SCENE THE
Spring Issue 3
March 23, 2018
Rich or wealthy?
www.thescenefp.com
See page 3
Sensible gun laws See page 7
Faculty art show See page 8
St. Louis Community College at Forest Park
Personal student information is leaked at STLCC
By Joshua Phelps The Scene staff St. Louis Community College announced this month that personal information for 362 students was sent to other students in an email attachment. The information included names, email addresses, student-identification numbers and home addresses. “The disclosure was discovered when students contacted the college to inquire,” according to a districtwide email on March 1. “Upon discovery of the breach, the college immediately located and deleted from STLCC email systems the email containing the attachment.” Separate notices went out to the 362 students directly affected by the Cruz security breach. “We followed all protocols as soon as we found out and let students know what had happened and offered them a number to call and folks to help them answer those questions,” said Kedra Tolson Tolson, STLCC’s executive director for marketing and communications. The college also reported the breach to the U.S. Department of Education inspector general and the department’s Family Policy Compliance Office, Tolson said. The college will require all faculty and staff to be re-trained in Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) within 30 days of the breach, the email stated. The deadline is April 1, Tolson said. “As soon as we found out about it, we went to work right away in trying to make sure that faculty and staff had the opportunity to retrain in FERPA,” she said. Tolson and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Anthony Cruz declined to reveal who was responsible for the breach or the circumstances under which it occurred, citing an ongoing investigation and privacy concerns. “That’s something that’s a personnel matter, and I really can’t speak about it,” Cruz said. In the past few weeks, some of the 362 affected students have reached
See Breach page 2
Adjuncts vote ‘yes’ on first union contract
Photo by Crystal Richards
Professor Tommie Frison kneels between D and E towers while playing “The Star Spangled Banner” through the small speaker in front of him.
Biology professor takes a stand by taking a knee By Jason Ethridge The Scene staff Forest Park students can view an example of peaceful protest almost every day, courtesy of assistant biology professor Tommie Frison. It’s a simple affair. Tablet and speaker in hand, Frison walks from his office in D Tower to the flagpole next to the hairpin. He cues up a rendition of the national anthem, played by the marching band of Jackson State University, where he was a drum major in college. Then he kneels for the duration of the song. The whole thing takes about five minutes. The purpose is to draw attention to what
Frison sees as the many problems in modern America, including systemic racism. “This stuff that was already there seems to be just coming out of the woodwork and displaying itself everywhere now,” he said. “And I’m thinking, ‘It was here all the time.’” Frison is an African American from Batesville, Miss., one of 12 children who grew up on a sharecropper’s farm. Many of his beliefs were formed during the civil rights movement. “If there is injustice anywhere, it affects justice everywhere,” he said, borrowing a
See protest page 7
By Joshua Phelps The Scene staff Adjunct faculty at St. Louis Community College voted 222-5 to approve their first employment contract as members of Service Employees International Union. It’s the culmination of a three-year process, starting with a union campaign and adjunct vote to organize in 2015 and continuing with on-and-off contract negotiations, campus rallies and contentious STLCC board meetings. “This contract is a huge step forward for STLCC adjunct faculty and contains improvements to wages, job-security language and working conditions,” according to a March 6 email from SEIU Local 1 Williams notifying adjuncts of election results. The contract must be approved by the STLCC Board of Trustees before it takes effect. Provisions would be retroactive to Dec. 1, 2017, and expire on Thumith June 30, 2020. The contract gives adjuncts a 3 percent pay raise and access to a 403(b) tax-shelter annuity and other benefits; updates the course-assignment process and handling of personnel files and student complaints; and establishes a part-time faculty administration committee to review ongoing matters. “Over 200 people that are in the union voted for this contract,” said Brett Williams, a union bargaining-committee member and adjunct art professor on the Forest Park campus. “That shows that they believe in what we are doing.” Union dues of 2 percent will be taken out of paychecks monthly. But adjuncts will pay them only when actively teaching, according to Williams. SEIU Organizing Coordinator Stacie Manuel did not respond to repeated calls and emails seeking answers to questions, such as how many adjuncts have joined the union and what are its goals for the future. “We will have a wage reopener either in March or April,” Williams said. “The contract we have now is in effect for two years. At the end of the length of that
See Contract page 2