Despite a rainy morning, good vibes and sunshine raised the spirits of Keene State College students the afternoon of Thursday, May 1 at the spring carnival.

The carnival was put on by KSC Student Government and spread down Appian Way with rides, food, music and fun available to everyone that attended.

Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, Paul Striffolino, noted, “We’ve been having a spring carnival since 2004, this is our tenth year.” Striffolino said, “This time of year in particular, it’s a great way to bring people together before they go home and back to their summer jobs. It really builds a sense of community.”

Senior Student Body President Eric Grady explained, “In total this whole thing [the carnival] cost around thirty grand. The class of 2017 got a henna artist, the class of 2014 is doing a give-away and having an event at Scores Sports Bar & Grille. The class of 2016 is doing a “chalk talk” where you can go and just write things you like about the school. They’re also having backyard sports, like ladder ball and horseshoes.”

Karina Barriga Albring / Senior Reporter Emeritus:
KSC students pictured ride the carnival’s ride, The Round Up, on Thursday, May 1, during Student Government’s event.

Jessica French, student government events committee director of live entertainment said, “We’re having DJ Testa, The Mabel Brown Room [the band] and a few other popular student groups.”

French also said, “It’s a new company providing the rides this year, the other company had no availability.”

This new company is called Party Vision and is based out of Nashua, N.H., according to Jeffrey Bisset, a technician for the company.

Another technician for the company, Evans Desire, explained the process that the technicians go through during their events.

“We usually have a three-man team to set-up, with a two man team to operate the rides,” Desire said.

Many students found the carnival to be a welcoming distraction from the burden of final exams. As one of the last events of the year, many students felt it was a good way to end of the semester.

Sara Lambert, KSC junior said, “It lets people release the stress of finals,” when asked about the carnival. Sophomore Nicky Jadaszewski  agreed and said, “Everyone has a lot of work and we pay a lot to go here so at the end of the year we all deserve something like this.” While waiting to climb the rock wall, sophomore Joseph Schiavone, noted, “It is nice that they do this for us and try to make people happy, because it is absolutely a stress-reliever during finals time and it gives people an excuse to get away from all of the paper work.” Teal Harrison-Hertz, also a sophomore waiting with Schiavone, said, “It’s a beautiful day for it [the carnival], we couldn’t have asked for better weather.”

However, with ideal weather on hand, some students were still skeptical about the carnival’s rides.

Freshman Brian O’Hara said, “The rides look rickety and sketchy, but I’m still going to ride them,” while waiting in line to ride the Scrambler.

KSC Student Government also made some major changes with the carnival.

This particular carnival, which closed at 10 p.m., was open later than it had ever been in its ten-year run. This allowed students to stay at the carnival later. “I stayed until around 9 p.m. and it was really cool, but I think they had more rides last year,” stated Sarah Anderson, sophomore. Anderson also mentioned, “The Round Up was my favorite ride.”Another change was that the carnival was also going to have a cash bar. However, according to junior Kenneth Hadley, member of student government, “The cash bar was canceled because student government thought it was going to rain so we put everything away.”

Student Body Representative Sean Ballard supplemented this and said, “The bar was going to be with the food, [but] because we decided to do the food inside, the bar got canceled. A lot of people were upset because they were looking forward to it.” With the bar canceled, students were still allowed the option of catered Chinese food throughout the dining commons.

Overall, students enjoyed the spring carnival. The Student Government and Party Vision had a large amount of clean-up to do after the event was over.“It took us [student government] around three hours to set up, probably five hours with the catering,” Ballard continued, “They [Party Vision] started breaking down the rides around 10 p.m. and finished much later than us. We [student government] finished around 11 p.m.”

Zachary Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com.

Semi-professional freeskier Luke “Lupe” Hagearty stated, “I began the sport around two-years-old. My parents would take me down the hill between their legs.”

Hagearty said, “Skiers who inspired me growing up are Phil Casabon, Chris Logan, and Henrik Harlaut.”

The rising skier has a range of sponsors from outfitters to ski parks. Hagearty said, “I am sponsored by Nordica Skis, Orage Outerwear, Shred Optics, Studio Clothing, Digit Poles Carinthia Parks at Mount Snow, Suburban Sports, and Inspired Media.”

Hagearty said accumulating a fan base has, “been incredibly exciting. It makes me want to keep doing what I am doing.”

He continued, “It’s strange having gone from being someone who was confused about what they were doing on the mountain, to being a person that people come up to for advice.”

The Connecticut-born skier recently worked with freeskier Tanner Hall and about the experience said, “The experience was surreal; I grew up watching Hall’s movies. If someone told me at twelve [years old] that I’d be working with him I wouldn’t believe them.” The two began collaborating after working together, “After being featured in the same edits, though we didn’t actually film together for them, I hit him up about filming together,” Hagearty said.

Hagearty continued, “Tanner put me in touch with Eric Iberg who suggested doing a web series.”

Iberg is a director and co-founder of Inspired Media Concepts which has produced numerous films within the ski industry, according to Hagearty.

“Iberg is pretty open with letting me do what I want with the series.” Said Hagearty.

Hagearty has released two episodes of his web series titled The Style Files on the Inspired Media Concepts website. The first episode was released on February 20 with the second following on April 12.

Brett Coffin, a KSC sophomore and  long-time friend of Hagearty’s, said, “A lot of people don’t know Lupe can snowboard, in sixth grade he switched to skiing. Since then we’ve been skiing together. I’ve known him since elementary school.” Coffin, who frequently films for Lupe, continued, “We used to ride around filming as kids. One of our other friends used to film, but he was pretty bad, then he started skiing so I bought a camera and started filming.

Coffin described Lupe as, “Such a maniac with a wild personality but also one of the nicest people. Junior year of high school we realized he was going to be a pro. He went off on his own living at a house on Mount Snow and got really into the lifestyle.”

“Last year Lupe started helping us out through his connections. Eight-sixty [860] Media (Coffins film production organization) wouldn’t be where it is today without Lupe behind us pushing.”

Shred Optics’ Content Manager, AJ Avrin, said, “I found Luke in a video for the Superunkown competition on freeskier.com that they had for a magazine.” Avrin continued, “We chose him to represent our brand because he really embodies the free ski movement. I think he is very authentic and has a tremendous passion; that made him such a great match for us.”

He then said, “I would like to see him continue his filming projects, whether it be with Inspired Media or whatever he wants. Lupe is in his natural environment while he’s on the mountain, if he wants to create his own project who would we be to stop him.”

Sophomore Nathaniel Backus said, “He’s an animal, he’s got guts sending it off of the jumps he sends it off.”

Zachary Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com

There was only standing room in the Spaulding Gymnasium Sunday, April 27 as comedian Gabriel Iglesias took the stage to entertain a sold-out show. The performance, a portion of the 2014 Spring Weekend at Keene State College, was sponsored by the Social Activities Council.

According to SAC Events Coordinator Ryan Mahan, the event sold 1,450 tickets with a net gain of over $28,000. Mahan said the performers cost $65,000.

“This event was two years in the making; we tried to get him [Iglesias] to come last year but the funding wasn’t right,” Mahan said.

Stand-up comedians Martin Moreno and Gina Brillon each had 15 minute acts leading up to Iglesias. Sophomore Tara Killory said, “The first stand up [Moreno] was really funny. I had heard of him from the jokes in Gabriel’s other shows.”

Dylan Kaiser, who also attended the event, said, “I thought the show was absolutely hilarious, he connected with the audience well.”

Residence Hall Director Casey Wilson commented, “The performance was great, they were the most exciting comedians to come to Keene in a while, and having someone who had been on comedy central was awesome. I had never heard of the first two performers but Gina was hysterical.” Wilson added, “It’s amazing that Iglesias can do jokes that people already know the punch line to and still get a great reaction.”

Contributed Photo:
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias has done stand-up on Comedy Central and also has a DVD special called, I’m Not Fat… I’m Fluffy, according to his website FluffyGuy.com

KSC sophomore David Dougherty stated, “It was awesome. His [Iglesias] new material is a lot different from his old stuff, but still really funny. You could see the difference in his jokes from the first part of the show to the last twenty minutes when he did his old material.”

Sophomore Chad Peterson said, “He [Iglesias] connected well with the audience by opening with jokes about New Hampshire. I also liked how he stayed on stage for almost an extra half-hour, it showed that he really cared.” However, not all students liked this overextension of time. Sophomore Andrew Clark mentioned, “It went a little too long.”

Joseph Geis, an employee of the KSC student center technicians said, “Setting up for the event we had all hands on deck to do this as fast as possible in a day, and we needed those hands.” Geis continued, “We were there setting up for the event at ten-thirty a.m. until around two-thirty p.m., we had a team of thirty students in SAC who helped set up. There were ten tech. workers and fifteen people who came in from the company we got the equipment from. They brought in the staging and sound equipment, none of it was owned by the school.”
Once Iglesias finished, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The Equinox was denied an interview from Iglesias’s management after previously scheduling a post-show interview with Iglesias.

Zach Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com.

Event raises awareness for violence against women, draws over $15,000

“I am man enough to walk a mile in her shoes,” and, “Violence against women affects us all,” read picket signs Saturday, April 19, as community members and collegians gathered to raise awareness for gender violence on the Keene State College campus.

According to Senior Virginia Mariolo, “Two-hundred-seventy-eight people signed up and we raised $15,583, though we had a goal of $25,000. Hopefully, we keep getting donations so we can reach our goal.”

Contributed Photos / Shaundi Kane:
Event co-chairs Jake Sharkey and Skylar Beddie sport red heels to show that they are, “man enough to walk a mile in her shoes,” as many posters said.

The event was sponsored by the Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention and a grant from the Campus Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness.

Executive Director of MCVP Robin Christopherson stated, “This event started on the West Coast; when it began it wasn’t even a fundraiser but became one naturally by giving men a forum to speak out against violence.” Christopherson continued, “This is not a problem fixed by individual intervention but rather public, communal and societal change.” Lastly, she said, “All funds go to direct services for survivors of abuse and prevention programs.”

Forrest Seymour, co-advisor of Mentors in Violence Prevention Peer Edication Program at KSC, said, “This is the eighth year in a row we have done this walk. MCVP provides support for KSC students who have been victims of sexual assault. They support us, so we support them back.”

Seymour continued, “We raise somewhere from fifteen-thousand to twenty-thousand dollars each year, so we’re aiming for around there, hopefully more.”

The MVP advisor stated, “We invite the men to wear women’s shoes to build empathy.”

Junior Hersch Rothmel, a third-year Walk A Mile participant,  supplemented this by saying, “Walk A Mile forces us to experience empathy, instead of thinking sympathetically, it makes us take a step back and think, ‘well how does that person [a victim] feel?’”

Contributed Photo / Shaundi Kane:
TKE member Erik Radermacher sits on the stage at the student center lawn during the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event and plays a toy drum.

Massachusetts resident Dante Chiacchia, said, “This is an important cause to support because it is a serious problem.” Michelle Chiacchia, Dante’s mother, added, “This is a cause that needs increased awareness. There is a high prevalence of sexual violence, especially on college campuses, and there is inadequate support and empathy for the victims on their path to recovery.”

“It is really important that we raise awareness because this is a quiet crime, something that people just sort of push under the rug and it shouldn’t be,” sophomore Alex Littlefield said.

A Tau Kappa Epsilon brother continued, “I think they should have done this later in the day, or not on Easter weekend, because college students are a high risk group and it would have been better if more could attend.”

Rindge, N.H. resident Keith Griffin said, “I am here with my wife, sons, their wives and my daughters because abuse against women should never happen.”

Griffin added, “It is a misconception that this type of violence will not occur, you never know how things will pan out.”

Check-in took place between 9 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. At 10 a.m., the welcome and pre-march rally took place in front of the Lloyd P. Young Student Center. Prizes were awarded prior to the walk for best shoes, most team members, highest fundraising team and highest fundraising individual.

Zach Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com

Keene community raises $17,526 at Relay for Life

Relay For Life took place for the fifth year at Keene State College on Friday, April 11, and continued into the following morning in the Spaulding Gymnasium.

The fundraiser, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, had a turnout consisting of not only students and members of the town, but some groups from neighboring states.

Katiee Boyle, KSC sophomore and Relay for Life event chair said, “We had a great turnout. We had thirty-four teams and four-hundred-and-five participants.”

According to Boyle, the  event raised $17,526.

“We worked so hard to put it together and we were so happy to see how many students  this impacted,” Boyle continued.

Contributed Photo / Melinda Noel:
During the KSC Relay for Life event, Friday, April 11, KSC sophomore and Relay for Life Event Chair Katiee Boyle gets a pie to the face. The event began on Friday at 8 p.m. and continued through Saturday, April 12, at 8 a.m., and raised $17,526, according to Boyle.

The event had food, games and activities scheduled  according to the KSC Relay for Life Facebook page.

Kelly Heinze, a Relay for Life specialist, said the  various games and activities exist for the purpose of keeping the 12-hour event exciting through the night. Heinze said, “We have these activities to keep people up and moving when it is the middle of the night and they’re tired.”

The walk, which began at 8 p.m. and continued to 8 a.m. the next morning, took on a different theme each hour: Formal wear, country/cowboy attire, power of purple (Relay for Life’s signature color), America, “meet a friend,” glow- in-the-dark, P.J. party, soulmate, 90s, superhero, big band and finally a clean-up.

The fundraiser also included four ceremonies. The walk commenced with the opening ceremony, which is the known as the “Survivors Lap.”

“At this time, all cancer survivors at the event take the first lap around the track, celebrating their victory over cancer, while being cheered on by the other participants,” Heinze noted.

Coinciding with the power of purple lap was the Luminaria Ceremony at 11 p.m. According to RelayforLife.org, this ceremony takes place at every Relay event across the nation.

“It is held to remember those who have lost the battle to cancer as well as those who are still fighting. It is mostly quiet for this hour, except for some low music. The lights are off  and we line the track with bags which hold lights that each team can decorate if they want. Generally, it is done with candles, but since we’re inside, we’re using glow sticks,” Heinze said.

At 2 a.m., the Fight Back ceremony took place. This ceremony is designed to inspire Relay participants to take action.

Sophomore Ashley Debonee said, “I like helping people. I joined my sorority in order to further  my ability to help others, and do more than I could on my own.”

The Delta Phi Epsilon member and second-time Relay participant went on to say, “I choose to walk for my sister who is currently fighting cancer.”

Swanzey resident Cheryl Russell, a survivor of cervical cancer, stated, “I walk for myself and my mother who also survived cancer.”

Russell’s husband Michael also attended and stated, “I walk for my wife as well as my parents who both passed away from cancer.”  He added, “I’ve also participated in Relay in the Monadnock area for the past four years.”

Contributed Photo / Melinda Noel:
KSC students Karalee Jannini and Kelsey Jackson take part in the Relay for Life walk.

Barbara Marrotte, long-time friend of Russell’s, said, “I am here for my adopted mother, a two-time breast cancer survivor, and my best friend Cheryl.”

Hannah Lavin, a freshman and first-time “relayer,” said, “The mood was somber when appropriate, but other than that very optimistic and upbeat.” Lavin said, “I am not walking for a particular person, but am here to get involved with members of Delta Xi Phi because I’m pledging the sorority.”

KSC junior Tyler Fabiano who worked security for the walk stated, “I know a lot of people who have been affected by cancer, like we all do, and Relay really does a lot to help out.”

Fabiano’s statement was expressed by attendees, as it was not just members of the Keene community who participated Friday night, but also members of the Sigma Pi chapter from Fitchburg State University.

Fitchburg sophomore and Sigma Pi brother, Jacob Roth, said, “The event had a positive atmosphere and good entertainment. I also became a bone marrow donor.” Roth continued, “I walk for my dad who died from brain cancer.”

Zach Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com

In February, Greyhound Lines Inc. announced it will begin offering a weekend route connecting Brattleboro and Boston, with a stop in Keene, according to a press release issued by the Southwest Region Planning Commission.

Keene is served by the Greyhound/Vermont Transit bus lines.  This station is just a few blocks from the Keene State College campus, an easy access for students commuting to and from the Boston area.

This service began Friday, Feb. 28. A bus traveling from Brattleboro, Vt. will depart Friday afternoons and return from Boston, Mass. on Sunday afternoon, according to  the press release. Along the way, the bus will stop in both Keene and Nashua.

Another bus will do the opposite traveling from Boston to Brattleboro early in the day on Fridays, and return later in the day on Sunday, stopping in Keene and Nashua along the way as well.

Brian Cantore/Photo Editor: The sign for City Express Bus Station.

The Greyhound is Keene’s only long-distance bus service, but this route is the first one in years that has directly connected Keene and Boston, according to Joshua “J.B” Mack, principal planner of SRPC of New Hampshire said.

Prior to this, “A person going to Boston would have to take the New York-bound bus to Springfield, Mass., and then transfer onto another bus traveling east to Boston, a total travel time of roughly four and a half hours,” Mack said. The addition of this route came about through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s BusPlus+ program.

The program, which is funded by an 18-million dollar federal grant, is designed to increase intercity and commuter transportation options available across the Commonwealth and all of New England according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation website.

“BusPlus+ is a public/private partnership in which MassDOT provides new commuter buses to private for-profit bus companies. The companies in return must deliver regional service improvements and will be responsible for all bus maintenance and operating costs,” as stated on the MassDOT website.

The new buses include accommodations, such as Wi-Fi and 110-volt electrical outlets at each seat, according to MassDOT.

Brian Cantore / Photo Editor Above is the Greyhound bus stop location between Yolo Frozen Yogurt and the City Express bus stop on Gilbo Ave.

A recent study by the Southwest Region Planning Commission found more than 2,500 area college students live in the vicinity of the new bus route, according to the press release.

Claire Hickey, sophomore and Boston area resident, said, “It would be cheaper for me to offer someone money for a ride to Boston, so I wouldn’t take the bus.”

However, resident of the Boston area, sophomore Taylor Murphy, stated, “I haven’t used the Greyhound because I didn’t know there was a bus to Boston, but now that I know I definitely plan on using it.”

The announcement of the new route to Boston comes nearly two years after the Greyhound company said it would be cutting bus service to Keene as well as other locations north of Springfield, Mass. However, the company reversed its decision after the Vermont Agency of Transportation stepped in to subsidize the Vermont route, which included a stop in Keene. Tickets from Keene to Boston, which can be purchased at the Corner News, located on the corner of Main Street and Gilbo Avenue, or online at www.greyhound.com, are $27 each way, if bought more than three weeks in advance. The price increases to $47 round trip if purchased on the day of travel.

Zach Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com

This February, Keene State College is a part of RecycleMania, a program encouraging students and community members to live sustainably. 

“The college is participating in an eight-week nationwide challenge to see which campus can reduce, reuse and recycle the most waste,” sophomore eco-rep Matthew Bacon said.

According to the KSC RecycleMania page on the Keene State College website, “in addition to Keene State, nearly 525 schools, more than 4.4 million students and nearly one million faculty and staff will be participating in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.”

To bolster support for the competition sponsored by Keep America Beautiful and the National Recycling Coalition, KSC peer educators, known as Eco-Reps, are holding multiple events on campus.

Students may have recently taken notice of these representatives in the Zorn Dining Commons, asking diners to dispose their food waste into blue recycling containers.

This is a food audit, according to Bacon, which are, “Designed to spread awareness as to how much food the collective student body lets go to waste in an all-you-can-eat cafeteria.”

Erin Duffy / Equinox Staff

There will also be a, “table in the student center the last week of March, and anyone who is affiliated with the college can bring their electronic waste to the booth in the student center to have their waste properly recycled,” Heather Greenwood, the recycling coordinator for KSC, said.

Greenwood mentioned that last year, the group collected roughly 8,000 pounds of electronic waste for recycling.

Every Monday, Eco-Reps and members of R.O.C.K.S. are hosting a table for students to sign up to pledge to do something eco-friendly each week.

“Every week that they sign up, they’re eligible for that weeks’ prize and at the end of it we’re giving away a free bike,” Greenwood said.

For the third year, Greenwood is also hosting an office cleanup competition with faculty over spring break. “It’s great opportunity for people to clean out their office, because we don’t always take the time to do that,” Greenwood stated.

Aside from this, she said, “Eco-Reps and R.O.C.K.S. members will be doing pledges two to three days a week in the Res [Residential] Halls.”

Some information collected  shows  the KSC community does not only choose to be environmentally friendly eight weeks out of the year.

There are always ways in which the school is taking steps to further environmental awareness.

According to the KSC website and also Mary Jensen, campus sustainability officer, “The TDS building earned LEED Platinum Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and Green Building Certification Institute.”

“This designation was given to the building based on its energy efficiency and the materials used to build the structure,” as stated in the KSC website.

Jensen also said the water bottle refill stations that have made their way into each building over the course of the last year-and-a-half are also a way that KSC promotes sustainability.

“Every little thing counts,” Bacon said.

“Though some of what we do goes unnoticed, the more we can spread sustainability awareness through things like RecycleMania, the better,” Bacon said.

Zach Fournier can be contacted at zfournier@keene-equinox.com