By Holly Shanks
Webster-Kirkwood Times March 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
KCFV Has A New Manager
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper March 2013
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| Photo by Holly Shanks Above: New KCFV General Manager Paul Huddleston |
“You have to have a sense of humor because you have to be able to laugh off your critics,” Paul Huddleston said as he tossed his hands in the air. “If you start to believe them – that’s when bad things happen.”
In the office of KCFV, St. Louis Community College's only FCC licensed student radio station, Huddleston talked about his hopes, goals, and new responsibilities. In January, the former FV student accepted the position of general manager at KCFV. He is looking forward to continuing the station’s long tradition of supporting students and offering a welcoming place to experience hands-on broadcasting and communications study.
In high school, Huddleston’s friends noticed his love of music and continuous talking to anyone and everyone within hearing distance of his voice. They suggested that a radio career could be a perfect fit for him. Shortly after enrolling in Florissant Valley's broadcasting program he realized he had found a new place to call home.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Why Join the Honors Program at STLCC-FV
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV Honors Program with Professor Regina Popper.
STLCC-FV Honors Program with Professor Regina Popper.
Click below for the interview
http://hollyconvergenceclass.blogspot.com/2012/11/why-college-honors-program.html
http://hollyconvergenceclass.blogspot.com/2012/11/why-college-honors-program.html
For more information visit STLCC Honors webpage: http://www.stlcc.edu/Programs/Honors_Program/Florissant_Valley_Honors/Index.html
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Pokemon Competitors Gather In St. Charles
By Holly Shanks
South County Times - Feburary 1, 2013
Webster-Kirkwood Times - January 25, 2013
Local Pokemon players competed in the largest regional competition in Pokemon history – a gathering where Pokemon is not just a kid’s game, but a community and culture of friendship for all ages.St. Charles Ice Carving Competition
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper - February 2013
Photo By Holly Shanks
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| "Castle Fight" Ice Carving Winner Photo by Holly Shanks |
A frozen castle, scuba diver, and three chilly pigs emerged on the street in historic downtown St. Charles
The St. Charles Historic Downtown Association started the yearly ice festival in 1998 and the “Fete de Glace” Ice Carving Competition has been a hit ever since. The competition consists of two categories, the single block and the two-man Monster Carver Class. The attending crowd pick the winners by casting votes for their favorite sculptures. The competitors compete for cash prizes and bragging rights.
According to Vice President of the St. Charles Historic Association Mike Maurer, the competition has seen Olympic ice carvers compete, as well as many local ice artists over the years.
The Monster Carvers Class begins with five blocks of ice weighing 260 pounds each, three and a half feet tall, twenty inches across and ten inches wide. The blocks can be stacked on top of each other giving the artist a large canvas to work with depending on the design being carved.
“When the ice first starts taking shape, people really gather around to watch the carvers with their electric chain saws and all their tools,” Maurer said. “Its fun and some of them are really spectacular looking.”
Valentine's Day Memories Shared
By Holly Shanks
Webster-Kirkwood Times February 8, 2013
A few seniors attending the Shepherd’s Center of Webster-Kirkwood’s Saturday morning activities for older adults graciously shared their Valentine’s memories.
They have a combined total of 185 years of matrimony between them and they know thing or two about relationships, marriage and Valentine’s Day.
Curry Receives Underwood Award
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
Allieze Ruby Curry, dean of Business and Human Development, stepped onto the stage and into the spotlight during the David L. Underwood lecture earlier this month. She revealed through self-reflections, the lessons learned from her 35-year career, the struggles and rewards of becoming a guardian of her nephew, and her thoughts of the ever changing highway of education.
Florissant Valley (FV) Music Professor Paul Higdon performed piano pieces by Sergei Rachmaninov. Professor Chris Stephens introduced Curry by sharing with the audience her many encompassing accomplishments. Stephens also shared his memory of Curry being the very first person to welcome him aboard in 2000 as a newly hired full-time professor at FV.
A Ghostly Adventure
By Holly Shanks
STLCC- FV The Forum Student Newspaper - October, 2011
“St. Charles Ghost Tours” is not a haunted hoax. There are no mirrored parlor tricks or visual illusions along Main Street. Michael Henry has been researching ghosts for nearly 40 years. He started St. Charles Ghost Tours in 2006.
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Photo Provided by St. Charles Ghost Tours
The Odd Fellows, a fraternal society, formally
used and built the historic building in 1878.
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He was a ghost hunter before it was called ghost hunting.
He approaches ghost hunting scientifically not recreationally, Henery says. Ninety percent of all incidents can be explained. It’s the other unexplainable 10 percent that keeps Henry coming back. “What we see is something we have not yet identified.”
Older places seem to be hotspots for paranormal activity and the St. Louis area is no exception. The Lemp Mansion has been featured on paranormal television shows and the 1949 exorcism story that inspired "The Exorcist" movie from 1973 that partially took place in St. Louis.
Alton, IL, has the reportedly haunted McPike Mansion and the Enos Sanatorium known to have been an underground railroad station for escaped slaves, and later a tuberculosis sanatorium. St. Charles is the second oldest city in Missouri, rich in history, and possible fertile ground for the paranormal.
Rock Block- A Rock and Roll Conversation With B.A.
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
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| Design by Holly Shanks |
A Rock and Roll Conversation With B.A.
If all you have to do is care in order to make a difference in someone’s life, then Barry Yoakum cares a lot. He tries to make that difference by giving his radio listeners an entertaining rock and roll fueled distraction from whatever it is they might need it from.
Since 2008, Yoakum, a.k.a. B.A. has hosted, “The Rock Show,” a high octane, boring not allowed, old school, Friday night rock and roll show. It is the longest running rock based program currently on air at STLCC-FV student radio station, KCFV 89.5, The Wave.
The hard rock and metal music genre appeals to Yoakum because the “music makes you feel like your kicking ass, having fun and doing what you want to do,” he says. “It calms me down and pumps me up all at the same time.”
Rock Block- Fear Not the Crossover
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
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| Design by Holly Shanks |
Generally, music fans are loyal, dedicated people who upon hearing their favorite songs can feel rhythm wrap around them and set their senses ablaze till every nerve ending pulsates along with the beat. Not only do just the fans experience that feeling, but some musicians drip with sheer music ecstasy while they play.
If one pays close enough attention, for instance, to a guitarist like Zakk Wylde as he rips through a solo, the onlookers are usually in awe of the amazing force and commanding presence exhibited through the guitar. Wylde’s consciousness looks as if it is absorbed into the instrument as it sends ripples of sound out to touch the audience. It is moments like those that keep fans coming back and packing arenas around the globe to see their favorite artist.
Rock Block - Shattered Barriers
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
Shattered Barriers
With encouragement and support from his band mates and assistance from custom made foot peddles, Allen relearned to play the drums. “I’m really trying to play everything I used to play with my left arm with my left leg, sometimes not as successfully as I would like, but it’s a constant sort of learning curve…” Allen says smiling “You can’t really consult the book of one-armed drummers, you know.”
Rock Block - Flashback from Monsters of Rock
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
Flashback to Monsters of Rock 1991
After facing food and housing shortages and military troops and tanks in the streets, the people of prevailed and the last of the Communists leaders clinging to power backed down.
An amazing one month later in September, a free Monsters of Rock concert was held at Tushino Airfield near. The night before the concert Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett from the band Metallica spoke to a few of the Russian people. When Ulrich and Hammett asked why they had stayed during the coup and faced the KGB troops one young man said, “Mostly people came here to die, they want freedom, they crave it, they were ready to meet their death.”
ACDC guitarist, Angus Young while attending the coup memorial said, “You have to admire anyone who puts up a battle for what they want…it allows things like this to go on, where they get to see rock music, and they're entitled to that freedom as much as anyone else in the world, to the youth, you have to take your cap off to them for making a stand, it shows in them great courage that they stood up.”
A young Russian man also at the memorial service explained in his native tongue, “During the coup the youth fought to live the way they want, not the way their masters ordered them.”
Unofficial concert crowd estimates range from 500 thousand to over one million. The following link is for the live performance of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” given at the 1991 Monsters of Rock concert in.
Watched in its entirety the visuals of the crowds are stunning, and it shows the many faces of those who had been living under the veil of communism a few weeks earlier. The universal expressionism of Rock and Roll knows no boundaries and is truly a common bond shared by rockers around the world.
Watched in its entirety the visuals of the crowds are stunning, and it shows the many faces of those who had been living under the veil of communism a few weeks earlier. The universal expressionism of Rock and Roll knows no boundaries and is truly a common bond shared by rockers around the world.
ROCK ON, OUR FELLOW ROCKERS IN, ROCK ON!!
March Block Video: Metallica “Enter Sandman”
Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Six-time Grammy Award winner, Whitney Houston, was found dead in her Beverly Hills Hilton hotel room’s funeral was held Saturday, February 18, where friends and family, including Kevin Costner and Stevie Wonder, paid tribute to the late musical icon by sharing memories and music. The official cause of death has not been released due to an on-going investigation.
The legendary singer was the first artist to have seven consecutive number one singles and gave many incredible contributions to the music world, such as “I Will Always Love You” from the 1992 film, “The Bodyguard.”
Former front man of Skid Row, Sebastian Bach said of Houston, "This is hitting me hard. I used to sing all of Whitney Houston's songs all the time. I absolutely loved her voice. I practiced along to her songs countless times and her music affects me deeply. I cannot believe how temporary life is. How fragile music is. Everything you hold dear can be ripped away at a moments notice and you won't even see it coming...RIP Whitney Houston."
Former front man of Skid Row, Sebastian Bach said of Houston, "This is hitting me hard. I used to sing all of Whitney Houston's songs all the time. I absolutely loved her voice. I practiced along to her songs countless times and her music affects me deeply. I cannot believe how temporary life is. How fragile music is. Everything you hold dear can be ripped away at a moments notice and you won't even see it coming...RIP Whitney Houston."
2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee’s Announced
In April, the newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be inducted. The 2012 inductee’s include, Guns and Roses, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beastie Boys, Donovan, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/The Faces, Freddie King, Don Kirshner, Conimo Matassa, Tom Dowd, Glyn Johns, The Crickets, The Famous Flames, The Midnighters, The Comets, The Blue Caps, and The Miracles.
According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s website, for an artist to be eligible for induction they must have demonstrated unquestionable musical excellence, made contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll and released a record at least 25 years prior to the year of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A committee made up of Rock and Roll historians nominate artist and then more than 500 rock experts vote on who will be inducted each year.
The sold-out induction ceremony will be held April 14th in and any further public broadcast of the show have yet to be announced. For more information visit www.rockhall.com .
Missouri Poet Laureate Coming to Flo Valley
By Holly Shanks
STLCC- FV The Forum Student Newspaper 2011
STLCC- FV The Forum Student Newspaper 2011
Prisons, nursing homes, schools, colleges, rural areas and the Missouri Arts Council all have something in common. A gentleman who writes poetry named David Clewell.
Clewell has been an English Professor at Webster University
Clewell has an insightful perception that allows him a glimpse inside the sometimes gritty charms of life and the many earthy soulful characteristic’s that allow people to find different ways of surviving. What people believe or need to believe to get by and make it from one day to the next, in many cases, is what gives Clewell’s pen its purpose.
Conducting poetry readings, workshops and discussions gives Clewell the chance to reach out to audiences that may not be poetically inclined and invite them into the idea that poetry can be about real people and the world they live in. Giving someone a chance to think about what is around them in a new way they have not thought of or looked at in a particular way before.
Not a fussy man over titles or the thought of being a distinguished poet, Clewell wants to be remembered as a person who lives life to the fullest and not as a poet, but simply a man who writes poetry.
Sponsored by the Library and English Department, Clewell will discuss his approach to writing poetry and read from some of his favorite poems. Event will be held on Wednesday, April 11, at 11a.m. , on the third floor of the library located in the Instructional Resources building. For more information call 314-513-4505 .
Global Classroom
Article and Graphic Design by Holly Shanks
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Stepping onto a college campus for the first time can be a traumatic and exhilarating feeling for the young and not so young alike. If someone that is not a perpetual lone wolf comes to campus without any connections or acquaintances, one good idea would be to investigate what clubs or organizations are offered for student participation. |
"The Raven" Movie Review
Movie Review of
"The Raven"
"The Raven"
By Holly Shanks
STLCC FV Forum Student Newspaper
STLCC FV Forum Student Newspaper
The Raven brings Edgar Allen Poe’s
dark gothic catacomb of imagination to life
on the big screen and puts a new twist
on the last few days of Poe's life.
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The character of Edgar Allen Poe is played by John Cusack and is loosely based on real life events surrounding the penniless poet who helped father the gruesome genre of horror in the 1800s.
Poe's death has been debated since he took his last breath at the age of 40 on October 7, 1849. He died under mysterious circumstances that have never been explained.
The Plot
A black raven, one of Poe’s calling cards, clings to a branch overlooking a man sitting on a park bench. Suddenly a woman’s chilling scream, sends the film to it's whirling murderous start. The viewers are treated with a broke, and often drunken literary critic (Poe) who bounces from eccentric to troubled and soulfully tortured.
Poe’s love interest is the beautiful Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve), who is guarded from Poe by her protective father (Brendan Gleeson). The lovers secretly find happiness in each others arms, and are about to live happily ever after, until Emily gets kidnapped by a dark poetic figure that has seemingly sprang to life from Poe’s ink pot and quill.
Poe finds himself trapped inside his own nightmarish macabre stories. Dead bodies keep turning up in the same circumstances Poe's characters met their deaths inside his imaginatively written plots. Searching for clues with Detective Fields (Luke Evans), Poe must identity the killer before time runs out for Emily and she becomes another one the author's tragic endings. Unfortunately, Poe discovers the murderer just in time to trade his life for hers.
The visual feel of the film is dramatic and authentic looking right down to Poe’s corked liquor bottles and rich period inspired costumes. The sometimes gory and bloody crime scenes are reproduced straight out of Poe’s classics such as, “The Pit and the Pendulum” with the recognizable large heavy pendulum that swings back and forth, just as in Poe’s writing, agonizingly escalating the suspense of terror until it comes to a sudden stop as it hits the wooden table beneath the back of the victim with a sickening heavy thud.
Poe fans will not be disappointed by the rhythmic lyrical lines encompassing Poe’s trademark style that spill easily from Cusack’s lips. However, dark poetic lines mixed with lighter humanistic ones convey a touch of humor sprinkled throughout keeping the tenseness of the dreadful near-death and corpse viewing sequences from engulfing the film. That mixture could be a plus or minus for the movie-goer depending on their Poe-like expectations.
STLCC Receives #3.7 Million Education Grant
By Holly Shanks
(from 2011 November STLCC Forum Student Newspaper)
(from 2011 November STLCC Forum Student Newspaper)
The college expects to serve more than 1100 St. Louis area residents including a range of unemployed and under-employed workers, “We are absolutely excited about being on the cutting edge to help students get their healthcare credentials and get good jobs,” said Steve Long, Director of Workforce and Community Development.
"Plan For Extension of Grant's Trail Unveiled"
"Plan For Extension of Grant's Trail Unveiled"
By Holly Shanks
South County Times
November 30 Edition
November 30 Edition
The Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) district unveiled plans for the Gravois Greenway, a two-mile extension to Grant’s Trail, at an open house held for the public November 26. The extension will begin at the end of Grant’s Trail near I-55 and Union Road Lemay Park
The long term vision of the GRG is an encompassing 600-mile interconnected system of trails, greenways, bicycle routes and parks that follow the rivers surrounding the St. Louis
Flo Valley Career Center Offers Opportunity
By Holly Shanks
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
STLCC-FV The Forum Student Newspaper
Rome was not built in a day and neither is a career. Setting out on the road to a rewarding and successful career is exciting and challenging. Competition for jobs is an inescapable condition especially in a recession. Expectations can be hard to manage and some disappointments will be inevitable. Learning to cope and adjust to the environment will play a crucial role for job seekers.
A solid support system in career development and employment services can make a difference, maybe even help give a job applicant the winning edge.
The Career and Employment Services (CES) department is an excellent resource for the current student, graduate, or alumni of St. Louis Community College. Those looking for their first career opportunity or making a career transition will benefit by taking advantage of the services offered.
All current and former students of St. Louis Community College that have completed three or more academic credit hours are eligible for lifetime access to the Career and Employment Services department.
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