Schools should focus on more than standardized testing, B1
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Tuesday May 1, 2018
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Volume 61 No. 24
Journalist shares lessons from covering war Abby Tiska Staff Writer There are no ATMs in war zones. Kim Barker learned that the hard way. Barker, a journalist for more than 20 years, spoke at Shippensburg University on Wednesday night about her experiences in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the South Asia bureau chief for The Chicago Tribune from 2004 to 2009, and the memoir she wrote afterwards — “The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” The lecture was sponsored by the SU history and philosophy department, the international studies program and other SU departments. Barker’s book went on to become the movie “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” starring Tina Fey in 2016. “I’m guessing the real reason that the university invited me here tonight is that they thought they were getting Tina Fey,” Barker joked. “But it’s just me, The New York Times reporter played by Tina Fey in the movie.” On a more serious note, Barker said she felt despair in talking to the audience today as she gave background information on the war in Afghanistan — the longest war in history at 17 years old. “For almost as long as you have been sanctioned human beings, there has been a war in Afghanistan, and there is
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PASSHE’s fate boils down to five paths Shannon Long News Editor
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Kim Barker speaks to the audience about her time in Afghanistan and Pakistan and her book she wrote about it. She shared five lessons from her experience. no foreseeable way out,” she said. Barker said Afghanistan was ranked the fourth most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International, and also mentioned 2015 parliamentary elections that still have not been held. A recent suicide attack that killed 57 in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, was the country’s fourth attack in a week on the country’s voter registration centers. Since the beginning of the war, more than 30,000 Afghans have been killed directly in fighting, more than 30,000 other Afghan soldiers and police have been killed in fighting and about
2,400 U.S. troops have been killed, according to Barker. “To put this at some level of perspective, that’s as if Ship University and Lancaster were wiped off the face of the earth,” she said. During her presentation, Barker provided the audience with five lessons taken from her experiences in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
central leader in a country that never really knew strong, central leadership. “Like America, I learned that I didn’t do enough research the hard way. I spoke no foreign languages, I hadn’t even been to Europe. Yet, I volunteered because I wanted to see if I could do it, and I wanted a challenge,” Barker said.
1. “Do your research” Barker said Americans did not know what they were getting into when they went into Afghanistan, nor did they know much about Pakistan and its motivations. She also talked about America’s part in the formation of a strong,
2. “Adapt to the culture” “You have to do certain things in an Afghan way or you’re not going to get anything you want,” Barker said. She learned that she could not discuss business over food. See “BARKER,” A3
A state-commissioned study by the RAND Corporation provided five possibilities for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities to combat the issues of rising tuition and falling enrollment rates. The study offered these options: keep broad state system structure, including current individual universities, but with improvements; keep broad state system structure with improvements accompanied by regional mergers of universities; merge state system universities and convert to state-related status; place the state system under the management of a state-related university; merge state system universities into state-related universities, according to the study. Under the first option, universities would modify the governance structure so that institutions will be freed from some requirements such as procurement and construction. This would allow authority to be more balanced across the system levels.
The second option would consolidate the 14 state system schools together to a smaller number such as 5–8. Weaker institutions within each region will merge with institutions that are fiscally viable. Some universities may not be merged because they have strong enrollment and financial prospects. This option would also come with a modified governance structure like the first option. The third option would eliminate the state system entirely and convert the universities to state-related status. This option would only be available to stronger universities or weaker universities that have merged with stronger ones. The fourth option would have the entire state system and its institutions managed by a large state-related university such as Penn State University or the University of Pittsburgh. The state system institutions would still receive state support, and labor union relations and faculty contracts would continue. The significant change in this option would be in governance and operations, according to the study. See “RAND,” A3
Week dedicated to increasing environmental awareness Jenna Wise Managing Editor Shippensburg University’s Environmental Steering Committee encouraged students to give back to the community during StewardSHIP Week, with the goal of increasing student awareness of the problems facing the environment. StewardSHIP Week is held each year and typically coincides with the celebration of Earth Day, according to geology professor Sean Cornell. This year’s festivities, which ran from April 19-28, included tree plantings along Burd Run, a clean-up of Michaux State Forest and spring planting at the SU campus farm. “That’s what we’re about here, to learn and serve,” Cornell said. “We’re not just about serving in the future, we’re about serving right now.” This is the third annual week that the activities were held in a week-long span, but have existed separately for much longer. This year, SU’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) helped promote the event, with the Students for Environmental Action and Sustainability (SEAS) partnering to launch Thursday’s Earth Day celebration. The StewardSHIP celebration kicked off on April 19 with a table in the Ceddia Union
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Building, where more than 260 people took SU’s sustainability pledge. Each student that takes the pledge promises to serve the community by using resources wisely and becoming informed on the resources, or lack thereof, in the surrounding area, according to ship.edu. Cornell emphasized that the committee is trying to make opportunities available to students who want to create a positive environmental impact. “By everyone doing one thing, that adds up,” he said. “When [students] get connected, they understand the connection. The more you’re connected to nature, the more helpful you are.” Cornell said one way students can improve their ecological footprint is by carefully choosing what foods they consume, based on the amount of energy certain foods release. For example, choosing grass-fed over grain-fed beef can significantly decrease the amount of energy that is released by consumers. Other lifestyle changes, like carpooling and taking shorter showers, are successful in saving resources when a large number of people make an effort, according to Cornell. He added that aspects of every day life are all connected to environmental service in some way. “Every discipline is connected to stewardship,” Cornell said. One of the main environmental problems
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on campus, Cornell said, is students’ lack of empathy for environmental issues, mainly because they do not understand sustainability. “Students are apathetic,” he said. “We know from research that SU students tend to be blind until we take their blinders off.” In addition to the work done by the Environmental Steering Committee, SU partners with the Center for Land Use and Sustainability to provide students with hands-on volunteer experience throughout the country.
Cornell described service as the connector that makes the other gears of the university operate. “Sustainability is the goal — we want to ensure social justice,” he said. “Stewardship is about the choices we make.” StewardSHIP Week concluded Friday with an Arbor Day tree planting around campus. For more information on how you can become more sustainable or get involved, visit ship.edu/sustainability/stewardship_week/.
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SU’s StewardSHIP Week included an Earth Day celebration on Thursday afternoon in the academic quad. Campus groups set up tables and provided activities for students to participate in and help learn about the environment.
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