While the NHL season might be a little under a month away, the annual release of everyone’s favorite hockey video game took place last week. EA Sports’ NHL 17 became available for purchase in stores worldwide on September 13, featuring St. Louis Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko on the cover.

After taking a look at the anticipated new features and thinking about how much I really didn’t enjoy the game’s 2016 predecessor, I headed to the store and picked up my copy of NHL 17.

The first thing I noticed after sliding the disc into my Playstation 4 was that the game had a full soundtrack this year, which comes as a change after last year’s game had a loop of instrumental background music that never changed. The variety of music in this year’s soundtrack is a minor change, but refreshing to say the least.

After navigating through the game’s newly designed main menu and entering an online exhibition game, I was excited to see what kind of improvements had been made since last year’s disappointing display of unrealistic gameplay.

After winning the initial face-off, I already noticed new player animations that weren’t present in years past – both with skaters and goaltenders. EA Sports has been boosting their increased goaltender animations for a while now, and I, being a former goaltender, was eager to see the changes EA was talking about.

I noticed a number of new and improved player animations from the goaltenders that made the entire gameplay seem much more realistic. However, despite the number of new animations, I also noticed that goaltenders seemed to be conceding an alarmingly high number of goals that they shouldn’t be. In my first game alone, I saw three goals that would hit the goalie in the chest and trickle past them into the goal. I understand that there are fluke goals, but the number of goals that were being scored that should have been stopped was frustrating, unrealistic and annoying.

Next up on the list was the changes in physicality. In NHL 16, players could skate about, shielding the puck and not get knocked off it, which is unrealistic, but is what I became accustomed to. That made it hard for me to adjust to the sensitivity of players in NHL 17. Any time you come remotely close to an opposing player, you are most likely going to be bumped at least enough for you to lose control of the puck. I see that EA Sports was trying to correct the flaw from 2016, but I think they overcompensated.

The third most noteworthy change that I noticed was the addition of battles in front of the net. Players that you aren’t controlling now set up camp in front of the goal and begin battling with computer players from the opposing team, a nice touch by EA. However, the players stay locked up there after the play moves elsewhere, a minor flaw, but one that surely gets on my nerves.

Finally, EA added some new features to the game, some of which are returning from versions of the game prior to 2016. First off, the game offers a ‘World Cup of Hockey’ mode, using rosters from the real life tournament that is taking place right now. The game also features a ‘Franchise’ mode, an improvement of the usual ‘Be a GM’ Mode. In Franchise mode, you are able to take control over almost every aspect of the organization, not just the team.

The game is definitely enjoyable and is certainly an upgrade from NHL 16. The improvements made to gameplay make for a fun gaming experience, but I think EA failed to take the next step. At a certain point, it’s difficult to completely change the game after so many years. But, if the NHL video game franchise could have found a way to really wow consumers, this year would have been a great year to introduce it.

Crae Messer can be contacted at cmesser@kscequinox.com

Whether a passion is already being pursued or yet to be found, Keene State College has much to offer in terms of shaping the future of its students. However, like at any institution, hard work and determination will be key factors in propelling that passion toward a degree, as a step is being taken with every class discussion. To better pursue one’s passion, hard work must also be applied outside of the classroom as well.

Whether starting out with no set goal in mind, or others with a degree a few seasons away, it’s important to apply oneself and continue working hard. It’s on no one but ourselves to set our own expectations and standards for our future pursuits.

At the same time, different programs, policies and professors will also have various expectations and standards to be met. In some cases, whether those expectations and standards are met or not can affect one’s college career for better or worse. Across the board in all majors, determination, hard work and self-application will help students rise up to meet each bar set before them.

Regardless of your major, many obstacles will be placed upon your career path, but it’s on you to steer around them and navigate toward your degree with passion, fueling the endeavor that is your college experience.

In terms of obstacles being thrown in the career paths of some, a recent example can be seen in the nursing program here at Keene State. The nursing program has had to make changes in order to remain accredited so the college can offer this as an option for future students to major in.

Graphic by samantha moore / art director

One of these changes made was raising the expectations and standards for students involved in the program. As a result, some students were unable to continue. The number of students involved with the nursing program has lowered significantly. There are just 33 that remain enrolled for the senior class of 2017. These seniors, like all other nursing students, are evaluated regularly to ensure expectations and standards are being met.

Recently, those who did not meet the expectations and standards of Keene State’s nursing program were cut from the program. The department’s decision didn’t leave enough time for some students to transfer to a new program or figure out a different plan.

For some nursing students currently facing this problem, it may in part be on them, but the college also has responsibilities to live up to as well. Some may feel the school should have informed them about their decision much sooner. Nonetheless, if passionate about nursing or any other discipline, let no obstacle, even one as troubling as this situation, interfere with pursuing a dream.

Aside from the rough patches recently seen on the road to earning a nursing degree, strides are being taken in the right direction to get things back on a smooth track. It will be interesting to see what newly hired Director of Nursing Dr. Clementine Hinsperger-Rice will do to help better this program.

The beginning of any new endeavor will determine what it will become later on.  This also goes for those starting out with their college careers.

Regardless of one’s major, hard work, self-application and determination will make the many obstacles to be faced much easier to deal with when they arise on the path to a degree.

Shopping List: 

-Greek yogurt

Ali Fitzgerald/ Equiniox Staff

-Rolled oats

-Peanut butter

-Banana

-Honey

-Chia seeds

-Almond milk/ alternative

-Vanilla extract

-Cinnamon

Ingredient List:

-2 tablespoons peanut butter

Ali Fitzgerald/ Equiniox Staff

-1/2 cup rolled oats

-½ medium banana

-¼ cup greek yogurt

-1 tablespoon honey

-1 tablespoon chia seeds

-splash almond milk/ alternative

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-sprinkle cinnamon

Directions:

Start by choosing a container with an aitight lid. You’ll want it to be airtight so that it will last longer in the fridge.

First, pour your rolled oats into the jar.

Then, start by mashing the banana, and then whipping together the peanut butter and the banana.

You’ll want it to be very well mixed without any chunks, however chunky peanut butter is a nice alternative to smooth.

Add the whipped mixture into the container.

Next, drizzle the honey over the mixture, then add the greek yogurt. Greek yogurt can be substituted for regular, but greek has a higher protein content.

You could also use this as an opportunity to add a flavor to your breakfast.

Sprinkle chia seeds, vanilla extract and cinnamon over the top.

The final touch is to pour in your almond milk or dairy alternative.

You’ll want to pour enough so that the rolled oats are covered.

Let sit for a minimum of 3 hours so that the oats become soft.

The overnight oats will last 3-4 days in the fridge, so they’re great to make ahead of time for a busy week at school!

Eating with the Equinox is supported by the Student Nutrition Association at Keene State (SNAKS)club.

To learn more about club meetings and events you can contact AFitzgerald@KSCequinox.com or president Jillian.Emerson@KSC.Keene.edu.

Over the weekend Director of Campus Safety and adjunct faculty member Dr. Amanda Guthorn, emailed students regarding a fire in the ceiling fan of a bathroom in a  Bushnell Apartment on Saturday, April 30.

The Keene Fire Department “quickly extinguished” the fire according to a police report. The report stated, “the building was occupied at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries reported” and the cost of damages is approximately $2,000.

While the fire is “not considered suspicious,” the cause of the fire “remains under investigation.”

Dorothy England can be contacted at dengland@kscequinox.com

Billy Hartmann

Keene State Baseball #3

You can always feel the humidity coming through the windows of the airplane every year when we touch down on the runway in Orlando, Florida. It’s always important to put a pair of shorts and sunglasses in your carry-on so you’re prepared for the 80-degree atmosphere of the Sunshine State.

Upon exiting the plane, it’s a straight line to the baggage claim and then to the parking garage where we pick up our rental vans that get us to our games and back to our resort. Vans consist of 10 players, a coach and a fun, continuous argument over which genre of music is going to play through the speakers before and after games.

Once we drop off all of our baggage at our resort and check into our rooms, we make a trip to the infamous Publix Grocery Store in Davenport, Florida. It’s at least a two-hour event. Kids scramble to decide who is getting specific foods for the room and who gets to wait in the deli line which is a 45 minute wait at best to get pounds of meat to bring to the field for lunch. The group of kids who forget to buy Ziploc bags for the sandwiches learn quick, as stuffing a sandwich in a bat bag mixed with leftover clay from the infield dirt isn’t that appetizing.

Photo contributed by Vinny Parilla

A condo at our Bahama Bay Resort consists of six guys dividing up two singles, a queen and a king size bed to sleep in. The living room contains a TV that looks like a refrigerator, a boom box with a dial radio and miscellaneous water bottles full of dip spit. Upperclassmen have learned to decide a week before the trip who is going to bring the gaming system, because it’s essential for down time. There’s nothing like preparing for your game the next day by competing against your teammate in a game of MLB: The Show with 98 miles per hour fastballs and 450-foot home runs.

On game days, we meet at the vans and carpool to the field. When we get to the field, the position players head to the dugout and the pitchers to the bullpen to carry out their respective pregame rituals. If we happen to be the home team on game day, we take batting practice first and get there earlier. On those days we typically stretch out quick and go to the cages to swing. After batting practice, the position players head back to the dugout and meanwhile the pitchers continue their pregame fun with games of two-ball.

In the dugout after batting practice, we put our cleats on and make our way out to the outfield to get a longer stretch in before we throw to get loose. Our infield/outfield (I/O) consists of outfielders making throws to bases and infielders fielding grounders. After I/O, we meet as a team in right field when the umpires get to the field and talk about what we need to take care of in order to win.

If we pitch well, play solid defense and get timely hits, we’ll be in the game when it comes down to it. The game can be extremely difficult at times because one play or one inning can make or break the outcome. What I like about the game is that it takes a team effort to win; if one person makes a mistake, someone else can pick them up.

I like the group of guys we have this year, and the chemistry and mental toughness we’ve shown over the trip is the type of atmosphere a successful team needs to have. There’s nothing like a team win after a long hard day that takes the collaborative effort of everyone on the roster.

Broadcasting the trip

Brian Clemmenson

Equinox Staff

I will be flat out honest, baseball is my favorite sport to call. Sorry field hockey and sorry men’s basketball. There is nothing better than my last three years calling Keene State College baseball during spring break.

The last three years on the trip have been an incredible experience for me, traveling with the team to call their games. This year, our trip began early in the morning on Thursday, March 10, at 6 a.m. We began our trek to Manchester for our flight to Orlando, taking our wonderful Thomas Transportation bus.

After the chaos of about 40 guys and coaches checking in with our bags, we made our way through security and we were off after selecting our airplane buddies for the flight.

Everyone had an early breakfast at the airport, which consisted of Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, so by the time we arrived in Orlando we were famished. We then made our way to the baggage claim and to the parking garage to get the rental vans to get us to the fields and our resort.

Upon checking into the resort, we made our way to Publix, which is one of the best grocery stores in America in my opinion. Everyone, including myself, have a total five roommates for the trip. In the grocery store we then decide strategically who is going to buy what.

Photo contributed by Vinny Parilla

Our meal allowance for the first part of the trip is 60 dollars. For the first time in my three years going on the trip, we went over the allowance and we paid over 400 dollars in groceries. Many of the things that brought this total way too high was vacation food. This included the infamous Publix ice cream, Krispy Creme donuts, chips and baked goods.

After that it was time to get down to business on the trip as the team practiced that night at a field where only three banks of lights worked. Instead of sitting there and observing like the typical broadcaster, I borrowed a glove and shagged batting practice.

That night, everyone exhausted from the long day of travel went to bed early in preparation for the doubleheader against WPI the next day. While back at the resort, the work of the broadcaster began. It involved me making sure I had enough notes and talking points for the broadcast. Also, making a rundown for the pregame show and getting stats for both teams for the broadcast.

After the first day of games I had the night off from having to phone in the stats and scoring from my scorebook as the Sports Information Director for WPI was down there. Every other night, except for one other game I had to phone in the stats to be entered into stat crew with our SID.

After completing the stats and getting update information I would be scrambling to get my game prep done. The reason is so I could have a spring break too just like the players. Once completing my game prep I would head down to the pool with the guys and swim or even just sit back and relax in the hot tub.

The experience on this trip is just like being a player; I get the same meal allowance over the course of the week just like the guys. I get the same accommodations as them. The biggest difference is I am not out on the field, I am calling what happens out on the field.

Having the opportunity to call this trip over the last three years during spring break was an honor and privilege and I will cherish so many memories from these trips.

Just a few days after most of the Keene State College student body headed home for winter break, the city of Keene underwent an emergency situation. On Dec. 19, 2015, the State of Emergency Operations Center was activated. According to an article on WMUR, “Liberty Utilities officials said that the issue arose around 9 a.m. after the company’s propane production plant experienced an issue that affected the propane/air mixture flowing into the distribution system. Officials said the change in gas mixture may have resulted in the production of carbon monoxide at the gas appliance or burner tip in a home or business.”

It goes without saying that this situation was alarming to residents of Keene. The possibility of increased carbon monoxide levels in homes is concerning. The entire city of Keene was in danger of a gas scare and many students back home might not have been aware of this. Of course we are thankful nothing went terribly wrong and we are lucky that most of us were home away from the danger; however, there is a problem  with this situation.

Photo Illustration By Tim Smith / Photo editor

As the largest state emergency response since pumpkinfest this was a big deal and something students should have some knowledge of. Many of the issues that affect our community and public safety have more of an impact on the student body than we think.

With the college being in the heart of Keene, right in the center of downtown, we are a large part of this community, whether we realize it or not. Just because something happens when we are on break doesn’t mean we should ignore what happened.

On a different note, we would like to question where the public oversight was in this situation. How was something like this even possible? We are fortunate that the city responded to the situation quickly and efficiently with Keene fire officials going door to door checking on Liberty Utility customers in the area.

If you haven’t done so already, follow local news sources on social media, click on the articles that pertain to Keene and the community, get involved with the local news, be aware of what’s going on where you live both at home and at school.

While silly buzzfeed articles about how to know if your boyfriend is the one for you and watching cute puppy videos make for good click bait, we are here to advocate for the voice of newspapers and other news sources.

To reiterate the point again, it is so important as students that we keep up with current events at both the local and national level. As members of society we need to educate ourselves because the more we know, the more of a difference we can make.

Take a stroll through campus and you will see one of two things.

You may see a regular college with various buildings, some benches, an overall mundane boring place.

Or you may see an institution booming with opportunity.

Endless clubs and internships are right at our fingertips, it’s simply up to us to take advantage of them.

Resources are bountiful, whether it be the wide variety of food at the dining commons, the activities put on by the social activities council, all the classroom help like tutors, the writing center or the athletic opportunities available, so much is at our disposal here on campus.

Yet there are still complaints that the school has little to offer.

George amaru / art director

Oftentimes we will overhear students in the dining commons complain that the options aren’t up to par.

The Equinox would like to encourage those students to really open their eyes and take a better look around them.

We occasionally hear people whine about their so-called “first world problems” almost making a mockery out of what real problems are to people in third world countries.

We can rightfully admit, many of us too are guilty of complaining when, in fact, we have it better than most.

Aside from the tacky new year resolutions, we would like to start off the new year and this spring semester with a shift in attitude.

Oftentimes we all get caught up feeling as though we are entitled.

We find it important to remind the student body that, in fact, none of us should feel that sense of entitlement. Be grateful that you have a bed to come home to at night, a roof over your head, shoes on your feet, a stomach full of food and of course an education.

Something as simple as running water is what we take advantage of nearly every day.

We need to remind ourselves that most of us were born into a world of privilege.

Of course some of us here at Keene State come from very different backgrounds.

Some of us were born in other parts of the world much different from Keene.

It is crucial that we keep in mind all of the luxuries that we have.

This is not to say that times don’t get tough for us over here in the United States, certainly the darker things in life like disease, depression and tragedy strike us all at some point in our lives.

It is natural to perhaps become annoyed when we can’t find our favorite meal at the DC or if we are unable to register for that one class we always thought seemed interesting, but we want to propose a new way of thinking.

When you encounter a dilemma or something just doesn’t seem to be going your way, take this as an opportunity to try something new or seek alternatives.

You may discover if you try that vegan meal that you can’t pronounce, you may be pleasantly surprised.

If your number one choice for classes is full, sign up for that acting class you’ve always considered in the back of your mind.

Next time you find yourself stressed and overwhelmed, take deep breath, step back and put it into perspective.

Maybe your worst problems are what someone else in the world desires most.

This past weekend Paris, France lost 129 citizens according to CNN (article title Paris Attacks: what we know so far updated on  Nov 17. at 1:30 a.m.)  to terror attacks that have prompted support from all around the globe.

Much of this support has been spread through social media by putting a temporary filter of the French flag over your profile picture, most commonly used on Facebook.

Other countries showed their support by putting red, blue and white lights over the country’s famous monument.

Here at Keene State College students have joined in supporting Paris by changing their profile pictures to the French flag, many of our staff included.

Contributed Photo / Mary Curtin

We the Equinox believe that, although we cannot fly to Paris to physically or financially support people by changing something as simple as our profile picture, the action shows the people of Paris that we support them. We believe that although the gesture is small and might never be seen by someone overseas, the fact that the people who are suffering know others care is comforting.

While many have criticized others for not changing their profile pictures or criticized Facebook for not offering Syrian, Mexican or Japanese flags in support of other countries suffering from attacks of terror and natural disasters, we believe that if you are showing that you care and support something or someone you should not be judged for it.

Another thing that comes with rapid sharing and social media is that people get caught up in war hysteria, wondering what’s going to happen next and if it will happen to them.

As featured on our front page, KSC alumni Yann Jules who is from and currently lives in Paris shared his experiences with the attacks. He mentioned visiting one of the places where many had died and people had left flowers, candles and notes.

One of those notes read:

“ If they want to attack us for having drinks, going out and enjoying life, then bring it on. We’ve been training for a while.”

We believe that although these tragedies happen, Americans and students cannot live in fear.

We have to remember that we have military forces trained and ready to take action if a terror attack was to happen on American soil again.

Like we are supporting Paris now, we have to remember that they have been there for us in the past and would be in the future.

The loss of innocent lives is a tragedy, and our thoughts are with the victims of any tragedy that happens anywhere in the world at anytime.

Alex Enayat and Dororthy England
Equinox Staff

The Keene State College student assembly met Tuesday when they considered providing funding to the KSC dance team and unanimously voted on supporting proposed clubs and organizations.
One of the more lengthy presentations was from the KSC dance team, which asked for $2,700 to go to a national competition. Victoria Smolenski, manager for the team, said that this experience would be good for KSC’s reputation not only nationally, but internationally as well. “Last year we got to meet a group from Japan. It is aired on ESPN too, so people could see us and see Keene State in a good manner,” Smolenski said.
The group said they have various fundraising events planned, including bake sales, a Bruins raffle, a Thanksgiving pie sale and a GoFundMe account they’ve shared with friends on social media.
Senior Captain Courtney Capone said they really need the money for uniforms and plane tickets to Florida where the competition is held and that it’s difficult to get it all from fundraising.
“As college students we are limited to who we can ask for money,” Capone said.
Members of the Student Assembly deliberated the issue. Member Bethany Peterson asked why they didn’t want to go to regionals instead and save money that way. “I’m paying $400 for alternative spring break and I’m driving to Kentucky,” Peterson said.
Student Assembly member Robert Graham said the dance team should look at what money might have been rolled over from the previous semester, and that the Student Assembly should help the rest of the way. “I don’t think it would be totally ridiculous for Student Assembly to give some small amount of money…just to ensure that the girls can go,” he said.
In the end, the student assembly asked the group to check with finances
for that potential roll-over and get back to them at the next meeting.
The assembly did vote in $5,750.65 for their student government Pumpkin Lobotomy this coming Sunday. Members of the group were also asked to help.
One member of Student Assembly Marissa DePolo said, “One good thing that we are doing to reduce the costs is instead of hiring Sodexo workers to work the entire time, we’re going to have all of us on the committee and a bunch of you guys working as well.”
Another group that wants to help advise students is Democracy Matters.
KSC juniors Sydney Little and Joseph Barbesco, both from Democracy Matters, said they want to get students involved and have their voices heard. Barbesco said, “Democracy Matters is a non-profit organization recognized throughout America…as far as for us, we want to start a chapter at Keene State…and we want to take big money out of politics.”
Little said, “We [want to] make people aware on campus; we [want to] get politicians to sign our petition to get reform.”
Barbesco said they’ve even got Bernie Sanders’s signature on the petition.
Democracy Matters was unanimously voted in as an official club.
Another politically affiliated request was made by KSC student Kaitlyn Kelly for a democratic group on campus. She said the group already has an advisor and student interest. “[Political Science Professor] Mike Welsh has agreed to be the advisor,” she said.
Kelly said she finds it strange that we don’t already have a Democratic group on campus. “It’s kind of crazy that we have KSC Republicans [group], but not Democratic [group] and [we’re] a liberal arts school in New Hampshire,” she said.
The vote to create the group was unanimous.
In addition, student organizations came prepared to ask for funds from the Student Assembly. One of these groups was the Barbell Club, which came asking to move $1000 from their equipment budget (currently $1500) to professional services. This would then allow both the president and vice president of the Barbell Club to receive CrossFit training so they could effectively teach other members of the club.
Their request was granted and voted in unanimously.
Student Assembly member Laura Graham mentioned Red and White Night, which will be held November 20. She also asked for volunteers, especially first-years, to help out. “You guys will have this eventually and it’s really fun, you get to dress up, and there’s a lot of free food,” she said.

The streets of Keene felt and looked much quieter this past weekend, October 17, than they have in years past. Mid-October in Keene has been notorious for its once annual Pumpkin Festival where beautifully carved pumpkins lined Main Street for all to enjoy.

Restaurants and businesses thrived with constant lines out the door. People travelled from all over to see the streets of Keene lit up with pumpkins, enjoy tasty fall treats and get in the fall spirit.

This past weekend was the first weekend in 25 years that Keene wasn’t the location for the highly-anticipated Pumpkin Festival. As nearly everyone in the area knows, the Keene City Council rejected the festival’s annual permit for 2015 and festival organizers had no choice but to move elsewhere, hosting the festival in Laconia, N.H. As with nearly everyone else, the Equinox is saddened by the discontinuation of the Pumpkin Festival. For many of us, previous Pumpkin Festivals were some of our most memorable experiences at Keene State College. Part of being a Keene State student is engaging in the fun festivities surrounding the Pumpkin Festival. While we realize some students clearly took things too far, many of us saw the festival as an opportunity to engage with the community and participate in some innocent fall fun. There is no arguing that things went haywire last year. Everything seemed to spiral out of control and by no means do we defend the actions of anyone who participated in riotous behavior. However, as a result of this barbaric behavior, many of us are the innocent ones suffering the consequences.

In order to eliminate future riots from occurring, the college has had to take some extreme measures. For example, although there was no Pumpkin Festival this past weekend, on-campus students were not allowed to have any guests. It extents even further than that though. The college put a rule in place that prevents on-campus students from having guests Pumpkinfest weekend, the weekend after and Halloween weekend. Although there may be some validity in this notion, we would like to argue that the majority of students are being punished by a minority of students’ actions. We fully understand the college is under a lot of scrutiny and needs to ensure the safety of the students so they create rules and regulations as a precaution.

We believe the student body at Keene State should be stepping up to the plate and acting like adults. Once we begin to act like the respectful adults we are, college officials and community members will take notice of this. When we begin conducting ourselves in a manner that is reasonable, we will gain the privileges we desire. In order for this to be possible, both parties need to be engaged. It starts with us, the college students. We need to rebuild our reputations and show that we deserve to be treated like adults. Once we begin acting like adults, those in charge need to make notice of this behavior change.  This is when they can incorporate some of our privileges back. Instead of making resident assistants practically security guards, students should be given some level of trust. Treating students like babies will only cause them to rebel more. The behavior seen last year during this time was inexcusable. Unfortunately many of us take the burden for that type of reckless behavior. This should not be the case. People should do their best to look at each student at Keene State and see us as individuals instead of grouping us all together. We believe many students chose to act out in such monstrous behavior because they felt a thrill in challenging authority. This should never be tolerated.

As long as authority figures have reasonable expectations, we as students should always be respectful of their concerns. We believe this is something our generation struggles with, we want to stand up against the mindset that all authority is bad. In essence, it’s a two-way street. We as students need to work on regaining the trust and respect of the people in this community and those in charge of making our rules. In return, those in charge of us need to notice our changes and little by little, give us the privileges we deserve. Losing pumpkin fest was certainly a wake up call for us all. We realized that our actions do have consequences.

Part of our identity as Keene State students was lost last year on that mid-October weekend. Experiencing pumpkinfest was once a huge part of being a KSC student. Unfortunately, we are the ones left picking up the pieces but we believe we can put those pieces back together into something meaningful.