I have had attention deficit disorder (ADD) for my entire life, but I am just admitting it now.

I was born into the “Ritalin era” of the 90s, and, as a result, I was never able to develop an understanding of what ADD or ADHD was  until my 23rd birthday. Ritalin, also known as methylphenidate, is a drug used to treat attention deficit disorder in children.

I’ll never forget being in the first grade and watching another kid in my class lose his  mind, jump on tables and scream at the teacher until a couple of janitors escorted him out like he was harassing people at a bar because he had too much to drink.

I would then go home and tell my mother about incidents like that and she would just avoid it, saying something like, “Stay away from those kids, they all need Ritalin.”

But my mother’s baby boy didn’t need Ritalin because he was going to be an astronaut. He doesn’t need that crap. Why would  he need Ritalin? So he can become like one of those zombie kids who need to be brainwashed into doing their homework? No way Jose. He doesn’t have ADD.

Crae Messer / Managing Executive Editor

Then I went on to severely struggle with attention to detail, motivation and procrastination for the rest of my academic life,or in other words, ADD.

This is something that is affecting me at this very moment. God knows how many times I’ll have to check my phone, get up, talk to someone and sit back down after just writing a paragraph of this column. Not to mention the amount of spelling and grammatical errors I will riddle the first draft with, all because I can’t pay attention.

If I had known in the second grade what I know now, I would have taken the so-called “brainwashing” to help with my ability to focus on tasks at hand. Maybe that would have kept me out of summer school my junior year of high school-a year in which every student and faculty member said was the most important academic year of my life.

I had a gut feeling all along that I needed help with ADD or ADHD, but I was too afraid to admit that I had it. I was afraid of the “zombification” that would take place if I ever took a prescription drug to help my defective attention span. Now I know it was just part of the stigma that I grew up with, and I would bet that I am not alone.

What a whiny move of me to blame my parents. I was a screw up in middle school and high school, so it must have been my parents fault, not mine. Typical millennial. The fact that I am a millennial is part of the issue. Millennials have grown up in the fear of becoming overly dependent on Ritalin, only to become gripped by a different vice: our cell phone’s.

I would much rather take a pill like Adderall and have tunnel vision toward my school work than have tunnel vision towards Instagram, no matter how pleasurable that may be. It is harder today than ever before to be a productive member of society with ADD because there have never been more distractions in the world.

How many times have you heard an adult comment on millennial culture? It’s the worst.

“These damn kids can’t even lift their heads up to have a conversation anymore,” they say. “All they do is look down at their phones!”

I, then, get angry for being marginalized, only to hypocritically rip my phone out of my pocket and rant about it on Twitter. I believe my generation is so engulfed by technology because our short attention spans lend themselves to social media.

According to the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder screening checklist, one of the symptoms of ADD is to be often easily distracted by extraneous or irrelevant stimuli. Finding anything relevant or important to someone’s productivity on social media is nearly impossible, but I would still rather float around on Twitter or YouTube than write this column, which is another symptom.

According to the Adult Attention Deficit Disorder screening checklist, those with ADD “often avoid, dislike, or are reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework).”

My favorite thing to do on my phone is to go on YouTube and watch comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience. During this podcast, Rogan will have guests on his show and have a variety of conversations that are wildly intriguing to me. The problem is these conversations are, for the most part, irrelevant to improving my productivity and takes no effort to sit and listen to.

I am literally watching two or three people I don’t know personally talk about stuff, and as useless (while entertaining) as the information is, I only retain a fraction of the conversations. It just so happens that another symptom of ADD is difficulty listening when spoken to directly.

The Joe Rogan Experience doesn’t speak to me directly, but I can speak from personal experience that there is a link between my inability to retain information from a podcast and my inability to listen to someone talking to me face-to-face.

I am a journalism major, which means I need to interview people to have sources I can attribute information to for articles that I write. Many of the people I have interviewed have had a lot of interesting things to say, hence why I am writing the article in the first place.

Thanks to my ADD, I often conduct interviews putting on a listening face without truly listening. It is not that I don’t care or do not want to listen, I just simply cannot retain certain information from a conversation. If I didn’t record these conversations, there is a good chance I would forget what these people said entirely.

My generation especially has emphasized the use of drugs like Adderall and considered it a miracle pill for a reason.

An NBC article entitled, “Why ADHD Drugs Are the Hottest study Aid on College Campuses,” from Oct. 10, 2016 called drugs like Adderall “smart drugs.” You don’t have to be that smart to understand why these “smart drugs” have been used at an epidemic level by college students trying to gain an edge in the classroom.

It is because many millennials, like myself, have grown up without the treatment they needed for ADD or ADHD and are only discovering it now, when the academic stakes are at their highest. The only way to start solving a problem is by admitting that there is one in the first place.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

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

As a result of trending student behavior, Keene State College is implementing a travel restriction of sorts. For what you ask? Nothing other than dabbing.

The popular dance move, “the dab”, has been sweeping the nation for the past year or two, but as of late, the trend has slowed down. With the move starting to become more out of style, there are still some who are trying to keep it alive, while others wish for the move to die a quick death.

The move originated from sports and was used mostly when an athlete scored a basket in basketball or a touchdown in football. The move involves a person slamming their head into the inside of their elbow with their opposite arm often pointed straight up.

Tim Smith / Photo Editor

But after the move started to spread, people, many of them college students, began dabbing for things like making a kind-of funny joke, making a shot in beer pong or when you find out something is buy one, get one free. These casual uses of the dab have caused concern for all affected by these “dabbers,” which caused other students to act.

The new travel rule restricts KSC students who continue to dab from traveling to other college campuses in fear of spreading the trend again and making it what social media analysts and professionals call it “a thing.”President of the student-run group People Who Know What’s Cool (PWKWC) Richard Slick said the trend needs to be handled.

“It’s like a disease,” Slick said. “These kids keep dabbing on me out of nowhere for no reason at all and it’s driving me crazy! Like any disease, it needs to be contained and that’s the point of the travel rule.”

Slick also added that he didn’t even know people were still dabbing until he said something lame and someone responded by saying, “said no one ever,” and dabbed on him so hard he fell over on Appian Way. His alleged dabber is still at large.

While Slick speaks out against the dance move, others continue to fight.

“Bro I’m going to dab until I can’t dab anymore,” KSC student Lenny Lameson said. “It just feels so good when you do something cool like take a long drag of a vape or kick flip on your longboard,” Lameson said. “You just have to let that energy out and the dab just lets me do that. I should be able to share that on other college campuses.”

So far, it doesn’t look like the rule will be overturned, but who knows what the future holds with this heated debate, showing no signs of cooling down. KSC student Susie Smith weighed in on the issue in riveting fashion.

“I really don’t care,” Smith said. “I’m just trying to get to class.”

In other news, the “pretending to eat a bowl of cereal because I’m such a beast,” move is also in discussions of being banned as well.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

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

Break out the play-dough, therapy dogs and snow shovels because Keene State College has been dished a massive helping of what a New England winter is capable of, and the struggle is indeed very real.

On Dec. 12, KSC’s campus was caked with several inches of snow, causing utter chaos in the community.

Thousands of on-foot commuters were beaten and battered on their trek to class through the heavy snow.

Samantha Moore / Art Director

“Reading day?” KSC student Sandy Slipper asked. “More like bleeding day…Am I right? I fell and scraped my knees like 20 times on my way to class and I live in Huntress, so that’s pretty bad.”

Slipper was one of many girls at KSC who were surveyed earlier in the semester on how durable Ugg boots actually are.

Slipper was part of a large portion of girls surveyed who believe that Ugg boots successfully pass off as combat boots and can withstand all inclimate weather.

Some students thought they could beat the woes of winter by using their summer and fall means of transportation. Hundreds of students lined up riding longboards, pushing through the snow as an act of protest against winter.

“We will not give in!” KSC student and longboarder Larry Longfellow shouted in protest. “It’s still summer, we don’t care. We ain’t never getting older!”

Longfellow’s famous last words before the massive and awkward conga line of longboarders collapsed, with all of them stumbling to the icy cold tundra of Keene, New Hampshire.

“Nooooooooo!” Longfellow shouted with a tear in his eye that quickly froze before it could hit the ground.

The intense and snowy conditions are hitting residents of the Mills of Keene especially hard.

The Keene apartment building is known for it’s parking spaces being rather small.

The only thing more painful and awkward than falling in the snow is trying to squeeze out of a cramped parking space before falling in the snow.

“I don’t know if I just got fatter over Thanksgiving or if these spaces are really this small,” KSC student and The Mills resident Barry Wideman said.

Wideman had so much trouble with the parking spaces that he actually got himself wedged between his own car and the one next to it.

The Keene Fire Department had to use the jaws of life to free Wideman from the clutches of Keene parking.

Once freed, Wideman promptly took his first step and slipped on a patch of ice snow, sending him airborne before crashing to the pavement.

“Let’s hope my next final goes better than this,” Wideman said.

Luckily, the KSC student received a special message from none other than Santa Claus himself via Skype and he said he plans on helping Keene with it’s blizzard related blunders.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Mr. Cringle said. “You poor folks are really struggling in the snow, so I’ll be dropping by with snowshoes and a plow to get everyone back in the holiday spirit.”

The city’s morale was boosted for a moment, until Claus mentioned an important condition to him helping.

Claus said, “I’ll come through, as long as I have a nice clean parking space for my sleigh.”

With Keene’s horrific parking situation, this winter looks to be a bleak one indeed.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

After a semester of crafting and creating their own routine, 11 dance majors were able to watch their hard work come to life at the Choreography Showcase on Friday, Dec. 9.

As a requirement for the theatre and dance course Research in Choreography, instructed by Keene State College contract lecturer Cynthia McLaughlin, each student had to recruit dancers, schedule practice times and prepare their own personal dance routine.

Luke Stergiou / Senior Photographer

Each choreographed routine maintained it’s own unique style, with every performance showcasing different costumes, lighting and music, while conveying different stories, messages and inspirations.

Before the event, each student choreographer worked with their dancers all semester long to tinker each step and movement until they achieved the creation they had envisioned from the beginning of the course.

The course also included periods where the students spent time critiquing each piece and offering feedback on how they could improve their choreography.

McLaughlin explained the importance of this time the choreographers spent together before the performance.

“It’s crucial on many levels because the work transforms and develops over time, so an artist could work for two years on a piece of choreography,” McLaughlin said.

“They happen to get a semester’s time that they could’ve used more of if they could have, and you wouldn’t recognize the work from how it began at the beginning of the semester. Not only does it take a lot of back and forth of getting comments from your peers and from me as the professor just for creating the movement vocabulary, but then the crafting of it is this whole other layer. Just the images where they grow with their ideas, it just needs that community of collaborators so we became sort of a community of artists that, because we were with each other through the whole process, we knew what kinds of questions to ask each other.”

Jake Paquin/ Equinox staff

The choreographers each had their own unique experience with the course and this was especially true for Coordinator of Energy and Administrative Services at KSC Diana Duffy. Not only is Duffy a KSC faculty member, but at 53-years-old, she was also a member of the class.

Duffy said, “As an employee here, I take advantage of classes. It’s a benefit or perk that we have here and I always take dance class at Keene State because I never got to at my college.”

Duffy added that she has taken around six dance classes here at KSC, and among the dance classes she has taken, she said this one was the hardest one she has participated in.

“I had to create and craft a piece out of thin air and I have no formal dance training,” Duffy said.

When asked what her inspiration was for her routine, Duffy said in order to find her inspiration, she focused on a certain principle that they learned about in class known as a point of departure.

Duffy said, “Our professor asked us to have a point of departure. For me, it was about…even in the hardest days that we have, we can gain strength and solidarity when we’re just in it with other people. So my piece was trying to convey that every day drudgery of work and no matter how hard it is, it can be a glorious moment.”

Jake Paquin/ Equinox staff

Fellow student of the class Emily Posner said her inspiration was her hip hop background and that her choreographed piece was named “Fuse” because she wanted to fuse hip hop with the modern dance techniques they had learned. After seeing her routine executed on the dance floor, Posner said it went “beautifully” and she enjoyed seeing each choreographers intended story unfold under the bright lights.

“It was amazing,” Posner said. “Everyone has a very unique style and knowing the story behind each piece, it was so emotional. It was great to see everything come to life.”

Posner also mentioned that she benefitted from accepting feedback from the class when it came time for her to choose what music she wanted for her piece.

Posner said, “I started off with one song I was sure of having and everyone said I need to change the music…once  I picked this song (“Celloopa” by The Piano Guys) I think it changed everything.”

The dancers who performed Posner’s routine were sophomores Jordan Pierce and Kelsey Walsh, who both participated in multiple routines.

After the show, Pierce, a criminal justice and psychology double major, said although challenging, the memorizing of multiple routines came down to muscle memory for her.

“It kind of just sticks with you and I’ve been doing it for such long time,” Pierce said. “A huge part of my life is dancing, so I think just practice and trying to keep myself relaxed and focused.”

Pierce continued, “I’ve been dancing ever since I was three so it’s been a really big part of my life, and I’m also on the dance team at Keene so a lot of them are a part of choreography so I decided to give it a shot.”

Luke Stergiou/ senior photographer

This year, McLaughlin, as the artistic director of the event, made an adjustment to the showcase to not only challenge the choreographers creativity, but to give them a taste of the dance world outside of KSC.

McLaughlin said,“This showcase has always taken place up on the stage and I made the choice to bring it down here (to the floor) because many venues out in the professional world are this type of venue where you have more seating in the round or what we would call three quarters in the round. So some of them (the students) weren’t used to thinking about their audience being all around them, so that was often a way that we would push the students to sit in different places, think about your audience and it can’t just be flat to the front. That was definitely something we made sure to work on.”

After the show, Duffy shared an inspiring sentiment relating to her relationship with the students in the course and her journey to the showcase.

“Every one of those students in my mind are unbelievably talented, unbelievably creative and I learned as much from them as I did from the teacher,” Duffy said.

“There were many times I wanted to get out of it or I wanted to take the easy road, or I wanted to just watch. I knew this course would be hard and I said ‘I’m going to audit this one,’ and every time the students said, ‘No Diana, you’re not getting off the hook. It’s just as hard for us you have no idea.’ So they bolstered me in ways I could never have anticipated and I’m so grateful.”

The 11 choreographers in the showcase were Ally Laperriere, Amanda L. Untracht, Makayla Marion Ferrick, Miranda Ronan, Amanda Mulhall, Emily Posner, Brittany Powers, Jacqueline Livingston and Bethany Peterson.

The next theatre and dance event will be the Greek Project and will take place March 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

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

Two earth-shattering questions have been surfacing that all KSC students are waiting to hear the answers to.

Those questions are: who are these fake Apple people scamming me? and why do the automated toilets in the Media Arts Center (MAC) keep flushing before I’m done? It turns out the two issues flow around the same bowl.

Samantha Moore / Art Director

Recently, Apple technicians have been receiving reports of scam artists hacking iPhones, convincing people that their phone is infected and scamming them into purchasing an unnecessary Malware protection app for a hefty price.

Apple support technician Yuri Nidiot said the complaints caught him by surprise.

Nidiot said, “Usually we just get calls about things like Cyber Monday sales not being what customers expect, the IOS update not being worth it at all or calls from some crazy girl who bought the new JoJo album and just wants to talk about how good it is.”

Nidiot added that he and his coworkers were “shocked” to hear so many calls about scams.

Simultaneously, Keene State College has been receiving complaints about the automated toilets in the MAC bathrooms.

According to many students, the toilets have allegedly been flushing before students were finished with the facilities. KSC student Tommy Squats said the preemptive flushing of the toilet has been a major inconvenience to himself and many other students.

“Its ridiculous man,” Squats said. “It’s a huge pain in the rear when I’m trying to write a paper that’s due today on my phone and the toilet flushing nearly launches me into the ceiling.”

Since the investigation was launched for the iPhone scammer(s), the culprit has been caught and identified as also being the man behind the malfunctioning MAC toilets.

It turns out the culprit is Kanye West and has been operating from the mental hospital he was recently checked into.

Since being apprehended, Mr. West voiced a message to the nation’s youth in his statement released exclusively to The Equinox.

West said, “Ya’ll can’t hide from my greatness, not even on your phones or in the bathroom, bruh.”

West added that he feels he is “the greatest hacker of all time.”

When asked how he did it, West said, “Because I’m an [expletive] genius.”

During his statement, West was interrupted by a reporter who said, “Imma let you finish, but Beyonce is the greatest hacker of all time.”

West promptly agreed.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

In 2014, Forbes reported that 33 million people were playing fantasy football according to Fantasy Sports Trade Association. The following year, the New York Post published an article predicting a massive spike in fantasy football participants and the revenue that it would produce.

In the article simply titled “Nearly 75M people will play fantasy football this year,” by Gregory Bresiger, it was reported that the NFL was preparing for nearly a quarter of the U.S. population to play fantasy football, according to American Express.

In 2015, the article reported, “The company’s latest Spending & Saving Tracker said 74.7 million Americans plan to participate in fantasy football this year, spending $4.6 billion, company spokeswoman Jane Di Leo said.” Coincidentally, in 2016 the NFL, known as America’s game, has reported a noticeable drop in television ratings. How do we know that this ratings drop is real? Not only have multiple reputable news sources reported the matter, but even everyone’s favorite NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took the time to address the ratings drop himself.

“It’s something that I don’t think there’s a single reason for. I really don’t. We look at all those factors,” Goodell said in an article for NFL.com.

An astute observation by commissioner Goodell as this ratings drop that reportedly took place during the first few weeks of the season according to nfl.com, could be due to coincidence, competition on television such as the MLB postseason or a more popular reason for the ratings drop floating around, quality of play. So how is it that fantasy football seems to be increasing in popularity and participation, while the NFL is experiencing difficulty maintaining consistently high ratings that they have been used to?

Although it is commonly believed that fantasy football participation should help increase ratings as it naturally brings attention to the sport, in my opinion, fantasy football could actually be a large contributor to the ratings decrease.  In the age of smartphone applications and social media affecting the attention span of a massive generation of millennial football fans, fantasy sports could be changing the culture among football fans.  This changing culture involves football fans consuming it in a buffet style format fans do not commit to watching NFL games and they only pay attention to the statistics from afar without truly investing in the game from a television viewership perspective.

With every player’s fantasy team instantly accessible through their smartphone or device via fantasy football applications, players can draft players, set lineups, trade players and acquire players on the free agent waiver wire all in the palm of their hands.  In turn, players technically do not need to watch the games to see how their players are doing, as live points and stats are streamed and accessible instantly through fantasy apps.

So what is the result of this concept? If the games are boring, fantasy football players have no reason to sit through them. Players could simply monitor games on their phones while they view a more entertaining option such accessing Netflix and YouTube.  Even when games have been entertaining and caused a spike in NFL television ratings, Forbes reported that the increase from exciting NFL games have dropped back down. In an article titled “Here’s The Real Reasons NFL TV Ratings Will Continue Downward,” by Maury Brown of Forbes, it states that two matchups caused the recent spike.

The article states, “The Cowboys-Steelers game with 28.9 million total viewers was +2% while the Patriots-Seahawks games that saw New England stopped at the goalline in four consecutive attempts to try and push the game into overtime was up +16%. ”The article also states that, “A report by Guggenheim Securities notes that with those two games the exception, ratings continue to fall for the NFL.”

If the increasing popularity in fantasy football is in fact the cause of the NFL ratings drop, the NFL Network should think twice before they decide to continue promoting fantasy football with ‘Start ‘em or Sit ‘em’ TV segments, as it could be the enemy.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at Ntocco@kscequinox.com

On Nov. 16, the Keene State College theatre and dance department presented the four-show installment of Eurydice, directed by KSC theatre and dance professor Jeannie-Marie Brown. Originally written by award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl, the greek myth Eurydice is the story of a girl whose father dies.

She misses him, then dies and enters the underworld to meet her father. While in the underworld, she is faced with the conflict of returning to the real world to reunite with her love, or remain in the underworld with her father.

Photo contributed by Céline Perron

KSC student Mariah Palmer played the lead role of Eurydice. Fellow cast member and KSC student Andrew Bennington, who played Eurydice’s lover, Orpheus, described the story as a story of self-empowerment.

Bennington said, “When the playwright originally wrote it, it was about how her (Eurydice’s)father had died and she missed her father, and what we (the cast) were talking about today was how Eurydice is going through her life and how other guys are just tell[ing] her what to do, how to act and how to feel. It’s a story of trying to remain self-empowered in a society that’s constantly shutting you down and telling you no. For me, that was a really powerful story to tell, but each time it can be a different story.”

Bennington mentioned that he was surprised after auditions to have heard the news he earned the role of Orpheus, a major role in the story.

“I went into the auditions just being open-minded,” Bennington said. “I wasn’t expecting much, I was just going to be happy to be casted at all, and then I got a call back for the part of Orpheus, which was really exciting. Even then, I was still kind of just humoring it, but never actually considered it. Then when I actually found out I had it, it was just…more shock and disbelief than actual happiness. It was just like, ‘Oh my god, this is actually going to happen.’”

A Redfern Arts Center crowd experienced the performance that was filled with a variety of lighting, a large-scale set and effects such as a prop elevator with water pouring down to represent a character’s descent into the underworld. After the performance, KSC student and supporting performer Chris Hamilton said he was pleased with how the show was received, and described the hard work put into the show’s production.

Photo contributed by Céline Perron

Hamilton said, “We put a lot of hard work into it for the last week or so with having six hours of rehearsal. The lighting and sounds are perfect, and I think it all paid off in the end.”

Hamilton played one third of “the stones,” a trio he described as “the welcoming committee of the underworld.” When entering the underworld, characters were greeted by the stones, who enforce the rules of the underworld and how one should feel and behave as a part of it.

While “the stones” played a serious role in the story of Eurydice, they did implement a comedic performance, as well as scurried around the stage in a manner that caused some laughter among the crowd. They also, as the lord of the underworld’s henchman, worked in tandem with KSC student Isaiah Lapierre, who played the role, to perform comedic bits throughout the performance. Hamilton further explained the role of “the stones” and how they balanced comedy and drama.

Hamilton said, “It’s always about finding the balance and knowing what’s appropriate and what’s not, and obviously we like to have some fun with it until it comes to the serious points.”

Hamilton mentioned that his favorite part of the performance was during a scene where the stones were less comical and more forceful.

Photo contributed by Céline Perron

“I think my favorite part was at the end of movement two where we were shouting in Eurydice’s face and she’s ducking down, and that is a very serious moment,” Hamilton said. “That’s when we exude this presence of influence and dominance and we have to balance between…comic relief [and seriousness] because the show is a dramatic comedy by definition, so we need to be able to keep that definition without doing one or the other too much. We need [to] find that correct balance.”

The cast and crew would try to maintain that correct balance for the remainder of the performances as their final performance of Eurydice took place on Nov. 19. Palmer said each rendition of Eurydice is different in a way and that no night in the theatre provides the same experience twice.

As the main character, Palmer said, “I’m a title character, but I’m definitely not the only character, as it was an ensemble show. There is such an amazing cast and crew behind it that I can’t even say that any of it was on my own.”

Palmer added, “This show is so emotional and deeply connected that there’s so many ways you can take it every night. No night is ever the same; every interaction and conversation is different. It’s very genuine, and even though it’s a show, everything feels very candid.”

Photo contributed by Céline Perron

With the opening night of performing having gone as smoothly as planned for the cast and crew, Palmer said the quality of the show could be heavily attributed to the hard work of the faculty and staff involved. Palmer shared the stage with theatre and dance Lecturer Doug Wilcox, who played the role of Eurydice’s father.

With Eurydice being a large-scale and more complex performance in comparison to most college theatre productions, the execution of the story showed the importance of the arts at KSC.

“I think it shows how much this school cares about the arts and how important they are, and I think it shows the absolute amazingness of all the faculty here,” Palmer said. “The theatre and dance department has the most amazing faculty imaginable and so much gets done because of them, and I think every show that we do is completely accredited to them and all their hard work.”

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

The Keene State College Music Department presented another installment in the student recital series with the Student Composers’ Recital, an evening filled with classical music that came with unique inspiration.

On Nov. 20, 12 KSC music students, with a mixture of those who do and do not major in composition, unveiled their own personally written and arranged classical music pieces to be played in front of a live audience at the Redfern Arts Center.

Each performance included a variety of instruments and sounds with some included singing from KSC students Cari Caswell (soprano) and Corinne Colgrove (alto). KSC student Derrick Hegeman displayed his creativity with his piece titled “The Pulse of Nature,” performed by Andrea Turgeon (EB Clarinet), Cora Dykens (Bb Clarinet) and Callie Carmosino (bassoon). Hegeman said his piece was inspired by composed soundtracks one might hear on a quest in a video game.

Hegeman said, “I love video games and I definitely want to pursue getting my masters in film and video game composition, so I decided to spend the rest of my time here writing video game music.”

Colton McCracken/ Equinox Staff

Hegeman’s piece followed a performance composed by fellow KSC student Duffy Bengtson, which was based off of the greek myth Sisyphus.

The myth is about a king of Ephyra named Sisyphus who was punished for self-aggrandizing and malicious behavior by being forced to roll a massive boulder up a hill, only to have the boulder inevitably roll back toward him.

When asked what connection he had to greek mythology, Bengtson shared that it had been something that had been special to him growing up.

Bengtson said, “I used to be into a lot of greek mythology as a kid. My dad and I would read passages from the Odyssey every now and then and it’s just always been something that interested me.”

Bengtson also said that he received a lot of help in class during critique sessions when his music was heard.

“In the classroom setting, we actually got to listen to each other’s pieces and give little critiques to each other, which is really helpful,” Bengtson said. “I actually got a lot of helpful advice from our professor Andrew Smith… Rehearsals with the actual performers themselves was pretty cool because I got to hear things differently than how they were happening in my head.”

The piece was performed by Jessica Macias (flute), Carolyn Cunningham (viola) and Rebecca Putnam (cello).

KSC student Matthew Marzola not only displayed his own piece to a nearly filled theatre audience, but also performed it himself playing the vibraphone along side Brendan Goodwin, who played the euphonium.

Marzola’s piece was entitled “Theme for the Ruins,” and he explained his inspiration for the piece and it’s title after the show.

Marzola said, “I kind of just had a landscape in mind and had to take that mood or character. It was called ruins, so I took ruins or a cave kind of inspiration towards it.”

Marzola added that himself and many of the other student composers are very visual and usually envision a landscape or an environment to inspire the sound of their piece when creating it.

The evening concluded with a heartwarming presentation by Blake Powell, who presented his piece titled “Duet for Flute and Cello.”

Performed by Jessica Macias (flute) and Rebecca Putnam (Cello), Powell said that his piece was dedicated to his grandfather who had recently passed away.

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

Article in This Featured Series:

“Keene State College music recitals: Ensemble Recital at the Redfern Arts Center Alumni Recital Hall”

Just six days before Veteran’s Day, the Redfern Arts Center’s Main Theatre stage was graced by America’s big band, the Jazz Ambassadors.

Presented by the United States Army field band, the Jazz Ambassadors’ performance was dedicated to more than 100 years of jazz history. Not only was their performance filled with patriotic and historic jazz selections, but it also included student performers from Keene State College’s music department. KSC student performers included: Joseph Conti, trumpet, Zachary Joy, alto saxophone and William Wright, trombone. Founded in 1969, the Jazz Ambassadors is made up of 23 members of the United States Army that bring the spirit of jazz with them around the globe.

Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff

The evening began with the National Anthem sung by Master Sergeant and featured vocalist of the evening Marva Lewis. After, Lewis returned to perform a few other songs, including a tribute to Carole King and America the Beautiful. The entirety of the performance paid tribute to the different periods in jazz’s history, such as early jazz music from 1900 to 1930, the swing era from 1935 to 1945, bebop and cool jazz from 1945 to 1960 and modern jazz from 1960 to the present day.

Some of the songs were derived from the work of the legends of jazz, such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole among other legendary artists.

With many retired veterans present in the audience, the Jazz Ambassadors took the time to honor veterans from every branch of the United States military by having them stand and receive a standing ovation before the show’s conclusion.

The KSC student performers were recognized and invited to play alongside the band because they were shorthanded for the performance; this gave an opportunity for Joy, Conti and Wright to play with the Jazz Ambassadors.

Student

“It was pretty nerve racking and a little intimidating because they’re the best of the best and we’re just college kids, but it was obviously a big honor,” Joy said.

Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff

Joy added that with Veterans Day nearing it made the opportunity even more special.

“Definitely with the date in my mind it meant a lot. It was an honor regardless, but definitely knowing Veteran’s Day is right around the corner made it a huge honor,” Joy said.

It was also mentioned during the show that the Jazz Ambassadors honor and support the teaching of music and music programs in and across the country in America’s educational system.

Joy said he was delighted to hear that music programs and music students like himself were appreciated by the U.S. Army.

Joy said, “I thought it was great, especially with music being shut out of most programs now. It was nice to hear from the army that they take it just as seriously and that it is important to be mentioned in school districts.”

Performer

On the topic of music in our nation’s schools, Master Sergeant Marva Lewis said it is important to keep music in schools because of the diversity of music and how it can bring people together.

“I think that it’s one of the most diverse things that we can give our kids because the young people are our future,” Lewis said. “With music…we can fight all day, but when you play a song…people tend to put their differences aside and they listen to each other… You can just put it on or just put the radio on and sooner or later, something’s going to play that everyone has heard and it forces everyone to be still and listen, and in the process while they’re listening, it brings everyone together.”

Lewis added that in today’s political landscape, which has inspired division amongst American citizens, “We need it (music) everywhere.”

Colton McCracken / Equinox Staff

The performance inspired many audience members to clap, cheer and sing along to all of the tunes played. With the band being a military band, Lewis said their charismatic performances can catch many audience members off guard, and some expect a more traditional and serious performance. Lewis discussed the band’s high-spirited nature.

Lewis said, “I think a lot of people just don’t know what to think and when they get there, we just have a lot of people out there supporting the military because they want to come out and support the military…our shows are designed to give a little bit for everybody. Even if you don’t think you like jazz, you walk away saying ‘god, I didn’t know jazz was like that.’ It’s something fun and we try to bridge the gap. We try to have something for the older people and the real young people and we do it in the only jazz way that we know how to do it. Everyone walks away saying ‘wow, I never heard that song like that.’ It’s really great… it makes us feel good watching the audience receive it. Either way, it’s a win-win situation.”

During Lewis’ interview with The Equinox, she was stopped by many and thanked for her service.

One of those who thanked Lewis was KSC alumna Norma Walker, who attended the performance with her neighbors.

Audience Member

Walker is a member of the golden circle, or those who have graduated from college 50 years ago or more, and works at the KSC Alumni Center. Walker’s husband fought in World War II and tragically lost his left arm in battle in Germany. Today, her grandson and granddaughter are both members of of the U.S. Marine Corps and have served in Afghanistan.

Walker said, “I haven’t heard them [the Jazz Ambassadors] before…[I] love their music.”

The show was particularly emotional for Walker because of her affinity for the patriotic and military songs played, such as “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“These military songs when I was in high school,” Walker said, “we used to sing those all the time and I’m sitting in there singing and tears are coming down.”

When thanked for her service, Lewis had a message for Walker.

Lewis said, “The family always serves, so I thank you, and a lot of times it’s a lot more difficult on the family because you’re the ones that sit back waiting, but from someone who’s been there, we really appreciate your prayers and…it always make it easier…it gives us a glimpse of hope knowing that we have family waiting for us.”

Lewis has been a member of the U.S. Army for 25 years and plans to retire this year.

With this tour with the Jazz Ambassadors being her last one, Lewis said she plans on taking a trip to Italy after retirement.

“I’m excited,” Lewis said. “I’ve never been able to go.”

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com

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

There has been a large spike in positivity coming from Keene residents who have received calls from both the Clinton and Trump campaign offices.

A volunteer from the Clinton campaign Carla Caller said she is shocked by all of the sudden positivity.

“Usually people are really annoyed when we call,” Caller said, “but lately there’s been so much enthusiasm.”

Samantha Moore / Art Director

Allegedly, a large cause of this spike has been from the trend of presidential debate drinking games that swept the area. With a large amount of the people on campaign office’s call lists being young adults of drinking age, a high percentage of positive phone calls have come from people playing the game during debate time.

“Dude, that orange guy (Trump) is hilarious,” KSC student Sammy Satire said. “He just says whatever he wants at any time. I had to take a shot every time he interrupted, and I had to quit 15 minutes in. It was crazy.”

Satire also admitted that Alec Baldwin “for sure” has his vote when he hits the booth.

Caller said one of her more memorable conversations came from KSC student Steph Leftwards who said she found Hillary Clinton hilarious and loved her work in the Ghostbusters reboot.

“She’s so sassy,” Leftwards said. “She’s like my favorite sitcom mom. Every time that orange dude (Trump) says something crazy, she always gives that sassy look to the camera.”

Leftwards also said she was playing a drinking game where she had to chug her drink for however long Clinton stared into the camera and rolled her eyes at something Donald Trump said.

“One time, I spit my drink out it was so funny,” Leftwards said. “She’s got my vote.”

Although she appreciates the enthusiasm, Caller said she is concerned that people are mistaking satire and reality. Caller said her son, who is also a young adult of drinking age, thinks the debates are just Saturday Night Live (SNL) cold open skits.

“I asked him what he was watching one evening and he was crazed,” Caller said. “He was laughing hysterically at one of the debates and said, “beat it mom, this episode of SNL is awesome!’”

Nick Tocco can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com