Tag Archives: NECC

Arts and Entertainment

Lack of Film Classes at NECC

 

By Abraham Anavisca

While NECC offers a wide range of studies in the arts, there don’t seem to be many classes offered on the medium of film.  Professors Stephen Slaner in the Global Studies Department and Ellen Yarborough in the Department of English are both qualified to teach film. Unfortunately, their willingness to teach is not enough on its own.

“Film classes aren’t being filled,” said Yarborough. “Eight to 10 students don’t make a class. It’s not fiscally responsible for the school.”

Yarborough pointed out that when classes get cancelled it can really disrupt students’ schedules.  Chris Tetreault, a current student majoring in Multimedia, knows firsthand how troubling it can be.

“The Motion Picture class I signed up for was cancelled, because not enough students signed up for it,” he said.

Those who speak about the lack of film courses offered, like Yarborough, say not enough students are interested in film for NECC to invest in it. The equipment needed for the classes would be very expensive.  While there aren’t any classes directly part of a film major, there are plenty of classes that incorporate the medium in some way: Prof. Meredith Gunning, in the Global Studies Department, teaches Philosophy Through Film; Slaner runs History Through Film; Yarborough has her Art of Movies class; and there’s even a Screenwriting class taught by Professor Ginger Hurajt.

Students interested in film study do have options — but some students like David Snyder, a Liberal Arts Major, have no idea these classes are even offered. Snyder said he had no knowledge of these courses until a fellow student told him.

Uncategorized

NECC reflects on Oregon shootings

 

Last week, another school became a headline when a 26-year-old armed man opened fire on his fellow students and teachers, killing nine people and wounding nine others. The killer is also dead, although details are still emerging as to the exact sequence of events that lead to his death.

Thursday’s shooting incident at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg is the 45th school shooting this year and the 142nd such incident since the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

The issue of gun violence is at the center of a heated controversy between those who believe that upholding the Second Amendment at all costs keeps us safer, and those who believe that better laws regarding the accessibility of guns keeps us safer.

President Obama was visibly upset as he again addressed a community, and a country, shaken by the deaths of too many young people. He called upon his fellow Americans to “. . .think about how they can get our government to change these laws and to save lives, and to let young people grow up. . . This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones.” He added: “This is not something I can do myself.”

Jordan Moscone, 24, is a Business and Political Science major from Merrimac. He agreed with many of the things that Obama said.

“He said, ‘these people are sick.’ I think it is a sickness. The problem is, we spend too much time trying to prevent the sickness when we should be trying to cure it. . . we need to understand these people in order to prevent it in the future.”

Moscone further commented about the pressure that he feels as a college student. “I constantly feel pressure to succeed,” he said, “It can be overwhelming and scary at times. Maybe these people just can’t handle the pressure. The media puts it up there like, ‘look at what happened,’ but they don’t talk about, ‘Look at this kid. Look at his past. Look at his face. This kid was a child once. He smiled at one point. He laughed, he grew. But at one point he got so scared to live that he decided to die.”

In response to rumors that Thursday’s killer talked about his plans on social media, 18-year-old Computer Science major Juan Reyes of Methuen said that it can be hard to tell when someone is being serious and that he tries to avoid anyone who could get him into any trouble. ““I’ve seen people say stupid things. . . something that you meant as a joke can go really far. . . you never really know.”

Umpqua Community College is located 180 miles south of Portland in Roseburg. It’s described as a close-knit community where everyone has a friend or relative who attends classes at the college, but this rural community is no stranger to school shootings.

In 2006, a freshman at the town’s only high school shot his classmate in the back four times in the school courtyard. This prompted schools in the area — including Umpqua Community College  — to make plans for how to prevent and handle these types of active shooter situations in the future, according to The Oregonian.

Police arrived on the scene at about 10:45 a.m. on Thursday and the school was immediately put on lockdown. Students and faculty were bused to local fairgrounds after being searched by police for firearms, since Oregon law states that anyone who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon must be allowed to do so, even on the campus of a community college or public university.

Oregon universities tried to institute a ban, but were denied by the courts. Massachusetts has far stricter gun laws than Oregon and no firearms are allowed on the NECC school campus by students or faculty.

NECC Director of Public Safety and Transportation Gene Hatem declined to comment, but David Gingerella, Vice President of Administration and Finance,  said in an email, “that while no organization  can always prevent a tragedy like what happened in Oregon, under President Glenn’s leadership, emergency preparedness is a priority at Northern Essex.”

Devin Baker is a 20-year-old Liberal Arts major from Newburyport and she is not entirely confident of that.

“I thought a lot about the security and how we would not be prepared. There was an incident last year and the whole school was evacuated. . . you can’t really wrap your head around it.”

Thomas Matatall, 21, a Journalism/Communication major from Danville, N.H., had a different assessment.

“I think it makes us safer (having the police train on campus). . . Seeing police people on campus, I feel pretty confident about the security. I haven’t seen any issues, so I feel they must be doing something right.”

Nick LeBoeuf of Salem, N.H. also feels confident about the security here. The 18-year-old Business Transfer major said “I would put it in the same category as terrorism and plane crashes: something that a lot of people are terrified of, but the percentages are really low.”

The shooting at Umpqua comes just one day after a high school student in South Dakota shot his school principal, wounding him slightly, before two unarmed staff members were able to subdue him and restrain him until authorities arrived.

An emergency preparedness plan appears on the NECC website and states, in part, that in the event of an active shooter you should seek cover or safety and call 911 right away.

Further, it is recommended that if the incident is in your location, you should hide, block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors. If possible, turn off the lights and ringers on mobile devices.

You should take action “only as a last resort and only when your life or the lives of others are in imminent danger.”

The plan also addresses what to do when law enforcement arrives, which includes raising your hands and keeping them visible at all times. Try to remain calm and proceed in the direction from which officers are entering.

The full emergency plan can be viewed at www.necc.mass.edu/student-services/health-safety/emergency-response.

News

Service Desk Battles Account Issues

 

On Sept. 27, students noticed difficulties getting on to myNECC, their student email accounts and Blackboard. Around 1:30 p.m. the following day, the NECC alert messages started popping up on students’ phones.

Mikaela Angers, fourth-year Dance major, was in Jitters Cafe on Monday when she realized she wasn’t getting into her portal or connected to Wi-Fi.

“For whatever reason I was kicked off the school Wi-Fi,” she said. “When I tried to log back in, I was told my password was incorrect, and then found out that my passwords for myNECC have now changed as well. . . I can’t log into anything.”

The service desk fielded an influx of complaints.

Students took to Facebook to voice their concerns and find answers. Shianne McGilvray, fourth-year Psychology major, posted, “My entire email box for school just vanished.”

While on campus, working at the bookstore, she noticed she couldn’t get onto the Wi-Fi. McGilvray said she uses her NECC email for everything related to NECC: financial aid letters, scholarship emails and her rentals. All that is now gone.

On Monday, news of a “service issue” in the process of being fixed prompted 7,800 students to be deleted from the system.

On Tuesday, IT worker Bobby Erskine estimated that all the students would be entered back into the system by that Sunday.

Not all students were affected and each student seemed to be at a different stage of access with each passing hour. Ally Catanzaro, second-year Psychology major, regained access to her Blackboard account Tuesday evening. She posted on Facebook about how elated she was to be able to submit her homework.

Jeff Bickford, chief information officer of  Information Technology Services sent out an email to students, staff and faculty Tuesday morning. The email said, “ITS has corrected the problem that occurred yesterday at 10 a.m. with about 7,800 student accounts. Approximately 2,000 accounts have been restored through the night and ITS staff are steadily working through the remaining accounts today.  ITS staff will continue working around the clock in order to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

With so many students having difficulties, that email didn’t reach the broader, affected audience.

Professor Amy Callahan said on Wednesday, “It’s horrible, because it’s interfering with how the courses are running … It’s a domino effect.”

Callahan had assigned homework to be discussed on Wednesday, and the server issues left her students in the dark.

Right after 8 p.m. on Sunday, Bickford sent out a second campus-wide email detailing the events that occurred day by day. According to his email, it was at 10 a.m. on Monday morning that an “error occurred causing 7,800 student accounts to be deleted.”

At 2 p.m., the restoration process began.

“ITS staff from all departments volunteered to work around the clock to process all 7,800 accounts,” said Bickford in the email.

By Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., the restoration was complete. 424 student accounts were deemed not recoverable at Microsoft; these students lost all their emails and all other content saved to Office 365. Their Blackboard accounts and Banner were left unaffected. An email was sent to faculty and staff providing the names of the 424 students whose Microsoft content was lost.

Any students still experiencing difficulty are reminded that restored accounts have had their passwords reset. Students are asked to use their birthdate (in the format MMDDYY), then go to “student password manager” and set their passwords to one of their choosing.

Any other IT related issues should be called into the Service Desk at 978-556-3111.

Arts and Entertainment, Campus Life

Parnassus Accepting Submissions

 

Parnassus is the nationally recognized and award winning literary magazine featuring student artwork, poetry, creative nonfiction, photography, and short stories submitted by students of NECC. It also featured guest authors such as Stephen King, Gregory Maguire and Junot Diaz in years prior. It gets published yearly and comes out in May, provides a wonderful opportunity for students to get their work recognized and looks excellent on a resume.

Parnassus has been around since 1965.  It celebrates the artistry and creative minds of the student body of NECC and presents it in the form of a graphically striking, unique and funky magazine that catches the eye. The publication got its name from the mythical mountain of the muses in Greek.

Parnassus’ goal going into its 51st year of publication is to be in the running to be submitted for various awards. Last year, unfortunately Parnassus could not be eligible for any awards because it missed the entry deadlines. However, this year it will be a priority.

Students interested in submitting their creative work can email Patrick Lochelt at plochelt@necc.mass.edu.

There will also be flyers around campus and a submission box located on the third floor of the Spurk Building outside the liberal arts lounge.

Writing submissions have a Dec. 1 deadline and can be emailed or dropped off in the submission box.

Campus Life

Community College is an Opportunity Well Worth the Price of Admission

 

Going away to college can be a huge shock.

First, you have the feeling of insecurity from not being at home and not knowing anyone.  Then there’s the added pressure of classes, making friends, meeting professors, keeping your grades up and the huge financial burden that most college students have to carry.

Our society puts a lot of pressure on young adults to go away to college right out of high school.  At 18 years old, most people are still trying to figure out their own identity.  Who you are and what you want is going to change from when you’re 18 to when you’re 25 or 35 years old.

Tatiana Benedetti, a Psychology major in her first semester at NECC, went to MCLA for three semesters starting in the spring of 2014.  She was shocked by how unprepared she felt for college.  

“It’s really easy to fall apart at a four-year school in your first semester,” she said.  “When you’re 18, you need a support system.  You shouldn’t be focused on getting as far away from home as possible.”

The hardest part of going away to college was learning to be responsible for herself and manage her time effectively.  Reflecting on her time in high school, Benedetti said she wasn’t encouraged to prepare for college by taking a college class before attending college full time, or by going to a community college first to get a feel for what college is like.

“As somebody who sucked at college, community college was the best decision I made.  I feel a lot more put together here, and this makes me feel more prepared for a four-year school,” she said.

Sarah Stanley transferred from Gordon College in Wenham.  She is a Journalism/Communication major in her first semester at NECC.  At Gordon, she found that if she needed help, it was up to her own efforts to seek out that help.  She didn’t even realize that the college didn’t offer what she was looking for in her major until she was already enrolled.

“I’m really surprised by the support socially and academically at NECC,” she said.   The academic support offered in her first semester at community college exceeded what was offered to her at Gordon.

“Community college is worth it because of the financial burden,” she said.

Christian Doyle, a Theater major in his sophomore year at NECC, transferred to community college from Wagner College in New York.

While he was trying to meet society’s expectations to meet “the typical college timeline,” he essentially ran himself into the ground.

The stress built up until he had “what felt like an emotional breakdown,” but ended up being a spiritual awakening.

Doyle transferred to NECC to work on himself.  His goals changed from following the societal standard to becoming “a more emotionally and physically healthy person. . . and to take some time to breathe and reflect to inspire additional positive growth,” he said.

Through his time at NECC, he’s realized it’s more important to take the time to figure out what you need and where you should go instead of making decisions based on what other people expect from you.

“My time here continues to make me feel more independent, empowered and capable,” he said.

 

Campus Life

Counseling Office is Here to Help

 

The Counseling Office is here to help college kids keep a grip in the middle of the pressures and stressors of our home, school and work lives.

Marcia Winters is the coordinator of counseling on the Haverhill campus, while Karen MacDonald is the mental health counselor on the Lawrence campus.  The school website says they are both “licensed mental health counselors who provide treatment, crisis intervention, support services, and referrals to off-campus therapists and specialized professionals.”  Their office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. “Walk-ins can be seen on an emergency basis,” according to the brochure.

Counseling can encourage the student to become healthier in all aspects of life.   Common reasons to visit the Counseling Office include the following issues: feeling overwhelmed, depression and anxiety, family problems, alcohol and drugs, coping with grief and loss, and many more.

Workshops offered through the Counseling Office include National Depression Screening Day, Anxiety Awareness, Relationships, Sleep Clinics, Alcohol/Drug Awareness, Stress Management, Eating Patterns, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault Awareness.

The next event with the Counseling Services is National Depression Screening Day.  The Lawrence campus had their Screening Day on Monday, Oct. 5, and the Haverhill campus will have their Screening Day on Thursday, Oct. 8, in the C building lobby, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

To schedule an appointment with Marcia on the Haverhill campus, call (978) 556-3644 or email mwinters@necc.mass.edu.

To schedule an appointment with Karen on the Lawrence campus, call (978) 738-7433 or email kmacdonaldfehr@necc.mass.edu.

A relatively new branch under the umbrella of Counseling Services at NECC is the Wellness Educator.

Erin Neal, the Wellness Educator, works with Mallory Stamp, an intern from UMass Lowell.  Neal’s position on campus is to educate the students about personal wellness. It’s a part-time position for 12 hours a week.  The Wellness Educator also helps promote the Counseling Services at NECC.

Neal is planning on incorporating a sex education workshop along with the other workshops provided during the next year or so.

“I think that sex education is a great idea, but we don’t currently have it. I would like to see that. It’s definitely not continuous on campus,” Neal said.

“Birth control is a huge issue too,” says Marcia Winters, coordinator of counseling on the Haverhill campus.

The goal of a Wellness Coordinator is to supply a variety of information on health and wellness and fulfill that need for information.

“It would be nice to have a (sex education) workshop, giving some information, and to provide a safe environment to ask questions,” Neal said. “We are definitely working on that.”

The Wellness Educator is located in the Sport and Fitness Center.

Another branch under Counseling Services at NECC is Social Services, located on the Lawrence campus, room 231-A at 45 Franklin Street. Office hours are Monday and Tuesday, 1 to 4 p.m. and Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Family resources include information about SNAP benefits, WIC, food pantries and other related resources.

Financial information is available for credit counseling, debt management, SSI benefits and unemployment benefits.

Legal resources include eviction, immigration, child support, child custody, divorce and discrimination.

Health resources include MassHealth, mental health, domestic violence and other assistance. For more information, contact Stefanae Bowen at (978) 738-7432.

 

Campus Life

Online tutoring with Smarthinking

 

Aside from the tutoring center on campus and fellow students to help out, did you know that NECC offers Smarthinking online tutoring?

According to the website, Smarthinking is “an academic support program that gives students online access to live, one-to-one assistance from over 1500 trained and qualified tutors.”

Note that students will have a limited number of minutes available. Please use your time wisely.  If you’ve exceeded the maximum, you will receive a message to contact the Tutoring Center.

Director of Tutoring Services Lynne Nadeau said, “NECC has offered Smarthinking online tutoring to students since 2008.

The tutoring is free for up to four hours, which equals, for example, approximately five Smarthinking Writing Center submissions.” Traditionally, students go to the tutoring center or get tutoring from friends, but now NECC has opened a door to provide tutoring for students that prefer online tutoring.

Students are encouraged to learn about this new opportunity through a workshop.  There will be a workshop to explain Smarthinking and what it has to offer on Friday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.   You can also attend the second session from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Tech Center, room 103A.

For any questions, email tutoring center@necc.mass.edu.

Campus Life, News

Library Renovations

 

A new computer lab and more overall space for students are coming

By Nick Pantinas

Correspondent

If you’re a returning student to NECC, you will notice quite the difference when you walk back into the Bentley Library.

That’s because its computer labs are currently undergoing a renovation.

All the books from the third floor have been moved down to the first to make way for a huge overhauling of the upstairs level of the library.

Gale Stuart, a 34-year NECC veteran and head of References Services, said, “There won’t be as much room for students during the renovation, but the end result will be an improved library with a new computer lab.”

With all this construction going on it may be an inconvenience for of students and staff, so keep this in mind if you’re planning on going to the library to study.

In the end, the benefits should outweigh the costs, though, as more space will be afforded to complete work and hold classes.

The construction of the new computer lab will be ongoing throughout winter break and will end right about when the spring semester starts.

Mike Gendron, the supervisor in charge of construction commented, “We expect construction to end around Jan. 22, 2016. . . once it’s completed, a raise and a vacation would be nice too!”

With the ongoing renovations of the college, NECC is looking to the future with upgraded buildings filled with new technology that benefit both faculty and students.

While the noise may be distracting, the results will hopefully have been worth the wait.

Features

Elections are Coming, and Your Vote Matters

 
campaign poster copy

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 Declaration of Independence signed in 1776, we elected our first President, George Washington, in 1788.  

Voting rights have not always been as open as they are today. In the past, various laws dictated what kind of people could go to the polls.  At first, only white men who owned property had the right to vote. In 1889, Wyoming was the first state to allow female citizens to vote, and by 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed and allowed anyone to vote.

It’s common to feel a bit disenchanted with politics, but casting your vote is critically important: as a U.S. citizen, you should care about who is running our country.

“I think it’s more important for 18 to 25-year-olds to vote. . . They typically don’t vote, which is why politicians don’t care (about appealing to them),” said Professor Tom Greene of the English department. “People in their 50s . . . vote a lot more, which is why get a lot more of what they want out of our government.”

Unfortunately, we do live in a society where older people are more involved in the political process. Hearteningly, though, a fair amount of 20-something students at Northern Essex are actively following the upcoming elections.

Parker Moody, who is a History major at Northern Essex, has been very passionate about politics. “During the election back in 2008, when it was McCain vs. Obama, my teacher and I would have heated discussions on our disagreements. I was for Obama while Repucci was for McCain,” he said. “One thing I really appreciated . . . was how he never discouraged me from what I believed.”

As the upcoming election is fast approaching, I decided to ask the students of Northern Essex if anyone is following the current candidates. From what it looks like, the top 3 candidates mentioned (in no particular order) are Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Michael Ross is a theatre major at Northern Essex who has been registered to vote as an Independent since the age of 18.  Ross has been following the current election today and is not afraid to state his opinion; he is all for Bernie Sanders.

“There is not much a chance for the Republicans to win,” said Ross. “The only nominee that is getting any attention is Donald Trump.”

Whatever your opinion, always remember: your vote counts, whether it’s for a Student Senate election on campus, a local election in your town of residence, or for the President in 2016.

Campus Life

Monkey Masks

 

MonkeyingAround
| NECC Observer
Ernie Ewusi, Radiology major and Alex Zamansky, Movement Science major, caused quite a comical scene on Friday afternoon. While students may have thought they were just going to leave for the weekend, Ewusi and Zamansky decided they would give them a laugh as they roamed the hall in gorilla masks. The two roamed the Spurk building getting looks, some kisses and even posing for pictures. When asked what had provoked the joke, Zamansky said, “We wanted to be gorillas for a day.”