If you have not received your refund, contact the bursar’s office at BURSARTN@necc.mass.edu.
Monthly Archives: October 2015
NECC students can go to Italy this summer!
You can earn up to 10 credits with the study abroad program. For more information, contact either Prof. Marc Mannheimer @mmannheimer@necc.mass.edu or prof. Mike Cross @ mcross@necc.mass.edu. Or, go to the International Study Office in B126
New course offered for spring 2016
BASIC RESEARCH METHODS IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
An introductory course on the fundamentals of empirical research in behavioral sciences. Of particular interest to students who are planning to transfer to other college institutions where it is often required before a psychology, social-psychology, and sociology major is allowed. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Sheila Pierre at spierre@necc.mass.edu
Sign up now! Field trip to Laser Craze in North Andover on Dec. 3
Cost is only $8 per person for students. You may buy two additional tickets for friends or family members for $13 each. Space is limited. Sign up soon so you don’t miss out! Deadline for payment is Wednesday, Nov. 25th. Transportation will NOT be provided. For more information, please contact Maureen Saliba at msaliba@necc.mass.edu.
Two-Party System Undermines Democracy
Bernie Sanders, who is an Independent senator, knew that he couldn’t go any further as an Independent. If he had any chance at being taken seriously, he needed to run for president on the democratic ticket. Jill Stein, on the other hand, has very similar ideas as Sanders, is the nominee for the Green Party. If you have never heard of Jill Stein or the Green Party, it’s because they receive absolutely no media coverage. Since Stein did not defer to the Democratic Party, she may as well not exist for all of the attention she has received in the news. I mean no offense to Sanders but he doesn’t fit very neatly into the Democratic box that we are used to. He even refers to himself as a democratic socialist, a risk nearly, but not quite, as big as if he had run as an independent in the first place.
It seems to me that regardless of what a candidate wants to call themselves, or what party they choose to run for, they should be given the chance to speak to the American people. In order to facilitate a true democracy, it falls upon the media to offer equal consideration to all candidates, ensuring that voters are truly educated about their options. For this reason, I have decided to dedicate a few lines of this issue introducing the NECC community to Jill Stein, and the Green Party.
Sudoku – Oct. 21, 2015 Issue
In the Oct. 21, 2015 issue of the NECC Observer, we started a new tradition on our Just for Fun page: Sudoku! You can print out this issue’s puzzle here on the Web site and complete it at your leisure — no print copy required!
Crimson Peak Review
It takes place in the steam-powered world of the Industrial Revolution, of course, because what better time is there to set a movie about repression? Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) and her father, Carter (Tom Beaver) are visited by the Sharpe siblings, Thomas (Tom Hiddleston) and Lucille (Jessica Chastain). Thomas has come all the way from Britain, hoping to earn Carter’s investment in his invention. He’s unconvinced, so Thomas remains in town… just long enough to fall in love with Edith.
Oh, and Edith keeps getting a mysterious warning from her mother — who, by the way, is a ghost — to “beware of Crimson Peak.” So naturally, when she marries Thomas and heads to England at his side, where does he happen to live?
If you figured that brain-buster out, you’ll have no trouble solving the rest of the mysteries well before the movie does. But don’t despair, that’s part of the fun: del Toro has created a magical Hammer Horror tribute, complete with operatic emotion, iris wipes and a spectacular manor.
This may be one of the most beautiful and haunting movie sets ever constructed. The mansion’s foyer has a hole in the ceiling that lets autumn leaves — and later, snow — fall freely to the center of the room. Having been built on a clay pit, there are scarlet trails running down the walls. And the very architecture of the place is sometimes more creepy than the ghosts that inhabit it: spiky archways and a rickety elevator give plenty of chills.
In the end, though, it’s the big emotions that provide the major thrills. Edith finds more than she bargains for in the old house, and tension escalates to the breaking point. Wasikowska, Hiddleston and Chastain all contribute wonderfully to the melodrama, staying committed to their roles even through dialogue that borders on the ridiculous. One late scene, featuring Chastain slamming a kitchen implement down, is so gleefully absurd that it has to be seen to be believed. And that feeling carries through the rest of the movie, which is over-the-top in all the right ways.
Smarthinking: Online Tutoring Services
Smarthinking is a free online tutoring service available to any student registered at NECC. This service is not staffed by NECC tutors, but is actually a separate business which was purchased by the Tutoring Center. There are over 2,500 certified expert tutors worldwide.
The service has been available at NECC since 2008 and is an effective way for online students or students with busy schedules to find academic support. You don’t even need to register to access Smarthinking. Simply log in with your NECC email and student ID number to get access.
The maximum time students can use Smarthinking for each semester is four hours. This may not seem like a lot of time, but considering that most students use it for essay submissions, it actually lets students submit five essays per semester, each for a 45-minute charge. If needed, you can contact the Tutoring Center when you run out of hours and they will assist you with finding the help that you need.
“In general, the students have been very satisfied with it,” said Lynne Nadeau, the Director of Tutoring Services.
The second most popular feature on the website after essay submission is the Drop-In Tutoring contact. This allows students to chat with a tutor via “whiteboard” to get help on a specific subject. Nadeau suggests that students go in prepared, knowing exactly what they need help with, in order to avoid using up excess time.
The tutoring is offered for a variety of subjects. Algebra, nursing, biology, Spanish, and reading name just a few of the subjects Smarthinking offers tutoring for. Accounting and sciences are among the most popular subjects. Additionally, the website offers links for academic resources. These provide study guides and tutorials for several subjects and don’t use up any of your allowed time. You can also view archives of past study sessions to study for exams.
Overall, Nadeau said she has seen “quite an increase in students who use the services in the past couple years.” She believes this to be a “generational thing,” as more students are enrolling in online classes and spend more time on computers in general.
Transfer Day: PACE Students
Every year, NECC hosts a Transfer Day for students to meet with representatives from different colleges and this year, 58 colleges were represented. Rossalie Catalano, the Transfer & Academic Advisor, said that she was very pleased with the turnout this year.
At the Haverhill campus, attendance to the transfer day almost doubled from last year due to the weather being pleasant this time around.
One program at NECC that helps students with the process of transferring is called PACE.
Kristen Arnold, PACE Program Transfer Advisor, says, “Transfer Day is an awesome opportunity for NECC students to gather lots of information about their potential transfer schools very quickly and without leaving campus. We always encourage all PACE students to attend Transfer Day, and our students who attend always report that it was helpful to them.”
PACE stands for Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence, and are a TRiO Student Support Services program. They are one of 1,027 TRiO-SSS projects all over the U.S. Each year, they select 250 NECC students to be part of their program, and provide extensive academic, transfer, career and scholarship advising.
Arnold says, “Most of students have to be first-generation (neither parent has a bachelor’s degree) and income eligible to join PACE. Our mission is to help students successfully graduate from NECC and transfer to four-year colleges. Some of the services we provide include student success workshops, which we offer in-person and through Blackboard, field trips to four-year colleges, and intensive/supportive one-on-one advising.”
This week, PACE will be traveling to UMass Lowell, South campus. Students that are apart of the PACE program go on college visits for free, food and travel expenses included.
“As the PACE Transfer Advisor, it’s my job to help students develop a transfer plan and follow through with all the steps required for a successful transfer. It’s an exciting but sometimes daunting time for students, and I love being able to help them understand the process, complete the necessary steps, and review the information each school provides so they can make the best decision about where to go,” says Arnold.
Students tend to go to transfer and get lost in the paperwork, deadlines, and miss out on serious scholarship opportunities that the PACE program points out for you. Other opportunities provided through PACE include: resume critique job searching, professional development and more.
Arnold says, “Gathering information about financial aid, scholarships and transfer credits are critical to making an informed transfer decision.”
One of the popular schools to transfer to from NECC is the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Deborah E. Smith, Associate Director of Transfer Admissions at UMass Lowell, says, “(Students) can speak to a transfer counselor at their community college. We are a research institution with amazing faculty, opportunities for internships and coops, and a diverse population.” Students can also visit the transfer admissions office at the University to find out if UMass Lowell is their next step in their college career.
“The main reasons students transfer to UMASS Lowell are price, program and place,” says Smith. Check out UMass Lowell at their transfer Facebook page: Facebook.com/umltransfer.
Arnold says, “My goal for each student is that they leave NECC and transfer to a college that best fits their needs and goals for a price they can afford. Academically, they each have the tools in their toolbox to be successful, no matter where they end up.”
Student Loan Debt Burdens Learners
According to U.S. News, the average college student graduates with around $30,000 in student loans.
Students who have entered into an unsubsidized loan may not be aware that they can start making payments on the 4.7 percent interest portion of the loan as soon as the money has been disbursed to their school. Therefore, if a full time NECC student was to finance their entire associate degree through unsubsidized loans, at around $1,800 per semester for two years they would end up paying approximately $10,000 in full term loan payments.
However, many students eagerly accept the full amount offered so that they “get money back,” not looking ahead to realize that by the end of their debt repayment, that extra money that they used to buy Christmas gifts or new clothes has just brought their academic debt up to around $13,000.
“I worry about students getting into long-term loans,” said NECC Professor James Sullivan. “You do want to establish credit, but once you start opening credit cards, it seems like magic money. But you don’t want to spend what you don’t have.”
On Oct. 13, just six days after many students received financial aid refunds, NECC held its third annual bank fair on the Haverhill campus. Although they were giving out free pens and plenty of literature on various types of accounts, many of the banks who participated in the fair do not offer student loans. With high tuition and the general cost of living, it may seem ironic for a college student with little to no disposable income to be putting money in the bank for later.
However, establishing a checking account (no matter how low the balance) could help students develop stronger budgeting skills.
“It’s hard to do but you have to live within your means,” said Sullivan.
“You’ve got to stay on top of any and all loans right from day one,” said NECC graduate Lisa Morelli, now CEO of Andover Federal Credit Union. “I can’t tell you how many times my members accidentally miss their student loan payment because they don’t read letters from their lender… because they’ve been getting the same statement since they graduated ten years ago. But the truth is, their account was transferred to another lender who did not have their account set up properly.”
