A look at Science Courses with Dean Jim Munden
PAGE 3
Greta McGlawn takes readers inside exhibits PAGE 5
Professor Jenny Kettler talks photography
PAGE 4
Looking back at the “Missouri Miracle” PAGE 6
Volume 60 Issue 5
Donald Trump is once again President of the United States, and he already is making a big impact on the country. Professor John Messmer gives his thoughts on the former President’s return to power, why Democrats did nothing wrong, why Trump is doing what he’s doing and what the future holds.
READ MORE ON PAGE 2
RYAN WINZEN NEWS EDITOR
he St. Louis area was one of the sections of the United States that was met with severe winter storms during the month of January. The storms, which largely took place during the week of Jan. 5, resulted in the closure of all STLCC campuses for the majority of that week, and had lasting effects on travel in different parts of the city and county over the following weeks.
Physical Science Professor Joe Schneider, a Meramec professor for 25 years, said the factors that go into predicting harsh weather in the St. Louis area has many. He’s predicting a warmer next few weeks, around 40s or low 50s.
He talked more about patterns that determine the severity of the weather.
“Specifically in the winter season, three of our main guides are: is it going to be a normal or neutral winter, is it going to be affected by La Nina or is it going to be affected by El Nino,” said Schneider.
In his 2024-2025 winter weather forecast, Schneider describes El Nino as, “A climate pattern which occurs when the sea surface temperatures are above normal for a long period of time in the equatorial pacific region,” a La Nina as, “A climate pattern
which causes water temperatures in the eastern pacific to be below average,” and a neutral winter as, “a climate pattern in which sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern pacific ocean are near average.”
Schneider explained the different sub categories that exist within these guides.
“If it is a La Nina winter, which this one is, will it be weak? Is it going to be weak to moderate? Moderate? Moderate to strong? That actually produces different weather effects and different weather conditions on an everyday basis as far as cold and storms.”
He then explained what type of La Nina our current winter fits under.
“Right now, we are under a very weak La Nina. What is happening right now is pretty close to perfect of what we had realized what a weak La Nina will do. A weak La Nina gives a very consistent cold to most of the eastern two-thirds of the country.”
Another factor that determines the winter weather is arctic oscillation.
Schneider describes the AO as, “winds moving counterclockwise across the
northern hemisphere. This large-scale counterclockwise circulation is known as the Polar Vortex.”
He explained what occurs when the polar vortex is strong or weak.
“If the polar vortex stays strong, the cold air will move around up to our north, the arctic region, and will never usually come down. We are getting the cold because it is weaker and that allows pieces of it to break off and come down or, what we’ve had this year, is a stretch. A stretch of the polar vortex usually allows the cold to stay around longer.”
Schneider also gave his thoughts for what the rest of the winter will look like.
“We’re going to take a break when we get into the latter part of January and early part of February. I think we’re going to switch. We’re going to get colder air in the western part of the US, and warmer air in the eastern part of the us. We’ll go back to a little bit above average around 40 or low 50. I don’t think that’s going to stay for the rest of the winter.”
He mentioned that the recent storm was a rare phenomenon.
“I hope all you young people witnessed that, and saw that, and will remember this,” he said. “We have not had a storm like that, with that amount of sleet, since 1991.”
JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR
Donald Trump is once again the president of the United States. After being formally inaugurated at noon on Martin Luther King Day, Trump became only the second President in the history of the United States to serve two non-consecutive terms in office; Grover Cleveland was the other. Trump also has another historic distinction, as he will be the first convicted felon to serve in the role, a distinction that was formalized in a sentencing hearing in New York City on Jan. 13.
Upon taking office, Trump largely centered the focus of his inaugural address around his campaign’s biggest themes: immigration, the economy and what he considered an unjustful weaponization of government. Hours after taking the oath, he began to sign numerous executive orders, including ones that pardoned almost all January 6 rioters and initiated withdrawals from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization. Since then, Trump has also implemented tariffs on goods imported from Canada, China and Mexico; the tariffs against Canada and Mexico were postponed on Feb. 3 following an announcement of negotiations with the countries.
The former President’s return to power has elicited joy from some and concern from others. Political Science Professor John Messmer says that Trump’s term is, in part, about transferring the country from a liberal ideology to a populist one.
Messmer, a political science professor for the college since 2002, doesn’t consider himself to be a member of the Democratic Party, but said that his views lean more towards their ideology, supporting their policies and voting for their candidates.
He said that, with the tariffs, Trump may have a broader goal of transforming the American economy from liberal to populist economics. Explaining the difference between the two, Messmer said that liberalism values universal rights and cooperation, while populism prioritizes the majority’s will over fundamental rights.
Messmer also doesn’t believe that the Democrats could have done anything differently to prevent Trump’s rise, saying that was akin to asking a victim of sexual assault what they were wearing.
“The question is ‘How could we have
allowed the Republican Party to allow this catastrophe of a candidate and a movement to see the light of day?’ In the old days, when our parties were a lot stronger, someone like Donald Trump wouldn’t have been allowed within a mile of their party’s presidential nomination. I think we were better off when we had strong parties.”
He continued, “Way back in 2015, the Republican Party did stand up to Donald Trump. That was for about two weeks. And then they decided, if we can’t beat him, let’s join him. That should be the real question, ‘How did one of our major political parties, the once proud Republican Party, how could they have so easily gotten rid of their integrity? And that’s what it comes down to, by allowing themselves to be led by someone like Donald Trump, someone that shows no faith in our electoral process. Someone refers to the pillars of a republic as the enemies of the Republic. These are the actions of a populist who says things to garner an emotional, passionate response and then ride the wave of that passionate response to more political power.”
Despite Trump’s strong appeal, Messmer has doubts about MAGA’s sustainability following Trump’s exit from the national stage and his eventual death, though he’s not certain that Trumpism will not have lasting effects in the political realm.
“American history tells us that we are a sucker for personalities, not so much for the message of that personality,”
Messmer said. “And so given that history, the argument can be said that this is just unique to Donald Trump. And so once Donald Trump leaves politics, and eventually, and it may be further, when he dies, that the MAGA movement dies with him.”
“Because as much as there might be some that would want to walk in his footsteps by mimicking his same rhetoric and embracing his same policies,” he elaborated, “if history is right, and it’s not so much the policy that people are attracted to, but the personality, then it doesn’t matter how closely someone mimics Donald Trump. They’ll never be like Donald Trump, and therefore the movement will die.
“But I’m not too sure of that,” Messmer cautioned. “I think the Republican Party has shown that there is potential victory afoot by appealing to the worst fears of the American voter, and though I
think both parties always suspected that, it wasn’t until the Republican Party embraced Donald Trump that we knew it was true for the 21st century.”
Messmer predicts that at the end of Trump’s term, the country will be weaker but hopes that lessons will be learned and translated into action. He expressed a desire for reformers to enter government, hoping that they will focus on healing and strengthening democratic institutions. Messmer thinks that they’ll have a big job ahead of them.
“It’s going to take decades for us to heal from the damage that has been done.”
Professor Messmer spoke more at length
regarding Trump’s term. To hear his extended thoughts on Trump’s plans regarding tariffs and education, his attacks on birthright citizenship and other executive orders, as well as more thoughts on what Trumps’s legacy as a whole may be and who may step up to challenge him from the Democratic Party, check out the full, unedited audio interview on YouTube by scanning the QR code: LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW HERE
JACOB
RYAN
Shannon Philpott-Sanders
Faculty Adviser
Instagram.com “meramecmontage”
Youtube.com “TheMeramecMontageNewspaper”
X.com “@TheMontage”
To place an advertisement, contact the advertising manager for rates, sample issues, etc., at 314984-7857 or email ssanders147@ stlcc.edu..
Editorial views expressed or content contained in this publication are not necessarily the views of St. Louis Community College, the Board of Trustees or the administration.
The Montage is a student publication produced four times per semester at St. Louis Community College - Meramec, 11333 Big Bend Blvd., Kirkwood, Mo., 63122.
Editorial policy: All letters should be no longer than 500 words and must include identification as a student or faculty member, phone number and address for verification purposes. Phone numbers and addresses will not be published. All letters are subject to editing for content and length. All letters submitted will be published in print and online.
Proud member of
BRENDAN SMITH STAFF WRITER
The science pathway at St. Louis Community College is vast and contains many classes to choose from and programs to discover. Students might have a hard time deciding on what classes to take or what programs to follow for multiple years. The easiest place for students not looking for a science related degree to start looking is the non-lab courses. These classes tend to be less complicated than courses with labs attached.
Dean of Science Jim Munden talked about the different types of non-lab courses.
“We have a set of courses. Usually they’re titled non-lab courses, those are the ‘easy credits’ if you really want to think about it like that,” said Munden. “For liberal arts majors there’s earth science classes or geology. There’s our BIO 109 class, that’s akin to what you would get in like high school anatomy and physiology classes.”
For those looking for degrees in a science field, but not quite sure where to look, STLCC also has science programs for students to get involved. One of the most prominent being Horticulture.
Horticulture Program Coordinator Jerry Pence gave an overview of what horticulture classes are like.
“Horticulture is the art and science of plants, we take the science part of plants, the makeup part of plants and the physiology of the plants and we combine that with how to use that in the real world,” said Pence. “People who enter our program are typically students who don’t want to sit behind a desk for their career, and this is a way to get them in a lab, in a greenhouse or outside in the garden classroom. They like to get their hands dirty.”
Horticulture isn’t the only science program at STLCC. Biotechnology is another science program the school offers.
“Biotechnology is the application of biological principles in the lab. Students that want to work in the lab, like a research lab, or pharmaceuticals or something akin to that, they would pursue biotech,” Dean Munden said. “Students in the biotech program are seeing jobs like laboratory tech and research associates.”
Starting in either program is decently simple, starting with classes associated with the subject towards the bottom and working the way up.
“Our kickoff class is HRT 101, which is introductory horticulture. We have plant identification courses, and soils courses. Those kinds of classes give them
[students] an idea of what Horticulture is,” Professor Pence said.
“I would encourage any student that is interested in STEM or health science or any of the other programs to look at what we have to offer and see if it fits what they’re interested in and talk to the program coordinators or academic advisors about what careers in that field looks like,” Dean Munden said.
Bush-Munson trial set for November 2025
Former Forest Park Professor Deborah Bush-Munson’s discrimination case against STLCC will be heard before a jury, but not until this November. The case was originally scheduled to head to trial later this month. In a hearing last month, an order of continuance was requested by both parties, and that order was granted by the judge. The reason for the continuance, as revealed in a court document filed on Jan. 13, was because the discovery process has not yet been completed. The new date is Nov. 3. Bush-Munson is suing for damages over what she claims is racial discrimination. She claims that as a result of the college’s conduct and actions, she has suffered lost wages and benefits of employment and will continue to lose them. She also says that she has suffered emotional distress and mental anguish.
Crochet for a Cause to be held later this month
The Meramec Crochet Club will host Crochet for a Cause on Feb. 26-27, from noon-2 p.m. in the Meramec Cafeteria. All proceeds benefit the SARC emergency fund on campus.
The Montage Gets A Facelift
You may notice that this issue of The Montage looks radically different than the versions that you have been reading for years.
This redesign actually comes as a result of a class project crafted by student Danielle Lee in Professor Mike Swoboda’s graphic design class during the 2024 fall semester.
As part of the student’s final project, they were tasked with redesigning The
Montage’s entire graphics package and style guide, and presenting them to adviser Shannon Philpott-Sanders. The majority of The Montage staff chose to implement elements of Lee’s design.
The new style features different fonts, more space for text when needed and a brand new logo, the first new logo for The Montage in many years.
At the heart of being an educator lies an opportunity for community and impact. One such educator uses her experiences as a photojournalist- from writing for magazines and newspapers to traveling to India and Ecuador- to teach her students what photography means, not just as a means of record, but of connecting with and reaching a broader group of people.
Jenny Kettler is an artist and teacher who focuses on exploring important environmental issues. Here, she gives insight into her journey, her values, and her art.
Could you give a brief introduction into who you are, what you do, and how long you’ve been a professor?
My name is Jenny Kettler. I have been a professor for 12 years and I work at St. Louis Community College, Lindenwood University, and Maryville, so I am the professional adjunct. I call it the “adjunct shuffle,” but this is kind of what a lot of universities are doing. They’re not hiring people full-time as much anymore. Before that I was a photojournalist, and I got my degree in photojournalism from Mizzou. I worked for magazines and newspapers for about 12 years. I first did the small town newspaper- the oldest newspaper in the state of Missouri [Fayette Advertiser], and I was the managing editor and the head photographer. It was really good to get great experience working in the community. I worked in Columbia, Missouri for four magazines; two business journals, and two home and lifestyle magazines. I did everything from fancy homes and photographing how they decorated for the holidays, to working with local businesses that were newly opening in the community and profiling them. It was really fun and very diverse and I got to learn a lot. I did a lot of cross-cultural journalism when I was doing magazine work. Magazine work was kind of like my bread-and-butter, but then I would take my sort of breaks or holiday. I lived in India for a month and I did a lot of street photography. I worked at an underprivileged school and had an entire photography workshop there for middle school kids. Then I came back, and had an art show in the states and part of the proceeds went to that school. I went to the Galapagos, and went to Ecuador, and I looked at how tourism was impacting the local ecosystem and natural areas.
Q. Why did you choose photography as a career, and how did it transition into an educational profession?
A: I got my first camera when I was 10. It was a little film camera, and it was red and black and it was all made out of plastic. It was very 1980s late/early 90s and I just took pictures of beautiful things and of moments of happiness in my upbringing. I became fascinated with
this idea of how a picture can transport you from one time space to another; it has this magical sort of time travel ability. I had kind of a rough childhood and so I really liked how pictures were kind of like a way for me to time travel or escape. I started shooting after that in high school, and I took a photography course. Then in college I worked for the magazine, and I did photojournalism at Mizzou. In the journalism program there you work for a community newspaper the whole time you’re in college. You’re working for a full-time community newspaper so it kind of accelerates you into the real world, sink or swim. I did journalism for 12 years, and then I got burnt out because I was shooting multiple assignments every single day all the time. I actually didn’t photograph for a couple years because I needed a break. I always loved teachingI taught those workshops in India, I did camps and stuff. So then I decided to get into teaching, and I got my first teaching gig. I didn’t have my master’s at that point, but they gave it to me because I had so much real world experience. I was hooked. I loved it, and it was a great way to make a bigger difference. What aspect of photography do you most enjoy or value?
I really like its ability to transport you, it’s a great universal communicator, and I like this idea that photography can impact people more deeply than almost any other medium. It has the ability to do good in really profound ways that can shift politics, society, or even the environment- so I think it’s a really powerful tool. There’s a philosopher that says that the camera is man’s greatest tool for self actualization. We can turn the camera on ourselves and learn more about ourselves, or we can turn the camera on the world and learn more about how we see and understand the world, and that can help us all come to better self actualization.
What aspect of teaching photography do you most enjoy or value?
I loved building relationships, I loved community, and I had those things in journalism but they were fleeting. With students, now I can be connected with them. It’s more fulfilling and it’s really great to see and inspire the next generation. I feel like I could give back more as a teacher.
Have you noticed any specific moments, subjects, or themes that you find yourself constantly returning to in your photography, continuously or subconsciously?
I’m an Eco feminist. I’m an Eco artist photographer that shoots from an Eco feminist lens, so everything that I shoot or make work on has to do about humans’ relationship to nature, and particularly during the time of the anthropocene. We’re living in a new geological era, we had the Jurassic time period, the Holocene, we’re now in a place called the anthropocene where humans, plastic pollution, and their nuclear waste is going to be permanently embedded in the bedrock of the Earth. I’m really interested in that idea of us having such a big impact, what do we do with that?
I look at it from an Eco feminist lens, which means I believe in looking at the relationship from a nurturing perspective; what can we do to nurture it back to health to fix the damage? How can we use
HIBA OBEED STAFF WRITER
intuition instead of logic to make things more balanced and holistic, instead of engineering our way out of things? What does it look like to have a relationship of reciprocity with nature, instead of one that is ‘what can you do for me?’
What is the relationship between the photographs you take and the story you want to tell? Do you ever see the photograph as a starting point for a bigger story, or do you want it to start and end with each photograph you take?
I think we’re so end product driven as Americans and I think one thing that photography- or really any advanced study in any subject will teach you is that it’s not about the product, it’s about the process. For me, my process as a photographer I usually start with a photo, and then I figure out what my idea is and refine it. Sometimes I start with an idea and then I go out and do the photo. I think the process of the unfolding, and the figuring out, and the readjusting, and calibrating- that’s what matters the most.
For example, my “Where We Find Refuge” project that’s at Maryville, I started first with a camera that my adviser had given me. Just a film camera and some free film. I just took a picture of one of my students standing in the window, her silhouette. Then I went outside, and I photographed the clover on the ground and I did double exposures. I didn’t wind the film, and I didn’t know why I did it until I developed the film. Then I saw the picture and I discovered that my two feelings, and those two different times and spaces when I took the picture was what I was looking for. I was this girl who was looking outside wanting to be outside and then regrounding myself by going and shooting the Earth, because I was in a very chaotic time in my life. I wanted to rebalance, reground, find a direction- connect more to the natural world. My intuition kind of guided me. So I think the process of how we move through that is really important.
Tell me a little bit about your photojournalism, what kind did you do and for how long? What was your motivation for it?
I did community journalism for magazines and newspapers, everything from the county fair, to city hall write ups, feature
articles, and fashion. I think it helped me decide that I really like working with environmental issues, or environmental stories, or green stories that have to do with the community. That kind of helped give me more of the environmental focus. I really like that in teaching I can bring it forward in my work. I can shoot photographs, but then also have a conversation about the environment. You can kind of make it into whatever you want. Whereas a sports story you have to go do sports. So I like the freedom and the flexibility to sort of create the Zeitgeist of a society and develop the consciousness.
What do you think effective photojournalism consists of?
A lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work, and a lot of character. You have to have a very strong sense of integrity, dignity, fortitude, and hard work. I went to school with National Geographic and Sports Illustrated photographers, and the choices that they have to make to do their jobs is very respectable and admirable. I didn’t have it in me, which is why I knew I couldn’t work at one of those big publications. I just did community journalism, because I don’t have the guts to decide whether to photograph a dying child or help them; I would want to go help them. Really diehard photojournalists will photograph the dying child, and then maybe go help them, or not help them at all. I really admire what they do; they risk their lives to bring us the news and the truth, and not a lot of people respect that.
If you could photograph anything in the whole world, without restrictions, what would it be and why?
I would be very interested in photographing the most delicate ecosystems, the places, the plants, and the animals to sort of bring awareness and highlight them. I think they’re sort of disappearing worlds. Not photograph it in a way that was, ‘look at this amazing picture,’-but do it in a way that made people want to try to preserve it, or use it to change policy.
You can view Kettler student’s work at meramecmontage.com, and see more of Kettler’s art at jennykettler.com.
GRETA MCGLAWN MANAGING EDITOR
The 2025 Alumni Showcase VI is featured in the Meramec Contemporary Art Gallery on the east side of the Humanities East building. Tucked away in the corner by the stairwell, the small room holds magnificent art. This series celebrates alumni from as recent as a few semesters to 20 years ago.
This year’s exhibition features ceramics, photography, mixed media work, and paintingsencapsulating Meramec’s wide array of exploratory mediums. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from noon until 4 pm, plus you can always request an appointment for another time. Feb. 13 will be the last day to view this show, and the next show, titled A Legacy of Design: Celebrating the Applied Arts at Meramec, will be opening Feb. 27.
“The Forest of Misplaced Memories” (2024) is a life sized piece that is full of emotion that asks the viewer to follow along with Danny Bess to consider the memories that could have been and those that have transpired.
The pieces below show Danny Bess’s typical geometric painterly style. The majority of his portraits feature this textured look with hundreds of delicately placed brushstrokes that come together to give the piece an energetic and personal look.
The graffiti featured in ”Abrigate amor, abrígate <3” (2024) ABOVE inspired the whole series as Toledo explores the messages left around Argentina in the form of graffiti, signs, advertisement, and other ways of communication. The five pieces featured in the image to the right are just a snipet from the series Señales desde which consists of imagery from the Universidad National de Cuyo and protests which Roberts Toledo took part in, as well as daily life and public art. The image to the left shows the effect from the CMYK technique Austin Roberts Toledo used to mimic the pasted posters found throughout Argentina.
“Rockets to Mars” (2024) BELOW displays an idea of chaos which stands out from the rest of Danny Bess’s works through its clear resolution, unlike his other paintings which have a more blocky, textured look. This contrast was done intentionally to make his message as clear as possible to the viewer. The child sat within the foreground represents a child-like sense of innocence; the type of innocence forgotten today. In Bess’s words, “It reminds us of what we’re sacrificing.”
“Scapegoat.” (2024) ABOVE conceptualizes Eric Nauman throwing around the blame from himself then to the viewer and then finally at the oversized bust of the goat.
“Hot Commodity” (2024), shown to the left, seems like a simple item placed on a decorative pedestal, but it is actually an incredibly detailed handmade roll of toilet paper. Hailey Mitchell, who was unable to make it to the opening, describes her work as an exploration of human connection through ordinary objects which unifies communities by their familiarity and association with our lives.
“Thank You, Come Again?” (2024), shown to the right, features a large red button and a thermal printer that customizes a receipt for each interaction. Hailey Mitchell seeks to relate the simple process of getting a receipt to the collective experiences of each person who presses the button.
“Adhere” & “Metaverse” (2025) BELOW branch into a new style seen from Eric Nauman where he explores the corrosiveness of these dystopian, virtual realities that promise an escape from the mundane. Transported to an “improved wavelength”, these heads have disconnected from their physical bodies entirely.
Eric Nauman crafts thought provoking enlarged portraits which explore the ideas of interconnectedness and decision making. He shares that through his journey, since graduating from STLCC in 2006, he realized the importance of documenting your work and finding easy ways to share your portfolio. “Get good at photography. Look at your work from a different perspective,” he said.
BEATRICE JOHNSON STAFF WRITER
s we approach the next volume of issues, The Montage would like to take you back in time to some past issues throughout the coming school year. This month, we’re taking a look at the Jan. 25, 2007 issue, which covered STLCC’s reaction to a local incident that grabbed national headlines. Also, on the political front, Staff Writer Jim Holt reported on more national history made.
In January 2007, a “miracle” took place which rustled the city of Kirkwood as well as much of the country.
On Oct. 6, 2002, Shawn Hornbeck was taken in a truck while riding his bike near his home in Richwoods, Missouri. Hornbeck would be held captive by his kidnapper for over four years where he was forced to pose as the kidnapper’s son.
On Jan. 8, 2007, Ben Ownby was kidnapped in a similar manner, by being put in the kidnapper’s truck, but this time, a witness had a description of the white Nissan truck.
This tip led the FBI to the Imo’s on Kirkwood Road where Michael Devlin, the manager of the establishment quickly
To get you where you need to go, PTK offers opportunities to help you develop and discover your personal, academic, and professional potential.
PHI THETA KAPPA - XI LAMBDA CHAPTER
Phi Theta Kappa is an international honors society for two-year colleges. It’s mission is to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students, as well as to provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service, and fellowship programs.
To be eligible to join Phi Theta Kappa - Xi Lambda, Meramec’s local chapter, students must have a GPA of at least 3.5, have taken 12 or more credit hours, and must be enrolled in at least one course currently at Meramec.
confessed to the kidnappings. Devlin led the FBI to his apartment, off nearby Holmes Avenue, where the children were found safe and sound.
The first front-page piece of this issue highlights the new security measures of the now-closed Meramec Child Care Center.
These new measures included criminal background checks on all employees, a sign-in policy for visitors and head counts of students throughout the day. These procedures have since become commonplace in daycares, schools and
childcare centers throughout the U.S..
Another historic moment in U.S. history captured in this issue was a piece about the election of the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
Highlighted in this article are some of the changes planned for her time in the position, some of which we still see the effects of today, including an increase in the national minimum wage from $6.50 per hour to $7.25 an hour, the current federal minimum wage.
Honors offers qualified students a variety of opportunities in and outside the classroom, including honors classes, special projects, workshops, and mentoring. New students can qualify through high school GPA, ACT score, or Accuplacer. Returning students qualify through their college GPA. Once admitted, honors students are never obligated to pursue a minimum amount of honors work each term.
Curious about the Honors Program and what it might mean for you?
If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Jerry Meyers at gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638.
If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Jerry Myers at gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638
If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Professor Rich Peraud in CN 217 or go to PTK.org for more information.
Learn more about the Meramec Honors Program and apply online at http://www.stlcc.edu/mchonors mchonors@stlcc.edu 314-984-7147 Humanities East 101
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
the richest cabinet in the history of the United States. Worth about $383 billion, according to US News, it will be a cabinet with extraordinary power without accountability.
ELMEDIN KARAMOVIC STAFF WRITER
As Biden’s turn at the presidency ends, and Trump gets another term, he reminds us of the “Keeper of the Flame” of the Statue of Liberty whose job was to polish the flame on the statue. The Keeper of the Flame said the Statue of Liberty “speaks a silent universal language, one of hope, that anyone who seeks and speaks freedom can understand.” Biden, who spoke from the same desk where he announced his departure from the 2024 presidential race, spoke to the nation about the possibilities, his record, and the current threats that the country faces internally.
Biden during his farewell speech reminded the American people of his accomplishments while in office, including the ceasefire negotiated hours before he was set to premier his speech. Biden warned in his speech: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.” This was a few days before Trump took office with
It sounds ironic coming from the Republican party, which once declared “government isn’t the solution; government is the problem.” Now, government is only the problem when democrats hold the executive office. Apparently, government isn’t the problem when a man with 35 felonies and recently dropped cases on harming the Constitution – the same Constitution he is supposed to serve – is in charge. Let us be reminded that this used to be the party concerned about government overreach; now it’s only government overreach if democrats hold the office?
“Americans
are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
-
Former President Joe Biden
JACK JURSNICH OPINIONS EDITOR
With the election at a close, many Americans still hold the threat of misinformation as one of their many worries in President Trump’s oncoming term. However, I think the bigger problem is not misinformation itself, rather it’s people who decide what misinformation is.
First, let’s briefly describe how the term ‘misinformation’ is being used. Words like ‘misinformation’ – as well as ‘hate speech’, ‘racist’, ‘extremist’ – are used subjectively today and nobody can tell what anyone means. More often than not, these words are used as bad-faith insults that assume someone’s intent. If someone said that my article was ‘misinformation’ then they’d have to know or assume that my intention was to misinform people, but since that is not my intention, it’s a blatant overstep to just call it ‘misinformation’. Yet, this is the problem I’m describing: people don’t care what someone’s intentions are, nor do they care about what the truth of the matter is, they just claim ‘misinformation’ because (1) they have no better defense and (2) they know it’s effective.
Sometimes people like this just get lazy so they say ‘misinformation’ instead of trying to convince people, but the sad part about this is that a lot of people will just submit to what others call ‘misinformation’ without even thinking about it. I get it though, nobody wants
to be spreading misinformation, but that’s why the term is so effective. Nobody wants to go further on what actually is ‘misinformation’ because they’re afraid they’ll be named as the one causing it.
Of course, there is a time and a place for the term ‘misinformation’ but while it’s become this he-said/ she-said scenario where both sides point fingers on what’s ‘misinformation’, I don’t think the term would be any more helpful than just trying to convince people of what’s right and wrong. If I disagreed with someone then I should explain in good faith why, rather than confuse everyone by calling that person a ‘liar’.
Let’s apply this to an example. Recent headlines suggest Elon Musk did a Nazi salute during the inauguration ceremony, and though I could easily just call this ‘misinformation’ and move on, I will explain in good faith why this headline is blatantly false. From just looking at the thumbnails about this story, you would think that Musk really made a Nazi salute. However, when watching the actual clip – not just the edited parts that social media has been circulating – then it’s very clear that Musk puts his hand on his heart, holds it out towards the crowd, and says, “My heart goes out to you.” Only a person with bad faith towards Musk
Nonetheless, the worth of the US Cabinet can be expanded more with the inclusion of the new “Tech-Industrial Complex” CEOs. They have an interest in this government. Once hailed as a bipartisan effort, the regulation of social media has become a democratic issue with the TechIndustrial Complex lining the pockets of the republicans. The once hailed bipartisan effort will only be a show for republicans showing that they “care” about the American people, as Josh Hawley is using it.
In conclusion, Biden warned: “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.” This is not far from the truth. Trump campaigned on lowering egg prices, now the question remains, will he lower them?
would assume that he meant to do a Nazi salute.
Funny enough, the people who made such bad-faith remarks are being met with images of them doing the same gesture. If I was just as disingenuous as them, I’d say that they’re Nazis, too, but I’m not going to do that because I don’t want to be ‘spreading misinformation’. I actually care about the truth, as I wish everyone else would, because it sucks
to communicate with people who can’t take anything seriously. We can have our fun by saying Elon’s gesture looked like a Nazi salute but we also have to act in good faith and understand that that’s not exactly true. At some point, we have to grow up and realize that all this talk about ‘misinformation’ is like highschool drama. We would make so much more progress if we acted like adults and focused on what is right instead of blurring the lines of what is wrong.
JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR
There’s a lot to like about MARVEL’s SpiderMan 2, the 2023 follow-up to Insomniac’s previous two games set in their own fictionalized version of New York City. The game builds upon its lore and doubles the size of its map.
And while a more open, expanded world should be a positive upgrade and while it does provide some new backdrops for players to explore, much of it feels emptier than it should, despite some colorful and fun non-playable characters to interact with. It’s not quite lifeless, but not nearly as big of a deal as it should feel like, especially when the conflicts in each borough feels repetitive after a while. The game’s combo/fighting system is never boring, to be fair, but largely feels like you’re fighting the same bad guys with little variety.
Another smaller issue in the game once again revolves around Mary Jane Watson.
A female video game character having an incredible amount of agency is not a bad thing. But the issue is that once again, MJ is a little too overpowered, even more so than the superheroes that the game is named after. It’s not quite as egregious as it was in the first installment in 2018, but it is noticeable and a bit too much to swallow. If MJ can dispatch enemies like Kraven’s minions in a suburban neighborhood more swiftly and quietly than the Spider-Men, then perhaps she should have a game installment of her own; arguably, it’d be a different kind of game for Insomniac to make in this universe and it’s very possible that they could pull it off and make that special. Shoehorning her into these conflicts does not do her character any good, though. All it does is make the game’s other main characters look like chumps.
Despite some of the downsides, the game does have a great story throughout. It utilizes the series’ lore and flashback scenes to great effect. And the series is clearly building to a final endgame of sorts, and is not trying to drag things out.
But the issue with a sequel may lie in the game’s probable lack of expansion. Aside from just expanding the game’s map into an entirely different city (New Jersey, anyone?) there’s very little that can be done to make the next main installment of the game feel radically different to this one, aside from taking certain characters
off the board entirely.
With that said, SpiderMan 2 is not a bad game. It’s quite an enjoyable play-through, and the fact that not every mission in it is high-stakes helps the game feel as grounded in reality as a superhero game (with actual, literal magic in it) can be.
