For about two years, Keene State has been talking about moving to the Common Application for its application process. Good news: We got in!

What this means, practically speaking: Students who are applying to KSC starting in August will fill out the Common Application (plus a short Keene State supplement), and designate Keene State on their application.

Applicants get to apply to several schools (including KSC, UNH, and lots of other schools nationally, public and private) with just one form. And our admissions office can radically decrease the amount of data entry (and attendant time and money spent), since info from the Common Application goes right into our student information system.

Questions about the switch? Contact the admissions office.

KSC will now offer a baccalaureate degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The curriculum combines historical study with an interdisciplinary exploration of the Holocaust and other genocidal events and incorporates such disciplines as film, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and women’s studies. The major is currently accepting students for the 2009–10 academic year.

More information.

The 13-member Owl women’s swim team captured its second consecutive New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Championship at the Tripp Athletic Center Pool on the campus of UMass-Dartmouth on Sunday, Feb. 22. Keene State also won the NEISDA title in 2001.

An exhausted Owl squad mustered enough energy and determination during the demanding weekend competition to pull off the championship.

The Owls set four school records and established one meet and pool mark on Sunday. They won three races, including the 400 freestyle relay, the final race of the meet, to claim the crown.

Several Owl swimmers will know in two weeks if their provisional qualifying times will be good enough to get them a spot in the NCAA Division III championships that take place in Minneapolis March 18–21.

Photo by Robert Tierney

More information.

Zen, a colored pencil work by Nicole Caulfield

Did you see the 2009 Biennial Regional Jurors’ Choice exhibit at the Thorne? Keene artist Nicole Caulfield’s colored pencil work, Zen, depicting her oldest daughter, Katie, who attends Symonds School in Keene, won the People’s Choice Award as well as the Jurors’ Best of Show prize.

More information.

Get ready for a fantasy journey through a child’s vivid imagination as the Thorne and the Redfern collaborate to bring Sebastienne Mundeim’s Sea of Birds to campus on Thursday, March 12 at 6 p.m, 7:30 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. The story is based on a child’s memories of an Eastern European displacement camp during the Second World War.

Mundheim is known for integrating historical themes with lyrical storytelling that engages children and adults. Structured like Homer’s Odyssey and reminiscent of The Little Prince, the performance promises to transport audiences to a fantastical world, exploring history, memory, and the power of the imagination.

The public is invited to watch the set being installed at the Thorne from noon to 4 p.m., Monday, March 9, through Wednesday, March 11, and there will be a brief question-and-answer session with the cast and audience after the 6 p.m. performance.

More information.

Did you see the KSC production of Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker? It was so good that the cast and crew were invited to perform it at the 41st New England Region I Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival held at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Mass., Jan. 27–Feb. 1. Professional respondents and student critics of the festival’s productions gave The Matchmaker a unanimous thumbs up. As did the audiences here on campus.

The festival brings students and faculty together to see some of the area’s strongest productions, participate in workshops, and compete in a variety of areas in theatrical performance, design, and production. Several KSC students and faculty were recognized for their work in The Matchmaker and other KSC productions.

More information.

Are you looking to expand your awareness of current topics? The “Great Decisions” program, a nationwide forum of the Foreign Policy Association (FPA), focuses on impartial, thought-provoking analyses of issues concerning U.S. policymakers, and it has just received a Pepsi-KSC Partnership Grant. The 2009 “Great Decisions” program includes

• Afghanistan and Pakistan, March 12
• Egypt: Key Ally in the Middle East, March 26
• Global Food Crisis, April 9
• The U.S. and Rising Powers, April 23

Each discussion will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Rhodes N120. The series is free and open to the public and includes an open discussion period. “Great Decisions” is designed to encourage thoughtful, non-partisan conversation among community members.

Attend a lecture or two, and tell us what you think.

More information.

Here at Newsline, we get our information from a variety of sources: We get news from individuals on-campus and off-, but also from the other excellent publications we have at KSC, including Campus News and The Equinox.

So when the folks from The Equinox asked if they could use this space to remind you of what a great resource they provide, there was really no way we could say no. From Ian Lord, managing editor:

The Equinox is more than just a newspaper.
Since 1929, The Equinox has been the student voice at Keene State College, delivering hard news, student life and arts and entertainment coverage, sports updates and insightful opinions and columns.

The Equinox has expanded to the Internet, delivering breaking news coverage and exploring the realms of new media. As newspapers all over the world use new technology to deliver news, so has The Equinox.

On our website, you’ll experience multimedia journalism at its finest. Professionally produced video, podcasts and photo galleries provide different angles to our print material.

And as always, The Equinox maintains the highest standards in journalism and business practices.

Not only are we an award-winning college newspaper, but we provide affordable advertising for campus groups and the Keene community, as well as a forum for the public voice.

With a dedicated group of editors and staff members, The Equinox looks to go one step further, and continue with its tradition of excellence.

The Equinox can also be found on Facebook and Twitter and our staff blog.

Remember: “If it’s in the news, it’s in the ‘Nox!

Dr. Johanna Kolodziejski, July 18, 1976–February 3, 2009. Courtesy photo.

The Biology Department faculty, staff, and students mourn the loss of their newest faculty member, Dr. Hanna Kolodziejski, who died at the age of 32 at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston on Feb. 3, 2009. She will be sorely missed.

Dr. Kolodziejski, known to her students as Dr. K, was a brilliant young neuroethologist who had just earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University before accepting the position of Assistant Professor of Biology at Keene State in the fall of 2007. In her short time here, Hanna demonstrated that she was a dedicated and incredibly talented teacher and mentor of undergraduates, as well as a most excellent colleague.

When word of Dr. K’s illness went out last fall, the campus rallied to support her with a remarkably successful bone marrow drive, which registered 195 donors.

We welcome your memorial comments regarding this inspiring teacher. Please use the “comments” link below.

More information.

Tuesday night, Keene State men’s and women’s basketball teams will be playing rival Plymouth State. Both games will also serve as benefits to help with medical expenses for KSC field hockey player Erin Dallas, a junior from Marlow, N.H.

Dallas suffered a knee injury during the season and developed a post-surgical infection following ACL knee surgery in December. Since then, she has been hospitalized and has had multiple operations. In lieu of tickets, fans will be asked for donations, with all proceeds going to Dallas. In addition, the Keene State field hockey team will be sponsoring a 50-50 raffle and the student athletic activities committee will be handing out “Code Red” T-shirts.

Come join us in cheering on the teams — and Erin. Owls fans are encouraged to wear red to the games, which start at 5:30 (women’s) and 7:30 (men’s) at Spaulding Gym.

There’s more information on Tuesday night’s game in this week’s Campus News. And visit the KSC News & Events page to see how the fundraiser turned out. Were you there? What did you think?

For more of Erin’s story, there was an excellent feature on her, and another story on her field hockey season, in the Equinox last semester, before her surgery.