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VOLUME 52, ISSUE 12 | THURSDAY MARCH 30, 2017 | www.meramecmontage.com

Sports:

Lady Archers win district title

News:

2+SLU increases access to bachelor degree from Saint Louis University

Photo by: DJ McGuire

DJ McGuire Sports Editor

The St. Louis Community College Lady Archers defeated the Arkansas Mid-South Greyhounds for the NJCAA Division II District P Championship. The game took place on Saturday March 11, with the final score being 77-56 in favor of the Lady Archers. With this victory the Lady Archers advanced to the NJCAA National Championship. This year’s National Championship was held at Pioneer Pavilion in Harrison, Arkansas. The Lady Archers were given the eleventh seed. The Lady Archers won their first game against Guilford Technical Community College, the number six seed, by a score of 77-59. In their next game the Lady Archers lost against Monroe Community College, the number three seed, by a score of 82-53. In their next game in competition for 5th place the Lady Archers played Kalamazoo Valley Community College, the seventh seed, and ended up being victorious 64-62, on a last second layup by freshman guard No. 11 Erika Harvey. The Lady Archers then faced the 13 seed, Essex County College in the fifth place match and won by a final score of 73-52. The fifth place finish at the national tournament is the highest finish for the Lady Archers Basketball program in school history.

Continued on page 8

Photo by: Sean E. Thomas

Sean E. Thomas News Editor

2+SLU is a new program being implemented to offer students at St. Louis Community College a clearer path to a bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University (SLU). The program is designed to heighten student awareness

upon enrollment of the opportunities available to them at SLU via STLCC. The program is available to both new students and those who may already be enrolled at STLCC. “It allows you to be dually admitted at St. Louis Community College and at SLU so that while you’re taking your classes here you can meet with advisers at

SLU,” said Andrew Langrehr, vice chancellor of academic affairs at STLCC. “You can take advantage of their [SLU’s] academic support services, you can use their library resources, you can get to know that campus so you’ll be better prepared when you transfer from St. Louis Community College to SLU.”

Continued on page 3

Art & Life: Comedian Sayeed Sharieff discusses culture and comfort zones

Dalila Kahvedzic Art & Life Editor

If St. Louis was a seven layer dip, Fenton would be the sour cream, Meramec student Sayeed Sharieff said about growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood. “There were like, three brown families and one of them doesn’t even count because their last name is Brown,” Sharieff said as he laughed. “That’s one of my jokes.” Sharieff is a general transfer studies student at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, with hopes of working with children as an early childhood psychologist. For now, one of his hobbies includes standup comedy, which he started about a year ago at SIUE.

Photo by: Katie Hayes

Continued on page 5

Art & Life:

Fast lunch at Fresh Thyme

Opinions:

Sean E. Thomas

St. Louis MLS stadium: the city and county are not created equal Fresh Thyme Farmers Market is a small grocery store devoted to nutritious food and customer service, according to team leader Shannon Chonister Photo by: Amanda Harris

Story on page 5

Story on page 7

2 | News

March 30, 2017

Missouri’s forgotten ‘middle-skill’ workforce Majority of U.S. jobs require less than a bachelor’s degree

Katie Hayes Editor-in-Chief

Like many St. Louis Community College (STLCC) students, Dallas Isom did not want to take general transfer courses. “I didn’t like the classes I was taking,” Isom said. “I didn’t know anybody. I mean, it was horrible. I didn’t even know what I could do with a mechanical engineering degree, so I actually dropped out after my first semester and took a semester off because I didn’t know what I was doing and I hated it.” Isom is set to graduate this spring with an associate in applied science degree in automotive technology. After trying general education courses at STLCC, Isom left for a semester before beginning the program in fall 2015. “I’ve always kind of known that I like cars and I wanted to get into the automotive field with the mechanical engineering degree,” Isom said. “Then I found out that our school has an automotive program so I decided to try it and I went back to school in the fall and have loved it ever since.” More than half of Missouri’s labor market is composed of “middle-skill” jobs according to the National Skills Coalition. Middle-skill jobs are jobs that require more education than a high school degree,

“The economy is getting good, but [employers] can’t find all the workers they need.” Stephen Long, associate vice chancellor for workforce solutions

but less than a bachelor’s degree. “What a lot of people don’t know is that middle-skill jobs are the fastest-growing jobs — compared to high-skill jobs and lowskill jobs,” said Stephen Long, associate vice chancellor for workforce solutions at STLCC. “In the middle-skill jobs, there are actually

In 2015

of jobs in Missouri

were middle-skill

16% were low-skill 30% were high-skill Middle-skill job: requires education beyond high school, but not a four-year degree Graphic by: Katie Hayes Information gathered from National Skills Coalition

more jobs than workers. So that’s where the gap between jobs and workers is, and I think that’s what a lot of people don’t understand.” Traditionally, STLCC focuses on training students for the workforce. The State of St. Louis Workforce 2016 report discussed three main areas — healthcare, manufacturing and transportation & logistics. “We use the information to help us shape our programs, but also to help the rest of the community,” Long said. “The report is fairly general in some ways. We talk about major skill shortages. We also look at occupations that are in high demand.” The St. Louis Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has a labor force of nearly 1.4 milliont. According to the State of St. Louis Workforce report the unemployment rate in the St. Louis MSA dropped from 5.4 percent in 2015 to 4.5 percent in the same month in 2016 and it seems the national and regional economies have fully recovered. “One thing the report found is the shortage of workers with knowledge and skills is the barrier for employers expanding their workforce,” Long said. “The econ-

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

53%

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

omy is getting good, but [employers] can’t find all the workers they need.” On March 9, all 12 of Missouri’s community colleges established the Missouri Community College Workforce Development Network. This network connects the community colleges and, essentially the resources they possess, to work toward filling Missouri’s workforce need. This change came in response to proposed budget cuts for fiscal year 2018, which would cut funds

24%

of jobs in the St. Louis economy

are in Healthcare Manufacturing Transportation & Logistics Graphic by: Katie Hayes Information gathered from State of St. Louis Workforce 2016 report

STAFF Andrew Ameer Stephen Buechter Caroline Frank Bri Heaney Melissa Wilkinson Amanda Harris Ashley Biundo Noah Sliney Lexie Keller

for community colleges more than 9 percent and workforce training by roughly 16 percent according to an email sent to STLCC employees from Chancellor Jeff Pittman. However, at the Board of Trustees meeting on February 23, Pittman said he wants to keep tuition affordable because STLCC is the “pathway to the middle class.” After two months in the automotive technology program, Isom’s instructor helped him find employment at Weber Chevrolet. “I got the job with zero automotive experience whatsoever,” Isom said. “It was an introductory job to just get me experience in the field and I was changing oil on Chevy cars all day, every day.” Isom said he is moving up at Weber Chevrolet and now does car inspections. “I’ve learned so much at school that I didn’t know about cars,” Isom said. “They really gave me the best kind of base to start with, but for me to get better at my job doing it is the only way to improve, you know. The cars that I see at work are the same cars every day pretty much. You get used to working on them, you get used to how they work.” Isom plans to work at Weber Chevrolet after he graduates. “They already offered me a job so I’m already set up,” Isom said. “It’s a union job, it’s got healthcare benefits, 401(k), whole nine yards. So, I go to work there every day and just fix cars. I don’t know. I would like to have a family and my own house and stuff, but it’s a stable, reliable job — nice place to be.”

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News | 3

4 30, 2017 March

Major advances for minimum wage Minimum wage reaches $10 per hour in St. Louis city

Bri Heaney Staff Writer

A mandate passed after a unanimous decision on March 15 will bring the minimum wage in Saint Louis City to $10 per hour. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is a big proponent of this mandate, and it passed unanimously a year ago but just recently has the Supreme Court been given the power to enforce this. Within the next 30 days, businesses that have more than 15 employees and gross more than $500,000 per year will begin to phase in the new minimum wage. Slay is willing to give businesses a grace period when entering this new wage increase. “It’s fair to give businesses a reasonable grace period to adjust to the new minimum wage rate,” Slay said. “We will spend the coming week talking to local business owners and proponents of higher minimum wage to prepare to implement the increase.” With the increase in minimum wage some students are focused less on making more money and interested in the prospect of having more time. “Make the same amount of money in four hours that you would in five hours, absolutely; an extra hour of my day that I could spend on school is immensely helpful,” full-time St. Louis Community College-Meramec student Robert “Rocco” Hogan said. With less time spent at work for the same amount of money, the time for joining clubs, making better grades and taking more classes is more feasible for students who also have a job. “If I could have an extra hour a day that I would normally be working, spending that on school instead would help immensely,” Hogan said.

Working students not only face more time constraints but often have more bills as well. “It will make it easier to be a student while you’re working and making 10 dollars an hour at least. Then you can afford the books that the school is going to be charging you $200 for, and you can afford the classes that are going to be $1000 if you’re a full-time student,” Hogan said. More money not only offers to help pay for more necessities but can also reduce the compounded stress level of many students. Full-time student Dennis Allen said that the two go hand-in-hand. “Money plays a big part of somebody’s ability to focus,” Allen said, “because we are all college students here, we’re all wondering how we’re going to be financially stable while paying for car notes, the bills, rent or whatever.” During such a critical time in someone’s life, when they are seeking to better themselves, a fair wage is advantageous. “I think being financially stable is so important while we are trying to build ourselves,” Allen said. Allen said beyond all of the benefits of a $10 minimum wage, it may lead to a greater feeling of equality. “The wages at the levels they have been for the last few decades are atrocious,” Hogan said. “Honestly I think it’s insulting that we pay people $7.25-$7.65 an hour for jobs that we make fun of people for having. People tell their kids, ‘better go to school so you don’t end up flipping burgers like him...’ Friend, I’m trying to go to school myself.” Opponents of the minimum wage are appealing the ruling, something Slay calls nothing more than a stall tactic that is keeping money out of the hands of hardworking St. Louisans.

Graphic by: Ian Schrauth

Campus Brief

Starting summer semester, St. Louis Community College will offer tuition breaks for some outof-state residents. Students living in llinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin will have to pay $156.50 instead of $214.50 per credit hour. STLCC joined the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) where public institutions

agree to charge students in participating states no more than 150 percent of the in-state resident tuition rate. Students eligible for this discount have to be U.S. citizens or U.S. residents. The tuition change will start in summer and is not retroactive. More than 100 colleges so far are participating in the MSEP.

2+SLU streamlines the move from Archer to Billiken Continued from p. 1 While transferring from St. Louis Community College to Saint Louis University (SLU) has always been an option, the purpose of 2+SLU is to give students an opportunity to see the entire picture right from the beginning of their academic career. While being dual enrolled at both institutions the student will have the opportunity to speak with an advisor at SLU and select a program from the 2+SLU portfolio before even beginning classes at STLCC, ensuring that their credits transfer immediately into their course of study at SLU. This will help students save time and money along the way to their bachelor’s degree. “The agreement is an extension of a relationship we’ve had with St. Louis Community College for years where there’s been an informal working arrangement where the advisers were always welcome to call us with questions

about, ‘Hey, what classes should we tell students to take,’ or ‘What majors are going to be better for people in this AA or AAS program?’’ assistant director of admissions at SLU Matt Schutte said. “What this has done is formalize that and take some of the guess work out. Some students need that specific pathway, they want to see that and this gives them that early on.” Another highlight of 2+SLU is that students enrolled in the program will not have to enroll again upon transferring to SLU from STLCC. Being enrolled in a 2+SLU program means that once a student has completed their course requirements for their associate degree at STLCC, they will begin attending classes at SLU the following semester. “If you’re interested in going to SLU it will be much more streamlined and much greater chance that the things that you take here (STLCC) are going to work for you there,” Langrehr said. The programs offered cover a

“If you’re interested in going to SLU it will be much more streamlined and much greater chance that the things that you take here (STLCC) are going to work for you there.” Andrew Langrehr, vice chancellor of academic affairs

variety of disciplines from aviation management, to biomedical engineering to marketing and social work, just to name a few. If a student’s area of interest isn’t listed among those available in the program, they can contact an adviser at SLU. “I’ve talked to five students… three of them asked about majors

that weren’t on the list, we can help all of them,” Schutte said. “If you do four semesters here, that can lead to four semesters with us.” Schutte pointed out that SLU is a Jesuit University, and the Jesuit mission aligns nicely with the community college mission which involves “social justice and equality for everyone,” in reference to SLU’s involvement in the early formation of a community college in St. Louis. He added that 2+SLU reaffirms SLU’s commitment to the St. Louis community College System. Lashone Gibson is the associate dean of admission and is currently in her doctorate program at SLU. “[I’m excited about] The opportunity to strengthen our partnership with the community college…as well as the opportunity to increase access to that bachelor degree level within higher education for St. Louis Community College students,” Gibson said.

March 30, 2017 4 | Art & Life NASA telescope finds seven potentially life-sustaining planets 4

Caroline Frank Staff Writer

On Feb. 22, 2017, NASA released an article called, “NASA Telescope Reveals Largest Batch of Earth-Size, Habitable-Zone Planets Around Single Star.” The article consisted of the recent discovery of seven planets that revolve around a star and could potentially have life-sustaining properties. The solar system, named Trappist-1, may be habitable under a certain set of circumstances. Trappist is a Belgian-operated telescope in Chile that found two planets in 2016 and inspired the name. In 2017, NASA’s groundbased telescopes, along with their Spitzer space telescope, found five more. “I would have never predicted this,” Project Scientist Nikole Lewis said. Lewis is an astronomer and coleader of the Hubble study at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She said if you were standing on one of these planets, you would actually see a lot of them in the sky whipping by on very short orbital periods. “It’s beyond anything I could have ever dreamt of,” Lewis said. NASA plans to release a telescope called the James Webb Telescope by 2018 that will be able to detect traces of methane,

oxygen, and other gases crucial to a livable atmosphere, according to the article on NASA’s website. Three of the seven planets in Trappist-1 are already in the habitable zone around the star. However, the James Webb Telescope will be able to examine the planets more closely and determine whether there are more atmospheres suitable to hosting life, according to the same article. “The James Webb Space Telescope will have the possibility to detect the signature of ozone if this molecule is present in the atmosphere of one of these planets,” Physical Science Instructor at Meramec Joe Schneider wrote in an e-mail. “This could be an indicator for biological activity on the planet.” Webb said this discovery was rare because these planets have the combination of being similar in size to Earth and having a temperature that could have water on their surfaces and potentially support life. “This is the first time that so many planets of this kind have been found around the same star. [It was an] amazing discovery!” Schneider wrote. Schneider wrote that he thinks these planets have the ability to sustain life. “Earth-like exoplanets orbiting dwarf stars are easier to observe than earth-like planets around solar-type [larger] stars,”

Graphic by: Noah Sliney Schneider wrote. “Since these dwarfs [sic] are also much cooler, the temperature zone that allows water to be liquid on the surface of the planet is much closer to the star. When viewing the star, the chance is much better you will also see the close planets. I know there are nearly 600 targets that will be observed in the future.” Meramec graduate Roland Barge said he was beyond excited. “If this discovery ends up leading to [a] planet, or [a] series of planet life, I believe this announcement will be the most monumental in modern history,”

Barge said. “Sure, Elon Musk is working on terraforming Mars and opens the possibility of humans expanding within our solar system, but this could open the door to humans living outside of the solar system.” Roland said he hopes humans expand to other planets, solar systems and galaxies. “Considering how we have destroyed our planet in almost every turn, I hope humans learn from the mistakes we have made on Earth during these explorations to new uncharted territories,” Barge said.

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Art & Life | 5 Student Sayeed Sharieff strives to ‘change it up’ with comedy March 4 30, 2017

Continued from front

Photo by: Katie Hayes Sayeed Sharieff prepares to perform stand up comedy at Maryville University on Sunday, March 26. “I prepped for a week, spent four to five hours every night just locked in my room writing material,” Sharieff said. “The night came, I performed it and it went pretty d--- well.” Word quickly spread throughout Sharieff’s community that he was doing standup comedy, which lead him to more gigs, he said. He performed at his youth group camp and at Meramec as an opener for comedian Aman Ali in November. Sharieff opened for Jeremy McLellan at Maryville University on Sunday, March 26. Sharieff said he jokes about things that pertain to or are significant to his life – a lot of his material is about being Indian and Muslim. After graduating high school, Sharieff said he was not sure he wanted to continue his schooling –

Humans of Meramec

Photo by: Katie Hayes Jo Moore, Student Activities Assistant II What is your favorite part about the job?

“Working with the students. It always has been, just the day-to-day contact. I work a lot with clubs and student government and The Montage and all of you and that’s it. That’s what kept me here. I have friends who are out in the business world and made a lot more money, but I didn’t want to be in corporate America. I wanted to be in a college setting and working with the students.”

and having grown up in a traditional Indian household, education was very significant. “I tried the whole “work for a year and not go to school” thing, and I realized that’s not the life for me,” Sharieff said. “It just seemed really nine to five, stay in one place.” After working for a while, he decided to visit India to try to clear his head. “I went to India to do some soul searching about school and what I wanted to do with my life, and when I came back I realized school is probably what I should be doing,” Sharieff said. “I thought I had it bad here in America, like ‘Ah, I hate going to school, it’s so boring, I have to take classes that don’t even count toward my degree,’ and in my opinion I was

being ungrateful to what I had.” Visiting India was a culture shock, Sharieff said. “It’s crazy seeing people that don’t have education and the opportunities you get with education here in a country like America,” Sharieff said. “It gave me insight that if I do have kids and a wife one day I have to make something of myself, so that’s where the whole school thing comes in and I realized I can also do school and have fun at the same time — so this is where the comedy thing comes in,” Sharieff said. His expression of himself is standing in front of crowds and spouting whatever nonsense comes to him, Sharieff said. His favorite aspect would be when people come up to him after the show and talk to him. “The hardest thing I would say is actually trying to be funny,” Sharieff said. “It could be the funniest joke ever, but you might not have the sense of humor for it — everyone has a different sense of humor.” Everything you say on stage you should have a small belief in, Sharieff said. You are trying to cater to people but you are also trying to cater and stay true to yourself. “Write about what you know but also what other people know, along with being true to yourself,” Sharieff said. “You’re trying to sell yourself to other people and get them to buy into what you’re saying but you don’t want to give them something that’s completely false — it’s a fine line.” His current goal is to perform at Saint Louis University (SLU)

within the next two years as they have the biggest Muslim Student Association in the St. Louis area. “They like to do a lot of inner faith things, it’s obviously not specifically catered to Muslims, and a lot of my material isn’t specifically catered to Muslims or Indians but a lot of my material comes from that life,” Sharieff said. Sharieff’s dream would be to tour the country, go to different colleges and speak to MSA groups. It is important in this time and age for Muslims to speak out, he said. “Muslims obviously are very quiet and we just recently have been getting loud because the finger has been pointing at us, but we should have been loud 10 to 15 years ago,” Sharieff said. “I just think right now the Muslim crowd, brown crowd, the Hispanic crowd, Bosnian crowd – every immigrant crowd needs to come together, women especially.” Sharieff said the human mind was not meant to stay in one place, and he believes that traveling does make a person healthier. To individuals who do not have the privilege to travel to an underprivileged country, he said they should try to educate themselves about other cultural values. “Start studying a different culture — make a friend with someone who’s not from the same socioeconomic class as you,” Sharieff said. “Get out of your comfort zone, your body was made to adjust and your body and your mind were made to be in uncomfortable situations enough to make them comfortable — change it up.”

Fast lunch at Fresh Thyme

Good food at a comfortable price

Melissa Wilkinson Staff Writer

If you’ve ever been to an open-air market, you’ll recognize the vibe at Fresh Thyme. Located ten minutes from campus, this upscale grocery store opened its Kirkwood location at the beginning of 2017. “It’s a fun store,” team leader of the Kirkwood location Shannon Chronister said. “It’s not an overwhelming store. You can see the whole thing when you walk in.” Based out of Downers Grove, Chicago, Fresh Thyme is a Midwest chain focusing on healthy, organic produce. “We’ve combined the spirit of a weekend farmers market and the convenience of a neighborhood store with the nutritious offerings of a natural food marketplace,” according to the Fresh Thyme website. The produce section is the heart of the store, taking up roughly half of the floorspace, and by design the aisles are few and not numbered. It’s meant to feel small and easily navigable. “It’s a natural, organic grocery store,” Chronister said. “I feel like we’re a value driven store as well. My goal as the store team leader is to provide the Kirkwood area

Photo by: Amanda Harris with the best customer service and atmosphere.” In addition to groceries, household items and produce, Fresh Thyme offers a selection of grab-and-go items including salads, pastas and tamales. “We’ve got a little cafe area set up,” Chronister said. “We have a great salad bar...soups, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches. Our pizza’s really good. It’s a buck ninety-nine, which is a pretty good deal.” The cafe area — a cluster of tables near the front of the store — provides a microwave in which to warm up food, as well as a bar with outlets. Chronister encourages students to bring their laptops and do homework as they eat. If you’re searching for your coffee fix, Fresh Thyme has you covered. Two unique coffees from their selection of over 20 are offered, with the options changing

daily. There’s also a bread-slicing machine and a nut grinder for freshly made spreads. Although Fresh Thyme, like Whole Foods, focuses on organic products, it bests its better-known competitor in price. A single-serve macaroni and cheese, almond croissant and fresh squeezed juiced costs less than $7. It’s no wonder this Midwest chain is growing fast. “We have some 50 odd stores right now,” Chronister said, “and we’re gonna build 25 stores this year across the Midwest.” Despite the store’s spreading influence, Fresh Thyme still manages to stay true to it’s origins, providing top brand organic goods without the big-name environment of other groceries of the same ilk. If you’re looking for a quick lunch during a break at reasonable prices with a friendly atmosphere, give Fresh Thyme a try.

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Opinions | 7

4 March 30, 2017

St. Louis gambles on sports…again

Sean E. Thomas News Editor

On April 4 residents of the St. Louis City will vote on two ballot measures, both of which must pass if the city is ever going to realize its dream of becoming a Major League Soccer city. The first measure is a proposed half-cent sales tax increase that would fund a north-south expansion of our current MetroLink route. The second measure is a vote as to whether the citizens of St. Louis City, and more importantly the business owners, are comfortable with an increase in the business use tax to help fund the downtown soccer stadium. The catch: both measures must pass on April 4 if plans for the soccer stadium are to move forward, as the half-cent sales tax increase will trigger the corre-

sponding business use tax increase that is needed. While many of my fellow St. Louisans are quick to point out this city’s love for soccer, often referring to St. Louis as one of the “biggest soccer cities in the country,” as all the reason needed to support the building of an MLS stadium, I disagree. There seems to be this belief that because St. Louis loves soccer, it will absolutely support an MLS team. Must I remind you that St. Louis once loved football as well. You remember? The kind of football with end zones instead of goals, quarterbacks instead of strikers. Or have we decided that the Rams were never really ours and that they are finally back in Los Angeles where they belong? I’m sorry, I know the Rams thing is a low blow, but it serves a purpose. Will St. Louis only be a city that supports an MLS team if they are good? If that is the case, are the citizens of St. Louis ready to gamble $60 million in tax revenue from businesses in the city in hopes of a winning soccer team? I’m not. In a city that needs so much more than another jersey to wear as we run our Sunday errands, if we can generate an ex-

Graphic by: Jordan Morris tra $60 million in tax revenue, I’m sure we can find much better uses for it than another giant building to kick a ball around. What about the extra money it will bring into the city as fans and businesses alike flood downtown to welcome the arrival of soccer? Let’s talk about that for a moment. With ticket prices likely to be high enough that a great many residents of the city proper will not be able to afford to attend games in the new stadium, I don’t think it should be

city businesses and residents alone that will be facing higher taxes for the privilege of sport. It could be argued the primary push for an MLS team in St. Louis is coming from residents of St. Louis County, whose children attend private schools where sports like soccer take center stage. I say let their businesses pay higher taxes to provide their leisure, let city taxes go to programs and funding that will improve the day-to-day lives of the city’s residents.

I visited every Missouri state park in 11 days My last big trip with my mom and sisters

Missy Arneson Copy Editor

After 11 days and more than 100 hours of riding in a car with my two sisters and mom, I can finally say I’ve seen all 88 of Missouri’s state parks. The Missouri park program was established in 1917, making 2017 the centennial anniversary of Missouri parks. In celebration, the program offered centennial passports. These passports were little black books with two pages for each park — one with a short description of the history and highlights of the park, the other with a place for a stamp.

After growing up in a house full of seven people, I know it’s going to be quiet once we all leave.

Each park has a unique stamp — the Route 66 park stamp has a big road sign emblazoned with 66, the Deutschheim State Historic Site stamp contains a drawing of two people with a big heart in

the middle and the Dr. Edmund A. Babler memorial state park stamp has flowers strewn across it. My mom came up with the idea to visit all the state parks when she heard about the passport program back in September 2016. My siblings and I are all getting older: my oldest brother is studying Mining Engineering at Missouri University of Science & Technology, soon to be joined by my other older brother. I’ve been in college for almost two years and both of my younger sisters are finishing up high school. Pretty soon none of us kids are going to be left at home. So my mom decided that the best way to squeeze in one last big memorable event was to visit 88 parks in 11 days. Most of our trips took two days. My mom would pick me up from class on Friday at 11 a.m., we would drive until 8 or 9 p.m., get to our hotel and collapse into bed, then start again at 7 a.m. the next morning. Usually these trips had us visiting 11 parks before we got home Saturday night. Of course, the best trip was much longer. We spent four days in the car over Christmas break, driving for about 12 hours each day. I think we visited 30 parks that week, though I’ve forgotten the exact number. We had a lot of adventures: from driving down roads that would make serial killers feel at home to trusting a GPS to find us dinner — it took us to a Wendy’s that was still under construction — there was never a dull moment. As with all things, there were high points and there were lows. One of the parks we visited early on, Grand Gulf State Park, was

Photos by: Missy Arneson beautiful. It’s a cave system where the roof of all the caves collapsed, leaving a gorgeous valley that looks straight out of “Lord of the Rings.” Others weren’t so great: Big Lake State Park is literally just a large lake that’s surrounded by little stores and other commercial buildings, and since it wasn’t even the biggest lake we had seen that day none of us were terribly impressed. My favorite park was Pomme de Terre State Park. Its main feature is a massive lake that I couldn’t

look away from. Plus “pomme de terre” is French for potato, and the words “potato state park” turn me into a giggly mess. Despite the feeling of my brain leaking out of my ear after several consecutive days of driving for 10 or more hours, I’m really glad I went. After growing up in a house full of seven people, I know it’s going to be quiet once we all leave. I’m glad I got this chance to make memories with my sisters and mom — I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Sports | 8

March 30, 2017

Bike, hike and breathe at parks near Meramec ‘It’s a good workout’

Caroline Frank Staff Writer

St. Louis Community College-Meramec is in close proximity to a variety of different parks to which its students can walk, bike or drive between classes. Among these parks are Dee Koestering Park, Laumeier Sculpture Park and Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center. “I’m not from around here, but I have been to the Meramec Highlands Quarry [at Dee Koestering Park],” Meramec student Aaliyah Busch said. “I went there the other day.” Busch said people shouldn’t go there if they don’t like nature. “There’s a huge hiking trail that overlooks the quarry and big boulders,” Busch said. “It’s a really pretty place.” The Meramec Highlands Quarry at Dee Koestering Park is 1.1 miles away from Meramec

and is a 9.5 acre site. It consists of walking trails, an operation site and large rocks. Laumeier Sculpture Park is another place near Meramec. It is 1.7 miles away and located right near the intersection of S Geyer Road. and Watson Road. Its mission is to “engage the community through art and nature” with what it has to offer according to the park’s website. “Yeah I’ve been to the Sculpture Park,” Meramec student Sam Terry said. He said he really enjoys the “huge, steep hill” called Cromlech Glen, but his favorite part is the Pool Complex at Orchard Valley. “The empty pool is also cool,” Terry said. “I like it because it’s an abandoned and sort of destroyed pool with a newer and nicer wooden pavilion that you can walk on. It’s pretty sweet.” The Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center is another park near Meramec about 2.1 miles away. It is home to a variety of dif-

ferent plants, animals and nature center visitors. The building inside has binoculars for bird watching, live snake exhibits, a beehive, a 3,000 gallon aquarium, and other viewing areas for watching wildlife. There is also a native plant garden where people can go and learn how to garden. Lastly, there are plenty of hiking trails for park-goers. “The trails can be steep at times but for the most part they are flat,” Meramec student Ryan Stanger said. “There is a small creek next to a trail that runs in the summer… All of the nature is great and very calm; it’s just super quiet and relaxing there.” He also said the grounds are clean and well-maintained. “It’s a really good place to take a nice walk,” Stanger said. Stanger said hiking is similar to playing a sport. “It’s a good workout, but more importantly it can make someone get into a different state of mind if they’re passionate about it.”

Photo by: Caroline Frank The trail at Powder Valley provides a place to walk through Missouri forests.

Team advances to the National Tournament in Arkansas Continued from front With the stands jam packed with fans, the Greyhounds won the opening tip-off, but neither team scored at first. “I don’t think anyone scored a bucket for the first three minutes or so,” Head Coach Shelly Ethridge said. The Lady Archers then opened the scoring with two straight threes from Shamara Glover, No. 33 sophomore forward, and Shamiah Oliver No. 12 sophomore guard. Glover had a stat line of 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Oliver scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and had a steal. After those threes some turnovers stalled the Lady Archers’ offense for the rest of the quarter. Ethridge attributed these turnovers to the nerves and jitters the team had. “Nerves played a huge part in it because we’ve been seeing a lot of pressure all season long; the nerves got the best of us early,” Ethridge said.

“Third quarter is our quarter that we shine every game.” Erika Harvey Elisha Davis No. three, a freshman point guard, who scored 15 points and had five assists, also admitted the team got out to a slow start. “We started out kinda slow in the first quarter, but we knew by halftime we had to pick it up,” Davis said. The score at the end of the first quarter was 12-6 in favor of

Photo by: DJ McGuire The Lady Archers celebrate their District P Title in a victory over Arkansas State Mid-South.

the Greyhounds, thanks to an impressive buzzer-beating near half court shot from the Greyhounds. The Archers then responded by hitting two straight to tie the game early in the second quarter. Neither team scored much more for the rest of the second quarter. One highlight of the quarter was a steal by Erica Waeltermann, No. 4 freshman point guard, who passed it to Erika Harvey, the No. 11 freshman guard. She finished with a layup while being fouled and made her free throw completing the three-point play. Waeltermann had a stat line of 5 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Harvey scored 15 points, had three rebounds, an assist and a steal. At the half the Lady Archers were leading 26-25. The early portions of the third quarter remained tight but in typical Lady Archers fashion, they dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Grey-

hounds 28-14. “Third quarter is our quarter that we shine every game,” Harvey said. Ethridge said the defense was huge in building this lead. “Once we got settled in, our defense kept us in the game and then we got over that hump of scoring; after we are able to score it relieves a lot of pressure for us, [and] it is just momentum after that,” Ethridge said. Harvey played a key role in building the lead by scoring several put-backs (shots missed by her teammates). “It was real important, coach always stresses about getting the weak side rebounds and being down there, just to grab the boards,” Harvey said. Another player who helped to build the lead was No. 21 freshman forward Chrishana Wilson, who scored 15 points and grabbed a whopping 25 rebounds. One play during the third quarter was a fast break by the

Lady Archers where Davis made a behind-the-back pass to set up Waeltermann for an easy lay-up which made the crowd cheer. “The last game I did it to Erica Waeltermann, I just wanted the crowd to go wild; let me set up with a behind-the-back pass,” Davis said. The Lady Archers were up by 15 points at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the Lady Archers continued to build the lead holding a 23 point lead at one point. The final score resulted in a Lady Archers victory, 77-56. After the game the team celebrated as the crowd went nuts, and eventually the team all took turns cutting down the net in celebration of their victory. The team as a whole was very excited for the victory and the upcoming national tournament. “It feels absolutely fabulous,” Ethridge said. “I’m so proud of this team and all of the accompliments that they achieved this season — it’s been since 2013 that we’ve been there so we’re glad to get back.

“We started off a little slow at the beginning of the year, [but] we all came together as a team and as a family.” Erika Harvey

They deserve to be going.” Harvey was also very proud of her team’s development over the course of the season. “We started off a little slow at the beginning of the year, [but] we all came together as a team and as a family,” Harvey said.