It is not often that people in the arts get to work with true masters of their crafts. Keene State College recently got to welcome world-renowned  Colombian-Spanish soprano Dr. Patricia Caicedo.

As a trained classical singer, musician and musicologist, Caicedo offers  unique and valuable insight on tools and techniques to help singers reach their fullest potential.

contributed Photo by Music department

Masterclass

Caicedo recently lent her skills to a masterclass for KSC students, not only educating them on Latin American and Iberian composers and arrangements, but was able to focus on four students and work through their chosen Latin-American Art Songs.

“I think it was really illuminating being up there,” Kelly Uselton, sophomore music performance major, said, “because she [Caicedo] was having me emote more and be more expressive and pointing out that while I may have thought that I was being expressive that it may not have translated exactly to the audience, especially on stage, so that was really valuable.” Uselton performed Cancion composed by Manuel de Falla.

KSC sophomore music performance major Laurel Mendelsohn said she really appreciated the style in which Caicedo conducted her masterclass.

Mendelsohn performed Preludios, also by Manuel de Falla.

“I’ve done a couple master classes before, but she’s definitely a lot more down to business,” Mendelsohn said. “It was a lot more intense than I expected, especially just getting up there [ on stage].”

Also noting the direct approach Caicedo takes in her master class workshops, KSC senior piano performance major Jake Huggins said Caicedo was particular about the way words sounded, and helped the students learn how to pronounce them properly.

“She has so much knowledge that she brought here and she, in the master class specifically, definitely didn’t hold back at all,” Huggins said.

“You just get so much insight because she’s from somewhere totally different and you just get that much more experience with what she knows and then bringing it here.”

Recital

In addition to teaching master classes, Caicedo also performed a recital with KSC Coordinator of Guitar and Latin American Music and twice Grammy-Nominated Cuban American Guitarist, Composer, Folklorist Dr. José Lezcano, entitled “Spanish Nights & Songs of Absence”.

The event was held on Sunday, Sept. 24, in the Redfern Arts Center’s Alumni Recital Hall, and attracted an audience of about 40 people.

The duo began their set with two Sephardic songs, arranged by Manuel Vallis.

According to the event’s program, “Caicedo is a leading interpreter of the Latin American and Iberian vocal repertory” and is known as “The Voice of the Latin American and Iberian Art Song.” She has also published 5 books and 8 CDs that are within the field.

A portion of the recital contained an arrangement of poetry written by Caicedo and music composed afterwards by Lezcano. He and Caicedo worked together to tell Caicedo’s sort of cathartic tale of an imperfect romance, as she explained prior to the performance of the songs.

When asked on his experience performing with Caicedo, Lezcano said “I love it, because I have a great time and I always learn so much.”

Lezcano learned a new repertoire for these most recent recitals with Caicedo.

At the end of the 4:00 p.m. hour, the duo exited the stage, completing their set with “Engenho Novo,” arranged by Laurindo Almeida.

However, Caicedo and Lezcano surprised the audience with a final song before the recital officially ended.

Huggins was also one of the audience members at the rectial.

“I think both José [Lezcano] and [Caicedo] did very well,” Huggins said. “Overall, I thought it was very well done, very well put together too.”

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com

Alexandria Saurman can be contacted at asaurman@kscequinox.com

Leg warmers were dusted off, tutus fluffed and shoulder pads made to be as sharp as ever at the Let’s Dance: 80s Edition dance party, hosted by the Neoteric Dance Collaborative and the Redfern Arts Center, this past Friday in the Mabel Brown Room.

Upon entering the room, attendees were handed a program in the form of a “cootie catcher,” outlining when group dance lessons and dance performances by the Neoteric Dance Collaborative would be taking place throughout the night.

Jacob Paquin / Photo Editor

Neon lights illuminated the room and the disco ball, and party-goers took to the dance floor to boogie along to the likes of Prince, Bowie, Janet Jackson, Devo and more, ‘spun’ by DJ James 808.

Every half-hour or so, the dancers of the Neoteric Dance Collaborative cleared the dancefloor to perform original choreography for the attendees to popular 80’s music, starting off these performances with an interactive group dance lesson that everyone would perform for the finale dance number.

First-years James Yates and Shelby Orifice both were drawn to the event because of their love of 80s music and their love to dance.

Yates did admit to liking more of the 80s “metal”  music variety, citing Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer and Van Halen as some of his favorites, while Orifice prefered rock groups more like The Smiths.

Coordinator of Energy and Administrative Services at the Physical Plant at Keene State College Diana Duffy, was also seen busting out some dance moves on Friday.

“When I was in highschool we used to have 50s dances, it was this nostalgic alien period that we reached back for. This is now where we are, and we are reaching back to the 80s, so for most people it’s this sort of foreign alien time that had people dressed up funny with a lot of hair, etc, so it’s something to commemorate , in a way,” Duffy said on students today reacting to the 80s era at the event.

Having gone through college in the 80’s, Duffy recounted on the times of a student run disco that ran six nights a week, where she jokingly said she got a “summa cum in disco”.

Her dance moves remain as energetic as ever.

Jacob Paquin / Photo Editor

KSC students Umutoni Nyiramugisha and Claudine Umurutasate appreciated the performances put on by the Neoteric Dance Collaborative, first hesitating then finding themselves on the dance floor for a majority of the night .

“They all are very good at it [dancing]” Umurutasate said on the dancers. Both said they would go to an event like this again.

Director of the Redfern Arts Center Shannon Mayers, had happened upon the Neoteric Dance Collaborative and their Let’s Dance: 80s Edition event by chance, stating that she was drawn to the dance party vibes that Neoteric Dance Collaborative brings.

“I was really thinking about this for students” Mayers said, “Having something fun on a Friday that is fun and safe”.

Founder of the Neoteric Dance Collaborative Sarah Duclos, begun the group while in college in order to push herself and other student dancers further in the dancing/choreography realm.

The group has developed Let’s Dance: Soul Edition and Let’s Dance: 80s Edition dance parties, events that take anywhere from three to nine months to put together.

“We have another version of this show, Let’s Dance: Soul Edition, and we created that first and that was sort of our next big thing,” Duclos said.

“There was a real call for it [the 80s Editon]. Everyone loved the Soul [Edition] but everyone was like ‘You should really do an 80s party’”.

An an 80s Dance party they certainly did. From start to finish, Let’s Dance: 80s Edition had people continuously on the dance floor.

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com

The Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery will reopen its doors for the season on Friday, Sept. 22, with an exhibit featuring the works of the late Robert S. Neuman, a recognized abstract artist and emeritus professor of Keene State College.

The exhibit will run from Sept. 22 to Dec. 6, and is named “Impulse and Discipline: 60 Years Of Painting by Robert S. Neuman, 1950-2010.”

The opening event runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on  Friday, Sept. 22.

Brian Wallace, director of the gallery, said, “This is a very accessible little pocket art museum, right here on our campus. And whether you grew up going to museums or are if you’re like me and it took going to college to meet people who went to museums, we try to tailor what we do [here at the gallery] to both of those audiences”.

This year’s opening will be centered around Robert Neuman himself.

Photo by Kort Duce Photography ©

“We try to do music for every opening,” Wallace said. “We’ve had pretty young, loud bands the past couple times, [so] we are changing up a little this time because Bob [Robert] Neuman came of age in San Francisco in the 50s and then he was back and forth between Europe, New York and Boston in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and those were all real jazz hotspots”.

“There is a real kind of parallel to jazz in a lot of his [Neuman’s] paintings.” Wallace said.

The performer for this years opening will be the Scott Mullet Trio, a group Wallace said will embody the jazz influence that some of Neuman’s paintings impart.

Two more events will be happening in conjunction with the Neuman exhibit, one being Robert S. Neuman and Post-War Art, with speakers and catalogue signings on Nov. 4 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Gallery conference room, and Robert S. Neuman: artist as teacher; teacher as artist, an informal discussion open to the community taking place Friday, Oct. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the gallery.

Sam Stephenson and Brooke Carlson, senior students at KSC, said they have not heard the buzz around campus about the opening.

“I think more posters would help [for students to be more aware of events] [or] I think if professors were a little more vocal about it; I know it’s hard to bring stuff like that up in class though, especially if there’s so much stuff to do [in class],” Stephenson, who is also a studio art major, said.

Both hope to now make it to the opening at the Thorne-Sagendorph on Sept. 22.

All in all, the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery is a space that is inclusive to all, and an open space that encourages discussion.

“We’re a friendly place, we don’t shy away from complicated discussions and sophisticated artworks,” Brian Wallace said. “It also is just really good to be able to be relaxed and informal and be able to trade ideas and opinions and the occasional joking insult back and forth just to get and keep conversations going.”

KSC Director of Strategic Communications and Community Relations Kelly Ricaurte, also encourages students to take advantage of the gallery as an on-campus asset.

“I think most importantly is for students to see the Thorne Gallery as a resource for them; we are really lucky to have that right on our campus. It’s a resource for our students, for our faculty and staff and for the broader community as well,” Ricaurte said.

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com

Most college students find it hard enough to balance classes, the occasional club activities and their social lives. Keene State College junior Jacob Chiza somehow balances being a safety major, a midfielder on the KSC men’s soccer team and training and performing in dance showcases held by the KSC dance department.

Chiza’s first interest in dance was cultivated in an afterschool program in elementary school called Bring It, a program combining dance classes with homework study and soccer.

Chiza said his experiences at Keene State College with dance are his first professionally choreographed dance performances.

File photo by Jacob Paquin / Photo Editor

With a background interest in hip-hop style dance, Chiza tries to combine both hip-hop and modern dance elements in his performances.

“[When] I first met Jacob, he was in a beginning to modern dance course, and he really just stood out for his enthusiasm, dedication and commitment. It was a wonderful class in general; there was a really great comradery in the class,” Cynthia McLaughlin, contract lecturer and dance professor at KSC, said.

“His attitude is really infectious. I think he really just developed this passion for dance really quickly,” she said.

“To me, it makes me focus more if I have a lot of stuff on my plate,” Chiza said, when asked on how he balances his busy academic schedule and passion for dance and soccer. “[They are] commitment[s] that I made, so I have to follow through, so basically that just pushes me to work on it.”

Rick Scott, the KSC varsity men’s soccer head coach, describes Chiza as a hard worker and a teammate who can take on whatever is thrown at him.

“He would be a guy that Bill Belichick from the Patriots would love because he can do so many things well. He can play a lot of different positions on the field, and when you put him in in any one of the spots, he does a great job,” Scott said.

“He’s not intimidated, he’s not, ‘Oh Coach, I don’t know if I can do this.’ It’s just an, ‘Okay’ and he just jumps right in.”

Chiza not only can balance soccer and dance as activities, but can attribute dance to helping his balance on the field, a fact backed up by both Scott and Mclaughlin.

“From what I see, he manages [balancing soccer and dance] very well. We talk a lot about how his musculature reacts to what’s required of him as a varsity soccer player as opposed to dance and I know he has said dance has helped him [on the field],” said McLaughlin.

Scott said, “[In dance,] there’s a lot of balance, there’s a lot of agility, there’s a lot of coordination and I actually think it helps his game with soccer.”

Last year, Chiza was featured in both the Choreography Showcase in the Redfern Arts Center and The Evening of Dance performance, initially events that intimidated him to add to his already full schedule.

“[With] Evening of Dance, soccer [and] safety [classes], at first I was like, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do this,’ but then I told myself, ‘I can do it, I can do it,’” Chiza said. “Just keep pushing myself, don’t give up on anything.”

Chiza had auditions for this year’s choreography showcase this past weekend.

“Everyone in the dance department said I don’t got no choice [but to audition],” Chiza said with a smile.

Scott said, “I have to give him an awful lot of credit because he does well in soccer. He’s very well accepted, very well-liked by not only soccer guys, but by everyone…and he has the time to dance and he is very good at it and he gets it all done. It not done halfway, it’s done at 100 percent; there is no shortcuts.”

As for the future, Chiza can see dance continuing to be a part of his life.

“I’m just a person that loves dancing,” Chiza said. “What means a lot to me is the movement. If you understand it, it comes out like art. Most people just don’t get it because they don’t experience it the same as the people who are in it… I have passion for it, so it comes out like art.”

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com

With optimism, enthusiasm and a fresh-faced attitude, new Keene State College Dance Professor Meredith Bove is ready to see what her first year teaching at the college brings.

A Vermont native, Bove said she grew up studying ballet throughout her childhood years, moving on to study at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. It was during her studies there that she started moving away from just ballet and becoming more interested in modern and postmodern dance forms.

Following her undergraduate studies, Bove lived in Berlin, Germany, for two years, where she found herself continuing along the lineage of postmodern release dance techniques, but also became very interested in performance studies.

“I [also] saw a lot of performance that was very experimental and sort of really eye-opening in a lot of ways”, Bove said. “I was still very interested in somatic practices and release technique and I became really interested in just sort of performance studies and just all this watching of performance was just really fascinating to me.”

Following her time in Berlin, Bove returned to the United States to get her Master’s of Fine Arts from Hollins University in Virginia.

“I was making a lot of solo work while I was at Hollins [University], and I am still sort of doing that now,” Bove says. “I’ve continued where I am very much interested in solo performance and a little bit of interdisciplinary practices with that solo performance”.

In fact, many of the classes Bove will be teaching at Keene State College are interdisciplinary themselves.

“I’m teaching a ballet course which combines with experiential anatomy,” Bove says. “It’s very cool, I think it’s a great way to learn the techniques of ballet while also thinking about our anatomical structures and things.”

When asked about her thoughts on joining the KSC community, Bove responded with a certain eagerness.

Bove says “It’s my third day, but I just feel like the community here just seems really great and supportive. Throughout my orientation, there were just so many people who were really supportive and wanted to help which I feel is not always the case at other institutions and I really think that’s special.”

Bove is not daunted by her first full time teaching position.

“The students, you know, I am just getting to know them but so far, everyone I’ve come into contact with seems ready to learn,” Bove said. “It doesn’t seem like people are taking their education for granted. I feel people are present and that they want to be here and they want to learn. It’s great.”

In April, Bove will have works featured in The Evening of Dance event featured at the Redfern Arts Center, but that does not curb her interest in this semester, highlighting how the theatre and dance programs foster collaboration.

“I am not leading anything this fall, just the spring, but I am very excited about the program that is coming [this semester],” Bove said. “I’ve already encountered several of my students who are in everything, like I have students in my modern dance class who are directing the play”

The biggest challenge in sight for Bove currently is just overcoming her newness, on the campus and as a first-time, full-time faculty member.

“I’m just excited right now. Each day just feels like a new sort of adventure and there is some trepidation that comes with that, but mostly it’s just really exciting.” Bove said, “I’m excited to see how the semester unfolds.”

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com

Preparation and Arrival 

I suppose for me, this journey abroad to Ireland has been years in the making. From participating in Irish Step Dancing for years as a young child, to receiving my Irish citizenship upon graduating high school, the curiosity of exploring the land of my roots has always drawn me in. So far, Ireland has far exceeded my expectations.

Preparing for my first trip abroad of this scale was an experience in itself.

A chronic overpacker, my last nights in the states were spent packing and repacking my two suitcases to keep them within the airline’s weight limits.

My excitement was clouded a bit by nervousness and a hint of sadness in leaving my family, boyfriend and especially my dog. Everyone was very supportive and excited for me, and that made the goodbyes quite a bit easier knowing I had so much support.

Photo contributed by Meridith King

Keene State offers opportunities to study in either Limerick or Galway Ireland, and I ended up choosing Galway for its thriving arts community and beautiful campus. Looking each city up beforehand, Galway’s pedestrian streets lined with a rainbow of small shops and quirky pubs drew me in.

Finding housing was interesting; the university doesn’t offer much on-campus housing, so I had to find a flat; my first one was given away to someone else a week before I arrived. Luckily, I found a last second spot in student apartments called the Niland House and have been fortunate enough to be blessed with three wonderful roommates and a great little apartment and have had no problems since.

I am about a 10-15 minute walk to campus, which is lovely on nicer days and not-so-great on the more rainy ones, and the best part is my apartment is right in the heart of the city.

I think the fact that I was spending four months in a foreign country didn’t sink in until I landed here. I was greeted by some of my Irish relatives, Kieran and Aileen, an older couple whom I haven’t seen for years.

These two, I would say, are representative of Irish people as a whole- completely warm, welcoming and incredibly generous.

They picked me up at 6 a.m. at the Shannon Airport and took me to their home in Limerick, welcoming me with a cup of Irish tea, “digestives” and took me on the scenic route all the way to Galway, past endless green and fields of cows and sheep.

Surprisingly, as the day went on and the sun rose, there was not a cloud in the sky, and my relatives joked not to get used to the it. We passed old stone ruins and little cottages with colorful doors, and my heart rose knowing I made the right choice to study in the land of my origins.

Campus 

The National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) campus is night and day compared to Keene campus. Instead of red brick buildings, the campus is filled with a mix of old, majestic looking stone buildings covered in ivy and modern looking glass ones.

The university is home to nearly 20,000 students, a vast difference from the cozy campus I am used to at Keene.

At NUIG, I am taking amazing classes in huge lecture halls with up to 150 other students. My most interesting class is probably a beginners Gaelic class, which I hope will come in handy reading and pronouncing signs on campus and around town. NUIG is a bilingual university and Galway has a large Irish speaking population.

It’s been really amazing to explore this language and to get better connected to my roots- being a dual citizen, I feel like I owe it to myself to explore my roots and experience my culture as best I can while living here.

Experiences 

Most of my time here has been spent exploring my immediate surroundings.  There is a pub on every corner and once you go, you can see there is more to the Irish culture than just a place to get a pint of Guinness (which I had my first ever as of last week).

Old and young alike gather at each of these small pubs, crowding in almost every night.  Most of them have live traditional music and all have this general sense of community and togetherness that welcomes in anyone who crosses their thresholds.

Besides the pub scene, Ireland is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes, in my opinion, in the world.

So far in my three weeks here, I’ve only traveled around Galway and took a day trip up the coast of Ireland to the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs are a spectacular natural formation, and even though it was foggy when I went, my breath was still taken away. Fog trailed over the edge down the hundreds of feet drop, mixing with the spray the white capped waves blew up crashing against the cliffs base. Truly, it was a spectacular work of nature.

I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting the town of Athlone, the very town my family came from, and saw  my own family’s cottage.

That was a very cool and singular experience to see where my roots are. It made my dual-citizenship feel more real and meaningful.

Future plans while here 

The rest of my time here in Ireland will be very busy!

Between rugby games in Dublin, visiting the Book of Kells in person (I have been looking at a framed replica of a page from the book of Kells at my house since I was two-years-old- soon I will be able to see it in person) and planning weekends away in Europe, the next few months I am going to stay on my toes.

I can’t wait to see more of this beautiful place.

Should you study away? 

If there is one thing you can do in your college experience, I recommend studying abroad. You will discover more about yourself and make memories and friends you never would have otherwise.

You will push your limits and experience life in a million new ways.

You will learn more about yourself than you ever thought you could.

I have only been in Galway for just over three weeks, and in that time I feel happier with life and with myself than I have in a long time.

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com

With makeup giving 12-year-olds the ability to look 20, the makeup industry seems to forget not all of their clientele are actually that age.

From “Better than Sex” mascara and “Barely Legal” lip-gloss by Too Faced, Nars blush in “Orgasm” or “Deep Throat” to the “Spank Me” eyeshadow from MAC, these makeup products are available to even the youngest makeup enthusiasts for purchase.

Seemingly innocent nail polish doesn’t even escape the sexualization, as the colors “Porn-a-thon” by Smith & Cult and “Jizz” by BleachBlack attest to. What does naming makeup products so sexually do to benefit a brand, and how might this affect young children who purchase and use their products?

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

I worry that young girls using products that are so explicitly named alm Aost ages them beyond their years, which is more damaging, I think, than wearing makeup that makes younger girls look older than they are.

I know personally I didn’t get interested in makeup until I was finishing with high school and starting college, but now I see girls as young as twelve or thirteen using a repertoire of products I didn’t even know existed at their age. It’s worse when their mascaras, eyeshadows and blushes that they use have an extremely sexual undertone to their names.

As a 20-year-old makeup enthusiast, I very much enjoy sharing my favorite shades of lipstick with my friends…how wrong would it be to hear that a 12-year-old’s favorite shade is “69” by MAC? There is something inherently wrong and discomforting about that.

I understand a brand’s obsession with staying trendy and edgy for marketing’s sake, I just think that especially in today’s day and age, more brands have to take into consideration what demographics they are reaching as a whole, not just one or two niches. I think people would still buy the product without the sexed-up packaging, if the product was actually well-made. I would, in fact, be more apt to share my makeup favorites to more people if I didn’t have to say “Yea, on my eyelids is this shade ‘Deep Throat.’” No thanks.

Young girls will have plenty of time to experiment with achieving “sexy” when they are older. At their age, makeup should be a fun and experimental learning process– with product names to match.

Makeup can be about finding your own persona and way to best represent yourself and how you want to portray that to the world. Words that define sex shouldn’t be what girls see to define them.

They should learn makeup isn’t just to look good for the opposite sex, but it is more a matter of self-expression.The person they should learn to look good for is themselves.  I hope this trend of scandalous makeup names is one that is soon over.

Meridith King can be contacted at Mking@kscequinox.com

The past week has been an emotional roller coaster for many in this nation. With the results of Tuesday’s election, there has been almost a hush over the KSC campus.

I have heard from a few students that the mood across campus seemed as though someone had died the last few days. Across the country since the eve of the election thousands have participated in anti-Trump protests.

Personally, I was deeply disappointed in how the first presidential election I could actually vote in turned out. It scares me, not only because the candidate who is now the elected president spent his campaign emitting a severely racist, islamophobic and misogynistic rhetoric to the nation and the other under federal investigation, but also because of the fear and deep divide I see.

Social media platforms are a war ground, with threats and name-calling regardless of who you voted for. People are tweeting #NotMyPresident and #DumpTrump.

I am almost less afraid of what Trump will bring to the table and more afraid of his supporters and the fact that racists, misogynists and homophobes are being emboldened into thinking that acting out on their hateful beliefs is now okay..  I have seen friends who are truly scared for their futures or their families, who in the wake of the election have already faced discrimination.

I have seen boys on social media proclaim how they can’t wait to do what they want with women because it is “Trump’s America now.” People are scared.

Not everyone who voted or supported Trump is a sexist or  racist person, which is something to bare in mind.

Insults don’t work anymore; we need to encourage discussion and debate now more than ever. Complaining won’t work; we need to actively do something if we want change.

All in all, at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, Donald Trump is the President-elect.  I see no point in blaming people and staying further divided.

Instead of pointing fingers at who’s fault it is that the election came out this way, I think we need to come together, especially those who aren’t happy with the results of the election.

If anything, this could be a catalyst for change, maybe not just in the ways we fear. We need to make sure we are still pushing for change by protecting our women and their autonomy over their bodies, protecting the LGBTQ+ community, protecting people of color and protecting Muslim Americans.

We need to not give up on the country and continue to try to actively stay involved in its future.

America is a country made up of a melting pot of races, ethnicities, and religions. To speak against that is to speak against what this country stands for.

Continue to stand for your fellow citizens now more than ever. Do not let the system divide us even more. Stay active, stay educated and continue to make your opinions heard. The world is still spinning; this is not the end and the nation will persevere.

Meridith King can be contacted at Mking@kscequinox.com

Many people recognize that most illnesses do not discriminate due to gender. Sadly, often times eating disorders, including binge eating, anorexia nervosa and bulimia, get categorized as strictly a “female” problem.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), a predicted 10 million men in the United States will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lifetime. As more and more doctors and experts become open to the facts, more and more data has come forward, with some statistics stating there is one male with an eating disorder for every four women with one.

Eating disorders and their treatment, even their diagnosis and screening, often are skewed more toward women. The National Association for Males with Eating Disorders (NAMED), as well as NEDA, said assessment and screening tests often underscore men, and this undoubtedly leads to a higher prevalence of untreated men with eating disorders, simply because people don’t know or look for the warning signs in males like they might in females.

In a hypersexualized culture, one obsessed with image and physical appearance, men are sexualized and objectified within society and media just as women are, and are pushed to aim for super sculpted abs or huge pecs.

Even in high school sports, some male athletes develop certain binge-eating habits to keep up with the rigorous exercise and a crazy schedule, and certain sports such as wrestling demand such a strict weight and “cutting” weight in an unhealthy manner is common.

Just as women have been pressured with Barbie dolls into achieving the unattainable “perfect” bodies, boys action figures have only gotten more muscular and even bigger.

I often wonder if these standards for boys and men have led to not only eating disorders, but steroid and performance-enhancing drug abuse and if the two are linked.

There is such a double standard for men and women when faced with how they can come forward and ask for help. I feel like men are afraid to come forward with problems such as eating disorders, as society can lead them to believe they are less of a man in doing so. I have seen people I know, some friends even, laugh at and trivialize male celebrities when they have come out with problems and have sought help.

Kid Cudi, the rapper, just came out and said he is taking a hiatus from music to seek help for depression, and Drake dissed him for it, as well as countless “fans” calling Cudi weak for seeking treatment over his musical career.

It is the way society deals with “invisible” illnesses like depression, or eating disorders that is not okay. Just because something isn’t as outwardly tangible doesn’t mean its effects on an individual aren’t real.

I feel like guys might get scared that their friends or even family won’t take them seriously if they say they are dealing with body image issues, and the societal norm of a male having to be strong, stoic and sculpted can often lead to a negative mindset and body image, with no safe outlets to go to, leading to negative habits.

Overall, I think as a society we need to be more accepting and aware that eating disorders affect more than just who we might expect them to.  Be open, accepting and support those who come to you or are seeking help.

Meridith King can be contacted at Kking@kscequinox.com

At the student government meeting on Tuesday, October 25, the board was visited by Keene State College’s President Anne Huot to discuss the board’s Strategic Plan Priorities, to which she said progress is being made. She took time to answer questions provided by the board, and went over topics such as communication, the community and the budget.

“I’m on your side,” Huot said,  and encouraged the board to keep in touch with the financial offices and herself to further communication and budget balancing for next year.

KSC student Susie Udall brought up the concern on how students and administration could better communicate in the future and the idea of holding an open forum in which students could ask the president and vice president questions and hold open discussion, and that was met with a positive reaction from Huot.

Creating new traditions was also a topic much discussed between the board and Huot urged the board to begin new traditions that are not associated with alcohol and other substances, as those and “out-of-control behavior” have led to the end of some popular traditions in years past. While Midnight Madness seems to be making a comeback in “Hooties Nocturnal Knockout,” Huot said it is too soon to think about the return of Pumpkin Lobotomy.

There was also a budget request of $2,750 from the KSC Investment Group, which was met with a recommended amount of $1,725 from the board. After a lengthy discussion on ways for the club to cut down costs, along with a decision to exceed the 15 minute discussion time, as well as significant explanation from the club on where said costs are coming from, the board granted the Investment Group $2,000 total. Board member Allie Tolles said that the money is going towards the club bettering club members for life post-college. This will go towards travel, reading material, and programs the club can use.

Another budget request came from the Alternative Break Program, requesting a total of $2,500 to go towards the 110 or so students who attend one of the 11 trips the program offers. Motion to approve this budget was almost unanimously accepted, and it was granted to the program.  

The Student Government has Fall Fest planned for Monday, Oct. 31.

Meridith King can be contacted at mking@kscequinox.com