Year: 2014
EDITOR’S DESK: Physicist Feynman got it right
Every once in a while, I find myself fascinated with a famous person. This fascination was reserved for rock stars when I was younger, but it has extended to comedians, economists and authors as I have gotten older.Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman is my latest person of interest. I’ve learned a little bit about a few brilliant physicists, but it was Feynman’s combination of humor, practicality and courage that attracted me to him. Feynman has changed how I think about balancing work and life. Here are some lessons I have picked up: […]
JUST SAYIN’: 9-11 too close for comfort
Everyone over a certain age can remember where they were when they first heard about the 9-11 terrorist attacks. But if you’re a student in 2014, the events of 13 years ago may not be so clear. Where were you on September 11, 2001? Most Forest Park students were in kindergarten or elementary school. I was working on the railroad. My employer was the consulting firm Transystems Corporation, which inspected the installation of fiber-optic cable along CSX railroad right-of-way in Pennsylvania. […]
Older students lose discounts on Metro passes
Forest Park students 24 and older can no longer buy semester bus and train passes at a student discount because the college is again enforcing Metro’s maximum-age rule. More than 60 percent of Forest Park students fit into this age group. The change could cost them $430 more a year. In the past, the college has allowed all students to buy semester passes at the discount. But Metro is requiring that to stop. […]
Storm blows out windows
A recent storm had a direct impact on Forest Park art students on the fourth floor of G Tower. High winds blew out windows, but the glass went outside, into the parking lot below, instead of inside. Nude model Bert Haier, 74, was in an afternoon figure-drawing class when the storm hit Aug. 27. “The storm came up, and you could hear the wind and the hail,” he said. “It was pretty intense. I’ve been through tornadoes before, and it actually sounded like a tornado. […]
Forest Park grad wins on baking show
Forest Park alum Lia Weber and her teammate, Al Baker, won the Season 4 competition on TLC Network’s “The Next Great Baker.” Known to show fans as “Team Blue,” they used their experience working together at Wedding Wonderland Cake Shop in Florissant to grab the title. “When it came to baking and decorating, we complemented each other very well,” said Weber, 24, of Florissant. “We never really had a completely ‘off’ or horrible cake.” […]
New SGA board ready for action
Nine students speak up for the interests of Forest Park students, just as Congress represents Americans across the country. The new Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board took office on Aug. 25 after a campus election. “(We navigate) through the proper venues, for lack of a better word, politics and red tape, and everything you would do in a state- or federal-level government,” said Parliamentarian Maikel Piloto. “These are the beginning foundations, and that’s what we do.” The board meets at 3 p.m. Wednesdays in the Campus Life office. They discuss everything from student complaints to SGA projects, as well as how to improve the overall educational process at Forest Park. […]
College helps students cope with Ferguson shooting
The shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson happened only 3 miles from St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, forcing officials to deal with the shock, sadness, anger and confusion of students. College action ranged from organizing “listening circles” to bringing in a professional consultant to gather information and make recommendations on what to do next. […]