Volume 91, Issue 16

A&E Two Piece Fest VI, a festival showcasing exclusively two-piece bands, will return to PILAM on Feb. 2.

temple-news.com VOL. 91 ISS. 16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

INCONSISTENT OWLS, p. 20

GUN SHOW, p. 5

In a point-counterpoint, Ibrahim Jacobs and Zack Scott trade opposing views on the country’s national gun debate.

Defense, consistency are top concerns heading into tomorrow’s matchup against Richmond.

Shorter contracts ease tight budgets Budget battles and interims lead to shorter contracts.

JOHN MORITZ Assistant News Editor

Attendees of a vigil mourn the loss of Stephen Khiry Johnson, a senior who was shot and killed on Jan. 1.| ALI WATKINS TTN

Recalling a tragedy

Family of a fallen senior on the path toward graduation hopes to keep his memory alive.

S

ALI WATKINS The Temple News

tephen Khiry Johnson could light up a room.

“He was the definition of beautiful. He was strong-minded, independent, very articulate,” recalled his

aunt, Kareema Johnson, speaking through tears at her nephew’s vigil last week. “We have never seen him without a smile on his face. Laughing, joking. It’s always been the same.”

Johnson’s life was tragically cut short in the early hours of New Year’s Day, when the senior marketing major was shot and

killed in a house on the 1700 block of West Venango Street, just months away from graduating.

A hard worker who was seldom seen without a smile, Johnson, 23, known as ‘Khiry’ to friends and family, was headed toward a bright future. He intended to accept a

JOHNSON PAGE 2

With the university facing annual budget battles, schools and colleges have relied on the hiring of non-tenure track faculty to one- and two-year contracts in order to decrease the amount of funds reserved in long-term tenure and tenuretrack positions.

Beginning in 2000, the university ended a term limit on non-tenured positions called deans’ appointments that forced colleges to replace faculty members that had been with the university for more than seven years. A new Temple University Association of Professionals contract was forged that year creating a new level of positions known as special appointment faculty, in which professors and researchers who were deemed to be of exceptional quality were allowed to stay on at their respective schools for longer periods.

Prior to 2000, teachers in

Faculty express concerns over interim deans

Five interim deans serve throughout the university.

AMELIA BRUST The Temple News Since last year, restructuring within Temple resulted in Robert Stroker’s dean appointment of the Center for the Arts, while interim Provost Hai-Lung Dai left the position of dean of the College of Science and Technology.

Now with a new president, Temple has five interim dean positions and is currently condicting searches to fill four of them.

“It’s hard on an acting dean who tends to have less power and influence than a permanent colleague and of course we’re very concerned about issues of tenure and promotion and other personnel,” Joan Shapiro, president of the Faculty Senate, said.

Five interim deans serve in the School of Media and Communication, the College of Education, CST, the College of Health Professions and Social Work and University Libraries.

“Really, of course, we prefer to have permanent deans. So there is a factor of a little bit of instability,” Shapiro, an educational leadership professor, said. “But remember, we’ve had an interim president as well as

an interim provost, so this has been a very, slightly unstable time. And consequently what it means is that schools with the interim deans have been somewhat vulnerable to restructuring.”

“We’ve had some very good interim deans for this period...in my case I do have an interim dean right now. James Earl Davis is our interim dean and he’s been just wonderful.

So it depends,” she added.

Davis has been interim dean of the College of Education for two and a half years.

“A typical contract for a dean is five years. Ideally, an institution would want a longterm dean, but it varies,” Davis

said. “We have some interim deans at Temple who have served in a typical capacity as a permanent dean, particularly those who see deanships as [an] ascent to higher-level positions so the point is not to stay in those positions indefinitely but to get that experience and move to higher levels of administration in the university.”

Shapiro does not see students feeling the effects of an interim. Difficulties more so occur when the position is up for replacement, she said.

“Once the search process comes on, it’s a question again of will the interim dean run for the deanship or not? And that changes everything...there are

questions that come up,” Shapiro said.

One of the Faculty Senate’s committees, the Committee on Administrative and Trustee Appointments, finds faculty members for dean searches. Shapiro was also involved with the search for the provost, a process not involving the interim provost.

“In the Faculty Senate our connection with the provost is very strong. In fact the provost comes in on a regular basis to our representative senate,” Shapiro said. “Although [Dai] is an interim provost, we work very closely because it’s academic issues that the provost focuses

DEAN PAGE 2

health sciences programs who were not involved in clinical research were also allowed to be maintained for periods longer than seven years, a system that then expanded onto Main Campus.

In 2004, a TUAP contract did away with all term limits on non-tenure track faculty, greatly increasing the ability of the various schools and colleges to fill staffs with full-time, nontenure track faculty.

Diane Maleson, senior vice provost of faculty affairs, said that while at first colleges were open to hiring non-tenure track faculty to multi-year contracts, budget constraints forced them to shorten contract lengths into one and two-year deals that gave them more freedom in managing yearly salaries.

“There are certain budgetary realities, a person that gets tenured, assuming they behave, has a lifetime job, and that is an enormous financial commitment, and so in these incredibly uncertain times when the state is dramatically limiting the amount of money that it gives to higher education, you have to be really careful about the

CONTRACTS PAGE 3

Search for new V.P. underway The administrator would bring a more traditional approach to communications.

SEAN CARLIN News Editor

Although the administration hasn’t seen much of a personnel shakeup since President Neil Theobald took the reins on Jan. 1, a new cabinet position

VP PAGE 3

Counsel drafts President’s adviser adjusts to Temple minor policies The new policies came after the Penn State sex abuse scandal.

SEAN CARLIN News Editor Nearly four months after the university’s task force reviewing Judge Louis Freeh’s report on Penn State’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal released its report, Temple has instituted two new policies addressing visitors and minors on campus.

The policies created were crafted not only through recommendations by the Task Force

on Institutional Integrity, but by policies used at other institutions as well.

“We used the task force.

We also looked at other policies that other universities had and kind of compiled all the best practices and put ours together,” said Fay Trachtenberg, associate university counsel.

The first policy, which addressed minor visitors on campus, states that university personnel participating in events including minors should provide the Department of Risk Management and Insurance details of the programs or activities at least 60 days prior to the

POLICY PAGE 2

NEWS DESK 215-204-7419

Kevin Clark was senior associate athletic director at Indiana University.

LAURA ORDONEZ The Temple News

There are no family pictures on the desk of Kevin Clark.

The photographs of his wife and four children – three college students and a 9-year-old son – are stored in his old house in Bloomington, Ind. He plans to bring them to work once his wife and young child move in with him in May. However, his on-campus apartment, in the second floor of the 1810 Liacouras Walk com-

CLARK PAGE 2

Kevin Clark joins Temple as the senior adviser to President Neil Theobald. He came to Temple after serving as associate athletic director at Indiana University.| ABI REIMOLD TTN

NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

NEWS temple-news.com

PAGE 2

Fallen student’s family plans namesake honor JOHNSON PAGE 1 naval commission in California after graduating from Temple in May, and hoped to pursue his master’s degree. Above all, said family members, he wanted to make a difference.

“This was a young man that had a future. That had a bright future ahead of him,” said Johnson’s cousin, Movita Johnson-Harrell, who is serving as unofficial spokesperson for his mother, Denine Johnson.

“He wanted to impact young people.”

Senior marketing major Danielle Zoltak had class with Stephen Johnson last fall and remarked about the vision he had for his future.

“Not many people in college have such a clear vision about their future or have as much ambition as he did at 23,” Zoltak said. “I always felt like he would be great at whatever he did, I thought he would definitely go places.”

Johnson-Harrell, who said she often set an extra plate for Stephen Johnson at her family’s dinner table, remembered a young man who had a maturity far beyond his years, who held consistent jobs since the age of 14 and dressed in button-down shirts and dress shoes before he

could drive. He wanted nothing to do with the “thug” lifestyle, she said, and strived to set a good example for his younger cousins, particularly Amir Johnson.

Amir Johnson, who at 17 years old is a student at Johnson’s high school alma mater, Community Academy of Philadelphia, struggled through tears as he spoke at his cousin’s vigil last Thursday night. The two were inseparable despite their age differences, Amir Johnson said, and often didn’t even need words to communicate with each other. Amir Johnson said his cousin instilled the value of honesty in him, and urged him to always tell the truth and stay out of trouble. Despite a busy schedule, Stephen Johnson made it to every one of Amir Johnson’s basketball games at CAP. “Our personalities were so close, our bond was so strong,” Amir Johnson said. “The stuff we would talk about, we would just talk for hours, sometimes we don’t have to talk, and he would know there’s something wrong, or I would know there’s something wrong. It’s just crazy that he had to go.”

Amir Johnson was present

on the night of the shooting.

“He was like my brother, I could tell him anything. He always protected me over anything…and he always told people he would protect me,” he said. “And I guess that day came, because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here either.”

Two others were shot at the party and a woman was injured jumping from a second-floor window to avoid the gunfire, police have said. Lawrence Jeffries, 22, has been charged with murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting.

In an even more tragic twist, the Johnson family is no stranger to Philadelphia’s violent gun culture. Stephen Johnson’s late cousin, Charles Johnson, was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity while waiting for his sister in Germantown in 2011. The family was less than two weeks shy of mourning the second Jan. 12 anniversary of Charles Johnson when the call came about Stephen Johnson.

“For this to happen to a family once is enough, but for this to happen to a family twice…there’s no words to define,” said Movita JohnsonHarrell, Charles Johnson’s

mother. “I know the feeling of just wanting to see your baby one more time, just wanting to kiss your kid one more time.

And I am so sorry my cousin is in this position.”

Johnson-Harrell was inspired to create the anti-violence Charles Foundation, an endeavor that was therapeutic in the painful aftermath of her son’s death. She said that the family will absolutely be doing the same for Stephen Johnson, and hopes it can offer the same comfort to his mother, Denine Johnson, who lost her only child. Although there are no concrete plans as of yet, Johnson-Harrell said there has been talk of scholarship funds in honor of her cousin.

“We’re looking in to doing a Stephen Khiry Johnson scholarship, one to the high school for a student who’s graduating and going in to a business school, and one through Temple through Fox School,” she said.

“We will definitely be doing something in Khiry’s name and honor.”

Ali Watkins can be reached at ali.watkins@temple.edu.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

Deans’ stability among concerns DEAN PAGE 1 on and that of course is what the faculty is incredibly interested in.”

Dai has had to adjust to the position while working with both former Acting President Richard Englert and current President Neil Theobald.

“I would say the interim position is interesting...you have to have the people in those positions keep things moving.

On the other hand, our appointment duration is finite, and so I think my position is that if they are clearly saying things that needed to be done, we need to not waste any time,” Dai said.

“Even before President Theobald arrived as a presidentelect, my office worked closely with him, defining the agenda and executing the most important and timely mission that both Englert and Theobald consider.”

Because of the short time frame of the position, Dai said he was unable to be more involved with the review of the general education program.

“It is the type of thing that I see it being important, high priority but it’s not timed with what I can do during this time,” Dai said.

Steven Newman, editor of the Faculty Herald and an English professor, cites a reluctance to hire under interims.

“There is typically much less of it, and this makes it difficult for departments to run the classes that they wish to, whether old classes taught by now-departed colleagues or new ones that a new colleague might bring with her or invent,” Newman said in an email.

During his time as interim dean, Davis has overseen “a major reorganization” of the

College of Education, as well as the hiring of 10 faculty members.

“Where there was some change in leadership at the top that created some need to maintain the interim deans until there was permanent leadership,” Davis said.

He suggested interims give the university some flexibility to maintain leadership.

“In my experience, permanent deans often come from outside an institution. This certainly has its advantages; outside hires often bring a positive dynamism, a broader worldview and a gift for fundraising, among other sterling qualities,” Newman said. “But that’s not always the case, and even when it is the case, there are almost always sources of friction when someone comes in from outside to lead a school or college.”

Davis and Shapiro maintain the difference a good leader makes to have a successful department.

“It really depends on who the acting dean is...I think it really depends upon if you’ve got somebody who’s a leader, whether it’s interim or whether it’s long term, things will carry on if you’ve got a good leader,” Shapiro said.

“It’s not stability, per se, it’s what leadership, vision and direction that’s being provided by the dean that’s most important, and that could come in shorter time periods,” Davis said.

Currently the Faculty Senate aims to establish a five-year basis for dean reviews, using feedback from faculty, staff and students.

Amelia Brust can be reached at abrust@temple.edu.

Res. Life seeking to enact policies POLICY PAGE 1

Antoine Johnson and Denine Johnson mourn the loss of Stephen Khiry Johnson at a vigil on Jan. 24. Johnson was a senior marketing major set to graduate in May. He was gunned down in the early hours of New Year’s Day. | ALI WATKINS TTN

Colleagues laud Clark’s work CLARK PAGE 1 plex, is too small for 9-year-old Logan to play ball.

He has to find a bigger place and an elementary school for Logan. He also needs to sell his Bloomington house and learn how to cope with the higher cost of living in Philadelphia.

On top of that, he is grasping what being a Temple Owl entails.

“I’m still trying to learn my way around the culture of Temple,” Clark said. “There is so much stuff to learn and read about.”

Moving from a small college town to a metropolitan city was easy for the Kansas City, Mo., native.

“I just have to learn how to deal with the traffic,” he said.

As senior adviser to President Neil Theobald, he must familiarize himself with every aspect of the university, from the Board of Trustees to the infamous reputation of the neighborhoods surrounding Main Campus.

“A typical day here is whatever the president needs,” he said. “He knows the business of higher education better than anyone else I’ve met.”

A few months ago, Clark’s hectic transition from senior associate athletic director at Indiana University to senior adviser of Temple’s chief began with a simple question in his office.

“I thought the [position] would be related to the athletic department, but when he told me about becoming his adviser I said ‘absolutely,’” Clark said.

“I was surprised, but excited. In fact, I’m still excited.”

For Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass, the offer was inevitable.

“Kevin is a rare combination of being very smart and technically expert, but also extremely practical,” Glass said.

“As much as I hated to lose him, I think people at Temple will appreciate the opportunity to work with him.”

Theobald and Clark have been colleagues for 11 years.

As Indiana’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, Theobald saw the potential of Clark’s diverse background.

“There is nothing I’ve been asked to do so far that I haven’t seen before,” Clark said.

Theobald said in an interview with The Temple News earlier this month that Clark was successful in his role at Indiana.

“He’s wonderful, he did a great job,” Theobald said.

“When he went over to athletics, they were losing millions.

When he left they were making a profit, so he’s very good at his job.”

His résumé boasts 23 years in the military – where he was an officer in operations such as Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom – an accounting degree, an MBA and myriad administrative positions at St. Louis University and Indiana.

“I’m a very detailed person, being in the military you learn a lot about accountability and responsibility,” he said. “I’m a leader but I hold myself accountable probably harder than anyone else.”

“They gained a professional admiration for each other, they were not buddies but they interacted enough to respect each other and each other’s work,” Glass said.

Clarks arrives every morning at 8 a.m. ready to befriend his new colleagues. Amid morning meetings and lunches Clark makes sure he can offer support to those working in any project assigned by the president.

“At the end of the day you do what you do for students, you

have to make sure they have a good experience while they are here,” Clark said. “Your students are your future donors, they are the alumni that are going to come back.”

Taking pride in his selfprofessed “workaholism,” Clark said he never knows when he is going to leave the office. A flatscreen television is his only distraction at home.

He would rather stay in the office and battle his co-workers who miserably attempt to dissuade him from being a Dallas Cowboys fan in an Eagles-dominated office, he said.

He said he will balance his personal life and work by the time his family arrives. By then, he hopes to have found a spacious home and a good school district for his son.

As for his future at Temple, “the opportunity is impressive, the timing is right and the opportunities are unlimited,” he said.

Laura Ordonez can be reached at laura.ordonez@temple.edu.

event or programs start date.

These details include names of adults participating with minors, whether the programs require overnight housing and administrative requirements for the programs.

The policy also requires authorized adults to be subject to a criminal background report prior to participation in programs with minors and an annual training session on the policy.

“We want any minors that come to campus to be safe,” Trachtenberg said. “We want to know that the people that are going to be working with them know what is expected of them and so that’s why we’re kind of getting this out to make sure that everybody understands what the purpose and scope of the policy is.”

University Counsel had been working on this policy for more than a year, but put it on hold as the Penn State sex abuse scandal played out. Trachtenberg said the university had a policy for visitors and volunteers pertaining to minors in laboratories previously, and the minors on campus policy was grounded in that.

“The genesis of the minors on campus policy grew out of that and we’d been working on that for at least a year,” Trachtenberg said. “When we found out what was going on at Penn State, we actually put it on hold to see what the provisions were going to be, what the courts were going to say and how this was all going to play

out.”

Minor student athlete recruits are also addressed in the policy, which states that the team should provide a copy of the Student Code of Conduct and consent forms to the recruit and the recruits’ parents.

The policy also spells out rules for unaffiliated minors who spend the night in residence halls. However, Associate Vice President and Director of University Housing and Residential Life Michael Scales said that the policies have yet to be enacted, as his office seeks to implement them.

At the start of last semester, a moratorium was put on minors staying overnight at residence halls and Scales said the policy is still in place for the general population, but exceptions have been made for athletic and academic recruits. No timetable has been set for a revised guest policy, Scales said.

“We want to get things right,” he said.

The other policy addresses visitor and volunteer procedures on campus. Trachtenberg said this policy had been in place, but now requires people to register visitors and volunteers that are coming to campus.

University Counsel drew up the policies, but worked with Residential Life and the Department of Risk Management and Insurance while creating the policies, Trachtenberg said.

Sean Carlin can be reached at sean.carlin@temple.edu or on Twitter @SeanCarlin84.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013

NEWS

PAGE 3

Tenure hiring result of ‘echo boom’ CONTRACTS PAGE 1

permanent commitments that you make,” Maleson said.

Maleson also said that the large number of interim deans running schools in recent years led to interim and acting deans becoming hesitant to leave large amounts of salaries tied up when future deans take over.

Currently, five schools or colleges are run by interim deans, an issue that President Neil Theobald has said is a top priority for the spring semester.

“I know the faculty wants [longer term contracts], many deans would like to do it, it’s not that they don’t want to do it, it’s just that they feel their hands are tied because they’re interims or they’re worried about the next budget hammer coming down,” Maleson said.

As opposed to adjunct faculty members, who are hired part-time by the various colleges to teach lessened course loads, non-tenure track faculty are hired full-time, but have to go through a contract review and renewal process as prescribed by their individual contracts.

Non-tenure track faculty must go through an annual review process when their con-

tracts are up. Some faculty must sit before a review committee, others meet with their deans to go over performance and work with the college.

Professional schools with faculty who are not members of TUAP have separate procedures for handling non-tenure track faculty contracts.

Under former President Ann Weaver Hart, the university formed a decentralized hiring policy of non-tenure track positions that allows individual colleges and programs to each keep separate records of their hiring of contract positions. Therefore, the Office of the Provost does not keep a university-wide tally of contract positions.

“There is a positive aspect to this complement of people, that they bring a kind of rich set of ideas and background, that they may not want to have the burden sitting in a cubicle, pounding out research [involved in tenured positions],” Maleson said.

Salary levels among nontenure track faculty range according to the schools where they are hired, as well as the subjects they teach, often due to the competitiveness of certain programs, Maleson said.

However, some faculty and groups have expressed concerns that the increased use of shortterm contracts has loosened job security among members of the faculty who must work without knowing if their jobs will be retained amid budget cuts.

Susan Balée a former professor in the humanities department who resigned her position to work at the University of Pittsburgh, said the short-term contracts she worked on while at Temple were a taboo subject among the faculty, with some afraid that their contracts would not be renewed if they spoke up.

“The one-year contracts are very depressing for people who have proved their teaching merit. They enable the university to quickly liquidate a work force, and that’s why they’re in place. The administration wants to retain its power to balance a budget at the expense of job security for their workers,” Balée said in email.

The Modern Language Association, which represents the humanities, English and foreign language departments, published a 2002 statement on the process of hiring full-time nontenure track positions to shortterm contracts. The association

expressed that universities and fairly decided, steps must be institutions should “drastically taken by academic institutions reduce” the number of classes to ensure job security amongst being taught by adjunct faculty, non-tenure track faculty. to be replaced by full-time and “Non-tenure track faculty optimally tenure-track positions members should be hired by “to ensure the educational qual- means of long-term planning ity of English and foreign lan- whenever possible, to provide guage courses and programs, for extended terms of appointmaintain the integrity of the ment consistent with instituprofession, and tional needs, improve employthereby also ment opportuproviding sufnities for new ficient job secuPh.Ds.” rity to encour“In the huage and support manities, jobs continuing inhave been much volvement with harder to come students and by. It is just a fact colleagues,” the that there have review stated. not been the kind Maleson Susan Balée / former professor of enrollments said that while that justify [new non-tenure hiring]. Although we do have track positions have become searches in English and various an increasingly popular way other humanities professions, for schools to fill teaching pothat is an association where sitions on a budget, openings Ph.Ds have been unable to find for tenure-track positions have tenure-track positions,” Male- allowed some schools to hire son said. non-tenure track faculty into A subsequent review in permanent positions.

2003 by an Executive CounNon-tenure track faculty cil subcommittee of the MLA who wish to enter a tenure-track found that while no optimal position must first enter into the number of tenure-track conver- normal search process that the sions could be accurately and university sets up for all tenure-

“The one-year

contracts are very depressing for people who have proved their teaching merit.

”

track positions.

Since 2004, the university has hired nearly 520 tenure and tenure-track positions to the university, the largest in the university’s history, Assistant Director of University Communications Hillel Hoffmann said.

“This is a time when nationally...it has been a time of stagnant hiring of tenure and tenure-track positions, even reductions at many institutions,” Hoffmann said.

Hoffmann attributed the substantial increase in tenuretrack searches to an “echo boom” that is the result of the retirements of tenured faculty hired when the university expanded after becoming a staterelated institution in 1965.

John Moritz can be reached at john.moritz@temple.edu or on Twitter @JCMoritzTU.

Hall will feature TVs, cheesesteaks and skyline views The $216 million Morgan Hall is expected to open in Fall 2013.

MATTHEW HULMES The Temple News Just before Temple closed for winter break, university officials announced a slew of amenities planned to its new 27-story residence hall which is currently under construction on Broad Street between Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Oxford Street.

Morgan Hall, which is set to open this fall, is comprised of two residential buildings and one dining hall. The $216 million project is expected to add more than 1,200 students to the university’s on-campus population.

Morgan Hall North, which sits adjacent to Cecil B. Moore Avenue, will house 24 floors of residential space for returning sophomores, juniors and seniors, while Morgan Hall South will be made up of nine residential floors for freshmen, according to University Housing and Residential Life. Its dining complex will contain an array of food vendors including Auntie Anne’s, Starbucks and Tony Luke’s.

Officials remarked about some of the amenities residents can expect in the four and fivebedroom suites, which will include 42-inch flat-screen televisions, two bathrooms and a full-size refrigerator. “[These are] big spaces,”

The upper floors of Morgan Hall offer views of the Center City skyline. The hall, which will add more than 1,200 people to the on-campus population, is expected to open this fall. For more photos, visit temple-news.com/slideshows.| STEVEN REITZ TTN James Creedon, senior vice president for construction, facilities and management, said.

“We were over there with some folks one day, and someone pointed out that we’ve all taken our children back to college and

you go in there for the first day and you can barely fit in the room, between the parents and the students always bumping into each other. We were all in this room and there were eight of us and there was plenty of

room.”

Colorful designs will decorate the hallways that lead down to communal living areas throughout the building where students can watch 70-inch televisions.

In the middle of complex, a terrace will be built so students can walk outside of the second floor and eat outside, or walk around the 30,000-square-foot space which will include extensive landscaping and scenery.

There will be two ramps at the corners of the terrace leading right out to campus and Broad Street.

A restaurant is also expected to open at street level, though Creedon said the name of the restaurant hasn’t been announced. It will take longer to complete than the hall itself and should be open some time in 2014, Creedon said.

Creedon said the view from the top of Morgan Hall is probably unmatched in the city, and the building is most likely the tallest in North Philadelphia.

“You think about the 26th floor of Morgan Hall and you’re a student in one those units up there, your view is second to none. That view is not available anywhere else in the city,” Creedon said. “The nighttime view of Center City is spectacular, and to think you’re going to have that living in an environment so close to campus, you’re just walking across Cecil B. Moore [Avenue], and you’re right there into the heart of the campus. I think it’s going to be a great place for students to live and people are going to be attracted to it.”

Creedon said the building gives the opportunity for older students to live on-campus, as opposed to moving off-campus after sophomore year as many students currently do.

The building is named after trustee Mitchell Morgan and his wife Hilarie, who donated $5 million to the project.

Matthew Hulmes can be reached at mhulmes@temple.edu.

Committee will present V.P. candidates in February VP PAGE 1

addressing marketing and communications will most likely be filled by some point in March.

The university is currently seeking a vice president for strategic marketing and communications who will serve in Theobald’s cabinet and “will be responsible for setting the overall strategic and creative direction of the university’s branding, marketing, and communications efforts,” according to a job description in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Currently, communications duties are housed in two different departments. University Communications handles internal, media and public relations,

while Institutional Advancement handles marketing communications, said Ken Lawrence, senior vice president for government, community and public affairs. The new position would bring these two communications together.

“This position will actually bring these two lines together and become the focal point for communications at the university,” Lawrence said.

A search committee chaired

by Lawrence has been tasked with finding finalists for the position to recommend to Theobald and has been searching for about a month, Lawrence said.

The committee is conducting a national search and is seeking

someone who has higher education experience, has run marketing campaigns, is familiar with public relations and someone who can “think about these things 24/7 for the university,” Lawrence said.

The candidate must also have at least 10 years experience in marketing and communications in higher education and would supervise more than 30 employees, according to the Chronicle. The description added that whoever fills the position should be prepared to act as the university’s spokesperson.

The committee will be assisted by Heidrick & Struggles, a leadership advisory firm, as it searches for the new administra-

tor, according to the Chronicle.

Lawrence said this communications structure would put Temple more in alignment with peer institutions in the area.

“This is a more traditional structure,” Lawrence said.

“Even though our University Communications and our marketing people would talk now, it would put them more in alignment because they’d be reporting up through the same vice president.”

Since Theobald was named the university’s 10th president in August, he has called on the university to market itself more prominently.

“We do not do nearly a good enough job of telling our

story,” Theobald said in an interview with The Temple News earlier this month. “If you’re going to recruit new students, recruit new faculty, they have to know what a wonderful place this is. It’s not bragging, it is letting people know the return they will receive by coming to school here, by being a faculty member here, by donating money here.

This is a really important place and people need to know that.”

Before the Temple Made campaign, the university didn’t do a whole lot of universitywide marketing. This position would build on that foundation, Lawrence said.

“For several years we hadn’t done any marketing,”

Lawrence said. “The Temple Made campaign has really been the first time in several years that the university has done any marketing. I think this position will put a more coordinated focus on that [as well as] maintain and build on the groundwork that’s already in place.”

The committee will present Theobald with three candidates in late February.

Lawrence said he expects a decision to be made on the position some time in March.

Sean Carlin can be reached at sean.carlin@temple.edu or on Twitter @SeanCarlin84.

OPINION

A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

Angelo Fichera, Editor-in-Chief Cara Stefchak, Managing Editor Sean Carlin, News Editor Zachary Scott, Opinion Editor

Luis Rodriguez, Living Editor Jenelle Janci, A&E Editor Joey Cranney, Sports Editor John Moritz, Asst. News Editor Ibrahim Jacobs, Asst. Sports Editor Lauren Hertzler, Chief Copy Editor Brandon Baker, Copy Editor TJ Creedon, Copy Editor Saba Aregai, Multimedia Editor Chris Montgomery, Web Editor

temple-news.com

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Andrea Cicio, Social Media Editor Kate McCann, Photography Editor Abi Reimold, Asst. Photography Editor Addy Peterson, Designer Emily Hurley, Designer Tony Santoro, Designer David Hamme, Advertising Manager Kathleen Smith, Business Manager Morgan Hutchinson, Marketing Manager

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

DRAWING CoNCLUSIONS

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.

Visit us online at temple-news.com.

Send submissions to letters@temple-news.com.

The Temple News is located at: Student Center, Room 243 1755 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19122

E D ITO R I A Ls

Gunning for change

T

he notable stereotype of the media business’ seeming obsession with violence has long been in existence. The old saying “If it bleeds, it leads” hints at just the sort of seemingly single-minded fascination that journalists frequently face criticism for.

Such critiques inevitably must lead to the question of overcoverage. Is it possible that the frequent bloodshed, specifically related to gun violence, is so frequently broadcast, printed and posted that it is saturating to a point of desensitization?

The Temple News does not believe this is the case, by the simple virtue that the riddle of gun violence has yet to be solved.

According to gunpolicy. org, there were 32,163 gun-related deaths in the United States in 2011, the most recent year data was readily available. More than 11,000 of those deaths were gun homicides. The yearly total of national gun homicides has not dipped below 10,000 since 1998.

The sheer numbers are almost incomprehensibly tragic.

The Temple News is not professing to have the answer to what can deter such death tolls in the future, merely to say that

A

Time’s up

s Temple has undergone massive change during the past calendar year, with the ending of one administration’s reign and the start of another, an unfortunate byproduct of this change has been the continuance of interims in key positions throughout the university.

After Richard Englert left his position as provost last summer to take the role as acting president, Hai-Lung Dai took his spot as interim provost. In addition to the interim provost there are four interim deans in schools across the university as well as one in University Libraries. While the appointment of a permanent provost will obviously precede any dean appointments, the university must make the appointment of permanent deans a high priority in the months ahead.

The Temple News recognizes the need for interim positions during times of change, but the current system Temple is employing is unacceptable.

Reducing gun-related fatalities will involve an ongoing candid discussion. it is unacceptable.

Is the best solution harsher prison sentences for offenders of existing laws? Tighter regulations? More guns in the hands of lawful citizens? More comprehensive gun safety education?

Whatever the answer is, it will be gleaned from open dialogue and honest national introspection.

It is the media’s role to ensure that those participating know the stakes. By attempting to maintain an informed citizenry on the state of gun laws and by consistently acting as a reminding force, the media is out to ensure that those who will be taking part in this national dialogue are prepared for the undertaking.

The Temple News wishes to do its part by reminding the student body of the tremendous role college students can play in this discussion. This is an issue that affects everyone regardless of age, level of education, race, gender, sexual preference or any other division people may draw.

Everyone deserves a seat at the table for this dialogue, so passivity is a crime unto itself.

juliana coppa ttn

Photo Comment

Morgan Hall, Temple’s new residence hall slated to open this year, presents its fair share of views. Pictured here, the city west of Main Campus.| STEVEN REITZ TTN

Temple needs to focus on filling years-long temporary dean positions.

Thomas Jacobson, the interim dean of the School of Media and Communication, has had an interim title for more than three and a half years. That time span does not warrant an interim title.

As Amelia Brust writes in “Faculty express concern over interim deans,” Page 1, President of the Faculty Senate Joan Shapiro has expressed concern over the instability that interim positions create, a sentiment The Temple News echoes. In order to hire talented faculty and tackle tough decisions there must be permanent, secure leaders in place within every school – not just at the top.

In an interview with The Temple News in October 2012, Englert, then acting president, cited a need to appoint permanent deanships as a reason to start the search for a provost prior to President Neil Theobald’s arrival.

Let’s hope that realization was passed on during the transition.

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city VIEW

Northeast floors others in montly parking rates 3

1 4

5

2

notable quotable

“I was a confused child. In my

eighth grade yearbook, under ‘Favorite Band,’ I wrote ‘The Temptations or The Black Eyed Peas.’

”

Joey Cranney / Honorable Mention

The cost of a monthly parking spot varies widely in the United States, with Philadelphia ranking as one of the most expensive.

Source: colliers.com ANGELO FICHERA ttn

No. 1 NYC Midtown - $541 per month No. 2 NYC Downtown - $533 per month No. 3 Boston - $438 per month No. 4 San Francisco - $375 per month No. 5 Philadelphia - $304 per month

COMMENTARY

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Page 5

POINT - counterpoint

Gun regulation is Rights of firearm about common sense owners in crosshairs

A

zack scott

Scott argues that gun control shouldn’t be determined by heated exchange, but by logical and open discourse.

bout a year ago, I wrote an article that started off with one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

While the topic for that article may have been completely different, I can’t help but reflect on the striking profoundness of it as I write about the importance of tighter gun regulation for the second time in as many years.

Those two years have seen more gun-related tragedies than I like to consider. Nationally, we have seen horror after horror transpire, yet the aftermath always seems to end in stalemate.

Part of what makes the debate so pervasive, yet so often deadlocked, is rampant sensationalism, something people on both sides of the debate are equally guilty of. For every clip of a person screaming about how the government wants to take all the guns away, there is another claiming the National Rifle Association is some sort of evil institution, whose only goal is propaganda and manipulation. Neither of these generalizations are correct, but both come to define any attempts at rhetoric.

While this is unfortunate, it isn’t entirely surprising. Emotions run high on the issue of gun control, but putting them aside – at least as far away as is possible – is imperative to finding a solution.

Once you set aside personal biases, the only natural starting point is the Second Amendment, the very root of the matter, which so famously says, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

This may seem more like a conclusion than a starting point.

After all, if the Constitution – the supreme law of the land – says that this right is unassailable, then what else is there to question? But in law and elsewhere in life, reading the entirety of a sentence is typically

considered essential to reaping the meaning. And in this case, knowing what preceds that famous line is crucial.

In actuality, the Second Amendment is prefaced. In its entirety, it reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” So, no, the Constitution does not give unlimited rights to a personal armory. Instead, it focuses on a counterforce to a large, standing army organized by the federal government. But I can think of no one who wants to take away guns from the National Guard – the modern incarnation of the state militias.

Therefore, no, the legal foundation for the debate is not quite as solid in favor of one side as most people seem to think. Instead, it careens into the much murkier realm of morality. Operating under such circumstances requires a commitment to compromise.

Representatives of both sides need to come to a consensus about a few basic truths. One is that virtually no one wants to ban firearms for hunting or personal protection. But automatic weapons or extended magazine capacities are not necessary for either of those things.

Another is that advocates of the “guns don’t kill people” mantra are absolutely correct.

Guns are not sentient creatures and do not kill people. But they make it easier for people who want to kill people to act on their impulses. They make people who want to kill a lot of people much more efficient in their endeavors. It is for that sake that action must be taken.

Once again, guns are not sentient creatures, which means we are not harming guns by making access to them easier.

We do not need to worry about hurting guns’ feelings. But we do need to worry about people

S

IBRAHIM JACOBS

Jacobs argues that the Second Amendment has become an easy scapegoat.

SCOTT PAGE 6

hopping malls, college campuses, movie theaters and – tragically – elementary schools have now become landmarks for an important time in this country’s history. Never has a Constitutional freedom been revoked due to stress on a country, or public lobbying to the president, and now isn’t the time to start.

What happened in Newtown, Conn., was a massacre, a shame, a disaster and put the country at a collective loss for words. When the country did finally find words, an additional great sadness rested in the fact that they were the wrong ones.

Before the correct shooter had even been identified, people clamored for stricter gun laws, background checks and the complete reversal of the Second Amendment. The issue was misconstrued by people waiting for an opportunity to start their war on firearms, and Sandy Hook provided the perfect opportunity.

It is easy to sympathize with the movement to control access to, capabilities of and freedoms to own firearms. With mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters on television crying about those they lost, the easy answer is to simply ask why these weapons exist in the first place. The tougher question, the one that nobody seems to want to ask, is what limiting the freedoms of firearm owners will actually accomplish?

Making firearms illegal is an attempt to eliminate violence completely, protect every child and ensure the total safety of every American, right? Just like underage drinking, drugs, online piracy and making certain left-hand turns are illegal, and the law clearly prevents people from doing that on a daily basis as well, right? Ultimately, laws that limit people’s gun rights only hurt law-abiding citizens, and do nothing to deter potential killers.

The argument is often

made that people have no need for magazines that hold excess amounts of ammunition and can be fired automatically. The simple answer is that these weapons are used for recreation and collection far more times than they are used in mass murders.

Regardless of whether the specific gun, magazine clip or ammunition was made illegal, someone who wanted to acquire the item would still find a way to access it. Where there is a will, there is a way. Any action taken to make something illegal will simply create a black market for the item. The inability to collect taxes on any item sold in an underground market becomes secondary to the larger issue.

Regulation would have an inverse effect on what those trying to pass these laws are attempting to accomplish. Restrictions on the legal purchase of these items means people have to do it illegally, removing the one power the government has – regulation.

Instead of such extremist action, the best way to prevent future massacres is to target the consensus points of the dialogue. For example, both sides of the debate seem to agree that people who are declared mentally unstable or are convicted felons should not have access to firearms. The best way to ensure that this is upheld is to allow firearms and all accessories to remain legal. This keeps preventive measures and checks in place, and also places those who try and circumvent the regulation in smaller company, thus making them easier to identify.

Preserving the rights of firearm owners will also improve the safety of the country.

If firearms or accessories are made illegal, only those looking to commit murders will obtain one. The public is therefore left completely defenseless and unable to protect itself.

The Cato Institute released a report last year indicating that “tens of thousands of crimes are

JACOBS PAGE 6

ESPN, Temple commit commercial ‘fowl’

A

HUMOR COLUMN

jerry iannelli Twentysomething Handbook

Iannelli humorously muses on the implications of ESPN’s recent commercial, starring Hooter T. Owl.

ll told, there are probably only two main stories that the brass here at Temple wouldn’t want making national headlines: The relative danger of our little corner of Philadelphia, and the fact that the glass windows on Main Campus kill roughly 1,000 birds each year.

While not much can be immediately done about the former issue, avoiding conversation about the latter merely requires quite literally anything else newsworthy about the university to happen on a given day. It isn’t hard.

So you can imagine my massive facepalm when media juggernauts ESPN created a national commercial wherein our dear strigiform mascot, Hooter T. Owl, runs into a clear, glass window for America’s enjoyment.

For those that care less

about sports than I do, life is currently rough for the Philadelphia sporting enthusiast. Our professional bird-based football squad was recently forced to euthanize its adorably incompetent walrus mascot after 14 years. The city’s new basketball superstar came directly from Sports IKEA without any proper knee parts and a voided warranty. Temple’s football coaches keep assuring us that they’ll “love us forever,” all the while knowing that they plan on running out the back door for bigger and more successful schools once the morning rolls around.

As such, I need not explain away my glee upon hearing that Hooter had been recognized nationally by sports-monopolist ESPN, thrusting Temple into the country-wide spotlight, and helping the school gain notoriety for something more than going a full day without an armed robbery.

Instead, whenever an intrepid Googler attempts to hunt down our newest commercial by searching for the terms “Temple bird flies into glass,” they will be happily greeted by more than a handful of articles attempting to explain why it has become increasingly hip for fowl of all kinds to fly haphazardly into glass windows on Main Campus, and just what the university plans on doing about it.

So far, our dear university’s only response has been to hold a contest to see who could come up with a way to stop the madness. The winner’s idea was to paste silhouettes of black, artificial birds on each of the problematic windows in question, in what must only be an attempt to make Tyler seem like a hip, populated place for bird-students to hang out and certainly not fly directly into headfirst at breakneck speeds. No word yet from Temple’s bird population

as to whether or not they would consent to fall for it.

Personally, I think we, as students, should embrace our newfound bird-murdering fame and milk it for all it’s worth. For example, since attempting to intimidate our cross-city rivals with our actual athletic teams seems to fail pretty consistently, maybe introducing our football squad with the caveat that our team is “totally unafraid of and sort-of-cool-with the fact that our buildings needlessly kill 1,000 animals every year” may drum up the fear in our rivals that has been so sorely lacking up until this point.

Jokes aside, the problem is actually so bad that Audubon, Pennsylvania’s Academy of Natural Sciences, got involved in Temple’s pursuit of a solution. News outlets as large and far-reaching as the Smithsonian magazine have picked up the issue. Which begs the question:

How does a news organization as massive and omnipotent as ESPN make a commercial poking fun at birds flying into windows without, at any point, finding out that they have enlisted the services of a university whose buildings will not stop killing birds? Did they find out slightly too late, and decide to press ever onward, for the sake of budgeting and time constraints? Did Temple slyly cover up its avian issue in order to win a huge PR bump from the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network? There is a conspiracy afoot, and by Jove, I intend to get to the bottom of this.

You have no idea how high up this goes.

Jerry Iannelli can be reached at gerald.iannelli@temple.edu or on Twitter @jerryiannelli.

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

“Would you ever use a

matchmaking website like SeekingArrangements.com?

”

amanda shaffern ttn

“I feel the age difference would be weird.”

Montana morgan

JUNIOR | TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

Opinion DESK 215-204-7416

“Being with someone with money would be nice as a security blanket.

However... love is more important than being well off.”

“I believe in person-toperson contact and using one of those websites defeats the purpose of meeting someone”

leah lefton

BILLY MCGEE

SENIOR | PUBLIC RELATIONS

letters@temple-news.com

SOPHOMORE | STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

OPINION

page 6

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

OP-ED SUBMISSIONS

University parking fees shouldn’t idle Kennedy argues that Temple should implement a market value system for parking rates.

James Kennedy OP-ED Freshman year at Temple, I debated my roommate about the need for parking on campus. He wanted more student parking, and for permits to be free or cheap. I thought that the university was right to be charging a fee to students, because it was acting as a responsible environmental steward. With so much public transit nearby, and a walkable cityscape all around, who could be so selfish as to bring their car to Main Campus?

Well, I was wrong.

The hidden truth is Temple does not charge market prices for its parking permits. What may surprise students and faculty alike – with the exception of a few city planning nerds – is that the price of parking is not inflated by a tree-hugging administration, acting from above for the environmental best interests of society. Parking is in fact artificially cheap.

Temple’s website quotes

the student price of commuter parking at $100 per month. Believe it or not, this is well below the market price.

In his book “The High Cost of Free Parking,” professor of urban planning at UCLA Donald Shoup explains that – in 1994 dollars – UCLA would have to charge around $124 per month to break even on a spot in its parking garages.

Shoup’s price conservatively values a parking space by giving parking garages an unnaturally long lifespan, assesses interest on borrowed capital for construction at below market rates and does not factor in taxes.

Although there are differences between opportunity costs for land in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, the general picture is the same.

Philadelphia stands in the high-middle portion of the parking cost bell-curve, but does not charge full price. One of the perverse economic realities of parking in the city, if it’s treated this way, is that it not only becomes unfairly cheap to park all day, but it becomes very expensive to park for a short time and in some cases, because longterm parkers are being undercharged, there isn’t a spot available at all. This is a big problem

for people who might want to park their car for a short time to buy a large item at a store, or to take a sick person to a hospital, according to former University of Pennsylvania urban planning professor Eric Bruun.

Shoup’s studies of parking have an answer to this. In San Francisco, where some of Shoup’s ideas have been implemented, the city council – with the help of federal funding – has put sensors in the ground to assess market demand for particular spots on the street, and charge prices accordingly. People were charged anywhere between 25 cents to $6.00 for an hour in a parking space. Fees were determined weekly by raising or lowering them just to the point of market equilibrium, the goal being to make 15 percent of spaces vacant at the lowest possible price. Drivers could decide whether they found the prices acceptable, and make decisions about what spots to “buy” for their shopping or work.

Whereas cheap parking created an incentive to drive to work early and stay in a spot all day long, market pricing for parking discourages commuting by car, but keeps spaces open for shoppers whose high turnover is necessary for downtowns to thrive. It is now possible to go

to any of San Francisco’s neighborhoods to shop, without fear that there will be no space for one’s car.

If Temple was to charge students and faculty on a market basis for their parking permits, it’s very reasonable – even conservative – to assume a $2 an hour charge. This is the amount considered by City Council for Center City meter rates in 2011, and would be one-third of the ceiling cost of parking in San Francisco. At a $2 per-hour rate, students’ permits would cost $400 per month, assuming an eight-hour parking day and only 25 days on campus. This is more than I paid for my rent when I lived in Philadelphia.

Where would students and faculty park, if this were to happen? Some people would simply pay the rate, and get a permit. Many students and faculty would decide to take public transit, and the increased demand from this new flock of riders would actually make it easier for SEPTA to increase service to the campus. The university would face higher demand for bicycle parking, and would have to meet that demand.

Some students might want to park off campus. Currently, residents of North Philadelphia have often been at odds with

students, who sometimes disrespect their neighborhoods, create noise, and, yes, take up valuable parking spaces. One of the goals of offering lowcost parking to commuters at the campus has been to keep these problems to a minimum.

With residents of North Philadelphia often between the rock of blight and the hard place of gentrification, allowing neighborhoods themselves to locally assess market fees for their onstreet spots would give them the equivalent of “block grants” to fix sidewalks, plant trees and lower property taxes.

On its face, then, it may appear that environmental advocacy on behalf of bikes, trains and buses is about starry-eyed social democracy, but it’s more accurate to say that we’ve socialized that car for the benefit of driving. It’s time for that to change.

James Kennedy is an alumnus of Temple University (Class of ‘09) from the history department.

He currently lives in Providence, R.I., but misses Philly.

W

ED BARRENECHEA

Barrenechea argues that “sugar daddy” websites are getting too much exposure in the media.

ever straightforward that may seem to be, the media has given the “sugar daddy” site a chance to blossom into an unreliable batch of sensationalism.

First, the statistics behind the site are obviously ridiculous. If you learn anything from visiting SeekingArrangement, it’s the almost hilarious lack of authenticity. Anyone can join with a valid email address, and making one up is effortless.

Luckily, I had a whole night of free time, and just the depraved sense to venture kneedeep into this cesspool of immorality.

After a few minutes, I was almost registered when I noticed the marital status on the registration page. It became apparent that the seriousness of having an arranged relationship online is vital, so I chose wisely – married, yet readily available. Once the setup was done, the mural of lonely billionaires could finally be viewed at my leisure.

At this point, you can either try to communicate with these people, or as I like to do, crack a few jokes with friends while reading their profiles. Sadly someone like me, logging into the site just for giggles, becomes

an equal part of the collective data SeekingArrangement has gathered.

Although there may be Temple students that joined the website, it doesn’t necessarily mean they were looking for potential sugar parents. In fact, there’s no way for the website to track who actually uses the site for its intended purposes. So instead of proving that tuition rates are overwhelmingly high or that the entrepreneurial spirit can manifest itself in unusual ways, what really has been proven is that people will sign up for anything when it’s free.

This is especially true if there is a humorous incentive to do so.

Speaking of incentives, it’s important to note why SeekingArrangement would go through the trouble to promote itself like this. The reasoning there is simple: They get free publicity and their name attached to reputable, well-known institutions like Temple.

This is hardly the first time something like this has been attempted. For another example, look no further than notorious website AshleyMadison.com, which was all over the media two years ago for giving ex-

who have undeservedly gained access to firearms far beyond their reasonable needs with intentions to use them maliciously. That is a real, and reasonable, fear to have.

Finally, it’s important that all the other topics that get introduced in the gun control debate – our nation’s mental health care, breakdowns in bureaucratic communication and overall violent culture included – are all legitimate concerns that need to be addressed at a national level.

They are not merely excuses thrown out by gun rights activists to cover up the real problem.

But they are close to that.

Yes, dialogues about mental health or video games should be part of the larger discussion. But they should come after we’ve addressed the central problem.

To pretend that they are the sole cause of rampant shooting

deaths is foolishness. They are no more than a secondary factor, and only worthy of that status.

Guns are a big part of American culture and that is never going to change. It shouldn’t necessarily have to for people to be safe. As long as both sides of this often vitriolic debate can set aside their differences long enough to reach the reasonable conclusion – not that all guns should be melted down or that every teacher should be carrying them – then we as a society can take a crucial step toward putting our bloody past behind us.

jacobs PAGE 5

prevented each year by ordinary citizens with guns.” It is inexcusable and irresponsible to ask someone to live in a country in which people who want to cause harm are able to, albeit illegally, pursue weapons on a black market and kill people. Is someone who wants to exercise a constitutional right required to break the law so that they can walk the streets confident that they can defend themselves if the situation arises?

Ultimately the only solution for reducing violence and the access to firearms by people Zack Scott can be reached at zack.scott@temple.edu who shouldn’t have them is enor on Twitter @ZackScott11. force current regulation with greater efficiency and increased education. Don’t allow people who are mentally unstable to purchase firearms and promote an informed society that adequately reports individuals who could pose threats to themselves

“I can see a day soon where you’ll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world — some computing from Stanford, some entrepreneurship from Wharton, some ethics from Brandeis, some literature from Edinburgh — paying only the nominal fee for the certificates of completion.”

Thomas L. Friedman, on nytimes.com in “Revolution Hits the Universities”

“Serving in combat was never high on the original feminist agenda. Women fought for the vote and equal pay, not for the equal opportunity to get killed.” on philly.com in “A victory for women, though not one she’d looked forward to”

Republican presidential-hopeful Newt Gingrich one last shot at a losing race for the throne by posting a picture of him on billboards, endorsing his extramarital lifestyle and giving the site an official mascot.

But instead of a rotund public figure, SeekingArrangment has numbers to back itself up.

Numbers that I’m now part of.

So, go outside and look around the Bell Tower during your free time. Maybe some of those students walking toward their next class have registered to the site, eagerly waiting for their first paycheck from their financial provider. Or maybe they just signed up as a joke. Seeing as there’s no way to tell the difference, I’m forced to ask: who cares? I’m still waiting on my first message to come in.

Ed Barrenechea can be reached at edward.barrenechea@temple.edu.

“However, as the neverending assault on Justice Thomas’s integrity shows, the deepest vein of intolerance is to be found on the Left for minority conservatives.

Juan Wiliams,

on foxnews.com in “When will the mainstream media call attention to racist political thinking?”

“Allowing states to take the lead on education reform will foster creativity and encourage state governments to find solutions that fit their unique needs. National School Choice Week, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, is an excellent opportunity to explore the options for improving our educational system.”

Erik Telford,

on washingtontimes.com in “TELFORD:State-leve education reform key to kids’ future”

Gun restrictions Don’t infringe on will save lives firearm freedom scott PAGE 5

OPINION

Karen Heller,

Sugar daddies not such a sweet deal hen I first read that SeekingArrangement.com had generously awarded Temple third place for its Top 20 Fastest Growing Sugar Daddy Colleges for 2012, I was appalled. Why weren’t we No. 1?

The semester may have started on a chilly Tuesday morning, but the sweltering passion from some of these prospective ladies of academia was practically palpable. In such frigid times, the most satisfying gift one can receive is quality time in front of their sugar daddy’s roaring fireplace.

All jokes aside, I would have to characterize the exposure caused from this story as “unsatisfactory.” Seeing every media logo I ever respected listed in the SeekingArrangement homepage, in horizontal alignment like military ribbons, almost felt fictitious. CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, CBS – they had all given this site the time of day.

Even an introductory journalism class carries an important message of perspective: A story is only as good as the source that it comes from. How-

SOMEONE ELSE’S

or others.

Any stricter regulation is simply an infringement on people’s rights, and alleviates little concern that those who want to obtain firearms will be deterred by new laws. For Congress to give in to the demands of rash and emotional constituents would only be missing the mark.

Ibrahim Jacobs can be reached at ibrahim.jacobs@temple.edu or on Twitter @ibrahimjacobs.

“In the two years since Corbett took office, he and the legislature dominated by his Republican Party have cut $1 billion from public schools and higher education, eviscerated the social safety net for the poor and disabled, passed a voter-ID law geared to suppress urban and nonwhite votes and restricted abortion rights — when those legislators were not busy being prosecuted for corruption or spending taxpayer dollars on lavish per diems. ”

Daniel Denvir,

on citypaper.net in “Gov. Tom “No New Taxes” Corbett stares into a bottomless revenue gap”

Got an opinion?

We want to hear from you. Email letters to letters@temple-news.com or comment stories on our website, temple-news.com.

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

LIVING temple-news.com

Page 7

Inn offers alternative stay for city visitors The Conwell Inn, an intimate hotel on Main Campus, has an 11-year history.

LUIS FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ Living Editor

T

ucked away on Polett Walk between Broad Street and Liacouras Walk sits The Conwell Inn, Main Campus’ only hotel.

Originally a set of Philadelphia row homes, the space became sorority row in the 1950s and then a multipurpose building. Teres Holdings, LLC acquired the space in the early 2000s and the Conwell Inn opened its doors on Sept. 7, 2001.

Opening days before the Sept. 11 attacks put a strain on the hotel’s debut but it managed to stay afloat during a low point for the industry.

“It was probably the worst time in the [recent] history of the U.S. [to open a hotel] but they made it work and it got stronger and stronger,” said Justin Walsh, the general manager of the Conwell Inn. “We just passed our 11th year anniversary

COURTESY CONWELL INN

and we’re coming up on our 12th.”

With 22 rooms, the Conwell Inn can hold approximately 70 guests at full occupancy.

“The thing we try to push is, [because we have] only 22 rooms, we can give the feel of a bed and breakfast,” Walsh said. “We will give personal attention and give the fact that you’re not a rewards number, you’re not a reservation number. You’re our guest, and we treat our guests as such. That’s what I like about having a smaller property – it allows you to do that.”

Although the hotel is on Main Campus, it is not exclusively catered to Templerelated patrons.

“It’s something [previous managers] didn’t see as an opportunity when [the Conwell Inn] opened,” Walsh said. “They didn’t see us fit into the niche of a Philadelphia hotel, we were seen as a Temple hotel, we were built to be a Temple hotel.

And while we are a Temple hotel – Temple gives us a

conwell PAGE 16

Unofficial ratings give partial story RateMyProfessors treads line between truth and exaggeration.

ERIN EDINGER-TUROFF

The Temple News As spring semester begins, students adjust to new schedules, classes, workloads and – of course – professors. Students, on the surface, have several ways of obtaining information on the classes they sign up for, through both Temple’s course handbook as well as online course descriptions that offer insight into the scope of the class.

On top of that, the many factors that play into choosing a class are overwhelming: general education and major requirements, availability and prerequisites, and most of all, choosing the best professor.

An Internet site created specifically for that purpose, RateMyProfessors.com, is used by college students, especially when it comes time to register for a new semester and during the drop period when students realize their professors may not be the right match for them.

The website is set up so that students can search from the main page for a list of professors that have been rated by previous students. Each rating consists of three categories: helpfulness, clarity and easiness, which combine to create an overall rating. The fairly vague categories can each be given a number ranging from one to five, with five signifying optimal performance. In addition, professors can be awarded a chili pepper – a reflection of students’ opinions on the professor’s physical attractiveness.

Though it has taken a different form, sharing opinions on

Silver linings, p. 8

Cheryl Williams, a Temple professor and local actor had a part in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

Living DESK 215-204-7416

a professor with other students is not a new phenomenon.

Mark Leuchter, a Temple professor who has taught courses such as religion in the world, said while some poor ratings can be disheartening, those who go into academia should, and typically do, understand that they can’t please everyone, and expect some less positive opinions.

“Before the Internet, there were student newspapers with ratings for professors,” Leuchter said. “I don’t think that RateMyProfessors came out of nowhere, but just because it came from an older tradition doesn’t mean it’s totally honest.”

Leuchter suggested students treat the site lightly, saying it can be useful, but those who read ratings should remember that Internet trolling is present, as it is everywhere online. In addition, the site often reflects extreme opinions, as Leuchter

noted when he said many students who got a good grade in a class without much work tend to give a glowing review.

Honors adviser and professor Amanda Neuber said that while RateMyProfessors can certainly be useful, it must be regarded carefully.

“Look at it knowing the information is already biased,” Neuber said. “You have to read between the lines [in each rating]. Some students who got a bad grade use RateMyProfessors to vent.”

The site’s middle-of-theroad ratings, between about three and four, are typically those of professors with the highest number of ratings, allowing differing ratings to equal out. There are certainly wellliked professors who manage to maintain high ratings with more than 10 or 15 reviews, but most with dismal scores have very

Rate PAGE 16

When in rome, p. 15

Annie Nardolilli reflects on how her Mormon faith plays a part in her time abroad.

Living@temple-news.com

Iyad Obeid, a professor in the engineering department, is rated 5.0 on ratemyprofessors.com and has a chili pepper in addition to his rating. | Abi reimold TTN

UNSETTLING senioritis, p. 17

Guest columnist shares her graduation worries during her last semester of college.

living

page 8

music

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Williams starred as Jennifer Lawrence’s mother in “Silver Linings Playbook.” She is shown above in her Barrymore award winning performance, as Frances in Lantern Theater’s 2010 production of “The Breath of Life.” | courtesy John flak

experience was with David O. Russell and with such incredible actors.”

THE TEMPLE NEWS: What was your role like in “Silver Linings Playbook” and how did it feel seeing yourself on the big screen?

Cheryl Willliams: I play Tiffany’s mom – I was never given any other title. Tiffany is played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is a lead. My role is small, needless to say, but I do get a lot of face time.

I was on set for about a month, off and on, while I was teaching at Temple. The first time I saw the film completed, I kept thinking, “What happened to that scene? They cut that out?” We never knew what the final product was going to be. I think I have to watch it Academy Award-nominated “Silver again so I can just enjoy it.

TTN: What was it like interacting with such big-name acLinings Playbook” features local actor tors? and Temple professor Cheryl Williams.

CW: I spent a lot of time gabbing with them all. Jennifer Lawrence is super nice and smart. In between shots, we’d sit in the corner and talk about life. I had a tiny scene with Robert DeNiro that ended up being cut, but he was very sweet. Whenever he was shootJESSICA SMITH ing something and I was in the vicinity, I was enraptured. It was a The Temple News real acting lesson. No matter how long you’re in the business of Professional actor and adjunct professor Cheryl Wil- acting, you’re always learning and growing. He’s Robert DeNiro! liams landed the opportunity of a lifetime when she was cast Jacki Weaver is a wonderful person, too. We talked a lot because as the mother of Jennifer Lawrence in the recent box-office we sat at the same table in the ballroom scene. I chatted with Bradhit and Academy Award-nominated “Silver Linings Play- ley Cooper and he’s a total gentleman. He’d always ask how your day was and give you a kiss on the cheek. He would always thank book.”

After 41 years of acting, Barrymore Award-winner Wil- everyone after filming a scene, too. I was never made to feel that I liams has dedicated her life to the stage by working with lo- was less than the other actors. I was treated like a true professional.

TTN: How did you feel about working for director David cal theater groups such as Mauckingbird Theatre Company, O. Russell? which featured her as Mrs. Daigle in “Bad Seed” this past CW: David O. Russell is a kind, generous, crazy, genius of a weekend. She will also star this April in 1812 Productions’ man.

I felt privileged to be able to do a film with him. He came and “It’s My Party: The Women and Comedy Project.” sat in my dressing room once and talked with me for 45 minutes Currently, she teaches the courses Acting Styles and about stuff that had nothing to do with acting. A lot of the actors Honors Art of Acting. With limited movie experience, Wilon set like John Ortiz and Shea Whigham requested to work with liams said, the overlooked perks of Oscar-nominated produchim.

They all said that “this will never be like any acting experitions impress her. ence you’ll ever have,” because he just does whatever he wants.

“The food was really good,” Williams said. “And it was He’s like a painter and he creates things as he’s doing it. He would cool to come in every day and have someone do my makeup just throw lines at you during an audition and have you ad-lib. He’s and hair. Joking aside, I feel blessed that my first major film amazing.

CHERYL WILLIAMS

TTN: How did your students react to your big break?

CW: One day – the only time in the history of teaching – my phone went off during class. I’m very strict about students keeping their phones off while we’re acting. Everyone was so shocked. I told them it was my agent, and they made me answer the call. She told me I had the role and I was so surprised I had to sit down. All of my students kept asking, “What is it?” So I told them I would be playing Jennifer Lawrence’s mom in a movie and not to get too excited because it wasn’t a big part. Then they all started screaming.

My agent was moved to tears because she could hear how much they loved me over the phone.

TTN: What is your background in acting and how did it bring you to Temple?

CW: I’ve basically been a stage actress all my life. I’ve lived in Philadelphia since 2003. I moved to Fishtown before it was cool to live in Fishtown. My husband of 21 years, Eric Kramer, is an actor as well. We moved to Philadelphia because we had toured with the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival and that’s where we met and fell in love. We just always loved the vibe here. I was in a few shows over the next couple of years, but then I developed breast cancer. It took almost a year to complete treatment with chemotherapy, surgeries and radiation. That’s when Temple called me. I had worked with Dan Kern in a show and he said, “You would be a good fit for Temple.” I had just finished my treatment in June 2006 and then in August 2006, Donna Snow called me to teach and I’ve been here ever since.

TTN: What’s the major distinction between stage and film acting?

CW: All the things you do are basically the same, but one of the huge transitions from stage to film is the story. Instead of getting on stage and performing from beginning to end, movies are about repeating moments out of order again and again. I also felt more exposed in film because it was more intimate. I didn’t have the distance that stage gave me. You have to make it more real. With movies, you want to feel like you’re right there in the moment. I was able to use what I tell my students of putting yourself in the moment before – what your character was doing three seconds before the scene – to bring it all to life.

Jessica Smith can be reached at jessicasmith@temple.edu.

Candidates kickstart exhibit funding

Alexis Thompson is an MFA painting candidate and one of the graduates organizing “Ahem.” | ABI reimold TTN

MARCIE ANKER The Temple News Like most working professionals in the art industry, Tyler School of Art students are constantly hunting for funding for their artwork.

Tyler Master of Fine Arts candidates are all too familiar with this struggle. In attempts to bring back Tyler’s relatively new group show, the Tyler Graduate Arts Committee created a Kickstarter page to raise the necessary funds to bring the show, “Ahem,” to fruition. The

title of the show was selected by a group of the MFA students, said Kevin van Zanten, an MFA sculpture candidate.

“The name committee submitted a list of names, mostly onomatopoeia words. Not really a strong word, but something to call it,” van Zanten said.

The past two off-campus group shows that Tyler MFA students produced were equally to-the-point in their title, donning the names “Woot” and “Bang.”

The students launched a Kickstarter page on Dec. 14, 2012, having garnered $3,875, beating their initial goal of $3,000.

“In the beginning it seemed like we were moving really slow, but then it started picking up,” van Zanten said of the page’s progress.

“Ahem” receives partial funding from Tyler, but that wouldn’t nearly cover the extensive costs of installation and de-installation, as well as paying for the space, according to the Kickstarter page. The past two shows, “Woot” and “Bang,” only ran for one week. This year, “Ahem” will be running for two weeks, which further adds to the financial need. “[‘Ahem’] is not inexpensive,” Alexis Thomspon, an MFA painting candidate, said.

“We need money for the Crane [Arts Center], movable walls, trucks to transport things – the nuts and bolts. And we can’t spend [Graduate Arts Committee] money for anything that

doesn’t take place on campus.

It’s an expensive endeavor.”

In all, Thomspon said she estimates that the total cost of the show sits around $10,000.

This particular show calls for a space large enough to house the work of 30 crossdisciplinary artists with artwork presented from all mediums.

The location settled upon for the show is the Crane Arts Center, a popular venue for Philadelphia artists, making it the perfect place for student exposure. The Crane Arts Center also served as the location for the first studentrun show in 2011.

“It’s a major art center that can house all of our work, and we needed a big space. There’s a tradition with Crane Arts Center where the art community hangs out every Thursday of the month, so it’s good networking,” van Zanten said.

“Everyone is really excited, it’s a beautiful space,” Thomspon said. “And not to undersell art, but everyone likes to have a party.”

With 30 artists contributing to the show, the questions of division of space and number of pieces arise and demand answers. Submissions are sent to the three designated faculty curators for the show: Rebecca Michaels, Adele Nelson and Christian Tomaszewski, who then select the pieces to be exhibited. Though still undetermined until early February, van Zanten said he thinks that most artists will have two or three pieces to display.

“It depends on size. Some people will occupy the wall, and some people will occupy the floor,” van Zanten said.

This completely studentorganized undertaking is a fairly recent development for Tyler.

Because most MFA students are working toward their endof-the-year thesis presentations, the commitment to coordinating an all-inclusive group show has proven challenging for the four members who took the initiative. Thompson and van Zanten are at the forefront of the organization and execution of “Ahem,” along with two other members, with the four of them functioning as the Graduate Arts Committee club officials.

“It’s definitely a lot of work, and a lot of effort. We started putting it together last summer and at times it has been a bit of a distraction from other things,” Thompson said.

But there are some definite benefits both to having a group show as well as holding it at an off-campus destination. As Thompson puts it, “Ahem” is like a “teaser” to the individual thesis shows. “It’s like a cotillion for grad students,” Thompson said.

When shows are held primarily on Main Campus, it’s hard to attract a diverse audience, so having the show in the city provides the artists with a unique opportunity to have their work viewed by a wider artist community.

“Many people we’ve never seen before tend to turn up.

Especially with the last show, people were hearing about it through word of mouth,” van Zanten said.

“The individual thesis shows are mostly our friends and family, but this show has a slightly different face to it.

Some of the hope is that people in the city come see it,” Thompson added. “We get a chance to showcase how disparate we are as artists yet how cohesive our work is. We can show the art community as well as prospective students what kind of work people are making, what Tyler does and what it is that [Tyler] is all about.”

Now having reached their financial goal, it’s full steam ahead for the artists. “Ahem” runs from March 6-16, with the official opening being held on March 9 from 6-9 p.m.

Marcie Anker can be reached at martha.anker@temple.edu.

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT temple-news.com

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Page 9

Two pieces, one sound Two Piece Fest VI, a festival showcasing exclusively two-piece bands, will return to Philly on Feb. 2.

JENELLE JANCI A&E Editor

W

hile few find inspiration in KFC’s menu, Philadelphia has Colonel Sanders to thank for Two Piece Fest.

Peter Helmis and Craig Woods were booking a show at their former house on Spring Garden Street when they realized the four bands they had set to play had something in common – they all consisted of only two members. Helmis and Woods decided to continue booking exclusively two-piece acts for the show, titled ‘Two Piece and a Biscuit Fest.”

“I think the following year, 2008, we came up with the idea that we would do all two-piece bands in a larger festival outside of our house,” Helmis said.

Two Piece Fest is an annual festival exclusively showcasing two-piece bands. Two Piece Fest VI will be held at PILAM on Feb. 2 – the date of the original show. Helmis and Woods, who are in a two-piece act themselves called Peter and Craig, have kept Two Piece Fest’s details in numerical ordinance with the show’s title – 22 bands play on the second day of the second month.

For many two-piece acts,

Kevin Keenan (left) and Marcus Denke will play Two Piece Fest VI as The Joint Chiefs of Math on Feb. 2 at PILAM. | KATE McCANN TTN Two Piece Fest is a launching pad for their new music, record or the band itself, Woods said.

“Two Piece Fest is kind of the culminating event of the year for a two-piece band,” Woods said. “I’ve heard many bands say, ‘We’re going to release this record at this show’ or ‘This is when we’ll play our new songs.’ These bands look

to this date as the start of something new.”

Two Piece Fest was the start of experimental band The Joint Chiefs of Math’s project.

“Two Piece Fest II was one of our first shows,” drummer Marcus Denke said.

“We recorded this album in fellow two-piece band 1994!’s basement,” guitarist Kevin

Keenan said. “In that same weekend, we finished the record, mixed it, got CD’s duplicated and then did this weekend tour to York and back and ended up at Two Piece Fest. That was like the finale of that weekend.”

Although Helmis and Woods had to reach out to bands to participate in the first Two Piece Fest, bands now offer

themselves to be put on the bill.

The Joint Chiefs of Math used a little detective work in its attempt to play its first Two Piece Fest in 2009.

After hearing that Woods was the person to talk to, Keenan took matters into his own hands by finding out who Woods was friends with and contacting them via Facebook.

DIY label opens record store Sit & Spin Records, a Philadelphia punk label, opened a store on Ninth and Reed streets to help the local scene.

DAVE ZISSER The Temple News A veritable hub for all things punk and DIY, Sit & Spin Records in South Philadelphia hopes to not only sell LPs and 7”s, but to service the underground music scene by and large.

Opening its doors two weeks ago, Sit & Spin specializes in the genres of punk and metal and dabbles slightly in the area of classic rock.

A beacon for all manner of punk and weirdo, Sit & Spin is the brainchild of Philly punk stalwarts Leora Colby and Colin McMahon.

“A few years ago the idea of opening a store went through both of our heads,” McMahon said.

Closely located to cheesesteak behemoths Pat’s and Geno’s, Sit & Spin can be found on the corner of Ninth and Reed streets.

Although the store is new, the Sit & Spin name is not. Since 2008, Sit and Spin Records has existed as both a record label and a distributer.

“The first record we put out was the Nothing Is Over/ Pigstickers split LP,” McMahon said. “We got a whole bunch of those out, released a couple more records and started trading with other labels. But the label pretty much started as a vehicle

“I found them and told them, ‘You tell Craig Woods that Joint Chiefs of Math wants to play Two Piece Fest,’” Keenan said.

Joint Chiefs of Math has played every Two Piece Fest since – not including Two Piece Fest IV at the Ox in Old Kens-

TWO PIECE PAGE 10

Fashion staple gets Philly made American Trench is helping to create more American-made products.

TAYLOR FARNSWORTH The Temple News

The DIY Philly label Sit & Spin recently opened a shop on Ninth and Reed streets in South Philly. | KATE McCANN TTN to release my own band’s stuff.”

As Sit & Spin continued to expand, opening a store was the next logical step, McMahon said.

“There used to be a place

Supermovie, p. 10

Matt Kirk introduces his superhero column by discussing the upcoming Superman movie.

A&E Desk 215-204-7416

that was an all punk and metal record store, and there hasn’t been another one in a long time,” McMahon said. “There’s a lot of good music that’s out there. I’m not saying that other

stores don’t [have it], because there are a lot of other good record stores in Philly. But some of them don’t carry some of these other bands that are coming out. We’re trying to be able

to fill that void.”

A robust selection of new and used LPs and 7”s are not all Sit & Spin has to offer. Sharing

SONGS FOR SPORT, p. 11

Philadelphia band Modern Baseball is generating buzz with its latest release, “Sports.”

ARTSandEntertainment@temple-news.com

SIT & SPIN PAGE 10

American Trench, a Philadelphia-based trench coat company, has been raising money to develop its American-made brand through a Kickstarter campaign.

The company, a venture that began between two friends – David Neill and Jacob Hurwitz – who had known each other since childhood, started out with discussions on how they could help the economy in America.

Hurwitz reflected on the inspiration that he had drawn from a vacation to London a few summers ago.

“So the basic story is that in the summer of 2009 I went to London with my wife on a vacation and when in Rome, do as Romans do, so when in London where it rains all the time, buy rainwear,” Hurwitz said.

Although the trip Hurwitz took to London later inspired the American-made trench coats that he now produces, the initial idea marked a period of brainstorming and researching for

TRENCH PAGE 13

playing favorites, p. 11

Joey Cranney introduces his column about lists by sharing his favorite movies of 2012.

page 10

arts & entertainment

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Record store specializes in hardcore and punk SIT & SPIN PAGE 9 floor space with the aforementioned records are tapes, patches, T-shirts, zines and a variety of vinyl-related odds and ends, including record mailers and poly record sleeves.

What truly sets Sit & Spin Records apart is its dedication to the local scene.

“We’re looking into stocking some of the big names, the classic punk bands that everybody wants, but for the meantime we’re really excited about supporting the local scene and offering their merchandise first and foremost,” co-owner Leora Colby said. “So we do have a lot of shirts and patches and pins and stuff from local groups.”

Colby’s belief in the profitability of local acts comes from the years that Sit & Spin spent as a distributor, or “distro,” Colby said.

“There’s something we’ve noticed from distro-ing for a few years,” Colby said. “We had your used classic rock section like most record stores have, but what the kids really wanted was the new stuff: the new reissues, the new releases from their favorite hardcore band or metal band that a lot of other stores don’t want to take Sit & Spin’s record store showcases hardcore and punk music, some of which is released under the store’s label of the same name. | KATE McCANN TTN their chances on.” neighborhood smoke shop.” metal heads alike could stop by zines, drop off zines that you In addition to carrying loThe city of Philadelphia has and brush up on all of the hap- make. If you’ve got a band, you cal records, Sit & Spin strongly a rich history of independent penings of the local scene. have an opportunity to put your encourages Philly locals to drop “Usually you divvy out the punk ventures. In 2001, Philly“When I first moved to music in a record store.”

TWO PIECE PAGE 9 off flyers for upcoming shows. responsibilities evenly, but with based extreme metal label Re- Philly, that’s what Relapse Reington, which was shut down by just two people you can achieve Local bands are more than welDavid Zisser can be reached at lapse Records opened a store in cords was to me,” Colby said. police. come to drop off tapes, records all that, and a lot of bands do,” david.zisser@temple.edu.

Queen Village. A kindred spirit “But when that closed I feel like Fellow Two Piece Fest vet- Helmis said. “You just have to or any other assorted pieces of

to Sit & Spin, Relapse Records the independent scene itself in erans Slingshot Dakota of Beth- achieve it in a different way. It’s merchandise. carried nothing that didn’t fall Philly was kind of lost in a void. lehem, Pa., have played every almost like giving yourself an “We want the community under the umbrella of punk or Like, where do we go for stuff?” year with the exception of Two obstacle to overcome. Once you to benefit from the attention that metal. The shop closed in 2008.

Sit & Spin has every intenPiece Fest IV. we’re getting,” Colby said. figure that out, something really With its closing came a signifi- tion to fill that void.

“Two Piece Fest is the cool comes out of it.”

Sit & Spin is unique, down cant blow to the underground “This is our home,” Colby best,” singer and keyboardist to its very leasing structure.

“Working with less will punk scene in Philadelphia. said. “Not just us, but the whole Carly Comando said. “There are bring out more creativity,” Sharing the space as well as the For many, Relapse Records community. This is our home so many cool genres and styles Woods said. rent with Sit & Spin is Glass on was not only a record store; it where you can get your inforof music that can be created by Glass, a self-described “friendly Comando expressed similar was a place where punks and mation, you can get your free two people.” sentiments.

Two Piece Fest VI plans to “I think with a two-piece be no exception to that standard. band, you get to be more creA band generating lots of antici- ative,” she said. “You’re trying pation is Cat Jack from Wash- to fill the sound space that four ington, D.C., set to play first. people fill, or you could be emFor a band that’s causing a bracing the lack of other instrulot of excitement, it’s unusual to ments present.” particular reason, that’s just how look real. Zack Snyder, the man Metropolis at large. Clark Kent’s think they’re playing first – until Members from all three behind the optically amazing only depth of character is his one hears the age of its memI did it. two-pieces expressed that Thor, the god from Asgard works “300” and the DC comic orphaned alien origin story and bers. there’s one thing you just can’t and member of the Avengers, movie “Watchmen,” will be di- search for his rightful role on “It’s two brothers – one is get from a traditionally sized is my favorite from the Marvel recting the film. Just from the Earth, which I expect will be 10, and one is 8,” Woods said. band – the special connection universe mainly because of our look of the released previews drawn out and the main emo- “They play the most awesome, of being onstage with just one similarities. I can’t fly or sum- it is clear to see Snyder’s vivid tional focus of the movie. Hope- sincere punk rock and I’m super other person. mon thunder – I wish, right? But contrasting color schemes at fully this is done tastefully and stoked to see them play.”

For Slingshot Dakota memI am a tall, fair-haired, Nordic- work, giving the “Man of Steel” without an abundance of cliché The excitement surround- bers Comando and drummer looking guy. My favorite from a connection to the comic books moments. ing Two Piece Fest expands Tom Patterson, that connection the DC realm is Batman, which that inspired it. When you comThe main point of hope is beyond Philadelphia’s borders, is deeper than most. is probably not a surprise to any- bine Snyder’s comic-esque style the star-studded cast, which fea- with copycat festivals hap“We knew each other as one, but I don’t care because with Nolan’s gritty cinematic in- tures Russell Crowe, Amy Ad- pening as far as New Zealand, friends and band mates first I knew he was the best before fluence, the result very well may ams, Kevin Costner, Christopher Woods said. and then realized through tourmatt kirk Heath Ledger put the Dark be a movie that beautifully fools Meloni and Henry Cavill, who is “I reached out to them being that our love went much Captain Kirk Knight back on the map in 2008. the eyes into believing the fan- a spitting image of Clark Kent. cause I was excited to find it deeper,” Comando said. “I think What writer David S. Goyer tasy.

Hopefully the script, and not the [through Facebook] and the guy that us being in a relationship Kirk, in his first and writer-director Christopher Unfortunately, I don’t think producer/director combination, was stoked to hear from me becalms us down a bit when we column, explains his Nolan accomplished with “The any amount of public demand is what attracted them to the pro- cause he said he based the entire make mistakes or get nervous, Knight” trilogy was noth- will allow Superman to yell duction. idea of the Two Piece Fest from because we know each other so love for superheroes Dark ing short of spectacular, win- “This is Metropolis!” in the heat In all, this movie will be our Philadelphia one,” Woods well.” and his reservations ning over the critics, wowing the of battle. worth watching in theaters said. “It’s really cool – he even Comando also added that The plot of “Man Of Steel” thanks to the people who have invited [Helmis] and I to go play toward the upcoming crowds and creating an army of she treasures her and Patterson’s is what concerns me the most. It come together in an attempt to theirs one day out in New Zeajokers on Halloween. pre-show “huddle sesh,” which Superman movie.

Goyer and Nolan’s next en- could either take the film to great get the “Man of Steel” right. It land, which is really neat.” calms their nerves before a perheights or restrict can easily become the best Sudeavor, “Man of The original mission of formance. it to being your perman movie, and one of the Woods and Helmis is now beSteel,” the new“It always reminds me that average sum- contenders for topping the year- ing spread across the world with am a nearly broke college est Superman I’m playing music with my best mer action fan- ly box office. I expect it to be other Two Piece Fests. student that recently spent movie set to hit friend and there’s nothing better tasy. The story a marvel visually and well-de$30 on 20 two-inch plastic theaters in June, “We’re learning more about than that,” Comando said. is almost certain livered but hindered, like other the two-piece thing, and other figurines. will be a much The members of The Joint to be more pre- superhero movies, by the fantasy people are more excited about The figurines were for Hero- harder task. SuChiefs of Math also share a deep dictable and less realm to which it’s bound.

Clix, a comic-book-inspired perman does not playing with just one other per- connection as close friends. complex than strategic board game. Justifying play into the drason,” Helmis said. “We try to “I don’t think I’m closer to that of the “Dark my decision might be difficult, matic and realisMatt Kirk can be reached at promote that celebration in Two anyone else than [Denke], bematthewkirk@temple.edu. Piece Fest.”

Knight” movies, because I’m not sure it is justi- tic style of Goyer cause we’ve been playing music but could top the fiable. My interest in HeroClix and Nolan at all.

Woods knows firsthand the together for a long time,” Keensummer box ofan and the universes created by Superman, benefits of being in a two-piece an said. “I definitely feel a symcomic books started in the ear- alien from a galaxy far away, has fice if it manages to separate itband from working musically biotic flow of energy between lier stages of my youth and are unfathomable strength, speed, self from the predictable action with Helmis. us. We try to console each other hearing and sight, can shoot la- hero herd. completely intertwined.

“Because of there only be- and try to psyche each other up By portraying Batman as What started as simple bore- sers out of his eyes and freeze ing one other member that you for what we need to do.” dom and a liking for strategic you with his breath. Oh yeah, both the detective and the hero have to deal with, it’s easier to That special bond is what thinking turned into an obses- and he can fly too. In a sense, in “The Dark Knight” trilogy, organize and easier to come made Woods and Helmis begin sion for strategic thinking and he’s impossible to kill except for Nolan gave the films great depth. together and get stuff done,” Two Piece Fest in the beginning. love for the stories behind the one fictional precious stone that But Superman’s character lacks Woods said.

“We’ve both been in bands causes him to be reduced to Bat- those Jason Bourne-like cunning characters I played each week.

However, there are some with six-plus people,” Helmis Years after weekly games man’s mortality levels. It’s kind features that made Bruce Wayne clear challenges to face when said. “It’s great, but it’s so difwith friends have ended, I still of hard to make that seem real- such a badass. relying on only two people to ferent when you’re just in a In fact, Superman is not find myself drawn to the stories istic. create a complete sound. band with one other person, and While the nature of Super- known for being much more while reading the Marvel ency“There are a lot of sounds that’s really the reason why we clopedia in my bathroom. All man’s character might be dif- than the average thinking man. that are less taxing to produce do Two Piece Fest and not Three comic lovers have their favorite ficult to make believable for It is his pure impervious nature with more people,” Denke said.

Piece Fest or Four Piece Fest.” heroes. I happen to take the po- writer Goyer and producer/writ- that allows him to surmount his However, being in a twosition of choosing one favorite er Nolan, they will have serious foes after they have sprung their piece band isn’t always an upJenelle Janci can be reached at from each major universe. No help in making “Man of Steel” traps on him, his loved ones or hill battle, Helmis said. jenelle.janci@temple.edu.

Two Piece Fest to return

Superman should remain ‘grounded’

I

“I can’t fly or

summon thunder – I wish, right?

But I am a tall, fair-haired Nordic looking guy.

”

arts & entertainment

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Page 11

Modern Baseball From house shows to The Barbary, Modern Baseball is gaining momentum in the Philly music scene with its latest release, “Sports.”

Modern Baseball, comprised of Jake Ewald, Brendan Lukens, Ian Farmer, and Sean Huber, is gaining a following with their latest release, “Sports.” The band played a show with Waxahatchee at The Barbary earlier this month. | ABI REIMOLD TTN

ABI REIMOLD The Temple News The transition between high school and university, the futilities of collegiate social life and the frustrations of having an empty wallet make Modern Baseball’s album “Sports” easily relatable to the college-aged crowd.

Guitar players Jake Ewald and Brendan Lukens met bass player Ian Farmer and Sean Huber, who plays drums, when they left the small town of Brunswick, Md., to attend universities in the Philadelphia area.

“Someone introduced us at a party,” Huber said. “They were like, ‘Hey Sean, these guys like pop punk, you should talk to them.’”

“We were in my basement when my dad was a [gym] teacher and he had all these books and one of the books was called ‘Modern Baseball

Techniques,’ said Ewald, who co-writes most of the songs for the band. With a name like that and a record named “Sports,” co-writer Brendan Lukens said they weren’t necessarily trying to mock athleticism.

“We’re not trying to be mean about it,” Lukens added.

“We all did some sport in high school. It’s mostly just a joke about ourselves.”

THE TEMPLE NEWS: You just got back from a winter tour. How was it?

JAKE EWALD: It was really cold. Otherwise it was really good. It was weird because we went as far as New Hampshire and everywhere we went people would sing our songs while we played. We played at a house in Connecticut and a bunch of high school kids were there. High school kids like our band.

BRENDAN LUKENS: I hope we go back out. It was too short. We did nine shows. They

were house shows in interesting places. We played a place called “The Vatican’t.” It had a cool basement that looked like a dungeon. Other bands from Philly have played there, and when we got there and it felt kind of like Philly, but not in Philly. We got there and everybody was hanging while listening to Philly bands.

Ian Farmer: In Ohio we had a breakfast sandwich with donuts for bread.

TTN: Why and how do you guys write songs?

BL: It’s actually a really good story. [Ewald] and I met in high school, and I was actually dating his twin sister. And then that didn’t work out too well, but in the midst of all I learned that Jake was in a pop-punk band and a metal-core band, and we both were on the same page as far as writing music. I had been writing a lot of acoustic stuff for myself but wasn’t really do-

ing anything with it. Jake and I write the songs for the band.

JE: We both kind of do the same thing, not just musically, but none of us had really written music that meant something before and written songs that expressed us emotionally. So we’ll be ourselves and if we’re in a shitty mood we’ll just write a song with an acoustic guitar.

BL: Usually Jake and I share songs together and then it trickles down.

TTN: How did you find Lame-O records?

JE: He actually lives with us.

BL: A really punk dude.

After we recorded and really wanted to put it out on some physical format, so we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do. Vinyl was a dream. It was really unattainable. We showed Eric [Osman] the record. He had helped us out for a while. He decided to start a record label and

put our album out on it. He’s our manager, too. We pressed 300 records and we sold them all.

TTN: Your lyrics are really personal, straightforward and honest. What makes you comfortable being so open about these things?

JE: It really bothers me when songs don’t sound sincere because that keeps me from connecting with the song. So when I go to write music myself, I try to be sincere. Semi-truthful.

Say what you mean. We’re kind of into that kind of music, like quirky stuff.

BL: We’re really not into the whole classifying us thing because we just write the way that we want to. We’re writing it for us really because we just want to say how we feel, and it turns out people relate to that and feel the same way we do.

Which is really cool, I guess.

Which is really lame, I guess.

JE: We write these songs

on our own when we’re all pissed off. It’s like having a conversation without actually having to talk to somebody. It feels good to get it out.

Abi Reimold can be reached at abigail.reimold@temple.edu.

Power of lists, 2012 movies celebrated

I

joey cranney Honorable Mention

Cranney introduces his column by naming his favorite movies of 2012.

f I had to list all of the reasons I love lists...well, I’d love to, because I love lists.

Lists are a celebration of the freedom of expression. In a world where far too many are hesitant to have an independent thought, lists require you to put your name on a firm example of your opinion.

If nothing else, lists are conversation starters – fun conversation starters.

Few things make me as giddy than at the end of December, when all the major news publications across the country publish their Top 10 movies, songs and albums of the year. I love reading and joining in on the hotbed of debate that follows.

My love for lists and pop culture comes from growing up with three older siblings whose own tastes rubbed off on me at a young age. My oldest brother introduced my other brother and I to good alternative rock, ‘90s rap and bad horror movies. My musical memories of my sister usually involve her singing corny one-hit wonders or Disney theme songs, of which I still know all the words.

With my dad, it was a steady dosage of classic rock, though I’m grateful it was mostly Pink Floyd, The Who and Led Zeppelin. On a good day, he’d play Prince.

My mom had a much more cut-and-dry taste in the oldies, but also had an impressive collection of soul, mo-town and R&B that I fondly recall her

blasting while cleaning our whole house.

This whirlwind of mixed influences may lead some to believe I was a confused child.

In my eighth grade yearbook, under “Favorite Band” I wrote, “The Temptations or The Black Eyed Peas.” True story.

The same family also instilled in me the notion of placing a discernable value on the things I like best. “What’s your favorite…?” is a common question in the Cranney household.

I’m usually the one asking it.

My relationship with pop culture has evolved from an interest in “those people on TV” into a total obsession in consuming what some would consider an unhealthy amount of film and music.

I try to expose myself to as much music as I can while recognizing that my iTunes library will never be complete.

I consider myself to have above average knowledge and appreciation of film and below average familiarity with popular television. I’m a proud cardcarrying member of the Regal Crown Club, but “Mad Men” bores me and I never watched “The Sopranos.”

I’m by no means an expert on any subject, but lists aren’t supposed to be an expert’s opinion. They’re supposed to be just that – an opinion; an opinion that’s meant to be disputed, debated and explored.

“I’m a proud

card-carrying member of the Regal Crown Club, but ‘Mad Men’ bores me and I never watched ‘The Sopranos.’

”

My first opinion of the semester comes in the form of the 10 best movies that I saw that were released in 2012.

I saw 28 movies released in 2012, including five documentaries, five horror films, three science-fiction movies, three comic-book adaptations and one truly overhyped Bond sequel.

I don’t pretend to be a film critic, nor did I see every movie I wanted from last year, but I’m offering my opinion anyway because I like to discuss these things and I’ve been doing it my whole life.

Argue with me. Disagree with me. Hate me. That’s what lists are all about.

10. Holy Motors

A French submission that wound up being a finalist for the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, “Holy Motors” is a hypnotic look at a future where reality is played out by actors and life becomes one great big production. It’s “what the hell did I just watch?” good.

9. Wreck-It Ralph

Though it comes off as Disney trying to beat Pixar at its own game by playing to our nostalgic tendencies, “WreckIt Ralph” is actually a wildly imaginative, meticulously crafted story about abandonment, friendship and love. If a 2-D video game character can dream, why can’t we?

8. Django Unchained

While it doesn’t transcend the genre like Quentin Tarantino’s previous film, “Inglourious Basterds,” “Django Unchained” is still supremely entertaining by any other filmmaker’s

standard. It’s a brutally violent, sometimes hilarious, but totally necessary look at slavery in the Antebellum south.

7. The Avengers

Acting as a sequel to three different comic-book adaptations and finishing the year as the highest grossing film, “The Avengers” was about as hyped as a movie can get but still exceeded my expectations. The most fun I had at the movies in 2012.

6. Silver Linings Playbook

“Silver Linings Playbook” works, because it doesn’t try to fit into any genre but will make you laugh, cry and cheer, sometimes in the same scene. Its ensemble cast, the best of any movie I saw from last year, sets a somewhat Hollywood script in reality.

5. Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance as our nation’s greatest president is jaw dropping. The screenplay, written by Tony Kushner, deserves an Oscar.

But the film too often steers away from the brutal reality of the time and delves into melodrama.

4. Argo

“Argo” has one thing really going for it: an entertaining, suspenseful, remarkable true story about a covert CIA operation during the Iranian hostage crisis. Director Ben Affleck hits it out of the park with bringing the story to the big screen.

3. Amour

Michael Haneke, a filmmaker I admire because of 2007’s suspense horror “Funny

Games,” blew my mind again with 2012 Palm d’Or winner “Amour.” What starts as the story of a couple growing old ends up as a painful mediation on life, death and love.

2. Beasts of the Southern Wild

This miracle of a movie won the Grand Jury Prize for a dramatic film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” is a remarkably original and astounding achievement. It scratches an itch you didn’t know you had.

1. Zero Dark Thirty

“Zero Dark Thirty” is the most important and best film that I saw from 2012. It’s an uncomfortable and unflinching movie experience. It’s not so much a movie as a documentary with actors that takes you through the events leading up to and including the killing of Osama Bin Laden with such detail that it becomes painfully suspenseful. It transcends the boundaries of movie making.

HONORABLE MENTION

“The Cabin in the Woods,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Invisible War.”

FULL DISCLOSURE

Movies from 2012 that I didn’t see: “The Master,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi.” Joey Cranney can be reached at joseph.cranney@temple.edu.

Arts & ENTERTAINMENT

page 12

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

SPIN magazine makes final rotation in print

I

KEVIN STAIRIKER Fear of Music

Columnist Kevin Stairiker looks at the fall of SPIN magazine.

had already gotten used to the schedule: every couple of months, I would go home and find a strange looking magazine on the kitchen table waiting for me. It was larger than most magazines and the paper quality was unusually good. I assumed it was to make up for the lack of substance in the stories rather than to appeal to a quickly vanishing readership. Regardless, I arrived home to find a very tan and pissed offlooking image of Sean Penn on the table awaiting my curiosity.

The strange photo graced the latest edition of Esquire, and inside the plastic packaging was a “Dear Subscriber” letter.

Contained within was a very clear and concise explanation that SPIN magazine’s October issue, the one with a nautically-themed Azealia Banks on the cover, was the last issue and henceforth SPIN would be an online-only entity. I expected to be at least a little bit disappointed, but I remained unmoved.

The magazine’s legacy arguably diminished bit-by-bit during its 27 years, but for a time, SPIN was the most readily accessible gateway into important music of almost every make and model.

Of course, I am terribly biased. When I was younger and slightly more impressionable than I am now, all I wanted to do was write for SPIN. I held a singular focus on the idea of being selected to work at what was once a sizably established institution built up to write about music. It wasn’t Rolling Stone, held together by long-dead ideals and dad rock. It was the next best thing.

The “Almost Famous” dream of being young and writing about the bands I loved appeared totally plausible because of the sheer amount of publications that existed solely, in my mind alone, to back up that idea.

I, like SPIN and the rest of traditional publications, could never have predicted the number of music blogs that would sprout up in the years that followed.

SPIN has a website, of course, but even that is no match for the Pitchforks and Stereogums of the Internet.

That is not even to account for the thousands of smaller music blogs run by individuals, each a single blade of grass growing rapidly on the grave of print music magazines like SPIN and Paste. Whether that death is a good thing or not is still being decided, but for now, this is where we are.

Amongst music publications, SPIN tried valiantly to hit the sweet spot of musical omnivorousness. It never steeped itself in bands too little-known or overrated so that any person buying a copy off of a newsstand – when those were real live things – would at least know something and not be completely turned off. Unfortunately, appealing to everyone is impossible, so SPIN can be partially forgiven for pimping bands like Everclear and Mötley Crüe during its run.

My favorite thing about SPIN was that every page was a different invitation to become enamored with another band or artist. Acts like TV On The Radio, Kid Cudi and Janelle Monae were totally foreign concepts to this columnist before reading about them in SPIN once upon a time.

The heyday of the magazine was the 1990s, at the time when “rock music” was being redefined by upstarts like littleknown three-piece Nirvana.

Flipping through the covers from that time period, it’s clear that SPIN found its niche quickly, profiling Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam all in a row at the end of 1993. After grunge died in the greenhouse, SPIN

struggled to redefine its identity and began a trend of latching on to whatever mid-level artist with credibility could help sell magazines each passing month.

The end of SPIN is not the end of the world, but it is surely the end of some sort of era. While I am not old enough to have enjoyed the magazine in its prime, all of SPIN’s archives from 1985-2012 are up for free browsing on Google Books.

Paging through them is sort of like being on the least exciting or important archeological dig that can be imagined.

It’s a valuable resource for looking back at the beginning issues of the magazine when people like the Beastie Boys or Talking Heads were on the cover hawking new strange music that hadn’t been heard before and there were no less than five

“I arrived home

to find a very tan and pissed offlooking image of Sean Penn on the table awaiting my curiosity.

”

cigarette ads between the two covers.

So raise your glass – or newspaper – to SPIN magazine.

It was always spectacularly imperfect by design, but it tried hard enough for so long that it can’t be looked at as anything but a successful experiment, and one that will probably never occur again.

-Queens of the Stone Age -The Knife Kevin Stairiker can be reached at kevin.stairiker@temple.edu.

six People/Groups Putting Out Albums This Year That Will Probably Be Great: -David Bowie -Justin Timberlake -Yeah Yeah Yeahs -A$AP Rocky

Grow your own way Every career path is different. That’s why we help you design your own.

We’ll provide the training, coaching and experiences that allow you to build relationships and take advantage of career opportunities. You decide what happens next—at PwC or beyond.

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© 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. We are proud to be an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer.

arts & entertainment

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Page 13

Trench coats go All-American TRENCH PAGE 9

both Neill and Hurwitz who, though experienced in design, had never worked within the fashion industry.

“We’re not from the fashion industry. We don’t have fashion training. We didn’t go to fashion school, so to speak, and in some ways...you don’t have the same kind of training but also it can be an interest, you cannot try to make a new aesthetic,” Hurwitz said. “We’re not trying to make a mark as designers in some new way...in some ways we think that making our unique mark is providing products to the market that aren’t there, that’s unique.”

For Neill and Hurwitz, taking on this new company in addition to their day jobs has been a difficult task with the research and other processes that need to be accounted for when starting a business.

When starting the concept for the company, Neill and Hurwitz had to work out the process from the design itself with a tailor, the materials that they wanted to use for the trench coats, the place where the products would be manufactured in the United States and more. “[We] went through the

same process, really, of contacting manufacturers and basically you have to scratch and claw like a wolverine and find a bunch of things that don’t work out and come up with some that do,” Hurwitz said.

Because American Trench coats cost approximately $725, the company also wanted to introduce less expensive products that maintain the “made in America” status.

The next products that the company sold were socks, both cotton and wool. The company also hopes to soon introduce a cable knit hat to the store.

“A $700 coat is not for everybody. We wanted to make something that is really nice, but not $700,” Hurwitz said.

“Our products are not bargain basement,” Hurwitz added.

“Obviously we want to fill in the product range from $16 to $700.

That’s how much our products cost, so the people that can afford us are our clients.”

Because the founders of the company are starting this venture from the ground up, the duo has realized that in order for their business to succeed, they need to raise money and get the word out to the public in some way. To do this, the pair launched a Kickstarter cam-

paign with an initial goal of $15,000 in mind.

Since launching the Kickstarter on Dec. 31, the company has exceeded its $15,000 goal and has set a new goal of $20,000 before the fundraiser ends on Jan. 30.

“We’re knocking the door at $17,000 right now,” Hurwitz said on Friday, Jan. 25. “It’s a big, big help. Kickstarter is an amazing tool for entrepreneurs.”

At the time of press, American Trench’s Kickstarter has $17,912 pledged from 114 backers.

The company has received support from not only Philadelphia natives, but also people around the world for its efforts to improve the American economy with American-made goods – even if it does mean that the cost of their products will be higher to account for the quality.

“Some people can help us by buying a $725 trench coat, some people can buy a $25 pair of socks and some people pledge a buck, and even that’s great,” Hurwitz said.

Taylor Farnsworth can be reached at taylor.farnsworth@temple.edu.

Master of Science in

Nonprofit Leadership Applications for the 2013- 2014 academic year are now being accepted.

Priority consideration deadline: February 15, 2013.

Do you have a passion for work in the nonprofit sector? Are you a budding social entrepreneur? Penn’s Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership (NPL) is a graduate program tailor made for you.

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PURITY RING JAN. 29 $15-$17 DOORS 8 P.M., SHOW 8:30 P.M. UNION TRANSFER, 1026 SPRING GARDEN ST. Canadian synth-pop duo Purity Ring has dedicated most of the month to almost incessant touring, and Jan. 29 will be no exception. Although the two were first members of a larger band Born Gold, one half of the duo, Corin Roddick, began experimenting with electronic beat-making and after asking band mate Megan James to sing on a track, Purity Ring was formed. Since then, they’ve gathered a considerable amount of critical attention and a debut album, “Shrines,” released last year. During concerts, the band creates a unique visual setup, from often wearing costumes that Roddick sewed himself to using a custom-made instrument that Roddick syncs with songs to flash light when a certain sound is played. The atmosphere is set with large cocoon-shaped bulbs that dangle from the ceiling throughout the performance. Before Purity Ring takes the stage, the show is scheduled to begin with the Brooklyn-based electronic group Young Magic.

CAT POWER JAN. 30, 8:30 P.M. $30 ELECTRIC FACTORY, 421 N. SEVENTH ST. Despite spending the past year battling bankruptcy and an unpredictable skin disease, Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, is coming to Philly in support of her newest album, “Sun.” Cat Power’s shows are infamously similar to the music she’s been making since she began in the early 1990s – fragile, erratic, often bleak, yet unwaveringly earnest. “Sun,” released in September 2012, differs from her previous work in favor of a more upbeat, bold and almost dance-friendly sound, though it didn’t begin that way. After beginning work on the record in 2007, Marshall said during an interview with Pitchfork, “I was writing all these really slow guitar songs, and my friend said, ‘This is like depressing old Cat Power,’ which made me feel like I got shot. I didn’t work for eight months after that.” She added that the rest of the process was filled with the trial and error that goes along with experimentation, as Marshall tried to turn her ideas into songs. The album was met with generally positive reviews and appeared on year-end best of lists by NPR, Los Angeles Times and Billboard.

Philly will be the last of the U.S. dates.

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION FEB. 2 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. FREE WITH MUSEUM ADMISSION PENN MUSEUM, 3260 SOUTH ST. As the year of the dragon ends and the year of the snake commences on Feb. 10, the Penn Museum is hosting its 32nd Annual Chinese New Year Celebration. Attendees can learn about how the Lunar New Year is celebrated in Asia through entertainment and education.

Events include a Kung Fu demonstration, a performance by a dance team from the Greater Philadelphia Minghui School, a lecture on the art of Feng Shui, a calligraphy workshop, crafts and a Ba’z Tai Chi demonstration. There will also be live performances using traditional Chinese instruments with a discussion on the country’s musical history, storytelling of Chinese folk tales and more. The day culminates with the grand finale ancient lion dance, with dancers and drummers from Cheung’s Academy in Chinatown. The performers will begin in the museum’s Harrison Auditorium and wind their way through the main entrance into the Warden Garden. The dance is even said to bring good luck to the incoming year.

Don’t settle for ordinary.

Be extraordinary.

We’re eager to talk with you.

Call (215) 898-1857 today, or go to www.sp2.upenn.edu/programs/npl to learn more.

For specific questions, contact Mr. Eric Ashton, Sr. Associate Director at ashtoned@sp2.upenn.edu.

“ASSISTANCE” NOW-FEB. 3 STUDENT DISCOUNT AVAILABLE WILMA THEATER, 265 S. BROAD ST. Whether one has had a job or not, many know the familiar office scene: ambitious young adults driving themselves crazy as they try to climb the corporate ladder, while dealing with the politics and often infuriating bosses that come with it. This is the inspiration for the OffBroadway comedy, “Assistance,” by playwright Leslye Headland and director David Kennedy. The play features Nick and Nora, two young, career-driven employees with a nightmarish boss at a Manhattan headquarters. While the office thrives with volatile competition, pushing some forward and leaving others in the dust, the two continue to be oblivious to anything but the lure of success. The play is part of Headland’s “Seven Deadly Sins,” series, with “Assistance” representing greed. After another Headland’s works, “Bachelorette,” turned into a film. NBC announced its plan to bring “Assistance” to television, produced by comedian Will Ferrell. On Feb. 1, two days before the play’s end at Wilma, a free wine tasting will be held before the show from 7-8 p.m.

–Cheyenne Shaffer

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page 14

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

SPRING CAREER WEEK: FEBRUARY 15-21. 2013 821 Anderson Hall

Women’s Studies Lounge

6:00 - 8:00 pm

Is this SUITable?

Stop by for a 15-minute resume review by employer partners

Stop by with a picture of your professional dress for feedback

Student Center 200 5:30 - 7:40 pm Doors open at 5:00 pm *Professional Dress

Register at: www.temple.edu/ careercenter/ students/events.html

Student Center 200A 10:00 - 10:50 am

Is this SUITable?

Stop by with a picture of your professional dress for feedback

Career Center, 220 Mitten Hall 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Career Center 220 Mitten Hall 10:00am - 3:00pm

Career Fair Preparation

Student Center 200AB

3:00 - 4:30 pm

Federal Job Search Strategy Workshop

Student Center 217AB 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Is this SUITable?

Stop by with a picture of your professional dress for feedback

Career Center, 220 Mitten Hall 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Career Center, 220 Mitten Hall 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Temple University Career Center | 220 Mitten Hall 215-204-7981 | www.temple.edu/careercenter

Internship Strategies

Thursday, 21st

Liberal Arts Alumni Career Panel

Student & Alumni Networking Night

Wednesday, 20th

Student Center 200A 4:00 - 5:00pm

Tuesday, 19th

Monday, 18th

Friday, 15th Resumania

Career Fair Preparation

Career Fair 75+ Employers

Juniors, seniors, grad students & alumni: Find the Employer list at: temple.edu/careercenter

Student Center 200

12:00 - 4:00 pm

*Professional Dress Required Bring copies of your resume

With thanks and appreciation to our Employer Partners.

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Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

LIVING

Page 15

In Italy, a toast for the Latter Day Saints

A

ANNIE NARDOLILLI Rome if You Want To

Nardolilli reflects on her recent conversion to the Mormon faith and the effects it has on her time abroad.

h, Italy: the land of beautiful architecture and landmark literature; the land of world-changing history and timeless art; and the land of beautiful people and colorful politics. And who could forget incredible food: pasta, pizza, homegrown ingredients plus the homemade parmesan cheese crafted by a local stable boy.

And of course, above it all, who could forget the wine?

Wine, wine and more wine.

Wine is everywhere in Italy. I read somewhere that babies are given wine before breast milk in the Italian hospitals. OK, I never read that, but it sure feels like it could be true.

But strangely enough, I don’t actually drink wine, or any other kind of alcohol. That’s because I am a recent convert to the Mormon faith, and Mormons consume neither coffee nor alcohol as part of our religious beliefs. And in Italy, well, that’s pretty interesting.

I have been dreaming of studying abroad in Rome since my freshman year at Temple, not only for the art, culture and

ability to hone my Italian-speaking skills, but also because by the time I got here I would still be under 21, meaning going to bars and buying alcohol would be legal for me in Italy before it would be in the U.S., and that’s really cool. It was always my intention to drink wine at dinner and, if it presented itself to me, to go to “da club” and get loose.

But that’s not really how things worked out for me.

Of course, it’s not like I didn’t know what I was doing when I decided to give up a life of liquor for religion. Most kids usually go to college and find freedom from religion, but for whatever reason, though I wasn’t searching for faith, I found it.

This summer, I lived in Boston and had some very interesting encounters with the Mormon Church of all things, a faith I had known a lot about but thought was a little too incredulous for my liberal mind.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d actually convert. But after having a multitude of undeniable spiritual experiences, I knew I couldn’t deny the things

I felt – the path I knew I had to take. And because I don’t do anything half-way, joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meant giving up alcohol, coffee and drugs for the rest of my life, as well as abstaining from sex and certain other intimate activities until marriage.

Back before I converted, I was pretty much your stereotypical college lady, engaging in that alcoholic rite of passage on weekends, dabbling in certain herbal illegalities – ah, freshman year – and having the occasional awkward, well, let’s call them “physical encounters” that I’m not particularly proud of.

Never, ever, ever in my wildest dreams did I picture myself where I am now, drinking Coke at the bar like a 12-yearold while my friends are drinking artisanal spirits. But I am.

And the thing is, it’s wonderful.

It works for me. I still venture into the Roman nightlife, I still get crazy, and then I come home and read my scriptures before I turn out the light.

The best part is that I have an amazing group of friends

here, old friends from Temple who, while they may not totally understand my decision to become a Mormon, don’t pressure me to do anything they know I won’t do. If anything, I’m weirder when I’m sober rather than drunk. I’ve already done plenty of “twerking” here in Rome, most of it in public. And that’s OK. I am still the same Annie I’ve always been. On the liberal scale of one to Rachel Maddow, I’m probably a seven. I’m a vehement supporter of gay rights, immigration reform and democratic diplomacy, a typical college kid in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana and stricter gun-control laws, an ardent student of evolutionary biology, of anthropology and of world religions. But I also happen to believe in God, in Jesus Christ, in the sanctity of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in spirituality and liminality and in eternal salvation through faith.

And that’s just kind of how it is.

Some may find the reconciliation of my interests difficult, most obviously in being a Mormon and supporting gay

rights, but I see no problem. Just as I have the freedom to worship how I choose, so should anyone have the freedom to marry whomever they want and live the life they love. I believe that everyone should follow the dictates of their heart, wherever they lead them. We live in a great country with a constitution that empowers us to pursue happiness. I am pursuing mine.

And I encourage you to pursue yours.

So that’s my story. While everyone at school gets their little espresso shot out of the vending machine, I embrace my inner Kel and get a can of orange soda – which actually tastes like oranges in Europe.

Who would have thought?

It works for me. It may make me a little quirky, but I’m American. We’re American.

And if you haven’t figured it out by now then, well, being a little weird pretty much comes with the territory. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Annie Nardolilli can be reached at annie.nardolilli@temple.edu.

Annie Nardolilli will be corresponding from Rome all spring semester. She recently transitioned to Mormonism. | Mike Madeja & Justin Porto TTN

We follow what’s happening so you can follow us. @TheTempleNews

living

page 16

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Main Campus inn to receive soft renovation CONWELL PAGE 7

ton of business and we couldn’t survive without them – we do in fact have a ton of people that are just coming to Philadelphia to come to Philadelphia. We have a 50-50 split between [our guests] who are Temple related versus not Temple related.”

Some international guests enjoy the small perks that come with staying at a hotel just outside the busier, more in-demand Center City, he added.

“They love it,” Walsh said.

“One of the primary things we see is a lot of overseas travelers who are used to using public transportation on a regular basis. Staying outside the [center of] city for $30 or $40 cheaper per night makes sense to them when they can walk two blocks and get the subway and make it into Center City. Most of our outside non-Temple related business is overseas businessmen coming to Philadelphia.”

While celebrities may stay in Center City hotels, the Conwell Inn has hosted prominent people in their own right. “[We’ve hosted] no one crazy notable, at least no one that I’ve seen in my time here,” Walsh said. “I’ve heard sto-

ries of Bill Cosby stopping in.

I don’t know how true they are but people, especially through guest speakers and guest lecturers we see notable people, but I wouldn’t say pop culture notable. We’ve had Pulitzer Prize winners and people who are recognizable in their field that are somewhat more rightfully known than pop culture figures.”

One of the challenges the Conwell Inn faces, because of its smaller size, is the ability to host large groups, especially sports teams.

“If it’s only a fencing team that needs about five rooms, it’s a piece of cake,” Walsh said. “A football team – not gonna happen. The Conwell Inn has never really been a group hotel. I’ve tried to change that. I’ve tried to bring more and more groups in.

The hotel I used to work at was a group hotel with way more rooms.”

Walsh added: “The annoying thing is, say I get a proposal for a 20-room group and I only have 18 open, I’m not losing one reservation – I’m losing 20 reservations. In order to make that up I have to sell 18 indi-

vidual rooms.”

Part of the Conwell Inn’s charm, Walsh said, is the individual attention the staff can give guests.

Dr. Ceridwyn King, a professor in the tourism and hospitality department, said the main advantage hotels like the Conwell Inn have is the ability to be there for guests.

“You’re seeing the rise of the boutique hotel because a lot of these global brands are very vanilla,” King said. “They’re vanilla in the sense they’re trying to standardize and keep providing superior guest experience but in doing that they lose their ability to be flexible and be responsive to consumers – boutique hotels are not bound by that.”

King added freedom to alter aesthetics makes the experience in smaller, boutique hotels more unique. She said a typical consumer could be shown two rooms in two different upscale hotels and not know the difference between them.

The Conwell Inn is beginning to make small alterations to room décor and furniture to keep up with modern day con-

The Conwell Inn contains 22 rooms, and at maximum occupancy can hold approximately 70 guests. The inn is currently upgrading room decor. | COURTESY CONWELL INN sumer expectations.

“It’s going to where it’s never gone before,” Walsh said.

“We’re definitely trying to keep the old world charm but throw you new world conveniences.

We’ve had box TVs since we opened and we’re switching to flat screen 27-inch LG TVs. We’re getting all new linens and draperies to brighten up the rooms and bring fresh patterns

to some of the trending patterns into our rooms. We’re trying to keep the integrity but still throw some trends into it.”

Walsh added that any renovations to the Conwell Inn would all be soft since the building is relatively new.

“In terms of a hard renovation nothing is really scheduled and nothing is really needed,” Walsh said. “One of the things

is the building itself, the inside of the building was only built 10 years ago. So everything is structurally brand new. A lot of it is just aesthetics.”

A soft grand reopening will be set for early March 2013.

Luis Fernando Rodriguez can be reached at luis.fernando@temple.edu and on Twitter at @theluisfernando.

RateMyProfessors cause of concern for some educators RATE PAGE 7 few ratings.

“The most authoritative thing is the student feedback forms,” said Iyad Obeid, professor in the engineering department. “I might get 50 student feedback forms, and I don’t get many ratings on RateMyProfessors.”

Though Obeid has more than 10 ratings, placing him well ahead of many of his fellow instructors, ratings often reflect the number of contributing students. The motivational factor for posting a rating on the

site must be considered when reading a professor’s review.

Some professors are exceptionally light-hearted about the site, including one Mosaic professor who, Michael Hyer, a freshman kinesiology major, said he has for his first Mosaic course this semester.

“My Mosaic professor told us today, ‘I search myself on Google to see what people say on RateMyProfessors.com,’” Hyer said. “‘They said I was easy and fun. And now if only I got the hot chili pepper I’d

be the perfect date.’ Everyone thought it was funny.”

As a student who has used the site, Hyer said that he thought his professor’s attitude was “laidback and cool,” and that the class appreciated his humorous take on the site.

Not all professors are unfazed by the content on RateMyProfessors – the chili pepper in particular is an issue of discomfort. Leuchter notably remembered a past conference during which professors could attend a session specifically on

Potluck fuels dialogue on green progress Group aims to spread sustainability awareness by targeting the stomach.

HAYON SHIN The Temple News The Green Council, a coalition of eco-friendly student organizations on Main Campus, is creating dialogue this spring semester with a series of sustainability awareness events, Potlucks with a Purpose.

Potlucks with a Purpose provides casual, free dinners that produce a platform for discussion about sustainability issues between students and professors while indulging in homemade food. Each monthly potluck has its own specific topic, with January’s potluck focusing on the energy conservation campaign.

The idea of Potlucks with a Purpose was inspired by members of The Green Council feeling a lack of conversation or opportunity for in-depth and prolonged discussion about relevant sustainability issues.

The Green Council wants to encourage students to discuss and come up with real solutions that can be put into action with the guidance and advice of experts in the field.

“Ultimately our goal is to change the culture of [Main] Campus in order to become more sustainable,” said Katy Ament, president of Temple Community Gardens. “And the way to achieve that goal is to

spread awareness about the issues.”

At the potluck, guest speakers and professors give brief presentations and encourage the attendees to have discussions about the topics presented. With the help of a comment box for idea submission, The Green Council hopes to move the campaign further toward reaching its goals.

This month’s Potlucks with a Purpose event takes place today, Jan. 29, in the Temple Contemporary at Tyler School of Art at 7 p.m. It is called “A Positive Charge: Understanding the University’s Energy Conservation Campaign.”

The Green Council has invited four guest speakers: Kurt Bresser, the energy manager from the Office of Facilities Management; Luke Nixon, the vice president of sustainability from Fox Net Impact; Bryan Satalino, a design MFA candidate; and Jacki Boone, who is a member of Students for Environmental Action.

“I am excited to be a part of this event,” Bresser said. “The only way the university is going to meet its 25 percent energy reduction goal is through engaging the broader Temple community in the campaign. I’m pleased to see The Green Council take a lead on raising awareness about energy conservation, and I’m looking forward to the ideas that the students bring to the table.”

The Green Council is made up of a variety of organizations throughout Temple and Philadelphia, including the Office of Sustainability, Students for

Environmental Action, Temple Community Gardens, Temple University Chapter of American Institute of Architecture Students, Freedom by Design, Promoters of Animal Welfare, Engineers Without Borders, Temple Student Government, Ambler Student Government, Sustainability Living Learning Communities, Slow Food Temple, Temple Vegan Action Network and Net Impact.

Upcoming potluck topics are “Net Impact’s Campaign for Fair Trade” on Feb. 26, “Animal Activist Panel Discussion on Bird Collisions with Temple Buildings” on March 26 and “Food Discussion: Urban Farming/Local Food” on April 30.

For more information about Potlucks with a Purpose, contact Kathleen Grady from the Office of Sustainability at kathleen.grady@temple.edu.

Hayon Shin can be reached at hayon.shin@temple.edu.

how to cope with ratings and deal with students disregarding appropriate boundaries on RateMyProfessors.

Though clearly a relevant topic for many of his colleagues, Leuchter said he did not find the session necessary.

A student with conservative values who disagreed with Leuchter’s historical representations of the Bible, and criticized the course before doing even one assignment, submitted a comment that Leuchter said he flagged for removal.

Obeid also said that sometimes only one professor teaches a certain course at a time – a situation he has been in himself – and that students ultimately should decide on a course because of the material, not the professor.

“I also usually do more research on Google of the professor because I like to know what their background on the subject is,” said Semina Badnjevic, a senior public health major.

RateMyProfessors may be a quick way to look up a pro-

fessor when trying to compile next semester’s schedule, but most students and faculty agree that it should not, by any means, be the ultimate decision-making influence.

“Can you get an idea about a professor? Probably. But don’t believe every word you read,” Neuber said.

Erin Edinger-Turoff can be reached at erin.edinger-turoff@temple.edu.

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

LIVING

Page 17

Coming out becomes low key

S SARA PATTERSON QChat

Patterson discusses Jodie Foster’s Golden Globes speech and Gen Y’s penchant for over-sharing.

o while I’m here being all confessional, I guess I have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never really been able to air in public. So, a declaration that I’m a little nervous about, but maybe not quite as nervous as my publicist right now, huh Jennifer? But I’m just going to put it out there, right? Loud and proud, right?”

My ears perked up as I sat on my couch watching the Golden Globes. Would this be the moment that Jodie Foster, one of the most recognizable public figures of the last 40 years, finally comes out and does it on live television, in front of 20 million people?

“I am single.”

Maybe not.

Although she went on to say that she came out “a thousand years ago” to friends and family and all of the people whom she actually knew as opposed to anybody who clicks on her Wikipedia page, the moment had passed. Her speech felt angry. Her comments about not being Honey Boo Boo seemed to mock those brave celebrities, like Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris, who are open about their private lives and

have blazed the trail for those who come after them. By the end of it, however, she had in fact officially come out and she did so without ever saying the words gay or lesbian, which is pretty impressive.

There were a number of reactions to Foster’s speech.

Many applauded her for coming out in her own way, on her own terms. On the other hand, some were upset she waited so long and did it in such a passiveaggressive way.

Matthew Breen, editor-inchief of The Advocate, the United States’ oldest LGBT magazine, posted a commentary on the publication’s website saying how “deeply confused and conflicted” he felt, torn between respecting Foster’s demand for privacy and his disappointment that someone as smart and capable as she is wouldn’t just come out and say, “I’m a lesbian and there’s nothing wrong or shameful about it.”

I’m with Breen. I’m torn over how I feel about it. It shouldn’t matter how celebrities come out or even if they do come out. It really shouldn’t. Coming out is a personal decision and who are we, as people who do not know them, to criticize ce-

lebrities for what they choose to do? If someone chooses to come out, we should support them. If someone chooses not to, we should respect their decision. At the same time, it is because of people like DeGeneres, who publicly came out at a time when doing so was not nearly as acceptable as it is today, that the public opinion on homosexuality has shifted. Like Breen, I can’t help but be disappointed with Foster. And I can’t help but wonder if her hesitancy to come out gives off the impression of shame, a feeling that the LGBT community has tried to banish for so long.

Foster’s speech and the criticisms of it beg the question: Who needs to know?

For someone in the public eye, coming out means becoming a representative of the LGBT community, which is something that not everyone wants to be. It’s a ridiculous amount of pressure that I can’t even fathom and it’s no wonder so many would rather keep quiet and have their privacy.

Even more than a question of the differences in the lives of celebrities versus the lives of us common folk, I think it’s a question of the differences of

our generation versus the generations before us. Young actors like Chris Colfer and Ezra Miller have been forthcoming about their sexualities while not making a huge deal out of it.

The importance of being out has shifted over the years. Whereas being in the closet was a means of survival for people 60 years ago, ask anyone today and they will tell you that coming out is essential to living a happy and healthy life.

We are the generation of over-sharing. We’re narcissists. We Instagram every meal we eat – complete with before and after shots – and tweet the most meaningful thoughts we get throughout the day, as long as they’re 140 characters or less. It’s no surprise that we are shocked and offended when a celebrity is hesitant to divulge their sexual preferences when we broadcast our relationship status, political views, religious beliefs and whether we like men or women to all 850 of our Facebook friends.

So, who does need to know? Family and friends? Of course. It’s important to share personal parts of your life with those you love and trust. Hundreds of people whom you went

to high school with and no longer talk to? Maybe, if only to confirm some of their suspicions. The person you just met at a party? Probably not, unless you’re trying to get a date.

There’s a fine line between being openly gay and being that weird guy who is a little too eager to share personal details, and there’s a big difference between being closeted out of shame and just being a private person.

I might not be the best person to talk about discretion, seeing as though I’m arguably the most openly gay person at Temple, but I appreciate privacy. As important as it is to be comfortable enough to come out, it’s just as important to save some of those personal details for those you really trust. If I’m with friends or family, I’m not hesitant to be out. But when someone at work asks me if I have a boyfriend, rather than say, “Boys? Ugh. Ew. Yuck,” I just keep it to a simple, “Nope.

I’m single.”

What can I say? I like to keep an air of mystery.

200 applications, but only one person would get the job.

It is worth mentioning that the program assistant’s job is to answer phones, file tax information, process mail, etc. The organization is small enough that they do more than a secretary would...but not much more.

Here’s the thing: I have a high GPA. I have held several internships. I studied abroad.

These experiences do not make me more qualified than anyone to else to man a company’s Twitter profile.

Essentially, I anticipate my future to be a dismal wasteland accented with economic ruin and minimum-wage jobs forever.

Maybe I’m a bit of a fatalist. But how can I not be? I’ve never done this real-world thing before. It’s not helpful that I don’t know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life; and you, reader, can probably glean that I’m not an engineering or accounting major with a clear career path. The major isn’t especially relevant, though.

According to a February 2012 research report from Pew, only 54 percent of us 18- to 24-yearolds are employed – the lowest rate ever recorded.

For everyone reading this

and thinking, “Well, duh, stop complaining and start working harder,” I know. OK? I know.

We are the generation with the best technology, the most opportunities, blah blah blah, “Amurrka” for the win and all that.

I’m still freaked out, though. It’s not going to keep me from practicing my interview skills: “Describe a time when you worked efficiently under pressure?”

“Umm…” And saving up my hardearned Saxbys tips – please, I’m begging you, Temple, that 6:30 a.m. opening shift is a killer. But it is going to keep me in therapy for the rest of the year.

By the end of last semester, I started to feel OK about my place in the job search process – meaning that I tried not to worry about it because I couldn’t possibly start to figure out May when it wasn’t even January yet, right? Well, joke’s on me. It turns out that approximately all of my high school friends have a solid idea of where they’ll be a year from now, be it grad school or teaching abroad or working with benefits. Based on this, my best hope is to enter into a “New Girl” situation and be the Zooey

Deschanel to my three Phillybased medical school-bound guy friends. The only downer is that I’d probably be Jobless Jess circa season two, episode one.

Womp.

And it’s not just the job thing that’s keeping me up at night. Up until the middle of last semester, I dated someone for two years who was, rightly, more interested in the state of the present than what might come. My near-constant worrying about the job market, my classes, our relationship and on and on, helped to ruin an otherwise good thing. For another perspective on this, check out Daniel Smith’s CNN blog article, “Can anxiety kill your ability to love?”

When we broke up, I felt like I’d lost my last bit of security, the only knowable part of my unknowable future. Now, not only did I have no idea where I would be living and working after graduation, I also had no one person to count on and keep me from myself.

To quote the seminal novel “White Oleander”: “Despair wasn’t a guest, you didn’t play its favorite music, find it a comfortable chair. Despair was the enemy.”

However, I cannot stress

enough how much more easily said than done this is. You can’t reason away anxiety, just like you can’t force-quit heartbreak or make yourself stop missing someone. It’s an emotional response to something very real and terrifying, whether that something is a cloudy future or the threat of loneliness or something more concrete.

When I studied in London last spring, the best reward of the many that I received from the experience was the pervading sense that I could do anything – that because I could be accepted to such a program, live in a new city for three months, thrive at a high-pressure internship and travel throughout Europe, I could handle newness.

It’s time to get back to a place where change is not scary, but exciting. In the meantime, maybe I’ll just write a hilariously melancholic and satirical account of my youthful pessimism. Oh, wait. “Girls” already exists.

Back to saving up those Saxbys tips.

Sara Patterson can be reached at sara.patterson@temple.edu.

Looming graduation brings forth insecurity

I

JULIE ZEGLEN

Zeglen weighs her options as graduation approaches and planning becomes necessary.

’m a second-semester senior. OK. Let that sink in.

Now let the quivering begin.

Lately, there have been countless news articles and commentaries about how millennials, and especially those of us about to graduate, are more pessimistic than our predecessors. And I totally get it. I’m more than a little anxious about the future.

In four months I’ll be graduating, released into the adult world with challenges more severe than writing the entirety of a 15-page paper in two nights.

Life will no longer be divided by semesters. I can theoretically live anywhere and do anything because my prescribed four years will be up. And that terrifies me, as it surely does other soon-to-be-grads.

The job situation doesn’t help. During my summer internship at an arts foundation, one of my tasks was to sort the applications for an open program assistant position. While looking through each applicant’s papers, I noted that almost everyone had graduated from a recognizable university with a good GPA. Many had studied abroad.

Some even had post-graduate degrees. We received almost

Julie Zeglen can be reached at julie.zeglen@temple.edu.

Off-campus living sparks kitchen woes

F

JOHN CORRIGAN Humble Abode

Corrigan tackles offcampus living in his new column.

or many students, living off campus is their debut in the kitchen.

Sure, you may have licked the batter off the spoon for your mother’s birthday cake, or mistakenly microwaved leftover pizza in an effort to regain that once-crisp texture, but you’re an adult now, and with great power comes great responsibility.

For a generation that grew up on Lunchables, measuring ingredients to craft edible meals, which will sustain you during the school year, is no easy task.

Recruit someone with cooking experience to live in your house or apartment before signing the lease – or else you’ll be studying Honey Boo Boo’s “sketti” technique.

I was under the impression that $5 foot longs and refilled water bottles would carry me through to Thanksgiving. However, my roommate, Kenny, our self-proclaimed house chef, believes that real men can’t thrive on a diet of take-out and fast food.

As the master of his do-

main, Kenny holds court in the kitchen with weekly offerings of freshly-made spaghetti and meatballs. Who wouldn’t salivate over a regularly scheduled Monday afternoon text asking, “Spag and balls tonight?”

One of the reasons we routinely decline Kenny’s Chef Boyardee efforts is because no one feels like cleaning. We clean for special occasions such as social gatherings and the 24 hours before our landlord arrives. Once I withdrew a garlic-crusted plate from the dishwasher after being informed it was clean, I converted to paper products.

All freshmen who live in residence halls are required to register for a meal plan with the cheapest option costing $1,359 for 10 meals a week and $150 in Diamond Dollars. But once you escape the aggravating sign-in process and 3 a.m. fire drills of residence halls, living off campus allows you the freedom to choose premium block plans or scour Broad Street for scraps.

While relying upon Subway is convenient and costefficient, spending four years without adventuring past the pe-

rimeters of Diamond Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue limits the college experience.

European Republic, located at 213 Chestnut St., offers a daily lunch special of a wrap, fries or soup, and a drink for only $6.95. Little Pete’s Diner, located on 219 S. 17th St., serves a variety of sandwiches and suggested dinner platters such as roast pork and Monte Cristos costing no more than $9. Stop by any of the multiplying frozen yogurt shops in Center City for dessert, but beware the added weight of toppings. Those tiny marshmallows seem innocent, but they’re going to cost you SEPTA money.

I remember my grandmother reminiscing about trading eggs and cups of flour with her neighbors during the “good ol’ days,” when streets were safe, folks were friendly and the Rat Pack meant more than what you find under Johnson and Hardwick’s booths during Fourth Meal.

Well, our house had a taste of yesteryear when a friend knocked on the door asking to borrow our Heinz ketchup.

Shockingly, we didn’t have any either. As politicians and professors compare our current economic downward spiral to the Great Depression, you have to wonder if the similarities are true considering the dearth of America’s favorite condiment.

Sacrifice your dignity and stock up on ketchup packets from public food joints.

Instead of bowing to Fresh Grocer’s ridiculously overpriced products, break the monopoly by voyaging to Bensalem’s Produce Junction on 2901 Knights Road, where you can buy four apples for the price of one from Fresh Grocer. For cheap grocery shopping a little closer to campus, take the subway to the Ellsworth-Federal station and walk along South Ninth Street for the Italian Market.

When you don’t have time or money for shopping, you can put on your thinking cap and improvise with ingredients lying around the kitchen. Since Insomnia Cookies raised it’s prices an extra $0.25, we refuse to surrender our pride. Thus, we dusted off the blender and

whipped up some Tastykake milkshakes with two percent milk.

I’m still waiting on Hot Off the Press to send the royalty checks.

Hosting potlucks are a great way to not only make friends but also eat delicious food for free. We attempted to make hummus, but I didn’t have my glasses on when reading the ingredients list, so chick peas, lemon juice, olive oil and a full bottle of Fontain Deli-brand red pepper sauce were swirled to lumpy liquid form. Dipping stale Doritos into the concoction, everyone was, luckily, too distracted by Murray’s brownies to notice the difference.

So when your parents worry about how you’re surviving down in North Philly, just tell them no matter what you eat, it’s still better for you than any Paula Deen dish.

John Corrigan can be reached at john.corrigan@temple.edu.

sports

page 18

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Through effort, freshmen fight for time in lost season

JAKE ADAMS Double Dribble

Freshmen prove themselves to coach while seniors get benched.

C

oach Tonya Cardoza said something rather interesting following the Owls game against La Salle on Sunday.

“I know that I have those guys that are going to compete no matter what the situation is,” Cardoza said. “You know

they’re going to work extremely hard.”

Now there’s some context I need to add to this. Temple (8-11, 1-3 Atlantic 10 Conference) lost, 71-55, to La Salle, (6-13, 2-2 A-10) a team it had beat 14 straight times until that point. And Cardoza wasn’t talking about her starters, but rather the likes of freshmen guards May Dayan, Meghan Roxas and freshman forward Jacquilyn Jackson.

“I felt like they didn’t quit,” Cardoza said. “They continued to try to stay together and tried to figure out ways. And that’s what you want. You just want guys that are not going to quit, not OK with losing and try to do everything that they can to try to make a difference.”

That’s what this season has come to.

Cardoza sat key starters redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames, despite her 66.6

percent shooting through the first half, and sophomore guard Tyonna Williams, for coughing up the ball nine times in 15 minutes of play, for almost the entire second half. She liked what she saw from her young bunch when combined with senior center Victoria Macaulay, sophomore guard Rateska Brown and freshman forward Sally Kabengano.

“It’s not that [Thames] just got benched or anything like that, I just felt like [Jackson] was being really aggressive on both ends of the floor,” Cardoza said.

“This was clearly an embarrassing game for me,” Williams said. “It doesn’t hurt me that she sat me because I deserved to be sat.”

Rather than play her best five throughout the game, Cardoza has resorted to playing those who fight the hardest and keep the mistakes down. Typi-

cally those should be synonymous ideas.

Not anymore.

To be honest, this is all she has left to do. Macaulay has been great for much of the season but you can’t tell me her benching two weeks ago hasn’t had adverse affects. It’s a sign she isn’t the leader she’s supposed to be.

“After the game that I only played six minutes...I just took it upon myself to try to work harder and try to get better at the little things,” Macaulay said.

Williams is a firecracker on the court. She’s the team’s energy. But if she has an off night, like she did against La Salle, the team sinks with her. Her consistency will grow, but in a year or two as she matures.

“It’s just going to make me fight even harder,” Williams said. “It’s going to make me never look like that again. It’s going to make me a better play-

er at the end of the day.”

So now there may very well be nights like Sunday, when three bench players get more playing time than several starters. Cardoza seems more committed to playing whoever has the most heart, the most hustle and the most control.

“I don’t think it’s the juggling,” Cardoza said. “I think it’s the wanting to win and doing everything in your power to make sure that you win basketball games. I just think that we’ve been inconsistent with what we bring to the table every day.”

Cardoza seems to be sending a message not just for this season, but next. She won’t simply play the best five basketball players. She wants the five best fighters on the court.

And there’s still 11 games left in the regular season.

“We put them in situations that probably they’re not used

to and they took advantage of those opportunities,” Cardoza said of giving Dayan, Roxas and Jackson all playing time at the end of the game.

Those opportunities are game situations to learn from, not to capitalize on matchups and win a game.

Last season this team had its fighters in the starting lineup. Former guard Shey Peddy would run through walls to win games no matter what the cost; she broke her nose in the A-10 tournament crashing into the bleachers and shrugged it off to help win the Owls opening round match.

Who on this roster is willing to run through a wall?

Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.

Athletic administrators reflect on Shrier’s time SHRIER PAGE 20

cent history, including the rich sports’ history. Shrier was working at the school before the formation of the legendary Big 5, and there is rarely a moment in Temple history that he has not seen.

Senior Associate Athletic Director Larry Dougherty, who has known Shrier since he was 10 years old, works with Shrier as the sports information director for the men’s basketball team.

“People ask me all the time how Al’s doing and if he is still here,” Dougherty said. “All I

say is, ‘Of course he is, where else would Al Shrier be?’”

Shrier’s longevity and ability to remain in the same institution for so long is a direct result of his character and passion, those he is close with said.

“To be in any business for that long, you have to have a passion for it, especially in athletics you have to love what you do, and Al Shrier does,” Dougherty said.

“Sixty years are proof enough that Al Shrier loves Temple University, and Temple University loves Al Shrier,”

athletic director Bill Bradshaw said. “Nobody has spent more time, or worked more diligently serving Temple University...He is one of a kind, loyal to a fault, beloved and respected by all, a Philadelphia treasure.”

Shrier’s legacy at the school extends past his ability to serve for 60 years. His ability to publicize the school has been instrumental in allowing Temple to complete some of its biggest transformations, including a move to the Big East Conference, those close to him said.

“You could have great in-

Team unites after tragedy COVILE PAGE 20 three minutes. The next game, men forwards Sally Kabengano on Dec. 29 against Michigan and Jacquilyn Jackson have seen State, she played just one min- their roles increase. Kabengano ute. Covile snapped out of her scored 10 points and grabbed funk against Howard on Jan. 4, seven rebounds in 37 minutes scoring five points in 20 min- in the win against Penn on Jan. utes of play.

23, while Jackson brought in a “[Getting less playing career high eight rebounds in 28 time] was because of my de- minutes. In the loss to La Salle fense,” Covile said. “Coach on Jan. 27, Kabengano, better wanted me to play harder. I known for her defense, held Exwasn’t doing that, plorers’ senior but I changed.” guard Brittany In the week Wilson, who leading up the was averaggame against ing 18 points Duquesne on Jan. per game, to 20, Covile’s rookeight points. ie season suffered Jackson had a setback when a seven points teammate landed and five reon her in practice. bounds, playShe came away ing 28 minutes with a dislocated for the secondknee and has been straight game. limping around Senior in a brace since. Victoria Macaulay / senior forward center VictoDoctors have ria Macaulay urged her to sit out two months, believes both Kabengano and but the team has not officially Jackson are more than capable ruled her out for the remainder of filling Covile’s role, she said. of the season.

“I believe [Kabengano and Coach Tonya Cardoza Jackson] have been stepping hopes to have Covile available up lately and doing their parts again at some point, but also in order to help the team,” Maunderstands the risks of spring- caulay said. “It seems to me ing her back into action too that they have more confidence soon. in themselves. They are more “Knock on wood, hope- aggressive offensively and defully [Covile] will be able to fensively.” play again,” Cardoza said. “But As the only senior on the if guys can continue to step team, Macaulay took Covile up and do what we ask, then under her wing, knowing she there’s really no need for her to was playing with a heavy heart. rush back.”

“I always tried to talk to In Covile’s absence, fresh- [Covile] to give her positive

“I always

tried to talk to [Covile] to give her positive input about how she’s playing because I know she wants to win.

”

input about how she’s playing because I know she wants to win and I knew she wanted to get better,” Macaulay said. “I always tried to build her confidence back up.”

Lewis Covile, Jr., left behind nine children and eight grandchildren back in Canton, Mich., about 20 miles west of Detroit. Erica Covile said her family has remained very close since the death of her father.

Much like how Erica didn’t quit, her twin brother, Eric, continues to play basketball at a local community college. Covile said her mother, Dara Covile, “cries a lot” but continues to cope with the loss of her husband.

Flashing back to the day of Aug. 23, Erica Covile’s first Tweet since learning her father had passed read, “He didn’t even get to see me play at Temple.” Her Twitter name remains dedicated to her late father: “R.i.p Coach-Dad.” Tyler Sablich can be reached at tyler.sablich@temple.edu or on Twitter @TySablich.

stitutions who do great things, but if nobody is trying to push and promote them they may be under the radar, and I don’t think Temple has ever had that problem,” Dougherty said.

The banner that was hung in the rafters provided two glimpses into Shrier’s Temple persona.

Under his name, a briefcase was depicted. Shrier’s document bag has become his trademark, and its contents remain a mystery.

What started in the 1990s has become as iconic as Shrier himself, and Shrier will show nobody, including the legend-

ary Bill Cosby, what he carries around.

The second item on the banner was the date. The start date read 1953, but no end date was given. Because of Shrier’s length of service, the blank number is almost as immortal as the man it represents.

“Al Shrier has earned the right to walk away whenever Al Shrier wants,” Dougherty said.

While Shrier knows he can stay at the school as long as he wants, the end date won’t be filled in until it is an absolute certainty. And, like the contents

of the briefcase and the papers on his desk, it is something that only he seems to know for sure.

Ibrahim Jacobs can be reached at ibrahim.jacobs@temple.edu or on Twitter @ibrahimjacobs.

Ice hockey losses pile up JOHNSON PAGE 20 After missing the final weekend of the fall semester due to the persisting pain, Johnson decided to get checked out at a family doctor during winter break. The doctor then referred him to an orthopedic surgeon, who told him he couldn’t play ice hockey under his current condition. “[Johnson] is a tough kid, but he’s got the worst luck ever,” coach Jerry Roberts said. “I feel bad because I feel like most of his time here was spent injured.

In the windows where he was healthy, he was a really dominant player. It seemed like he was either injured or just coming off of one, and we just had a hard time keeping him healthy.”

After struggling with various injuries, including a bum shoulder, throughout his first few seasons at Temple, Johnson enjoyed a career year last season, netting 10 goals and assisting on six as Temple’s fourthleading scorer with 16 points in 26 games.

That success was harder to come by for the senior in this injury-laden season, with six points – one goal, five assists – in 17 games. Johnson will leave Temple with 36 points (19G, 17A) in 86 career games.

Though the Owls have had time to adapt to life without Johnson, his absence will still be noticed both on the ice and in the locker room, players and coaches said. “[Johnson] was a threat on offense and such a fast skater,” Roberts said. “He was very

good at bringing people together [in the locker room] also. He was always quick to introduce himself and he was one of those guys who really added to that team atmosphere. He always wanted to be around players and he was a solid team player. He was a guy who is just a great leader to have both on the ice and in the locker room.”

“Chris is a pretty dynamic player for us,” senior forward Sean Nealis said. “He’s one of our best penalty killers and power play guys. He’s a big game changer on the ice. He can do everything and he’s a guy you want on your team. Losing Chris going into a stretch where we need to win games and need people to step up, it hurts. But everyone on the team knows that someone is going to have to step up and fill it.”

Nealis and Johnson discussed the latter dilemma during winter break while Nealis was going through a similar situation after suffering a concussion in a Dec. 8 loss to Penn State.

“I’ve gotten really close with Chris over the years and we were going back and forth on this for a while,” Nealis said.

“I knew he was hurt and he told me he would probably be done maybe two weeks before break.

It’s a rough spot for him to be in. He’s only 22 [years old] and you have to play it smart with stuff like this.”

“We were both out with injuries throughout the year and we both have the same shoul-

der problems,” Nealis added.

“I have the concussions thing and we were in the same boat because I originally thought I would be out for the semester and I ended up getting cleared.

But it was a pretty scary thought.

I told him he had to do it and he knew going in that he couldn’t mess with this stuff.”

In addition to Johnson’s departure, the Owls lost freshman forward Jayson Marbach for the rest of the season due to academic ineligibility.

Though his playing days are over, Johnson will be looking to keep his ties close with his beloved game throughout life.

“I’m just a sports management major trying to do something with sports and hopefully hockey,” Johnson said. “I’m hoping to get in with Comcast spectator and Global Spectrum.

I’m interning right now with [Philadelphia Flyers owner] Ed Snider’s youth hockey foundation and I’m hoping that’ll help.”

“I don’t want to be done with hockey but I don’t want to coach, at least not right now,” Johnson added. “That’s why I’m hoping to do something with sports so I can stay with hockey.”

Andrew Parent can be reached at andrew.parent@temple.edu or on Twitter @daParent93.

Coach continues teaching son gymnastics as freshman GYMNASTICS PAGE 20 and give him a lot more attention than the other guys, but he really doesn’t treat him any different,” Tighe said.

“At the end of the day he might give [Eigner] a hug, when he might not give the other guys a hug,” Tighe added. “But he doesn’t treat [Eigner] any different, not at all. He hasn’t given

[Eigner] any more harsh words, or any more kind words than anybody else.”

Turoff also said that coaching Eigner is nothing new. Turoff has been Eigner’s coach for years now.

“You have to understand that I coached Evan on the Temple boy’s team as well,” Turoff said. “So it’s not

[as] if I’m a brand new coach for him, and I worked with him throughout his junior Olympic career.”

The fact that Eigner is the coach’s son is something that he said has never brought any ridicule, teasing or even mild joking around, from any of his teammates.

“They haven’t given me a hard time at all,” Eigner said. “I think that they think that it’s kind of cool I’m on the team being the coach’s son.”

“The guys appreciate the fact that [Eigner] is a hard worker,” Turoff said.

“They know that he is serious about his training, and that he is serious about his

gymnastics.”

Eigner has already worked his way into the starting line up as a freshman for the rings event. In his first collegiate appearance at the Navy Open on Jan. 19, Eigner scored a 13.40 on rings.

Samuel Matthews can be reached at samuel.matthews@temple.edu.

sports

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Page 19

Despite youth, men’s tennis picked sixth Kacper Rams is the the lone senior on the men’s tennis team.

EVAN CROSS The Temple News The men’s tennis team is young.

Of the eight players on the team, five are freshman, two are sophomores and only one has more than a full year of experience.

That one player is senior Kacper Rams, who is set to graduate in May. He will end his career as one of the most accomplished Temple tennis players in recent history, something coach Steve Mauro credits to Rams’ determination.

“The biggest thing with Kacper is his work ethic,” Mauro said. “Guys see how hard

TENNIS

he works and it’s contagious.

Hopefully, when we do replace him, they come in with the same work ethic.”

“I have always been very determined,” Rams said. “I’m the only senior so I need to push even harder than before this season.”

Rams, the captain of team, has his work cut out for him.

Despite being so young, the team has high expectations.

They were picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season, despite going 9-10 last season and losing five players from last season’s team.

“We’ve been working hard,” sophomore Hernan Vasconez said. “We’ve been getting together as a team. We’re doing well, and of course the expectation is to win the A-10.”

The Owls will not play the preseason favorites, Virginia

Commonwealth University, in the regular season. They are, however, scheduled to play George Washington, the defending champion and the team that ended Temple’s season last year.

“GW and our team always have close matches,” Mauro said. “I expect another close match next time we play them.

Last time, in the regular season, we actually beat them pretty easily. They beat us in the conference tournament, but a couple of my players were injured.

We’re looking forward to playing them again.”

Rams was the player who sealed that victory last season, defeating then-senior Ugur Ataley 7-6 (5-0), 7-6 (5-0) to get the fourth point for the Owls.

“He’s always right there for us,” Vasconez said. “Cheering us on, letting us know what’s better. He’s the perfect captain.”

“Each year he’s gotten better and he’s doing a good job with his leadership,” Mauro said.

Rams said he knows that it won’t be easy to meet the team’s goals.

“We want to win,” Rams said. “I think we have some chances, but it’s going to be really tough.”

Rams said he hopes to be able to play professionally after graduating. He does not need to rely on tennis, however. Rams, a finance major, sports a 3.77 GPA and has been named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Tennis Team for the past two years.

“I don’t know if I will be able to go pro,” Rams said. “I’ll try to do something with tennis and develop my career.”

“He has a very good doubles game,” Mauro said. “[Go-

ing pro is] realistic for doubles.

Singles, there’s just so many good singles players that it will be very difficult. He’s already played in pro events, and he’s done pretty well. He’s already shown that he can play at that level in doubles.”

Rams has a 51-45 career record in singles, and a 65-29 record in doubles. He still has one semester left at Temple, and he said he plans to make the most of it – and so do his teammates.

“He’s the captain, and we want him to graduate with a good prize,” Vasconez said. “We want to win all of our matches and make our captain happy.”

Vasconez said he believes he is doing his part. He said that the fall season was “the best he’s ever had,” and he started the spring well, winning his first doubles match 8-1 and his first singles match 6-0 (6-0) against

St. Francis (NY).

“My goal is always to have a positive result, to have more wins than losses,” Vasconez said.

Rams has not yet recorded a decision in the spring, as both of his matches against St. Francis were halted early. He is still hoping to leave Temple on a good note.

“I’m hoping for a good year,” Rams said. “The best in my career.”

Evan Cross can be reached at evan.cross@temple.edu or on Twitter @EvanCross.

Defense takes another step back with DiLeo injury BasketBALL PAGE 20

(8-11) on Nov. 25 and a 72-62 home loss to Canisius (13-8) on Dec. 19.

Still, Dunphy remains firm on his notion that overall his team’s defensive numbers are about where they should be.

“I think our defensive numbers have been good,” Dunphy said. “At stretches, we were really good against Butler.

They made some tough shots…

Those things are going to happen. There’s not much you can do about it. But just being in the right spot, that’s what we need to do.”

What began as a typical men’s basketball season – 8-1 through nine games, including a loss to a tough non-conference opponent, Duke (17-2) – got

turned on its head when the Xavier (11-8), for the first time Owls lost to Canisius in mid- since February 2009.

“We’re an inconsistent December, their first home loss to a non-confergroup at this ence opponent point,” Dunsince January phy said.

2010.

“We play Temple folpretty good in lowed that perforstretches and mance up three not so good in days later by upother stretches. We get out setting then No. 3 of focus at Syracuse (18-2) at times.”

Madison Square Where the Garden, the fifth inconsistency time in as many Fran Dunphy / coach comes from, years that the Owls knocked off a Top 10 team. Less Dunphy said he doesn’t know, than two weeks later, however, but accepted some of the blame.

“It has to be on me at some the Owls lost consecutive regular season games, at the hands point,” Dunphy said. “As a of then No. 6 Kansas (18-1) and coach, you internalize it. You

“We play pretty

good in stretches and not so good in other stretches.

We get out of focus at times.

”

want to be better as a coach each and every day and be as good as you can be.”

Redshirt-senior forward Scootie Randall, who’s had his own share of inconsistency this season, said his team’s up-anddown play of late has started on defense.

“The game gets fun and it gets more intense when you tell yourself, ‘This guy’s not going to score on me,’ you know taking pride in your defense,” Randall said. “Stepping up and being willing to be the guy that gets the stop translates to offense and translates to having fun. When you get a stop, you can get out in transition and get an offensive position. I tell those guys that as long as we

get stops and keep helping the helper we’ll be fine.”

However, Temple will most likely be without one of its best perimeter defenders when the Owls host Richmond (13-8, 3-3 A-10) tomorrow, Jan. 30, in A-10 play.

Graduate guard T.J. DiLeo suffered a high ankle sprain three minutes into the Butler game last weekend. A senior leader who often guards the opposing team’s best player, DiLeo has an “outside chance” of playing against Richmond, Dunphy said.

“Right now, he’s not going to play, but we’ll see,” Dunphy said.

Richmond is ranked one spot ahead of Temple at ninth

in the A-10, a conference that is becoming increasingly relevant in discussions about the best in the country. The conference had two Top 25 teams in Butler and Virginia Commonwealth University (16-5) before last weekend, when La Salle (14-5), ranked fourth in the A-10, won at VCU. “I thought it would be every bit of this good,” Dunphy said.

“A lot of teams in our league can beat anybody in the country, and that’s been proven.”

Joey Cranney can be reached at joseph.cranney@temple.edu or on Twitter @joey_cranney.

Redshirt-sophomore forward Anthony Lee (left) and senior guard Khalif Wyatt (right) rank No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, on the men’s basketball team in scoring. Lee averages 11.8 points per game and Wyatt averages 17.7 points per game. As a team, Temple averages 69.3 points per game, ranked ninth out of 16 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference. | HUA ZONG TTN

Walk-on blends in with nationally-ranked team Freshman Olivia Wynn has proven herself at foil early in the season.

ANTHONY BELLINO The Temple News It’s not often FENCING you see a walk-on freshman make an impact on a nationallyranked team in college sports, but it’s happening right here on Main Campus.

Freshman Olivia Wynn walked on to a Temple squad that was voted No. 9 in the nation in the first coach’s poll and has been one of the most consistent contributors in some of the team’s competitive events.

This season, Wynn finished 30 out of 81 competitors at the Temple Open, which consists of some of the top fencing schools in the country, including Penn

State, Cornell and North Carolina. At the Vassar College meet, Wynn had three wins and one loss at foil as Temple went 4-and-0 as a team. She followed up that performance by going 2-and-1 in State College at the Penn State meet where the Owls went 3-and-2 as a team.

Wynn said her expectations coming into the season were nothing near what she has already accomplished so far in her freshman year.

“I didn’t think I’d really compete much at all, I thought I’d pretty much be on the sidelines cheering on my team,” Wynn said. “I’m rotated in pretty frequently so that was a big surprise and it’s been a great experience.”

Wynn’s teammate and foilsquad leader senior Mikayla Varadi had a different view on Wynn’s talent from the first day of practice. Varadi said she

knew the walk-on freshman may not have as much fencing experience as others on the team but she would make up for that with hard work and athleticism.

“On the first day of practice, we had to run two miles and she was the first one to finish, she was by far the fastest person on the team,” Varadi said. “On the very first day of practice I knew that even if she didn’t have a ton of fencing skill-set I knew that her hard work would benefit her so much and take her to great places with her fencing skills.”

Varadi, who is constantly around Wynn during practices and meets, said she has seen Wynn become a better fencer since she came to Temple.

“Olivia has improved vastly, it’s so awesome as the foilsquad captain to see her come on as a walk-on and see her flourish,” Varadi said. “She’s holding her own and she hasn’t

been fencing that long, she’s taking the feedback and she’s just putting it on the strip and the victories she had definitely show her improvement.”

Wynn was a late-bloomer when it comes to fencing – she didn’t start until her freshman year of high school. The Somerville, N.J., native only did fencing seasonally before joining the Owls foil squad.

“I haven’t done too much so this is the top of my experience,” Wynn said after competing in the Philadelphia Invitational on Jan. 26.

Fencing coach Nikki Franke, a former Olympic fencer, has seen Wynn grow to become someone she can now count on to win bouts. Franke was very happy with Wynn’s performance after the Philadelphia Invitational, when the Owls finished 5-and-1, only losing to No. 7 Northwestern.

“[Wynn] did a great job.

I’m so pleased with Olivia, not that she just won bouts, she just fenced well,” Franke said. “She did some really good things that we’ve been working on, she has just improved so much.”

Wynn, though, said she won’t let her early success get to her head. Coming here as a walk-on, she said she always has a chip on her shoulder that most fencers don’t have. The freshman knows that there’s always room for improvement and that she can always get better, she said.

“The ceiling can never be reached,” Wynn said. “I just hope I get better and better and I’ll never be satisfied but I just want to be the best that I can be.”

While Franke has been pleased by what she has seen so far from Wynn, she, like Wynn, knows there’s always room for

improvement. Franke strives for excellence from her team and will always see areas where it can improve. Franke wasn’t ready to say whether or not she was satisfied with what she’s gotten from Wynn in her freshman year.

“It’s not over yet so we’ll see, ask me at the end of the year and I’ll let you know,” Franke said. “She just has to keep working hard and it’s going to come together because she’s a very good athlete and is very determined.”

Wynn and the Owls will now set their minds on a rematch with Northwestern as they travel to Chicago for the Northwestern multi-meet this weekend.

Anthony Bellino can be reached at anthony.bellino@temple.edu or on Twitter @Bellino_Anthony.

SPORTS temple-news.com

page 20

Tuesday, JANUARY 29, 2013

Defense needs to improve

Senior’s run ends with back injury

Poor defending has marked the Owls’ inconsistency.

Chris Johnson’s ice hockey career at Temple is over.

Joey Cranney Sports Editor

ANDREW PARENT The Temple News

MEN’S BASKETBALL Despite coaching a team that’s ranked 11th in the Atlantic 10 Conference in giving up 65.1 points per game, Fran Dunphy said yesterday, Jan. 28, that his team’s defensive numbers have lapsed recently, but have been good overall.

In losing two out of its last three games, the men’s basketball team has given up an average of 78 points per game since Jan. 19. In their most recent loss to No. 9 Butler on Saturday, Jan. Freshman guard Erica Covile drives to the basket in a 74-67 win against Syracuse on Dec. 2, when she scored five points in 24 26, the Owls gave up 83 points, minutes. Covile’s father, Lewis Covile, Jr., passed away in August 2012. | MAGGIE TRAPANI TTN the most since a 90-67 blowout to then No. 2 Duke on Dec. 8.

Temple (13-6, 2-3 A-10) allowed Butler (17-3, 4-1 A-10) to shoot 52 percent, including 42 percent from three, in the loss Freshman guard lost her father, Lewis Covile, playing basketball since he on Jan. 7, Covile scored a career after allowing the University Jr., on Aug. 23, 2012, to a battle passed,” Covile said. “But high 13 points on 5-for-7 shootof Pennsylvania (3-15) to shoot Erica Covile with multiple medical issues. people told me he would have ing. Two games later, on Jan. 16 45 percent and 33 percent from overcomes personal “He was very sick. He had wanted me to move on, so I kept in a loss to Virginia Commonthree in a 76-69 win on Jan. 23. so many things wrong with playing.” wealth University, she grabbed injury, tragedy.

Both of those numbers are him,” Covile said. “Heart failAs one of six freshmen on a career high 12 rebounds. higher than Temple’s season ure, kidney failure, carpal tun- the team, Covile has arguably However, as is the case Tyler Sablich average of allowing opponents nel. His heart just stopped.” emerged as the most promis- with many rookies, Covile has The Temple News to shoot 42 percent per game, Despite suffering a person- ing. She played in all 16 games, also had her share of struggles which ranks 10th in the A-10. al loss less than a week before making six starts, prior to suf- and inconsistencies on the reshman forward Erica her first semester of classes be- fering her injury during a week- court. In the midst of the Owls’ But the Owls have had deCovile knows a thing gan, Covile trudged on. When end road trip to Duquesne on six-game road trip, her playing fensive lapses this season other or two about overcom- she felt no need to continue Jan. 20. than just their last three games. time steadily began to decline. ing grief and adversity. playing basketball, friends and Temple has allowed teams to In Temple’s (8-11, 1-3 AtOn Dec. 21 against Vil Covile, currently side- family convinced her otherwise. lantic 10 Conference) blowout lanova, a game in which she score above its average of 65 points nine times, including an lined with a a dislocated knee, “I really wanted to stop win against Western Michigan started, Covile was pulled after 80-75 win against Delaware

Grief and basketball

F

COVILE PAGE 18

BASKETBALL PAGE 19

Chris Johnson’s ICE HOCKEY Temple career was one repeatedly marked with injuries and bad luck.

Johnson’s long and winding road with Temple ice hockey has come to a premature end due to a bum back with multiple slipped disks, no cartilage in and around his vertebrae, as well as the early stages of arthritis.

With that diagnosis, the senior had no choice but to walk away from the game he loves.

“I’ve accepted it,” Johnson said. “It really sucks considering it’s my senior year and my last semester here, and I’ve been with most of these guys for three or four years and I feel like I’m letting them down, but at the same time I’d really like to be able to walk later in life. I feel like we have a good chance to do [well] this year, but I have to look after myself here.”

What started as mild discomfort in his back after games became more of an issue as the season unfolded, Johnson said.

“I’ve had back problems before, but nothing like this year,” Johnson said. “It got to the point where after games I couldn’t walk the following day. It used to go away after a couple hours, but not this year.”

jOHNSON PAGE 18

Shrier’s service honored For legend coach,

Athletic department legend Al Shrier’s name was lifted to the rafters at the Liacouras Center in a ceremony honoring his 60 years of service on Jan. 23. | HUA ZONG TTN

Al Shrier, a mainstay in Temple athletics, receives banner in Liacouras rafters.

IBRAHIM JACOBS Assistant Sports Editor Al Shrier sits facing his computer, with his back to his desk, which is probably for the best.

The massive desk behind him has become so engulfed in media guides, Garfield calendars, Looney Tunes memorabil-

ia and paper that seeing its original color is next to impossible.

Shrier, 82, claims he knows where everything is and that he can always find what he needs, and doubting a man of his stature seems almost disrespectful. A request for an interview is granted as he takes his time away, only briefly, from preparing for the women’s basketball game two days away.

It is Friday, Jan. 25, in the late afternoon, and most men in their 80s would have been long retired, resting and having hung up their work shoes years ago.

“I have been very fortunate,” Shrier said. “The admin-

SNAPPY walk-on HED, win,p.p.X 19

This Freshman is a brief Olivia description Wynn has of experienced the story we’re success teasing as a freshman to. Makewalk-on readersfor turn thetofencing the page. team.

Sports Desk 215-204-9537

istrators have all been wonderful to me. And if you are happy with what you are doing you stay, if you aren’t happy you leave and look to go elsewhere. As long as I’m healthy I will be here.”

Shrier’s current title is the special assistant to the athletic director, but his impact at Temple is something that would be hard to determine with a position. He has been working for the university for 60 years and has, he said, “done everything you can do but coach.” Shrier once served as the school’s sports information director, a position he officially retired from in 1995, in order to take a role in a smaller capacity.

Shrier’s time at Temple began before his first official day of work on July 1, 1953. The West Philadelphia native attended Temple and received a degree in journalism. While offers to write for newspapers and work on the radio were present at the time of graduation, Shrier never considered leaving Temple. “[Al] eats, sleeps and drinks Temple-all the time,” Shrier’s wife Ruthie Shrier said. “He is proud of where he is working. He has grown up at Temple, graduated from here, and this has been his whole life. He doesn’t really have anything else but that.”

The university honored him with a banner placed in the rafters of the Liacouras Center during halftime of the men’s basketball game Jan. 23 against the University of Pennsylvania.

This was done in addition to re-decorating the media room already named in his honor. The celebration and commemoration on Al Shrier Night for a man that has spent many years remaining out of the spotlight left Shrier in an unusual position, one at the center of attention.

“When that banner went up, that floored me,” Shrier said.

“I was flabbergasted to see that banner drop. It’s an honor, it’s phenomenal to think I am going to be up on that wall with such great people. They are all people I knew very well and it’s a great tribute.”

Shrier has been at Temple for much of the school’s re-

SHRIER PAGE 18

TENNIS TIME, p. 19

A youthful men’s tennis team was picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Sports@temple-news.com

a new challenge

ancing a father and son, player and coach relationship has not been an issue.

“We have a great relationship,” Eigner said. “I know that some sports may have some isSAMUEL MATTHEWS sues between son and coach, and The Temple News that father/son stuff can interfere MEN’S GYMNASTICS Fred Turoff in the gym, but I think that we is in his 37th year as coach at have a great relationship. If we Temple, the second-longest ten- have issues we talk about it, ure of any gymnastics coach in there is no tension there.”

Senior Alex Tighe has witthe country. nessed the father and coach relaThe Temple and USA gymtionship many times throughout nastics Hall of Famer, having his gymnastics career, he said, been there and done that in the and can attest to both the success sport of gymnastics, has still not and failures from even thought about the relationships. retiring from coach“There have ing, or at least not for been a lot of fathe next four years, ther/son relationconsidering that his ships in the past only son Evan Eigner in the gymnastics is a freshman on his world and I’ve team. seen both sides,” Turoff is EignTighe said. “To er’s stepfather and where it’s blown Fred Turoff / coach has been since Eigner up in their faces was 3 years old when and the kid ends up hating the Eigner’s mother Diane remarsport and I’ve seen it thrive just ried to Turoff. as well.

Fortunately, I think that Following in the footsteps [Turoff] and [Eigner] have a of his stepfather, Eigner chose great relationship.” to pursue gymnastics. In high Tighe said he initially school, Eigner was a four-time thought Turoff might give his junior Olympic national qualison special treatment, but those fier and finished in second place concerns were quickly allevion rings as a senior at the Pennated. sylvania State Championships “I was a little worried that before entering into his colle[Eigner] might distract [Turoff] giate career at Temple.

For Eigner and Turoff, bal-

Fred Turoff adapts to coaching his son on the gymnastics team.

“If we have

issues we talk about it, there is no tension there.

”

GYMNASTICS PAGE 18

Playing for SNAPPY pride,HED, p. 18p. X

Recent play callsThis intoisquestion a shorterthe brief effort description of the women’s basketball we can team’s work upperclassmen. with, too.