Members of Northern Essex Community College Student Government Association and their college-employed advisor, who together hold weekly public SGA meetings at NECC, say that the indefinite closure of most NECC public services and operations due to the spread of novel coronavirus has plunged the college’s student government into unchartered, unfriendly territory but add that they think adaptation to the constantly escalating public health crisis will occur swiftly and efficiently.

The organization’s president, Samantha Cook, secretary/record-keeper, Chloe Upham, and advisor, Stephanie Haskell (who certifies student government votes and is also the coordinator of the NECC Student Life dept.), all say that meetings will move to a strictly digital format as long as the state of Massachusetts and NECC’s administration forbid the conducting of most public meetings, with Haskell saying digital meetings could begin as soon as Thu., April 2 (meetings are usually held on Thu.).

Meaning, the SGA plans to uphold statewide social distancing policies meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. And while the SGA possesses the resources with which to convert in-person meetings to video conferences, members do worry that chief objectives of the SGA, like boosting low membership and bettering outreach between the organization and the student body, will be adversely affected by the cancelling of in-person SGA events. Such anxiety stems from members’ deeming in-person interaction paramount in attaining current top goals.

 The SGA usually conducts its meetings as in-person/teleconference hybrids, using the virtual platform Zoom, owned by Zoom Video Communications, to make up for the physical distance between members who, at the time of a given meeting, are at NECC Lawrence, NECC Haverhill or away from either campus. The fact that the organization already utilizes Zoom routinely means that transition to solely digital communication will likely occur without much trouble, reasons Cook. Speaking to the Observer, she said, “For my members, I think it will be a completely seamless transition.”

Cook did, however, express that she is uncertain about how guests will be figured into Zoom meetings, saying she does not know whether or not guests will contribute to the conferences by silently communicating in a chat bar or audibly speaking via video call.

  Haskell reports that the SGA also frequently uses other digital resources to execute its routine operations. Consequently, she thinks conforming to a remote setup will be a relatively painless process. She told the Observer, “This year we’ve been implementing different online tools and techniques. We have a Google Drive we’ve been saving stuff on. We’ve started a Blackboard [page]. We use Microsoft Teams so that all of our data from the past is actually digital now instead of being in a big folder sitting in our office. Since we were already moving that way, I don’t think we’ll run into that many difficult situations.”

 How a transition to a remote framework will affect overall productivity seems uncertain to SGA associates, though. Haskell argues that a purely digital meeting medium would be less conducive to side conversations than in-person meetings and would, as a result, encourage unwavering focus on pro-student initiatives. But Upham’s thinking appears more conflicted. For while she has stated to the Observer that the SGA’s constitution allows for essential procedures like votes to take place during virtual meetings, she has also said, “We can’t really help students [as much as we would like to] because we can’t [physically] reach out to all of them.”

 Especially impacted by recent limitations on outreach is the SGA’s effort to recruit new members who would continue current SGA initiatives after the graduation of today’s members. SGA members like Cook and Upham have framed recruitment as the most important SGA concern, and have recently proposed replacing executive board (elected official) meetings with tabling events whose focus is recruitment of general (nonelected) members. But now that tabling events are impossible, expanding membership has become a more arduous endeavor. And members like Cook are forced to rush to new, perhaps ineffective methods of advertisement. Cook has said, “It’s honestly a really rough situation…It makes me really anxious about our upcoming elections process, because we do need new members to carry on the student government legacy. We’re gonna try our best with social media outreach, but that will only reach students who have access to social media and know about us in the first place.”

Cook’s nervousness is compounded by the fact that rules regarding the coronavirus will indefinitely prevent the SGA from running public events for students, events like Valentine’s Day gatherings earlier this year, at NECC Haverhill and Lawrence, during which SGA members held talks about sexual health and distributed condoms to students. Such events are a staple of SGA on-campus affairs.

Other solutions Cook proposed when talking with the Observer include requesting to use the front pages of NECC’s main website and the college’s Blackboard website as advertising space, as these destinations attract perhaps the most views of any NECC-based internet resources. Haskell is also considering utilizing the SGA’s Blackboard page for outreach but adds that using mass emails to communicate with the student body could constitute an effective communication strategy as well.

   Cook, Upham, and Haskell all say that SGA members have been contacting each-other mostly as friends concerned for each-other’s well being, and that spring break, which was scheduled to end on Mon., March 23, and the recent pandemic have diverted members’ attention from student government matters. Cook added in her interview that she has largely avoided discussing initiatives with her members in order to give them space to deal with the financial and family ramifications of the coronavirus: “I’ve been contacting them in the form of making sure that they’re OK and have the resources that they need, but I haven’t wanted them to stress about student government tasks.”

Cook, Upham, and Haskell all said in their interviews that students are encouraged to contact the SGA directly, via email, with their individual concerns about how the coronavirus will affect the SGA’s ability to push for student interests. Meaning, each of the three wishes to avoid sending out a reductive, disconfirming message and wants students to approach the SGA, an organization meant to serve as a liaison between faculty and students, individually with their unique worries so that said worries can be adequately addressed.

All three want students to think of the SGA as an active organization whose capacity has not at all been diminished by recent changes. Haskell perhaps delivered this message the most eloquently in saying, “Students should just know that the faculty, staff, and student leaders are all still here. We might not be physically right in front of you, but we’re all just a phone call, an email, or Zoom away. Nobody’s alone in this…Always reach out and ask.”

Higher-ups in Northern Essex Community College’s (NECC) administration are reporting that NECC is working to establish a chief diversity officer (CDO) position, an occupation whose primary functions are planned by higher-ups to mainly consist of bridging the seeming academic success gap between white students and students of ethnic minorities, ethnically diversifying the pool of applicants for various NECC positions and evaluating, and perhaps acting on, whether or not formal messages, like letters, sent to students and faculty of color exhibit unintended racial and/or ethnic microaggressions which can deter recipients from staying at NECC.

Addressing a Thu., March 5 public meeting of NECC Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board members (elected officials who maintain oversight over SGA affairs) and general members (unelected officials without management obligations but who can still participate in discussions and votes), NECC President Lane Glenn and NECC Executive Committee Chair Sheila Muller, both of whom accepted a speaking invitation from SGA President Samantha Cook, together laid out a case for the incorporation of a CDO into NECC’s faculty. Glenn and Muller said that the creation of the position is still in its early, planning-based stages.

While no SGA members expressed skepticism of the possible value of trying to bolster the college’s racial conscientiousness via a CDO, one student guest, an audience to the meeting’s affairs, did object that he feared anti-white discrimination could result from an effort to aid minority groups in the hiring and learning processes on campus.

Glenn and Muller both responded to the student’s remarks by saying that no discrimination against any group is intended by the college to be a part of diversifying staff and addressing the needs of students of color.

Glenn claimed that equalizing success among white and minority students has been a priority of NECC’s administration for a relatively long time: “In terms of student success, the one goal that is most important is…closing the gaps between student success, specifically between latino students and white students. We are better than most community colleges in Massachusetts at that already, but there’s still a gap. And that’s unacceptable.”

The “gap” Glenn referred to was one he said was caused by several variable discrepancies, namely differences between white and latino student retention rate and academic performance. Glenn added that a holistic analysis of overall academic performance by NECC students revealed that all these variables together constituted an approximately 6% gap between the academic success of white and latino students. He did not specify what the units for this percentage are or what party or parties conducted the analysis.

Glenn emphasized the need for administrative change by saying that NECC is, “as of 2017, what is sometimes referred to as a majority minority campus. More than half our students are students of color; that’s not the case with our employees.”

A possible solution to what Glenn deems an unhealthy lack of student ideology representation among NECC faculty is, as mentioned before, the hiring of a CDO. Glenn explained what a CDO might be tasked with by saying, “When colleges look to potentially hire a chief diversity officer, sometimes what they’re doing is trying to hire a person who will put the pressure on department chairs and deans and vice presidents and presidents, right, to be a conscience [mediator] in hiring decisions and in disagreements between students and faculty or between employees.”

He elaborated, “[We need to hire someone] to create an environment [friendly to] people who historically may be underserved or who do not have the advantages they would have if the playing field were levelled.”

Focusing more on the less general, more micro scale of a CDO’s responsibilities, Muller, speaking to the Observer, clarified what levelling the playing field could look like: “It could be, simply, a document…Say, for example, you’re getting a suspension letter. Is the wording of that letter done in such a way that a student of a particular minority group would have a better response to, would not feel threatened by?”

Words like “termination” and “suspension” often carry especially negative connotations in the minds of students of color, said Muller. She added that a CDO would screen letters sent to students and NECC employees of color in order to ensure said letters are free of microaggressions.

Discussing with the Observer the equalization of opportunities across the racial lines of prospective employees, Muller argued that the CDO should also oversee an overhaul of how the college looks for job applicants. She postulated, “When you write a description [for a job] that is so convoluted, that [the magnitude of tasks] doesn’t really match the amount of money you’re willing to pay certain individuals, it creates a certain gap due to which people are just not gonna even look at [the job]. It doesn’t allow us to have a larger pool of individuals to tap into.”

If simplification of job postings were conducted, Muller said, then perhaps NECC would begin to observe long-sought-after ideological and ethnic diversification of its faculty.

Yet the proposed position of a CDO was not without its criticism. When Glenn paused the presentation to invite questions from SGA members and guests, a student guest raised his hand to express personal concerns of his. The student said, “I’m all for diversity, but one concern for me is that I see a lot of other colleges rejecting [qualified, white] students and faculty trying to enter an organization because they’re trying to diversify their area more [with students of color not necessarily as qualified as rejected white students]…Credentials versus diversity, you know?”

Glenn, possibly referring to federal precedent set by the US Supreme Court, responded, “To be clear, quotas are illegal and wrong. We will not drive change that way. We will not drive change because of certain [demographic] numbers or percentages [in our faculty].”

He went on to specify that appointing a person of color to act as a representative of the problems of their own demographic would not only be ineffective but also racist. Glenn also, more broadly, indicated that a CDO would not be hired on the basis of their own race but by how willing they would be to help recruit people who, in some way, push the interests of “underserved” communities. Meaning, the CDO and the officials they help hire could, theoretically, be white people of racial conscientiousness. Muller, talking to the Observer, concurred with the substance of this assertion by arguing, “When you talk about diversity, it’s not just the hiring of staff whose demographics mimic [those of] the student body; [the principles must be] integrated into every fiber of our being.”

But Glenn does hold reservations of his own in regards to formally establishing a CDO position. He contended that hiring a CDO could lead to indolence among members of the NECC administration: “In my own experience, sometimes when you make [chief diversity officer] someone’s job, other people feel that it’s not their job. And, in my view, everyone should share that responsibility…there might be others that think, “Well, you know, they’ll take care of that, so I don’t have to think about it.” I want everybody to think about it.”

After Glenn said this, Muller silently nodded her head in agreement.

The coronavirus continues to ravage the United States. In Newburyport, the psychological effect has everyone indoors and isolated, and the closure of nonessential businesses has put a strain on income. Market Basket is struggling to keep up with the demand for essential items such as hand sanitizer and soap.

 When questioned about the virus´ effect on Newburyport, City Councilor Afroz Khan commented on how the residents’ social lives are changing, how they communicate while social distancing. Another development is the governor’s ban of reusable bags as a result of the outbreak. Khan is upset over this development as a supporter of a more environmentally friendly approach.

  David Hall, head of the real estate agency Hall and Moskow, commented on the virus’ negative impact on local businesses’ income due to closures. Residents are unable to pay rent due to unemployment. City mayor Donna Holiday voiced concerns that small businesses might not survive. Hall noted that the governor ordering all nonessential businesses to close seems to be having an adverse effect. Hall stated that he had not been tested for Coronavirus.

 Mayor Holiday also showed concerns over the rail trail, as warm weather over the weekend brought an influx of people to, apparently not following the guidelines of social distancing. The mayor hopes that with the possibility of the rail trail’s closure, the residents will proceed to follow the rules of social distancing on the trail without having to close it all together.

 The end to this crisis seems to be nowhere in sight.  Khan said she “thinks we’re doing a lot of the right things,” in combating the spread of the virus, yet there are still issues. The major issue, noted by Holiday, is the lack of testing being conducted. Anna Jaques hospital has set up a clinic, yet has only a limited number of test kits. Fortunes may soon change on that front as Abbot Labs has developed a brand new way to test for the virus, capable of being completed within five minutes, and it’s been approved for mass production to make it available throughout the country. With mass testing promised to be available soon, hope remains that the spread of the Coronavirus can be stopped and the crisis can end.

Many world leaders have placed their countries under strict quarantine orders to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which seems to be having a positive effect on the planet itself.

Currently there is a lot of negative information circulating in relation to the coronavirus. However, there is also encouraging news about it. Stories which typically occupy much less space in the media and in our conversations.

Rivers are less polluted, and animals seem more relaxed in their habitats. Factories and industries ceasing or decreasing their harmful emissions, and the travel restrictions imposed have been positive side effects of the expansion of the coronavirus, which’s arrival has been devastating to people worldwide, but also seems to show us that the earth needed a break from human contamination.

Silent, deserted streets where birdsongs are heard again is the new normal landscape in large and tourist cities like New York, Venice and Madrid, among many others.

The environment is not the only beneficiary during this pandemic. Obviously, the coronavirus is not a positive occurrence for humans, however being urged or forced in some cases to be quarantined at home has brought out the human side of the people.     

Yuleidy Taveras, a 21-year-old journalism student in New Jersey says, “the positive side that this pandemic is giving us is that the contamination has declined due to the coronavirus outbreak. Since for our health we have had to stay in our homes to not be infected. ” she also adds, “by spending more time at home, we can enjoy our family more. Whether it’s doing creative things like cooking together, watching movies on Netflix or telling anecdotes from the past.”

In the times before the invention of the Internet, social isolation as is suggested and in some places required, would have been extremely lonely. In general, the quarantines imposed on the planet, some more stringent than others, are limiting the mobility of people and therefore, technological consumption has increased exponentially in recent months.

We also have the advent of modern technology to thank for the ability to make video calls to our family and friends, allowing us to feel more connected.

“And now thanks to technology, even when we are in quarantine, we can contact our relatives or loved ones.” Yuleidy said, “It should also be added that many singers do their concerts through social networks, and anyone can enjoy the concert and you can interact with them.” She concludes by saying “But for me one of the most positive aspects of all this is that many people will start having more hygiene. They will start to wash their hands more or have a cleaner house.

Although a COVID-19 vaccine has yet to appear, several vaccine prototypes are being advanced, and several countries are joining, and scientists around the world are developing medical solutions.

The drastic decrease in the number of airline flights, driven by quarantines and travel restrictions in Europe and the United States, among others, have contributed significantly to the reduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. This notable drop in flights around the world and tourism in cities will have a considerable economic impact, but it has shown in such a short time the impact of these factors on the environment and how humans could really live without making an extensive use of them.

Many people had plans to travel during the year 2020, but due to the pandemic many of the flights will not take place, at least not for some time.           

Eduardo Haro, 24, a graduate of corporate law says, “For this year I had thought about being able to travel a lot on vacation, but as the coronavirus is expanding more and in a quick manner makes difficult to travel outside the country.” He also added “we must look at the positive side of all this, and since being locked in our houses we should realize that we are privileged to have the people we have around us, as well as our parents, family.” Eduardo said, “we can enjoy more with our family.”

The collective response against coronavirus in many countries is to stay at home; this has meant that classes and many jobs have been suspended until further notice. Schools and employers have had to rework their daily methods and operations; everything is being done online with a limited few continuing to go out into the world to do their jobs.

Jorge Coimbra, 21, an electrical engineering student at Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain, is in his last year of school and for him the quarantine has been a bit complicated, “this was supposed to be my last few months before I graduated from college. But by the pandemic that COVID-19 has generated, I think my studies will extend for a few more months.” Coimbra continued, “Online classes are supposed to start next week but students are very uninformed about what will happen at the end of our semester. In Spain, online classes are being somewhat chaotic.”

The impact of COVID-19 has not been completely negative for Jorge. “Although not everything is being so bad, by being locked up in my house for so long I have been able to have more time for myself. I have been able to relax, learn new recipes to cook, and spend more time with my family.” Jorge said, “I have also observed that in these difficult times people have become more socialized with the people who need it.” He ends saying, “in bad times, the supportive face of the people always comes out.”

The panic over the coronavirus and the collective response to this pandemic could serve to illustrate what can be achieved among all if we become aware of how climate change is affecting us. Saving the planet and saving ourselves is possible, transforming our way of life and its impact on the environment is not only achievable, but can be done in a short time thanks to global action.