OPINION


10/18/2022, 12:00pm

The Slate Speaks: The value of school traditions

Traditions are a staple of any school, early or higher education. Whether it's something simple like Homecoming, or more complicated like school rivalries, traditions are an unspoken but fundamental part of institutions. In many ways, the traditions remain to be the most consistent elements of many universities and institutions. 


10/18/2022, 12:00pm

Generational Perceptions: Abridging the gap between the old and new

My father is socially liberal. Recently I asked him to rank the presidents during his lifetime and was surprised by his thoughts, mostly by how he described Ronald Reagan. Dad is aware of the ins and outs of the economy, which is what many cite as one of Reagan’s greatest strengths, and while he didn’t care for Reagan as a person, he doesn’t have this strong distaste for him that I and many younger liberals do.


10/4/2022, 12:00pm

The Republican Party is a danger to democracy

There’s an often-repeated historical anecdote about Benjamin Franklin: As the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was wrapping up, crowds gathered on the steps of Independence Hall. A woman asked Franklin what sort of government the founders had crafted. His response has lasted centuries, to be repeated by politicians from Nancy Pelosi to Niel Gorscuh: “a republic, if you can keep it.”


10/4/2022, 12:00pm

Lights, cameras... what do you mean there are no lights?

The first time I stepped onto the turf field at Shippensburg University, I was a senior in high school at the district championships for track and field. I hurdled, so I usually would race towards the beginning of most meets. I looked over the schedule and noticed that the events ended earlier in the day compared to most invitationals and noteworthy meets. 


10/4/2022, 12:00pm

Biopics: Loving tributes or exploitations of the dead?

When you look back at the past few Oscar seasons, what trends do you see? The actors and actresses that normally lead the award season stretches are those playing real-life figures. Biopics are films centered around historic and public figures and they’re all the rage nowadays. Every major studio wants to get their hands on one.


10/4/2022, 12:00pm

The Slate Speaks: Can you separate the art from the artist?

Admit it. It hurts when an actor, musician, artist or any type of celebrity you looked up to turns out to have a few skeletons in the closet. It seems like a tragic part of fame we’ve come to accept is there’s always the possibility that these individuals we look up to are still human and more than capable of doing unspeakable things. However, as more and more prominent celebrities have their more problematic sides revealed, the question rises about what should be done with their previous works.


9/27/2022, 2:47pm

The N-Word: The horror and hierarchy of hearing racial slurs in the modern day

When is it okay to use the N-Word? Well, never. But there are varying degrees of badness, and everyone has a different scale of what is evil and what is okay. But there are two sides to the N-Word’s usage, and the other side is hearing the N-Word. Even then, the way it is received depends on the person hearing it. In other words, it’s not a one-size-fits-all misery. 


9/27/2022, 2:44pm

The Slate Speaks: Is hook up culture killing romance?

How often have you heard a friend complain that it’s difficult to find a meaningful relationship? All anyone is looking for nowadays is a hookup? Hookup culture has become deeply rooted in the dating landscape and can usually be a point of contention for many people looking to meet someone else. For a real-world example, think of Tinder; how many profiles have you seen with the caption “no hookups?”


9/27/2022, 2:41pm

Biden's Debt Cancelation is Good, but Not Good Enough

On August 21st, President Biden announced his administration would be forgiving $10,000 in federal student loan debt. Recipients of the Pell Grant — a program designed to help lower income families pay for college — are eligible for an additional $10,000, for a total of $20,000 for low-income students. While I am certainly not the biggest fan of the Biden administration, these measures are a welcome change in policy and a necessary first step in addressing the student debt crisis.


9/20/2022, 12:00pm

The Slate Speaks: Did early education prepare you for college?

Most would agree that part of the reason you attend college today is due to the idea being pushed upon us at such an early age. When meeting with teacher and guidance counselors, they’ll hammer home how important it is to get a college education. While research has shown that a college education isn’t always necessary, we are told time and time again about the importance of college.


9/20/2022, 12:00pm

In response to Broadway inaccessibility

The August 23, 2022, edition of The Slate featured a story highlighting the high ticket prices and overall inaccessibility of Broadway. As a huge theatre fan and frequent Broadway-goer, I found a lot of merit in the argument being laid out in this piece. However, I see more to the story. 


9/13/2022, 12:00pm

The Slate Speaks: The ever changing hours of dining

If you were to go around campus and ask 20 students what they think about Shippensburg’s dining services, you would likely get 20 different answers. It is a topic that many here at Ship seem to be passionate about, whether they are discussing the offerings at Reisner Dining Hall or the length of the Chick-Fil-A line. 


9/13/2022, 12:00pm

The complicated legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev and the Russian landscape today

Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union, died from an undisclosed illness on Aug. 30. Gorbachev was 91 years old and is widely considered as of the most influential leaders in world history, having overseen the collapse of the Soviet Union during his six years in power from 1985 to 1991.


9/13/2022, 12:00pm

Black in the Classroom: SU and predominantly white institutions

I am a student,  friend,  daughter,  member of the Ship community,  Black woman,  Political Science major and someone who cares about this campus. When I came to Ship, like many students, I knew some parts about myself but  was ready to learn and identify new parts of me that one can discover in college. 


8/30/2022, 12:00pm

The Truth Behind Animal Testing

This past summer, I worked in my father’s cancer research laboratory as a laboratory technician. My favorite part of this job was learning to work with the colony of mice we maintained to study the way different receptors inside cells impact cancer growth.


8/30/2022, 12:00pm

Skip Intro: Opening credits and what makes them good

What is it that makes binge-watching so magical? Is it the feeling of excitement of watching a series for the first time and needing to know what happens next? Or is it, perhaps, that feeling of comfort watching ten seasons of a series you’ve seen a million times before? Never before have audiences been given such access to the shows they love.


8/30/2022, 12:00pm

The Slate Speaks: FOMO and the Stress of Social Media

 It seems almost pointless to rattle on and on about the internet and how it has shaped our modern world. We essentially have created the world we live in today on the foundation of the internet. 


8/23/2022, 12:00pm

The inaccessibility of Broadway hurts everyone

When COVID-19 shut down the whole of the world, many fans of musical theatre found themselves living with uncertainty: the uncertainty that Broadway may never return, or even live theater in general. Thankfully, though the intermission was long, Broadway did return.