August 10, 2010 Online Issue

Steven Vollenweider works daily to preserve the natural way of the Earth

What’s wrong with Illegal Immigration?

Stan Musial Street Project

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Montage ReadeR Poll

A. Absolutely! it’s a great step-ping stone to a 4-year univer-sity.B. No way, there are better op-tions that they should consider.C. I would have in the past, but not after this past year.

SePt. 2 Poll QueStion

Where do you buy your textbooks

MontageThe St. Louis Community College–Meramec

Alumnus dedi-cates career to environment

Would you recommend Meramec to another

student?

Discover the reasons behind both sides of the debate

To vote, visit: www.meramecmontage.com

Enrollment for this upcoming se-mester at STLCC-Meramec could be the largest it’s been in four years and will be accompanied by new initia-tives to meet students’ needs.

“We’re not built for 12,000 students, quite frankly, which is where we’re going to be,” said Vernon Kays, Ph.D., dean for communications and math-ematics at Meramec. “We were built for maybe 8,000 or less. That’s what the buildings were built for.”

Today, approximately 9,500 students are enrolled, but the number will con-tinue to increase until enrollment census is taken three weeks into the fall semester, said Kim Fitzgerald, coordinator of enroll-ment management at Meramec.

Student tuition accounts for approxi-mately one-third of STLCC’s income. The money from tuition helps support college costs, campus activities, provide new tech-nology, etc. for all four campuses. Local prop-erty taxes accounts for another third, and the last third comes from the state.

“Most recently, the two areas that are declin-ing are the local property tax and the state sup-port, the state funding, because of the economy. So the one thing we have some control over is our ability to recruit and retain students and generate more tuition dollars,” said Joan Friend, Ph.D., director of enrollment for STLCC.

On Jan. 21, 2009, Gov. Jay Nixon announced that Missouri would fund four-year, public col-leges and universities if they didn’t increase tuition for the 2010/2011 academic year. Later that week, the same offer was made to community colleges. This would be the second annual tuition freeze for Missouri community colleges.

“For the last year, we couldn’t raise it, but this year, the state couldn’t abide by that agreement and we are going to be taking a cut,” Friend said. “One way to increase funding is to bring in more students. That’s why enrollment is important.”

Friend said STLCC will not be raising tuition this academic year in response to the lack of state support. Instead, STLCC has been working harder to increase en-rollment.

“There’s basically two parts, two ways to increase en-rollment: one is to recruit more students; the second is to retain those students, and so we have efforts focused on recruitment and retention,” Friend said.

Joe Douglas- Editor-in-Chief -

Meramec’s high enrollment and its “Beast of Burden”

Continued on page 2It’s only “rockin’ enrollment”

The Enrolling Stones

Unanswered questionsThe real story behind Paul Pai and Stephen PetersenRead now at www.meramecmontage.com

Meramec student, Nick Rousseau, looks to give Stan “The Man” Musial the recognition he deserves.

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2NEWS August 10, 2010

In April 2010, the Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) released a report commenting that STLCC-Meramec, Florissant Valley, and Forest Park are in “fair to excellent condition.”

The point of this report, according to an article done by Shane Rice, “was to collect information on campus conditions and to develop a baseline on which future reviews would be based.”

Since the release of the MDHE article, Willie Wright, building and grounds manager for Mera-mec, said, “I think we still are ahead of the game. We take care of what needs to be taken care of. In my opinion, this does not look like a 40-year-old cam-pus.

So far, the west parking lots have been repaved and all of the potholes have been filled. Several of the buildings have had repairs as well. The Fitness Center now has new lighting, new fans and new air conditioning units. The Southwest building has new ceiling tiles and also has new lighting. Near the east wing of Meramec, it has had pavement repairs. Also, to help those in need, ADA (American Disabil-ity Act) handicap ramps have been constructed.

Justin Villmer, who has been a student at Meramec for two years, explained, “During summer school, the parking lots were closed off and it became a has-sle. I am really glad they are finished; it took for-ever.”

The elevators at Meramec are still in need of elec-trical work. However, they cannot be fixed if stu-

dents or faculty are present. Due to safety hazards, work cannot be done with the possibility that some-one would get on an elevator and get injured. For precaution, elevators have life jackets to arrest a fall during elevator failure.

By the time fall classes begin, seating in the lecture halls will be modernized. Second, leaky roofs will be restored in the majority of the buildings, such as the Fitness Center and the science buildings. There will be a new patio near the Student Center. Also, Mera-mec’s west wing buildings will be under repairs and revisions.

“This will be more convenient and comfortable for students,” stated Matt Lamprecht, a student at Mera-mec for one year. “It will be a nice change.”

In December 2010, during winter break, new classrooms will be built at Meramec. According to Wright, this will be a new attraction for fellow and future students.

Due to the costs of these upcoming repairs, a few of the renovations will be put on hold. Currently, Meramec needs $33,015,367, but this year Meramec is allowed to spend only $5,445,817. “We’re really short of money this year,” said Wright.

Meetings have been held throughout each semes-ter in order to choose the most suitable changes for Meramec. According to Wright, all students are al-lowed to attend and make suggestions because it is important for everyone to speak up and point out issues that have developed.

“Keep in mind that these issues must be consid-ered into the budget,” said Wright. Meramec has a lot of projects that are still under way and according to Wright every day they come to work they try to

anticipate change but plans change.“Everything we do is transparent. We fix prob-

lems to help our students and Meramec’s faculty likes to finish what they start,” said Wright.

Following up on the MDHE reportCompleted projects and future plans for STLCC-Meramec

Kelly Davis- Copy Editor -

Safety tape used to block new handicap ramp while un-der construction in front of the Lecture Hall building.

The side of the Student Center where the new patio is being built.

PHOTO BY JOE DOUGLASParking lot F after blacktop renovations that took place during summer break.

PHOTO BY COURTNEY STARK PHOTO BY JEANETTA ROBERTS

It’s only ‘rockin’ enrollment’ but Meramec likes itSTLCC is also working to improve the admis-

sions process. One of the most affected depart-ments with increased enrollment is financial aid. Depending on the time of day, many students must wait up to an hour or more before receiving help.

“That’s one of the big problems, is the limited num-ber of staff with the volume of students that we have,” said Michael Smith, manager of Meramec’s Financial Aid. “It’s frustrating that we just have to deal with so many students and we don’t always have the time and ability to do as much as we can for every student.”

Beginning this semester, the financial aid office will be using a new system called “document imag-ing.” Staff will be able to scan documents into a serv-er to be saved for later. If a student would come in

without that paperwork, or has lost them, financial aid will be able to look up those documents digitally.

In order to reduce the financial aid traffic, Smith said students should look on financial aid’s website (on http://stlcc.edu, under the “Admissions and Regis-tration” tab) for answers to frequently asked questions.

Another effect of high enrollment is full classrooms and difficulty signing up for classes later in the enrollment time frame.

“But again, part of the problem is most students want to go at certain times,” Kays said. Dubbed “prime time classes,” the most popular classes are those that are taught between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

In order to accommodate the continually increas-ing student body, many classes are being taught on-line. Online classes work in a way where students can schedule time to work on class assignments on their

own time, even during prime time periods if they en-rolled too late and couldn’t get the class they wanted.

Other classes are being offered as “hybrid Satur-day” courses. Students can take certain classes on Saturdays at a quickened pace, benefiting those who work full time or don’t have the time during the week.

In addition, earlier this summer, Meramec rent-ed three classrooms at South Tech High School where students will have the option of taking cer-tain classes at times between 9 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Classes will still be taught by Meramec faculty.

“We’re basically trying to use technology,” Friend said. “The problem is because of the econo-my we’re bringing in more students but we aren’t able to hire more staff, so we have to be much more efficient and use technology to be able to serve more students with the same amount of people.”

Continued from page 1

What’s Wrong with ILLEGAL Immigration?Arizona seeks resolution on immigration debate

Patrick Olds- Opinions Editor -

August 10, 2010

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A new immigration law that was passed by the Arizona Legislature, and then signed by their governor, Jan Brewer, has stirred up a firestorm of debate within the United States. The law was supposed to go into effect July 29, but the Obama administration sued the state of Arizona over the constitutionality of the law.

Many are asking questions regarding what effect this ruling will have on states’ rights going forward and how much authority the court will give to the federal government. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton very recently overturned crucial parts of the bill.

This doesn’t mean a great deal because it should continue to be appealed. According to CNN’s senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, it looks as though this case is headed for the highest court in the land.

Very simply, this law states that police officers may pull someone over for “reasonable suspicion” and nothing less. After pulling someone over, it is the duty of the officer to ask for any form of identification to confirm immigration status, but not multiple forms of ID, which has been reported by multiple news outlets.

The law was designed in a way to discourage officers for stopping someone because of their skin color. “Reasonable suspicion” is not a new concept. It is used daily in laws across the country.

For example, a police officer is not allowed to stop a teenager driving around in a nice car because he thinks there could be drugs involved. The same goes for Arizona and this new law.

More importantly, it’s crucial that people understand both sides to this controversial issue. Basically, the strongest argument for the law is security. There is one side that will say that it’s quite dangerous to allow so many undocumented people within our borders.

The opposition to the law will say that it is promoting racial profiling and the people of Arizona feel as though they are being overrun by immigrants when in fact, the people of Arizona are being overrun by illegal aliens with no resident status.

Let’s look at the situation in Arizona. There have been many reports of illegal aliens and their high crime rate. A grave event took place along the border within the past year in which a sheriff was murdered by illegal aliens. A rancher was killed in another incident. There is even a wildlife refuge along the border that is so dangerous because it is overrun by drug cartel thugs and other criminals that the federal government put up signs warning Americans to “proceed at their own risk!”

This is all anecdotal, but one fact that isn’t: Phoenix is the second largest kidnapping capital in the world. Only Mexico City, Mexico suffers more kidnappings. Illegal aliens apparently are the primary targets of the kidnappings, but that shouldn’t diminish the argument.

It should make the concerns graver because the

opposition to this bill says they care about the human condition. This should be deeply concerning.

Suspicion should creep into one’s mind when considering this debate because there are many facets that aren’t reported by the media, such as the fact that if one were to go to many countries in Europe or even Mexico itself, they require that people have their passport at all times. Is this racist? No, it just makes sense for their security.

With the media coverage surrounding this law, it will be hard to imagine the U. S. Supreme Court not ruling on this case, one way or the other. It should define what states are allowed to do with the immigration situation in our country because the federal government has yet to address it.

According to one of Sen. Jon Kyl’s (Ariz.) aides, when Kyl and President Obama met to discuss this issue, it was Obama that was holding border security hostage until he received an amnesty bill on his desk to sign into law. If that is indeed true, it makes sense because that it such a huge voting bloc that it could alter an election outcome enormously.

This discussion should be held by everyone in this country because it will have direct effects on the immigration laws from many different states, including Missouri.

A court case for this should set the precedent for whether the states can enforce a federal law or whether it is up to the federal government to choose whether to enforce a law. This should have lasting effects on the future of immigration reform.

Pay attention to the facts.

ILLUSTRATION BY: RICHARD RHODES

OPINIONS

The University City Community Band played an outdoor concert in The Market at the Delmar Loop on Tuesday, July 20. Every summer, the UCity Band has a concert series under the direction of Thomas Poshak. On that Tuesday, however, an associate professor at STLCC-Meramec had the honor of having his own compositions played for the public.

Gary Gackstatter, Associate Professor in charge of Instrumental Music at Meramec, had six pieces of his original work and arrangements

performed by the UCity band. Gackstatter, starting his fourth year of teaching, began writing music in the late 1970s.

“I hear things in my head and have to write them down,” said Gackstatter. “I can custom fit music to the groups I conduct.”

ART & LIFE August 10, 2010

“I hear things in my head and have to write them down. I can custom fit music to the groups I conduct.”

-Gary Gackstatter

Tim Doty- Copy Editor -

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Gackstatter, who conducts the Meramec Orchestra and Symphonic Band and first had his music published in 2001, also performed his piece “The Prairie” on the flugelhorn which, according to Gackstatter, is “like a trumpet, except for the shape. It has a larger bell and its shape gives it a much mellower sound.”

Gackstatter said that it’s “hard to say” how many times his music has been performed live. His music is published worldwide. He has written works for orchestras, choirs, and smaller pieces for quartets and trios.

“A band in Taiwan played one of my pieces last year,” said Gackstatter.

Though this may not be the first time some of his music has been performed, Gackstatter still enjoys hearing his music performed live.

“It’s a big thrill, especially when you have talented groups performing them. I’ve had three pieces played at the Midwest Convention in Chicago by the nation’s top high school groups, and it’s always a pleasure to hear them there,” said Gackstatter.

When his music is played, Gackstatter said “a genuine satisfaction that people are getting the same emotion out of the work that I intended” goes through his head.

Along with “The Prairie,” other original works of Gackstatter including “Flying,” “The Sky,” and “The Silly Circus” were performed by the UCity Band. The concert series this year

featured a composer from Missouri at each concert. Thomas Poshak, music director for the UCity Summer Concert Band, chose these pieces for the performance.

“Gary was one of the eight Missouri composers featured over the six series,” said Poshak. “Gary lives in music and is a very talented, well-respected musician and composer.”

In regards to his future composing,

Gackstatter said that he would like to write another symphony soon.

“I have some ideas coming in, which means it will probably happen this next year. I can’t really plan to write music; I have to wait until it hits me,” said Gackstatter. “If I just sat down and started to compose, it wouldn’t be any good. For me, there has to be a reason to write, otherwise, it’s just a bunch of notes.”

Gary Gackstatter gives notes in and out of class

Associate Professor Gary Gackstatter’s compositions are played at an outdoor concert in the Market at the Delmar Loop on Tuesday, July 20.

Mary Prchlik

“Inception”, directed by Christo-pher Nolan, stars Leonardo Dicaprio as Dom Cobb, a thief who instead of stealing tangible items, steals ideas while in people’s dreams.

This concept is not one that can be easily explained to those who haven’t seen the movie yet, nor can the audience quite capture all the details in the movie the first time around.

To put things very simply, Cobb and his colleagues are hired by a mysterious businessman (Ken Wata-nabe) to complete an almost impos-sible mission: plant an idea in some-one’s mind, not steal it.

DiCaprio (“Shutter Island”, “The Departed”) executes another fantastic job of playing an extreme-ly well-developed character. In this film, Cobb, a father of two, is dealing

Stephanie Stough- Managing Editor -

PHOTO COURTESY OF : IMDB.COM

“Inception”, starring Leonardo DiCarprio, focuses on Dom Cobb, a thief who instead of stealing tanigble items, steals ideas while in people’s dreams. “Inception” is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.

MovieREVIEW:Inception

with issues connecting to reality and dealing with emotional ties to his wife. He wants to finish his final job, inception, just so he can go “home.”

The majority of the excruciating-ly long motion picture takes place on different levels of consciousness, a concept that forces the viewer to pay very close attention to every de-tail.

Although the story is very com-plex, Nolan creates a world that is very imaginative, visually appeal-ing and gravity defying-one where endless staircases and upside down buildings exist at the blink of an eye.

After two-and-a-half hours of a mind-boggling maze of conscious-ness, sub-consciousness and every-where in between, Inception leaves audiences asking, “What the hell just happened?”

“Inception” is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.

For all the students who are wondering when is the right time to start looking for an internship, the answer to that question, according to Sherita Reinhardt, Career and Employment Service Specialist at STLCC-Meramec, is: “All the time! You should always been looking because there are opportunities that are open any given time.”

Professor Susan Hunt-Bradford, Internship coordinator of the communications department, reinforces that there are a lot companies needing interns for the upcoming fall, spring, and summer semesters.

Even with positions available any time of the year, it doesn’t mean that it would be easy to get an internship, according to Reinhardt.

“So if you know that you are going to eventually seek an internship, you should start it early so you can start the application process early because, for this, trust me, for every internship, there will be high competition,” said Reinhardt.

However, the competition should not be the reason to discourage students to find an internship. Actually, both professionals agree that getting an internship is really important for helping students to face the competition in their future career.

“Many jobs require some type of experience once you graduate from college. Even entry level jobs require experience, so internships are a great way to get experience and make your resume look great,” said Hunt-Bradford.

According to Reinhardt, besides the fact that the students are gaining experience, increasing networking opportunities, and sharpening their skills set, getting an internship could be helpful to find a job in the future.

STLCC-Meramec works in partnership with a lot of companies in St. Louis, and most of the departments have an internship coordinator, such as Susan Hunt-Bradford for the Communication Department. They have contacts with employers or may know specifically who is offering internships at this moment. If this doesn’t work, the next step would be basically seeking the Career and Employment Services, located in Clark Hall Room 249. It is available for any students, but an appointment is needed in the case of specific questions.

“Career and Employment Service is a great place to get help with resumes, interviewing, etc. They work with the departmental internship coordinators to help and support the student in their search for an internship,” said Hunt-Bradford.

“We are building partnerships with different companies. We will definitely refer you to great resources to help you.” Reinhardt said that they will help you understand the work world and getting your documents ready.

In case of doubt, the best thing to do is to talk with the internship coordinator of the department. He will explain what the student needs to get an internship and what kind of internship will be better for his career.

“Internships not only help you decide what you want as a career but may also help you decide what you don’t want as a career,” says Hunt-Bradford.

CES provides internship possi-bilities to STLCC students

Luelana Bustamante- Staff Writer -

5ART & LIFEAugust 10, 2010

It’s a hot, humid day in downtown St. Louis and another workday for an eco-friendly architect. Steven Vollenweider, STLCC-Meramec alumnus, stands by a nearly finished parking lot at the new William J. Harrison North Side Education Center. He steps back, takes a deep breath and admires the building.

Vollenweider observes the sit from a distance. “Every day when I walk out of the trailer,” he said. “I see the site and I am shocked at the progress.”

Vollenweider, an employee of KWAME Building Group, works to fulfill requirements for the LEED Gold standards.

“LEED Gold is a benchmark system where one ensures compliances with LEED Gold certification status through the USA Green Building Certification requirements,” said Vollenweider.

Vollenweider fulfills these requirements not only

because it is his job, but because it is an important part of his life. While attending Meramec, Vollenweider took several courses involving green architecture, an important part of his job.

“It seems to me when people talk about sustained living they are not talking about protecting the earth, they are talking about preserving mankind,” said Vollenweider. “I believe in preserving the natural way of life, and that goes into my work.”

Vollenweider considers his work to be part of the solution to a better tomorrow for Earth.

“There are problems in the world, and if there is a social issue involving it, I want to be on the positive side of the battle,” said Vollenweider. “Our relationship with nature, delicate, it’s a give and take sort of thing.”

Around the William J. Harrison North Side Education Center, Vollenweider points out several different ways KWAME Building Group

Setting Green GoalsAlumnus Steven Vollenweider works for planet’s future

Kavahn Mansouri- Art & Life Editor -

has met LEED Gold requirements. Whether it be the seven different recycling bins, or that the foundation of the building was reinforced by the foundations from the homes that previously inhibited the site.

KWAME provided Vollenweider with an experience he explains as “something that you could never learn in a class.” He also says that just working for KWAME has given him a

different perspective on life. “With KWAME being a

minority operated business, it’s given me a side to life that I had not seen before,”

said Vollenweider. He leans back in his chair and smiles. “KWAME took me under their wing, honestly, we are a big family, and I owe them so much.”

Vollenweider explained why STLCC was also very important in finding his career path.

“The extracurricular courses available at STLCC have been a great opportunity for me and anyone else, to develop team

building and leadership,” said Vollenweider.

Vollenweider also acted as NOpirg’s President. He led the movement to stop hidden

fees included in enrollment payment benefiting PIRG. Vollenweider was a leading voice at the MoPIRG/NOpirg debate. NOpirg succeeded in their task, and MoPIRG must now provide its own funding.

Vollenweider is humble about his achievements, when he talks about what he has accomplished; he mentions how important KWAME and STLCC have been to him.

“When I look back, I’m happy to see where I’m at, it wasn’t only me. There are so many people who have helped me, KWAME being one of them, and STLCC being another,” said Vollenweider.

Vollenweider spends every day ensuring that STLCC’s newest education center lives alongside the planet in harmony.

“I work every day to be a part of the solution and improve the quality of life around me. At the end of the day, I lie in bed and think what did I do today and what can I do better tomorrow,” said Vollenweider.

“At the end of the day, I lie in bed and think what did I do today, and what can I do better tommorow.”

-Steven Vollenweider

(Top) Steven Vollenweider takes part in the debate on MoPIRG. Vol-lenweider served as the president of NOpirg. NOpirg led the move-ment to remove funding from enrollment costs to PIRG. (Right) Vollenweider takes a break from work at the KWAME work site for STLCC’s new William J. Harrison North Side Education Center. Submitted Photo

Archived Photo

SPORTS August 10, 2010

Fencing puts Meramec students on guard

Fencing is a sport of his-tory, adrenaline and tech-nique. The three types of fencing courses offered at STLCC-Meramec are Intro-duction to Fencing, Electric Foil, and Saber. Each course begins with practice bouts to learn the techniques and to get to know the class. Then the tournaments begin.

Sarah Mack, a biol-ogy and teaching major, has taken Fencing I three times, Fencing IV three times, and is now taking Saber.

“You always get to meet new people,” Mack said.

Sam Wise, teacher edu-cation major, is taking fenc-ing for the first time.

“It kicks butt, it’s awe-some, it’s a fun class to be in. There is a lot of discipline in-volved but it’s just fun. Who doesn’t enjoy taking out frustration in fencing?” Wise said.

In tournament play, the competitors wear a mask, jacket and one glove on the sword hand. Points are scored when the sword touches the opponent. Four judges, two on either side of each fencer, call out touches. Before a bout, each swords-man salutes the other.

“On guard, ready, fence… halt, touch in the arm, one, zip,” said Bill McDevitt, the instructor and referee.

There is one minute of

rest in between each three minutes of fencing until one competitor scores 15 points. The fencers crouch down and use explosive move-ments to attack.

“Did I hear a whimper?” one student teased another.

The fencers sigh in relief for each minute break.

“It’s rigorous and 15 minutes of solid fencing is like an hour and half of foot-ball scrimmaging. You use every muscle in your body,” McDevitt said.

The bout ends with a sa-lute and handshake. Brandy Morgan, an English edu-cation major, sits down to catch her breath, rubbing her shoulder.

“There are just some hits that are a poke, you know you got hit. You have two people swinging metal swords, you are bound to get hit, but it’s a lot of fun and it’s great for working out,” Morgan said.

Another pair steps up to fence. Paul Prather, pho-tography major, who is left-handed, presents a challenge to his opponent.

“Most hits are on the out-side on the arm and fencing a lefty is more difficult because a lefty will move to the out-side of the strip closing off the target area. They laugh at you when you try to get ahead,” said Ben Kennedy, general transfer.

Prather is still learning to use his advantage.

“There is an advantage

if you know what to do,” Prather said.

The competition follows a bracket until there is one champion. The tournament winner, in addition to a small trophy, gets to have a one touch bout with the instruc-tor. “This is the only course the students get a chance to stick it to their instructor,” McDevitt said.

McDevitt competed all four years at the University of Illinois and he also now teaches students age 4 to 70 at the Olympic Fencing Academy in St. Louis.

“Bill is a great coach and instructor. He works with us as a class, but with a feeling of one-on-one,” Wise said.

McDevitt instructs stu-

dents on how to use the three types of blades in fencing: the foil, the epée, and the saber.

“The epée is the duel-ing sword, the closest thing to the three musketeers,” McDevitt said.

The epée blade is strong. McDevitt explains that peo-ple hurt in practice devel-oped a more flexible blade so they could aim for shots in the breast without hurt-ing their opponent. Practice was transformed into a sport but fencing still resembles the sword fighting it once was. The arena for fencing is 14 meters long and 2 meters wide to simulate a hallway in a castle.

The fencing club, run by the students, meets ev-

ery other Thursday on the second floor of the Student Center and is open to any student who wants to try fencing. McDevitt says inter-est in fencing has been grow-ing.

“American women have revived the sport in the Olympics. They took first, second and third at the 2008 Olympics,” McDevitt said.

Each course at Mera-mec is eight weeks long and meets twice a week for one credit. Fifteen students is a full class.

“I started about four years ago. I needed a filler class and thought it would be interesting to take. I enjoy beating up the boys,” Mack said.

Amy Winstead- Contributing Writer -

Carvougha Wilson and Brady Morgan battle in a fencing tournament during class. PHOTO BY: AMY WINSTEAD

Rousseau’s “The Man” for Stan Musial Street Project

Everyone is full of good ideas. However, all too of-ten, good ideas remain just that—good ideas. Rarely are good ideas turned into a re-ality. For STLCC-Meramec student, Nick Rousseau, his good idea of honoring one of baseball’s greatest, is on the brink of becoming a reality.

Rousseau is on a mission to change all of Eighth Street into Stan Musial Street. The street runs parallel to Busch Stadium, directly in front of the Stan “The Man” Musial statue.

“I first came up with the idea when some fans of Saturday Night Live (SNL) on Facebook wanted Betty White to be on SNL,” said Rousseau.

“They started this Face-book page for her. It was a support group to get her on SNL. I thought if fans of SNL could get Betty White on SNL, we could change a street name.”

Spencer Gleason- Sports Editor -

PHOTO BY: COURNTEY STARK

Stan Musial’s statue outside of Busch Stadium.

Rousseau’s Facebook page, “Change all of 8th Street to Stan Musial Street,” started the ball rolling for his idea to become true.

In a June 2010 in-terview with KSDK, City Alderwoman Phyllis Young said that for the entire street to change names, it would re-quire the majority of residents along that street, or at least 50 percent, to sign a peti-tion in favor of Eighth Street becoming Stan Musial Street.

“It’s been going good,” said Rous-seau. “It’s been hard to get all these signa-tures, but I’ve been trying my best.”

However, not ev-eryone is jumping at the thought of chang-ing the street name.

“Some people are saying it would be hard for mail car-

riers,” said Rousseau, “be-cause the address would

change. I’ve asked my mail carrier and he didn’t see

what the prob-lem would be. It’s just like a la-bel. They’d just make new labels that say Stan Musial Street.”

Stan “The Man” Musial will turn 90 this November. Dur-ing a career in which he played over 20 years and 3,000 games, all in St. Louis, Musial compiled a career batting average of .331, a total of 3,630 hits, 475 home runs and 1,951 runs batted in (RBI).

“Right now let’s recognize ‘The Man’ that we idolized,” said Rousseau. “Maybe not

watched, but our

dads idolized, our grandpas idolized. My favorite Stan ‘The Man’ story that my dad told me is from the day he got the name ‘The Man.’ Other fans would say ‘here comes that man again.’ That says how much of a fighter he was at the plate. He would do some damage.”

With no deadline set, Rousseau wants to accom-plish his goal so that Musial can see the love that St. Louis Cardinal fans have for him.

“I want to shake his hand,” said Rousseau, “and say thank you Stan for being ‘The Man.’”

The project is open to the public through Rousseau’s Facebook fan page entitled “Change all of 8th Street to Stan Musial Street.” With more than 4,800 members, Rousseau said he will contin-ue to keep fighting and with everybody’s help, his idea could become a reality in the near future.

“I can’t do all of the work,” said Rousseau. “I need Cardinal Nation.”