Volume 92 Issue 23

A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

temple-news.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

VOL. 92 ISS. 23

Student sues police after 2012 arrest

Spring Fling alternative announced

Photography student Ian Van Kuyk says cops had no cause to arrest.

The Cherry-On Experience will be on Saturday, April 12

JOHN MORITZ News Editor

JOHN MORITZ News Editor

A former Temple student photographer and his girlfriend are suing two Philadelphia police officers for an incident that occurred two years ago in which the couple was arrested after the student took photos of police making an arrest near his South Philadelphia home.

Ian Van Kuyk and Meghan Feighan filed a complaint in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on March 6 in which they seek in excess of $50,000 in damages for alleged assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest and malicious prosecution by officers Samuel Allen and Santos Higgins.

According to the complaint, the couple was sitting outside their home around 9 p.m. on March 14, 2012, when they saw officers Higgins and Allen stop a car across the street.

When Van Kuyk, a film and media arts major at the time with a Templeissued camera, began taking pictures of the officers, he was ordered to stop. When he continued taking pictures, police arrested Van Kuyk and Feighan, who attempted to pick the camera up from the ground. Van Kuyk was charged with obstruction, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Feighan was charged with obstruction and disorderly conduct. Both plain-

After months of planning, Student Activities announced last week the alternative to the canceled Spring Fling, The Cherry-On Experience, which will feature what administrators said will be a more controlled weekend festival.

The Cherry-On Experience will be held from 4-8 p.m. at Geasey Field Complex and Lot 1 on April 12. Afterward, an outdoor movie will be played on the track.

Student Activities director Chris Carey said the decision to move the event to Geasey Field was made in order to control access to the event through select entrances on Broad and 15th streets.

Spring Fling was canceled last year by President Theobald, who called the event “a bacchanal, a drinking fest” and said it had lost its roots as a promoter of Main Campus activities to commuter students, instead encouraging students to skip class and attend parties.

Last year’s event was marred by the death of 19-year-old West Chester University student Ali Fausnaught, who fell off the roof of an off-campus row house where she had been visiting friends.

When announcing the cancellation of Spring Fling, administrators denied that the decision was the result of the teenager’s death.

VAN KUYK PAGE 3

After attacks, frustration Multiple students victims of harassment, assault from minors last Friday.

PATRICIA MADEJ The Temple News

F

our Temple students were heading to their homes west of Main Campus early in the evening on Friday, March 21 when they say they were attacked in three separate assaults by a group of approximately 10 youths.

One of the beatings, carried out with a brick, left a female student in the hospital requiring emergency surgery.

Each of the women said they attempted

BEATINGS PAGE 6

Alumni in this year’s TEDxPhilly

(Top) A Temple student looks at the hole she made in the drywall of her off-campus apartment. (Bottom) A Temple student stands where she was punched in the face around 6 p.m. last Friday. | ABI REIMOLD TTN

A religious call to service

For the elderly, disabled and young, a local charity

Temple Law alumnus Josh Nims is one of many speakers for the March 28 conference.

Jackie and Johnetta Wleh created ABC Men to serve.

ERIN EDINGER-TUROFF Living Editor

SUZANNAH CAVANAUGH The Temple News “Yellooo!” Josh Nims, 38, said as he picked up the phone.

It’s not the sort of familiarity one might expect from an alumnus of the Beasley School of Law, but maybe it’s all the fresh air he’s been getting.

Nims, 38, is a cofounder of Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund, an organization created with the goal of building free, public skate parks within a 10-minute walking radius of all young skaters. Nims also serves as the operations manager for the Schuylkill River Development Corporation, where he spends most of his time on the trails around the art museum, overseeing cleanup and maintenance.

Both jobs keep him out of an office and elbow-deep in the community – an engagement that has not gone unnoticed.

In addition, Nims is one of 19 speakers nominated to headline the TEDxPhiladelphia conference hosted at Temple’s Performing Arts Center on March 28 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

TED PAGE 14

A Community Effort to Feed the Hungry Deborah Marshall (left) exits the Berean Presbyterian Church, where she donates food for the needy. PAGE 16 | ABI REIMOLD TTN

For the Wleh family, giving back is an inherited trait – the 4-year-old daughter of Jackie and Johnetta Wleh has already taken part in some of their community outreach initiatives.

Jackie Wleh, a senior anthropology major, was walking through the snowy streets of West Philadelphia in Winter 2010 when it struck him how many sidewalks and driveways were unplowed. He said he wondered how many residents were physically unable to remove the snow themselves.

It was with that question in mind Jackie Wleh and his wife Johnetta created the charitable organization Able Bodied Christian Men. ABC Men is the couple’s effort to service the community, something they both said is of great importance to them. Though the organization’s purpose is based on their faith in scripture that calls for service, Jackie Wleh said he and his wife encourage anyone with a passion for charitable work to join as a volunteer, regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof.

“Anyone can join,” he said.

NEWS - PAGES 2-3, 6

LIVING - PAGES 7-8, 16-18

‘Othello’ goes kid-friendly

Street Sounds: The Lawsuits

After issuing a set of demands to the university, Justice for Monteiro protesters met to discuss further protests and demonstrations. PAGE 2

Theater student Alex Monsell is directing a version of Shakespeare’s “Othello” to raise money for St. Jude’s hospital.

PAGE 7

One band is gaining national recognition after the release of its newest album, “Cool, Cool, Cool.”

PAGE 10

Monteiro protesters vow action

OPINION - PAGES 4-5 Two dogs, one tiny apartment

FLING PAGE 3

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - PAGES 9-15

“We’re not preaching. That’s not what we’re about. We’re about serving.”

ABC Men is organized to operate year-round based on three main initiatives: caring for the elderly, assisting the disabled and providing support for youth. During winter months, the group focuses on snow removal for residents in Philadelphia who cannot shovel snow from their sidewalks, driveways or cars. After the season is over, ABC Men visits elderly residents in nursing homes, while also assisting at a school in West Philadelphia for individuals with cerebral palsy.

During the summer, ABC Men takes local youths on educational trips, which in the past have included visits to the White House. Jackie Wleh said in the past, they’ve also taken students on an informal tour of Temple, the Wagner Free Institute of Science and a forensic lab at the Philadelphia Forensic Bureau for a presentation. This year, they hope to tour City Hall.

“We [encourage] quality education with a few trips,” Jackie Wleh said. “We’ll supervise them doing their homework. In the future, we want to branch into tutoring.”

ABC MEN PAGE 17

SPORTS - PAGES 19-22

The rise, fall of Temple softball

NEWS

PAGE 2

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

Staff Reports | Administration

Monteiro protesters vow more action In meeting at local church, Justice for Monteiro states demands.

Organization’s Demands

JOHN MORITZ News Editor The coalition of students and community members who have rallied around the dismissal of African American studies professor Anthony Monteiro agreed in a meeting last week to continue and intensify public protests in an effort to force the Temple administration to agree to a set of demands.

Justice for Dr. Anthony Monteiro members’ central demands include the reinstatement of Monteiro to a fulltenured position within the African American studies department and the firing of College of Liberal Arts dean Teresa Soufas, who approved the nonrenewal of Monteiro’s annual contract in January.

Several other student groups have rallied around Monteiro, including People Using Real Power and the Temple Democratic Socialists.

In a roughly two-hour meeting held at the Church of the Advocate on 18th and Diamond streets on March 18, members of Justice for Dr. Anthony Monteiro discussed developing their list of demands and holding staged protests to pressure the university to comply.

In addition to Monteiro’s reinstatement and Soufas’ firing, the group is also calling for the university to develop community relations and build centers to celebrate black history. The discussion also turned to whether the group should further its demands to include the firing of current AAS department chair Molefi Asante, who less than a year ago was at the center of demonstrations to have him appointed to the position.

In a statement released Monday, Temple said it welcomes freedom of speech, but did not respond directly to the students’ demands.

“Temple University leaders welcome the opportunity for dialogue, and we are grateful to the community members and students who have taken the time in recent weeks to share their concerns with the president, the Board

Kashara White, an organizer for Justice for Monteiro, leads a discussion at the Church of the Advocate in which members deliberated what kinds of protests and civil disobedience to run. | ALEX UDOWENKO TTN of Trustees and cabinet-level university officials about Dr. Monteiro and other subjects,” the statement said.

Monteiro and his supporters claim that Soufas’ decision not to renew his contract is the result of Monteiro’s vocal opposition to Soufas’ handling of the vacancy of the AAS chairmanship after former department chairman Nathaniel Norment’s retirement in the Spring 2012.

In the Spring 2013, members of the department and community activists held a series of public demonstrations calling for Asante, who led the department from 1984 to 1997, to be reappointed after Soufas chose Jayne Drake, a white woman, to lead the department on an interim basis.

Monteiro was an outspoken proponent of Asante, but now his supporters say the chairman betrayed his former ally to curry favor with the dean, whose relationship with the department was soured by allegations of racism during the protests in the Spring 2013.

“I think it is a betrayal to the African-American community, the African-American students, and the

African-American faculty and the African-American studies program,” Anthony Pressley, a junior AAS major said. Pressley said he thinks his beliefs are not widely shared among his peers, saying “they are disillusioned with the conflicting words coming out.”

Monteiro said it was not his position the Asante be fired.

Asante did not respond to a request for comment.

Monteiro has also said he was removed without cause from overseeing a graduate dissertation committee in Fall 2013.

In 2004, the Graduate Board approved criteria for chairing dissertation committtes that limited such roles to tenure and tenure-track faculty. Nontenure track faculty with a terminal degree may direct masters theses and serve on, but not direct dissertation committees.

Members of the group discussed acts of civil disobedience which ranged from a class walkout and rally at the Bell Tower to holding sit-downs to block off Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue.

However, there was dissent among group members as to the necessity of such action, when some members said that attempts to block traffic would disrupt members of the community whom they are trying to show support.

Paul-Winston Cange, a junior political science major with a minor in AAS who is an organizer for Justice for Dr. Anthony Monteiro, spoke at the meeting, calling for “no tuition without representation.”

“I was just saying that to draw debate around the idea of representation,” Cange said afterward, adding that no plans of action had been decided upon.

One popular idea was holding demonstrations during Experience Temple Days in April when prospective students visit Main Campus.

Ultimately, the meeting ended after two hours with no formal vote being held on how to amend the list of demands or what actions should be taken and when. The group did agree to add an agitation committee on top of the already formed Academic Demand Committee and Community Demand Committee. The group planned to hold

1.) Reinstate Monteiro with full tenure 2.) Fire Dean Soufas 3.) Change the school’s bylaws so that students have a real voice in the university 4.) Propose new scholarships 5.) New institutionalized service learning program requirement for all students and a change in the Mosaic program 6.) An annual labor union meeting with the president 7.) An African American Studies Living and Learning Community 8.) DuBois Cultural Center 9.) Support for PASCEP as a model of university-community relations

another meeting this week to plan out further action.

Monteiro was not in attendance at the Church of the Advocate meeting; however the week prior he met with supporters to discuss their demands in person with Senior Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Ken Lawrence.

Monteiro, who was not tenured or tenure-track, has taught at the university for 10 years as a full-time associate professor. Monteiro said he left a previous tenured position at the University of the Sciences to work for a tenured position under Norment.

Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Diane Maleson said tenured positions cannot be promised to new faculty members.

There were no protests or demonstrations held at the most recent Experience Temple Day, held on Sunday.

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

Staff Reports | Research

From Chinese hills, a $16 billion plan to stop deadly tornadoes Despite negative feedback, professor says tornado walls could be effective in saving lives.

LOGAN BECK The Temple News A lead researcher at the College of Science and Technology has stirred controversy in the field of meteorology for publishing a theory that he said, at the expense of $16 billion, could save lives and property from extreme weather in Tornado Alley.

Physics department chair Rongjia Tao said he believes building three “Great Walls of America” 300 meters high – slightly taller than Philly’s Comcast Center – 50 meters thick and 100 miles long from east to west would act as a barrier and prevent the creation of a violent clash of warm and cold air known as a supercell, the type of weather that leads to tornadoes.

“The wall would not be built as a tornado shield; it’s meant to eliminate the formation of tornadoes,” Tao said.

Tao predicts that 50-meter thickness would be sufficient for the manmade wall. The wall would be constructed with materials like concrete, where in certain areas would model highway sound barriers and in other sections would use steel glass.

Due to the high cost of the walls, estimated by Tao to be $16 billion for 100 miles, construction would start locally in places like Joplin, Mo., that experience higher frequencies of severe tornadoes, and extend gradually,

NEWS DESK 215-204-7419

Physics professor Rongjia Tao published a theory that building three 1,000 foot walls in the Mid-West would prevent the type of weather that causes billions of dollars in damage every year. | SASH SCHAEFFER TTN he said.

Tao said the cost of the walls would be “affordable based on the billions of dollars of damage caused by tornadoes each year.”

Tao’s proposal called for three such walls to be built – one in the northern part of Tornado Alley, one in the middle and one in the south.

Tornado Alley, a strip of land between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains that loses billions of dollars in damages each year due to tornadoes,

is conducive to the weather phenomenon caused by the mixture of warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold air from Canada that sweeps unobstructed across the Great Plains every spring and summer. According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association, 903 tornadoes touched down in the United States in 2013, causing 55 deaths. The U.S. experiences an average of 1,264 tornadoes annually, causing an average of 57 deaths.

Tao, who was born in Shanghai,

said he got the ideas for the walls from that country, where several mountain ranges soften the impact of air flows.

Tao based the potential size of the walls off of the Jianghuai Hills, Yan Mountains and Nanling Mountains, which all have heights less than 300 meters high.

In his study, Tao claims that “the wall with a height of 300 meters above the ground will do a good job in reducing tornado risk.”

“If these walls can reduce the number of tornadoes from 811 to three,

NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

I would consider that a huge success,” Tao said.

However, experts in the meteorological community have gaffed at Tao’s proposal, saying the extreme and costly engineering would be largely ineffective.

“I don’t have any idea how it could possibly work,” Harold Brooks, a research meteorologist with the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, said. “There are lots of problems. There are already mountains and hills of that size that don’t seem to have much of an impact on [tornadoes]. It will just go right over the barrier – it won’t stop at the barrier. It’s wrong on so many levels.”

Physics and chemistry professor John Perdew came to Tao’s defense on the proposal.

“Professor Tao has taken an original look at tornado formation from the perspective of a physicist who studies fluid flow,” Perdew said. “His claims are backed by evidence, and can only be challenged by counter-evidence.

Further studies should be made to determine if the construction of ‘great walls’ in the central U.S., mimicking the east-west mountain ranges of China, can indeed prevent the devastation caused here by strong tornadoes.”

As far as next steps, a large amount of lab, computer simulations and tests would need to be completed to ensure the reliability of the walls.

“We can do lab tests, but you clearly cannot generate a tornado by yourself,” Tao said.

Logan Beck can be reached at logan.beck@temple.edu.

NEWS

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

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Staff Reports | Administration

After top Michael Gebhardt becomes interim counsel pick was removed, Theobald chooses new head Longtime understudy assumes interim role after Moore’s death.

JOE BRANDT The Temple News

President Theobald chooses James Dicker to be vice president in charge of fundraising.

JOHN MORITZ News Editor President Theobald announced the appointment of a new vice president to lead the university’s fundraising office last week after a search committee drew discontent from administrators over a controversial candidate.

James Dicker will assume the role of senior vice president for institutional advancement pending approval of the the university’s Board of Trustees. Dicker will oversee the university’s expanding fundraising outreach programs.

The announcement came days after The Temple News reported that Theobald removed another top candidate for the position, Matt Kupec, after he received internal backlash stemming from his resignation from a similar position at the University of North Carolina– Chapel Hill in 2012.

Kupec, who served as vice chancellor at UNC, resigned after it was found that he used close to $17,000 of university money to fund 14 personal trips with his girlfriend, fellow university employee Tamara Hansborough.

Dicker served for the past 12 years as vice president of development and college relations at Lafayette College. According to a press release issued by the university, Dicker has more than 25 years of fundraising experience.

“Jim Dicker understands the tremendous difference that private giving can make at an institution of higher education,” Theobald said in the release. “He is a skillful administrator who will ensure that Temple University continues to strengthen its development profile.”

Dicker comes to Temple as the university is preparing to build upon the already increased fundraising initiatives enacted by Theobald. Burgeoned by marketing campaigns like Temple Made, the university brought in a record $65.8 million in new gifts and pledges in 2013. However, in recent years the alumni giving rate has stagnated to around 7 percent, well below fellow state-related institutions like the University of Pittsburgh, which has a rate of 35 percent, and Penn State, with a 30 percent giving rate.

In addition to the $65.8 million, Trustee Lewis Katz pledged a recordsetting gift of $25 million, which has yet to be delivered or set aside for a specific purpose.

Dicker, a Lafayette alumn, was made assistant director of its Annual Fund in 1988 before moving up the ranks to become director of development of alumni affairs in 1997. In that position, Dicker led a $213 million fundraising drive that went over its two-year estimates.

In his most recent position at Lafayette, Dicker oversaw an additional $400 million comprehensive capital campaign.

Dicker replaces Tilghman Moyer, who has served as the interim senior vice president of institutional advancement after David Unruh resigned in 2012 due to an administrative shift that was a result of Theobald’s arrival at the university.

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

Deputy university counsel Michael Gebhardt has been appointed interim university counsel and secretary to the Board of Trustees, President Theobald announced in a press release last week.

Gebhardt will fill the vacancy left

by George Moore, who became university counsel in 1989 and secretary to the trustees in 1992. Moore, 67, died on March 2 of pancreatic cancer. During Moore’s absence due to his illness, Gebhardt had been performing some of Moore’s duties.

“At Temple, no one is irreplaceable, but George is as close as they come,” Theobald told The Temple News at Moore’s memorial service on March 9.

Gebhardt declined an interview for this article.

In his new role, Gebhardt will advise Temple’s trustees and its subsidiary institutions on legal matters including corporate governance, policy development, labor issues, commercial transactions and law interpretation.

Gebhardt served as deputy university counsel from 2011–3 and associate university counsel from 2006–11.

“What Michael brings to the Temple community and our leadership team is experience, stability and continuity,” Theobald said in the press release.

“Board of Trustees Chairman Pat-

Michael Gebhardt was appointed interim university counsel and board secretary. | COURTESY TEMPLE rick O’Connor and I value Michael’s professionalism and his broad-based understanding of the entire university enterprise,” Theobald said.

Prior to coming to Temple, Gebhardt was associate general counsel at Tulane University in New Orleans from 2003-6 and was responsible for contracts, research, and the development and implementation of policy.

From 2000-2 Gebhardt was vice president and associate counsel for Robertson Stephens, a San Francisco investment bank. Prior to that he was

an associate at San Diego-based Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, now part of DLA Piper.

From 1995-7 Gebhardt was an associate editor for the Recorder, a weekly San Francisco legal newspaper.

Gebhardt received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA in 1992 and a law degree from Tulane University Law School in 1995.

“No one will ever truly replace George Moore,” Gebhardt said in a press release. “But one of George’s legacies is that his staff was well prepared

to step in and serve the university he loved. I’m honored to have the opportunity to use what I learned from him for the good of Temple University.”

A university spokesman said he couldn’t provide information on the nature of the search processes to find permanent replacements for Moore’s positions before the time of press.

Joe Brandt can be reached at joseph. brandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.

Cherry-on Experience Day planned for April 12 FLING PAGE 1 Campus police officers will be posted at the entrances to the event to prevent students from entering under the influence of, or in the possession of, alcohol. Police will not be patting down students, Carey said.

“We want this to be a program where students can enjoy themselves,” Carey said.

“There’s going to be a process where we are making sure students are coming through to Geasey Field and Lot 1, they’re not bringing alcohol in and people are behaving appropriately and enjoying the actual events and not seeing this as a big open party, as was the case a little bit.”

Student Body President Darin Bartholomew said planning for the Cherry-on Experience went through Man Campus Program Board, not Temple Student Government.

Bartholomew said while while he is happy the new event will be different than Spring Fling, he held concerns, including bringing activities farther into the community.

Students play at last year’s Spring Fling. President Theobald announced it August that the annual event would be it canceled. | MAGGIE TRAPANI TTN The event will feature a food festival run by the Philadelphia Food Trust that will include food trucks and booths along 15th Street from local restaurants – which will be shut down during the event –

and Lot 1, the area between Pearson and McGonigle halls and the Pavilion. In addition, there will be music, a mural painting, a tough mudder-like event and laser tag.

Veronica Hunter, the as-

sociate director of Student Affairs, said Student Activities will review the outcome of the event to determine whether they want it to become an annual event.

Students around campus reacted to the announcement of the new event with mixed thoughts.

“I didn’t really care for Spring Fling to start with,” Vicky Joye, a senior geography and urban studies major, said. “There’s going to be food trucks so that’s kind of cool, but having security, I think no one’s going to go.”

“It’s a bummer for other people, but I’m happy about it that there’s security,” Steph Dorantes, a senior kinesiology major, said.

“What happened last year was obviously a tragedy,” Ezra Lewis, a junior film major, said. “After that whole event, I understand the university trying to change the format, controlling the students seems kind of odd...but I’m glad that they’re bringing something back for the students who enjoy it.”

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

Student photographers sue on First Amendment rights VAN KUYK PAGE 1 tiffs had their charges dropped in court.

In court, the officers said Van Kuyk was “dangerously close to police officer Allen’s firearm,” according to the complaint. The complaint states Van Kuyk was standing across the street when he was taking photographs.

However, the complaint states that the officers said in court that after telling Van Kuyk to stop taking photos, Van Kuyk told the officers he was a journalist working on a night photography assignment for school. When Allen tried to push him back, the officers said Van Kuyk grabbed the officer.

According to the complaint, Officer Higgins told the court Van Kuyk created a “hazardous condition, because we had a whole crowd coming out at that time. They were screaming and yelling.”

The complaint alleged that officers Higgins and Allen fabricated and embellished their statements to the court, going so far as to accuse the officers of perjury.

“Ironically, it was the disgraceful and abusive conduct of Allen and Higgins that drew a crowd,” the complaint said. “Mr. Van Kuyk had done nothing more than exercise his Constitutional rights that night.”

In a message to The Temple News, Van Kuyk deferred questions to his lawyer, Philadelphia attorney Robert J. Levant of Levant & Martin, P.C., who did not respond to a request for comment.

After charges were dropped against Van Kuyk and Feighan, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey issued a directive to the de-

partment informing officers of the public’s right to record officers performing their duties when in public.

Shortly after the incident, Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, sent an open letter to Ramsey and other city officials in which he said, “There is no excuse for your officers to intentionally disregard a citizen’s right to photograph an event occurring in a public place.

“NPPA is extremely concerned that the apparent lack of discipline and training of your officers will result in further incidents. We take this opportunity to offer our assistance in working with your department to develop reasonable and workable policies,” the letter read.

Van Kuyk and Feighan are addi-

tionally represented by Mark W. Tanner of Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig, LLP. In January 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Philadelphia Police department on behalf of another Temple student, Chris Montgomery, for a similar incident involving the recording of a police arrest near 15th and Chestnut streets in January 2011.

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

Editors note: Chris Montgomery is the web editor of The Temple News. He played no role in the reporting or editing process of this article.

PAGE 4

EDITORIAL/OP-ED

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921.

Joey Cranney, Editor-in-Chief Jenelle Janci, Managing Editor Cheyenne Shaffer, Chief Copy Editor John Moritz, News Editor Jerry Iannelli, Opinion Editor Patrick McCarthy, Asst. Web Editor Abi Reimold, Photography Editor Andrew Thayer, Asst. Photography Editor Addy Peterson, Design Editor Katherine Kalupson, Designer E.J. Smith Designer Donna Fanelle, Designer Zachary Campbell, Advertising Manager Grayson Holladay, Business Manager Morgan Hutchinson, Marketing Manager

KATIE HENESSY TTN

Erin Edinger-Turoff, Living Editor Patricia Madej, Arts & Entertainment Editor Avery Maehrer, Sports Editor Marcus McCarthy, Asst. News Editor Evan Cross, Asst. Sports Editor Jessica Smith, Asst. Living Editor Sam Tighe, Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Dustin Wingate, Multimedia Editor Alexandra Snell, Multimedia Editor Chris Montgomery, Web Editor

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

Alerts too little, too late In three separate instances to alert anyone of the situation. that occurred last Friday, three Officials involved in the female students reported be- process of sending out alerts ing attacked by a group of 10 have said messages are sent or more youths in an area near out as the university is able to Main Campus confirm and where many Temple’s crime alert system clarify inforstudents live. has been used inconsistently. mation. While These incisuch accuracy dents occurred in a half-hour is important to the alert process, span and within a five-block it is just as important for notices radius of one another. of threats to be sent out as soon Had one of the women as possible. not sustained severe injuries Another problem that afand been sent to the hospital – fected the university’s reporting where her story made its way to of such incidents is they often local news outlets – it’s possible occur just beyond the technical that the majority of the Temple boundaries of our campus postudent body would have re- lice force. mained in the dark about the While Campus Safety Serseemingly related attacks. vices has a legal duty to patrol Despite two of the three and report on the blocks immeimmediately informing Phila- diately surrounding Main Camdelphia Police of the incident pus, they have expanded that and a third reporting her attack range in the past in an effort to to Temple Police on Sunday, crack down on underage drinkthe university did not issue a ing and other unsafe practices TU alert. The university sent stemming from the growth of an email addressing questions the off-campus student comregarding the weekend’s inci- munity. dents Monday night.

Temple should be doing Just last month, a student everything in its power to build was injured when 29 shots were a stronger alert network that infired outside of The Let Out, a cludes both local and campus nightclub on 17th Street and police so that threats in the exCecil B. Moore Ave., on a busy panding university area can be Saturday evening. It took cam- notified to the student body as pus police roughly 45 minutes soon as possible.

FROM THE ARCHIVES...

Foolish to replace Fling Holding an alternative to ested in discouraging drinking Spring Fling on a Saturday af- during Temple-hosted activiternoon will not prevent stu- ties, it’s puzzling that adminisdents from day trators would drinking or Spring Fling’s replacement choose to keep the comschedule this will incite rowdiness. munity safer. new event for Temple will host “Cherry- a Saturday evening.

On Experience Day” at the It’s a safe guess that many Geasey Field Complex on April students, rebelling against the 12. The event will feature out- university’s decision to cancel door events but be restricted Spring Fling in the first place, by security. If anything, it will will attempt to get drunk during only incite hordes of students next month’s event before goto partake in the kind of illicit ing out that Saturday night. behavior the university had disWe also question why the couraged in the first place. university chose to locate the Frankly, we think the event on the fringe of Temple’s whole thing is a bad idea. surrounding community.

When administrators canWhat will our neighbors in celed Spring Fling in August, North Philadelphia have to say they said the event had become about this? a detriment to the university’s After West Chester student academic climate because too Ali Fausnaught fell to her death many students used Spring from an off-campus rooftop Fling as an excuse to drink and during last year’s Spring Fling, skip class. safety should have been the adPresident Theobald said ministration’s top concern in Spring Fling had been “hi- scheduling an alternative. But jacked by a group of people the choice to hold the event on that make this into a bacchanal, a Saturday away from the cena drinking fest.” Dean of Stu- ter of Main Campus only endents Stephanie Ives said stu- courages students to day drink dents treated Spring Fling like and wander off-campus. a “drinking holiday.”

We predict attendance at True, many students the event will be minimal comskipped class on Spring Fling pared to the number of students and some attended class drunk. drinking on rooftops.

But if the university was inter-

CORRECTIONS In an article that appeared in print on March 18 with the title “Was Monteiro tenurable at all?” quotes said by Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Faculty Affairs Diane Maleson were misattributed to Assistant Vice Provost Erin Palmer.

The Temple News strives to be a newspaper of record by printing factually correct and balanced articles. Accuracy is our business, so when a mistake is made, we’ll correct it as soon as possible. Anyone with inquiries about content in this newspaper can contact Editor-in-Chief Joey Cranney at editor@temple-news.com or 215.204.6737.

April 23, 2013: West Chester student Ali Fausnaught dies during Spring Fling. Fausnaught, 19, fell from a roof while visiting Main Campus.While Spring Fling was canceled for 2014, last week administrators announced that its replacement “Cherry-On Experience Day” will take place on April 12.

How much does attendance matter?

Temple’s previous status as a commuter school has forced it to take attendance more seriously than it should.

I

f a conversation ever dies with a stranger, there’s always the weather to discuss. If a conversation ever dies with a Temple student, there’s the “I hate the attendance requirement” rant to fall back on.

I’ve heard it countless times from roommates, friends and classmates. Does a student need to be present in class in order to learn? If so, what’s the most reasonable way to enforce attendance?

Temple was once a commuter school that needed a strict attendance policy, but the times have changed and so must the approach to attendance.

Marcus McCarthy The university itself doesn’t take a stance on how a teacher should enforce attendance, if at all. Instead, Temple’s policy allows freedom for colleges or professors to independently make their own rules. The main requirement from the university is the teacher must state his or her policy on a syllabus provided at the beginning of the course.

This is not rare among universities: Of the 10 major universities in Pennsylvania, more than half of those institutions lack specific attendance policies.

The trend is similar among top public universities in the nation, with five of the 10 public institutions ranked highest by U.S.

News and World Report boasting similar guidelines as well.

Peter Jones, senior vice provost for undergraduate studies and a professor in the criminal justice department, said this could be because Temple was historically a commuter school until the last decade.

Jones acknowledged that the individual policies could begin to change as the incoming freshman classes continue to rise in academic standing and live on or near Main Campus.

“When I first came to Temple in 1985, almost all the students were commuter students and attendance at class was very spotty compared to what it is now,” Jones said. “I think that if we got to the point that if faculty saw that students were attending class whether they had a policy or not, they may well back off having policies.”

Additionally, it appears that attendance policies don’t need to affect grading in order to show results.

Lora Jacobi, a psychology professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, studied methods to increase class attendance and presented her findings at the Association for Psychological Sciences’ national convention in 2012.

Jacobi said she observed attendance in her lower-level psychology course of 120 students, where attendance was not recorded. She used this class as the control for the psychological experiment.

The next semester, however, Jacobi taught the same course with the same material and classroom. All that changed was Jacobi told the class of 140 students the first day that she would just take eight photos every day to “monitor attendance.” Attendance did not affect students’ grades: Jacobi said she only monitored the pictures for “the density of the classroom.”

Jacobi said instead of typical highs and lulls caused by tests in the control, the attendance stayed in excess of 90 percent throughout the second semester course.

The average exam scores improved by five points and the rate of students passing the class increased from 77 percent to 82 percent.

A similar study was published in 2001

by Elliot Shimoff and A. Charles Catania, former professors at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Shimoff and Catania found taking attendance improved test scores even though the students had been informed that attendance wouldn’t affect their grades.

While there are some courses that should mandate attendance, like lab courses, there are certainly some – like lectures – that shouldn’t. As such, more teachers should consider an attendance policy similar to Jacobi’s.

“I feel sometimes like it is double dipping,” Jones said. “If they don’t attend they’re likely to do worse in the class. So to them, to take more points off for not attending is like hitting them twice.”

Docking a grade is largely not necessary, because the identity of Temple’s student body has changed. The newest class at Temple, the Class of 2017, had an estimated SAT score of 1129 – 20 points higher than the proceeding class – and an estimated 15,000 of Temple’s roughly 30,000 students now live on or near campus.

Additionally, Jacobi’s model will, in plenty of cases, achieve the same goals with less actual harm to grades.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter @marcusmccarthy6.

COMMENTARY

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

REACH would give kids hope A proposed scholarship would help more students attend school.

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stablished in 1993, the Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally scholarship program allows any high school student within the state of Georgia who maintains at least a 3.0 grade point average to attend any state university within Georgia for free.

The system is funded entirely by the revenue of the Georgia lottery and has assisted than Michael Carney more 900,000 students to date. The system has spread to neighboring southern states and has been successful in those states as well.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania consistently ranks among the most expensive state university systems in the country and one of the highest in student debt after graduation. A program like HOPE would be extremely beneficial for Pennsylvania’s broken system of 14 state and four state-related universities.

Between 1998 and 2003, Georgia was ranked No. 1 nationally for the strength of its academic-based student financial aid program. Because of HOPE, the number of high school students who met grade and attendance requirements increased by 50 percent, the Georgia SAT average increased 60 points and the most academically successful students became three times more likely to attend a university in the state.

Despite managing one of the most expensive state university systems in the country, attempts have been made within Pennsylvania to create a program similar to HOPE. Pennsylvania House Bill 467 was first proposed by State Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-13, in 2009 and is based on Georgia’s cutting-edge system. The bill would establish what Boyle called the REACH Program, an acronym for Reliable Education Assistance for College Hopefuls. Shortly after proposing the legislation, Boyle said “this legislation would increase academic performance across Pennsylvania and give numerous students from workingclass families the opportunity to realize their dreams of going to college.”

Funding for HOPE is generated by lottery revenue, but since Pennsylvania’s lottery is already committed to funding

programs for senior citizens, Boyle proposed that funding come from a different source.

Casinos, Boyle said, generate enough revenue to fund his REACH program for years.

In 2011 alone, Pennsylvania collected more than $1.5 billion in taxes from casinos within the state. Boyle said only one fifth of those taxes would be needed to fund REACH for a year. If all of the state’s casino taxes were put toward REACH, it could be funded for half a decade.

A phenomenon known as the “brain drain” has affected various states in recent years, but it has hit hardest in Pennsylvania. This is characterized by a large body of individuals from a common area – like a county or state – who collectively leave said area to work or study elsewhere.

“Where have all the Pennsylvanians gone?” Inquirer staff writer Paul Nussbaum asked in an article back in 1991. “To Florida. And Maryland, Virginia, California and Texas. Anywhere, it seems, where the jobs are more plentiful and the sun shines more warmly.”

On education, former Gov. Ed Rendell said, “We are the second oldest state in the nation because too many of our young people are leaving Pennsylvania behind for opportunities elsewhere.” More than a decade later, Rendell’s message still holds true.

Pennsylvania is a diverse state with millions of brilliant students. Mismanagement in Harrisburg and the massive marketing efforts to attract students to colleges across the nation have left Pennsylvania’s universities in their worst shape in history. Whether a long-term fix or a temporary solution, REACH can provide new opportunities to students who otherwise would not attend college and encourage current college students to take in interest in establishing their careers in their home state.

It may be years before REACH becomes a reality for Pennsylvania’s public universities, and even decades before the system benefits Temple and the state’s three other state-related universities. However, the risk of REACH failing in Pennsylvania is far less detrimental than what would likely occur if Pennsylvania continues down the path it is on.

THE ESSAYIST...

Two dogs, one home

Three roommates and two untrained beasts share one miniscule college apartment.

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PAGE 5

By Jerry Iannelli

ver the course of a single year, I have become the reluctant guardian of not one, but two ill-tempered canines, despite wanting exactly none at all.

For the entirety of my time in Philadelphia, I have shared a home with the same human being. His name is Aaron. He is my best friend, by both choice and by default.

During our first month at this university, he and I made some sort of blood pact to room together for four straight years, an agreement we have inexplicably not wavered from. I know how often he shaves.

Aaron is a well-read, slightly stout human being that occasionally exhibits the common sense of a candied yam. In the same breath, he will offer a biting critique of the prose in “Watership Down” before realizing that he’s left a pot of fusilli congealing on the stove since breakfast. He is a charismatic human being, one that is particularly skilled at coercing me into making awful life choices, like spending my last year as a college student housing a complete stranger and his 100 pound, razorjawed Samoyed named Sam. This is not to say that I particularly had a choice in the matter. In May, our previous roommate Matt made the sure-footed decision to move back in with his father in Maryland after being pick-pocketed for the second time in two weeks, losing both his iPod and cellphone. Matt bolted, we needed a roommate, Aaron found a student that came with a snugglylooking animal and I really didn’t have a separate option to bring to the table.

Whilst I was away careening through the American South in August, Kyle and Sam unceremon i -

ously moved their things into our tiny home. Kyle contributed a wood-lined stereo system and an extra sofa, while Sam arrived with a 20-pound bag of Iams Senior Blend Kibbles for which we did not have a large enough pantry.

Outwardly, Sam is an adorable creature. He lumbers around our home slowly – mostly due to his age – and appears to be covered in the same material that lines the wings of cherubs. No matter his emotional state, his eyes broadcast the unthinking gaze of a fileted supermarket salmon.

That being said, he greets the morning sun with the huffing, barbaric grimace of a scorned lowland gorilla. Sam spends the majority of each day perched on the floral loveseat in our living room gnashing his fangs whenever anyone brushes hair from his or her face. If someone attempts to actually share a sofa with the beast – an apparent affront to Sam’s singular worth as an adult male – he or she may legitimately part ways with a chunk of forearm.

Sam is a bad dog, and not in the way that Marmaduke and Beethoven are bad dogs. Sam will look me dead in the eyes as he relieves himself on my carpet. His urine smells like formaldehyde. Though I doubt he’d ever seriously harm someone, he has snapped at three of my friends.

As I type, Sam has positioned himself like a sphinx around a syrupy plastic tin that used to house a pre-cooked supermarket chicken. I assume he’s stolen it from the garbage, and by that I mean he has strewn eggshells and crumpled napkins around the living room floor like a trophy wife packing for a weekend trip to

Boca Raton.

He will bite me if I attempt to touch anything, and is staring at me as if he’d like me to try.

Thankfully, there came a point somewhere around November when Sam and I had developed enough of a rapport in which I was allowed to occasionally place

my hand on his skull without having my digits removed. At that point, a second dog was added to my home.

Aaron is an impulsive human being.

Two weeks ago, he sold our printer without telling anyone, thus preventing me from properly filing my tax documents on time.

A few days after Halloween, I was treated to the following text message: “Guys, I did something bad,” he said.

“It’s not really that bad, but you won’t be happy. You’ll see when you get back.”

As this type of language is typically used in the aftermath of a mid-grade grease fire, I rushed home, only to find the bewildered eyes of a four-week-old puppy staring back at me from my sofa. In honor of Aaron’s childhood hero, the pup – a German Shepherd and Husky mix – had been named Cal Ripken III. Aaron found him on a joyride through suburban Pennsylvania that afternoon.

I should have put my foot down then and there, as none of us are currently capable of providing a wild animal with discipline and structure. I am a man who works 40 to 50 hours a week. Instead, Cal fell asleep in my bed that evening.

Cal is a wonderful dog, in that he is constantly in the mood to snuggle and has never openly expressed an appreciation for Janet Evanovich novels. I am nothing short of stunned that this is the case, as his only companion growing up so far has been a frost-haired sociopath with no concept of English grammar.

All told, Cal and Sam actually get along fairly well together. We’ve had to remove multiple pieces of furniture to give the pair ample room to play in our apartment, which the dogs utilize by galumphing up and down the home’s singular hallway, careening into closed doors and barking at each other at a volume reserved for Alpine yodelers. Playtime is apparently most fun at dawn.

Cal will initiate a romp with Sam by crunching down on one of the Samoyed’s ears, and thankfully, Sam has made the conscious decision to refrain from dismembering the pup each and every time.

Sam will instead gape his cavernous maw and lather Calvin in spittle, transmogrifying the mutt into a wriggling salamander that will then towel himself off in my sheets. When dry, he is crusty.

The puppy – now six months old and the size of a duffel bag – has taught himself to scale our furniture and onto the kitchen counter where his food sits. He has eaten three entire bags of puppy chow this way, and has broken our only two ceramic mixing bowls.

I am now afraid to bring strangers into my home, since when I did so in January, we arrived to find Cal humping a stuffed bear as Sam chewed off one of the toy’s eyes.

I move out in August. I’m going to be lonely.

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

Michael Carney can be reached at michael.carney@temple.edu.

Editor’s Note: Michael Carney works in the office of Brendan Boyle as an intern. Boyle played no role in the editing process of this article.

Racism, sexism and student social media accounts TU Confessions allows anonymous – and sometimes racist – comments from students.

T

he veil of anonymity afforded by the Internet makes fearless cultural commentators and confessors of us all.

But as electronic surveillance is heightened, our information shuttled off to parts and parties unknown and comment sections increasingly require some kind of ID registration, the Sunil Chopade opportunity of having your say without leaving a trace is intoxicating.

The occasionally obscene but of-

ten funny Temple University Confessions Twitter and Facebook accounts are a repository of students’ true secrets and potential lies given with just this privilege. A simple fill-in box with a ‘send’ button allows students to vent their frustrations over financial services, boast about conquests real or imaginary and just generally make pithy observations about university life anonymously. The accounts are not associated with the university.

Naturally, these confessions have gone to some weird places.

Barring the obvious “guys-impersonating-girls” and the occasional antisocial admissions of say, stealing toilet paper from the bathrooms or having sex on – or with, it’s not wholly clear – the #TUBigChairs, the twisted whimsy of Temple University Confessions gives way to something a little more unsettling. A spate of racist and misogynistic comments on the Facebook page has

OPINION DESK 215-204-7416

alluded to another side of the student body’s thinking.

The page’s administrator has had to set up “…a moratorium on confessions making a mockery of rape,” as well as those making potentially offensive stereotypes. As such, many of the offending stories have been removed, including one about Asian students using the study rooms in Paley Library to watch anime.

A confession posted on Aug. 3 said, “As a black female freshman and from looking at all these confessions, I’m worried about having a racist roommate and/or having to face racial slurs.”

The rogue confessions haven’t just made inflammatory comments on race – there have been similarly eye roll-inducing misinterpretations of feminism as well.

“Does giving a feminist some good ‘D’ make her stop being a femi-

nist?” one confessor asked earlier this month. Somewhere, Judith Butler has just had a brief stroke.

Philadelphia cannot exactly claim to have achieved the multiculturalism of major metropolises like London or even Toronto, and that’s reflected in many of the comments on Temple University Confessions. In March 2013, Philadelphia magazine ran the story “Being White in Philly,” which led to a veritable crucifixion of journalist Robert Huber at a town hall meeting. It was the magazine’s attempt to start an unfettered conversation about the issue of race in Philadelphia, but it devolved somewhat into generalization and superstition. What’s worse is that Temple students can skirt the realities of discussion by anonymously commenting.

It’s difficult to ascertain just how much truth there is to each confession.

I pray to various deities that the confession about 7-Eleven and a certain

LETTERS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

bodily fluid is a work of fiction. And given their nameless, faceless nature, it’s tempting not to give them much thought.

But if it is the truth, it represents a raw, unfiltered depiction of the way students view other races and creeds on campus. And in many cases, there’s pure vitriol for the “otherness” of others. While I’m all for Internet anonymity – anything to avoid having to “sign in with Facebook”– it’s easy for some to use this facelessness as a way to relinquish even having to think about the impact of their comments.

Oh, and it’s probably best you all stop doing certain things on or with the #TUBigChairs. I’m fairly certain tour groups sit on those things.

Sunil Chopade can be reached at sunil.chopade@temple.edu.

NEWS

PAGE 6

CAMPUS

TSG candidates announced

PROP GRENADE FOUND IN CONWELL INN Police responded to the Conwell Inn on Main Campus after a guest reported they found a grenade-like device in their room on Sunday afternoon.

Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said police arrived on the scene at 5:38 p.m. Philadelphia bomb squad units took the device to their lab to examine if it was real, a replica or another device.

After an investigation, it was determined the device was a prop grenade left by students from another university who were filming on Main Campus last week.

Campus police closed down Liacouras Walk from Montgomery Avenue to 1940 Residence Hall, in addition to the portion of Polett Walk between the Conwell Inn and Sullivan Hall.

Temple issued a TU Alert warning students of the investigation of a suspicious device at 5:54 p.m., at which time police on the scene were already beginning to take down caution tape and barriers.

An all-clear was sent out through a TU Alert at approximately 6:06 p.m.

-John Moritz

IN THE NATION ARRESTS ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY A pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebration at UMass Amherst on March 8 resulted in 65 arrests likely cost more than $200,000 in public safety, consultant fees and damages.

The annual “Blarney Blowout” attracted distant college students, police said, with only 20 of the arrests being UMass students. According to the AP, 141 people have been charged.

Additionally, a review by the former Boston Police Comissioner Edward Davis is estimated to cost UMass $160,000. In an op-ed to masslive.com published on March 13, UMass Amherst’s student government president condemned what he said was poor planning and execution by the police.

-Marcus McCarthy

PHILADELPHIA STATE REP CHARGED FOR ALLEGED GHOST JOB

Pennsylvania state Rep. J.P. Miranda is facing charges of conspiracy, conflict of interest and perjury after a grand jury indicted him for an alleged ghost job prosecutors say he used to funnel money to his sister.

Miranda has represented the 197th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which includes several off-campus blocks above Susquehanna Avenue, since being elected in 2012.

Prosecutors say Miranda hired a former campaign worker to a no show job under the agreement the worker give the money to Miranda’s sister Michelle Wilson, who was blocked from becoming Miranda’s chief of staff by the state Democratic Caucus.

Miranda is represented by high-profile Philadelphia attorney Charles A. Peruto Jr.

-John Moritz SEPTA FACES POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN, LAWMAKERS REACT SEPTA avoided a partial strike a little more than a week ago, but the potential for a larger strike is looming in April which has lawmakers considering solutions.

Montgomery County state House Republican Kate Harper reintroduced legislation that would ammend the Public Employee Relations Act, a law that prohibits essential public employees like firemen, prison guards and court employees from striking.

The amendment never got out of committee in 2009, but Harper said she believes the mood has changed due to recent events.

With the bus drivers and subway operators already working on an expired contract and the suburban operators and mechanics facing a contract that will expire in early April, there’s potential for the entire transportation network to be shut down due to strike.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

-Marcus McCarthy

Elections for the next student body president will be held on April 7.

JOE GILBRIDE The Temple News The candidates for the 2014 student body elections were announced last night at the weekly General Assembly meeting of Temple Student Government.

Under the TU Believe ticket, Ray Smeriglio will run for president, along with Blair Austin and Julia Crusor for vice president positions.

The second team, Renew TU, has Ifeoma Ezeugwu running for president, with Meghan Guerrera and Rachel Applewhite as running mates.

From now until the election days on April 8-9, the candidates will campaign on campus and through social media, with the help of the TSG election commissioners.

DeVaun Brown and Dylan Mor-

purgo will serve as the election commissioners this year, a job where each is responsible for ensuring the rules of the election are followed and encouraging students to vote.

The rules for running for president and vice president positions, Morpurgo said, are mostly university policies.

“When making fliers, they have to be approved by Student Activities,” Morpurgo said. “They can’t get their friends to sticker them all over campus.”

Additionally, Morpurgo said, student groups are allowed to endorse candidates as long as a written notice is given to the election commissioners prior to the endorsement announcement.

The election will be held online through a university secure network, as it has been in previous years. For the first time, the elections will be held through Owl Connect, Temple’s student organization database.

Morpurgo said universities across the country have conducted student elections through Collegiate Link websites, the same system Owl Con-

nect is based on.

Outgoing Student Body President Darin Bartholomew and his administration were elected in 2013 with a 64 percent majority out of 2,075 votes cast. The turnout for the 2013 election was a 20 percent decline from the previous year.

Bartholomew and his team, Temple United, ran on a platform of negotiating with SEPTA to have Owl Cards used to pay transit fare, among other issues. Plans with SEPTA were put on delay until 2018 when TSG learned current card technology would not be compatible with the transit authority’s New Payment Technology plan, set to be implemented this year.

After the registration for the election ended Thursday, the commissioners had to confirm the candidates were in good academic standing. Then, Brown and Morpurgo met with the candidates before their public introductions Monday, a meeting Morpurgo said was necessary to make the competing teams familiar with the rules and responsibilities of running for student office.

If the candidates or their supporters break university rules while running, Morpurgo said they could be censored, denied the right to participate in TSG-organized events to promote the campaigns or be asked to go quiet on social media until any damage is fixed.

“The campaign is a joint effort between the election commissioners and the candidates,” Morpurgo said.

“We want to get the message out and have them interact with students.”

Students will be able to meet the candidates and ask them questions at an upcoming “caf-jam” event at the Morgan Hall cafeteria, Morpurgo said. The date has not yet been set.

As the campaign comes closer to the election days, TSG will host two debates, Morpurgo said. The first will be held at the March 31 TSG General Assembly meeting, and the second will be held the week of the election.

Joe Gilbride can be reached at joseph.gilbride@temple.edu.

Students report attacks by youths BEATINGS PAGE 1 to go to the police to report the incidents, only to find varying degrees of help. No alerts were sent out by Temple police and no arrests have been made as of Monday.

All four students agreed to share their stories with The Temple News on the condition of anonymity due to ongoing investigations and fear of repercussions.

As a 19-year-old criminal justice major and her 20-year-old boyfriend, an architecture major, neared his apartment walking toward 17th and Norris streets at 6 p.m., the two experienced what they said was an unprovoked attack by a group of eight to 10 youths who appeared to be 13 to 14 years old, the 20-yearold man said.

The two said the assault started with one initial attack from a member of the group. The rest began to join in harassing the students, targeing the female in particular. The minors began to pull her hair and reach for her earrings, shouting comments like “dumb b----,” the woman said.

Attempting to escape the attack, the two crossed the street, while the man attempted to defend his girlfriend.

“Out of nowhere, [one of the girls] had a brick in her hand and hits me in the face,” she said.

The 19-year-old was hit twice in the face with the brick, pushing her teeth into the roof of her mouth.

She described her appearance after the attack as one of “the most disgusting things [she] ever saw.” Her boyfriend immediately rushed her to his car to get to the hospital, while the attackers left.

“I was completely terrified,” he said. “I’ve never been put in a situation where I had to fight for my life before.”

Her boyfriend reached for the phone to call the Philadelphia Police Department, and upon immediately relaying the details of the assault, said he was told to “wait until [they] got to the hospital” to report what had happened.

Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at Hahnemann University Hospital.

Around the same time that Friday evening, two other female students reported similar attacks, all within a five-block radius.

A 20-year-old media studies and production major said she was walking down the 1700 block of Willington Street around 5:45 p.m. looking down at her phone. When she looked up she said a girl who appeared to be 13 to 14 years old punched her in the face.

The attacker joined by a group of seven to 10 other girls in the same age group while the victim ran home after being able to push the attacker back.

The woman said she later went to the 22nd Precinct police station

A 20-year-old victim of Friday’s attacks stands in her bathroom, where she fled after she was punched in the face around 6 p.m. while walking home from the Cecil B. Moore subway station. | ABI REIMOLD TTN on 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue to report what had happened, but said she was greeted by an officer who joked that the station was closed.

“He was very nonchalant about it,” she said. “He clearly wasn’t taking me seriously at all.”

The student said she was told “to call 911 if it happened again.”

Out of frustration, she left without filling out a report, claiming that she felt like an “idiot.”

She said after hearing about the student assaulted with a brick minutes after her, she felt that the attacks could have been prevented if a report was filed.

A third woman, a 22-year-old athletic training major who also said she was walking home from the subway around 6 p.m. near the corner of 17th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue when she encountered a group of about 10 minors, who she said she assumed to be waiting for the bus.

“Next thing I knew, I was on the ground,” she said in an email.

“One of the girls had come up from behind me and took a swing at my head. I fell to the ground.”

After sustaining minor cuts and what she said she believes to be a minor concussion, the woman said she didn’t feel like it was necessary to immediately contact the police.

Instead, she said she took her frustration out on her own, throwing her backpack and putting a large hole in her wall.

On Sunday, she gave a statement to Temple police and answered

questions from a detective.

While none of the other women required medical attention, the 19-year-old had to receive oral surgery to hold her teeth in place. In addition, the student has a fractured jawbone and mild concussion and will not find out whether she’ll be able to keep her teeth until a series of medical visits during the upcoming week.

After she was released from the hospital, the couple said they reported the attack to Temple police, but were told that 17th and Norris Streets are “out of [the university’s] jurisdiction.”

For the 20-year-old victim purposes of patrolling and reporting crime, as defined by the Clery Act, Main Campus extends as far north as 16th Street and Susquehanna Avenue, about two blocks from the attack.

Temple houses roughly 5,500 students on campus, while recent estimates from university officials say between 7,000 to 10,000 students live in off-campus housing.

The woman who was hit with the brick said she believes that just because they were slightly off-campus doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have been left unprotected.

“I was in pure daylight,” she said. “If [bike cops] were out, they should have seen me. Temple says they have great security, but I don’t know where they were when I was attacked.”

“I was completely

terrified. I’ve never been put in a situation where I had to fight for my life before.

”

Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Service Charlie Leone said that a TU Alert was not issued because of the timing of the situation. Since the students contacted Philadelphia police first, Temple’s authorities were not notified until hours later.

“The alerts are used for immediate threats, immediate action,” Leone said.

Though Leone said Temple’s officers work closely with Philadelphia police, “the system didn’t work because it was a different scenario than normal.”

Leone added that while the block where the attack occurred is not within Temple’s jurisdiction, there are officers that patrol the area.

Officer Christine O’Brien of the Philadelphia police public affairs office said she could not comment on the delay between students and action taken by the authorities since she was not directly involved.

Typically, O’Brien said, the police would not go to the scene of the crime without the victims present, but would instead meet them directly at the hospital.

The victimized couple is working with Philadelphia police to find suspects, which the 19-year-old victim said has been difficult because of their ages.

“I’m glad that they’re putting in the effort they are,” she said. “But I’m bitter toward the whole situation.”

Leone said as of Monday, Temple police were not made aware of the other incidences, other than the one involving a brick.

Patricia Madej can be reached at patricia.madej@temple.edu or on Twitter @PatriciaMadej.

LIVING

owlery.temple-news.com

BASS ON BOOKS, ART

PHOTO CONVERSATIONS

Warren Bass is a filmmaker who teaches at Temple. He’s currently working on a film called “The Urban World,’” which is set in India.

PAGE 8

Tyler students collaborated with student-artists from University of the Arts for an exhibit on display in Tyler.

PAGE 8

MINIMIZING TENSION One class teaches students about proper ways to sit, breathe and perform, without injuring themselves.

PAGE 8

temple-news.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

PAGE 7

Cost of politics a concern

Acting for a cause

Students who want to run for office must worry about necessary funds to campaign.

F

(Left) Junior theater major David Lawrence Glover practices a scene from “Othello” with Giovanni Ripa, a junior theater major who will play Iago in the production. The student-actors dedicated several hours every weekday and on Saturdays to prepare for the charitable performance. | ABI REIMOLD TTN

Theater student Alex Monsell is directing a play for charity.

PATRICK MCCARTHY The Temple News

S

hakespeare’s “Othello” offers violence, murder, adultery and racial tension set in an Elizabethan-era England,

but Alex Monsell also wants to perform it for the children at St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Monsell, a sophomore theater major, has created a unique opportunity to transform one of his favorite plays into something philanthropic.

He’s directing and producing his interpretation of the Shakespearean classic and creating a charitable event to be shown on the main stage at Tomlinson

Theatre April 11 at 7 p.m. They will also perform April 12 and 13 at 2 and 7 p.m.

By donating all the proceeds of the pay-as-you-wish performance, he hopes to stay true to the artistic integrity of “Othello” while giving something back to society.

“I knew I wanted to do it for charity because I’m a firm believer in art for the community,” Monsell said. “If this

was a professional production I would say, ‘Great. We are getting the ‘Othello’ message out to everybody,’ and be fine with that. But we’re not a professional production. We are a college production. I wanted to do something more to impact the community.”

St. Jude Children’s Hospital has a system in place to provide resources at Monsell’s disposal, including official posters and an

Internet guide for broadcasting to the kids. The play has scaled down its budget wherever possible, removing aspects that felt unnecessary to Monsell. He said he is covering the last bit of the budget and called it an “investment to the bigger.” Eliminating these excessive funds helps ensure that all proceeds are sent directly to the hospital without getting caught by a middle man,

‘OTHELLO’ PAGE 18

Plant the seeds of health Community gardens are key to healthy neighborhoods.

N

ow that the first day of spring has passed, grab a pair of gloves, a shovel and some seeds – it’s the season for growing greens and networking. It’s time to till some soil and get gardening. There are many benefits to growing your own produce, from health to a better sense of community.

Gard e n i n g connects segregated communities like that surrounding Toby Forstater Te m p l e .

Green Living Students and local residents don’t commonly collaborate, but students like Gab Taube from Temple Community Garden and Alex Epstein from Philadelphia Urban Creators and Tree House Books are changing that.

“You can take a piece of land, plant the vegetable seeds and see them grow,” Taube, a senior geography major, said.

“Gardening is a great opportunity to get together with your

GARDEN PAGE 18

(From left) Chey Jones, Haseeb Goheer and Rohit Batish lead Temple’s chapter of the international organization, Grassroot Soccer, which aims to spread HIV/AIDS awareness in the community. | JAMES LEIGHTON TTN

A goal for health awareness

Grassroot Soccer is a national organization that opened a chapter on Main Campus.

JAMES LEIGHTON The Temple News Freshman biology major Rohit Batish said he believes soccer is a universal language – that’s why it’s the focus of one organization that wants to raise awareness of the community living with HIV/AIDS. The first collegiate chapter of Grassroot Soccer was started at Temple this semester. President Haseeb Goheer said he

LIVING DESK 215-204-7416

proposed the idea of starting a college chapter to a liaison in the international organization.

The fellow freshman biology major was the first person to propose its introduction at educational institutions, he said, calling it “the test run” for chapters at universities.

“Grassroot Soccer is an international nonprofit organization that utilizes the power and game of soccer to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS around the world,” Goheer said.

Temple’s chapter specifically hopes to spread awareness in North Philadelphia.

Goheer said as it’s in the beginning stages, Grassroot

Soccer at Temple is attempting to spread awareness of its existence within the student body.

Along with Goheer, freshman chemistry major Chey Jones is vice president and Batish acts as treasurer. They knew each other prior to the creation of the organization after meeting at a pickup soccer game during orientation week. “[Jones and I] were just walking around Temple during orientation week, and there was a soccer game going on,” Batish said. “So then we met [Goheer] there and we became friends really quickly. He said, ‘Hey, do you want to join Grassroot Soccer?’ It all started from just right

LIVING@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

there. He just asked us and we were like, ‘Alright, let’s go.’”

The love of soccer brought them together initially, but once the three became involved, they said they began to appreciate the goals of the organization.

Goheer said he was first introduced to Grassroot Soccer as a freshman in high school. He continued to become involved throughout high school until in his senior year, when he was offered the chance to become a student ambassador for the organization.

Goheer said he felt driven to make a difference, and re-

SOCCER PAGE 17

rank Underwood of Netflix’s “House of Cards” went from Congress to the vice presidency without begging an American for a dollar, treating Oprah to dinner or kissing a baby in Ohio. However, Te m p l e students aspiring to politics agree that the financial strain of seeking office is a Lora Strum concern.

PolitiPolarized cal science Campus students can participate in a six-credit internship that allows wannabe-senators and state representatives to pound the campaign trail alongside America’s political winners and losers.

Students copy papers, brew coffee, staff phone banks and knock on doors to register voters. Most importantly, some students who’ve participated said they were exposed to the “dark side” of politics, where ideology and party platforms are insignificant compared to raising funds for vicious campaign advertisements and lavish donor dinners.

As a warning to those students who enroll in the internship, political science professor Robin Kolodny said “some students hate the world of campaign politics afterwards.”

Maybe Underwood makes Washington look like a tantalizing scene where everyone wears power suits and eats ribs – after all, political science is a popular major.

Sophomore politics and rhetoric in public advocacy major Thomas Mickens said the ideology of politics is still what motivates him to be involved, primarily in the interest of bettering social welfare programs.

“Growing up with my sister, who has schizophrenia and autism, made me appreciate what helping people really does,” Mickens said. “[She] inspired me to understand public policy to help people in her position. This could be an equal opportunity country.”

Temple attempts to teach its political science students the intricacies of campaign finance rules, covering concepts like soft money and political action committees. Students review former elections, watching costs skyrocket.

They also have the chance to work on campaigns, both big and small in significance and budget.

“I have been a part of campaigns from local state reps to governor,” said Student Body President Darin Bartholomew, a senior management information systems major. “It can be a challenge to really understand how difficult the fundraising battles can be when students look at the local races. Since Philadelphia is a democratic

FINANCES PAGE 17

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For Bass, students are also like his colleagues Warren Bass is a professor in the film department whose won several awards.

PAIGE GROSS The Temple News The first books film professor Warren Bass read were the complete works of FACULTY John Steinbeck and the “Encyclopedia Americana.”

Bass, who’s been teaching in Temple’s theater and film departments for 36 years, is a graduate of both Yale and Columbia universities, but grew up in a home with no books and no family members who had graduated high school. When he took a standardized test in fifth grade, he surprised his teachers by acing the exam.

“They were kind of wondering why I was faking book reports and not doing much in school,” Bass said. “So my parents took out a loan and bought the full encyclopedia.”

Bass said he was “an A student” from that point on and was heavily involved in the theater program at his high school in McLean, Va., a laboratory school for The Catholic University of America that hosted many theater productions. He played the title role in “Julius Caesar,” the doctor in “The Doctor, In Spite of Himself,” was lead dancer in a musical and directed a one-act play. Before the year ended, Bass joined a professional theater company.

He was sent acceptances and scholarships from many prestigious schools in his home area of Washington after high school without applying. He started in the physics program

at George Washington University, directing professional theater productions in his free time.

Bass was eventually offered the opportunity to do film while studying art and theater at Columbia and Yale universities.

Because of his commitment to his professional directing, he was unable to complete the requirements for the theater department and graduated with a degree in art.

“Art gave me flexibility,” Bass said. “I could take studio courses at my own time. I was interested in it, and it gave me time to direct.”

Besides Temple, he’s taught at Yale University, New York University, California State University and the American Film Institute. He also has spent some time as Temple’s director of the master of fine arts program in the film and media arts department.

In the mid-1970s, Temple chose three people from the film industry to be brought in on a temporary basis, considered visiting distinguished professors.

“One of them was a founder of British documentary,” Bass said. “Another was one of the most important film theorists and then there was me. I ended up coming and staying.”

Finding the balance between teaching and working on his independent films is difficult, but rewarding, Bass said.

He said he learns from his students and gains new perspectives from teaching.

“It’s kind of a nice dialogue to have students who are in some ways both students and colleagues, and you can interact with them in terms of ideas,” Bass said.

Bass’ work has been recognized with the Platinum Award at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, first place at Athens International Film Festival, first place at FirstGlance Film Festival in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and first place at Bare Bones International Film Festival in Muskogee, Okla.

The Civil Rights Movement was a large source of inspiration for Bass during his early years as a filmmaker, who said film was a way for him to express what was happening around him. Bass’ films have been translated into various languages and screened in 17 countries.

He has experimented with both live-action and animated films as well, a nod to his degree in art, along with his experience in theater. He’s directed live theater at Lincoln Center, off-Broadway and in Philadelphia’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Bass’ latest film, “The Urban World,” is set in Ahmedabad, India, the country’s fifthlargest city. The film features one of the thousands of families that have been misplaced due to a major development project. “The Urban World” will premiere at the Athens International Film Festival in April and will be shown at several more film festivals this year.

“I’m not sure I make my films for an immediate audience,” Bass said. “I make them for what I am interested in, and sometimes they end up around the world.”

Paige Gross can be reached at paige.gross1@temple.edu.

Warren Bass is filming “The Urban World” in Ahmedabad, India. The city is the country’s fifth largest and an urban environment setting for his project. | COURTESY WARREN BASS

Rosie Wiegand (left) and Lindsay Thompson curated the “Call + Response” exhibit, which features both Tyler and University of the Arts students’ work. | SKYLER BURKHART TTN

Art students answer the call Two Tyler students organized the “Call + Response” show.

ALEXA BRICKER The Temple News

When photography majors Lindsay Thompson and Rosie Wiegand saw 2013 Temple alumna Liz Fever’s photography project last spring, TYLER a collaborative exhibit between Tyler and University of the Arts students, they were both inspired to carry on the tradition.

Now for its second year, the graduating seniors have brought photography students from all over Philadelphia together for an exhibition titled “Call + Response,” open until March 31 in the lower atrium at Tyler School of Art. The project began when Thompson and Wiegand used Facebook last summer to encourage students from both schools to post some of their best work to a page the two created.

From there, each student chose a picture to “respond” to with a photograph of their own, which is how the title of the exhibit came to be.

“The idea is to create a dialogue, just with images,” Thompson said. “You choose a photo that interests you and you use it for inspiration, building another piece off of that so that [the images] kind of talk to each other when hung next to one another.”

While the purpose of the exhibit is for the pairs of images to interact, the students were not bound by a set theme or strict guidelines, which Thompson said was intended to allow for variety among the pieces.

The images range from portraits to landscapes, each with their own style and technique.

The result, Thompson said, is a seamless display of artwork that is representative of the diversity

of artists involved. tion – the reception, held on Thompson and Weigand March 10 at Tyler, was the said bringing the exhibit to frui- first time many of the photogtion was not an easy task due to raphers got to see their photos’ the coordination necessary to response, something Wiegand open it. They had never partici- said added to the excitement. pated in a full-scale exhibition “For the first photos everyat Tyler before, let alone held one knew who was responding the responsibility of putting one to whom because they comtogether, but they said the chal- mented on the pictures and they lenge was well worth it. could kind of claim the one that “It was really hard com- they wanted,” Wiegand said. municating with another school “But the actual response images via Facebook because there is were a surprise.” a connection you Wi e g a n d get when you’re said at Tyler, talking to somestudents someone one-on-one,” times feel isoThompson said. lated from the When it inirest of the unitially seemed that versity. Projects like this some of the students were strugare something gling to grasp the she hopes will concept of the ununite different usual exhibit, the students with students decided a common to meet with Tabond, along kashi Aoyama, with acting as Lindsay Thompson / senior a one of the parbeneficial ticipating UArts networking photographers. Both Thompson tool preparing artists to work and Wiegand said Aoyama was together in the future. able to help unite the schools “It may not look like much, and clarify the message Thomp- but it involved a lot of time and son and Wiegand wanted to effort to get everything just send. right,” Wiegand said. “It was a Aoyama, who specializes whole process that took months in photojournalism, said he was to complete, so I think it was rethrilled to have an opportunity ally good practice.” to experience the style of other Thompson said the responartists. sibility of the project helped her “I won’t oftentimes pho- gain self-motivation. tograph crazy pictures like a “The fact that our own amfine arts photographer does,” bition is the thing that got us Aoyama, the UArts senior, said. through it – no one was really “However, we can learn many telling us to do this,” Thompthings from each other. Through son said. “It was something we this project I have learned many wanted to accomplish on our unique styles of composition own, and obviously we had a lot from the different photogra- of help, but there really wasn’t phers.” any reward for it other than how Aoyama was also vital in is it going to turn out.” orchestrating a relationship Alexa Bricker can be reached among the students, Thompson at alexa.bricke1@temple.edu. said. A key part of the project is maintaining a conversation.

However, not all aspects were discussed before the presenta-

“The idea is to

create a dialouge, just with images.

You choose a photo that interests you and you use it for inspiration.

”

Class teaches students how to relax in all activities Anne Johnson teaches a class on the Alexander technique, which helps students avoid injury.

CLAIRE SASKO The Temple News Afternoon sunlight filters in through a window to a classroom where several students lie still on the floor. They’ve all been in the same position for 15 minutes.

The students are participating in constructive rest – an exercise in the music INSIDE THE course Introduction to Alexander CLASSROOM technique. Junior Teresa Dabback said constructive rest has been her favorite lesson of the semester.

“It requires the freeing of activities. It’s really relaxing,” Dabback said. “You record the instructions that you mentally give your body, but you aren’t allowed to do anything. It teaches you the difference between doing something and thinking about doing something.”

The exercise is supposed to teach students how to bring awareness to their bodies, even in activities as simple as lying down. The class’ pro-

fessor, Anne Johnson, said awareness is a crucial part of the Alexander technique, which is used to prevent or aid in the recovery of injuries caused by unnecessary stress during everyday activities.

Though Johnson said she believes everyone can benefit from the Alexander technique, the majority of students who enroll in the course are musicians.

“A lot of musicians have repetitive movements that can cause them to injure themselves,” Johnson said. “[Musicians] have to practice for hours and hours and hours. The Alexander technique helps you learn the balance between work and rest so you’re not using every bit of energy to do one thing.”

The Alexander technique is named after Frederick Matthias Alexander, a Shakespearean actor who frequently suffered voice loss while performing. Alexander realized this was an effect of his unconscious habit of contracting his neck and back muscles on stage.

After his discovery, Alexander set out to increase awareness of the issue, resulting in the creation of a way of becoming conscious of any unnecessary physical or mental tensions that interfere with performing any sort of task. “[The Alexander technique] helps facilitate

recovery and reduces pain and tension,” Johnson said. “It improves your performance and your skills, whether you’re an office worker or a performer. It helps you do things more efficiently.”

Dabback, a film major and gymnast, said the class is useful to her every day.

“You really focus on how to take care of yourself,” Dabback said. “You learn how to not get in the way of what your body can naturally do. It’s about movement and posture and thinking differently and letting go of tension.”

Johnson works to improve students’ awareness of their bodies through various exercises and movements. Because the class is relatively small, she often works one-on-one with students in front of the class to highlight common postural habits.

“They can see that they have a choice in their actions,” Johnson said. “They walk up and down the stairs and determine how much tension they put in their neck, or even just to sit in a chair. It’s amazing when you stop and look at something you do every day and realize how much unnecessary tension you create to do it.”

Johnson said many students enroll in Introduction to Alexander Technique because they frequently overexert themselves. She said some students who enroll in the class have various injuries.

“People come in and have numb fingers and pain in their wrists and elbows and shoulders,” she said. “They come in with a lot of fear about not being able to do what they love, so that fear adds to the stress.”

Mental habits are often what hinder a student’s body and ability to perform, Johnson said.

“If there’s fear involved, there’s going to be unnecessary tension,” Johnson said. “How you use your thoughts and how you use your body determines the quality of your body.”

Toward the end of the semester, students are given the opportunity to demonstrate what they learned by playing instruments in class. Johnson said the benefits of the Alexander technique are notable during performance.

“When you’re using too much muscular energy and tightening to express music and play your part, the sound of the instrument changes” Johnson said. “You really are learning how to use the most efficient amount of energy to do what you’re doing, [The Alexander technique] is a tool that helps you be alive in this world in an engaging, satisfying, rich way.”

Claire Sasko can be reached at claire.sasko@temple.edu.

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Deborah Marshall (left) coordinates efforts to donate food to Berean Presbyterian Church, something she’s done since noticing a lack of available provisions. | ABI REIMOLD TTN

A driving force behind efforts to feed needy Deborah Marshall helps a local church collect food to feed homeless visitors.

KARLINA JONES The Temple News After walking past Berean Presbyterian Church at the corner of Broad and Diamond streets with a sign out front that read “No Food Today,” Deborah Marshall, director of faculty and academic affairs for the School of Media and Communication, said she knew she had to make a change.

“The sign absolutely disturbed me,” Marshall said.

“And seeing the disappointed looks on [the faces of passersby] made me sad.”

Marshall decided to take matters into her own hands by running a food drive within SMC to help feed the homeless and needy patrons at the church.

Three boxes were set up for people to put food in.

The donations were anonymous to encourage participation from both staff and students during the drive. Marshall and Assistant Dean for Administration Donald Heller said they were pleased with the results.

Most of the donations came from Professor Amy Caples’ senior seminar class, Heller said.

“We promoted this event as much as we could,” Heller said.

“We sent emails, posted signs, anything that was creative. Creativity was the encouragement.”

The food drive, which lasted a week and a half, made Marshall and Heller confident they’d be able to assist the church in addressing the issues Marshall noticed.

“The one goal we have is plain and simple: to feed people,” Heller said.

The SMC drive collected about 600 pounds of food to feed those in need who rely on the church’s charity. Although Marshall said she was excited to donate the goods, she realized the church was struggling to provide meat in particular, something of concern to her.

Since meat is perishable, it’s something the church pantry struggles to provide regularly.

Marshall said she hopes to eventually help to provide it to promote nutritional meals.

Heller said this is the first time he’s helped organize a drive, but he’s previously participated in similar fundraisers by donating canned goods around the holidays or whenever his local churches and schools were holding them.

“Every time there is a drive and I would go grocery shopping, I would buy a few extra things to set aside for donations, or I would get the extra food I have in my cabinets since they last a while,” Heller said.

Heller also said hunger and similar issues can often be

pushed to the wayside on campus and in the city in general because of the busy lifestyles most people in an academic environment have.

“You can get blinded when you are caught up doing a lot of stuff,” Heller said.

He said when Marshall showed him the sign that had affected her, he was immediately convinced to contribute to her cause.

Due to the success of their first food drive, Marshall and Heller plan to have more throughout the semester. They said they plan to have three or four drives a year, and said they hope to be able to collect some cash contributions as well.

“If more people will help out a little bit, it would go really far,” Heller said. “One [dollar] can could go a long way in feeding people.”

The pair also want to have a clothing donation and to help establish a mentoring program for the church members. Heller said he hopes they have brought more comfort and less worrying to the community.

“It is a good feeling to know the people of the church will not be hungry,” Heller said.

Karlina Jones can be reached at karlina.jones@temple.edu.

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The high cost of seeking office FINANCES PAGE 7

(From left) Johnetta Wleh and Jackie Wleh serve dinner at Arch Street Church. The couple started its own charitable organization to help the community. | COURTESY WLEH FAMILY

Couple strives to serve ABC MEN PAGE 1 In order to expand into services like tutoring, Johnetta Wleh said ABC Men needs to have its own facility to use as a base. She said it’s a major goal to work toward at the moment, so that they can run their programs year-round from one location. ABC Men operates from the Agape International Baptist Church. Johnetta and Jackie Wleh run the organization on top of two full-time jobs and parenting. “[ABC Men] was set up [in a way] that would allow us to maintain our full-time jobs and still be effective in the community,” Johnetta Wleh said. “I know a lot of people share that thought, where they want to help but time is difficult.”

Now that ABC Men has partnered with Temple and is able to grant work-study compensation to student-volunteers, the couple hopes to increase volunteer interest. Johnetta Wleh, who is a Temple alumna with a double major in psychology and criminal justice, said she was happy to make the arrangement with such a “famil-

iar” school and she’s excited to start working with students.

“It’s always challenging,” Johnetta Wleh said of recruiting volunteers. “You find individuals, [but] what’s challenging is getting committed individuals.”

She said ABC Men has five regular volunteers to depend on for providing various services.

One such volunteer, Kenneth Walker, was a coworker of Jackie Wleh’s when they both worked as case managers for homeless men with mental illnesses.

Walker, who now works as a job developer for People for People Inc., a program for youth offenders between 18 and 21 intended to rehabilitate for career paths, said he joined because he “loves to serve.” Although he’s running for state representative this year, he said he still finds time to help with ABC Men. Typically, Jackie Wleh will call him to ask if he’s available to do some work, he said.

What ABC Men needs most is more volunteers, Walker said, adding that he thinks collegeaged individuals would do a lot

for the organization’s success.

“The youthfulness [helps],” Walker said. “Shoveling and laboring is very tiresome. Also, [college students’] flexibility – I work a 9-to-5, I’ll go [do work] on my lunch break.”

Johnetta Wleh said her reasoning is the more volunteers ABC Men has, the more people in the community they’ll be able to help. Walker said as he campaigns, he feels it’s important for him to continue doing community service along with any individuals also interested in volunteering.

“I believe that we have a lot of great nonprofits in the city and most of the time it’s hard for them to get the resources to provide the services they want to provide,” Walker said. “[ABC Men is] doing a great job and [I] want them to continue the services.”

Erin Edinger-Turoff can be reached at erin.edinger-turoff@ temple.edu and on Twitter @erinJustineET.

machine, it could become even more expensive to run for a local position in Philadelphia.”

If the price of running for office keeps rising, students said they’re forced to wonder if they’ll have the financial backing to pursue the career in politics they aspire to. “House of Cards” focuses on power, not money, as the ultimate political tool. Students said that isn’t something that resonates with them. “[The average Joe] doesn’t have a chance in hell,” Mickens said. “That’s the inconvenient truth in politics. Being a political science student, you understand that.”

It’s clear considering recent presidential campaigns, Mickens said. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney managed to generate massive campaigning funds, though they are extreme examples. They managed to raise a combined $7.1 billion to fund their campaigns, which equated to each candidate spending $30.33 every second every day until Election Day, according to Alaska Dis-

patch.

To put that in perspective, while the next Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin was sitting in Temple’s American Political System course for two hours, Obama would have spent about $218,376.

It seems absurd to expect fresh-faced, ambitious college graduates to be able to enter into the world of politics while they pay off student loans, struggle to buy their first house or just hope for a regular paycheck.

“In a perfect world, you shouldn’t have to buy your way into politics,” Mickens said.

“But I appreciate how important finance is for politics. The best way to [fundraise] is to make people feel empowered.”

Though grassroots fundraising has been integral to the Obama campaign, his success is not the norm. Funds don’t come pouring out of Americans’ pockets – while empowerment is a form of the politician’s power, it’s fickle.

“It’s likely that [politicians choosing money over policy] will happen, but it’s our respon-

sibility to vote for a person who will not value money over politics,” Mickens said.

Campaigning isn’t about the people, but rather outspending the competition and acquiring the power to persuade, delude or inspire the electorate’s support. That takes money, which politicians know. Their attention is divided between money and more money, not policy or democracy.

On top of the looming financial burden, students said there are a lot of hoops to jump through in politics.

“Before you even get to the finances of running for office, you need to get petition signatures, which can be tough, but this is necessary to ensure candidates are serious and willing to put in hard work,” Bartholomew said.

Hopefully the new generation of policymakers has a serious talent for fundraising.

Lora Strum can be reached at lora.strum@temple.edu.

Soccer club chases activist goal SOCCER PAGE 7

membered his desire to “pro- students from local schools can mote this cause to be with an come and learn about HIV/ organization of [collegiate] AIDS prevention. standing.” Although Temple’s Just educating and spreadorganization is a chapter, Go- ing awareness isn’t enough, heer said they have freedom to Goheer said. In order to prevent organize at will.

HIV/AIDS, Jones said more “We’re independent but has to be done to break down we raise money stereotypes and for the internaassumptions tional organisurrounding the zation, and we disease. spread the mes“It’s imsage about HIV/ portant to note AIDS,” Goheer that although said. we hear it comGrassroot monly affecting Soccer leaders different demowill be organizgraphics such ing guest speakas the gay comer events, socmunity and [Afcer tournaments rican-American and educational community], Haseeb Goheer/ junior everyone is susseminars.

At their next meetceptible to the ing, they will discuss design disease,” Jones said. “Not evplans for flyers and posters they eryone is aware of that.” hope to put up around Main Goheer and Jones both said Campus. equality, respect and includThe group has its sights ing everyone in the discussion set on some long-term goals as by using the unifying game of well, like organizing a needle soccer are essential parts of the exchange program at one of group’s philosophy. the clinics in the area and host“If you have a soccer ball, ing educational seminars where you go to a field – everyone

“It’s by playing

with each other... that we are able to let go of our prejudices and find that common ground.

”

knows, ‘OK, there you go, soccer,’” Goheer said. “It’s by playing with each other, whether through sports, games, performance, music, that we are able to let go of our prejudices and find that common ground which we all have one foot on.”

Goheer remembered once playing a game of soccer with some children who didn’t speak English. He said soccer didn’t require the same words, just a unified appreciation for the game.

“That helped me connect with them – they couldn’t speak my language, but we could all play soccer,” Goheer said.

Grassroot Soccer meets every other Monday at 5 p.m.

Its meeting location, typically a breakout room in the TECH Center, is announced every week on its Twitter account, @TUGrassroot.

“We’re always looking for new ideas, so the more people who participate the better,” Jones said.

James Leighton can be reached at james.leighton@temple.edu.

TUFTS SUMMER SESSION 2014 prepare. eXpaND. Develop.

school of arts and sciences | school of engineering

Three sessioNs: May 21–JuNe 27 | July 1–augusT 8 | May 21–augusT 8

go.tufts.edu/summer

College and Pre-College Programs Day & Evening Classes Affordable Tuition Outstanding Tufts Faculty Online Courses YO Bus Temple Ad.indd 1

2/18/14 3:06 PM

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TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

CLIPPINGS

AROUND CAMPUS BOW TIE LUNCHEON

Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity will hold the “Bow Tie Luncheon” on April 12 at 1 p.m. at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Pa., to showcase the accomplishments of the youth groups Alpha Phi Alpha supports. Groups in attendance will include Clef Club, Global Academy Youth Choir, Precision & Pride Dance Co and the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement.

Tickets are $50 and all proceeds will benefit Alpha Phi Alpha’s leadership scholarship fund, which helps students sponsored through Alpha Phi Alpha’s mentorship program to attend college. In promoting the message of the event, Alpha Phi Alpha used the words of Frederick Douglass who said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

-Lora Strum

ONE WORLD; ONE SISTERHOOD

Alex Monsell, a sophomore theater major, is directing “Othello,” which will ask its audiences to contribute a “pay-as-you-wish” monetary donation. All of the proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. | ABI REIMOLD TTN

Theater student directs a play for charity Monsell said.

“I knew I didn’t want to do big and flashy,” Monsell said. “It’s going to be relatively cost-effective so that there will be more to give to the charity.”

Along with the packet, Monsell and his 14-person cast were given a DVD with a personal story about a young girl named Jordan who was diagnosed with leukemia. The video explains how many times she was given only months to live by doctors. Today, Jordan has overcome these odds, ending an eight-year struggle for her health. Her battle and recovery has been an inspiration to Monsell and the rest of the cast, he said, to stay focused and put the production together with a much larger effort.

‘OTHELLO’ PAGE 7

Giovanni Ripa, a junior theater the cast will rehearse a few nights a major, will play the role of Iago dur- week until they feel comfortable and ing the play. He prepared to perform. said he shares the However, Monsell inspiration of permade it clear that acforming for charity cepting a part in the and said dedicating play meant committing funds to the medito it wholeheartedly. cal care of children “The entire cast has been a major has been really gunginspiration for the ho about the mindset entire cast.

Alex Monsell/ senior that this is going to take about as much “It’s obviously such an important cause,” Ripa said. time as a main stage show,” Monsell “We are always keeping in mind that said. “We rehearse every day from 6 this is for their professional care. to 10 and we are doing seven hours When we initially brought up the on Saturday. It is so great for them idea, everyone became really excited to give me this time. I mean, we are to do this. I see some really inspired all college students and we all have lives [outside] of this.” souls every night at rehearsal.”

Jelli Vezzosi, a freshman theFor a normal college production,

“I wanted to do something more to impact the community.

”

atre major and the production’s stage manager, said she knows firsthand the effort that goes into producing any act, especially Shakespeare.

However, with the added incentive of charity, she said she was immediately inspired to endure the long hours required to be involved.

“There have been a lot of times in the process when we get very frustrated,” Vezzosi said. “Then [Monsell] or someone else will just say something like ‘Remember we’re doing this for the kids.’ That has had a lot of effect on the process and perseverance to finish this.”

Patrick McCarthy can be reached at patrick.mccarthy@temple.edu.

Digging up fresh ideas for community neighbors to see something happen.”

Furthermore, obesity is a national epidemic, as proclaimed by the surgeon general. Growing your own food is the best way to ensure healthy eating. The obesity rate of Philadelphia children, almost 50 percent, is higher than the national average of about 35 percent. The availability of junk food is a primary factor, but gardening can change this on a personal level.

Today, stores mainly provide prepackaged, processed and preservative-filled foods. None of this is healthy or natural. We couldn’t be more disconnected to our produce.

Gardening closes those gaps.

Additionally, it’s hard to distinguish where our food comes from.

Knowing the origins of our food is an important reason to start gardening. Our food travels on average 1,500 miles before we eat it, according to Michael Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”

That distance doesn’t just negatively impact the quality of what we eat. From seed to stomach, conventional agricultural is dependent on dirty petroleum, from tractors to petro-chemicals and plastic packaging, shipping and more. All this multiplies our ecological footprint.

Just walking down the street to

GARDEN PAGE 7

a local community garden would severely lower our environmental footprint. The big red walls of the TCG at Broad and Norris streets might beckon the average student since the garden is close to home, but there are many more gardens throughout Philadelphia. It’s not hard to get involved – even the most apathetic diner can find their green thumb if they find the proper venue to let it flourish. Community gardens awaken the environmentalist in all of us.

First Lady Michelle Obama said gardening is the greenest thing to do.

In 2010, she tore up 1,100 square feet of White House grounds for her organic garden. Her hero and a gardening pioneer Eleanor Roosevelt was the first to plant a Victorian garden at the White House, drawing much popularity to that way of living.

On the business side, Franklin D. Roosevelt was a strong proponent of breaking up monopolies.

Today, however, many food markets are run by oligopolies – controlled by a small group of large corporations. According to the documentary “Food Inc.,” just four beef packing companies control 80 percent of the industry.

Take that money typically going to massive conglomerates and put it into your pockets by planting

produce. The seed company Burpee found that $50 worth of seeds produces the equivalent of $1,000 in store-bought food.

Some Temple students are already digging in the dirt, as local gardening is in full swing for spring.

Many come to TCG meetings every Thursday. Some have never held a shovel, while others have naturally green thumbs, but all have two things in common – plants and community.

TCG goes above and beyond typical community gardens that are popping up everywhere. First, several students volunteer their time gardening with the homeless. Each Friday, and for the first time since last semester, TCG members teach, talk to and learn from the folks at Kairos House on Broad Street.

The Penrose afterschool program helps kids relieve stress from school and home. It’s important to teach youth self-sufficiency. The kids get a lot from the program, but Temple students said they get just as much from the children.

“Gardening with the Penrose kids is fun because they are so curious and love to learn about things they eat,” Taube said. “Gardening with Kairos House is fun, too. It’s chill participating with our neighbors down at Broad and Jefferson

[streets].”

Similarly, Tree House Books at 15th Street and Susquehanna Avenue has an afterschool program.

Last summer, a team of volunteers, local elementary school students and I cleaned a vacant lot to expand their garden. Adding flowerbeds and redoing their main garden showed me how excited kids are to help out.

“Kids really flock to us,” Epstein said. “We provide a calm atmosphere where they can learn.”

Philadelphia Urban Creators, has been flipping vacant lots for several years. Temple students like Epstein work as educators and organizers for PUC. It has several gardens across the Philadelphia area, mainly in North Philadelphia. Some gardens are run

by PUC and dedicate all of the produce to the surrounding community and volunteers. Other gardens are maintained solely by the local community or in collaboration with a local restaurant.

It’s truly a win-win, since gardening has a much more significant impact on the Temple area than just adding some green to the scene.

Toby Forstater can be reached at toby.forstater@temple.edu.

Alpha Sigma Rho will hold its Circle of Sisterhood: One World; One Sisterhood Gala March 29 in Student Center Room 200 BC from 6 - 9 p.m. The gala is a part of Alpha Sigma Rho’s partnership with Circle for Sisterhood, an organization that uses the message of female empowerment sororities impart on young college-bound women.

The organization pools sorority resources to support impoverished or underprivileged women who hope to go to college.

The Alpha Sigma Rho website reads, “This semester, we have chosen to turn a new leaf by focusing on Circle of Sisterhood. As an organization built on the foundations of sisterhood, we would like to inform the university campus and the community about this philanthropy in its efforts to support women all over the world.”

Tickets are $8 presale and $10 at the door. Semiformal attire is requested.

-Lora Strum

RELAY FOR LIFE Greek life has teamed up with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fundraiser to be held April 4 and 5 at 6 p.m. at Geasey Field.

Relay for Life is an all-night walkathon where participating groups donate and raise money for cancer research to participate. Classified as an “all night sleepover” by many participants, many Greek organizations have committed to participating. The Top 3 organizations involved include Temple’s newest sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, followed

by Phi Sigma Sigma and Delta Phi Epsilon.

-Lora Strum

ROBYNNE RAYE TALK

One of Seattle’s most famous graphic designers, Robynne Raye, will be making a trip to Philadelphia on March 28.

Raye, the co-founder of Modern Dog Design Company, will be speaking to the Temple community about the work she has done for some of the most popular companies in the world, including Coca-Cola and the New York Times.

Raye and co-founder Michael Strassburger have received international recognition for their designs, many of which have appeared in galleries across the United States and in various other places around the globe.

The discussion will begin at 3 p.m. in Auditorium B04, located in the basement of Tyler School of Art. No tickets are needed, as the event has been fully funded by the general activities committee and is free and open to the public.

-Alexa Bricker

FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL The Gathering, a food truck festival located in Baltimore, recently decided to include food trucks from the Philadelphia area in its third annual “Taste of Two Cities” food truck festival and competition. Now renamed “Taste of Three Cities,” the competition includes more than 50 food trucks from the Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia areas going head to head on May 31.

One event organizer bills “Taste of Three Cities” as “the largest food truck event ever held in the state of Maryland” on The Gathering’s Facebook page. Although the list of featured trucks has not yet been released, there is already excitement over the possible Philadelphia attendees and what they will bring to the table.

The festival, located at the M&T Bank Stadium in Lots B and C, will begin with the “Food Truck Showdown “ from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and end with an afterparty lasting until 2 a.m.

-Ariane Pepsin

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

“What performer would

you want Temple to bring to Main Campus?

”

JANE BABIAN TTN

“Beyoncé because she’s the bomb. Who wouldn’t want her? Guys love her. Girls love her. Everybody loves her.”

“Jim Jeffries. I think he’s funny and he never really comes to Philly to do performances.”

DIMARI ZAYAS

AKIVA ROSENBAUM

SENIOR | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

SOPHOMORE | MEDIA STUDIES

“Kendrick Lamar. He’s talented and hasn’t done a show yet in Philly that I know of.”

JAMES SHAHOUD

SENIOR | NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOLOGY

SPORTS

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

PAGE 19

SPORTS BRIEFS

Fencing team finishes in Top 10 at NCAA Championship OWLS TAKE EIGHTH PLACE, LED BY KASTOR, MONTROSE AND CLARK Temple fencing took eighth at the 2014 NCAA Championships with strong performances from junior Tiki Kastor, senior Chantal Montrose, freshman Rachael Clark and sophomore Fatima Largaespada. This is the highest finish for the team since its eighth-place finish in 2009.

Kastor earned All-American second team honors with her seventh place finish in sabre. She was victorious in 15 of her 23 bouts and has been the highest Temple finisher at the NCAA Championships for the past two years. She finished 14th overall last year.

She is the first All-American honoree since Kamali Thompson in 2012. Kastor’s result is the fourth best ever result by a sabre in Temple history, behind Thompson and Sakinah Shaahid’s fourth place finished in 2001 and 2002. Épées Montrose and Clark placed 16th and 19th overall, respectively. Montrose won 10 of her 23 bouts, which tied her for 13th in épée. Clark won nine of her 23 bouts, which tied her for 18th in épée.

Largaespada placed 19th overall and 18th in foil.

She won seven of her 23 bouts.

As a team, Temple won 41 out of 92 bouts. The Owls defeated Columbia, which had 40 victories. They also defeated Northwestern, which placed 10th, Columbia, which finished ninth and the University of Pennsylvania, which finished 11th. Princeton took the team title with 87 wins and Penn State and Ohio State placed second and third, respectively.

– Michael Guise

Lee

PAGE 22

mate.

Temple is not known for producing star NBA talent.

The best pro careers of former Owls were had by Eddie Jones and Guy Rodgers, the only two Temple alums to average 10 or more points a game in the NBA or ABA. Lavoy Allen, who graduated in 2011, has been playing for less than three years in largely a bench role. Allen is already 13th in minutes played in the NBA/ABA among former Owls. The forward is eighth in rebounds with 853 and first in rebounds per game, averaging 4.8 for his career.

Allen is also one of four Fran Dunphy recruits to play in the NBA, and the only one from Temple. The other three – Jerome Allen, Ira Bowman and Matt Maloney – played under Dunphy at the University of Pennsylvania. Jerome Allen, who now coaches Penn, and Bowman had short, nonimpactful NBA careers. Maloney, a point guard, came into the league and started all 82 regular season games with the Houston Rockets as a rookie in the 199697 season. He averaged 9.4 points and 3.7 assists per game and helped take the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals in his best NBA season.

Lavoy Allen and guard Dionte Christmas are the only two Owls in the NBA now. Christmas, who plays sparingly for the Phoenix Suns, played under Dunphy for three seasons but was recruited by John Chaney.

Another Dunphy recruit, guard Khalif Wyatt, plays in the DLeague for the Springfield Armor.

While he deserves plenty of credit for taking unheralded high school players and turning

The men also had success in the throw events as sophomore Sean McAneney placed 11th in the javelin and junior Evan Battallio placed ninth in the shot put.

Coach Eric Mobley was pleased with the events, but said he hopes to get better going forward.

– Stephen Godwin Jr.

VOLLEYBALL OWLS STAY BUSY DURING OFFSEASON BY GIVING BACK

Coach Nikki Franke (left) led her team to eighth place at the 2014 NCAA Championships – the team’s highest finish since the 2009 season. | CAMERON RESNICK TTN FILE PHOTO

TRACK & FIELD

future.”

The competing teams were North Carolina, East Carolina, Duke, Pittsburgh and North Carolina State.

IN RETURN, PICKETT TAKES FIRST The Owls competed well in the relays, finishing in PLACE IN TRIPLE JUMP AT UNC the Top 10 in six events.

The 200-meter dash was a successful event Senior Gabe Pickett took first place in the men’s triple jump for a distance of 14.58 meters at the North for the women as five Owls finished in the Top 25.

Freshman Bionca St. Fleur led the way in 11th place, Carolina Invitational, the team’s first outdoor event followed by freshman Jimmia McCluskey in 15th, of the season. The team came away with 14 Top 5 sophomore Demeshia Davis in 17th, junior Hollis finishes and 18 Top 10 finishes.

This was Pickett’s first time competing since tear- Coleman in 21st and sophomore Courtney Mitchell in 25th. ing his meniscus in August.

Junior Margo Britton finished second in the shot “It was exciting because all of my hard work in put (14.7 meters) and fourth in the discus (48.18 rehab paid off today,” Pickett said. “This was a pretty meters). big stepping stone in giving me confidence in the

them into good college players, Dunphy has not produced much NBA talent in his career. He has been a head coach for 26 years and no one he coached in college has become a consistent starter in the NBA. To be fair, he spent much of his career at an Ivy League school, where it’s rare to get players with a lot of pro potential. It’s also not Dunphy’s job to recruit players who will do well in the NBA. It’s his job to recruit players who will mesh well and be successful at the college level.

Then again, more successful pro players from Temple would go a long way toward helping bring recruits to the school, something that hasn’t been terribly successful in recent years. Five-star recruits have plans of going to the NBA before they even get to college, so Dunphy already has ground to make up before he even meets high-ranking prospects.

Now Temple isn’t only losing out on high schoolers because of NBA dreams – it’s losing a player that has been at Temple since Fall 2010.

Lee’s loss might not be a huge problem for the Owls on the court. His departure will allow young big men like Devontae Watson, Mark Williams and Obi Enechionyia to play and develop more next season. The biggest problem with this transfer is that it reinforces Temple as a program that doesn’t produce top talent – and that’s a label no one wants.

“I know I have the abilities,” Lee said of playing in the NBA. “I just have to be in a place where it’s going to allow me to do that.”

Evan Cross can be reached at evan.cross@temple.edu or on Twitter @EvanCross.

Anthony Lee (left) is leaving the university after spending the past four years with the Owls. | HUA ZONG TTN

The volleyball team has spent the last couple of months volunteering at various places in Philadelphia. In February, the team volunteered at Chosen 300 Ministries, which distributes meals to the homeless. The Owls helped set up for breakfast and all had different roles, including making and serving the food and cleaning up afterward.

Other volunteering events were at the SHARE Center Warehouse in Northwest Philadelphia, where the team packaged food for the needy, and at Northern Children’s Services, an after-school program where the Owls helped children with their homework and taught them volleyball rules, regulations and terms.

The team passed out packets full of word searches and math problems, and each athlete partnered up with the boys and girls to assist in their completion in the packets.

– Yale Alpert

The men’s gymnastics team will compete in its final event this weekend, the ECAC Championships, before the university’s athletic cuts will take affect later this year. It is possible that the team could return as a club sport next year. | HUA ZONG TTN

In final season, gymnasts aim for title GYMNASTS PAGE 22 “Their routines have higher start values than ours,” Turoff said. “So right away they have an advantage. And they’re performing them pretty well. So my observation of them at several meets is they have a good team that’s performing cleanly.”

“If a team has a .1 higher start value on all their routines, then right away they’re three points higher than we are,” Turoff added. “So if they’re .5 above us, then they’re 15 points better than us. So it’s hard to make that up in execution.”

Cleaning up routines will be important for Temple leading up to the team finals on Friday.

But even if all goes according to plan, Turoff said he believes his team is in a fight for fourth place with Chicago-Illinois and Springfield.

One of the reasons for the team’s decline in performance is the fact that Turoff graduated 14 of his 15 gymnasts that were in most of his lineups the past two seasons. The result is a young team that is still adjusting to the sport at the collegiate level.

“The reasoning for [lower scoring] is the freshman class,” co-captain Scott Haddaway

said. “They have nerves for that first year, but then they push through it and get over it. They tend to grow up pretty quick.”

This same team will seek to exceed expectations in Annapolis. Injured co-captain John Leonard said he sees potential in his squad.

“Our start values are pretty similar to most of the teams in the ECAC,” Leonard said. “We just have to pull it together. We really haven’t had a real good ‘hit’ meet yet this season. If we’re able to do that at the ECACs, I think we can break into the Top 3.”

Sophomore Evan Eigner has been a consistent performer on the rings all year, and is the only Owl to score above a 15 in any event this year. His season high was at the Navy Open on Jan. 25, when he scored a 15.05.

While Eigner said staying positive and being confident are important to his success, his focus also remains on his team’s

last performance at the Division I level.

“It’s been amazing,” Eigner said. “What I’ve experienced in my time at Temple along with all the other guys here, words can’t really describe that. So for ECACs, we want to go out, if this is our last event as a varsity [team], and do the best we can do.”

Turoff also noted that anywhere from three to six guys could advance to the conference’s individual finals on Saturday.

Sophomore Jon Rydzefski, who reached Fred Turoff / coach the finals on the horizontal bars last year, is coming off a season-high in the all-around with 83.8 at Ohio State. On the pommel horse, junior Mike Bittner and senior Brendan Williams have been scoring above 14, which would be good enough to make the cut.

The pommel horse, however, has been the weakness for Temple this season, as the

“I’m going to

be figuring out how to move stuff out of my office. Where am I going to put it all?

”

Owls haven’t had a meet without someone falling during the event.

“When a guy misses his dismount, that just tells me he’s tired with his routine and hasn’t done enough routines to build up his endurance,” Turoff said.

“So I guess when they get to the meet, they haven’t yet learned to channel their energy well.”

One aspect that could help Temple is that it has already competed at Navy twice. Being familiar with the equipment and the atmosphere of the crowd, the experience in Annapolis could pay dividends for the Owls.

“They just have to focus on what they’re doing,” Turoff said. “They know the hotel is a nice place, and the breakfast is good. They know the town is good, so just go ahead and have fun in the gym.”

Steve Bohnel can be reached at steven.bohnel@temple.edu or on Twitter @SteveSportsGuy1.

SPORTS

PAGE 20

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

Former Owl Kayla Cook (left) looks at an incoming pitch during a 2012 game. (Top right) The 2004 team poses after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference championship, which led to an NCAA tournament birth. (Bottom right) Coach Joe DiPietro talks to his players during a spring practice. | TTN FILE PHOTO/COURTESY TEMPLE ATHLETICS/ALEX UDOWENKO TTN

After decades of building, softball out SOFTBALL PAGE 22 Owls finished the 1983 season with a record of 10-13 – one of the few years that a Maurek squad had a losing season.

Temple had six seasons of 20 or more wins during Maurek’s tenure. In 1989, the team won 31 games – a program record that stood for more than two decades. Maurek was named A-10 Coach of the Year in 1989 in recognition of all her work for the team, including her coaching of Dionna Harris. The second baseman from Wilmington, Del., became a star under Maurek. Harris set Temple’s single-season records for triples, home runs, total bases, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, in addition to being named A-10 Player of the Year. Harris went on to win a gold medal as a starter for the USA’s 1996 Olympic team.

After 17 years at the helm and nine consecutive A-10 tournaments, Maurek (307-221-3) stepped away from Temple following the 1991 season.

Under new coach Carol Kashow, the Owls did not play at the same level they had under Maurek. The team finished with a losing record in all of Kashow’s six seasons, except in 1996. That 1996 season was memorable for Temple, as the team tied its record for wins, finishing 31-20.

The Owls also did well in conference play, and the team finished as the runner-up in the 1997 tournament. Kashow’s squad made the tournament

five times. But it was during the season they did not make the tournament, 1995, that the Owls made a coaching move that would shape their future.

THE PATH TO 2004

In 1994, Pignoli was coaching at Conestoga High School.

He had coached the team for two seasons, and his squad had just won the league title.

Pignoli’s dream was to be a college coach, but when Temple offered him the assistant coaching job for 1995, he was reticent.

“It was a tough decision,” Pignoli said in a 1994 interview with the Inquirer. “It took me a few months to decide. The people at Conestoga were very nice to me.”

But Pignoli decided to accept Temple’s offer, and after three seasons, in 1998, he succeeded Kashow as Temple’s head coach.

Temple struggled in 1998 and 1999, winning only 16 games each season. But then the team began to turn things around. In 2000, Temple made the first of five straight A-10 tournaments and the Owls began to be scheduled against top teams.

“They were one of the teams, when I was at La Salle, that we wanted to be like,” DiPietro said. “When Rocci Pignoli was [there], Temple was playing a big schedule.”

For the 2004 season, the Owls left their home in Temple

But the biggest moment for Stadium to play on Temple’s the team came on May 15, when Ambler Campus.

“I thought [it] was a won- it defeated St. Joseph’s Univerderful idea,” Temple histo- sity to win the A-10 tournament rian and former Ambler Cam- and clinch a spot in the NCAA pus dean James Hilty said. “I Tournament for the first time in thought that the presence of the program history.

Temple was blanked in its sports teams added immensely to the collegiate life of the cam- first game at the Tucson, Ariz., regional, but pus.” fought off elimiOn April nation by knock25, 2004, Teming off UC-Santa ple held the Barbara, 3-0. Algrand opening though the team of the Ambler was eliminated the Softball Field. next day, the 2004 Harris threw season still stands the ceremonial as one of the softfirst pitch, and ball program’s Maurek and greatest triumphs.

Kashow also Pignoli reparticipated in tired after one the ceremony. more season and That seaCasey Dickinson son, Temple became Temple’s softball was in good shape. Joe DiPietro / coach 2008-present head coach. During her tenure, The Owls had finished the previous season Adrienne Repsher put together with a record of 22-20 overall, what was possibly the greatgoing 10-4 in conference play. est season by an Owl. In 2007, The team had also been run- Repsher broke the single-season ner-up in the A-10 tournament. records for home runs, batting Temple had been the runner-up average, slugging percentage, four times and co-champions on-base percentage and runs. once, but the Owls had never Repsher also took over the cabeen able to be the outright reer record for home runs and total bases, and was named the champion.

But Temple went 30-18 in A-10 Softball Player of the Year.

2004. The Owls won 11 awards, with pitcher Kim Watkins taking four. Watkins was A-10 RISING AGAIN Dickinson lasted only three Pitcher of the Year and was years as coach, and the team named to the All-Mid-Atlantic hired DiPietro in July 2008. The Team. Pignoli won A-10 Coach team struggled during his first of the Year.

“The program’s

been great for a long time. And it makes me feel good that going out, I had the program back to where Rocci had it.

”

two seasons at the helm, missing the A-10 tournament.

Then in 2010, an event occurred which many argue shaped the team’s future. The administration decided to close the dormitories on the Ambler Campus.

“The central administration decided, without consulting [anyone at] Ambler, to close the dormitories and thus eliminate the center of campus life,” Hilty said. “With the students residing on Main Campus and with [the team’s] training facilities located there, it was argued that traveling to Ambler each day for practices and games was too great a burden to impose on the student-athletes.”

By 2012, attendance at the games had diminished, although the team was consistently improving.

“We don’t really have any student participation at games,” DiPietro said in a 2012 interview with The Temple News.

“That makes it kind of hard sometimes.”

Despite this, the Owls revamped their stadium between 2011 and 2012. The team installed a press box, painted the dugouts and amphitheater seating, added bleachers and renamed the venue the Temple Softball Stadium. Much of the renovative work was instigated by DiPietro, current senior catcher/first baseman Stephanie Pasquale said.

Under DiPietro, the team had increased its win total each season heading into 2013. That

year the Owls won 32 games, breaking their single-season record.

For the 2014 season, Temple moved most of its sports, including softball, to the American Athletic Conference. But the first season in a new conference will also be its last, after the Board of Trustees’ vote to eliminate the program – along with men’s track & field, baseball and men’s gymnastics.

“Integral to the matter [was] the university’s decision to allow the Ambler Campus to die on the vine,” Hilty said.

“I’m afraid that the softball [team was] affected by that decision to de-emphasize the Ambler Campus.”

“I was kind of mad,” Pasquale said. “We all worked to get the program going in the first place, and especially with everything we’ve accomplished in the past two years.”

DiPietro and his current team are frustrated by the university’s decision. But DiPietro is proud of the program’s history, and of what he and his teams have accomplished.

“The program’s been great for a long time,” DiPietro said.

“And it makes me feel good that going out, I had the program back to where Rocci had it, when they won the A-10 championship. So it does make me feel good about that at least.”

Don McDermott can be reached at donald.mcdermott@temple.edu.

First half struggles continue ahead of conference schedule LACROSSE PAGE 22 outscored 63-33 in the first – as they often have dug themselves into holes too big to climb out of.

It happened in a 17-9 loss to Cornell back on Feb. 23, when Temple faced a 12-3 deficit going into halftime.

It was the same for the spring break road trip, when the Owls fell behind 5-2 early against Colorado and then 9-4 in the first half against Denver. Against Delaware, Temple fell behind 10-2 at one point, before tallying two quick goals before the end of the half.

Last Wednesday’s game against

Hofstra looked like it was heading in like the Owls were the ones in control, the same direction, when the Pride even with the six-goal deficit to overjumped out to a 7-1 lead come.

UP NEXT with less than five min- Owls vs. UConn A 9-8 overtime victoutes left in the first. But ry proved that they were.

March 29 at 1 p.m. something was different, Something clicked for the this time.

Owls, and the energy from that game Temple was winning most of the carried over into Saturday’s match-up draw controls, having taken 14 of 21 against UMBC, a close game, even by the game’s end, with sophomore though it ended in an 11-9 loss for midfielder Maddie McTigue leading Temple. the way with five. Matched up with a “We’re learning faster in games on few big saves from redshirt sophomore how to make adjustments,” coach Bongoalkeeper Jaqi Kakalecik, it seemed nie Rosen said. “I still think we’ve got,

in general, a pretty young team that is still learning from all the different styles of play we come against throughout the whole game, offensively and defensively and that’s still catching us by surprise at times, but I’m happy with the fact that we do seem to make adjustments.”

Still, the Owls won’t be able to get by on being a second half team.

“I loved to see us realize that we can own a game from the beginning and not need to figure it out and having to get back into it,” Rosen said.

Before the season started, Rosen said that Temple was entering the Big East as a bit of an unknown. Even though teams now have scouting reports and film to work off of, she still believes in that statement.

“Teams can scout every game we’ve had so far,” Rosen said. “But our game is evolving so much that I don’t know how scout-able it is.”

Nick Tricome can be reached at nick.tricome@temple.edu or on Twitter @itssnick215.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

SPORTS

PAGE 21

Fencers deal with ‘irritating’ facility The fencing team practices in a dance studio on campus.

MICHAEL GUISE The Temple News Despite its varsity status, the fencing team needs to reserve its practice times.

The Owls, who practice in a dance studio, do not have a practice facility that FENCING matches their Top 10 ranking. The university voted in December to cut seven sports programs, in part due to facilities. But the fencing team continues to utilize a less-than-ideal practice facility – raising questions as to how the university made its decisions to cut certain athletic programs with facility issues, but to keep others.

The administration has said issues with Title IX, the genderequity law, were also a reason for the cuts.

The studio, which is shared with dance classes, causes disruptions during the fencing team’s practices. People sometimes walk through the room, which forces the team to stop practicing. Some people get lost in Pearson and McGonigle halls and wander into the dance studio.

“It is a little irritating sometimes,” senior sabre Tasia Ford said. “It really does disrupt our practice.”

The studio is relatively small and inconvenient, fencers said, especially this year. The team has 18 fencers, which is more than the Owls have had in seven years.

The three squads have to rotate who is in the room at a time. Two of the squads fence in the studio while the third goes out into the hallway and does practice drills. Despite this, the team said it makes the best with what it has.

“We do somehow get work done efficiently as much as

we can in such a small place,” lowed in a real bout… that’s the sophomore sabre Petra Khan worst part about it,” Khan said.

The time wasted is also a said.

The team also has to set up problem for the team. The little before practice and break down things they have to do cause the after. It can take anywhere from Owls to miss out on practice time. Other five to 10 minutes schools with to set up and anlarger and other five to 10 more practiminutes to break cal facilities down. The fencers, don’t have who practice on the the problems wooden floor beTe m p l e ’s cause they do not fencing team have metal strips, has experihave to attach enced. themselves to reels “Everythat are connected to the scoring sysPetra Kahn / sophomore sabre body knows tem and cables that it… it’s small are needed to pracand it’s not tice. the most ideal space,” Ford said.

Fencers said the most conSchools like Cornell, Ohio cerning part is practicing on the State and the University of wooden floor. Without regula- Pennsylvania have dedicated tion strips, the transition into fencing rooms that span thoua meet can be difficult for the sands of square feet with builtteam. in strips and an electronic scor“We’re not using the exact ing system. Temple has none of distance and area that we are al- these benefits.

“We would like

to have our own private place where we won’t be interrupted by other people.

”

“We go there and fence and see these nice facilities, especially Penn’s,” Khan said.

“Their facility is incredible. We can only hope to one day have that.”

Temple is not alone, however. The University of Detroit Mercy has a similar fencing facility to the Owls. The Titans practice in a multipurpose room, which Athletic Director Robert Vowels Jr. said is similar to a dance studio. Boston College also does not have a room dedicated to fencing, as its team practices on tennis courts and has to set up and break down, just like Temple.

The fencing team’s success has been unlike any other program at the school. The program has not been ranked outside the Top 10 since 2008 and has 37 postseason appearances. The Owls have won 18 straight National Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association championships. Fencers said this success should be rewarded.

“It is definitely annoying because we do deserve our own space to work out in and practice,” Ford said. “We are one of the better teams at the school.”

Within the past few years, Temple has continued to upgrade facilities – but not for fencing. The football program received a $10 million upgrade in 2012 to its facility, Edberg Olson Hall. The basketball team received a $1 million upgrade to its practice facility in 2012. In 2009, Geasey Field upgraded to a new turf field.

But with the recent athletic cuts, the team is only hoping for the best.

“We would like to have our own private place where we won’t be interrupted by other people,” Khan said.

Michael Guise can be reached at michaelguise@temple.edu or on Twitter @MikeG2511.

The football team completed a series of exercises under the watchful eye of the ROTC’s Will Vichinsky. The program partnered with the ROTC as part of coach Matt Rhule’s “Team Commitment Week,” which was introduced as a bonding and leadership experience for the players. The Owls will begin their spring practice schedule next week. | AVERY MAEHRER TTN

In week of commitment, Owls partner with ROTC FOOTBALL PAGE 22 selfies with the newly dedicated statues of John Chaney or Harry Litwack and even for donning a pair of high heels to support the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes foundation – the international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence.

“They’re learning accountability and they’re learning teamwork and they’re learning how to lead,” Rhule said. “And to have this day with the ROTC is really the icing on the cake.”

The partnership between the Owls and the ROTC began when Director of Football Operations Sean Padden approached Lt. Col. Gregory Nardi and the ROTC about putting together a program that would develop the football team’s leadership skills.

Nardi said the team came well prepared.

“Temple football has many of the same values – the work ethic, the ability to work hard under stress, the ability to motivate one another and find a leadership from within the

ranks no matter who you are on the team,” Nardi said. “Whether you’re the most junior guy or the most senior guy, there’s a lot of commonality there.”

Among the exercises the players participated in were a 15-seat van push in the Liacouras Center’s garage, carrying teammates across the football field, navigating a stretcher with six blindfolded people, along with sit-ups, push-ups and pullups. The favorite station among many of the Owls was the rifle shooting.

Rhule said the team will continue working with the ROTC in years to come.

“They’re doing a lot of things and they’re not even realizing they’re working,” Rhule said. “I think to be around other guys on our campus, other students, that belong to a different team – the ROTC team, the U.S. Army team – it allows us to branch out and meet new people and really grow, not just as a football team but as people.”

During the ROTC challenge, “Team Shake ‘n’ Bake” was victorious, scoring 20 points. Led by junior center Kyle Friend, the group scored more than double the amount of any other team that completed the challenge.

“We had no idea what we were going to be doing today,” Friend said. “To do all the different things, from the mental aspect to the physical aspect, it was great to work with those guys and see what they do. We see them around. Both groups are up early in the morning, we see each other walking.”

“Now we know what they’re going to do and now they know what we’re going to do,” Friend added. “So it was a great opportunity for us as well as them and I think the groups are a lot closer now.”

After “Team Commitment Week,” the Owls begin their spring practices this week in Camden, N.J., as Chodoff Field continues being resurfaced be-

fore training camp. At the end of the ROTC event, Rhule borrowed a phrase from one of the cadets while speaking to his players about the opponents they will face this season: “Put your boot in their throat.”

“I’m excited,” Rhule said.

“We’ve had a lot of growth, a

lot of guys who’ve gotten bigger and faster and stronger. Now it’s time to go put it on the field and see how it goes from there.”

“The strides I think we made this offseason and everything, I’m really excited to get back on the field with this group of guys and try to keep betting

better and better because I want to be a conference champion,” Friend said.

Avery Maehrer can be reached at avery.maehrer@temple.edu or on Twitter @AveryMaehrer.

Matt Rhule speaks to his team after it completed the ROTC’s ranger scout challenge, as the Owls continue their “Team Commitment Week.” | AVERY MAEHRER TTN

SPORTS FACILITY NOT UP TO PAR

The fencing team practices in a dance studio, which often causes disruptions and limits practice time. PAGE 21

Our sports sports blog blog Our

thecherry.temple-news.com

FINDING A BALANCE

FENCERS COMPETE FOR TITLE

Jordan Batey is interning this semester while keeping her spot on the tennis team’s roster. ONLINE

The Owls sent four to compete at the NCAA championships, track opens outdoor season, other news and notes. PAGE 19

temple-news.com

PAGE 22

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

Lee’s exit signals a problem

Owls, ROTC commit

The top rebounder is transferring in hopes of a future career in the NBA.

The team partnered with the ROTC for leadership challenge.

A

nthony Lee first seriously considered transferring less than a month ago, toward the end of one of the worst seasons in Temple history.

The team’s lack of success isn’t why Lee is transferring – at least, it’s not the reason he’s giving publicly. The redshirt-junior forward said he’s accomplished everything he can at Temple.

He wants to go to another school to improve h i m self as a p l a y e r, Evan Cross expand his game and improve his chances for an NBA career.

Lee wants to establish himself as a professional prospect. He doesn’t think he can do that at Temple. And while fans of the program may not like it, Lee’s concern is legiti-

LEE PAGE 19

AVERY MAEHRER Sports Editor

The women’s gymnastics team hosted the ECAC championship last weekend, where the Owls placed third behind William & Mary and Brown. The men’s team will compete in the ECAC championship in Maryland on Saturday. | ERIC DAO TTN

For Turoff’s squad, this is the end The men’s team will compete in its final event this weekend.

I

STEVE BOHNEL The Temple News

t’s the end of the line for the men’s gymnastics team at the Division I level.

After the Board of Trustees voted to cut the pro-

gram in December and upheld the decision in February, the Owls are preparing for what will be their final Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Friday in Annapolis, Md. Coach Fred Turoff said he has other things on his mind.

“I’m going to be figuring out how to move stuff out of my office,” Turoff said. “Where am I going to put it all?”

Temple has won the ECAC title the past two seasons, including when the Owls hosted the conference championship in 2012.

This year, things are shaping up differently. From day one, Turoff has seen William & Mary as the conference favorite.

The Tribe are headed by seniors London Funiciello and Daniel Potemski and sophomore Neal Courter.

Funiciello is the defending ECAC champion on the parallel bars, and earned silver at the NCAA championships on rings last year. Potemski is the codefending conference champion on the floor exercise, along with Army’s Kip Webber. Courter was the ECAC champion on both floor and vault last year, along with being an All-American on the floor.

GYMNASTS PAGE 19

Just five days separated the Owls from the beginning of spring practice, FOOTBALL but there wasn’t a football in sight.

On March 19, players woke up before sunrise and headed to the sports complex at Geasey Field to compete in the ranger scout challenge – a vigorous mental and physical workout put together by the Temple Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. The event was part of the football program’s “Team Commitment Week,” which coach Matt Rhule brought back this year as an adaptation of a similar concept former coach Al Golden used during his tenure at Temple.

The players were divided into 10 teams last week, and each one was awarded points for completing an activity assigned by Rhule. Some, like the ROTC event and a dunk contest at McGonigle Hall, were physically based. But the players were also offered rewards for visiting professors during office hours, taking

FOOTBALL PAGE 21

A history of softball

Rising team, fallen program After nearly four decades of sponsoring a varsity softball team, the university will cut the sport from its athletic department this July.

DON MCDERMOTT The Temple News When Joe DiPietro became the coach of La Salle in 2003, the first person who called to congratulate him was Temple head coach Rocci Pignoli.

“I didn’t know him,” said DiPietro, Temple’s current coach. “He just welcomed me to the league. It was funny because he said, ‘I’ll do anything for a fellow Italian.’ I started laughing. I knew I had a friend after that.”

Pignoli, who passed away in 2007, and DiPietro have both left their marks on the history of Temple’s softball program – a program that will end after this season, after the Board of Trustees voted to cut the team in December.

RONNIE’S TEAM

Temple softball became an intercollegiate sport for the 1975 season. The Owls’ first coach was Veronica “Ronnie” Maurek, also the coach of the women’s basketball team. But

after three seasons, Maurek resigned as basketball coach to focus on the softball team.

At the beginning of the Maurek era, the Owls played in the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. The team finished first in the EAIAW during the 1978 season. But after the 1982 season, competition from the NCAA caused the EAIAW to fold. Temple immediately moved to the NCAA, joining the Atlantic 10 Conference. The

SOFTBALL PAGE 20

Nicole Tiernan runs past a Hofstra defender during the Owls’ 9-8 overtime win. The Owls were down 7-1 before coming back in the second half. | HUA ZONG TTN

Big East brings fresh start The team will face UConn to open up conference play.

NICK TRICOME The Temple News

Members of the 2006 softball team celebrate during a spring game at the Ambler Sports Complex. The Board of Trustees voted to cut the team in December. | TTN FILE PHOTO

SPORTS DESK 215-204-9537

It’s nothing but conference games from here on out.

After starting the season 3-6, Temple will LACROSSE finish out its regular season with the team’s first set of games against Big East Conference opponents. Temple will begin conference play Saturday against Connecticut (5-4) and then will have match-ups against Villanova (4-4), Louisville (6-3) and Cincinnati (6-3) in the weeks that follow. This is the team’s

SPORTS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM

first year competing as a Big East affiliate, after the university’s other sports transitioned to the American Athletic Conference – which doesn’t sponsor lacrosse programs.

The Owls’ first four conference games will be played at Geasey Field, while the remaining three conference match-ups will be on the road against Marquette (4-5), Georgetown (3-4) and Rutgers (5-4).

Although the Owls got off to a rocky start, the beginning of conference play is giving them renewed hope toward improving their record.

“It’s a clean slate here,” graduate defender Nina Falcone said.

“Different people are stepping up and different things are

working that weren’t working before,” Falcone added. “I really think we can get serious when it comes to the conference and I’m confident that we will be one of the [Top] 4 teams.”

The first nine games were filled with more than a few bumps in the road for the Owls.

After winning the season opener against St. Joseph’s, the Owls went on to lose five of their next six, including back-to-back losses to Colorado and Denver by a combined score of 27-15 on a spring break road trip.

Temple has been a second half team thus far, as the team has outscored its opponents 42-38 in the second halves this season. But the Owls have been

LACROSSE PAGE 20