1 20 68 https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/2e490e24731dada6bf2efdffc455a5f3.pdf c89582399fe5aaf6ed909356de35e583 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SRU’s annual Giving Day has been rescheduled for this Friday under a new focus: a Day of Caring. Giving Day is usually scheduled annually for March 26, SRU’s founding date. According to Marissa Cozza, senior coordinator of annual giving and communications of the SRU Foundation, Foundation staff debated on whether or not to have Giving Day this year, but ultimately decided to reschedule so they could provide an opportunity for people to help. “We understand that there are definitely people in a position that aren’t able to give right now, and a lot of people are in really difficult positions,” Cozza said. “But really, we don’t want to deny anybody the opportunity to help right now.” This year’s fundraising goal is $200,000, and as of Thursday evening at 5:45 p.m., this year’s Giving Day campaign has raised $113,732 from 582 donors. Cozza said that being halfway to the goal prior to the day of the event is on track for previous Giving Day events. “I really am confident that we can do it,” Cozza said. “I think we’re off to a really great start and we’re kind of on par for what we’ve done in past years.” As part of Day of Caring, the SRU Foundation has highlighted three specific projects on the main page of the Giving Day website. The Continued Success Scholarships will support students who are faced with an unexpected financial barrier that may prevent them from finishing their degree unless they receive additional financial support. Jan Hollack, a SRU alumna from the class of 1967, will match each donation up to $25,000, essentially doubling the donations for this project. “Here at SRU, we believe no financial barriers should prevent a deserving, hard working student from finishing their degree,” the description of the project said. The Student Support Fund project will support students in immediate financial need. In the past, this fund has helped provide students will books and supplies, emergency or temporary housing assistance, grocery expenses, temporary rent or utilities assistance and medical supplies or equipment. The SRU Foundation also created a project for the Founder’s Society, a group of donors who donate at least $1,000 annually, to donate in one place. There are also projects to support for student groups, athletic projects and academic projects. Cozza also said even if someone is unable to give, they can still show that they care for SRU students. “Even if you can’t give, you can still care,” Cozza said. “We want our students to know that Rock Nation is behind them, thinking about them and rallying around them.” People who want to donate to a project not listed on the Giving Day website can donate here and specify where they want to donate in the “designation” box. “It’s not certainly ideal to be asking first for support right now, but I think we’re obligated to give people the opportunity to invest in our students and help right now when students need help now more than ever,” Cozza said. Throughout the past three years, the annual Giving Day event has raised $216,834 with over 2,500 donors. In connection with Giving Day, the SRU Foundation also encourages community members to post pictures of themselves holding “Rock Strong” signs with the hashtags #RockStrong and #SRUGivingDay. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRU Giving Day, rebranded as a Day of Caring, rescheduled for May 1 Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-30 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/ec56c6084e0760dd880379400602eb08.pdf 4e4d4a3c71aba86fb6c8820727751742 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document UPDATE (May 1, 5:45 pm) — The Financial Aid Office sent emails to students who will receive funding from SRU’s allocation of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds. “These funds are being disbursed directly to you due to the break in instruction you have experienced, as well as the shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related safety measures,” the email reads. The amount of funds students will receive are based on their FAFSA application that the university currently has on record, along with their corresponding Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This money, according to the email, can be used for any expenses related to education, including any outstanding bills, groceries, housing and so on. Students will receive these funds via direct deposit or live check on either May 5 or 6. Students are encouraged to contact the Office of Financial Aid at (724) 738-2044 or financial.aid@sru.edu or the Office of Student Accounts at (724) 738-2088 or student.accounts@sru.edu for any questions they may have regarding the grant. Pennsylvania colleges and universities are set to receive millions through the CARES Act to help with financial aid for students and other costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos issued a statement regarding information about accessing funding available to higher education institutions. The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund will offer an estimated $14.2 billion to colleges and universities across the country, including more than $7.3 million to SRU. A minimum of $3.6 million of SRU’s relief fund will be awarded for emergency financial aid grants to students. “While I know you face many challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, I encourage you to use the portion of your award for Recipient’s Institutional Costs to expand your remote learning programs, build your IT capacity to support such programs, and train faculty and staff to operate effectively in a remote learning environment,” DeVos said, directly addressing college and university presidents. In order to receive the funds, colleges and universities must certify they will comply with the CARES Act. Administrators will determine which students receive the grants, but the Department of Education specified that huge groups of students wouldn’t be eligible at all. For instance, students who are ineligible for federal student aid can’t get this emergency money, along with students who were only enrolled in online programs this semester. At least half of the funds must go directly to emergency financial aid or grants to students to cover basic needs such as food, housing, technology, health care and child care. This money has already been allocated and distributed to colleges. Along with the emergency funding, student loan borrowers will also get temporary relief because payments on federal student loans will be suspended through Sept. 30. Work-study payments will also continue, even if students can no longer work on campus. “What’s best for students is at the center of every decision we make,” DeVos said. “That’s why we prioritized getting funding out the door quickly to college students who need it most. We don’t want unmet financial needs due to the coronavirus to derail their learning.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource How the CARES Act supports higher education Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-29 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Allison Downs Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/6a258201271965c092d4040460832817.pdf 808aa8bfe683bde28ebb040a1a2a7f74 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document With the cancellation of all in-person orientation events scheduled for May and June, the Office of Orientation has begun the process of converting orientation to an online experience. Robert Lagnese, who has served as director of orientation for over 20 years, said that orientation is important for building a peer network before incoming freshman begin classes. “We want to make sure the comprehensive orientation experience was still part of their transition because we know that students who participate in orientation have a better likelihood of success and better likelihood of staying with us beyond their first term, Lagnese said. Lagnese’s goals for the online orientation are to mirror a typical orientation agenda and to include interaction with faculty members and the 11 orientation ambassadors. The Office will also ask faculty and campus offices to create videos for this online experience. The web-based orientation will be broken into two different virtual experiences: one for students, and the other for parents. Both experiences will be accessible to all parents and students. Throughout the month of June, the orientation ambassadors will host Zoom sessions on Fridays to answer questions from incoming freshmen and oversee virtual icebreakers as well. Eight of the 11 ambassadors are new to their job, and the majority of the ambassadors are current freshmen. “I think students will quickly engage with it as well and it will give us talking points and the ability to further communicate with students who have similar interests and majors and needs and backgrounds and those kinds of things,” Lagnese said. Lagnese also said the programing will be spread throughout the summer, which was not previously possible with the typical one-day orientation experience. Students will also receive information on their fall schedule, financial aid, CORE and Handshake. While students normally receive their ID cards at orientation, they will receive information on how to get their IDs at a later date. According to the SRU first-year orientation webpage, fall schedules for incoming students should be completed by June 1. Lagnese advises all incoming students and their families to check their emails for more information as it becomes available. “Know that the entire campus has come together to make sure that what we would have done comprehensively in an actual program orientation, we’re going to provide seamlessly through a virtual experience,” Lagnese said. “I would say rest assured that we’re going to give you everything you need when you need it to be successful in your transition here for the fall.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRU’s “Passport to Success” orientation experience to go virtual Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-29 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/3f7ca267e9491177286781149d0c0b92.pdf aa26139d61cfac68801d06de4f487c68 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SGA) hosted another town hall Thursday on Zoom to discuss sustainability on campus, including reducing single-use plastics and making the campus greener. With many students, faculty and administrators in attendance, Kaitlin Karaffa, a senior environmental science major, and the panelists answered questions and discussed various topics through direct and anonymous methods. The panelists in attendance include the Regional Director for the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Education Becky Thomas; Professor of Geography, Geology and Environment Julie Snow; Director of Sustainability Paul Scanlon; Senior Vice President for the Administration of Global Engagement and Economic Development Amir Mohammadi; Assistant Professor of Healthcare Administration and Information Systems John Golden; Executive Director of Planning and Environmental Health and Safety Paul Novak; and Assistant Vice President of Facilitates, Planning and Environmental Safety Scott Albert. Novak said recycling and related sustainability starts with the individual perspective and the desire to want to do so. Scanlon said last year they started an initiative to reduce plastic use on campus with a Beyond Plastic symposium. He said he hopes he can start to see students using less plastics. “Our new emphasis is to refuse the use disposable bags and bottles,” Scanlon said. “Reuse what you can, and then recycle.” Thomas said this is where behavior change comes in. She said if we want people to change student and faculty behaviors in a way that leads to pro-environmental outcomes, we have to understand what the barriers to that behavior change are. Thomas said the drinking water on campus not tasting good is a contributor to using so much plastic on campus. “Those students are then going to the store to purchase cases of throwaway, recyclable plastic water bottles,” Thomas said. “There’s a barrier of water not tasting good.” Mohammadi said before the COVID-19 pandemic and students not being on campus, him, Scanlon and many others were discussing eliminating all plastic bottles on campus and were going to finalize some decisions this coming academic year. These plastic bottles on campus include those in the vending machines on campus. Snow said SGA sells plastic bottles of water and soft drinks in their vending machines on campus. She said there are many issues with this, and she hopes that SGA takes leadership of this and chooses to no longer sell drinks that are in plastic bottles. “[This] will send out a message in terms of addressing things like climate change and other environmental and equity issues,” Snow said. Albert said they have been replacing old water fountains in the campus buildings so that there is at least one bottle filling station in every building, hopefully encouraging students to utilize refillable water bottles rather than disposable, single-use plastic. As for some solutions to sustainability issues, Scanlon suggested that SGA offers reusable water bottles and bags to incoming freshman so that they can use reusable products instead of plastics in their four years, or more, of attending the university. “If we could provide incoming freshman with a really nice insulated water bottle, that would encourage them to not use plastic, disposable bottles,” Scanlon said. Snow said she wanted to remind students that it is their future that is at risk with climate change and sustainability issues. “It is time for action,” Snow said. “Students hold the power for change at universities. It is up to you, as students, to step up and make your voices heard.” Mohammadi said there are three things that are essential in life: air, water and food. He said sustainability touches all three of these, and if we do not do the right things, it can cost us more than $80 trillion. Thomas said there are always people that are going to have different perspectives or do not believe climate change is happening. “There are certain areas where climate change doesn’t even need to be a part of the conversation,” Thomas said, “But you’ve got it in your back pocket as your motivation for why you’re trying to create a change.” Snow said as climate change occurs, food insecurity will increase. “There are going to be more people that are struggling to get food that is useful to humans, increases their ability to study, allows them to feel secure and not be tired in class,” Snow said. “There are issues of equity that are going to be enhanced because of climate change.” Mohammadi said we need to take advantage of this time of crisis and use it as an opportunity to grow. “We need to take it and never let a crisis like this go wasted,” Mohammadi said. “Let’s take advantage of this and really get things done.” Scanlon said this situation has brought a sense of community to SRU students and faculty. He also agreed that we need to take advantage of this time and create new ideas for campus involving sustainability. “We could come out of this thing with some great new ideas and find that we’ve been building some capabilities we never realized we had,” Scanlon said. Golden said one positive that comes from this time of self isolation is the change of old habits. He said people are making better choices and driving less, resulting in some reduction of our carbon footprint. “So when we come back to campus as a large group, if we can think about some of those practices that actually reduced our footprint, not only will that continue to save the university money, but it will also affect the climate,” Golden said. Thomas said although there has been an increased awareness for health and safety due to this pandemic, there has also been an increased mistrust of the expertise of doctors. “With COVID-19, there is a lot of reluctance to listen to the medical experts who have spent decades of their lives studying [this],” Thomas said. “Getting [people] to listen is a huge challenge.” If you want to be involved with making the SRU campus more green, take the sustainability survey that focuses on campus knowledge of and attitude toward sustainability. If you have any questions about the study, contact the study director, Professor Jana Asher, at jana.asher@sru.edu. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Reduce, reuse, recycle: Sustainability on campus Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-27 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nina Cipriani Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/6a92bd7d109ee20f96040fa28ea0a65d.pdf 507783565fd79ecb8363aeab9b38085e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document COVID-19 is leaving millions of Americans unemployed, causing some concern for graduating seniors and students looking for a job or internship. John Rindy, the director of Career Services at SRU, said that many careers are being affected but that there are still some markets that are relatively unaffected. “Human services and K-12 are two markets off the top of my head that will be relatively unaffected by COVID-19,” Rindy said. “All of the people who needed human services before still need human services and people will be retiring and coming and going as always.” He said students coming out with psychology, social work and criminology degrees are going to be needed in those same human services roles. He added that as far as teachers go, all people who were going to go to kindergarten in the fall will still be going to kindergarten and all projected seniors in high school will still be seniors. “That won’t change,” Rindy said. “They may have to teach online at some schools if this runs into the fall, but teachers will still be needed.” He said on the other hand, some markets that are definitely affected would be industries dealing with leisure activities. “It might take a while for people to have the confidence to get back on planes, travel to resorts, hang out for a couple weeks in another country or at the beach, or go to a football game,” Rindy said. “All leisure time activities will be impacted for the time being.” Rindy said a lot of organizations, not just sports organizations and hospitality organizations, will be affected, and that other areas such as banking has to furlough a lot of people. “The question is what about the middle of the road companies such as banking and finance,” Rindy said. “Will companies call everybody back if we have a quick recovery and then immediately get back to hiring? Will some companies choose not to bring some people back because they have found out through this whole process that there are things they can do virtually now and don’t need people back?” He said he thinks there will be certain companies that had processes that required certain people that suddenly do not because they quickly adapted to doing things virtually and do not need people to take these jobs. Rindy also said how many people will be called back from furlough and how many new jobs will be available is in question. Rindy said since the time when COVID-19 started, the career office has seen a severe downturn on Handshake of new companies requesting posting privileges to SRU’s Handshake. “It dropped to maybe one or two a day for several weeks,” Rindy said. “We would normally see anywhere from 25-30 new companies a day wanting to post to SRU.” He said the job and internship postings also plummeted really low, but now in the last week, the requests have started going back up. He said they had 10 new requests from companies on Tuesday. “It is starting to turn around,” Rindy said. “Just like the curve is going down with COVID-19, our job postings are starting to go back up.” Rindy said his biggest piece of advice to students during this time, besides his typical “you’re either networking or your not working,” has been to work on the things you can control and let go of the things you cannot. “Let’s say hiring is down,” Rindy said. “Don’t just look in Pittsburgh. Look in more cities. You can control that but can’t control how many jobs are in Pittsburgh.” He said you can control how you search for jobs, where you search for jobs, how prepared you are as you search for jobs, and the types of jobs you are willing to take. He added that it is not about settling, but about being open to looking beyond just your hometown. Rindy also said it is important if someone has a job interview or search that is not moving along to figure out other jobs in industries that are still moving forward where they could build requisite skills that would allow them to tell stories during a real job interview. He said sales jobs will hit the ground running after this pandemic is over. “People who never thought they would be in sales will be in sales and we know why,” Rindy said. “These companies need to jumpstart moving their products and services again, so there will be a lot of sales jobs open and a lot of people will do it for 6 months and either be really good at it or not be really good at it. Then companies will clean out their sales forces and it will go down to their normal numbers.” Rindy said people who can work well with others and speak persuasively should seek sales opportunities where they think they would be excited about the products or services, during the time when sales companies are really trying to stack up to try to get their products or services moving. Rindy said both students going into careers that are affected and not affected by COVID-19 should be doing everything possible to present themselves for these jobs. He said all western PASSHE schools have been hosting virtual events and not many students are attending. “We hear students are nervous, but we are running all kinds of career programming and they aren’t coming to it,” Rindy said. “Students should be doing whatever they can to make themselves the best candidate.” He said students should be working with a career coach to talk about skills that they could use in other industries. Students can access career services and make appointments to talk to a career coach by going onto their Handshake account using their SRU login. “Hopefully you’ve used a career coach, have your resume built up, and have attended one of our virtual career sessions,” Rindy said. “I have hosted one individually, and out of 5 PASSHE west schools, there was one person there and it was a graduate student.” Rindy said another way to find internship and job postings besides Handshake, which is catered to SRU, is going to PA CareerLink to find specific “COVID-19 hiring immediately” jobs. Rindy said some of the top job titles that are hiring right now are registered nurse, staff nurse, shift supervisor, clinical nurse, sales representative, account manager, financial analyst, customer service representative and software development engineer. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Job and internship outlook for students Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Haley Potter Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/1d0122b2370a490c893a1ee16bec6633.pdf 4738f4e2070fa210d48b632ea04dfbc5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Women’s Center hosted a virtual Rock Talk: Living with a disability in today’s America on their Youtube page, with current students and alumn of The Women’s Center sharing their stories. From invisible disabilities to ones that are more known, five stories were shared about what it is like to live with a disability. Maggie Calvert, a senior political science, philosophy and gender studies major, kicked off this series with her story, explaining how she does not seem disabled or fit the character. “The disability does come out from time to time for people to see,” Calvert said. “It’s invisible until it’s not, and when it does take over, everybody gets to see it because I do fall down a lot.” Calvert said that her disability can strain her relationships as she sometimes struggles to control the autonomy of it. Safety plans are in place for friends of Calvert if she happens to fall or have a seizure, but always checks on her friends afterwards and apologizes. “I know that I shouldn’t be apologizing, but we live in a society that has made me and so many other disabled people feel like they’re a burden for needing a little bit of extra care or accommodations,” Calvert said. Similar to Calvert, Erin O’Connor, a graduate assistant for The Women’s Center and Pride Center and graduate student pursuing her masters in student affairs and higher education, also has what she would describe as an invisible disability. In the winter of 2018, O’Connor was diagnosed with narcolepsy without cataplexy. “On the outside, I’m completely fine and I’ve come to learn that this is both a blessing and a burden,” O’Connor said. “In most social situations I’m not treated any differently. In my workplace and classes I’m treated the same, but this also means that I’m expected to function at a normal level and this can really be challenging for me.” O’Connor said that she could sleep for seven or eight hours a night and still wake up feeling like she had not slept at all. “We live in a very fast paced society that really prioritizes success, achievement and independence and I have a disability that recommends me taking daily naps, sticking to a really regulated sleep schedule, and really lessening the stress that’s on my body,” O’Connor said. O’Connor feels that sometimes her disability has not been seen as a concern or taken seriously because she can still achieve at a high level. She often questions how graduate school would have been if she did not have the diagnosis. “A lot of the times it’s the lack of validation or accommodation that can really be enraging,” O’Connor said. “People every day are dealing with things that we can’t see or don’t understand, but that doesn’t make their experience any less real.” Other students shared their stories on the platform as well. Kelsey DeClaudio, a recreational therapy and gender studies major, explained that she has tethered spinal cord syndrome, the reason she personally identifies as disabled. “You know you’re going to face stigma and you’re going to face stereotypes, and discrimination in the architectural and the attitudinal barriers out there are very prevalent,” DiClaudio said. DiClaudio said that there are bad days when she knows that she is getting stared at or people ask her inappropriate questions. “I would really like to not recognize all the hardships, but I like to be realistic about it too,” DiClaudio said. “This is going to be a continued journey for me and I know it’s not always going to be easy, but at the end of the day I know I’m going to sleep disabled and wake up disabled, and I have to be okay with that.” DiClaudio said that she would have never been able to experience so many great things if it was not for her disability, such as being part of the Women’s US National sled hockey team. Another student found great experiences and friends through sled hockey as well. Erik Knotts shared his story after contracting bacterial meningitis at 18 months and becoming a bilateral above the knee amputee. Knotts said that he received a lot of support from his family, but that they also taught him from a young age that he needed to do things for himself on his own. “I think that has been a great help to me living in America with a disability,” Knotts said. “Every day with a disability is going to provide new challenges, some you’re ready for, some you’re not, but you have to just learn how to take those.” The most difficult obstacle for Knotts was growing up in middle school and trying to play sports with his friends. “[I’ve] learned how to adapt in different ways from my friends from sled hockey who also have disabilities,” Knotts said. Slippery Rock alumn even spoke on the topic. Francine Maitland, a 2009 alumn, has been living with a disability for the past 25 years, since she was 10. Maitland said that if she were to explain her medical history, those listening would need a medical degree to understand and her doctors joke that they have the degrees and still do not understand. “We might need different accommodations and live in different embodiments mentally and physically, but we are still human and worthwhile and beautiful and I think that bears repeating in the time of the pandemic,” Maitland said. Maitland said that she advocated for better access and more awareness to disability issues when she was a student. She said that she did not want anyone else to go through the same challenges that she did. During the time of the pandemic, Maitland encourages others to practice empathy, such as by watching YouTube videos about a disability or to follow a new Instagram on someone that is disabled. “Rethink person first language and your use of it,” Maitland said. “Talk to someone with a disability and ask them what their favorite color is, what book they read lately, or what their favorite TV show is.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rock Talk: Living with disability in today’s America Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/e25d97e493f36d99cac65382dabec961.pdf 035818573dd57ab3a88a3f30290ce576 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The President’s Commission on Gender Identity & Expression and Sexual Orientation (GIESO) will host a virtual celebration for graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) students on April 29 at 5 p.m. Jesse Factor, co-chair of the Night Out committee and instructor in the dance department, said the event will serve as a way of sustaining community during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Because the idea of community was really important to the commission, we thought that the virtual event was a way to engage but also sustain a sense of community,” Factor said. The event was previously held on campus for about 13-14 years according to Cindy LaCom, co-chair of the Night Out committee and gender studies director. LaCom said the transition to an online celebration is an opportunity within a challenge. “In a challenge, I almost always see an opportunity, and I think this has been an opportunity for us to creatively and collaboratively work together to recognize and honor LGBTQIA+ seniors but also undergrads who will be part of the ceremony and understand how much we value them as people, their presence on our campus [and] the work that they do,” LaCom said. During the event, graduating students will have the opportunity to be recognized. LaCom said Graduating students will also receive graduating stoles from GIESO in the mail. The event will also include awards for individuals on campus who have shown activism, visibility and allyship. The award recipients include Mimi Campbell, associate director of housing accommodations and the recipient of the “Breaking the Silence” award, and Rock PRSSA members Drew Confer and Gabriella Yanniello. There will also be a Kahoot game on LGBTQIA+ issues during the virtual celebration. Students who wish to attend this event should complete the RSVP form. They will then get a link to the event’s CORE page with the link to Zoom. Other committee members for Night Out include Erin O’Connor, Melissa Teodoro and Vanessa Vought. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GIESO to host virtual Night Out celebration for graduating LGBTQIA+ students Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-26 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/5a9831a976151c5e77107b9cfd8e466c.pdf 4cad8877a8102b4e849ecb6ffa6e29ad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Earth Day serves as a platform for thousands across the world to demonstrate and speak out about the importance of environmental protection, something that is important as contemporary environmental problems from deforestation to water pollution continue to grow more severe and expand. While the international holiday is often characterized by national and state park outings, cleanups, marches and demonstrations, streets and parks will be much more silent this year due to COVID-19. Though, there are still ways in which we can show our appreciation and respect for the environment while also respecting stay at home orders and social distancing. To get inspired, here are some ways to live more sustainably while living under quarantine. Start a garden Gardening is a great way to stay productive and reduce stress while at home. Whether you have a whole yard or a small balcony, mid-April is the perfect time to start a new flower or vegetable garden or to tidy up one from previous years. Not only are gardens great ways to get access to fresh food or beautiful flowers, but. growing plants is also a great way to help support local pollinator populations. Pollinators such as varieties of bees, butterflies and moths contribute to maintaining healthy ecosystems that wildlife of all sizes rely on for food and shelter. To begin, you will need either some yard space that receives sunshine or containers with either holes in the bottom or rocks placed inside for drainage. Other essential items include garden soil or potting mix, a garden trowel and seed packages, which have instructions on the back to specify how to care for them. Though, if you are not too confident about growing plants from seeds, you can also pick up seedlings from a local nursery for a head start. It is very easy to get started, and once you do, you might discover you have quite the green thumb! Upcycle clothing headed for the donation bin or trash Certain items do not last long in any household, but that is especially true for clothing as trends come and go, sizes change and favorite pieces are worn to rags. While the average lifetime of any piece of clothing can be up to three years, we buy 60% more clothing items than we did 15 years ago, and only keep them half as long. Not only is this cycle wasteful as perfectly good clothing finds its way into landfills, the production required to make them in the first place is energy-intensive and by-products of production contribute to environmental degradation. Before parting with a piece of clothing, consider ways that it can be re-imagined into something new for you to wear or admire. A simple search through platforms such as YouTube or Pinterest offers hundreds of ways of transforming pieces of clothing into something new or as decorations through relatively simple DIY projects. Channel your creative side while also keeping an item from entering a landfill prematurely! Make some home improvements Summon your inner Tim “The Toolman” Taylor as stay at home orders open up extra time that can be used to start home improvement projects that can be beneficial for both you and improving the environment. Leaky faucets, drafty windows and doors and energy-intensive light bulbs are both our enemy and the environment’s. A leaky faucet over the course of a year wastes more than 3,000 gallons of water, equaling 180 showers. Energy used to heat your home can be lost due to the presence of gaps and spaces between doors and windows, requiring you to keep the thermostat cranked up. Lastly, incandescent light bulbs need to be changed more often compared to LED lighting that can last up to 25 times longer. Keep busy while also improving your home and your environmental impact by fixing leaks, installing weather stripping to windows and doorways, and replacing incandescent light bulbs with more durable, less energy-intensive options. An improved house also means an improved life for both you and the environment. Cook dishes without meat Meat can make an excellent addition to a meal, though, try incorporating more recipes to your diet that fill your plate with fruits, vegetables and grains instead. Raising livestock is one of the leading causes of mass deforestation in providing space for livestock to roam and to grow food for them to eat. Deforestation results in the extensive loss of habitat of wildlife that has specifically evolved to these environments, contributing to mass extinctions of species worldwide. A recent study illustrated that without consuming meat or dairy, farmland would be reduced by more than 75% worldwide while still adequately feeding all 7.7 billion of us, freeing land equivalent to the size of Australia, China, the European Union and the United States combined. While dedicating yourself to a vegetarian or vegan diet can seem daunting, even cutting out a few meat-based meals a week can make a huge difference. Invest in environmentally sustainable products Stocking up on items such as toilet paper has proven to be a big concern for citizens during COVID-19. Why? It is an essential part of everyday life, similar to other hygienic products. Though, approximately 27,000 trees find themselves flushed or in landfills worldwide every day after being manufactured into toilet paper. This number is only expected to increase with populations growing and sanitation improvements across developing countries. Other than toilet paper, there are plenty of other items considered essential parts to completing everyday routines. Though, with consumers becoming more environmentally conscious than ever before, businesses look to meet customers’ demands, making environmentally-conscious products easier to find. Businesses like Lush, Ethique and Biome create bath products that come without plastic packaging and, when you need to stock up on more toilet paper, Who Gives a Crap produces toilet paper, facial tissues and paper towels from sustainably-sourced materials. Shop for Fair-Trade Certified™ products Other than filling your carts with environmentally-sustainable hygienic products, when you go on your next grocery trip to stock your pantries, try to look for products with the fair-trade certification. Often in food production, especially in the production of sugar, coffee, chocolate and tea, compromises are made to lessen costs for companies at the expense of the environment and the agricultural works that work within it. By being Fair Trade Certified™, products ensure that conscious choices are being made in the pursuit of a better world as companies acting responsibly are supported, agricultural workers are empowered and the environment is protected. Not sure what companies’ products are Fair Trade Certified™? Click here to find out. Living a more sustainable lifestyle does not need to be difficult or interrupt your daily life. In fact, it can be very easy, enjoyable and really benefit your life in the long term. By making small, progressive changes day by day, you can help normalize sustainable living that will secure a more green future for both yourself and future generations to enjoy. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Editor’s column: Living sustainably while living under quarantine Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the opinion section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-22 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lesa Bressanelli Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/8983997bfb09d65285e439ad9e1d7216.pdf e491cf9df30a2ee8cc2692183d0b9369 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document After speaking with some of her Campus Edge residents on Friday, Kristin Pascoe, general manager of Campus Edge and Slippery Rock Garden Apartments, learned that some of her own residents were struggling to afford groceries. After leaving her office on Friday, Pascoe posted on Facebook to ask her local friends for nonperishable food donations for her residents. According to her post, 90% of her residents are students. This post was shared over 380 times, according to Pascoe, allowing Campus Edge management to set up a table of donated items in the clubhouse. “It was just a very simple Facebook post that was intended for my local friends in Lawrence County,” Pascoe said. “I did not expect it to get shared over 380 times all over the United States.” Throughout the weekend, Pascoe said Campus Edge received about 54 Amazon packages from anonymous donors along with another 50 boxes from donators nationwide, with one package being shipped from Texas. “So it’s literally hundreds of people who have donated,” Pascoe said. Donated items include milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, bread, pasta, sauce, soups, canned vegetables, rice, cereal, baking goods and fresh fruit. There are also personal hygiene items available. The groceries and personal hygiene items are available to any resident of Slippery Rock who may be in need. Pascoe also said that these donations are also for students who are struggling to pay bills so that they can pay bills instead of worrying about groceries. “I’m completely blown away by the hearts of everyone and it’s literally nation wide where they’re coming from just to help,” Pascoe said. “It’s amazing.” Pascoe said that she is emotional from the response to her initial Facebook post from less than one week ago. “If there’s anything good that can come out of this whole coronavirus, it’s that we all have come together, we’re all helping each other,” Pascoe said. “Definitely very emotional.” Anyone interested in donating can contact Pascoe directly at kpascoe@srucampusedge.com, drop off donations at Campus Edge or mail donations to Campus Edge, 215 Cornish Drive, Slippery Rock, PA 16057. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Campus Edge collects food, personal hygiene donations for Slippery Rock residents Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-22 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/b8cfbaa5b2305159cc200bf59f054487.pdf 2ac343ad9f6da1df78e9ab19483b4019 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Stone House Center for Public Humanities and SRU Archives are collaborating on an archive project called “Shared Voices, Shared Experiences” to gather the lived experiences of people during the time of COVID-19. Aaron Cowan, a professor of history and one of the co-directors of The Stone House Center for Public Humanities, said that this rapid-response archive project is a way for people to determine what they deem significant during this time. “Everyone, student or community member, are having their own unique experiences because of this outbreak so the idea is to be able to document that,” Cowan said. Along with Cowan, Lia Paradis, a professor of history and one of the co-directors of The Stone House Center for Public Humanities, said that the term rapid-response came from wanting to gather or capture things in the moment that can be shared later on. Paradis said that lived experience is what historians and archivists want to capture when they are trying to get an idea of a historical event. “You can get the official word, you can get the media stuff, but it’s harder to get the day to day details of what people are experiencing in their everyday lives and how they’re feeling,” Paradis said. Some contributions that Paradis hopes the community will submit to “Shared Voices, Shared Experiences” are blog posts, excerpts from journals or artistic efforts. Paradis said that any ways people are dealing with stress of the situation would be great opportunities to be captured so that the archives have the particular everyday experience. “Every person’s lived experience is important, people should not hesitate to contribute things that document their everyday experience” Paradis said. Similarly to Paradis, Cowan agrees with the idea that all experiences are important. Cowan said that even people who made a TikTok video to keep themselves entertained can submit it to the archive project. “It can be very trivial, because those have some value to tell how people are experiencing life,” Cowan said. Submitting to the project only takes up to ten minutes, and community members and others have the opportunity to submit anonymously if they feel the need to do so on the website. “…in doing so, you’ve created something we are going to archive that will really be a lasting record,” Cowan said. Both Cowan and Paradis have submitted to the archive project and plan to submit more in the future. Cowan submitted a picture of a giant teddy bear on a porch in Grove City as well as a tweet talking about the shift to online learning and its challenges. “It’s much harder to do what historians call social history,” Cowan said. “What were people’s everyday lives like? How did they change? That’s a lot harder to do because we don’t usually make record of those kind of things.” Paradis also submitted multiple entries to the project, such as a picture of her home office, the start of her vegetable garden that she always wanted to grow and eventually a page from her Pandemic class syllabus about the alteration of classes. “People don’t understand that what they’re wearing is a historical document,” Paradis said. “[We] reinforce that anything is valuable because it documents their real-life experience right now.” Along with the online submissions, physical submission are also be considered for a time when social distancing is over. Both Paradis and Cowan believe that the archives project will be an ongoing project, possibly up to a year. “People may contribute different things in September than they are contributing now, because the experience will have changed by then but it may not be over by then,” Paradis said. Both Paradis and Cowan encourage students, community members and other people in Western Pennsylvania to contribute to the archival project. “As cheesy as it may sound, you can be a part of history and create something that future research can draw on to understand this experience,” Cowan said. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Becoming a part of history Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-21 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/670eb7edd74814114e6944f0771b87a4.pdf 503a25542df82a3551b319215cce5d79 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Rocket, WSRU-TV and the Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SGA) hosted an election town hall Thursday on Zoom to give those running for executive board positions an opportunity to answer students’ questions. With more than 30 students, administrators and faculty members in attendance, seven executive board candidates answered questions concerning their candidacies. The candidates in attendance included Senator Nick Condon, Speaker of the Senate Joey Sciuto, Nathaniel Desing, Senator Leif Lindgren, Vice President of Internal Affairs Mia Graziani, Senator Amanda Reilly and Senator Alexis Gish. To vote for any executive board candidate, visit the SGA CORE page. Voting opens April 20 at 9 a.m. Condon said he didn’t originally intended on running for SGA president and that the main reason he is running is to promote student mental health on campus. He said after seeing a lot of things go on involving mental health, he wants to do more and make more resources available for students. “I feel like SGA could be doing more to address [mental health],” Condon said. “Someone needs to step up and fill in that void we have right now.” Reilly said she applied for the vice president of Outreach position to get involved with a bigger platform and have more hands-on experience with students. Graziani is running for the vice president of Internal Affairs position, and she is the only candidate to be running for the position she currently holds. She said she has grown a lot through this role and is excited to see what the positions have to offer next year. Sciuto is running for president and said there are a lot of parallels between his current role and the president position. “Because I was Speaker [of the Senate], I was able to practice a lot of communication skills like facilitating conversations and brainstorming in a group and I see the value that those communication concepts can bring to the position of president,” Sciuto said. Gish said she has always had a passion for issues regarding diversity and inclusion, so she thought the position of vice president of Diversity and Inclusion would be perfect for her to be a part of change on campus. Desing said he is running for the vice president of Finance position because he has always been a numbers person, and because he was a part of the finance committee, he has a better understanding of how things operate. Lindgren said he enjoyed his time as a senator on the student and academic affairs committee, and the vice president of Student and Academic Affairs position is a combination of everything he likes. Condon said he will work closely with administration as president to improve student life on campus. “A big thing that I want to be is the connection between student concerns and administration,” Condon said. “I am concerned about what students are concerned about.” Most of the questions asked during the town hall revolved around the hope that students will return to campus in the fall. But, in the event that students do not return to campus because of COVID-19, Condon said he wants to make sure that SGA remains in contact with students. “I think the number one concern I have is losing contact with students and losing sight of what students are concerned about and being able to advocate for student concerns,” Condon said. Sciuto said him and SGA is up for the challenge if students were to not go back to campus next semester. “As problems arise, as an E-board, we’ll need to brainstorm together and reach out to students,” Sciuto said. “It’ll be interesting to see how we can collaborate with things like UPB and other big organizations on campus.” When the candidates were asked what they think the biggest issue facing SRU today is, Condon said it is hard to pinpoint which one is the biggest. “Commuters have different problems than people on campus and people living on campus have different problems than those at the apartments,” Condon said. Condon said he does see mental health as being one of the bigger issues though. “The number one thing that should be the focus is looking at each consist constituency and asking what we can do for them specifically with the biggest problems they’re facing,” Condon said. “If we just treat it as ‘we have one big problem, let’s put a band-aid on it,’ then we aren’t serving students the right way.” Sciuto said a possible solution for diversity and inclusion is involvement. “I have a very much solution-focused problem solving style,” Sciuto said. “Part of that is looking at instances that are already overcoming those problems and how we can create more of those moments.” Gish said she believes that they must redefine the meaning of student government associations and become more involved to have more of a connection with students. “At the end of the day, we do have positions on this E-board, we are student leaders, but we’re still students,” Gish said. Condon said he hopes to support the next vice president of Diversity and Inclusion by helping them as they carry out their duties. “I think that we should be focused on how we can make Slippery Rock a more diverse and inclusive campus, and that just comes back to supporting the vice president of Diversity and Inclusion in whatever they decide to pursue.” Graziani and Sciuto agree that attending campus events is another way they can support the vice president of Diversity and Inclusion. “Whenever we had Dr. Yusef Salaam come to campus, instead of having our meeting that week for SGA, we actually all attended the event,” Graziani said. “It was a great way for us to get out of our normal setting and situation and experience a phenomenal speaker.” Candidates also responded to the unanswered audience questions following the town hall. The next SGA virtual town hall meeting will be on April 23 at 5 p.m. on Zoom. The CORE form is open until April 22. This event will feature a panel of guests to answer questions about campus sustainability. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SGA executive board candidates respond to questions in virtual town hall Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nina Cipriani Relation A related resource SRU Student https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/3e2db8d85c9268edd6f452bc1995de26.pdf f728ca00cb647934cace30e3bd86d90d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document National Student Employee Appreciation Week is April 13-17 and offices and departments on Slippery Rock’s campus have began to recognize their student workers through social media. The Office for Inclusive Excellence (OIE), Payroll and Student Employment and other offices celebrated their student employees with posts of their pictures and names on social media, such as Twitter. Although student workers aren’t on campus, they are still working remotely with their superiors. Amy Kayser, a second year graduate student in the master of public health program with a major concentration in health promotion and wellness, is a graduate assistant with the enrollment services office. Kayser manages Slippery Rock’s social media account including Youtube, Instagram and Twitter as well as helping the office manage the SRU Students account on Twitter. “I really love working with students and getting to hear all their stories,” Kayser said. “Part of the job is to produce the SRU success story videos that you may have seen floating around the internet. I really get to learn where students come from and how their background feeds into their success at Slippery Rock.” Similarly to Kayser and her enjoyment of working with students, Emma Burgman, a senior public relations major, worked with housing and residence life and is currently a social media specialist at the Office for Community Engaged Learning. Burgman said that she loved going to work and being able to talk with her boss and work with the graphic designer at the office. Although a senior, Burgman is working remotely, mainly to train the next student who will take over her position. Burgman started in the position when she was a sophomore and holds a place on the media and outreach team where she runs the social media accounts and keeps a favorable image of the different programs offered. “I get to graduate with experience in the field I want to go into,” Burgman said. “My second [favorite part] would be the community of the office. Everyone is so supportive and it wasn’t like they are my coworkers, they are my friends too.” A common theme following the community of student workers on campus is friendship, and Gabby Yannellio, a sophomore public relations major, agrees. Yannellio works for the Payroll and Student Employment Office and helps with marketing materials, assisting students with applying for jobs and going through their paperwork. “All of my coworkers have gotten me out of my shell,” Yannellio said. Although these students are missing the campus community and their coworkers, they are still working remotely during the semester. Kayser said that her job doesn’t ever stop and that social media is 24/7 and constantly has to be checking the accounts. “..it’s stressful, especially during this pandemic,” Kayser said. “At first, a lot of people were tweeting at Slippery Rock wondering where their money is, where this is at, or what are we going to do? It’s difficult to not always have those answers as a graduate assistant.” Also managing social media accounts is Burgman, who said that she is currently focusing on handing over the position to another student, which was in the process before classes moved online. Burgman is also letting students know through the social media accounts that the Office for Community Engaged Learning is still there for them. “To anybody, especially underclassmen, when it comes to employment, branch out and see what is out there,” Burgman said. “There is a lot of opportunities on campus and honestly, I didn’t think I would be graduating with the experience that I had.” Gaining valuable experience through student employment is something that Gabby Yannellio is familiar with. Before taking her position as the Payroll and Student Employment Office, she worked a little bit with the President’s Commission for Gender Identity and Expression and Sexual Orientation (GIESO). “You have to interact with students all day and all the people I work with are really outgoing,” Yannellio said. From home, Yannellio creates content for the Payroll and Student Employment Office, keeping in touch with her supervisor and sending drafts back and forth. Although the employees are missing their on campus jobs and their coworkers, all agree that searching for a job on campus is a good way to gain experience and establish a connection with the campus community. “If you’re looking for an opportunity to really make yourself well-rounded and build your connections, friendships and professional relationships, then student employment is the way to go,” Kayser said. “I really think that some of the most fun jobs out there are on our campus.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SRU supports student employees Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-17 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/ba463cff7c9bbb854a4549ab0ffc2c8e.pdf 5dcdb4062e48bea5e518144977fb4daa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document In a statement released by the University Program Board (UPB) Thursday afternoon on Twitter, the Roddy Rich spring concert has been cancelled “due to the recent closure of Slippery Rock University’s campus and the transition to remote learning for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester.” Derek Brewer, a junior advertising major and director of Concerts and Comedians, said in an emailed statement that he is really sad the outcome had to be like this and that he works hard on these events for the students. Refunds for original ticket holders only will begin Friday the 17. Those who purchased tickets with their card can see a refund on their card within a week. Students who purchased tickets with cash will see a refund in the form of a check mailed to their SRU Banner Address. Students should wait two to four weeks for their checks to arrive. “No one needs distractions more than now, and music is the best distraction in my opinion,” Brewer said. “I wanted this to be great for everyone, but no one should risk their lives for a concert.” In their Twitter statement, UPB said that they appreciate the patience during this unique situation and are looking forward to providing new entertainment experiences in the future. All questions should be directed to the SRUPB and can be emailed at upb@sru.edu. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource UPB sponsored Roddy Ricch concert cancelled Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-17 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/42a0aab06235c95be90464c571e1287e.pdf 6a9bc40670d25c66f712e9af1899be86 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document In the event of football being postponed or outright cancelled in the 2020 season, there will not be layoffs or budget cuts in order to “save” the athletic department — which has been discussed at various Division I institutes — at Slippery Rock University, according to SRU Director of Athletics Paul Lueken. “Division I football at the Power Five level is such a money generator, it’s the lifeblood of their athletic programs in a lot of places, where at our Division II level, yeah, we generate some revenue, it would hurt us in some areas if we couldn’t play — more so the parking revenue and ticket sales since that money goes back to athletic scholarships — but we could survive it,” Lueken said. “We wouldn’t have to make any drastic cuts like some of those schools at the Division I level are taking. We wouldn’t be looking at eliminating any sports.” While the athletic staff and coaches do not have to worry about being laid off or furloughed, and there is no imminent threat to “smaller” sports being cut altogether, that does not mean the athletic department is not facing big changes. If the NCAA decides to postpone the college football season or extend the suspension of spring sports this semester, Slippery Rock would follow suit with the NCAA guidelines, Lueken said. The only way that would change, in regard to football, would be in the event that the NCAA postpones the season through January or February. “Playing football games in January in Slippery Rock just doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Lueken said. Still reminiscing on Slippery Rock’s December playoff game against Minnesota State, Lueken had the sight of swirling snow and biting winds in mind. While the football team has the ability to play outdoors late into the winter, most teams at SRU do not have the facilities or the ability to run late into the winter months. “[Football] could do it, we’d be fine — our facilities’ folks are good at clearing the field — and we have brand new turf, but I don’t know if people want to sit out in the cold,” Lueken said. While the fall season is still wildly uncertain, and not likely to be decided for some time, the coaches — of all sports — have continued to work from home. In a way, the coaches are in the same boat as the students. “We’ve put together a plan, and the coaches have all been really good at developing that plan for each of their sports,” Lueken said. “We hadn’t totally been taken off campus yet, and I already had the coaches working on what we’re calling a plan of operation plan for the spring.” Lueken said the coaches have each submitted a report to him, focusing on four topics: fundraising, student support in academics and welfare, reviewing strength and conditioning and recruiting. With the forced time off from physical recruiting and actually being in-season, Lueken said the coaches have been working on revising strength and conditioning plans to come back stronger in the fall — since there likely won’t be scheduled team activity once summer rolls around. Additionally, coaches have continued to build recruiting databases, work on non-conference schedules and finalize budgeting with the Slippery Rock Student Government Association. Like SRU students reporting to their professors, the coaches report back to Lueken on what they have been doing. “Everyone is working remotely, using Zoom to connect with student-athletes, and doing well,” Lueken said. “Each Friday, they give me a report on the four areas and anything else they’re working on.” While coaches can not physically interact with their athletes, they have been finding virtual ways to stay connected and in the loop. “They’re zooming and video chatting, texting and emailing their student-athletes,” Lueken said. “We’re allowing eight hours a week of countable athletic related activity, but no physical activities. The workouts are on their own, and they can’t report that back.” With two hours of film a week, Lueken said the teams have used Hudl to watch film and Zoom to interact while watching. It’s been a way to keep Zoom speeds higher while still regularly communicating throughout the week. With long-time field hockey coach Julie Swiney stepping down at the end of May, Lueken said the nationwide search has continued through Zoom. “We Zoom interviewed four candidates, and we had a session for our student-athletes on the field hockey team with each candidate,” Lueken said. “We surveyed them and got feedback from them. Right now, the committee is reviewing background checks for candidates.” With coaches working from home, the only access to the facilities has been Travis Wunsch and Noah Hastings, the facilities team at Slippery Rock. Lueken said the two have been coming in periodically, at different times to ensure social distancing, to check on facilities, equipment rooms, taking inventory and making sure everything is running without incident. But with the lack of a presence at the facilities, Lueken said stronger precautions have had to be enforced. “We’ve had to secure some of our facilities a little tighter than we normally would,” Lueken said. “People sometimes like to help themselves. It’s a challenge, especially our stadium. We’re doing some work on the one end, and there was an opening in the fence, but we closed that Thursday.” The borough police have been helping to ensure that people have not been trespassing in athletic facilities on campus, but for the large part, the community has been cooperating during the unprecedented times. Lueken said he is incredibly grateful for that, but you can not keep everyone away. “We had to put a padlock on the lights in the field house to stop people from helping themselves to the indoor track,” Lueken said. “The doors are locked, but people always find a way.” Lueken stressed that Old Thompson Field remains open to the public, and he encouraged people to continue going and practicing social distancing. With the disappointment of a cancelled spring season, Lueken lamented the loss of some promising sports. “I was disappointed for spring sports,” Lueken said. “We were excited about lacrosse. They got the brand new turf, they got to practice on it but didn’t get a chance to play a game on it. Baseball was getting a new facility, and softball was done last year.” Despite not being able to take the field at Jack Critchfield Park, Lueken said the park was a week from opening when the workers were forced to shut down. The warning track and turf on the outfield and the fair territory on the third base side needs to be finished, but Lueken praised the beautiful facility. Of course, no one knows when the park will finally be opened for games, as Slippery Rock recently announced the cancellation of all face-to-face activities on campus until at least July 31. As no teams actually report back to campus until the second week of August, Lueken was just hopeful that Rock athletics will be able to return to its normal schedule. With the hazy schedule, a theme for literally everyone in the United States, Lueken said student-athletes will need to do a good job conditioning away from the team. With veteran teams across most of the varsity sports, teams will know what to do. For Lueken, a 25 — almost 26– year veteran as an AD, the only thing that comes to mind in terms of sheer shock and magnitude of shutdowns is 9/11. That weekend, everything was shut down for a time of mourning,” Lueken said. But even then, he acknowledged that leagues started back up rather quickly. The fastest way back to the fields, courts, pitches, in Lueken’s eyes, lies in listening to those who know best. “We gotta do what our medical professionals and leaders are telling us to do,” Lueken said. “Stay home and social distance.” While the cancellation of athletics this season has been hard on Lueken, it has only been temporary. Thankfully, no sports have had to be cut, which is all he can ask for. “It’s up there,” Lueken said. “It’s not the top one, though, in 2006, when we dropped those sports, that was a tough decision. That was the toughest thing I ever had to experience in my athletic career.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The state of athletics, zoom learning and locked facilities Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the sports section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-14 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Karl Ludwig Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/a1f6a7337eaf69b7b2908416f2cd1bac.pdf 639ed06ee84a5a675c595ba7f06f5ed3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document UPDATE (April 14, 2:06 pm) — MultiVersity Housing Partners, owners and management for University Village at Slippery Rock, has responded for comment. Anthony Magnelli, principal of MultiVersity Housing Partners (MVHP), sent a prepared statement regarding rent and COVID-19. “We are absolutely empathetic regarding the situation and challenges the COVID-19 pandemic is creating, as well as the impact it’s having on everyone,” Magnelli said. “We have been actively researching local and national financial support resources that we can refer residents to even as we get updates on legislation and other relief resources. We have also been working with residents on waiving late fees for payments as well as [setting] up payment plans or working through any hardships they may be eligible for. “Given we are a private operator, we are independent from the University and as such, our leases are not connected to the University’s operating status or whether or not school is in session,” he continued, “so we have an obligation to stay open on behalf of our residents who chose to stay or plan on returning in order to keep the facilities operational.” Magnelli added that MultiVersity Property Management (MVPM, LLC) is launching a fund that will provide relief to residents of their communities. According to a statement sent by Magnelli, the MVHP Resident Helping Hand Fund has been created to provide financial relief to residents that have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus. “The fund shall endeavor to raise additional funds to help expand our relief efforts for our student-residents,” the statement reads. “Each resident with a demonstrated financial need for the 2020-21 school year will be able to submit a written request in a format provided by the fund for assistance.” According to the statement, the fund identifies tuition, rent and textbooks as costs that qualify for assistance. Further information and details about the fund will be released in the coming weeks, Magnelli said. ORIGINAL STORY (April 13) — Campus closures have forced many students to return home as they continue their studies online, but what does this mean for those who live in off-campus housing? With nearly 10 million Americans filing for unemployment (including many college students), April 1 was sure to be a difficult day for apartment tenants. According to CNN, 31% of American renters didn’t pay their rent this month. Many students who have leases with off-campus housing complexes are still expected to pay rent, even though many of them have left their Slippery Rock apartments to return home. Many of these students were employed on campus or were laid off because their employers had to close business and currently don’t have a source of income. Stonecrest tenant and SRU student Delaney Shaffer was working on campus for the WSRU-FM radio station and the Office of Student Conduct. She said she’s still receiving her stipend for her position at the radio station, and she’s doing alternative student work eight hours per week, but her current income isn’t enough to pay her rent. “I thought ahead and saved up enough to pay this month’s rent,” Shaffer said. “But I don’t have steady jobs like I had on campus anymore.” Shaffer said all Stonecrest tenants received an email March 25 stating that they must continue to pay their monthly rent to the best of their abilities. If they cannot pay rent, they must submit documentation outlining why they’re unable to pay (e.g. job furlough, layoffs) and a payment plan. Depending on the individual’s situation, Shaffer added, all late fees will be waived as well. “It just doesn’t seem right that we have to pay for something that we’re not using right now,” Shaffer said. Stine Evenstroem, an SRU student from Norway, said The Ivy at University Village is still charging the full rate for rent, including charges for closed amenities like the clubhouse and volleyball court. She added that there is an additional $20 service fee when paying online, which only further inconveniences tenants like her. “I have to use my Norwegian card because I don’t have checks in the United States,” Evenstroem said. “I have to pay online — I don’t really have a choice.” She added that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the economy in Norway as well, which has caused the value of its currency to increase. She said one U.S. dollar is normally equivalent to nine Norwegian krones (NOK), but because of the coronavirus’s impact on the economy, it’s increased to 12 NOK per USD. “Because I’m paying for my apartment in U.S. dollars while my bank account has Norwegian currency, I’m paying $200 more than I normally do with the currency change,” Evenstroem said. “That money could’ve gone toward other things like groceries.” She said she was working on campus for Athletic Communications, but with campus being closed and all campus sports being cancelled indefinitely, she doesn’t really have a job. Her only source of income now, she added, is the money she receives from the Norwegian government that goes toward her education, housing, groceries and other necessities. “I was able to pay this month’s rent with the money from the government, and I’m confident that I’ll be able to continue paying rent for the rest of the semester,” Evenstroem said. “I just don’t think it’s right that University Village isn’t doing anything to help us out.” SRU student Alyssa Smith said she recently moved out of her apartment at The Grove because she could no longer afford to live there. She said The Grove is still expecting all current tenants to pay the regular rate for rent, even though amenities such as the fitness center and clubhouse are closed. “It really speaks for itself,” Smith said. “It shows just how little they actually care about their tenants. A lot of their tenants are students, who can barely afford rent as it is.” Meagan Reed, general manager of The Grove, said she cannot provide any express comments, but shared a statement from The Grove’s ownership. “Thank you so much for reaching out,” Reed said via email. “We hope that you and everyone are staying safe and healthy. During this challenging time for all, we are not providing any specific comments, as we are working hard to support and stay focused on our residents.” University Village and Stonecrest did not respond for comment. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Students expected to pay rent amid campus closure Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-13 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Allison Downs Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/3eba11bb8d1188a00873188621fb3a4b.pdf 4055f426fb3ea46ed107d02669a38c34 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document While the Aebersold Recreation Center has been closed since March 12 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Campus Recreation has continued its wellness initiative on its social media platforms. Karen Perry, director of campus recreation, said that Campus Recreation promotes all aspects of wellness, not solely physical wellness. “Campus Rec is wellness, so we hit all aspects of wellness everyday in what we do in Campus Rec,” Perry said. “So whether it’s social, physical, or mental, it all comes through.” Last week, as SRU’s classes resumed online, Campus Recreation began to push a stronger social media presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Posts include contests, at-home workouts and videos. “We tried to hit more from the social media standpoint because that’s what a lot of people are relating to right now,” Perry said. As a continuation of the Rock 30 campaign, “Walk 30” will take place April 8 through May 8 to encourage social media followers to take a 30-minute walk or do 30 minutes of exercise at home each day. Karly Balon, a senior exercise science major, worked at the ARC since her freshman year. In her final semester at SRU, she was hired as one of three interns in the fitness center under the leadership of Ryan Stack, assistant director of wellness. After face-to-face classes at SRU were suspended, Stack spoke with Balon and the other interns about continuing to promote wellness and campus recreation remotely. At this meeting, Balon offered to do live workouts. “We wanted to keep everyone active, keep everyone moving, so we sort of discussed what we could bring as students and as interns,” Balon said. Campus Recreation is partnering with the Virtual Involvement Team to continue engagement with the SRU community remotely. Balon specifically hosts an Instagram Live session each Wednesday at 4 p.m. for #WellnessWednesday, one of the weekly themes for virtual involvement initiative. During the first trial run on April 1, Balon’s live workout earned 56 engagements on Instagram. Now, the other two fitness center interns, Rose Henzel and Andrew Green, will host workouts on Instagram Live at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively. If someone cannot follow along to a live workout, workouts are posted regularly on Campus Recreation’s Twitter page. “Social media wise, we’re using Instagram and Twitter to promote almost like a wellness challenge,” Balon said. “So whether it’s meditation, whether it’s writing down positive things about yourself or whether it’s a workout challenge, we just want to keep campus and the community healthy in all aspects of health, all aspects of wellness.” Balon hopes that community members working out alongside her during the live workouts get good energy, some laughs and the motivation to complete a workout. “Even if they are in their own home or outside, really I just want people to stay active in this time,” Balon said. “I know it’s a big stress reliever for me. If I can do my part by helping others through, if that’s the way I can help others, then I’ll do it.” Concerning other aspects of wellness, Perry reminds the SRU community that taking care of yourself is essential during the pandemic. Perry, who lives close to SRU and has been walking on campus as part of her routine, recommends creating a flexible routine that includes some aspect of wellness. “If you’re not taking care of yourself through either sleeping, taking time for some sleep or from activity or that routine of what you have to do then prioritizing the things that are really important each day, then I think it’s going to be too overwhelming,” Perry said. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Promoting wellness remotely: Campus Recreation engages community via social media Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-11 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Virtual Birds and Bagels connects the community to nature https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/1604d344c35f9277c5ad712e77c3a95b.pdf d735236c240582a2867444e84c8415c6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Despite changes with distant learning, the Office of Disability Services at SRU is trying to remain as normal as possible. All faculty and staff are working remotely from home and using Zoom and Google Voice accounts to communicate with students. Dr. Natalie Burick, the director of Disability Services, said even though she misses having face-to-face interaction with the students, that her office is not changing all that much. She said that all the staff are working remotely and utilizing Zoom for face-to-face meetings and Google Voice to text and call students. “We are still doing a lot of virtual meetings and staying connected with our students as much as we possibly can,” Burick said. She said they send out weekly email updates to the students who utilize their services about anything they need to look out for, upcoming scheduling, how accommodations can work for them from a virtual environment, and asking them if they need the office to contact faculty for them. She said faculty is being really helpful and working closely with them to accommodate students. “We are keeping busy and working a lot with faculty on figuring out accommodations and how they can work with testing,” Burick said. “They, in D2L, can extend students’ time for tests, so we have sent those instructions out to all faculty.” She said several students use the extended time option for tests, such as student dealing with anxiety. Faculty can also give students with accommodations unlimited time to take exams if they choose to. Burick said that faculty have changed the time allotted and the date for when the test is due for certain students. Burick said that some students need their tests read to them. “We read tests for students in our office on a daily basis,” Burick said. That option is still available, she said, if students go to D2L and request that they take a test with the office of Disability Services, just like they would if staff was in the office. “We will get the test request in an email and approve it and then schedule a Zoom meeting to meet with them to actually read it to them,” Burick said. She said many students are very overwhelmed right now and that she is working with faculty to come up with a better plan for those students. She said that there are two graduate assistants that work for the office that are also helping to meet with students who choose to still set up meetings. Class note-takers are still being utilized as well. “We put an email out to note-takers basically saying that if you are taking notes for someone, to please continue as you normally would because those students will definitely still be needing notes,” Burick said. She said some students are finding it hard to take notes for students because everything is detailed in D2L, and if that is the case, the office works with both the note-taker and the student receiving notes to make sure they are getting what they need. Burick said that Accommodate is the program that they use, which provides easy access for everyone. “Accommodate is a web-based program that makes it easier for our staff and students to access the program,” Burick said. “Students can access through D2L and there is a link for staff, meaning that I can access it right from my home.” Burick said she wants to make sure students know that they can reach out. “We are taking new students and new requests as well,” Burick said. “If a student finds themself in a situation where they need accommodations or are injured, such as with a concussion, we can set up new accommodations virtually as well.” She said they are still doing their fall 2020 freshman class meetings as well to ensure those students know they are here for them too. Burick said that she is happy with how everything is going, despite being stuck at home without human interaction. “We aren’t doing tests in our office or face-to-face meetings, but everything else is pretty much the same,” Burick said. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Office of Disability Services continues to aid students Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the news section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-10 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Haley Potter Relation A related resource SRU Student Virtual Birds and Bagels connects the community to nature https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/632d2d271a193f5a7c54fc9b964789d4.pdf 49302ede9c21b80c06c460d5c52913c7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The Macoskey Center hosted Virtual Birds and Bagels Tuesday morning over ZOOM, adjusting the event to an online format. Samantha Laurence, the manager of the Macoskey Center for Sustainability Education and Research, said that it was the center’s third year of the event. Laurence said that the Macoskey Center wanted to involve the community in Project Feeder Watch, a citizens’ science project through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. As part of the project, two feeders were set up outside the Macoskey Center windows and data was recorded twice a week with various bird species. “We thought, what better to do this with our larger community,” Laurence said. “We would typically go out on the trails and hike to record bird data as well, with food and free coffee to make it more enticing.” Now, the Birds and Bagels event was shifted to a virtual format, with Garrett Talkington senior geography major with a concentration in environmental studies and sustainability leading the 9 a.m. session. Talkington said that he developed a lesson plan for the session and utilized the breakout rooms feature on Zoom. The feature enabled viewers to view two virtual cameras that were placed in Ithaca, New York, the location of Cornell University and at a location in Alabama. “There is no way we could have done that if we were at the Macoskey Center,” Talkington said. The first virtual birds and bagels event attracted about 20 audience members, from students to those outside the area, such as Maryland. Talkington said that sustainability is the foundation for why the Macoskey Center is in Slippery Rock. “Sustainability doesn’t stop at the student level, it reaches out into the community,” Talkington said. “For us to build relationships and partnerships with the community, means that we are supporting them in whatever efforts they want to take in terms of sustainability” Laurence agrees. Along with the importance of adding to citizen’s science and collection data, she said that is important to promote building community through the interaction with nature. Laurence said that the Macoskey Center had to quickly shift to think what building the community would look like virtually. “People are seeking resemblance of normalcy, community and contact with people,” Laurence said. “Bird watching is one of the most calming things you can do and the birds don’t stop during a pandemic; they are still migrating. I think the fact that we can focus on something that is still continuing in it’s normal patter like that has a sense of security and comfort in the midst of all that is changing around us.” Laurence said that the Macoskey Center is still providing a community as well as outlets and options to distract from the regular daily challenges. “Seek solace not only in nature but also through sustainable actions and projects,” Laurence said. Throughout the rest of Earth Month, the Macoskey Center will have posts focused on what students and the community can do at home to promote and practice sustainability. The Macoskey Center will also be releasing a series of videos of staff showing how they live sustainably. Future events for the Macoksey Center are a film screening of Taking Root, in collaboration with the Women’s Center and another Virtual Birds and Bagels, April 28 at 9 a.m. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Virtual Birds and Bagels connects the community to nature Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hope Hoehler Relation A related resource SRU Student Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-10 Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/1749296ffde6a92d65d2024b2f4dcdcd.pdf f8fe18e519beb9b4db6c6a1f4f0f7a80 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document In a hard time such as this, and with Easter fast approaching, religious student communities are continuing to do their best to pass on the word of God. During a typical week on campus, The Harbor, a Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO) campus ministry, meets on Wednesday evenings in the Smith Student Center. The group talks before listening to context for their reading later in the meeting. The members then break into smaller groups and read through a passage of the Bible, typically discussing and interpreting 10-15 verses afterwards. The readings are meant to be applied to the students’ lives and the Slippery Rock campus. On a weekly basis, Cru, another religious student community, who sometimes collaborates with The Harbor for events, does men’s and women’s bible studies, usually on Thursday nights in ATS. Neither The Harbor or Cru have given up on their weekly meetings. “It’s been a whirlwind for everyone, especially the leaders,” said Lilly Beck, a fifth-year senior social work major and animal-assisted interventions minor who is a Harbor community member who used to be on the organization’s leadership board. “Because they’re still striving to connect with people that they’ve either just met or to make friendships.” Cru has found a way to include other northwestern Pennsylvania colleges and mission trip partners such as Clarion, Penn State-Behrend and Edinboro. Micah Garber, a junior biology major and the president of Cru at Slippery Rock, said that the organization is taking advantage of the extra time that Zoom meetings allow. “What’s cool about it is we all just hang out then afterwards, just to catch up and get to know one another,” Garber said. “Moving to virtual club meetings have definitely been an adjustment for us,” said Ally Velcko, a junior plastics engineering technology major at Penn State Behrend, who has participated in the meetings. “However, it has provided opportunities […] to build a community across northwestern Pennsylvania and interact with students that we wouldn’t have gotten to see on a day-to-day basis when we were on campus. The Harbor’s community members were challenged by the leaders during the first meeting to reach out to one or two new people every week or so to make new friends. “[We don’t] want to lose that connection simply because we’re online now,” Beck said. Transitioning organization events has been the biggest hurdle in adapting, added Beck. The Harbor frequently provides tea to students in the Quad on Tuesdays. “The Dock,” an open mic night held once a semester, usually in the Ski Lodge, may not take place this spring. Both Garber and Velcko said the Cru community prays that God’s name is glorified and that people will grow because of this time. Garber feels that religion is sometimes used only in times of need. “It’s like your life vest,” said Garber. “You only depend on it whenever you need help. It really gets taken for granted. I think it’s important 24/7.” “Just because church services are canceled doesn’t mean our worship is canceled as well,” Velcko said. “Everyday, we are called to live in a way that glorifies God: not just Sundays. We do that by loving others well and serving them the same way Christ did. And, remember, God is in control. None of this has come as a surprise to Him. Trust that He will work everything out for good and that He will be glorified in spite of the coronavirus.” While Garber feels student-to-student interaction is helpful in community growth, he said that attending mass or bible studies aren’t the most important factors in demonstrating one’s faith. “My biggest advice would be to just continue to spend time in the world by yourself,” Garber said. “It doesn’t always have to be with other people and that’s where sometimes I think people miss the mark. It’s not about going to church, it’s about your relationship with God.” Members of Cru are hopeful that the interaction continues once the situation blows over. “It will be exciting to see how we will incorporate the virtual element of these meetings when we transition back to campus in the fall,” Velcko said. “We don’t have anything planned at this time, but I am hopeful that all of the northwestern Pennsylvania campuses will continue to meet together once classes end.” Garber offered advice on worshipping during this time, saying that sermons and podcasts from pastors are posted online. He also said that some worship musicians are putting out new music sooner than previously expected. “A church isn’t simply a […] building,” Beck said. “It’s a community, and I think now is the time to really make those deeper connections.” Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Religious communities praise despite pandemic Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-10 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Brendan Howe Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket https://slipperyrockcovid19.org/files/original/7772a48c583dd3c25523a655d7dd8cc7.pdf 8b06b4c1efe8e7f546ea8031a5f6936c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Rocket Description An account of the resource Items from Slippery Rock University's official student newspaper, The Rocket. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Registration for summer and fall classes begins on Monday, and due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are some changes this time around. Here is what you need to know before you schedule: 1Registration pins are not required… In the past, undergraduate students were required to enter a registration pin from their advisor. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, students and their advisors are unable to meet in person. 2… but you should probably talk to your advisor anyway. In an email to students on April 1, the Office of Academic Records and Registration encouraged students to meet virtually with their advisors. While the elimination of registration pins means that students don’t have to take this step, According to the email, the Office of Academic Records and Registration states that advisors “will provide you with accurate information and will recommend the appropriate classes available to fulfill your degree requirements without wasting time and money on irrelevant classes.” 3Summer classes will be held remotely. All summer classes will be held online, SRU President William Behre announced via email on March 30. This announcement came after Dan Greenstein, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, informed university presidents of an extended suspension of face-to-face classes. While the majority of SRU’s summer courses are normally held online, this will change the nature of some courses originally designed to be taught on campus this summer. 4Get familiar with MyProfile before you register. The Office of Academic Records and Registration recommends verifying your information is up to date. After logging into MySRU, click on “MyProfile” on the homepage. Select the “Personal Information Page” and ensure all of your information is still accurate. 5Figure out when you register. After logging into “MySRU,” click the “Registration” tab and select “Step 1: Prepare for Registration.” Select the summer 2020 or fall 2020 term and you will be redirected to a page that will list when you are permitted to register. This page will also notify you if you have any holds preventing registration. 6Know where to go for help. Picture this: You have all your course registration numbers (CRNs) ready and you are at your computer waiting to register. As soon as your time to register comes and you go to submit your class schedule, you suddenly get an error code preventing you from getting a seat in a class. It has happened to most of us for one reason or another, but it is helpful to know where to go ahead of time should a problem arise. If you receive an error code while registering for a class, you will need to contact the professor of the course (or, if the professor is listed as TBA, the department chairperson). Make sure you inform the professor of the error codes you received so they can potentially put in an override for you. The Office of Academic Records and Registration notes that if you get an override from a professor, you will still need to register for the class. For other questions and concerns about scheduling, contact the Office of Academic Records and Registration at academic.records@sru.edu or 724-738-2010 or Academic Services at academicservices@sru.edu or 724-738-2012. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource How to prepare for scheduling for classes remotely Description An account of the resource This story was originally published in the campus life section of The Rocket's website, theonlinerocket.com. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-08 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hannah Shumsky Relation A related resource SRU Student Article SRU Student Story The Rocket