09 03 15fullissue

M O N TA G ETHE

It is statistically proven that young voters make up around 21 percent

of the voting population. With one-fifth of all voters belonging to the 18-29 age group, they are a dominant force in numbers that have the potential to be not only influential, but to make or break a politician’s chances at entering the White House.

According to Rock the Vote, a political, non-profit campaign that aims to use pop culture to bring young voters to the polls – there will be 86 million millennials voting in the 2016 presidential elections;

however, in a survey conducted by the Institute of Politics that was released to the public in April 2014, only 23 percent of them had committed to placing a vote in November’s midterm elections. In contrast, at the 2004 elections 70 percent of those between 45 and 59 voted, while 73 percent of those aged between 60 and 74 did. Additionally, 69 percent of those 75 and older also showed up at the polls to place their ballots – making the young vote the least-represented group in politics.

During the 2012 presidential elections, Barack

Obama depended on his advantage with young voters to make up for the lead Mitt Romney had with the 45 and older age group. Young voters are the most diverse, and the representation of minorities within that group has expanded dramatically in the last 20 years. Amongst voters 30 and under, 18 percent identify as Hispanic, 17 percent identify as African American, and 7 fall into the mixed-race or other category. While the percentage of white voters dropped 16 points amongst those 18-29, the majority of older voters – at 76 percent – are

still white, and that number has dropped only 6 points in recent years. Research done by the Pew Research Center also supports the claim that younger voters are less likely to be religious, which impacts the chances of politicians who take a stand against abortion and gay marriage -- especially since, according to “The Huffington Post”, 65 percent of Americans say religion plays a role in their daily lives. When compared to their older counterparts, young voters are much more focused on social issues, and the majority of them vote in favor of early-term

abortion as well as equal marriage. In the upcoming

primaries, several topics of debate will include proposed plans for the adjustments to college tuition, the possibility of student debt forgiveness and the impact the declining job market has hand on young people – issues that could be affected by the young voter, should they chose not to participate. The election primaries are coming up in the next few months, and will occur for the state of Missouri in March of 2016. The question remains: will young American vote?

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 1 | WEDNESDAY SEPT. 3, 2015 | www.meramecmontage.com

The disconnect between election and education

Illustration by Jason Waters

Brittney FarrowOpinions Editor

2Sept. 3, 2015

NEWS

Financial Aid has withstood changes effective for Fall 2015. The goals of the Financial Aid Office is to provide guidance, but according to Lead Financial Aid Counselor Nicole Moore, they realize the process is frustrating for students.

“We just want to serve the students, we’re here to help, we want to help them get through this process. It is a process but we really want to help any way we can,” Moore said.

The primary change to the process is that students are required to obtain an FSA ID when completing the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is forwarded to the Financial Aid Office and helps determine if students qualify for grants, loans and scholarships.

The FSA ID, unlike the pin number, requires students to have two separate e-mail accounts if they are dependents. The FSA ID has replaced the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Pin used in previous years.

Making an FSA ID can take up to 24 hours since the process has to be validated against the social security administrative office records, Moore said.

For international students

who are recently becoming U.S. citizens, this process can take up to three days, “so we encourage students to start that FAFSA process in March so they have time to get things done and get it to us by April,” Moore said.

Students must be connected and look through their Banner Self Service account and student email for notifications from financial aid to complete the process for enrollment, Moore said.

Filing the FAFSA by April can also speed up the process of determining financial aid awards for students.

Some students may be eligible for exceptions.

“What some other students may not know too is that, especially if they are Pell Grant recipients, you don’t necessarily have to take 12 hours,” Moore said. “They should come talk to some of us and check it out.”

Students using the A+ Program for funding, though, must be enrolled in at least 12 hours.

“Come see us; we like students,” Moore said.

The Financial Aid office is located on the first floor of Clark Hall in AD102. It is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

their campus, O’Laughl in said.

I n October of 2014 many students felt as if their voice was not being heard about the issue, she said. Students who depended on the St. Louis Metro system wanted a more reliable way to get to and from campus. Now, the U-Pass is distributed at all campuses with only a $1 added to the existing activity fee.

The U-Pass is not limited to students who may use the bus daily, full-time or even part-time. The requirements to receive a pass is to be enrolled in at least one credit hour in any given semester including summer classes. It may be used in emergency situations or even to go attend a St. Louis Cardinals game downtown. Not every student has a backup way to get to school, O’Laughlin said. If their primary way to arrive at campus fails, the U-Pass may be a source of backup to make it to class.

There are a few rules and regulations regarding the U-pass

Starting Fall 2015, St. Louis Community College will be providing every enrolled student the ability to acquire a U-Pass in the Cashier’s office provided by St. Louis Metro.

This pass may be used from Aug. 24, 2015 through February 2, 2016 with no limit on the number of rides during these months.

STLCC Meramec Manager of Student Affairs Carolyn O’Laughlin agrees that this is an excellent tool for students and faculty.

“It’s an excellent tool for all of us. For students who use public transportation every day and for students who maybe wouldn’t use public transportation if they did not have the opportunity,” O’Laughlin said.

This is the first time students at Meramec have had such a program. STLCC at Florissant Valley had the opportunity to buy monthly passes through the campus bookstore at a discounted rate last year. The cost was not added into the current tuition leading students to pay more for transportation than originally thought. All four campuses have a student government who come together a few times a year to talk about issues they are having at

that students will need to follow. First, to use the pass students must provided their school ID, without it they may have to pay the fare to ride or even be denied access. Secondly, the pass may not be given to any friends or family members for use. If the pass is found to be improperly used, the pass will be confiscated by Campus Police and may even result in fines. Lastly, the pass is never replaceable, even if lost or stolen.

The current feedback from students at all four STLCC Campuses is very positive. In fact, many students have already began using the pass regularly throughout the first week of classes.

Fall 2015 is considered the pilot year for the program. If feedback continues to be increasingly positive, the pass will continue for semesters to come.

Changes on the horizon U-Pass: Free bus rides for allFinancial aid processes students need to know STLCC students eligible for Metro transportation

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EDITORS

3Sept. 3, 2015

NEWS

“We, the faculty and staff of STLCC believe that we offer a really quality educational experience to students

and we want them to succeed here so they can succeed in life.”

From the country to the cityChancellor Jeff Pittman reflects on his journey to STLCC

St. Louis Community College Chancellor Jeff Pittman assumed his position at STLCC effective July 1, 2015 with a signed contract for five years. After graduating from a class of 43 in high school to now working with approximately 25,000 students in the St. Louis area, Pittman said he never imagined this as part of his plan.

“I never would’ve thought I would be living in St. Louis and doing something like this but I feel very much at home here,” Pittman said. Pittman grew up in Bloomfield, Ind., a town of about 2,500 people.

“A country kid going to the city,” Pittman said.

Pittman now lives with his wife Shelly and daughter Brianna on the West side of St. Louis, close to all four campuses. His three sons Ryan, Stephen and Skyler all work in Indiana and visit often.

Discovering an interest in teaching and working with students, Pittman first started out as faculty. He worked with IV Tech Community College for 28 years, working in four districts. Pittman started to teach in Columbus and then preceded to work in administration in Wilmington, which included work as an academic dean.

He went on to be campus president in the Southern Indiana District and a chancellor in the Wabash Valley region for 12 years.

“We moved around a lot in those 28 years,” Pittman said.

Online education in Wabash Valley grew significantly that it was necessary to hire a new president to offer some advice, Pittman said.

“We had a new president come in that recognized that we needed to properly handle our systemic approach to it as a system because we were a statewide singly- accredited college with 14 districts, unlike Missouri where we’re all independent. We have an association here – St. Louis Community College Association - but at IV Tech we were all one college. So imagine Missouri having one statewide college. That’s the system I came from,” Pittman said.

Pittman continued to work in system-wide jobs as chancellor,

which proved to be too much, he said.

“I just decided to go to the system office and work in online education and we pretty much developed it all at the system level and centralized all the functions of it,” Pittman said.

By the time he left to come to St. Louis, they had about 70,000 students who were taking at least one online class a year, Pittman said.

“The big reason I wanted to come here is because I saw it as an opportunity to give back to the community, to give back with students and with faculty. When you work at a large system office like IV Tech, you’re pretty much isolated from students,” Pittman said.

Being in a large system office, you are working for the students but you are not meeting them or seeing them in class, Pittman said. He missed working in the

community and working at the campuses.

“This opportunity came up, I saw it as a great job for anyone and I applied and feel real blessed that I got the opportunity to come here. I am just very impressed by the students who are here that I’ve

met. I’m very impressed by the faculty and staff – how much they care about the students,” Pittman said.

He saw it as a place where he can come make an impact to help the students succeed, complete their programming and their educational objectives, Pittman said.

“I think STLCC is such an integral part of a community,” Pittman said. “Community colleges nationally enroll about two million students a year, that’s about half of the undergraduate class in the nation. So, community colleges are very critical in the higher ed arena.”

With a mission of completion, it is important that every student understands that when they enroll in STLCC, they need to have an educational objective in mind, Pittman said.

“They may not have an exact disciplined one yet – but they need to be striving toward completion of a degree or certificate that will be meaningful to them in regards to getting a job or transferring to another higher education institution to advance their education,” Pittman said.

That is good for the students, that is good for the state, that is good for St. Louis. Faculty and administration strive to prepare people for higher wage jobs

which benefits the work force, the economy and the students because it improves their standard of living, Pittman said.

“All of you are priority to me, the students are priority. I can’t do much from sitting here at Cosand despite the lovely view. I need to be at the campuses spending my time there so you’ll be seeing me around a lot,” Pittman said.

Pittman is working on scheduling his weeks so he is spending some time at each campus on a regular basis.

“What I’ve been doing so far is – every opportunity I get, I’ve been on the campus. I’ve been spreading my time out,” Pittman said. “You’ll be seeing me pretty regularly.”

Looking ForwardThere are a lot of economies

that can be brought in that would result in savings to students and keeping tuition down, Pittman said. Along with his coworkers, they are doing anything they can to save money, keep tuition down and keep higher education affordable for people in St. Louis.

“That’s the heart of it,” Pittman said.

Pittman said he does see four campuses representing one institution.

“I noticed a lot of our students go to different campuses so it’s important that we have the same processes so students get the same quality experience,” Pittman said.

One of these quality experiences includes our online learning management system, Blackboard.

“Blackboard – the product – is owned by blackboard and they are owned by a private equity firm. They are a vendor of ours, a software vendor. They provide us with a learning management system. The learning management system is where all their online classes resie,” Pittman said. “You log in, you can get to the content, you can get to the syllabus, you can get to all the instructional

materials.”STLCC converted all server

storage for course content to Blackboard in August 2015 versus housing the content on campuses, which affected the speed and perfomance of the application.

Blackboard has employees that do nothing but manage hosting and tend to the servers, they make sure everything is up and running. Having this platform in one central area helps in getting the most bang for the buck and the most recent upgrades, Pittman said.

A new version of Blackboard is expected to come out in spring 2016, Pittman said.

Future Leadership ChangesIn regards to a new

President come January, academic organization structures are now being evaluated, Pittman said.

Meramec Campus President Pam McIntyre retired in July 2015 and two vice presidents are now sharing these duties.

“We formed a team that consists of more faculty and we’re going to look at our existing structure. There had been 10 structures proposed – so we’re looking at defining a structure that is most effective in serving the students,” Pittman said.

Right now an academic structure is being looked at which leans more toward improving and expanding academic degree programs, Pittman said.

Pittman said he and his team believe that a good education is important and that STLCC can provide well to the students.

“We care about them [the students] deeply, we want them to succeed in life and we really believe that a key ingredient to a successful life is a good education. We, the faculty and staff of STLCC believe that we offer a really quality educational experience to students and we want them to succeed here so they can succeed in life,” Pittman said. “Everything we do is about the student.”

Dalila KahvedzicEditor In Chief

Photos By Dalila KahvedzicChancellor Jeff Pittman talks with librarian Katy Smith about services offered through the STLCC website.

Librarian Katy Smith demonstrates student resources.

4Sept. 3, 2015

OPINIONS

The best things come to those who wait? False. The best things come to those who go out and get them. Life is a matter of trial and error, and if we are afraid to make mistakes and learn from them, we might not ever learn as much as is needed.

Summer is gone and it is time to leap back into the school year. Sleeping in and waking up at two in the afternoon because of the previous night’s festivities is no longer an option. By that time most classes are already finished.

Want good grades? It takes dedication. Disappointed in the 65 percent you received on the last math test? Study harder. There is no point in complaining when not everything that could have been done to achieve a goal was completed.

Success does not come easy, and that is something that everyone has to be truthful and honest with themselves about. Are you doing everything in your power to achieve a goal, or are you slacking? Improvement must be provided by oneself.

Starting the school year off on a good note and keeping up with your work will make for good grades and a happier self. Being a college student, it is hard to follow-through with any type of diet or nutrition plan; it is much easier to go to McDonald’s and get something off of the dollar menu. So plan ahead. Pack up lunch and snacks for the upcoming week to just grab and go; nutrition bars, fruit snacks and whatever else sounds delightful in-between classes.

The ability to be great starts with a mindset. It is okay to make mistakes; it is okay to fail. Fail: first attempt in learning. End: effort never dies. No: next opportunity. Optimism and positivity is key, failing is not an option.

General education courses can be strenuous to sit through. Rewarding oneself is always an option – like picking up a cup of coffee because you did not hit the snooze button an extra time – but so is choosing a class that sounds somewhat interesting. If the mere thought of a class or topic bores you, do not sign up for it. Pick a career which you will enjoy waking up to every morning. Being happy with a job is much better than making more money while being unhappy. Money is not happiness, even if crying in a ruby red Ferrari sounds more appealing than crying in a used sedan.

Being a college student, life does in no way, shape or form need to be all figured out. As long as you have a good idea of where you are going, even if it means getting up at seven in the morning for a general education course, you are in good shape.

Happily ever after is not just for the movies, so make yours a reality. Work hard and stay positive -- it will pay off in the end!

Dalila KahvedzicEditor In Chief

Mike AliverniaStaff Writer

Austin SchumannStaff Multimedia Specialist

Not too Cool for School

Capitalists Created Him, Politicians Fear Him

All Lives or Black Lives?

The trouble about Trump; will Americans vote for him?

Violence in a spin cycle

It is an inconceivable conundrum that Donald Trump has surged to an early lead in this year's made-for-TV mockumentary of an American presidential election. Being ahead this early in primary election polling is the equivalent of being that horse who sprinted to a lead in the first length of the Kentucky Derby before the inevitable pitfalls pushed it back to the pack and into utter obscurity -- leaving those brave souls who bet on the long-shot twice as heartbroken and embarrassed when thinking of how they danced in the aisle clutching their tickets through every moment of the first turn.

The pitfalls that usually destroy most candidates – such as trying to leg out the other thoroughbreds down the final stretch – have already been encountered by Trump fresh out of the gate. President Obama still backpedals from Biden blunders that seem like child's play compared to the stances Trump is willing to take and stand behind. Mexican immigrants? Most of them are criminals. The Chinese? We should be killing them in commerce. Rosie O’Donnell? She's still a pig. The politicians

in office? They're idiots compared to “The Don.” If it were up to him, he'd round up Hillary and all her dummies in Washington and throw 'em over his Mexican-financed wall. This brash and over-the-top persona that usually pricks the voters of middle-America the wrong way is apparently being viewed as a breath of fresh air from a straight-shooting maverick. Oh how far we've come: Donald Trump is being admired for his unfiltered opinions.

Four years ago, Trump appropriately pronounced his ambitions for a presidential bid during his roast on Comedy Central. He spent a few months loudly questioning the President's birthplace before ultimately choosing to continue filming “The Apprentice” over campaigning full-time – surprising no one in doing so. He went on building his name and face recognition, which according to Trump was already peaking. Trump was quoted by “The Guardian” saying, "I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and, ultimately, the general election."

Many suspected Trump's political thrashings to be nothing more than an attempt to bolster his TV show's ratings. We should now look at his own ridiculous show – and four years of forced appearances everywhere else – to

have been nothing more than a series of marvelous marketing maneuvers, making sure that bored young adult or that jaded veteran of the voting troughs looks over this year's round-up of robots in ties or pant suits and recognizes one name above them all: Trump.

Ross Perot was the last unabashed millionaire from the private sector to try and completely kick over the apple cart. He aimed to win the race while everyone stood pondering the meaning of such a ghastly series of events. The key to Perot and Trump's strong appeal with some is ,unfortunately for them (and in a way, all of us, too), the reason their loss in the general elections is fait accompli. They are so far outside of the political box that they'll always have the might of both parties straining to suppress uppity sarcasm. To suppose one could become President of the United States of

America, based solely on wealth, personal money-raising ability and unabashed, populist pandering power is one thing; Trump coming out and proclaiming that he's used his money to buy the very politicians standing next to him during a presidential debate - well that's one toke over the line for the two-party establishment.

This particular Republican primary should prove to be interesting. A pile of established right-wing robots all praying that Americans will vote for keeping things the same as they've always been, will be on one side. On the other stands the emperor with no clothes. Like him or hate him, Donald Trump is the fruition and embodiment of the American capitalist system, as it really is - and he is not ashamed.

Who's got the nerve to vote for that?

Ferguson, Baltimore and New York; places that have been dominating the headlines in recent months with stories about death, racial tension and police brutality. These headlines are one-in-the-same, and they have read similarly, “unarmed black man killed by police.” Since the death of Michael Brown in August of last year, there have been increasing accounts of police violence and brutality against African-Americans across the country. To ref lect that increase, there have also been hundreds of protests throughout the nation – both violent and nonviolent – ranging from peaceful rallies outside of police stations to gatherings that shut down entire highways. These protests have sparked many sayings like, “hands up, don’t shoot,” or, “I can’t breathe.” The most common saying, however, is arguably, “black lives matter.” This has been a rallying call against police brutality and racial prof iling across the country, catching more and more steam as time goes on.

As a counter to this, many have been chanting, “all lives matter.” The reception of

this new slogan is split; some think that it is saying that people should treat everyone with respect regardless of the color of their skin, while others say that this defeats the point. The question that many people ask is: do some lives matter more or less than others? The

problem with this question is that this misses the point more than anything else. Violence affects everyone across all walks of life, regardless of skin color.

A community can protest the unlawful shooting of an unarmed man and try to promote peace, but the goal of these gatherings sometimes contradict themselves. Some of these people will group together and protest peacefully in the style of Ghandi and MLK, while others – protesting

the same point – will loot and burn shops and convenience stores, which does nothing to improve the validity of their argument. There will certainly be some cops standing in front of the protesters to keep the peace; some will see this as preventing the protesters from

doing anything wrong, and others will believe this keeps the protesters safe from everyone else. There will also be some police off icers at those stores that are being looted and destroyed, and they will try to stop the criminals with varying tactics. Some will arrest with minimal casualties and some will shoot to kill. Some of these criminals will f ight the police and

others might even kill some of them.

The next day after the smoke has cleared everyone will come up with their own story; some will say their peaceful protest went well and others will say they were treated unfairly. The news will report on the event and put their own spin on it to prove their points, but none of this will change the fact that over the course of that night, people will have died. The protesters will point to the dead criminals and use

them to show police brutality, while those on the other side will point to the dead cops and say that they were killed by violent and unruly protestors. Neither side will see the entire picture though. At the end of the day, there were casualities; black people and white people; criminals and police off icers; guilty and innocent people; and because people do not see it this way, nothing will have been f ixed.

This is the intention of the “all lives matter” movement as a whole – an end to the violence. Saying “all lives matter” does not have to mean that they are taking the struggle that any other race is going through for granted, but that they are trying to take race out of the picture. True, some people supporting this do so out of racism, but that can also be said for many carrying the signs for “black lives matter.” In the end, one side cannot be right while the other side is wrong because that will mean that one side has lost. The only outcome that can be described as good is the one where everyone wins; when people are not treated any differently because of the color of their skin – whether it is black or white, regardless of if they wear a police uniform or not – the only good outcome is an end to violence.

Illustration by Brittney Farrow

“ Violence affects everyone across all walks of life, regardless of skin color.

5Sept. 3, 2015

OPINIONS

Brittney FarrowOpinions Editor

Media Bias Fact or Fiction?Reflecting on the myth that is journalistic integrity

“Journalistic integrity” – two words I hear quite often. Ever since I started writing for newspapers when I was fifteen, I have heard that phrase come out of the mouth of all of my peers at least once. They say it like it is something sacred and untarnished; a romantic, fantasized notion that has stood the test of time. Well, it has not. Journalistic integrity does not exist; it is as commonplace in our modern media as Old Hollywood and VHS tapes. If there was such a thing – a moral code followed through and through by every person who dared to call themselves a journalist – then the content we allow to shape our opinions would look very different. I don’t know why, but it seems that every audience assumes that newspapers and televised broadcasts deliver information to them with the best intentions. That in every workplace, there is a White Knight of journalism, dedicated to writing only the truth for a public who deserves the best. We – as a society – need to stop making these assumptions. We need to stop assuming that the facts we are being force-fed on

a daily basis are pure and holy. Chances are, they are anything but.

The truth is, there is always motive behind every story, whether the journalist intends for there to be or not. While many journalists – myself included – try to minimize the amount of subconscious opinion ingrained into a segment, rarely are we successful. Unfortunately, bias is not always so easy to spot; due to the nature of how we retain information, many journalists are set up for failure from the get-go. Networks are funded by wealthy people with their own opinions and agendas; papers and magazines are produced with an angle in mind. That affects the environment of the newsroom drastically. It impacts what stories are picked up and which ones are not; it determines who writes what, and how.

A good example of this is to note how the media handles cases of violence related to young people. When young adult men, in particular, make headlines everything about them – from their race, age, education, family life, etc. – is cherry-picked and assembled into a singular public image that can be presented to readers and viewers everywhere. If a source wants to paint this person as a saint, they will discuss this person’s “sweet nature” and talk about that time in fifth grade

they volunteered at a soup kitchen. If they want the audience to go against their person of interest, they will talk about anything else – like family issues and what kind of “sketchy” neighborhood the person lived in at one point, and the possible contacts they could have made while there.

A year ago, when Mike Brown was shot in Ferguson, the media immediately turned their back on him. Whether or not he was innocent is not the topic of this piece. Instead, I would just like to note that merely days after he was killed stories about him ran in every paper in the country, and his picture was on every channel. “The New York Times” – one of the most reputable papers in our country – said that he was, “no angel”. Across the continent, journalists from every possible alignment wrote article upon article trying to justify his death. He was “under the influence”; he was “a thug”. Years earlier, in 2012, the same thing happened to Trayvon Martin – an unarmed African American teenager shot by a member of a Florida neighborhood’s watch.

Conversely, young white men have been in the news for violence on a larger scale several times in the past few years, and yet they rarely receive the same treatment. In 2014, Elliot Rodger – a wealthy college student in

California – killed seven people, himself included. In a written “manifesto” and a video he published on Youtube, 22-year-old Rodger claimed that his murder spree was the result of years and years of being rejected by women, and that he wanted to punish them for their “grotesque injustices” against him. Despite making his intentions public, after the incident he was – surprisingly – not entirely chastised. News outlets questioned his mental stability; some even claimed that his actions were not the result of a man who felt entitled to women and their bodies, but the consequences of “untreated” social anxiety and Asperger’s. For the thousands of Americans with mental illnesses, this should have been a slap in the face. While society normally insists that people with mental illnesses try to “overcome” theirs, Elliot Rodgers was being excused from his actions for a condition he may or may not have suffered from.

Similarly, when James Holmes walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Co. and killed 12 people – resulting in the largest and most violent massacre in the state since Columbine – he was reprimanded peacefully. As soon as he was placed on trial, reports came flooding in claiming that he was mentally unwell – a victim to severe schizoaffective disorder.

There are many, many more cases similar to these ones. Regardless of the fact that pre-meditated murder is a much more severe offense then the possible assault of a police officer (or in George Zimmerman’s case, a member of the Neighborhood Watch) one subset of young men were treated with certain vindictiveness while the others – despite generally being regarded as “bad” – were almost excused from their horrible crimes at a first moment’s notice.

It is important, as a collective society, that we recognize how easily our attitudes towards certain groups of people and towards certain topics can influence our perception of current events. While news is supposed to be factual and honest, the ideals and opinions of the journalist presenting such stories can often be found underneath the surface. The more we are aware of our own bias, the more easily we can spot it within the media. It is our responsibility as citizen to read up on current events and absorb the information with dedicated interest, while also being able to make distinctions between fact and embellishments. As far as I am concerned, journalistic integrity is the stuff of legends. You can find it right next to Bigfoot and Nessie, should you try and go looking for it.

Illustration by Brittney Farrow

6 INDEPTHSept. 3, 2015

1755 1795 18151775 1835 1855 1875

1776The right to vote started,

only to white, property-owning, protestant men.

1792 New Hampshire is the

first state to remove property requierments, thus extending the right to vote

to all white men.

1828 Maryland is the first state to remove religious restrictions. White men can no longer be denied the right to cote on the basis of their religion.

1856 North Carolina, last

state to eliminate property requriments.

All white men in America can now vote.

Ben Carson (R) Unlike his opponents, Ben Carson is not a career politician. Instead, he is a retired pediatric neurosurgeon who once acted as the director of his department at John Hopkins. Despite the fact that only three former presidents have had no political experience, Ben Carson’s campaign has held its own amongst conservatives who are disappointed with the strength of government influence in their lives. Carson has vocally disapproved of the Iran nuclear deal and wants the American government to take more action against terrorist groups like ISIS.

Hilary Clinton (D)Despite being a former first lady to her husband Bill Clinton, Hillary has a strong political profile herself that sets her aside from some of her opposing candidates. After losing the democratic nomination in 2008 to Barack Obama, Clinton went on to serve as his Secretary of State, giving her solid experience with foreign affairs. During that time she voted in support of educational reform and programs to benefit low-income families.

With a plethora of information floating around, it can be difficult for young voters – especially those participating in their first election – to keep track of everything they need to know. Understanding terminology can be difficult: what is the Electoral College, and why does it matter? What is the difference

between liberals and conservatives? What in the world is an absentee ballot? Believe it or not, some politicians benefit off of a young voter’s lack of education on political matters. Voters 30 and under make up one-fifth of the voting population, and yet they rarely attend elections at the same rates as their older counterparts. This drastically affects the outcome for both parties; it can be the difference between a red state and a blue state. It can majorly

determine who leads the country and who does not. In order to keep you better-informed, we have assembled an introduction to the upcoming elections. Get to know the candidates and see who is the best choice for you; read through our list of vote-cabulary. Do not waste time trying to ignore political events. Every vote counts, and the more well-versed you are on the issues, the more likely you are to make an impact. Young voters have power, and they can make a difference.

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Politics 101: The primaries in motion

Brittney FarrowOpinions Editor

Alex WhitePhoto Editor

7INDEPTHSept. 3, 2015

1875 19151895 1935 1955 1975

1869/1870 15th Amendment pass

in Congress, all men can vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

1919/1920 19th amendment

passed, the right to vote is now guaranteed to

all citizens regardless of gender.

1971 26th amendment sets

the national voting age to 18 and over.

Votecabulary

Electoral College: A group of people, appointed by each state that formally cast

votes for both the president and vice president.

Swing States: A state that has a similar level of support for both of the major

parties. (Ohio, Iowa, Florida)

Caucus: A meeting of a legislative body who pick the candidates and/or decide

policy for a particular political party

Gerrymandering: Means to manipulate the boundaries of the electoral constitu-

ency so to favor one party or class.

Delegate: A person who is chosen to represent a local political party at a political

convention.

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA): Passed in 1971, limits the financing of

campaigns for federal elections. Requiring candidates and political committees let

the public know who financially supports them as well as how they spend it. As

well as regulating how that money is spent.

Soft money: Money that is given to a political party with the intention to support

voter registration drives, administrative costs and general political party expenses.

Though it is often used by the parties to help particular candidates.

Bernie Sanders (D)An independent Senator from Vermont, Sanders is a self-titled socialist who has taken a stance against “big money” corporations. Using social media to run his campaign, the Senator has been vocal about social justice issues and is in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15. Sanders is also in support of lowering college tuition.

Martin O’Malley (D)Named the second-most liberal presidential candidate, Martin O’Malley served as the governor of Maryland from 2007 to January of this year. An experienced politician, he has acted for the past decade as the chair of the Governor’s Executive Council and the co-chair of the Council of Governor’s. At the Iowa State Fair in August, O’Malley announced his “15 goals to rebuild the American dream” which included points of interest like focusing on renewable energy and giving immigrants a clear path to citizenship.

Donald Trump (R)A wealthy real estate developer and TV personality, Donald Trump is no stranger to the spotlight. After attending Wharton he went on to work with his father, who was also a real estate developer, and now has a net worth of $4 billion. Since late summer, he is the front-runner for the Republican Party in every state, and has been very vocal about his disapproval for other candidates. When not taking stances against his opposition, Trump openly disapproves of the immigration rate and has said that his first act as president if elected would be to deport Mexican immigrants and their families. Some major media publications – such as “The Huffington Post” – have refused to cover Trump’s campaign in their politics section, calling it a “sideshow.”

Jeb Bush (R)Coming from a well-known political family, Jeb Bush is the son of George H.W. Bush and the younger brother of George W. Bush – a former president. In 1999 he was elected as the governor of Florida, and during his campaign for that position he said stated that women could get off the welfare system by getting married. In office, Bush would hope to phase out Medicare – calling it a dysfunctional system.

Page layout by Marissa Diercks

8Sept. 3, 2015

ART & LIFE

“And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our destiny lies above us.”

- Interstellar 2014

Unusual escapades of an STLCC studentEvan Carlen breaks adventurous boundaries in Japan

STLCC - Meramec student Evan Carlen lives an adventurous life. By looking at him most could not guess he has played baseball in Japan, jumped out of an airplane and does backflips for fun. Many who meet him can agree he is not your average 20 year old.

“For me, it was just kind of the way I was raised,” Carlen said. He does not consider the life he lives as adventurous, he just considers it plain living.

“[Being adventurous] definitely had to come from my dad,” Carlen said. His love for living sparks from his father who is an avid bike rider.

“I just see how happy he is whenever he’s out there on the trails riding his bike, and I really take to it,” Carlen said. Whether it is going on a family camping trip, or to visit national parks, being raised in a home where adventure is around every corner helped shape him into who he is today.

When Carlen was 15-years-old he got the chance of a lifetime to play baseball in Japan.

“A buddy of mine I played on the [high school] baseball team with said he wanted to go out and be a pitcher for this team that was going to Japan. So, I talked to a couple of my other buddies, and we all went and tried out,” Carlen said. Little did he know just how much he would take away from the experience, besides playing baseball in a foreign country. “Whenever you are born and raised in the same house here in St. Louis, you don’t really get the

taste of other ways of living,” said Carlen. He resided in a Japanese residence home with one of his teammates for the duration of the trip. Traveling somewhere new and getting to experience something such as playing baseball in Japan is exactly what he was all about.

“That was the first time I really stepped out of my bounds, here in St. Louis and here in the states, and I actually found out

about a different culture and it was actually really refreshing,” Carlen said.

His love for adventure continued on a few years after he experienced Japan. When he was 19, he decided that it would be a great idea to go skydiving. Skydiving felt like Christmas to Carlen.

“Christmas morning. Whereas the build up is almost more special than the actual event itself,” Carlen said. The adventure of leaping from an aircraft was one for the books in his eyes.

“The initial falling out the airplane, that was the highlight of my life. I will never forget that,” Carlen said.

The thrill did not end there.

“Whenever the parachute opened, I didn’t want to stop free falling, you fall in love with that instantly. As soon as you hit terminal velocity, it’s almost like zero gravity; you’re floating. You’re just in your own world looking out,” Carlen said. He cannot wait to do it again.

Besides the flips Carlen encountered while free falling,

he enjoys to do them practically whenever he gets an urge.

“Whenever something wells up in me and I want to do it, I do it. If somebody wants to judge me for that, if someone wants to make fun of me for that, so be it. But we need to empower each other,” Carlen said.

He positively wants to encourage people to go for what they want, to be adventurous.

“I could think of a lot worse way to die than by doing something you could potentially love, and could change your life for the better for the remainder of it,” Carlen said.

Being too afraid to live is out of the question for Carlen.

“My words of wisdom for someone that’s too afraid to live would be, ‘hey, come hang out with me we’ll see what living is all about,” Carlen said.

Another adventure led him to get a tattoo with a deep meaning. It is a semicolon on his right ribcage and is a reminder to stay adventurous. The semicolon represents a moment he could have wasted, but instead he seizes that moment. He loves to go out of his way to talk to new people and strangers.

“It [talking to new people] is an adventure. And it’s really fun to think in my head, ‘what would be a good ice breaker that would make them feel comfortable?’” Carlen said.

Keeping this mindset helps him be ready for whatever adventure is next. The way in which he lives his life displays he has no regrets.

“I could be in my deathbed, get leukemia and I wouldn’t lay there and say, ‘Wow, I’m really bummed that I didn’t get out there and live, I was going to, I promise, I was going to get out there, I was going to travel.’ If you have the opportunity, go for it, seize the day,” Carlen said. He knows that to be happy is to be adventurous.

“Every adventure has a

destination,” Carlen said. He plans to keep his mindset and continue to spread good vibes. He also wants to continue to travel, and keep getting the most out of his life for as long as he can.

“My plan is to live. I don’t want to be stagnant, I don’t want to be algae on a pond; I want to keep riding the rapids,” Carlen said.

“I could think of a lot worse ways to die than by doing something you

could potentially love, and could change your life for the better for the

remainder of it.”

BIWEEKLY INSPIRATION

Katie LeichtArt & Life Editor

Submitted PhotoMeramec student Evan Carlen enjoys a moment in Japan in 2010 with friends.

Photo By Katie LeichtCarlen performs a spontaneous back flip on campus.

9Sept. 3, 2015

ART & LIFE

Couple gets engaged in former classroomCommunications professor coordinates proposal

Samantha Sandvoss sat in her old classroom on the Meramec campus — Communications North, Room 201 — patiently waiting. She had not been a student in that room for nearly three years. But on the morning of June 4, 2015, she was not there for a class. Her former communications instructor and Meramec professor Chris Smejkal had contacted her about participating in an interview about life after graduation.

Sandvoss took Smejkal’s Gender Communication class.

“I told her that I wanted some of my best and brightest students that had graduated and moved on,” Smejkal said. “And I wanted to get some information about them since they’ve graduated. I told her it’d be a 15 to 20 minute interview and that it was going to be recorded, so you’ll want to dress nice.”

Sandvoss was excited to participate, but did not want to freeze on camera.

“I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to answer his questions,” Sandvoss said. “I hadn’t taken a class in a while. I didn’t know what he was going to ask me.”

Sandvoss situated herself at the table. Smejkal left the room and said he would “be right back.”

Sandvoss waited. The door opened, but it was

not Smejkal. It was her boyfriend — Mitch

Moody. He stepped in toward her and dropped to a knee.

Where it All BeganMoody and Sandvoss did not

meet on the first day of their class together in Room 201. It was two weeks afterward, when Smejkal did an in-class assignment — a stream of conscious writing project — where his students listed things they thought of, when they thought of a guy or a girl.

The two ended up with each other’s papers.

“I ran out of things to think of, so I just started listing actors,” Sandvoss said. “He got my paper and cracked up because he thought it was funny. That’s how we first met.”

Outside of Room 201, Moody noticed that Sandvoss would arrive early for their Gender Communication class and wait in the hallway. Moody began doing the same.

“I started getting here earlier and earlier,” Moody said. “I started asking her for help on homework and for studying. She didn’t know that I was actually smart and didn’t need any help.”

Sandvoss was also taking Introduction to Sociology, that same semester, and Moody had previously taken it.

He shared his Introduction to Sociology notebook with her, and inside, wrote his number. The two began chitchatting more, than just outside of the hallway of their mutual class.

“I don’t think we ever talked

about Sociology,” Moody said.And by Halloween, they were

dating.

Behind the SceneMoody was nervous. He

was in a video room waiting for Smejkal to return, after exiting his old classroom.

He had prepared for this moment and wanted it to be a success. Moody had scheduled around summer vacations and contacted Smejkal — the ruse was on.

“She always gives me trouble about my planning skills,” Moody said. “If we have to plan something, she’ll just take over. And this was the one thing, probably in our whole lives, where I couldn’t wait for her to take it over.”

But his nerves almost got the better of him. He sent a text message to his girlfriend of nearly three years, asking if she was “here” at Meramec.

He recovered with a correction, adding a ‘T’ before ‘h-e-r-e’ in a second text.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” Sandvoss said. “He always misspells.”

Moody put his phone down and did not respond back to any of her text messages.

“Then I started pouring sweat,” Moody said.

Smejkal returned to the back video room. And, Moody headed down the hallway, toward the door of Room 201.

He walked in and saw Sandvoss.

A Happy RoomSmejkal did have made-up

questions to ask Sandvoss. But questions like, ‘When was

the last time you sang to yourself ?’ were never asked. The interview did not go that far.

Moody had different question to ask first. And his bride-to-be said, ‘Yes.’

“It’s weird because before I met her, I hated this room,” Moody said. “It’s like a closet.”

But even in a room without

windows, Moody found happiness.“Some people will go to

where they had their first date — or where they went to eat for the first time. But our first date was technically Creepyworld,” Moody said. “So, I figured we’d go back to where we first met.”

Moody made the right move.“I’m happy to be back in this

classroom. This was my favorite class,” Sandvoss said. “I would not have wanted to do it anywhere else.”

metroPOWERYOGA

Welcome Week Activities

Spencer GleasonContributing Writer

Photo By Spencer Gleason

Mitch Moody and his fiance Samantha Sandvoss pose in the classroom where they first met after his proposal for marriage.

MJoin the MONTAGE• Write• Photography• Design

Room: SC 220 A - Meet at 5 pm Tuesdays

Meramec students welcomed with a week of fun and sun in the quad

The first week of classes was anything but ordinary as the library quad was full of students juggling, visiting club-sponsored booths and playing soccer games on the campus lawn. Sponsored by the Campus Life office, Welcome Week also included a spirit day, a game of Meramec survivor, free food, samples of Monster and fun in the sun with members of the Archers’ athletic teams.

Photos By Ashley Biundo

10

UniversityCollege

Learn more at ucollege.wustl.edu/smart and make the #SmartestChoice for continuing your education.

YOU’VE ALREADY MADE A SMART CHOICE BY ENROLLING AT STLCC.

When you’re ready for the next step, continue your educational journey at a world-class university that will focus on your needs, at your convenience.

Afforable courses part-time | evening | online

WUSTLucollege

11Sept. 3, 2015

Career & Employment Services Week

Monday, September 14, 2015 Open House & Outreach Table: Career & Employment Services Department Business Administration Building, Room AD 249 : 9 am - 12 pm and 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm We invite the St. Louis Community College community to join us for Career & Employment Services (CES) Open House, a day to introduce ourselves to incoming students. This will be a welcoming event where you will have an opportunity to meet with Career & Employment staff and student assistants. Guests can meet and greet, enjoy light refreshments and pick up a trinket from the CES office.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015 On-Campus Recruiting: Labor Ready & First Light Home Care : Student Center Lobby : 11 am - 1 pm

Wednesday, September 16, 2015: Professionalism Workshop with Dina Patterson Location BA 105, 12 pm - 1 pm ; Sponsored by Career & Employment Services and Co-sponsored by TRIO at Meramec (RSVP REQUIRED)

Business Etiquette starts right here. This is an amazing Workshop for anyone who desires to cultivate professional skillsets and strives to learn the importance of integrity, higher work performance, unity, excellence both academically and professionally and an overall greater devotion to self-improvement. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to work well with others, how to maintain organization, manage time and priorities. If you would like to learn how to commit to self-improvement, please plan to attend this workshop! RSVP HERE

On-Campus Recruiting : Dierberg’s Markets & UPS : Student Center Lobby : 11 am - 1 pm

Thursday, September 17, 2015: Career Coach Bus Tour; Student Center Quad, 10am—2pm On-Campus Recruiting : LGC Associates LLC & St. Louis YouthBuild: Student Center Lobby : 11 am – 1 pm

Friday, September 18, 2015 Resumania: CES Office 9 am – 12 pm Career & Employment Services Department Administration Building, Room AD 249 : 9 am - 12 pm Drop in resume review. Stop by Career and Employment Services to get expert feedback! You’ll spend 5 - 10 minutes reviewing your resume with a career professional. Bring a copy of your resume. If you need more help, you can make an appointment at a later date for a longer session.

Non-Discrimination/Accommodations Statement: St. Louis Community College is committed to non-discrimination and equal opportunities in its admissions, educational programs, activities, and employment regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, or status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran and shall take action necessary to ensure non-discrimination. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is also prohibited. For information or concerns related to discrimination or sexual harassment, contact William Woodward, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, 314-539-5374. If you have accommodation needs, please contact Career and Employment Services at 314-984-7611 at least two working days prior to the event.

SPORTS

This is something that has frustrated me for quite some time because I never understood, and still do not understand, why this is allowed. It is one of the more questionable decisions in professional sports because it could lead to dire consequences, if something goes wrong. In my opinion, team starters should not be allowed to participate in preseason games.

Starters should not have to participate in these games because they have nothing to prove. These players, more than likely, already have the starting job on the team, so they would just be wasting precious energy that could be helpful for when the games really count. The National Football League is a good example of this because you see it happen all the time. I do not understand why a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers has to play these preseason games because the Green Bay Packers already envision him as the starter for the regular season.

Preseason games are not the highest rated games on television and they do not draw the biggest crowds. I understand sports fans are eager to see their favorite teams, but that excitement is mostly geared toward the regular season. I also understand there are many sports fans that do care about preseason games, but there are many other fans that do not. In my opinion, not allowing starters to play in the preseason would bring more attention to these games because fans would be able to see different players.

Last, but not least, starters should not play in preseason games because they can run the risk of getting injured. This is something that has unfortunately become a reality more than once. In 2014, Atlanta Braves Pitcher Kris Medlen tore a ligament in the elbow of this pitching arm. It resulted in Medlen missing the entire 2014 regular season because it happened during Spring Training. The Braves struggled that year because he was their best pitcher and he could not be there to lead his team.

I do not understand why starters have to participate in preseason games. That does not mean they can just sit around and do nothing until the regular season starts, but allowing them to exude unnecessary energy could jeopardize the future. Let them use that time to utilize safer ways to condition for the important games. If a preseason is going to exist, it should only be for those players who consistently compete for spots on the main roster. For this instance only, the starters would receive a free pass because it would be more beneficial in the long run.

Christian’s Corner

Christian HargasSports Editor

Know when to start

Heading for the HillsThe Rams leaving for Los Angeles would ruin St. Louis’ sports continuity

It has been a long time since the St. Louis Rams were a marquee franchise in the National Football League. You would have to go back to the 2003 season, which was the last time the Rams made an appearance in the playoffs and posted a winning record.

Since then, the team has amassed a 32 percent winning percentage (57-118-1) and finished last place in the NFC’s Western Division seven of the last 11 seasons.

Now, the Rams have garnered a little attention from the national sports media because of a potential move back to Los Angeles, Calif., which would remove them from the Midwest for a significant, if not permanent, amount of time.

The prospect of moving back to the west coast would seem like the appropriate thing to do for the franchise, according to Rams owner Stan Kroenke. On the flipside, doing that would break the heart of St. Louis fans.

It is easy to understand why Kroenke has a desire to relocate his franchise. Los Angeles is currently the second largest city in the United States, with the second largest media market.

Kroenke understands the NFL is a business with the primary objective to make money, but he fails to look past the “glitz and glam” of Hollywood. According to Bring Back the Los Angeles Rams, fan attendance to games in California averaged 51,620 from 1988 to 1994 – which was the franchise’s worst stretch. Fan attendance in Missouri averaged 56,458 from 2008 to 2014 – which was the team’s worst stretch in St. Louis, according to Football Ballparks. During their lowest point in each city, St. Louis proved to be more supportive than Los Angeles.

Another argument most Ram fans in Tinsel Town make is that St. Louis is a “baseball town”. While the Cardinals are the most popular team in town, mostly because of their success, this does not mean professional football does not matter here. According to The Los Angeles

Times, the Rams were ranked 19th out of the 20 most popular sports franchises in their region. Furthermore, this same source declared the Los Angeles Lakers the most popular franchise in L.A.

Finally, the Rams were not the only NFL team to ever call Los Angeles their home. The Raiders spent 12 seasons there from 1982 to 1994. Also, according to The Los Angeles Times, the Raiders were ranked ninth on the top 20 most popular sports franchises in L.A.

They were also the only team to win a Super Bowl Championship there, during the 1983 season. The Raiders are also looking to move back to Los Angeles, and I believe they would receive a much warmer welcome because they were more popular there.

Kroenke looks to have his sights set on taking his Rams back to California. He may believe that would be the best thing for the franchise, but St. Louis needs them more than Los Angeles.

Graphic By Christian Hargas

Christian HargasSports Editor

12 SPORTS

The view from the topNew athletic director Summe shares his vision for STLCC

STLCC Athletic Director Shawn Summe has been the athletic director for Saint Louis Community College since Dec. 1, 2014. The potential for the STLCC Athletic Department to be successful is an important motive and that past success can be replicated, Summe said.

“I want to help it progress to where it needs to be. There has been a lot of success between the campuses in the past. We have national championships in volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and baseball. Those are things I think we can replicate and achieve once again,” Summe said. “We also have great student athletes with a chance to change their lives and be educated. Athletics are great, but we also have a chance to be able to help students get education through athletics.”

This is not his first time being the director of a collegiate athletic department and he uses his past experience to help him today, Summe said.

“I served as an athletic director, and a fundraiser coordinator for an athletics department in the past. The one thing I think would be the best experience I can possibly take away from everything is the ability to develop and cultivate relationships amongst the entire campus faculty and staff, which is the most important thing that can be done to make the job successful,” Summe said.

The STLCC Athletics Department is the main part of his job, but he does other smaller jobs for the community college, Summe said. “I will serve some committees for the Accreditation Process. I will also serve on the committee for the Foundations

Golf Tournament. Other than that, I am strictly in the athletics department,” Summe said.

The department is in good standing - but there are always things that can be done to strengthen it, Summe said.

“It is our job as administrators, coaches and student athletes to try and improve the visibility of the athletic department. We do have interesting set ups – compared to other schools. We play our games on multiple different campuses [Florissant Valley, Forest Park, Meramec, and Wildwood]. We also want to improve on the visibility of each team – through student athletes doing their part as students and being an active part of the campus community,” Summe said.

Coaches and administrators also play an important part in improving the strength and visibility of the campus by being accessible to every campus, Summe said.

“We are trying to do things to make the athletic department better every day. I do not think there is ever a point where we can just sit back and say that [athletics] is great. It is more of ‘what can we do every day to make this better’, ‘what can we do to help our student athletes achieve success in the classroom, out of the classroom, on the fields and off the fields,” Summe said.

Looking back at past success is a good way to formulate future success, Summe said.

“I love looking back at the past because we have had a lot of success, but the department is different now than it was back then. We are trying to replicate success we had back then – on the field and on the court – and we are trying to make sure we have student athletes that are getting their education to be able to continue their educational athletic

careers at a four year school,” Summe said.

New plans are already being made and past concepts are also returning to the STLCC A t h l e t i c s D e p a r t m e n t , Summe said.

“One of the returning concepts this year is our volleyball team. We did not have that program last year, but it has come back. A new and exciting plan for our baseball team is that they will be playing their games back at the Meramec Campus. We have been away for about three years, so that is a positive for them to be back on campus,” Summe said.

Community college athletics could be as popular as notarized university athletics – like the University of Alabama and University of Southern California – but it would be a challenge, Summe said.

“I think it would be hard, at first, because we lack the television, radio and newspaper awareness. I think if we do our business and we are successful, we can become a pride for the city of Saint Louis,” Summe said.

STLCC is working on ways to improve the visibility of the athletics department and expand their horizons through the media, Summe said.

“For newspapers, right now, they will put our scores in the

paper, but they will not write any aricles about us until we get to tournaments. Once we start having success, that will begin to happen. Hopefully, we well get the media to come out and do stories on our program, but they want to see success before they do that,” Summe said.

The success of the program will be the result of hard work, dedication and pride in one’s job, Summe said.

“For one, there has to be a vision. Two, you have to have great help and we really do. We have a great office manager, athletic director, and coaches that really help everything run smoothly. One person cannot run the athletic department. You have to have good communication with the administrators as well. That is the great thing about [STLCC]

that we have people – starting with Chancellor Pittman down to our student athletes – who want to see you be successful because they care. That makes it fun to be a part of it,” Summe said.

The ultimate vision of the STLCC Athletics Department comes down to three main goals.

“One, our students athletes are successful in their classes, so they are graduating and finishing up the academic side of everything. Two, they [student athletes] become productive members of the campus community and they are actively being a part of the Meramec Campus. Three, we compete for regional championships. We want to compete for championships, we want them to be the best students they can be, and we want to be the best people we can be,” Summe said.

Christian HargasSports Editor

Concussions: A common sports injury under the microscope

According to Prevacus, there was an estimation of 1.6 to 3.8 million sports – related concussions in the United States last year. STLCC Nursing Professor Faith Caster said concussion awareness has grown over recent years.

“There has been a growing concern with the number of concussions that seem to be growing over the past couple of years. What does not seem to be growing, though, is the general knowledge of concussions,” Caster said.

Caster said a concussion is a mechanical injury that can, sometimes, result in a mild form of pain.

“Concussions are known to be some sort of head trauma obtained from a simple hit on the head. One that is very mild may not even develop into anything,

yet there are those rare occasions where symptoms do not begin to show [until] a few days later,” Caster said.

Common concussion symptoms include vomiting, dizziness and passing out, Caster said, and the first 24 hours after getting a hard hit to the head are the most crucial to properly diagnose a concussion.

“Somebody who does not make sense when they are talking or their movements are jerky – and they cannot move properly – shows symptoms of having a concussion. [For vomiting] it really is two or more times of vomiting. So, if somebody vomits one time after getting bonked on the head, that does not guarantee it,” Caster said.

Caster said there could be devestating long-term effects to having a concussion.

“If it is just one concussion, there may not be any long-term effects. The things we are hearing a lot about – especially in the professional football world – is those repeat concussions. [Repeat concussions] can eventually lead to

brain damage or an earlier onset of Alzheimers or dementia,” Caster said. Concussions are treatable.

“Continuing to watch the person, usually, we will see those symptoms withing that [first] 24 hour window. If it was from a contact sport, they will probably be told that they do not get to play for a while. Keeping an athlete [safe] will help prevent future concussions and help the current concussion heal faster with the hopes to eventually be on the field again,” Caster said.

Maintaining attention to developing head injuries is important to determining the severity of it, Caster said.

“Paying attention to how a head injury develops over a period of time is important to diagnosing the injury properly. Concussions may happen from a contact sport, a car accident or even a fall that his the head too hard. Prevention of a head injury is not the easiest, but when we learn more about their causes and effects, it can be done,” Caster said.

STLCC Athletic Director Shawn Summe talks with soccer players Emily Fox and Tessa Killingsworth Aug. 26 in the Quad during the Welcome Back Week Events at Meramec.

Photo By Alex White

Alex WhitePhoto Editor

Graphic by Alex White

Sept. 3, 2015