The Montage

Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient VOLUME 59, ISSUE 3

NOV. 9, 2023

WWW.MERAMECMONTAGE.COM

Unlocking Opportunities

Learning Resources for Veterans and Students TY DEFRATES

I

STAFF WRITER

n this diverse world, individuals belong to multiple demographics and identities, each offering a unique perspective and set of skills. Within these various classifications, there exists a wealth of resources and training opportunities waiting to be explored.

There are two distinct lists: one that lists some resources for Veterans and the other list for all students.

When looking at the resources, use them to spark ideas and conduct other searches focused on specific interests and demographics. Both lists are designed to benefit anyone, providing a glimpse into the vast array of programs available to help you achieve your goals.

These lists have a technologyfocused approach, and there’s a reason.

Regardless of educational program or career objective, there are essential skills or expertise that everyone might benefit from. Here’s a brief but incomplete list: typing, accounting, budgeting, interpersonal and public speaking, training, information systems, project management, emotional intelligence, and empathy.

When people think of career choices and job functions, they often narrowly focus on stereotypical roles.

However, in the last five years, there has been a significant push for “citizen developers.”

These are employees who create application capabilities for themselves or others using software and artificial intelligence (AI) that takes out the complexity of having to be a programmer. Being a citizen developer is not a job title but more like a skill that is leveraged in an organization or profession.

Cybersecurity remains a prominent topic in the news, shaping everyday business and life. It is also a highly sought-after education and employment path due to a perceived shortage and high

salary potential. While most people associate cybersecurity with hackers and tech-savvy individuals, the field encompasses much more—trainers, project managers, testers, technical documenters, experts in social engineering, and an understanding of the human psyche. Every organization requires cybersecurity, and it can be integrated into any profession, such as nursing and dental hygiene, for example. Cybersecurity experts, although not always visible, play a crucial role in translating technical complexities for those on the front lines.

There are numerous free learning opportunities available using your student email address as a student, veteran, and other federal and state programs for individuals facing additional barriers to success. When evaluating programs, due diligence is needed to understand the time commitment and what certifications and skills you will obtain upon completion. Some resources overpromise outcomes and fall short of delivering value. The biggest issue is the time required and devoted to something with little result when it could have been focused on something delivering value.

Veteran Resources: ACT Now Education: (https:// actnoweducation.org) - Over 40,000 free resources are dedicated to the military community, providing opportunities and support for active duty personnel, veterans, reservists, military spouses, and dependents.

SalesForce Vetforce: (https:// veterans.my.site.com) - Free Salesforce training for military personnel and spouses, offering web-based training and guaranteed job interviews.

Vets In Tech: (https://vetsintech. co) - Connecting veterans to the national technology ecosystem, supporting education, entrepreneurship, and employment.

Veterati: (https://veterati.com) - Free 1-hour mentorship phone calls with successful professionals

for Service Members, Veterans, and Military Spouses.

Microsoft Software and Systems Academy (MSSA): (https://military.microsoft.com/ mssa) - Providing transitioning service members and veterans with technical and career skills required for the technology industry.

SANS Veterans Cyber Academy: (https://www.sans.org/ cyber-academy/vetsuccess) An intensive training program offering SANS training and GIAC certifications in cybersecurity.

Hope White Hopefully Speaking: (https://hopewhite.org) - This resource is recommended for individuals aiming for a specific GS level or position. While some of her offerings have transitioned to a feebased model, she still provides free courses.

Free Online Cybersecurity Workforce Certification Training - Center for Cybersecurity Purdue University Northwest: (https://www.pnw.edu) Cybersecurity Workforce Program from the College of Education and Human Development, providing comprehensive cybersecurity training and certifications.

Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedVTE): (https://www.usalearning.gov) - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offers free online cybersecurity training to all veterans through its FedVTE program.

Resources for all Students: Microsoft Learn: (https:// www.microsoft.com/learn) A comprehensive platform providing free courses and certifications in various technologies. This resource covers various professions, including courses for educators, data analysts, AI enthusiasts, and more. Upon certification, you can explore becoming a Microsoft Certified Trainer, detailed further on this list.

MVP Communities - Microsoft Student Hub: (https://mvp.microsoft.

com/studentambassadors) - Become a Student Ambassador and access numerous resources, networking opportunities, and learning events.

This program is valuable to all students, regardless of their interests or professional aspirations.

Microsoft Certified Trainer: (https://www.microsoft.com/learn) Become a certified Microsoft Trainer and share your knowledge and expertise with others.

Microsoft Azure: (https://azure. microsoft.com) - Explore Microsoft’s cloud computing service, offering various resources and training modules.

Google Academies: (https:// academies.withgoogle.com) - Google’s platform provides free courses and certifications in digital skills and technology.

Cisco Networking Academy: (https://www.netacad.com) - Offers online courses and certifications in networking and IT skills.

CompTIA - Student Discounts: (https://www.comptia.org/blog/ voucher-discount) - Exclusive student discounts on CompTIA certification exams.

PMP (Project Management Professional) Certification: (https://www.pmi.org) - The Project Management Institute offers globally recognized PMP certification for individuals pursuing a career in project management.

MO Peer Support Certification: (https://health.mo.gov) The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services offers peer support certification programs.

These resources represent just a fraction of the opportunities available for readers to use as examples to research, explore, engage, and embark on their learning journeys with enthusiasm and determination.

For more specific details on these resources, visit our website at meramecmontage.com. An extended version of this piece can also be found there.

In this issue...

“TRANSFORMED UPDATE” pg. 2

CLASSES CANCELED pg. 3-4

CLERY REPORT ANALYSIS pg. 4-5

ASL PROF. SPOTLIGHT pg. 7

SPORTS NEWS pg. 12

2 NEWS

Nov. 9, 2023

STLCC Transformed Continues to Transform Campus

Corporate College’s Skye Lufsey gives an update on the projects at Meramec

C

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

onstuction work continues district wide on the various STLCC Transformed projects currently planned by the college. Meramec continues to see heavy construction, but progress appears to be moving along on these progress quicky as the winter season approaches.

Skye Lufsey from the Corporate College campus regularly sends The Montage updates regarding the projects college wide. To view more updates and photos of the construction, please visit meramecmontage.com.

MERAMEC UPDATES • Exterior demolition began on the southeast corner of the Business Administration (BA) building on 10/11, and demolition of that building is now complete.

• Demolition of the Communications South building is also now completed; as of press time, a large mound of debris sits where the building once stood. The bridge between Communications North and what once was Communications South is also now completely demolished.

• Interior demolition of the old Library building was completed last month and exterior demolition has begun as of press time.

• As a result of the ongoing work along the sidewalks, a temporary detour between Clark Hall and the PE Building remains in place.

The progress of the demolition at the Meramec campus on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Photo courtesy of STLCC and OxBlue.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Currents, Meramec’s student literary magazine, is accepting submissions for the 2024 issue.

Poetry

Flash fiction & short stories Personal essays

10-minute & one-act plays Artwork

JOIN OUR TEAM!

⏰ Time Commitment: Just 1-2 hours per week! �� No experience required – we welcome all levels of expertise For questions or guidelines, contact Dr. David Taylor, faculty advisor, at dmtaylor@stlcc.edu

NEWS 3

Nov. 9, 2023

STAFF JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR DAKOTA PULCHER PHOTO EDITOR KAYLA COACHMAN STAFF MORGAN DANIELS STAFF TY DEFRATES STAFF JACKSON GERKEN STAFF MACY GILLICK STAFF DAN GUNTLI STAFF AMELIA KIRSCH STAFF CARRAH MCDANIEL STAFF LILLIAN THUM STAFF EMILY WEBER STAFF RYAN WINZEN STAFF

Shannon Philpott-Sanders Faculty Adviser

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More Classes Cancelled Moving Forward JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

R

ecently, the cancellation and removal of classes from STLCC’s Course Catalog caused a stir. The removal of these courses comes as a result of a variety of factors determined by a recently formed course review scheduling team. This team is composed of four people including two staff members (one from Meramec and one from Florissant Valley, a dean from Forest Park and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Andrew Langrehr.

Langrehr recently spoke with The Montage regarding the cancellation of these selected courses, the reasons behind those decisions, and how STLCC determines what courses to run with for a given semester.

Canceled Courses As of press time, the following 20 courses are no longer being offered beginning at the start of the Spring 2024 semester: * COM 112: Argumentation and Debate * English 202: Introduction to Poetry and Plays * English 204: American Literature * English 205: American Literature II * English 211: British Literature II * English 224: Fiction Writing * English 233: Writing Memoirs and Creative Nonfiction * Mass Com 134: Introduction to Filmmaking * Mathematics 165: Structure of Mathematical Systems * Mathematics 166: Structure of Mathematical Systems II * Mathematics 177: Finite Mathematics * Mathematics 212: Discrete Mathematics * Music 113: History of Jazz * Music 211: Music History I * Music 212: Music History II * Political Science 213: Introduction to Comparative Politics * Foreign Languages: 202 Level courses Langrehr said that the decision to cut these courses is in part, the result of a convergence of data dating back up to five years.

“In any given year, in that five year look back one offered more than a couple two, three times a year in the whole district,” he said.

Filmmaking Department Speaks Out One faculty member spoke up directly about the changes to the Board of Trustees.

“For 15 years, I’ve taught students how to make and understand movies,” Professor Rob Hahn said at the Sept.

28 Board of Trustees meeting. “I’m compelled to bring concerning news about future students, because for them the dream may be over. Filmmaking has been cut from the spring schedule, perhaps removed for all time, canceled without consult of the data showing our students’ success.”

Hahn left a handout for members and attendees at the meeting to read, citing time constraints on speakers preventing him from speaking at length. “But,” he said, “to summarize, every fall and spring for over 40 years,

filmmaking has provided quality, affordable training to over 2,200 students, working class students, students of color, and first generation learners.”

After describing the successes of various alumni who went through those courses, Hahn said, “But now, filmmaking is canceled. And when our school closes the door on our low income, first generation students with the big dreams, we’re sabotaging everything our Community College stands for.”

Hahn pleaded during his time at the podium for the college to overturn the decision to cancel filmmaking, saying that the decision will cost future students jobs.

Karina Robb, a student enrolled at Meramec and previously taught

by Hahn, also spoke at the meeting regarding the cancellation of the program. After explaining how the program helped her, she addressed BOT Chair Craig Larson, stating “Mr. Larson, you had said [to a previous speaker] that you really support the fine arts, [...] if you support the fine arts, in turn you sort of have to support media. And yes, I hope you consider keeping it on the course roster.”

Their pleas, however, appear to have fallen of deaf ears, at least for now.

Why? Enrollment plays a key factor Langrehr said that many of these courses were canceled because the demand for them simply was not there.

“I would classify [those courses] as low demand,” he said. And here's my metrics on it: the review of the schedule, looked at what courses of our more than 1600 courses in our catalog.

Of all of these courses, which ones are required in programs? If they're required in programs, we’ve got to have them in the schedule, because students need them to complete. Then it looked at which courses are recommended

for a student and transferring in a discipline. Like if you're going to transfer, and you have some options, which ones have we recommend that students take? Those ones were considered needs.”

“And then it looked at which courses are very popular that students are choosing for their electives,” he continued. “You know, they're offered in multiple sections across the district, on all the campuses because students want these classes. If they were in that vein, we kept those in the schedule, too, because students wanted them. So classes that we offered, not on all the campuses, so we may be off for one section or two sections of it in the whole district, in a whole year, those were viewed as not in high demand. Not needed, because if they were needed, they'd have been offered across the district, and more often.”

Langrehr said that most popular courses have hundreds of students enrolled per semester, while the canceled courses may have had fewer than 100 students over the last five years.

“In determining whether a course is popular, we would want to see that you're offering several sections of that and that students on multiple locations ideally, all the locations are demanding as opposed to a section or two on one campus,” he said. “So those are kind of the metrics [we’re looking at]. Our enrollment is how many students signed up for this class.”

Langrehr acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic affected enrollment during the period of time that was studied, but doesn’t believe it had a significant enough effect in terms of the fate of the canceled courses, citing the five year time period that the college is using to make its decision beginning well before the onset of the pandemic.

Continued on pg. 4

4 NEWS

Nov. 9, 2023

Clery Report Reveals 2022 Rape On Campus

STLCC Police Captain Benjamin Talley explains campus alert systems, statistics

S

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

aint Louis Community College (STLCC) recently published its 2023 Security and Fire Safety Report. This report, published in accordance with the Clery Act of 1990, details the statistics of all crimes and incidents reported that are associated with the college over the previous three years. The 168-page report has crime and incident statistics that cover every single STLCC campus; specific data relating to the Meramec Campus can be found on pages 121-132 of the report.

The Montage spoke with STLCC Police Captain Benjamin Talley, a veteran officer primarily based out of the Florissant Valley campus, and briefly spoke with Lieutenant Adis Becirovic, a veteran officer based out of the Meramec campus.

One specific statistic stands out Clery Data shows that the campus was largely crime-free in 2022, with one notable exception: an on-campus rape was listed in the statistics for the year.

Research through the last 22 months of the STLCC newswire and email alerts shows that at no point did the college send out an alert or inform the student and faculty bodies of the incident. When asked why that was, Captain Talley said, “There was no threat to the campus community.”

He continued, “We knew who the suspect was. We knew there was no threat to the community, if that makes sense. And ultimately, that’s why that did not go out as a timely warning, because there was nothing to warn

This table from the 2023 Clery Report lists a rape incident that occured late last year. anybody about because there was no ongoing threat to the community.”

Talley, who at the time of the interview was visiting the Meramec Police Station located along Couch Avenue, said that he couldn’t reveal specific details of the incident, but did show a database that logged the crime, known as the Clery Act Public Crime Log. Based on that log entry, it can be determined that the assault occurred on Nov. 22, 2022 between 11:20am and 11:30am within Parking Lot G, which is the lot between the campus police station and the end of the cafeteria atrium. The assault was not reported until the afternoon of Dec. 2, 2022, at which point STLCC began

investigating and quickly located the assailant.

“What I can tell you on this was the victim knew the alleged suspect,” Talley said. “And we were able to identify the alleged suspect. Quickly.”

Talley said that some investigations take time, but that this one did not.

“Our investigation is completed,” Talley said.

The department then turned its report over to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney on Jan. 12, 2023, and had not received an update on the matter since then until Talley’s staff contacted their office last week. At that time, Talley said he was informed that “the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has

refused to issue charges for this alleged incident for unknown reasons.”

One department, more than one campus Both Talley and Becirovic stressed that while STLCC has multiple campuses, the college’s police department does not necessarily view them separate entities.

“All of the lieutenants, the command staff, [they] have worked on every campus,” Talley said.

“So they’re well aware of issues for the entire district,” he continued.

“And that’s a good thing. [...] They’re not Meramec, they’re STLCC. So what happens here,” Talley continued, “or

Scheduling: Can canceled courses return eventually?

CONTINUED FROM P. 3

“The pandemic was very challenging, challenging for scheduling, and challenging for students,” he said.

“But I think that coming out of it, we’re trying to add beneficial modes for students and give them more options for how they might want to take a class.

And students are signing up for them.”

Langrehr continued, “A high flex modality, where I can come and sit in class, or if something comes up, so I need to watch it, [...], that’s been pretty popular in some spots and some disciplines. And we know you’ve got to ramp up the technology to do that, that you’ve gotta have that in the classroom to be able to do it. And we’re putting resources behind that so that we can make sure that students’ preferences are met where that mode is concerned.”

Returning to the canceled courses, Langrehr said that it boiled down to “pretty simply, that students haven’t chosen how we’ve offered this to take it very much. It’s not a requirement in any of our programs. So we want to have the things that students are demanding in the schedules, the things that are needed, so that they can complete things efficiently.

“But,” he said, “I think the students

have sort of voted on this with what they’ve signed up for past them and haven’t signed up for those ones in the big number.”

Langrehr also mentioned that scheduling for the next semester is not finalized at the beginning of registration, and classes are sometimes added closer to the start of the semester, with adjustments made up until the beginning of the semester.

He also made sure to note that if demand for certain courses rises, some courses have the possibility to return, including the filmmaking course.

“We never carve anything into stone,” he said. “The best opportunity those classes on that list and filmmaking have to come back into the schedule would be if a transfer focus area or program identifies that as something students should take.

Or if there, I guess, if there was a groundswell of students saying to the advisor [that they would be interested in it]. But the most likely route would be, we decide that that’s an important course for a student in their pathway to a career. They’re finishing here. So it’s one of our programs, or we’re engaging with our four-year Transfer Partners.

And as we add focus areas for transfer, does that become part of one of those? [...] The pathways and programmatic focus of the schedule is about making sure the schedule is filled with needs, as opposed to wants. Unless it’s wanted by a lot of people.”

What goes into a class cancellation?

Not all classes make enrollment requirements. Langrehr explained that class cancellations are often made to ensure students have alternative opportunities to meet Gen Ed requirements. There is no set minimum criteria, as every situation can be different.

“There’s a lot of depends,” he said.

“So, as an example, if this is a course that students need to complete, and there’s one section of that course, on the campus, in that semester, we’re gonna run out with a very, very low number of students because those students need it to. So if that same number of students, let’s say there’s three or four students in there, and we run it as it’s needed, that same three or four students were in a class, that there’s 10 sections of it. And there’s three sections that still

have room in them for someone else to jump into it, we would cancel that.

And it does depend a bit on capacities.

Some classes have a very high capacity because maybe it’s in one of our bigger rooms. But generally, if classes are in the double digits, if they have a normal size room [such as] the 25 seat classroom and start getting into 12, 13, 14 people [enrolled]… it’s pretty safe, even in multiple section classes.”

“But I want to be real clear, that varies a lot, depending on the circumstances,” Langrehr continued.

“And you’ll even have students or faculty say, ‘hey, this class with four students or five students is running over in this other discipline, or over on this other campus. And why is this one getting canceled?’ There’s always logic behind it, that we want to make sure where possible that if we cancel that class, there’s another opportunity for that student to either take that same class, or meet that same Gen-Ed requirement with a different class so that they’re not slowed down in their progress.”

NEWS 5

Nov. 9, 2023

Capt. Talley: ‘Our goal is to solve problems here’ CONTINUED FROM P. 4

at Flo Valley or wherever, we are deep.

We are connected to all of that.”

“It’s one department,” Becirovic said.

Talley and Becirovic both work under Director Of Police Alfred Adkins, with Talley calling himself Adkins’ “right hand man.”

“He sets policy,” Talley said. “And I’m the Captain. I’m his right hand person. Like [with] operations, if that makes sense.”

While Becirovic is assigned to Meramec and has been for many years, Talley said that Becirovic serves as sort of a “watch commander for the district” in addition to Meramec-specific duties where he serves in a sort of precinct commander role.

The department itself has gone through numerous changes over the years.

“Everything we do, report wise, statistic wise, all that stuff is actually district wide,” Talley said. “So the report system we have is not Meramec.

It’s everything. So we know when we see trends, and all if that makes sense. If we need to put more people here because we’re having something happen… we see that and we change and adjust on the fly just like any other agency would need to do on that.”

“You know, back a long time ago, we did not operate like that, Talley said.

“We kind of operated independently.

This has been years ago, this agency operates as a single entity, so we know what’s going on in the district and we can adjust to trends and what’s going on.”

A brief history on the Clery Act Talley explained the Clery Act of 1990 as a consumer protection law for students to know what’s happening on college campuses. It was enacted following the murder of Jeanne Clery in April 1986 in Stoughton Hall at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“Unfortunately, a very tragic, tragic event happened at Lehigh University, many years ago. Ultimately, she died,” Talley said. “And what ends up happening is out of that, her parents sue, they want people to know that things happen [at college campuses].”

Clery’s parents won the suit, and were awarded $2 million. They also later founded a non-profit group known today as “The Clery Center for Security On Campus.”

“If you’re a college or university that takes Title IV funds, which is financial aid, you are required to comply with the Clery Act,” Talley said. “So if the college or this place or another place doesn’t comply with it, they can be fined. And they’re large fines.”

Notable schools that have been fined in the past include: Penn State University, Michigan State University and Virginia Tech among others.

Clery Reportable Crimes and Active/Inactive Cases “These are the things that we have to report on,” Talley said. “There is homicide, sexual assault, rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape, robbery, aggravated assault, aggravated assault means more than first aid for I mean, it’s a big injury, okay, more than a

simple fight. A burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. Those are the only criminal offenses that we are required to report out in the Clery Act.” Talley spoke about the difference between crimes marked as active and inactive on the Public Crime Log. “A good example is there’s nothing more for us to investigate on it. [...]

This might be a, maybe you left your wallet in the hallway,” Talley said.

“We went back, and maybe we don’t have any witnesses. Maybe we don’t have any video evidence. And we don’t have anything more to investigate upon. Because of that, we still take the statistics. But we don’t have anywhere further to go with that, if that makes sense. We don’t have any further to go on what that case was.”

He said that some cases may still be marked active even after an investigation is completed.

“So what I mean by active [...], when we get a disposition back from the prosecuting attorney, and they say whatever their charging stuff is, we will go back in here and change that to whatever that case may be.”

A look behind the curtain at STLCC’s Emergency Notification System Talley said that the circumstances surrounding the Nov. 2022 incident did not necessitate an alert or what he calls a “timely warning” through the college’s mass notification system.

When asked for examples of what may constitute an alert through that system, Talley said a major weather-related danger such as a tornado would be an example, as well as an active shooter situation.

Talley also recounted a recent example of the college’s alert system in action, mentioning an incident near the Forest Park campus on Oct. 24, 2022 that occurred at the same time as the active shooter incident at the nearby Central Visual and Performing Arts High School (CPVA).

“We had an incident, [and] it was not on the college campus, [but] it was at the same time [but] not connected was over at CPVA, they had their major incident happening with their active shooter,” he said. “Not connected to that, we actually had an issue in our Forest Park campus, that we had a call that allegedly a man with a gun. I can’t remember [the exact details of] that.

But allegedly, a person with a weapon was on the campus outdoors.”

He continued, “We had to be very careful when we put those out because we need to have some confirmation.

This one we had some confirmation on the last thing down there from her from the witness. [So] that would be a good example of the emergency notification system.”

Talley said that a “timely warning” is slightly different, saying that those are alerts concerning a Clery Reportable Crime or a crime adjacent to it that poses a serious and/or ongoing threat to the campus community. He offered an example surrounding one particular motor vehicle crime.

“Okay, good example, how about catalytic converter thefts,” he said.

“It’s not a Clery Reportable Crime. But say we have it happening all over the

campus. And we want to let you know, if we see a trend here, and stuff like that. That’s something that the campus community, even though it doesn’t, it’s not here, we’ll put something out. I’ll call it a campus crime alert.”

Talley said that even if an incident is related to a specific campus, those alerts are sent to students and faculty across all colleges in an effort to keep students safe.

“We’re not thinking about just a Meramec campus,” he said. “We’re thinking about online students.

We’re thinking holistically about anybody who is connected to St. Louis Community College.”

More than Clery Talley acknowledges the importance of the Clery Report, but says that it may not always give the full picture when it comes to analyzing crime across the college as a whole.

“The crimes that we have to put in there are a very minut amount compared to what we have to do [when reporting other statistics],” Talley said. “What you really see out of the Clery Act is that [...] it can be different than what you see in Incident Based reporting, because they really do not align correctly all the time.”

He recommends checking out realtime statistics posted on showmecrime. mo.gov to help see trends across the college in action. “[Anyone] can go in here and use this at any time you want,” he said.

“And you come in here and this is what the public can see. And this is in real time.”

He later continued, “This personally, is a better way for you to see what’s kind of going on truly at the college.”

Unreported Crimes Professor Ruth Eilerman has worked at the college as a Criminal Justice instructor since 2007. She believes

that Meramec is a safe campus, but also says in many of the courses that she teaches that just because there is little crime reported in a given area, it doesn’t mean that there is no crime taking place.

When asked why some people may not report a crime at this particular campus, she said, “If we’re talking about crime on campus, it’s going to be because it’s not serious. It’s considered too petty to be taken seriously.”

“Most of the crime that we see here is low-stakes,” she said. “It’s petty crime, and it’s just kinda not worth reporting. We don’t think that there’s gonna be enough follow-through there to get a resolution.”

Talley, however, encourages anyone that “if you see something, say something. We want people to know that we’re here for you. Right?

We want to know what’s going on.

Because if things aren’t reported to us, we can’t properly take a statistic right?

To let you know. And we can’t possibly investigate something [that may need to be investigated].”

Flushing Out The Other Statistics Two other crimes were listed under the 2022 year on page 132: one instance of domestic violence on campus, and another incident of stalking.

The full report is available for download on the STLCC website. You can also request a paper copy from STLCC’s Security Department located at the Corporate Campus in Bridgeton, or by calling (314) 539-5199.

In addition, Captain Talley said, “I want you, the students, faculty and staff to understand that we properly report statistics, and I don’t take this as a bad thing. I take this as a positive thing,” he said. “We truly care about making sure that you feel safe at St. Louis Community College. [...] We can only help. Our goal is to solve problems here.”

ShowMeCrime.gov lists real-time, detailed statistics for like this for the college as a whole, not one campus specifically. Captain Talley recommends this source for those looking for updated information.

6 ART & LIFE

Nov. 9, 2023

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Black Student Union (BSU) is back at Meramec this semester jacob politte MANAGING EDITOR

Morgan Daniels Staff Writer

As The Montage approaches 60 years in print, it’s notable that archived digital copies that can be viewed by readers on The Montage’s “Issuu” page only date back to 2010. The rest are not lost to time, however. Print copies, both loose and binded, still exist. They date all the way back to the very first issue in 1964 and can be accessed in the Library.

As we approach our sixtieth year in publication, The Montage would like to take you back in time to some of those issues throughout the coming school year. This month, we’re diverting from the formula a bit and taking a look back at the past activities of a newly resurrected organization on campus.

After over 25 years in exile, Meramec once again has a Black Student Union (BSU).

This semester, the organization was reborn, and is looking to grow once more.

In the past, the organization participated in and facilitated many events over its initial 30 year run.

Montage Reporter and current Black Student Union member Morgan Daniels, in her role with the latter organization, recently reflected on the history of the BSU’s Meramec tenure in an Instagram post.

“In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Black Meramec students formed the Association of Black Collegiates (A.B.C.) The student org was known for hosting annual Miss Black Merame contests to fundraise for their club. Around 1973, A.B.C. renamed itself the Black Student Union. The club participated in community service events like collecting canned goods for families during Thanksgiving and volunteering at the Homer G. Phillips Hospital on Christmas Eve. The hospital primarily served the Black community from 1937-1979.

The BSU at Meramec wasn’t always a favorable student organization. According to BSU member John Brown, the group faced backlash in 1974 by both Black and White students for being a racist group and not ‘functioning properly.’ Despite that, the BSU consistently managed to host thought-provoking and eventful Black History Month activities on campus. The Meramec BSU also hosted dances and essay contests as a way to fundraise. Unfortunately, according to archives from the Meramec Montage, the BSU (and several other clubs lost their charter in 1995. Since then, there’s been no evidence of the BS, so we assume the student organization waned off once it lost its charter.”

Until now, that is. Currently, the group is looking to fill leadership positions, including a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 1:00pm in Humanities East Room 112, but an RSVP is required. You can find that RSVP link here.

The Montage thanks the BSU for their contributions to this piece.

TOP: A student poses for a picture as a part of “BSU Cares,” a piece in the Nov. 15, 1974 issue highlighting a Canned Food Drive hosted by the Black Student Union.

BOTTOM: Another evented hosted by the Black Student Union, the first ever “Miss Black Meramec” was covered by The Montage in the Dec. 9, 1971 issue.

Jerry Myers Talks Meramec’s Choral Offerings JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR It’s set to be a big year for the music department on the Meramec campus.

Longtime Meramec Professor Jerry Myers is very excited for the next year of Meramec Choir Offerings, and even more excited to get back to performing in the Meramec Theater following extensive construction work in the venue.

“So this fall, there’s a couple of instrumental concerts,” he said.

“They’re still in the Student Center cafeteria because of the theater remodeling; we’ve been anxiously waiting for that to be done. As I’ve heard, that should be by the end of this calendar year.”

Myers is also excited about his choir students collaborating with other groups.

“Then in December, the one thing my groups have been doing, since we could start doing concerts again with other people, is performing at and with other high schools, joint concerts, other high schools with other colleges.”

After citing an example of running a concert at Bayless High School this past May, Myers continued, “ I’m making good connections with those

programs that way. It’s one of those things that I’ve wondered, why have we not always been doing that? This December though, we’re gonna do our holiday concert at Nazareth Living Center, which has a wonderful chapel in it, some, some great acoustics.”

Myers spoke of other events, including an alumni choral concert.

“I’m in my fifteenth year here,” he said. “So all those all the singers that have been here, that have been part of the choir [program] over the past 15 years are going to get an invite back to perform. We’re bringing back one of our accompanists who’s a singer with the Tabernacle Choir now, and she’s going to do workshops. It should feel like a big, nice week-long event.”

Myers also spoke about a large project being worked on throughout the year, set to be performed in May at the First Congregational Church in Webster Groves, that will pay tribute to Matthew Shepard, a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die on a split-rail fence in October 1998. He died six days after he was discovered on that fence, at the age of 21.

“It’s very interesting when I first introduced this to the Chamber

Singers, you know, most of them at 18, 19, 20.. they’d never heard of this, but they’re very familiar with hate crimes,” Myers said. “They’re very familiar with gay young men getting beaten. But they had no idea of the impact this event had, especially on that community.

And that it was, I think it was such a shock to everybody worldwide. I mean, I was in high school, just finishing it.

And so it was kind of an eye opener for me too. I mean, that wasn’t something we heard about on the news all the time.”

“So we’re gonna learn a big piece of music,” he said. “But I think everybody is learning a lot about the impact this has on people in society and all that is going to be part of the benefit of doing it over a whole year, you know, instead of taking six to eight weeks to learn a piece of music, like we do for some concerts.”

The project, titled “Considering Matthew Shepard” is being performed in conjunction with Webster University and Jefferson College.

“It’s quite a sizable piece,” Myers said. “So we’re actually spending the year on it. And it’s just for all three schools. It’s just for our Chamber Singers, and normally like the major work, the big work goes to the big

choir [...] So we’re going to try and do it a little differently this year, do a big work with the smaller choirs, because this is made for that kind of chamber choir singing.”

He continued, “It’s a highly emotional work. It’s also quasi-stage, so there’s a little bit of costuming, a little bit of movement for the choir, not anything like a theatrical production.

Yeah. And we’re doing that at First Congregational Church in Webster Groves, which is also a very nice space for performance.”

Readers can follow the activities of the Meramec Choir and other musical groups on the Music @ Meramec Facebook page.

Nov. 9, 2023

ART & LIFE 7

deaf to Deaf Identity: Reflections from ASL Professor John Ferrari morgan daniels STAFF WRITER

E

ach semester, Professor John Ferrari captivates his students with his theatrical storytelling abilities. His series of hand shapes, occasionally complemented by furrowed brows or mouthed sounds, express not only his thoughts but also his personality. How he uses his hands is an essential part of how he communicates with not only his students but friends and family.

While Professor Ferrari would be a great actor and performing arts instructor, John Ferrari is a parttime American Sign Language (ASL) professor at St. Louis Community College. He is a proud alum of the Florissant Valley campus and primarily teaches ASL 1 and 2 at three campuses: Meramec, Wildwood, and Flo Valley.

However, Professor Ferrari wasn’t always so confident in his ASL skills.

Ferrari was born deaf to hearing parents in Murphysboro, IL–a relatively small town near Carbondale, IL. At four years old, he and his family moved to St. Louis after a family friend recommended the city because of its special schools for deaf children.

“At that time,” Ferrari shared, “my family didn’t know what to do with me because I was deaf. We didn’t have a school for the deaf.”

He was one of the first in his family to be born deaf, so his parents wanted a way to communicate with him and prepare him for school. He started kindergarten at the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf, which then had a K-8 classroom program that provided Ferrari with an oral education. The school taught him to speak through various methods like lip-reading, speech therapy, and other practices to encourage the use of spoken English instead of sign language.

While the program at St. Joseph’s improved communication with his parents and family, his oral background didn’t ensure a smooth transition into the hearing world. Ferrari was mainstreamed into a public high school with a predominately hearing student population and didn’t have access to an interpreter. He relied heavily on lipreading, but he still struggled to keep up in class.

“I had no clue what the teacher was talking about,” he said. “The teacher would talk and talk, and it was different than what I was used to at my previous school. It was very confusing.

I didn’t even really know who I was. I just went through a lot of frustrations, and my parents would say, ‘Oh, just pay attention. Try to read their lips.’”

Following high school, Ferrari went to STLCC-Florissant Valley to begin his studies in accounting.

However, Florissant Valley provided more than just experience in finance and economics coursework. The Deaf Communication Studies program introduced Ferrari to ASL. With his oral background and strong English skills, he started learning sign language by signing exact English. As he worked to improve his ASL skills, he joined the campus Deaf Club for additional exposure and community.

He eventually became president and hosted all sorts of events. One of the most memorable events Ferrari shared was when the National Theatre of the Deaf came to campus to perform Pinocchio.

After obtaining his associate degree from STLCC, Ferrari continued his studies in accounting at the only liberal arts college for the Deaf in the United States—Gallaudet College (now known as Gallaudet University) in Washington, D.C. Being on campus gave Ferrari a culture shock. The

photo by : jonathon kelso, Georgia Bulletin John Ferrari, center, at the National Deaf Cursillo in Atlanta, Georgia.

community there was unlike what he had experienced before; students were signing with one another, high-fiving, laughing, and genuinely enjoying themselves.

“It is very different,” he said, “this is the Deaf community; the Deaf world is at Gallaudet. To be there and to learn, I was exposed to so much.”

For the longest time, Ferrari had little to no exposure to a rich Deaf culture. An environment that prioritized communicating in ASL and had their own shared Deaf culture and perspective of their Deafness.

“I was able to look into my identity,” Ferrari explained. “I thought I would be intimidated and have this fear because it would be my first time apart from my family and being on my own, meeting people. But as I was meeting people, it was different. Noticing that people were from different countries and their signing was different, and then originally not having the comfort but gaining comfort because we’re all the same. We have our own language

and culture.”

When reflecting on his sense of identity while at the college, Ferrari shared, “I am Deaf, and you know what? I am proud of it.”

Professor Ferrari shared many more reflections and life stories with The Montage staff. We encourage readers to visit our YouTube page for the full interview with Professor Ferrari. There, he elaborates further on his childhood experiences, Deaf identity, career challenges, and community involvement.

Furthermore, readers will be able to see Ferrari’s expressive signing with the help of captioning.

Open and Affordable Educational Resources Change the Game ryan winzen STAFF WRITER

A certain type of dread may hit students when they first see that their classes may require an expensive textbook. With the cost of classes, transportation, and school materials, costly textbooks can unintentionally create another financial burden for students.

However, some St. Louis Community College (STLCC) professors have joined the Open and Affordable Educational Resources Council, a group focusing on ways for students to find classes that ditch the requirement of some of those costly textbooks.

Open and Affordable Educational Resources (O&AER) are free, online teaching resources that are under a free-to-use license. A trend of professors using O&AER instead of textbooks is occurring at STLCC. Jerry Myers is a music professor and choir director at Meramec. He has been teaching at STLCC for 15 years and has seen textbook prices increase quickly.

“They have gone up,” Myers said.

“I’ve been teaching for 26 years and I’ve seen prices go up considerably.

When I got here 15 years ago, I already

thought they were too high. Even as an undergrad in the 90’s I thought they were expensive, even though they probably cost less back then.”

Myers has combated these high costs in his own unique way.

“I make my own workbooks for the class,” said Myers.

By creating his own workbooks, Myers has eliminated some of the issues caused by textbooks. “I find the problem with academically written books, students will read them and come to class with more questions,” he said. “What my workbooks ended up being was glorified notes, so we can do music class discussions. It takes the cost away and alleviates the confusion.”

A feature of the online bookstore that Myers pointed out is the ability for students to view what classes require which textbooks. “The site is called Stlcc.textbookx.com. They can see what classes need what books. For music theory, I put that I provide them workbooks and textbooks on canvas.

They can look between sections. Some classes require the same book for each section, but for music classes, the professor chooses the books,” said Myers.

Russel Murray is a math professor

at STLCC who has also written his own OER materials. “I teach differential equations and that is the class I’m using the ore textbook, which is the one I wrote. I also teach calculus and we’re working on an ore textbook for that class,” said Murray.

Philosophy professor, Sahar Joakim talks about being a member of the O&AER Council. “This council tries to inspire professors to use less expensive course materials. Affordable means anything under $40,” said Joakim.

Joakim makes her own class material through her YouTube channel. “I also have a youtube channel and a part of my homework is for my students is to watch those youtube videos.”

Joakim mentions the positive attributes of her YouTube videos. “You can pause the YouTube video and take a screenshot. The students can take note without having to write anything down. They can slow the video down, they can pause the video, they can put captions and read while they listen,” said Joakim.

Joakim shared a student survey regarding textbooks. In 2021, 1076 students responded to the survey. Out of that 58% said they bought a textbook and did not use it for the course. In

2023, 849 students responded with 62% saying they purchased a textbook which the class did not use.

Political Science Professor John Messmer did not originally use free O&AER resources. “Some of my colleagues did this already, but I wasn’t going to a free textbooks until I knew the textbook was of good quality,” said Messer.

Messmer mentions the qualities he enjoys about O&AER. “No cost to the students, online, high quality, you’re 3 for 3 with that,” said Messmer.

Messmer said that he shows his support to the individuals who create O&AER resources. “At the end of the day, the people are doing it for ethical moral reasons, they realize for the good of higher education, it would be great if we could eliminate another burden to students,” said Messmer.

While textbook prices do not seem to be lowering any time in the foreseeable future, many professors are embracing free educational resources.

“An expensive book doesn’t mean more quality. A free textbook doesn’t mean lower quality,” said Joakim.

MeramecMontage.com HAS A NEW

Join the Team Meetings every Tuesday at 2 PM via Zoom or in Student Center, Room 220A

Contact Shannon Philpott-Sanders at ssanders147@stlcc.edu for more information.

To get you where you need to go, PTK offers opportunities to help you develop and discover your personal, academic, and professional potential.

We Have an Honors Program at STLCC-Meramec!

Honors offers qualified students a variety of opportunities in and outside the classroom, including honors classes, special projects, workshops, and mentoring. New students can qualify through high school GPA, ACT score, or Accuplacer. Returning students qualify through their college GPA. Once admitted, honors students are never obligated to pursue a minimum amount of honors work each term.

PHI THETA KAPPA - XI LAMBDA CHAPTER INTERNATIONAL HONORS SOCIETY FOR TWO-YEAR COLLEGES Phi Theta Kappa is an international honors society for two-year colleges. It’s mission is to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students, as well as to provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service, and fellowship programs.

To be eligible to join Phi Theta Kappa - Xi Lambda, Meramec’s local chapter, students must have a GPA of at least 3.5, have taken 12 or more credit hours, and must be enrolled in at least one course currently at Meramec.

IfIfIfyou are interested, contact Chapter Advisor JerryAdvisor Meyers atJerry you are interested, contact Chapter you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Professor Rich gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638.

Peraud 217 or go to PTK.org for information.

MyersinatCNgmyers34@stlcc.edu ormore 314-984-7638

Curious about the Honors Program and what it might mean for you?

Learn more about the Meramec Honors Program and apply online at http://www.stlcc.edu/mchonors mchonors@stlcc.edu 314-984-7147 Humanities East 101

ART & LIFE 9

Nov. 9, 2023

The top ways to give back to military members and veterans this year emily weber staff In honor of Veteran’s Day, here are top ways, in no particular order, to give back to both veterans and military members. These can be done on Veteran’s Day itself, or throughout the year.

• Get a group together and make cards or write a letter.

• Volunteer at a veteran hospital or at an American Legion Hall.

• If you know someone that is on active duty, send them a care package.

• Fly the flag correctly! Don’t let the flag touch the ground, and don’t put the flag up when it rains.

• Attend a Veteran’s Day Event, such as the annual raising of the flag at the Meramec Campus.

• Place flags at gravesites. One good cemetery is the Jefferson

• •

•

Barracks National Cemetery, where you can also visit a war memorial or two.

If you know a veteran, ask them if they could tell you their story and listen to them.

Donate to Veteran-Focused Charities. Here are some ideas of those charities: The Wounded Warrior Project, K9s for Warriors, The Gary Sinise Foundation, Fisher House Foundation, and Disabled American Veterans.

Here are days when you can fly the flag: January 1 (New Years Day), January 20 (Inauguration Day), National Vietnam War Veterans Day (March 29), Flag Day (June 14), Independence Day (July 4), Navy Day (October 27), Veterans Day (November 11).

What’s Happening on Campus?

Don’t miss out the exciting campus events sponsored by a variety of organizations, including Campus Life, during the month of November.

Meramec Celebrates International Education Week - Nov. 13-17 The Global Studies and International Education Committee has put together four on-campus events for International Education Week.

• Nov. 13: Philosophical Perspectives on Iranian History, Lecture Hall 103 from 2-2:50 p.m.

• Nov. 14: International Education Festival, Student Center from 11 a.m.-12 p.m.

• Nov. 15: Study Abroad presentations on Cuba, Netherlands and Ireland, Lecture Hall 101, 12-12:50 p.m.

• Nov. 15: Japanese Calligraphy: The Art of Writing, CN 125, 2-2:50 p.m.

“The Adivina is Never Wrong” The Meramec Theatre presents “The Adivina is Never Wrong” Nov. 15-18 at 7 p.m. in the Meramec Contemporary Art Gallery (HE 133). This proudtion tells the story of Rosa, who lives on an ostrich ranch and dreams of going to college to study meteorology. But that’s not what her mother and great-grandmother want fo rher. Greatly influenced by a fortune teller’s prediction from years before, Rosa’s family seems to have limited her life choices. Or have they?

First-Generation College Student Panel The annual national first-generation college celeration day is Wednesday, Nov. 8 from 12-1 p.m. in SC 125. Learn more about the first-generation college student experience from STLCC students.

STLCC Libraries Speaker Series The next installment of the STLCC Libraries Speaker Series, Rimio Thomas, Ph.D., presents “The Power of No: The Importance of Establishing Boundaries to Preserve Mental Health.” The event is from 1-2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14. This is a virtual event. written by: Macy gilliick, graphic by morgan daniels

10 OPINIONS

Nov. 9, 2023

The Unseen Consequences of Scheduling Changes A Call to Action for All Students and Faculty TY DEFRATES staff In recent years, the Board of Trustees (BOT) and Leadership at STLCC have employed various tactics to implement scheduling and program changes, adversely impacting veterans, students, and faculty.

These changes, framed as data-driven decisions, have subtly limited student choices and funneled them into courses, modalities, and timings that benefit the institution but reduce student choice.

One of the concerning strategies is confirmation bias, where data collected over several years on student preferences, course selections, program changes, dropouts, and graduation rates have been influenced by STLCC leadership to justify these decisions.

The school uses a scheduling task force that limits options and funnels students into the course the school wants, then, operating in real-time, adjusts course openings and schedules, often at the expense of stakeholders like veterans, students, and faculty.

A recent presentation at the October Board Meeting revealed a concerning trend: decision-making heavily relies on scheduling data from the past four years, including three years of pandemic-affected data and one year under the scheduling task force’s influence.

This limited dataset, controlled entirely by STLCC leadership, skews the outcomes favoring courses the institution wishes to succeed.

When you ask leadership about the details, there is never a pattern of consistency and transparency.

In the BOT, the presentation said four years, and when questioned by Managing Editor Jacob Politte, it turned to five years.

They give opinions and excuses that are never backed by data and facts. If they make these decisions on the proper data, why do they consistently never give the public the data to evaluate. We are discussing leadership at a higher education institution with advanced degrees, and they cannot provide the data they are making decisions on. When questioned about the information, they change the details to protect the validity of their decision. If it was truly based on facts and data, it should be consistent and verifiable.

Initiatives like Pathways and Meta Majors, designed to streamline education, have restricted choices, affecting student’s choice to explore programs and interests to help students find their future path.

College Leadership will argue that Pathways and Meta Majors help students get through p r o g r a m s without taking extra courses they do not need, which should deliver optimized completion time, reduced school debt, hireability, and higher course acceptance when transferring to a year college.

When the school mentions guaranteed course transfers, they are only committed to Missouribased four-year schools. If transferring out of state, some courses will transfer, but there is no guarantee they will. When looking at a program like Humans Services or the Addiction Studies certification

program, most courses do not transfer to higher education institutions. One of those reasons is the courses and subjects they cover are typical 100 and 200-level classes, and when going for a bachelor’s or Master’s, the 100 and 200-level classes have to be retaken at the 300, 400, or Master’s level. They do have agreements with Missouri colleges, especially the local schools. The local schools can be more expensive, and even though there are agreements in place, there are still some courses that do not transfer.

Leadership uses the narrative of Pathways, Meta Majors, transferability, and other ideas and

frameworks to justify and promote the benefits of their decisions. They then use the scheduling process and shape the data to further their position.

The process and data are not transparent or public for further research and confirmation. This leads to questions about the integrity of leadership and their reasons for course cancellations and program changes. When trying to get more information and understanding, there are cracks in their justifications.

For example, the filmmaking course. It was classified as a guaranteed transfer course, so if it is transferable, then why was it eliminated starting in the spring semester? When the Leadership gives all their reasons for eliminating it, the only reason that comes close to being valid might be course enrollment numbers. Still, even that reason could be invalid b e c a u s e Leadership has put its thumb on the scale to impact enrollment.

T h i n k back to when registering for courses, the courses that are wanted or needed, and how many choices are available. Hopefully, there are a few options to select from. In other classes, there might be a couple or just one offering. These limited offerings might require attending a different campus, taking online, or a faster-paced 8-week or 12-week term.

Veterans, in particular, are severely affected by these changes. The school’s control over course offerings, terms, and modalities directly impacts veterans’ ability to qualify for their Basic Housing

“It’s imperative for all students, not just veterans, to comprehend the far-reaching consequences of these scheduling changes.”

Allowance (BHA) benefits. The policy of “Rate of Pursuit” under the GI Bill, crucial for veterans’ education benefits, clashes with the institution’s scheduling choices. Veterans are left with a shortfall in benefits, leading to financial strain, potential dropouts, or unexpected loans.

When veterans seek clarification from relevant authorities, they are met with assurances that everything is correct, blaming external entities like the VA. However, the root cause lies within the institution’s course selections and scheduling policies.

The issues that impact Veteran’s benefits and scheduling were brought to Leadership and the BOT in October 2022 just to be told there was no problem. The issue caused Veterans to lose thousands of dollars in benefits to help pay for housing, food, and transportation.

Instead of advocating and assisting Veterans, they spent more time making excuses and denying the issue.

It has been over a year, and they still need to solve the problem. If a Veteran needs to get the entire BHA, which is $1,911 a month for the 2023-24 school year, it is almost impossible to get the full benefit if they take a 12-week course. Their band-aid fix was to train student success advisors on the issues with 12-week courses and other term courses affecting the “Rate of pursuit.” I have talked to Veterans who have confirmed that did not happen. There are multiple issues with their band-aid fixes. There is a high turnover of employees and a lack of training, and they still need to fix the root cause. They are back to just saying this is all we can do, and the Veteran still suffers.

Veterans also need to have at least one in-person course, and if they do not, they are considered online students, and the BHA automatically gets cut in half. Yet, the school only offers specific courses online with no in-person option. The school has the opportunity to provide Hi-flex courses that qualify for in-person classes but are offered less often to be a benefit for Veterans. For the summer semester, I successfully got them to add a Hi-flex course, but they only added it weeks after registration opened.

So, the majority of the students enrolled in the only course that was offered online. The Hi-flex course did get some registered, but more was needed to provide the course, so they canceled it. If they had offered the Hi-flex as the only option, as they did for the original online course, everyone would have been forced to sign up for the Hi-flex.

Scheduling also affects faculty and the school’s choice to use more adjunct staff vs. full-time faculty.

This strategy only helps the organization instead of helping student satisfaction and scheduling. If the school would commit to hiring more full-time faculty to have longer-tenured professors, it should help with satisfaction and scheduling issues. The BOT and Leadership are directly responsible for the problems they caused and current policies.

It’s imperative for all students, not just veterans, to comprehend the far-reaching consequences of these scheduling changes. By understanding the impact on their peers, the diverse student body can unite in raising their voices against these policies. It’s time to challenge the status quo, demand transparency, and ensure that scheduling decisions genuinely prioritize the welfare and choices of the students, veterans, and faculty who form the backbone of STLCC. Let’s stand together, advocate for our rights, and demand an education system that truly serves its students.

OPINIONS 11

Nov. 9, 2023

Forest Park Veteran’s Resource Center

Florissant Valley Veteran’s Resource Center

Questionable Transparency

Meramec Veteran’s Resource Center PHOTOS BY TY DEFRATES

STLCC’s Veteran Services Presentation Raises Concerns Ty Defrates STAFF In the recent September Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting at STLCC, a presentation on Veteran Services was delivered.

Unfortunately, this presentation fell short of the transparency and accuracy that the stakeholders, particularly our veterans, deserve. This incident highlights a concerning trend noticed when researching the presentations, decisions, and issues presented to the BOT and Leadership: the BOT, seemingly a mere rubber stamp for Chancellor Pittman and his leadership team, does not hold them accountable for presenting inaccurate or incomplete information.

The initial reason for this presentation was my persistent concerns raised to the Board regarding Scheduling Issues that hinder veterans from receiving their total Basic Housing Allowance (BHA) and the absence of a budget for Veteran Services despite funding from both Federal and State levels (covered in my other opinions piece in this issue).

The scheduling issues were brought to the BOT and Leadership’s attention in October 2022. They choose to deny the problem and fix the root cause. After persistently trying to get them to fix the issues in the April BOT meeting, they requested Leadership give a presentation from Veteran’s Services.

This presentation happened in the September 2023 meeting.

The presentation should have addressed the key concerns. It was meant to cover veteran issues, including scheduling problems and budgetary constraints. Regrettably, these critical topics were absent from the discussion.

Instead, the presentation’s leaders focused on surface-level information and touting Veteran Services but missing factual information. It did not advocate for veterans and our issues, but instead, it was about all the “great” things the college supposedly does for its veterans.

During the question part of the presentation, Trustee Kevin Martin

asked, “We’ve heard from some students over time issues with scheduling and credits. I was just wondering if we’ve been able to address kind of, I don’t know all the details, but just knowing if we addressed some of the scheduling issues and concerns to align with better and financial aid.”

Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Ms. Regina Blackshear, responded, “So that particular program is over with the VRRAP (Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance) program, so we won’t have those scheduling issues.”

When questioned about scheduling issues, Blackshear dismissed them as non-issues and vaguely referenced changes made at Student Success, lacking concrete facts or details.

Furthermore, there needs to be more discussion regarding budget, an essential aspect of any program’s functioning and growth.

They mentioned that they now have an event calendar, but I have asked and looked and need help finding one. I have looked on the website and at the three larger campuses. The week of October 23, we received an email about volunteering at Veterans Community Project (VCP) the tiny homes organization, and a Veterans Recognition Lunch. To put this in perspective, last year, we welcomed cookouts at each campus in the first three weeks, not funded by the school but by third-party contributions— multiple opportunities to attend professional sports games. There were more than five events before November 2022 where student Veterans volunteered and supported local community events. There were numerous gatherings and events on campuses for veterans to meet with resources and talk to the VA and other organizations to network and discuss hiring opportunities. As of the end of October 2023, there have been no events or volunteering functions held.

The presentation also mentioned that STLCC offers the study abroad program for the World War II D-Day 80th Anniversary trip in June 2024.

Still, some quick research shows it is a typical offering from most touring companies giving World War II tours.

On top of the trip costs, the student must also pay tuition and fees. Looking at pricing online from the different touring companies, it also appears the school does not help offset costs, but the chaperone’s trip is probably covered. What did the school or STLCC Veteran Services do to provide this besides promoting it and setting it up as a course for study abroad so they can charge tuition and fees? This is another example of Leadership trying

lounge area with music and movies, coffee, tea, snacks, a refrigerator, a microwave, board games, a resource library, and more. In actuality, they are small offices with folding tables and office chairs. The resource centers were not open or had office hours until the week before the BOT meeting. Now, there are office hours posted, but only open a few days a week if they show up. I tracked the Meramec office hours, and two weeks in a row (October 16th and October 23rd), the resource center was closed on Monday office hours.

I went and collected pictures and checked to see if the resource centers provided what they presented in the BOT presentation. Every location was not set up with the resources discussed in the presentation. It was disappointing that Leadership was unhappy about me checking up on the resource centers and spent their time tracking my movements, asking me to reschedule an appointment, and trying to create barriers like saying I could not take pictures and report on issues with other campuses when we were just reporting the facts. I wish they would spend their time advocating for Veterans rather than spinning false information and spending time trying to cover up their misinformation.

This incident sheds light on a troubling reality: the need for accountability and transparency within our institution. As stakeholders, we must demand accurate, complete, and transparent information from our Leadership. It’s time for the BOT to step up and ensure that the information provided to the stakeholders, especially our veterans, is trustworthy, verifiable, and aligned with their best interests.

We owe it to our veterans and all stakeholders to demand accountability and transparency, holding our Leadership responsible for their actions and their commitment to the truth. Only through these efforts can we uphold the integrity of our institution and truly advocate for those we serve.

“It’s time for the BOT to step up and ensure that the information provided to the stakeholders, especially our veterans, is trustworthy, verifiable, and aligned with their best interests.” to promote something they have done for Veterans without transparency.

Another presentation bullet point was district-wide training on MilitaryConnected topics, specifically Green Zone Training. Green Zone training was designed back in 2010, and it is a program that has ten training modules and certifications. Colleges that have implemented it have budgets allocated to the program with a website, training schedule, information, and a way to let Veterans know which staff has been certified. I have requested and am still waiting to receive any information that shows that this program is implemented or will be implemented correctly. It highlights that it is not about helping Veterans but just putting some excellent bullet points on a slide for the BOT to say a good job.

They devote a slide to our Veterans Resource Centers, discussing their study areas, comfortable furniture, a

12 SPORTS Women’s Basketball Season Canceled

J

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

ust before this issue was submitted for publication, STLCC announced in a press release that the 2023-2024 women’s basketball season is canceled. The college says that this is due to low roster numbers.

“As the coaching staff looks to recruit for the 2024-2025 season,” a press release read, “please keep in mind any potential players for next year’s team. Our athletics teams are an important part of the campus experience, and it benefits everyone to have thriving athletic teams.”

Stay tuned to meramecmontage.com for more updates.

Nov. 9, 2023

Archers Win District Title, Set For NJCAA Nationals in Tucson

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JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

he Men’s Soccer team are Region 16 District Champions, winning games this past week to solidify their status as the top team in that conference. Their hard work has paid off with a trip to the NJCAA National Tournaments to be held later this month in Tucson, Arizona.

Archers Daniel Dixon, Nicolas Justiniano, Gabriel Carneiro, Giuseppe Gereaua and goalie Matheus Pereira all played key roles in Saturday’s district championship victory against Heartland Community College.

They now are considered to be the #7 seed in the NJCAA National Tournament. “[This] is a well-deserved recognition of their exceptional talent and dedication,” an Archers Athletics press release states. “Their journey on the national stage promises to be thrilling and full of exciting matchups.”

In Game 1, scheduled for Monday, November 13 at 12:30 PM MT, the Archers will face a formidable opponent, #11 Pearl River. In Game 2, taking place on Tuesday, November 14 at 12:30 PM MT, the Archers will take on #2 Phoenix in what is sure to be an intense and highly anticipated clash.

Archer’s Athletics announced on Tuesday that these games can be streamed online by purchasing an NJCAA Network subscription. In addition, readers can follow the action via the Archers website at archersathletics. com.

The Archers pose for a photo following their district championship victory. Photo by Archers Athletics.

ARCHERS STATS* MEN’S SOCCER

WOMEN’S SOCCER

*as of press time

Stay on top of what’s happening with STLCC Athletics at

https://www.archersathletics.com