The Montage

Volume 54, Issue 11

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March 14, 2019

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www.meramecmontage.com

women’s history: more than a month

Students and faculty discuss topics ranging from feminist stereotypes, to why one month isn’t sufficient enough for change.

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LAUREN JOHNS ART & LIFE

Graphics by Gina Carr and Mikki Philippe

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2 NEWS March 14, 2019

A living wage for STLCC teachers Good faith negotiations take place between administration and adjunct faculty BRI HEANEY NEWS EDITOR

As Saint Louis approaches spring time, leaves are beginning to bud, the ground is getting grassy, and the Saint Louis Adjunct Professors Union is reopening a clause in their first ever collective bargaining agreement.

In 2018, the Service Employees International Union - Local 1 was established with the ability to to gain a collective bargaining agreement contract.

This established, across all of STLCC, a concurrent standard for both working conditions and compensation. One year into their two-year contract, SEIULocal 1 is able to reopen an item in their contract for renegotiation: Money. SEIULocal 1- Meramec’s Social Coordinator Kat Fossell was part of the primary labor organization in 2018 and will be part of the wage reopener conversation with STLCC. “We want to get a raise that is in line with the school’s budget,” said Fossell.

The union members cannot get a pay decrease with the reopening of contract, however they also cannot use any form of

activism to leverage a raise.

“It will be more difficult to get a pay raise during this wage reopener over next year when our entire contract is up, because then we will be able to take direct action” Says Fossell.

Dennis McDonald has been teaching History at the Wildwood Campus of STLCC for two years, and is a member

“If we are teaching 60 percent of a full time schedule we certainly are not getting full time pay,” Dennis McDonald, Adjunct Faculty of the union. In an interview with the “Washington Post,” McDonald disclosed that he made $1,600 per class, a raise in pay that the union had secured. While working at Wildwood, he also teaches classes at Jefferson Community College, and delivers pizzas on the side. As an

EDITORS

Tyra Leesman Oliver Pulcher Bri Heaney Lauren Johns Mary Wilson Ashley Biundo Gina Carr Syed Ali Mikki Philippe

STLCC professor, he lives in subsidized housing and receives food stamps, according to the Washington Post.

“We understand we are not full time professors, but if we are teaching 60 percent of a full time schedule we certainly are not getting full time pay,” says McDonald.

“There have been committees that

Editor-in-Chief Online Editor News Editor Art & Life Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Graphics Editor Photo Editor Production Editor

I have been offered to sit on but can’t because I have three other jobs, and that is the kind of things that the school is missing out on. We want to do those things, but most adjunct professors just don’t have the time,” says McDonald.

A 2014 Congressional Report on the

STAFF

Charlie Humphrey Sabrina Kraus Concilia Ndlovu Jacob Politte Tania Robin Tori Williams Braden Hagberg Noah Porter Schneider

Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Photographer Staff Photographer

working conditions of contingent faculty in higher education states that over 70 percent of teachers are teaching two or less classes at one single institution, and that almost adjuncts are teaching at two or more colleges. Some adjuncts are forced to move continuously between colleges within a single day to have enough of a class load to support themselves.

“You see all the same people at all campuses,” says McDonald, “This just feeds back into the importance of being unionized.”

Since 1975, the number of full time tenure track professors has been on the decrease while part time adjunct faculty have been on the rise, according to the 2014 congressional report.

“While the idea that there being more of us [adjuncts] will give us [adjuncts] more bargaining power is true, but at the same time it undermines the classic professionalism of what a college professor does and, puts that on part time employees,” said McDonald.

It’s a bigger picture goal than just more cash in their pockets, said both Fossil and McDonald.

“It’s not just about the money, it’s about the amount of time you’re able to commit to the work and the students,” says McDonald.

With a self-declared flare for organizing people and a love for education, Fossell said that not only does she plan to fight for fair compensation, but to continue to take steps toward making higher education better. However, without fair compensation, it’s hard for the educational system to flourish, said Fossell. She encourages other adjucts to join her and to seek out their piece of the pie. She also encourages those who care about higher education to take interest in what the union seeks to accomplish.

“You have to treat your teachers fairly; all the money and benefits can’t go to the administrative side, because your teachers are the ones connected to the students. Your teachers are the ones making sure students are getting something out of their experience,” said Fossel.

Graphic by Gina Carr

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NEWS 3 March 14, 2019

Women’s History: More Than a Month Students and faculty set the stage for a month-long celebration LAUREN JOHNS ART & LIFE EDITOR Women’s Club set the stage for the month by working with their advisor, Amanda White, to organize various events all centered around honoring women.

“We had an open table discussion with her and other members,” Said Kyra Pearson, club president. “Our first idea was to have a feminist cafe every Wednesday of each month and put this year’s theme into consideration, which is non-violence.”

More than one in three women are victims of domestic violence at some point in there lives.

“We discuss topics that are meaningful to us and welcome anyone. During our last cafe, we are going to write letters to our legislature as a form of peaceful protesting. We are having a panel about anti-violence as well,” Said Pearson In addition to the cafe events, Women’s Club is also hosting a film series that focuses on past conflict that is still prevalent today, as well as teaming up with the Diversity Committee for their Clothesline project that occurs yearly.

“Women’s history is important just like any other history,” said Pearson. “We need to know our roots to know how far we’ve come and how far we still need to go. Certain issues aren’t tackled enough in common media or news outlets, so it’s nice to have this club to shine a spotlight on it all.”

According to Maxine Beach, English

Professor, women’s history would become obsolete without a month devoted to it, but at the same time, a month tends to be lackluster.

“I do have a problem with this: while I think we need months like these, it’s only a month. It’s hard to keep the conversation going year round.”

As a means of solving this lack of consistency, Pearson believes people need to be more open-minded to keep a good dialogue going. Ignorance is due to a lack of insight on all sides of the story says Pearson.

“We need to stray away from the belief that feminist movements are too extreme,” said Pearson. “It’s meant to celebrate women, but that never excludes men. We don’t need to change your mind but we do want to help you appreciate it more.”

In relation, Beach considers herself to be a feminist, despite all the inflammation of the media and various prejudices she says.

“My sister says she doesn’t like feminists and yet her daughter is one, I’m one,” said Beach.

“She’s been a working professional her entire life, she just has the wrong idea about what feminism is.” Said Beach “Feminists believe in women working, their equal pay and access to birth control, among other things. You can’t support these things and then claim to be anti-feminist.”

According to Beach, feminism is not an Amazonian takeover of men.

Feminism is the betterment of women’s lives and giving women options.

“It’s all about equal access,” said Beach. “Recently, the court passed a law allowing for women to fight in combat.

The true equality comes from us being required to sign up for the draft, same as men, no special circumstances. Soon enough, we’ll gain more power in the courts and men will except it, even embrace it.”

Pertaining to the movement, Beach recounts various activists who have inspired her the most. It’s important for women to have female role models.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Courts, got there by being brilliant,” said Beach. “She didn’t fight because she was a women, she fought because it’s what she wanted to do. The artist Frida Kahlo was a real gender bender. She did her own thing regardless of the men against her, making a name for herself on her own terms.”

According to Pearson, it’s important for young women to have someone of color to look up to, especially those representing big jobs in government.

Pearson idolizes activists like Malala Yousafzai and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

“Malala’s story is one of the documentaries in the film series,” said Pearson. “She fought for women in Pakistan and their rights to equal

STLCC Announces Suspected Case of Whooping Cough at Meramec On March 10, STLCC administration sent an email warning all faculty, staff and students that a suspected case of Whooping Cough was reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the St. ouis County Department of Public Health, as required by law.

The college learned that a person with a suspected case of whooping cough was on the Meramec campus March 5, according to the release. No confirmed cases have been reported by medical personnel in St. Louis County or St. Charles County.

According to the release, due to the lack of a confirmed diagnosis, the college is not required to take any precautionary action. In the event a case is confirmed, STLCC may be directed to take specific measures to protect the college community. education. The fact that she was only a teen at the time, proves you are never too young to make a difference.

Alexandria is a hispanic congresswoman for Bronx and Queens. She fought hard on the Cavanaugh case and alongside the MeToo movement.”

Both Paerson and Beach recognize that women’s rights has a long way to go, however remain hopeful for the future of women.

“Maybe one day we won’t need a specific month to celebrate women,” said Beach.

The future of reproductive health in Missouri Missouri Representative Deb Lavender of District 90 (D) weighs in MARY WILSON OPINIONS EDITOR

Graphic by Mikki Philippe

Forty-six years after Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that made abortion a Constitutional right, became law the Missouri legislature is considering an almost total ban on abortion.

“The bill that passed the House Floor last week would effectively ban abortion in the State of Missouri, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v.

Wade,” said Missouri Representative, Deb Lavender of District 90 (D). Lavender said that the bill does not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

There are already restrictions on abortion in Missouri, including a woman must receive “state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion, and then wait 72 hours before the procedure is provided,” according to the Guttmacher Institute

website. The Guttmacher Institute is a “leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States and globally.”

The website also notes that “private insurance policies cover abortion only in cases of life endangerment, unless individuals purchase an optional rider at an additional cost.”

The Institute reports that nearly “one in four women in the United States (23.7 percent) will have an abortion by age 45.”

“I think the reason for the bill is quite simple,” Missouri senator Andrew Koenig said.

“We know that life exists in the womb. You can see life, the heartbeat itself speaks to the science behind it. If someone’s unconscious, the first thing we do is check for a heartbeat.”

Koenig, a Republican, was a sponsor of one of two anti-abortion bills that were merged into one bill on the House Floor.

“I think that we should have a culture of life, and that life should be held up as precious, and I believe in liberty, but my liberty stops when you’re getting ready to harm someone else,” said Koenig.

Lavender said Missouri citizens need to know “that a woman’s right to choose has been under attack in Missouri for the last many years, and last week the Republican majority on the house floor, chose to disregard a woman’s life in the

moment of fertilization.”

In 2014, 49 percent of women who had abortions were below the federal poverty level, while 26 percent of women who had abortions were above the federal poverty level, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

“They have no problem that kids are dying from lax gun laws.” Said Levander.

Saint Louis Public Radio reported that in 2017, 1,307 “Missourians died from gunshot wounds.”

In Missouri, there are 28.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, putting the state’s ranking at 42nd in the country in **.

“Why are we not expanding medicaid? Why are we not fighting and working as hard to reduce infant mortality and maternal mortality as we’re fighting to make sure that a fertilized egg is protected?” said Representative Lavender.

The supporters of the bill are expecting resistance from those opposing the bill says Koenig.

“I’m sure there will be backlash from the left,” Koenig The loss of life will happen regardless of the legality of abortion says Lavender.

“The level of rhetoric has gotten to the level of hatred,” Said Levender “that is going to explode in loss of life, whether it’s at an abortion facility, an abortion clinic, or in the streets.”

4 ART & LIFE

March 14, 2019

Defying Gender Stereotypes Dr. Shamin Ansari, English professor, incorporates LGBTQ literature in each of her classes, spearheading a discussion on what gender really means LAUREN JOHNS ART & LIFE EDITOR Dr. Ansari was born in India but immigrated to Germany at 20 for her bachelor’s and master’s in English. From there, she landed in the United States, receiving her doctorate in English at the University of Denver in Colorado.

“I’m half German, half Asian Indian.

I speak German, Hindi, Urdu and English,” said Ansari. “I have a brother, two sisters and a few aunts and uncles that all live in Germany with my mother.

My dad remains in India.”

Growing up in India, Ansari’s mother was Christian and her dad was a Muslim.

Despite this, religion was a scarcity in their household. They never attended church or learned to pray. Even without the structure of religion, Indian society abides by a patriarchal system, she said.

“When I was a teenager, my parents seperated and my dad had to assume both gender roles to support my siblings and I,” said Ansari. “He had a very authoritative manner. As a girl in India, I couldn’t interact with boys and I couldn’t leave my house without supervision.

I attended school but I lived a very domesticated life.”

Outside of school, her favorite pastime involved reading and later, dancing. Two of her favorite authors were Victor Hugo and Simone de Beauvoir who both wrote extensively about gender roles and how one come into them.

“I can recall loving a novel called ‘The Second Sex,’ by Simone de Beauvoir, a french author,” said Ansari. “It shaped my understanding of gender today. ‘You are not born a woman, you are made a woman.’”

Her love for international literature

has remained steadfast.

“Today, I have so many Indian books at home that I’ll bet I have more in my house than [than there are] anywhere else in Saint Louis,” said Ansari.

When she was working toward her doctorate degree, she had to select the author by which she felt most empowered. She zoned in on Willa Cather for her expressive depictions of westward expansion and gender manifestations in ‘O Pioneers.’

“This is one of the required texts for my Women’s Studies online class,” said Ansari.

“She creates strong, independent female characters, almost masculine.

They are all on the front lines of the action.

She also paints a beautiful picture of the West. I love nature. If anyone asked me which God I believed in, I’d say, ‘nature is my god.’ It explains how we are the

way we are.”

Pertaining to nature, Ansari said she aspires to visit every national and state park in America.

“Out of the three [continents with countries where I reside], the United States is the most advanced with the gender movement,” said Ansari. “In particular, I’ve encouraged transgender students and anyone else who defies the norm to write and speak about their experiences. It’s imperative that educators know how to teach and understand gender variant students.

I’m driven to gain competency.”

In her English Composition classes, she requires literature that pertains to gender studies, alongside the regular text.

They read “Composing Gender” by Rachael Groner and John F. O’

Hara.

“To sum it up: this book argues that gender is not binary. Gender is instead constructed within a culture and based on society’s terms,” said Ansari. “For instance, boys like the color blue and girls like pink. Boys and girls can only play with their respective toys. Overall, boys cannot do what girls do and vice versa.”

In addition, Ansari also requests that her students read the graphic memoir, “Fun Home,” by Alison Bechdel (now a popular Broadway Musical). The book goes into depth about a young girl’s relationship to her gay father while she discovers her own sexuality.

Ansari even discusses this gender variation concept with her family. In particular, her mother, whom she visits yearly.

“I’ve never brought up the concept with my dad; I don’t see him as often,” said Ansari. “But my mother and siblings are very tolerant and welcoming toward this topic, especially since we have a few homosexual family members: an aunt and a nephew.”

Her patience and welcoming nature has a positive correlation to her students and their success rates, said Meramec Student Amelia Humphrey.

“She’s honestly one of the kindest professors out there,” said Humphrey, a sophomore. “I was going through a really hard time a few weeks ago due to personal reasons and she was the only one who gave me extra time and worked with me through my troubles. She even corrected my essays so I could do better.”

Photo by Syed Ali

Ceramicists give back How Students in the Clay Club are Molding Meramec’s campus OLIVER PULCHER ONLINE EDITOR

Members of the Clay Club discuss new ideas and techniques to use on their projects.The club meets every Wednesday at 2 pm.

Clay Club, which started before Jim Ibur’s time on campus 15 years ago, is a club based around his ceramics class. Professor Ibur teaches at Meramec.

“Clay Club exists to do things beyond the curriculum, this includes things such as museum visits, visiting artists, and scholarships,” said Professor Ibur. “The club also shows that art is not just an aesthetic endeavor, but it can also be used for social justice and world betterment.”

Clay Club hosts multiple events

throughout the semester with the most recent being the “Love In A Cup” Valentine’s Day sale.

For the event, Clay Club members took personal, handmade mugs from their collections and wrapped them, inserting a hot chocolate packet inside.

All proceeds from the event went to the Brown Bag Cafe on Meramec’s campus.

Other prevalent events for Clay Club include the Empty Bowls Project, where clay club students make bowls for a community luncheon for everyone in the community. Everyone who participates gets a free bowl and a free meal, and all proceeds from the event go to the Brown Bag Cafe.

Other events include the holiday pottery sale and the two semester sales.

Lauren Sparks, the President of Clay Club said, “May 8th and 9th is our spring sale. The sale is really important to us because we do two sales and we

donate our pieces to the sale and all proceeds go to the Brown Bag Cafe. We do all make the things and donate our pieces and I don’t think people realize how much time that takes.”

The Clay Club has a charitable element to it as the proceeds from some events also go towards scholarships for students, other charities, and back to the community.

The only requirements for joining Clay Club are that you have to be a student currently enrolled in a Ceramics class at Meramec. However, according to Professor Ibur, the club itself is fairly freeform as students can set the agendas for meetings and elect to host many different events outside the standard scheduled events.

For more information about joining the Clay Club, contact Professor Ibur at jibur@stlcc.edu.

Photo by Noah Porter Schneider

ART & LIFE 5 March 14, 2019

What are your Spring Break plans?

TYRA LEESMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & SYED ALI PHOTO EDITOR

Austin Allison “I would love to just see a lot of concerts. I listen to a pretty good variety [of music], but probably a rock show.”

Morgan Spencer “Celebrating my 17th [birthday]! Hanging out with some friends. We’ll probably just sit around and have fun.”

Graphic by Gina Carr

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OPINIONS 7 March 14, 2019

Jake’s Take: You can’t go home again When it comes to the shows we watch on TV each week, how much nostalgia is too much?

JACOB POLITTE STAFF WRITER Perhaps now, more than ever before, the entertainment industry is relying heavily on nostalgia to turn a profit, particularly when it comes to television.

In the last few years alone on the small screen, we’ve seen numerous shows from years-gone-by that I personally have enjoyed, which have been revived in some capacity: The “X-Files”; “Twin Peaks”; “Murphy Brown” and “Roseanne,” just to name a few.

For some of these shows, the critical reception has been positive. In particular, I thought David Lynch’s revival of “Twin Peaks” (subtitled “The Return”) that aired over the summer of 2017 was some of the best and most thought-provoking television that has aired this century.

“The Return” was a commentary on many things. One of those things was the topic of nostalgia.

Talking about “Twin Peaks” is hard, as there is a lot to unpack. Specifically, the passage of time is a big part of the plot of “The Return.”

The show came back after over 25 years off the air, and the characters and story had aged in real time. Many of the characters from the show original run

Graphic by Mikki Philippe

returned, far older but seemingly still stuck in place from where things left off when the show ended.

Toward the end of “The Return,” a long deceased character that the show revolved around, Laura Palmer, is resurrected via time-traveling shennaigns. Laura Palmer’s death was horrific and her life was tragic, but she was at peace when it ended. Her resurrection, while an emotional moment, completely undoes the fabric of the show. It changes everything, but not necessarily for the better.

The show’s final scene reinforces this perspective. Palmer lives, but as a result, she must relive her trauma. The saga of

Twin Peaks doesn’t have a happy ending and the saga of Laura Palmer doesn’t either.

Lynch’s work in 2017 completely defied audience expectations, and his ending for “Twin Peaks,” among other things, makes sure to convey that no matter how hard you try, you can never truly go home again.

“The Return” is a commentary on nostalgia, and the dangers of reliving the past. And while “The Return” is fantastic television, it also made a solid case for never returning.

Despite this, the string of reboots and revivals continues. In some cases, it’s not for the best. “The X-Files” was arguably

one of the greatest shows on television, but came back to mixed reviews and ended unremarkably, forever damaging the show’s legacy.

The revival of “Roseanne” was highly anticipated, but interest soon waned and the show crashed and burned when its lead actress got herself into hot water with her online antics; even still, a spinoff was commissioned featuring the rest of the cast. There is plenty of good, exciting and new content on television. But far too often, networks are returning to the past instead of having faith in the future.

Sometimes, it’s better not to live in the past. You can only tell the same story so many times.

Self defense: A strip mall undertaking or a necessary precaution?

OLIVER PULCHER ONLINE EDITOR We have all heard the stories haven’t we? Whether in films like Karate Kid or through our own experiences, we all know the tale of the scrappy loner kid who somehow stumbles upon a martial artist willing to teach him or her martial arts in order to fight back against their neighborhood bullies.

This concept of becoming stronger and more able to defend ourselves is not to us. In fact most of us, at some point in our lives, have likely sought out those strip mall dojos, promising to help us stick with our training, only to have us drop out of lessons within a few months as our young minds wander to the next best thing to come along.

However, is this concept and commonly shared tale really so without worth that we can just as easily forget it and never use it again in our lives? Or is it really something that has become a necessity in today’s world?

Throughout my life, though really in the past five years or so, self defense has become an important part of my survival in a world of toxic masculinity and “dudebro” culture. I have learned the hard way, time and time again, that no matter how many people may be bystanders in a bathroom I enter, my personal safety is not always a guarantee.

I am fortunate in the fact that my ability to fight dirty in order to escape quickly has kept me this safe for this long.

However, I did recently attend an Aikido workshop, upon being urged by one of

my friends to do so. And in that workshop I did learn some very important and helpful tips that have stood to help me during recent encounters.

In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need violence as a means of protecting ourselves and those that we love.

However, this is not an ideal world. And while not everyone on the street is attempting to harm you, there are those out there who would wish to harm us.

And speaking from having experience with many of these such people, it is my argument that self defense is a necessity in today’s world. However you decide to study, whether in a martial arts program, or in basic effective self defense maneuvers, taking an hour of your time and practicing regularly could be the difference between life and death one day. We never want to think of the worst things that could happen. However with self defense training, the chance of “the worst” happening is significantly less.

Graphic by Mikki Philippe

8 SPORTS March 14, 2019

The boys are back in town Baseball starts off the season strong

Upcoming Games

ASHLEY BIUNDO SPORTS EDITOR

Members of Meramec’s baseball team practice their pitching and catching at practice on Feb 27.

Photos by Ashley Biundo

Starting off the spring season 4-5, the STLCC Baseball team has high expectations for the upcoming games.

Head Coach, Scott Goodrich said, “We go into every season with the same expectations, that we are going to win Regional Tournament.” That is their main focus, he said.

Although it is still very early in the season, the basebal team has already figured out their strengths and weaknesses, said Goodrich.

“We have very solid pitching, a lot of sophomores. [Since] we have a lot of sophomores, we can use their experience and leadership to get us through the season,” he said.

Some of their weaknesses are caused by the cold temperatures and wet fields, he said.

“We haven’t had a lot of consistency and ability to practice and play because of the weather,” said Goodrich. “It is all going to hit us at once, we are going to play a lot of games and not have a ton of time to get down and break down what we are doing, so I am a little bit concerned about that.”

Goodrich said he has already noticed a difference between this year and last year.

“Last year we just had a hard time getting on a roll. There was a lot of inconsistency in our game. I didn’t think we were bad team, it’s just we couldn’t find our nudge and get going right away. We would win a couple games and lose a couple games,” said Goodrich. “We feel like we are doing

pretty good. We would win two and lose four, then we would win three.”

He compares the season to a rollercoaster.

“Those things are going to happen.

And I feel like we did lose those close games, they didn’t bother us, we didn’t get all bent out of shape because we lost the game. Last weekend we played, we won our first game. Last year we had a hard time bouncing back from difficult games.”

The STLCC baseball team is also focusing on education before sports, said Goodrich. “[The players] are going to make mistakes. We just need to minimize our mistakes. Once we make a mistake, learn from those mistakes and be better the next time in the similar situation,” he said.

And the approach toward education is the same, he said.

“I think educationally, that is a very similar focus. That’s what education is, experimenting and trying and learning and making mistakes and learning from your mistakes and moving on. Making yourself a better person overall.”

STLCC has some tough opponents, he said.

“Traditionally Jefferson has been really good, Crowder, Mineral Area, State Fair,” said Goodrich. “We already had the opportunity to play two nationally ranked teams in our trip to Louisiana. We lost both games, but we competed very well in both of them. We definitely have a very solid schedule and good competition coming up.”

Baseball at Crowder College 1:00pm & 4:00pm Softball vs College of DuPage at Chains of Lakes Park 8:30am Softball vs Rowan College at Gloucester County at Chains of Lakes Park 10:30am Mar. 17th Softball vs Rowan College at Gloucester County at Chains of Lakes Park 10:30am Softball vs Camden County College at Chains of Lakes Park 10:30am Mar. 19th Baseball at Lake Land College 3:00pm Softball at Eastern Florida State College 3:00pm & 5:00pm Mar. 21th

Gym hair, don’t care Meramec students weigh in on style choices TYRA LEESMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Long-haired students know the issues of dealing with gym hair, especially when there is no time for a shower between working out and work or school. Working out, sweating, and moving one’s body around a lot can create snarls and tangles, dampness, fly-aways, and lopsidedness, particularly in those with long, thinstranded, or curly hair.

“I’ve tried dry shampoo, hair spray, mousse. At the end of the day, it’s not even worth it. I don’t have time to shower, either, so I just expect my hair to be a complete wreck. So far my boss doesn’t mind, but there has to be another way to deal with your hair before work,” says Kandice Behari, a gym-goer in Kirkwood.

Some exercisers attempt to tame their locks by spending an extra hour in the shower, drying and styling their hair at the gym, or using the locker room showers and mirrors.

“The problem with [using the locker room] is that some of these locker rooms don’t have accessible outlets.

I can’t find a useable outlet for my dryer or straightener anywhere in

Mar. 16th

the school locker room,” says Maria Pembrook, a Meramec student.

Students who seem to have figured out the hair dilemma offer advice: “Grow it out, put it up in a ponytail, air it out a couple minutes, then put it in pigtails. If nothing else, just leave it in the ponytail,” says Pembrook.

O t h e r gym-goers argue that putting one’s hair in a

Graphic by Mikki Phillipe

messy bun, even for men, is the best option.

“Seriously, if you have long hair, it has to be out of the way for working out.

It’s a hazard to be in a place with heavy equipment and have your hair down in your eyes. It could get caught in something or obscure your vision and cause you to trip into heavy things. The messy bun isn’t pretty, it isn’t manly, but it’s practical,” says Eric Robb, a man-bun-wearing, gym-frequenter in Kirkwood.

Another popularlymentioned option for gym hair that can be worn to work without fuss is the French braid: in pigtails, down the back, or in a bun, for shorter lengths.

“I cut mine a while back and I get stray strands falling out all the time. I eliminate that by braiding it and tucking it up with bobby pins. It’s super elegant, and takes a little more time to get put up, but it still looks really cute later if you spray and pin it right,” says Behari.

Baseball at Metropolitan Community College 1:00pm & 3:00pm Mar. 23rd Baseball vs. Metropolitan Community College 1:00pm & 3:00pm at Home Softball at Kaskaskia College 12:00pm & 2:00pm Mar. 26 Softball at East Central College 2:00pm & 4:00pm Mar. 28th Baseball at Jefferson College 1:00 pm & 3:00pm Softball vs. Jefferson College 2:00pm & 4:00pm at Home *Games are subject to change* For an up-to-date schedule, visit www.archersathletics.com