The Equinox 2.20.20

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THE EQUINOX The student voice of Keene State College

Vol. 73, Issue #18

Thursday, February 20, 2020

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BRIEF

Food insecurity on college campuses Cohen Center to host trip to Washington D.C. RACHEL VITELLO

News editor For 21 years, the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies has hosted an annual spring trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. This trip is open to any KSC student, regardless of major. The goal of the trip is to raise awareness and education around the Holocaust and the atrocities of genocide.

The trip costs $100, which is used to cover the cost of round-trip bus transportation and a two-night hotel stay. The trip this year is from Friday, March 6, to Sunday, March 8. Those interested should contact Michele Kuiawa at mkuiawa@ keene.edu or at (603) 358-2490 by Friday, February 21. First come, first served.

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

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PUJA THAPA / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Research reveals that the cost of higher education impacts food and housing security The financial cost of attending college puts some students at risk of hunger or homelessness. According to The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, research shows that “45 percent of college students experience some form of housing insecurity including problems related to housing unaffordability, instability or homelessness.”

Last year, faculty of Keene State’s public health department Dena Shields, Amanda Hickey and Margaret Henning conducted research on hunger and food insecurity in Keene State’s student population.

From the results of that research, the second round of research is being conducted. This follow-up research is focused on the objective definition of food insecurity according to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), housing insecurity and how the mental and physical health of students is impacted by these things. Student researchers Tana Meyer and Elyria Gordon-Wylie are conducting the research with the goal of completing the data collection by mid-March.

“An interesting data point that came from the first round of data is that students with

unlimited meal plans had answered that hunger impacted their academic performance,” Shields said.

Two years ago, Keene State created a Hunger and Homelessness Task Force to address the issues students are facing. The task force consists of Keene State faculty, staff and students, Keene community members and Chartwells employees.

“They all want to help students in this way.

What we do is look for ways to help students in these areas, and what policies might need to change,” Shields said. “One of the things that came out of this task force is the professional dress drive. An email went out to faculty and staff and we had a great response.”

The plan is to host the professional dress drive close to the time of the Future Fair. This will allow students to find a free, professional dress before the Future Fair.

Students often struggle with the cost of textbooks. Dr. Karen Cangialosi of Keene State’s biology department has worked to incorporate Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Pedagogy in the science courses at Keene State.

“The Keene State biology department has saved its biology students tens of thousands of dollars over the last five years by replacing

all commercial textbooks with OER and other free resources,” Cangialosi said.

The cost of higher education is an issue across the country. The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice has drawn data from 411 colleges and universities across the United States.

“It’s not about Keene State doing anything wrong, it’s about the public support for higher education that’s been the problem and our legislature in New Hampshire that’s been the problem,” Cangialosi said. “There’s a hashtag, ‘RealCollege’ and I think the idea is thinking about what are the real issues that students face. If you have a lot of debt and you have to pay a lot, you might have to work a job or two or three. Realistically, when you come into class and you’re falling asleep it may be because you’re working a night job.”

Director of External Relations Steve Fortier is also a member of the Hunger and Homelessness Task Force. He worked with the college to secure enough public funding to freeze tuition rates for the 2020/2021 academic year. The University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees voted to freeze next year’s tuition because of sufficient state funding.

“I think it’s important for all of us to

understand that the most effective way of meeting students’ needs is to increase state and federal funding in higher education,” Fortier said. “Until we really address the issue of state funding, in particular, of higher education, we will always be dealing with these issues.”

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

“

What we do is look for ways to help students in these areas, and what policies might need to change.

- Dena Shields

“

KELLY REGAN

seNior News editor

BRIEF

Robbery occurs in downtown Keene RACHEL VITELLO

News editor A robbery occurred in downtown Keene at the retail store Synergy on Tuesday, February 11. All Keene State College students received an email notice from campus safety regarding the incident, which suggested practicing additional caution around strangers on campus, securing vehicles, residential halls and buildings.

According to the Keene Sentinel, Joshua Drinnon, a 26-year-old Swanzey man, was taken into custody by Keene

Index

Opinions ...........4-5

Section B: Student Life...1-4 WN....................5

A&E ..................6-8

Sports............6-8

Section A: News .................1-3

Associated Collegiate Press

police around 3 p.m. that same day at the Keene Inn. Drinnon persons on campus can be reported to KSC campus safety at was also charged with a separate burglary of a Concord Road (603) 358-2228. resident’s home. When the incident was made aware to the community, Keene High School maintained a secure campus Rachel Vitello can be contacted at and Keene City Hall locked their exterior doors while Main rvitello@kscequinox.com.

Street was being searched by Keene police.

The Keene Sentinel reported that anyone with additional information can call the Keene Police Department at (603) 357-9820 and ask to speak to Detective Andrew Lippincott, or submit tips anonymously at www.ci.keene.nh.us/ departments/police/anonymous-crime-tips. Any suspicious

A4: Walking becomes a slippery slope A8: The world is their Atlas B1: The love of sign language B8: ACL recovery

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River Valley and KSC review first semester of partnership RACHEL VITELLO

News editor Last semester, River Valley Community College (RVCC) partnered with Keene State College to co-locate on campus. RVCC took over the space on 67 Winchester Street for administrative offices and uses classrooms on the KSC campus, as well as labs and storage space. This partnership is now one full semester in the making, so how’s it going thus far?

KSC President Melinda Treadwell and RVCC President Alfred Williams embarked on a media tour on Friday, February 14, to update the community on this. According to both Treadwell and Williams, the partnership has been going well so far without complaints. One River Valley faculty member, professor of biological science and the department chair for science and technology Julie Robinson, said that her job has not been impacted in a negative way since the move to KSC. “I’m still teaching the same classes I would have taught at our old building, but now the lab space is bigger and it’s really wellequipped,” Robinson said. “The lab manager and technician and all the faculty in the Science Center have been really kind and helpful.”

Robinson also shared an anecdote of one of her River Valley students asking a KSC faculty member a question about the greenhouse in the Science Center. That faculty member then proceeded to bring the student

» SEE RIVER VALLEY A3

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News / A2

Thursday, February 20, 2020

NH Primary Results Bernie Sanders

75,413

Candidate

Pete Buttigieg

71,763

Amy Klobuchar

58,166

Elizabeth Warren 27,105 Joe Biden Tom Steyer

24,705

10,613 Votes

Griffin Ell / Art Director

Monitoring ice and snow on campus

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PUJA THAPA / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Recent icy conditions and snowfall causes some trouble for the college TEDDY TAUSCHER

Equinox Staff With the recent cases of snow, freezing rain and ice on campus, many students wonder what dictates a snow day or delay. According to the assistant director of the Physical Plant Grounds Department Bud Winsor, the storms affecting Keene have been unusual in the amount of ice they bring, rather than snow, and ice is significantly harder for the Physical Plant team to deal with. “We haven’t had a typical snowstorm,” Winsor said.

Grounds Landscape Team Lead at Keene State College Joe Britton said that getting snow is often a better case for those working plows than freezing rain.

“We’d rather have a foot of fluffy snow than where it starts to snow then turns to rain and then you have to delay plowing because you’re worried about freezing on the solid surfaces.”

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In the event of larger snow storms where all classes are canceled, safety is the number one priority when it comes to choosing which area should be plowed first.

“Often times it’s ways for fire trucks and emergency vehicles,” Britton said. Another priority is opening all walkways to places like the Zorn Dining Commons, which remains open no matter the weather.

Sometimes the decision is made to wait to plow the sidewalks and, according to Britton, there is a specific reason for that. “If you have two inches of snow and you’re expecting a freezing rain, if you plow that off its going to turn into a skating rink, so you’re looking for the snow to absorb that moisture before you remove it,” Britton said.

Winsor said the decision to cancel classes is both a safety precaution and allows them to clean up places like parking lots, which are difficult to shovel when they are filled with cars. “We don’t do it because we want to do it. We do it because, if not, then we wouldn’t

be able to do our job,” Winsor said.

The Keene State College Physical Plant Department is not only reactive to storms, but uses multiple weather programs to track incoming snow. “We start with looking at the weather forecast. We try to stay ahead of it as best as we can by knowing what the weather is,” said Winsor. “We have pretty good information on what a storm could bring.”

The decision to cancel classes is made by the Office of the President of Keene State College. KSC President Melinda Treadwell reiterated how safety is always a priority. “We are always concerned for the safety of our students, faculty and staff while they are traveling to and from campus as well as while they are on campus.

Decisions are made based on the forecast weather and how that will impact safety,” Treadwell said. “KSC utilizes sophisticated weather tracking to watch inclement weather as it approaches New England.”

Not only do winter storms cause trouble for the

college but they also cause trouble for the whole city.

The city of Keene has more than 52 miles of sidewalks and, according to Keene Highway Superintendent Bill Byrne, the machines required to plow the sidewalks go very slow. “It takes extremely long to plow them,” Byrne said. It takes the city about eight hours to plow a sidewalk with a few inches of snow.

“It’s similar to last year, and last year wasn’t a particularly snowy winter,” Byrne said. “It’s only the middle of February now; we can still get a fair amount.”

Teddy Tauscher can be contacted at ttauscher@kscequinox.com.

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News / A3

Thursday, February 20, 2020

KELLY REGAN

CAMPUS SENATE

Senior newS reporter

Keene State College Senate met at 4 p.m. on February 12, 2020. The College Senate serves as the policy-making body at Keene State.

The topic of offering micro-credentials at Keene State was discussed during the meeting. The issue of differentiating between micro-credentials and minors was also brought up.

Another area of concern was students having the prerequisites to take the necessary micro-credential courses.

Current Keene State programs were reviewed to determine the value of continuing to offer them. The decrease in demand for geology, Earth sciences and French has led the college to consider eliminating these programs. Placing these programs on administrative hold was discussed during this senate meeting. Senate Curriculum Committee Chair Nicholas Germana offered a possible reason for this problem.

“I believe all these programs are in the position they are in because of the retirement of faculty and because of the lack of resources to hire more faculty,” Germana said.

“It’s important for us to know, with these three programs, what the timeline is,” Academic Standards Committee Senator Peg Richmond said.

Senate Chair Patrick Dolenc called for additional feedback to be provided through open forums and other forms created

Campus Safety Press Log

for this purpose.

The Academic Policy Committee (APC) had no new motions to bring to the College Senate at this meeting.

The Academic Standards Committee (ASC) made necessary revisions and met once prior to this College Senate meeting.

“Over winter break, all of the revisions were finished,” said ASC Chair Kirsten Riegler.

The Senate Curriculum Committee held a long meeting on January 22, where they discussed several motions. On January 27, the Senate Curriculum Committee voted to bring these motions before the College Senate.

All motions proposed by the Senate Curriculum Committee were unanimously approved by the College Senate.

Senate Chair Patrick Dolenc called for new business. No new business was addressed. The meeting was adjourned at 5:28 p.m.

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

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2/10 Suspicious person- Mason Library 2/10 Unauthorized sales/solicitationButler Court, Pondside 2 and 3 2/10 Odor of drugs- Carle Hall 2/11 Suspicous motor vehicle- Madison lot 2/11 Disorderly conduct / breach of peace- Madison lot 2/11 Health & safety concern- Carle Hall 2/11 Unauthorized saless/solicitationHolloway and Huntress 2/11 Motor vehicle collision / hit & runWinchester lot 2/12 Medical non-emergency- Carle Hall and LLC 2/12 Harassment- Carle Hall 2/12 Suspicious activity- Spaulding gym 2/12 Computer crimes- LLC 2/12 Odor of smoke, gas, otherHolloway Hall 2/13 Suspicious activity- Carle Hall 2/13 Motor vehicle collision- hit & runVisitor lot 2/14 Suspicious person- Winchester lot and Butler Court 2/14 Stalking- Art Center 2/14 Harassment- Student Center 2/15 Intoxicated/incapacitatedHolloway Hall 2/15 Suspicious activity- Madison lot 2/15 Check the welfare- Owl’s nest 5 2/15 Suspicious activity- Butler Court 2/15 Odor of drugs- Spaulding lot 2/16 Intoxicated/incapacitated subjectFiske Hall 2/16 Threat / intimidation- Keddy Hall

NEWS EDITOR RACHEL VITELLO (781)812-7461

RIVER VALLEY cont. from A1

down to the greenhouse, answer together moving forward is through all her questions and gave her a an evolving nursing program. plant to take home, despite not even “We’re looking at what additional knowing the student. programs River Valley can offer “Some of my students were a now that we have a different kind of little nervous the first week or so space. The LPN (licensed practical that they wouldn’t integrate well nurse) program is a program we’re or that they were ‘outsiders.’ I don’t going to be starting next year,” see any of that,” Robinson said.

Williams said.

Prior to the partnership, there “What I know from this was concern from some at Keene community is that we need other State that the college’s identity and nursing credentials in addition to vision would be lost in this process. the bachelor’s we offer,” Treadwell “There were some questions said. “River Valley starting up about whether we were blurring an LPN, thinking about an LNA our identity by welcoming the (licensed nursing assistant), getting community college,” Treadwell stronger and visible as a place said. “Those, to me, are arguments where you can get an RN (registered of something new and different, nurse), is helping people see the rather than reasons not to pursue it.” great quality programs in nursing Now, River Valley and Keene that River Valley offers and those State are looking for ways to better entry-level credentials that make a integrate River Valley students’ huge difference for this region. For experiences with KSC culture. The River Valley to offer those at Keene hope is to also make it easier for any State is really important and it’s River Valley student who is looking necessary for this region when you to transfer to KSC upon receiving think about elder care and hospital some credits at River Valley. needs.”

“We’re working on things The institutions will also be now like meal plans for River looking at ways to offer different Valley students and rec center certificates and microcredentials memberships,” Treadwell said. that could help people already in “What are the ways for us to create the workforce who are looking to not only an ad hoc community advance their skills. River Valley but chances for them to be a part is also looking at classes they offer of other things here and be a part that Keene State students may of the sports scene and music and be interested in, like their sign cultural scene in ways that are more language class. Williams hopes that welcoming.” the new number of opportunities One major way in which the this partnership offers will attract two institutions will be working more people to the region.

KSCEQUINOX.COM

“Not being a native of New Hampshire, I see that New Hampshire is a great place to live and raise a family. The collegegoing rates should be higher and we need to have more of those students stay in New Hampshire after they go to college,” Williams said. “This just fits into my mission as a community college president, to have more students be interested in coming to college.”

There is also hope that this partnership will inspire other institutions to do the same.

“If we make this work, it’s a new model for how two and four-year institutions would work together to create a new business model for access and affordability,” Treadwell said. “We have very high-quality programs. It makes sense. We’re not losing our identity in this, we’re actually strengthening opportunity webs.”

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

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OPINIONS

Opinions / A4 Thursday, February 20, 2020

EDITORIAL

KSCEQUINOX.COM LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Walking becomes a slippery slope

Cohen Center trip to D.C. To the Equinox Editor: Beginning in 1999, the Cohen Center has hosted an annual spring trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. With only seven at the outset, the number of Keene State students participating gradually rose—within ten years, there were approximately 50 traveling to DC on the bus.

But why visit this national treasure? Nestled just off the National Mall, the museum serves as a powerful memorial to the Holocaust, among the worst human-perpetrated tragedies the world has experienced.

According to its own literature, the museum’s purpose “is to educate its visitors on the dangers of hatred and the atrocities of genocide, and how society can confront challenges to freedom and human dignity.”

The trip to DC is open to any Keene State student interested in learning more about the Holocaust; it’s not limited to those majoring in Holocaust and Genocide Studies or currently enrolled in an HGS course.

The cost per student is $100, a fee that covers round-trip bus transportation and two nights in a Washington hotel. But space is limited and the policy is “first come, first served.”

-KIRSTEN SOMERO/ EQUINOX STAFF

How to stay safe on and off campus during the winter months Tripping up the stairs or in the hall is embarrassing enough, but slipping on ice brings being hurt to a whole other level. As students, we value our safety at Keene State College, and unfortunately the freezing rain and ice rattles us. Ice skating is meant for the ice rink, yet we find ourselves sliding from point A to point B. The college plows, salts and tries to take care of the problem as much as they can, but it doesn’t mean you should run.

Another precaution the school takes is having delayed openings to help combat the weather more effectively. The only problem is that most of the time these delays only

THE EQUINOX

impact 8 a.m. classes, which means that students with a 10 a.m. are still at risk due to the fact that most of the time two hours is not enough time to make all of campus safe, especially when it will most likely still be snowing or raining.

A troubling issue that the Equinox has noticed is that it seems the ice gets worse the farther you get from Appian Way and the center of the campus. This includes buildings on the outer edge of campus, such as Pondside 1 and 2, where students may find themselves slipping as soon as they walk out of the building. In order to avoid this, we strongly encourage the school to be more proactive

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

A&E Editor

Opinions Editor

Tom Benoit

Cristian Valentin

Student Life Editor

Multimedia Director

Connor Crawford

Benajil Rai

Sports Editor

Claire Boughton

Art Director Griffin Ell

Business Manager Jack Hanson

Webmaster Justin Giuliano

Social Media Director

about salting these places.

This is, however, not just a school issue but also a Keene issue. That is because often times off campus seems to be the worst, which is even more dangerous because students who come from off campus have to do even more walking in order to get to their classes. They also have to deal with cars that could slip and even potentially cause pedestrian injuries if roads are not salted properly.

The weather is out of our control, but we can take control of the situation as best as we can. We should be cognizant of the ice under our feet as well as the icicles above our heads.

As students, we should also be extra care-

ful at night, in dark corners where black ice hides. Taking it slow on the roads and especially in the parking lots at school is an absolute must as well. And lastly, it is well-known that we all have such busy lives, but during the winter, with wind chill and low temperatures like these, we should all take our time walking to class and other places.

Salt can be our best friend during these winter months here in Keene, but we need to take the risk out of the question; put on rubber boots and watch where we’re walking.

Soren Frantz

Copy Editors

Lexi Palmer Meeghan Somerset

Senior Reporters Kelly Regan

C. Paul Vincent, Ph.D. Interim Co-Director, Cohen Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies Professor Emeritus, Holocaust Studies and History Keene State College Keene, New Hampshire

EQUINOX NEWSROOM

EDITORIAL POLICY

Faculty Advisor

The Equinox is a designated public forum. Student editors have full editorial control over the entire content of the paper.

All articles and opinion pieces are assigned, written and edited by students without censor by administrators, faculty or staff.

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

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

All letters must include name and phone number for verification.

The Equinox reserves the right to edit for style and length, and refuse any letters to the editor. For clarification and additional information on any above policies call 358-2414. The Equinox business office is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

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

Equinox Staff: Slesha Tuladhar, Alex Harvey, Matthew White, Simon Clarke, Caroline Ware, Kirsten Somero, Andrew Chase, Rowan Heard, Kiana Wright, Lydia Mardin, Jeremy Landers, Alex Dube, Isabella Echavarria, Dylan O’ Connell, Jillian River, Matt Holderman, Hunter Oberst, William Pruett

Kiana Wright

Photo Editor

If you wish to take advantage of this year’s trip, scheduled for 6-8 March (Friday through Sunday), contact Michele Kuiawa (mkuiawa@ keene.edu, 358-2490) at the Cohen Center by 21 February.

I promise, the experience will impact your life, just as it has hundreds of students before you.

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.

The Equinox is published each Thursday during the academic year by the editorial board of The Equinox, which is elected every spring by the members of the editorial board and acts as joint publisher of the paper.

The Equinox serves as the voice of the students of Keene State College and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the faculty, the staff and/or the administration.

One copy of The Equinox is available free each week. Anyone removing papers in bulk will be prosecuted on theft charges to the fullest extent of the law. Inserting items into printed copies of The Equinox is considered theft of services and will result in prosecution.

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CONTACT:

The Equinox exists to promote the free flow of information, to protect the First Amendment, to stimulate high standards in the practice of journalism and to foster excellence among student journalists.

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Opinions / A5

Thursday, February 20, 2020

STAFF COMMENTARY

STAFF COMMENTARY

Presidential pardon for Trump

Democratic race gets Discussing the acquittal of President Donald Trump’s charges interesting ANDREW CHASE

Equinox Staff On Wednesday, February 5, 2020, the United States Senate voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump of all charges.

The charges that the Senate voted to vindicate Trump were split into two different articles of impeachment. The first article of impeachment was called Article Ⅰ: Abuse of Power. The second article of impeachment was called Article Ⅱ: Obstruction of Congress.

The United States Senate had 48 Senators that voted guilty and 52 senators for not guilty on the first article of impeachment.

The United States Senate had 47 senators that voted guilty and 53 that voted not guilty on the second article of impeachment. For the vote on Article Ⅰ: Abuse of Power, all 45 Democrat Senators plus the two Democraticleaning Independent Senators voted guilty on both Articles of Impeachment.

The only senator to step out of their political party lines was Utah’s Republican Senator Mitt Romney. Romney voted guilty only for the first Article of Impeachment.

Romney did not vote guilty for the second Article of Impeachment, instead voting not guilty. Since Romney voted not guilty on the second Article of Impeachment, all 53 Republican senators voted not guilty on the second Article of Impeachment.

The United States Senate voting to acquit Trump was a huge blow to all of the Democrats on Capitol Hill because on December 18, 2019, the United States House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on both of the charges of the two Articles of Impeachments.

The United States House of Representatives voted 230 in favor of Trump being guilty of Article Ⅰ: Abuse of Power and 197 in favor of Trump being not guilty of Article Ⅰ: Abuse of Power.

The United States House of Representatives voted 229 in favor of Trump being guilty of Article Ⅱ: Obstruction of Congress and 198 voted in favor of Trump being not guilty of Article Ⅱ: Obstruction of Congress.

Since the Democrats primarily rule the United States House of Representatives, it came as no surprise that Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives but not the Senate because President Trump is a Republican and the Senate is primarily ruled by Republicans.

In my opinion, Trump should not be impeached on two articles of impeachment because he didn’t do anything that would be illegal in my eyes. Yet, I do believe that Trump should be impeached for a different reason that the House Democrats didn’t use in their articles of impeachment.

My reason that I believe that the president should’ve been impeached is the fact that Trump attempted to intimidate a witness during his impeachment hearings.

During Marie Yovanovitch’s public testimony, Trump was tweeting out tweets that sounded like he was trying to scare Yovanovitch into not telling the truth. It confuses me as to why no one used this crucial information in the case against Trump because witness intimidation is genuinely a crime.

DISCLAIMER: This article is the sole opinion of Andrew Chase

LYDIA MARDIN

Equinox Staff

T N E C O N IN

Andrew Chase can be contacted at achase@kscequinox.com

-GRIFFIN ELL/ ART DIRECTOR

STAFF COMMENTARY

Professors pushing political opinions on students

-KIRSTEN SOMERO/ EQUINOX STAFF

Keene State student shares his thoughts on politics in the classroom WILLIAM DEY

Equinox Staff Teachers are supposed to be people who we trust with not only furthering our education and preparing us for the real world, but also with incorporating current events into their teaching exercises.

However, some of those teachers try to bend the truth of those current events to spread their political viewpoints with the objective of making us believe those viewpoints and that’s where it becomes a problem.

A student goes to school so they can formulate their own opinion about what is going on in the world and Emma Taubenfeld from Pace

University can attest to this in her article “Why Professors Shouldn’t Preach Their Political Beliefs” when she writes: “A professor or teacher trying to convince or adopt their views is bad for the general public, in that every student should form their own opinions and stances on different political issues.” Taubenfield is not only saying that students are entitled to their own opinion but she is also talking about how teachers spreading their political beliefs is harming the general public. When students are forced to adopt an opinion, they essentially aren’t thinking on their own as well as being rewarded for their silence and scolded when they share their own thoughts.

There are a fair number of solutions and actions that we can take to stand against political beliefs being forced in the classroom. Teachers could decide to meet students halfway and pose political questions for discussions that can help students get their own political views across, rather than just stating their political beliefs.

Eric Truong argues in his article “Should Teachers Share Political Opinions in the Classroom”: “Teachers should be permitted to discuss political views due to freedom of speech. While obviously some topics should be not permitted, politics can be handled in a purely productive manner. Teachers should be able to make the judg-

ment call to include politics as a topic in the classroom if they feel it would benefit the class.”

Truong is saying that we should leave it up to the teacher whether or not political views get spread around the classroom. One state that would disagree with Truong’s thinking would be Arizona, as they attempted to pass The First Education Bill which aimed to prevent teachers from spreading anything political inside the classroom.

Valerie Strauss’s Washington Post article “Teachers are told not to get ‘political’ in the classroom.

What does that mean?” says that “Any teacher found to be violating the rules could be fired, though it is not exactly clear who would decide

whether an issue is germaine to a particular subject.”

From this we can take away that if this political idea spreading has affected students so much it had to go to a state’s legislative session, it hinders us from creating our own understanding and thoughts, which is an integral part of becoming an adult. If teachers think that spreading their political views in the classroom is helping the students try to prepare for the “real world,” they’re sorely mistaken.

DISCLAIMER: This article is the sole opinion of William Dey

The Iowa Caucus was held on February 3, 2020, and led to some unexpected results.

After all of the results were finally in, after the controversy surrounding the vote-counting app that was supported by the Democratic party in Iowa, it was announced on Friday, February 7, that Pete Buttigieg won the caucus by a mere 0.1 percent; he also won 14 delegates in the Hawkeye State. Buttigieg was closely followed by Bernie Sanders, then Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar to round out the top five.

While I like to think I am pretty up to date with politics, I will say I was surprised with Mayor Pete’s performance. A resident of South Bend, Indiana, he has been very popular with a lot of young people, my friends included.

He is an interesting candidate to say the least. While I will not be personally supporting him, it is kind of nice to see a young person of only 38 who has some interesting attributes that many people can relate too.

As a bisexual, it is also neat to see that there is a gay candidate running. He came in second in the New Hampshire primary to Bernie Sanders l, only by about 1.3 percent of the vote, each winning nine delegates.

I think it will be interesting to see how Buttigieg compares to the other candidates in the coming weeks. I do believe that this is the former mayor’s race to win. Given Sander’s performance in the most recent primaries in 2016, I believe he will not make the cut.

Buttigieg is younger and better-liked than Sanders and, while Mayor Buttigieg does not necessarily have experience in Washington, he has been through a lot in his life. He was a veteran and served in Afghanistan and he is a millennial, which means he knows what other millennials think and would want out of a president.

I stand firm when saying that I think Buttigieg will win the nomination and here is why.

Most pre-primary polls show bigger names like Sanders, Biden or even Warren winning the Democratic nomination just because these names are recognizable, but if there is one thing we know from pre-primary polls, it is that they really are not accurate in predicting the outcomes of elections.

For instance, many people predicted that Sanders would be the nominee for the 2016 Democratic ticket, but he wasn’t, Hillary Clinton was, which subsequently led to the election of Donald Trump. I also know that no one predicted his success in Iowa or, to an extent, New Hampshire.

I think a lot of people see Sander’s appeal in New England, mainly because he is a New Englander.

However, given that logic, one could argue the appeal of Pete Buttigieg will be in the midwest mainly because he is near that area and while Klobuchar is also from that region, she does not bring anything new or exciting to the table, unlike Buttigieg. And no one can argue that a Buttigieg versus Trump presidential race would surely be interesting, to say the least.

DISCLAIMER: This article is the sole opinion of Lydia Mardin Lydia Mardin can be contacted at Lydia.Mardin@ksc.keene.edu

William Dey can be contacted at wdey@kscequinox.com

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Mixing music and politics ROWAN HEARD

Equinox Staff Politics in its nature is much like music; the histories of both are rooted in communicating through issues of conflict and harmony.

Music comes from both the physical and mental manifestation of thoughts, much like politics, only it is reflected in policy. At the heart of politics we have compromise and try to find common ground on which we can openly communicate. Both music and politics seek to inspire their targets and have been intertwined for decades.

Music has the ability to get large crowds pumped up, which is why it is used by various politicians to talk about various issues. National anthems are highly respected by their citizens and boost nationalism, for example. Several governments throughout history have used music during war times. In WWII, the American government had songs to raise moral and support for the soldiers on the ground, such as “God Bless America” (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, 2012).

If a country is not drawn in by the turmoil of war and all that it brings, songs can still have a legitimate boost to political energy. Many politicians face backlash from artists misrepresenting their songs and the meaning that they are trying to portray while others are actually endorsed by musicians because of how much their music resembles the policy. One of the most notable politicians of recent years to use music frequently is United States Senator Bernie Sanders. In 2016, Sanders was openly endorsed by the likes of Phish, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Marshall Ndegeocello and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Statements like these cross neo-political lines and are a testament to the fact that at their cores, both music and politics’ mission is to inspire others to think in a different way.

Sanders recently held a rally in Keene, New Hampshire, that was headlined by the bands Twiddle and Sunflower Bean. Strategically, it makes sense coming to a college town and using the help of bands that are popular with the voter base he is trying to appeal to. The

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

The band Twiddle performing prior to a Bernie Sanders campaign event in the Spaulding Gymnasium at Keene State College on February 10.

rally was one of the largest held in New Hampshire by a presidential candidate with about 2,000 people lining up to see the bands and the message of Sanders' policy to work in synch. “There is no stopping our movement,” Sanders told a cheering crowd as the energy from the

music could still be felt. Students agree that music can help influence a crowd into supporting the messages being portrayed.

“I would probably vote for somebody if a musician that I liked was playing at one of their rallies,” said Mark Manning, a senior at Keene

State College.

It is far from a guarantee that music will help a candidate win over the hearts of voters, however.

“I find it corny that politicians use songs to inspire people unless the artist actually endorses the politician. I feel as if the music can be a

bit forced and taken out of context and politics will continue to have frequently,” said Denzel Asson, a relevance for the foreseeable future. former student of Keene State College.

Music has been a part of human Rowan Heard can be contacted at nature for a very long time. As long rheard@kscequinox.com as we keep thinking and creating ideas, the synchronization of music

Controversy at the Academy Awards The Oscar Awards are a time for actors and film directors alike to come together to share achievements in filmmaking, but sometimes there are people who can’t seem to celebrate others' achievements.

On Sunday, February 9, the annual Oscars were held and the highly sought-after Oscar for Best Original Screenplay was awarded to South Korea filmmaker Bong Joon-ho for his film “Parasite.”

It was not the film or the multiple awards that stirred controversy among the internet, however, it was his speech for accepting the award of Best Original Screenplay. Joonho, stunned by the bestowment of a second award, gave his acceptance speech almost entirely in Korean. Joon-ho’s translator, Sharon Choi, translated his speech for the audience, but to some this was not enough.

After the awards, Jon Miller, the host of “The White House Brief” on BlazeTV, tweeted: “A man named Bong Joon-ho wins #Oscar for Best Original Screenplay over ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood’ and ‘1917.’ Acceptance speech was ‘GREAT HONOR. THANK YOU.’ Then he proceeds to give the entire speech in Korean. These people are the destruction of America.”

This tweet stirred up lots of controversy amongst the online community with people calling Miller racist and close-minded. Miller attempted to withdraw the commentary, but is still under scrutiny by the online community.

Keene State sophomore and film student Paige Karavas watched Joon-ho’s film and agrees with the academy in the bestowment of this award for Joon-ho.

“I honestly thought the camerawork of the film was beautiful; everything had meaning and the ending just pulled everything together. I’ve never seen a Bong Joon-ho movie until 'Parasite,' but it definitely deserved the Oscar,” said Karavas.

The film depicts a poor Korean family who works their way into the hearts and home of a wealthy Korean family in secret with hopes to improve their quality of life. Joonho uses satirical notes to create a sense of dark comedy throughout the film, adding to the thrill that has generally been appraised by most film critics.

Joon-ho’s speech was moving for lots of audience members whom Jonn-ho said inspired him and helped him get to where he is today, including world-renowned directors and writers Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.

David Cudia, a senior public health major, says that

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he thoroughly enjoyed the film and agrees that Bong Joonho is well-deserving of the awards he was given at the Oscars.

“I don’t think there was a word of English throughout the entire film, so it makes no sense to me why people would be upset about his speech being in Korean,” said Cudia.

Film Professor Ahn Jiwon did not respond to requests for comments on Bong-Joon Ho’s awards at press time.

It is easy to say that regardless of online hate, Joon-ho has fought for his place, now joining some of the highestranking film producers in the world after not only winning the award for Best Original Screenplay but also for Best Picture and Best Director, all for his work on his breakthrough film “Parasite.”

Alex Dube can be contacted at adube@kscequinox.com

“

“I don’t think there was a word of English throughout the entire film, so it makes no sense to me why people would be upset about his speech being in Korean.”

- David Cudia

“

ALEX DUBE

Equinox Staff

GRIFFIN ELL / ART DIRECTOR

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MOVIE REVIEW

ATLAS

'Birds of Prey'

cont. from A8

DYLAN O'CONNELL

Equinox Staff

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SAM REINKE / EQUINOX STAFF

JILLIAN RIVERS

Equinox Staff The arts have been admired by millions of different kinds of people for generations. Creating art, however, is no simple task. Making a career out of it can be even more challenging. Some people believe it is unwise to have a degree in art and think it is impossible to get a job with that kind of degree. One student, however, is changing the way people view working in the arts with their hard work ethic and talent .

Atlas Weil is a student at Keene State College majoring in art. Weil, 19, is from Alstead, New Hampshire. Weil said that they have been making things their whole life. They said sophomore year of high school in particular was when they got more seriously into art and built a passion from there.

Their favorite kinds of art are painting, specifically oil painting, and pottery. They are working on a painting of singer King Princess, whom Weil is a big fan of.

“There is nothing else I want to do,” Weil said. “I think a lot of [art] is coping with feelings, whether they are positive or negative, and having a way to make the way that you feel or the way that you see the world a concrete object.”

Weil transferred here after attending art school for a year.

This is their second year at Keene State. Weil is graduating in three years time rather than the four years other college students typically do. They said saving money was a factor, as is typical for many college students who decide to graduate early. Aside from money, however, Weil wants to have more worldly experiences before they begin to work full time.

“I had some extra credits from high school so I could graduate early,” Weil explained, “and I figured I would rather do something outside of school and travel around a bit as opposed to just making art in college for another year when I don’t have to.”

After they graduate, Weil plans on moving to New York City and finding work there. New York is known for its artistic culture by millions, and different works of art can be

found all over the city. There are also several famous art galleries throughout New York City.

“I’m hoping to get an internship or job working in a museum or gallery and continue to make art when I move to New York,” Weil said.

There are several other art majors out there, not just at Keene, but all over the world, who are just like Weil. Art majors are known to be ridiculed for their decision to major in art, but people like Weil prove that there are no limitations that come with having an art degree. It is well-understood that majoring in the arts is no easy task, but it is not impossible.

Jillian Rivers can be contacted at jrivers@kscequinox.com

Equinox Music Choices Arts and Entertainment Editor Tom Benoit (361) 571-1989 KSCEQUINOX.COM

Door - Caroline Polachek

Comic book franchise films have become nearly impossible to assess as individual films because of connecting plot threads. DC films in particular became a complete mess, and I have no idea what the overarching strategy has become. However, I do know that "Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn" is a welcome step in the right direction.

"Birds of Prey" is the second feature film by Chinese-American director Cathy Yan, who is also the second woman hired to direct a DCEU film. Her previous film "Dead Pigs" (2018) was inspired by the 2013 Huangpu River dead pigs incident and received a Special Jury Award for ensemble acting. Yan’s ability to balance an ensemble cast certainly comes across in this women-driven film starring Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Ella Jay Basco.

Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina also star in the film.

In the animated and explosive opening of the film, Harleen Quinzel (Robbie) breaks up with the Joker. Unfortunately, her public breakup draws the violence of every person she has ever wronged because they view her as a viable target without the protection of the Joker. This includes crime lord Roman Sionis (McGregor) and his henchman Victor Zsasz (Messina).

However, an opportunity for Quinn arrives in the form of young thief Cassandra Cain (Basco), who steals an invaluable diamond from Zsasz.

The story is being told in retrospect by Quinzel and occasionally she has to correct the narrative by adding forgotten details. Robbie absolutely dominates the role of Quinzel with charming insanity that belies a PhD in Psychology that is occasionally used to diagnose other characters. Her chemistry with Basco is delightful and I hope Basco has a fruitful acting career.

Everyone manages their roles well, with Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance being an additional highlight.

"Birds of Prey" is a refreshing breath of fresh air for its diverse cast and addressing of diversity issues.

I appreciate that none of the characters are shot in a sexual manner and their gender is never called out.

"Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) both had shots that highlighted female characters, which comes across as self-congratulatory. At one point, Quinzel gets highly intoxicated and two men attempt to kidnap her, but Lance steps in and incapacitates the men. I appreciate the realistic portrayal of attempted assault that is resolved in an ideal manner, by intervention.

My only issues with "Birds of Prey" are the pacing that slows in the middle and underutilization of Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

However, they are not enough to seriously detract from the well-choreographed action featuring grenade launchers and baseball bats, the perfect soundtrack or the beautiful scene about the loss of a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich that almost made me cry. "Birds of Prey" is a fun and colorful action film that is not afflicted by the baggage of previous entries in the franchise.

3.5 out of 4 stars.

Dylan O'Connell can be contacted

Fun Fact!

"Birds of Prey" brought in $33.2 million at the box office during the movie's opening weekend.

Information from Business Insider

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Thursday, February 20, 2020

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The world is their Atlas

» SEE ATLAS, A7 PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SAM REINKE / EQUINOX STAFF

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» ALUMNA B3

STUDENT LIFE

» PARTY CULTURE B2

Student Life, B1

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Alumna returns to Keene State as assistant

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The love of sign language

CRISTIAN VALENTIN

opinionS Editor

» SEE ALUMNA B3

BRIEF

Class of 2023 cancels fundraiser, plans to reschedule LONNIE HILTZ

Equinox Staff The student government for Keene State’s graduating class of 2023 has confirmed the cancellation and rescheduling of the fundraising event they had planned to put on in the campus Student Center on February 14.

Abby Cohen, the president of the class of 2023, confirmed the student government decided to cancel the event last minute, which would have raised funds for the graduating class. She pointed to several other events also taking place in the Lloyd P. Young Student Center on the same date as the reason.

Other events going on that same day included Keene State using the Mabel Brown Room to host an event for MathCounts, a series of nationwide mathematics competitions for middle school students, as well as a for-profit sale of jewelry and crystals by a small local business taking place at a table on the Student Center’s ground floor.

Cohen stated that the class of 2023 still intends to hold their fundraising event later in the year, aiming for a day closer to Spring Break. The student government has not chosen a date for the rescheduled event or offered any further comment on their plans for fundraising yet.

Lonnie Hiltz can be contacted at LHiltz@ksceqinox.com

SAM REINKE / EQUINOX STAFF

Members of the Owl Sign Language Club practicing sign language at their weekly meetings. The club was founded three years ago by a KSC student and meets every Friday at 3 p.m.

Student shares her passion of sing language with the campus community KIANA JOLER

Equinox Staff Although the Owl Sign Language Club was established just three years ago, president Angelique Inchierca’s efforts have already allowed its members to connect and work with the community.

“Having people recognize that someone is fighting for deaf culture and that we are making a mini-army of amazing support is enough for me to say that I have done some good,” said Inchierca.

Inchierca, a junior at Keene State College, founded the club her freshman year in 2018.

She learned sign language in high school, and she said she was disappointed to see that there were no American Sign Language classes or clubs at KSC. Inchierca also said there was only one class offered through Keene High School for Continuing Education.

“When I came here, sign language was still a very big passion of mine and I wanted to continue it,” said Inchierca.

A chance encounter between Inchierca

and Beth Zinn, the club advisor, sparked the creation of the club. Inchierca was signing near the stage at a KSC karaoke night and Zinn approached her. After talking about Inchierca’s knowledge and experience with sign language, Zinn asked her to perform a song. From that night, the two worked on actualizing the club until they were able to officialize it in the spring.

Three years later, the group has developed into what it is now. They spread awareness of the deaf culture of New England and provide students the opportunity to learn another language without the stress of a grade. There are signing days where they learn the basics of communication, movie days and guest speaker days. Students who know nothing about sign language or students who have learned the language are welcome to attend any of the meetings.

“If you want to learn, then you can learn.

And if you know a little bit, then you can help teach other people and share your experience with it. It’s such an interesting group of people,” said sophomore Allison Jones, trea-

surer of the club.

If students want to join the club, they can just show up to meetings. Meetings are held in the library on Fridays at 3 p.m. and last about an hour. Students do not need to attend every meeting and there is no outside work they need to complete to be members. According to Inchierca, they have about 11 steady members, but they have had over 30 at some meetings. Inchierca encourages all students to give the club a try.

“Sign language is for every major. It is for every person of every age. You never know when you are going to run into someone who is deaf,” said Inchierca.

Angelique Inchierca was previously the Social Media Director and contributes to the Equinox.

“

Having people recognize that someone is fighting for deaf culture and that we are making a mini-army of amazing support is enough for me to say that I have done some good - Angelique Inchierca

“

After graduating in just two and a half years, class of 2011 alumna Cristy Taylor has returned to Keene State as Kemal Atkins’ assistant.

Taylor was a non-traditional student, but keeping up with her studies allowed her to graduate in the time that she did. However, Taylor wishes that she could have lived on campus. “In a lot of ways I kind of wished I had chosen to live on campus just for the experience but also, commuting allowed me to graduate in two and a half years with my degree,” Taylor said.

According to the newly appointed executive assistant to the Vice President of student affairs, this new position feels like coming home. “I think it was time for a change from where I was and this job opened up; I was keeping track of openings at colleges and universities in the area, and it was just the perfect time and perfect place. I also knew Keene, so it was nice to go somewhere where I know the environment,” said Taylor.

Vice President of Student Affairs Kemal Atkins said Taylor has a very strong skill set. “As executive assistant, there are a lot of priorities that have to be juggled as they relate to my schedule, [such as] the operations of the office and the support she provides to other offices on campus. She is great at prioritizing, understanding directions

Kiana Joler can be contacted at KJoler@kscequinox.com

Students first in the nation to vote

New Hampshire allows students to meet candidates and vote first CONNOR CRAWFORD

StudEnt LifE Editor PUJA THAPA

adminiStrativE ExEcutivE Editor New Hampshire is a very lucky state when it comes to voting, and students are even luckier.

Not only do students get to meet most of the presidential candidates running for president, but they also have the honor of voting in the first primary election in the nation.

The elections were held on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.

The primary happens every four years after the first caucus in the nation, which is traditionally held in the state of Iowa.

The New Hampshire primary was a great place for students to cast their vote for who they want to be the next president of the United States.

Will Fabian was one of the Keene State students who decided to go out and vote in the first primary.

“It’s important to be involved with your country,” Fabien explained. “And one of my friends is in the military and he convinced me to [vote].”

A student who was at the polls, but decided to remain unnamed, explained how they felt it’s important to go out and vote.

“I feel like it is your duty to your country,” said the student. “If you don’t go and vote, you can’t make a change in your country and if you are not contributing to the change in the country, you have no right to complain

about the issues you care about.”

Over the past month, and a great part of the fall semester, a substantial number of presidential candidates have been filling up the campus, hoping to catch votes from students and first-time voters.

During their visits, a number of the candidates held town hall meetings, meet-andgreets and gave students chances to discuss political issues with candidates.

Sophomore Michael Kearney is another KSC student who voted in the primary. “I am not the biggest fan of our current president. I am also not the biggest fan of certain other candidates who were running in the Democratic Party, and the candidate who I voted for I felt pretty strongly about most of his ideas, so I decided I should go vote,” Kearney said.

Fabien thinks that the presidential candidates coming to campus were helpful in making his decision at the polls.

“It helped me pick out who I wanted to vote for more,” Fabian stated.

“Meeting the candidates was one of the highlights of my time here at Keene State,” the unnamed student said. “Not only was it a great chance to see a possible future president, but it also cleared up my doubts about who I should vote for in the primary.”

Even if the candidate who Fabian voted for in the primary does not end up getting the bid for president, he will still be voting in the general election in November.

“I will absolutely be voting in November,” the unnamed student explained. “Not only is voting important to our country, but

it is also fun to see everyone getting involved declared a national holiday, since it will likely and making a change in our country.” get a lot more people to go out and vote.

Kearney said it is important for students to go and vote. “I know it’s kind of cheesy to say Connor Crawford can be contacted that every vote matters, but every vote kind of at CCrawford@kscequinox.com does matter,” he said. “I think it’s important to have your voice be heard in democracy for Puja Thapa can be contacted it to work properly.” at PThapa@kscequinox.com Kearney agreed that voting day should be

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Exploring ‘Party Culture’ at Keene Does Keene State have a party culture? Keene State may have had a reputation of being a party school in the past, but does it still live up to it’s hype? Is it safe for all students who choose to be involved in it? Whether you like going out to house parties or would prefer staying in with some friends, fun can be found here any night you are free.

Courtney Chouinard, a sophomore, defined party culture as “just the type of people that go to parties and what would be expected at a party.” She went on to talk about the party culture at Keene State. “You need to know somebody to get into parties, and you mostly have to look and dress a certain way—at least for girls,” Chouinard said. She thinks that Keene State parties are normal and just involve dancing and drinking games.

Keene State junior Tom Lupetin thinks that Keene has as much party culture as any other school. He also thinks that party culture is ingrained in most institutions where most kids are experiencing the liberties of being away from home. “Keene State’s culture itself is pretty diverse on a student-by-student basis, so I think that the school’s party culture is available to those who want to participate,” said Lupetin. There is definitely a population on campus, however, that is not as interested in partying and are open to other activities.

An unnamed junior agrees with Lupetin. “Thirty to 40 percent of students, in my opinion, do go out one to three days a week,” she said. Along with having “ThirstyThursdays,” KSC has a party culture. She went on to say that Keene State was known for its party culture in the past, but after the incident at the 2014 New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival, it was seen as too much. This led the school and community to crack down on students partying, changing the previous party culture at Keene State.

Along with the commentary on the previous culture, the unnamed student said, “A big aspect about going out in college is going in a group; no one should ever be going out by themselves, in Keene or other schools.” She had never felt peer pressure to do anything she was not comfortable with and felt she could always say no.

“In my opinion, the party culture in Keene is something that’s fun and exciting. I feel that freshman through junior year is mostly house parties, while seniors or anyone 21-plus predominantly go to one of the many bars in Keene,” Trevor Cellerino, a senior, explained from his experience. “On a Friday night in Keene you will find me at a bar, hanging out with my friends and drinking

with locals,” said Cellerino.

Enjoying being 21, he said he always feels safe when he goes out. “For the most part, there is nothing I feel that I need to worry about besides the elements; you have to make sure you have the proper attire on to brave the cold,” said Cellerino. While other students prefer to be more low-key, like Lupetin, others “either use the weekend to take a break from classes or plan something in a setting that [they’re] familiar with.”

Some students consider schools based on if they have a party culture, and others may not take that too seriously. “I think parties are more accessible at Keene State than other schools, once you get to know people,” said Chouinard.

Any school can be a party school, but it is important to remember to think before you act, and drink water! Continue to have fun, Keene State. Keep it classy.

Denise Ronan can be contacted at dronan@kscequinox.com

“

In my opinion, the party culture in Keene is something that’s fun and exciting. I feel that freshman through junior year is mostly house parties, while seniors or anyone 21+ predominantly go to one of the many bars in Keene

“

Denise Ronan

equinox staff

- Trevor Cellerino

COLUMN

Love, food and romance Our food columnist dives into the Dining Commons’ Valentine’s Day dinner ABIGAIL LASHWAY

equinox staff Love is in the air, and so is the smell of delicious food. Valentine’s Day is a day of romance, couples hand-in-hand, chocolate heart boxes and dinner reservations. Keene State Dining hosted a group of people for an elegant romantic dinner on Friday, February 14. Tables were adorned with table cloths, candles and sparkling cranberry beverages. They even had a romantic movie playing on a TV in the background along with sweet love songs. The mood was set, and all that was left was for guests to arrive.

However, what made the night most memorable was the staff’s hospitality and the delicious food. The specialty dinner of the night was a four-course meal consisting of an appetizer, salad, entree and dessert.

The appetizer was a shrimp cocktail, served in a martini glass that contained a bed of greens and cocktail sauce. The chefs and servers were extremely accommodating with allergies; I have a shrimp allergy, and as soon as I told them, they made sure I wasn’t served any shrimp. However, other people thought that the shrimp was delicious. Keene State student Emma Bishop said, “I’m from a seaside town, I have very high standards and the shrimp are great.” It was very romantic and extremely elegant.

Next was the salad, with mixed greens, tomatoes and a citrus dressing. The mixed greens were fresh and the dressing complimented the dish extremely well. Bishop said she didn’t like tomatoes, but the salad dressing was delicious. “They should put the salad dressing by the salad bar in the Dining Commons,” Empty plates weren’t left for long; as soon as the second course was over the entree came out.

The entree options were tender poached salmon over fettuccini, tossed with spinach in a tomato cream sauce, or a grilled rib-eye steak

with chimichurri sauce, a side of mac and cheese and a portobello mushroom. Guests were excited by the quality of the food. The food was delicious and better than one of the couples attending expected. Keene State students Sophie Poppenga, Michaela Holst and Sam Bush were thoroughly impressed by the dishes.

Holst said, “The pasta is amazing, I didn’t expect it to be this good and my mind is blown.“ Bush agreed that the food was amazing. “My steak is really well done,” said Bush.

Bishop, who ordered the salmon and rigatoni, realized there was cream in the pasta and couldn’t eat her dinner; within minutes, the cooks remade her dish lactose-free so Bishop could enjoy her meal. Overall, everyone seemed extremely happy with their food and chatted thoughtfully throughout dinner.

Dessert was simple, but a showstopper; dark chocolate brownie, ice cream and whip cream. Simple plating and absolutely delectable. Bishop, who told the staff she was lactose intolerant, was extremely pleased that the staff remembered and brought her out a dairy-free dessert. “I didn’t even have to ask. It was extremely sweet of them to remember that I was lactose intolerant and accommodate me without asking.” Coffee was also served with dessert and throughout the meal, if requested. Keene state student Emilyann Ashford thought the coffee was extremely good and was enjoying her coffee happily with friends.

After Valentine’s Day dinner, I had the opportunity to talk with the executive chef, Troy Bellot. “I’m extremely happy with the turnout. We didn’t know how many people were going to show up so we were hesitant about too many people, but it turned out just perfect,” Bellot spent time picking out every single thing on the menu.

“The pink hue of the salmon just spoke ‘Valentine’s’ to me, and steak is always a good Valentine’s item,” he said.

Bellot went on to talk about how picking a menu is emotional and has to feel right. “You have to feel the food, it has to be tangible. If I don’t have that love for that menu it won’t translate to you,” he said. Bellot continued to talk about his passion for cooking and how he wants to make every student happy with his homestyle food.

There will be more events hosted by the dining hall in the future. Keep an eye out for signs posted inside the Dining Commons and the Student Center. I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine’s Day, and have an amazing week!

Abigail Lashway can be contacted at ALashway@kscequinox.comw

Can you guess what this is?

This is something found around campus.

If you have a guess, submit it to the student life editor at ccrawford@kscequinox.com The answer will be in next weeks paper!

SAM REINKE / EQUINOX STAFF

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Different Roots, Common Dreams Photos capture lives of immigrants in New Hampshire PUJA THAPA

Managing ExEcutivE Editor “History of Immigration in New Hampshire” is the name of the photo exhibit at the Mason Library. The photographs on the display are by photographer Becky Field.

The photograph exhibit shows the long history of people coming from other countries to find a new home in the Granite State. The photos were taken as part of her ongoing project “Different Roots, Common Dreams.” Field is a New Hampshire photographer who captures the lives of NH immigrants and refugees. Through February and March, the Redfern Arts Center, Mason Library and the Cheshire Medical Center are displaying photographs by Field.

Assistant Director of Redfern Arts Center Sharon Fantl reached out to Field and invited her. They have been working with the concept and display of this exhibit ever since, according to Fantl. The idea of the display came to Fantl when she was looking for something to complement and

extend the impact of Sandglass Theater’s presentation of “Babylon” on March 12. “Babylon” is a piece that explores the stories of refugees using table-top puppets, moving panoramic scrolls and original four-part choral songs with the aim to foster dialogue around the issues of immigration and resettlement, according to the statement at Mason Library.

Other activities around the display include presentations by local author Sandra Neil Wallace of her book “First Generation” in local elementary schools and a Refugee Journey workshop facilitated by Sandglass Theater.

According to Fantl, “Simulated people take on different roles within a refugee camp and they explore the bureaucracy and the randomness that goes along with all the specifics of that situation in the workshop.”

Puja Thapa can be contacted at PThapa@kscequinox.com

PUJA THAPA / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

ALUMNA

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Cont. from B1

easily, learning quickly and she just makes very good decisions and all that is important,” said Atkins.

Taylor also talked about her past experience. “I think a lot of times in this environment a lot of it is kind of the same, position to position, so I think coming in with some budget background and organizational background kind of ties in all the pieces.”

Class of 2012 graduate and Director of Alumni Relations Bethany Morin said that Taylor being an alumna is very exciting. “I work for Keene State, [I previously] left and came back, so as a fellow alumna to the college, I’m always excited to hear of other graduates who come back to campus and especially where we are as a college. It’s really encouraging to hear of other alumni who want to come work for their alma mater,” said Morin.

According to Taylor, coming back to the school can be very eye-opening. “I think it’s great for people to come back because when you go here you don’t necessarily know about what goes on behind the scenes, and you’re just kind of here doing your student thing, so it’s great to come back and see [what] it takes to make a school run,” said Taylor.

Taylor also said that it was nice coming back to a community that was familiar to her. “Coming back to the community that I know, I did the same thing at my last job , it’s just nice to have contacts and people that you know and you continue to build on rather than kind of starting from scratch.”

Morin agreed with this, saying that she always encourages people to come back to Keene. “There’s something really special having the opportunity to work for your alma mater in the place that really helps you develop and make your own voice. Being able to come back and help support the college and help others around you, including students, gain their own voice, is a unique opportunity.”

As Morin last remembers, Taylor is just one of over 150 alumni who are involved with Keene State and these alumni can be found throughout the many departments of the college.

Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com

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STUDENT LIFE / B4

Thursday, February 20, 2020

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/ B5 Thursday, February 20, 2020

WORLD NEWS

Reflecting on the NH primary

KSCEQUINOX.COM

4 mumps cases confirmed at UNH ASSOCIATED PRESS

Four cases of the mumps have been confirmed at the University of New Hampshire in the past two weeks, state health officials said.

Two other students may also have been infected, officials said Friday. Officials said the six students were in close contact of each other and there is no sign of a wider outbreak, WMUR-TV reported.

All students had been vaccinated but it's still possible to develop the mumps, officials said.

Health officials are making a third dose of the vaccine, which has been shown to boost immunity, available to some other students who have contact with the infected students.

New Hampshire House OKs allowing student athlete pay ASSOCIATED PRESS

Takeaways from the first in the nation primary HUNTER WOODALL

AssociAted Press NICHOLAS RICCARDI

AssociAted Press New Hampshire Democrats gave Bernie Sanders a win, but also a warning.

Sanders' durability, based both on his 2016 campaign and the first two contests this year, cannot be questioned. What remains unanswered is how moderates will now come at him and whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren will be able to compete credibly for the progressive wing. Her disappointing fourth-place showing gives supporters little confidence.

But Sanders' liabilities are also clear, at least among a large segment of voters in the party who are wary of the 78-year-old selfidentified democratic socialist, and how that label could be demonized by President Donald Trump. As he goes forward, Sanders will have to convince voters that he can pay for his plans to fundamentally reorder the American economy in the name of economic fairness.

New Hampshire voters acknowledged a nominee with strongly liberal views might have difficulty against Trump in November, with about 6 in 10 saying it would be harder, according to an AP VoteCast survey of more than 3,000 Democratic primary voters. And more than 7 in 10 voters chose someone else.

Other takeaways from the New Hampshire primary: MODERATE LANE WIDE BUT FULL OF OBSTACLES A majority of its voters clearly wanted a moderate alternative. And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, again made a case to be that choice with another impressive performance, winning votes across broad demographic groups, by running close to Sanders, who defeated Hillary Clinton by

22 percentage points in 2016.

But Buttigieg now has new competition from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who used a strong debate performance to vault to third place and a legitimate claim of momentum.

Both seem in sync with most Democrats' desires. Moderates and conservatives made up a majority of voters Tuesday, according to AP VoteCast.

But things get murkier now that the contest heads to more diverse states. Polling shows that former Vice President Joe Biden has the strongest following among African American voters in South Carolina, where non-white voters comprised about two-thirds of the 2016 Democratic primary electorate, state data show. But Biden's anemic showing in New Hampshire may test that.

Next up is Nevada, and then South Carolina and then 14 states on Super Tuesday, March 3, including mega-states California and Texas. Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar have limited support from minority voters, polls show, but Buttigieg now has demonstrated top-tier appeal and benefited from his outsidethe-Beltway pitch.

Another test awaits for the muddled moderate lane — billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been spending hundreds of millions to convince Super Tuesday voters that he, not those who campaigned in the early states, is the best alternative to Sanders.

NEW HAMPSHIRE CAN STILL SURPRISE Klobuchar was a clear expectations winner, a finish that will guarantee she gets another look from voters. New Hampshire revels in hoisting up underdog candidates and this time, it was the Minnesota senator.

She limped into New Hampshire. Then she turned in a strong debate performance Friday in Manchester, saw crowds flood her events, reported raising more than $3 million in three days and on Tuesday crushed a former vice

president and the once-top-tier senator from neighboring Massachusetts.

The problem for Klobuchar is almost no infrastructure in the huge map unfurling before Democratic presidential hopefuls. She announced a seven-figure ad buy in Nevada, the next state to vote. But she has only 30 staffers in a state where her rivals have had at least twice as many and that, because it uses a caucus, rewards advance preparation.

She's not even begun to move into the Super Tuesday states.

But Klobuchar demonstrates in New Hampshire that, even in a race that's been static for months and drowned out by Trump, debates, local quirks and voters matter.

CAN BIDEN SURVIVE IN SOUTH CAROLINA? There was not a trace of good news for Biden in the New Hampshire results. As in Iowa, he was eclipsed by the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, whom he had tried to diminish as far too inexperienced, and surprisingly by Klobuchar, whom voters saw as a better bet.

Biden's campaign has struggled repeatedly for lack of a rationale and lack of energy that could be seen in the small crowds that attended his events, his dismal fundraising, and his own uneven campaigning.

He has said he welcomes the chance to compete in a state with a more diverse electorate, and even left New Hampshire for South Carolina on Tuesday. But no candidate has failed so badly in the first two nominating contests and gone on to win.

In New Hampshire, roughly half of the state's Democrats would be dissatisfied with him as the presidential nominee, according to AP VoteCast.

His fall has been swift and dramatic.

WARREN HITS A WALL Only a few months ago, Warren looked unstoppable in New Hampshire. She represented neighboring Massachusetts, her

detail-oriented liberalism seemed a perfect match with the Granite State's no-nonsense progressives, and she led in state polls.

Now, the trajectory of her campaign is decidedly downward, and she has limited time for a reset. Warren spoke quickly Tuesday night, vowing to fight on, but it's unclear where she goes next.

Warren has a strong organization and ties in Nevada, but if she can't win on her neighboring turf it may be tough to score a surprise three time zones away. Unlike Biden, she doesn't have a demographic bulwark of African American voters to fall back on. And her small-dollar-only fundraising was already being eclipsed by Sanders, even before the Vermont senator began wracking up wins.

The candidate of plans has no clear plan to win now.

DEMOCRATS NOT THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS Democratic primary voters are old. Nearly two-thirds in New Hampshire were above the age of 45.

These are voters who could have bought first pressings of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," danced to the Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" and sipped New Coke if not also Crystal Pepsi. They have memories of the Cold War with what was then the Soviet Union.

And when it comes to choosing a nominee, this group was split between Buttigieg, Sanders and Klobuchar.

Nationwide, less than 56% of eligible voters are older than 45, according to the Census Bureau.

Sanders had an advantage with younger voters in New Hampshire.

Slightly more than 9 in 10 of New Hampshire voters are white. By way of comparison, just 68% of eligible voters are white.

New Hampshire colleges and universities would be allowed to pay athletes under a bill approved

by House lawmakers.

The legislation sent to the Senate on Thursday is modeled after language signed into law in California last year and introduced in a dozen other states. It would enable schools to compensate athletes and would allow college athletes to seek compensation for their name, image and likeness.

If it becomes law in New Hampshire, it would take effect in July 2022, after new NCAA rules are in place.

Man convicted in officer's 1997 death sought after parole ASSOCIATED PRESS

Authorities are looking for a man who served time for his involvement in the 1997 killing of a New Hampshire police officer and has disappeared after being paroled.

WMUR-TV reports that Kevin Paul was paroled in September and last had contact with his parole officer on Feb. 9, when he said his GPS monitoring bracelet was no longer working.

Authorities now believe he is hundreds of miles away. An arrest warrant was issued Friday.

Paul was convicted of being an accomplice to the shooting death of Epsom Police Officer Jeremy Charron. He originally was released in 2015 but later returned to prison on gun and drug charges.

Man accused of stealing more than $30K worth of perfume ASSOCIATED PRESS

the theft of more than 150 bottles of "He said he has investigated him Chanel Coco Mademoiselle perfume for approximately six and a half A man has been accused of from a stockroom. Three men were years, and during that time, he has stealing more than $30,000 worth of seen on surveillance video with reviewed about 100 surveillance perfume from a department store in the perfume bottles, investigators videos, conducted about 12 New Hampshire. said. Macy's organized retail crime surveillance operations and had WMUR-TV reports police were manager for the Northeast said he three face-to-face contacts with called to the Macy's at the Pheasant recognized one, identified as Jamel the defendant," prosecutor Brett Lane Mall in November regarding Flemming.

Harpster said Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Flemming, who was arrested in New York City and brought to Nashua, New Hampshire, has multiple convictions going back about 30 years in New York and New Jersey and has outstanding warrants out of Massachusetts and Maryland.

Public defender Sarah Newhall-

Amorin agreed Flemming has an extensive criminal history. "I would say, however, that most of it predates the year 2000, so it's over 20 years old," she said.

Flemming posted $10,000 bail.

He's due back in court next week.

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Sports / B6 Keene’s women’s basketball make it into Little East playoffs JEREMY LANDERS

equinox staFF The Keene State women’s basketball team is currently in sixth place in the Little East Conference. The team has three more conference games that are crucial for their playoff hopes. The team is 6-7 in the LEC, averaging 52.8 PPG with first-year guard Hailey Derosia leading the team in points with 9.7 per game.

First-year forward Molly Grant said that the team is playing well considering they are a young team.

“We’ve won some big games this year and, unfortunately, have had some tough losses,” said Grant.

“We’ve grown so much throughout this season and have really given the top teams in our conference a run for their money.”

Senior forward Kenzie Bennett had similar feelings to Grant about the season.

“We have had a good season so far,” said Bennett. “We’ve had a lot of growth. We have played a tough non-conference schedule and it really helped us get ready for conference play.”

Junior guard Lily Shlimon is satisfied with the team’s progress.

“We continue to make progress as a team every day,” said Shlimon.

“We have a lot of young players who continue to learn more each day and their energy and willingness to get better have played a huge role in where we are now.”

Grant said the team is focused on the playoffs.

“Right now our goal is to make a run in the playoffs,” said Grant. “We definitely have the talent and the coaching to come out on top. Personally, my goals have been the same all season: to improve every day, both on and off the court, as well as learn from the older girls who have more experience than I do.”

Bennett follows a machine-like routine on game day.

“As a team, and personally, we prepare for all games the same way,” said Bennett. “At this point in the season, they all count and are important. So, for us, that’s knowing our scouting report on the other team, knowing our game plan and plays and being able to execute.”

Grant commented on how she works to get ready for big games.

“We prepare for big games by eating a good and healthy meal,” said Grant. “Then we go to the gym to get loose and put some shots up.

Once it gets closer to game time, we start really hyping each other up listening to music and getting mentally ready for the game. We have two seniors who are both key players for our team; we want to win it all this year for them. I believe that we can completely shock our conference and win the LEC championship. We have all the tools to do it; we just have to bring it all together and really lock in mentally for the next few weeks.”

For Bennett, eating healthy is a major factor to counter the arduous three-month season.

“We try to eat in ways that fuel our bodies and can keep up with the demand from them, especially at this point in the season where we’ve been playing for three months and our bodies are starting to wear down.”

Shlimon tunes in for games by studying her matchups and roles as a player.

“Before games, I try to get focused on what my job is for that particular game,” said Shlimon. “The most important part for me before games is to make sure I’m focused and ready, but, more importantly, I’m excited and having fun with it.”

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Multi-sport athletes P I C K

Editor’s (S)

Owls who play in multiple sports throughout the school year ISABELLA ECHAVARRIA

equinox staFF For some athletes, one sport to dedicate all their time to is enough.

But what about the athletes who decide the “more the merrier” when it comes to their athletic careers?

Keene State junior Joe Nutting, is one of those athletes and he participates in both lacrosse and hockey at the school.

Nutting’s passion for hockey developed as early as four years old, all thanks to his dad. His love for lacrosse developed a few years later at age 11 due to his friends from school taking part in the sport.

Originally, Nutting chose to play lacrosse at The University of Massachusetts Lowell until he realized how much he missed playing hockey.

After his realization, he decided to transfer to Keene State to better suit his potential to pursue both sports.

While playing two sports in general is tough, participating in two sports that have overlapping seasons makes it that much more difficult.

Nutting explained how his hockey schedule consists of two practices a week beginning at 6 a.m., while the third begins at 10:40 p.m.

“Now that [hockey and lacrosse] overlap, I have hockey in the morning and lacrosse in the afternoon. I’d say my body is pretty sore,” explained Nutting. “My legs hurt more often than not.”

Along with the physical stress that comes with playing two sports, some mental challenges coincide as well. While he usually finds a way to make it work, Joe’s grades do sometimes suffer, an issue his mother isn’t especially fond of. His main tip for finding a balance is to eliminate procrastination. He said, “work comes first, play comes second.”

As for mentality and preparation in a game sense, Nutting’s main focus for hockey is winning and he believes strongly in superstition. For lacrosse, he takes on a more relaxed approach, focusing more on development and the mind game that plays into the competition.

Ben Musese, another junior at Keene State, plays soccer and runs track.

Musese’s love for soccer started at age five, while his fondness for track started around eighth grade. He recalls that the reason he actually started track was due to the fact that he was bored after the soccer season.

Musese decided to play sports in college mainly to keep himself out

of trouble and to stay focused.

Though his passion for both sports is apparent, Musese has a stronger connection to soccer after playing it for so long. He has a laundry list of personal goals he is striving for in his soccer career and is constantly out working on them, while his track career goals are more focused on being able to picture it in his mind and follow through.

Pushing his body to reach those goals, however, has proven to be quite difficult for him. He tends to suffer quite a bit from injuries, including tendonitis in his ankles and an injured knee. That being said, it doesn’t seem to hold him back in any way. “I don’t let injuries put me down!” said Musese. He also doesn’t let words of doubt put him down, either.

He expressed that his inability to reach some of his self-proclaimed goals and his “haters” have proven to be slight mental challenges, but he uses that as motivation to be better and do better.

Musese also said that it is not easy to maintain a balance between sports and school, but he emphasized that they should go hand in hand.

For him, school comes first and sports come second, because if he doesn’t get the grade he won’t be able to play. His tip for Keene State students is to make sure to attend class and get work done before doing anything else.

Isabella Echavarria can be contacted at iechavarria@kscequinox.com

Competitors to coaches Two Keene State track and field alumni become coaches HUNTER OBERST

equinox staFF Once Owls themselves, Keene State College track and field alumni Whitney Cyr and Paige Mills now coach the sport at the collegiate level.

Cyr, who graduated from Keene State in 2013 as a journalism major, is the associate coach for the track and field team at Franklin Pierce University. As an Owl, Cyr was primarily a thrower and participated in shot put as well as hammer throw, which she said was her favorite event. Cyr also earned All-Little East Conference honors as a thrower with Keene State.

After graduating, Cyr got a job as a reporter in Massachusetts until she saw a listing for a throwing coach position at Franklin Pierce University.

“I missed throwing and track; I missed that part of myself. I applied and got the job as a part-time coach in 2014 and I absolutely loved it,” Cyr said.

Cyr worked her way up the ranks and has been the associate coach of track and field at FPU for two years and is now in her seventh year working with the team.

Cyr said that the

transition from athlete to coach was not an easy one.

“As an athlete, especially in track, you feel like you have control over your performance.

Now as a coach, I get more nervous over my athletes competing than I ever did for myself, but I do the best to help them. I want them to do well and have those big moments,” Cyr said.

Mills, on the other hand, graduated from KSC a year earlier than Cyr in 2012 and is now head coach of the Keene State track and field team as of January 2020.

As an Owl, Mills was a distance runner participating in the 800-meter and the mile. Mills was recognized for her performance by being named an All-American three times.

After graduating, Mills headed out west where she was a graduate assistant at the University of Redlands in California. Out west, Mills worked with former American Olympian Steve Scott.

One day, Mills received word that there was an opening for a head coaching position at Keene State and she applied immediately.

“It was a dream of mine as an athlete to become a coach and I always knew I wanted to come back home to coach at Keene,” Mills said.

Cyr and Mills were teammates on the KSC team for some time, and although they competed in dif-

ferent events, Cyr was still happy for her former teammate.

“It’s very exciting to know that Paige became head coach. It’s exciting to see your own teammate as a coach,” Cyr said.

Mills expressed much of the same sentiment, saying she was proud of Cyr for landing a coaching position at Franklin Pierce.

Upon both reflecting back, Mills said she was appreciative of her time as an Owl and hopeful for what her future has in store.

“I’m really thankful to be here and for the athletic department for welcoming me. I’m excited for what lies ahead and I’m excited to build a legacy,” said Mills.

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

JEFF HUNTER

Men’s BasketBall FreshMan Forward Jeff Hunter has been a staple for the men’s basketball team since he first stepped on the court as an Owl back in November. The February 15 home showdown against Rhode Island College only elevated his status.

Hunter, who has been averaging around nine points per game, put up an impressive 29 points against the number three ranked team in the Little East Conference. The career-best for the first-year forward did not come easily, however.

Hunter only saw eight points in the first half of the game against the Anchormen, leaving the majority of his point-scoring to be done in the second half. In the second half, Hunter capitalized by delivering three dunks, four layups, three free throws and two jump shots. Hunter also had eight defensive rebounds throughout the game.

Jeff Hunter is one of this week’s Editor’s Picks because of his outstanding performance against the Rhode Island Anchormen.

Editor’s Pick is the sole opinion of the Sports Editor.

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

Hunter Oberst can be contacted at hoberst@kscequinox.com.

Fun Fact: Whitney Cyr was the Managing Executive Editor for The Equinox during her time at Keene State

CONTRIBUTED BY KEENE STATE ATHLETICS

SHANNON PARKS

woMen’s track and Field sophoMore thrower Shannon Parks has been unstoppable since her freshman year on the women’s track and field team. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before her name made its way into the record books, and Saturday, February 15, was that day.

Parks, while competing in the shot put competition at the Gordon Kelly Invitational, surpassed Keene State’s previous indoor shot put school record. The previous record of 12.19 meters was held by Samantha Hirsch back in 2006. Parks threw 12.21 meters, beating the record and landing her in second place at the meet.

Shannon Parks is one of this week’s Editor’s Picks because of her record-breaking throw.

Jeremy Landers can be contacted at jlanders@kscequinox.com CO NT RIB UT ED BY KE EN N

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Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

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Thursday, February 20, 2020

GAME RECAP

Can you say ‘comeback’?

Owls come back from 16 points down with 8 minutes left CLAIRE BOUGHTON

SportS Editor Why do people attend sports games?

Is it for the loud music? The halftime entertainment? The hope that your team will come out victorious? Maybe so, but how about this reason: The rush.

The February 15 men’s basketball home contest against the Rhode Island College Anchormen had fans’ hearts jumping into their throats with perhaps the Owls biggest and most intense comeback of the entire season.

Keene State’s women’s basketball team had fallen to Rhode Island College earlier in the day with a final score of 57-42, making the men’s team’s craving for a win even stronger.

Not to mention, a handful of Owl alumni sat courtside to show support for the team they once played for. Needless to say, Keene State wanted a win badly.

Rhode Island College, at the time of the game, was the number three ranked men’s basketball team in Little East Conference, following closely behind Western Connecticut State University in second and UMass-Dartmouth in first. Additionally the players with the two highest points per game averages in the LEC, first-year guard Shion Darby and junior guard Keyshaun Jacobs, play

for the Anchormen.

When gameplay started the Anchormen took off quickly, leading 8-0 just 1:44 into the first half.

It wasn’t until junior guard Sidi Diallo sank a three-pointer that the Owls made it on the board.

Throughout the game, the Owls trailed the Anchormen by various amounts, not once taking the lead from them.

At eight minutes left in the game, all hope was almost lost as the Owls trailed the Anchormen by 16 points. However, unbenounced to anyone, that minute marked the beginning of a strong comeback.

First-year forward Jeff Hunter made a layup.

Hunter followed that with a dunk.

Diallo went in for a layup and made it, followed by another layup, this time made by senior center Ben Olson.

First-year forward Nick Redden got in on the action by sinking a three-pointer, only to have junior guard DeVon Beasley make his own threepointer 40 seconds later.

Diallo made two free-throw shots and then Redden made a layup.

Hunter made a two-point jump shot and suddenly, with a three-pointer from Beasley, the game tied with 1:04 left.

The Owls took full advantage of the last minute, ultimately winning the game off of four

free-throw baskets made equally by Diallo and Hunter.

Some notable performances in the game included Hunter, who hit a career high of 29 points (see this week’s Editor’s Picks for more), Diallo, who raked in 13 points during the game, and newcomer junior guard Jaylen Franklin, who brought in 12 points.

Keene State’s men’s basketball team hits the court again on February 19 against Eastern Connecticut State University on the Warriors’ home court. The last time the Owls took on the Warriors, EastConn won in overtime with a final score of 68-65. The showdown before that was the 2019 Little East Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, which the Owls won and were named the LEC Champs.

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR

Keene State’s Performance At NEISDAs Championships 1000 Yard Freestyle 800 Yard Freestyle Relay Womens: Womens: 2nd (8:03.44) 2nd J. Jang (11:03.96) Mens: 5th (7:25.51) 6th P. Carey (11:24.32) 500 Yard Freestyle 7th M. O’Connor (11:32.07) Womens: 10th E. Rogers (11:39.47) 4th M. O’Connor (5:28.57) 11th K. Theleen (11:41.44) 13th K. Theleen (5:36.79) 18th J. Williams (12:10.91) 14th E. Rogers (5:38.95) Mens: 17th E. Morley (5:47.54) 6th Q. Kimmel (10:19.03) 22nd L. Chaffee (5:58.48) 7th C. Stinchfield (10:25.60) Mens: 10th C. Stinchfield (5:00.04) 10th J. Peters (10:36.23) 1 Meter Dive 12th J. Peters (5:00.61) Mens: 13th Q. Kimmel (5:01.88) 1st G. Colarullo IV (410.65) 100 Yard Butterfly 200 Yard Freestyle Relay Womens: Womens: 4th (1:43.20) 2nd S. Hayes (59.32) Mens: 4th (1:30.07) Mens: 3 Meter Dive 9th T. Young (53.99) Mens: 10th P. Doyle (54.34) 1st G. Colarullo IV (386.85) 21st M. Morman (57.49) 5th N. Kazalski (302.40) 25th B. Smith (59.50) 100 Yard Freestyle 50 Yard Breaststroke Womens: Womens: 21st M. Cyr (1:00.67) 2nd M. Pechulis (30.69) Mens: 4th P. Carey (31.30) 10th J. Peters (49.95) 12th O. Pechulis (33.50) 13th M. Morman (50.75) 14th M. Pycko (33.69) 1650 Yard Freestyle Mens: Womens: 4th JT Barth (27.47) 5th M. O’Connor (18:59.61) 11th T. Langland (29.97) 10th E. Rogers (19:32.66) 200 Yard Backstroke 11th K. Theleen (19:44.22) Womens: 13th E. Morley (16:59.19) 10th P. Ciampi (2:19.65) 14th J. Williams (20:04.57) 15th J. Williams (2:24.06) 23rd L. Chaffee (20:40.66) 18th S. McGough (2:27.16) Mens: Mens: 7th Q. Kimmel (17:18.62) 2nd A. Daur (2:00.81) 8th C. Stinchfield (17:31.74) 10th B. Bowie (2:10.13) 50 Yard Backstroke 11th Z. Collins (2:13.51) Womens: 50 Yard Freestyle 11th S. McGough (30.02) Womens: 15th P. Ciampi (30.75) 37th M. Cyr (28.34) Mens: Mens: 2nd Z. Payne (24.90) 14th T. Langland (23.09) 18th Z. Collins (28.30) 200 Yard IM 200 Yard Breaststroke Womens: Womens: 2nd J. Jang (2:14.51) 3rd M. Pechulis (2:30.82) 3rd S. Dickinson (2:15.90) 6th O. Pechulis (2:33.43) Mens: 11th M. Pycko (2:38.67) 3rd E. King (1:58.27) Mens: 400 Yard Medley Relay 3rd JT Barth (2:12.00) Womens: 3rd (4:06.01) 13th B. Bowie (2:29.52) Mens: 3rd (3:35.55) 200 Yard Butterfly 200 Yard Medley Relay Womens: Womens: 4th (1:52.82) 1st S. Hayes (2:10.34) Mens: 3rd (1:37.24) Mens: 400 Yard IM 2nd Z. Payne (1:58.43) Women: 3rd T. Young (1:59.57) 6th S. Dickinson (4:53.53) 12th P. Doyle (2:09.22) 7th J. Jang (4:56.76) 16th B. Smith (2:21.44) Mens: 100 Yard IM 3rd T. Young (4:16.77) Womens: 7th A. Daur (4:28.70) 1st S. Dickinson (1:02.17) 9th P. Dole (4:34.76) Mens: 12th B. Bowie (4:48.78) 1st E. King (53.88) 50 Yard Butterfly 400 Yard Freestyle Relay Womens: Womens: 3rd (3:42.54) 7th S. Hayes (27.61) Mens: 4th (3:17.66) 29th M. Cyr (30.07) Mens: 9th M. Morman (25.18) 17th B. Smith (26.20) 21st Z. Collins (26.75) 200 Yard Freestyle Womens: 9th E. Morley (2:06.26) 14th L. Chaffee (2:10.50) 100 Yard Backstroke 17th S. McGough (1:06.80) 18th P. Ciampi (1:06.83) Mens: 2nd Z. Payne (53.59) 6th E. King (54.57) 12th A. Daur (57.60) 100 Yard Breaststroke Womens: 2nd M. Pechulis (1:07.13) 8th P. Carey (1:10.60) 13th O. Pechulis (1:12:00) 15th M. Pycko (1:13.62) Mens: 4th JT Barth (1:00.72) 15th T. Langland (1:08.78) 200 Yard Freestyle Relay Womens: 4th (1:43.20) Mens: 4th (1:30.07)

Junior guard Sidi Diallo earning 2 points that inched the Owls closer to a tied game with the Anchormen in the last minute of regulation.

This Week for the Owls Thursday 2/20

Friday 2/21

Saturday 2/22

* - Home Contest

Sunday 2/23

Monday 2/24

Tuesday 2/25

Wednesday 2/26

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* Men’s Lacrosse VS. RPI @ 1PM Men’s Lacrosse Season and Home Opener!

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* Women’s Basketball VS. Western Connecticut State University @ 1PM Women’s Basketball Play 4 Kay / Pink Zone Game * Men’s Basketball VS. Western Connecticut State University @ 3PM Indoor Track & Field: Little East Conference Championships in Gorham, Maine

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Thursday, February 20, 2020

SPORTS

CLAIRE BOUGHTON

SportS Editor Terrell Davis.

Danny Manning.

Pierluigi Casiraghi.

Whether a running back for the Denver Broncos, an NBA hopeful out of the University of Kansas, an import striker with Chelsea or a Keene State College athlete, no one is immune to the infamous “career-ending” ACL tear.

For the names above, their ACL tears, unfortunately, lived up to the daunting reputation the injury had created. However, nowadays more and more athletes are able to return to the sports they love after they endure the same injury that ended careers in the past.

But what does the recovery process actually involve?

Keene State sophomore and men’s soccer midfielder Declan Pietro-Coughlin is someone who knows the process all too well. Coughlin tore his ACL on October 25, 2019, in a home contest against UMass-Boston. Coughlin had recently recovered from a hamstring injury before returning to the field, only to go down once again after a handful of games back.

“I came back too soon,” said Coughlin when recalling that game. “I was running and my leg just gave out… I felt a crack and then, when I was on the ground, I had no pain because everything, the nerves and things, had been torn apart.”

Coughlin was carried off the field by several teammates and was laid down by the bench where he was then looked at by the athletic trainer. After being looked at, and once the game had wrapped up, Coughlin was told it was likely an ACL tear.

But what had happened to cause it?

Program coordinator for the athletic training education program and professor in the exercise science department Dr. Wanda Swiger explained what the ACL is and how athletes tend to damage or tear it.

“The ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament and it’s one of the main ligaments that is in your knee,” explained Swiger. “It basically prevents excessive anterior movement of your lower leg on your thigh bone, your tibia to your femur.”

Injuries to an athlete’s ACL happen most commonly in one of two ways. One way is from an external force that makes the ligament stretch well past its capabilities. This can be compared to a rubber band snapping if it is pulled on with too much force.

“When an ACL tears in a direct contact situation… you have some sort of external force that

hits the knee,” said Swiger. “And when that happens the ACL usually tries to do its job; it will stretch to a point, and after that point, if the force is strong enough, it will basically tear the ligament in some fashion.”

Another common way that athletes can tear their ACL is that the ligament gets put under great stress, whether it be from a sudden stop or change in directions. This is what is called a non-contact mechanism.

“In essence, what happens is that the person, whether it’s a dancer or a soccer player it doesn’t matter, does some type of a motion that puts them into a valgus position that strains or stretches that ACL beyond its point.”

After the tear happens, the recovery process begins.

For Coughlin, the first step in the process was to go in for reconstructive surgery on the ligament in his knee.

“There are three fairly common procedures [for

fixing a torn ACL],” explained Swiger when asked about the different forms of surgery someone can undergo. “One is using the person’s own patellar tendon, so they take the middle one-third of the patella tendon and they take a little piece of bone from the patella, a little piece of bone from the tibia… then through arthroscopic surgery, they drill a hole, take out the old ACL, tunnel through the new patellar tendon [and] attach it with screws.”

Swiger talked about how the patella tendon route was the most common procedure seen for fixing ACL tears, however, the other two procedures are somewhat similar. There is also a hamstring-tendon graft. That is where they take a section of the athlete’s hamstring tendon and thread it through the same created hole as described above and that tendon then becomes the replacement for the ACL. The third procedure, which Swiger explained is usually only done if one of the two procedures previously explained

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was done and failed, involves using the contraside ACL or a cadaver.

“We’re usually using something within the person’s own body to replace the torn ACL because it can’t be sewn back together,” said Swiger.

As for Coughlin, he isn’t sure what route the surgeons picked when it came to his surgery.

“I trusted them, I didn’t want to know,” Coughlin laughed when asked about his own surgery.

Coughlin made it clear he knew exactly what it felt like after the surgery, however.

“The first three days are really tough,” said Coughlin. “You have a lot of pain, but then, after those three days, I started rehab and I was really excited about that.”

Rehabilitation can be done by athletic trainers if the patient is an athlete or it can be done by a physical therapist. According to Swiger, normally within the first couple of days post-operation the only worries are wound care and making sure the athlete is icing and keeping the leg elevated and compressed.

“What we know about the ACL and how it heals is that early motion is key,” explained Swiger.

“Typically someone is already doing some type of range of motion exercise right off the bat.”

Swiger also explained that most people are put into a hinged brace that protects the knee and may be on crutches for a day or two after the surgery. “[Athletic trainers and physical therapists] want people walking as soon as possible because it actually helps,” said Swiger. “You have these little receptors in the bottom of your feet and so the earlier you can get someone walking the quicker they can actually get rid of the swelling.”

Coughlin was interviewed on February 10, putting him 15 weeks into the ACL tear recovery process. As for his soccer season next year, he is hoping to be back on the field by July so he can participate in the preseason.

“Just stay positive,” said Coughlin, giving a piece of advice for anyone dealing with an ACL tear. “Before I go to bed I think about the day I’ll be back on the field, scoring a goal. That’s what keeps me going.”

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com

SOREN FRANTZ / PHOTO EDITOR CLAIRE BOUGHTON / SPORTS EDITOR

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