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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

Mud season madness

Mud season madness

Ian Major April 14, 2016

Many northern New Englanders refer to it as the fifth season. No, it’s not embedded somewhere in the bipolar winter that we have had, but it does follow in Old Man Winter’s footsteps, waiting patiently...

What goes around, comes around

What goes around, comes around

Cayla Fronhofer April 14, 2016

Tucked into the right-hand corner when you first walk into the Burlington Town Center is a sight unlike anything else in the area: a collection of booth-style tables arranged for easy access to the small...

Adam Barry

The pot pioneer

Tom O’Leary April 14, 2016

Hidden among the suburbs in the outskirts of Denver, Colorado stands a former Raytheon missile construction facility, complete with missile silos and underground passageways. Instead of weapons of mass...

Wired

Wired

Agathe Fredette March 25, 2016

Nate Plocharczyk, a sophomore at Johnson State College majoring in the Wellness and Alternative Medicine program, has been practicing the art of wire wrapping since November 2014. Entirely self-taught,...

Kaitlyn Townsend, Seth Whitaker, Shavonna Bent, Andrew Lotto, Ben Simone, and Kaleb Gabree

For the love of flannel

Mary Fafard March 25, 2016

What do big lumberjacks, mountain men, hipsters, and Johnson State College students all have in common? Their love of flannel, of course. Just take a walk across the quad, or duck into a few classrooms,...

Left to right: Russell Paterek, Robert Beauregard, Collin Safford, Will Dudley, Shayna Bennett, Dr. Greg Petrics

Go figure: Badintegers try to work it out

Jacob Greenia March 25, 2016

The Badintegers, Johnson’s new math club, may have only started last semester, but they are already preparing research for an upcoming math conference, designing tools for computer software, and, most...

Tyler Sullivan, owner of PIngala Cafe

Vermont’s best veggie option

Hunter Mallette March 25, 2016

Nestled among the buildings that line the Winooski river in Winooski, sits Pingala Cafe and Eatery in the Old Mill building, just next to Laughing River Yoga. Pingala, known for its all plant-based menu,...

Desso’s AKA Jericho Center Country Store

Desso’s hits the spot in Jericho

Avery Bliss March 25, 2016

It’s a cold and dreary day, just another one in a string that is life in Vermont. I’m sitting in my house in Jericho, searching for sustenance, when I decide that a sandwich would be perfect just about...

The superior steak

The superior steak

Tom O’Leary March 25, 2016

Are you a steak lover? When you go out to eat, do you long for a large, tender, and succulent slab of meat on your plate? Has the lack of a “real” steakhouse in Lamoille County prevented you from satisfying...

On the Beach

On the Beach

Rusty Freeman March 10, 2016

Jensen Beach, an assistant professor of writing and literature at Johnson State College, is the author of two short story collections. “Far Out of the Heart Proceed” was published by Dzanc books in...

Afro-Cuban dancers on Calle Hamel

An intense week in Havana

Rusty Freeman March 10, 2016

This past Feb. 19-27, 19 Johnson students and faculty spent eight very full days in Havana, Cuba, as part of The Art and Culture of Cuba. “We wanted to immerse our students in the rich and complex...

L to R: Shavonna Bent, Hunter Mallette, Bridget Giles, Abbie Casey, Mikayla Turner, Heather White, Erik Crosby, Carol Hassan, Becca Farrow, Zach Levy

Badger Alternative Breaks sends 12 students to the Grand Canyon

Hunter Mallette March 10, 2016

What are 12 students doing at two a.m.? Certainly you wouldn’t expect them to be embarking on a one week service trip across the U.S. But, on Feb. 20, students got in Johnson State College vans and left...

Jen Davidson

Hitchhiker’s guide to Lamoille County

Hunter Mallette March 10, 2016

Wearing busted combat boots and a faded, patched denim jacket, Jen Davidson stands on the side of the road. Her mess of curls and double-pierced top lip are the signifiers of “Starchild” a.k.a Jen...

Delegates socializing during the cultural bazaar

Students from JSC’s Model UN attend conference in Boston

Agathe Fredette March 10, 2016

Every year, students from over 70 colleges and universities across the globe come together to participate in the Harvard National Model United Nations conference in Boston, Massachusetts. Each school’s...

Badger Alternative Break explores access to education in Nicaragua

Badger Alternative Break explores access to education in Nicaragua

Avery Bliss March 10, 2016

This past break, a group from Johnson State College Badger Alternative Breaks went to Nicaragua as a part of their Education for All program. Centered in Monte Tabor, a small community outside of the...

Danielle Palladino and Hayley May prep for battle

BAB makes an impact in Detroit

Cayla Fronhofer March 10, 2016

As part of the yearly Badger Alternative Breaks program, 12 members of JSC’s community ventured part-way across the country over February break to help out with community service in Detroit. Although...

Thumbs up during oxygen treatment

My encounter with Cuban health care

Rusty Freeman March 10, 2016

Recently, I traveled with a class from Johnson State called “The Art and Culture of Cuba.” The trip provided countless unforgettable memories for everyone on the trip. A saying we kept using on the...

Aurora Risay

Life can be a drag

Avery Bliss February 18, 2016

The gentle scent of cucumbers and melons wafts before her face, past the green strands of a wig topped by a red bow, past layers of makeup that smell of cool, dry powders. Her heels are aching from dancing...

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Greg Petrics

Downhill Racer

Ian Major February 18, 2016

A JSC assistant professor in the mathematics department, Greg Petrics started at JSC in 2011. He has really enjoyed his time working towards getting his students to take an interest in math. Petrics moved...

Is love blind?

Full heart, empty wallet

Cayla Fronhofer February 18, 2016

Pink and red. Babies with heart-shaped weaponry. Candlelit dinners for two. An empty wallet. Crushing despair and loneliness. A single rose. Each year, Valentine’s Day comes in an explosion of love...

Diego Calderon Quevedo

J-1 Visa students hit the slopes

Ian Major and Rusty Freeman February 18, 2016

If you visit Jay Peak Resort this winter, you might find Peruvians Diego Calderón Quevedo, and Jorge Andrés Sánchez smiling as they come down the slopes. Peruvian students have been given the opportunity...

Nick Ruschmeyer

JSC alum manages Jay Peak’s terrain park

Ian Major February 18, 2016

With the low light and brisk temperature that come with a typical New England winter morning, you will find yourself picking up on the scent of burning diesel fuel and the distant roars of snow cats preforming...

The Bird Nerd of Johnson

The Bird Nerd of Johnson

Mary Fafard February 18, 2016

Walking on top of crunchy white snow with trees overhead and chickadees singing, Steve Lamonde catches a glimpse of a gold-tinted bird in the distance. “Oh my God, that is definitely a Gold Crested Kinglet,”...

Miracle and Turco with  friends in India

Finding wisdom in India

Hunter Mallette February 5, 2016

Two Johnson State College students traveled to the foothills of India to immerse themselves in Buddhism over winter break, leaving the day after Christmas and earning 6 credits in the process. Having...

Henrique Cezar

Funny Business

Jacob Greenia February 5, 2016

JSC Associate Professor of Business and Economics Henrique Cezar is fluent in four languages and landed in Vermont almost by accident. Recently Basement Medicine sat down for an interview with this exuberant...

Now it's official

Chris Grabon’s dream

Hunter Mallette February 4, 2016

Chris Grabon is living his dream. Nearly two years after becoming the new owner of a long-established main street coffee shop in Johnson, he has renamed and redecorated the former Lovin’ Cup, now known...

The Lu family

Annie Lu’s cookin’ with gas

Rusty Freeman February 4, 2016

Closure of Wok-in-House, long the go-to option for Chinese food in Johnson, meant the end of local, affordable Chinese food – at least until recently, when the establishment re-opened with a different...

Ian applies p-tex

You can tune that gear yourself

Ian Major December 17, 2015

So this year you decided to go ahead and spend that substantial amount of money on a new pair of skis or snowboard. Now wouldn’t you like to be able to keep those new glorified planks in tiptop shape...

Stone Hut

A chance to stay in Mt. Mansfield’s Stone Hut a matter of luck

Rusty Freeman December 17, 2015

Everyone loves to get away and relax, and for those who love to ski or ride, few things can compare to the iconic image of escaping from the cold into a warm, cozy cottage for some warm food, cold drinks...

Professor of Writing and Literature Tyrone Shaw

Forever 5?

Marilyn Tagliavia December 17, 2015

Tyrone Shaw believes that dogs are essential to our humanity, thinks it would be really nice to get to know a bear and wonderful to have a donkey friend. He lives in East Fairfield with his wife Nancy,...

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