Beyond the Hill

By Erich Meslin Online learning may be putting college student’s education in jeopardy, according to studies by West Point and Marshall University.           The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many colleges and universities to change the classroom dynamic by making online learning the new normal.           More than 700 universities and colleges have adopted the online platform ‘zoom’ to allow their students to learn without fears of spreading Covid-19.           According to a study conducted by West Point, 551 freshman students learning online were observed to have lower grades in comparison to classes taught in person.           The study concluded that final grades for online students dropped by 0.215 standard deviations: a result apparent in both assignments and exams, according to the study. ...

 By Carolyn Deal Several Stonehill College students said they never heard of the Public Service Loans Forgiveness Program but believe it will help student debt. “I feel that student loans should be easier to deal with for students paying them back-without changing the basic definition of what a loan is,” Katie Turner, a sophomore Communications major and Anthropology minor, said. The program, passed by President Biden, provides an opportunity for students to obtain loan forgiveness. The U.S. Department of Education Fact Sheet states that 550,000 borrowers can apply for the Public Service Loans Forgiveness Program through a waiver. In total, $1.74 billion is expected in forgiveness. According to Federal Student Aid, eligibility for the program includes being a full-time employee, school closures, houses a permanent disability, and if there are claims of college fraud. Certain repayment plans and military status can increase a person’s chances of receiving help with unpaid loans. Stu...

College Students’ Disengagement in Elections Due to Twitter Messages By: Carolyn Deal Twitter affects college students’ participation in election polls due to messages spread across the platform. “The social networks that exist have become divided among partisan lines. People follow the Twitter accounts of people they agree with or believe in. That creates a concern about polarization. Self-reinforcing messages can drive people further and further apart,” Stonehill College Political Science and International Studies Department Chair, Robert Rodgers said. Twitter is just one of the social media outlets used by both Democrat and Republican groups to influence people. One study found some people don’t trust what they see on social media. “Thirty-nine percent of young Americans indicated that they never trust Facebook… Similarly, 38% indicated that they never trust Wall Street, 35% never trust Twitter, and 32% never trust the media,” Spring 2021 Harvard Youth Poll stated. Voters use social...

  By Lauren Moran As Stonehill Field Hockey warmed up for their game against St. Thomas Aquinas on September 11 th  player Maddie McGee wore a New York Fire Department shirt in  place of the team’s warm -up shirt. It was not only to honor the lives lost during the attacks in New York City on September 11 th  but to honor her father. Larry McGee was a New York City firefighter stationed in the Bronx. On September 11th his station was ordered to man the Brooklyn Bridge in case of a second attack. Then in the months following 9/11, he was involved in the cleanup at Ground Zero. “Although I did not know my dad pre 9/11, I don’t think that he was ever the same. Every year we have to see the pain in his eyes as he remembers, it’s really hard,” Maddie McGee said. Along with being a firefighter, Larry McGee was also a member of the FDNY Ice Hockey Team. After 9/11, when the New York Rangers had their first game back at Madison Square Garden, the FDNY and NYPD hockey teams we...

 By  Julia Pascucci      Kayla Mitchell was a top six MasterChef Junior contestant and her experience has shaped the person she is today.  Mitchell, 18, decided to major in communication with a concentration in public relations after seeing the people who interview and promote the show during the filming of MasterChef Junior. Mitchell’s path to appearing on the show came when she saw it mentioned on the last episode in the first season of MasterChef. “After I watched the episode and saw the application, I filled it out that night. I believe it was in December of 2013, because we filmed in 2014. I only applied for fun, I wasn’t thinking much of it,” Mitchell said.  Mitchell said there were multiple steps to take in order to be selected as a contestant on the show. “You need to fill out the initial application and after that you'll have a phone interview to get selected for an open call audition in New York City. During the open call, you do basi...

  By Lauren Moran Ever since the age of 6 Kayla Raymond has been a standout and as her final season of basketball approaches, she is ready to go out on a high note. With 782 career points,16 Northeast-10 Conference Awards, NE-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and being named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division 2 All-America squad, this is nothing but the norm for Raymond. While at Oliver Ames High School in Easton Raymond was a four-year letter winner in basketball and received the Boston Globe All-Scholastic honor award. “I remember, her freshman year of high school watching her at the Stonehill  Basketball Camps, saying that she is something very special,” Trisha Brown, head coach of the Stonehill Women’s Basketball team, said. “It’s so close to home so it was easy for my family to come to watch me play and I was also drawn to the culture of the team,” Raymond said. During her sophomore year, Raymond was averaging 19.7 points on 46.3% shooting before ...

  By Jeorgia Jahumpa Young people are voting now more than in recent decades, recent studies say. According to a study conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School, 36% of young Americans are more politically active than they were a decade ago. Another study released by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) states says that young people made a key difference in the 2020 election with 52-55% of eligible voters being 18–29-year-olds in 2020 compared to 42-44% in 2016. The reason for such a large turnout, according to Stonehill College Political Science professor Dr. Anwar Mhajne is due to the pandemic and the demand for social justice in the United States. “COVID-19 create an environment that allowed people to get more informed about what was happening. So, everyone was interested news and updates about the pandemic, but also started following the news more closely,” Dr. Mhajne said. Mhajne also said that in past el...

  By Caleb Tobin Political candidates are spending more and more money on social media advertising, a study from the American Bar Association showed. “In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, the public became aware of just how powerful and game changing political advertising on social media could be,” the study said. According to the study, in 2008, $22.25 million was spent on online political ads. That number rose to $1.4 billion in 2016.  Campaigns are using social media as a way to engage directly with supporters, targeting key demographics in order to gain more support among those groups. The sites most commonly used are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  “I saw the Trump campaign, for example, run a lot of ads on YouTube as the election heated up. It seemed like as election day got closer, the more ads I saw,” said Joseph McLaughlin, a Holbrook resident.  One campaign that heavily used social media was Michelle Wu and her recent campaign for...