A visitor walks into a square room the size of a dance hall. A bald naked sculpture lies on its back with her head pulled upward by thin red fabric. It unfurls several feet above like a plum of flame. Around the corner a film flickers on a movie-theatre-sized projection screen. This screen features silent figures, some with long-snouted masks, holding a ritualized burial.  On the walls, photographs of a once proud, now crumbling Catholic Church are framed besides ethereal paintings depicting departures and the hope of unbelievable journeys. Welcome to the dream world of painter, sculptor, photographer, film-maker and dress-designer Jenny Lee Maas.

Maas is an artist from Pattenburg, NJ. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2010 from the Maine College of Art where she was a sculpture major and a drawing minor. Her work has been featured at several venues in Philadelphia. The most recent being a 2011 exhibition at the Fourth Wall Gallery.

Her art will be showcased at the Thought Lot until December. During this unveiling on Friday, Maas debuted her second-short-film “Preceding Dawn.” Later she replayed both her films starting with the original short “Procession at Dawn.”

A consistent crowd of several dozen people were in attendance browsing Maas’ films, photographs, paintings and sculptures. Many could pinpoint a consistent theme in her art.

“I would say a lot of her stuff is about self-realization,” said Shippensburg student Chris Winters. “Most of the time she is either depicting a different reality or a path away from this one.”

At the event, Maas said most of her ideas originate in her dreams. Often she will do multiple pieces across several mediums covering one dream. Maas uses her films as the legend of her work. Many of her sculptures make appearances in her short-cinemas. These views of her pieces in the dynamic setting of film result in a better understanding of her projects.

Portions of the proceeds from the Thought Lot’s exhibition went toward the budget for her third film. She has written 20.

“The idea is that they are shorts that in the end can all be connected together to be one long story,” Maas said. “They are all based off of dreams, symbology, guides, drama, fear and overcoming fear.”
Maas also designs dresses for several Jazz musicians. Maas said that her entrance into dress design was random but that she really enjoys the work.

“It’s just a niche I fell into, kind of by accident, but I love it,” Maas said. “Because I love making sparkly avant garde things, it’s perfect.”

Several times during the night Maas praised the Thought Lot.

“I think (the Thought Lot) is awesome. I really do,” Maas said. “What this team has been doing is really cool, I think that a lot of the public art that I’ve been doing is changing communities, and here I see the same thing.”

Maas is planning on holding a similar showing of her work at Shippensburg University sometime before the end of the fall semester. Her hope is that her pieces allow viewers to gauge and increase their awareness and perception.

“It’s a beautiful thing. Art can be fantastic,” Maas said. “Every time there is something going on within humanity, whenever the government can’t talk about it or it has to be swept under the carpet for some reason, art has always been the first facet speaking out.”

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/11/thought-lot-displays-dreamy-art

As the Presidential campaign enters its final weeks, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Gov. Mitt Romney have been desperately promising, pledging and pleading in efforts to earn the young vote.

While some of their claims seem to be genuine, both sides have also presented their share of lies and half-truths.

Romney has claimed that if elected he would provide a better outlook for students. At a speech in New Hampshire in December of last year, Romney said that if elected, he would provide easier access to jobs for college students than they have experienced under the Obama administration.

“What I can promise you is this — when you get out of college, if I’m president, you’ll have a job. If President Obama is re-elected, you will not be able to get a job,” Romney said. “

That’s the reason I will hopefully get young people who are in college to say, ‘You know what, I understand what it takes to get jobs in America.’”

Obama made sure to include a provision in his Affordable Care Act that allows adults to stay on their parents’ health care plans until the age of 26. This has allowed many college students to be covered by health insurance until they conceivably get a job.

Both Obama and Romney claim that they will extend the Pell Grant programs. These are federal programs that help middle and lower-class families pay for college.While these claims and promises are admirable, both candidates seem to be lacking in real ideas to bring down the sky-rocketing rise of student loan debt faced by college students across the country.

Romney has pointed to the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship he implemented while governor in Massachusetts. The program pays undergraduate tuition fees for the top 25% of high school students if they attend a Massachusetts public college or university as a full-time student.

Obama plans to deal with the problem by increasing the Income-Based Recovery plan ushered in by the Bush administration in 2009. Under Bush the IBR dictated that a maximum of 15 percent of non-discretionary income could be used to repay student loans. The IBR also allowed for total debt forgiveness after 25 years.

President Obama lowered the maximum percent of non-discretionary income to be spent on student loans to 10 percent. He also shortened the time it takes to earn total debt forgiveness to 20 years. These plans are scheduled to take effect in 2014, but Obama’s administration is trying to move the implementation to a sooner date.

Both candidates’ proposals seem to have major upside, but analysts have spotted big holes in both plans.

Jason Delisle, director of the New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project, said that Romney’s plan would cause problems with its performance-based incentives.

“I’m not entirely sure that it would be a model for the country,” Delisle said in an interview with The Daily Ticker. “There’s a certain culture around these student aid programs. They are to provide open access and not necessarily direct aid to certain types of students, based on their performance.”

Delisle also released a paper criticizing Obama’s plan. In an interview with MSNBC, he explained the biggest flaw of Obama’s lowering of the IBR.

“The more you borrow, the more you can have forgiven,” said Delisle. “The provision doesn’t really have any safeguard so that someone earning a substantial income wouldn’t be disqualified from getting loan forgiveness.”

As the election circles closer, college students will have to pay attention closely to both candidates. It appears that both are capable of brilliant ideas and flawed ones.

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/10/accuracy-of-candidates

The Shippensburg University women’s soccer team lost a hard fought 2-1 game to Gannon University at David See Field on Saturday afternoon.

The game was SU’s senior day. The team honored its five seniors before the game, presenting the players with flowers and framed jerseys.

The Raiders started the game looking unfocused and nervous. Gannon only needed five minutes to net twice.

The Golden Knights’ first goal came off a corner kick. Gannon’s Jordan Rickan slipped her marker and headed home Mani Brueckner’s in-swinging cross less than two minutes into the contest.

Three minutes later, SU senior goalkeeper Samantha Wood misplayed Michelle Gentin’s cross and Gannon’s Sidney Morgan found herself in space with an open net in front of her. She tapped home her shot to put the Golden Knights up 2-0.

The Raiders pulled themselves together almost immediately. Senior right-winger Katie Leverentz looked dangerous all game and nearly set fellow senior Rhonda Runion up for a goal 10 minutes into the first half.

Leverentz beat her defender down the right side of the field, started to dribble in, then played Runion a beautiful pass well-inside the 18-yard box. Runion had time to take a take a touch and had plenty of space for a shot. She should have done better with the finish but her high hard blast still proved to be a difficult save for GU’s keeper.

After that chance the Raiders started to take control of the game, winning the midfield battle and coming close to scoring on several set-pieces. The game’s momentum really turned for Shippensburg with five minutes left in the first half when one of GU’s scorers Jordan Rickan was given a red-card for arguing with the referee.

Now with a player advantage, SU really began to boss proceedings. Unlucky not to score on several chances at the end of the half, the Raiders finally opened their account with a nice finish from senior Cassie Armold off a corner hardly a minute into the second half.

Armold was the Raiders’ best player on the day. Along with her goal, she made several great tackles in dangerous positions on the right side of the field. It proved nearly impossible for GU attackers to get by her and she was always a threat, moving the ball forward from the right back position.

After the goal, Shippensburg only upped the pressure, outshooting the Golden Knights 8-4 in the second half. Gannon goalkeeper Maggie Brinkman was fantastic, making several acrobatic saves and stifling many SU crosses.

As the ball was mostly in the Golden Knights’ end of the field during the second half, their defenders began to clear indiscriminately, often blasting the ball out of bounds. Against most teams this would offer the defense a chance to collect itself and reorganize, but not against the Raiders.

SU’s Meghan Mahon is capable of doing a front-handspring throw-in — a skill very few players are capable of. It generates much more loft and distance on throws. As a result, any Raider throw-ins from the final third of the field were equivalent to corner kicks.

The Raiders could not make any of these long throw-ins count however; as GU was able to match up and win most of the aerial battles.

Shippensburg’s best chance to equalize came with less than two minutes left in the game. SU’s Kylee Bricker had a deflection dribble out to her a few yards outside the 18. She blasted a strike that left Brinkman gazing hopelessly behind her as the shot went just inches high, scraping the cross bar as it passed.

With the loss, the Raiders dropped to 6-8-3 on the season while the Golden Knights rose to 12-3-1.

After the game, SU head coach Rob Fulton said that there were some positives to take away from the game for his squad.

“We asked them to compete, work hard and be strong in one on one battles,” Fulton said. “They certainly did that today.”

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/10/taken-out-su-falls-on-senior-day-2-1

The Shippensburg University men’s soccer team looks to be in their best form of the season just in time to face off with the No. 6 team in the country and Atlantic Region favorite Gannon University.
After two consecutive NCAA Division II tournament appearances SU suffered a surprisingly awful start to the season. The Raiders earned only one win and two draws in their first nine games.

Injuries and a porous backline seemed likely to wreck any hopes Shippensburg had of post-season play.
Gannon, coming off of a disappointing end to what had started as a promising 2011 campaign, responded with a brilliant beginning to the 2012 season. The Golden Knights went on an unstoppable run, winning their first nine games of the year.

Both Ship and Gannon may remember the 10th game of its seasons as the turning points of the year. SU earned only its second win of the season — and its first in a month — via an impressive 6-1 demolition of Goldey-Beacom College. The Golden Knights was forced to endure its first loss of the year at the hands of Ashland University by a score of 3-1.

Including its win over Goldey-Beacom, SU has rattled off three wins in its last four games. The most impressive and recent being a 1-0 victory on Tuesday over a talented Mercyhurst squad.

Against East Stroudsburg University the Raiders were forced to overcome some questionable officiating as well as their opponents to earn a 4-1 victory. After the game, SU head coach Jeremy Spering said that he thought his team’s response was a signal of growing maturity.

“I think it is a sign that we are finally growing up,” Spering said. “You have to remember that at the end of the day these guys are 18, 19, 20 years old out there.”

As Shippensburg comes marching confidently into the game against Gannon, it seems that the Golden Knights stumble into the match with some weaknesses finally revealed in their armor. GU has lost two of its last four games. Its most recent, a 2-1 home loss to California University of Pa., was played on Tuesday, leaving GU with little time to recover before traveling to SU on Saturday.

Still, Gannon will enter as the favorites and deservedly so. The Golden Knights have four players with five goals or more. Sophomore phenom, Robbie Bennett, leads the team in goals and assists with eight and five respectively. Their defense concedes on average less than a goal a game. GU often wears opponents down with its control of possession leaving opposition players to chase shadows most of the contest. As a result, GU is at its most dangerous in the second half as fatigue begins to set in. This year the Golden Knights have outscored opponents 23-7 in the second half, compared to their 6-6 scoreline against the opposition in the first half.

SU has the pieces in place to beat the Golden knights, but they will need several outstanding performances in certain areas of the field. The Raider defense will probably have to pack in and withstand GU’s storm of possession rather than match up in the midfield. This worked well for SU against Mercyhurst University as it was outshot 21-11 but still pulled out the 1-0 victory. Senior goalkeeper, Andrew Foran, will need to match his 10-save performance from that day and an SU defender will probably have to mark Bennett all game to keep the Raiders close. If SU can keep the ball away from Bennett, the Golden Knights will be forced to create chances without the biggest cog of their offense, but that is easier said than done.

Opportunities for the Raiders will come on the counter and set-pieces. Junior mid-fielder and captain Oli Templeton will be looking to send one of his signature through-passes to the flags quickly on the break. SU’s talented and deep pool of wingers, led by the team’s leading scorers Sam Talbot and Jonathan DeNicola, will look to run onto Templeton’s passes as they have all season. SU features some set-piece specialists like Templeton and Talbot so any foul within 25 yards of goal will lead to a shot. The Raiders have been clinical in front of the net lately, and should be good for at least a goal in this game.

SU also needs its substitutes to play well. Ideally, the Raiders would like to rotate a lot of their players and stay fresh in the face of Gannon’s pressure. If Shippensburg’s subs are unable to match-up with Gannon, Spering will be forced to play with minimal substitutions. This would allow the Golden Knights a chance to exert their second half dominance over a fatigued Red Raider squad.

In the back of both teams’ minds will be last season’s 2-0 victory for Ship. The win propelled a struggling SU team to the national tournament and deflated a rising Golden Knight squad. The Raiders will hope that history repeats itself.

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/10/mens-soccer

The Shippensburg University men’s soccer team won 4-1 over East Stroudsburg on Tuesday via an impressive and gritty performance at SU’s Davis See Field.

Shippensburg looked the sharper of the two sides in the first half, and were especially strong on the counter. Junior midfielder and Captain Oli Templeton sprung several of these with well played passes to the Shippensburg wingers who ran rampant all game.

After several near misses off Shippensburg counters in the first 20 minutes ESU stopped sending as many players forward, instead trying to match SU in the midfield.  The result was a clogged game with both sides fighting to establish possession.

Shortly after being subbed into the game SU Junior Jonathan DeNicola announced his presence with a lovely nutmeg before teeing up Templeton who blasted his effort from just beyond the 18-yard-box a few yards high.

A few minutes later Shippensburg finally made one of their chances count. Templeton turned another counter, threading a pass between two defenders that resulted in SU Senior Ben Weihbrecht racing down the ride side of the field. Weihbrecht sent in a perfectly measured cross that left ESU’s keeper stranded. DeNicola beat his defender to the ball and confidently finished with a one-touch shot right in front of the net.

The goal came in the 35th minute, giving the Red Raiders a deserved 1-0 lead and DeNicola his fourth goal of the season.

Shippensburg’s advantage held through the end of the half. Stroudsburg looked tired and uninspired save from some great footwork and passing from Senior Greg Schook who played a variety of positions but mostly featured as a winger on the left.

In the second half Shippensburg Senior Sam Talbot put in a man of the match performance, working from either sideline and generally wreaking havoc on the ESU defense  whenever the ball was at his feet.

The Warriors began to commit more men forward as they went searching for an equalizer. Their change in emphasis did not result in many chances but Shippensburg looked happy to concede the possession advantage in an effort to better defend their lead.

In the 60th minute Schook made a great run into the box, beating several SU defenders on the way there and earning a penalty kick for ESU after going down.  East Stroudsburg Senior midfielder Nick Fischer coolly put his chance from the penalty spot away into the bottom left corner.

Shippensburg was quick to rally though. Talbot looked to have earned an SU penalty after he was the victim of a bad challenge in the box but the referee disagreed and allowed play to continue. Seconds later he did call a foul, this one just outside the box slightly towards the left. Templeton’s powerful shot was stopped by ESU’s keeper but the rebound dribbled out to Talbot who put his chance away. The goal gave Shippensburg a 2-1 lead in the 62nd minute and Talbot his fourth goal of the year.

He would score his fifth just twenty minutes later. After Schook got sent off with a red card following a foul and some words exchanged with the official Shippensburg really started to control the game.

Talbot drew a foul on one of his many dazzling runs of the night. This one was in the 82nd minute, a few yards outside the box and slightly to the right. He took the kick, bending an arching shot off the inside of the left post and into the net. ESU’s freshman goalie Callum Hampson, who had made several great saves a few minutes prior, could only watch in disbelief as the ball bounced into the goal.

The Red Raiders effectively ended proceedings  a few minutes later as Templeton set up another opportunity. This time sliding a pass through to Freshman Derek Adams who put away his second goal of the season with poise and class.

Following the win Shippensburg moves to 3-6-2 on the year with a 1-3-1 record in the PSAC. East Stroudsburg falls to 3-8-1 and 0-4-1 in PSAC play. Shippensburg’s next game will be Saturday at Bloomsburg at 2pm.

After the game SU head coach Jeremy Spering said he was pleased with the way his squad responded to some of the calls that had not gone their way.

“I think it is a sign that we are finally growing up,” said Spering. “You have to remember that at the end of the day these guys are 18, 19, 20 years old out there. “

The girl’s demeanor flickered between anxiety and euphoria as she pondered what was undoubtedly her toughest decision of the day. Finally she reached a tortured choice pecked her boyfriend on the cheek and said “Okay I have to go see him” before sprinting off into the night.

Saturday’s Virgin Mobile Freefest at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD offered plenty of tough decisions and conflicted fans. The girl faced the enviable conundrum of either choosing to watch all of Jack White’s rocking rollicking show or leaving early to catch a set from the prince of dubstep, Skrillex. She chose the latter.

Daniel Hallman, a 21-year-old student from Bridgewater University said he was surprised by the quality and atmosphere of Freefest.

“I’ve been to Bonaroo three times. Coachella this year. Lots of small shows. This might have been the best one day of music I’ve ever seen,” said Hallman. “The atmosphere is really good. The lineup was nuts and I’m here for free.”

Freefest does much to live up to its name. Thousands of tickets are given away a couple months before the event. When these freebies run out Virgin Mobile exchanges tickets with people willing to donate to select charities or do volunteer work at certain soup kitchens in the D.C. area.

This is the fourth year that this festival has been free. During this time Freefest has collected $600,000 in donations and 77,000 volunteer hours from fans. With that money Virgin Mobile is opening a youth shelter in D.C. called RE*Generation House. Its doors will open in November.

The musicians on display proved to be worth much more than the ticket charge. Nas blazed through his prolific career catalog, thrilling fans with hits off his legendary album Illmatic.

ZZ Top brought their Texas Blues to Maryland and killed it. As a band that officially formed in the sixties their pace and energy was ridiculous.

Portugal. The Man were slightly disappointing as their intricate sound did not seem to reach its normally awesome potential in a loud live setting. The novelty of seeing them was redeeming enough in itself though.

Santigold always puts on great shows. Her set at freefest was no different. After inviting what seemed like half the crowd on stage she led them through hits off her new album Masters of My Make-Believe.

Skrillex made the entire complex feel like a raving night club. He was the perfect show to conclude festivities.

Jack White was superb.  His all-female-band The Peacocks were just as good. The result was some sort of evolving blues, rock, and bluegrass specimen.  White’s tension-building transitions between songs whispered hints of famous riffs before exploding into an unexpected masterpiece. His new takes on his old tracks transcended what they were before. Comparing the two was like measuring a rough-draft against a manifesto.

But his was not the best set at Freefest. The Alabama Shakes about tore that pavilion down.

The group had a formidable challenge. They were opening for fellow blues-rockers and legends of their genre ZZ Top and Jack White on Freefest’s main stage. While a mildly popular band a lot of people in attendance had never actually seen The Alabama Shakes before.

When the Alabama Shakes walked out, led by a lead singer that looked like Phyllis from The Office wearing a Mennonite dress, incredulous smirks popped up everywhere. That lead singer, Brittany Howard, removed those smirks rapidly as she put her locomotive powered voice through its paces. Howard revealed herself to be no novelty act but one of the best in the business.

The interaction between the band and the fans was magical. The two groups kept building off each other. The intensity and energy would not stop spiraling upward. The quartet of Athens, Georgia natives never tired. Their powerful, soul-grabbing, gospel-type delivery was sincere and original.

Just like the festival itself.

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/10/virgin-mobiles-freefest-headlines-several-powerful-acts

Five-time Grammy Award-winning country music artist Wynonna Judd and her band The Big Noise will be performing at Shippensburg University’s H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center Thursday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m.

In addition to winning five Grammy’s Judd has charted 18 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts. Four of those were solo hits. The other 14 were tracks from her former band, The Judds.

The band featured two members, Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. It was as a member of The Judds that Wynonna first experienced success as a musician. The duo moved to Nashville in 1979. By 1983 they were signed to RCA Records.

The band would go on to record eight studio albums, 23 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and claim five Grammy’s. Due to concerns for Naomi’s health and a fractured relationship between the mother-daughter pair The Judds broke up in 1991.

The group is regarded as one of the best acts in country music history and were the biggest selling country music duo at the time of their breakup.

Following Naomi’s retirement Wynonna began recording as a solo artist.

Wynonna was not quite able to match the success she enjoyed with The Judds but she still had a hugely successful solo career.

Her first album, self-titled “Wynonna,” was by far her most successful, producing three of the four No. 1 hits Judd would record as a solo artist.

“She is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light” and “No One Else on Earth” were the first three singles Wynonna released as a solo artist and they all became No. 1 hits.

The album itself went platinum five times, selling over five million copies.

Judd’s next albums, “Tell Me Why,” and “Revelations,” also went platinum.

On “Revelations” Judd produced her final No. 1 hit “To Be Loved By You.” Wynonna would go on to record seven studio albums and reunite with her mother for two hugely popular reunion tours. She also has dabbled in acting, earning guest spots on shows “Touched By An Angel,” “Army Wives,” “Hope and Faith” and “Kath And Kim.”

Judd has released two books, reaching the top of The New York Times Bestsellers list with her 2005 autobiography “Coming Home to Myself.”

Her 2010 fiction-novel “Restless Heart” received mixed reviews.
Judd is working on her eighth studio album and is drumming up support for the project with her Shippensburg bound tour.

Though many students were not yet born during the best days of Judd’s career she still has some fans on campus.

“I can’t wait,” said SU junior Missy Schannauer. “She is one of the biggest country acts of all time and she is coming to ship. I really can’t wait.”

http://www.shipnewsnow.com/2012/09/country-star-wynonna-judd-to-perform-at-luhrs/

Shippensburg’s music and art’s venue The Thought Lot played host to four local bands Friday, Sept. 14.

The Black Black Beasts, Bratcore, The Young and the Restless, and Blayer Point Dujour & The Rockers Galore all played half-hour long sets.

The best show of the night was the first as Black Black Beast’s guitar based instrumentals were played with poise and energy.
The five-piece Chambersburg- based band sounded like a slightly darker Explosians in the Sky for most of their set.

A lot of their tracks were driven by guitars and bass, but they also experimented with a bit of electronic rock, including a freaky sample from the X Files to close out their show.

These guys were very unorthodox, at one point playing a guitar with the bow of a violin and are well worth a listen.

Next up was the two-piece Shippensburg band Bratcore. Featuring a drummer and guitar-playing vocalist these guys played a lot of pyschodelic stuff. Their songs were filled with echo effects and trippy vocals that sounded more like cadences than words and had most of the roughly 50 fans in attendance on their feet.

They gave way to the Young and the Restless, a Carlisle band, whose blend of punk, alternative rock and a bit of screamo sounded vaguely like a heavier Manchester Orchestra.

The instrumentals were great, but were occasionally at odds with the vocals. The band’s last track, an ode to the front man’s grandmother was powerful and by far the best of their set.

The Philladelphia based Blayer Point Dujour & The Rockers Galore closed things out with their Reggae Jam style. The band brought a lot of energy and interacted well with fans, giving away as many copies of their new CD, The Bull, as they could.

After the show fans milled around for a while taking in the sights at the venue. Abstract Hatian art hanging from its walls, plenty of comfy couches, good music and a laidback attitude made the real showstopper of the night was the Thought Lot. Even the artists were impressed.

“This really is a wicked venue,” said the Black Black Beasts’ bassist Bryan Mcdermott during the band’s show. “Make sure to support local places like this and help keep them going.”

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/09/black-black-beast-rocks-out-the-thought-lot

Susan Spicka, the Democratic candidate for the 89 House District held a question and answer session at Shippensburg University on Sept. 13.

The listening session was held at the Ceddia Union Building in Raider Lounge 06. There were about 20 students in attendance.

Before answering questions from students, Spicka gave a short speech about her campaign and what she would do if elected.

“The two main reasons I’m running are to stop cuts to education and cuts to human services,” Spicka said.

During her brief speech, Spicka also urged students to register to vote.
“The university in a race as small as mine really has the ability to swing it one way or another,” Spicka said.

During the question and answer portion of Spicka’s listening session, several students expressed concern about the state cuts to funding for higher education.

One student asked where Pennsylvania would make up the revenue if Spicka had her way and no education spending was cut.

“Pennsylvania is the only state in the country to not put a severance tax on companies taking natural gas from the state,” Spicka said. “That’s millions and millions of dollars the state could use.”
Spicka also said if elected, she would work to improve the commonwealth’s infrastructure and fight against corporate loopholes.

“Gov. Corbett wants to give a $1.6 billion tax break to Dutch Shell,” Spicka said. “I think our state would be better off giving low interest loans to local businesses where they can go and hire people.”

When asked to critique her opponent, incumbent Rob Kauffman ®, Spicka said she was disappointed that he went along with Corbett’s cuts to higher education while representing a district that is home to SU.

“He’s voted 97 percent of the time with Corbett’s agenda,” Spicka said.
She also criticized Kauffman for taking a $52 payment every day he comes to Harrisburg as a representative.

“I don’t think that just because you are a legislator you should get a special perk,” Spicka said. 
She said some fresh faces in Harrisburg would be good for Pennsylvania.
“We get entrenched incumbents and they get entrenched in Harrisburg and they change,” Spicka said.

Spicka runs a grass roots campaign. The candidate estimates that her campaign has made 16,500 phone calls and home visits. In closing, she again stressed how important she thought it was for students to vote.
“You are welcome to vote for whoever you want. Just as long as you vote,” Spicka said.

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/09/susan-spicka-visits-su-speaks-to-students-about-voting-importance

Shippensburg University’s Student-Veteran’s Resource Center held its grand opening on Friday, Sept. 7 and officially opened its doors at Room 235 of the Ceddia Union Building.

Two Pennsylvania state legislators attended and spoke to the crowd of about 150 people at the event. Sen. Richard Alloway (R-33) and Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-89) both said they were pleased that Shippensburg was the first school of the 14 total schools in the PASSHE system to open a Student-Veteran’s Resource Center.

“[The SVRC] is just another great asset for this great university,” Alloway said. 
University President William Ruud, Vice President of Student Affairs Roger Serr, Shippensburg Student-Veteran Association (SVA) adviser Robert Smith and Shippensburg SVA founder and event organizer Josh Lang also spoke during the opening.

Lang, who is an SU student, was stationed in Afghanistan for 15 months as a member of the U.S. Army. He has spearheaded the effort to create the SVRC.

He and Shippensburg’s SVA started working on the project in 2010. He said the goals for the center are to provide student veterans with the tools they need in order to be successful at Shippensburg and in life after college.

“Our vision is that all student-veterans achieve academic goals and find meaningful employment,” Lang said.

During the event, the SVA asked for donations. SVA adviser Robert Smith said the donations would be going not just to the SVA but to the national center for PTSD.

Smith said that tragedies like these are what make the opening of the Veteran’s Resource Center so important.

During his speech, Ruud issued a challenge to the other colleges and universities in the state to create Student-Veteran Resource Centers of their own.

Ruud said with 246 veterans at SU, he wanted the SVRC to be located at the center of student activities.

“I hope this center becomes one of the busiest and most successful places on campus,” Ruud said.
After Lang cut the ceremonial ribbon, Shippensburg’s SVA presented Kauffman and Alloway with certificates, commemorating the opening of the center.

The SVA also gave Ruud a plaque, thanking him for his assistance. 
After the event, Lang invited the crowd to come to Shippensburg’s quad where the SVA had planted 4,977 American flags, roughly one for every U.S. service member lost during the War on Terror.

http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2012/09/student-veterans-resource-center-opens-first-in-passhe-state-system