Steve Cormier
Critic Staff

Cut of library employee galvanizes LSC faculty to demand address of the termination.

Hard financial times at Lyndon State College have become personal with the administration’s decision to cut the Director of Library Instructional Technology position.

Vicki Litzinger, an employee of the college since 2001, will be let go later this semester. The termination of her position is a result of the administration’s response to the budget deficit facing LSC this fall.

Stating in an e-mail that the situation was “very problematic,” Litzinger declined to be interviewed for this article.

A common face in the library, Litzinger is the person behind integrating class information with Blackboard to help both faculty and students. Her removal from LSC is weighing on the minds and in the actions of those who know her.

“It is always a difficult thing to deal with when a colleague is let go,” said David Johnston, Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Federation Chapter Chair.

An emergency meeting of the Faculty Assembly, the union representing faculty at LSC, convened Tuesday in the Burke Mountain Room with the only item on the agenda being the layoff.

“The faculty wants to show support for the staff… who keep LSC functioning,” Johnston said.

“When difficult things happen in a community it’s important to continue to communicate to help in knowing how decisions were made,” said Patricia Shine, Professor of Human Services.

A letter asking President Carol Moore to address the layoff at the next Faculty Assembly meeting is being circulated by Shine and is being signed by full and part-time faculty.

“The letter explains why the position is important and why Vicki is good for it,” Johnston said.

Litzinger’s termination has brought into question the way financial matters have been handled here at LSC, especially during the current deficit crises.

“Many people would have liked a more open deliberation process to work out the budget shortfall,” Johnston said.

The decision to eliminate Litzinger’s position occurred following the state government in Montpelier deciding to pull back previously approved appropriations. Cutting the library position reduced the deficit by $34,000. “We do not get a lot of money here as we are tuition driven,” said Bob McCabe, director of student support services and Chapter Chair for VSC-UP, the staff union at LSC.

Along with Litzinger two part-time housing employees will be removed and two 12 month employees will have their positions reduced to 10 months. In addition money is to be cut from the staff development, equipment and library acquisitions budgets.

The Vermont General Assembly will be reconvening in November to focus on budgeting again. McCabe worries about what decisions could be made even though last week President Moore said, “we have not targeted any positions, we will wait and see what happens.”

“I don’t think it is over yet,” McCabe said. One of the few other choices is charging more in terms of tuition and he worries that would drive students further into loan debt.


Photo by Eric Wayne

By Josiah Stewart
Critic Staff

The Lyndon State College library and book store both observe the week that celebrates challenged books.

Lyndon State College is observing Banned Books Week once again this semester from September 27 through October 4.

“I think that every library participates to some extent,” Pat Webster, an LSC library cataloger said. Banned Books Week is an annual event held by the ALA (American Library Association). The ALA has held this event annually since 1982.

“Every year we keep trying to expand our displays and publicity because the subject is of great interest to a lot of people,” Webster said. The LSC library display is set up in front of the circulation and reference desk.

“The display is of books that have been challenged, questioned, and some that have actually been banned over the years,” Webster said. “Our right to read what we choose is something we should all recognize and appreciate.”

The LSC bookstore is also honoring Banned Books Week, and has its own display setup. Susan Millar-Williams, an LSC bookstore clerk, was willing to share some of her thoughts on the subject, “Closing a mind narrows horizons and instead of opening a discussion, some parents will willfully shield their children from exploring different topics,” Millar-Williams said.

Many of the books on display in the library and bookstore here at LSC are not banned but have simply been challenged. A challenged book is a book that someone, usually a parent, has requested be removed from teaching curricula or libraries where their children are involved.

“Some parents’ shunning of certain books is born of ignorance and fear,” Millar-Williams said. “Banned Books Week is a time for us as adults and Americans to celebrate our freedom of expression.”

Many different types of literature have been challenged over the years including children’s books such as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was challenged because of its supposed teaching of witchcraft.

The reasons for challenging a book range from “offensive” language, to “inappropriate” sexual content.

“As librarians, our work involves the free exchange of information and ideas,” Webster said, “and that’s why the thought of someone creating restrictions that would curb or stop that exchange goes against our grain.”

Some of the most frequently challenged books of 2007 were: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, and TTYL, by Lauren Myracle. These books were challenged for a variety of reasons ranging from racism to sexual content and violence.

By Aimee Lawton
Special to the Critic

Highlighting one of LSC's longest running radio shows.

“You’re listening to the Conn Country show on 91.5, the Impulse--keep it locked.”
That’s how DJ Slim ends every air break on his Thursday night show.

As WWLR, 91.5 the Impulse kicks off their 2008-2009 season, their listeners are offered with a wide array of student run radio shows. While there are many shows that are making their debut this Impulse season, others are returning in hopes of having another successful listening year.

One show that falls in to the latter category is the Conn Country show, one of the station’s longest running radio shows, as it enters in to its 7th consecutive semester on the radio.

Students can join hosts Tim Lavigne (DJ Slim) and Mike Grigas (the Sharpshooter) every Thursday night from 8-10 p.m. as they play a variety of new and old country favorites, and take requests from their fans.

“There was one show where we had about 75 requests,” Lavigne said. “The show ran for about 4 ½ hours that night. We kept it going until the requests stopped.”
Lavigne said that last semester he and Grigas received around 20 fan requests per show.

It is very rare that any request ever goes un-played on the Conn Country show, as the hosts always say that they are willing to buy any songs that are not already a part of their music libraries. The hosts offer a 99% guarantee that those songs will be played sometime within the duration of the show.

“You guys are the ones who keep the show running,” Lavigne said. “If we wanted to play the music that we wanted to hear, we could sit in our rooms and listen to it on our laptops while we played games,” Lavigne said on last week’s show.

Lavigne started the Conn Country show three years ago and has been running it faithfully ever since.

“I’d say I’ve had requests come in from about 10 different states,” Lavigne said, “some from as far as Georgia and Florida.” The Conn Country show has a very broad listening audience that stretches far beyond the Lyndon State campus.

The ability of fans to stream the Impulse on the web is most likely responsible for such a wide ranging audience, and yet another contributor to the overall success of the show.

Lavigne went through 2 earlier supporting DJ’s before Grigas joined him as the Sharpshooter in January 2008. The two have proved to be a dynamic duo ever since. Their ability to play off of each other’s dialogue during air breaks, and their sharing in the responsibilities of providing the music played on the show and taking requests from their fans keeps the show running smoothly, and contributes to its overall success.

Abbey Heimlich
Special to the Critic

Club raises funds to build course for community.

Lyndon State officially opened its new disc golf course with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday September 20th.

“It’s a wonderful way for students to recreate,” said Jonathan Davis, the Interim Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. “It’s non-invasive in terms of the environment, and a safe way to have fun on campus.”

Davis, Jamie Struck adjunct professor for the Recreation Department and Tom Kurtz a junior Music Industry and Business Administration major, all cut ribbons at the ceremony. In addition to the ribbon cutting the course was crowned with a plaque stating the rules of the game.

Struck described disc golf as “a combination of Frisbee and playing pool. You have to think of angle, speed and flight path.” The game is greatly increasing in popularity. “In 1974 there was one course, now there are over 1500,” Struck said. Some regular golf clubs and even some ski resorts are putting in their own disk golf courses.
“It’s great because no expensive equipment is needed,” Davis said. All you need is a Frisbee, though some people play with professional disc golf discs.

Players start at a tee and throw their discs as far as they can toward the hole: a pole with metal chains hanging down it to form a basket. There is a set par for each hole. The par for the course of nine holes at Lyndon is 27.

“It’s great because the student population responded to it,” Struck said. Struck had designed a course on his own property, and played on four other courses in the area. He brought students to play his course and they asked him why LSC didn’t have a course of its own.

The Ultimate Frisbee Club requested an estimated five thousand dollars for the course from the Student Government Association and began working on it at the end of last semester.

“Help from the disc golf community made it completely worthwhile,” Struck said. “They made it theirs by cutting trees or giving time to clear brush.” The course was constructed with the original landscape in mind. Struck kept in mind the lanes and alleys within the forest that made a natural path for play.

The first hole is located in the field below the Rita Bole parking lot. From there it goes up and down hills through the woods circling around the lower half of campus. It ends at the top of the hill by the baseball fields.

“Anyone from the school, the town or even the state can play,” said Kurtz. While working on the course this summer Struck ran into visitors playing the course. They told him “ its not just a disc golf course, it’s a great disc golf course.”

There are future plans for disc golf tournaments against other school such as Johnson State who also have a disc golf course. Struck would also like to create a class to teach people to play the game.

Steve Cormier
Critic Staff

John Kascenska hopes to help LSC students from a higher position.

John Kascenska, a former full-time professor in the Recreation Department and now an Associate Academic Dean at Lyndon State College is seeking a seat in the state legislature in Montpelier during a time of great challenge in the region.
Kascenska, a graduate of Lyndon State College and originally from the area, is running for Vermont State Senate from Caledonia County.

“It’s a good opportunity to serve the greater community,” Kascenska said. “Public service has always been something I’ve been very interested in, having worked in higher education for so many years.” Kascenska looks forward to the possibility of working for and helping his region.
Part of the community Kascenska seeks to serve is LSC, which at this time is facing a deficit.

“Anything I can do to make it known that we need additional funding to help support higher education in Vermont is something I would be very much an advocate for,” Kascenska said.

Kascenska hopes to turn his time as a faculty member at LSC into an opportunity to help the undergraduate population as well.

“One of the things I can bring for Lyndon, as close to the students as I've been over the years, is understanding where they are with paying the bills,” Kascenska said.
“I think people are very concerned about paying their bills,” Kascenska said. His campaign’s focus is on what he sees as money concerns facing the citizens of the Caledonian county.

With the recent announcement of a layoff at LSC due to budgeting and the closing of Lydall Inc. in St. Johnsbury, the focus is on encouraging and retaining small businesses regionally.

“In the Northeast Kingdom, given the territory population and infrastructure, it’s the small businesses that drive the economics in this region,” Kascenska said.
Supporting the economy must be made with the natural surroundings in mind though.

“It must be done in a way that’s balanced with maintaining our world and landscape here which is very important,” said Kascenska. “That’s a reason why a lot of people come to Vermont.”

Kascenska is running as a Republican and believes it is important to elect a more diverse body to both the Senate and the House of Representatives to get the state’s business done.

"I think there needs to be a better balance there to support some of the governor's initiatives,” he said. “It is very difficult when it's lopsided one way or the other."

Dave Lapham
Critic staff

Members of Lyndon Rescue helped with both Hurricane Ike and Gustav relief efforts.

Lyndon State College senior and EMTV for Lyndon rescue departed from Lyndonville in an ambulance with EMTI Jenn Williams, a recent Lyndon State Graduate, on August 27. Together they drove 26 hours until they arrived at Jacksonville Mississippi.
“Our director called and asked us if we could go help in Jacksonville Mississppi, I was a little stressed, I didn’t know what to expect,“ Ferris said.”

There was good reason for him to be stressed. Gustav formed out of a tropical storm and greatly strengthened. On August 26, the tropical storm grew to hurricane intensity.

In Gustav’s early stages meteorologists deemed it to be severe with a classification of a category 4. Luckily, Gustav weakened within a couple days and eventually downgraded to a category 2.

“Once we got there and realized that we were not going to be in a lot of danger we were alright,” Ferris said. “We were assigned to help with shelter cleanup, and wait for emergency calls.”

By the time Ferris and Williams got there housing was limited. “We slept in the ambulance, tents and other shelters provided to us,” Ferris said.“There was no power in a lot of places.”

EMTV’s Branden Bunnell and Dan Bigalow later flew by plane to meet Ferris and Williams in Mississippi.

“We left Lyndonville at 2 am to catch a 6 am flight from Manchester,” Bunnell said. “We didn’t arrive to Jacksonville until 11 pm. Once we got there we hung around for 2 days, helping out when needed. Dan and I were then activated for Ike. So we took the ambulance and drove 10 hours San Antonio.”

Hurricane Ike began as a tropical disturbance off the coast of Africa and toward the end of August the storm began to slowly develop. On September 4, Ike intensified and strengthened into a category 4 Hurricane. By the time it hit Texas, Ike’s storm surge was a category three and made landfall in Texas as a category 2.

“When we got to San Antonio there was some damage. The majority of it was flooding, roof damage, broken windows and a lot of debris.” Bunnell said..

Katie Dorben
Critic Staff

Public Safety has adopted a system to send text messages to students in the event of an emergency.

Move over clear TXT, LSC has a new emergency warning system provided by e2campus.
This is an electronic system that will provide information on emergencies through text messages and email. These emergencies may be on or off campus, natural or man made disasters such as severe weather, a shooting, etc.

“The whole idea is to reach as many people as possible (in an emergency), to motivate them to spread the word,” said, LSC’s Director of Public, Safety George Hacking.
Last year was the first time Lyndon State had any type of warning system available to students. The need for some kind of campus wide warning system was prompted by the shootings at Virginia Tech and the examination of what could be done to make schools safer.

Emergency warning systems like e2campus are used to try to get the word out to as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.
ClearTXT was sold out to another company, so Hacking reviewed other systems and e2campus seemed the best choice to replace it. The advantages of e2campus are its ease of use, the option for parents to sign up, and the option to get messages by email as well as text message.

The system is free; the only costs are those of receiving text messages.
The way it works is that one of the directors of the program here at LSC, Director of Public Safety George Hacking or Director of Student Life Jonathan Davis, are made aware of an emergency. They use a phone, computer, blackberry, or some other form of communication to create a warning which e2campus sends out to everyone who has signed up.

When asked what he wants students to know about e2campus, “If they don’t sign up, it’s a mistake. The information is only good if the people who it’s meant for sign up.”

To sign up, visit http://www.lyndonstate.edu/alert. It will lead you to a page where you can sign up for email or mobile alerts. From there you fill out the information and it will walk you through the steps to verifying it. Parents and faculty members can sign up as well. If you have any questions about the new system, you can contact Public Safety and they will try to help you.

Sam Monroe
Special to the Critic

A player runs down the sideline with the ball and then he passes it across to a teammate, his teammate fires it past the goaltender, the players come together to celebrate the goal and then return to play, hungry for another goal.

This could be you. The Lyndon State College Lacrosse team is looking for players for the upcoming season. Each team has to have ten players on the field at one time, and a good-sized lacrosse team often has 25-30 on the roster.

Craig Salvagno, lacrosse team captain said that the team had about twenty players last season and fourteen or fifteen of them are coming back this season. Of those twenty players last season thirteen of them had never played organized lacrosse before. “It was the teams first season and a good learning year for all the new players,” said Salvagno. “If someone has never played and is looking to they can come out.”

Last season was Lyndon’s first year having a division three lacrosse team, because of that they were not eligible for post season play. This season however is different. The team is now a varsity division three NCAA team and will be eligible for the post season.

“Last year we did not really play as a team, and that should change this season, we have a lot of guys coming back and are starting to work as a team already” Salvagno said.

The regular season will not start until March but the team is starting to practice. They are doing drills and scrimmaging to get the returning players back to where they should be and the new players acclimated to the team.
For more information contact Craig Salvagno at Michael.salvagno@lyndonstate.edu

Jack Carney
Special to the Critic

After their first three conference games the Lyndon State mens soccer team is currently ranked 7th in the NAC. Now with ten days left until their next game Head coach Pete Kellyaway told the men its time to regroup and repair their season.

"It's now time for us to do some soul searching," Kellaway said. "you need to ask yourself if you wanna win in this conference or throw in the towel. We have the talent to win we need to decide weather we control what happens to us or if were gonna let someone do that for us"

The Hornets lost two key midfielders and senior team leaders Matt Scagnelli and Chris Cowan due to injury. Injuries have taken a big toll on the team over all many of the teams underclassmen have seen more playing time as a result to the injury.

"We need our younger guys to step up," Back P.J. Danforth said. "our upperclassmen are coming down with injuries . I feel like they've done a good job especially since most of them have never played at the college level."

Danforth went on to say that though the injuries are a big loss for the team, the biggest loss has been the lack of communication mental breakdowns between the players on the field.

"It only happens with little things," Danforth said. "like on defense we lse or marks it happened a couple of times today but every one of those times it dose happen gives them a chance to score."

Though the team has gone through both mental and physical pains the team is still optimistic about the season. Goalie Jeff Giroux said not to count Hornets out just yet.

"This is my senior season and our season on line," Giroux said. "We can be on of if not the best team in the NAC but we've lost control of that these last few games. But if we can just find some way to get back to our game we can have a winning season."

Steve Cormier
Critic Staff

Cut of library employee galvanizes LSC faculty to demand address of the termination.

Hard financial times at Lyndon State College have become personal with the administration’s decision to cut the Director of Library Instructional Technology position.

Vicki Litzinger, an employee of the college since 2001, will be let go later this semester. The termination of her position is a result of the administration’s response to the budget deficit facing LSC this fall.

Stating in an e-mail that the situation was “very problematic,” Litzinger declined to be interviewed for this article.

A common face in the library, Litzinger is the person behind integrating class information with Blackboard to help both faculty and students. Her removal from LSC is weighing on the minds and in the actions of those who know her.

“It is always a difficult thing to deal with when a colleague is let go,” said David Johnston, Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Federation Chapter Chair.

An emergency meeting of the Faculty Assembly, the union representing faculty at LSC, convened Tuesday in the Burke Mountain Room with the only item on the agenda being the layoff.

“The faculty wants to show support for the staff… who keep LSC functioning,” Johnston said.

“When difficult things happen in a community it’s important to continue to communicate to help in knowing how decisions were made,” said Patricia Shine, Professor of Human Services.

A letter asking President Carol Moore to address the layoff at the next Faculty Assembly meeting is being circulated by Shine and is being signed by full and part-time faculty.

“The letter explains why the position is important and why Vicki is good for it,” Johnston said.

Litzinger’s termination has brought into question the way financial matters have been handled here at LSC, especially during the current deficit crises.

“Many people would have liked a more open deliberation process to work out the budget shortfall,” Johnston said.

The decision to eliminate Litzinger’s position occurred following the state government in Montpelier deciding to pull back previously approved appropriations. Cutting the library position reduced the deficit by $34,000. “We do not get a lot of money here as we are tuition driven,” said Bob McCabe, director of student support services and Chapter Chair for VSC-UP, the staff union at LSC.

Along with Litzinger two part-time housing employees will be removed and two 12 month employees will have their positions reduced to 10 months. In addition money is to be cut from the staff development, equipment and library acquisitions budgets.

The Vermont General Assembly will be reconvening in November to focus on budgeting again. McCabe worries about what decisions could be made even though last week President Moore said, “we have not targeted any positions, we will wait and see what happens.”

“I don’t think it is over yet,” McCabe said. One of the few other choices is charging more in terms of tuition and he worries that would drive students further into loan debt.


Photo by Eric Wayne

By Brittany Lavery
Special to the Critic

Some health advice given by an LSC student and an LSC professor.

If the crunch isn’t cutting it, here’s why.

Some people believe that doing stomach crunch after stomach crunch will make a difference in how their stomach is shaped. Sadly, that is not the truth. Jesse Potter, an exercise science major at Lyndon State College, said. “The old myth that crunches are the fastest way to lose fat in the stomach are untrue.” He also said any kind of workout one does will help remove fat from that region, and “increase overall health.”

First of all, why does it appear that the stomach is typically the largest part of one's body? Is fate playing some cruel joke on us, by giving us a midsection which is seemingly impossible to get rid of? Potter says “…the body tries to place fat (or adipose tissue) around the midsection in order to better utilize it if it’s needed as energy.”

Potter said another type of exercise which is beneficial for weight loss (if that is what you’re looking for) is “resistance training for all large muscle groups does wonders for weight loss.” He also advises keeping an active cardiovascular regimen (running, biking, swimming, etc.) as a part of your workout routine. Not only are these exercises good for keeping in shape, but they also help battle diseases such as heart disease.

Gregory Ledoux, professor of exercise science at Lyndon State College, also reminds us that weight loss isn’t the only sign of improved health. So, no worries if you don’t see the results you may have been expecting. Ledoux tells us “One can change their body composition by building lean tissue and burning fat through exercise while experiencing no change, or even a slight increase in weight.” If weight is gained, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just means you have gained more muscle mass.