Summer is right around the corner. Vacations are planned, projects are finalized, the sun is shining and the clock ticks down. And so, we get ready to end another semester at Shippensburg University. As I get ready to graduate on May 6, I cannot help looking back at my four years here.
As the semester draws to a close, it is always important to reflect on the year as a whole. The 2022-2023 academic year was one filled with many ups and downs, but many of these problems could be fixed for the foreseeable future.
Last year, I chose not to run for reelection to the Student Government Association (SGA) for one simple reason — I could not tolerate it any longer. The vitriol and infighting were too much, and it began to affect my mental health and academic performance. I am not alone — the past year has seen over a dozen resignations from the student senate and committees, many citing similar reasons.
To all my second-floor Seavers Beavers: Thank you.
Every Earth Day we ask ourselves, “What can we do to save the Earth?” Recycle more? Drive more fuel-efficient cars? There are plenty of options for students and others alike to give back to the planet we need to protect. Here is some advice from Slater staff members on going green this Earth Day and how they give back.
When a student wants to figure out what is happening on campus at any time, it is often a complicated and incomplete pro- cess. There is a weekly “On the Horizon” newsletter sent out by Campus Life that highlights some student organization events, Rec center events and classes, and information that they have had submitted to them for inclusion in the newsletter.
“Join hand in hand, brave Americans all. By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.”
It seems like every time you turn on the news, all you see is the world on fire. Politicians would rather fight amongst themselves than propose any kind of solutions to issues like gun violence, climate change, economic disparities, racism, etc. However, as a journalism major, I have noticed a very shocking trend among people.
So this week was an unusually big week for entertainment news. We had trailers for several new big releases like “Barbie,” “Blue Beetle” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse.” On the flip side of things we also got news that we would be getting remakes of all seven “Harry Potter” books as an HBO Max series and a live-action remake of “Moana” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reprising the role of Maui.
On April 1, Shippensburg University social media posted a video message from President Charles Patterson making a “big” announcement. Patterson claimed that while searching the fourth floor of Old Main, ballots were discovered from the 2005 election that ultimately decided Big Red as the new mascot for the university.
Many students, particularly first-year students, often remark how they feel there is little to do on campus during the weekends or on evenings in general. Upon first arriving at Shippensburg, I felt the same way; however, upon learning more about our campus and getting involved in many organizations, I have learned there is actually an astronomical number of activities in which to participate.
Recently, The Slate published an article in the Ship Life section detailing what “Being a woman is…” for Women’s History Month. As I read the article, I noticed a trend where women were boiled down to outfits, makeup, chick-flicks, jewelry and period problems. To me, being a woman is so much more than the stereotypical cliches that people are so used to pinning to women’s chests.
One of the worst things for me as a writer, and especially as a creative writer, is the infamous case of writer’s block.
Last year, I drew a comparison between the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 in Germany. Since writing that article, I have found myself noticing other similarities between our modern predicament and the history of Germany in the interwar period.
As a journalist, they teach you to be impartial. They teach you to not show biases and to report the news without showing a political stance. But with the recent events in Tennessee, I have to ask: When did children being murdered become a political issue? When did people being murdered in mass numbers on a near weekly basis become a political issue?
During my year of community college, I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to take an American Sign Language (ASL) course. I had taken ASL classes in high school before, though my class was taught by a hearing teacher, so it was not as immersive. However, during my year of ASL taught by a deaf professor, I consider it to be the class that has educated me most. I was able to learn about the history of an entire culture and gain perspective for their way of life. While my ASL course was certainly the most enriching one I have taken, I continue to wonder how different would the world be if they knew what I had learned?
We all love to focus on the lives and the goings-on of celebrities. Whether they are athletes, actors or Youtubers, as long as they are a recognized name, we love to see what goes on in their extravagant lives. Recently though, many have voiced concerns over how much we obsess over celebrities. People hyper fixate on Pedro Pascal, Jenna Ortega or whoever the “it” person is for that week.
I’ve long been a fan of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” and its host, John Oliver, since his days on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” Recently, Oliver produced a segment on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF is a federal program that is designed to help low-income families make ends meet. The segment covers some of the myriad of problems with the program, most of which stem from mismanagement of funds by state officials.
A few weeks ago, I watched “Wall Street,” directed by Oliver Stone and starring Charlie Sheen, and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” for my fraud accounting class. In light of recent events in the financial industry, I have been thinking more and more about key lessons and takeaways from these movies.
