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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

Grossly mismanaged

Mary L. Collins April 27, 2023

Vermont's State Colleges have been grossly mismanaged. While this mismanagement is due to decades of underfunding, the most recent "transformation", beginning with the poorly executed decision by then...

Lucy Boyden

House looks at election changes

Lucy Boyden March 14, 2023

One that proposes miscellaneous changes to elections has recently gained attention in and outside of the Statehouse. This bill has gone through multiple drafts and has evolved after witness testimony,...

News from VTSU is disheartening

News from VTSU is disheartening

Dan Noyes March 14, 2023

The news of moving to an all-digital library and changes to the sports programs at Northern Vermont University-Johnson is disheartening. Making sure the state college system is relevant, thriving and adequately...

Bill streamlines rules for truckers

Bill streamlines rules for truckers

Lucy Rogers March 24, 2022

Sustainable forest management is essential to maintaining the landscape our state treasures and relies upon for ecosystem services and tourism dollars. During summer and fall of 2021, members of the Legislature’s...

Committee takes testimony on opioids

Committee takes testimony on opioids

Dan Noyes March 24, 2022

Town meeting marks about the halfway point of the legislative session, commonly referred to as crossover. Bills that started in the House move to the Senate and vice versa. Interestingly, there are no...

David Yacovone

Appropriations must navigate spending requests

David Yacovone March 24, 2022

The next two weeks are crucial for my committee, the House Committee on Appropriations. Whether you call it “crunch time” or “when the rubber meets the road,” key budget decisions that impact nearly...

David Yacovone

Sustained effort needed to beat opioid deaths, suicide

David Yacovone February 21, 2022

What part of Vermont had the highest rates of suicides and opioid deaths last year? Answer: Lamoille County. Experts believe the increases statewide in suicide and opioid overdoses can be attributed...

Dan Noyes

State responsible for kids in its care

Dan Noyes February 21, 2022

We worked this week on prioritizing the family services division portion of the Vermont Department of Children and Families budget, which includes the foster care system and youth in state custody. That...

NVU Interim President John Mills

Greetings from the President’s desk

John Mills February 21, 2022

Well, we got off to a bit of a rough start with the first week remote due to Omicron. But everyone responded positively and with commitment to make it work. Thank You. And now as I write this we are getting...

SGA reveals theme of this year’s Casino Night

February 21, 2019

On Feb. 5, 2019, the Johnson SGA hosted the Reveal party for the theme of the 42nd annual Casino Night. This year’s theme is A Royal Affair. Every year the SGA’s Casino Night Committee picks a theme...

Build your mental health toolkit

Build your mental health toolkit

Seana Rowell February 21, 2019

In the last issue I wrote about the campus Wellness Center and suggested taking advantage of their free counseling and walk-in hours along with their self-guided relaxation, light therapy and biofeedback...

Welcome to the Wellness Center

Welcome to the Wellness Center

Seana Rowell February 8, 2019

The first thing I’ve noticed each time I’ve stepped into the Wellness Center on the NVU-Johnson campus is the quiet, an intentional hush offset only by the white noise of the sound machines which line...

Legislators: stop this travesty

Adriana Eldred February 8, 2019

My name is Adriana, and I’m a first-generation college student from a low-income household. Because of this I was not only encouraged to go to college, I was expected to. My parents had seen the struggles...

SGA’s new project

Haley Frechette February 8, 2019

The SGA has been working diligently this semester to listen and to meet the needs of our students and staff. One of the projects taken on by one of our Senators, Haley Frechette, was to replace the old,...

Words of wellness: adventures in sobriety

Words of wellness: adventures in sobriety

Shannon Russell April 26, 2018

Shannon is a sophomore at JSC and is a founder and active member of Northern Vermont Recovery Program (NVRP). Hi, my name is Shannon and I am an alcoholic. By the grace of my higher power, I have not...

Words of Wellness: seasonal affective disorder...SAD

Words of Wellness: seasonal affective disorder…SAD

John M. Grohol March 15, 2018

Winter depression (or winter blues) is a common affliction for those who live in our northern climate. Its clinical name is seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and up to 5 percent of the population (especially...

Words of Wellness: outdoor therapy, nature’s cure

Melissa Cluff February 20, 2018

Recent studies show that being outside has both positive psychological and physiological benefits. Ecotherapy (also known as green therapy, nature therapy, and earth-centered therapy) is contact with nature...

Vermont State Colleges System Delivering Entrepreneurs and Workers

The Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) is a major workforce pipeline delivering entrepreneurs and workers to power our state’s economy. As a system, Castleton University, Community College of Vermont,...

Words of Wellness: the connection between trauma and addiction

Courtesy of Ashwood Recovery February 8, 2018

Addiction is a disease with several causal factors – genetics, environment, personal behavior, and experience, in the form of trauma. The relationship between trauma and substance abuse is complicated...

Strategic Plan must address IT deficiencies

Thomas O'Leary, -Editor-in-Chief February 8, 2018

With the spring 2018 semester officially in session, we are now a mere four months away from Johnson State College (JSC) and Lyndon State College (LSC) officially merging under the umbrella of Northern...

A message from Student Trustee Benjamin Simone

Benjamin Simone February 4, 2016

Hi, how’s it going? I’d like to introduce myself to you readers today, my name is Benjamin Simone, and in a few weeks, myself and 12 other members of the VSC Board of Trustees are going to decide on...

Tolerance is not enough: addressing LGBT life on campus

Ryan Downs February 4, 2016

Certainly, Johnson State has made some progress as far as the state of life for the LGBT community goes. There is now an LGBT oriented club on campus; a discussion was raised a year ago about how essential...

10 tips for a healthy relationship

10 tips for a healthy relationship

Joyce Woodford and Cynthia Hennard February 18, 2015

Healthy relationships bring happiness and health to our lives. Studies show that people with healthy relationships really do have more happiness and less stress. There are basic ways to make relationships...

Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Cynthia Hennard February 10, 2015

Do you know about mindfulness? One of the best definitions of mindfulness comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, who says that Mindfulness is “paying attention...

An extraterranean adventure in the biofeedback software “Alive”

Words of Wellness: Biofeedback

Chris Deery December 4, 2014

Enjoy video games? Feeling stressed and overwhelmed? Then check out this brand new JSC service, which is offered through collaboration between the Health Center and the Behavioral Medicine Research...

Words of Wellness: Gratitude, kindness and saving your soul

Cynthia Hennard November 12, 2014

When this column comes out we’ll be two weeks away from Thanksgiving. A holiday with both light and shadow in the United States, given our history – a past that is what it is. We can, however, as enlightened...

Words of Wellness: The Fall of Autumn

Cynthia Hennard October 30, 2014

“In the beginning there was nothing. God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better.” - Ellen DeGeneres “An age is called...

Was this you last night? Drop the Hair of the Dog and read on.

Words of Wellness: Why Is Alcohol Binging Such A Big Deal?

Cynthia Hennard October 19, 2014

In honor of Alcohol Awareness week and inspired by the Vermont Conference on Addictive Disorders that I recently attended, I thought I’d take a closer look at Alcohol Issues, particularly for those typical...

Uh-Oh

Words of Wellness: Procrastination

Cynthia Hennard September 24, 2014

Procrastination is one of the most stressful maladaptive strategies in life. Yes, we need to stay on top of our readings and assignments, work, friends, families, laundry and lives, but sometimes it all...

Thank you, Kind Sir

Victoria Greenia May 8, 2014

I fell into love with a man a few nights ago and got a chocolate bar out of it –53% cocoa with pistachios and hot peppers, wrapped with a picture of Grace Potter. While I am neither a fan of chocolate...

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