By Princess Yeboah
Assistant Editor
On March 20th, 2025 in office President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on the US Department of Education that will completely shut down federal funding millions of students rely on. According to President Trump his act of signing the executive order is essentially “returning education, very simply, back to the states where it belongs”. In addition to its closure, 50% of DOE staff were placed on administrative leave effective Friday, March 21st. The DOE is the agency of the federal government that establishes policy to administers and coordinating most federal assistance to education. It also assists the President in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress. At MWCC, where many students rely on aid from programs such as Pell grants and loans, both faculty and students feel upset and fearful about this major change.
By Jordan Chila
Editor-in Chief
Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) is home to many students, forty-two of which utilize the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) resources according to Ann Reynolds, Coordinator of Student Parent Supports. The campus also has additional supports such as the Child Watch Program to assist student parents while they get an education. While national statistics show that in the US, 7% of household income is used to pay for childcare, Reynolds and the team working at the Family Resource Center at MWCC have added the child watch program and CCAMPIS options and parenting students are taking advantage of them.
By Holden Baird
Observer Contributor
Tariffs have been a major topic of discussion over the last several weeks, from national news reports to kitchen tables around the country. That is unlikely to change as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up this major piece of his economic policy, about which conversation ranges from a revitalization of American industry to the dawn of a new global recession. More recently on April 2, Trump introduced a sweeping expansion to the existing tariffs as part of his “Liberation Day” announcement, imposing elevated tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories.
By Desiree Leader
Staff Writer
In the American Public Education system, students with learning differences or disabilities may be able to obtain accommodations to acquire an appropriate public education. In many instances, that comes through an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which makes accommodations to help the students reach their educational goals. Although IEP’s aren’t done at the college level, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t support available for students. Those in need of services can contact the Disability Services office to see if they qualify for a 504 which makes accommodations for students who have a hard time accessing education.
By Wayne Jurgeleit
Assistant Editor
Sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment, presents significant environmental and public health challenges. Wastewater and stormwater flow into treatment facilities, where solid wastes are separated from liquids through settling and then decomposed by bacteria. These processed solids—sewage sludge—contain numerous hazardous materials, including household, medical, chemical, and industrial waste.
Once treated, sewage sludge is dried and disposed of in landfills. This “chemical soup” is laden with toxic compounds, nanomaterials, hormones, and dangerous pathogens. When a landfill reaches capacity, the site is capped, and the extremely slow process of breaking down these substances to safe levels begins. While sanitation processes mitigate some health risks, chemicals like PCBs, flame retardants, heavy metals, and endocrine disruptors, many of which are carcinogens, are not filtered out. Additionally, landfills are vulnerable to leaks caused by severe weather and aging infrastructure.
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