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By Ashka Ramanlal Stonehill.College News Blog Journalist Marwah Maasarani, a senior program analyst at Charitynavigator.com, analyzes and rates charities. Maasarani’s research is important for donors in the charity world. Her job may sound daunting and tedious, but Maasarani said she enjoys her work. Days after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross stated the organization had run out of supplies, despite having raised $500 million. The scandal influenced people to hesitate donating anywhere, believing their money will not do anything useful. Donors turned to researchers such as Maasarani to help quell their concerns and get information. Maasarani landed a job at Charity Navigator before her graduation from Wellesley College in 2013. She continued working at the organization while earning a diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from New York University in 2019. The NYU program teaches students ways to measure progress of certain programs, suc...

By Michael DiVito Stonehill College News Blog Journalist Like most teenagers, college freshman Brian Pescatore is drawn to social media almost every chance he gets but it often leaves him feeling dissatisfied and down. “I look at social media everyday multiple times a day.   The things I see on social media make me feel like I’m living a horrible life,” said Pescatore, an 18-year-old student that lives on campus at Merrimack College. Pescatore is not alone.   While many teenagers said social media makes them feel more connected to friends, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center also found that for some teens social media comes with additional social burdens. The survey, “Teens’ Social media Habits and Experiences” by Monica Anderson and JingJing, was published in 2018 by the center. Jiang and Anderson give in-depth analysis into the emotions that teens feel from social media.   The survey found that 43% of teens feel pressure to only post content th...

By Abagail Chartier Stonehill College News Blog Journalist BOSTON – Paradise Rock Club is packed to the brim with people for a sold-out show. The crowd ripples with anticipation, hundreds of bodies cramming themselves towards the stage. Suddenly, blue lights on the stage are no longer alone but joined with red. A roar goes through the crowd, as the opening band walks out. The blue fades and the quartet is drowning in red. “Hello Boston!” female singer Alexia Roditis calls out, getting a chorus of welcome in reply, “We are Destroy Boys from Sacramento, California and we’re here to rock your world!” The Berkley’s on Fire World Tour has three bands playing tonight: Destroy Boys, Beach Goons, and SWMRS. Out of these three, the only band with female members is Destroy Boys. This is a common occurrence in the music industry. According to the 2018 study “Inclusion in the Recording Studio?” by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, et al. published the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, wom...

By Alex Desta Stonehill College News Blog Journalist EASTON—Oshika Jayasundara still remembers the day he got a brand new PlayStation 3, but his happiness was cut short after his dad saw one little letter on the back of a game. “When I was in the seventh grade, I got a PlayStation 3. With the PlayStation came Assassin’s Creed 3 , but I could not play it because my dad saw the M (Mature) rating on the back. Eventually, my dad traded it for Amazing Spider Man,” said Oshika Jayasundara, a 19-year-old student at Middlesex Community College. Young Jayasundara knew that the things that occurred in video games were not possible in real life.   “I knew that I could never do any of the stuff I saw in these games in real life. I don’t know why my parents would think I could kill people like they do in this game but I couldn’t voice that opinion because my parents would not listen to me,” said Jayasundara. In “For Video Games, Bad News Is Good News: News Reporting of Violent ...

By Richard O'Neil  Stonehill College News Blog Journalist  EASTON - In October of 2018, then Stonehill college police chief Peter Carnes announced his retirement from the department after close to 10 years of service.  In the past, whenever Stonehill PD has hired a new Chief of Police they have come from an external department.  Many of the full time campus police officers serving now are inexperienced in law enforcement outside of the college, which can make it difficult to hire within the department. However, this time around the search for a new police chief was much easier.  David Wordell is a Massachusetts native and alumni of Stonehill college. He is the first campus police chief at Stonehill to be promoted internally. He began his career in law enforcement working for the Massachusetts State Police, where he served as a patrol officer for 29 years.  Chief Wordell first got the idea of working as a campus police officer during ...

By Bruno Moreno Stonehill College News Blog Journalist EASTON - Michael Pietroski is the guy that makes it all happen at Stonehill College. Pietroski is the director of the media technology department and ensures that students get their money’s worth in regard to technology on campus. He and his team of mostly college students are the people that make sure that students get their A+ education at Stonehill College by making sure that the school’s equipment is up and running at all times on any given day and hour. “I love what I do and I hope that I have impacted my co-worker’s lives in some way.” Pietroski’s background started off by him learning about A/V while attending Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. One of his teachers told him that he should stick with media and he would go places. Pietroski didn’t do so well in woodshop class but he did have a skill for Audio/Video. Pietroski studied a vocation in Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, he studie...

By Chris Pires Stonehill College News Blog Journalist Jamie Warner is a New York public relations animal by day and an aspiring influencer by night. Warner puts in hours of work every day, five days a week working in the fashion world at the Wetherly fashion firm, and coaches Instagram influencers in her off time. She said her motto is, “stay on the grind until you make it big”. Warner graduated from Roger Williams University in 2015 in Bristol Rhode Island with a bachelor’s degree in communications. One of the busiest times of the year for Warner is around September and February. These are fashion months which is when New York’s highest fashion brands display their fall and spring collections in Bryant park and all over New York City. Many hours of planning and overtime go into the promo and organization of these upscale fashion events with many fashion critics, celebrities, stylists, and magazine editors coming out for the shows. Warner and her coworkers are in ch...

By Taylor Aiello  Stonehill College News Blog Journalist  Every day after school, the Boys and Girls Club of Brockton, Massachusetts fills with children coming for homework help, arts and crafts, or gym activities. But one of the most important programs that the club offers is dinner. Most weeknights, the club feeds dozens of children—from kindergarteners to high schoolers—through its meals program designed to ease hunger of children from families who are struggling financially. “People should care about this issue because it is so prevalent in our society and communities and some of us see it every day… some of the children who are homeless, or poor can be so helpless if he or she is so young with nothing to do or no way to support themselves. With that being said, we should be the ones to help support them when they are unable to,” said Cassie Ford, a senior and one of the hunger volunteer coordinators at Stonehill College.  She has volunteered with...

By Caroline Casey Stonehill College News Blog Journalist EASTON — After a rough and challenging college experience, Jacklyn Oleksak finally came to her breaking point as a collegiate athlete and had to leave Stonehill College after dealing with mental health issues for a while. There were days that she didn’t want to live anymore and would harm herself, she said. There were days where she wouldn’t get out of bed so she didn’t have to interact with friends. These were dark times for her and she couldn’t find a way to deal with it. Recently in college athletics, student-athletes are expected to be both mentally and physically strong, but there is no surprise that the pressures of being both can get in the way. This has caused many student-athletes to suffer from mental health issues because they can’t find a way to handle athletics and academics. “During my time as a college-athlete I developed depression and anxiety stemming from issues outside of athletics, but ultimately ...