The Equinox 12.12.19

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@KSCEQUINOX

THE EQUINOX The student voice of Keene State College

Vol. 73, Issue #14

Thursday, December 12, 2019

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Fraternity faces backlash after social event

BRIEF

Theft from campus dorms and cars GRACE BROWN

equiNox staff

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS FROM UNNAMED STUDENT

The storage tubs of unlabeled alcohol that were served at the social event and the decorative poster featuring labels referring to the Amersterdam red-light district.

After a social involving a controversial theme and alcohol, Alpha Sigma Phi deals with consequences RACHEL VITELLO

News editor ERIN MCNEMAR

MaNagiNg executive editor PUJA THAPA

adMiNistrative executive editor KELLY REGAN

seNior News reporter On Monday, November 18, The Equinox received an email from a student, whose name is withheld, regarding an alleged social event held by the on-campus fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi. The theme of the alleged event was the Amsterdam redlight district, an area of Amsterdam known for its brothels and explicit storefronts.

Former Coordinator of Student Activities and Organizations Britany Gallagher, who also oversaw Greek Life, said that this formal was a registered social event with the college.

“Socials for any fraternity or sorority are required to be registered with our office and it was registered,” Gallagher said.

“I’ve been working with some of the people in Interfraternity Council (IFC) as well as our department to have some of those conversations with the chapter. At this point it’s up to the Interfraternity Council to use their bylaws to hold a meeting and make a determination as to whether or not those bylaws were in fact violated and if so what possible ramifications they will decide upon at that point.”

According to the student head of fraternities Samuel Clough, fraternities will host formal events such as this one a couple of times per academic year.

“Formal events are more infrequent. They’re usually set up once or twice a year from an individual organization. Usually for a formal, alumni try to show up if they can. Formals are a little bit more rare, but you dress up and you’re kind of bougie for the night. You try to have fun in a classy, upscale type of way,” Clough said.

The unnamed student described what they saw the night of the formal.

“The basement was decorated and there was a banner on the wall. It was like a bed sheet that they had painted and it was a picture of a city, it looked like a skyline, but then you looked at it, and it said on the walls ‘Live Girls’ with an outline of a woman’s body,” the student said. “It said ‘XXX’ everywhere and it had ‘Sex’ and ‘420.’ I saw it and I was like, ‘that’s a little demeaning.’ It wasn’t what I expected from a fraternity who prides themselves on being gentlemen.”

According to the student, another issue with the fraternity’s social, aside from the theme, was the manner in which alcohol was served to attendees.

“At other formals, I’ve seen bartenders. You had options of what you wanted and they’d make it in front of you and hand you a cup with your name on it. At this party, it was just three tubs and they were just filled with alcohol and the only way you could tell what was in each drink was the wall of alco-

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

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

hol on top of it, so there wasn’t any indication of what was in it,” the student said. “I just thought it was irresponsible. I just don’t know why that was allowed to happen.”

Wellness Center counselor and Addiction Specialist Melissa Langill said that this is an example of unsafe drinking.

“There are major safety concerns there. You don’t know what’s in those bottles [tubs], you don’t who put those there, you don’t know how many people have been drinking directly from them. There are so many things you don’t know,” Langill said. “You want to know what your risk level is so you can stay healthy. It’s not necessarily about abstaining from everything, but it’s about staying safe. If you go to a party and there’s a tub of alcohol out, there are clearly some big risks there.”

The unnamed student echoed this concern. “I was disappointed more than anything and, seeing the drinks like that, easily something could have been slipped into them. You don’t know what you’re drinking. If I take a cup and if I scoop it out of there, I don’t know how much alcohol I’m getting and I don’t know how much juice I’m getting and that’s how people end up sick. I was disappointed. It made me sick to my stomach to see the alcohol like that. That’s the first thing that crossed my mind; that’s so dangerous and no one else thought of it.”

Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Taneem Husain provided some insight on this issue in terms of gender inclusivity and making people feel comfortable in these situations.

“If [the student] was disturbed by it, then I think it shows that [the fraternity has] some thinking to do about who their audiences are, whether or not the women who are coming to these parties feel comfortable and if they want women to come to their parties they can ask themselves: what are ways that they can feel safe and welcomed? Maybe this wasn’t the best idea to do that,” Husain said.

Husain also said that this situation could be taken as a learning experience for the fraternity and for others on campus.

“I would hope that the students take this and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize that someone would feel uncomfortable’ and ‘what can I do to make sure that everyone who’s part of this college community is comfortable?’ We are always growing as people and if a student felt uncomfortable and wants to attend these events, something like encouraging students to reflect on who they are as a people, who they are (in this case, as men), that’s not a bad thing, just to think about yourself and think about what kind of a person you want to be,” Husain said.

President of Alpha Sigma Phi Colin Bent said that is exactly what the fraternity looks to do moving forward.

“Our fraternity values teach us to be introspective and to not shrink from adversity, and thus we will use this experience as a learning opportunity,” Bent said. “We have developed a restorative action plan and look forward to working collaboratively with the professional staff at the college, our peers in the IFC, our local advisors and fraternity staff to ensure the success of future events associated with Alpha Sigma Phi.” KSC President Melinda Treadwell said that the manner in which this event was carried out is not reflective of the college’s values.

“If we have breaches of conduct policy, we’ll attend to those.

If we have breaches of our values, we’ll attend to those. The Owl Code is open in the sense that we will be respectful and

A4: Reflecting on party culture A8: Showing their moves B1: Celebrating winter B8: The winning time

kind to one another and much of what I read in that [unnamed student’s] email would question whether those values were upheld. This is something we’ll investigate and take action around if proven,” Treadwell said. “I’m thankful for someone rising up and saying something about it. That matters greatly to me. Not knowing about this would mean that we don’t do anything about it. I just wish that it hadn’t happened, if it did happen the way it’s characterized.”

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

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com.

Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com.

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

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS FROM UNNAMED STUDENT

Welcome sign at event.

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According to the most recent Jeanne Clery report, on-campus burglaries from student housing facilities increased slightly between 2017 and 2018.

Associate Director of Campus Safety Stuart Mitchell said the most recent burglaries have taken place in residence halls.

“There have been seven reported thefts this semester. Three were from the laundry rooms in different residence halls, one was in a common area, one outside the residence hall and two from the Winchester Lot,” said Mitchell.

First-year Nathanael Roth was one of the seven victims of theft.

“I left my car unlocked and a person went through several cars, but got caught by the police. My Yeti mug was stolen, but I didn’t

» SEE THEFT A3

Food insecurity among students, faculty, staff KELLY REGAN

seNior News reporter Nearly half of surveyed college students in America face food insecurity, according to the #RealCollege survey conducted by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.

The Hope Center defines food insecurity as “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food in a socially acceptable manner.”

A survey conducted by Public Health professors Amanda Hickey and Dena Shields found that 36 percent of surveyed Keene State students suffered academically from hunger.

“Anecdotally, we had heard from students that there were issues with hunger on campus and we became interested from that aspect and wondered if that affected them academically,” Hickey said.

“We surveyed about 10 percent of the population here at Keene,” Shields said. “We did that by having student researchers go into classrooms and have students answer some questions.”

The survey conducted by Hickey and Shields focused more on self-perceived hunger rather than on food insecurity.

“If a student perceives themselves as hungry, does it affect their academic performance? Also, we looked at a subset of athletes and how it affected their athletic performance,” Hickey said.

In an effort to help reduce food insecurity at Keene State, a hunger and homelessness task force was started. Students provide input on this task force as well as represen-

» SEE FOOD INSECURITY A2

Contact Us Newsroom: 358-2413 Executive Editor: 358-2414 Advertising/Business: 358-2401 Newsroom: Questions? Contact pthapa@kscequinox.com

Administrative Executive Editor: Puja Thapa | pthapa@kscequinox.com Managing Executive Editor: Erin McNemar | emcnemar@kscequinox.com

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News / A2

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Results of the most recent campus climate survey posted 54%

44%

of transgender students had an experience of feeling unwelcome, unfairly treated, disrespected or unsafe.

of LGBTQ agreed that they have experienced a welcoming or supportive experience in KSC or Greater Keene

73%

68%

of students reporting a disability agreed that KSC provides support to succeed academically.

64%

of cisgender women reported being treated respectfully in Greater Keene.

(Has not changed since 2014)

of students reporting a disability agreed that KSC provides support to succeed socially.

70%

85%

88%

of Keene State College students reported overall feeling safe. of cisgender men reported being treated respectfully in Greater Keene.

(Has increased 15% since 2014)

of Keene State College students reported overall feeling welcome.

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

FOOD INSECURITY cont. from A1

tatives from different offices.

Dean of Students Gail Zimmerman is also involved in the task force.

Through the survey, students indicated that the Zorn Dining Common hours didn’t work for their schedules.

That feedback contributed to Chartwells changing their hours.

“From the survey, students had indicated that the dining commons wasn’t open late enough so Chartwells did extend the hours a little bit,” Hickey said.

Chartwells manages the dining services at Keene State, which includes the Zorn Dining Commons, We Proudly Serve Starbucks, Hoot-n-Scoot, Night Owl Café Sizzlers and Lloyd’s Marketplace. Caitlin Howell is the marketing director for Chartwells.

“The Keene State Dining contract had expired with the previous provider and Chartwells presented to Keene State College why they should be the campus food provider and were offered the contract,”

Howell said. “It is extremely lot of people outside of colimportant to us to constantly lege think of college and unibe aware of how satisfied stu- versity students as privileged dents are with dining services. in some way. This idea that Students can provide feed- so many of them were going back via email, the ‘happy or hungry and the rise of food not’ kiosk, texting, surveys pantries shocked me.” and in person.”

At the time Whittemore Chartwells is also intro- was the advisor for the preducing a Swipe It Forward med club and brought up the program that would allow idea of a food pantry idea. students to donate meal plans “It didn’t work out well as a that would allow students project for them, but it worked without swipes to eat at the out well as a project,” Whitdining commons. temore said. “I found a few “Our dining commons was students who I knew I could one of the first Chartwells count on. It wasn’t me designdining commons to say they ing it. It was their plan, their wanted to start a Swipe It For- name, their everything. I see ward program,” Shields said. it as a way of students taking Another attempt to reduce leadership roles.” food insecurity on campus When the Hungry Owl was the creation of a food was first started it was housed pantry. Dr. Susan Whittemore in Randall Hall, but Whitteis a biology professor at Keene more and the student coordiState and started the Hungry nators found that a satellite Owl food pantry. model worked better.

“I was at a conference; an “We had a lot of food and it academic technology confer- wasn’t moving, but we found ence for the USNH system. with the satellite model, the One of the speakers brought food goes, Whittemore said. up some of the statistics of “I think it’s a start to get some food insecurity of college stu- calories out there.” dents,” Whittemore said. “A The hunger and home-

lessness task force is continuing to explore other ways to combat food insecurity at Keene State.

“It’s important to note that it’s not just here. It’s true not

only at public schools but at Ivy League schools and at private schools. Our numbers are not unique,” Shields said.

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

SIMON CLARKE / EQUINOX STAFF

Documentary on the first 100 years of KSC screened News editor “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: The First Hundred Years of Keene State College” is a documentary that explores the history and development of KSC up to its centennial in 2009. On Friday, December 6, the documentary was shown in the Redfern Main Theatre.

The film was co-produced by KSC Film Professor Lawrence Benaquist and KSC Film Lecturer Lance Levesque with the assistance of multiple students. KSC Professor of Modern Languages and Cultures Tom Durnford is the narrator of the film and also assisted in its creation. It was completed in late 2010.

“There were about 60 students involved, but there were probably about a dozen students that were a team of the lead students,” Levesque said.

The documentary begins at the turn of the 20th century when KSC was founded as Keene Normal School, a school meant to teach students the norms of education. From there, the film follows the history of KSC in chronological order, featuring milestones such as when the first dormitory was included on campus, the first male student was admitted, when KNS transitioned to Keene Teachers College in 1939 to when it eventually became Keene State College in 1963.

Deeper issues that arose on campus are also explored in the film. This included the struggle to maintain male students during World War II when they were being drafted, students marching all the way from Keene to the state capital of Concord to protest the lack of funding at KSC in 1964, the struggle of Vietnam war veterans to come to terms with their service and focus on education, the unionization of faculty and staff from the 1970s to the 1990s and the development and construction that brought campus from one building on Main Street to what it is today.

After the screening of the documentary, there was a panel that included Benaquist, Levesque, Durnford and KSC alum who helped in making the film Jeremy Kingwell, who all answered audience questions about the process of creating the documentary. One thing the group agreed was essential when making the film was to have no gender bias since the film features many female alum stories.

“Maybe guys ran it for a long time but it was their [the women’s] school,” Benaquist said. “We realized we were a bunch of guys making a move with

KSCEQUINOX.COM

largely women in it. So we had showed [the film] extensively to women for State College” is available for purchase on DVD on Amazon. their thoughts and that changed our direction a lot because we realized we had gender bias going on. We tried to show that women really had a shot Rachel Vitello can be contacted at here and a lot of them came from farms where this was a big transition for rvitello@kscequinox.com. them.”

The film also includes many old audio interviews with alum from as far back as 1917 and photos of old yearbook and student newspaper clippings.

The group said that since the college archives weren’t fully formed yet, the Historical Society of Cheshire County was able to provide much of the historical content they used. Kingwell shared an anecdote of one unconventional way they found old photos.

“Somebody had decided to clean out an entire department and I heard they were throwing a bunch of photographs away. We ended up finding some treasures that were actually going to the rubbish,” Kingwell said.

Kingwell also noted how meaningful this experience was to him as a student.

“The greatest part was using the type of gear I still use today professionally. It was phenomenal the level of professionalism I was able to be a part of while learning at college to do this very thing when I graduated. I was already in the throws of it right then and there. That was invaluable,” Kingwell said.

However, this process did not come without its struggles and tribulations.

“One of my favorite stories about making this documentary was we spent one day, about eight hours, filming a plaque on the wall. It was such a beautiful shot. It was only about three seconds long but it took eight hours to get and it’s not in the movie,” Kingwell said. “A lot of stuff like that just comes with filmmaking in general. There’s a lot of stuff we edited for and is just as interesting but sometimes doesn’t align with the overall story.”

The group all said the final product was well worth it in the end. Moving forward they all hope that the film is able to reach more people, including underclassmen students. Durnford also noted how forthcoming many of the interviewees were and how they were not turned down by anyone they requested to speak with.

“I think there are a lot of fond memories. Keene State creates lots of fond memories for people that graduate from here,” Levesque said.

“Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: The First Hundred Years of Keene

“

I think there’s a lot of fond memories. Keene State creates lots of fond memories for people that graduate from here. -Lance Levesque

“

RACHEL VITELLO

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News / A3

Thursday, December 12, 2019

THEFT

Interested in writing for news?

Contact:

cont. from A1

report because it wasn’t worth it,” Roth said.

According to campus safety, ways to avoid these types of incidents are include locking your dorm room and car doors, keeping important items in a lockbox and being careful about who you let into your room.

If a student is the victim of theft they can call Campus Safety at 603-358-2228 or go into Keddy Hall which is open 24/7 to report it as soon as they discover the theft.

“Letting your RD and RA know about any issues like this should always be done as well,” said Mitchell. “It is important that we know about these incidents so we can try to identify any trends or ongoing concerns to the KSC community as a whole.”

NEWS EDITOR RACHEL VITELLO (781)812-7461

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

CAROLINE WARE / EQUINOX STAFF

CALL program offers opportunities for older learners ERIN MCNEMAR

Managing ExEcutivE Editor Learning is not something that ends after graduation.

On Fridays, Keene community members 55 and older come together to take classes at the college through a program called the Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL). CALL was created over 25 years ago, according to program coordinator Heather Jasmin. It was founded as a way to offer courses to older citizens in the Monadnock region at a reasonable cost. The program helps seniors with a passion for learning stay involved in the community as they get older. “[The program] is important for the individuals themselves because it’s important for them to stay active, healthy and engaged. It can help prevent dementia and keep them healthy going into older age,” Jasmin said.

The program is made up of two eight-week terms in the fall and spring and one four-week term in the winter. Each eightweek term is made up of more than 300 members taking classes on Fridays.

“They go to the Dining Commons, they eat and meet in the Student Center; we try, whenever possible, to get intergenerational collaboration,” Jasmin said.

Some of the collaborations that have occurred are fitness testing, dance recitals, sociological interviews, political conversations, museum field trips, oral history projects and author visits. One of the new programs CALL has undertaken this year was the “Lunch and Learn” program. From 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Fridays, individuals were able to showcase a college initia-

tive or student

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

work.

“Our members love getting that opportunity to connect with students and hear what’s going on with students,” Jasmin said.

One of the unique features of CALL is the classes themselves are often taught by local senior citizens. Margaret Kasschau moved to Keene from the Philadelphia area a little over 10 years ago to be closer to her son. She was a professor of biology at the University of the Sciences before the move.

“My significant other did a much better job of getting integrated into the community. He started doing several things. He was meeting local people

Chorography showcase

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

On Thursday, December 5, and Friday, December 6, dancers performed in the annual Chorography Showcase. The two nights of performances featured pieces choreographed by students from the research in chorography class. These students then met with dancers outside of class to rehearse and prepare for the showcase.

KSCEQUINOX.COM

while I was still one foot in Philadelphia,” Kasschau said.

However, it was through her partner getting involved in the community that Kasschau discovered CALL. Kasschau said that both she and her partner had been educators before they retired. When a new friend told the couple about the CALL program, Kasschau said they decided to sign up.

“We literally came home and looked it up on the web and joined up.

It was one of those immediate things,” Kassachau said.

After taking some classes, Kasschau decided she wanted to return to her love of teaching biology. She approached Jasmin about the teaching opportunity. Kassachau now teaches and takes classes through the program during the fall and spring sessions.

As people get older, some consider their age as an obstacle for not being able to accomplish tasks. Fellow CALL member Linda Piekarski said it’s important to try and avoid that mindset at all costs.

“I don’t consider my age a limitation. It’s a circumstance and a damn nuance, but you can’t think of your age as a limitation.

If you like gardening, join the gardening club. Just do it and get out there,” Piekasrski said.

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com

Campus Safety Press Log 12/2 Medical non-emergency- Huntress 12/3 Fire alarm- no fire- Fiske 12/3 Parking violation- chronic violator/revoked 12/3 Psychological emergency 12/3 No contact order violation 12/4 Drug paraphernalia possessionCarle 12/5 Odor of drugs- LLC 12/5 Psychological emergency- Student Center 12/5 Drug paraphernalia possessionPondside 3 12/5 Odor of drugs- Carle 12/6 Medical non-emergency- Carle 12/6 Check the welfare 12/7 Suspicious person- Carle 12/7 Theft- bicycles- Pondside 3 12/7 Odor of drugs- Carle 12/7 Intoxicated/incapacitated subject 12/8 Odor of smoke, gas, other- Carle 12/8 Handbills, notices on vehiclesSpaulding Gym 12/8 Odor of smoke, gas, other- Owl’s Nest 4 12/8 Odor of smoke, gas, other- Holloway

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OPINIONS

Opinions / A4 Thursday, December 12, 2019

EDITORIAL

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STAFF COMMENTARY

Reflecting on party culture

CRISTIAN VALENTIN

? ??

OpiniOns EditOr

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Finding the courage to speak up in unsafe situations A fraternity social was held recently which included a controversial theme of Amsterdam red-light district and served tubs of unlabeled alcohol. An unnamed student who was in attendance at the private event said they felt uncomfortable and unsafe there.

Not having the tubs labeled with what they contained, including the alcohol and juices or soda, opened up the possibility of attendees getting sick or experiencing an allergic reaction to something that they were not aware they were drinking. This possibility could also be a liability for parties that serve unlabeled alcohol such as in this instance.

However, this also begs the question of self-advocacy.

People should be aware of how many alcoholic drinks they are having. It is also a good idea for groups of close friends to

THE EQUINOX

be looking out for one another while at parties to make sure everyone is staying safe and being smart because every individual has different experiences with drinking and different tolerance levels.

The nature of this event also brings up the issue of expectations for Greek life parties within party culture. With social media accounts like Barstool posting photos and videos of people doing potentially unsafe activities, usually involving drinking, it creates a stereotype for what to expect when attending a social event at college. This expectation could lead to organizations, groups of people or individuals hosting parties that include things with the expectation of it being fun and well-received, only for it to cause attendees to feel uncomfortable in that situation.

To contact the Equinox, e-mail pthapha@kscequinox.com or emcnemar@kscequinox.com

Puja Thapa Administrative Executive Editor Erin McNemar Managing Executive Editor News Editor Rachel Vitello

Student Life Editor

Opinions Editor

Connor Crawford

Cristian Valentin

A&E Editor

Multimedia Director

Joe Guzman

Benajil Rai

Sports Editor

Claire Boughton

Art Director

Olivia Cattabriga

Business Manager Jack Hanson

Webmaster Justin Giuliano

Social Media Director Angelique Inchierca

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Senior Reporters Kelly Regan

What it means to be a real leader

While we know it’s not possible to prevent these types of events from happening, we believe it’s important to educate students on the possible dangers that can occur. If you are throwing a party, make sure you know the signs of alcohol poisoning and what to do in emergency situations. These are topics that are also important to highlight during orientation.

At the end of the day, it’s important to know your limits and listen to your gut. If you are in a position that makes you feel uncomfortable, get out of that situation. Don’t do anything that makes you uneasy just because everyone else is doing it. Chances are if you don’t feel comfortable, someone else in the room feels the same way, too. By speaking up, you can be an advocate for yourself and others.

Being a leader is a very tricky thing; many people think that they are that kind of person but, in reality, very few people are.

In my opinion, being a leader is being somebody with a vision that they are truly willing to go the distance to fulfill. It is being able to get others to also believe in that vision and work with them to achieve that goal.

One of the biggest things I think a leader needs to be able to do is properly navigate a crisis and make everybody who follows them believe that everything is going to be alright.

While I believe very few people are leaders, I think anybody who puts in the effort and the hard work can be. A big first step to being a leader is being willing to do the things that others may not want to do. I am a firm believer that if you do the things that others don’t want to do consistently, you’ll eventually just get used to it and do it regularly.

This is a sign of a leader because when others think something is too hard, or just don’t think it is worth it, a leader steps up and thrives.

Another way to be a leader is to strive for excellence in everything you do and never be content with where you are. This constant want for more is huge in a leader because it allows them to know what their goals are, and when people see that somebody is set on a goal they tend to gravitate toward that person. In the words of legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made.

And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.”

A leader also doesn’t let themselves get discouraged when their hard work isn’t noticed by others because they know that if they continue on their path the recognition will come. They also know that hard work isn’t about being noticed by others, but is truly about making themselves a better person.

If somebody is reading this and doesn’t think that they fit the bill, they should know that college is the time to change that and it is never too late. The beginning of the journey toward being a leader can be as simple as just joining a club or organization. This can be a sports team, student government, band or anything that you can think of. Once you join an organization that you truly care about the leadership will

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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.

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Letters to the editor must be written exclusively to The Equinox and are due by noon on the Friday prior to publishing.

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

Equinox Staff: Slesha Tuladhar, William Pruett, Anna Sheppard, Alex Harvey, Matthew White, Simon Clarke, Caroline Ware, Kirsten Somero, Jack Dey, Victoria Miles, Andrew Chase, Tom Benoit, Kathryn Spadafora, Teaghan Hudzik, Kiana Wright, Connor Adams, Alan Fortin, Lydia Mardin Copyright © 2017: All rights reserved Reproduction of The Equinox in whole or part in any form written, broadcast or electronic without written permission of The Equinox is prohibited.

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Opinions / A5

Thursday, December 12, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

Patrick’s Politics Talks: Student debt

KSC senior discusses candidates’ student debt plans PATRICK HOLDEN

Equinox Staff

placed on the rich to help pay for all of this.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s plan is a little more straightforward than his peers. In his plan, students making under $25,000 a year would owe no payment for their undergraduate loans and would accumulate no interest for their loans. Students who make over $25,000 a year would pay only 5 percent of their income toward federal student loans. Once 20 years of loan payment has been completed, any remaining amount would be forgiven.

As a current senior at Keene State, I am increasingly becoming aware of the gravity of the loans I will have to pay once I finish my undergraduate degree in May. Because of this, I am strongly in support for the elimination of student loans.

I believe that forgiving student debt would be an investment in the rising generation of the country and by eliminating the financial barrier that so many of us have and will have, countless opportunities will open up to contribute to the growth of our economy through business and spending.. I believe that any of the plans laid out by Sanders, Warren or Biden would work as long as they can be properly paid for. If this can happen, I believe the elimination of student loans is a smart investment in this country’s future and will allow the current generation of new workers in our economy to succeed to our fullest potential.

Student debt is a huge issue for a large majority of college students. It is a financial burden that some former students do not fully pay off until over a decade after their graduation.

Because of this, the issue of student loans has recently become an important part of the platforms of democratic candidates. Most candidates agree that something should be done in regard to forgiving student debt; however, where they differ is how to go about that forgiveness, as well as how much debt should be forgiven.

Senator Bernie Sanders’ plan is the most generous of the major candidates – eliminating all student debt and making college free for all public colleges and universities. Sanders recently introduced the College for All Act of 2019, which would cancel all $1.6 trillion of student debt and provide $48 billion to colleges and universities in order to help keep tuition free for students.

Sanders says that his plan would not only save students an average of $3,000 a year but would also cut down the racial wealth gap among students. In regard to paying for all of this, Sanders describes a Wall Street speculation tax, which would supposedly bring in $2.4 trillion over the course of a decade. Sanders claims that “iff Wall Street can be bailed out for several trillion dollars, 45 million Americans can and will be bailed out of the $1.6 trillion burden of student loan debt and we can provide free college for all.”

Similarly, Senator Elizabeth Warren plans to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for households that make less than $100,000 a year.

The amount forgiven would decrease by $1 for every $3 for income about $100,000. So, a household that makes $130,000 a year would see $40,000 of DISCLAIMER: This article is the sole opinion of student debt eliminated.

Patrick Holden Warren claims that 95 percent of students would have at least some student debt eliminated, while 75 percent of students would have their debt Patrick Holden can be contacted at Patrick.Holden@ksc. completely eliminated. From here, Warren agrees with Sanders that public keene.edu colleges and universities should be tuition-free, and that a tax should be

-OLIVIA CATTABRIGA/ ART DIRECTOR

STAFF COMMENTARY

One-eighth of the way through the college experience

E R ’ U YO IN! -OLIVIA CATTABRIGA/ ART DIRECTOR

First-year Keene State student reflects on his first semester ANDREW CHASE

Equinox Staff On August 21, 2019, I finally moved into my residence hall at Keene State College, which meant that I had officially begun my first semester as a college student. On August 26, I went to my first class.

On December 6 at 6 p.m., I went to my final class of my first semester. When the class ended, it was a bittersweet feeling.

This was because, on one hand, I finished my last class of my first semester, but on the other hand, it meant that finals were next on the list of things to do.

My first semester of college was a

strange but a highly enjoyable experience. It was strange because I have more free time than I know what to do with compared to high school, but I am also glad I have all this free time. I am glad that I have all this free time because the projects in college are a lot more time consuming than in high school.

I was always extremely anxious when it came to taking finals in high school. I am once again reliving those feelings of nervousness and anxiety but this time I actually have the time to put forth my best effort on my final projects and I also have the time to study through what will be on my final test. This is unlike high school for many reasons such as the fact that I am not trapped

in the same building for six hours and 50 minutes for five days a week with a ton of people who I would really rather not be around due to the fact that the majority of them have no morals.

It also didn’t help that a fair number of the teachers in my high school were soulless people who would sell out a student who was walking back to their class without a pass to the bad principal for one cornchip (shoutout to anyone who gets the reference).

Also, during my freshman year of high school, one of my school’s deans of students was arrested for possessing fentanyl in her desk on school grounds. So I am very glad that none of my professors were arrested for

owning any narcotics.

If I am being honest with myself, this first semester has been an extremely fun ride but I don’t think I would have been able to do it without my fellow writers at the Equinox, my family and friends back home, my friends and professors I have here at Keene State College; but most of all, I couldn’t have done any of it without all the unending support from my best friend Kelsey Larson. Thank you for being by my side when I need it the most. Thank you for all the countless nights of giving me the motivation I needed to keep pushing forward. Thank you for being the biggest and greatest influence in my life. I do not think

I could have ever accomplished anything during this first semester of college without my partner in crime.

DISCLAIMER: This article is the sole opinion of Andrew Chase Andrew Chase can be contacted at achase@ kscequinox.com.

STAFF COMMENTARY

Questioning the classic Christmas tradition of Santa Claus KSC student talks about the role of Santa in children’s holiday enjoyment CRISTIAN VALENTIN

opinionS Editor Warning: This article is not for children Christmas is a fan favorite holiday for many reasons including gifts, family and giving back to others. The biggest part of it for children, however, is Santa Claus, an imaginary man who decides whether children have been naughty or nice and delivers presents based on his judgment.

While children love Santa, many people feel that it is wrong for parents to lie to their kids for a large portion of the beginning of their life. People often feel this way because they believe that it will cause the child to not know when the parents are telling the truth and lose their trust in adults in general. Some parents may also think, “Why give somebody else credit for the effort, time and money that I spend to make my child happy?”

Personally, I don’t have a problem with telling children about Santa and I actually believe that it enhances their experience of the holiday. I believe this because the idea of a magical entity who dedicates themselves to making this one day of the year as amazing as possible for children has always made the holiday seem so much more special to me. While that also exists with other holidays, such as Easter with the Easter Bunny, it just

doesn’t seem like as big of a deal.

I also believe that Santa isn’t just about gifts; Santa is truly about the spirit of giving back to your greater community to spread happiness to everybody. This is a very good lesson to teach children because it shows them gratitude at a young age when their personality is very much still being developed.

Another aspect of Santa that I appreciate is that it teaches kids morals and shows them that bad behavior shouldn’t be rewarded. This not only benefits them as children but also will make them a better person overall and a better parent in the future. Santa very much reflects the idea that what goes around comes around and I think that’s a very important lesson to learn in our world.

Santa also serves as a bit of a right of passage as a child. The moment that a child finds out that Santa isn’t real is one that many people still remember years later. For me personally, I unfortunately had it ruined for me by my brother at the age of seven. This never created resentment for the holiday, but instead just opened up a new chapter in the way that I celebrate Christmas in my life.

From there on, I began being able to help my mom wrap presents for my siblings as well as play the role of Santa in a response letter occasionally, and getting to eat the cookies and milk didn’t hurt either. I think this

is a very positive way of transitioning the way that your child celebrates the holiday because instead of just finding out that Santa’s not real and leaving your child feeling betrayed, you get them much more involved in the holiday and let them join in on the fun for their younger siblings, cousins or anybody else in their life.

DISCLAIMER: This article is the sole opinion of Cristian Valentin Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com

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STAFF COMMENTARY

This is what dreams are made of OL

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Editor weighs in on Lizzie McGuire after watching the series in her adulthood ERIN MCNEMAR

mAnAging ExEcutivE Editor A few weeks ago, my family decided to take a leap into the magical world of Disney and purchased a subscription for Disney Plus. Anyone who knows me well knows that I loved watching Disney Channel in elementary and middle school. No matter what was on, for about five years I didn’t watch any other channel. However, it wasn’t until 2007 when I moved from New Jersey to Massachusetts that my family got Disney Channel.

I never felt like I missed out on that much.

“Hannah Montana” was starting to get popular, “Wizards of Waverly Place” just came out and “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” was still going strong. As I got older, though, my friends would reminisce about shows I never got the opportunity to watch.

It’s not like I had never watched the early 2000s Disney shows, but I would only get to watch them if I went over to a friend’s house or when we went on vacation to see family members. When I watched them, though, I would never understand the storyline or know who the characters were. These shows don’t have the same sentimental value for me.

After my family got Disney Plus a few weeks ago, I excitedly scrolled through and tried to decide

what I was going to watch first. Then I saw it. “Lizzie McGuire.” Although I never saw the show when I was younger, I have always been a huge Hilary Duff fan.

Her album “Metamorphosis” is still one of my favorites to this day.

Over the course of a week, I watched every single episode of “Lizzie McGuire.” I didn’t begin the series knowing nothing about the characters, but I really didn’t know a lot. I had seen “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” a couple of times, but it was years ago. All I knew was Hillary Duff is Lizzie McGuire and her best friend is Gordo. Now after watching all 65 episodes, I have some thoughts.

To begin, I didn’t realize the show takes place when Lizzie is in middle school. The movie opens with Lizzie and Gordo at graduation. I always assumed they were graduating high school when, in fact, it was middle school graduation. After discovering that, it made the whole “Lizzie McGuire Movie” a little more problematic for me, but I digress.

Next, as those of you who have seen the movie can recall, Lizzie’s other best friend, Miranda, was not in it. She skipped middle school graduation to go with her family on a trip to Mexico. Good for you, Miranda.

This also caused her to be absent from the iconic Italy trip that makes up the entirety of the movie. Anyway,

I had gone my whole life not knowing that Miranda existed. I thought the show was just about Lizzie and Gordo’s friendship and, honestly, I wish that were true. I thought Miranda was one of the most annoying characters in TV history. Time and time again, I felt that she was a terrible friend to Lizzie. When Lizzie obsessed about her outfit or a boy not liking her, Miranda fueled her insecurities while Gordo told her she was perfect and she shouldn’t worry about what other people think.

Speaking of Gordo, he and Lizzie are by far the best couple I have ever seen in any show. Even though it is unclear if they begin dating at the end of the series, from episode one I loved watching them interact together. My absolute favorite part of the series was seeing the relationship between Lizzie and Gordo develop. Every moment Gordo seemed to work up the courage to tell Lizzie how he felt, I found myself screaming at him. Then when he lost his confidence every time, it broke my heart. That anxiety and longing to tell your crush how you feel about them is such a familiar middle school feeling. The show does a great job capturing it to a point that it put me in physical pain.

The show highlights some very real struggles of growing up as well. From dealing with parents,

crushes and friends, “Lizzie McGuire” is a show that I believe could help middle school children navigate through that changing period of their life. It seemed like every episode there was something I could relate to thinking back to when I was in middle school.

In a few cases, I felt the show painted some unrealistic expectations of middle school. Part of me is a little glad I didn’t watch it when I was younger because I know I would have been terrified of middle school.

The fact of the matter is, people aren’t going to go to such extreme lengths to make your life miserable. The odds someone will ruin your hair by putting green dye in your shampoo or try to destroy your picture day outfit by throwing paint on you are not very likely.

Disney Plus announced the series is being rebooted and set to air sometime in 2020. Hillary Duff will be reprising her role as Lizzie but in her thirties.

It has been confirmed that all the McGuires will be returning and thankfully Gordo is coming back too.

While Hilary Duff has said Lizzie will have a new love interest in the reboot, I’m not convinced. Maybe I’m just in denial but I will not be happy unless Lizzie and Gordo are together.

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com

STAFF COMMENTARY

And after that... (there was) the Devine Feminine

GRIFFIN ELL / EQUINOX STAFF

Rapper Goldlink puts out backhanded letter both celebrating and disrespecting Mac Miller JOSEPH GUZMAN

Arts And EntErtAinmEnt Editor I think people sometimes forget that artists are people too. They make friendships, get in arguments and feel the range of human emotions that people feel every day . One of the artists who gave us a glimpse into what he was feeling was Mac Miller. Many originally dismissed Miller as another “frat rapper,” but then with later releases like “The Divine Femine” and “Swimming” he opens up more with his emotions.

After Miller’s passing last year in September, many fellow artists, celebrities and close friends all spoke out about how he was universally liked and appreciated; this had many people scratching their heads and wondering why Goldlink, fellow friend and collaborator of Miller, went out of his way to write a backhanded letter toward the late rapper.

Miller and Goldlink’s relationship started when

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Goldlink was opening for Miller during his 2015 “GO:OD A.M.” tour. Miller had allegedly heard Goldlink’s project at the time, “And After That, We Didn’t Talk.” According to Goldlink, Miller had copied the idea of his album, implementing it on his own “The Divine Feminine” a year later. This was the driving force behind what seemed like years of hidden resentment and the reason why he decided to release the letter.

Goldlink’s letter toward Miller was posted on Instagram on November 26, stating his grievances and admiration about Miller. Goldlink said, “I’d be lying if I said I was surprised to hear that you died on us. Not because you were necessarily troubled, but because you were special and because of that, you were troubled.”

He proceeds to draw comparisons between both of the albums, Goldlink noting that they were both utilizing an Anderson Paak. feature, who is known to be better friends with Miller than with Goldlink. He also mentioned his suspicions on how he released his album

under the Soulection label and the same label helped Miller for his “Divine Feminine” tour.

Shortly after airing all of his suspicions out in this letter he stated, “We have seen each other at Coachella, and you put your head down like an innocent child, but I told you to pick it up and I hugged you like the brother you are to me. You were the first person brave enough to openly say ‘he’s dope.,’ and gave me a platform. That meant more to me than anything else.” It seems like Goldlink is being shady toward him, yet still appreciates him and the album.

Mainly loyal friends and fans of the “Swimming” artist came forward to protect the deceased rapper, since he couldn’t speak on his own behalf. One of the people who did so in a now-deleted Instagram post was Anderson Paak.. Paak. stated, “You ain’t the first to make an album inspired by a relationship, you ain't the first to make a song featuring Anderson Paak. but you are the first to disrespect my friend who is no longer with us for

absolutely no reason and I can’t stand for that. I’m not a tough guy but i’m not about this negativity but this bugged me bad bro.” Paak. mentioned he only brought it to Instagram and threatened him because he wasn’t responding to his calls or direct messages.

After all of this happened it seemed the majority of fans from both sides were agreeing with Paak.. I fall under this category as well; Goldlink has had his own accusations with plagiarism and, since his name and songs are getting a lot more traction through TikTok, he should be trying to use Miller’s name for more clout.

Even if during points of their relationship he felt this way, he should have left the issue alone instead of bringing it up for no reason.

Joseph Guzman can be contacted at jguzman@kscequinox.com

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This decade's most iconic music Equinox Staff

With the end of the decade almost here, Instagram stories have been flooded with Spotify recaps of the year.

Music is extremely prevalent in today’s pop culture and 108 students from Keene State College wanted to share their opinions on their thoughts on the music of the last decade through a survey sent out to all four class years.

According to the survey, 40.9 percent of students who answered the survey chose an album classified under R&B/ Hip Hop. Spotify’s top 2019 list also coincided with this.

Their article said the top three artists of the year are Post Malone, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande, all of whom appeared on the survey except Post Malone.

Spotify said the rapper “claimed the spot of the moststreamed artist with over 6.5 billion streams from fans around the globe.”

While Post Malone was the most listened to on the music streaming app, he was not listed as the most liked album in the past decade on campus.

R&B artist Khalid’s album “American Dream,” produced in 2017, took the win with 27 percent of the votes given. All 30 students who voted for the album were from the sophomore class of 2022.

YourEDM posted an article last August claiming Khalid as the most music streamed artist of the year.

The 21-year-old became the most streamed artist with 50.196 million monthly followers, which were lower than Post Malone’s end-of-the-year total, but still a remarkable amount of fans.

Caitlin McCracken, a Keene State College sophomore who is part of those 30 students, said she found herself listening to “American Dream” the most out of the year. “I find his music to just be a vibe and good to listen to at any time.”

Other albums mentioned laid in genres such as Pop, Rock/Metal and Alternative/Indie.

The genre with the second most albums suggested were categorized as Rock/Metal with 27.3 percent of all votes.

While artists like My Chemical Romance, Foo Fighters and Hatebreed were showcased, none of the albums reached the second most liked album by students on campus.

Pop, which only had four albums suggested, rushed to second place with the Jonas Brothers’ new album “Happiness Begins,” released earlier this year.

This album differed in a variety of voters who came from three out of the four class years here.

Music will always have a strong hold on our society, as it’s riddled within many cultures across the globe and often brings people together from opposite sides of the world.

A thread on the popular student platform Reddit had dozens of threads predicting and displaying hopes for a “Pop Girl” to hit the top of the charts for the new decade’s top artist of 2020.

Until then, Post Malone will hold Spotify’s number one this year and Khalid reigns champion on our college campus.

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R&B artist Khalid’s album “American Dream,” produced in 2017, took the win with 27 percent of the votes given. All 30 students who voted for the album were from the sophomore class of 2022. - Angelique Inchierca

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ANGELIQUE INCHIERCA

Angelique Inchierca can be contacted at ainchierca@kscequinox.com OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

BRIEF

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Juice Wrld dead at 21 "Thank you ten" Directing class students present six 10-minute plays PUJA THAPA

adminiStrativE ExEcutivE Editor

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Mainstream emo rap pioneer Juice Wrld overdoses JOSEPH GUZMAN

artS and EntErtainmEnt Editor Fans and the general public were taken aback when yesterday morning 21-year-old rapper Juice Wrld, also known as Jarad Higgins, passed away from what is being called a possible overdose. According to a recently released statement and photos provided by TMZ, the pilot of Higgins’ private plane alerted authorities on the ground that Higgins and his entourage had brought guns with them on board the plane. Allegedly, Higgins had caught wind that the authorities were waiting for them once the plane landed, so to avoid getting arrested he swallowed “several Percocet pills” to hide them.

Last Sunday morning, when the rapper was walking through a private hangar of the Midway Airport in his hometown of Chicago, he suffered cardiac arrest.

Emergency responders arrived around 2 a.m. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the rapper was “rushed to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m.” The Chicago Sun-Times also said that Higgins was seizing, convulsing and coughing

up blood from his mouth by the time paramedics had shown up.

Videos were taken just hours before the incident occurred, showing Higgins goofing around and in high spirits on the private plane with the other members of his entourage. Spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department Larry Langford said it was unclear when the cardiac incident began.

Just six days before this event occurred, Higgins turned 21 years old. He was known for his angsty style of emo rap and was one of the frontrunners of the newest generation of rappers. Higgins broke into mainstream success in 2017 and 2018 with hits such as “Lucid Dreams” and “Robbery.” His sophomore album came out March 8 of this year and went #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Higgins was known to reach a large audience of teenagers and fans who enjoyed his music and persona.

Rest. In. Peace.

Joseph Guzman can be contacted at jguzman@kscequinox.com

The Department of Theater and Dance presented “Thank You Ten” in the Redfern Arts Center Wright Theatre on Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8. It was collectively directed by Keene State College students: Caroline Hentz, Megan Lummus, Veronica Pamphile, Jean-Michael Pion, Jaden Rogers and Amanda Smith.

“Thank You Ten” featured six different 10-minute plays: “Love Lace,” written by Robert Patrick and directed by Megan Lummus; “Yesterday’s Window,” written by Chiori Miyagawa and directed by Jean-Michael Pion; “Abbott and Costello,” written by Jonatahn Mayer and directed by Jaden Rogers; “Midnight Rodeo,” written by Mary Sue Price and directed by Caroline Hentz; “Horizon,” written by Leslie Koppenher and directed by Veronica Pamphile; and “A Brief Pause,” written by Greg Cummings and directed by Amanda Smith.

The stage manager for the show was Anna Fialho, assisted by technical director Shane Horsman and lighting designer Morgan Rosen. The show was the final presentation of the fall 2019 directing class. It was led by KSC theatre and dance professor Jeannie-Marie Brown.

The event was open to the general public and tickets were $3. Admission was free for KSC Students.

The six plays were presented between 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The students of the directing class presented an evening of fantastic 10-minute plays, according to the Redfern website.

The Theatre and Dance Department had events like “Church and State,” “As You Like It” and the Choreography Showcase in Fall 2019. Other shows the department is preparing to present for Spring 2020 are: “A Year with Frog and Toad” and “An Evening of Dance and Theatre” senior capstone.

One can go to Redfern Art Center's website www.keene. edu/arts/redfern/ to see what’s coming soon.

Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com

Equinox Music Choices See You Again Tyler the Creator (ft. Kali Uchis) KSCEQUINOX.COM

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Showing their moves

Students wrap up their semesters and present what they've worked on at the Choreography Showcase CRISTIAN VALENTIN

OpiniOns EditOr A semester’s worth of work came to a fitting conclusion as several students presented their pieces for the Choreography Showcase.

According to senior performer and choreographer Cassie O’Keefe, this show was made as part of a class called research in choreography where everybody meets twice a week along with holding cast auditions for people not in the class. The students in the class then meet with their dancers outside of class to rehearse their piece.

The pieces include “The Logic of Appropriateness” by Grace Lonergan, “Self-Indulgence” by Chelsea Hance, “The Dinner Party” by Cassie O’Keefe, “Evanescent” by Lindsay Gibbons and “A Change in Hue” by Samantha Witham.

O’Keefe said she enjoyed using dance to play out different scenarios. “There was no voice or speaking

in my piece, but I wanted the important topics about women’s rights and women’s issues to come through so I created a piece about nine women from the past and present who were involved in the feminist movement and if they were to all have a dinner party together. It was really fun to play with something that could not realistically happen, but through dance, I was able to make it happen,” said O’Keefe.

Audience member and KSC class of 2019 alumnus Faith Pudlo said she liked being able to hear about each piece in this way. “I appreciated that because it was such a small class they were able to share details about their research and that I was able to experience and view that in their work. I also just thought that there was a lot of hard work and talent in the show,” said Pudlo.

According to junior performer and choreographer Samantha Witham, the pieces are constantly evolving. “I learned that it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of research that goes into creating a big piece and I

learned that it’s a big exploration. It’s an adventure; you have to constantly change as you go, it’s not going to be exactly how you think it is at the beginning. The music is going to change, the movement is going to change, the way the dancers dance is not going to be how you think they’re going to dance, so you adjust accordingly,” said Witham.

O’Keefe also appreciated being able to continuously tweak parts of the routines by working with her classmates. “It was really interesting because I go to class with them and see things that they’re struggling with and I can help and offer feedback, but I was also in the piece, so when I’m in it I can say ‘when I’m doing the piece I feel this,' or 'I’m having these emotions' or 'I’m not really feeling that,’” said O’Keefe.

Director Cynthia McLaughlin said the class has allowed the students to grow a lot. “It was a very focused, committed group of students this semester so there was tremendous growth. One of the things is the students come in and their ideas are really

broad of what they’d like to focus on and they learn that making something really specific gives you more opportunity,” said McLaughlin.

The Choreography Showcase cast had many other dancers not involved in the class including Isabella Nunziata, Katelyn Sova, Meeghan Somerset, Melissa Ray, Brooke Meehan, Alayna Massie, Ashley Dahl, Keegan Plocki, Ashley Kelliher, Chloe Cina, Millie Richard, Melissa Brochu, Maggie Cahoon, Justin Park and Kendall Page. The production crew includes Kiara Byron, Morgan Rosen, Molly Delaney, Craig Lindsay, Shane Horsman, Eric Talbot, Megan Marcot and Genevieve July.

This show took place in the Mabel Brown Room on both December 5 and 6 at 7 p.m.

Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com

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Four students from the Choreography Showcase take a dance formation on the Mabel Brown Room stage December 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center, trying to portray dance to play out different scenarios.

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STUDENT LIFE

» JENNIFER FERREL B2

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Thursday, December 12, 2019

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Celebrating winter

PUJA THAPA / ADMISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Students enjoy food and music at the annual Winter Celebration ERIN MCNEMAR

Managing ExEcutivE Editor PUJA THAPA

adMinistrativE ExEcutivE Editor JOSEPH GUZMAN

arts and EntErtainMEnt Editor CONNOR CRAWFORD

studEnt LifE Editor After beginning the week with a snow day, it seemed only fitting for Keene State College students to take part in the annual Winter Celebration, put on by the Young Student Center, to warm up for finals.

On Wednesday, December 4, candy, desserts and a chocolate fountain could all be found in the Young Student Center. Some students could also be seen singing along to Mariah Carey’s, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” For a limited time during the celebration, students were able to take part in the “Stuffa-Plush” activity. On a first come, first serve basis, students selected a plush animal and got to stuff it right in the student center.

First-year Cailyn Dezotell said besides the free food, the Stuff-a-Plush was the main reason she came to the event. “I saw the

stuff a plush. I was like, ‘that’s cool, I want one of those,’” Dezotell said.

After she stuffed her plush bulldog, Dezotell said she was excited to look at some of the other activities at tables at the celebration. “Just walking through the chocolate fountain looked awesome,” Dezotell said.

Fellow first-year Madison Tingle also attended the event looking to take part in the Stuff-a-Plush activity, but also to see what was going on on campus. “I haven’t really been to any on-campus events, so I decided to try this one out. Christmas is my favorite time of the year so Winter Celebration sounds like a good time to try it,” Tingle said.

Similar to Dezotell, Tingle was also interested in looking at the other activities and food being offered at the event. “I saw food coming in so I’m definitely going to check that out. The chocolate fountain is huge,” Tingle said.

Sophomore Emma Manderville was tabling towards the end of the event. She said, “We’re tabling here for Public Health Club. Our organization has a photo booth and just wanted to celebrate the holidays and the end of the semester.”

Manderville said her favorite part of the Winter Festival was the food, calling it, “fantastic” and saying she was eating cotton

candy and strawberries prior to the interview. Manderville stated the overall message her club is promoting: “We would love more new members. We’re doing a lot of new networking events this [upcoming] semester [the monthly] career spotlight series and we’re also going to all of the national conferences; so just getting more involved.”

Front House Manager of the Redfern Arts Center and Alumni Eva Medvidofsky was also in attendance tabling a photobooth, but a 70’s theme one. Medvidofsky said, “We’re doing a 70’s themed photo booth, for the students where they can come and pose with props and get entered into a contest to win a free ticket to one of our shows or a $10 gift card to Prime Roast.” According to Medvidofsky, she has been tabling for the Redfern for the last four or five years, claiming every year they fine tune and see what can work and keep students engaged. “It’s something we do every year and I think it’s a really good opportunity to connect with the students in a way we don’t always get to. Because our building is out of the way, it’s a good way to bring the Redfern to the center of campus and connect with students we don’t always get to see,” said Medvidofsky.

Jennifer Ferrel, who is the director of campus life, says that the Winter Celebra-

tion has been a tradition since she arrived at Keene State. “We’ve been doing it for 15 years, so for me just keeping it going as a tradition and organizing it and just making sure it all happens, and that kind of stuff; that’s my role.”

Ferrell also added that every year she tries to add new events to the celebration to keep it interesting. “Each year, there are new things that people will try and they want to test out something, or do a fun new idea for what they wanna host at their table,” Ferrell stated. “We’ve had a lot of things that people have come to expect every year, but then there is always something new and different because it’s based upon what the groups want to do.”

Jessica Gagne Cloutier, the coordinator of community service at Keene State, has seen multiple Winter Celebrations and always makes sure students notice the sugary treats that are offered. “This is my eighth winter celebration,” Cloutier stated. “I always help with the student involvement table, so [I’m] making sure everyone has access to plenty of sugar with the cotton candy station.”

According to Cloutier, the Winter Celebration is not all about getting free food but is also meant as a time to get together and celebrate. “It’s an opportunity for us to come together. We don’t get a ton of oppor-

tunities to just be all in one space in a celebratory way,” said Cloutier, “so that chance to be reminded of who our community is and what makes us special, and to do that by celebrating the start of the winter season ahead of finals, is always kind of a nice little break after a busy semester.”

One of the main attractions of the event was the chocolate fountains and according to Ferrell they are nothing new. In fact, the chocolate fountain has been around for years. “We’ve had cotton candies and chocolate fountains all of the years, we’ve always had that,” Ferrell explained. “When we had more students and the programs were bigger, and some of those kinds of things, we used to have two chocolate fountains.”

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com Joseph Guzman can be contacted at jguzman@kscequinox.com Connor Crawford can be contacted at ccrawford@kscequinox.com

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STUDENT LIFE / B2

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Ace of all traits PUJA THAPA

AdministrAtivE ExECutivE Editor

PUJA THAPA / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

“I think it’s the piece where I know what I’m doing matters and I know what I’m doing for my staff matters.

I know what I’m doing for students matters because I have seen it make a difference,” said Director of Campus Life Jennifer Ferrell.

Ferrell started working at Keene State College in 2005. “This is my fifteenth academic year,” said Ferrell.

“I came in the summer of 2005 and, at that time, things were organized differently here and in the division and in my department.” Ferrell started as the coordinator of student activities, later becoming the director of campus life.

Ferrell has taken on more responsibilities than her title entails. She said, “I have added more responsibilities to it, but my title is still the same at this point.”

The separation incentive in February 2018 and different staff leaving for different opportunities have made Ferrell pick up different other responsibilities. “Being down staff, I see it as it’s my responsibility as a leader to ensure that things continue to happen and the student experience is minimally affected when we have gaps and things,” she said. “That’s why I have no problem stepping in, trying to pick up and help out.”

Some of the responsibilities that Ferrell has are overseeing the L.P. Young Student Center, the professional staff, student involvement programs and the student center budget. She said, “We operate like a satellite business office here. Basically, you do so many different transactions.”

Ferrell has also taken on some additional responsibilities in the past couple of years: she oversees the dining contract and works closely with the whole management team for dining and vending contracts on campus, and she recently dealt with the beverage service contact with Pepsi. Ferrell also directly advises the student government. She attends the student assembly meeting every Tuesday, finance committee meetings and other executive meetings.

Senior Program Support Assistant Janet Stevenson said, “Watching her continue to push through even though there are days when she’s exhausted is inspiring.” Stevenson is one of the staff who works under Ferrell. Stevenson added, “We all have days when we just don’t want to come in to work, but she does it everyday, she works when she is physically not here.”

Like other staff who have left KSC, Ferrell has also gotten better offers and opportunities. However, she chose to stay at KSC. “I really want to be able to stick around to see us get to a good place with things. I just feel like there are probably more things to be done that I’m still valuable in that process,” Ferrell said. “I certainly wouldn’t have stayed here as long as I have if I didn’t really love our students… there is something about our student culture that I really love.”

Though Ferrell said she thinks that the position of her last supervisor of Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs would be appropriate for what she is doing right now, she’s okay with what she is doing. “I’m just trying to get us to the best place and work through some of the transition and get all of the right people in

the right structure because we are at a time now, especially at the student center where we have to redesign everybody’s work anyway through lost people, and as things have changed and what we’re doing, and finances have changed, it’s pretty open right now and we have a lot of opportunity for the future.”

Describing herself, Ferrell said, “I am not someone who’s afraid of change, I’m not someone who is scared to do hard things, so those kind of things excite me a little bit and keep me interested.” She added, “ If everything was the same as it was years ago, that wouldn’t be interesting for me at all.”

Ferrell thinks that her career has impacted her personal life. “I need to do a better job of balancing my personal life and my professional life. I need to do that to show students that it should be done, but I need to take better care of myself.” However, she also said that a lot of that is self-chosen. “[It has] made me better at my job by all of the things I have been involved in and by as much time I have invested in it, made me understand campus better, made me understand the dynamics of work and how to interact with people better,” Ferrell said.

Stevenson, who works under Ferrell, said, “She’s probably the nicest boss I have ever had. Jen’s tough, but she understands people and that makes a huge difference.”

Ferrell said, “It’s like that thing where you want everybody rowing the boat in the same direction; that’s kind of where I am. In order to make sure that everybody knows that’s the direction, I try really hard to make sure they are valued in that, they know their part in that and, for me, they are people, so knowing that life happens, and stuff happens and you need to be understandable.”

Stevenson said, “While I grumble every time my alarm goes off, I like coming to work here.” She said she has had good two years at KSC so far. “I can’t imagine working for or with anybody outside the group because we’re a team. We work as a team, “ she said.

“Yes, Jen’s my boss, but yesterday at the celebration [Winter Celebration on Dec.4] we are standing next to each other eating cotton candy and stuff is falling all over the place.”

Ferrell said, “I feel like if professional staff don’t feel valued or don’t feel appreciated, and don’t feel like they have the ability to make an impact and change lives, then it’s pointless for me to be here.”

Student Body President Davis Bernstein worked with Ferrell closely this semester after a change in his position from the speaker of the assembly to the president. He said, “[Ferrell] has a lot on her plate, but she always responds to my email or my texts and always gets anything done that student government needs help with.” He said that she always seemed happy to help, even when she is extremely busy with other stuff.

Ferrell said she feels appreciated by most people. “[Appreciated] by students, absolutely. I think [I’m also appreciated] by my specific team and the people who I work with regularly”

» FOR MORE OF THE STORY, GO TO KSCEQUINOX.COM

Chock Full of Notes holds winter showcase MEEGHAN SOMERSET

Copy Editor Music filled the Mabel Brown Room on Saturday, December 7, as Keene State’s acapella group Chock Full of Notes performed in their winter concert.

The concert featured arrangements and medleys of popular songs that were certain to be familiar to the majority of the audience and create a fun atmosphere.

The songs included “Falling” arranged by Samantha Ducharme, “Coldplay Medley” arranged

by Ducharme, “You and Me” arranged by Cindy Clausen, “River on the Rise” arranged by Patrick Holden, “Wannabe” arranged by Alexandra Magee and Rachel Thurston, “Tattooed Heart” arranged by Ducharme, “Dreamed a Liability” arranged by Ducharme, “Love so Soft” arranged by Ducharme and “Him” arranged by Ducharme.

Many of the songs are arranged

by Ducharme. She explained her process of making and listening to the arrangements. “I’ve always used GarageBand for my vocal arrangements,” said Ducharme. “When I find one I want to do, I listen to the bass line and percussion and record those two. Then I record the solo over it and turn any sort of cords or syncopated sounds into any soprano, alto or tenor parts. The number of parts can range from four with a beatbox to eight or nine with a beatbox.”

The song choices were diverse containing pop songs, classic rock and even a Broadway hit. First-year soprano Mary Graham explained how songs were chosen. “Members of the group choose to arrange

songs and then they bring them in. What is really cool is that every song they put work into arranging will be performed. Once we have heard them all we simply vote on the order in which we will perform them for the concert,” Graham said.

This was Graham’s first experience performing with an acapella group and she expressed gratitude toward the rest of the group.

“While it was a lot of work, it was also so much fun. Everyone gets along really well so rehearsals can be a lot of messing around before we decide we need to get things done. Difficult songs took longer, but we were able to pull it together in the end.”

Different songs appealed to different people both in the audience and in the group. There were slow, meaningful songs and there were energizing crowd-pleasers. Two first-year students Julia Mitchell and Monique Deschenes said it was their first time seeing Chock Full of Notes perform and they were impressed by the songs that were chosen.

“I really enjoyed the show. I got chills, actual chills, during the last song [“Him” arranged by Ducharme]. They are really talented,” said Deschenes.

Ducharme herself was also a fan of the arrangement based on the song “Him” by Sam Smith. “It was one of the first ones I made over the summer. The message in the song is really moving and I feel as though it’s our strongest song this semester both sonically and how it was portrayed emotionally.”

While the slower, more heartfelt finale was a fan-favorite, Mitchell connected more to the upbeat “Wan-

BENAJIL RAE / MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR

nabe” arranged by Magee and Thurston. “It was right after intermission and it was definitely an energizer. It got me really excited for the second part of the show,” said Mitchell.

Chock Full of Notes is focused on using only voices to create a rounded sound for the song. An

integral part of that is creating the baseline, or the beat of the song. In the winter concert, multiple members of the group took turns beatboxing and creating the baseline.

Tim Whitaker, a beatboxer for the acapella group, explained how his role adds to the sound of a song.

“I think a beatboxer can create the the spring performance after they entire shape for the song. They get get back from the break. the privilege of tailoring each beat to how they want the atmosphere to Meeghan Somerset can be contacted sound,” said Whitaker. at msomerset@kscequinox.com While Chock Full of Notes doesn’t have another concert this semester, they will start working on

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STUDENT LIFE / B3

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Stuff-A-Plush

PUJA THAPA / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

During the annual Winter Celebration, students got the opportunity to “Stuff-A-Plush.” This was a time where students could choose from a variety of empty stuff animals, without the plush inside, and stuff them! After this, students could take their new friends home and show their friends and families their own creations.

BRIEF

Students share original stories

T h i s

W e e k

a SAME REINKE / EQUINOX STAFF

Six creative writing students got the experience to share their portfolios with friends, family and the campus community.

t

Creative writing students share portfolios at the library CONNOR CRAWFORD

Student Life editor “It was great to hear everyone read,” said Lydia Hurley, a senior who presented multiple pieces at the creative writing portfolio reading.

The reading took place in the Marion Wood Reading Room in the Mason Library on Wednesday, December 4, from 4 to 5 p.m.

The event was a great way for students in the creative writing program at Keene State to show off what they have been working on and to present their own original work.

The portfolio reading showcased six Keene State College seniors including: Alex Harvey, Lydia Hurley, Katie Jensen, Ashley Jones, Lexi Palmer and Griffin Romprey.

Hurley presented three pieces at the event. “I presented a short fictional horror story called “Lost Lake,” a piece about a man who murders young women at the behest of a sentient lake,” said Hurley. “I also read a short non-fiction lyric essay called “Is Anybody Out There?” that was written about my struggles with nightmares and anxiety. I also read an excerpt from another short fictional piece called “Here, At The End of All Things,”

which is a piece based on the Old Testament Genesis.”

According to Hurley, presenting her own work is just a necessary evil as a writer to get your own work out into the world. “Reading your own work in front of other people is always nerve-racking for me, because it’s so personal,” Hurley stated.

If you are interested in attending one of the readings, keep your eyes peeled for flyers about the next portfolio reading. The library hosts a multitude of different reading events from creative writing to poetry that are open to come participate in and watch.

Go and support your fellow classmates!

Connor Crawford can be contacted at ccrawford@kscequinox.com

K S C

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Thursday, December 12, 2019

Happy Holdiays SEASONS GREETINGS TO YOU AND YOURS FROM THE KEENE STATE DINING TEAM 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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WORLD NEWS

World News/ B5 Thursday, December 12, 2019

KSCEQUINOX.COM

Bringing babies to work

NH releases hate crimes reporting guidelines MICHAEL CASEY

AssociAted Press

New program allows state employees to bring infants to work KATHY MCCORMACK

AssociAted Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Starting in January, New Hampshire state employees will be able to take part in a program that will allow them to take their infant children to work, Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday.

Sununu signed an executive order allowing parents and eligible guardians of infants between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 months to bring their child to work, so long as their state agency or department has elected to participate; the worker receives prior written authorization from the agency's human resource officer; the worker has completed an individ-

ualized plan for the infant; there's no safety hazard or concern to the parent of the infant; and there is limited disruption in the workplace.

Sununu said over 20 state departments and agencies have chosen to participate so far.

The program will be based on programs in several other states, including Arizona, Vermont and Washington.

"This initiative can provide working families with options to give their kids the healthiest possible start to life while allowing them to remain in the workforce if they choose to do so," Sununu said at a news conference.

When asked how many state employees this could affect currently, Sununu said "it's

not that many, to be honest, but part of doing this is we hope it's more. We're trying to encourage and attract young people into the workforce."

The policy says that "habitually disruptive or sick infants are not permitted in the workplace "and that parents participating in the program are required to comply with current state regulations governing child immunizations. The infants shall not be brought to meetings unless approved in advance by the agency's human resource officer and the meeting organizer.

Diaper changes and disposal must take place only in a restroom, the policy said. The employer will provide at least one diaper

changing station in their facility. Supervisors must allow lactating mothers flexible schedules to breastfeed and/or express milk.

"This will alleviate a lot of that anxiety" that comes with the stress of being a new parent, said Sarah Stewart, commissioner of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources who approved the policy. "I look forward to supporting the new moms and dads that work in our department."

A spokeswoman for New Hampshire's largest state employee union, the State Employee Association, said the union wasn't consulted and that there are agencies it doesn't apply to.

Sanders optimistic about winning early primary states SCOTT SONNER

AssociAted Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders declared in Nevada on Monday he has an "excellent chance" of winning all three of the earliest presidential-selection states en route to unseating President Donald Trump in November, calling him the "most dangerous president in the history of this country."

Without naming them, he also said some of his Democratic rivals who claim to have working people's best interests at heart continue to accept campaign contributions from billionaires who are seeking favors in return.

"This is a campaign that is dependent upon the working class of this country, that stands with the working class of this country and will develop policies which protect the working class of this country," Sanders said.

Polls show former Vice President Joe Biden has a slight lead in Nevada in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sanders close behind.

Sanders has the biggest team in the state, with more than 70 paid staffers. He also has a well of support in northern Nevada and Reno's Washoe County, where he beat Hillary

Clinton three years ago but failed to win the statewide Democratic nod because of her strength in Las Vegas.

"We think we have an excellent chance to win here in Nevada," he told more than 200 people during a speech Monday at a community center on tribal land in Carson City.

"We have an excellent chance in Iowa and New Hampshire.

If we win those three states, we'll be on the way to a victory to transform this country," he said. He didn't mention the key primary that follows those three in South Carolina.

Later Monday, he told a standing-room only crowd of about 900 people at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center that Americans "are sick and tired of a handful of billionaires running this country."

"I have a feeling the people of Nevada are ready for a political revolution," Sanders said to loud cheers.

He described Trump as the "most dangerous president in the history of this country" — a liar, a racist, a sexist, a homophobe and a xenophobe who is "running the most corrupt administration in modern history."

Earlier Monday, Sanders endorsed a ban on energy exploration in northeast Nevada's rugged Ruby Mountains and released a statement saying his administration would imme-

diately end all new and existing fossil fuel extraction on U.S. federal lands.

Sanders told the Elko Daily Free Press before a rally in rural Elko Sunday he also wants to study the idea of charging mining companies royalties on precious metals like gold and silver for the first time. He was headed to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Sanders said in Carson City that he believes his Democratic presidential campaign is the only one that has not received any contributions from billionaires.

"One of my Democratic opponents has received contributions I believe form 44 billionaires. Another candidate is busy going around the country to wealthy people's homes raising a whole bunch of money," he said, without naming either.

"They will not influence me," he said.

Sanders said his campaign has received about 4.2 million contributions from about 1.2 million separate Americans, averaging $18 each.

"What we have accomplished in terms of the number of contributions and number of individuals is more than any candidate in the history of the United States of America," he said.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire released a set of guidelines Tuesday to help law enforcement agencies better handle hate crimes in the wake of recent debate about racism in the mostly white state.

The protocols from the attorney general's office call on departments to designate one staffer responsible for coordinating the handling of an alleged bias or hate crime. That person will also work with the attorney general's civil rights unit and the relevant county attorney to determine how to respond to such crimes.

Hate crimes are also supposed to be reported to the FBI each year.

"There is a need to provide to provide standardized guidelines and focused training to better prepare members of law enforcement to identify and appropriately respond to incidents where potential bias or hate-motivated crimes have occurred," Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said. "These protocols strive to ensure that New Hampshire remains a welcoming and safe place for all."

The protocols come almost two years after the attorney general's office created a civil rights unit, which among other things investigates violence or discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

The unit was created in the wake of the near-hanging in 2017 of an 8-year-old biracial child.

The state attorney general's office concluded this year that there wasn't enough evidence to show the episode was racially motivated, but the near-hanging grabbed national headlines and forced the state to examine how it handled alleged hate crimes.

The attorney general's report said the boy put a rope around his neck, copying the actions of two other teens who had jumped from the table and landed uninjured. When the youngest boy tried it, one of the other kids pushed his legs, causing him to fall.

There have been other accusations of racism or insensitivity in the past few years, including complaints about white students wearing ponchos and sombreros at University of New Hampshire's Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Also, an inn manager was fined after she was accused of shoving a couple she thought were Muslim.

According to the attorney general's office, state and local police departments in 2017 reported 13 hate crimes. No jurisdiction reported more than one hate crime and 147 cities and towns reported none. But 48 departments failed to submit any information at all to the FBI related to hate crimes.

New Hampshire to Supreme Court: Leave nudity laws to locals HOLLY RAMER

AssociAted Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — There's no reason for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on New Hampshire's "Free the Nipple" case, the state attorney general said this week.

The high court is deciding whether to accept the appeal of three women who were convicted of public nudity at Weirs Beach in Laconia in 2016. Part of a campaign advocating for the rights of women to go topless, Heidi Lilley, Kia Sinclair and Ginger Pierro argue the city's ordinance discriminates on the basis of gender and that the Supreme Court should step in to settle dis-

agreements on the issue that have arisen elsewhere.

The court asked the state to respond in September. In its filing this week, the state said there has been no meaningful disagreement. Nearly every state high court and federal appeals court has upheld similar ordinances, it said. And the only federal appeals court that ruled to the contrary involved reviewing a preliminary injunction, not the merits of the law.

The conflict the women identify is therefor "illusory," the state said, and the court need not "wade into areas better left for the policy making of local legislative bodies."

The state also argues that the state Supreme Court was correct in concluding that the Laconia ordinance

does not discriminate based on gender bur rather "simply reflects common understanding of nudity, and that men and women are not interchangeable within those understandings." While the women argue that the ordinance is based in "archaic, overbroad, and obsolescent notions about gender," the state pointed that it is consistent with other laws that recognize the female breast as an erogenous body part warranting concealment in public.

For example, the state's revenge pornography law makes it illegal to distribute private sexual images that show female breasts or other intimate parts. And another law makes it a crime to secretly observe or photograph someone's private body parts, including female

breasts.

"The Legislature left that language undisturbed when it amended the statute in 2012, not so long ago as to be considered a bygone era," the state wrote.

The women now have two weeks to file a response. ______ This story has been corrected to reflect that the year the women went topless was 2016 not 2006.

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Sports / B6

Thursday, December 12, 2019

The final stretch

A look at how both athletes and coaches juggle finals and practices AUSTIN SMITH

SportS Editor Finals are something that all college students have to deal with.

However, in-season athletes have to juggle preparing for finals as well as practices and games. With finals being this week, the stress is on for students all over campus.

Although the athletes still have to practice before and during finals week, some coaches give their players extra days off to prepare for them. Junior guard for the men’s basketball team Sidi Diallo said, “[Coach Cain] does give us certain days off and emphasizes going out and studying and getting together.” The schedule for finals week is a little different for the basketball team.

The head coach of the men’s basketball team, Ryan Cain, said, “We typically practice Monday, on reading day, because [the athletes] have no other obligations. We can help them take their mind off it for a little while then we find one other day that is conducive to everyone’s schedule.”

While Cain gives his players certain days off for studying, head swim and dive coach Christopher Woolridge does not change his practice schedule for finals. Senior and captain for the men’s team Zachary Collins said, “Right now it’s pretty much practice as normal. It’s all about finding a way around the schedule because if you cannot balance your classes during the whole semester it’s going to be so much harder to do it during finals.”

The teams that are still competing in season so far into the year are the men’s and women’s swim and dive teams and the men’s and women’s basketball teams. In addition to these being the only teams that are currently in season, they both return from winter break earlier than other students. According to Diallo, the players for the men’s basketball team come back from break December 26, which is the day after Christmas. For the swim and dive teams, their first meet after the semester is on January 4, which is more than two weeks before classes start for the spring semester.

The extra stress that finals provide can be tough for any student, but it could potentially cause an athlete to lose focus during a game or meet. Cain said, “I think the biggest thing is that it is a stressful time of year for everybody as you start preparing for finals and think about grades and start dealing with all that other stuff that comes along with this time of year. We’ve seen guys where that stress does get to them at points and obviously that stress can have an impact on performance.”

In addition to giving his athletes time to prepare and focus on finals, Cain tells his players to not procrastinate when it comes to studying. “The biggest advice we give our student-athletes is to try and make sure that you are preparing for your finals early so you’ll have the opportunity to meet with tutors, talk to professors and go to study sessions with an idea of what you’re expecting on the exam so that you can ask questions,” Cain said. The men’s and women’s basketball teams return to action on December 28 and 29 respectively and the men’s and women’s swim teams are back in action on January 4 of the new year.

Austin Smith can be contacted at asmith@kscequinox.com

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Shadeck retires from swim

Record-breaking swimmer Kyle Shadeck leaves swim team only weeks after returning CLAIRE BOUGHTON

SEnior SportS rEportEr Several weeks ago, a senior member of Keene State’s men’s swim and dive team Kyle Shadeck decided to depart from the team. This decision came only weeks into Shadeck’s returning season after he decided to take the season off last year to focus on mental health.

Shadeck’s full statement and reason for his early retirement is as follows: “There were several reasons for my departure, one of which being wanting to focus on completing my degree to prepare for my next chapter. However, one of my main reasons for my early retirement was due to a lack of respect I feel I received from both within the team and from the athletic

department. For instance, it has been nearly 21 months since I set the school mark [record] in the 200 fly back in February of 2018 and to this day my record still is not on the school record board. To me, that shows a lack of appreciation for the time and effort I put in to represent this program especially since the pool that I set that record in, University of Rhode Island, had updated its board with my achievement months ago. Keene State has had a very high caliber of performance in the pool for the last decade and I made my decision to come here because I wanted to continue the tradition of excellence. However, for the past few years, I felt that my goals to represent Keene at the national level were not paid attention to thus making me feel like the previous values of high performance and achievement were gone and

my goals to compete for Keene at the highest stage were overlooked. While I do still have a passion for the sport, I simply refuse to continue to represent a program that has not shown me the respect that I felt I worked so hard for as an athlete.”

Shadeck set the school record in the 200meter butterfly back in February of 2018 during his sophomore year at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships. His time of 1:49.18 beat out the previous record of 1:51.41, set by Cole Hogg in 2015. His time also beat out the previous NEISDA Championship meet record set by Keene State alum Drew Ludwith back in 2012. Shadeck’s time also set a pool record at the University of Rhode Island.

The record board Shadeck refers to,

found on the pool deck in Spaulding Gymnasium, was last updated with records set in 2017.

Keene State College’s Athletics Director Phil Racicot responded to Shadeck’s statement, saying, “It was unfortunate to learn that Kyle decided to step away from the team again, but we certainly respect his decision.

It is always our goal to fully support the effort and commitment that student-athletes put forth to succeed and for their experience to be special. An important part of this is to recognize their achievements appropriately.

Being new to Keene State, I was not aware that Kyle’s record performance has not been appropriately displayed. I’m sure that nothing intentional has occurred in this regard and we will coordinate efforts to update the record board in the swimming pool area.

Overall, we will be looking at ways to celebrate and display the individual and team successes that we have been so fortunate to enjoy in all of our programs.”

Head Coach of the Swim and Dive team Christopher Woolridge declined to comment on the statement, saying “that issue wasn’t brought up when Kyle came to talk with me [Woolridge] about why he was quitting. Since I haven’t had a chance to talk with him about it, I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment.”

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

WINNING cont. from B8

CLAIRE BOUGHTON

The Owls got off to a quick lead over the Beacons with the score after the first quarter sitting at Owls 19, Beacons 9. The Owls continued the lead all the way up Saturday, December 7, saw crowds on the edges of to the final buzzer, with a final score of Owls 66, Beatheir seats cheering for the Keene State Owls’ men’s and cons 49. women’s basketball teams as they faced off in a doubleKeene State’s top scorers throughout the game were header against the UMass-Boston Beacons. junior forward Jordyn Burke with 18 points and junior First to take to the court was the Owls’ women’s guard Lillian Shlimon with 16 points. basketball team. They came into the matchup as the The men’s basketball game was next with the Owls, underdogs with a record of 1-7, preparing to take on the who were coming off of a second in-season victory undefeated Beacons’ women’s team. against Castleton, facing off against the 5-2 record of the

SEnior SportS rEportEr

Beacons’ men’s team.

From the very start it was a low-scoring game with neither team being able to pick up much momentum.

However, low scores aside, it was an incredibly close game. At no point throughout the entire game did one team lead over the other by more than five points.

The game was a constant leapfrog of which team was in the lead with Keene State pulling back from a 36-31 deficit within the last five minutes of regulation. The Owls’ comeback forced the game into overtime where sophomore guard and forward Nyzair Rountree took

control, scoring four of Keene’s seven overtime points.

The Owls took down the Beacons with a final score of 50-46, making it a sweep for the double-header with both Owls’ teams taking home the win.

The top scorers in the men’s game were freshman forward Nicholas Redden, with 10 points, and junior guard Sidi Diallo and senior center Benjamin Olson, both with seven points.

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

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Sports / B7

Thursday, December 12, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

Finding the back of the net Bruins’ wing David Pastrnak is on pace to score over 70 goals AUSTIN SMITH

SportS Editor David Pastrnak is scoring at an incredible pace.

So far in this NHL season Bruins wing David Pastrnak has been on fire, currently leading the NHL with 25 goals. Those 25 goals have come in only 28 games so far, which gives him an average of 0.89 goals per game.

While that number may seem small, the NHL season consists of 82 games; if Pastrnak continues to score at this pace he could finish the season with 73 goals. This would be a feat that has not been seen since the greatest hockey player of all time Wayne Gretzky did it in 1985.

Once again the Bruins are one of the best power play teams in the league, carrying the success they had

last season over to this one. Last year was a season that saw the Bruins make it to the Stanley Cup final, only for them to lose in game 7 to the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins’ power play continues to be one of the strengths of this team, and Pastrnak is a big reason for that. In addition to his league-leading 25 goals he is also leading the league with 12 power play goals.

For Bruins fans it is a relief to see Pastrnak back to playing well as in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs at times Pastrnak was nowhere to be found, some would argue that was the same for the entire first line. However, so far this season the first line has been one of, if not the best, lines in all of hockey.

The Bruins’ first line is considered to be one of the best in hockey due to its star players. At left wing there is Brad Marchand, an 11-year veteran who has spent his

Meet the Captain: Zack Collins

entire career in Boston. In the middle at center is Patrice Bergeron the now 16-year veteran who also has spent the entirety of his career with the Bruins. Finally at left wing is the previously mentioned Pastrnak, who is in his sixth year. Pastrnak is the youngest on the line at only 23 years old.

While Pastrnak, or as some call him “Pasta,” has been playing incredible so far this season, fans have been wondering all season: can he keep this up? So far, the answer has been yes. Even though he has been scoring at a pace that has not been seen since the 1980s, he has shown no signs of slowing down. The possibility that he can continue this blistering pace is becoming more likely every game it seems; he is constantly finding the back of the net, even with the scouting reports mainly being focused around him.

In addition to the first line being one of the best in hockey, the Bruins have came out firing on all cylinders.

The Bruins are currently 20-3-5 so far in the season, which is good for the best record in the NHL. The Bruins are currently tied for the most points with the Stanley Cup winner from two years ago, the Washington Capitals. The Bruins are 14 points ahead of the second place team in their division, the Florida Panthers. The Bruins are currently winners of eight games straight and do not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

This is the sole opinion of the writer Austin Smith can be contacted at asmith@kscequinox.com

Want to write for the sports section next semester?

AUSTIN SMITH

the NEISDA championship meet, he placed 18 out of 37 athletes who competed in that race.

Collins currently competes in both the butterfly Captain of the men’s swim and dive team Zach- and free events. He grew up in Baltic, Connecticut ary Collins has been swimming since his first year and is currently in his senior year and is studying of high school at Norwich Free Academy. There criminal justice.

Collins was a three-year varsity swimmer and was named captain his senior year.

At Keene State College Collins has swum all of Austin Smith can be contacted his four years and is currently the captain in his at asmith@kscequinox.com senior year. Last season Collins recorded a personal best in the 50-meter fly event with a time of 25.73. When Collins recorded his personal best at

SportS Editor

Claire Boughton (860) 878-5475

This Week for the Owls Thursday 12/26

Friday 12/27

Saturday 12/28

Men’s Basketball - at Wooster @ 7:30 PM

No Contests

No Contests

Sunday 12/29

Monday 12/30

Women’s baksetball vs Amherst @ 3:00 PM

Women’s basketball vs Emmanuel College @ 5 PM

Men’s basketball vs John Carroll @ 4:30 PM

* - Home Contest

Tuesday 12/31

Wednesday 1/1

No Contests

No Contests

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Sports / B8

Thursday, December 12, 2019

SPORTS

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The winning time

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

Owls sophomore forward Nyzair Rountree pulls up for the potential game-winning shot; the Owls went on to beat UMass-Boston in overtime 50-46, and are now 2-0 in L.E.C. games.

SEE WINNING B6

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