All posts by Chad Gorham, News Editor

Features

Student Leader Conference

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Student Leaders from across Mass. and N.H. gathered at the Four Point Sheraton in Wakefield on Oct. 15 and 16 for the Community College Student Leaders Association

Conference. The theme of the conference was “Recipe for Success,” with Johnny “Cupcakes” Earle as the keynote speaker. Earle is the owner of a popular Johnny Cupcakes brand T‐shirt line. Earle spoke about how he started his business sense when he was a young child, all the way up to the success of his T‐shirt line that is popular worldwide.

Cupcakes said, “The best advice I can give you is to be original and give out gifts at your events.” He also suggested that students hit up local business because they love to advertise without having to pay for it.

Jasmine Polanco, a Criminal Justice major, introduced Earle and was shocked by how funny he was. Polanco said, “He has a great sense of humor. As soon as I met him, he played a trick on me.”

As the conference progressed, the students were given the options of two seminars to attend. They could choose from “Financial Advising,” “Ice Breakers” and “Am I Listening?,” among others. In the “Financial Advising” seminar, students listened and spoke about ways of managing their money as they get older. In the “Am I Listening?” seminar students learned about what it is to actively listen.

Nate Miller, a Theatre major, said, “The ‘Ice Breakers’ seminar really helped me to come out of my shell for the rest of the conference. I started to talk to everyone and made so many new people from across the area.” Miller was spotted talking to many people. Students were heard saying, “He is so nice, what a friendly guy.” Miller said, “I really enjoyed the conference. It boosted my confidence.”

After the seminars ended, the student leaders were treated to a dinner. They had a short awards ceremony to honor some of the student leaders who have went above and beyond their call of duty. One of the recipients started a laptop fund for students who could not afford a laptop.  The student leaders were then entertained all night with many different activities.  Karaoke and dancing were the most popular.  Polanco and Miller did a “Frozen” duet together. They had the entire crowd watching. Victoria Gonzalez, a Business Management student, said, “I could not help but smile when they were singing their song. Everyone started to sing right along with them.”

The next day encompassed the closing ceremonies, where Earle arrived to speak again. He reinforced his early message about making events exciting and how, according to his experience, a “recipe for success works.” Earle let students know that anything is possible, and that anything can be successful just by having fun.  Students got together to do a civic engagement project. They created blankets for cancer patients at a local hospital. The blankets were created with only two large pieces of fabric and a pair of scissors. They made a few cuts, tied some knots and the blankets were done. They created 54 blankets in total as a group.

News

Market Basket strikes cause strife

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With the Demoulas family fighting and the Market Basket chain coming to a near halt, it has affected some students here at NECC.

It was early July when the Market Basket board of directors headed by Arthur S. Demoulas fired Arthur T. Demoulas who had been serving as president of the company since 2008 according to an article in the Boston Globe.

An uproar took place when employees walked off their jobs and customers boycotted the stores. The loss of Artie T, led to both customers and employees going to the Market Basket headquarters in Tewksbury and protesting.

Within a couple weeks, Market Basket’s profits were falling sharply. With no food coming out of the warehouses and stores slowly emptying of merchandise, the Market Basket Board of Directors decided it was time for the stores to cut all hours to part time employees and schedule employees to the store’s needs.

Viviana Padilla, a NECC general studies student said, she has worked part time in the Lawrence store for 5 years.

“It was my first job,” said Padilla. In Padilla’s store they started scheduling part timers one day a week then eventually told her do not not bother looking at the schedule as there were no hours for her.

With school starting around the corner and hours being cut, Mariah Cruz, a liberal arts student who worked part time in the Haverhill store started to worry. She lives at home with her single mother and siblings. She helped her mom out with bills and food for her family. She also worried about the added cost that was coming due to starting school. 

“I now have no income,” said Cruz.

Some students were not given the official word they were laid off. Matthew Gagnon, a business transfer student who works part time in the Haverhill store said he technically still has a job but would not be given any hours. 

“I have not been able to pay bills, and I usually help my dad out with bills. It has been a little bit of a struggle,” said Gagnon. 

Gagnon also said he will be given hours for this week.

For weeks there were assurances that Market Basket was moving closer to a deal, but there no deal until last week, causing students to look elsewhere for work and shoppers other places to shop in the meantime.

Jasmine Montilla, a radiology student works at Stop and Shop and is seeing the influx of customers that once shopped at Market Basket. It has affected her in a different way by putting stress on her.  “I am getting complaints from customers about the pricing and how expensive Stop and Shop is compared to Market Basket.” Montilla understand the customer’s anger but does not understand the complaints that are coming her way being a cashier.

The Market Basket saga of the summer of 2014 came to an end last week when Arthur T. Demoulas bought the remaining 50.5 percent of the company giving him soul ownership with his three sisters.  This deal could not come soon enough for some students, as they want to get back to work and start helping out with their families.

News

Kelsey Terry named student trustee

 

In May 2013 Kelsey Terry became the new NECC Student Trustee.
In May 2013 Kelsey Terry became the new NECC Student Trustee. Photo courtesy of NECC Newsroom
Kelsey Terry has been voted in as Student Trustee at NECC for the fall/spring semester of 2014/2015.
Terry has been a student at NECC since spring of 2012 where she studies Liberal Arts with concentrations in biology, psychology, and philosophy. Terry currently is a math tutor in the math center, a work study student for the math department, a presidential student ambassador, a student senator where she is the Executive Program Chair of Haverhill, Vice President of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, a student representative on the finance committee and Terry was an embedded tutor for developmental math courses in the fall of 2013 and will be returning to that role in the fall of 2014.

“I plan on being the voice of the student body. I also plan on presenting issues, concerns of the students to the board as well as respond back to students once I receive answers. I will be accountable for what my title entails and will represent the student body as a whole,” said, Terry.

Many students voted for Terry because of what she has accomplished on campus. “Her commitment to the students and being the voice of the students is taken seriously and she does not fear anyone, she makes sure her voice is heard. When she does stuff she is committed to the end,” said Josephine Sebagaisha, a biology major.

Terry has demonstrated determination to find out the truth, said Jasmine Chazulle, a Liberal Arts major. “She is also does a lot and is very active,” Chazulle said.

Terry has proven time after time of her dedication to NECC and the students who know here are noticing. Students at NECC have had nothing but great things to say about Kelsey Terry when they heard she was going to be the Student Board of Trustee member.

“Kelsey Terry is one of the most hardworking, dedicated, honest people I have ever known. She is a true asset to the Northern Essex Community and I have absolute confidence in her ability to fulfill the trustee position with integrity,” said Crystal Pringle, a physical science major.

Students are also noticing how she takes on student issues. Terry tackles issues that most students are not even aware of being in existence..

“I see that her attention is directed towards a number of student issues at the college, many of which haven’t even registered on people’s radar. She is an earnest problem solver who doesn’t take the efforts of students and faculty for granted, is never complacent, nor is she indifferent to change,” said Brandon Fitton, an engineering science student.

Donna Passemato, a liberal arts student, has been a fan of Terry since the moment she met her a year ago in the Spurk building lobby during a fundraiser. She was amused by Terry’s humor. Passemato remembers the first thing that Terry said to her when they first met, “Centimeter of plasma refers to what, and how do you measure the depth of blood exposed to the elements?” Passemato answered back with, “Hi, I’m Donna Passemato. Nice to meet you.”

“She will add her talents, and dedication to a multiplicity of pursuits-intellectually, mathematically, and steadfast,” wrote Passemato in an e-mail.

According to Massachusettes law Chapter 15A Public Education Section 21 Board of Trustees for section 5 institutions; membership; qualifications; tenure; vacancies, it is stated that, “There shall be a board of trustees consisting of 11 members. One member of such board of trustees shall be a full-time undergraduate student member from said institution and ten members shall be appointed by the governor.”

“I understand the numbers, concerns, and I am here to represent you, the student body. I am a dedicated student that prioritizes everything I do,” said Terry. “I will use my skills and experience to make sure I, the Student Trustee, representing the student body is heard. Being a student trustee means making decisions which impact the lives of people. I will be making a difference to my school as well as local community.”