All posts by Rebecca Westerman, Features Editor

Arts and Entertainment

Dance students light up the stage

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The annual NECC Dance Recital took place April 22 and 23 at Lawrence High School. Opening the show were the students in the NECC Dance Club, shaking and grooving to the funky beats of “Feel Good Inc.” by the Gorillaz.

The electric feel of the dancers lithely moving across the stage in synchronization was infectious to the audience, who tapped their feet watching the students perform the pieces they’ve been working on all year.

“Empty Room Session” featured a breathtaking performance with Mikaela Angers and Carli Hamilton in contrasting outfits of light versus dark.

Accompanied by “Love the Way You Lie” by Skylar Grey, the female students depicted a scene through dance that could be interpreted in multiple ways.

Whether it be bringing awareness to an abusive relationship, or a toxic friendship, they danced magnificently together.

They ended the act with a hauntingly beautiful acapella of the ending of the song that left the audience with goosebumps.

The dance program at NECC offers a multitude of classes and dance styles for the students to perfect or try something new. The classes offered are ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, world dance, dance composition, dance pedagogy and dance production.

The world dance classes performed a couple of very interesting pieces.

One of these was Yole, a traditional dance from the Temne people of Sierra Leone; and Tiribia, a welcoming dance of the Baga people from northwestern Guinea.

Other acts included a solo performance called “Still Breathing” by Kelly Gormley, who choreographed her own dance number much like the other students, and “Just Here (Dedicated to John & Scott)” which was a beautiful tribute to the dance program.

“Finding Out, Finding Me” was an interesting and vibrant piece with a lot of movement and energy, with dancers Zaida Buzan, Nina Cabral, Arianna Crawford, Elisabeth Dirk, Katie Formosi, Megan McCullough, Tiffany Melo, Michelle Zukowski were the last the hit the stage before intermission.

After intermission, diverse dance styles took the stage including a hip-hop piece, and even a country music ensemble called “Red” to the song “Beautiful Drug” by the Zac Brown Band.

One act in particular, ”Kinnection,” featuring Nina Cabral and George Vasconcellos, lit up the stage with the dancers’ electricity and precision in their movements.

The dance program has two performances a year, and the program helps hone an aspiring dancer’s skills in many ways.

They learn how to manage a production, including lighting and costume design, classroom teaching skills, injury prevention, dance composition and choreography skills.

The program is designed to prepare the students to both perform, but also transfer to a four-year college, open their own studios and become teachers or progress to be a professional.The dance students at NECC put forth a talented performance this Spring 2016 semester.

Arts and Entertainment, Campus Life, News

Summer Music Festival

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The harmonious sounds of the 5th Annual Summer Music Festival, directed by Christina Dietrick, permeated TC103 in the Hartleb Technology Center on August 14. Dulcet melodies drifted into the hallways as parents proudly watched their children demonstrate their musical talents.

The festival this year was held from Aug. 9 to Aug. 15. The artists presented their hard work after a grueling but enlightening week of musical camp. What started as just a fun program for aspiring musicians to hone their talents has turned into an annual music festival event.

Director Christina Dietrick became a part of NECC through Michael Kramer, a previous faculty member of NECC who performed as a guest pianist for the festival. He brought Dietrick to NECC after a change of direction in his path, by becoming a mathematics teacher. Leaving his piano class expertise, he chose Dietrick as his replacement.

“I wanted my class piano course to go to somebody who I knew was very competent, and I graduated with Christine from Boston University,” he said.

We both did our master’s and doctorate’s there at the same time,” said Dietrick.

The rest is history. Dietrick has been the piano teacher at NECC since 1994, as well as the music faculty at Mount Wachusett Community College, Indian Hill Music, and is the founder/director of the Chopin Conservatory of Music on the North Shore. Her other notable accomplishments include her performances both in the United States and Europe as a soloist in concert, as well as with orchestras performing on a plethora of stages including Jordan Hall, Alice Tulley Hall at Lincoln Center. She regularly performs at the New York Public Library and Chopin Society of New England.

The Annual Summer Music Festival began 5 years ago when Dietrick received the opportunity to organize a music festival from chairman Kenneth Langer. “First it started with just being a piano camp, but then I said, why don’t I make it chamber music? So therefore I brought in two colleagues. First it was Alice Holstrom, then it was Caroline Reiner-Williams, and then her husband Angel Hernandez-Dominguez joined us 3 years ago,” Dietrick said.

Both Reiner-Williams and Hernandez-Dominguez performed alongside the students at the festival, adding even more life to the pieces. Both artists are of the highest caliber in their musical talents. Reiner-Williams, who plays the violoncello, received her undergraduate degree in cello performance at age 19, and has gone one to complete her master’s degree in cello performance at the Longy School of Music. Having toured Canada, England, France, Russia, Spain, and Portugal and being a member of the Boston Youth Symphony, she now spends her time as a faculty member at Brooks School in North Andover, Fay School, Indian Hill Music Center, and Joy of the Music Program. Reiner-Williams also founded the Nashaway Trio with her husband Hernandez-Dominguez and pianist Roy Imperio.

Her husband Hernandez-Dominguez graced the stage with his exceptional talents on the violin and viola. His accomplishments include his studies of violin at Manuel Saumell Conservatory in Havana. From there, he has been a part of the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra, the Queretaro Philharmonic, and performed as a soloist on many occasions. He currently teaches violin and viola at Brooks School in North Andover, Cushings Academy, and the Shrewsbury MA Public schools. He also builds and repairs violins.

From Brahms to Mozart, the artists’ renditions of classical music transformed TC103 into a music hall. The performers varied from all ages, from 4 to 14.

“I put on (Disney’s) ‘Fantasia’ . . . one of the days we had camp, and all the kids ran to the practice room because they were so eager to practice their skills,” said Dietrick.

Features

Students Prepare for a Bright Future at NECC

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As the spring semester of 2015 draws to a close, it is also the end of many students’ time at NECC, and the beginning of new exciting adventures for those graduating and moving onward with their academic careers.

One of those students is Molly Fitzgerald, a communications major. Fitzgerald plans on attending Salem State University to get a bachelor’s degree in communications.

One of Fitzgerald’s most inspiring experiences was her internship last spring semester with Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Northern New England.

“I actually put the franchise on Facebook. [I liked] the experience itself, and I kinda found out what I wanted to do. I realized I wanted to go into PR (public relations) and communications.”

As with all experiences, there are good times, as well as trying times. Often a particular subject or teaching style can come along for students that pushes them to succeed despite a difficulty.

“My environmental issues course was really hard, and so was my statistic course, but other than that it was really easy. The professors weren’t really my teaching style per se, so it was kind of difficult to grasp what we were learning,” said Fitzgerald.

Her plans for the future are to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communications, with a concentration in public relations.

Fitzgerald urges students who either want to go to school or go back to school to consider NECC as a great first step, especially if they don’t know what they want to do.

“I went to two private schools before this, and I am one of those people who fell into the huge holes of student debt and I came to NECC, and I had to start all over, but I actually found what major I wanted, and I kind of found who I was as a person. (It’s) definitely a good starting school if you’re not sure what you want to do,” said Fitzgerald.

The overall experience for Fitzgerald has been a positive and motivating one, and her future is looking bright.

“(My experience was) really good. I think that the professors and the teachers are some of the best around, and you’re going to get the same education here that you would get anywhere else.”
Another student who will be moving on to pursue bigger dreams is baseball star Ryan Mcauliffe, business major.

He plans on going to St. John’s University in Queens, NYC to play baseball. Some of his most cherished memories include going to the world series with the Knights and receiving first team All-Region.
“Winning obviously, and just hanging out. It’s a beautiful place we got here,” said Mcauliffe. There were some struggles too — he was enrolled in seven classes this past semester.

“Well, obviously this past semester I’m in 22 credits, over the summer I had to take 12 credits, last spring I had to take 18 credits so I mean obviously classes here have been a struggle,” said Mcauliffe.
Mcauliffe, like Fitzgerald, also recommends students to NECC. “It’s good to get your grades up. Out of high school I had like a 2.4 GPA, and to pass the clearinghouse to play division 1 I had to come here. My GPA now is a 3.0. So, I mean obviously coming here you save money, you get a good 2 year degree. The baseball is very good,” said Mcauliffe.

Mcauliffe anticipated a rougher ride on his two year degree pursuit, but he has made it.

“Honestly (the programs were) pretty good. I thought it was going to be a lot tougher … but I mean, it helped me manage my time with baseball and school. Taking all those classes helped me manage time well. I thought I did pretty good here,” said Mcauliffe.

Features

Commemorating Abraham Lincoln

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A commemoration lecture in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s death was held on April 14 in the Hartleb Technology Center. The lecture was organized by Richard Padova as a part of the third installment of the 2014-2015 Speaker’s Series “Movers, Shakes and Opinion makers,” funded by NECC and the generous contributions of Bill Heineman.

Padova was the first to speak, talking about the presidential campaign of Abraham Lincoln and how voting was done during his 1864 election.

“Voting was a little different than you’re accustomed to today. Back in the 1800’s, often times the way voting was done was the political parties would print the ballots with the names of their candidates on it so the Democratic party would print a ballot with all the Democrats on it and the Republican party would print a ballot with all the Republican candidates on it that were running, and then they would distribute these to their supporters straight to the polls on election day.”

Also Partisan papers back in the 1800’s printed pages full of ballots as well, and then voters that planned on voting would cut out a ballot and bring them to their voting place on election day,” said Padova.

Padova, an avid collector of artifacts of American history, brought on display some items from Lincoln’s presidency including a ballot, a playbill from “My American Cousin”, which is the performance Lincoln was attending when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. There was a hand bill which alerted the public in a sort of original paper tweet about the outcome of the election.

“A lot of times when people were waiting for a paper to arrive especially in rural parts of the country, handbills were printed, sort of like the equivalent to a text alert today,” said Padova. A handbill was distributed to announce the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, which had a poem written on it, and was on display along with the other artifacts for the lecture.

“On the morning of Friday April 14, 1865, the Lincolns decided they would be attending ‘Our American Cousin’ that evening, so Mary Lincoln notified John Ford, the owner of Ford’s Theatre that the first couple would be attending the performance that evening. Ford went to a local printer and had a playbill printed with the basic information about the performance, and the playbills were circulated on the streets of D.C. as a way to gather support for the performance, and it worked and there was a full house that night,” said Padova.

The assassination of Lincoln took place at 10:15 p.m. on Friday, April 14, 1865.

Next to speak was Professor Jim Murphy from the theater department, who recited a magnificent rendition of the Gettysburg Address, with the Civil War Memorial Guard standing beside him in full uniform.

The guest speaker, Dr. Heather Cox Richardson of Boston University, MIT Suffolk, UMass Amherst, Fitchburg State University and Boston College offered her time to speak about Abraham Lincoln after the recitation of the Gettysburg Address.

She defends Mary Todd from the ridicule often associated with her spending habits and public opinion during Lincoln’s presidency.

Richardson gave very interesting insights in how Lincoln operated in the White House by bringing his poor upbringing into to discussion. She emphasized how Lincoln was a true American, in that he pulled himself up ‘by the bootstraps’ and created his own successes despite many early challenged growing up in less than ideal circumstances.

“The one thing that is interesting, and I speak about this stuff a lot, is that there is this sense — and I’m not necessarily speaking about people today, but there is this sense that they’re (slave owners) deliberately advancing the field that makes them masters of the universe,” said Richardson.

She related how although the United States no longer has slavery, the less wealthy and lower middle people on the line of poverty are in a sense shackled to corporations holding a lot of money and power in the country.

After a brief discussion with the students attending the lecture, there was an open panel discussion followed by a reenactment of Act III Scene 2 of Our American Cousin, the scene playing when Lincoln was assassinated.

Features, News

Spurk Building Renovation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This plan would entail the bathrooms being gutted and replaced.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Features

NECC student visits out-of-state schools

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Similarly, NECC has agreements with UMASS Lowell.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

News

“The Nature of Consciousness”

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It is human nature to wonder why we are here and to question what gave us license to our thoughts, the decisions we make, and what constitutes as truly being in the here and the now. We call it consciousness, and philosophers have questioned how to define it for centuries.

Paul Kelly, a philosophy major, held a low key discussion called “The Nature of Consciousness” in room C113 on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The talk began with a visual called stream of consciousness, a chaotic blend of flowing thought and color which is often what our thoughts feel like.

“This is sort of what consciousness is, it’s this sort of immediate awareness that we all have. It’s this sort of idea that we are somewhere behind the eyes and between the ears,” said Kelly. Consciousness is a subjective window of reality, no two people see the world the same way and through the same lens, making it a very difficult concept to define.

The idea of studying the sciences was brought up next because science studies a third person account and uses empirical evidence.

“The consciousness has this sort of intrinsic nature, something it feels like from the inside,” said Kelly as he presented the Andromeda analogy. “We can tell you a lot of things about Andromeda — we can tell how large it is, we can tell you very plausible stories about its origin, a lot of fantastic detail about Andromeda, but when it comes to consciousness there’s actually not much to say,” said Kelly.

Science can explain how the physical brain works and how stimuli can impact reactions, but it cannot explain consciousness with a concrete definition.
“In terms of the subjectivity of it, science is actually rather silent on that,” said Kelly.

There is this maddening paradox that consciousness is always with us and a part of us, a familiar friend for who is a better friend to you than your own mind? But at the same token it is a completely foreign concept that cannot easily be explained.
A large part of the discussion was focused on the correlation between consciousness and the physical brain.

“One of the things we learned is there is an intimate connection between the body and the mind,” said Kelly. “One of the famous cases was Phineas Gage. Phineas Gage was a railroad worker, and there was an explosion and one of the rods penetrated his head. He miraculously survived, the people afterwards said he was a totally different person. All of his major personality traits had totally inverted he was now a nasty sort of fellow and people said that he was not even the same person,” said Kelly.

Another example brought up was about a school teacher who was arrested for making sexual advances towards his stepdaughter, and when examined for a severe headache doctors found a brain tumor. As soon as the tumor was removed all sexual desires went away. The court threw out his case on the grounds that is was a physiological cause beyond his control. The urges came back, but he had another brain tumor. It raises the question of how responsible someone can be for their stream of consciousness based on their physiological health.

The notion of free will was explored as well.

“If you think that we’re the brain, then there’s this sense that we shouldn’t be disturbed by the fact that the brain is making decisions for us. Because when you use that language ‘decisions for us,’ you’re assuming a sort of duality between yourself and the brain,” said Kelly.

The language barrier Kelly refers to can be analogous to in casual conversation. One might refer to a table as simply a table, but in a physics class you would refer to it as particles.

“When it comes to free will, we have to be careful about making false dualisms. It is going to depend on what we take ourselves to be,” said Kelly.

The topic of “over-inflation” of consciousness was brought to the table. Scientist argue that people tend to have more mystical views of consciousness and tend to over inflate those views of what consciousness actually amounts to. The scientists try to sort of beat it back down to size, and say that although people think we are immediately in touch with the physical world, they are not.

“If you look into say physics, the speed of light is finite so we’re not actually in touch with the world, we’re actually in touch with the world a few moments ago. We’re actually looking at a construction, we’re not looking at the world as it really is,” said Kelly. The point Kelly is trying to make is that we are subject to our own perceptions and perhaps illusions of what reality is.

Consciousness, although explored for centuries by philosophers, scientists, psychologist and the like still eludes a concrete definition as everyone’s window to the world is in a different hue. If any students or staff interested in attending philosophical discussions, check your email and the notice boards around campus.

Lawrence

NECC Nursing Program

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Students are gathered around a simulation of a mannequin giving birth.
Students watch a simulated birth in El Hefni | NECC Observer

The Lawrence campus at NECC has rapidly transformed in the last year for the nursing program, along with the Lawrence campus in general. From renovations around campus, to better places to eat in the urban surroundings and an overall feeling of positive change, Lawrence is a great place to be for NECC students.

For nursing students, the program at NECC offers both a general curriculum and nursing courses. It is set up for 2 years, however, it is a very intense curriculum so it is recommended by some nursing program educators to take longer than that to complete the program. There are a multitude of options for nursing students, and to become a nurse. NECC has a licensed practical nurse (LPN) course, which takes forty weeks. The program trains nurses to be at work at the bedside, in long-term care or community settings such as visiting nursing.

Jill Becker, who has been a nurse for over 40 years and educator for the nursing program for 13 years, has seen countless students come through the nursing program with success.

“One of the things I tell my students all the time is that my prize in the end is watching them graduate. I’ll have students who come up to me and ask how I’m doing and still remember being in my class and things like that, and that is always great. I especially care about those students who may have had a little bit more difficult, and that I worked hard with to see them graduate, but to me it’s just being able to communicate with students in this way, and I like the fact that we have a small program and small classes. There’s 30 students in our nursing 1 and 2 cohort, there’s 36 in the nursing 3 and 4 cohort and we have 18 students in the LPN to RN evening program. You get to know them really well,” said Becker.

The associate’s degree program for nursing at NECC is designed to be done in 2 years. It is a very intense program with the goal being to train an entry level nurse. Jobs for an entry level nurse also include long term care, but can also be in community settings. If a student has the dream of working in a hospital, most hospitals in today’s job climate are looking for nurses with a bachelor’s degree, so NECC can help students pursue that by transferring.
“A nurse who has an associate’s degree can continue on and transfer to a four year college and finish the credits to get a bachelor’s degree. Our students are coming in and taking those shorter steps, and we encourage everybody to go forward,” said Becker.

Although LPNs do not have the same level of responsibility as a registered nurse, NECC is a great stepping stone for nurses to start off at to become a registered nurse (RN) which has higher paying jobs.
“For some students, doing the practical nurse route is a good way to get started because within a year once you’ve finished the nursing part of it, you can be out working.”

The Lawrence campus is the primary location for the nursing program. The unfortunate stigma that is often associated with Lawrence has been rapidly changing along with innovative technology around both the city and the college.
“We are starting to see Lawrence pick up, there’s more people around, I like it and I’m happy being here. They’re about to get a new police department, the options are endless,” said Becker.
The college presence not only have been improving, but it has in some ways influenced the surrounding areas in a more positive way.

“I think the things that make Lawrence an exciting place, is that it’s much more of an urban environment. You do have to move around a bit to different buildings and there is a bit of a walk but I think that’s nice. What I think is really exciting is that Lawrence is undergoing a great change and I like being at Northern Essex to be a part of the change.”

Many of the classes are found in the El Hefni, which was completely redone a year ago, and the Dimitry building, which has also gone under renovations.

“The neat thing about this building is that they created a very modern type of health education program. We have really neat classrooms. We have labs with multiple bays and a simulation suite that is supposed to simulate a hospital,” said Becker.

The simulation wing of the El Hefni is incredible. They have mannequins that can blink their eyes, talk and have functions for students to practice medical procedures on. Professors are even able to watch students take care of a patient on camera and speak to them with a microphone through the mannequin to instruct.
There is a simulated apartment, trauma unit, ambulance and doctor’s office which last year students got the opportunity to help with flu shots and a simulated birthing area with a pregnant mannequin. It is an innovative technique to train young nurses and learn their trade in a real-life setting.

Students interested in the nursing program should contact their advisors, or pay a visit to the Lawrence campus.

Photo Gallery

President’s Running Club: photo gallery

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The President’s Running Club had its first meeting this fall on Monday, Sept. 22. Story here

President Lane Glenn running with a man and a woman, photo from behind.
President Lane Glenn running with two members of the advanced group on the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Fall 2014. Photo by Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer
Coach Jeff Bickford walking with a group
Coach Jeff Bickford walking with the Couch to 5K group on the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Fall 2014. Photo by Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer
Coach Jeff Bickford walking with a student.
Coach Jeff Bickford walking with an NECC student on the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Fall 2014. Photo by Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer
President Lane Glenn addresses a group
President Lane Glenn addresses a group of runners at the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Fall 2014. Photo by Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer
President Lane Glenn addressing a group.
President Lane Glenn addressing a group at the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Fall 2014. Photo by Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer
Lane Glenn and Jeff Bickford speaking at the first meeting of the President's Running Club.
Lane Glenn and Jeff Bickford speaking at the first meeting of the President’s Running Club, Photo Credit Rebecca Westerman | NECC Observer

Features

What’s next for recent NECC graduates?

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NECC student Jared Blouin stands smiling with his diploma.
Jared Blouin is a recent NECC graduate Photo courtesy of Jared Blouin

This past spring, the students and staff said farewell to the 2013 graduates. Many students probably wonder what they are going to do after being here, and where life will take them.

Jared Blouin reflects on his time at NECC, and what he has planned next. 

“My experience was enjoyable. I think the staff challenged me as a student but also offered palpable assistance with any questions,” said Blouin.

 Blouin said he wouldn’t change a thing about his experience at NECC.

“As far as difference, nothing really comes to mind. I thought the staff were helpful — from the student center to the library faculty. The class sizes were small enough to be engaging. I suppose some academic leniency was evident.” 

Blouin is currently taking higher level classes at the University of Vermont Burlington concentrating on his major of plant biology and anthropology and has no apprehension about his current path. 

“NECC has always been to me a stepping stone, and a sturdy one. The next step is no more an obstacle than the first. I look most forward to taking higher level courses for my discipline and the connections I will make — just as those made at NECC.” 

“My plan, grad school, peace corps. Maybe navy, but I don’t know if we need to go that far into it” he said.

Another recent graduate, Kat Duma, also shared her experiences at NECC.

“I enjoyed NECC very much. The professors there were nice and very helpful with anything you had a hard time on. I feel like NECC prepared me as I go onto the next school I had applied to. 

“There was a lot of club activities that I wish I could of joined for example a photography club. I love photography, but due to work I had no time to enjoy those.[clubs] 

“If I could change something, I would change the effort I put into my schoolwork; I do wish I put more effort than I really did.” 

Duma makes a very good point about NECC,  there are tons of awesome clubs that are not only fun but can also help build up your college applications or resumes once you leave the school.

“I got accepted into UMass Lowell and I’m majoring in psychology and sociology. I’m a little anxious just about starting this year off at a new school that I’m not familiar with but that’s pretty normal,” said Duma. 

“I do want these last two years at UMass to be the best two years of my college life; I’m going to make a big effort and study really hard to contain high grades.

“I’m looking forward to making new friends. I’m a very friendly person and love making new friends. 

“My plans for the future are to just focus on finishing off school and getting my degree. Then we’ll see what happens from there.”

As these and many other students graduate and move on to four-year schools, and careers, the doors of NECC are always open for a visit from alumni.

NECC wishes them luck and prepares to help a new year’s worth of students take the next steps into their future.