All posts by Observer Staff

News

Internships Impacting Career Decisions

 

The internship program for business, communications, and CIS majors started up this semester and has already been making an impact on those who chose to get involved. Three business transfer majors — Lucy Ouellette, Alison Posey and Adam Bergstrom — have found that the opportunities and experience gained through their internships has been well worth the work they’ve put into it.

Lucy Ouellette, a sophomore at NECC, is interning at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England in Bedford, N.H. The company actually has a relationship with NECC by distributing Coca Cola to the college which can be found in the Spurk building café.

“I loved it,” said Ouellette. “It’s one of those iconic companies, and I feel really blessed to work there.”

Ouellette is currently working on implementing a training guide.

“So far I’ve made two PowerPoints that go over the training resources available for the employees, as well as an easy-access document for the recommended training that brings them straight to the training. A lot of the training helps them with great skills that can help them with their everyday sales, such as time management, listening, thinking styles, handling objections and probing for gaps, to name a few examples,” she said. Later on in the semester, she will get to do the presentation in front of several managers from the Coca Cola Company. She will be showing them what she’s come up with and how the managers can implement it.

“I’m excited but nervous,” she said.

When there’s not a main project for Ouellette to be working on, she’ll help other employees with little projects. She has been able to gain more hands-on experience based on what she learned in the internship class, and has been able to see the company work as a team. The internship has given her inspiration for what she may want to do for a career in the future.

“It’s great working for a company that cares about the environment and recycling,” she said. Ouellette herself owns a pair of sneakers made of Coca-Cola bottles, personally displaying the beneficial ways Coca-Cola uses recycling.

“Everyone who works there is happy to be there,” she said. “It’s the internship of a lifetime.”

Alison Posey, a sophomore at NECC, started out at a four-year college in South Carolina but came back for financial reasons. It was when she started going to NECC that she realized she wanted to do accounting.

This semester she is interning at Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico, an accounting firm in Tewksbury, Mass. She had been looking for an internship for over a year, and reaching out to several different companies, but never was able to find an opening. In one of her accounting classes, Ashley Moore, the coordinator of the internship program, came in and discussed the internships available for Business majors.

Posey said she was “very happy” when presented with the opportunity to intern at this firm.

“I would definitely use the word ‘impressed’,” said Posey when describing her first impression of the firm. “They treat their employees very well.”

Posey’s main responsibilities are working in the audit department. Accountants in the department will list tasks they need completed and it’s her job to complete them. An example of a task she may have would be verifying if a customer was billed to make sure a company is receiving money.

One of the things Posey appreciates about her internship is that there’s good communication in the department, and a lot of people who she can reach out to if she gets stuck with something.

Posey sits diagonally from the President of Strategic Talent, a firm affiliated with MFA, in the office. “What she does seems so interesting, and I’ve been thinking about reaching out to her,” she said. Posey hopes to take advantage of the connections and networking that the internship is providing her with to help her as she works on finding the right career for her.

“My favorite part is being exposed to a professional business environment,” said Posey. “It’s awesome to actually see what a real job is like and apply skills I learned in the classroom in the work environment.”

Although she’s enjoyed the experience at the firm, Posey said, “There’s so many ways to go in accounting and I want to explore more in accounting than just audit.” The internship has still been an opportunity that will help her to build her path to the right career.

From her experience so far at the internship, Posey has come up with two possible options for career paths. The first is private accounting, which would involve working for one specific company and handling their accounting. The second is human resources. “I think that’s why I’m naturally curious about the President of Strategic Talent,” she said. “As a people person, I see myself being able to hire people best fit for a position.”

Adam Bergstrom, also a sophomore at NECC, is interning at MFA as well. Originally, he wanted to pursue music when he came to NECC. He decided to switch to business transfer and ended up loving his first accounting class. He still plays in a band and pursues music on the side while he’s in college.

Last semester, Bergstrom took an accounting class. One particular day, he was planning on inquiring about internship opportunities, when his professor pulled him aside and told him about an internship available at MFA. He jumped at the opportunity and was introduced to one of the company managers through email shortly after.

“I started researching the company like crazy,” Bergstrom said, once he had set up an interview.

Bergstrom came to his interview dressed in a suit and tie, and was surprised when he saw the HR woman wearing jeans. “I felt really nervous going into it, but the HR woman told me to sit back and relax,” he said. “I got offered coffee probably three times a day when I first started interning there.”

Bergstrom’s main job is to assist the tax staff. He works with a software called Caseware where clients’ information is stored. Although the work can sometimes be stressful, Bergstrom is dedicated to making sure he is doing his job efficiently.
“As tedious as the work may be sometimes, it’s time-saving for other employees,” said Bergstrom. Bergstrom also said that there is good communication in the workplace. “If I’m ever struggling with anything, I never hesitate to ask,” he said.

Interning at MFA has made Bergstrom feel even more confident in his career choice.
“It’s worth it. I love it, and I’d love to go back in the fall. I can definitely see myself working there for an entire career,” he said.

News

COG Holds Bake Sale for Animal Shelter

 

The NECC Community Outreach Group held a bake sale to raise money for the Northeast Animal Shelter on Wednesday, March 11, on the first floor of the Spurk Building.

The Community Outreach Group is a student run club that engages in local community service and carries out projects around social and environmental issues of concern.

Meredith Gunning, faculty advisor of the Community Outreach Group, said every semester the group holds different events. The type of events they choose to do “depends upon the sort of local non-profit organizations or projects the students want to be involved in for aiding the surrounding community,” said Gunning.

“The club voted on helping to raise funds for The Northeast Animal Shelter because it is a non-kill site which does a lot of good work with providing shelter and homes for various animals,” said Gunning.

Northeast Animal Shelter is one of New England’s largest non-profit, no-kill animal shelters located in Salem, Mass.

According to their website, “Northeast Animal Shelter receives no local, state or federal funding and is entirely dependent on contributions from the public to cover its annual operating budget.”

Jen Adams, Volunteer and Community Relations Coordinator at Northeast Animal Shelter, said, “The key to our success rests in people who give their time to help animals find homes. Something as simple as a bake sale can help raise money for animals in need.”

Adams said the shelter received fifty puppies from Georgia this week alone. These puppies would have otherwise been euthanized.

Nicholas Stuart, NECC general studies major and Community Outreach Group member said, “We chose to support Northeast Animal Shelter for our bake sale because the values of the organization were parallel to our members’ values. We hope that by having the bake sale we are able to raise funds to improve the quality of life for the animals they harbor.”

Stuart is a proud member of Community Outreach and said being a part of it is important to him because “not only does it help the community, but it also helps show the charitable qualities of the NECC students.”

News

Mobile Hygiene

 

By the time young adults get to college, chances are they have developed proper hygienic and hand washing habits. However, it may be their most precious belonging that is spreading disease from one to student to the next.

Mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, may harbor more bacteria than a public toilet seat.

A study featured on ABC News concluded that more than half the mobile phones tested had traces of fecal matter and salmonella.

Foodborne bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli can be easily transferred to a touch screen when following recipes online.

“That is disgusting,” said UMass graduate Tony Morelli. “When I think about how many meals I have cooked and I was texting and swiping the screen the whole time. . .gross!”

Mobile phones are especially dangerous when it comes to infectious disease because they are held against the face. If shared with others, phones could be contaminated with anything from chicken pox to conjunctivitis (an eye disease) or even head lice.

“I can’t believe I let my 2-year-old niece play with my phone!” said NECC student Melissa Dow. “She puts it in her mouth all the time, and I always blame the daycare when she gets sick.”

According to Women’s Health Magazine, cleaning phones and cases once a week can help reduce the amount of bacteria. Most manufacturers sell wipes designed for their own devices. However, any alcohol-free disinfectant wipe should do the trick.

Features

Meet Rowan Brick

 

When many people think of gender, they tend to see it as a rather black-and-white issue; to them, there are only men and women. For Rowan Brick, however, things are more complex.

“It’s definitely really complicated,” he said. “I’ve always experienced dysphoria … but I’ve never attached it to my gender until recently. It wasn’t until the last seven months that I’ve identified as fully masculine.”

Brick identifies as transmasculine — he was designated female at birth, but identifies with masculinity.

To people who have only ever thought of gender as it corresponds to the “binary” — that is, the idea that gender is split between masculinity and femininity — these kind of terms can seem impenetrable. Words like “genderqueer,” which reflects a rejection of the binary, have only come into prominence in the last few years; thus, many disregard people’s gender identities as strange, unimportant, and as “exceptions to the rule.”

Brick, 19, is a Psychology major — and recognizes the danger of people’s refusal to accept others for who they are. As part of a project for his class, he researched correlational studies on attitudes within the LGBTQIAAP+ community. What he discovered was sobering: in Canada, one study found that the suicide rates among bisexual women were much higher than those among straight and gay women.

While this may not directly relate to the idea of gender, it does hint at a startling fact about our society: people often angrily expect others to “make up their minds” rather than be multiple things at once — something that people with non-conforming gender experience all the time.

Brick has experienced a difficult time coming out to many people — as part of this, his recent adoption of the name “Rowan” has not extended to everyone he knows quite yet.

“The name is definitely a recent thing,” he said. “I’m not out at home and probably never will be … I’ve been very selective about who I come out to, but I don’t fear violence here as much as I would in a place like Tennessee.”

Violence and discrimination are major problems in the lives of trans people; last year, on Dec. 28, 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn took her life; on Feb. 15 of this year, Zander Mahaffey, just 15 years old, committed suicide. Both teenagers’ gender identities were rejected and stigmatized by their families; in both cases, support from loved ones might have saved their lives.

Cases like these are tragic, but have provided the most worldwide attention for the community in history.

“It’s a difficult battle. This is the highest visibility we’ve ever had, but we need more,” said Brick.

For those interested in finding out more about these issues, Brick said, one has to be careful to ask the right questions. Many times, people get so caught up in their curiosity that they forget that they’re speaking to a human being — with feelings just like anyone else, and a right to reasonable privacy.

“There are always questions you should never ask, like asking a trans person how much they hate themselves or what their genitals are,” he said. “It’s dehumanizing.”

For LGBTQIAAP+ students at NECC, it’s important to note that a safe space is never too far away. Brick is a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance at the school, which provides a space for people of all sexualities and gender identities.

GSA student president Kelly Schwing said, “Rowan is a beautiful soul. Nothing he could say about who he loves or how he loves could change that. We’ve grown really close and knowing that he’s happy with himself and listening to him talk about his partner, Charlie, is one of my favorite things. The smile and the excitement beaming from him is amazing. It’s the kind of feeling you want everyone to have on their faces all the time.”

Brick said that Professor Kristi Arford’s “Sex and Gender” class can also be a wonderful resource for NECC students both familiar and unfamiliar with more complex gender ideas. Arford is also the faculty adviser for the GSA.

“Professor Arford knows what she’s talking about,” he said. “A lot of the time you have the chance to talk about your own experiences, and most of the students there are people who are interested in taking it. Students who will be vocally ignorant are a vast minority.”

Thankfully, Brick’s support is not just limited to within the walls of NECC — as previously mentioned, his datefriend, Charlie Morris, has been wonderfully supportive.

“Rowan and I knew each other were queer more or less as long as we knew each other, long before we were in a relationship,” said Morris. “We came out to each other as nonbinary at essentially the same time … He didn’t come out as transmasculine until later but, of course, if Rowan’s more boy than girl then good for him. We went through a list of names trying to find him one he liked before he independently found and selected ‘Rowan.’ Of course I support Rowan in however he identifies.”

Morris said that communication can be difficult with society’s current understanding of gender; he and Rowan often have to refer to themselves differently depending on who they’re talking to.

“Unfortunately we live in a world which barely acknowledges the transgender community, let alone the nonbinary one. I refer to Rowan with his given name around my parents as well. It’s a pain and it’s wrong, but for the time it’s what has to happen.

“When I visited him, I used traditionally feminine pronouns and his given name for his parents’ sake. He’s talked about transitioning eventually, but the problem always cycles back to his family; they seem like perfectly nice people, which is what makes it so hard.”

Despite the difficulties, Brick continues to work hard and find success — he’s currently an honors student at NECC. After finishing here, he hopes to transfer to a four-year school to get a degree in psychology. After that, he said, he wants to use his knowledge and experience with sexuality and gender in a career — hopefully working as a psychotherapist with teenagers and young adults in the LGBTQIAAP+ community.

Considering this, Schwing said that support is a critical part of any LGBTQIAAP+ person’s success. “The best thing we as loved ones can do is accept people as they identify. They are the ones waking up every morning in their bodies, with their thoughts. We have to let them know we support them. As long as their hearts are happy and their souls can flourish, you should be able to set aside whatever ‘societal norm’ (you currently believe), because you do that for people you care about. You let them be happy.”

Arts and Entertainment

NECC Music Program

 

By Sarah Tiso

The Music Department at NECC is a small yet strong department that is searching for a voice and proper space on campus. With countless problems in this program, it can seem that this department doesn’t supply a good education for a music students. However, this program is a stepping stone for young musicians that want to go on and make a career out of music.

Dr. Langer, the Music Department Director, said, “What I want to see happen is that people in the college and the community see that we have an active and engaging program.”

Ingrid Marstaller, 74, attended NECC as a music major from 2006 to 2012, and is now a music theory, aural skills and piano tutor at NECC. She said, “The music department has excellent teachers but is being undermined by the administration through pay cuts and other restrictions. Both Dr. Langer and Professor Dietrich, a piano instructor, work very hard to maintain the quality of instruction.”

Lindsey Michaud, a 20 year old music major, said NECC offers “four semesters of theory, aural skills, applied music, and more. Other community colleges only offer a couple of music classes, not enough to complete a degree. These classes are also transferable to lots of state schools.”

It isn’t the program that needs expansion — music majors need the room to play and sing comfortably, along with proper equipment.

“My goal has been to produce the best quality program that we can possibly offer with what we have. Students that come here to major in music should be able to transfer successfully to any four-year institution they choose because they have been well prepared,” said Langer.

Michaud is observing the conditions of the department as a student, and said, “The pianos are incredibly out of tune which is due to the lack of climate control in these rooms. The air is dry, breathing in to play an instrument or sing dries your throat.”

Marstaller says, “We have to (ask) for money to replace defective keyboards and benches, getting pianos tuned and keeping computers running. Our hardware is outdated and
several of the practice room pianos don’t always work.”

The classroom TC220 is all the department has for ensemble rehearsals. Michaud said, “The walls and ceiling are not constructed with the proper acoustics so the sound we produce is
pretty crappy honestly. We also do not have a proper performance hall or auditorium.”

Feelings of being isolated from the rest of the school is a consistent tone in this department as well. Marstaller said, “It has always seemed to me that the music department was an afterthought and not considered important.”

“Being a music student, I don’t feel included as much as students of different majors,” said Michaud. “Some of the faculty on campus even seem to not take us seriously because we choose to major in music. If we had a performing arts center, I think people would recognize us more and realize that we are just as important as any other student.”

Langer says that students “often have to take more classes and are expected to be active as students as well as developing and performing musicians both individually and within groups.”

Michaud said, “I am so glad to have actually been able to be a music student, taking 6 or more music courses each semester, and receive a fantastic education at an affordable cost.”

Funding is an issue for all the departments on campus, but Marstaller said it’s more than that. “I would like to see the college administration support the music program both financially and by promoting it throughout the campus as well as in the advertising. Flyers don’t usually even mention that it exists.”

Michaud said that the department needs high schools to know about the department.

“None of us knew about this program before deciding to go to NECC. I didn’t know until browsing through a course catalog. By the time I graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in music education, I will only have about $15,000 in loans to pay off. Anyone who went to a 4 year university right away is probably looking at over $80,000 they will have to pay off. That is what this program has done for me.”

Sports

NECC Knights Start Spring Season

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The Knights’ baseball team went down to Florida for spring break to get an early start to their season, and they made the most of it. NECC went 9-2 during the trip behind some great pitching and some even better hitting. The Knights played five doubleheaders, with one scrimmage against a junior varsity squad early in the year.
In their first 11 games of 2015, the Knights are hitting .353 and have scored an impressive 89 runs. On the defensive side, pitchers Ryan McAuliffe and Zarif Pajazetovic each notched two wins.

The Knights opened the season with a solid 5-3 win over Itasca Community College of Grand Rapids, Minn. in the first game of a doubleheader. NECC knocked eight base hits and mustered a four-run fifth inning to seal the win. Several players recorded multiple hits, including shortstop Ryley Warnock, designated hitter Ellido Reyes and first baseman Jacob Rayner. Second baseman McDaniel Singleton knocked a huge two-run double in the win.

Ryan McAuliffe notched his first win of the season with a three-run complete game. He gave up three hits, two walks and struck out five batters in his seven innings of work.

The Knights came right back and swept the doubleheader with a convincing 11-4 win. Singleton had two hits, stole two bases and scored three runs. Designated hitter Michael Crisostomo knocked in three runs and scored two more. Third baseman Cole Josselyn also stole two bases and recorded two RBI. NECC hit .400 as a team in the second game.

Pajazetovic recorded the win for the Knights. He pitched four and two-thirds innings, gave up four hits, four runs (only one of them earned) and struck out three.

The Knights’ next game was against the JV squad of Utica (N.Y.). As expected, NECC ran right through them, winning 14-7. Outfielder Harrison Smoske led the way with a three for five performance that included a triple, a stolen base and three RBIs. Crisostomo stole two more bases and knocked in two more runs. Singleton also had two RBIs and went three for four.

Jerry Hernandez went just three innings and gave up four runs on four hits. He also walked four and struck out four. Tyler Favaloro came in and got the win after going two and two-thirds innings of one-hit, shutout baseball.

The Knights’ next opponent was Vermilion Community College of Ely, Minn. NECC made easy work of them, outscoring them 20-3 over the two games. Smoske and Colby Maiola each drove in three runs over the two games. Maiola also stole three bases, while Smoske stole four.

Robert Barry got the win in the first game. He went six innings and gave up only one run on three hits while striking out seven. Gianni Esposito took the second game and gave up one run on seven hits with seven strikeouts in four innings of work.

The only two losses of the season came in the next doubleheader. The Knights faced off with Sussex County Community College of Newton, N.J., and it wasn’t pretty. The Knights lost the first game 17-5, then came back with a slightly more acceptable (but still unfortunate) 13-11 loss. Warnock and Reyes each recorded four RBIs over the two games.

Hernandez and Ryan Decker were the two pitchers who got beat up in the first game. Hernandez gave up seven runs in just over two innings, while Decker gave up eight runs in just over one. It was Favaloro who got roughed up in the second game, giving up 10 runs in two and one-third innings.

The Knights bounced back in their next series against Muscatine Community College of Muscatine, Iowa. NECC took both games, winning 5-4 in the first game and 3-2 in the second. Smoske, Singleton and Colby Ingraham each recorded two hits in the first win. Rayner had an RBI in each of the games, while Maiola stole a base in each game.

Pajazetovic threw a complete game in the first matchup, giving up four runs on eight hits in seven innings. McAuliffe came out and threw another complete game in the second outing, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out eight in seven innings.

The final doubleheader of the Florida trip came on Friday, March 20. In the first game, the Knights beat Burlington County College of Pemberton, N.J. 3-2. In the second game, NECC defeated Schenectady County Community College of Schenectady, N.Y. by a score of 15-4. Ingraham and Josselyn were the two run-producers in the first game, each driving in one run. Meanwhile, it was Reyes, Singleton and Rayner who led the way in the second game. Reyes went four for five with four RBIs and three runs scored. Singleton went three for five with three RBIs and two runs scored. Rayner went three for three with two RBIs and one run scored.

Esposito got the win in the first game after coming in in relief of Anthony Dally and giving up no runs on no hits over three innings. In the second game, Barry pitched three innings and gave up three runs on six hits to earn the victory.

The Knights’ first game back up north is a road game against Community College of Rhode Island today at 3:30 p.m. The Knights will then continue their way up the coast and play their first home game on Saturday, March 28 at 11 a.m. The game will be played at the Haverhill Stadium.

Sports

NECC Snow Plans For Spring Season

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With the spring sports season ready to get underway within the next two weeks, NECC is trying to find a way to cope with all the snow that still blankets all the playing fields. While the baseball team has their yearly trip to Florida for the start of their season, they will still return to a snow-covered diamond. The softball and track team face the same dilemma.

Athletic Director Sue MacAvoy has been looking for places to play in the meantime.
“We’ve been talking to some places around here with turf fields, like Haverhill Stadium,” she said. “Baseball and softball have been practicing there a bit, with track running around the perimeter.”

But Haverhill Stadium has one of the very few turf fields in the area, making it hard to find time to get out there.

“Every school around wants to practice and play out there,” MacAvoy said. “It’s just hard to find times that work for everybody.”

MacAvoy estimates that the fields on the Haverhill campus won’t be ready until at least mid-April, especially with the snowfall this past weekend. In the meantime, the Knights’ baseball team has one game scheduled at Haverhill Stadium, against Bunker Hill Community College on Saturday, March 28.

The weather has certainly played a part in the limited numbers for the track program so far, making it hard to new head coach Beau Couture to get a feel for his team.

The softball team has been throwing the ball around in the gym on campus for the most part. They’ve been practicing since about January, and have been outside at Haverhill Stadium four times. The girls are just itching to get out on the field, and they’ve ramped up their practices to five days a week. The Knights are scheduled to begin their season on Saturday, March 28 against NHTI. The game is scheduled to be played on the Haverhill campus, but there is a possibility that it will be moved to NHTI’s home field in Concord.

This will be the first season that softball will be a full varsity sport at NECC.

So while the snow plows try to move some of the snow off the track to help get the weight off it, MacAvoy will continue to look for ways to get her teams out onto the field for the spring sports season.

Campus Life, Lawrence

Winterfest

 

With the accumulation of snow at the Lawrence campus over this semester, a lot of events had to be cancelled along with the school days, Winterfest being one of them.

Winterfest went on without a hitch on the Haverhill campus, but on the day that it was suppose to take place on the Lawrence campus, NECC and New England were walloped with one of many snow storms this year. The Student Engagement Center, along with the Student Senate, wanted the event to still take place, so they worked together to get the day rescheduled.

Ari Chicklis, program assistant, said, “I wanted the event to happen, I like the student engagement. I like how it brings people together therefore it needed to happen.”

At the event, just like in Haverhill, they had a nacho bar and a hot chocolate bar.
There were lots of games to play where students could win prizes and just have a good time and get to know other students. They also had name art, where artists would paint their names using paint and shapes as opposed to directly just painting a letter.

Rebecca Tienhaara, a high school student who is dually enrolled here at NECC, said, “Its awesome there is a bunch of food and games. Plus I get to talk to a few new friends.”

Tienharra said, “I love Winterfest. It is an awesome and free spirited event.”
One of the popular events at the Lawrence Winterfest was the Wii system set up to play winter games.

Joe Torres, a nursing student who also works in the gym at the Sports and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus really enjoys helping out.
Torres said, “I really enjoy promoting fitness and exercise. I believe in trying to help everyone stay healthy.”

News

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Accommodations at NECC

 

Editor’s note: corrections have been applied to original print story.

Accessibility is important in education to guarantee all students have equal opportunities to learn. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services at NECC strives to do just that — ensure that all students are comfortable and have what they need to succeed.

Deb McKinney is the manager for deaf and hard of hearing services at NECC.

“[We provide] communications access for deaf and hard of hearing students and staff [and faculty],” she signed.

The department works to provide interpreters for “classes, meetings, activities, student center, faculty one on one with students, for tutoring, supplemental instruction — basically all services.”

The department also works with Learning Accommodations, Enrollment Services and CPAC to make sure there’s smooth transitions and helps set up note takers for deaf students and extended testing times if they need it.

“It’s hard to take notes and watch the interpreter at the same time,” signed McKinney.

One type of communication accommodation the program provides, along with interpreters, is CART or Communication Access Realtime Translation. CART allows for all dialogue at events to be typed so that deaf and hard of hearing attendees can know what is being said at the event.

“[We] provided CART for the first time at graduation services [last] year,” signed McKinney.

“Most things are very positive,” signed McKinney. “I’m in my seventh year — there’s more faculty awareness, accessibility.”

NECC also has a class to teach English to deaf and hard of hearing students.

A separate department, Learning Accommodations, also works to provide other types of communication accommodation, including JAWS, or Job Access with Speech, which is a program that allows students with vision loss or blind students to “listen to descriptions about the environment and use it to visually hear what’s going on.”

An area of improvement for NECC would be providing more closed captioning — there’s not enough throughout the campus.

Closed captioning allows for deaf and hard of hearing students to read the audio in a video, and it needs to be made more widely available in classes, class activities, and even more showing small video at events like convocation.

“Communication access as a whole is pretty good,” signed McKinney. “It’s nice here — it’s a community college … there’s support, but it takes a while to educate people. For a small community, there’s a lot of people.”

Deb McKinney is on several committees at NECC working for accommodations and access including the ADA Access Committee, Access media committee, Diversity and Cultural Committee, Academic Goal Team 3 and the Student Advisory Committee.

Dena Riccio-Enis is in charge of interpreting and communication access services. She makes sure interpreters are available and she assigns and schedules them.

Riccio-Enis compiles information on how to work with interpreters for faculty, staff and students, “information on how to work with interpreters, especially in a college environment.”

“Along with that packet, I email faculty and let them know they’re going to have a learning accommodation student,” said Riccio-Enis.

There are 10 to 15 freelance interpreters contracted per semester at NECC, depending on the semester.

Another program that focus on deaf services at NECC include Gallaudet University Regional Center (GURC) which states on their website that “Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English.”

GURC also strives to educate parents of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Riccio-Enis and McKinney also ensure that deaf and hard of hearing students can get communications access for community events and clubs on campus.

“We automatically get interpreters for all college assemblies, presidents meetings, convocation, graduation, awards night and professional development days,” signed McKinney.

If a club is hosting a meeting or event, they are required to post a communication accommodation notice on the bottom of their fliers. If a deaf or hard of hearing students contacts the host of the event, it is the host’s responsibility to ensure there is an interpreter present at the meeting.

The link to request interpreting sevices can be found at bit.ly/1vsVEUU by clicking the logo displayed.

(necc.mass.edu/academics/support-services/learning-accommodations/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-services/interpreting-services/ )

The communication accommodations department also does awareness training and presentations, and workshops on deaf culture and communication access.

For more information, contact Deb McKinney at dmckinney@necc.mass.edu, or Dena Riccio-Enis at driccioenis@necc.mass.edu

Campus Life

NECC Parking Lot

 

By Alex Dehullu

The NECC parking lot has seen better days. Students who had to pay for their parking pass are losing several parking spots because of excess snow. There has been minimal snowfall in the past two weeks, but the parking lots are still dealing with the after effects of the multiple large snowstorms that New England has recently suffered.

Michael Barry, a West Newbury resident, drives to his class every day and is not a fan of what the parking lot has come to.

“There are no lines anymore — people form their own spots with way too much room between cars. I can’t fit my truck into half of the spots because the cars on both sides left so little room in between,” said Barry.

This problem is shared by many other NECC students, and it forces students to park farther and farther away from the school.

In the summer, the long walk wouldn’t be too bad, but due to the unbelievable amount of snow, students must walk down the busy road with cars coming from both sides all the way to the sidewalk in front of C building.

Another NECC student, Andrew Wallace said, “I’m sick of this. If I show up to class anything but early I have to walk so far through the icy street in the freezing cold while cars drive by less than three feet away. At some point the school is going to have to finish cleaning the parking lot up.”

It’s obvious that NECC has put in a lot of effort to cleaning up the parking lot. Students see maintenance workers constantly cleaning sidewalks and the plows do their best to clear the lot of snow after each storm.

There are a couple of moves NECC could make to improve the conditions of their parking lot. One NECC student, Branscome Dubina, suggested, “they should spend some of the money we paid to park there to have snow removed, maybe free up some space for more cars and a decent walk way.”

If there are any more major snowstorms, the conditions of the parking lot may continue to decline. It will be interesting to see how the school will respond.