By: Joshua Needham
Just the other day, when trying to access my personal Facebook account, I was met with an interesting message: “Your account has been temporarily suspended because it looks like you’re not using your real name.”
The Mount Observer
Disagreement is in the air today, as the two wind turbines that provide green energy to MWCC have turned their backs to each other.
For those that pass these wind current carousels on their way in to school, it may have come as a shock today to find that the turbines, normally facing triumphantly in the same direction, charging forward into renewable power generation, were in fact facing opposite directions.
“I don’t know what my partner is thinking,” the west-facing turbine said, “the wind is blowing from the west!”
Photos from Scary Karaoke 2017 taken by Jennifer Lamontagne.
By: Rachel Aster
In 2017, we are a world filled with technology, lights, screens and distractions. While technology is a very useful tool, it can easily become an enemy to a clear mind and mental health.
Nancy Regan saw students struggling with anxiety, stress and depression when she started her career at the Human Health Services on the Gardner campus in April of 2014. Regan had also witnessed some of her closest friends turn to hiking as an outlet while feeling depressed, stressed, or anxious. They claimed that being in nature was a cure-all for their ailments.
By Sonia Aviles
Think of being placed right in the middle of a ghoulish nightmare mixed with elements of your favorite horror movie on a cold, dark night surrounded by many unfamiliar faces. Then enhance that nightmare with heavy rock and roll music in the back ground mixed with the sounds of chainsaws, cheerful laughter, screams of glee and fear, and cracks of a nearby fire pit. Welcome to Spooky World!!
Spooky World is in Litchfield, New Hampshire, this haunted theme park is worth a visit on any opening night. Upon arrival, there is plenty of space to park, with at least three to four lots of parking space for a fee of $5. The parking staff is also helpful and direct cars to appropriate spaces to park so there is no hassle to find parking spaces. Generally, the ticket prices are not wallet friendly. General admission is usually $40 per ticket for a typical weekend. The food and drinks are decent there, but not worth the price. Something as simple as hotdogs or burgers would cost $5 and more where you could get the same thing at a local fast food restaurant. They do serve beer there; however, they cost just as much as buying it from a bar. A helpful suggestion would be to eat out if money is an issue.
By Meghan Doyle
Mount Wachusett Community College will host a financial literacy fair on October 24 in the Gardner campus commons area. The fair is free for all students and will cover a variety of topics, such as tips on building budgeting habits and establishing good credit
The program stresses the importance of financial literacy in both school and life. The workshops on federal student loans and the financial aid process can help individuals understand the ins and outs of comprehending college finances while other workshops, such as dealing with credit cards and budgeting are ubiquitous in everyday life, affirms the financial aid office. Students are encouraged to pre-register online to reserve their seats at mwcc.edu/financialaid.
By: Desire’ Jackson – Crosby
Lines etched on simple, ripped-out-of-the-book sketch paper. Colors – pastel blue, hazy yellow, and earthy brown decorate some pages while heavy thick lines of defined color trace upon others. Simplicity sings a soft note of abstractness, telling a whimsical story that changes the more you look at it.
This is the work of Julia Morgan, titled “In/Transit”. For some reason, upon hearing the name of these pieces, I was taken to a much more figurative view of the art. I began the famous process of contemplation that comes with observing art. I thought to myself: “Maybe Julia created the messy strokes on the page when she was feeling cloudy and confused over a situation in her life”. I turned over instances and searched for situations inside the colors of the pages. Although art is open-ended, after reading the display bearing Julia’s explanation of her work, I was struck. Of In/Transit, she said “these paintings were made on buses and trains, in desert jeeps, taxis, rental cars, buses and carts across Egypt, India, Morocco and France using watercolor, pens, ink, and paint markers” I stood puzzled, but by then very intrigued.
By: Michele Walsky
Aghast, no space in sight!
“BBQ fair,” my carpool squealed in delight
“Cone,” I groaned, circling in plight
Diagonal, sideways, angled, no use
Every spot was taken, it was becoming obtuse
Forget it, I’d say if it wasn’t for class
Good gravy, so jammed, students parked on the grass!
“Hurry”, I prayed, following walkers afar
Instead, they tossed books and grabbed more from their car
Just as hope dipped, we spied a spot
“KIDDING!”
Laughed the bike in its slot
“Motorcycles”, we cursed under our breath
By: Michael Young
A Shadow crossed before the sun,
while some of us have just begun to shine.
We do not need free speech
with flags of hate out in the street to shine.
Have we all lost our way
or just the ability to say the words that shine?
No need to plead or whine.
Just know that it’s the time to shine.
Be prepared to blaze
and cut through all this haze to shine.
It’s what is in your heart
that sets you apart and lets you shine.
By Nick Cherico | Assistant Editor
Photo courtesy of Stevens’ family
On April 26, every member of the Mount Wachusett community was saddened to learn of the death of Professor Edward Stevens. Stevens was a MWCC faculty member for 51 years of his life, teaching various courses in science, electronics, and mathematics.
According to the faculty page on the Science Department’s website, Professor Stevens wrote this about himself: he enjoyed gardening, skiing, swimming, hiking, reading, and playing tennis. Stevens believed that emphasizing to students how science is involved in everyday life was very important, which is why he taught science courses, according to the faculty page.