Keene State College mourns the passing of Ranger Curran, Sr., 92, who inspired students in Keene State’s Management program from 1982 until his retirement in 1996. Students in his classes benefitted as much by his real-world experience as from his educational credentials.

Dr. Curran was a World War II fighter pilot, logging 340 combat hours and winning the Distinguished Flying Cross among other medals. In 2002, he was inducted into the Air National Guard Hall of Fame for his participation on the nation’s first jet precision acrobatic team, “The Minute Men.” Colonel Curran retired from the Air Force at age 45 and went on to earn a PhD in Management from the University of Georgia. An avid athlete, Dr. Curran was a Golden Gloves boxer, played football for Worcester Polytech, coached the US Air Force boxing team, and played squash and tennis well into his eighties.

Those wishing to commemorate Dr. Curran are invited to donate to Hospice at HCS, 312 Marlboro St., Keene, NH 03431.

You may have heard that the NH House of Representatives recently passed a budget that cuts 45% of the funds normally allocated to higher education. If cuts that deep are approved by the state Senate, the consequences for KSC, and every other school in the state university system, are grim. NH ranks 50th in support for public higher education as measured in per capita spending, and only 11% of KSC’s operating budget comes from state funds; however, the House’s proposal, HB 1, removes $6 million from the revenue the College depends on to do its work.

KSC has always maintained a very lean and frugal operation, doing the best with the limited resources we have, so a cut of $6 million is crippling. The options for making up the loss might require drastic measures. It could make it increasingly difficult to serve those students who need us most and who depend on public higher education for the training to become contributing members of society.

Keene State College works diligently to provide a fine education and excellent opportunity to every student who comes here, and we are proud of the positive impact we make and the students we produce. Our good work is felt far and wide. We hope that you share our commitment and ask that you write to your state Senator and ask him or her to preserve the investment in higher education that the state has traditionally made. Please write to your local newspaper and let your neighbors know how you feel, too. You can find your state Senator on this list.

The KSC Advocates site offers lots of information about the budget and tips for writing to your legislator and other avenues of advocating for our institution. Thank you for standing up for Keene State College, and the importance of public higher education in New Hampshire!

The Society for Collegiate Journalists recently created an “Outstanding New Chapter” award to honor a new and energetic member of the SCJ family. And can you guess which chapter was the first to receive this award? You guessed it! Thanks to Dr. Marianne Salcetti’s petition, the KSC chapter was the big winner.

“Keene State is a nice, solid chapter,” said SCJ Executive Director Dr. Mary Beth Earnheardt. “I had a memorable conversation with Dr. Salcetti this fall, and it made me look back at the file. They enter and place in the contest and seem to have a large and active group of student journalists. But, I guess the thing I liked so much was the energy Dr. Salcetti had about this group. With this type of start, I think Keene State will be one of our best moving forward.”