LIVING Temple’s first lady discusses her plans to integrate herself into campus and the community.
temple-news.com VOL. 91 ISS. 17
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
POSTER PROTEST, p. 5
Jessica Smith explains why Student Health Services was right to remove one of its signs.
HUGS AND MO’, p. 13
Columnist Kevin Stairiker recounts his bizarre experience at a Morrissey concert in Reading, Pa.
LIMITED OFFENSE, p. 20
The men’s basketball team relies heavily on its leading scorer, senior guard Khalif Wyatt.
Counseling and help, weeks away Students report waiting weeks for counseling appointments. CINDY STANSBURY The Temple News
W
ith the popularity of student counseling services at Tuttleman Counseling Services on the rise, the center is struggling to hold appointments in a timely fashion. Multiple students con-
firmed with The Temple News that they had to endure weekslong waits, some stretching longer than a month. “The wait may start out as just a week or two, but it increases throughout [the semester], it’s gotten as high as five or six weeks at times,” said Director of Tuttleman Counseling Services John DiMino. Junior psychology major Patricia Boateng was among those whose appointments were delayed. “When they initially told me [about the wait time] I was kind of stressed out,” Boateng said.
The issue caught the eye of Temple Student Government Student Body President David Lopez who said he plans on combating the issue. “I think it’s a really big concern that needs to be dealt with,” Lopez said. Lopez said mental health concerns have taken a front seat in the minds of Temple students in recent years, and according to the New Student Questionnaire, mental health care facilities are increasingly rising to levels of importance. He added that if this area is of such importance to students, its rate of service needs to be
improved upon. “If we want to step up as a university, I think this is a prime area that we should be focusing on,” Lopez said. Lopez cites poor funding and lack of staff as possibly reasons for the longer wait periods. DiMino agreed that the two reasons could be accurate. He also cites the larger influx of students as part of the issue. “It’s increased a lot over the years, when I first got here in 1996, I think the number was 761 students used the center and last year we had over 2,500 use the center,” he said. In that period of time, the
number of students living on and near Main Campus has dramtically increased. DiMino said increased foot traffic in university counseling centers is a nationwide trend, and so are the struggles to accommodate the large numbers. He pinned the increased usage of university counseling services on a shift in culture and social prejudices regarding mental health issues. “This generation has much less stigma about using mental health services, that social networking, people having very public lives, it has made it easier for people to seek out psycho-
therapy,” DiMino said. DiMino said the counseling center has tried to combat the overabundance of traffic with psychology interns, fellows and additional staff members. However, the center still has not been able to keep up with the demand. He said he believes the bigger issue facing the center is how many more resources Temple can afford to give it. “I don’t fault the university. It’s partly my job to let people know and so I’ve had these conversations and now we have to struggle with, well what can we
TUTTLEMAN PAGE 3
Gov. changes face, proposes level funding Gov. Tom Corbett announced a proposal to flat-fund state universities next SEAN CARLIN News Editor
Temple Made advertisements have become a mainstay on the Broad Street Line this year. | TIMOTHY VALSHTEIN TTN
Despite cuts, funds flow for ads Temple Made is part of $5 million in marketing projects this fiscal year. LAURA ORDONEZ The Temple News In the face of decreasing state appropriations and an economy in recovery mode, Temple has made no shortage of cuts to its operating budgets to curb costs. In the midst of
reductions throughout the university, Temple ramped up an advertising campaign that put the slogan “Temple Made” all over television, newspapers and billboards across the city. During the current fiscal year, the university has invested close to $5 million in marketing projects, including Temple Made, said Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Anthony Wagner. The university will set aside another $5 million for these initiatives during the 2013-14 fiscal
year with approval of the Board of Trustees in July. Temple operates on a $2.5 billion budget in its entirety. As for the central university budget – which comprises undergraduate and graduate programs, professional schools and advertising – the operating budget is about $1.3 billion. Advertising represents less than 2 percent of the operating budget. However, $5 million is a rough estimate for the marketing budget. It will increase after schools and colleges, along with
athletics, lodge their own advertising campaigns. Nicole Naumoff of Institutional Advancement declined to reveal how much of the $5 million is made up by the Temple Made campaign because she said she’s concerned about peer institutions knowing the number. “It is not something I want my competition to know much about,” Naumoff said. “I’ve already receive calls from Rut-
ADVERTISING PAGE 3
After he called for deep cuts in funding for higher education in his first two years in office, Gov. Tom Corbett reversed course and proposed to flat-fund Temple, and the other three state-related and 14 state universities last week. The proposal, which he will formally announce as part of his annual budget address today, Feb. 5, was done as a part of what Corbett called a commitment to lawmakers that the universities would contain tuition. “This is an investment of $1.58 billion that’s going to help Pennsylvania students achieve their dreams of higher education,” Corbett said. “At the same time, the leaders of these universities have made a commitment to me, Sen. [Jake] Corman and Rep. [Kerry] Benninghoff, that they will keep tuition as low as they possibly can.” President Neil Theobald stood with a stage full of legislators and university officials dur-
ing Corbett’s announcement and lauded the partnership between the state and its universities when he took the podium. “Today’s announcement of an affordability partnership between the commonwealth and its universities is welcomed news for students and their families who are struggling to balance the burden of student loan debt with the need to earn the college degree that is so essential for better career opportunities in the 21st century,” Theobald said. The governor’s decision was made in part by recommendations made by the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Postsecondary Education, which former Acting President Richard Englert was part of. Among the recommendations cited by Corbett was to link future funding increases to performance. Under the governor’s proposal, Temple would receive $139.9 million for the third straight fiscal year. Last year, Corbett called for 30 percent cut to Temple’s funding, but the school’s funding was leveled from the previous year. In his first budget address as governor, Corbett proposed to cut more than half of Temple’s commonwealth funding. Ultimately, the
FUNDING PAGE 2
President speaks to TSG at second meeting Theobald outlines key issues at General Assembly meeting. LAURA DETTER The Temple News President Neil Theobald answered student questions and shared portions of his plan for the university at the Temple Student Government General Assembly meeting yesterday, Feb. 4. Theobald started his address by singling out growing student debt as the most impor-
tant issue students at the university face. “Student debt is the biggest problem facing higher education, no doubt about it,” Theobald said. “We’ve got to find a way to keep our costs low and to make sure people are making the right decisions, [such as] taking the right courses in the right order and going to summer school as needed, whatever to get them out in four years.” In response to a question asked by senior accounting and finance major Luv Sodha about the university’s ability to allocate more resources to student aid, Theobald highlighted
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greater fundraising and more productive technology transfer in research as keys to lower tuition costs. Theobald explained that revenue from technology transfer is when research in the university is sold or ideas are patented and the university is able to put that profit back into the system. In addition to growing student debt and creating a very productive research university, Theobald’s other top issues include encouraging students to graduate on time or as soon
TSG PAGE 2
President Neil Theobald spoke at the TSG meeting yesterday, Feb. 4. | ABI REIMOLD TTN
NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
NEWS temple-news.com
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
NEWS IN BRIEF A sexual assault was reported Wednesday stemming from an incident that occurred last week, said Deputy Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone. Leone said the sexual assault happened at approximately 11:50 p.m. on Jan. 24, in White Hall, which normally houses freshmen. The
victim, a 19-year-old woman and the suspect, a 19-year-old man, are both students who knew each other, Leone said. The case has been referred to the Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit and will be referred to the Student Code of Conduct, he said. -Sean Carlin
Construction is nearing completion on a $22.5 million parking garage on the east end of Main Campus. The garage, located at 11th Street and Montgomery Avenue, is expected to be completed by May, James Creedon, senior vice president for construction, facilities and management, said. The lot will
add more than 1,100 spaces, though prices for the parking spots have yet to be determined. The land was acquired by Temple in November 2011 and used to be a dirt lot, infamous for free, unregulated parking. For a full story, visit temple-news.com. -Dominique Johnson
In order to maintain a high level of competitive applicants, Temple administrators are rolling out a new set of scholarship awards available for incoming freshmen. The awards, which will grant between $3,000 and full tuition to in-state students, and $5,000 to full tuition for out-of-state students, reflect an
increasing competitiveness inside a growing applicant pool, Senior Vice Provost for Enrollment Management William Black said. For a full story, visit temple-news.com -Edward Barrenechea
First recipient of LGBTQ scholarship named Michael Busza won the first $5,000 MarcDavid LGBTQ Scholarship. DOMINIQUE JOHNSON The Temple News When he first learned that he was the recipient of The MarcDavid LGBTQ scholarship, Michael Busza was ecstatic. He immediately ran to everyone in the Temple Office of Orientation where he works, and told them he had won the scholarship. The highlight of that moment was when he went into the hallway and called his mother to tell her that he had just won, he said. “I went outside and called my mom, she was so excited she started crying,” Busza, a com-
munications and English major, said. “My parents have been so supportive. They’re wonderful.” Busza had found about the scholarship when news about it was sent over the university’s listserv. His advisers and bosses from the Orientation Office all urged him to apply. “Just the fact that I was thought of was flattering,” Busza said. “They talk about being Temple Made, but think about all the people who build you up. That’s been my experience.” Valued at $5,000, the MarcDavid LGBTQ Scholarship was created to recognize a student’s efforts to further the inclusion of the LGBTQ community at Temple. Last year, Assistant Vice Provost for Student Affairs Andrea Seiss explained the process of developing the scholarship,
which was announced during cus a little more on “One of the National Coming Out Week in Guys” a “passion project” of his October, to The Temple News. that will debut on Feb. 19 on the “Institutional Advancement show’s website. brought it to us and said that they “It’s my magnum opus,” had somebody Busza said. who wanted to “I’m really exdonate money to cited to work on this and we colit. ‘One of the laborated with Guys’ is Temthem,” Seiss told ple’s first fullTTN in October length Web se2012. “Our goal ries, full length was to have it out in that we’re Michael Busza / junior by the fall so that communications and english major 22 to 28 minit could be ready utes.” for the spring.” What had “The fact that it even exists started as a class assignment, is that much of an honor to me,” “One of the Guys” is a roomBusza said. “Let alone the fact mate sitcom about three gay that I won. How many univer- friends and their open-minded, sities have a gay scholarship? laidback, straight sub-let. How many universities recThe show examines the ognize and support the LGBT relationship between gay and community?” straight men that, Busza added, Busza said winning the has not been done on television scholarship has helped him fo- before.
“Just the fact
that I was thought of was flattering.
”
“As the public opinion on gay rights progresses for the better, the relationship between gay and straight men is stronger and much more prevalent,” Busza said. “It’s a relationship that isn’t examined enough on television. It’s a friendship that definitely exists and a friendship that is dynamic and out there and that’s something I’m definitely excited to be sharing.” The university’s interim senior vice president for Institutional Advancement said in a statement that the award shows how important a scholarship can be. “An award like this shows the direct impact that scholarships can make,” Tilghman Moyer said in the statement. “In this case, the donor, who wished for the gift to be anonymous, was sensitive to the discrimination that the LGBTQ community often encounters, and wanted
to support a student who faces that challenge head on. That donor’s drive to advocate for a marginalized community led to this inspiring scholarship.” Busza added how Temple has made some really huge steps toward LGBT advocacy and he said the MarcDavid Scholarship is empowering and inspiring. “Just the fact that Temple has a scholarship for my community, for the LGBT community makes me think that my voice is heard and that my project matters,” Busza said. “And this is a story that people are interested in that the university supports. That I have a voice and that I matter.” Dominique Johnson can be reached at dominique.johnson@temple.edu.
Proposal made with promise of affordable tuition FUNDING PAGE 1
university saw a 19 percent cut, bringing Temple’s state funding from $172.7 million to $139.9 million, which it stands at today. On top of the commission’s recommendations, Senior Vice President for Government, Public and Community Affairs Ken Lawrence said last week’s announcement was a culmination of support in the legislature for higher education, improvement in Pennsylvania’s economy and work from members of the Temple community. “It’s a reflection of the hard work from Temple students, Temple employees, Temple alumni and friends of higher education in general over the past two years,” Lawrence said.
Temple requested a 3 percent increase in state funding for fiscal year 2014, but when asked how hard Temple is pushing for the additional resources, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Anthony Wagner said the university would be “very careful not to appear to be ungrateful of this gesture by the governor.” “For us to think that we’ve got a very good chance of being out of the lime light with respect to budget cuts, we would just be careful as far as how hard we push for the additional 3 percent on the appropriation,” Wagner said. Temple Student Government Student Body President David Lopez agreed with Wagner’s sentiments, but said, “We
would be grateful for more least proposing flat-funding as money, absolutely.” opposed to a cut.” Theobald will testify before Compared to the last two the House Approyears, Temple priations Comofficials said mittee on Feb. 25 the governor’s and the Senate Approposal alpropriations Comlows them to mittee on Feb. 28, operate with a and will talk about greater sense what Temple can of stabildo with a potential ity and to plan increase in fundfor next year ing, Lawrence without finansaid. cial uncer“We’ll defi- Anthony Wagner / executive vice tainty looming president, chief financial officer, over the uninitely talk about treasurer versity. the increase, but you have to see “We were where revenues are with the sitting here the last couple Febcommonwealth,” Lawrence ruaries forced to [draw up] pretsaid. “But it’s nice to know at ty draconian scenarios about this point that the governor’s at cutting the university’s budget,
“That kind
of uncertainty hanging over everyone’s head creates a lot of anxiety.
”
and you can’t put those plans together over night,” Wagner said. “That kind of uncertainty hanging over everyone’s head creates a lot of anxiety, a lot of worry.” “You end up spending most of your time on these doomsday scenarios, these draconian cuts,” added Senior Associate Vice President for Finance and Human Resources Ken Kaiser. “It takes a lot of energy and a lot of people’s time, and you’re not making plans for next year, you’re not being innovative.” As Corbett’s budget proposal moves through the legislature, Lawrence said the university still needs to stay vigilant to make sure the General Assembly knows what the appropriation means to residents of
Pennsylvania. Corbett’s move allows Temple to advocate for more wide-ranging issues, Lopez said, that aren’t necessarily concerned with appropriations including loan forgiveness and student debt. He added that continued advocacy is important to make sure that the university doesn’t lose additional funds in the future. “Being flat-funded is a good thing, but at the same time we want to avoid the possibility of losing additional funds somewhere down the road if the governor were to be reelected,” Lopez said. Sean Carlin can be reached at sean.carlin@temple.edu or on Twitter @SeanCarlin84.
Theobald stresses advising as high priority TSG PAGE 1
President Neil Theobald answers questions from students at yesterday’s Temple Student Government General Assembly meeting. | ABI REIMOLD TTN
as possible, creating a greater number of entrepreneurship and internship opportunities for students, recruiting and retaining the best faculty and ensuring students’ success. One key point that both Theobald and students reiterated was the need for better advising. Theobald recognized that for students to graduate in the least amount of time, the students must receive accurate advising information. Hence, Theobald said that student advising is a “high priority for money for next year, so we can hire more advisers.” TSG Student Body President David Lopez also recognizes a need for change in the advising process and will discuss this issue with Theobald on Friday, Feb. 8, when the two meet for the first time. “I think the most important thing for us is to find the common ground and then build from there. So, if the common ground is that we know there is a way to improve then we have to find out what the next common denominator is to go off of that,” Lopez said. Aside from addressing his six issues, Theobald spent the
majority of his 40-minute address answering a myriad of student questions including how Theobald is going to incorporate student input into his vision for the future, how he is going to continue the growth in diversity of the university and the name of his favorite food truck on Main Campus. TSG Allocations Co-Chairman Rohan Wilson asked Theobald what his perception of the university was before he was selected as president. Theobald responded that he did not have much of a perception because he did not know a lot about the university. As a result, Theobald said the university is creating an Office of Marketing to better promote and advertise the university. “We have a list of fabulous programs that we aren’t letting the world know about,” Theobald said. Theobald’s appearance is the first time this academic year that the president of the university addressed the General Assembly. “I think it is important for him to come and speak at a General Assembly meeting, so the word can go a little bit further. It is great to hear the president’s
visions and I think it is great to just allow him to get some input from the students as well,” Lopez said. Lopez’s most prominent take away from yesterday’s meeting is Theobald’s commitment to student life. “If you paid close attention you heard that the word ‘student’ came up a lot because he is student focused,” Lopez said. “Everything that he is going to do, even if it seems difficult and complex, it all still comes back to making the experience better for the students and that is exactly what we need in a president. So, when you have someone who remembers how important the students are, you usually have a great president.” Laura Detter can be reached at laura.detter@temple.edu.
CORRECTIONS
The Temple News strives to be a newspaper of record by printing factually correct and balanced articles. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Angelo Fichera at editor@templenews.com or 215.204.6737.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
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Increase in use leads to delays TUTTLEMAN PAGE 1 do, how much can we grow, can we afford to give more money to it?” he said. DiMino expressed fear that the wait times are driving students away from the counseling center. He cited a research study that he completed with a colleague from Fox School of Business about such concerns. “If they are given an appointment within two weeks, it’s a 90 percent chance of showing, but after that it starts dropping off,” DiMino said. The study’s final conclusion established that the longer
the wait period, the less likely students are to show up, DiMino said. Boateng said that when she first arrived at the counseling center during walk-in hours, she was told to take a test, was interviewed by an initial counselor and the seriousness of her issue was assessed. This process is a part of the center’s triage program, which is a safety net, enabling students with serious issues to be seen right away, DiMino said. “Serious symptoms or if they’re at risk, those people are seen right away. They’re seen within two business days,” he
said. Boateng was not one of those people and was forced to wait up to a month. However, Boateng said, that month was worth the wait. Though she was happy with her end product and wasn’t driven away by the wait, she said she was concerned that Tuttleman has to service such a large amount of people. “I have nothing but good things to say, it’s unfortunate that they have to service so many people,” she said. Boateng added that while the wait period did not bother her, the center’s limited number
of sessions for students did. “To me that’s always a bigger issue, especially in counseling,” she said. Lopez plans to attempt to combat the issues facing the center through meetings with Student Affairs. “I would like to see more discussion and hopefully that will do something,” he said.
Cindy Stansbury can be reached at cindy.stansbury@temple.edu.
Junior Patricia Boateng waited a month for an appointment with Tuttleman Counseling Services. | ABI REIMOLD TTN
Cuts force administrators to re-prioritize The university has cut $113 million from its operating budget since ‘09.
ADDY PETERSON The Temple News With level funding proposed last week, cuts placed across the university in recent years are still impacting its operations. “The cuts that we’ve taken from the state have been just historically devastating. They’ve been much greater than any of us anticipated and it’s taken really serious measures to deal with that,” said Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Anthony Wagner. Numerous state budget cuts were put into place in recent years, which resulted in Temple’s appropriation being cut significantly. Since fiscal year 2009, the university’s operating budget, which specifically ser-
vices undergraduate and graduate education, has been reduced by $113 million. “It’s been a very significant cut,” Wagner said. Temple is not the only university in Pennsylvania that has experienced such cut backs. The three other state-related schools, Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University, as well as the 14 state universities have all had to deal with similar cut backs. Temple’s administration has made it a point to earn back and make up for the lost revenue. As a result, campus-wide cut backs have been made in order to achieve this goal. Wagner explained that the administration has made it a top priority to keep the student body from having to deal with the burden of additional debts by increasing tuition. “We’re concerned about making sure we’re doing everything we can do to hold down costs and not raising tuition and providing as much financial aid
as possible to help students stay in school and continue to make progress toward their degrees and graduate,” Wagner said. Investing in fundraising operations geared toward the Temple community and alumni will draw more money into the university so revenue is not solely coming from tuition, Wagner said. “We’ve definitely had to reprioritize [and question], ‘What are the things that are most important for us to continue to do and what are those things that makes sense for us to cut back so that we can hold the tuition increase to as low as possible?’” Wagner said. The university publication of The Temple Times was one of those that needed to be “reprioritized” by these cuts. “We’re a rarity now that we even publish a monthly [paper],” said Assistant Vice President for University Communications Ray Betzner. He said a hand full of Pennsylvania’s universities have
eliminated publications completely and this cut on distribution was put into place nearly 18 months ago because of the budget cuts that have accumulated within the last four years. Though these cuts were “hard to make,” it was one that was necessary to allow room for other resources that were truly needed by the university. Betzner said the goal of these decisions is to lessen the burden on students. “In each one of those years, we make decisions about what to do to keep us within budget so we don’t have to raise tuition,” Betzner said. Wagner added that these decisions and sacrifices would benefit Temple in the long run. Another decision that the university made because of the budget situation is that pay increases were not made available to any employee of the university. This fact has been made well aware to the administration and they do not take it for granted when conversing with faculty
or when dealing with matters of the university’s budget, Wagner said. Also, most educational travels for faculty have been eliminated as a result of the cuts. These purely educational travels allow teachers and faculty to stay current with the happenings in their field and apply them to both their teachings and their classrooms. Wagner admitted that all departments across Temple’s campus have been affected by this fact in some way. “That’s not something to take lightly, because faculty need to have exposure to other folks in their field that are creating new knowledge,” Wagner said. “I think everybody has shared the sacrifice.” Wagner said that the university’s various resource branches have “really tried to tighten our belts” so that the academic side will not be too troubled and continue to focus on students’ education. “We have tried to have [cut backs] disproportionately
hit administration versus the schools and colleges and the academic mission,” Wagner said. In regards to how faculty and the university as a whole are handling these cuts, Wagner said that there has been consistent, “pro-active” responses, to it and that no department is being privileged or taken advantage of by these cuts; it’s an equal burden. Looking ahead, Temple’s investments and fundraising efforts have gone to improving buildings and student life on Main Campus. Putting the students first is a philosophy that is at the core at what the administration is trying to do in dealing with these budget cuts, Wagner said. “Our sacrifice is in the service of thriving, not surviving. If we can get through this difficult time, Temple has a very bright future ahead of it,” he said. Addy Peterson can be reached at adlaine.braquel.peterson@temple.edu.
Increase in donations seen since campaign launch ADVERTISING PAGE 1
gers and Drexel asking me how much we spent on it.” Wagner said the influx of advertising money did not come at cost of any university programs. “We do cut the budget so we can make investments, however, those cuts are mostly administrative positions,” Wagner said. “We never raise tuition to provide for those investments, instead, we keep administrative costs down and still provide the services [students] need.” The marketing budget also includes a redesigned main website, admissions material and the creative team who works at Temple magazine and other publications, Naumoff said. For Wagner and Naumoff, $5 million is a modest cost when considering the successes of the advertising initiatives, particularly Temple Made. “We have already started to see higher participation rates from our alumni, for example,
this year’s at“In Twittendance for ter and Instafootball games gram, Temple was the best Made has bewe ever had,” come an ‘I am’ Naumoff said. statement for There has people to voice also been a their pride,” 60 percent inNaumoff said. crease in doFor innations from coming freshalumni five man Kamal months after Patel, the Temple Made campaign had started, she some bearing said. These in his decifunds will go sion to come to into the anTemple. nounced $100 “After I million scholwatched the arship cam[Temple Made] paign for stuvideo I thought dents. my experience “We are Temple Made advertisements are seen at the Cecil B. Moore Avenue subway station as well as there would now looking at stops throughout the Broad Street Line. |TIMOTHY VALSHTEIN TTN be worthwhile how [to] better and fun,” Paarships for students.” more efficient than having sepacommunicate tel said. “Plus, Wagner and Naumoff noted rated campaigns, Naumoff said. I applied to Temple because I about our academics and our Because of this, Temple’s wanted a high quality and afsuccess in research,” Naumoff that the campaign has been integrated with athletics, academonline presence on Facebook, fordable education.” said. “These are central to fundics, fundraising and admissions. Instagram and Twitter has ing research projects and schol“I thought the idea of proThe consolidated message is far grown rapidly.
moting a positive image of Temple was very good,” Carly Brooke, a freshman media studies and production major, said. “Although it was ambiguous and confusing at the beginning, I do feel some sort of pride.” The television advertising featured video and music from alumni at the Philadelphiabased company Blue Design. Philadelphia-based advertising agency Neiman, which includes Temple alumni, devised all the slogans and banners that have been ubiquitous in the last five months. Naumoff said the campaign is working well. However, the ads in SEPTA will be gradually eliminated because of its high cost, she said. “We will continue the campaign as long as it needs to be continued,” Naumoff said. “From a marketing perspective, I would like us to stick and be integrated for once and be focused on being Temple Made.”
and research facilities across the U.S. and in more than 54 countries. The wireless service, which originated in Europe, is a product of the Trans-European Research and Education Network Association. The name for this wireless service is derived from the words “education roaming.” It was first tested in 2003 in various European countries, including Poland, Finland and the United Kingdom. After its initial success, the wireless service soon spread. The rising popularity of the eduroam service can be attributed to the fact that it helps people
“I suspect in the near future you’ll be seeing a lot of it,” Brandolph said. In an email to the student body last week, computer services alerted the Temple community of eduroam. The email stated that this will be the first in a series of initiatives to share services between universities. Currently, Swarthmore College, Princeton University and Penn State are among universities that have already installed the service.
Laura Ordonez can be reached at laura.ordonez@temple.edu.
Wireless service aims to connect colleges Eduroam allows students to use wireless service at participating schools. SARAH FIGORSKI The Temple News Temple is part of a cutting edge program aimed at electronically connecting students attending different schools, enabling them to share information and communicate. The program, a wireless Internet service called eduroam, is available at various universities
to connect globally. It offers its participants a connection to “hundreds of wireless hotspots” located in various participating countries. Eduroam is also free of cost to all its participants. The main idea of eduroam is that any person who is a member of a participating university can access the Internet of other participating universities from his or her wireless device with ease. This means that a Temple student who visits a participating school like Penn State can access that school’s Internet server on their phone or computer using a username and password from Temple. Penn
State students can do the same at Temple. Larry Brandolph, associate vice president of computer services at Temple, said the decision to bring the service to Temple was simple and based on “expanding both our federation and our wireless capability.” “At Temple we spend a lot of time creating guest accounts for visitors and researchers who come for a day or a semester,” Brandolph said. “Eduroam makes it easier because we do not have to spend time making accounts for them.” “There are a lot of researchers who travel abroad during
breaks to study and work and it is used there successfully,” Brandolph added. Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania are in the process of installing eduroam and once the installation is completed, Drexel and Penn students will be able to access Temple’s wireless Internet and Temple students may be able to access Penn’s and Drexel’s. These new additions will expand the eduroam Internet service in the city. It appears for that reason many more people will become aware of what eduroam is and how they can benefit from it.
Sarah Figorski can be reached at sarah.figorski@temple.edu.
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 Chris Montgomery, Web Editor Jenelle Janci, A&E Editor Andrea Cicio, Social Media Editor Joey Cranney, Sports Editor Kate McCann, Photography Editor John Moritz, Asst. News Editor Abi Reimold, Asst. Photography Editor Ibrahim Jacobs, Asst. Sports Editor Addy Peterson, Designer Lauren Hertzler, Chief Copy Editor Emily Hurley, Designer Brandon Baker, Copy Editor Tony Santoro, Designer TJ Creedon, Copy Editor David Hamme, Advertising Manager Saba Aregai, Multimedia Editor Kathleen Smith, Business Manager Dustin Wingate, Multimedia Editor Morgan Hutchinson, Marketing Manager
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 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
EDITORIALS
Minding the money
T
emple’s 47-plus year relationship with the commonwealth is a precarious one. Since becoming a state-related university in 1965, Temple has been supplied with tax dollars in the name of providing affordable tuition to Pennsylvania residents. But each spring, Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget address indicates just how much he thinks Pennsylvania can provide the school for the next fiscal year. An early press conference last week by the governor revealed he would propose level funding for Temple and its fellow state-related universities. Generally, this means avoiding tuition spikes and tough budget trimming. It goes without saying that Corbett’s early announcement was welcomed news to the university; President Neil Theobald, along with leaders from other universities, was present in Harrisburg, Pa., to praise the proposal. However, in the months ahead, state legislators will rework the governor’s preliminary budget before submitting a final proposal. In the past,
mental health resources at the university needs to be improved. Funding should not stand in the way of the well-being of students. More than 2,500 students utilized the center’s resources last year, the center’s director John DiMino said. The Temple News is concerned with the center’s triage program, which assesses the severity of the student’s issue based on a test and preliminary interview. Students determined to have higher-risk symptoms are seen within two business days. While it’s necessary to have a system like this in place when dealing with an understaffed center, it potentially puts people with serious problems but less overt symptoms at risk. We compel administrators to see the center receives the funding and added staff it needs to run its services effectively so no student feels like his or her concerns are being weighed out against others’. Access to mental health resources should not be a waiting game.
Gov. Corbett’s level funding is promising, but students still need to be vocal. Temple fared well during this process – proposed cuts were actually decreased before the budget was finalized, in both 2011 and 2012. Even so, it’s imperative that the Temple community keeps in mind the bigger picture: In the university’s early years of being a state-related institution, state appropriation dollars made up more than half of Temple’s revenues. But, throughout the years, rising tuition has largely filled in the gaps left by sharp decreases in appropriations. Temple Student Government officials say they will make Temple – and its positive impacts for the state – known to the check-signers in Harrisburg. That’s important work. Temple administrators can only do so much lobbying, and numbers mean more than anything else. But it’s equally as crucial that TSG continue to educate students of all political activity levels of the basics. The budget address being held today, Feb. 5, will demonstrate intent by the governor’s office to keep its relationship with Temple strong. Students need to show they’re committed.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“It was one of the most
genuinely bizarre things I had ever seen on stage – and I’ve seen Bob Dylan pretend to remember his own songs.
”
Kevin Stairiker / Fear of Music
JULIANA COPPA TTN
PHOTO COMMENT
President Neil Theobald addresses students at his first TSG meeting yesterday, Feb. 4. | ABI REIMOLD TTN
POLLING PEOPLE
GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?
What concerns you most about life after graduation?
83% 04%
Finding a job.
Locating a place to live.
05% 08%
Healthcare expenses.
Other.
Visit temple-news.com to take our online poll, or send your comments to letters@ temple-news.com. Letters to the editor may regard any current issue but must include your full name, position and location. Students can give year and major. Submissions should be 350 words or fewer.
*Out of 24 votes.
CITY VIEW On Friday, Feb. 1, Gov. Tom Corbett announced that his proposed budget would include level funding for state-related universities. While it remains to be seen what the state legislature will do, this certainly bodes well for Temple’s funding in the upcoming fiscal year. Below, you can see what percentage cuts to Temple’s state funding Gov. Corbett has proposed in each of his budget proposals compared to what the state legislature actually passed.
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
Corbett proposed
I
t’s easy to feel like another number when sitting in a lecture hall of more than 100 or existing among a student body of nearly 40,000, but Temple students should not have to feel like just another case when turning to student counseling services at Tuttleman Counseling Services. As reported in “Counselig and help, weeks away” p. 1, the center is having difficulty keeping up with the demand of students seeking its free counseling services, and student appointments are getting backlogged, sometimes for days or weeks. Despite bringing in psychology interns, fellows and additional staff, the traffic is still too high for the center. According to a research study done by Fox School of Business, students who receive an appointment within two weeks of reaching out are 90 percent likely to show up, but as the wait period increases, students become less likely to show to their appointment. The Temple News echoes Temple Student Government Student Body President David Lopez’s belief that access to
Tuttleman Counseling Services must accommodate demand.
50% 30% 0%
State legislature
Counsel for counseling
19% 0%
CUT
CUT
CUT
CUT
CUT
? CUT
CARA STEFCHAK TTN | *Source: The Pennsylvania Budget and policy board
COMMENTARY
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
PAGE 5
Poster removal heals tension
I JESSICA SMITH
Smith argues that a poster in Student Health Services, while well intentioned, was in poor taste.
f you’ve successfully made it to higher-level education, there’s little to no chance that you were able to escape the flamboyantly deceiving educational posters that warn about the dangers of everything from drunken driving to obesity to premarital sex. Their cautionary tales have been so emblazoned in our retinas that they’re typically easy to ignore. However, an abstinence poster in Student Health Services angered junior fine arts major Laura Weiner enough that she felt compelled to take action and start a petition for its removal. The controversial poster in question is “101 Reasons to Be Abstinent.” Along with citing the obvious safety from pregnancy and STDs, the poster advocates reasons such as: “no guilt if you have religious beliefs about sex,” “better role model for brother and sister” “don’t have to shave your legs all the time,” “don’t have to
wear your best underwear” and “your parents will be happier.” “To suggest that a woman who is sexually active should be expected to shave her legs... is misogynistic and completely unacceptable,” Weiner said. “Additionally, to suggest that it is expected and even mandatory for women to perform these rituals is sexist.” If the poster sounds familiar, it might be because it was featured in brochure form on Tosh.0 as a source of humor. “I think that says something,” Weiner said. “It was being mocked on a comedy show, and it’s supposed to be an educational tool.” Some advice given in the poster can apply to both sexes, such as, “won’t have to be a mom or dad before you’re ready” or “won’t get HIV from sex.” But the ad is clearly aimed toward females, with no offense to any male students with leg shearing as part of their routine intended. This selective
direction of information can be harmful, especially considering the poster was placed in a gynecology exam room. “Hanging a poster in the gynecology office such as ‘101 Reasons to be Abstinent’ is insensitive to the women who are going there to receive treatment for sexual assault and rape,” Weiner said. “These women did not have a choice in engaging in sexual activity. To put a jarring, judgmental poster in the face of a woman who has survived rape could trigger traumatic flashbacks and further reinforce feelings of guilt and shame.” Not to mention the fact that it’s degrading for those who have chosen to have sex. It’s demeaning and insulting to assume that my religious affiliation will be compromised due to my independent decision to become sexually active. And I can only assume that my parents won’t be any less proud of me no matter what I do. The only person I have to answer to
in that regard is me and what I believe. How dare I be turned into a targeted demographic by some CDC-sponsored panel of poster-makers? But that’s not the case, said Mark Denys, the senior administrator at Student and Employee Health Services. In fact, the poster was written by our own peers – the demographic in question. “This particular campaign, ‘101 Reasons,’ sends out questionnaires to college students,” Denys said. “They’re real responses from students who chose to become abstinent.” Now that’s a bit of a game changer. It’s one thing for a bunch of people sitting in a boardroom to decide the reasons why I shouldn’t have sex. But it’s another thing entirely for people to explain why they’re personally not having sex. Weiner argued that this is a moot point.
SMITH PAGE 6
Israel not everyone’s birthright
T HEND SALAH
Salah responds to a previous TTN column concerning Israeli soldiers.
he air here is nothing like the clean, crisp air of Tel Aviv. Here, the air is stale and suffocating. The streets have ceased to exist, and in their place are dirt roads with no real direction. The Israeli soldiers are no longer the smiling faces seen on the other side of the wall. Here, they are storming homes, demolishing buildings and tearing families apart. This is Palestine. “I was supposed to be going home,” said Ayat Zidan, a junior biology major. “I grew up in America, and now I was going back to see where I had come from. It was nothing like I thought. I felt like I was visiting a stranger’s house. We were always walking on egg shells.” Zidan’s portrayal of Israel drastically differs with other
descriptions of the country. In a previous guest column in The Temple News, “Taking up birthright,” Cindy Stansbury shows a completely different side of the country and its soldiers. She dismisses the atrocities that Israel has committed and instead talks about the sweet teenagers she got to hang out with. She and the rest of the Americans on the trip were constantly accompanied by eight Israeli soldiers wherever they went. If that came as a surprise to her, what would be the appropriate reaction upon finding that, in Palestine, people are constantly restrained from going places by these armed guards? It’s not always a guarantee to be allowed to enter or exit towns. Soldiers often turn
people away with absolutely no reason given. Better luck tomorrow. Maybe then they will feel more generous. “At the checkpoints, they pulled my little sister away and kept asking her questions. They had their guns pointed in her face. When any of the kids there didn’t answer properly, they’d shove them really hard,” Zidan said. Palestinians are not allowed to enter all parts of their country. In fact, anyone of Palestinian descent has a “haweya,” which is like a visa that makes them no different than people born in Palestine. This means that even Palestinians born and raised in America are banned from entering Jerusalem. “I had to lie to get in. The soldier kept asking me ques-
tions in Arabic, and I pretended not to understand. They asked me where I’m from, and I said America. I told them I was a student there. They only let me in after I showed them my Temple ID,” Zidan said. For argument’s sake, you could say that it may be reasonable for the soldiers here to retaliate in some way if the argument had escalated alarmingly. However, there are hundreds of other cases in which there is no justification. For example, last November Israeli troops shot dead an unarmed and mentally unfit Palestinian man who approached the fence without malicious intent. Assaulting innocent individuals is perhaps the least of their offenses. In January 2009,
SALAH PAGE 6
Campus pride slowly in the making
W ZACK SCOTT
Scott explains why he has converted to a limited Temple Made supporter.
hen I think back to my winter break, my mind immediately rushes to all the miserable treks made from my apartment to the subway and back again. This may sound horribly depressing; in fact, I’m sure it does. But the reason is sheer probability. When you spend as much time doing that as I did, the odds that the memory which pops in your head will involve being bundled up and making that uncomfortable walk are terribly inflated. Naturally, some of those walks are more memorable than others. Most of the 5 a.m. ones are blurs of crusty eyes and Monster energy drinks. But I can distinctly remember what I thought the first time I stepped off the Northbound train and saw all the new – at the time at least – Temple Made posters. “Broad Street Line. Bundled up. Headphones in. Making it happen.” Absolutely. I like to write words. I do it very often, in fact. And I don’t think you could possibly give me enough hours or energy drinks to compose the essence of how I feel about my Temple experience in a better way.
They’re just perfect, both on an isolated level and as a whole. “Broad Street Line.” This is known in the literary world as “scene setting.” Can you picture it? If not, look around you, because you’re there. That’s how well this slogan knows you. “Bundled up.” All right this poster is two-for-two. We’re starting to get creepy. “Headphones in.” And it’s pulled off the hat trick. “Making it happen.” What’s important here is the present tense. What you’ve made happen is irrelevant. What you will make happen is equally pointless. What matters is the here and now. At the last second, it got profound. That’s how I knew this was a classic. Put it together and you have sweet word magic. It takes you on a transcendant voyage and delivers you back safely at the top of the stairs. The reason my slogan love sticks in my hippocampus so vigorously is because I wasn’t a fan of the whole Temple Made thing before this latest phase of the campaign. All of those “Self Made. Philly Made. Temple Made” shirts seemed to me as a badge of honor for suburbanites or – even worse – people from
out of state like myself to pretend they were really dialed in to the city culture. Why weren’t my neighbors, Philly residents their whole lives, donning shirts emblazoned with their home town? What made Temple students more worthy of that designation than someone from Drexel or Penn? These questions were only emboldened by the marketing prominence of the football team and the Big East move in the whole thing. Athletics will likely always be tied to universities, but pushing that aspect to the forefront over the successes of Temple academics seemed to me to be a betrayal of prioritization. Many of these concerns are still alive and well. Every time I walk by the Avenue North Shops and see that giant screen promoting the men’s basketball team, I question if the cool action pose is worth that space not being reserved for a future doctor or lawyer. I question the financial wisdom of advertising so heavily in front of a bunch of people who are already sending in their tuition checks. I question why all of these signs need to say something that
might also be a Drake lyric. Despite the best pestering of my overactive internal monologue, I still come away from each casual glance thinking that they really hit the proverbial nail squarely on its proverbial head. “Making it happen.” That’s how I feel every time I come back from an early morning shift working part time in Center City to go right to class, nary a lunch break in sight. That’s what I’m thinking, somewhere in my mind at least, when I’m on my way to a night class at TUCC. That’s the only way I think adequately describes those few brief respites in my life when I can manage to go get a cheesesteak. With that in mind, I’ve come to a wary conclusion that yes, I might just be Temple Made.
SOMEONE ELSE’S
OPINION
“In fact, while the Times editorial board now demands the Democrats ‘press their political advantage’ because ‘[their] message … has widespread support, and they have increased their numbers in both houses of Congress’ they used their same editorials after major wins by Republicans in 2002 and 2004, to urge consensus and cautioned Republican majorities against overreach.”
Erick Erickson,
on foxnews.com in “Senate Democrats, please listen carefully to the New York Times”
“For every instance in which a gun in the home was shot in self-defense, there were seven criminal assaults or homicides, four accidental shootings, and 11 attempted or successful suicides.”
NYT Editorial Board,
on nytimes.com in “Dangerous Gun Myths”
“Sixty years ago juvenile delinquency and what to do about it suddenly drew a round of national soul searching. We no longer even use the term. We think in terms of juvenile monsters. Yesteryear’s hoods and troublemakers seem quaint and innocent beside today’s appalling school murders, gang rapes and teenage mayhem.”
Gilbert T. Sewall,
on washintontimes.com in “Culture’s shifting sands on moral standards”
“Gov. Corbett’s proposed unfettering of liquor, wine, and beer sales seems to have upset every insider and interest group with a stake in Pennsylvania’s ministry of alcohol, from legislators to government unions to beer distributors. Which leads to one unavoidable conclusion: He must be onto something.”
Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board,
on philly.com in “Credible plan gets state out of booze business”
Zack Scott can be reached at zack.scott@temple.edu or on Twitter @ZackScott11.
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.
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
“What is your favorite Temple Made poster?” ELLEN PARKINS TTN
“It’s as if we don’t already live in North Philadelphia. Let’s just put ‘hustle’ and ‘grind’ on everything. I don’t have a favorite.”
“I like the one with the halfface dude. It’s ridiculous how perfect it is. You need a ruler for that.”
RICK GETTS
JUNIOR | CIVIL ENGINEERING
OPINION DESK 215-204-7416
ROBYN REICHART JUNIOR | BIOLOGY
LETTERS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
“The scary one on Polett Walk, but I don’t really like the whole tenacious style of them. Temple is more laid back.”
TOM SEMINACK
JUNIOR | COMM. SCIENCES & DISORDERS
OPINION
PAGE 6
on the
WORD WEB...
temple-news.com
Unedited for content.
TIM JOHNSON SAYS ON “OP-ED: UNIVERSITY PARKING FEES SHOULDN’T IDLE” ON FEB. 2 AT 12:05 P.M.
Awesome article, James. I hope that you keep putting it in people’s faces and that things change. I particularly like the bit about how the funds collected could be used to increase the value of the neighborhoods most effected by the parking situation. It could be a potential win win for everyone. Cheers, my friend!
SUNSHINEPRICE SAYS ON “NARDOLILLI: IN ITALY, A TOAST FOR THE LATTER DAY SAINTS” ON JAN. 30 AT 3:26 P.M.
This is amazing! I love Annie’s honesty and her refreshing zeal –that is anything but self-righteous– in what could otherwise be a very difficult situation. Keep being you, Annie!
GEORGE SAYS ON “ADAMS: THROUGH EFFORT, FRESHMEN FIGHT FOR TIME IN LOST SEASON” ON JAN. 29 AT 1:29 P.M
You look at a photo of the Temple field hockey team and a photo of the basketball team and you learn all you need to know about the restrictive recruiting methods of Ms. Cardoza. There’s a need for diversity on our basketball team and a need to get the best players and hardest workers but TC only seems comfortable recruiting a certain demographic of players. Until Temple gets a coach that is able to recruit the best players from SE PA., regardless of background, the women will lag behind the major men’s sports at TU.
WOW SAYS ON “BUILT IN ’09, ALTER TO GET NEW STEPS” ON JAN. 25 AT 1:51 P.M. We have majors here that Temple allegedly can’t “afford” to run anymore and are being taken away yet here we are with new renovations being added to FOX. That’s cool Temple, I’ll just go slum it in the basement of gross, old Anderson (Gladfelter,Barton,etc.) with the rest of us unimportant liberal arts majors.
OP-ED SUBMISSIONS
Alumni graduate on to new things
Alumnus Faltermayer discusses why job prospects aren’t as bad as they seem. JOEL FALTERMAYER OP-ED
I
listen to speculation on the entry-level job market with the same disdain that I have for small talk about the weather: No matter how comforting it may seem to quantify temperature within a single degree, everyone still has to walk outside at some point. After all, if anyone actually listened to the weatherman and acted accordingly, then the world would be kvetch-free. But there is no shortage to the amount of inquiries, anecdotes and two-cent suggestions that many of you who are on the brink of graduation will receive in the coming months. Some will be empty formalities, reassuring that things will, indeed, “happen.” As if three-to-five years of semi-vocational training will passively transform into a salaried position without any effort. Others will chide you for your ill-informed studies, challenging the very idea
that one could, “open up a philosophy store.” But above all, the absolute worst are those who let all graduates off easy. In an attempt to empathize, they will raise tirades about the state of the economy, outsourcing and unemployment with the same superstitious horror held in previous years for Y2K. While it may have been easier in earlier generations, no one can deny that the decision to go to school and join the race for college educated employment was ultimately ours. Don’t get me wrong: There are many economic factors that will hypothetically play into our success as job-seekers. Yet not one is as vividly momentous as the transformation that many of you will undertake as you leave the sheltered halls of Temple. For many of you, transition will come easy. Perhaps you’ve already found yourself in the proactive group of the will-be employed. Or maybe the threat of loan repayment – compara-
tively light as it is at Temple – does not loom over your head. More likely, however, you belong to that group of prospective graduates who simply has direction. You know exactly where you need to be and what you need to do to chase your dream career. “Finding yourself” is a lofty ideal reserved for elementary school English teachers. That being said, my goal throughout the next few OpEd columns is not to publicly lament graduating with a bachelor’s of hopelessness, nor itemize the crucial “Steps 2 SuXcess” like some over-enthused motivational speaker. No I couldn’t sway any students’ outlook any more than the Westboro Baptist Church could convince us that, in fact, God really is that hateful. I can, however, relate the story of my own pre-graduation aspirations, their eventual dissipation and the plateau of epiphanies, choices and compromises that may also govern your “post-
“No one can
deny that the decision to go to school and join the race for college-educated employment was ultimately ours.
”
graduation puberty.” This column is for those of you who haven’t had the energy to fret about graduation, as you concerned yourself with your studies. Rather than telling friends and family the truth, that you’re “not actually going to find a job after graduation, anyway,” you may have given them your half-hearted attempts at justification. But unlike your sixth grade gym teacher, I won’t crush your dreams against my own failures like an empty paper bag. I refuse to conclude the English department is really just a fast track to alcoholism and misanthropy. I would never tell you to find middle-management work at your local McDonald’s and dig-in for the long-haul. Realistically, if you’ll graduate with a bachelor’s in a program in which you excelled at but haven’t thought past your next term paper, then you’re qualified for everything and nothing. The rest is up to you. Joel Faltermayer is a Class of 2012 alumnus and will be contributing monthly Op-Ed submissions. He can be reached at joel.faltermayer@gmail.com.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Failing to recognize Palestinian pain from other side is ignorant SALAH PAGE 5 Israeli troops bombed United Nation schools that were used to house Palestinian refugees who were ordered to vacate their homes in the Gaza strip. Fortythree people were killed, and many of them were children. Israel’s excuse for this was that they were targeting the Islamist group Hamas, but there were no Hamas fighters in the area. Stansbury’s article is about her trip to a new place she hadn’t seen before, but where she felt right at home. Palestinians, however, are going home only to find that they are more like visitors or strangers. The idea of “home” in Palestine no longer exists. Houses are liable to be invaded and destroyed at any point. Losing family members to murder or arrest is such a common occurrence that it has come to be expected. The warmth and happiness found in a real home is fleeting. Stansbury writes: “The sol-
diers were sweet. Yes, sweet as in nice, kind, polite, caring — fill in any other positive adjectives of your choice here.” Perhaps this is the side of them that she was lucky enough to see. But when Israeli soldiers pointing a gun in the face of a child, or rupturing families, or wrecking their homes or keeping them from moving through their own towns, it is fair to question where the blaring signs of kindness are. It doesn’t matter if we are pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. We are all free to have our own views on this conflict. However, every person’s birth right is to love without expecting loss, to work without having unrealistic goals and, above all, to live without constant fear. This is the definition of humanity, but this is not Palestine. Hend Salah can be reached at hsalah@temple.edu.
Officials take down sign with poorly constructed messages SMITH PAGE 5 “The company chose what went on that poster,” Weiner said. “They picked certain quotes that fit their agenda.” “Abstinence is not a large part of what we do, but it’s important because it is a choice,” Denys said. “Students who come to us who have never had sex before are seeing an abstinence poster that helps them feel OK because they haven’t yet.” Some reasons given for being abstinent are indeed construed as sexist, but they are also a matter of opinion. Students chose to write their responses, but the company also chose to publish them. The ethics behind the campaign can be debated, but however well-intentioned ‘101 Reasons to Be Abstinent’ claims to be, it certainly has done more harm than good for the community.
“We’re sorry,” Denys said. “The message is effective for some, but it may not be effective for all. This particular poster will be taken down and replaced.” “The issue isn’t about abstinence,” Weiner said. “It’s the means in which they went about it. The poster shouldn’t have been up in the first place. It isn’t respectful of people who choose to be sexually active.” It all boils down to our own perceptions of what is and isn’t proper with sex education. Hopefully, SHS will be able to find something more appropriate for its abstinence campaign that doesn’t involve personal grooming of any kind. Jessica Smith can be reached at jessicasmith@temple.edu.
Game critics really scrabbling for answers
O
BRI BOSAK For Argumement’s Sake
Bosak argues that criticism over the letter value system in Scrabble isn’t as big a menace as the Players Dictionary.
utrage. A word that earns you eight points in the current version of Scrabble. And the word that best describes public reaction to one man’s statement that the current Scrabble tiles are either overvalued or undervalued and no longer reflect a letter’s actual worth. Following a blog post by Joshua Lewis in late December titled “Rethinking the value of Scrabble tiles” – where Lewis made the announcement that he had developed a system for determining letter valuations in word games called Valett – the issue of proper letter valuation in Scrabble has gone viral. A post-doctoral scholar at the University of California’s Cognitive Science Department, Lewis created the program based on statistical analysis that measures the letter’s overall frequency in the English language, its frequency by word length and the ease with which you can transition the letter in and out of a word. The result is that 14 Scrabble letters would need to be assigned new values. Currently, the values and
distribution of letters are based on original analysis conducted by Scrabble’s inventor, Alfred Butts. According to the National Scrabble Association, Butts calculated a value for each tile by measuring the frequency with which each letter appeared on the front page of the New York Times. But much has changed in the English language since the game was first invented in 1938, Lewis said. Confirming Lewis’ statement on the English language was a recent study led by the director of research at Google, Peter Norvig, on letter frequency. The results of the study sparked yet another Scrabble article, this time by Sam Eifling of Deadspin, who said it opened “a whole new system of weighing the value of your letters.” And introduce a whole new system he did. Eifling, with the help of software developer and friend Kyle Rimkus, engineered a system that determines the letter frequency of every individual word in the Scrabble dictionary. Much like Lewis, Eifling and Rimkus also discovered that 14 tiles were valued incorrectly in the current version of the game.
But John Chew, co-president of the North American Scrabble Players Association, says proposals like those of Lewis or Eifling to introduce an updated version of Scrabble are not uncommon. In an article with BBC, Chew said that he hears from several people a year complaining that the tile values are incorrect. Even so, Chew published a response which touched upon the fact that changing the value of the Scrabble tiles would take a certain amount of randomness out of the game. “It’s always had an intentional imbalance between the face and equity values of the tiles,” Chew said. For instance, an “S” tile or blank tile may have an equity value that far outweighs their face value because they have the potential to earn a player so many points. Seasoned Scrabble players understand that the game was carefully designed to balance both skill and luck, Chew said. Philip Nelkon, Scrabble’s U.K. representative and spokesman for the game manufacturer Mattel concurred with Chew. “It is not a game where fair-
ness is paramount, it is a game of luck and changing the tile values wouldn’t achieve anything,” he said. Nelkon confirmed that Mattel would not change the values of the current tiles. Hasbro, the company that produces Scrabble in North America, also released a statement saying that it has no plans to change the current letter values. However, what will change things is the release of the fifth edition of the Scrabble dictionary, slated for publication next year. Since the publication of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary in 1978, the game’s word list has grown by tens of thousands of words. It is for this very reason that Lewis thinks that the tile values should change. “I’ve annoyed several relatives with words like QI and ZA, and I think the annoyance is justified: the values for Scrabble tiles were set when such words weren’t acceptable, and they make challenging letters much easier to play,” he said. But I think Lewis only has it half right. Yes, any relative, or friend for that matter, is justified in
their annoyance with a fellow player for laying down a word like QI or ZA. But that does not mean that the problem lies in the tile valuation — the real problem is rooted in the damn Players Dictionary. Yes, I said it. As an avid Scrabble player, I curse the official Scrabble dictionary for enabling others to justify words like ZA. “It’s short for pizza!” Oh, really? Honestly, why should the tile values change in order to corroborate these ludicrous words? I propose we abolish the official Scrabble dictionary altogether. Instead, we should go back to the way it was done for 40 years – house rules, house dictionary. Call my method old fashioned, but hey, I think it solves the problem pretty effectively. And I didn’t even need to use statistical analysis software to do it. Bri Bosak can be reached at bri.bosak@temple.edu or on Twitter @bribosak.
LIVING temple-news.com
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
PAGE 7
Success not measured by casting lists
MARCIE ANKER Starving Actor
Theater majors should not put too much stock in getting cast in a main-stage show.
First lady aspires I to be familiar face Sheona Mackenzie, wife of President Neil Theobald, is embracing her new home. LAUREN HERTZLER The Temple News
S
heona Mackenzie likes to keep busy. Her days recently have revolved around unpacking belongings, fixing up her new abode in Rittenhouse Square, occasionally baking sweets and taking the afternoons to explore her new city. That’s all on top of fulfilling her self-proclaimed duties as the president’s wife. “You know, Temple didn’t interview me, they just get me,” Mackenzie, President Neil Theobald’s wife of 30 years, said. “You have to put up with whoever your president brings, so I want to be helpful.” Mackenzie has already made her face recognizable to students, as she has attended mostly every men’s home basketball game since her move to Philadelphia on
Jan. 1. pus,” she said. “We went to “We like basketball, we the Fox School [of Business] like the students,” she said. event in the fall. During the “We had season basketball fall once or twice a month and football tickets at IU so we’d come to Temple.” we’ll do the same here.” Mackenzie, a mother to Mackthree grown enzie said children, said she also likes she is enjoyto acquaint ing being in herself with the city, but alumni. it’s a culture “There althat is much ways seems to different be an alumni from what event before she was used or surroundto in Blooming these ington, Ind. games and I “Indiana Sheona Mackenzie / first lady think that’s doesn’t have important to public transpop in and keep in touch with portation,” she said. “The the alumni base,” she said. closest big city that would Temple has also played have that would be Chicago.” its part in welcoming the new But that didn’t stop family, Mackenzie said. Mackenzie and Theobald “Temple has been very, from exploring the city very welcoming. There have months ago when they were been a lot of dinners hosted deciding if Temple was a for us to meet people on cam- right fit for them.
“You have to
put up with whoever your president brings, so I want to be helpful.”
“There was once when we were considering the job, we just flew in and didn’t tell anyone we were here and tried to decide whether we could see ourselves here,” she said. “So we took the subway around, we took the train.” “I liked being in a small town to raise my children,” Mackenzie added. “But then once they leave, they’re not coming back...they’re all over the country, so we thought we could either stay in Bloomington and say, ‘Oh they’re not coming back,’ or we could go and have our own kind of adventure. And I do like the city, we hope to take advantage of all the cultural aspects that it has to offer.” At age 4, Mackenzie immigrated with her Scottish family to New York. She grew up in New Jersey, and at 12 years old she moved to Bloomington, Ind., where
MACKENZIE PAGE 16 LAUREN HERTZLER TTN
stumbled across a quote today from a famous playwright, Samuel Beckett, which essentially sums up my acting career in six words. “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Shall I tell you where I discovered this gem? I shall. I found Beckett’s words scrawled in tiny print along the bottom of a page in my highschool-level physics textbook. You can imagine my surprise. I sat for a minute, genuinely puzzled as to why a playwright’s quote was in a science textbook. At first I got irrationally territorial, which, in retrospect, was probably an inappropriate reaction. Everyone knows scientists don’t like artists – they might as well be different species. So how could a playwright’s words be applicable to a scientist? And then, right there in the middle of my physics class, I had a revelation: Everyone fails; we are all failures. I am a failure, the person next to me is a failure and, quite frankly, we both probably failed the physics quiz. I’m only half-kidding. Failure is a real thing in any profession, and everyone experiences failure at some point in their lives, some people more than others. But Beckett has a point. Life is a cycle of trying and failing, and hopefully people learn to fail better and deal with failure better than the last time. In theater, there is a temptation to judge one’s success or failure as an actor by the
amount of times one has been cast. The “I’m a no-good, talentless wretch unless I’m cast in the lead role of the main stage show” mindset is killer. Talent and worth are not measured by cast lists. In fact, some people go through their entire undergraduate career without being cast in a single main-stage show. Are these people failures? Are they the lepers of the department? Are they bad actors? Of course not. I am 23 years old and I’ve been at Temple for longer than I’d care to admit and I’ve been in a whopping one main stage show where I played a 60-something-year-old woman with a Scottish accent, and I was only in Act I. Does that make me a bad actor? Don’t answer that. But my experience working on that show was one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had at Temple, and it just reaffirmed my beliefs that theater is a collaborative art, and there is no such thing as a “small” role. Playwrights waste neither words nor characters; each one is vital. It’s easy to fall into the trap of discouragement every time you’re not cast, especially if you’re never cast throughout all of your undergraduate years. But actors just simply have to learn how to fail better – as do scientists, apparently. Senior musical theater major Danielle Mitola is one of the many talented actors who never had the opportunity to grace a Temple theater’s main stage production with her powerful presence. “The biggest factor in my acting life right now is my confidence, and that’s the one thing people say I have to have to work on,” Mitola said. “And I do have confidence. But when you’re getting cast a lot, obviously your confidence grows. But when you’re constantly the ‘underdog’ and when you’re never getting cast, it’s hard to build up confidence. I don’t know anyone who’s super psyched about never getting cast.” Mitola, like most actors who have the bitter taste of rejection in their mouths, has considered even dropping out
ACTOR PAGE 17
Indian culture explored through dance groups Temple Agni and TU Bhangra use dance as outlet to expose Indian culture. ALEXA BRICKER The Temple News For Shikha Talwar and her fellow teammates of Temple Agni, becoming members of a college dance team was an aspiration they always hoped would come true. But as Indian-Americans, being able to incorporate their cultural roots into their dancing was not something, at
the collegiate level, they believed they would have the outlet for. “I joined Temple Agni my first semester of freshman year,” Talwar, a junior biology major, said. “Ever since I was born, I’ve loved to dance and as I grew up I saw my friends from my dance class go to college and join their college dance team. It was basically my dream for a while to be on my university’s dance team and dance at the collegiate level.” Luckily, as members of Temple’s Southeast-Asian dance teams, Temple Bhangra and Temple Agni, they are get-
BOOK EXCHANGE, p. 8
Creators of TU Book X hope to make the process of selling books more beneficial to students. LIVING DESK 215-204-7416
ting the rare chance to express their heritage and passion for dance all at the same time. Many members of both groups said they have parents who were born in India and who are thrilled that their children are getting this opportunity. Although the groups are comprised mostly of students with ties to the Indian culture, both are accepting of anyone who has an interest in the art and a passion for dance. “A lot of our group members are of an Indian background and have grown up dancing to the Bollywood style of dance,
DANCE PAGE 15
Members of TU Bhangra practice on Main Campus. The group performs dances that reflect their Indian roots. | AJA ESPINOSA TTN
SHARING SECRETS, p. 15
The Whisper app allows users to anonymously share secrets with those around them. LIVING@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
WORKOUT WOES, p. 17
Columnist Cary Carr wants readers to think about their intentions when they go to the gym.
LIVING
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music
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Daniel Chomsky currently teaches in the political science department. | LUIS FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ TTN
DANIEL CHOMSKY Political Science professor chats about being Noam Chomsky’s nephew and raiding the archives of the New York Times. TAYLOR FARNSWORTH The Temple News Daniel Chomsky, a political science professor at Temple, has had politics ingrained in his life since childhood. Chomsky not only grew up with an immediate family shrouded in politics, but also has Noam Chomsky, the famous linguist and historian, as an uncle. Having grown up in Philadelphia, Chomsky attended Temple before moving away to Northwestern University for graduate studies. Chomsky then moved back to Philadelphia so he could do his graduate work in the New York Times’ archives where he studied how media institutions make decisions. Chomsky found himself back in Philadelphia where he was given the opportunity to teach at his undergraduate alma mater, and has been teaching here since Fall 2000. The Temple News: Can you explain a bit about your family background? Daniel Chomsky: Well, my interest in politics comes
from my family. My family was always very political and that includes my parents and my uncle as well. They gave me an interest in politics and we talked politics around at home. One of the things people ask about my uncle – [Noam Chomsky] – they say, “Well what is he like?” I think they have this assumption that he’s not like other people, that he is different in some way. And my answer is that he is just like everybody else when you interact with him. So while on a basic level my interest in politics comes from just the world which I grew up where everyone was interested in politics. To me it just seemed completely normal. TTN: So what brought you back to Philly after graduate school? DC: I was doing my doctoral work in Chicago, at Northwestern. I became aware of a source of data, I do work on the mass media, and somebody, I think it was one of my dissertation advisers, had heard second hand that it was possible to get access to internal documents from the New York Times. Nobody there had done academic work on that and really nobody was aware that you could do that. So that meant doing work in New York and I was working on the world of mass media and particular historic events and how mass media make decisions and the relationship between mass media and society. When I found out that this might be possible, I looked into it and I ended up doing a lot of work in the New York Times corporate archives, collecting data from the New York Times corporate archives. Since I had ties to Philadelphia, and New York was expensive, I basically came back here and commuted up and back to New York. So that’s what brought me back, just the opportunity to do research closer to town. That decision was a good one – not coming back to Philadelphia, so much as this opportunity to work in the New York Times’ archives. [It was] a really valuable opportunity. As far as I could tell, nobody had done this kind of work. This is kind of like a micro study. I tried to figure out how media institutions make decisions. Other people had gone about that in different ways, but nobody has really made use of these internal memos to figure out how media institutions make decisions. That was a really useful opportunity that has been essential to my work since graduate school. So coming back to Philadelphia was just kind of an accident, and getting a
job at Temple was really just an accident. I was here finishing up my dissertation, and they needed somebody. I believe it was an immediate need for a short-term replacement, so that’s how I got the job here. TTN: How long were you doing your research at the New York Times? DC: Well I was in the archives for, the answer really is, however long I could stay. It turned out that when I found out that I could do this work in the New York Times’ archives, they weren’t really set up to have researchers come in, though I guess a couple people had gone in to look at documents. This was a back office away from the main operations of the New York Times where they just collected these old records. I told them what I wanted and I had people write on my behalf saying that I would be responsible. So they let me in, and once I was there and realized what kind of valuable collection this was and how much interesting material I could get out of it, I stayed as long as I could. I kept giving them excuses to let me stay. They were getting more and more suspicious about why I was hanging around and I tried to get as much as I could before they were going to kick me out. I got the sense that my lease was running out. I guess I was there off and on over a matter of half a year or something like that. When the official biographers of the Times’ owner’s family were moving in to write an official history of the Times’ owners, my welcome was running out. Now, most of this stuff is more easily accessible now that the Times has moved most of their material out of the Times’ offices and it is now available at the New York Public Library. If [only] I had known that that is how it was going to end up, and how much easier that would have been. Taylor Farnsworth can be reached at taylor.farnsworth@temple.edu.
Website aims to improve book resales Ryan Epp and Devon Greider are working to change the way Temple students buy textbooks. NICOLE SOLL The Temple News Even as a freshman, Ryan Epp knew there was something wrong with the way students bought and sold textbooks on campus. The bookstore prices were considered by many to be too high and students had a difficult time getting an equal return when they tried to sell their textbooks at the end of the semester. Epp said he saw plenty of flyers floating around on campus and Facebook posts online offering textbooks at lower costs, but no way for students to see them all. “I thought there should be a better way than that,” Epp, a senior computer science major, said. That’s when Epp came up with the Temple Student Book Exchange. The idea was to create a website that would act as a central location for students to trade, buy or sell textbooks. Instead of searching Facebook groups or scouring campus for posters, students would come to the website and be able to find what they were looking for with one search. Epp talked to several friends about the idea, one being his roommate and friend since high school, Devon Greider. Greider, a senior broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media major, showed great interest in the project and agreed to be Epp’s business partner. Epp worked on the website design while Greider focused on promoting the site, which they released this past December.
According to a U.S. Department of Education Study done in 2007, the average student spends between $700 and $1,000 on textbooks each year. Although both Barnes and Noble and Zavelle Bookstore will buy back textbooks, it’s only for a fraction of the cost. “You buy a textbook for $100 dollars, sell it back for $40 and then the bookstore turns around and sells it to someone else for $80,” Greider said. The Temple Student Book Exchange, also known as TU Book X, has a simple premise: In bold print on the website, the owners promise “to save you money and make buying and selling your textbooks as easy as possible.” The website creates a free market where students can exchange, buy or sell books at lower costs than bookstores and without the shipping fees and waiting time of online sites. To sign up, all students need is a Temple email account and within minutes they can start listing textbooks or searching for the ones needed for the semester. Although users are free to put their contact information on their profile, interested buyers can also message them directly through the site to set up a meeting to sell or exchange books. Textbooks currently on the site vary from law to biology to finance to psychology. To see if a book is listed all users need is the title, publisher or ISBN number. Since this is the website’s first semester in action, Epp and Greider are still trying to generate buzz. Epp and Greider said there are currently more than 350 books listed on the site and a little more than 250 users. They’ve had some help from the Facebook group TU Memes endorsing them, which resulted in their heaviest days of activity, but they’re still hoping
Similar to Craigslist, TU Book X allows users to sell books at their own price and search for books they need posted by other users. more students will learn about the website and check it out. Epp and Greider said they encourage anyone who’s looking to buy or sell textbooks to check out the site because the service can only get better when there are more users and more books posted. “If you’re buying or selling books there’s no place better to be,” Epp said. The students have no plans on expanding their site to other schools yet. Although they’re open to it, they know Main Campus best and want to work out the kinks of the website before moving on.
Epp and Greider are also in the middle of changing the name of the service because “TU” is a trademark of Temple University, which they have no official affiliation with. For now, students can still find the them on Facebook at Temple Student Book Exchange or through their website, TUBookX. com. Nicole Soll can be reached at nicole.soll@temple.edu.
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT temple-news.com
Tuesday, february 5, 2013
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Calendar makes DIY scene accessible
The calendar project of the best DIY shows in Philly released a photo book to capture a year in the music scene for its first birthday. JENELLE JANCI A&E Editor
W
hoever said that whining to your friends isn’t productive never hung out with the creators of DIY PHL. The idea for the calendar listing of DIY shows happening at unconventional venues such as houses, art galleries, bike shops and more came about after a conversation founding organizer Max Weinstein-Bacal had with fellow founding organizer Bonnie Zuckerman. “The whole thing started out of a conversation about how [Zuckerman] and I had both not heard of a show that we would have loved to have gone to, because it was mostly promoted over a closed Facebook event, and we weren’t friends with the right people, and we didn’t even hear about it,” Weinstein-Bacal said. “That was kind of the grumbling that started the idea.” The calendar, which is mainly supported by its online website, is also available in print at local coffee shops and record stores. The calendar is illustrated by a different local artist each month. DIY PHL also has Tumblr and Twitter accounts, which provide dayof reminders for shows. “We planned the website, the Tumblr, the Twitter – ev-
erything at the first meeting, and decided the game plan for how it would go. We just went out of the gate running, I guess,” Ramsey Beyer, the third founding member, said. Beyer had experience dealing with frustrations similar to Weinstein-Bacal’s and Zuckerman’s in another major city – Chicago. “I did a calendar in Chicago called DIY CHI, and it was for the same reason,” Beyer said . “I was new to Chicago and I didn’t feel ‘in the know,’ because I didn’t know anyone who did shows. I felt like I had to make friends before I could find out how to get to places where I could make friends.” That outsider feeling for those who aren’t already active in the DIY scene is what DIY PHL aims to eradicate. “I think that’s a problem for a lot of people who are new to a city or new to punk or DIY – it kind of feels like an insider club in a way,” Beyer said. “That’s the main reason for it – to make sure it’s accessible for anyone who wants to be involved.” Making a scene that’s seemingly difficult to get into readily accessible to the pubGrace Ambrose, Max Weinstein-Bacal, Ramsey Beyer and Michael Cantor are some of the organizers between DIY PHL, a lic takes networking – and calendar listing of underground shows in Philly. The organization is gearing up to release a photo book. | JENELLE JANCI TTN that’s exactly where DIY PHL endar, DIY doesn’t have to do by their mission statement by because of the abundance of founding members began. said. From there, the organiz- much searching for events any- not including any shows that unconventional venues in the “We kind of just built up a list city it showcases, she said. of anyone we could think of ers created an email list ask- more. The current calendar’s may be seen as offensive. Although Beyer has expe“In 2012, there were that was involved with or set ing those involved in the DIY contents are handpicked by up shows,” Weinstein-Bacal scene to submit events. After a those in charge. The organiz- rience with a similar project in DIY PHL PAGE 10 full year of organizing the cal- ers are determined to remain Chicago, DIY PHL is special
11th Hour hosts preliminary shows National Pro Wrestling Day enters Phila. ring The 11th Hour Theatre Company has found a way to engage diverse audiences without the frills of a full production. RACHEL MCDEVITT The Temple News Imagine taking your nosebleed seat and squinting down the massive theater at the musical on stage. You might notice the grand set, the complex lighting design and the actors sweeping around in beautifully detailed, historically accurate period costumes. Such is not the case with 11th Hour Theatre Company’s new Next Step Concert Series, a collection of four musicals this season, done completely without set, costume or even memorizing lines. The actors’ movements are limited, because they stand behind microphones with their scripts in hand. But, even without all the bells and whistles, audience members are still drawn in and excited by these visually simple works. Why are toned-down musicals the “Next Step”? The goal for this intimate theater company was to produce big material on a small scale in the hopes of fully producing the shows in the next few years, but the organizers also wanted to be able to introduce new or unknown material to their audience. “The response has been great,” said company co-founder Michael O’Brien, noting that the most recent showing, “Passing Strange,” sold out for all
three performances. cals, because they want to throw “One of the comments we everything together at the last received most is that the au- minute. Under the rules of Acdience really understands the tor’s Equity, they have to. story of these more than if they “Basically it gives us 29 would see the full production,” hours over a two-week period, O’Brien said. total, and that includes perforThe full production for mance, so the rehearsal process “Passing Strange” includes a for this show ends up being besetting spread over three loca- tween 15 and 20 hours. On a tions, following a man’s journey normal production, we would from Los Angeles to Amster- have three weeks of rehearsal dam to West Berlin. The piece at 30 hours per week,” O’Brien also dealt with complex, deeply said. human emotions. Because 11th Hour deals “On the surface it seems with musicals, about half of reto be about race, because...it’s hearsal time has to be reserved about a young African-Amer- just for learning the music. As ican man who is searching for the director, O’Brien had to the truth, for what is real in have the entire show mapped life,” O’Brien said. “But the out in his head before he ever set more you dive into the show, the foot in rehearsals. The cast had more you realize it’s about the to multitask in every way poshuman connecsible. Each mintion, and how art ute of rehearsal and music allow was maximized; you to connect to if they weren’t people in a way singing, they that nothing else were working does.” scenes and char“Passing acter developStrange” was ment in the next Michael O’Brien / co-founder only the second room. in the four-part “It’s a series, following much, much, up an equally successful venture much faster process,” O’Brien with “Bloody Bloody Andrew said. Jackson,” the emo-rock, satiriNot only faster, but much cal tribute to a rowdy president less expensive – these readings in turbulent times. Coming up in usually cost around 10 percent March is Andrew Lippa’s “The to 15 percent of the budget for a Wild Party,” about a bash fueled full production. by tragic, vaudevillian revelry. “It ends up saving us monApril will find 11th Hour tack- ey, but the whole goal behind ling Stephen Sondheim’s fairy this is to introduce our audience tale twist “Into the Woods.” to new work and exciting musiBut 11th Hour does not per- cals and hopefully, in the future, form staged readings of musi- there will be a few of these that
au natural, p. 10
“We try to make
it as intimate and story-based as we can.
Indique Boutique, a new hair salon on South Street, offers 100 percent natural hair extensions. A&E Desk 215-204-7416
”
we end up producing on a fullscale level,” said O’Brien, who also hopes these readings can be used to launch new pieces that have never seen production. Fortunately, the money that goes into a show does not necessarily have an effect on the value. “The whole point of this series is to tell the story of the musicals,” said O’Brien, acknowledging that it can be easy to get caught up in the spectacle of a full theater production. “That’s something that 11th Hour tries to stay away from as much as possible,” O’Brien said. “No matter what we do, we try to make it as intimate and story-based as we can. The only time we would do things lavishly with lighting or set is if it really furthers the storyline and is necessary to the story.” This minimalist theme seems to resonate well across the city, and 11th Hour considers itself fortunate for building a very eclectic, diverse audience base. The company attracts everyone from seasoned theatergoers to college students by offering something that no one else is doing: envelope-pushing, ground-breaking musicals in an intimate setting. “We have gained the trust of our audience, which is exciting to us,” O’Brien said. “People that come to see a show they like are going to come back.”
Pro wrestling fans celebrated the first National Pro Wrestling Day at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory on Feb. 2. JOHN CORRIGAN The Temple News
After completing a tour of Japan just a couple days ago, international sensation Colt Cabana prepared to headline National Pro Wrestling Day with a bout against Mike Quackenbush, founder of local organization CHIKARA and the man responsible for Feb. 2’s festivities. “We’re both two wrestlers who let it be known that we see ourselves as artists in the ring with the way we perform our craft,” Cabana said. “Heck, my podcast is called the ‘Art of Wrestling.’ We both have a very distinct style.” Fans flocked to the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory Saturday, Feb. 2 to witness the first National Pro Wrestling Day. Twenty-six independent wrestling companies around the country were represented in an afternoon show as well as an evening show, presenting 10 matches each. In order to offer fans a taste of each promotion, both shows were free. Filsinger Games, producer of tabletop cards and dice Rachel McDevitt can be games, sponsored the historic reached at rachel.mcdevitt@temple.edu. event. “The purpose is to showcase wrestlers and independent promotions that often get over-
lucky seven, p. 11
OhBree, a seven-piece Philly band, provides a big, bold sound with multiple brass instruments. ARTSandEntertainment@temple-news.com
looked as well as bringing fans together to celebrate the sport we all love,” owner Tom Filsinger said. “These people work hard at their craft week in and week out and deserve to be recognized,” Filsinger said. “We will be releasing a commemorative pack of game cards for some of the wrestlers that are competing today.” The Briscoes, Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, kicked off the day with a title defense match against former champions, S.C.U.M.’s Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs. “Corino and I were approached by Ring of Honor officials to represent the company,” Jacobs said. “Steve, the Briscoes and I have all been with ROH for the better part of a decade. So we all take pride in our roles,” Jacobs said. Despite several pin attempts by the villains, the Briscoes extended their eighth title reign and held S.C.U.M. off until they meet again on March 2. Although Corino verbally trashed the city, diehard fans know the four-time world champion actually resides in Philadelphia. “The fans may cheer the Briscoes, but I am the one that was a part of Philadelphia wres-
Wrestling PAGE 11
IT TAKES TWO, p. 12
Attendees of Two Piece Fest VI enjoyed 22 bands for $8. See The Temple News’ photos of the show.
arts & entertainment
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Tuesday, february 5, 2013
Project promotes DIY music, releases photo book DIY PHL PAGE 9
something like 72 different spaces that put on shows [in Philly], not including bars or legit venues,” Beyer said. Not only does Philly have a lot of venues, but it has a lot of adventurous concert-goers, Beyer said. “There are so many different people doing so many things,” Beyer said. “In Chicago, it seemed like only certain people went to certain houses. But in Philly, it seems like people do want to jump between houses and jump between scenes and support different projects if they know about it.” For Weinstein-Bacal, Philly’s diverse DIY scene made finding the events the least pressing of their challenges. “The really nice thing about Philadelphia is that with making the whole DIY PHL project, it wasn’t hard to get going because there’s already so much going on,” WeinsteinBacal said. “We didn’t have to
look that hard, it was just a matter of making everything that’s already there more visible.” After a year of curating calendars, recently added DIY PHL-er Grace Ambrose thought a photo book would be fitting way to mark the project’s first birthday. “[Beyer] pointed out that February was the one-year anniversary, and I made a suggestion that we do something that documented the past year of shows in Philadelphia,” Ambrose said. Much like the project’s calendars, DIY PHL looked to those involved in the scene to submit photos for the book and received hundreds of submissions. “It all came together pretty quickly,” DIY PHL organizer Michael Cantor said. “We were aggregating photos and would sift through them as a yes, no or maybe. If we had too many shots of a particular band, we’d try to pick up a different one to
have more of a diverse spread. There are certain venues that we wanted to represent just to give a broader picture of what the year was like in Philadelphia.” DIY PHL’s photo book launch party will also be a fundraiser for Ladyfest, an arts and activism music festival to be held this summer. Ambrose is one of the key organizers of the event. The book will be available at The First Annual Galentine’s Cover Band Show on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at Cha Cha Razzi. The book will also be available for preorder the week leading up to the release on diyphl. com. It’s $12 if shipped to home and $10 if picked up from an organizer. For Ambrose, who lived abroad for much of 2012, the photo book was more than just a fundraiser – it was a crash course in what she had missed in Philly during her time away. “I didn’t live in Philadel-
phia for most of 2012, so it was really fun for me to see all the shows that happened while I was gone and all the things that were developing and happened during that time. It was really fun to have sort of ‘wish you were there’ moments looking at the book,” Ambrose said. While it may be bizarre for some to imagine anyone wishing they were in a less-thanglamorous basement, Philly’s music scene that DIY PHL promotes through its calendar and captures in its photo book is full of venues with character – and for Weinstein-Bacal, those are the places he likes best. “I kind of like the crummy basements,” Weinstein-Bacal said. “It’s a love-hate thing. Those always seem very special, even though you’re choking on dust.” Jenelle Janci can be reached at jenelle.janci@temple.edu.
COURTESY DIY PHL
Indique hopes to extend store clientele Indique Boutique offers premium quality hair extensions at a new store on South Street. ERIN EDINGER-TUROFF
The Temple News Premium, top quality hair for extensions and weaves are not something easily acquired, said Indique Boutique’s cofounder and creative director Ericka Dotson. Indique hair offers a unique product to women who want the best, instead of cheaper products, which do not last as long and eventually rack up higher installation and maintenance costs. Dotson said typical hair extensions are not “pure,” meaning the hair has been altered from its original state or is a synthetic version “What was prevalent on the market before we came into the picture was a lot of not natural human hair,” Dotson said. “If it is human hair, it had gone through an acid bath wash, and the cuticles ran in two different directions. It’s not going to last as long. Our hair will last for a Indique Boutique offers an array of natural hair choices and year. Other hair will last for a encourages customers to feel hair samples. The hair is not few months after a few washes. mixed with animal or synthetic hair. | ABI REIMOLD TTN Most women who have worn weaves have experienced this lished its own connections and before the doors opened. inferior hair and found it frus- resources in India, where the “We had a lot of people trating. We introduced some- company purchases hair donat- waiting in front,” said store thing that is totally beyond what ed to temples. Women donate manager Maryam Sherif, who they’ve experienced.” their hair to the temples, which relocated to Philadelphia for Located at 1607 South St., then sell the hair for money to the new store. She previously Indique Boutique’s new loca- improve their facilities. In turn, worked with Indique in New tion in Philadelphia has already Indique is able to offer its clients York at the flagship store in attracted a significant amount hair that has never been dyed, SoHo. of customers. altered or chem“I noticed a huge line of The company ically affected. people outside the doors on its began six years “It’s a huge opening day,” Christina Ponago as an online blessing to be saran, the store manager at the retailer of the able to offer this nearby Pure Fare, said. She premium qualtype of hair. It’s added that the store looked very ity “virgin” hair. not easy to ob- appealing and added a lot of Since then, it has tain,” Dotson aesthetic appeal to the area. The expanded to ofsaid. interior of the store is adorned fer in-store serShe called with warm pink walls and artvice, with bouher discovery fully displayed hair. tiques located of the premiumThough Indique hopes in Philadelphia, type hair an to attract young, college-age Lower ManhatEricka Dotson / co-founder “epiphany.” clients interested in investing tan and New JerOn Jan. 12, in a better quality hair, it also sey – and others Indique Bou- boasts very high profile clienopening soon in tique opened its tele. Many celebrities are loyal Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. doors on South Street, offering Indique customers, including Indique offers stand out free weaves to the first 10 cus- Brandy, Monica, Lady Gaga, due to its standards of hair qual- tomers who arrived that day. Cassie, Aubrey O’Day, Azealia ity. Instead of working through The promotion sparked a frenzy Banks, Ciara and Philadelphia a middleman, Indique estab- of attendees, who arrived even native Jill Scott, among many
“It’s a huge
blessing to be able to offer this type of hair. It’s not easy to obtain.
”
+
Indique Boutique manager Maryam Sherif shows off the store’s hair options. The store prides itself on offering “virgin” hair, which isn’t dyed or chemically altered. | ABI REIMOLD TTN others. “I hope Jill Scott comes in,” Sherif said. “That would be really, really nice.” She said many of these celebrities find Indique so appealing because of the versatility of its hair, which can be dyed to fit the desire of a client. Many available collections of specific hair options cater to a broad range of lifestyles, something not only busy celebrities can appreciate, but also students with hectic schedules. Indique works with professional stylists in the area to
which it can refer clients who have purchased its hair product, after being able to have what Sherif called “the Indique experience,” which entails being able to touch and feel samples of hair until they settle on what fits their desired look best. Students working with a budget should look into Indique, she said, due to its higher quality, ensuring a longer lasting product. “College kids should come in and experience it,” Sherif said. Dotson agreed and also noted that students could be referred to affordable stylists.
“It’s great for a student because you’re not spending tons of money taking poor quality hair down and going back to a stylist,” Dotson said. “Who has time to worry about hair? You want to go to early class and still look stylish. We look forward to working with groups of clients from Temple.” Erin Edinger-Turoff can be reached at erin.edinger-turoff@temple.edu.
. It’s a no-brainer. Follow @TheTempleNews.
Tuesday, february 5, 2013
arts & entertainment
Page 11
OhBree OhBree is a seven-piece Philly band that fully embraces its “maximalist” sound.
KEVIN STAIRIKER The Temple News What seven people move into a house together, it isn’t generally expected for them to start a band. In OhBree’s case, this is exactly what happened. Led by principal singer, songwriter and pianist Andrew Scott, OhBree’s monstrous size may be the first thing largely apparent of the band, but the very next thing is the immense sound it is capable of making. The regular rock band lineup of bass, drums and guitar – filled in by Adam Laub, Paul Brown and Michael Aherne – is augmented with three horn players – Bobby Iacono, Tyler Mack and Kyle Press – which adds up to one very large sound. In a live setting, the band delivers hooks and pounding rhythms with a perfect mixture of joy and intensity that gets bodies moving and heads bobbing almost instantaneously. The band’s first full-length album, “We Miss You Edward, Come Home” was
released this past Oct. 30, 2012. See OhBree’s party rock anthems for yourself at WXPN’S 2013 Northern Liberties Winter Music Festival opening for The Extraordinaires at The Fire on Feb. 16. THE TEMPLE NEWS: When you’re compiling ideas for songs, do they get fleshed out with everyone at the same time or do you bring the other six guys fragments of songs? ANDREW SCOTT: More of the latter. I’ll come up with something on my own and bring it to everyone. When we learn how to play it live, we adapt it for the instruments gathered, like we’ll see if a trumpet line works better played on a synth and vice-versa. TYLER MACK: A lot of the songs get fleshed out in the studio. We’ll figure out stuff on our own, and then when we get down to recording, we’ll add all the extra stuff. TTN: How did you all decide to be in a band together? BOBBY IACANO: Our first show was almost a year be-
fore we released “We Miss You Edward, Come Home” at the Sprinkle Kingdom on Halloween. Only six of us played that show, because Kyle was playing in another band at the time and hadn’t joined yet. TTN: Andrew, when you’re arranging the songs in your head, do you feel like because there are so many people in the band that everyone has to be present on every song? AS: Personally, I like to try and include everybody. Our songs aren’t minimalist – it’s figuring out what notes are appropriate for which instruments. PAUL BROWN: We are very maximalist. One band striving to be more like Muse everyday. TTN: What outer influences, musical or otherwise, help define the sound of the band? AS: I have been listening to theater music and a couple of us have played in pit bands over the years. Adding that musical theater feel to weird indie pop is definitely a huge part of what
we try to do. Basically any time I hear music that I find to be silly – almost in a Monty Python way. I love to find a place for the style in my next song. TTN: Do you think there is anything unique about how Philadelphia fosters its musical talent? AS: Philly is one of the best places to start a band. There’s also access to other areas like New York City and a solid budding music industry. I definitely like the way Philly bands support each other. TTN: Have you started working on any new material as a band? AS: We’re working on some new stuff now but it’s still in its very early stages. First thing we’re going to do is put out a greatest hits album as a goof and a spoof. It should make us millions Kevin Stairiker can be reached at Kevin.Stairiker@temple.edu.
(Top) Andrew Scott is the lead singer, songwriter and pianist for OhBree. Kyle Press, saxophonist, embraces his instrument. The band, comprised of seven members, played upstairs at Kung Fu Necktie on Jan. 26.| ABI REIMOLD TTN
Independent wrestling companies represented in Feb. 2 event Wrestling PAGE 9 tling,” Corino said. “It didn’t matter if it was the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance in a car dealership parking lot, the NWA at the Philadelphia Civic Center or the ECW Arena, Philadelphia wrestling is the center of the American wrestling universe.” Originally, the grappling festival was scheduled to be held at the Derby Ink Gardens on Eighth and Spring Garden streets. However, the venue switch was announced two days prior to the double header.
“Derby Ink Gardens has or had a major issue with the fire sprinkler system,” Bob Magee, wrestling journalist of PWBTS, said. Derby Ink Gardens did not return calls for comment as of press time. For fans unable to attend the event, Internet pay-per-view provider Smart Mark Video On Demand charged $14.99 for both shows or $9.99 separately. In other matches, 25-yearveteran 2 Cold Scorpio won a
fatal four way, Harlem Globetrotting Sugar Dunkerton led his team to victory and ECW icon Tommy Dreamer returned to his old stomping grounds in dominating fashion. Various promotions including EVOLVE, Women Superstars Uncensored and the International Wrestling Cartel were represented during the night show. Cabana received an award from legendary pro wrestling journalist Bill Apter for being
the ambassador of independent wrestling. “This whole project is a new concept, and I’m a firm believer,” Cabana said. “When I was a kid, I dreamt to be like my wrestling heroes. To come full circle and get an award for giving something back means the world to me. I do my best to be a positive ambassador for indie wrestling,” Cabana said. Longtime fan Matthew Scott was attending his first live
event and didn’t want to leave. “I’ve always watched on TV and couldn’t skip the chance to see international talent for free,” Scott said. “After this experience, I plan on making it out to a few more shows in the area. These fans were going bananas for even body slams,” Scott added. In the most anticipated match of the card, Cabana and Quackenbush exchanged holds, reversals, and even some British comedy bits until Cabana
caught Quackenbush in a forward roll for the three count. With a show-stealing victory and an award for his contributions, Cabana remained humble during his hero’s welcome home. “This event is a wonderful thank you to all those who support indie wrestling,” Cabana said. John Corrigan can be reached at john.corrigan@temple.edu.
On-the-go gamers find entertainment in all genres
Y
ou’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t occasionally partake in an odd game or two on their mobile device. Even looking back to childhoods, with clunky Nokia phones, games like “Snake” or “Tetris” were actually the very beginnings of mobile gaming. The games of today, however, bear no resemblance to their older counterparts. Improved graphics, multiplayer and the SAMANTHA TIGHE occasional storyline – it’s no Save & Quit surprise to see mobile gaming quickly becoming a massive market for developers. Every other week, there seems to be a new craze or game that is taking the world, and especially your family members, by storm. It’s a fickle venture to develop games like these. Games explode in popularity but typically have a short shelf life, their recognition lasting only a few weeks before they fade from memory. I’ve played them all – Zynga games, “Temple Run,” “Mr. Dreamer” and “Logo Quiz,” to
Columnist Samantha Tighe asks, ‘What’s your favorite mobile game?’
name a few. I’ve gotten messag- one. It’s a frustrating element of es from people who want me to course, but you actually have to start playing a game as well. It’s sit and plan out a strategy and becoming borderline “Farm- develop some sense of physics. ville” spam, but occasionally a I went out and spoke to good game comes out of it. some students on Main CamMy favorite mobile game pus to get their takes on some so far is “Angry of their favorite Birds Space.” games. Most Now the gamereiterated complay in “Angry mon titles, like Birds” doesn’t “Angry Birds,” usually stray but some also from game to broke the mold. game – you fling For jua bird in attempts nior marketing to destroy the major Patrick bases of the eneKneass, his new my pigs. It’s gotgame to play ten so popular, is “Clay Jam.” that there’s even You control a a “Star Wars” spiclay figure by noff. The thing I Christine Sofield / the name of Fat senior human resources major Pebble. In orlike most about “Angry Birds der to battle the Space” is the enemies of the fact that there are game – Bully outside factors Beasts – he has that come into effect. The grav- to expand and grow. In order to ity of the planet, the distance to do this he needs to roll over oththe enemy pigs, you may even er smaller clay monsters. Think have to break out of one plan- “Beautiful Katamari” in a world et’s atmosphere to reach another that actually looks like it’s made
“I like ‘Jetpack
Joyride’... It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something, even though I’m just wasting time.
”
of clay. “I like Clay Jam because it’s simple,” Kneass said. “It takes a simple concept and combines it with great graphics to create an immersive world.” Created by Zynga, “Clay Jam” for Android and iOS devices have maintained a near five-star rating, even after it had more than 5,000 reviews and ratings. But the best part? It’s free. Christine Sofield, a senior studying human resources, came upon her favorite whilst browsing through games on her tablet. Sofield said she tried them all, including most multiplayer games, but “Jetpack Joyride” was different. As someone who considers herself a non-gamer, she couldn’t get into playing adventure oriented games or games that were overly technical. The boring humdrum word and drawing games weren’t appealing, either. “I like ‘Jetpack Joyride,’ because it has little goals and missions,” Sofield said. “It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something, even though I’m just
wasting time.” She said gameplay also matches her style. “It’s cute, and I can either play a short or long game depending on however long I have to play,” Sofield said. “Jetpack Joyride” is also available for Android and iOS devices and it’s free to play. I suggest you leave any misconceptions you have about mobile gaming behind, because, as the genre develops, quality games are releasing and a surprising majority are free to play or have free counterparts. If you’re itching for a new title to add to your mobile library, browse the top charts in your device’s app store or go beyond and search on the Internet. Entire communities have sprouted up in honor of mobile gaming, and they’d be more than happy to share their recommendations with you. Samantha Tighe can be reached at samantha.tighe@temple.edu.
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TWO PIECE FEST Two Piece Fest VI drew crowds to West Philly’s PILAM on Feb. 2. Attendees enjoyed 22 bands for $8, including complimentary soft pretzels and a dinner break. KATE McCANN TTN
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CENTER CITY COMEDY AT THE RAVEN LOUNGE THURSDAY, FEB. 7 9 P.M. FREE, 21+ THE RAVEN LOUNGE 1718 SANSOM ST. Cheap laughs aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Originally founded and hosted by Chris Cotton, H. Foley and Conrad Roth, Center City Comedy presents a variety of acts every Thursday at the most affordable price there is – free. The show is broken down into three sections running from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., and if you want to see the best of the best, you’re not going to want to be late. Unlike concerts, there is no opening act; the guys with the best material go on first. Also, the room will fill up quickly and seating can
be hard to come by so show up early. The first part of the show is kicked off by host Ryan Shaner and continues on to showcase some of Philly’s best comics, as well as the up-andcomers of the Philly comedy scene who have been performing well of late. In addition to the local acts, nationally headlining performers such as Godfrey, Amy Schumer and Hannibal Buress have been known to drop in and perform a set. Following the more established comics and a 10-minute intermission, the middle segment of the show features newer comics still trying to make a name for themselves. After another brief intermission, the show concludes with an open mic night segment. The stage is open to anyone brave enough to step onto it, as sign-ups for the open mic run from 8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Sign-ups are cut off once
there are 35 participants. Although open mic nights can sometimes be more painful to watch than funny, former Center City Comedy host Tom Cassidy claims that isn’t the case. “I’ve performed in a lot of parts of the country including Los Angeles and New York,” Cassidy said. “In regards to open mics, I would say Center City Comedy at the Raven Lounge is the best in the country.” The show also has a personal feel to it, with most of the comics hanging around after they’ve performed to mingle with the crowd. In addition to it being a free show, The Raven Lounge offers a variety of drink specials that vary from week to week, as well as a $5 Citywide Special – a 16 oz. Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and a shot of bourbon.
SENSIBLE NONSENSE WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 / 6 P.M. / FREE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA – KELLY WRITERS HOUSE 3805 LOCUST WALK The Sensible Nonsense Project allows adults to get in touch with their inner child by revisiting their favorite children’s books. Speakers take part in lighthearted discussions about the lessons and morals gained from the stories of their youth, and talk about how those stories have shaped who they are today. Spectators can join in on the conversation by submitting an essay on their own favorite book prior to the lecture at sensiblenonsense.us.
COLONIAL CHOCOLATE MAKING FEB. 9-10 / 11 A.M. / FREE WITH ADMISSION BETSY ROSS HOUSE / 239 ARCH ST. For one weekend, the Betsy Ross House will be swapping out the symbol of America for the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Visitors to the historic house will be treated to a colonial chocolate -making demonstration, and they will get to indulge in the final products.
LOVE TRAIN TOUR AND RECEPTION SUNDAY, FEB. 10 / 2 P.M. / $25 / SEPTA HEADQUARTERS 1234 MARKET ST. The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, in conjunction with SEPTA and Wired 96.5, is offering a chartered El tour of West Philadelphia’s “A Love Letter For You Project” murals. The guided tour works as a nice pre-Valentine’s Day outing for both couples and singles alike, offering a romantic ride for couples and a post-tour “Singles Looking to Mingle with Tingle” event at SEPTA headquarters hosted by Wired 96.5 personality Steve Tingle. - Joe Fricker
Morrissey throws his arms around Reading
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We’ve got game (tickets). The Temple News is giving away tickets to the men’s basketball game tomorrow to the first 20 people to come to the newsroom, Room 243 of the Student Center, from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. today, Feb. 5.
KEVIN STAIRIKER Fear of Music
Columnist Kevin Stairiker describes his bizarre experience at a Morrissey concert.
T
o paraphrase Leonardo DiCaprio in “Django Unchained,” when Morrissey announced that he would be touring North America in 2013, he had my curiosity. But when he announced that he’d be stopping in the broken down gas station of Pennsylvania that is my semi-hometown of Reading, he had my attention. Like most angsty pale kids, I loved The Smiths from the first moment I heard them and gradually transitioned into enjoying Morrissey’s solo work as well. As someone who has achieved a “living legend” tag, whether it is for his music or outspoken views on nearly everything, I had assumed that I would never get a chance to see the guy. But as I walked through the doors of the Sovereign Performing Arts Center, the building where I had witnessed my first concert – Get the Led Out, a totally convincing Led Zeppelin tribute band – the reality of the situation became more real with every step. Accompanying me on my journey was my good friend and former roommate Zach, who insisted that by night’s end he would be in Morrissey’s arms, if only for a few brief seconds. I laughed off the idea, but not before laughing again at the sight of an official Morrissey pillowcase at the merch stand, complete with a stenciling of Moz’ face and the words, “Last night I dreamt somebody loved me” on it. I promptly bought it for Zach. Our seats were not far from the stage, and, acousti-
cally, it’s hard to get a bad seat at the Sovereign building. After a killer opening of the old Smiths chestnut “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” Morrissey mentioned from the stage that the large open space between the people standing in the front and the people seated a few yards behind them, separated by guards and bouncers, was annoying him. Naturally, by the time the next song had started, security relented and people from all over the venue rushed to the edge of the stage to witness Morrissey up close. You have not felt true joy until you’ve seen a large theater full of middle-aged white people scream-singing “Still Ill” like it was 1984. While it was true that the audience definitely skewed toward older people, the range of people that bum rushed the stage truly bridged a generational gap. One of the things I found out after the show was that excessive stage-rushing – and the consequent stage-hugging – is not only extremely common at Morrissey shows, but it’s also bizarrely tolerated, albeit with a wink. Along with the regular two guards from the theater, Morrissey had a guy on each side of the stage, both with matching black shirts imprinted with “MOZ” written in big letters. Their job was to throw off stage-rushers. As enigmatic of a performer as Morrissey is at 53 years old, my attention was on his guards almost as much. Both men were in attack position throughout the entire set, making eye contact with potential hooligans before they could act. Some were dissuaded, others were not. It began slowly, with two teenagers in quick succession sneaking hugs, lifting their arms into a victory stance and then being shooed off the stage. The best hug-thief of the night was also probably the youngest person in attendance. Morrissey first interacted with the nineyear-old during his usual “impromptu” mid-show Q&A with the people in the very front. This exchange then followed: Moz: How are you doing? 9-year-old: Not good! M: Why’s that? NYO: School! M: Do you have school to morrow? [The show was on a Saturday night.] NYO: No, on Monday. M: Well then you’ll be fine.
The duo met again during the encore of “How Soon Is Now?” As the Moz had his back turned to the audience, the kid climbed on to the stage and jumped on Morrissey’s back, causing Morrissey to begin swinging in a circle to get the boy off and singing all the while. When the cadence was done, the boy let go and Morrissey gave him a side hug and smiled, saying, “My boy! My boy!” And if I wasn‘t already standing with my mouth open like a giraffe, the boy’s father jumped on stage, giving both his son and Morrissey a hug. Then, the father and son team both departed from the stage. Maybe it was just because I had “How Soon Is Now?” being played before me, or maybe it was the novelty of seeing Morrissey in Reading of all places, but it was one of the most genuinely bizarre things I had ever seen on stage – and I’ve seen Bob Dylan pretend to remember his own songs. The set itself was a surprisingly good mix of the songs that make up Morrissey’s threedecade songbook. Whether he focused on short songs or was merely trying to get out sooner, every song seemed to reach its end quickly, with the clear exception of “Meat is Murder.” Set to a backdrop of farm animals being wrangled up to be slaughtered, the already-six minute song seemed to stretch on for hours and made nearly every meat eater in the theater look down at his or her shoes. By show’s end, 10 people had rushed the stage, four stage guards looked pissed and one shirt had been thrown into the crowd and promptly replaced by Morrissey. He’s still got it. Kevin Stairiker can be reached at kevin.stairiker@temple.edu.
Five More Things: Five songs I wish Morrissey had played: “Something Is Squeezing My Skull” “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful” “You Have Killed Me” “That’s Entertainment”
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Secret sharing thrives in anonymity
A bathroom stall located in the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue has a wall filled with secrets. | MARIAN FUENTES TTN
A social-networking app allows its users to submit their secrets. PATRICIA MADEJ The Temple News People unload a lot of personal baggage on Facebook and Twitter, but users are not likely to log on and see all of their friends’ or followers’ darkest secrets aired publicly – a universal intrigue that social networking app Whisper is attempting to bring to the spotlight. Launched last May, the app is growing in popularity and has more than 250,000 users, said co-creator Michael Heyward. The app is free to download for any iPhone or iPad user, and will soon be available to any Android owners later this year. After creating an account, Whisper allows users to choose an image – either their own or pre-uploaded – choose a filter, and then place text with a choice of font. Like other socially-interactive apps, users can “heart”
or comment on a post. As of December 2012, Whisper’s users can now privately and anonymously message one another. Entries are then sectioned into most popular, latest and nearby posts. The nearby feature is, Heyward said, extremely popular with the app because users have the ability to relate to those around them, especially on a college campus, without knowing exactly who they are. Users have the power to get into the minds of strangers. “I created this app because I felt there was a need for people to have a place, a social community online, where they could be themselves. Social networks today leave us feeling isolated as we compare ourselves to others,” Heyward said. “Whisper is a community where you can be yourself.” Heyward said he attributes its increasing growth to creating communities in colleges and universities across the country. He believes that it offers a sense of relief to users knowing they can submit whatever is on their
mind to a judgment-free community. “Whisper has become so popular with college students because college is a time when people need a space to be themselves,” Heyward said. “You’re away from home for the first time – there’s so much selfexploration and also so much doubt. Whisper is a way for students to connect during this complicated but very exciting time in their lives.” But the need to extend secrets anonymously and into the world has been going on long before Whisper, or even Post-Secret. The evidence is in the girl’s bathroom stall in the Barnes and Noble located on Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, where there is a list of more than 48 secrets written on the walls. The list reveals secrets varying from cheating and pregnancy to being excited about the future and being in love. Many overlap, with arrows pointing to other confessions, with a myriad of different colored pens
painting the wall of the beige bathroom stall giving advice and words of wisdom, with the inevitable jab of judgment. Angela Brown, an early childhood education major, said she isn’t on Main Campus too often but has managed to see the infamous stall twice. “It’s amazing. It’s really just something there for people to express themselves,” Brown said. Brown added she sees the posts as relatable and can see how writing those posts would create a support system. She said she has strict feelings about vandalism and would never contribute herself. As for technology, “I don’t know if I trust an app,” Brown said. The biggest concern some may have with the app is its legitimacy – knowing what’s real and what isn’t. Heyward said he believes its anonymity keeps people from lying, and if something seems untrue, remains confident that other users will call them out in a comment.
Though they can’t accurately decipher the lies from the truth, the Whisper team takes extracting the inappropriate from the appropriate very seriously. “We have a very sophisticated back-end that searches for specific words and images that are inappropriate,” Heyward said. “So if something is offensive, it is detected. We also employ 24/7 human moderation. The other way we monitor posts is by allowing users to flag posts themselves. That brings it to our attention, so we review it and determine if it’s inappropriate. If a post gets enough flags it’s removed regardless.” Kareem Johnson, who teaches social psychology courses at Temple, said she sees why college students would want to submit their secrets. “They may feel like they can’t talk about [their secrets] to anyone else,” Johnson said. “These are things that could be embarrassing to share with other people, or things that they are concerned about how other
people might view them, so this is a form for people to get it out there, get it off their chest.” Johnson added people feel the need to get it off their chest because thoughts or feelings linger, and we as humans must find a way to expel that. Social psychologists call this “reappraising” their emotions. “To have a forum where you could discuss things that you wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing in any other format can be really beneficial to people to work through feelings or events that have happened to them that they’re still carrying around that may still be upsetting,” Johnson said. He added that this is also another benefit of going to therapy, therefore releasing these secrets to whatever medium, be it a stall, a piece of mail or an app, can be very therapeutic. Patricia Madej can be reached at patricia.madej@temple.edu.
Indian dances find home on Main Campus DANCE PAGE 7 but we have other members who are just interested in our culture and dance who join for the experience because they love it just as much as we do,” Talwar said. While members of Agni perform dances to represent their heritage. Shikha said the group also works hard to incorporate a modern flair into the choreography, making the dances uniquely their own and to help them generate collegiate level, competitive routines. “We participate in everything – we do competitions, local campus events, concerts for Indian singers and various other gigs – it’s a lot of diverse events where we get to meet a lot of new people and make a lot of new friends,” Talwar said. “We are a fusion dance team, which means that we take styles of dance from all over India and America and fuse them into our choreography.” As a part of Indian culture separate from the Bollywood style of dance, Bhangra is a form of both music and dance typically practiced in the northern Punjab region of India. “Temple University Bhangra was the university’s first team that practices a single style of South Asian dance,” said Bilal Badruddin, a Temple alumnus and founder of the group.
Similar to Temple Agni, the TU Bhangra team also competes locally against other dance groups. “We mainly dance and have fun at practice, but we also engage in a lot of competitions and exhibitions in Philly,” said Sim Sidhu, a freshman biology major. Members said being a part of a dance team that is such an important part of their heritage is an experience they cherish. Not only do TU Bhangra and Agni help students learn how to dance at a competitive level, they also bring students from similar backgrounds together. “I joined Bhangra my second semester of my freshman year and I absolutely fell in love with the dance, excitement, team members and overall aura,” said Puja Shah, a junior management information systems major and captain of Temple Bhangra since Spring 2011. “I have been on the team since then and do not see myself ever letting go of the attachment I have with the team.” Members of Temple Agni reflect the same camaraderie that members of TU Bhangra feel. As an all female group working together and improving as a team is a challenge that the girls willingly accept and feel blessed to be a part of. “It’s great to have this team
since we have created a kind of family – practice is a time that allows us to take a break from school and the stressful day and be with the girls that we consider family while being away from our own,” Talwar said. In regards to the future of Agni, Talwar and her teammates agree they would like to continue working hard and building up their reputation by performing as much as possible. “We have a lot of shows in the area that we are doing as well as hopes to compete in any upcoming collegiate dance competitions,” Talwar said. Temple Bhangra also plans to continue working hard to grow as a team and would like to expand the group even further. “We plan to compete in larger competitions and get our name out there for more people to know,” Shah said. “We all joined because we love dance or love to have a good time, and although Bhangra is hard, it is really exciting once it all comes together.” Alexa Bricker can be reached at alexa.bricker@temple.edu.
No app needed. Temple-news.com is your place to for the latest Temple-related news and information, no matter your device or browser.
TU Bhangra fuses modern techniques into their traditional Indian dance style. The group competes locally against other similar dance groups. | AJA ESPINOSA TTN
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Theobald’s wife strives to define role then an economist in private industry, on her “first and last blind date,” set up by friends in Seattle, she said. As their new relationship thrived, Mackenzie’s checkered career blossomed when she decided to study school psychology. “My students, the kids that were being brought in, couldn’t read their own police report,” she said. “So there were a lot of reading issues going on.” Mackenzie received her master’s degree in school psychology from the University of Washington, she said. When Mackenzie moved to Indiana with Theobald, who was then offered a job at Indiana University as a professor in education policy and finance, she
MACKENZIE PAGE 7
she went to high school and college. Mackenzie studied criminology at Indiana University, setting her up for her first job as a police officer in a city known for its tough crime. “[Sheona is] very smart; very determined,” Theobald, Temple’s 10th president, said in an email. “Her first job after college was as a police officer in Chicago. She was determined to do this because, at that time [in the 1970s], she was being told that she couldn’t succeed on a large city police force.” She later moved to Seattle to do probation work and research on a juvenile prostitution project. Mackenzie met Theobald,
spent time working in public thing,” she said. schools and later helping young As for now, Mackenzie adults obtain GEDs. isn’t sure if she is going to do “I would test them for school psychology in Philadellearning disabilities, ADHD, phia. But, she does know she anything that wants responsimight get them bilities at TemaccommodaIt’s a hugely ple. tions to help demanding job, and “I’m going them get their to give myself a I think the class few months and GED,” Mackenzie said. could be almost our see how much Since she time this whole date night. was working ‘wife of the while Theobald president’ takes, served numerSheona Mackenzie / first lady which seems to ous positions at take quite a bit... Indiana UniverIf I do anything sity, Mackenzie said her role it will probably be volunteer at the university was “sort of a work,” Mackenzie said. “I don’t support player.” want to be pulled in too many “I would go to functions, directions initially, I want to see but I wasn’t responsible for any- where I can be most useful at
“
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Temple.” Mackenzie plans to voluntarily teach a freshman course, which is still in its initial inception, on leadership with her husband in the upcoming semesters. “I think it’s something that Neil and I could do as a team,” Mackenzie said. “I could go off on my own and do stuff, but I think this is a job where he needs a lot of support. It’s a hugely demanding job, and I think the class could be almost our date night.” The class, which is modeled off a senior course at Indiana University, will ask students what their vision is for the university. It then will work to implement the ideas and make the university more student cen-
tered, Mackenzie said. “[Mackenzie] has more perspective on Temple University than I do – I am too close to many issues,” Theobald said. “She keeps our focus on students – and the experiences they are having. Being engaged on campus allows us to help [ensure] that students are having positive experiences on campus.” “[Mackenzie] is a wonderful listener and we share common values,” Theobald added. “Thus, she is invaluable in thinking through issues as they arise.” Lauren Hertzler can be reached at lauren.hertzler@temple.edu or on Twitter @laurenhertzler.
iDevice users can benefit from jailbreaks
T
he screen of my iPad is emitting a warm yellowish glow this evening, having adjusted its temperature shortly after sunset. It’s good for my circadian rhythm, the app developers said. As a photojournalism student at Temple, I need to sleep as efficiently as possible. But not yet. I need to keep writing. I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I tap and hold my index finger on the clock in the status bar at the top of the screen. “WiFi Enabled.” Perfect. Now I double-tap the clock. “Bluetooth Enabled.” Even better. Now my wireless keyboard actually does something more than make keyboard noises. I see an email from WordPress telling me “Click This Link” has posted a new comment on an old entry from Broad & Cecil, The Temple News’ news blog. I touch the link. It opens up in Google Chrome, my iPad’s default browser. Spam: delete. But it was one of the funnier spam comments I’ve seen in a while: “The bullet is ejected from the nostrils,’s, math scores be raised,parajumper’s outlet,” [sic]. So I select the sentence as usual, and when the contextual menu pops up, I touch the “Tweet” button. Boom. @montchr says something witty, and people retweet. I’m on a roll. Do any of you use an iDevice? I’m feeling lucky tonight
CHRIS MONTGOMERY superuser do
Chris Montgomery goes through the ins and outs of jailbreaking iDevices.
– my guess is yes. Does any of that stuff above sound sort of “off” to you? If your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is jailbroken, then it should sound just about right on. If it’s not jailbroken, it’s possible you’re wondering, “What kind of freakish, Qlippothic shadow-world is this web editor from anyhow, and why would they ever hire this black-hatted criminal?” Well, I can’t answer that question, but I can certainly tell you why you might want to jailbreak your phone and that, as of Monday, Feb. 4, iOS 6 users can freely jailbreak their iDevices for the first time since iOS 6 was released in mid-September 2012. In 2007, Apple released the iPhone, its first device to use iOS. Only eight days later, the group of hackers appropriately known as the iPhone Dev Team were able to easily jailbreak, or gain “root” access to, the iPhone’s file system. To put it simply, jailbreaking, according to the website JailbreakQA.com, means “removing restrictions in your device’s default software so that it can run third-party apps and extensions – themes and tweaks – not approved by Apple.” In the beginning, however, the jailbreak was used primarily for simply loading custom ringtones onto the iPhone’s file system. Despite the countless hours of their personal time that iOS
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nent non-profit digital rights organization. “You may have purchased an iPad, but unless you’ve exploited a vulnerability in iOS to jailbreak it, there are many things you cannot install on it.” When it comes to comparing Android and iOS, both have their strengths and weaknesses. But Android’s biggest weapon against iOS is its out-of-the-box extensibility. Not only does Android allow users to install thirdparty apps from the Google Play Store, but it allows these apps to have much more control over how the device’s hardware reacts to user input. For this kind of power, iOS users have to go to the extra step of jailbreaking their iDevice. After the iDevice is jailbroken, users of the ubiquitous Apple products are more likely to have a consistent and easier time working with the modifications they download from Cydia than they would if they were using Android. Apple claims that jailbreaking voids the device’s warranty. That’s fine. If your iDevice ever needs servicing, all you have to do is restore to a non-jailbroken version of iOS. There’s no way they will ever be able to know, and there’s no way you will ever mess up your iDevice’s actual hardware. Still, it’s important to keep in mind the great axiom, “with great power comes great responsibility.” This certainly rings true when opening doors
Should be the last thing on your mind
WHERE to Eat 1
hackers devote to develop the jailbreak, for us end-users it’s only a three-step process of plugging in, backing up your data and pressing a single button, all in a nice graphical user interface. Ever since the days of iOS 2.0 the best source of third-party apps for iOS is the Cydia Store. Cydia has something for every skill level. Cydia not only sells some premium modifications and themes for customizing iOS, but it also offers many obscure tweaks for developers seeking low-level control over some of the most basic hardware functions of the iDevice. No app in the App Store will give you that kind of hardwarelevel control over your device. And that’s how Apple wants to keep it. A lot of people criticize Apple for using a “walled garden” approach to their products. While Apple has built a lot of its strength on a seamless and polished user experience on both the hardware and software level, Apple’s rigid proprietary control may hinder innovation and eventually lead to its own irrelevance. “Apple changed the way we think about mobile computing with the iPhone, but they have also led the charge in creating restrictive computers and restrictive marketplaces for software,” wrote Micah Lee and Peter Eckersley of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a promi-
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that the jailbreak offers you. While it can be tempting to download and install every theme and modification you see in the Cydia Store, it’s best to use caution not to clutter up your iDevice. It is, after all, a personal computer in the palm of your hand. Apple would prefer it if jailbreaking was illegal in the U.S. Fortunately, jailbreaking the iPhone is legal. Jailbreaking iPhones is currently granted legal exemption from the anticircumvention laws of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, an exemption made possible by the work of the EFF. But because the DMCA exemption only applies to jailbreaking mobile phones, for atleast the next three years the iPad jailbreak is illegal. Personally, I think the system of DMCA exemptions is illogical and arbitrary, as the exemptions change every three years. The jailbreaking community is huge – too huge for me to summarize in 1,000 words. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can use your iDevice to its fullest potential, check out JailbreakQA’s FAQs.
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PAGE 17
Talent does not guarantee a lead role ACTOR PAGE 7
of theater all together. That thought has crossed my mind 10,000 times. But in theater, failure makes you just as strong, if not stronger, than success. But instead of wallowing in self-pity or self-deprecation, Mitola finds strength and opportunities for growth from these rejections. “I think my confidence is stronger now coming out of undergrad, because I’ve had to deal with a lot of blows and failures and rejections and I’m still standing, so I think that’s gotta mean something. That’s probably the biggest lesson I’ve
learned from Temple, how to take the knocks in stride,” Mitola said before bursting out into song with “It Gets Better.” The first thing Mitola recalled about her experience at Temple was a “rumor,” as she put it, of some cruel speaker that came and told the department that if people were never cast in a main-stage show, they should probably find another major. Funnily enough, Justina Ercole, Temple theater department alumna, recalled the very same thing, except that she was present for this ill-informed speaker. “I remember once a professor getting up in front of 1087
and confronting the student complaint regarding lack of performance opportunities, especially in main stage productions. And this person’s response was, ‘If you graduate and have never been cast in a main-stage, you should probably look into something other than performing.’ And my response to that is, absolutely not,” Ercole said. Ercole certainly proved that speaker wrong. “In my time at Temple, I was only cast in one main-stage. It was my last semester and I was in the ensemble. To my luck, a cast member dropped out a week before rehearsals,
and I was bumped up to a comedic bit part that I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever play in the real world. But I was immensely grateful for the opportunity and still learned a great deal in the production. And after college, I have continued to work in professional regional theaters thanks to my training at Temple.” Ercole is an example of someone who is always, and I’m not exaggerating, working. I follow her on Instagram and she constantly has pictures of new projects she’s working on. Networking and a good work ethic can take someone a very long
way, and that is exactly what Ercole vouches for. College is for learning the necessary tools to be successful post graduation. As Ercole so beautifully put it, “There is nothing quite like performing in a well-developed role after weeks of rehearsal for a packed house in Tomlinson or Randall; you should never underestimate what you can learn in your acting classes. I saw so many people brush off their scenes or monologues because they focused more on their many main-stage roles. I am constantly using monologues and techniques I perfected in classes. If you’re constantly get-
ting called back but not getting cast, just ask why.” Work hard, try hard and learn hard – these efforts will not go unnoticed by the faculty, who also are working professionals in the theater world. Don’t allow failure to make you lazy, apathetic or, worse, a diva. Just fail better. Thank you, Samuel Beckett. We actors salute you. Marcie Anker can be reached at martha.anker@temple.edu.
Positive thoughts should prompt workouts
A
CARY CARR Body of Truth
Cary Carr wants readers to use exercise as a reward, not punishment.
s a serious magazine junkie, I often find myself in awe due to the amount of stories focusing on losing weight. “Drop those last 10 pounds,” “Blast that fat away” and “Get the body you’ve always wanted.” Those are just a few of the typical “thinspirational” headlines making the covers of the glossy girly publications my eyes go to. And with my experience in health and fitness writing, I sometimes wonder if I am choosing an important career path that inspires people to get healthy or if I’m just promoting the type of fitness propaganda that turns men and women into scale-obsessed dieters who frequent the gym not because they want to get healthy, but because they judge their worth based on an arbitrary number. I fully understand that many people work out to lose the weight that may be holding them back, but I wonder if the pressure to hit the gym seven days a week is just too much. Shouldn’t getting fit be fun?
Shouldn’t it be measured by how good we feel rather than by how many calories we can burn? And when do we cross the line between being healthy and becoming an over-exerciser who replaces time with friends and family with miles and miles on the treadmill? Most of us are quite aware of addictions like alcoholism, cigarette smoking or gambling, but over-exercising has negative effects on our health and mental well-being too. Just like anorexia and bulimia, many people use compulsive exercising as a way to purge. And just like other common eating disorders, exercising too much can end up taking control of every aspect of a person’s life. When I struggled with an eating disorder, I would punish myself for eating a measly few hundred calories with hours at the gym. Even when other things came up, like a trip to the beach or a last-minute homework assignment, I chose working out, taking time at any cost to get in a sweat session. Once, even though I had a bad fever, I convinced myself that I needed
to go on a run in order to burn off the soup I could barely get down. It started to seem like my self-worth was based off of how many crunches I could squeeze into an afternoon, and all of a sudden, the activities I loved, like my nightly dance classes, went from a way to relieve stress to a torture method to drop another pound. Not every case is so extreme, but I often see others using exercise as a punishment rather than a reward. Whenever a friend of mine eats an extra slice of pizza or treats herself to frozen yogurt, she feels the need to proclaim “tomorrow I’ll workout extra” or “I’ll be paying for this tomorrow.” Why the hell can’t she, and I, and you, just enjoy our food without immediately planning ways to feel less bad about eating it? The truth is, it’s healthy to take a day or week or even a month off from going to the gym without feeling guilty. I’m not saying it’s a good idea to take a full-time job as a couch potato, but replacing those intense cardio classes with a lei-
surely walk with someone you love or a game of Frisbee with friends you haven’t seen in a while can be just as rewarding. You don’t need a red number flashing the number of calories you burned to prove that you were active for the day. So how are we supposed to make exercise fun again when Shaun T from Insanity is screaming in our faces to do another freaking pushup to get the abs totally spray-painted on those before and after photos? Give all of those outside influencers the middle finger and start making it about you. Stop freaking out about what Jessica Alba’s secret is to looking like a supermodel two seconds after popping out a baby and realize that your sanity is much more important than the number of shoulder presses you did that day. Next time you hear your friend whine and moan about the workout class she “should” take in an hour, tell her she’s gorgeous – no, flawless – and that she should check out that park you’ve been dying to go to instead.
Next time your mom is ripping celebrity workouts out of magazines and trying to squeeze in gym time between her fulltime job and cooking dinner, convince her to take a moment to breathe and sit on the porch instead. And next time you find yourself sore from the hell that is your senior year, remember that the gym really will still be there tomorrow, and the next day, and your happiness is by no means dependent on you squeezing in an hour to get there right now. Too much of anything, even exercising, can end up hurting us. And I assure you that your happiness is going to be much more important and useful in the future than having a Ryan Gosling-inspired six-pack. Plus, it’s way more fun to gawk at him on TV than sweat your butt off trying to look like him at the gym. Trust me. Cary Carr can be reached at cary.carr@temple.edu.
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sports
page 18
Tuesday, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Freshmen provide on ice, in locker room I guess and it’s been going well. mentor two freshmen. When he I haven’t really changed any- joined my line, I was getting at thing [about my game] and it’s least two points per game at one just been clicking. The team has point.” helped me a lot, too. Whenever “Malinowski is every bit something has been wrong, [as good] we thought he was they’ve always helped me out.” going to be,” Roberts said. “He Brewer, with 19 points, and doesn’t have as many points Malinowski, with 17 points, are that we thought he was going fourth and sixth in scoring, re- to have at this point, but he’s spectively. played really well with the Though freshman Jayson guys around him. The people Marbach was ruled academical- around him have had success, ly ineligible for the and he’s one spring semester, he of the driving would currently sit reasons as to in third on the team why.” in scoring with 21 W i t h points through 20 Malinowski, games. Roberts knew During the his team was later half of the fall getting a semester, Vassa player with and Malinowski size and a were regularly feahard shot. He tured on a forward did not know line with senior his team was Jerry Roberts / coach and captain Jordan about to get Lawrence. senior level leadership from the “[Lawrence] helped me out freshman. the most out of anyone,” Ma“He’s terrific in the locker linowski said. “I played with room,” Roberts said. “He’s alhim for a while and he was help- ways there to lighten the mood ing out a lot. He usually played and when it’s go time. He’s madefense but Jerry put him on of- ture enough to realize it and he fense with me and [Vassa]. He’s provides some leadership to the a senior and the captain, and the team.” idea was that he could really “Vassa and Brewer are
“As far as
freshmen or new players are concerned, we haven’t had anything close to this.
”
freshmen PAGE 20
both quiet, and Malinowski is quiet for the first five seconds he knows you and then he can’t stop talking,” Roberts added. “He’s one of the funniest guys I’ve ever seen in a locker room, but he knows when it’s time to get serious.” After spending the first semester of the 2010-11 season with an American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I team at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Brewer transferred to Temple after taking off from school for more than a year. “I knew being a transfer and being among the younger kids, there would be a lot of older guys with seniority ahead of me,” Brewer said. “I didn’t expect to get this much playing time, but I’ve worked hard and I’ve earned it.” Another unsung hero of this Temple team, Brewer has made a name for himself due to his knack for scoring when it matters. Now a sophomore, Brewer has notched game-winning shootout goals in bouts with Lehigh on Sep. 23 and Liberty on Nov. 9. He has also had his fair share of big goals in the third period, Roberts said. “He has a knack for scoring
Freshman forward Cody Vassa, leads the ice hockey club with 33 points – 15 goals, 18 assists – and was called the team’s biggest surprise by coach Jerry Roberts. | pAUL KLEIN TTN really significant goals,” Roberts said. “He had the shootout winners at Lehigh and Liberty, and he’s had other clutch goals throughout the season as well. It’s almost like he doesn’t have any nerves in those situations.” A Temple player for five years and the coach for four, Roberts stated that he has never seen such a freshman class in his decade-long tenure around
Recruits keep Owls competitive The fencing team is a national power thanks to countrywide recruits. ANTHONY BELLINO The Temple News No. 9 Temple has a fencing program that is consistently ranked in the Top 10 in the nation under coach Nikki Franke. Franke continues to keep her program going in the right direction by searching the entire country for some of the nation’s top fencers. This season the fencing squad has girls from eight different states and one from Mexico. Franke’s fencing recruiting starts at the national tournaments, that’s how she has recruited such girls as sophomore sabre Lauren Rangel-Friedman, freshman sabre Petra Khan and senior foil Mikayla Varadi, all who left their home states of California and Oregon to come to Temple. “Basically there are a couple of national tournaments so most of the coaches go to the national tournaments where we get too see girls from all over the country,” Franke said. “There’s a national point list that is based on results from the tournaments through the United States Fencing Association so we look at girls that have good results.” These national tournaments provide Franke the opportunity to scout girls she otherwise wouldn’t know about. A lot of recruits don’t fence just for their FENCING
high school teams, most fence having a Top 10 program really on private club teams, which is helps us in being able to attract where they get their recognition some of those top fencers.” as top junior fencers across the For Rangel-Friedman, nation. choosing Temple and moving “A lot of recruits come from the West Coast was all out of private clubs – there are about the fencing. To fence at a private clubs everywhere. In top Division I program Rangelterms of high school programs, Friedman had to leave her home New Jersey has the largest high of Laguna Niguel, Calif., and school program in the country,” come to Philadelphia. Franke said. “New York and “The fencing team was reNew Jersey are certainly the hot ally the main reason I chose beds, you have a lot of recruiting Temple. There are only so many on the East Coast and the rest is D-I programs in the nation,” spread throughout the country.” Rangel-Friedman said. “I knew Girls such as Varadi and some people that were already Rangel-Friedman come across on the team here so it made the the country to transition pretty compete colleeasy.” giately because Last year the East Coast as a freshman, boasts some of Rangel-Friedthe country’s top man finished fencers. Of the sixth at the Top 10 teams in Temple Open the nation, the and finished teams farthest to her year with the west – Notre 29 wins. She Dame and Northhas picked up western – fall in this season right Illinois. Franke where she left said that plays a off last season. Lauren Rangel-Friedman / At USA Fencbig role in getsophomore sabre ing’s ting girls to come North this far away American Cup, from home to fence. Only two Rangel-Friedman finished 16th teams from the west – Stanford out of 113 competitors. and UC San Diego – received Rangel-Friedman said the votes in the most recent national hardest transition she had to fencing poll. make in Philadelphia had noth“A lot of the girls look for- ing to do with fencing or school, ward to coming east because but transportation, rather. they’ll get a lot of fencing, a “The hardest adjustment lot of competition, so it’s an at- was getting around in the urban traction because a majority of environment,” Rangel-Friedthe college programs are on the man said. “Where I come from East Coast,” Franke said. “They we drive just about everywhere want a different experience and and here you either walk or take
“Where I
come from we drive just about everywhere and here you either walk or take the public transportation.
”
the public transportation.” Varadi and Khan both left their hometown of Beaverton, Ore., to join Franke and her Temple squad. Varadi has worked her way to becoming the foil team captain in her senior year. Khan is already making an impact as a freshman; she went 4-0 at the Vassar meet on Dec. 1. Varadi, who said she also looked into attending Penn State and Notre Dame, said Temple had everything she needed in a school. “When I was deciding I knew I needed an exceptional undergrad nursing program and an exceptional fencing program,” Varadi said. “Temple had both of those and it actually made my decision very easy.” Franke and her coast-tocoast recruiting style has her team solidified in the Top 10 in the nation. The team went 8-3, defeating host and seventh-ranked Northwestern. The Owls’ losses came to Princeton, Notre Dame and Ohio State, who are all in the Top 4 in the country. “The coaches will be voting again this week so hopefully we’ll see ourselves move up a few spots after this weekend,” Franke said.
the team. “As far as freshmen or new players are concerned, we haven’t had anything close to this,” Roberts said. “When we go up and down our roster, so far this year three of the best players on the team [Vassa, Malinowski and Brewer] are these new guys. That’s very rare when you can say that. The fact that three of those guys are [young]
with several years to go until graduation is a huge benefit that we have.” Andrew Parent can be reached at andrew.parent@temple.edu or on Twitter @daParent93.
Team searches world for talent tennis PAGE 20
coaches who go [around the world]. That’s why the results are there and we play tournaments.” Some coaches are able to travel internationally to scout, but Mauro said he’s not one of them. “We just don’t have it in our budget to do that,” he said. The opportunity to play tennis is not the only reason these players come to Temple. “My major is finance and economics,” freshman Sam Rundle said. “I want to keep doing my education and the academics are really good here.” Rundle, who is from Perth, Australia, joined the team this semester and has been in the United States for two weeks. Neither Rundle nor Belkssir, a finance major, had been to Philadelphia before moving into Temple, but they both had been to other parts of the country before. When asked why he chose Temple, Marquart cited the Fox School of Business, even above the tennis program. “Temple is known for [its] Anthony Bellino can be reached good business school, and I at anthony.bellino@temple.edu am studying international busior on Twitter @Bellino_Anthony. ness,” Marquart said. “That was the main reason. Also, the team was pretty good. They were always playing for the A-10 championships. Those were the two reasons: the business school, and the team.” Six of the student-athletes on the men’s tennis team are
studying in Fox, while sophomore Hernan Vasconez – from Ambato, Ecuador – and freshman Santiago Canete – from Madrid, Spain – are majoring in some form of engineering. While the team may have an unusual makeup by Temple standards, it is not so unusual among its peers. In the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference, nine schools have four or more foreign players on their team, and only two – Richmond and La Salle – do not have any. George Washington has the most, with nine, but Temple is the only team that has no American players – with the possible exception of Virginia Commonwealth University, who does not list the hometown of one of its players. Ultimately, Mauro doesn’t care where his players come from, as long as they are wellrounded. “I just look for the best players, academically and athletically,” Mauro said. Evan Cross can be reached at evan.cross@temple.edu or on Twitter @EvanCross.
Conference strength diminishes postseason hopes tourney PAGE 20 A-10 to make the tournament, the Owls know that they don’t have much time to waste in turning the season around. “This is a fabulous league and anybody can beat anybody at any time,” Dunphy said on Feb. 2. Dunphy’s sentiments have been a microcosm of the Owls season. Temple has beaten the No. 4, 9 and 10 teams in the conference and have lost to the No. 2, 6, 8 and 13 teams. Nine of the Owls’ 10 remaining games will be in-conference, leaving Temple with an uphill battle before the A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y., in mid-March. “Every game counts right
now,” senior guard Khalif Wyatt said. “The Atlantic 10 is a crazy conference. Every team, every night is going to be a good game. We have a lot of good teams. It is definitely getting to the point where we have to start putting together some wins.” If the Owls are unable to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, the option remains to make the dance with an A-10 tournament victory. Last year’s winner, St. Bonaventure, earned a tournament bid despite posting a modest 20-12 regular season record. There is no benchmark for making the NCAA tournament. The field of 68 is chosen by a
selection committee. With the exception of the conference tournament winners from the automatic qualifying conferences, there is no exact criteria that must be met for a team to make the tournament. Generally, the selection committee rewards teams based on four categories: Ratings Percentage Index, strength of schedule, overall record and big wins, while usually punishing teams for bad losses. Ratings Percentage Index, or RPI, is used primarily for its ability to compare teams on a scale reflective of their opponent’s ability. It is formed using a combination of the
team’s winning percentage, its opponent’s winning percentage and the winning percentage of the teams its opponents have played. Temple’s RPI is currently 55 while its strength of schedule ranks 64. While a 14-7 record won’t be enough to impress the committee by itself, a win against then No. 3 Syracuse on Dec. 22 could be the Owls’ biggest asset. Where they could receive demerits however, lies with their bad home losses to Canisius, RPI 109, and St. Bonaventure, RPI 125. A trip to the NCAA tournament would be a benchmark for Temple in its final year of A-10
play. The Owls won the regular season A-10 championship last year before dropping their first round game against No. 8 Massachusetts. While Temple was still able to earn a fifth seed in the NCAA tournament, the Owls lost after scoring a seasonlow 44 points against No. 12 South Florida. While an NCAA postseason berth would be the Owls’ sixth straight under Dunphy, they have advanced to the next round only once. Temple still has the opportunity to boost its résumé and make a tournament push. With four games remaining against the A-10’s Top 5 seeds, the Owls haven’t played themselves out
of March discussions yet. But for a team that hasn’t won three straight games in the calendar year, time is running out. “I think we are up for the challenge,” Wyatt said. “We are starting to come together as a team…We need to take it one game at a time and try to get on a roll.” Ibrahim Jacobs can be reached at ibrahim.jacobs@temple.edu or on Twitter @ibrahimjacobs.
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Tuesday, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
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Senior leads Freshman improves frontcourt Owls to title basketball PAGE 20
Alex Tighe added to his résumé by helping Owls win West Point title last weekend. Samuel MAtthews The Temple News Alex Tighe’s GYMNASTICS career at Temple almost never happened. “Honestly, Temple was my last choice until I came out for a visit,” Tighe said. “And as soon as I did come out for a visit, the guys on the team made me feel like family and showed me a great time. I went home knowing that this is where I wanted to be, so Temple went from my last choice to my first choice.” Since making the decision to come to Temple, Tighe has started for the Owls every year and has been a first team Academic All–American Scholar student-athlete every year. Last year, as a junior, Tighe earned his way to the Visa U.S. Gymnastics Championships, cementing himself as one of the Top 42 gymnasts in the country. The native of Brookfield, Wis., has carried last year’s success into this year. On Friday, Feb. 1, at the West Point Open, Tighe helped lead No. 13 Temple to the West Point Open title with the second best high bar score among all participants at 14.550. The following day on individual event finals, Tighe won two event titles, besting out the competition in high bar with a score of 14.300 and parallel bars with a score of 14.400. Such scores make coach Fred Turoff very glad Tighe decided to come to North Philadelphia. However, Turoff knows Tighe brings more to the men’s gymnastics team than just performance. “The fact that he does very difficult routines certainly helps us,” Turoff said. “He is certainly a team leader in terms of performance, but he is also a team leader in terms of academics.” Graduate student and cocaptain Taylor Brana agrees with Turoff in both regards. “[Tighe] is a huge contributor to Temple men’s gymnastics,” Brana said. “His stability on pommel horse, jam packed and difficult parallel bars, and clean and unique high bar routines, provide at least an extra three points to our team score.” “He also performs in a very stable and confident man-
ner, which brings a sense of confidence to our team,” Brana added. Last year, men’s gymnastics placed as the runner-up for the National Academic Team Championship, something that was achieved through the help of Tighe. “Aside from gymnastics, [Tighe] is very intelligent,” Brana said. “He tutors many individuals on our team on a consistent basis and he has a strong GPA that maintains our top ranking as the team with the highest cumulative GPA.” Tighe currently maintains a 3.92 GPA, while double majoring in applied mathematics and Spanish. Tighe attributes his work ethic to his success as one of the top gymnasts in the country. “Well going through high school my coaches always told me that I was mostly hard work, and much less talent, and I think I agree with them,” Tighe said. “I had to work a lot harder to get where I am, I spent a lot of extra time outside of the normal practice hours doing things that most other kids wouldn’t do, and in turn I think all of that hard work paid off and has turned into talent,” Tighe added. Looking back on his career while at Temple, Tighe highlights the Visa U.S. Gymnastics Championships as the most memorable. “It was definitely a learning experience for me,” Tighe said. “You’re there and essentially you are one of the Top 42 gymnasts in the country, and it was an Olympic year so it was a very difficult field, but being there and competing with guys that are on the Olympic team and have won Olympic medals, it’s something that is very humbling.” Tighe finished the Visa U.S. Gymnastics Championships with an all-around score of 104.350, good enough for a 35th place finish amongst the best gymnasts the United States has to offer. Samuel Matthews can be reached at samuel.matthews@temple.edu.
“weren’t really doing [their] jobs at all.” Having clocked more minutes than Thames in three consecutive games, Jackson’s streak was snapped in Temple’s (9-11, 2-3) win against Richmond on Thursday Jan. 31, in which Thames played 34 minutes and Jackson played 14. However, as Thames played an average of 15 minutes during the three-game span, Jackson won over Cardoza with her aggressiveness and physicality. Thames, again, didn’t shy away from admitting her shortcomings. “I simply wasn’t doing my part,” Thames said. “I wasn’t giving the production I should have been. I wasn’t aggressive enough on offense or defense and I was just kind of out of it those games.” Jackson, who played a total
of nine minutes through the first month of the season, said she has come a long way since November. She grabbed a career high eight rebounds in 28 minutes on Jan. 23 in a win against the University of Pennsylvania, and scored a career high seven points in a loss to La Salle on Jan. 27, playing 28 minutes for the second straight game. “I’ve just been doing all of the little things,” Jackson said. “Boxing out, rebounding, making hustle plays. As long as you’re doing good on defense, you’ll play.” However, Cardoza has tended to award more playing time to those that have shown hard work and dedication, the exact reason why Jackson played just 14 minutes against Richmond and then seven minutes against Massachusetts on Sunday, Feb. 3, after averaging
29 minutes the previous three games. “I base things on what I see in practice,” Cardoza said. “The last couple of days I felt like [Thames] deserved more minutes than [Jackson] based on her practice habits.” While Jackson is much more physical, Thames is still arguably the better offensive weapon. She’s reached doublefigures three times this season, including a career high 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting against Howard on Jan. 4. Even though she’s made considerable strides, Jackson said she knows there’s still progress to be made. “I need to work on my offensive game so I can be an offensive threat when I’m on the court, and not just a defensive player,” Jackson said. Although Thames has start-
ed 20 games this season and has been at Temple for as long as Cardoza, she and Jackson may find themselves in a seesaw battle for playing time for the remainder of the year. Barring any setbacks or a big splash in recruiting, they will presumably make up the Owls’ starting frontcourt come next fall. With Jackson currently coming off the bench as her back-up, Thames said she has embraced her and has tried to help her adapt to college basketball. “Me and [Macaulay], we try to talk to our post-players a lot,” Thames said. “We try to be there for them. If they want to work out we’ll go, ‘Let’s go to the gym.’” Tyler Sablich can be reached at tyler.sablich@temple.edu or on Twitter @TySablich.
Wyatt’s story tells a familiar tale wyatt PAGE 20
a senior. After not starting his freshman season, Wyatt excelled as the team’s sixth man as a sophomore, earning A-10 Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2011. Last season, Wyatt averaged 17.1 points per game and finished as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Ramone Moore. “The way that Khalif has grown in their program is a testimony to him and a testimony to [Dunphy] and his staff,” St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said on Feb. 2. “There is a certain talent and he has that talent. He scores the basketball. If I’m looking at both of our teams, the difference is they have a guy that can get 30, we don’t have anybody that can do that, because we don’t have a confidence level and we’re not making shots.” “It’s courage,” Martelli said. “He has to live with the fact that he could miss that shot. That’s what shot makers do. They are willing to take the consequences of make or miss.” Moore’s story mirrors Wyatt’s. Moore also earned A-10 Sixth Man of the Year honors as a sophomore, before leading his team in scoring as a junior and senior. Before him, Dionte Christmas, who played as a freshman under coach John Chaney, broke out as a sophomore under Dunphy and led his team in scoring in each of his last three seasons. But this track that Dunphy creates for his student-athletes
could end up hurting the Owls as they transition to the Big East Conference next season, when Temple may need more freshmen to contribute right away. Historically, Dunphy has taken the position that freshmen need to earn their minutes on the college level rather than in high school. The mindset has caused Temple’s three freshmen on the team this season to receive sometimes minor, otherwise inconsistent playing time. Freshman guard Quenton DeCosey has seen the most minutes of his class, averaging 7.2 minutes per game. But his playing time has yet to reach a consistent level. DeCosey played 22 minutes against Syracuse (18-3), 18 minutes against Duke (19-2) and 13 minutes against Butler (18-4), three of the best teams Temple played this season. However, he played seven minutes against Richmond (14-9) on Jan. 30 and six minutes against the University of Pennsylvania (4-16) on Jan. 23. Against St. Joe’s (13-7), DeCosey didn’t play at all. In DeCosey’s place against St. Joe’s, freshman guard Daniel Dingle played a career high six minutes. Dingle, though he was the highest-ranked recruit of Temple’s 2012 class, has played in eight out of 21 games. “[Dingle’s] worked really hard,” Dunphy said on Feb. 2. “He deserved this opportunity. He made no mistakes out there. He’s a great guy and he’s worked really hard, so he earned
Khalif Wyatt leads the team in scoring and has scored in double digits in 14 games.| TIMOTHY VALSHTEIN TTN those minutes.” A 6-foot-10-inch forward, freshman Devontae Watson has played in four games this season, earning his most minutes – six – against Alcorn State (8-17) on Dec. 17 With those freshmen on the bench, and a lack of offensive productivity elsewhere, Temple will have to continue to rely heavily on Wyatt as the team’s
main scorer. “I just play. I play basketball,” Wyatt said. “I watch a lot of basketball. I try to make as many plays as I can for my teammates. I just try to win. That’s what I really try to do.” Joey Cranney can be reached at joseph.cranney@temple.edu or on Twitter @joey_cranney.
Dwindling team finds energy in sophomore guard
L
JAKE ADAMS Double Dribble
Tyonna Williams is a leader on the women’s basketball team, despite being a sophomore.
ike senior guard Khalif Wyatt of the men’s basketball team, sophomore guard Tyonna Williams is a firecracker for the women’s basketball team. “It’s great to have that person, kind of like [Wyatt],” sophomore guard Monaye Merritt said about Williams. “You see it, you just want to get excited too. It just makes you happy. Sometimes we do have to pull her in when it becomes a temper issue, because she’s so passionate about what she does.” Williams, on many levels, is the spark plug behind the Owls. While senior center Victoria Macaulay gets all the attention and much of the stats, and deservedly so, Williams has grown into a leader on the team at an alarming rate. Her ascent began last year when she sat behind the likes of departed senior guards BJ Williams and Shey Peddy and continued when Merritt was lost for the season to an offseason ACL injury. “I’ve said it plenty of times.
[BJ Williams and Peddy], they really taught me how to be the player that I am today,” Williams said. “Coming in last year I was cocky, because I’m coming from a top high school, I’ve always been the captain of my team.” The onus all season has been on Williams to quarterback the team with Merritt down, no easy task for a sophomore in her first season in the starting lineup. “What we’re asking of [Williams] is huge, and it’s a lot that comes with that,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “But it’s something that [she] wants and not everyone can do that. But with her personality she’s able to take on that.” “To be honest, her freshman year not playing as much to now, I don’t think I would have ever thought that she would have been able to do what she’s done to this point this quickly,” Cardoza added. “Maybe her junior year, but the fact that she’s able to do it now is only going to make [Williams] that much
better.” The Fort Washington, Md., native is averaging 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest. She also leads the team with 29 steals and is second on the team with a 75.7 percent free throw percentage. But since the start of 2013 she’s averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 assists as she’s settled into her role at the point guard position. Williams averaged 20 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the Owls’ two wins last week against Richmond and Massachusetts, including a career high 23 points against the Minutemen. “[Merritt’s] my roommate, so after every game, after every bad practice she’ll sit there with me and we’ll just talk about it,” Williams said. “We’ll watch film together and she’ll help me break down where she feels like I have to work even harder at.” Williams’ season has been a steady rise from young starter to team leader, with several hiccups in between. Her worst was on Jan. 27 against La Salle when
she played just 15 minutes and coughed up the ball nine times. “That game, it’s kind of just still in my head,” Williams said. “I feel like I’m going to take that game throughout the rest of the season, because I never want to look like that again.” Last season, the Owls were built with calm, cool and collected senior leaders. Things have taken a near 180-degree turn this year. Williams is built on raw emotion. You can see her try to channel that emotion into anything she can to help the team win. On Jan. 30, when sophomore guard Rateska Brown hit her first trey of the night, it was Williams you could hear over the crowd trying to get her team psyched early. When the opposition gets a breakaway opportunity, it’s Williams who’s chasing down layup attempts and isn’t afraid to foul to get her way and stop easy points. The team has been trying to lessen the frequency of her negative emotional outbursts.
The Owls perform as well as Williams’ emotions let them. “I know that everything is a learning experience for her, and sometimes because she’s so emotional sometimes it gets the best of her,” Cardoza said. “She wants to be right, she wants to look good, and when it’s not that way she gets down on herself. And sometimes that frustration, her teammates see that, and that’s the part that we’re trying to get rid of.” “We love [her emotion] but it just has to be monitored sometimes, because she’s just so impactful,” Merritt, her de facto mentor, said. “Whether it’s her being on a high, pulling us all up, or being on a low, and we all kind of suffer and have to pull her up.” But don’t worry, like with Wyatt on the men’s team, the Owls will take the emotions because the positives far outweigh the negatives. Jake Adams can be reached at jacob.adams@temple.edu or on Twitter @jakeadams520.
SPORTS temple-news.com
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Tuesday, FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Tennis lands international recruits Eight Owls from seven countries play for men’s tennis. EVAN CROSS The Temple News
When most college players get recruited, the coach comes to see them play, and the players go to see MEN’S TENNIS
the campus before committing. Freshman Hicham Belkssir was recruited based on a YouTube video. “I just sent an email [to Temple] with my rankings,” Belkssir, a native of Rabat, Morocco, said. “And, of course, a YouTube video.” As informal as that may sound, it has worked out well.
Men’s tennis coach Steve Mauro offered Belkssir a scholarship after seeing the email, and has called Belkssir “one of the most talented players on the team.” There are a total of 22 NCAA student-athletes at Temple that are not from the U.S. The men’s tennis team has eight of those, representing seven countries and four continents.
“I know a lot of coaches throughout the country and the world,” Mauro said. “They contact me or I’ll call them, and they’ll put me in touch with a good player.” The technique seems to be working. The team has started off the 2013 season with two wins, including a down-to-thewire victory on Feb. 2 against
Richmond – a team with no foreign players. One of the most common ways that players are found internationally are through agencies. These agencies scour youth tournaments for viable talent who want to get a college degree, and then send the information to NCAA coaches looking for recruits. If the coach
Tourney hopes on the brink
Freshmen have provided major scoring for club.
IBRAHIM JACOBS Assistant Sports Editor
ANDREW PARENT The Temple News
MEN’S BASKETBALL
tourney PAGE 18
tennis PAGE 18
Youth scoring a welcome surprise
An A-10 fight stands in the way of NCAA tournament spot.
A f t e r Temple was downed 70-69 by St. Joseph’s University on Feb. 2, the Owls were left in an unusual predicament, having to crawl their way back into postseason competition. At this point last season, the Owls sat perched on top of the Atlantic 10 Conference, looking to simply boost their résumé before March Madness rolled around. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has essentially created his own job title of bracketologist and his career has been built primarily on the ability to know what others can simply guess. After Saturday’s loss to St. Joe’s, he could be Temple’s toughest opponent in the final month of the season. Lunardi’s primary job during the season is to predict which teams will make the NCAA tournament and which teams won’t. The highly respected analyst correctly picked 67 of the 68 tournament teams last season, and has missed only six total teams in five years. He currently has the Owls on the bubble, ranking them as the last team to make the dance in March. Temple sits at 11th place in the Atlantic 10 standings, its worst placement at this point in the season since Dunphy began coaching the Owls in 2006. While they currently are projected to be the fifth team in the
is interested, he or she gets in contact with the player. That’s how sophomore Kristian Marquart came to Philadelphia from Munich, Germany. “I put in my videos and results, and coaches see them,” Marquart said. “That should be enough to make a good recruitment. I don’t know of a lot of
ICE HOCKEY
played,” Dunphy said. “Tonight [Wyatt] had opportunities, and I think he took them. He can probably distribute a little more, but for me, anytime he has the ball I think we are a dangerous offensive team.” Wyatt’s story at Temple is a classic one of players under Dunphy who have contributed as a sophomore and had a breakout season as a junior, before being the team’s main offensive weapon, sometimes to a fault, as
A 29-game hockey season spanning across roughly five months is bound to produce the occasional surprise. For Temple (16-11), the 2012-13 season has been defined by them. “The one thing I found in four years of coaching is what you think you are in September is not what you’re going to be in January,” coach Jerry Roberts said. The scoring on Roberts’ team is boosted from an influx of youth. Freshmen forwards Cody Vassa and Greg Malinowski, along with first-year sophomore Dave Brewer, have pulled much of the team’s scoring weight thus far. All are among Temple’s Top 5 scorers. Vassa has been a revelation for Roberts’ squad, leading the team in scoring with 33 points – 15 goals, 18 assists – through 23 games. “Vassa is probably the smartest hockey player I’ve ever come across at this level,” Roberts said. “The things he thinks of on the ice and the plays that he reads and decisions he makes are second to no one on this team. He’s one of the best players in the [Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association].” “It’s come as a shock,” Vassa said of his breakout season. “I’m just playing my game
WYATT PAGE 19
freshmen PAGE 18
Senior guard Khalif Wyatt averages 18.6 points per game, leading his team and the Atlantic 10 Conference. Wyatt’s story at Temple, where he was the sixth man as a sophomore and broke out as a junior, has happened before. | HUA ZONG TTN
An Inconsistent Truth
Khalif Wyatt’s senior season, in which he is the team’s primary scorer, is a familiar tale. Joey Cranney Sports Editor
K
halif Wyatt scored nearly half of Temple’s points in a 70-69 loss to St. Joseph’s University on Feb. 2. Wyatt scored a career high 34 points, including 21 points in the second half and 16 points in the game’s last 10 minutes. His performance, in a game with big Atlantic 10 Conference and Big 5 implications, was a stunning example of his
value to the men’s basketball When asked if Wyatt was team, which is struggling to stay perhaps too valuable to his competitive in an team after he increasingly good accounted for conference. nearly half of its The St. Joe’s points against contest was the St. Joe’s, coach seventh-straight Fran Dunphy game when Wyatt said Wyatt proscored in double vides his team digits, and the with the oppor14th such game tunity to have Fran Dunphy / coach an explosive ofthis season. He leads Temple and fense. “Every game is different in the A-10 with 18.6 points per its personality and the way it’s game.
“Anytime
[Wyatt] has the ball I think we are a dangerous offensive team.
”
Physical, mental strain led to benching Freshman Jacquilyn Jackson has taken some of Natasha Thames’ minutes. TYLER SABLICH The Temple News Redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames was figured to log big minutes in the Owls’ frontcourt all season long, but, recently, that hasn’t always been the case. Thames, who is averaging 6.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, has seen her playing time decrease in the wake of freshman forward Jacquilyn Jackson’s emergence, who has seen consistent minutes as of late. WOMENS BASKETBALL
While coach Tonya Cardoza said she knows Thames is capable of being a valuable player, she said she believes Thames gets inside her own head, which hinders her performance. Cardoza prefers Jackson from a mental standpoint, she said. “[Thames] has the tendency to over-think things on the court,” Cardoza said. “[Jackson] doesn’t think, she just goes out and performs hard.” Thames credits part of her psychological woes to an ACL tear that she suffered midway through last season, an injury that still lingers at times. “I don’t feel like I’m 100 percent, but I’m definitely getting used to it,” Thames said.
The mental and physical struggles do not completely sum up Thames’ bizarre season. On Jan. 20 in an ugly loss to Duquesne, Thames was benched after playing 19 minutes for failing to act as a veteran leader. Cardoza was unhappy with the way Thames, the second longest tenured player on a team that consists of six freshmen, carried herself. Senior center Victoria Macaulay was sat for the same reason after playing just six minutes. It was a brave move by Cardoza in an attempt to get a message across to her older players, a move that Thames “wasn’t surprised” by because she and Macaulay
basketball PAGE 19
Freshman guard May Dayan (center) drives the lane in a 61-48 win against Richmond on Jan. 31. Dayan is one of five freshmen to receive playing time this season.| MAGGIE TRAPANI TTN
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