A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.
Lawrence Ukenye Editor-in-Chief
Julia Merola Print Managing Editor
Fallon Roth Digital Managing Editor
Megan Phillips Chief Print Copy Editor
Kayla Maguire Chief Digital Copy Editor
Devon Russell Assistant News Editor
Justin Roig Assistant News Editor
Shriya Gohel Assistant News Editor
Sarah Frasca Opinion Editor
Molly Fiske Assistant Opinion Editor
Mariyum Rizwan Features Editor
Duay Augustine Assistant Features Editor
Nick Gangewere Sports Editor
Javon Edmonds Assistant Sports Editor
Samuel O’Neal Assistant Sports Editor
Maggie Fitzgerald Director of Audience Engagement
Emily Lewis Public Engagement Coordinator
Taylor Hargraves Audience Engagement Editor
Sara Wexler Audience Engagement Editor
Chris Duong Sports Social Media Manager
Earl Kufen Photo Editor
Erika Monn Photo Editor
Nicole Aquino Multimedia Editor
Nate Pullano Multimedia Editor
Joelle Pacheco Print Design Editor
Allyson Tharp Graphic Design Editor
Isabella Medina Web Editor
Rachel Townsend Data Editor
Olivia Hall Podcast Editor
Rose Mastrangelo Advertising Manager
Matthew Eaton Advertising Manager
Kurt Nolasco Business Manager
The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community.
Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News.
Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News.
The Editorial Board is made up of The Temple News’ Editor-inChief, Managing Editor, Digital Managing Editor, Chief Copy Editors, and Opinion Editors. The views expressed in editorials only reflect those of the Board, and not of the entire Temple News staff.
Tali Popinko chases ball on Sept. 30 against Georgetown University.
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The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122
On Sept. 27, 2022, an article on page 17 titled “Photographer donates photos to Temple Libraries” inaccurately reported the number of digital scans Joseph Labolito donated and misidentified the name of the university that Labolito attended.
Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Madison Karas at editor@temple-news.com.
Students can be escorted by police officers anywhere within TUPD’s patrol zone.
BY SHRIYA GOHEL Assistant News EditorTemple University expanded its Walking Escort Program this semester, in an effort to increase student access to one of the uni versity’s campus safety resources amid a recent rise in gun violence near Main Campus.
Previously, the boundaries for the service were between Ninth and 16th Streets, but now students can be escort ed to their destination by a security or police officer anywhere within Temple University Police Department’s patrol zone. Students can request an escort by calling 8-9255 from a campus phone or 215-777-9255 from a cell phone be tween 4 p.m. and 6 a.m.
TUPD patrols between Susquehan na Avenue and Jefferson Street, with the exception of 13th Street to Broad Street where the southern boundary is Girard Avenue, and between Ninth Street and 18th, according to its website.
Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer, hopes that expanding the service’s boundaries will encourage more students to use the pro gram — in addition to FLIGHT, the uni versity’s fixed-route shuttle system — as a safety measure while traveling around and near Main Campus.
There have been 416 homicides in Philadelphia so far in 2022, according to Philadelphia’s Office of the Controller’s gun violence dashboard.
This September, 217 students have used the program, an increase from September 2021 when only 71 students used a Walking Escort, wrote Denise Wilhelm, interim executive director of campus safety, in an email to The Tem ple News.
However, Kaiser acknowledges that some students may be more apprehen sive or embarrassed to call an adult for help rather than taking FLIGHT.
“I just think they don’t want to wait,” Kaiser said. “It’s embarrassing, I think for some students, so we want the mes sage to be, please use it, that’s what it’s here for. We want them to use it.”
Corinne Carlson, a junior environ mental science major, used the Walking Escort Program for the first time and felt a sense of security while using this resource.
“I’m on the rowing team, so we have practice early in the morning, and if I didn’t meet up with people, like we meet up at 5:40 in the morning, if I didn’t have a group to walk with, I would definitely use an escort every single day,” Carlson said.
While Yasmine Arnwine, a senior early childhood education major, has not used the Walking Escort Program, she believes it is a great safety resource
for incoming students who may not be comfortable to navigate campus on their own.
“They’re getting used to a new place when they’re trying to figure out the ter ritory,” Arnwine said. “Being able to call someone to pick you up instead of being lost in the place that might not be the safest could be a really helpful resource.”
Continuing into the fall semester, Kaiser hopes that students see the Walk ing Escort Program as a safe option for traveling around campus and as a reason to live within TUPD’s patrol zone.
“Heading into the semester just one more measure to try to make students, or give students the tool to make them feel a little bit safer and give them an option that we hope that they would select, that I think will make it safer,” Kaiser said.
TSG TSG previously partnered with Temple Votes in the 2022 presidential election.
BY JUSTIN ROIG Assistant News EditorTemple Student Government is partnering with Temple Votes, a voter education effort within Temple Univer sity’s Dean of Students office, to encour age students to register to vote and cast their ballot ahead of the midterm elec tions on Nov. 8.
In years past, the partnership fo cused heavily on student voter registra tion, but because many eligible voters on campus are already registered to vote, TSG and Temple Votes are instead fo cusing the majority of their efforts on ensuring students have a plan to vote on Election Day, said Student Body Presi dent Gianni Quattrocchi.
The two organizations will host tabling events around campus through out October where they’ll ask students if they have a plan to vote and provide them voter registration forms if they ar en’t registered. They will also host U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) and State Rep. Jordan Harris (D-186) to discuss the importance of voting.
Temple Votes’ website also offers a check sheet to help students plan how and where they will vote.
TSG and Temple Votes will still be hosting voter registration events until Pennsylvania’s voter registration deadline on Oct. 24. TSG will also hold town halls discussing the importance of student participation in the democratic process. Rohan Khadka, TSG’s director of external services, will host a town hall on civic engagement in the Student Cen ter on Oct. 24 at 4:00 p.m.
Ideally, Quattrocchi wants every registered student voter cast a ballot in the midterm elections, he said.
Seventy-three percent of eligible student voters at Temple cast a ballot in the 2020 election.
FILE
NEWS
Temple Student Government partners up with Temple Votes to create awareness though voter registration events.
Quattrochi stressed the importance of student participation in all elections, including midterm and municipal elec tions. Student voices will not be heard unless they vote in these elections, Quat trocchi said.
“Politicians don’t pay attention to us unless we vote,” Quattrocchi said. “So in order to ensure that student needs are being met and addressed by those in elected office, it’s important and critical for all of us to be as engaged with elected office as much as possible.”
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s attor ney general and Democratic gubernato rial candidate, visited Main Campus on Oct. 8 to meet with students to promote his campaign and key issues like abor tion and climate change.
Isabel Shaffner, a freshman media studies and production major, believes that initiatives to reach out to young voters are important.
“A lot of the time, especially students like they’re so busy, they won’t go out of their way to actually vote,” Shaffner said. “And like, remember, especially even so I think having people be like, ‘Hey, this is coming up, are you registered?’ Stuff like that is really important just to remind people and provide the resources to get people to vote.”
Shaffner, a Maryland resident, is registered to vote in their home state and is passionate about abortion rights head ing into the midterm election.
“It’s really up to the states to decide on that,” Shaffner said. “I think especially
in Maryland, my state, we currently have a Republican governor and I would like to see that to change.”
Fin Polon, a freshman art therapy major, highlighted social and political is sues, like abortion, as a reason for young people to express their views by voting.
Ninety percent of Temple students support the right to an abortion under any circumstance, according to a Sep tember 2022 poll by The Temple News.
“The important thing is just being able to put their voice out there,” Polon said. “I mean, we all got these mindsets that are different than generations above us.”
HEALTH Xylazine was found in 90 percent of heroin and fentanyl tested by the City of Philadelphia.
BY DEVON RUSSELL Assistant News EditorNinety percent of heroin tested by the City of Philadelphia in 2021 includ ed xylazine, a horse tranquilizer, said Dr. Joseph D’Orazio, professor of clinical emergency medicine at Temple.
Xylazine is a veterinary sedative used for surgical procedures and is often found in illicit opioids, the most common being fentanyl and heroin. Recreational use of xylazine was originally reported in Puerto Rico in the 2000s, reaching Phila delphia in 2006, D’Orazio said.
More than 100,000 fatal drug over doses were reported between April 2020 and April 2021, roughly 75,000 of which were due to opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven tion’s National Center for Health Statis tics.
Philadelphia reported 1,250 fatal drug overdoses in 2021, four in five of which involved fentanyl, the opioid most commonly found with xylazine. Fentanyl was also found in 98.4 percent of xylazine-present overdoses and co caine was found in 45.4 percent.
“It’s really opioids are killing people, specifically fentanyl,” D’Orazio said. “But we are seeing more and more opioid deaths that on post-mortem had xylazine on board.”
Fatal xylazine overdoses increased from 0.36 percent of opioid deaths in 2015 to 6.7 percent in 2020. Philadel phia had the highest number of xylazine deaths in 2020 in the U.S., accounting for 28.5 percent of deaths. The rate of xylazine found in post-mortem toxicol ogy increased by 8 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to Philadelphia’s 2021 Overdose Fatality Review.
Narcan, an overdose treatment, is proven to be ineffective in reversing the sedative effects of xylazine, but people should administer Narcan in the event of a xylazine overdose, D’Orazio said.
Xylazine is not considered a con trolled substance, meaning it can be
bought as a prescription medication from a veterinarian. The drug causes high blood pressure, slows breathing and heart rates and produces severe skin ulcerations.
Xylazine causes severe soft tissue infections due to the substance’s ability to restrict oxygen flow to the infection, which occasionally leads to amputation, said Shannon Ashe, co-founder of the Everywhere Project.
Here are university, city and com munity resources to help combat the presence of xylazine in Philadelphia.
Temple’s Wellness Resource Center refers students to harm reduction orga nizations outside of the university or the Philadelphia Department of Health and hosts monthly meetings for students in recovery.
Tuttleman Counseling Services has a Campus Alcohol & Substance Aware ness unit which offers specialized coun selors trained in substance abuse and
addictive behaviors. CASA also has indi vidual and group therapy and psychiatric services for students. To join, a student must undergo a consultation to be placed with the right counselor for their needs.
The College of Public Health also offers a free, non-credit course for over dose reversal, “College of Public Health Narcan/Overdose Reversal Training.” The training teaches students how to recognize signs of an overdose and steps to administering Narcan.
The Everywhere Project, a nonprof it organization based in Philadelphia, provides harm reduction resources and educational tools to areas of the city im pacted by substance use.
Shannon Ashe, a 2021 master of social work alumna, and Jen Shinefeld, a 2017 master of public health in epide miology alumna, debuted the program in March 2021 and hold weekly outreach sites in Center City and Kensington, where they supply Narcan, fentanyl test
ing strips and safer use kits. City Resources
The City of Philadelphia has an on line map to find Narcan sold at phar macies. The overdose treatment can be found at Rite Aid on Diamond Street and Broad Street, as well as Rite Aid on 15th Street and Broad Street.
If a pharmacy isn’t nearby, NEXT Distro, a harm reduction supplier, ships products like Narcan, clean needles and syringes nationwide.
The city also offers programs for individuals in recovery, like Prevention Point Philadelphia, which promotes health and empowerment in areas affect ed by drug use and Project SAFE, which supports drug users with outreach sites on Kensington Avenue to distribute food and harm reduction supplies.
devon.russell@temple.edu @devonkate_
Today is National Coming Out Day, an annual awareness day that supports members of the LGBTQ community “coming out of the closet” to declare their sex ual and gender identities. It marks the anniversary of the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on Oct. 11, 1987, and was established as an LGBTQ aware ness day in 1988.
Last week, Temple University celebrated National Coming Out Week with various events, in cluding Drag Bingo on Oct. 7. The events were held prior to Oct. 11 to increase awareness for National Coming Out Day.
Now that most events for the holiday have already occurred, it’s up to students to continue the cel ebration in their everyday lives in whatever way they see fit. The Ed itorial Board encourages students to participate in activities on cam pus, not just on National Coming Out Day, but every day.
“National Coming Out Day, and National Coming Out Week in general, is super important be cause queer people should be cele brated all year round, not just the month of June when it’s Pride,” said Jo Zera, a senior media studies and production major. “I’m happy that we got another week of super fun things and global attention.”
Temple Institutional Diversi ty, Equity, Advocacy and Leader ship often hosts events through out the school year for students to participate in, like the upcoming Queer Lunch Dialogue at the Stu dent Center in room 200 B on Oct. 26 and online Safe Zone certifica tions.
Today, Temple’s Ambler Campus is hosting a Nation al Coming Out Day event in the Learning Center Lobby where
they will distribute pins and pro vide students with the chance to post “words of affirmation” to a wall for LGBTQ students.
When possible, students should support the LGBTQ com munity by donating to organiza tions that support them, like The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth crisis response organization, and The National Center for Trans gender Equality, an organization that advocates for transgender rights and policies.
The Human Rights Cam paign, an organization that advo cates for LGBTQ+ equality, also has a coming out resource guide for those who are not a part of the community but want to be sup portive.
“It’s a great thing to be proud of who you are and just have a supportive environment where all identities coexist, where it doesn’t have to be tense sharing that part of your identity,” said Gabriella Natale, a sophomore media studies and production major.
One of the most important things students can do is con sciously contribute to inclusive environments for people of all identities. Students can do this by supporting queer friends and busi nesses and ensuring they’re not taking up space in environments for queer people when they’re not supposed to, Zera said.
Coming out can be an incred ibly emotional process and a dif ficult decision for many members of the LGBTQ community. The Editorial Board celebrates LGBTQ individuals at all stages of their coming out journey.
A student argues Temple should cancel classes on Election Day to encourage civic engagement.
projects. Voting for candidates with similar views can also help them feel represented.
Voting or volunteering in person can be a social and inspiring activity, said Michael Hagen, a political science professor.
Jared“There is a lot of work to do, and it’s got ten more complicated and more demanding in the past two years,” Hagen said. “So, help ing with the polling and the actual conduct of the elections, I think, is one way that people can learn and respect the election process.”
MOLLY FISKE Assistant Opinion EditorGoldberg, a senior political sci ence major, drafted a petition asking Temple University to cancel classes on Election Day as a celebra tion of civic engagement. Nearly 5,000 people signed the petition urging the uni versity to allow the Temple community the chance to vote or work at the polls.
Temple should provide students and em ployees with a day off to promote civic en gagment and participation at the polls. Being civically engaged is important because it can allow voters to elect officials with similar po litical opinions, as all aspects of life are affect ed by those in government.
Temple claims to uphold the ideals the university was founded on, like promoting service and engagement throughout Phila delphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylva nia, the nation and the world. By voting and volunteering, students and faculty can take an active role in their community.
“There’s a real urgency here to making sure that the voices of our students are loud, and that they can add their voices to the dem ocratic process, and so we should be trying to do whatever we can to make that easier,” said Steve Newman, an English professor who helped Goldberg with his petition efforts.
By canceling classes, students can head to the polls at their convenience and have time to reflect on which candidates they want to vote for. Keeping up with local and state affairs can be difficult because most people focus on national politics or foreign affairs. Many students need additional time to re search candidates and current events prior to voting so they make an informed decision.
Americans should better educate them selves about candidates prior to voting as the elections could affect citizens by determining future legislation and funding for specific
Although mail-in ballots are an alterna tive to in-person voting, they’re not an ex cuse for Temple to hold classes on Election Day. Mail-in ballot registration closes on Nov. 1, and ballots need to be submitted by Election Day. If a student forgets to register for a mail-in ballot by the deadline, they can only vote in person.
Philadelphia needs more than 8,500 poll workers to facilitate voting on Election Day, and city poll workers earn anywhere from $180-$205 for the day, BillyPenn reported. Requiring students to attend class on Election Day prevents them from being able to work at the polls, lowering the number of workers needed.
To be a poll worker, Pennsylvania resi dents can submit an interest form on Penn sylvania’s election and voter information website. Students can also volunteer with or ganizations like Rock the Vote, which works to get young people to vote.
“On Election Day, I’m at the polls, behind the desk, making sure voters are getting their ballot and that the rules are followed,” New man said. “I would love our students to have the chance to participate as fully as possible in that process.”
Treating Election Day as a universi ty-wide holiday will prompt students to rec ognize its importance and make time to show up to vote at the polls.
It’s Temple’s responsibility to give students the opportunity to vote in per son, educate themselves on candidates and work at the polls. By encouraging engage ment in civic duty, Temple can help better its community and its students’ daily lives.
When I was younger, I never felt like I fit in with other kids. I always thought I was different, that there was something stopping me from being just like everybody else.
Most people feel this way at some point, but the thoughts tend to fade when they grow up and build more con fidence. However, feelings of not fitting in lasted for me because I knew there was evidence that made them true, like my diagnosis.
When I was 2 years old, a doctor told my parents they discovered the reason I acted differently: I have autism spectrum disorder.
ASD contributes to my heightened self-consciousness. I doubted and con vinced myself that my friends and peo ple I know don’t want to be around me; they were just pretending to like me for the sake of politeness. I felt I couldn’t act like myself, as someone with autism, be cause it would expose me as a freak to my peers.
To avoid being perceived negative ly, I shut myself off. I didn’t participate in school activities or interact with my friends outside of school. In my mind, there was a voice telling me to hide.
“Sit back and be quiet,” it said. “Don’t tell too much about yourself. You can’t let them find out you’re different.”
This voice was constant and forced me to live in fear of a piece of my identity being discovered.
I thought if I didn’t tell anyone that I have ASD, it might go away so I could finally become “normal.” I was hurting myself, slowly closing off from the world and punishing myself for a condition I had no control over.
I always envied my friends who par ticipated in various activities, like honors society, sports and clubs, because I want
ed to feel like I belonged, but I didn’t feel like I could because of my autism.
By the time I was preparing for col lege this past summer, I was exhausted with hating myself and the fact I hid my true personality for so long.
I realized college was my opportuni ty to reinvent myself, to stop living the way the voice in my head told me too. While Temple is only a half-hour drive from my home, being in a city is a com pletely different environment full of new experiences, people and a chance for a new way to live my life.
I pushed myself to try to change how I lived my life in college by getting in volved in activities I never would’ve con sidered when my anxiety held me back. I joined Temple Model United Nations to pursue an interest in politics, and Active
Minds to focus on mental health, which is an important issue to me. I also finally explored my passion for writing by free lance writing for The Temple News.
I don’t just go to the clubs; I partici pate in them when I would’ve stayed si lent before.
More importantly, I stopped fo cusing so much on what other people thought of me. I let myself be who I am, not the version of me that I thought would be accepted.
The person I tried to be — the one without ASD — doesn’t exist. I’m final ly ready to leave behind the scared child with autism who hated who he was and the voice in my head reinforcing those feelings.
Now, a new voice is telling me to embrace myself and try new things.
This journey isn’t over for me yet; I still need to work on myself more. The pain I forced on myself as a child didn’t magically disappear. However, for the first time in my life, I’m starting to let myself live my life the way I want to.
My brain works a little bit different ly than everyone else’s, but it’s not a bad thing. I’m learning how to accept myself — the real me — not the mask I put on around other people. While autism is a part of who I am, it isn’t my identity. I’m finally living my life on my own terms without hiding.
student describes her fears of criticism
overcome
how she is working
BY ALEXIS BRAYI’ve been a writer with dreams of be ing an author for almost all of my life, but I had one obstacle blocking me — I was terrified of sharing the stories I’d written. Until four or five months ago, I hadn’t shared my creative and academic writing with my friends.
Writing was so key to who I was that the possibility of someone telling me my work wasn’t good enough meant that I wasn’t good enough as a person.
I faced my fear for the first time in my AP Language Composition class. I was mortified when my teacher in formed the class that we’d be doing in-person workshops on our essays. The workshops would be a place for stu dents to either praise each other’s work or make them regret ever signing up for the class.
Most of the essays required us to open up about our lives and feelings, but I knew that some classmates would see this as an opportunity to insult each oth er in the form of critiques and comments. One essay I wrote centered around the topic of identity, which was personal for me because I was 16 and extremely un sure of myself.
One by one, students shared their critiques: one positive comment, one place for improvement and one gram matical fix. A girl in my class decided to be condescending about how I’d chosen to write about my identity by saying it was uninteresting and boring. My face turned red in front of the class and hear ing her criticism made me question a lot about my ability and myself.
I wanted to give up because my fears of sharing my work were reinforced through that interaction alone. Howev er, my parents advised me to continue writing because I’d been doing it for so long and I loved it. With their encour
agement, I chose a major I thought to be a perfect balance between my love for writing and my desire to remain emo tionally closed off: journalism.
I thought that journalism was only reporting on the news, which made me feel like no one would judge my personal writing. In reality, it was so much broad er than I could’ve imagined. It could be writing about sports, art or entertain ment, all things that I loved.
I’d written for The Temple News’ News section for a couple of months before my friend Amna recommended I write for Opinion, as I’d been want ing more creative freedom in my sto ries. When I started freelancing for the Opinion section, I wasn’t sure of what I
was getting into. I told myself that being afraid wouldn’t get me any further in my career, let alone my life.
I had an ultimate showdown with myself when it came to one of my first essays. It was about what womanhood meant to me, and as a queer person, I saw this as an opportunity to discuss how my queerness impacted my experience as a woman growing up, but it required me to out myself to my family.
I remember calling my best friend and asking her what I should do about the article. I wanted to publish it because I was so tired of living two separate lives at home and at school. She told me that not everyone is going to like what I write about, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t good
at writing.
She helped me realize almost all my doubts about my writing were self-in duced; I was my biggest critic. Sharing my work scared me, but not accomplish ing my dreams or getting older knowing that I never even tried scared me more.
I still consider my work to be in credibly reflective of who I am and what I feel. Now when I share what I write, I no longer worry about the worst-case scenarios. Instead, I see it as an opportu nity to connect with people who relate to what I write, and a chance to learn about others if they don’t relate to the material.
immunity, according to MedlinePlus, a database of health information in the National Library of Medicine.
BY SARAH FRASCA AND DARA ROGERSThe flu is making its comeback af ter two years of low infection rates. Now the virus raises concern of more severe impacts and a “twindemic,” where rates of the flu and COVID-19 could both surge simultaneously for the first time.
Students should routinely get yearly influenza vaccines but protecting them selves from the flu is especially import ant this year because it’s the first flu sea son since COVID-19 mitigations have been significantly relaxed. It could pose an increased risk of illness following a gap in immunity that occurred the past two years due to masking and social dis tancing, Healthline reported.
To help combat the flu’s spread on campus, Temple University Student Health Services offers free seasonal flu shots to all students and employees in vaccination clinics for the past 18 years. This year, they’ll be available at Morgan North Room D301 and the Health Sci ences Campus until Oct. 26.
Students should take advantage of SHS flu shot clinics to protect themselves and their peers against the flu amid ex pectations of a potentially bad flu season.
Everyone six months and older should get vaccinated for the flu, with rare exceptions, according to the Cen ters for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Temple SHS only adminis tered approximately 3,300 flu shots last flu season, as COVID-19 vaccinations overshadowed flu shot efforts, said Mark Denys, senior director of health services.
During the 2019-20 flu season at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an esti mated 390,000 people were hospitalized nationwide, a significant decrease from the 2017-18 season in which 710,000 people were hospitalized, according to the CDC.
College students are particularly at risk of catching the flu because their general living and social habits can lead to increased exposure and decreased
“College students live in very close quarters,” Denys said. “They tend to go out and they travel in packs, and a lot of times they may not be getting the sleep they need because they’re studying and doing other things.”
Students can make an appointment to receive their flu shot on the Patient Heath Portal by clicking the “Appts” tab and choosing “Flu Shots” as the appoint ment type. Then, students can choose a time from one of the clinic dates that works best for them. If a student’s sched ule doesn’t align with any available slots, they can also schedule an individual ap pointment with SHS.
It’s important that students make appointments to get vaccinated sooner than later, as it’s best to get a flu shot before the end of October for optimal protection from the peak of flu season, Healthline reported. Waiting too long could be especially dangerous this year because more serious infection rates are expected to start in October instead of between December and February if the virus follows trends in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Southern Hemisphere, which has already experienced severe infection rates, typically reflects what is to come in the Northern Hemisphere because it ex periences winter, and therefore flu sea son, six months ahead of the Northern Hemisphere. Experts use those trends to predict the type of flu season the United States will have before it hits, NPR re ported.
The flu hit historically low rates in the past two years, now people have weakened immunity against the virus because less people have been recently exposed.
“There’s just potentially less immu nity in the population and so getting vaccinated is a direct way to boost your immunity toward the flu, especially if you didn’t get that vaccine previously,” said Kirsten Wiens, an epidemiology and biostatistics professor who special izes in infectious diseases.
The unusually bad flu season could be worse when combined with
COVID-19. Omicron variants of the COVID-19 virus are currently mild, but if they persist as the flu begins to spread rapidly, the combination of both viruses could put a lot of pressure on the coun try’s healthcare system, NPR reported.
“I hope that the experiences of the pandemic and the lessons we’ve learned from it have shown people the impor tance of vaccines, and how lucky we are to have vaccines that protect us from things like the flu,” said Natalie Kimmer lein, a senior public health major. “I’m hopeful that people have a better appre
ciation for preventative measures for in fectious diseases.”
The flu could prove devastating this year, especially combined with COVID-19, if proper precautions ar en’t taken. Luckily, Temple students can prepare by taking advantage of free vac cine clinics that will protect themselves and others from this year’s flu season.
A student argues their peers should test for STIs and have conversations with parters.
BY MOLLY FISKE Assistant Opinion Editor
Temple University has a reputation for being the most sexually active college campus in the country, but the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infec tion is becoming more likely as transmis sion rates increase nationally and locally.
Philadelphia has the fourth highest STI transmission rates in the United States as of the beginning of this year. STI rates are also rising nationwide, in cluding a 26 percent increase in syphilis, a potential result of increased sexual ac tivity after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, CBS News reported.
One in four college students has an STI and they are particularly at risk of transmitting and receiving an STI, ac cording to HealthNewsHub. College-age students are more sexually active and may be less experienced with using pro tection while having sex, said Thomas Trojian, assistant clinical director for student health operations at Student Health Services.
Chlamydia, herpes and HPV are the three most common STIs among Tem ple’s student body, according to Student Health Services.
As STI rates reach heights unseen in decades in the U.S. due to COVID-19 re strictions being lifted, it’s important for sexually active students to communicate with their partners about using protec tion and testing regularly for STIs to help prevent transmission. Normalizing these conversations can encourage safe sex practices and reduce the stigma that considers someone, with an STI or who has tested for an STI, to be “unclean” or “impure.”
Temple students can register for STI testing on the Patient Health Portal as a precautionary measure or if they know they’ve been exposed.
Students do not need health insur ance to receive an STI test at Student Health Services. All testing is available on a sliding scale, meaning if a student doesn’t have insurance, Student Health
will charge based on the person’s in come, said Michelle Scarpulla, a social and behavioral sciences professor and former employee of Answer, a national organization that provides sexual educa tion.
Organizations near Main Campus like the Mazzoni Center, an LGBTQ-fo cused health and wellness establish ment, offer STI and HIV testing at 1348 Bainbridge Street. Planned Parenthood also offers STI testing at the Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center at 1144 Locust Street. The AIDS Healthcare Founda tion also has an STI testing location at 1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 405.
“If you’re having multiple sexu al partners, especially something on a college campus, that’s your moral re sponsibility to tell other kids if you have symptoms,” said Liana Hoffman, a junior health professions major.
However, many STIs appear asymp tomatic. If someone rarely engages in sexual activity or has sex once or twice a year, they should test annually, while people with multiple partners should test as often as possible. New couples should
get tested before having unprotected sex, according to the National Coalition for Sexual Health.
Although some Temple students may use a form of birth control to help prevent pregnancy, most contraceptives do not stop the spread of STIs. Condoms are the only contraceptive that can assist in reducing the risk of both pregnancy and infection.
Free condoms are available at Tem ple’s Wellness Resource Center, Student Health Services and the Philadelphia De partment of Public Health wellness cen ters located at1930 South Broad Street and 1900 North 20th Street.
Condoms are more than 90 percent effective in preventing STIs, yet only 62 percent of college students usually or always use condoms, according to Col legeStats, a database of college-related research.
However, condoms are not 100 per cent effective at preventing the spread of STIs, so every sexual experience could pose risk of transmission. To practice lower-risk safe sex, students should have open, nonjudgmental conversations
about sexual health with their partner and ask when their last STI test was, ac cording to the Centers for Disease Con trol and Prevention.
It’s better to discuss sexual health in a neutral location that isn’t the bedroom where both parties feel comfortable and are unable to be interrupted, Scarpulla said. Students should have these conver sations before they get intimate.
“Honest health communication is the best that we can do,” said Anne Frankel, a social and behavioral sciences professor. “The only way we’re going to de-stigmatize this issue is by discussing it.”
Having an active sex life in college is normal, but students must have honest and open conversations with a partner prior to sex. If anyone is sexually active, it is important to utilize risk reduction strategies like frequent testing and using protection.
“If you say yes to sex, say yes to test ing,” Trojian said.
Scan
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Philadelphia’s parks department host an event with activities for adults and children.
BY EARL KUFEN Photo EditorCenter City District Parks hosted their annual Harvest Weekend featuring different activities for both children and adults.
The event included hay mazes and more than 60 vendors ranging from home made jewelry to alcoholic juice. People gathered around to listen to DJs and lo
cal bands while enjoying the festivities with their friends and family.
The Philly Tarot Deck sold print ed tarot cards celebrating Philadelphia by replacing the original images with famous Philadelphians. For example, the Temperance card, which represents bringing calmness and moderation, had Philadelphia 76ers player Joel Embiid printed on it.
Vanessa Banks and Paige Melin from Buffalo, New York, who are vis iting Philadelphia, were shopping and sightseeing different city landmarks like the Liberty Bell and Reading Terminal Market, when they found themselves at
the event.
Although they didn’t buy anything, Banks and Melin spent their time people watching and enjoying the pumpkin ale sold by the local vendors.
Valerie Pollak, an out-of-town at tendee from Pittsburgh owns and oper ates The Painted Carrot, a small business that sells watercolor prints and painted pots. She started a small business before the pandemic to help raise money for her mom, who needed money for ALS treat ment.
While her company is based in Pittsburgh, she drove nearly five hours to Dilworth Park to sell painted pots,
coloring books and watercolor prints.
“The coloring books I made these when she was sick to raise money for her home care and the rest the of the money went to The ALS Association,” Pollack said, in reference to her mother.
Dixon O’Banion, a student visiting from New York University, came to the event to explore the local Halloween scene with his girlfriend, Caylee Honda, a nurse who works at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The two enjoyed waffle fries and pumpkin beers from the stand, but mostly the presence of each other.
EARL KUFEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS Employee serves apple cider to a visitor at the Center City District Parks’ Harvest Weekend.
Glass shop offers a discount on glass decorative pumpkins and strawberries.
Mother and daughter paint a pumpkin.
Attendee views a selection of coats.
Family looks at a selection of jewelry.
MOVING CLOCKWISE FROM THE TOP
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FASHION
Rewritten Apparel is a studentrun business targeted toward students and sports fans.
BY MARIYUM RIZWAN Features EditorEmilyKoch was sitting on the kitchen counter in her apart ment one night, scrolling through tabs of inventory to order for her sweatshirt business, Rewritten Ap parel. While tabulating the costs for the shirts and hoodies for her first pop-up shop, she found that she could not afford to invest the $1,000 needed for the mer chandise.
“I sort of knew that there’s always a risk that you lose all of it or some of it or you don’t make all of it back,” said Koch, a senior political science major. “And I just decided I just have to trust myself to just do it. And if things don’t sell, they don’t sell. And hopefully, I’ll sell them eventually.”
But the financial risk was worth it when Koch sold all the readymade gar ments at the pop-up shop at The Nest.
At first, Rewritten only offered Temple University apparel and Phila delphia “birds” memorabilia but now the company is ready to reach a larger audi ence by extending its collection to other universities and sports teams outside of Philadelphia. Koch receives an average of 28 to 29 orders per month and sells her items on Etsy, at pop-up shops and through Instagram.
“I love my primary audience being Temple and Philly because that’s my home and community, but it’s so amaz ing that someone across the country or in Florida has a sweatshirt of mine,” Koch said.
Koch started her small business during her senior year at Towson High School near Baltimore because she en joyed thrifting and repurposing her old
clothes. However, it wasn’t until her friends began looking for college apparel after they committed to college that she realized there was a market for universi ty-themed clothing.
“As I got closer to going to school, and I realized that other people are get ting closer to going into school, every body sort of wanted original college ap parel, tailgate apparel, things like that,” Koch said.
The business started in 2019, but Koch took a two-year hiatus to focus on her mental health. It was difficult for her to find a work-life balance when juggling college, financial expenses and the loneliness of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When she returned to her business in 2021, Koch wanted her company to provide a more personal experience for customers as opposed to when they buy from large companies, like Amazon.
“As much as it is I’m just delivering a product to people, I want people to know that there’s a person behind those products, and I come up with every sin gle one of my designs,” Koch said.
Koch’s roommate, Mia Iannucci, a senior advertising major, has helped in the design, production and execution of sales and pop-up shops. She has seen their living room turn into a factory with designs, boxes and materials scat tered across their floors.
“Watching Rewritten grow on cam pus and social media from a few designs and few followers to thousands has been truly amazing,” Iannucci said.
Jaymi Torjman, a junior psychology major, was one of Koch’s first customers at Temple. She purchased one of Rewrit ten’s most popular designs, a hoodie with vinyl lettering on the back that reads “Text me when you get to Temple.”
“I had been wanting to buy from her before, but she was always super busy and it never worked out, so when she launched a website, I was so excited to buy from her,” Torjman said.
Hannah Seewald, a senior com munication and social influence major, met Koch through Temple’s chapter of Ignite, a women’s political advocacy or ganization.
She has supported Koch throughout her business endeavors by helping her draw clothing designs and model the ap parel on Rewritten’s Instagram account.
“Emily is an artist and loves doing what she does,” Seewald said. “She’s al ways making news designs, and she truly cares about the quality of her work and creating a relationship with everyone who buys from her.”
While Koch studies abroad in Lon don for the remainder of the Fall semes ter, she plans to continue selling through
her Etsy store and working with anoth er manufacturer to help her print more tailgate designs. After graduation, she wants to continue working for herself and creating more designs.
“I’m a very big believer in just letting things happen and things happen how they’re supposed to,” Koch said. “So, if it doesn’t work out, I always have my de gree and I can always fall back on it and get a nine to five but we’re going to try and push that off for as long as I can.”
After a five-year hiatus, Student Activists Against Sexual Assault returns to campus.
BY DUAY AUGUSTINE Assistant Features EditorDuring Ray Epstein-Shuman’s freshman year, she wanted to join a stu dent organization that addresses sexual assault because of her own experiences.
She found Student Activists Against Sexual Assault on Owl Connect and be came determined to join, but discovered the club was abandoned four years prior. She immediately began the process of reviving the organization and the club resumed a year later.
“For somebody who barely even knows where their classes are, what buildings are named, that was definitely a struggle,” Epstein-Shuman, a sopho more English major, said.
After finding 10 members and reaching out to Title IX Coordinator Andrea Caporale Seiss to be the orga nization’s faculty sponsor, SAASA was officially reinstated this fall.
Today, SAASA hosts biweekly in formational and event planning sessions, which include media analysis, Title IX rights education and discussions about sexual and domestic rights issues in the news. Through these meetings, SAASA hopes to fill the void of Title IX educa tion on campus by creating a safe space for peer-led discussions on difficult is sues related to sexual violence.
“Knowing your Title IX is so im portant to me and the only way to know them is for us to teach them,” Ep stein-Shuman said.
Much of Epstein-Shuman’s passion for sexual violence activism comes from her own experience with sexual assault.
“After I was sexually assaulted by my first boyfriend in the seventh grade, the institutional neglect, ignorance and victim-blaming I face when coming for
ward convinced me I had to do some thing,” Epstein-Shuman said.
The organization’s goal is to elim inate sexual violence on campus by ed ucating students about sexual assault prevention and survivor’s rights, Ep stein-Shuman said. The group hopes to connect with and support survivors of sexual violence through informational meetings and showings of solidarity.
“I would just hope at least like one person would feel like they have a com munity here,” said Benjamin Wilcox, se nior communication and social influence major and SAASA’s communications chair.
The organization, which currently has 140 members, wants to use its in creased membership as a way of show ing solidarity with survivors of sexual violence.
“We’re really trying to focus on showing strength in numbers, and that’s one of the most important things with sexual assault,” Wilcox said.
SAASA hopes to visibly show sur vivors their support by organizing dis plays, like their Clothesline Project on Oct. 6, in high-traffic areas on campus like the Bell Tower.
“When you do something by the Bell Tower thousands of people will see it,” Wilcox said. “That’s like a guarantee.”
The work SAASA is doing with sexual assault advocacy is important, es pecially on a college campus where sex ual assault happens so often, said Bella Kwok, a freshman political science ma jor.
Kwok, who founded her own sexual assault club during high school, joined SAASA this fall to raise awareness about the issue.
“It gives students like a support sys tem, just to know that like, there are stu dents who have been through the same thing that you have,” Kwok said.
Public displays of solidarity like the Clothesline Project help show that SAA SA is a peer-led space for students to
educate themselves on sexual violence, which is often much more effective than administrative efforts to address these is sues, Caporale Seiss said.
“Organizations like SAASA create a safe space for students to interact with and engage in uncomfortable conversa tions,” Caporale Seiss said.
The education that comes from these conversations allows for a more effective response to sexual violence by creating a network of informed students who are more capable of helping each other, Caporale Seiss said.
Only 12 percent of college students who are sexually assaulted file a police report, and many do not file reports due to a lack of knowledge of the process and their rights as a survivor, according to Know Your IX, an organization dedicat ed to informing students of their Title IX rights.
“When something like this happens, students typically go to another student first,” Caporale Seiss said. “So student education on these topics is incredibly important.”
SAASA has several events planned for the remainder of this year including a partnership with Take Back the Night, a sexual violence advocacy group founded in the 1970s, to organize a march in the spring semester. They also want to orga nize a “Shatter the Silence” plate-smash ing event later this year. After large turnouts at meetings and eager participation in the organization, members of SAASA are excited for the future of the club.
“We are ecstatic at the engagement and support we have been met with by our fellow Owls,” Epstein-Shuman said.
PERIOD at Temple is working to counter period poverty for students on campus.
BY MARIYUM RIZWAN Features EditorEarlier this year, Jennyfer Ngo saw a TikTok about the importance of peri od poverty advocacy. The video sparked Ngo’s interest and inspired her to start her own PERIOD chapter at Temple.
She immediately went to Aleena Ab basi, who Ngo met volunteering for the Health Link Society, where they bonded about their shared passion for commu nity service.
PERIOD at Temple is a new chap ter inspired by the parent organization, PERIOD, a menstrual hygiene advocacy group. The group aims to advance PE RIOD’s mission of eradicating period poverty, which involves the challenges some face with limited access to men strual hygiene products and its stigma. The group plans to spread that mission by hosting product drives and creating resource guides.
“I was really surprised when I found out that Temple didn’t have one already given that we are such a unique and di verse environment,” Ngo said.
They applied through Student Ac
tivities last spring to introduce the or ganization. They created e-board po sitions, wrote a constitution and began planning for the year.
“It doesn’t matter if you identify as a female or anything else we really, really just want to be inclusive, and by doing that we hopefully want to provide free period products and both gender-neutral bathrooms,” Ngo said.
Nearly one in four United States stu dents who menstruate cannot afford pe riod products, according to a May 2021 survey commissioned by PERIOD and Thinx, inc.
Period poverty is a pervasive issue in the U.S. and disproportionately affects low-income women, Medical News To day reported.
Kendall Stephens, a senior social work major and the director of com munity affairs for Temple Student Gov ernment, is responsible for seeking out social issues affecting the student body.
“The level of awareness around pe riod poverty is low because they consid er the issue inconsequential,” Stephens said. “It hasn’t been made as a problem everyone should be invested in, framing is an issue.”
Stephens is also the creator of the Temple Initiative for Menstrual Equity, an initiative not affiliated with the uni
versity, that advocates for ending inac cessibility of period products on campus.
T.I.M.E. and PERIOD hosted a rally at the Bell Tower on Oct. 10 to honor Period Action Day with the goal of unit ing the Temple community for menstru al equity.
“By hosting a rally, PERIOD hopes to have a physical presence in order to celebrate advocacy for menstrual equity and inclusivity and promote education about period poverty,” Abbasi said.
PERIOD at Temple wants to contin ue to educate students about menstrual product affordability and collect prod ucts for campus bathrooms.
In addition to collecting menstru al hygiene products and educating stu dents, PERIOD aims to destigmatize the concept of periods by raising awareness on the issue. Period poverty is an issue that affects so many different people but often goes unreported because of its sen sitive nature, according to the United Nations.
In many cultures, menstrual cycles are seen as dirty or shameful and this idea prevents any further conversations regarding the safety, health or comfort of people with periods, Abbasi said.
“There’s a certain sense of shame associated with having your period and it’s something that people are often told
to not talk about even when they have issues with their period,” Abbasi said. “And there’s no platform for it.”
PERIOD plans to continue advocat ing for the de-stigmatization of periods, helping raise awareness toward men strual hygiene inaccessibility and col laborating with other organizations like T.I.M.E to reach their goals at Temple and beyond.
“We recognize the importance of working with the Philly communi ty and we are in the process of reach ing out to shelters in the area because we do want to do drives and fund raise for other communities in the re gion, not just Temple,” Abbasi said.
mariyum.rizwan@temple.edu
Jenn Evans is a social media influencer and will be promoting Urban’s clothing.
BY MARIYUM RIZWAN Features EditorIn the left corner of Jenn Evans’ bed room, a rack of shirts, jeans and dresses are neatly organized as her outfits for the week.
Every week, Evans plans different outfits with clothes she purchased and others that were sent to her for the fash ion haul and outfit inspiration videos she makes on TikTok, Instagram and You Tube. Evans, a senior advertising ma jor, is a content creator producing niche content including fashion inspiration, vlogs, clothing haul and gaming videos across various social media platforms.
In August, Evans’ social media pres ence garnered the attention of the cloth ing brand Urban Outfitters, and she was hired as their college brand ambassador. As a campus ambassador, she will be cre ating events throughout the semester to promote the company’s clothing collec tions.
“We had an event about two weeks ago called ‘College Night,’ we had stu dents make their own tote bags, gave out free snacks, Urban goodies and dis counts,” Evans said.
At 16, Evans began to cultivate a social media following by making You Tube videos. It wasn’t until the growth of TikTok during the COVID-19 pan demic that Evans saw a spike growth in followers.
TikTok changed the way creators could gain followers with its more us er-friendly algorithm as anyone could
go viral with quick and aesthetically pleasing videos, Forbes reported. Evans began posting every day on TikTok and Instagram in 2020 and got her first brand deal with Neutrogena in June 2020, she said.
“I was so hype about it, because it was like my first paid deal,” Evans said. “Like, Neutrogena knows who I am? I’m freaking out and ever since then, it slow ly started going up.”
In December 2021, Evans created a TikTok joking about men going on a date wearing a casual tracksuit versus women going on the same date after get ting ready for 2 ½ hours. The video went viral, gaining more than 1.5 million views, and she grew from having 10,000 followers to more than 51,000.
“My whole life has changed from working at a restaurant four days a week to working from home,” Evans said. “All I do is record videos, take pictures and edit. It’s a lot of work, but I’ve been blessed to work with brands like Urban, SKIMS, Maybelline, NYX Professional Makeup, Samsung and Revolve.”
Amanda Smith, a senior media studies and production major, has been friends with Evans for only a year, but in the short time she’s known her she’s seen Evans’ progress in her career.
“I have seen her make content and helped take pictures for Instagram,” Smith said. “But she truly is the master mind from start to finish while she jug gles school, working on the side and her social life.”
Evans, a Black woman, never saw women who looked like her represent ing fashion brands like Urban Outfitters, Aritzia or Zara.
“I’ve done ads for Poshmark who barely post like black girls on their page,”
Evans said. “I hope there is a younger version of me somewhere out there in the world that sees me and is like ‘Oh I can dress like this,’ or ‘I can do this.’”
Most of the representation for Black women in the fashion industry is seen in brands like Fashion Nova or Shein, which are known primarily as fast fash ion brands whose target audience is the young party girl,” Evans said.
Jessica Hubbard, a senior human resource management major and Evans’ roommate, has been friends with Evans since their freshman year and has been a valuable support system by encouraging her friend when her work became too overwhelming.
“I’ve always let her know that she was amazing and that she would and is doing great things,” Hubbard said. “I just made sure she knew how important her process and work was and what an im pact it made.”
After graduating, Evans plans to fo cus more on content creation about trav el fashion and showcasing different fash ion designers around the world while balancing her busy work schedule with more personal travelling experiences.
“I’m hoping that even though I am working hard, I am able to travel and experience life and appreciate the people who come into mine,” Evans said.
1. What Phillies player led the National League in home runs this season?
2. What is the name of the Phillies’ mascot?
5. What team did the Phillies defeat in the 2008 World Series?
6. The Phillies went over the luxury tax threshold to sign this player during the previous offseason.
8. What was the name of the former Phillies stadium before the team moved to Citizens Bank Park?
3. What Phillies player won the National MVP in 2021?
4. What is the name of the manager who replaced Joe Girardi this season?
7. What team did the Phillies defeat in the 2022 NL Wild Card Series?
9. Which pitcher made the transition from starter to reliever this season?
10. Which Phillies player made the last out in game two of the NL Wild Card Series?
T N A D O T O G O S G N D E N D O O O O Y
E B R E R R E E R A R E D I I O I E N E N
N O R E N H A D I D U N N H L I T A I E W
R S N A V M F W E R B I L I I H O U B R O
H T E S G O R
Temple’s new Men’s Tennis assistant coach Bruce Myers hopes to grow Temple’s program.
BY NICK GANGEWERE Sports EditorIn most college sports, coaching it self sometimes takes a backseat to the administrative duties of running a pro gram like recruiting, fundraising and scheduling. For Temple Men’s Tennis, these tasks are prioritized due to the pro gram receiving less funding than other non-revenue sports.
New men’s tennis assistant coach Bruce Myers is no stranger to the vari ous responsibilities of coaches through out the year, having spent more than 10 seasons as a Division I head tennis coach at programs like the University of Dela ware and Bucknell University.
“Some of my strengths are that I do a lot of individual work with the guys,” Myers said. “Plus bringing in some of the things I used at Bucknell like community service and fundraising.”
While the men’s tennis program does receive funding from the school, it’s tasked with earning money on their own as well; this is where Myers can step in.
Here are ways in which Myers can help Temple succeed this season.
Entering the 2022-23 season with Bucknell, Myers’ recruiting class was ranked No. 27 amongst all Division I programs. Tennis recruiting revolves around having international networks for scouting, a foundation Myers care fully established.
“Tennis at the Division I level is 58 percent international,” Myers said. “The key is to build some connections with different parts of the world.”
Myers, who coached at Delaware from 2015-16, takes annual trips to dif ferent countries to recruit players for his teams. By attending tournaments and showcases internationally, Myers has been able to gain a positive reputation from many coaches and scouts.
Temple men’s tennis head coach Steve Mauro abides by a similar philos
ophy at Temple, utilizing his established networks in dozens of foreign countries to bring in players. His teams have been comprised of players from more than 25 different countries, Mauro said.
While modern-day recruiting has been made easier with websites pub lishing results and rankings, Myers still believes that in-person interactions and using current and former athletes from specific countries is the key to forming better relationships and getting the key commitments.
“If you’re working with certain areas of the world, they can speak to a poten tial recruit,” Myers said. “The student athlete’s experience is one of the biggest selling points for any university.”
I sports is often dependent on assistant coaches. For Temple men’s tennis, this job requires alumni engagement with newsletters and alumni events.
Myers did not have a large budget at Patriot League program Bucknell, which forced him to receive donations from alumni to fund the program. Men’s
tennis gets more athletic funding from Temple Athletics than Bucknell men’s tennis program received from their ad ministration, so coupled with a larger alumni network, revenue will be less of an issue for Myers.
“Our budget was very small, so everything we did was pretty much through fundraising,” Myers said. “Tem ple hadn’t done a whole lot of fundrais ing. To bring in and reconnect with the alums, to get them back involved, that is the key to everything.”
When Myers arrived at Temple, he knew many of the players on Temple’s roster through his scouting work and from coaching against them. He gained respect for Temple tennis’ dedication during matches throughout the years. Myers is hoping to cultivate relation ships on and off the court by working directly with these players.
“It’s ironic because I’ve coached against so many of the players, so I know these guys pretty well coaching against them,” Myers said. “It’s kind of fun be cause I can say ‘Here’s how I coached
against you.’”
For junior Marin Delmas, Temple’s top singles player, the addition of Myers has helped him prepare for matches with unique tactics, like forcing opponents onto their weak side. Delmas met Myers as a sophomore in 2021 when Temple played Bucknell on March 27 and March 28.
“He’s super knowledgeable,” Delmas said. “He’s trying to help build a nice pro gram.”
For a Temple men’s tennis team that went 12-10 last season, Myers will improve their game along with the program. While funding is limited for non-revenue sports, the experience of coaches can make a difference.
“I know he has a good work ethic and he has been successful at the insti tutions he’s been at,” Mauro said. “I hope he continues to do what we’ve done in the past.”
Field Hockey (10-3), 3rd in Big East
Football (2-3), 9th in AAC
Men’s Soccer (2-7-2), 10th in AAC
Volleyball (7-10), 10th in AAC
Women’s Soccer (1-7-4), 9th in AAC
Field Hockey
AWAY at Liberty University (8-5, 4-0 Big East) Friday, Oct. 14 4:00 p.m.
HOME vs Brown (8-3, 1-2 Ivy)
Sunday, Oct. 16 1:00 p.m.
Football
AWAY at University of Central Florida (4-1, 1-0 American)
Thursday, Oct. 13 7:00 p.m. ESPN
Men’s Soccer
AWAY at Florida Atlantic University (3-5-2, 2-1-1 American)
HOME vs Stony Brook University (4-7, 2-4 CAA)
Tuesday, Oct. 10 7:00 p.m.
Volleyball
AWAY at University of Central Florida (13-1, 5-1 American)
Friday, Oct. 14 7:00 p.m.
AWAY at University of South Florida (6-9, 0-3 American)
Sunday, Oct. 16 1:00 p.m.
Women’s Soccer
HOME vs Memphis (4-4-4, 0-1-3 American)
Sunday, Oct. 16 Noon
Owls outside linebacker Layton Jordan’s athleticism lets him play several different positions.
BY NICK GANGEWERE Sports EditorDuring his high school career, Tem ple outside linebacker Layton Jordan played a position on all three phases of the game, doing whatever it took to help McKeesport Area High School in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, win games. He played running back on offense, pass rusher on defense and was even the team’s starting punter on special teams.
Pure athleticism was the reason Jor dan could play anywhere on the field, but it was a will to win that made him want to play each position.
Now the redshirt junior has taken this competitive spirit to the collegiate level, working as a defensive end and outside linebacker on a Temple team in need of playmakers. Jordan has 4.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss so far this sea son. His versatility creates mismatches for opposing offenses and has led to sig nificant disruptions of plays on several occasions.
In Temple’s Sept. 24 victory against the University of Massachusetts (1-4), Jordan intercepted a third quarter pass from UMass redshirt-junior quarter back Gino Campiotti and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. While the play itself was impressive, Jordan showed the speed and awareness many knew he was capable of.
“When I caught it, it took me back to high school days when I used to play running back,” Jordan said. “I took ad vantage of it and thought, ‘I gotta do what I gotta do to get in the endzone.’”
Jordan was at the line of scrimmage for most of the quarter before that play, so when Temple defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot dropped him into coverage, UMass was unprepared.
Pittsburgh is very basketball and football-oriented, so Jordan constant ly participated in practices and games throughout his childhood. Unbeknownst to him, the various sports helped create an aggressive spirit for Jordan and al
lowed for him to become an all-around athlete.
Jordan’s playmaking ability is not a mystery, especially to McKeesport High School football coach Matt Miller. Miller coached Jordan for three years, with the last two as the head coach.
“He’s got a lot of natural ability,” Miller said. “He’s somebody who can al ways do just about anything on the foot ball field. He was a first team all-confer ence running back for us.”
When Jordan was recruited by for mer Temple head football coach Geoff Collins, Collins’ staff knew he had the potential to become a starter. However, Jordan’s ability to play different posi tions almost became a problem.
He was not suited for any one posi tion at first, which caused issues in his placement on the depth chart early on.
His transition from defensive end to out side linebacker furthered his potential to become a starter, a spot on the field was never guaranteed.
Jordan rotated in and out of the lineup and did not have a solidified role under former head coach Rod Carey in 2021. When current head coach Stan Drayton took over, Jordan knew it was his time to step up.
“I’m happy with all of the progress I’ve made over the coaching changes,” Jordan said. “If you want that goal you’ve got to go get it.”
As a key starter for an Owls defense giving up only 16.8 points per game, Jordan has used his seniority to make a change, helping bring a new energy to the locker room.
The linebacker has played 7-on7 with players like NFL running back
Miles Sanders and competed alongside several other college players while at McKeesport.
“It comes from a community thing,” Jordan said. “We all pushed each other, we would be active. We were always playing sports and being around sports.”
Whether it is by rushing the passer or dropping into coverage, Jordan is de termined to make his impact felt on ev ery play. While it may not always appear on the stat sheet, the players and coaches are all aware of his impact.
“He’s a playmaker at the outside linebacker position,” Drayton said. “His understanding of the game has enhanced tremendously since the first time we’ve gotten here. The kid wants to be great.”
Temple need to surpass offensive woes if they plan to advance to postseason.
BY JOHNNY ZAWISLAK Field Hockey Beat ReporterThe Temple Field Hockey (10-3, 3-1 The Big East Conference) defense is tied for 23rd in the country in defensive saves with three, sixth in shutouts with five, and 15th in goals allowed.
While the Owls’ defense has been stellar as of late, the offense has encoun tered some recent struggles that they must address if they hope to defeat tough opponents to qualify for the Big East tournament.
“We need to work on our connec tion between the three lines more in the circle, because we had like a lot of cir cle entries, and we just don’t score,” said freshman midfielder Agustina Tucceri. “Against Liberty, UConn and Old Do minion we need to make sure that we score the goals because if not, we’re not going to win.”
The offense started out strong, scor ing 27 goals in their first eight games with an average of 3.3 goals per game, helping the Owls start out with a 7-1 re cord. In the five games since, the team has scored eight goals, averaging 1.6
goals per game, going 3-2 in that span.
In the Owls’ 1-0 win to Big East ri val Georgetown (3-10, 0-4 Big East) they were awarded 15 total penalty corner at tempts and were only able to convert on their second to last corner. While they outshot the Hoyas 22-1, they struggled finding the net for goals.
In the Owls’ losses to Villanova University (8-5, 1-3 Big East) and the University of Pennsylvania (3-8, 1-2 Big East) they struggled to capitalize on their multiple scoring opportunities due to a solid opposing defense, passing up on shots for an extra pass or forcing unnec essary turnovers.
The Big East has tough opponents, including Liberty University (8-4, 4-0 Big East Conference), University of Connecticut (8-4, 3-1 Big East), and Old Dominion (9-2, 3-1 Big East) all nation ally-ranked within the top 25.
“I feel like it’s just the small details that have been a problem,” said sopho more midfielder Tess Muller. “I feel like we can upset every opponent going for ward if we really connect and get those little things going.”
Only the top four teams in the con ference will qualify for the Big East tour nament, and with so many competitive squads, the Owls will need to play as a complete team if they plan on reaching the tournament.
“Conference play just continues to get more difficult,” said head coach Mi chelle Vittese. “We have a great con ference, and especially this year I think there’s a lot of really great teams this year, so we just have to keep defending and doing our job defending as a unit.”
With the schedule only getting tougher and fewer games left to play, the Owls will need to convert their penalty corners more efficiently, like they were in the beginning of the season.
However, as the season progresses, more teams have film to scout the Owls’ plays for their penalty corner attempts making it more difficult to convert on them.
“Teams are starting to scout us on our corner attempts,” coach Vittese said. “Now it is just a matter of adapting, ad justing and executing what we can do.”
Coming off a crucial 2-1 conference win against Providence College (5-8, 2-1 Big East), the Owls showed that they still have room to improve if they plan on going toe-to-toe with UConn or Lib erty, who lost the NCAA championship last year.
The Owls were awarded ten penal ty corners and were not able to convert on any of them, due to miscues or bad entry passes that cannot be repeated in upcoming key matchups.
“That was uncharacteristic,” Vittese
said. “I have to honestly go back, we’ll look at that and then we might have to kind of revisit some other ways to be successful going forward.”
The Owls will now travel to Lynch burg, Virginia, on Oct. 14 to take on Liberty at 4 p.m. and attempt to pull off the upset against the number one team in the Big East.
john.zawislak@temple.edu @JZawisBTBDavenport has enjoyed the switch from middle to outside hitter, she said. She has taken a match-by-match ap proach in her training, and when her performances were sub-par, she contin ued to rely on the people around her for guidance.
“The transition was really fun,” Dav enport said. “I really love to have my coaches and teammates behind me sup porting me through it.”
After a disappointing loss to Wich ita State University (8-7, 3-1 American) to start conference play for the Owls, Davenport was benched for the next two games after hitting -.167 percent and
.048 percent in the first two games of conference play.
Davenport experienced a resurgence after returning to Philadelphia to play Temple’s first home games in a month, recording 24 kills and hitting .178 per cent in their first conference win of the season against Tulane University (6-10, 1-4 American).
The team’s success has seen a visible improvement too, already reaching their win total from last year with seven vic tories in just 17 played so far this season.
The Owls needed a boost of offense to succeed this season and Davenport has been the most important piece for the Owls’ attack.
“She has been a leader for us as far as kills and getting kills,” Hampton-Keith said.
Even though Davenport has been the Owls’ main source of kills to begin the season, she is still trying to improve her play around the net as the year pro gresses, a quality evident to her team mates.
“She just wants to be really good,” said sophomore outside hitter Jaaliyah Evans. “She just wants to be a good vol leyball player.”
The Owls are currently 7-10 with a 1-5 conference record after a tough loss to the University of Cincinnati on Oct. 7, but this is only the beginning for the team as they attempt to achieve their goals of playing for a top conference seed.
If Davenport begins to play at a con sistent level, she can be a huge piece for the Owls for years to come. But right
now, the sophomore is looking to help the team in any way she can.
“I wanna be able to manage my shots and be a better hitter for my team and score points,” Davenport said.
Since joining Temple Volleyball last season, sophomore Taylor Davenport has transitioned from middle blocker to outside hitter, becom ing an important component of the Owls’ success on the court. Davenport’s 279 kills lead the Owls this season, 108 more than second-place Jelena Prolic.
In 2021, Davenport was fourth in the American Athletic Conference in blocks with 126, led Temple with 1.14 blocks per set and broke the Owls’ single-game blocks record with 15. So as this season approached, head coach Linda Hamp ton-Keith’s decision to switch her position was a controversial decision.
“She’s not perfect, she’s still making mistakes,” Hampton-Keith said. “She’s go ing to be a force to be reckoned with, that’s for sure.”
This year, Davenport is more of an offensive threat than defensive one. She began the season as a second option but showed promise as she adjusted to becom ing an outside hitter.
“Of course, when you start something new, of course you struggle,” Davenport said.
She tallied 17 kills in Temple’s first win of the season against the University of Delaware (10-5, 6-1 Colonial Athlet ic Association), showing her potential to become a key player in her role. She de livered a breakout performance against St. Francis College (7-14, 0-4 Northeast Conference) when she recorded 27 kills in a five-set match victory.