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VOLUME 52, ISSUE 14 | THURSDAY MAY 4, 2017 | www.meramecmontage.com

News:

Habitat for Humanity uses Meramec students’ tiny house design

News:

Meramec hosts Special Olympics Spring games

Photo submitted

m

Marie Schwarz Managing Editor

At the beginning of this semester, students of Associate Professor Erin LeClerc asked her, “When are we ever going to be designing a tiny house [once we are interior designers]?”

They asked LeClerc, program coordinator of the Interior Program at St. Louis Community College-Meramec this question because she had just introduced one of the semester’s projects: designing a tiny house.

“As designers it’s not about designing large homes, it’s about figuring out problems,” LeClerc said. “And your problem is to design a house in less than 200 square feet and give them everything that they need to be sufficient.”

Interior design student Jessica Mendenhall said this project was the perfect learning experience.

“Because the space is small, students can really dig in and focus attention on every detail of the home, from exterior to interior,” Mendenhall said. “We don’t always have this luxury, so it made for a wonderful learning experience.”

LeClerc and her students partnered with the City of Chesterfield and Habitat for Humanity St. Louis, an organization that focuses on providing affordable and efficient housing.

Continued on page 4

Photos by: Amanda Harris

m

Andrew Ameer Staff Writer

Damp weather did not dampen spirits Saturday, as St. Louis Community College hosted the Special Olympics of Missouri at its Meramec campus.

Athletes from all over the St. Louis metro area, including Jefferson and Franklin counties, converged on the Meramec campus Saturday for the area spring games. Joining the athletes in

braving the weather were hundreds of friends, relatives and volunteers.

The event kicked off in the gymnasium with a performance by the Special Olympics dance team, followed by a rendition of the national anthem by Joseph Niemeyer who said it felt “really good” to sing the national anthem in front of a large audience.

Members of the Knights of Columbus were also present for the national anthem.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Meramec Campus Provost Carol Lupardus, who was present at the event and says she really enjoyed seeing the reactions from the athletes participating in the games. “We are very lucky to be hosting the Special Olympics today.”

Many of the planned events were canceled because of the thunderstorm, but following the opening ceremony several indoor games commenced inside the

Continued on page 8

Sports:

Lady Archers sweep Patriots Archers defeat Morthland College Lady Patriots in Doubleheader, win first game 7-1 and the second game 8-0.

Story on page 8

Opinions:

Andrew Ameer Kim Jong Un plays chicken with Trump

Inside the mind of the nation’s first president with no military or political background.

Story on page 7

2 | News

May 4, 2017

Records request update: STLCC releases wages and expenses

m

Katie Hayes Editor-in-Chief

Following The Montage’s April 5 Freedom of Information Act request, St. Louis Community College (STLCC) released public records April 26 detailing wages paid to Mark Potratz, Anthony Russo and Richard Banahan as well as STLCC expenditures for group insurance for the employees.

STLCC also provided copies of Potratz, Russo and Banahan’s expenses and receipts from Nov. 1, 2016 until they were placed on administrative leave March 31.

The Montage is still waiting on the remaining portion of the re-

Mark Potratz Wages

Anthony Russo Wages

Richard Banahan Wages

Jan. 31, 2017-March, 31 2017

Jan. 31, 2017-March, 31 2017

Jan. 31, 2017-March, 31 2017

Regular earnings: $27,606.45

Regular earnings: $16,574.86

Regular earnings: $17,716.49

Overload earnings: None

Overload earnings: None

Overload earnings: $1,905

quest that includes all emails sent

by Potratz, Russo, Banahan and Chancellor Jeff Pittman from Feb. 15, 2017 through April 5, 2017 and copies of all complaints made against Potratz, Russo and Banah-

an since their date of hire.

The college has yet to release a reason why all three employees were placed on leave. Retired Lt. Col. Alfred Adkins was appointed interim director of public safety

and emergency management Adkins is a veteran of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

STLCC did not charge The Montage for the records received as of press time.

Student organizations unable to source cultural cuisine Treat America contract falls short internationally for student and club-sponsored events

m

Sean E. Thomas News Editor

St. Louis Community College is under contract with a company called Treat America, making them the required first option for any student organization ordering food, according to Kyle Luzynski, president of the Student Governance Council at Meramec.

“The cafeteria has what is called right of first refusal,” Luzynski said, “They have a contractual right to be the first go-to when a student organization is searching for a food option for an event.”

Luzynski used the International Club as an example of a student organization that faces troubles sourcing cultural cuisine for both educational and ethical reasons.

“I would like to tell you about International Club because that is where this issue has been perhaps most persistent,” Luzynski said.

“We have students from not only all over the country but all over the world here at St. Louis Community College, and we value diversity at the college. But when it comes to obtaining food for their ethical and cultural events like their bi-weekly meetings … they cannot obtain authentic food. It diminishes how the dozens of students that attend get to experience different cultures.”

Aia Obeed, a student with the International Club, spoke to some of the frustrations international students face with being made to procure cultural cuisine from the cafeteria.

Photo by: Caroline Frank Potato chips for sale in the Meramec cafeteria “If I was to give somebody Arab food I’d like it to be as close as possible [to authentic], and asking somebody in the cafeteria to make it who doesn’t know what it’s supposed be like … I feel it’s not going to get where I want it to get to,” Obeed said. “So getting it from a place where I know this is

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

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as close as I can get, this is exactly what I want, I feel like that’s more important for the experience.”

Obeed said that student organizations can go outside of the cafeteria to source ethical or cultural food for their events but then are forced to pay for the food out of their own pockets, and not through

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the organization’s budget.

“I see all kinds of issues tied to culture with our current food policy,” Luzynski said. “Lack of clearly identified vegetarian and vegan options, the lack of cultural exemption for obtaining food that matches our ethical beliefs as vegetarians and vegans, and also a lack of awareness by the staff about what constitutes vegetarian or vegan.”

According to Luzynski, some local universities have an “ethical and cultural exemption,” allowing them to source cultural or ethical food from off-campus.

“Schools such as Maryville do have an ethical and cultural exemption,” Luzynski said. “Individuals or organizations like the international club … can easily request local authentic cultural food from a local authentic cultural restaurant. That is a benefit that other colleges with other contracts seem to enjoy which we seem to lack.”

Obeed spoke of members of the International Club who will only consume meat that has been prepared according to Halal, prepared as prescribed by Islamic law, and how this can pose a problem when sourcing food for the club’s events through the cafeteria.

“With our specific contract with Treat America, we have a difficulty procuring authentic cultural food as well as difficulties with sourcing ethical food,” Luzynski, who is himself a vegan, said. “It’s one of my greatest ethical issues as a leader. I do not feel I can source good, ethical, vegan food from the cafeteria.”

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News | 3

4 4, 2017 May

Campus Brief Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Bill Miller was placed on administrative leave.

“At this point we are working out the details, but that’s all that I can say,” Executive Director for Marketing and Communications Kedra Tolson said.

Photo by: Erik Muschinske

Vice Chancellor for Finance presents budget draft m

Andrew Ameer Staff Writer

About 40 people filed into the St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley theater last Wednesday afternoon to observe a budget presentation held by Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Paul Zinck, and Budget Coordinator Jill Houghton.

The meeting opened with Zinck saying the purpose of the meeting was to be as transparent and as inclusive as possible, and said that this was the first time they were presenting the budget in this manner before submitting it to the college Board of Trustees.

The budget is prepared on an annual basis. According to the presentation, the sources of revenue are not predicted to undergo a major change for the 2018 fiscal year, with most of the college’s funding coming from local taxes, followed by state aid and maintenance fees.

The system runs on an annual

Gov. Eric Greitens recommended an additional 10 percent funding cut that would affect all 12 community colleges in Missouri. budget of about $150-155 million per year.

The draft budget for FY18 in its current form included a $5.7 million deficit, a drastic increase from the $1.3 million deficit experienced in FY17 which Zinck attributed to a combination of factors including lower enrollment and the reduction in funding of nearly $3.6 million in state funds in January.

There was also talk of another potential funding cut, after Gov. Eric Greitens recommended an additional 10 percent funding cut

that would affect all 12 community colleges in Missouri. That recommendation is currently working its way through the Missouri House and Senate, and could potentially affect the draft budget that is currently prepared.

Zinck said they “had some work to do” on reducing the deficit.

He said they will continue working over the next couple of weeks to try to reduce the deficit in the budget before submitting to the board for approval.

“We need to do a little bit better than that,” Zinck said, referring to the $5.7 million deficit currently in the draft.

Zinck compared the task of setting out the budget for the college similar to the process of completing a home budget, but said “budgeting for the college is a pretty big task” and preparing a budget for a large financial institution is incredibly difficult.

Zinck said there were a lot of requests for expenditures and at one point held up a thick fold-

The budget will be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval on May 18. er that he said contained a lot of great ideas, but that not everything could be implemented due to limited resources. One campus provost in attendance, Carol Lupardus of Meramec, asked when and how the public would be able to see the list of expenditure requests, to which Zinck replied that they would be setting up some sort of SharePoint with details of the requests after the budget is approved by the board.

The budget will be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval on May 18.

STLCC employees offered retirement incentive packages Voluntary Separation Incentive Program to all full-time employees

m

Caroline Frank Staff Writer

More than 500 St. Louis Community College faculty and staff members have recently been considered eligible for incentive packages to retire.

“STLCC is offering a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program to all full-time employees who meet the eligibility requirements,” Chancellor Jeff Pittman wrote in an email.

Pittman wrote that the Board of Trustees approved the plan on April 20.

“We want to reallocate funding in other, more urgent ways.”

Paul Zinck

Employees who are being offered this include those eligible for early retirement benefits under the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri or Non-Certificated Employees Retirement Plan, who are 55 years and older and have given the college at least five years of full-time service, or they include current full-time employees who have 20 years or more of continuous full-time service.

One option is for the eligible employee to continue working for the college. Those who choose to do this will have subsidized medical insurance for a maximum of 24 months, with each year of full-time service granting the employee one more month of insurance.

Another option is for the eligible employee to receive a onetime cash payment amounting to 1 percent of the employee’s annual salary multiplied by the employee’s number of years of full-time, continuous service. This lump sum

can equal up to, but not exceed, 20,000 dollars.

Paul Zinck, Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, said the Board of Trustees’ decision began with the state reduction of community college funding.

“The governor cut funding for the current fiscal year,” Zinck said.

According to Zinck, almost 10 percent of the budget was cut.

“That’s a pretty good amount,” Zinck said.

Zinck said they addressed the change in a number of differ-

“It’s hard to tell [how many employees will take the package], but I’ve been led to believe about 100 of them will take it.”

Paul Zinck

ent ways — the board decided to reduce spending in their budget, specifically in salary and benefit expenses.

“We want to reallocate funding in other, more urgent ways,” Zinck said.

According to Zinck, there are more than 500 employees in the eligibility group, roughly 20 percent of which he expects to accept the incentive package.

“It’s hard to tell,” he said, “but I’ve been led to believe about 100 of them will take it.”

Zinck said this will benefit the college because they will replace the employees who retire by re-hiring people who fall lower on the pay scale and don’t get as good of benefits.

Zinck said that in time, he believes this will save the college money.

“You usually don’t see the savings right away, but I do [believe it will save the college money] over the long term,” Zinck said.

4 | Art & Life

4

May 4, 2017

Meramec professor brings Katowice to Kirkwood

m

Sean E. Thomas News Editor

In 2016, Joe Chesla, professor of art, sculpture, and design at St. Louis Community College-Meramec, spent eight months teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland. While at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, he met Tomasz Koclega who later became the final artist in a series of artists Chesla invited to Meramec to teach and engage with students.

Koclega studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. He has made over 30 individual exhibitions and participated in more than 60 collective exhibitions in Poland and abroad, as well as winning numerous awards.

“This is the fifth artist in a series that I’ve been running this semester,” Chesla said. “I was on sabbatical in Poland last year for 8 months studying at the academy of arts in Katowice. Tomasz was one that I actually taught with. When I came back I had an exhibition in the gallery [featuring] over 30 different artists from the academy in Poland, brought this big show over with me.”

Koclega was one of five artists Chesla hosted at Meramec.

“During the exhibition I

Photo by: Sean E. Thomas

Maria Sanchez works on a sculpture in professor Joe Chesla’s class. It is currently displayed at the Eastern entrance of the Meramec campus. brought over four different artists [over four] consecutive weeks to work with the students,” Chesla said. “I brought back a print maker, I brought a painter, a graphic artist — and they were actually in the classes and giving public lectures and doing all this stuff — and Tomasz is the last one.”

Koclega creates large sculptures of fiberglass that have been displayed in France, Russia, China and Japan among others. Some are large heads without bodies placed in trees and rivers. Others, giant humanoid statues without heads that have been given names like Looseness, Transiency and Destiny.

“He’s got a body of work … he’s shown all over Europe and is doing a lot of large scale public works,” Chesla said.

Koclega spent two and a half weeks at Meramec working with students to create his next piece.

A piece that Koclega says, even though he has thousands of sketches, will be unique to Meramec.

“It is completely different because usually on Polish universities we don’t have a huge campus,” Koclega said. “We developed one particular project for this particular location.”

Chesla said that he and Koclega spent some time teaching to-

gether in Katowice, a partnership that Koclega said was made easy by the two men’s similar outlooks regarding art.

“It was a great time to meet him [Chesla],” Koclega said. “When we started to work I realized we were sharing the same point of view for the majority of artistic issues. When we talk to students it’s like being two separate individuals running through the same intellectual process. He starts to say something, I continue, he continues, I started…it was really amazing.”

Maria Sanchez, a student in Chesla’s class, said that working with Koclega provided her with some new experiences.

“I’ve never worked with these materials,” Sanchez said. “I’ve never worked with fiberglass. I’ve never been able to work with an artist to use their techniques towards their own project. It’s a really meticulous process, but he does it very well so you’re learning so much just by being involved.”

Chesla said the exhibition and visiting artists would not have been possible without the help of many different groups from Meramec including Global Studies, Campus Life, Provost Initiative, the Sculpture Club and Printmaking Club.

“This group is really the best group I’ve ever worked with,” Koclega said.

Students design tiny houses as public service project Continued from p. 1 Together, they are in the process of building an ecological and portable showroom for vendors, LeClerc said.

While LeClerc and her students provided the design, the City of Chesterfield is coordinating the project with the vendors and Habitat for Humanity St. Louis is building the home, Jack Martinez said, who works for the Parks and Recreation and Arts Department of the City of Chesterfield.

Martinez came up with the idea over the winter, he said.

“I thought it would be a great way for businesses in Chesterfield to advertise,” Martinez said.

Shannon Sample is one of Meramec’s interior design students.

“I personally loved that we got to do something that was one, different; and two, real world,” Sample said.

Harper Zielonko, resource development relationship manager of Habitat for Humanity St. Louis, is involved with the building of the tiny house project. “[Habitat for Humanity is] kind of serving as a general contractor,” Zielonko said. “We are putting all the inner workings together so that any of the specialty contractors — like putting in cabinets or the plumbing system or the electric — we will help to facilitate that, so we can ensure everything is running smoothly and comes up to a general code that will be very livable.”

Besides the limited space, integrating the concepts of sustainability and self sufficiency within the design were challenging, LeClerc said.

“We have solar panels and composting toilets and stuff like that, so you don’t have to be connected to anything,” LeClerc said.

“Basically you can be out in the woods on your own. And this tiny house doesn’t have to be connected to central electricity and plumbing.”

Furthermore, the tiny house had to fit on an 18-foot trailer without becoming an oversized load. And of course it had to fit underneath bridges, LeClerc said.

Additional considerations like balance and creative storage solutions were also important to take into consideration.

“We watched a lot of shows on tiny houses,” LeClerc said. “[The students] also researched mobile homes; what type of materials can you use in a mobile home that’s gonna be on wheels.”

Despite initial concerns about designing a tiny house, the students got really excited about the project once they heard one design will be built, LeClerc said.

The clients, Habitat for Humanity St. Louis and the City of Chesterfield, watched four presentations, and though they would have liked to take out the best elements of each project, LeClerc told them to pick one design to keep the dates of the timeline.

“If we could have mixed and matched we would have created this Frankenstein of a tiny house,” Zielonko said.

The group consisting of the interior design students Dalila Kahvedzic, Mendenhall and Sample won the not-so-tiny contest.

“It’s not very often we get to design for a real client, but then to also have it be a project like a tiny house made it so unique and

Graphic provided special,” Mendenhall said. “ ... Because the space is so small, every detail really matters!“ Martinez and Zielonko were impressed with the winning design.

“It was a very thoughtful execution, and you could tell they probably had the best understanding and scope of the project,” Martinez said.

Zielonko said she was impressed with all designs, but the chosen design was very thoughtful on every aspect.

“We really thought that this design really did the best job of giving the owners the most livable space,” Zielonko said.

The tiny house is built this month and then will be displayed at Chesterfield Amphitheater until the end of the summer season.

Zielonko said the house will then

be raffled off.

“We will sell a limited number of tickets, 1,500 tickets, for a $100 a piece,” Zielonko said. “In the end there will be a randomly generated drawing and someone will take home a tiny home.”

LeClerc said it was important to show her students the impact of this tiny house project.

“It’s not just a tiny house that you’re designing; the proceeds are gonna help build a home for someone in need,” LeClerc said.

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May 4 4, 2017

Students show off their directing skills

Art & Life | 5

Actor Dennis Allen and Emma Potts (top), Trey Marlette, Cobie Moses and Edwad Flynn (middle left), Emma Butler and Kaitlyn Heilig (middle right) Brigit Carmody and Maddy Finn (bottom) acted in the 2017 Directors Showcase.

m

Missy Arneson Copy Editor

On April 25, at 7 p.m. in the theater, St. Louis Community College-Meramec hosted a student Directors Showcase, allowing students in the theater program to test their directing skills for an audience. Student actors performed six different short plays chosen by six different directors — each with their own reasons for picking their particular play.

“The reason I chose ‘Dick Piston: Hotel Detective’ was because it was funny,” Meramec student director Orion Zmashenski said about his play, “Murder by Midnight.”

“Comedy’s a big part of my life, and I wanted to make people laugh tonight.”

Student director Dorothy Robinson chose her play “Variations on a Theme” because she played a role in her high school’s production. The play revolves around the many ways a couple could share a final moment before parting — or not share it.

“The last scene always gets me, where the one character walks onstage, and the other one is going to talk to her, but changes their mind and they just never…” Robinson said. “I feel like there’s a lot of ways you can interpret it, and I feel like any person can personally relate to it their own way. I personally relate to it because I see Nic

[one of the characters] choosing to let her [another character, Meg] go and live her own life.”

Student director Rebecca Bolin chose her play “The Philadelphia” because it was comical.

“We had to read through a bunch of different scripts,” Bolin said. “I actually had a different one in mind, but the problem was, it was 30 minutes long and couldn’t be cut … ‘Philadelphia’ was hilarious. The more I read it, the dry humor in it, it was just like, ‘oh my god, that’s a funny moment, I can do something with that.’”

Of course, there’s more to theater than humor. Theater, like any other art, usually has a deeper meaning below the surface, especially to the director.

“I’ve gone through a lot of stuff like this,” Robinson said. “I definitely think it’s just a good representation of sometimes ‘I’m sorry’ and speaking in general will never be enough to win that person back or even fix what you’ve done.”

But sometimes, lighthearted theater is just lighthearted theater.

“I just wanted to make people laugh,” Bolin said. “The meaning to me was making people laugh.”

As for the next step, the directors have high hopes.

“The high of tonight’s ‘Murder

by Midnight’ makes me feel really good, so I’m hoping to either go back to acting myself, or just kind of enjoy the rest of the ride,” Zmashenski said.

Photos by: Amanda Harris

? g n i r r e f s n a r T Intereitsy otfeMdissoiunri–St. Louis

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with Literature and Creative Writing Courses

Univers

Most courses satisfy the Humanities/Fine Arts gen-ed requirement.

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Literature American Literature between 1865-1945 (ENG 205) MWF 11-11:50 a.m., P. Garvey

Introduction to Fiction (ENG 201) Web-Based/ONLINE, A. Hamilton Major Black Writers (ENG 217) Web-Based/ONLINE, T. Rohman World Literature (ENG 231) MWF 10:00-10:50 a.m., R. Burns

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All classes require reading proficiency

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Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964

Meramec students benefit from attending Webster University

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ACP Award Recipient

What would a martian Colony look like?

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Winner of [blank] Pacemaker Awards

For Against

The

Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Pacemaker Recipient

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Montage Montage VOLUME 52, ISSUE 2 | THURSDAY SEPT. 15, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com

Art & Life:

In-Depth:

Can we actually colonize Mars?

Fifteen years after 9/11: How Islam is discussed at Meramec

Meramec welcomes first-ever provost

“I guess when people want to comment, they try as much and as hard as possible to be respectful when they’re talking — especially seeing that I am a hijabi in the classroom.”

Noura Abdelghafoor

Carol Lupardis: “I look forward to listening and getting to know the students well and being What Benefits out on the campus.” does Mars have

that EarthFull story on page 2 doesn’t?

Art & Life: History Professor Steven G. Collins talks anti-intellectualism

VOLUME 52, ISSUE 3 | THURSDAY SEPT. 29, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com

10

In-Depth:

8

A journey into psychology

7

5

4

4 2

Erin LeClerc: “Service Learning is a big part of what we do here at the college, and it is really just a great learning environment for students

Art & Life:

Ultimate Frisbee Backstage of ‘Violet’ and to do that.”

Story on pages 8 & 9

Sports:

Inline Hockey

0

Full story on page 9

News:

Arneson m Missy Copy Editor

NASA has made noise recently about founding a Martian colony, along with Mars One and SpaceX. Rick Menendez, an adjunct physical science professor at STLCC–Meramec and serious amateur astronomer, said he definitely thought this was possible.

Menendez said most of the challenges of having a Martian colony will be technological, but some of them will not be.

Florissant Valley

Control the point

John Snider instructs Campus Police Officer KeithMeramec Robinson on chest comForest ParkEnvironmental Health and Safety Specialist Wildwood

Fencing Club starts the semester with a jab

pressions for hands-only CPR.

• ACPmAward Recipient Although three out of four STLCC campuses

Art & Life:

Students granted more

Only a handful of people who practice Islam are involved in terrorism, but Muslims are often blamed for any act of terrorism in the world. History

“The real problem I see is, sonal conflict. Professor Robert Lee and student Abdelghafoor talk about aside from technological, part of “The closestNouraanalogy we the applied toon Muslims the issues will be social; getting have is people generalizations who work and how Islam is viewed in the United people togetherhason a two-year submarines,” Menendez said.

“Anti-intellectualism States and in the Meramec classroom. trip,” led us toMenendez not communicatingsaid. “To get “We’ve got these big submathere isanymore.” about a one-year trip rines that carry missiles. These one way, and about a year to guys are underwater in a very Full story on pages 6 & 7 storythe on page 9two-year trip tight, controlled environment get back. FullSo Men and women’s start the three Sports: Opinions: months at a will be a problem.” forsoccer about win Menendez said the season col-with atime, so we can actually glean a Ameer onists will have to be in very lot from those Andrew people.” close quarters for those trips, The middle income worker which often results in interperContinued on page 6

Going for the goal

Wage law updated to keep up with the times

Opinion:

Opinions:

Story on page 9

Andrew Ameer

Appearing on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon does not cover the loss of press on candidates’ flights.

Save your tears The for later...not for finals!

Page 12

A democracy starts with • the primaries

The secret life of campus A weekend at Meramec

Americans deserve candidates who answer the tough questions

Spotlight:

said. “It’s designed both for high schools and for colleges to give 30 minutes of practice of performing CPR to both comply with the statutes of the new laws that require CPR for graduation and also to get people familiar with performing CPR, because a lot of people will hesitate.”

As of Sept. 16, 138 faculty and staff were trained this year through his office or traditional AED/CPR certification courses. “[I’m] trying to get each campus trained so they can give basic first aid until the paramedics get here,” Snider said. “Like I stress in all these classes, you are not a doctor, you need to call 911. The intent is to call 911 and prevent the person from further harm or expiring until the para-

medics get here.”

Snider said the American Heart Association recommends non-medical professionals perform hands-only CPR on adults if they go into sudden cardiac arrest. Hands-only CPR is easier to perform, which means people are less likely to hesitate giving it.

“At the point where the person has fallen down and their heart has stopped — if you do nothing — the person is more or less for sure going to die,” Snider said. “So at this point, there’s not a whole lot of harm. It doesn’t get much worse than having your heart stop and being passed out.

So any type of CPR would be better than no CPR.” Snider said the number one reason ...

Continued on page 3

Full story on page 12

Katie Hayes

the lighting and the set and everything has on the rest of the show.”

finally catches a break

Adjunct professor has made JazzThehis passion

Full story on pages 6 & 7

“I feel like a lot of people

don’t takes realizetohow much affect Meramec the field

Katie Hayes Editor-in-Chief

Environmental Health and Safety Specialist John Snider offered the American Heart Association General Community Facilitated Learning Course “CPR in Schools” on Friday, Sept. 16.

Snider had offered 27 CPR/AED training sessions since National Safety Awareness Month in June as of Sept. 16. That same month, Gov. Jay Nixon signed a bill which will require high school students to take 30 minutes of CPR training to graduate, beginning in the 2017-18 school year.

“The class that we gave today is ‘CPR in Schools,” Snider

tied on the vote to eliminate the Physical Fencing Club Adviser William McDevitt and Fencing Club Education requirement from board policy, the President Matt Willerding explain the surges in fencing because a simple majority motion did not pass popularity, the discipline and it can take to become was needed.howa skilledlongEliminating the requirement from fencer. board policy does not immediately eliminate the requirement from specific programs.

Spotlight: Opinions:

Drop date for unpaid classes moved from July to August in hopes that it will help students be less frightened of the enrollment process, said Kim Fitzgerald.

Full story on page 3

Sports:

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“I hope that students see me as having some knowledge in the field, but I hope they see me as a lifelong learner along with them.”

Story on page12 IN SPOTLIGHT:

redesign The Great Circle cottage.

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Meramec strives to train campus in basic first aid

Terry Cooper

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Club sports6 on the rise

Mens soccer team triumphs 3-1 against Crowder College Roughriders.

The Great Circle Region XVI Final showed continued dominance The behavioral health agency works together with the Meramec Interior of the team.

Design Coordinator Erin LeClerc to

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News:

Art & Life:

- Meramec community since 1964 for payment ‘One grand experiment’Serving the St. Louis CommunitytimeCollege

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Stephen Buechter Voting for the lesser evil excessively divides our political system Story on page 3

Opinion:

Meramec does not provide a lot of credit classes during the weekend according to the class schedule, however, continued education classes, an open library, an open computer lab and sport games are just some incentives why the Meramec student should not only focus on being on campus during the week.

Full story on pages 6 & 7

Andrew Ameer

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Questioning Designing Montage Montage Montage Watching Investigating

Defense shines in a losing effort

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Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964

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Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964

ACP Award Recipient

A 28.5 percent voter turnout in the primaries is not the recipe for a strong democracy.

“I’ve played more saxophone than literally VOLUME 52, ISSUE 4 | THURSDAY OCT. 13, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com News: Sports: how much TV people watch.”

Archers play at Christopher Busch Stadium Nursing Braig

The Archers lose 3-0 against MCC-Blue River on Oct. 15.

The team needs to work harder, said Amanda Hughes.

Story on page 12

Former ITT students take advantage of Network Security

Story on page 9

late start classes Page 5

Electronics Accounting Cyber Security Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community sinceElectrical 1964 • ACP Award Recipient Engineering Information Systems Software Developer...

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ACP Award Recipient

Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964

How the campus academic governce council voted “A sense of empathy is a must on the Physical Education when requirement. dealing with people. The

Surviving finals is a struggle all students face, but Meramec faculty VOLUME 52, ISSUE 5 | THURSDAY Oct. 27, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com and staff areSpotlight: there to help students News: develop healthy study habits, sleep Meramec students schedules and diets as well as benefit from offer counseling to help students’ attending Webster Humans have been to the moon. emotional wellbeing.

Is Mars next?

same is true when it comes to teaching students.”

VOLUME 52, ISSUE 6 | THURSDAY NOV. 17, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com

Sports:

LIVING ON MARS

University

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StudentsACPdeserve • Award Recipient respect, too

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Archers win regional final

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St. Louis Community College campuses voted on elimination of Physical Education requirement Story on pages 6 & 7

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Archers lose 5-2 against Central Babtist College, Arkansas. Cardinals win 4-3 against Pittsburg Pirates on Oct. 1.

More students expected to join in spring Marie Schwarz m Managing Editor

Story on page 12

Art & Life:

St. Louis Community College (STLCC) expects an influx in enrollment due to former ITT Technical Institution students enMeramec student Olivia rolling in programs, said Diana Toombs talks about her journey Johnson, Career and Technical Education Retention Specialist at into stage management. the Meramec Campus. Johnson said that while some are already enrolled, the bulk of the transferring students are anticipated to degree, which places more emjoin in spring.

Late-start classes are phasis on technical components ofespecially useful for former ITT Tech programs. students this semester since ITT Tech closed on short notice in Pittman said two of the proSeptember. grams STLCC would consider pro“ITT closed their doors in the middle of our semester,” said posing for applied bachelor degree Margaret Hvatum, Chair of the Business andtherapy Information Sysprograms are its physical tems Department at Meramec. assistant program “And and its it deaf that’s made more difficult for students to find appropriate communications program. classes.” “[The deaf communications Johnson said about 50 students have reached out to STLCC program] takes a high num“This is something I wantsuch to so far, and that there are students berdoof to enrolled be at the for thecredit rest of myhours life.” already this semester.

“I do not have an exact number,” Johnson said. “We are looking into finding that out through our Banner system. But we do know of several students that enrolled here at Meramec and also Forest Park through the IT Program. I believe there are three former ITT students that are enrolled in Chemistry, so that they can start the process of getting into our nursing programs.”

Forest Park’s Chair of Information Systems, Brenda H.M. Kahan, said that the campus is working with about 20 students right now. Three of them are enrolled in late start classes at Forest Park since Network Engineering offers eight week courses, Kahan said.

Johnson, Hvatum and Kahan expect many more former students of ITT to enroll in spring.

“They started coming just in the same week that late-start classes began at Meramec,” Hvatum said. “And late-start classes, faculty don’t want them to join after the first week if it is a late start class because they go much more rapidly than a traditional 16-weeks class does. So it was still a little bit too late for many of those,” Hvatum said.

VOLUME 52, ISSUE 11 | THURSDAY MARCH.‘Theater 9, 2017 www.meramecmontage.com is my| thing’

CCAMPIS program aims to keep parents in school at Meramec

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Stephen Buechter Staff Writer

The CCAMPIS program is a need-based federal grant program intended to keep parents who need education in school.

CCAMPIS stands for Child Care Access Means Parents in School, and has always been called by that same name. It has existed for a number of years, at least two, said Claire Martin, Student Assistance Program Manager.

Martin said that the program could be described as a federal grant that the school offers to students with children to help those students pay for childcare services while they are taking classes. The program provides monetary support if parents place their children in a childcare program that is licensed and accredited by the state. Martin said that the amount of money given “takes into consideration the income of the person who applies, how many children they have, the type of classes that they’re taking, the amount of time that they would need to study.”

Martin further said the CCAMPIS program “can be combined with state child care… so that provides them with even more money to pay for childcare… They don’t have to use everything at once. The one thing that we always remind them is that it’s use it or lose it, so they cannot carry it over to the next semester. They have to apply each semester.”

Martin stated that while state funding for programs similar to CCAMPIS has dropped on a state level, the federal funding for CCAMPIS has remained. CCAMPIS program coordinator Dr. Selena Eunice Washington said that it is unclear as of now whether the amount of federal funding for the program could see cuts in the near future, but that the college

All Meramec students may participate. No audition is required!

ENSEMBLES

St. Louis Community College campuses voted on elimination of The Physical Education requirement

Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964

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News:

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Interested in performing in an ensemble?

Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964

Humans have been to the moon.

Is Mars next?

The Music Program at Meramec offers courses and ensembles for all students.

Classes are available for general education credit and the Associate in Arts degree with an Sports: emphasis in Music to prepare for transfer into a Bachelor of Music program.

Music Theory I,II,III,IV Basic Music The History of Jazz The Enjoyment of Music Class Voice I,II Class Piano I,II,III,IV Survey of Rock Music Beginning Guitar Jazz Improvisation I,II,III Applied Music (Lessons) I,II,III,IV Fundamentals of Music Technology Music History I,II

News:

Archers win regional final

Montage Montage The Montage The

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Sports:

LIVING ON MARS

M E R A M E C

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How the campus academic governce council voted on the Physical Education requirement.

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News:

Credit hours required to graduate from Webster University

MUS 101,102,201,202 MUS 103 MUS 113 MUS 114 MUS 115,116 MUS 121,122,221,222 MUS 128 MUS 130 MUS 138,139,216 MUS 141,142,241,242 MUS 150 MUS 211,212

“I can help with all of your questions about transferring, scholarships and what it’s like to be a Triton!”

Serious education. Serious value.SM VOLUME 52, ISSUE 5 | THURSDAY Oct. 27, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com

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askchristy@umsl.edu 314-516-6943

CHOOSE

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Credit hours accepted by Webster University for students with an associate degree from STLCC

A T

Christy Hummel Transfer Specialist

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Writing Memoirs & Creative Nonfiction (ENG 233) M 7-9:40 p.m., M. Thornton

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

Advising Center – Clark Hall

Music 132 – Orchestra Music 133 – Jazz Lab Band Music 134 – Symphonic Band Music 135 – Concert Choir, Chamber Singers and Voices of Magic jazz choir

Johnson is excited for STLCC to be able to help some of these students out. “St. Louis will kind of get to understand that we offer the same current tech programs that some of these for-profit schools around here do, but obviously way better benefits pricewise and the exact same benefits if not more, career wise.”

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Missouri community colleges may soon offer more than associate degrees and transferrable credits. The Missouri House of Representatives voted to pass a bill which would allow community colleges to grant baccalaureate degrees.

Chancellor Jeff Pittman was involved in creating HB 758, which was introduced by Representative Steve Cookson. The House voted to pass the bill on March 1.

“I think it’s very exciting,” Pittman said. “Missouri would not be the first state, but I think we have some unique programs and we want to develop some programs that are workforce specific.”

The baccalaureate degree would be an applied bachelor’s

What would a martian Colony look like?

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Backstage of ‘Violet’

Florissant Valley

Credit hours required to graduate from Webster University

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Missy Arneson Copy Editor

Sports:

Continued on page 3

NASA has made noise recently about founding a Martian colony, along with Mars One and SpaceX. Rick Menendez, an adjunct physical science professor at STLCC–Meramec and serious amateur astronomer, said he definitely thought this was possible.

Menendez said most of the challenges of having a Martian colony will be technological, but some of them will not be.

“The real problem I see is, aside from technological, part of the issues will be social; getting people together on a two-year trip,” Menendez said. “To get there is about a one-year trip one way, and about a year to get back. So the two-year trip will be a problem.”

Menendez said the colonists will have to be in very close quarters for those trips, which often results in interper-

Forest Park

Wildwood

Meramec

Watching Designing

sonal conflict.

“The closest analogy we have is people who work on submarines,” Menendez said.

“We’ve got these big submarines that carry missiles. These guys are underwater in a very tight, controlled environment for about three months at a time, so we can actually glean a lot from those people.”

a bitbecause cloudya in Missouri, but the motion didItnotis pass simple majority weather is fair. With the temperature hoverwas needed.

Eliminating the requirement from ing around 70 degrees and the wind at a mild boardbreeze, policy does immediately it is not shaping up to beeliminate a beautiful day.

Students and St. Louis Community the requirement fromfaculty specificof programs.

“I feel like a lot of people don’t realize how much affect the lighting and the set and everything has on the rest of the show.”

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 Story on page 3 to the governor’s mansion. Who invited them?

No one. However,Opinion: they do have some things to get off their chests.Andrew Ameer On the heels of budget cuts to higher education in the state of Missouri that some reStudents deserve ports have put at around $168 million dollars, too who are it seems appropriate thatrespect, students currently enrolled in state-funded “A sense of empathycommunity is a must colleges, and who intendwhentodealing transfer with people.to The statefunded universities, mightsamebeis true concerned. when it comes to “To hear that a man teaching whose children will students.” not be affected by this legislation… he doesn’t

Jointhe the team Join team

Olivia Toombs certification they [students] need Story onPittman page 9 to begin with,” said.

Pittman said he believes the Spotlight: Opinions: coordinating board for higher eduMissouriwould is the last accept state to up to cation two proMissouri n.

Ian Schrauth implementfrom a prescription posals thedrugcommunity colmonitoring program lege sector aswhich soon as this coming America’s Drugstore Manager at fast food prevents “doctorwhich shopping” is July 1. fiscal year, restaurants deserve The bill would only allow com“Missouri isspecific ahead in a lot of things nationally, but munity colleges to offer respect in terms of protecting patients, it’s really, really poor baccalaureate programs if those form that that type of monitoring system hasn’t programs did not “unnecessarily been set up and that so many of the protections that Sweating blood on set up have been delayed in comparison to other everyContinued duplicate an existing areprogram” shift, does that on page 2

Continued on page 6

Story on page 9

m BriStaffHeaney Writer Art & Life:

Adjunct professor

Opinion:

Spotlight:

Andrew Ameer

Save your tears for later...not for finals!

has made A democracy starts with The byproduct of processed Jazz his Uranium the primaries Defense shines in afrom the Manhattan Project remains in St. Louis. passion A 28.5 percent voter turnout in the primaries is losingJust effortMoms, an organization dednot the recipe for a strong democracy.

Surviving finals is a struggle all “I’ve played icated to removing the waste The Archers lose 3-0 against more saxophone students face, but Meramec faculty than literally MCC-Blueand River onbased Oct. 15. in Bridgeton, Missouand staff are there to help students how much TV The teamri, needscame to work to the sociology course develop healthy study habits, sleep people watch.”

Social Problems to explain their states.” harder, said Amanda Hughes. schedules and diets as well as Christopher sound like an easy Darci Schmidgall, cause.

Braig offer counseling to help students’ job?

Continued on page 2 Photo by: Bri Heaney Adjunct Professor of Sociology On Thursday, Feb. 9, Just emotional wellbeing.

Story on page 12 Story on page 9 Page 4 Page 5 Story on pages 6 & 7 Page 5 Story on pages 6 & 7 Moms held a meeting at St. Louis Community College— The The Meramec about ongoing issues The Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient with a radioactive landfill in their community.

Bridgeton is a town in St. Louis County that has two landfills — the Bridgeton Landfill and goal,” Ethridge said.

West Lake Landfill. The latter VOLUME 52, ISSUE 7 | THURSDAY DEC. 8, 2016 | www.meramecmontage.com VOLUME 52, ISSUE 11 | THURSDAY MARCH. 9, 2017 | www.meramecmontage.com Marie Schwarz VOLUME 52, ISSUE 10 | THURSDAY FEB. 23, 2017 | www.meramecmontage.com This year, nearly $3700 of the two contains radioactive News: Art & Life: CCAMPIS program go to St. college students fight back when waste resulting frommay St. offer Louis’ baccalaureateManaging STLCC degrees Editor of proceeds will Community aims to keep parents Comedian Aman Ali The community Archerscolleges won 75Louis Children’s Hospital. roleat Meramec in the Manhattan Project.

Missouri House votes to pass bill geared toward in school MO cuts higher education funding Photo by: Erik Muschinske shares his love of The game against the the Comets of Less than 600 feet from that degree, which58 places against more emStephen Buechter Katie Hayes phasis on technical components of the Cottey College on their Comets was not one of site sits BridgetonEditor-in-Chief Landfill, inSean E. Thomas stories with Meramec programs.

Staff Writer two of the proNews editor game dedicated to cancer the Archer’s better games, side of which you will find an Pittman said The Montage is a student-run,written and produced campus newspaper that strives toprogram bringis the community coverage Missouri communitycomprehensive colleges grams STLCC would consider pro- of the news and events affecting the St. Louis Community College at Meramec campus.

The CCAMPIS a It is a bitThe cloudyMontage in Missouri, but the awareness Ethridge said. Defense and SSE more than asso- posing for applied bachelor degree on Saturday, Feb. need-based federal (subterranean grant pro- may soon offer smoldering weather is fair. With the temperature hoverciatethat degreesMontage and transferrable programstake are 18. its seriously, physicalIttherapy gram intended keep or parents that with of professional the world. Thewho roleneed ofeducation atostudent, is totheir produce balanced reporting serving Although ing around 70 degrees and thethe wind at a mild was lastaccurate home and shot selection arewhile areas of as the campus watchdog. event), inone layman’s terms,staffers an internationalstaff withstructure primarymodels outlets Martin newspapers Hinstad, across Desso in school. credits. The Missouri House of assistant program and its deaf breeze, it is shaping up to be a beautiful day. to pass a in game improvement, that program. this season. Two more CCAMPISunderground for Child Care Representatives in the areasnews mostsurrounding deeply affectShuckero, and may Maleeha Ahmad.

Students and faculty of St. Louis Community the campus community not always shed a favorableAccess lightMeansstands onParents the college’sfire image, itvotedissome the rightcommunications and obligation of student journalists to report the truth. she said. “At “[The deaf communications in School, bill which would allow communiCollege, representing both the St. Louis Comgames, and the team claims this point of the season, I the community believe has been ed, which include Ghana, Sierra “Mark Manary is a doctor and has always been called by ty colleges to grant baccalaureate program] takes such a high nummunity College—Meramec and St. Louis ComFor more information visit:from www.meramecmontage.com ber of credit hours to beregional at the that same name. It has existed their title and will go don’t like to see us making burning since degrees.

2010. munity College—Florissant Valley campuses, Leon, and Malawi.

Washington university who Chancellor Jeff Pittman was certification they [students] need for a number of years, at least are on their way to Jefferson City to pay a visit to the regional tournament. the same mistakes that we “So we processed waste With roots that can be traced does some groundbreaking work two, said Claire Martin, Student involved in creating HB 758, which to begin with,” Pittman said. to the governor’s mansion. Who invited them? was introduced by Representative Assistance Program the Manager.Manhattan Thethe team wore pink focus BriinHeaney on every single day from Project, you Pittman said he believes No one. However, they do have some things to back to our city, St. Louis is at the on formulating therapeutic food Martin said that the program Steve Cookson. The House voted coordinating board for higher eduget off their chests.

Staff Writerand then we don’t to pass the bill onthat March 1.would in practice, cation would accept upsocks to two pro- and wristbands. could bewould described ashave a feder- thought center of action in the USA when for everyone from starving chilOn the heels of budget cuts to higher ed“I think it’s very exciting,” Pit- posals from the community colal grant that the school offers ucation in the state of Missouri that some reof processed The putTheitbyproduct to work coming game have been andwouldallnot bethe it comes to this charity, with Dr. dren to pregnant and nursing tman said. “Missouri lege sector as soon as this coming cancer awareness to students with children to help Nevada ports have put at around $168 million dollars, Uranium from the Manhattan but I think we have fiscal year, which is July 1. is very special to Coach those students pay for Southwest, childcare the first state, game time.” places and Hanford, Mark Manary spearheading the women,” Meramec student Kyle it seems appropriate that students who are Project remains in St. Louis.

The bill would only allow comservices while they are taking some unique programs and we currently enrolled in state-funded community Just Moms, an organization dedShelly Ethridge.

However, the team was theprovides Savannah and project here.

Luzynski said. want to developRiver, some programs munity colleges to offer specific classes. and The program colleges, and who intend to transfer to stateicated to removing the waste that are workforce specific.” baccalaureate programs if those monetaryRocky support ifFlats parents and Manary’s wife also works Manary worked to develop a “It’s a horrible disease inandthe inMissouevery quarter all those horrifunded universities, might be concerned. based inlead Bridgeton, “It’s not so much about The baccalaureate degree programs did not “unnecessarily place their children in a childcare “To hear that a man whose children will ri, came to the sociology course wouldbelieve be an applieditbachelor’s withpreaching him here duplicate an existing Continuedwe on page 2can played. program ble that is licensed and ac- but andprogram” anything that places, or not Continued on page 3 religion,init’sSt. Louis along not be affected by this legislation… he doesn’t Social Problems to explain their credited by the state. Martin said do to help find a cure is the cause. about living your life.”

Continued on page 2 that the we amount started of money given it here,” said Dawn by: Bri Heaney Photo by: Dalila Kahvedzic On Thursday, Feb. 9, Just Continued onPhoto page 8 “takes into consideration the in- co-founder of Just Chapman, Story on page 2 Moms held a meeting at St. come of the person who applies, Louis Community College— Moms. how many children they have, Sports: Meramec about ongoing issues Cancer Awareness Game raises $3,700 for the type of classes that they’re The authorities surroundwith a radioactive landfill in their Women’s Basketball taking, the amount of time that Photo by: Haeferl / Wikimedia Commons community.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital they would need the to study.” ing landfill have provided no Bridgeton is a town in St. Martin further said the Ashley Biundo Refugee solidarity demonstration, “Gleiche Rechte für alle,” in Vienna in 2013. The demo was fighting for same Louis County that has two landCCAMPISanswers. program “can be comrights for everyone. fills — the Bridgeton Landfill and bined with state child so Staff Writer “I care… just wanted to point goal,” Ethridge said.

West Lake Landfill. The latter that provides them with even Marie Schwarz This year, nearly $3700 of the two contains radioactive something more money to pay for child- out today. I was ‘Diversity as a strength’ Managing Editor of proceeds will go to St. On Feb. 15-19, the Cardinals center fielder waste resulting from St. Louis’ care… They don’t have to use evdriving behind a truck today The Archers won 75- Louis Children’s Hospital. role in the Manhattan Project. erything at once. The one thing St. Louis Community ColPhoto by: Erik Muschinske Meramec’s 58 against the Comets of The game against the Less than 600 feet from that that we and always remind them is‘Keep back 500 feet’ it said Dexter Fowler International spoke Education week focuses on lege—Meramec Theatre the Cottey College on their Comets was not one of site sits Bridgeton Landfill, inthat it’s use it or lose it, so they acceptance of refugees into St. Louis society and the of that really hit game dedicated to cancer the Archer’s better games, side of which you will find an cannot carry it over to thegravity next Peanut Butter Project saves 750 thousand lives put on a show called “Dog out against President awareness on Saturday, Feb. Ethridge said. Defense and SSE (subterranean smoldering semester.me.

They have to apply That I’m supposed to keep 18. It was their last home shot selection are areas of God: Confessions of a the United Nations designating these to be acts of genocide. event), or in layman’s terms, an each semester.”

Sees international with primary outlets with Martin Hinstad, Desso E. Thomas Srebrenica a stated distance a “safe area.” This The exposure to atrocities game this season. Two more improvement, she said. “At Martin that while of 500Brifeet underground fire that some in Heaney from inathe areas most deeply affect- Shuckero, and Maleeha Ahmad.

Trump’s Sean immigration Teenage Blockhead.” It was Staff Writer results in the murder of 8,000 such as these is where the difstate funding for programs simigames, and the team claims this point of the season, I the community believe has been ed, which include Ghana, Sierra “Mark Manary is a doctor truck, yet we haveStaffaWriter fire burnBosnian Muslims, primarily ferences between “immigrant” lar to CCAMPIS has dropped on a their regional title and will go don’t like to see us about making burning since 2010.

Leon, and Malawi. from Washington university who the high school lives

The Montage is currently taking applications for editor positions for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Editor in Chief Managing Editor News Editor

Opinions Editor In-Depth Editor Art & life Editor

Sports Editor Copy Editor Cancer Awareness Game raises $3,700 for Graphics EditorChildren’s Hospital Online Editor St. Louis Photo Editor Multimedia Editor m

Montage Montage Montage

‘Keep back All ensembles hold a seat/part assignment hearing during the first rehearsal.

APPLY TODAY in SC-220A or Contact Shannon Philpott (sphilpott@stlcc.edu) for more information 500 feet’ Members of the Concert Choir may audition for the Chamber Singers m m m Peanut Butter Project saves 750 thousand lives and/or the Voices of Magic jazz choir.

Baccalaureate

m BriStaffHeaney Writer

The charity focus of the year at St. Louis Community College Meramec is Project Peanut Butter.

Project Peanut Butter is a charity that is focused on putting an end to the leading cause of child mortality in the world: malnutrition.

The scope of the program is

For more information, contact the Meramec Music Department Gary Gackstatter, Director of Instrumental Music, ggackstatter@stlcc.edu, (314) 984-7636 Midterm Fuel Dr. Jerry Myers, Director of Choral Activities & Music Theory, gmyers34@stlcc.edu, (314) 984-7638 Continued on page 3

Midterms usually mean a lot of studying, often in a coffee shop with a good brew and free wifi. Here

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0 Community college students fight back when ‘Keep back MO cuts higher education funding ‘One grand experiment’ 500 feet’ Although three out of four STLCC campuses E. Thomas m tied on the voteSean to eliminate the Physical mrequirement News editor Education from board policy, the

Baccalaureate Investigating Questioning Programs at Missouri community colleges

Mens soccer team triumphs 3-1 against Crowder College Roughriders. Region XVI Final showed continued dominance of the team.

What Benefits does Mars have VOLUME 52, ISSUE that Earth doesn’t?

Missouri House votes to pass bill geared toward community colleges Katie Hayes Editor-in-Chief

Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 8 7 7

Can we actually colonize Mars?

Credit hours accepted by Webster University for students with an associate degree from STLCC

STLCC may offer baccalaureate degrees

Background: ITT Technical Institute is no longer a college, said Johnson, who worked for ITT Tech prior to STLCC. “They closed their doors after there was a ruling with the federal government where they were no longer [able to] grant students federal funding to be able to attend school there,” Johnson said.

“When all that happened, all the students were kind of left in the dark right before they were supposed to go back to school.”

Johnson said the students were told less than a week before the semester should have started that the school was closed.

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Programs at Missouri community colleges

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Opinions | 7

4 4, 2017 May

Kim Jong Un plays “Chicken” with Donald Trump Inside the mind of the nation’s first president with no military or political background

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Andrew Ameer Staff Writer

The prospect of President Donald Trump engaged in a confrontational show of force with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a troubling one.

Trump was elected to the office of President of the United States with no military or political experience — a first for the nation.

During his first 100 days in office, Trump has already shown a propensity to use force to solve world issues. I am speaking of course about the 59 cruise missiles fired into a Syrian airbase in response to gas chemical weapons used on civilians there. This doesn’t even mention the dropping of the “Mother Of All Bombs” against ISIS forces in Afghanistan, which is the largest conventional (non-nuclear) weapon in the United States Military’s arsenal.

I would also point out the multiple, thus far unsuccessful, attempts at banning entire popu-

lations from certain countries from entering the United States as a defense against terrorist infiltrators.

To me, seems like the proverbial using a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

This “sledgehammer to kill a fly” approach is becoming a theme for the Trump administration.

All this has happened in just a few short months in office. Now, as tensions rise in the Korean Peninsula, I wonder how President Trump will respond to this crisis.

The North Korean leader does not seem eager to back down — on the contrary, the nation continues to escalate the situation — and is performing new military drills and executing new missile tests.

So far, it seems that yet again the president will respond with force. Trump says he ordered an “armada” of U.S. forces to the Korean region — including a nuclear powered submarine, soon to be joined by an aircraft carrier strike group and two Japanese destroyers. Reports have it that Japan is preparing contingency plans for waves of refugees from South Korea should fighting break out.

The U.S. has always remained ready to defend our ally South Korea in the event of fresh conflict breaking out on the peninsula. What is different today is the unique clash of personalities that exists between two of these con-

Graphic by: Jordan Morris flicting nations — Donald Trump in the U.S. and Kim Jong Un in North Korea.

Neither leader likes to lose.

Neither leader likes to back down.

Both like to act unpredictably. So when the nuclear issue is raised, the question is, how will Trump react?

I believe Trump is capable of a diplomatic victory in Korea. He pressured China to act on the Korean issue, which is a good move

and if successful should yield positive results. Trump himself has always said that he would not take the nuclear card off the table.

He has said he would be the last person to “push the button.”

My feeling is that if anyone is going to “push the button” since Harry Truman did at the end of WWII, it would be Donald J. Trump. But, for the sake of millions upon millions of innocent people, I hope this never happens.

Letters to the editor Distracted, but not worthless Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a daily struggle. From not being able to focus on the simplest tasks to forgetting about assignments and appointments, having ADHD can be very discouraging. The three defining symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Some people struggle with all three, while some only struggle with one or two. Basically, ADHD is different for everyone who has it.

There are many negative stigma against people with ADHD. Because of these stigma, a lot of people are afraid to tell others about their ADHD. This lack of communication has caused many people to believe that ADHD is not a real disorder, or it is not a real problem for those who have it. I can personally tell you this is not the case. I was diagnosed with ADHD in the third grade and have been struggling with it ever since. Like many people with ADHD, my symptoms have continued into my adult life.

I am where I am today because of the support and care of those around me. However, many people with ADHD are suffering, and they are doing so in silence.

I have encountered numerous people who want to help, but they have no idea where to start. Many instructors may not be aware there are simple steps to help their students with ADHD. People with ADHD often struggle with inattention, meaning they can’t stay focused on one thing for long periods of time. When teaching someone with ADHD it’s helpful to break the information up into manageable

chunks. Instead of giving them all the steps to an assignment at once, give them one or two steps at a time and then coming back to check on their progress.

Big projects can become overwhelming very quickly, and breaking it down makes it seem more doable.

I find adding visuals to a lesson can help keep students engaged. The easiest thing for someone with ADHD to do when looking at a board full of words is to zone out. It has nothing to do with their ability or desire to learn. If the lesson is interesting and engaging it is much easier to focus.

Sitting for hours at a time for someone with ADHD is very difficult. A short break in the middle of class can help those who struggle with hyperactivity to give them a chance to refocus.

Another problem many people with ADHD struggle with is forgetting things like assignments or appointments. One thing you can do is follow up oral conversations with emails, so the person has a written copy as well.

The important thing to remember is everyone learns differently. While these will work for some people, they will not work for everyone.

Ask the student if there is any way you can help them, and maybe suggest a few things to give them ideas. Chances are they know how they learn best. By doing these simple things you can help someone with ADHD reach their full potential.

-Hannah Jones, student

Questionable Violation In my opinion, STLCC did not violate the Sunshine Law (Chapter 610 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri) as the only obligations placed upon the governmental or quasi-governmental entity are to appoint a custodian of records, provide records (public and closed) to the custodian of records, and provide the identity and location of said custodian upon request.

As the Montage submitted a request directly to the HR department instead of requesting the identity and location of the custodian of records, the HR department had no legal obligation under the Sunshine Law to respond in the manner laid out by the Sunshine Law for the responses from the custodian of records.

That being said, the HR department should have given the Montage the contact information for the custodian of records instead of the response the Montage received from HR which only said that the HR department will not be providing the requested documents (which does not violate the Sunshine Law). In addition to that, the fact that not one but two lawyers have said that STLCC did violate the Sunshine Law may mean there is some legal precedent that I’m unaware of and have been unable to find, but based on my reading of the law their responses are a bit aggressive towards STLCC.

-Ethan Arneson, student

Sports | 8

May 4, 2017

Lady Archer receives AllAmerican accolade

Photo by: Dalila Kahvedzic Photo by: Amanda Harris

The Special Olympics Missouri dance team shows off their routine for the crowd.

Read the Chris Wilson Profile on The Montage Website: www.meramecmontage.com

Special Olympics stays on track despite rain Continued from p. 1 the gym, including wheelchair races, assisted walk, relay races and sprints. Athletes of a variety of ages and capabilities participated in the games.

“That’s the thing about the Special Olympics — there’s something for everyone!” said Lisa, a volunteer who has been working with Special Olympics Missouri for over 15 years. Dozens of representatives from several area police

departments were at the event to award medals to athletes, including officers from Saint Louis City, Saint Louis County, Wildwood, Maryland Heights, O’Fallon, Creve Coeur and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Sgt. Mark Koeller with the Saint Louis County police department was the coordinator for law enforcement presence at the event, and says he typically has no problems getting officers to volunteer for events like this.

“It’s great for the officers, it

gets them some volunteer time, and the athletes love them.” He says he has been involved with Special Olympics for 17 years.

While the games went on in the gymnasium, athletes and volunteers were entertained by a live band as they ate lunch in the cafeteria. Free health screenings took place in the student center to help assess fitness and nutrition levels for athletes.

Amber Young, who plans and organizes events for Special Olym-

pics athletes and volunteers in the St. Louis area says that generally about 400 athletes register for the spring games event, and about 700 volunteers are required to pull it off since every athlete buddies up with a volunteer.

Young says that even though they would have loved to do more despite the rain, “overall I think our mission was accomplished; we had a great event and built the self-confidence and courage [of] our athletes.”

Lady Archers beat Lady Patriots at last home game Women’s softball team ends regular season with 35-8 record

m

DJ McGuire Sports Editor

On Tuesday April 25, the Lady Archers faced the Morthland College Lady Patriots in a doubleheader. The Lady Archers ended up winning both games sweeping the

Photo by: Erik Muschinske Shekinah Griffith bunts the ball in a victory over Morthland College.

Lady Patriots. The first game ended in seven innings with a 7-1 outcome. The second game ended in five innings with the Lady Archers winning 8-0.

These games were also significant as they were the last regular season home games for the Lady Archers. In between the games the team recognized the two sophomores, No. 7 infielder Liz Miller and No. 11 outfielder Madison Sundling. Head Coach Kristi Swiderski praised both of her players heavily during the short ceremony.

In the first game, the starting pitcher for the Lady Archers was No. 2 freshman Kyla Blankenship. The Lady Patriots struck first scoring one run in the first inning.

Swiderski admitted that Blankenship usually starts a little slow when she pitches.

“A little slow out of the gate; with this pitcher we typically take a little bit before we get on our game,” Swiderski said.

The Archers then struck back as No. 8 freshman catcher Haley Fisher drove in Miller to tie the game at one run a piece. The lead could have been greater throughout the game but baserunning errors cost the Lady Archers some potential runs.

“Our girls are very aggressive … a lot of times they are too aggressive for their own good,” Swid-

erski said. “That has been a challenge for us from the beginning as trying to reign them in and we constantly have to remind them to make sure they stay within their ability.”

After Blankenship’s early struggles she dominated the rest of the game only giving up two hits, pitching seven innings, walking one batter and striking out six Lady Patriot batters.

“I don’t worry about Kyla, she’s a workhorse,” Swiderski said.

“She does what she’s supposed to do. If she takes a couple innings to get going, I know our defense will have our back, but if I was a betting woman, I would bet on Kyla every time.”

The offense in the later portion of the game came alive for the Lady Archers as they scored two runs in fourth, one in the fifth and three in the sixth inning.

“I think we are really strong hitting together cause when we get the ball rolling, we get the ball rolling and once the domino effect hits we just keep hitting and hitting,” Blankenship said.

One particular highlight of the game was a defensive sliding catch

by Sundling.

“I saw the ball come in and I wasn’t sure whether it was fair or foul, so I just kinda went for it and the next thing I knew it was in my

glove,” Sundling said.

Swiderski also knows how her team can string hits together.

“I never count the girls out, they have come back and scored eight, nine, ten runs in an inning,” Swiderski said.

The final score of the game was 7-1 in favor of the Lady Archers.

The Lady Archers now look forward to the postseason after finishing the season with a 35-8 record. Swiderski said a huge blow in midseason is what led the team to their great record.

“We have been a team of workers; their work ethic is incredible,” Swiderski said. “I think we were inspired halfway through the season when Cassidy Terrill was in a car accident, that shook the team up and gave us a new passion and focus towards the game.”

The team also seems very excited and ready for the postseason, according to Sundling.

“I think we are really ready and our record reflects that,” Sundling said. “The attitudes are staying up and the wins today helped us to get some motivation.”

Swiderski also believes her team is ready for the playoffs.

“Yes without a doubt, I definitely think we are peaking at the right time, I think we’ve won nine straight games,” Swiderski said.