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The student-run community news site of Vermont State University - Johnson

Basement Medicine

The student-run community news site of Vermont State University - Johnson

Basement Medicine

The student-run community news site of Vermont State University - Johnson

Basement Medicine

Flying with a horse-sized duck

Flying with a horse-sized duck

Allison Irons, Sports Editor October 26, 2020

Andrew Lafrenz is the women’s soccer coach at NVU-Johnson. He graduated from Johnson State College with a Bachelor’s degree in English in 2000 and was a part of the men’s soccer program. When he...

Senator Rich Westman.

Lamoille County Senator Rich Westman: state colleges are essential but money doesn’t grow on trees

Emmett Avery, Staff Reporter October 8, 2020

Sen. Richard Westman has been in the Legislature for most of his life, and he still doesn’t think money grows on trees. Growing up on a dairy farm in Cambridge, Westman said the discussion naturally...

The master and the student ready for training to being.

Kids, coaching and COVID

Justin Robertiello, Staff Reporter October 8, 2020

Each day, I wake up feeling like someone placed a bowling ball on my chest. I know I am not alone. The current situation with COVID-19 has everyone adjusting and possibly re-thinking how their life is...

Emily Tarleton enjoying some time out boating with her doggos.

Gone to the dogs

Soleil Devyn Borthwick, Copy Editor October 8, 2020

Emily Tarleton is an assistant professor at NVU-J and serves as the co-chair for the environmental and health sciences department. She has recently published research in “Nutrients,” a peer-reviewed...

Lisa Zinn

Don’t eat worms

Justin Robertiello, Staff Reporter September 22, 2020

Lisa Zinn is a visiting assistant professor of environmental and health sciences at Northern Vermont University - Johnson. Do you have a favorite childhood memory? I would have to say playing in the...

Ely Berry on his front porch

Eat, drink and be Berry

Rebecca Flieder, Editor in Chief September 15, 2020

Ely Berry is a psychology major and music minor from Westfield, Vermont. His hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, watching basketball, and playing video games. If you were stranded on...

untitled painting, Isaiah Perry, 2020

Being a hermit during COVID-19

Marcus Allen, Contributor May 1, 2020

In the year of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans are feeling stir crazy in their homes. For somebody like me, this is an interesting time. I am a self proclaimed hermit. I love...

The finished product might not look as polished as an N95, but it'll be a little more suave than a shirt tied around your face.

How to make a mask: a pictorial

Rebecca Flieder, Editor in Chief April 15, 2020

The CDC has announced that Americans should be wearing cloth masks when they leave their homes to slow the spread of COVID-19. N95 and surgical masks should be reserved for healthcare workers. According...

Trying henna in her hair

Trying henna in her hair

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter April 10, 2020

Three days into social distancing from COVID-19 I started to go a little crazy. I had nothing new to do, was sick of watching Netflix and playing video games, and needed a bit of change in my life. Although...

He wants to be a lazy bum!

He wants to be a lazy bum!

Soleil Devyn Borthwick April 10, 2020

Michael Stevens is director of facilities and physical plant on both campuses of Northern Vermont University.  He’s very busy, although he dreams of being “a lazy bum.”   What obsesses...

Bernie at the Expo

Bernie at the Expo

Justin Robertiello, Staff Reporter March 12, 2020

It’s 5 p.m. and the line is long. I can feel the attendees’ eagerness. 30 minutes go by, and rain begins to trickle down, just in time for all the anxious to finally enter. The sound of the crowd changes...

Robert Miller with his Facebook profile picture, an AK-47 in his hand.

Irish I were a DJ

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter February 20, 2020

Robert Millar is an exchange student from Northern Ireland and studying art at NVU-Johnson this semester. We sat down to talk (and have a good laugh) about his travels in America and get some answers to...

Jensen Beach

Beached!

Rebecca Flieder, Editor-in-Chief February 10, 2020

Assistant Professor of Writing and Literature Jensen Beach is a fashion plate, bon-vivant and author of two short story collections. What are you obsessed with? I am obsessed with reading. I’m obsessed...

Lovely views from Bolton at dusk

Finding bliss in the pow-pow

Justin Robertiello, Staff Reporter February 10, 2020

For a lot of people the snow can be the enemy, but here in Vermont a lot of people see it as their friend. There are many ski resorts here in Vermont and a number of them are within easy distance of Northern...

Shmidl contemplating the glory that is Edinburgh

Dutch treat

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter February 10, 2020

Ed. Note: This is the last in a six-part series chronicling this reporter’s semester in Scotland. As the semester ends, I am hit with the bittersweet feeling of leaving the place I’ve called home...

“Earthing”: it’s feet, pray, love

Lisa Monique Kent, Contributor February 10, 2020

Editor’s Note: Lisa Monique Kent is the reference & instruction librarian for the Willey Library. In my youth, I chased fireflies and played kick-the-can barefoot, made tents out of blankets and...

Candid about culture shock at Napier University

Candid about culture shock at Napier University

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter December 12, 2019

When I arrived at my Napier student accommodation in September, I was excited to meet my new flat mates. I knew that they would be fellow exchange students, but I didn’t know where they would be from...

Going barefoot in Venice:  the flood this time

Going barefoot in Venice: the flood this time

December 12, 2019

It takes a certain amount of recklessness to walk through the flood-ravaged streets of an ancient city. But there we were, three Americans and an Australian, walking barefoot in Venice, Italy. We were...

A perfect nap companion.

Mutt’s ado about Bodie: thereby hangs a tail

Adriana Eldred, Photo & Web Editor December 12, 2019

Adopting a new dog is the equivalent to the excitement of having a baby. I’ve never had a baby, but owning a dog is the closest I’ve gotten so far, and I would certainly compare dog ownership to...

Dennis Bathory-Kitsz

Trump and the Torquemadas: an oratorio for a certain era

Rebecca Flieder, Editor-in-Chief December 12, 2019

Dennis Báthory-Kitsz is not your average composer. For one, he is, what he calls, a non-pop, or classical music composer. The average person, he says, knows Mozart or Beethoven, but not many listen to...

Maddie House

It’s on the House

November 22, 2019

Basement Medicine spoke with freshman Maddie House, a dual-athlete, playing soccer and basketball, and environmental advocate for the beautiful world around her. House is from Point Pleasant Beach, New...

In Scotland, issues of Brexit and independence divide generations

In Scotland, issues of Brexit and independence divide generations

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter November 7, 2019

I came to Scotland with the naive thought that maybe I would be able to escape the drama of politics for a semester. Well. I was able to free myself a little bit from American politics, but I was thrown...

“The Last Elephants” is informative, heartbreaking and well-worth the time

Lisa Monique-Kent, Student November 7, 2019

I didn’t know. I really didn’t know that taking ivory from elephants meant their deaths. I thought that poachers took part of the ivory, but left the animals alive. That’s not exactly better, but...

A love letter to HONK!

A love letter to HONK!

Ari Erlbaum, Staff Reporter October 24, 2019

Full disclosure: I sometimes jump around playing saxophone in a red jumpsuit. Last weekend, my brass band, Brass Balagan, played as one of 25 bands at the HONK! Festival in Somerville, Massachusetts. The...

View from Edinburgh castle

Sights to see in Edinburgh

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter October 24, 2019

I walk out my door on a cloudy morning to see the Union Canal across the street. The sky is grey, as it usually is in the morning, but like most days, it will clear up and be sunny by about 2 p.m. There...

24 hour comics: setting my inner eight-year-old free

24 hour comics: setting my inner eight-year-old free

Ari Erlbaum, Staff Reporter October 24, 2019

“Cool,” I begin my interview with Stephanie Zuppo. “Umm…” “Yup,” they respond, chewing a bagel. They’re wearing fuzzy dragon pajamas. We’re not at the height of our conversational...

Ian holds his linoleum prints

Chattin’ with Ian

Thomas Streeter, Staff Reporter October 24, 2019

Basement Medicine sat down with Studio Arts major Ian Bowen. Ian is a fan of Jimi Hendrix and is not a fan of Donald Trump. Ian is originally from Long Island, New York, but now lives in Philadelphia,...

Shane Stacey sits in his office, coffee cup in hand and unicorn shrine behind him

True blue Shane Stacey

Adriana Eldred, Photo & Web Editor October 3, 2019

Shane Stacey is the math and sciences specialist in Academic Support Services. He has been involved with the college for decades, as a student, alum, and then staff. He sat down with BM to talk about coffee,...

Magnificent Schmidl goes native at the Pitlochry Highland games...
well... not really.

In the land of bagpipes and haggis: an NVU student’s introduction to Scotland

Magnificent Schmidl, Staff Reporter October 3, 2019

I am startled awake by the friendly “bing!” of the airplane’s seatbelt sign as we start our descent in the smallest plane I’ve ever been on. The turbulence begins, and I look out the window just...

WDEV: We're on air

WDEV: We’re on air

Ari Erlbaum, Staff Reporter October 3, 2019

I’m going to try not to let this article turn into a straight love note to WDEV, but I don’t know if I’ll succeed. The radio station has been a fixture in central Vermont my whole life. Every time...

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