September 24th, 2009

Dr. Wanda Swiger stands on a bench to tape a 6’6” tall athlete at Deaflympics. (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Wanda Swiger (Athletic Training) was in Taiwan earlier this month, serving as an athletic trainer for the team at Deaflympics, the international competition for hard-of-hearing and profoundly deaf athletes.

Swiger was part of the medical staff providing comprehensive health care for the 191 athletes in the U.S. delegation. The selected medical staff must be licensed and nationally certified, be in good standing within their profession, have demonstrated comprehensive knowledge of sports medicine, and be proficient in American Sign Language. As a child of deaf adults (CODA), Dr. Swiger was given preference in her selection.

Over the three weeks, the athletes and the medical staff had to adjust to high ambient temperatures and the high humidity. The games began with an opening ceremony event on September 5 and concluded on September 15. While Dr. Swiger was responsible for athletics (track and field athletes), the medical staff (nine ATCs, one orthopedic surgeon, and one family practice physician) collaborated on prevention, injury diagnosis, and injury management for all 191 athletes. While her assignment required long days, she did have time to visit the CKS Memorial Hall and take a harrowing trek to the top of TAPEI 101 (for Wanda and her fear of heights, this was a major accomplishment). “I hope to be lucky enough to be selected again,” she said. “It was an opportunity of a lifetime.”

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Cohen Center director Henry F. Knight formally announced new name of The Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies during his introduction of Gerda Weismann Klein, this year’s featured speaker at the center’s annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture on September 21. The center will now offer an annual lecture on genocide awareness and supports the only BA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies in the United States. Amanda Warman, director of Campus Safety, reported that the standing-room-only crowd that spilled out of the Mabel Brown room was the largest in that room since Angela Davis gave the Sidore lecture in the fall of 2001.

Gera Weismann Klein delivered the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture on September 21. (Mark Corliss photo)

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After President Giles-Gee made the celebratory first cut, Skye Stephenson and Steven Spiegel (GEO) served cake to all who attended the Study Away Fair on Thursday, September 17. The Global Education Office (GEO), formerly known as the National and International Exchange Office (NIEC), was celebrating a new name that better reflects their role as the campus hub for academic study away experiences and international student support.

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From Bill Menezes, Redfern: The Kate Weare Company will bring two of their latest works, Lean-To and Bridge of Sighs, to launch the Redfern Arts Center’s dance season on Wednesday, October 7, at 7:30 p.m.

Weare has presented work in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, London, Belgrade, and Vienna. Since moving to New York in 2000, she has twice been commissioned by Dance Theater Workshop and presented work at Joyce Soho, Danspace at St. Mark’s Church, The Kitchen, DancemOpolitan at Joe’s Pub, The 92nd St. Y, The Puffin Room, and New York University’s Frederick Loewe Theater. The New York Times recently described her as “defining the next generation of dance makers.” Tickets and information are available at the Redfern Arts Center box office, 8-2168, or online, where you can also view many video clips from the season’s Visiting Artists repertoire.

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From Nona Fienberg, Arts and Humanities: The “New Voices, New Visions” series features the voices of faculty members who have joined the Keene State College community in the past several years and the visions of faculty members exploring new and exciting areas of study. The next event will be on Tuesday, October 6, at 4:30 p.m. in the Thorne Meeting Room.

 Dr. Candice Bosse (Spanish) will present Voices of Resistance from the Pueblo: Eyewitness Accounts of the Political Situation in Honduras, Summer 2009. Bosse was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, this summer on a research visit supported by the Whiting Foundation, and will talk about political events in Honduras from the perspective of Hondurans, as seen through personal interviews. Dr. Jose Lezcano (Music) will perform Honduran music.

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From Karen Stanish, (Mathematics): The College Planning Council is sponsoring a pre-proposal workshop on Friday, October 2, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. in the Student Center Mountain View Room. If you are planning to submit an initiative through the planning process this year, this is an opportunity to drop in and receive proposal writing or budget assistance prior to submission and to connect with potential collaborators.

 Members of the Planning Council, College Information Technology Council, Human Resources Policy Advisory Board, Facilities Planning Advisory Council, and Budget and Resources Council will be present to give you feedback or assistance on items in the proposal form, such as writing a clear narrative, selecting a strategic goal, creating a timeline, and forming an assessment plan. Staff from the Business Office and Human Resources will be present to help you create a realistic budget.

The planning process offers a way to communicate your ideas on how you can contribute to the College’s mission, values, and planning goals and how to gain College approval (and, where necessary, funding and staff support) for implementation. To be considered during this year’s planning process, initiatives must be received by your director or dean on Friday, October 30, 2009, or to your principal administrator on Friday, November 6, 2009.

Feel free to contact the Planning Council co-chairs, Jay Kahn and Karen Stanish, if you have any questions. You can also view planning process information over the web.

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From Mike Caulfield, CELT: A number of faculty are using Google Apps in the classroom this semester (or planning to use Google Apps next semester). In order to better support faculty who are using Google Apps, CELT is putting together a Google Apps support group. The group would primarily interact via an online forum, with occasional face-to-face meetings.

We anticipate discussions in the group will cover a wide range of subjects, from how to integrate a wiki or blog into a course to the finer points of tweaking privacy settings. CELT staff will facilitate discussions in the group, but most of the value will be faculty-to-faculty information sharing. If you are using Google Apps in the classroom, or you just want to find out how others are using Web 2.0 technology in their own instruction, please consider joining the group. Lurkers are welcome!
 
You can sign up for the support group here. Group traffic is expected to be relatively low, but you will have the option to set mail preferences to “digest” or “online-only” if you are concerned about email volume. And as always, check out our blog for additional support opportunities and training events.

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Professional teams have been turning back the calendar for years, but the resemblance for the KSC team is actually more coincidental than intentional. Senior setter Jordan Pokryfki designed the new volleyball uniforms and, since she was born in 1988, Keene State coach Bob Weiner aptly points out that her knowledge of the early Owl teams is extremely limited.

The Keene State team rotates its uniforms every three years. Keene State assistant coach Lloyd Sheehan, whose tenure in the sport dates back to 1980, says that volleyball uniforms have come a long way. “One of the first uniforms I saw were called bloomers - literally bathing suit bottoms,” he said. “From there they went to different lengths of spandex. The players were able to move much easier, and their hands and thumbs didn’t get caught when diving and swinging.”

The Owls retired last year’s uniforms after capturing their first Little East championship and NCAA tournament berth. In addition to providing an up-to-date look, microfiber comfort, and maneuverability, Keene State players hope the new uniforms also bring them success.

The latest Owl volleyball uniforms sport long sleeves and big numbers, just like they did in ’84. (Courtesy photo)

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From Heather Jasmin, Continuing Education: The Office of Continuing Education invites the entire community to join in five free discussions of global issues on Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:30 p.m., in Rhodes N210. A 45-minute lecture will be followed by moderated discussion. All lectures are free and open to the public.

• 9/24 Energy, Moderator: Patrick Dolenc, KSC Faculty
• 10/8 Finance, Moderator: Jules LaRocque, Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning faculty
• 10/22 Human Rights, Moderator: Hank Knight, Director, Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• 11/5 The Arctic, Moderator: Renate Gebauer, KSC faculty
• 12/3 Cuba, Moderator: Chuck Weed, KSC faculty

Attendees are encouraged to buy the Great Decisions 2009 publication ($18, available at the KSC Bookstore).

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From Keith Boucher, Women’s Basketball: The Women’s Basketball Team would like to thank the campus community for supporting their charity car wash on Saturday, September 12. Unfortunately, it rained all day, but the team would like to say thank you to all those people for their kind gesture of giving. Two hundred and twenty dollars was raised and will go to the Alzheimer’s Association.

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From Colin Abernethy, Chemistry: Six KSC students recently attended the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.: Elizabeth A. Neuhardt, Katherine M. Edes, Erika R. Brooks, Anna P. McLean, Kristen K. Bissonnette, and Jeremy A. Zolan. At the meeting, these students worked as interns, introducing speakers and helping in the running of the undergraduate program. In addition, two posters were presented describing the recent results of student research projects performed in the Chemistry Department:

• N-heterocyclic carbene complexes of copper: Syntheses and reactions suitable for an undergraduate teaching laboratory (Neuhardt, E.A.; Edes, K.M.; Glimenakis, K.W.; McLean, A.P.; St. John, J.P.; Zolan, J.A.; Abernethy, C.D.)

• Synthesis of protonated bis(imino)acenaphthene cations (Edes, K.M.; Neuhardt, E.A.; Meier, J.A.; Vasudevan, K.V.; Cowley, A.H.; Abernethy, C.D.)

During the poster session, the KSC students received recognition from the American Chemical Society Committee on Education for presenting research focused on improving chemical education.

ACS members and Keene State College Students Elizabeth Neuhardt (left) and Katherine Edes (right) presenting their poster, The Synthesis of Protonated bis(imino)acenaphthene Cations. (Courtesy photo)

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Brian Green (Sociology/Anthropology) gave a speech at the conference of the Council on Christian Approaches to Defense and Disarmament in Bratislava, Slovakia, in September. His talk, “Environment: The Most Peculiar Security Challenge of the 21st Century - Sociological Aspects of Mankind’s Responsibility for Natural Resources and Global/Regional Conflicts Potentially Resulting from Issues Related to Natural Resources,” highlighted results of studies Green conducted over the past decade on the causes of ecological conflicts and the likelihood of future conflicts. The conference was generally on the theme of “Prospects for Peace” in the 21st century.

Colin Abernethy (Chemistry) travelled to Clark University, Worcester, MA, in September to give a public seminar entitled, “Investigations of N-heterocyclic Carbene and Germylene Complexes of Vanadium,” describing some of the recent results of his student research program. During his visit, he also had the opportunity to meet Kevin Robbins (KSC Chemistry ‘08), who has just successfully completed his first year as a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Clark.

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Courtesy photo; Gerda Weissmann Klein

Gerda Weissmann’s life changed forever in 1939 when, at age 15, German troops invaded her home in Beilsko, Poland. Both Gerda and her brother, Arthur, were separated from their parents and sent to slave labor camps. Her resilience supported her through three successive years in slave-labor camps and a forced 350-mile death-march in which 2,000 women were subjected to exposure, starvation, and arbitrary execution. Throughout, she never lost the will to survive. In 1945, she was rescued at the point of starvation by her future husband, Kurt Klein, an American intelligence officer.

Weissmann has lectured throughout the country and has written several books, including her autobiography, All But My Life. A documentary about her experiences during the Holocaust, One Survivor Remembers, won an Academy Award in 1996. Another film that features her story is shown regularly at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and CBS Sunday Morning and was featured on 60 Minutes and Nightline. On January 27, 2006, Gerda addressed the United Nations General Assembly on its first International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Fourteen members of Gerda Klein’s family, including her parents and brother, were killed at Auschwitz.

For more information, call the Cohen Center at 8-2490.

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From Stuart Kaufman, Sports Information: Earning the #19 spot in the national field hockey poll earlier in the day (the team’s first appearance in the poll since 2002), the Women’s Field Hockey Team (6-0) celebrated the occasion by not only defeating Williams College (1-0) for the first time, but by also setting a program record with their sixth-straight shutout on September 15. It was Keene State’s first win against the Ephs (1-2) in eight tries. The Owls had five-straight shutouts in 1981 and 2007.

Photo: Ryan McKernan; Owls celebrate first victory over Williams in program history

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On Thursday, September 24, seven Keene State adjuncts (Jack Bouley, Catherine Cadieux, Tracy Botting, Lorianne DiSabato, Anthony Dubois, Linda Aldrich, and Jeff Friedman) will read stories, poems, essays, and other pieces at the Second Annual Adjunct Faculty Reading at 4 p.m. in the Mountain View Room.

• Jack Bouley teaches Native American and multicultural studies, early 1900s American literature, composition, and rhetorical studies at Keene State.
• Catherine Aiken Cadieux has been a lecturer in communications at Keene State College since fall, 2000. She earned degrees from Lyndon State College and Yale Divinity School (with a year at McGill University thrown in).
• Tracy Botting teaches American regional fiction, women’s literature, fiction writing, Native American literature, memoir, and biography at Keene State.
• Lorianne DiSabato is an English instructor at Keene State and teaches online writing and literature courses for Southern New Hampshire University. She received her masters degree from Boston College, and her doctorate in English literature from Northeastern University, where she completed a PhD dissertation on spirituality of place in 19th and 20th century nature writing. A long-time journal-keeper, Lorianne also likes to write short essays, including her weblog, Hoarded Ordinaries, which showcases both her writing and digital photography. 
• Tony Dubois has taught English and American studies for 30 years at Keene High School and for 15 years at Keene State. He earned a BA from Middlebury College and a MALS from Keene State. He is an advisor to the KSC Fishing Club and enjoys hiking, local/regional history, gardening, and politics.
• Linda Aldrich has a BA in English and French from the University of New Hampshire, an MA in Theatre Arts from Florida State University, and an MFA in Writing from Vermont College. Her poetry chapbook, Foothold, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2008. Her poem “Enfoldment” was featured in Natasha Saje’s article, “Narrative and Poetry” in the September 2008 Writer’s Chronicle, and her poems have appeared in Indiana Review, Cimarron Review, Elixir, The Denver Quarterly, Ellipsis, The Florida Review, Poet Lore, Third Coast, and Puerto del Sol. Her poem “Woman-without-Arms” won the Emily Dickinson Award 2000 from Universities West Press.
• Jeff Friedman’s fourth collection of poetry, Black Threads, was recently published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. His poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Poetry, The New Republic, and many other literary journals. He is a core faculty member in the MFA program in poetry writing at New England College.

For more information about the reading, contact Jeff Friedman (8-7777, ext. 4135).

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From Connie Lester, Redfern: The Tri-State Trio will be featured at the Keene State music department faculty and guest artist recital on Friday, September 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Recital Hall.

Lively songs and romantic chamber music for tenor, French horn, and piano will be performed featuring songs for and about the horn by early American and European composers; Italian, French, and German chamber works; Franz Schubert’s “Auf Dem Strom”; and Benjamin Britten’s thoughtful “Canticle III: Still Falls the Rain (op. 55).” The recital also includes works by Berlioz, Delius, Debussy, Honneger, Lachner, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Schumann, among others.

Members of the Tri-State Trio include Thomas Gregg, tenor; Alan Parshley, French horn; and George Loring, piano. For more information, please visit the Redfern Arts Center website, or call 8-2168.

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From Jenny Darrow, CELT: You might have missed the conversation about “Designing a Syllabus that Can Survive Campus Shutdown (Give Us Your Ideas!)” or the news post “Building an IQL Course from the Data Out,” but don’t worry - the CELT News blog has these posts available for you to read and comment on. We hope the site will spark ideas about instruction and learning and serve as a resource for innovative teaching strategies. We are building a rich resource of examples from KSC and other institutions and are inviting you to participate, visit the site, and comment on any of the news items. Better yet, suggest a CELT News topic by emailing celt@keene.edu.

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From Connie Lester, Redfern: “Dance on Film: An Interactive Touring Kiosk,” a traveling installation featuring video clips of dance performances over the past 75 years at Jacob’s Pillow, is located in the lobby of the Redfern Arts Center and available to the public September 10 through October 1, Monday through Friday, 12 to 5 p.m.

The video clips feature modern dance pioneering figures, including Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis, José Limón, and Merce Cunningham, and contemporaries such as Tero Saarinen, Black Grace, Doug Varone, Judith Jamison, and others, and are approximately one minute long, accompanied by descriptive text. Clips can be chosen by name, genre (ballet, modern, non-Western, etc.), or era. Viewers may also test their knowledge with a fun guessing function. There are two sets of headphones as well as speakers, so the kiosk may be used silently or enjoyed by small groups to view and listen together.

The lecture kiosk was made possible with support from the New England Foundation for the Arts, the American Masterpieces Initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Redfern Arts Center. For more information, call 8-2162.

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From Barbara Preston, Student Affairs: On Friday, October 2, Keene State College will be coming together for a very special “casual Friday.” As Lee National Denim Day moves into its 14th year, KSC is gearing up to participate in our fifth year in this grassroots program, which has raised more than $75 million for breast cancer research by simply asking the nation to put on their jeans for a $5 donation to the Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF).

Funds raised from participation in Denim Day will support:

• Groundbreaking research at Lee Translational Laboratories nationwide to find less toxic, more effective treatments.
• Development of an early detection blood test in collaboration with the Breast Cancer Biomarker Discovery Project.
• Grassroots advocacy work of the National Breast Cancer Coalition to help educate those faced with breast cancer.

In 2009, the program will also benefit the personal foundation of the 2009 Lead Ambassador Christina Applegate, the Right Action for Women Foundation. With this new layer, KSC’s donations will be working even harder to fight the disease.
 
KSC offices/departments may register at the official website. KSC community members who would like to participate make their donation to the staff member who is collecting for their office/ department/division. If your office is not officially registered, you are welcome to contribute through any participating office. Donations may be made by cash or check made out to “Lee National Denim Day” or online. My team ID number is 223165.

 The President’s Commission for the Promotion of Wellness will provide participating on-campus offices with informational signs explaining why we are wearing denim as well as general information on breast cancer.] Please let me know if you will be participating, so we can provide you with signage. Thank you for your support.

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From Betsy Street, Monadnock Center for Successful Transitions: Keene State College has been awarded a $52,881 grant that will allow the College to continue working with Monadnock Developmental Services (MDS) and participate in the Granite State Employment Project (GSEP). The Monadnock Center for Successful Transitions (MCST), under the leadership of Steve Bigaj, assistant dean of Professional and Graduate Studies, will be developing professional development tools and teacher resources to assist educators statewide in supporting the transition of students with disabilities to postsecondary life. Target areas include transition-oriented IEPs, Federal compliance, work-based learning experiences, and coordination of the local Transition Community of Practice. In addition, development is underway for an employment-focused summer residential camp for high school students with learning disabilities at Keene State next summer. Funding for this project comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG).

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From Phyllis Benay, Center for Writing: October 20 has been declared a National Day on Writing, and the Keene State College Task Force on Writing is participating by sponsoring an all-day event in the Mountain View Room from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day will celebrate writing in all forms, from books and journals to newsletters, tweets, and blog postings. There will be ongoing, hands-on activities such as the six-word memoir, the six-sentence novel, and an ongoing Twitter feed. For more information, contact Phyllis Benay.

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Theatre and Dance chair Daniel Patterson reports that Natalie Pope ‘85 is the set dresser for the new season of the TV series House and is featured in this video. Natalie is a former student who went to LA to become an actress and found a new career and a lot of work on the design side of the camera. She has done set dressing for many feature films and several TV shows.

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Dr. Jim Chesebrough (Music) spent two weeks in June touring Germany, the Czech Republic, and Denmark as a member of the Trombone Choir of America. The members of this ensemble are trombone professors and performers from colleges and universities across the United States. They performed concerts in Bad Neuenahr in Germany’s Ahr River Valley and at St. Nicholas Church in Prague, and then traveled to Aarhus, Denmark, to attend the International Trombone Festival. The Trombone Choir of America joined with players from around the world, giving performances as the Cramer Trombone Choir at the Royal Academy of Music and the Aarhus Cathedral. Attending the latter performance was Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark. Along with the opportunity to meet and study with international artists, the players were also able to visit museums and cultural and musically significant sites in Cologne, Leipzig, Bonn, and Hamburg.

 Dr. Chesebrough also toured New England for a week with the 2009 Yankee Brass Band. The band is made up of invited players who perform period concerts on original instruments from the second half of the 19th century.

 A short film by Jonathan Schwartz (Film Studies) Nothing Is Over Nothing will have its first NYC screening in the New York Film Festival, “Views from the Avant-Garde,” at the Walter Reade Theatre (Lincoln Center) October 2-4. The 16mm film, finished in late 2008, is a series of portraits, gestures, light captured, aural divisions, and dividing lines collected in Jerusalem.

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Tables lined Appian Way on a beautiful autumn evening on September 9, offering faculty, staff, and students an opportunity to relax together while eating manicotti, sausage and meatballs, and cannoli at the All-Campus Dinner, sponsored by Dining Services, the L. P. Young Student Center, the Vice President for Student Affairs, and the Centennial committee. Sodexo reports that their staff served more than 3,000 campus community members, who ate 510 pans of manicotti and made a considerable dent in the 4,100 cannoli Sodexo had made to order for the event.

Photo by Lynn Roman

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From Chris Burke, Health Services: We will begin our seasonal flu shot clinics on Thursday, September 10, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Zorn North Dining Room, Zorn Dining Commons (directly across from the Hoot-n-Scoot). The cost for the vaccine is $15 for students and $25 for staff. We will be accepting debit/credit card payments or checks. No cash payments will be accepted. Students may put the charge on their bill. You can prepay for the vaccine by registering at https://www.events.unh.edu/RegistrationForm.pm?event_id=6265

This vaccine protects against seasonal flu, and although this vaccine will not prevent H1N1, we are encouraging students and staff, especially those with chronic medical conditions like asthma or diabetes, to get this vaccine to help maintain overall health. Other seasonal vaccine clinics are scheduled for:

• Wednesday, September 16: 5-7 p.m., Zorn North, Zorn Dining Commons 
• Tuesday, September 22:  5-7 p.m., Zorn North, Zorn Dining Commons 
• Friday, October 2: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Room 308, Student Center. 

Please remember to wear loose-fitting or short-sleeve shirts.

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