Spotlight on Meramec

Below: Food Trucks were present in the Student Center Quad during the week of Mar. 20. The trucks were a part of the MidTerm Break Bash festivities at Meramec, and were present over a two day period in conjuction with the event. Students recieved tickets from the activities inside the Student Center to get food from the trucks free of charge.

Above: The Career Fair took place in the Meramec Gymnasium on Wednesday, Mar. 29. Participants had opportunities to speak with employers and apply for current openings within the many companies that participated. The event wasn’t just exlcusively availible to Meramec and STLCC students, however. All career fairs are free and open to STLCC students, alumni and the public.

Evaluate the last half of the semester. What did you do great at? Was it waking up at the sound of the alarm clock and getting to class on time? What didn’t you do great? Was it the math tests? You have this next half of the semester to redeem all those areas you feel you need to.

Finally, engage in schoolbased activities. These could be career-related or fun-filled activities. The schedule can be pretty tight as we balance school, work, and life, but work without play isn’t healthy either. Several activities take place on campus, and you could at least attend one once in a while.

Below: The “Midterm Break Bash” continues inside the Caferteria Atrium on Thursday, Mar. 23. In addition to the food trucks present outside, events and activites included giant games of “Connect 4” and “Jenga.” Funnel Cakes were distributed to students, and a DJ was present on the premises to play live music to those in attendance.

Above: “Women’s History Bingo” takes place in the Cafeteria Atrium on Tuesday, Mar. 30. This was the concluding event in STLCC’s slate of events that celebrated Women’s History Month. Other events throughout the month included Stand Up Comedy and lectures on Women History that took place in Lecture Hall Room 102, as well as a sporting event on the Softball field.

‘Cocaine Bear’ delivers plenty of cocaine and bears

The star-studded epic is mindless fun

Jacob Politte MANAGING EDITOR

“Cocaine Bear” is quite the film for any adult ready to indulge in violent, mindless fun. Based loosely on a true story, it features a stellar, notably award-winning cast doing their best 80’s stereotypes, and features one of the final performances of actor Ray Lottia, who plays what amounts to be the most antagonistic role in the film as the drug trafficker Syd.

Centered in the year 1985 primarily within the Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest in Georgia but featuring plenty of scenes set in St. Louis, drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II (Matthew Rhys) drops a shipment of cocaine from his plane, but accidentally knocks himself out before falling to his death in a front yard in Knoxville, Tennessee. Most of the cocaine landed in the forest in Georgia, where a black mother bear finds a stash and quickly becomes addicted. And, uncharacteristically aggressive.

A unique cast of characters are also in the forest, and many of them come in direct contact with the crazed, violent bear. This includes two children, who are among the bears initial victims. Both children survive (although they do try the cocaine), but many others don’t. In particular, the park ranger played by actress Margo Martindale has a particularly brutal final few hours, as do the three hoodlum teenagers harassing everyone.

“Cocaine Bear” is one of the more aggressively violent films of the last year or two, and the kills absolutely make the movie. There’s a lot of intriguing stories there, but they often aren’t explored very much by the end of the film. It’s definitely not a movie for those with a weak stomach, and the movie is largely not afraid to get as disgusting as possible. It’s not afraid to be as shockingly violent as it is with such a respected, A-List cast on tap. This cast includes Keri Russell, who is featured prominently throughout the film (an on-screen reunion with her “Americans” co-star Rhys would have been cool, but wouldn’t have made much sense), as well as Isiah Whitlock Jr., who actually has one of the more depressing parts of the film to contend with, but isn’t afraid to be wholesomely funny.

It feels strange to view a drugfueled bloody rampage as funny, but it largely is. Almost none of that has to do with the bear, and instead the acting delivery from the cast carries the film’s humor and even some of its drama. In particular, O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Daveed is probably the most well-rounded and fully realized character of the bunch, and Jackson plays both sides of the coin extremely well.

Arguably, however, the bear isn’t portrayed as any sort of villain throughout. People do crazy things after doing drugs, and animals are no different. Even when at her most violent, the bear is often hilarious in its own way, even falling asleep from exhaustion on top of Syd’s adult son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) at one point. The bear is violent, but she’s somehow still a sympathetic figure. Not to mention, the GCI Bear is incredible to see.

Without further spoiling the film, “Cocaine Bear” is worth a watch, but viewers should be aware that they’ll see a molotov cocktail of brutality mixed with genuinely funny humor. If you’re a kid, don’t watch this film, and if you have a weak stomach or hate violence, please do not watch this film.