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Students and faculty opposed to removal of student resources coordinator position

 
Faculty and students hold signs at a Board of Trustees meeting.
Faculty and students hold signs at the April 12 Board of Trustees meeting against the proposed retrenchment of the Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Resources Coordinator position. From left to right, student Zeke Vasquez, Philosophy professor and chair of Global Studies Department, Meredith Gunning, Vice-President of Student Government Association, Elijah Antunes, and student Yormerly Rodriguez. Photo by Campus Life Editor Daniela Valdivia-Terres

College administrators have proposed eliminating the position of Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Resources Coordinator.

Since 2015, working on developing plans for increasing student civic engagement, creating alliances with organizations to help students experiencing food, clothing and housing insecurity, advocating for paid-internship student programs, adjunct professor and licensed social worker Janel D’Agata-Lynch has been the civic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Resources Coordinator, but her position could be terminated on May 12.

Retrenchment describes a situation in which someone loses their job because their employer does not need them, according to Collins Dictionary. This is D’Agata-Lynch’s current situation. Many students, faculty and staff are concerned with this decision by the administration and are looking for solutions.

According to the agreement between MCCC and the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, once a position is retrenched, that position cannot be reinstated for the next four years. So, the essential work cannot get done.
Students and faculty called for fairness in the last board of trustees meeting

On April 12, during the last meeting of the board of trustees at El Hefni on the Lawrence campus, staff members, faculty and students were sitting and standing in the room, waiting for Sarah Pachano’s speech at the end of the meeting. One hour later, Pachano, student trustee, Student Government Association SGA president, and recently appointed Civic Newman fellow, spoke out.

“I am here today to express my grave concern about the recent decision taken by the President to retrench the Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Resources Coordinator position at our community college,” Pachano said.

“Students face numerous challenges, including financial difficulties, food insecurity, and housing insecurity, which can significantly impact their academic performance. I believe these students are best served through the Basic Needs Security Program by a dedicated staff person. Janel D’Agata-Lynch has personified the idea of serving-ness in the work that she has done; on behalf of the students at the college, I call upon the President to reverse his action,” stated Pachano.

“It’s not the same to have a number to contact someone instead of having someone (in-house) who cares for you, to help you, to tell you ‘it’s OK.’ Especially for the Hispanic students because we are taught at very young age that we cannot ask for help. We do need someone there to say, ‘It’s OK to ask for help’ someone who cares for us,” ended Pachano.
Professor of philosophy, Meredith Gunning together with Elijah Antunes, vice-president of SGA, the Student Government Association, among other students were holding signs against the retrenchment of D’Agata-Lynch’s position.
“No Civic Engagement equals No food, no housing, no voting,” was written in red on one sign. Another sign read, “Does removing our social worker support our strategic plan?” next to the photo of the cover of “Success for All – NECC Strategic Plan 2022-2027.”

After loud applause for Pachano from the audience, NECC President Lane Glenn answered: “No services for students will be missing whatsoever… In fact, all services will be extended. You have in front of you a card,” he showed a kind of a business card.

“It’s a Crisis Resource card, for all the emphasis in all the resources. Much like the subtitle of this book,” he showed a book, “is a team sport, the kind of services we provide students that trustee Pachano has being describing has always been a team sport. They never had been the job of one person. It’s always been a number of people would respond to these things and will continue…”

The Crisis Resource card introduced by the NECC president includes a large array of general emergency phone numbers from different organizations. For instance, from Lahey Psychiatric Crisis Team, YWCA Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence, Veterans Crisis Line, among others. It does also include NECC Community Resource contact, which is Janel D’Agata-Lynch’s office phone number.

People from the audience wanted to ask questions but the NECC president deterred them by explaining that any participation from the public requires 24 hours’ notice. He closed the meeting and he and the board members left.

The board of trustees attending in person were Chair Jennifer Borislow, Vice-Chair Marianne Paley Nadel, Jouel Gomez, Glennys Sanchez and Evan Silverio. Other board members attended on zoom. None of the board members responded to Pachano’s speech or the people with signs against the retrenchment that were standing in front of them.

Comments in the hallways by professors and students

“I’m very disappointed as a student, especially from the Lawrence campus, with other students who come from lower income backgrounds like me… By helping students not just with the food pantry but helping them sign up to vote, helping them with housing, her (D’Agata-Lynch) work has gone above and beyond. The fact that her position is being retrenched with little to no explanation. Students are questioning. As the student (SGA) vice-president, it’s my responsibility to tell them this is unfair,” Elijah Antunes said.

“Janel has helped over 22,000 students. What’s going to make more of an impact? A card that no one has ever heard about or a licensed social worker who actually can provide the resources or know where to go. Which number will they call? Well, I’m sure the president might say ‘I don’t know, figure it out, there’s the card.’ It’s not OK that their plan is absent for such an important role,” Antunes said.

Pachano said about the NECC president’s reply: “He decided to ignore the students’ request. He is gaslighting the students into believing that we are going to keep the same resources, the same type of care that Janel (D’Agata-Lynch) offers but what they are doing is reorganizing what she does, and putting a lot of jobs to more people who does not need to do that and that’s going to be detrimental to students.”

Faculty answered questions from an Observer editor on the spot, showing their support to their colleague D’Agata-Lynch and their disapproval of the proposed retrenchment.

“The position of the individual who has direct contact with students who actually meets with them, sits down and understands what their issues are. It’s not just getting students to go to one place or another, it’s truly understanding what is happening and being able to not just connect but provide the answers that they need. That position is extremely important so we could have partners around the community that help students, but that individual is the lifeline of everything. Our students need that point of contact. So that is the position. It’s an incredible position for students,” said marketing and entrepreneurship professor and Chair of the Business Department, Sheila Muller.

“When you think of all the pantries, all the other things that are around the campus, it was created because individuals listened to the students’ needs. Positions were available, positions were made, created and resources were created as a result. It’s a collaboration across the campus, between the SGA and the community services. All these individuals came together to provide us with what we have right now and advocated for more resources. So, now saying ‘thank you very much but we no longer need this position’ is a big hard pill to swallow for a lot of people. So, retrenching the position is actually a bigger problem for a lot of us than saying that these resources are going to be elsewhere,” stated Muller.

Faculty are looking for answers and want an action plan on behalf of students.

“I wish there would be more transparency. If they are claiming they are expanding services, I would like to hear more of a concrete plan because I’m hearing fake things about an expansion but not who is going to take the place or doing this work. I used to be a faculty member for the outreach group, I could say as a faculty member here for a long time, just to send students to Janel (D’Agata-Lynch) directly made a big difference instead of saying ‘call this numbers on this hot line.’ Students may be scared and may not call whereas if they meet one on one with a social worker, I think that makes a difference. Janel is a trained social worker and I think trying to deviate these tasks to already frequently overworked staff and faculty, I don’t think is a wise idea… What is the possible plan or helping students to receive those services?” said professor of Philosophy and Chair of Global Studies Department, Meredith Gunning.

Vice-President outlined an explanation

Noemi Custodia-Lora, vice-president of Lawrence campus and community relations, aid about Pachano’s speech that “it’s so important that students get actively involved in social justice issues and create awareness of the needs of students.”
Questioned about the possible retrenchment, Custodia-Lora said while she could not comment on the details of the retrenchment of the position, she could mention what they were intending to provide in the future.
“We are not retrenching services. This is something that I want to make clear to everybody. When we created the Center for Equity and Social Justice back in 2019, part of the job of that is to figure out how we can collaborate with community partners to better serve our students, because with the limited budget that we have, with the expertise what we have, we may provide a limited amount of services to students,” Custodia-Lora said.

Custodia-Lora said they are working with a couple of large nonprofit organizations that are experts in providing support services to students, and students would have an external relationship with them. Students may be able to receive assistance and use resources after they leave NECC, she said.

“We’re excited about the new projects that would be coming out of this, and some of that will include having more targeted services to students. Especially those that do not have transportation and we might have to deliver meals at home for example, which is something that is not happening in life right now,” she said.

When questioned if instead of having one contact person in-house, D’Agata-Lynch, who is the Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Resources Coordinator, they would outsource those services, Custodia-Lora answered:

“It’s not about hiring an organization because it would defeat the purpose of restructuring. It’s partnering with organizations that are already doing the work of food insecurity and working on providing some of the social services to students.

“We will still continue to expand and figure out better ways for students to do Service Learning and that would be through Academic Affairs.

“We developed the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI), we hired a person (Francellis Quinones) who will take the lead on Civic Engagement projects and figuring out what we are or not doing, and how we can expand.

“There’s also opportunities for people to apply for other positions,” she said.
Custodia-Lora said that a better way for students to access resources would be through one phone number or one way to contact a variety of people who know what resources are accessible 24/7.

She also emphasized the importance of building trust and being culturally sensitive. Custodia-Lora stated that more than 50% of students at NECC are English language learners. For this reason, they considered bringing a Spanish-speaking person for the JEDI position, she said.

“Even myself sometimes I feel much better, when I’m talking to a doctor or in a crisis, to speak to somebody in Spanish, so we also bring on that to the table that they (Spanish-speaking students) can call anybody at any given time,” she said.
Custodia-Lora added: “I want us to, for example, when we offer food to students, we could give them beans, rice, tomatoes… you know, things that are even also more culturally sensitive to us, even with the frozen food.”

Custodia-Lora said: “This is a new plan that we have, and I really hope that more students get involved in this because to me that’s important.

“We need to remove ourselves from the position and we really need to tackle the larger issues which is, are we serving the students the best way that we could?” she said.

But why does this matter to the students?

Regardless of background or ethnicity, D’Agata-Lynch, as the Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, and Community Resources Coordinator, has served students with the following programs in both campus, Lawrence and Haverhill:

Civic engagement. Helping students to register to vote and organizing events to engage students with their right to vote.

Thanks to her campaigns, NECC was recognized with a Silver Seal for Voter Excellence for the college’s 2018 voting rates by this organization, and in 2022, NECC was recognized as one of the Most Engaged Campuses for College Student Voting.

Civic Engagement paid-internship course COP. Thanks to a grant D’Agata-Lynch wrote, she got the funds for this course. Students get paid $20 per hour up to $3,000 for the semester to engage in a civic engagement/leadership internship working for a nonprofit or a government organization. Once per week, intern students have class with professor D’Agata-Lynch where they learn about important subjects related to the workforce as equity, equality and inclusion. This reporter is currently a student in this course.

Clothing assistance. Students get a free voucher to shop in a local secondhand store.

Free monthly Mobile Market. Students, faculty and staff shop for free produce and/or any food available.

Food pantry. At any time, students can shop for free food like pasta, cereal, etc. Even hygiene products like shampoo or soap.

According to the Eagle Tribune, in June 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren visited Lawrence NECC campus to tout the Student Food Security Act, legislation aimed at addressing food insecurity on college campuses. NECC President Lane Glenn, former interim Lawrence Mayor Kendrys Vasquez, D’Agata-Lynch, and students escorted the senator to show her the food pantry, and she praised NECC for their initiative.

Feminine product baskets. In any women’s bathroom, students can take free tampons or pads.

Frozen food. Students can take unlimited free frozen ready-to-eat food.

Housing insecurity. According to students’ needs, whether they have children or not, they would be accommodated by nonprofit organization, and followed-up by D’Agata-Lynch.

Numbers talk

Let’s see in numbers the impact the most popular program, the Mobile Market, which celebrated April 25, its sixth anniversary of helping students and NECC families. They have helped: 26,253 individuals; 7,233 households; and distributed 223,568 lbs. of food, according to a flier from the program.

During the 2022 calendar year alone the market served 433 households representing 1,593 persons. In addition, 320 students were provided with Smart Meals, gift cards, feminine hygiene products, food pantry items, and/or food vouchers

Who is Janel D’Agata-Lynch and why does her position matter?

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from College of the Holy Cross and a master of social work with a concentration in community organizing, policy, planning, and administration from Boston College. Since 2004, she has been a licensed social worker. In 2015, D’Agata-Lynch was hired as civic engagement and service-learning coordinator. Since 2017, she also has been the community resources coordinator.

Fully committed to serving students and community, she had developed all programs mentioned before. Also, as an adjunct professor, she has taught sociology and civic engagement courses.

In 2019, D’Agata-Lynch received the NECC Employee Recognition Award as she encouraged students to engage civically through volunteerism. “In addition, she has been a champion for students who experience food insecurity and housing instability…She accomplishes all with a calm, personable, compassionate and down-to-earth demeanor,” said Paula Richards, associate professor of Academic ESL and English, who nominated her.

In a Letter to The Observer’s Editor, professor of Art & Design Michelle Carter, said “when a person is without basic needs, it can feel overwhelming to try to navigate various channels of aid. Janel helps connect students to these resources, coaching them to self-advocate. She also runs food pantries on both campuses and a free monthly farmers’ market, among other initiatives. It makes such a difference to me, as it does to many faculty, to know that I can refer students to an in-house social worker if needed.”

D’Agata-Lynch is involved actively in “the union.” She is a director of the Northern Essex Community College Professional Association (NECCPA) which is one of the local chapters of the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC), mostly known as “the union.”

As professor Gunning stated “this (D’Agata-Lynch’s retrenchment) is an attack on a MCCC position. Every time that any union position is eliminated, the union is weakened and our ability to bargain collectively for our shared well-being is undermined.”
D’Agata-Lynch declined an interview with The Observer as the union was negotiating her current situation.

What matters to the administration

Last month, in an interview on Judy Josephs’ show called “History of Success” broadcasted by Lynn Community Television, NECC Provost Paul Beaudin said “I have found at Northern Essex, a community of professionals who believe as I do that what students think matters, the student experience in the classroom matters, the modalities of the classes that we offer matters.

There are so many things that matter, and we need to make sure that we are being effective in promoting a history of success.”
Beaudin told this reporter he could not answer or make any comments about D’Agata-Lynch or the student programs she oversaw.

This reporter also attempted to interview NECC President Lane Glenn but the Chief of Staff, Cheryl A. Goodwin, stated Glenn could not comment because of ongoing negotiations with the union about the position.

When asked about the plan for all the student services D’Agata-Lynch position was covering, Goodwin said none of these programs would disappear, instead they would be more robust. “How?” I replied. Goodwin said she couldn’t give me more information.

 

Opinion

Holding the debt ceiling hostage: MAGA Republicans do not want to pay America’s bills

 

MAGA Republicans in Congress are holding raising the debt ceiling hostage unless their demands are met and will not consider passing a seperate bill that would involve budget cuts.

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled their plan to raise the debt ceiling and cut government spending ahead of the looming summer deadline to avert a catastrophic and historic default by the U.S. on its debt obligations

To understand the potential consequences of a U.S. default, it is important to understand what the debt ceiling is and how it works. The debt ceiling is a limit on the amount of money that the U.S. government can borrow to fund its operations. This limit is set by Congress and is designed to prevent the government from spending more money than it takes in. If the debt ceiling is reached, the government cannot borrow any more money, and it is forced to rely on its existing revenues to pay for its expenses. If the debt ceiling is not lifted and the U.S. defaults on its bills, the consequences could be disastrous, both for the U.S. and for the global economy. Not raising the debt ceiling is like maxing out your credit card and then not pay the bill.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the MAGA Republicans have put forward their demands in order to raise the debt ceiling in the bill called the “Limit, Save, Grow, Act” that would lift the ceiling by 1.5 trillion dollars or by the end of March 2024.

The GOP bill limits increases in the federal budget to 1% per year, significantly slower than the rate of inflation and less than recent year-over-year budget increases, particularly since the pandemic.

The Republican plan would nix $80 million in additional IRS funding, including funding for thousands more agents, that was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act. Republicans passed a bill to eliminate those additional positions before, but the bill died in the Senate, according to ABC News.

The GOP bill imposes stricter work requirements to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, formerly known as food stamps, for childless adults. The bill also requires each state to collect and submit information to the federal government about the percentage of people enrolled in SNAP who are in unsubsidized employment, as well as the median earning of people who were work-eligible after they leave the program.

The Republicans’ bill would nullify Mr. Biden’s program forgiving student loan debt up to $20,000 per borrower. Under the plan, announced by the president last August, eligible borrowers can have up to $10,000 in student debt wiped clean, while qualifying Pell Grant recipients can have an additional $10,000 forgiven. The program has been on hold as legal challenges have made their way through the courts. Roughly 40 million Americans are eligible for the relief. President Biden extended a pause on federal student loan payments, first put in place by Trump in the early months of the pandemic, through June, according to ABC News.

Republicans now want to rescind key aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act that was signed into law that were designed to combat climate change, including provisions establishing a high-efficiency electric home rebate program and home energy efficiency contractor training grants.

If the debt ceiling is not lifted, the U.S. government will be unable to pay its bills, including interest payments on its debt. This could lead to a default on U.S. debt, which would have significant consequences for the U.S. and global economy.

The financial market would be in turmoil. The U.S. is the largest economy in the world and has the largest financial market. If the U.S. defaults on its debt, it will trigger a massive sell-off in the global financial markets. Investors would be spooked, and they would likely dump their U.S. assets, including U.S. Treasury bonds. This would lead to a sharp increase in interest rates, as investors demand a higher return on their investments to compensate for the increased risk. The stock market would likely crash, and investors would suffer huge losses.

Included in the debt limit package is H.R. 1, the “Lower Energy Costs Act.” The legislation aims to boost American energy production and decrease dependency on foreign oil. The plan seeks to quicken the permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects and increase oil and gas production and sales. It also includes a provision that prohibits the energy secretary from implementing any rules that would “directly or indirectly limit” consumer access to gas kitchen ranges and ovens, according to ABC News.

If the U.S. defaults on its debt, it will likely result in a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. This would make it more expensive for the government to borrow money in the future, as investors would demand a higher return on their investments to compensate for the increased risk. The downgrade would also have ripple effects throughout the global economy, as other countries and companies that rely on U.S. debt as a benchmark would also see their credit ratings downgraded.

If the debt ceiling is not lifted, the U.S. government would be forced to shut down non-essential services, furlough employees, and suspend payments to contractors and suppliers. This would have a significant impact on the U.S. economy, as businesses and individuals that rely on government services and payments would be affected. For example, Social Security recipients would not receive their checks, and government contractors would not be paid, leading to a ripple effect throughout the economy.

If the U.S. defaults on its debt, it will become more expensive for the government to borrow money in the future. This would have a significant impact on the U.S. economy, as higher borrowing costs would mean that the government would have to pay more to service its debt. This could lead to higher taxes or cuts in government services, which would have a negative impact on economic growth and job creation.

There would be international repercussions. The U.S. is the world’s largest economy and is closely tied to the global economy. If the U.S. defaults on its debt, it will have significant international repercussions. Other countries that hold U.S. debt would suffer losses, and the value of their holdings would decrease. This could lead to a global financial crisis, as investors around the world would suffer losses and become more risk averse. The resulting economic downturn could lead to job losses and reduced economic growth around the world.

There will be political fallout. If the debt ceiling is not lifted, it could have significant political consequences for the U.S. The political fallout of a U.S. default would be severe and could result in a loss of confidence in the government and its ability to manage the country’s finances. The government would likely face a backlash from the public, as well as from other countries and international organizations. This could lead to increased political instability, as the government struggles to regain credibility and regain the trust of its citizens.

Moreover, the failure to raise the debt ceiling could create a constitutional crisis. The government may have to choose which bills to pay and which ones to defer, as it would be impossible to pay all the bills at once. This could lead to a legal battle over the government’s obligations and could ultimately result in a Supreme Court ruling. .

During the Trump administration, the U.S. national debt increased by over $7 trillion, reaching a total of $27.8 trillion by the end of the administration in January 2021.

The Trump administration implemented a tax cut in 2017, which reduced tax rates for individuals and corporations. The tax cut was estimated to increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The Trump administration argued that the tax cut would stimulate economic growth and create jobs, but critics argued that it would primarily benefit the wealthy and increase income inequality.

In addition to the tax cut, the Trump administration increased government spending, particularly on defense and infrastructure. The administration argued that the increased spending was necessary to improve national security and modernize infrastructure, but critics argued that it would increase the national debt and be unsustainable in the long term.

The consequences of a U.S. default would be severe and far-reaching, both for the U.S. and for the global economy. It would trigger financial market turmoil, result in a credit rating downgrade, lead to a government shutdown, increase borrowing costs, have international repercussions, and result in political fallout. A U.S. default would also have a long-term impact on the U.S. economy, as investors would lose confidence in the government’s ability to manage its finances, leading to reduced investment and economic growth. Therefore, it is imperative that the U.S. government raises the debt ceiling and avoids a default, as failure to do so could have devastating consequences for the U.S. and the world.

This is MAGA Republicans way of “owning the libs!” They will let the American and global economy tank if their demands are not met because they know it would look bad for Biden. I wish they would grow up and act like responsible adults.

Home Page News Bytes, News

Panel focuses on book banning and intellectual freedom

 

On Wednesday April 12th Northern Essex Community College hosted a panel discussion about book banning and intellectual freedom event that took place in Lecture Hall (A) in the Spurk building on the Haverhill campus.
Students, faculty and staff were encouraged to come listen to a panel of hosts discuss their thoughts and research on banning books.

Guest Martin Garnar, director of libraries at Amherst College led the discussion.

The event was sponsored by the Global Studies department and the NECC Library.

Six faculty members from different disciplines joined in on the panel.

Garnar began by asking the audience to get into groups of 4-5 people and the groups were given a piece of paper that gave real life scenarios and each group had to discuss what the people in the scenario should do.

For example, “a teacher thinks her students are plagiarizing; should she go to the library?”

After each group read and discussed the audience formed a large group discussion about their topic and panel members and other groups were allowed to converse through a shared microphone.

Lisette Espinoza, an English professor at Northern Essex and a part of the panel for the banning books event encouraged the audience to read books because “there are many authors banned … because their ideas are complex or controversial.”

Students were able to be challenged with real life scenarios, work together in a group setting to figure it out and gain advice from the panel on different perspectives.

To find out about more events like these you can visit the NECC events tab.

Slider, Sports

Coach promoted to full-time in new role

 
coach Dareen Stratton promoted to new role
Coach Darren Stratton NECC athletics website

Darren Stratton, the current Men’s basketball coach has been given the newly created role of Assistant Director of Auxiliary Services for transportation and athletics. Athletic director Dan Blair announced the promotion this week, NECC newsroom reports.  

In this new role Stratton will manage NECC’s new transportation program between the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses. Stratton will also serve as the liaison for athletics to the college’s athletic coaching programs. Other responsibilities include assisting the student alumni office to enhance student athlete alumni outreach. 

Meanwhile, Stratton will continue his duties as the Basketball head coach, a position he has held for twenty seasons. 

Sports

Francesca Nival named next Volleyball head coach

 
Portrait of New volleyball head coach, Francesca Nival
Francesca Nival named NECC’s next volleyball coach Courtesy of the Northern Essex website

NECC has found its next Volleyball head coach, Franchesca Nival. Athletic director, Dan Blair announced the hiring earlier this year.  

“My goal is not just be a coach but being but a mentor” said Nival. 

Nival will be taking the helm of a Knights volleyball team that finished 7-11 overall and 6-7 in conference play last season. 

This will be Nival’s first opportunity to coach at the college level. She previously served as an assistant coach at Lowell high school for two seasons. Nival coached two clubs, The Andover pumas and Athletics sports club. Additionally, Nival is the current owner of Athletics sports club, an organization that trains teenagers to prepare to play volleyball at the high school level. Nival is also a certified coach by USA Volleyball. 

Before coaching she played four seasons at Lowell High school and three seasons at UMass Lowell, serving as an outside hitter defensive specialist. 

 

Sports

Knight defeat SeaWolves 12-5

 
A knights baseball player celebrates hitting home run
De La Cruz, (third player on the left) celebrates hitting a three- run home run in the seventh inning. | NECC Observer

On April 19th Northern Essex (22-6) tops Southern Maine community college (16-12) 12-5 at Trinity stadium. 

Starter Alex Sweeney of Raymond, NH (3-1) struggled with his command in the first two innings yielding three walks. He settled in and cruised in the next six innings. 

Richard Matos De La Cuz of Boston, MA who went (1-for-5) made his lone hit count. He hit a towering three-run home run into the center field bleachers. 

Sweeney opened the first inning allowing a leadoff double and two walks to load the bases. He worked around the jam with back-to-back fly outs and a strikeout to escape the inning. 

A rough second inning from Sweeney put The Knights in a 4-0 hole. 

With the bases loaded Seawolves pitcher threw consecutive wild pitches, it made the score 4-2. A two RBI double by Kameron Levesque of Haverhill, MA evened the score at four. 

After three quiet innings, The Knights bats woke up in the sixth inning scoring a pair of runs. An RBI single to left field by Orlando Payne of Lawarence, MA put The Knights ahead 5-4. Domenic Crocenzi of North Providence, RI was walked to put runner at first and second. Payne was driven in by a base hit past the second baseman. 

Anthony Marcano of Boston MA led the inning off the seventh with a base hit. A botched pickoff attempt by Southern Maine advanced him to third base. With two outs, Payne came through with an RBI triple to lead 8-4. Payne pushed his luck attempting to stretch the triple into an inside-the-park home run and was thrown out at home plate. 

De La Cruz put the game away in the eighth inning with a three-run home run to over the center field wall, 11-4. 

Jagger Lovinelli of Huntington beach, CA was sent in to close the game. He allowed a solo home run and a walk but still recorded three more outs to lockdown down the 12-5 win against Southern Maine. 

Up next, The Knights headed on the road April 21st to face Quinsigamond community college.

Sports

Knights sweep double header against CCRI

 
Knights baseball player throwing a pitch during a game
Starter Tristan Ciampa three a seven inning complete game in game one of the double-header | NECC Observer

Northern Essex completed a doubleheader sweep vs The community college of Rhode Island on April 15th at Trinity stadium by scores of 6-1 and 5-4. The Knights improve to (20-5) and CCRI falls to (14-11).  

Each Knights starting pitchers, Tristan Ciampa (6-0) and Jagger Lovinelli (4- 1) picked up the wins. At the plate, Richard De La Cruz of Boston, MA continued his impressive season collecting a team high of five RBIs. 

 Game one: Knights 6, CCRI 1 

Tristan Ciampa pitcher tossed a seven-inning complete game gem. He struck out nine, allowed three hits and one unearned in the outing.  

The Knights struck first offensively. In the third inning Kameron Levesque of Haverhill, MA hit a leadoff triple to left field. A pair of walks loaded the bases. Anthony Marcano of Boston, MA smashed a fly ball to left field to bring in a run on a sac fly. De la Cruz followed up with an RBI single up the middle to push The Knights advantage to two. The Knights would add another run in the inning to lead 3-0. 

CCRI’s lone run scored on a wild pitch with a runner on third in the top of the sixth inning, 3-1. 

The Knights’ bats got back to work in the in their half of the inning pushing three runs across the plate. Jomar Moreta of Lynn, MA hit a leadoff single to right field. Moreta advanced to second on a stollen base. Domenic Cocenzie of North Providence, RI reached first base on a hit by a pitch. Cooper Smith of Bloomington, MN drove Moreta with an RBI double to center field. De La Cruz scored his second RBI of the evening with a single to right center. The Knights would tack on another run to stretch their lead to five. 

Campina would take the mound again in the seventh inning to finish what he started. He retired CCRI in order for the 6-1 opener victory. 

 Game two: Knights 5, CCRI 4 

Game two was a much closer affair. The Knights edged out CCRI 5-4 with a solid bullpen performance and just enough needed offense.  

Knights starter, Jagger Lovinelli of Huntington beach, CA struggled. Lovinelli’s pitches often caught too much of the plate resulting in consistent hard contact. He surrendered five runs on eight hits and three walks over six innings of work. 

Cooper Smith of Bloomington, MN got the offense started in the third inning with an RBI single to shallow left field to put The Knights in front 1-0. De La Cruz hit an RBI single up to center field to score Smith and take a 2-0 lead. The Knights would add another run to increase their lead to three. 

De La Cruz doubled in two insurance runs to put The Knights up 5-1 in the fifth inning 

CCRI began chipping away at their deficit in the seventh inning when Lovinelli allowed an RBI triple, 5-2. CCRI Doubled in another run, 5-3 to put the tying run at the plate. To minimize the damage head coach Jeff Mejia elected to go to the bullpen and the left-hander’s day was done.  

Mejia turned to Reflin Jimenez of Lawarence, MA to protect the two-run lead. After Jimenez gave up an inherited run to CCRI within one. He bounced back recording the next three outs to secure the 5-4 win and double-header sweep. 

The knights were scheduled to continue their four-game home-stand on Monday April 17th vs. Fisher college JV at the NECC campus field. 

Sports

Student athletes can learn valuable lessons through participation

 

A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of exercise is considered an athlete.

All over America throughout history much of our youth has been driven to participate in a sport while they are growing up.

I really want to stress that I think you can learn a lot of valuable lessons when doing a sport that you can use in all the phases in life.

Being involved in a team environment builds character and gives a young adult the sense of basic social skills that can be used while growing up.

Youth sports is kind of a family atmosphere, just like when at an occupation you need to learn how to work with your coworkers, when involved in a sport it is the same thing.

There is a sense that if someone goes down it is your responsibility to get them back up. Being involved with any type of sports can develop a lot of leadership skills also. Being able to talk to a group of people and direct them through a task that needs to be done is easier said than done.

The beauty of playing sports throughout your whole life is that at the start it is purely for fun, but like everything in life it gets more serious over time.

Once everyone reaches about the middle school level and are really molding into themselves is when things get a little more serious. The sports become a little more competitive as more of the kids get better at what they are doing.

Coaches get more serious and start to expect more from student athletes. School teams mostly have cuts so not everyone can make it.

This process I would have to say is probably the hardest part of growing up as an athlete. Right then and there they need to decide if this what they really want. Not only are they going to have to dedicate their time, but their body. Playing sports is not easy on your body especially when you are a kid, and your boy is still not even fully developed. There is a risk of injury and if you play a contact sport there is a pretty high risk of a head injury which is extremely severe.

As the athlete moves on to high school this is where you are playing to win now, and you are most likely representing the school that they go to and the town that they live in. I had the chance to be the manger for a lot of teams growing up and I can guarantee you there is no better feeling then running out with your teammates in front of the whole town and under those Friday night lights. Being an athlete in high school truly is a really hard task. Not only do practices run longer and every single day, the coursework load from your classes must be taken care of also. Your routine to be honest is wake up go to school then go to practice come home do all the homework you were assigned and then shower and go to bed then do it all over again. It is exhausting mentally and physically, but at the end of the day if you love the game, it should be worth it to you.

The first two years of high school athlete is really a preparation for when you will be an upper classman and playing for the varsity team. Freshman and Sophomore year is more about building bonds that can last for all four years when you are playing in more meaningful games. Not that junior varsity games are not important because they are this is where you continue to build relationships with teammates, but not only that you have to develop your skills at the sport and if you want to have an important part on the varsity team you really have to perfect your craft.

A lot of people are asking is this all worth it in the end? To those people I say yes!

If you had success at the varsity level in high school, there is a good chance that you can continue your athletic career at a college. This is not an easy task at all, and I don’t want anyone to think it is. To play sports at the collegiate level is extremely hard and getting an offer from a school is not an easy to do either. The reality is most people are not division one athletes and it is hard to reach this level. This does not mean you cannot go to a division 2 or 3 school or even a community college to continue to play the sport you love. Starting at a two-year community college is honestly a great idea. For example, here at Northern Essex Community College we offer a bunch of sports, and this is a great way of getting seen by other colleges you may want to finish at.

One of my best friends growing up, Anthony Caggenoli, was an extremely talented football player growing up ever since he was 10. To be honest he was probably the best football player I have ever seen. He was born gifted with that athletic ability and to see him grow into the player he is now has been an honor. Anthony plays division 3 football at Endicott College, and he is the starting running back.

I even got Anthony to answer some questions for this report because he is a great credible source when it comes to this stuff. My first question to him was what does he find the biggest struggle being a college athlete?

Anthony responded with, “you know waking up at 6 in the morning and putting all of that athletic load on your body that early has to be the toughest part, but it does prepare you for the rest of the day which I enjoy”. Next, I asked him if the best part of being able to play football at Endicott? His response,” Being able to go to school on a scholarship really helped me out and my family because I am now lucky enough to leave college with a little debt and without football this would not have been possible.

The bottom line in life as an athlete is not an easy thing to do even if you are not a professional. These kids at a young age sacrifice their bodies, time, social life’s, etc. just to play a game that they love, and I believe that is the beauty of it. Sports is an extreme positive to someone’s life because they can take all these lessons and use them in their everyday life. Having a teammate mentality can only make you more successful in life because you know how to work well with others!

Sports

Athletes growing up

 

When you are a young child and you are growing up, depending on your interests you might want to get involved with a sports team.

As you see other people and friends start to grow into themselves and maybe start to play sports you might find yourself interested too. A lot of people think it takes just a couple of easy steps to play a sport, you just sign up and show up, well that is not the case.

When you decide to play a sport, you need to really take a lot of things into factor.

Time, health, and money are all involved with playing a sport growing up and when you do sign up for a sport you are putting all these things at risk.

First, I want to start off with one of the most important things in life that we must manage which is time.

As you are growing up you start really struggling on managing your time and what aspects of life the time should be focused on.

With the struggle of separating time, with school, family and your social life adding a sport to this will take away a lot of you time for this type of stuff.

When playing a sport there is always some sort of practice and as you get older, and the sport gets more serious there is a high chance that you will be practicing every day during the week.

From my personal experience, middle school is when coaches feel that is needed to start having practices every day after school.

With this demand there becomes some issues that might interfere with other aspects of your life.

Let’s say you as a student struggle with doing your homework and getting assignments in on time, having a practice every day is really going to affect your work.

The problem with this is that most schools have a specific standard on grades when playing a sport. Most school’s do not allow students athletes to play if they do not maintain a certain GPA, or a system where they must get certain letter grades.

When I was in middle school, I was the team manager and everyone on the team was expected to always be passing every class or you could not play.

If any of your grades did end up going below a 70 you would be asked to get the grade back up or you wouldn’t be able to play, in my case, manage.

So before signing up for a sport you should really think about your education first because at the end of the day that is what is most important.

Also, you cannot forget that playing a sport is going to take time from you being at home with your loved ones or going out with your friends on the weekend.

So, it is important to make sure you have your priorities straight before committing to anything.

The next thing you really must think about when signing up for any sport, whether it involves contact or not, is your health.

As a young adult it is extremely important to keep your body healthy when it concerns broken bones, torn ligaments, concussion, etc.

Playing a sport does put you at a risk for injury and depending what sport it can be more serious.

For example, if you want to play football you have to understand you are signing up for the one of the most dangerous sports you can play because of all the contact.

The thing that bothers parents the most I think when letting their kid play football is the high risk of head injury.

According to Dr. Jaycie Loewen, “Statistics show that about 20% of all high school football players experience brain trauma every football season and that football is responsible for more than 60% of concussions in high school sports” according to an article in Cognitive FX.

So, as you can see signing up for football does put a risk to your physical health. This is something you really must decide if you want to put your body at risk, for the rest of your life.

The main problem is that most of these injuries tend to linger with you for the rest of time that could lead to surgeries and multiple complications.

Lastly you must think about the financial state you are in when you are signing up for a sport.

Like I said earlier a lot of people tend to make the mistake and think they can just sign up for a sport and show up, but that is not the case.

First you must think of the organization you are playing for.
If it is not a school team there is mostly a startup fee for playing the sport which can really range depending on how serious the organization is.

For example, if you are playing for an AAU team you are most likely paying a lot of money to play, or your parents are depending on the situation. That is only the start.

The next important thing we need to think about is equipment.

Sports equipment is extremely expensive no matter what sport you are playing.

A survey done by NBC news shows, “Americans also spent more than $33 billion on athletic equipment and $19 billion on gym memberships over the past year, according to the survey.

In all, consumers shelled out more than $100 billion on sports-related purchases in the last 12 months” according to an article in CNBC.

So before signing up parents should make sure that they are financially stable enough to put their kid through a certain program.

To conclude my friend Evan Leblanc who is a former student at Northern Essex Community College took some time out of his day to answer some questions.

Although Evan did not play any sports at NECC, he played varsity football at Central Catholic, a local high school in Lawrence.
I started the conversation with me explaining how I would be asking questions concerning the risks of playing a sport.

My first question to him was, when did he begin to realize that the sport, he was playing was so dangerous and could affect his life?

Evan answered with, “I really didn’t realize how dangerous football was until we started to practice in high school. We were one of the top schools at football, so coming I was expecting us to be hitting each other a lot, but it was the opposite.

“Our coach felt it was too dangerous to hit during practice and was left for the games.”

Next, I went into asking him how much money he think his parents have spent on him on his equipment.

Evan answered immediately with, “A lot, especially for me because as a kid I began to grow faster than the other kids so I would constantly be finding myself needing new cleats, shoulder pads, and even a helmet, so yes we were constantly spending money every couple of months, but my parents really didn’t mind it because they knew how much I loved playing football.”
My last question to Evan was it worth all the time he lost with friends and family, everything he dedicated to the sport?

Evan responded with, “Absolutely it was worth it I made some of the best memories of my life playing football, I would not change it for anything.”

The bottom line the decision to play the sport is up to you.

If you have a certain love for the game, where you just find yourself happy and smiling while playing than the risks might be worth taking.

It is just important to know all the risks before committing to a team that needs you.

 

Opinion, Sports

Making a case for a new Sports and Fitness Center : Accessibility, condition of building and fields could be improved

 

After high school a lot of student athletes who decide that they want to continue their career in athletics begin the process of choosing a school.

When choosing a school, as I wrote about in my last article, there are many different things you must think about before deciding where to go.

One of the most critical things must be the school’s athletic facility and complex.

The sports and fitness center is where most athletes would be spending their time if they were to play a college sport.

Between practices, meetings, games, and other events concerning the sport most of the time you will be in there.

I want to focus in on our school Northern Essex Community College. A lot of athletes decide to come here to either save money or build up their athletic resume by playing here.

Here at NECC we offer a lot of different sports to our students as an opportunity to continue to do something they love while being at college.

Here at our campus in Haverhill Massachusetts, we do have our own sports complex for out teams to practice and play games in. It is over 50 years old and has many renovations that need to be done.

The sports complex here at NECC is an important part of our campus because without building D we wouldn’t really have a space for athletics, which would probably force us not to offer sports, which might even bring the school’s applicant’s down.

The sports complex is still in use and there are games that are still being played there but we do need multiple renovations if not a whole new building.

Some of the problems with our current sports building include the lack of accessibility for students like me who are in a wheelchair — it might be hard to maneuver in certain spots of the building.

The plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems are all out of date which is a huge problem because this could cause damage to the building if one of these fails.

This would cause a lot of issues with the sports teams here at NECC because they would have nowhere to practice or play.

Our next problem is right adjacent to our sports complex we have our baseball field, softball field, and an asphalt track that suffers from draining issues and does not meet the campus’ needs.

The good news is that we are taking steps to fix this problem that we have on our beloved campus.
WHAV News, a nonprofit news organization we have in Haverhill stated, “Northern Essex Community College is turning to the private sector to potentially address about nine million dollars in deferred maintenance at its more than 50-year-old Sports and Fitness Center and surrounding athletic fields at its Haverhill campus.”

I believe this would be a great investment for the school that would even help them.

Building a new Sports and Fitness Center would raise the eyebrows of student athletes looking to continue their athletic career at a community college.

The next positive, I believe, is the new Sports and Fitness building can offer is a safer place to practice and play games with all updated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work.

Also, the renovation of the fields, in my opinion, is huge. Not only will this bring in more athletes to our school and sports programs, but I also really think it might bring in some more local fans near the area. A brand-new field is something to check out.

At the end of the day the main concern for our student athletes here at NECC is their health and their well-being.

With the new fields I do feel we might have less injuries to players concerning their ankles and parts of the lower bodies due to the old grass.

I did take some time to go out and look at the field and I do have to say the conditions in some spots are very poor.

My fear is someone running to go catch a fly ball and getting their ankle caught or twisted in a spot in the field where there might be a little dip in the surface or somewhere where the dirt isn’t as strong and maybe their cleat digs in.

Also, while talking about inside the Sports and Fitness building, a new flooring would be great for the basketball teams because they would have better traction.

I also would really like the building to be fully accessible to all students.

I have been around a lot of Sports Complex’s in the area, and I would say most of them, if not all of them, are accessible.

I took some time to reach out to my friend Eric Mello who is a basketball player who is highly considering coming to NECC to continue his education and maybe play for our team if he has a chance.

I wanted to ask him a couple of questions about our school and maybe the possibility of a new Sports and Fitness center.

My first question was what made you look at NECC?

Mello stated, “I was mainly interested in NECC because of a recommendation from my high school guidance counselor. She explained to me how at NECC everyone is helpful and it is a real family environment which would make me comfortable.”

I asked him next if he would want to play basketball here?

He quickly answered, “Yes, of course if I got the opportunity to play at the school. I would, but I know it would take a lot of time, effort, and dedication especially after the type of season they just had.”

My last question to Mello was if we were to put a new Sports and Fitness Center in would this be a benefit to you?

Mello explained, that “if a new Sports and Fitness center were to be put in the school my interest would probably go up, just because I know where I will be spending most of my time, it is brand new, and will have all the newest and best equipment to get me game ready.”

Overall, I do think that a new Sports and Fitness center with some field accommodations are needed at our school because before you know it the building and fields may become so bad that they are unusable.

I believe the college would get many more student athletes to apply because as Mello explained, the thought of being in a new building with new equipment sounds quite convincing.

Northern Essex Community College would be a great spot to do new renovations for our athletes because we have not had anything major done for over 50 years.

With the support of our school and local supporting businesses we can make this happen.