Coming Next Month: the Fall Parent Family Newsletter

October 9, 2013For Parents

The Fall edition of the Parent Association’s Parent Family Newsletter will be mailed to undergraduate parents in early-mid November. Look for articles on the following topics:

Helping your student navigate through problems
Advice for your student for signing off-campus housing leases
Why Soft skills matter in career attainment
Updates on Work Study on campus
Important reminders from Student Accounts
Parent Family Weekend pictures
KSC Connections—Parents events in November in Boston & Portsmouth, NH
Much, much, more!

Parents: Please Get Involved as a Volunteer

October 9, 2013For Parents

At Keene State, we value service and involvement for all members of our community—and as a parent of a Keene State College student, you are a part of the KSC community! Throughout the time you are a KSC parent, the KSCPA has opportunities for you to get involved:

Parents Board: The Parents Association Executive Board oversees the Association and helps promote the interests of students, parents and the College.

Exam Survival Kit Distribution: We need volunteers December 5th and 6th, any amount of time between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Please contact Kirsten Camp to volunteer: 603-358-2369.

Mentoring: Create a connection with a student via our mentor database; support them by being a contact for networking, careers, and more.

Gatherings & Networks: Want to meet parents in your area? You can host or help connect with other local parents. Next events in Boston on November 19th and Portsmouth, NH, on November 20th.

Admitted Student Day Table: Held throughout the Spring. Come help answer questions and talk to parents of prospective KSC students!

Career Support Programs: Participate in resume reviews, mock interviews, panel discussions are more!

To volunteer, please contact Patty Farmer at 603-358-2370.

Premiere Series Play Festival Offers October Entertainment

October 9, 2013Mark Your Calendartheatre

StudentPlays — Keene State Theatre actors (from left) Arienne Stearns, PeggyRae Johnson, and Katherine Wadleigh performed Taylor Jorgensen’s *Thanksgiving* on October 3 and 4 in the Wright Theatre. (Photo by William Howell)

KSC’s Theatre and Dance Department has opened a new play festival called The Premiere Series that runs through the month of October. The series consists of four original plays written by Keene State students with each play to be performed twice as a staged reading. The first play, Thanksgiving, by Taylor Jorgensen, was performed on October 3 and 4.

Here’s the schedule for the rest of the month:

Oct. 9–10: The Speck in My Eye by Sarah Croitoru
Oct. 16–17: Love, Life and Liberty by Hersch Rothmel
Oct. 23–24: Bigfoot by Daniel Bullard

All plays begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Wright Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center. For tickets, call the Box Office at 358-2168 or visit keene.edu/racbp.

Recent and Important Gifts to KSC

October 9, 2013Uncategorizedgiving

• Dorothy Reed Megna ’58 and her husband, Nelson J. Megna ’59, have created the Megna Family Endowed Scholarship with a gift of $25,000. This scholarship fund will provide financial support and encouragement to promising students interested in becoming teachers. Through this gift the Megnas also wanted express their sincere appreciation to the College for the benefits they received while they were students here—for their education, the foundation for their careers, and each other! They have been long-time supports of the College and active with their class reunions.

• Jan and Rick Cohen have again shared their generosity with the College through a $40,000 gift to the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. This gift will help the Center grow its programs and increase its outreach. The gift was made in honor of Jan and Rick’s 40th wedding anniversary and also in honor of Cohen Center Director Hank Knight and his wife Pamela’s 40th wedding anniversary! A big congratulations to both couples! Jan is a member of the President’s Council and Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Advisory Council.
Continue reading Recent and Important Gifts to KSC →

In Memoriam: Whitney Cadmus

October 8, 2013Uncategorizedobituary

The KSC community mourns the passing of former staffer Whitney Cadmus, who came to the College in 1979, working for the Dean of Student Affairs and eventually the Vice President of Student Affairs as that office and the College grew. She supported the emerging needs of first-year programs and alcohol and substance use education, as well as more complex issues of compliance in higher education. In 1988, after receiving her BS in Management from Keene State, Whitney accepted a position supporting the work now done by the Office of Advancement until her retirement in 2003

“Whitney was a kind colleague, hard-working, reliable, and considerate,” recalled Kim Harkness, director of Human Resources. “But perhaps her greatest legacy is the impact she made on individual students who were mentored by her in both formal and informal ways throughout her career. Whitney set high expectations for herself and for students working with Student Affairs programs, and she always took the time to provide guidance and help to a student in need. She understood the value of the learning that also happens outside the classroom and in our every day work.”

Where’d I See That?

October 7, 2013UncategorizedWhere'd I See That?

OK, this one’s not that tough, is it?

If you know where this is, please write your answer in erasable marker on the down tube of a Trek X-Caliber 29 hardtail mountain bike and mail it to Newsline, 120 Alumni Center, 229 Main St., Keene, NH 03435. Or use the “comments” link, below.

Historic Film Buffs: You’ve Got a Big Surprise Coming

September 11, 2013Mark Your Calendarfilm

7 p.m. / October 11 / Alumni Recital Hall / Redfern Arts Center / Tickets: $5
(free for students with KSC ID)
Plus: Something we guarantee you’ve never seen before!

Mary Pickford, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” was among Hollywood’s first superstars. A remarkably talented screenwriter, producer, and actor, she won the hearts of moviegoers across the continent and co-founded United Artists (with D. W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For her monumental contributions to the art of film, the ‪American Film Institute‬ listed her among the 25 greatest female screen legends.

Continue reading Historic Film Buffs: You’ve Got a Big Surprise Coming →

KSC Receives Grant for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer

September 9, 2013Uncategorizedchemistry, research

Thanks to a $263,700 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation program, Keene State chemistry students and researchers will soon have much richer and effective opportunities for molecular analysis. The grant will allow the College to buy a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer.

“The NMR instrument helps a chemist verify or determine molecular structures,” explained Paul Baures, professor of chemistry. “This is a consequence of particular atoms in compounds being influenced in a defined way by the magnetic field. Since we can’t see molecules, such information is the way a chemist will validate what they think is the makeup of a compound. NMR is a real workhorse for scientists who make molecules, and it is a requirement for publishing research that the data from this type of instrument be used to support the conclusions of the paper.”
Continue reading KSC Receives Grant for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer →

Architecture Club to Host Annual Fall Northeast Quad Conference

September 9, 2013Uncategorizedarchitecture, event

The KSC Architecture Club will be hosting students and faculty from nearly 50 northeastern colleges and universities at the annual Fall Northeast AIAS (American Institute for Architecture Students) Quad Conference from Thursday, October 10, through Sunday, October 13. The theme for the conference is “Regeneration: Redesigning for the Next Generation,” and the Club has planned a variety of lectures, workshops, discussions, and a design charrette geared towards sustainability and the importance of local focus. The design charrette will challenge attendees to a design competition to hypothetically redevelop a degraded site in downtown Keene. On Saturday night, the Architecture Club will entertain its guests at the Beaux Arts Ball, to be held at a small venue in Rindge, NH.
Continue reading Architecture Club to Host Annual Fall Northeast Quad Conference →

Dr. Whittemore Receives NH-INBRE Grant

September 6, 2013Uncategorizedfaculty, research, Student Standouts

Biology Professor and 2012 Distinguished Teacher Susan Whittemore

Biology Professor (and 2012’s Distinguished Teacher) Susan Whittemore has received a $69,169 NH-INBRE grant from Dartmouth College (with federal funding from the National Institutes of Health) for her project, Identification of Signaling Pathways Affected by Early Exposure to Prevalent PAHs. The study will allow Dr. Whittemore and her student researchers to continue their investigation into phenanthrene (PHE) and pyrene (PYR), two polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are known pollutants present in human milk and cord blood. Despite the fact that these pollutants are an environmental and human health concern, little study has been conducted on the developmental effects of these compounds, a gap that Dr. Whittemore’s study should help fill.
Continue reading Dr. Whittemore Receives NH-INBRE Grant →

Dr. Jeremy Beck Wins 2013 Call for Scores

September 5, 2013Mark Your Calendarmusic

Each year, the Keene State Music Department holds a Call for Scores to bring new works to campus, to introduce new music to our students, and to encourage the creation of new works. This year, the competition attracted 70 submissions, 53 of which were from around the US while 17 were from international composers from as far away as China, Italy, and Israel. The $1000 prize went to Louisville, KY-based composer Dr. Jeremy Beck, for his piece, In Flight until Mysterious Night, for flute, clarinet, marimba, violin, cello, and piano.

KSC Music faculty will faculty perform Dr. Beck’s work on November 6 in the Redfern’s Alumni Recital Hall as part of the College’s campus-wide symposium, Finding Your Place in the Evolving Commons. The performance will follow a panel discussion at 2 p.m. that will address the role of music in the evolving cultural commons. Dr. Beck will serve on this panel to discuss his composition and to interact with other panelists. This discussion, and the performance, are free and open to the public.

Heidi Donovan-Sanders ’90 Runs for Lessard Scholarship

September 3, 2013Mark Your Calendar

Heidi Donovan-Sanders ’90 plans to run the Clarence DeMar Marathon on September 29 to raise funds for the Classes of 1990 and 1991 William T. Lessard Memorial Scholarship Endowment.

This endowment was established by the Classes of 1990 and 1991 in honor of their friend and classmate William T. Lessard ’90, who died in 1995. In additional to receiving the Student Leader of the Year Award in 1989–90, Bill served one year as a University System Student Trustee, President of the KSC Student Assembly, and President of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. This endowment provides modest financial support to as many Keene State College students as possible, assisting with incidental expenses and the purchase of educational supplies.
Continue reading Heidi Donovan-Sanders ’90 Runs for Lessard Scholarship →

Drug Panel Puts Study Right on Target

September 3, 2013Uncategorizedresearch

Panelists from the community included (l–r) Cindy Stewart, a KHS parent; Matt Griffin, the former KHS school resource officer; and Lynne Wagner, the principal of Keene High School

On August 27, Health Science Professor Marj Droppa and her students held a panel discussion on campus to launch a semester-long study they’ll be conducting as part of their senior capstone course. The class will conduct research through interviews with Keene High School students and parents to better understand and help reduce the problem of substance abuse among area high school students. The study is intended to gather information that will then influence changes in the school district’s policy on substance abuse.

Keene Board of Education Chairman Chris Coates was on the panel, and he agreed that although there was a “real need for overall drug policy,” the Board did not yet have a formal set of guidelines because it had been focused on the business of education. That means that Dr. Droppa’s study will provide important and needed information to the community. Stay tuned. …

Patrick Dolenc named KSC’s 2013 Distinguished Teacher

September 3, 2013Uncategorizedaward, faculty

Dr. Patrick Dolenc, professor of economics, has been named KSC’s 2013 Distinguished Teacher. The Keene State College Alumni Association presents the award each year to recognize excellence in teaching, encouragement of independent thinking, rapport with students, and effective student advising. Dr. Dolenc becomes the 43rd recipient of this distinctive honor.

Dr. Landau Receives Lambda Award

August 29, 2013Uncategorizeddiversity, faculty

Jamie Landau holding the Safe Space handbook — Jamie Landau holding the Safe Space Training Manual

Assistant Professor of Communication Jamie Landau is this year’s recipient of the Lambda Award, given by the Caucus on LGBTQ Concerns of the National Communication Association. The NCA is made up of researchers, educators, and professionals dedicated to the study of communication. The Lambda Award recognizes extensive service to the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community, notable campus activism, successful teaching of LGBTQ issues, and successful advising of LGBTQ students.

Dr. Landau received the award due to her extensive campus service as the chair of the Safe Space Subcommittee of the Campus Commission on Diversity and Multiculturalism, her mentoring and advising of LGBTQ students on an interpersonal level and formally as the faculty advisor to KSC Pride, and her successful teaching of LGBTQ issues in the core curriculum for Communication majors and in special-topic service-learning courses.
Continue reading Dr. Landau Receives Lambda Award →

A Sneak Peek at our First Year Students

August 27, 2013Uncategorized

Keene State welcomed the bright and fresh faces of its first-year students, who descended on campus from parts near and far on August 21. The class of 2017 is a varied and interesting group. We checked in with a few, including some who have been on campus this summer through the Links program, and asked them about the accomplishments they’re most proud of. Here’s what they had to say.