By Ruby Churchill Photo by Brady Sandes There are many new, exciting clubs to join on campus. If you are looking to make your year at Simpson University truly memorable, consider diving into student involvement. There are many vibrant clubs on campus you can join. If none of them seem to align with your interests, creating a brand-new club is always an option. Among the latest additions is the Simpson Pickleball Club, which was launched this year. For those unfamiliar, Pickleball is a sport played with a ball and paddles, like tennis. As a member of the Pickleball Club, you can anticipate playing numerous games at Enterprise Park with some skilled teammates. Club President Brady Sandes explains that Pickleball is simple to learn and enjoy. “Pickleball’s a pretty low impact and easy sport to get the hang of…it’s super easy to fall in love with, everybody that I’ve played with is just now completely addicted, including myself,” Sandes said. Sandes also mentioned that they are in the process of designing club shirts. To get involved and enjoy some friendly competition, reach out to Sandes via email. If you have a penchant for games and competition, the Game Club is your haven. Whether you relish board games, card games, or video games, you are always welcome to join the fun in the game room. “The gaming club is supposed to be an environment where people can come, meet up with people, and just hang out…it’s more of a community and less of a club,” Club President Bobby Rutledge said. Rutledge also assures that the club is very flexible: “It’s not a very strict club. If you come and then realize oh, in a month I won’t be able to come, just come when you can and we’ll have fun and hang out.” As a member, you can expect to forge connections with a diverse group of people. You will also enjoy playing many different games. The club even acquires new games for its members' enjoyment. To get involved, come to a meeting. The Game Club meets in Owen Center at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. You can also contact Rutledge directly via email for more information. Lastly, Simpson University has a new spirit club. It is aptly named Red Sea. Members of this club demonstrate Simpson's school spirit at sports events. They are responsible for making games fun for spectators while encouraging athletes to do their best. “We go to events, we go to sports, and our job literally is just to have fun and create community because our school is based around sports for the most part and we wanted to bring the fun, bring the energy and the excitement to those sports,” Club President Kaitlyn Frederick said. “With both of our high schools, they were both very spirited and so basically that’s what we’re trying to do, is to just get a really fun student section to bring the hype,” Vice President Bella Balsano added. To get involved in the excitement, join in at sports events or email Frederick or Balsano. While these represent some of the newer clubs on campus, there is a plethora of others awaiting your participation. The following is a list of more established clubs at Simpson University: SU Vida Black Student Union Asian American Fellowship and Experience Engineering alliance Political Science Club Adventure club Fishing Club Sustainability Club Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Game Club Nursing Club As a final option, consider joining the school newspaper. If you have aspirations of writing for The Slate, a journalism class is available. You can contribute to a reputable news source on campus, get your articles published, and interview a variety of interesting people. For more information, feel free to reach out to Jacob Greene. Clubs are a great way to get involved. You can make connections and enrich your university experience.

By Ruby Churchill ChatGPT has taken college campuses like Simpson University by storm. The artificially intelligent chatbot, launched in 2022, is a natural language processing tool that people can converse with or assign tasks to. It is capable of writing or editing emails, essays, and code. What sets it apart from its peers is its remarkable convenience and accessibility. Potential users can access the free version or choose to use the subscription option. The latter has benefits like faster response times and access to the newest model GPT-4. This program is prevalent throughout the world of academia. According to an article from Forbes, a staggering 90% of students have heard of ChatGPT and 89% have admitted to using it for homework assignments. Many educators are concerned about these developments and the ethical issues presented. Some have considered or followed through with banning the program from school networks. Others, however, see the launch of artificial intelligence, or AI, as an opportunity to improve education. Rosealine Lemette, Assistant Professor of Digital Media, expressed the importance of integrating ChatGPT into the learning environment at Simpson University instead of prohibiting students from using it. “If we ban it we’re not really living in our existence of what’s happening and we’re just hiding it,” Lemette said. There are certainly still worries about the prospect of cheating and other issues with ChatGPT, which Professor Lemette acknowledged. “Of course there’s concern. There’s concern of over exposure, increased anxiety…where do the safeguard features come in,” Lemette said. Simpson University students also have strong opinions of ChatGPT. According to Senior Emily Jacobson, using AI for homework is unethical. “It's cheating. If you’re having it write your answers, that’s plagiarism,” Jacobson said. However, Jacobson added that ChatGPT could be valuable if used similarly to search engines for research purposes and ideas. “It’s a resource, just like Google is, where you can get information. But if you’re using it to write your papers that’s still plagiarism. But if we limit people from being able to use ChatGPT...then we are limiting people’s access to resources and honestly it’s not going to stop the people who want to use it for bad reasons anyway,” Jacobson said. At Simpson University, professors and students alike can see the benefits and drawbacks of ChatGPT in education. The number of students accessing the program on campus is increasing. So is the necessity of integrating the program into classrooms to teach students how to use it responsibly.

By Christian Valdez Image from Simpson University Campus Life Instagram page An exhilarated crowd cheered for more as a Simpson student masterfully delivered his final performance at Night Life. Mark Balleza is an outdoor leadership major from the Bay Area who is going to graduate next semester. Balleza performed one of the closing acts at Night Life on April 16. Balleza closed the night with a comedy sketch that earned him the People’s Host award in the competition. The outdoor leadership major received an Amazon gift card with the honor. The air was filled with consistent laughter during Balleza’s performance. It is difficult to accept that this performance almost did not happen. The Bay Area native was gone most of the week traveling for baseball causing him to miss the tryouts for Night Life that took place earlier that week. Sarah Jobson, one of the event coordinators, offered Balleza the opportunity to still perform that Sunday night. Jobson is to thank for helping get Balleza on stage. The outdoor leadership major had participated in the Night Life event a year prior. Balleza sang the song Traitor by Olivia Rodrigo. “It was just for giggles, I just sang, and I almost won which is kinda crazy, I didn't even practice, I just went up there,” Balleza said about last year's performance. Balleza returned to the stage this year with an entirely new act. Balleza did not stray from his methods. He was surprised that he was able to participate. “I did it all on the fly though and it was last minute,” Balleza said. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed Balleza’s stand-up comedy sketch as well as the other performances that night. Angelica Hurtado, the assistant director for the TRIO program, was a judge for the event. “They were all so amazing. It was really neat to see students, staff, faculty, and even our very own president showcase different talents. We had a great variety of comedy, music, dancing, poetic words, etc,” Hurtado said. The judges rated each act based on four categories. The categories were crowd response, overall talent, overall performance, and creativity according to Hurtado. Belleza definitely excelled in the crowd response category as the students cheered thunderously for him. “It was fun, I just enjoyed the moment cause you're not gonna have that when you graduate college, I rather just cherish the little things,” said Belleza. Balleza touches on the beauty of college events in this statement. College does not last forever. Balleza thinks that we should enjoy it while it lasts. Balleza is enjoying his college experience while it lasts. He is definitely appreciating the little things by participating in school events. Maybe we should appreciate our time in college more.

By Christian Valdez Photo from SU Diversity and Excellence Instagram Black Student Union organized a memorable event for Simpson students to celebrate African American culture in March. The Simpson community gathered in the Student Union on March 22 for a black history celebration. The event began with serving soul food at 5 p.m. Then the students logged onto a black history-themed Kahoot! to compete for prizes. The night concluded at 9 p.m. after watching the film 42. Black Student Union president, Taneyea Lashell Boyd, helped orchestrate the event. Although Black History Month concluded before the event, “Here at Simpson, we are going to celebrate black history every month,” Boyd said. Black history is not just limited to a month. Boyd described the Kahoot! as a fun way to educate people on black history. This was enjoyable for the students, setting the stage for the celebration. The food had the same effect. Curley Wilson cooked collard greens, ham, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, deviled eggs, and banana pudding for the students. The Simpson community came together for this celebration. Boyd said that creating community is what the Black Student Union is all about. “A place not only for those on campus who identify as black or African American students, it's also for people who are friends and allies to come learn about our history, our culture and make everyone feel more included on campus and create a sense of community,” said Boyd. BSU welcomes everyone. The club meets biweekly. The members meet to talk about their experiences. They also discuss black history topics. Shondra Dickinson and Curley Wilson play pivotal roles in making these meetings possible. “Just because it's called black student union does not mean that it is only for African American or those who identify as black, it is for everyone on campus and you don’t have to feel like you are not welcome because it is for everybody,” Boyd said. Anyone can join the club. You can reach out to the president of Black Student Union for more information on meeting dates. Do not be intimidated by the club itself. “BSU is a big community, so it is not much about titles, we are just there to have fun, enjoy each other's company and be safe,” Boyd said. If you enjoyed this event, then being a part of the club may be the right move for you. If you are interested in learning more about African American history or just looking for some community – the BSU is right for you.

Red Hawks journeyed thousands of miles during spring break to form lasting connections with the community in Bogotá, Columbia. By Christian Valdez Photo from SU World Serve Instagram page Caitlin Bennet, Joy Taylor, and Katie Graham traveled to Bogotá on March 11 for a mission trip. Marjorie Kennedy accompanied the Simpson students as their mission trip leader. The group embraced the call to service. The Red Hawks served at two different schools working with kids from as young as 4th grade to high school. The students participated in an after-school program. The missions team sang songs, performed skits, taught English, played games, and gave testimonies. Joy Taylor said they gave testimonies every day. “A majority of the kids felt really touched by what I said and a lot of them would come up to me afterward and hug me and tell me they felt really connected to what I said,” Taylor said. Taylor had never been on a mission trip before. Taylor was initially intrigued by the idea of leaving the country for the first time and her dad’s experiences on mission trips. Taylor had a revelation before the trip. Taylor explained, “I think that it's more than just going across the world for an experience. Getting to do something for God and using what I've learned from my whole life, made me feel like I can make a big impact on them.” The students made an impact in Bogotá according to their mission trip leader, Marjorie Kennedy. Taylor discussed a particular memory that may stick with her forever. Taylor noticed that there was a young boy who was disengaged while she was giving a testimony at the after-school program. Taylor found this initially to be frustrating. That same kid broke out into tears as she finished her testimony. He ran up to Taylor and embraced her. Taylor described the moment as, “The most surreal hug I've ever experienced, it was so genuine.” Katie Graham illustrated the trip as unexpected in chapel last Wednesday. Taylor’s connection with the young boy was an example of this. Their shared experience conquered a language barrier establishing a bond between the two. Joy Taylor said she would go on another mission trip to share her story with those who may benefit from hearing it. Taylor was not the only one who felt this way. “They are all gung-ho to go back,” the team leader said. The group returned on March 18 after a week abroad. They had a great time serving. If you are passionate about helping a community, a mission trip may just be the thing for you. You can hear more of these stories on WORLD Serve Celebration Night on Wednesday at 6:30 in the Student Union. There will be snacks, prizes, and spiritual formation credit available. See you there.

By Jacob Greene Photo by Ella Collins Men’s volleyball swept UC Merced at home. They now look to stay hot as playoff season is near. Men’s Volleyball in their last 7 games: 0-3 (Benedictine University at Mesa), 3-2 (Saint Katherine University), 1-3 (Dordt University), 3-0 (Park University Gilbert), 0-3 (Benedictine University at Mesa), 3-2 (Pacific Union College), 3-0 (Merced). Men’s volleyball beat rival UC Merced in 3 sets Feb. 26. UC Merced has always been a big rival of Simpson, not only in volleyball –but in other sports too. Especially the men's and women’s soccer teams, as well as the women’s volleyball team. A rough start to the week began when the team traveled to Angwin, Calif. to play Pacific Union College. The game began with PUC unexpectedly jumping up 2-0. That was when Coach Steven Brasher made a significant change in the lineup. “Coach made a really good tactical change. He switched me for Jacob,” Quinn Wright said. Wright substituted to play back row for the “opposite hitter” – or right-side hitter Nathan Richards. “It was a good kinda change to kinda get us going, it was a wake-up call for me and a wake-up call for the team. We ended up winning the game in five…we still won, it [definitely] felt like a loss to everyone though,” Wright said. According to Wright, Coach Brasher sat Senior Christian Murry to rest him for the upcoming game against UC Merced. However, after falling behind two sets, Coach Brasher decided to put Murry in. “We stuck with our lineup. It was hard for me, I did not think we would stick with it, but I understood because we were doing well with it,” Wright said. “Jacob really killed it, so it was a good team effort, and we’ve kinda been on a roll,” said Wright. After Simpson lost a game to Dordt on Monday evening libero Cody Baker gave some thoughts on the game. “I feel like if we just had better passing, we would’ve pulled it out,” said Baker. One of the main components of the team is the setter, Nikos Kalagasidis. “I can pass the ball like 20 feet off the net and he’ll just–absolutely–just dime pass to our hitter. It’s great honestly, he bails us all out, we all need to thank this man constantly cause he does a great job of what he does,” said Baker. Having a setter that plays as well as Kalagasidis does helps a team stay on a roll—like the Red Hawks have been. They are 4-3 in their last seven games. The Red Hawks will have their final home game Mar. 28 versus Hope International University.

Photo from awardsdaily.co By: Christian Valdez A German reimagination of an American classic could soon take plenty of Academy Awards back to Deutschland. All Quiet on the Western Front is a German film nominated for 9 Academy Awards including awards such as best picture and best international feature according to The Hollywood Reporter. All Quiet on the Western Front could be in for a big night at the Oscars on March 12. Only one foreign film earned the best picture Oscar in 94 years. Parasite was the first of 10 previously nominated foreign language films to win this award in 2020 according to YK Law. Foreign films have won awards before, but best picture has eluded a majority of them. The German film could continue the change that Parasite started. All Quiet on the Western Front is a World War I drama exclusively available on Netflix. The film debuted on October 28. IMDb rates the foreign film at a 7.8/10. The film follows the journey of teenage Germans who naively enlist in the war effort in pursuit of some type of glory. They are soon shocked by the unforeseen horrors of war. The movie is entirely in German with subtitles. You can still watch this motion picture on Netflix today to see what all the excitement concerning the film is about. There have been 4 versions of this film. The first was an American take on the story that debuted in 1930, according to Made for Minds.com. The film claimed two Oscars including best picture. The German remake has captured the Academy’s eye much like its 1930 predecessor. History may repeat itself on Hollywood’s most magical night. All Quiet on the Western Front could become the second foreign film to take home the best picture award. The film has a great chance to take other awards home. Find out if history is going to take place on March 12. You can watch the Academy Awards on ABC, ABC app, and ABC.com. The awards start at 5 p.m. PDT according to U.S.A. Today. https://www.dw.com/en/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-primed-for-oscar-success/a-64340146#:~:text=%22All%20Quiet%20on%20the%20Western%20Front%22%20has%20been%20nominated%20in,original%20score%20and%20adapted%20screenplay.&text=The%20media%20could%20not%20be%20played.,-Reload https://people.com/movies/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-everything-to-know-oscar-nominee/

By: Timea Horvath Photo by: @simpsonswimming Practice off campus six times a week? The Simpson University’s swimming team knows exactly how it feels. Simpson’s one of the youngest athletic teams is the men and women’s swimming and diving team. Started in 2019, with Steve Lazaraton as head coach, the team is slowly growing with more and more people hearing about it. However, compared to the achievements they are getting, the team still seems to be rarely talked about. According to the Simpson Athletics 2021-22 recap, last season ended successfully for the Red Hawk swimmers. “In the Pacific Collegiate Championships, both teams struggled on day one with the women missing the qualifying mark for nationals and the men being disqualified in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle for taking off early. However, the Red Hawks bounced back and had over 10 top 10 finishes over the four-day tournament. The men then went on to compete at nationals where they placed 10th in the nation in just three years of being a program.” This year the Simpson swim team invited seven new athletes, thus starting the season with a lot of fresh energy and motivation. Irene Batalla, a current senior swimmer from Barcelona, Spain agreed to share her insights on the team. “I feel that the team has changed a lot this year, all of the swimmers are new but 5 of us, it’s different because it’s all new people, but we still have a really good connection between us, and it feels like a family.” Since Simpson University doesn’t have a swimming pool, the Red Hawk swimmers have to commute off campus for their practices. This can be a challenge especially for someone who doesn’t own a car and has to carpool. Jacob Greene, the Slate’s editor-in-chief, discussed the topic more deeply in his recent editorial, Carpool to the Pool. The team is currently preparing for an upcoming tournament, a Texas invite in Dallas, during the weekend of Dec. 3-5. In the future, they also have planned a tournament with Westmont College in Santa Barbara on Jan.14, and a Cal State East Bay Invite in Hayward only five days later. Between Feb. 8 and 11, the Red Hawk swimmers will take part in the PCSC Conference Championships, which may take them to the NAIA National Championships in March.

Photo from: Simpson Women’s Basketball Instagram By: Noah Bryerton Coach Edgar Mendez wants to attend all his players’ weddings. Since his arrival at Simpson in the summer of 2021, Coach Mendez has preached a culture of family and good character. “I have some young ladies who are just wonderful people,” Mendez said over phone call. The women’s basketball team this year is both young and old. The starting lineup holds 3 seniors and a graduate student. Coach Mendez also brought in 3 freshmen this year. “We’re trying to recruit people that are Simpson. We don’t want to differentiate athletes and Simpson students. I’m trying to recruit people that make a fit for the whole school, Simpson University’s DNA,” Mendez said. Coach highlighted sophomores Celina Tress and Nikki Thompson, and graduate student Livi Lindsay as a few examples of people he wants the students at Simpson to get to know. In an earlier conversation, he said “I don’t look at myself as the women’s basketball coach, but rather as the pastor of a women’s basketball team.” Coach Mendez is focused on relationships with his players even when they are not playing for him anymore. This has been put into practice with the hiring of Bree Northern as an assistant coach. Northern graduated last year and played for Mendez during his first season as head coach. Mendez wants a relationship with each of his players to where each of them wants him at their weddings. THIS SEASON The Cal Pac preseason poll had Simpson slated in the 7th spot out of 11 teams according to the conference website www.calpacathletics.com. “On paper, I agree with where they put us. We can make it into the top five, top four, that’s always your plan, everybody would love to get the bye. We’re going to work towards that goal of securing a playoff spot again,” said Coach Mendez. Coach then talked about the strengths and weaknesses of his team. “Our team is going to be really good defensively, it’s one of our staples,” he said. “I’m a big defensive-minded coach. The toughest issues we face right now is truly having a pure point guard and not being the greatest three-point shooting team.” Mendez and company currently sit at 2-2 early in the year. One of those wins came against former Simpson coach Derrick Pringle by a score of 69-54. The conference home opener is Thursday, Dec. 1 against Park University, followed by two more home games in three days against Benedictine Mesa and Embry Riddle. If you want to watch Coach Mendez and his team play the schedule is listed below. Also, follow them on their Instagram @simpsonuwbb. https://simpsonredhawks.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule?path=wbball

Photo by: Simpson University Baseball Instagram By: Ronald Bolling At Simpson University we finally have Baseball in our own backyard. The Baseball field is getting ready to be finished. It has been a long-awaited addition to the Simpson University campus. I got a chance to speak to the Head Coach Dan Tating, to get his thoughts on the Baseball field finishing up and playing on the field. I asked Tating his thoughts on the baseball field, his expectations for how the baseball field being finished would affect the connection of the team? Tating stated, “I think it goes further than just like our team this year, this is like 20 years in the making, it’s important for our team, but also important for our community.” Redding has not had the chance to watch The Simpson Baseball team on their own turf. I asked Tating what is the biggest factor going into the seasons moving forward? Tating stated, “The fact is more than just the field, we’ll have the only field, us and La Sierra will have a field on campus. That is major, Simpson University will have a home field advantage, and not a lot of schools can say that is pretty awesome. I asked Tating Do you think this will help the community of Redding get behind Redhawk Baseball? Tating responded, “I think us having control of the field, be able to make decisions, and having to control how to field plays”. One questions during my time talking to Tating that I was waiting to ask is What kept you at Simpson for so many years even though other schools had their own baseball fields”? Tating responded “As a coach you want to be successful you want to win championships, but as long as you're progressing every year it helps you see that you don’t feel like you're going backwards and it helps you drive to be better every year also combine that with your relationships with your players, with your coaching staff you become more of a family.” A long-awaited moment that the Simpson University community has been waiting for over decade will finally happen.

By: Timea Horvath Photo by: @simpsonu_golf on Instagram Simpson University’s golf team, even though rarely talked about, has a unique story. This year, 11 out of the 12 students on the school’s golf team are international. Almost all of them come from different countries. The nations represented are Mexico, Kenya, Canada, England, Spain, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany. Such a vast variety of nationalities on one team has its advantages and disadvantages. “I have had trouble myself understanding their accents sometimes, but they all tell awesome stories and bring pieces of their culture here,” said Eric Norris, the team’s graduate assistant. Despite the possible cultural differences, Simpson’s golf team seems to be incredibly well integrated. Most of the guys on the team are roommates. This means that not only do they play competitive golf with each other, they also share their living space. The team is happy to share the multiple successes they have achieved this academic year. During the weekend of Oct. 9-11, the team competed in their first tournament of the season, the Oregon Tech invite at the Running Y Ranch Resort course in Klamath Falls, OR. “Jaxon Moon was five under par at some point in his round and settled with a two under par 70. Dean Knight has stepped up as a freshman as well and played great,” Norris said. According to the Simpson University Athletics website, the men finished in third place. Jaxon Moon was leading the way for the Red Hawks with a 3rd place finish. Dean Knight and Felipe Ferreira finished with 8th and 9th places, respectively, out of 27. The women also finished the tournament strong. Michelle Euan, a sophomore, took 11th place, and Brie Memeo finished in 15th place. Managing such a multinational team may sound very stressful and hard to some people. Coach Mike Phillips heard some of those concerns while he was recruiting the current team. The biggest one was that most high schools abroad do not have sports teams. Thus, Simpson University would be their first time of playing golf on a team. However, despite all the possible challenges, Phillips decided to bring this unique team into reality. And he doesn’t regret it. According to Phillips, his favorite aspect of coaching golf is that you always win as a team. This means that the players are rooting for their teammates to do as well as possible, which creates a deep bond between them. “Golf may not be the most exciting sport, but all of our players are excited to play for Simpson and represent the school well respectfully and professionally,” Norris said. The golf players are currently training for their next tournament which will take place between Nov. 6-8 in Rocklin, CA.

Photo by: Spencer Crandall (Spotify) Written by: Caitlin Chavez Country singer, Spencer Crandall continues to capture more hearts through his first tour, The Western Tour with his music and story. Crandall, 27, began his songwriting career after he had to end his college football career due to a shoulder injury. He shared that he questioned his purpose after that decision because he loved playing football, and pursuing that career was part of his plan. He saw his guitar sitting in his dorm room, “grabbed his guitar and started playing,” Crandall said. He shared that he went from singing covers, to writing his own songs and sharing his music on social media. Shortly after, his little sister introduced him to Tik Tok to check out. He responded, “I’m not a 13-year-old girl.” However, he shared that decided to investigate Tik Tok for himself and realized there was more than just trending dancing videos. As but people sharing their music as well. “I think there’s something there,” Crandall said. One of his songs he posted on Tik Tok, My Person, went viral hours later. He even made a wedding version of My Person; and people used the song to share their relationship stories and first wedding dances on Tik Tok. He shared that he had no idea one of his songs going viral would bring him to the place he is today within his career. In the beginning of October, he started his first tour, The West Tour. performing throughout most of the United States. Even though a few of his venues were not super big, a few of his shows were sold out, including one of the venues in Los Angeles. One of his fans, Teagan Haubrock, shared her experience after attending Spencer Crandall’s concert in Los Angeles. “Meeting him for the first time, I was filled with excitement. Spencer talked about some of his songs, and why he wrote them. Most of his songs really inspired me and helped me get through my day,” Haubrock said. From this point in Crandall’s journey, he shared that his hopes are to continue to create the music people love and enjoy.