A ban of hanging fabric in dorms has been implemented after a small fire occurred on campus. This new rule is causing a stir from Keene State College students.

A small fire occurred in Owl’s Nest 4 during the week of Halloween. Associate Dean of Students Kent Drake-Deese sent an email to all students and explained that the tapestry, while properly hung, caught on fire and “made a bad situation worse.”

KSC sophomore Krista Mariotti was in the room when the fire occurred. She explained that she was rearranging some furniture in her friend’s room leading up to the fire.

“As soon as I plugged in the fridge, the outlet sparked and there were blue flames,” Mariotti said. She said the sparks flew approximately 36 inches and hit the tapestry hanging on the wall. “I immediately grabbed a water bottle, I thought ‘water puts out fire,’ they teach you that when you’re a kid,” she said. “The fire extinguisher is so far away by the time we would have gotten to it the whole dorm would have been up in flames,” she said.  According to Mariotti, the outlet stopped sparking as the tapestry was torn off the wall and no water was thrown onto the electrical outlet, but the smoke detector never went off.

“It all happened so fast,” Mariotti said. She said her and her friend immediately called the resident assistant on duty and campus safety.

Prior to the event, Mariotti said the outlet had always worked. “We had just had health and safety checks so we didn’t think anything of it,” she said.

Mariotti said the campus safety officer instructed the girls to unplug the rest of the plugs in the room because the fuse had blown. “I told him I felt uncomfortable doing that, I was afraid to get shocked,” she said. According to Mariotti, the campus safety officer did not unplug the outlets and immediately called an electrician and the fire department.

Mariotti said she got in contact with the Director of Campus Safety Amanda Guthorn to discuss her concerns regarding the smoke detectors. She said Guthorn told her the smoke detectors are checked every summer.

“I think they should be checked more often than once a year,” Mariotti said.

Guthorn was out of her office and unavailable for comment. Mariotti said she would like to see KSC look into faulty outlets instead of banning hanging fabric. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it wasn’t the tapestries fault, this all happened because of a faulty outlet,” she said.

“It’s concerning that the faulty outlet wasn’t seen as a problem during the health and safety checks, it’s not safe, I feel unsafe all the time now,” she said.

According to Drake-Deese, KSC consulted with both the New Hampshire State Fire Marshall and Keene Fire Department and immediately changed the policy on fabric wall hangings.

As of November 13, all tapestries, curtains, quilts, jerseys and all other fabric wall hangings, including those serving as “doors” to closets, have been banned, according to the mass email. Some students are upset about the new rule.

KSC sophomore Tim McGraw said he does not want to remove his American flag from his wall. “I bought my flag on campus, it’s immoral [of KSC] to sell something that you’re going to ban later on,” he said.“I’m just trying to express my freedom.”

KSC sophomore Kyle Sawyer is also frustrated about removing the cloth from his walls. “Living in this dorm room without anything on the walls is a prison,” he said.

First-year student Connor Johnson said he does not like the new rule. “I don’t think everyone should be punished just because this happened in one situation,” he said.

First-year student Katie Bottis said she is disappointed because she wanted to put a tapestry up next year. “It’s an easy decoration,” she said.

“Anything that hangs up can easily catch on fire so it’s pointless the way they are banning them now,” she continued.

The email states that safety is KSC’s number one priority. “The state fire regulations in this matter are clear, inflexible and unavoidable,” Drake-Deese stated in the email.

Though all hanging fabric is now banned from residence halls, the email stated the college is “looking to identify materials that would be acceptable as replacements” to cover the open closets that can be found in many residence halls  throughout campus.

MacKenzie can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com

Keene State College commuter students are fed up with the lack of free parking in the city of Keene. With colder weather heading our way, students are concerned with the lack of parking near campus as more students will be driving to campus.

KSC senior Angela Scionti lives less than a mile from campus and said she struggles to find free parking close to campus.

“I just don’t have the money to dump on a meter,” Scionti said.

A quarter will allow someone to park for 30 minutes at a meter, a nickel allows for six and a dime allows 12 minutes. Every meter in Keene has either a two or ten-hour maximum, according to the Keene website.

Scionti said she understands the cost of parking meters but can’t always afford it.

“I never have spare change,” Scionti said. She said she parks at a meter at least three times a week and pays the maximum amount of three dollars every time.

Photo Illustration / Tim Smith / Photo Editor

“The money adds up. Sometimes I’ll need a coffee before class and I still have to pay for laundry too,” Scionti said.

Scionti said she isn’t unfamiliar with parking tickets in Keene. “Since I’ve been in Keene I’ve accumulated at least fifty dollars worth of tickets,” Scionti said. She said she once got towed from KSC’s commuter lot because she could not find a lot to park in overnight.

Scionti said she is concerned about the upcoming winter. “More people are going to be driving because it’s cold and the snow banks cover most of the parking spaces,” she said.

KSC junior Gabby Brzozowski said she can relate to the struggle of finding free parking in Keene.

“Parking is always a hassle, especially when I have to make a quick trip or run to the bank,” Brzozowski said.

Brzozowski said she believes pulling out of parking spots on Main Street is “extremely dangerous.”

“It’s so hard to see people coming because of the parked cars that block your view,” Brzozowski said.

Brzozowski said if she could change one thing about public parking in Keene, she would want the first ten minutes of parking to be free. She said having a period of free time would decrease the worry of getting a ticket.

The Keene website lists the 1,350 public parking spots in Keene. It lists specific streets that provide two-hour metered parking, ten-hour meter parking and reserved spots.

According to the website, short term parking can range from six minutes to two hours and long term parking allows three to ten hours of parking, but don’t forget your change! All parking in Keene costs a fee between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5p.m. Free parking is available all day Sunday and weekdays after 5p.m. Employees of the parking service office are monitoring the meters Monday through Saturday from 8a.m. to 5p.m. according to Parking Operations Manager Ginger Hill.

The website states that overnight parking is available “on a rotating basis.” It warns Keene drivers to check whether the lot they want to park in overnight is active or not. Parking is prohibited on streets from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. from November 1 through April 30 and 2 a.m. to 6.p.m. May 1 through October 31.

Hill said the parking services office is not planning to create additional free parking spaces in Keene.

“We did recently open up some free parking on Gilbo Avenue,” Hill said. She said the meters were removed and the spaces are now free to park in.

MacKenzie can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com

A campus-wide sexual assault survey has been launched at Keene State College. The anonymous online survey was sent out on October 7 and will be available to students until the end of the month.

All KSC students are asked to complete this survey in order to ensure outgoing attention to the safe, healthy, supportive and respectful environment at KSC, according to Director of Institutional Research and Assessment Cathy Turrentine.

According to Turrentine, the survey is intended to provide information to the college on the prevalence of sexual assault in the student community as well as the effectiveness of KSC’s response when an assault is reported.

The survey asks questions about any sexual violence a student may have experienced. All students are asked to participate to collect data, but participation is voluntary. Many students may find that they need to stop the survey due to some distress they may feel. A student who begins the survey may stop at any time. Students also have the option of skipping questions they feel uncomfortable answering, according to Turrentine.

Turrentine said if a student wishes to have a confidential setting in which to discuss a sexual misconduct experience, there are resources available at the Counseling Center, the Center for Health and Wellness or the off-campus MCVP: Crisis and Prevention Center.

Coordinator of Sexual Violence Education and Prevention Forrest Seymour said this survey is “a giant leap forward.” He said this survey is a great way to get a sense of how the students feel about these issues.

Seymour said he hopes this survey is recognized as “a powerful thing” and said he hopes for high participation.

“I think it’s scary, some colleges don’t want to know,” Seymour said about the survey’s results. More than 27 institutions nation-wide have released their results of sexual assault surveys, according to Seymour.

Title IX Coordinator Jeff Maher said the college has not yet determined how much, if any, of the survey results will be released to the public. Maher’s job as Title IX Coordinator entitles him to coordinate the college’s response to issues of sexual misconduct and relationship violence.

Maher said KSC created this improved survey after the White House Task Force sent out a nation-wide report in April 2014 to help protect students from sexual assault. The report stated the first step to prevention is campus climate surveys.

As a first-year staff member at KSC, Maher said much of the survey discussion took place prior to his time at KSC. Regardless, Maher said he was involved in deciding what type of information the college wanted to receive and how the survey was going to be offered to students.

“What we’re trying to determine is the prevalence misconduct here on campus,” Maher said. He said the college hopes to gain some information to determine students’ attitudes and awareness towards the issues of sexual misconduct.

“By receiving this information in [an] anonymous form, we not only hope to get accurate information, but hope that the data will help craft a better response to the issues of sexual misconduct,” Maher said.

Maher said this survey is “just one step in the process.” By gathering data, the college is able to identify the problem of sexual misconduct and learn how much of a problem there really is, according to Maher.

“This helps us to determine with actual data as opposed to rumors,” Maher said.

Maher said he is hoping for 100 percent participation from KSC students but understands it may not work out that way. He said this survey will help KSC to learn what can be done differently at the college to benefit the students.

Questions on the survey aren’t just aimed at students who have experienced sexual misconduct. The college is asking all students to participate.

Once the survey has been submitted, students will have the chance to enter a drawing to win a $100 KSC Bookstore gift card.

Also, at the end of the survey there are links to KSC’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and direct resources for students who experience sexual assault or sexual misconduct.  If a student ever feels violated or a victim of sexual misconduct, they are encouraged to take advantage of the on-campus resources available to them. Anyone can contact the Center for Health and Wellness at (358-2450) or MCVP at (352-3782).

MacKenzie can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of “idolize” is to worship as a god.

The private lives of celebrities are publicized every day with just the click of a button.

Many entertainment outlets report on celebrities’ every move as a form of news.

Anyone can find out who the new hottest couple is and why famous celebrities file for divorce.

So why are celebrity couples so idolized? Some people would say they look up to celebrities as god-like figures.

Trends on Twitter such as the hash tags “#blessed” and “#iamnotworthy” show that thousands of people on the internet are keeping tabs on their favorite celebrities, and comparing themselves to these god-like figures.

KSC students prove that celebrity couples don’t always influence their own relationships.

Sophomore Abby Shea said she follows at least ten celebrities on social media, but “just likes to see what they’re doing”.

Cassie Barron/ Equinox STaff

Many celebrities have social media accounts where they are able to publicize their glamorous lives.

According to Instagram, the married celebrities with the most followers are Kim Kardashian and Beyonce Knowles.

Beyonce shares pictures of her family, husband and musician  Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy, while traveling around the world.

Kim Kardashian often shares pictures of her daughter, North, styled in high end designer clothes.

Kardashian also posts pictures of gifts she receives from her husband, musician Kanye West, such as a wall of roses for Mother’s Day in 2014.

Couples at Keene State College differ enormously compared to celebrity couples. Most say they are not tainted by romance movies and novels and are not affected by the glamorized lifestyles of famous celebrity couples.

“Our relationship isn’t publicized,” Shea said, “We have control over what goes on the internet regarding us as a couple.”

Shea’s boyfriend, Brendan Cutuli, said he, as a male, doesn’t feel pressure from society.

“I do things for my girlfriend because I love her and it makes her happy,” Cutuli said.

Cutuli said he believes money “is only a material item.” He said he would do anything to see his girlfriend happy no matter what society thinks.

KSC Sophomore Amber Callanan said she doesn’t expect to be like a celebrity couple with her boyfriend.

“We live our own lives but also one together,” Callanan said, “We don’t worry about other people as much as celebrities do.”

Callanan said she isn’t worried because her relationship isn’t “under the star light.”

“We aren’t being watched 24/7,” Callanan said.

She continued,“We don’t have to feel the pressure of fitting into what society wants us to do.”

Shea said she believes her relationship is strong regardless of the long distance.

She said her boyfriend and her talk every day to keep the relationship lively.

As for expectations, KSC students differ on their opinions.

“My expectations don’t change because I know that we are both college students,” Shea said, “We don’t value our relationship based on materialistic items.”

Shea said she isn’t expecting a wall of roses for her next anniversary.

Callanan said her expectations may change a little “because celebrities appear to be perfect.”

In 2015, several celebrity couples filed for divorce. Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner as well as Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton have split this year, according to various news outlets.

KSC sophomore Sophia Freeman was saddened by the news of Garner and Affleck, but isn’t worried about divorce for her future marriage.

Freeman, 19, said she could see herself getting married to her current boyfriend of one year and two months.

“I think celebrities get divorced so much because of the pressure of society,” Freeman said.

She said she thinks the expectations of celebrity relationships are “too unrealistic for a college student.”

There’s no way to tell what the future holds for celebrity or student relationships.

One way to prevent an unsuccessful relationship is to ignore the standards set by society.

Not one couple is the same, so couples are encouraged to focus on their own relationship rather than ones they see online.

MacKenzie Clark can be contacted at Mclark@kscequinox.com

As the country’s college students have been involving themselves in an outbreak of a new drinking culture, studies have shown an increase in the amount of underage drinking on college campuses. Keene State College has taken precaution of this drinking epidemic by working with the Keene Police Department to help keep students safe.

Officer Kyle Macie is the current College Liaison Officer (CLO) for the KPD. The CLO, “takes reports of crimes and investigates accordingly and spends much time in the field on foot, bicycle or motor patrol and networking with various groups and individuals,” according to KPD website.

Photo illustration by Tim Smith / Photo Editor & Jake Coughlin / Administrative Executive Editor

Macie works with KSC to protect students and their property. Any calls related to the college are forwarded to Macie who then responds accordingly.

“Just about every call [KPD] handles has something to do with alcohol,” Macie said. He said most calls regarding KSC were out of control off-campus parties or from a dorm with suspected underage alcohol consumption.

Depending on the situation, Macie and other officers will take disciplinary action toward students involved with alcohol.

“In this generation,” Macie said, “students believe there are no consequences for them.” He said he thinks that the “riot mentality” this country has been seeing has encouraged students to consume alcohol.

“There are some college students who think ‘We can do whatever we want because we’re in college,’ and that is not the mindset to have,” Macie said.

As for students who believe “there’s nothing else to do” on college campuses besides drink alcohol, Macie said “that’s nonsense.”

“There are so many activities on campus for students to participate in,” KSC student Amber Huot [no relation to President Huot] said. Huot involves herself in Zumba classes and enjoys going to the gym.

“Weekend nights are the perfect gym time because everyone is out partying,” Huot said. She said she enjoys working off calories during the weekend instead of consuming more by drinking alcohol.

“Often times we see highly intoxicated students being carried out of a party and those are the types of situations we’re going to take action on,” he said. Macie said another common interaction with students revolves around them carrying open containers on the streets.

“If we can articulate that you are intoxicated because of the consumption of alcohol . . . You can be charged for that,” Macie said.

Macie, or any officer, has the right to arrest any student under the age of 21 with actual constructive possession of alcohol, internal or external, due to the New Hampshire statute of Unlawful Possession and Intoxication. Students found guilty of this violation will be charged a minimum of 300 dollars and will face a subsequent charge from KSC itself.

That doesn’t mean students over the age of 21 are in the clear just yet. Walking the streets with an open alcoholic beverage, including those of legal drinking age, is still illegal.

Students found guilty of this violation will be charged by KPD and KSC. Macie said his typical Friday night shift begins at 7 p.m. He patrols the area surrounding campus and responds to calls as needed.

He said the most popular streets he patrols include Blake, Wilson, Davis and Elliot.

“Most of the parties I hear about are on Blake Street,” Carli Cioppa, a student at KSC, said. Cioppa said she notices Campus Safety and KPD patrolling the street regularly during weekend nights. “I feel safer with the police around,” Cioppa said, “But I don’t know of any student that wouldn’t be upset if they got caught with alcohol.”

As for the day with the most police action on campus, “Fridays and Saturdays are usually our busiest nights,” Macie said. He said Thursdays are not as bad as they used to be, despite the term “Thirsty Thursdays” being so popular. As the college drinking culture around the country has evolved, Macie said he “wants to stop scraping kids off the ground.”

Macie said he would give lectures to students on alcohol consumption but would end up visiting those same students in the emergency room after they had been checked-in for alcohol related incidents.

In regards to decreasing the amount of college students getting involved with alcohol, Macie believes more education and harsher punishments are the way to go.

“You really have to set the punishment bar so high,” he said. Macie said he believes if the punishments were more severe, students will be less likely to get involved with alcohol. By drinking alcohol illegally, Macie said students are “rolling the dice with their future.”

If students do choose to consume alcohol or party, Macie encourages them to “never take a drink from a stranger” and “stay away from house-hopping.”

He said students get into a lot of trouble by jumping from house to house. Other advice Macie offered to KSC students included knowing their limit, knowing who they’re going to the party with and knowing not to go to unfamiliar areas.

MacKenzie Clarke can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com

For some people blogging is a hobby, but for Bethany Keeley-Jonker, blogging has become a lifestyle. Jonker, who is now a professor at Trinity-Christian College, began her blogging journey over 10 years ago and has had enough success to support her and her family.

After traveling from Illinois, Jonker came to Keene State College to share her blogging knowledge with interested students.

John Keefe / Equinox Staff

Jonker created her first successful blog in 2005 as a first-year in college.

She began what would soon be a rewarding journey with the hope of creating something witty to relieve some stress of school work. She said she used luck, curiosity, silliness and good timing to achieve the goal of a successful blog.

“I was interested in creatively communicating through computers and technology,” Jonker said.

She said she was intrigued by chat rooms and web pages, and discovered a love for a new way of communicating.

Jonker said the internet was new to her but was drawn to “the big open space” where people can easily find information.

As a curious college student, Jonker wondered what people would think of her writing.

She began writing a daily blog to “build relationships through writing.”

Silliness played a large role in Jonker’s blogging style, she said.

After pointing out silly grammar mistakes on business signs with her family, a light bulb turned on in Jonker’s head. She decided to blog about unintentional grammatical errors.

Jonker’s blog, “The ‘Blog’ of ‘Unnecessary’ Quotation Marks” has become a huge hit. She posts pictures of business signs, food labels, advertisements, etc. that have unnecessary, but unintentional, quotation marks.

Her biggest concern, Jonker said, is that people “wouldn’t know the difference between sarcasm and silliness.”

She said she is afraid of business owners getting offended by her blog.

“I’m not interested in making people feel bad, I’m interested in making them laugh,” Jonker said.

She wanted to create a way to “build relationships” with people who care about similar topics as her.

After many “shares” and “likes” of the blog, Jonker’s success escalated. She began to receive thousands of daily visitors and viewers of the blog. Jonker said that spikes happen unexpectedly for the blog and some days have more visitors than others. Jonker said she receives hundreds of pictures of unnecessary quotation marks from readers of her blog.

In 2007, The Associated Press shared a link to Jonker’s blog, which created more “traffic” and thousands of people were exposed to “The ‘Blog’ of ‘Unnecessary’ Quotation Marks.”  By allowing advertisements on her blog, Jonker receives a small income. As the number of ads and views increase, Jonker’s wallet grows bigger. In 2009, Jonker received the offer for a book advance regarding her blog. She enthusiastically accepted.

The greatest part of writing a book, Jonker said, was fulfilling a lifelong dream of hers.

“This was a life goal I was able to check off my list,” Jonker said. She said that the earnings from her book helped her to pay for her wedding and honeymoon.

Jonker was asked to write for a group blog, a blog with several writers. She still works with the group blog, www.thinkchristian.net, and occasionally sends in a piece for the site.

Jonker’s only complaint is not having as much freedom as an independent blog. “Sometimes the editor may ask me to revise or edit my work,” she said. Jonker said she enjoys the sovereignty of writing her own blog. She said group blogs are great to add to a portfolio. As for advice to future bloggers, Jonker encourages people to “take the opportunity to use [their] voice.” She said small blogs can introduce [bloggers] to a larger spectrum.

Krystal Bunnell, a student at KSC, attended the event as extra credit for a class. “What surprised me the most was how much work is involved in a blogging website,” she said regarding Jonker’s talk. Although many students sat in on the discussion for extra credit, Kelsey Walsh was there to learn.

“I want to blog,” Walsh, a student at KSC, said, “I just always have so much to say about everything.” Walsh said she was amazed by how many emails Jonker receives every day about her blog.

“I was once told that I never had a thought I didn’t share, so I might as well share my stupid thoughts for money,” Walsh said. She said she is looking forward to starting a blog in the near future.

Jonker is currently teaching at Trinity-Christian Coll ege as an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts. Her book, “Book of ‘Unnecessary’ Quotation Marks” can be found on Amazon.

MacKenzie Clarke can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com

Students tasted the future by sitting in on presentations from some of the top industry safety and health professionals in the country. The Keene State College American Society of Safety Engineers [ASSE] Student Chapter held a professional development conference on Friday, April 17.

With the idea of “building a community of future safety leaders,” ASSE hosted the conference to provide attendees with the opportunity to expand their professional networks. Other goals of the event consisted of providing KSC students with the experience of attending a professional development conference and provide an atmosphere for sustainable safety professional education for the future.

Brady Keene is an Organizational Liaison for KSC ASSE and helped put together the event as conference chair. Keene said the estimated 200 KSC students and alumni that attended the event was “an outstanding number for an event that is only in its first year.”

Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff

“The opportunity that this event gave students and professionals accomplished our main conference goal, which was to bring together current leaders in the safety and health profession and future leaders in the safety health profession, to build a community of leaders that will sustain the quality and professionalism that the KSC Safety program produces every year after graduation,” Keene said.

“The professionals that were able to attend were able to give back to the community that [they] were once a part of,” Keene said. He said the conference itself “helps the Keene State College name.”

“We all know that we have been through some difficult times in the past year or so and events like this help current students and alumni proudly say that they graduated or will graduate from Keene State,” he said.

Keene said conferences are a great way for students to “have the opportunity to practice their personal and networking skills” while obtaining contacts that could be useful in the future.

As a senior at KSC, Keene said events such as this have helped him grow as a person and the contacts he has made will continue to stay with him throughout his collegiate and professional career.

Presentations included, but were not limited to top industry safety and health professionals concentrated in construction, ergonomics, emergency response, industrial hygiene, manufacturing, insurance and certification agency representatives.

Peter Tandy, the Assistant Director for Graduate Studies at KSC, was in attendance at the conference.

“These types of workshops really help students to rub elbows with companies,” Tandy said. He encouraged students to continue their education to achieve a master’s degree.

“It’s important for students to engage with people of the industry,” he said. Many vendors and exhibitors attended the conference with hopes of educating students and the possibility of providing them with internship opportunities.

Andrew Palhof, a Compliance Assistance Specialist, was at the event representing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Palhof undertakes the role of training outreach and education of OSHA and works as a team leader with the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). According to the OSHA website, VPP is a program designed to “work cooperatively and proactively to prevent fatalities, injuries, and illnesses” through a system focused on an extensive list of paramount construction site conditions.

“It’s important to generate interest,” Palhof said about being involved in a college professional development conference. “It shows the students the type of opportunities that are out there.”

Palhof said he attends conferences prepared with job opportunities in the OSHA office for students that are eligible.

Other vendors and exhibitors that attended the conference included KSC Graduate Studies/Continuing Education, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, KSC Alumni and Parent Relations, Beeze Tees, MSA: The Safety Company and Lynn Ladder & Scaffolding.

MacKenzie Clarke can be contacted at mclarke@kscequinox.com

Parking has always been a question of concern for Keene State College students. The college seems to be lacking in the commuter parking department as many students are being fined for improper parking due to the lack of spaces available for commuting students.

KSC has 220 commuter parking spaces and has sold 400 commuter parking passes.

There are 20 types of parking violations listed on the KSC website. The violations range from a small fee of $10 for parking in a restricted area to a large sum of $250 for parking in a handicapped space without a pass.

When students are issued a ticket they receive three emails: one regarding the reason for the ticket, a warning about paying the ticket and a reminder that an appeal can be made within 10 days of the issue date. As of August 25, 2014, 628 parking violations have been issued in both commuter lots, according to the parking office.

Of those tickets, 287 of them were issued under the violation of “No Permit,” a $50 fine. 174 tickets were given for “Wrong Lot,” a $20 fine. “I’ve gotten two or three tickets for parking in the wrong lot,” KSC student Laura Gillis said.

Gillis has been parking in the commuter lot for two years now and said she believes the commuter lot is not big enough for the amount of tickets given out.

Gillis said she believes KSC “should allow [students] to park in some of the faculty and staff parking areas, or just combine the lots together.”

Leonard Crossman is the assistant director of campus safety and has been assigned to the oversight of the parking office.

He manages routine parking issues and any incidents that may arise. Crossman explained that campus safety conducts lot surveys during different periods of the day and different days of the week, to count how many open spaces are available during that time period. “We’re doing these surveys to determine how many parking passes we can issue,” Crossman said. Parking Office Manager Kara Shatney said that the parking office is able to sell more permits than spaces available because of these surveys.

“People are coming and going throughout the day and not everyone with a permit is going to be on campus at the exact same time,” Shatney said. But not all students feel that way. “It’s crazy to try and find a spot in the morning,” Gillis said, “In order to get a spot, [students] have to go at eight a.m. or just the right time during the day.”

Students that violate one or more of these parking rules more than once will be at risk for towing,

Philip Bergeron / Graphics Editor

according to the KSC website. Crossman assured that campus safety doesn’t tow first-time offenders often. “If a student has a pattern of chronic violation, [campus safety] is obligated to make sure that there is a free flow of traffic for emergency vehicles,” he said, which could result in a tow. Leon’s Auto Center is an auto body shop located on Main Street. If a car was to be towed from KSC to Leon’s Auto Center it would cost $100 plus $60 per day of hold, Leon’s Business Office Manager Jackie Stromgren said.

Not only will the student be responsible for the towing fee, but also the violation fine they received prior to towing.

The KSC website also states that the college reserves the right to place a financial hold on students’ accounts for unpaid parking violations. Crossman said that students still have access to register for classes with these holds, but they can affect their ability to receive their transcripts or diplomas.

Shatney confirmed that the parking office does a monthly report regarding students who have any outstanding parking violations. That report then gets sent to the financial office on campus and a hold is put on any account that has multiple unpaid tickets. When asked about future plans, Crossman explained that campus safety is concerned with the increasing number of students at KSC. “Our college continues to grow and this is the largest freshman class we’ve ever had, but as they become upperclassmen that could create parking issues,” he said.

“The problem is, the college only owns so much property,” Crossman said.

He said he believes that the college has to figure out what to do with the growing population at KSC before expanding the parking.

Crossman also said that the idea of a parking garage has been presented to the school as an idea to save space. As of now, according to campus safety, the parking rules will remain the same and students will have to battle to get parking spots each year.

Crossman said lot surveys will continue to be conducted in hopes of expanding accessibility.

MacKenzie Clarke can be mclarke@kscequinox.com

On Monday, Oct. 20 an all-campus forum was held for students, faculty and staff to understand the events of Pumpkin Fest, share experiences and feelings and to regain the sense of community for Keene State College. 

President Anne Huot opened with a statement thanking everyone who attended the forum and explained why the forum was being held. “A really terrible thing happened starting late Friday night, going right through until early Sunday morning,” Huot said. She explained that the forum was held to start thinking about how KSC would continue forward and what lessons the school as a whole could learn about these events. Huot explained that KSC has some accountability in what happened. “We also have to deal with the shame that comes with it, the blame that comes with it, whether it’s ours to own or not,” Huot said. She assured the audience that she does not approve of what happened in this city and the change that needed to be made “will only work if you want it to work.” Huot confirmed that the forum was held to “start a healing process and continue going forward.”

Student Body President Bobby Graham stated the incidents that occurred on Saturday in the community “can easily be summed up as shameful, embarrassing and destructive to our college community and our self-image as a whole,” Graham said, “These events did happen and we cannot erase or mask reality.” He also brought up the worry of many students’ futures at KSC. “Although we do not know what is going to happen, we do have the ability to come together as a student body.” Graham assured the students that he believes they have the wisdom to make a difference.

Many students at the forum had related questions to Graham’s statement about their future. One student questioned his degree after graduation and how this weekend’s events would affect his career after college. Huot claimed, that “In light of everything that’s happened, I am making sure you are getting the education you came here for.”

Graham also reassured students that the future is in their hands. “Administration is doing everything that it can do, but a large part of the rebuilding can be done by students,” he stated.

Samuel Post, a senior at KSC, questioned the forum about ways the student body could help the community. “How can we help? How can we ask forgiveness?,” Post asked. He suggested creating a forum to talk to the community of Keene, asking their opinion of the events and how students of KSC can better the situation.

Another student shared disappointment in the way people perceive KSC after this weekend’s events. “There are a lot of people that are throwing words and opinions at us, but our actions can speak much louder than anybody can talk,” he said. The same student said they believe that if the KSC community does more good than bad going forward, “There’s nothing they can say that we can’t prove wrong.”

Many students began their comments by thanking the law enforcement officers for their protection and services used this weekend. Other students turned to the police for the blame of this weekend’s chaotic events. A KSC student explained that the only physical harm he endured over the weekend was being tear-gassed after walking back from doing community service on Saturday, rather than participating in the riots themselves. “Had not a single rubber bullet been fired, had not a single gas canister been thrown,” he said, he believes these destructive events would not have occurred. “This was the first year that we encountered such an overwhelming police force and this also happened to be the first year that these types of riots happened,” the student added. He concluded by suggesting a major change in the way police handle Pumpkin Fest in the years to come. The administration at the forum, though, assured the audience that KSC is working closely with the law enforcement to find the students responsible for this weekend’s turmoil.

Although the administration was present at the forum, they were unable to answer a question presented by many audience members: what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again? Huot claimed, “We need to find a path forward, but we’re not going to solve it all this evening.” Some members of the audience were disappointed that the KSC staff and administration has not put in enough thought about the future. Shannon Mayers, director of the Redfern Arts Center at KSC, questioned how the administration handled the preparation for Pumpkin Fest with the students. “I admire everybody who is here and who is continuing the dialogue, but where was this dialogue a week ago?” Mayers asked. She said she is concerned with the student engagement on campus and how the administration could have prevented these types of events by encouraging students to get involved with learning such consequences ahead of time.

Before the conclusion of the forum, an angered audience member had no trouble putting the blame on the administration for this weekend’s horrific events. Mentioning the 2013 Pumpkin Fest, the World Series celebration, as well as this year’s Pumpkin Fest, he expressed his disappointment at the administration for allowing three chaotic events to occur within one year.

“To be fair, the administration of this college had a year to find out how to not make this happen again.” As a citizen of Keene, the audience member said he felt as if his trust was breached too many times to forgive the administration. “Each person in this room and every member of this college community has failed by creating a culture on this campus by which we say ‘we will welcome visitors onto our campus that will do damage to our reputation and our property,’” he said.

Graham concluded the forum with a quote from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley stating, “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments from the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Graham portrayed again his idea that the future is in the students’ hands and that they must make the change for KSC.

Maggie Mason, a sophomore at KSC, attended the forum in hopes that she could find some security surrounding this weekend’s events. “I wish that all of the negativity stayed out; obviously we don’t need that right now,” she stated. She said she believes that more people need to get involved with fixing the problems that have occurred at KSC. Seanna Flynn, another student at KSC said this weekend was very scary for her, but she appreciates how fast the community has come together. “How quick the sense of togetherness flipped around was really magnificent,” she stated.

MacKenzie Clark can be contacted at mclarke@keene-equinox.com