TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017 VOL. 95 ISS. 16
Dai takes new role in administration
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Red-hot Owls continue to pile up wins
The former provost says his suit against a former president was resolved.
The women’s basketball team is on its longest win streak since the 2011-12 season.
By JULIE CHRISITE News Editor
O
By MAURA RAZANAUSKAS Women’s Basketball Beat Reporter There is a saying written in cherry letters on a wall in the team’s practice facility that reads: “Play Hard, Practice Harder.” The Owls (15-3, 6-0 The American) are on an 11-game winning streak and haven’t lost a game since Dec. 7. Their gameplay has influenced their practices and vice versa. “In the gym, in practice now, we’re going harder because we know where we can go with this,” junior guard Donnaizha Fountain said. “I feel like everyone’s confidence is now where it should be, where it deserves to be. We’re a team that works hard, so for our record to show that, it actually motivates us to get better.” Temple began its season with a 4-3 record in its first seven games. For a team returning four starters who all averaged more than 10 points per game, it was not the start they had anticipated. Senior center Safiya Martin said the
STREAK | PAGE 16
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CONOR ROTTMUND FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Junior guard Donnaizha Fountain attempts to block a shot against Memphis senior guard Taylor Williams during Temple’s 66-51 home win on Saturday.
n Monday, HaiLung Dai sat at the head of a large conference table on the sixth floor of the Science Education and Research Center, a building he helped envision when he was dean of the College of Science and Technology. He looked comfortable. Four days earlier, the university announced that Dai, who had been removed from his role as provost in June 2016, would be reinstated among administrators in a newly created position as the vice president for international affairs. He will take up the position later this year, according to a statement from Board of Trustees spokesman Kevin Feeley. Dai said the role will
follow the tradition of other international affairs offices, but that he is still waiting to meet with President Richard Englert, who he will report to directly. Englert will define the responsibilities of Dai’s new role. The office will operate the Study Abroad and Intensive English Language programs, as well as support the operation of Temple’s two international campuses and multiple international programs. It will also manage the admissions process for international students and work with Temple’s “partner universities,” which provide academic and degree programs through exchange programs. “In a word, this office is responsible for the globalization of Temple,” he said. Dai’s return is part of an agreement between the former provost and the university after his unexpected removal in June. Dai said he could “neither confirm nor deny” that he received money as part of the deal to come back to the administration.
LAWSUIT | PAGE 3
Students react to Inauguration Day on, off campus Students and professors watched and reacted to the inauguration.
Students protested on Main Campus before marching to Center City.
By GRACE SHALLOW Deputy Features Editor In Tomlinson Theater, after the final scene, the lights are cut. Except for the ghostlight: a lone source of light that’s always on as part of a longtime theater superstition. As part of the Ghostlight Project, performers gathered in front of more than 800 theaters across the country and shined lights into the sky to form their own “ghostlight” on the eve of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “The premise of the Ghostlight Project is we ourselves can be a light in dark times,” said Heather Birmingham, a sophomore musical theater major and the organizer of Temple’s Ghostlight Project. On Thursday at 5:30 p.m., about 30 theater students shined their phones’ flashlights into the sky on the steps of Tomlinson Theater. Birmingham played guitar and led the group in singing “This Little Light of Mine,” as a manila folder with the message, “Respect, compassion and humanity for all. I stand for peace, justice and love!” rested against a guitar case behind her. The theater students’ response to the inauguration was one of several ways students reacted on and off Main Campus. Matthew Janis, a sophomore musical theater major, said he wanted to air his concerns about the future of LGBTQ rights as a gay man. He helped Birmingham organize the event and spoke to the crowd.
By JULIE CHRISTIE News Editor
As Trump gave his inaugural address, Melissa Sherman knitted a pink pussyhat to wear to the Women’s March on Philadelphia the following day. Occasionally, she’d put her needles down and cover her face with her hands, expressing her frustration. Sherman said she’ll carry the feeling of apprehension with her for the next four years. “Those are just words,” she said of the inaugural address. “What’s going to be important is the actions that are taken, the policies that are
About 100 students gathered at the Bell Tower Friday afternoon for a student walkout and protest in response to President Donald Trump’s inauguration. They huddled under the tower to keep themselves and their posters dry from the rain. The posters were adorned with slogans like, “Trump Loves Hate,” and “Respect Existence or Expect Resistance.” They also chanted, “The people, united, will never be divided.” Philadelphia Socialist Alternative organized the protest at Temple as well as the larger protest in Center City, which students later joined. They marched from Temple’s Main Campus down Broad Street to Thomas Paine Plaza — next to City Hall. They then marched to Independence Mall, escorted by police. Philip Gregory, a junior English major, is a part of Philadelphia Socialist Alternative and Temple’s chapter of 15 Now, which fights for a $15 minimum wage for all Temple employees. He began organizing both protests immediately after the election, he said. “We assumed, ‘Alright, it’s time to start working, it’s time to start building, it’s time to start networking, it’s time to start putting this together,’ because we knew this day was going to come,” he said. Gregory said one of the objectives of the march was to get people involved in different organizations.
REACTIONS | PAGES 8-9
PROTEST | PAGE 3
GRACE SHALLOW/THE TEMPLE NEWS Students watch President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday.
JACOB MCGLEW FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Lucy Crawford, a sophomore media studies and production major, raises a handmade sign she crafted earlier in the week at a sign-making workshop at Temple Contemporary.
Despite acting often and being comfortable with talking in front of people, Janis said speaking at the event made him “shaky” with emotion. “Together, we create a beautiful mosaic of colors, creeds and characters,” he said to the crowd. “We vow to protect each other, protect each other’s rights, each other’s lives and each other’s happiness.” Every theater that participated in the project was asked to take action on a specific issue, and Temple’s theater community chose to uphold diversity and equality. Peter Reynolds, the head of mu-
GRACE SHALLOW/THE TEMPLE NEWS An estimated 50,000 people attended the Women’s March on Philadelphia on Saturday.
sical theater in the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts, said he wasn’t surprised that students were using the Ghostlight Project to voice their political concerns. “Seeing the students’ reactions to the election and the amount of grief and concern and real distress I saw many of them express, I was absolutely supportive of them participating in such a healing event,” he said. “Saying out loud that we honor diversity and inclusion … is a way to move positively in the future.” DURING
NEWS | PAGES 2-3, 6
OPINION | PAGES 4-5
FEATURES | PAGES 7-14
SPORTS | PAGES 15-18
Understaffed and overcrowded, Tuttleman Counseling Services is trying to combat long wait times for students. Read more on Page 2.
Our columnist urges students to follow up protests with action to create concrete change. Read more on Page 5.
A junior social work major had the opportunity to go back to college through a program at CCP. Read more on Page 7.
The fencing team features athletes from 10 different states, but none from Pennsylvania. Read more on Page 18.
NEWS
PAGE 2
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
Wait times a concern for Tuttleman counseling Use of services has increased, and the center has limited space for its staff. By AMANDA LIEN & JACOB GARNJOST For The Temple News As the number of students visiting Tuttleman Counseling Services increased in the previous school year, so did the average wait time to access the walk-in clinic and schedule additional appointments. During the 2013-14 academic year, Tuttleman increased its staff by the equivalent of eight full-time staff members, said John DiMino, Tuttleman’s director. But by the 2015-16 academic year, the number of student walk-ins rose to 3,334, DiMino said, about 34 percent more than the previous academic year. Students and administrators said Tuttleman is understaffed, which has led to the majority of complaints about the service. “There’s simply not enough therapists to go around,” said Brandon Rummel, a freshman history major. Rummel said he used the walk-in service, which “saved” him. Wait times for walk-in appointments depend on the amount of students using the service on any given day and students could wait
BY THE NUMBERS: STUDENTS WHO USED TUTTLEMAN COUNSELING WALK-IN CLINIC 2014-15 2,481 2015-16
3,334 SOURCE: JOHN DIMINO
JACOB MCGLEW FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Tuttleman Counseling Services is located at 1810 Liacouras Walk and offers resources, services and information to students.
for only a few minutes or up to half an hour, DiMino said. “We try to normalize it,” DiMino said. “We changed the language in our brochures and online to help people to understand that that’s normal in a large college counseling center in a large university.” After students use the walk-in service, they schedule an “intake appointment,” and the next availability for the counselors could be anywhere from between two to five weeks, DiMino said. Last semester, the wait was usually between four or five weeks, he added. “That’s where we don’t want to be,” DiMino said. “When we increased our staffing three years ago, we saw everyone that year within two weeks.” That same year, the source of Tuttleman’s funding changed from an individual line item in the university’s budget to the services fee every student pays as part of their tuition. Tuttleman has 16 full-time and eight parttime staffers, he added. On any given day, there are usually four or five people working in Tuttleman: at least one senior licensed clinician, a psychologist, junior staff and trainees.
“At the space we’re in now, it’s a real logistical challenge to get everyone to have their office hours with so many part-timers and students in training being here,” DiMino said. Tuttleman is in 1810 Liacouras Walk, which houses the Academic Resource Center, Center for Learning and Student Success and Student Health Services. Construction in the first floor of Paley Library created space for the advising department of the College of Liberal Arts to move from 1810 Liacouras Walk to the library. That space, however, is expected to go to the Fox School of Business. Dozie Ibeh, the associate vice president of Temple’s project delivery group, told The Temple News in August that the university plans to empty 1810 Liacouras Walk for the overall expansion of the Fox School of Business and to “create a business school quad zone” with Alter Hall, Speakman Hall and then 1810 Liacouras Walk. In July, Diana Knudsen, a senior vice dean in the Fox School of Business, said 1810 Liacouras Walk was being renovated in time for the centennial anniversary of Fox in Fall 2018. To shorten the wait for intake appoint-
High school to reopen with PHA’s help By KELLY BRENNAN Community Beat Reporter The Philadelphia Housing Authority purchased the aged building at 23rd and Master streets that used to be Roberts Vaux High School for $2 million. PHA plans to reopen the school this September. The School Reform Commission approved the sale in December. Valerie Deas, 54, who lives on Seybert Street near 26th and graduated from Roberts Vaux High School in 1979, said she is unsure how the reopening will impact her community. “It could possibly have a positive effect, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens there,” she said. In June 2013, Vaux closed outright instead of the city’s original plan to reopen it as a K-8 school. Its students relocated to
Benjamin Franklin High School at Broad and Green streets. Now, PHA will invest up to $15 million for renovations to the building and $500 per student in subsidies every year. Students from Morris and Meade elementary schools will have automatic admission, while others will be chosen through a lottery system, the Inquirer reported. The lottery would not factor in a student’s academic standing, according to the report. Gail Turner, 64, who lives on Seybert Street near 23rd, said she has some questions about how the school’s reopening will change her neighborhood. “What families will it bring to the neighborhood? Will it be higher income? Can the school provide a good education?” she asked. Potentially, the school could be “a big boost” to the neighborhood, Turner added. David Bromley, an adjunct professor for the College of Education, is the executive director of Big Picture Schools Philadelphia — the organization that will manage Vaux High School and design its educational plan. BPSP is a part of Big Picture Learning Network, a nationwide organization found-
BRIANNA SPAUSE/THE TEMPLE NEWS Roberts Vaux High School is set to reopen in September after the School Reform Commission closed it and 24 other public schools in 2014.
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CRIME
COMMUNITY
The School Reform Commission closed Roberts Vaux High School in 2013, along with 23 others.
ments, DiMino and his team are planning group sessions which will serve students who are considered “non-urgent.” “We’re hoping to have groups running every day starting next fall where we can say, ‘Hey, go to see Dr. so-and-so at noon today and you can get started right away,’” DiMino said. Even though there are long waits, students continue to use Tuttleman’s services. “Tuttleman Counseling Center was a great resource,” said freshman pre-health professions major Alex James. “The mind is just like the body. Sometimes you need to get a checkup to make sure everything is okay. … I had anxiety attacks that were crippling, and the center helped me out a ton.” “We want students to not be waiting a ridiculous amount of time and hopefully we’ll also have less wait for that intake appointment,” DiMino said.
ed in 1995 that has a “student-centered learning design” where students choose their own topics of interest. “With a redevelopment of this size and with the history of the school district shutting down their schools, I can’t even begin to imagine how the community could even come close to trusting this process,” Bromley said. In 2013, the School Reform Commission closed 24 schools throughout the city. “[The community] has been through a lot of trauma,” Bromley said. Still, Bromley said he hopes to dispel that distrust. “We prove to [the community] that we can deliver, and that we can listen to these people,” he said. BPSP is in the process of organizing a series of open houses throughout the community in order to hear their concerns and answer questions, Bromley added. Bromley said he is working with community leaders and local politicians for community outreach. “It’s going to be a lot of conversation,” he added. Bryant Williams, 26, who lives on College Avenue near 22nd Street, said the absence of a neighborhood school created a negative impact on the kids in the area. “Kids are being bussed everywhere,” he said. “Some of these kids could be doing something better with their life. They don’t need to be on the street.” Paula Williams, 40, who lives on Master Street near Ridge Avenue shares the same opinion. “They should have never closed it,” she said. Currently, the school is behind other schools in the city, Bromley said. The enrollment process for the next school year started last fall, but the reopening was not approved until this past December. He added that the enrollment process and staff hiring process will begin soon. “There is a lot of work to be done,” he said.
Student reports anti-LGBTQ attack By GILLIAN MCGOLDRICK Assistant News Editor A male student reported being attacked early Sunday morning by a man who shouted an anti-LGBT slur at him. The student was walking with a group of friends on Bouvier Street near French when he said an intoxicated man walked up to the group with two women. The intoxicated man berated the student’s friends, then walked over to him and pushed him from behind to the ground and kicked him in the back, yelling “f****t” at him. The student, whose name The Temple News has withheld for his protection, said he believes it’s possible he was singled out by his attacker for being a bisexual man. He said he believes this because his attacker targeted him instead of his straight friends. Because of the nature of the incident, the student said he believes it was a hate crime. The alleged attacker, who the student estimates was 5-foot-8-inches tall and 150 pounds, walked away from the scene with the two women, said Charlie Leone, the director of Campus Safety Services. The student did not require medical attention, but said he sustained bruising and scraping on his knees, jaw, knuckles and wrists. The student has a pre-existing condition characterized by chronic pain. He said the attack exacerbated his injuries and he is now facing “serious pain.” “As a bisexual man, it was an extremely jarring experience,” the student added. “But I’m not afraid to go out in the future.” When he reported the incident to bike officers, the student said he told them his offender was white. But when the officers called the description out to other officers to look for the attacker, the student said the officers incorrectly reported his offender was black. The officers then told the student they “may or may not” follow up with him, the student said. Detectives declined to interview him further on Sunday morning, but followed up in the afternoon to check in. The investigation is in its preliminary stages, so it is too early to classify it as a hate crime, Leone said. “We will be looking at all elements of the crime and motive, pursuing all avenues aggressively investigating this horrible incident,” he added.
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NEWS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
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DEVELOPMENT
Library still on schedule but making cuts to stay on budget Framework for the new library will be constructed in late March to early April. By NOAH TANEN For The Temple News The deep foundation work for Temple’s new library has been laid on time, allowing the project to move to the next steps in construction, said Jerry Leva, the vice president of capital projects for Temple. He said the library is set to be completed on Oct. 29, 2018. “We’ve done site excavation to where the basement level will be and we’ve put in the footings that will hold the structure up,” Leva said. “Now we’re in the next phase, which is the foundation package.” This phase, which will be completed in March, includes finishing the foundation and basement walls. Above ground steel framework will follow, beginning in late March or early April. Leva said he does not see “anything barring” the library’s completion in 2018. Joe Lucia, the dean of libraries, said he hopes the project will stay within the $170 million budgeted for the project by the Board of Trustees, but only with the addition of some cost management strategies. Leva said millions of dollars are being saved with small structural changes to the building’s plans. “We are significantly cutting numbers back down to meet $170 million,” he said. As of now, the overall design and concept of the building will not have to be altered or compromised to cut costs, Lucia added. He hopes Temple’s new library will garner attention from both the academic and architectural com-
munities. “A lot of people are wondering, ‘What is the 21stcentury library?’” Lucia said. The new library will serve as an example of how a library can adapt to stay relevant in modern times, he added. Lucia said it will be a more active space than Paley, focusing on “social learning, creative engagement and collaboration.” “This is huge,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of new academic buildings on this scale under construction in the United States right now.” “We’re thinking about technology differently in this building,” Lucia said. “With public interactive technology and touch screens featuring student-created content, there are going to be new methods to enhance the way we use technology, especially in research.” The library represents a substantial investment by the university toward academic quality, Lucia said, and will function heavily as a recruiting tool. “Prospective students are going to come to Temple and they’re going to experience this building and say that this is a place that takes education seriously,” Lucia said. Part of the new library’s designs include an open green space where Beury Beach and Beury Hall, which currently houses many classrooms for the College of Science and Technology, are located. Beury Hall has been proposed for possible demolition, but Leva said there is an ongoing analysis of that plan’s feasibility, and that nothing can be torn down until there is a better understanding of how the lost classrooms can be replaced. “Hopefully we can at least get the quad started by the time the library is finished,” Leva said. noah.tanen@temple.edu
BRIANNA SPAUSE/THE TEMPLE NEWS Construction of the new library on Main Campus is on schedule to be completed in October 2018, university officials said.
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LAWSUIT The statement from Feeley added that the university hired a third-party law firm to investigate a sexual harassment claim against Dai, which was made public on July 12, when the Board cast a vote of “no confidence” in former President Neil Theobald. At the time, Feeley said Theobald had emailed the Board saying that he refused to cover up the harassment allegations against Dai and that his removal was a retaliation.
I feel that my name has been finally cleared. Hai-Lung Dai Vice President for International Affairs
Dai released a statement on July 13 saying that the complaint against him was for “retaliation” and had been “characterized as a sexual harassment complaint and publicly linked to [his] removal as provost.” “In the last several weeks I have stood silent and watched my personal and professional reputation be shattered by lies, half-truths and malicious innuendo because I trusted that truth would emerge from slander,” the statement read. “But after yesterday’s events, I can no longer remain silent.” Dai wrote that the complaint against him “was not filed until well after the president had
informed me that he wanted me to step down as provost.” On Monday, Dai said his last meeting with Theobald was on June 10, when they discussed his removal as provost. Dai said he learned about the harassment claim on June 17 and that the removal was “already in process.” Theobald officially removed him as provost on June 28. Feeley’s statement on Friday said that the third-party law firm that investigated the harassment claim against Dai concluded “that the complaint could not be substantiated.” Dai said the claim stemmed from a verbal comment he made seven years ago to an employee, whom he had disciplined for mistakes she made while working in CST. Dai said he reassigned the employee to another department, and she claimed the reassignment was retaliation. He added that the law firm determined that even if the comment he made was substantiated, it would not have been considered sexual harassment. The employee still works for Temple, Dai said. In June, Feeley said the Board removed Theobald because he failed to inform the Board of a growing deficit amounting to more than $22 million in the university’s merit scholarship program. Theobald resigned a week later on July 21, two hours before the Board was scheduled to vote on his removal. The summertime conflict culminated in a September lawsuit in which Dai filed claims against Theobald for slander, misrepresentation and libel. Court records show that he sued for more than $50,000.
PAIGE GROSS/THE TEMPLE NEWS Protesters march around City Hall on Friday, after a rally and walkout on Main Campus.
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PROTEST “There’s not just marches, there’s not just speakers,” he said. “There’s other things you can do. … There’s other things we need to be tackling other than just coming together and marching.” Lucy Crawford, a sophomore media studies and production major, said she protested to empower other people. She learned about the protest through social media and wanted to channel her anger at the election into “something productive.” While members of Temple 15 Now, Philadelphia Socialist Alternative and Stadium Stompers spoke to the crowd through megaphones, another group of about 50 students walked around the corner of Paley Library. They held cardboard signs that read, “Dump Trump” and chanted “Drexel Stands with Temple.” Anne Rubenstein, a professor at York University in Toronto, Canada, was protesting with a Temple profes-
sor. She said they planned to participate in the Women’s March in Washington D.C. the next day. Rubenstein said she was glad students were protesting because it prevented the feeling of isolation, which she said she felt when former President Ronald Reagan was elected. “It gives you strength, and that kind of strength translates into political power,” she said. “For people who were feeling alone, this is a really good way to start. Just show up for stuff and look around.” “I think artists, when they have a similar cause, can create really great collaborative work and channel their emotions into one defined thing,” Crawford said. “A web of resistance.” julie.christie@temple.edu @ChristieJules Editor’s note: Lucy Crawford wrote one article for The Temple News in November 2016. She played no role in the reporting or editing of this article.
ANDREW THAYER FILE PHOTO Hai-Lung Dai will take a new position in the university’s administration as vice president for international affairs.
In his July statement, Dai said he would “not rest or retreat until [he has] pursued every avenue available to [him], including through a court of law.” Because Theobald was president when he publicized the harassment claim against Dai, Temple was pulled into the civil lawsuit. The agreement reached between Dai and the university effectively puts that lawsuit to rest. Dai said the resolution of the lawsuit
outside of courtrooms was to avoid “putting the university in the spotlight.” “I’m very grateful to both the Board, primarily to the Board, and the university,” Dai said. “They gave me the chance again so that I can dedicate myself to [Temple’s] mission.” julie.christie@temple.edu @ChristieJules
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OPINION
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
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EDITORIAL
Read, remain critical and demand the truth As national leaders manipulate facts, The Temple News renews its commitment to the truth and asks readers to do the same. You were lied to on Saturday. “We do know a few things, so let’s go through the facts,” said Sean Spicer, the new White House press secretary. “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration. Period.” His statement in a live broadcasted “press conference,” can easily be proven false by photographs comparing Friday’s inauguration to President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. On Sunday, Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide for President Donald Trump said Spicer’s comments were “alternative facts.” There is no such thing as an alternative fact — either something is a fact, or it is not. To have the leaders of our country try to dictate truth, because they don’t like what they’re hearing, is dangerous. It opens the door for propaganda and the stifling of free speech. Simply put, the White House did not like the facts journalists and news outlets researched and reported, so it created its own account. The government has lied before, as proved by the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandal. But to see officials lie about easily checked facts, and to do so in such a blatant manner, is an insult to the fundamental purpose of journalism. At the forefront, journalists are not concerned with getting a story that will make the most money or attract the most traffic from readers. Our concern is to get it right. We exist because knowledge of the world around us is a fundamental right. We research and analyze because understanding what it means to be a part of this society is a fundamental right. We do everything we do because freedom of speech and freedom of information are fundamental rights. The freedom of the press is cemented in the Constitution, right after the freedom of speech. They are rights recognized by the govern-
ment, and they come without stipulation. There is no “giveand-take” with freedom of the press and our relationship with the government. It’s clichéd, but there is a reason journalists make up the “Fourth Estate,” the watchdog of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It is our job to hold the powerful accountable, and to inform the public of their actions. We hold no loyalty to the powerful because all that we say and all that we do is for you. The Temple News is dedicated to reporting the facts. We do not just strive to be the watchdogs for the Temple community, but actively engage as such. We are not afraid to file Right-To-Know requests to get you information that you need to know. Everything the university does affects students, faculty and our surrounding community. We take the responsibility of documenting and investigating those happenings very seriously because it is your right to know what happens. But this freedom of the press cannot come without help from you. We will continue to publish the facts and provide context for our community, but we need your support. We need to know that you are still willing to read, watch and listen to what journalists are reporting about the world around you. News organizations strive to, but don’t always get things right upon first publication, and it is up to you to tell us. The leaders of our world, the powers in our lives, do not always tell us the truth, and we need you to join us in holding them accountable. Tell them that we are a free press, because that is essential to remaining a free people. The powerful cannot get away with telling lies if they know that we have access to the truth. That’s a fact.
CORRECTIONS 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 Joe Brandt at editor@temple-news.com or 215-204-6737. letters@temple-news.com
Women’s health care is essential Congress’ plan to defund Planned Parenthood puts women’s health at risk.
T
he landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States, was decided 44 years ago this past Sunday. The right to have an abortion has been settled law for years, but some politicians in Washington, D.C. do not see it that way. In order to assert its pro-life stance, the Republican-controlled Congress wasted little time this month in announcing its intention to cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood, a health care provider dedicated to reproductive health and sex ZARI TARAZONA education. “Reproductive health has always been a sensitive topic,” said Rujuta Chincholkar-Mandelia, a women’s studies professor. “I don’t think it’s a new issue.” Unfortunately, she’s right. It’s not a new issue. And it’s unfair for these politicians to continually put their own personal beliefs ahead of protecting women’s health. The existence of Planned Parenthood and a woman’s right to reproductive health care cannot continually become partisan issues every time new leaders take office, potentially threatening to cut essential funding. “I think the biggest thing we’ll have to look out for is that they try and take that Medicaid reimbursement away,” said Luke Robinson, a senior political science major, who has interned at Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates since last September. Some of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding comes from Title X, a federal family planning program, but the majority of this funding comes from these Medicaid reimbursements — about 75
percent, according to a 2017 article from Time Magazine. About 60 percent of Planned Parenthood patients receive their health care through Medicaid reimbursements or Title X. A lack of federal funding would put Planned Parenthood’s patients, especially low-income people, at a loss for important health care. Some politicians try to justify defunding Planned Parenthood because of the abortion services offered by the organization. But this argument does not hold.
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The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, restricts federal money from going toward abortion services, except in the cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life. The health services that these politicians are really defunding include STI testing and treatment, contraception and cancer screenings. These services should not be partisan issues. “I think Planned Parenthood is perceived to be sort of the mainstream to providing abortion services,” Chincholkar-Mandelia said. “People aren’t very educated about the other things that it provides, and [they] think to stop [abortion] everything has to be taken away.”
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“The Republican plan would be: Let’s take the money out of Planned Parenthood because some of their clinics provide abortive services, and let’s give it to other clinics that could do the same thing,” Robinson said. “The issue with that is a lot of these counties where we have Planned Parenthood affiliates, we are the only affiliate offering those type of services.” While studying at Temple, I have personally benefitted from such health care services, as have millions of other people who visit Planned Parenthood every year, like Emma, a senior on a premed track who requested her last name be withheld for privacy reasons. Emma needs the accessibility of Planned Parenthood for health care while being away from home. She uses the organization’s services to access birth control and STD testing. “Some of these procedures and regular appointments can be so expensive, but they really help you out,” she said. “It’s nice to know too that if I ever needed anything I can go down there and make an appointment pretty quickly and easily.” If she couldn’t go to Planned Parenthood anymore Emma said she would visit an OB-GYN, but that would be much more expensive. Emma, and all women across the country, shouldn’t have to struggle for access to health care. “It’s a shame that people are deciding for us what we can do with our bodies, what we can’t do, where we can or can’t do it,” Emma said. It’s time for this to stop. Politicians need to stop telling women what to do with their bodies and stop targeting Planned Parenthood in order to promote a pro-life agenda. It’s not their place. And in effect, all they are really doing anyway is cutting health care access for those who need it most. zari.tarazona@temple.edu
NUTRITION
Alcoholic drinks need nutrition labels Drinkers should be aware of the empty calories in some alcoholic drinks.
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his summer, I turned 21, made too many poor drink choices, and gained about 10 pounds. I didn’t really know what I was putting in my body. A pint of Fat Tire, my favorite beer, is about 230 calories, or about an hour of walking for someone my weight to burn off. So it’s not a body-benefiting choice to chug two, though it definitely feels good in the moment. I’ve been thinking lately about all the JOE BRANDT stuff I’ve consumed. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The beer, the mixed drinks. I’m just now reckoning with the nutritional hellscape that it’s left me in. Especially the mixed drinks. “That liquor could maybe be 80 calories, but it could also have soda or juice or grenadine mixed in with it, that could double or even triple those calories,” said Lori Lorditch, the university nutritionist. “It’s something that could really add up quickly without you realizing.” Some drinks, like hard ciders with less than 7 percent alcohol content, are effectively a “food,” and therefore labeled by the Food and Drug Administration.
But such labels are not always on beer, wine and liquor because they are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which does not require labels. This is a sad lack of transparency in one of the largest industries. Drinkers ought to know what they’re consuming so they can make nutritional choices that benefit them. I would like to realize the calories that are adding up, especially now given what I’ve learned from Lorditch. Alcohol burns as “empty calories,” meaning it has no nutrients, she said. It also interferes with fat burning and weight loss. When the liver breaks down alcohol, that alcohol is burned for energy, and those calories are used before the liver starts burning calories from fats. A blog post from the Harvard Medical School details proposed federal guidelines on empty calories, stating that they should be limited to no more than 20 percent of a daily diet. But budgeting calories to meet this recommendation is nearly impossible without strictly mandated “nutrition facts” labels on alcoholic drinks. For all the opacity about the nutritional content of alcoholic drinks, there are some significant efforts toward transparency that have emerged recently. One was announced in July by the Beer Institute, a trade association representing some of the largest brewers selling in the U.S. — including Heineken and Anheuser-Busch, which produces Budweiser.
The Beer Institute announced that its member breweries would add labels to their packaging that include calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. The group touts that its members sell a combined 80 percent of beer consumed in the United States. But not all of this beer will be sold in bottles and cans that have these labels. Much of it will be sold on draft, where it will be up to the bar or restaurant to note the nutritional content on the menus. “They’ve started doing that with food, but I don’t know if it will go as far as alcohol,” Lorditch said. Wine and spirits trade associations haven’t made much of a fuss about getting this information out there, and the beer-transparency commitment may not be fully rolled out until 2020. In the meantime, I’ll find it helpful to have a general idea of the nutritional value of the alcohol I’ll be drinking, and I’ll try to stick to the philosophy Lorditch expressed to me: it’s OK to have what you like, but have it in moderation. “If you want to change something [about your diet] but you don’t want to give up a [higher-calorie] craft beer completely, you could enjoy one or two of those and then switch to something lighter,” she said. Got it. I’ll stick to just one Fat Tire next time. jbrandt@temple.edu @JBrandt_TU
Beverage
Serving (ounces)
% alcohol
Calories/serving
Beer
12
5-6%
150
Light beer
12
4-5%
105
Wine
4
12%
77
Spirits (Vodka, Gin, etc.)
1
40-50%
64-80
Cordials
1
16-26%
103-123 SOURCE: NUTRITIONHANDOUTS.COM
temple-news.com @thetemplenews
OPINION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017 POLITICS
Protests ought to be followed with action Significant change occurs after the marches end and the protest signs are thrown away.
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rotesting has been a vital part of American history — from boycotts during the American Revolution to marches during the civil rights movement. Mobilization of activists has become easier due to the advent of social media. Within seconds, masses of people can be informed about a protest and within a half hour there could be hundreds of individuals in the anCIERRA WILLIAMS nounced meeting place. Demonstrating and marching are important, but the work does not just end there. The true test is to effectively organize after protests end and to act in ways to bring about concrete change. “For a protest to be successful, there needs to be work done somehow in the political system,” said history professor Ralph Young, who wrote the book “Dissent: The History of an American Idea.” “You have people on the outside shouting, but you have to have somebody on the inside listening,” he added. Young said he thinks many of the protests that have erupted following President Donald Trump’s election have been “nebulous.” “If there is going to be an actual chance to combat Trump during his administration, there needs to be more of a focus on dismantling his policies, rather than just protesting about the dislike of him,” Young said. Students and other citizens need to make our government listen to us through means other than protest. We need to attend City Council meetings, write letters to our representatives and volunteer our time for causes in which we believe.
Philip Gregory, a junior English major, is the president of 15 Now, an organization that advocates for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, and a member of Stadium Stoppers, a group opposed to the proposed on-campus stadium. Gregory has even helped organize protests against the potential stadium, as well as Trump’s presidency, following the election results. “Students today treat protesting like a fad, but aren’t actually invested in the issues,” Gregory said. “Just liking a post or signing an online petition doesn’t solve the issue at hand.” It is easy to fall victim to “fad” protesting or simply voicing opinions online. I myself have done it following the outcome of the election. But it is more important to voice opinions and create impact in more constructive ways. Katie Kimball, a 2016 advertising alumna, has participated in protests for Black Lives Matter, but said protesting is not the only way to make a change. “It is important to be educated on the issues, work within the community and to talk to the people and politicians who represent you,” she said. Young also said the best way to create change comes from self-education. “In order to properly mobilize, one must first fully understand both sides of the issue at hand,” Young said. “There also needs to be a sense of community within the protestors and outreach to politicians in order to ensure the needs are met.” Students have a lot of potential to change the social climate of the society in which we live, but to do so we must remain united and active. We must carefully choose causes and dedicate our time fiercely. “Millennials now have the power in the country,” Gregory said. “And we need to be consistent in making strides in order to create the changes we want to see.” We shouldn’t only voice our complaints online or even in the streets — we need to act.
PAGE 5
FROM THE ARCHIVE
March 1, 1967: Demonstrators gathered in Mitten Hall to protest the Vietnam War. Many were from the group Students for a Democratic Society. “We will march, talk and demonstrate until the truth is brought to the American people,” said Carl Bloomfield, a member of SDS. Students walked out of class on Friday at 1 p.m. to protest President Donald Trump’s inauguration. There was a rally held at the Bell Tower by the Philadelphia Socialist Alternative. The following day about 50,000 people participated in the Women’s March on Philadelphia.
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THE ESSAYIST
The appearance of faith: accepting my Semitic features
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A class inspired a student to think differently about her appearance and its connection to her Jewish identity.
ou don’t look like a Jew.” The statement came from the woman who sat behind me in my statistics lab last semester, after I had explained to my professor that I was fasting that day for Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of repentance. It was a sentiment much like various others I’ve heard throughout my life: “I knew you were Jewish because of your nose,” “You’re too tan to be Jewish” and more generally, “You have that Jewish look about you.” These comments have been shoved down my throat as a way for others to stereotype me, to put me in a box, or at other times to make me feel like an imposter. They embolden others to try to define my religion and spirituality by the way I look. From my own point of view, I do have stereotypical Semitic features: olive skin, darker during the summer months, thick eyebrows and dark, coarse hair that resembles a lion’s mane when not properly taken care of. For much of my life, my appearance has been a signifier of my religion and ethnicity, but more so, it has been a stark reminder that while growing up I didn’t look like the other girls I knew. I rarely saw girls who looked like me in the media. My childhood idols were all blonde girls with perfectly porcelain skin and straight hair. Throughout my teenage years, I
remember wishing I looked less like me and more like those girls on television. I found myself straightening my hair every single day, plucking my eyebrows like my life depended on it and applying sunscreen constantly during the summer, not to protect my skin, but to ensure I didn’t get any darker than I already was. My adolescence — already a struggle to accept the pressures of becoming a woman — in which it was made more challenging by my reluctance to accept my own ethnic features: the burden of not being white enough. T h e n , during my freshman year at Temple, I took Race & Judaism, a course that explored the various intersections between the Jewish religion, peoplehood and race. Suddenly I realized I wasn’t alone in my feelings of dissolution regarding my appearance. I spent the semester
By SASHA LASAKOW listening to my professor lecture on the Jewish people’s centuries-long struggle to deal with anti-Semitism, and learning that
we’ve been exposed to hapless physical stereotypes since the beginning of our existence. Even the clichéd hooked nose isn’t a new phenomenon, having been used in depictions of Jews since the 13th century. Rather than leaving me feeling hopeless, my newfound knowledge gave me the keen understanding that this struggle to reconcile what I saw in the mirror with the history of my people was not exclusive to me. This was a struggle that, while alienating the Jewish people from the majority, also served as a common thread that connected us in our hardships. From then on, I started spending less time criticizing my looks for being different and more time appreciating them for making me an individual. I stopped ironing my hair straight every day and let myself enjoy being tan during summer. I started to embrace my nose, and eventually, I got it pierced as a way to celebrate the “schnoz” I’d been given.
A lot of it had to do with the sudden increase of ethnic girls on television and in advertising as diversity became a cornerstone of the media industry. And plenty of it was a byproduct of maturing during college and slowly letting go of my skin-deep preoccupations. But a larger part of my newfound confidence was the realization that, while many others used my appearance to alienate me, I could claim my looks as part of what made me an individual, not a stereotype. There are still days when I look in the mirror and wish I looked more like whichever Victoria’s Secret model is popular that week. Whoever that model is, she will most likely have lighter skin and smoother hair than I do. But those days are few and far between now. Most days I walk with pride in my appearance, knowing that it connects me to a rich history of Jews going back as far as history itself. Over this past winter break, I decided to embrace this connection even more through a tattoo. It reads “Eshet Chayil” in Hebrew print — a biblical phrase meaning “woman of valor.” The words, scrawled across my inner bicep, serve not only as a way to wear my identity proudly, but as a reminder to love myself for the woman I am — oversized nose, dark skin and thick hair included. sasha.lasakow@temple.edu
letters@temple-news.com
NEWS
PAGE 6
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
COMMUNITY
NEWS BRIEFS UNIVERSITY NEWS
Provost named influential in legal education Provost JoAnne Epps was ranked by the National Jurist, a national legal education magazine, as one of the top 10 most influential people in American law education. Epps was the dean of the Beasley School of Law from July 2008 to August 2016, when she became provost after the removal of former provost Hai-Lung Dai. In 2015 she received of the M. Ashley Dickerson Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers, named after the association’s first African-American president, Ashley Dickerson, and one of four Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association in 2016. - Jacob Garnjost
Library selects new management system Temple chose Ex Libris Alma, a library mangement system, for the new library currently under construction. The system will track items owned, orders, bills and patrons. It will replace the Innovative Millennium integrated library system that most libraries use across the country. Ex Libris Alma is a “cloud-based” software that can update automatically when new versions of the software are available. The cloud-based software is intended to decrease the costs of “on-premises system administration,” according to a release. Alma is designed to manage all different types of resources — print or electronic — on one interface. It is intended to increase the use of library services, according to the company’s website. The four-story library is estimated to cost $170 million and is scheduled to open in October 2018.
Temple takes another seat in SRC A College of Education professor is the newest addition to the SRC. By KELLY BRENNAN Community Beat Reporter Christopher McGinley, a school leadership, policy, organizational and leadership studies professor, sat as a member for the first time at the School Reform Commission action meeting Thursday night. Mayor Jim Kenney appointed McGinley on Wednesday to replace Sylvia Simms, whose term on the SRC expired last week. During his opening remarks, Superintendent William Hite said McGinley brings a “wealth of experience to the School Reform Commission.” McGinley has served as superinten-
dent for the Lower Merion and Cheltenham school districts. In November 2016, Joyce Wilkerson was appointed to SRC’s chair. She is also Temple’s senior adviser of community relations and development. Wilkerson told The Temple News in November that she would abstain from voting whenever the school district and Temple work together in order to avoid a conflict of interest with her two jobs. Two of the commission’s five members are Temple employees. At the meeting, speakers demanded the SRC make the city’s schools a safe zone for undocumented immigrants. The speakers delivered a petition called the Philly School Solidarity Petition, which asks the district to refuse giving information to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and denying them physical access to any land owned by the school district.
McGinley thanked the speakers and said he was “moved by [their] words.” “I look forward to getting to know the district once again,” McGinley added. “I did work here for 18 years, but it’s been a while. I am looking forward to getting to know the senior staff and getting to know individual schools.” Wilkerson said she is excited to work alongside McGinley. “The SRC is small, perhaps too small,” Wilkerson said. “I think we certainly need an educator on the the SRC, and Chris McGinley brings that. He’s been in the classroom. He’s been a superintendent. He’s an educator on education issues. He is a great addition. He gives us a depth we didn’t have before.” The SRC will hold its next action meeting on Feb. 16. kelly.brennan@temple.edu @_kellybrennan
- Kelly Brennan
Car crash shuts down Broad Street near Oxford
KELLY BRENNAN FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS KELLY BRENNAN FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS
A vehicle struck a police car on Broad Street between Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Oxford Street Monday evening, police said. A man inside the vehicle that struck the car suffered non-life threatening back injuries and was taken away in an ambulance. Police temporarily closed Broad Street between Cecil B. Moore Avenue and Oxford Street where the vehicle that struck the police car remained. Temple Police did not send out a TU Alert about the collision and street closing. Police said no more information can be given out until they begin an investigation. - Kelly Brennan
CITY NEWS
Republican retreat to be held in Center City The Congressional Institute’s Joint Republican Retreat will be held in Philadelphia this week, CBS3 reported. The three-day retreat for House and Senate Republicans will be held at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel from Wednesday, Jan. 25 to Friday, Jan. 27 to set their agenda for the 115th Congress. The Washington Examiner reported that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will attend. More than 1,000 people have said they are going to protest the retreat on a Facebook event. “If they think they can come to our city without hearing from us, we’ve got some news for them,” the event page read. - Amanda Lien
News Desk 215-204-7419 news@temple-news.com
Christopher McGinley serves as member of the School Reform Commission for the first time on Jan. 19.
SMC renamed for donor, professor Lew Klein gave the school a multi-million dolar donation last week. By JULIE CHRISTIE News Editor The university announced Wednesday morning that the School of Media and Communication will be renamed the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication. In a news release, the university credited the renaming to a “historic, multimillion-dollar gift” to the school from Lew Klein and his wife, Janet. Klein is the namesake of the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award, which has gone to prominent figures in the media like writer and producer Tina Fey and broadcast journalist Wolf Blitzer. He also taught at Temple for more than 60 years. Klein’s donation is accompanied by “seven-figure” contributions from trustees Steve Charles, a 1980 alumnus of the school and the namesake of the Steve Charles Chair in Media, and H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest and his wife, the release read. Lenfest and his wife are friends of Klein. The release did not include exactly how much was donated to the school. The donations will ultimately go to-
ward facilities, said Dean David Boardman. He said the school is in the process of creating a proposal for new facilities which would expand Annenberg Hall around its existing building. “It’s somewhere between a dream and a proposal,” he said. “If we raise enough together, we can put together an expansion.”
It’s something between a dream and a proposal. If we raise enough together, we can put together an expansion. David Boardman Dean, Lew Klein College of Media and Communication
The release added that the school will be formally dedicated later in Spring 2017 along with other events that mark the school’s 50-year anniversary. Boardman said that a campaign to “build a new home for Klein College” will be launched at the same time with the goal of raising enough money to update the school’s facilities. “It’s only fitting that we recognize Lew ... through the naming of the Klein College of Media and Communication in
honor of the legacy he has built in Philadelphia and across the nation,” President Richard Englert said in the release. Boardman said when he started at Temple three-and-a-half years ago, he saw the school did not have a “great tradition” of fundraising. He also said it became “pretty clear” in his first year that the school should be renamed for Klein. “A college is usually named for someone the university wants to honor in terms of their service or for someone who has contributed a lot of money,” Boardman said. “The beauty in this is that both have happened.” Boardman said Klein was involved in the school before it even was a school, and he developed the first television program at Temple. He added that a name for the school will not only raise its profile, but also increase alumni participation. “Even in our own university people talk about Boyer, Tyler and Fox differently,” Boardman said. “I know now that Klein will have the same identity.” julie.christie@temple.edu @ChristieJules
temple-news.com @thetemplenews
features TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
A SECOND CHANCE AT EDUCATION You are recognizing that student success in college is not just about academic. Tara Timberman Founder, Reentry Support Project
F E AT U R E S
PAGE 7
A program at Community College of Philadelphia is helping people with criminal records receive their associate’s degrees.
I
By EMILY SCOTT Features Editor
n an acting class at the Community College of Philadelphia, Ralph Fluellen performed a monologue about being judged for his appearance. The 27-year-old has about 100 tattoos and read about a phone call he had with a girlfriend when he was trying to convince her to let him meet her parents. “If you love me as a person, they should be able to accept me, so basically looking behind my tattoos and looking at me as a person,” said Fluellen, a junior social work major. “It was good because I go through that with [job] interviews.” Fluellen is the first graduate of the REACH College Program at CCP’s Reentry Support Project, that helps people with criminal records access higher education. Tara Timberman, who founded the Reentry Support Project in 2010, became interested in the idea of reentry and education after teaching literature and public speaking classes at a South Jersey men’s prison.
REENTRY | PAGE 14
JENNY KERRIGAN FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Erin Heald (left), a junior global studies and Spanish major, and Katie Pfeil, a junior marketing major, are officers of the new student organization Temple Refugee Outreach.
New club reaches out to refugees, immigrants Temple Refugee Outreach has plans to help foster relationships between students and refugees or immigrants. By ANGELA GERVASI For The Temple News When Maryam Hallaj moved to Syria at 12 years old, she was thrown into a whirlwind of change and met by dizzying waves of culture shock. Learning Arabic, making friends and understanding new customs was challenging for her. “It’s exhausting, trying to acclimate into a culture that you’re unfamiliar with,” Hallaj said. After five and a half years, Hallaj and her family moved back to the Philadelphia area as the severity of the civil war in Syria worsened. Now a senior studying architecture at Temple, she understands the difficulty that comes with adjusting to a different culture. Temple students are working to make that transition easier — this time, for refugees living in Philadelphia. According to the Pennsylvania Refugee Resettlement Program, more than 3,600 refugees arrived in Pennsylvania between October 2015 and September 2016, seeking a place to live that was free of imminent danger. As 2016 drew to a close, Temple Refugee Outreach was approved as a new student organization on Main Campus. The organization hopes to connect students with immigrants and refugees. The organization’s founders hope to begin meeting in March. “Building those relationships is a really rewarding thing,” said MacKenzie Bonner, a junior global studies and Spanish major and the president of the new organization. The idea for the organization formed at a refugee center in Rome, where Bonner worked as an intern teaching English to immigrants while she studied abroad. Katie Pfeil, a junior marketing major and vice president of TRO, worked alongside Bonner, preparing refugees for the workforce. Pfeil noticed that many at the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center had left their countries as doctors and engineers, but were applying to be cleaners and chefs in their new countries. Both students were struck by the daily struggles refugees faced. When Seth Finck, an Honors Program adviser, visited the center, he was moved as well.
BRIANNA SPAUSE/THE TEMPLE NEWS Ralph Fluellen was the first graduate of the Community College of Philadelphia’s Reentry Support Project, REACH. He graduated in May 2016 and started classes at Temple this past August.
REFUGEE | PAGE 13
Alumna fosters ‘alternative voices in the media’ through film The films explored issues like familial relationships, drug addiction and abuse.
screenwriting, directing and producing course at Dayton Correctional Institution and produce one short film made in collaboration with her students. Eventually though, Chukwu decided to turn each of her five students’ stories into short films, rather than producing one collaborative film. “I wanted to create an empowering experience for these women to tell their own stories on their own terms,” she added.
Four of the screenwriters — Jamie, Kamisha, Beverly and Aimee — all asked to keep their last names out of this story. The writer of the film “Love or Loyalty,” which looks at the bonds formed between women in prison, wished to remain completely anonymous. Jamie and Aimee both wrote films about addiction, while Kashima and Beverly’s films focused on women’s issues like the hardships of incarceration and motherhood.
MARIJUANA | PAGE 10
WELLNESS | PAGE 11
FORBES | PAGE 12
WOMEN | PAGE 12
A professor helped organized a marijuana-smoking event in Rittenhouse Square as a reaction to a City Council decision.
Some courses in the theater department are focused on putting a student’s mental and physical health first.
Several alumni are being recognized for their innovative work on the Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list.
A new student organization on campus is working to address opportunity gaps that women of color often face.
By MEGHAN COSTA For The Temple News After the 2011 execution of Troy Davis, a Black man from Georgia
convicted of killing an off-duty police officer, Chinonye Chukwu said she felt compelled to give incarcerated people a voice. Chukwu, a 2010 master’s of film and media arts alumna, founded Pens to Pictures in 2015 — a project that teaches incarcerated women how to write and direct short films. Chukwu is also a film production professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Initially, Chukwu said she planned to teach a
Chukwu brought in five co-directors to help the women plan out their short stories. All of the co-directors were women because Chukwu knew some of the films dealt with abuse and she wanted writers to feel comfortable during the process. “Some of the ladies had never gone through a creative revision process,” Chukwu said. “It was a challenge.”
FILM | PAGE 13
F E AT U R E S
PAGE 8 Continued from Page 1
REACTIONS proposed. This is ceremony.” Sherman, a sophomore geology major, attended the Inauguration Viewing, Discussion and Teach-In event on Friday morning in Paley Library’s lecture hall, organized by journalism professor Karen Turner. Turner said she remembers at least five different on-campus viewing parties for President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. When she contacted Paley in late November, none had been scheduled. Despite personal feelings of nervousness or excitement about the upcoming presidential administration, Turner said the event is a way for students to stay politically engaged. “We can’t close ourselves off,” she said. “We need to create an environment where people with differing points of views can come together and share. The only way to understand how other people view the world is to
have a discussion with them.” Turner, theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon and Elisabeth Fornaro, a fourth-year urban education doctoral candidate, led an open discussion after the inaugural address with students and faculty members. Turner also brought in speakers to talk about bystander intervention and activism as part of the teach-in, including Jai Singletary, the vice president of external affairs for Temple Student Government. “We need to know the facts,” Turner said. “Watching the inaugural address is a benchmark, and then we can go from there.” The day before more than 500,000 people gathered for the Women’s March on Washington, Morgan Lepre, a sophomore political science major, stood on the National Mall to watch the man she voted for become the 45th president. “It was a very unique experience seeing President Trump take the oath of office, just because it was only
possible with the 44 other men who allowed it to be possible ... and gave power up to one another even though they had completely different viewpoints from each other,” Lepre said. Lepre added that her father was a football coach, and she grew up around rhetoric similar to Trump’s
To have so many communities shocked and scared concerns me as a woman. Sienna McGinnis Junior graphic design major
controversial comments about women during the campaign. The comments she heard were “nothing new,” she said. She pointed out Trump hired Kellyanne Conway — the first woman to run a Republican presidential campaign — and said Hillary Clinton’s “track record” made her unfit to be
GRACE SHALLOW/THE TEMPLE NEWS Top: Students hold their phones’ flashlights up as part of the Ghostlight Project, a national movement, on the steps of Tomlinson Theater on Jan. 19. Middle: Jill Caldwell, a sophomore psychology major, smiles as she looks at senior musical theater and acting major Lisa DeChristofaro holding a sparkler. Bottom: Matthew Janis, a sophomore musical theater major, speaks to the crowd gathered on the steps of Tomlinson Theater.
features@temple-news.com
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017 the first woman to become president. “As a woman myself, I feel like I don’t have any rights that could be taken away,” Lepre said. AFTER Arnelle Obdoe felt like she couldn’t express herself as a Trump supporter on Main Campus during the election without being attacked for her political view. “If I brought up the election and even said ‘Trump’ [on campus], there was an automatic freeze reaction, people walked away or turned their noses or just lashed out and attacked me,” the senior theater major said. “It’s OK if people disagree.” Obdoe attended an inaugural ball watch party on Friday at the Student Center, which was hosted by the Temple University Political Science Society. George Basile, a junior political science major, helped organize the event as the club’s public relations director. The club is a nonpartisan political forum and its regular body meetings often include discussion of different views, he said. Basile said the members and board members of the club are a mix of Republicans, Democrats and Independents. “We encourage debate,” Basile said. “We definitely try to get a candid sense of where their political ideol-
ogy might be because it can be a little threatening for both sides.” TSG President Aron Cowen said Inauguration Day events at Temple are extensions of students’ engagement with politics. “In a time of rising partisanship, I think it’s important to be able to sit down and just witness one of the hallmarks of American democracy, which is the peaceful transition of power,” said Cowen, who attended the event. “It’s always awe-inspiring.” Hours later, however, millions of people participated in marches across the world dissenting the rhetoric and ideals that people say Trump pushed while campaigning to become 45th president of the United States. Katherine Galvin and Sienna McGinnis, two junior graphic design majors, were two of the estimated 50,000 people to attend the Women’s March on Philadelphia on Saturday, which began at Logan Square in Center City and ended with a rally at Eakins Oval. McGinnis said she’s never described herself as a “super political person,” but this election inspired her to go out and make a change herself. “I think it really shakes me as a person to have so many of my close friends seriously upset and distraught over this,” she added. “To have so CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
AMELIA BURNS FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Top: Protestors of all ages attended the Women’s March on Philadelphia on Saturday. Bottom: Estimates have said that roughly 50,000 people attended the Women’s March on Philadelphia. There were marches in nearly every major city.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE many communities shocked and scared concerns me as a woman.” According to the Women’s March website, its goal was to bring people together “regardless of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, political party, immigration status, sexual identity or orientation.” Uniting for inclusivity, not out of anger, is what Galvin said encouraged her to attend. She also wanted to march in support of Planned Parenthood, an organization she and many of her friends have used in the past, she said. “It’s definitely a place that’s very accessible,” Galvin said. “It’s always been part of my life and a positive one.” Kelly Holohan, head of the graphic and interactive design program in the Tyler School of Art, attended the Women’s March on Washington, which an estimated 500,000 attended.
F E AT U R E S “It was amazing to look over all of those pink hats,” she said. “We needed to document it. Not only to have our voices heard in the moment, but to say we were there, we recognize the importance of that moment.” Representatives from Temple’s Special Collections Research Center had a table set up at Logan Square and walked the perimeter of the march on Saturday to collect posters. Director of the center, Margery Sly, said they gathered at least 200 items from the event — a standout being a poster of a cartoon whale holding a sign reading “Save the Humans.” She added that archiving the signs seemed natural, and they will become part of a collection with artifacts from a march in Philadelphia during 1913 that protested for women’s suffrage. “I would certainly consider [the march] an important piece of Philadelphia history and it has aspects of counterculture,” Sly said. “Counterculture is fringe, alternative, out-of-the-
GRACE SHALLOW/THE TEMPLE NEWS Caitlyn Koch, a sophomore public relations and political science major, and Emily Detweiler, a sophomore film and media arts major, hold their signs at the Women’s March on Philadelphia at Logan Square in Center City.
mainstream, varying from the prevailing social norm.” Critiques of the marches held around the world have surfaced on social media, including the ideas that Trump opposers need to learn to “deal with it” and marching won’t change the election’s results. McGinnis said the idea that the march has the potential to impact individuals, not legislature, is not talked about enough. She said she felt hopeful on Saturday morning.
PAGE 9 “Doing something is never going to do nothing,” McGinnis said. “My little sister could be sitting at home [watching] and be like, ‘That’s amazing.’ It’s not that it’s affecting the country, it’s affecting somebody who could also make a change themselves.” grace.shallow@temple.edu @Grace_Shallow
AMELIA BURNS FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS An estimated 50,000 people attended the Women’s March on Philadelphia on Saturday. The march was an international response to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric toward women and other groups.
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Professor organizes marijuana protest in Center City The event was created in reaction to the “wallsitting ban” proposed in Rittenhouse Square. By HENRY SAVAGE For The Temple News While sitting on the walls of Rittenhouse Square, seven marijuana activists smoked in front of officials from Philadelphia’s Major Crimes Unit on Friday. When prompted by police, each person stepped down from the wall, handed the police officers their marijuana, and was escorted for a citation. One by one they peacefully walked away, all with smiles on their faces. On Friday, members of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws met with other activists in Rittenhouse Square to peacefully demonstrate how to handle police interaction when caught with possession of marijuana. Chris Goldstein, who instructs the class, Marijuana in the Media, was one of the organizers and leaders of the event, called “Toke Back the Wall.” The name is a play on the recent “wall-sitting ban” put into effect last week and lifted days later by Mayor Jim Kenney. Goldstein estimated 20-30 people smoked marijuana at the event. He and the two other organizers, Nikki Allen Poe and Mike Whiter, agree on three rules to follow when being cited by the police. “Don’t freak out, have your I.D. out and ready and go through the process peacefully,” they said throughout the event. Capt. Frank Palumbo, who works for a cross-district police unit
GENEVA HEFFERNAN/THE TEMPLE NEWS Holly Patterson, a senior psychology and neuroscience major, poses with the “Toke Back the Wall” event poster in Rittenhouse Square on Friday.
in Center City, was among about a dozen officers present. “I want there to be peace, and we are in favor of freedom of expression,” Palumbo said. “Currently, smoking marijuana is also a code violation notice. My job as police supervisor is to make sure the city ordinance is upheld.” Students, dog walkers, families and children made up a crowd of 75 people, who stood in the rain to watch the demonstration. Rhiannon Hickey, a junior kinesiology major, was there to support the cause with her friends. She hopes for expansion of medical marijuana
or total legalization to help her with her own medical needs. She said she suffers from anxiety, and smoking helps her calm down. “It can depend on the strain though, sometimes it can make my anxiety worse,” Hickey said. “That is why I feel it should be legalized. I’ll be sure of what I am buying.” Holly Patterson, a senior psychology and neuroscience major, also attended the demonstration. During her time at Temple, she has studied the effects of marijuana on the human brain and said she was there to support the activists’ cause. “I’ve seen medical marijuana
work, I’ve seen FMRI usage of marijuana in patients,” she said. “You can’t deny the medical applications.” Organizer Whiter live-streamed the entire demonstration via Facebook, while activists like Jim Wayne participated in the event and peacefully complied to police requests. Wayne, a medical marijuana patient from New Jersey, said he has been smoking marijuana in Rittenhouse Square since the 1970s, and he was the first to be escorted away from the park on Friday. “It’s something that’s very important to me,” Wayne said. “With marijuana, I got off of years of percocets,
Valium and every other drug they wanted to shove down my throat.” Goldstein said 10 citations were written for violating city ordinance during the protest, but many others participated without being cited. “Essentially we decriminalized pot, and we want it to be safe everywhere,” Poe said. “The way tension is in everything in the United States right now ... if people believe in something, you better get off your ass and stand up for it.” henry.savage@temple.edu
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GENEVA HEFFERNAN/THE TEMPLE NEWS Top: Participants in the “Toke Back the Wall” event in Rittenhouse Square sat to protest the “no sitting” signs erected in the park while police monitored the scene. Middle: Rob Inglesby takes a puff of his joint at the event. Bottom: Marijuana supporters gathered in Rittenhouse Square on Jan. 20 to protest the “no sitting” signs put up in the park.
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Theater professor teaches more than technique in classroom Maggie Anderson encourages physical, mental and emotional health. By GRACE SHALLOW Deputy Features Editor Maggie Anderson begins every class she teaches with a mantra. To start one day, she told the students in her class, “choose love instead.” Since that class, Jordan Dobson, a junior musical theater major and acting major, said he’s tried to follow Anderson’s principle every day. “That’s one of the biggest things I’ve been saying to myself instead of feeding into negativity,” he said. Anderson is a musical theater and movement professor, a choreographer and the director of movement in the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts. She is also a certified health and wellness coach. She said she takes a holistic approach to teaching, meaning she thinks that students’ mental, physical and emotional well-being affects their performance or overall health. Anderson said she combines her two passions — theater and fitness — in the classroom. She hopes to develop a course called “Wellness for the Performer,” which would officially integrate physical and emotional selfcare into TFMA’s curriculum by next year. “We can’t just separate who we are from what we do, especially as an artist,” Anderson said. “They are intertwined.” Anderson said she discusses healthy eating habits during class to promote physical health, but never takes a “one-size-fits-all” approach for dieting or encourages students to look like a certain body type. “One man’s medicine can be another man’s poison,” she said. “I believe in bio-individuality. … Your system is unlike someone else’s system.” Anderson has participated in theater since she was 9 years old, and she said she saw the stress of business negatively affect her peers’ body image and self-confidence. That inspired her to learn more about promoting wellness and to serve others through education. She often asks students during class about how they have nourished themselves that day — and she’s worried the least about what they’ve eaten so far, she said. Instead, she wants students to reflect on the relationships and people they’re surrounded by and how they affect them. Peter Reynolds, the head of musical theater at TFMA, said Anderson’s teaching style prepares students to deal with the real-life experience of
theater: a “brutal” business. “She provides really meaningful information and guidelines and tips and personal attention when students ask for it from her,” Reynolds said. “She’s really generous.” In class, she discusses techniques that increase mindfulness for students, like meditation. Outside the classroom, she spends most of her office hours talking to students about their personal problems. Dobson said Anderson’s stress relief practices and personal support help him cope with the stress of being an aspiring professional performer. “It’s a field of rejection,” Dobson added. “Constantly going out to auditions and giving all of the emotion you have and just having people behind the table judge you and say, ‘No, thank you. You’re not what we want.’ It hurts.” Besides the practices taught in Anderson’s classes, Dobson said the familial relationships he has with professors and peers is a source of strength and wellness within TFMA. Freshman year, Dobson confided in Reynolds about his confusion about his sexuality and he said he often talks to Anderson about his personal problems. “They’ve always created an environment where I and several other students are comfortable talking
about not only academics, but our personal lives,” he said. “Because that’s a big part of college, like finding out who you are. I think of them not only as professors, but as mentors and friends as well.” Emotional connection among students and professors is a given within the theater community, Anderson said. Through expression,
dancing and acting, students and performers are constantly putting themselves in each other’s shoes and attempting to understand their experiences, which fosters compassion. Her main goal, she said, is to eradicate the archetype of a “suffering artist.” “I actually want people to get in touch with the source of joy and well-
being,” she added. “When people are debilitated by anxiety, depression, poor nutrition and different things, they can’t do the work.” grace.shallow@temple.edu @grace_shallow
AMULYA MALLU FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Top: Students from Maggie Anderson’s Advanced Jazz class perform a jazz move. Anderson is a musical theater and movement professor in the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts who places emphasis on nurturing mental, physical and emotional health for students studying musical theater. Bottom: Anderson starts classes by practicing warm-up routines.
Professor starts Trump-themed tour in Atlantic City The tour takes visitors to the president’s former casinos and other significant locations. By YASMINE HAMOU For The Temple News At the end of a 90-minute tour around Atlantic City, New Jersey, participants stand before a blacked-out “Trump” sign on the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, which closed in 2014. Levi Fox, an Intellectual Heritage professor and an American and public history doctoral candidate, created the Trump Gambling Heritage Tour. He first began to offer the tours in September and held them every Saturday until the inauguration last Friday. The tour began on the boardwalk at the closed Trump Taj Mahal casino and took visitors to other famous casinos and Trump-related locations in Atlantic City. In June, Fox started Jersey Shore Tours, a company with several themed tours in both
Atlantic City and Ocean City, including one inspired by the award-winning HBO show “Boardwalk Empire.” Fox said he aims to make the Trump Gambling Heritage Tour completely objective and nonpartisan by focusing not on politics, but rather on Trump’s influence on Atlantic City’s history. “Not only did [tour participants] learn about Donald Trump in Atlantic City, but also things about Atlantic City that they didn’t think they were going to learn,” he said. “They have the opportunity to learn about the boardwalk, for example.” As a historian, Fox enjoys the opportunity to give visitors a glimpse into the history of the city. Although the tour is the only Trumpthemed walking tour in Atlantic City, Fox said the tour isn’t unique. In Washington, D.C., there are limousine tours that highlight Trump’s personal and professional accomplishments. Fox said it was his interest in American history that prompted him to start the tour. He was interested in the ways Trump’s business
ventures changed Atlantic City. “Trump Taj Mahal closed in October 2016,” he said. “From 1984, [when Trump Plaza first opened] to October, there was always one Trump casino operating in Atlantic City. It was the end of an era, essentially, looking at the last days of the Taj Mahal.” The regular Saturday tours ended before the inauguration, but the tour is still available by request. Meanwhile, Fox is also involved with a committee that wants to start a Trump museum in Atlantic City. Although Trump’s election has been a source of outrage, anxiety and fear for some groups, Fox said the committee is made up of many people with different points of view. “At Temple, we believe in shared authority, the idea that other people’s voices are heard,” he said. “We don’t want this to be a single narrative. The voice of people, the curators, but rather the voices of the community which are sometimes in opposition to each other. It’s not just a story, depending on who you talk to.” Robert Blaskiewicz, another member of the committee and a critical thinking professor at
Stockton University, said the exhibit isn’t about praising Trump, but instead documenting his history in Atlantic City. “The idea behind the project is that now that Trump will be president, his life story will be of interest to future generations of historians,” Blaskiewicz said. “We’d like to get a jump on the process of collection here in Atlantic City. The final form that the project will take is still up in the air.” “Museums and historical exhibits showcase important events in history, good and bad,” Blaskiewicz added. “Trump and his organization had a long history in the city, and from talking to locals, I’ve found a wide range of opinions of his legacy. All of those voices are welcome, all of the stories they tell are important.” yasmine.hamou@temple.edu
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Three alumni make this year’s Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ Former students were recognized in the entertainment, consumer technology and law sectors. By ERIN MORAN Deputy Features Editor Adam Lyons was in elementary school when he started his first business. He competed with the school librarian for the attention of his classmates by starting a candy stand. “I think it was just about seeing a problem and figuring out how to solve it,” said Lyons, a 2009 risk management and insurance alumnus. “I couldn’t get candy and I really wanted candy, so I figured out a way to make that happen.” Now Lyons is the CEO and cofounder of The Zebra, a comparison website for car insurance quotes, and one of three former Temple students to make this year’s Forbes Magazine’s “30 under 30” list. The list includes 600 young professionals in 20 sectors like media, education and science. Lyons joined Jamira Burley, a 2012 international business major, and Quinta Brunson, a former communications major who dropped out and became a development partner at BuzzFeed. Burley, 28, is a youth and social justice advocate and was a National Deputy Millennial Vote Director for Hillary for America during the election. Brunson, 27, created three shows last year and sold two of them to YouTube Red — a branch of YouTube which requires a paid subscription — including “Broke,” in which she stars with fellow former communications major Maurice Williams. Although she works in a different field than Lyons, Burley also sees the importance of problem-solving. She grew up in a family of 16 children. After seeing all 10 of her older brothers become incarcerated and losing one of them to a shooting when she was 15 years old, she decided she wanted to improve the conditions in her community and help end gun violence. “I think it’s a struggle every single day,” she said. “My motivation was recognizing that I have five younger brothers and sisters and unlike them, for a long time I didn’t have good role models. You can be better than your predecessors, you can be more than what the situation around you allows.”
Burley became the first person in her family to graduate from high school and college. “I knew the only way I could become successful, at least in America, was to expand my education,” she said. “Additional education would allow me to be more impactful in my community.” “But the process of getting there was hard just because no one knew what was the process,” she added. “It was a burden, I think, for most of the people in my family because we don’t have a lot of money, but I think a lot of people in my
“My frame of mind has always been, ‘How can I learn as much as I can in order to improve the conditions of where I come from?’” she said. “I think that’s the true meaning of leadership.” Unlike Burley, Lyons dropped out of school when he was 15 years old because he was frustrated by “not really being able to pick as much what [he] wanted to learn” and moved out to enter the “real world” and learn how to take care of himself. “There’s not a guide or a book to tell you exactly what you should be doing and how you
COURTESY ALYSSA CONNOLLY (TOP) AND RYAN BRANDENBERG Top: Adam Lyons, a 2009 risk management and insurance alumnus made the Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list this year for his role as CEO and cofounder of The Zebra, a car insurance quote site. Bottom: Jamira Burley, a 2012 international business alumna was also named on the list for her commitment to ending gun violence.
family made sacrifices to allow me to get that whole college experience.” Her main priorities are working with young people and giving people the resources they need to make sure their voices are heard, like voting information, she added.
should be doing it and how to survive,” he added. “And for me, I was excited to start navigating that world myself. Exploring and making mistakes gave me a big advantage.” By the time Lyons was 18 years old, he realized his interest in business could grow if he
went back to school, so he decided to enroll at Temple. He paid his way through college by fixing up old cars and selling them on Craigslist. Norman Baglini, a former risk management professor, taught Lyons’ senior capstone class and recalled multiple times that Lyons came to his office hours just to talk about careers and the future, which made him stand out among other students. It was during college, Lyons said, that he gained the experience and skills necessary to start a business that simplifies insurance. His inspiration behind the business, he said, was a desire to solve a problem he noticed with car insurance in the United States while he was studying abroad in London: car insurance comparison was far more simple abroad than in the United States. “I think Temple, what stands out to me, is that it was a really diverse school,” Lyons said. “I think that really inspires students and people to think differently and shows people that there’s not just one way to do something, there are multiple things that could work.” Other alumni and students who have been on the list include Olivier Noel, 28, who is spending three years of his eight-year medical school education at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine as a visiting graduate student and Jessica Hische, a 2006 graphic and interactive design alumna who made the list in 2011. Noel was listed in the Science sector and Hische was listed in the Art and Design category. Of the alumni on the list this year, both Lyons and Burley were in the Fox School of Business and said their educations at Temple contributed to their success. “We are the only insurance company on that Forbes list, which is really cool, and we see insurance differently than everything else, which comes from wanting to innovate and think differently,” Lyons said. “And that comes from being in a place with different people [like Temple].” Baglini said Lyons’ story — and his success in Forbes’ “30 under 30” — is best encapsulated by the quotation Lyons put in his email signature. “His read, ‘What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?’” Baglini said. It kind of [sums it up], doesn’t it?” erin.moran@temple.edu @ernmrntweets
New club empowers young women of color on campus, beyond The group will begin mentoring students at the Dunbar Promise Academy near campus. By TAYLOR HORN Online Beat Reporter When Bridget Warlea visited Nigeria, her home country, on a trip during high school, she fed her lifelong passion for female empowerment by teaching women about sexual health. “I loved it,” said Warlea, a sophomore legal studies and financial planning major. “I’ve always wanted to go back to that aspect of my passion because I feel like girls are sometimes left out in the struggle.” Warlea is also the president of WERise Temple, the newest chapter of the WERise Network, or Women Everywhere Rise. The WERise Network is a part of WEBelieve — an organization that began two years ago with a mission to address opportunity gaps for young women of color. WEBelieve, or “Women Everywhere Believe,” was started by students at Columbia University. They started the organization after they learned the Obama administration passed My Brother’s Keeper, a program that address opportunity gaps for young men of color, said Oten Iban, the organization’s director of innovation and strategy and a junior at Columbia. “[WEBelieve] was founded on [the] vision of creating a nonprofit that would serve young women in the community who maybe had limfeatures@temple-news.com
ited resources, essentially closing the achievement gap of young women of color,” Iban added. When Warlea found out about the WERise Network, she said it was exactly what she had been waiting for. Warlea has already met with six local schools to discuss the organization’s Dare to Dream program, an eight-week program that mentors young girls about leadership through various different training programs. The Dare to Dream program was the first initiative of WEBelieve, and it began at the Democracy Prep Charter School in Harlem, New York with 15 middle school-aged girls. Iban said there are three classes in the program, the first being the core program which focuses on setting goals and learning about important historical figures. The second class stresses the importance of having a positive mindset and trying to maintain good mental health, and the last is the STEM to beauty program, which teaches girls of color about the science of their hair and how to take care of it, Iban said. Temple’s chapter of WERise will mentor students from Dunbar Promise Academy on 12th Street near Montgomery Avenue. “I have seen a whole lot of excitement not only from the students, but also from the principals who I’ve spoken to,” Warlea said. “I’ve spoken in depth with principals of different races and different genders that are very excited about bringing this into North Philadelphia and bringing this to the girls because it’s something that’s really necessary but hasn’t really been initiated.” The WERise Network was the second initiative of WEBelieve. It
allows students from other schools to apply to be part of WEBelieve, start their own chapters and teach the Dare to Dream program at local middle schools. Schools that are part of the WERise Network are Howard University, University of Pittsburgh and now Temple. “Temple’s chapter is different in the fact that we already have longstanding relationships with these schools that I met with,” Warlea said. “They all know about the great work
that we do, and they’re all really inspired by our initiative to be involved in the community and do mentorship and other things.” WEBelieve hosted an event called “Her Legacy Conference & Gala” on Friday and Saturday at Columbia University. The event showcased the accomplishments of women and celebrated their achievements. All members from the WERise Network attended, including the six members of Temple’s chapter.
“I’m very excited,” Warlea said. “I expect to meet amazing, beautiful, successful women of all ages and all identities.” “I think women of color are a special group that is often underlooked in the women’s movement or in the fight for racial justice,” Warlea said. “I’m very happy to have something tailored to serving them.” taylor.suzanne.horn@temple.edu
COURTESY BRIDGET WARLEA Shannon Wilson, (left) a sophomore strategic communications major, attended the “Her Legacy Conference & Gala” at Columbia University with Danielle Hardy, a junior psychology and neuroscience major, Bridget Warlea, a sophomore legal studies and financial planning major, Faithe Beadle, a sophomore psychology, human development and community engagement major, and Madina Kora, a junior management information systems major this past weekend.
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REFUGEE “I think that seeing [refugees] kind of having to relearn to ride the bike in a certain way was kind of effective,” said Finck, now the faculty adviser of TRO, commenting on the refugees’ ability to enter a workforce in a new country. That story was true for Rakin, an Afghan refugee who also worked at the refugee center in Rome. As a published writer who condemned the Taliban in his works, he was forced to flee, leaving his family and homeland behind. Because Rakin is fleeing the Taliban, his last name has not been included in this story. Once he reached Italy, Rakin’s difficulties were far from over. “He talked about really horrible things happening in his home country, but kind of talked with more sadness about living as a refugee and feeling not welcomed, just sensing that people were afraid or mistrustful of him,” Bonner said. The summer after returning from Rome, Bonner and Pfeil decided to bring their work home with them. They discovered a program at Loyola University that paired students with refugee families based on the student’s inter-
ests and comfort level. The program became a point of reference for Bonner and Pfeil’s own plans. “They would help them with whatever they needed, whether it was as simple as, ‘How do you work the subway system?’ Grocery shopping, or, if they have kids, helping them with homework,” Pfeil said. It didn’t take long for others to join. Erin Heald, a junior global studies and Spanish major, spent time tutoring elementary school students through Puentes Hacia el Futuro, a nonprofit that provides education for immigrants in South Philadelphia. “Immersion is the best way for people to learn more about the issues that we’re facing,” said Heald, now the director of fundraising for TRO. Puentes Hacia el Futuro is just one out of several refugee-related organizations TRO hopes to collaborate with. The organization’s founders have contacted the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and they plan to receive training from the Nationalities Service Center. “I think that one of the neat things about this opportunity for students is it’s not just happening everywhere else,” Finck said. “It’s happening here. There’s a huge refugee population in Philadelphia
F E AT U R E S itself.” TRO hopes that by the time meetings begin, interested students will have an array of tasks at their disposal, like English tutoring and setting up apartments for new refugees. “I think this kind of stuff is really good,” Hallaj said. While Hallaj and her family struggled upon returning to America, she does not identify as a refugee. But her life in Syria — and her return to the States — taught her that many immigrants struggle with vital parts of American life. “It’s a different culture,” Hallaj said. “They have to learn how to do certain things.” Cultural differences aside, Bonner, Pfeil and Heald each stressed the importance of focusing on similarities when helping refugees settle into a new place. “Building friendships, I think, is the biggest thing,” Bonner said. “Because once you don’t think of refugees, you think of, ‘Oh, my friend Rakin,’ that changes how you think of the whole issue.” angela.gervasi@temple.edu @AngGervasi
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Restaurant Week continues until February The winter Center City District Restaurant Week started last Sunday and will continue until Friday, then begin again from Sunday to Feb. 3. This season’s Restaurant Week includes almost 130 participating restaurants, making it the largest event so far. During Restaurant Week, participating restaurants offer fixed menus with three-course meals for $35 for dinner and $20 for lunch. This season, there are nine new additions to the list of participating restaurants, including Baril, a French restaurant that opened last month at 19th and Manning streets, and Osteria, an Italian restaurant at Broad and Wallace streets. -Erin Moran
Book reading to honor deceased poet The Spring 2017 Poets & Writers Series will kick off Tuesday with a celebration of Philadelphia poet Gil Ott from 8 to 10 p.m. at TUCC in Room 222. Multiple speakers will read selections from Ott’s book, “Arrive on Wave: Collected Poems,” which was published last year. “Arrive on Wave” compiles Ott’s poetry that was published between 1978 and 2006. Readers will include two of the book’s editors, Trace Peterson and English professor Eli Goldblatt. Ott was a disability rights activist and the editor of Paper Air magazine and Singing Horse Press. He died in 2004. -Ian Walker
JENNY KERRIGAN FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Founders of Temple Refugee Outreach, Mackenzie Bonner (left), Erin Heald and Katie Pfeil, formed the group to help students get involved with Philadelphia organizations that provide aid to refugees and immigrants.
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FILM Jamie collaborated with Wright State alumna Liz Yong Lowe to produce her short film, “Trans-Parent,” which tells the story of a young girl who takes care of her siblings while their mother struggles with addiction. Jamie ran away from home and married at 16 years old before she gave birth to her son while in prison. “Jamie’s positivity, artistry and intelligence always blows me away,” Lowe said. “She continues to look forward, even when she is faced with opposing forces.” Lowe said she became involved with Pens to Pictures because she admires the work of Chukwu, her friend and former professor. Chukwu taught for the first time while studying for her master’s at Temple. As a teaching assistant, she taught English to third graders at Joseph C. Fergu-
son Elementary School on the corner of 7th and Norris streets before it closed in 2013. She said she started to teach because she needed money to produce films, but she “unexpectedly fell in love with it.” “Teaching was the first experience I had that made me very conscientious of what I contribute to the world,” Chukwu said. “That was a very foundational moment for me as a filmmaker.” Chukwu added that Warren Bass, the former chair of film and media arts, had a profound impact on how she felt about teaching and filmmaking during her time at Temple. “He was an advisor to me, he was a mentor and he was somebody who believed in me no matter what,” Chukwu said. “It definitely impacted the way I teach now as a professor, in making sure that I also empower my students and remind them of their worth.” Bass said he believes the project is
“very enterprising and very important.” He added that it is consistent with the values the master’s program of film and media arts tries to instill in graduate students. “We want to foster alternative voices in the media,” Bass added. “We don’t want to just produce mainstream entertainment.” Chukwu said she plans to partner with nonprofit organizations, community art spaces, schools, libraries, prisons and jails to host screening events, discussions and workshops together in 2017. In 2018, Pens to Pictures will begin its second cycle of film productions with new participants and new stories. “After meeting the talented ladies and reading their scripts, I was hooked,” Lowe said. “When I’m with them, they remind me why I want to be a filmmaker.” meghan.caroline.costa@temple.edu @Meg_costa19
Candlelight vigil at Bell Tower Tuesday night To remember people who passed away in 2016, there will be a candlelight vigil ceremony at the Bell Tower this evening. The event was organized by Don’t Stall, Just Call, an alcohol poisoning education program for high school and college students and their families. The organization was started by Mary Ciammetti, whose son was a Temple student who passed away from alcohol poisoning. The ceremony will acknowledge the lost lives of Temple students, professors, administrators, police officers in 2016, according to the Facebook event. The vigil will start at 8:15 p.m. -Emily Scott
Free bus trip to museums in Washington, D.C. The Tyler School of Art’s first field trip of the semester will go to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. The bus and most of the Smithsonian-affiliated museums are free, but other nearby museums like The National Building Museum, the International Spy Museum and the Newseum require tickets. The bus will leave at 9 a.m. from 13th and Diamond streets and will depart from the National Portrait Gallery at 4:30 p.m. to return to Main Campus around 8 p.m. Students are not required to go to a museum to take the bus nor to return with the group. -Erin Moran
Philly Connections selling tickets to auto show The annual Philadelphia Auto Show starts on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The show will feature cars from 42 different car manufacturers including Ferrari, Jaguar and Rolls-Royce. The event will run until Sunday and will feature the newest 2018 models. Students can purchase discounted tickets to the event through Philly Connections, a program that gives Temple students discounts to events around the city. Students can purchase up to two tickets with their OWLcards for a discounted price of $10. The tickets will be sold at the box office in the Student Center starting Wednesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. COURTESY CHINONYE CHUKU Chinonye Chukwu, a 2010 master’s of film and media arts alumna, had her first teaching experience while studying at Temple. She is now teaching women in an Ohio prison to write short films.
-Taylor Horn
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“What do you think of the cost of textbooks?” BRIANNA SPAUSE/THE TEMPLE NEWS Ralph Fluellen, a junior social work major, received his associate’s degree in behavioral health and human services from Community College of Philadelphia in May 2016. He earned his degree through REACH, an education program for people with criminal records in the city.
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KATHARINE VAVILOV Junior Architecture
I probably paid about $100. … I’m in the Tyler School of Art, so I don’t have a ton of textbooks. But I know my friends studying business and science pay like hundreds and hundreds of dollars. … I think it’s ridiculous. I think we could do more online textbooks or professors could give us more access to the textbooks online for free.
AUSTIN LOWE Junior Neuroscience
I paid $475 so far. Some of them are on backorder so I have to pay $90 on top of that. … I’ve come to expect [how expensive they are]. I could’ve done a better job if I turned to the internet, but I decided it’s easier to pick up at the bookstore than the books getting stolen on my doorstep or something.
REENTRY “I saw the difference that accessing higher education made to folks who were there,” Timberman said. She added that many of the men were spending 20 years to life in prison. “It made them feel they were accomplishing goals that were normal that they had never pursued before.” After she saw the impact the classes made on those individuals, Timberman realized a program like this could help people in Philadelphia who have criminal records or have faced jail time. She joined the CCP staff as an English professor in 2009, and first started the project in the form of classes behind the walls of the Philadelphia Prison System. In 2015, the Reentry Support Project received a grant and the REACH College Program, which helps people with criminal records to start working toward a college degree. It was modeled after her classes in the men’s prison in South Jersey and takes the approach of “treating the whole student,” Timberman said. After one semester of courses at CCP in REACH, the students can move on to take regular courses and ultimately earn their associate’s degrees. “You are recognizing that student success in college is not just about academic,” Timberman said. “Their success is their habits of mind, their soft skills, their ability to do things like time management. They all have different challenges they are going to face.” For Fluellen, the road to education was not short or simple. During his senior year at the nowdefunct University City High School,
Fluellen dislocated his rotator cuff while playing for his school’s football team. After the injury in 2006, everything started to go downhill for him, he said. “I used sports to escape,” he said. “I enjoyed it. After that, I had the time to go outside and socialize with negative people, people that I thought were my friends.” The summer before he was supposed to begin his freshman year at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he was arrested for selling crack cocaine, which he said was supposed to get him through short-term financial struggles while trying to pay his tuition deposit. He was arrested a few more times over the next few years. Fluellen said one night, in 2010, changed his life. He was out when he was stopped by a police officer and told to “look into the light” so his face could be seen. Over the radio, he heard the officer say, “First suspect I.D. confirmed.” The next day, he found out he was in jail for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. After a year-long jail sentence, Fluellen was acquitted in early 2011. “That woke me up, that there are really people in here that are really innocent and I was about to face a lot of time, so I was like, ‘I have to do something,’” he said. After a drug-and-alcohol treatment program, Fluellen enrolled in CCP and became the first graduate of the REACH program in May 2016. He also had his record expunged in early 2016. When Fluellen learned about Sigmund Freud and the science behind cognitive behaviors in a class at CCP, he said he understood why he committed past crimes. “I was getting into my head…that’s why I did this,” Fluellen said. “I said
‘wow.’ That opened my mind.” While he recovers from a car accident back in November, he’s taking online classes at Temple this semester and taking care of his mother who recently had surgery. Fluellen said that enrolling at Temple has been a great experience, with 60 out of his 64 credits transferring from CCP — although it took some time for him to get used to large, lecture-hall courses with 200 people. “I am a pea in a pot, you know,” he said. “I still kinda feel I have to build some self esteem and carry my head up more, I am new to them, they’re new to me.” Emily Resnick, REACH’S academic support coach and social work supervisor, said it’s important to look at these students in the context of their environments. “What is so necessary is to take each human being, find out their distinct challenges … and how their environment either helps or hinders their ability to address those needs,” said Resnick, a 2012 English alumna. After finishing his bachelor’s degree, Fluellen said he wants to pursue his master’s of social work at Temple. He hopes to someday work with adults who have intellectual disabilities and open a group home. Fluellen added that he credits the REACH program to helping him feel like he can fit in a college setting. “I didn’t have convict written on my head,” he said. “With our program, even though we are together, we are still in the school, on campus, we can walk around. There is no stigma, we can blend right in.” emily.ivy.scott@temple.edu @emilyivyscott
MEGNOT TOGGIA Junior Voice Performance
I’ll probably pay around $200. … I feel like a lot of classes could just focus on smaller books. I know for my French classes, you need those textbooks and they come in packets and those are really expensive. Those take a toll, but it’s just necessary for the class.
BRIANNA SPAUSE/THE TEMPLE NEWS Ralph Fluellen, a junior social work major, has more than 100 tattoos. He said the art was always a means to express himself and be heard, but said he often feels judged in job interviews because of them.
features@temple-news.com
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
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SPORTS BRIEFS
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ROSE like there wouldn’t be much room for him in the Owls’ backcourt. Redshirt-senior swingman Daniel Dingle, senior guard Josh Brown, sophomore guard Trey Lowe and Alston appeared poised to handle Temple’s guard duties and play most of the minutes. “I didn’t see myself playing this much early,” Rose said. “But I knew that playing against those guys, practicing against those guys ... I was going to get better and develop, so then when it’s my turn I’ll be ready to do what I’m supposed to do.” With Lowe redshirting and Brown’s status questionable before the start of the season, it became clear that Rose would play a significant role for the Owls during the 2016-17 season. “Throughout the course of practice, [Dunphy] would tell me, ‘Oh you gotta be ready because we’re expecting a lot out of you this year,’” Rose said. “And that’s what happened.” In March 2016, Rose traveled to Mannheim, Germany with fellow freshman guard Alani Moore II and other players 18 years and younger to represent the United States at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament. Rose averaged 14.6 points per game during six tournament games. He said the experience helped prepare him for his role this season. “We were away for about two weeks,” Rose said. “Away from home, across the country, you couldn’t really talk to your family. It helped me mature a lot. And over the trip, me and Alani got a lot closer.” Rose was Temple’s highest-rated recruit in last year’s class. As a senior at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, New York, Rose averaged 23 points and six rebounds per game. ESPN.com rated him a four-star recruit, while Rivals.com gave him a threestar rating. Alston was in the same situation as Rose last season — a talented freshman playing a lot of minutes. He gave Rose
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FOOTBALL
Owls compete in all-star showcases over weekend Redshirt-senior defensive back Nate Hairston and redshirt-senior linebacker Avery Williams both played in postseason senior showcase games on Saturday. Hairston played for the East team in the East-West Shrine game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hairston made three tackles in the East team’s 10-3 loss. He converted from wide receiver to defensive back earlier in 2015 and started all 14 games in 2016. Williams, a second-team All-American Athletic Conference selection and the Owls’ leading tackler last season, played in the NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl in Carson, California. Williams and Hairston are two of the five Owls who will play in showcase games. Redshirt-senior defensive lineman Praise Martin-Oguike had five tackles and a sack in the Tropical Bowl on Jan. 15. Redshirt-senior defensive lineman Haason Reddick and senior offensive lineman Dion Dawkins will play in the Senior Bowl on Saturday in Mobile, Alabama. -Evan Easterling
GENEVA HEFFERNAN/THE TEMPLE NEWS Freshman guard Quinton Rose has scored in double figures 10 times this season.
some advice before the start of the season and it has been paying off. “I told him, ‘No pressure at all, just come in, play your game,’” Alston said. “I think that’s what he’s been doing. He’s been coming in and playing his game and
he’s been playing the right way. I think that’s a big thing for him is to just come in and do what he did in high school.” owen.mccue@temple.edu @Owen_McCue
PATRICK CLARK FILE PHOTO Redshirt-senior linebacker Avery Williams (right) played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Saturday.
GOLF
Former golfer qualifies for PGA Tour Latinoamérica Ex-Owl golfer Brandon Matthews earned full status on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica this week while playing in the PTLA Qualifying Tournament in Mazatlán, Mexico. Matthews was five strokes under par during the final round of competition on Friday to finish in ninth place at four strokes under par for the tournament. During his time at Temple, Matthews went down as one of the best golfers in program history. He was an honorable mention All-American as a junior, when he placed in the Top 10 in 11 of his 12 events. Matthews attempted to qualify for the PGA Tour during the fall of 2015. He advanced to the second stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School, but did not get any further. -Owen McCue
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Bond sets career-high points total in D-League Former Owls’ forward Jaylen Bond scored an NBA Development League career-high 21 points in the Westchester Knicks’ 118-108 loss to the Canton Charge in Saturday’s 2017 NBA D-League Showcase in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Bond made nine of his 17 field goal attempts, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range in 35 minutes off the bench. He also had nine rebounds and a steal but committed five turnovers. Bond is averaging 7.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 24 games this season. In two years at Temple, Bond averaged 8.9 points and 8.2 rebounds in 66 games. -Evan Easterling CONOR ROTTMUND FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior forward Ruth Sherrill scores a layup during the Owls’ win on Sunday. Temple has won 11 straight games since Sherrill’s addition to the starting lineup.
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SHERRILL starting lineup, so I was like, ‘Alright, let’s go with her.’” The Owls have won 11 straight since the loss to Hampton, with Sherrill in the starting lineup in every game. The rest of the Owls always viewed Sherrill as a leader, but with her in the starting lineup, she has become more vocal. Sherrill has made her mark on the court with her rebounding and hustle plays. She works on the glass and seems to add a battle scar after every game. Her latest is a scratch down her right cheek that she got grabbing one of her career-high 19 rebounds against Houston on Jan. 18.
“I’m glad I was able to grab all those boards because that was the only thing going for me that game,” Sherrill said. “I definitely lose my mentality sometimes, and coach pulled me in, and just told me to work on what is really working for me in the game and not worry about what wasn’t working.” Cardoza had to change Sherrill’s mindset early in the season. Before Cardoza added Sherrill to the starting lineup, she noticed Sherrill was too focused on scoring and was very critical of herself. Once Sherrill realized the little details made the difference, she flourished in the starting lineup. In her 11 games as a starter, Sherrill is averaging 7.3 points and 9.5 rebounds, and she has three double-doubles. In ad-
dition to her career 19 rebounds against Houston during the stretch, Sherrill also scored a career-high 13 points in a win against Villanova on Dec. 10. “When you have a lineup where anyone can go for double digits scoring and any night, with players that are so versatile, you have to be able to do something else or you won’t get on the floor,” Sherrill said. “To get in the lineup you need to be a role player, players that [Cardoza] knows are gonna hustle, play defense and get key rebounds. Those are things that aren’t interchangeable. So those are the things I really harped on, capitalized on and things I’m really focused on.” kevinschaeffer@temple.edu @_kevinschaeffer
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Owls receive votes in AP Top 25 poll The women’s basketball team continued to receive attention in the national rankings this week after adding two more wins to its streak since the previous poll. The Owls (15-3, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) received 13 votes in the weekly Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which ranked third among teams outside the Top 25. Last week, the Owls received two votes in the AP poll and 14 votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Temple hasn’t been ranked since the 2005-06 season when the Owls went 24-8. Connecticut and South Florida are the only two ranked teams in The American. UConn is No. 1 in this week’s AP poll and South Florida is ranked No. 23. Temple plays the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday before home games against UConn and South Florida the following week. -Owen McCue sports@temple-news.com @TTN_Sports
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
GYMNASTICS
Salim-Beasley’s team setting records early in season The Owls broke the school vault record in their second meet. By TESSA SAYERS For The Temple News Sophomore all-around Aya Mahgoub stood on the spring floor, getting ready to make one more tumble pass at practice on Thursday when coach Umme Salim-Beasley turned off the music and called all of her gymnasts together at the end of practice. When her teammates noticed Mahgoub was missing, they stopped what they were doing and started cheering for her as she landed the pass with ease. Five days prior, when Temple traveled to Tennessee to compete at the Ozone Invitational, Mahgoub made her way to the vault. She heard her teammates cheering when she landed her routine. This time, the cheers were because she set her career-high score of 9.825 on the event during the Jan. 14 meet. “It was pretty amazing,” Mahgoub said. “Landing and feeling good about yourself is one thing, but when you see your teammates running up to you and all of the hugs and high-fives, it’s just amazing.” That wasn’t the only record
Mahgoub set in the Owls’ second meet of the season. Mahgoub, senior all-around Briana Odom, junior all-around Sahara Gipson and freshman allarounds Yasmin Eubanks, Jaylene Everett and Daisy Todd set a new program vault record with a combined score of 48.875. “We definitely knew that our difficulty level from last year to this year increased by at least a half a point,” Salim-Beasley said. “We knew they had the potential to do it, and we thought this would be the year we would be able to do it, but we just didn’t think it would be this early, which was a nice surprise.” The previous record score of 48.65 was set in 2012 and tied in 2014. The vault was the second event of the day for Owls at the invite, but they didn’t know they officially broke the record until after the meet when the coaching staff looked back at its record charts and compared scores. “We were just keeping our focus from event to event,” Salim-Beasley said. “We knew we had a really good score, but we didn’t say, ‘Oh my gosh. I think this is a school record.’ We said ‘OK, let’s go get ready for the next event and do great there.’” Odom didn’t find out about the record until she was checking her Twitter feed on the way home from
the meet. “I was looking on the Temple page and someone tweeted that we broke it,” Odom said. “I was like, ‘Oh, so we were right.’ We were just joking around about it, but now it’s been proven that we broke the record.” “I personally didn’t know until probably two or three events later, when Sahara Gipson came and told me,” Mahgoub added. “It was pretty exciting.” The Owls finished the meet in second place with a season-high score of 192.225, only 1.35 points behind the program record for highest team score, which is the next record the gymnasts hope to break. The previous record of 193.575, which was set in 2004, hangs on the wall in Temple’s practice gym as constant motivation for the gymnasts. In their home meet against Ursinus College on Sunday, the Owls scored 193.375, the second-best score in program history. “We are coming for that record this season, I will tell you that,” Odom said Thursday. “I would love for a team that I am on to be up on that wall so when girls come in they see it and say, ‘Wow that 2017 team must have been really good,’ and I can say, ‘I was on that team.’” GENEVA HEFFERNAN/THE TEMPLE NEWS Freshman all-around Jaylene Everett vaults in Sunday’s meet against Ursinus College.
teresa.sayers@temple.edu
fencers’ roots stretch coast to coast
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ROSTER
Temple’s 2016-17 roster features athletes from 10 different states.
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Name
Year
Weapon Hometown
Malia Hee Kerry Plunkett Alexandra Keft Kennedy Lovelace Ally Micek Camille Simmons Auset Muhammad Alexa Prasher Jessica Rockford Fiona Fong Kristen Kemnitzer Blessing Olaode Becca Stanford Safa Ibrahim Quinn Duqelius Victoria Suber
(Fr.) (Fr.) (Sr.) (Fr.) (So.) (Fr.) (So.) (Fr.) (So.) (So.) (Sr.) (So.) (Jr.) (Jr.) (So.) (Sr.)
Epee Sabre Epee Foil Epee Epee Foil Foil Sabre Epee Foil Sabre Foil Epee Epee Sabre
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STREAK early-season losses, two of which were against teams ranked lower in the Ratings Percentage Index than the Owls, may have led to a stronger desire to win. “We had a few slip-ups in the beginning of the season, but maybe that’s what we needed,” Martin said. “A little humbling just to see where we are and maybe just to bring us down a little, humble us.” Fountain said the beginning of the season led to a “humble but hungry” attitude for the Owls. This mindset has helped Temple win 11 consecutive games and receive national attention for its winning record. Temple received 13 votes in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. The team is also No. 33 in the RPI. sports@temple-news.com
Vancouver, WA West Linn, OR Las Vegas, NV Frisco, TX Houston, TX Bellaire, TX Chicago, IL Grand Rapids, MI Livingston, NJ Warren, NJ West Windsor, NJ Maplewood, NJ Brooklyn, NY Bronx, NY Gales Ferry, CT Lexington, MA
Even with much attention focused on the streak and the rankings, the Owls are more concerned with achieving their ultimate goal: reaching the NCAA tournament. ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme has the Owls as a No. 8 seed in his latest bracket projection. “As long as we beat the teams we are supposed to beat and kill the teams we are supposed to kill, I think we’ll be fine,” Fountain said. “Of course, someone else has the last say of who makes the tournament or not, but as long as we prove and build our case, as I call it, building our resume, I think we’ll get the job, which is going to the tournament.” The Owls defeated a ranked nonconference team for the first time since 2007 with their 84-74 win against DePaul University, which was ranked 17th at the time. The 11-game streak is the Owls’
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won’t even try a Tex-Mex restaurant outside of Texas. Freshman sabre Malia Hee, a Vancouver, Washington native, is also getting adjusted to the food in Philadelphia. Hee misses Ox, an Argentinian-style steakhouse in Portland, Oregon, but she said after being at Temple for a semester, she’s starting to try more food trucks on Main Campus. “I’ve gone to a couple,” Hee said. “I went to Burger Tank, that was really good. I’ve also been to Chop Chop as well. There’s also two Korean food trucks around here and I’ve gone to both of those. They were pretty good.” Hee also visited Reading Terminal Market last semester and was intrigued by the variety of food. She said that they don’t have markets like that in Washington. Once the fencing season is over, Hee hopes to explore more of Philadelphia. “I think that they haven’t had a chance to explore the city as much as I hope they do this coming semester as they get more settled into their daily routine,” Franke said. “They have a semester under their belt, so now they kind of know what to expect. So hopefully they’ll explore the city a little bit more and get to see some of the really great things about Philadelphia.” thomas.ignudo@temple.edu
COURTNEY REDMON | THE TEMPLE NEWS
longest since their 14-game streak in the 2011-12 season. The team’s all-time record is its 25-game streak during the 2004-05 season, when the Owls advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. “You know, it’s something that we’re aware of, but we don’t talk about it with them,” coach Tonya Cardoza said. “I’m just excited that we’re trying to find a way to play good basketball no matter what.” Part of playing good basketball is having trust in teammates, Fountain said. Temple has strength at every position on the court. Senior forward Ruth Sherrill averages 7.4 rebounds per game and adds 5.5 points. Junior guard Tanaya Atkinson averages 8.1 rebounds per game and scores in double figures. Temple has lots of scoring options, as four Owls average double digits. Senior guard Feyonda Fitzger-
ald has been the go-to scorer at 18.4 points per game. When Fitzgerald is out of the game, the Owls can also look to junior guard Alliya Butts or Fountain. “That’s a thing that’s good about our team, is you’ve got to figure out who’s going to have the hot hand tonight,” Fountain said. “It could be Fey, it could be Butts, it could be Atkinson, it could be Sherrill, it could be Fountain. It’s not so much of stepping up as it is doing what needs to be done to complete the ultimate goal, which is to win.” In addition to the other feats the Owls have accomplished so far, Temple boasts an undefeated American Athletic Conference record. After Wednesday’s Big 5 matchup against the University of Pennsylvania, the Owls will play ranked conference opponents South Florida and Connecticut on Jan. 29 and Feb. 1. They
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know every conference game will be a battle. “We’re still not perfect,” Fountain said. “We need to get better on defense. That’s our main thing right now. That’s what I would change, just being more in sync and getting better on defense. We work on it every day in practice.” “We can’t get complacent with where we are,” Martin said. “We know nothing’s going to be handed to us and the fact that we are undefeated means that teams are going to want to beat us even more, so we can’t just be okay with where we are, but know where we want to get to.” maura.razanauskas@temple.edu @CaptainAMAURAca
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WOMEN’S TENNIS
Russian transfer Chernykh is a ‘tenacious player’ The graduate student wanted to play in a more competitive conference for her final season. By GRAHAM FOLEY For The Temple News Galina Chernykh may seem like an outsider to the Philadelphia community. Chernykh grew up in Russia, went to the University of Rhode Island for four years to play tennis and then transferred to Temple for graduate school. But like many Philadelphians, Chernykh knows what is great about this city. “Pretzels,” Chernykh said with a smile when asked about her favorite aspect of Philadelphia. “No, I’m joking. It’s a nice city. I like it a lot.” Chernykh said she wanted to come to a bigger school with a tougher conference when she was looking for a school to transfer to for her final year of eligibility. Temple was a perfect fit. The University of Rhode Island is 30 miles away from Providence, the state capital and closest big city. Temple was a drastic change. “It has some pluses and minuses because URI was one big community, where everyone was living together in dorms and it was more safe, but [Temple] has pluses too because you’re in the middle of the city, you can do whatever you want, you can go wherever you want,” Chernykh said. Chernykh is originally from the providence of Siberia, Russia. She said that the primary difference between Siberia and Philadelphia is the climate, but that’s not the main reason she made the decision to come to America. Chernykh said Russia doesn’t offer the opportunity to study and compete simultaneously, like she could in the United States. Chernykh isn’t alone in her experiences. Seven of her eight teammates are from a foreign country. “It’s definitely a different culture, different way of sports, it’s just different,” Chernykh said. “But we have a lot of different international kids on the team so you don’t really feel like you’re alone, because everyone is away from family. It makes it easier.” At Rhode Island, Chernykh posted a 3813 singles record in her first two seasons with a 26-9 record as the team’s top seed. After her sophomore season, Chernykh was named to the 12-member All-Atlantic 10 Conference team, the only member from Rhode Island. Chernykh went 2-0 in doubles matches with senior Dina Karina in fall tournaments. She also won a doubles match with junior Alina
BRIANNA SPAUSE/THE TEMPLE NEWS Graduate student Galina Chernykh volleys at practice on Jan. 11 at the Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center in East Falls.
Abdurakhimova at the Princeton Invitational in September and won another doubles match with junior Yana Khon in the Round of 16 at the Cissie Leary Invitational. Chernykh had a 2-2 record in fall singles matches. In the Owls’ first match of the spring, a 6-1 loss to Old Dominion University, Chernykh was the Owls’ No. 1 singles player. Accepting the transfer of a player like Chernykh is a bit of a risk. There are few roster spots on a tennis team, and Chernykh can only play this year. Coach Steve Mauro said he brought her on the team because of her talent and competitiveness. “It’s just for one year, so you don’t really know, but we did a lot of research on her,” Mau-
ro said. “We talked to both of her coaches, I'm actually friends with one of her former coaches, and we just wanted to make sure that she was the right person for our team and so far we’ve been very happy with her.” “She had great results in Rhode Island, she was one of the top players in the Atlantic 10,” Mauro added. “We did a lot of research and we felt that her style of play would really help our team. And she’s a very tenacious player so I figured her style would really help push the girls as well.” Chernykh’s season got off to a slow start when she injured her foot in practice leading up to the team’s match against Old Dominion. She played through the injury and suffered a 6-1, 6-0 loss, but Mauro said her result could have
been different if she were healthy. Mauro said Chernykh’s injury is “just a sprain,” and she should be ready to play in the team’s next match on Friday against Iowa State University. “She’s a real fighter on the court,” Maruo said. “No matter who she’s playing she’s always going to fight and doesn’t want to lose. Her personality is just to win, win, win. … Unfortunately she’s had a couple of injuries, but I think in a few weeks she’ll be one of the top players on our team.” graham.foley@temple.edu @graham_foley3
MEN’S TENNIS
Kapshuk among the best in the Atlantic regional rankings The sophomore is 17th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Atlantic Regional Rankings. By DAN WILSON For The Temple News
GENEVA HEFFERNAN FILE PHOTO Sophomore Artem Kapshuk plays in Temple’s 5-2 win against Drexel University in April 2016. Kapshuk was ranked No. 17 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Atlantic Regional Rankings.
When sophomore tennis player Artem Kapshuk found out he made the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Atlantic Regional Rankings for the start of the 2017 season, he was just scrolling through his Facebook news feed. “My friend, Julius Tverijonas, who plays tennis at George Washington, he was ranked and he posted the link on Facebook,” Kapshuk said. “I was like, ‘OK, let me check. Maybe I’m on there.’” Surely enough, Kapshuk was ranked No. 17, marking the first time he had cracked the list of the Top 20 best college tennis players in the region. “It feels good to have an actual result that isn’t just, ‘Yeah, I played great,’” Kapshuk said. “It actually shows that I achieved something.” The ITA creates its rankings based upon players’ prior records and strength of opponents. Kapshuk finished with an overall record of 22-7 last season. During the fall, Kapshuk played in the ITA Regional Singles Championships, which featured 64 players from the Atlantic region. He advanced to the round of 16, where he lost to Old Dominion University junior Michael Wiendl, who is ranked No. 10 in the ITA rankings. “He had a great fall, and I think he’ll continue to improve and help us be a top team in our conference,” coach Steve Mauro said. “He’s always been consistent, but I think he’s adding a few more things to his game.”
Kapshuk’s hometown is Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. He played about a few tournaments in the United States prior to committing to a collegiatelevel career in the United States. Mauro first found out about Kapshuk when Kapshuk reached out to the Owls head coach. Although Mauro never saw Kapshuk play in person before he arrived at Temple, he had a good feeling about the decision to add Kapshuk to the roster. “We did our research on Artem and he seemed like a nice kid and he had some good results in juniors, so we thought he would be a good addition to our team,” Mauro said. “I think his game has improved since his first year here.” In just his second year with the Owls, Kapshuk is playing as Temple’s No. 1 seed in both singles and doubles. Kapshuk played 14 of his 22 singles matches in second flight last year and only played top doubles three times. “I don’t think about my seed when I’m playing,” Kapshuk said. “Nothing has changed. When I play a match, I don’t even look up who I’m individually playing. We just talk about how good the team we’re playing is.” Despite being the Owls’ top-seeded player and achieving his goal of being regionally ranked, Kapshuk still has his eyes set on an ever bigger accomplishment. “My goal is to be ranked in the National Top 125 rankings,” Kapshuk said. “The guys who are in the Top 5 of the regional rankings are around 100 in the national rankings, so it is still a long way to get there. I definitely feel that is achievable.” danielwilson20@temple.edu @dan_wilson4
sports@temple-news.com @TTN_Sports
SPORTS
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017
MEN’S BASKETBALL
High-flying freshman adds boost off bench Freshman guard Quinton Rose is averaging nearly 10 points per game for the Owls.
By OWEN MCCUE Sports Editor
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reshman guard Quinton Rose first dunked a basketball when he was in the eighth grade. Rose was playing in an American Athletic Union basketball game in Ohio when the opportunity presented itself. “I got on the fastbreak,” Rose said, “And I figured, ‘Why not try?’” He’s been a dunker ever since. Rose said he used to average five dunks per game in high school. The player he models his game after is Toronto Raptors all-star guard DeMar DeRozan, who competed in the 2010 and 2011 NBA Slam Dunk contests and has been known to throw down some acrobatic jams in his NBA career. Twenty games into his first college season, Rose has been putting together his own highlight reel. There’s been a number of alley-oops and fastbreak dunks, but one stands out from the rest for Rose. During a Jan. 4 game against Southern Methodist, Rose took off from a few feet inside the paint, cocked his arm back and threw down a rim-rattling dunk over a Mustangs defender. Instead of shock or amazement at the tremendous feat of athleticism, the reaction from Rose’s teammates was, “Finally.” “Sometimes he goes up there and tries to lay it up,” sophomore guard Shizz Alston Jr. said. “It was good to see him dunk one time and convert it. I think there’s going to
be more dunks to come. It was fun to watch.” Rose hasn’t started any of Temple’s 20 games this season, but he has provided a scoring boost for the Owls coming off the bench. Rose is averaging 9.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game. He often uses his athleticism and wiry 6-foot-8-inch frame to score in transition. “I’m really comfortable being out on the break,” Rose said. “I feel like that’s the thing I do best.” Rose has reached double-figure scoring totals in 10 games this season. He thrived in the spotlight during Temple’s semifinal win against Florida State University in the Preseason National Invitation Tournament at the Barclays Center, scoring 26 points in his fifth career game. During the first half of Temple’s 8162 win against East Carolina on Jan. 7, Rose scored eight points in less than a minute and a half. He finished the game with 14 points in 18 minutes of action. “He’s a scorer,” coach Fran Dunphy said after the win against East Carolina. “He can really put points on the board.” When Temple recruited Rose, it looked
ROSE | PAGE 15
PHOTO: GENEVA HEFFERNAN/THE TEMPLE NEWS | ART DIRECTION: COURTNEY REDMON|THE TEMPLE NEWS Freshman guard Quinton Rose drives to the net in Temple’s 70-68 loss to Tulsa on Jan. 14. Rose is the Owls’ top scoring option off the bench.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
FENCING
Sherrill thrives in starting role Fencers come from
across the country
The Owls’ win streak began when the senior was added to the starting lineup.
The team has athletes from 10 different states.
By KEVIN SCHAEFFER Women’s Basketball Beat Reporter Midway through a five-on-five scrimmage in a recent practice, senior forward Ruth Sherrill yelled out the defensive assignments for her team while senior guard Feyonda Fitzgerald initiated the offense for her group. “Me and Fey are always on opposite teams whenever we go at it in scrimmages in practice,” Sherrill said. “I’m always trying to lead my team the best I can and just do what the coaches want me to do.” Coach Tonya Cardoza added Sherrill to the starting lineup after a loss to Hampton University on Dec. 7. Cardoza questioned her team’s effort after the loss, with the exception of Sherrill, who finished with six points and 10 rebounds against Hampton. “That Hampton game was a game where nothing was going right, it felt like the effort wasn’t there,” Cardoza said. “But [Sherrill] was one of the lone people that was actually trying, and I saw that it really bothered her that we lost that game. She was out there hustling and working really hard, and at that point I was trying different people in the
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By TOM IGNUDO Fencing Beat Reporter
CONOR ROTTMUND FOR THE TEMPLE NEWS Senior forward Ruth Sherrill makes a layup in Saturday’s win against Memphis.
Freshman epee Camille Simmons and her fellow freshman fencers decided to use the Broad Street Line to see the football team’s home opener against Army West Point on Sept. 2. With a lack of experience using SEPTA, Simmons and her teammates got off at the wrong stop before eventually arriving at Lincoln Financial Field. “I feel like it’s stuff when you grow up in the city that you just learn,” Simmons said. “But when you don’t grow up in the city, you kind of just have to learn eventually.” Simmons is from Bellaire, Texas, a suburb outside of Houston. Last semester, she said she was intimidated by Broad Street and the skyscrapers that look down on Philadelphia. Using SEPTA to get around the city was also something new for Simmons, who said she and her family drove everywhere in Texas. Some of the Owls have ties to the
Northeast, but a good chunk of the team comes from places in the western part of the country. None of Temple’s fencers are from Pennsylvania. Coach Nikki Franke said she didn’t intentionally recruit fencers from outside the Keystone State, but she tells her team to embrace the team’s diversity and different cultures. She said the connections she made during her career, which includes competing in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, helps her recruit nationwide. “Mostly the girls come from fencing clubs as opposed to schools, and so there aren’t that many clubs in the area,” Franke said. “And of course, lots of athletes, they want to go away to school, [which is] also another reason why we don’t get that many Pennsylvania girls, but it’s nothing purposeful. We’ve had fencers from Pennsylvania in the past, just nothing currently.” The food in Philadelphia has also been much different for Simmons compared to the barbecue and Tex-Mex in her home state. Just like residents of the Philadelphia area take pride in their cheesesteaks, Simmons
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GYMNASTICS | PAGE 16
MEN’S TENNIS | PAGE 17
WOMEN’S TENNIS | PAGE 17
BRIEFS | PAGE 15
After setting the program vault record already, the Owls hope to achieve the school record for team score by the end of the season.
Sophomore Artem Kapshuk was No. 17 in the most recent regional rankings and hopes to earn a national ranking in the future.
University of Rhode Island transfer Galina Chernykh was the Rams’ top singles player and an all-conference selection at her previous school.
Former football standouts played in all-star games this weekend, the women’s basketball team received poll votes, other news and notes.