The Slate 9-3-26

Patterson’s Welcome Message, B1

APB Activities, C1

Remembering the Queen of Country, D1

Football Drops Season Opener, E1

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Friday

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45th Corn Fest packs King Street Reporting truth. Serving our community.

Volume 70 No. 1

Gabe Rader News Editor

Gabe Rader / The Slate

The PA Young Farmers’ staple: corn on a stick.

Gabe Rader / The Slate

The start of cornfestivities on Fayette St.

The 45th annual Shippensburg Corn Festival drew an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people to downtown Shippensburg on Saturday, featuring more than 250 craft and food vendors bringing together students, residents and those from all around the area to dig in on some corn.

The free festival ran from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Michael Smith, president of the Corn Festival committee, said crowds peaked at two o’clock to support local and independant buisnesses.

Smith said the festival included about 220 craft vendors, 40 food vendors and entertainment at four locations.

“We’re tickled because it’s a community event, and there’s so many people from the community that come down,” Smith said. “All the businesses get involved.”

The scale of the festival could also be measured in food. Shippensburg Young Farmers alone had over

Elevator smoke causes McLean Hall evacuation Gabe Rader News Editor

On Saturday, Aug. 22, overheated elevator belts produced smoke in the basement of McLean Hall, prompting a building evacuation and fire response.

Vigilant Hose Company and West End Fire and Rescue were dispatched at 4:52 p.m. for a reported building fire, according to a Vigilant Hose post on facebook.

Junior Ciara Silva said she was taking a pizza upstairs with two other students when the elevator began shaking and bouncing.

“It just stopped,” Silva said. “Then, all of a sudden, it was just blaring, the fire alarm.”

Silva said the elevator stopped between the third and fourth floors and remained there for about two minutes while the fire symbol flashed inside the car.

At first, she thought someone

else had set off the alarm and halted the elevator until “it started to slowly boom, boom back down to the first floor,” Silva said.

Silva said “[it] was rocking really weird” until the car eventually reached the first floor, where its doors opened and the students exited on their own.

“No injuries, luckily,” Silva said.

Silva joined the crowd outside and did not speak with firefighters.

Megan Silverstrim, Shippensburg University’s director of communications and marketing, said the students did not require a rescue.

Shippensburg University police told arriving firefighters that smoke was coming from the basement, possibly from the elevator shaft, according to Vigilant Hose.

Firefighters ran hose lines into the basement, found a malfunction involving the

elevator and secured it.

The first arriving engine laid 400 feet of 5-inch supply hose. Firefighters carried hose packs and a 200-foot line into the basement while a second engine assisted with ventilation.

A total of Two Vigilant Hose engines responded with nine firefighters, along with the company’s chief and duty officer.

Crews remained at McLean Hall for about an hour while removing smoke from the basement and checking for additional hazards.

Silverstrim said university police, maintenance staff and Vigilant Hose “responded quickly, found the issue, addressed it and shut it down,” and worked until Monday to get it up and running again.

By 5:43 p.m. on Saturday, McLean Resident Director Autumn Davis sent a message that residents could return to their rooms.

Courtesy of Jenna Tecchio

The Vigilant Hose Company Engine 252 running a hose down the elevator shaft to the the source of the smoke.

Thursday September 3

100 dozen ears of corn and around 18 pounds of butter on hand. Keep It Smokin BBQ sold about 140 pounds each of top round for pit beef and pork tenderloin.

10 contestants participated in a corn-eating contest. who had five minutes to eat as many ears as possible removing all the kernels from each cob for it to qualify.

Grady Powell won the contest at six ears of corn, followed by Alex Book in second place and Geraldo Robaina in third.

Smith, who has been president for about 15 years, said the festival gives the committee a way to support the community while bringing visitors to local businesses from all over the region.

The committee distributed $9,600 in 2026 from profits from the 2025 festival, according to the festival’s website. The money went to local organizations for emergency response equipment, downtown beautification, food assistance, recreation and historic preservation, which

are all issues near and dear to those living in Shippensburg.

The website lists two special donations from profits from the 2024 festival: $40,000 to Coy Public Library of Shippensburg for its amphitheater, which was used for live music and featured many different bands, and $10,000 to the Shippensburg Area Athletic Association for renovations at Veterans Stadium and Memorial Park.

The festival’s main stage moved from the portable Fogelsonger stage at Library Square this year, which provided more space for more vendors. “Every year we try to enhance it,” Smith said. “We try to look at things to focus on.”

Among the craft vendors was Steve Hoke of Bottle Refab, who displayed candles, glassware and lamps made from used beer bottles and monster cans as well as Yagermeister bottles and brown jugs.

Hoke said the business began around 2009, when he thought he might lose his information technology job

and wanted a change from computer work.

“I actually used to just make drinking glasses and vases out of the bottles,” Hoke said. “People started asking me about making them into candles. So then I learned that, and it kind of blew up from there.”

Uncovering PA’s founder, Carlisle-based travel writer and photographer Jim Cheney sold pictures of his time traveling across the state for 13 years to find interesting places and experiences.

“Everything I do is firsthand experience,” Cheney said. He said he visits the places he writes about, takes his own notes and uses his own photographs.

The Festival’s future depends on younger volunteers who can go for another 45 years.“We’re going to go on forever and ever,” Smith said. “The key thing is to make sure we get more community members involved in the Corn Festival, so a younger generation can take it over.”

Madison Sharp

sometimes the pressure to live up to and continue what I have started often weighs on me.

I fear what people may think, or more likely what I might think, about myself and my accomplishments if I were to fall short in any of these endeavors.

Although I have a loving support system, sometimes my mind can play tricks on me and convince myself I have to live up to these

unrealistic expectations that I have set for myself.

As I transition into my new role as editor-in-chief, I want to help run this organization in a way that is unique to me.

While I recognize that there is always room for improvement and doing more, there is also something powerful about taking things as they come and making the best of it. And that is more than good enough.

Your World Today Commentary: Unrealistic Expectations Editor-In-Chief

I have always been someone that puts too much pressure on myself. Pressure to make my family and friends proud; pressure to make myself proud; pressure to do enough.

But what is enough? As I have gotten older, I have realized that there is no such thing. There will always be another rung on the ladder to climb. There is a delicate balance in both seeking out as many opportunities as you can, while also learning how to say no.

When I first started at Shippensburg University, I was eager to seek out any opportunities and experiences that would help me move closer towards my goals and live my college experience to a the fullest.

“I fear what people may think, or more likely what I might think, about myself and my accomplishments if I were to fall short in any of these endeavors.

I started getting involved at The Slate and the Wood Honors College. Since then I have only moved up in those organizations, held four jobs on campus and continued growing my photography business, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. While I am so incredibly grateful that I have been given the opportunity to pursue all of these things,

Jayden Pohlman / The Slate

Junior Madison Sharp is the new editor-in-chief of The Slate.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

Opinion

B1

Our Decade of Discontent

Matthew Scalia Opinion Editor

Matthew Scalia / The Slate

The university sign at the Old Main Drive entrance of Shippensburg University.

A message from Shippensburg University President Charles Patterson Charles Patterson Guest

As the fall 2026 semester begins, Shippensburg University is buzzing with renewed energy.

Students are back in classrooms, residence halls are full, organizations are planning events, athletic teams are competing, and the campus has once again become the active, connected community that defines Ship.

For our new students, welcome. You are joining a university with a proud history, strong traditions, and a community that wants you to succeed. For our returning students, I hope this semester brings new opportunities, new challenges, and new reasons to be proud of the role you play in shaping the Ship campus.

There is much to be excited about this year. New spaces, partnerships and initiatives are creating additional opportunities for students to learn, lead, connect, and prepare for what comes next.

At the same time, the most important parts of the Shippensburg experience remain the same — strong relationships with faculty and staff, meaningful connections with one another, and the opportunity to discover interests and abilities you may not yet know you have.

Try something new.

Attend a campus event. Join an organization. Go to a game or performance. Talk

with a professor outside of class. Meet someone whose background or perspective differs from your own. Ask for help when you need it, and offer help when someone else does.

Just as importantly, remember that each of you helps determine what kind of campus community we have.

“For our new students, welcome.

You are joining a university with a proud history, strong traditions, and a community that wants you to succeed” Charles Patterson SU President The way you welcome others, participate in conversations, support your classmates, and contribute your ideas matters.

Shippensburg is strongest when students do more than attend the university.

It is strongest when they become part of the fabric of what makes Shippensburg University great.

I am optimistic about the year ahead and grateful for the energy our students bring to Ship, and I hope your fall 2026 is a semester filled with growth, discovery, accomplishment, and connections.

Charles Patterson is the university president at SU.

Welcome to the fall semester, the vehicle that will propel us to the conclusion of 2026. While the start of a semester is a time to dream and look forward, its autumnal backdrop with its abundance of decomposition lends itself to reflection and nostalgia — the latter of which has become a drug for two generations over the past couple of decades.

Nostalgia has been an economic tour de force that some may attribute to millennials and Generation Y’s apathetic view of the present and overromanticization of the past. But perhaps they are not victims of marketinginduced rose-colored glasses. Maybe they are just right, and that for the entirety of their lives things have only worsened.

Let’s rewind the clock 10-years and see where we are at.

A decade ago marked the start of what could rightfully be considered the Trump era. And while it is tempting to lay the entirety of political decline on Trump, that process began years earlier.

Trump’s ascendance was just a mask-off moment — a sign that public corruption and corporate maleficence are not only tolerated but strongly encouraged.

Those same CEOs probably do not have the same view of the past that we do. There has never been a better time to be one of them than right now.

Beef prices are steep, and ranchers are keeping herds small to keep prices up.

The oil industry is making record profits while gas becomes unaffordable. All without so much as a frown from the

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and-change dropped per device; it is its role as a data collector that serves you advertisements that pay dividends. And the data business is booming.

Artificial intelligence companies are on the hunt for information on how you do your job, how you talk, how you write — pretty much every detail about you — so that they can build digital simulacrums of you that can do your job, have sex, and even impersonate your dead relatives like a plot straight out of every dystopian novel you ever read. To top it off, they want to use vast amounts of your electricity and water supplies to store it all and are willing to pay millions to your local government to let it happen, whether you, the lowly voter, want it or not.

There is still hope, though. But it is going to require a mass rejection of big tech and social media. Influencers’ opinions are largely for sale, and the algorithmic manipulation inherent to social media has kept us divided for over a decade.

If we are to stop our communities from being bought by big tech for data centers and mass surveillance; if we are to stand up for affordability and quality, we are going to need to remember our humanity.

To supplement a point recently made

by Shippensburg University President Charles Patterson: there is no better way to find that humanity than by connecting with each other in person, and by learning things and developing skills ourselves. There is no better place or time to do that than right here, right now, at the start of the fall semester at SU.

Am I burnt out? Or is the world just on fire?

Jordan Neperud Managing Editor

Is anyone else getting burned out from constantly hearing the word “burnout”?

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for conversations about mental health. I think that it is great that more people are aware of how to take care of their mental health. However, it feels like these conversations never actually go anywhere.

I cannot count how many times I have seen or heard some kind of advice to avoid burnout. There are probably at least a thousand different lists and articles about the subject floating out there on the internet. And while this is not a bad thing, it does feel like it gets to a point where we are talking in circles around what is actually causing burnout.

To put it simply, existing in today’s world is exhausting. As a college student, it feels like there is this universal apathy in my age demographic. I have met people who are excited for their futures, but they are a rarity. It feels like so many of us are just going through the motions without actually believing that we will

Where’s Your Voice?

•

White House. Anything goes.

Private equity, people who produce nothing, are buying everything that produces stuff — sports teams, restaurants, local trades businesses, news organizations — and are bleeding their products to death to add a few dollars to their portfolio’s that reinvest into buying your grandmother’s house to turn into a rental property.

Critics may say: “You are ungrateful!

You have access to groundbreaking new medicines, the iPhone, and artificial intelligence. Your generation has never had it better.”

Sure, medical treatments have improved. You cannot afford them, though, and your insurance will deny them. Most of the new drugs that are produced are for rare diseases or cosmetic purposes that are more profitable. You do not see too many crucially needed new antibiotics being released. One exception was the invention of GLP-1s, the class of weightloss drugs that include Ozempic and Zepbound that treat a broader swath of the public.

Their treatment of diabetes and their ability to reduce weight and weight-related comorbidities, such as diabetes, has made them a unicorn. Too bad insurance companies are hesitant to pay for them. They will cost you thousands of dollars, but only if you live in America; I am pretty sure they give you a complementary bottle with your paycheck overseas.

Perhaps nothing is more insidious, though, than the suggestion that our access to modern technology is somehow a boon for us. The iPhone’s primary value to Apple is not the thousand-

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Contact Us slate.ship@gmail.com (717) 477-1778 Mailing Address The Slate - Shippensburg University CUB Box 106 1871 Old Main Drive Shippensburg, PA 17257 Office Location Ceddia Union Building Room 250 Shippensburg University Adviser Dr. Michael Drager About The Slate The Slate is a weekly, independent, student-run newspaper printed by Gettysburg Times. Its print edition is published on Thursdays and its website, theslateonline.com, is maintained 24/7.

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Can you blame the young adults for this? We are living in an era where it becomes more expensive to live every day. An era where our degrees may already be useless before we even graduate. An era where it feels like there is simply no point. When this is the underlying feeling in so many people, conversations about burnout seem just as pointless as everything else does.

The most common advice to prevent burnout that I see is to practice self-care.

On the surface, this is a great thing. We should all be taking care of ourselves; however, there is only so much self-care can do to soothe the wounds that come from living during interesting times.

Will doing my skin care routine make me feel less terrified of entering what is so often called a dying industry?

Will doing yoga make me not fear the instability and rapid decline of my country? Will journaling make me feel like I can sleep at night without dreading what the next day will bring?

This is where the conversation about burnout falls apart for me. I have most definitely been burnt out by my academics, or my jobs, or my workload from student media. I’m sure many of

my peers can agree that the stress of a college student is never-ending and relentless.

What I get stuck on is the lack of relief. When does it end? It is not after graduation. I have to get a “real job” and worry about bills that are not just paying my tuition. I would say that it will be after I retire, but it looks less and less likely that I will get the chance to do so.

Burnout is certainly very real, and we all benefit from talking about it and trying to find ways to avoid or recover from it.

I do not want to diminish those efforts. I do think that it is important to not lose yourself in hopelessness.

Apathy gets you nowhere. We need to have hope for the future, or nothing will improve.

While I can write those words, I struggle to believe them at times. I have it so much better than so many people, and yet the weight of the world still crushes me.

Maybe I am too pessimistic. Maybe my anxieties about the future will be unfounded. Maybe I should start journaling.

Management slate.ship@gmail.com Madison Sharp...................Editor-in-Chief Jordan Neperud...............Managing Editor News slatenews@gmail.com Gabe Rader.............................Asst. Editor Farah Pierre-Charles...............Asst. Editor Opinion shipspeaks@gmail.com Matthew Scalia.................................Editor Ship Life slate.shiplife@gmail.com Adam Sheaffer..................................Editor Sports slatesports@gmail.com Hannah Stoner.................................Editor Ben Hummel...........................Asst. Editor A&E slateae@gmail.com Astrid Huber............................Asst. Editor

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C1

Thursday, September 3, 2026

Ship Life

What not to do during your first year of college, Part 2

Jordan Neperud Managing Editor

Around this time last year, I wrote an article titled “What not to do during your first year of college.” It was a reflection of my first year at Shippensburg University, along with advice for the incoming freshman. I have decided to continue the tradition and share the wisdom I gained during my second year of college. Spoiler alert, no one has it all figured out yet, but it does not hurt to get a few tips.

My biggest piece of advice is also the most cliche. Whatever you do, do not procrastinate. You have heard it a million and one times, but it remains worth repeating. I spent many late nights finishing projects and papers at the last minute.

There was even the time I had to beg my professor to accept my final paper late because I got too arrogant and assumed I could finish it on time. I did not, but thankfully my professor showed mercy.

Do whatever you need to do to make sure you can get work done. Write that the deadline is a week earlier than it really is in your planner. Lock your phone in a box so you cannot doomscoll. Reward yourself with candy every time you finish

an assignment. Just make sure the work gets done.

Following that point, know what you can and cannot handle. There is a lot of pressure to challenge yourself in college.

Whether that is taking high-level courses or taking on leadership roles, it can quickly compound into being far too much stress for one person to handle.

This is a lesson that I am, admittedly, still learning. I set out this semester with the goal to take five classes, work two jobs, be the managing editor at The Slate and a news writer for WSYC. While I am sure there are people who could handle all of this, I could not. I dropped the class that was causing me the most stress, and that was the best thing I could do for myself.

There is no shame in not being able to handle something.

Sometimes you need to drop a class or step down from a leadership position in a club. Do what is best for you and your path.

Speaking of doing what is best for you, make sure to use your resources. Most of us are paying thousands of dollars to be here, so make sure to get your money’s worth.

Go to Etter Health Center when you are feeling under the weather. Go to the Wellness Center when you need to talk to

someone. Go to the ShipRec when you want to work out. You are paying for these things regardless, so you may as well take advantage when you need them.

Speaking of money, go to free events. There is some kind of fun and free event happening every single week. And at these free events, there are often free things for you to take home, which makes them even better.

I did not go to a lot of events during my first year. I would go to a handful for my University 101 class, or later to cover for The Slate. Now as I am entering my third year, I regret it.

I never went to Breakfast Bingo during Fall Welcome Week, and sometimes it truly does haunt me.

While not every event is for every person, it is worth it to at least check out one that catches your eye.

There is no one way to have a college experience. Everyone has a different path and different needs. Whether you are a commuter or living on campus, a full-time or part-time student, a first generation or legacy student, or a traditional or non-traditional student, this is your education and your time to have the ultimate college experience.

My last, and best, piece of advice is to make your experience at SU fun.

APB colors the night with tie-dye & outdoor games

Keira Knedeisen / The Slate

A pair of friends sit and admire their creative tie-dye creation they had made.

Keira Knedeisen / The Slate

SU students spend their Saturday creating their own colorful tie-dye designs.

Keira Knedeisen / The Slate

APB members welcome students for an evening of fun and new friendships.

New department kicks off semester with a cookout for new and returning students

out more about who is teaching them this semester, which allows them to feel more comfortable in what could be a nerve-wracking environment for them.

“College is supposed to be for you,” Dagnes said. “So let’s make sure that we get a good education with people who care and with friends that are going to last a lifetime.”

This will not be the last students hear of the newly formed department either.

On Sept. 17, the department will be hosting a Democracy Day in the SU hockey rink. All are invited and will feature food, games, voter registration and campus clubs in attendance.

Dagnes says the event will focus on the theme that Democrats and Republicans can come together and have fun, showing that politics does not have to be a screaming match and that all they want is for SU students to register to vote.

For more information on the department and its activites, visit its website.

Adam Sheaffer / The Slate

Students hurry around trying to complete the scavenger hunt for a cash prize.

Adam Sheaffer Ship Life Editor

The Department of Political and Social Inquiry at Shippensburg University hosted a cookout to kick off the new semester on Aug. 27 in the student recreation complex pavilion to get students out of their dorms and acquainted with department staff and fellow students.

The kickoff cookout not only marked the beginning of a new semester, but the beginning of a new department at Shippensburg University. For the fall 2026 semester, the Department of Political Science and the Department of Sociology were merged, forming the Department of Political and Social Inquiry which provides three majors and four minors along with two graduate programs.

Department staff and faculty provided a variety of cookies, brownies, sliders and more for those in attendance along with an engaging scavenger hunt that got students working together in groups. This was done with the goal of getting them off their phones and allowing them to get to know their peers, said Alison Dagnes, chair of the Department of Political and Social Inquiry and political science professor.

“Studies show that college students these days suffer from real loneliness,” Dagnes said.

“Our goal is just to get everybody out of their dorm rooms [and] off their phones.”

Getting people out, feeding them and helping them get to know the faculty allows students to be more comfortable, Dagnes said. It humanizes people and allows new students to find

Adam Sheaffer / The Slate

Department Chair Alison Dagnes leads a scavenger hunt for students.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

A&E

D1

80 years of life, richer than Fruit Coctail Cake

Gabe Rader

Asst. News Editor

Dolly Parton spent decades putting her name on records, movies, a theme park, resorts and anything else you could slap her name on. But when Tennessee lawmakers proposed putting her name and likeness on something else-a statue at the Tennessee state Capitol- she asked them not to. “Given all that is going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time,” Parton said in 2021.

Parton, the country singer, songwriter, actor, businesswoman and philanthropist whose career stretched across seven decades, died Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80.

She left behind one of the largest catalogs in country music, a major entertainment business in East Tennessee, a philanthropic network that mailed hundreds of millions of books to children, funded scholarships, supported disaster victims and contributed to medical research.

Parton was born Jan. 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee.

She was one of 12 children in a poor Appalachian family. She began performing as a child and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry as a teenager before gaining national attention after joining “The Porter Wagoner Show” in 1967. She later left Wagoner to pursue a solo career, where she wrote “I Will Always Love You” about the breakup of their professional partnership.

Parton’s song became a country hit, and Whitney Houston’s 1992 recording turned the song into a worldwide pop standard.

Parton also wrote “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “9 to 5,” songs that moved well beyond country radio and became part of American popular culture. She starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the 1980 film “9 to 5” and wrote its title song, then continued acting in films including “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Steel Magnolias.”

Behind the wigs, rhinestones and jokes about her exaggerated appearance was a thoughtfully run business operation. While Parton retained ownership of much of her songwriting catalog and famously declined to give up publishing rights to “I Will Always Love You” when Elvis Presley’s representatives wanted him to record it.

Parton also expanded far beyond music. In 1986, Silver Dollar City Tennessee was renamed to Dollywood after she became a partner in the East Tennessee theme park. The attraction grew into a major tourism operation and employer in the region where she grew up, and her business interests later expanded into resorts, restaurants, merchandise and other ventures.

Her charitable work followed a similar pattern of starting

close to home and then expanding. Parton created the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to support education in Sevier County. One early effort, the Buddy Program, offered students financial incentives to remain in school and graduate. In 1995, she launched the Imagination Library, a program that mails free books to enrolled children from birth to age five.

The program began in Sevier County and eventually expanded across the United States and into several other countries. By the time of Parton’s death, it had distributed more than 330 million books. The project was partly inspired by her father, Lee Parton, who could not read or write.

Parton also used her foundation and personal wealth during disasters. After wildfires devastated parts of East Tennessee in 2016, she created the My People Fund, which provided monthly payments to families whose homes had been destroyed. After Hurricane Helene struck parts of Appalachia in 2024, Parton personally pledged $1 million toward relief efforts, while businesses connected to her contributed additional money.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The money supported research connected to development of the Moderna vaccine, adding medical research to a charitable record that had already included education, literacy and disaster relief.

The entertainment industry repeatedly honored her for both her career and her philanthropy. Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. She won 10 Grammy Awards and received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She also received the National Medal of Arts in 2005, Kennedy Center Honors in 2006 and, in 2025, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

She continued working late in life. Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, died in 2025 after nearly 60 years of marriage, but she continued developing an autobiographical Broadway musical, a Nashville hotel and museum project and other entertainment ventures. Her final public appearance came in June at the opening of Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee.

Parton’s ability to remain broadly popular also separated her from many celebrities of her generation. She occasionally spoke about issues including LGBTQ rights and racial equality, but she generally avoided identifying herself with political parties or candidates. She also resisted efforts by politicians to claim her as one of their own.

The only awards she didn’t receive are the ones she turned down, like when President Donald Trump twice offered Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom during

Move-In Day crossword

Row: 1. The formal name for the Student Union Building on campus.

2. A family-friendly game where you have to arrange oddly shaped pieces to make one big picture.

3. The formal name for the building with the biology and chemistry labs on campus.

This is the building that is under current renovation.

4.

“Done without a ___!”; used when something succeeds without complications.

5. This dorm hall is offered when an undergraduate student wants a communal dorm.

6. “I did it for _____.”; used when someone does something for fun rather than a practical application.

7. The dorm hall on campus that surrounds the water tower.

8.

The building students can access to get accommodations for any disabilities.

9. The term for a dull pain.

10. The formal name of the library on campus.

11. “Can you do something for me?”

12. “This is up to ____.”; used when something is up to par or standard.

13. This dorm hall on campus is also known for frequent fire alarms, but only houses underclassmen.

14. The formal name for the old gymnasium on campus near the S.U.P.D. building.

15. “This bed is too _____, I can’t get any sleep on it!”

- college students the first night after moving in.

16. The formal name of the building where most art classes are held, as well as the art gallery.

17. The term for a negative or unwanted effect of an action or substance.

18. A financial decision where a party borrows money from a creditor with an agreed-upon pay period.

19. The term for fooling around or wasting time.

20. A small spurt of flame or electricity, also used to refer to inspiration.

Column: 1. A greeting given to someone who has left a place, then returned later.

2. An informal term for a persistent or nagging person.

3. Man’s best friend.

4. The main food court for students to dine on campus.

5. The old food court that was under recent renovations on campus.

6. The westmost dorm on campus.

7. This dorm hall on campus houses both upper and lower classmen, and is known for frequent fire alarms.

8. The science building on the south side of campus near Old Main.

9. The term for having enough resources to pay for something.

10. The term for someone who sells newspapers on the corner of a road.

11. “Don’t be _____ with me!”; used when someone is being snarky or crass to someone else.

12.

The term for when something goes catastrophically wrong.

13. This type of bank card allows someone to draw directly from their checking account.

Check next week’s Slate online issue for answers for the puzzle!

Courtesy of Alan Light

Parton at Kahala Hotel in Honolulu, 1984. his first administration. Parton said she declined because of circumstances involving her husband’s health and the pandemic. She later said she was reluctant to accept the same honor from President Joe Biden because she worried accepting it would appear political.

More importantly, many of the institutions carrying her name produced something measurable. Dollywood employed people in East Tennessee and drew tourists to the region. The Imagination Library mailed books to children. Her foundation funded scholarships. Her disaster programs sent money to families whose homes had burned, and her Vanderbilt donation supported medical research.

That reputation says more about Parton than trying to turn her into a political symbol after her death. She spent most of her public life avoiding that role, even while maintaining enough cultural influence to be claimed by people across the political spectrum.

Her refusal of the Tennessee statue is one example. Parton did not reject the idea permanently. She said lawmakers could reconsider it later, perhaps after she was gone, and now they can.

Tennessee officials are already considering other permanent tributes, including a proposal to rename Nashville International Airport for Parton. Whether the state eventually builds a statue may matter less than what is already there: Dollywood, jobs, scholarships, tourism and a literacy program that began in one quiet Tennessee county and eventually placed more than 330 million books in children’s hands.

Unpacking: the story told through packing peanuts and moving boxes

Astrid Huber

Asst. A&E Editor

As the academic year is starting up again, many of us are sorting our stuff into our new living spaces. Whether this is your first year moving in or your fourth year, moving into a new space can be stressful for everyone involved.

In November of 2021, Wren Brier with the indie game studio Witch Beam sought to tell the story of new beginnings through the items found in the game Unpacking. This cozy puzzle game starts in May of 1997, in a small child’s bedroom with a lofted bed and only a couple of moving boxes.

As you unpack, an eclectic collection of kids’ toys, art supplies, sporting goods and stuffed animals is strewn across the room.

Through this, you’ve assumed the role of an eleven-year-old girl from a Jewish family who is equally passionate about sports and art, and is excited to have her own room in this new house.

Jumping ahead seven years, you find yourself in a college dorm in January of 2004.

In the cramped space, you learn that your character has enrolled at a nearby university as an art student, who is nervous yet excited about her new opportunities and keeps sentimental items to remind her of home.

In March of 2007, you see the fruits of her endeavors in university as you move into a shared apartment with friends. With the new collection of items, you proudly display her new degree above her desk as she aspires to be a professional artist.

The tone of the game shifts in a subtle yet powerful way in September of 2010, when your character moves in with her boyfriend.

The high-rise apartment is refined and quaint, but as you unpack, there’s a subtle expectation to work around him, rather than with him.

A breaking point comes along when you pull her framed art degree out of the box.

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Puzzle by Astrid Huber Asst. A&E Editor

The only place that you’re allowed to set it is tucked under the bed, out of sight, instead of being hung proudly on the wall.

After two years of living together, your character and her boyfriend break up, and she moves back in with her parents in June of 2012. Due to progressing chronic pain, she sold her rock-climbing equipment to pick up sewing while she takes the time to heal from her relationship.

During the eight months of living with her parents, your character finds a cheap onebed, one-bathroom apartment to move into in January of 2013. Once you move her in, she notes how empty the apartment feels, even with her stuff.

The perceived emptiness seamlessly transitions you to move with your character’s new girlfriend in November of 2015. With her girlfriend’s items helping the apartment feel like a home for your character, a newfound sense of hope is shown as your character feels optimistic in her growing career as an artist and in her relationship, despite her chronic pain holding her back.

The last scene of the game wraps up your character’s story on a wholesome and sentimental note as you move her and her newlywed wife into their new home together in July of 2018. As their belongings find their place in the new house, you learn that your character is illustrating a series of children’s books, and the two of them are preparing to adopt a child together.

Unpacking is a game that tells a story through packing peanuts and moving boxes, as well as showing you, the player, how something small, like the items you decide to take with you through life, can tell your story.

Whether you’re a freshman just now getting your feet under you on this new campus, or a senior counting down the days until you can join the workforce, know that the coming years are your story to tell; even small things you might overlook are a part of you.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

E1

Sports

Football drops season opener vs. Lock Haven

Courtesy Lavar Jackson / SU Sports Info

Shippensburg University football storms onto the field for the season opener against Lock Haven on Saturday. The team lost 24-16 at Seth Grove Stadium.

Ben Hummel

Asst. Sports Editor

Shippensburg University football dropped its season opener 24-16 to Lock Haven on Saturday afternoon at Seth Grove Stadium, spoiling the head coaching debut of Drew Gallardy.

Shippensburg (0-1) started out hot forcing a 3-and-out defensively to start the game, and on its first series on offense this season, unleashed a 22-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 12:40.

SU had six first downs on the drive, going 4-for-6 on third down in addition to converting once on fourth down, but ultimately settled for a 37-yard field goal by junior Wilson Ingerski to open the scoring.

Shippensburg kept up the heat on the next play from scrimmage with redshirt freshman Mere Durham coming from the secondary to force a fumble on a run play by that was recovered by redshirt senior Dave Hines Jr. at the Bald Eagle 21-yard line.

The Raider offense capitalized on the turnover two minutes into the second quarter, as redshirt sophomore quarterback Roman Jensen found redshirt sophomore Caiden Pines in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked keeping the score 9-0.

Lock Haven (1-0) made a change at quarterback in Carson Nagle and in his first series, heaved a 26-yard touchdown that made the score 9-7 — a margin that lasted into halftime.

The Bald Eagles carried the momentum into the second half, limiting SU’s offense to five plays or less on six consecutive drives while scoring on their first three drives to take a 24-9 lead with nine minutes to go.

Shippensburg would not go down without a fight. A nineplay Raider drive resulted in a turnover on downs and after forcing another punt, the Raiders were then pinned on their own 12-yard line with 3:46 left to play.

On the first play of the drive; however, Jensen found redshirt sophomore Derek Guzman wide open for a 74-yard pass connection that put them on the Lock Haven 14-yard line.

After a 10-yard rush by redshirt freshman Sam Massaquoi got

SU to the 4-yard line, four straight incompletions resulted in another turnover on downs.

With 1:47 left, Shippensburg got the ball back on the Lock Haven 33-yard line and scored in two plays.

Jensen found redshirt sophomore Chris Adegunle for a 26-yard completion and on the next play threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Massaquoi to create the final score line.

Jensen was among the host of Raiders making their collegiate debut on Saturday. He finished 20-of-29 for 266 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked six times. Jensen also ran 12 times for 32 yards.

Guzman led the Raiders with a career-high 114 receiving yards while fellow receiver Adegunle had five catches for 97 yards.

Defensively, junior captain Nate Myers led the Raiders with 12 tackles from his spot at middle linebacker. Among those were 2.0 tackles-for-loss and two pass breakups.

Shippensburg will receive a break due to the bye week and will return to the gridiron on Thursday, Sept. 10, when it travels to West Virginia Wesleyan for a night game.

Women’s soccer scores Men’s soccer ties up eight goals in two games for season opener

Ben Hummel

Gabe Rader

The Shippensburg University women’s soccer team opened its season with a 2-2 draw against West Virginia Wesleyan (0-0-1) at home on Thursday before defeating Lackawanna College on the road on Saturday, 6-0.

On Thursday at David See Field, Shippensburg gave up a goal inside the first minute of the game but fought back to take the lead with a pair of first half tallies.

The Raiders held the advantage until the 87th minute when Wesleyan’s Ayan Ahmed headed the ball into an open net off a long free kick.

Following the early goal, Shippensburg began to dominate possession, which allowed senior Ashley Hughes to find the far post off a cross from freshman Kamryn Runkle in the 23rd minute.

The Raiders were given another scoring opportunity 10 minutes later on a corner kick that caromed off a

Shippensburg University men’s soccer team built a two-goal halftime lead but ended with a 2-2 draw against PennWest California University last Saturday at David See Field for the season opener.

Shippensburg (0-01) controlled much of its first match, outshooting California 28-6 and holding an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Raiders played with a player advantage after California forward Filip Barta received a straight red card 21 minutes into the game.

Sophomore Julius Dogan opened the scoring in his Shippensburg debut at 15:10.

Redshirt sophomore Coy Rush chased down a long ball near the end line and crossed it through the box, where Dogan controlled it and scored at the far post.

Asst. News Editor

Asst. Sports Editor

Courtesy Elaina Fragassi / SU Sports Info

Raiders celebrate.

Courtesy Lavar Jackson / SU Sports Info

Shippensburg’s Gabrielle Walker winds up for a pass against West Virginia Wesylan on Thursday.

Bobcat defender to junior Cailin Spelman on the edge of the box. The SU defender lofted a curling attempt on goal that sailed past the reach of WVW goalie Zoe Brown and into the top left corner of the net.

Shippensburg’s overall dominating play was evidenced by a 14-to-5 shots on goal advantage and a 17to-4 advantage in corner kicks during the 90 minutes.

Wesleyan’s Brown totaled 12 saves, while Shippensburg goalie redshirt senior Kirstin Brown was credited with three stops.

Shippensburg was back in action against Lackawanna (0-1-0) on Saturday afternoon at Schautz Stadium finding the back of the net early and often.

The Raiders scored four times in the first half and pummeled Falcon’s goalkeeper Sophia Arvelo with 31 shots, 16 of those being on target.

Sophomore Emma Eisenhart opened the scoring

18 minutes into the contest earning her first goal of the season and second of her career.

Spelman made it back-toback games with a goal with a 28th minute strike to make it 2-0.

Sophomore Paige Marek netted her first two collegiate goals off the bench with her first coming in the 38th minute and the second in the 83rd minute.

Freshman Andrea Black opened her collegiate goal total to make it 4-0 moments before halftime while in the second half, senior Gabrielle Walker converted a 73rd minute penalty kick to add to the score.

Saturday’s game counts toward SU’s overall record (1-0-1) but does not count toward its NCAA record or the conference standings.

Shippensburg will face Shepherd at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before travelling to Bloomsburg on Saturday to take on the Huskies at 1 p.m.

Junior Kyle Ganley extended the lead to 2-0 at 23:14, just over two minutes after Barta’s ejection. Ganley took a through ball on the wing and sent his shot into the upper-left corner of the goal.

The Raiders carried the two-goal advantage into halftime after outshooting California 11-2 in the opening 45 minutes.

California cut the deficit in half at 60:27 after Shippensburg goalie senior Ryan Krumenacker was called for a foul inside the box. Senior Vulcan Seth Basinger converted the resulting penalty kick.

Then, senior Cam Henry nearly restored Shippensburg’s two-goal lead four minutes later, but his shot struck the crossbar.

California received another penalty kick following a Shippensburg handball in the box at 75:50.

Basinger converted again

to tie the match before receiving a straight red card for unsporting behavior.

The ejection left California with nine players for the final 14 minutes. Shippensburg attempted 11 shots during that stretch but could not score a winning goal.

Freshman Zachary Haynie hit the right post at 81:07, and freshman Zac Slevin struck the crossbar less than a minute later. Haynie placed another attempt on goal at 87:52, but California was credited with a team save.

Junior Mathieu Barbirati led Shippensburg with six shots. Ganley and junior Hasan Mirasyedi recorded four apiece.

Krumenacker played all 90 minutes and made two saves, and California junior goalkeeper Justin Brink made five saves.

Shippensburg returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday at Chestnut Hill.

Samhitha Koganti / SU Sports Info

Coy Rush dribbles past a Vulcan defender in the home opener on Saturday.

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Thursday, September 3, 2026

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Photos by Keira Knedeisen, Multimedia Editor and Staff Photographer Jenn Goldstein