The Forum

Every November, schools, workplaces, and community organizations wear or display their light blue, pink, and white banners. They host panels, share statistics, and encourage people to "learn about" transgender issues. Transgender Awareness Month, now in its second decade, was created with good intentions—to educate a public that often knows little about trans lives. But nearly twenty years later, many transgender people and their closest allies are asking a harder question: does awareness actually help, or does it quietly reinforce the idea that trans people are a topic to be studied rather than neighbors to be lived alongside? 

Earlier this semester, the new edition of Florissant Valley’s literary magazine, The Valley, was launched. The name change was announced at the launch party for the 2025 edition.

With the original location demolished and under construction, the party was hosted in front of the new library in the lower level of the Administration and Instructional Support (AI) Building. It was a nice area, but there weren’t as many places to sit and enjoy the good food, good company, and good literature.

One event this Fall you don’t want to miss is the show The Butler Did It. A whodunit; a play about a play about a murder mystery. In the mystery play in our play, the director/writer is trying to put on a classic whodunit they’ve written, but they don’t have an ending or a murder. The play is currently in rehearsals. What is the director/writer to do?

Drive into the STLCC Florissant Valley campus just off Pershall Road, and you will see buildings filled with classrooms, a soccer field, tennis courts, freshly cultivated green spaces, and of course, parking lots. What you will not see is the original landscape of the 96.8 million acres that changed hands for roughly $166,000 in the early 19th century, or the people who lost it. You will not see the Missouria Tribe women and children who were paid in trade goods to dig the foundations of the first European buildings in this region. You will not see the Osage villages that stood here long before anyone called this place Ferguson.

Down past the restaurants and shops of St. Louis, in the coves of corner venues and basements, you’ll find our local rock music scene. New show posters and bands are popping up every day, with self-proclaimed “visual-core” band Dante No Bara being one of them. With the release of their debut album Take Me Back To War and more music on the way, they wish to establish a new style, share their story and find their own place in our scene.

Even though health officials keep warning about nicotine addiction and breathing problems, it’s common to see students using e-cigarettes on campus. Walk around almost any college, and you’ll probably spot someone vaping even though the rules say you’re not supposed to. (Yang et al.) Not as many young adults smoke regular cigarettes these days, but vaping is everywhere. (Prevention, 2024) Ask around, and you’ll hear students say they vape to deal with stress, or just because it’s easy and it's become a habit. For some, it started as a way to handle tough classes or social nerves, while others just tried it because their friends did. Because e-cigarettes don’t smell much and are small, students can get away with using them in places where no one would ever try lighting up a cigarette. Still, health experts warn that we don’t really know all the risks yet, and vaping could turn out to be more dangerous than people think.