Assistant English Professor Tom Greene recently had his short story published.

Northern Essex Assistant English Professor Tom Greene believes rejection helped him improve his fiction writing and apparently Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine does too.

After submitting stories to the publication regularly for 30 years, the magazine accepted and published his science-fiction, short story “Another Man’s Treasure,” in the May 2014 issue. Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine is the longest, continuously published science fiction magazine in the country, and is considered one of the most influential in the field. It is one of only a handful of speculative fiction digests that still publishes print editions, with a circulation of about 27,000.

“When I got the acceptance in my email, I read it about 50 times to make sure it wasn’t a rejection, then I went out in my back yard (it was summer) and lay on the grass staring at the sky for about two hours,” he says. “Then, I went back to my desk and picked up where I’d left off with the next story.”

“Another Man’s Treasure” is a science fiction story set in a dystopian America of the near future. The story is about Maggie Moreno, a widow and single mother who scratches out a living as a prospector in an abandoned 20^th century mega-landfill. When the local thugs pressure her to risk her life to bring in better salvage, she’s forced to resort to desperate measures to save herself and her children.

“After working, mostly unsuccessfully, at writing science fiction for a little over 30 years (and earning a graduate degree in fiction writing along the way), this publication feels good. It’s nice to get a dose of validation from the editors of a magazine that you’ve admired since before you could legally drive or buy cigarettes. But mostly I’m thinking about how I can make the story that I’m working on now even better.”

Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine was initially published in 1930 in the United States as “Astounding Stories” as a pulp magazine, it has undergone several name changes. It is in the library of the International Space Station. Spanning three incarnations since 1930, this is perhaps the most influential magazine in the history of the genre. It remains a fixture of the genre today.

Dr. Greene, who received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and his doctorate in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, specializes in Victorian Literature and Cultural Studies. A Salem resident, Greene also works part time as a ghost tour guide.

NECC Professor Kevin Mitchell, third from left, works with left to right NECC lab science students Darrin Perrault of Haverhill, Angie Abreu of Methuen,and Gabriela Santana of Lawrence.

Northern Essex Community College’s Lab Science Program is partnering with a protein research lab at Tufts University to give students real-world experience in the classroom.

Professor Stephen Fuchs of Tufts University and two of his students visited Northern Essex’s Haverhill Campus recently to meet with students and share information on the lab, which is researching how repetitive sequences in a protein affects both its structure and its function.

Fuchs will supply Northern Essex students, under the supervision of Professors Kevin Mitchell and Kim Waligora, with yeast strains that carry a mutation to a repetitive sequence in a critical protein.  A mutation is a change in the DNA of an organism that may change observable characteristics of that organism. 

Working in Northern Essex labs, NECC students will culture these yeast strains under selective conditions to identify yeast cells that have undergone a new mutation to overcome the effects of the initial mutation.  The students will then identify the types of mutations that occurred and determine how frequently each mutation occurred.  In the process they hope to identify proteins that are responsible for repairing mutations in the DNA. 

Northern Essex students will post their findings on a blog set up by Fuchs. Tufts researchers will be able to view and comment on the Northern Essex data in real-time and vice versa.

“This is a great opportunity for our students,” said Professor Mitchell. “Their work will be part of a bigger project. They’ll learn from their own research and also through close contact with the lab at Tufts.”

NECC Lab Science Student Angie Abreu of Methuen

Professors Fuchs and Mitchell knew each other from the University of Wisconsin, where they both received their Ph.D’s. When Fuchs was hired by Tufts, he contacted Mitchell to discuss how the university could partner with the community college. Mitchell invited Fuchs to join the Lab Science Program Advisory Board and since then, two NECC interns have spent the summer working in the Fuchs lab.

Fuchs has a strong interest in building his partnership with Northern Essex. “Northern Essex interns are ridiculously hard-working,” he says. “And the college’s lab science program fills a need for well-trained lab technicians.”

He is seeking National Science Foundation funding for his lab and Northern Essex is a part of the grant.

The two classes involved in the project are Integrated Science II and Research Experience. Professor Waligora, who teaches Integrated Science II, a first -year course, will use this project during a four-week period this semester to teach lab skills that are part of her course curriculum. Professor Mitchell will work with a group of students from the Research Experience course to conduct research as part of a semester-long project.

Northern Essex’s lab science program is a two-year program that leads to a job as an entry-level laboratory technician and/or transfer to a four-year university. The program has three concentrations to choose from – Biotechnology, Analytical Chemistry, and Environmental Science.

For more information on NECC’s Lab Science Program, visit the website  or contact the college at 978 556-3700 or admissions@necc.mass.edu.

A faculty recital hosted by the Northern Essex Community College Music Program will be held on Thursday March 13, at 7 p.m. in the David Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliot St. This recital is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature NECC Adjunct Professor of Music and Instructor of String Instruments, Angel Valchinov with his wife, Chen Lin accompanying him on piano. Valchinov will perform Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata, Telemann’s Fantasia for Solo Viola no. 4, Kreisler’s Libesleid and Libesfreud for Violin and Piano, and Ravel’s Tzigane.

Dr. Angel Valchinov is a soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician, and teacher. A third generation musician, with his entire immediate family of musicians living in Boston, he is passionate about giving back to the next generation. He has performed solo with orchestras in the US and abroad, is currently concertmaster of several orchestras in the Boston area, and teaches at music festivals throughout the summer.

For additional information please contact Ken Langer at 978-556-3223 or klanger@necc.mas.edu

Northern Essex Community College offers an Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies: Music and a Music Technology Certificate.

NECC’s College of Older Learners will hold a seminar showcase on Tuesday, March 11. Seminars include one titled “Fun Films”.

 Adults 50 and older who are interested in learning for the fun of learning are invited to attend Northern Essex Community College’s College of Older Learners (CoOL) seminar showcase on Tuesday, March 11, from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 103B in the David Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

 CoOL is designed for individuals over 50 who are interested in attending educational seminars for the joy of learning.  At the Showcase, attendees will learn more about the seminars and meet the seminar leaders. This event is free and open to the public.

 Ranging from science to film, the seminar topics for the spring include Fun Films, Touring Local Parks and Trails, Middlemarch: A Glimpse of Glory, In Search of Common Ground (comparative religion), Aging as a Spiritual Practice, Robert Frost in Lawrence and in Derry, NH, From 42^nd Street to Avenue Q, The Captivating Culture of China, Music Maestro Please, Personal Essay Writing, A Journey Through Ethnic Music and Dance, Science of the Times, The Golden Age of Television, The Hispanic Caribbean: Between Culture Dictators, and Colonies and Revolutions. .

 All of the seminars meet on a designated week-day for six consecutive weeks, unless otherwise noted, at the Haverhill campus, NECC Riverwalk, of off-campus. The cost is $30 for each seminar.

 Guests without parking stickers must park in the lot furthest from the entrance; park in the Tech Center lot on the other side of the road.

 For additional information visit the CoOL website.

Or, contact CoOL through the email address coolnecc@gmail.com or call 978-556-3110 and leave a voice-mail message. You can also contact Ted Coughlin at tedcoughlin@verizon.net. Contact CoOL is you have an idea for a future seminar.