “It’s a great opportunity, also for varying levels. It’s a chance for the guitarist to hear the trumpet player or to hear each other, because they don’t get much chance to hear each other. I think it’s really important for the liberal arts education to hear what each other are doing.”

First-year music major Colette Rinker is working this semester as a backstage assistant for the workshop. The job is offered both as a student hourly or a work study position.

“We help set up the alumni recital hall stage for whatever our performers need for that day. We don’t know what’s going on until the day before, and sometimes the day of, like five minutes before hand.

It’s a job that keeps you on your feet, but it’s also a really great way to see behind the scenes of what goes into a performance backstage,” Rinker said.

By helping with Music Workshop, Rinker explained she is able to see and enjoy her peers play in music in a low-stress setting as well as also see what happens behind the scenes seconds before a performance.

These mini-recitals are designed to help students prepare for end of the year recitals and also give them experience performing in front of a crowd. “They get real world experience. Like any performance of any kind when you’re on stage, there are a lot of nerves involved. This gets them a chance to get the nerves out on stage. The more you do something, the easier it gets. The more they are up there talking and playing, the more comfortable they will feel when they are applying for jobs,” Wright-Ivanova said.

Rinker has been able to see the how students become more and more confident in their performances during their time at Keene State College. Rinker said, “As a workshop assistant, you’re the one that opens the door for them to go on stage. Typically when I talk to students beforehand, over time I have noticed students become more comfortable as they progress in their time at Keene State.”

Sophomore Kacie Palmacci performed three pieces in the music workshop on Wednesday, Nov. 28. As a sophomore, Palmacci is finishing up her third semester in music workshop. Having this course available to music majors is beneficial, Palmacci explained: “Being able to perform is always beneficial for a musician. Being able to get better at reading the room’s acoustics and being confident are some of the most beneficial skills a musician can have,” Palmacci said.

The Wednesday Music Workshop performances are open to the public and free of charge. “It would be amazing to have more of the campus community come out to these recitals to hear what the music department is doing,” Wright-Ivanova said.

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com

SOREN FRANTZ / EQUINOX STAFF

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STUDENT LIFE

Student Life, B1

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Relationship Violence on College Campuses

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The importance of Native American heritage and culture HALEIGH PATCH

equinox Staff

BENAJIL RAI / MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR

Film screening and discussion about domestic abuse hosted by S.A.V.E. RACHEL VITELLO

Student Life editor 43 percent of college women and 28 percent of college men report experiencing abusive or controlling behavior in relationships.

College-aged women are also at three times greater risk than any other demographic for being in an abusive relationship, according to statistics provided by the Keene State College Sexual Assault and Violence Education (S.A.V.E.) Committee.

On Wednesday, Nov. 28, S.A.V.E. hosted a screening of the film Escalation. The screening was then followed by a guided discussion.

Escalation was produced by the OneLove Foundation. OneLove was founded by the parents of Yeardley Love, a 23 year old woman who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend in 2010. In response to this attack on their daughter, OneLove creates workshops and short films that can be used for free by colleges to educate students on how to recognize and prevent domestic abuse.

This film depicts a couple from the beginning of their relationship to the end. The escalation, per the title, of how the relationship goes from seemingly normal to controlling and emotionally and physically abusive, is meant to show the viewers how to notice the early signs. The signs of an unhealthy relationship that were depicted in Escalation included the boyfriend exhibiting intense, obsessive behavior, making his girlfriend nervous, isolating his girlfriend from her friends and controlling her posts on social media; among other signs.

The film is also meant to show how the friends of the couple did notice the signs of abuse, but never said anything. As a result, the girlfriend was murdered by her boyfriend.

MVP Advisor Forrest Seymour said this is a

significant reason why this film was chosen to be shown.

“We’re [S.A.V.E.] always looking for ways to help everyone recognize the signs and symptoms and to know what to do to help out.

That’s what i really like about this film, it’s really designed not so much for the people in the relationship, but for the friends and people around them, to help us understand what it looks like and what we can do to help out,” Seymour said.

After the film, students who are involved with S.A.V.E. and Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) passed out multiple handouts from OneLove that provide ten signs of a healthy relationship, ten signs of an unhealthy relationship and resources for those who are either in an abusive relationship or know someone who is. The handouts acted as a guide for the discussion afterwards.

KSC junior Anna DePasquale said that after watching the film she learned more about how to detect when a relationship is abusive.

“It’s really easy to see a relationship like the one in the movie and be like ‘well it’s fine’, or ‘it’s just flawed, but that can actually be a red flag. I thought it was really realistic. All the signs we saw are actually happening for a lot of people,” DePasquale said. “I learned a lot about resources available and signs to look out for.”

While this film depicts a straight, white, middle class couple, Seymour and MVP would like to stress that abusive relationships can happen to anyone.

“Relationship violence shows up in all kinds of relationships. It’s not always men towards women, it’s women towards men, it’s men towards other men. It’s important for us to remember that these are issues that apply to all of us and we don’t want to get too narrow

in our way of thinking about relationship violence,” Seymour said.

S.A.V.E. committee member Brianna Hankel said that relationship violence can be a sensitive topic for people to discuss, but it’s important to be supportive in helping people out of an abusive situation.

“It [relationship violence] can seem like a gray area a lot of the time to people. The important thing is to be a good friend and to be understanding when helping a friend or someone you know realize that they’re relationship is unhealthy,” Hankel said.

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, visit the Sexual Violence Prevention and Intervention page on keene.edu for resources to seek help.

Rachel Vitello can be contacted at rvitello@kscequinox.com.

Dr. Margaret Bruchac spends her time restoring Native American heritage and forming relationships. She is an assistant professor of anthropology and coordinator of Native American and indigenous studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Bruchac held a lecture at Keene State College on Friday, Nov. 30, at 10 a.m. in the Mountain View Room. The lecture was about Native American studies and reconsidering acts of ethnographic search and rescue. She described how early anthropologists would authenticate and capture indigenous objects and put them in museums to preserve them. She also explained how most of the time, the interpretations were skewed.

Dr. Bruchac stressed how passionate she was about this topic and said she has the access to these indigenous objects because of her job; however, Native people do not have that opportunity.

Her job is to go to these museums and look at the objects, learn from them and use research to find out where they originally came from. She said she has had several museums ask her to come and take a look at what they have because they are curious and excited to learn about the materials they have in their possession. Bruchac said people tend to treat these items as if they are in isolation.

But, she said not only does she study these objects, but also the people who curate them. “There’s this moment when objects are visible and accessible in a way they haven’t been before,” Bruchac said. She said there are many groups in the world losing their heritage like the Native Americans due to tactics of strategic alienation. Bruchac said she focuses on restorative reconciliation to bring people back together. One of her goals is to uncover data on cultural heritage that has been hidden in museums, and bring it back into the world.

This lecture was put on by the English Department. Dr. Brinda Charry from the English Department said this event occurs every other year. Charry said it is important to learn about Native people and their culture because they lived here before we did. She also said Dr. Bruchac was chosen to be the guest speaker because she is a well known scholar and is part of a Native American community in the area.

The Mountain View room filled to capacity leaving people standing outside the doors. The lecture involved a powerpoint presentation along with Dr. Bruchac sharing her knowledge. The room then opened up for questions at the end, which went on for about 30 minutes.

Sophomore Hailey Horan was one of the many students who attended this lecture. She said it was mandatory for a class but she really enjoyed it. She said she liked how the powerpoint presentation involved pictures, mostly with Dr. Bruchac in them working in museums.

Horan said she is taking an American studies class where she is learning about anthropology.

She said she could apply what she has learned in the lecture in her class, and the pros and cons that come with anthropologists.

Haleigh Patch can be contacted at hpatch@kscequinox.com

The dangers of woodstoves JULIA HAWKINS

equinox Staff

“College-aged women are also at three times greater risk than any other demographic for being in an abusive relationship.”

-S.A.V.E.

Last Wednesday, Keene State College held a public presentation about the dangers of burning wood in wood stoves. Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and co-presenter of the presentation Nora Traviss has evolved from researching on the side (working with New Hampshire department of environmental services) to taking a more engaging and active role with students monitoring data collections.

Co-presenter from the Southwest Region Planning Commission Henry Underwood explains how there is no longer only a public health issue, but a possible regulatory impact issue. This could disrupt things economically if air pollution is recorded to be off the charts.

Keene itself has come scarily close to this multiple times over the years, which is why a very close eye is kept on it.

To stay on top of this ongoing issue, Keene State is actively working to collect data, while

» SEE SMOKE B3

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STUDENT LIFE / B2

Thursday, December 6, 2018

KSC faculty visit China Life in

Morrocco

ALEX HARVEY

Equinox Staff Several members of the Keene State College faculty recently took a trip to Poetry Bridging Continents: From Walden to the Yellow Sea, a poetry conference in Yancheng, China. Archivist Rodney Obien, Dean of the Mason Library Celia Rabinowitz, Professor of American Studies Mark Long, and Professor of Journalism Rodger Martin, attended the conference. Dean Chen organized the conference at Yancheng Teachers University in Yancheng.

This was the second Poetry Bridging Continents symposium. Last year, the first one was held at Keene State College, beginning the connection between KSC and Yancheng.

“They invited us this year. And we’re hoping that they can come back next year, and that they can come to New England College...We gave them a bunch of our books that we published, essays, and so on, and they also gave us some of their books too, which we are putting in each other’s archives. It’s a way of making this cultural exchange a little more permanent, it’s not just the human connection that results from those kind of exchanges.” Long said.

The American poets and scholars who attended the conference spent their first night in Shanghai and visited the Bund of Huangpu River. The next day they visited the Yancheng Teachers University Library, where Rabinowitz exchanged gifts with the dean of the YCTU library. The symposium began on November 12, and Rabinowitz and Martin made speeches at the opening ceremony. A highlight of the symposium was a poetry reading by both American and Chinese poets, with poems being translated in both languages on an LCD screen behind the poets. The professors noted that poetry readings are quite different in America and China.

“They tend to read their poems set to music. It was interesting because when we got up to read our poetry, the ones that we were to read, it was to music, which was a different experience. There it’s more like a variety show. Students were dressed up in traditional costumes, it was a performance of sorts. It was not going to the local cafe and reading poetry. It was definitely a performance that involved music, I wouldn’t say any acting, but it was definitely staged that way. For the poets coming from America it was quite an experience,” Obien said.

“The poetry readings that they did were very performative, so there was often music or it was much more dramatic and composed, the poems were memorized for the most part, that was really neat to see,” said Mark Long.

After the symposium at Yancheng Teachers University, the delegation from KSC attended a second poetry event in Yellow Sea Forest Park, called “From Walden to Yellow Sea Wet Land”. Over the next few days they visited Taizhou City, Yangzhou, Taicang City, and Jinxi. They returned to Boston on November 17, having stayed within the wealthy Jiangsu Province for the duration of their stay in China.

Calligraphy is an integral part of Chinese culture according to Chen, and evolved from practical everyday writing into an independent art.

“Calligraphy itself is not poetry, but it is always closely associated with it. In ancient times, when literacy was not popular, only the literati could read and write; and almost all literati could write poetry, so we can almost say that almost all poets were calligraphers.

When a poet wrote his poem on a piece of paper or on the wall, we had two pieces of artwork: one is poetry, the other is calligraphy,” Chen said.

The Americans thoroughly enjoyed the entire conference.

“Off the top of my head, I don’t have a favorite poet because they all come from different places. One of them was writing about the landscape we were traveling in. He had grown up in the rural farmlands of Yang-Su province, and he went to university and became a poet, so he talks about the birds and the

The day where Alex got very lost and very tired: Part One ALEXANDRIA SAURMAN

Equinox Staff

Poet Claire Golding creates calligraphy at YCTU

wetlands and fields. I just enjoyed their work and discovered that they all have a deep appreciation for American poetry. I also have an interest in ancient Chinese poetry,so it was really fun to talk with them about that,” Long said.

While Long may not have had a favorite poet from the conference, he might have enjoyed the food the most.

“The food was really good. I realized I had never had Chinese food until I went to China, because we don’t have Chinese food here. We have something called Chinese food but it’s not the same...it was a lot of duck dishes, a lot of fish, freshwater crabs,” Long said.

Chen spoke highly of his American guests.

“There are many similarities between YCTU and KSC. They both began as a ‘teachers university’, and YCTU still is. All of our American friends were received as distinguished guests. Six of the seven people were their first time in China. They witnessed

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a China which was different from what they knew from the media,” Chen said.

Long also remarked on the importance of promoting cultural exchange between America and China.

“We [America and China] are so different but we’re so alike. Our traditions are different but they are also deeply interconnected. We live in a small world and we should be more connected,” Long said. “Often political events and political stories talk about places in the world but those are all stories. They don’t make much sense when you actually connect with real people. I hope to go back to China. I would also love to get students involved in opportunities. I would like to see some more cultural exchange with China.”

Rabinowitz did not respond for comment.

Alex Harvey can be contacted at: aharvey@kscequinox.com

The plan was to travel to Tangier, Morocco, take photos for my independent study, stay in a hostel and go home the next morning. Cheyanne and I rolled out of bed at 9:20 a.m., getting ready to catch our 10:44 a.m. train. I was exhausted but I needed to be in Tangier to get my project done. After packing my bags and throwing a vanilla wafer in my bag for a snack, we headed out the door to catch a taxi, a feat not always easy.

To catch a taxi, we have to walk to the main road and wait until the yellow or white usually-somewhat-already-packed vehicle passes by and hail it down. However, this particular morning, it didn’t take long to find a taxi. We flagged one down across the street, sprinting to the other side. Just as we reached the taxi, Cheyanne’s chapstick flew out of her pocket and bounced into the storm drain, leaving her distraught, a small foreshadowing of the yetto-come day.

We made it to the train station rather early, which is always a blessing. Missing your train means you’ll most likely be waiting another hour or two, making you late for wherever you’re going. As the clock ticked and people slowly ambled into the station, I scrolled through my Instagram and talked to Cheyanne. We waited and waited, wondering why the platform door wasn’t open yet. We stood next to the door and people followed suit. We didn’t seem to be the only ones eagerly awaiting to board the platform.

Finally, at 10:42 a.m., the door opened, the train came, and we boarded.

Our first destination was two stops away. The second destination would also be only two stops away, once we boarded the new high-speed train.

The train had been inaugurated only a few weeks prior, and today happened to be the opening day.

The drive from Rabat to Tangier takes about four hours whereas the high-speed train, Al Boraq, turns that time into a about an hour twenty, according to the Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF) website.

When we got to our stop, we tried to find the ticket line for Al Boraq. Cheyanne went around asking where to purchase the tickets while I took my chance and stood in the kiosk line. “It’s over here,” she said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a separate room. We entered the room, joining the back of the line. We soon noticed most people carried a folder with them. What were these folders for? Were we supposed to bring documents with us?

Yes, we were. We had to reserve a ticket in advance as well (riders would receive free rides for the first three days of Al Boraq’s operation). After a few minutes of confusion and conversation with multiple people, we figured this out, unfortunately a bit too late. The earliest we could take the train to Tangier would be the following day. With the rest of the day ahead of us, Cheyanne and I decided to make the best of the situation and headed to McDonald’s.

A few hours elapsed as we meandered in and out of clothing shops. By the time we returned to the train station to go home, we realized we missed the most recent train back. The next train wouldn’t come for another two hours. Neither of us wanted to leave the station, so after finding a not-so-busy area, we sat down and relaxed. That’s when we met Shrek.

Shrek was a small, orange-striped cat with bright green eyes. He approached us from across the station, trotting his way over to be pet. The streets of many Moroccan cities are populated with cats. It’s not uncommon to see one lurking in front of a building, craving food or attention. As he got more comfortable with us, he eventually hopped up onto Cheyanne’s lap. We sat there, enjoying the moment.

Although plans had changed, shopping, exploring and simply relaxing was fun. Being flexible is incredibly important when it comes to travelling.

The more flexible you are with plans, the more you’ll enjoy yourself.

Alexandria Saurman can be contacted at asaurman@kscequinox.com

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STUDENT LIFE / B3

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Science with Selena

SMOKE Cont. from B1

the Southwest Region Planning Commission takes on the role of everything else, such as monitoring data and advertising. Although it is mostly adults involved, there are students who are part of the wood stove changeout program as well. Students are engaged via the classroom and also through the environmental studies capstone sequence program, called the junior/ senior seminar. This is where students help participate in data collection. Mentored students would also drive around Keene, collecting data samples.

The wood stove changeout program has gone to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to present their work and even received a health and communities grant to continue their studies.

This will further allow them to present and publicize their information and collected data.

“It was really great to see the student turnout, and some residents, but we really need to pull in more,” Traviss said.

The wood stove changeout program is considering organizing a second public workshop to increase their turnout and educate even more people, especially the residents of Keene, on the reality of burning wood in wood stoves.

“We are mostly concerned about the long term health implications of these short term exposures,” Traviss and Underwood said.

Recent scientific studies suggest that the short term peaks are problematic, which is what their current main focus is on right now, and will be their focus throughout the winter as people continue to burn wood to stay warm.

In their presentation, Traviss and Underwood also gave tips on how everyone can do their part in helping save the environment and clear the air. Their presentation said “burn the right wood,” which is dry seasoned hardwood. They also advise everyone uses the right type of stove, and burn whatever wood you use the right way, which means burning a hot, bright fire. In

Why everyone needs a good night’s sleep SELENA LEGACY

Equinox Staff

BENAJIL RAI / MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR On Wednesday, November 28, Keene State College held a presentation on the dangers of wood burning.

their presentation, they reminded attendees that “smoldering wood is inefficient and makes more smoke.”. When burning the right wood, it is best to use dry wood. They also said to “start fires with newspaper, dry kindling, or all natural fire starters”. This is opposed to burning household garbage, cardboard, painted wood, plywood, par-

ticle board, or wood that has glue on it. It is also strongly advised that nobody burns wet, rotted, diseased or moldy wood.

Students involved in the program did not respond for comment.

Julia Hawkins can be contacted at jhawkins@kscequinox.com

Owls of KSC

Sleep. We all need it. But college students can sometimes find it hard to get all those hours in. Racing around the clock. Pulling all nighters just to keep up with the grades — we’ve all been there. Keeping your mental health stable is also very important; sleep involves more than closing your eyes and waking up running out the door, trying not to be late for class.

Sleep is how we keep sane.

83 million people a year aren’t getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. 63 percent of college students have reported that they feel tired or sleepy during the week. Sleep deficiencies have been linked to students academic performance, weight, drug abuse, depression, and more.

The importance of sleep is so each day we can wake up and be restored, both physically and mentally, due to the release of reparative chemicals.

During sleep, the brain gets cleared, learning is processed, and memories are cemented in the brain. Those who aren’t receiving the right amount of hours of sleep for their body will feel more stress, and won’t remember details about the past day Your sleep cycle consists of Rapid Eye Movement, or REM sleep, and Non-REM sleep. REM sleep is when dreams occur. In contrast, Non-REM sleep is restful sleep with slowed brain activity. During the night, these

“What has been your most influential class this semester?”

Compiled by Angelique Inchierca

“I’m a freshman so I’m taking introductory to art… it’s probably my favorite class. It’s pretty long but it’s just like a studio where you can go and grind out some art.”

- Gavin

“My Spanish class because it gets me out of my comfort zone. We have to speak in front of the class so, yea.”

- Siobhan

“My criminology class, it’s actually the reason why I just changed my major to criminal justice. It’s like real life crime, it’s really cool.”

- Ecram

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two switch on and off every 90 minutes. Each hour and a half is one cycle.

Sleep varies from person to person.

Sleep can be affected by many things including: your gender, your health and lifestyle.

To get a good night’s sleep, it is suggested that one must be in a cooler room, around 65 degrees. Also, set a time to start settling down, making the room dim and quiet. Your bed is only for sleep. No studying in your bed, as you’ll then start to associate work with your bed and this could make it harder to fall asleep. Another thing to keep in mind is keeping your room tidy. A messy room provokes stress, making you feel restless. Lastly, make sleeping a ritual. Get ready for bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. This will make your body used to a schedule. Doing this makes your body crave sleep at the same time, which ensures that you will get enough sleep for the following day. We, as college students, deserve to stay level headed and enjoy our classes without feeling drowsy and stressed from not getting a full night’s rest.

Selena Legacy can be contacted at slegacy@kscequinox.com

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STUDENT LIFE / B4

Thursday, December 6, 2018

what’s happening in

December

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Love, ate t S e n Kee Dining

5 c e Dnch Curated Lu c i t e t e i

by D nn e J n r e Int

0 1 c DCeLate Nite

D ds n a B Food & 2am 1 m p 10

1 1 c Dtuednet Center S n! u F & Food am 2 1 10pm

Stay Connected: www.dineoncampus.com/keene

To write for Student Life contact:

Student Life Rachel Vitello

rvitello@kscequinox.com KSCEQUINOX.COM

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CREATIVE C LLECTIONS

Creative Collections / B5 Thursday, December 06, 2018

KSCEQUINOX.COM

Campus Wide Photo Contest Winner!

CONGRADULATIONS TO CONNOR HALLER!

This photo was taken Oct. 2017 at Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, Switzerland. Thank you to all that participated in this semester's contest. Look out next semester for another photo contest.

SHORT STORY

PUJA THAPA / BUSINESS MANAGER

ALYSSA WISNIEWSKI OR

Equinox Staff

EL NI

Liam made his way over to the table nervously as he sat down and looked intensely at his Uncle. Uncle John looked at Liam and began to speak. “The puppet belonged to your mother, she had a passion for puppetry.” Liam was confused, he never remembered his mother mentioning anything about puppetry. Uncle John continued, “Your mother never wanted to tell you...” Uncle John looked down and put his head in his hands.

“Uncle John what is it?” said Liam.

Uncle John picked himself up and started again, “The night that Mom and Dad passed on was the night of a puppet convention. Your parents were going to surprise you and take you with them, but at the last minute, they canceled because of the storm…” Liam could feel his heart racing and his eyes getting glossy. He instantly flashed back to the day. The day his parents passed on. Liam began to cry.

“I'm sorry kiddo, but I thought it was time that you knew,” said Uncle John.

Uncle John moved closer to Liam and embraced him in his arms. “So they would still be here?” said Liam weepingly.

“Don't focus about that,” began Uncle John. “ Your mother was saving this puppet for you. She thought that when you were older than you might find an interest in it,” said Uncle John. He reached from his jean pocket and pulled and folded up the picture and opened it, “This is your mother with her puppet. I want you to always hold onto this, okay?” said Uncle John.

Liam took

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“Liam, come sit down. There's something I think you should know,” said Uncle John. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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Step 1: Make the small cardboard circle your base. Glue five craft sticks at the This is the time of the year (the time center of the circle with the help of a glue of finals), the students are found rushing gun. Make sure that they are even. everywhere to get things done at the last moment. However, the weather doesn’t Step 2: Add craft sticks at the end of always support them. The magnificent two sticks to make a “diamond” shape. snowfall gets slushy and slippery after a Repeat that to make five “diamond shapes”. few days, making it inconvenient for them to be outside. Snowfall only looks lovely Step 3: Now, cut some craft sticks into when you are somewhere inside. Usually, I the half with the help of scissors. hear people complaining that the snow is cold and wet. I agree with it to an extent.

Step 4: Add those cut sticks to the end However, I wish we could enjoy the snow of diamonds with the help of glue gun. without any disturbance. I wish we could have snow/snowflakes inside our room Step 5: It’s time for the fun part, time where it’s warm and cozy, where we can to paint our snowflakes. I did a double admire its beauty without being cold. I coating of white paint over my snowflake. know it sounds absurd but, I found a way Then, I decorated it with silver glitter glue to do that. Yes, believe it or not, there is a and added some adhesive gems to get the way to feel like that snowflake is inside shining effect. However, I had to use some your comfy room. blue paint later to make them stand out on After surfing YouTube, I found a DIY my white walls. to make snowflakes out of craft sticks. So, let’s get started.

Ta-da! Your winter DIY is done! You can be further creative and play with sizes and Things you need: Craft sticks, glue designs as your wish. gun, scissors, white and blue paint, paint brushes, silver glitter glue, self-adhesive Puja Thapa can be contacted at gems (option), a small circle cut out from pthapa@kscequinox.com a cardboard

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the pict ure from him and studied it carefully. “Why was the box all locked up?” said Liam.

There was a long pause. Uncle John sighed. “During the storm, after she made sure you were safe, she grabbed the key and the box. The police found it when they were cleaning up the debris. When they gave it to me, I decided to wait to tell you this story.” Liam was shocked and upset.

He missed his mother so much, but was relieved to know the story behind the wooden friend he had made.

Uncle John got up from his seat, “I'll be right back Kiddo,” he said. Uncle John headed to the basement door. Liam waited at the table for his uncle to arrive. He came back with the box that Chipper was in.

Uncle John grabbed the key off the kitchen counter and unlocked the box. Liam looked in the box to see the same puppet he had seen before. Uncle John took it out of the box and set it down the table.

“That's Chipper!” said Liam.

“Chipper? Your mother named him after you, Liam,” said Uncle John. “Your mother loved you very much and wanted to be w i t h you as long as

she could, so she named her puppet after you.

Liam started to speak, “I miss her Uncle John. I wish she was here.”

Uncle John smiled at Liam. “Kiddo, your mother is always going to be with you, that's why I'm letting you have it,” said Uncle John. “As long as you play with the puppet, your mother will be right there with you,” He said.

Liam’s heart was filled with emotions.

He missed his mom terribly, but felt better as he held the puppet in his hands. He looked at the puppet and said: “ You're my best friend.”

Uncle John laughed and looked at Liam, “Why don't all three of us get some dinner and you can introduce to your new friend?” said Uncle John. Liam loved the idea. He gave his uncle a hug, then hugged the puppet real tight. Suddenly, he didn't feel alone anymore. For the first time since the storm, Liam felt happy and loved.

Alyssa Wisniewski can be contacted at awisniewski@kscequinox.com

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Sports / B6

Thursday, December 6, 2018

DIVING INTO SENIOR YEAR MATTHEW BARRIGA

EQUINOX STAFF

While the Keene State swim team is full of talented and unique athletes, few show quite the commitment and determination as senior captain Kathleen Brandeberry.

Brandeberry mainly competes in freestyle events as well as individual medley, which involves a combination of four different strokes in one event.

Much like her siblings, Brandeberry said that her parents got her into swimming at a very young age. She started swimming in the first grade, and swam mostly for YMCA teams in her younger years.

She said that while all three of her siblings did swimming at one point, she was the only one who really stuck with it. When she was thirteen, Brandeberry said she transferred to a club team for a some more competition, as well as doing a co-op with Gardener High School her freshman and senior years.

Brandeberry says she attributes her success in the water to the intense training she endures. Competing in individual medley, she said that she attends a few more practices a week than the majority of others on the team.

“Usually the extra practices are a little harder because they’re focused on the mid-distance and distance swimmers,” she said. Brandeberry said she trains around twelve times a week, 2-3 times a day. “But it’s alright, we still get Sundays off.” she laughed.

According to Brandeberry, she’s seen personal improvement this season that is consistent with previous years as well.

“I think I can come back stronger every year because I don’t swim over the summers,” she said. “I just focus on lifting and getting stronger and that definitely helps because strength is a big part of swimming.” As for the team, she said that she’s

also seen a lot of improvement with her fellow swimmers as well.

Senior and fellow captain Lauren Arsenault has known Brandeberry since their first year of college, and have been good friends since. Arsenault said that while she and Brandeberry were always friends, it was a long trip to Florida for winter training that really brought them close together.

“It was a forty hour bus ride on the way down, and the bus broke down on the way back. We got stuck in a hotel with bed bugs,” laughed Arsenalt. “I think that was definitely the beginning. We were always friends, but winter training was definitely the peak.”

Arsenault also started swimming at a young age, starting with synchronized swimming in the second grade, before moving to competitive swimming in the seventh grade. She’s very experienced in the sport, and said that Brandeberry is one of the better swimmers she’s seen.

“She’s really fast,” she said. “So she definitely brings a lot of points for us. She’s kind of a natural leader. Having her as a captain by my side is really awesome in helping guide the team in what we need to do. Leading by example is definitely huge for us, so being not only being physically present but also mentally present at everything is important.”

Arsenault said that overall, the team has grown much closer since her first year, and the sense of family on the team helps them compete to their very best.

Head coach Christopher Woolridge unfortunately did not respond by the deadline for this article.

Matthew Barriga can be contacted at mbarriga@kscequinox.com

ANGELIQUE INCHIERCA / SENIOR STAFF

Awarded coach of the year Pickering is awarded LEC XCountry coach of the year after the women’s team placed first in conference CAILLA PRISCO

SportS Editor Coach Tom Pickering was honored with Little East Conference (LEC) Cross Country Coach of the Year award for the third consecutive year after the women’s team placed first in the LEC conference.

Keene State junior Lauren Perkowski winning the individual title according to Keene State Athletics.

Pickering received this award from his fellow cross country coaches at the end of the season.

He said that it is “Nice to be recognized by your peers.”

Pickering is not only the head coach of the cross country team, but the head coach of the track and field program at Keene State College as well.

Even though cross country is a fall sport while track is during the winter and spring, there are a few weeks of overlap that Coach Pickering has to run all practices for over 60 student athletes.

“It’s a really challenging period. October and November we are building into the conference championship and NCAA regionals which is very important, so there is a period of time where we are coaching all the track groups, which is all the different event groups preparing for indoor track, and coaching the most important part of the cross country season,” said Pickering.

Keene State is one of a few Division III schools in the LEC that does not have a track and field facility of their own. With that being said, it requires a lot of planning and preparation from Coach Pickering and his assistant coaches when running practice.

“It is especially challenging at Keene State because we don’t have a track and field facility, so we have to make space in gyms, share with other teams and with recreational sports. We make it work and hopefully, someday we will have that facility and we will be able to practice all as a team at one time,” said, Pickering.

Pickering puts a lot of responsibility in his assistant coaches because of their athletic backgrounds and history. For the first few weeks of this year’s track season, the team is missing Assistant Coach Nick Athanasopoulos while he finishes his degree at Cornell University.

“I’ve had a great assistant coach for the past three years. Nick has done a lot with the sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers, and multis while I am finishing cross country season and I did not want to hire a different coach to start with the team for a few weeks and then have Nick return for the rest of the year,” said Pickering.

Pickering joins his two assistant coaches Athanasopoulos, and Maggie Donovan as former Division III student athletes.

After being nominated for this award four times and winning three, Pickering said that this

season was “very special” to him because of the comeback that the women’s team made.

“Last year our women’s team was very young, and we were faced with a lot of adversity. Four of our top five runners had health issues, or other challenges, and we just didn’t have a good finish to the season at all,” said Pickering.

The 2017 season ended in a loss for the women, as they lost their championship title for the first time in 19 seasons.

“It was special this year, to see those same girls come back a year older and return to the top of the conference,” said Pickering.

Pickering competed in cross country and indoor/outdoor track, was a part of six Colby College records, an NCAA National Qualifier and was a three-time All-American athlete according to Keene State Athletics.

As such an accomplished former athlete, he understands what his athletes go through on a day to day basis.

“It helps us to understand the process and know what goes on with them academically and with injuries or illness. We just want to keep their spirits up throughout the year,” Pickering said.

“There are always going to be ups and downs, in any sport, but I do think because so many of them are doing it year-round there is no real break for them,” Pickering said.

As far as goals and what Coach Pickering wants to excel in, he said, “[I want] to improve [on] the teams final places in the conference championship.” Pickering added he wants this for both the men and the women’s teams.

Tom Pickering will be leading the Owls for the Rhode Island College Invitational on Dec. 8 at 11 a.m.

Cailla Prisco can be contacted at cprisco@kscequinox.com

SEBASTIEN MEHEGAN / EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Tom Pickering coaching one of his athletes that shockput during practice earlier in the week.

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Sports / B7

Luke’s Kickin’ Column

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Making national headlines

MLS Cup Final is Set LUKE STERGIOU

Photo Editor After two long legs of conference final matches, the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final has been set. Atlanta United, the kings of the Eastern Conference, will face off against the Portland Timbers, the Western Conference champions.

The conference finals were nothing short of entertaining. In the Eastern Conference final, Atlanta traveled away to New Jersey to face the New York Red Bulls in the second leg.

Atlanta went into this game knowing very well that despite the convincing 3-0 against the Red Bulls a few days prior, the team still had plenty of work to do before claiming the title of Eastern Conference Champions. Even though Atlanta would have been able to advance on a 0-0 draw, playing the second leg away was not going to be easy.

Atlanta were able to keep the Red Bull’s attack at bay for the majority of the game, until the New York side finally broke through, with defender Tim Parker scoring in the 90+4’ minute to make the score 1-0 to the Red Bulls, but 3-1 on aggregate. Tata Martino’s team had a clear plan to sit back and now allow the Red Bulls any space to get in and break the defense. Both teams defended well on this night, but despite New York scoring off a corner kick in the 79th minute, it was disallowed and ultimately Atlanta Triumphed. Atlanta would go on to advance to the side’s first ever MLS Cup Final.

The Western Conference Final was a much different story. After a scoreless first leg in Portland, the Timbers and Sporting Kansas City ended up in Kansas City for the second leg, with everything on the line for both teams.

Both teams wanted desperately to win and advance to the MLS Cup final, and both teams needed to do everything in order to achieve not only the Western Conference, but a path to the MLS Cup final. Ultimately, on a very cold night at Children’s Mercy Park, and despite the unrelenting and unwavering support of the Blue Cauldron, the Portland Timbers shocked Sporting Kansas after beating them 3-2 to become Western Conference champions.

Sporting Kansas City looked as if the team had gained the advantage, after Daniel Salloi scored 20 minutes in to make it 1-0 to Kansas City. The score would remain there for the first half, with tempers starting to flair and another 45 minutes waiting for both teams.

Portland rebounded in the second half, becoming more dominant and edged Sporting Kansas City in the 52nd minute after Sebastian Blanco scored a sensational goal to make the score 1-1, with Portland leading on away goals.

Captain and reigning MLS MVP Diego Valeri would score in the 62nd minute, adding to Sporting Kansas City’s misery and making the scoreline 2-1 to Portland. Kansas City did not give up though, as substitute Gerso Fernandes scored in the 81st minute, making the scoreline 2-2, but ultimately meaning that Portland still lead on away goals.

Sporting Kansas City tried as much as possible, but despite an impressive 10 minutes of extra time, the team’s fate was sealed as Diego Valeri scored in the 99th minute, giving Sporting Kansas City the final blow to win the Western Conference 3-2 on aggregate.

It was a wild match, and this MLS Cup final between Atlanta United and the Portland Timbers looks to be one of the most entertaining finals in recent history. The final will be played on December 8, 2018 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and needless to say, it’s going to be one hell of a final.

Luke Stergiou can be contacted at lstergiou@kscequinox.com

SOREN FRANTZ / EQUINOX STAFF

Ty Nichols celebrating after scoring against the number 12 school in the country, Middlebury College, where Keene State College won very unexpectedly 93-88.

Ty Nichols awarded national team of the week by d3hoops.com ADRIANA SANCHEZ

Social MEdia dirEctor Senior and key player of the Keene State men’s basketball team, Ty Nichols, has done it again. This time he was awarded with National Team of the Week by d3hoops.com after his outstanding performance over the past week.

According to their website, D3hoops, it states, “The team of the week presented by

Scoutware is d3hoop’s.com weekly honor roll, in it’s 22 season of recognizing the top performance at each of the five positions from the previous week.”

He had 34 points, 5.5 rebounds, six assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.

He scored a career high of 42 points against Albertus Magnus in a 105-96 game that went into overtime.

He then continued to come back with full force against number five, MIT, and scored

26 points with six assists. To put in perspective, MIT has had one final four appearance, six All- Americans, 38 All-conference and 12 academic All-Americans.

The season is far from over and Nichols has scored 1700 points, only 300 points away from reaching his season goal. On top of this, he has 500 rebounds and 400 assists.

According to Keene State Owls Instagram page, he has 407 free throws. Making his way to be the number one leader in

career free-throws here at Keene State College. The man who held this record before him was Darrell Long back in 1983-87.

Nichols did not comment back before deadline.

Adriana Sanchez can be contacted at asanchez@kscequinox.com

Ends one season and begins another

Dual athlete Taylor Bisaillon ends her soccer career and begins track and field “I think it’s important to take advantage of the having the ability to do the things you love to do while you can.”

-Taylor Bisaillon

CAILLA PRISCO

SPortS Editor It has been seen time and time again, student athletes that play sports all year-round because, depending on the division of the school, they receive scholarships, endorsements, or social popularity. For Division III athletes it is purely for the joy of the game.

Senior Taylor Bisaillon has competed on the Women’s soccer team and on the Women’s Track and Field team since she transferred to Keene State from Albertus Magnus College after her first year.

“It definitely can get difficult at times to be an athlete year-round both physically and mentally, but I like having the structure. I really like keeping myself busy,” Bisaillon said.

When asked why she chose to do both sports instead of focusing on one, she said “why limit something you enjoy.”

“I think it’s important to take advantage of the having the ability to do the things you love to do while you can. This is my last season of being a college athlete and I know I am going to miss it,” said Bisaillon.

The Women’s soccer team did not have the ending they would have hoped for, going into the season, Bisaillon knew that it would be a “Very young team this year after losing 11 seniors a four other upperclassmen players due to injuries.”

“I am happy that I got to play with my teammates one last year, and be a leader for the so

many new players, even if the season was not what we hoped for.”

Bisaillon said that ending soccer was “bittersweet” because of the start of track season shortly after.

“You never want to see it end, but it was nice to be able to have the transition into track so it wasn’t as sad and I had a distraction. This year in track I just want to better improve upon myself from last year, and that’s all I can really hope for. Coming first place in the LEC for an event either running or throwing wouldn’t be bad either” said Bisaillon.

Bisaillon said track and soccer have a very different feel to them, soccer being more of a team oriented sport while track is more improving individually.

“Track has more of a singularly effort and feels more rewarding in the individual sense, but everyone is still super supportive and wants the best for each other. Track is also a lot more about improving individually than as a team but everyone helps encourage through the hardest of workouts,” Bisaillon said.

Taylor Bisaillon and the rest of the Owls will be competing at the Rhode Island College Invitational on Saturday, December 8, with a start time of 11 a.m..

Cailla Prisco can be contacted at cprisco@kscequinox.com

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

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Thursday, December 6, 2018

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Rookie no more

Feldman wins LEC rookie diver of the week four times in first season CAROLINE PERRY

EQUINOX WRITER

Some athletes reach for success, but firstyear Brianna Feldman dives for it.

For the fourth time this season, Feldman has been named Little East Conference Rookie Diver of the Year. Feldman’s fourth title came after she placed third in both sets of dives in a tri-meet against Springfield and Wheaton, scoring 172.60 on the 1-meter board and 177.00 on the three meter.

“It feels great being Rookie Diver of the Week for the fourth time. It shows the training that I have done from my coaches has payed off,” Feldman said. The first-year added, “My goal coming into the season was to improve on my skills, while increasing my score to qualify for the LCS meet, which I have gotten. I am a very fearless athlete who is willing to try anything, even if it scares me.” Feldman said that her coaches and teammates help her excel and push herself during each practice and meet.

Training on the three meter board has especially pushed her, Feldman said, adding that seeing new obstacles helps her strive to work harder. Feldman added, “I only started [diving] my junior year of high school, and coming in and seeing the divers that my teammates are, pushes me to do better and try new things I would never think I would try.”

There is an art to diving, one that requires the ability to relax. Relaxing is one of Feld-

man’s key strategies for preparing before a competition. “Before most meets I get super nervous, but I find if I listen to music before I go, while stretching out on the side, it helps me relax a little more.” Feldman added that seeking out advice from her coach before she takes the board is also a good way to calm her nerves.

Junior Emily Peach said that Feldman is a strong competitor and has a powerful will to succeed. On top of that, Peach said that having a first-year step up to the plate and take initiative to improve throughout their first college season is impressive. “Brianna works hard and it shows. She is a supportive teammate and a real threat on the diving board,” Peach said.

Senior Lauren Arsenault did not respond in time.

Despite Feldman’s early success, the diver said that there are some things she needs to work on still. “Some things I have to improve on is cleaning up the skills I already have, while learning new ones. I came in with a background in gymnastics so my body knew what to do. But, transferring it to diving, was a whole new ball game. There is always things I can improve on.”

Caroline Perry can be contacted at cperry@kscequinox.com

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

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