MONTAGE
The
Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient VOLUME 56, ISSUE 2
OCTOBER 1, 2020
WWW.MERAMECMONTAGE.COM
‘She was a hero’
Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life Mary wilson opinions editor
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ssociate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Sept. 18 from complications of metastatic cancer of the pancreas, the Supreme Court reported. It was the fourth time she had battled cancer. She was 87. Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1993 by President Clinton, and managed to achieve a rockstar following in recent years. Eventually she reached first-name status, allowing everyday people to refer to her simply as ‘RBG.’ In the past few years there have been several movies and documentaries about her life. She traveled cross country on speaking tours. She was so famous that she even had a StubHub page where people could track where her next speaking engagement was. However, her rise to fame was slow. “She was a hero and a warrior for women’s rights and LGBTQ rights,” said Meramec English Professor Maxine Beach. “She was a warrior and went to law school when women did not do that.” The life of RBG In an interview, Ginsburg once said that “for most girls growing up in the ‘40s, the most important degree was not your B.A., but your M.R.S.” “Ginsburg was brilliant, as we all know, and was not going to be satisfied with being a housewife,” Beach said. “She wanted to use that brilliant mind of hers and put it to good work.”
GRAPHIC BY Lily Helmer Ginsburg met her husband, Martin (Marty) Ginsburg at college, and got married after she graduated. Even though Ginsburg would eventually be known as a ‘champion of gender rights,’ she didn’t start out to be a lawyer for women’s rights. She is quoted as saying that she attended law school “for personal, selfish reasons. I thought I could do a lawyer’s job better than any other. I have no talent in the arts, but I do write fairly well and analyze problems clearly.” As a law student at Harvard— one of only nine female students in the school—she made the law review in 1957, according to the American Civil Liberties Union website. When Mr. Ginsburg was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Ginsburg went to all his classes for law school, took notes, took care of their three-year-old daughter, wrote down his senior class paper as Mr. Ginsburg dictated it to her, and then, when the rest of her family was asleep, would read the textbooks necessary for the next day of classes. Later on, in a 1993 interview with NPR, Mr. Ginsburg said of his time battling cancer: “So that left Ruth with a
3 year old child, a fairly sick husband, the law review, classes to attend and feeding me.” Ginsburg graduated from the Columbia Law School, where she tied for first in her class. She was recommended by a Harvard Law professor for a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. However, Frankfurter said that he wasn’t ready to hire a woman. After graduation from law school, according to the ACLU website, she did not get a job offer from any of the 12 firms she interviewed with. Just two firms gave her a follow up interview. F r o m 1959 to 1961 Ginsburg worked as a clerk for Judge Palmieri, the ACLU reports. She only got the job because her mentor, law professor Gerald Gunther, promised Judge Palmieri that “if she couldn’t do the work, he would provide someone who could.” NPR reported that Gunther “regularly fed his best students to Palmieri” and said that if Palmieri didn’t hire Ginsburg, Gunther would quit sending him students. Palmieri kept Ginsburg on for two years. Most of his clerks only stayed for one.
She was a hero and a warrior for women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, Maxine Beach
After she finished, she received offers from law firms. Instead, Ginsburg worked with Columbia Law School’s International Procedure Project instead. She co-authored a book on Sweden’s legal system and she translated Sweden’s Judicial Code into English. When, as a faculty member at Rutgers, she learned she was being paid less than her male colleagues, she joined an “equal pay campaign,” according to the ACLU. The campaign resulted in “substantial increases for all the complainants.” She hid her second pregnancy at Rutgers by wearing her mother in law’s clothes, NPR reported. Because of this, her contract was renewed before she gave birth. Ginsburg, moved by her own experiences with discrimination, began to handle sex discrimination complaints referred to her by the New Jersey affiliate of the ACLU. Ginsburg thought that men and women would “create new traditions by their actions, if artificial barriers are removed, and avenues of opportunity held open to them.” In 1972, Ginsburg helped start the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. Also in 1972, she was the first woman to ever be granted tenure at Columbia Law School. She wrote her first Supreme Court brief in 1971. Ginsburg represented Sally Reed in the case Reed v. Reed. Sally Reed thought she “should be the executor of her son’s estate, instead of her ex husband,” NPR reported.
Continued on p. 5
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NEWS 3
October 1, 2020
EDITORS ASHLEY BIUNDO
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
JACOB POLITTE
ONLINE EDITOR
MARY WILSON
OPINIONS EDITOR
STAFF
“Healthfully App” Health Screening required for admittance to all STLCC campuses Students can not access campus without using the app
SYED ALI JOHN HUNDLEY HANNAH SCHOENROCK
Shannon Philpott-Sanders Faculty Adviser
Twitter.com/ themontage
I
Jacob politte online editor
n order for students to attend inperson classes or otherwise be on any STLCC campus this semester, they must complete a screening on the Healthfully App before each visit. The screening asks if students are exhibiting any symptoms of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) or have been around someone who has. If that is the case, the app helps determine if an individual needs to self-isolate or follow up with a visit to a doctor, and can suggest a testing location to visit. The app itself can be found on the App Store (for iPhones and other Apple devices), the Google Play Store (for Androids and other cellular devices) or it can be accessed on a computer desktop
(at https://app.healthfully.io/ login). Students that were or are scheduled to attend oncampus classes this semester have received an invite to use the App. Students who did not receive an invite can use their STLCC email address to sign up for an account. According to the STLCC website, the college is “conducting daily health checks to help maintain safety in the learning environment.” The website also stipulates that “The Healthfully App helps to ensure a safe and healthy environment as we have a limited reopen this fall. The program provides complete exposure prevention, testing, and management with robust security. The College is committed to the
safety and well-being of the entire STLCC family and it is our hope that the use of this app will simplify the self-health assessment process for our campus and aid us in our efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 on our campus.” If a student has issues accessing the Healthfully app, they can contact the College Help Desk at (314) 539-5113, by email at helpdesk@stlcc.edu or the STLCC IT-Help Desk.
Facebook.com/ meramecmontage/
Instagram.com “meramecmontage” Here are a few of the questions that are located on the Healthfully App that students will need to fill out before being on campus every time they need to be on campus. Students who answer ‘yes’ to any questions should not come to campus.
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THE MONTAGE To place an advertisement, contact the advertising manager for rates, sample issues, etc., contact 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 seven times per semester at St. Louis Community College - Meramec, 11333 Big Bend Blvd., Kirkwood, Mo., 63122. One copy of The Montage is free of charge. Up to 10 additional copies available, $1 each, at the office of The Montage, SC 220. Bulk purchases may be arranged with circulation manager. 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.
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Students interested in writing, reporting, photography and design can now apply to work for The Montage student newspaper. The Montage is publishing four monthly issues during the Fall 2020 semester and hosting virtual weekly meetings. No experience required. Contact Faculty Adviser Shannon Philpott-Sanders at ssanders147@ stlcc.edu or access an application at meramecmontage.com.
Meramec Literary Magazine Seeking Editors “Currents” has resumed work on this year’s literary magazine and is seeking students to serve as section editors. Students interested in applying should fill out the form at this link: https:// forms.gle/AEWmMaSQXydLLQ2v8. Currents will also soon be looking for submissions for the literary magazine.
STLCC 2020 Annual
Nursing Program Extends
Security Report Released
to Wildwood Campus
STLCC released the 2020 Annual Security Report Oct. 1 online. This report contains statistics on reported crimes that occured on all STLCC campuses. An email was sent to all students, faculty and staff with information about how to obtain a paper copy of the annual security report.
STLCC has expanded its nursing program to the Wildwood program. In September, the campus welcomed 24 students into the program, which requires two years of nursing coursework. The nursing program on the Wildwood campus is housed on the third floor and features 3,000 square feet of nursing labs with hospital beds, manikins, meeting areas and patient simulators. Students interested in the nursing program should contact the Wildwood campus’ admission office.
STLCC to Host Virtual FAFSA Frenzy STLCC will once again host its FAFSA Frenzy event, but virtually versus inperson this year. From 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, students can join the event to receive free professional help with completing the FAFSA application that is used to determine eligibility for financial aid, such as scholarships, grants, loans and work study. All participants must RSVP to Nicole Moore at mcfinancialaid@stlcc.edu.
STLCC Trustee Graham Named Lifetime Achiever The St. Louis American has named STLCC trustee Rev. Doris A. Graham a Lifetime Achiever. Graham will be presented the award at the virtual Oct. 17 Salute to Excellence in Education Gala.
4 ART & LIFE
October 1, 2020
TOP 3 BOOKS OF 2020 (Thus Far)
These are some of the best books to crack open during the pandemic
R
Jacob politte Online editor
eading these days almost feels like a lost art. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on and limiting some activities, now is as good of a time as any to crack open a book. The following are books released this year that are worth checking out. They range in genre, length, and content. They are in no particular order.
“Under The Black Hat” by Jim Ross Even if you’re not a wrestling fan, you’ve definitely heard the voice of Jim Ross somewhere. The longtime pro wrestling commentator has been in the business since the 1970’s, and he has loads of stories to tell, both professional and personal. “Under The Black Hat” picks up where Ross’ first book left off in 1999, telling his story up to the present day. Ross, long considered to be the best to put on a headset, details his anxiety and frustrations about being “put out to pasture” by his longtime employer long before he was ready, as well as his reactions to the bullying, corporate difficulties and personal hardships that he endured. The book ends on a happy note, but the journey to get there was a difficult one for Ross. This book is definitely worth a read, even if you’re not a wrestling fan.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins If someone says they’ve never heard of The Hunger Games, they’re lying. Although the original trilogy of books ended in 2010, Collins returned this year with a new prequel novel directly related to the saga, “The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes.” The novel is notable for not focusing at all on Katniss Everdeen or any of the characters we knew from years past. It instead focuses on the main villain of the series, President Corneilus Snow of Panem, in his youth. While Snow isn’t the corrupt version of the man who leads the nation decades later, “Songbirds and Snakes” explains the backstory of what got him there. Set 64 years before the start of the first novel, Snow and his family are living in poverty in the Capital, and he is chosen to mentor a tribute from a surprising district in order to win a scholarship to Panem’s University. The games, put in place as a battle royal to death between children of the nation’s 12 “districts” in response to a failed attempt at a rebellion, are nothing like the televised games from the original trilogy. The book slowly reveals that the way that the “modern-day” games are presented was largely conceived by Snow. The book is full of fantastic, meaningful “easter eggs” for long-time fans of the series, but the book can appeal to new readers as well, despite it’s long length. It’s a fantastic story that is worth a read.
“Rage” by Bob Woodward Books about the Presidency of Donald Trump are not in short supply, and even Bob Woodward himself had already written one back in 2018, titled “Fear: Trump In The White House.” What makes this follow-up book stand out from the pack, however, is the recency of the topics discussed, as well as the fact that unlike “Fear,” Woodward spoke directly with the President himself. At the request of the President himself, Woodward, the journalist who helped break the Watergate Scandal that led to the downfall of Richard Nixon’s Presidency, spoke with Trump 18 times for over nine hours of interviews… and recorded all of the conversations. Some of those conversations have been released to the media, and shine an intense, critical light on Trump and the way he’s run the country and navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. While Trump has denounced the book, the quotes aren’t made up… it’s all on tape. The book is worth a read, if nothing else because of its undoubtably historical implications. No matter what happens in November or beyond, the effects of the information revealed in “Rage” will forever have a lasting impact on Trump and his political career.
October 1, 2020
ART & LIFE 5
Balance between work life and school life
Student Ashlee Boettge talks about how she balances being a personal trainer while in school Ashley Biundo Editor-in-chief Balancing between work life and school life can be challenging. Ashlee Boettge works as a personal trainer at Club Fitness while studying at Meramec. She said that it is difficult, but manageable. “I’m lucky enough to only be in class one time a week and the workload with work and school isn’t too overwhelming. I always dedicate Sunday to be my day to catch up on everything and it’s really relieving to have the flexibility at work to where I can take any day off I want in order to make sure I stay on top of my studying,” Boettge said. Not only is she studying and working, Boettge has found time to stay active and workout at the gym. She said that her biggest inspiration for staying active is herself. “[My biggest inspiration is] myself really. I wasn’t an overweight kid but I was usually pretty active. I taught myself the vast majority of what I know now,” she said. “Starting to try and get better with my health at a young age definitely helped me in
picking [personal training] as my career.” While at Meramec, Boettge wants to stay in personal training and says that she also competes in shows. “I wanna stay with it for sure. I’d like to stay in the health/fitness/ healthcare field. Me just getting into working out at 16 and never really stopping or letting up on the breaks. Working out led me to meet a lot of people and it got me into competing,” she said. Boettge started working out when she was just 16 years old and hasn’t stopped since. “I started getting into working out when I was 16, I started competing when I was 19 and I turned into a personal trainer at 20,” she said. After Boettge finishes Meramec, she plans on setting sail to the east coast to work with chiropractors. “I’d like to be a PTA partner with chiropractors either in Tennessee or the east coast,” she said. “And have my own online business when it comes to training.”
Boettge enjoys her job because it keeps her active and meeting new people everyday. It also helps her with competing, another event she enjoys. “I just enjoy competing. I’d like to venture out into other sports but I’ve been liking the body building life for some time now.,” she said.
Submitted photos
The Life of RGB Continued from p. 1
According to oyez.org, a site devoted to the Supreme Court, the Idaho Probate code “specified that ‘males must be preferred to females’ in appointing administrators of estates.” After their son died, Cecil Reed, Sally’s ex husband, was “appointed administrator.” Sally Reed challenged the law in court. Ginsburg asked the Supreme Court this question: “Did the Idaho Probate Code violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?” The all-male Supreme Court unanimously agreed. “To give a mandatory preference to members of either sex over members of the other…. is to make the very kind of arbitrary legislative choice forbidden by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment….The choice in this context may not lawfully be mandated solely on the basis of sex.” NPR reports that Reed v. Reed “was the first time the court had struck down a state law because it discriminated based on gender.” What happens now? The Supreme Court typically has nine members. According to Meramec political science professor, John Messmer, the standard process for confirming a new Supreme Court Justice starts with the sitting President formally submitting “a nominee, and the Senate then has the opportunity to confirm or deny [the nominee.]” “The way it should work...is that when there’s a nominee, there’s a process that’s very similar to the legislative process,” Messmer said. He continued, “It starts off really slow, where it goes to a committee where members of a committee deal with this issue. And the issue in this case isn’t
a bill, it’s a person.” Messmer noted that “when it comes to strictly the Constitution, the Constitution just simply says: (the) president nominates (and) the senate confirms.” Things get muddled in election years. In 2016, during the final year of President Obama’s last term, Justice Antonin Scalia died. At the time, Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, said that the Senate should not confirm a new Justice until after the election. Justice Scalia died almost nine months before the election. McConnell made this announcement just hours after news broke of Scalia’s death. Senate Republicans refused to vote on President Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland. “Mitch McConnell and the Republican party got rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees,” Messmer pointed out. However, with just weeks until the presidential election-- in fact, some people have already cast mail-in ballots-- Senate Republicans and Mitch McConnell are vowing to vote and confirm Mr. Trump’s nominee, even though just four years ago senate Republicans insisted that the voters should have a voice in who the next Supreme Court Justice is. “It’s legal, it’s constitutional,” Messmer said. “But it is so unethical.” Mr. Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is a favorite of social conservatives. If confirmed, there will be six conservative justices. This has the potential to overturn monumental laws and cases, like Roe v. Wade, which made abortion a constitutional right, and the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which allowed millions of previously uninsured Americans to have access to health insurance. In 2015, NPR reported that Barrett signed an “anti-abortion, anti-gay-
marriage letter from Catholic women.” This has worried many women’s and LGBTQ rights groups. “We should not be resigned to just go ‘oh well, we’re doomed’, because that is going to doom us. She [Ginsburg] would want us to keep fighting. And so if someone cares about her, respects her, that’s what they’ll do,” said Beach. Messmer added that “you don’t have to be a woman or be anywhere aligned with her ideologically or politically, to admire what she went through.” He continued, “the one thing all humans have in PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS common is that we have to deal with hurdles. And most of the time...hurdles are designed to keep you Beach said. from doing what you want to accomplish. According to Messmer, Ginsburg She [Ginsburg] had a ton of hurdles in fought for the “little guy.” front of her and she didn’t allow that to “Once she [Ginsburg] was in a stop her.” position of power where her opinion Ginsburg was also committed to and interpretation of the law and the progress. constitution could be used to promote “We have made so much progress, equal protection… that was the essence and it doesn’t look good right now. It of her tenure on the Supreme Court… looks a little scary right now with what’s always fighting for the little guy… the little going on in the White House and in the guy that’s discriminated against. They’ll world at large, but it’s been scary before, be talking about her a hundred years and people fight back, and people keep from now. And that’s pretty impressive,” going…. we wouldn’t have the change Messmer added. we have now if it weren’t for people like Beach agrees. Ginsburg. We wouldn’t have marriage “If I can just be a little bit like Ruth equality for gay people, we wouldn’t have Bader Ginsburg, even a portion of the women’s equality in the workplace,” woman she was, I’m happy,” said Beach.
A T
M E R A M E C
The Music Program at Meramec offers courses and ensembles for all students. Classes are available for general education credit and the Associate in Arts degree with a concentration in Music to prepare for transfer into a Bachelor of Music program. ** SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE **
COURSES
MUS 101,102,201,202 MUS 103 MUS 113 MUS 114 MUS 115,116 MUS 121,122,221,222 MUS 128 MUS 130 MUS 138,139,216 MUS 141,142,241,242 MUS 150 MUS 152 MUS 154 MUS 211,212
Join the Team Meetings every Tuesday at 4 PM on Zoom
Music Theory I,II,III,IV Basic Music History of Jazz Music Appreciation Class Voice I,II Class Piano I,II,III,IV History of Rock Music Beginning Guitar Jazz Improvisation I,II,III Applied Music (Lessons) I,II,III,IV Fundamentals of Music Technology Audio Engineering Music Recording with ProTools I Music History I,II
Interested in performing in an ensemble? All Meramec students may participate. No audition is required! MUS131, 132 and 134 are CORE42 performance courses!
ENSEMBLES
Music 131 – Concert Choir Music 132 – Orchestra Music 134 – Symphonic Band Music 138 – Jazz Improvisation All ensembles hold a seat/part assignment hearing during the first rehearsal. Members of the Concert Choir may audition for the Chamber Singers.
For more information, contact Music at Meramec Dr. Jerry Myers, Program Coordinator, gmyers34@stlcc.edu, (314) 984-7638
Contact Shannon Philpott-Sanders at ssanders147@stlcc.edu for more information.
October 1, 2020
OPINIONS 7
Jake’s Take: Police In Media
Police procedurals, past and present, have ruled television. Is that the best thing?
I
jacob politte Online editor
am a big fan of police procedurals. I do regular recaps of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” for The Montage website. There are many other police shows that I am a big fan of, like “Chicago P.D” or even older, more infamous shows like “The Shield.” These shows, and many others like them, glorify police officers, and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd this past May, and in the wake of every policeinvolved shooting since, a conversation has resurfaced about whether or not that’s the best thing. Indeed, many of these shows portray some of these cops in a heroic light when they’re achieving their goals by horrifying means, or they just straight up glorify their heinous actions. Take “Chicago P.D.” for example. It’s a well-written, action packed show with compelling characters that you want to invest in. But at its center is Sergeant Hank Voight (portrayed by Jason Beghe), a man who protects the city of Chicago by any means necessary. That’s not hyperbole; the man is routinely brutal when it comes to bringing suspects to justice. Over the course of seven seasons of television, I’ve seen the man drown people at the bottom of a river, cut off the fingers of an old lady kidnapper, and force the man who murdered his son to dig his own grave before putting him in there himself. Voight is a character that justifies these actions as being for the greater good, and that the people who were on the receiving end deserved what they got. It’s righteous vengeance. But while the majority of the shows viewers like Voight… it doesn’t change that his actions are messed up. It doesn’t change
the fact that his actions are an abuse of power, and they very rarely result in any sort of consequence for his career or life. The only consequence, especially in the most recent season, is that his team is becoming more like him. And take “The Shield” as another, more blatant example. “The Shield” is one of the best shows ever made, and doesn’t get enough credit for how innovative it was. But it’s also a show full of dirty cops, and everyone involved makes no attempt to appear as anything other than that. Detective Vic Mackey (portrayed by Michael Chiklis) is the ring-leader of a team full of cops, called the “Strike Team” that routinely break the law. Mackey himself murders a fellow cop in the pilot in order to keep his crimes a secret, and his companions aren’t any more decent than he is. Over the rest of the show’s run, his team commits a series of crimes that range from embezzlement and robbery to straight-up murder. Even when trying to do good deeds, the team’s actions are questionable. And while his entire team either winds up dead or in prison… Mackey gets off basically scott-free, with an immunity deal that protects him from prosecution. While he ends up alone, he never faces any real judicial consequence for his crimes other than being forced to work a desk job. Even the Special Victims Unit isn’t immune from having a dirty cop or two. While long-time protagonist Olivia Benson (portrayed by Mariska Hargitay) is largely on the straight-and-narrow, it’d be wrong to ignore the instances in the past where she used her job position for shady purposes. And her longtime partner Elliot Stabler (portrayed by Christopher Meloni) was a violent individual himself. His repeated misconduct, as well as the amount of shootings he was involved in, resulted in
his character being forced to retire… until a spin-off series starring him was announced earlier this year. In the aftermath of the events of this year in Minneapolis and Kenosha, there has been some discussion about whether or not police procedurals have a place on network television, or any sort of television at all for that matter. I’d argue that despite all of the negative aspects of them, they do. Television is an escape from reality, and while the police in the real world have a lot of explaining to do, I don’t think the same can be said for the fictional cops on our screens. What we see on our screens has nothing to do with the cops that shot George Floyd or Jacob Blake. It is not the responsibility of Hollywood showrunners to influence the public at large; it is up to the public to choose what they consume. And even then, it is up to them to distinguish fact from fiction. If anything, these shows that are still on the air can now take their upcoming delayed seasons to address these issues head on. For example, when it returns from it’s Coronavirus-imposed hiatus this November, “Chicago P.D.” will continue to tell a long-simmering, fascinating story with one of its cast members about racial tension and police misconduct, and what
it means to be a black cop in America. There still is a purpose to having these kinds of shows on TV. But if they want to avoid more intense scrutiny in the months and years ahead, the police procedurals that are still airing just have to be more realistic about confronting the dark side of the job, and they have to hold those characters who go there accountable.
Jake’s Take: Hypocrisy At Its Finest
Senate Republicans’ rush to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg puts America at risk more than ever jacob politte Online editor The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her entire career fighting for the rights of the American people. With her death, some of those rights are in dire jeopardy. I don’t say that lightly. I really don’t like to get political, but the actions of and the policies enacted by the Trump administration have largely forced my hand. As a matter of fact, one benefit of Trump’s disastrous four years of leadership (thus far) is the light it has shined on the importance and inner workings of our government institutions. One of those institutions is the Supreme Court, which has largely remained fair and balanced despite welcoming the controversial Brett Kavanaugh to the bench in 2018.
One of the Justice’s that ensured a fair and balanced court was Ginsburg. Ginsburg, who suffered from multiple health ailments in recent years, passed away from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer on Sept. 18 at the age of 87. Before Ginsburg died, she told her granddaughter that she wished for her soon to be vacant seat to remain unfilled “until a new president is installed.” I never expected that final wish to be honored, but I didn’t think that the Senate and Republicans would lunge at the opportunity to fill the seat starting on the day of her death. Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, who on that day said that President Trump’s pick (later revealed to be Amy Coney Barrett, a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit) would receive a confirmation vote on the Senate floor, with less than 50 days to go before the 2020 Presidential Election.
McConnell’s comments and objective to push the confirmation of Barrett through before election day are indisputably hypocritical. When Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, he and other Senate Republicans refused to allow then-President Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland, to have a confirmation hearing; they insisted on having the new President make the nomination. Now that the ball is in their court and the Republicans have control of the Senate and a president in the White House, they have completely changed their stance. Over half of the American people who were polled think that the winner of the election should nominate Ginsburg’s replacement, but it doesn’t matter. With the Republicans in complete control of the process, there is virtually nothing that will stop the relatively young and controversial Barrett from being put on the bench for decades to come, leaning the court even further to the right. While all of this is perfectly legal, make
no mistake about it: this is nothing more than a dirty political move to establish ideals and maybe even secure President Trump another term in office if he loses the election and refuses to accept the results as he has hinted. The Supreme Court has overturned an election result before; that’s how George W. Bush became the president in 2000. They can quite possibly do it again, especially with a more conservate court in place. My views are my own, and some readers may think I’m completely blowing things out of proportion. Maybe I am, and maybe things won’t turn out to be as bad as I think they might. But the more I see about this ongoing story, most of which I really don’t have the space to write about here, the more afraid I become for our country’s future. If the diverse melting pot of American citizens can no longer rely on the Supreme Court to uphold the laws that are in their best interest... then what kind of country are we living in?
8 SPORTS
October 1, 2020
PE classes take on online format COVID-19 has caused most PE classes to go fully online Ashley Biundo Editor-in-chief Since COVID-19 began, schools have been moving on to more classes being virtual to stop the spread of the virus. STLCC-Meramec changed most of their physical education classes to an online virtual format. At right, is an Interactive schedule of how the physical education classes are offered in the current fall semester. Most physical education classes are offered on an Online Virtual Format. While other classes, like Community Red Cross CPR offers a hybrid of both online and in class due to the class being a hands-on learning.
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