The Equinox 10.10.19

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THE EQUINOX The student voice of Keene State College

Vol. 73, Issue #6

Thursday, October 10, 2019

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Tulsi Gabbard in Keene “We may have different ideas about how to solve these problems, but we stand united as Americans who love our country.” -Tulsi Gabbard

Addressing free speech on campus GRACE BROWN

Equinox Staff On Tuesday, October 1, Keene State College President Melinda Treadwell, Keene State faculty members and students met to discuss a recent issue that happened on campus. A picture was posted by a student on Snapchat of another student wearing a derogatory sweatshirt that said people should leave the country if they don’t speak English. This opened a discussion about the difference between free speech and hate speech.

During the meeting, students shared their own stories about crude and offensive things that have been said to themselves and their friends; most were racial slurs. These comments made some students feel like they are not welcome on campus. One student, who requested to remain anonymous, expressed their concerns.

“KSC is a predominantly white school, with students coming from different places. They don’t know the meaning of the terms they are using or what the impact is,” the student said.

Students also called the school’s social media to the board’s attention. They want more diverse pictures, not pictures of the same demographic. They also want multicultural events promoted.

Staff and students discussed the show “No Zebras No Excuses,” a play about sexual assault that every incoming freshmen class is required to see. A group of stu-

» SEE FREE SPEECH A3 SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

U.S. Representative and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard spoke to the Keene community in the student center on Thursday, October 3.

Presidential candidate discusses issues facing the nation RACHEL VITELLO

nEwS Editor Foreign policy is at the forefront of 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign. On Thursday, October 3, Gabbard spoke in Keene State College’s Lantern Room in the Student Center on issues such as healthcare, climate change and war.

KSC professor of political science Philip Barker introduced Gabbard.

“Tulsi Gabbard is the United States representative for Hawaii’s second congressional district, a position she’s held since 2012.

She’s served for over six years on the Foreign Affairs Committee and on the Armed Services Committee,” Barker said. “She’s a war veteran with two tours of duty in the Middle East.

She’s also the first female combat veteran ever to run for the presidency.”

Gabbard said that working for the interests of the American people is at the heart of her movement.

“We look to leaders and say, ‘How come these problems are not being solved? Why is it that our families are struggling still, election after election?’” Gabbard said. “It goes back to the vision our founding fathers had for us.

They laid out this vision that we the people would have a government of the people, for the people. It feels like a joke because we’re so far away from that.”

Gabbard discussed how having people

in power who only look out for the rich and powerful effects multiple facets of the nation.

This includes healthcare, climate change and education, among other issues.

“With the healthcare system we have now, who benefits the most? It’s big insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies who are ranking in massive profits. The U.S. government is the largest purchaser of prescription drugs in the world. That means we have leverage and purchasing power.

We have a lot of ability to drive those prices downward,” Gabbard said. “It begs the question, why are they fighting so hard to maintain this provision in our laws, to stop us from having the freedom to negotiate the price of prescription drugs?”

Gabbard also said that big pharmaceutical companies, as an industry, spend more on lobbyists and political action committees (PACs) than they do on advertising dollars.

“They are protecting their profits, their bottom line, their interests to the detriment of the people who actually need this medicine and drugs for their wellbeing, or sometimes to stay alive,” Gabbard said.

When asked about her plan for healthcare and whether or not she supports Medicare For All, Gabbard said she still believes there is room for private insurance options as well.

“I support a single-payer plan that ensures every single American is able to get the healthcare you need, when you need it, no matter if

you only have a few bucks in your pocket or not,” Gabbard said. “Like many other countries in the world, Australia, the U.K., for example, who passed their own plans, there are also options for private insurance for those that choose that. That would not take away from guaranteeing every single American is able to get the quality healthcare they need.”

Another issue Gabbard placed emphasis on was the significance of the cost of war on Americans.

“It is the average of 22 veterans every single day who take their own lives who represent the terribly high human cost of war. Whether we realize it or not, every one of us is paying the price for war,” Gabbard said. “Taxpayer dollars come out of our pockets; over six trillion dollars have been spent on these wasteful, counterproductive wars of choice like Iraq, Libya, Syria, Mongolia and Afghanistan that have undermined our national security and have actually made us less safe because they’ve strengthened terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS.” Gabbard said she wants to redirect this money toward fixing issues in the U.S. and improving communities.

Town hall attendee Billy Park asked Gabbard about an issue she is the only candidate to address during her campaign.

“Recently I heard about the Fairness Doctrine. I think it’s a great thing you’re putting

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A4: The true meaning of diversity A8: Rocking in the rain B1: Grading system change B8: ‘Digging’ the new postition

forward,” Park said.

“The Fairness Doctrine was originally put in place to ensure our public airways are providing fair, unbiased content for us to see,” Gabbard said. “You can count on that I can go and watch this news program and they will tell me what is actually happening, and there’s an issue rather than just presenting one biased view. By law, they’re required to present all sides of the issue.”

The town hall concluded with Gabbard stressing how the political division in this country has caused a standstill on solving problems.

“We need to make sure we stand with one united voice,” Gabbard said. “We may have different ideas about how to solve these problems, but we stand united as Americans who love our country, who love and care for each other and we have to work together to be able to protect that and move forward together.”

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

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Working towards sustainability KELLY REGAN

Equinox Staff Keene State College plans to use an energy service contact organization (ESCO) to help achieve their sustainability goals.

Keene State will be the first college in the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) to use an ESCO. Other colleges across America and in the New England area have used ESCOs to meet their sustainability goals.

“It is new to New Hampshire, but it’s not new to the planet and it’s not even new to New England,” Vice President for Finance and Administration Susan LaPanne said.

Coordinator of Energy and Administrative Services Diana Duffy and Director of Campus Sustainability Cary Gaunt created a broad-reaching energy services contract proposal that encompassed Keene State’s sustainability goals. The college then awarded a bid to Siemens Energy Management, an international organization that provides energy and

» SEE SUSTAINABILITY A3

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News / A2

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Annual security report released

SIMON CLARKE / EQUINOX STAFF

The report containing recent campus crime statistics is available for all students, faculty and staff to read RACHEL VITELLO

News editor On Monday, September 30, all Keene State College students received the 2019 Annual Security Report in their email inbox. The report contains crime statistics over the past three calendar years, ending December 31, 2018, for both KSC’s Keene campus and KSC’s Manchester campus. The security report is in accordance with the requirements of the Jeanne Clery Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act).

According to the Clery Center, the Clery Act is “a consumer protection law that aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics.” The crimes reported include sex offenses, robbery, assault, arson, stalking and drug and aolcohol violations, among other crimes.

For the Keene campus, statistics that are higher than others are those pertaining to drugs and alcohol. Disciplinary referrals for drug-related violations on-campus were 279 in 2016, 285 in 2017 and 161 in 2018. Disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations on-campus were higher, with 573 in 2016, 405 in 2017 and 377 in 2018.

Interim Director for Campus Safety Kevin Williams said this issue is due to the culture of the college, but that does not mean there are not consequences.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for use of illegal narcotics. We do not tolerate, condone or overlook underage drinking. When we encounter that, the local police are contacted,” Williams said. “We confiscate all illegal drugs we encounter. We dispose of all drug-related paraphernalia; they are seized and destroyed.”

Williams also noted that on college campuses, people who have a medi-

cal marijuana card are not exempt from this, as it is still not allowed on school grounds.

According to the report, statistics that increased were sex offenses pertaining to rape and fondling. For instances of on-campus rape in Keene there were seven in 2016, nine in 2017 and nine in 2018. For fondling, there were two reported instances in 2016, five in 2017 and six in 2018.

According to U.S. News and World Report, in light of the ‘#MeToo’ movement in 2017 and 2018 the number of sexual assault crimes reported to the police has increased significanly nationwide. Williams believes this may be true for Keene’s campus as well.

“People no longer have a tolerance for this type of mindset. Those types of behaviors are not acceptable, period. I am pleased that our student body has chosen to report out when something’s not right,” Williams said.

“When you see something, say something.”

KSC Interim Title IX Coordinator Kelli Jo Harper said that KSC itself is actively working to create a prevention and reporting culture on campus.

“The Title IX Office works really closely with departments across campus in trying to have coordinated prevention efforts. Combating this issue really comes from a place of trying to provide lots of opportunities for students, faculty and staff to engage in a conversation about these issues, to have an awareness for people across campus about where you go to report and what the supports are. Even if a student isn’t ready to report, there are confidential resources too,” Harper said.

As for other crimes on Keene’s campus, there were four instances of aggravated assault in 2018, ten instances of burglary in 2018, three instances of dating violence in 2018 and one instance of stalking in 2018, none with

any significant increase over three years.

In the past three years there have been zero cases of homicide, arson, statutory rape, domestic violence or motor vehicle theft. There were four instances of weapon possession on Keene’s campus in 2016 and zero instances in 2017 and 2018.

“Is this a dangerous campus? Absolutely not. Are there any serious threats to students, faculty or staff on this campus? Absolutely not,” Williams said. “Our issues, which are clearly delineated in our campus safety report, relate to liquor law and drug violation.”

Campus Safety Sargeant Jessica Trombley, who compiled most of the data and information included in the report, said that she believes people on campus should take the time to read the report, given the amount of significant information it contains.

“If they really were to focus on the reporting crimes and emergencies section that would really help get people in the mindset of the ‘see something, say something’ mentality. That’s something we’ve been pushing for years. And there’s ways for you to do it anonymously,” Trombley said. “The resources we offer, too, are very valuable. We have a good set-up on campus where we have a lot of different departments here to support students. All of the emergency stuff is important, too, that lets students and parents know what’s going to happen if an emergency happens. Campus Safety is really transparent about this.”

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

KSC partners with Keene High School RACHEL VITELLO

News editor Recently, Keene State College has initiated a partnership with Keene High School and local career and technical education (CTE) centers to create more pathways and opportunities for high school students. The pathways would include a fifth year of high school to achieve an associate’s degree, a smoother transition to Keene State College for a bachelor’s degree and more career and technical education opportunities.

KSC President Melinda Treadwell has been working alongside this initiative.

“It’s exciting. It’s about credentialing and launching students from high schools and these career and technical education centers into Keene State,” Treadwell said.

Administrator for the Bureau of Career Development at the New Hampshire Department of Education Eric Frauwirth said that these pathways will allow for better planning for the future for students still in high school.

“Students will benefit through the creation of a seamless pathway through multiple certifications and educational opportunities,” Frauwirth said. “By providing this information to students prior to their enrollment in the programs, they will have a clearer picture of their progression, as well as all of the potential opportunities.”

Chair of Regional Advisory Council for the Cheshire Career Center Thomas Moses also believes that this partnership will aid in the advancement of students’ education and career planning.

“There’s a need for a closer working relationship with the young people at an earlier age, to instill in them what is out there in business and industry,” Moses said. “We can have them develop certain interests that they can pursue in high school in the career center. Young students who go to the career center now have the opportunity to advance.”

Superintendent of Schools for SAU 29 Robert Malay said that this opportunity may assist in the number of students who continue their education post-graduation.

“We are personally partnering with the articulation agreement; basically what that means is anyone who goes to a CTE program and completes their program gets up to eight elective credits when they enroll as a

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Keene State student,” Malay said. “That’s huge for a lot of our students. Over the same period of time what we’ve seen is the number of students who leave Keene High and go on to either a two or four-year college has decreased.”

According to Frauwirth, credentialing programs that connect high schools with four-year institutions are rare and could be trailblazing.

“Typically, the five-year high school pathway model involves a single high school and a single community college. Using KSC as the anchor institution allows us to broaden the scope of involvement to potentially add additional pathways, high schools and colleges in the future. Ultimately, our office would like to see every student have the opportunity to participate in this type of pathway program; we hope this can become a statewide model,” Frauwirth said.

Some of the various programs that could be offered include construction, manufacturing and health science, with the possibility of more.

“In the health core we’d be looking at substance misuse, public health and nutrition and nursing, working with Cheshire medical and local non-profits to try to do that. The career and technical education centers have programs in all of these areas so we’re going to try to map the curriculum and then communicate to students in any CTE center so that they come into Keene, they have 12 credits and they can accelerate,” Treadwell said. “Or they go through the community college while at a high school level, complete a fifth year and get an associates and then come over to Keene.”

The overall objective of this partnership is to allow greater opportunities for students to continue their education in a more accessible manner after high school.

“It’s an interesting web of academic credentialing,” Treadwell said. “That’s the goal, creating faster ways to credential for people to get them more lifetime income.”

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

LIAM FREY / EQUINOX STAFF

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News / A3

Thursday, October 10, 2019

FREE SPEECH

SUSTAINABILITY

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sustainability services.

“It’s a new way of tackling these challenges,” Duffy said. “It depends on what the school wants and where our needs are. Every school is different. It’s not a cookie-cutter type of service.”

“What made them (Siemens) stand out is they are extremely interested in helping us with programming here,” LaPanne said. “That means everyone is exposed to the culture of sustainability and recycling and maintaining the planet.”

Duffy provided Siemens with data about Keene’s current energy intensity and heat and water usage to allow Siemens to conduct their investment-grade audit.

“Based on the combination of what we go through and where we want to go, they help us,” Duffy said.

The investment-grade audit looked at all the buildings and grounds to determine ways to lower energy commitments.

“The roadmap is going to be the investment-grade audit,” LaPanne said.

The primary goal of this contract with Siemens is to increase energy efficiency and create behavior change programs to help Keene State reach its sustainability goals. The project will also include improvements for water conservation and waste reduction.

“It offers us the ability to work with a single company who is the premier ESCO internationally to focus us on those projects,” LaPanne said.

Siemens will provide the campus with an energy consultation and general contractor work to complete these sustainability projects.

“Siemens is not going to get stuck thinking about the things that we do because we’ve always done it

that way,” LaPanne said.

Both Keene State College and the city of Keene, New Hampshire plan to have 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. By 2030 Keene State College also hopes to have reduced greenhouse gases by 50 percent and to have qualified as a zero-waste campus.

“I’m very excited about the progress. There’s still a lot more we can do and we won’t be able to achieve our goals without the help of everyone on campus,” said Eco-Reps member Lindsey Ljungberg.

Siemens is open to working with Keene State students during the ESCO process.

“Ultimately, students will be linked into different types of projects that are happening,” Duffy said.

“There’s going to be focus on training our students if they’re interested, some research grant opportunities and workforce development,” LaPanne said. “They are very happy to talk to us about internships of all varieties. So this is not just for the sustainability students.”

Kelly Regan can be contacted at kregan@kscequinox.com.

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OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

dents wrote a petition stating there should be a way to educate students about racial inequality and the consequences of their words. The petition already has close to 100 signatures.

“Sexual assault is an uncomfortable subject, but we all sat through the play. I think we need to have a play or a class about race education. Race can be an uncomfortable subject too, but it will leave an impact,” said one of the students.

Students also feel that orientation leaders need better diversity training and there should be more campuswide diversity activities during Welcome Week and year-round.

Hate speech isn’t only related to race and culture. Several LGBTQ students have expressed that they don’t feel safe in their own rooms, and the residential staff isn’t doing anything about it.

“My friend is a member of the LGBT community and their roommate is against that. My friend stays out of their room until the last possible minute every day, in fear that their roommate will do or say something,” said another student who requested to stay anonymous.

The board talked about creating a space to have conversations about these issues. Program Support Assistant for LGBTQ students at the Office of Multicultural Student Support and Success Hunter Kirschner said that involvement on campus is important to combating this.

“I’m sorry for those of you, or your friends, that don’t feel heard. We are here for you guys. But Kya and I are just two people. There needs to be more of us,” Kirschner said.

“I am a fierce proponent for free speech, but I don’t tolerate ignorance. Students and faculty need to be educated. Ignorance isn’t an excuse,” said Treadwell.

Grace Brown can be contacted at gbrown@kscequinox.com.

Interested in writing for news?

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Campus Safety Press Log 10/1 Odor of drugs 10/1 Fire alarm- no fire 10/1 911/Blue light activation 10/2 Suspicious person 10/2 Harassment 10/2 Assault- simple 10/2 Odor of smoke, gas, other 10/3 Medical/Non-emergency 10/4 Drug paraphernalia possession 10/4 Theft- bicycles 10/4 Noise complaint 10/4 Medical emergency 10/5 Suspicious person 10/5 Suspicious activity 10/5 911/Blue light activation 10/5 Alcohol violation- KSC policy 10/6 Sexual exploitation 10/6 Suspicious activity 10/6 Intoxicated/incapacitated subject 10/6 Guest violation 10/6 Banned person 10/6 Controlled drug act violation

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NEWS EDITOR RACHEL VITELLO (781)812-7461

STUDENT ASSEMBLY JACK HANSON

Business Manager

The Class of 2023 has a new representative.

First-year Matthew White was elected as a new representative for the class of 2023 at Student Assembly on Tuesday, October 8, 2019. White gave a speech about why he should be elected into the position which was then followed by a vote.

As well as White, the class of 2023 was introduced and welcomed at their first student assembly meeting of the year: president Abby Cohen, treasurer Dominic Lynch, representative Samantha Breault and representative Maria Paula Durant. Vice president Joshua Lacaillade did not attend.

The class of 2022 will have a Chipotle fundraiser from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 26 at Chipotle in Keene.

According to Student Body President Davis Bernstein, Pumpkin Lobotomy will be held on Friday, October 25 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Fiske Quad.

Jack Hanson can be contacted at jhanson@kscequinox.com

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OPINIONS

Opinions / A4

Thursday, October 10, 2019

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EDITORIAL

The true meaning of diversity looking at them. Embracing these people is just as important as embracing different ethnicities and we should all continue to get better about the things we say as well as be more sympathetic.

This sympathy begins with education. This education would create exposure to these different types of people and cultures and create comfortability on both sides. The Equinox strongly believes this exposure should start from a young age and people should not be first experiencing different cultures when they get to college. We also believe that if diversity education was better as a whole, this incident with the sweatshirt probably wouldn’t have happened.

While we can’t fix the issue of the lack of diversity on campus overnight, there are steps that both the administration and students can take. First, we at the Equinox agree that first-year students should take a required class on diversity; this idea was suggested

At a meeting on campus last week, KSC faculty and students discussed diversity on campus and issues marginalized students experience in Keene. This conversation came after a student was posted on another student’s Snapchat story wearing a sweatshirt stating that if someone does not speak English they should go back to where they came from.

The students aired their anecdotes about either experiencing discrimination or helping their friends through instances of discrimination on the basis of race and/ or sexual orientation.

These stories ranged from having slurs yelled at them to commentary about the lack of diversity present both on campus and on KSC’s social

at the campus meeting last week. The class would help educate students on the importance of inclusion and how to coexist with one another. Although we believe these are lessons that should be taught at a younger age, all of us come from different backgrounds, therefore understanding each other is critical.

Students can also take diversity education into their own hands.

The Office of Multicul-

media pages and website.

This lack of diversity is a complicated issue.

While the campus should be commended for their overall commitment to getting international students to come here, the events promoting these different cultures aren’t nearly as publicized as they should be.

Another part of the issue is that many students who actually want to go to these events on both sides are somewhat intimidated because they do not want to be the outlier.; these students may also go to Admitted Students Days and be put off by the overall lack of diversity.

Diversity is not just about race however, it is also about embracing different genders as well as different sexual orientations. Oftentimes people only think of race with diversity because you often cannot tell somebody’s sexual orientation by just

tural Student Support and Success hosts all kinds of events showcasing different cultures. These events are open to all students and everyone is welcome. Students should not be afraid to attend these events and educate themselves. Discussing diversity education and understanding is a conversation we should all be having.

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STAFF COMMENTARY

Which news is actually news?

WILLIAM PRUETT

Equinox Staff With society being in an age of constant stimulation from devices and all forms of media, people are always being fed new information. The internet and television are the primary sources that citizens use to gather new information about what is going on in the world.

Back before technology was not as advanced, people would usually get their news through the newspaper, and radios also used to be a far more popular way of receiving the news when televisions were not normal household products. These days, people can just look up any trending topic in Google and find dozens of brand new articles that were just written about that specific event or person.

Although a good amount of these articles that are published could very well be from established and famous news brands and organizations, the amount of biased and false information that is being fed through the inter-

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Puja Thapa Administrative Executive Editor Erin McNemar Managing Executive Editor

net is also huge. With today’s students and younger generations being as easily available to the internet as they can and these fake news sources being widely displayed through all forms of media, it begs the question of how harmful this can be to one’s views on vital subjects.

Not only does this affect their views but it can affect their work too.

With the large amount of research papers that students have to do that have all the information derived from the internet, false facts and bad sources are bound to be come across and possibly even put into the final paper.

This can have a negative impact on the student’s grade and also make the teacher who is grading the paper think that they simply did not spend the time necessary or put in the proper effort to find the true information.

With this issue only looking like it is getting worse as time goes on, and news continues to be fed to people even faster and on even larger scales, people will continue to read and believe false information that they cannot even tell is not real. Since there is no end in sight to this problem, there are ways that you can avoid reading and believing the false news. This will

EQUINOX NEWSROOM

EDITORIAL POLICY

Faculty Advisor

The Equinox is a designated public forum. Student editors have full editorial control over the entire content of the paper. All articles and opinion pieces are assigned, written and edited by students without censor by administrators, faculty or staff.

The Equinox is published Thursdays during the academic year with dates immediately preceding and following holidays omitted. The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication. The Equinox reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason. Advertising is not accepted until it appears in the paper.

Letters to the editor must be written exclusively to The Equinox and are due by noon on the Friday prior to publishing. All letters must include name and phone number for verification. The Equinox reserves the right to edit for style and length, and refuse any letters to the editor. For clarification and additional information on any above policies call 358-2414. The Equinox business office is open MondayFriday from 11 am to 1:30 pm.

Rodger Martin, Journalism faculty (rmartin@kscequinox.com ) Julio Del Sesto, Journalism faculty (jdelsesto@keene.edu)

News Editor Rachel Vitello

Opinions Editor Cristian Valentin

Multimedia Director Benajil Rai

Sports Editor Austin Smith

Art Director

Olivia Cattabriga

Business Manager

Student life Editor

Equinox Staff: Kelly Regan, Slesha Tuladhar, William Pruett,

A&E Editor

Anna Sheppard, Alex Harvey, Matthew White, Simon Clarke, Caroline Ware, Kirsten Somero, Jack Dey, Victoria Miles, Andrew Chase, Tom Benoit, Kathryn Spadafora, Teagan Hudzik, Matthew White, Kiana Wright, Harrison Paletta, Connor Adams, Alan Fortin, Matt Holderman

Connor Crawford Joe Guzman

Social Media Director Angelique Inchierca

Photo Editor Soren Frantz

Copy Editor

Jack Hanson

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Webmaster

Senior Staff

Ryan Bloomberg

Claire Boughton

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.

help individuals not make it worse by spreading the untrue information that they read online.

If you are looking up something on Google, whether it is a historical fact or about an event that happened that day, always check to make sure that the article or website is a certified source. If you are not sure, search the website for the many hints that it would probably have that it is not credible.

Avoid websites like Wikipedia and news sources that people who just have an account on can make and edit news.

Even major news corporations and websites may not even be trustworthy all the time due to a biased writer or editor. Double check to make sure the news you are reading matches up with multiple other trustworthy sources that you can access. This way, the spreading of fake news can hopefully be declined.

Wiliam Pruett can be contacted at wpruett@kscequinox.com

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

Falling into a new season CRISTIAN VALENTIN

opinionS Editor Leaves changing colors, sweatshirt weather coming in, the holiday season approaching; this may sound like just the start of fall to some, but to me, it’s the beginning of the best time of the year.

The first thing that makes fall stand out above the rest to me is the overall beauty of the season. In my opinion, fall has the best aesthetic of all the seasons. This is because of the mixture of colors in the environment around us. The combination of green, red, orange, yellow and other colors is truly something to behold.

Another reason I love fall is because of school starting again. Now, before you bring out your torches and pitchforks, let me explain. I like school starting again because it means I get to consistently see my friends every day as much as I want. These are some of the people in my life who mean the most and being able to see them means a lot.

Fall is also my favorite season because of football. Football is by far my favorite sport and, for the most part, the only one I really follow. A fall tradition that I’ve had with my father the past few years is going to a football game. This is always a great experience because these games just have a very special vibe. This vibe is just sitting in the stands with the nice fall breeze blowing into your face while sitting with a bunch of people bonding over one thing.

On the topic of weather, fall also marks the beginning of sweatshirt weather. You can say goodbye to swatting flies and the humidity and say hello to comfortable flannels, along with all those nice jackets you haven’t been able to wear. Fall weather is also perfect for playing casual sports with friends such as frisbee, soccer or the classic hacky sack.

You also cannot talk about fall without mentioning the holiday season. Ever since I was a kid, my three favorite months have been October, November and December. This is because of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know some people have lost interest in Halloween as they got older but I still think there is nothing better than watching some good old-fashioned horror movies during the weeks leading up to it.

Thanksgiving is also great because I get to see my family, watch some football and have pumpkin pie. I love those holidays but Christmas is by far my favorite. The actual holiday is not a part of fall, but the leadup is and, in my opinion, that is the best part.

This is because the excitement builds up during the weeks leading up and then, once the actual day comes around, it ends up feeling a bit bittersweet.

I believe there is so much to like about fall and it is the perfect in-between season.

Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com -LIAM FREY/ EQUINOX STAFF

STAFF COMMENTARY

What the past tells us about now VINCENT MOORE

Equinox Staff It’s become a popular talking point in right-wing media to ridicule the claims made by some politicians that the world is going to end in ten to twelve years because of climate change. One shouldn’t throw stones when living in a glass house, and the American political right is in no position to criticize apocalyptic warnings when a sizable portion of its base, the Evangelicals mostly, are firm believers in “Judeo-Christian” end times prophecies, and like their counterparts on the left, have many reasons backing up their beliefs.

The Holy Bible is filled with prophecy, starting in Genesis and culminating in the Book of Revelation. As a follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I will primarily cover Christian end times prophecy, and for the purpose of this article I will focus on the signs of the end times as prophesized

by Jesus, the technology required to fulfill Revelation 13, and the major aspect tying both Christian and Jewish end times prophecies together.

While sitting on the Mount of Olives, Jesus’ disciples asked him what the signs of his second coming and the end times will be. He replied that there will be wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, persecution of Christians. He said that many will be mislead by false prophets, with some even claiming to come in His name and that due to lawlessness, many people’s love for one another will grow cold (Matt 24:3-12). Anyone who pays attention to the news should know that all of these things are happening all over the world.

Chapter 13 in the Book of Revelation reveals that during the end times the whole world will be ruled and will worship (under the penalty of death) a figure referred to as “The Beast”, who will have the power to give life to an image of his likeness and make it impossible to buy or sell anything without his mark on either the right hand or forehead (again, under the penalty of death). It must have been difficult for a reader in the first century AD to fathom the technology needed to do these things, but today the technology is already here and can easily be implemented everywhere by a

global government. The image of the Beast can easily be virtual reality, and the mark can be a chip implanted into the body. Many cities and even countries are moving towards a cashless society, and microchipping is gaining traction as an industry with people like Elon Musk advocating brain chips, which will supposedly let you control your smartphone with your mind. When the world financial fiat currency system collapses (it’s a matter of when, not if), it’s incredibly plausible that the entire world will adopt a single currency, setting the stage for the events of Revelation.

The end of the chapter says that the number of the beast’s name is the number of man, 666, which can be interpreted to represent the element Carbon, the basic building block of human life that is comprised of six protons, six neutrons, and six electrons.

A major tangible requirement of both the Christian and Jewish end times prophecies is the rebuilding of a third Temple in Jerusalem.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, the Apostle Paul writes that Christians will know that the end times have come after a great falling away of the faithful and the appearance of the man of sin, the son of perdition (other names for the beast). Usually referred to by the media as ‘the Antichrist’, this figure will be worshiped as if he were God and will set himself up to be worshiped in “The Temple Of God”, which many interpret to be the Temple in Jerusalem. The issue of ownership of the Temple Mount (currently the location of the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock) has politically united many Zionist Evangelical Christians and Jews, who were a leading factor in President Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to recognize the city as Israel’s “eternal capital”.

As a show of gratitude to the President, the Mikdash Educational Centre, an Israeli self-described non-profit religious education organization, minted a special “Temple Coin” featuring Trump’s face in front of King Cyrus the Great, who according to the Hebrew Bible was a Gentile (non-Jewish) king who released the Jews from captivity in Babylon and commissioned the building of the Second Temple. Notice any similarities?

The organization claims that the sale of the coins will be used to fund the rebuilding of the Temple.

I imagine many of you might not take this talk of eclectic doomsday prophecy seriously, but be assured that there are many people who do, particularly those in power. President Trump’s steadfast support has been consistent throughout his presidency, with him recently retweeting a tweet comparing him to a “King of Israel”. He has also surrounded himself with staunch Evangelicals like Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

A video from the 1990s shows Benjamin Netanyahu asking Rabbi Menachem Schneerson for his blessing and help in both political and personal areas. Schneerson was the most esteemed and beloved leader of an Orthodox Jewish movement known as Chabad Lubavitch. Chabad members have been known for their fervent belief in an upcoming Messianic age, which will be heralded by their messiah, the Mosiach. They believe that the Mosiach will be a powerful Jewish king who will rebuild the Temple, bring back all the world’s Jews to Israel, and will be recognized by the rest of the world as its dominant leader. Schneerson replied to Netanyahu that he must work harder to hasten the Mosiach’s coming, to which Bibi replied that he’s trying. Decades later, to this day Netanyahu still counts on the support from Israel’s very Orthodox population.

Does any of this worry you? As much as the threat of climate change does? Unlike what can be said about climate change, no one can give an exact timeframe or date for when the end times will come; Jesus said that only God the Father knows, but it will happen when we least expect it, like a thief in the night. I think this is for good reason, so that Christians can believe with true faith in Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s word rather than believe out of fear.

To anyone who scoffs at the idea that the world as they know it can end in their lifetime; Jesus also taught that there was normalcy bias even in the days of Noah, right up until it started to rain peculiarly hard…

Vincent Moore can be contacted at vmoore@kscequinox.com

STAFF COMMENTARY

To each their own style of learning ANDREW CHASE

Equinox Staff There are many different ways a professor can teach their students but these styles affect every student differently.

I believe that there are three primary teaching styles. These different styles of teaching can impact every student differently because every student has their own preferences of how they learn the best. The first teaching style is what I call the “Iron Grip” style. The “Iron Grip” style of teaching is when the professor teaches the class with an authoritarian position. The professor does not allow any funny business. Their favorite students are the ones that are obedient and fall in line. I believe that this teaching style is not effective for the more creative students because the professor usually doesn’t allow the student to use their creativity to do work in a different way.

In this style of teaching, the learning will usually be in a lecture style.

The second style of teaching is the demonstra-

tor style. The demonstrator style of teaching is when the professor teaches the class by giving a lot of examples and shows the class step by step how to solve problems. The professor will usually address individual problems during class time. This can be a bad thing too because if the class size is large then the professor might not be able to answer everyone’s individual questions. This can also be a good thing because if a creative minded student is struggling to understand a concept, the professor can show the creative minded student how to solve the problem via step by step instructions. I enjoy this style of teaching because I am a decently slow learner and it truly helps when the professor goes over a certain topic that I am struggling with more in depth.

The third style of teaching is what I like to call the hybrid style. The hybrid style of teaching is when the professor combines his personality and interests into their teachings. This style of teaching is extremely useful for professors when they are trying to connect with their students. Since

the professor is using their knowledge of their interests, they are able to find and connect with students that share the same common interests.

I believe that this can be a good thing for students that share these common interests with their professors but when they do not share any common interests with their professor, then it becomes harder to make connections.

Out of these 3 primary teaching styles, I personally find the hybrid style to be the most efficient teaching style because it creates a connection between the student and the professor that allows the student to be more engaged in class. When the student is engaged in class, they tend to find the topic easier to understand. I also find that most other students prefer the hybrid style of teaching to be the most efficient for the same reasons. Yet, everyone is different so others will have their own opinions on how they are taught the best.

Andrew Chase can be contacted at achase@kscequinox.com -CAROLINE WARE/ EQUINOX STAFF

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / A6

Thursday, October 10, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

'Samsara' gone wrong

Fashion Group Bstroy tries to make a statement but instead got controversy JOSEPH GUZMAN

Arts And EntErtAinmEnt Editor Most people like to express themselves in unique ways, either to get others’ attention or express themselves the way they properly want to. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, people can still run the risk of offending somebody even if they're raising awareness for something important. The best example of this is when fashion brand “Bstroy” created a line of hoodies to raise awareness about gun violence. At first glance it looks like another normal college hoodie; looking closer, you notice bullet holes.

Bstroy is a hip-hop fashion brand mixed with high fashion. The New York Times, just a week before these hoodies were viewed by social media and the public, were comparing the five people running Bstroy to the likes of Kanye West and Virgil Abloh when it comes to mixing hip-hop streetwear and Fashion. “Bloody Osiris, a stylist and mood-board inspiration; Brick and Du of Bstroy, post-street-wear avant-gardists; Ev Bravado, who is innovating the texture of street wear; and Tremaine Emory, a jack-

of-all-trades who hosts parties, designs clothes and serves as a kind of spirit guide for these rising stars of tomorrow,” said Jon Caramanica, the writer for the New York Times.

This line was featured at a Manhattan Fashion event Friday, and the whole point of these hoodies was to start a conversation between everyone who saw the polarizing clothing and empower the current survivors of these tragedies.

According to the New York Times, brand co-founder Dieter Grams said, “We wanted to make a comment on gun violence and the type of gun violence that needs preventative attention and what its origins are. While also empowering the survivors of tragedy through storytelling in the clothes.”

Each member of the fashion group seems to be defending the controversial brand the best they can. Bstroy’s other co-founder Brick Owens defended his brand on an Instagram post from his personal account: “Sometimes life can be painfully ironic, Like the irony of dying violently in a place you considered to be a safe, controlled environment, like school.”.

The line of hoodies was for Bstroy’s spring 2020 collection

“Samsara.” The meaning behind Samsara was to highlight “life’s fragility, shortness and unpredictability,” explained a statement from Bstroy. The hoodies are available in cotton candy blue, a purplish grey, dull red and apple green. The schools used in this line are Columbine, Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Virginia Tech, where school shootings have all occurred.

I personally think that if Bstroy was trying to raise awareness for gun violence they should’ve waited longer to release the hoodies or donated the proceeds of all of the hoodies to help fight the issue. Since Bstroy decided to go this route with their clothes it makes them seem like they’re profiting and glorifying off of this gun violence issue. I think that they should veer away from controversial subjects in the meantime until their brand becomes a little bit bigger and well-known, or they should make clearer efforts to aid these horrible situations.

Joseph Guzman can be contacted at jguzmankscequinox.com OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Paint Night

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Paint Night was hosted by the Student Activities Council in the student center's Mabel Brown Room on Tuesday, October 1, complete with provided supplies and guided painting. Students painted a Halloween themed tree.

Equinox Music Choices

TOES - Dababy ft. Lil Baby and Moneybagg Yo

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Want to listen to our playlist for this week?

Pop by our page on spotify called Equinox Newspaper!

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / A7

Thursday, October 10, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

The game without a name 'Untitled Goose Game' seems to be on the rise for new simulators ANNA SHEPPARD

Equinox Staff On Friday, September 20, the game developers of House House released their anticipated new simulator "Untitled Goose Game." Starting as a running joke from the four-person game developers, the idea of a goose popped up as a humorous gag that has quickly turned into a fascination in just a year. This oddly-titled game provides creative new graphics to a simple storyline in which you perform tasks as a goose waddling around an English village. In just two weeks the game sold over 100,000 copies, according to ABC news. According to the Kotaku, there was a pre-alpha trailer for the game that provided a peek into the fun chaos you could stir up within the simulator. “It’s a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose,” their website reads.

The premise is pretty self-explanatory and very intuitive; if you choose to play the game you will quickly get the hang of things and soon enjoy terrorizing the townspeople who strive to keep you from completing your goals. In their defense, some of your tasks include stealing groceries from a store keeper, scaring a young boy into a telephone booth and pitting neighbors against one another. The general appeal of the videogame is the smooth graphics; with just a small white dot, you control the direction of your goose, and with the space bar you have the ability to alert those around that you are a ter-

rifying goose out to annoy anything and anyone in your path. Unlike most puzzle-oriented video games, you’re allowed to get immersed in it. You are the goose. Adventuring around the map is a large part of the game and the goose has the most mobility in the town so why not explore your region? Your jobs are simple and you get to enjoy some wholesome comedy along the way.

The goose’s strut on its own makes the journey entertaining. Each puzzle gives you the opportunity to think like a sleuthing goose, but don’t get caught.

If someone tries to stop you, a wild goose chase will come into session and an energized piano conducts your movements and the folks chasing you. Your options are among hiding, distracting or entertaining. You must steal items or cause a disruption that attracts someone to where you want them. Distracting the townspeople is the trickiest part, if you don’t work fast enough, they'll stop you and return the item you might have needed to where it belongs.

They’re just doing their job, but interferes with you being the chaotic goose you are. With your floppy feet and grabbing beak you are more than capable of completing this short game within a few hours, but with so many different ways to complete each level, why wouldn’t you play it all over

again? If you find that $14.99 is worth it to you, it is a highly recommended peaceful game you can play on your PC, Mac or Nintendo Switch. So what are you waiting for? Waddle on!

Anna Sheppard can be contacted at asheppard@kscequinox

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

BRIEF

Delightful decorations Singing in perfect harmony

SLESHA TULADHAR / EQUINOX STAFF

Murals have been added all around Keene CRISTIAN VALENTIN

opinionS Editor As many have noticed, a mural has been added to the back of the Student Center; but what people may not know is that these murals are all around town.

The murals were added by the international organization of muralists known as Walldogs. According to walldogsinkeene.com, Walldogs organizes a festival every year in which hundreds of artists go to a small town and paint a series of murals within a threeto-five day span. This June, these artists came to Keene for the Magical History Tour, a series of murals with the goal of expressing Keene’s history through art.

Owner of Prime Roast Judy Rogers and owner of Signworx Peter Poanessa played key roles as co-leaders of the Executive Committee Planning Team during the time it took to put the event together. According to Rogers, these roles include raising money, choosing subject matter, working with the city and many other things.

Poanessa said the idea came about years ago.

“It started a couple years ago when we were coming back from a Walldogs festival and I just said to my wife, ‘We should do this in Keene,’ and that kind of got the ball rolling,” said Poanessa.

A big part of the project was making art that anybody could enjoy. “Any community should have art and culture, and if you can have art and culture that’s accessible to everyone regardless of demographic that’s

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the most incredible art of all,” said Rogers.

Poanessa shared this sentiment. “The Magical History Tour makes the world class art accessible to everybody, you don’t have to pay to go to a museum or travel anywhere, you can just walk in the streets. It adds a lot of life to the back alleys and nooks and crannies around town that maybe weren’t such nice places to be in,” he added.

Poanessa said there is plenty for students to learn from the murals. “I feel like it makes you think a lot about what people have done with their lives and makes you realize that there are great people all around us and that any of us can do great things. Most of these people on these murals are ordinary people from Keene that did extraordinary things,” said Poanessa.

Sophomore graphic design major Sean Keohane said he likes Keene using art to decorate the town.

“As an art major I can really appreciate that because it’s often hard to get good projects out in the world, so it’s nice to see artists getting to do their thing with these murals,” said Keohane.

There are 16 murals all around town with each representing a famous person, location, business, etc.

To find out more about the location of each individual mural, as well as the history behind it, visit walldogsinkeene.com.

Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com

GARGI GURUNG / EQUINOX STAFF

On Friday, October 4, students gathered in the Night Owl Cafe for karaoke hosted by Aspire.

Students gather at the Night Owl Cafe to sing karaoke ERIN MCNEMAR

Managing ExEcutivE Editor It's difficult to find someone who doesn’t love to sing.

On Friday, October 4, Aspire hosted a karaoke night in the Night Owl Cafe. Those who attended were able to sign up and sing any karaoke song of their choosing.

The night showcased music from Hannah Montana to Green Day and various artists in between.

Sophomore Colette Rinker, who is involved with the Aspire program, said, “It’s (karaoke) just a fun event and it’s a great way to have a safe Friday night. Aspire puts on some really great events for all students of all academic years.”

Rinker is also involved in the music department on campus and

said she enjoyed switching up the music she performs throughout the week. “It’s nice to have this 180 environment that’s on campus like karaoke. It’s so chill and people can sing literally anything. It’s a great change of pace from all the other stuff I do like classical music to just singing ABBA and not really have a care,” Rinker said.

At the event, first-year Lilly Hetzel performed “All I Ask” by Adele. Hetzel said she attended karaoke because she likes to sing and wanted to meet some more people. “I like my voice and I wanted to show campus that I can sing. I thought it would be a good opportunity to meet some people and make new friends,” she said.

Hetzel said this was not the first time she performed the Adele song

in front of an audience. “I sang it for my freshman cabaret in high school and I haven’t done one since. It was the only song I ever performed in front of my school and I really liked it. It’s a good song for my voice and it means a lot to me.”

Hetzel said she would like to see more events like karaoke night and she was glad Aspire put it on.

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com

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ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

A&E / A8

Thursday, October 10, 2019

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Rocking in the rain

Various bands gather and hit the stage

KATHRYN SPADAFORA

Equinox Staff On Sunday, October 6, Keene State College Social Activities Council hosted its annual Rocktoberfest celebration. Hosted on the green by Oya Hill from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Keene State students gathered to enjoy live music presented by student bands. However, music was not all that Rocktoberfest had to offer—food, drinks and activities were provided to students as well. Tables with hot cider and coffee were set up along the green for students to enjoy, along with a variety of food. All of this was organized by concert coordinator Jenae Graham.

“Planning and executing Rocktoberfest was honestly much easier than it’s been in past years,” declared Graham, “Usually Rocktoberfest is a competition based event where students and a group of judges vote on the band they’d like to receive a cash prize. However, this year SAC decided to have four bands perform-- two student, two non-student-- along with fun activities from different clubs, and fall themed food.

I think the event went very well in spite of the cold weather!”

Along the green were Keene State clubs, who set up tables students could enjoy as well as learn more about the organizations. Among the clubs present at Rocktoberfest were Mentors in Violence Protection (MVP), Campus Ecology, Keene State Sign Language Club, Student Government and Habitat for Humanity. MVP’s table featured a spinning wheel that asked students what they would do in specific peer violence scenarios, and gave participants a prize if they answered correctly. The Sign Language Club played the game “Hearing Things” at their table, where students had to put on headphones and try to read lips to experience how difficult it can be for those who are hard of hearing. In fact, many students were brought to the event through their clubs. Among these students was first-year Sarah Ruest, who attended the event while helping run the table for MVP.

“I’m a member of MVP Club, and I also enjoy music,” said Ruest when asked what brought her to Rocktoberfest. “I think that MVP’s message is very important, and this was a way I could support and share it.”

Other students were brought to the event with the promise of music, either invited by friends or made aware by the advertising put on by the Social Activities Council. With the featured musicians being Keene State students, many even came to support friends or family who were playing in bands and hear their music. This included sophomore Kirsten Luba, who attended the event this year for the first time.

“I came to support one of my friends, who is a singer in the band Jailbait,” said Luba. “I really loved Rocktoberfest!

I’ve never been before and I’m really impressed with it. It was so awesome seeing my friend perform!”

With performances from both student and non- student bands, Rocktoberfest brought Keene State and music together.

“The goal of this event was to bring a different type of musical event to Keene State,” says coordinator Jenae Graham, “A lot of people think Keene State only focuses on rap artists, but we aim to please all students. Also, incorporating the bands from the town of Keene helps connect the school to the community. A lot of students fail to realize that Keene holds an awesome musical culture that should be embraced.”

Kathryn Spadafora can be contacted at kspadafora@kscequinox.com

LIAM FREY / EQUINOX STAFF

Vocalist Griffin Romprey (right) and Bassist Casey Daron (left) performing in the band Afterimage during Rocktoberfest this past Sunday, October 6, on Oya Hill while it was raining on and off.

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STUDENT LIFE

Student Life, B1

Thursday, October 10, 2019

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Grading system change Keene State aims to change grading scale for fall 2021 PUJA THAPA

AdministrAtive executive editor The new 11-step grading system will be effective from the fall of 2021, according to Interim Provost and VP of Academic Affairs Ockle Johnson. He expressed his regret for the new 11-step grading system being pushed to be implemented from the fall of 2021 instead of fall 2019.

Keene State College’s current grading system looks like A, AB, B, BC 4.0, 3.5, 3.0… and it is moving forward to adopt a new grading system that would look like A, A-, B+, B, B- 4.0, 3.67, 3.33, 3, etc… . According to KSC Academic Scheduler Brendan Denehy, KSC is going from a grading system that had eight-steps from an A to an F to a system that involves minuses and pluses that includes more finesse. “Both of them are based on a 4.0 scale,” Denehy said.

Johnson said, “Having that finer grade system would provide a more accurate assessment of where each person stood, and each person would get appropriate credit for what they have done.”

The existing grading system didn’t necessarily satisfy many students. Senior and biology major Ashley Ruston shared her frustration regarding the current grading system during her first year. “I remember being frustrated, because if I worked hard to get an A-, then it should be seen as an A-, and not a B+,” Ruston stated.

Denehy explained the difference between the two systems, “The basic change is where in the past we went from A ( 4.0) to AB ( 3.5) to B ( 3.0), now there are two steps in between, so we go from A (4.0) to A- (3.67) to B+ ( 3.33), and to a B ( 3.0).” So, the AB in the current system will be replaced by two steps: A- and B+.

Ruston said, “Now that I’ve been through almost four years here, I think that it has worked more in my favor whereas I have gotten right at the cusp and it is counted as an AB,[….] a 3.33 will be a B+ where it will be an AB for the current system... I am a little concerned to see what they are going to do to students in the middle of the career [because] this won’t affect me.”

Denehy explained, “Basically, your transcript is based on the GPA, so the GPA doesn’t change. It’s just the letters that are attached to it. “ At the back of the transcript, there is a section that explains the letters A, AB, B, BC… and the numbers attached to it.” After the system changes, a new section will be added with the letters A, A-, B+… and the numbers attached to it.

Associate Professor and Head of Special Collections and Archives Rodney Obien said, “The proposed system is more granular, this new one represents a student’s performance, it will allow the faculty member to better represent what the current status of the student is... Because the system of A and AB just doesn’t say as much as the system of A, A- and B+, it seems a little

A B C D F 100 90 80 70 60

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

more specific.”

Johnson said, “There is a perception that all students grades will be higher because of this (the new grading system), in fact they won’t, some people will. As an AB shakes itself out, some people end up with a higher grade of A-, others will end up with a lower grade of B-, but those with the upper range of the case, who were more concerned about their work not being accurately reflected in the grade, will benefit.”

Johnson said that there will be some impacts after the grading system changes. He said, “I think it will vary from student to student. I think some students will experience little to no change, it will wash out, some students will have some slight changes in their GPA, it’s hard to predict exactly what the change would be.

I think there will be changes, but I think they will be small, significant perhaps but small.”

Denehy said that the reason for the delay is really

the mechanics of making the change and not resistance to it. He added, “Students should know that it’s something that we are working, a lot of thought has gone into.

We didn’t want to rush it and get it wrong. So, accuracy is really important.”

Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com

STAFF COMMENTARY

Students battle with the law Landlords pressure some students into making legal decisions CONNOR CRAWFORD

student Life editor It is getting to a time of the year that I like to call “lease signing season.” The reason I like to refer to the early parts of October this way is because this is when a majority of juniors and seniors sign their leases for the following year.

Signing a lease can be a fun and exciting time for students as this can be their first real taste of what it is like living off-campus or living on their own entirely. However, sometimes signing a lease can be overwhelming and sometimes forced.

The problem with lease signing for houses around Keene State is that landlords pressure students into signing leases much too early before the actual lease starts. Most leases start around the end of May or early June, meaning that students are signing leases for houses they won’t even live in for another eight months if they sign in October!

There are many problems that come with signing a lease that early in advance. First of all, most students don’t understand, or have a minor understanding, of what a lease truly is. Signing a lease means that students are signing a legally binding document and whatever is

stated in that document needs to be followed, or else that is called a breach of lease, which is against the law.

This brings up a problem: if a student decides that they found a better property, they want to stay on campus or do not want to live at the property they signed the lease for, that is a breach of the lease. That means that everything in that lease, including paying rent, utilities and everything else that costs money, the student is responsible for.

If a student would want to get out of that lease, they would have to find someone to take their place on the property that they were going to live. If they do not fill the spot with someone new, they would still be responsible for paying their portion of the rent without even living there.

A student could potentially have to pay for two places to live at once, and that is a lot of money!

Some students may say, “Ah, if I am not living there I won’t have to pay, they would never know.”

This is false. When signing a lease application, you have to give out your social security number to your landlord. If you refuse to pay, it can turn into a legal battle.

If you breach your lease because

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of any financial reasons, like the one stated above, the landlord has every right to send you to collections to grab your money from you. You would not only have to pay what you owe but the interest that has accrued since your refusal to pay.

Signing a lease can seem stressful, but it shouldn’t be. It should be a fun and exciting time for any student as this is a great way for students to learn how to live on their own. Landlords need to stop pressuring students to sign leases over nine months in advance.

The problem is that landlords think that they have all the power over you, but they don’t. You, as a current or future tenant, have every right to express any concerns that you have with the lease that you are going to sign, or are currently in. Do not feel pressured; there are so many housing options are Keene that if a landlord says, “This is the last house in the area,” go to a different landlord or look at different rental options.

If you are a student currently searching for a house or apartment and feel pressured by your landlord, do not give in. Talk to other students about what you can do to negotiate with your landlord to work out

the lease. If more students refuse to sign a lease early or pay as much as the landlords are offering for places, prices can go down and stress can be alleviated.

In the end, it is important to do what is financially and mentally best for you. If you feel like you are being pressured into signing a lease that you do not want to sign or are still on the fence, speak up and let your voice be heard. You should not be afraid of your landlord pressuring you.

If you are someone who currently has concerns, please reach out to The Coordinator of Student and Community Relations Robin Picard, as she can offer professional assistance, read your lease, talk to your landlord and go over many different off-campus housing options and answer any questions you may have regarding living off-campus. Robin Picard can be contacted at Robin.

Picard@keene.edu.

Connor Crawford can be contacted wat ccrawford@kscequionx.com

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

BRIEF

Competing for a cause

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

The annual Phi Lamb Lady pageant took place on Saturday, October 5,in the Mable Brown Room. This event raises money for the fraternities philanthropies and crowns the current Phi Lamb Lady.

Phi Lambda Chi crowns new Phi Lambda Lady in pageant CRISTIAN VALENTIN

OpiniOns EditOr The Fraternity Phi Lambda Chi has its new “Phi Lamb Lady,” and her name is Angelique Inchierca (In-key-err-Ka) , sophomore multimedia journalism major. Angelique Inchierca is currently Social Media Director of the Equinox.

The Phi Lamb Lady Pageant is a competition between close friends of the fraternity to be an honorary member. This competition includes an intro where every contestant is introduced, a brother impersonation, a talent portion and questions at the end. The event also raised $195 for the Special Olympics.

Inchierca said she was very happy to win.

“Even though I’m really excited, I didn’t think I would win just because I love my sisters who were also running. I think they’re all so talented and have been around longer than I have, but I ended up getting it,” said Inchierca.

According to Inchierca, she wanted to be Phi Lamb Lady because the brothers mean so much to her.

“I made connections with the brothers and they were the first organization to make me really feel I was a part of Greek Life,” said Inchiercha. She added, “Their philanthropy also means a lot to me. I have a lot of friends who are deaf or that have some special needs.”

This bond between organizations goes both ways. “I think a lot of people join organizations because they like those people in it, but part of being in these orgs is also spending time with the community around that organization. Everybody gets along and you get to make bonds and meet new people,” said Phi Lamb member Alexander Castro.

According to Phi Lambda Chi President Travis Thuotte, a lot of effort went into this event. “Phi Lambda Chi fraternity had made a great attribution to getting people out on campus, making sure that our alumni had contact and having huge alumni support along with campus support,” said Thuotte. He also said

BRIEF

Students are unaware of mayoral elections LOCAL EquinOx staff

“”Nobody”” is running for mayor and the students of Keene State know nothing about it. Currently, there is an intriguing candidate in the running for mayor of Keene; a man named Rich Paul has decided to legally change his name to “Nobody” in order to receive votes from voters who oppose the other two candidates. The world around Keene can be both fascinating and comical if you take a chance to look at it.

The consensus among students seems to be that they are completely unaware of the local elections and the upcoming primary. Most of the students asked about the local election and candidates did not know anything about either.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really know anything,” said first-

Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com

POEM

Staying informed MEEGHAN SOMERSET

getting to work with so many people and see familiar faces was his favorite part of the event.

The pageant was held in the Mabel Brown Room Saturday, October, from 3 to 5 p.m. Other contestants included Alyssa Gesualdi, Adriana Daniel and Nadia Hasan.

year Monique Deschenes.

Students said they felt guilty for being blind to their surroundings.

It is still possible to become cognizant of the candidates, particularly those running for mayor.

While taking one of her first ventures downtown, firstyear Hannah Landry was able to recognize the presence of support signs along the sidewalks and adorning yards. “I saw a sign on for a guy running on the road,” she said. “I don’t remember his name though.”

While it can be difficult to find time in the busy schedule of college students to do an internet search or open a newspaper and browse the news section, students like first-year Hannah Prinz say that being politically aware and active is important. “I like following the political campaign.

I watch the debates and

talk about it with friends. I plan to vote and am already registered,”Prinz said.

This year, the primary elections are on October 8, and there are three major candidates for mayor: George Hansel, Mitchell Greenwald and Nobody. On the way to Owl Stadium, crossing the street to get to Blake House or venturing down to The Works, one will see signs supporting local candidates.

to me

By Lexi Palmer I’m running out of ways to say the night is beautiful and nobody believes me when I tell them the moon winks at me every night, or that I am happy and pink-nosed and eye contact is painless I am a liar through and through even words die, languages dry up and take all of that dirt with them I can still taste the flesh and salt on my tongue and I know my apathy will kill me someday when everything loses its meaning right now I am in a dream all is beautiful calm slow a bee rests tenderly on my forearm, gleaming I graze my lips on his wings my forehead is warm I clear my throat “Summer is for good girls”

Meeghan Somerset can be contacted at msomerset@kscequinox.com

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

winter is for lonely people it is my favorite season I’m desperate to feel you before you’re gone dawn is more reasonable than dusk when you leave the cold will kiss my cheek and my eyes will grow wide in the dark

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STUDENT LIFE / B3

Thursday, October 10, 2019

BRIEF

Cutting the cable

Keene State does not offer cable in the residence halls starting this semester TOM BENOIT

Equinox Staff For the 2019-2020 school year, Residential Life made the decision to get rid of the cable in students’ dorms.

Associate Dean of Student and Director of Residential Life Kent Drake-Deese said, “Cutting cable is becoming more common among college campuses.”

Although cable is not available in student dorms, televisions in common areas still have cable connection. According to Drake-Deese, students were using the cable service less and less, and the cable infrastructure needed many repairs. The cable infrastructure itself had many problems. “There was a lot of problems that had to do with the wiring of the system. The cable went out last spring, and we got no complaints about it being out. I guess there was nothing good on that night,” DrakeDeese said.

“It wasn’t worth spending over a million bucks for something nobody uses, it saved a lot of money. Changing the money that went toward cable was changed toward improving wifi bandwidth.

This money went to the creation of the KSC_Device WiFi,” said DrakeDeese. The decision to cut the cable saves the campus a lot of money. In lieu of the lack of cable, a new WiFi service was added, KSC_Device.

This service was added specifically for streaming and gaming. The creation of this was provided by the diverting of funds from the cable budget, and adding more to improving bandwidth.

“We do have cable, it's just in common spaces, not in students' rooms. Students were not using it as streaming became preferred among students. Also, the cable infrastructure needed repairs, so we had to ask, ‘should we be paying so much for something that is not being used?’

We wanted to keep it in the common areas because it created community,” says Drake-Deese.

This decision was not made independently of the Office of Residential Life. They asked RAs and their residents, student assemblies and other students. “We held a student assembly, the RAs, we asked general students that we knew, if I met with you last semester I would’ve asked you the same thing, the RA’s gave their own input as well as asking their own residents, DrakeDeese said.

Tom Benoit can be contacted at tbenoit@kscequinox.com

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Outdoor Club goes rock climbing

T h i s

W e e k

a t

K S BENAJIL RAI / MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR

On Saturday, September 28, The Outdoor Club climbed the Stone Arch Bridge in Keene, New Hampshire. The Outdoor club participates in many outdoor events throughout the semester such as surfing.

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STUDENT LIFE / B4

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Like to write?

Interested in life on campus?

Contact Connor Crawford

Student Life Editor ccrawford@kscequinox.com (603)-554-2781 KSCEQUINOX.COM

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

TIME

CAPSULE

KSCEQUINOX.COM

The 'Mother of Social Work' Helping European immigrants adjust to American life in Chicago THERESA DERRY

Time Capsule ediTor On September 6, 1860, in Cedarville, Illinois a prominent figure within American social welfare history was born. Jane Addams, also known as the “Mother of Social Work,” was an advocate for social welfare through her efforts in bringing the settlement movement from Europe to the United States. Upon visiting London’s first settlement home, known as Toynbee Hall in 1888, Adams was inspired to bring an institution like this to the United States after returning to her home state of Illinois. On September 18, 1889, using her family’s accumulation of wealth, as well as funding from charitable donations, Addams founded the first settlement house in America.

Known as Hull House, this settlement house served European immigrants who had recently emigrated to Chicago in a variety of capacities. The majority of these immigrants had made the long and enduring journey from a number of European countries including Germany, Italy, Sweden, England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Greece and France. Located in Chicago’s Near West Side, Hull House’s primary purpose was to provide English and citizenship education for these new immigrants upon arriving to this country.

Addams worked tirelessly since the beginning of Hull House to ensure that these immigrant populations were properly educated.

She did this by having prosperous and well-educated members of the community reside at Hull House to teach these newcomers. In addition to serving as educators, these residents paid rent in order to help fund the additional services that Hull House offered to support these various ethnic groups adjust to urban

life. Addams’s efforts to provide an education for this new and vulnerable population were rooted in collaboration.

Addams aspired to bring the various social classes within this neighborhood together to foster community. Due to Addams’s continued efforts for class equality, Hull House eventually expanded from the singular newly renovated mansion to an institution that consisted of 13 buildings. This expansion allowed for Hull House to be able to offer an even broader array of services. In addition to offering English language classes, Hull House expanded their educational curriculum through providing theater, art and music classes. A labor museum as well as an art gallery were also housed within this complex, and Hull House also became the home base for extracurricular activities for children.

Hull House also served as an outlet where immigrants could access, learn and converse about American societal and economic practices. Hull House served as the Near West Side’s division where immigrants could access information regarding employment opportunities. This was vital as the immigrant arrivals in the 19th century needed an income to support themselves. To help cope with their fears and uncertainties in regards to living in a new country, many of the new arrivals congregated at Hull House to engage in political and social conversations.

One important aspect of new immigrant life that Hull House made sure to acknowledge was cultural acceptance. Hull House served as a cultural center that provided cultural and equity education for this particular district of Chicago.

The goal of this cultural center was to bring the various cultures within this neighborhood together to nur-

ture acceptance.

In addition to cultivating a culturally accepting community, Addams always made sure to meet her clients where they were at when providing services to them. Eventually, Hull House grew from offering services exclusively to immigrant populations; other adults utilized the educational system provided

by Hull House for night school.

Addams also advocated for equitable state and federal social policies that would benefit her workingclass clients by closely studying the members within her community.

Due to her perpetual efforts in advocating for social justice, in 1931 Addams was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

She worked at Hull House until her death on May 21, 1935. Her social welfare work will never be forgotten, as Hull House still exists today as a social service agency with locations within various parts of Chicago. The University of Illinois at Chicago has been able to preserve a portion of the buildings to create a museum in memoriam of Addams’s legacy. As the University of Chicago grew, many of the original Hull House buildings were unfortunately demolished. However, the original Hull mansion that Addams renovated still stands and houses a majority of the original furniture that was used by Addams.

Theresa Derry can be contacted at tderry@kscequinox.com

THE RENOVATED HULL HOUSE MANSION IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

This renovated mansion is currently used by the Uinversity of Illinois at Chicago as part of the Jane

American social reformer and lawyer

Philadelphia native who advocated for social justice in America THERESA DERRY

Time Capsule ediTor Born in Philadelphia on September 12, 1859, Florence Kelley would later become one of America’s most prominent social reformers. An ambitious young woman, at the age of 16 Kelley enrolled at Cornell University in New York. Upon completing her Bachelor’s degree, Kelley moved to Europe to continue her education at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. While studying in Switzerland, Kelley was influenced by European socialism and joined the German Social Democratic Party. After joining this political party, Kelley translated the party’s written work. In 1887, Kelley published a translation of German philosopher Friedrich Engels's The Condition of the Working Class, which was originally published in England in 1844.

Inspired by her father William Darrah Kelley, a United States’s congressman, Kelley dedicated her life to advocating for social inequalities at a young age. Kelley’s father was also an abolitionist, and at a young age Kelley witnessed children working under dangerous conditions in America’s steel and glass factories. Due to these experiences, Kelley was inspired to advocate for equal working rights.

After returning to America in 1889, Kelley moved to the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and became a general secretary of the National Consumers League (NCL). The goal of the NCL was to encourage American consumers to only buy products from the companies that met the NCL’s ethical guidelines for minimum wage and working conditions. The NCL is famous for their development of the White Label, a displayable incentive given to companies if they kept the safety regulations of the NCL. A com-

pany would receive a White Label to apply to their products only if this particular product held to the current safety standards. The NCL encouraged American consumers to boycott the products that did not have a White Label on them. To continue supporting laboring conditions, Kelley led various campaigns across the United States. These campaigns led to a shift in improving conditions in which goods were made by regulating working hours and establishing minimum wages for manual workers.

Kelley is well-known for her advocacy toward child labor reform. In addition to witnessing the unbearable working conditions that child laborers endured, Kelley’s father made sure to educate her about child workers. In 1891, Kelley joined the reform movement that was currently taking place in Chicago. While working at Hull House in Chicago with social welfare advocate Jane Addams, Kelley was hired to investigate the labor industry within that particular city.

Kelley soon discovered that children as young as three or four were working in factories. After Kelley brought this concern to the Illinois State Legislature, the first factory law was put into place. This law did not allow children under 14 to work in factories.

Upon the implementation of this law, Kelley’s assessments also needed to include any violations to this law.

Her phenomenal work in conducting assessments of the dreadful working environments led Kelley to be chosen as the first female Chief Factory Inspector for the state of Illinois.

In this role, Kelley tried to persuade sweatshops to follow the working regulations in order to treat their workers with utmost dignity. There were several businesses which Kelley sued due to disrespecting their employees.

Kelley was determined to win these cases in court, but she unfortunately never did. However, Kelley did not let these losses discourage her. These particular disadvantages inspired Kelley to receive a law degree. In 1894, Kelley graduated from Northwestern University in Levaston, Illinois with a degree in law.

One of the contributions that Kelley is most famous for is her participation in the Supreme Court case Muller v. Oregon in 1907. The goal of this case was to rescind the newly enforced governmental limits restricting the hours that females could labor.

To challenge this case peacefully, Kelley helped Josephine Goldmark, the director of research at NCL, with the process of writing and documenting the Brandeis Brief. This brief took sociological and medical evidence to prove the unhealthy effects of working long hours in industrial labor. The statistics that were incorporated into the report, discovered in sociological and medical journals, proved that these female laundry workers would experience great health disparities if they worked between 12 and 14 hours a day. The filing of this brief set the stage for the Supreme Court’s acceptance of using sociological evidence to overrule unjust policies within the Brown vs. Board of Education case in the 1950s.

Kelley passed away in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood on February 17, 1932. People can go and visit her gravesite, which is located at Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery, if they wish to remember this social reformer’s work.

Theresa Derry can be contacted at tderry@kscequinox.com

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Sports / B6

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Living with the team

Inside Intramurals MATT HOLDERMAN

Equinox staff

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Athletes often live with other members of their team ALAN FORTIN

Equinox staff Keene State’s athletes are no strangers to living together in houses dedicated to their sport. Keene State offers many houses for their sports, allowing athletes to live with teammates in an area dedicated just for them.

Sidi Diallo is a member of the Keene State men’s basketball team who is experiencing his first year living with teammates. While the program is not mandatory, it is something that a lot of players have been doing by choice. “We see each other every day. To me it’s a different type of bond, and it extends to the court,” Diallo said. The prospect of building chemistry on and off the court is something that entices many of the players that tend to choose the housing option.

Junior Joseph Fletcher, a member of the men’s rugby team, also elected to live with teammates for the first time. “When I was a freshman here, the first meetings and the first memories that I have of being on the team

were going to meetings at these houses where all these rugby kids lived at,” Fletcher said. “I always thought that when I’m ready to live off campus, I want to be able to have a house and live with the rugby team. It’s very cool, it’s a great experience; I’m loving it.”

Athletic Director Philip Racicot, who is in his first year of directing the program, shares the belief that there are a lot of positives to come out of the athletic housing situation. “They share the same schedule.

Often times if you’re on a team that maybe practices early in the morning, or maybe sometimes can’t practice till nine or 10 at night, it allows them to be on the same schedule with the roommate situation. No one has to worry about having different schedules, so it creates a little harmony,” Racicot said. “It is good and bad.

Being on a team is like anything else, any other kind of relationship. Sometimes you don’t always get along, but you have to learn how to work together. Living together helps you to sometimes solve the problems that you may have on the court because you have to work together off the court.”

Racicot also shared some concerns about the idea of athletes living together, discussing concerns that it doesn’t allow for a lot of the experiences that may have been gained living with other people. “It’s a little bit more about trying to diversify your background and your experiences. A lot of times there is the effort that if you’re a student in a certain program or a certain major that you can live together with them. You are closing yourself off to newer and other learning experiences you might have,” Racicot said. “Also, if the housing situations aren’t working out great, it may have a negative impact on the team as well.” While it isn’t a requirement for teams, a lot of students who chose to live among the houses chose to do so because they enjoy the company of their teammates. By doing so however they play into Racicot’s concern, in that they may not be getting the full college experience.

Alan Fortin can be contacted at afortin@kscequinox.com

BRIEF

Canned goods for a cause JACK DEY

Equinox staff The Keene State men’s and women’s soccer team partnered with the Hungry Owl to host a food drive this past Wednesday at Dr. Ron Bucher Field. Instead of cash, canned goods and non-perishable food items were accepted as means of entrance.

The food drive kicked off at 5 p.m. when Keene State’s women’s soccer team went up against the Salve Regina Seahawks. The Owls were on top in the first half, leading 1-0 on 12 shots compared to Salve Regina’s two shots. It wasn’t until the 58th minute in the second half that the Seahawks scored, putting the game back at an even 1-1. Salve Regina followed up their goal with another, coming in the 67th minute, giving Salve Regina a 2-1 lead; they went on to win, handing the Owls their seventh loss of the season.

The Keene State men’s soccer game kicked off at 7 p.m. against the Castleton Spartans. The Owls came out ready to play, as sophomore Henry Cummings scored his first career goal early on and gave the Owls some momentum to carry through the game. The Owls then took a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute when Emmanuel Smith tapped in his ninth career goal. Keene State kept it rolling with a shot by Josue Assantha, giving the Owls a comfortable 3-0 lead in the first half. The Spartans scored off a penalty shot in the second half, bringing the lead back down to 3-1; but to no avail, as the Owls pulled away with the win, and an 8-3 record.

The Hungry Owl is Keene State’s on-campus charity that provides students with free food for those who are financially impaired. It offers vegan and vegetarian food options, non-perishables and canned goods.

The Hungry Owl is located behind Randall Hall and is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. Volunteering at the Hungry Owl is a great way of getting involved on campus, as they look for volunteers to help for community service hours. If you’re ever looking to donate any non-perishable items you might have, donation bins are in the Joslin House, Elliot Center, the Spaulding Gym and the Child Development Center.

Jack Dey can be contacted at wdey@kscequinox.com

In intramural sports, not having enough players available to compete in games is a common issue for teams. For each intramural sport, there is a minimum number of players that each team is required to meet in order to play in games. If players have classes or other obligations, or simply don’t show up to their team’s games, their team can be put in a position where they are forced to forfeit and take a hit to their overall record.

As a result, a new rule has been implemented in Keene State intramurals this year in order to help teams avoid having to forfeit: the “Nomad Rule.”

As written on IMLeagues.com, the purpose of the Nomad Rule is “to establish a guideline for teams short of the minimum number of participants at game time of a scheduled intramural contest to temporarily field a full, competitive roster without compromising the integrity of the league.” The rule states: “Any team may pick up currently rostered player(s) from another team in the same league (i.e., “nomad”) to play for their team to avoid forfeit and play competitively.”

To put that in layman’s terms, if a team is short one or two players for a game they can call on players from other teams in the league to come play for them in that game. That way, forfeits will become much less of a normality in intramural sports in the coming years.

David Sweeney, the Coordinator of Intramural Sports and Club Sports at Keene State College, helped make the new rule possible. “The rule helps to create a competitive balance between teams,” said Sweeney.

“Say we’re playing basketball and we normally have eight players, but we only have four. I can ask someone on another team to come to the gym and play that night, and now we have five.”

And the rule helps even more in sports with smaller teams. “It’s even more useful when you only have two players and you need three to avoid forfeit,” Sweeney said.

While it is primarily players from other teams who will act as nomads, other people are eligible as well. On IMLeagues.com, a nomad is defined as “any current KSC Student/Faculty/Staff member with an active and eligible IMLeagues profile; rostered and playing an intramural sport.”

“As long as they have a membership to the gym, they qualify,” Sweeney said. “All full time students fall under that category, because they’re automatically eligible under tuition.”

According to Sweeney, the Nomad Rule has already come in handy for various intramural teams so far this year. The rule has been used multiple times, and nomads have even helped some teams pull off victories. “Last night was the first night of floor hockey. One team only had four players, so grabbed a kid from another team to get that perfect five,” said Sweeney “That team actually ended up winning that game.”

To all rules, however, there are both exceptions and amendments. For starters, all nomads must have an IMLeagues.com account so that they can be added to rosters. Along with that, there are a couple more caveats.

“Nomads are not allowed to be used in the playoffs,” said Sweeney. “Players must fit eligibility standards, whether it has to do with varsity or club sports. Like, you can’t have two varsity players be your nomads, because that breaks the competitive balance.”

Furthermore, there are certain positions of significance that nomads are not allowed to fill. “In flag football, nomads can’t play quarterback,” Sweeney said. “They also can’t be the goalie in hockey and soccer, indoor and outdoor.”

Sportsmanship, which is highly valued in intramurals, is taken even more seriously for nomads.

Nomads are watched closer than normal players, and will be penalized heavier than normal players for lacking sportsmanship. “Nomads are put under a larger microscope,” said Sweeney. “If they act out, they not only penalize the team that they’re temporarily playing on but there can be repercussions for their own, original team too.”

Lastly, if a nomad is in use during any game and one of the teams’ regular players shows up late, the regular player must be substituted in for the nomad as soon as possible.

But caveats aside, the Nomad Rule has helped reduce forfeits for plenty of intramural teams this season, and the rule itself is likely here to stay.

Matt Holderman can be contacted at mholderman@kscequinox.com

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

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Sports / B7

Thursday, October 10, 2019

BRIEF

Brawl on Butcher field

SAM REINKE / EQUINOX STAFF

A brawl broke out at Ron Butcher Memorial Field between the Keene State Owls and the Castleton Cougars, the Owls won the game three to one, three yellow cards were given out to players involved in the scrum.

Fight breaks out between KSC and Castleton CLAIRE BOUGHTON

Senior SportS reporter On the night of October 2, Owls fans gathered at Dr. Ron Butcher Field for a soccer double header with the women’s team facing Salve Regina at 5 and the men’s team facing Castleton at 7.

With the women’s team falling to Salve Regina with a final score of 2 to 1, it was up to the men’s team to bring home a win for the Owls that night.

In the fifth minute of the game, Keene States sophomore defensemen, Henry Cummings (5’), scored his first career goal assisted by teammate Emmanuel Smith.

Further into the first half, Emmanuel Smith (22’) scored his own goal with an assist from teammate LJ Luster.

The half ended with yet another Keene State goal made by freshman midfielder, Josue Assantha (33’).

Going into the half the Owls led three to nothing against the Castleton Spartans.

However, the second half would prove to be a challenging one, both play wise and temper wise.

Spartan Jack Kingdon (‘50) scored early in the second half off of a penalty shot, bringing the score to 3 Owls, 1 Spartans. Adrenaline was running high for both teams and it wasn’t long before the Little East Conference rivalry surfaced.

With only fifteen minutes remaining in the game, a scrum broke out between the Owls and Spartans resulting in three yellow cards.

The altercation started when Owls goalkeeper, Anthony Pasciuto, made a mid-air save on a shot from a Castleton player. There was a collision between Pasciuto and two Castleton players after the save was made, knocking the ball out of Pasciuto’s hands.

While the two Castleton players helped Pasciuto to his feet, Jack Herlihy, a junior defender, and a Castleton player raced to the ball, leading to yet another collision.

Before play ended there were shoves exchanged between both Herlihy and the Spartan.

The whistle blew and two other Spartan players approached Herlihy while Connor Downey, junior midfielder, ran up to defend his teammate.

Herlihy stepped back away from the Spartans with the ball in one hand and the other hand up in the air.

A shoving match formed between Downey and the other Spartans and soon more players from both teams got involved, leading to the whistle being blown twenty times before the teams were separated.

After the referees deliberated for several minutes, three yellow cards were given. One card went to Diatourou Drame, a Castleton player, while two cards were given to Keene players. Yusufu Juma recieved a yellow and Jack Herlihy received his fifth yellow card of the season, meaning he has to sit out of Keene’s next game.

The final score for the game was 3 to 1, Owls winning.

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

BRIEF

Changing the current protocol AUSTIN SMITH

SportS editor Concussions are changing the face of contact sports as we know it.

A concussion is a brain injury usually caused by a violent blow to the head. They s have become a large concern for all sports, with emphasis on contact sports such as hockey, lacrosse, football and soccer.

Concussions have been under the microscope since former athletes began to suffer from a brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more commonly known as CTE. While most talk about concussions is centered around professional athletes, high school and collegiate athletes also deal with these injuries. The question is, what is the protocol for when it happens at Keene State?

Athletic Director Phil Racicot said there is currently work being done at the state level to work on protocols that are consistent with the rest of the schools in the University of New Hampshire system.

“We have instituted impact testing, which is one of the types of baseline tests, so all of our student athletes in every sport do impact testing,” said Racicot. KSC’s train-

ing staff declined to comment.

Football is one of the largest contributors to the number of concussions, but since KSC does not have a football team this is one sport that does not contribute to injuries of student athletes.

However, student athletes are at risk to get concussions in any sport, even noncontact sports such as baseball or volleyball.

Racicot said KSC uses impact testing as a baseline for every student athlete.

“When there is a diagnosis of concussion we follow the steps of the protocol, which basically are to revisit the baseline and then to test every day to make sure that students don’t return to the field of play or competition until they are symptom free,” explained Racicot. KSC’s concussion protocol is currently being reworked by the University System of New Hampshire and when finished will be uniform with all of UNH schools.

Austin Smith can be contacted at asmith@kscequinox.com

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

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Sports / B8

Thursday, October 10, 2019

SPORTS

KSCEQUINOX.COM

‘Digging’ the new position

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

Olivia Mathieu (pictured above) currently leads the Owls in digs this season, Mathieu played her first three seasons for the Owls as an offensive player, this season she has switched to the defensive side

Olivia Mathieu ranks first for digs in the Little East Conference MATT HOLDERMAN

Equinox staff When people think of liberos in volleyball, one of the first details that might come to mind is a typical libero’s height. In volleyball, liberos are normally shorter than the rest of their teammates because it is their job to get “digs,” which often requires diving to the floor to hit the ball before it lands. Therefore, it makes sense to have shorter players be the liberos, as they are naturally the closest to the floor.

This is the case for liberos on most volleyball teams. But Olivia Mathieu, the libero for the 2019 Keene State Women’s Volleyball team, does not match that stereotype.

Standing at six feet tall, Mathieu is, quite literally, head and shoulders above the rest. She ranks first among players in the Little East Conference this year for digs and digs per set, and ranks 41st overall in the country for digs per set in NCAA Division III volleyball competition. For the top 150 players with the most digs in the country, Mathieu is the tallest; and the next tallest player is still two inches shorter than her.

“I think I like having the height,” Mathieu said. “It kind of provides that shock factor. It’s funny in warmups when players on the other teams see me put on that libero jersey. People don’t see it coming.”

The plan to make the sixfoot star Keene State’s new libero originated all the way back at the end of last season, when then-libero Riley Bunker played in her final

games as an Owl. Bunker, who was only 4’11”, finished her career at Keene State as the Owls’ all-time leader in digs, with over 2,000 digs in her four years on the team. In anticipation of Bunker graduating, Bob Weiner, the volleyball team’s head coach, needed to find somebody to fill Bunker’s position.

“We thought about it at the end of the season,” Coach Weiner said. “We wanted to see if we could bring a libero in, but none committed here. By the time spring ball came around, we thought of Olivia and decided to give it a try.”

And that was the best decision Coach Weiner could have made.

“We knew immediately in the spring that it was going to work,” said Weiner. “There’s two things involved. One, she’s the best serve receiver we have. She’s even a better receiver than Riley [Bunker] was, and she was our greatest libero ever.”

“The idea was kind of mutual,” Mathieu said. “We always joked about it, making me libero, but then we actually started talking about it and when we tried it out we realized it was a realistic possibility.”

Mathieu is now in her senior year at Keene State College, and she has spent all four of her years as an Owl playing for the women’s volleyball team. However, in her first three seasons with the team, she played in a more offensive position. Therefore, when she was officially named the team’s libero for her final season, she knew she was going to have to change the way she played.

“It was a challenge at first,” Mathieu said. “It was a big adjust-

ment; I’d been playing the same position for years.”

When Mathieu’s teammates heard the news of her being moved to libero, they too knew that it was going to be a major change for both Mathieu and for the team itself.

“When coach [Weiner] told me the idea, I kind of looked at him kind of funny,” said Emilyann Ashford, a sophomore middle blocker on the team. “But he showed me the stats, and it seemed like it would fit.

So I figured he knew best.”

Now, with 350 digs through 18 matches so far this season, Mathieu has more than gotten used to the change. She has nearly 70 digs more than any other player in the conference, with Plymouth State’s Alisha Flanagan being next best at 283. Additionally, Mathieu has been named the Little East Conference Defensive Player of the Week in volleyball three times this season.

“I didn’t know how this season would go,” Mathieu said.

“But I hope to keep it up, and of course would love to win the LEC championship.”

For your typical, short libero, one might say, “No height?

No problem!” But for Olivia Mathieu, it’s all the height, all the better.

Matt Holderman can be contacted at mholderman@kscequinox.com

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

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