The NEW HAMPSHIRE The independent student newspaper of the University of New Hampshire since 1911 TNHDIGITAL.COM Thursday, December 5, 2019 VOL. 109, NO. 13 Durham residents put “Frost Fest” on thin ice By Benjamin back-and-forths. why I told my husband, ‘this is Farce” and the committee’s han- tail-end of the George W. Bush Strawbridge “Residents are, therefore, where I want to live, this is where dling of the event a “colossal administration and the first term encouraged to be thoughtful in I want my hometown to be.’” failure of imagination,” as well of Barack Obama’s presidency. STAFF WRITER their feedback, to treat one an- Burns said that her major as a “backdoor endorsement of McKenzie told the council other with respect, to try to listen, concern stemmed from her belief a bad idea” that could “ignite a that, in his six years as producer, The Durham Town Coun- as well as to convey, and to be that communities should go be- firestorm of unhappiness among “the president of the United States cil meeting on Monday, Nov. 18 willing at times to accept some yond “tolerating our differences” Durham citizens at large.” flipped the light on for the tree” received an icy reception to its measure of compromise to meet and celebrate them for why and Kraus urged the council to and there “was never any issue.” plans to revamp the town’s “An- the collective needs of the com- how they are different instead, put events like the “Frost Fest” In Durham’s case, however, he nual Tree Lighting Ceremony” as munity,” Selig’s editorial added. and that the event runs the risk through the Durham electorate to echoed previous concerns of in- a “Frost Fest” from many of its As attendees began to make of falling into a “tolerance trap” decide upon instead of through a clusivity through exclusivity of own residents, with some arguing their case at the podium, most by muting traditional Christmas “disengaged council,” conclud- Christmas-specific elements. that the council’s push for a seem- opposed the town’s revisions to aspects of the event, such as the ing his argument by reading his “On the National Mall, ingly more inclusive event could the yearly event, with the most tree-lighting and the arrival of last point while playing an 8-bit there’s a menorah, there’s a backfire by deemphasizing long- common argument being that the Santa Claus, by simply “tolerat- Christmas melody through his Kwanzaa firepit, and there’s a time Christmas-based traditions. council’s interpretation of a more ing” them over other holidays themed-tie. Christmas tree, and everyone gets An editorial from Town Ad- diverse occasion would result in instead of celebrating all holidays “Where is the Durham busi- along and it’s all inclusive,” he ministrator Todd Selig, read by a mere “tolerance” of some tradi- equally. ness community in this ‘Frost said as he compared his experi- Council Chair Kitty Marple, set tions compared to others, a claim “It’s not enough to just say, Fiasco’” he asked. “Surely, they ences to Durham’s. “When I just the stage for the night’s public made by citizens such as Jennifer ‘I’m okay with who you are.’ You will hurt when citizens choose to heard mention of the menorah comments segment, stating that Burns, who also serves as a high should be celebrating how that go elsewhere for a real Christmas [earlier in the meeting], if a rabbi Durham, like other communities, school counselor outside of Dur- person is different,” she said. “… celebration.” came to the town and said ‘gee, has to deal with difficult issues, ham. their difference is a good thing to Bruce McKenzie, a five-year we’d like equal time, we want to but that a “critical and sustain- “I chose to move to Durham bring in.” resident of Durham, served as have a menorah,’ I think the an- able component of successfully because I firmly believe in in- Others, meanwhile, ex- the producer of the National Tree swer is, ‘great, let’s put a menorah addressing these issues” is a civil clusivity and I firmly believe in pressed more critical jabs at the Lighting ceremony at the Na- Frost and peaceful discussion as op- everything Durham stands for,” new event, with resident John tional Mall in Washington, D.C., posed to enraging and provoking Burns said, ”and that’s kind of Kraus calling the event a “Frost overseeing the event for both the continued on page 3 Research professor discusses DOE grant-funded project Great American Smokeout By Jenna O’del tivities.” ects involving solar energy, in- Swack spoke of the Cen- stallation, and use, into writing a STAFF WRITER ter’s work with the New Hamp- proposal in response to a request shire Community Loan Fund, a from the DOE early this year. Dr. Michael Swack, a Uni- non-profit based in Concord and “It was a competitive pro- versity of New Hampshire (UNH) serves the entire state of New cess,” Swack said, adding that the research professor both in the Hampshire. request was for any entity, not just Carsey School of Public Policy “We’ve worked with hospi- universities, interested in com- and the Peter T. Paul College of tals and universities on how they pleting a project involving solar Business and Economics, and the can use their endowment money, energy. “[The DOE’s] goal was director of the Center for Impact which usually goes into pretty to make grants to organizations Finance, may be the next recipient conventional [applications] to in- that would make solar more ac- of a large grant. Swack is set to vest in their own communities,” cessible.” receive $1.2 million, according to one university is UNH, he said. For Swack and Hangen, their the Union Leader. “The community loan fund project focuses on “training these Photo courtesy of Sadie Burgess The U.S. Department of En- makes loans to low-and-moderate community development finan- ergy (DOE) is funding the grant, income communities,” Swack cial institutions…[to] make loans By Sadie Burgess smokers to quit. Swack said, and the project pro- said, adding that loans have been for solar energy arrays and equip- Mackenzie Nicholson, the posed relates to his past work, for purposes such as affordable ment to make loans available to CONTRIBUTING New Hampshire grass-roots man- including his work as the director housing, which helps the financial people who are of modest income, WRITER ager of ACS CAN, described the of the Carsey School’s Center for health of a low-income commu- who generally can’t afford solar Great American Smokeout as “an Impact Finance. nity as well as physical health— because they can’t afford the up- The American Cancer Soci- opportunity to have people start “The Center [for Impact good housing benefits the health front costs.” ety Cancer Action Network (ACS their journey towards a smoke Finance] works with a range of of people in that housing, which Solar energy has long held CAN), a student organization at free life.” community organizations, banks, encourages local hospitals to in- a large “upfront cost,” which has the University of New Hampshire Nicholson said that vaping government agencies, founda- vest in the fund, he explained. made installation effectively pro- (UNH), raised awareness about has been a concern of the Great tions, and our main goal is to try “We help [large institutions] hibitive to many, despite the rath- the dangers of smoking and vap- American Smokeout for the past and look at how to increase access figure out how they can make an er low, and sometimes even lucra- ing to celebrate the Great Ameri- four years as an “e-cigarette epi- to capital for individuals and com- investment in the community loan tive, cost of using solar than other can Smokeout on campus. demic in New Hampshire” devel- munities that are low to moderate fund” and “direct their invest- conventional types of energy once The organization, formerly oped. income,” he said. ment towards the communities in installation is complete. named Relay For Life, set up a Cigarettes, Juul pods and Capital refers to how much which they’re located,” he said. The cost of installing solar table in Union Court, a popular a full Juul decorated the poster. money an individual or organiza- For the project with the energy is even more prohibitive lunch spot inside UNH’s student These items were collected around tion has that can be used to fund DOE, Swack and a fellow col- for those in lower income com- building, during the busiest hours. the UNH campus by members of something, and which the Center league at the Center for Impact munities because “they can’t get The focus of the table was a large ACS CAN, Alexis Goldstein and has focused on “for mortgage fi- Finance, Senior Research Fellow access to credit because they may poster titled “Don’t Be an ASH. Jenna Barrows. Goldstein said nancing in poor communities, or Eric Hangen, came together to not have good credit scores, or SUPPORT the GREAT AMERI- that the Juul was given to them access to small business loans, combine this focus on low and CAN SMOKE-OUT!” The Great by someone who wanted to quit minority businesses, community moderate income communities Grant American Smoke-Out is held on health centers; a whole range of with Hangen’s past experience continued on page 3 the third Thursday of Novem- Smokeout community development type ac- with solar projects—solar proj- ber and is dedicated to inspiring continued on page 3 SpaceX hires SEDS Durham tobacco Vinyl / Marathon Editorial: Looking Liam Blackburn chairman from UNH ordinance in effect weeks at WUNH back at every year scores two vs.