Campus News - September 9, 2004

A New Era of Teaching Science at Keene State Science Center Opens on Time; Students Settle in to New Surroundings

Keene State’s new $23-million Science Center opened on Monday.

At 7:30 a.m., Dr. Y greeted the first students to use the new facility, giving a commemorative clock to the first ten to pass through the glass doors into the atrium. Among the first ten were Steven Lotkowski, a freshman going to CS 140 (computer programming); Chris Barb, freshman, also going to CS 140; Nathan Valence, freshman, CS 140; Vincent Gonsalves, a senior, quantitative analysis; Mark Griffin, freshman, CS 140; Derrick Glow, sophomore, Management 101; Katherine Fish, junior, geography; Rachel Locke, freshman, Management 101; Cal Delisi, freshman, Management 101; and Paul Marlow, sophomore, environmental studies.

“This looks like a really great building,” said Katherine, a transfer from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, as she explored the courtyard.

The facility, the most expensive and ambitious capital project in Keene State’s history and the centerpiece of the School of Sciences and Social Sciences, is virtually complete, with only finishing touches inside and outside the building to be completed.

The Science Center houses research and teaching facilities for biology, chemistry, computer science, environmental studies, geography, geology, physics, and science education. More than 50 faculty members have offices in the building.

The more than 30 new labs will extend Keene State’s well-established ability to involve undergraduate students in research projects. Among the labs – containing instruments worth more than $1 million – are the biology/geochemistry trace element analysis lab, home of the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and the isotope mass spectrometer, which are used to identify and analyze metals and other substances in the environment; the molecular biology/biochemistry/physiology project lab, which will enable students to carry out research on gene expression; and the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility, which houses the NMR spectrometer, used to determine chemical bonding in organic compounds.

The Science Center also houses a greenhouse full of tropical plants, an herbarium, a lecture hall with teleconferencing and distance learning technology, many class and seminar rooms, a map room, and a geology collection and study room.

Among items soon to be added are interactive display monitors in the atrium that will present information from the Science Center’s weather station and groundwater monitoring wells; solar panels; building mechanical systems; and a 54-foot-long science/art display of the Ashuelot River.

Science Center Ribbon Cutting Will Be this Thursday

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend a celebration of the new Science Center on Thursday, Sept. 2, noon-1 p.m., near the main entrance of the facility. If it is raining, the ceremony will be held in the lobby of the building.

Festivities will begin at noon, courtesy of the Jimmy Burgoff Jazz Trio. Ice cream will also be served. At 12:30 p.m., Dr. Y, Scott Strong, associate professor of biology, and student body president Ben Wheeler will talk about the new facility, and the ribbon will be cut.

OS Council Members Named for 2005

Among Operating Staff Council members for FY 2005 are: Robert Dumond, vice chair, physical plant; Michael Dwyer, Mason Library; Christina Flanagan, secretary, registrar’s office; Timothy Garland, physical plant; Peter Hartz, physical plant; Gloria Lodge, exofficio, human resources; Glenn Loucks, purchasing office; Anne McMillan, counselling center; Ronald Nadeau, physical plant; Debra Nicholas, chair, athletic department; Tracy Palmer, student affairs; and Ann Whittle, treasurer, admissions office.

For more information, please contact council members at oscouncil@keene.edu.

Business Cards and Nametags – Order Now

To order business cards or nametags, please see the administrative assistant in your department.

You will need to complete an order form at www.keene.edu/cro/forms.cfm. The order forms are also available in the Templates folder of the Outlook Public Folders.

The administrative assistant will enter the appropriate requisition(s) in Banner and send the order form(s) to the College Relations Office. Call Antje Hornbeck at 8-2102 for more information.

Community Service Fair Set for Sept. 9

The Fall Community Service Fair is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 9. The fair will be held 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the atrium of the Student Center. About 35 area nonprofit organizations and schools will attend, providing the KSC community with many volunteer opportunities to assist those in need throughout the Monadnock region.

Cohen Center Events Include Film Premier

Five years in the making, the documentary film Telling Their Stories: New Hampshire Holocaust Survivors Speak Out will have its public premier at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26, in the Alumni Recital Hall of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. The event is free and open to the public.

The film, which was produced by Robert Spiegelman and Fred Wolff, in association with the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies, records the experiences of Anna Klein, Stephan Lewy, the late Joseph Regensberger, and Ruth Segal, who now live in New Hampshire. The film was directed by David DeArville, a KSC film studies graduate who makes films in Manchester.

Paul Vincent, director of the Cohen Center, assisted in the production of the film, acting as an intermediary between the producers and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, helping develop transcripts of the interviews, and ensuring the historical accuracy of the production. Paul and Tom White, the Cohen Center’s educational program coordinator, also created a teacher’s guide.

The film, which began as an archiving project, will serve as both a historical record and as an educational resource, says Paul.

Making the film was an eye-opening experience for DeArville. “Hanging out with Paul and Tom and learning the history of the Holocaust was incredible,” he said. “And then there were the stories of the survivors.”

The Cohen Center has two other major events planned this semester:

• Sept. 27. Seventh Annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture. Holocaust survivor and author Nechama Tec, professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut at Stamford, will speak about “Resilience and Courage: Women, Men, and the Holocaust.”

• Nov. 9. Kristallnacht Remembrance. This event will feature a presentation by Martin Rumscheidt, professor of theology at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax.

Addressing Discriminatory Harassment

A report summarizing the number of discriminatory harassment complaints that the College responded to in the 2003-04 academic year appears in this issue of Campus News. While the College has maintained this information for many years, this is the first time that it has been put in a form that can be shared with the campus.

What does this information say about our efforts to insure that all students, staff, and faculty at Keene State College have the right to work and learn in an environment free of discrimination, including freedom from sexual harassment? First of all, it suggests that harassment is a concern on this campus and, I believe, on all college campuses. Although we have come a long way in understanding the issues and in developing policies and procedures to deal with complaints, this complex issue remains a challenge. Colleges and universities will continue to provide leadership in addressing harassment issues because their missions require a concern for the dignity and rights of all members of their communities. An environment supportive of teaching and learning must be guided by community standards of civility and respect, and it must be free of fear.

Secondly, the data suggests that Keene State College is doing a better job of informing people about the policy and how to submit a complaint as well as tracking the complaints that are received. Although the total number of complaints or reports increased in 2003-04, the total number of complaints that were determined to be sexual harassment did not.

We are introducing a new resource to help our campus, particularly its faculty and staff, understand what harassment is and how to report a complaint or a concern. This is a brief on-line course. There will be more information about this course and how it will be used in the weeks ahead. We will be encouraging all faculty and staff to take this on-line course and brief quiz and then to let us know that they have done so.

If you have questions about sexual harassment or the College’s complaint procedures, I encourage you to contact one of the following complaint intake officers:

Ann Rancourt, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs; Karen House, Associate Vice President for Finance; Andrew Robinson, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs; Mark Schmidl-Gagne, Student Dispute Resolution Coordinator; Gordon Leversee, Dean of Sciences; Nona Fienberg, Dean of Arts and Humanities; John Couture, Interim Dean of Professional Studies; Chris Burke, Director of Wellness Promotion; Gloria Lodge, Director of Human Resources; Mona Anderson, Coordinator of the Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Prevention Program.

A Summary of Discriminatory Harassment Complaints in 2003-04

From the President’s Office: Keene State responded to 17 reports of alleged discriminatory harassment during the 2003-04 academic year. Three of these complaints involved allegations of discrimination based on race or national origin and sexual harassment; 14 complaints involved allegations of sexual harassment only.

Eight of the complaints were allegations of inappropriate faculty conduct toward students; the remaining represented a range of allegations, including student-to-student harassment, faculty/staff member-to-faculty/staff member; and issues involving contract employees. While some complaints involved behavior in peer relationships, the most serious involved situations and behaviors where there was a power imbalance between the alleged harasser and the complainant:

• Student to student harassment – 2

• Student to faculty harassment – 2

• Faculty/staff member to student harassment – 8

• Faculty/staff member to faculty/staff member harassment – 2

Harassment of students or staff by contract employees – 3

The Affirmative Action officer conducted seven investigations. The 10 reports that were not investigated included those handled in the student judicial system, those involving contract employees, and those that lacked sufficient information or were determined to represent cases that had been previously reported.

Of the complaints that were investigated, one investigation was inconclusive because the complaint could not be substantiated.

Four investigations identified inappropriate behavior that did not rise to the level of harassment described in KSC policy; in one of these cases, however, an individual was disciplined for retaliating against the complainant. The College may discipline individuals for retaliation even when the complaint is judged not to constitute harassment under the policy.

Two investigations concluded that discriminatory harassment did occur and appropriate disciplinary sanctions were administered.

The total number of harassment complaints increased in 2003-04, although the number of cases that were determined to be sexual harassment did not. The data suggests that Keene State is doing a better job of informing people about the policy and how to submit a complaint and tracking the complaints that are received. The results also indicate that harassment and harassing behaviors are concern on this campus.

Family News

Beth Mucci, a teacher in the Child Development Center, and her husband Joe are the parents of Adam Joseph, who was born on Sunday, August 22. Adam weighed 6lbs. 7oz.

Gardeners Keep Chris Feiker in Their Thoughts

Last spring was the first time in 30 years that Chris Feiker did not plant the Keene State gardens. Chris was seriously injured last October when a truck hit his bicycle.

“When the accident happened,” says Bud Winsor, assistant director of physical plant/grounds, “all our concern was for Chris and Cindy (Chris’s wife). But by about January, with planting season on the way, I started to think ‘What am I going to do without Chris?’” Coincidently, Bud’s two assistant gardeners had left to pursue new opportunities at the same time as Chris’s accident.

Enter Kate Sweedler.

Kate, a KSC film production graduate who has worked on the garden team for three summers, asked to take on the role of planning and planting the garden.

“She came to me and said that I shouldn’t worry, that she wanted to do it,” Bud recalls. “She told me I should have confidence in her.”

In February, Kate and fellow gardeners Cathy Mechare, Erica Bergman, and Mark Cormier began planning the gardens. “It was hard,” recalls Kate, “because Chris had everything in his head. We did a lot of research, looking at pictures of the gardens from last year and the plants Bud had ordered this year.”

After tending to the flowers in the greenhouse, the team spent May planting more than 2,000 flowers in 35 beds across campus. Like Bud, they were worried about what the gardens would look like.

Although the gardeners say they learned a lot about what and where to plant, to anyone else the gardens have been nothing less than spectacular this year.

“We wanted Chris to be proud of our work,” says Erica. “It’s our dream to see him back here.”

Chris has visited the campus several times in the past few weeks, walking the grounds with Bud and the gardeners. “He’s told the kids he likes what he sees,” says Bud.

Meanwhile, the grounds crew is planning to bring Chris back to the campus to continue his rehabilitation.

“We’re looking to involve him in things that’s he’s capable of doing and enjoying,” says Bud.

“We feel that Chris gave everything he had to the College, and that now it’s time for us to give back to him.”

The triangle garden outside Parker Hall was planted with 20 varieties of flowers

Gardeners three: from left, Kate Sweedler, Cathy Mechare, and Erica Bergman

Farewell for Bonnie Powers Planned

Please join the College Relations Office farewell to webmaster Bonnie Powers on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2-3:30 p.m. in the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery conference room. If you would like to contribute to a gift, contact Antje Hornbeck at 8-2102.

Professional Activities

Over the summer, Marc Ryan, adjunct lecturer of journalism, conducted videotaped interviews with Steve Wulf, executive editor of ESPN The Magazine, Ed Randall of Major League Baseball Radio.com, NASCAR drivers in Loudon, and Michael Smith of The Boston Globe at the New England Patriots training camp.

After editing the interviews Marc presented them to his special topics class, “Sports and the Media.”

Daniel L. Patterson, associate professor of theatre, attended the annual conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in Toronto in early August. Dan was invited to work with the “Playworks” project, which is a division of the Playwriting Program Focus group of that organization. He also directed the premiere of the new play “Gray” by Tom Smith of the University of New Mexico.

David E. White, professor of education, and Jason W. Fraser ’00, recently served as consultants for the Indian River School District (IRDS) in Delaware. It is the fifth year that David and Jason have worked for IRDS. They worked with teachers in grades two through five on how to make history come alive in their social studies program using children’s literature. They also worked with the new elementary school teachers of the entire district, demonstrating how to integrate the curriculum using new children’s books.

Nashua Symphony Performs Sept. 10

The Presenting Series at the Redfern Arts Center begins on Friday, Sept. 10, with an evening of “Russian Fireworks” by the Nashua Symphony, with pianist Alexander Korsantia.

The performance will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center. Prices are $26 for the public, $24 for seniors and KSC staff and faculty, $14 for youth under 18, and $5 for KSC students. Call the box office at 8-2168.

Featuring an ensemble of some of New England’s finest professional musicians, the Symphony will begin its 81st season with a program of works by Russia’s most famous composers. Pianist Korsantia will be heard in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43.

Moving In

Mike Fuller, a mechanic in Physical Plant, lent a hand to first-year students during Move-in Day on Saturday.

Campus Calendar
selected events

Wednesday, September 1
Opening Week activities

Thursday, September 2
Noon-1 p.m. Science Center opening event. Ribbon cutting at 12:30 p.m. Appian Way, in front of the Science Center.

Tuesday, September 7
(to 12/5). Exhibition. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Made in America. Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery.

Friday, September 10
5:30-7:30 p.m. Opening reception for Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Made in America. Thorne Art Gallery.
7:30 p.m. Nashua Symphony with pianist Alexander Korsantia. Main Theatre, Redfern Arts Center.

Send in Your News

Campus News is published every Wednesday during the academic year and every other Wednesday during the summer. Send news or items for Professional Activities by e-mail to campusnews@keene.edu or by mail to Campus News, College Relations Office, Mailstop 1502. No phone submissions, please. The editor is Dave Orsman. The deadline is at noon on the Friday prior to publication. We reserve the right to edit. Due to space limitations, not all items can be published in Campus News.