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temple-news.com
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
VOL. 93 ISS. 5
After Monteiro’s exit, department head seeks change The CLA dean said African American studies will soon move in ‘a new direction.’ MARIAM DEMBELE The Temple News
T
he African American studies department may soon become the Africology depart-
MAGGIE ANDRESEN TTN
Self-reflection
Eighteen-year-old sophomore dance major Kalayah Curry is the captain of the Uzuri Dance Company. | Page 7
Alcohol rates resemble past years Administrators said the first few weeks of the fall semester are the most active
BY THE NUMBERS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION — FALL 2014 — STUDENTS CITED
STUDENTS HOSPITALIZED
CINDY STANSBURY The Temple News During the first three weeks of the fall semester, 43 students were hospitalized due to alcohol consumption and an additional 82 students received alcohol citations, according to data provided by Temple Police. Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said the first few weekends of the fall semester are some of
82
43
the most active for alcohol citations. Though CSS has put further emphasis on the issue this year, he said this semester’s number of hospitalizations is about the same as previous years. “It really just worries me,” Leone said. He described an unconscious student whose friend brought him to Temple Hospital.
“They had to intubate him and it took a while to get him back,” Leone said. “It could have easily gone the other way.” For the first two weekends of the semester, CSS attempted to set the tone by sending out special patrols and liquor control enforcement. Leone said CSS’s main concern is that high levels of intoxication will make students more vulnerable to becoming victims of crime, Leone said. “You have to have some responsibility when you’re drinking,” he said. A senior liberal arts student, who requested anonymity, was hospitalized after drinking alcohol during a night out with a few new friends in her freshman year. The
ALCOHOL PAGE 6
On different mats
Eigner, Turoff separated After the sports cuts, Evan Eigner was forced to choose between competing for his father at the club level or transferring elsewhere. STEVE BOHNEL The Temple News Philadelphia was the only home Evan Eigner knew. Spending his entire life in the city, he began his gymnastics career through the Temple University boy’s gymnastics program, and went on to compete for his dad at Temple. Following last December’s sports cuts, Eigner was forced to weigh his options at the end of the 2014 season. His performance on the still rings made him the most likely candidate to transfer, given the fact there were only 16 NCAA Division I gymnastics programs
Where Are They Now? The second of a series examining how the athletic cuts have affected the lives of student-athletes and coaches.
Evan Eigner.
in the country. Because he had invested so much in a single place his entire life, Eigner said there were several difficult aspects about leaving Temple. But there was one key factor he considered when making his decision – Fred Turoff, his father and head coach. “One of the biggest things [here at Temple] was being trained under Freddy,” Eigner said. “I still consider him one of my coaches. To see him in the gym every [day], that [factor] was up there.” Turoff, who remains head coach for Temple’s program at
HUA ZONG TTN
EIGNER PAGE 18
ment. Molefi Asante, chairman of African American studies, told The Temple News he was considering a name change for the department in an interview last week. Asante said switching the name to Africology would eliminate boundaries he believes the current name holds. “This is not a geographic field,” Asante said. “‘African American’ was limiting [study] to just a geographical area for a lot of people.” “For some people it was an ethnic notion that this was a department only for African Americans,” Asante added. “The field is much broader than that.” Last spring, during the nearly four-month-long debate over the nonrenewal of nontenure track professor Anthony Monteiro, College of Liberal Arts Dean Teresa Soufas attributed his exit as a “new direction” for the department. Monteiro, whose studies focused heavily on sociologist and activist W.E.B. Dubois, now teaches two urban studies courses at the University of
Philalalia, a poetry and art festival, will be held on Main Campus Sept. 25-27. GRACE HOLLERAN The Temple News Kevin Varrone wanted the name of Philadelphia’s first small-press poetry and art fair to be memorable. Varrone, an English professor at Temple, said he had been thinking about phenomena in language and found himself drawn to echolalia, a symptom of Tourette syndrome which involves uncontrollable bursts of action or language. “That’s poetry – the stuff that you would like to say, but when you open your mouth it comes out as this big rush of stuff,” Varrone said. The next step seemed obvi-
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - PAGES 9-13
claire sasko TTN
Philalalia, a three-day poetry and art fair, will soon open.
ous to Varrone – he combined the idea with the location to create Philalalia. “It’s classic poet marketing – it’s difficult and no one can say it, but hopefully it’ll stick in your head,” Varrone said. Varrone, who has taught at Temple since 2004, was an integral part in the conception of Philalalia, which will be held
LIFESTYLE - PAGES 7-8, 14-16
Uzuri Dance promotes confidence
Philly welcomes Nerdcore rap
A pharmacy student has received faculty attention for his second app that attempts to streamline the medical learning process. PAGE 2
The Uzuri Dance Company, comprised of all females, wants to share and encourage self-love through dance. PAGE 7
Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot performed at the North Star Bar & Restaurant on Sept. 19. PAGE 9
OPINION - PAGES 4-5 A biography of Stinky the cat
AFRICOLOGY PAGE 6
A weekend for word lovers
NEWS - PAGES 2-3, 6
Student launches second app
Pennsylvania. Monteiro’s oneyear contract officially ended in late June after 10 years at Temple. “The department is changing directions, away from civic issues in American history to other areas,” Soufas said in March. “[The African American studies department is] not going to hire someone else to teach W.E.B. Dubois,” Soufas added. “That’s not something they need now.” Asante publicly raised the possibility of changing the name in a May 11 Facebook post about the Monteiro situation. Toward the end of Spring 2014, a proposal to change the name of the African American studies department to Africology was sent to an executive committee in the College of Liberal Arts. Although a similar name change proposal failed in the past, Asante said he is confident sentiments have changed. The term Africology emerged about 25 years ago as an alternative name for Black Studies departments. It encompasses the study of African countries and the African diaspora – areas where Africans have historically moved to – from an African perspective. “It is the Afrocentric study of African phenomena trans-
from Sept. 25-27 in the Tyler School of Art. All events are free to attend. “We have a great poetry scene here,” Varrone said. “And yet we don’t tend to have these kinds of festivals and book fairs.” Kimberly Southwick, a
PHILALALIA PAGE 16
SPORTS - PAGES 17-20
Owls routs Hornets 59-0
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September 24 - October 2, 2014
NEWS
PAGE 2
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
staff reports | rush week
New sorority starts week of initiation Alpha Xi Delta, created last year, recently began its first Rush Week process. LEAH MURRAY The Temple News
A
lpha Xi Delta, a new sorority, starts its first recruitment phase this year. Temple University Greek Association is in the middle of Rush Week, where Greek organizations seek to increase membership. Alpha Xi Delta joined TUGA shortly after last year’s recruitment period. Leaders from the Greek Association said the number of female students who signed up for recent years’ recruitments warranted an additional sorority. The sorority moved onto campus in November 2013 and started its colonization process before being officially welcomed into Temple’s Greek association on May 4. Julia Blaeser, an Ohio University graduate and Alpha Xi Delta’s educational leadership counselor, advises the sorority and helps the members with their new responsibilities. “They made amazing strides last year and I’m glad to help them continue to make an impact,” Blaeser said. “Temple
is a great place for us. All of our members fit well together.” Senior strategic communications major Kacey Beltz, president of Alpha Xi Delta’s Temple chapter, expressed excitement at the organization’s establishment. “It’s really cool because we get to make our own traditions,” Beltz said. “We’re the new kids on the block, so we do things differently from everyone else.” Sophomore psychology major Nadia Elshami, membership vice president and recruitment chair for Alpha Xi Delta, agreed with Beltz. “We are like kids going to school for the first time,” Elshami said. “We get to create our own image.” Alpha Xi Delta is Temple’s fifth sorority affiliated with the Panhellenic Association. The other sororities are Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Phi Epsilon, Delta Zeta and Phi Sigma Sigma. Sorority recruitment is a two-night event held in the Student Center. Female students interested in joining filled out an online form and paid a $10 fee to participate in recruitment. The process breaks the students into groups and each group learns about each sorority. Each participant then fills out which two sororities she is most interested in and if either sorority is interested in her too, she will become a potential new member.
“It’s not just picking which one you want, it’s a mutual selection,” Elshami explained. Sept. 27 is “bid day,” where each recruited student will find out which sorority she will join. The current members of the sorority all participate in selecting potential new members. “It’s a group experience, and we are all a part of finding girls with the same values we have,” Elshami said. Saturday night is “preference night,” where chosen new members receive an invitation to the sorority and a welcome party, followed by lessons about the history of the organization. Initiation is the final step of the process. Beltz advises to anyone participating in recruitment to be genuine. “Talk to as many people as you can and just think about what you want from a sorority and pick where you can see yourself,” Beltz said. Elshami suggested to “keep an open mind, and when you feel like you have found where you belong, just go for it.” “Do not second-guess yourself,” she said. Alpha Xi Delta will host multiple events in its first year, Beltz said, including a sisterparent tailgate at the Homecoming football game. Members of the sorority will also participate in a charity walk, Walk Now for Autism
RYUN CUSHING TTN
Alpha Xi Delta, the newest sorority, held a practice meeting to prepare for its recruitment process happening later that day on Sept. 21.
Speaks, in November. “One thing we are really passionate about is our philanthropy,” Beltz said. “Every sorority has a cause that they raise money for. Ours is Autism Speaks.” She said Alpha Xi Delta has raised more than $2 million
for the charity. Beltz said the members of sorority Delta Zeta, which has a Temple chapter, also helped in fundraising for autism. “Everyone has been so welcoming, it feels like we are all just one big family,” Beltz said. “We really appreciate all of the
other sororities’ help. We are all in this together, no matter where we pledge, to become better women and [to] better Temple and the world.” * leah.murray0001@temple.edu
STAFF REPORTS | medical school
Student launches health care education phone app A pharmacy student has attracted faculty attention with his second application. KAYLA OATNEAL The Temple News A pharmacy student recently developed his second free mobile phone app that aims to enhance the thought process in medical decision-making for medical students. The app was released on Apple’s App Store Sept. 16 and is to be released through the Google Play service this week. Leon Do, who is in his last year at the School of Pharmacy, created the “Respiratory Tract Infections” app, which guides students step-by-step through the process of assessing and treating patients with strep
throat, sinus infections or ear ciate dean for education, faculty development, assessment and infections. The app provides factual experiential education at the information for the user and School of Pharmacy. Calligaro illustrates a teaches multiple bigger picture Pathophysiolwhere students ogy and Theracan “connectpeutics courses, the-dots” and and one meant learn how to apfor third-year ply what they’ve students inlearned in a cludes a unit on practical setting. upper respira“A patient tory tract infeccomes in with tions. She said … an ear infecthe app would tion,” Do said. benefit her stu“What do you Leon Do / pharmacy student dents during do? What questions do you ask? How do you their URTI unit. “The interesting thing [Do] treat it? The app explains the process step-by-step how to is doing is giving students a difcome up with an answer.” ferent way to think about mateDo began development rial in a precise manner,” Calfour months ago after speaking ligaro said. “It doesn’t replace with Dr. Ina Calligaro, the asso- classroom training, but is a
“I woke up and
realized I could do something relevant to health care with this ... I began working on it that night.
”
good foundation for knowledge and how to apply the cases given to them. I think students will love it.” Calligaro said she was interested in integrating this app in her class after learning about Do’s first app, “Heart Failure.” This app was released on the App Store on Feb. 17 and is still free online. It provides the same step-by-step process as the respiratory app, except the information pertains to systolic heart failure. After development, Do shared the app with friends, who recommended he speak with Dr. Michael Barros, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice who was teaching a course on heart failure at the time. “It was very exciting to see [Do] do something like this because it was very concise and
up-to-date,” Barros said. “It was a good app, easy to use, and a good review to solidify everything they were taught.” Initially intended for 150 students, the app received 5001,000 downloads internationally. Do said he decided to make a second app utilizing critiques from the heart failure app. Third-year pharmacy student Forrest Ridgway was one of the students who used the heart failure app in Barros’ course. “It correlates well to how things were set up in the course, because in heart failure there’s staging and treatment options,” Ridgway said. “The app and the course were integrated, so it made certain aspects of the unit clearer than they were before.” Ridgway recently began working with Do on content development for the respiratory
app.
Do said the idea for the respiratory app came from an abstract dream that quickly sparked development. “I woke up and realized I could do something relevant to health care with this,” Do said. “I began working on it that night.” A small team is developing content and creating new ideas for the respiratory app. Do said he is currently looking for more people to join. Do dreams of expanding his apps beyond Main Campus. “Our goal is to expand from within Temple,” Do said. “Our goal in the future is that we can have a startup company. We’re looking for people that are interested in creating something awesome.” * kayla.oatneal@temple.edu
Computer network crash prompts prevention efforts Computer Services said this summer’s crash was a rare occurrence. LIAN PARSONS The Temple News Computer Services’ next few maintenance periods will focus on taking steps to prevent a potential collapse of the university’s internet network, like what happened during the summer break. The most recent maintenance period began at 10 p.m. on Sept. 21 and concluded at 2 a.m. the next morning. The maintenance impacted services like Blackboard and restricted access to computers in the TECH Center. On Aug. 8 around 12:06 p.m., many Temple services lost contact with the university’s computer network. Everything was restored to normal hours
NEWS DESK 215-204-7419
later at 3:46 p.m. While the network was down, TUportal, TUmail, and Self Service Banner were unreachable. Voice over IP phones in Morgan Hall and University Communications’ offices above the TECH Center were down as well, since those phones make and receive calls through an internet provider. August’s spontaneous network failure was the fault of two manufacturer bugs in the system which hit in quick succession. Information perpetually runs through the network in segments called packets, but on that day an unrecognizable, or “poison” packet affected the core router, which facilitates internet requests from users on the university’s network. “The system didn’t recognize [the packet] and it caused a bigger problem,” said Timothy O’Rourke, vice president of Computer Services and chief information officer.
When Computer Services rebooted the system to troubleshoot, a second bug hit. This occurrence is rare, officials said. “Because of the size of Temple and the amount of work pushed through [the system], a one-in-a-million bug hit us,” said Larry Brandolph, associate vice president of Computer Services. There were an estimated 5,000 people on Main Campus at the time, a far cry of the roughly 32,000 students on campus during the fall and spring semesters. A system status report was updated within about a minute of the network going down to inform the community what was happening. The Computer Services’ website was also updated immediately. No TU Alert was sent out because there was no danger to anyone on campus, Brandolph said. TU Alerts are not connected to the affected network and are operated independently.
“We weren’t asking anyone to change any behaviors,” Brandolph said. The network is also used by Temple University Hospital. The hospital was impacted by the network loss, which was considered a serious problem because the hospital is fully running at all times. “We considered it an emergency,” O’Rourke said. “And treated it as such.” A team of 10 people from Computer Services worked on fixing the network for nearly four hours. The troubleshooting process involved “all hands on deck, including the provider,” O’Rourke said. “The response-time process grabs key resources that are necessary to start troubleshooting,” Brandolph said. “[There is a] crisis call to as many people as possible. The goal is always to restore services as soon as possible.” Avaya Services, the provider for
NEWS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
all the university’s networking equipment, has been fixing bugs in its system and will be implementing these changes in the future. “We are very cautious of student activities, so we try not to make any big changes,” Brandolph said. In the future, if the system ever recognizes the same bug or “poison packet” again, the system will discard it. Whenever there’s a technological problem, a system status report is instantly posted to TU Portal to inform people of the issue. The system status report history can also be viewed. “We have state-of the-art technology here at Temple,” O’Rourke said. “Every piece of technology has issues and we deal with it as it comes.” * lian.parsons@temple.edu
NEWS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
PAGE 3
STAFF REPORTS | construction
Diamond Street maintenance continues stand why they’re doing this construction.” The Water Department said it scheduled the work to avoid students being in school during this time. “The initiation of this project was scheduled CHRISTIAN MATOZZO to have the least amount of impact to the affected The Temple News residents and to minimize work while school was in session,” DiGiulio said. “Work started in May Since the start of the semester, Diamond after school let out for the summer.” Street has been part of a series of increased conDiGiulio said the construction is schedstruction that has disrupted the neighborhood and uled to be completed by the end of November. traffic. Originally intended to finish during the Road closings are expected for each block set to summer months, when most students are not on be completed, so they can be paved over by the Main Campus, the project has spilled into the Fall Streets Department. 2014 semester. Numerous other projects on Main Campus Philadelphia Water Departoccurred during the summer as ment spokesperson John DiGiulio well. The city repaved 13th street, said the work on Diamond Street between Cecil B. Moore Avenue is being done to replace the waand Diamond Street, during the ter main and sewer pipes on each summer and finished before the block of Diamond Street from fall semester began. Broad to 11th streets. Similarly, the streets depart“Diamond [Street] will be ment constructed the bases for closed block by block as the walight poles along North Broad ter relay and sewer reconstruction Street stretching from Spring progresses,” DiGiulio said in an Garden Street to Glenwood Avemail. enue. A representative from the The construction has not been Lindsey Shrefler / Diamond Street Streets department told The Temwithout its annoyances to those resident ple News in August that they will living in the area. work on other parts of the project “They shut our water off for while student activity is high. one day, [from] 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,” said Charlie The lighting project will include trees plantCappelli, a senior management information sys- ed along the sidewalks during the spring and fall tems major who lives on the 1400 block of Dia- semesters. mond Street. “At 8 a.m. this morning, it was so Early last month, city crews working on loud. It’s been really loud.” North Broad Street inadvertently cut power to six A resident of the 1400 block of Diamond university buildings. Power was restored by FaStreet, Lindsey Shrefler, who is not a Temple stu- cilities Management crews later that day. dent, said she had her water turned off one day and has been bothered by the noise. * christian.matozzo@temple.edu “We woke up to the jackhammer,” said Shrefler. “The building was shaking one day. It felt like an earthquake.” Students in the area said they were unaware of why the construction was occurring. “Why is this happening?” said Ellis Holmes, a senior finance major. “I honestly do not under-
Originally intended to occur during the summer, construction has lingered into the fall semester.
“We woke up to
the jackhammer ... The building was shaking one day. It felt like an earthquake.
”
NAHLA WARD TTN
Construction workers on Diamond Street have been working on the water main since May.
Temple Fest charges spark discussion among students The university and city will hold hearings on the Welcome Week incident. NATHALIE SWANN The Temple News
COURTESY TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
A new commemorative exhibit featuring famous lawyers recently opened in Klein Hall.
Law School opens Hall of Fame Administrators said they hope to attract inductees to the hall. RACHAEL CLARK JOE BRANDT The Temple News The Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame opened in Klein Hall on Sept. 9. The project of the Alabama-based Trial Lawyer magazine and The National Trial Lawyers will honor skilled courtroom minds from around the country throughout history. Sharon Boothe, executive director of the hall, said the purpose is to “build an archive of speeches and closing arguments made by inductees as a place for students to do further research.” The space in the front entrance of Klein Hall will include two new interactive kiosks for that purpose, Boothe said. The Sept. 9 opening ceremony was attended by notable lawyers including new inductees Elaine Jones, the first female president of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund and Bobby Cook, the lawyer who inspired the TV show “Matlock,” star-
ring Andy Griffith. Other inductees include Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Johnnie Cochran, who defended O.J. Simpson during his murder trial. The interactive kiosks display the different hall of famers and their accomplishments. Lawyers honored in the hall have advocated for safety issues like mandatory airbags in cars and tobacco regulation. Some were part of the first successful suing of the Ku Klux Klan. The project was funded mostly through donations from individual donors with some sponsorship dollars from Trial Lawyer Magazine. “The range of contributions that these lawyers made is enormous,” JoAnne Epps, dean of Temple’s law school, said. Epps said that once Trial Lawyer chose to house the hall of fame at Temple, it was her goal to make sure the commemorative exhibit was wellintegrated into the law school. She added that it was “crucial” students utilize that space. First-year law student Jas-
mine Campbell said she has done much of her work sitting in Klein Hall, but hasn’t interacted with the hall of fame. “A lot of people stay all hours of the night to do their work [in the hall of fame],” Campbell said. Campbell said it is too soon to know if her peers will fully engage with the facilities. “Most people just pass through and observe it, but I did not have much of a reaction to it,” Campbell said. Researching the subjects in the hall is essential for law students, Epps said, so they can “expand their horizons” beyond Philadelphia and learn more about lawyers from other parts of the country. “We want to be able to provide some of the knowledge and experiences we have here to a greater range of people,” she added. Epps said she is “hopeful that the inductees will come here [and] bring their families, so that they will know more about [Temple’s] law school.” * news@temple-news.com ( 215-204-7419
Abdel Aziz Jalil, the Temple student who allegedly struck senior management information systems major Daniel Vessal at Temple Fest in late August, was charged Sept. 10 by the Philadelphia District Attorney for simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Aziz Jalil’s criminal trial is set for Oct. 1. Student Body President Ray Smeriglio said Temple will also hold its own hearing on the incident to look for potential violations of the Student Code of Conduct. Many Temple students supported the decision to charge Aziz Jalil, stating their displeasure that the altercation ever occurred. News outlets like truthrevolt.org reported Aziz Jalil used ethnic slurs after he hit Vessal following discussion about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Aziz Jalil does not face charges related to discrimination. Temple’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestine organization, said in a statement that Aziz Jalil never used slurs toward Vessal. Some SJP members are Aziz Jalil’s friends, but he is not a member of the organization. Freshman engineering major Elaine Vallejos supported the decision to charge Aziz Jalil. “You can’t go around hitting everyone who doesn’t agree with you religiously, especially if you’re choosing to
go to such a diverse school like Temple,” Vallejos said. “People need to be religiously tolerant,” she added. Junior anthropology major Marissa Rubin said she was happy Aziz Jalil was charged. Rubin, a Jewish student, was involved in planning protests against Temple’s handling of the incident. Those protests were later canceled. “All Temple students, and all people in general, deserve the right to feel safe on campus,” Rubin said. “To physically harm another person because they differ from you in some way can never and should never be tolerated. We must always take a stand against violence.” A university spokesperson declined to comment on the charges “in order to prevent bias in the judicial process.” Tasha Jamerson, a spokesperson for the DA’s office, also declined to comment. Samuel Konstantinov, a senior environmental science major and member of the Jewish community, supported the charges. “The charges seem pretty appropriate for what [Aziz Jalil] did,” Konstantinos said. “The way I see it, if you make the choice to punch someone, there is no reason you shouldn’t deal with the consequences.” Smeriglio said that because Jalil was not a member of SJP, Temple would not take action against the organization. Most members of Temple’s SJP organization declined to be interviewed. Walter Smolarek, a senior anthropology major and SJP member, said “the buzz that has been created by supporters of Israel around such a routine case clearly points to an attempt
to silence pro-Palestine speech on campus.” “Temple SJP will continue to carry out its work in solidarity with Palestine as we always have – in a nonviolent manner that opposes all forms of bigotry,” Smolarek said. Some students were upset with the way Temple handled the incident. Halana Dash, a sophomore English major and member of the Jewish community, disagreed with Temple’s handling of the incident. “I don’t think that Temple usually does a good job taking care of these things, whether it’s related to SJP and Hillel or any other minority group,” Dash said. “Their statements are always very vague. Their statements are always very general. Temple is a very diverse school with very large minority communities, and [the administration] needs to recognize that.” Smeriglio maintained that the university’s response was acceptable. “Temple did their piece in staying unbiased and completing the investigation and then handing [the results] over to the district attorney,” Smeriglio said. “Sanctions and consequences to your actions do vary upon the severity of the act, so there’s really no confirming what will actually happen,” he added. * nathalie.swann@temple.edu
ONLINE The Temple News will be covering Abdel Aziz Jalil’s hearing on Oct. 1 and will post a summary of it later that night. Check out temple-news.com for the update.
PAGE 4
EDITORIAL/OP-ED
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
A watchdog for the Temple University community since 1921. Avery Maehrer, Editor-in-Chief Patricia Madej, Managing Editor Erin Edinger-Turoff, Chief Copy Editor Marcus McCarthy, News Editor Grace Holleran, Opinion Editor Claire Sasko, Lifestyle Editor Emily Rolen, Arts & Entertainment Editor EJ Smith, Sports Editor Joe Brandt, Asst. News Editor Andrew Parent, Asst. Sports Editor Alexa Bricker, Asst. Lifestyle Editor Paige Gross, Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Alexandra Snell, Multimedia Editor Patrick McCarthy, Multimedia Editor
Harsh Patel, Web Editor Kate Reilly, Asst. Web Editor Andrew Thayer, Photography Editor Kara Milstein, Asst. Photography Editor Addy Peterson, Design Editor Donna Fanelle, Asst. Designer Zachary Campbell, Advertising Manager Grayson Holladay, Business Manager Dustin Wingate, Marketing Manager
The Temple News is an editorially independent weekly publication serving the Temple University community. Unsigned editorial content represents the opinion of The Temple News. Adjacent commentary is reflective of their authors, not The Temple News. 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
EDITORIAL
An inappropriate response Nearly a month has passed cluding verbal abuse and gensince The Temple News puberal mismanagement of the lished the findings of its sevteams. The athletes also told en-month investigation of a Foley of how the program’s years-long pattern of abuse and limited resources, including neglect in the university’s track its lack of a throwing cage and & field propole-vaulting The university needs to pit, were limiting gram, but the address the troubling administration them. questions raised in last still has yet to Foley then answer trouinformed the month’s Temple News bling questions investigation of the track & team that Mobraised in the ley would not be field program. report. fired, according In a brief statement reto interviews with athletes. leased last week, a Temple After another season of spokesperson said university running the program, during staff and counsel had reviewed which one athlete said she beThe Temple News story and came suicidal largely due to concluded that the school acted stress the team caused, Mob“appropriately” in matters reley resigned in June 2014. The lated to the teams. circumstances regarding his This response alone is inexit remain unclear. Foley’s reappropriate. sponsibilities were reassigned, More than a dozen students beginning with the 2014-15 accused former head coach season, and she no longer adEric Mobley, who helmed the ministers the track & field proprogram from 2008 until this gram. A spokesperson wouldn’t say whether the change for Folpast June, of verbal abuse, iney was a result of issues related timidation and dereliction of to the track & field teams. his coaching duties, among Despite Mobley’s deparseveral other questionable and ture and Foley’s reassignment, unethical practices. the university still needs to exSafety was compromised. plain itself. A discus struck a star runWhy did Mobley remain ner in March 2012, ending her after the students made sericareer. The team was not using ous complaints of mistreatment a protective cage, as recomand neglect? What specifically, mended by the NCAA. After if anything, did Foley or oththe athlete met with Senior Asers do to alleviate those comsociate Athletic Director Krisplaints? Why did the teams not ten Foley the following year to use a throwing cage, even after discuss her concerns regarding its absence had resulted in an the program’s lack of proper injury that ended the Olympic safety equipment, she said the dreams of one of the best athadministrator ensured her that letes on the team? What meaa cage had been purchased. Alsures are being taken to ensure though athletes said they saw another Temple sport doesn’t the cage being delivered, as meet the same fate as the track recently as the end of this past & field program? season, they claim it was not That President Theobald used. and Athletic Director Kevin Former thrower Ebony Clark remain silent in regards Moore, who once held a school to The Temple News investirecord, is suing the university, gation is disrespectful to every Foley and Mobley for $10 milstudent-athlete who was viclion in damages on claims of timized by the derelict track & harassment, sexual harassment field program. and gender-based discrimiIt has been a tumultuous nation. Although the univeryear for Temple Athletics, with sity maintains it investigated the department’s recent elimiMoore’s claims that one of her nation of five Division I sports, coaches had made an inapproincluding men’s indoor and priate advance toward her and outdoor track & field. Now, the had found those claims to be community deserves answers uncorroborated, a spokesperon how the administration son only referenced interviews overlooked an abusive coach with coaches and Moore’s famand failed to address serious ily – no athletes. Unless other problems that plagued the track students were questioned about & field program for years. Moore’s complaints, the uniWith ongoing litigation, versity’s investigation could it’s not a complete surprise that not have been complete enough the university is staying mostly for Temple to jump to such a silent in regards to our investiconclusion. gation. In May 2013, athletes said But we expect more than dozens of team members met this level of apathy. with Foley to complain about Mobley’s coaching style, in-
CORRECTIONS In a standalone photo published on Sept. 16, a men’s soccer player was incorrectly attributed as a player for Drexel. Temple’s game was against La Salle, not Drexel. 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 Avery Maehrer at editor@temple-news.com or 215.204.6737.
KASIA PLUTO TTN
FROM THE ARCHIVES...
FILE PHOTO TTN
Mar. 5, 1968: Fred Turoff took first place in the all-around competition at the Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League championships. Turoff, who coached the men’s gymnastic team for more than 40 years, lost his job after the program was cut this past July. He will continue coaching the team in the form of a club sport, but his son, Evan Eigner, transferred to Ohio State to continue competing at the Division I level.
Mosaic provides necessary variety The often-criticized curricula of Mosaic courses provide a valuable experience for students.
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xplaining the Intellectual Heritage program to parents and friends constantly forces Temple students to address some questions. What exactly is the course? Why is it so different from everything else that Temple requires? Mosaic courses are literature classes, but the curriculum seems to be drawn out of a hat for most of them. For many students, their first experience with Mosaic starts before the semester even begins, when the stuJASON PEPPER dents are shopping for their textbooks. Using the Barnes & Noble website, students can check what textbooks their professors require for classes. It’s usually pretty straightforward, but the required Mosaic courses break the pattern. Immediately, users are greeted with the enigmatic message “wait for class.” After that, a massive list of textbooks is listed: 32 books for Mosaic I and 29 books for Mosaic II. These books are fairly cheap, but buying them all would still total in the hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, waiting for class will reveal that students won’t need most books on that list – but the books their professor picks seem to be completely at random. Sure, there’s some consistency. Most Mosaic I classes are required to read “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and Freud’s “Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis,” but the other books required can range from the Chinese philosophy book “Daodejing of Laozi” to Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk novel “Snow Crash.” A thorough look at the book list will reveal even stranger
combinations – Greek epics, texts on political discourse, studies on science and religion, books of poems and even Sophocles’ Theban Plays. According to Temple’s course guide, Mosaic is “theme-based course” during which “students investigate the nature of the individual in human society through the examination of psychological, social and political texts in dialogue with examples from art and literature.” That’s about the extent of the course description. Why is this course mandatory for all students? A required course is to ensure that all students at a university come out with at least some base level education that is identical to everyone else’s. Everyone is required to learn a certain level of mathematics and science. Mosaic is required, but it seems that very few students come out of the classes with the same experience. “It’s weird,” said Megan Anderson, a sophomore art student. “There’s just this random array of books, and it feels like there’s no real directions.” According to Joseph Schwartz, the director of the IH program, there is an ideal experience. “We like to think that what is required is that students read challenging texts in their entirety,” he said. He added that Mosaic is more about a common experience of analyzing the human condition rather than a common experience of learning a singular subject. Douglas Greenfield, the associate director of IH, supports this. “What is required is an exploration of our intellectual heritage,” he said. That is, possibly, the beauty of the Mosaic courses. Though every student must take them, not every student comes out with the exact same experience. It’s a class designed to confront students with the human condition. Students read books about a variety of topics and are forced to alter the way they think about the world because of it. It’s education in the broad-
est and most liberal sense – providing students with a variety of worldviews, discussing the support and problems with each view, and then letting students sort out among themselves what they want to believe. Most Mosaic courses are discussionbased rather than lecture-based, so professors frame ideas and students interpret them. Perhaps Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” will alter a student’s views on the global economic system, or maybe Dawkin’s “River Out of Eden” will spark a desire to learn about science and evolution. These courses present students with books that they may never have encountered in their lives, even though these books are partly responsible for shaping the world as it is today. “[These works] are kind of like the DNA of our civilization,” Greenfield said. Temple’s job of creating a solid baseline education includes educating students using ideas and concepts that have created the modern world, and it’s good that students get a chance to discuss and think about these ideas. The lack of consistency just drives this point home even more – professors have relative freedom to present ideas to students, so students all have to confront a variety of views from people as well as in the texts. This experience extends across the entire school. If there was no Intellectual Heritage program, then “someone in Tyler couldn’t read as richly as someone in liberal arts,” Schwartz said. Though it may not be a popular class, it’s reassuring to see that Temple seems to have a solid grasp on the nuances of education. It’s not just about rote memorization or problem-solving, it’s also about learning and exploring new ideas about the world. * pepper.jason.a@temple.edu T @pepperjasona
OPINION
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
PAGE 5
Commentary | Social Media
Like for like: Social media is selling us short Businesses are slowly turning News Feeds into subliminal advertisements.
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ast year, my editor told me it might be a good idea to change my Twitter bio. He didn’t think “Manic Pixie Drunk Girl” sounded very professional. “I don’t even use curse words on Twitter anymore,” he said. “I’m applying to grad school. People can see that.” Social media has become so pervasive that his concerns were not unreasonable. This scares me. Employers and graduate schools that scour profiles contribute to this to some extent, but their involvement is more likely the result of a much more ingrained GRACE HOLLERAN mindset. The other day, my barista was wearing a tag with his Instagram handle written on it. So, as I waited for my coffee, I took out my phone and followed him. I’ve participated in entire conversations based on the subtle implications of somebody’s tweets. A friend of mine crafts his Facebook statuses so meticulously that he’s asked me to copy-edit them. He posts them during what he calls “MLT,” which stands for Maximum “Like” Time – this ensures that his statuses receive the attention they deserve. In short, social media is in our heads. And when the quality of our jokes, quips and insights can be quantified with likes, retweets and favorites, it makes sense that millennials have begun to market our personalities as tangible products. Naturally, actual marketers immediately saw potential in this. Ben Harrison, a junior finance major, is known to his nearly 20,000 Twitter followers as @PajamaBen_. Harrison uses Klout, a website and mobile
THE ESSAYIST...
app that measures users’ “social media influence” on a scale from 1-100. “It measures how much your word is worth,” he said. “My score is 61.” This number further serves to quantify users’ content. A 2012 Wired article cited a businessman who was denied a job because his Klout score wasn’t up to the company’s standards. In addition, Klout offers “perks” to users with high scores. For instance, Harrison’s feed consists largely of original, slightly absurdist jokes. Many of them happen to have to do with dogs. “I got an email from Klout saying that Purina wanted to give me a free one-pound bag of dog food because of my influence in the pet community,” Harrison said. He gets two or three offers a month from Klout. Other rewards he received include books, business cards and razors. “I didn’t even have to pay for shipping,” he said. Klout’s website is littered with the kind of capitalistic language that makes me shiver in my sleep at night, like “networking,” “career” and “marketing.” Even for those of us who aren’t budding Marxists, Klout, especially its rewards program, is a disturbing concept. Celebrity endorsement as a form of advertisement is not a new idea. If a picture is released of a Kardashian sister in a T-shirt plastered with Chanel’s logo, most of us realize that Chanel has succeeded in advertising its products for next to nothing – simply by dispensing free merchandise to celebrities who will doubtless receive national exposure. Programs like Klout are taking this concept to a new level by infiltrating the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds of, for lack of a better term, normal people. Their goal is for these people to mention the product to some capacity, so they seek out users with higher Klout scores. Harrison said that although he’s happy to receive free stuff, he doesn’t tweet about it.
“I don’t want to alienate my followers,” Harrison said. “But there are a lot of people who just want everything.” Many people, if told that simply tweeting a hashtag will earn them a prize – or even a chance at one, as with the 5.4 million people who tweeted #EsuranceSave30 during the Super Bowl – comply without a second thought. And as a result, Esurance, although it gave away $1.5 million, likely more than made up for that number with the amount of free advertising Twitter brought it. What are the repercussions of this? Perhaps there are none. “I like it because I get free things, and from a business standpoint it’s also good. It’s no harm to anyone,” Harrison said. But I am skeptical. Defenders of big business like to emphasize the value of the free market – in fact, the whole point of capitalism is allegedly the agency that each member of the system has. Another fundamental aspect of capitalism, though, is how tricky the corporations are. This is the same system that had people in the 1950s up in arms over subliminal images of Coca-Cola and Camels in their feature films – and now, with the advent of social media’s widespread influence, advertising is cheaper and sneakier than ever. I suppose, for those who are entirely unbothered by the idea of their friends becoming billboards for whatever company decided to grant them with free products that month, there is nothing wrong with the “perks” that Klout offers. But as we remove tags from incriminating photos and change our Twitter bios to look better to prospective employers, we can no longer deny the incestuous relationship social media has with our outside lives. As millennials reap the admittedly plentiful advantages that social media offers us, it might be wise to be wary of the drawbacks as well.
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* patrick.mccarthy@temple.edu
* emily.ivy.scott@temple.edu
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KATIE KALUPSON TTN
LETTERS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
“How many
Temple students have met their block captains?
By Patrick McCarthy
OPINION DESK 215-204-7416
Temple students should strive to be more involved in the community.
He left the room almost as quickly as he had arrived. My mother turned the folded paper around in her hand, studying the pictures of owners and their loving pets. We exchanged glances as our eyes fell on the old kitten enjoying another look out the window. My mom slowly scanned the cat sitting defiantly with his back to us. A noise came out of her mouth that could only be described as “with disappointment.” She has made the same sound when I presented her a failing letter grade or left the house a mess. The master of havoc had pulled off his greatest act yet – a death defying spectacle that left us speechless. Few words were exchanged as we wrapped him back up in a new towel provided by the clinic. The emotional trauma of losing a beloved family member was quickly replaced by an almost personal vengeance carried out by her most mischievous of children. It wasn’t until we pulled out of the parking lot that the tension had been lifted. “This god damn cat has got to be kidding me,” she said to his seemingly smug appearance. “It was like he was knocking on death’s door.” I noticed a familiar aroma filling her Lexus. “And now I’m pretty sure he’s pooping in your lap.”
* holleran@temple.edu T @coupsdegrace
A beloved pet continues to take his family on a tumultuous ride for more than two decades.
only emotion came from the swelling eyes of his loving protector. “Stinky, the doctor will see you in Room 2,” the receptionist called out over the chattering animals. The small room had an old chair, a long metal table, a sink, jars of treats, miscellaneous literature on vaccines and a window pointing toward the setting sun over a green backyard. Stinky soon found his spot on the sill, staring at what once was his kingdom. A young nurse entered the room to perform a routine checkup. She attempted to pick him up, giving in to a brief wrestling match that proved the old fighter didn’t have much left in him. “A few pounds lighter,” she said, studying her notes. “That makes about eight pounds since his last visit this year.” My mother explained how his appetite was limited and his energy had vanished. Both of them mentally projected the big question, but neither brought it up. The veterinarian came in a few moments later and studied Stinky briefly. In what could be his last performance on stage, he obliged a stool sample for the probing physician. “We will send these out and call you tomorrow with the results,” he said, calmly handing my mother a pamphlet from the wall. “It seems like a thyroid problem that could be controlled with a very affordable medication.”
It’s time to act like neighbors alking West down Montgomery Avenue, zigzagging between expensive complexes and tattered row homes, I looked in vain for people who knew their block captains. “I think my mother is block captain,” one child finally said, and with that I was invited into the Marrow household for lunch. Jocelyn Marrow is a retired Philadelphia School Board member. About three years ago, she moved to the EMILY SCOTT 1700 block of North 16th Street. She has four children, a dog and enjoys tending to her backyard garden. As of three months ago, she became the block captain of her street. The block captain tradition in Philadelphia is nearly a half-century old. The 6,500 block captains across the city have plenty to oversee, especially around Main Campus. “The big battle is this trash dump heap that’s in the middle of the block,” Marrow said. She has been fighting with her landlords and Columbus Property, the nonprofit housing developer which, according to its website, specializes in housing for those with disabilities. She added that Temple owns much of property around her. From those three groups, the response she has received is minimal. The trash issue is only one of the problems Marrow and other block captains are dealing with. They also want to foster a more inviting community. She created a committee on her block with four other people. Their first work of business was creating a “back-to-school extravaganza” for the children on her block. They are hoping to give them school supplies, arts and crafts and snacks. She hopes that Temple students will support the event. Marrow said she thinks Temple students should be more concerned about the blocks they live on. “I don’t understand how you’re going to school every day, you’re working every day just to secure your home, why aren’t you outside fighting for it?” she said. How many Temple students have met their block captains, or even know that block captains exist? On Montgomery Avenue, it took some time for me to find someone who knew Marrow – and that someone was her own daughter. Eileen Bradley, project coordinator for Temple Police, said Temple organizations are working on building its relationship with the community. She cited the Adopt-A-Block program and “Welcome Wagon” meetings, two ways for Temple students to get involved on their blocks. But according to the North Philadelphia Action Community Committee, residents have dealt with the same problem for eight years – a lack of interest and respect from Temple students living on their blocks. Milton Pollard, the Community Leader for the NPACC, led a Community and Stakeholders meeting on Sept. 16. As the topic moved into Temple’s offcampus living, the conference room boomed with voices. It was a contrast from the former tone of the room. By the expressions and actions, it was obvious that the people of the community had grown tiresome of the lack of change. Excessive partying and lack of control by police were major concerns, according to community members at the meeting. “Temple Police doesn’t have control over the students,” Pollard said. A major concern was the ambiguity of Temple’s “Good Neighbor Policy.” Where is it being enforced? The vagueness of this policy allows Temple police to argue when offenses occur outside their jurisdiction, even though it appears to apply to just about anywhere a Temple student lives. Although there is certainly some outreach happening, it is not meeting everyone in the widespread community. With the recent extension of Temple Police patrol zones, Temple organizations should also extend their volunteer regions to meet the growing population of Temple students moving off campus. “This is a community. We want our community to stay intact,” Marrow said.
Stinky’s Final Act
y mother and I walked up the stairs and found him sleeping on her pillow. Our cat Stinky always knew when he was going to the veterinarian – a sort of sixth sense, followed by knowing exactly when food was being prepared for him. He meticulously planned every move to assure his freedom, executing his tactics with Marine-like precision. You don’t spend 20 years with a family without adapting to all their tricks. Today was different. He hardly flinched when we laid out the green towel next to him – the one covered in bleach spots and shredded from some of his less graceful escapes. As we expected, he didn’t notice when we entered the room. His hearing is almost entirely gone by now. My mother sat down next to him on the bed. The change of pressure produced a soft mew as Stinky woke up to assess his situation, his eyes darting around the room to find the danger. For the past few weeks, the handsome Siamese cat had stopped patrolling the house like we were accustomed to. He was hardly awake for more than a few hours at a time now. He limped into rooms and was easily startled by noises. His sheen of a mane had degraded to patchy pink skin peeking through a shedding coat. The once-proud hunter had become nothing more than a 12-pound fuzzy bell tower, chiming precisely when he was hungry. “Did your brother say bye to him yet?” my mother asked. “This could be the last time he’s in the house.” “Relax,” I replied. “He’s going to be fine. He’s made it this far, hasn’t he?” “You’re probably right,” she said, caressing the back of his head. I snapped a quick picture of them, in case I was lying to myself. My earliest recollections of Moe Finkelstein, colloquially known as Stinky, are oddly romanticized, just like childhood memories should be. Now, it’s charming that he was born in a dumpster outside a fast food joint in Texas. I forgive him for ripping on the window screen at all hours of the night to be let inside. I almost miss the mornings when he’d groom my hair with his sandpaper tongue before the sun would come up. I’ve even come to terms with the fact that I may never see that matchbox car I made him eat in the fifth grade. Reminiscing about Stinky only served to make this moment harder. Seeing my mother swaddle the cat as if he were her favorite child, ignoring the fact that she had four human ones, quickly dissipated the happy place I had made for myself. Instead of panting frantically during the car ride, he stared straight ahead, his eyes glazed. As we entered the veterinarian’s office, the stoic look never once left the feline’s face. The
Commentary | Community
NEWS
PAGE 6
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
IN THE NATION COLLEGES ADDRESS WHEN TO SEND ALERTS
The University of North Carolina is attempting to cut down on the number of alerts it sends out to the student body, officials told the Chronicle of Higher Education last week. Students said their school often sends too many emails regarding minor topics to warrant their attention. Administrators around the country told the Chronicle that the different technologies, and different means of communication, compound the problem. Temple has also wrestled with finding a balance of when to send these alerts, called TU Alerts. The Clery Act, a federal campus safety law, requires “timely warnings,” about crimes that present a threat on campus, but doesn’t specify further what is required. In March, four students were assaulted, including one who was hit with a brick. No TU Alert was sent out as the assaults occurred a block off of Main Campus, which sparked a debate as to what warrants an alert. Last month, the university extended its patrol borders in response. This year, alerts have been used at Temple for a power outage, snow cancellations and numerous reported shootings, among other incidents. -Marcus McCarthy
COMMON APP DROPS ESSAY REQUIREMENT
The Common Application will no longer require member universities and colleges to include an essay in their application processes. A Common App administrator told the Chronicle of Higher Education on Friday that the change was brought about due to feedback from admissions officers and high-school counselors. The change will take effect for the 2015-16 admissions cycle. For the 2013-14 cycle, there were more than 800,000 prospective students who applied through the Common App to the 549 member institutions worldwide. Temple is one of two state-related institutions who are members of the Common App, along with Lincoln University. The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University both accept the Common App as well. -Marcus McCarthy
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA FACES THREATS
An all-women dorm at the University of Alabama was locked down Sunday night due to rumors of armed gunmen in the building. The university’s police received reports of armed individuals in the dorm prompting a 45-minute search of the 980-bed high-rise building. Police did not find any weapons or suspicious people, according to the university’s website. A threatening email that was sent to the university’s Greek Life system and a YouTube comment posted by a person using the pseudonym “Arthur Pendragon” were cited as the source of the scare. The university has not determined if the threat is credible. “[The University of Alabama Police Department] has issued search warrants to social media sites regarding the YouTube comments,” the university’s website read Monday night. -Marcus McCarthy
ON CAMPUS MASTER PLAN STARTS WITH WACHMAN HALL
Wachman Hall will soon undergo renovations to include additional classroom space. The $11.5 million project will convert the first through fourth floors of Wachman to include four to six classrooms each. The increase in classroom space at Wachman is partly due to the planned demolition of Barton Hall, which in turn is because of the first Master Plan building. The $190 million, 200,000 to 300,000 square-foot new library will replace Barton. Construction at Wachman is scheduled to begin in four to six weeks and will bring 48 new classroom seats to the 12-story building. The Department of Computer and Information Sciences will be moving from Wachman to the new SERC building, set to open for Homecoming Weekend next month. Office space and other classroom spots from Barton, set to begin demolition in Summer 2015, will be moved to the SERC building as well. The new library is set to start construction at the beginning of 2016. -Marcus McCarthy
KARA MILSTEIN TTN
Students and community members protested the removal of former professor Anthony Monteiro during the Spring 2014 semester.
demanding educational programs to eliminate racism. In 1972, it became the Pan African Studies department until the name was changed. In 1984, Asante established master’s and doctoral programs in African American studies. The term Africology has been adopted by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Eastern Michigan University, which has both Africology and African American studies departments. “One of the reasons that Africology is becoming the term for many of the departments that were African American Studies is because of the diversity of Africans and
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AFRICOLOGY
generationally and trans-continentally,” Asante said. Asante has long advocated for Africology. In the late 1980s, during Asante’s first stint as chair, he supported a switch to Africology. However, the change was not implemented due to debate between members of the staff, including Joyce Joyce. Joyce, who chaired African American studies from 1997-2001 and now serves as chair of the English department, did not return a request for comment. “But now we have a change,” Asante said. “We have a much more global perspective on Africa.” Students majoring in the department had mixed opinions on the possible change. “Africology, just the name, gives you more of an idea of an idea of a historical perspective, which is important,” said Nayo Jones, a sophomore African American studies major. “But it doesn’t carry the weight of the full spectrum of the study of African Americans.” Makeda Tomlinson, a senior African American studies major, was also concerned with the connotations of the name. “[African American studies] is bigger than just the study, it’s the culture,” Tomlinson said. Hannah Wallace, a junior African American studies major, felt the term more accurately represented the department. “We do focus on the diaspora completely,” Wallace said. “Going from African American studies and broadening it through the name, it does make sense,” she added. Jones was concerned about whether or not the name change would include a change in the curriculum. Soufas said decision will be up to the faculty. There is the possibility of the development of new courses, which Soufas said is not uncommon. Asante said African American studies courses will still remain in the department. The decision for the name change is still pending. Soufas said that on Oct. 16 there will be a vote at the Collegial Assembly by the executive committee, which is composed of elected faculty members. After the vote, the outcome will be sent to the Provost before reaching the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees. This would not be the first name switch for the African American studies department at Temple. The first African American studies courses were developed as part of the Afro-Asian Institute during the Black Power Movement, after students protested
the global nature of the African descent,” Asante said. Either way, Melanie McCoy, senior African American studies major and president of the Organization of AAS Undergraduate Students, said she’s proud of the department. “Don’t get so hung up on the name, the message and the meaning is still going to be the same,” McCoy said. “Black people fighting for liberation on a global scale. We’re not just focused on African Americans we’re focused on black people and the diaspora.” * mariam.dembele@temple.edu
ANDREW THAYER TTN
Protesters in the spring disagreed with the “new direction” that was envisioned for the African American studies department by CLA Dean Teresa Soufas.
CSS: Alcohol citation, hospitalization rates mostly unchanged ALCOHOL PAGE 1 police found the student unconscious in a vacant lot. “I found out later the people that were with me ditched me, and no one called [requesting medical] amnesty for me,” the student said. The student described the thought of lying alone waiting to be found by police as “scary.” “I was really upset no one helped me out,” she said. “I don’t want to blame other people because it’s my fault I got drunk, but I felt like if I saw someone as drunk as I was, I would do them a favor and [request] amnesty.” Dean of Students Stephanie Ives said she hopes students continue to use medical amnesty, which allows students to seek treatment for drug or alcohol use for themselves or a friend without university disciplinary measures. “I never want a student to be in a situation
where they make a decision for their friend that said. ‘I’m not going to call for help because I don’t Both students were freshmen at the time of want this person to get in trouble,’” Ives said. their hospitalizations. They cited their grade level Megan Okonsky, a senior as a factor in each of their experipublic relations major, said ences. someone called medical amnesty “In high school, I drank, but for her when a night during her we had limited amounts of alcofreshman year went bad. hol,” Okonsky said. “At [college At a Greek life date night, parties], they don’t usually cut you Okonsky said she began by off.” drinking what she described As a result, Okonsky said, she as a normal amount but when had no concept of what her drinkshe went “shot for shot” with a ing limits were or what the consefriend, she began vomiting. quences would be when that limit Megan Okonsky/ student “Some friends were going was surpassed. to take me to their apartment to The liberal arts student cites wait it out when another girl just called amnesty, a lack of connection at the beginning of freshman which looking back, I’m glad she did,” Okonsky year for her experience. She was hospitalized in
“In high school, I drank, but we had limited amounts of alcohol.
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the first month of her freshman year. “To be honest, I had not yet made close friends and went to the party expecting to meet someone when I got there, but they never came,” she said Leone has also identified the freshman population as a more vulnerable crowd in regard to alcohol-related troubles. “For freshmen coming in, it’s their first time away from home,” he said. “They’re introduced to the party atmosphere. I mean, I’m sure they’ve done some of that at home too, but really some badness can happen and that’s what we worry about.” * cindy.stansbury@temple.edu
lifestyle MAKING CONNECTIONS
SCARY EXPLORATIONS
Students in the Fox School of Business mingled with business professionals at the school’s annual Fall Connection on Sept. 17. PAGE 14
Members of Hoot Paranormal travel to “haunted” locations around Philadelphia to tap into a love of all things spooky. PAGE 8
temple-news.com
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
owlery.temple-news.com ONLY A NUMBER
The Intergenerational Center works to bridge different generations and eliminate ageism on Main Campus. PAGE 8 PAGE 7
Lending a hand at home and abroad Temple University Global Brigades, travels to help underserved communities around the world. JULIA CHIANGO The Temple News This past May, a group of students from Temple University Global Brigades traveled to Honduras to help develop underprivileged communities. This year, the group will embark on a journey to a different country and strive to make similar impacts. The program is a volunteer, student-led study abroad association. The group stems from a larger organization, Global Brigades, which is a global, student-led collective with branches at universities in multiple countries. Temple Global Brigades focuses on 10 disciplines: public health, agriculture, law, microfinance, dental, business, engineering, environmental, medical and water. Its main goal is to help communities around the world become more self-sufficient, livable environments. “Global Brigades tries to focus on each different aspect, so each community that we work on builds this sort of holistic environment,” said Michelle Kim, a senior therapeutic recreation major and a member of Global Brigades. Kim’s first experience working with Temple University Global Brigades was this past May on the trip to Honduras. Temple Global Brigades has plans to travel to underserved communities in Nicaragua, Ghana, Panama City and Honduras. The group is unsure of where they will go this summer, but they have begun fundraising for the trip already. Veronica Hopkins interned with Global Brigades two summers ago in Nicaragua.
BRIGADES PAGE 15
Women in the Uzuri Dance Company, which began in Fall 2013, use dance as a means of expression and empowerment.
MAGGIE ANDRESEN TTN
Empowerment through dance The Uzuri Dance Company aims to give female African-American dancers confidence. ALLISON MERCHANT The Temple News
S
idesplitting laughter reverberates on the wooden floorboards of Room 222 in Pearson Hall. Young women in athletic attire scatter the spacious room, stretching. These women form the Uzuri Dance Company, an organization at Temple founded to empower young
women of color through the art of dance. “Dance is a form of expression, and for many of us it’s very personal,” said Daniella Brown, founder of the Uzuri Dance Company and a senior sociology major. The term Uzuri is a popular Swahili name meaning beauty. Brown said she created Uzuri as a response to many people’s false conceptions of an ideal dancer, and the main focus of the company is on technical dance training and emboldening young women. “Uzuri represents a resilient, beautiful woman of color,” Brown said. “We created Uzuri for that purpose: to encourage and empower.” The group is currently the only
contemporary dance company on campus. When Uzuri began in Fall 2013, the initial roster consisted of nine dancers. It has since grown to approximately 22 dancers, including the original nine. “Uzuri embraces the fact that we’re all different, and we all have different shapes and sizes – short, tall – and we all have different things to bring to the table,” said Raven Emanuel, captain of the Uzuri Dance Company and a sophomore dance major. “We’re unique. Each and every individual is unique and that just makes it even more amazing.” Emanuel teaches the other dancers short routines she choreographs and
she works a piece of her own personality into each movement. She said she still encourages each dancer to make certain moves on their own to keep originality and self-expression. “While dancing with my sisters in Uzuri, we all have different styles and different things that we come up with,” Emanuel said. “I feel like, in that type of way, we all empower and support each other on our strengths.” Bria Coaxum, manager of the company and a junior bioengineering major, said there is a place for everyone in Uzuri. Although she did not receive a spot as a dancer, her increased involvement earned her the title of manager.
UZURI PAGE 15
MSA celebrates acceptance with Peace Week activities The Muslim Student Association held “Peace Week” from Sept. 15-21. ALEXA BRICKER The Temple News To Ayesha Numan and other members of the Muslim Student Association, peace and freedom go hand in hand. In honor of the United Nation’s International Day of Peace on Sept. 21, the organization held a week of student activities to showcase its message of acceptance. MSA’s Peace Week also coincided with the Peace Day Philly initiative started in 2011 to raise awareness in the city for the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. “The MSA is invested in the Temple academic community,” Numan, a senior accounting major and the group’s public relations representative, said. “Socially, academically, religiously – we’re just trying to show that we are all about the community.” Through activities like a threeminute meditation “flash mob” held on Monday and a peace banner signing on Wednesday, the MSA hoped to encourage the Temple community to come to-
Members of the Muslim Student Association came together to form a human peace sign on Sept. 18.
gether to not only promote peace, but to allow students to reflect on their own definitions of the word. “The acceptance to express your religious views, political views, but
LIFESTYLE DESK 215-204-7416
also the acceptance of those different opinions, that’s really what peace is,” Numan said. “We’re all about unity and community and those are all integral in peace relations – making sure
CLAIRE SASKO TTN
we’re all working together for the same outcomes.” MSA president Abu Bakr Siddique said the group also used social media as a tool to get their message out.
LIFESTYLE@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
“We wanted to do small pledges that [people] could do, like daily graces,” the senior engineering major said. “So we started a hashtag, ‘I pledge to make peace by,’ whatever it is, so we wanted people to tell us what they can do to make peace.” On Sept. 18, the group organized the creation of a human peace sign, an idea that board member Hareem Pasha thought could unite students from all different backgrounds. Though members said they have not experienced any discrimination against their beliefs first-hand, they agreed that part of their mission is to stress the importance of acceptance, especially now with tensions heightened in the wake of the Aug. 20 assault of a Jewish student during Welcome Week festivities. “Education is obviously a huge thing,” Salman Patel, a junior neuroscience major and vice president of the group, said. “In terms of [ISIS], they’re obviously a terrible, terrible group of people and they don’t represent Islam in any way.” Patel said he and other MSA members are by no means experts on the topic of ISIS and that the week was not intentionally started for the purpose of educating people about Islam.
PEACE PAGE 16
LIFESTYLE
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
Programs aim to unite different generations, stop ageism The Intergenerational Center works to end generational discrimination on Main Campus. LORA STRUM The Temple News While college campuses are known to be full of fresh young minds, researchers at Temple’s Intergenerational Center claims that age is just a number. Researchers in the Intergenerational Center have examined how age influences our prejudices and contributes to discrimination. “Age matters, [and] that’s why we have laws for certain things,” sophomore business major Huiwen Situ said. “You wouldn’t want a 13-yearold to vote for your next president.” Still, Mady Prowler, Intergenerational Center staff member and director of the center’s Time Out Respite program, thinks people tend to overlook ageism. “It's not good to be against anyone of a different race, but with ageism, it’s not looked upon as something bad to do,” Prowler said. “I can’t think of any other ‘ism’ you can get away with.” The center was founded by Executive Director Nancy Henkin, a leading researcher in ageism, or unequal treatment based on age. Since the center’s founding in 1979 as a part of the College of Health and Social Work, Henkin and the staff have dedicated their time toward analyzing our preconceptions about what it means to be young or old.
Among the center's support systems that help so [younger people] should make it easier on peobridge the age gap are Project SHINE and the ple who weren’t born into this age of technology.” SHINE student volunteers might be teachTime Out Respite. “[It’s about] bringing different ages together ing men and women two or three times their age and having them understand what the connection the basics of literacy. Through SHINE, boundarshould be,” Prowler said. “When [the students] ies surrounding age in education, including the are involved, it builds strong communities [that idea that phonics are learned in childhood, are are] very inclusive. [Those are] the lessons we stretched to be more inclusive. Through this inclusiveness, young people teach them.” Project SHINE helps communicate these les- can try their hand at mentoring while older people sons by involving elderly immigrants with adult have the opportunity to learn a new skill. “So many of our younger people really apvolunteers and college-aged support staff to create a triangle support system. The triangle system preciate these older folks, because they’re not an older person; they’re a person,” encourages volunteers, or commuProwler said. nity “newcomers,” and the sociSHINE also partners with ety receiving support to achieve a many prominent organizations higher level of acceptance. to create a marketplace of ideas Through this acceptance, among the young, old and in-bemembers of SHINE believe lantween. Through work with Amerguage, education, health, wellbeiCorps Philadelphia, SHINE ing, economic mobility, citizenship brings wellness information to and civic participation are fostered. the elderly immigrant commuSHINE also breaks down barnity. Also, through work with riers in the classroom by training immigrant-serving organizations, its student and adult volunteers to educate older immigrants on the the program’s participants bridge tenets of workplace self-efficacy. gaps between cultures to ensure SHINE teaches immigrants EngMady Prowler / staff member full civic engagement. lish and other marketable skills A look at popular culture through bi-weekly classes that are suggests a glorification of youth. often taught by work-study students or individu- Older people, despite their accomplishments, are als skilled in tutoring. often thought to be out of the loop. “Age is becoming more important because “Age definitely matters,” sophomore psyof the skills each generation has,” sophomore ac- chology major Annie Jacob said. “But the main counting major Tepa Johnson said. “This younger priority should be experience and qualifications. generation was born in the time of technology… Those things don’t necessarily correlate with
“ It’s not good
to be against anyone of a different race, but with ageism, it’s not looked upon as something bad to do.
”
age.” With these nuances in mind, the Intergenerational Center resolves to change the conversation and attempt to avoid polarizing the elderly. “Our students cross the boundaries of what it means to be old and see these people as friends, as someone from whom they can learn,” Prowler said in reference to her program, the Time Out Respite. Time Out Respite partners those caring for elderly relatives with proxy caregivers for eight hours every month. This allows primary caregivers to take a break while knowing their relatives are engaged and cared for. The college volunteers are trained to meet the specific needs of the older population and to relate to them in a way that fosters a relationship between both individuals. By helping the elderly with meal preparation, laundry, changing bed linens, light grocery shopping, assistance into the bathroom and service as medical escorts, the students enter the lives of those they are helping. “One of the students [in the program] is head of the dance team at Temple,” Prowler said. “She got together with [an elderly participant] and they danced. He has dementia, but he had a ball.” Through a myriad of programs and research into ageism, the Intergenerational Center is looking to evolve society’s ideas of age by rendering it nothing more or less than the number it is. “There [is a] community for all ages,” Prowler said. * lora.strum@temple.edu
KATHRYN STELLATO TTN
Members of Hoot Paranormal meet to share their interest in the celestial world and travel to different locations around Philadelphia to investigate ghost hunting myths.
Organization taps into the paranormal Hoot Paranormal brings students together who are interested in the supernatural world. JANE BABIAN The Temple News At 15, Alyssa Charlanza fell in love with the paranormal. She has been educating herself on the concept ever since. Now 22, Charlanza is the president and founder of Hoot Paranormal, a student-run organization that investigates paranormal activity throughout the city. The senior strategic communications major started the group about two years ago and based it off the former Temple paranormal society, “TLights.” “What happened was they didn’t have enough members and what seemed like a lack of interest at the time so I took the group, gave it a new face and revamped it,” Charlanza said. Charlanza said she considers herself new to the paranormal world. “What really brings us together is our interest, but we haven’t had a crazy
group experience yet,” she said. Charlanza said one of the best features of the paranormal organization is that “everyone is coming to this with a completely different perspective all around. [Hoot Paranormal] breaks a lot of stereotypes.” The first stereotype, Charlanza said, is that a specific scientific process is always used in paranormal investigations. “We don’t operate from a solely scientific investigation,” she said. “It is not a science. It will never be a science. There aren’t seven steps to finding a result.” Charlanza said the media does not accurately portray paranormal investigations. She said the group does not provoke spirits, despite the often conflict-seeking characterizations of paranormal investigators in shows like “Ghost Hunters.” Group members aim to educate themselves by connecting with the paranormal. In meetings, members discuss the “do’s” and “don’ts” of ghost investigations. “Our mission is that we are really about helping students get more in touch with their instincts and themselves so that they can be more in touch
with the world around them both seen and unseen,” Charlanza said. “It’s about getting in touch with your instincts and applying them to a foreign situation.” The group does not use any hightech equipment. Members simply use their bodies, instincts and a recording device to capture an electronic voice phenomena, or EVP. An EVP is a audio recording of a conversation with a spirit, Charlanza said. “They’re like people – some days they’ll talk to you and other days they won’t,” she said. Last year, Hoot Paranormal investigated McGillin’s Old Ale House, located at 1310 Drury St. The tavern, established in 1860, is one of the longest running restaurants and bars in America. A few of the group members said they had uneasy feelings in certain areas of the building. “We debunked what they thought was a presence in their one bar area,” Charlanza said. “It turned out to be a draft from under the fridge.” Another weird experience occurred with one of their guest speakers, Dave Juliano. “Juliano came in and was talk-
ing about his equipment that was laid out on the center table,” Charlanza said. “All of the sudden the equipment started going off, and no one knew why.” The group has also explored the Powel House and Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest residential street in the country, which they plan to revisit again. Angel Solares, a civil engineering junior, is in charge of finding the locations Hoot Paranormal investigates. “I start with online research,” Solares said. “I type in ‘Philly haunted attractions’ and weed my way through to find homes or historical buildings.” Solares said he usually emails places but finds it more fun to talk to people directly over the phone. “They never actually call you crazy, but you can feel it,” Solares said. Solares, 19, was introduced to paranormal activity through family members, who he said are “spiritual.” When talking about the paranormal world, Solares advises to “always have an open mind and to not be afraid to explore.” Freshman Katie Willems, 18, was introduced to paranormal activity
through shows like “Ghost Hunters” and “Destination Truth.” She said her interest continued to expand when she started going on ghost tours in places like Gettysburg. “It’s different from what I thought it was going to be how it is on TV,” Willems said. “It’s crazy how many rules and regulations there actually are. Some [members] are more spiritual, some are more into the science of it. It’s cool to see the different perspectives.” Regarding whether she, or other members, would consider this as a career, Solares said “it’s for fun. If it takes me somewhere, I’d follow it and use my civil engineering degree as security.” Charlanza said she would love to incorporate paranormal investigations into her career. “In some capacity or another, working with the paranormal field will always be a part of my life,” she said. “My big thing with this is that it’s a place where people can come together. It’s like, it’s not just you, it’s not weird, and we can talk about it.’” * jane.babian@temple.edu
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LATIN FESTIVAL RETURNS TO OLD CITY
EXHIBIT DISPLAYS ADOPTION SUCCESS STORIES
The Mexican Independence Day Festival, hosted by the Mexican Cultural Center, took place on Sept. 14. It featured latin food, music and local vendors to celebrate the liberation of Mexico. PAGE 11
Willow Street Pictures is hosting a photo exhibit featuring the adoption success stories of the nonprofit organization, the Morris Animal Shelter. The shelter is the first animal refuge center in the country. PAGE 10
temple-news.com
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
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Nonprofit expands to Italian Market Mighty Writers aims to raise the literacy rate among kids in the city. VICTORIA MIER The Temple News Tim Whitaker still remembers the little boy from Pakistan who showed up on the doorstep one day – the boy with floppy hair who looked like Ringo Starr, the boy who was painfully shy and unhappy about moving to America. More than that, Whitaker remembers how much that boy changed. Then again, as the executive director and founder of the nonprofit group Mighty
Nerdy rap takes the spotlight
Writers, Whitaker has seen a lot of kids change. “Over time, day by day, by working with him and letting him express himself, he slowly but surely came around,” Whitaker said. “Now he’s one of our strongest kids and he’s completely comfortable in his own skin.” Mighty Writers aims to teach children in the Philadelphia area how to write and think clearly. The group offers daily after-school programs, writing classes at night and on weekends, as well as scholarship programs and college prep courses at two locations in South and West Philadelphia. All courses and workshops are free to Philadelphia students.
“We’re trying to get kids to think clearly,” Whitaker said. “Because once they can write something that makes sense, they can express themselves confidently.” Whitaker swears he can see a change in the children on a weekly basis, watching their personalities and confidence blossom through the help and tutoring that Mighty Writers offers. Now, Mighty Writers hopes to reach even more children with their latest expansion into the neighborhood surrounding the Italian Market. Whitaker hopes the space will be able to open soon in order to help those children become clear thinkers and good writers.
MIGHTY PAGE 13
MEAGHAN POGUE TTN
Mighty Writers reaches kids in the city through writing and literature.
The soundtrack of equality Philadelphia hosted OutBeat, the nation’s first LGBTQ jazz fest, last weekend to feature queer jazz muscians. ALEXA ZIZZI The Temple News
W
The “Nerdcore” genre came to Philly with hiphop rapper MC Frontalot.
D
amian Hess, 40, titled one of his raps “Nerdcore Hiphop” in 2000 to describe his rhymes full of “nerdy”
content. Apparently, the name stuck. Now, Hess, the “Godfather of Nerdcore” is a full-time rapper known as MC Frontalot. Beside him, fellow Nerdcore artists Dr. Awkward and Brooklyn-based musician Corn Mo, stopped by Philly last Friday to perform for the promoALBERT HONG tion of Hess’s new album “Question Bedtime.” MC Frontalot and Dr. Awkward are just two of the many all around the country who associate themselves with this subgenre of hip-hop that can be about anything from comic-books, to computer coding. All performed as rap music. Hess came up with the idea for the name “Nerdcore” back in his college radio days listening to bands that would try to create new genres. “Every band wanted to have their own genre that only described them,” Hess said. “Half of the time they had the word ‘-core’ in them and I just thought the whole thing was ridiculous.” What had initially started out as a joke soon gave Hess the idea that “this could be something that sparks interest just because it’s called that.” “So it was almost like a little piece of branding that seemed like a good idea after it had seemed like a joke,” Hess said. Hess considers the gaining popularity of Nerdcore a collective effort from those before, and after him, in the genre. “The term ‘Nerdcore’ turning from a comedy idea into a real thing and a whole movement, that’s amazing to me. But it’s not something I did,” Hess said. “That’s what happened because a lot of other people got involved.” Zilla Persona, a Nerdcore and chiptune artist – music made with sound chips sampled from retro video game consoles – wanted to bring this nerdy music into the spotlight.
RAP PAGE 11
A&E DESK 215-204-7416
KARA MILSTEIN TTN
OutBeat was the first jazz festival of its kind. It was hosted by the William Way LGBT Community Center.
“If I could, without
getting in trouble, I would compare jazz to being queer, lesbian, transgender or gay.
”
Jaye Sanders / jazz vocalist
hen Tyrone Smith was growing up in North Philly, he said the Gay Paree was the only bar where the gay community could enjoy jazz music “without being bothered.” Smith, an active board member of various LGBTQ organizations in the city, said he is finally seeing growth in the LGBTQ community. “Now that I’m in my 70’s and see that now people can be jazz artists, they can be out, they can be who they are,” Tyrone Smith said. “It’s magnificent to me.” The William Way LGBT Community Center hosted the country’s first LGBTQ jazz festival, OutBeat, over a series of four days and 35 events, this past weekend in Philly. The festival included a wide variety of local and emerging artists, performances and panel discussions, highlighting intersections between sexual orientation, gender identity, jazz history and jazz culture. “We started working on OutBeat about a year ago and we’re so happy with how it’s turned out,” said Karen Smith, a volunteer coordinator and percussionist who performed at Friday’s event. The opening kickoff reception began at a small intimate setting with buffet style food and refreshments in the Mark Segal Ballroom at the William Way Community Center located in the “Gayborhood.” It opened with a conversation between Nate Chinen of the New York Times and six-time Grammy award nominated pianist and jazz artist, Fred Hersch, and ended with a duo performance by vocalist and pianist Dena Underwood and vocalist Jaye Sanders. Jaye Sanders expressed her excitement to perform at the Billy Strayhorn Tribute, an honorary figure in the LGBTQ community
OUTBEAT PAGE 13
Entertainment goes underground Carnivolution, an underground sideshow in West Kensington, will close its 2014 season on Oct. 3. BRIANNA SPAUSE The Temple News The magic began in a West Kensington warehouse, between four walls of wire sculpture, littered with menacing-looking tools. A short trip down dimly lit Arizona Avenue, Frankie Bones was waiting at the door with a permanent marker ready. It was a smooth exchange as he reached for the hand clutching $15, simultaneously exchanging payment for large “X”s on the hands of eager audience members. Just beyond the doors of Carbon Coalition on Sept. 12, Carnivolution was set to begin. The side-show extravaganza with a wild reputation has a residency at the cooperative metal-art space for its performance season, which draws together an expansive palate of talents every second Friday of the month, from May to October. Jelly Boy the Clown and Matterz Squidling make up the Squidling Brothers,
who pioneered the circus side show in 2004, and have been arranging a bouquet of edgy local artistry ever since. The first nine seasons of Carnivolution took place in the back yard of the Tiberino Museum in West Philadelphia, but was transported to the Carbon Coalition for its 10th season to appeal to a younger crowd in the neighborhood. “Carnivolution is an ongoing story, so the characters have a lot of history that we know about, but I’m not sure if the audience totally knows about,” Jelly Boy said. “Every show, we add to this ongoing story. So it’s complicated, and is interactive with the audience. We started the story of Carnivolution at the Tiberino Museum, but the concept of combining different acts is a year or two older than that. We started this at the Rotunda on South Street.” The seasoned show has a little taste of everything; there’s burlesque, aerial dancing, music, puppetry and sideshow. Acts included Madeleine Bell, a fire eater with sultry dance moves and gypsy attire to Alpha Mouse McDonald, clad in white makeup, a frayed red wig and shoulder pads who downed a hamburger smoothie and proceeded to drink his own urine. Not once, but three consecutive times. “I like the danger aspect of it, and that you never know what is coming
ARTSandENTERTAINMENT@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
CIRCUS PAGE 11
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
Pet adoption stories displayed in photo exhibit imal shelter. The historic Philadelphia shelter has been chosen as the honoree of Willow Street Pictures’ annual charitable venture due to its large impact on the neighborhood’s animal popBRIANNA SPAUSE ulation. The Temple News The custom printing and framing of 20 portraits will be Darren Modricker lived hung at Works on Paper on 1611 half a block from the Morris Walnut St. for a one-day-only Animal Refuge. exhibit, then auctioned off by Modricker, leading artist Morris Animal Refuge to raise on the “Taking Refuge – A Day funds. The total creative effort, at Morris, the Nation’s First between print costs and staffing, Animal Shelter” and owner of came at a total of approximately Willow Street Pictures, said this $2,500 that was donated toward project really hit home. the cause. “I say it was kind of like “We believe in giving back coming back to the commuhome, being nity,” Modricker able to help said. “We have them out,” Moquite a few clidricker said. ents that have “Their work rescued, and I with the pets in think that’s imthe area has a portant because large impact.” it hits home. “ Ta k i n g Most of my staff Refuge” is a has rescued aniDarren Modricker / artist charitable photo mals. It’s a part exhibit that will of our fabric be shown at here.” Works on Paper on Sept. 27, cuThe animal refuge serves rated by Willow Street Pictures, the Philadelphia community by that will showcase pet adoption providing care for small stray stories from the Morris Animal and abandoned animals, and acRefuge. cepts some exotic breeds. Willow Street Pictures and “We’re a nonprofit orgaMorris Animal Refuge have nization, so we don’t get any been in contact over the photo donations from government, loexhibit project for two years. cal or state to care for these aniMorris Animal Refuge was mals,” Steve Sloan, the adoption created by Elizabeth Morris in coordinator for Morris Animal 1874, marking Philadelphia as Refuge, said. “The money will the home of the nation’s first an- go directly back into the shelter,
Photo stories will be highlighted at Willow Street Pictures.
“Most of my
staff has rescued animals. It’s a part of our fabric here.
”
KATHRYN STELLATO TTN
The Morris Animal Refuge, which opened in 1874, will be featured in an exhibit of twenty portraits of rescued animals adoptions.
providing care for the animals here. We’re excited about it. A lot of our staff are in the pictures, and it’s animals that have been adopted from here. These shelter stories are important because it shows that we take care of these animals. People need animals and animals need
people.” A preview of the images that will be featured in “Taking Rescue” are available on Willow Street Pictures’ website, but Modricker suggested attending the event to experience the full impact that the Morris Animal Refuge has on residents of the
community. “It’s going to be huge,” Modricker said. “People are going to be able to see that some really great pets have been rescued by very caring owners. The relationship and the bond that they have with their pets is really positive. This is going to
show the deep connections and strong bonds, and how much they love their pets.” * brianna.spause T @briannaspause
Organization gives creativity back to underserved areas Art-Reach is an organization that advocates for people and facilities that do not have access to the arts and other cultural experiences. VINCE BELLINO The Temple News NICKEE PLAKSEN TTN
Head Chef, Silvestre Rincon, 25, prepares “Tinga Tacos,” at Tuk Tuk Real on South Street.
Developing a newfound taste for Thai-Mexican food Tuk Tuk Real is a new restaurant that blends Thai and Mexican flavors. SIOBHAN REDDING The Temple News Thai chef Alex Boonphaya wanted to get out of his culinary comfort zone. In an effort to keep up with Philadelphia’s cutting edge food scene, Boonphaya teamed up with fellow chef Silvestre Rincon to open the MexicanThai restaurant, Tuk Tuk Real, after his trip to Mexico last May. Already an owner of Circles Contemporary Asian Cuisine, a restaurant located in South Philadelphia and in Northern Liberties, Boonphaya is comfortable with Thai cuisine. During his visit abroad however, he had the realization that it was time to expand his palate. “I was inspired by the culture and food in Mexico,”
Boonphaya said. “The trick is flavor balancing so one culture doesn’t overpower the other.” Using experience in the kitchen, Boonphaya looked for ways to create something delicious that was different than the food he typically prepares. “The authentic Mexican cuisine made him realize how many similarities there were between Mexican and Thai cuisine,” Grace Kurlander, personal assistant to Boonphaya, said. “He thought the flavors would really complement each other.” Once back in the states, Boonphaya worked with Circles’ sous chef, Silvestre Rincon, to create the “Thai taqueria” they envisioned. On Sept. 10, Boonphaya and Rincon opened the doors of Tuk Tuk Real to hundreds of people for a soft opening, before the grand opening the following day. Tuk Tuk Real’s menu mostly comprises popular Mexican food like burritos and tacos, with a Thai twist. Items like Moo Ping, or grilled pork, and seared chicken breast with
chili Thai red sauce and spiced corn bread, are among some of the plates offered. The Mexican-Thai cuisine is a whole new experience for many Philadelphians like Maxwell Schryver, who was at the soft opening at Tuk Tuk. “I’ve had Mexican food and I’ve had Thai food, but I never imagined them as one meal before coming here,” Schryver said. “It definitely works together though. It’s really good.” Boonphaya said it can be tough to expect how people will react to such an innovative genre of food, but he has high hopes for his new endeavor. “We’re bringing something new to Philly which I’m really excited about, so I think we will get a good response,” Boonphaya said. “The city needs diversity and it's something new, no one has done it in Philadelphia,” Kurlander said. “We are hoping for positive reactions, which so far, they have been.” * siobhan.redding@temple.edu
Philadelphia’s Art-Reach is an organization that brings art to those who may not already have it, believing in its “transformative power.” Art-Reach’s fall festival, on Sept. 27, is a way to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of the people who make the organization’s mission come true. This year’s event will be held on the grounds of the Ridgeland Mansion in West Fairmount Park. It will feature food trucks, live music and other art demonstrations for people of all ages. Art-Reach has been bringing art to Philadelphia’s underserved audience for nearly 30 years. Formed in 1986, the organization has reached more than 248,000 people through the present day. Working in schools, hospitals and other facilities, ArtReach strives to give art to anyone, because of its belief that art is significant to culture. The organization believes that culture is something that people deserve on the merit of being human, so it works with people who are “dispossessed,” regardless of age, background and disabilities, physical or mental. Since its inception in 1986 by founder Joyce Burd, ArtReach has always been about giving back to the community. The festival will also feature performances from Commonwealth Choir, Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night
and the Creative Kids Club is one of the many art partners Hoopstarz, a hula-hoop dancing that work with Art-Reach. The Hoopstarz have received warm troupe. The event “invites a lot of receptions at venues such as members of the community to Soundgarden Hall in Philadelcome out and see Art-Reach in phia. Art-Reach also works to action,” Katie Phillips, development and communications advocate for facilities that are manager for the nonprofit, said. accessible to people with physiA large portion of commu- cal disabilities, such as wheelchairs and walknity support is ers, as well as the because Artdeaf and blind Reach differs who may require from many other accommoprograms in its dations to get the inclusiveness. most possible out “It’s huof the experiences mans, every at museums and age, every other cultural exrace, every reperiences. ligion,” Davis The festival Howley, singer David Howley / musician will also include and guitarist another Philadelfor Doylestown phia cultural stabased indie ple: food. Some of rock group Commonwealth Choir, said. the city’s finest food trucks will “Everybody needs to experi- be present at the event like Verence [art], or at least have the nalicious, Hot Diggity, Mama’s ability to make that choice. It Meatballs, Lil’ Pop Shop and can’t just be locked up in some- Sugar Truck Philly, are adverone’s ‘multi-bajillion’ dollar tised. “One thing that is different museum or gallery.” Howley will be performing from last year is the interactive arts activities – we did have a at the fall festival. Birdie Busch, of Birdie couple last year, but we really Busch and the Greatest Night, made a concentrated effort to holds the same values as the bring a lot of our art partners in so that they could both display program and its performers. Both Commonwealth their work but also for people to Choir and Birdie Busch have interact with it and create things also been ardent supporters of while they are there,” Phillips said. Art-Reach’s mission. Creative Kids Club Hoopstarz will also be performing. * vince.bellino@temple.edu Hoopstarz is a group of chil- T @VinceTNF dren performing dancing with hula-hoops. Creative Kids Club
“[Art] can’t
just be locked up in someone’s ‘multi-bajillion’ dollar museum or gallery.
”
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
PAGE 11
Sideshow closes for fall Traditional
food, dance at latin festival
CIRCUS PAGE 9
The annual Mexican Independence Day Festival was at Penn’s Landing on Sept. 14. JASON FONTANA The Temple News
BRIANNA SPAUSE TTN
Madeleine Bell, a fire eater and dancer is among one of the acts in the underground entertainment sideshow, Carnivolution.
next,” Scarlet Checkers, an attendee and aspiring sideshow artist, said. “Something totally unexpected could happen – you literally could catch on fire at any moment, whether you’re in a side show or not.” “Apparently even if you’re just a guest,” Checkers said, referring to Helios’s compelling fire juggling act that evoked a collective crowd gasp as his grip slipped and a flaming pole teetered on the edge of the stage, giving the front row a good scare. Guests took their seats directly on the floor. The transformed space emitted a distinct smell of oil that was only detectable by stained paints and palms, turned a peculiar shade of gray. “I would recommend Carnivolution to anyone who is easily bored by TV or books, because it is unforgettable,” Checkers said. “Even if you really try to forget, those images are burned into your mind for-
ever. It’s the best kind of crazy; – which some people do. It’s stuff you won’t see anywhere great to be here.” else.” “We all spend time toThere was a gether, we sense of comradecook torie among the pergether, we former throughout hang out the show. Outsidand joke ers may call it a around freak show, but and come they call it a famup with ily. our ideas “I was a very together,” big fan for years Jelly Boy before I became said. “You a member, and get to be Carnivolution is close to the most amazing people show I’ve ever when you seen,” the Velvet are travCrayon, a musical eling and performer with the The Velvet Crayon /performer d o i n g troupe, said. “I had shows toto be a part of it, gether. I and I was welcomed with open think that’s why we’re like a arms. My childhood self is so family and we look out for each happy, because there’s puppets other.” and it’s so fun to be surrounded Oct. 3 will mark the last by family and to make people collective event the Squidling laugh or throw up, or have sex Brothers will host for the 2014
“I had to be a part
of it, and I was welcomed with open arms. My childhood self is so happy, because there’s puppets and it’s so fun to be surrounded by family.
”
season, as part of Carnivolution. After the curtain call, Jelly Boy and his friends, Matterz, Madeline Bell, Velvet Crayon and Titano Oddfellow the strongman will embark on a cross-country tour. In celebration of the Halloween season, the troupe will zig-zag from coast to coast, making stops in California, Colorado, Texas, Kentucky and a few states in between. Upon returning back home, Carnivolution will be seeing a severe cutback in regularity, with plans up in the air to perform every other month, or perhaps only once a season in Philadelphia, Jelly Boy said. “Get out there,” Jelly Boy said. “It’s important to come out and see live shows. It’s a hell of a lot different from seeing pictures on the Internet, people should come out and experience it live.” * brianna.spause@temple.edu T @briannaspause
Ana Flores traveled more than 2,000 miles from her home in Pachuca, Mexico, to Philadelphia. Flores, the organizer of the annual Mexican Independence Day Festival and executive director of the Mexican Cultural Center, is in her fourth season organizing the festival. The event was held at Penn’s Landing on Sept. 14 for its 20th year to recognize the liberation of Mexico from the influence of the Spanish colonial government in 1810. The event featured local food vendors, international musicians and the famous recreation of “El Grito de Dolores” (Cry of Dolores). The ceremony of “El Grito,” a reenactment of the launching of the Mexican War of Independence, in which the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared his open revolt against the Spanish rule. “We sing the hymn and it is very emotional for people when [a member] yells ‘¡Viva México!’” Flores said. “It was very touching to see people from different ages tearing up out of emotion.” The Mexican Cultural Center maintains a goal of holding to tradition and informing the public of Mexican cultural practices and history. The festival also marked the center’s 20th anniversary of operation after its founding in 1994. “The solidarity amongst nations is important, so the consulate figures will be present and everyone is welcome,” Flores said. This year’s festival presented several new additions to the itinerary, including an after party and a fireworks display. “I have to say I’ve always wanted the fireworks and it really worked out,” Flores said.
“And then you realize that all the work we put in for the last six months was worth it and has made an impact.” Los Gallos, El Zarape and Pacheco Rico, three local Latin American food vendors, helped cater the event. Also featured were two restaurants based out of New York and three more from New Jersey. Popular Latin menu plates like Cemitas, a Puebla and Mexico originated torta were all at the festival as well. Other popular items included peeled mangos on sticks, frozen piña coladas served in hollowed pineapples and ethnic fruit juices. This year’s festival featured the “Best Taco in the Delaware Valley” with Philadelphia based food truck, Tacos El Rodeo, taking the title. The food truck opened in 2012 by Mexico native chef Juan Gasca and his wife Christina, but has gained immense popularity since the opening. Headlining the musical entertainment was Latin Grammy Award winning Mexican-American band Alacranes Musical. Other acts included local groups La Conquistadora Banda de Guanajuato, Ballet Folklórico Yaretzi and singer Pedro Villaseñor. All entertainers displayed cultural pride through passionate performances of expressive Mexican art. Alfredo Navarro, cofounder of the Ballet Folklórico Yaretzi, one of the entertainers for the festival, said when he teaches his students traditional Mexican folk dancing, it’s all because of his Latin pride. “It is very important to us to be able to teach the children of the area the roots of where they are from and to give them a way to be a part of their culture,” Navarro said. * jason.fontana@temple.edu
Word nerds put rhymes to hip-hop RAP PAGE 9 Formerly a Philadelphia resident, Zilla Persona started an event in the city for this very purpose back in 2010 called Nerdrage that brought local and national Nerdcore hip-hop talent, including MC Frontalot, together for a showcase. The last Nerdrage was back in 2011 but Zilla Persona assures that “the future will see Nerdrage 3.” “Nerdrage was started for two reasons,” Zilla Persona said in an email. “Firstly, because I saw that there was not nearly enough representation of nerdy hip-hop, despite [the] Internet telling me that they would like to see more of it.” “Secondly, because I wanted to be able to showcase fantastic artists in a city that isn't always willing to give their bar's stage time to ‘Some Guy From the Internet.’" Even though the idea of ‘nerd’ is becoming more popular in today’s mainstream culture, Nerdcore still doesn’t get
as much attention or recognition as a legit section of hiphop. “I couldn’t possibly blame them,” Hess said about skeptics. “It sounds like it’s going to be novelty music when you hear the name of it but there’s an opportunity there to dig a little deeper and see whether or not anything resonates with you.” With Hess’s influences in underground hip-hop coming from artists like Del the Funky Homosapien and Deltron 3030, he feels that Nerdcore isn’t far from mainstream hip-hop at all. “There’s been a lot of rap that’s about feeling a little bit alienated or trying to figure out what’s going on with your ANDREW THAYER TTN identity, and I think Nerdcore MC Frontalot, the “Godfather of Nerdcore” performed at the North Star Bar & Restaurant on Sept. 19. fits into that,” Hess said. At the end of Frontalot’s performance about correcting realized it’s just all music that subject matter,” Zilla Persona tail and the enjoyable feeling of lot of folks can appreciate - selfgrammar, I shook my head to relates to them, and hopefully said. “My influences mostly a crowd jumping up and down identifying as nerds or not.” Corn Mo singing about “new, the audience. come from growing up with a to some heavy thumping bass.” dirty pants,” and Dr. Awkward “Really, that's the only de- video game controller in hand, a “I just draw on it to write * albert.hong@temple.edu rapping about ‘90s cartoons I fining trait of Nerdcore - the passionate love for a good cock- some hopefully fun music that a
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
ANDREW THAYER TTN
MC Frontalot, Dr. Awkward and Corn Mo performed genre “Nerdcore” rap at the North Star Bar & Restaurant on Sept. 19. | ARTICLE PAGE 9
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ANDREW THAYER TTN
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
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Mighty Writers prepare kids for college MIGHTY PAGE 9
“We’re looking to raise about $225,000 to cover the first two years of the new center,” Whitaker said. “We really want to be able to reach the community in that area as well.” Whitaker’s own personal narrative is remarkably similar to some of the children he works with. Though he went on to attend Villanova University, work in New York radio on WNBC and serve as the editor for Philadelphia Weekly for 14 years, his earlier academic life was not as successful. “I was a miserable student and had difficulties in high school and college,” Whitaker said. “I just couldn’t abide the classroom very well, but the one thing I was always interested in was writing. I was able to complete college just by being able to write well.” Whitaker said he knows on a personal level how much influence
reading and writing can have on a growing adult. By founding Mighty Writers, and continuing to reach new heights with the non-profit, Whitaker hopes to have that same effect on many young lives. Though Whitaker sees a need for a program like Mighty Writers almost anywhere, on any corner in any city, he notices a particular need for it in Philadelphia. Whitaker said that the majority of Philadelphia schools are failing their students – but also, that the city produces a fascinating kind of child. “These kids come from so many different experiences,” Whitaker said. “They have great stories inside of them to tell. They’re funny, they’re quick, and they love expressing themselves once they get the confidence to do it.” Whitaker said the influence Mighty Writers has on Philadelphia
students is tangible – not only in the change those involved in the programs can see in the children, but also in the future of these students who, as Whitaker put it, focus on “staying mighty” after they finish high school and move on from the program. Whitaker noted that 100 percent of children who go through the Mighty Writers program throughout high school, as well as the Team Scholars program, have gone to college. “I don’t think it will be 100 percent forever,” Whitaker said. “The argument could even be made that college isn’t the greatest thing for everyone anymore, but I think all the kids have their eyes on the prize. We guide them all along the way and we’re always talking about the future and what they want their future to look like.”
From the beginning, Whitaker said that the nonprofit has always wanted to create spaces in West, South and North Philly, with the hopes that it could be accessible to any student. With two centers up and running in West and South Philadelphia, Whitaker hopes a third Mighty Writers in the northern section of the city would be the next move. Whitaker wants to spread Mighty Writers as far as possible – from centers across Philadelphia to locations in other cities, perhaps, one day. “Once kids are thinking clearly, they not only write well, but they make smart decisions,” Whitaker said. “They start to see a future.”
* victoria.mier@temple.edu
OUT & ABOUT NEW FALL FEST IN OLD CITY Amidst many of the fall festivals Philadelphia will host in the coming month, Old City will join the group with their first fall festival to line two streets of the historic area. On Oct. 12 from noon to 6 p.m., four square blocks of Old City will be closed off to vehicles (Arch Street between 2nd and 4th streets and 3rd Street between Race and Market streets). The event will feature local designers, creative firms, restaurants, retailers, galleries and theaters as well as live music and food. Historical venues and performers will also be available to the public and admission is free.
–Paige Gross
FREE OPEN STUDIO TOURS Art lovers can get an inside look of studios and the artistic process next month (Oct. 11-12 and 2526) with the Philadelphia Open studio tours. In its 15th year, the program allows art fans to tour studios and make artists accessible to the public. The program, sponsored by the Center for Emerging Visual Artist is the largest tour of artist studios and creative workspaces in the region. Enthusiasts can decide to walk the tour on their own or take a guided trolley tour and admission to the studios is free. –Paige Gross
FAIRMOUNT PARK WILL BE OPEN FOR A GUIDED SIX-MILE RUN The trails of Fairmount Park will be open to guided six-mile runs. The runs will go through the lesser-known areas of the park on Oct. 11. Hosted by the West Philly Runners or FixYourRun, the trails go through tunnels, bridges and past old trolley tracks and are only $10 for non-members. The runs depart from the Car Barn parking lot on Montgomery Drive. –Emily Rolen
BACON FEST TO COME TO PHILLY
Dena Underwood (left) and Jaye Sanders performed at the OutBeat kickoff reception on Sept. 18 at the Mark Segal Ballroom.
KARA MILSTEIN TTN
Nation’s first LGBTQ jazz fest of jazz culture. She and her partner Underwood were both asked to contribute performances, along with 30 other local performers to Friday’s special tribute at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre on Broad Street. “I’m excited about OutBeat,” Sanders, a Philadelphia native, said. “This is the first time ever, and I’m so glad Philly is hosting it. Philly is remarkable and full of so much talent.” Sanders, a singer, songwriter and vocal instructor, has been involved in music for more than 22 years, but has only been involved in jazz for about three years when she began to collaborate with Underwood. “I learned a lot from [Underwood],” Sanders said. “She studied jazz whereas I was always alternative, gospel, R&B and classical mu-
OUTBEAT PAGE 9
sic. The love for music definitely brought us together, the love for expressing our gift to people who want to enjoy it and want to feel our energy to make them feel better.” Sanders said how the jazz community has inspired both her and Underwood’s music and experiences within the LGBTQ community. “Jazz is the genre of music where you can be totally free,” Sanders said. “It’s limitless. So many colors, so many ideas, so many sounds, so many emotions that are so allowed in this genre, it’s crazy. Especially compared to classical which is so strict. If I could, without getting in trouble, I would compare jazz to being queer, lesbian, transgender or gay.” For Sanders, jazz has grown into a tangible representation of the community and given the commu-
TRENDING IN PHILLY
What’s happening this week in Philly – from news and event coverage, to shows and restaurant openings. Based on Philly area: food, music, stores, etc. For breaking news and daily updates, follow The Temple News on Twitter @TheTempleNews.
nity an anthem of sorts. “We are considered the peculiar ones, the ones that are not of the common and I particularly look at jazz music as that,” Sanders said. “Jazz is like the rebel genre of music and its bada-- just like we are. We embrace beauty and exude light, just like jazz music does.” Karen Smith said that as she has gotten older and grown in the LGBTQ community, she has watched the jazz scene in Philly grow as well. “I am so happy to see now that young people who are able to go to school and be educated in the field of jazz music can still be who they are,” Karen Smith said. “I think it speaks to the fact that music is universal and I’m so pleased that in my lifetime I’ve come to see this.” Even though there has been growth in both the jazz and LG-
BTQ communities, Tyrone Smith said there is still a long way to go, evident in the attack on a gay couple in Center City two weeks ago. The couple was assaulted and sent to the hospital, as a result. “I think that as we move forward with these kinds of things we must also remember that we’ve got to be not only social, but we’ve got to be political,” Tyrone Smith said. “I think that as we move forward as a community, we can’t just be social beings, we got to be political beings, and we’ve got to be all those things that make us a wonderful community that we desire to be. I don’t think we’ve reached the promise land yet in our vision, but at least we’re on the right road.” * alexa.zizzi@temple.edu
The Pennsylvania Bacon festival will come to Philadelphia Oct. 4 at XFINITY Live! In South Philly. Dozens of local food vendors, restaurants and food trucks will gather to celebrate one of America’s favorite breakfast foods. The bacon-themed food will be accompanied by live music and bacon inspired non-food items. Chefs will also participate in a bacon-off, competing with appetizers, entrees and desserts. Guests can participate in the largest bacon-eating contest in the world. General admission is $25 and baconsampling tickets are $2 each. –Paige Gross
LINE DANCING AT DILWORTH PARK With the opening of the new Dilworth Park at City Hall, Philadelphians can look forward to many free events in the new space, including DJs every Thursday evening from 5-7 p.m. DJ Touchstone and Old School 100.3’s Lady B with R&B classics and line dancing in the open space on Thursday. Thursdays in October will host Wired 96.5 Morning Show co-host Tingle, Q102’s Jeff and Josh, WDAS’ Mimi Brown, 104.5’s Jessie and Boogie Nights Bob Pantano. All events are open free to the public. –Paige Gross
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL RUN HELD ON SEPT. 21
TOP 30 NEW RESTAURANTS IN THE CITY
@RunRocknRoll tweeted on Sept. 21 a thanks to all volunteers, bands, cheer teams, water stations and runners for its annual Rock ‘n’ Roll run, which they considered to be a “success.”
@uwishunu tweeted on Sept. 20 a link to their top 30 picks for new restaurants coming throughout Philadelphia this fall.
TERROR BEHIND THE WALLS OPEN FOR THE SEASON
WORLD RECORD SET AT HALF-MARATHON
@ArtAttack tweeted on Sept. 19 an inside look at “Terror Behind The Walls” at Eastern State Penitentiary, which is already open to the general public.
@phillydotcom tweeted on Sept. 21 that Deena Kastor set the World Record in the Women’s Masters division for the Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon with a finishing time of 1:09:39.
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claire sasko TTN
Students had the opportunity to network with 93 employers at Fox’s Fall Connection on Sept. 17.
Fall Connection event links Fox students with business professionals Fox’s annual fall networking session had its largest attendance in history. CLAIRE SASKO Lifestyle Editor Roughly 1,000 students wearing their finest business attire gathered in the Great Court of Mitten Hall Sept. 17 for the annual Fox Fall Connection. The event is one of the most celebrated of the year for the Fox School's Center for Student Professional Development. The professional dress code was strict; those who were underdressed were told to change before entering. “This is what business employers expect,” Corinne Snell, assistant dean for student professional development, said. “The result is the employers love the polish, the dress, the professionalism.” The Fox Fall Connection provides students the opportunity to network with a wide range of businesses. This year, the event saw a record attendance of 93 employers – 20 more employers than last year. “We have one employer here that didn't even register in advance,” Snell said. “We advertise, but with the reputation of this event, the quality and preparation, the event kind of sells itself.” The event, which started as a senior breakfast before transforming into a reception, officially became known as the Fox Fall Connection two years ago. It is open to all business majors and, starting this past spring, graduate students on track for an MBA. The Fox Fall Connection also provides compilations of workshops and resume critiques. Students are highly encouraged to research all attending employers in advance. Snell said the event is a “kick-off” for students seeking internships and full-time jobs. “It's not set up as a traditional career fair,” Megan Panaccio, director of corporate rela-
dents.” tions, 2014 said. “WeFRINGE allow employers FESTIVAL to bring limited materials, no SEPTEMBER 5 TO 21 giveaways. It's more conducive * claire.sasko@temple.edu ( 215.204.7416 to networking.” FringeArts.com 215.413.1318 Ronghui Zhan, a senior fi- T @clairesasko nance major, said this was his first time attending the Fox Fall Connection. “When I first came here, I felt really nervous, but as time goes on, I feel relaxed,” Zhan said. “I'm here to look for opportunity.” Panaccio said the switch from low- to high-top tables two years ago allows for "a much better opportunity to connect." Linh Nguyen, an employer from SEI Investments Company, said her company has been attending the Fox Fall Connection for six years. “The students are very well rounded, very well versed,” Nguyen said. “Not only are they getting an academic experience, but the real word experience as well. They can juggle, adapt and multitask.” Nguyen said SEI continues to attend the annual event because of the “caliber of the people.” Kevin Quinn, a junior marketing major, said this was his third time attending the event, which he called “nerve-wracking” at first. “There are a lot of people, but once you start talking to one company, you start rolling,” he said. Quinn said Wawa and Comcast were among his favorite businesses at the connection. Holly Pfeifer, assistant director of corporate relations, was running a professional photo booth throughout the duration of the Fox Fall Connection. “[People] say your professional photo is the first thing [businesses] look at on your LinkedIn profile,” Pfeifer said. Students who were photographed stood in front of a backdrop featuring the Fox logo, which Pfeifer said was "great for branding." Pfeifer said the atmosphere of the event was noticeably different than previous years. “It's a lot more energetic and lively,” she said. “People are raring to go, especially the stu-
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LIFESTYLE
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
PAGE 15
Students take over the Bell Tower with open mic night Student musicians, artists and poets gathered Sept. 12 for an open mic night. ANMOL HEGDE The Temple News It was a peaceful, tranquil night. The Bell Tower, in the center of Main Campus, was the "perfect location to grab people's attention," said Kayla Raniero, a freshman student design major. Raniero organized an open mic night for music and spoken word at the Bell Tower on Sept. 12, at which she also performed. “I want this to be a safe place for people to just let their art out,” Raniero said. Raniero said her goal for the event was to allow artists to be free and open with their artwork in front of an engaged, responsive and friendly audience. Passersby who witnessed the event gathered in front of the Bell Tower, some joining in. Raniero said that closeness has always enticed her. Originally from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Raniero said she came to Temple to explore the local music scene. The event experienced a half-hour delay due to missing technical equip-
ment and the absence of an outlet, but was resolved by eliminating the microphone altogether; performers were simply made to talk openly to the audience, adding to the affection and closeness of the gathering. The open mic catered multiple mediums of performance art. It combined poets, singers, synth players, trombonists, guitarists and artists. “[The open mic is] a good way to start a conversation,” said poet Gabrielle Weaver, a freshman psychology major. “I felt better about my work after the open mic. This should happen more often.” Keeland Bowers, a freshman jazz performance and media studies and production double major, shared a poem about sexuality and objectification. “I needed to be really good, because I didn’t want to embarrass myself,” Bowers said. “I knew it was important to my friends. I felt good about it. It provided a safe space for artists to present their work, and I was pleased and invigorated by my own writing and performance.” Raniero performed at sunset. “It was awesome, because thanks to us not having an outlet, I had to play an actual synthesizer. I’ve usually just played a keyboard on synth settings, so I had to adjust to it pretty quickly,” she said.
RYUN CUSHING TTN
Students gathered around the Bell Tower for an open mic night on Sept. 12.
Raniero said the unpredictability helped her grow as an artist and push herself out of her comfort zone. “I had to sing louder, and that attracted attention from passersby,” Raniero said. One audience member noticed that
the event organizers experienced some technical difficulties. “The setup wasn’t that great, but they tried to make it work,” Diana Nguyen, a freshman political science major, said. Even so, Reniro said she thinks
that the performers benefited from the relaxed environment. “The event was super impromptu, which actually made it feel comfortable and intimate,” she said. * anmol.hedge@temple.edu.
Students connect with communities abroad BRIGADES PAGE 7 “I think what I get out of it and what I like about the organization is empowering communities, but at the same time [the organization] also empowers us to help other people, not just abroad but in our own community as well,” Kim said. Temple Global Brigades has no official coordinator. The group arrives on location and works with community members to figure out how the location can be improved, and projects are completely led by students. “I remember we had a meeting with the water sanitation committee of the community we were working in, and we were all just getting to know each other,” Kim said. “They were telling us where they came from and how what we were
doing was impacting their lives and what a big change we were making for them.” The group is very labor intensive. Kim said the missions can include physical activities like digging trenches but the end result makes the effort worthwhile for group members. While there, Hopkins lived in a house in Nicaragua with a family that had three daughters, whom she got to know very well throughout the course of the trip. “They loved arts and crafts, so we were able to buy them markers and paper and they would draw pictures of us,” Hopkins said. Members of the organization are only asked to attend weekly meetings, and there is no physi-
cal training ahead of time. At the meetings, members learn about various cultures and learn Spanish. Both Hopkins and Kim said that they experienced many rewarding moments while on their trip. “One day we came back to the house we were staying in, and one of the little girls was taking a shower in the shower that we built for the family. So that was really nice,” Hopkins said. “Something that was really nice to see was towards the end of the trip, seeing one of the little boys from the elementary school we used to stop at every day, turn on a faucet with running water. That was a really special moment,” Kim said.
Last year, when traveling to Honduras, the group had 17 students working in the water discipline and 15 in the public health discipline and Kim and Hopkins said a lot of new students inquired about Temple Global Brigades while at the student organization fair on Sept. 10. “Not only are we empowering the communities abroad and not only are we impacting their lives, I think as volunteers we get so much out of it and learn so much from the experience and the preparation leading up to the trip,” Kim said. * julia.chiango@temple.edu
health
TU Bhangra experiences regrowth Temple Bhangra has had a resurgence of new recruits this semester. SIENNA VANCE The Temple News
Dancers in Uzuri work on their moves at a practice session.
MAGGIE ANDRESEN TTN
Defying stereotypes of dance UZURI PAGE 7 From her position, Coaxum is ever we can for each other.” able to provide an outside perspective Uzuri connects to the North Philadifferent than a dancer. “[Uzuri] is a delphia community by volunteering at diverse group who is allowing women the Providence Center. The members to branch out,” Coaxum said. teach dance to children in grade lev“[Dancers] are given such a cer- els ranging from kindergarten to sixth tain look, and I want us to be able to grade. get out of that box,” The expansion of Kalayah Curry, capUzuri over a year’s tain of the Uzuri Dance time exceeded the Company and a sophoBrown’s anticipations. more dance major, said. “It kind of just went “A lot of people enviabove my expectasion the dancer as one tions,” she said. “I did color, a certain body not expect it to be this type. For us, no matter big in such a small pewhat you look like, you riod of time.” can do [dance].” While the rapid Kalayah Curry / team captain Brown said the growth of Uzuri is surbasis for creating a reprising to her, Brown laxed dance atmosphere said she plans to constemmed from personal conflicts. tinue expansion through civic work “As an African-American dancer, and the company’s Spring Showcase. growing up I was always a little cur“Although [dance] may not give vier than most, hair a little different, anything back, other than fleeting modressed a little differently,” Brown ments on stage or in the studio, it’s all said. “When you do not have that com- I need,” Curry said. fort in your dance home, it gets hard “This is who I am,” Brown said. for you to really build and expand.” “This is who we are.” “What makes us different is our sisterhood,” Curry said. “A lot of peo- * allison.merchant@temple.edu ple have compared us to a sorority. We click automatically and we do what-
“What makes
us different is our sisterhood. ... We click automatically.
”
Temple Bhangra continues to celebrate Indian culture through dance in 2014. The team recently held auditions for new members on Sept. 10, expecting to take its mission even further than before. “The history of Temple University Bhangra starts back in 2007 when the team was first founded at Temple,” said Keshav Mantha, neuroscience major and head captain of Temple Bhangra. “Since then, growth has been a roller coaster ride.” Mantha said that in 2012, the team experienced a rekindling and had more people join than ever before. According to Mantha, the growth has multiplied since then. “This year the team has had the most exposure since its founding days,” Mantha said. “I’ve only been dancing Bhangra for a year. I started last year on the team, but ever since the first day, I have fallen in love with the dance.” When Mantha came to Temple as a freshman, he knew that he wanted to stay involved with the South Asian and Indian community like he had when he was teenager. Though he is not originally from the Punjab region of India—where the Bhangra folk dance originates—he felt like joining the team was the best way to stay connected to a traditional Indian art form. “Every time I dance I feel like I’m helping keep a centuries old tradition alive,” Mantha said. “Because we are one of the most diverse schools in the country it is absolutely essential that Temple maintains the culture of its student body, especially for the South Asian students.” “I think that having a Bhangra team is a major part of that,” Mantha
said. “It contributes in a major way to the diversity on this campus, while also upholding traditional North Indian roots that hundreds of students on campus can relate to.” Bhangra traditionally began as a folk dance in Punjab, India, to celebrate the harvest and sometimes marriages. During Temple Bhangra’s auditions, prospective members had to learn a routine, and complete it successfully during a 45 second song mix. “It was a compressed routine that tested most of the basic fundamentals of proper Bhangra dancing,” Mantha said. “As a captain, you have a say in the mix, the choreography, practice routines, performances and more. It’s very exciting knowing that a group of 12 or more people are dancing and performing to something that you helped create.” Pooja Shah, Temple Bhangra cocaptain and speech-language hearing major, said that he saw potential in the prospective members after watching the auditions. “Auditions were great,” Pooja said. “I saw a lot of potential because we had two informationals and everyone was just so determined to get the basics back. We saw people there both days and they even contacted us individually for private practices.” Mantha was impressed with the turn out as well. “In the past, TUB has gotten on average about 20 people to attend informationals and teaching days,” Mantha said. “This year nearly 40 people showed up, which was a very pleasant surprise. It was some of the most fun I’ve had all year.” Twelve new members successfully made it onto Temple Bhangra this year. Shah hopes that their dedication will eventually take the team to a competition. “My number one goal for Bhangra this year is to be able to make it to a competition,” Pooja said. “Placing or not isn’t a matter to me, but if we do that would obviously be amazing. See-
ing the smiling faces and the love for dance is really what makes it worthwhile.” Though competition is definitely on her mind, Shah likes that Temple Bhangra will also help the new members to stay healthier. “Bhangra has helped me mature on becoming not only a better dancer, but just generally more active in my daily life,” Pooja said. “It is basically all cardio, so it gives me great exercise, which then also has me wanting to eat healthy foods.” Puja Shah, a 22-year-old Temple Bhangra alumna wishes the team success this year. During her time as captain, she admitted that the team was struggling. “When I became captain of Temple Bhangra, the team was in a struggling point – my goal at the time was to have a solid team of individuals dedicated to dancing,” Puja said. “There were minor adjustments that I wanted to focus on as well, like buying new costumes, having the proper props to dance with, and having a real mix.” Puja Shah said that although Temple Bhangra may struggle at times, she hopes that the new members will treasure their experience like she has. When Puja was a business major at Temple, she said that Bhangra taught her necessary skills that applied to her field of study. Patience, passion, and excitement, Puja said, are values that continue to stay with her post-graduation. “Bhangra is a blast – treasure it always and forever and smile as if the whole world is watching!” Puja said. “Don’t worry about messing up, forgetting the moves, or having a wardrobe malfunction. “All you need to worry about is having fun,” she added. “I hope that the new members will always dance like it’s the last performance they will be giving. Dance your heart out and let the world see the passion you have.” * sienna.vance@temple.edu.
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
CLIPPINGS
AROUND CAMPUS A CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS
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PHILALALIA
Temple adjunct professor who helped organize Philalalia, agreed. “When I first came to Philly, I had a hard time finding the lit scene,” she said. “I don’t think that’s fair. There’s no reason that we don’t all get together once a year and celebrate it.” Varrone said he met Gerard Brown, a professor of Foundations at Tyler, at a poetry reading Bucks County, where Brown was curating a poetry and art fair similar to what Varrone was envisioning. Brown was on board and suggested the Temple Contemporary Gallery in Tyler as the venue. Robert Blackson, the director of the gallery, agreed. The result is what Varrone called “a three-day department store of poetry and art.” During all three days, small-press poetry publishers and print-based artists will vend their goods on the first floor of Tyler. Many of these vendors produce books that CLAIRE SASKO TTN strongly deviate from traditional ideas of what Kevin Varrone, an English professor at Temple, helped to organize Philalalia, a 3-day art and books should look like. poetry festival. “Even in 2014, [people] still have a really antiquated view of poetry, who does it and what it looks volved, but also gets people from the city involved,” wick said. Her magazine, Gigantic Sequins, is hostlike,” Varrone said. “My hope is that they’ll see a Varrone said. ing a reading with Apiary magazine on Friday afterreal live sampling. People are doing these really Other readers include Soledad Alfaro-Allah, noon. The reading will be followed by an open-mic weird, interesting, great things in an era when the Philadelphia’s Youth Poet Laureate and Babel, and a writing contest. book is supposedly dead.” Temple’s performance poetry collective. Several Blackson, Temple Contemporary’s director, is Varrone had a bag full of examples of the vendors including bedfellows, Apiary and South- running a hands-on event on Friday for Publication kinds of books to expect. They came in all shapes, wick’s literary magazine, Gigantic Sequins, will be Studio, a Portland-based publisher with a sibling sizes and formats. selling their publications as well as hosting read- studio in Tyler. At the event, participants can bring In the bag was a canvas about three inches ings. a flash drive with their own work, which will then tall, two inches wide and half an inch deep. The Varrone said this variety is one of the most ex- be bound and published on the spot, free of charge. front was painted in green and yellow blotches, and citing parts of Philalalia. In addition, The People’s Library, a Virginiaa small bit of cotton rag paper was wedged in the “If you’re up there with Hyphen [Temple’s un- based organization that combines art and commnity back. When pulled, the paper accordion-folded out dergraduate literary magazine], and the next person empowerment, will be hosting a paper-making and became a book. up is the Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, that’s as it workshop on Saturday. “A book is an object, not just a thing that holds should be,” he said. “Everybody’s doing the same The organizers of Philalalia don’t want the words,” Varrone said. thing.” event to be intimidating. “It’s a no-pressure event,” The book, “Very Different Animals,” was Philalalia strives to be a place for artists of all Southwick said. “Come by and see what’s going written by Frank Sherlock, the Poet Laureate of varieties and levels of experience to come together on.” Philadelphia, and published in an edition of 100 by – an occurrence that the organizers said does not She emphasized that the fair is not just for poFact-Simile Press, who will be vending at Philala- happen nearly enough. ets by saying, “Everybody reads.” lia. “Artistic communities tend to segregate them“The goal is to dispel this notion that you’re a Sherlock will be at Philalalia, too – he’s part of selves from other artistic communities, [but] we’re beginning writer or a student writer,” Varrone said. the second major component of the festival, a series all interested in the same basic form of expression,” “Once you start to write, you’re a writer. If you’re of poetry readings over the course of the three days. Varrone said. “We’re trying to bridge that gap and making art, you’re an artist. Here’s three days where The readers range from undergraduate organiza- get the word around.” it doesn’t matter.” tions at Temple to Eileen Myles, one of the most “I think it’s really important that the arts stay recognized names in contemporary literature. collaborative,” Southwick said. “Government fund- * holleran@temple.edu Most readings will be held in the Temple Con- ing is constantly being cut for the arts.” ( 215-204-7416 temporary Gallery, but each night also includes an T @coupsdegrace Philalalia accomplishes this collaboration not off-site reading at various Philadelphia venues. only by combining readers and vendors, but also by “We’re trying to have it be the kind of event including more hands-on events. that gets people from the Temple community in“A lot of the events are interactive,” South-
Raising awareness for International Peace Week PEACE PAGE 7 However, both Patel and Siddique said that they don’t feel the Temple community necessarily needs a lesson in being open-minded toward other religions. “If someone was walking past the Bell Tower and people were meditating, more people stopped by than I thought would,” Patel said. “It definitely made me feel that Temple is a pretty tightknit community, regardless of what people might say.” In addition to Peace Week, the MSA holds an Islamic Awareness Week during the spring semester to start a dialogue and to help students better understand what it means to be Muslim. Last year, the theme of the week was “solution Islam,” and the MSA expanded its focus and partnered with Her Campus and some of the fraternities to raise awareness about the dangers of drunk driving and drug abuse.
Awareness week also opened the floor for topics like women in Islam and family dynamics in American culture versus the Islamic tradition, ideas Patel said people often don’t think about when discussing their faith but are important aspects, nonetheless. “There are always going to be people that are not going to have anything good to say about anything,” Patel said. “It is important to educate people on what the truth is, but there are always going to be the ‘good guys’ and there is always going to be the ‘bad guys.’” While Numan agreed that there will always be people with misconceptions about Islam, the group does not feel they have to explain themselves. “We’re not here to prove anything, we’re not here to show, hey, we’re not terrorists, we’re not the bad guys,” Numan said. “We’re
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams will be speaking to Temple students on Friday from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. in Tomlinson Theater. Williams is being honored with the 2014 Lew Klein Excellence in Media Award and will answer questions from current Temple students for a one-hour session. Free student tickets can be picked up in Annenberg Hall Room 334 until Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. This event is open to all students. -Jessica Smith
MARCHING BAND RANKS NO. 1 The Diamond Marching Band was featured in USA Today for its halftime performance of 5 Seconds of Summer’s “She Looks So Perfect.” The song ranked No. 1 on the list of “5 College Marching Band Covers You Absolutely Have To Hear. “ The article was originally featured on the blog Surviving College and was written by senior journalism major Chynna Mela. The list included a Beyoncé medley from University of Michigan and Miley Cyrus’“Wrecking Ball” from Virginia Commonwealth University. The Diamond Marching Band has garnered significant media attention in the past year with a nod from Rolling Stone, a spot on ABC’s Good Morning America and a movie debut in “Wolf of Wall Street.” The band’s chart-topping performance was prominent this weekend when the Owls beat Delaware State 59-0. -Jessica Smith
FIRESIDE CHAT The Strategic Management Department is sponsoring a Fireside Chat with Professor Dwight Carey on Sept. 23 from 5:30-7 p.m. The renowned tech innovator and winner of Temple University’s Great Teacher Award will be discussing entrepreneurship and business strategies. The discussion is open to all and will be held in Fox School of Business’ Alter Hall in IEI Lab Room 503D. -Jessica Smith
CHARLES LEWIS TALK American University School of Communication Professor Charles Lewis will be at Temple on Sept. 24 to discuss how those in power have hidden the truth from the media. A former producer for ABC News and 60 Minutes, Lewis will discuss misrepresentations by those in power in the U.S., and the role of journalists in relation to these events and the nonprofit journalism ecosystem. The discussion will take place in the Annenberg atrium from 4-5 p.m. It is free and open to all. -Jessica Smith
LINKEDIN WORKSHOP
COURTESY OF JOE T.
Students in the MSA held various activities the week of Sept. 15 to promote peace and acceptance.
just here to promote peace, and there are people who are obviously going to view us in a negative light, and there
is nothing we can really do about that but to show them who we are, and this [week] is one of the ways that we do
The Career Center is sponsoring a workshop on Thursday night to help students utilize the LinkedIn network. The session will teach students how to enhance an internship or job search, create eyecatching profiles, connect with professionals and expand their personal “brand.” The workshop runs from 4 – 4:50 p.m. in Mitten Hall Room 250. The event is free and open to all. -Jessica Smith
that.” * abricke1@temple.edu
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
“Do you think Temple
police are too strict or not strict enough when patrolling for parties?
”
ALEXA BRICKER TTN
“I think that if things get out of hand they need to be around to put a stop to it, but I don’t think that they’re really strict .”
OLIVIA CARNEY
JUNIOR | MARKETING
“I think the fact that I haven’t seen too many police around at parties is a sign that they’re not too strict.”
CARSON AGUILAR FRESHMAN | FILM
“We’re amongst residents of Philadelphia, so imagine if you were from here and there was a lot of parties, so I don’t think they’re too strict.”
MARIA MCLEAN
SENIOR | KINESIOLOGY
SPORTS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
PAGE 17
SPORTS BRIEFS
Williams suffers back injury, out indefinitely SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK RULED OUT WITH BACK INJURY
One day after coach Matt Rhule said sophomore running back Zaire Williams is the team’s fourthstring running back, the Inquirer reported Wednesday that Williams has been ruled out indefinitely after an MRI showed a bulging disk in his back. Williams saw time late in Temple’s 30-point win at Vanderbilt on Aug. 28, logging 17 rushing yards on seven carries. He did not play on Sept. 6 against Navy at Lincoln Financial Field. Williams amassed 533 rushing yards on 101 carries last season, averaging 48.5 yards per game in splitting time with junior Kenny Harper. This season, though, he sat at No. 4 on the Owls’ depth chart behind Harper, junior Jaime Gilmore and sophomore Jahad Thomas before he was ruled out with the back injury. “He’s just the fourth-team running back right now and he’s trying to find a way to get on the field,” Rhule said at his weekly press conference last Tuesday, before news broke of Williams’ injury. “He’s fourth-team. I don’t know what to say. We’ll keep talking about it but all due respect to him, you can be the starting tailback on a two-win team, you have to get better, right? You have to play at a higher level and we’re trying to get Zaire to play at a higher level.” Rhule implied that Williams will not be featured in the offense until fully healthy. “Sometimes with running backs if you’re not 100 percent healthy you don’t play at a high level,” Rhule said. “If you play with a bad back or a bad ankle, you’re not the same back. He was hurt before, but he’s just dealing with things. ... Zaire’s got a bad back and some other things that are bothering him.” “I would not expect to see Zaire, guys, anytime soon until he gets right,” Rhule added. -Andrew Parent
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MacWilliams told his players to share the ball, and not take too many touches once receiving it from another player. MacWilliams added that eventually, his team has to start winning games. “You have to be able to win games,” MacWilliams said. “We’re on our home field, that’s key for us. We only lost one game [at home] last year, we already lost one game this, so we have to take it to them.” Temple lost its match with Penn in the Philadelphia Soccer Six tournament Sunday, 3-0. -Steve Bohnel
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS 2015 SCHEDULE RELEASED, TEAM TO HOST TWO HOME MEETS ERIC DAO TTN FILE PHOTO
Sophomore Zaire Williams was ruled out indefinitely with a back injury Wednesday.
MEN’S SOCCER JOKINEN INJURED IN LOSS
Joonas Jokinen will miss seven to 10 days with a pulled hamstring, Temple’s assistant athletic trainer Nathan Quebedeaux said Friday at practice. The injury occurred Wednesday in Temple’s 1-0 extra-time loss to Fordham when Jokinen booked up the left sideline, and then was clipped from behind by the Rams’ Tommy Garnot, who received a yellow card for the foul. The freshman forward out of Helsinki, Finland, has scored one goal in five matches this season. Quebedeaux said that although Temple could send Jokinen out to play without this recovery time, they are taking “precautionary” measures to ensure he is ready once American Athletic conference play starts on Sept. 27 against Cincinnati.
“We’re letting him recover so he can recover and get stronger to prepare for the American style of the game, which is rougher,” Quebedeaux said. -Steve Bohnel
OWLS PLACE FOCUS ON PASSING
Temple was busy Friday at practice up at the Ambler Sports Complex, but the team kept it simple. For about the first half of practice, the Owls focused on a passing drill that focused on moving the ball up through the midfield and final third quickly, utilizing several different runs out wide in the final third to finish off the goal. “We’re looking to switch the point of attack,” coach David MacWilliams said after practice. “[The University of Pennsylvania] overloads the one side of the field, so we have to be prepared to switch it.” For the second half of practice, the team split up for an 11-on-11 scrimmage. During this part,
The gymnastics team released its 2015 schedule Friday. The team will open its season at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 10, and end its regular season at Iowa State on Mar. 13. The Owls will host a pair of home meets this season with a bout with Ursinus on Jan. 24, and the seventh annual Ken Anderson Memorial Invitational on Feb. 14. Temple will face West Chester University, the University of Bridgeport and Penn in the home invitational, which honors the late Ken Anderson, the women’s gymnastics coach preceding current coach Aaron Murphy. Meets with George Washington (Jan. 18), Penn (Feb. 7), Ursinus (Feb. 22) and a tri-meet with the University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Pittsburgh on Feb. 28 will highlight the team’s road schedule. The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships will be held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut on March 21. -Andrew Parent
Temple has played four five-set matches, “I think we learned a lot every weekend and we have to keep learning,” Ganes said. each team on the court. The While Ganes admits to not Owls will get their first dose of paying much attention to the conference play this week with preseason poll in The Amerimatches against Connecticut can, the players are aware of and East Carolina. how other coaches in the con“The preseason poll doesn’t ference feel about their team. really mean much because if “For sure [we’re motivatyou think about it, it’s mainly ed],” senior middle based on accomUP NEXT blocker Alex plishments from Schmitt said. Owls at Connecticut last year,” Ganes “It’s kind of Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. said. “Most of the been a reoctime we don’t really know how curring thing. We get picked to the teams are put together this be closer towards the bottom of year.” the conference and we do have Ganes said the first month a lot of tough competition this of the schedule is structured to year, but it’s nothing we didn’t prepare the Owls for the last see last year. I think we handled two months, all of which will be it pretty well last year.” against conference opponents. Fellow senior Tiffany Con-
natser said the team embraces the challenge of the team’s ninth-place spot in the preseason poll. “We like to be the underdog,” Connatser said. “We like to come in and have people think that it’s going to be an easy game, and we’re going to come out and surprise them and beat them.” The team has grown to become familiar with most of The American, but will have three new opponents in 2014 additions East Carolina, Tulsa and Tulane.
ing those kind of caliber teams right now,” Youtz said. “It’s exposing our weaknesses and what we need to work on. I think doing that early in the season gives us more time to prepare knowing that [No. 6 Penn State] has the same kind of great corners as Maryland.” “We’re learning now how to handle those teams and handle losses,” Youtz added. “If you go through a season without losing, you’re not going to make any changes, and I think it’s great that we have gotten reality checks in losing early.”
has remained solid otherwise. “Both teams scored really good goals, and in the game of hockey when you execute on your corners you should be scoring goals,” Janney said. “Maryland scored off some perfect straight shots on us, and then Bucknell had a really good play against us. But that’s hockey and we know we need to score more than one goal to win games.”
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AMERICAN
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NOTEBOOK
season then I think we can go pretty far.” The Owls have held their own through their first six games of the season, with a 5-3 record and the No. 13 ranking. Those two losses, however, came from two of the three nationally ranked opponents they faced so far. Temple did shut out the University of Massachusetts, which entered the season ranked No. 10, 2-0 in the season-opening weekend. Howev- Defense aiming for efficiency er, that team has since struggled Before Temple played to a 2-5 record, falling out of the Maryland, it had only allowed Top 20 by the time Week One one goal off a penalty corner. of the national coaches’ poll That was back on Aug. released on UP NEXT 29 in Temple’s Sept. 9. first game of the Owls vs. Kent State Followseason, when Sept. 27 at noon. ing the loss N o r t h e a s t e r n ’s to Maryland, coach Amanda sophomore forward Emmy Janney said there was still a Zweserijn scored with less than small gap between Temple and five minutes left in what would some of NCAA Division I’s eventually become a 4-2 win elite. for the Owls. But with conference play Temple allowed another approaching, Youtz believes it’s corner goal in its 2-1 defeat of better to know where the team Bucknell Saturday, but Janney stands now. said the team won’t make any “It’s good that we’re play- significant changes to a nut that
* greg.frank@temple.edu T @g_frank6
Millen keeping steady in goal Goalkeeping hasn’t been anything Temple has had to worry about. Redshirt senior Lizzy Millen has kept the momentum going from a strong 2013 campaign, posting a .824 save percentage, a 1.47 goals against average and a shutout. Millen was named the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Week to start the season, and earned the honor again this past week after making 17 saves, tying her career high, in the loss to Maryland last Sunday. She first stopped 17 shots on Sept. 1 of last season in a 5-1 loss to the Terrapins at Geasey Field. * nick.tricome@temple.edu T @itssnick215
SPORTS
PAGE 18
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
Continued from page 20
FORDHAM
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personnel marched toward the locker room winless and without explanation. By the end of it, Fordham’s Carlton Koonce had torched Temple’s defense for 168 yards on the ground, and quarterback Mike Nebrich had completed 23 of his 36 passing attempts for 320 yards and a pair of touchdown strikes. “I’ll be completely honest, people should take shots at me right now,” coach Matt Rhule said following the game. “They should take shots at us. We shouldn’t have lost that game. Let’s be honest.” A year later, Rhule denied the notion that the Fordham loss sifted toward the forefront of his players’ minds as they pounded Delaware State (0-4) in a 59-0 final. “I don’t know if they used [Fordham] as motivation as much to learn,” Rhule said. “I didn’t bring it up this week. I had some people hand me the article, but I didn’t really talk about it.” Granted, Delaware State is not Fordham, a team that reached the second round of the FCS playoffs and ranked as high as No. 5 in the FCS last year. Heading into its matchup with Temple at the Linc, the Rams had upended then-No. 8 Villanova the week before in a 27-24 upset, and were hot. Delaware State sat at 0-3 entering Saturday’s contest, and had been outscored 10037 in its losses to Monmouth, Delaware and Towson, all FCS opponents. While the setting seemed to mirror that of last season’s third loss, the contest itself quickly took a different path after redshirt sophomore Samuel Benjamin swatted away a punt attempt from Delaware State’s Jeremiah McGeough 3 minutes, 11 seconds in to the first quarter. Redshirt freshman Artrel Foster pounced on the loose ball and waltzed into the end zone, marking Temple’s first of eight trips. Players like junior Jamie Gilmore, who registered a rushing touchdown and 43 yards on nine carries in the win, said the team learned from the one-point loss. “That was what our focus was on,” Gilmore said, talking about the Fordham loss as a motivator. “Last year we came out flat against those guys. We had a tendency to playing down to our opponents. Today we came out and showed what we can do.” Senior running back Kenny Harper soon punched in a two-yard score that followed another Owls fumble recovery. Redshirt sophomore Khalif Herbin notched his first career touchdown by returning a punt 84 yards, the second-longest such run-back in school history. Junior receiver Jalen Fitzpatrick amassed 75 yards receiving on three catches, while sophomore defensive lineman Sharif Finch legged out a host of Hornet defenders en route to a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown. That score extended the Owls’ lead to 42-0 minutes in to the second quarter, and helped clinch what Temple aimed to do all along – dominate early, score often and rid itself of any further stigma with FCS competition. “Even though I didn’t play last year, I know how the guys felt,” Herbin, who redshirted last season, said. “We didn’t prepare ourselves as well as we should have [against Fordham]. Everybody looked at it as a [FCS] team we thought we were just going to run over, and Fordham wasn’t having that … We expected Delaware State to come out with the same kind of intensity.”
spot ended on Sept. 30, 2012 when Mullen held Penn State to four goals amid a myriad of Nittany Lion shots and effectively sealed the team’s top spot in net. Coach Ryan Frain said Mullen’s seniority had already put him ahead of Semborski, but skill gave Mullen the edge. “Basically, ever since Eric has gotten here he has been in a constant fight with other goaltenders of ours and he has been kind of stuck with the backup role for the better part of three seasons,” Frain said. While Mullen secured the starting spot two seasons ago, Semborski said it did not sour the relationship between the two goaltenders. “Mullen was good guy. I respected [him] a lot and [he was] a great teammate,” Semborski said. “He would help me when I was struggling with hockey or whatever and I think I learned a lot from him by just watching him practice and watching him play.” It was not a complete loss for Semborski because he said while his minutes were few, some were also critical. Former head coach Jerry Roberts recalled the first game in which Semborski saw action during a firstround playoff game against the University of Delaware. Neifeld was injured prior to the game, and Mullen went down mid-contest. This put Semborski in the third period where he helped the team snag the win, despite his minimal ice time that season. Semborski was called on again in his sophomore year when Mullen had been suspended for three games for his part in a benches-clearing brawl in a game against Rowan University in October 2012. “Every time we called his number, he rose to the occasion and did what we needed him to do,” Roberts said. Roberts said he first saw Semborski’s ability when he went on a recruiting trip to one of Semborski’s games in the juniors. A goalie was not a current need, but Semborski’s showing drew Roberts’ interest. “He was very disciplined in terms of technique,” Roberts said. “He wasn’t your typical goalie who started playing goalie at the age of five. When you’re older you are able to adhere to what you have been taught a little more and as a result his fundamentals, prior to coming to Temple, were very sound and that was something that attracted us to him.” Semborski’s start in hockey did not take off until he was 15 years old because of the lack of rinks and local teams in his hometown of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Semborski’s experiences as a backup led him to the starting role on this year’s team. Forward Chris Carnivale has been teammates with Semborski since 2011, and said he’s noticed the netminder’s work ethic. “He is very committed,” Carnivale said. “You especially saw it this offseason when he knew he was expected to be the number one guy. He really worked hard for it.” “I want to play every game,” Semborski said. “I always have since I started playing, but when [Mullen] got that role it just made me dig deeper and work harder. Each time I step on the ice I want to get better. When you’re not that guy, you have to work your a-- off and become that guy.”
* andrew.parent@temple.edu ( 215.204. 9537 T @Andrew_Parent23
SEMBORSKI
HUA ZONG TTN
The Temple defense celebrates sophomore defensive lineman Sharif Finch’s interception return for a touchdown on Saturday.
Defense excels, offense sputters SPECIAL TEAMS PAGE 20 never take anybody lightly. We prepared for this game like we were preparing for Alabama.” Finch, who moved from linebacker to defensive end in his second season with the Owls, scored his second defensive touchdown in as many games, one on a fumble recovery and the other on an interception. Finch has become an operative component of the Temple defensive attack, an attack that featured its first shutout in three seasons. “[Finch] is a big, key part of this defense,” junior linebacker Tyler Matakevich said. “He just makes plays. Two games in a row he’s scored a defensive touchdown, which is pretty ridiculous for a defensive lineman. He’s so athletic and makes so many plays.” Finch, who gained roughly 30 pounds in the offseason,
went into the season with confidence in defensive coordinator Phil Snow’s system. “I always believe I can make plays,” Finch said. “I know once you trust your technique, you’re always put in position to make plays.” T e m ple’s defense has forced 12 turnovers through its Matt Rhule / coach first three games, one shy of its total from the entire 2013 season. However, even with strong defensive and special team support, the Owls’ offense failed to gain traction early in the game once again. Sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker, who had struggled with vertical passing through the first two games, continued to display inconsistency, throwing two interceptions to go along with his two touchdown
“We didn’t respect
winning last year against Fordham and I thought our kids respected it this week.
”
vid Hood’s 7.3 yards per carry passes. Heading into conference on eight rushing attempts, all of play, the offensive struggles which took place in the fourth have become a concern for quarter. In the first quarter of the Rhule. “We still have to learn to game, the Owls averaged 3.4 respect the football in the pass- yards per carry, nearly a yard ing game,” Rhule said. “I was less than their average in 2013. With Temple’s American not pleased with P.J. in terms of taking care of the football. Athletic Conference opener with the University … We have a lot of work to UP NEXT of Connecticut do, we have a Owls at Connecticut approaching, lot of guys who Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. Rhule said he can make a play is happy with here and there but we’re certainly not clicking his team’s development with the process of winning games. on all cylinders.” “In the offseason, I told “I got after P.J. on the first [interception],” Rhule said. our guys ‘We have to learn to “What we can’t do is every time respect winning’” Rhule said. we call a deep play-action is “We didn’t respect winning just throw it up, so I got after last year against Fordham and him pretty good because he’s I thought our kids respected it been coached on that enough. this week. When I’m going to Now it’s time for him to take the facility at 8 or 9 o’ clock at night and a bunch of kids are in the next step and not do that.” However, the team’s there watching film I’m saying struggles on the offensive side to myself ‘O.K., we’re learning weren’t exclusive to Walker. to respect winning.” The team’s running game averaged only 4.3 yards per carry, * esmith@temple.edu an average that was bolstered ( 215.204. 9537 by freshman running back Da- T @ejsmitty17
After cuts, Eigner leaves home for the first time a competitive club level, has been fully supportive of his son’s decision to become a Buckeye. “I have to look at it as he took advantage of a situation,” Turoff said. “He had a top team that wanted him, that gave him a partial financial aid offer, and he’s going to help them now.” Eigner added he has been able to adapt to Columbus, Ohio through various new experiences and relationships. Some of these experiences have come from practicing in the Steelwood Athletic Training Facility, a 15,000 square-foot space that features several resi pits, in-ground loose foam pits and regular competition landing surfaces. Turoff said one of the most important advantages Steelwood has compared to McGonigle Hall has to do with the recourses the programs have to work with. “There are so many more stations [for events] over there,” Turoff said. “Almost any facility is better than ours because nobody has to set up equipment and take it down.” But along with the nicer facility comes better gymnasts. Ohio State has won three NCAA team championships, 27
EIGNER PAGE 1
HUA ZONG TTN
After long consideration, Evan Eigner chose to transfer.
individual championships, and has had 53 All-Americans in its program. Turoff added that several athletes on the team participated in the P&G Championships in Pittsburgh from Aug. 21-24. The final roster for 2015 hasn’t been revealed yet, but Turoff is confident that his son will make the cut. “He’s worried about the cuts,” Turoff said. “I keep telling him, ‘The fact that they gave you a partial scholarship means they’re not going to cut you and they expect you to compete for them … keep working hard, getting better, fixing up your weak areas and you’ll have no
problem.’” In any case, Eigner is certainly benefiting from practicing with one of the best gymnastics programs in the country. “The coaches are worldclass, and the trainers are topnotch,” Eigner said. “There’s been world-class gymnastics going on a regular basis, so to experience that has been pretty amazing for me.” Although some of Eigner’s teammates rank among the nation’s elite, he said the camaraderie he developed with his former team and coaches is something that will always remain with him. One individual that was
particularly close to him was junior Pat Henley. Henley was Eigner’s morning workout partner, and said the cooperation between the two was seamless. “If I was having trouble with something, I could always just go and talk to him,” Henley said. “And vice-versa. … He was kind of quiet, but that’s what I liked about him. We were similar in that way.” Eigner said this sense of culture throughout Rooms 143 and 144 in McGonigle Hall is something that exists throughout the entire gymnastics community. But if Eigner is to make it past cuts, which take place in a couple of weeks, there’s one big difference between Ohio State and Temple when it comes to the sport he’s devoted his whole life to. “The main difference here [at Ohio State] is the fact that we’re trying to win a national championship,” Eigner said. “All the guys at Temple want to compete … but here, we have a legitimate chance at winning a national championship. … When we walk into the gym, we know that’s our goal.” * steve.bohnel@temple.edu T @SteveSportsGuy1
* stephen.godwinl@temple.edu @StephenGodwinJr
T
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
SPORTS
PAGE 19
Conference preview
The American to offer changed pace
DONALD OTTO TTN
DONALD OTTO TTN
Transfer student Kayla Cunningham joins Gina DiTaranto as the team’s newest offensive addi-
David MacWilliams’ team will aim to improve upon its 3-4-1 record in The American last year.
girls who can blast shot after shot on frame.” The difficulties of last year opened eyes for the team. O’Connor said he felt his squad was naïve in its approach heading into the new conference. OWEN MCCUE This season, O’Connor feels his players have made strides from where they were a year ago. The Temple News “They took the beatings last year in conference and we just identified the weaknesses,” Last year, the women’s soccer team exited its O’Connor said. “The players did a very good job conference schedule with one win. of just saying I need to get better at this, this and This season, despite a strong start in its nonthis and they did it.” conference schedule, the Owls will soon gain O’Connor said that the other teams in the a stronger understanding of how they stack up conference improved themselves as well. In The against their American Athletic Conference riAmerican’s preseason coaches’ poll, the Owls vals. found themselves ranked ninth out of the 10 “Who knows, this year we could struggle teams. again,” coach Seamus O’Connor said. “I’m just In a conference with programs like Central interested to see where we’re at, how close we are Florida, which has been nationally ranked on and to some of these teams.” off this season, the Owls will be tested. Senior O’Connor said he expected struggles last outside back Alyssa Kirk says the team is emyear. Going from the Atlantic 10 Conference bracing the challenge. to The American requires an adjustment, and “We expect excellent competition and we are O’Connor said he felt his team just didn’t quite going to be ready for it,” Kirk said. We definitely have the players to make the leap to that level of know it’s a rough road ahead, but I do feel we are competition. prepared for it and expect success.” The Owls went 5-3-1 in non-conference play The Owls finished 1-8 in The American last last season. season, a mark that could have looked different In 2013, the Owls won their first conferhad the Owls been on the other side of three oneence game against Houston, but dropped their goal losses. next eight and finished their season with a loss to Kirk said she feels these are Southern Methodist in the conUP NEXT the types of contests the Owls are ference tournament. Owls at Cincinnati better equipped to win this year. O’Connor said he feels that Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. “The games that we lost by while his team is taking a step in one goal last year are going to be the games we the right direction this year, he is not certain now are able to win now,” Kirk said. “Last year we is the time the Owls will be able to take the step let teams intimidate us but now we are more exup and compete in The American. perienced and confident. It’s the first time I feel “The players have done a better job getting themselves prepared for it, but it takes recruit- like we can be serious about having a successful ing,” O’Connor said. “It takes some time to make conference run and then winning our first playoff game.” that change over to compete at this level.” Cunningham said O’Connor and his staff are Although the coach is unsure how the results making sure that the team is maintaining a game will end up, Temple will head into conference to game approach as they head into conference play having won seven of its first nine contests. play. Transfers junior midfielder Gina DiTaranto Regardless of what happens to the Owls as and sophomore forward Kayla Cunningham have they kick off their conference schedule against helped add a scoring punch to an offense that Cincinnati on Thursday, the team’s hot start has struggled to find the back of the net last year. put the team in a good position. Defensively, the Owls have been challenged Cunningham feels her team is starting to play in only a few of their contests so far this season, their best soccer at the right time. allowing goals in just two games. “I think the biggest difference for the team When the defense has allowed opponents to going from the non-conference to the conferget through, junior goalkeeper Shauni Kerkhoff ence schedule is us really starting to peak,” Cunhas been impressive in net. Kerkhoff, who has ningham said. “I know from the beginning coach registered a 84.8 save percentage through the O’Connor said that by conference play he wants early going, is aware her job is about to get a lot us to start peaking as a team and individuals so I more difficult. “The biggest adjustment will be the number think that’s starting to show for us.” of shots that I will face and the quality of said shots,” said Kerkhoff. “We are playing against * owen.mccue@temple.edu
David Macwilliams’ team will look to rebound from a 1-1-5 start in the 2014 season.
Seamus O’Connor remains unsure of his team’s chances in The American.
… getting used to all the different venues and settings.” McClements added The American’s diversity makes it one of the more prestigious men’s soccer conferences in the nation. STEVE BOHNEL “It’s an elite conference because you’re getting a variety of top teams from around the counThe Temple News try,” McClements said. “At any time, any one In its second year of existence, the American team can beat another … in general, the competition is so stiff that it makes it very difficult.” Athletic Conference is wide open. Temple must perform well in this demanding That’s a good thing for the men’s soccer portion of the schedule in order to turn its season team, which has started the season 1-1-5 through around. They start with a home Sept. 19. Temple finished fourth UP NEXT match against Cincinnati on Sept. in the conference last fall, after Owls vs. Delaware 27. being picked to place last in the Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. Much like McIntosh, Temple preseason coaches’ poll. coach David MacWilliams places emphasis on This year, the conference has seen some retravel with making a conference schedule diffialignment, as Louisville and Rutgers have departcult. But unlike Tulsa’s coach, MacWilliams said ed after only one season and Tulsa has joined to the jump from the Atlantic 10 Conference to The round out the American. American made that part easier. Tulsa coach Tom McIntosh is in his 20th He said playing games on season at the helm of the GoldFriday and Sunday in the A-10 en Hurricanes. Despite that would prevent his players from wealth of experience and havbeing able to recover physically, ing coached in three different as well as making it harder to conferences already, McIntosh scout teams. In The American, said it will be a challenge due to the schedule is hard because of one specific reason. strong play across all eight teams. “The biggest thing with From a technical standpoint, [the American] is the travel can senior goalie Dan Scheck said be pretty demanding,” McInthere were some noticeable diftosh said. “Even though you’re ferences between the A-10 and flying, you still have long travel the American. days … We’ve been through “The A-10 was a more physthat, and kind of know how to Matt Mahoney / sophomore defender ical type of game,” Scheck said. handle those situations, so that “[There are] a lot more bigger and athletic guys, will help [us].” whereas in the American, there are more techniTulsa is a small school of about 3,400 stucal guys … teams are very good on the ball, and dents, but that hasn’t prevented the program from there’s a lot of skill.” achieving success. Two years ago, the Golden One aspect the Owls have going for them is Hurricanes won the Conference-USA tournathe fact that winning the conference tournament ment. can be done from a lower-finishing team. Last Overall, Tulsa has reached the NCAA touryear, fifth-seeded University of Southern Florida nament eight times in its 34-year history. knocked off fourth-seeded Temple in the first Southern Methodist is another smaller school round 1-0, and then proceeded to win the tournathat has gained success in recent years. Just fewment and qualify for the NCAA tournament. er than 11,000 students attend SMU, a school that The conference schedule could thus prove to is home to a soccer program that has qualified for be a sort of “second season” for the Owls, who the NCAA tournament 29 times and won seven need to perform well in the American to salvage conference tournaments since its founding in what has been a tough road for the Owls thus far. 1975. Sophomore defender Matt Mahoney said Tim McClements, in his seventh season as that the start of play in the American may be exthe Mustangs’ coach, said there were many things actly what Temple needs. he and his team needed to become acclimated “I think it will be a new start for us, which with The American in its inaugural season last is good,” Mahoney said. “I think we’ll be able fall. to get a clean sheet in the beginning of it, and go “Making the move [from Conferencefrom there. USA] to the American, you’re flying to different schools,” McClements said. “[You’re in] different parts of the country, staying in different hotels * steve.bohnel@temple.edu
“I think
[conference play] will be a new start for us, which is good ... we’ll be able to get a clean sheet.
”
T
@SteveSportsGuy1
SPORTS O’CONNOR UNCERTAIN
After picking up one win against conference opponents in 2013, coach Seamus O’Connor is unsure where his team will stack up this season. PAGE 19
Our sports blog
CONFERENCE PREVIEW
Semborski takes on new role
WILLIAMS OUT WITH BACK INJURY
The American schedule will have a new look in 2014 for men’s and women’s soccer, with Tulsa replacing Louisville and Rutgers. PAGE 19
Junior running back Zaire Williams, who rushed for 533 yards on 101 carries in 2013, is out with a bulging disc. PAGE 17
temple-news.com
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ICE HOCKEY
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
TEMPLE 59 | DELAWARE STATE 0
Fordham loss used as lesson Players used last year’s FCS loss as a learning experience.
After two years as a backup goalie, Eric Semborski will start.
ANDREW PARENT Assistant Sports Editor
STEPHEN GODWIN The Temple News Eric Semborski had never been there before. The goalie had started on the Wilkes-Barre travel team and the Empire Junior Hockey League’s Jersey Wildcats before coming to Temple in 2011. Not since the first weekend of the Wilkes-Barre season had he been a backup. When he joined Temple’s ice hockey club in 2011, he was stuck as the No. 3 goalie behind Chris Mullen and starter Will Neifeld. It was certainly not the role Semborski envisioned when he grew up modeling himself after former NHL goalie John Vanbiesbrouck. “I did not handle the backup role well at all,” Semborski said. “It’s a different animal when you have to come off the bench. You are cold and you haven’t warmed up in nearly an hour and you have to be mentally tough.” Opportunity appeared to come at the end of the 2011-12 season when Neifeld abruptly left the team before the last weekend of the playoffs in the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association. The battle for the No. 1
SEMBORSKI PAGE 18
“I think they’ve got the right kind of guys leading that group [on special teams],” Rhule said. “[Redshirt sophomore] Avery Williams is our special teams captain. It’s one of the things that gets lost, he is as good a special teams player as there is in our conference. He runs down on kickoffs and just sets the tone. So many guys are following him, so I think it’s leadership.” As the heavily-favored team, the Owls used last season’s loss to Fordham, a Football Championship Subdivision team, as motivation to not take any team lightly. “Fordham really taught us a lot,” sophomore defensive end Sharif Finch said. “We
The pretense to Temple’s non-conference contest with Delaware State Saturday had a similar feel to it. The game, though, was different from the outset. Like last season, the Owls’ third game of the season featured a Football Championship Subdivision opponent at Lincoln Financial Field. Delaware State, like when Temple (2-1) faced Fordham on Sept. 14 of last year, was an opponent that was expected to pad Temple’s win column. The Owls opened as 38 1/2-point favorites, before bettor types in Las Vegas’ Westgate Superbook bumped Temple to 39 1/2-point favorites over the Hornets prior to kickoff. Last season’s matchup with FCS team Fordham opened with the Owls as favorites in a 24-point spread, and 21-point favorites by Bovada Online Gaming. That 30-29 Temple loss ended with a 29-yard floating pass pulled in by Rams receiver Sam Ajala with four ticks remaining on the game clock. As Fordham players, coaches and fans gathered in a celebratory mob on the field, Temple’s
SPECIAL TEAMS PAGE 18
FORDHAM PAGE 18
HUA ZONG TTN
Sophomore Khalif Herbin returns a punt for a touchdown during Temple’s 59-0 blowout against Delaware State on Saturday.
A poised return
With two early scores, the special teams unit provided an early punch in a 59-0 win. EJ SMITH Sports Editor
M
att Rhule was late to his postgame press conference. He had good reason to be, though, as his team celebrated its largest margin of victory in its modern era. After a 59-0 blowout of Delaware State, the song “Apache” by Sugarhill Gang reverberated through the stadium’s cellars,
the first time music could be heard from the Owls’ home locker room since October of last year. For the third game in a row, Temple altered the history books, this time in the form of point production, breaking a firsthalf record with 42 points and a margin of victory with a 59-point differential. Special teams headed the team’s scoring efforts early on, notching two of the team’s first three touchdowns – one on a blocked punt, the other on an 84-yard punt return by sophomore returner Khalif Herbin. Rhule credited the talented leadership on special teams for providing an early impact this season.
VOLLEYBALL
FIELD HOCKEY
Owls continue to struggle against top-ranked teams The squad has yet to score a goal against Top 5 competition. NICK TRICOME The Temple News There is plenty of work left to do for the field hockey team, despite its national ranking. Temple was shut out by No. 3 Maryland 3-0 Sept. 14, the second time in a week that the field hockey team was shut out by a team ranked within the top five – it lost to Duke Sept. 7, also a 3-0 final. “They’re a phenomenal team,” senior forward Amber Youtz said of the Terrapins. “They’re ranked and they’ve always been ranked. They have the personnel, individually and as a unit, to accomplish great things. But I think we held our own.” Temple was outshot 25-7 on the box, and 21-3 in shots on target. While the game’s statistics were lopsided, the team insisted that the match-up was much closer than the scoreboard might have shown. “They only scored on corners,” Youtz said. “So they scored when they were up seven against four. It wasn’t during actual field play, and I think that just says a lot in itself – that we
Junior defensive setter Alyssa Drachslin is third on the team in assists with 33.
DONALD OTTO TTN
Lackluster preseason ranking disproved by successful start The team disproved their low ranking with a 9-3 record. DONALD OTTO TTN
Amber Youtz advances the ball against Drexel on Sunday.
can just hang with a top-ranked team in field play the entire game and not let them have one goal during field play.” “[Maryland] was a tough loss,” senior midfielder and cocaptain Nicole Kroener said.
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“But I think we’re being more competitive against these top teams like Duke and Maryland. If we keep holding ourselves to wanting these tight, competitive games throughout the whole
NOTEBOOK PAGE 17
GREG FRANK The Temple News Few, if any, saw the Owls coming – at least the other coaches in the conference. Finishing No. 9 out of 11 schools in the conference preseason poll, women’s volleyball’s 9-3 record has exceeded
SPORTS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
the critics’ expectations. The team won the Syracuse Invitational held from Aug. 3031 and Temple Invitational held from Sept. 5-6, before dropping three consecutive matches in the Long Island UniversityBrooklyn Invitational Sept. 12 and 13. The team bounced back, winning the Big 5 Invitational Sept. 19-20. Yet, for coach Bakeer Ganes’ squad, The American Athletic Conference is a step up from Temple’s non-conference
opponents and those they used to see in the Atlantic 10 Conference. “The teams are bigger and more athletic,” Ganes said. “We’ve been in this conference for a year now so we don’t really bother comparing it to the A-10 anymore.” Ganes downplayed the team’s low rank in the preseason poll, indicating that it’s hard to gauge what the conference is made up of until seeing
AMERICAN PAGE 17