Submitted by Jordan Chila | Editor-in-Chief
In honor of Spanish heritage month, we are sharing a simple Arepas recipe with you.
Ingredients
Arepas:
4 cups Yellow Cornmeal (fine)
2 cups Water
Salt to taste
Topping:
2 Tomatoes
3 Scallions
Garlic powder to taste
Salt to taste
Oil
Filling:
Butter
Cheese
Directions:
Quotes collected by Elysian Alder and Jordan Chila | Editors-in-Chief
Photos by Natalia Oliver
On Thursday, September 19 2024, the ESL Club hosted a Hispanic Heritage Celebration at the
Leominster Campus, welcoming the entire MWCC community to honor Hispanic culture. Attendees
enjoyed authentic cuisine, danced to lively Latino music, and gained invaluable insights from keynote speaker Dr. Irene Hernandez.
“I’m from Uruguay; It’s hard to choose a few [of my favorite things from my country], but the people, the educational system and the food are my top three. It was a meaningful experience for me personally, as a proud Spanish immigrant, to be part of this celebration. This event was a reminder of the rich tapestry of cultures and traditions that make up our community.”
By Jordan Chila | Editor in Chief
Melissa Gates is a theater enthusiast whose love for the theater has recently pushed her to obtain one of the leading roles in the upcoming production of Steel Magnolias, set to hit the stage on October 4th, 5th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, 2024. She hails from Fitchburg Massachusetts and graduated high school in 2000. Gates also enjoys her work as a paraprofessional in elementary education and spends her leisure time performing in her band, hiking, and attending local shows. Although she arrived at the Mount in the spring of 2024 to begin her academic journey, Gates has been a part of the Theatre at the Mount community since she was a girl.
By Mayra Alaniz Andrade | Observer Contributor
According to Allison Goodwin, Operations Director at Gaining Ground, a nonprofit organic farm in Concord, MA, “About one in five Massachusetts households is experiencing food insecurity, which is really staggering.” Gaining Ground has been working to address the area’s increasing food insecurity for the past seven years by donating free, sustainable, organic produce to local residents.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, 44.2 million Americans lived in food-insecure households in 2022, with 12.8% of residents lacking consistent access to sufficient food, up from 10.2% the previous year.
By Desiree Leader | Staff Writer
According to a study by the research group College Pulse, 14% of the college population follows a vegetarian (no meat products) or vegan (no animal products, including milk or eggs) diet, compared to 4% of the general population. The most cited reason for this is environmental concerns (31%), followed closely by animal rights and health. While no specific data was available for the Mount, Mina Girouard, Student Leader in Civic Engagement, and member of the Food for Thought food pantry at the college has noticed an uptick in the need for vegan products to serve the students. They purchase items like tofu, which are not available through the Worcester County Food Bank that helps stock the pantry. They also offer fresh produce and staples like pasta, beans, and plant-based grains.
By Princess Yeboah | Assistant Editor
Gary T. Brayboy, a student at MWCC, possesses a creative and intriguing talent for photography. After a breakup and losing his job left him at a crossroads, Brayboy decided to come to the Mount to “reboot his life.” Determined to turn life’s lemons into lemonade, he is now studying video production. With his degree, he hopes to become either a colorist for film or a camera operator. Having a background as a DJ for many years, Brayboy also plans to expand into videography services and eventually start his own production company. As an African-American artist, Brayboy aims to express himself through photographic means.
By Kent Yang | Staff Writer
Disclaimer: The Mount Observer does not encourage cheating or academic dishonesty in any way, this article is intended for educational purposes only.
If you’ve ever taken Algebra, Calculus, Chemistry, Statistics, or Physics in high school or college, chances are you’ve used a Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus at some point. Released in June 2004, the TI-84 Plus quickly became America’s favorite calculator. Compared to its predecessor, the TI-83 Plus, the TI-84 Plus boasted three times the memory and a processor that was over twice as fast. It featured 480 kilobytes of flash memory, 24 kilobytes of RAM, a link port for data transfers, 13 preloaded software applications, seven different graphing styles, and advanced statistics functions, all of which were crucial to student success. Today, the TI-84 Plus remains widely used and is considered the “best budget calculator” at $97 by many reviewers.
By Nick Cherico | Assistant Editor
On Thursday, April 13th, MWCC students participated in the art department’s annual bronze pouring. This year’s pouring was led by Thomas Matsuda, who is an Art Professor and Chair of the Department. Matsuda helped students prepare their own ceramic molds which they could then pour bronze into.
By Micah Clark | Observer Contributor
Taking place at the Hynes Convention Center adjacent to the Prudential Center near Back Bay station in Boston, Anime Boston is an annual spring event that members of MWCC’s Anime Club attend. According to its website, Anime Boston is the largest anime convention in Northeast America and in 2016 this convention attracted 26,975 people.
Multiple stories tall, this convention site each year houses many discussion panels where relevant topics are discussed, as well as several vendors halls where people purchase goods ranging from Japanese animation shows and movies known as ‘Anime’, Japanese comic books called ‘Manga,’ costume supplies, and various other assorted merchandise, like art and clothing.