By Matt Glover
Editor
Slippery Rock Mayor
JonDavid Longo is proposing a tax credit of up to $250 for first responders living in the Slippery Rock Borough
Longo is often asked how Slippery Rock will ensure that emergency and medical first responder services are available to constituents.
The tax credit is designed to motivate individuals to join the ranks of first responders and motivate current first responders to continue to serve the community in that way.
“If your tax liability is less than $250—and usually it is for local earned income tax—the borough would essentially be covering that,” Longo said.
The tax credit would go to members of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company (SRVFC) and Rescue Team paramedics and EMTs, SRPD, SRUPD, Butler County
Sheriff’s Department and state police who live in Slippery Rock Borough.
Longo said it is important that the local government is making sure people looking for first responder work understand that Slippery Rock will uniquely acknowledge their service with respect and appreciation. “There are a lot of people leaving Erie and Pittsburgh looking for a little bit of small-town U.S.A.,” he said.
Th e credit would also incentivize first responders with families to live and raise their families in Slippery Rock and enroll their children in the school district and at SRU.
It could also encourage volunteers living outside the borough to claim their address within the borough which makes them residents and affects measures that depend on the population like the liquid fuel tax.
The tax credit would be a chance for Slippery
Rock to lead by example.
On Tuesday alone, three municipalities called Longo asking for the language of the proposal. The Council of Governments (COG) that Slippery Rock Borough recently joined is also interested.
Not all the municipalities around Slippery Rock have police departments, but those that do are also looking for ways to motivate their residents to serve as first responders.
Longo and the Slippery Rock Borough Council are keeping the proposal close for now until they have finished developing it.
“I proposed $250, but perhaps the council might have another direction and want to go higher or lower,” Longo said.
He intends to have language that is agreeable to everyone by the end of the month for implementation at the beginning of next month.
In the five years he has been mayor, Longo is proud the borough has not
raised taxes while other municipalities around Slippery Rock have.
“That’s because we’ve been so good about making sure we’re being good stewards of our taxpayers' dollars,” he said.
Slippery Rock Borough
enjoyed a $50,000 surplus in 2022 which is the basis for this tax credit.
Longo spoke to SRVFC Fire Chief Ryan Hanchosky and concluded that there are only about 20 to 30 active members of the SRVFC living in the borough.
“We’re looking at 30 to 50 people maximum that this would touch,” Longo said. The Slippery Rock Borough Council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.
Many people have acknowledged a gender wage gap of about 18 cents, according to the Government Accountability Office, but fewer have discussed the “pink tax” behind body hair stigma.
For women, body hair used to be a signal of class. Upper- and middle-class women would shave their bodies to appear more attractive while working-class women would not. Having unshaven body hair was often associated with being an immigrant new to American cultural norms.
“1915 is when the Gillette razor becomes safe, and people have it in their homes, and that changes a lot of things,”
Lauren Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker teaches the Introduction to Gender Studies and Literature of the Women’s Movement courses at SRU and has been teaching for 15 years. In those two classes, she discusses where ideas about body hair come from and how they have changed.
In the World War II era when nylon stockings were less available, it became expected for women would shave their legs to wear a dress, she said.
Women were later expected to shave their armpits when the sleeves on women’s dresses became shorter.
Cindy LaCom at SRU talks in their Gender Studies and Porn Culture class (GNDR 400) about the history of hair removal and how the pornography industry has influenced hair removal practices.
“One of the biggest things, when we think about the practice of hair aesthetics, are questions of autonomy and cultural pressures that we may not be conscious of,” they said.
The cultural normal has changed so that women are criticized for having body hair, which LaCom thinks has set society back to the notion that men and women are different or unequal.
One of the industries that reinforces this cultural norm is the pornography industry with pubic hair removal. According to the National Library of Medicine, pubic hair removal is significantly associated with younger age and increased interest in sex.
“From about the 1970s on, we’ve seen shaving bikini lines, and even shaving all pubic hair with the rise of pornography,” Shoemaker said.
The evolution of video and high definition make it even easier to see body hair, she added.
“Teen porn is regularly one of the top five search terms [in porn],” LaCom said. “What’s called PCP, or pseudo
child porn, uses very young actors who have been presented as very thin, flat-chested and petite.”
PCP actors are also often presented eating lollypops and with braids in their hair, they said.
Men are also encouraged to have a shaven pubic area in porn to make their genitals look larger.
“The spectacle of the body being smooth, oily and attractive in that way became part of our culture’s aesthetic,” Shoemaker said, “especially for women’s bodies.”
Another industry reinforcing body hair stigma, and related more closely to the pink tax, is the beauty industry.
According to the United Nations, the pink tax is the phenomenon of goods and services marketed
to women being more expensive than similar items marketed to men.
The practice of hair removal is often expensive. One New York City study found that, on average, personal care products targeting women were 13% more expensive than similar men’s products. Accessories were 7% more expensive, and adult clothing was 8% more expensive.
For razors, the National Library of Medicine found that women’s four-blade razors were priced 66% higher than men’s, and women’s five-blade razors were priced 47% higher than men’s.
Waxing is also an option but is widely regarded as painful. A shaved or waxed pubic region can also lead to greater risk of infection.
A U.K. study found that women’s deodorant
was on average 8.9% more expensive than men’s. Women’s moisturizer was 34.28% more expensive, according to the World Economic Forum.
Beauty salons are also offering more services that were not previously offered like the tattooing and threading of eyebrows.
Men are not immune to cultural norms reinforced by the beauty industry either.
According to ABC News, men spend about $800 million on hair transplants and $250 million on hair pieces annually.
Masculinity is often associated with a full head of hair, so men spend money on products to treat hair loss with little to no evidence that these products work.
Outside industry, cultural norms have
GRAPHIC BY: SARAH ANDERSON
evolved to the point where many women feel the need to shave before going to a bar or party if they plan to have sex.
“It acts as a deterrent for them because they know that [even] if they hooked up with somebody that they may never see again, they might feel embarrassed or ashamed,” LaCom said, “and that’s a very strong cultural enforcer.”
Years ago, body hair may not have deterred men from hooking up with women. Today, men are more likely to turn down hooking up if they feel the woman’s body is too hairy.
Many women also decline to wear shorts when their legs aren’t shaven.
“My goal would be to get people to ask the question, ‘Why am I doing this?’” LaCom said.
United States President Joe Biden's Administration recently proposed a rule that would make free birth control and other contraceptives more accessible under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The proposal would reverse former U.S. President Donald Trump's regulations that allowed employers to opt out of covering the contraceptives of those who menstruate for religious or moral reasons.
Under the new regulation, the provider would offer contraception at no cost to the employee. The insurer would reimburse the provider, who would receive a credit from the government. Providers would not face any additional costs for administering comprehensive reproductive care. The rule also would no longer allow moral objections as grounds for exemption, but religious reasons would remain valid.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, which provided birth control at no additional cost. Since the signing of the ACA, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark court decision of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, the Biden Administration is continuing to push protection of access to birth control at no cost.
A birth control pill isn't the only type of contraceptive that is in need of governmental protection, though. Other popular contraceptives include birth control implants, IUDs, injections, vaginal rings and hormonal patches.
Types of female contraceptives
The most effective forms of birth control are implants, IUDs and sterilization, according to the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Sterilization, or tubal ligation, prevents a woman from getting pregnant permanently. Implants and IUDs are 9099% effective and can be more expensive to maintain than other options. This procedure is irreversible.
Vasectomies, similar to tubal ligation, stop the supply of sperm to semen, preventing future pregnancy. Although they are claimed to be reversible, sometimes the reversal doesn't work, according to Planned Parenthood. The success rate depends on the type of procedure and the skills of the doctor. Still, more than 500,000 men get vasectomies each year in the United States. Other options include a birth control pill, patch, female condom and injection. Although the pill is the most prescribed form of contraceptive in the U.S., it is about 91% effective and can cost up to $50. Of these few, the female condom is the least effective at 79% effectiveness. The patch and injection are about 9194% effective and can cost up to $150. The least effective forms of birth control are spermicide and the sponge. Twenty-eight percent of those who menstruate reported unintended pregnancy within the first year of typical use. The sponge, a small piece of white plastic foam, is inserted before sex to prevent pregnancy, similar to the insertion of a tampon. This method is only about 76-88% effective.
Local safe sex resources
The Student Health Center offers contraception and sexual health services for students who live on- and off-campus. Their options include the birth control pill, the injection and the NUVA ring. They do not offer IUDs or implants.
Michelle Barron, a nurse practitioner in the Health Center, estimates about 90% of the population who visit
By Matt Glover News EditorThe last eight years have been the hottest on record, according to scientists at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have observed similar phenomena. C3S ranked 2022 as the fifth hottest year, and NASA ranked 2022 as tied with 2015 as the fifth hottest year. NOAA ranked it as the sixth hottest.
“I’ve been worried about the planet becoming more energetic for more than 20 years,” climate scientist and SRU geography, geology and environment professor Julie Snow said.
Snow has worked in the Pentagon since September 2021, serving as the Army’s climate science advisor on a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Things have changed a lot since I first started in this area,” Snow said. “People are starting to pay more attention to what they’re seeing out their windows as opposed to scientists trying to tell them what was coming.”
In physics, temperature is the average measure of kinetic energy. Airports around the world take temperatures every day; then climate scientists measure the average temperatures over the span of more than 30 years to pick up on trends.
The world is now 1.2 degrees Celsius, or 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than it was in the second half of the 19th century, as reported by The New York Times.
“When we say the temperature on the planet is increasing, we’re saying
for contraceptives choose the birth control pill. About 7% of patients use the Depo-Provera hormonal injection, while the rest (about 3%) use the NUVA ring. The Health Center supplies free condoms as well as a "gumball" machine of condoms that can be found near the waiting area.
As for other sexual health services, they offer STI testing, pap smears and other gynecological exams. Test samples are picked up from the Health Center every Tuesday and Friday, which allows students to receive their results in a reasonable amount of time.
They also provide counseling and education about safe sex, birth control and general sexual health.
Adagio Health in Butler and New Castle is an offcampus resource that Barron recommends to patients who want something that the Health Center does not offer. The Community Health Clinic in Butler is also available for those who either do not have insurance or have private/ government insurance.
Healthy Outreach through Peer Education (H.O.P.E) provides fellow students with peer-to-peer education, including topics like sexual
health. H.O.P.E offers safe sex supplies in their Protection Connection office, like condoms, dental dams and lube.
H.O.P.E peer educators also provide education about how to use a condom, sexually transmitted infections, safer sex and contraceptives. They also have condom vending machines in various locations on campus. Research for male birth control continues
Options for male contraceptives currently only go as far as condoms or vasectomies. However, according to NPR, men may soon have hormonal and non-hormonal birth control to choose from.
the planet’s atmosphere is getting more energetic,”
Snow said, “and you can see that in the energy associated with storm systems.”
She referenced stronger hurricanes and intense storms in California as examples of an increased amount of energy moving around the planet.
Much of this buildup is caused by the increase in greenhouse gasses trapping energy from the sun.
However, the increased amount of energy in the atmosphere does not mean energy will increase at the same time in every location. Some places may get colder, and rainfall patterns may shift.
Snow used the analogy of a child eating sugar. When a child eats too much, they become more energetic and unpredictable similar to the climate.
The New York Times also reported that the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world.
Climate scientists use the term “telecommunication” to explain that everything is connected.
Snow said that there are scientists currently studying if the rapid warming in the Arctic is changing the structure of the mid-latitude jet stream, which is the jet stream that pushes weather across the U.S.
Some evidence shows the jet stream is starting to slow down and become unstable. The Arctic warming faster causes the temperature difference between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes to shrink and lose energy.
As the jet stream becomes more unstable, it traps storm systems instead of quickly moving them across the U.S. and leads to flooding and downpours in one area.
“It’s reality,” Snow said. “We’re already seeing these things happen. If we want
to make the world a viable place for young people, then everybody needs to get together and work on it.”
Scientists have collectively said that the world needs to get to a 50% reduction of overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2023.
The Macoskey Center for Sustainability Education and Research (MC) at SRU aims to inspire and create a more just and sustainable future through education, demonstration and research.
The MC partners with faculty in all departments who use the 70-acre facility for a wide variety of research projects and classes, and the center is silver certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
A LEED certification is a globally recognized sustainability certification that encompasses building materials and the way the facility is maintained. LEED’s goal is to promote the transformation to more sustainable practices.
Related to climate change, professors in the biology department and park and resource management program are comparing invasive species and natural vegetation utilizing deer exclosures.
“When you’re thinking about a warming climate, a lot of these invasives have a competitive edge and are able to take over certain areas,” MC director Samantha Laurence said.
The native species are used to certain temperature ranges and migratory paths, so they are the most affected by a changing climate. Invasive species adapt and reproduce quickly, so they can better withstand a changing climate.
Invasive species do not usually have natural
predators where they migrate. Deer and other animals in the area will only eat native species because their bodies have already adapted to them.
Laurence has worked at the MC for about five years, starting as a graduate student and moving up to the director position.
In her time at the MC, Laurence has seen dramatic changes in the local environment including original parts of the trail system constructed 30 years ago being washed out.
This led Laurence to discuss with local park managers how to create flooding mitigation buffer zones using native vegetation that likes water to soak up extra flooding.
Much of the research being conducted at the MC looks at how to support native systems, resiliency and trail maintenance in a changing climate.
“During the summer,
Stephanie Page, a researcher from the University of Washington, said the hope is for couples to have an equal, shared responsibility when it comes to contraception. Page's lab is currently working on a topical gel—a combination of testosterone and progestin— that would be applied daily to men's shoulders. The gel is supposed to lower levels of testosterone. Since testosterone is required for sperm production, there is less and less sperm created, imitating something similar to the effect of women's birth control.
there was a state of emergency flood that happened at Slippery Rock Borough where downtown was blocked off,” Laurence said. “These things that are typically once-in-a-lifetime are happening more frequently in our region and within our area.”
The MC property is shaped like a bowl, and with the increased rainfall, it's seeing wetland areas more often and having flooding issues that erode and damage habitats all over the trail system.
Sustainability education
graduate assistant Danica Buchanan-Wollaston thinks Slippery Rock would benefit from researching trends in the water table.
The water table is the underground boundary between the unsaturated and saturated zones, according to National Geographic. Below that boundary, any empty space in the rock is filled by water.
The water table is most often used by farmers and homes with wells.
“When you’re looking at an area, especially a wetland area, snowfall and snowmelt do a lot more for the water table than rain because rain tends to fall quickly and run off quickly,” BuchananWollaston said.
Warmer winter and less snowfall could cause the water table to shrink over time.
Warmer winters also interrupt the freezethaw cycle which causes early blooming before temperatures drop again. This makes farmers lose crops and money.
The federal government has passed recent legislation in response to climate change including multiple executive orders and the Inflation Reduction Act, which delegates $370 billion to funding clean energy and climate investments.
Volume 106, Issue Number 6
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Hookup culture accepts and encourages casual sex. Combining the rise in casual sex and dating app usage, Generation Z is split between yearning for love and looking for just sex.
About 49% of Gen Z and Millennials are motivated to find a sex partner, according to a report from the dating site Match conducted in 2019.
However, college students are not very concerned about contracting STIs, according to another study from the American Psychology Association (APA). Of the 39 women and 32 men surveyed, nearly half said they are not worried about sexually transmitted infections from hookups.
At the same time, most are not practicing safe sex, either. APA said in a sample of almost 1,500 college students, only about 47% reported using condoms regularly.
STIs have the potential of spreading faster in a
small community. But as for SRU, the majority of sexually active students are having safe sex. The Rocket surveyed 94 local college students, and 69% of respondents said they take precautions against STIs and pregnancy. Casual sex: Why not just date?
No matter if it's casual sex or a relationship, in a small community, everyone talks.
A small dating pool can make going out with someone very reminiscent of middle school. People fall into old, immature habits, like spreading gossip and rumors. Everyone knows (nearly) everything about everyone.
Younger generations are drawn to hookup culture because of its lack of commitment. With a traumatic, unpredictable climate like the one we are in, it is difficult to commit to anything when the future is not guaranteed. Causal sex can be a form of self-discovery
and experimentation. It allows those who partake in hookup culture to figure out what they like and what they are looking for. It's one of the many advantages of attending a public university.
However, hookup culture is different in Slippery Rock. It is difficult to find a casual sex partner when there is always that possibility you could make awkward eye contact with them in the middle of the Smith Student Center.
Hookup culture can also invite traumatic experiences and scary situations. Going to a stranger's apartment to have sex (or "watch a movie") is what we've been warned about since elementary school.
Anxiety about traumatic experiences as well as the fear of commitment that Gen Z shares possesses some to participate in hookup culture. Others, for various reasons like STIs, would rather wait to have sex while they're in a relationship.
Okay, let me make this queer
As much as casual sex is experimentation for people who identify as straight, it's not that easy for LGBTQ individuals.
Finding a queer partner is next to impossible. Living in a community that openly supports political figures who are homophobic and/ or transphobic creates a not-so-welcoming environment for queer couples. There may be a large community who identifies as LGBTQ, but it can be difficult to find someone in a town that perpetuates intolerance. It's also significantly more difficult for LGBTQ individuals to approach someone they are attracted to. Sometimes, one of the only ways to fi nd other queer-identifying people is on dating apps where users can list their preferences.
At the end of the day, there are over 8,200 fish in the sea. You just have to find the fish for you.
Do you think dating in a small community is difficult? Why or why not?
Marina McCutcheon Junior Math Education
"I feel like it can have pros and cons. The pro is that you get to meet a lot of people through it. The con is that you will see them everywhere."
Cameron Martin Senior Digital Media Production
"It can be, if you don't know what you want exactly. I feel like you can date whoever you want as long as they make you feel happy, no matter the circumstances that may be.
If you find somebody that's within your neighborhood that fits you emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically, I think you can. But if you can't, there's plenty of people in this world that can be compatible with you."
Angelica Gyan Senior Biology
"My advice is this: Don't be scared because it's so tightspaced. It's only a small community, so you shouldn't be intimidated. What's the worst that could happen?"
much more likely to identify as atheists or agnostics.
There is a glaring correlation between Gen Z being the least religious generation and also the most queer-identifying.
The number of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender— or something other than heterosexual—has increased across all generations because it has become more acceptable and common to identify as queer and/or outside of the gender binary.
Regardless, Gen Z is certainly the gayest population, with about 21% self-identifying as LGBT as of 2021, according to Gallup. However, if they were to poll the generation again, this percentage would be higher, without a doubt.
There's an obvious trend here: Each generation becomes more and more religiously unaffiliated, queer and intelligent.
The term nihilism is rooted in the Latin word nihil, meaning "nothing." And it translates to just that: the idea that life is meaningless or useless. Nihilism rejects all religious and moral principles.
Generation Z is the least religious generation yet, according to the Survey Center on American Life. More than one-third (34%) of Gen Z are religiously unaffiliated. They are also
In a 2019 report, Pew Research Center said Gen Z is less likely to drop out of high school, more likely to enroll in college and have a college-educated parent than generations before. Gen Z is on track to be the best-educated generation, according to the data.
Being so highly educated comes with the pain of knowing what is happening in the world at all times. Gen Z has access to advanced technology, unlike previous generations, such as the big two: smartphones and social media.
Blissful ignorance isn't an option for Gen Z. Being more educated and having access to media that connects one side of the world to the other, the generation is flooded with bad news every day, and that really takes a toll on one's mental health.
Gen Z unsurprisingly has the worst mental health, which only worsened after the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. About 42% of the generation has been diagnosed with a mental illness of some kind, not factoring in those who don't have access to mental healthcare and cannot receive a diagnosis. Needless to say that a large majority of Gen Z is mentally ill.
And that's not our fault either. We were kind of destined for it with all that we've gone through.
This excessive knowledge, and poor mental health, have led to Gen Z being existential and nihilist.
People in Gen Z were born right around September 11, 2001. Whether you were a few years old or just born, the trauma of this generation started as soon as we entered the world.
Since then, Gen Z has witnessed the stock market crash of 2008, school shootings, Donald Trump's presidency (and the damage that was done under his administration) and the COVID-19 pandemic, just to name a few.
It is no wonder that Gen Z lives with existential dread. When so many things happen growing up, and continue
to happen in your adult years, there's a feeling of anxiety about the future. And that's where nihilism comes in. Gen Z is either
overcome with fear about the future or doesn't care at all because, in their minds, it doesn't matter anyway.
Th e curriculum, among other things, would tackle historical periods such as the reconstruction and slavery, but also contemporary ones, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and mass incarceration.
Eric is a political science major with a concentration in professional politics, as well as a minor in gender studies. He is president of the SRU College Progressives, his academic interests include: left-wing politics, redistricting and post-colonial theory.
Over 1 million students in the United States who graduated in the class of 2021 took at least one Advanced Placement (AP) course examination in their high school careers.
AP curriculum is now mainstream in America’s high schools, allowing difficult and peculiar subjects that normally would only be taught at the university level to be accessible within school walls.
It is easy to see why, then, the creation of a course that teaches African American studies, for which educators and scholars alike have advocated for years, would be cause for celebration. This is exactly what happened this past August when a draft of the new AP African American studies course curriculum was leaked.
Conservative media outlets that obtained the leaked curriculum quickly fi red into gear and railed against the course, calling it “leftist radicalism” and saying that this course was “Neo-Marxing the College Board.”
The debate over this course’s implementation took a turn just weeks ago. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis disparaged the curriculum, saying that the class would not be allowed to be taught in Florida’s schools and calling it “historically inaccurate."
The Florida Department of Education said it “lacked educational value.”
Th e College Board had assured many anxious academics that the course’s content would not change because of attacks on it from DeSantis.
Less than two weeks after the Florida Department of Education rejected the course, the College Board released the official curriculum for AP African American Studies on the first day of Black History Month.
However, when the official curriculum was released, it showed that much of the core material was indeed removed to appease DeSantis and Republican politicians.
The new, stripped-down curriculum eliminated mentions of the Black Lives Matter movement and reparations. It purged any mention of well-respected Black scholars, such as Kimberle Crenshaw, TaNehisi Coates and bell hooks (sic).
However, we need not even go back to DeSantis’
specific comments to understand why the College Board might make such changes.
There has been a dramatic rise in “antiwoke” legislation not only in Florida but across the country. These laws attack ideas, such as anti-racist education, diversity and structural racism. Such laws have been adopted in 28 states and have been introduced in 17 others, including Pennsylvania.
This sort of whitewashing of American history is not a new phenomenon. However, the ongoing campaign to sanitize American history is particularly disturbing.
Sanitizing history allows us to forgo any meaningful discussion about problems that existed during and wellpast slavery, the period of reconstruction and the civil rights movement. It teaches the dominant narrative of American history which is one that often de-centers and puts Black Americans on the periphery. When it does focus on their contributions and struggles, it does so in a way that patronizes Black Americans and ignores many of the more radical demands of civil rights leaders.
The dominant narrative of the civil rights movement is one of finality. It is often taught as having a sudden beginning and peaceful, short-lived ending with the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Such a narrative gives the U.S. government and white Americans credit for the basic federal protections that Black Americans had been pursuing for decades, if not for more than a century or two. Martin Luther King Jr is now a beloved figure in contemporary American culture, but this narrative does not acknowledge white America’s fear and disdain
for King during his time.
Black history (including Black queer and feminist thought) deserve to be taught. The topics of intersectionality, Black queer identity and Black feminists are not a vehicle by which the “woke” left can indoctrinate people.
Th e reality is that they are foundational ideas derived from the lived experiences of people with complex identities that disrupt the dichotomy of just “white” and “black” created by the dominant historical narrative of white Americans.
The role of slavery in our nation’s founding, the era of racial terror that claimed the lives of thousands, and the contributions of Black Americans are inseparable parts of American history.
These are difficult discussions, indeed, but an honest pursuit of racial justice demands that we
have them, including in classrooms, where many of our students learn about Black history in the fi rst place.
The College Board should have remained defiant. The precedent that the decision to strip this course’s material sets is dangerous. It sends a message to Black Americans that their history should be gutted to appease an elected official’s political agenda. The College Board made this decision with their bottom line in mind, not the millions of young Black students who would have benefi tted from this curriculum.
Black Americans, especially Black women, Black queer people and other groups whose history is eliminated from the curriculum will not suddenly disappear, but their ability to make connections from their experiences today to the experiences of others like them throughout history has been eliminated.
Students must be able to contextualize their experiences as being part of American history, and perhaps the greatest tragedy of this decision is that many will not be given that opportunity.
These proposals have exacerbated an already hostile environment for educators across the country, who, now amongst an epidemic of gun violence and mental health crises, must also contend with increasing overreach into the lessons they teach.
Whether it be the explicit ban of mentions of queer identity or muzzling what teachers can say about Black history, demagogues such as Ron DeSantis and others like him should not be able to determine which history is valuable enough to teach.
These bans are indeed happening at the state level, but they are occurring at the
local and district level as well and closer to Slippery Rock’s backyard than one might expect.
According to CRTForward, a project based out of the law school at the University of California Los Angeles, which tracks the banning and restriction of critical race theory, the 1619 Project and other works, both Grove City College and Butler Area School District have adopted measures to restrict so-called “woke” ideology from being taught.
“'Wokeness' refers to increased awareness of, and political grievance relating to, alleged racism and inequality,” per Grove City College’s resolution. The wording of this definition plainly states their position: racism and inequality in American society are simply alleged.
The truth is that this new era of academic restriction and censorship has been facilitated by spineless politicians and educators who would rather teach a fictional account of history. These bans stand in direct opposition to the ideals of a free, democratic society. They seek to suppress any challenge to white supremacy and are indeed utilizing the power of the state to accomplish this goal.
Reader, take this as a call to action.
If you can, take a class in African American history, as it may be the most fundamental act of resistance I can offer. We must work to educate ourselves with an American history that is unsanitized, a history that must be learned to tackle the persistent disparities that exist within American society. If you do not, those attempting to erase this history will make your decision for you.
"It is easy to see why, then, the creation of a course that teaches African American studies, for which educators and scholars alike have advocated for years, would be cause for celebration."Nina is a senior converged journalism major with a certificate in global and intercultural communication. She is the editor-in-chief of The Rocket and Vice President of Lambda Pi Eta. She is graduating in May. Nina Cipriani SKETCH BY: NINA CIPRIANI BY MAX ENCK, FRESHMAN PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR BY MAX ENCK, FRESHMAN PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR
After compiling 33 wins and qualifying for both the Pennslyvania State Athletic Conference Tournament and the NCAA Tournament one year ago, Slippery Rock Baseball return to the field.
The 2022 season was one of The Rock’s most successful seasons in years, amassing 17 conference wins, their highest total since 2018.
Out of players with at least 30 games played, now junior infielder Koby Bubash had the highest AVG (batting average) and OPS (On-base percentage plus slugging) with .402 and 1.078 among returning players respectively.
Senior infielder Jon Kozarian is another important returning player now that he is back at full strength after dealing with a back injury for much of last season. In 2021, Kozarian generated a .421 AVG and 1.209 OPS. Both figures led The Rock amongst any players that accrued at least ten games played.
For reference, the last MLB player to finish a season with an OPS at 1.078 or higher was MLB all-time home run leader Barry Bonds in 2004 when he logged a stunning 1.422.
Head Coach Jeff Messer shared what Kozarian has meant to the team and how much effort he puts into his baseball ambitions.
“[Jon] played until he couldn’t play. We’re excited to have him back for another year,” Messer said.
Of course, there are other returning older players who are also expected to produce at a high level. Alex Robenolt, redshirt senior outfielder, Luke Trueman, senior outfielder and pitcher, Eddie Morris, junior outfielder and Braden Olson, junior infielder, all joined Bubash and Kozarian’s ranks by contributing an OPS above .930 and an AVGs above .290 as returning players.
“They know how close it is, from being the champion of the PSAC, going to the regionals, going to the world series. I mean, any of the teams that get to that level, any of them can go,” Messer said. Trueman was able to add significant value to his stock
by being a two-way player.
He accrued a 4.15 earned run average (ERA) which was good for fourth on the squad.
“They’re program players, they know our expectations.
I think they probably even have higher expectations than us,” Coach Messer said.
“They want to win.”
As for other pitchers, Devin Dunn will be a key part of The Rock’s success.
Dunn, a junior pitcher, was the team’s ace last year and projects to perform to the same level for the 2023 season. Dunn impressively led the white and green in both overall innings pitched and ERA, generating the invaluable combination of quality and quantity.
Having upperclassmen return to a team that was already impressive the past season is important for any squad’s success. Messer shared his thoughts on returning several impact contributors.
"Ninety-nine% of the time, it’s a lot easier winning with a 22-year-old than it is with a 17-year-old. I don’t care what sport it is. Just more experience,” Messer said.
“They’re so hardworking and they know they’re so close to getting that championship or moving on even further.”
The training process simply goes more smoothly when a coach is able to use their veterans as assets.
“With a veteran team, it’s a lot easier to do than with a younger team. With a younger team you’ve gotta build some confidence where our guys have confidence,” Messer said.
The transfer portal adds another complication every offseason for collegiate baseball teams. Thankfully, SRU avoided losing impact starters to the portal in the way that many other PSAC squads suffered far worse fates.
“Some guys lost a lot of players because of the portal. Theres a lot of teams in our conference that lost a lot of good players last year,” Coach Messer said. SRU, in addition to its ability to maintain their established talent, has developed younger players into noticeable players. Not all key contributors are upperclassmen. Ethan Edkins was likely the best surprise for The Rock last season. Edkins came on and, as a true freshman, produced
a team leading 3.21 ERA in conference games. The numbers he put up set him apart and allowed him to be named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year.
Edkins stepping up last year begs the question, will a different freshman pitcher make their mark early in their SRU Baseball career?
“Last year it was probably Edkins that got more innings than he thought he was gonna get. This year it might be one of the other freshmen,” Coach Messer said. “Everybody will get their chance.”
Nate Malak, Parker Hogge, Branson Carson and Michael Kitko are the true freshman pitchers, much like Edkins last year, who could be studied in the non-conference games to see whether they have what it takes to step up.
“We added like five or six pitchers also that should help us… 15 games I think before we open up conference,” Messer said. “Hopefully after those 15 games, maybe somebody emerges that we weren’t anticipating getting as many innings. The weekend starters are wide open.”
When it comes to a younger pitcher stepping up, it becomes even more beneficial to have seasoned veterans to show younger pitchers the ropes.
“Dunn and Trueman, with their experience, they lead by example,” Messer said.
As seasons go by, teams will lose key players. Connor Hamilton was the one of the team’s leading contributors of the 2022 season.
Hamilton lead The Rock in both AVG and OPS in conference games with .404 and 1.278. These numbers are made more impressive by him playing catcher, a premium position that is typically glove first. It is not uncommon for a team to sacrifice some offensive prowess for a stable defensive presence behind the plate. Hamilton made it so The White and Green didn’t have to skimp on either.
“Position-player wise the biggest one is, no surprise, Hamilton, who was allworld for us. Very very hard to replace,” Coach Messer said. “You’re never gonna find another Hamilton, he was that good.”
Messer was able to find a transfer, Robby Barrientos, who seems to be fitting in nicely so far as Hamilton’s successor.
“We brought in a transfer, Robby Barrientos from Old Dominion, that had an exceptional fall for us,” Messer said.
Abraham Mow, a first baseman, and Joel Spishhock, an infielder, are other players who each put up an OPS over .900 that will be not be returning.
of their core and looks to be ready for another competitive season.
Messer shared that Seton Hill University is always one of the heavyweights to look out for.
“I’d say till, they’re the team that you’ve gotta match up with, gotta beat,” Coach Messer said.
If last year is any indication, SRU is ready to match up with anyone, as they swept Seton Hill in regular season play.
Unfortunately, SRU would go on to play Seton Hill in the NCAA tournament where they would lose to get knocked into the loser’s bracket, from which they would not advance.
Even though Slippery Rock was undefeated against Seton Hill in the regular season, the Griffins played a key role in The Rock’s playoff demise. In other words, anything can happen as long as the team can reach the playoffs.
Baseball is not like other sports. In basketball or soccer, one player having the game of their life will almost never, if not absolutely never, take over a game to the point where the other team can simply not overcome the talent deficit. In baseball, a starting pitcher putting together the performance of his life can entirely inhibit the opposing team having any chance of winning.
“Everybody has a one or a two pitcher. Just get into the tournament, that’s your goal. And then once you’re in the tournament you’ve just gotta match up,” Messer said.
“We lost three position players that were important to us, they were really good players,” Messer said.
Ricky Mineo, who led the squad in strikeouts a year ago with 85, is also leaving but is now on to further his baseball career. Mineo is now with the Twins organization of Major League Baseball. He was assigned to the FCL (Florida Complex League) Twins, a rookie affiliate of the MLB team. Mineo saw in action in one game in which he twirled a 1-2-3 inning and picked up one strikeout. Between the additions and subtractions, The Rock has managed to maintain much
The PSAC and NCAA playoffs are not set up like regular season set where a team will see multiple starting pitchers throughout the series. Each game is against a different opponent, so any given team might have to face multiple one or two starters in a row depending on how their schedule shakes out.
Thankfully, The Rock has shown to have good depth and hopes it will be enough to weather any storm thrown at them.
“Our first goal is to play solid baseball and get ourselves in a position to
where we have a chance to win the state tournament on our home field,” Messer said.
Messer also shared how much advancing to the College World Series motivates him and his players.
“For us, even more important that that [a PSAC title] is going to the regionals and going to the World Series. If you go to the World Series, you’re one of the best eight teams in the country regardless of whether you win the state or not,” Coach Messer said. “That’s our first motivation, especially with the guys that are fifth year, it’s their last hurrah.”
Of course, the PSAC has always been a difficult conference to come out of alive and rarely does one team simply dominate all of the others over the course of a full season.
That is the essence of baseball. There are many games to be played at the higher level, so undefeated seasons do not really happen and teams that win more than 80% of their conference games may be considered statistical oddities. A team has only recorded a winning percentage above .800 in the PSAC West twice since 2010.
“We want to play 28 conference games, but we beat each other up,” Messer said. “You’re not going unblemished in this conference. You’re gonna take your lumps, you’re just hoping you’re giving more lumps than taking.”
Slippery Rock’s playoff placement also came down to the final few games in 2022, and the PSAC standings are typically quite close. Even in a long schedule, every game could end up being the deciding factor in playoff contention or seeding.
“Every single game means something. It'll come down- the last weekend, to something, whether you’re in the playoffs, whether you’re first, whether you’re fourth,” Messer said. “It’s gonna be a really competitive year.”
"You're not going unblemished in this conference. You're gonna take your lumps; you're just hoping you're giving more than you're taking. "
– Jeff Messer, SRU head baseball coach
The playoffs are always the goal. Any team that you talk to will tell you that. But when you have been so close, it just makes that craving even worse. It tends to become all you think about, and it can consume you—or you can find ways to create little goals that you check off one by one.
The latter is exactly what the SRU Women’s Lacrosse Team is hoping to do.
Last year, the team was led by Emily Benham, who dominated on the offensive end. It seemed as if the team had pulled themselves together and that they were set to make the playoffs. But a 6-6 record in conference play was not enough for them to be one of the top three teams in the conference. Thus, they were left on the outside.
That didn’t sit right with them.
“We spent a lot of time in the fall, just even outside of the X’s
and O’s, just building relationships within the team and each other,” head coach Taryn Burkholder said. “We really got to know one another, and it’s really created this family atmosphere, and I think with that aspect, when they’re on the field they trust each other.”
That trust will go a long way, especially when games are coming down to the wire like they did last year. There are multiple cases of a game being decided by only a few goals. Unfortunately for The Rock, the team was on the losing side of such games a lot last year.
They now find themselves gearing up to hit the field for the first time in 2023 with the goal of playoffs in mind.
Luckily for them, the team earned itself respect last year. In the preseason poll, they were picked to be fourth, but that number will still need to jump in order for them to make it to the postseason.
“We like to keep it as outside noise, but at the same time we ultimately want to be in the top three and make the postseason,” Burkholder said. “In order to do
that, we need to be in the top three, so it’s kind of motivation for us.” This will be a little harder for them after losing their top scorers, but because of that, the team will look to rely on their depth. That depth is going to make the difference this season.
“We lost quite a few offensive powers, but we have a few sophomores and juniors that saw some time last year, so we really leaned on them to help our freshmen,” Burkholder said.
“Our freshmen are really talented, so it definitely helps that we got those sophomores and juniors experience last year [so they can help the freshman].”
The team leaned on some freshmen last year, but more so than that, they learned from the seniors and got playing experience. Still, the return of key players like Charleigh Rondeau can’t be understated.
“Charleigh works so hard; she’s a captain for us this year, and she just leads by example each day,” Burkholder said. “To be able to
control the draw circle is huge, because there’s only about 40 possessions per game, so to win off the bat is big.”
Rondeau is already second in program history in draw controls, a record she will likely break this upcoming season. Being able to have the upper hand on draws will prove to be vital in games if the season is anything like last year.
The Rock will also get to take a trip to Florida for spring break. Down there, they will play two games. One will be at Lynn University and the other will be at Palm Beach Atlantic University. “I think it’s huge [for chemistry] because we’re obviously not in classes and they’re excited to go down south,” Burkholder said. "We’ll be able to build on the fall with team building, so ultimately if you can have the chemistry outside the X’s and O’s, you’ll have more success on the field.”
The hope is that those games will be able to help prepare The Rock for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) gauntlet. Every year, games
swing back and forth. There are opportunities for upsets every season, and that is something Burkholder knows.
“We always say to the girls that we are playing in one of the best Div. II conferences in the country for lacrosse, so we try to schedule at least one ranked opponent,” Burkholder said. “This year, we play Lynn [University], who is a ranked team, so that will give us a good test.”
The PSAC West is always competitive, so Burkholder’s thinking is that these games against ranked foes will get them ready for teams like Mercyhurst University.
“Anyone can kind of upset anyone on any given day, so we try to go into each game not underestimating our opponents,” Burkholder said.
The Rock looks to pull off upsets on Mercyhurst this season though. The Lakers were ranked No. 18 in the preseason poll in the nation. The last time that Slippery Rock stole a game in the series was in 2015, but they have historically
been within just one or two goals. If things rolled their way in multiple games in the past few years, the story could be very different right now. But as it sits, the team has not gotten past Mercyhurst in eight years.
“One of our goals is that we’d love to beat Mercyhurst. I think the overall record is something like 18-1 in Mercyhurst’s favor,” Burkholder said. “We’ve got little goals like that with each conference team.”
The main focus isn’t on the Lakers, but a win against them would certainly give any team in the conference a spark. The Rock will also have two bouts with No. 14 Seton Hill University. Burkholder explained how important it will be to try to sweep as many season series as they can.
“We want to finish in the top three, so we can’t be splitting with teams when we play them in the regular season,” Burkholder said. As the season creeps up on them, the goals all remain the same—the playoffs being the main objective.
By Tyler Howe EditorEach year, a new class of football players is introduced to The Rock on National Signing Day, which took place on Feb. 1 this year. Every time, it is easy to see the excitement in head coach Shawn Lutz’s eyes. This year, that gleam seems to be brighter than it ever has been.
“I’m really happy to get the five mid-year kids here in the spring and to get the recruiting class we got,” Lutz said. "I think it’s the best class we’ve got here while I’ve been the head coach.”
The Rock is coming off yet another NCAA playoff appearance, but the season did not play out as they had hoped. Slippery Rock seemed poised for another PSAC title game appearance, but their midseason battle with Indiana (Pa.) thwarted any hope of making it back there.
Still, The Rock’s odd year was one that many teams yearn for. For Lutz, it was just another year, and their goals were not met.
As soon as the season concluded, Lutz was on the trail going to recruit players. There were quite a few holes to fill. The team saw many veteran leaders play their last game in the playoff loss against Shepherd.
The Rock was able to grab four defensive linemen, the first of which is Sherman Hatton, who transferred from Marshall University. The Rock also had another defensive line transfer join on signing day. Aeden Holler comes from Kent State University. Hatton and Holler will come in looking to fill the shoes of Jeff Marx, who was one of the older players on the team last fall. His experience will be hard to replace, but Lutz and Co. hope that Hatton and Holler can be big pieces of the defense.
Daniel Long and Brian Young Jr. are two added freshman assets.
The Rock also brought in six linebackers. Lutz got the most out of his defense this past season, and the linebackers' play on the field was a huge part of that.
Brandon Bischof came onto the scene and delivered the impact play needed for the team to have any chance against the PSAC offenses. Now, the task is to replace him.
“I like our linebacking core because to lose Tuck-Hayden and Bischof and gain a guy like Andrew Vince who has a lot of length and another guy like Kudla who was a two-time captain at a division II school,” Lutz said. "So, I’m excited to add them.”
Kyle Kudla has one year of eligibility left, and Vince is left with three after coming in from Rutgers University. Both will immediately look to fill big shoes.
The Rock also brought in two Pennsylvania state champions for the linebacker
position: Will Hartung and Max Heckert. Lutz was drawn to their championship-caliber play.
“I think our linebacking core is the strongest position that we added to; we got Will Hartung and Max Heckert [from state title teams],” Lutz said. “We also got a stud out of Ohio in Jacob Snow, and I’m really excited to see what they’re going to add to the table."
From the defensive back position, the team lost big names and key players. Over the past two years, the defensive back position has been in lockdown, but changes will come this season, including new players like Benjamin Lane. Lane was a great player on both sides of the ball. In his senior season of high school, he rushed for 1,100 yards and scored 21 touchdowns. On the defensive side, he recorded 72 tackles and snagged two interceptions. For Lutz, it is great to know that he has a player like Lane who can do it all.
“He was a great running back, but he can play anywhere we want him to on defense,” Lutz said. “He loves to hit, and we might even start him at the safety position.”
On the other side, The Rock brought in one more quarterback, Brad Hoffman, to compete with Brayden Long.
“It’s really exciting because Brayden has worked patiently, and he got some starting experience against Kutztown [University], and he’s been waiting his time,” Lutz said. “He’ll compete with [Hoffman and others], but he’s in the lead for that job right now.”
The offense also received new weapons. While Kyle Sheets, Cohen Russell and Jacob Odom will return, the team will also have a few incoming freshmen to work with—the first of which is a kid right from their own backyard.
John Sabo played football right across the street at Slippery Rock Area High School, where he had many career milestones.
Sabo finished his high school career in Mihalik-Thompson Stadium, and now he will play college football on that same field.
“We try to get the best guys in our area, we never want to lose them, and we felt like he was one of the best,” Lutz said. “His father was an All-American, and I like that, but it’s all about John. He’s just a guy that has so many physical attributes, and he just has to develop.”
Lutz's biggest goal this offseason was to do what he always wants to: reload, not rebuild. This time around, he was able to do that by grabbing guys from close to home. He was able to get Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) and District 10 players who have been on their boards for a while.
“We got everyone on the top of our boards,” Lutz said. “We didn’t lose anyone to anybody.”
Whether he is on or off the court, Lashon Lindsey is always having a good time. Lindsey, a Slippery Rock University basketball forward, began his journey at six years old when he fell in love with the game playing pickup alongside family and friends. Ever since, he has gotten more passionate to grind hard for the sport he loves.
Lindsey has always been a confident player; however, he has stayed humble from the beginning of his time playing basketball.
“I don’t think I've ever been a standout player over everyone else, but I realized I was pretty good around eighth or ninth grade,” Lindsey said.
Those years were the time just prior to his career taking off. At Meadville Area Senior High School, Lindsey not only exceeded the 1,000-point mark, but he also became his high school’s all-time leading scorer. Such accomplishments paved the way for his journey to Slippery Rock.
“When I hit the 1,000-point mark, it felt great—it was a good moment. They stopped the game; it was a real fun and close one,” Lindsey said. “It was just a good accolade to have and to be up there in Meadville’s bleachers is great.”
With such great accolades, Lindsey mentioned music being the driver of his success.
a lmin g a me or g y s up to u re. He ist Ro d e lection
e ri g ht m e is a k etball.
Whether it's calming him down pre-game or simply listening for enjoyment, he stays up to date with pop culture. He mentioned that artist Rod Wave is his go-to selection to settle his nerves before games. Getting in the right mindset for a game is a crucial part of basketball. events that it was his tooth breaking
H owever , not h in g can p re p are at hl etes f or th e crazy e v ents cou ld h a pp en in their games whether it b e injuries, outstanding performances o r h ec kl e r s constantl y nagging the pl ay ers. For Linds ey, and going into his lip mid- g ame that created the wildest moment he could re ca ll Lindse y could not have made it t hrough all the wil d moments an d memories wit h out g rea t t eamma t es constantly by his side. Lindsey has b een a member o f S l ip pe ry Rock’s squad since 2019 and has g otten to play with g reat players including M icah Till and Tyler Frederick. Alon g the way, he has learned p lent y from t he g reats before him.
“They helped me a lot. Mi ca h wa s a me nt or t o me. My freshmen year, he p ushed ever yo ne to be a great player,” Linds ey said. “You would have to compete with him and t ry to stay as g ood as you could when y ou were on t he court wi th t h him. Ty ler was also a g re r e at whenever I g ot o pl ay withhim
great teammates he has learned plenty from the court with him. Tyler was also a great player whenever I got to play with him.”
alongside Lindsey is guard Amante Britt. The two have formed a strong connection on and off the court.
brother. I every day with him, and he has made it a lot
By Tyler Howe Sports EditorIn any sport, it can be hard to consistently beat one team. You can take a look at football for example. In 2020, the San Francisco 49ers dominated the Los Angeles Rams in both of their matchups in the regular season. When the playoffs hit, the Rams were able to squeak out a victory that sent them to the Super Bowl.
The Rock tennis team was not as lucky as the Rams when it came to their matchups against Indiana (Pa.) in 2022 though.
Slippery Rock ran through the rest of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, but they couldn’t take down their archrival. They saw their hopes for the PSAC title fade away during a 4-1 loss. Just a week later, they bowed out of the playoffs when their shot at revenge ended just as quickly as it began. They did not have to wait too long to get back onto the court.
Things were different and there were some new faces, but those losses did not leave their minds.
“We had a good fall. The freshmen that we had became non-freshmen, if I can put it that way,” head coach Matt Meredith said.
The fall season is used mostly to prepare teams for the spring, but every year The Rock uses the fall as a measuring stick for what they want to do. Whether that means who they want to run doubles together or something else.
In between, Rock tennis welcomed a new freshman. Dari Sakhanova joined the squad and has already been able to make an impact. While the majority of the team is foreign, Sakhanova hails from Moscow, Russia. She is the only player on the team from that side of the world.
But Meredith explained that it does not make much of a difference, because she is used to being in a new place and she is a great fit.
easier for me to be here [at Slippery Rock],” Lindsey said, “not only off the court but on it as well.”
two years, the team has failed to make it out of the first round of
C urrently playing t wo co u r t. “[Amante] is like m y b rother. sp end every d ay with him , an d h e h a s ma d e a l ot eas i e r to b e he re R ock],” L indsey “not onl y of f t he it as w ell. For the past t wo t eam t o o u t t he
t he A thletic C onference (PSAC) p la yo ffs. With t hat hardshi p s into p ositive moti v ation. w as a wake-u p call for the team an d l it a f ire un d er p l a ye rs like Lindse y and Britt w h o h ave b een t h roug h t o u n d erstan d alwa ys room to i mp rove on the team.
bi gg est rival and No. 1 I ndiana Penn sy lvania (IUP), t o climb if the y desire to a t itle. s u ffere d
th ey provi d e d “ It was g reat ener gy g ame that went back and
the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs. With that being said, the squad has turned these hardships into positive motivation. It was a wake-up call for the team and lit a fire under players like Lindsey and Britt who have been through it all. The knowledge to understand there is always room to improve has made Lindsey a leader Within the PSAC division, the competition is fierce. Slippery Rock’s biggest rival and No. 1 team in the country, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), appears to be the team's kryptonite and mountain to climb if they desire to achieve their goal of a title. Although the team suffered a loss a few weeks ago to their rivals, Lindsey prided students and fans on the electric atmosphere they provided. “It was great energy from the crowd and the players. It was just a great game that went back and forth. It may not have ended how we wanted it to, but it's always been fun playing [IUP],” Lindsey said. “Every time we play them, the gym is packed and the crowd
t o, playin g [IUP],” L indsey g ym shows out. Bein g here the time t hat ma ny a sp ects that have fired the pl ay ers up even
intro du ctions center t he time here. Hittin g a rou g h p atch throu g h the
Being here the time that Lindsey has, he has seen the school grow in many aspects that have fired the players up even more pre-game. Light shows and player introductions center the improvements the school has made in his time here. Hitting a rough patch through the
p andemic certainly t down gotten back to on campus, the pre- ga me festivities— with the crowd—have improved immensely PSAC playoffs, of the team's docket. The for the most treacherous p art o f their season go out and like we want We go said. “I know we have a great team we can it; we have to go out
oned down the players' adrenaline at the home court, but ever since everyone has gotten back to being on campus, along with the crowd—have Lindsey and his teammates are currently fighting for a spot in the s, and that is certainly at the top of the e team has their minds in a peaceful place as they prepare for the most treacherous part of “Honestly, just go out and play every game like we want to be here and want to win. We just have to try and go as far as we can,” Lindsey said. “I know we have a great team and I know we can do it; we just have to go out there and do it.”
“The fun part is she spent about a year and a half in Barcelona, Spain, so she’s very familiar with the Spanish culture and she fits in tremendously,” Meredith said. “Her first semester she was at Weatherford, a juco in Texas, so it’s interesting, but she is fitting in great and has worked out very well.”
She comes into a team that already has some set leaders in place. The captains of the team this season are Gabriela del Val del Toro and Adriana Gonzalez Sanchez. Both made a huge splash last year, and both will look to try to do the same this year.
“The plan [is to have different people take over the leader role each year], it’s tremendous to have them and have leadership from them,” Meredith said. “It’s great to have that leadership carry on, because part of our success is our leaders being able to learn from the last person and carry it on.”
Del Val del Toro absolutely manhandled competition last year. She held an overall record
of 26-6 in singles matches, while posting a 6-0 record in PSAC West play. She also recorded a 14-13 doubles record. Sanchez had a 15-14 singles record, but in doubles she competed with Lois Page, and they posted a 20-11 record together. Overall Sanchez went 21-11 in doubles. Both del Val del Toro and Sanchez are the seniors on the team this year. While they can both use a fifth year of eligibility, Meredith made it clear that both will be treated as seniors.
At this point, Meredith already has his doubles set for the season. He will be running Sanchez and Teddi Isherwood together in the one slot, del Val del Toro and Nuria Martin Lopez in the two and finally it will be Georgie Lancaster and Sakhanova in the third spot.
“The good thing is my number two team had a good run at the PSAC and they ended up second at the PSAC last fall,” Meredith said. “They’re definitely going to stay together, but getting the other
teams acclimated is going to be different, but I like where we’re at right now.”
Meredith still is not fully set on those teams because he expects some things to possibly change, but as of now he said that those are the teams that he is going to run with.
“They’re pretty much set, but if something needs to change, it’ll change,” Meredith said.
The Rock had their first matchup of the season last week against Carnegie Mellon University. They dropped their first matchup of the season 6-1, but the matchup got them prepared for what they will see for the rest of the spring.
“We play the teams we do to prepare for the PSAC, last week we played one of the top teams in the Pittsburgh area in Carnegie Mellon, who is a top team in the country,” Meredith said. “We play St. Bonaventure next and our southern tour we play three really good Div. II teams.”
The spring break trip will feature them playing four different teams with two from Texas and two from Florida. However, the competition is exactly what they want so they ready when the time comes.
“All of our out of conference games are preparing us to get ready for our matches in the PSAC,” Meredith said. “We could take the easy route and try to build up our win-loss record against teams that aren’t very good, but that’s not how we want to do it.”
But the sting from last year still remains. The goal remains: trying to get back to the PSAC tournament. This time around, they want to be able to take home the title, just as every other team does. But in order to do that, they will still need to make some strides.
“We always want to try to win the PSAC, that’s goal number one every year and our second goal is to make it to the NCAA tournament,” Meredith said. “Those are our goals every year inside and out.”
"It was great energy from the crowd and the players. It was just a great game that went back and forth. It may not have ended how we wanted it to, but it's always fun playing [IUP]."
– Lashon Lindsey
Alex Hanczar
"[Amante] is like my brother. I spend every day with him, and he has made it a lot easier for me to be here [at Slippery Rock]. "
– Lashon LindseyEDDIE CLANCY / THE ROCKET
Leading a perennially successful track and field program as a new head coach has to be a daunting task, but new Head Coach Bill Jordan is prepared and ready for it.
After 35 years of John Papa at the helm, The Rock track and field is transitioning to a new head coach following his retirement. The hope and vision is that not much changes while a culture of success is maintained. Coach Papa played a large role in the development of countless athletes but also had a large impact on his coaching staff.
“Obviously losing coach Papa is a big loss. He was a great personal friend of mine and a mentor. I learned just about everything track and field related from him. That was invaluable to my development,” Coach Jordan said.
It does not hurt that there a plenty of assistant coaches who have integrated well into their roles.
“He’s moved on now and we’ve got in some other great coaches here, Bobby Over and Tabitha Bemis are just fantastic assistants that have been great additions to the program, and they fit in really well. The kids have really taken to their training styles,” Coach Jordan said. “We’re on the upswing that’s for sure. We’re doing just fine.”
“For the most part, its been business as usual down here… Since I’ve been here for a very long time, I don’t think I plan on changing a whole lot,”
Coach Jordan said.
Coach Jordan commented on the athletes’ ability to move fluidly through the transition to continue improving their craft.
“We’re really fortunate to have a lot of great kids on this team,” Coach Jordan said. “We’re just
really fortunate to have a lot of great kids on the team and a lot great staff.”
Speaking of some of the great athletes involved in the program, senior thrower John Eakin is returning for his 5th year since joining.
“John is a fantastic athlete, he’s also one of our GAs this year,” Coach Jordan said. “He’s building up, I think he’s gonna have some big throws here in the next few weeks. He’s been training really hard. He definitely has the potential to throw out there and qualify for nationals.”
Eakin holds one of the more distinguished resumes in the PSAC as he is a seven-time PSAC championship qualifier, three-time All-PSAC honoree, two-time PSAC champion, one-time National qualifier, and a 2nd team All-American for Shot Put.
“John is definitely one of our top kids and I expect the next couple weeks for him to start to really shine
through there,” Coach Jordan said.
Distance runner Marianna Abdalah is in a similar situation as an established senior with a decorated resume. She is a four-time PSAC championship qualifier, four-time All-PSAC honoree as well as a onetime All-PSAC honoree, one-time All-Atlantic Region Honoree, and onetime National Qualifier for cross country.
“Right now she’s just training and trying to build up for a big outdoor season,” Coach Jordan said. “It will be a huge benefit to her and the team outdoors.” She has no have indoor season eligibility left, so she will be joining her teammates for the outdoor season which will undoubtedly be a welcome addition.
Those two upperclassmen have been obvious standouts, but there are plenty more who have taken great steps
in their development to becoming future exceptional athletes.
“In all honesty, I think a lot of our kids have already put in the groundwork to make huge strides. Bryan Dworek just hit a big jump the other day in the long jump. Some of our freshmen have really stepped up. Sarah Corrie has done really well, and Josh VanDeMark… I don’t really want to point out one kid. All over the place, we’ve got kids that are training really hard,” Coach Jordan said.
The team will only improve overall when they journey down to Myrtle Beach for their first taste of outside competition at the Collegiate Challenge March 10. Getting outside for the first time in a season is key to start revealing students who made large improvements over the winter.
“As a whole, it’s just a great way for a team to come together as a group,” Coach Jordan said. “It really sets the tone of the outdoor season for us and helps us establish a team culture that’s gonna
That success results in a massive benefit to the team, both in the form of a direct impact on games and the impact Anderson has on those around her, particularly younger players who are developing.
Slippery Rock Softball is set to return to the field this February 25 in hopes to develop into a PSAC tournament team.
The past few years of Slippery Rock Softball have been a story of young players growing into their talent while learning how to be leaders and teammates to each other. Head Coach Stacey Rice believes they are ready to take a step forward with a more balanced blend of young and experienced players.
“It’s great, we’re really looking forward to seeing how that all plays out,” Coach Rice said. “We have a really great combination of experience, leadership, talent and young talent, our team is very dynamic.”
Kelsi Anderson is a great example of a player who has developed throughout her two years at The Rock.
Anderson came out of the gates very strong her freshman year where she compiled 99 strikeouts, the most for a freshman pitcher in SRU history.
As for the 2022 season, Anderson held the team lead in ERA (earned run average), wins, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched and strikeouts. Her 146 strikeouts last season set the record for most in the program in a single season ever.
“She is definitely our ace,” Coach Rice said.
Anderson owns a sparkling 2.76 career ERA in 228.2 innings pitched. She has also struck out 245 batters in that span. Just a junior, she already ranks 5th all-time in career strikeouts at SRU. She also holds 7th in shutouts and 16th in career wins among several other accolades.
“She is phenomenal on the mound, she is a great teammate, she is a great leader, she is a captain this year. She is everything that you’d want in a captain. She performs on the field; she is very positive and she is a good friend and a good teammate. It’s really easy to get behind Kelsi. She is just an excellent role model,” Coach Rice said.
“She is mentoring our young pitchers as they’re working through navigating this whole thing at the next level,” Coach Rice said. Anderson was named a captain for this season in addition to two other returning captains on the team, redshirt senior pitcher Chloe Sharman and redshirt senior infielder Cami Fisk.
“Chloe and Kami are returning captains… The leadership, the 5th-year seniors especially, I expect them to do great things this year,” Coach Rice said.
Sharman accrued a 3.16 ERA last season over 68.2 innings pitched. She also ranks 2nd all-time in career saves at SRU, 6th in career strikeouts and 3rd all-time in career pitching appearances. Fisk was one of The Rock’s leading hitters last year with a .268 AVG (batting average) and .454 SLG (slugging percentage).
The upperclassman leadership is in place, but there are plenty of promising young risers on their way up.
“We have great talent coming in. We’ll see how that all plays out,” Coach Rice said.
Coach Rice shared how maturity is one of the most important traits she looks for in players. Among other benefits, mature players push everyone around them to be the best version of themselves on and off the field.
“I love how they push our upperclassmen,” Coach Rice said. “That’s what’s most exciting about our freshman class is that they upped the game of the returners. Any time you have friendly competition you’re going to get the best out of everybody.”
One of the more enjoyable parts of sports is seeing who blossoms into a great player from a particularly young age. Seeing as SRU softball is currently a good blend of young and returning players, there are plenty of potential surprises.
“You never know who it’s going to be. I know we have an extremely talented young group,” Coach Rice said.
All anyone could hope for is the potential of a player having a freshman season like now sophomore pitcher Alexsa Hurd.
“Alexsa Hurd was all-conference last year as a freshman. I actually see her taking even bigger steps this year in her role,” Coach Rice said. Hurd pitches and hits, and she was successful in both endeavors last year. She was 3rd on the team in ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts among players with at least 10 innings pitched. She was likely also The Rock’s best hitter. Hurd compiled a .309 AVG and .958 OPS (onbase percentage + slugging), the OPS being her squad’s best. This was all on the way to being named second team all PSAC-West as a freshman.
“She’s more of a utility, she pitches, she plays second, she hits, she kinda does everything for us. And that’s a lot to take on as a freshman so for her to do so well with all of that on her shoulders as a freshman, I really see her excelling in her sophomore year,” Coach Rice said.
The PSAC always has been and always will be a difficult conference to excel in. Coach Rice noted that it is important to remember that, despite the daunting task ahead of Slippery Rock Softball, every other PSAC softball team is staring down the same beast.
“We’re all in the same boat,” Coach Rice said.
It is endlessly important in a conference such as this, where most teams are clawing for a playoff spot within the final few weeks of their schedule.
“The competition is strong. It’s always a dogfight. There are no easy games. There are no easy wins. It really is anybody’s game,” Coach Rice said. “We’re always so close, we’re always a couple of games away.”
It will be to the team’s benefit that they have four different trips to make before they begin conference play.
The White and Green will be making their way to West Virginia, Maryland and Florida
be paramount to winning a conference title, which is our ultimate goal for the outdoor season.”
Perhaps even more exciting will be The Rock’s return home because of how universally enjoyed their outdoor facility is.
SRU will be able to open it up plenty early so that high school teams can compete.
“Our outdoor facility is really quite a great place… I personally have a lot of pride in Slippery Rock University and our stadium and it’s so much fun just to go and show it off to the conference,”
Coach Jordan said. “I’m very excited about our outdoor facility events.”
There is much to be excited about for the upcoming outdoor season. Coach Jordan has established himself as a prepared and accomplished coach, none of which should change now that he is at the helm. He and the athletes are staring down another successful year.
at various points in order to prepare. When a sport starts so early in the year, it is difficult to replicate game scenarios realistically because the weather often does not allow it in the north.
“All of our spring games are really important in getting ready. We don’t get to practice outside very much so the early spring games are essential to our success in prepping for the conference,” Coach Rice said.
Not to be overlooked is the development of individual players into a well-oiled machine during these trips. The players spend a lot of time together bonding to create effective communication which is essential to being a successful team. Additionally, the players have to opportunity to have fun together which is hopefully a feeling that will be mirrored when they are playing together against PSAC rivals.
“When you spend a lot of time with each other you’re also building that cohesive unit… It’s always a lot of fun,” Coach Rice said.
The hope is that all the gears will be in motion after the early spring games for The Rock to make a run at PSAC playoffs. The mix of young potential and proven players should add up to a squad that is ready for playoff contention.
“It’s just making sure that we keep everybody healthy, we keep the competitive spirit, the drive continues, we don’t get tired, we don’t get hurt, we don’t get sick,” Coach Rice said. “This season we have a real opportunity with proven players, competitive players, so I definitely just want to make that turn to getting a berth to the postseason.”
Outside of the obvious statistical and standings-motivated goals, Coach Rice also shared the other assets of a player she looks for.
“I want to see leadership; I want to see the younger players start to mature. When you have a younger team, you do want to see that maturity,” Coach Rice said. “A goal of mine almost every season is to see the freshman grow and develop and to see my sophomores take a step in leadership. And just to see different leadership roles and character and how they can all work together to achieve that goal. That’s always the non-statistic goal, getting a more cohesive unit and a team who plays together.”
Type "virginity" into the Google search bar. It will be defined as "the state of never having had sexual intercourse."
Below that will be different articles about what virginity is, resources and advice, among other things. Now scroll to the bottom of the webpage.
Related searches revolve around what the right age to lose virginity is, physical signs of lost virginity and how to check if a girl is a virgin.
Where does virginity come from?
According to allthatsintersting.com, one of the first known concepts of virginity comes from Greek mythology in reference to the goddesses Athena and Artemis. Virgins were "free women," with no connection to men or sex. Athena represented wisdom, courage and justice, being known for never taking a lover or marrying. Artemis historically is the goddess of the hunt, known for protecting young girls and aiding women in childbirth.
History continued to represent virginity in various symbolic ways.
In Roman society, Vestal Virgins were sacred in society, having more rights than other female citizens.
In biblical history, it is seen that Virgin Mary's "virginity" is a translation error and serves as a reflection of her age and gender.
These are just a few examples of how virginity was originally viewed. Popular culture and religion are largely the influence on virginity's skewed meaning.
What is virginity to college students?
In a survey of 94 local college students, there were various definitions of virginity. The majority of respondents believe that virginity can be defined as the first time someone has consensual sex.
A large number of respondents also noted that the concept of virginity is up to individual interpretation, implying that there is no universal definition for what it means.
"I honestly think virginity is a social concept that is highly sexualized or sexist," an anonymous respondent wrote. "I think it's this thing that women specifically are meant to [be] looked at as 'sacred and treasured.'"
Seventy-eight percent (73) of respondents said virginity does not
matter when looking for a sexual partner. The majority of respondents stated that virginity does not impact their decision to have sex with someone, but it does depend on the circumstances.
"I think virginity should be talked about before engaging in your first sexual act as a way to let your partner know you don't have experience," an anonymous respondent said. They
spoke on communication mattering for both partners' enjoyment.
Another respondent said, "It [virginity] does not matter because everyone has been there [a virgin] at some point. Everyone is different and ready at different times, even if it may be later in life."
You and the partner will just need to discuss what is okay to do and may make each person
uncomfortable. It's almost a learning lesson for both partners and how to navigate that section of the relationship."
Many respondents refer to virginity as a social construct, which is a common thought among college-aged students, especially in recent years.
The concept of virginity affects many people as they enter adulthood and feel pressure to hit
the same milestones as their peers, according to art history major Mia Schembri.
"I think that a lot of people, at least that I know, feel a great deal of embarrassment about not being sexually active, or having not been sexually active by [the time they reach] their college years, or during their college years," Schembri said.
SRU’s Counseling Center is currently offering three support groups for students. There is one for the LGBTQIA+ community, one for
student-athletes and one for students in the performing arts.
The LGBTQIA+ group meets every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Pride Center. The student-athlete group also meets every Thursday, but in the Morrow Field House from 6 to 8 p.m. The performing arts group, officially named Positive Performing, meets every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m. in Smith Student Center room 324.
Each group is facilitated by a professional counselor. Assistant Professor Jennifer Culver runs the LGBTQIA+ group, Professor Catherine Massey leads the student-athlete group and Graduate Assistant Rachel Demaria runs Positive Performing.
“We’ve had other groups in the past that are either more psycho-educational or counseling specific,” Clinical Director of the Counseling Center and Associate Professor Kenneth Messina said.
“The difference between counseling and support groups is that with the latter, counselors don’t necessarily come into meetings with an agenda… It is more about what the students are dealing with at the moment, what they’d like to talk about and what they’d like to work through as part of that group process.”
In the past, there have been counseling groups for grief and loss,
anxiety, depression and stress management. Past support groups included one for sexual assault survivors, one for people in relationships and more.
“Our support groups have always had better attendance than our counseling groups,” Messina said, “so right now we’re basing it on student desire and need. If we have a few students that are interested in doing an anxiety or depression group, then we’ll start that group…we have to be very judicious with our time and resources since we are down a staff member.”
“I always tell students to contact me if they feel they need group support,” he said, “and we will do what we can to get one going for them.”
The LGBTQIA+ group is the oldest support group on campus. It has been running since 2020, switching from virtual to in-person once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. The student-athlete group has been around and fully in-person since the fall of 2021.
The Positive Performance group, however, is brand new. They met for the first time on Feb. 7, 2023.
“We are primarily here to serve students that identify as part of these groups,” Messina said. “It is important that they feel they have a place to be themselves around other students like them.”
Aubrey Rader, Assistant Director for Student Organizations and Leadership and member of the President’s Commission on Wellness, said that support groups are necessary for multiple reasons.
“Finding your [group] is really important for students,” she said. “Having staff or professionals in
that support group is important as well because they might be able to better connect you to resources, or they might know more of what’s on campus than other current students. Having both pieces is important and helpful.”
Rader also said she has seen the direct impact of support groups on students.
“Through my interaction with student-athletes, I heard a little bit about their group,” Rader said, “They all seemed really excited about it, and my perception is that it went over very well.”
Asst. Campus Life Editor
"The difference between counseling and support groups is that with the latter, counselors don’t necessarily come into meetings with an agenda."
– Kenneth Messina, clinical director of counseling center
The President's Commission on Wellness is one of eight at Slippery Rock University. Their website states that their mission is to "facilitate initiatives that
promote awareness of wellness and empower individuals to make choices and enact behaviors that positively influence their wellness."
There are seven different categories of wellness within the commission. This includes physical, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual, environmental and occupational wellness.
"I think people hear 'wellness' and they go physical or mental a lot of times," Aubrey Rader, assistant director of student organizations and leadership, said.
"We're trying to help them understand the broadness of the categories [and how they intersect]."
Nick Barcio, assistant director of transfer admissions and co-chair of the Wellness Commission, notes that because of COVID-19 and other circumstances, the commission is currently reworking itself. This includes rewriting the constitution and reflecting on the mission and vision statement.
"I think right now our mission is to try and assist other organizations on campus," Barcio said. "Specifically student organizations and provide funding for them to do events on campus."
Currently, the Wellness Commission is focusing its efforts on helping fund programming for student organizations.
Last semester, for example, the Wellness Commission collaborated with SPARK (Strengthening Positivity and Reinforcing Kindness) Club and various other organizations for Joy Day.
They hope to put on more large-scale events with student organizations all across campus. Students are able to reach out for funding on the university's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) webpage.
"There's different stipulations as guidelines [on the DEIB website]," Rader said. "Really any program being put on by an SRU constituent that could impact campus-wide."
Organizations can not request funding for an event that is open to only members of that specific organization. Any event that is sponsored by the Wellness Commission must be open to all students, faculty and staff.
The commission does not do its own independent or regular programming, but there is a meditation room in the Smith Student Center that is open to the SRU community.
The SRU Student Counseling Center hosted its first-ever Coffee with a Counselor event on Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Smith Student Center Commuter Lounge.
The event featured free coffee and tea, as well as a rotation of 4-5 mental health counselors, along with several interns and graduate assistants, who will be available for casual conversation. There was games, fun facts and conversation cards to encourage socialization among students and counselors.
“We know that there is stigma around mental health and counseling services within our society,” Assistant Professor and Social Justice Counselor Jennifer Culver said. “To help reduce that stigma, we wanted to enter a student space and
give them an opportunity to interact with counselors in a laid-back setting.”
Though this was the center’s first time hosting this specific event, it is not their first time engaging in student outreach.
“Last semester and this semester, we have been doing what we call table talks,” Culver said. “Once a month, we will have counselors sit at a table across from Starbucks with some information available.”
Other outreach efforts include Wellness Wednesday, where students can practice stress relief and mindfulness, and an educational series where people can earn about things like boundaries and compassion.
“Our goal is not just intervention,” Culver said, “but also making sure students reach optimal wellness.”
Prior to COVID-19, they offered other initiatives. They held a demo for SRU faculty and staff utilizing the Aebersold Recreation Center (ARC) without a membership. Along with that they had done weekly faculty and staff yoga. With the "rebuilding," as Barcio said, they are hoping to put more of these initiatives back into place.
One plan in progress is possibly a president's 5K race as a welcomeback event in the fall semester. This was a tradition when Cheryl Norton was president of SRU. The Wellness Commission is currently preparing for the arrival of the next university president, Karen Riley, and waiting for what ideas she has for all of the President's Commissions.
"I think we're just trying to [restructure] to get our stuff together," Barcio said, "and present in a uniform way—give her [Riley] this little package of 'here's the [President's Commission]; it's really cool.'"
As of now, Chief Diversity Officer Anthony Jones is helping coordinate the commissions for overall better communication and getting all seven into a productive spot for Riley's arrival at SRU.
Things going back to "normal" after the pandemic has the commission looking toward what is important for the community. Through conversations with students and other community members, Barcio came to the conclusion that the majority of people are struggling with social wellness.
"I think that's one thing that we're still
lacking. People are a little bit timid or afraid, or don't know how to get together socially, in a physical environment," Barcio said.
The Wellness Commission hopes to add more voting bodies to the organization, comprised of students, faculty and staff. There is a lot of excitement around what is to come for the commission.
Asst. Campus Life Editor
"To help reduce [stigma], we wanted to enter a student space and give them an oppurtunity."
– Jennifer Culver, assistant professor and social justice counselor
"I think people hear 'wellness' and they go physical or mental a lot of times. We're trying to help them understand the broadness of the categories"
– Aubrey Rader, assistant director of student organizations and leadership
PAGE
CONTINUED FROM
Forty-two percent (39) of respondents received the bulk of their sexual education through friends, and 27% (25) learned about sex through the Internet. Many people also learned about it through a combination of the two.
Over the years, collegeaged students have discussed the lack of proper sex education in school. This discourse is often shared through memes on social media about the generation's collective uninformed perspective about sex.
"Most education systems don't actually teach students about safe sex and safe sex options," an anonymous respondent wrote. "[The] curriculum is absent, so people (specifically teens) don't learn how to protect themselves."
General sex education is lacking, but there is a larger disparity for LGBTQ individuals and being educated about sex, according to Schembri.
"A lot of sex education neglects to acknowledge queer people, and if you are queer, your understanding of sex changes in a lot of ways."
[For example] if you're a person without male
genitals interacting with other people sexually who don't have male genitals because a lot of sexual contact in that context does not involve penetration," Schembri said. "So, you're deviating from the cultural understanding of the loss of virginity involving penetration."
No really, what is virginity?
According to New World Encyclopedia, human sexuality is referred to as "the expression of sexual sensation and related intimacy between human beings." The survey concludes that these conversations can be uncomfortable for many. There are no clear answers to what virginity means because human sexuality is different for everyone.
The survey shows that a lot of people leave it to their own or their sexual partners' lived experiences.
Pollination Organization at SRU is a brand new club that aims to educate students about pollinators while striving to make a difference in the local eco-system.
The club slogan is “Pollination: It’s more than just bees!”
“When people hear pollination, they tend to picture European honeybees…we focus on the whole system,” club president Amber Angert said.
So far, the club has worked on bringing in
speakers and spreading information. At a meeting on Jan. 30, the session focused on how a lack of wolves has caused deer to overpopulate. The deer in turn eat more flowers, which drives away native insects.
“You don’t really think of wolves as being part of the pollination system,” Angert said, “but they are. Just like deer are and birds are and we are.”
In the future, the organization plans to visit local environmental facilities, including SRU’s Macoskey center.
“We don’t want it to just be lectures and talking, we want to take action on what we’ve
learned,” Angert said. “We discussed seed bombing which is where you get a bunch of native seeds to our area, put them in a dirt ball and chuck them somewhere.”
The group is also considering planting a pollination garden to attract helpful bugs to campus.
The Pollination Organization at SRU meets every other Monday at 6.00 in Spotts room 117. Every third Tuesday of the month, Jan. through Oct., they will be hosting the Central Western Pennsylvania Beekeepers’ Association meetings in the Macoskey Center.
Students of all majors can gain experience, knowledge and a chance to perform through SRU’s Percussion Club.
The club is an extension of Slippery Rock’s percussion studio, according to President Kyle Stewart. The club still functions as its own separate organization.
“It is a way to represent ourselves through SGA [Slippery Rock Student Government Association],” he
said, “and one of our goals is to get funding for concerts and equipment we may need.”
Another one of the club's goals is to put on a concert every semester. “We have an ensemble that includes non-percussionists and non-music majors,” Stewart said. “It’s a great way for those who are in the major to practice teaching, leading and directing an ensemble.”
The concerts also serve as fundraisers for local schools.
“We look into schools that have a percussion program and are in need of new mallets or equipment,” Stewart said.
This year will be Percussion
Club’s first time putting on a concert since the fall of 2019 because of COVID-19.
Aside from planning for concerts, meetings also consist of drum circles and opportunities to socialize. The club does not currently have a set meeting time due to scheduling confl icts, but meetings will happen in Swope Music Hall.
“Part of our purpose as a club is to relieve stress. Having outlets like drum circles and meetings where you meet people with the same interests as you is very important," Stewart said.
As a part of Slippery Rock University’s Black History Month programming, the history department is hosting an event to dive into a currently controversial topic on many’s tongues: critical race theory. The academic panel discussion on critical race theory comes to SRU on Feb. 14 at 12:30 p.m. in the Smith Student Center Theater.
Melissa Ford, associate professor of history with a specialty in African American history, organized the event to educate the community on the past and present of a frequently discussed issue popping up in headlines and legislation all over the country. “This is an event to inform,” Ford said. “As an educator, that is my ultimate goal here at Slippery Rock: to educate in the classroom and outside.”
The panel, which includes Ford, combines the expertise of multiple departments and consists of professors of history, political science and education, as well as a current senior student.
Political science professors Heather Frederick and Cheryl Kerchis will talk about critical race theory but within their own fields of expertise. Frederick will focus on critical race theory in the eyes of the law, while Kerchis will discuss
it through the lens of civil discourse, the news and social media.
Senior political science major Brooklyn Graham, president of Black Action Society, will represent the student voice on the panel.
The panel will help attendees sort through misinformation to get a better grasp of critical race theory.
Ford will introduce the topic and give a brief history to put critical race theory in its historical context. Among prepared questions, attendees may submit their own inquiries on notecards.
Ford said the idea for this event came from current public discourse, which she said is often clouded with misinformation.
“I’m always trying to educate the SRU community about something they think they know,” Ford said.
“For instance, we’ve done events in the past about Martin Luther King [Jr.] but beyond the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, or we did one about Rosa Parks beyond the bus…You think you know this aspect of Black history, but let’s really take a critical look at it. Let’s really think about it.”
Although SRU has never held a panel about this topic before, it has hosted events on other controversial topics, like book banning in schools and taking down confederate monuments.
The university does not teach critical race theory as if it is a legal theory, so Ford explained that there wasn't much of a reason to discuss it
on campus before it became such a "hotbutton" issue.
Ford hopes that attendees become more informed citizens that are able to see headlines for what they really are.
Recent headlines mention Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ actions having to do with Black history
curriculum and equity efforts in K-12 schools and universities. Legislation that would restrict educational institutions from teaching about race was introduced in Pennsylvania in 2021.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives cosponsors memorandum attacks critical race theory, calling it
“divisive.” The bill has seen no further action.
“People need to be informed about who they’re voting for [and] policies they are proposing,” Ford said.
Ford encourages attendees to show up with an open mind.
"Let the experts be the experts," Ford said. "We know people have opinions,
but at the end of the day, critical race theory is an academic theory, so [let] people who are experts in academia talk about it." A comprehensive schedule of SRU’s Black History Month events can be found on CORE.
Healthy Outreach through Peer Education (HOPE) partnered with the Women’s Center and Pride Center to throw a Safer
Sex Block Party in the Smith Student Center (SSC)
Theatre during common hour on Feb. 7, 2023. The event was centered around HIV and its disproportionate effect on communities of color. It featured lawn games, music and food, such as hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and other cookout-style cuisine.
Sophomore and Pride Center Student Worker Mercedes Nearhood described the party as “a way for people to connect but also learn about safe sex and how to prevent HIV.”
HOPE combined with Adagio Health Butler, a clinic, to provide HIV testing for SRU students. Tables at the Safer Sex Block Party displayed a card that read, “Free rapid HIV testing—Student Health Center…Just tell the front desk ‘I’m here for Adagio' [and] no data will be on your student health record.”
Attendees were greeted with “practicing safe sex kits” upon walking in the door. Kits included both male and female contraceptives. An informational presentation about HIV played throughout the event.
“I watched the presentation go around as I was eating, so I learned a lot about the statistics,” senior Christina Vega-Alemany said.
“I thought [the event] was really fun…it’s always fun to have
extra things instead of just a presentation… it’s more interactive.”
HOPE educator Sarah Dodds, who was present at the event, said the organization chose to base the event around block parties because they “give really good vibes” and “attract students.”
“When students can come and enjoy [themselves] and learn a
little bit as well, it’s great,” Dodds said.
Dodds emphasized that HIV education is especially important for college students.
“When people think of health, they tend to think about mental and physical health. But, sexual health is a big part of that,” Dodds said, “for example, HIV is an immune deficiency disorder so it impacts your overall rate of infections…
you’ve got to pay attention to all those aspects because they play together so much.”
According to cdc.gov, people aged 13 to 24 accounted for 20% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2020. People of color, those in poverty and members of the LGBTQ+ community are all especially at risk.
Getting tested regularly, taking
preventative medicines, and practicing safe sex are all ways to lessen the spread of HIV.
“When you’re a college student, you have so many things going on in your life,” said Nearhood. “Unsafe sex can lead to many things like emotional turmoil, unplanned pregnancy and HIV… and HIV can be deadly."
By Annabelle Chipps
Asst. Campus Life Editor
"HIV is an immune deficiency disorder so it impacts your overall rate of infections
[...] you’ve got to pay attention to all those aspects because they play together so much."
– Sarah Dodds, HOPE educatorPHOTO COURTESY OF MELISSA FORD