Gun violence needs action, B1
Zinn encourages LGBTQ+ info, C1 (2)
Art teachers show side in exhibit, D1 (2)
Football toppled in opener E1 (2,3)
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Reporting truth. Serving our community.
Volume 63 No. 2
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Laundry fee slashed, new suites introduced
Hannah Pollock Managing Editor
Meghan Schiereck/The Slate
The school of engineering will find its new home in the steam plant along Prince Street in Fall 2020. The building will be updated and renovated beginning in January 2020 to better serve engineering students.
‘Right here, right now’ Steam plant plans move forward
Hannah Pollock Managing Editor
Construction on the steam plant to prepare lab space for the School of Engineering on North Prince Street will begin in 2020. Shippensburg University Director of Facilities Management and Planning Adam Roth gave updates regarding the project during a tour with student media leaders of the steam plant and the exterior of Stewart Hall. Roth said the steam plant will be transformed into “state of the art” lab
space for mechanical and civil engineering students, as part of the school of engineering. Engineering students are currently using lab space in the Franklin Science Center and Mathematics Computing Technologies building. The steam plant was originally used to heat campus buildings through burning coal and remained vacant after the installation of the chilled water plant in 2014, according to Roth. Roth said SU decided to reuse the building, as the new school of engineering needed lab space. In late 2017, they said “Let’s turn this into something.”
He compared the project to “building a ship in a bottle.” The structure of the building will remain the same, while the interior will undergo extensive renovations. According to Roth, the updated building will include labs, conference rooms, manufacturing areas, a fabrication lab and energy efficient LED lighting. SU is the lowest energy consumer in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, he added. See “STEAM,” A2
The days of carrying bags of quarters to and from the laundry room are over for Shippensburg University students. Free laundry is now available for students living on campus in the residence halls, according to Megan Silverstrim of Shippensburg University media relations manager. President Carter recently announced in her letter to campus, published in the Aug. 27 edition of The Slate, the addition of free laundry for students living in the residence halls. Silverstrim said the idea originated from conversations held in the during the Residence Hall Association sponsored President’s Hours last year. “The students asked for this and President Carter worked with housing and residence life and SUSSI (Shippensburg University Student Services Inc.) representatives to respond for the need for reduced laundry fees,” Silverstrim said. Student fees have not changed as a result of the elimination of laundry charges. Starting in the 2020–2021 academic year, SU will offer special interest suites. The suites were advertised at the recent Student Involvement and Services (SIS) Fair.
According to a flier distributed at the SIS fair, special interest suites are described as a “new opportunity for your friends, club or organization to live together and create a community dedicated to a common purpose.” By participating in this style of housing, residents would have the opportunity to utilize hall spaces for group activities, and create a strong presence on campus. The community could also serve as a recruiting tool, Silverstrim said. Alex Karlheim, assistant director for residential education, called the new suites “a neighborhood for you and your friends.” Silverstrim said the new suites have already garnered interest. Special interest suites can reserve four to 14 beds, but if a group is larger than 14 beds accommodations can be made. Group and organization applications for special interest suites are due online by Oct. 11. Applicants will be notified in mid-January if their request is approved. Over the summer McLean Hall, a traditional residence hall, saw renovations and updates to give more students the opportunity to live on campus.
See “UPDATE,” A2
Two SU-related sexual assault cases head to county court Hannah Pollock Managing Editor
Two sexual assault cases involving Shippensburg University students are heading to Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas this fall, according to court documents. In April 2019, charges were filed against two men who were accused of sexual assault in separate cases — one on campus in an SU residence hall and another off campus. According to court documents, both assaults occurred in 2018. One of the accused men, Josiah Michael Kushner, 20, of Hummelstown, was charged with multiple counts relating to an assault in McCune Hall, including two second-degree felony sexual assault charges and multiple misdemeanors including strangulation and harassment. Kushner is accused of sexually assaulting a female Shippensburg University student in Sept. 2018 in her McCune Hall room. According to court documents, the woman reported the assault to the Shippensburg University Police Department the morning after the attack. The victim told police she invited Kushner to visit her and attend an off-campus party on “Frat Row.” However, the victim said she changed her mind about going to the party, which caused an argument between her and Kushner, according to the affidavit. She reported that Kushner grabbed her chest multiple times throughout the argument, before she agreed to go
to the party where she drank alcohol. According to court documents, the woman, her roommate and Kushner returned to her room around 1:25 a.m. The woman reported that she woke up feeling “sick and dizzy” and then Kushner started to assault her. She fell asleep before waking up to Kushner sexually assaulting her again, according to police. The court documents said Kushner put his hand around the woman’s throat while he sexually assaulted her, causing her to be unable to breathe. She was able to push him away. In a Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office and university police recorded phone call, Kushner admitted that he did not have consent to touch the woman in a sexual manner and that he may have injured the woman, according to court documents. Kushner’s trial is scheduled for Nov. 4. In the second case, Joshua Michael Koumaras, 22, of Phoenixville, was charged with second-degree felony sexual assault and a misdemeanor indecent assault of an unconscious person for actions related to a March 2018 incident. According to the police report, a woman reported she was told that Koumaras, an SU student at the time, accompanied her home after a night of drinking at a party. She could not remember coming home with him but told police she “would never” have sex with him. See “ASSAULT,” A2
Meghan Schiereck/The Slate
Corn festival attendees enjoyed various types of food including corn on the cob. The one-day festival attracts thousands of visitors to King and Earl Streets.
Corn Fest returns to Ship Hannah Pollock Managing Editor
The 39th annual Shippensburg Corn Festival filled King Street with thousands of people on the last Saturday in August. More than 200 craft vendors presented their jewelry, gifts, home décor, soaps, baked goods and more for craft show enthusiasts. For those not searching for the perfect home décor, there was a variety of food vendors and entertainers who filled downtown, participating in the celebration of Shippens-
burg’s largest crop: corn. The community-based festival featured musical and dance performances including members of the Shippensburg University Marching Band, Blue Ridge Thunder Cloggers and The MidLife Cowboys. The fan-favorite corn eating contest also returned, crowning a new champion. This year’s festival was held from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. The festival is always held the last Saturday in August and will return next year on August 29, 2020.