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Volume 70 No. 2
Reporting truth. Serving our community.
Your World Today
Commentary: Just another year older
Jayden Pohlman Editor-in-Chief
If you had a superpower, what would it be? Would you teleport around the world or soar across the sky? As a child, I always said I wanted the ability to control the weather — who would not want to create inclement conditions that lead to endless days off school? But if you asked me that question now, I would choose the ability to control time without hesitation. There are so many moments in my life that I wish I could experience again. In fact, I genuinely believe that I would be perfectly content to be stuck in a never-ending time loop of 2024. 2024 was the best-worst year of my life. I interned at the Farm Show for the first time, studied abroad in Australia, jumped out of an airplane in New Zealand, spent the summer at the races — the list is endless. But then, at the end of the year, my dad passed away. It still does not feel real. I would give anything to go back and live through
2024 — the good and the bad — if only to see him one last time. I want to receive his humorous texts while I intern at the Farm Show, hug him before I get on the plane to Australia, hear his laugh when I tell him I just went skydiving and sit by his side at a racetrack listening to him curse when his favorite driver does not win. But life just does not work that way. Once a moment has passed, there is no going back. I have said it before — time is a thief. Time whisks away the innocence of your childhood before you realize it is gone. Time steals everything you hold dear, leaving you to desperately cling to fractured memories. And eventually, your time will simply just run out. But time is also a gift. Life is special because our time is fleeting. Would a moment still be meaningful if you experienced it a thousand times? As I stand on the precipice of becoming another year older, I feel like I spend more time grieving the past and fearing the future than actually enjoying the present. While I do not yet have a solution to this affliction, I am learning to appreciate how lucky I am to experience things that make me mourn the passage of time so deeply. And I often wonder what I did to deserve the time I got in the first place.
Town hall held in place of postponed data center hearing Gabe Rader
Staff Contributor
Residents held a town hall meeting Feb. 3 at Cleversburg Community Center to discuss Southampton Township’s data center zoning and a proposed amendment tied to 54 Airport Road after supervisors postponed a public hearing that had been scheduled for that night. Supervisors had granted the landowner a 90-day extension earlier that day and said they wanted time to re-evaluate the township’s data center rules. Organizers told attendees the delay could lead to changes in the township’s existing data center overlay and affect how the Airport Road request is evaluated. The meeting was hosted by Todd Crawley, Blyden Potts and Shippensburg University Professor Sean Cornell, who told attendees they plan to collect written comments, compile notes and submit a summary to township officials. Crawley introduced himself as a regulatory compliance specialist and said he is also the Democratic nominee for the 193rd Legislative District. Potts, a member of the Middle Spring Watershed Association, said handouts on each table included a timeline of key events and upcoming meeting dates. He said organizers learned at a
Gabe Rader / The Slate
Blydon Potts (left) and Todd Crawley (right) show the data zone overlay map. supervisors’ meeting earlier that morning that township officials are considering changing how planning recommendations are made. Potts said supervisors have discussed creating a resident planning commission, appointed by the Board of Supervisors, to replace a planning committee made up of the three supervisors. “Instead of having the same three people who are the board of supervisors on a planning committee, they’d actually have other residents of Southampton Township there — at least three, could be as many as nine,” Potts said. He encouraged residents with interest and expertise to consider serving and said the proposal was expected to be discussed at the supervisors’ next meeting on Feb. 9. Much of the town hall
Opportunities to be found at the international studies fair George Hogan Asst. News Editor
Faculty gathered on Feb. 4 in CUB 119 to share information on Study Abroad options. Locations around the globe and the experiences to have were discussed while visiting each table. Areas in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Costa Rica had professors talking all about their trip’s potential. Mary Burnett, director of Global Engagement, greeted students when entering the fair. She assisted students by pointing out opportunities for travel and offering to schedule meetings to help students attain passports or visas to meet the needs of how long students study abroad journeys would last. Financial aid and other resources are also accessible. Expert faculty accompany students during their stay, with options for all majors to embark on the trips. Each trip would earn students
Hayden Highlands / The Slate
Mary Burnett, director of Global Engagement, speaks with a student about study opportunities. varying credits toward their degree. Burnett said the number of students applying for study abroad has gone through a bell curve over the years. A large spike happened after the covid lockdown ended, with individuals being reinvigorated to travel. The following years’ numbers dipped but then started to rise again. Some trips have over 80 attendees, while a lot of classes led by professors
Thursday, February 12, 2026
usually take 8 to 16 students. Professor Pablo Delis said that his ideal number for a trip to Costa Rica is 12, yet if students are excited for the experience and want to travel, he will go up to a max of 16 students. The France summer 2026 trip will include going to Dijon, Paris, Alsace and Normandy. Focusing on food and culture for the COMM 490 class and food and identity for FREN 393. The course will be led by
Professor Blandine Mitaut and Professor Carrie Sipes. Gastronomy will be a core element, while also including visiting museums and historical sites. It will include a mix of exploring the old and modern aspects of France, including but not limited to the place of dukes, the Dijon mustard capital, details on the Eiffel tower and the engineer who oversaw its construction. Also, students may get a chance to visit the parliament building in France, Mitaut said. The Study Abroad 2026 trip for Europe has been filled already, but the 2027 trip is already being planned and is looking to visit five different countries across Europe. From late May to early June, students will get to spend 20 days exploring different countries. For the 2027 trip, students can reach out to Professor Mark Sachleben for details on starting the process. Read the full story at theslateonline.com.
focused on the township’s data-center overlay, which limits where data centers may locate and sets project standards. Potts said township officials are considering replacing the overlay with data-center rules written directly into the township’s main zoning ordinance. He said that approach could be acceptable if it still limits where data centers can go and strengthens project requirements. Potts said his warning about “getting rid of” the overlay was directed at eliminating data centerspecific zoning altogether. “An overlay is a zoning ordinance that says where data centers can go, and where they can’t go,” Potts said. “If we got rid of it, people could put data centers with much wider discretion.”
Potts said township officials appeared to be weighing whether revised rules would limit data centers to manufacturing zones or allow them in both manufacturing and commercial zones, a distinction he said could matter for the Airport Road proposal and other nearby properties. Crawley said he questioned county planning officials at the county’s Jan. 15 meeting about whether the petition to add the Airport Road parcels to the township’s data center overlay could amount to illegal spot zoning, and said he was told it did not. “Because if it is, then we’re done here,” Crawley said. “If this is illegal, then it just goes away.” Read the full story at theslateonline.com.
Franklin and Kriner projects proceed on expected schedule Evan Dillow News Editor
2026 is shaping up to be a busy year for Shippensburg University campus construction and renovation. The two major ongoing projects are the new Franklin Science Center (FSC) and the renovation of Kriner Hall. According to associate director of facilities and project planning Bruce Herring, Phase 1 of the FSC is scheduled to be completed May 8, 2026. From there, SU has 30 days to prepare for the second phase of construction, which will begin at the end of that 30-day period. Phase 2 is scheduled to be completed in spring 2027. The university’s plans for Kriner Hall were announced in September 2025. The former dining hall will house the Shippensburg University Small Business and Development Center, the
Charles H. Diller J. Center for Entrepreneurship Leadership and Innovation and the Mr. and Mrs. Milton K. Morgan III Makerspace. Freshens will still be located within Kriner Hall. The renovation of Kriner Hall is on a shorter schedule than the FSC, with an anticipated completion by the end of May 2026. Outfitting of the facility will take place in summer 2026. Despite frequent snow over winter break and the heavy snowstorm that occurred last month, the winter weather has not made any significant impact on the schedules of either project, Herring said. According to Herring, other projects are planned across the university campus throughout the year. These projects will include replacing the air handlers in the Ezra Lehman Library and working on electrical upgrades in Horton Hall in summer 2026.