August 5th, 2010

From Len Fleischer:

The Keene State College Rite of Passage Initiative will commence in August 2010. This campus-wide effort will convene conversations, trainings and presentations for first year students and their families, student leaders, administrators, staff, and faculty. The initiative, co-created and supported by a diverse group of administrators, staff and faculty, affirms the college experience as a place of passage into healthy adulthood. You are warmly invited to be part of the community conversation about “coming of age,” whatever your age or role, in the following ways:

August 4, 9-11 a.m.: Training for Residential Life Administrators, Directors (Thorne Art Gallery)
August 23, 9-11 a.m.: Training for Resident Assistants, Student Leaders (Redfern Recital Hall)
August 23, 2-4 p.m.: Open Training for Administrators, Staff, and Faculty (Thorne Art Gallery)
August 24 10 a.m.-noon: Open Training for Administrators, Staff, and Faculty (Thorne Art Gallery)
August 24 1-3 p.m.: Training for Education faculty (Thorne Art Gallery)
August 26 6:30-8 p.m. and 8:15-9:45 p.m. Presentations for 1st Year Students (Mabel Brown Room)
August 28 6:30-8 p.m. and 8:15-9:45 p.m. Presentations for 1st Year Students (Mabel Brown Room)

Please RSVP to Carol Fairbanks at cfairban@keene.edu by August 16th to register for the August 23-24 trainings. A brief pre-training survey will be sent to you.

If you would like to learn more about the KSC Rite of Passage Initiative, and “KSC Passage: It’s Our Choice,” please read on and/or contact Len Fleischer at lfleisch@keene.edu:

In order to help Keene State students further develop a sense of belonging and connection with our college community, a diverse group of Keene State College administrators, faculty and staff have been meeting over the past two years to co-create a cultural shift that seeks to affirm the college experience as a place of passage into healthy adulthood.
Through the support of a strategic prevention grant from Monadnock Voices for Prevention, comprehensive strategies will be developed and deployed to guide students’ natural impulses to invent rites of passage experiences to test and affirm their transition from adolescence to adulthood. The focus is to guide those impulses towards safe, productive leisure-time activities.
Life is full of transitions. Among the biggest are birth, marriage and death. These major transitions are all associated with special events such as weddings and funerals, called rites of passage. There is compelling evidence as to the essential role rites of passage have always played for the personal and social development of human beings and their communities.
During the coming year, beginning with 2010 Orientation, educational opportunities will be provided that will include experiences for the college community to understand, conceptually and experientially, what might be possible. This will include:
• Providing an overview of rites of passage, the developmental stage of college students and their parents and the impact of transitions on human beings.
• Providing an overview of the structure of youth and community development through rites of passage.
• Promoting conversations with diverse constituency groups for each to identify what they may currently be doing that encourages healthy youth development.
• Creating settings for community conversations that will put into motion a rites of passage strategy, including the recognition and enhancement of what is already being done on campus.
• Developing a college community of conscious, mindful and capable collaborators in the ongoing design, implementation and continuous improvement of Keene State College as a place of significant transformation for young adults.

The major goal of this effort is to develop an infrastructure that can address the particular challenges of the transition for beginning students at KSC. It will broaden peer education and student leader involvement, and engage administration, faculty, and staff in mentoring academic and student affairs experiences that offer alternatives to messages that encourage drinking as a perceived passage to adulthood by:
• Reframing the Problem: Acknowledging that college is a place of initiation, where young people come of age and are mentored in their development as adults.
• Development & Training of a Leadership Team: Bringing together the diverse citizenry of a college community–students, staff, faculty and administration-to create and support a team of community leaders who take responsibility for sustaining the College initiative, and for mentoring first year students.
• Creating a Positive Context for Declaring Independence: Providing a structure that guides entering students in investigating and connecting with health-promoting activities, while developing abilities to make responsible decisions.
• Engaging Parents: Educating parents on how to support their sons’ and daughters’ adjustment to, and success in, college.
• Giving Students Responsibility for Mentoring the Next Class: Creating opportunities for first-year students to give back to the college community in subsequent years by becoming College leaders and mentors.
• Orient Students to College: Building skills necessary for academic and social success and competence, helping them find “their place” for their pursuit of happiness and healthy fun, exploring ways to be of service and to mentor others.

Unlike other major transitions, cultural rituals in America do not effectively assist the transition to adulthood. The lack of clearly established rites of passage in the United States is partly due to the ambiguity about when one becomes an adult. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that first year students who live on campus are at higher risk for misusing alcohol than their non-college attending peers. NIAAA suggests that the first 6 weeks of college are especially important because that is when students often initiate heavy use of alcohol as part of their transition into college. Particularly in the first year, college students often tend to believe that alcohol helps them navigate the treacherous path from their adolescent selves to their adult selves. Thus, students tend to initiate each other into what they believe it means to be an adult, while the adult community can be unclear about how to support and mentor them.
Whatever else college may be to such a diverse citizenry, it is clearly a place for students to come of age. Rarely do we intentionally capitalize on the natural power of college as a place of passage to positively affect students and the rest of the college community. KSC is among the first colleges in our country to make this commitment.
It is the objective of the Rite of Passage Initiative to provide developmental information that will focus on first year students, student leaders, and staff, faculty, and community mentors, to establish positive college experiences as a normative passage to healthy adulthood. The long-term goal of this initiative is to create a path toward a cultural shift from binge drinking, beginning by acknowledging students’ natural impulses to create rite of passage experiences to test and affirm their transition from teenagers to adults. It then engages the entire college community in guiding those impulses towards safe, productive leisure-time activities, while supporting academic success. The KSC Rite of Passage Initiative paves the way for healthier student choices, and a significant shift in the culture of our college.

The KSC Rite of Passage Initiative is based upon youth and community development through a Rite of Passage Experience© (ROPE®) developed by David Blumenkrantz, Ph.D., and the Center for the Advancement of Youth, Family and Community Services, Inc., Keene State’s consultants for this initiative.

UPDATE 8/12/10: Because of a schedule conflict with Opening Week events, the August 23 afternoon open training for administrators, faculty, and staff has been changed from 2-4 to 3:30-5. For those who have not yet had a chance to register for either this one or the very similar training the next morning, please do so by Monday, August 16.

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From Betsy Street, KSC Project Manager, Monadnock Employment Project:

Nine students from Keene High School, North Campus, came to Keene State on June 10 for a morning of job shadows, hosted by the Monadnock Center for Successful Transitions (MCST).

Students had the opportunity to investigate careers in a non-threatening way by job shadowing Keene State College employees. Betsy Street with the MCST, located in the School of Professional and Graduate Studies, and Ken Susskind, KHS North Campus School Counselor, worked together to plan and organize the day.

This is the third year MCST has coordinated job shadows for high school students, and some KSC hosts have been with the program since the inception. Benefits to the students were always clear; what was unexpected was the satisfaction hosts experience from participating. Deirdre McPartlin from the Child Development Center, “It reminds me how generous the Keene State community can be, and reminds me why I do what I do. The students are so open and interested. They’re just at the beginning of figuring out what they want to do in their lives.”

We’d like to thank the following who hosted students:
From Sodexo: Rich Ducharme, Rich Blanchard, and Rebecca Briggs;
From the Child Development Center: Deirdre McPartlin;
From Physical Plant: Joe Britton, Mike Fuller, and John Conwell;
From the IT Group: Paul Proulx;
From the Mason Library: Linda Madden.
In addition we’d like to thank Advancement, Business Office, Bookstore, Carpentry, Development, Electrical, Environmental Health and Safety, Heating Service, Human Resources, Plumbing Service, and Purchasing, which all volunteered to host a student but were not matched this year.

The MCST, funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has a site at KSC and is housed at Monadnock Developmental Services (MDS). MCST maintains an ever-growing master list of possible job shadows on campus. If you or your department would be interested in participating, please e-mail Betsy Street at bstreet@keene.edu.

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From Jennifer Ferrell, coordinator of student activities:

The City of Keene is preparing for an upcoming “Green Up Keene” day on Saturday, April 10, starting at 8 a.m. at the Railroad Square area on Main St. and ending at noon.

Volunteers from around the community are encouraged to come out individually or with groups and help beautify the City. Volunteers interested in coming out will help build what will hopefully become an annual festival that showcases Keene’s environmental efforts. The City of Keene will provide “Beautify NH” trash bags for the event. When you volunteer, you will either be assigned a section of the City to work on, or you can decide for yourself. To contribute, please go online at http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sustainability/green-keene and sign up!

We want you to come out and support the community’s efforts as we move towards a more sustainable future. Dozens of KSC Greek students will be out in the town and would love even more KSC support!

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From Leah Groppo and Karen Balnis, Health Science:

The Keene Recreation Center hosted a Family Fun Fair, coordinated by Keene State dietetic interns, February 27. Andy Bohannon, Director of Parks and Recreation in Keene, supervised the planning and implementing of the fair. Leah Groppo, a KSC Dietetic Intern, was the fair coordinator, and Leanne Lawrence assisted her with project management. Other dietetic interns and health science students worked on interactive booths and displays for families. Hannaford Supermarket and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene Cheshire Medical Center sponsored the event.
Kids ate local carrots provided by Stonewall Farm and bananas from Hannaford Supermarket. Children also enjoyed the Keene School District physical activity obstacle course, played Fit WIC games, planted seeds with Early Sprouts, and sampled healthy snacks.
Vendors did a great job engaging each family and providing a variety of fun, free stuff. Each child left the fair with a Hannaford Supermarket re-usable bag full of healthy goodies and activity ideas. Students from the New Hampshire Dance Institute concluded the fair, performing and teaching other children their dance.

Karen adds:

KSC offers one of the few wellness-focused programs in the USA, making it a draw for students from across the country. During the program, interns gain community, clinical and food service management experiences. The Family Fun Fair is one example of their health promotion work in the community.

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New Hampshire Forum on the Future is coming to campus next week. It’s a nice chance to show off the College — and could be a great opportunity for folks who are interested.

From Misha Charles, President’s Office:

The New Hampshire Forum on the Future Breakfast Series focuses on the forces that face the state’s future - economically, socially and culturally with respect to our education system, environment and historic traditions.

Forum Breakfast Series

Driving Economic Development in the Monadnock Region: From Issues to Action
New Solutions for the New Economy
Monday, March 15, 2010
Zorn Dining Commons, Keene State College
Breakfast served

Speakers:
Helen F. Giles-Gee, President, Keene State College
Molly Kelly, Senator, New Hampshire
Thomas Dowling, President, Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce
Fred Kocher, President, New Hampshire High Technology Council
Stephen A. Norton, Executive Director, New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies
Dennis Delay, Research Consultant, New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies
Thomas Horgan, President and CEO, New Hampshire College and University Council
Register to participate in one of seven focus group discussions on education, health, housing, manufacturing, small business development, technology and transportation.

To register, visit The New Hampshire Forum on the Future’s site.

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On Saturday, February 13th, 2010 (snow date Feb. 20), hundreds of citizens in 11 locations across New Hampshire will have an opportunity to participate in day-long, facilitated, small-group community-based conversations to address the question: What’s At Stake? Community Conversations to Weigh the Benefits and Risks of Expanded Legal Gambling in NH. This is an opportunity to find new ideas and talk about what we value and our hopes for NH. Participants must register prior to the session – lunch and snacks are provided. Results will be reported out to the Governor’s Study Commission on Expanded Gambling.

Regardless of your opinion – whether you are pro-gambling, anti-gambling, neutral or undecided – they want your participation.

These community conversations are being sponsored by the University of New Hampshire, and hosted by local UNH Cooperative Extension offices statewide. The Keene discussion will take place on campus, in Morrison Hall. For more information and to register, visit the “What’s at Stake” website, call (877) 338-5322, or e-mail whats.at.stake@unh.edu.

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Forrest Seymour accepted the 2010 Partners in Prevention Award from the Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention at MCVP’s annual meeting on January 20.

When contacted, Forrest wanted to be sure we acknowledged that the work being honored is conducted primarily by students; three KSC Mentors in Violence Prevention peer educators joined him at the ceremony. “I am merely the ‘coordinator.’”

Congratulations, then, to MVP. And to their coordinator.

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From Misha Charles, President’s Office:

Each March, as part of the campus celebration of Women’s History Month, Keene State College recognizes outstanding women. This year’s Outstanding Women of New Hampshire Awards will be presented at an event on Monday, 29 March, 2010.
The theme for the 2010 National Women’s History Month is Writing Women Back into History. With this theme in mind, we will celebrate the diverse accomplishments of women and honor those who have made significant contributions to the campus, community, and state of New Hampshire. Their contributions might include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Volunteerism and community service
• Leadership
• Innovation
• Advocacy
• Mentorship and positive role modeling
• Advancement of equality

Awards are given to women in four categories: KSC student, KSC faculty or staff member (excluding current commission members), greater Monadnock community member, and other state resident.
Nomination letters should be no more than two pages and provide the following information:

1. How you know the individual
2. Why you feel this individual is deserving of this recognition
3. How this person has contributed to the campus, community, and/or state of New Hampshire
4. Category in which this individual falls: student, faculty/staff, Monadnock, or state
5. Contact details for both the nominator and the nominee

Nominations may be sent by e-mail to mcharles1@keene.edu or through US or campus mail to Misha Charles, President’s Office, Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03431-1504.
All nominations must be received by 4:30 p.m. Friday, 12 February, 2010.

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From Shelley Rines, Student Center: The Keene State College Circle K club, an internationally recognized community service organization, made and donated 55 fleece blankets for children at the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute. The blankets, handmade by club members, were delivered in December at the Annual Open House for the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute, KPTI in Boston.

Circle K, the college version of Kiwanis, donates many different handmade items to the hospital every year, including blankets, welcome tote bags, and trauma dolls. While the club also donates money, the homemade items are usually the most important, because they make the hospital a more comfortable place for the children. KPTI is funded through Kiwanis and their youth affiliate groups; it’s part of Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Twelve members of Keene State College Circle K and three members of Kiwanis traveled to Boston on Saturday to present their gifts to the hospital. “The gift we were able to give was incredible,” says Abigail O’Haire, past projects and fundraising chair of Circle K, “I have never seen such a big gift, and I was very happy to be part of it.” The blanket project was such a success due to donations made by Kiwanis, KSC, and community members through a sponsorship project. Over $600 was raised to pay for the fleece blanket material. Circle K and Chelsey Rothermel, the project coordinator, would like to thank the community for making this project a success.

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You still have one last chance to celebrate Keene State’s centennial year! Keene City Clerk Patricia Little contacted the College and asked if part of the Celebrating Our Centennial 1909-2009: 100 Years of Academic Community (at the Thorne last summer) could be condensed and brought downtown. College and Media Relations designer Lynn Roman sifted through the original exhibit’s photographs and memorabilia chronicling the college from 1909-2009 and assembled the display currently in the Ingersoll cabinets in the lobby of City Hall. The lobby is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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From Mary McEntee, Student Center: First Book is a national literacy program that works through local Advisory Boards to provide new books for children in need. KSC-First Book has helped to distribute more than 2,000 books in the Monadnock Region and will hold another book grant cycle for interested programs in March. Children in an eligible program have the opportunity to receive a monthly free book (for six months) to take home and read with their family.
 
We are planning a used-book sale at the Winter Celebration on December 9th as a fundraiser for First Book. The books you donate will be resold and the money raised will be used to buy new books for local children in need. There will be a collection box (no textbooks please) in the Student Center Atrium labeled “First Book,” or you can email Student First Book Coordinator Chelsey Rothermel to have books collected anywhere on campus. Thank you in advance!

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From the Thanksgiving Basket Committee: This year’s Thanksgiving Basket Drive was a success that touched the hearts of many local families. Students, student organizations, departments, faculty, staff, and even a local bank prepared 111 baskets with personal touches.

In addition, an astounding amount of additional food items were donated: six large boxes of winter outerwear for men, women, and children and boxes filled with toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, household supplies, and so much more. Again this year, the young daughter of a KSC family wanted her birthday guests to bring one unwrapped toy to go to the children of the Community Kitchen. With a generous amount of cash donations, we were able to provide for an additional 31 WIC families for a total of 142 baskets! It is truly a reflection of our campus community that for 24 years we have worked together to contribute to so many people during the Thanksgiving holiday.
 
This year’s event was a success due to extraordinary teamwork, generosity, and efforts by many. Volunteers included 45 students from a variety of Greek and student organizations, along with over 26 faculty and staff from all corners of our campus community.
 
We are grateful to the local vendors who added an assortment of coupons and items for distribution to the Community Kitchen. Be sure to say “thank you” to these participating vendors and friends: Children’s Dental, Chili’s Restaurant, Delta Dental, Jack’s True Value, Dr. Peter Welnaks’s office, First Book Reading Program, Friendly’s at the West Street Shopping Plaza, Hannaford Supermarket, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Price Chopper Supermarket, the Richmond Family, Shaw’s Supermarket, St. James Thrift Shop, Studio H Hair Salon, Supercuts, Toadstool Bookshop, Uptown Salon, Wal-Mart, Yankee Lanes Bowling, and Sylvania/Osram.
 
We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to the Equinox for their support of our ads, Sodexho for supplying refreshments as well as baskets, the KSC Bookstore for their contributions along with two boxes full of baby food, the Physical Plant for their pickup and delivery services - and 14 baskets - as well as those individuals who initiated the collection for their departments. Amazing. Thank you!

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From Mark Reynolds, College and Media Relations: OK, you’ve had that Monadnock United Way pledge card on your desk for a few weeks now. You keep thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to donate as soon as I get a free minute.” Well, it’s time to pick up that card, and your pen, and offer some critical help to our neighbors in need. Even a small donation will make a big difference. Let’s show the community how KSC steps up to the plate when it needs us.

Please, chip in what you can. You’ll feel good about yourself - and don’t forget, your gift is tax deductible.

Send in the pledge cards you received, or contact Francis Brush (8-2652, MS 3101) or Melissa Laughner (8-2865, MS 1603), our General Campaign chairs, or Mark Reynolds (8-2147, MS 1502), the Leadership Giving campaign chair. They’d love to hear from you.

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Graph prepared by Lynn Roman

From Mark Reynolds, College and Media Relations:

Want to feel especially good going into the holiday season, and have another reason to be proud of KSC? The campus United Way campaign needs your help, and so do the many struggling people in our local community. The agencies that the Monadnock United Way supports are overwhelmed this year with requests for assistance, and it’s important that KSC be there for the community when it needs us.

If everyone gave just $1 a week, or $2 per pay, we’d raise about $52,000. Donating via payroll deduction is easy, you’d really be helping your neighbors who need it, and you’d never even miss the $2 each pay. Besides, Sedexo is donating cakes and the Bookstore has donated KSC sweatshirts, so there will be some fun raffle prizes for several lucky donors. Step right up!

Over 160 faculty and staff members contributed last year, and the need is far greater this year. So, please, chip in what you can. You’ll be glad you did!

Send in the pledge cards you received, or contact Francis Brush (8-2652) or Melissa Laughner (8-2865), our general campaign chairs, or Mark Reynolds (8-2147), the Leadership Giving campaign chair. They’d love to hear from you.

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In the fall of 2008, senior seminar students in the Biology Department held a successful marrow registration drive in honor of Biology Department faculty member Dr. Johanna Kolodziejski, who was, at the time, being treated for leukemia in Boston. “Dr. K” lost her battle against leukemia in January of 2009. On November 18, students from the KSC Biology Club and the Biology Honors Society sponsored a second marrow registration drive in Johanna’s memory. Kristin Porter-Utley (Biology) reports that near the end of the day on Wednesday they had 156 registrations.

Lynn Roman photo

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From Rebecca Briggs, Dining Services: Keene State Dining Services’ Helping Hands across America promotion was a success - we reached our campus goal!

More than 500 pounds of food was collected (538 pounds, 9 ounces to be exact - every ounce counts when you’re shooting for a world record!). We also raised over $330 to donate to the Community Kitchen. Thanks, everyone. Your support and generosity are greatly appreciated.

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From Stuart Kaufman, Sports Information: All-New England and All-Little East athletes in the pool, Keene State swimmers showed they can also strut pretty well on land when they participated in the Symonds School 14th Annual Turkey Trot on Tuesday afternoon.

For the past six weeks, Owl swimmers have been getting Symonds School third-through-fifth graders ready for the event as part of the school’s Healthy Bodies, Healthy Hearts program, which includes a variety of physical activities and games. The Turkey Trot has evolved over the years. Initially an exercise that encouraged students to be healthy and active, it has grown into a community event that includes donations for the Community Kitchen and raffle prizes for the participants. More than 500 people, including students, teachers, staff, family, and friends ran, jogged, and walked around the Symonds School path on Tuesday.

Pam Lawton, a physical education teacher at the school and a recent KSC grad says the connection between the Owl swimmers and the young students is one of the key elements of the program. “The students form a special bond with the Keene State athletes,” said Lawton. “They look forward to them coming every day and really make a strong connection.”

Symonds School Turkey Trot

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From Mark Reynolds, College and Media Relations: My mother used to tell me, “First, take care of your own.” One of the best ways we can take care of our own - our neighbors right here in our local community - is through the Monadnock United Way, and now’s the time. There are plenty of folks in the Monadnock region that desperately need our help. Area requests for food, shelter, and heating assistance are way up and well beyond what the local agencies can handle. The cry for help is loud and strong.

The MUW supports 49 critical agencies through a largely volunteer organization that puts 90% of your dollar to work for the people who need it most. As in other years, KSC is pitching in to help this important effort. So far, over 60 people are supporting the general campaign, and 12 have contributed at the Leadership Level by giving $500 or more. We’ve raised a total of $15,089. Those who have given have been remarkably generous, but we can still do a lot more.

We need everyone’s help! Most contributors choose to give by payroll deduction, an easy and painless way to help. Just think: If every employee on campus gave just $2 per pay (anyone can afford that!), we’d raise over $52,000. With so many people hurting in our community, there’s never been a more important time for those of us fortunate enough to be receiving steady paychecks to step up and help those who don’t have that security.

Everyone should have received a pledge form from Francis Brush (fbrush@keene.edu or 8-2652) and Melissa Laughner (mlaughner@keene.edu or 8-2865), our general campaign chairs. Please use that form to chip in and let the Monadnock region know that KSC cares. For those of you who are feeling especially fortunate, please contact Mark Reynolds (mreynolds@keene.edu or 8-2147) for a Leadership Giving Pledge form. It’s easy for you to make a big difference - and take care of our own!

President Helen Giles-Gee and KSC faculty, staff, and students kick off the Monadnock United Way campaign in the Student Center on October 29 (courtesy photo Jan Kobeski).

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From the Thanksgiving Basket Committee: There’s still time to join in the fun and build a Thanksgiving basket for a local WIC family (families with young children under five years of age) in Keene and the local communities. Last year, Keene State collected a record 158 baskets, which helped 703 people, including 400 children. This year our goal is to maintain that spirit of making a difference, and we can do this with your help. We cannot have too many baskets - there are so many families in need. As of November 5, more than 1900 requests for Thanksgiving baskets were received by local organizations. Any type of donation will help a local family and be greatly appreciated. Please consider encouraging co-workers in your office/area/building, organization or Residence Hall to put together Thanksgiving baskets for this holiday season.

Collection of Thanksgiving baskets will be on Monday, November 23, in the West Dining Area of the Young Student Center, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For donations by check, please make payable to “KSC - Thanksgiving Basket” and send to Tara Kavanagh at the Child Development Center in Elliot Hall, MS 2503. New this year, we have donation boxes set up in the Gym, Library, Science Center, and Student Center until the 23rd for gently used winter outerwear and additional last-minute food items to be donated to the Community Kitchen. For more information, contact Human Resources at 8-2406.

Thank you & have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

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From Cheryl Martin, Office of the President: It is time for the Annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive, and once again, we are asking you to help by encouraging your office/area/building/ organization or residence hall co-workers to put together Thanksgiving baskets for this holiday season. All KSC contributions are distributed to WIC families (families with young children under five years of age) in Keene and the local communities.

Last year we collected a record 158 baskets from all corners of our campus community! This year our goal is to continue with the spirit of making a difference by helping our friends and neighbors. We need your help. We cannot have too many baskets - there are so many families in need. As of October 23, over 1,700 requests for Thanksgiving baskets were received by local organizations, and that number is expected to increase. New this year, we will have donation boxes set up in the Gym, Library, Science Center, and Student Center until the day of the drive for gently used winter outerwear and additional last-minute food items to be donated to the Community Kitchen.

Collection of Thanksgiving baskets will be on Monday, November 23, in the West Dining Area of the Young Student Center, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, please contact Human Resources at 8-2406.

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From Rebecca Briggs, Dining Services: Keene State Dining’s Helping Hands across America promotion is well underway, and we need your help! We’ve had lots of donations of both food and cash so far, but folks in the Keene area need our help.

Please consider supporting the cause by donating a non-perishable food item or your pocket change on your next visit to the DC, Hoot-n-Scoot, Lloyd’s Marketplace, or the Zorn North Dining Room. All donations will go directly to the Community Kitchen of Keene and will help us meet our goal of collecting 500 pounds of food.
 
We know folks in Keene and the surrounding area are no strangers to world record attempts, and this event is no exception. All collections will be tallied and included - with Sodexo accounts across the country - in a nationwide attempt to break a Guinness World Record for the most canned and non-perishable food items collected nationwide in a 24-hour period. All donations must be received on or before November 12 to be included in the world record attempt. Please visit our website for additional information.

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From Francis Brush, Bookstore: This year’s United Way fund-raising campaign kicked off on October 29 with remarks by President Giles-Gee in the Lantern Room of the Student Center.

This year’s campaign theme is “Step Right Up!” Imagine a barker at the circus imploring people strolling down the midway to “Step Right Up!” and partner with the 49 human service agencies that depend on the United Way for support. In the words of Margaret Meade, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” For more information, contact Francis Brush, 8-2652.

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2500 pumpkins from Bradford, Vermont, were delivered to Fiske Quad for the annual Pumpkin Lobotomy on October 16. More than 40 student organizations had tables surrounding the quad, providing caramel apples, cider, popcorn, and face painting for the crowd of KSC carvers. The pumpkin “guts” are always composted, but this year they were collected in the College’s new rubbish truck, which eliminated a lot of lifting and extra dumpster moving. Mary Jensen (Sustainability/Recycling) reports that several tons were collected and will be composted with leaves and chipped brush and used as mulch or soil conditioners for campus lawns and flowerbeds.

(Lynn Roman photo.)

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Elsewhere on campus, 144 members of the KSC community participated in the Fifth Annual Pumpkin 5K Fun Run/Walk, including nuns-on-the-run Patty Farmer, Amanda Warman, and Beth Zinn. “We are a team in the College’s Healthy Challenge initiative,” said Warman. “Our team name is the Sisters of Perpetual Hunger, so Beth came up with the idea of walking as a team in costume since it is a ‘fun run’ - or a ‘fun nun run’ now, I guess.”

Nuns on the run (l–r) Patty Farmer, Amanda Warman, and Beth Zinn (Lynn Roman photo.)

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From Bud Winsor, Physical Plant/ Grounds: More than 100 Greek students, three campus ecology students, and a student from the Campus Outing Club showed up on a cool, misty morning to help clean up the banks of the Ashuelot River from West Street all the way down to Route 101. More than 30 shopping carts, one old rusty bike, and several hundred pounds of trash were retrieved from campus clean-up efforts.

Additional thanks to TEK and Chi Phi for volunteering to help at the off-campus location (Beaver Brook, off of Water Street).

Chi Phi fraternity members collected eight bags of debris at Beaver Brook as part of the Source to the Sea cleanup, October 3. (Zack Hawkins photo.)

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