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Sports

Boston Celtics Rebuild

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Although the Boston Celtics are in contention for the eight-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season, they are clearly not talented enough to make a real playoff run.

The rebuilding process that started with dealing away members of the Big Three a few years ago has certainly started off in the right direction. Boston has a bevy of draft picks and trade assets to show for all the deals. They have a lottery pick in Marcus Smart that they can move forward with. But what else do they have? Right now, it looks like they have a handful of role players and some capital that they can use in trades, free agency or the draft.

“The important thing to remember about us is that we have a long, long way to go,” said head coach Brad Stevens in an interview with Grantland.

Celtics’ general manager Danny Ainge got great value for his aging superstars when he let them go. He scored trade chips and a first-round pick for Rajon Rondo. He has drafted some solid young players all across the first round, including Smart (sixth overall), Avery Bradley (19th overall) and Jared Sullinger (21st overall). He traded for Kelly Olynyk on draft night in 2013, and just this year made a smart move to pick up point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Phoenix Suns.And it could be argued that Ainge’s most important signing was one he made in the summer of 2013 when he signed Stevens to a six-year contract to coach the team.

But although Boston appears to be moving quickly through the rebuilding process, they certainly don’t have anything that resembles a franchise-changing player. People around the team say Smart is adored and is part of the long-term future, but at this point it’s unclear how great he will be. Bradley and Thomas can certainly make an impact, but they would most likely be role players on a championship team.
“Everyone knows that to win a title you have to have your number one, two and three guys who do everything well — guys who basically do everything well,” Stevens said. “But championship teams are filled with other guys.”

Stevens was hesitant to say whether or not anyone on the current roster could be a top-three player.

“I won’t put a ceiling on any of them,” he said. “Maybe some of them hit that next level.”

Ainge feels that there are several pieces on the current team who will be part of the future.

“I think we have a handful of guys who could be (future starters),” Ainge said. “And we certainly have guys who could play some role on a championship team.”
The issue for Boston now is finding that superstar player to take the team to championship heights. While there are always superstars who force their way into a trade or into free agency, there aren’t too many big-time guys on the market in 2015. Adding to that dilemma is the fact that the Celtics generally have a poor track record attracting superstar players.

There are potential “big fish” trade targets like Kevin Love and Demarcus Cousins, but there’s no guarantee that either of those players will be available for a trade. Boston will make a push for those guys, but their other trade options are unclear if they are unsuccessful.

Young players like Draymond Green of Golden State and Jimmy Butler in Chicago are expected to get max contracts this summer, and either would be a great fit on the wing in Boston. But the Celtics still have to sell themselves to these players, something they haven’t been able to do with past star players.

This summer, it’s more likely that the Celtics will look more at players like a Greg Monroe-type, someone who they may be able to get for less than a max contract, and then load up for a run at a superstar in 2016. Kevin Durant is the biggest name in that field, but there is no indication at this time that Boston will make a run at him. But, things do change a lot in time.

“We don’t have a master plan,” Ainge said. “You just hope you have the assets when a deal comes along.”

The Celtics could also take an Atlanta Hawks-esque approach of smart free agent signings and good drafting outside the lottery. Like the Hawks, the Celtics have a great young coach in Stevens, and they are in a position to take the same path Atlanta took this season.

In this case, Boston could retain many of their current players, including guys like Jae Crowder and Tyler Zeller, and still make move in free agency.
“We will be very active in free agency,” Ainge said.

It is clear that the Celtics have started off their rebuild on the right path. They are contending for the playoffs sooner than they thought and they have a host of young talent on the roster. But Ainge’s work is not done yet. He will have to make some significant improvements to the team if they want to be back in title contention in the near future.

Ainge needs a superstar. If he can’t get one, the Celtics could get stuck in the awful cycle of being just good enough to stay out of the lottery but not good enough to contend for a championship.

That will make the next two summers very interesting for Celtics fans.

News

Service Learning at NECC

 

“Service learning is beneficial to both faculty and students,” said NECC Service Learning Coordinator Paula Richards. Service learning is a type of education that incorporates relevant and meaningful community service, offering enhancement to in-class learning by giving students the opportunity to use their newfound skills in real life.

“Service learning is tied to the objectives of a course,” said Richards. “Sometimes students and faculty might get a little bit nervous thinking that it’s a lot of extra work, but it’s actually not an add-on. It’s integrated right into the course.”

Sam Rahiminejad, a computer science graduate from NECC, took the ESL (English as a Second Language) Advanced Writing class in the fall of 2013. Service learning was incorporated into that class by having the students visit Emmaus House to talk to people about their experience there. Students would interview the people at Emmaus House and then write a research paper on homelessness and human loss.

“It was really helpful,” said Rahiminejad. “It improved my self-confidence.”

“I would definitely recommend this to all faculty to incorporate into their classes if possible, and certainly to get students involved,” said Professor Marc Mannheimer, who teaches an Introduction to the Creative Experience class.

The class is for people who plan to be social workers or drug and alcohol counselors, giving them an overview of how the arts can be used therapeutically.

“I am partnered with the Haverhill Boys and Girls Club. My students spend at least 10 hours over the course of the semester there working on various projects, seeing how the things that we’ve been studying in class relate to what goes on at the Boys and Girls’ Club and working with the kids there,” said Mannheimer.

Professor Amy Cameron has her students in the ESL Advanced Listening and Speaking class at NECC involved in service learning this semester as they visit a local assisted living home, Haverhill Crossings. The students visit Haverhill Crossings four times, four weeks in a row, during the semester. This will be the second time the students in this class have had the opportunity to use skills learned in the class in a real life experience.

The main goal of the class is to improve confidence with speaking, listening and understanding the English language. During this time they work on a biography interview project that will help them to develop their English skills. Although the project is mainly to help the students learn, the seniors enjoy getting to interact with the students and answer their questions for the project.

“Students get a chance to practice speaking English with a native speaker,” said Cameron.

“This is a really good opportunity to practice in a natural setting.”
The first visit is an introductory visit to help the students and the seniors to get to know each other.

The next two visits are used for interviewing. The students are matched up with seniors who have chosen to be involved with the service learning project and interview them about different seasons of their life. Asking the questions and writing down the seniors’ answers helps them to practice English. Many of the seniors were more than happy to help the students with any pronunciation or grammatical issues they had as they were interacting.

At the last visit, the students give the seniors they interviewed a framed picture with the summary of the seniors’ answers on the different seasons of their life. The seasons are split into spring, summer, fall and winter, following from their early childhood years to their senior years.

“Last semester when I did this project, the seniors were really excited and grateful for the gifts we gave them at the end,” said Cameron. Two of the seniors cried upon receiving the gift at the last visit.

“I was impressed with how meaningful the project was,” said Cameron. Even after the project ends, some students choose to return to Haverhill Crossings as volunteers. While most students had a negative feeling about it before starting the project, they “ended up having a positive feeling after,” said Cameron.
For more information on how to get involved in service learning at NECC, you can contact Paula Richards at prichards@necc.mass.edu.

Arts and Entertainment

International Festival

 

Students taste food from different countries at NECC International Festival.
Students taste food from different countries at NECC International Festival. | NECC Observer
To celebrate NECC’s diverse community, Student Engagement holds an International Festival where students can learn about different countries and try the foods from those countries and cultures.

The International Festival is held as a learning experience, and in keeping with NECC’s core values. According to Ari Chicklis, assistant coordinator of student activities and engagement, “One of NECC’s core values is ‘Culture of Inclusion’ and in the Student Engagement we do our best to foster this value by facilitating events that celebrate diversity.”

Chicklis also said, “NECC is made up of a vast number of cultures and each one of them deserves to be put in the spotlight so that others can absorb and understand them.”

“One of the most fun ways to experience a culture is through food and during International Festival we had tons of food,” said Chicklis.

Some of the countries that were on display were: Italy, the Italian food was ziti and meatballs; Japan, represented by sushi; India, with its chicken tiki; and a falafel bar to celebrate the food of the Middle East.

Connor Emo, an exercise science student, said, “I love the free food and trying new things. I have no problem trying new things but I hated the chop sticks.”
Stephanie Deleon, a general studies student, said, It amazes me how many different foods there really are around the world.

Deleon was also a fan of trying new things and she found the falafel bar was her favorite. “I really liked the falafel — it was like a little fried cloud from heaven. I was not sure about the falafel pickle though. The color was just too bright it seemed unnatural.”

Chicklis really enjoyed the event, seeing the students learn about other cultures while teaching others about their own. Chicklis said, “It was a joy to watch the students enjoying the cultures of themselves and their peers.”

Dina Brown, the coordinator of Student Actiivties and Engagement, was pouring Moroccan Mint Tea, which is usually made up of green tea and spearmint leaves. Brown then showed students how to pour it properly.

When the tea was ready to be poured she put the cup on the table and raised the teapot about three feet above the cup and started to pour. Brown explains that the tea is poured from up high so the leaves swirl in the bottom of the glass and let out more flavor.

Students really enjoyed the tea and watching Brown pour it. Deleon said, “This was pretty cool, I always seen them pouring the tea from up high on movies and TV shows but I never understood why — and now I do.”

Campus Life

Multicultural Student Alliance

 

It may seem like a small sentiment, but something as simple as having flags from multiple cultures present on campus can help students feel welcome, said Admissions & Academic Counselor Courtney Newman.

Newman is one of three faculty members helping coordinate the new Multicultural Student Alliance, an organization dedicated to helping provide a safe space for students of all ethnicities, nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

“What we’re trying to do is bring a multitude of different students together in one space so they can connect with the college, connect with each other, experience some events and really have a support system,” said Newman.

Welcoming though the MSA may be, NECC is a place of learning. Fiona Edwards said the MSA will primarily be looking to encourage students academically. Like Newman, Edwards also works in the Career Planning & Advising Center and serves as a Designated School Official for international students.

“The MSA isn’t just geared toward being a safe space for people of different cultures,” said Edwards. “It’s a retentional tool for the student population. Statistics show that students are more inclined to stay on campus if they have some sort of extracurricular activity to do.”

Extracurricular activities generally make students feel more connected with their school and to the college experience in general. In a survey conducted by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, 91% of respondents indicated that “participation in extracurricular activities positively contributed to their college experience.” In addition, most students who attended extracurricular activities rated their interactions with other students highly.

Edwards hopes that participation in the MSA will help prepare students for a career in their chosen field by incorporating the college’s Core Academic Skills. “Public speaking, initiatives in the community, the ability to network, the skills they will take out into their field — these will help them put these into practice.”
It’s important to note that the idea of multiculturalism is also about celebrating different ways of life. As part of this, the MSA plans to hold and attend plenty of events both on-campus and elsewhere in the area.

Currently, the off-campus events include a first generation student summit at Wellesley College that happened on March 7 and an upcoming lunch with the Haverhill Kiwanis Club on April 7. Both of these events reflect the MSA’s mission to help students learn about networking and foster inclusivity.

Newman says some of the events being considered include potluck dinners, a flag day and possibly an on-campus parade.

“I’m a movie person, so I’m hoping for a cultural movie night,” she said.
According to CPAC counselor and MSA coordinator Ana Fraden, one of the most exciting things about the MSA is its desire to collaborate with other student organizations. “We’ve been asked to collaborate with the Gay/Straight Alliance on its pride parade, and … we’re currently helping the Community Outreach Group with their bake sale,” she said. Since the values and mission statement of the MSA and many other clubs coincide, Fraden said she sees an immense amount of opportunity.

As of press time, the MSA coordinators have not yet pinned down the date of the next meeting. Students who are interested in more information on the MSA can contact Fiona Edwards at fedwards@necc.mass.edu, Courtney Newman at cnewman@necc.mass.edu or Ana Fraden at afraden@necc.mass.edu to be added to the email list.

Newman encouraged students who might be afraid to branch out to at least give the MSA a try.

“Just come once,” she said. “It’s not going to hurt anything, and if you stay, it looks great on your resume.”

Sports

Boston Red Sox

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The Boston Red Sox are on the verge of another season, and there are still plenty of questions that need answering as spring training wraps up and the season begins. The offense is expected to outproduce last year’s team by leaps and bounds and could even be the highest scoring offense in the league if things go well. But Boston has an inexperienced (albeit fantastically talented) leadoff hitter in Mookie Betts. Several “wait and see”-type players (Hanley Ramirez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia and Pablo Sandoval, among others) are expected to make big contributions this year. And the pitching, from the starting rotation to the end of the bullpen, is one big question mark.

Mookie Betts is an intriguing player. As a fifth-round pick in the 2011 Amateur Draft, Betts rocketed through the minor league system. Although he is a natural second baseman, he proved versatile enough to play pretty much every position on the field. And he proved he could hit.

Betts made his MLB debut on June 29, 2014 against the New York Yankees. He came up and played 52 games for Boston last year, and those games turned out to be his first interview for the big league club.

He hit .291 with five home runs and 19 RBI in his 52 games, which is very impressive for a 21-year old kid fresh out of the minors. But he really showed his value in the field. Betts made a seamless transition to centerfield and actually had a .989 fielding percentage in the outfield in 2014.

The solid performance earned him a spring training invitation in 2015. In 17 games this spring, Betts hit an eye-popping .451 with eight doubles, two triples and two home runs, as well as only six strikeouts. He showed off his speed with seven stolen bases and an improbable inside-the-park home run. All the tools a good leadoff hitter needs to have.

But the fact remains that he is a 22-year old rookie hitting leadoff for one of the marquee franchises in baseball. While most fully expect him to be able to handle the pressure, it is uncertain for now how he will respond.

Provided Betts does even an adequate job in the leadoff spot, there is still some uncertainty about hitters two through nine in the lineup. While these are all great players, there are legitimate questions about each player individually. Pedroia is coming back from offseason wrist surgery and a poor statistical season in 2014. Ortiz is 39 years old. Ramirez and Sandoval, the new additions to the team, have some questions about availability and durability. Mike Napoli looked great this spring after getting serious sleep-apnea surgery, but he was also hurt for a stretch last year. Xander Bogaerts, last year’s “can’t miss” prospect, will try to rebound in 2015 after “missing” for the most part in his rookie year.

Which brings us to pitching. Last year’s trade deadline saw the Red Sox trade away their top two starters, Jon Lester and John Lackey. That leaves perennial number-three starter Clay Buchholtz as the front of the rotation guy, which is unnerving for any Red Sox fan. There is a ton of new talent on the team, with three of the remaining four starters coming in from new teams. Rick Porcello came from the Detroit Tigers, Wade Miley from Arizona and Justin Masterson coming from Cleveland. The entire starting five is full of guys with plenty of potential, but potential might not be enough if you’re trying to win games now.

The same is the case for the bullpen. There are several new faces, and there are several players who have found themselves in different roles than on previous teams. Koji Uehara, last year’s closer, will start the season on the disabled list. This moves everyone up a spot, and puts more pressure on the bullpen as a whole. And if the bullpen can’t handle themselves, it will put more pressure on the rotation to be outstanding.

All this being said, it is a long season. There are 161 more games to be played, and a lot of things are going to happen. If everything goes right for this team, they will be one of the highest scoring teams in baseball and could win 92-95 games. If things don’t go so well, they could be looking at another 80 or so-win season.

And that just won’t cut it.

Opinion

Take Charge of Your Mental Health

 

Being a college student comes with stress and lots of it. Some people now how to handle their stress while others struggle with mental illnesses like anxiety and depression which can make it harder for them to cope with stress and makes something as simple as choosing a class to take or studying for a final extremely difficult. With the right medication and therapy, the struggles that come with having anxiety or depression can be relieved, although they will never disappear. Here are some steps students can take to cope with mental illness:

Breathe: The best thing to do when you are having a panic attack or are feeling stressed out is to breathe. Concentrate only on that by taking deep breaths and counting down from 10. When I have an anxiety attack, taking control of my breathing is key.

Realizing your triggers: Realizing what triggers your mental illness really helps prevent attacks or depression from happening. If you are someone for example who gets anxiety when they watch a horror film, to prevent yourself from having an anxiety attack it would make sense to realize that’s your trigger and to stop watching them. My triggers that set off my anxiety are caffeine and watching the news. I get decaf coffee each week and limit my watch of the news. Realizing these triggers has decreased my attacks.

Getting help: Coming to terms with your issues is hard, but in the long run it really helps you out. Many of us out there are born with a mental illness that run in our family– in my family over 70% have a cases of anxiety and depression. Many of us are on medicine and pills to help soothe the pain. If taking medication isn’t for you, there are many great therapists to talk to about your problems. Sometimes that all you need is someone to talk to.

According to the ADDA (Anxiety & Depression Association of America) more than 40 million adults over that age of 18 suffer from an anxiety disorder, 6 million people suffer from panic disorders and 7.7 million suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Having a mental illness doesn’t define you, and you are not alone. For more info or support, contact any of the following:

Crisis Call Center
800-273-8255 or text ANSWER to 839863
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
http://crisiscallcenter.org/crisisservices.html

Depression and Bipolar Support
800-273-TALK (8255)
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week

Home

National Hopeline Network
800-SUICIDE (784-2433)
800-442-HOPE (4673)
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
http://www.hopeline.com

Crisis Center and Hotlines Locator by State
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/getinvolved/locator

Suicide Prevention Services Depression Hotline
630-482-9696
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week

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Features, News

Spurk Building Renovation

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David Gingerella speaks about the NECC Spurk Building renovations.
David Gingerella speaks about the NECC Spurk Building renovations. | NECC Observer
The meeting for the plans for the renovation of the Spurk Building at NECC’s Haverhill campus took place on Tuesday, April 2 in Lecture Hall A. David Gingerella was the first to speak after being introduced by college president Lane Glenn. He went into detail about the history of how the renovations came onto NECC’s sphere of possibilities.

In August 2008, the state voted for a higher education bond issue for all state colleges. $550 million was designated to community colleges and NECC was allocated $31.7 million of that. The colleges were then expected to provide a list of priorities, which for NECC was $24 million for the construction of the Allied Health Center on the Lawrence campus. This left over $7.3 million for other priorities.

“One of the things we realizes was that money prioritized for the rest of the community colleges, one college got to do one project at a time, but at the urging of the All College Assembly, specifically the chair people, President Glenn and myself were asked to meet with and get this project elevated,” said Gingerella.

“And so we were able to arrange meetings with a DCAMM commissioners, the Department of Higher Education, and the State Finance Administration. Our request was well received, the president’s done a great job with making that we communicate with them on a regular basis. However, because several other community colleges had not even started their first project, we were basically told that our project would have to wait,” said Gingerella.

Because President Glenn stayed on top of communication with DCAMM, they received a call from the Governor’s office telling Glenn and Gingerella they would release the money despite other projects for other colleges had not yet started. So NECC was granted the fund to begin the second project.

“We got together and formed a group to start talking about what we would be able to do with 7.3 million dollars — it quickly became apparent that the money that would be available would only be able to do very limited work here at the college,” said Gingerella.

After discussing the options and preliminary plans the group decided they would be able to do bathroom accessibility changes, such as wheelchair access and doors opening properly. Other changes could also be applied like a sprinkler system throughout the building for fire safety, tempered air, which means increasing ventilation on the 2nd and 3rd floors and air conditioning for Lecture Hall A and the Chester W Hawrylciw Theater.

The windows would be kept and get modified glass, and the entrances to the classrooms would be widened.

Gingerella then addressed what really needs to be done to the Spurk building. It was basically a plan with the goal of making the building functional for the next 5 to 10 years.

“We’re trying to take the spaces that we have and make them as functional as possible. We would require all life safety accessibility issues, anybody that’s been in this building knows that in the winter it can be drafty and cold and in the summer it can be hot and some of the ceilings leak in some areas. This would fix all of that — we would continue to sprinkle the entire building and maximize the accessibility changes so it would be much easier for individuals that are handicapped. The biggest thing is we would renovate and complete all the bathrooms,” said Gingerella.

This plan would entail the bathrooms being gutted and replaced.

That is the funding that is available right now, which is more than the initial $7.3 million leftover from the first project. Architect Alex Adkins is the project manager of DiMella Shaffer Architects in Boston. Adkins was hired through his firm being approved by the designer selection board to be a house doctor for DCAMM.

“We are qualified and have done a lot of work with academic buildings throughout the commonwealth, and we’re basically on call for quick response to project needs. We were contacted last summer by DCAMM to provide a study of the Spurk Building,” said Adkins.

Over September until December, the study was looked over with the billing committee and looked into what the most urgent needs of building were and what changes were required by code. The first obvious need for change was air quality and ventilation in the building, accessibility to entrances of the building, accessibility to classrooms, accessibility to restrooms and fire safety.

“Those three categories became the priority of investigation. Even just to do those was pushing us above the original 5 million dollar budget, we were successful in getting a lot more money to do that sort of baseline improvements. We since then explored that further in a lot more detail to bring us here today and today is the first time that we’re able to share with you what we anticipate happening,” said Adkins.

Adkins presented the floors plans for the renovations. Intense areas of work were outlined in green on the floor plans, which made it clear the building could not have people or classes going on with construction.

“The other thing we looked at initially was can we do this in 2 sections — could we maintain operation in half the building and do construction on the other half and a few things of grave concern emerged after setting that, a) it would extend the construction period and b) everyone was gonna have to move at least once and c) it would be noisy.” said Adkins. The idea to split construction in half was nixed, so the only viable solution would be to vacate the entire building during construction. The expected time for construction is June to June, so about 12 months. NECC is now looking into what is called “swing space,” which is basically where classes and offices would temporarily move to during construction.

A staff only bathroom and a gender neutral bathroom are in the renovation plans as well. Accessible entrance ramps will be added to the north, west and south entrances, and new airlocks which means the doors won’t open directly to outside. There will be an outside door and an interior door to stop drafts from coming inside in the winter.

In Lecture Hall A, the front of the room is going to be raised to be aligned with the first row of seating, and a small ramp will be installed to provide wheelchair accessibility to the room. The ceiling will also be redone in Lecture Hall A to allow for air conditioning and sprinklers, all new seating and work on the doors.
In the Chester W Hawrylciw Theater, renovations are also taking place. The stage is being rebuilt, new ramp and lift installed making both the back of the house and front of the house accessible by wheelchair. A back row of seating is being added to compensate for the loss of the front row.

“The entire third floor extend out beyond the face of the building, which is why the floors in many areas are cold, so we are going to apply insulation to the exterior with a metal covering so there will be some small changes to the exterior,” said Adkins.

The faculty offices will also undergo minor modifications. The offices will lose about 6 inches due to the new insulated wall being built, and there will be no more bookshelves beneath the windowsills. The offices will also get all new windows.

“In the end its going to be minor changes physically to the rooms but there will be a big difference in the comfort level and usability in all the spaces,” said Adkins.

Gingerella spoke again after Adkins, about where possible swing spaces could go. Ideas were presented such as moving the computer lab in the B Building and student lab of Bentley Library to the second floor, using parts of the Technology Center as offices or classrooms or some combination of the two, using the daycare center on campus as classrooms or offices and using parts of the student lounge in the B Building as classrooms. Other ideas like using the Riverwalk campus classrooms and the implementation of express shuttle buses were brought up and utilizing the lower level of Opportunity Works for classrooms or offices too.

None of these swing spaces have been finalized or determined — these were simply ideas for where everyone can go once renovations start.

After the presentation, attendees got the opportunity to ask questions. Some raised concerns over locking mechanisms on classrooms doors, which is a constant struggle between public safety and fire safety codes. Another idea was the potential for more online courses if there are not enough classrooms in the swing spaces to compensate for the amount of classes that will need to relocate.

Amy Callahan, Department Chair of the Journalism/Communication said, “this is more of a statement rather than a question, but I would like to put in a bid that the faculty offices remain close to where the classroom space will be so that the faculty can continue to do their work, keeping in touch with students where they can find a way to.

Campus Life

Bacon Board Gamers Club

 

The Bacon Board Gamers club has been a staple at NECC since 2011. The club was thought up by students in Mike Cross’ chemistry class at the time when one student, David Bowie, got serious and took the reins to make the club a prominent one at the school.

“My students really enjoyed the games I used in class to demonstrate various chemical principles and they wanted a chance to play them more often,” said Cross, who serves as the Bacon Board Gamers’ advisor.

The start of the club was slow but the Bacon Board Gamers didn’t give up. They applied for the Campus Catalyst program and received funding, which they mostly used to buy new games.

“We have around 100 games in a cabinet in my office and I have another 250 or so at home,” said Cross.

With the number of games they have there is a diverse set to choose from. “I love to play Cards Against Humanity,” said club secretary Colby Patrie.

Another member, David, said his favorite game to play is Werewolves.

It’s not all about the games with the Bacon Board Gamers. Members also bring in many different foods to the bi-weekly meeting.

“Despite the name, you don’t actually have to eat bacon to be part of the club. One of our members is even a vegetarian,” Cross said.

There is one special food the club always likes to have on hand though.
“We always order pizza with bacon on it,” Patrie said. Even bacon-cheeseburger pizza has made it into the mix.

Since its inception, the club has won some awards and has been recognized by some big names. During their first showcase to the Campus Catalyst program they won “Most Likely to Succeed.” They have also been awarded the President’s Cup by Lane Glenn and NECC. Local media has not failed to see the club’s successes either. The Haverhill Gazette, Eagle Tribune, Newburyport Daily News, WBZ Radio and the Boston Globe have all had feature stories on the Board Gamers.

The best part about the Bacon Board Gamers is that anyone can join.

“The Bacon Board Gamers is open to everyone – students, faculty, staff, even the general public,” said Cross.

Cross went on to talk about the club’s success and when they meet.

“Attendance at the club varies, but we probably average about a dozen people at each meeting. We have meetings the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month at 6:30 pm in E260. We meet even during the summer and school breaks. We also hold an All-Day Gaming Marathon twice a year.”

To find out more about this club and its history, they have their own website at www.baconboardgamers.com

Features

NECC student visits out-of-state schools

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What does a student at NECC do when they want to transfer out-of-state? It is well known that NECC is a great gateway to 4 year colleges in state, but what about the students who want to branch out of New England and explore other parts of the country?

Kelsey Terry, a biology, psychology and philosophy major exemplifies dedication to her education and desire to leave New England for grand plans. She is the student representative of the Finance Committee and Executive Committee, president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, student trustee and will be graduating with high honors. She has been accepted to Stephens College, Columbia MO, Stetson University, DeLand FL, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne FL, and is waiting on University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, and University of California Davis, Davis CA.

Over winter break in January, Terry visited 3 schools that she extensively researched and planned to go see on a solo trip. The first leg of her journey began from Boston on January 4, she took a train from Boston to Orlando FL, which was 27 hours!

“Seeing the view of the country of the east coast was awesome. It’s just great being away from New England are for a little while,” said Terry. The first school visited was New College of Florida, in Sarasota, FL. “They are primarily the school that would give me the most money efficient package,” said Terry.

The college is small, with class sizes that have a maximum of 55 students per course, with only 850 total students. It is what is considered a ‘no common core’ college.

“They do not have GPAs, or A-F grading. They are all based off of narrative evaluations. They’re an honors college — they have honors diplomas given and when you’re admitted you have to commit to being an honor’s student. It has master’s level expectations, but extremely flexible,” said Terry.

The next part of Terry’s trip was from Orlando to Davis CA to the University of California Davis on a train for 80 hours, due to layovers in Washington DC and Chicago.

“I stayed there for 3 nights, I wanted a chance to mosey around the area, and visit the whole school and see all the apartments,” said Terry. She had a profound interest in this particular school due to her passion for animals, more specifically the animal biology major offered. She is more focused on animal biology as opposed to human biology, and University of California Davis has the best program for that field.
“They already have an animal biology as bachelor’s in science so I’m not focused on the general bio, I’m focused on animals,” said Terry. This year, University of California Davis was voted the number one veterinary school in the country surpassing Cornell University, for the first time making someone like Kelsey a very good candidate for veterinary school which is her dream.

The third leg of Terry’s journey was from Davis CA to Tucson AZ to visit the University of Arizona.

“I was there for two nights, and that school was beautiful. It’s massive, but Tucson is a beautiful area I’ve never seen more cactuses in my entire life. They’re a large university but they have the best for supports based off the large size,” said Terry. At both University of California Davis and University of Arizona the class sizes are a minimum of 150 people, which can prove challenging for someone coming from a smaller class sized community college like NECC. It is important to know things like that when applying to any four year college, and especially a school that it out of state. Terry took the time to visit these schools she showed a vested interest in to see how they may or may not fit into her goals academically.

Terry then went from Tucson back home to Boston with much more to consider for her upcoming spring break college visitation plans.

Over the spring break, Terry took a second solo journey visiting more out of state colleges. The first one she visited was Stephens College located in St. Louis, Mo.

“I left on Sunday, and this was by plane from Manchester NH to St. Louis Mo. From St. Louis an hour after arriving I went on the Missouri Express Shuttle to Columbia to see Stephens College. It is the most pet friendly school in the entire country, obviously that is what attracted me to them. There is only 850 students, they have an agreement with the University of Missouri and Columbia College, so I could take classes from those schools too,” said Terry.

Similarly, NECC has agreements with UMASS Lowell.

“I liked this school because of the small class sizes, they have a max of 10 people per course. They’re the school that contacts me the most, they seem like they want me,” said Terry. It suits students who do well in small classes, much like NECC’s smaller class sizes. “Downtown Columbia is beautiful, it’s like a piece of graph paper. Street attached to street, there’s stores connected to bakeries. It’s everything you need within a radius and walkable to the other two schools it’s affiliated with,” said Terry.

The next school on the list to visit was Stetson University in DeLand, FL. “This school was nice too because it was pet friendly, I want to bring my cat Mikey and my satin rabbit Snickers. I did a thing called shadow day, when you commit to going on campus, getting an information session, then you get a campus tour, after the tour you talk to your intended major advisors. I talked to the biology advisor, and I also talked to a psychology advisor too just in case,” said Terry. She got to opportunity to attend a bio II class.

“I was kind of shocked, because it varied from NECC’s version of bio II. NECC’s version focuses more on genetics and ecology/evolution, and I was surprised that at a university, there’s was like, focused more on anatomy and physiology,” said Terry. Interestingly, Stetson University is a private institution which may explain the difference in curriculum.

The next day Terry visited Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), which is in Melbourne, FL.

”This school I really liked because it is known to be a school that is worldly respected, especially when you’re trying to get into really competitive fields, like veterinary school. It is even more competitive than medical school,” said Terry.

On Terry’s visit to FIT, she attended what is called ‘Exploration Day’ which includes the information session, a tour where students are paired up with a tour guide, and where students talk to intended advisors for specific majors. After that, students get a tour of the appropriated centers of primary use.

“I got to see the microscope lab, and the biology labs I would be working in,” said Terry. Students are admitted directly to a major at FIT. “I don’t need to apply to biology and then apply again to pre-med, I would be admitted directly into biological science pre-med.

All coursework begins in the major so there’s none of this preparation stuff — all STEM students are involved in undergraduate projects right away, all have access to professors and funded research at the undergraduate level, so they purposely don’t have the graduate school interactive with the undergraduate school,” said Terry.
Based on the factor that half of the school is consisting of engineer majors, Terry is a little skeptical that she will like it, as that is not her niche.

Terry is also a tutor at the tutoring center at NECC and would have the opportunity to work in the tutoring center at Steven’s College and FIT, due to her experience with NECC.

“I like the fact of helping people in something that I think I academically excel in. I want to help improve graduation rates, I don’t want people to let the fear of math stop them from graduating,” said Terry.

“I would say, number one, look at the field you’re going into because you need to weigh out the particular field, how much you’re going to be making in reference to the value of what your education is. I know in my field, veterinary clinical pathology is not popular, so the fact that I am a female in a unique field I am going to most likely be hired easily. Having a 12 year degree isn’t bad, it’s in my favor. In general, I would say people need to start early, I mean, I was looking into these schools my 2nd year at NECC, which was two whole years prior to me even graduating.

“I think is some ways staying in state you’re only looking at financial, and I’m not looking at financial as a priority, I’m looking at what does the school offer me. Based off of a student preparation, I think you should make it a commitment to visit the schools — don’t just stay within the mass transfer agreement, it is a benefit to have all these schools open to us but you really should look outside what this world has to offer us,” said Terry.

Editorial

NECC Releases New Mission Statement

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In 2014 NECC began developing a new mission statement to replace the previous one which has been in place since 1992. The new mission statement has been finalized.

“At NECC, our mission is to educate and inspire our students to succeed. We provide a welcoming environment focused on teaching and learning—strongly committed to unlocking the potential within each student and empowering our diverse community of learners to meet their individual goals. We are a community college dedicated to creating vibrant and innovative opportunities that encourage excellence and enhance the cultural and economic life of our region.”

Mission statements are an important part of any college — they give prospective and current students and idea of the atmosphere and aims of the institution, and they allow for administration, faculty and staff to maintain perspective of the overarching goals of the college.

NECC is unique because it is a community college dedicated to cutting costs for students, especially in comparison with four year institutions, and it is unique because it has such strong diversity and focuses on creating a comfortable and accessible learning community.

The new mission statement is accurate to the stated goals of the college, and it will hopefully keep driving NECC to keep adapting and improving into the future. A mission statement is only as good as its delegates.