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VOLUME 52, ISSUE 10 | THURSDAY FEB. 23, 2017 | www.meramecmontage.com

‘Keep back 500 feet’

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Community college students fight back when MO cuts higher education funding

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It is a bit cloudy in Missouri, but the weather is fair. With the temperature hovering around 70 degrees and the wind at a mild breeze, it is shaping up to be a beautiful day.

Students and faculty of St. Louis Community College, representing both the St. Louis Community College—Meramec and St. Louis Community College—Florissant Valley campuses, are on their way to Jefferson City to pay a visit to the governor’s mansion. Who invited them?

No one. However, they do have some things to get off their chests.

On the heels of budget cuts to higher education in the state of Missouri that some reports have put at around $168 million dollars, it seems appropriate that students who are currently enrolled in state-funded community colleges, and who intend to transfer to statefunded universities, might be concerned.

“To hear that a man whose children will not be affected by this legislation… he doesn’t

Bri Heaney Staff Writer

The byproduct of processed Uranium from the Manhattan Project remains in St. Louis.

Just Moms, an organization dedicated to removing the waste and based in Bridgeton, Missouri, came to the sociology course Social Problems to explain their cause.

On Thursday, Feb. 9, Just Moms held a meeting at St. Louis Community College— Meramec about ongoing issues with a radioactive landfill in their community.

Bridgeton is a town in St. Louis County that has two landfills — the Bridgeton Landfill and West Lake Landfill. The latter of the two contains radioactive waste resulting from St. Louis’ role in the Manhattan Project.

Less than 600 feet from that site sits Bridgeton Landfill, inside of which you will find an SSE (subterranean smoldering event), or in layman’s terms, an underground fire that some in the community believe has been burning since 2010.

“So we processed waste from the Manhattan Project, you would have thought that would have been Nevada and all the places Southwest, and Hanford, and the Savannah River, and Rocky Flats and all those horrible places, but believe it or not we started it here,” said Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms.

The authorities surrounding the landfill have provided no answers.

“I just wanted to point something out today. I was driving behind a truck today and it said ‘Keep back 500 feet’ and the gravity of that really hit me. That I’m supposed to keep a distance of 500 feet from a truck, yet we have a fire burning underground within 500 feet of radioactive debris,” a Bridgeton community member said at the town hall meeting held on Thursday, Feb. 16.

If the burning underground fire reaches the radioactive landfill,

Sean E. Thomas News editor

Continued on page 2

Photo by: Bri Heaney

Cancer Awareness Game raises $3,700 for St. Louis Children’s Hospital

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Marie Schwarz

Managing Editor

The Archers won 7558 against the Comets of the Cottey College on their game dedicated to cancer awareness on Saturday, Feb. 18. It was their last home game this season. Two more games, and the team claims their regional title and will go to the regional tournament.

The team wore pink socks and wristbands.

The cancer awareness game is very special to Coach Shelly Ethridge.

“It’s a horrible disease and anything that we can do to help find a cure is the

goal,” Ethridge said.

This year, nearly $3700 of proceeds will go to St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

The game against the Comets was not one of the Archer’s better games, Ethridge said. Defense and shot selection are areas of improvement, she said. “At this point of the season, I don’t like to see us making the same mistakes that we focus in on every single day in practice, and then we don’t put it to work coming game time.”

However, the team was in the lead in every quarter played.

Continued on page 8

‘Dog Sees God’ comments on school violence

Photo by: Dalila Kahvedzic

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Ashley Biundo Staff Writer

On Feb. 15-19, the St. Louis Community College—Meramec Theatre put on a show called “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead.” It was about the high school lives of Charles Schulz’ “The Peanuts” gang.

Getting involved with drugs, violence, and suicide, C.B. finds out who he really is.

Continued on page 4

Continued on page 3 Photo by: Amanda Harris

2 | News Show Me State students show up at the Governor’s mansion

Feb. 23, 2017

Continued from page 1 he doesn’t understand the consequences, the gravity of it, so he’s signing into effect things that don’t affect him,” said Robert “Rocco” Hogan, a student at Meramec and the man with the bullhorn.

Pamela Garvey, a professor of English at Meramec and organizer of the MO Higher Education March, had a bit to add in regards to a governor that some think is making decisions, the consequences of which, will never affect him or his family.

“Every time they cut money to education on any level… it is a threat to democracy, and it serves the oligarchy. The people who can afford to send their children to private schools are not affected by it,” Garvey said.

Also present was Dr. Linda H. Collins, professor of history at Florissant Valley. Collins has a long history associated with the Civil Rights Movement, having had marched in the funeral procession of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Collins said that she likes to remind people that Florissant Valley is Ferguson.

Events that took place in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting death of Michael Brown by the Ferguson police department, made Ferguson the location for the painful rebirth of the American Civil Rights Movement.

“Protest is not a bad word,” Collins said to her students. “It is the first constitutional right of American citizens to redress their grievances. I wanted the audience [students] to remember that protest is a part of breathing in America, it is our constitution, alive and organic, and nobody is gonna take it away from us.”

It was student government that pushed Collins to be there.

“They said put your money where your mouth is. I would have been a hypocrite had I not [come to protest],” Colllins said.

Each student and faculty member present had their own reasons for being there. Some because they had found motivation from their professors and peers, others, like Hogan, showed up because they felt it was their duty.

“I did it because it’s my obligation to America to protest bad legislation, it’s my job, I have to do it,” Hogan said. “It’s legislation like that, that slips through the cracks because everyone is speaking so loudly, you just have to pay attention to what’s going on around you. I urge you to

Photo by: Bri Heaney Shaneil Gowe, student at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley, outside of the capitol building in Jefferson City, MO

get mad.”

There are some citizens in Missouri who feel that instead of cutting funding to higher education to remedy the state’s dire financial situation, wthe state should stop giving tax incentives to multistate corporations.

“Corporate interests are more important than the education of the children of your state,” Hogan said into the bullhorn as he hung from the fence surrounding the governor’s mansion.

“They try to dumb St. Louis and Missouri down sometimes. There’s a lot of talent here but if you don’t give them the opportunity to be where they want to be, then what,” asked Scott Pope, a student at Florissant Valley and president of the Veteran’s Club.

Dr. Emily Neal, a professor of political science at Meramec was also in attendance.

With February being Black History Month, it is no wonder that some might begin to draw parallels between the protests then and now.

“Much of democratic organizing and what we do today, we borrowed from the leaders of the past. For example, having an awareness raising march, that goes back to the civil rights struggle. ...When you look at a lot of these different protests we’ve seen in the region, what I’ve noticed at every single one, is that the BLM [Black Lives Matter] protestors are turning out for the Muslim community, they’re turning out for higher education, they’re turning out for civil rights,

and I think that really demonstrates the need for a sort of intersectional approach to justice. This notion that if any one of us is being treated unfairly that it’s a disservice to every-

body,” Neal said.

Garvey asked students to grab the bullhorn and let Gov. Eric Greitens know how they felt.

“As it is right now, I can’t even afford college

without financial aid. With them [cutting funding] to higher education, I probably won’t be able to continue going to college,” said Shea Trigg, a student at Florissant Valley.

STLCC Career Fairs & Internship Expo St. Louis Community College will host three career fairs and a student internship expo to help attendees connect with potential employers.

Companies looking to fill full- and part-time positions, as well as offer internship opportunities, will be on campus during the events. Participants will have the opportunity to speak with employers and apply for current openings.

All events are free. Career fairs are open to the St. Louis community. Internship expo open to all STLCC students.

For more information on the career fairs and accommodation needs, call 314-984-7611 or email ces@stlcc.edu For more information on the internship expo and accommodation needs, call 636-422-2200 or email dsweet@stlcc.edu

Forest Park Career Fair Tuesday, February 28 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Cafeteria 5600 Oakland Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110

Meramec Career Fair Thursday, March 9 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Meramec Gymnasium 11333 Big Bend Road St. Louis, MO 63122

STLCC Student Internship Expo Tuesday, March 28 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Student Center 2645 Generations Drive Wildwood, MO 63040

Florissant Valley Career Fair Wednesday, March 29 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Student Center 3400 Pershall Road St. Louis, MO 63135

News | 3

4 23, 2017 Feb.

Black Panthers shed light on activism St. Louis area experts talk Panthers, politics and social justice

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Stephen Buechter Staff Writer

Multiple events were held across campus in celebration of Black History Month. One event was a meeting explaining the history of the Black Panther Party and the relevancy to the modern age of the issues it dealt with. The event consisted mainly of a panel moderated by Adjunct Professor of History Mario Love.

“Democracy and its contradictions breeds dissent,” Love said. “That’s historically consistent and it is contemporarily relevant in the sense that the contradictions of political systems, I think, all the panelists would agree result in blowback from the bottom where people who think that they aren’t a viable part of the American fabric would resist it.”

Love also said that the Black Panthers represented everything right with the United State’s laws allowing freedom to dissent, while showing what is wrong due to existing as a consequence of people feeling left out.

Two Meramec students interviewed after the event both were unsurprised by the information they received. Quintin, a sophomore taking general stud-

“[The Black Power Movement was] young people recalibrating what we think of as bravery.”

Stefan Bradley

ies, said that the most interesting part of the panel in his view was the many different viewpoints the panelists presented and how they all interconnected.

Nicole Lewis, a Sophomore taking transfer classes, said that her understanding of the group beforehand was that it was a positive force, and the answers to the questions asked helped support that viewpoint.

Associate Professor of History and African American Studies at Saint Louis University Stefan M. Bradley also hosted an event during Black History Month. The event was called “Consciously Black: the 1960s Movement for Freedom and Justice”. In his opening on Wednesday, Feb. 15 he described the Black Power Movement

Photo by: Bri Heaney Panel on the Black Panther Party speaks at Meramec (from right to left): Kevin Williams, Dr. William F. Hall, Dr. Emily Neal, and Minister David Muhammad as “young people recalibrating what we think of as bravery,” and that the events leading up to that movement were “young people finding out that...they could use disruption to achieve goals.”

Bradley said that the movement had lessons to teach modern social movements. “[The Black Power Movement began] with an awareness or a consciousness....a consciousness of what individual racism looked like, and who exactly and what exactly were worthy opponents of freedom,” Bradley said. “Things

are set up in the United States a certain kind of way.... to serve certain people and to accommodate certain ideas, when you start to mobilize against those certain people, those certain institutions, and those certain ideas, that’s when things become very risky, dangerous and treacherous.”

“What we’re learning from Black Power is that execution part of the movement, that is, where you institute changes or implement whatever ideas or plans so that they’re sustainable,” Bradley said.

Local community organization looks for the ‘P’ in EPA Continued from page 1 the results could be catastrophic not only for Bridgeton but for the entire St. Louis Metro area.

“Bridgeton Landfill is right across the street, it can be in many ways considered one landfill because it’s just that there is a road over top — underneath that road is a landfill,” said Thomas Foxworthy, a Meramec student who lives close to the landfill.

Chapman was told that there was a natural rock formation that would stop the fire from reaching the landfill. However, when Chapman went to investigate the rock formation that would stop the spread of the fire she was informed there was no such thing.

“There is no wall of rocks. The fire can just go right over to it,”

Foxworthy said.

Evacuation plans have been implemented and students who take daily medication have been told to stockpile that medicine at their schools in case there is a radioactive emergency, said Chapman, while speaking to the Social Problems class at Meramec.

While the risk of a catastrophic event looms, long-term exposure to radioactivity brings up other risks. Before the radioactive waste was moved to West Lake in 1973, it was stored at a location in North Saint Louis that was close to a waterway called Coldwater Creek. Rare cancers including appendix and brain cancer became prominent in areas surrounding Coldwater Creek due to radiation from the improperly stored uranium 235.

EDITORS Katie Hayes Marie Schwarz Sean E. Thomas Dalila Kahvedzic Andrew Ameer DJ McGuire Erik Muschinske Missy Arneson Jordan Morris Ian Schrauth Shannon Philpott

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Art & Life Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Photo Editor Copy Editor Graphics Editor Online Editor Faculty Adviser

Carl Chappell, a resident of Florissant which is one of the areas affected, lost a son in 2015 due to appendix cancer — one of 45 cases.

To put that in perspective, according to the National Cancer Institute the number of cases that would be on par for the national average for the Coldwater creek area would be two to three cases.

“Coldwater Creek is so important because we can look at this exact same waste and look at what the effect has been,” Foxworthy said. “We have won lawsuits; we’ve found it in residences.”

Chapman said Just Moms is pushing for the Army Corps of Engineers to be put in charge and remove the significant influence over policy makers that the financial responsible party’s currently enjoy.

“While it is a EPA superfund

STAFF Stephen Buechter Lexie Keller Bri Heaney Amanda Harris Ashley Biundo Noah Sliney ToQuyen Tonnu

Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Photographer Staff Photographer Staff Designer Staff Designer

www.meramecmontage.com

site, the corps is the most qualified government agency to provide a permit and safe solution for the radioactive waste which is what Just Moms STL is calling for,” Chapman said.

Just Moms wants the site to be transferred through FUSRAP to the army corps. The EPA, however, is holding onto the site which Mark Matthieson, state representative for district 70, said is his biggest concern.

“I don’t know if their agency is benefiting financially for maintaining control of this or if something is being hidden, and I try not to be a conspiracy theorist of any kind but when one agency works this hard to protect their jurisdiction of something like this I start wondering what they are hiding,” Matthieson said.

THE MONTAGE To place an advertisement, contact the advertising manager for rates, sample issues, etc., 314-984-7955.

Editorial views expressed or content contained in this publication are not necessarily the views of St. Louis Community College, the board of trustees or the administration.

The Montage is a student publication produced seven times per semester at St. Louis Community College - Meramec, 11333 Big Bend Blvd., Kirkwood, Mo., 63122.

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Phone numbers and addresses will not be published. All letters are subject to editing for content and length. All letters submitted will be published in print and online.

Feb. 23, 2017 4 | Art & Life ‘Dog sees God’ addresses homophobia and harrassment in schools 4

Continued from page 1 The director Keith Oliver started looking through plays for the spring semester and he found “Dog Sees God.” “As every director you have a list of plays you want to do. I liked [Dog Sees God] when I first read it, but it has sat on the shelf for a while. But this was an opportunity; it was a smaller cast. We didn’t have to do much set and then the costume and design came up with this great idea of the alieyway.”

Oliver said he iiked many parts of the play, but the ending stuck out the most.

“I don’t know if I have a favorite part,” Oliver said. “Of course the ending, up to the last part of the ending and there are some really profound things. Not only to me, but I think to everyone. It’s not only about identity, who you are in the world, but how you are going to treat others.”

Not only is the play about finding out about someone, it has a history behind it.

“Columbine High School happened in 1999 and you hear a lot about bringing guns to school so that was really fresh on everyone’s mind,” Oliver said. “I don’t think it has left us. Everyday you hear in the news that you worry about a school shooting or some type of violence erupted.”

Oliver said that this was about the time Schulz died.

“This [play] was written in 2004,” Oliver said. “But it is still relevant and it still has a lot of important information for today’s audience.”

The play was for mature audiences only, meaning it had vulgar language and sexual content.

“The interesting thing about this play is that it is really targeted to [adolescent and young adult] age group. Even the music was.

ELO and Earth, Wind, and Fire would work. But seeing it work with

the combination and let the cast have a lot of input. The DJ did an excellent job and he had suggestions too and that kind of interaction was one thing that worried me about the play when i first read it because there were so many transitions that you could get a kind of image, or routine, which would become kind of boring. I think if you use those transitions to your advantage, it would make it more exciting; then it kind of adds to the play.”

“...there are some really profound things. Not only to me, but I think to everyone. It’s not only about identity, who you are in the world, but how you are going to treat others.”

Keith Oliver

The cast started practicing early in the year, before the semester began.

“We started Jan. 9, so we started one week before school started,” Oliver said. “The actors were cast in December, and the reason I did that was because we had a really short rehearsal time period, so it really required them to be off book by the time we got to first rehearsal and more were off book. I was really proud of them.”

When it comes to directing the play, it is important to see the copyrights.

“When the playwright, Bert V. Royal, started writing this, the Schulz family was against this play in the beginning,” Oliver said. “I think [when] you have something that is your creative process, you

Photos by: Amanda Harris Lilly Newsham, who plays Van’s sister, listens to C.B. about life outside of solitary confinement. Van’s sister avoided answering why she went to jail.

protect it quite a bit. I think they are worried.”

Oliver said that despite this worry, he thinks that “Dog Sees God” is a positive reinterpretation of The Peanuts.

“I think the characters have changed quite a bit but it has a re-

ally positive message,” Oliver said.

“I think that’s when the playwright is being true to that Peanuts brand.

Can’t say Peanuts, or you can tell they aren’t using the names. There are some copyrights you need to be careful of and we did that, in both music and the design.”

Oliver was very proud of how the whole show went, even the designers too.

“What I am also really proud about Mike Swoboda’s class did the

“I think when you have something that is your creative process you protect it quite a bit.”

Keith Oliver

projections, so students have been throughout the process involvement. Its one of those times where you kind of cross classes and in the arts and it is kind of nice to share graphic arts and photographs.”

Maya Elfanbaum, who plays Tricia, and Caroline Thoma, who plays Marcy, mourn over the suicide of their friend, Beethoven. The two verbally abused Beethoven before he died.

Art & Life | 5

Feb. 4 23, 2017

Entrepreneurship Club starts up at Meramec m

Dalila Kahvedzic Art & Life Editor

An entrepreneur is someone who looks at the world as an opportunity and understands that the problems which some people face can be turned into a good thing, St. Louis Community College— Meramec student Chris Brauch said.

Brauch is currently a transfer student from Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) studying global leadership and management, with plans to establish the Entrepreneurship Club at Meramec.

“Up until this point, I have started two companies—I have started a landscape management company as well as a real estate investing company,” Brauch said.

There are various upsides to starting a business, Brauch said, such as meeting great people and building your confidence as you understand that you do not have to be reliant on an employer to make a living — you can be reliant on yourself and your ability in the market in order to make a living.

As there are upsides, he said, there are also downsides. In some instances, it can cost an individual the bottom line to make a customer happy and they then must take on more of a personal liability. A huge amount of responsibility is also required, Brauch said, which can be a good thing but requires maturity.

“Our goal at this point is to develop relationships with one another to help each other. So that’s one part of our club, is to help get people where they want to be with their businesses — in or outside of the club — we don’t care.”

Chris Brauch

Although entrepreneurship is not always about money, Brauch said, it can be as simple as starting out being a problem solver.

“It has to start with someone being creative and having courage and looking at things optimistically — you build that base and from there it turns into typically a good business,” Brauch said.

Brauch has plans to launch a company in August 2019 — a consulting firm to help people start and grow their businesses from the very earliest stages to the exit or sale of the company. He would also like to assist with any problems the company may be experiencing. The focus will be on small businesses, 50 employees or less, because that is an area that he is able to help in given his experience, he said.

For more information about the Entrepreneurship Club contact Chris at christopherbrauch@yahoo.com

Graphic By: Noah Sliney As for the entrepreneurship club on campus, Brauch would like to set it up so it can run long after he’s gone, he said, as he will be going back to WashU. He hopes that either someone can take over the role as president or he can run it with his current vice president without being enrolled at Meramec.

“It was supposed to start out as three to five friends picking a business book each week, reading a good portion of that book and then discussing it — so it was supposed to start out as sort of a book club,” Brauch said. “And from my understanding and conversations with friends, it turned out to be — well, let’s just start an entire club.”

Brauch is looking for passionate people who are willing to learn, to step outside of the box and be creative, he said. Whether the individuals are interested in communication skills, business skills or entrepreneurial skills—they are welcome to come and no previous experience is needed.

“Our goal at this point is to develop relationships with one another to help each other,” Brauch said.

“So that’s one part of our club, is to help people get where they want to be with their businesses — in or outside of the school, in or outside of the club — we don’t care.”

The second goal of the club is to build lasting relationships and friendships with one another, Brauch said.

“Whether it’s photography or whether it’s a landscaping business or whether it’s the club—we need to make sure that we have good relationships because most likely we will be doing business together for the rest of our lives,” Brauch said.

The first step is understanding the club memebers.

“Once I know that, I can give them resources, information and connections that will help them reach those goals.”

For students that are thinking about opening their own company, the best thing they can do is take

action, Brauch said. They need to have courage, confidence, remain optimistic and actually do it rather than keeping all their ideas in their head—they need to implement them.

If an individual is not passionate about what they are doing, they should not plan on opening a business, Brauch said.

“Now, if they’re around the right people like me and this club and they want to do it, go to the club. Start your company, decide which entity you’re going to go with, start calling your accountants and your insurance agents, start understanding your market and your industry, research your competitors, start learning those things—start planning.”

If the individual is not willing to start from square one, they should not even go into the business because it will fail.

“90 percent of businesses fail within the first five years—that’s a little bit of a pessimistic viewpoint but it’s the reality and if they [students] can set themselves up to prepare then they are not going to be a part of that statistic,” Brauch said.

This club is to help students not be a part of that statistic, Brauch said. They need to be able to be in the right mindset, do enough planning, so that way when their companies do launch, their companies don’t fail.

Brauch hopes to continue to promote and grow the club and does plan on setting up trips if funding is provided. Trips would including visiting and interviewing different business companies, participating in networking events and also having guest speakers during club meetings.

Commitment to the club is important if students decide to come.

“They don’t have to make a commitment—we’re not another class,” Brauch said. “They can come and go—if they like it, great, if they don’t they can leave; there’s no hard feelings there.”

Humans of Meramec

Photo & Interview by: Erik Muschinske & Ian Schrauth

Autumn Grace Laux, Painter “I really just like to make art in general — It’s just very soothing to me. I do it when I’m upset, I do it whenever I have any powerful emotions taking over, it helps me express my issues. It’s almost like a diary, but I’m proud of it and I want people to look at it. And it helps me solve things in my mind I can’t put words to.”

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Office hours for STLCC Meramec students: Mondays & Thursdays Call 314-984-7575 for an appointment 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

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To learn more about our Off-Campus Degree Completion Program in Business at the South County Education Center, contact Sue Bateman at 636-481-3243 or batemans@umsl.edu.

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Christy Hummel Transfer Specialist askchristy@umsl.edu 314-516-6943 “I can help with all of your questions about transferring, scholarships and what it’s like to be a Triton!”

We know words. We have the best words.

Opinions | 7

4 23, 2017 Feb.

Political satire may be journalists’ last line of defense

m

Katie Hayes Editor-in-Chief

It’s not exactly a controversial statement to say Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, had a rough start. During his first press conference, Spicer berated journalists, lied and said the inauguration crowd was the largest in U.S. history—during the same speech he said it was impossible to know the exact numbers—and left without taking questions.

Two weeks later, Melissa McCarthy did an impression of Spicer on Saturday Night Live that received widespread attention. In this impression, McCarthy yelled at the press, chewed an entire pack of Orbit cinnamon gum and said the immigration order was not a ban.

McCarthy’s impression was practically a modern-day “Modest Proposal.” Her impressions of Spicer showed him not only how ridiculous his behavior was, but how audiences perceived him after his

first conference. While crass, her impression made a difference in Spicer’s behavior.

Since the impression of Spicer aired, he has been calmer in the White House press briefings. Although he rearranged the traditional seating for outlets—and gave preference to outlets the president does not consider “fake news”— Spicer seems less aggressive than his first press conference.

People pay attention when you make them laugh. Since Saturday Night Live has begun impersonating key players in our government, Americans are able to identify them—even if it is only to understand the references from SNL. Political satire is not exactly an innovative concept, but interest in the genre has spiked in the last few years. John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers are all television hosts who use satire to discuss politics with their audience. Jon Stewart—the father of these comedians-turned-television hosts—has also popped in periodically since he left “The Daily Show.” While the press is busy covering an exhausting amount of political activity from our current administration, comedians seem to be the only people defending them.

When the entire media is discredited as “fake news”, who does that leave to defend them?

Graphic by: Noah Sliney Political satire is most relevant when events and actions become so obviously ridiculous, that there is no other option to combat them.

In the case of Spicer, the satire did

what SNL intended for it to do: illustrate unacceptable conduct by the White House press secretary and make audiences laugh.

Why I strive to live making memories, not money In the end, you can’t take any of it with you

m

Andrew Ameer Opinions Editor

While going through some of my father’s old things recently, I was struck by a fact: You can’t take it with you.

You can’t take all the money you’ve made in this world with you to the next. You can’t take your trading card collection, or your video games, cars, makeup, expensive shoes, clothing. You can’t take any of it. It’s all going to be here while you move onto the next world.

My father died recently, suddenly and unexpectedly. He was only 50 years old. I am 23.

He died of either a heart attack or stroke, due to high blood pressure. And one thing I realized after he passed was that like a lot of people, my father spent a lot of his life pursuing material things.

He bought tons of items. His basement and house was full of supplies. Blankets, food, fans, video games, movies, generators, air conditioners, clothing, cameras, punching bags, guns. You name it, he had it.

He virtually had an entire WalMart and Amazon combined in both

of his houses. And when he died, I had to go through all his stuff and sort out what needed to be thrown out and what needed to be kept.

While looking through all this stuff, I even found quite a large amount of money. Here and there, jars of coins. Brown paper bags, envelopes of bills. I gave these right to my mother, who still has four young children to raise on her own, but while finding all of these things, I was struck yet again on the futility of the materialistic lifestyle so many of us live.

I had something of an epipha-

ny. My dad was by no means a rich man. Yet, throughout a lifetime, he had accumulated all these things.

These material items. These things that all of a sudden one day, meant nothing to him.

I calculated the value of most of his stuff, and it was in the 10s of thousands of dollars. I would have to work for years to be able to acquire the things he did in his lifetime, yet why should I? When one day I will leave these things behind, just as he did, and for what?

Can I bring these things with me to the next world? Should I

spend my life working day and night to buy more and more things?

No. I will spend my life making memories. I will spend my life loving, living, experiencing joy and bringing joy to those around me.

I will minimize my pursuit of material things, and instead spend a life living life to its fullest. Loving, living, happy.

My main point is don’t spend your whole life saving for that big trip if you never get to take it.

Splurge a little, stop and smell the flowers. Life truly is about the journey, not the destination.

Graphic by: Marie Schwarz

Sports | 8

Feb. 23, 2017

Archers prevail in sophomores’ last game m

DJ McGuire Sports Editor

On Saturday, Feb. 18 the St. Louis Community College Archers defeated the West Kentucky Community and Technical College Stars 97-85. It was the last home game for the sophomores, so the game held some extra meaning for them according to Miles Nettles, Sophomore forward no. 5, who scored 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. Before the game there was also a recognition for the sophomores on the team.

“We are not entirely reliant on the three [pointer], but we can live and die by it.”

Terry Collins, Head Coach Nettles also said the game had an extra personal meaning for him.

“I went to high school with one of those guys [from the opposite team],” Nettles said.

The game began, and the Archers took an early lead due to many 3-pointers hit by Todd Simms, freshman guard no. 13, who had 25 points and five assists and was 6-8 from 3-pointers. Simms attributed this success due to wanting to bounce back from missing the team’s last game against Mineral Area College he

said.

“It is a little bit of our identity, we don’t have a dominant post player,” Head Coach Terry Collins said about the early three point success. “We are not entirely reliant on the three, but we can live and die by it.”

At about halfway through the first half, the Stars gained the lead after capitalizing on many Archers’ turnovers.

“It has been a concern all year, if we don’t end up winning a championship, it would be turnovers and defense,” Collins said.

Collins then called a timeout to talk to his players. Nettles said that in the timeout, Collins stressed the forwards to “crash the glass with no remorse.”

Nettles responded well and grabbed several consecutive rebounds and eventually scored on one particular play.

Simms and Collins both agreed that rebounding helped their success.

The Archers then used this rebounding to take the lead before the half. At the half, the Archers led 43-35.

The second half began and both teams traded scores.

“They just kinda figured that we were just matching scores, they started attacking us,” Simms said.

At one point during the game Simms was called for a technical foul.

“I didn’t even know the ref gave me it, I laughed with him to see what it was for,” Simms said.

Later in the game, the same referee seemed as though he was about to give another technical foul, when another ref came and pulled the whistle out of his mouth as the crowd laughed.

“Ref what did I do this time?”

Simms asked.

As the game progressed the Archers maintained their double digit lead, but had many players in foul trouble.

Near the end of the game Sean Rigmaiden, Sophomore guard no.

2, who scored 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists, hit many key shots and led the way for the Archers.

“He had sat out the last three games due to a concussion, to come back like that, there’s almost a courageous element to it,” Collins said.

The game concluded with the Archers winning 97-85. Coach Collins said he was pleased with the team’s performance on offense.

“Offensively we shot 53 percent, which is quite good,” Collins said.

All five starters and sophomores scored in double figures (DaVante Harrell, sophmore forward no. 23, scored 10 points and Brain Enriquez, sophmore guard no 12, scored 14 points). Nettles, Rigmaiden and Simms are starters as well.

The playoffs are only three games away for the Archers and Nettles seems confident in his coach.

“Starting from the coaching situation and as far as we buy into his system everything will fall into place,” Nettles said.

Collins agrees that as long as his team improves in certain areas they have the talent to go all the way.

“Better defense, better job handling the ball and if we do these things, we have a chance to advance to the national tournament,” Collins said.

Coach Spotlight

Photo by: Dalila Kahvedzic

“Coach E. is an amazing person. She’s always there to help. Always. I love her like she’s my own mother.

She helps us get pumped, she gives us just what we need to be successful. She’s amazing.”

Shamiah Oliver, Sophomore guard Head Coach Shelly Ethridege coaches her players in a win over Cottey College.

Shooting Hoops for Cancer Awareness Continued from page 1 “The moves were just natural,” Chrishana Wilson, no. 21, said.

“We learned some new moves and we did our thing.”

In total, Shamara Glover, no.

33, and Ellisha Davis, no. 3, scored 17 points each, and Wilson, no. 21, made 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Cindy Clausen from Meramec Academic Support came to watch the game.

“I’m always impressed with Chris’ (Wilson) rebounding,” Clausen said. “I don’t know how long her arms are but she gets back and gets some rebounds that are insane.”

The first quarter ended with the Archer’s in the lead 22-14.

However, the opponents started out strong with a 3 and 2 pointer, letting the Archers fall behind 5 points. Once the team followed up with points, they scored 8 points resulting only from fouls. Davis, Shamiah Oliver, no. 12, and Erika Harvey, no. 11, turned both their free throws into points. Erica Waeltermann, no. 4, ended the first quarter with another 3-pointer after Oliver scored five points.

In the second quarter, the Archers widened their lead to 12 points with a score of 36-24.

“Ellisha’s [Davis] ball handling

has been fantastic today,” Clausen said during halftime. “They’ve got some big girls on the Comet’s team and we’ve been having some trouble getting around their picks.”

After five minutes of play after halftime, both teams had five fouls each.

“When one person really starts shoving, that makes everybody have to up their level of physicality,” Clausen said. “The ball becomes loose and no one’s holding back. They are all trying to get it and then people get crashed into.”

The third quarter ended with 54-42 for the Archers.

The last quarter was dominated with rough play.

“The game got very physical, got very rough,” Clausen said. “But I think it will be very good for them going into the regional tournament because they’re gonna be facing their strongest opponents in the regional.”

With 12 points in the lead, Glover scored a 3-pointer within the first two minutes and a 2-pointer followed by Wilson.The Comets scored a 3-pointer.

A technical foul happened in the fourth quarter because Cottey’s coach got vocal on one of the referee’s decision.

The game ended with the Archers leading 17 points, 75-58.

Photo by: Dalila Kahvedzic Chrishana Wilson shoots a free-throw in a win over Cottey College.

Cottey College is a good team and that’s why the Archers had to keep the intensity up in the fourth quarter, Ethridge said after the game.

“They [Comets] never quit,” she said. “If we didn’t continue to play and go at ‘em, they’re certainly a team that can come back real quick.”