Don’t get the Apple Vision Pro, yet, B1
Black spirituality in sermon and song, C1
Drum Tao at Luhrs, D1
Women’s Basketball: 1 win 1 loss, E1
@ShipUSlate Tuesday
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Volume 67 No. 14
Reporting truth. Serving our community.
SGA offers opportunities for leadership on campus
Science departments prepare for upcoming Franklin renovations
Katie Huston
SGA VP of Finance
The Student Government Association (SGA) is glad to be back in the full swing of things for the spring semester. As we enter this semester, we are proud to announce new opportunities for all students to join SGA in our pursuit of representing every individual on campus. We held our first public meeting of the semester on Feb. 8 in CUB 119. All senators in attendance gave reports on upcoming events and projects. MSA Senator McArthur encouraged all SU students to attend Black History Month events. Official nomination petitions for SGA officer positions were due to the SUSSI Fiscal Office on Feb. 12. Candidates are required to attend a meeting on Feb. 15 at 4:30 p.m. in CUB 201. The candidates are permitted to campaign immediately following the meeting. We invite all Shippensburg University students to attend the candidate speeches on Feb. 22 in McFeely’s Cafe at 5 p.m. We also encourage all SU students to participate in voting for their SGA officers. Elections will be held through
ShipLink (CampusGroups) as usual and will be open from Feb. 26 at 8 a.m. to Feb. 29 at 4 p.m. As we get our committees up and running for the spring, SGA will host an open interest meeting for students who would like to chair a committee. The meeting will be held in CUB 201 on Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. There are currently four vacant committee chairperson positions: the Academic Affair Committee, the Campus Safety and Facilities Committee, the Information and Technology Committee and the Sustainability Committee. SGA is looking for motivated students who want to make a difference in expanding their campus community to chair these committees. For any questions regarding the open positions, please contact SGA VP of Internal Affairs Kennedy Holt at SGAVPInternal@ship.edu. As budget season continues, we would like to remind all students and advisors that serving SU students’ best interest is our top priority; however, we also like to remind everyone that we are working with a deficit in our budget. In short, there is more funding requested from student groups than we are able to collect from Student Activity Fees each year. If you have any questions for SGA, please do not hesitate to reach out to your senator or any member of the Executive Leadership Committee.
SGA provides updates at first spring 2024 public meeting
Allyson Ritchey / The Slate
SGA President Harun Pacavar speaks about Black History Month events. Ian Thompson News Editor
The Shippensburg University Student Government Association (SGA) held its first meeting of the semester this past Thursday. Despite not reaching quorum, the meeting included reports from all senators and officers in attendance. SGA President Harun Pacavar gave an account of his involvement in PA Governor Shapiro’s College Day of Action and Budget Address. Shapiro has announced his plans for a massive investment in higher education. The plan, if passed, would have huge implications on
Shippensburg and the larger PASSHE system. VP of Internal Affairs Kennedy Holt announced that she would be holding a general interest meeting to help fill remaining vacancies in committee chair positions. The meeting is scheduled for Feb 15 at 5 p.m. in CUB 201. Residence Hall Association Senator Isabelle Schannauer reiterated the resident assistant application deadline of Feb. 16. “If you have any questions, I would love to answer them,” Schannauer said. Those interested can also email ShipRA@ship.edu IFC Senator Ethan Sommer announced that the group is currently hosting a “Can Wars” canned food drive. Each chapter has a box in the CUB Great Hall. The winning chapter will be decided at the IFC All-Stars basketball game on Feb. 29. Activities Programming Board President Nicole Baumgardner gave updates on APB’s programming events so far this semester and teased others that are upcoming. One of these is a Build-A-Bear event scheduled for Feb. 16 at 9 p.m.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Connor Niszczak Managing Editor
2024 is shaping up to be a year of renovations for Shippensburg University. The campus is expecting continued refurbishments of its residence halls and a possible redesign of Kriner Hall, but the largest project set to begin this summer is the multi-year Franklin Science Center renovation. Franklin Science Center (FSC) was built in 1970 and underwent a partial renovation in 2002 that targeted HVAC and electric upgrades. At the time, there were minimal upgrades to the building’s interior. Conversations surrounding more thorough renovations to FSC were brought up as early as 2010, but due to delays and budgetary issues, a finalized design contract was not completed until 2022. The groundbreaking is not expected until August or September, but the initial transition for FSC faculty members took place within the last week. Psychology professors will be moving their offices in waves to Wright Hall and will completely relocate this summer to minimize any inconvenience to students. The psychology student lounge, labs, graduate assistant spaces and department office will remain untouched until the semester ends. Five faculty members have transitioned so far, and another five will make the move this week, according to psychology department Chair Suzanne Morin. Throughout discussions of how renovations would impact the psychology department, Morin prioritized finding another pocket of campus where her faculty could remain together. “Keeping all my faculty in the same spot makes it easier for students to still have contact with us,” Morin said. “Not only that, but they’ve also given a space in Wright Hall where we can continue to do our research, so working with students on research isn’t going to be impacted.” Wright Hall has primarily been used by adjunct faculty and is not home to any one department, so psychology is not “kicking out” any of their colleagues, Morin said. To prepare for new Wright residents, campus partners have been working to repair and replace old furniture, paint the walls and design a research space for psychology students to use on the second floor of Wright Hall. Morin also has plans to update both physical and online directories and install signage — including a large
Adam Beam / The Slate
The Franklin Science Center will begin renovations this summer. Psychology faculty began moving their offices over the past week. welcome banner — to make psychology’s presence throughout the building known. When early renovation talks were occurring, it was decided that psychology would relocate because its courses are not as tied down to the laboratories as other departments. “It’s convenient to have our teaching space and our research space together, but we were one of the most portable and frankly, we volunteered,” Morin said. “We have, I think the home court advantage to be out of the chaos doing our thing with our students and continuing to build community with the new students coming in.” In the summer 2023 edition of the SU Magazine, a story on the FSC renovations estimated a timeline of roughly August 2024 to January 2027. If all goes well, this is still the estimated timeline, but as Morin said, the psychology department is happy to be situated in another building in case issues arise or the project takes longer than expected. Phase 1 will involve the renovation of the south side of the building and is expected to take roughly 14 months, according to Bruce Herring, SU assistant director of Planning and Engineering. Phase 2 will then continue from roughly January of 2026 to spring 2027. For now, the other departments in FSC are staying put and will see their operations impacted later this year. Only half of the building will be under renovation at a time, and the biology and chemistry departments will share the remaining space. “Most of our lecture courses will be held in other buildings, but our labs
will continue in FSC,” biology department Chair Sherri Bergsten said. “We have been working together, with support from the administration, to figure out how to best share spaces in FSC so that we can continue to offer all of our laboratory courses, and that faculty and students can continue their research during the renovation.” While psychology’s home base will remain in Wright Hall, it will follow suit and will also hold several courses in Shippen Hall, Dauphin Humanities Center, Huber Arts Center and other available spaces across campus. When the renovations are complete, Morin is excited to see the modernity of a space that will be more inclusive and will allow the sciences to interact more with the community and involve them in research. “I’d really like to see improvements in the lab spaces along with the accessibility of the building, especially in lab spaces,” junior psychology major Amanda Holmes said. “Even having an accessibility entrance located closer to the elevator would be wonderful to see. I’d like to see improvements in the lecture hall seats, so that it can be more inclusive of bigger body types.” Planned upgrades to FSC include “modernization to the laboratory and teaching laboratory portions of the building, modernization of classrooms and computer labs modernization of faculty offices” and “incorporation of collaboration spaces as part of the hallways throughout the building to facilitate student interaction and help with hallway congestion,” Herring said.
Your World Today Commentary: How to Know Yourself
Elizabeth Peters Editor-in-Chief If there is one thing I am good at, it is being myself. That sounds like a nobrainer, but it has taken me a solid decade to truly work out who I am in relation to my own nature, those around me and my role in society. Having a deep knowledge
of who you are is key to having a good relationship with other people, whether they are strangers, romantic partners or friends. You should take the time to evaluate who you are to yourself, especially with a certain, semi-painful holiday coming up next Wednesday. Step 1: Describe Yourself to Yourself I love a good list, so take a little time and write out every word you would describe yourself as exemplifying. Every word. Once you have like 15 words, go over each one and identify why you think it applies to you. For example, I always use
the term “loyal” to describe myself because I am very devoted to those around me. I always have my friends’ backs, through thick and thin. I also would use the words “smart” and “artistic” to describe myself because I know that I have a strong education and love to create (check my silly GPA and minors list). You can also use words like “sibling,” “worker” or “friend.” There is no wrong answer for how you describe yourself. Remember this list is for you, but if you want to ask a friend their thoughts go ahead. It can be helpful to
learn how they see you as well, and a true friend would love to let you know their thoughts. Step 2: Make A LikesDislikes List Is it a little silly to make a list of these things because you kind of just know them? Yes, but it does help you breakdown your own opinions visually. Include everything on this list (because it should only be seen by you), and I mean everything: likes, dislikes, phobias, passions, people’s names, etc. Read the full story at theslateonline.com.