The Montage

STLCC’s Civil Case against Robison dismissed by Courts with prejudice

CaseNet filings show that college’s civil case with Donald Robison ended late last May, and that he’s set to be released from a federal facility next month

Jacob Politte MANAGING EDITOR

Over a 20 year period from 1998 to 2018, former St. Louis Community College (STLCC) employee Donald Robison embezzled a total of at least $7.5 million from the institution, although the actual amount may never be known.

“It was money that was intended to help people to advance in their careers and help employers with their existing employees,” Chancellor Jeff Pittman told NPR’s St. Louis affiliate in 2019. “It’s frustrating and discouraging to believe that anybody would take advantage of a situation like this.”

Previous reporting from The Montage showed that back in April 2019, Chancellor Pittman said that school administrators were working to discover how and why funds were being diverted away by Robison to a fictitious company that he owned. Questions regarding how the funds were managed solely by Robison had also surfaced during the investigation.

According to Pittman, STLCC had previously established an arrangement with Missouri’s Department of Economic Development where the college authorized, administered and dispersed money from the state fund at a 15 percent fee. Robison had the exclusive privilege within the St. Louis metro area to do so while the college also had its own career

development program that the funds could be allocated to without incurring a fee; Robison was the manager of this program.

He was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison for his crimes in Dec. 2019, and Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn of the FBI’s St. Louis Division said at the time, “[...] we should never forget that for 20 years, Don Robison abused his position of trust to deny Missouri workers and taxpayers’ money intended for them. He will now be held to account by forfeiting his time and ill-gotten gains.”

However, CaseNet filings from May 26 of last year show that the college settled with Robison for an undisclosed amount.

The college did not publicly announce this information, nor did it comment directly on Robison’s sentence in Dec. 2019. STLCC General Counsel Lucy Singer says that it’s because “The College does not issue statements or comments on civil cases.”

Singer further explained, “This was a civil case the College had filed against Donald Robison. This is separate from the criminal case. The civil case was resolved to the parties’ satisfaction through a settlement agreement. The resolution of the civil case has no relation to or impact on Donald Robison’s sentence in the criminal case.”

Regarding the federal case, it seems as if Robison’s time in that system may be coming to some sort of end

soon as well. A search on the Federal Bureau of Prision’s Inmate Locator says that Robison is scheduled for some form of release on April 9, and that he is currently housed at an unspecified location through the Residential Reentry Management (RRM) field office.

Criminal Justice Professor Ruth Eilerman, who has previously worked in the federal prison system for a number of years, speculates that Robison may be placed at the city’s federal halfway house, Dismas House, if he isn’t already there.

“Traditionally, after someone leaves prison, there is some form of supervised release,” she said.

At this time, Robison’s current location remains unknown.

Singer says that the college has no comment on Robison’s release date.

“Again, the Bureau of Prisons’ decision is related to the sentence in the criminal case,” she said. “This is not related to the civil case. The College has no input into or comment on the Bureau of Prison’s decision.”

The Montage filed a FOIA request to obtain more in-depth records about

Robison’s 2019 sentence in November for a different piece prior to learning about the settlement, and before learning of Robison’s release date. As of press time, the Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri has not responded to the request or provided any documents relating to the case or its settlement. The Montage is also still investigating why the case was dismissed with prejudice by the court and what led up to this ruling, and what led to Robison’s eventual release next month.

donald robison,

photo by STLCC

ARCHERS TAKE ON LEWIS & CLARK CC: Above, the Archer’s Men’s Basketball team attempts a free throw against Lewis and Clark Community College Feb. 22 at the Meramec Campus. The Archers surrendered with a loss of 80-70. At Right, Coach Terry Collins meets with the starting lineup during a timeout. See more coverage on p. 8.

PHOTOS BY DAKOTA PULCHER

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.

I,II,III,IV

Meetings every Tuesday at 3 PM via Zoom or in Student Center, Room 220A

I,II,III,IV

MUS 150 Fundamentals of Music Technology

MUS 152 Audio Engineering

MUS 154 Music Recording with ProTools I

MUS 211 212 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

To get you where you need to go, PTK offers opportunities to help you develop and discover your personal, academic, and professional potential.

Contact Shannon Philpott-Sanders at ssanders147@stlcc.edu

Honors offers qualified students a variety of opportunities in and outside the classroom, including honors classes, special projects, workshops, and mentoring. New students can qualify through high school GPA, ACT score, or Accuplacer. Returning students qualify through their college GPA. Once admitted, honors students are never obligated to pursue a minimum amount of honors work each term.

PHI THETA KAPPA - XI LAMBDA CHAPTER

INTERNATIONAL

HONORS SOCIETY FOR TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

Phi Theta Kappa is an international honors society for two-year colleges. It’s mission is to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students, as well as to provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service, and fellowship programs.

To be eligible to join Phi Theta Kappa - Xi Lambda, Meramec’s local chapter, students must have a GPA of at least 3.5, have taken 12 or more credit hours, and must be enrolled in at least one course currently at Meramec.

If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Jerry Meyers at gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638.

If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Jerry Myers at gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638

If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Professor Rich Peraud in CN 217 or go to PTK.org for more information.

Humanities

Shannon Philpott-Sanders Faculty Adviser

New STLCC HR Director Reflects on Goals

Meet Tanya Dupske

lydia howden Staff writer

Although only in the position for one month, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Tanya Dupske is no stranger to the profession. Bringing 17 years of experience to STLCC, Dupske describes the college as a place full of nice people with opportunities to figure out ways to best help the college.

Dupske’s talents do not solely lie in HR, as she has spent 17 years volunteering for the girl scouts and managing events for them, and in her freetime she said she loves to do exercise such as crossfit, biking, running. She even completed her first marathon in October. The reason she has remained in HR for so long is because her passions lie in “helping people develop, and using their experiences to move forward and reach their goals,” she said.

There is no “typical” day in her life, since part of her job involves dealing with issues as they come in. There are still scheduled meetings to attend, but she says, “You never know if you are going to have to deal with an investigation that day.”

Dupske said she is currently spending a lot of time working on the benefits plan, for which open enrollment will begin in April. She aims to build a big team and help get rid of the high turnover statistics in the Human Resources department.

“By far, I love the people aspect. I am an enabler,” said Dupske. She went on to state that most people believe that HR is the “people police,” but she never wants to fit into that description. She said she is known for “toeing the line” and challenging if the policies we use today are truly serving us still and finding ways to best help the college

THE MONTAGE

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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.

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and everyone involved.

Since starting the job, Dupske said one of her personal, proudest moments was being able to help and comfort a coworker who was about to quit their job that day. Dupske said she was able to speak to her and listen to the issues the coworker had with another employee, and give the advice to “never quit on your worst day.” With making it known she would respect any decision, she advised the coworker to think over the weekend and let her know how she felt on Monday.

The coworker ended up coming back and keeping the job, because Dupske says, “sometimes people just need to feel heard and know that someone has their back.” She was proud to have

helped someone open their perspective and see beyond one interaction.

Dupske’s goals for STLCC involve building the HR team, cross-training, helping everyone see the benefit of working together, meeting peoples’ needs and providing the best possible service while creating a good culture in the workplace so that people don’t want to come in just for the paycheck but to have a purpose and psychological safety. She said she wants students to know that they can “leverage HR,” because it is not supposed to be a scary place.

“Our job is to be here for our teams and organization. If you want to be heard, reach out! We can help in a lot of ways,” she said.

NEWS BRIEFS

Women’s History Month Events

* Women in Stand-up Comedy

Thursday, March 2nd, 4:30- 6 p.m. Meramec, Lecture Hall 102

* Learning from our Leading Women

Thursday, March 9th, 2-4 p.m. Meramec, Lecture Hall 102

* Dr. Shelly Lemons on Oklahoma

Farm Women

Monday, March 20th, 1-2 PM Meramec, Lecture Hall 101

* Women in Sports

Wednesday, March 29th, 2 & 4 p.m. Meramec, Softball Field

* WHM Bingo

Thursday, March 30th, 12:15 p.m.

Meramec cafeteria

For more information, contact Dr. Sahar Joakim (sjoakim@stlcc.edu)

Upcoming Music Performances

* Saturday, March 4 | 7:30 p.m. | J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, Lindenwood University

Meramec Choirs will be performing with several other groups for the first time since February 2020. Dan

Forrest's "Requiem for the Living" will be performed by singers from Lindenwood University, St. Charles Community College, Jefferson College, Francis Howell North High School and STLCC-Meramec.

* Sunday, March 5 | 3 p.m. | Meramec Student Center

Get into the spring spirit even more at the Instrumental Spring Concert right here on campus.

New Art Exhibit Opens

An exhibit titled "Disappearing Worlds," from Kaja Renkas, will be coming to the Meramec Contemporary Art Museum March 2-31.

Influenced by late 19th century graphic art, Renkas uses screen printing, graphic design and augmented reality formats to translate these ideas into a contemporary world. This exhibition explores a range of her current work, including collaborations with Belgian artist Iwona Pomianowska. Also featured will be work by Mexican/ Spanish poster designer Eric Olivares.

Reception with Artists:

Friday, March 24, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Humanities East, Room 133

Gallery Hours:

Monday-Thursday, noon-4 p.m. and by appointment. Closed March 1317 for Spring Break.

Professional Clothing Needed

Consider donating freshly washed, gently worn, up-to-date professional clothing items to the career development department and the Student Advocacy & Resource Center. Your professional attire donations will help students in need look and feel their best at future opportunities, including the Spring Career Fair on March 29.

Please donate for all sizes and genders:

Items may be dropped off during business hours to the Career Development or SARC office at Florissant Valley, Forest Park or Meramec.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STLCC

The Top 10 Signs You Took The Wrong Class

STLCC has great courses that aren’t always the best fit

jacob politte MANAGING EDITOR

STLCC-Meramec is a great place for any student to figure out what they want to pursue. However, there are some bumps in the road at times. The following are the top ten signs, in no particular order, as to why you may have taken the wrong class.

1. The textbook: There are many professors that may not use a class’s assigned textbook all that much, but there are plenty that do. The longer the textbook, the more anxiety you should have.

2. The syllabus length: If it takes longer than two pages to explain your class, you should be worried.

3. The class size: Depending on the kind of student one is, this can be a kind of double-edged sword. Smaller class sizes may led to more focus, and a better classroom experience overall because it allows for more personalized instruction. This only applies though, if you’re an extrovert. If you just want

to blend in with the crowd and keep the focus off of yourself, you may hope for a larger class size. A larger class size though may mean that you have less opportunities to get questions answered.

4. Week 5: Professor Ruth Eilerman often tells her students that Week 5 is the hardest week to get through for any student. She’s not wrong. Any student usually struggles more than usual during week 5, as the rigor from your studies begins to set in. If you’re in Week 5 of your course, and you’re questioning your life choices, you made a bad call.

5. You HATE the course material: Some classes are absolutely necessary to meet graduation requirements. For those kinds of classes, students just need to bite the bullet.

6. Your professor says the final is comprehensive: College shouldn’t be a cake walk. But there is absolutely no need for any sort of comprehensive final. College isn’t high school and no one is here to waste time or needs that kind of busy work in their life.

7. Your professor announces a class project: Class projects are the most high school thing imaginable. No one is coming to college and hoping it’s like high school. Not one single soul. Everyone wants to be responsible for their own grade. No one wants to do the work of multiple people.

interesting. Some of them are painfully boring. But there are only so many minutes in a given class period, and time does fly by quicker than most realize when you have 16 chapters of a textbook to get through.

9. Your professor refuses to use the college’s online mediums: The pandemic mostly curbed this problem by force, but as life begins to return to normal, some professors may return to being old fashioned and not use Canvas for anything other than posting grades. When Blackboard was around, there were a few notable professors (who will not be named) that refused to use it. Canvas may be a different platform but it serves essentially the same purpose. It’s 2023, and while technology can sometimes be frustrating, it does make a student’s experience easier to manage.

8. Your professor wastes time with personal anecdotes: College professors are in control of their own classroom and what they teach most of the time, and many are seasoned professionals, so they should be. Some of them are

10. Your professor googles the word “Google” to get to Google: Your professor may know a lot about whatever they’re talking about, but depending on who they are, they may not realize how ridiculous they are getting there.

Peraud, The Professional

Rich Peraud transforms from community college student to professor

fawwaz ashraf STAFF WRITER

Richard Peraud, one of STLCC - Meramec’s most tenured English professors, wasn’t originally planning on becoming a professor or even studying English. He was born and raised in Jolliet, Illinois, a small steel town south of Chicago.

“I’m the youngest of five. I was the first to go to college in my family … The expectation was: you’re 18; leave the house,” he said.

He was filled with uncertainty of what he wanted to pursue. At first, we went to college to study engineering but quickly left. Still not sure what exactly he wanted to do, he enrolled as a non-degree seeking student at his local community college. There, he settled that he still wanted to continue his education and, after receiving a great scholarship, left for Saint Louis University. He jumped around majors at the beginning but quickly settled into English and philosophy. Afterward, he got his master’s degree in English from Iowa State.

One of the main reasons why he

chose English was for his love of literature, he said. Peraud is passionate about other subjects, such as history and psychology, and English gave him an opportunity to learn more about these subjects through narratives rather than just facts and figures.

“[Literature] encompassed the psychological stories about people,” he said.

After college, he became a teacher for three years then worked in corporate for 10 years. While working in corporate, he returned to teaching starting with night classes as an adjunct at STLCC - Meramec.

Peraud said he “always resonated with the students here and our population because a lot of our students then and still are first-generation, exploring, not sure what they want to do … That was certainly part of my story.”

Alongside his ability to relate to his students, he’s able to bring a unique perspective to the class, as he knows how to succeed in both corporate and academic settings.

After teaching for a few years, Peraud became a full-time professor at STLCC - Meramec in 2003.

One of Peraud’s favorite books is Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, a drama and “some of the best writing in American letters,” he said.

Some of his favorite authors are Louise Erdrich, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau, and one of his favorite poets is Ted Kooser.

His favorite lesson to teach is rhetorical theory from the beginning of College Composition II, as it encompasses so many different skills and helps his students navigate and engage with their world, he said.

One of his biggest writing tips is revision. In the same way an artist sketches or a musician practices, it takes time to create a polished body of work, as he described. “Go back through your work. Have somebody else go through your work with you. We try to be perfect on our first shot, and it never works.”

A final piece of advice that Peraud left was for making the most of one’s college experience. He said to “get involved. Meet somebody outside of your classes. … Take the opportunity you have here to engage: clubs, organizations, meet your faculty.”

Spring Break Staycation Ideas

MACY GILLICK STAFF WRITER

If an exotic vacation is too much for your budget, you don’t necessarily have to bore yourself with re-runs. Instead, step out of your comfort zone and consider these “Staycation” Ideas:

1. Get outside - get some fresh air and spend some time taking in the (mostly nice, hopefully) weather.

2. Binge your favorite TV shows - Whether or not you watch action packed dramas like “The Last of Us,” hilarious comedies like “Abbott Elementary” or even documentaries on any platform, Spring Break isn’t a bad time to catch up on or even rewatch your favorites while relaxing.

3. Go to your favorite places/or somewhere new each day of the week - It may not seem like it, but St. Louis has plenty of attractions to visit. For example, a new exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum called the “Age Of Armor” has attracted a significant amount of media attention. Many locations like the Art Museum may also be free of charge to enter, as well.

4. Hang out with friends - There’s a saying that “time you enjoy wasting was not wasted” and that’s especially true when spending time with those closest to you .

5. Family time - your family could enjoy a movie night, game night together or go to movies, or bowl.

6. Start your Spring Cleaning - spring is known for a new start so during this time you could clean out a certain area that you have been meaning to.

7. Try a new hobby - if boredom comes about then teach yourself something new.

8. Redecorate your room - get some new decorations or move things around.

9. Catch up on your sleep - turn off your alarms and enjoy the week off.

10. Do something you always wanted to do - like pull an all nighter or eat breakfast in bed.

photo by dakota pulcher

English Professor Rich Peraud interacts with students during his College Composition II class on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

photo by dakota pulcher

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT MERAMEC: Students complete paint-bynumber projects Feb. 28 in the Student Center. The event was one of the many activities for Black History Month celebrated at the Meramec Campus.

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

In a way, “Spare” is quite the treat. For perhaps the first time in history, we get a direct account of what the British Royal Family is like directly from someone who was and technically still is a part of it.

As the ‘spare’ child of Princess Diana and the now King Charles, Prince Harry always found himself in the shadow of his brother William.

But for every notable and interesting story in Prince Harry’s polarizing memoir, there’s a story with details that the reader absolutely did not ask to hear. Perhaps the strangest revolves around his “frostbitten todger” during his brother’s 2011 wedding and the even stranger way he chose to deal with it. There are many more stories like that one, even if they’re not quite as graphic. It helps ‘Spare’ feel more authentic and personal, but some stories are better left untold.

However, underneath those headline grabbing yellow journalism headlines, there is plenty of intriguing, relevant information shared within the book’s many short chapters. In particular, Harry details his tumultuous relationship with the media, who he finds complicit in his mother’s untimely demise in a Paris tunnel in 1997. He also does not hold back criticizing the British media for their conduct in recent times, including their

TMI: The Book

harassment directed toward him and especially the transparently hostile treatment of his nowwife Meghan Markle.

Prince William is arguably the biggest antagonist of Harry’s story, and the next-inline to the throne is rarely presented in any sort of good light. Often, William seems to relish in having his brother rely on him and feels the need to be the center of attention, and is openly frustrated when Harry chooses to do things his own way and takes up the bulk of the spotlight at any given time.

He also doesn’t have very many nice things to say about his stepmother, Camilla, and many readers put in a similar situation as he may be able to relate to the feelings that Harry had towards the soon-to-be Queen of England.

Harry details the end of his royal duties and explains his decision to leave Britain in detail, and the details of his departure are heartbreaking to read, as were some of the details of the indifference shown to the treatment that Meghan received.

Harry insisted in an interview with The UK’s Telegraph that his book is not about trying to “collapse the monarchy – this is about trying to save them from themselves.” And while the book definitely won’t do the former, given the Royal Family’s usual attitude toward handling public criticism, it’s unlikely to do the latter either.

Jump Starting Student Careers With CTE Programs

Community college is often viewed as a stepping stone to higher education, but it can also act as a direct path into the workforce. STLCC offers a variety of Career & Technical Education programs (CTE) to get students ready to work in many a myriad of fields, from cooking to coding, a way that’s quick and cost effective.

Information Systems & Technology

Cisco Networking Academy: CCNACS

This program covers comprehensive networking concepts, from network applications to the protocols and services provided to those applications by the lower layers of the network.

Computer Applications - CS

This certificate is designed for individuals who are interested in learning a range of end-user applications for personal computers, It prepares the graduate to employ the functions of personal computers that are generally in use in offices today.

Cybersecurity - AAS, CP

The program prepares you for entrylevel information assurance/security technician positions that support planning, implementing, upgrading and monitoring security measures that protect computer networks and information systems.

Database Developer - CP

This program is designed for individuals who are interested in developing skills to qualify for positions as database application developers, database analysts, or database administrators.

Network Engineering - AAS, CP

This program provides students with an accelerated career pathway, stackable certificates and programs and industry-recognized credentials. With this network engineering degree, students will be prepared for apprentice-level networking positions.

Healthcare

Clinical Coding - CP

This program prepares students for entry-level positions as clinical code practitioners. Students will learn how to classify medical data from patient records, generally in a hospital setting.

Clinical Laboratory Technology - AAS

This program prepares students for entry-level positions as clinical laboratory technicians. Through classroom and practical experience in hospital and clinical laboratories, students learn to perform qualitative, quantitative and analytic testing in microbiology, hematology, immunohematology, clinical chemistry, serology, immunology and urinalysis.

Dental Hygiene - AAS

This program is a 2-year, full time program that begins each fall and is designed to prepare students for licensure and employment in the State

of Missouri. The program includes a general education component as well as a concentration in dental hygiene.

Health Information ManagementAAS

This program provides students with the technical skills and knowledge required to provide reliable and valid information essential to the healthcare industry. Graduates are specialists working with health information systems, managing medical records, and coding information for reimbursement and research.

Other

Baking and Pastry Arts - AAS

This program will allow students to gain the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge to become a successful pastry professional. Concepts of baking theory and nutrition; bread, rolls, and bakeries; production pastry techniques; and cake production and decoration will lay the foundation for essential pastryrelated skills.

Criminal Justice - AAS, CP

Students who enroll in this Criminal Justice: Law Enforcement program will be prepared for entrylevel employment in the criminal justice system. The program includes general education courses as well as concentrated college level coursework in law enforcement and criminal justice.

Culinary Arts - AAS

The culinary arts program is

designed to meet current and future needs for training food service and food service managerial persons to assume leadership roles in the industry. The curriculum covers food preparation, production, table service and culinary management.

Horticulture - AAS, CP

Students learn both the science and the art of horticulture through a combination of classroom theory with laboratory practice and on-thejob training. Courses in soils, plant diseases, turfgrass management and cooperative horticulture are integral parts of the program.

Types of Certificates/Degrees include:

AAS - Associate in Applied Science

CP - Certificate of Proficiency

CS- Certificate of Specialization

QR code.

FAWWAZ ASHRAF STAFF WRITER

To see a complete list of programs and support for CTE-pursuing students, please scan the

Prince Harry divulges way too much personal information in ‘Spare’

Mike Pence’s Book Is Hot Garbage

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

Mike Pence has always had a strange personality, and that doesn’t exclusively revolve around his religious nature.

In “So Help Me God” Pence doesn’t tell the reader anything that they don’t already know aside from some personal anecdotes. No one cares about that. The real meat of the interest surrounding the memoir concerns his politics, and specifically his Vice Presidency under Donald Trump.

The beginnings of his political career and through the end of his tenure as the governor of Indiana are admittedly interesting, but it’s after Pence’s acension to the Vice Presidency where the book becomes his own personal coping mechanism, an attempt to reframe certain events in a better light, especially when it comes to the perception of the words and actions of his boss. While he openly and substantially criticizes Trump, he also stops short of fully condemning his behavior. He leaves large portions of information that doesn’t make him look good out of his narrative. Perhaps he thinks that’s better than lying.

To his credit, he doesn’t let Donald Trump off the hook for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, but he also doesn’t go nearly far enough to condemn him. Pence’s account of the Jan. 6 insurrection feels very sanitized and detached from the actual danger of the incident. The incident, and Pence’s reaction to it, is a part of the literal promotion for “So Help Me God” on the book’s back cover, but while Pence gives his personal perspective of what went down, there is no new information, just a different take on regurgitated information instead.

“So Help Me God” will appeal to the less extreme parts of the Republican base, who may see it as some sort of victory lap for a Vice President put in an impossible position. But for most others, it’s just a complete waste of time.

Jake’s Take: A Man With No Opinion

Coming to the painful realization that I’m boring

JACOB POLITTE MANAGING EDITOR

Usually, I’ve found the opinion pieces I write to be among the least challenging; this is a mantra I’ve passed on to my staff writers interested in writing one.

“Truly, anything goes here. The gloves can come off, and you can write about almost anything you want.”

And yet, for the February issue of The Montage, I struggled. The Opinions piece was actually the last thing I managed to put together for the issue (which turned out to be a great issue and actually got enthusiastic responses from author Andrew Rice and the filmmakers of “A New Home”, and talking about “A New Home” seemed to be an interesting piece since I felt so tied to the source material.

Even now, I find this column to be the last thing I’m working on. And I don’t know why. It shouldn’t be this hard.

Responsible, credible news writing can be hard, even if we get it done every time.

And a good Art & Life piece isn’t that easy, either.

Don’t even get me started on Sports, which admittedly hasn’t been a strong section of this paper over the last few years.

Opinions should have been a cake walk for me.

So why isn’t it anymore?

I think, honestly, I may have run out of opinions.

That sounds crazy, but I’ve always tried to stay away from being too repetitive. These days, I’m feeling very repetitive. There have been a number of “Jake’s Take” installments, and some of them have featured recurring takes.

Politics are always an easy thing to discuss, but these days, it’s exhausting to talk about (although, I would like to state again, for the record, that I think Mike Pence’s book is hot garbage). And I can only articulate how much I think that Majorie Taylor Greene is a live-action Scooby Doo villain so many times. I could go back to that well again, and I probably will in the future, but this isn’t exclusively a political paper.

I could talk again about my stepfather,

but dwelling on what happened to him constantly just isn’t healthy.

There are a number of things regarding education to talk about as I have in the past, and there are many STLCC topics that I can discuss, too. But I’ve found that especially since I took the reigns at Editor that navigating the truth from the fiction regarding college news can be like navigating a minefield.

And this paper can be very review heavy, too. That’s become my wheelhouse, but it also can be a determinant, too.

I’ll likely return to writing about these topics in the future, but writing about them now feels so forced. It feels like a job, and it is a job, but when it begins to feel like a job, it’s no longer rewarding.

I’ve taken on so many responsibilities in the last few years, and perhaps that’s caught up with me.

So I think, as of right now, I truly may have run out of opinions. I am busy, and I can be opinionated but I am

boring. I am predictable. I am what I said to myself once that I never would be.

I recently read an edition of TIME Magazine (not a normal practice of mine these days, but I was in a Barnes and Noble and I had a few extra dollars to waste) from a few weeks ago with a cover featuring the headline “ZIP IT: The Power Of Saying Less.”

I began to wonder if it was time for me to perhaps practice that headline a little more. Is it time that I just sit back and observe before saying anything for a while?Perhaps. But I have a job to do. No matter how challenging it may be to be innovative.

But, uh, Fawwaz?

If you could write another Tech Talk or something so I can take a month off from this section and give our readers a break from self-indulgent columns like this one? That’d be great.

Because I think I want to keep the gloves on for an issue or two.

Archers Basketball Falls Short in Conference Game

Archers face a loss of 80-70 against Lewis & Clark Community College

ARCHERS SOFTBALL SCHEDULE FOR MARCH

AWAY

Mar. 26: East Central College (12:00pm/2:00pm)

Mar. 29: Heartland Community College (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 30: Three Rivers Community College (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 4: Greenville University JV (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 7: Shawnee Community College (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 8: Lewis & Clark Community College (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 10: Mott Community College (1:00pm)

Black Hawk College-Moline (3:00pm)

Mar. 11: Waubonsee Community College (8:00am)

Black Hawk College-Moline (10:30am)

Mar. 12: Black Hawk College-Moline (8:00am)

South Suburban College (10:30am)

Mar. 13: Cuyahoga Community College (8:00am)

Mar. 14: Waubonsee Community College (8:00am)

Madison College (10:30am)

Mar. 19: Southwestern Illinois College (12:00pm/2:00pm)

Mar. 20: Lincoln Land Community College (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 21: Mineral Area College (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Mar. 23: Missouri State University-West Plains (2:00pm/4:00pm)

Photos by: Dakota Pulcher

Devin Davis dribbles down the court in the first quarter during the Feb. 22 game against Lewis and Clark Community College.

Demarco Buchanan passes to James Ross during the Feb. 22 game against Lewis and Clark Community College.

Archers defend their side of the court during the first half. College.

David Granger shoots a free throw during the second half of the Feb. 22 game.