His orange jacket contrasts sharply with his tanned and hairy skin.

He hurries over to me, urgency in every step. He’s not who I’m expecting, but I greet him with a smile and open-mind, because reputation is everything in this business. Right off the bat, he asks about our services. His accent is thick like the cream we use. I tell him about pregnancy, hot stone, Hawaiian styles and Thai Yoga. At each he shakes his head, his frizzy curls bouncing side to side.

I stop. His hand is held up, a universal sign of stopping. “Do you offer arctic massage?” he asks me. I try not to let my confusion show as my brain racks the possibilities: it’s been cold lately, maybe he means using winter ice to help with inflammation, or maybe he means cold stones. Maybe I’ve just never heard of the term, damn my education, I think.

I ask him to repeat himself. He speaks slowly and deliberately. “Do you (he points at me) do erotic massage?” I’m shocked and frankly relieved that he hasn’t pointed below for the other noun in his sentence. I also want to laugh, badly, but I can’t. I pull an arctic face. “No sir, we do not.” I show him the door ignoring his comments of ‘why not?’ (Because it’s illegal) ‘Where else he can go?’ (The cops maybe?) ‘Are you sure?’ (Seriously? Get out.)

We don’t even look like the kind of place to “maybe” offer these types of services. We’re in a Chiropractic office where nutritional supplements line the shelves and people lay on devices that stretch their vertebrae like a slow moving accordion. Elderly women are our most frequent customers.

This is just one misconception about massage therapy: that we border on the kinky. But there are others and it’s my belief that these misconceptions hurt my chances of being successful in this field.

The other day a regular of mine came in. As always, I ask what to focus on. She shakes her head and shrugs, “You know best, Wonder Woman.”

Later while she’s on the table, I find the same problem I typically do: tension in the wrists and hands. “Oh yeah, that’s really tight,” she tells me, “I think I might have carpal tunnel.” This is not the first time, nor will it be the last that she says this. It’s not because she’s dumb and forgets, no, more so it’s because she’s lead to believe that only I can fix her problem so she has to once again remind me of it.

It’s a two-way street however. I’m not with my clients even a quarter of the time- they are with themselves. I can’t massage them every time they’re in pain or discomfort. So really, it comes down to their responsibility of working with me to take care of them. It comes down to them doing stretches or self-massaging techniques in their own time away from me.

On the other side of this coin, my job is often perceived as a “fluffy” one. When I go out and tell people I’m a massage therapist, one of two things happens. I’m either asked to massage that person right then and there, or I’m told how nice it must be to get a massage. “Oh what a luxury,” they say. “How relaxing,” they say. “I’d love to go to the spa,” they say.

All of these can be true, just as they can be false. It really depends on each individual.

I have a client who can’t tie his own shoes unless he gets a massage. He comes in, his shoes messily slopped on his feet. I spend two hours working to stretch, increase circulatory flow and bend his legs in positions he can’t do on his own. Meanwhile, he’s breathing deeply and talking to distract himself from the pain incurred. It’s like getting a splinter out, it hurts while it’s being done, but afterwards it’s all better.

Once the two hours are up, he gets up slowly with his body sore from the treatment, but he’s relieved. He ties his shoes in a simple bowknot and comes out to show me. He’s as proud as a first grader who’s just done it for the first time.

For this client, massage therapy isn’t a relaxing, hot towel on the neck and scents of jasmine aromatherapy type of deal. This is way to manage his pain.

Massage therapy is an individual experience. Some people do get more of the relaxing types of massage, but for them, it helps with their anxiety and depression. I’ve spent a good half hour just on a person’s scalp, where people feel emotional tension rolling around.

But massage therapy is not often what people think it is. There’s a lot to it and I just don’t “rub” people’s’ bodies for a living. I help them, and if they’re willing to work on their own issues, it’s a team effort. Massage therapy isn’t intended to be a sexual, all-powerful or just a nice, relaxing treatment. It’s intended to bring awareness to individuals about themselves. And in my opinion, that’s the best you can offer for the road to recovery of any kind.

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com

The practice of Keene State College professors giving students an ‘AB’ may soon be over.

An e-mail detailing potential new changes for KSC was sent out by Academic Scheduler and Chair of the Academic Standards Committee Brendan Denehy on Monday, March 20.

For now, the school uses a system of A, AB, B, BC… and the committee is looking to potentially change it to the system of plus and minuses (A, A-, B+, B…). In the e-mail, Denehy said a survey was sent out “earlier this semester.”

In a phone interview, he clarified this survey went out to faculty and staff.

“We got feedback for students from Student Assembly,” he said. Denehy said as far as he knows, there’s no evidence out there that either model gives a higher or lower GPA.

In the e-mail, he stated the members of the Academic Standards Committee will be present to discuss this matter on both Wednesday, March 22 from 3 to 5 p.m. and Thursday, March 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. They will be located in the student center room 307. “This is a ‘drop in’ period; you are welcome to stop by and share your thoughts and to stay to listen to your colleagues,” he stated.

KSC sophomore Melissa Depew said she feels this potential new model could make things easier to understand.

“There was definitely some initial confusion coming here from high school where they have As and A minuses, but then ABs here,” she said. However, she said the current system is not that bad now that she understands it. According to Denehy’s e-mail, the College Senate expects to vote on this proposal at the April 5 meeting. However, he said, “If passed, it wouldn’t be in effect until fall 2018.

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com 

The practice of Keene State College professors giving students an ‘AB’ may soon be over.

An e-mail detailing potential new changes for KSC was sent out by Academic Scheduler and Chair of the Academic Standards Committee Brendan Denehy on Monday, March 20.

For now, the school uses a system of A, AB, B, BC… and the committee is looking to potentially change it to the system of plus and minuses (A, A-, B+, B…). In the e-mail, Denehy said a survey was sent out “earlier this semester.”

In a phone interview, he clarified this survey went out to faculty and staff.

“We got feedback for students from Student Assembly,” he said. Denehy said as far as he knows, there’s no evidence out there that either model gives a higher or lower GPA.

In the e-mail, he stated the members of the Academic Standards Committee will be present to discuss this matter on both Wednesday, March 22 from 3 to 5 p.m. and Thursday, March 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. They will be located in the student center room 307. “This is a ‘drop in’ period; you are welcome to stop by and share your thoughts and to stay to listen to your colleagues,” he stated.

KSC sophomore Melissa Depew said she feels this potential new model could make things easier to understand.

“There was definitely some initial confusion coming here from high school where they have As and A minuses, but then ABs here,” she said. However, she said the current system is not that bad now that she understands it. According to Denehy’s e-mail, the College Senate expects to vote on this proposal at the April 5 meeting. However, he said, “If passed, it wouldn’t be in effect until fall 2018.

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com 

Some people run late for everything.

Curt Serafini admits he is one of these people and as a 27-year-old senior at Keene State College, he’s not lying. The Massachusetts native said he had some troubles at his first college of choice, Western New England University (WNE). “It’s more of an engineering and business school and I wanted to major in English,” Serafini said. “Honestly, I went there because their lacrosse team was in the top 10 division three rankings.”

This was 2008. Serafini had just graduated from high-school and was starting a new adventure at WNE, but it soon wasn’t working out for him, especially since the broad-shouldered, six foot two athlete started experiencing some back pains, that put his academics on hold. “I injured my back and blew out the last three or four vertebrae in my lower back region,” he said.

Tim smith / photo editor

He had back surgery in 2009. Serafini then stayed at WNE for another year because his parents felt the school was too expensive for him to withdraw from. The following year, Serafini was able to be on the school’s lacrosse team again and things were looking up. That is, until the team lost their conference game.

“I didn’t feel like it was worth it then,” Serafini said. So the athlete hung up his backpack and took a year and a half off from college. “I traveled, visited friends at their schools. I did some construction work for my dad,” he said of the time off. However, something was missing.

“I did play recreational lacrosse and hockey, but it wasn’t the same. When you leave college, there’s nowhere to play,” he said. “That’s why I came back.”

Why Keene State College?

Serafini said there were multiple factors for why he choose Keene State. He admitted he was relieved to leave WNE. “I felt like it wasn’t a good fit,” he said. He explained that the coach there was tougher than normal too. “He would make us do sprints or flip monster trucks at 8 a.m. if we had gotten caught partying or doing something that looked bad on the team.”

Serafini said he also had a bunch of friends who played lacrosse at KSC and after he was reached out to by an old friend and former goalie Alec Corliss to look into playing at the college, he decided fill out an application. This was in 2012.

“I was just sick of doing nothing,” he said. Serafini said coming back to school, especially one his parents liked better, was the best choice he had made in a while. “When I first picked colleges, I was so young and naive. I just thought about lacrosse and my naivety just lead me to a bad school,” he said. “I didn’t think about anything besides lacrosse and now I know there is much more. There are some people who [say] sports revolves around them, but for me, I finally felt ready for more.” He said he knew he was wasting his parents money when he first went to college. “You have to go at your own pace and go to class because you want to. I finally had that yearning to go back,” he said.

However, it was not all easy cradling. Many of Serafini’s credits from WNE didn’t transfer to Keene State because they were three-credit classes verses KSC’s four-credit requirement. Serafini said this was a considerable factor in making it difficult to graduate on time.

But that didn’t stop him from opening a new chapter in his life. Serafini continued as an English major at Keene State, focusing in literature. “I write very straight forward with a critical focus,” he said. “I’m not very good at creative writing, I think my professors can agree with that.”

An English professor of Serafini’s was asked about him, but didn’t want to violate student confidentiality, so she passed on the interview.

In the classroom versus on the field

Serafini said he found that playing lacrosse does both help and hurt his academics. “I think lacrosse gives you a good schedule and holds you accountable for meeting deadlines. However, I think it does take up time, so it would be good if we had study halls for our athletes,” he said.

Another way that lacrosse affected his studies was that it beat down on his body, making it difficult to sit in a classroom for hours. “My back problems stopped me from going to class because I was busting my back at practice, so I had to withdraw from a lot of classes,” he admitted.

This past fall semester was different. Serafini took a break from playing lacrosse and focused on his academics. He had a second surgery in April of 2016, and after the surgery, he said it was easier for him in his classes. He took five upper level classes and, for the first time, got a GPA he felt amazed by. “All of my professors could see my demeanor had changed a lot and I felt lot a better,” he said.

This semester, Serafini is back on the field. He said it’s a little weird for him being an older student, but overall, he feels connected to the other players on the team. “There is a bit of a divide between me and the younger players who don’t know me so well, and especially because it seems like I just joined the team,” he said. “But I don’t want to step on any toes. I just want to play lacrosse.”

Head Coach for men’s lacrosse Mark Theriault spoke on Serafini’s behalf. He said that at first, he and Serafini didn’t know if it was going to work out for him to be on the team. “This year was a complete surprise,” Theriault said. “Serafini was in and out of school, some of it part time then full time, and we didn’t know if he was eligible to be part of the team because of what his transcript was saying.” A student is only allowed to play 10 semesters of a sport, but because Serafini’s history was a bit different, it made it hard to follow his journey.

Theriault said he had known Serafini from before. “He played a few years ago on the team,” he said. Theriault said he’s seen Serafini change throughout the years. “He’s grown as a person. Sometimes for traditional students, it’s all about them, but he’s a little more aware of the big picture, knowing that this is his last opportunity to play on a college team. He understands that,” he said.

Theriault said Serafini is better at communicating with others and because of his age at 27, may have more developmental skills that have come into helping him as a player. “His focus has been there. He’s been there, done that with the party scene, so he’s really into school right now,” he said.

As a once non-traditional student himself, Theriault understands better than most the struggles Serafini might face. “I graduated at 25 or 26,” Theriault said. “As a non-traditional student, you realize you’re here for a specific reason. Really, it’s one last hurrah.”

Theriault said he noticed other players being hesitant at first to fully welcome Serafini into their group. “Being a non-traditional student, he wasn’t yet part of the inner group yet, but then they accepted him and saw him as a role model of sorts,” Theriault said, laughing about how they called Serafini an old man. “What does that make me?” Theriault said.

A teammate’s opinion

KSC junior and fellow lacrosse player Paul Beling said he enjoys having Serafini on the team. “Curt is a supportive teammate and is willing to give helpful advice about what he sees on the field, and I think part of that is because he has been around the game for a while,” Beling said. Beling had first met Serafini on the field his first year. “I think some of us were surprised when he came back, but it has been good for the team to have Curt around because of his experience with the game,” he said. Beling said Serafini always has a positive experience, which makes it easy for the team to work with him.

Theriault reiterated Beling’s comments. “He sees the light at the end of the tunnel; it’s very admirable,” Theriault said of Serafini.

Theriault said Serafini’s attitude towards the game has helped him connect with the team. He said, “He didn’t come in expecting playing time. He knew he had to prove himself again when he came back and he’s done a great job of earning the respect of the team.”

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com

Raise your fist in the air for a new group on campus: Keene State Activists.

The group just became an official group three weeks ago and has already started tabling in the Student Center. On Tuesday, March 7, members of the club advertised students being able to become an activist in under ten minutes. The group were trying to get students involved with the current controversial transgender bill going into a vote the following day, by having them sign a petition and learn more about who they could contact to have their voices heard. Tomorrow, KSC junior and State Representative Joseph Stallcop will be in Concord fighting for the bill.

In addition, postcards were pre-made for students to sign off on. These postcards were about bills that would affect students and their voting rights. KSC senior and President of Keene State Activists Maggie Mason said these bills could get rid of students being able to use their student IDs to vote with, or make it more technologically difficult to register. At the end of their tabling, these postcards will be mailed to State legislators by the Keene State Democratic Club.

Mason said it’s vital for students to get involved. “Students really don’t realize how easy it is to become an activist. It literally takes two seconds out a student’s day,” she said.

For now, the group is meeting on Thursday evenings at 7:30 in the Flag Room of the Student Center. However, after break, they hope to have a new location.

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com

Deciding what to major in can be difficult. Finding work in that major can be even harder.  Some might even say it’s impossible to find a full-time career in music.

However, it goes without saying that the benefits of learning music are numerous and these skills may help in the “real world” in more ways than one.

Some of these skills helped one student in particular, who is now returning to college after a little over five years of being out in the “real world.”

Keene State College first-year Kayla Borden graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2011. Her main focus was the saxophone, but she graduated with a degree in music education, meaning she could teach kindergarten through 12th grade, but this wasn’t something she really wanted to do.

Borden said she found a passion with music in grade school. She explained, “I started in fourth grade because of my best friend. She was like, ‘I want to play alto-saxophone,’ and I was like, ‘I want to play alto-saxophone,’ and then we did.”

While Borden’s friend only stayed on for a few weeks, Borden found a passion she couldn’t turn away from.

Over the years before Berklee, Borden found an interest in the flute and clarinet. Then high school graduation time came and Borden was faced with a major life decision.

She said choosing Berklee wasn’t hard at the time, but then proved to be a bit overwhelming for her as the years went on.

“I didn’t really apply to any other schools, so once I got there, I was like, ‘Well I’ve kind of got to do it,’” she said. “I think Berklee was not quite the right choice for me at the time. I was just really stubborn about it, like, ‘I’m going to Berklee [and] you can’t stop me.’”

Borden didn’t stop until she graduated. “I think after I left Berklee, I was a little burnt out and I didn’t play much for a long time,” she said.

The 28-year-old worked in accounting and office work. While she doesn’t regret going to Berklee, it took her a while to find that passion for playing music again.

“I would always say ‘yes’ if someone asked me to play, but I mean it was pretty recently, like within the last probably six months or so, that I started taking lessons again and actively seeking playing opportunities,” she said.

Now, in addition to being a full-time student, Borden is involved with Keene’s Lion’s Club.

“I’m playing clarinet and flute and bass clarinet in the Lion’s Club musical at The Colonial,” she said. She’s in rehearsal every night for up to four hours, preparing for the group’s performance over the weekend.

But at school, music is not her main focus. “I’m a nutrition major now,” she said. She laughed at trying to come up with ways that the two are similar.

“That’s something I’d have to think on,” she said.

Borden said she picked nutrition because she found it interesting.

“I was a cook for a bit and considered culinary, but ended up more interested in the health aspect,” she explained.

Borden does see herself using skills she acquired as a musician helping with her current studies.

“My problem solving skills are very on point and I feel like I can kind of look at things in a different way. As a musician, I’m very analytical. I just want to sit there and study and know what’s going on,” she said.

One student who also understands sitting and studying well is KSC first-year Rebecca Putnam, who is majoring in nursing with a minor in music.

“It’s a very different form of expression, but music is very rewarding. No one can ever take that away from you,” she said.

Putnam admitted she would be afraid to be a music major.

“You have to put yourself out there, so being a nursing major, I can take my own time with it. It can be my escape,” she said.

She said playing music will always be something of interest to her, but she knows that she will need to invest her time in the hobby.

She said, “If you want it, you have to put the time in. If you love playing music, you can do it, but you should never give up.”

KSC music professor Jim Chesebrough said that perseverance is just one of the many skills acquired through playing music.

He also said it encourages people to be punctual, outgoing and motivated.

“Unlike the other majors, you never had a day off. You have to practice every day,” he said.

He said that even so, that doesn’t necessarily mean someone will get a job.

“There aren’t that many jobs and for the ones there are, many people apply. For example, hundreds of people apply to be in a symphony orchestra. It’s nearly impossible to get in,” he said.

Chesebrough said there’s teaching, but the pay isn’t always good and it’s a tough job.

“It’s not uncommon that people find other (non-music) jobs,” he said.

“But musicians make music because that’s what they want to do. They don’t have to make a living of it, but they can’t give it up, otherwise something is missing.”

Here at Keene State, nearly 100 students are studying some form of music according to KSC Chair of the Music Department and Professor Heather Gilligan.

“This incoming class had around 30 interested,” she said.

One of these 100 students is KSC junior Jacob Huggins, who said he knows that the chances are risky, but he refuses to give up on his dream of performing with some of the world’s greatest musicians.

Huggins said he knows this means he can’t just graduate from college and cross his piano-slender fingers, hoping it will work out.

“I think a lot of musicians make the mistake in thinking undergraduate education is the end of the line. This is just a stepping stone,” he said.

“If you want to make a living, you have got to go to grad school or at least get your masters. Today, a bachelor’s degree is the new high school degree.”

He acknowledged that undergraduate school is beneficial, however, he said it makes a student realize who they really are and what they are willing to sacrifice.

“It gives you a taste of what it’s going to be like, of what it’s going to be like to be playing for four to six hours a day. If it doesn’t work out, at least you now know,” he said.

Huggins said that for him, playing music gives him reason for living. He’s one who does practice up to six hours a day.

Huggins explained, “It’s intense, but that’s the life I want to live. You need to want it like oxygen.”

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com

In their fifth week running, the Committee on Alignment of Vision and Structure has been working diligently to figure out which academic model will best suit Keene State College’s student body. In an earlier article in The Equinox, it was written that the committee has been tasked with coming up with at most three potential different academic models for the college.

Right now, KSC has a three school system (a School of Arts and Humanities, one of Sciences and Social Sciences and another of Professional and Graduate Studies), with over 40 academic programs spread across these schools.

Currently, the committee is being asked to look at KSC specifically as a liberal arts and residential college and evaluate how that coincides with the mission and learning outcomes of the college.

If the committee finds any areas that are in need of improvement, they will take note, as well as look at the strengths of the college.

The members of the committee include a chair, an elected faculty member from each school, two academic affairs staff members, a student affairs and enrollment management staff member, a Keene State College Education Association (KSCEA) representative, a College Senate representative, a dean representative and an operating staff member. There is no student representative.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs William Seigh said after asking KSC Student Body President Laura Graham and then two other students who sit on the College Senate board if they would want to be represented, the answer was a no.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

Seigh said with Graham, he shared the first two charges of the committee, which entail primarily encouraging a campus conversation about the current system in place to find what works and what doesn’t, and secondly, encouraging the college to think creatively about “ways to better align our structure and vision.”

Seigh said of speaking to Graham, “I asked Laura what she thought about student representation on the committee and her thoughts at that time were [that] this sounds like it’s going to be a hugely time consuming committee and she was confident that the committee would in fact reach out to students, that they would reach out across the campus to hear voices of students, to hear perspectives of students.”

He also explained that when he spoke with students on the College Senate board, they agreed.

Seigh continued, “We want to keep the committee small enough that it can be hugely effective.”

However, Seigh expressed that if Graham or the Senate student representatives had wanted there to be a student representative, “then certainly we would have made room for that.”

Students’ input 

Student Body President Laura Graham confirmed the conversation with Provost Seigh in an email.

“I do not think that it is a problem that there isn’t a student representative on the committee. When they formed the committee, the students on Senate made sure that they had some kind of communication with students,” she stated. “They have already come to a [Student] Assembly meeting to ask for ideas and comments about it which was great.”

Graham stated in the email, she feels like student voices are heard on campus. “The student voice could be heard more frequently, but I don’t think it is necessary because a student voice is already well incorporated because they are in frequent communication with Student Assembly,” she stated.

Graham continued that she feels confident in the committee reaching out to students and hearing them. “I do think students should be involved in any changes that may occur and the committee has been doing a great job in ensuring that student voices are important,” she stated.

Provost Seigh agreed that student voices should be heard. “We certainly want to include students and their insights,” he said. Seigh said one of the biggest things he’s noticed in regards to students is that many of them, in his opinion, don’t see KSC as a three school system, but more as one school as a whole.

“Students see this as one college and I think that’s a really healthy vision,” he said, “…but even that, I’m not trying to project a goal for this committee except that they come up with a model or models that they believe answer the question (of what is the best model for KSC).”

KSC senior Kyle Hastbacka said for him, he sees Keene State as a college held by it’s own accord, but also said he feels individualized in his school of Sciences and Social Sciences. “I mean when you tell people where you’re going to school, you say Keene State College, not Keene State Arts and Humanities,” he said.

Hastbacka said he does feel like the school he’s part of is vastly different from the other two.

“There are different structures, expectations and majors,” he said.

However, he said he likes taking the ISP classes because he learns different information that may not be included within his majors, political science and criminal justice.  “I was able to double dip a lot of my classes,” he said.

Seigh recalled being a college student himself.

“I certainly remember from my college experiences where I feel I’ve made a difference at the college, where I felt [like] part of the college beyond my course work and I think for students to come and share their voices creates an opportunity to really be part of making the college stronger,” he said.

Seigh acknowledged that what the committee is charged with doing is difficult work, however, he likened it to what is asked of students.

“I also feel that as faculty and staff, what we ask our students to do is to hear and understand difficult questions and pursue the answers and we encourage our students not to shy away from tough questions, but to in fact, face the tough questions,” he said.

Concerns from faculty and staff 

Some of these tough questions were brought on by concerns mentioned at meetings held by the committee for faculty members on campus.

Staff members of The Equinox were only able to attend a few of the meetings, but at one of these meetings, specifically for members of the Arts and Humanities department, some attendees felt there was no issue within their department, using this to then ask the question, why fix something that isn’t broken?

Others addressed there being an issue of not feeling entirely supported by their deans, saying advocacy wasn’t always equally spread and would need to be looked into. Some attendees expressed concern about there being less programs and people in the future.

Provost Seigh said when people do come to him concerned, he listens. He said, “I have had people come to me with real concerns about what this means and in these cases, these have been really excellent private conversations where I do everything I can to genuinely hear the concerns that are being voiced and to confirm that what I’m asking is an open question: Is there a better way to structure our institution and if so, what is it?”

However, nothing is definite for now as the committee is still in the process of figuring out which plan is best for KSC.

An inside look at the committee’s current work 

Chair of the Committee and History Professor Gregory Knouff was available for an interview with The Equinox. Director of Strategic Communications and Community Relations Kelly Ricaurte was also present. Knouff said where the committee is at right now is researching both KSC and other colleges to look at their academic models.

“We’re gathering information from comparative colleges to look at their institutions and their COPLAC (Council of Public LIberal Arts Colleges), not to say theirs are better or worse than ours, but we just want to see what other institutions that are similar to us do,” he said.

Knouff said the potential of looking at our surrounding New Hampshire schools such as Plymouth State University (PSU) and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) is also likely.

He said the only goal the committee has in mind is to provide the highest standard of learning for KSC students possible. He said that finances do not play any role for them as a committee.

“It’s not our job to implement any program, we’re just suggesting models” he said. Again, he stressed the importance of others coming to meetings so that they as a committee can have the most informed mindsets going forward.

“I have no preconceived notions about what should happen, I’m genuinely curious,” he said.

Knouff said the committee has been having meetings since Nov. 7.

He said they have also been meeting with different groups on campus to address individual concerns within these individual areas.

“We’re reaching out to groups within academic affairs and we’re asking very general questions to hear what people think. What are the strengths of the organization, what’s positive about it and secondly are there any areas of improvement and then how does that particular group of people, are there any concerns that they have, that they want us to hear?”

He said in regards to reaching out to students, the committee reached out to KSC’s Student Assembly and the members were e-mailed questions that they have time over break to answer.

In addition, Knouff said in the spring semester, there will be open discussions available for students to partake in. In a later email, he stated, “We haven’t set the dates yet for the open meetings in the spring semester, but they will most likely be on Friday afternoons in late January and early February.”

More updates will follow as they become available.

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com 

Last October, Keene State College’s German minor program was put on administrative hold, propelling students to protest and raise awareness in order to halt the process. Their efforts were successful, when four months later, the program was reinstated.

In an article written by Kendall Pope titled Administrative hold on German minor removed, it was stated that former KSC Arts and Humanities Dean Andrew Harris had sent an e-mail out explaining students could still enroll in and declare the minor. Harris stated, “I am also pleased to report that the School of Arts and Humanities has committed to at least three years of staffing for the German minor.”

Photos contributed by German professor Alison Pantesco

KSC Contract Lecturer of Modern Languages and Cultures Alison Pantesco said having the program reinstated has been amazing for her and the students. “The efforts to reinstate the minor came first from students, followed by faculty and community members,” she said. “I believe it is important for us all to support programs that we consider valuable to our students’ liberal arts education.”

Those passionate about the languagewrote letters, made a petition with over 800 signatures and had a protest march on campus. “I was personally quite moved by the support. It was [a]clear and unified message about the importance of the program and I have to believe the decision to reinstate the German minor came as a consequence of these efforts, along with the fact that enrollment in the classes was strong. Currently, there are 28 KSC students with declared German minors,” she said.

Pantesco said this year has been an active one for these students. “First, at the end of October, we had 20 Austrians visit German classes. KSC students were prepared with interviews for the visiting students from Salzburg, Austria, all in German, of course.”

In early November, Pantesco said her and KSC senior Ryan Calabrese presented a piece titled “Bring Mozart (and our students) to Life!” to the New Hampshire Association World Language Teachers Conference. The piece was done entirely in German.

On Nov. 9, there was a luncheon and ceremony celebrating Keene’s relationship with their sister city Einbeck, Germany. “[Consul General of Germany] Dr. Ralf Horlemann was awarded the key to the city of Keene,” Pantesco said. “One of our students Tori Tucker sang a song from Mozart das Musical as a gift from the German students.”

Photos contributed by German professor Alison Pantesco

KSC senior Tori Tucker said she felt honored to be a part of this event, noting she was inspired by his words. “While he addressed the German students (the day after the election), he couldn’t emphasize enough how important it is to be accepting of other cultures and to learn languages and reach out to other parts of the world,” she said.

Tucker said being involved with the German minor program has allowed her to become more open-minded to other cultures of the world. “Young people should be able to have the ability to learn languages and [learn] about other cultures,” she said. “It is incredibly important in our modern world to be able to reach out to other countries, especially Germany since it has grown so much economically and politically. With Brexit now in effect, it could be argued that Germany is the most powerful country in the E[uropean] U[nion] and opportunities will be missed out on if Americans can’t communicate with them.”

Tucker explained when the German minor was on administrative hold, it wasn’t so much a fear of individually not being able to finish the program. “What was important about allowing the program to carry on was so that future students would be able to explore the German language and gain from it the way that I have,” she said. Tucker said she minored in the program because she has family in Germany and wants to better understand them.

KSC alumna Amie Gagnon graduated with a double major in Spanish and women’s and gender studies. She said she uses Spanish quite frequently at her job, but still enjoyed the German minor classes she took while at Keene State. “I actually didn’t complete the German minor, but that’s not without regret.  I just couldn’t finish it with all of the other classes I had to take,” she said. “I still use German though and listen to it when I can, and I love singing the songs from my German class.”

Gagnon said standing up for oneself is very important. “It’s important to fight for what we believe in because it is the only way to bring about the change necessary to make this world a better, safer place.”

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com

Disclaimer: The “Hoots N’ Hollers” section of The Equinox is entirely satirical and not at all based in fact. Every story, photo and name used here is fictitious solely for the purpose of comedy and does not represent The Equinox’s or the College’s beliefs as a whole.

Investigative findings have discovered that in an effort to curb campus budget cuts, the new Living and Learning Commons (LLC) has also been serving as a lodge to Keene visitors. For some, this might explain why the first-year dormitory doesn’t fill every room with students, thus offering ample rooming for guests.

Samantha Moore /Art Director

An exclusive interview with Keene State College’s Travel Agent Robin R. Bucks disclosed the benefits of what the college secretly calls the ‘Lodging in Luxurious Comfort’.

“This has been an amazing opportunity to serve three groups: the students, the college and the outside community,” Bucks said. “We give students jobs in the cleaning service, we make money in places that we don’t have to put any extra funds into and we’re offering competitive pricing for a place to stay, eat and exercise at. It’s really a win-win situation.”

She said a night in the LLC goes for $115, which includes use of the Spaulding Gym and two meals at the Zorn Dining Commons and an assortment of miscellaneous fees. “I don’t know exactly what these miscellaneous fees include” she said when asked.

Traveling businessman Tray Ash said he loves staying at the lodge. “The prices are great and besides the pizza at their dining commons, which can get old quick, it’s a real bargain,” he said. “It’s better than a dingy motel, but not as high class as a hotel, so you don’t feel like you have to be as classy.”

He said his only complaint is that the Wi-Fi isn’t very reliable. “When you’re going up and down the stairs, it can be a bit glitchy,” he said. However, Ash said he enjoys the lodge very much. “My favorite part is the jacuzzi heated by geothermal energy,” he said.

When asked about the jacuzzi, Bucks explained it’s hidden and for guests only. “We don’t want to seem unfair by letting students in the LLC use it when other dorms don’t have such amenities,” she said.

KSC junior Stuart Depp works at the lodge cleaning the rooms. “It’s a job,” he said. “I’d rather work now than be in even more debt later.”

He said he’s been working there a little over three months. Depp said, “Sometimes it’s really hard cleaning up after people, they seem to leave trash everywhere. I wish they were more respectful of our campus.” He smirked and said, “Sometimes I eat their fair trade pillow chocolate.”

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com 

The Living and Learning Commons (LLC) isn’t just a new dormitory for first-year students to dwell in; it houses many environmentally sustainable amenities. These amenities include geothermal energy and air sourced heat pumps, which allow for absolutely no fossil fuels in the dormitory. Air sourced heat pumps allow a transfer of heat to travel either outside or inside a building.

On the other hand, geothermal energy uses heat from the earth to either provide that heat or electricity. It can also take heat away from a building by storing it in the ground, which according to the energy blog on The National Geographic website, there have been newly developed guidelines that prevent geothermal heat from getting “stuck” in the ground.

Director of the Physical Plant Frank Mazzola said the geothermal energy is used to heat the common areas in the LLC including the lobbies and classrooms on the first floor, while the air sourced heat pumps are used for residents’ rooms. This allows freedom for the residents to control their individual room’s temperature.

KSC President Anne Huot said she understands how someone could see this as potentially wasting energy, but it’s actually the opposite. “You’ll probably notice when you’re walking [around] the older buildings, sometimes even in the winter time, you’ll see that the windows are open,” she said. “That’s because these buildings, a lot of them [but] not all of them, are heated from the central plant so you can’t control it from within the building.”

She said giving students their own control over their room’s temperature is “an environmentally friendly way to heat and cool the building.”

Mazzola said that having individual temperature settings for each room is beneficial for other reasons as well. “So say, hypothetically, the building is used for a two week long summer conference with 50 people. You know we would only have to heat or cool 50 rooms, not all the rooms in the building. That’s another good reason for the individual controls,” he said.

LLC resident and first-year René Jacobi said she didn’t know all of that, but liked the idea of it and said it showed a lot about the college. “KSC definitely promotes being environmentally sustainable over other colleges,” she said.

LLC resident and first-year Heather Chrimes said she agreed. “When I went on other schools’ tours, they didn’t show it as much as KSC did. KSC seems to do as much as they can to keep moving forward,” she said, “which is definitely good, especially with Trump as our president.”

Production and costs

One of the concerns about geothermal energy is how much water it uses, however Director of Physical Plant Mazzola said it uses a closed loop, meaning the water used is recycled. “So what we’re doing is cycling water down deep into the Earth to take advantage of the Earth’s temperature, but we’re not withdrawing water from the Earth like a well,” he said. “They’re called wells, but it’s really just a closed loop system, not unlike a radiator of a car, and so water and a glycol solution cycles through these 500 foot deep wells to absorb the temperature of the Earth or give up temperature to the Earth, depending on whether we’re trying to heat or cool.”

He said it took about 12 weeks to build 27 wells, but he didn’t have a specific number for the budget. Geothermal energy can be quite costly. According to the website organization energyhomes, “On average, a typical home of 2500 square feet…will cost between $20,000 to $25,000 to install. This is around double the cost of a conventional heating, cooling and hot water system, but the geothermal heating/cooling system can reduce utility bills by 40 [percent] to 60 [percent].”

However, KSC President Huot said the initiative to make the LLC more environmentally sustainable was under budget. “One of the things that’s impressive about the Living Learning Commons is that the cost of that building actually came in under budget. So even though we built it with all of these sustainable features, it ended out slightly under what we had planned to spend,” she said.

Huot said that while the college is mindful of the cost, they try to be as sustainable as possible. “We look at sustainability really as a part of the college’s mission and we think about both from the perspective of our buildings, so we always want to build green, as green as we can…sometimes that cost[s] more money, but it reduces our carbon footprint,” she said.

How this impacts non-LLC residents 

Huot said KSC also considers ways they can be sustainable for educational reasons. “We’ve got our environmental studies program, we’ve got the R.O.C.K.S. program here on campus for recycling,” she said. “We have been thinking a lot about how we can build sustainability into the curriculum.”

Huot said focusing on what the students get out of all of it matters considerably. She explained KSC is looking to provide for “a steady state enrollment of 4,200 students.”

“We have historically been a little bit bigger than that and so the reductions that we’re making is really focused on being sustainable at 4,200, which doesn’t mean we’re not working hard to maintain everything, but we really want to be a student size that fits our physical plant that we have faculty and staff to serve,” she said.

Huot said she doesn’t want to force students to live in triples. “When I first came here, all the students were in triples because we [were] taking too many (students) and the demographics in our area are such that there are fewer and fewer high school students.”

She said that small focus can allow for big change. “We’re committed to contributing to a healthy environment and we want to walk the walk of being eco-friendly and so when we think about construction, we think about it from a sustainable perspective,” she said. At an earlier point, she said, “In some ways, we’re leading the nation as a college.”

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com