Observer Department: Features


Technology is Susceptible to Errors

The NECC community got a hard reminder this week: like anything else designed and operated by humans, technology is fallible.  7,800 people were deleted from the school’s servers, causing a widespread loss of access to critical online services.  In the wake of electronic disasters like this, it’s easy to play…


Mock Election

In the last edition of the Observer, we asked our readers to participate in our mock elections. 54 people sent us their responses. With a whopping 63 percent of the vote, Bernie Sanders is the clear winner. Sanders, who is currently running for President of the United States under the…


Over 4,000 attend NH Democratic Party State Convention

By Richard Padova and Andrew Morse Special to The Observer Two Northern Essex professors, Andrew Morse and Richard Padova, were among more than 4,000 delegates and guests, respectively, on Saturday, Sept. 19 when New Hampshire Democrats held their annual state convention at the Verizon Arena in Manchester.  These gatherings provide…


Elections are Coming, and Your Vote Matters

The Presidential Election is coming next year, which brings about some important questions. Are you registered to vote? Are you aware of the history of voting? Do you know why it’s so important to our democracy? Voting has been part of our political history for over 200 years. After the…


Opportunity Works’ Justin Sanchez

Walking into Opportunity Works, you hear classical music playing from the welcome desk. The staff instantly greet you, and quickly help you get to where you need to go. The building may be new, but the bonds between the staff and students there are richly rooted. Each person has a…


“Haverhill’s Archie” – Fact or Legend?

Local legend holds that artist Bob Montana created the Archie comic strip and based the characters, at least in part, on his Haverhill High School peers. The truth of this claim has always been somewhat of a mystery; it seems to be contradicted in a few places, including by the…


Campus Accessibility

Accessibility at Northern Essex has long been a hot-button issue. The outdated elevators, the cracks in the ramps, the ice and snow in the winter — it all falls under the umbrella of accessibility concerns. With the Spurk Building being renovated this upcoming year, some may wonder what upgrades are…


NECC Students Make Road Trip out of College Visit

NECC students Christian Doyle, Tarah MacGregor and Geehae Moon went on a road trip this summer to visit two colleges in Florida. The road trip was initially the idea of MacGregor, a Liberal Arts major in her fifth year at NECC. She wanted to visit her to top choice schools:…


ArtSpace Dedication

and

  Over the summer, the ArtSpace located in a remote corner of the Bentley Library received a new name and some well deserved attention during a dedication ceremony on May 15.  So did Linda Hummel-Shea, for whom the space was renamed.  Hummel-Shea started at NECC as a part-time librarian 35…


LGBTQ+ Milestones

The LGBT community reached some historic milestones this summer. On June 26, the United States Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage a constitutional right with a 5-to-4 vote. In his decision, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy stated, “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love,…