Faculty, staff and students walk through last year’s health and wellness fair.

Drowsy driving, the dangers of vaping, and alcohol awareness through mocktails are just a few of the health topics explored during Northern Essex Community College’s health and wellness fair on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, from 9 a.m. to noon, in the foyer of the Dimitry Building, 45 Franklin St., Lawrence.

This event, sponsored by NECC’s Center for Health Professions, is free and open to the public.

Come and talk to health professionals as well as health students about health conditions and the health care programs that are offered by NECC. There will be a flu shot clinic and blood pressure checks. There will be table displays on topics like alcohol awareness, healthy relationships, dental and oral health, anxiety, and nutrition.

Representatives from NECC’s health programs will be on site to answer questions and discuss each of NECC’s health care programs in depth.

Northern Essex offers associate degrees in General Studies: Health Specialization, Exercise Science, and Public Health, and certificates in Community Health Worker, Healthcare Tech (Phlebotomy & EKG), Medical Billing, Medical Coding, Medical Office Assistant, Nursing (ADN), Nursing Advanced Placement: LPN to RN, Paramedic Technology, Radiologic Technology, Business Management: Healthcare Practice and Respiratory Care; Dental Assisting, Medical Assistant Day Program, Paramedic Technology, Practical Nursing (PN), and Sleep Technologist; and a course in EMT-Basic.

Raffles will also be available for those in attendance.

For additional information, contact Linda Comeau at lcomeau@necc.mass.edu

Across the nation DACA supporters have demonstrated.

On Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, Northern Essex Community College President Lane Glenn joined 164 colleges and universities from across the country in signing an amicus brief supporting the roughly 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children and who hold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.

“DACA recipients are American in every way; they built their lives here and contribute to our campuses, communities and our country’s economy every day,” said Glenn. “Northern Essex is proud to support DACA recipients, and we believe it is vital that we protect this vulnerable population when their futures are in question.”

This “friend of the court” brief was coordinated by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. The brief can be read at here.

Since 2012, DACA has offered temporary protection from deportation and the ability to work legally to more than 700,000 young immigrants who came to the United States as children. The program has benefited these Dreamers, including our students, their families, their communities, and our economy tremendously.

On September 5, 2017, the Trump administration announced that they were terminating the DACA program. In the past two years, multiple courts have kept renewals ongoing for current DACA recipients, but Dreamers have still been forced to live court case to court case, uncertain about their futures and in fear of being separated from their families and the lives they have built over decades in the United States.

In defense of DACA’s continued existence, the brief argues that the rescission of DACA will severely harm the life prospects of these students and alumni, adversely affect our nation’s higher education institutions, undermine the many years of investments that colleges and universities made to support DACA recipients, and sap our higher

The future of DACA—and the futures of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers—will be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on November 12, 2019. The Court could hand down a ruling as soon as February 2020 determining if Dreamers will lose the ability to live, study, and work in the United States.

After his presentation, Larry Summers (front, center) had lunch and a casual discussion with students, faculty, staff, and members of the community.

Lawrence Summers, president emeritus of Harvard University, where he continues to teach economics, was on Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill Campus to talk with students on Wednesday, October 2. During his two hours at the college, Summers covered a broad range of topics from closing equity gaps in higher education to the importance of getting involved politically.  His presentation was sponsored by the college’s Global Studies Department and arranged by Professor Richard Padova.

He opened his presentation with a message directed toward students, especially community college students.

“The battle for America’s future will be won or lost in our nation’s community colleges and by the people who study within them,” he said.

When asked by Northern Essex President Lane Glenn to elaborate, Summers said “Big things are the sum of small things.   If small things don’t work right, than big things don’t matter.”   To illustrate, Summers shared a story about his recent week-long hospitalization at Mass General Hospital for an undisclosed medical issue, crediting the excellent front-line care he received.   “In that hospital, a miracle was working.  People on the front lines of care— graduates of schools like this one—were careful and skillful and serious, and I felt better, much better, about the society of which I was part.”

While Summers has spent most of his career at an Ivy League college, he recognizes the issues lower and middle income students face.   As Harvard president for five years, from 2001 to 2006, he is most proud of the policy he implemented guaranteeing accepted students with a family income of under $60,000 a free ride to Harvard.

In response to a question asking what he would do with a one-hundred-million dollar donation to higher education, Summers suggested he would use the money “to forge connections between community colleges and selective institutions.”  Those initiatives might include providing community college students with internet access to the Harvard libraries or creating online courses for community college students that originate at Harvard.

“I wouldn’t want my money to go toward perpetuation of privilege,” he said.

Summers is optimistic about the future of our country, but he also sees challenges ahead.

“… we are the country that brought you the internet; we are the country that has leading cutting-edge companies like no other; we are the country that has been at the forefront on gay rights; we are the country to which students all over the world want to come; and we are the country to which migrants from all over the world choose and want to come. Let’s not sell ourselves short.”

Challenges, according to Summers, include declining opportunities for upward mobility for middle class families; shorter life expectancies, primarily due to the opioid crisis; and low levels of confidence and trust.

He told students that our country’s future depends on the choices they make on issues such as climate change and nuclear proliferation.

One student asked Summers’ advice on what he and other young people can do to improve themselves and the world in general.    Here’s what Summers shared:

·         Register to vote

·         Elect the best president by educating yourself on the issues

·         Volunteer four hours a week for the candidate you believe in

Summers also served as secretary of the treasury during the Clinton Administration and as the director of the White House National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy for President Obama.

“Larry Summers has had a profound effect on politics, economics, and education in our country,” said Northern Essex President Lane Glenn.  “It’s an honor to welcome him to our campus.”

Kindness Rocks are drawing attention on campus.

When is a rock more than a rock?

When it is a Kindness Rock. And, if you look closely, while you are walking across campus, you just might find one. The Haverhill and Lawrence campuses just became a little friendlier and a lot brighter thanks to Northern Essex PACE students and others who have created dozens of Kindness Rocks and hid them in plain sight for others to find.

The idea, while not a new concept, was introduced to the NECC campus by Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence (PACE) director Kristen Arnold as a fun open house activity.

“A few years ago I took my daughter to the local library and she found a kindness rock. It made her so, so happy. Yet it was such a small thing, “Arnold said. “I thought why not try it. It’s inexpensive, makes people happy, and builds community.”

Turns out, she was right. During Welcome Week this September, PACE arranged a table filled with rocks, bottles of acrylic paint, paint pens, and markers. Students from all programs gravitated toward the table creating designs, images, and inspirational messages to share with others. Rocks carry messages like “Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti,” “Believe to Achieve,” and “Be Yourself”.

Part stress reliever, part icebreaker, Arnold says, you could see the painters visibly relax as they created. Once the rocks, which she bought in bulk, were painted, PACE staff treated them with a sealant, so the paint colors don’t run. The rocks were hidden by the students inside building and along the cement walls.

“They don’t hide them in the grass, on walkways, or on roadways at the request of facilities,” she said.

Finders don’t necessarily become keepers, she added. Once a rock is found, there is a message on its underside instructing the finder to either keep it or re hide it and post a photo of it on the #NECCRocks Instagram and Facebook pages.

“It’s been cool to see where these rocks show up,” Arnold said.

For additional information contact Arnold at karnold@necc.mass.edu

PACE is a Student Support Services program funded by a TRiO grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Students are eligible for PACE if they are a first-generation college student and they meet federal financial guidelines.

Anthropology Professor Kristi Arford with the text book she created.

For nearly a decade, NECC Anthropology Professor Kristi Arford dreamed of a textbook that would engage her students. Frustrated when she couldn’t find one, she decided to create one.

After compiling a list of “musts” for the perfect anthropology textbook, Arford spent her spring 2017 sabbatical, researching and writing the anthology “Coming Full Circle: Rediscovering Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World through Cultural Anthropology” which was published by Cognella Academic Publishing.

Arford, who uses the textbook in her Anthropology I courses, donates 100 percent of the proceeds to offsetting the cost of participation in NECC’s Study Abroad Program. To date nearly $2,000 has been donated.

“Every anthropology textbook I found was boring, dry, and traditional with an outdated approach to anthropology,” Arford said. “I was looking for a fresh approach. I wanted content that was relevant to the students’ actual lives.”

Each chapter opens with an introduction written by Arford who presents the topic. This is followed by a page of key terms used in the chapter and a number of articles written by scholars. She includes a “Why Should I Care?” section, which was the direct result of a student asking that very question.

“I realized it wasn’t always obvious to the students as to why they should care about studying other cultures,” she said. “This lays it out for them. It highlights why it is relevant to the world and to their life.”

Topics covered in the text include gender, spirituality, and belief systems with an overarching theme of sustainability.

“A culture’s values shape how they will act toward the environment,” she said.

Perhaps the chapter that makes her the happiest is the chapter on happiness.

“I have never seen an anthropology textbook cover happiness,” she said. “This looks at different cultures views of happiness or contentment.”

The title “Coming Full Circle…” was her attempt at noting that modern, traditional cultures are looking to older, indigenous cultures for their wisdom, The book jacket was designed by the publisher with input from Arford who hopes it would include the “dots” used in Australian “Aboriginal artwork.

The textbooks are available as bound or binder copies. They can be purchased through the NECC Bookstore or Amazon.

For more information, contact Arford at karford@necc.mass.edu