All posts by Observer Staff

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NECC golf team prepares for nationals

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Due to COVID restrictions this past year, the golf program has not been able to get their season going.

There were a lot of question marks in early March and they weren’t even sure if playing matches this year was going to be possible.

The NECC Golf roster is small this year, with only four players attending matches. Three of those players happen to also play baseball at NECC.

Outfielder Nick White and right handed pitchers Todd Tringale and Tom Cattaneo are the three
athletes who will be playing both baseball and golf this spring.

White is a spark plug on the course, spinning his chip shots left and right like the great Phil Mickelson. The fourth member of the team is John Messina, a long driving machine witha great touch on the greens.

Home matches are usually played at Atkinson Country Club in New Hampshire, a beautiful course with
a par 3 9 hole and full 18.

Coach Dube has hopes of scheduling a few matchesbefore June, but there is nothing planned for now.

Since the season was cut short becauseof COVID, NECC receives an automatic bid to the NJCAA national championship in early June.

The championship is played during the week of June 7th-11th at Chautaqua Golf Club in upstate New York.

Editor’s Note: Thomas Cattaneo is a member of the baseball and golf teams at NECC. 

Features, Home Page Featured News

Students reflect on end of semester

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As the semester comes to a close and many students are preparing for their final exams or projects, many are feeling overwhelmed with everything they are having to manage, but at the same time, students are also feeling excited because a break is in their near future.

NECC student, Isa Grullon, is currently feeling very overwhelmed having to juggle obligations at college including her final projects between the two courses she is taking, alongside her personal obligations including her job working for Mass General Hospital in Boston. “It’s a very hectic time,” explained Grullon.

Grullon, who started out the semester taking three courses, became very overwhelmed very quickly because of the added pressures of keeping up with extra college work. As a result of this, Gullon made the difficult decision to withdraw from her Introduction to Film Studies course.

Although Grullon expressed her disappointment in making this decision, she explained that is was probably the right thing to do since the additional stress was taken off her plate. According to Grullon, “It was the right thing to do looking back because I would have just been too overwhelmed.”

Although Grullon did not reference any current final projects she is working on, she referenced a PowerPoint presentation she recently completed for her Public Relations course about the Merrimack Valley Gas Disaster. She explained she had a very difficult time getting through this project because of all the emotions that came rushing back after reflecting back upon her experiences in this disaster.

NECC student, Brendan Davies, on the other hand, is feeling the exact opposite. Davies currently feels very good about how he is doing in his courses.

He feels his grades are in a good place, too. “I am relieved the semester is ending,” explained Davies, when reflecting back upon his experiences this semester.

 

 

 

 

Opinion

FDA cracking down on Big Tobacco following menthol ruling

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Cigarettes, as well as other Tobacco products take lives every single day. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco products are responsible for 7 million deaths a year, and in the United States alone it’s around 480 thousand. If the pattern of smoking doesn’t change, then by 2030 the CDC predicts that tobacco related death counts will reach 8 million a year. As grim as this sounds, things may start changing.

This fight goes all the way back to 2009, when a U.S law passed called The 2009 Tobacco Control Act, which gave The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate the tobacco industry, also banned the sale of all flavored cigarettes. There was one exception, however. Menthol, which gives cigarettes an almost minty flavor to soothe the harsh flavor of regular cigarette smoke, was exempt from the ban due to there being major pushback from the tobacco industry, as well as there being a lack of evidence to ban menthol. The FDA has said they have attempted several times to get rid of menthol since 2009, but they have “faced pushback from Big Tobacco, members of Congress and competing political interests in both the Obama and Trump administrations.”

However, finally, April 29, 2021 the FDA has finally put the lid on an almost 12 year long debate, beginning to pursue banning the sale of menthol flavored tobacco products, citing multiple health concerns, such as there being an overwhelming number of young people and minority smokers primarily smoking mint flavored cigarettes, the 2020 study in which non-Hispanic Black high school students reported past 30-day cigar smoking at levels twice as high as their White counterparts, and the statistic stating that nearly 74% of youth aged 12-17 who use cigars say they smoke cigars because they come in flavors they enjoy.

One study conducted by Tobacco Control in 2020 suggest that banning menthol cigarettes in the U.S would lead  923,000 smokers to quit in the first 13 to 17 months after a ban were to go into effect.“These flavor standards would reduce cigarette and cigar initiation and use, reduce health disparities, and promote health equality by addressing a significant and disparate source of harm,” said the FDA in their initial news release, “Taken together, these policies will help save lives and improve the public health of our country as we confront the leading cause of preventable disease and death.”

Arts and Entertainment

‘the sun and her flowers’ poetry review

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In honor of National Poetry Month ending, I thought a poetry book review was a wonderful way to close off the month. the sun and her flowers is written by Rupi Kaur, a famous Instagram poet, and as of January 5th, 2020, it held the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Sellers List for 76 weeks.

Throughout reading the book, I noticed there is some sort of plot line throughout the poems/book. The poems start off being dark and depressing. Some talk about addiction, while others talk about heartbreak and “using” someone within a relationship. The second part titled “falling,” was also depressing and talks about “self-harm,” “self-hatred” and over all just being depressed.

The first two sections are mostly about how it feels to be depressed. Which I understand it is nice to reach out to the audience who is struggling with their mental health to try to tell them, “Hey, you’re not alone,” but I also think that some of the poems are rather “cheesy.”

For example,

“like the rainbow

after the rain

 joy will reveal itself

                after sorrow” (89)

I just think that some of the poems are ones that you would read on social media, and not expect to find within a book.

The next section, titled “rooting,” is all about immigration. For example, a lot of the poems talk about coming over on a boat, being an outcast to society due to being an immigrant, and overall, how life is as an immigrant.

Personally, this is my favorite section from the book. However, there is still some “cheesy” poems. For example, there is a “two-liner” that reads,

“my mother sacrificed her dreams

so I could dream” (148)

Which do not get me wrong, it is a sweet little ballad to her mother, but it is slightly repetitive due to dream being in there twice and it is also very cliché. Most immigrants give up their own lives in their home nation, to provide a better life for their family. And that is apparent throughout the whole section, but this little “poem” seems to me that she needed to extend the section another page, so she added this in.

These next two sections are about coming out of the hard place that was presented at the beginning of the book, within the first two sections. I have noticed throughout her books that this is a normal “plot” arch. I have previously read, milk and honey, which was somewhat the same “plot.”

The beginning starts off with a dark and depressing tone, while the last section is always more uplifting and brighter, like a resolution to the problems.

Overall, from reading Rupi Kaur’s book, the sun and her flowers. I do think that there are a lot of cliché poems within the book. Or simple “poems,” that are not truly poems, that would be better left on Instagram then in the book.

I do appreciate her writing, and I understand that this is the modern wave of poetry, and I do plan to read her other book, home body, this summer. I do expect to see some similarities, like the clichés, within this book. Nonetheless, without looking at this book from a poetic standpoint, it is a light read that allows the reader to escape their everyday life to indulge in someone else’s.

I think that this is a strong factor in a good book, but I do think that even if the book was shorter without some of the cliché two-line poems, that it would be even better. Plus, some of the YouTube critics might lighten up a bit about their heavy dislike of “Instagram Poetry.”

Home Page News Bytes, News, Uncategorized

Learning with Zoom

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Since the start of pandemic, we have all been trying to gather ourselves and figure out what our new “normal” is.

As far as educational purposes go, schools and universities had to think of a way for their students to continue their education virtually. This is when the software Zoom came around and took over the virtual learning competition by a long shot.

You’d be surprised to know that Zoom was actually created in April of 2011, but never passed the popular streaming software Skype and FaceTime. However, Zoom felt more school friendly and you could have multiple people in one video chat unlike Skype and FaceTime where you could only have a certain amount of people in one video chat. Zoom is also very user-friendly for mostly everyone. Zachary Muller from Newburyport states, “I can see everyone’s faces.”

This helps with more engagement and makes it feel like you are actually in a classroom, which is nice if some students are missing that classroom atmosphere.

Students like Nisaly Gonzalez and Matheus Batista say that it easy to use and they both haven’t had any issues with it so far.

Now with online learning, it can sometimes be a little difficult to stay on task or pay attention.

Researchers are calling this matter “zoom fatigue” which is described as “excessive amounts of close-up eye contact” and “the cognitive load is much higher in video chats,” according to Stanford University.

Batista argues that he’s still trying to stay active by “running and playing soccer…” and trying to stay as healthy as he can.

Features

Your mental health can impact your loved ones

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Millions of people in the U.S. are affected by mental illness each year. It’s important to measure how common mental illness is we can understand its physical and social impact. Individuals who are suffering from mental illness can find that their condition can hurt their relationships with those close to them. Northern Essex Community College students recently shared their opinion on this topic.

Jocelyn Avila Frias is a student from Northern Essex Community College and she observes that some family members can notice when you are depressed or not feeling your happiest. Avile Frias states her opinion about this, “I am very close to my family, I’m very vocal about my feelings so usually they are aware when I am feeling down mentally,” she said. It is important to be close to your family so if anything goes wrong with you, they can be a helping hand when you are feeling low.

Poor mental health can affect your relationships with your loved ones in many ways. Avila Frias claims, “I do believe that mental health is vital in all your relationships in life. You cannot love people the right way if you are not healthy mentally.”   The support of loved ones can help people and improve their mental health. Friass says, “Just listening to me rant or express my feelings without judgment is useful.” Having someone to listen to is always helpful and can make people feel better.

There are many places to go find help if you are dealing with mental health challenges and you have nobody to talk to about it. Avila Frias said, “Maybe look for a therapist.’’Talking to a therapist and getting professional help is the best.

Having bad mental health can affect your relationship with your loved ones. According to the Alpha Healing Center research says that those who are suffering from mental illness agree that their condition has harmed their relationships with their close ones.

Loved ones can make your relationship better or worse. One research study found that most of their patients with a serious mental illness reported that their families were their primary source of strength. The website Banyan Mental Health states ” For some, it may make the relationship worse. Their loved ones may not understand what they are going through and may not know how to support them. Or they may make them feel worse because they say to ‘suck it up.’ For some, it may make it better. They may have loved ones who are supportive, and it can strengthen that relationship if they feel they have someone they can be open with.”

Problems with your family can arise when your relationships with your loved ones are rocky and could make your mental health problems worse. In contrast, when your family supports you, your mental health could show fast improvements.

Loved ones can help or make your mental health better in many ways.  Better communication strengthens relationships, and it help individuals by improving mental health.

There are great places to go to seek help for your mental health. Your primary care doctor is also a fantastic person to talk to if you think you may need to see somebody about your mental health and can usually give you the name of a psychologist or psychiatrist to contact.

Some family members can notice when you are depressed or not doing well mentally. Loved ones should not give up when supporting a family member who won’t get help for depression. Depression does not just go away. If suicidal thoughts cross an individual’s mind, emergency assistance should be called for immediately according to Alliance Scotland.

Mariam Saldivar, a student from Northern Essex Community College, shares that she has felt nervous about sharing her emotions. Her major is in journalism/communications and she is from the Dominican Republic. Saldivar said, “I’m very good at hiding my emotions.”

Hiding your emotions can be difficult but is easy for most people to do. They are scared. They do not know how you will react, and they do not want to create a negative view of themself. They do not trust you to the degree that they can share their emotions with you. Some don’t believe that anyone would care if they did show emotions.

Having bad mental health can sometimes affect your relationship with your loved ones. There may be no relationships more affected by mental health than the intimate relationships between partners.  Saldivar shared her opinion about that saying, “Of course, it can put in the distance because if you’re not open especially, they won’t be understanding why you act the way you do.’’ It brings distance and miscommunications with others around them who don’t know what’s going on with you.

There are moments when a loved one can make your relationship better or worse.  There are many people with mental health conditions in loving and nurturing relationships who share their lives with their partners, often raising families with them.  They help loved ones trying to cheer them up. It can use when they are feeling like their mental health. Any kind of issue has been difficult for them to go through alone.  Saldivar claims, “I think they can make it better.” That’s is correct they can make it better by helping their loved ones feel understood

Loved ones can help you or make your mental health worse. Helping your loved ones by listening to life experiences and asking about how you can help them is a good technique. Mental health conditions don’t typically go away on their own, and your loved one deserves excellent help.

Where can you go to seek help for your mental health? Websites like Good Therapy.org can help you find a therapist who specializes in your loved one’s specific issue.

Saldivar claims speaking with a family member helps her, adding she can confide in her mom and “like three people. Those are the only beings I trust.” Speaking to your family members or ones you trust is the best way to seek help and need a person whom you can express yourself.

Features, Slider

Photo Essay: Before I’m gone

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Photo collage, buildings and portrait of grandmother
My grandmother’s neighborhood in the Bronx, near Gun Hill Rd. Bottom left image is on Brooklyn bridge (she’d drive through there everyday). Bryan Fernandez

Carmen “Tita” Almonte

 

“I always served other people. Running around, always doing things for other people. There isn’t anybody out there that has any negative feelings towards me, thank Jehovah. The best thing in life is when people get along. When people get along, we live well. We live happily. I believe that we must always get along, especially with family. With your spouse’s family. Who you end up with is also extremely important. I have always been very family oriented, and you must get to know your significant other’s family before you decide you want to spend the rest of your life with them. Get to know who they are, and how close they are with their family. What is their family like? Do they get along? The most important thing in life is family. And how a person treats their family says everything about them.

 

 

 

Woman sitting on bench
My grandmother sitting in the public court area outside her apartment building. Bryan Fernandez

 

 

 

You keep asking me how to live happily, but I can’t tell you that sweetie. That’s inside of you. That is inside you. If you’re the kind of person that has a warm, loving heart, you’ll figure it out. Trust your heart, treat everybody with love and respect, and you will figure it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table and chairs
My grandmother’s living room, where she sits to read her bible. She’s lived in this house for over 40 years. Bryan Fernandez

 

My kids have an amazing relationship. And I’ve had an amazing relationship with all of them. I cannot complain. I brought them over here a very long time ago. I brought them over here to hopefully do better. I love my country, but in the Dominican Republic we live in difficult conditions. There’s a lot of bad people, and I couldn’t trust anybody. I brought my family here, and I wanted to build my family. And remember, family does not mean my blood relatives. ‘Family’ is anybody who treats me right. Anybody that would never want to harm you. Anybody that has a pure heart and mind. If you have people like that around you, you’ll never need anything else.

The court room outside.
The court room outside. Bryan Fernandez

 

 

I just wanted a better life for my children, and I got that, thank Jehovah. I came here to work my butt off, and that’s what I did. I came here to work because I was poor.

 

 

 

 

Gun Hill Rd. under the 4 train. The train I’d use to get to her house when I lived in NY.
Gun Hill Rd. under the 4 train. The train I’d use to get to her house when I lived in NY. Bryan Fernandez

 

 

Caremen "Tita" Almonte
Caremen “Tita” Almonte Bryan Fernandez

That’s the best thing you can have, a family. Just treat people with kindness. You’ll always have family if you do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arts and Entertainment, Features, Slider

Inspiration vs imitation: Learning when to detach oneself: Why taking a step back is just as crucial as moving forward.

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Inspiration is key. It’s something that I need around me constantly, and it’s what drives me to create.

 But I have to know when to detach.

Not that long ago I wrote a piece about what some local artists are doing to find inspiration during these trying times, as it sure hasn’t been easy to pick up that paintbrush (or camera, in my case) and do what we love. Most of the people that I interviewed had the same problem that I did when it comes to inspiration, and it’s something that I am now starting to realize is a bad thing.

 All of our inspiration comes externally.

Because our inspiration comes externally, we all find the need to have it around us constantly. Whether that be magazines, photobooks, or saved photos on Instagram, we all heavily rely on having it readily available to us when needed.

The problem with getting so attached to external inspiration is that we get fixated on these certain things.

We form habits of looking at other artist’s work and using that as our main drive to create. “If they can do that, why can’t I?”

Habits can be productive. Habits can give us meaning, structure, motivation through life. Some habits, however, can easily and dangerously slip themselves into the world of complacency. Here’s an example: admiring your favorite photographer’s work. It is natural to gravitate towards what you know you already like. To a certain extent, you want your work to somewhat resemble their work, as that is the kind of work you enjoy, and strive to create one day.

But what can you learn from doing the same things and limiting yourself to only the things you like?

If we only strive to create things that resemble our sources of inspiration, we will never make anything new. If we only strive to create things that resemble our sources of inspiration, we will never grow.

To challenge habits is to grow, and growth in itself can be art.

 Adriel Jimenez is a creative director, photographer, and stylist based out of Lawrence, MA. Having dealt with this same issue, Adriel spoke a few words about being an artist during these times, acknowledging your relationship with inspiration, being sure of yourself, and more.

“It’s funny because I feel like I take in so many different kinds of inspirations, that I never even asked myself this question. I feel like there’s different kinds of inspiration. Those tangible inspirations like other people doing their specific craft, like you, Jamal Shabazz, Elissa, Sean Brown.

And then there’s another form of inspiration, which I guess can be considered motivation, but I feel like they kinda go hand in hand: it’s where the self-drive comes from, you know what I’m saying? Always trynna be better than my last sh*t, or being so hard on myself that I gotta create some ill sh*t.

But I would say the biggest inspiration (whether it sound cliche or not) is self, you know what I’m saying? Because everything that comes from that is just the reflection of it.

If we talking about external inspiration, I can see us having too much of an attachment on it being problematic if it’s not regulated, because there’s a fine line between being inspired by something, and copying it. I feel like that’s the main downfall of even looking at things outside of yourself, really. You know what I’m saying? It’s very easy to fall into the habit of mimicking others, almost on the identical level.

So yea, I guess … I kind of want to say that maybe those attachments to those external inspirations should be limited but the attachment is one thing, then it’s like, what you do with that attachment, feel me?

You can be somebody’s biggest fan, and not mimic what they do. It’s really dependent on who you are, and how secure you are with yourself. I feel like the more you know yourself, the less you’re going to try and mimic things that aren’t you. Even if you’re a fan of that work.

 “It’s not about detaching. It’s about being more secure in yourself, so you don’t need to detach. Your art is unaffected.”

I feel like it may not even be necessarily about ‘letting go’ of your relationship to the inspiration, but not letting it consume you, to the point where your creation IS your inspiration.

Like I said, I feel like it’s not about detaching yourself from it. It’s more about going back to being secure in yourself and what you bring to the table, amongst all these different artists you might look to for inspo. It’s not about detaching. It’s about being more secure in yourself so you don’t need to detach. Your art is unaffected.”

Not all artists look externally for inspiration though. Some artists are lucky (or unlucky) enough to have their inspiration come internally, regardless of outside stimulation. I sat down with Susan Elias, a Lawrence artist/creative, who also deals with similar issues.

Susan is a graphic designer, and studio artist who focuses mostly on painting and drawing. She spoke about how her inspiration comes from her emotions, and how it can stunt your growth.

“Something that tends to inspire me the most is emotion. My state of mind.

“I think that can have a negative effect on my work if I tend to have the same emotion, or if my mental state hasn’t changed much. I guess that’s when it can be negative; if I’m stuck in the same mind state for a while. If my emotions haven’t changed in a while, then whatever I create will be derived from one place: my negative emotions.

“I think a time to let go is when I have a specific idea in my head, and I can’t recreate it physically in a piece, and then it frustrates me to the point where I don’t want to make anything. I had that one thing in my head, and it didn’t come out the way I imagined, and now the rest of the piece is birthed from frustration.

“Your art might not come out as good as it could have, because you were so fixated on it coming out a certain way.”

I think that the way to get myself out of that funk is to detach myself from that idea. Or for next time, be open to the idea of the outcome being different than how I wanted it to. Using what I had in mind as a starting point, then letting myself branch off and work in the moment. I think it’s very important to work in the moment, because you might limit yourself when you’re so tied to an idea. Your art might not come out as good as it could have, because you were so fixated on it coming out a certain way.

“We have to be open to change.”

Features, Slider

Pandemic pregnancy: The pressures of parenthood

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Because there is still so much that we do not know about COVID-19, we are unsure of some of the effects that it can have on a developing child.

What we do know is that COVID-19 is uncommon in newborns born to mothers who had tested positive for COVID-19 during pregnancy, and while some newborns have tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after birth, it is unknown if they got the virus before, during, or after birth.

Pregnant women often bear the brunt of limited health resources, and past epidemics have shown that it makes pregnant women and babies that much more vulnerable. It is harder for women to access health-care facilities due to increased physical and financial barriers, as well as fear of contracting infection. Women who were unable to access family planning, were more likely to give birth at home — which is riskier for both mother and child.

One mother, Emerald Medina, who gave birth to her first child in August of 2020 shared her experience: “Having my daughter Phoenix during the midst of a pandemic was very bittersweet to say the least,” she said. “I was not able to do much while pregnant because that was when COVID-19 got out of control, but it was a blessing in disguise, as I was able to rest most of my pregnancy. I was laid off in March 2020 from my waitressing job and I was 3 months pregnant at the time. I barely went out during COVID and when I did, I was very cautious. Once it came time to go to the hospital and bring her into the world, it was nice to just have me and my boyfriend Travis there with no visitors interrupting. Having a baby was brand new and very stressful for both of us and it was calming knowing that nobody was going to pop in on us while we were adjusting in the hospital.”

Medina also shared the effects that having a child during a pandemic can have on one’s mental health.

“Phoenix is now almost 8 months old, and if I am being completely honest, raising a child during a pandemic is very isolating. I am now a stay-at-home mom and barely leave my house,” she said. “I was collecting unemployment until very recently which has made me start looking for a waitressing job at night, since Travis works first shift, and daycare is very expensive, plus, in the middle of a pandemic, I do not feel comfortable sending her off with people I do not know all day. Depression has been eating me alive because I am unable to take my daughter out to places because I am too worried about her or me getting sick. The same goes for my friends who have had their kids around the same time as me, everyone wants to get together with the babies, but everyone has that worry about the virus. Even though COVID has made things a lot harder and more stressful, having my daughter during a pandemic was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.”

Home Page News Bytes, Opinion

Opinion: The complexity of higher education

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I’ve seen the idea recently floating around that colleges should be free.

On the surface that seem like a great idea, but if you look deeper, does everyone deserve to go to college?

I will not lie college is expensive with everything from textbooks that cost hundreds of dollars to scary fees for high-cost courses and their Learning Management Systems (LM.) What I think makes college different than other forms of education such as middle school or high school is that college is the survival of the fittest. In college your education is as good as you make it, either way the college ends up with your money if you pass or fail.

What motivates me to do well in college is a fear of failure, my parents pay for my college education, and we have made a deal that they will pay for me just if I pass my classes. If I fail and have to retake the class, I have to pay them back.

By having a little bit of skin in the game it forces me to do my absolute best. Now if we took that away and made college free it would turn into high school again, people would slack off because there would be no consequences for their failure.

Also, not everyone in society is meant to go to college. The reality is that not everyone is meant for college, some people just work better in trades or in self-employment, it wouldn’t make sense for them to waste all their money on a college education.

The United States needs their minimum wage workers to have a functioning economy.  Some people go into companies without a college education. The end up working a minimum wage position but after years of working there they gain the necessary experience to move up to a better paying job. After reading what I just said you must think I am privileged and ignorant. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think college should be completely free and the current cost for some schools are ridiculous. I think the government should either reduce prices on state schools or they should introduce more programs like the GI bill but for other government agencies. So, if you serve the government, they will pay for your college depending on what school you go to.

Another reform that should be made is to the textbook market.  As I said in the opening the prices student pay for textbooks are ridiculous. The teachers should be able to distribute and pay for the parts of the textbook they need instead of buying the whole thing.

Overall, I think everyone should have a chance at college. I think their succusses should be decided on how much they are willing to work for a good education. Our current education system is flawed but it also promotes survival of the fittest mindset. If you are really motivated to go to an Ivy League school and don’t have the money you can work for it, get good grades, study hard, play a sport, doing stuff like that helps your chances of getting in. If you don’t want to go to college then don’t, you shouldn’t be pressured by society to go down a specific path. You probably won’t go far without a higher education but there is a lot of alternatives to college, such as trade school (which costs significantly less money).