SCENE THE
Fall Issue 2
Oct. 5, 2018
Day in the Life
www.thescenefp.com
See pages 4-5
Good parenting See page 7
No panhandling See page 7
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
Where have all the flowers gone?
Campus moves toward ‘sustainable’ landscaping
By Jonny Geigle, Jason Ethridge and Joshua Phelps The Scene staff
By Jason Ethridge The Scene staff Many people have noticed a lack of color on the Forest Park campus this year. Gone are the flowers filling planters and window boxes. Gone are the mums lining stairs to the staff parking lot. Gone are the bright-red bushes along the cafeteria window. According to officials, the college is transitioning to a landscaping plan that’s more sustainable, viable and interactive. “Next year we should have some daffodils, some crocus, some freesia, a little bit of color,” said Facilities Supervisor Wolf Veverka, who came on board last November. “We all work at this together because, really, the students are our customers. We need to do what we can, in the area we can, to make the school as appealing and attractive as we can.” Last year, the college laid off former Facilities Manager Dennis Kozlowski, who was known for his green thumb. A private company, Ideal Landscaping, has been hired to mow grass on campus. These developments led some people to think that attempts to beautify Forest Park had fallen victim to districtwide budget cuts. But that’s not the case, said Interim Provost Julie Fickas. Some plants were removed because of disease, overgrowth or unsustainability, she said. Officials aren’t giving up efforts to maintain a campus filled with plant life, Fickas added. They’re just rethinking how to do it. “They have a master plan,” Fickas said. One of the main goals of Facilities Man-
Photo by Bethany Tyler
A statue in front of C Tower stands alone. It used to be surrounded by hydrangea shrubs that changed color in the fall.
Few students are getting U-Passes
Photo by Brian Ruth
Photo by Fred Ortlip
Top: Red geraniums and a shrub rose add color to an island outside the Student Center in the summer of 2017. Above: Ornamental grasses and annual flowers are growing in the same spot today. ager Josh Dewitte and Veverka, who has a dents and staff will be welcome to eat it. degree in biogeography and environmental Sustainability and viability aren’t the only sciences, is to create a more sustainable factors Veverka considered while developlandscape on campus, one that would be ing his three-year landscaping blueprint. more viable with less maintenance. “I plan to make the campus more interacThey still plan to put annuals in flower tive, greenspace-wise,” he said. beds, but they will add A flower bed next to more native species the cafeteria has been “What people have to planted with chocolate and use red granite rock and landscaping understand is that this mint that students will cloth instead of mulch. invited to pick at is nature. It doesn’t just be All of the ash trees no charge. The same grow overnight.” on campus will be cut will apply to blue sage down because of the - Facilities Supervisor Wolf Veverka in planters between E emerald ash borer, an Tower and the Theater invasive insect that Building. preys on ash trees, Veverka said. “We’re trying to put the word ‘communiForest Park will soon have 41 new trees, ty’ back into community college,” Veverka including black cherry, black walnut and said. red mulberry, thanks to Forest ReLeaf of Future projects include creating a butterMissouri, a non-profit organization that’s fly garden on campus with help from Misdedicated to restoring and sustaining urban souri Botanical Garden. It will replace the forests. It’s providing the trees at no charge. one planted by faculty and staff near the “Most every one of the trees we will be southwest corner of A tower in 2015. bringing in will provide food for both peoThat butterfly garden was destroyed by ple and animals,” Veverka said. Once the trees begin producing fruit, stuSee Flowers page 8
The Forest Park U-Pass program allows students to use public transportation for free, but only 16 percent are taking advantage of it. Some 5,321 students are enrolled in classes this fall. Only 826 students had obtained U-Passes as of Sept. 14, four weeks into the semester. “A lot of students, if they have a car, they feel they don’t need it,” said Ena Primous, manager of campus business services. “If they have some other type of transportation, they feel they don’t need it.” Primous expects another 300 to 400 more students to sign up for U-Passes by the end of the academic year. She sees the program as a valuable tool to help students succeed. “Making it to school, making it to work, making it to child care … It’s a universal pass that they can use for their daily lives,” Primous said. “It will help them succeed into getting their degrees.” St. Louis Community College students pay $1 per credit hour for the U-Pass program as part of the registration process. Those who pick up U-Passes can ride MetroLink and Metro buses for free. Forest Park general transfer student Willnelle Warren, 20, has been getting U-Passes for the past two years. “Those dollars coming back really add up,” he said. “I used to spend like $30 a week just on bus fare.” If purchased, Metro passes cost $78 a month. General studies student Tullaia Powell, 16, knows about U-Passes, but she didn’t get one this semester. “I get a ride from somebody who works nearby and just carpool,” she said. “It’s easier.” Five colleges and universities in St. Louis have U-Pass programs. That includes STLCC, Washington University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Webster University and St. Louis University. Costs to schools vary, depending on individual programs. Some give U-Passes to all students, some give them to select students and some give them to faculty and students. “We offer this to schools because it’s an incredible incentive,” said Jerry Vallely, external communications manager
See U-Passes page 8